I wonder how Anita Bryant feels, knowing that she was so right that it's gone way beyond what she thought and no one notices.
It's awful to see the truth if no one believes you.
We've just had two Presidents call Bradley Manning by his chosen name Chelsea. And this is because he wants to be called Chelsea, so I guess calling him his actual name would be violating his rights or something?
I feel really sorry for people who think they have to cut something off of their bodies to be a real person. But just because they think they need to cut something off doesn't mean that they really do.
Consider the person who never has enough. When should they stop?
They might as well stop before any surgery, no?
If too much is never enough, why do you think suddenly that the answer to your problems really truly, this time, lives right around the corner?
If you really want exercise, by all means, walk around the block but there is no final destination there- no Candy Land or Nirvana, if only, place that you just have to get to.
Grow up, people.
If I identify as someone who has 500 million dollars, I get to go into SunTrust and take out a few?
What?
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
The Red Tent
Reaching into her hoard to find the treasure, my co-worker couldn't find a copy but today at rehab there it was. I'll let you know.
Notes on The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
The Mother Tongue
English & How It Got That Way
Bill Bryson
Perennial
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1990
So I really like the subject matter of this book. Thanks to one of my uncles who will remain anonymous for sharing.
Just the title page leaves me with questions. The & was used in the title- and how do I know when that should be done? Is that a choice?
Is HarperCollinsPublishers one word, like the way I type my last name? It's a name, so do they get to spell it how they want? Could I name my kid something spelled HGyT6four but tell everyone it's pronounced George?
The book is dedicated To Cynthia. But it's written
T O C Y N T H I A
which is interesting too. Living with Mama, who gave me a love of language, I read a book in her honor, how sweet.
300 to 330 million native English speakers and 61 English based creoles pp. 180-1 around the world in Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea, etc.
260 million Spanish, 150 million Portuguese, 100 million French
750 million Mandarin
Forty four countries list English as one of their official languages; that's about one third of the world, while French is official in 27, Spanish 20
A very interesting choice for a worldwide language- mixture of Germanic, Greek and Latin, but with very few words borrowed from German; just lots that were there before English and then turned into English and German...
p. 13 and 147
Webster's Third New International Dictionary has 450,000 words
revised Oxford English Dictionary has 615,000
p. 147 Samuel Johnson's 43,000 words
Words in common use- English 200,000 German 184,000 French 100,000
pp. 80-1 There are about 100 common prefixes and suffixes in English, making many other possibilities for each root. For instance, the book maddeningly states that there are six common prefixes to turn a word into a negative. We can add a, anti, in, il, im, ir, un or non in front of a word and- I counted, dude, and that's 8. Of course, those forms are only used in front of certain letters so I guess that's what he was getting at- variant forms of the same prefix, I suppose.
Crazy huge amount of synonyms and spelling inconsistencies
p. 15 There are 100 words for yam for the "residents of the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea."
p. 17 The Japanese word for foreigner means "stinking of foreign hair"
Germans call cockroaches "Frenchmen."
p. 75
Anglo-Saxon nouns married to non-Anglos-Saxon adjectives:
ocular eyes
oral mouth
literary book
aquatic water
domestic house
lunar moon
filial son This reminds me of my six semesters of Mandarin where all the stories were about filial piety and we had no idea what the stories were talking about
urban town
solar sun
p. 75 the word dog is related in no way known to any other word
It annoyed me to no end that the author thinks Shakespeare invented so many words. How do we know what words found nowhere else were already written and spoken by the time he came along since so much information is missing and nobody studies anything from that time period but him?
p. 121
This list of misspelled words is awesome.
supercede
conceed
procede
idiosyncracy
concensus
accomodate
impressario
irresistable
rhythym
opthalmologist
diptheria
opthalmologist
anamoly
afficianado
caesarian
grafitti
Ouch- English, this is pretty bad.
p. 167-8
Greek to Latin to Norman related words that took different routes into English
canal or channel
regard or reward
poor or pauper
catch or chase
cave or cage
amiable or amicable
coy or quiet
sordid or swarthy
entirety or integrity
p. 96
chief or chef
Some three word relationships, from common roots entering English from three routes:
cattle chattel capital
hotel hostel hospital
strait straight strict
jaunty, gentle, gentile, genteel
Icelandic hasn't changed much at all in a thousand years
poppycock is Dutch for soft dung
cafeteria is Mexican
prairie is French
dollar went from German to Spanish to English
p. 73
shampoo is Indian
boondocks is Tagalog
chaparral is Basque
slogan - Gaelic
breeze - Spanish
caucus - Algonquin
ketchup - Chinese
potato - Haitian
sofa - Arabic
p. 209 has a list of incomprehensible names in English of countries that call themselves other things. It's time we tried to use whatever name they call themselves. Come on, my name is Carl and if I go to Spain it doesn't turn into Carlos, but it's helpful to know that the names are related- like Carol, Caroll, Karel, Karl, Charles etc.
p.214 No native swear words in some languages
p. 36 To most English speakers a pause in conversation of 4 seconds or more is intolerably rude.
English & How It Got That Way
Bill Bryson
Perennial
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1990
So I really like the subject matter of this book. Thanks to one of my uncles who will remain anonymous for sharing.
Just the title page leaves me with questions. The & was used in the title- and how do I know when that should be done? Is that a choice?
Is HarperCollinsPublishers one word, like the way I type my last name? It's a name, so do they get to spell it how they want? Could I name my kid something spelled HGyT6four but tell everyone it's pronounced George?
The book is dedicated To Cynthia. But it's written
T O C Y N T H I A
which is interesting too. Living with Mama, who gave me a love of language, I read a book in her honor, how sweet.
300 to 330 million native English speakers and 61 English based creoles pp. 180-1 around the world in Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea, etc.
260 million Spanish, 150 million Portuguese, 100 million French
750 million Mandarin
Forty four countries list English as one of their official languages; that's about one third of the world, while French is official in 27, Spanish 20
A very interesting choice for a worldwide language- mixture of Germanic, Greek and Latin, but with very few words borrowed from German; just lots that were there before English and then turned into English and German...
p. 13 and 147
Webster's Third New International Dictionary has 450,000 words
revised Oxford English Dictionary has 615,000
p. 147 Samuel Johnson's 43,000 words
Words in common use- English 200,000 German 184,000 French 100,000
pp. 80-1 There are about 100 common prefixes and suffixes in English, making many other possibilities for each root. For instance, the book maddeningly states that there are six common prefixes to turn a word into a negative. We can add a, anti, in, il, im, ir, un or non in front of a word and- I counted, dude, and that's 8. Of course, those forms are only used in front of certain letters so I guess that's what he was getting at- variant forms of the same prefix, I suppose.
Crazy huge amount of synonyms and spelling inconsistencies
p. 15 There are 100 words for yam for the "residents of the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea."
p. 17 The Japanese word for foreigner means "stinking of foreign hair"
Germans call cockroaches "Frenchmen."
p. 75
Anglo-Saxon nouns married to non-Anglos-Saxon adjectives:
ocular eyes
oral mouth
literary book
aquatic water
domestic house
lunar moon
filial son This reminds me of my six semesters of Mandarin where all the stories were about filial piety and we had no idea what the stories were talking about
urban town
solar sun
p. 75 the word dog is related in no way known to any other word
It annoyed me to no end that the author thinks Shakespeare invented so many words. How do we know what words found nowhere else were already written and spoken by the time he came along since so much information is missing and nobody studies anything from that time period but him?
p. 121
This list of misspelled words is awesome.
supercede
conceed
procede
idiosyncracy
concensus
accomodate
impressario
irresistable
rhythym
opthalmologist
diptheria
opthalmologist
anamoly
afficianado
caesarian
grafitti
Ouch- English, this is pretty bad.
p. 167-8
At the turn of the century New York had more speakers of German than anywhere in the world except Vienna and Berlin, more Irish than anywhere but Dublin, more Russians than in Kiev, more Italians than in Milan or Naples.p. 73
Greek to Latin to Norman related words that took different routes into English
canal or channel
regard or reward
poor or pauper
catch or chase
cave or cage
amiable or amicable
coy or quiet
sordid or swarthy
entirety or integrity
p. 96
chief or chef
Some three word relationships, from common roots entering English from three routes:
cattle chattel capital
hotel hostel hospital
strait straight strict
jaunty, gentle, gentile, genteel
Icelandic hasn't changed much at all in a thousand years
poppycock is Dutch for soft dung
cafeteria is Mexican
prairie is French
dollar went from German to Spanish to English
p. 73
shampoo is Indian
boondocks is Tagalog
chaparral is Basque
slogan - Gaelic
breeze - Spanish
caucus - Algonquin
ketchup - Chinese
potato - Haitian
sofa - Arabic
p. 209 has a list of incomprehensible names in English of countries that call themselves other things. It's time we tried to use whatever name they call themselves. Come on, my name is Carl and if I go to Spain it doesn't turn into Carlos, but it's helpful to know that the names are related- like Carol, Caroll, Karel, Karl, Charles etc.
p.214 No native swear words in some languages
p. 36 To most English speakers a pause in conversation of 4 seconds or more is intolerably rude.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Best Video on Fake News? PewDiePie
The separation of Church and State- errrr, I mean- the separation between news and entertainment- has reached a new opacity.
The same producers who bring you Saturday cartoons bring you Headline News. Disney owns ABC. Have we just figured this out? They've owned it for awhile now.
Fake news hits the fan with the Clinton News Network- finally people realize what CNN has been up to for twenty years. They wanted to push Hillary Clinton. Now, did they do that to put her front and center and get forty five percent of the country to secretly hate her, or did they do that to get her elected. You have your opinion. But we knew she was going to run and why and how did we know that? We heard it on all the acronyms- ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and so forth.
They did this.
A little more than half the country agreed with CNN. They jut didn't live in the right states.
Pizzagate is a great example of news. Is it fake or is it real? How could it be real? Who would do such a thing? But how can it be fake? Who could even make that up??
You know when you watch a movie and suddenly you realize you're watching something so stupid that you want to leave the theater or change the channel?
PewDiePie fails to realize that he's a business? i doubt that. He knows more about analytics than the anal analysts paid at each media outlet to keep control over the sheeple.
This is great news.
One man, working independently, has figured out what the committees and corporations haven't.
The same producers who bring you Saturday cartoons bring you Headline News. Disney owns ABC. Have we just figured this out? They've owned it for awhile now.
Fake news hits the fan with the Clinton News Network- finally people realize what CNN has been up to for twenty years. They wanted to push Hillary Clinton. Now, did they do that to put her front and center and get forty five percent of the country to secretly hate her, or did they do that to get her elected. You have your opinion. But we knew she was going to run and why and how did we know that? We heard it on all the acronyms- ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and so forth.
They did this.
A little more than half the country agreed with CNN. They jut didn't live in the right states.
Pizzagate is a great example of news. Is it fake or is it real? How could it be real? Who would do such a thing? But how can it be fake? Who could even make that up??
You know when you watch a movie and suddenly you realize you're watching something so stupid that you want to leave the theater or change the channel?
PewDiePie fails to realize that he's a business? i doubt that. He knows more about analytics than the anal analysts paid at each media outlet to keep control over the sheeple.
This is great news.
One man, working independently, has figured out what the committees and corporations haven't.
Friday, January 20, 2017
No thanks for your conCERN
As the Ricola hornblowers dig through the planet to release their cousins the Titanephalim from the Abyss, it occurs to me that I haven't spent much time in Switzerland.
Lovely country, it is. It's like a Carolina with some culture.
Just kidding, Carolina. Obviously I wasn't talking about you but your neighbor, that other one.
North and South.
Are there a north and south Switzerland?
There's a gentleman on YouTube going around Switzerland showing Templar stuff and interpreting that not as quaint history but as a plot to take over the world. It's very interesting. Aren't we all trying to take over whatever part of the world we can get away with?
Digging to the Center of the Earth in chase of.... what? I am not truly that conCERNed. But it's a great idea; an olde time exploration motif playing in my head making me want to know what's happening far far away, and how that thing there is much like where I am. And how it isn't. For instance, why in that galaxy far far away do they not just use their guns instead of those light sticks? I know. Because it looks better. And it's a movie.
The CERN experiment, dedicated to Kali and with goat dances and beheadings and so on, is not featured in my YoutTube feed so often these days. I suppose YouTube wants me to move on to another crisis and it's worked. It's left me with ruminating thoughts of the word "concern."
Influenced by Dave Johnson's channel, I have come to think as of today or yesterday, that concern is the problem. Concern keeps the thought circling and circling. Some people need attention and some need a dollar and some need a smile and some need a kind word and some need a kick in the face occasionally but whoever needs concern?
Here in English we have all these synonyms. Maybe sympathy or empathy or helpful, but in the sense that I'm using it, concern is an excuse to worry and not to do anything. It's pretending to do something or pretending to care or maybe it's actually caring, but it doesn't leave the mind of the person who is concerned and it doesn't help the object of concern one bit.
Lovely country, it is. It's like a Carolina with some culture.
Just kidding, Carolina. Obviously I wasn't talking about you but your neighbor, that other one.
North and South.
Are there a north and south Switzerland?
There's a gentleman on YouTube going around Switzerland showing Templar stuff and interpreting that not as quaint history but as a plot to take over the world. It's very interesting. Aren't we all trying to take over whatever part of the world we can get away with?
Digging to the Center of the Earth in chase of.... what? I am not truly that conCERNed. But it's a great idea; an olde time exploration motif playing in my head making me want to know what's happening far far away, and how that thing there is much like where I am. And how it isn't. For instance, why in that galaxy far far away do they not just use their guns instead of those light sticks? I know. Because it looks better. And it's a movie.
The CERN experiment, dedicated to Kali and with goat dances and beheadings and so on, is not featured in my YoutTube feed so often these days. I suppose YouTube wants me to move on to another crisis and it's worked. It's left me with ruminating thoughts of the word "concern."
Influenced by Dave Johnson's channel, I have come to think as of today or yesterday, that concern is the problem. Concern keeps the thought circling and circling. Some people need attention and some need a dollar and some need a smile and some need a kind word and some need a kick in the face occasionally but whoever needs concern?
Here in English we have all these synonyms. Maybe sympathy or empathy or helpful, but in the sense that I'm using it, concern is an excuse to worry and not to do anything. It's pretending to do something or pretending to care or maybe it's actually caring, but it doesn't leave the mind of the person who is concerned and it doesn't help the object of concern one bit.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
This Video Not Available in Your Country
I think we all grow up thinking that our country is special. Whether or not your parents told you that you were special and whether or not you believed them; I think there is a message from each culture, each religion, each locale, each club, each school and each governmental entity that simply by their existence, the members have worth because they belong to something worthwhile.
That being said, I've only ever lived in the United States.
Our patriotism may be different than other places' but I'm sure you have something similar that you don't question at first and then as one matures one starts to compare.
Well, YouTube, which is owned by Google, I think; at least it was, has just informed me that a video I wanted to see is not available for view in my country.
Google owns this site too: Blogger.com.
What do you mean there are videos on YouTube- we call know there are more copyright infringements than personally produced content- so that's no excuse- that I can't see here.
Why does it matter where I am?
What is my government keeping from me, or what is the holder of the rights to this video keeping from people under my government?
I don't like this, YouTube.
It was friendlier living not knowing that the government of the United States is a terrorist organization.
It was better to think that the government was like some out of touch uncle who provided treats that may or may not be appropriate or appreciated on various holidays.
It was more helpful to my mental stability to think that if there were bad result; and I've always known there are- that they weren't always intentional.
I don't think everything an organization does is bad; but I do think much of it is deliberately counter-productive and different than said organization's stated goals.
SO there!
I've just given my opinion on a site that doesn't work that well but provides me a free place to keep my stuff.
so there.
That being said, I've only ever lived in the United States.
Our patriotism may be different than other places' but I'm sure you have something similar that you don't question at first and then as one matures one starts to compare.
Well, YouTube, which is owned by Google, I think; at least it was, has just informed me that a video I wanted to see is not available for view in my country.
Google owns this site too: Blogger.com.
What do you mean there are videos on YouTube- we call know there are more copyright infringements than personally produced content- so that's no excuse- that I can't see here.
Why does it matter where I am?
What is my government keeping from me, or what is the holder of the rights to this video keeping from people under my government?
I don't like this, YouTube.
It was friendlier living not knowing that the government of the United States is a terrorist organization.
It was better to think that the government was like some out of touch uncle who provided treats that may or may not be appropriate or appreciated on various holidays.
It was more helpful to my mental stability to think that if there were bad result; and I've always known there are- that they weren't always intentional.
I don't think everything an organization does is bad; but I do think much of it is deliberately counter-productive and different than said organization's stated goals.
SO there!
I've just given my opinion on a site that doesn't work that well but provides me a free place to keep my stuff.
so there.
sandpipers
Yesterday I saw a few sandpipers who got really close to me and didn't care.
It's nice to watch animals who don't mind being next to people.
I wonder if the coyotes here think of the foxes and dogs as compatriots, competitors or colleagues.
The sandpipers tend to move in groups so intricately linked that they must be aware that they are moving together. But what do they think about the gull here or there right next to them; or me? Are we just non-sandpipers? Or do they feel an affinity or competition with the other birds?
No ospreys or vultures in the sky yesterday... and the sandpipers mostly flitting; not running along the surf as usual.
It's nice to watch animals who don't mind being next to people.
I wonder if the coyotes here think of the foxes and dogs as compatriots, competitors or colleagues.
The sandpipers tend to move in groups so intricately linked that they must be aware that they are moving together. But what do they think about the gull here or there right next to them; or me? Are we just non-sandpipers? Or do they feel an affinity or competition with the other birds?
No ospreys or vultures in the sky yesterday... and the sandpipers mostly flitting; not running along the surf as usual.
Fake News- Putin is now playing the role of the exotic dictator on American TV
When I was little, I liked TV. It didn't occur to me that I liked it or what it was. But I turned it on and I saw Kimba the little white lion go search for his Mom and try to be like his Dad. I didn't realize how much he looked like a white Mickey Mouse and I didn't have any idea that Disney would steal the plot and turn it into a much better production later; The Lion King.
I didn't know that James Earl Jones would be the voice of CNN, was it AT and T too or am I mis-remembering; Simba's father Mufasa in The Lion King and Darth Vader.
I didn't know that the same forces that brought us Watergate on TV were bringing me Kimba the Little White Lion, Wild Kingdom by Mutual of Omaha. the Skipper Chuck show out of Miami, Romper Room, and Flipper. I didn't think about it. But I thought all of these were shows. And I was right. Mom would steer the TV- not transvestite, but television- to soap operas and Watergate occasionally. For me, Watergate was the most boring TV show ever; probably a soap opera, but definitely unacceptable to wach just as they were. But there was a pretty lady with yellow hair on Another World and Rachel the pretty lady there who is still the same age now as she was then even though I am at least forty years older now.
We had transvestites. Milton Berle and Bob Hope were intolerable to me and I think I must have seen old school comedians dress like women which was no more or less offensive than when they weren't. But Flip Wilson was hilarious no matter what he wore. Sometimes I didn't know that the woman he played was supposed to be him. Sometimes I thought it was somebody else.
Today I listened to Jungle Surfer point out that Vladimir Put it In is now playing the role of foreign dictator on American TV. I don't watch American TV at the moment but I'm pretty sure that he's right. I think Dave Johnson and Jungle Surfer and 66USPatriot know what they are talking about even when I don't know what they are talking about. One is firmly grounded in reality I believe, but they are all speaking their truths. PocketsOfTheFuture is speaking his truth too; even though I don't know how much of it is true.
There are many YouTubers who speak about Jesus. And I wonder if they all know the same guy I know. I haven't been talking to Him much and I can feel it, and in my way, I wonder if they are talking to Him too. I believe He is listening, but I don't have much confidence that I am. Now when I see men dressed as women I think it's a humiliation ritual; whether they know that or not.
A dress is something one can choose to wear; womenhood is not.
I see that Bradley Manning is lionized by people that call him Chelsea but demonized by people who call him Bradley. Is it not possible that he is a man who did a brave thing and then decided to get some publicity for it? Or isn't it possible that he was right on one decision and wrong on the other?
I'm going to call Bruce Bruce; and not Caitlyn; not because I don't think he has the right to change his name, but because I don't think he has the possibility of changing his gender.
I feel really sorry for people who think they need surgery to be themselves. It doesn't matter which bits are being constructed; it's just wrong.
I didn't know that James Earl Jones would be the voice of CNN, was it AT and T too or am I mis-remembering; Simba's father Mufasa in The Lion King and Darth Vader.
I didn't know that the same forces that brought us Watergate on TV were bringing me Kimba the Little White Lion, Wild Kingdom by Mutual of Omaha. the Skipper Chuck show out of Miami, Romper Room, and Flipper. I didn't think about it. But I thought all of these were shows. And I was right. Mom would steer the TV- not transvestite, but television- to soap operas and Watergate occasionally. For me, Watergate was the most boring TV show ever; probably a soap opera, but definitely unacceptable to wach just as they were. But there was a pretty lady with yellow hair on Another World and Rachel the pretty lady there who is still the same age now as she was then even though I am at least forty years older now.
We had transvestites. Milton Berle and Bob Hope were intolerable to me and I think I must have seen old school comedians dress like women which was no more or less offensive than when they weren't. But Flip Wilson was hilarious no matter what he wore. Sometimes I didn't know that the woman he played was supposed to be him. Sometimes I thought it was somebody else.
Today I listened to Jungle Surfer point out that Vladimir Put it In is now playing the role of foreign dictator on American TV. I don't watch American TV at the moment but I'm pretty sure that he's right. I think Dave Johnson and Jungle Surfer and 66USPatriot know what they are talking about even when I don't know what they are talking about. One is firmly grounded in reality I believe, but they are all speaking their truths. PocketsOfTheFuture is speaking his truth too; even though I don't know how much of it is true.
There are many YouTubers who speak about Jesus. And I wonder if they all know the same guy I know. I haven't been talking to Him much and I can feel it, and in my way, I wonder if they are talking to Him too. I believe He is listening, but I don't have much confidence that I am. Now when I see men dressed as women I think it's a humiliation ritual; whether they know that or not.
A dress is something one can choose to wear; womenhood is not.
I see that Bradley Manning is lionized by people that call him Chelsea but demonized by people who call him Bradley. Is it not possible that he is a man who did a brave thing and then decided to get some publicity for it? Or isn't it possible that he was right on one decision and wrong on the other?
I'm going to call Bruce Bruce; and not Caitlyn; not because I don't think he has the right to change his name, but because I don't think he has the possibility of changing his gender.
I feel really sorry for people who think they need surgery to be themselves. It doesn't matter which bits are being constructed; it's just wrong.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Tsar Star
Recently in my YouTube wanderings I've come across the idea that Russia might want a new Tsar.
Tsar is one of those words that brought me to an appreciation of translations; being derived, like Kaiser, from Caesar. Today I think more people know about he Tijuana salad than the man who named the month July, but I continue to be fascinated by etymological connections and spelling and pronunciation details. Some times I think everyone has a certain amount of room in their head and even though I can't tell it, they are filled up with something. But when I think about it, it's more likely that the connections and details aren't limitless but are so potentially large that they seem so.
One time I was too stymied to speak was when I was speaking about the connection between religion and war. To me, the question was so misguided that I couldn't address it, so I'm sure I appeared ignorant of the subject. But the truth was, I just didn't know where to begin.
The question was posed by someone who seemed completely genuine; asking what is the connection between religion and the Soviet Revolution.
Well, the Tsar was he head of the Church. Not only was he and his family killed, bu many priests were killed and the power of the priests was reduced to ashes. Replacing Church religion for a religion of the State, Communism had its holy texts, its martyrs and disciples and holy relics. Some people blamed the whole thing on one kind of believer- the atheist, and some blamed it on another- the Jews. Nicholas and Alexandra, the richest couple the world has ever seen- were brought down in a scandal led by a John the Baptist type prophet who held sway unbathed in the finest salons in Russia. Their belief in the actual presence of God in their lives is apparent now, but may not have been then.
I don't even know what the passage is, but it still bothers me that this man, maybe one of the last important royals, was the richest- and not Solomon.
But today there's a rich man who might be proclaimed Tsar again, with some of the religious trappings that once accompanied it. I don't think there is enough interest to go back to the way things were, but it's an interesting concept. Would that include a biological succession?
As Trump and Putin line up to share power, maybe it's time to get Trump back in line with the Church. But wait, oh that's right- the church is perfectly happy with him for some reason.
It makes no sense to me- Hillary is the one who taught Sunday School, isn't she? There was no mention of God at all this time around. And I remember when it was a big deal. Yet there's a return to the importance of Church/State relations in Moscow?
In Germany they had the Kaiser, but here we use the word Tsar only to mean someone beneath the president who presides over one issue. I suppose America wants to think of itself as offering to the world stage something higher than a Tsar.
Tsar is one of those words that brought me to an appreciation of translations; being derived, like Kaiser, from Caesar. Today I think more people know about he Tijuana salad than the man who named the month July, but I continue to be fascinated by etymological connections and spelling and pronunciation details. Some times I think everyone has a certain amount of room in their head and even though I can't tell it, they are filled up with something. But when I think about it, it's more likely that the connections and details aren't limitless but are so potentially large that they seem so.
One time I was too stymied to speak was when I was speaking about the connection between religion and war. To me, the question was so misguided that I couldn't address it, so I'm sure I appeared ignorant of the subject. But the truth was, I just didn't know where to begin.
The question was posed by someone who seemed completely genuine; asking what is the connection between religion and the Soviet Revolution.
Well, the Tsar was he head of the Church. Not only was he and his family killed, bu many priests were killed and the power of the priests was reduced to ashes. Replacing Church religion for a religion of the State, Communism had its holy texts, its martyrs and disciples and holy relics. Some people blamed the whole thing on one kind of believer- the atheist, and some blamed it on another- the Jews. Nicholas and Alexandra, the richest couple the world has ever seen- were brought down in a scandal led by a John the Baptist type prophet who held sway unbathed in the finest salons in Russia. Their belief in the actual presence of God in their lives is apparent now, but may not have been then.
I don't even know what the passage is, but it still bothers me that this man, maybe one of the last important royals, was the richest- and not Solomon.
But today there's a rich man who might be proclaimed Tsar again, with some of the religious trappings that once accompanied it. I don't think there is enough interest to go back to the way things were, but it's an interesting concept. Would that include a biological succession?
As Trump and Putin line up to share power, maybe it's time to get Trump back in line with the Church. But wait, oh that's right- the church is perfectly happy with him for some reason.
It makes no sense to me- Hillary is the one who taught Sunday School, isn't she? There was no mention of God at all this time around. And I remember when it was a big deal. Yet there's a return to the importance of Church/State relations in Moscow?
In Germany they had the Kaiser, but here we use the word Tsar only to mean someone beneath the president who presides over one issue. I suppose America wants to think of itself as offering to the world stage something higher than a Tsar.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
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