Our Unmitigated Hypocrisy


I find the blatant hypocrisy of NATO and US a very annoying thing. Take our example of how we take sides in Kosovo as opposed to Tibet.

In Kosovo, you have a portion of Serbia that has slowly become overcome by a non-native ethnic minority to the point where the Serbs are now the minority (rather like California and Mexicans, by the way). And at last the local Kosovo government declares what western media calls "unilateral" (suggesting that the government was unanimous in it's decision) separation from Serbia. I am quite certain that it is either a lie of western news media to call the decision to separate "unilateral" or else apparently their government does not give representation to the large ethnic Serbian population of Kosovo.

You can read about the history of Kosovo and the ongoing struggle of Serbs who have been persecuted there at http://www.kosovo.net/ These people do not want to become part of another country, because they already live in fear from an ethnic minority that does not give them fair representation, or any rights whatsoever.

I suppose the U.S. / NATA / European support of these Kosovans as they supposedly call for their independence rather parallels a long tradition that the U.S. / NATO / EU, etc. have of supporting Godless regimes that do not give their people representation and rights that goes all the way back to our support of the Godless nation of Israel, who in her own hypocrisy gives no rights or representation to the Palestinians. But, I digress.

Meanwhile, you have Tibet. I can look on Tibet with much less bias since I am not a Buddhist. When I talk about Kosovo or Israel, I am of course, biased since I am a Christian and more closely identify with the persecuted populations in both of those countries. (One may beg the question why do American's not identify more with the suffering Palestinians (who are about 40% Christian) and suffering Kosovo Christians, when we claim we are a "Christian" nation who In-God-We-Trusts. But again, I digress.)

In Tibet, I will take the side of the underdog again. You have the persecuted native peoples who have been under the thumb-screws of the Chinese regime of fascism for many years now. One can only hope that the things that are happening in Tibet will spread to the REST of China where so many people for so long as struggled in slave-labor for the profit of the state. These people are not allowed to have more than one child - it's against the law. These people are not allowed to belong to any religion: Marxism insists on atheism. So, China may have let a tiny minority of Buddhism exist, but merely as a pretense of allowing some minor level of cultural diversity. As the Dalai Lama says: the Chinese have tried to bring about a cultural genocide.

I can't wait to see what awful things unfold in China with the Olympics coming soon. China has gotten away with global approval for long enough. It is time they realize their uncivilized fascist state has not place in a peace-loving world. They've been walking around with their pants down for quite some time. I'm hoping to see them soon trip, as the trousers get tangled up around the ankles.

And if only Americans would take to the streets burning all their Chinese garbage in piles and sending a message to China that "enough is enough."

But, alas, we would rather sit back and sip our espresso watching our giant made-in-China flat-screen TVs. All those wars and chaos are entertaining from here.

~ Basil

Meat Fair

Orthodox Christians this week are enjoying a week full of eating meat. This is a special week in which, traditionally, you eat up all the last of the meat in the house so that you won't have any left to tempt you during Lent. Technically speaking.

Of course, this concept was invented before there were refrigerators and freezers, etc. But Orthodox Christians still celebrate today a full week of eating meat.

My dinner tonight:
* a steak and a half (medium rare)
* 3/4 of a roasted sweet red pepper (bell-type pepper)
* 3/4 of a roasted green pepper (bell-type pepper)
* six cloves of garlic (5 of them roasted after being dipped in olive oil, and the 6th crushed and spread on my steak)
* 3/4 a bottle of Merlot (the other 4th went into the marinade -- does that count as drinking a whole bottle?)

Ahhhhh...

I enjoy these times when we aren't fasting.

No only do I enjoy it, I'm downright good at "feasting" as it were.

Well, if only I can be so devoted during the fasts.

Regards,
Basil

Nobody to vote for...


I haven't looked too much at the candidates yet. I really don't have a strong liking of any of them, so why should I? I was all for Hillary until I heard her on one talk show saying how she was going to close down all those nasty institutions that lend money to kids for college. What a nut! Is she serious?

I was dead set against voting for any sort of republican in order to counter the last 8 years of evil.

But all that is left is Obama:

So, I've started reading a little bit just to see what he's saying:

"We are not standing on the brink of recession due to forces beyond our control," Obama said in excerpts of a speech at a General Motors plant in Janesville, Wis. "The fallout from the housing crisis that's cost jobs and wiped out savings was not an inevitable part of the business cycle. It was a failure of leadership and imagination in Washington."

Why does he have to outright lie? I mean, he's got a Harvard law degree, so he can't be a complete idiot. If he's not a complete idiot, then one has to ask oneself: why is he outright lying then?

Yes, let's just use our imagination. The government has billions of dollars so the government ought to be able to help billions of Americans have enough money to keep them in their toys.

Grrr....

Basil

Inadvertent Humor, by Google

In the Seattle area and have a spare moment? Maybe we can tempt you with buying a new condo? Looking for a house? Hiring a homicide attorney?




So, here I was checking out the weather report at accuweather.com - I browse the next 10 days and find out about the big snow storm coming Dec 10-13. And then an ad in the corner catches my attention. Anyone care for a Murder Attorney?

"Yes, hello, is this Attorneys-R-Us?"

"Yes, I was wondering how much your murder rates are? I've got a neighbor I really can't stand."

Strange things...

~ Basil

Who to Vote For for President

Well, I haven't had very many ideas on this topic.

But I just came across this article, and it's pretty good:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/carlton1.html

I may end up voting for Ron Paul. I certainly believe in the principles that the author of this article has stated.

Who knows...

~ Basil

The Beautiful Seasons, Autumn

I'm rather late, waiting for our first snow, to post these photos. But here's some shots I took this fall along the Sammamish river in downtown Redmond.

An alternate path of the Sammamish River Trail:


Autumn Colors on the Sammamish River:





Reflections at a Storm Pond:









~ Photography by Basil

The Golden Compass

There's a great new movie out, and I suggest you all go see it!

Ok, perhaps I'm waxing a bit hyperbolic here. I really don't care whether you see it or not, but I think the great sensationalism about this movie among various Christian denominations underscores one of the most significant difference between Orthodox Christianity and all other forms of Christianity.

In a nut-shell both Roman Catholic and Protestant ethics is based on the heresy of Gnosticism, specifically Gnostic Dualism. Basically the idea is that there are two inseparable realms: the physical and the spiritual. These two realms are irreconcilable. The irreconcilability of these two realms leads to the obvious ethical consideration: we punish the physical in order to attain the spiritual. You see that in Protestant and Roman Catholic ethics all the time.

The only problem is, it is a heresy. Self-mortification was decried and confirmed as heretical at one of our Great and Holy Seven Ecumenical Councils. Not only that, but maintaining the concept that the physical and spiritual realms are irreconcilable denies the very heart of Christianity: the Incarnation in the Flesh of God. The fundamental point of our faith is that these two realms are no longer irreconcilable. God Himself became a man to prove that. God Himself became man so that spiritual and the physical may be united in one. It is only through that act that we, cut off from the spiritual here in a physical world, are actually able to attain the spiritual without leaving behind the physical.

The author of these books, and movie, believes that: Christianity is all about "ideological tyranny and the rejection of this world in favor of an idealized afterlife" and as such he is a self-proclaimed atheist. Have you read about Phillip Pullman's god? I'd be an athiest too if I believed God was like that!

The big problem here is not that this guy is an atheist. The big problem is that this guy has so much truth to draw upon to support his atheism!

For hundreds of years Christians have talked about this idealized world, and the rejection of this physical world we are in. But the problem is, that's heresy according to the Orthodox Christian teaching. We are in this world to transform the world, to elevate it to the realm of the ideal, to bring this world closer to God: not through suffering, not through self-inflicted pain, not through tyranny and oppression, but through liberation, through love, through through goodness and mercy. This is what the Orthodox Faith is all about.

Unfortunately, Orthodoxy has been under the yoke of Western teaching for quite some time now. I've actually heard Orthodox priests teach that God wants us to suffer. This concept has crept into the Church through several means: (1) In Orthodox seminaries in Russia in the 19th century most of the teachers were Jesuits; (2) Oft times our new "converts" fail to fully convert from their western ideology when they enter the Orthodox Church.

In these days when we have Muslims practicing and teaching Gnostic Dualism far and wide (for it really is one of the fundamental concerns of their faith that they destroy this world in favor of the next one), it is far more important that Christians return to the truth, return to the roots of Christianity: that God became a man so that we may become like God, not in the world to come, but in THIS world!

~ Basil