In the early years of Christianity pacifism reigned. Refusal to meet violence was scorned and suffering for the new 'Way', following Christ's example, was exalted. Martyrdom was man's highest calling. These actions were reinforced by a universal belief that Our Lord's second coming was imminent, so why not go now by an act believed to insure immediacy into God's life.This, despite Christ's counsel that "only the Father knows when the end will come"
As the Church spread rapidly, the leadership (orthodoxy), bishops, fathers,doctors etc. cautioned against the epidemic of martyrdom and developed a moral stance on resistance to violence. Culminating with Saint Augustine's treatises on justified defenses,the predominate thinking was citizens and states may morally use force after exhausting other appeals but only with sufficient force necessary to stop aggression. Such use must be proportional to the intended aggression.Thus the promulgation of a just war morality
How far the Church and Christian nations have strayed. Terms like "unconditional Surrender" ultimately lead to prolongation of conflict with greater death and destruction.Ultimately violence is not eradicated but only increased- evidence the bloodiest century since Christ's coming-the 21st..
The recent Israeli bombing and invasion of the Gaza fails glaringly-both on proportionality and force usage.Indiscriminate killing of citizens particularly women and children is particularly obscene. Just yesterday the TIMES showed a picture of four children side-by- side ,as if asleep, yet dead. Their angelic faces will remain with me for a long time to come. My mind flashed to my youngest grandson and I wept.
A failure to condemn these outrages in the strongest terms by Bush and "one president at a time" Obama is appalling. It is particularly outrageous when the instruments of death were supplied by the USA.
And why is this so?
Fear of offending the Jewish lobby that controls and has controlled our mid-east policy and the money it buys for over 50 years Over 700 citizens have been slaughtered yet only 7 Israelis have been killed--3 by their own fire.
No peace or hope will emerge from this gangsterism, only more killing and maiming.
America has lost its way both at home and abroad. Can it ever be redeemed? One last thought. Those who construed my emails on Obama as racist (generally the undereducated) will now accuse me of anti semitism. Before doing so they might recall that Judaism is the cradle of Christianity. Our beloved Savior was a Jew. The Jews election by our God and their faithfulness to His promises culminated in Christ And for this we we are eternally grateful.
Let us hope and pray that our new president will gather up the strength and moral courage to right the ship of state and start that long process of making us all proud to be American once again.
1. Things Will Be Much Worse in 2009 Than Most Predictions Would Have Us Believe: I must say that, when I read most predictions about the coming year, I feel as though I’ve stepped through the looking-glass into a Wonderland of absurdly Pollyanna-ish self-delusion – with all the talk of unemployment “peaking” at 8.5%, a second-half-of-2009 “recovery” et cetera et cetera. My reaction is simply to ask “What are these people thinking?” – or, perhaps more to the point, “What are they drinking (or smoking)?”
2. The Inevitability of “Hyper-Inflation”: Although I think one can have a good and vigorous argument about the timing of its arrival – which might even be later than the end of 2009 --, I simply cannot see how all of the money (trillions and trillions of dollars of it) that the American government has already “created” and will be “creating” in the weeks and months to come will not end in “hyper-inflation” and all of its attendant evils (“wage and price controls” et cetera et cetera).
3. The “Implosion” of the Financial Sector and the General Public’s Abandonment of the Stock Market: The absurdly “bloated” financial sector is imploding as this e-mail is being written and will continue to do so – at an accelerating pace – over the coming months. Hand in hand with that phenomenon will be the for-all-practical-purposes-complete abandonment of the stock market by the vast majority of members of the general public. I will note, in this connection, my surprise that no one I’ve been able to identify has yet pointed out that stock-market-investing has proven to be a “sucker’s game” for six of the nine calendar decades since the dawn of stock-market-investing by the “man on the street” in the early 1920s. In the 1920s, 1930s and current decade (which for these purposes we will assume ended at the end of 2008) the decade-long “performance” of the American stock market was negative; in the 1940s, 1960s and 1970s it was positive – but so “anemic” as to be inferior to a passbook savings account or investment in U.S. Treasuries and, as such, clearly not worth the risk it entailed. It was only in the 1950s, 1980s and 1990s that investing in the American stock market was “worth it”. One can, of course, “cherry-pick” from the 90-year period I’m talking about any number of “time frames” when stock-market-investing proved to be respectably or even enormously profitable. The only problem is that one has no way of knowing whether the particular time frame within which one has decided to launch one’s own stock-market-investing “program” is one of the “winning” or “losing” ones! In the end stock-market-investing must necessarily be seen as simply another “crap shoot”!
4. “Hard Times” on the Way for New York City: The “implosion” of Wall Street can mean only bad news for New York City, which has long since ceased to be the diversified economy it was when I was growing up and has basically become a one-note-johnny, “company town” – with “Wall Street”, of course, as the “company”. Official Don Barrett “Prediction”: The coming year-and-afterward is going to be brutal for New York City .
5. China to the Rescue?: The “experts” seem to be predicting that China is as “doomed” as the rest of us as far as the coming year or years are concerned. My reaction: Don’t be quite so sure. China will of course have its share of problems – but we’re talking about a country that (A) is five or more times the size of the United States, (B) is populated by an indisputably “well above the global average” population and (C) has already demonstrated an ability to routinely carry off what used to be believed the economically “impossible”. So my feeling about China at this point can be summed as follows: “Sorry about your 500-year-long ‘wrong turn’, guys – but Welcome Back and, boy, are we glad to have you back at this particular moment!”
6. America “Dries Out”and Goes Back to Work: The United States ’ 60-year-long, post-World-War-II “bender” is over – it’s time to dry ourselves out, roll up our sleeves and get back to real work. The party’s over. As anyone with even half a brain can presumably see, the coming years will be characterized by (i) frugality and (ii) hard work that (iii) produces real results (“wealth”).
At age 4, success is...not peeing in your pants. At age 12, success is...having friends. At age 16, success is...having a driver's license. At age 20, success is...having sex. At age 35, success is...having money. At age 50, success is...having money. At age 60, success is...having sex. At age 70, success is...having a driver's license. At age 75, success is...having friends. At age 90, success is...not peeing in your pants.
1. I was so poor growing up! If I wasn't a boy, I'd have had nothing to play with.
2. A girl phoned me the other day and said, "Come on over; nobody's home." I went over. Nobody was home.
3. During sex, my girlfriend always wants to talk to me. Just the other night she called me from a hotel.
4. One day I came home early from work. I saw a guy jogging naked. I said to the guy, "Hey buddy, why are you doing that?" He said, "Because you came home early."
5. Its been a rough day. I got up this morning, put a shirt on and a button fell off. I picked up my briefcase, and the handle came off. I'm afraid to go to the bathroom.
6. I was such an ugly kid. When I played in the sandbox, the cat kept covering me up.
7. I could tell my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and radio.
8. I was such an ugly baby. My mother never breastfed me. She told me that she only liked me as a friend.
9. I'm so ugly, my father carries around a picture of the kid who came with his wallet.
10. When I was born, the doctor came into the waiting room and said to my father, "I'm sorry. We did everything we could, but he pulled through."
11. I'm so ugly, my mother had morning sickness after I was born.
12. I remember the time that I was kidnapped and they sent a piece of my finger to my father. He said he wanted more proof.
13. Once when I was lost, I saw a policeman, and asked him to help me find my parents. I said to him, "Do you think we'll ever find them?" He said, "I don't know kid. There's so many places they can hide."
14. My wife made me join a bridge club. I jump off next Tuesday.
15. I'm so ugly, I worked in a pet shop, and people kept asking how big I'd get.
16. I went to see my doctor. "Doctor, every morning when I get up and I look in the mirror, I feel like throwing up. What's wrong with me?" He said, "I don't know but your eyesight is perfect."
17. I went to the doctor because I'd swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills. My doctor told me to have a few drinks and get some rest.
18. With my old man I got no respect. I asked him, "How can I get my kite in the air?" He told me to run off a cliff.
19. Some dog I got. We call him Egypt because in every room he leaves a pyramid. His favorite bone is in my arm. Last night he went on the paper four times -- three of those times I was reading it.
20. One year they wanted to make me poster boy -- for birth control.
21. My uncle's dying wish was to have me sitting in his lap; he was in the electric chair.
Trend forecaster, renowned for being accurate in the past, says that America will cease to be a developed nation within 4 years, crisis will be “worse than the great depression”
Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Thursday, November 13, 2008 The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions - all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012. Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events, which will send a chill down your spine considering what he told Fox News this week. Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts. (ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
“We’re going to see the end of the retail Christmas….we’re going to see a fundamental shift take place….putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree,” said Celente, adding that the situation would be “worse than the great depression”. “America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis. Watch the clip.
Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as “The Panic of 2008,” adding that “giants (would) tumble to their deaths,” which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent. The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures. The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, “The world’s middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest,” and that, “The middle classes could become a revolutionary class.” In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America. “There will be a revolution in this country,” he said. “It’s not going to come yet, but it’s going to come down the line and we’re going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen.” “The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That’s going to be the big one because people can’t afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You’re going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop.” “It’s going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we’re going to see many more.” “We’re going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It’s going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It’s going to come as a shock and with it, there’s going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people’s minds weren’t wrecked on all these modern drugs – over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody’s comprehension.” The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente’s accuracy as a trend forecaster. “When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.” — CNN Headline News “A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.” — The Economist “Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right.” — USA Today “There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.” - CNBC “Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.” — The Wall Street Journal “Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and uncannily on the mark … he’s one of the most accurate forecasters around.” — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Mr. Celente tracks the world’s social, economic and business trends for corporate clients.” — The New York Times “Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority.” — 48 Hours, CBS News “Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing.” — The Detroit News “Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, ‘green marketing,’ and the boom in gourmet coffees.” — Chicago Tribune “The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poors of Popular Culture.” — The Los Angeles Times “If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.” — New York Post So there you have it - hardly a nutjob conspiracy theorist blowhard now is he? The price of not heeding his warnings will be far greater than the cost of preparing for the future now. Storable food and gold are two good places to make a start.
You will have to excuse the lack of activity here at Hamptons Adnauseam as there was a death in the family and the Holidays then snuck up on us as usual, but we are back in action and have some juicy bits for you digestion! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
BAY STREET THEATRE COMEDY CLUB Main Street, Long Wharf Sag Harbor 631-725-9500 http://www.baystreet.org
BROKERAGE COMEDY CLUB 2797 Merrick Road Bellmore 516-785-8655 http://www.brokeragecomedy.com
CINCO DE MAYO RESTAURANT 650 Route 112 (just north of the Rt. 347 border) Port Jefferson Station 516-359-8456 Booked open mic night every Tuesday Starts at 7:30 PM www.myspace.com/sundayfunnysunday
GATEWAY TO COMEDY The Comfort Inn 2695 Route 112 Medford (631) 790-4046 http://www.gatewaytocomedy.com
GOVERNOR'S COMEDY CLUB 90 Division Ave. Levittown (516) 731-3358 http://www.govs.com
MCGUIRE'S COMEDY CLUB 1627 Smithtown Ave. Bohemia (631) 467-5413
