The Spoils of War.

 It's seems that the Wagner paramilitary group has turned on their masters.  Two generals have been nipping at each other's heals about differences in leadership, lacking ammunition, no reinforcement, and many other shared atrocities.  Wagner has turned and bit back, and are pushing on to Moscow.  Will they get there?  Only time will tell.  Apparently the regular Russian army isn't doing as well against the Wagner group as they bragged they would.  Russian military practices include many versions of the same lie to cover up what is actually happening behind the lines.  

War crimes are interesting, generally the spoils go to the victors.  In the past if a government was guilty of evil doings, if that government came out on top of the war then there are no more war crimes.  However today the rest of the world is watching and judging.  Both entities, the Russian regulars, and Wagner, are guilty of executing some pretty heinous crimes upon the Ukrainian people.  It will be interesting to see how this works out towards the end of the war.  

In the meantime we will continue to pray for Ukraine and hope that they get the aid needed to be victorious in this struggle, and that they will come out of it stronger and a better unified nation than they already are.  Possibly even as members of NATO, in this way unified we stand and Evil will never prevail.

80 years ago a very similar war was being played out.  The Allies were victorious and overcame the Nazi horde.  Today we have Vladimir Putin and his re-emergence of Soviet ideals and a new Evil has emerged.  Those that ignore the lessons of the past will suffer the pains of their ignorance.  How many times must the world fight this war before we learn?

Peace and Balance,

John 

Kibitzing The Ancient Game.

"Excuse me for staring, but I must watch.  The game is going very long and I want to steal some ideas, get into your head, and learn the moves. I know I'm being a pain, but believe me this is better than watching my little sister do my home work."

The Kibitzer is that one individual that watches the game of Chess progress from beginning to end often throwing out a few harmless ideas, theories, and his/her own opinions on how the game should be progressing.  Kibitzing should be outlawed, and the Kibitzer made to write 1000 times on a board, "I will not watch, I will not watch."

Chess, originally called "Shawmut" or "Death of the King" was a game invented to drive prisoners crazy during the inquisition.  What happened instead was that these inmates learned how to think strategically, and logically.  Not exactly the intended outcome. 

Many an ancient war was won by those individuals that had a better than average strategic mind.  Often the past prisoners of the evil barons that taught them the punishment of Chess.  I'm thinking of famous people  the like of Robin of Locksley, also known as Robin Hood.  What the reader of the ancient bard doesn't know is that Robin spent some time in one of these prisons learning how to think at the hands of the chained Chess Master.  We shall call him Po, and why not?   

Master Po nick named Robin, "Krispy Kream" and taught him the much needed skill of ignoring the menacing Kibitzer.  But, that is indeed another story all together.  It was written into Historical Text as, "Kung Po Chicken". 

Ignorance of the Kibitzer saved Robin who eventually waged logical and strategic war on those who jailed him and his people.  Robin Hood has become Mythological and is taught to every hero worshiping youth in today's society.  He was after all, a Hero.  

The Kibitzer almost takes on the personage of a Spy.  A double agent through which he passes information back and forth from player to player until the war is waged and a winner is announced.  At which time, "I will not Watch, I will not Watch."  becomes the sages Mantra.

Peace and Balance,

John

It's All About The Choices.

 Everything we do in life starts with a series of choices.  When we rise in the morning we start making choices.  We choose to make coffee, we choose what brand or flavor that coffee to make, we choose whether or not to brush our teeth, etc.  A series of choices made during our day determines the outcome of the rest of the day, or days to come.  Our choices dictate whether or not you're having a good day verses a bad day, all is relative.

I've made the rational choice to pay my bills on time.  This has a fairly positive effect and at or towards the end of the cycle has some positive feed back.  Ie: my credit rating rises, my banks I pay give me positive feed back, and I don't have annoying people showing up at my door expecting large amounts of cash.  All positive outcomes.

Some of the choices we make unfortunately have more, shall we say, negative outcomes.   We might make a decision that we consider rational, that in the long run turns out more irrational making the outcome not as positive as it could be.  For instance buying your girl white lily's for her birthday thinking you've done a good thing.  She either thinks you're proposing, or that you want her to die.  Not quite the positive outcome you've anticipated.  It's all about the choices. 

Choices can start or stop wars.  Some of the worst wars in history started through a series of poorly made choices.  Adolf chose to invade Poland, and later because of the gravity of that choice later chose to kill himself and his girl.  A series of very bad choices.  The USSR chose to place intercontinental ballistic missiles in Cuba right off the border of the United States.  The United States in turn made the choice  to threaten the USSR with inevitable war, and the USSR decided to take the missiles back home.  A series of choices that started bad and ended good.  One leads to another and so forth. 

Sometimes the choices we make can be as benign as choosing to camp beside a river or not.  The initial choice seems to be harmless enough.  Who doesn't like sitting next to the flowing water beside a nice camp fire?  Sounds nice doesn't it? Unless you have made the pre-choice to ignore the pending weather reports and possible flood alerts, maybe a bad choice?  After all waking to a flooded campsite, a vehicle that you find out doesn't float, and the need to swim to save your own life definitely starts with a series of bad choices.  

Everything we do in life starts with a series of choices.  Good, Bad, or Indifferent, these choices can determine whether or not you're going to have a good day.  The gift of forethought should be employed.  Please have a good day.  

Peace and Balance,

John

 

WAR - Low Rider (Official Video) [Remastered in 4K]

Who are the Aliens?

 

 A couple thousand years ago human beings thought intelligence's from other places, our first impressions, where either considered gods, or angels.  For millennia we worshiped these beings as our creators and the teachers that were supposed to be leading us to a better place, Heaven or Hell. 

As our understandings of these intelligences grow so do our thoughts and pictures about the nature of these beings.  Our Angels and gods became visitors from other worldly places, and the craft they travel in changed from the Chariots of the Gods, to the space craft that Aliens use to travel from one place to another.   Our Angels have become our Aliens.  

For those of us who have not let go of old ideas about the nature of other worldly beings, Religions have been developed based on old ideas of gods and angels.  Human beings have created ideas of all seeing benevolent overlords with our best interest at heart.  It is our job to worship these beings blindly and follow all instructions given to us on our paths to Heaven.  Now, there are old stories of a war in heaven.  The Winners, the kind and benevolent ones, have given us a directive, "Do what we say."  So, we do, should we?

It is said that the spoils go to the victors.  How do we know that the victors in this war were actually the good guys?  Because we are told to believe, have faith, worship?  A couple hundred years ago, even up to today, I would be and am considered a Heretic.   Then I would have been hanged, burned, drowned, and possibly quartered.  Today I am condemned to a fiery Hell by those who, "Know" the Lord.  I have my doubts that these Godly people really know what it is they speak.  I guess ignorance is bliss. 

Today we are in the throws of yet another change in understanding.  Our Aliens are reverting back into us by way of time.  Human understanding of unknown creatures visiting us are either, Us traveling back in time, or what have been called, "The Visitors" traveling through time and space to meet us.  We then are possibly the Creator in the first place.  We created Ourselves.  Convoluted...

The smarter we get, the more confused we are about the nature of, "Heaven and Hell."  Through this all, we still hold on to God.  However, the Guru in us would say, "If you want to talk with God, look into a mirror and start speaking."  So, they tell me I'm going to Hell. These Godly people. 

For me, I just speak, or think, or talk to my friends.  God is everywhere is it not?

A long time ago we had our gods and angels.  There was a war.  Someone won that war.  What was the war over?  Possibly We are the prize, and the war is a huge identity crisis.  

Who were the winners, and who were the losers?  An answer to both questions, Us.  As our understandings grow, I am not afraid to look into the reflection of a pond and declare, "I AM God." 

Who are You?

Peace and Balance,

John

Adolf or Vladimir?

 

How many generations does it take to forget a thing?  Time teaches us lessons and if we don't learn those lessons time will repeat herself to re-teach the same lessons under different, but similar circumstances.  

In 1919 a young student joined the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP, German Worker's Party) and rose to power rather rapidly in the early years of the party.  Then he began making changes, subtle changes, by replacing prominent individuals with those he trusted and would follow his idealism blindly. 

Eventually Hitler's party grew into what the world commonly refers to as the NAZI party.  By the time the 30's rolled around he was elected Chancellor by the people.  He waited two years then began implementing his twisted idealism and politics on the German people.  He began separating people by class, then education, religion, and finely race.  Everyone that was different than his mental image of the perfect person was ostracized and eventually erased from existence. Anyone in power that did not agree with his sickness was disappeared and or killed or both.  Hitler was responsible for the erasure and extermination of more innocent people than any other single man in history.  This point can be argued, but for the purposes of this piece we'll call it true.  In 1939 Germany invaded Poland and the rest in history.

Not much is known about the beginning of Vladimir Putin's political career although prior to his political rise he worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years resigning in 1991 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  He disappeared from military life and ended up is Saint Petersburg as a political acolyte.  Then in 1996 Vladimir moved to Moscow to work under the tutelage of and joining the administration of Boris Yeltsin.  His career before Moscow is fairly quiet.  

Putin was the director of the FSB (Federal Security Services) up till the point that Yeltsin resigned from politics.  Shortly after Vladimir was elected as Prime Minister of the Russian Federation then became it's President.  He has been in power in one form or another ever since.  Then he began changing the workings of the political spectrum of Russia from the inside out.  He has managed to change policy to the point where he will hold the presidency until 2036.  Potentially for his lifetime.  

Putin, like Hitler is a charismatic speaker that holds the attention of the audience listening to his rhetoric.  They were both power hungry and dominate their foes through fear.  Like Hitler, Putin has killed or had killed virtually every person in power that does not agree with his idea of the world.  

11 months ago the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine and tried rolling their tanks straight into Kiev.  He was trying to copy what the Germans did in Poland in 1939.  However, it didn't work as well and the Russians eventually were made to retreat back to the relative safety of the forest.  Then Ukraine began using the technology given them by the West, and Russia began loosing the war.  

There have been horrific stories of atrocities committed by Russian soldiers on the innocent citizens of Ukraine.  Journalists from several networks and countries have pretty much corroborated the stories.  Putin denies the stories and makes threats.  He has threatened to unleash a Nuclear nightmare in Ukraine if the United States gets involved.  The worlds reactions eventually got Putin to react differently from his vocal threats.  

The Ukrainians have gained further tech. from the west and have been hitting targets within the borders of Russia.  Russia reacts by sending missals to  civilian targets destroying a good portion of the infrastructure of Ukraine, and Kiev the Capital city.   Winter is reaching the cold season and there is no power.  

Putin's whole war is based on his delusion that he is the reincarnation of the first Tzar of Russia, and believes that Kiev is his personal property and that Ukraine belongs to him.  His twisted vision of his world is very reminiscent of Adolf Hitler's vison of his world.  They both thought that theirs was the prominent race of people on the planet and that they rule from a devine hand. 

Hitler supposedly died by his own hand, how will Vladimir go?  Will we keep reliving old lessons presented by the Earth Mother?  Will humanity learn the lesson of being Humane?  Will we grow beyond our own misguided views of ourselves and look out at those beyond who have been looking in?  Or, are we doomed to keep living the same lessons over and over again doing battle with entrenched Evils disguised as immoral megalomaniacs?  What I am seeing in Putin the world has seen before, Hitler has a reflection.

Peace and Balance,

John