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Rod of Asclepius

While preparing another article about women and snakes, I was going to make a connection to the Biblical story of Eve and the serpent.

Then I noticed something odd: in more than 2300 articles using more than 2,064,876 words, I never once wrote the word serpent. And this despite more than a few articles referencing Adam and Eve.

As for the words snake and snakes, since 2006 those were written more than 64 times in all my posts. I believe I did this without realizing it because I am a devout Atheist. That is to say, there is a profound religious and mythical difference to me between the word snake and the word serpent. I believe in snakes, I do not believe in serpents.

A snake is simply a member of the reptile family. A serpent, on the other hand, is an ancient and archetypal symbol of the Great Mother Goddess, of eternal life and renewal, of good and evil. One can be bitten by a snake but not by a serpent. One can be tempted by a serpent but not by a snake.

The serpent is not always evil as in the Genesis story. In many religions the serpent is a benevolent creature. This is true of many things in nature, the same thing may be good or bad. It is no accident that the symbol of medicine is a coiled serpent around a staff, the rod of Asclepius. The term pharmakon from which we get the modern word pharmacy meant both “medicine” and “poison” in ancient Greek. Vaccines are often compounded from precisely the same thing that caused the illness.

My take on the Adam and Eve story is that the serpent did a good thing: he took us away from a zombie existence of knowing nothing to the real world where we use reason and knowledge to subdue the Earth. In the past 10,000 years we have become like the gods, setting our feet upon another celestial body. In a billion billion more years we will take dominion over the Universe.

We will live in planets of our own making, enjoying the light and energy from suns of our own fabrication long after the Sun that God gave us has twinkled out of existence.

Planck’s Constant

On June 29, 2011 , the NYC Socialists and NYU Law school held a Press Conference at NYC City Hall,

Demanding justice for the Newburgh 4 (who were convicted of attempting to bomb a synagogue in 2009)

Predictably, they claim the FBI did it…

set them up, targeted THEM …..

just because they’re Muslim.

Check out this pdf that was put out by NYU Law School

Quick View of the PDF is here

The VIDEO: Three speakers spoke on the steps of City Hall (before they marched to the Court House)

And on this day, as they waited in front of the court house….

The conviction of the Newburgh 4 was upheld.  The NY Post reports:”….prosecutors described the men as “ticking time bombs” who needed to be taken off the streets for good.”

Justice was meted out to the tune of 25 years. Justice? You got it!

For more on the: “Muslims are victims of the FBI” go to Atlas Shrugs here >>

Slide show can be found  here

No Mosques At Ground Zero

CUT THE RED TAPE!! REBUILD NOW!!

TEN YEARS AFTER 9-11 they are still asking, “How long must St. Nicholas WAIT to Re-Build?!”

The video is 45 minutes (yes) but well worth your time. Listen to the intelligent statements and pleas regarding the STONEWALLING of the City Of New York towards St. Nicholas Church, as they have been denied over and over for TEN YEARS to  rebuild their Church Home (while the city supports the creation of a mosque in a Coat Factory)

Brief audio hiss during Fr. Romas’ prayer, about 3 minutes…then ALL is well…

The leading membership-based association for the nation’s three million American citizens of Greek heritage, the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA),

was host to this rally at Ground Zero …..calling for St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to be rebuilt at 130 Liberty Street.

The rally was on Sunday, June 26, 2011, 2 p.m., at Liberty Street and Trinity Place in Lower Manhattan… across from Ground Zero.  Where generations of a church…that has been there since 1913…came together…. BEGGING to rebuild their Church!

Federal, state, and local legislators were invited to attend, many were there, speaking to the OUTRAGE and stonewalling of the Port Authority and NYC and State politicians who have kept St. Nicholas from being rebuilt.

Ten Years later they must still beg to REBUILD  a church that has been at that location since 1913….

Yet, it seems Mayor Bloomberg can’t do enough to help build at Mosque in a Coat Factory at Ground Zero

While TEN YEARS LATER , negotiations to rebuild St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, the only house of worship destroyed in the attacks of September 11….negotiations between the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and church representatives and the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey came to a halt in August 2010.  The people of St. Nicholas ask : WHY?

In support of the effort to rebuild St. Nicholas at 130 Liberty Street, a site chosen by the Port Authority, AHEPA submitted more than 20,000 signatures .

They held this rally to cry out to the City of New York and Mayor Bloomberg: CUT THE RED TAPE !

REBUILD NOW!!!

Slideshow of pictures:

No Mosques At Ground Zero

(The Reichstag building, seat of the German Bundestag in Berlin, where Pope Benedict will deliver a speech on September 22. Picture taken on November 22, 2010/Pawel Kopczynski )

Have you ever wanted to write a major speech for Pope Benedict to deliver? What would you say? How much leeway would you have if you were chosen to be the papal ghostwriter?

Benedict is not about to let outsiders write the landmark speech he will deliver to the German Bundestag in Berlin during his visit to his homeland on September 22-25. But the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), a think-tank affiliated with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), wants to test out this idea before he leaves Rome for the visit.

The KAS office in the Italian capital has just announced a contest called “Ghost writer for the pope!”  This is not an invitation to write anything heretical. The announcement on its website says KAS will only consider entries that reflect Pope Benedict’s thinking “in theology, form and content.”  It suggests that papal speechwriters in spe should use his address in London’s Westminster Hall last September as a model. Maximum length 5 pages, deadline August 26. The winner will be invited to hear the pope’s actual speech in the Bundestag on September 22.

“The choice will be made by a jury of KAS staffers in Rome, Catholic theology professors, journalists (Radio Vatican and L’Osservatore Romano) and religious dignitaries,” it warned. “The choice is not subject to appeal.”

One last condition — all entries must be submitted in German. We’ll keep an eye out for the results to report how innovative — or imitative — the winning text may be.

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(Photo exhibit critical of Pius XII at at Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, 15 April 2007/Yonathan Weitzman)

The comments made last Thursday by Mordechay Lewy, the Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, were some of the warmest ever made by a Jewish official about Pius. Most have been very critical of his record.

In an indication of how sensitive the subject of Pius is among Jews, Lewy was quickly assailed by some Jewish groups, including Holocaust survivors. In a statement issued in what appeared to be an attempt to calm the dispute within the world Jewish community, Lewy said his comments were “embedded in a larger historical context”.

“Given the fact that this context is still under the subject of ongoing and future research, passing my personal historical judgment on it was premature,” Lewy said.

The question of what Pius did or did not do to help Jews has tormented Catholic-Jewish relations for decades and it is very rare for a leading Jewish or Israeli official to praise Pius. Many Jews accuse Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. The Vatican says he worked quietly behind the scenes because speaking out would have led to Nazi reprisals against Catholics and Jews in Europe.

Lewy, speaking at a ceremony to honour an Italian priest who helped Jews, had said Catholic convents and monasteries opened their doors to save Jews in the days following a Nazi sweep of Rome’s Ghetto on Oct. 16, 1943. In his speech on Thursday night, Lewy said: “There is reason to believe that this happened under the supervision of the highest Vatican officials, who were informed about what was going on.”

“So it would be a mistake to say that the Catholic Church, the Vatican and the pope himself opposed actions to save the Jews. To the contrary, the opposite is true,” he said.

Elan Steinberg, vice-president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, called Lewy’s comments unsustainable. “For any ambassador to make such specious comments is morally wrong. For the Israeli envoy to do so is particularly hurtful to Holocaust survivors who suffered grievously because of Pius’s silence,” Steinberg said in a statement. He said Lewy had “disgracefully conflated the praiseworthy actions of elements in the Catholic Church to rescue Jews with the glaring failure of Pope Pius to do so”.

When Pope Benedict visited Rome’s synagogue last year, the president of the capital’s Jewish community told him that Pius’ “silence before the Holocaust” still hurt Jews because more should have been done. Many Jews responded angrily last year when the pope said in a book that Pius was “one of the great righteous men and that he saved more Jews than anyone else”.

Jews have asked that a process that could lead to Pius becoming a saint in the Roman Catholic Church be frozen until all the Vatican archives from the period have been opened and studied.

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MONEY IS THE POWER behind jihad. This has been the case since Muhammad began his raids on caravans. Look at the graph below. Before Muslims started gaining plunder, their numbers hardly increased for 13 years. Once the money started coming in, Islam’s success rate skyrocketed.

Plunder from raids was only part of the cash flow. They also confiscated goods from the Jews they expelled from Medina (and the Jews they slaughtered, taking their women and children as slaves).

The other very crucial part of the Islamic cash flow was the jizya they took from the dhimmis.

All of these forms of income were parasitical. They took wealth from non-Muslims and added it to the cause of Islam.

Citizen Warrior

(Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders in the courtroom in Amsterdam June 23, 2011/Robin Utrecht)

Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders was acquitted of inciting hatred of Muslims in a court ruling on Thursday that may strengthen his political influence and exacerbate tensions over immigration policy. The case was seen by some as a test of free speech in a country which has a long tradition of tolerance and blunt talk, but where opposition to immigration, particularly from Muslim or predominantly Muslim countries, is on the rise.

Instantly recognizable by his mane of dyed blond hair, Wilders, 47, is one of the most outspoken critics of Islam and immigration in the Netherlands. His Freedom Party is now the third-largest in parliament, a measure of support for its anti-immigrant stance, and is the minority government’s chief ally. But many of Wilders’ comments — such as likening Islam to Nazism — are socially divisive.

The presiding judge said Wilders’ remarks were sometimes “hurtful,” “shocking” or “offensive,” but that they were made in the context of a public debate about Muslim integration and multi-culturalism, and therefore not a criminal act.

“I am extremely pleased and happy,” Wilders told reporters after the ruling. “This is not so much a win for myself, but a victory for freedom of speech. Fortunately you can criticize Islam and not be gagged in public debate.”

The ruling could embolden Wilders further. He has already won concessions from the government on cutting immigration and introducing a ban on Muslim face veils and burqas.

Read the full story by Gilbert Kreijger and Aaron Gray-Block here.

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(Pope Pius XII in an undated file photo/Osservatore Romano)

A leading Israeli official has praised Pope Pius XII for saving Jews during the Nazi occupation of Rome, a surprise twist in a long-standing controversy over the pontiff’s wartime role. The comments by Mordechay Lewy, the Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, were some of the warmest ever made by a Jewish official about Pius. Most have been very critical of his record.

Lewy, speaking at a ceremony on Thursday night to honor an Italian priest who helped Jews, said that Catholic convents and monasteries had opened their doors to save Jews in the days following a Nazi sweep of Rome’s Ghetto on October 16, 1943.

“There is reason to believe that this happened under the supervision of the highest Vatican officials, who were informed about what was going on,” he said in a speech. “So it would be a mistake to say that the Catholic Church, the Vatican and the pope himself opposed actions to save the Jews. To the contrary, the opposite is true,” he said.

In an indication of just how sensitive the subject of Pius is among Jews, Lewy was quickly assailed by a group of Holocaust survivors. Elan Steinberg, vice-president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, called Lewy’s comments unsustainable. “For any ambassador to make such specious comments is morally wrong. For the Israeli envoy to do so is particularly hurtful to Holocaust survivors who suffered grievously because of Pius’s silence,” Steinberg said in a statement. He said Lewy had “disgracefully conflated the praiseworthy actions of elements in the Catholic Church to rescue Jews with the glaring failure of Pope Pius to do so.”

The question of what Pius did or did not do to help Jews has tormented Catholic-Jewish relations for decades and it is very rare for a leading Jewish or Israeli leader to praise Pius. Many Jews accuse Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. The Vatican says he worked quietly behind the scenes because speaking out would have led to Nazi reprisals against Catholics and Jews in Europe.

Read the full story here.

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Araria killings again show police’s anti-poor mindset

Once again the ugly face of police was revealed in Forbesganj in Bihar’s Araria district where policemen opened fire at villagers, killing four persons including a pregnant woman and a child.

The police force which is supposed to protect the citizens mostly acts as if it is a paid militia raised to serve the interests of the high and mighty.

In this case also, the firing was to serve the interests of a politician who owns a factory near Bhajanpur. That the victims were Muslims is another aspect.

But the truth is that often policemen turn trigger happy when they confront a crowd that comprises the poor. Anybody who is hapless and not well connected, gets the cops boot or bullet.

[See this shocking video* at Dainik Bhaskar's website which shows the policeman stomping over a body]Even more chilling was the sight of a home guard personnel, Sunil, stomping over a body, as if he was celebrating the murders in cold blood. The administration remained passive until the video footage was aired on TV channels.

The man was injured in firing and as he fell unconscious, he was lynched by the personnel. Sadly, the incident occurred in a district which is currently headed by a woman police official Garima Malik, who is currently posted as SP Araria.

In news reports, Malik seemed to justify the use of force. It is something that has happened innumerable times. Poor people are shot dead. The police officers then justify it by claiming that they acted to save themselves from the ‘irate mob’.

This age-old mentality persists though the degree of contempt and violence towards poor is much higher in rural area where policemen have unchecked authority. As more information trickles it, its clear that the politician was on the spot and had a role in the incident.

It is a terrible reality that the uniformed men get salaries from the citizens to protect them and join the force with the oath to save them but strangely don’t bat an eyelid while shedding their (citizen’s) blood.

After every such incident, the officers claim that the mob had gone ‘berserk’ and had to be ‘controlled’.

Ironically, no Chief Minister takes high moral ground. Police excesses are tolerated to absurd limits.

One expected that Nitish Kumar would have taken a strong action or at least condemned this indiscriminate killing by policemen. He would have earned respect for it.

It is really a shame that sixty years after independence, our force shoots ‘protesters’ and demonstrators. From Kashmir to Bihar, the situation remains the same. Cops get into a sort of frenzy and shoot from point blank range–mostly in heads, chests and not in the lower part.

The conflict at Forbesganj has some history. Here also land had been acquired long back. Recently, villagers had razed the boundary wall of a factory that was constructed recently and had blocked the only route to their village.

Forget rubber pellets, water cannons, tear gas or other measures of crowd control. There is a sort of glee with which policemen subject the poor to torture. Either it is Jammu and Kashmir or Bihar, police remain the same and their political masters appear indifferent towards such blatant display of policemen’s barbarism.

Else one would have seen tough action against the culprits. It is this approach that lets the policemen get away with heinous crimes and as a result the incidents keep recurring in different parts of the country. Not supension or transfer, the guilty cops should be dismissed from service after a quick inquiry, in order to send a strong message to the rogue jawans.

Still, one hopes that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would take note of the serious human rights violation and take stringent action. Though a judicial inquiry has been announced, the need is to take quick action rather than wait for years for the outcome of the report and then expect its recommendations to be acted upon.

Read journalist Mumtaz Ahmad Falahi’s report ‘She came to see me, got six bullets in her head’ from Bhajanpur village in Forbesganj (Araria) at Twocircles.Net. The second report is ‘Police shot my brother from behind, then romped over hid body’.

On this blog the issue of policemen opening fire at innocent persons and targeting the poor has been raised repeatedly. Read the past stories:

1. Is the Indian police a force to safeguard the rich?
2. Extra-judicial killings: Ranvir’s encounter in Uttarakhand
3. Police brutality: Truth of an encounter in Manipur and shocking photographs
4. Innocent Kuldeep gets bullet, Vandals get respect: What’s wrong with our society?

[*The video is also available on youtube at this link]

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An Indian Muslim’s Blog: News, Views & Urdu Poetry Website

By Amir Khusro From his book Rasail al-Ijaz From the beginning of my youth, I had the desire that I should produce among my fellow writers an epistle, more embellished and rhetorical, and more…

Indian Muslims