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1968 was a year of violence, political turbulence, and civil unrest. The Vietnam Nam War showed no signs of ending and protest movements in the states were sprouting all across the country. It was an election year and Lyndon Johnson was President, and despite all opposition to Johnson’s policies in Vietnam, no prominent Democratic was prepared to run against a sitting President of his own party. Only Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota was willing to openly challenge him. McCarthy started running as the “anti-war candidate” in the New Hampshire primary with the hopes to at least pressure the Democrats into publicly opposing the Vietnam War.
On March 12, McCarthy won 42% of the primary vote to Johnson’s 49%. This gave McCarthy’s campaign YUUUUUUGE momentum and drew the attention of the rest of Democratic Party. In fact, four days later, Senator Robert F. Kennedy announced his candidacy as well. Now, faced with two strong primary challengers and dissent in his own party, Johnson decided it would be prudent to no longer seek re-election. Vice President Hubert Humphrey then stepped into the ring as well.
While Vice President Humphrey began compiling all of his delegates in caucus states controlled by party leaders, McCarthy and Kennedy began battling it out in the primary states. Following a close battle in Oregon, McCarthy and Kennedy were running neck and neck,… and the California primary was seen as a crucial battle state for both.
The California primary was held on June 4th. That day, Kennedy defeated McCarthy 46% to 42% turning the nation’s eyes (and unfortunately a few other’s) to him. After giving a victory speech to his supporters at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Robert F. Kennedy was to exit through the hotel’s kitchen in order to avoid the press. In that crowded hotel kitchen, just after midnight following the California primary, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian, feeling “betrayed by Kennedy’s support for Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War pulled out a tiny .22 caliber gun and opened fire, killing Kennedy and wounding five others.
That August, the Democratic National Convention was held at the International Amphitheater in Chicago with NO DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE YET CHOSEN. Tension, to say the least, was running HIGH!
In the months prior to the convention, Anti-war groups had petitioned the city of Chicago for permits to march five miles from the central business district known as “The Loop” all the way to within sight of the convention itself, and to hold a number of rallies in the parks near the convention, and to camp in Lincoln Park. THE CITY DENIED ALL PERMITS except for one, an afternoon rally in Grant Park.
The Grant Park rally on Wednesday, August 28, 1968, was attended by an estimated 15,000 protesters. After the rally, several thousands of protesters attempted to march to the International Amphitheater, but were stopped in front of the Conrad Hilton Hotel. There,using tear gas and police batons, police pushed the protesters out of the street. Protesters then retaliated by throwing bottles and rocks. It wasn’t long before the television networks began cutting away from candidates’ speeches to broadcast footage of the violent clashes outside in the streets.
At approximately 3:30 p.m., a young man in the protesting movement began lowering the American flag posted there to below half mast and IMMEDIATELY the police surged through the crowd and began beating the young man. The crowd fought back.
Over the course of the next five days, police made numerous arrests. In the aftermath of what was later characterized as a “police riot” by the U.S. National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, a federal grand jury would indict eight protesters on charges of conspiracy and incitement to riot in connection with the violence: Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Jerry Rubin, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale; soon to be known as “The Chicago Eight.”
Despite the outpouring of political protests and the fact that 80% of the primary voters had been for anti-war candidates, the Democratic Party decided to nominate Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Now, who remembers President Hubert Humphrey’s accomplishments while in office? No one does. Humphrey went on to lose the election to the Republican candidate, Richard Nixon.
In response to the party disunity and electoral failure that came out of the convention, the party established the Commission on Party Structure and Delegate Selection to examine current rules on the ways candidates were nominated. In addition, the commission made it so that all delegate selection procedures were required to be open. Party leaders could no longer handpick the convention delegates in secret… Or could they?
Are you ready for a revolution? Get in line tomorrow and make your voice heard!
Into the abyss
Mise en abyme is a French term derived from heraldry referring to the practice of placing an image of a small shield on a larger shield. It literally means “placed into abyss.” Another sense of the phrase is the visual effect of standing between two mirrors and seeing one’s image reflected infinitely on both sides.
The English literary counterpart is known as “a story within a story” and occurs when one character within a narrative narrates another story. Shakespeare uses this technique of a play within a play in several of his more famous pieces. I.E. Hamlet puts on a production of The Mousetrap in order to gauge is uncle’s reaction to determine whether or not he killed his father.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream the characters perform Ovid’s Pyramus and Thisbe, the story of two lovers divided by a wall between their houses and forbidden by their parents to be wed. The lovers arrange to meet under a mulberry tree one night, but a dropped veil and a bloody lion causes Pyramus to believe his lover Thisbe to be dead, and he takes his own life. When Thisbe sees this, she picks up the knife and takes her own life as well.
Shakespeare also adapted Pyramus and Thisbe into his own version set in fair Verona. Can you guess what he called it?
Your savior is crucified on this day and you name it “Good Friday,”… and yet I’m the bad guy?
For all the trouble he has caused, “Lucifer” only appears in the bible… once.
Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”
Son of the morning? What? Let’s look a little closer at this, shall we?
According to New Advent, an online Catholic encyclopedia, “The name Lucifer originally denotes the planet Venus, emphasizing its brilliance. The Vulgate employs the word also for “the light of the morning.” Metaphorically, the word is applied to the King of Babylon as preeminent among the princes of his time;… to the glory of heaven (Apocalypse 2:28) reason of its excellency; finally to Jesus Christ himself (2 Peter 1:19; Apocalypse 22:16)the “Exultant of Holy Saturday”) the true light of our spiritual life.”
The Vulgate is the Latin tanslation of the bible. At the time it was written, the actual Roman name of the planet Venus was Lucifer. The name Lucifer is derived from the Latin term “lucem ferre” meaning “bringer (or bearer) of light.” Venus often appears in the heavens just before dawn as if heralding the rising sun. In the bible passage above, Isaiah is using Lucifer, the morning star, as a metaphor for a bright light (though not the greatest light) to describe a Babylonian King, much the way King Louis XIV of France once called himself “The Sun King.”
Over the centuries, as theologians, writers, poets and painters all spun their version of myth with the doctrine of the fall, the beautiful, bright planet Venus became synonymous with a disobedient angel cast out of heaven, and eventually Lucifer, “bringer of light,” became known as Satan, the Devil, and ironically “the Prince of Darkness.”
What’s even more ironic is that the actual bible passage referring to Satan being cast from heaven occurs in Revelation 12: 7-12 and in this verse Satan (or the Devil) is not cast into hell but rather down to Earth.
“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
The irony for those who believe that “Lucifer” refers to Satan is that just a few passages later in Revelation 22:16 Jesus refers to himself as the morning star.
“It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
Perhaps Lucifer has indeed presented Christianity with its greatest problem yet; contradiction and misinterpretation.
The fault, dear followers, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.
Consider yourself enlightened. 😉
The birth of Obamacare.
Allow me to preface this post by stating I’ve read the bible… many times. (My Mother was my CCD teacher and is now a eucharistic minister.) I’ve also set up nativity scenes… many times. My grandfather built ours, and my mother still uses it to this day. Aside from setting up our main nativity scene each year, I would also set up my own with Smurfs, legos, G.I. Joe, He-Man action figures or whatever I was into that particular Christmas. And each Christmas morning, before we were allowed to open our presents, we had to first sing Happy Birthday to the baby Jesus now lying in the manger.
Based on these credentials I feel absolutely qualified to state: if you are against the Affordable Care Act, you don’t get to celebrate Christmas this year.
Allow me to remind you of the true meaning of Christmas.
When we celebrate Christmas we are celebrating a poor, homeless, “virgin,” Palestinian woman giving birth in someone’s barn, because her husband couldn’t afford a hotel, never mind a hospital. When life seemed so difficult for this poor family, at such a vulnerable time in their lives, when they were so desperate for help, along came three very wealthy, and definitely wise, men who gave this poor, “entitled” family assistance. They bestowed upon this family gifts of the frankincense, myrrh and GOLD! They found this poor, shivering child lying in a food trough next to his bleeding mother, a camel, some sheep and a goat,… and gave him GOLD. Awesome! Now this poor Palestinian woman could get proper care at a hospital and her child would not freeze to death in an animal’s food trough.
Hallelujah! Praise the lord! A savior HAD come that day. However, it wasn’t the newborn baby, it was the three generous, WISE men who felt the right thing to do was to help this poor family with money for health care and shelter despite the fact that they could not afford it. Who is to say what would have happened had they not felt it proper to intervene with this poor family.
There are good people in the world. Or at least there were. This holiday season, let us all reflect on the story above and our stance on helping those in need, and try to be as generous, and as wise, as those three men.
Why would one celebrate the death and rebirth of their savior with eggs andIshtar (pronounced Easter) is the Assyrian and Babylonian Goddess of fertility. Pagans celebrate this goddess just after the Spring Equinox with fertility symbols like the rabbit or the egg.
a bunny rabbit? They don’t, really.
Easter is a pagan ritual celebrating the coming of spring and thus celebrated just after the Spring Equinox. It was later transferred to the Paschal or “Passover” feast, which also began as a spring festival. The bunny rabbit and eggs are fertility symbols celebrating the coming spring and the “rebirth” and revitalization of the Earth following the long, cold, dead winter. It is in springtime when the Earth is fertile and ready to receive the seeds for a new harvest. The eggs, obvious symbols of fertility and reproduction, were used in ancient fertility rites and painted yellow, orange, and red, to symbolize the sun itself rising in the east, now finally above the equator and warming the northern hemisphere. The eggs were then cast into fires or buried in the earth as offerings to the goddess, Ishtar (pronounced Easter.)Ishtar was the Assyrian goddess of love, fertility and, above all, SEX!!! Her religious cult involved sacred prostitution and her holy city, Uruk, was called the “town of the sacred courtesans.” In fact, Ishtar herself was the “courtesan of the gods” and she took many lovers. Besides the lions on her gate, her symbol is an eight-pointed star. In the Babylonian pantheon she is the divine, anthropomorphized planet Venus, also known as the Roman goddess of love. The planet Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset, for which reason it has been referred to by ancient cultures as the Morning Star or Evening Star. As her story goes, Ishtar must descend into the underworld after the death of her lover, Tammuz. The two resurrect once again in the spring, during the first full moon following the Vernal Equinox.Easter, like every other Christian religious holiday, is rich in Pagan overtones. So, consider yourself enlightened. Intelligence is SEXY… and so is Easter. Now, who wants to celebrate this sexy pagan holiday with me,… ladies. 😉
St. Valentine
Although nothing substantially reliable is known of the actual Saint Valentine other than his name and the fact that he died on February 14th. It is widely believed that Saint Valentine was a third century Roman saint long associated with the traditions of courtly love. However, there are three such priests that bear his name, but I love a good story, so here is my favorite version.
Saint Valentine was a Roman priest at a time of Emperor Claudius II. At the time, the Emperor had an edict prohibiting the marriage of young people. This was based on the idea that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them, or their wives or families, if they died.
Valentine, however, felt that marriage was very sacred and would perform these Christian marriages in secret despite the edict. He was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for doing so.
One of the men who was to judge Valentine was a man called Asterius, who’s daughter was blind. It is rumored that, while imprisoned, St. Valentine healed the young girl through prayer and, as a result, Asterius himself took a vow of Christianity.
St. Valentine was eventually sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and decapitation all because of his stance on Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius’ daughter signed, “from your Valentine.”
Today, or rather yesterday, was December 21st, the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, often considered the death of the sun. Last year at this very same time the world waited with baited breath through each time zone as the Mayan Calendar’s end of the world never came. Perhaps it was because it was not the Mayan end of the world but rather the end of an era.
On or about December 21st or 22nd (depending on the year) when the northern portion of the world is covered in snow, and the leaves of every tree in the forest, with the exception of the evergreen, have lost their color and died, the sun appears to take its resting place in the lowest position of the sky on what is known as the Tropic of Capricorn. There it will stay for 3 days in the vicinity of the constellation known as the “Southern Cross.” For those tracking the sun’s progress through the heavens, it will appear as if the heavens themselves have stopped turning.
However, on or about the 3rd day, December 25th, the sun will once again appear to move as if “rising from the dead,” reborn once again. At that point, it will begin its journey back north, and once again the days will begin to grow longer and warmer, and life will return to the land.
This story may sound vaguely familiar to some. For those who have studied religion, and/or mythology, you will recognize this story has been anthropomorphised and retold as the death and resurrection of one of history’s most highly revered gods. I am, of course, referring to… Horus, the Egyptian sun god from about 3000 B.C.
Horus was born on December 25th of the virgin, Isis-Meri. His birth was accompanied by a bright star in the east which three kings followed in order to witness. He traveled the world with 12 disciples, performing miracles like walking on water and healing the sick. He was eventually betrayed by Typhon, crucified, buried, and rose from the dead three days later.
Those who do not study religion or mythology, may find it interesting to hear that this story has been rewritten time and again, under the guise of various sun gods in various religions. Here are just a few…
Krishna of India, a child god worshiped as the eighth incarnation (avatar) of the Hindu god Vishnu.
Dionysus, Grecian god of the vine and King of Kings.
Dionysus, Grecian god of the vine and King of Kings.
Lugh, the Celtic solar deity and king of Tuatha De Danaan.
Lleu Llaw Gyffes, “The Bright One with the Strong Hand” and Welsh counterpart to the Celtic god, Lugh.
Mithra of Persia, known as the truth, or the light, and whose sacred day of worship is Sunday.
Mithra of Persia, known as the truth, or the light, and whose sacred day of worship is Sunday.
And, of course,…
Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the son of God, whose birth was accompanied by a bright star in the east which three kings followed in order to witness, and who traveled the world with 12 disciples, performing miracles like walking on water and healing the sick. As Horace before him, Jesus was betrayed by his friend, crucified on the cross, buried, and rose from the dead three days later. And, again, like Horus before him, Jesus is an anthropomorphic version of the sun as it travels through the sky on it’s annual journey. The 12 disciples are actually the 12 signs of the zodiac that the sun travels through during the 12 months of the year. All of this has happened before, and it will happen again.
Now, let’s examine the birth of God’s son, Jesus.
When we read that Jesus was born of the virgin, Mary, in Bethlehem, it is actually a metaphorical reference to a place in the celestial heavens, not on Earth. Mary, the virgin, is the constellation, Virgo. Her constellation is depicted as a young woman holding sheaf of wheat or bread. Virgo means “virgin,” and “Bethlehem” literally translates to “House of Bread,” a reference to the wheat she holds in her hand. Again, these are both reference to the constellation, Virgo, not the Palestinian city located on the West Bank.
So, if you want to witness this glorious phenomenon of the birth of God’s son, you need only look to heavens on Dec. 24th. Turn your attention to the eastern night sky and look for a star shining brighter than all others. This will be Sirius, the “Dog Star.” It is the brightest star in the northern sky. (*Be careful as this year the planet Jupiter has been hovering over Orion’s left shoulder these last few weeks, dwarfing Sirius a bit. Sirius will appear as the 2nd brightest “star” this year, diagonally beneath Orion belt.)
The three stars diagonally above Sirius are part of the constellation Orion, his belt. These three stars are lined up with Sirius almost as if they are heading in the direction of this magnificently shining star. These three individual stars in Orion’s belt are known as the “3 Kings”. The 3 kings appear to follow this brightly shining star, Sirius, on an angle toward the Earth, precisely where you will witness the birth of the sun the following morning, Dec. 25th.
This is EXACTLY the reason why EVERY SINGLE SUN GOD is born on December 25th. Jesus is not the son of God. He is the sun itself. And he will come again in glory,… every single morning,… as he has done for all of eternity.
Happy Winter Solstice, my friends, and have a very Merry Christmas. You may now consider yourselves enlightened. 😉
Dear Santa,
Dear God,
Dear Members of Congress,
It’s been a rough few years… for 98% of us anyway. I think it’s time we acknowledge our fellow man,.. and woman. Allow me to explain.
When I taught elementary school, I had a VERY diverse group of students with many varying skills and needs. I had kids that excelled in nearly everything they did, and I also had kids that struggled with nearly everything they did. It was a challenge everyday to try to meet the needs of every student in my class, and sometimes, I would fall short. I imagine you can relate to this.
But I was determined to help my students; ALL OF THEM. I would go home every night, reformulate a new plan, and come back the next day ready to try again. Those students were my responsibility; ALL OF THEM.
I’ll be honest, there were students that REALLY struggled and would sometimes be very difficult to work with, but I didn’t just give up on them and decide to focus only on my most capable kids. That would have been INCREDIBLY irresponsible of me. Wouldn’t you agree? Instead, I tried EXTRA hard to help those kids that were struggling, because THEY needed my help the most.
At the same time, I did not neglect my most advanced students. I let them shine when I knew they could. I was VERY proud of them, whether it was my teaching or their parents’ support that made them who they were. In fact, I even RELIED on them to HELP ME at times, because I knew (and they probably did as well) that they were the most capable ones to help me.
They were sharp kids, so I know, that they knew, that I needed their help, and I know they were happy to help out. Their talents were being put to use, and they knew they were helping to contribute to the overall success of the class. I was very proud of them, and I’m sure they gained a sense of pride knowing they did their part.
That’s all I’m asking for this Christmas; that our most capable citizens help contribute to the overall success of our country and that we help those citizens who most need our help. We have a very diverse nation with people of varying colors, religions, and capabilities. Perhaps, ironically, we can learn from our children and our students. We should all be helping one another by working together toward the overall success of our country. We were once a great nation that expanded our very frontiers by building railroads and highways, from coast to coast, expanding how we communicate across the country and the world, we even putting men on the moon.
Just think about that for a moment…
When we work together, we can accomplish so much. LET’S DO JUST THAT. Let’s work together to help all of our citizens succeed. It’s the right thing to do and I promise, it feels good to help your fellow human beings. When someone needs your help, you should help them.
Season’s Greetings to all of you. I love you ALL.
The French call it La Fête Nationale (The National Celebration) or Le quatorze juillet (the fourteenth of July). The English know it as Bastille Day. And anyone who knows me, knows it’s MY BIRTHDAY!!! That being said, I hope you will indulge me in a brief history lesson. During the reign of Louis the XVI, France was faced with an economic crisis brought about by the expenses of intervening in a costly foreign war, the American Revolution. The government then compounded their financial issues with a regressive system of taxation which imposed a far greater burden on the poor, rather than on the rich. Sound familiar? On May 5th, 1789 a general assembly representing the French”Estates” consisting of the First Estate or clergy, the Second Estate or nobles, and the Third Estate, the proletariats or commoners, convened to find a solution to the government’s financial problems. The Estates-General sat for several weeks in May and again in June but came to an impasse, being held back by archaic rules of the Second Estate (the nobility) which only amounted to roughly 2% of France’s population at the time. Following me? Fed up, the Third Estate (the commoners) reconstituted themselves into a “National Assembly,” no longer “of the estates,” but rather “of the people.” Their new purpose became the creation of a French constitution. Louis XVI opposed this assembly and resolved to annul its decrees. On June 20th he ordered the hall where the National Assembly met, closed, and moved the Assembly to his tennis court, where they proceeded to swear the “Serment du jeu de paume” or “Tennis Court Oath.” Under this oath they agreed not to separate until they had settled the constitution of France. However, all efforts to restore the old order had failed and instead only fueled the fires of change. By July 9th The Estates-General no longer existed and the now-renamed “National Constituent Assembly” had formed and began to function as a legislature and began drafting a constitution. On July 11th Jacques Necker a representative of the people was dismissed from the assembly, and the people soon became fearful of their lives from an attack by the royal military. They decided to arm themselves. Seeking to gain ammunition and gunpowder for the general populace, they stormed the Parisian fortress-prison known as The Bastille. Besides holding a large cache of ammunition and gunpowder, the Bastille had been known as a common holding cell for political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government, and was thus a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy to which they so vehemently now opposed. On July 14th, 1789 over three hundred people ready to give their lives to put an end to their overtaxing and overbearing government, marched on the Bastille and demanded that the bridges be lowered. They were refused. But it wasn’t long before the Marquis de Launay, governor and commander of the Bastille, realized he was no longer a match for the angry mob. Launay finally agreed to surrender himself and the prison if his troops were allowed to leave peacefully, but by this point the people wanted his head as well, and they took it. Later that day, upon learning that the Bastille had been taken, and that the growing mob had now turned to Versailles where he now was, Louis XVI was reported to have asked, “Is this a revolt?” to which his confidant and friend, La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, replied, “No, Sire, it is a revolution.” Shortly after the storming of the Bastille, on August 4th, 1789 feudalism itself was abolished, and on August 26th, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was proclaimed. Vive la revolution!
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