Now's the Time - Sell All Your Common Stocks

"I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you"

There is a saying that "Bulls make money in the market - - Bears make money in the market - - but Hogs never do".  And it's not a good idea to want to squeeze out those last few points on the upside of the market so I'm saying to Sell Everything Now.  The market hasn't retrenched too far - - yet- - so now's an excellent time to lock in the profits which hopefully you have accumulated over the past several years.  These "bouts of panic" or whatever, have come to the market on too frequent a basis not to be paid attention to, like an older person with a serious disease, which nobody wants to face but they know they'll have to.  The Gallop poll as presented by Rush Limbaugh or whoever- - indicates that these past six years have seen more business disilussions or "deaths" than new businesses have been created.  Since the population of the country continues to grow constantly, this should not be the case.  Retail sales were down point nine percent in the month of December.  It was very disconcerting.  And this flies in the face of gasoline prices being at six year lows.  You'd think with petroleum prices down, people would have more cash to spend on other items, but this has not been the case.  Many states want to raise gasoline taxes because they claim that revenues from these taxes are down.  This is strange because I thought most gas taxes were strictly numerical and not based on any percentage.  But even if they are based on a percentage there should NOT be that much of a drop in revenue because people have more money to spend on said gasoline.  Many people in the business world are feeling pessimistic about the year 2015 for reasons that may or may not be political.  So sell everything tomorrow morning and don't worry if the prices are going up when the market opens tomorrow.  I'd definitely rather sell into a rising market than a falling one.  That way you won't be chasing bids and have all these people climbing over you to get there and sell their holdings first.  There's no need to panic.  Just go in there and take your profits, like cashing in your chips at a casino after you've had a good run.

This Republican congress is like the last four years in steroids.  They mean business.  They could literally be cutting the Social Security I personally have to live on -- by twenty percent as of next year.  This is nothing to sneeze about.  That's a drastic cut for any program.  They are going to use any legal guimic or technicality to exact their way, I suspect on a whole host of issues.  The XL Pipeline is a done deal if the President doesn't keep his word and Veto the darned thing.  But pardon my lack of faith, but this President has let us down so much before that I don't trust his word till he actually does it.  Meanwhile Rush Limbaugh is puzzled why John Boehner is making anti Obama remarks.  John Boehner has NEVER been a moderate.  I don't know how the hell that rumor ever got started, but right now Johyn Boehner is just showing his true colors.  Finally we have the fact of the President speaking from Iowa today in front of a backdrop of carpenter's tools.  I don't know.  On this issue is Internet Neutrality the President IS on the right side, thank Allah.  But I don't know how much power the President has.  Every time he appoints someone to a cabinet post or some comission some Power takes a hold of him and he appoints a right winger.  So why should people be surprised to learn that the FCC these past few weeks has been leaning to have this tiered Internet for the priveleged, who "pay to play" - - who get the diamond lane or whatever - - and the rest of us, consigned to the slow lane.  We've had it our way the past twenty five years but that's now good enough for these people.  They want to institute these Mafia type shake-downs for money if you want your information packets to get through on time.  I don't think the American people realize just how serious of an issue this is of Internet Neutrality- - - which, once again, we've had up till now, but we may be losing it very soon.

On the subject of Islamic violence - - I'll make a deal with you.  If you agree with me that Christianity contains violent people, I'll agree that Islam contains some really sicko, violent, anarchistic people.  I think that any religion needs to own up to violent people in their midst, and this is especially true of Islam.  I think there can be no question that among the world's major religions, Islam is by far the most violent one.  I don't know how many clerics speak out against violence in their own faith.  According to liberals such as Washington's Blog- - these moderate Muslims speak out all the time but the media never reports THAT but persists in giving you the false impression that they are all passively going along with the acts of terror we see throughout the world nowadays - - and don't seem particularly rattled by it.  Among Christians- - the Pope for one has spoken many times of the evils in the world and against war and for Peace.  The Pope has also spoken out extensively against raping the planet and monetary greed.   I could only wish that leading Muslim clerics were as prominent in the news coverage in terms of speaking out against acts of violence in their ranks.  My friends at the Federation will give such violence a pass because they say "Taking on Islam would upset the Cosmic balance and make things worse for a whole lot of people".   I felt it necessary here to include that remark.  Historically - - Islam was a very productive religion that featured liberal thought and scientific quest.  Of course that was a thousand years ago when Islam still had academic respectability.  Now everything they've accomplished in the past is put in jeopardy because of all of these current nut cases they "suffer among them" (to use a little King James lingo there).

 Many ask me if I believe the New Testament.  My answer is 'I have no real problem with most of it in terms of teaching" however I have issues with Hebrews and First Peter.  Both books glorify suffering saying that we are actually perfected in suffering, or that "He who has suffered has ceased from sin" or an image of what Pastor Mark used to talk about of as "God's conveyer belt" as in honing of metal parts, for instance.  I believe suffering is neutral.  Hebrews mentions being visited by Angels and not knowing it, or being surrounded by "a cloud of martyrs" looking down on us, like the Catholics believe.  Hebrews contradicts the Book of Revelations as to just when we get our "Heavenly reward" or "Last Judgement' or what have you?   But now I would rather tackle an issue that has do with the origen of various other Bible books.  I believe as you know that Marcion started the whole idea of some body of "New Testament" scripture, so to speak.  Marcion wanted to "Christianize" Gnosticism or give a more Messianic twist to the usual Gnosticism, which is already tending in that direction.  But many wonder about another guy Luigi Cascioli, who posited the idea that Jesus of the Holy Scrptures was to an extent based on the life of one Jonah, brother of the historic figure Thaddeus (with various spellings) who was a revolutionary.  Thaddius also went by the name of Judas, and Judas was the Twin brother of one of the brothers (perhaps "Jonah" himself)  Hence we have Judas Thomas, who later in his life visited India and was martyred there, flayed alive with a sword.  This is probably the "Jude" of scripture and also "Judas, not Iscariot".  There were other brothers - - who were revolutionaries and fomented an uprising in Galilee in 46 AD.  The other brothers were Simon (or Simeon) the Zealot, and also a Jacob (or James) and another previously unknown brother named Eleazer, which means "The Lord will provide".  In the so called Gospel of Thomas (Judas Thomas) we for the first time are exposed to the sayings of "Jesus" alias Jonah.  (It's a little odd and coincidental that Jesus told his detracters "You will have no sign but the sign of Jonah".   This "sayings' gospel- - was combined with more action oriented material in which healings are performed and demons were cast out.  But keep in mind at this early date, in the first half of the second century - - the whole crucifixion or "Passion Play" Jerusalem stuff still isn't included.  Just to say that a particular story, or Books existed is not to say that the material wasn't tinkered around with and added to at a later date.  I posited the thought that John chapter 21 actually belongs at the end of Matthew's gospel, where it makes a whole lot more contextural sense.  Because there are "glosses" in Matthew such as Jesus's teaching that "Any man who marries a divorced woman commits adultry with her".  There is also the whole "high mountain" text where Jesus says "Go into all the world making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit".   St Paul teaches "It is better to marry than to burn with passion" and he also encourages widdows to marry "If they can't control their bodily lusts".  I said that "Sometimes you can't believe Everything in the Bible because some passages contradict others and you have to make a choice."   It's a clear case of crossing a diamond with a pearl and unleashing it on the world.  For instance it's Gnostic doctrine that "If you have enough faith - - you are Already seated with Christ in heavenly places".  St Paul teaches this.  He said "To live is Christ; and to die is Gain".  Remember that the "epistles" section of Marcion's scriptural cannon- - was composed of Paul's letters.  In Gnosticism - - - death was not to be feared because you'd already had the "Born Again" experiance and thus had "eternal life" right NOW.  However there were other oppinions from what is referred to as the "Syrian Church".  Justin Martyr emphatically tought soul sleep and said "If you believe when you die and go straight to heaven - - and deny the physical resurrection, then you are in hericy".  Justin taught that souls had "sensation" but it was passive, along with the Saints in the book of Revelation who were given white robes and waving palm branches and told "rest here a while till your blood on earth can be avenged".  You can see clearly the difference.  One school says "I have it now in the present and for all time" and the other school posits a protracted "waiting period" after death.  (Selah)

Bill Cosby is in the news again because of this fresh charge by a new woman of being drugged and waking nude in bed with Mr Cosby.  He said that Bill Cosby was "sucking on her toes and fondeling himself" and she has no memory after being given drinks.  Personally I think this is a good chance to put Cosby on trial for once and for all, since this incident took place in 2008 within the California statute of limitations.  The girl was only eighteen at the time.  In other news news of the day - - John Boehner might have been poisoned if an Ohio bartender had had his way.  Now the line is printing below the bottom of the screen and it's driving me nuts because I can't read it.  The guy thought he was Jesus Christ and John Boehner was the devil.  And if he couldn't poison his murlow then he'd just shoot him.  Sean Hannity has said "Well, I've received mailings where people thought that I was the devil."   In other news that free climbing guy finally made it to the top of El Capitan after eighteen days.  He only had the ropes there to prevent his falling to his death, but he did not use the ropes to help him climb.  That was all done with muscle power.  Congratulations!  North Korea once again is denying any computer involvement with the hacking of Sony Pictures studio.  Of course now the military's twitter page has been hacked.  Go figure that!

You Just Can't Believe What the Media Tells You These Days

In terms of this whole new conspiracy theory about Martin Luther King’s assassination - - unlike 9 – 11 and the Warren Comissions, I just don’t see any evidence or motive to support this scenario by George Washington’s blog.  We can’t apparently trust ANYTHING the media says, and Washington’s Blog on some issues to be in a parrellel universe.  And since I don’t trust other sources, how can I be confident that anybody will trust me when I do a posting?  There was this one Pepper guy who functioned as James Earl Ray’s defense attorney.  Of course Ray initially pled guilty but then withdrew his guilty plea but they wouldn’t let him.  He said stuff about this whole firing squad station around the Laverne Motel - - - and how King was moved to a different room - - one in which the security was not nearly as good.   Even if they get someone from this mystery military government hit squad to tell a story, how are we to know he isn’t just some crazy publicity hound?   According to this Pepper guy “As people approach death they are more inclined to confess to old crimes”.   It’s a nice theory but I’m not sure if it holds.  The thing is Johnson and King worked together on the Civil Rights bill so there is no way in hell that LBJ would hire a military hit squad to eliminate King.  And the thing is - - if you’re proven wrong on one theory you have, then all your detractors will doubt you on EVERYTHING you say.  Judy sent me a profile of pros and cons for sixteen Republican presidential candidates.  Mitt Romney has been in the news of course as the latest retread to go around the track a third time.

This is one of the strangest entries yet from Washington’s blog claiming that a civil “wrongful death” trial was led by Coretta Scott King that was held in December of 1999 in Memphis, Tennessee, Shelby County.  I don’t know what to make of it.  Last night I was reading commentary from people who claimed that Washington’s blog had lost touch with reality.  I hope this whole allegation today by Washington’s Blog just isn’t some well planned, elaborate rouse just to see who gets suckered in by it.  But anyhow here is a few important points to think about- - if you believe this report at all.

§  US 111th Military Intelligence Group were at Dr. King’s location during the assassination.

§  20th Special Forces Group had an 8-man sniper team at the assassination location on that day.

§  Usual Memphis Police special body guards were advised they “weren’t needed” on the day of the assassination.

§  Regular and constant police protection for Dr. King was removed from protecting Dr. King an hour before the assassination.

§  Military Intelligence set-up photographers on the roof of a fire station with clear view to Dr. King’s balcony.

§  Dr. King’s room was changed from a secure 1st-floor room to an exposed balcony room.

§  Memphis police ordered the scene where multiple witnesses reported as the source of shooting cut down of their bushes that would have hid a sniper.

§  Along with sanitizing a crime scene, police abandoned investigative procedure to interview witnesses who lived by the scene of the shooting.

§  The rifle Mr. Ray delivered was not matched to the bullet that killed Dr. King, and was not sighted to accurately shoot.

This is Monday January 12, 2015.  Free Speech does not necessarily extend to the former Secretary of State under Bush being allowed to give a commencement speech.  Likewise if you put an objectionable post on my facebook page, I have every right to delete it.  Many people point out that this French Charlie guy was totally disgusting in so many of his posts- - and there were racial slurs against all manner of foreigners and immigrents.  This is the true test of how pure of a free speech guy you are is whether you will defend speech you can’t stand.   I listened to mostly Sean Hannity blubbering endlessly about why Obama didn’t show up at the Paris rally on Sunday.  The thing wasn’t planned till Friday afternoon and to organize secret service clearance in that time over a vast area of four million people is a little too much to ask.  If the secret service says “Don’t do it” it seems prudent to listen to them, rather than get shot and then Sean Hannity would be saying ‘I know the secret service was incompetent and here is your proof”.   That Norms bike riding little kid ad is pretty funny.   Norman Goldman said some of this stuff about “How come Obama didn’t attend” is reminiscent to teenagers at a Junior High dance gossiping about who Sally was dancing with.  The media will highlight whatever story they wish no matter how petty.  The point is that the United States is in solidarity with France, and the fact that the vast majority of Muslim organizations and leaders have condemned these attacks in Paris, and that's a good thing.  So why should a good thing be eclipsed by the media on something so petty as to find something else to blame President Obama for?  If the economy is bad, it's Obama's fault.  If there is a bombing, it's Obama's fault.  If there are a couple Ebola cases in the United States, it's Obama's fault.  This blaming and finger wagging seems endless.

OTHER MAJOR NEWS OF THE DAY

 Terry wanted me to get all the addresses of Republican governors.  This is easier said than done, because most don’t seem to give out their snail mail address and to post on Facebook you need to sign up for Facebook, which I haven’t done.   Ecampaign@gop.com is the web address for the Republican Governor’s association, and usually when you do that it doesn’t create a live link but that one did.   They had grouped photographs of all the Republican governors.  I looked up Gov Synder and listened to a speech, and there was politi-fact on Scott Walker where he tells flat out lies the majority of the time.  I looked in on Rick Scott.  Mike Papentonio in December 14^th show talked about now the NRA fans the fires of panic after a major shooting incident to prompt firearms purchase.  There is the whole thing with the “big box” stores such as Wall Mart and Home Depot and these major “out the door” kickbacks which are “payment in advance” for how you’re going to cast your vote when you get on some commission or dept head.  And of course the quickest way to influence legal decisions is just to buy a judge to begin with.   Nebraska’s Supreme Court coverage last week has already yielded a decision.  The good guys won their case 7 to 4 but still lost because since it was a “constitutional issue” of eminent domain that was at stake - - they could not say that eminent domain didn’t apply in this case because a two thirds vote is required for “constitutional issues” in Nebraska.  The consequence of this Supreme Court decision is that now the state department can approve the Trans-Canada pipeline.  But now there are problems in South Dakota because their five year old permit has expired.  There was a site called pipeline lies dot org that I watched a lot of the video on.  Most of that material I was already painfully familiar with it.  If you’re a poor Black in Port Arthur Texas you’re too poor to move out, and therefore your kids are subject to either breathing problems or else cancer.  At least one in five children are adversely impacted by health issues in Port Arthur.  In Arkansas they showed the oil sludge “fountain” in that housing tract.  Then there are these coke “mountains” in urban areas by the river near Detroit, or is that “Koch” mountains?  And of course there are native “Canadians” over the border whose land is affected.  The whole open pit mining operation there is in an area the size of the state of Florida.   There is news the congressional Republicans are attacking the disabled fund of Social Security because THAT fund is low, and they want to disallow a fund transfer from the regular fund- - on a technicality.  There aren’t that many disabled people so these Republicans think there won’t be that much blow-back.   Thom Hartman’s show had a lady substitute for today. 

Seven Ways To Undermine Terrorism

I am still thinking of posting that Word file on “Seven ways to deal with Islamic terrorism”.   Now there is a new group called AQAP or Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  Where do they get these names?  It sure seems like the more we bomb them and take other repressive measures against our own citizens, the stronger these Islamics get.   Apparently the US has done “one hundred air strikes” in Yemen.  Of course this Al Alaki guy it seems even from the grave is planning terrorist attacks and both of those terrorist brothers gave Al Alaki credit for their actions.  And there is some tie in also with the famed underwear bomber.  But it may be the first time a guy was executed for a crime years before he even committed it, as is with Al Alaki.  Of course should we be one bit less vigilant than we are now- - the Republicans will bring up the wimp factor saying that President Obama is somehow a closet sympathizer with the Muslim cause.   Normally January is am optimistic time of the year, for the reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph.   But keep in mind I have thirty fewer dollars this year as a Christmas gift and forty-five fewer dollars than I was hopefully expecting.  You dare not think for a minute “I have enough money for a while – maybe I don’t have to worry about spending”.   I am glad they showed all four play-off NFL games this weekend.  I’m just glad they finally got all of the Holiday adds of the TV air waves.

The Mc Laughlin group was very straightforward this week.  There was no fringe conservative funny stuff at all.  The first topic was the terrorist event in Paris and the take down on Friday.  Pat Buchannon was almost an apologist for the Islamic cause saying that we need to look at issues more from their point of view.  The second topic was the candidicy of Jeb Bush.  And the third topic was this Mexican drug cartel.  I hold out little hope that President Obama can shake some sense into the new Mexican President.  The best we can hope for at this point is just to do what the republicans are advising and to strengthen the Mexican border, because that’s where all of the drugs are getting in with these established “drug routs”.  It doesn’t seem that I’ll be doing any blog postings tonight.  Anticipated topics just didn’t materialize.

The big news of the day is that Green Bay won its game over Dallas in Green Bay.  They said the weather was the warmest in Green Bay it’s been all week.  The final score was 25 to 21 but for a lot of the game Dallas was ahead, which I found disconcerting.  I didn’t want Governor Christie getting the upper hand- and another week of gloating.  The Colts and the Broncos (I guess that makes it the horse bowl) were tied at seven a piece.  I turned the TV off just in case Dr Levy happened to have actually shown up in the front room.

 I listened to Leo Le Port who talked about the consumer electronics show that didn’t begin till Tuesday.  Leo hasn’t gone to that thing in several years because he says when you have to go for an assignment, it’s too hectic.  My understanding in the past is that Apple has been boycotting this show for years, and also this is more of an expo of items that will not be coming to a store near you anytime soon.  Now they even have “smart beds” that can monitor your child’s sleeping patterns.  So course wearable electronics is all in right now like these smart watched.  But I think some of these auto pay schemes haven’t been perfected, and perhaps they better make perfecting what they have their first priority.  I hear constant complaints about Wi Fi even.  I’m not even completely sure that voice recognition into text has been entirely perfected.  Dr Levy has not put in an appearance yet this weekend, and there is no assurance he’ll show tomorrow either.

The 7 Ways to Stop Terrorism

In the wake of the barbaric Paris terror attack, everyone is debating how to stop further terrorism.

Some say we need more war against Islamic countries … or more spying … or more crackdowns on our liberties.

But – despite what the talking heads may say – the methods for stopping future attacks are well known …

We’ve got to drain the swamp in the following 7 ways.

I. Stop Supporting the Dictators Who Fund Terrorists

Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest sponsor of radical Islamic terrorists.
The Saudis have backed ISIS and many other brutal terrorist groups. According to sworn declarations from a 9/11 Commissioner and the Co-Chair of the Congressional Inquiry Into 9/11, the Saudi government backed the 9/11 hijackers. Saudi Arabia is the hotbed of the most radical Muslim terrorists in the world: the Salafis (both ISIS and Al Qaeda are Salafis).

And the Saudis – with U.S. support – back the radical “madrassas” in which Islamic radicalism was spread. The U.S. has been supporting the Saudis militarily, with NSA intelligence and in every other way possible for 70 years. Stopping our support of the hotbeds of terrorism would greatly reduce the risk of future terrorism.

In addition, top American terrorism experts say that U.S. support for brutal and tyrannical countries in the Middle east – like Saudi Arabia – is one of the top motivators for Arab terrorists. So if we stop supporting the House of Saud and other Arab tyrannies, we’ll get a two-fold reduction in terror:

(1) We’ll undermine the main terrorism supporters

And …

(2) We’ll take away one of the main motivations driving terrorists: our support of the Saudis and other Arab tyrannies

II. Stop Arming Terrorists

We’re arming the most violent terrorists in the Middle East, as part of a geopolitical strategy to overthrow leaders we don’t like (see section III for more details). And see this, this, this, this and this.


Previously-leaked documents showed that the CIA warned Obama that funding extremist rebels doesn’t work … but Obama decided to fund the Syrian rebels anyway for cynical political gain.


Indeed, the French terrorists who just murdered the cartoonists in Paris had just returned from waging war against the Syrian government, where they likely – directly or indirectly – obtained U.S. weapons and training.


And – strangely – we’re overthrowing the more moderate Arabs who stabilized the region and denied jihadis a foothold.

If we want to stop terrorism, we need to stop supporting the terrorists.

III. Stop Imperial Conquests for Arab Oil
The U.S. has undertaken regime change against Arab leaders we don’t like for six decades. We overthrew the leader of Syria in 1949, Iran in 1953, Iraq twice, Afghanistan twice, Turkey, Libya … and other oil-rich countries. Neoconservatives planned regime change throughout the Middle East and North Africa yet again in 1991. And the U.S. military described terror attacks on the U.S. as a “small price to pay for being a superpower“: A senior officer on the Joint Staff told State Department counter-terrorism director Sheehan he had heard terrorist strikes characterized more than once by colleagues as a “small price to pay for being a superpower”. Security experts – including both conservatives and liberals – agree that waging war in the Middle Eastweakens national security and increases terrorism. See this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this. For example, James K. Feldman – former professor of decision analysis and economics at the Air Force Institute of Technology and the School of Advanced Airpower Studies – and other experts say that foreign occupation is the main cause of terrorism. University of Chicago professor Robert A. Pape – who specializes in international security affairs – agrees.

Remember, Al Qaeda wasn’t even in Iraq until the U.S. invaded that country.

And top American politicians admit that the Iraq oil was about oil, not stopping terrorism (documents from Britain show the same thing). Much of the war on terror is really a fight for natural gas. Or to force the last few hold-outs into dollars and private central banking. If we want to stop terrorism, we have to stop overthrowing Arab leaders and invading Arab countries to grab their oil.


IV. Stop Mass Surveillance
Top security experts agree that mass surveillance makes us MORE vulnerable to terrorists.

V. Stop Torture

Top terrorism and interrogation experts agree that torture creates more terrorists.

Indeed, the leaders of ISIS were motivated by U.S. torture. Once again, we have a very current example: Paris terrorist Cherif Kouchi told a court in 2005 that he wasn’t radical until he learned about U.S. torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. If we want to stop creating new terrorists, we have to stop torturing … permanently.


VI. Stop Drone Assassinations of Innocent Civilians
Top CIA officers say that drone strikes increase terrorism (and see this).

The CIA – the agency in charge of drone strikes – even told Obama that drone kills can increase terrorism. If we want to stop creating new terrorists, we have to stop the drone strikes.


VII. Stop Covering Up 9/11
Government officials agree that 9/11 was state-sponsored terrorism … they just disagree on which state was responsible. Because 9/11 was the largest terror attack on the U.S. in history – and all of our national security strategies are based on 9/11 – we can’t stop terror until we get to the bottom of what really happened, and which state was behind it.

Many high-level American officials – including military leaders, intelligence officials and 9/11 commissioners – are dissatisfied with the 9/11 investigations to date. The Co-Chair of the congressional investigation into 9/11 – Bob Graham – and 9/11 Commissioner and former Senator Bob Kerrey are calling for either a “permanent 9/11 commission” or a new 9/11 investigation to get to the bottom of it. The Co-Chair of the Congressional Inquiry into 9/11 and former Head of the Senate Intelligence Committee (Bob Graham) said that the Paris terror attack, ISIS, and other terrorist developments are a result of failing to stand up to Saudi Arabia and declassify the 9/11 investigation’s report about Saudi involvement in 9/11:

- - - AND STOP THROWING BODIES IN THE RIVER

Unemployment Dips to 5.6%

We have still more good news on the economic front.  The national unemployment rate has dropped to 5.6% or only two tenths of a percent above the 5.4% which Larry Elder ten years or so ago said was just about perfect, and “The lowest of the past three decades”.  Larry thus was not only willing to trash Bill Clinton, but even President Reagan, to make his point.  No need to tell you that thirty years ago today the unemployment rate under President Reagan was way higher than it is today, right after he’d been reelected.  We added 256,000 jobs last month, and seemingly other past months were recalculated upward.  But Norman Goldman was not an entirely happy camper.  You see the wage rate has dropped.  There used to be a law that people who got paid in wage per hourly rate- - were guaranteed time and a half for overtime.  It used to be over half the employees were covered.  Now the rate is really low and only is true if you’re earning $23,000 per year.  Norman Goldman wrangled with callers who wanted to argue over what constitutes full time employment.  Norman is right of course that you have to go by each situation covered by a particular law that address that specific issue.  For the Affordable Care Act under employee mandate the figure is thirty hours per week.  The republicans haven’t changed that one.  First the Republicans wanted a one year delay in the employee mandate.  After a while the President decided to give them what they wanted.  Only now they didn’t want it anymore and in fact sued the president for “unilaterally changing the law on his own”.  You can’t win for losing.  But this is the point.  If they raise the “full time” level to forty hours per week, it’s a whole lot easier for an employer to cut everybody back to 39 hours per week, as opposed to cutting everybody back to 29 hours per week.  Contrary to what people like Rush Limbaugh have said- - - this “employee hours cut-back” isn’t going on hardly at all.  There is only an anecdotal example here or there.  Of course if the employer doesn’t cover your Health Care, it just puts more of a burden on the tax payers at large to cover your expenses.  I thought the Republicans were against “burdening taxpayers” but consistency has never been their thing.

Sean Hannity is a guy who prides himself on the fact that he never lies.  For instance Sean Hannity says there is not ONE documented case of water contamination due to hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.   Sean Hannity also claims that when these terrorist events occur with ISIS and Al Qaeda, that the Muslim community keeps silent and never says a word.  Sean says “They are no doubt intimidated by the leadership which means this poison of hatred has infiltrated the entire Faith”.   The trouble is Sean is lying.  I’ve read source after source that the Moslem Church indeed speaks out all the time about ISIS, but the corporate media in this country ignores them, the same way that they ignore a lot of constructive issues protesting that goes on among left wing groups.  Rush Limbaugh said very recently another related lie.  He said that there is not one documented case of reprisals against Mosques for terrorist acts committed in the name of Allah.  Again he is very wrong.  Three or so Mosques were targeted in and around Paris for this terrorist attack alone.  That’s one thing the corporate media DOES report are all the reprisals against Mosques in this country.  They will target people who aren’t even Muslims.  Such as those Seiks in Wisconsin.  Their temple was firebombed or whatever a couple of years ago, with anti Islamic graffiti all around.  I used to hear from Wally George and others that neither of the passengers riding with Rodney King that night were beaten.  The trouble is subsequent to that I heard one of the passengers had died from a beating administered at the hands of the LAPD.  Now I don’t know who is right.  But I have a sneaking suspicion that the source that reported the passenger had died- - had never heard the “no beatings” story.

Norm Goldman had an unusually good show today.  He talked at length about how the United States is “An Empire” but Americans, unlike the British, don’t fancy viewing their country as an “Empire”.  But we have aircraft carrier fleets, plural, all over the world, and “boots on the ground” on almost every continent.  ISIS, on the other hand, used to be confined to just two countries, which looked at pragmatically, would not be entirely be the worst thing to ever happen in world history.  (Selah)  There is some United States troop redistribution thing now going on in Europe involving closing some bases but overall not reducing any troops.  So it seems strange to Norm when China wants to “extend their sway of influence out into the Pacific a bit” and finds it odds that the US would protest this, as if no other nation were entitled to one square mile of extra territory because after all, we’re supposed to rule the entire planet.  Of course this morning we were all treated with live coverage of the two “stand offs” of terrorists holding hostages.  It seems as if the good guys won.  Those two brothers who were hold up in a print shop and holding one hostage, were killed.  And then there was another terrorist in a kosher market with all the pre Sabbath shoppers in there and fifteen were held as hostages.  Three of these hostages did not survive when they stormed the building.  But they now are saying that those three hostages had already been killed before the raid ever took place.  Now there is one woman still at large.  But the problem of course is, “You can’t kill an idea”.  This thing called karma has a way of catching up to you.  To come full circle- - Norman was saying that maybe we would have a more peaceful “Empire” to look over, if we didn’t bomb so many nations whose people end up hating us.  Well, I guess that’s too logical for most people.

This is Friday January 9, 2015 and Richard Nixon’s birthday.  I added two more paragraphs to that rather impulsive blog posting of last evening.  I’m not even sure what drove me to want to revisit the topic of the historicity of Christianity.  But today I again Googled Luigi Casciloli.   The Wikkipedia article was in Italian and I saw no quick buttons to hit to get a translation.  I looked at his own web site, which has very little on it.  However there is a nice “video’ of the King Crimson song “Court of the Crimson King”, which of course is very Moody-Bluesish.  But I came across a new site on “Jesus is a myth” that I had never seen quite that way before.  And there is rather exhaustive research on the subject.  What I found most impressive were not only the number of nineteenth century names - - a century known for its doubt on such things- - but also twentieth and 21^st century Thinkers on the subject.  A part of me thinks it is really petty to file a legal suit against the Catholic Church on this matter.  It’s kind of like suing your parents for fraud because they told you about Santa Clause, or getting mad at the kid for lying who said that he was in possession of dinosaur eggs.  After all - - that’s what kids do.  They tell stories and make up claims about themselves.  Actually I would almost be better served if I knew everything in the Bible was indisputably true.  That way I could more confidently go after these tea party people for being unchristian, and as a group they would be among the principle people that Jesus Christ would condemn today for their conduct, beliefs, and their rampant hypocracy.  When you think about it- - my mind works like this.  “If I can somehow demonstrate that my opponents are being unchristian in word or deed, I have a cause of action against them and I have the comfort of knowing that God approves of my conduct and condemns theirs.

Christ's Ventriloquist - A Big Thumbs Down -And Why

In true debater's style, allow me to do the PRO side, and then I'll personally explain to you in no uncertain terms why this guy is full of it.

CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS is a work of investigative history. It documents and describes Christianity’s creation-event, which occurred in the year 49 or 50, in Antioch (present-day Antakya, Turkey), 20 years after Jesus had been crucified in Jerusalem for sedition against Roman rule. At this event, Paul broke away from the Jewish sect that Jesus had begun, and he took with him the majority of this new Jewish sect’s members; he convinced these people that Jesus had been a god, and that the way to win eternal salvation in heaven is to worship him as such. On this precise occasion, Paul explicitly introduced, for the first time anywhere, the duality of the previously unitary Jewish God, a duality consisting of the Father and the Son; and he implicitly introduced also the third element of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost.
This book also explains and documents the tortuous 14-year-long conflict Paul had had with this sect’s leader, Jesus’s brother James, a conflict which caused Paul, in about the year 50, to perpetrate his coup d’état against James, and to start his own new religion: Christianity.
Then, this historical probe documents that the four canonical Gospel accounts of the words and actions of “Jesus” were written decades after Jesus, by followers of Paul, not by followers of Jesus; and that these writings placed into the mouth of “Jesus” the agenda of Paul. Paul thus became, via his followers, Christ’s ventriloquist.
A work such as this can be documented and produced only now, after the development (during the past 70 years) of modern legal/forensic methodology. Previously, the only available methods, which scholars have used, simply assumed the honesty-of-intent of all classical documents, especially of canonical religious ones, such as Paul’s epistles, and the Four Gospels. Only now is it finally possible to penetrate deeper than that, to reach the writer’s intent, and not merely his assertions, and to identify when this intent is to deceive instead of to inform. Whereas scholars have been able to discuss only the truth or falsity of particular canonical statements, it is now possible to discuss also the honesty or deceptiveness of individual statements. This opens up an unprecedented new research tool for historians, and CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS is the first work to use these new methods to reconstruct, on this legal/forensic basis, not just how crimes took place, but how and why major historical events (criminal or not), such as the event that started Christianity, actually occurred.
The author explains: “What I am doing in this work is to reconstruct from the New Testament the crucial events that produced it, without assuming whether what the NT says in any given passage is necessarily true or even honest. Instead of treating the NT as a work that ‘reports history,’ the NT is treated as a work whose history is itself being investigated and reported. Its origin goes back to this coup d’état that Paul perpetrated in Antioch in the year 49 or 50 against Jesus’s brother James in Jerusalem, whom Jesus in Jerusalem had appointed in the year 30 as his successor to lead the Jewish sect that Jesus had started. The Gospel accounts of ‘Jesus’ reflected Paul’s coup d’état – not actually Jesus, who would be appalled at the Christian concept of ‘Christ.’ That concept was radically different from the Jewish concept of the messiah, and Paul knew this when he created it.”

And now here's the "Con" Argument

Flash "Bring Back the Ban on Goose Liver - Viva Animal Rights"

That Luigi Cosciali guy who says Jesus never existed is closer to the truth than this book.  There is little evidence - - "a little" if you're translating Greek - - - for the existance of Jesus Christ.  Jesus as we know him is a composit of five messianic figures, one of which is John the Baptist.  The Apostle Saul or Paul or whatever he is called is an entirely fictional figure, as I believe Timothy is, too.  We can't be sure who composed this "fiction" of St Paul but Marcion adopted the character and ran with it.  Marcion is best known (or should be) as a Christianizer of Gnosticism, which pre dates Christianity by forty or fifty years, beginning about AD 90 or 95.   Marcion was not a Valentinian Gnostic but rather a Pythagarian.  We in our postings have gone into the "five Jesuses" in the past ranging in time over a period of about eighty years, though most of them were first century.  I believe Marcion had a friend named Luke who composed that gospell.  "Luke" is an actual character in the book of Acts, and I see no reason why he couldn't have been a real person, a physician by trade. However if anybody hyjacked anybody - it was a Judaihzing hijacking of "The Faith" much as Galatians warned against - - there was a Syrian school of thought, which consisted of out of work Jewish Priests - - who lived in Syria, of which Justin Martyr was associated with.  For a while "The Church" as it was- - was unquestionably ruled and led by Marcion.  If you read the vast majority of the Books of Paul - - you see his theology in print.  There WAS no actual "historical Christ" in Paul's writing.  Paul seemed to find the idea of "historically researching Jesus" or as he put it 'Knowing Jesus after the flesh" as somehow repugnent.  As though "You don't want to know the real Jesus" (and since Paul never knew ANY of the five messiahs, naturally he didn't want to talk about them.  Marcion was a ship builder, and so St Paul has a background in shiping and sailing, it would seem.  He had the original draft of Luke (leaving out some interesting stuff)  There were ten letters of Paul or Saul.  Not fourteen.  First and Second Timothy are a bit questionable, but Titus is definitely not the same authorship of the ten letters because of it's reference to the Roman priesthood and such.  More decades passed.  Justin put forth a treaties of Christian theology based on the Syrian school I mentioned.  Even in it- - Jesus did not rise physically from the grave, but only rose "in spirit".  If you don't believe me word search certain terms for yourself like "the disciples saw him" or "stone" or "tomb" or "rolled away".   Only the highly clinical term "resurrection" is used.  More decades would pass before Jesus was given physical divine status as Man and God.  In AD 170 Tatian, a disciple of Justin - - wrote a treaties suggesting that four of the Gospels then out could be harmonized into one book.  Even here some key things are left out of "our text" including the omission of any reference to Agustus Ceasar and his decree in the Christmas story.  Now there was another "Luke" who perported to be the first Luke, and even added in an "introduction" too the original Luke- - and tied in Acts, as his "Second book".   So people who read Acts get the impression that Acts is a continuation of the narritive begun in Luke, which it most certainly is not.  Here we have highly fictionalized characters such as Simon Magnus (a century before he was born) and a lot of historical events that just plain "hadn't happened yet" and a fictionalized version of the apostle Peter, and distortions of Barnabus and Mark, and a reference to Sylvanius or Silus - who wouldn't be born till the next century and wrote first Peter and Hebrews - - and a new character named James who seems invented out of whole cloth head of the Christian Church which was perported to meet "In the Holy Temple in Jerusalem".  this is preposterous on its face.  Many books of the Bible are almost third century they are so late.  These include first and second Peter, James, Jude, and Hebrews.  Many people who wanted SOME extra books included on the "Cannon" aside from the few Marcion endorsed - - leave OUT others which STILL had yet to be written.  It was Irenius who throws down the guantlet in a big way against Marcion- - saying he was excommunacated by the Pope in Rome in AD 144 when there WAS no Pope anywhere near that early.  All of this material I have covered before but it never hurts to hear the facts again, and why "Christ's Ventriloquist" is FAR too Orthodox for me!

The author is right about one thing in that "The Church" began in western Turkey.  The "Seven Churches" in the book of Revelation are all in Turkey.  The farther you get from western Turkey, the vaguer the geographic knowledge.   Let me answer the question about the books of Matthew and Mark.   All three of the synoptic gospels - - have a pretty close theme but all Three combine two different people.  There is the ministry of Yeshua - - - a Nazarite, who was probably born in the Carmel area by the Medeteranian sea- - and to answer a question Yeshua was a Pescaterian - - - he ate fish but not other meats.  The Nazarites had a whole set of religious beliefs including the long hair and beards- - and not drinking wine- - - and not shedding animal's blood.   This Yeshua had five disciples- - none of the five you'd recognise.  He preached primarily over the course of one year, 35 AD, which was a jubilee year.  This is what is meant by "the favorible year of the Lord".  And he was sentensed to death by stoning for being a sorceror or magician.  In terms of the "ministry" it combines preaching or story telling, healing, and demon exorcism.  This was the three pronged ministry of Yeshua.  The other figure is the Jerusalem figure, who had no supernatural powers, and the text makes this clear.  He was the one who preached against the Temple.  He was from Egypt and escaped crucifixion - - when his identity was (beaurocratically?) mixed up with another man.  His name may have been Jesus Barrabus since all four gospels mention Barrabus "getting off Scott free" and interestingly NONE of the four gospels, or any place in the Bible refer to Barrabus as "saved" or "a Christian".  This man was the revolutionary that our author alluded to earlier.   We have two other messiah figures - - but we won't talk about them today.

Cogito Ergo Sum means "I think; therefore I Am".   This is the keystone idea, heralded by Descartes, that exestentialism is based on.  This is the idea that the Self or the "soul" or "mind" or "awareness" if you will, is more IMPORTANT than having to PROVE your own physical existence.  Cogito Ergo Sum is what Thomas Jefferson might call a "self evident" assertion.  It's not Necessary for me to prove my own existance since I am the one who is doing the thinking.  Therefore I am already the Subject of the sentense "A Priori".  But I will note that some aspects of modern Christianity will "deny the self" or their own soul, or psyche or if you will Mind.  These Christians would take us back to an era that says "What you THINK doesn't matter because basically YOU don't matter".  I reject this assertion that I don't matter, and therefore am not allowed to Think.  (Selah)

Bush and Bin Laden Were on the Same Side

There are times as a blogger where I feel I am but standing in someone else’s shadow.  Of course when it’s written text you can always hijack the text and maybe if you’re feeling generous, give them credit for it.  But you can’t do that with audio.  Maybe I could do a posting and just stick in a podcast link.  It would be a mighty short blog in that case.  Let’s discuss the main opening them of Thom Hartman’s program this morning Thursday January 8, 2015.  I of course recommend you try and get a hold of that podcast.  We hear about the Bush Crime Family all the time.  It goes back generations - - to the Civil War when one of the ancestor Bushes were selling cannons and cannon balls to both the North and the South.  This is the Prescott Bush side of the family.  But then there is the Walker side, and that would be Bush 41’s mother I guess.  And the Walkers were a banking family.  We know about Prescott Bush’s Nazi connections.  The first I ever heard of George HW Bush was in late 1975 when he had been appointed head of the CIA by Ford when William Colby left.  I didn’t know him by name, but only as someone who was considered dangerous by the Right Wing, which I was, and who had connections with Red China, and was part of the New World Order.   But as Thom Hartman explained today “It’s nice to have someone fill in all the details of a sketchy image you have in your mind.  It seems that there were two ships used to conduct the Bay of Pigs operation in Cuba, called the Houston, and the Barbra - -both owned by the Bush family.  We hear the Bush family owns Zapeta oil, which was guilty of slant drilling from Kweit into Iraq, and Kueit considered it great sport to steal as much Iraqi oil as they could.  It was this slant drilling that caused Saddam to want to “annex” Kweit, which it was his understanding he had the right to do.  But we left out the chapter about how Ronald Reagan double crossed Saddam, who was supposedly was our ally in the eighties.  We were instrumental in getting him in leadership in 1979 but then something happened.  Ronald Reagan had this deal with Iran he wanted to make where he got his election and Iran in turn got these TOW missiles, they used to pummel the Iraqi Republican Army, and Saddam was furious.  Of course one person who the Bushies were always loyal to was Bin Laden.  We supported him starting in 1979 in his fight against the invading Soviets.  And the Bush Crime Family pretty much remained loyal to Bin Laden all his life.  When we know that fifteen of the nineteen hijackers of 9 – 11 were Saudis - - - we also know that the Saudis didn’t like our American troops stationed on holy ground.  So they knock down two of our buildings and we punish anybody and everybody for that except the people that did it, and we reward them by getting our troops out of their country like they wanted to begin with.  Reagan backs out of Lebanon, and Bush backs out of Saudi Arabia, and they say the US never likes to lose face!

  But now let’s back up in time to set the scene.  You know about the idea Bush advocated how War is a way to get himself "political capital" and get himself reelected.  It was "the great mistake my father made".  It's funny how these people all claim to be Christians but Jesus said "Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called Sons of God".  The Bush Crime family only seems to care about continual war. The allegation was made that Maggie Thatcher only fought the Fawklands War to boost her poll ratings in 1982 and it worked.  In the nineties Wolfiwitz or somebody made the statement that "What we need is some sort of Pearl Harbor type event to get us back into a Mideast War".  I would respond that how odd it is, that the absence of war is a "thing to be missed - and desired once again".  Bin Laden was feeling “useless” way out in Afghanistan in the nineties during the Clinton administration.  We know that Clinton bombed an asperin factory in Sudan - - and only AFTER the failure of this bombing did Gingrich and congress come up with the “wag the dog” scenario, that the President only tried to take out Bin Laden because of Monica Luinsky.  Clinton just installed a major new computer Early Warning system at the end of his term, that Bush had taken out because “he wanted his own system”, which was no system at all.  But then Bush W - - - 43 did Bin Laden a favor by paying them money if the Talliban would destroy the opium fields in Afghanistan.  After the 9 – 11 attack, the Talliban, still appreciative - - offered to hand Bin Laden over “to a neutral country”.   When you look at the whole pattern of our behavior twords Osama Bin Laden it is one of aiding and protecting him.  The military people say we could have gotten him at Tora Bora in late 2001 but we didn’t pursue it.  It would seem for all the world that Pakistin was protecting Bin Laden- - - and the nation of Pakistan served as kind of a sanctuary for the Talliban where all they had to do was slip across the border and be safe.  We’ve never had any reason to trust Pakistan.  When we did attack Bin Laden in Pakistan- - it was without that country’s permission.  Bush and Romney kept joking about not really caring whether they captured Bin Laden or not.  The entire attitude twords Bin Laden is to coddle him.  If all of this text seems long and gangly to you reading it- - - I admit it wouldn’t get a very high grade as a term paper for the simple reason that the organization is terrible.  But maybe if I were Albert Goldman or a really wood writer, I could weave the thing into a much more persuasive narrative.  The point of this narrative is that - - all of the Wars the United States gets involved in are for financial interest.  Thom Hartman says “Well if you confronted the tea party with this allegation, they’d probably admit it, but invoke the Gordon Gecko doctrine that greed is good, and it’s what everyone should be striving for.  To rephrase Romans 8:28 - - “All things work toward good to those whose supreme motive going through this world is Pure Greed”.  (Selah)

This is Thursday January 8, 2015 and it’s Elvis’ eightieth birthday, believe it or not.  There are a lot of rockers celebrating birthdays around now.  We are in Ocean.  Bones chimed in on this whole Islamic attack thing.   As you know there was that “assistant to Mal Evans” who got fired and then got rehired.  He was admonished by Bones not to engage in any disparaging depictions of the Prophet Mohamed.  The guy said “We wouldn’t do anything like that”.   Romulans are conditioned to revere their own leaders and icons from the past, and “It’s only fitting that we respect other leaders”.    Some highly inflammatory sketches  - - - skits, have surfaced concerning Bill Cosby and the whole sex and rape business.   What particularly set them off is Philicia Rashad’s defense of Cosby.   At one point she says “I would never attack these women – after all I am a woman”, and then they change the picture and reveal silicon breast implants and back up a little more and show her naked body with a penis and testicles.  And someone says “Well we know Cosby hasn’t had sex with you in all the time you’ve played his TV wife.  Guys like him only victimize white women anyhow”.  And there is talks about how all Blacks are sexually out of control and “All you people think all you need to do is show ‘em your big thing and they’ll fall right into bed with you”. And there is stuff about someone repeatedly saying “Hey Bill - - Ooma Goooma - - Ooma Gooma, Mr Cosby”.   And when Cosby is puzzled and a little offended the antagonist goes “Oh, I thought that was the Zulu word for friend.”  And then Nelson Mandella is tied into it “How’s your old friend Nelson Mendella the butcher and chief”.   There is stuff about “If it weren’t for the fact that you’re Black you’d be a nothing.  You keep talking about “Your race”.   You are the first of “Your race” to have a show like Leave It To Beaver that’s 25 years behind the times.”   These are Sirius A skits.

Bones today remarked how 'This whole gay thing on Days of our Lives seems to have metastasized into other relationships".   Bones seemed startled that the whole gay thing was still going on after a year and that the novelty hadn't worn off by now.  But Bones also remarked how Islamic terror has "metastasized" into democratic nations.  These people who attacked yesterday weren't lone wolves or suicide bomber nut jobs.  They were serious, well trained professionals.  Bones said "The fact that the problem has gotten worse with this incident- - is only symptomatic that the whole situation has been ignored far too long".  The US keeps sowing its wild oats, so to speak- - in starting war after war- - like a fire bug- - doing it seemingly for the thrill of it- - and then is surprised when one day it comes back to bite him in the ass.  It may be too late to have anything but some kind of an Armageddon knock drag out fight between Islam and Christianity to see which is the supreme religion of the world.  We did that in the fifteenth century in Constenople, and the Moslems won.  Thom Hartman pointed out that the Ottoman Empire, around for so many centuries, enforced a type of firm Order in the world back then, and would put down any extremist attempt to cease power, like we have been seeing today so much.  (Selah)