An Higher Understanding

Spare The Rod©

This is the story of two fathers. One was a humble woodcutter who had a son. He knew the verse from the book of Proverbs. “He that spareth his rod hateth his son..”Pro 13: 24). Did he love his boy? Oh yes he disciplined him and he made sure the boy knew his limits. And the boy learned to live as obediently as he could. . As he grew older the woodcutter found that he didn’t make both ends with felling logs. He tried to find other means of livelihood. In those days he was often without job but he still loved his son. So he didn’t spare the rod whenever he thought the boy needed correction. It so happened the boy turned out to be thoroughly bad. Years later he admitted that it was he and not the boy who was to blame. His spiritual counselor queried, “ But you took the cue from the verse from the Proverbs, Did you not?”
“Yes,” replied the old man “ But often my irritations and my own sense of failure got in between like little foxes and they were running the show all in the name of correction.”
When we speak of taking a leaf out of the word of God it so happens that we are letting our own self to come in between. How we deceive ourselves!
The other father was the king of the realm and he had a son. He based his verse once again from the book of Proverbs, ’ Train up a child in the way he should go…” Prov: 22.6 The king pasted the verse in the play room and he constantly watched over his upbringing. Once the boy wrung the neck of a wounded sparrow. The boy wanted to spare the agony of the bird. “It is still unbecoming of you, son,” the king said. He called for a rod and beat the bed hard. . The prince wanted to know why he was beating the bed. “ You came out of it, this morning. Didn’t you?”
The boy of seven nodded. “Well till yesterday you were gentle and caring. Before you went to bed you came and kissed me good night like an angel. But today?
“The bed?” The king was sure some one has to take the blame for every wrong. You cannot be one yesterday and yet another today. So it must be the bed that is to blame.”
The boy understood the logic of his father’s example and restrained himself in the future from unkindly acts.
Later as the boy grew older his father explained as the future king every unjust or cruel act reflected on his subjects as well. The prince when he finally ascended to the throne was noted for his piety, humility and goodness.
He told his father confessor once thus: “ My royal father had a royal understanding. He knew his scriptures but every time he addressed to my own understanding and good sense. As a royal prince- in- waiting I thought the good name of my subjects and controlled myself from wayward passions or thoughtless acts".
One can literally apply the Word of God and yet be letting self to run the show. The other option is to to take it to a higher plane using the innate goodness of the child as a starting point into paths of righteousness.
benny

Love Matters

What Do You Make Of Love©

Melchizadek, the King of Salem went on a mission: he was looking for a bride for the Man he had picked out at random. You see he hated his lonely splendor as much as a nightingale in a golden cage would feel. The bird loves its freedom and it can only pour itself forth into melodies in its free state.
The King with A Glorious Name embodied love and since he had no subjects he had made the Man to sit with him on his throne.
The Man one day said, “Oh King, I feel with a terrible longing. Nights are sheer torture.” He unburdened his heart and the King of Salem could understand it.
“ What you need is love, Man.” Said the king with his overflowing beard. I am a King and I shall certainly find a suitable companion for you.”
It was thus he set out to seek a suitable bride for the Man.
He visited all the kingdoms of the world and Royal Houses; not a princess of the perfect virtue he could find.
At last the King of Salem went back with a heavy heart. He had failed his Man.
To his astonishment on his return he found the Man had found himself a companion. “How did you settle on this woman?” he asked. He knew from one glance the woman was of an easy virtue and she was with uncontrollable appetites. She also had a name Love.
The Man just laughed and said,” Well I thought I will also check out a bride. Hardly I stepped outside into the dark, comes this sweetie pie out of the bushes. She kinda grabbed my heartstrings.”
King of Salem would have rebuked him for his lackadaisical attitude in choosing a bride. He restrained himself. “ Well Man it is your choice. Either she will be a blessing to you. Or you may be able to redeem her to be a blessing for all nations. What am I to speak ill of love?’
Man chooses according to circumstances and has still possibilities to make good out of bad choices. Whereas Truth like the king of Salem cannot lower its standards.

* Since man has not the Absolute values in himself his love cannot be an Absolute value.
benny

Missing The Woods

For the many leaves we have missed the woods. So many religions and so many ways. Some ways are through penance and
self-loathing. What truth can a bed of nails express? Isn’t it a reminder to the fact one has a body that can feel the pain? Such a truth cannot find the joys of a life firmly fixed on Truth. Jesus could on the strength of it break Sabbath if there were reasons for doing so. (St. Lk: 14:1-6)
God for some seems most peculiar. They need to secure the holiness by their own brute majority in numbers. Any perceived insult to His Glorious name in their misguided notions, so they think, they must avenge by bloodshed. Cannot their God avenge such insults by Himself?
Religion for many has ceased to be significant: Of what worth their religion is if their God has to be invoked for sparing their investments or wealth from ruin? In their calculations God can be broken down in dollars and cents.
Show me a religion that can stand by itself. It has Truth in such measure that accepts all life forms equally where lamb may dwell safely by the lion and a babe may play on the hole of the asp (Isaiah11: 6-9). Mark of Truth is peace and joy of an overflowing kind. It connects with everything else and grows more abundantly unto something good for all concerned. The kid shall replenish a leopard and a wolf shall not lead the lamb astray.
Love, can it stand itself? No! It connects every time. So would our love for God. Only we express in our patience, kindness, peace with others. Since we know Truth in patches it is our safest bet.
benny

The Star Wars Program

Prophet Isaiah saw the vision of a Millennium: If truly we look up to Jesus as the Prince of Peace should not peace reign in our hearts? We are in the New Millennium and we have extended War to a new level. It should warn us that we know neither peace nor Truth except in patches.
benny

Of Many Mansions

“..and where I am,there you may be also.”( St. John 14:3) Firstly we need to look at the context in which he said this.
He speaks these words in context of many mansions that are in his Father’s house. He is also specific as to on what authority he makes this claim. He is the Truth and the Way.
Truth clarifies us through life in whatever dimensions we may be required to pass through till we shall be at one with Truth: truth of nature, actions and of experience have coalesced into one.
benny

Faith, Truth And Other Matters

As a practising Christian what I believe of life after life is my own. After all if I didn’t believe in a life beyond I shall be making a mockery of my faith and Truth. (When I read the Scriptures I read it for my edification. Never have I felt any opinion of others however high and accepted by every one else should be allowed to come in between my God and myself.)
We read in the gospels how Jesus didn’t condemn the woman taken in adultery. Was he condoning her act? No. He exemplified Life and he could therefore understand the compulsions, or her lust for life (whatever her motives were) while her accusers could only see from a narrow range of their supposedly righteousness according to Law. Does Law express what is everything to be said of a life? It only touches man or woman superficially. Life is much more: it redeems every life form from circumstances that the life on earth circumscribes.
Tailpiece: Truth is the only scale on which actions or errors of our ways can be quantified.
Whatever we as finite beings speak of Truth in Absolute terms shall be less than what it really is.
benny

Is There Life After Life?

Is there life after life? Life as I said in one of my early posts is indescribable. It also has no dimension. Life forms express motions of Life, each species after their fashion and in a corporeal sense. We see them and form our opinions, which do not fully delineate them. Who can vouch for what I think or my soul is alike?
But by the same yardstick of Truth we are all interconnected. We can relate to others at different levels. But no one may plumb the depths of another to decipher his or her soul.
Truth shall endure since life cannot be expressed in any other term than Life which is dimensionless. When we say one is dead we actually mean that the being has passed from one dimension to another. Death is a line to be crossed. Where I go past that line is not my concern. So I shall not speculate on what is unknowable.
benny

The Moral Imperative

Pragmatism as I stated in the previous post is a compromise to succeed. Any one who wants to succeed at whatever cost it is a seductive proposition. The classic example of it is the keystone of Bolshevik ideology: the end justifies the means. From the fate of Soviet bloc we know that even such a method cannot guarantee success for long. Let us turn our attention from movements on a large scale to the individual. If I cannot succeed without turning opportunities to my advantage what use is my moral sense?
Am I not justified to let adrift my moral imperatives to succeed in a cutthroat world?
Alas, I have no such luxury to escape Truth no matter what value I may attach to it for all intents and purpose.
Truth is the bulwark that keeps all life forms secure for all time to come. It is the only touchstone for my life to separate my identity or soul from those of others. Truth of nature, of experience and that of action are building blocks for all time.
I may fail here and now as St. Thomas in the apocryphal story. But I can always vindicate my life in supplying some other in another time and place. So do I take the easy way out and lose my soul or strive to save it from every contamination of this world?
There is no time out from my soul imperative: my character
benny

An Apocryphal Story

A Running Feud©
This story is apocryphal and it means you take it with a pinch of salt. St. Peter and St. Thomas had a running feud between them even while their master was around. The cause for their quarrel? St. Peter was vexed by the other who always cast doubts on everything he told on behalf of his master. One day St. Peter came and said he walked earlier in the day on the sea of Galilee. Doubting Thomas laughed in his sleeve and said,” Where did you find the boat large enough?”
St. Peter of course got angry. “Why doubt me?”
“ Pete, you always make sweeping statements. Once a fisherman you can’t escape that sort of talk. OK. The other day didn’t you say the fish you caught had the tribute money in its mouth?”
St. Peter just fled before he felt retorting angrily.
When Peter received the charge of his master he told all how important he was. "On me the master shall build his Church!"he crowed. While the Big Fisherman sketched a grand plan of the Church he had in mind for the future he felt small.
The Church of Rome was established and one day St. Peter while minding the Pearly Gates called out to St. Thomas and said,” Hey Tom, you know the Church they have built in my name is grandest you ever saw. So much of power and prestige! Even the kings of the world quake in their shoes before my representative?”
Later St. Thomas went up to St. Peter and sniggered,” Reformation is going on. You know what gave muscle to the protests.” St. Peter shook his head. “ I did. I am doubting Thomas right?”
“So?”
“ I helped all those skeptics below to doubt the authority of Rome. Well there was so much to point fingers at. Your Church is beaten hollow! Try to fix it if you can.”
benny

A Quote

“Running with the knowledge of yesterday makes only a has-been; who must come first in the race on any given day must bring up something new from the day.”
benny

Ideals vs Pragmatism

Ideas are what man is best capable of. His idealism pristine pure in its conception must be tested in real time and place with others. Me vs them. The ideals of others are not mine. My ideal as I conceived speak for me. No matter the ideas are somewhat rehashed to fit me. Just the same I am an entire world itself with a soul at its center. I cannot be otherwise.

But can my ideal hold its integrity for long pure? Unfortunately history of mankind doesn’t show from lives of anyone,- saint, sinner wise or fool included, as ever having succeeded. Pragmatism is what makes expediency come to the fore and make every moral value slip away unnoticed and unlamented.
Jesus came out of obscurity preaching ideas that sound very much that Communism seemed to offer: A Worker’s Paradise. So would Communism promise one.
Time presents opportunities with events at work, sometimes favorable for one and contrary. Circumstances are there always. Those who are totally committed to 'succeed' shall always find one point of time to act out. But is it the right one? Pragmatism got Lenin a closed train with the help of the Imperial Germany to persuade Russia to withdraw from the war. His pragmatism helped Bolshevik partisans to get controls over the country when all their sinews and nerves were strained to war effort.
Communism as a theory when practised by Lenin and Stalin will be so different. Or take Christianity for example. Did not the approach by Peter and Paul differ? The simple reason for their difference was the existence of Orthodox Jewish practices which both were well familiar with. Paul as a naturalized Roman citizen was sure his approach was more pragmatic in taking Christianity to far corners of the Empire. Whereas Peter claiming to the mantle of Christ chose another course. Ideals of any man must be tested against what has gone before. Thus even after the idea of Worker’s Paradise through Communism came a cropper, in Latin countries it will morph into Liberation Theology.The Church were not members of the Party. Even so it was easy for the Church to latch onto the Scriptures and some words of Jesus to give Communism a new change of clothes.
None of us is exempt from the slow contagion of ‘pragmatism’ somewhat a necessary compromise for anyone who wants to succeed. What success when by compromise soul of an idea has been killed? This is human condition. Why would Lenin work himself to death literally had he known Stalin would decimate the Party and set up a personality cult and change entire outlook of Communism within a decade?
benny

We Deceive Ourselves

"In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order".
Carl Jung
So true; I call it anomaly of matter. Thus Laws of Nature in our cosmos allow light as a wave and as particle. In Newtonian model while studying dynamics of a ball we have precise equation to study its velocity and position at any given time. But in quantum mechanics it is not possible. The more accurate velocity is, its position can only be guessed. Vice versa. There is an uncertainty. All these contradictions or anomalies are smoothened out while we think of cosmos as a whole.
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In Alice in Wonderland there is the Cheshire cat disappearing except for its grin. The grin must explain anomaly of matter. Its body must be elsewhere thereby validating its being. It is not dead because it can grin. Merely because Alice can’t see its body doesn’t mean it is non-existent. It is Alice’s problem.
Fortean anomalies as a whole, is strictly our problem since we cannot get our mind off from reason for a moment. So we build theories that get curioser and curioser. UFO ? Alien abduction? There is no end to the way we indulge in our fantasies.(Fantasies are alright as long as they serve to sharpen our focus on realities)
3.
A star dies in a blaze of light and dies. We see it still millions of light years later. Do we speak of it as paranormal? Do we identify it as UFO? No. There is something queer in the way we swallow what is truly marvelous ( as tsunami of starlight breaking on our time and place) as we accept Lewis Carrol’s story as a delightful story for children.
These anomalies are integrated in truth of nature.( cf:anomaly of matter)
benny

Cosmos As A Closed System

Our Cosmos is like Pandora's box. The Big Bang opened up so many mysteries, which Science has explained away, not always elegantly but something that can stand critical scrutiny. But has it put to rest many anomalies we encounter?
What remains is hope. What is unexplained as I mentioned earlier remain in the realm of paranormal phenomena.
benny

Fortean Anomalies

Charles Fort (1874 – 1932) is perhaps the best known researcher of unexplained anomalous phenomena. Fort is said to have compiled as many as 40,000 notes on unexplained phenomena, which came from what he called "the orthodox conventionality of Science", which were odd events originally printed in respected mainstream scientific journals or newspapers such as Scientific American, The Times, Nature and Science.
Collectively these phenomena are now referred to as 'Fortean' phenomena, or Forteana. Reported events include teleportation (a term Fort is generally credited with coining); poltergeist events, falls of frogs, fishes, inorganic materials of an amazing range; crop circles; unaccountable noises and explosions; spontaneous fires; levitation; ball lightning (a term explicitly used by Fort) There are many phenomena in Fort's works which have now been partially or entirely "recuperated" by mainstream science — ball lightning, for example, was largely rejected as impossible by the scientific consensus of Fort's day, but is now generally recognized as a genuine phenomenon.

Purported phenomena with explanations considered to be outside the scope of conventional science can be classified as paranormal phenomena

Phenomena considered outside the scope of parapsychology, but possibly within the scope of paranormal includes for example:

* alien abduction experiences
* cryptozoology
* spontaneous human combustion
* UFOs

To be classified as paranormal, a phenomenon must lack a scientific explanation. When an anomaly receives a valid scientific explanation, it becomes "perinormal." Perinormal is a term that has been suggested to describe previously unknown forces, which at first appeared to be paranormal and were later verified scientifically. For example, while the idea of stones falling from the sky was once considered anomalous, meteorites are now acknowledged and well understood.(Ack: wikipedia)
benny

A Point to Ponder-Mahatma

If two laws of compensation and Deprivation are true opposite and equal, would it not mean that the strivings of the humankind shall always remain more or less static by such contrary forces? The fact that there are those who do not merey acquiesce to them as final and are willing to overcome odds against them we ought to consider them as the true pioneers who carry the civilization forward.
Such great souls speak for the entire species. Most of us work far below our full potentials. Where does that energy leftover go to?

*Great souls are those who cover our lapses or shortfall by their solid achievements. Mohandas Gandhi or Bapu as he is affectionately remembered by India was one such. He made non-violence an effective weapon and showed the world the path of Ahimsa. He showed to the world of violence against the growing stridency of fascism in Europe and military Jingoism of Japan a better path. Hitler was a bully and a mad man whereas Gandhi became a Mahatma.
benny

Lucy In The Sky...

LSD was a lucky strike of Dr. Albert Hoffmann who was incidentally looking for a circulatory and respiratory stimulant. However, no real benefits of the compound were identified and its study was discontinued. This was in 1938. In the 1940’s, interest in the drug was revived because of its structural relationship to a chemical that is present in the brain. LSD was used as a research tool in studies of mental illness.

Sandoz Laboratories, the drug’s sole producer, began marketing LSD in 1947 under the trade name “Delysid” and it was introduced into the United States a year later. It was the time when Cold War swept across the globe. The CIA found it as an unconventional weapon to discredit their perceived enemies. One of their victims was one Frank Olson who was one of their own. The ensuing scandal made the CIA from further researches in this drug.
Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World in the 1950s became interested in psychedelic or mind-expanding drugs like mescaline and LSD, which he apparently took a dozen times over ten years. Sybille Bedford says he was looking for a drug that would allow an escape from the self and that if taken with caution would be physically and socially harmless.

He put his beliefs in such a drug and in sanity into several books. Two, based on his experiences taking mescaline under supervision, were nonfiction: Doors of Perception (1954) and Heaven and Hell (1956). Some readers have read those books as encouragements to experiment freely with drugs, but Huxley warned of the dangers of such experiments in an appendix he wrote to The Devils of Loudun (1952), a psychological study of an episode in French history.

In his book The Island he approved of the perfected version of LSD that the people of Island use in a religious way. (Ack: somaweb.org) The late Timothy Leary gave LSD its fame after being kicked out from Harvard University for using students and other volunteers to study the effects of LSD on the brain. He later became an advocate of the drug, promoting its “mind expanding qualities.” An icon of 1960s counterculture, Leary is most famous as a proponent of the therapeutic and spiritual benefits of LSD. He coined and popularized the catch phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out."
He was one voice of the Hippie movement,- and there were many other voices and influences that fed the growing cynicism of the young. They protested at the mindset of the establishment that neither learned from the past nor cared to improve the lot of the man on the street. On the other Martin Luther King was organizing a civil disobedient movement and it had jolted the whole nation. Drug culture of the sixties was amid the growing violence and unrest following escalation of US involvement in Vietnam and LSD that the very government had at first thought as an useful tool to repress the opposition, was just doing that: LSD had become a subversive tool to overthrow the society and their culture.
When an elected government blows its mind it affects the governed too: result of this must be one hell of a bad trip for all concerned.


benny

Overheard,,,

Overheard at Madame Zazu’s parlor: “Reading minds was easier than understanding them. Give me tealeaves any day. These don’t obfuscate.”

Life Gives Away Gifts

A Strange Legacy©
Sometime in future.
The earth Is a violent place as Venus is at present. The earthlings have technology and they are holding out against the harsh weather patterns and arid conditions of the soil by creating a hermetically sealed world. They live within controlled temperature and they do not dare expose themselves to the harsh sun; they travel in specially designed vehicles that cut off the glare and harmful radiation. They maintain a modicum of natural living conditions with the help of technology. They dare not farm or fish from rivers for the soil outside their world is polluted and they have left off agriculture altogether as useless occupation. All that they need for their sustenance is cultured straight from the laboratories.
The Northern kingdom brought out special laws that take by lots anyone whose number come up to be a volunteer for their space program. It is a hazardous trip but there is no way out. It could be a one way trip. As per the law whosoever is called up must leave everything behind. Naturally earthlings would rather leave to any one they know than a faceless administrative machinery.
It so happened the number of Dr. Pfenningmeister came up and the doctor who had devoted his life for Biosciences could not refuse. His laboratory was headed by two scientists: Dr. Wunderkind was as dedicated as his boss but Dr. Heineken merely passed muster and not a whit more.
Dr. Pfenningmeister on the eve of his leave taking chose Dr. Wunderkind and handed over complete charge of the establishment to him and said, “ It is all legal. These papers give you total control provided you carry on my line of research to the hilt. Besides when your research bears fruits you are to institute a prestigious award in perpetuity for the best research scholar. See to that my name is not forgotten. “ He happily reminisced over something and said,“ and the Pfenningmeister prize ought to do that.”
2.
Each of us holds a level of energy. Sometimes we are compensated in some mysterious ways and we who are ready to throw in the towel because of mounting failures or frustrations suddenly find a breakthrough. Is it a miracle? Partly this can be explained. We are connected to the past and bequests from the past do come our way as Dr. Pfenningmeister did for Dr. Wunderkind. When we are at the end of our resources we are given an extra push to carry on with our work. It may be that in doing so we are continuing the past,- and the unfinished work of some other.
Tailpiece: Enriching experience of Life binds us as many sheaves of corn. In a manner of speaking Life gives to those who have much more. Re Parable of a servant who did nothing with the talent entrusted to him didn't he lose even that one he had?
benny

A Quote for the weekend

"You and I have no enemies except time. But we can always kill it. Can't we?"
benny

SFD- story#3

3.
Horses Are Meant For Riding ©

Pepin The Hot of the kingdom of Blissfully Ignorant sent a beautiful horse to Nitwit, King of Gotham. The King knew Pepin would not have sent him one unless he had something in his mind. "I don’t like Pepin the Hot. Why he should send me then a horse?" He stood there wondering and he bent down to check the mouth. At that moment the horse let out a heap of turd that King Nitwit knew was meant as an insult.
Pipin was provoking him into a fight, so concluded his courtiers.
King Nitwit would have sent the animal back but Monk Cuthbert asked him to ride it.
“ You are a natural rider, sire. So let your enemy know how well you can appreciate a friendly gesture.”
King Nitwit thought it a good idea. You see he loved horses and overcoming his animosity he took the reins. The animal let him run over the fields and lanes and over the hills. The horse loved speed and he gave the rider a thrill he never knew was possible. King Nitwit felt the wind and the blurring landscapes as the beast carried him wherever he pleased.
In the end he returned to the palace in a state of excitement and said, “ King Pipin wants my hand of friendship. Surely he can have it.”
benny

Stories For Dudes

Betwixt and Between ©

Zeus was once traveling accompanied by his daughter Athena. He was struck by the beauty of a sculpture and asked whose work it was. The goddess of Wisdom said,” Phidias.” Admiring it for a while he asked his daughter,” You are perfection in wisdom. Why can’t you then do some thing like that- a work of beauty?”
Athena laughed,” I, a goddess- work? Why waste my time?” The eagle which always accompanied the goddess whispered in Zeus’ ear,” If she were to work it would mean her godly wisdom lacked something.”
“ Oh?”
“ That means she wouldn’t be perfect. Would it not?” the winged bird asked. Zeus could understand.
The sculptor was after all a mortal trying to achieve perfection in some area as best as he could. The bird looked at the sculpture with a critical eye and said,” Look at that index finger of the discuss-thrower. Shorter by a hairbreadth, - it would have been just perfect!”
Zeus snapped,” Phidias made it for his kind and for the praise of gods!”
Our smell is not as good as that of dogs; neither is our sense of sight anywhere near that of an eagle. Man is neither god nor a beast. From that middle state what we say for Truth has a hollow ring. So many religions; so many belief-systems. If you are entitled to claim your religion as the true one so shall others. There is no way to settle the matter given our middle state.
In a World of Illusions we may err on the safe side by giving other belief-systems the benefit of doubt.
benny

Outgrowing Is Good For The Soul

After the battle of Salamis the fame of Themistocles, who led Athens to victory, against Persia was very high. His virtues and charisma made him unassailable. In the eyes of the young he could never be wrong. So high was he in the eyes of the man on the street which made some elders uneasy. Democritus, the philosopher, even went to the extent of declaring that the hero of Salamis should be outlawed lest he became too powerful. Naturally the Athenian youths were outraged. Some of them banded together and vowed that their patriotism shall never measure, no more or less than of Themistocles.
Democritus, the philosopher, ridiculed the hotheaded youths for their misplaced patriotism. When a youth insisted that it was Themistocles who won the battle, the philosopher said: "If a battle is won merely on account of one man, he is the most dangerous one that I know of."
"Why do you say that?" asked the youth.
"Man being what he is, he could cause the downfall of a nation as easily as he gained victory."
The impressionable youth remained unconvinced till their hero went into exile. When they heard that Themistocles had sought refuge in the court of Persia they were so let down.
*Everything of the world is given to changes. Truth of action is where each person has freedom to change opinions if they are found not to be true.
benny

Cheetah in Chase - Lulu.com

Hubris Strike Where It Will

As the disastrous term of President Bush’s in office grinds to a close there is nostalgia among the Republicans for the good old days. For them Ronald Regan has been the benchmark. Remember the Time cover of March 2007 where Reagan was shown weeping? President Bush would have revived Reagan legacy if he could. But synergy of persons and events that has touched on the media savvy President is not what Bush can do with. Unlike Mr.Bush Reagan was never in control of both houses of Congress. The actor turned President didn’t even have a 9/11 that could bring all the Americans to his fold. Luckily Reagan though mediocre as a person didn’t strike too far outside his ken in such reckless fashion as Mr. Bush did. Regan merely played on the assumption that there were two superpowers and he stayed at his job without rocking the boat too hard.
The office of the American President may be the most powerful in the world but even he is subject to events and energy supplied by so many. The Republicans who believe that the government is always the problem are like an ostrich that has its head buried in the sand. Fear and smear may help the party to some extent but running an Administration or fulfilling the best interests of the nation would require something else. Being the only superpower and with so much of delusions of grandeur the Bushies believed they were safe in their ‘bubble of reality’ and they could break or make other nations in their own likeness.
2.
President Reagan was in a way made by the media, (and they can make a man of straw seem all powerful) and Reagan rode the raves of the Press who were searching for quotes or style than substance. The same Press missed all along the disinformation spread consistently by the Bush administration leading up to the Iraq war recently admitted their lapses. In the manner big corporations run the Press we may discount their role in making the nation come up smelling like roses.
No nation can stand impervious to the hubris of their arrogance or misrule. I read that one in eight Americans is now living below poverty line while the filthy rich are let off with tax-breaks. Synergy of the common people can break even the most powerful nation. Government is not the problem but the greed of few.
benny

The Other Napoleon

Louis Napoleon was the nephew of Napoléon Buonoparte. Cashing in his uncle’s name he came to power and styled himself as Napoleon III.
Rephrasing Marxian dictum I think history can only descend into a farce whenever it seems to repeat itself. His reign was a fiasco from the start till his rout at Sedan in 1870.
How often people are fobbed off with ‘counterfeits’ whose only claim to power is a family name or a mistaken notion that the political mantel has fallen on so and so?
benny

Change Is Inevitable

Everything of the world is given to changes. Every cause and effect is a transaction, which can only be done with lot of energy changing hands. Such release of energy makes action imperative. Napoleon in those unsettled times when the fledgling Republic faced enemies all around, proved his skills during the seige of Toulon. Subsequently in his meteoric rise he had no qualms of sacrificing so many of his divisions at the battlefield to prove his genius and scoring over their enemies. In their defeats French citizens gloated and they looked to the little corporal as a savior. In each victory he made France sit up and notice him. He showed he was worthy to be compared with Alexander or Caesar. Each victory dragged him farther and farther made possible by so much energy he could mop up. Events did neither go away nor stop; he could not have stopped with Austrelitz or Jena. It was irresistible to ride the crest of the wave of these memorable victories. He had a grateful nation in his pocket. But the retreat from Moscow and Waterloo changed all that. In his fall the nation saw in him more sinned against than a sinner. His funeral in 1840 was a great event and the whole nation mourned in the passing of an era. But change is inevitable as with every transaction in energy. France had reverted from an empire to a Republic. By 1898 in the Chamber there was not a single deputy which belonged to the Bonapartist. From 100 deputies to none. Bonapartism was dead within 27 years after his death.
benny