The New Cold War - A response

The New Cold War is, in my view, the Old Cold War as seen in a mirror. By that I mean the Imperialism as exhibited by the U.S.S.R has been reversed.  Now, rather than face the fear of a missile launch from what was the Red Bloc we, that is the rest of the world, fear the ever growing presence of Imperial America as it strings a veritable noose of missiles around the Chinese border whilst forever pressing forward into what was once Soviet soil. Korea may be the imminent threat, certainly not Iraq as voiced by George W Bush, but it is the manner in which China has been surrounded by weapons of war making them feel under siege whilst the Russian's regret conceding an inch of territory let alone Eastern Germany, we must question. 

We only have to look at the maps of the Russian Empire from 1949 until 1989 and compare them to contemporary maps of the region to see the stark reality. We then must ask how and why this has happened and then question what on earth were successive American Presidents thinking when they broke the unwritten agreement as made between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.

 

Gorbachev voluntarily conceded East Germany saying that America could even rearm unified Germany as long as they and the West didn't encroach one inch on what was Imperial Russian soil. America now has missile bases in Romania which is within striking distance of Moscow. This is no different to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 yet the West does not seem overly concerned at the implications. Russia has been forced into a corner one there are only two ways to get out from. The first is by peaceful negotiation. The second is to do what they are already doing - flexing their muscle in the Ukraine and Syria. 

The Cold War has just warmed up but it is the same protagonists as previously with little changes, apart from the change in balance, of who the combatants will be. Russia is now finding they are forced to ally themselves with China which China is glad to accept as they too are being lambasted by President Trump. Why is it our political administrators never see history repeating itself but steadfastly, and quite literally, stick to their guns?

North Korea is a danger. That much is obvious. Still, another question has to be asked, who is the world's largest seller of arms? And who did that nation obliterate during the last Korean War? It has been written in American history books that 20% of the Korean population was massacred. Not the military but women and children too. Is it any wonder that Korean's north of the divide have long memories? I believe Kim Jong Un is hell bent on revenge but hasn't weighed up all the options. War would be catastrophic for all humankind. It would probably provide the reality all those Sci-Fi films have depicted. Another is to place an embargo on oil as suggested by Japan. This would very likely bring the nation, innocent population and all, to their knees. The other one, the one both Republican's and those Moderate Republican's right of  Bernie Sanders would probably veto, is to broker a peace agreement.

No, I don't think North Korea is carrying out a Cold War with the USA. I think the situation is far more incendiary than that. The New Cold War is the same as the Old Cold War warmed up a bit and with the roles reversed. 

The Afterlife

No mysticism, no need for deities or the belief you will be reincarnated just the simple fact your self returns to the eternal when your physical form dies. There is no need to fear death if you live a life as you want to live it now in the present. 

The New Cold War

You're Lost Little Boy Version 13

Photoshop Manipulation by The Real Cie

I had a very realistic nuclear attack dream where I was in downtown Denver and could see the cloud appearing on the horizon. People were staring and screaming. Some were starting to run, but most of us realized there was no escape.

I wanted to see my son again. I wanted to call my mother, with whom I have a troubled relationship, and tell her that I love her even though our bond is difficult. I wasn't afraid so much as extremely sad. I knew there was nothing more I could to do. My last words were "Gem, come get me, please come get me."

When I woke up in my son's living room, I was surprised because the dream was that real.

I'm not sharing this as some sort of prophecy of doom, just a thought that with the Cheeto Warmonger and his pissing contest with Krazy Kim Jong Un, the pervasive feeling that power-hungry kooks could reduce us all to ash and perma-fuck the rest of the planet which many of us remember from the Cold War has made a resurgence.

I was once talking to my son about how living during the Cold War has formed the sorts of things I write and even the way I think. I said that I never thought much about the future when I was younger because I was pretty sure I didn't have one as I figured I was going to die in a nuclear exchange.

My son made the remark that he didn't know what it was like living during the Cold War, but the older science fiction that he likes to read gave him an idea of how people who lived then thought and felt with the looming shadow of possible nuclear war.

The other day I said to him "remember how you said you didn't know what it was like to live during the Cold War? Well, thanks to Trump, now you do."

My reasons to hate Lord Dampnut do not lessen as his time in office marches on.

~Cie~

Jesus Said

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

This, like so much in the Bible, is a symbolic fable. Jesus is not speaking of how nice it would be if we have a consumer society or an even larger supermarket filled with cut price goods but is speaking of an abundance of life. Jesus is speaking of awareness, of being awake to life so that you may enjoy it all the more. Of silencing, those thoughts that persist to race through our brains, that seldom cease their endless chatter unless we work to silence them. When we do 'God,' or as I would say the eternal, communes with us, we become one, we awake to all that there is, we become present, in the now. This is meditation, this is Mindfulness.

Hate

It is not the hated who hurts but the hater. Hate hurts the hater far more than the hated. Hate can upset and unsettle the hated but hate burns at the mind of the hater until they, not the intended, are its victim.

Music Of Cathedrals and Forgotten Temples | 1-Hour Atmospheric Choir Mix

Barry Gibb - In The Now with Barry Gibb

Barry Gibb is 71 years old today. He is a lovely man who has known a lot of loss, being the only surviving brother in a once-large family. His sister is still alive as well.

I didn't know that his wife was THAT Linda Gray, AKA Sue Ellen Ewing.

Barry once saw the ghost of his brother Robin. Robin also told him in a dream that he needed to start making music again.

Linda saw Andy's ghost.

It is my belief that this close family will always be together.

I know that a lot of people think that ghosts are "delusions" of a troubled mind, brought on by grief or longing.

I have seen very few ghosts, but the ones I saw were not people I was particularly close to. In fact, most of them were animals, and most of those were not animals that I had known. The second human ghost I saw was not someone I knew at all or had any connection to.

I was not "under the influence" of anything which might alter my thought processes at the time when I saw these ghosts, and I was rested enough that I wasn't prone to the hallucinations which can come with sleep deprivation. Said hallucinations always consist of animals in any case, and not animals which would be seen in the area where I live. 

I generally see penguins when I'm sleep deprived, but one time I saw a bear and another time a large snake such as an anaconda or python. These animals could be astral projections, but I am willing to agree that they could also be visions brought to me by exhaustion.

I believe that not all realities or possibilities can be explained by modern science. I think it is fair to be skeptical but to paint someone as demented, delusional, or "insane" because they have experienced something that cannot be explained by modern science and which the person judging them demented, delusional, or "insane" has not experienced is short-sighted, rude, and unfair. I believe in keeping an open mind.

Happy birthday to the wonderful Barry Gibb. I am glad that his brothers are still looking after him.

~Cie~