The Fool and the Wise Man

"The fool thinks himself to be wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." [Measure For Measure] -Shakespeare

Only Human (by Eduardo Galeano)

Darwin told us we are cousins of the apes, not the angels. Later on, we learned we emerged from Africa's jungle and that no stork ever carried us from Paris. And not long ago we discovered that our genes are almost identical to those of mice.  Now we can't tell if we are God's masterpiece or the devil's bad joke.

We puny humans:
Exterminators of everything,
hunters of our own,
creators of the atom bomb, the hydrogen bomb, and the neutron bomb, which is healthiest of all bombs since it vaporizes people and leaves objects intact,
We, the only animals who invent machines,
the only ones who live at the service of the machines they invent,
the only ones who devour their home,
the only one who poison the water they drink and the earth that feeds them,
the only ones capable of renting or selling themselves, or renting or selling their fellow humans,
the only ones who kill for fun,
the only ones who torture,
the only ones who rape.

And also
the only ones who laugh,
the only ones who daydream,
the ones who make silk from the spit of a worm,
the ones who find beauty in rubbish,
the ones who discover colors beyond the rainbow,
the ones who furnish the voices of the world with new music,
and who create words so that
neither reality nor memory will be mute.

(Eduardo Galeano, Excerpt from Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone)

The Machine

What is the machine?  The machine is a system in which we are tainted to follow.  This system is an order that modern culture drills in the minds of young adolescents, and enslaves us as adults.

So now I'm 30 years old, educated, working five days a week, and suffocating in debt.  Was Nick at Night lying to me this whole time?  Where is my house on the hill with the white picket fence?  Where is my pregnant wife and my little boy and girl playing in the yard?  I have followed orders in this consumer society and even bought some Kellog's Cornflakes last night while shopping at the Walmart down the street.  I'm playing my role, but where is the milkman?   I have been waiting for days and he still has not delivered milk on my doorstep.

Prayers for Peace

Jewish Prayer for Peace

Come let us go up the mountain of

the Lord, that we may walk the

paths of the Most High.

And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares,

and our spears into pruning hooks.

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation--

neither shall they learn war any more.

And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the

Lord of Hosts has spoken.

Muslim Prayer for Peace

In the name of Allah,

the beneficent, the merciful.

Praise be to the Lord of the

Universe who has created us and

made us into tribes and nations,

That we may know each other, not that

we may despise each other.

If the enemy incline towards peace, do

thou also incline towards peace, and

trust God, for the Lord is the one that

heareth and knoweth all things.

And the servants of God,

Most Gracious are those who walk on

the Earth in humility, and when we

address them, we say "PEACE."

Christian Prayer for Peace

Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS,

for they shall be known as

the Children of God.

But I say to you that hear,

love your enemies,

do good to those who hate you,

bless those who curse you,

pray for those who abuse you.

To those who strike you on the cheek,

offer the other also,

and from those who take away your cloak,

do not withhold your coat as well.

Give to everyone who begs from you,

and of those who take away your goods,

do not ask them again.

And as you wish that others would do to you,

so do to them.

The Fate of Mankind

“Scattered through the world shall be the women who sing and the men who sing and all who sing…No one will escape, no one will be saved…There will be much misery in the years of the rule of greed.  Men will turn into slaves.  Sad will be the face of the sun…the world will be depopulated, it will become small and humiliated…."

Mayan prophecy of the Yucatan

Bloody Mary

I remember when I was a child there was this game we would play called “Bloody Mary”. I can not recall who taught us this game.  I think it was a child of one of my parent’s friends who told us about this.  Legend was that there was once a queen named Mary who was persecuted and beheaded.  Why?  I really don’t know.  Perhaps she was one of the wives of Henry the VIII?  We were little kids, about eight years old and did not know anything about British history.  But history was not the point and did not matter to us.  The only thing that mattered was that there was a Queen Mary and she suffered a bloody death. 

The myth was that if you go into the bathroom, shut the door, sit on the toilet and say “Bloody Mary” three times, Mary will appear in the mirror.  So my two brothers and I went to the bathroom, shut the door, sat on the toilet, and said, “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary” and without even looking at the mirror, we would rush out the door.  We did this many of times in my childhood.  We really had some kicks out of this. 

I recall a time when me any my two brothers went into the bathroom, shut the door to play Bloody Mary.  We had a very close encounter.  We sat there, and said “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary” and before we could get up to run out, the door open and a woman yelled.  This scared the hell out of us!  It was my mother and we all laughed!

American Saints

American Saints

It is not very often our country is blessed with politicians who truly stand for the American people.  They are public servants that pursue progressiveness, peace, and work for the interest of the American people.  It is the political figures such as these who make me proud to be an American. 

Two of these remarkable people are Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.  MLK and RFK supported civil rights, an end to the war in Vietnam, education, peace, and a positive change in a troubled decade.  Martin Luther King’s dedication to the civil rights movement put an end to segregation in schools, and it was Robert Kennedy who arranged peace talks with Soviet leader Khrushchev. Because Kennedy was willing to simply talk to the Soviets in a time of cold war, the Soviets pulled their missiles out of Cuba, and the U.S. pulled missiles out of Turkey. MLK and RFK truly supported peaceful compromise.  Unfortunately both King and Kennedy were assassinated in 1968.

It has been over 43 years in which King and RFK were assassinated.  King was assassinated April 4, 1968; and Kennedy died 2 months later, June 6, 1968, shortly after his assailant’s attack the previous night while promoting his presidential campaign. 

Now don't get me wrong, there are many things in which my country needs to improve.  Especially with foreign affairs, and America's desire to dominate the world trade.  However, there are real americans out there who struggle for peace.  This blog is a memorial for our fallen heroes.  It is from the works of MLK and RFK that made our country a better place to live in.  It is MLK and RFK who make me feel proud to be an American.

“The problem of power is how to achieve its responsible use rather than its irresponsible and indulgent use — of how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public.”

RFK - "I Remember, I Believe", The Pursuit of Justice (1964)

“A revolution is coming — a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough — But a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.”

RFK - Speech in the US Senate (9 May 1966)

“Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.”

MLK - Stride Toward Freedom : the Montgomery Story (1958)

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

MLK - Letter From Birmingham Jail (1963)