AN EXERCISE IN WISDOM .....

The world in which a man lives shapes itself mainly by the way he looks at it . No matter what our surroundings are , everyone lives in a world of his own . Metodorus a disciple of Epicurus wrote ; " The happiness we receive from ourselves is far greater than that we obtain from our surroundings and others." It is essential in our life's happiness to be what we are , cultivate our true personalities and qualities , and choose the life which is most suitable for ourselves .


An intellectual person in complete solitude has excellent entertainment in his own thoughts and fancies . Associated with a quiet and cheerful temperament , a fair health , clear , lively and penetrating intellect , looking and seeing life as it is , a good conscience backed by a moderate will , all these constitute certain privileges that no rank or wealth can give . 


Most people , traditionally and more so nowadays , are by far more intent on amassing wealth and becoming rich , rather than acquiring culture and real maturity . Though it is surely indisputable that what a person is , makes that person much more happy than what he has in material possessions , clearly one can assert that ; What a man has in himself is the main element in his or her happiness and tranquility .


Aristotle said " It is not wealth , but character that lasts" , as fortunes might dissipate and vanish , but not character and a well constituted mind or a noble nature . Some will find and achieve their serenity in a tranquil modest life , with few encounters , and elect to live their retirements in great intellect as well as solitude . Whereby the time one has for enjoying one's consciousness and individuality is the highest enjoyment of one's existence .


The dullness , boredom and intellectual limitedness of some , are the reason most people look for constant action , by incessantly going to places , only to hide the moments of self moral enjoyments with physical acts . Quoting Aristotle again"To be happy means to be self-sufficient".  The more a person is the source of his inner pleasures , the happier that person will be , it is foolish to give up the inner of our personalities to the outer , to give our serenity , independence  and intellect for the bright spots of life , rank , pomp , and wealthy titles .


A true man of inner wealth strives constantly to further develop and mature his intellect , it could be a life long endeavor , every day , every hour .And only at his later stages of life when his white hair always command reverence , while his wrinkles do not , only at older age a person could really afford and realize these higher stages .


The great French Voltaire once said " Every age of life has its own special and peculiar mental character , man will feel totally unhappy if and when his mind is not attuned with his years ."    


Not  all of us turn philosophers , but all of us are at some point affected by philosophical matters . As philosophy differs from the three monotheistic religions by promising us a way to save ourselves , to conquer fears directly , especially the fear of death and its aftermath , not through an other , a god and his stories and kingdoms , but through our own strength , our own minds and the use of our reason . To be , to live and die like a god , without gods .


My usual gratitude for your time and help spreading the word .   

DO THEY REALLY MATTER .... ????

On the front page of ABC news today , Dec. 14/15 Th. , the first piece of news was entitled   "An  American kid  dies by a gun every other day "  A title repeated and heard lately a lot , on every type of media available to us and every politician's lips .


I  couldn't prevent the immediate idea , flashing in my mind , " A Palestinian and a Syrian Kid dies by a gun every day as well ." 


One could argue for and against linking and finding similarities between the two ideas . Except that both  acts are perpetrated by fanatics , believing  their causes and ideas to  be above all others , and their beliefs beyond discussions , leading always to blind vengeance against all others . And many , many innocent kids are lost for ever .


Frankly , no matter what we believe , or wherever we stand , both issues should be addressed by all civilized societies , and an end to blind and endless deadly brutality enforced .


Of course Syrian or Palestinian lives do not matter as  much as Israeli or American lives , or so we are constantly reminded , daily , in every application of law and law enforcement . Black American kids as well as black Jewish Israeli kids , sadly , matter and fall somewhere in between .




My usual gratitude for your times and help spreading the word .       

IRONY OF ALL IRONIES .......

An interesting article , by Seymour Hersh , for the London review of books , entitled " military to military " published on Dec. 23  2015 , was e-mailed to my attention from a good friend .


It argued many known situations , policies and actualities from the past 4 to 5 years of the ongoing war in Syria , as well as Iraq and other parts of the Middle East , the interesting twist was the way they were linked to come up with a conclusion of change in the world's attitude toward the conflict .


Only a Sey. Hersh's  exclusive talent and proven forte could put it all so eloquently , as I believe he is one of the best and highest press investigators with many proven previous works .  One could accept and ultimately agree to most of his claims , as they are based on well documented conversations and commentaries , One could also concede to all his insinuations , and more so lately by observing the turn of events and declared intentions of rapprochement between the U.S and Russia , and of course the situation on the ground .


One could consent or not , like it or not ,  some might object to these scenarios because of ideological stands and or hatred and condemnation to Bashar Al Assad , his regime and entourage . But the truth of the matter is that if  Mr. Assad goes out now , and his regime and apparatus disintegrate , some very ugly scenes indeed  will surely be witnessed , worse than what we've seen until now , and an IS  of some type will be empowered  de facto .


The U.S. and its Western Allies , have no choice but to accept the new situation on the ground , consequently  play along  the Russian point of view , backed by the Chinese , Iranians and others , as they all now consider ISIS and all its affiliates and cousins , the number one and only enemy .


Only few Sunni  countries will try to pseudo align themselves with Saudi , Qatar and Turkey against the rest of the world in tolerating and fueling the Islamists to uproot the Syrian regime and its leader .  Hence , the horrific idea that comes immediately to mind ; that the whole world is shifting to legitimize Mr. Assad and his basic regime for years to come , I'd say years and years to come .


It's Ironic to say the least , isn't it ?? and no thanks to a non existent real civil opposition or leadership with real representation of the Syrian people after 5 years of civil war , death and destruction . It's clearly now , Assad versus IS and its terrorism , turning all the opposition into more or less terrorists , and making the Assad figure and regime the only choice available left to save the country and the remaining inhabitants .


One would sarcastically smile at such an outcome , after hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of people killed , injured , tortured and made to vanish and disappear , thousands left brutally to starve to death under siege , millions deported to wherever , and a greedy early look for a reconstruction money that's going to trickle through present tycoons belonging to the regime .


It's tragic when all of us outsiders who watched and lived through these sad events , who lived it and remember it from early beginnings till now , to have to agree and accept de facto politics that call for Mr. Assad to be the savior and winner , it is in fact the irony of all ironies .


My usual many appreciative thanks for your times and help spreading the word .         

NEW YEAR , NEW REVELATIONS ......

It takes generally a big , sometimes ugly and an exceptional out of normal scale for humanity , or most of it at least , to be moved or altered , and put itself on a new thinking  or rethinking path of life and philosophy . A path leading it to better life , saving itself  and keep moving forward .


A Major one challenge nowadays , is the horrific realization by most of humanity , that the notions and words of the "Good God", the loving  , the merciful , his Engels , prophets and messengers , his books and dogmas , are all gradually turning into  dead  languages , mute languages and empty messages , falling on deaf ears .


An obsolete message , addressing  strictly human affairs and ways of life , attempting to organize matters between the  "good god" , his indoctrinated followers ,  versus the "god of evil" .


Most of us human animals , are discovering and confronting the realities that ; the ways of life under simple good and evil rules , under godly good and bad  adaptations , are not necessarily suitable to humanity and the planet , and are not headed in the right directions at all .  Historically evil has ruled , and keeps reigning in our present times , as a matter of fact clearly ; evil rules the day .


One is , and should be asking nowadays , what sort of God is organizing things , everything , the way they are ?  This world of death , cruelty and brutality , apartheid  and hegemony , and an all time abusive inequality , and does it all belong to a savior ??  with few ponds of good at its base here and there , asking and ordering humanity to live through a wicked machine of destruction and hate , only to move later to sick burning tortures in hell , or better inhuman sci-fi machines and worlds of pseudo love and harmony .


Our new formed love and trust  of sciences   , our blind clinging to its progress , hopping they will solve one day our life problems on earth , and find scientific replacements to god's good and evil  is not realistic either , it will only lead us all to further dependency on artificial intelligence and further away from harmony with earthly nature .


modern times thinking and past godly infused ideas only further separated humanity from its natural habitat . some godly figures thought Armageddon for answers , some others predicted different endings , none too happy or realistic . We surely know by now that other solutions could be found to possibly save our race , as earth will be here with or without us , at our levels and actual images . As we are reaching firm conclusions that our 3000 years of Godism and religious indoctrination and close mindedness was not and is not the answer nor the way .  




My as always , many thanks for listening and help spreading and expanding the message , Happy new year everyone .      

SCENES FROM OUR WORLD TODAY .....

Of course Allah , God or Elohim , are willing it all , whether in our past or actual world , whatever is taking place and happening all over, good , bad or ugly . Subsequently all performers and perpetrators are not at a real fault , and should  not share any guilt feeling , as well as their victims of all religions and their different ways . It's all godly directed and orchestrated . Only unbelievers are the total losers , as there's no place for them in this world nor the next one .


Now the obvious question that jumps to mind would be ; " Let's assume that all factions of jihadi Musslems , manage to come together and form one unified negotiating team at the table , bargaining for a truce with the other side of the world , I'm grouping here AlQaida , ISIL , AlNusra and their sisters and cousins , Taliban and Boko Haram , even some of the militant Shiite groups and factions , an unimaginable scenario , only possible for the sake of argument . They all come together and propose an indefinite or long truce , with the "us" side of the world , peace against recognition .


Provided the world community recognizes and accept to live with their areas of influence and governance , mostly in parts of Iraq , Syria and Lebanon , and as well to parts of Libya , Yemen , Central and East-Africa , Afghanistan , Pakistan , Somalia , Algeria , Tunis and the Maghreb , Sinai and some of the ex Soviet Union , and maybe more , where the Jihadies are practically in control of the territories and their people , I have to mention here ,that Israel has been doing exactly this for more than 60 years with the world's full acceptance and recognition , an excellent example and mentor to all .


Can we accept such a negotiated truce ? and maybe learn how to live with it in peace , while watching young brutal Jihadies establish their own theocracy , Ummah , caliphate or whatever they agree upon , could we really accept such a scenario a la Israeli model , or not , and why yes or no !!!  they claim and swear that their god promised them the lands as well . Maybe it's a question we should all start contemplating more seriously than it appears .


Many , if not most of us  from all sides and walks of life are , either totally silent about these issues ,  living a tacit blind folded life , or obvious and clear about defending these entities , at any price, even if not so very convinced , we surely live in a world where archaic beliefs , and thousands years old convictions and covenants are still shaping a major part of our lives . Definitely  We are not as smart and mature as we like to believe ourselves to be .


Thank you all for reading , thinking about and considering the issues  , and spreading the word .     

WEIRD & INCOMPREHENSIBLE LOGIC .....

Few days back , Jack , an American friend , sent me an article untitled  "The facts shoot holes in Obama's claim that U.S. is only host to mass killings " by a columnist for Fox News . In a nutshell the article describes how Americans were stunned by Obama's false claims about gun violence in America , when he stated after the last CA shootings that this just doesn't happen in other countries .


The writer goes on describing one by one , all recorded similar attacks to ours that took place in the last couple decades in central Europe , Scandinavia , the Balkans , Russia and elsewhere . The main aim of this article wasn't  to pinpoint or dispute the accuracy of the statement , but it was striving hard to show and stress the point , that other countries , with tighter gun control laws suffer as well from gun violence . As well to mock the president by implying that poor us here in the U.S. don't have enough guns available to adequately protect ourselves .


Let me answer briefly . First ; Thanks Jack , I will go this afternoon and buy myself an extra gun and an undetected army machine-gun , so as to sleep better and safer tonight . second ; Are we seriously striving to reach back in time , and relive our beloved old Western Cowboys movies , with their famous scenes of holsters and guns hanging by their sides , ready to draw while going from town to town and from saloon to gun shop , whereby the fastest drawer lives in eternal harmony , peace and fraternity .


This article , like many of the same type and spirit , and the last few years of U.S. politics , and the extreme right conservative re-awakening , proves that a good deal of Americans hate their president , far more than love their country and fellow Americans , they only care to prove that Mr. Obama's ideas and policies are flawed , and that he is talking nonsense while enforcing his policies of gun control or medicare , and other social issues , they hate his guts .


All fanaticism is political in its essence , and lately religious fanaticism is no different , its vengeance against all civilized societies is more of a political nature , when we succumb to fear and isolation , to panic and killings of everyone who is not like us , or strictly conforming to our views and ways , when we back presidential hopefuls in their disturbing calls , we only prepare ourselves for more brutality , more shooting of innocent people , Arabs , immigrants , visitors or citizens , Musslems or Jews , Sikh or Hindus , Atheist , gays or lesbians , yellow , black or red ..... so we can happily regain our lost purity and  harmony with our guns .


Some city Mayors are asking their citizens to arm themselves , and some university presidents are asking their students to carry guns !!! Have we reached the point whereby we're striving to reach and accomplish this base sort of scenario in our daily lives ?? And make our existence with guns an end in itself ???


As always , thanks for reading and help spread the word .         

RELATED STORIES ........

1-- Any entity , country , their leaders and rulers , when their power , wealth or sheer force grows significantly , would eventually spread themselves , and inevitably try to subvert their weaker neighbors , always under headings of self-preservation to which morality , fairness and equilibrium are irrelevant .  This is nowadays the case , clearly witnessed , of the three major theocracies in the Middle-East ; Sunni Saudi Arabia , Jewish Zionist Israel , and Shiite Iran .


2-- Many Lebanese individuals lately , after the twin bombings of one of Beirut's suburb , were complaining bitterly that Western in general , and more so American medias did not give them their fair dues on their pages and screens and their radio reports , at least in comparison to the Paris bombings few days later .
Few days earlier Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington for an official state visit , where he was the guest of the White House and many other Jewish political organizations , whether intentionally or not , the visit was the least covered by American media , the least mentioned and talked about of any Israeli visits , especially Mr. Netanyahu's last few flamboyant visits .
Who orchestrate such media coverages , and how much coverage  certain news should get , at least in countries were the media is considered  free and independent , who gives the sign of more , or less coverage about any story or political event , involving local or international events ??


3-- One would be surprised , that the United States and the Western world , champions of human rights in all poor and weak third world countries , did not ever for the past 70 years , and presently do not mention at least once the word of human rights abuse toward Israel and its under occupation territories and peoples , its brutality , apartheid regime and evident hegemonic plans . Is the world and more so the West including the U.S. so scared and blinded by this entity and its Neocons brutal leaders ? Many Israeli columnists have strongly criticized the present heading of the Israeli politics , while not one politician or reporter here in the States dares even mention it .
Who was it that said ;" We live in a wondrous time , in which the strong is weak because of his scruples , and the brutal is strong because of his boldness and aggressivity ." Many in the Middle-East  share these traits though .


4-- Listening to Mr. Netanyahu lately , and some of his closest allies , members of his cabinet , who are openly stating , that the aim is to annex the occupied West-Bank territories , and the occupied Golan heights , expelling the remainder of their original  inhabitants . Gaza , the south of Lebanon and the Sinai peninsula would be next .
While their is no real immediate or serious connection between Palestinian youths and Islamist extremism and terrorism , if the under occupation territories are not dealt with seriously by the international community and the U.S. and given some sort of real viable independence , we will see hundreds of thousands of young Palestinian join the likes of ISIL , Al Qaida and their sisters , and literally spill over from Israel to the entire world , mostly our world though . 


As always , my many thanks for your time and help , spreading the word .