religion

Babylon The Great

For some reason, Babylon the great whore came to my mind in that last posting I posted. And that leads me to thinking. Is Babylon the Great harlot and mother of all whores to be found in Revelations the Statue of Liberty? Does she represent the Statue of Liberty and the City of New York, the great Empire State, to be found in America. Sometimes I wonder. I sometimes wonder with the similarities that are to be found between the two. As the two are great cities that sit on top of many waters with seven heads and ten horns on their head sitting on top of a great beast on seven mountains over many waters, nations and tongues holding gold cups in their hands on top of a great beast that turns against itself and burns her with fire and the great merchants of the earth who had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness and who brought all of her great merchandise, the merchandise of gold and silver and fine linen etc stand a far off for the fear of her burning etc;. There’s a whole lot of figurative speech and a wealth of meaning to be found in this passage and verse. What do these two great women represent? What doe this passage mean and what does it represent. Mystery, Babylon The Great to be found in prophecy if you believe. Babylon arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, Ancient Babylon, The Tower of Babel, Baal, Babylonia, the great empire, that great city in the Middle East or somewhere on planet earth. Who is that great city. Confusion, trials and tribulations. Is she falling. And who and what is God. Is there a God? And what is that Mene Mene Tekel code and the handwriting on the wall I just came across. Is that a whole another blog posting? I could blah blog about this all day long and so I guess to sum it up, I am reposting that all too familiar verse from the book of Revelations as follows:

The Judgment of the Great Harlot

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, Dan. which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The Fall of Babylon

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, Ps. 137.8 · Jer. 50.29 and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, Is. 47.8, 9 death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Revelations 17-18.
Watch and be ready. Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind.

life

This World

Sometimes I wonder if it is the beginning of the end when I read or listen to the news of these days and times. Planet mother earth is on fire. Wildfires are sweeping across California, this has been the driest summer on record, farmers are experiencing droughts in record numbers, the bees are dying, global warming, global distress and the list goes on and on. There are horrible atrocities that happen daily in this world that are too innumerable to mention in one blog posting. And there was another pedestrian and bicyclist who lost their life as a result of cars. And there was another person who lost their lives as a result of guns. And so I find myself blogging about gun violence, as it seems as if every other story in the headlines these days is related to gun violence with no end in sight. Another person loses their life to gun violence for no reason at all except for that fact that guns have been invented. Guns are the worst invention of an industry ever. It seems to be that cycle of crime that feeds the media that promotes more crime. And the whole world is paying. I could cut and paste this same blog entry over in over in my appeal to end gun violence, to end the war of man against man and nation against nation and king against king, to banish guns from every human being on the face of the planet earth. To banish the images of guns from every form of advertising on planet earth. Will the beast ever release its grip on mankind. And who is the beast. Where is the world headed. Is there hope. Who is that great harlot Babylon the great whore in Revelations? She comes to my mind right now for some reason. And what does this have to do with a No Police State?

shopping

Wedding Bells

It’s not exactly June, that big wedding month of the year but wedding bells are ringing all throughout the year for that hopefully once in a lifetime big joyous event. And if you happen to be looking for wedding invitations or any other type of invitations for your event, Style On A Budget Custom Invitations can help you with all of your invitation needs. They offer custom invitations, programs, gifts, menu’s, table signs, stationary and more. You can design and personalize your own invitation with their many cool design options. You can choose the color, shape, font style, text, inserts and more. Their invitations have that look of elegance about them. You can find great invitations in many styles and colors without exhausting all of your funds at their site. This is a sponsored post.

politics

Death and Life

And so I guess Billy Warhol answered that question I had yesterday about what is a dictatorship with the comment they left on the posting. Their comment was interesting and I thought to repost part of it. Their website is interesting and here is what they wrote: ” I always thought a Dictator didn’t allow any Opposition to his/her Beliefs or Rules. They tend to squelch Independent thought or Freedom to Think with yer own Mind. And they also will use Force (Military or Police or even Snoopy Neighbours) to make sure everybody tows the Party line….I think it best describes what it’s actually like Living under a Dictator. Some of the Words like Fear + Brutality + Death seem to be hallmarks of Dictatorship rule.” And so that leads me to think again that I have heard it said somewhere that death and life are in the power of the tongue. And one website I just searched up interprets this as, “Every single one of us has a certain amount of power residing in our mouth and in our tongues with the words that we can release to other people. This power can either be used to bring life or death to the person that we are speaking to. You can either choose to learn how to speak and release positive words of love, encouragement and edification to other people in your own personal dealings with them, or you can choose to release negative words of condemnation, criticism, coldness and harshness. The choice is yours. And this website goes on and on with a ton more of Proverbs speaking about the power of the tongue:

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” and “There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.” and “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” and “The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.” and “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” and A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

And the list of proverbs goes on and on. If you believe. What does this have to do with a dictatorship, I am not exactly sure. And what does this have to do with a No Police State? Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind.

politics

Dictatorship

Billy Warhol from Billion Dollar Baloney left a comment on my blog today. They posted something about dictators in response to a Blog Action Day posting I posted a few days ago. Billion Dollar Baloney is one of those cool blogs that can be found on MyBloLog and they would like to see world peace. It is easy to get lost in My Blog Log Land land because there are millions, billions, trillions and seemingly gazillions of blogs to be found there in the blogosphere. And this comment leads me to wonder; what the heck is a dictatorship? It that a ship of dictators? A shop of dictators? And what is a dictator. A dictionary ator? Again, what does that Internet bible dictionary Wikipedia have to say about this word. I would be interested to read how they describe it. In addition to Billion Dollar Baloney’s comment today, I have heard this word used often throughout time and most recently at meetings with groups of people in attendance. And there are sometimes committees and hearings and the like involved at these meetings. And for what reason is this a popular word to be found in group discussions. Is this a political word? And what are politics? Policy tics? I am wondering about this word today. I may go read to see if Wikipedia addresses this word.

shopping

Jewels

Silver and gold and precious stones and crystals. There’s something about fine jewelry that is indescribable. Jewelry makes beautiful memories. If you are looking for jewelry and all things jewelry, JR Dunn has diamonds, engagement rings, designer jewelry, John Hardy bracelets, watches and other gift ideas. You can search for loose diamonds at their website. JR Dunn Jewelers is a premier retailer of fine jewelry with two stores, catalogs, and an online store. This is a sponsored post.

holiday, religion

All Saints Day

Abracadabra! Halloween is just around the corner and coming soon. So the calendar and advertising says so. It’s All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, The Day of the Dead when ghosts and spirits appear. That scary, supernatural and mystical time of year when the the devil, Satan, Christ and the spirits of the dead come to town. When Pan and the Grim Reaper awakes and witchcraft and the witches and gargoyles and gothics come out to play and one when one gets to masquerade and play dress up for whoever they want to be. If only every day of the year could be Halloween then one could look however they want to when they go outside around civilization because hey, it’s Halloween. And there will be lots of Halloween events around the city. Two events that come to mind are of course:

The Village Halloween Parade It’s that big, major, grand. all out parade that takes place on 6th avenue every year this time of year. There will be hundreds of puppets, different types of music, dancers, artists and thousands of other people in costumes. And then there’s the Theater For The New City Village Halloween Costume Ball that takes place every year this time of year also. I think I even heard stories that they were the original creaters of The Village Halloween Parade. They usually have this really cool painted fishpond upstairs that is painted all Halloween up for every Halloween and their downstairs walls are painted with those really col Halloween murals every year this time of year also. Their event is an all out grand event also with a slew of performers, artists, sculptures and designers. Some of their performers for that night are The Great Paprika Band, Hot Lavendar Swing Band, Penny Arcade, Steve Ben Israel, Epstein and Hassan, Eve Packer, Jonathan Weber, Walter Gurbo, Mark Marcante, Crystal Field, Judy Sky, David Willinger and a ton of other performers. There will be stilt danders, jugglers, fire eaters, theater, vaudeville, burlesque and more. Happy Halloween.

art

Clayton’s Art Show

I have been seeing the reviews in the papers the past few weeks. “Clayton Patterson: The Lower East Side. Kinz, Tillou plus Feigen. 11am-6pm. Free. Patterson has spent the past two decades collecting portraits of everyone from politcians to junkies in his eclectic LES neighborhood. 529 West 20th Streets between 10th and 11th Aves”. And I keep wanting to make it over to see Claytons art show. I can imagine his show rocks and that he probably has some cool photos in the show as he has been around the neighborhood The Lower East Side that is now called the East Village for marketing, gentrification and genocide purposes maybe, for seemingly forever, documenting the scene and characters of the neighborhood. I can imagine there may be photos of the squats, squatters, Thompkins Square Park, punk rockers, the homeless and maybe even junkies and everyone else in between as his photos are all over the place. He has the really cool gallery in the Lower East Side that rocks also. Long Live The Lower East Side.

Entertainment

Make Up This Artist

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blog, earth, environment, global warming

Blog Action Day

According to the website Blog Action Day, yesterday October 15th was Blog Action Day, so this posting can be a bit late in honor of that day. And I noticed postings everywhere yesterday and today in the blogosphere in honor of Blog Action Day. There were postings on Blogger, MyBlogLog and a host of other places. And I noticed the postings though it did not register to me what they were about until today, a day later. Blog Action day is a website that asks bloggers to write about something pertaining to saving the environment and saving the world. They are asking people to observe this day in their blog posts everywhere. They are asking bloggers everywhere to post about the environment in some sort of way relating to the environment for the environment. So in my post I can only mention what has been mentioned a thousand and a million times in recent years with the invention of population to where the earth is on fire and choking from its inhabitants. Planet mother earth is dying. And that J curve bell curve thing says the population of the world will double in twenty years. And there are those terms that I read everywhere these days to save the environment; Go green, green is the thing, sustainability and sustaining the earth from what? Over consumption, over consumerism, over pollution, overoilism, over capitalism, overeverything, Babylon on fire and green alternative energy; lights out america is a great website that addresses this issue. And what about oil? Petroleum oil seems to be destroying the world and planet mother earth. What about other alternative sources of energy, windmills, ocean energy, corn fuel and the like. And what about those unusual weather patterns the earth has been undergoing as a result of global warming? Is the world becoming like the film The Day After Tomorrow? This winter was the warmest worldwide since record keeping began in 1880. And what about over mining and violating the earths natural resources and deforesting the planets natural trees. The earth is being pillaged and plundered. How can the environment be protected. And now climate change, global warming and the greenhouse effect is the topic of the day every day these days in the news. The polar bears are floating on ice and the Antarctica ice caps are disappearing. And what abut that 12.21.2012 Mayan calendar theory, is this all related? This has something do with the earth reversing its axis and solar poles and a transformation of the world in 2012 or something, I think. A poem and a sentence of a song comes to mind when I think of planet earth.

The Earth is out mother, the ground we walk is sacred
People unite, all people unite

and

The river she is flowing, flowing and growing
The river she is flowing, down to the sea
Father carry me, your child I’ll always be
Mother carry me, down to the sea

Help save planet mother earth. Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind.
Greenpeace