The brain and the drawer.

I was telling a friend the other day a story. I told him that if someone asks you to search for, let's say, a spoon, in a kitchen, but one of the drawers is closed, you start a frantic search and there's no spoon around. You search every drawer and space in the kitchen and nothing. However, there's this drawer that is sealed. You come back and say that there's no spoon in the kitchen. My question is, is it possible to really guarantee that there is no spoon in that kitchen in spite of that sealed drawer? What if the spoon is in that drawer? That's what I think about the brain. 

How can we really guarantee there are no psychic abilities or, that they really are factual? How can we really guarantee certain phenomena we don't understand and pretend to attribute them to other sources or unexplainable ones? And the most sensible of all the facts everyone doubts: how can we guarantee that God exists? Because of the miracles He's done throughout the millennia? Because of our comfort when we pray or the fact that we feel accompanied when we're with "Him"? How can we guarantee such things and engage in war based in arguably "Sacred texts" and murder millions of people in "His" name? Among other things we don't have a logical explanation and we create dozen of explanations in order to satisfy our intellectual curiosity, which is good, but in the moment they become the motto for murder or other extremist behavior, then the problem shows up. What if the explanations of all those things are hidden in that sealed drawer? Which, very likely, is the brain.

Let's get things straight; I'm not pretending to explain the whole truth, how could I. That is our own responsibility. What I'm trying to state is that we have to be more open and accept things that happen around us in a more critical way and see them from a different perspective.

To me is very significant the fact that the brain is still unknown in many aspects. The science has been able to walk on the moon and send satellites to planets that our bare eyes can't see. However, we can't fully understand our own brain; roughly 1,500 grams of neurons encapsulated in our skulls.

We have to remember that 500 years ago, nobody knew why we jumped and fall again. It was a mystery. Now, who argues about the Law of Gravity? I can foresee that 500 years from now, a lot of our "current mysteries" would be solved and not only that, they would be part of our systems, as the Law of Gravity is now for us.

People, let's accept other points of views as they come, let's be skeptical about things, let's analyze and think,; and above all, don't hurt people based on our beliefs or based in facts we really don't understand.

Remember, there is still a sealed drawer and maybe, the spoon is in there.

Love.

It isn't over.

Perfect. Barack Hussein Obama won the presidential race. It is a big accomplishment for a country where around 40 years ago, black people couldn't share buses, classrooms and bathrooms. However, the fact that our elect president is black doesn't mean that racism isn't still operative as a very dangerous and idiotic virus, still living in our midst.

The way I see it is that everything was aligned in order to grant that victory (Thank God, Allah, Buda, Krsna or whatever deity you want to attach the feat), meaning, John McCain was totally suicidal with his campaign, he's 72 and his health is not at its top, on top of that he chose the worst partner he could find. It was more than obvious he would lose. On the contrary, Barack Obama is a young, extremely intelligent, articulated and educated man, with an efficient campaign, among other virtues…hello? However, we can't forget that 49 million people voted for John McCain, that's scary. That means that half of the adult voting population of this country don't know what MaCain/Palin meant, are profoundly racist or a little of both (Unfortunately, I think the last option is the one). Is very intriguing to me the fact that many people I know is still doubting of what would come. To be honest, I also have my doubts, but not for Obama, not for his team, but for the "Man behind the curtain", for the complex net interwoven around a figure as the president of United States and the fact that if you don't follow certain "rules", you become disposable and are going to be, very likely, push out of the game; if you believe that thought too far-fetched, ask JFK.

Let's see what's going to happen; only time will tell. But what's for sure, neither racism nor ignorance is near to be over, unfortunately.

Let's keep observing, analyzing and thinking. Please, let's think.

Ungrateful mediocre.

"After 45 years, former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr posted a video clip on his website telling fans that any mail sent to him after Oct. 20 will not be read or answered. "It's going to be tossed," he says. "I'm warning you with peace and love, I have too much to do. So no more fan mail, Thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing".

This is the ultimate statement of one of the most mediocre musicians ever.

I've never been a Ringo fan; I think he's a mediocre drummer with a lot of luck and timing (not necessarily musical timing, by the way). He's only merit was being part of The Beatles, that's it. Actually, during he's work as The Beatles drummer; "ghost drummers" recorded a lot of tracks in their records and besides that, to be honest, I don't think he's made any contribution to the modern drumming. However, that's my personal opinion, I'm entitled to it and it's material for another blog. But the fact of the matter is that the audience, the crowds all over the world, the general public, the fans, are the ones which placed Ringo Starr where he is now, including his millions, that's an undeniable fact. But, at this time, he takes the luxury to deny all that and the simplest task of an artist, which is at least respond mails or sign objects, he's now tired of it. 

Ringo, let me remind you something: because of those fans you're now rejecting, you are where you shouldn't be now, if we really conclude our positions thanks to our talents and values per se. You can't be that ungrateful with life and worse of all, lose your memory in such a way. It's sad, very sad.

I used to say, when a lot of my friends (if not all of them) got angry because of my aversion against Ringo, that even though he's such a mediocre musician, maybe he was a nice person. I was totally wrong.

You're such a loser, buddy; in spite of your millions and your arguably place in music history.

Queen and the awards.

I've just found out a piece of data that really shocked me. But first of all, let me start off with the recognition of a very professional and honest people inside The Recording Academy and other stuff, some of them my personal friends, by the way. However, I have to make a point in spite of that.

Do you know, dear musicians and readers in general, how many Grammy nominations had the super band Queen? Yes, the same Queen of "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "Bicycle Race" and dozens of other mega hits. 10 times? 20 times? ...Let me inform you, that Queen has been nominated to the Grammy just one, only one time in 1980, thanks to "Another one bites the dust", not one of the material which the band is known for (by the way), and you know what happened? They lost to Bob Seger's "Against the wind" (Have no idea what song is that, by the way). Can someone explain me what in the world is happening, that an icon of modern music, a symbol of Rock, a band which was a defining element of entertainment; basically, a hub of music, artistry and inspiration, a group of musicians that have spent 27 years continuously in the UK charts, more times than The Beatles and Elvis Presley, a band that has sold so far more than 300 millions copies worldwide, the only band in which every member has composed more than one chart-topping single, the same band that was voted in 1999 the 2nd greatest band in music history. How is it possible that those guys were nominated for the arguably most important music award of the entire world only one time? I know, it happened also with Jorge Luis Borges and the Nobel Prize and a lot of actors and actresses with the Oscar or The Guild.

My point is, the value of an artist, whatever field it happens to be, is the value itself of his/her effort and career, whatever it may be, as long as it is a clean and somehow a "spiritual productive" career (I know personally a lot of that kind of artists), and not because of a particular acknowledgment; and for some reason, people are transforming, tweaking the chain of facts and putting the acknowledgments before the artistry and unfortunately or fortunately, it is the other way around, meaning that any award you may have is not what defines you. I know, we all need, as artists, recognition, acknowledgement, that's part of the deal when we become artists or entertainers, we actually need it in order to continue our journey, we need motivation, I know that and I agree, but what we must not become is a bunch a award-looking freaks that are looking for the award per-se instead of the actual accomplishments of any given artist.

People, let's see and appreciate the real things, the real virtues, the art itself and let's try not to be blinded by any little golden statue that at the end of the day, doesn't necessarily mean how much any creative artist has given to the audiences, even in a small rotten bar in the suburbs or in large arenas, because at that very moment, when an artist is performing, that subtle trance we get involve with, is what really defines the outcome of a real artist.

So, next time you meet with an artist, try to find out his/her really artistry and not how many Grammys, Oscars, Nobels, or whatever award he/she may have hidden in their pockets.

Remember, at the end of the day, the goal is just have fun.

The Palin effect.

If any of you have read one or two of my blogs, it’s very likely that you know already my point of view about women. However, that doesn’t stop me to interpret some things concerning a particular woman that really disturb me. Sarah Palin, the Palin effect, as the mass media is calling it.

   Let’s start out with the lady’s background. First of all, a little less than two years as governor of Alaska…As far as I remember, McCain blasted Obama because of his allegedly lack of experience; so, what about his female partner? By the way, Alaska’s population is a lot less than Miami-Dade County (for you guys living in the Greater Miami), just to put in perspective her real “government experience”. Then, intellectually handicapped, although she studied journalism. Anyway, that’s how I call a person, unfortunately in this case a woman, that doesn’t know the Bush Doctrine (you know, the right of USA to invade a supposedly terrorist state and all that crap. Google it for more info). I know, a very large percentage of the common population doesn’t know about it, but the candidate for VP of the United States? Please! Charlie Gibson asked her about the Bush Doctrine and she didn’t have a clue. Really an embarrassing moment for her. What about her experience in the death or impossibility of McCain as a president, is she competent to lead this country? Remember that’s one of her responsibilities given the case. Well, her known experience apparently is as a Beauty contest winner or contestant and the fact that she’s fertile as hell (5 kids under her belt with 44 years of age).

   Politically speaking, it’s more than evident that McCain wants to oppose the breakthrough of a black candidate and the history he’s making with that. He wants to counterpart with a woman VP. However, if Obama would’ve taken Hillary as VP partner, would be the same scenario with McCain and Palin? And what about her interest in oil drilling? Very convenient for the republican candidate and their insatiable hunger for oil and the money and power that comes with it.

   The game is so obvious that it makes me laugh and cry at the same time, because I know the level of analysis of women and these politicians are trying to confuse everybody with a beautiful face and somehow a charismatic presence.

   I hope that women, as I know they can, will think, analyze and understand the stupid and in a way naïve move that the republican party did with the nomination of that beautiful lady that is totally useless and that is being used for the best interest of that particular party.

   I really feel offended because they’re trying to confuse all the women from this country, but you know what? I deeply feel they won’t succeed.

Olympic incoherence.

   Ladies and gentlemen, dear readers from all over the world (I wish!). After a short hiatus forced by the sudden death of my computer, I’m back with all the cavalry, so get ready.

   As a matter of fact, at this point I’m not interested in dissect a particular topic (the current events are boiling, by the way). Instead, I’m going to touch, just touch, one of the events that caught my eye in this past month.

   Oh, The Olympic games! What a great party with so much countries sharing and billions of people watching all over the world. I really enjoy the Olympics since ever, I consider myself a fan, even though is every four years that I become a real “Sport expert”.

   But this time, it really made a difference and I’m not referring to Michael Phelps and his eight gold medals or the supremacy of the China teams, I’m talking here of the fact that last time I checked China was a communist country, Am I wrong?

   Apparently, that’s not a big deal, at least for the majority of mortals living in this planet. However, what about the president of the United States having fun in the stadiums? Cheering his fellow girls of the Beach Volleyball team? I can imagine the nights in Beijing with all his court, having fun with his daughters and drinking a lot (Apparently he’s used to that) and partying like a Party Animal.

   Weird ah? Isn’t the Communism the evil of all evils? The ultimate enemy of freedom and civil rights? So, why was the president of the arguably the most powerful country in the world, sharing his “sacred” presence in that communist country? The president of the country commonly referred to as the “World police”? Of course, the same country which is in war with two (2) sovereign countries. Is that for the USA the most important issue in a government would be the money? Or the capacity of handle “Capitalism” even though it may be disguised in another political form? Is that the only thing that matters? That the country doesn’t pose a real financial o military threat to the USA? And what’s more disturbing, if the government is just a puppet government of the USA, even better?

   The only thing that comes up to my mind is…Double standard?

Now I see!

Finally, it hit me. An oil-man from Texas, which happens to be the not-elected president of the Nation and the no less obscure figure, a high-paid energy executive, as his right hand (or the brain, if you will) named Dick Cheney, both are doing nothing to put a stop to the soaring gas prices, meaning and average of $4.00 a gallon, so far. Now I see the whole picture. They're not doing anything because among their plans are forcing to lift up a ban of oil drillin in our own shores. That seems logic (for them, of course) given that they don't give a damn about conservation and environment, as they thouroughly have proven with their laws and bans. So the point would be, keeping the gas prices that high, just to pressure, can you believe that? Pressure us and therefore, press the law-makers to lift up the ban (established by his own father, George Bush Sr., by the way) and become even richer.
The war? According to "our president", nothing to do with the gas prices. Yeah, right, 2.5 trillion dollars a year is just a dent in the national budget. The horrendous economic policies, nothing to do with it also; among all the disasters in the Government lead by this idiot from Texas (Sorry, my smart friends from Texas).
Now, what are we going to do with that filthy policy? The one that's hurting us all that much? Is it possible to be used in that dirty way? Is that what we're here for? To make them richer and richer by the minute and us, suffering the consequences in all possible ways? The question is: Are that measure of lifting the ban and start drilling our own shores really effective? Given the fact that according to the experts it would give results within 7 to 10 years, hello? Because of that, are we going to have a 2 dollars something the gas gallon again? If not, are that measure going to reverse the gas dilemma? Are they going to find alternate solutions to that immense problem if the lifting doesn't work? Unfortunately, don't think so.
27 years of ban, preservating our own sea from terrible polution. All that is soon to be over (hopefully not) and even worse, we're going to keep paying fortunes in order to fill our tanks and even more apocalyptic, things are going to get worse and worse, unless something changes dramatically.
You may say I'm a dreamer, as Lennon said, but I still hope that something of that caliber will occur, eventually.
Don't lose hope, 'cause it's the only thing we still have.

Infidelity in a nutshell.

Ladys, let me start by saying that I’m not trying to justify a wrongdoing. I’m just trying to make a very personal point, which happens to be well accepted for the vast majority of females friends I’m honored to have.
In a nutshell: Which is worse, a man’s or a woman’s infidelity? I think the latter. Why? Here we go:
My thought is that we, man, operate in a very “primitive” way regarding sex, meaning that to us (men) sex is the beginning of something and for you (women) sex is the culmination of something. I’m talking here as a general rule. However, we can find women living and thinking like men and the other way around, but for the sake of this blog, let’s talk generalities. Second, we (men) work in a very emphasized “skin” level, not meaning you (women) don’t have “skin”, the thing is that you (women) work in a very different level and use your mind and your feelings in a more appropriate way when you have to make decisions. Given that, it happens that a man can have sex with another woman, different from his partner and not necessarily have emotional consequences. Not the case with women. Why is that? Simple, you (women) when engaged in sex, when you decide to deliver your body, you have already delivered other things in your mind, somehow you’ve developed some bond with that person, that’s why I say you “end” with the deliverance of your body as a culmination of something going on in your head and in your souls for a while. On the contrary, we (men) don’t need to involve feelings to have sex and we don’t “end” anything; in fact, probably, after sex, we could start something, if that’s the case.
So, with that chain of facts, it’s easy to infere that when we (men) commit a sexual infidelity, we literally don’t “feel” nothing more than a animal satisfaction, at least with a woman which is not our regular and loved partner. But you (women) is very likely that would feel something more than that, once you get sexually involved with someone else.
Thus, unfortunately, I have to conclude that even though there’s no justification whatsoever to an act of infidelity from any genre, if it happens, women get the worst responsability, the worst consequences, given the meaning it involved for females and therefore, it’s more than obvious the conclusions of this dilemma.
Anyway, the bottom line would be, never do such a negative thing to your partner, men or women. Instead, love your partner as much as you can and have responsible sex as much as you can.
Have a nice love session.

Plastic lie.

Plastic surgery has become a multi-million dollar bussiness since its conception several decades ago. In the beginning, it was thought of as a discipline which was suppose to deal with malformations, genetics failures of some kind, disfigurements or traumas caused by accidents and cirumstances alike. So far, it is a very useful and neccessary branch of modern medicine, the exact and indicated way to deal with all these problems. But, when it comes to the “aesthetic”, now it is time to deliver some words.
A lot has been said about the self-esteem problem of modern man. Particularly women have been a sensible target, (thanks to our sick modern society) of the most vicious attacks against self–esteem. Make-up, hair styles, clothes, and the most lethal: “modern aesthetic codes”. If society impose us the created need of nice, cool, not-necessarily comfortable, and expensive clothes...well, in a way, we can deal with that. Same thing with make-up, hair styles and so on. But with substantial physical change...that’s another story, not only because that’s a mayor pretension, meaning that we think we can “improve” the perfect design of God, Nature, All, Absolute, Evolution, call it whatever you prefer, the point remains, but succumbing to a total temporary...read carefully TEMPORARY code of aesthetic? My female friends, aesthetic is a very relative concept, we all agree with that. However, we tend to believe things like: model size is beauty...wrong. In other times, the opposite was true. Same thing with long hair or short hair, pants, skirts, different color every season, tall, short. We have to understand once and for all that all those “codes” are just simple, shallow, temporary references aimed not to your beauty, but to sell a product and make money according to the current time. All these categories are linked together, in order to work in tandem, colors with clothes and size, it’s a perfect bussiness that is killing not only people (literally speaking) but mentally and spiritualy killing women, and we neither want nor deserve that kind of treatment to the mothers of our kids, to the responsible of the perpetuation of our race, to the most beautiful creature of nature, hello? Don’t you see the size of this matter?
Is there a real problem with self-esteem in the world? Absolutely, yes. However, we need to work it out from the inside out, not the other way around. If a woman needs to enlarge her breast in order to raise her self-esteem, my friend, that woman is in deep trouble. If a woman needs to enlarge her butt or sharpen her nose on thickens her lips in order to feel comfortable with herself, there’s a big issue with that woman and a mentally issue, which is worse.
My lady friends, you have to realize that you are beautiful, the way you are, nothing more, nothing less, that’s the way it is. The most amazing asset a woman can have is her brain, think about that. Women are the perfection made flesh, and I’m not patronizing you, I really think that way and it is simple to demonstrate that thought, just take a look what a regular woman can do and you’ll be amazed.
That’s why we have to focus our attention in our minds. See, I love a nice dressed lady, of course; that’s not the point. Nice make-up, cool shoes, tanned or anything you do to make you look more beautiful than you normally are, that’s not the point, the point is with the plastic surgery and the misconception that it can help with the woman self-esteem. That’s the argument they’ve been using to support such an enormous lie and multi-million dollar bussiness.
It’s up to you, ladys. You know better than that and you deserve real compliments, not the ones drawn by rubber boobs and “chorizo-like” lips.

60 years of what?

I've been studying jewish mysticism for quite some time, simply fascinating and enlightening. I've been studying assorted historical figures as well, among them, a few Israelis, motivating people. However, everytime a dig deeper into the depths of politics, I realize that is a very filthy business. All governments are corrupt, no exception, and that's one of the most disturbing realization a person can have, given that those bastards are the ones who define the course of history and therefore, us, as part of that history.
Violence, death, suffering, are basically the common factors among all the governments, some worse than others, but in general, all of them are hate promoters in some way. This time, some statistics caught my attention and really made me evaluate my love/repulsion relationship with Israel and its people. I do believe that they're courageous people, inteligent, capable, strong and determined, they have endured immense suffering along the way and there they are, stoic. However, back to politics, it's not the people per se, it is The Establishmnt, that more often than not, doesn't reflect the real feeling coming from the people of a given country or community.
The Arabs, great people, origin of the civilization, people with remarkable culture and history. But, politics again, distorting all in front of it and of course, good and noble people fall as well.
I know, all this bla, bla, bla maybe doesn't make a lot of sense. My point is, to make this blog a little less boring, that Israel is celebrating 60 years of being a "nation", good for them, but how can someone celebrate such a thing if that's the exact time Palestinians have been removed, by force, from its land? Isn't it ironic? And all based in a "Sacred Scriptures" that all of us know, aren't that sacred after all.
I really respect jews, at least its culture and mysticism, but it's politics, supported by USA, by the way, I really can't stand it, even though all the things they keep saying in order to justify it.
Sorry, I'll stay by this side, the love side, the sympathy side, the compassion side, in other words: "The non-establishment side". I'll remain sudying jewish mysticism, praising its accomplishments as a culture, its intelligence, but never, never, ever, ever, supporting the political procedure they're implementing to justify the terrible mistakes they've been doing all these long 60 years.
Take a look at this statistics and think about what I've just said.

1- 119 Israeli children have been killed by Palestinians and 982 Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000.
2- 1,044 Israelis and at least 4,719 Palestinian have been killed since September 29, 2000.
3- 6,845 Israelis and 32,213 Palestinians have been injured since September 29, 2000.
4- During Fiscal Year 2007, the U.S. gave more than $6.8 millions per day to Israel and $0.3 million per day to the Palestinians.
5- Israel has been targeted by at least 65 UN resolutions and the Palestinians have been targeted by none.
6- 1 Israeli is being held prisoner by Palestinians, while 10,756 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel.
7- 0 Israeli homes have been demolished by Palestinians and 18,147 Palestinians homes have been demolished by Israel since 1967.
8- The Israeli unemployment rate is 9%, while the Palestinian unemployment is estimated at 40%.
9- Israel currently has 223 Jewish-only settlements and "outposts" built on confiscated Palestinian land. Palestinians do not have any settlement on Israeli land.

Am I wrong?

Trump and success.

One of these days, I heard on the radio a commercial from Donald Trump. A faceless voice said something like: "If you want to be succesful, you have to assist to this seminar near you, straight from the Master of success, Donald Trump". After that, not only I was in actual shock to hear that, given the fact that to me, Mr. Trump has never been a role model for anything, as a matter of fact, He's been a model for many things you shouldn't do in life. But anyway, back to the point, after hearing the commercial, I've been re-thinking all the "success" script we have ingrained in our consciousness since early childhood.
First of all, I want to give a little background of "The Master" for all of us, in order to place the main factor in perspective:
Donald Trump, as far as I know, has been a Real Estate mogul for quite a few years, apparently he has a lot of money (strange fact that he never shows up in the real top positions in "Fortune magazine" ,"Forbes" or any specialized publications like that) but we have to admit, at least technically, that the guy is loaded. He has three offsprings from three differnent women; well, that's not exactly a model to follow, as far as I know. Flirting with moral issues, no different scenario. How is it possible that this person, dared to give an opinion and permission to exist to a young lady which admitted an "excess" behaviour years ago? Mr. Perfection, being the owner of the organization (Miss Universe, among others) feels the urge to speak and to give "forgiveness and permission to "live" and continue with her life to this young lady that shows her miseries on TV, crying and thanking the "Emperor" for saving her life and for allowing her to continue in the beauty pageant which she is proudly part of. That's really pathetic. First of all, Donald Trump doesn't have to be immersed in such details of his hundreds of companies. It's more than evident that what he's after is promotion of any kind. When he sees a camera around, the guy jumps in it's way no matter what: reality show, seminars all over the country, TV commercials, books, you name it. Funny fact, I've never seen Michael Dell involved in any of the things mentioned above...well, maybe thirty billion dollars of personal fortune isn't enough. That's money, folks; and despite of that, you don't see Mr. Dell showing himself to the world in any opportunity he may encounter in the way.
So, is having a fortune with Real-Estate success? We can say, yes.
Is having three kids from three different women success? Well, it depends; but to me, I don't think so, given the circumstances and the moral issues we have to live in this lifetime.
Is having that anachronistic hairstyle all the time and that "formal dress" with all accessories involved a success? Hell no! All of you guys agree that once in a while there's nothing like a good Levi's and a T-shirt.
So, what's the big deal with Donald Trump?
I've never trusted someone with a lack of expression in the face. Trump's face, as far as I remember, was, is, and apparently will be, the same expressionless face, no matter the circumstances, with that look of god-wanna-be, the attitude of almighty, that's really disgusting.
The bottom line is that if anybody wants to look for a role model to follow his/her steps in order to become wealthy, please, there are a lot of other moguls that really deserve your attention and not that bastard who believes he's God and, at least for me, the only good thing he's given to the world is his daughter. I have to mention that, in fact, we should follow other kind of people and not neccesarily the "money makers". Money will come anyway but the other values, those are more precious to keep.
Having money is not a problem, please! Having recognition isn't also, in fact, all of us in a way are looking for it (money and recognition) and it's legitimate and even healthy for our self esteem. Being red-headed, dress formal all the time, non of those issues are negative per se, the only thing we shouldn't do is pretend to be someone that we actually are not, to think that we are what we have and treat other people without respect and dignity. Folks, we all are the same, we all are a unity and we all deserve anything we want, material goods, spiritual values and all the other things we can imagine. What I think we ought to understand is that the healthy way to achieve all that, is through respect of others, dignity and much, much love.
I'm done. I have to go now to watch The Apprentice, season finale....

Christmas or Saturnalia?

I hate to do this, but I've been kind of forced. A couple of things first for the record: I don't judge people for their beliefs, I'm just putting on perspective why I don't agree with some things, including the origin of this blog. I know I'm going to rub the wrong way some of you, but don't take it personal, this is simply a response to some of my friends that still don't understand why I'm the way I am, and for those who kindly read, simply enjoy a little of history. Well, here it comes:
I've been seeing a lot of wagging fingers reminding us at every opportunity to remember the "Reason for the Season," and inevitably, these folks are referring to Jesus. The truth is, not very many of the traditions associated with Christmas are Christian- or have anything to do with the birth of Jesus. The world's oldest and most universally popular holiday celebration has always centered around the winter solstice- marked by the ancients as the birthday of the sun- after which the days get progressively longer, warmer, and more temperate. In cold climates, this celebration was a very welcome break from the monotony of cramped quarters, lean meals, and frayed nerves. In ancient Rome, the largest Solstice holiday was the Saturnalia, in honor of the harvest god Saturn. Not many people today have heard of Saturnalia, or know that most of our popular holiday customs are directly descended from the ancient holiday season.
Saturnalia was a big holiday- businesses and courts closed for days. The halls were decked with holly branches and evergreen wreaths. People visited family and attended lavish banquets and holiday parties. Gifts of silver, candles, figurines, and sweets (often tied to evergreen wreaths) were exchanged; sounds familiar?. It was also customary to light candles and roam the streets singing holiday songs (albeit often in the nude).
Even the "Christmas Tree" was a common sight.
So how did a raucous Pagan celebration become associated with Christianity? Very intentionally (John Chrysostom, a fourth century Bishop, wrote: "On this day also the Birthday of Christ was lately fixed at Rome in order that while the heathen were busy with their profane ceremonies, the Christians might perform their sacred rites undisturbed. They call this (December 25th), the Birthday of the Invincible One (Mithras); but who is so invincible as the Lord? They call it the Birthday of the Solar Disk, but Christ is the Sun of Righteousness.)
At the time the date of Jesus birth was officially assigned as Christ's birthday, Rome was pretty thoroughly Christianized, but the former pagans were more reluctant to give up the holiday than they were their gods. After brushing aside inconvenient facts (such as the bible's own accounts placing the birth of Jesus in the spring), the names were changed- but the holiday remained the same. Elements of popular Pagan nativities were borrowed to create a backstory fit for the new god, from the heralding star to the shepherds visiting the newborn in his cave. (more information about this "borrow thing" upon request). Before that time, Christians had one holiday- Easter-and no reason to celebrate the birth of their god, a very pagan tradition (indeed, a number of nativities were celebrated at Christmas-time, including that of Mithras, known throughout the empire as 'the light of the world,' and the nativity of Sol Invictus, the birthday of the sun) Before then, Christians avoided any birthday celebrations as inappropriately pagan. So, the next time you're quizzed over the "reason for the season," just toss off a "Saturnalia" and leave them scratching their heads.
I'm done, gotta do some christmas shopping....

Who cares?

Yes, there has been a lot of buzz in Washington D.C., about the use and abuse of anabolic steroids in sports, particularly in baseball. It's funny but lately I've been thinking about it and I have different thoughts about that topic.
Fist of all, what is a baseball player? To me, a professional "game" player. I know, that sounded a little ironic but, we have to admit it, despite all the glory and all the money, those guys (not only baseball but every mayor sport player) are no more than talented people (at least physically), trained to do what they want to do, play games and getting paid for that. Until there, everything's alright. The problem comes when this society (on purpose, by the way) prentends to make them heroes, for our kids, four our youths, and a few adults that can't proccess the difference between a real hero and a guy with a stick in his hand trying to hit a leather ball.
If those guys do their job in a prefessional manner, if they do it with the neccessary ethics to keep going without hurting anyone, perfect. To me the problem is us, the parents that impose their kids, one way or another, the neccessity to see those guys as heroes, even motivating them to become one of them, not because the virtues of the sports and physical activities in general, but for what it "means" in terms of money, glory and misunderstood leadership, to be a professional sports-man. Same thing happens with the so called "artists", but that's another blog, promise.
Ladys and gentlemen, if baseball players use performing drugs (and sometimes recreational drugs, too) in order to "perform" better in their professional activities, who cares? Let them do with their bodies and spirits whatever they want, they're adults and should know what their doing. But "Society", please don't try to impose those guys as role-models, because they are not. What about teachers? what about scientists, what about real artists? Aren't they more suit to become sombody's heros? To me, a kindergarten or elementary teacher is a real hero, a man or woman dealing with our kids and trying to educate them in the most critical stage of our lives, which is the childhood, that is heroic (not to mention the money those poor guys make). A scientist hidden in the laboratory for long days, weeks, months, years, trying to find a cure for a given disease or a vaccine for some virus, isn't that a motif to make him/her a hero? A writer, a musician, or any artist (the real ones!) working their art and craft alone, dedicated, in order to deliver all the emotional charge we feel when we hear a very nice piece of music or read a good novel or see a moving painting, what about them?
Just a final thought, we have to start thinking the right way, stop the blind race the establishment wants us to follow for their benefit. As simple as to contemplate, draw conclusions and take actions.

Paris, but not the city.

Let's start this blog being as honest as I can be. There are two women that I really don't like at all, to use a euphemism. I don't want to say I hate them, because we know all the implications that word carries on with it, though I'm very close to that. One of them is Ashlee Simpson, and don't expect to read something about it, simply because I think she doesn't deserve more than two letters placed together in a sentence and given that, there are very few words with that configuration, thus, no comments. The other is Paris Hilton, and it's not she deserves my attention in any way, not at all; the thing is that maybe, she is more detestable than the other.
Who is Paris Hilton? What does she do for a living? What has she accomplished in life? Well, if we know something about the world that surround us, we all agree that Paris Hilton is no more than a human-parasite, meaning: she is a heiress of a family who owns a large hotel chain. She does for a living....well, just that, live, and in a very erratic way, just spending her fortune (she did nothing to earn it, by the way), drunk drive, go partying all nights with a bunch of "great and amazing" friends (Britney, Lindsay, Nicole), Ah! almost forgot, video-tape herself having sex with her partner at the time to upload the absurd and idiotic video to the internet. That is, in a nutshell, her life on this planet. Pretty intense, huh?
Now, what's wrong with that? Why the media (back to the media...) keeps trying to make us "eat" Paris Hilton everyday of our lives? because someone's trying to impose Paris Hilton as a role model for our kids, because some powerful CEO from "who-knows-what-corporation" wants to keep the general people from having critical thinking and therefore, promote the idea that "being" Paris Hilton is cool.
Well, I'm going to tell you, ladys, what I think is cool:
First of all, the most sexy and important asset a woman can have is her mind; thus, if some woman out there has a thinking habit, that's more than enough to conquer the world. Why? Because only through thinking, a woman can develop all she is capable of, and that is way more than showing her privates parts online, indiscriminately spending money all over the world and doing nothing with her life.
A woman is the chosen one to be the bearer of life. Hello? Women not only create life (with a little help, of course), but they have their babies inside of them, literally; can something be more magical, incredible, fantastic and beautiful than that? A woman can be whatever she wants, women has determination, sense of humor, they're intelligent, smart, can help with anything, can deal with a lot of things at the same time, women are always beautiful, no matter what. So, why do someone has to believe Paris Hilton is something to be followed? I'm sorry Paris, nothing personal, far from that; as a matter of fact, I can recommend you a couple of books that may help you get back on track with your life and don't keep letting your own gender down.
Women, be great, that's all you need to have in your minds and don't let the "Establishment" manipulate your most valuable asset: your thinking. You deserve the best and with a little effort and a smile, you already know that you can accomplish anything you want.

Yeah, right!

What's going on with this world? Or should I ask, What's going on with this country? Or better yet, What's going on with this administration? There you go, I think the last question is the right one.
This government since ancient times has been very fond to "create" false accusations in order to justify military actions. These false accusations range from statements, to fake documents to support those lies. It's been always like that, at least since the last couple of centuries; and from that time on, what we call "modern times", I'm going to develop my analysis.
I'm going to give you some examples to illustrate the point:
1.- Pearl Harbor. This attack on december 7, 1941, was the trigger for USA to get involved in World War 2. Even though Hitler was destroying Europe, people were dying by the millions and the whole world was crying out for help, USA didn't move a muscle until, it was touched in its own soil by the "Axis of evil" (By the way, term coinned in that time. Coincidence or deliberate inversed analogy?) At this moment in time, we are not sure if the USA knew beforehand about the attack and didn't do anything in order to have a solid motif to get involved in the war. Or, if it was a meneauver from the Jews to implement a "False Flag" and involved a third-party, knowing that the outcome would be the eventual and utter destruction of Hitler, the Third Reich and everything involved with it. One way or another, there are overwhelming evidence that USA knew about the attack way before it occurred, and if it's not true, the Pearl Harbor attack remains coverd by a dense layer of mystery and doubt.
2.- Korean War. Supposedly, the conflict started thanks to an alleged move of North Korean troops, three miles into South Korea territory and, it happened to be a reaction for a first attack from South Korea days before. Same thing. Pretext, false information to deceive the public and therefore military action was the response.
3.- Vietman War. Should I say same thing again? August 4, 1964, the famous and infamous alleged second attack of the Golf of Tunkin incident. False by all means but, the result was an intervention, a full-scale war (with no declaration of war, by the way) against Vietnam, for about ten years and not only we lost the war, but the toll paid in human resources was of 58,000 americans in body bags and about four million in Southeast Asia.
4.- The so-called War on Terror. Yeah right! I don't want to stress the evidence pointing out the facts that support the "Inside Job" concept in this one. Just take a look at the documentary "Loose Change Final Cut" and do the math. If it was a "False Flag" operation, it was arguably masterfully executed; if not, a dense layer of doubt and unanswered questions remained from that event anyway.
And now, last but not least, the crazy, immoral and suicidal plan of a bunch of crazy politicians to invade Iran. Thank God there are a lot of forces against such a non-sense. However, wouldn't be a normal procedure for this government, as usual, to "invent" or "create" a false scenario in order to justify an attack to other country? Let's face it, my dear friends, USA has done it before, repeatedly; so why don't do it again, if that technique has given results all the time?
That's why I don't believe in that laughable footage of the iranian boats, threatening the american ship. C'mon, with that fake robotic voice and that video quality typical of video games from the 80's and no coherence at all in all the story. Iran already has said the video was fabricated (you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see the poor staged boat show). Obviously, the american government discredited the words of the iranian government. At the end, it doesn't matter, what really matters is to ingrain in the collective psyque, the "fake reality" and justify an attack. After that, it doesn't matter anymore, once the troops are inside the "enemy" nation, there's no turning back; at least, that's the example given in Irak and other countries.
We have to think, we need to develop and practice our critical thinking and don't allow the Establishment treat us like little children, to accomplish their selfish plans. We have to dig deeper into the reality that surrounds us and draw conclusions in the most accurate way.
Love to all and freedom of speech.

Life lessons 101.

At this point in my life, I'm really balancing the facts, the values and all the things conforming my entire existence.
Any one of us, spend the major part of our lives trying hard to get recognition, among other things. If it's world-wide recognition, even better. At the same time, the hours, the energy we spend on a daily basis in order to get financial security is astounding. Have you realized how much time and energy we invest in the quest of getting money? You'd be amazed, and what for?
Is it bad having a nice car? No. Is it bad having a big and beautiful house? No. Is it bad having lots of money? Of course not. But, is it all that matters? That's another story.
The key question would be: What's the most important thing in our life? Different answers would come up: health, family, money, marriage, work, career. It all depends of each and everyone of us. Value system and all kind of paradigms. But at the end of the day, this world, this civilization, is beeing organized of such a way that money has become one of the main reasons of existence (if not the only one), you realize it or not. But it is just the way it is and we have to play according to the rules. Fortunately (or unfortunately for some people), we as rationale people (supposedly!) "need" more, we deserve more. But there's a natural law which states: we cannot be happy with external things, our happiness rely on our inner self. Does it sound a little too mystical or ethereal? Let me go a little further:
Who would've thought that a person with obscene quantities of money in his/her bank account would normally feel sad, depressed or lonely?
A person internationally renown because of his/her career, feeling the same miserable way?
A man or woman possesing the gift of "beauty" as we've been taught in this culture, feeling horrible and disgusting?
Even, any person with little kids waiting for them? Isn't all this strange?
Yes indeed, it is strange. The question remains: why do we insisit in the quest for happiness trying to find it among the possible by-products of it?
One more to the list, the recent mysterious death of Heath Ledger.
The list is large: Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, River Phoenix, Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin and on and on and on. From different fields, with different circumstances, but sharing the same fate and all of them having reached what we desperately seek.
Isn't the sudden death of Heath Ledger another sign, another life lesson to us? I think is our responsability to learn somthing out of it and I'm pretty sure, if we do, that in a way, we won't face such a fate and we'll be a little happier, finding the real meaning of this complicated life we were imposed to live and finding the real elements inside of us that are really the signs of happiness, the important issues and for once and for all, stop being idiots and don't try to kill ourselves (metaphorically or literally speaking) following a totally shallow vision.
I think we should remember the simple pleasures and even sounding like a very used and abused cliché, now is more important than ever: family, health, spending quality time with your loved ones, having a nurturing chat over a cup of coffee or tea, going to the movies, enjoying nature, laugh from the top of our lungs, make love and not war, and all the other things you guys know very well.
It's just a thought.

A day like today.

March, the 20th, 2008.

A day like today, five years ago, Bush/Cheney and Co. invaded Iraq. The reasons? They had, allegedly, Weapons of Mass Destruction. Is more than evident that five years later, Bush/Cheney and Co. never found the famous WMD. Of course, Now I remember, Bush admitted later on that it was a lie, just to get mass support in order to invade a foreign country, (which coincidently happens to be one of the top oil producers of the world). On top of that, Bush/Cheney and Co. insisted in link Iraq with Al Qaeda, despite the fact that Hussein and Bin Laden hated each other.
So, after all this years and all these lies, I would like to offer my humble opinion about the results of the arguably "War on Terror", as a tribute to the 5-year mark, we unfortunately have reached.
1.- 4,000 of our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers and assorted family members, killed in "action". Thousand more injured.
2.- Tens of thousands of iraquis’ sons, daughters, fathers, mothers and assorted family members killed or injured. By the way, interesting piece of .. do you know how many iraquis were among the alleged kidnappers of 9/11? None. Most of them were...Guess?...Saudis (The most cherished commercial partners of the Bush family) and the rest, egyptians. So, can somebody explain to me, what does Iraq have to do with it?
3.- Well, Two Trillion Dollars, yes, you’ve read it right, spent so far in the conflict. I think that’s more than enough to hurt the economy of any country. Am I wrong?
4.- Patriot Act. Department of Homeland Security. Telecommunications’ intervention without warrant. Among other laws around that neighborhood.
5.- Enormous chunks of money taken from Health and Education budgets. (This one hurts!)
Now, the most important questions risen from all this chaos:
1.- Are we safer now?
Not only we’re not. In fact, we still live in constant fear and the government constantly reminding us of the "Danger of terror we’re fighting against".
2.- The entire world love us more or hate us more?
Well, I think the latter is the correct answer. More so, Bush/Cheney and Co. became the most hated president and president team ever, within United States and abroad.
3.- Economic recession?
Should I say more?.
4.- Where is the alleged author of the 9/11 events?
Is it me or that guy is still on the loose? And now is threatening the world again.
5.- Do we have cheaper gas?
Yeah, right!
6.- And what about the "Housing" problem all over the country?
Is 24,000,000 houses in foreclosure enough to answer that question?
Well, as you can see, I really don’t see too many virtues of that supposedly "War on Terror" orchestrated by Bush/Cheney and Co. However, I know I’m preaching to the choir, but it seems impossible to me, that there are people around, still believing all the lies those bastards keep telling us and even worse, people supporting that insane-illogical-unfair-criminal-shameful war on terror that’s taking place in that far, far away land and with no actual consequences on terror itself, for the wellness of the global community.
I’m done, I don’t want to get passionate about this.
Just think about it, maybe something will happen and so much pain and destruction become in love and beauty, maybe.

Carta abierta a la Iglesia.

Cabe destacar, en virtud del título, que la iglesia no es la estructura, ni ese templo hermoso del que se jactan algunas congregaciones. Mucho menos el alarde de lujo que otras muestran orgullosas. Plegándose al verdadero sentido etimológico de la palabra, cuando me refiero a iglesia, me refiero a la gente, a la congregación, a la asistencia, en definitiva: a las personas. No obstante, entre esas personas y la verdadera imagen de la iglesia, se encuentra una gran brecha y quizá, esa sea la causa de su eventual desaparición, al menos como está concebida hasta ahora. Con todo esto dicho, quiero dirigir este artículo en particular a la dirigencia de la iglesia. Lamentablemente, la iglesia moderna (al decir moderna me refiero a la iglesia de los últimos dos mil años), ha estado emulando cada vez más a las instituciones seculares. Con una gran diferencia, y esa es la manipulación descarada de sus adeptos por parte de las instituciones religiosas, hecho probado a lo largo de los siglos. La iglesia, al parecerse cada vez más a las instituciones laicas, ha perdido el origen primario de dicha noble institución y que se podría resumir en una solitaria y malentendida palabra: amor.
De primera mano puedo darles testimonio de las inconsistencias, (por emplear un eufemismo y no herir susceptibilidades) en las cuales la famosa "Iglesia de Jesucristo" ha caído, y a pesar de haber oído tantas y tantas historias al respecto, no hay nada como una buena experiencia personal para realmente entender el alcance de una acción. Yo mismo fui víctima del maltrato moral y abuso ético por parte de la institución eclesiástica. Yo mismo puedo dar fe de la política de conveniencia que la iglesia practica, como también podría testificar sobre la hipocresía galopante que inunda tanto sus pasillos como las mentes de sus dirigentes; todo, excusado en una usada premisa: "No veas al hombre…"
Yo, particularmente, he estado en el ámbito cristiano desde muy tierna edad y se, por ende, lo que se enseña. Viví y asistí por largos años a los servicios cada domingo y las reuniones de células o grupos comunitarios o cualquier otro nombre con el que eventualmente bautizan a dichas reuniones. También asistí en incontables oportunidades a estudios bíblicos, retiros, campañas de todo tipo (milagros, evangelización, etc.), consejería pastoral y con apóstoles y demás dirigencia eclesiástica. Actividades de todo tipo, incluso aquellas en que se mezclan el mundo cristiano y el mundo secular, tratando de emular los placeres "mundanos" pero en un ambiente cristiano (la mayoría de las iniciativas en ese sentido fallidas, cabe destacar). Todo eso lo he vivido en carne propia y les puedo decir, que muy poco de lo que se ofrece es cierto, es realidad tangible, y lo que es peor, muy poco es en realidad espiritualmente iluminador. Es triste ver como miles y cientos de miles de personas son atrapadas dogmáticamente por un grupo de mentirosos, hipócritas, faltos de creatividad, simplemente aprovechándose de los cautos que, en efecto, están ávidos de una guía espiritual y que por falta de conocimiento, encuentran dicha guía en el primer grupo de seudo-religiosos que encuentran. Es curioso, pero es destacable el lujo abrumador que ostenta toda la dirigencia eclesiástica, y el que no lo ostenta, simplemente entre ellos se le denomina una iglesia pequeña o sin visión o sin avivamiento. Mientras tanto, en aquellas en donde el avivamiento sí opera (entiéndase diezmos, ofrendas y sobre todo, adoctrinamiento y manipulación), sus feligreses atraviesan los años con la misma miseria que tenían cuando se alistaron al trabajo voluntario. No quiero decir con todo esto que no hay personas realmente valiosas en medio de la "Iglesia de Jesucristo". Nada más lejos de la realidad; de hecho, varias de las personas más íntegras, inteligentes y comprometidas con la vida, que yo conozco y respeto, pertenecen a dicha iglesia. Mi única observación al respecto, es la cantidad de virtudes a las cuales se sienten exclusivos poseedores. He allí el gran detalle y la petulancia que no solo la Iglesia Cristiana (en todas sus manifestaciones) cree, en ese garrafal error caen todas las grandes iglesias organizadas, entiéndase judíos, musulmanes, budistas, hinduistas y paren de contar. Humildemente pienso que los valores, los principios, la ética y demás virtudes del ser humano, no necesariamente están exclusivamente afiliadas a lazos religiosos. Quizá, ese es uno de los puntos polémicos de mi postura.
No quiero entrar en detalles técnicos, refiriéndome a todo el andamiaje montado por dos siglos para tratar de convencer con argumentos, de que la historia de Cristo y su consiguiente "iglesia" es verdadera. Tampoco quiero contradecir nada de lo que ya ha sido discutido y analizado por siglos; de hecho, esa fue la causa de la consecuente desaparición de grupos tales como los Gnósticos, los Iluminados, incluso los Caballeros Templarios. Sin embargo, me gustaría destacar, que sí habemos personas que no nos tragamos el cuento, que no nos convencen las teorías y argumentos mal elaborados, estructuralmente débiles y descaradamente manipulados. Sí habemos personas que nos hemos dado a la tarea durante años de leer, investigar, buscar y por ende, no caer en la enorme red de falsedades con la cual está tejida la iglesia en este momento histórico (cuando digo iglesia, me refiero a toda manifestación dogmática, organizada y de evidente manipulación).
¿Existe Dios? ¿Existen los milagros? ¿Hay gente que vale la pena dentro de las iglesias? ¿Existe la espiritualidad pura, sin prejuicios, con verdadero amor? Tengo que decir, que a todas las preguntas anteriores, de mi boca sale un contundente y arrollador Sí. El gran detalle estriba, en que hay muchas más cosas que descubrir y aún más determinante, muchos ángulos con que se pueden ver todas esas interrogantes, muchos más de los que las instituciones religiosas nos permiten indagar, sin antes enviarnos al infierno eterno.
Señores, hay que leer, hay que informarse, hay que comparar, no hay que dejarse conmover por manipuladores de los sentimientos, que además, son tan ignorantes que no se dan cuenta que a la larga, se están quedando solos, producto de una doctrina basada en mentiras, deshonestidad y una olímpica falta de ética.
Esta misiva no es sino la punta del témpano. Hay mucho, mucho que discutir, mucho que aclarar, mucho que investigar y mucho que desenmascarar. Si alguno de ustedes, fieles lectores, se cree en la obligación de discutir de alguna manera este artículo, bienvenido sea, simplemente hago una advertencia: esperen la contundencia de una persona que conoce a la bestia porque ha vivido dentro de sus entrañas y que existen muy pocos argumentos "cristianos" que me sean ajenos o me conmuevan. Hecha la advertencia, espero sus comentarios.

The Pope and his circus.

For those who know me, my intention is not to offend anybody, I don't want to judge any religion whatsoever, what I'm pretending is to to shed a little light over an obvious situation and on top of that, to me, a very funny one.
Have you realized that the Pope is a political figure? What I mean is that according to very reliable sources and a very known fact among people interested in this topic, all the Vatican personnel is atheists, meaning Cardinals, Prelates, regular priests and of course the head: the very Pope. Many of you will scratch your heads and pour ash over your bodies as a signal of deep offense because of what I've just said, but the truth of the matter is, that if you take a look a little closer, you'll understand the point of those guys being atheists or in any case, not necessarily believers in something, even though they represent one religion in particular. Plain and simple, "they are political figures". The Vatican is a State, just like America, Spain, Germany or Egypt or any other State in the world. Thus, it has a "president" and a "Congress", very like any other State. In this case, the Pope represent the President and the Cardinals all the congress men, therefore, they don't need to be religious because they don't deal with spiritual matters. I know, some of you must be thinking now, What's this guy talking about? Well, let me clarify a couple of concepts:
First of all, we have to understand the political origins of the Pope and what he represented in the medieval times, the association with the power and his way of deal not only with "religious" matters but with all aspects of life. And there, the circus shows up. Why the Pope dresses the way he does nowadays? Is that relevant according to modern times? Even worse, Why the Swiss Guard (Pope personal security guard) dress like that? Isn't it funny? They look like nice clowns. However, they are one of the most trained, specialized and armed security guards in the world, detail that rises another interesting question: Why the Pope, supposedly the ambassador of Christ here on Earth, has to be mobilized with a Pope-mobil with bullet-proof glasses and surrounded all the time by guards? As far as I remember, the very Jesus never walked around with such level of security. Maybe He was the real Son of God and this fake ambassador has to take care of himself, otherwise, he'd be dead in a heartbeat.
Another interesting fact, the Vatican owns two of the wealthiest banks on Earth, two of the wealthiest...hello? Vatican Bank and Banco Ambrosiano. So, said all this, at this moment in history, how can someone really believe that the Pope and all the personnel working around him, are interested in spiritual matters? What seems funny to me, among other things that are not that funny, is the fact that he's totally involved in that reality, reality based in past glories, living the same way, dressing the same way, even behaving the same way than medieval times, with the only difference that, the clergy is more corrupt now than ever before, followers are abandoning catholicism like flies and, being almost a totally ornamental icon in the world. Let's be honest, what has the Pope achieved for the wellness of the global community? Try to be honest with yourself. What tangible fact or activity he's been involved with? Besides nice words and genuflected prayers in front of camera lenses? Unfortunately, the answer is nothing, he's done nothing. However, the people's need for someone divine, from out of this world, and Avatar to help us all, to save the universe once and for all, that need is so basic and powerful, that people from even different religions still believe in that circus, which is only that, a complete circus. Of course, a 2,000 year in the making, but circus at the end of the day.
This message is for you, visitors of the circus, stop being idolaters and try a different approach. To me, a real VIP is not the Pope, to me, a real VIP is the local priest, or pastor, the rabbi of that particular synagogue, the nun that helps the homeless in her block, or any other person of any other religion or spiritual path, people with real social sensitivity, real and common people with that kind of approach to life and to the community, and not a political figure, corrupt as all the politicians are, living in the past and letting people idolize him for no reason.
By the way, Benedict XVI, nice red shoes.