Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Okay seriously the world is going to end in 2012. Would the Mayans lie to you?
So just in case you are wondering, yes this is another version of "magical thinking."
Only this time unless you are a New Age believer, an apocalyptic groupie, or a Mayan, you probably will not be insulted by having that pointed out.
Actually, I believe it is only the end of a cycle and the beginning of another, according to the Mayans. It's a calendar thing, not an apocalypse thing.
No, Gryphen - I must respectfully disagree. We are going to drown in a tsunami of Santorum if last night's caucus results were any indication. On the plus side, we'll never hear the phrase "President Sarah Palin" so how bad can it be?
Quite a few "straw man" arguments on the blog lately- perhaps Palin-esque representations of the real thing might be more apropos.
It is, in my view, not the case that the majority of the "people of the book" (i.e. Jews, Christians and Muslims) believe the world is but a few 1000 years old, that God is an old guy with a long beard who floats amongst the clouds, or that the books central to their religion are intended to be taken literally.
It is equally untrue that any well informed student of the Mayan calendar believes in the 2012 "end of the world" prediction. The Mayans conceived of time more along the Hindu way of cycles within cycles. The 2012 winter solstice is merely the beginning of a new b'ak'tun. Furthermore, the greek word "apocalypse" refers to an unveiling or reveling, i.e. the end of the world (in some cases) as it is known (which would be more along the lines of the Mayan conception), not the end of the world as in total material destruction.
OBAMA DECLARES WAR ON CONSTITUTION - OPERATES COMPLETELY WITHOUT REGARD FOR IT - In a shocking move that absolutely circumvents the Constitution Barack Hussein Obama made four recess appoints to the NLRB and CFPB of ultra Liberals and outright Socialists that the Senate did not approve. Instead of following the Constitution and protocol, which calls for the Senate to be out for three days to be called a recess, Obama did it in one day, basically declaring war on Congress and trashing the Constitution. “Although the Senate is not in recess, President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people,. This is an extraordinary and entirely unprecedented power grab by Obama that defies centuries of practice and the legal advice of his own Justice Department. The precedent that would be set by this cavalier action would have a devastating effect on the checks and balances that are enshrined in our Constitution,” Said Speaker Boehner.
Congressional Republicans declare war on the Constitution by not doing there job and obstructing those members who try to.Speaker Boehner assists them in their endeavor.
1:07 pm. Speaker Boehner needs to look at what his favorite president, George W. Bush, did. Lots and lots of appointments made during these recess times. Republicans don't deal too well with anyone doing what they've always done. The Republicans in Congress have blocked as many appointments as humanly possible. I'm glad that President Obama made this appointment; it's to the benefit of the American public. Boehner's employers if he ever thought about it.
Here are the facts: The Constitution gives the President the authority to make temporary recess appointments to fill vacant positions when the Senate is in recess, a power all recent Presidents have exercised. The Senate has effectively been in recess for weeks, and is expected to remain in recess for weeks. In an overt attempt to prevent the President from exercising his authority during this period, Republican Senators insisted on using a gimmick called “pro forma” sessions, which are sessions during which no Senate business is conducted and instead one or two Senators simply gavel in and out of session in a matter of seconds. But gimmicks do not override the President’s constitutional authority to make appointments to keep the government running. Legal experts agree. In fact, the lawyers who advised President Bush on recess appointments wrote that the Senate cannot use sham “pro forma” sessions to prevent the President from exercising a constitutional power.
"The Maya practiced human sacrifice. They didn't invent the wheel. They could not predict the collapse of their own civilization right before it did just that.
Why would anyone think they could predict the end of the world 5,100 years in advance?"
"The biggest threat to America today is not communism. It's moving America toward a fascist theocracy, and everything that's happened during the Reagan administration is steering us right down that pipe ... When you have a government that prefers a certain moral code derived from a certain religion and that moral code turns into legislation to suit one certain religious point of view, and if that code happens to be very, very right wing, almost toward Attila the Hun..."--Frank Zappa"
I'm a "New-Ager" (thankyouverymuch) and the whole 2012 thing is not about civilization ending as we know it. It's about moving consciousness to a whole new level.
As you can see, it's been going on for a year or more now (OWS, etc) but will really come into the fore this year.
I'm not a "magical thinker" imagining a big permission genie in the sky, Gryph. But there are shifts and changes that are taking place on the macro level that will profoundly affect us on the micro.
Anon@2:09. Newsflash. The Mayan Empire is dead. Are you saying that having a toga party is co-opting or interpreting the traditions of ancient Rome? Is this "everybody tell Gryph what he can or cannot write on his blog" week? Getting tiresome.
Are Christians who put up xmas trees co-opting and interpreting the Pagans? I'm sure there is a name for the "argument" you presented. I just don't care enough to look it up.
Anon @ 1:07 and Speaker Boner - Please take note of the fact that the President has the Constitutional power to adjourn Congress. (See section 3, clause 2 of Article II.)
Obama could have followed the "Roosevelt precedent" yesterday. Roosevelt made hundreds of recess appointments, and made many of them in the "split second" adjournment between sessions.
Frankly, I'm glad he decided to pass that opportunity up, and call bullshit on the pro forma sham sessions.
I predict beetlejuice (sp) will turn supernova this year. I am going on tour solo under Nimrod Widfire and the Bobcats. My harmonica's, well I call them my Bobcats. Ahh hahahahahahaha.
@womanwithsardinecan, I enjoy your comments & your blog.
As a First Nations member, I tire of seeing cultural appropriation of indigenous culture--whether for doomsday misinterpretation commercialized by Christian religion, Hollywood films, or otherwise. The Mayans are indigenous. You compare it to Christmas Trees from "pagans" in terms of Christians co-opting the symbol from older traditions. Yes, that is correct and true; Christianity co-opted many pre-Christian traditions. Do you ever wonder why the Easter Bunny is associated with eggs? Check out the goddess of spring in Norse myth.
In terms of toga parties and the Romans, gosh, I haven't seen those since "Animal House." Maybe fraternities still have them, but I've never attended one or heard of one in my lifetime. However, Katy Perry and Russell Brand threw a "Dressing as a Cowboy or Indian" party on Halloween this year, before their divorce. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/11/17/englishman-russell-brand-and-others-play-indian-for-katy-perrys-birthday-63520
Speaking of Santa Claus, some trace him to indigenous origins. http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/1999/12/Santa-Claus-Was-A-Shaman.aspx
From 2:09, I hear what you are saying. I have a friend who spent her entire career working with Alaska Natives. She has a friend from England who decided to go all Native American and started attending Pow Wows and dressing like Native Americans. My friend informed her that she had her own origins and traditions in England and they would be more appropriate. My point, made poorly, is that this isn't about Mayan culture. It's about the History-Channelization of our culture, combined with an overabundance of end-of-the-world nutballs. New Agers going all woo woo Mayan calendar isn't really much different than English pow wow lady. And by the time it gets through hollywood and the History Channel, there IS no Mayan culture to co-opt. That is actually what I take away from Gryph's post.
The Mayan LONG calendar ends December 21, 2012. Actually it signals the arrival of their God of creation. Our calendar ends every December 31...the cycle starts over, the world doesn't end. The Mayan actually had 2 calendars and the controversy surrounds the long calendar. Many things are based on 13 and 26. Interesting stuff to read, if you take the time.
I wish you would stop doing these things. This offends me deeply! I'm a reformed orthodox druid into hippie mind expanding consciousness, intergalactice mulit synching beams, harmonic convergence, magic rocks, bell bottom jeans, fringed leather jackets with beads, insence and Yannie music.
If you don't stop doing these, you'll lose a lot of readers.
Stop it! Stop blogging NOW!
Just kidding ya, Gryphen. Great clip, of course there must be an end to earth because of the limits of the human fox news inocculated brain to realise that calendars were invented by man and that time marches on, even when we're standing still.
Thanks for the laugh. Bohener needs to brush up on his facts, his beloved Ronnie Regan, divorced actor and governor of California, was one of the worst "offenders" in history, if enacting laws that help people, as Obama has is "offensive".
A slight historic correction Gryphen. Most of the libraries holding Mayan books were burnt by the European invaders, a handful only survived because a monk hid them. I think that maybe, just maybe those invaders burnt the calendars that were supposed to continue on and now the Mayan God's are laughing at those same white people running around like chicken little screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!"
@107 as someone stated up thread a Roosevelt has the record for the most recess appointments in history. NOT FDR but TLR. Theodore Roosevelt REPUBLICAN made over 160 appointments, mostly military.
Except the 2012 Mayan Millerites will come up with some new date. Yeah, that'll work, it's really this other ____ fill in the blank ____ future date. That's what the Mayans really predicted.
Uh huh. Meanwhile, now if some people are giving away great stuff, can I have some of it, please?
Mayan Elders Denounce This Prophecy: http://www.seri-worldwide.org/id435.html
"The date specified in the calendar Winter Solstice in the year 2012 does not mark the end of the world. Many outside people writing about the Mayan calendar sensationalize this date, but they do not know. The ones who know are the indigenous elders who are entrusted with keeping the tradition."
Actually, I believe it is only the end of a cycle and the beginning of another, according to the Mayans. It's a calendar thing, not an apocalypse thing.
ReplyDeleteScore:
ReplyDeleteScience = 314,159,265
Superstition = 0
(Cheers to those of you who get that.)
The Mayans didn't lie, or really say anything.
ReplyDeleteThe spanish destroyed a lot of the data, so who knows what the Mayan intelligensia, their astronomers, mapped out.
That was a really fun video.
ReplyDeleteNow you're insulting Mayans? What's next?
ReplyDeleteNo, Gryphen - I must respectfully disagree. We are going to drown in a tsunami of Santorum if last night's caucus results were any indication. On the plus side, we'll never hear the phrase "President Sarah Palin" so how bad can it be?
ReplyDeleteQuite a few "straw man" arguments on the blog lately- perhaps Palin-esque representations of the real thing might be more apropos.
ReplyDeleteIt is, in my view, not the case that the majority of the "people of the book" (i.e. Jews, Christians and Muslims) believe the world is but a few 1000 years old, that God is an old guy with a long beard who floats amongst the clouds, or that the books central to their religion are intended to be taken literally.
It is equally untrue that any well informed student of the Mayan calendar believes in the 2012 "end of the world" prediction. The Mayans conceived of time more along the Hindu way of cycles within cycles. The 2012 winter solstice is merely the beginning of a new b'ak'tun. Furthermore, the greek word "apocalypse" refers to an unveiling or reveling, i.e. the end of the world (in some cases) as it is known (which would be more along the lines of the Mayan conception), not the end of the world as in total material destruction.
Some people just take things so literally.
Give it a rest, Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteI call it the Mayan Y2K.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm expecting about just as much upheaval as Y2K created.
OBAMA DECLARES WAR ON CONSTITUTION - OPERATES COMPLETELY WITHOUT REGARD FOR IT - In a shocking move that absolutely circumvents the Constitution Barack Hussein Obama made four recess appoints to the NLRB and CFPB of ultra Liberals and outright Socialists that the Senate did not approve. Instead of following the Constitution and protocol, which calls for the Senate to be out for three days to be called a recess, Obama did it in one day, basically declaring war on Congress and trashing the Constitution. “Although the Senate is not in recess, President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people,. This is an extraordinary and entirely unprecedented power grab by Obama that defies centuries of practice and the legal advice of his own Justice Department. The precedent that would be set by this cavalier action would have a devastating effect on the checks and balances that are enshrined in our Constitution,” Said Speaker Boehner.
ReplyDeleteScience constantly changes. Nothing is certain.
ReplyDeleteYAY!!! @1:07PM
ReplyDeleteBOO!!! @1:03PM
Know what's even weirder? I just looked at the calendar my credit union gave me and it ENDS. Guess when?
ReplyDeleteDECEMBER 31, 2012!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHGHH!
Fuck, I'd better start sacrificing to Nimrod a lot more so I can enter Stovokor (you might be a nerd like me if you get that reference :)......
Funny vid, Gryph. Thanks for sharing :)
It might just end anyway...
ReplyDeletehttp://willyloman.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/trey-scott-atwater-7th-special-forces-group-el-salvadorian-death-squads-and-task-force-373/
This is scary news.
1:07
ReplyDeleteCongressional Republicans declare war on the Constitution by not doing there job and obstructing those members who try to.Speaker Boehner assists them in their endeavor.
The Mayans just did this to mess with people in the future. It was like "Hey, this will really freak someone out someday."
ReplyDelete1:07 pm. Speaker Boehner needs to look at what his favorite president, George W. Bush, did. Lots and lots of appointments made during these recess times. Republicans don't deal too well with anyone doing what they've always done. The Republicans in Congress have blocked as many appointments as humanly possible. I'm glad that President Obama made this appointment; it's to the benefit of the American public. Boehner's employers if he ever thought about it.
ReplyDeleteRaise your hand if you are of Mayan heritage. No? Then stop trying to co-opt or interpret their traditions.
ReplyDelete1:07
ReplyDeleteHere are the facts: The Constitution gives the President the authority to make temporary recess appointments to fill vacant positions when the Senate is in recess, a power all recent Presidents have exercised. The Senate has effectively been in recess for weeks, and is expected to remain in recess for weeks. In an overt attempt to prevent the President from exercising his authority during this period, Republican Senators insisted on using a gimmick called “pro forma” sessions, which are sessions during which no Senate business is conducted and instead one or two Senators simply gavel in and out of session in a matter of seconds. But gimmicks do not override the President’s constitutional authority to make appointments to keep the government running. Legal experts agree. In fact, the lawyers who advised President Bush on recess appointments wrote that the Senate cannot use sham “pro forma” sessions to prevent the President from exercising a constitutional power.
"The Maya practiced human sacrifice. They didn't invent the wheel. They could not predict the collapse of their own civilization right before it did just that.
ReplyDeleteWhy would anyone think they could predict the end of the world 5,100 years in advance?"
Today's LaTimes LTTE
DID I NOT TELL YOU THE HOLLYWOOD RUMORS WERE BOGUS?????
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/expd/6636335963/
ReplyDeleteand
http://www.flickr.com/photos/expd/6636198251/
"Zappa
"The biggest threat to America today is not communism. It's moving America toward a fascist theocracy, and everything that's happened during the Reagan administration is steering us right down that pipe ... When you have a government that prefers a certain moral code derived from a certain religion and that moral code turns into legislation to suit one certain religious point of view, and if that code happens to be very, very right wing, almost toward Attila the Hun..."--Frank Zappa"
I'm a "New-Ager" (thankyouverymuch) and the whole 2012 thing is not about civilization ending as we know it. It's about moving consciousness to a whole new level.
ReplyDeleteAs you can see, it's been going on for a year or more now (OWS, etc) but will really come into the fore this year.
I'm not a "magical thinker" imagining a big permission genie in the sky, Gryph. But there are shifts and changes that are taking place on the macro level that will profoundly affect us on the micro.
("As above, so below" - ever heard that??)
Just had to take up for my peeps, here.
Anon@2:09. Newsflash. The Mayan Empire is dead. Are you saying that having a toga party is co-opting or interpreting the traditions of ancient Rome? Is this "everybody tell Gryph what he can or cannot write on his blog" week? Getting tiresome.
ReplyDeleteAre Christians who put up xmas trees co-opting and interpreting the Pagans?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there is a name for the "argument" you presented. I just don't care enough to look it up.
Anon @ 1:07 and Speaker Boner - Please take note of the fact that the President has the Constitutional power to adjourn Congress. (See section 3, clause 2 of Article II.)
ReplyDeleteObama could have followed the "Roosevelt precedent" yesterday. Roosevelt made hundreds of recess appointments, and made many of them in the "split second" adjournment between sessions.
Frankly, I'm glad he decided to pass that opportunity up, and call bullshit on the pro forma sham sessions.
Anonymous @ 12:05... and the answer is?
ReplyDeleteEasy as pi!
Thanks for the teaser!
That was cool!
I predict beetlejuice (sp) will turn supernova this year. I am going on tour solo under Nimrod Widfire and the Bobcats. My harmonica's, well I call them my Bobcats. Ahh hahahahahahaha.
ReplyDelete@womanwithsardinecan, I enjoy your comments & your blog.
ReplyDeleteAs a First Nations member, I tire of seeing cultural appropriation of indigenous culture--whether for doomsday misinterpretation commercialized by Christian religion, Hollywood films, or otherwise. The Mayans are indigenous. You compare it to Christmas Trees from "pagans" in terms of Christians co-opting the symbol from older traditions. Yes, that is correct and true; Christianity co-opted many pre-Christian traditions. Do you ever wonder why the Easter Bunny is associated with eggs? Check out the goddess of spring in Norse myth.
In terms of toga parties and the Romans, gosh, I haven't seen those since "Animal House." Maybe fraternities still have them, but I've never attended one or heard of one in my lifetime. However, Katy Perry and Russell Brand threw a "Dressing as a Cowboy or Indian" party on Halloween this year, before their divorce. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/11/17/englishman-russell-brand-and-others-play-indian-for-katy-perrys-birthday-63520
Speaking of Santa Claus, some trace him to indigenous origins. http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/1999/12/Santa-Claus-Was-A-Shaman.aspx
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/spirits/html
ReplyDelete/body_maya.html
Information above on those with Mayan heritage today.
From 2:09, I hear what you are saying. I have a friend who spent her entire career working with Alaska Natives. She has a friend from England who decided to go all Native American and started attending Pow Wows and dressing like Native Americans. My friend informed her that she had her own origins and traditions in England and they would be more appropriate.
ReplyDeleteMy point, made poorly, is that this isn't about Mayan culture. It's about the History-Channelization of our culture, combined with an overabundance of end-of-the-world nutballs. New Agers going all woo woo Mayan calendar isn't really much different than English pow wow lady. And by the time it gets through hollywood and the History Channel, there IS no Mayan culture to co-opt. That is actually what I take away from Gryph's post.
The Mayan LONG calendar ends December 21, 2012. Actually it signals the arrival of their God of creation. Our calendar ends every December 31...the cycle starts over, the world doesn't end.
ReplyDeleteThe Mayan actually had 2 calendars and the controversy surrounds the long calendar. Many things are based on 13 and 26. Interesting stuff to read, if you take the time.
@1:07 PM
ReplyDeleteIt's about time. Good for our President.
I wish you would stop doing these things. This offends me deeply! I'm a reformed orthodox druid into hippie mind expanding consciousness, intergalactice mulit synching beams, harmonic convergence, magic rocks, bell bottom jeans, fringed leather jackets with beads, insence and Yannie music.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't stop doing these, you'll lose a lot of readers.
Stop it!
Stop blogging NOW!
Just kidding ya, Gryphen. Great clip, of course there must be an end to earth because of the limits of the human fox news inocculated brain to realise that calendars were invented by man and that time marches on, even when we're standing still.
1:07
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh. Bohener needs to brush up on his facts, his beloved Ronnie Regan, divorced actor and governor of California, was one of the worst "offenders" in history, if enacting laws that help people, as Obama has is "offensive".
A slight historic correction Gryphen. Most of the libraries holding Mayan books were burnt by the European invaders, a handful only survived because a monk hid them. I think that maybe, just maybe those invaders burnt the calendars that were supposed to continue on and now the Mayan God's are laughing at those same white people running around like chicken little screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!"
ReplyDeletejust something to think about :)
Little Rabbit
@107 as someone stated up thread a Roosevelt has the record for the most recess appointments in history. NOT FDR but TLR. Theodore Roosevelt REPUBLICAN made over 160 appointments, mostly military.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2012/01/obamas-recess-appointment-another-throwback-to-teddy-109587.html
Here's a little refresher if you forgot who TLR was when you slept through American History class:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt
Check your facts before you try to take on the adults at IM.
New Age Millerites.
ReplyDeleteJanuary 2013, the world will still be here.
Except the 2012 Mayan Millerites will come up with some new date. Yeah, that'll work, it's really this other ____ fill in the blank ____ future date. That's what the Mayans really predicted.
Uh huh. Meanwhile, now if some people are giving away great stuff, can I have some of it, please?
Don't care WHAT you say bout them Mayans - come the end of December - we're gonna parrr-harrr-harrr-TAY!
ReplyDeleteMayan Elders Denounce This Prophecy: http://www.seri-worldwide.org/id435.html
ReplyDelete"The date specified in the calendar Winter Solstice in the year 2012 does not mark the end of the world. Many outside people writing about the Mayan calendar sensationalize this date, but they do not know. The ones who know are the indigenous elders who are entrusted with keeping the tradition."