a m a e Z e d
the cat’s pajamas
Within the pre-existing paradigm a huge disparity exists between the rich and poor, an exploited and under-served under class, where the planet is being raped for the benefit of a few elite. I’m not a facetious yobbo that is out to negate everything. To me, it’s not just some peripheral thing that I turn up occasionally to report on. No, no. This has been happening for millennia. It’s not working and it needs fixing. People are crying out for it and our leaders are denying it. I mean, you shouldn’t be a politician unless you’ve had at least one job. People are fed up with posturing pollies. They lie, cheat and support their banking/corporate bud’s right in front of us. The cheek! Just goes to show what they think of the public. Contempt, is a word that comes to mind.
Each day, we hear of another corruption scandal, somewhere around the globe. It fascinates me that the ones at the top are being busted for corporate illegalities, while the ones at the bottom for crimes against humanity; crimes of passion. It seems to me that in these troubled times, the ones at the top can’t handle the responsibilities and pressures of handling copious amounts of buckaroonie$. Once you get to the top of the heap, you feel like you are beyond the law, you take your eyes off the ball and fall. The ones at the bottom…they kill one another for lacking financial security; a basic and dignified means of living. The ones in the middle pretend nothing’s happening and don’t want to rock the boat…don’t want to lose their jobs and investments…and…kinda rightly so?
The basic tenet, that humans aren’t built for this kind of lifestyle [both top and bottom], holds water, in fact we have been led up the proverbial path, sneakily and to the point that any undoing will be massive and on a grand scale. But take for instance a journalist. Journalists these days have been shut down from on high. The elite own all media outlets. Is this why journalists don’t research and report independently, just plagiarise, write boring irrelevant pieces, PERIOD!..or the potential whistle-blower, that sees corruption but takes on that famous adage “hear no evil, see no evil”…for fear of recrimination, even with those safeguards in place? There is no other time in history, but now for the need of information disclosure and to see behind the veil of secrecy and to see the why’s, who’s and how’s that make the world as it is…and…those responsible to be brought to justice. Food Democracy – this is our food we are talking about, not some frivolous thought. We need not be reminded that Food is what keeps us alive, but not just alive but healthy. Packaged food’s aren’t foods. Yes, they have nutrients but lack life force. I throw away limp carrots etc. Here is a link…please sign it if you believe in food democracy below. 
a m a e Z e d 
Everyone will go through some hard times at some point. Life isn’t easy. Just something to think about…did you know the people that are the strongest are usually the most sensitive? Did you know the people who exhibit the most kindness are the first to get mistreated? Did you know the ones who take care of others all the time are usually the ones who need it the most? Did you know the 3 hardest things to say ……are I love you, I’m sorry, and Help me. Sometimes just because a person looks happy, you have to look past their smile and see how much pain they may be in. To all my friends who are going through some issues right now–let’s start an intention avalanche. We all need positive intentions right now. Let us give support to all those who have family problems, health struggles, job issues, worries of any kind and just need to know that someone cares. Do this for all of us, for nobody is immune.
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Thanks for the insightful words of wisdom. And so true. Those folk that don’t care are those who’s hearts have gone south. They protect their money and control those that don’t have much. People don’t like to talk about their health issues. Not sexy. We all travel towards the ultimate demise, yet stopping for a moment to listen…just listen. Doctors are crap. They give you coloured pills or a medical certificate…PERIOD. True friends don’t up and leave but stick it out. Those that stick it out have matured fully as wise and sincere people. People run away when you say sorry, help me, I love you.
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Yes many people do leave when the stress gets too great for them. When someone is going through a tough time, as a concerned friend you sometimes just have to stand back and watch. At these times there is nothing anyone can do, but just the fact that someone is standing and watching might be enough to help the other through. Sometimes its enough just knowing they are not alone even if they choose to be at the moment! Yes real friends give friends space but are ready with an all encompassing love when a wounded heart is ready to love again! I love those friends dearly!
A lot of friends forgot me when I was so sick, many thought I moved away but there were a few really good friends and my family who stood and watched me go through this life lesson and were there to help pick me up once I found the will to survive. My heart knows true love, the love that saved me, the love that brought me through those difficult times, the love that healed me! That love was the love inside my own heart, the love that I was worth saving, that I was meant to live. My loved ones watching me love myself back to health know now what true love is…if ever they find themselves under that same spell, blindly trusting those who do not love us, who only want to gain from our demise when one is already down and out in life, for them it’s only about making and taking the profits from all the crap they push on us as “health care!” Real health care comes from love!
True love and true care comes from the heart starting with your own…this virus spreads like wildfire when love infects the heart! That infection caught hold of me when I chose to turn inside to find truth…it saved my life! After that, lots more love came through the door as I opened up my heart! Love that stays, love that cares, love that is angered by the lack of self love when one is feeling low and turning on ones self. These hearts, sound a call for truth, that nothing but nothing is worth you giving up on yourself…there are real friends standing there waiting to celebrate your life with you!
I am alive because I love myself and I am surrounded by…LOVE!
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I agree. Especially the three hardest things to say…thank you
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Omm Yes…Thank You!
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OUR TOWN
(Iris Dement)
And you know the sun’s settin’ fast
and just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
’cause your heart’s bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can’t you see the sun’s settin’ down on our town, on our town
goodnight
Up the street beside that red neon light
that’s where I met my baby on one hot summer night
He was the tender and I ordered a beer
It’s been forty years and I’m still sitting here
But you know the sun’s settin’ fast
and just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
’cause your heart’s bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can’t you see the sun’s settin’ down on our town, on our town
goodnight
It’s here I had my baby’s and I had my first kiss
I’ve walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist
Over there is where I bought my first car
it turned over once but then it never went far
And I can see the sun settin’ fast
and just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
’cause your heart’s bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can’t you see the sun’s settin’ down on our town, on our town
goodnight
I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa
They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall
I bring them flowers about every day
but I just gotta cry when I think what they’d say
If they could see how the sun’s settin’ fast
and just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
’cause your heart’s bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can’t you see the sun’s settin’ down on our town, on our town
goodnight
Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly
but I can’t see too good, I got tears in my eyes
I’m leaving tomorrow but I don’t wanna go
I love you my town, you’ll always live in my soul
But I can see the sun’s settin’ fast
and just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on I gotta kiss you goodbye but I’ll hold to my lover
’cause my heart’s ’bout to die
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town
Can’t you see the sun’s settin’ down on my town, on my town
Goodnight, goodnight
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http://www.opednews.com/articles/Welcome-to-Satan-s-Ball-by-Chris-Hedges-Obama_Power_Putin_Rights-140310-3.html
Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita,” a bitter satire of Soviet life at the height of Stalin’s purges, captured the surrealist experience of living in a brutal totalitarianism. In the novel’s world, lies are considered true and truth is considered seditious. Existence is a dark carnival of opportunism, unchecked state power, hedonism and terrorism. It is peopled with omnipotent secret police, wholesale spying and surveillance, show trials, censorship, mass arrests, summary executions and disappearances, along with famines, gulags and a state system of propaganda utterly unplugged from daily reality. This reality is increasingly becoming our own.
“The Master and Margarita” is built around Woland, or Satan, who is a traveling magician, along with a hog-sized, vodka-swilling, chess-playing black cat named Behemoth, a witch named Hella, a poet named Ivan Homeless, a writer known as The Master who has been placed in an insane asylum following the suppression of his book, his lover Margarita, Pontius Pilate, Yeshua, or Jesus Christ, and Pilate’s dog Banga — the only creature that loves Pilate.
Throughout history, those who spoke the truth in totalitarian states–people such as Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning — have been silenced and persecuted and those who parroted back the lies and served the system have been rewarded with lives of luxury and debauchery. Bulgakov reminds us of this. In the midst of his story’s madness, in which moral goodness is banished and only the amoral is celebrated, Satan holds a ball where Margarita, as queen, plays hostess to “kings, dukes, cavaliers, suicides, poisoners, gallows birds and procuresses, jailers, cardsharps, executioners, informers, traitors, madmen, detectives and corrupters of youth” who leap from coffins that fall out of the fireplace. The men wear tailcoats, and the women, who are naked, differ from each other only “by their shoes and the color of the feathers on their heads.” “Scarlet-breasted parrots with green tails perched on lianas and hopping from branch to branch uttered deafening screeches of “Ecstasy! Ecstasy!” As Johann Strauss leads the orchestra, revelers mingle in a cool ballroom set in a tropical forest.
In this bizarre world you flourish, are embraced by its fantasy life, only if the state decides you are worthy to exist — “No papers, no person.”
The arbitrary and capricious power of the state permits it to determine the identity and worth of its people, including the writers and artists it officially anoints. When Behemoth and his companion, Korovyov, an ex-choirmaster, attempt to enter the restaurant at the headquarters of the state-sanctioned literary trade union — filled with careerists, propagandists, profiteers and state bureaucrats, along with their wives and mistresses — they are accosted at the entrance.
“A pale bored citizeness in white socks and a white beret with a tassel was sitting on a bentwood chair at the corner entrance to the veranda, where an opening had been created in the greenery of the trellis. In front of her on a plain kitchen table lay a thick, office-style register in which, for reasons unknown, she was writing down the names of those entering the restaurant. It was this citizeness who stopped Korovyov and Behemoth.
“Your ID cards?’ she asked. …
“I beg a thousand pardons, but what ID cards?” asked a surprised Korovyov.
“Are you writers?” asked the woman in turn.
“Of course we are,” replied Korovyov with dignity.
“May I see your ID’s?” repeated the woman.
“My charming creature …” began Korovyov, tenderly.
“I am not a charming creature,” interrupted the woman.
“Oh, what a pity,” said Korovyov with disappointment, and continued, “Well, then, if you do not care to be a charming creature, which would have been quite nice, you don’t have to be. But, here’s my point, in order to ascertain that Dostoevsky is a writer, do you really need to ask him for an ID? Just look at any five pages of any of his novels, and you will surely know, even without an ID, that you’re dealing with a writer. Besides, I don’t suppose that he ever had any ID! What do you think?”
Korovyov turned to Behemoth.
“I’ll bet he didn’t,” replied the latter. …
“You’re not Dostoevsky,” said the citizeness.
“Well, but how do you know, how do you know?” replied [Korovyov].
“Dostoevsky is dead,” said the citizeness, but not very confidently.
“I protest!” exclaimed Behemoth hotly. “Dostoevsky is immortal!”
“Your ID’s, citizens,” said the citizeness.
Although the book, whose working title was “Satan in Moscow,” was completed in 1940 it did not appear in print in uncensored form until the 1970s.
“The power structure is symbolized by its anonymity and omnipresence, by its mysterious nature, by its total knowledge against which there is no defense, by its ability to penetrate every space, by putting in an appearance at any hour of the day or night,” Karl Schlögel wrote in his book “Moscow, 1937” in speaking of Bulgakov’s portrayal of the organs of state security. “Investigating officials have no names; they are simply ‘they.’ The word ‘arrest’ is replaced by the sentences ‘We need to sort something out’ or ‘We need your signature here.’ ”
Thomas Mann in “The Magic Mountain,” which takes place in a tuberculosis sanatorium in the Swiss Alps on the eve of World War I, also chronicles the malaise and sickness of a society in terminal moral decline: There no longer are any goals worth pursuing; death is more dignified than life; illness is more conducive to reflection than health.
Joseph Roth in “Hotel Savoy” reaches the same conclusion. In Roth’s novel, Gabriel Dan, an Austrian soldier released from a Serbian prisoner-of-war camp after World War I, finds sanctuary in a hotel that “promises water, soap, English style toilet, a lift, maids in white caps.” In the grand ballrooms, the rich and powerful gorge themselves in hedonistic revelry. But on the upper floors Dan discovers desperate, impoverished debtors, bankrupt gamblers, failed revolutionaries, chorus girls, clowns, dancers, the terminally ill and dreamers. Once those in the upper garrets are fleeced of their money and possessions they are tossed into the street.
Roth’s protagonist says:
“The hotel no longer appealed to me: neither the stifling laundry, nor the gruesomely benevolent lift-boy nor the three floors of prisoners. This Hotel Savoy was like the world. Brilliant light shone out from it and splendor glittered from its seven storeys, but poverty made its home in its high places, and those who lived on high were in the depths, buried in airy graves, and the graves were in layers above the comfortable rooms of the well nourished guests sitting down below, untroubled by the flimsy coffins overhead.”
The moral order, like our own, is upside-down.
Bulgakov, Mann and Roth understood that there is no real political ideology among decayed ruling elites. They knew that political debate and ideological constructs for these elites is absurdist theater, a species of entertainment for the masses. They warned that once societies enter terminal decay, in the end it is the blunt forces of censorship, relentless propaganda, coercion, fear and finally terror that keep a subdued population in check. Those who hold power in such systems are thieves who run a vast kleptocracy.
The rise of criminal elites is global. Vladimir Putin is a megalomaniac and a thug who is filling his personal coffers while he is the leader of Russia, and Barack Obama, who has more polish and sophistication, will fill his own pockets, as did the Clintons, with tens of millions of dollars as soon as he leaves office. The banks and corporations for which Obama works are as criminal and corrupt as the Central Bank of Russia, which calculates that perhaps two-thirds of the $56 billion that left Russia in 2012 might have been from money laundering, drug trafficking, tax fraud or kickbacks. The circular system of patronage and crime that exists worldwide varies from region to region only by degrees and style.
The Western political and financial elites, Putin knows, will not touch him. He and they are in the same decadent oligarchic class. They hold the same values. Europe depends on Russia for 40 percent of its natural gas, most of which passes through Ukraine. European bankers and corporations have no intention of jeopardizing that flow, or any current or potential trade deals. Corporate profit is the driving engine of foreign policy. Our elites do not care about human rights or civil liberties, not to mention the illegality of pre-emptive war, any more than Putin. Ask the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia how much moral authority the United States has to denounce the violation of the territorial integrity of a sovereign state. Ask those in our black sites and offshore penal colonies how much moral authority we have to denounce arbitrary detention and torture. Ask the 1.3 million people who lost their extended unemployment benefits in December or those who saw food stamp cutbacks reduce their spending by $90 a month how much moral authority there is left in our corporate state.
Our elites have established the most efficient system of mass surveillance in history. They have abolished most of our civil liberties. They have trashed our economy for their own personal gain. They have looted state treasuries and thrown working men and women aside. Satan is again holding a great ball. You are not invited. I am not invited. Only the gangsters will be there. Putin will be an honored guest. So will Obama.
Chris Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The (more…)
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The Master and Margarita Part 1 (1 _ 5)(English subtitles).
Master and Margarita (2005) is a Menippean film based on the eponymous book by Mikhail A. Bulgakov. Set in Moscow under Stalin and in Jerusalem under Pilate, it has several story-lines where history, religion and politics are intertwined. The sacrifices of Master (Galibin), a talented author of a manuscript about the biblical Pontius Pilate, and Master’s muse – Margarita (Kovalchuk), are paralleled by the biblical story of Ieshua in Ierushalaim, and the deceit of the cowardly ambiguous Pilate (Lavrov), whose character alludes to a Soviet leader. The reality is distorted by Satan Woland (Basilashvili), and his lieutenants, who are manipulating public events and people’s lives by pushing the buttons of human weaknesses and sins. Margarita taps into Woland’s power, trying to save Master. The character of Master is autobiographical, burning of his manuscript alludes to what Bulgakov himself did under threats from the Soviet authorities.
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ANOTHER WORLD is a feature documentary about the journey of mankind to discover who we truly are, challenging the modern view of the world and reconsidering the world view and value systems of ancient societies such as the indigenous Americans.
It is a quest through science and consciousness, individual and planetary, exploring our relationships with ourselves, the world around us and the universe as a whole. It demonstrates how connected we really all are, as best expressed in the Mayan greeting In Lak’ech, which means “I am another yourself.” It also demonstrates just how unnatural the sense of separation that characterizes much of modern thought really is as opposed to the understanding of unity and oneness found in many ancient traditions.Above all it is a transcendental pilgrimage of repossession and empowerment, affirming our place in the universe and asserting mankind as a conscious mankind with real power as individuals and as a collective to create our reality, leaving us with a message that hopefully will not only open our eyes, but hopefully stimulate everyone generating a better and brighter tomorrow for the benefit of present and future generations.
Italian director and producer Thomas Torelli (producer of Zero: An Investigation into 9/11, winner of the Audience Award at the Festival Internacional de Cine Documental de la Ciudad de México in 2008), has just finished working on his new feature documentary which is called “Another World” (Un altro mondo), which he wrote and directed. This film is the result of the work and willingness of so many people who from the very beginning have believed in the power of the project and that finally will see the fruits of their efforts. I’m happy to say that even in its provisional version, the results and feedback far exceed our expectations. In fact, last week we received the first wonderful news which I hope are only the beginning of many. We’re pleased to say that our documentary was selected for competition at the XIII edition of the RIFF – Rome Independent Film Festival (March 16-23) in Rome. Another World will screen in the DocumentaRIFF section of the festival. We’re very proud and honored to have also been selected to be a part of the 2014 Phoenix Film Festival (April 3-10).
We are now more sure than ever that the scope of this film is worth pursuing, it is needed, it can and will empower people all over. For this reason I am very excited to announce our Another World crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo to raise the last funds needed to finish the film and finance outlook and reach. So, if you haven’t decided yet where your donations could go this year, how about putting them to work on building another world?! Not only will your contribution help make the world better for you, the world around us and the universe as a whole today, it will hopefully help create a better future for everyone too. To thank you for your help, we have awesome limited-edition gifts available, created especially for our crowdfunding campaign supporters.
So let’s all take action and make a difference, the more we are, the better! So pre-order your copy of Another World on Indiegogo. Please check out the link and help us spread the word on your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, blog, newsletter or website, and don’t forget to tell your friends, family, colleagues, students about it.
Another World is possible, thanks to YOU!
SUPPORT Another World here: http://igg.me/p/678409/x/6430354
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