2012: A New Epoch

2012: A New Epoch

There are more developments in Egypt. People are legitimately protesting against the military dictatorship in Egypt. The Arab Spring (that came about in early 2011) was very historic, so anybody can acknowledge that truism. Mubarak was a dictator. Most of the Egyptian people rightfully disagreed with his dictatorship. Many individuals were protesting in front of Tahrir Square to express their legitimate grievances. Mubarak was soon overthrown in 2011. That was a positive development, but the military generals took over the political systems of Egypt. Now, protests are continuing in order for the establishment of a new Egypt that can give all of its citizens equal political & social rights. One woman in Egypt was assaulted by military thugs. Therefore, the protesters are working hard in order for their country to experience real reforms without token measures. There are continued protests in Syria. People in Syria desire political reforms. Yet, some NGO-sponsored entities are trying to infiltrate the freedom movement in the country of Syria.

We are in the year 2012 now. We still have hope and challenges. A lot of contributions have been made by folks from the world over. Thankfully, more U.S. troops are returning home from Iraq. Yet, we still have a lot more to do in order for us to promote freedom and justice. Even in 2012, we have a policy where assassinating American citizens without a trial is real. Even in Iraq, there are still threats of massive sectarian violence. There is a policy about possibly detaining American citizens indefinitely without trial as promoted by the NDAA situation. The TSA regularly uses illegal search and seizure methods. Sometimes, these methods involve physical molestation and nude photography (even of kids). There is still in America a highly militarized police force more motivated to stop drug use than to protect the citizens' cherished civil liberties. The militarized police accelerated their power and influence since 2001 especially. Some dedicated individuals have exposed this police state too, so I want to make that absolutely clear. There are thousands of dead soldiers (who didn't need to die period) as a product of the war on terror (including the NATO/NGO related bombings of sovereign nations like Libya, countries in Africa, etc.). The IMF is using structural adjustment policies against Nigeria. These policies harm the standard of living among all Nigerians (especially the poor) instead of promoting the independent economic (including social and political) growth of Nigeria. There is a centralization of all power without checks and balances in the world. The Supreme Court immorally supported corporate personhood (or the lie that corporations are people too. Romney admitted that he adhered to the concept of corporations being people). Presently, rampant and unfair wealth redistribution from the poor to corporations is here. Cronyism is a part of the agenda of the 1 percent indeed. This economic inequality contributes to the events of recession. People are suffering. Some once middle class families including their children are now living in shelter.s It's wrong to see these occurring, so new ideas and programs ought to be made into existence (so that poverty can be eradicated not only in America, but in the world). This is the time of great historic change. 2012 will be the year of elections. At least 59 nations will see new elections. The USA, France, China, and Russia will have elections and they make up about 40 percent of the world's GDP. 2012 is a great time to be alive. Therefore, we are all willing to seek justice and liberty.

Objectivism in our generation has been exposed as problematicto pout it lightly. Objectivists regularly believe that people should die if people experience a deadly disease (and if they can't afford health care). Ayn Rand completely abhors altruism and this philosophy of Objectivism is commonly promoted today. Ayn Rand was so extreme that she devoted her philosophy to one book entitled, "The Virtue of Selfishness." Selfishness is never virtuous. It's actually undesirous and evil. Objectivism blatantly mischaracterizes altruism and unselfishness. Even Alan Greenspan was once a disciple of Rand. His 1963 essay called "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal" said that regulation is based on force and fear to undermine the moral base of business dealings. This is wrong, because legitimate regulations can improve businesses and prevent fraud (includng the fact that legitimate regulations can save money for consumers & business leaders). Greenspan believes that greed is good. He said that: "…It is precisely the 'greed' of the businessman or, more appropriately, his profit-seeking, which is the unexcelled protector of the consumer." Ron Paul would promote similar ideas 49 years later. Ron Paul wants virtually any regulation to be abolished from local building inspectors to the Food and Drug Administration. The leadership of the Republican Party (not all Republicans) desire to reduce if not eliminate the Capital Gains taxes, Dividend taxes, Income tax rates on the rich, the Estate taxes (which only the super rich pay), and Corporate taxes (which only the owners of corporations pay). This proves that in general, the leadership of the Republicans favors the super rich. An extreme amount of tax cutting can potentially means fewer decent schools for younger human beings, fewer opportunities for higher education for all, fewer hospitals in the nation, etc. Sometimes, a federal hand is necessary to defend minorities against corrupt individuals who are abusive against people in the state level. Also, corrupt government is wrong. Likewise, corporate corruption is wrong as well (like Exxon spying on its employees and BP harming the Gulf of Mexico with its oil spill). I don't believe in privatizing the police state either. The corporations violating people's rights are wrong and the government should interfere to prevent that (or prevent corporate crimes).

Architecture as Riddles in Stone Part 5

The Parthenon is a famous Temple of history. It's found in Athens. Athens, thousands of years ago, was a very prominent city in the ancient world. It was the home of early proponents of democracy, and people who designed great art & architecture. It was a famous ancient Greek city state that focused on intellectual pursuits (while its rival Greek city state Sparta desired a militaristic society. Sparta allowed children to train for the military even). The Parthenon is found in the acropolis section of Athens. An acropolis is the hill like section of a city that was created for protection. It's hard for invaders to conquer a hilly territory back then inside of Greece. The bottom section of the city state was called the agora (or the marketplace where restaurants, homes, and other functions of the city eor city-state xisted at). The acropolis was used as an emergency place when there was an invasion of the city state. The Parthenon's construction began back in 447 B.C. This was during the time when the Athenian Empire was in its peak. The Parthenon was a famous place where human beings would worship Greek gods and goddesses (especially Athena since Athena was the patron goddesses of the city Athens). Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, strategy, handicraft, and thinking. She is portrayed as strong and firm via artwork & Greek mythological stories. A patron god or goddesses was more than a mascot. It was the provider of life, resources, and blessings according to the polytheistic ancient Greeks. The Parthenon has the Doric type of column architecture present. The Parthenon Temple is archaeoastronomically aligned to the Pleiades constellation. The Parthenon was once converted to a church dedicated to Mary. The Ottomans built a minaret on it during the 1400's. The Ottomans were Turkish Muslims of course. It was a mosque by then. Much of the Parthenon was bombed because of a Venetian bombardment back in September 26, 1687. Much of the sculptures have been recovered from the Parthenon, but much of the temple was damaged. The word Parthenon in the Greek language means virgin's apartment. The Parenthon had a muscular limestone founcation. It extened and leveld the southern part of the Acropolis summit. The Parthenon was built under the general supervision of the sculptor Phidias. Phidias helped to be in charge of the development of the Temple's sculptural decoration. The architects by the names of Iktinoas and Kallikrates (beginning in 447 B.C.) worked on finishing the Temple. The building was mostly completed by 432 B.C. It was finished mostly by 431 B.C. Stone was traveled from Mount Pentelcius (or 16 km. from Athens) to Athens and then to the Acropolis. The temple, wrote John Julius Cooper, "Enjoys the reputation of being the most perfect Doric temple ever built. Even in antiquity, its architectural refinements were legendary, especially the subtle correspondence between the curvature of the stylobate, the taper of the naos walls and the entasis of the columns." Entasis refers to the slight bulge of the columns as they rise, though the observable effect on the Parthenon is considerably more subtle than on earlier temples with their noticeably cigar-shaped columns. The stylobate is the platform on which the columns stand. Some people agree or disagree with the assumption that the Parthenon has proportions that equal close to the golden ratio. What is the golden ratio?  In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.61803398874989. In algebra, the golden ratio is (1 plus the square root of 5)/2.
The golden ratio is found in rectangles, triangles, pentagrams, etc. The golden ratio relates to proportional shapes.

One of the ancient structures of architecture is found in the ancient city of Baalbek. The small town of Baalbek is located in Lebanon. The ancient Greek called Baalbek Heliopolis. Helios is the Greek words for sun and polis is the Greek word for city. It's in the Beqaa Valley with an altitude of about 3,840 feet on the east of the Litani River. According to Trajan's biographer, the Roman Emperor Trajan came into the city to receive advice on how to handle the Parthians (or the Persians in the days of the ancient Roman Empire). It's famous for have Roman inspired architecture and the Temple displayed tons of influence that relates to classical architecture indeed. The Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek represented to the Romans, their huge wealth of the Roman Empire. Many gods were worshipped in the Temple from Jupiter, Venus, Bacchus, and other indigenous gods (like Hadad, Atargatis, and a young male god of fertility). The Temple of Jupiter Baal (or the Heliopolitian Zeus) related to worship of the sun. The Jupiter Temple had 54 columns. The architrave and the frieze blocks weight up to 60 tons each. One corner block is over 100 tons being raised to a height of 62.34 feet above ground. Jupiter-Baal was represented locally (on coinage) as a beardless god in long scaly drapery, holding a whipin his right hand and thunderbolts and ears of wheat in his left. Two bulls supported him. In this guise he passed into European worship in the 3rd century and 4th century. The icon of Helipolitan Zeus (in A.B. Cook, Zeus, i:570–576) bore busts of the seven planetary powers on the front of the pillar liketerm in which he was encased. A bronze statuette of this Heliopolitan Zeus was discovered at Tortosa, Spain; another was found at Byblosin Phoenicia. A comparable iconic image is the Lady of Ephesus. The Temple of Jupiter has images of lions and other beasts. There is also another temple in Baalbek called the Temple of Bachus. The Temple of Bachus'columns looked advanced. The complex of Temples in Baalbek is very famously known today. Eusebuis of Caesarea criticized the Heliopolitan worship of Aphrodite, because there was child prostitution and other forms of corruption in the location.

The Biltmore Estate

The Biltmore Estate is a quintessential part of American architecture. The estate has a long history
with its occult imagery. The House is in the form of a Chateauseque type of style. The whole building was built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. So, the building was owned by the Vanderbilt family. This family had robber barons in them during the Gilded Age. The Vanderbilts had a monopoly of railroad resources. The Rockefellers had a monopoly on oil until new laws broke up the monopolies (yes, the monopolists still reign with large power in 2012). It is the
largest privately owned home in America. The whole place is in the size of about 135,000 square feet (12,500 m²) (although publications claim 175,000 square feet (16,300 m²).The estate has 250 rooms. The place is still owned by one of the Vanderbilt's descendants. The place has numerous graders. The architects of the structure are Richard Morris Hunt and Frederick Law Olmsted. The story begins with George Washington Vanderbilt (or the youngest son of William Henry Vanderbilt). George traveled into the Asheville, North Carolina area to visit his mother. His mother's name was Maria Louisa Kissam. He loved the climate and scenery so much that he desired to create his own summer estate in the Ashville area. His brothers and sisters built other opulent summer houses in places like Newport, Rhode Island and Hyde Park, New York. Richard Morris Hunt was a famous New York architect. He was commissioned to build up the estate in North Carolina. Hunt lived from October 31, 1827 to July 31, 1895. Hunt was famous for sculpting images in New York City like the façade of the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, and many Fifth Avenue mansions lost the wrecking ball. Hunt founded both the American Institute of Architects and the
Municipal Art Society. Of course, he was an American alumnus of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (or a famous University of architects in France). Yes, Richard Morris Hunt was a Freemason. Freemasons historically are known to be famous architects then and now. The Vanderbilt family wanted Hunt to build the estate in a Chateau style. Hunt built other places for the Vanderbilts. Frederick Law Olmsted was the landscape architect that was employed by Vanderbilt to handle the gardens. The gardens in the Biltmore Estate are in a French style, not English. Famous people are known to have been guests of the estate. These people include Bill Gates, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, author Edith Wharton, novelist Henry James, etc. U.S. Presidents McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter had visited the place too. The place is controlled now by Vanderbilt's grandson William A.V. Cecil, I and run by his own son William A.V. Cecil II. (or the great grandson of George Washington Vanderbilt). The estate has designated a National Historic Landmark by 1964. Tourists are known to have visited the estate for year. There is an esoteric side to the Vanderbilts and other super rich dynasties. Cornelius Commodore" Vanderbilt admitted that he is obsessive with money making. The Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate openly shows gargoyles and horned devils in stone. There are paintings of ancient Mystery Religion gods and goddesses. Witchcraft furnishings are in the location. ....

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By Timothy

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