“Winter Is Coming”

“Winter Is Coming”, Part 3

by Jim Quinn

“The very survival of the nation will feel at stake. Sometime before the year 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history, commensurate with the American Revolution, Civil War, and twin emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II.” 

– Strauss & Howe, “The Fourth Turning” 

“In Part One of this article I laid out the reasons for Gray Champions arising to meet challenges during crisis periods in history. In Part Two of this article I assessed the configuration of Gray Champions throughout the world and the potential impact on the course of this Fourth Turning.

The swirling fog of confusion enveloping the globe as the high lords of the universe play their game of thrones has even the most critical thinking individuals baffled by the course of events. The desperation and blatant lawlessness of the Deep State players in their endeavor to preserve their hegemony over the course of global affairs is palpable with every attack, false flag, accusation, and ratcheting up of their propaganda media machine.

Like “Game of Thrones,” the behind the scenes machinations, subterfuge, and deceptions taking place outside the purview of the common folk are designed to only benefit the rich and powerful players undertaking these traitorous actions. Open warfare will not happen until it is thought to be in the best interests of those manipulating the levers of society and the narrative produced by their perpetual propaganda media machine. But, in the end, it will be the innocent common people who will suffer the consequences, while the lords reap the riches, glory and power.

“Why is it always the innocents who suffer most, 

when you high lords play your game of thrones?” 

– “Lord Varys”,

- George R.R. Martin, “Game of Thrones”

The common people have always been blind to the next turning until after it fully arrives. Even now, the average person has no idea we are in the midst of a crisis period which will change the course of history. The overwhelming majority of the 335 million Americans, and billions around the globe, try to go about their daily lives oblivious to the intrigues, conspiracies, and treachery playing out at the highest levels of government and in smoky backrooms, where deals are made, wars plotted, and billions dispersed to the oligarchical lords running our world.

The common people get up, go to work, try to earn enough to survive or get ahead in life, raise their children, and endeavor to attain the lifestyle sold to them by their overlords based on delusion and debt. They are easily distracted by technological baubles, watching sporting events, enslaved by government handouts, and told what to believe by their keepers. They don’t want to experience the challenges of winter, but a never ending summer. They don’t want to think and be responsible for their lives. They want to be left in peace on Twitter and Facebook, but that isn’t how it works during a Fourth Turning winter.

“The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends,” Ser Jorah told her. “It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace.” He gave a shrug. “They never are.” 

– George R.R. Martin, “A Game of Thrones”

There is no telling how the next ten or so years will play out; which alliances prove to be successful or disastrous; whether Trump is compromised by the Deep State or wins this internal struggle; and the outcomes of the fast approaching civil and global wars, which are inevitable given the current state of affairs in the world. The Fourth Turning isn’t a prediction. It’s a period of crisis driven by the generational alignment which happens like clockwork every 80 to 100 years. It predicts nothing. The course of events is up to the individuals driving those events.

Those who attempt to dismiss this generational theory by calling it doom porn or saying it is impossible to predict the future are revealing their fears rather than arguing based on facts or substance. A man who fears the coming trials and tribulations has already lost. Fear works far better than swords in keeping the masses controlled. Take the Russian bogeyman scenario being utilized at the present time to keep the ignorant masses distracted and bemused. Praying for a lone wolf to save the day and restore the world to its summer like condition is irrational and again based upon fear. Winter winds are already blowing at gale force.

“When the snows fall and the white winds blow, 

the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.” 

– “Ned Stark”,

 – George R.R. Martin, “Game of Thrones”

It’s fear that appears to be pushing people over the edge. The common people are being manipulated by the “powers that be” though propaganda, mistruths, distractions, iGadgets, hero worship, irrelevant social justice warrior issues, the illusion of political choices, and being lured into debt servitude by the banking cabal and their mega-corporation co-conspirators. They have successfully divided us into angry subsets of lone wolves unwilling or unable to unite and fight the true enemies.

The common people will again do the dying and get the short end of the stick, just as they did during the Civil War, Great Depression and World War II. In order to change the dynamics of this Fourth Turning from one where the lords determine our fate, it would require the majority to open their eyes to see the truth and be led by truly just men to overcome the forces of darkness currently in control. Based on history, this is an unlikely scenario, but still possible.

“Opening your eyes is all that is needing. The heart lies and 

the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true.” 

– “Syrio Forel”,

 – George R.R. Martin, “Game of Thrones”

An extremely important question on which hinges the future course of history, will need to be answered in the near future. Is Trump a moral, just, honorable leader who has the best interests of the American people as his sole priority or will he continue to represent the interests of the vested interests (aka Deep State)? Words are not enough. It’s his deeds by which he will be judged. Is he a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or a noble warrior doing battle with Deep State enemies?

His contradictory and baffling actions over his time in office have given hope to many, infuriated others, and confused the majority. Does he have principles or is everything negotiable? His decision making, relationships with foreign adversaries, ability to defeat his domestic enemies, and courage to do what is right whether it is popular, will determine his place in history. Failure could be catastrophic for the nation.

While Trump, Putin, and Xi play their game of thrones for world dominance, we the people still have to do our part at this crucial time in history. While the vast majority of Americans may not be intellectually capable of independent thought or critical thinking due to decades of dumbing down through the government education gulags and a steady diet of government propaganda, there are a minority of patriotic people who respect the Constitution and will need to man the wall.

We know the existing social order will be demolished by the end of this Fourth Turning and courageous acts will matter, sacrifice required, and defeating enemies from within and without will be compulsory. There will be no glory for common men who make the ultimate sacrifice and die for a better tomorrow for their children and grandchildren. Everyone has the potential to make a difference. Danger is omnipresent.

“I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men.”

 – The Oath of the Brothers of the Night’s Watch

 – “Game of Thrones”

You don’t have to be a fan of the ‘Game of Thrones’ or a believer in the Fourth Turning to realize the world is in the midst of a crisis. Denial and willful ignorance will not turn back time to better days. Whether it be a fictional battle for control of the seven kingdoms or a real battle for control of petro-currencies, gas pipelines, natural resources, and military dominance, the humans locked in these battles never change.

Human nature has remained the same throughout history. The shortcomings of men across centuries have remained consistent: greed, power seeking, arrogance, cruelty, immorality, and hubris.  Even Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a man of true courage, knew “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being”.

The coming storms will bring out the best and the worst in humanity. The nation could be snuffed out or be elevated to new glorious heights. If good wins out over evil the heroic deeds of the winners will become the stuff of myths and legends. If evil wins out over good the final shocking scene in “The Planet of the Apes” may be our future. The choices we make will matter.

The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule. If there is a war, it is likely to be one of maximum risk and effort – in other words, a total war…

History’s howling storms can bring out the worst and best in people. The next Fourth Turning can literally destroy us as a nation and people, leaving us cursed in the histories of those who endure and remember. Alternatively, it can ennoble our lives, elevate us as a community, and inspire acts of consummate heroism – deeds that will grow into myth-like legends recited by our heirs far into the future.” 

– Strauss & Howe, “The Fourth Turning”

- https://www.theburningplatform.com/

Chet Raymo, “It”

“It”

by Chet Raymo

“A Howard Nemerov poem might be twelve pages long or twelve words long. He was equally adept at the epic and the aphorism. He could be serious or fun. Sometimes both at the same time. Consider the following poem, called “A Life,” which I quote in its entirety. (How does “fair use” apply to something so short?)

    “Innocence?
    In a sense.
    In no sense!

    Was that it?
    Was that it?
    Was that it?

    That was it.”

Now I hear my spouse’s voice whispering in my ear: What’s all this musing about death lately? Why all this late-life pessimism? Your blog is becoming morbid. Morbid? Not really. I don’t yet feel the Grim Reaper’s cold breath on my neck. But surely it’s that time of life to begin a summing up. I don’t want to expire mid-sentence, with an unfinished thought…

So, was it innocent? In a sin? In a sense. Not Original Sin, perhaps, but plenty of my own devising. No sin? Nonsense.

It. What?
That. Why?
Was. When?

A matter of emphasis. In phases. In phrases. That was it. That was it. That was it.

Wasn’t it?”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

“88 Truths I’ve Learned About Life”

“88 Truths I’ve Learned About Life”

by David Cain

“In the early days of this blog I published what I thought was a throwaway post, entitled “88 Important Truths I’ve Learned About Life”. It was nothing but 88 sweeping aphorisms I had collected as they occurred to me, delivered with a bit of snark. But it was a huge hit and still brings new people to Raptitude. Today I can’t bear to look at it. It’s just too preachy. But I understand the appeal. It’s fun to throw down an aphorism, and ask yourself if you really believe it. Here’s what I’ve learned (I think) in the seven years since. Also quite preachy.

1. Growth means doing things that are hard for you right now. There’s no other way.

2. The news doesn’t show you how the world is. It shows you whatever will make you watch more news.

3. Metal tools and utensils cost a lot more, but last about twenty times as long as plastic ones.

4. Good listeners are rare. When you find one, keep them in your life. And pay it forward.

5. Nobody sees you the way you see yourself, which should probably come as a relief.

6. Often nobody wants to make decisions for the group. Everyone appreciates the person willing to propose a time or a place.

7. Every generation thinks the one that came before them and the one that came after them are the worst.

8. For whatever reason, everywhere in the world human beings are willing to spend enormous amounts of money and time on alcohol.

9. Almost all casual photos would be improved simply by getting closer. You don’t need to get people’s entire bodies in the frame.

10. You don’t really know someone until you know what they struggle with most.

11. Not long ago, tea, sugar and spices were really hard for ordinary people to get. But they’re still as delicious as they always were. So enjoy!

12. If you spend a week tracking how you actually spend your waking hours, you will probably be shocked.

13. Friendships take work to maintain, and it’s possible the other person is doing all the work.

14. One way to add hours to your week, and months to your life, is to put your phone somewhere beyond arm’s reach.

15. Often, to make a breakthrough with something, you just need to stick with it a little longer than you usually do. Even five or ten minutes.

16. You can shave a decade or two off your working life by understanding compound interest and the long-term value of your purchases.

17. It’s almost impossible to convince someone of something once they see you as being on the “other side”.

18. Losing weight really is as simple as reducing the number of calories you eat. Not easy, but very simple.

19. Often we convince ourselves that we have less freedom than we really do, so that we don’t have to be responsible for doing the right thing.

20. Listening to the blues really does help when you have the blues.

21. I said this last time, but as a reminder: it’s worth retrying foods you didn’t like the first time.

22. We all have unconscious biases, even nasty ones about race, class and sex. Don’t believe anyone who says they don’t have any.

23. We are all thinking and ruminating nearly all day long, which is why we constantly seek activities that can relieve us from it, like music, TV, drinking, sex and death sports.

24. Romantic love might be a pretty recent invention, so don’t get too bent out of shape if your experience doesn’t fit the mold.

25. When you quit smoking you immediately realize how bad you stank all those years.

26. Daily meditation has a way of making solutions to many of your problems suddenly obvious.

27. “Comfort zone” is an annoying term but it sure is useful. It’s the only place to find solutions to your longest-running problems.

28. Everything has more detail to be found, if you take some time to look even closer. Especially plants.

29. The main reason we argue online is because it feels good, but we like to imagine it’s also somehow noble or helpful.

30. “Act the way you want to feel” actually works a lot of the time.

31. One thing nobody regrets is becoming a fit, active person.

32. Our beliefs about right and wrong come from mostly from intuitions and gut feelings, not logic.

33. We evolved to go days without food. Missing a meal shouldn’t be a big deal, but if you skip the odd lunch people will assume you have an eating disorder.

34. New York City is a pretty neat place. Don’t die without visiting, if possible.

35. Pretty much all double albums would have been better as single albums. Except maybe The Wall.

36. Propaganda’s effects can last forever. Two hundred years later, most people still think Marie Antoinette said “Let them eat cake”.

37. It’s really liberating, after trying to look smart for so many years, to start freely admitting when you’re wrong and when you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.

38. Every household should have an aloe plant. Don’t wait until you burn yourself to go get one.

39. We’re all going to die, and on the whole that is definitely a good thing. Wouldn’t it be terrible if all of this never ended? It would also get very crowded.

40. John Waters was on to something when he said, “If you go home with someone, and they don’t have any books, don’t f**k them.”

41. Voting is only one of many avenues individuals have for shaping the direction of society, and it’s an extremely low-leverage one.

42. The ability to make good art depends a lot on your willingness to make lots of bad art in between.

43. We tend to think more about negative events than positive ones. Knowing that is helpful, in case you think there’s something wrong with you.

44. A decent definition for self-love is “Doing for yourself what you would want your kids to do for themselves.”

45. Not making your bed in the morning sets the bar kind of low for the rest of the day.

46. Having a defensible opinion, on any topic at all, actually requires a ton of work. Mostly reading.

47. Everything you own has an effect on your psyche. Less stuff makes for a less disturbed mind in general.

48. Bachelors, if you want to class your place up a bit, a few plants goes a long way.

49. We are all atheists, in a sense. Every person denies the existence of either most or all of the gods that have been proposed.

50. The most insightful news source in America is The Onion.

51. Meeting and/or staying with locals completely changes the travel experience.

52. The best and worst thing about life is all the other people. Well, mostly.

53. Becoming exceptional at something is probably just a matter of making #15 your normal way of doing things.

54. Going for a walk almost always alters the mood, at least a little.

55. One quality everyone finds attractive is competence, at anything really. Experts are super sexy.

56. We would probably be more moral creatures if we acknowledged how difficult fairness and compassion actually is for members of our species.

57. Lasting habit changes always involve some kind of identity shift. Running every day stops being a grind only once you begin to feel like a runner.

58. To pass easily through crowded sidewalks, stare just above everyone’s hairline and keep your speed up. They will get out of the way.

59. Not hiding it when you’re wrong commands more respect than always appearing to be right.

60. We are all selfish, to a pretty alarming degree. If you’ve ever bought a cocktail, you bought it instead of eyeglasses or medicine for some poor kid somewhere.

61. Whoever invented the zipper was a goddamn genius.

62. When a party has degenerated into people showing each other their favorite YouTube videos, it’s time to call a cab.

63. Future societies will laugh at us for how we let advertising cover nearly every available public space.

64. Other people, generally, can see solutions to your problems more clearly than you can. (Use this to your advantage.)

65. Fears get stronger whenever you heed them, and weaker whenever you act in spite of them. This is a simple law you can depend on.

66. Most of the difficulty and awkwardness associated with a task is stacked right at the beginning, so it’s over with quickly unless you chicken out really early on.

67. Listening attentively to someone’s problem without trying to solve it is a skill that’s greatly appreciated, and is worth practicing.

68. Humans are too complex for everything in their lives to run smoothly at once; it’s probably normal to be a mess in at least a few areas.

69. Lots of people you know are hiding addictions, and you’d never guess who.

70. There will always be enough suffering in the world to horrify you a million times over, so it may not be worth dwelling on at times when you’re not doing anything about it.

71. There’s a kind of low-brow pleasure we get from being angry and indignant, and very often there’s nothing else we gain from it.

72. Most classic novels are very readable, but we think of them as dry and awful because of the ones forced on us in high school.

73. There is a paradoxical relationship between ease and difficulty; sticking to easy things makes life hard, while doing hard things makes life easy.

74. Posture has a predictable and immediate effect on mood.

75. Goals have to improve your life in the short-term in order for you to keep at it all the way to the long-term rewards.

76. It can be really freeing to see a given present moment as though it’s the beginning of your life. In a sense, it is.

77. People usually like it when you ask them for advice in their areas of expertise. Also, #64 makes this a smart thing to do.

78. How free you feel in day-to-day life depends a lot on your willingness to open up to discomfort when it happens. That can be practiced.

79. There’s no need to eat iceberg lettuce in a world with available romaine, baby spinach, arugula and endive. Branch out!

80. By the time voices are raised, communication has stopped.

81. A few fancy, high-quality grocery purchases are still way cheaper than even a crappy restaurant experience, and there will be leftovers.

82. People that lie to others in your presence would probably lie to you just as easily.

83. We overvalue pithiness because it’s immediately gratifying, and we undervalue nuance because it takes too much work. But you should share this post anyway.

84. Keeping secrets is really hard for almost everyone. The secret-keeper eventually confides in one other person, thinking they won’t do the same thing.

85. We tend to think the person we are is the person we’ve been so far.

86. Self-doubt is hard to deal with but it does keep our standards high. The worst art is made by people who think everything they do is great.

87. We always think that our latest dilemma is the one that will destroy us, but so far none of them have. The sky has fallen a thousand times already.

88. Don’t worry, everybody else is crazy too.”

- http://www.raptitude.com

Free Download: Crimson Avenger, “How You Got Screwed”

“How You Got Screwed”

 by Crimson Avenger

“After years of observing the many corrupted systems that affect our lives, I compiled my thoughts into this book– “How You Got Screwed.” If you’d like a copy, just download the book in PDF form by clicking here. There is no cost for the book, and you’re free to use it and share it as you see fit. I wrote it to help people understand what’s truly happening in this country, and the more people you share it with, and the more ways you think to use it, the happier I’ll be. If you have any questions or thoughts, I’d love to hear them; just email me at howyougotscrewed@gmail.com.“

- https://www.theburningplatform.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Baltic, Connecticut, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

Free Download: Charles MacKay, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds"

“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; 

it will be seen that they go mad in herds, 

while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.”

- Charles MacKay, 

"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds"

Freely download 

"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" here:

- https://vantagepointtrading.com/

"Violent Rioters Busted in NYC Reportedly Come From Privileged Backgrounds: Yacht Clubs, Modeling jobs, Second Homes in Connecticut"

"Violent Rioters Busted in NYC Reportedly Come 
From Privileged Backgrounds: Yacht Clubs,
 Modeling jobs, Second Homes in Connecticut"

"A group of Black Lives Matter rioters recently busted for smashing windows and causing mayhem in Manhattan reportedly come from privileged backgrounds that include yacht club performances, modeling gigs, and second homes in Connecticut, the New York Post reported Wednesday. The would-be revolutionaries had their mug shots tweeted out by the New York City Police Department this week after they were booked for rampaging through the Flatiron District and reportedly causing at least $100,000 in damage. Their activities were part of a protest allegedly put on by groups who referred to themselves as the "New Afrikan Black Panther Party" and the "Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement."

Click image for larger size.

"On Friday, September 4th, these individuals were arrested for rioting during demonstrations in Manhattan. They were part of a large group breaking storefront windows. Our investigation into this incident continues.

Yacht clubs and second homes: Amazingly, several rioters had no obvious motive for demonstrating against racial injustice and police brutality. The most notable of the bunch is Clara Kraebber, 20, the redhead daughter of a Manhattan architect and an Upper East Side child psychiatrist whose family reportedly owns a $1.8 million apartment in the city - and a second home in Connecticut. Kraebber currently attends Rice University in Houston - which boasts a tuition of nearly $70,000 - where she is a member of the school's Young Democrats club. Her schooling may have to be postponed, however, because she faces up to four years in prison on a first-degree riot charge.

Next up is Frank Fuhrmeister, 30, a freelance art director who studied fine arts and photography at Florida State College in Jacksonville and has allegedly worked for high-profile brands such as Pepsi, Samsung and The Glenlivet.

Adi Sragovich, 20, was a skillful jazz musician before joining the cause. "Before joining the protest, Sragovich was an accomplished musician who spent time performing in local theater groups and at the Sea Cliff Yacht Club, according to the 'Great Neck Record', which photographed her during a 2017 show," according to the Post report.

Claire Severine, 27, is a signed model with the We Speak agency who recently settled in New York to pursue a career in acting, the Post said.

Two others in the group, Etkar Surette, 27, and Elliot Rucka, 20, were also booked for rioting last Friday. Surette spent summers in Europe as a child and Rucka is the son of popular comic book writers Greg Rucka and Jennifer Van Meter.

'The height of hypocrisy': One police source who spoke to the Post anonymously blasted the actions from the rioters as hypocritical. "I wonder how her rich parents feel about their daughter," the officer said, referring to Kraebber. "How would they feel if they graffitied their townhouse?" "This girl should be the poster child for white privilege, growing up on the Upper East Side and another home in Connecticut," the source added. "This is the height of hypocrisy."

- http://www.cuzzblue.com/
○
Related:

"These Rich White Kids Were Arrested For Rioting. 
Here's A Look At Their Violent 'Revolutionary Strategy'"

The Poet: Carl Sandburg, “Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind”

“Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind”

 ”The past is a bucket of ashes.”

1

“The woman named Tomorrow  

sits with a hairpin in her teeth  

and takes her time  

and does her hair the way she wants it  

and fastens at last the last braid and coil 

and puts the hairpin where it belongs  

and turns and drawls: Well, what of it?  

My grandmother, Yesterday, is gone.  

What of it? Let the dead be dead.  

  

2

The doors were cedar

and the panels strips of gold  

and the girls were golden girls  

and the panels read and the girls chanted:  

  We are the greatest city,  

  the greatest nation:

  nothing like us ever was.  

   

The doors are twisted on broken hinges.  

Sheets of rain swish through on the wind  

  where the golden girls ran and the panels read:  

  We are the greatest city,

  the greatest nation,  

  nothing like us ever was.  

   

3

It has happened before.  

Strong men put up a city and got  

  a nation together,

And paid singers to sing and women  

  to warble: We are the greatest city,  

    the greatest nation,  

    nothing like us ever was.  

   

And while the singers sang

and the strong men listened  

and paid the singers well  

and felt good about it all,  

  there were rats and lizards who listened…  

and the only listeners left now…

 are… the rats… and the lizards.  

   

And there are black crows  

crying, “Caw, caw,”  

bringing mud and sticks  

building a nest

over the words carved  

on the doors where the panels were cedar  

and the strips on the panels were gold  

and the golden girls came singing:  

  We are the greatest city,

  the greatest nation:  

  nothing like us ever was.  

   

The only singers now are crows crying, “Caw, caw,”  

And the sheets of rain whine in the wind and doorways.  

And the only listeners now are… the rats… and the lizards.

   

4

The feet of the rats  

scribble on the door sills;  

the hieroglyphs of the rat footprints  

chatter the pedigrees of the rats  

and babble of the blood

and gabble of the breed  

of the grandfathers and the great-grandfathers  

of the rats.  

   

And the wind shifts  

and the dust on a door sill shifts

and even the writing of the rat footprints  

tells us nothing, nothing at all  

about the greatest city, the greatest nation  

where the strong men listened  

and the women warbled: Nothing like us ever was.”

- Carl Sandburg, 1878 – 1967

"Consequences..."

“The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences…”

- Winston Churchill, November 1936

○

“We are called upon by events to rise above the distracting physical discomfort and growing distaste for the insensitive pathologies of political and corporate bullies. We are duty bound to remain humble, give honest opinion with conscience, gently but firmly with empathy for the defenseless hordes who bear the brunt of the agony inflicted by the irresponsible, indiscriminate and senseless behavior of political and corporate realms.”

- mongrelpuppy

"How It Really Is"

"Covid-19 Pandemic Update 9/12/20"

 

SEP 12, 2020 12:33 AM ET:
 Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Global Outbreak 
The coronavirus pandemic has sickened more than 28,421,600 
people, according to official counts, including 6,465,492 Americans.

      SEP 12, 2020 12:33 AM ET: 
Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count

◆

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

09/12/2020 - 16:45: "France Suffers New Record Surge In COVID-19 Cases As Locals Complain About Testing Delays: Live Updates"

◆

Updated 9/12/20, 2:25 AM ET

Click image for larger size.

- https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

"Reality..."

“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based upon our perceptions. What we perceive depends upon what we look for. What we look for depends upon what we think. What we think depends upon what we perceive. What we perceive determines what we believe. What we believe determines what we take to be true. What we take to be true is our reality.”

- Gary Zukav

"Because..."

“There is much asked and only so much I think I can or should answer, and so, in this post I would like to give a few thoughts on what seemed to be the overwhelming question: “WHY?” And here is the best answer I can give: Because. Because sometimes, life is damned unfair. Because sometimes, we lose people we love and it hurts deeply. Because sometimes there aren’t really answers to our questions except for what we discover, the meaning we assign them over time. Because acceptance is yet another of life’s “here’s a side of hurt” lessons and it is never truly acceptance unless it has cost us something to arrive there. Why, you ask? Because, I answer. Inadequate yet true.”

- Libba Bray

"Once Upon a Time, The End"

"Once Upon a Time, The End"

by Martin Zamyatin

 "Those that can make you believe absurdities 

can make you commit atrocities."

- Voltaire

"The small group of devoted followers gathered around Chicago housewife Dorothy Martin sat in stunned silence as the clock on her suburban living room wall struck midnight on the twentieth of December, 1954…and nothing happened. Many had left jobs and spouses and given away all their money and possessions in order to await the arrival of alien beings from the planet Clarion, who Martin had assured them would descend at that appointed hour, carrying the faithful few off in their flying saucers just before huge floods engulfed the planet Earth. Finally, four hours after their scheduled departure time, Martin broke her silence. 

As the group readjusted their bras, belts, and zippers - having been instructed to discard any metal objects which might interfere with the aliens’ telepathic radio transmissions - their tearful host revealed the reason why their intergalactic rescuers had failed to appear: Apparently it had all been only an elaborate test of faith, and the group’s advanced state of enlightenment had saved the entire planet from a watery destruction!

Surprisingly, only one or two of Martin’s followers were unconvinced by this perfectly rational explanation. Among them, however, was social psychologist Leon Festinger, who had secretly infiltrated the group. Festinger would later write about Martin - using the pseudonym of Marian Keech - in his groundbreaking 1958 book, "When Prophecy Fails." (Not surprisingly, Festinger is credited with coining the psychological term ‘cognitive dissonance.’) 

Following publication of Festinger’s book, the group predictably collapsed under the weight of public ridicule. Martin fled to Peru to warn the clueless natives about the imminent re-emergence of Atlantis, before later resurfacing in Arizona, where she joined crackpot L. Ron Hubbard’s nascent pseudoscientific movement, Scientology.

It seems that for as long as people have inhabited the world, they have anticipated its imminent demise. (In fact, the oldest known apocalyptic prediction is depicted on Assyrian tablets from 2800 BC.) In what may be the earliest example in European folklore, a Frankish villager wandered off into the forest in 591, only to be accosted by a swarm of ravenous flies. Overwhelmed, the poor fellow completely lost his mind and returned to his village clothed in animal pelts, claiming he was Jesus Christ, sent to gather his flock before the coming Rapture. (Perhaps resenting the competition, a local bishop hired a gang of thugs to capture the Lord of the Flies, who they rapturously hacked into little bits.)

The failure of one apocalyptic prophecy not only failed to deter its devoted followers but in fact spawned several entirely new religions. When the world failed to end as predicted in the ‘Great Disappointment’ of 1843-44, Massachusetts preacher William Miller’s tens of thousands of followers splintered off to found the Seventh Day Adventists, as well as the obnoxious doorknockers known as Jehovah’s Witnesses. When the next fateful year of 1874 passed without the desired fireworks, the latter’s charismatic founder, Charles Taze Russell, explained that Jesus had indeed returned, but was invisible to all except the truly devout. (Predictably, few dared admit to being lacking in the requisite level of faith.) 

The founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, had declared way back in 1832 that 1890 would be the year of Jesus’s long awaited return engagement. (Later jailed for fraud, Smith somehow failed to predict his own deliverance by an angry mob at age 39.) Russell revised the fateful year to 1881…then 1914…and finally, 1918. (The latter dates spanned World War I and the Spanish Flu epidemic, events that while apocalyptic for many, fell short of being world ending.)

Our own time has seen the horrors of the Peoples Temple - in which 914 adults and children committed suicide in the jungles of Guyana in 1978; the Branch Davidians, an offshoot of the Seventh Day Adventists - 75 of whom died in the FBI standoff at Waco in 1993; Aum Shinri Kyo -whose poison gas attacks on the Tokyo subway in 1994-95 left 19 innocent people dead; and -neither least nor unfortunately, last - Heaven’s Gate, 39 of whose members committed suicide in 1996, fully expecting (like Dorothy Martin) their spirits to be carried away by aliens hiding in the wake of an approaching comet.

It was probably no coincidence that all of these cults were acting in anticipation of an impending Bible-inspired Day ofJudgement. One is tempted to blame these kinds of incidents on the delusions of a small minority of misguided religious fanatics, except that millions of people alive today are expecting an imminent Biblical apocalypse. In a 2012 global poll, fully one out of 7 people said they thought the world would end during their lifetime - and rather ominously, Americans topped the list of doomsayers at 22%. Since their government has the means to fulfil their death wish many times over, one can only hope their gloomy prediction won’t one day become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just call it a bedtime story for humanity."

- http://www.321gold.com/editorials/

“Economic Nightmare; Dangerous Times Ahead; Wealth Destruction; Inflation”

Jeremiah Babe,

“Economic Nightmare; Dangerous Times Ahead; 

Wealth Destruction; Inflation”

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