THE ROYAL WEDDING; A RELIGIOUS FICTION?

It was impossible to 'miss' the Royal Wedding because it was repeated in every news story of the day.  Remembering all the words spoken, promises made, I could not help but remember that while Diana and Charles were pledging, Charles was continuing his affair with Camilla. thus making his promises with the equivalent of crossed fingers . 

The best part of the ceremony for William and Kate was the boys choir.  The purity of those voices made it musically beautiful.  I can only hope that Kate and William's marriage will last and prove that even royals can feel honest emotions of love and respect for their partners and that all the money spent on this wedding will not be as wasted as was that spent for  William's parents.

Princess Anne's son did not consult his grandparents when he made a half million dollar deal to sell to Hello! the rights to the Windsor Castle wedding.  Senior members of the Royal Family refused to be photographed by Hello! at Peter Phillips's wedding on Saturday.    Read more.

It seems like a normally dysfunctional family to me.  Therefore, why do so many fawn over the royals?  Can so many really sublimate and visualize themselves as royalty?  I was asked  why I didn't watch the wedding since I like to read English romance novels, particularly those of Jane Austen and many sequels written by others.  It would be like a three hour read of the very last page with nothing to proceed  how the couple really got there and no epilogue.  I became jaded after the marriage of Diana and Charles.  I sincerely hope that Diana's son will have chosen better and be a better person than his father, whose great grandfather's brother gave up the throne rather than live a lie about the woman he loved.  May setting a better example be part of the marriage of William and Kate.

We have American 'royalty' with multiple marriages and no fidelity,  like McCain, Gingrich, Trump and. oh so many others. Yet the same politicians who disallow gay or lesbian marriages and fight for DOMA are the grossest hypocrites and expect the populace to believe them and respect them...and worse...vote for them!

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AUSTEN'S SENSE AND SENSIBILITIES: THE MUSICAL

Tonight I went to Wellesley College, wondering how anyone could turn Sense and Sensibilities into a musical that would keep my bottom sitting in a chair for nearly 3 hours.  Well, I was really surprised, some people did.  Neal Hampton, composer/lyricist and Jeffrey Haddow, writer shocked me with their success at doing just that.

With a really fine cast of actors and singers, they were able to take the story, pare it down to its essence, write songs.that were relevant, touching, and fit the story perfectly.  They dropped the little sister Margaret but essentially left everyone else it that mattered.  The fine tuning of the writing made it possible.  Jeffrey Haddow was able to keep all essential dialogue to make the story very clear without having to 'mark time' to get to any action.

The singular drawback, aside from tall people sitting in front of me who blocked my view of the stage, was  the mikes' distorted sound and lyrics.  However, I treated it as an opera.  I knew the story so well, and listened to the music with such enjoyment that, if I missed some of the lyrics it was the same as watching an opera in a foreign language.  The plot and emotions were clear.

THERE'LL BE SOME CHANGES MADE

Leon Panetta will become Robert Gates's replacement when he retires.  Many people do not know him well, other than when he was Chief of Staff for Clinton.  There is a very nice article written about him as head of the CIA.  Click here..

 Meanwhile, job losses are massive in the defense industries as contracts have stopped forthcoming.  We might expect to see more massive changes in our demand for outdated arms since wars are fought differently today than in previous decades.

I've already heard Republicans criticizing this choice with the belief that Petraeus should have had the job.  However, Petraeus has not been a politician nor run an agency in Washington.  He will cut his teeth at the CIA in this regard and, perhaps, some day will replace Panetta as Secretary of Defense.

Wikipedia has much to say about David Petraeus.  It is worth taking the time to read it since it is doubtful the media will cover it all.  It might be wishful thinking on my part, but things do seem to be turning favorably forward as the public, especially the middle class since we are the bulk of the public, have begun to use their voices and might even begin to drown out the well-paid liars who have taken over the center of attention for so long.

THE DANGER OF MISSING THE ENTIRE CONTEXT

Diana Henriques has written a book about Bernie Madoff, The Wizard of Lies.  When viewed as a singular personality, his 50 year loving marriage, his family life, his impeccable taste and fastidious grooming one can be quite compassionate..   As a therapist for many years, I can truthfully say, if you listen carefully you can identify with anyone.  Even those who have done heinous crimes can, if they talk honestly with you, make you sympathetic to whatever was behind their actions.  Sometimes their behaviors are based on greed, lack of choices, inability to find other solutions for their drives, inability to incorporate the damage they will do or have done to others as a reality.

Paul Ryan is another good example.  He is apparently taken by the propaganda from the Heritage Foundation, or perhaps visions of what his career might become if he is successful in pleasing the powers backing him.  It seems he has been completely out of touch with the destruction his plan would be to so many people in the future, especially seniors today and their descendants in future years.

While he may be very bright, I believe the downfall of many intelligent people is their inability to look ahead at consequences.  The sense of Russian Roulette being that they will not be caught with the one out of six chances, either the cruelty of their plans or the debit side of them to others.

I'm quite sure that Paul Ryan would not equate his plan to the Ponzi scheme of Madoff, but the damage to people who join him is just as devastating to individuals or groups who believe the spin given.  One must note that the tide has turned at the Town Hall meetings; voters are no longer remaining in ignorance and apathetic.  Obama has allowed the populace to recognize their own power and begin, finally, to use it.  He is wise in to wanting them to look on him as some sort of Messiah sent to rescue us all while we passively sit back and criticize him as though we could do a better job..

IF JOHN BOEHNER CAN'T BEAT OBAMA WITH THE TRUTH, HE WILL JUST LIE.

Interviewed by Jonathan Karl, John Boehner seems to have forgotten that during Bush 43's term, gas had risen just as high as today, for several months.  However, he needs to lie about it and say that Obama is not allowing oil drilling.  As I understand it, many oil drilling permits have been awarded since the BP spill, in the Gulf and in deep water.

The US oil drilling regulator says we cannot drill our way to lower gas prices.  It is also said that the oil companies are making record profits off the hides of the middle class who must have gas to get to work and meet family needs for transportation, shopping, etc.

Obama has made clear that her disagrees with continuing those oil subsidies.  An article by Ben Geman on 4/25/11 makes the argument as to why they should be dropped quite clear.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                












































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

GOVERNMENT AND RELIGIONS

Christianne Amanpour interviewed 3 religious men much to my hooror at their replies to her questions.  Frank Graham who believes that Christ died for his sins as well as those of the rest of us.  This logic fails me.  If that is true, why do we have so many evil people doing evil things?  Why are newborns assumed to have sins?

Graham believes we are in the last days of our age which he states with extraordinary precision...it may be days, months, or many years but he believes it will come.  He talks of the second coming about which he sincerely believes..I personally found most of what he was sayhing as offensive.  Reverend Graham sounds off as a birther and questions whether Obama is a Christian.  I wonder why the whole country has to be subjected to him and rigid thinkers like him.  If tre media was doing its professed balancing act, there should also have been an Atheist on the program as well.


It is strange to me that there is so much talk of religion and only comedians allowed to bring up atheism.  It would be helpful to the country to follow our Constitution and keep religion out of politics and government.  That will only happen when the media stops pandering to those with 'faith' as their truth.

To listen to these interviews, click here.

David Morris wrote an excellent article in AlterNet.  He believes that the United States is exceptional by the advantages it has but not what we have done with them.  He quotes from the Brookings Institute:  "Recent research contradicts the fundamental tenet of American exceptionalism. A Brookings Institution report comparing economic mobility in the United States and other countries concludes, “…“Starting at the bottom of the earnings ladder is more of a handicap in the United States than it is in other countries.”

Karen Timulty, a Washington Post reporter concludes "it is the belief that America “is inherently superior to the world’s other nations”. It is a widely held belief. Indeed, most Americans believe our superiority is not only inherent but divinely ordained. A survey by the Public Religious Research Institute and the Brookings Institution found that 58 percent of Americans agree with the statement, “God has granted America a special role in human history.”

Those who believe this also believe in 'faith', something that people want to believe though they have no proof.  When people believe they are better than anyone else, they stop viewing what others are doing, become insular, and as we have done in the US, begin a downward spiral, blind to realities.

Everyone should read this article to see why we are no longer number one nor likely to be as long as we feel a divine right.  We need to get religion out of our politics and fast.  To read this article,  Click here