When George H. Bush was attending West Point Military Academy, he claims he learned an alternate US history we are not taught in school, namely, that it was the U.S. running most of the pirate operations in and around the Caribbean. That is how a nation starts. We were doing it against British/English ships and corporations (like maybe the Dutch East India Company or its equivalents working on the Colonies, possessions and protectorates of the British Empire). We (North Americans it what came to be the USA) were the grand criminals. Bush with this knowledge went on to become CIA director then president of the U.S. So either it's true what West Point teaches its students, and we are being lied to in the rest of the country, or West Point teaches disinformation (purposeful lies) to its students to carry on our plunder, exploitation, and imperialism throughout the world, saying it's nothing different than what we've always done. One and a half million white European and American slaves taken by the Ottoman Empire in the century beginning 1788, Hitchens? That would be a fantastic revelation if it's not a self-serving fantasy to justify our exploitation of others and serve as a pretext told to West Point students and soldiers for our warring with and bullying of Muslim nations (Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Yemen, Iran, Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the Middle East in general, Northern Africa as a whole which includes Israel but that is hidden on maps and in discussions, etc.) Oh, if only Hitchins were alive to ask him about it. Perhaps other historians specializing in American history, covert and overt, would opine.
(Planet Curious) This video examines various perspectives and arguments that challenge the notion of a divine creator being, a supernatural "God." The speakers are prominent atheists [and materialists] Michael Shermer and Dan Barker.
(Planet Curious) Christopher Hitchens, Why God is imaginary, Part 2
Christopher Hitchens on the History of the 20th Century: UK and US (1995)
Studs Terkel introduces radical atheist (self proclaimed "anti-theist"), who takes a look at recent US and UK history.
(The Film Archives, 7/14/14) Who's Hitchens? He was an author, the son of British Royal Navy Commander Eric Hitchens, who often referred to his dad as simply the "Commander."
The day after Christmas in 1943, the Commander was deployed onboard the HMS Jamaica when it sank the German warship the Scharnhorst.
Chris would later refer to his dad's hateful contribution to the war: "Sending a Nazi convoy raider to the bottom is a better day's work than any I have ever done."
He also stated that "the remark that most summed him [his father] up was the flat statement that the war of 1939 to 1945 had been 'the only time when I really felt I knew what I was doing'."
Hitchens' mother, Yvonne, "died" in Athens in 1973 when, despite first reports in The Times that she had been murdered, it was later concluded that her death had been the result of a suicide pact with her boyfriend, the Christian Reverend Timothy Bryan.
Hitchens travelled to Athens to identify his mother's body, which may have warped his mind and/or view of the Christian church.
With Mother Teresa's recent canonization in record time as a full-fledged Catholic "saint," with no Devil's Advocate other than interviewer Christopher Hitchens (to keep the process honest, adversarial, and two-sided like a legal proceeding seeking truth and justice), what better time to examine her life?
The "beauty" of a woman - Hepburn
Mother Teresa of Calcutta did wonderful things for the world and for India, which loves her and reveres her. She was also an atheist, full of doubt, and persevering in doing good deeds and awful things like serving the Vatican, the worldwide Holy Roman Catholic Church, and proselytizing for converts among the desperate and poor.
Kindness, compassion, and mercy = beauty.
Her personal karma was likely good even without right view if she acted out of compassion rather than wisdom. The effect of her actions may not have been good and may have even been bad.
In a conventional sense she was indeed a "saint," and we love her for it. But she is much more fascinating, more complex than she is given credit for, and really stopped believing in God or Jesus's help and participation in her efforts. She wrote about in letters, and a movie -- a hagiography -- has been made about it.
(CBN News) The Letters' looks at Mother Teresa's atheism and struggle of faith: She is remembered as one of the greatest humanitarians in the world and the movie The Letters is about her life.
She is an inspiration to us all, but let's look at her in three actual dimensions rather than a smiley face stick figure of a ghost in our collective imagination. How much greater is she to be a real person like us and to rise above, rather than to be one of the elect destined to do only good not by her choice and power but by the Fates?
Dr. Christopher’s common sense approach to natural health is based on
three vital processes. He taught his students that cleansing is the first and most important stage of restoring a healthy
body.
The ultimate purpose of cleansing is to prepare the body for natural
healing through purification of all the body’s organs down to the
cellular level.
This protocol is designed to naturally bring the body to
its normal weight range, whether the body is overweight or underweight by first eliminating any accumulation or retention of putrid matter in the bowel.
Perspiration is a natural action of the sweat glands. Sweat throws off
toxins, which can be restricted by the use of synthetic drying deodorants. Once
the body is purified, it is ready to accept the highest vibratory quality
foods. Now natural healing can take place as nature intended!
Second, nourishment from live, nutritious, foods supports the body’s natural
function by balancing everything from the PH of an
overly acidic body to restoring the natural glow of the largest organ of the
body -- the skin.
Third, healing occurs naturally, sometimes quickly but sometimes
slowly, as the body continues to eliminate impurities and strengthen itself
through proper nourishment.
One of the signs of healing comes with
periodic aches and pains in the areas where the cleansing action is
most acute. Patience is required as the body cycles through these three
phases. More
Sadly the world this week lost famed atheist, alcoholic, and author Christopher Hitchens. He challenged the Judeo-Christian West to reevaluate our deeply ingrained belief systems and assumptions. His book God is Not Great made a splash among monotheists and joyful nonbelievers. Even more sadly, in his foolishness and fanatic devotion to Science, Hitchens could not overcome mainstream medicine's mocking of "alternative" cancer cure claims. And so he lost his life, and we lost a great voice of reason and inquiry, however misguided he may have been in his search for truth from time to time.
Are profitable cancer (oncology) centers, mainstream drug companies, and wealthy research labs mourning the loss? No, they are busy counting the profits and pleading for more funding to explore the same three treatment options: chemo, surgery, and radioactive bombardment. Hitchens ignored the healing methodologies not based on corporate profit, which people celebrate every single day choosing instead to "fight" cancer. Forced to stick to his pride and misplaced devotion to proprietary science in the name of real "Science," Christopher followed the deadly route of allopathic medicine, whose official articles of faith only allow discussion of chemical poisoning, excision, and ionizing radiation. His acidifying habit of alcohol toxicity would have made the alternatives seem very unappealing when one can carry on as one loses one's hair (due to chemo, not to cancer) and health and eventually this precious human life. Hitchens died without knowing. And depending on where he was reborn, he may still not know where he went wrong. But there is a chance it all became clear...just a little too late.
Tyrant's baby son to rule North Korea -- with an iron fist or velvet glove remains to be seen (heraldsun.com.au).
Hillary must be wringing her hands "We came, we saw, he died," Clinton squealed about Libya. [She came, she didn't meet with him, we killed him?] She then went to Burma to make sure it stayed away from North Korea and its weapons sales. Then their troublesome leader died mysteriously on a train.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, 69, succumbed to heart difficulties this week. A "god" among men, at least among North Koreans kept in the dark about the outside world, Il proved to be more vulnerable to his hardening than was thought possible. Surely he is an immortal. He nevertheless is survived by his wives and children, the youngest of which (Kim Jong Un) will rise to the throne of absolute power. Will he be a playboy, a tyrant, a revolutionary youngster inspired by the worldwide Arab Spring and Occupy Movement? Whatever he does, we are likely to hear the worst of it in an ongoing campaign of disinformation about North Korea, having sided with the South and manned a no man's land (the DMZ or demilitarized zone) that sees frequent unrest while creating an island of biodiversity in the midst of a long running war.
Dissident President Finally, a more inspiring leader was also lost in Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel, 75. He was the much-lauded Czech writer and dissident turned president after the 1989 Velvet Revolution in which “people power” led to a peaceful transition of power after 40 years of communist rule. He passed away on Dec. 18. He died in his sleep at his country house in northern Bohemia next to his second wife, actress Dagmar Veškrnová.
We are therefore currently living through the tribulation. Doomsday will occur in October. The world was never going to end in May; it was always predicted by Camping to end in October. So...no refunds! Take your complaints to God. Donations will not be returned, period:
Camping, the president of FamilyRadio.com, said he will not return any money for those who have invested in the Doomsday campaign, despite the fact that his prediction has [apparently] failed. Family Radio has raised over $80 million of donations over the past five years. God is good that way. More
Huffington Post, Rev. James Martin, S.J. Catholic priest and author, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything
Palm Sunday raises at least two important spiritual questions for Christians: What does it mean to be like Jesus? And what does it mean to take up our crosses, just like he did? First, you don't need to go looking for your cross. Life gives them to you. Whether it's an illness or a tough family relationship or trouble in school or problems on the job. The real cross is the one that you don't want. Because it's hardly a cross if you want it. Just like it was for Jesus. Second, we are asked by Jesus to accept our crosses. Now, what does that mean? More
A "change of heart" is exactly what's needed. Anger, not God, likely has more to do with Christopher Hitchens' health and prognosis for recovery. (Yes cancer is curable, but not by poisoning and irradiating the body; there are options apart from chemo that doctors never mention).
There are many cures in fact. Stop feeding cancer, even accidentally, and the body often gets better on its own. If it has gone further, alternatives to waging "war" on the body are numerous and inexpensive. Because cures are not profitable and patentable, like drug cocktails with corrosive side effects, they are not taken seriously or discussed by mainstream outlets.
Like cancer, people think deadly snake bites have to be fatal. They do not. The Buddha explains that sending intensive loving-kindness (metta) to the four tribes of snakes will prevent death. How is that possible? How can states of mind have anything to do with the health of the body? Since metta takes practice, waiting to be bitten before trying it is dangerous. Practicing it ahead of time prevents snakebite. Loving-kindness, which directly cools anger, heals many things besides venom. The Antidote to Snakebite
Cancer, Snakebites Need Not be Fatal
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living near Savatthi... At that time in Savatthi a certain monk had died after being bitten by a deadly snake. Soon many monks approached the Buddha....and spoke thus to the Blessed One: "Venerable Sir, a certain monk at Savatthi has died after being bitten by a snake." "Assuredly, monks," the Buddha replied, "that monk has not suffused with thoughts of loving-kindness (metta) the four royal tribes of snakes. Had he done so, that monk would not have died of snakebite!" Full text
Charlotte Allen (LA Times, May 17, 2009) Superstar atheists are motivated by anger -- and boohoo victimhood.
I can't stand atheists -- but it's not because they don't believe in God. It's because they're crashing bores.
Other people, most recently the British cultural critic Terry Eagleton in his new book, Faith, Reason, and Revolution, take to task such superstar nonbelievers as Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and political journalist Christopher Hitchens (God Is Not Great) for indulging in a philosophically primitive opposition of faith and reason that assumes that if science can't prove something, it doesn't exist.
My problem with atheists is their tiresome -- and way old -- insistence that they are being oppressed and their fixation with the fine points of Christianity. What -- did their Sunday school teachers flog their behinds with a Bible when they were kids?
Read Dawkins, or Hitchens, or the works of fellow atheists Sam Harris (The End of Faith) and Daniel Dennett (Breaking the Spell), or visit an atheist website or blog (there are zillions of them, bearing such titles as "God Is for Suckers," "God Is Imaginary," and "God Is Pretend"), and your eyes will glaze over as you peruse -- again and again -- the obsessively tiny range of topics around which atheists circle like water in a drain.
First off, there's atheist victimology: Boohoo, everybody hates us 'cuz we don't believe in God. Although a recent Pew Forum survey on religion found that 16% of Americans describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, only 1.6% call themselves atheists, with another 2.4% weighing in as agnostics (a group despised as wishy-washy by atheists).
You or I might attribute the low numbers to atheists' failure to win converts to their unbelief, but atheists say the problem is persecution so relentless that it drives tens of millions of God-deniers into a closet of feigned faith, like gays before Stonewall.
In his online "Atheist Manifesto," Harris writes that "no person, whatever his or her qualifications, can seek public office in the United States without pretending to be certain that ... God exists." The evidence? Antique clauses in the constitutions of six -- count 'em -- states barring atheists from office. More>>
The first of two segments from the network's news division (which originally aired on 10/4/07 and 10/5/07) that show America moving away from traditional Christianity to a searching study of what the Buddha taught. Brian Williams and Ron Mott surprisingly take on this fascinating and increasingly popular subject.
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