“Imprisoned by Profit”

Recently, on “Ideas with Paul Kennedy,” the subject was “Imprisoned by Profit: Media and Democracy”¹ which can be listened to here.² In that episode, we are confronted with yet another voice crying in the wilderness of corporatism and bottom-line. But the story is not just about media. As we listen, we can hear the déjà vu in almost every arena that profit touches: science, education, business, medicine, health, construction, food, finance, fashion, employment, entertainment, religion, government contracts, etc., etc.

So let's ask ourselves: How many values and principles do we compromise or sacrifice outright for the sake of profit? Perhaps we should ask ourselves this question on a daily basis. Would that daily query change anything about the way we think and live?

How long before we recognize that the only way to truly be free from the corruptions of profit is to embrace the gift economy?³

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1. The discussion was with “world renowned Indian Journalist Palagummi Sainath ... [who] believes the media around the world is, for the most part, imprisoned by profiteering and political constraints.”
2. http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/imprisoned-by-profit-media-democracy-1.3601228 (Time: 53:59 min.)
3. Gift economy: Google the term or begin here: http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2013/12/babylon-boomerang.html ; http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2014/06/gods-economy-is-it-possible.html ; http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2013/12/gods-economy-christmas-perspective.html

Fog of Stupidity?

Stu•pid•i•ty*
   noun
       - an idea, act, or expression that shows a lack of good sense or judgment

“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.”

―Albert Einstein

“Human beings always[?] do the most intelligent thing … after they’ve tried every stupid alternative and none of them have worked.”

― R. Buckminster Fuller

Which brings us to 1) the bathroom uproar; and 2) to a tangentially-related matter―the US political landscape. First, let us consider

The Bathroom.

Here we are, living in a world of increasing violence toward and objectifying of women (the evidence fills our headlines¹), yet we pretend that gender-neutral, multi-stall bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms will not attract the worst kind of deviants on the coattail of tolerance for transgender and gender-variant persons. There may be nothing to fear from the latter, but the former will not be long in abusing the naiveté and romanticism of the most liberal-minded. And do not misinterpret: I am not equating transgender with deviants. I use “deviant” to describe sociopaths/psychopaths of every gender (or variant) who live without conscience vis-à-vis their fellow human beings.

So, this open invitation may seem charitable and compassionate:

“Please use the restroom that feels most comfortable to you”

but in amended quote of Bertrand Russell:

“A [deviant] man's report of what a [tolerant] man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand [or justify].”²

The University of Toronto has already experienced such an “understanding.”

University of Toronto Dumps Transgender Bathrooms After Peeping Incidents³

So how about we actually:

▪ use our heads;
▪ consider centuries-long and current observations of human nature and gender-dynamics;⁴
▪ remember that the world is FAR from a level playing field of moral development;
▪ quit pretending that our “high-minded” solutions will change human nature;
▪ quit pretending that the “low-minded” are not part of this picture;
▪ inform ourselves about porn addiction statistics⁵ and the manifest dangers for others;
▪ admit how quickly memes⁶ (especially inappropriate ones) can become viral—like the recent obscene, public harassment of many female TV reporters;
▪ acknowledge that we are in the midst of a plague of psychopaths⁷ and sex-addicts who aren't going away any time soon;
▪ acknowledge that the increasing violence toward and objectifying of women (and increasingly children and men) does not bode well for sharing gender-neutral bathrooms (in their present or any multiple design) with strangers of the opposite sex;
▪ realize that genderless restrooms will not secure a safe, comfortable place for anyone because an open invitation allows everyone to be followed or confronted in any restroom by any bully or deviant;
▪ quit playing into the manipulations and machinations of social engineers;
▪ consider the safety, privacy, and feelings of EVERYONE.

Does this have to be so divisive and pandora-like? What is so intolerable about maintaining gender-specific, multi-stall washrooms for those who are OK being gender-specific as we seek to accommodate other needs by adding gender-neutral / family-friendly, lockable rooms for the private use of anyone who wishes to use them (including anyone gender-specific). Many sites already have these genderless, private facilities. But to pretend the entire, happy, costless solution is to rip the gender sign from the door (as Stephen Colbert did⁸) is to be naive at best and ____________ (?) at worst; or, in words from The Peter Principle:⁹

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.” ―Laurence J. Peter

And to those who think that normalizing men in womens' restrooms does not compromise safety, feelings, and/or privacy, consider this:

if a woman walks into a womens'-designated restroom and finds a man (or men) out-of-place, she can rapidly exit and report it without feeling she is being intolerant or impolite;

compared to:

she walks into the only available restroom labelled gender-neutral and encounters the very same, but if her instincts warn of danger, she now battles with social expectations and judgments.

Don't we already have too many “polite,” scarred women who didn't heed instinct?

And what of a man's wish for privacy? Does he want some stranger with her 4-year old daughter barging past his urinal?

In fifty years, at some historical review—if we manage to survive this age of tolerating stupidity (as in geoengineering, CERN, HAARP, GMOs, psychotropics, corporatism, Objectivism, NINJ loans, fiat money, media-complicit propaganda, science-for-hire, etc., etc., etc.)—will our descendants label the first two decades of the twenty-first century as an age of full-blown idiot-savants?—the prelude to an age of darkness?

As we are out of space and time for topic #2, here are three brief questions for the “right” half of the entire wind-blasted, despoiled

US political landscape.

How in the world can citizens fantasize that this corporate tyrant (with his history, mendacity, and bully-posturing) will lift a finger to save anything of the Constitution or its Bill of Rights or to make America “great” again? If ever there was a time of “seeing they see not and hearing they hear not,” it must be this age of blind ambition (within and about both parties).

Has the face of Babylon ever been so transparent in any candidate, ever? But no! we remain fixated on Socialism as if that were the worst enemy!! Maybe we should take time to review what God had to say about each.¹⁰

It seems far too many don't care to honestly inform themselves about the truth of their tragic state of the Union, both to the right and to the left. Do we really think that a choice between two great evils is really a choice??

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*The “stupid” quotes are from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/stupidity.html and http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/stupidity. Here are a few extra:
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. ―Albert Einstein
“Evil isn’t the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it’s a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference.” ―Jim Butcher, Vignette
“Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.” ―George Carlin
“The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.”―Harlan Ellison
“Stupidity is the same as evil if you judge by the results.” ―Margaret Atwood, Surfacing
“This cures everything except stupidity, which is an epidemic on the rise.” ―Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel's Game
“It is only because of their stupidity that they are able to be so sure of themselves.” ―Franz Kafka
“The earth is a great piece of stupidity.” ―Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
“In politics stupidity is not a handicap.” ―Napoleon Bonaparte
An American prophet even wrote this observation to a newspaper editor in 1833:

Mr. Editor:—Sir, … For some length of time I have been carefully viewing the state of things, as it now appears, throughout our Christian land; and have looked at it with feelings of the most painful anxiety. While upon one hand I behold the manifest withdrawal of God's Holy Spirit, and the veil of stupidity which seems to be drawn over the hearts of the people; upon the other hand, I behold the judgments of God that have swept, and are still sweeping hundreds and thousands of our race, and I fear unprepared, down to the shades of death. With this solemn and alarming fact before me, I am led to exclaim, "O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night." … I think that it is high time for a Christian world to awake out of sleep, and cry mightily to that God, day and night, … (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Deseret Book Co., 1976, 13.)

1. ▪ How Washington is trying to stop daily street harassment of women by Meagan Fitzpatrick, CBC News posted May 22, 2016, 5:00 AM ET at http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/women-harassment-washington-1.3587568?cmp=rss&cid=news-digests-canada-and-world-morning
▪ Catcalling happens to most women between the ages of 11 and 17 by Radhika Sanghani, 9:50 AM BST, 29 May 2015 at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11637697/Catcalling-Women-sexually-harassed-on-the-street-from-puberty.html
▪ BuzzFeed writer’s harassment just the latest example of why Twitter is broken for women by Shane Dingman - Technology Reporter, The Globe and Mail, Published Monday, Feb. 22, 2016 6:25 PM EST) at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/harassment-of-buzzfeeds-koul-shows-how-twitter-is-broken-for-women/article28845004/
▪ Harassment at work: 52% of women report bullying by Katrina Bishop, Wednesday, 2 Apr 2014 | 9:22 AM ET at http://www.cnbc.com/2014/04/02/harassment-at-work-50-of-women-report-bullying.html
▪ Workplace Sexual Harassment at http://www.aware.org.sg/training/wsh-site/14-statistics/
▪ Twitter Is Bringing In Reinforcements to Help Fix its Harassment Problem by Valentina Zarya, February 9, 2016, 1:34 PM EDT at http://fortune.com/2016/02/09/twitter-online-harassment/
▪ Sexual harassment toward female sports reporters is far too common at http://www.si.com/more-sports/2015/08/16/female-sports-reporters-sexual-harassment-norwood-teague-rio-olympics-ryan-seacrest
▪ Thousands protest violence against women in Argentina after 3 girls slain, The Associated Press, posted Jun 03, 2016 11:59 PM ET at http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/argentina-niunamenos-protests-violence-women-1.3616373?cmp=rss&cid=news-digests-canada-and-world-morning
▪ See also footnote 4 below.
2. ORIGINAL QUOTE: “A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.” ―Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy
3. ▪ University of Toronto Dumps Transgender Bathrooms After Peeping Incidents by Pardes Seleh at http://www.dailywire.com/news/330/university-toronto-dumps-transgender-bathrooms-pardes-seleh
▪ University Of Toronto Gender-Neutral Bathrooms Reduced After Voyeurism Reports, The Huffington Post Canada by Jessica Chin, posted 10/06/2015 5:43 pm EDT at http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/10/06/u-of-t-bathrooms-voyeurism_n_8253970.html
▪ See also: The Case Against Fully Shifting To Gender Neutral Bathrooms at http://socawlege.com/the-case-against-fully-shifting-to-gender-neutral-bathrooms/
4. ▪ Sexual assault in the United States military at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_assault_in_the_United_States_military
▪ Sexual assault in the Canadian Forces at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_assault_in_the_Canadian_Forces
▪ Military sex assault and misconduct investigations increase in 2015 by Murray Brewster, CBC News, posted May 24, 2016, 5:00 AM ET at http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/military-sex-assault-misconduct-canadian-forces-1.3592501?cmp=rss&cid=news-digests-canada-and-world-morning
▪ More women alleging harassment want to join lawsuit against RCMP by Natalie Clancy, CBC News, posted May 31, 2015, 2:00 PM PT at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/more-women-alleging-harassment-want-to-join-lawsuit-against-rcmp-1.3089534
▪ RCMP's recent history of harassment, abuse and discrimination by John Paul Tasker, CBC News, posted Feb 18, 2016, 7:27 PM ET at http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-sexual-harassment-history-1.3453413
5. ▪ Internet pornography by the numbers; a significant threat to society at http://www.webroot.com/ca/en/home/resources/tips/digital-family-life/internet-pornography-by-the-numbers
“The societal costs of pornography are staggering. The financial cost to business productivity in the U.S. alone is estimated at $16.9 Billion annually; but the human toll, particularly among our youth and in our families, is far greater. ¶ According to Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D, psychologist and former Deputy Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary, “two recent reports, one by the American Psychological Association on hyper-sexualized girls, and the other by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on the pornographic content of phone texting among teenagers, make clear that the digital revolution is being used by younger and younger children to dismantle the barriers that channel sexuality into family life. ¶ Pornography hurts adults, children, couples, families, and society. Among adolescents, pornography hinders the development of a healthy sexuality, and among adults, it distorts sexual attitudes and social realities. In families, pornography use leads to marital dissatisfaction, infidelity, separation, and divorce.”
▪ Pornography Statistics: Annual Report 2015 at http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/
6. A meme is "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture." From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme
7. Psychopaths: http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2014/10/public-enemy-1.html
http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2014/05/a-plague-of-psychopaths.html
http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2014/12/without-conscience.html
http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2014/12/the-pity-ploy.html
8. Colbert Tests Trump’s Claim About The Cost Of Gender Neutral Bathrooms at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/colbert-tests-trumps-claim-about-the-cost-of-gender-neutral-bathrooms_us_57471210e4b0dacf7ad41abf
9. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle ~ Quote: The Peter principle is a concept in management theory formulated by Laurence J. Peter in which the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate's performance in their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role. Thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively, and "managers rise to the level of their incompetence."
10. Do your own research, but you can begin here: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2014/12/deception-inc.html ; or here http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/search/label/Socialism

The Truth about Ruth?

(and doubting Thomas!)

"Trudeau elbows MP" (Time 1:19 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teqCY8cZGxc

Even when reasonable people watch the same video, opposing points of view emerge.¹ Case in point is the Canadian House of Commons fracas of May 18, 2016. Here is how I see it:

Several NDP MPs were game-playing in the aisle of the House. The Conservative Party Whip, Gordon Brown, appeared to be “it”—lamely trying to breach a barricade of intentional NDP bodies while a wide aisle of open sailing lay to his left. But then, can we really fault him? for how—in the name of politics?!?—can we expect a conservative, right-wing Whip to look to the left when left-wingers are blockading his right?

In any event, our (ex-schoolteacher) Prime Minister lost his patience and inappropriately intervened to part the intransigent waters for the lackadaisical Whip, so to speak. Thinking perhaps to establish order, our PM ended up being disorderly himself and inadvertently elbowed a hovering NDP team-player, Ms Ruth Brosseau, in the chest. She reacted in pain (a very brief OWW—watch the video), but seemed to immediately recover in order to proclaim her injury.

Some have alleged her injury was on par with an equivalent male injury, but should one not ask: If such were the case, would she not have been clutching her injury instead of immediately gesticulating about it?

And how enlightening it might be to hear the exchange with her leader Thomas Mulcair which has been edited out of almost all the media coverage, but can be partly seen (but not heard) in the above video. The look on her face and backward glance as she strode from the chamber seems more of a “catch me if you can.” She did not appear in shock or trauma, but to be escalating the play-out of the game.

The game, it seemed was to create disorder, tension, and delay² and when matters escalated beyond NDP's wildest imagination, the knee-jerk déjà vu was to point all four fingers at someone else, while trumpeting shock and awful outrage.

So this is why I am doubting Thomas as well as the “truth about Ruth.” Thomas' bulk was a large portion of the blockade. Did he add a nudge to the fracas as one viewer believes?³ Did his political instincts immediately recognize opportunity? a golden chance to escalate the accidental injury / offence from the briefest of OWs to dumping a load of “violence against women”; and thereafter trusting in the media  and the populous (via repetitive, edited clips) to run everything to its hypocritical end?

I am doubting Thomas too, because his verbal explosion seemed intent on escalating what His Leadership had provoked through his “school of fish” blockade. (This does not excuse our PM, but neither does our PM's action exonerate Mr. Mulcair and his milling colleagues.)

I am doubting the truth about Ruth as well. Her videoed behavior; her jovial participation in the blockade; her statement: "I am a tough woman, I know how to stand up and deal with situations, [...] I was just shocked ... I was overwhelmed,"⁴ seems theatrically overblown to maximize damage, especially considering her past employments as an assistant manager of a campus pub and later as a Pier 21 bartender.⁵

If she means that this accidental encounter in the House was more shocking and overwhelming that any pub or bar encounter, then the truth about Ruth is more about gaming than honesty.

Perhaps we shall know the full truth if we ever get unedited access to audible audio and to all angles of the entire kerfuffle. In the meantime, let us pray that all parties can be as forthcoming and apologetic as our PM.

(And by the way, I didn't vote Liberal or NDP. I voted for what I thought might be the lesser of three evils, but then again, how does one really know in these days of theatrics and gaming.)

P.S. Though I have never seen “Game of Thrones,” it seems more and more that the world's politicians are all playing that game—where opposing sides are each seeking to ascend on the one and to flush on the other. Oh, déjà vu!

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1. ▪ "Justin Trudeau's elbowing incident leaves House in an uproar" at http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-conservative-whip-1.3588407
▪ "What the prime minister did was supremely dumb, but so is the reaction - Michael's essay" at http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/elbowgate-the-trump-effect-inattentional-deafness-gore-vidal-1.3589053/what-the-prime-minister-did-was-supremely-dumb-but-so-is-the-reaction-michael-s-essay-1.3589059
▪ "PM Trudeau grabs Conservative MP Gord Brown" (Time 3.22 min.) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oG1Dw0B6S8
▪ "Trudeau in heated exchange on floor of the House of Commons" (Time 5:16 min.) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg3f0Ae8V3o
2. "Elizabeth May calls Trudeau ‘elbowgate’ accidental, calls on parties to be ‘more mature’" (Time 3:02 min.) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84iG8jgZExM
3. "Trudeau Elbows NDP member after being Nudged by Tom Mulcair into Brosseau" (Time 4:34 min.) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb4u6Y957us
4. "Ruth Ellen Brosseau target of personal attacks since being elbowed by Trudeau" at http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/brosseau-trudeau-elbowing-attacks-1.3590066?cmp=rss&cid=news-digests-canada-and-world-morning
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Ellen_Brosseau

Are We Getting There?

Circa 7 to 5 BCE, two prophets, named Helaman and Samuel, lived and recorded their observations of the social, political, and religious affairs of a nation located somewhere in the present-day Americas. These were their observations:*

▪ contentions did increase, insomuch that there were wars throughout all the land among all the people ...
▪ it was this secret band of robbers who did carry on this work of destruction and wickedness. ...
▪ and there was a great famine upon the land, among all the people ...
▪ For the earth was smitten that it was dry, and did not yield forth grain in the season of grain; and the whole earth was smitten ... that they did perish by thousands ...
▪ [And it came to pass after a brief period of repentance, peace and prosperity], there began to be much strife. ...
▪ And it came to pass ... there were a certain number of the dissenters from the people being stirred up to anger ... therefore they commenced a war with their brethren.
▪ And they did commit murder and plunder; ... hiding themselves that they could not be discovered, receiving daily an addition to their numbers, inasmuch as there were dissenters that went forth unto them.
▪ And thus in time, yea, even in the space of not many years, they became an exceedingly great band of robbers; and they did search out all the secret plans ...;
▪ Now behold, these robbers did make great havoc, yea, even great destruction among the people ...
▪ And it came to pass that it was expedient that there should be a stop put to this work of destruction; therefore they sent an army of strong men into the wilderness and upon the mountains to search out this band of robbers, and to destroy them.
▪ But behold, it came to pass that in that same year they were driven back even into their own lands. ...
▪ And it came to pass ... they did go forth again against this band of robbers, and did destroy many; and they were also visited with much destruction. ...
▪ And the robbers did still increase and wax strong, insomuch that they did defy the whole armies ... and they did cause great fear to come unto the people upon all the face of the land.
▪ Yea, for they did visit many parts of the land, and did do great destruction unto them; yea, did kill many, and did carry away others captive into the wilderness, yea, and more especially their women and their children.
▪ Now this great evil, which came unto the people because of their iniquity, did stir them up again in remembrance of the Lord their God.
▪ And thus ended the eighty and first year of the reign of the judges.
▪ And in the eighty and second year they began again to forget the Lord their God. And in the eighty and third year they began to wax strong in iniquity. And in the eighty and fourth year they did not mend their ways.
▪ And it came to pass in the eighty and fifth year they did wax stronger and stronger in their pride, and in their wickedness; and thus they were ripening again for destruction.
▪ they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity. …
▪ O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world! …
▪ Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths! …
▪ they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide. …
▪ they have set their hearts upon riches; …
▪ if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil. …
▪ But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet. …
▪ Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him. …
▪ the more part of the people remaining in their pride and wickedness, and the lesser part walking more circumspectly before God. …
▪ And there was but little alteration in the affairs of the people, save it were the people began to be more hardened in iniquity, and do more and more of that which was contrary to the commandments of God, …
▪ the people began to harden their hearts, all save it were the most believing part of them, … and began to depend upon their own strength and upon their own wisdom …
▪ And they began to reason and to contend among themselves, saying: …
▪ That it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come; …
▪ And many more things did the people imagine up in their hearts, which were foolish and vain; and they were much disturbed, for Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually; yea, he did go about spreading rumors and contentions upon all the face of the land, that he might harden the hearts of the people against that which was good and against that which should come.

So, as we scan the landscape—from Brasília^† to Washington^‡ and back (and beyond)—here is the question: Are we on course for another “American” déjà vu?

---------------------------/
*See Book of Mormon | Helaman, chapters 11-16 for the full text which can be found at https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng.
^†Glenn Greenwald on the hypocrisy of Brazil's political crisis (Friday May 13, 2016; Time 10:31 min.) at http://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-285-trump-tabloids-greenwald-on-brazil-hamilton-s-gatekeeper-pr-stunts-gone-wrong-and-more-1.3580796/glenn-greenwald-on-the-hypocrisy-of-brazil-s-political-crisis-1.3580827
^‡Review almost any US headline or news report or review: 1) Rose-Colored Specs? at http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2015/03/rose-colored-specs.html ; 2) Faux-Rogue Repeat? at http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2016/01/faux-rogue-repeat.html ; 3) Whitewash? at http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2014/11/whitewash.html ; or 4) most of this whole, sad Déjà Vu~Times series.

ConCERNing CERN

I wonder if any one at CERN* appreciates the irony. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is allegedly mankind's greatest achievement, yet a weasel¹ (out of all possible creatures!) shuts it down.² That monstrous, multi-billion dollar, man-made machine—generating blasts of (hey, let's-see-what-might-happen!) energy—succumbed to the teeth of a small Mustela.

Could this event carry a message? Could it foreshadow:

▪ that Mother Nature intends to triumph over the hubris of CERN's “scientists” and technicians?
▪ that something like the sly, stealthy, aggressive, voracious weasel—a symbol³ like unto CERN itself— will bring the demise of CERN?
▪ that CERN's psychopathic power plays will eventually fry it too?
▪ that “the best-laid plans of mice and [egotistic] men [will go] awry” because “pride goeth before the fall”?⁴
▪ that “a house divided against itself cannot stand”?⁵

(PS: This, of course, is based on the assumption that the weasel was real and not a fabrication to deceive. Nonetheless, in the power and economy of God, even CERN may find itself, in the end, the butt of its own machinations.)

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* http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2015/08/my-word.html
1. http://mentalfloss.com/article/64193/7-fierce-facts-about-weasels
2. “Pop! goes the Large Hadron Collider—and the weasel” (Apr. 29, 2016) at https://www.sciencemag.org/news/sifter/pop-goes-large-hadron-collider-and-weasel
“Large Hadron Collider temporarily shut down by unauthorized weasel entry” (The Associated Press Posted: Apr 29, 2016 ) at http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/weasel-lhc-1.3559286
“One Lone Weasel Grinds the World’s Most Powerful Particle Collider to a Halt” (by Rachel E. Gross) at http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/04/29/the_large_hadron_collider_meets_its_match_a_weasel.html
“Large Hadron Collider: Weasel causes shutdown” at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36173247
3. From Dictionary of Symbolic & Mythological Animals by J. C. Cooper ~ “Weasel: Almost universally associated with evil, the weasel was often feared. ... ¶ The weasel is the only animal other than the cock that can kill the Basilisk,^[*] who is afraid of it. ¶ The Bestiaries say it is an example of dissimulation, hearing God's word but being bound by the love of earthly things” [p. 259].
*“Basilisk/Cockatrice: The Basilisk or Cockatrice is an old name often applied to the Serpent ... It is a symbol of evil and treachery. ... It is a creature of extreme malignity, feared by all. It can kill by the smell of its breath, by a glance from its eye or the touch of its tail, and its hiss burns people up; it also produces hydrophobia and sends people mad. ... It can only be killed by a weasel (it is suggested that this may refer to the mongoose) or by a cock, or by seeing its reflection on looking through crystal” [Ibid. pp. 13-14].
So here we have two symbols of evil. Do they symbolically foreshadow that “the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is [mostly^†] by the wicked that the wicked are punished;” (Book of Mormon | Mormon 4:5)?
^†PS: I insert “mostly” because God sometimes uses His righteous servants to measure out justice as in Old Testament Ezekiel 9 and elsewhere. As well, not all who might appear to be “punished” are wicked. Many innocent and good people have been allowed to suffer at the hands of the wicked. Here is one instance: “8 And they brought their wives and children together, and whosoever believed or had been taught to believe in the word of God they caused that they should be cast into the fire; and they also brought forth their records which contained the holy scriptures, and cast them into the fire also, that they might be burned and destroyed by fire. 9 And it came to pass that they took Alma and Amulek, and carried them forth to the place of martyrdom, that they might witness the destruction of those who were consumed by fire. 10 And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames. 11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.”
4. Old Testament | Proverbs 16:18 ~ Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Old Testament | Isaiah 13:11 ~ And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
5. New Testament | Matthew 12:25;~ And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself [evil fighting evil?] is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself [anarchy?] shall not stand: & Mark 3:26 ~ And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. (See also: Mark 3:24-25; Luke 11:17-18)
~ Part of what will defeat Satan, his hosts, and their human accomplices is that master Satan operates in a worst, worst case scenario of emotional dysregulation. With him, how he feels always trumps principles. He'll do whatever it takes to get his way. He has no loyalties except to his agenda of destroying God's plan and of imposing his own. He is the epitome of psychopathic. As a "selfie" he often lacks insight into the self-defeating chaos he inspires that will in the end divide his house into ten-thousand contentious fragments and eventual complete dissolution.
Book of Mormon | Alma 30:60 ~ And thus we see the end of him who perverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell.

Death by Distraction?

Just like the bread and circuses of old Rome, WE THE PEOPLE of the World are being anesthetized to reality. We congregate around artificial stages of fantasy and fabrication while the real world disintegrates around us. Please take time for a “blast of truth” and WAKE UP.

If We Don't Stop This We're Dead (Time 36:05 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHttfbmFJ_s&list=TLqrNfGZboDJIyODA0MjAxNg

It's past time to become part of the critical mass.

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See also:
▪ Geoengineering Watch Global Alert News, April 23, 2016 ( geoengineeringwatch.org ) (Time 55:07 min.) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EABDHF1q5cM
▪ Geoengineering Watch Global Alert News, April 16, 2016 ( geoengineeringwatch.org ) (Time 54:44 min.) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akPLxCYJdaA

Spellbinding

Once again, leaks, hacks, and unauthorized revelations (i.e., “The Panama Papers”¹) shock / anger /sadden us as if we expected something different. How many times must this déjà vu repeat itself before we truly understand the warning:

And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (New Testament | Matthew 19:24)

Wealth changes people, so if we are still dreaming about striking it rich, let’s read and listen to these discussions:

● The Rich Are Different: More Money, Less Empathy²

● Studies reveal the super-rich suffer anxiety, lack of empathy due to wealth³ (Time 23:25 min.)

And let us revisit this from a March 18, 2014 Déjà Vu Times post, Truly Afflicted (With Riches)!!⁴

    “Money on the Mind” (8:.55 min.)
     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuqGrz-Y_Lc&sns=em

Great wealth also seems to be accompanied by a companion condition called spellbinding. We may know we have wealth (sufficient to conceal it in shell companies) but we may never realize we have contracted the companion condition where money and its power progressively blinds and deafens us to fatal consequences.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. And now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments. … Therefore forsake the world, and save your souls; for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (New Testament | Matthew 16: 24, 26 combined with Matthew 16:25-26, 29 JST⁵)

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1. Panama Papers: Document leak exposes global corruption, secrets of the rich http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/panama-leak-offshore-records-putin-messi-money-1.3518951
Panama Papers reveal billions hidden in anonymous paper shares http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/panama-papers-bearer-shares-1.3525434
2. http://healthland.time.com/2010/11/24/the-rich-are-different-more-money-less-empathy/
3. CBC’s The Current with Maria Tremonti (podcast hosted by Laura Lynch Friday, April 8, 2016) at http://www.cbc.ca/radio/popup/audio/listen.html?autoPlay=true&clipIds=&mediaIds=2686455432&contentarea=radio&subsection1=radio1&subsection2=currentaffairs&subsection3=the_current&contenttype=audio&title=2016/04/08/1.3526575-studies-reveal-the-super-rich-suffer-anxiety-lack-of-empathy-due-to-wealth&contentid=1.3526575
Text summary at http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-8-2016-1.3526499/studies-reveal-the-super-rich-suffer-anxiety-lack-of-empathy-due-to-wealth-1.3526575
4. http://www.dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2014/03/truly-afflicted-with-riches.html
5. JST = Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible

And It Came to Pass ?

Assyria. Egypt.
        Babylon. Persia.
                Greece. Rome.
                         United States?

“Whom art thou like in thy greatness?”

Circa 600 B.C.E., this was the question a prophet was commanded to “speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude.”

But does this same prophet also speak (in archetype and déjà vu) to our latter-day world?—especially to the US of America?

1 AND it came to pass ... that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
3 ¶ Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.
4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.
6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
10 ¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
18 ¶ To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD. (Old Testament | Ezekiel 31:1-18)

What could Ezekiel be saying to US, today?

“To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is [the United States] and all [her] multitude.”

But does another great destruction really have to come to pass, again? Is there yet some possibility for an awakening sufficient to bring us, like Nineveh of old, to fasting and sackcloth and ashes?¹ (At least for a time.²)

Or are most of us pretending we are the special exception to the déjà vu?

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1. Old Testament | Jonah 3:3-10 JST ~ So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell, if we will repent and turn unto God, but he will turn away from us his fierce anger, that we perish not? ¶ And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and repented; and God turned away the evil that he had said he would bring upon them.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineveh

Ripening? Again?

An addendum to the recent post of March 16, 2016 titled, “Daze of Yore and Fore”¹:

Considering U.S. political affairs of recent months, here are four warning voices from the dust—from ancient prophets of the “American” continents:

Circa 92 B.C.E
And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land [of the Americas].²

Circa 30 B.C.E.
For as their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted. Yea, and this was not all; they were a stiffnecked people, insomuch that they could not be governed by the law nor justice, save it were to their destruction.³

Circa 384 C.E.
They were once a delightsome people, and they had Christ for their shepherd; yea, they were led even by God the Father. But now, behold, they are led about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind, or as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are they.⁴

Circa 416 C.E. (nigh 1600 years ago)
26 And no one need say [the records of this people in the Americas] shall not come, for they surely shall, for the Lord hath spoken it; for out of the earth shall they come, by the hand of the Lord, and none can stay it; and it shall come in a day when it shall be said that miracles are done away; and it shall come even as if one should speak from the dead.
27 And it shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness.
28 Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches.
29 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands;
30 And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.
31 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.
32 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins.
33 O ye wicked and perverse and stiffnecked people, why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get gain? Why have ye transfigured the holy word of God, that ye might bring damnation upon your souls? Behold, look ye unto the revelations of God; for behold, the time cometh at that day when all these things must be fulfilled.
34 Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you.
35 Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.
36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.
37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.
38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?
39 Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?
40 Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?
41 Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer.⁵

So which, in these latter days, will prove more dangerous—corrupted candidates? or the voice of “a stiffnecked [blind and deaf] people”?

Note to “we the people”: If “we the people” think we are backing a “good” candidate (be he/she right or left, R or D, male or female, corporate or political), prophecy would suggest we are not. Prophecy would also suggest that we are presently spinning into the woe levels of déjà vu, utterly blind and deaf to our own iniquities.

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1. http://www.dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2016/03/daze-of-yore-and-fore.html
2. Book of Mormon | Mosiah 29:27
3. Book of Mormon | Helaman 5:2-3
4. Book of Mormon | Mormon 5:17-18
5. Book of Mormon | Mormon 8:26-41