Hypocrisy Vulgaris

"No religion, no money," says God to the poor Europeans, and to us in the Balkans He fatherly says that it is healthy to eat shit on bread, just let us go to church and accommodate the pope, at the elections let's vote for the most pious political perverts, let us make as many different sects and cherish the fratricidal conflicts. And we should never enter into union with the godless Europeans, because we will be better so than them.


Yeah, right...

It's not the idiot who bash down such a things in public, but the one who believes it. Stuart Varney is sufficiently seasoned pro, but he still spitted through TV FOX Business that he would never have agreed to follow the European economic model, because the Europeans are "a pack of pagan losers" and therefore they still suffer the recession (!). When the storm rose, Varney has called an American priest from the Vatican in his studio and asked him the question "Is the tendency to secularism, turning away from Christianity have anything to do with the economic problems of Europe?" Then the sweet church mercenary acted a short sermon and the topic by the end of the program remained suspended "in the air".

It was a move of a professional entertainer. Stuart Varney knows too well how to manipulate religious viewers using only two elements: 1) fable about capitalism with Christian ethics, 2) concealing the fact that a recession spread from USA like the plague. First of all, Max Weber released his hypothesis about the capitalism with the Protestant ethic somewhere between the works of Marx's materialistic capitalism and Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", right between reality and fantasy, just when the formation of the majority religious sects known today completed. Weber's fable was kindled among the religious, and the smarter among them knew how to use it for their benefit. When he saw that the industrialists and bankers from different churches use their "brotherly" ties for their own immediate benefit and that of their community (and even that of their race!), Weber came out with the statement that he rejected deterministic approaches, and presented the Protestant Ethic as merely one in a number of 'elective affinities' leading toward capitalist modernity, thus leaving the space for materialism. Fair enough.

Secondly, the damned recession we  still recovering of not only started in USA, but the American hypocritical moral is a fact that will remain forever etched in world's history. In the last century, parallel with the proliferation of evangelization as a business Americans put more bloody military pressure on the world, got more poorer healthcare and more poor and discontented people. During that time, Sweden, Norway and others honestly assessed their capitalism based on materialism, perfected socialism, improved standards of living, built an excellent system of healthcare and education raised to the heights. But statistics from the year 2005 (statistics is also a whore) states that those are exactly the countries with a minimum of residents who claim to believe in God (see picture).

To Jesus are attributed the words: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth..." (Matthew 6:19). If this is not the opposite of capitalist principles, then the Filipinos and other Christians are the richest, with the highest standard, without any external debt, America has never had a recession, and the godless Europeans are really a pack of losers and pious Balkans have nothing to look for at these poor European countries! However... The kingdom of heaven is still invisible, so we do not know how to live there, but in this world, in the midst of a materialistic struggle for survival, it turns out that Jesus' golden rule "love your neighbor" is actually louder in European countries whose citizens do not go to church than from pulpits around the world. Even in Japan, Shinto country, because everyone knows  how to "scratch back" of residents, workers and peasants in order for the country's welfare. Even a pack of baboons know for that golden rule while they groom parasites from each other's fur!

"No religion, no money" God is threatening - this is not true, ask the Swedes and your neighbors' guest workers who ran to the Gentiles from our pious country. Why Christian Balkans together with the Filipinos and many poor Americans put shit on bread? Because no one is doing what they preach. Simply, Hypocrisy Vulgaris. The more religious and political chatter, the less altruism in relationships. The less we care for loved ones, we exploit them more. And it cannot go in such a way forever. We either are going to banish religious and political hypocrites and learn to "scratch each other's back", or the Americans will come with tanks to teach us the principles of a fundamentalist Christianity. In the latter case, we will continue to eat shit on bread, with addition of a few extra TV channels with infertile sermons over current TV programs with incapable politicians. Do we really need it?

The Angel

What does a real angel look like? Finally someone made it and showed it to the public! After a thousand years of religious myths of naked winged babies and fagots in white robes we finally have a model of a being that watch over people!

On that day, in just a few minutes of panic, under concrete boulders are crushed about 10,000 students together with their teachers. Double that number of parents for days after the earthquake dug away concrete, bricks, windows and furniture  using only their bare hands in order to reach flabby bloody bodies of their dead children. Dusty air was filled by sobbing of those who dug out cold bodies of their sisters, parents ...

At the same time on a nearby playground among the ruins of the city quietly flourished life. Students and teachers of one school obediently were gathered and lined up in rows, only a few minutes after the disastrous earthquake of  May 12th, 2008. The principal was wiping tears and dust from his face and called out the names - all were there, 2323 of them, none absent. Living, healthy, obviously frightened of terrible tremors and collapse of the city, but obediently lined up in rows in front of their savior, as they have practiced and learned it before.

"Angel of Sichuan," Ye Zhiping, the principal of a high school in Sangzao, in Sichuan province, China, years before the disaster knew the ground where the city and the school whose students have been entrusted to him was built upon. When he received his duty in 1990-ies, he reviewed the building and figured that it would cost around $58.000 to improve the school building against earthquake. The district authorities did not have much money, and no sense for his warnings. They gave him only a part, and the rest he collected by his own efforts and skill from various donors. The money is invested in a new reinforced concrete columns and other elements of the school building. So, one man knew, one man thought, one man believed, one man did all he could. On that fateful day 2323 people entered the school and after the cataclysm all of them had left the building, as if nothing had happened.

When you divide money invested in improving school buildings by the number of survivors, you get about $25 per student. Here in Croatia, that amount is worth two lunches in the restaurant for employees of my firm with average incomes. That money worth very modest dinner for one politician or a manager or a real estate dealer. How much would you pay in order to your brain from your smashed skull not being collected from the dust with a spoon? Or for being hugged tightly by your living child instead to place it in a plastic bag, while still shrugs the dust around you?

Of what faith is and to which religion belongs good, smart principal Ye Zhiping? Was it that for the assessment of school building he was prompted by some of the spirits of his dead ancestors or some written advice of the Buddha or a visit to Mecca or the voice of the Holy Spirit while he was on his knees praying to Jesus? We do not know. But there are more options than these mentioned - the man was seriously took the facts of the unstable area where the school was built, he used a specialist engineering knowledge and had a sense of responsibility towards the people. He has not spent his time playing "Solitaire" at the workplace, he had not calculated what pope is the Antichrist, and he was not deceived donors to buy a new Lexus hybrid or thought of how to forge a tax card to conceal the houses and other property. His reputation has been compromised asking donors in the impoverished and corrupt country to raise money for the very temple of life - a school that fosters knowledge and hope for the future.

Do you want to know what does a real angel look like? Just think about people like the principal Ye Zhiping, you have more of such around. And not so far away as China. And they do not have wings. Do you want to know what the real angel does? If you are intelligent enough to read this, then there is no sense for me to write about it any further...

Please, stare at her legs

"What is a sexy body? ... I mean, people, Pamela Anderson has more prosthetic in her body than I do and nobody is calling her disabled!" With that statement Aimee Mullins provoked laughter and applause from the audience at the TED conference, a woman born without both the fibula, those other bones in the legs. Because of this lack doctors have her legs amputated for her first birthday's gift. Since that surgery she devoted all the time to exercise walking on a variety of prostheses and she eventually became the actress, athlete and a photo model.

I've met Kresimir Butkovic through Facebook. Before I learned he is a quadriplegic, I've read his poetry, read some of his columns on the portals, and I liked his style. And then Kreso swam Barbat channel, Adriatic Sea, said the news (use Google Translate, please). So what then? What these idle journalists are babbling about? Only then I, a fool, realized that he was disabled man who swam only using his hands and beat the sea where he was injured many years ago.

Aimee tells about how she was supposed to speak in front of 300 youngsters, and before she entered the hall she heard their teachers whispering to the kids: "Do not stare at her legs, she may be embarrassed." She asked the adults to leave her for a few minutes alone with the children and then encouraged the youngsters to look at her legs. She inspired their imagination to help her make an prosthetics like an animal legs to make her a super-woman, and to allow her to jump over the house. After enumerating the various animals that jump and run, one child said "Why wouldn't you want to fly?" All were delighted at the hall. It requires a completely different view, just one moment in our mind and we do not have any pity for disabled people, but we are starting to see their potential.

Kreso lives in a country that has standards and moronic policies that trample even on ill people (see the article about the law that denied a remedy for severe disease of my friend Fred, use Google Translate, please), and Aimee lives in a country that made her special carbon fiber prosthetics modeled on the legs of cheetah. Neither of the two people do not see themselves as disabled, and I do not see them in a such way, either. Kreso swims in 'dangerous' waters that ruined his many opportunities, and Aimee is running on the legs that were supposed to lie helplessly in the bed for ever, and won prizes in athletics.

Society is changing, let us evokes the words of Aimee's encouraging speech. No longer do we talk about how to overcome deficiencies and how should we just maintain care for disabled people. We are increasingly talking about how to improve the man, to augment people. We are now thinking about the potential every human being has in himself/herself. That's the reason Japanese engineers are working on getting better types of exoskeleton in order to give disabled people the ability to make moves ten times harder than they might do. Prosthetics no longer fills the lack of something – it is a symbol, just as well as Kreso's swimming, that man is the architect of his own identity. The worst thing we can do is not look at the disabled, to avoid staring at them. On the contrary - look at her feet and do not regret the Kreso's inability and appreciate the potential that we all have.

Let's finish quoting Shakespeare: " If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh?" Yes, Pamela Anderson has even more prosthetics in herself than Aimee Mullins, both are bleeding, both are laughing. The only difference is in how we look at their legs.

NASA against the depression

As they found out that all of them are alive after the collapse of the mine, it passed the 17 days of anxious uncertainty about the condition of 33 miners buried approximately 700 meters in the earth's crust. These days they are reached by a special probe, and to the outside world they are connected by 15 cm wide channel created by a drill that is a bit reinforced with metal gel, which is weak protection from further cave-ins.

There is ongoing hasty working on a very complex rescue operations, but the most powerful machine that should save 33 lives can only reach them just before the next Christmas. I wonder what force of modern technology would rush to rescue the buried company of Oprah Winfrey, Roman Abramovich, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie and the Sultan of Brunei. However, now it is not a topic. Do not rub salt into the wound, but let's salt life.

Chilean government immediately turned to experts from NASA for advice on how to keep these people healthy, as they are in a state similar to cramped living conditions in a space modules. NASA responded a few days ago, though the earth's crust conditions are quite different from those in a space module and the company of the human survivors down there is not the same as the hand-picked team of astronauts psychologically prepared for such a thing. Before the response Chileans are already landed antidepressants there thinking that it will maintain order and mental health through the months of struggle for life.

However, NASA is sending a different message.

The most important lessons that astronauts can teach anyone in such a situation are valid for our depression, anxiety and those of our friends' as well. NASA says (and I am adding a bit :)):

1) "Be honest with the people trapped, tell them how long your efforts will last for the entire rescue operation" – name the problem with its real name and cultivate honesty. Only when we become aware of the situation, even understanding that we are at the bottom, we can start with the resolution. This I can confirm from my own recent anxious situation. Only when I said to myself that a help from the outside is probably not coming I have come to at least one solution, admittedly radical, but that's life. Either way, the honesty is very effective.

2) "allow them a private communication with loved ones" - during anxiety it is dangerous to be alone. During my recent crisis some of my close friends went silent and they avoided me too, so I was calming myself using pills while those same friends have publicly posted about how their lives are blooming. And then there suddenly appeared some other friends into my life through a bunch of messages and phone calls, a people of whom I did not expect something like that. I was left stunned, feeling refreshed and without having no need to artificially sooth myself. Do not avoid people who are suffering. Even if you do not have a solution, just be near, very close, even you both together sit silent.

3) "keep them busy by means of various activities, tell them to start monitoring their vital functions, send them down the pressure gauge, thermometer and a small scale" – let yourself be busy with something. If you do not have the will to do something, let your friend occupy you with the conversation, take you out somewhere, employ you at something. Also, you do the same thing to others who have a problem.

4) "treat them as engineers and potential problem solvers" - do not treat them as victims. Tell to an anxious person about his/her values and tell him/her that everybody expects something good from them. It's not a lie, it is confirmed by the basic psychology - everyone in themselves has something worthwhile that needs to be reach for in order to release the potential and miracles are starting to happen.

5) "teach them to create an artificial day/night cycle, introduce rhythmic meals and periods of sleep" - discipline, self-discipline, whatever you name it. One of our basic needs as a species is to attach meaning to everything and introduce order to feel safe. Depressed people often behave disorderly – they are either not eating or eat excessively, they are either not sleeping at all or sleep too much, etc. The introduction of rhythm and order, bit by bit, is a preventative to many problems in the life of any active person in the world.

Anyway, the miners in the darkness of the earth's crust now have antidepressants, good advices and a faith, and the world has yet another experiment about human nature. What we would learn from all of this will show up when we get ourselves involved into our next personal crisis.

The day after 2012.

It's 2013. The beginning of a long crisis like this generation has not experienced before. This is the year not mentioned in a prophecy, but besides we can now assume what it brings to us.

15-20 years ago, Sarajevo is starving, Vukovar  is bleeding under the ruins, Belgrade is tightening belt due to the sanctions, in Rwanda they had the "Olympics" in intertribal massacres of human beings. During this time the Germans enjoyed summer holidays in Tunisia, the Dutch sold their tulips, and the Australians looked after their business. However, now comes the time when everyone in the world is going to bear the burden, not exactly alike, but ranging from anxiety and agony, if you're comforted with this. One author before me began his warning like this: "Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon. This is not the wacky proclamation of a doomsday cult, apocalypse bible prophecy sect, or conspiracy theory society. Rather, it is the scientific conclusion of the best paid, most-widely respected geologists, physicists, bankers and investors in the world. These are rational, professional, conservative individuals who are absolutely terrified by a phenomenon known as global 'Peak oil'."

In my humble opinion, the situation became very serious when the Pentagon and Lloyd formally proclaimed about, along with the British Royal Institute of International Affairs (aka Chatham House). I sincerely hope that these great players made a mistake in their documents, that they were drunk or at least a little doped, if not stoned when they wrote their opinions, and I rejoice if I am wrong. If, however, they lied for some of their interests, I am glad about that too. But I'm more and more afraid that the truth is cruel as much as their predictions were sober.

"Peak Oil" (peak of crude oil production, peak of crude oil exploitation) is the moment when all the technologies for extracting oil in the world pulls out of stock the most it can and when the pace of delivery to market reach the maximum, followed by a decline. Therefore, it is not a time when oil is gone, but when the world production is becoming a bottleneck due to limited technology, smaller amounts and increasing demand for oil. For our civilization it is almost the same as when the oil runs out completely, the difference is only in the fact that this moment begins to expand through the years and decades, as in the Gaussian-like curve diagram (see figure). Recall that with the decline in oil deliveries increases its price, proportionally.

Everything was nice in the first part of the curve and uphill when the consumers were less in number than today, and the supply of oil was more than sufficient. However, on the downhill section of the curve consuming derivates are increasing, while oil production stagnated (except oil exhausts actually faster than it is renewed) and gets the impression that oil is rapidly diminishing.

Why is this the beginning of many years of agony? Because we are the civilization developed upon the technology that depends on petroleum, the natural resource that is not infinite, so while slowly barrels are coming on the market so we will choke in the problems. What kind of problems? First, there is an increasing oil price. We recently had the fuel price increases, the exact situation that have shown to us there is something great that shakes on the market. If only fuel is more expensive our life would be so anxious, because the whole market is getting more expensive along with the fuel, because of expensive production and transportation-based fuel. But let's make clear one important thing – petroleum is not only the fuel! It's a big mistake that makes the one who thinks it's only a fuel, and put their hopes on electric vehicles. No. On the basis of petroleum is based manufacturing of tens of thousands of every day items your eyes watch and your hands consume - automotive rubber, pharmaceuticals, plastics, cooking oil, lubricants, varnishes, paints, cosmetics, detergents, fertilizers, medical supplies, machine parts and houses materials, materials for the maintenance of what we made, mobile phones, computers, fabric ... Just use your own imagination to list all that is necessary for today's lifestyle and maintenance of residential buildings, and realize how much we depend on oil.

Peak Oil is, believe it or not, expected for decades, but the warnings were ridiculed by lullabies sung by the powerful cartels that silence the humanity in comfort, in the "American dream". The hum came to an end. These months the Pentagon and Lloyd are decided to play the noisy awakening. I only convey an echo of the alarm.

I am bringing to you some of the sentences out of warnings from U.S. military document (the largest single consumer of oil in the world) from April 2010. sentences that they have never spoken:

"... By 2015. Lack of oil may have significant political and economic impact ..."

"... Decline in economic growth could boost some unresolved tension, boost poor countries to collapse and have serious economic impact on China and India ..."

"... We must not forget that the Great Depression (the crisis of early 20th century) bore many totalitarian regimes who are looking for solutions in a merciless war ..."

A few months afterwards (July 2010)., Lloyd Chatham House and a similar dramatic fashion declare:

"... By 2013. It is expected a record price per barrel from over $ 200 .."

"... Catastrophic consequences for businesses that are not prepared for the upcoming shortage of oil and the economy with lower carbon emissions ..."

"... Britain must be ready for Peak Oil and interrupted power supply during the growing demand for fuel in China and India ..."

"... Companies that learn about an advantage in the new energy realities will be competitive and survive ... if you fail, you will experience very expensive and disastrous consequences ..."

"... we are calling calling on manufacturers, retailers and the wider business community to reassess global supply chains and their just-in time models because the current system is increasingly vulnerable to disruption."

Pentagon has its own interests for concern due to the unstable global security, while Lloyd as an umbrella insurance company gives instructions to the lower institutions to correct their rules on payment of damages adapted to the coming crisis and possible damage from global climate change.

Let's make it clear - calm down, energy will not disappear and the crisis would not occur suddenly as an asteroid impact. Energy changes its form, and we'll always have wind, water and sun for most of the energy we need. Now, let's get troubled again - we are to begin to miss the basic raw material of our civilization. The more so as to the market rushed in the corporate consumers from China and India. Apart from the various power plants, wind turbines and the windmills we already have, we need urgently to find a replacement for petroleum in all the branches of the industry. Some solutions already exist, but until it starts to live in cost-effective production, we are going to weep, bleed and starve for many years. More expensive items will deepen the financial crisis, a costly and hard to reach medical care will produce more sick and dead, while the lack of materials for road maintenance, water supply, buildings and vehicles refer to the collapse of the structure and decay of what we possess, and worst, the lack of oil will diminish production and food availability and delivery of drinking water. Residents will think that their governments are unable to solve the problems, so they will go out to the streets and clash, and more stronger governments will introduce a strong-arm regimes. Somewhere, there would be an conflicts of interest around the resources and of various political programs, all in order to bring out new wars, with the political and national justification. And all of this can last for decades, as our experience in many African civil wars shows, and as show us the crisis in Cuba and starvation in North Korea.

How to survive? I'd love to have a simple recipe. I'll write about that some other time. But I can only recommend that we learn from those who have long suffered a similar crisis. The citizens of Havana in Cuba watch for long how their city collapses without maintenance, but on the ruins they are grown the vegetables without artificial means to survive. Why shouldn't we ensure a piece of a soil? I recommend for you to join together, inside your family or among neighbors, and start growing your own vegetables. For water, do not expect mercy from your community to send you a tank and to long wait in a line for a little water. Find a way to save your water wells and even look for healthy and natural resources and springs in your area. Get rid of your debts. It is very likely that the banks will reach for our accounts in the long period of crisis, and even take our property. Many will lose their houses and yards. The only value that we would have had in the years to come will not be a virtual account numbers, nor allowed minus on the bank accounts, but our own house, land, tools, seeds of vegetables that we were preserved and perhaps a bit of gold and silver values we saved for ourselves.

In the period before us, medical care will only be for the privileged, so it is good to strengthen your health disavowing from harmful products and switching to foods that are based more on vegetables and less on meat.

Community. Individuals do not have much chance of survival, even today, let alone in times of crisis. Do not destroy the bridges, build relationships, maintain friendships, we will need one another. Regardless of your religion, nationality, ideological commitment - together we are stronger. Reconcile, offer compromises, and offer your help in order to get help when the time comes.

That's all for now from me, and about announcing the beginning of the worst crisis of the industrial age. We can discuss further on a simple forum that I made for such an subjects, the forum we are going to build together - http://zeljko-bosnjak.net/forum/index.php – you only need to register. I'll probably write about this topic more in the future as the situation is developing, and as we are facing a major world player's discussion about ongoing troubles and about does we need to create a panic or everything will be fine with the humanity. In the meantime, perhaps now is not the time for making doubt for too long and to wonder whom to believe, it is always wise to prepare for the future.

Let's pull together

The story goes like this... a tourist's car trapped into the mud near a village when he wandered around. He spent more than half an hour trying in vain to draw his Mercedes out striking back and forth, but all he has accomplished was a muddy car. A villager from a nearby house watched him for a while then decided to help. He approached the desperate man leading his old mare and offered to pull his vehicle. The tourist was delighted, but asked whether the mare is capable of such an effort. The peasant replied: "My Dawn has carried out much harder tasks, man just need to know the right approach to her." Then both dived their hands into the mud and fastened ropes best as they could.

Then farmer moved away and shouted: "Pull, Nellie, pull!" Dawn stood still. Then again, her owner shouted, "Go, Whitey, go!" Mare did not even try to take a step. The only change was her trembling muscles on the right shoulder. And then the shout is heard: "Pull, Dawn, pull!" The very moment mare stepped steadily and the car followed her slowly out of the mud. The tourist was impressed. He offered some money to the villager and then grasped the chance for his curiosity. He asked the owner why he is called misnomer animals first two times. The farmer replied: "Dawn is the blind mare and a very stubborn one. If she only guesses that she alone should pull the burden she wouldn't even budge! When I command to some other horses to pull, she think she isn't on her own and she always pulls."

I'm always mad at myself when I recall how many times I was as blind as the stubborn mare. I refused to be good because the others are bad too. Why should I go to my neighbor and help him to pump the water out of his flooded basement when he also has a neighbor on the other side and also one across the street? Why should I be a careful parent while everyone else punishes their disobedient brats as it is "quite normal" behavior? When everyone else is going to pull, then I will too.

I'm always mad at myself, but now I understand. It's not just stubbornness, nor is it just selfishness. It is the depression due to the desperation that is not worth to pull because I can't do it alone. But it is also the blindness. In those moments, I simply do not see the other people who pull the burden of humanity. The old biblical story of Elijah the prophet mentions his depression in the middle of all his fervor faith and spirituality, and speaks of him as he lays down in a cave in his desperation. Then he heard the voice of God where he said: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" You are my servant, and your job is out there to teach and fix the people. Elijah said he can not do that because he alone is left, they killed all the prophets and it is not worth trying with these ungodly people. With full authority the voice then said he is not the only one the pious, and that beside him there are still thousands of righteous that he did not know about. Elijah recovered and continued to do his best.

At this point I don't know what your problem is. I know most of my own and I'm trying to fix it. In the accordance to my mission, I will mention only one. For years I just wanted to stubbornly wait for us to kill each other. I did not give any more attention to be good, faithful and learned, I stopped to emphasize the harmful effects of religious hypocrites, religious fanatics, ignorant, and politicians, and it wasn't any more acceptable to me to be accompanied with stubborn materialist and atheist, and once again, politicians (in religion or secular sphere, politicians are the worst). And then I looked around a bit more honest. There are, outside my small circles, in the very field of nature, thousands seemingly atheist hardworking people who spend their days and nights without sleep analyzing data, testing, cleaning pieces of fossils, observe the celestial movements, record their results, finding new drugs for our health, looking for solutions of various problems, the solutions which many of us consume daily. At the same time I see many people that, for the sake of truth, ignore the knowledge, but pray to their god for our own good, speak words of encouragement, feed the hungry, teach about good education, visiting the sick, shows us by example what it means to forgive and advocate peaceful solutions. Then I said "let me pull".

At this point I really don't know what your problem is, but the problem is even greater if you feel like Dawn, the blind and a stubborn mare. You will not make any move while others do not pull. That means that the values around you are going to continue to sink into the mud. Stand up and see, there are even thousands of them who you do not know, but they do their best for sure. When I ask you to pull, I am not shouting fake names to deceive you. When I ask you to pull, I beg you to join.

Ape acts but I'm doubtful

Amid the bloody battlefield an Bosnian soldier is reading daily newspaper with astonishment and groans loudly as his fellow keeps the watch. The latter asked him, "What's up?" The soldier yelled excitedly: "What a mess in Rwanda!"

A well-known scene from the war movie "No Man's Land" is a comic and tragic at the same time. There was bloodshed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there was also the bloodshed in Rwanda. The man called to kill a man in a war is surprised about people killing other people in another war. Ludicrous. Or not?

Both wars are now history. But the war, in fact, still continues. Let's take the modern example of continuous warfare. Croatian business weekly "Lider" in February 2010. brings the title "What are your competitors doing?" and adds the subtitle: "The six most important things to spy on at your opponent's side." This article describes the methods of a struggle and the defense on the market, and even quotes the great philosopher of military strategy, Sun-Tzu! This article is so well-done that anybody who is waging war against the competition can learn from it – ice-cream sellers, political parties, sport clubs, religious groups ... Did warfare ever took a break?


Occasionally, for years, I investigate our species' inclination to make war. I found that states, corporations and churches always had a reason for conflict with "the others" and so will always be. And what about my personal aggression? During search for answers about us, I got to know something about behavior of chimpanzees and its relative bonobo.
Led by the aggressive territorial instinct chimpanzees undertake campaigns against rival tribes and, now notice a pattern of behavior, - the pack crosses the boundary of its territory, seeking out individuals, killing males, abducting females and eating their offspring. After a while, when rivals are annihilated, the occupants take their territory. The mechanism is so simple and well-known that every school child can recognize it in all political, religious and other conflicts within our species, now and then.

Bonobo is a different story. No one has ever recorded a brutal territorial conflict between their packs. They cultivate tolerance within their communities, share food, nurse the sick, and for the conflicts they often find a peaceful solution, and also use sex to strengthen relationships. Some women will be pleased when I mention that bonobo communities are ruled by females. Groups of bonobo females calm down aggressive males by outnumbering them, and they are resolving territorial conflicts by making compromises sharing food with the opponents (!). But that's not all. Geneticists have identified a gene within the bonobo genome that has an impact on the reduction of aggression and making bonds. And even more interesting is that we do also have this pacifying gene, while chimpanzees don't.

In 98.6% of genetic material we share with the two other great apes, we recognize, therefore, our own aggression, and pacifism too. Since I can't stop the big-scale hostilities that cause my civilization is sinking, I ask myself what is the least I can do to allow that "bonobo thing", and not the one of aggressive chimp, in me to overcome my own problematic nature?

You would possibly like for me now to exclude reason and simply jabber about an heavenly justice as a solution. But I simply can't. When you mention God, faces frowns: "Which god? Which religion? Which church?" And conflict burst out again. The same mechanism mentioned about bloodshed is at work even in the very churches designed to prepare us for Heaven, and their version sounds like "enter into the territory of others, look for individuals, beat down the opponents using arguments, capture the most suitable ones and bring them so we may be more numerous, and then we can take their territory". Do you need someone constantly to threaten you by Hell in order to make you better? Really? Do not be ridiculous, every church is sending others to Hell, and according to them we all are lost.

It is always the same, and it takes only right "just cause" for political, religious or economic violence, and with no brain, with their institutions' manifesto people can go and oppress others in the name of their kind of justice. Do you really mean that justice from heaven can force you to maintain peace? No, it is generally not helpful, but even makes our relationships getting worse, because we have even divided the very Heaven to accommodate our fractionating. If it isn't like that, we would all be siblings in some kind of healthy faith. Even if you use your reason while reading news, you would see our World wouldn't come to its end next morning because there are so many wonderful individuals you share this life with, but ideologies are dividing us. But if you think and take an education, there are solutions. People like you are constantly struggling for life and for their place under the sun, choosing good or bad way to do that, depending if there are selflessness and common sense invoked. Willingness for selflessness is in you. Just recall that great feeling when you shared something, and that crippled feeling when you only received something.

God of my favorite ape achieved the triumph by genetic engineering, and then put the gene of goodness in us. The difference is that bonobo is living its whole life by impulse of his good genes, and we who consider ourselves more progressive are often subjected to the urge of violence - by our own will. When you think your political involvement made you better, or you'll be good just because of blind obedience to Allah and Sharia law, or that you will be holy and good only when Jesus commands you to do so, because you have weak character, you actually do not think. Would you think, you would know what is good and what is wrong. But if it is helpful for you to go such a way, just do it – become a member of a political party, repent before the Invisible, pray, punish yourself, meditate. But remember - bonobo females have only the gene and the instinct. We do have all of that and much more: the gene, the instinct, faith, hope, Jesus, Allah, prayer, the whole army of saints, meditation, free will, wives and mothers who would never start a war if you would ever ask them, and also our intellect and education.

Use your head every day, starting now, be careful when you pass "the border of your territory", when you are leaving your comfort, and watch over the way you today approach people around you - your child, your spouse, your partner, mother, neighbors, merchants, colleague. Will it be with the arguments, insults, gossip, or you can offer a compromise, with the gift in your hands, smile, invitation for dinner, saying "goodbye", "I love you", "I'm glad to see you", "how are you?" – that's purely your choice.

Thinking means making decisions, and not just following the impulse – that's why we are humans and not the apes.

Do you keep my pornography?

What if we use the stopwatch to measure the duration of all the audio and video materials of Hilary Duff in relation to all the teachings of Carl Sagan, which was published or aired in the Western world?, Busty singer and actress would win with thundering ovations to our animal mentality. This is normal, because how would otherwise we will be drunk and horny at a party touching our friend's sister while some strange grandpa babbles about subatomic particles?

What will ultimately win, human idiocy or human reason? Both of these conditions make us human beings, but we are all smart enough to conclude what of the two make us better people. The current result is, unfortunately, for the benefit of the team Idiots. But the latest goal for a reasonable humanity was scored by the European Community with their project "Planets". Reuters brings interesting news about group of smartheads agreed to preserve the existing digital data formats that can be read in the future. Project included experts from 16 European libraries, headed by representatives of the British Library, Austrian National Library and similar freaks.

Many of you reading this are IT literate enough that it do not need to be explained that on your computer or somewhere at the moment is from 1000 to at least 300.000 images, texts, movies, presentations and more. All these files are formatted in the hundreds of different "languages" that computers can interpret (formats as jpg, mp3, avi, mov, gif, doc, txt, ppt, xls). We may add to all that you store the data on your hard disk, DVD, CD, floppy disk, USB flash memory, etc. and that would be something like several thousands of the world's literary works written in several hundred languages on the media made of paper, papyrus, parchment, clay, stone, wood, copper, plastic films, glass, etc. And each manufacturer of each format struggles that his type of record make success on the market. So today many of the technologies disappear, new ones are emerging, and along with that the quality of our media for storing data can not endure for long - for DVDs it is estimated maximum durability 10-50 years, depending upon whom you ask for an opinion.

Thus, the EU Commission winced a bit and decided to make a "Digital genome" and put it in the time capsule, and store it in the best-guarded warehouse in the whole Europe - Swiss Fort Knox. Though the idiotic name of the vault do not inspire us with confidence, the project itself promises much by its potential. Digital genome should do the similar job of the real genome - to give instructions on how to do something, in this case it means to give instructions to the distant future generations to read our data preserved today. That's why I did this and shared it with you, because I fight for the victory of reason over nonsense, the skepticism over trance, and the faith over superstition.

The skin goes like goose bumps, tears fill my eyes when a beautiful event such this happen in our troubled civilization. But all of this raises new questions - who will eventually win? Popular songs or physics, superstition or education? What will our distant descendants read out of our today's media? Or, God forbid, visitors from a distant part of the universe? What they could conclude by "infinite" amount of distributed pornographic material, unreal worlds in video games, dramatization in movies, hilarious rhythm of our music and shallow lyrics of our songs that make us dance? Would they dig us out or bury us again as if we didn't even exist? Spit on our geological strata?

Generally, what you think, what you read, what you write, what are you looking at, what are you singing, what you believe, that is what define your own "Final judgment", but that's also what's define the judgment about our generation. You and I have just one chance, only this life and if you think you can't do anything more, at least don't allow Swiss Fort Knox keep access to your stupidities for the future. Let your emails, your presentations, your photos speak the words of love and hope to the people you know, that you are with them when everything else fails. Tell them to read and to learn, to visit sick ones, to live healthy, make them laugh heartily. That's the way we are going to be dug out some day and someone would learn something smart, and we will resurrect in such a way. On the contrary, we will be swallowed by the dark of oblivion. And so it be.

Lessons from Vulcan

You need a change in life, you need something better. But you do not want more to listen to babble of your doctor, priest, mullah, your mother or colleague who just act as a smart one. Here, finally, is something completely different (or maybe not?). Where do you think no one can help you, aliens jump in.

Tips come from the TV series "Star Trek", specifically from the planet Vulcan. Looking at the life of a prominent Vulcans, Spock and Tuvok, scientific officers of "Federation of Planets," and listening to their teachings, you can significantly raise the quality of your life (do not ask me for busty T'Pol :)). We should bear in mind that the Vulcans are basically quite troublesome creatures, very aggressive and passionate, skilful and deadly, but they were curb their temper by holding special life philosophies. Let us learn something today.

1) always wish other people a long life and prosperity

"Live long and prosper!" (I wish you a blessing!) Is the famous Vulcan greeting when they meet the other species in the universe, while raising their right hand in a specific look (see photo). Why don't you start today by greeting your neighbors, the shopkeeper at the store, colleagues or anyone you meet allowing a simple smile and gentle word "Hello!"? It seems very difficult, but once you do that first time today, every such step after that would go easier.

2) accept differences

More revealing the universe, the Vulcans got to know more of other living species. They realized that the logic that leads their life is not the only one, equally as they themselves are not the only one in the universe. They avoided problematic emotions, adopting the logic of others and thus creating strong connections with others. Did someone say to you that you are not alone in the world? Did someone tell you that you are not the smartest in the world? How stupid should you be to think that your problem is unique and unsolvable? Stop whimper and find other people, talk to them.

3) think about your diet

Vulcans generally do not feed on meat, because they believe that these irritating food encourages their animal passions. Spock is a vegetarian, and so is the actor who represents him (Leonard Nimoy). This does not mean that we must become a vegetarians, but if you are in common sense you will understand many contemporary social messages around you and would introduce more fruits and vegetables in your diet, and less animal protein, enhancing your immunity and quality of life.

4) think of others, not only of yourself

If you believe the guidelines left by Spock in "Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan," we should take into account the welfare of group and sacrifice an individual. Or there is someone already sacrificed? Jesus Christ? One for all? For me today that means to sacrifice my comfort for the sake of others. If someone... anyone today can be better in my life when I raise my buttocks from the chair, then I'll get up and go for it. Period.

5) let the things go ...

... but I'll do my best. You can call this a "Stoic philosophy", however. Vulcan Sarek, Spock's father, once said that the inevitable things happen because it's the wisest way. You may surrender to the circumstances, to the political forces, you can let the mediocres play their stupid games on all radio and TV stations, let some shepherds controll the politics, do not resist them, just endure it as a "male", but also bring your own style, your opinion and your change in a society anywhere you can.

6) consider, meditate, pray

Tuvok is a Vulcan who has shown that meditation (deep contemplation) gives good results. Control yourself, think before you do something, read something wise, think about what you've read, pray to a Higher Power, and act as you think what is right.

7) touch

Vulcans tend to reach their hand and touch someone's head in order to achieve "mental contact". It does not work with us. But I'm sure that warmly shaking hands with someone, and even a friendly hug can contribute to good relations, to provide security to someone. Try today to shake your hand or hug someone, you will be better, believe me.

8) enjoy

We can describe our sex passion as 24/7/365 urge (we are constantly horny), but Vulcans have their own unique passions and mating period, which is called "Pon Farr", and never again in a whole life. The lesson for us is that we can't each day in the life submit everything in the life to our wishes. We must be careful of the desires of others and our own desires submit to self-control and allow the pleasure to come out when it makes sense and it is legal.

9) allow children to grow up

Vulcans' ritual of putting children through the wilderness of the planet is cruel. They justify such a thing through a survival of those individuals that are most suitable for life in the universe. The lesson for us is that we put our children in an imbalance if we only protect them. Life is a challenge as well as there is a need of protection of our children. Do not make an idiots, make people. Teach your children, love them, but let them experience life and give them their daily work responsibilities and teach them to solve the problems.

Live long and prosper!

Copernicus reburied as a hero

Another noble step forward by the Roman Catholic Church made our free minds drunk and leaves many questions. Nicolaus Copernicus, once condemned as heretic, is reburied and honoured as a hero.

Last saturday, may 22nd 2010. in Frombork, POland, 467 years after his death and inappreciabled funeral, revolutionary astronomer, physician and cleric Nicolaus Copernicus is posthumous reburied during magnificent ceremony in the presence of clergy, scholars, students and others.

Copernicus' work was one of the historical "tectonic" quakes in a row initiated by giants like Martin Luther. Nicolaus Copernicus and Luther were heroes dare enough to make difficult questions and present it to one-minded institution, ask validity of authorities and dogmas, allowing human intelect to fly and explore vast area of truth. Their courage is weakened then militant and irrational fundamentalism, and fed and strengthened minds like Brahe, Kepler, Newton...

Indicative are the words of the local bishop Jacek Jezierski: "Today's funeral has a symbolic value in that it is a gesture toward reconciliation of science and faith." The point is debatable, but worthy of consideration.

Free-minded people are happy of such a glad tidings, so much that we feel dizzy in the head and skin goose bumps. But we also understand that we live in a time when some new dogmas are established, some new fundamentalists, who have not aegis of the Vatican, show their teeth and threaten. We already have innocent victims, both of believers and secular. Does this mean that we will unfortunately have another martyrs? And what is worse, does that mean that our beloved institutions need a new 467 years of God's grace to get to their mind?

God forbid!

Jesus in a lung

"Jesus is in us!" - Jesus is, actually, in the lungs. Her or his, it is unknown at the moment. What is known there is the image from a thoracic spine examination by Christopher Vittore and Kevin Tribble, radiologists in Rockford, Ilinois and clinical assistant professors at University of Illinois College of Medicine. This was performed on an open MRI machine, a General Electric Signa 0.35 Tesla MRI scanner. Don't bother convincing me this is an Photoshop hoax - who cares for hoaxes, anyway? 
 
And to whom we should trust? They preached for centuries Jesus is in our hearts. After that, doing his missionary work along with Mary, he begins to appear unexpectedly on the walls, animal fur, pancakes... I rather prefer the last option, in the lungs. It is closer to the heart. And smokers have a stronger motivation to quit smoking immediately in order not to cast the Lord out of their bodies. Now you have a nice reason to quit smoking because you overslept the Sunday when reverend taught about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit. 
 
The only problem I see is how to worship that lung revelation. When Jesus appears on the wall it isn't difficult to make a chapel out of the house. But what to do with human lungs? How to find the patient that gave us such incredible MRI image? And what if we find him/her? Worship, give our money, listen, touch him/her toward solution of our problems? How mentally burned or intellectually inferior we must be to do such a things? 
 
If we can't solve our problems by means of healthy faith and healthy reasoning, we are in trouble because nothing and no one can help us, not even mysterious patient with Jesus in the lungs, especially not stains on the walls, pancakes and canvases. For a healthy faith there is elementary school - Jesus' words in the gospel of John that says about nourishing true faith anywhere regardless "holy places": "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." 
 
And if healthy faith doesn't work for you - Christ's rule about inner spiritual relationship with God - there is a simple psychology.  It is well known that humans have developed brain algorithm which we use to automatically assign meanings to certain patterns we see around us. Newborns in many species learn very quickly to recognize their mother's face among many shapes they see. Thus they are capable of fundamental surviving. Such an algorithm we use afterwards to distinguish good and useful faces from nasty ones that tend to harm us. In the darkness, our mind quickly calculates shapes and movements of the shadows to help us make decision about safe staying or running away from potential predator. Mechanism of patterns we process all the time is "guilty" of seeing the "face" on the Moon, but also for most religious appearances (the other situations based on strange chemicals and states of mind not covered here), so we are capable to se an illusion about Jesus in the lungs out of body tissue on the mentioned MRI image. 
 
Spiritual and intellectual education is enabling us for healthy critical thinking in order not to wander from stain to stain, but to repair walls, eat pancakes and keep our lungs healthy.

Message to grads

Keep using your heart, rely on the faith they taught you, but start to use your brain, trust your reason, ask questions.

An excerpt from the speech of scientist Eugenie C. Scott, may 15th 2010. during ceremony of receiving honorary degree from The University of Missouri, Columbia:

"I'm a scientist, and I believe strongly that reason, facts, and empirical evidence are essential for making not just scientific decisions, but other decisions as well. How can I encourage you to trust your brain? Well, as I was writing this talk, I read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle by a reporter who attended a psychic fair. He wrote: 'A whole wonderful building full of miracles. Major credit cards accepted... It could be a magic bracelet (results not guaranteed), or a magic stick (your results may vary), or a magic meditation magnet (no refunds)'

And indeed, there were people attending the fair who seemed not to be using their brains very much. One purveyor would, for $100, converse with a customer's dead relatives. As the reporter commented, 'her conversation seemed to be a trifle one-sided'.

Trust your brain. It's useful not just for surviving four years of university, but for deciding lots of things that are important. Like what brand of sunscreen to select, or what policies our elected representatives should follow, or whose fault the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is, as well as whether to believe someone can channel your dead relatives... Trust your brain. Ask questions when people make claims that sound fishy to you — and perhaps even more importantly, when you agree with them... So use your brains, but use your heart, too. You'll be a better functioning organism if you use both of them." (NCSE, may 17th 2010.)

Use your brain, trust your reason. Ask questions when people try to fish you into their superstitions, political parties or sell products. Love, be passionate, trust your heart, but always remember that there are times to put all that aside and start to use brain and ask questions. Our world's future abides in your hands.

Marie Curie about the age of reason

For all of my believing and non-believing friends, in the spirit of this blog, we do salt our society again. This time it's beautifully shaped simple statement of a famous scientist. It sounds almost like an statement inspired by some great wise Spirit and transcends ordinary human life, moving us to try explain the world and it's phenomena, in order for us to be less superstitious. (bold font provided by me)



"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

Thank you...

Marie Curie, French (Polish-born) chemist & physicist (1867 - 1934)

Vatican forgives John Lennon

"We're more popular than Jesus now", Lennon.

Recently I dedicated the following words to my friend, big fan of The Beatles. I now may recall our confusion first time we discovered famous Lennon's statement of old, about The Beatles being more poular than Jesus Christ: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I do not know what will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity... We're more popular than Jesus now."

He spoke the statement lightly at his 26 - not too old nor too young - and we, much younger at the time we read it, teenagers, already knew our rock'n'roll god were drunk of glory when he stated it. Besides, at the time the hippie culture flourished and many youngsters demystified their gods and myths, and promoted some new ideas. Everything was understandable, clear, forgivable about the situation, from our perspective, even at our teenage years. Interesting.

And Vatican figured it out barely nowadays! :)

Reuters: "The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a 'boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll." (some "pious" Americans publicly burned The Beatles records as the product of a satanic band, whatever that means)

Furthermore: "The fact remains that 38 years after breaking up, the songs of the Lennon-McCartney brand have shown an extraordinary resistance to the passage of time, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians", Vatican daily Osservatore Romano said :)

Good morning, Vatican!

Should you stated such a thing 42 years ago, you could be a light of sanity in religious darkness, but considering time discrepancy you are nothing but a confused bunch recycling it's own repentances from year to year. But, as I may approve, you have an advantage over many others that consider themselves religious, because you worked on your historical council at the time of Lennon's juvenile statement, and you were busy in the process of change. So, you at last recognized young rock star's immatureness, compared to many "pious" and ignorant moralists today that still see rock'n'roll as satanism. It's all about understanding, love, knowledge, education...

Dear John, you just rest in peace and forgiveness. You've never been more popular than Jesus, but at least some time you've been working class hero. Time will come for those others to pull their heads out of their asses and open their eyes to see, and then full forgiveness for your youth will fall upon your soul as a blessing, for sure...

Postmodern Eurosong 2010

I have a questions for you, at the last portion of this post. But let us observe an illustration. If you are going to watch Eurovision 2010 contest this year (a.k.a. Eurosong), pay attention to the representative of Latvia, please (she should perform at May 25th as 6th song in the first half of semifinals). The arrangement itself is shallow, but nice for hearing. However, the lyrics are indicative. The theme outlines the way of thinking adequate to our age, from so called postmodern perspective.

Aisha - What For? (Only Mr. God Knows) Eurovision 2010 Latvia



The author of the song recites familiar critical questions from life experience and there are no answers, but author suggests that answers are hidden with  mysterious Mr. God. By itself, such an effort would be just a weak step-out from the age of religions to the age of postmodernism, only if there wouldn't be one statement in the middle of the song, coloured with resigned tone, "But his phone today is out of range". That verse itself do, actually, define confusion of a modern human. It nowhere answers why and to whom those questions are appointed, in the world!

The problem is that the main character of the song (you, me, she, he) may slip into one of the two extremes by erecting such a questions, in order to find security and comfort: 1) defined rituals, rules and dogmas of one of many religious institutions that claim they have "contract with God and all rights to do his business", 2) materialistic atheism expressed through worship of science as modern saviour.

My question is: may the main character of Aisha's song (you, me, she, he) find the answers to the questions not only denying the objective truth (God of institutions as well as suspicious scientific dogmas) but reaching personal spiritual contact, acquaintance with the Subject (not subject-object relation, but subject-subject relationship), an impersonated spirit, consciousness, responsible for our world and all of the natural mechanisms, whether spiritual or material? Be it a "Darwin's God" (reference to Ken R. Miller's book)?

I'm really interested in your opinion about the topic. I am also interested in your opinion about Aisha's verses "The sun in colour black is rising high, The time is turning back".


Aisha - What For? (Only Mr. God Knows) Eurovision 2010 Latvia

I’ve asked my angels why
But they don’t know
What for do mothers cry and rivers flow?
Why are the skies so blue, and mountains high?
What for is your love, always passing by?

I’ve asked my uncle Joe
But he can’t speak
Why does the wind still blow and blood still leaks?
So many questions now with no reply
What for do people live until they die?

What for are we living?
What for are we crying?
What for are we dying?
Only Mr God knows why
What for are we living?
What for are we dreaming?
What for are we losing?
Only Mr God knows why
But his phone today is out of range

The sun in colour black is rising high
The time is turning back, I wonder why
So many questions now with no reply
What for do people live until they die?

What for are we living?
What for are we crying?
What for are we dying?
Only Mr God knows why
What for are we living?
What for are we dreaming?
What for are we losing?
Only Mr God knows why

What for are we living?
What for are we crying?
What for are we dying?
Only Mr God knows why
What for are we living?
What for are we dreaming?
What for are we losing?
Only Mr God knows why

Trying to recover

"Which aspects of our nature will prevail is uncertain..." said Carl Sagan doubting and hoping in the same time. I'm not the only one experiencing disappointment in human nature. I went through many bitter years misinterpreting attitudes of both religion and science. But thanks to noble humans among us determined not to give up I decided to recover. Most early texts I found nourishing my soul are those quoted below and more yet to come.

1)  "Who Speaks for Earth?" by Carl Sagan

"As the ancient myth makers knew, we are children equally of the earth and sky. In our tenure of this planet, we have accumulated dangerous, evolutionary baggage -- propensities for aggression and ritual, submission to leaders, hostility to outsiders, all of which puts our survival in some doubt. We have also acquired compassion for others, love for our children, a desire to learn from history and experience, and a great, soaring passionate intelligence -- the clear tools for our continued survival and prosperity.

Which aspects of our nature will prevail is uncertain, particularly when our visions and prospects are bound to one small part of the small planet earth. But, up and in the cosmos an inescapable perspective awaits. National boundaries are not evidenced when we view the earth from space. Fanatic ethnic or religious or national identifications are a little difficult to support when we see our planet as a fragile, blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars."

2) H. G. Wells, 1902, "The Discovery of the Future", Nature, 65, pp326-331.

"We are in the beginning of the greatest change that humanity has ever undergone. There is no shock, no epoch-making incident but then there is no shock at a cloudy daybreak. At no point can we say,"Here it commences, now; last minute was night and this is morning." But insensibly we are in the day. If we care to look, we can foresee growing knowledge, growing order, and presently a deliberate improvement of the blood and character of the race. And what we can see and imagine gives us a measure and gives us faith for what surpasses the imagination.

It is possible to believe that all the past is but the beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn. It is possible to believe that all that the human mind has ever accomplished is but the dream before the awakening. We cannot see, there is no need for us to see, what this world will be like when the day has fully come. We are creatures of the twilight. But it is out of our race and lineage that minds will spring, that will reach back to us in our littleness to know us better than we know ourselves, and that will reach forward fearlessly to comprehend this future that defeats our eyes.

All this world is heavy with the promise of greater things, and a day will come, one day in the unending succession of days, when beings, beings who are now latent in our thoughts and hidden in our loins, shall stand upon this earth as one stands upon a footstool, and shall laugh and reach out their hands amid the stars".

The world is changed

"I amar prestar aen."
- The world is changed.

"Han mathon ne nen."
- I feel it in the water.

"Han mathon ne chae."
- I feel it in the Earth.

"A han noston ne 'wilith."
- I smell it in the air.

Galadriel, spoken in elvish (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the movie opening)