They give in, or we do?

Can we win in the Middle East or not?  That is the Big Question.  It depends a lot on what the definition of Win is.  Options are few and I haven't seen any good definitions of Win.

There is no easy answer.  Killing them in the numbers required to eliminate them requires large numbers of combatants which means large numbers of your forces get killed also.  Bombing requires reliable target information; which requires large numbers of spotters on the ground.  Training up locals to fight and to point out targets takes time and money and the results we have seen are uncertain.  We use the same conventional solutions that we have been using in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the present conflicts.  The Powell solution of using overwhelming force against a static enemy position.  So far the guerrillas have been using tactics that have struck fear and confusion in their enemy's ranks. The person or persons behind their strategy shows pure genius and a lot of imagination.  So far our military and civilian leadership has shown a lack of genius and imagination. 

The problem is we have no goals.  The conditions are too chaotic and any mistakes made could lead to a hellacious conflict in the region with Russia, Iran, and China interjecting themselves into the picture.  The West could possibly lose Saudi Arabia, Jordon, Egypt, and Israel in a regional war.

On top of all this is that our own government is so divided ideologically, culturally, we cannot make sensible decisions.  We are spending money unwisely in all areas that government has its fingers in, while our infrastructure and other needed projects lie dormant. 

With all this happening who do you think would back down?

Christian Creation Story Borrowed?

The creation story found in the Holy Bible  is very similar to Egyptian creation myths.  The common thread between the two is waters of chaos, sky, earth, and moisture.  The difference being that each of these things according to Egyptian myths is that they were deities in and of themselves representing physical aspects of the universe.  Nut for sky, Geb the earth, Shu representing dry air and separated the sky and earth, Nun the waters of chaos, Tefnut moisture such as rain, dew, etc. 

Other than the difference of the Egyptian gods representing physical aspects the stories read very similar to each other.  Other similarities can be found between the Jewish/Christian beliefs such as upon death a persons life is evaluated on a balance scale in order for the deceased to be able to pass on to a form of heaven.  The Egyptian deity Horus compares to the Christian St. Peter?

 Myths from Mesopotamia should be included in the Genesis myth stories, namely, the Tree of Life in Gen. 3:22. Clay tablets found in Sumeria show drawings of the Tree of Life as depicted from 2,500 BCE.  Of course many are aware that the Mesopotamians had a flood story comparable to that found in the Christian Bible.  It was the story of a Mesopotamian hero named Gilgamesh.

The Egyptian god Atum emerged from Nun the primeval waters.  A variety of myths relate how animals and man were made from clay very similarly to the story in the Bible. 

What is the significance of the parallels between the Egyptian myths and the stories as told in Genesis?

It eliminates the uniqueness of the Bible for one thing.  It puts in question the literalness of the Bible which some Christians claim it to be.  The earth is no longer 6000 years old, there was no flood, Jericos walls did not fall down when horns blew and soldiers shouted, David did not slay Goliath, Moses did not lead the Jews through the desert for forty years.  If one thing is not true the whole book possibly is not true. 

The Snake Was Innocent

The snake got a bad rap for telling the truth about the tree of knowledge about good and evil.

The whole garden thing is strange.  Here we have a God who creates man in his own image( whatever that means) in order to have company and tend his garden.  Then woman is created out of clay or out of the man's rib in order to keep the man company.  They are to tend the garden and worship God and not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge.  What else they do is a big question for without knowledge they are automatons made out of clay that do simple tasks without any clothes on.  Without knowledge they have no prejudices, shame, or any other emotions evidently. God is vain and cannot stand being disobeyed, for when he finds out Eve has eaten fruit of the tree, and encouraged Adam to also eat of the tree, he blows his stack and banishes the two, now knowledgeable, simpletons from the garden and from the two trees, one giving life and one giving knowledge.  The snake has to suffer kicks and slithering on his belly for the rest of its existence for telling the truth.  Adam and Eve did not die that same day as they had been warned. 

Apparently the great knowledge that they acquired was that they were naked.  Some great revelation!  What constituted good and evil at that time?  They were not in contact with any others, except animals.  The Ten Commandments hadn't been introduced yet.  Without neighbors there was nothing to covet.  So what was this good and evil that was to be avoided?  Was the knowledge that they acquired awareness of self?  Becoming self determining individuals?  One thing is sure they are now on their own, able to worship, or not,  gods of their own. 

Our Government Sucks

I don't like to use the word "sucks" but it does have one thing going for it--truth.  Our government is living up to the word and proving to the world that Democracy does not work.  The United States has been the most successful government in history, formed in 1776 and continued till now, 2014 with only one hitch--the Civil War to mar its reputation.  All that time we have been the example to go by for governments throwing off the shackles of tyranny and pulling on the robes of representative government. 

Now we have a bunch of yahoos doing their best to tear down the institution by obstructing democratic principles, demonizing the President and opposition congress members, utilizing propaganda to further agendas that delegitimize the middle class population and their representatives. 

The "American People" label is invoked often when Conservatives speak and they would have us believe that they are speaking up for the majority of Americans; but by their actions their "American People" are a few power elite who fill politician's campaign coffers.  The power elite being from the Pharmaceutical Corporations, Bankers and Investment Companies, Oil Companies, Media Corporations, Energy Companies, Military Contractors; anyone who has money to invest,--these are the "American People" who our Congressmen and women represent.   They do not let the pain and suffering of the people interfere with business interests for this pain and suffering are the "people's" fault and not to be encouraged, for that would lead to dependency on the part of the lazy poor. 

What the Elite and their paid for representatives fail to understand is that when the general population, the "masses", are paid decent wages, find educational opportunities, have good health, have available decent and affordable housing, have jobs, and a fair legal system business flourishes and the elite fair well. 

We are on our way to becoming a third world country where opportunity is systematically thwarted to a point it no longer exists and the "land of the free" becomes the "land of the oppressed". 

 

Ebola Here to Stay?

I have kept an open mind, attentive to details experts have given, and am far away from any possible contact with it allowing me to view the threat with some objectivity.

Half of those that acquire it die.  That is the scary part.  A person must come in contact with an afflicted person's body fluids, such as blood, sweat, saliva, feces, in order to be infected with Ebola.  It is not an air-born spread disease.  It can be killed relatively easy by using a disinfectant, such as chorine bleach.  It has a incubation period of from a few days up to twenty-one days.  This variable incubation period makes it difficult to control, since a person can travel a long ways away from the initial contact point to a city anywhere in the world, without knowing he/she has contracted it.  With enough available resources a country can treat and quarantine individuals infected with the virus.  The protocol for stopping the disease must be religiously applied if the disease is to be annihilated. 

I have heard a lot of panicky talk, about closing down air travel to afflicted areas and other extreme measures to stop the spread of the disease.  Knowledge, training, and applying proven techniques will stop the spread of this disease, not hysteria. 

Where the Democrats Went Wrong

The ground game wasn't enough to overcome the Republican strategy of demonizing the Democrats, in particular the chief Democrat Obama, and using every Propaganda ploy existing. 

"When I was growing up I castrated pigs" is a good example of propaganda, "one of the folks" and demonizing those representing us in Washington.  An "us them" ploy. 

What with all the abuse of power and money the Republicans have done recently and in the past the Democrats should have won hands down.  They could have rallied around the President and defused the demonizing bomb that has been taking place since Obama was elected--twice.  The Republicans have been up front with their intentions; where was the Democratic counter?  A lack of guts?

Too afraid to confront those active in the propaganda campaign, namely Rush, Fox News, and the Conservative "strategists" that appear in the media at every opportunity.  They sound convincing what with their conviction and slick messaging.  The Democrats have some talented "strategists", but too few and low key to do much good against the Propaganda onslaught that has been going on for six years. 

The Big Lie has been used over and over against Obama policies and legislation.  Obamacare has been more of a success than a failure but hasn't been lauded enough by the Democrats and so it has been a "failure" in many eyes. 

The Republicans have attacked Obama and the Democrats at every turn and opportunity, making up failures when there were none or at worst insignificant.  In effect the President has been "demonized" and trivialized to such an extent that his successes haven't been recognized as such.  In reality he has been a calm, deliberate, efficient President who has had more than his share of problems not of his doing. 

The damage done to this country in their effort to take control has bordered on the traitorous.  It is "un-American", harmful to the Country and its People.  Why hasn't this been pointed out and hammered in so that the American People realize the harm that is being done.  That should be the ploy that the Democrats should be using. 

The Democrats have a great opportunity to hammer the Republicans, if only they had focus and a theme to be guided by.  The Republicans now want success.  Deny them that by using their own tactics against them.  Demonize them in return.  Show backbone.  Timidity will be only met with aggression.  If the Democrats don't get it together 2016 will be worse.

Propaganda

Propaganda affects everyone.  You can't avoid it.  It is everywhere.  Newspapers, magazines, books, posters, TV commercials, graffiti, movies, and of course blogs.  All are used to propagate propaganda.  As politics gets more heated the more the political parties use propaganda as a means to sway public opinion. 

Propaganda can be sinister or benign.  Propaganda is intended to suspend reason and supplant it with emotion.  It targets the masses, the less educated and poor, who are more likely to respond to propaganda.  The elite in the society are fewer in number and less likely to respond to appeals to their emotions.  Being generally better educated they are more inclined to analyze anything presented to them.

My source for writing this blog is material published by the former Institute for Propaganda Analysis; an organization which engaged in educating the public against propaganda being spread by the Nazis in the mid 1930s.

Propaganda can be broken down into seven ploys; Name Calling, Glittering Generalities, Transfer, Testimonial, Plain Folks, Card Stacking, and Bandwagon. 

Name Calling.  A word or label that has a negative connotation to it.  It causes a person to reject or condemn an idea without examining the evidence associated with it.  Commie, socialist, liberal, conservative, Muslim, terrorist, all are omnibus words, words which have different meanings to different people. GW Bush poked fun at the French prior to the Iraq war in order to get the public to reject their information indicating the Saddam Hussein did not have WMD.

Glittering Generalities.  This is the opposite to Name Calling.  It is a virtue word having a positive connotation, which makes us accept and approve of a thing without stopping examine its meaning.  Liberty, freedom, the flag, capitalism, individualism, right to work, Rosie the Riveter, Uncle Sam, god, all can have positive connotations.

Transfer.  A ploy which carries over the authority, sanction, and prestige of something we favor, respect, revere, to something the propagandist would have us accept.  The Ten Commandments, Jesus, God, founding fathers, church leaders, policemen, firemen--all have attributes which can be used to transfer to other things or persons.  We frequently see celebrities in commercials promoting products or insurance.  Because we like or admire them we are likely to listen to them and buy the product.  This ploy can work in reverse.  Guilt by association.  A person by chance is standing next to someone or thing, who the public has negative feeling about, can influence public opinion about that person.

Testimonial.  This is a ploy in which someone is saying that something is good or bad.  You often see strangers on TV saying that such and such a product did something they liked.  Eliminated bad breath, did away with their upset stomach, made them lose 30 pounds, that is testimonial at work trying to influence you.  Say to yourself, why should I take that persons word for it, I don't know them from Adam.  I'll make up my own mind. 

Plain Folks.  This ploy attempts to convince those listening that what he/she is presenting comes from the common folk.  That the presenters are "just plain folks" like them.  A Texas drawl for instance, might convince some that that person didn't go to Harvard, or sailed around in a yacht. 

Card Stacking.  This ploy consists of selecting out particular facts or falsehoods or distractions in order to present the worst or best case for an idea. The propagandist selects only those facts and ideas which will support his cause and ignore or downplay facts or ideas which tend not to support his/her cause.  Statistics is a prime tool for propaganda use.

Band Wagon.  Everybody is doing it and so should I.  The propagandist tries to convince an audience that it is right to join an activity because many others are doing it.  No one likes to feel left out or on the wrong side. 

Propaganda works.  It works because we choose not to think rationally and to blindly let our feelings do our decision making for us. Billions of dollars are being spent every year finding out what makes us tick, what candidate we like, what words cause a positive feeling or a negative one, then we hear those words over and over again in commercials and political speeches.

There is a way to fight back, by becoming less susceptible to persuasion  Analyze before you act.  Ask yourself, what does that word really mean, what does it mean to me?  Study over the seven ploys and identify them in speeches and commercials you see and hear everyday.  Make up a scrapbook with dicey items illustrating the above ploys.  Get others to analyze with you.  Make a game out of it by seeing how many glittering generalities you can pick out of speech.  How many times did Boener use the words "the American People" or freedom.