Apech

Its ok you don't have to be grateful ... ... if you wanted the fast-track solution it would have taken longer.

Sinfest, Looky here Sinfest personal practice I moved your precious threads ... I can't give you mod rights over your journal but you should be able to post there ... A.

'The rest of world wasn't at all' ... wasn't at all what? in a depression... yes they were ... the rise of the Nazis in a great part due to the effects of depression in Germany ... Anyway back to the more interesting future ... what I would like to see is a radical new idea about how political power actually works. In other words how is it determined who gets to tell others what to do. And when they do this ... what are their aims. For a long time the worth and self-worth of a human being is their earning capacity .... success is high earnings ... and so on. Without getting all wishy washy and touchy feely ... is there another way? is there another hard value other than currency which can be used to evaluate how power is distributed?

I think what is missing is a convincing idea on an alternative way to live. I mean an alternative to the various forms of capitalism. I know they exist but they don't emerge as attractive or convincing to large numbers of people. When people vote at the moment (no matter how we may argue) we are voting about shades of the same grey. There doesn't seem to be a way for someone to put forward a radical new way to live which gets popular support of any kind. It has to be appealing, practical and meet peoples needs. After WWII in Britain there was a landslide victory for Labour (Socialist) ... rejecting Churchill who had led the country through the war. They then implemented the national health service, education reforms, housing programmes and so on. I know this is an anathema to Americans but the fact is it was a democratic choice freely made by people who had made sacrifices and lost a whole lot during the war. So in the late 1940's socialism was seen as a viable alternative which would meet peoples needs. Now (despite the current crisis) we are so much richer and our lives have changed. So no one wants or sees any advantage in old style socialism .... and there is no real communism anymore. So we need a new alternative model for living which is also economically viable.

As long as there's no red spot on Uranus.

**** Moderator Message ***** Just a kindly warning. This thread is getting heated and while you are discussing some high level ideas ... its getting personal. Please could you remember that no matter how much you disagree with another poster they are entitled to their view. Maybe they are wrong, maybe they have a different understanding, maybe they are right in their own terms. Please keep it respectful and no personal insults or attacks on the person rather than the ideas. Thanks. *** Mod Message Ends ***

I'll stick with my regular gloom, thanks.

I agree ... you are doomed. Too bad.

You might be immortal.

I'm not sure I buy this 'rise of China and India' idea entirely. I cannot justify my feeling rationally and there is no doubt their economic power is growing. But somehow I feel its too predictable ... and history is not like that. Historians, like economists are great at predicting after the event ... but as to how the power in the world will shift in the coming years? who knows? You can only deal with what is now. 'There is only now .. tomorrow doesn't exist' (to quote Lady Toda from Shogun (lol)). I suspect the main tension will be between the New World Orderists and those who do not want Global Govt. (or at least Global Financial Institutional Control) ... how that will shape up will be interesting.

Yes but I think you need a criminal record to live there don't you?

On a serious note also ... I hope the US does not stop its involvement in what the rest of the world does. A lot of mistakes have been made ... that is true ... but to retreat from the foreign policy agenda would create a massive power vacuum. God knows what would fill it. On a positive note look what the US did for Japan and Germany (and the rest of Europe including Britain) after WWII. After years of fighting against the Nazis and Japanese imperialism ... instead of retribution the US rebuilt both those countries and established a successful and peaceful future for them both. I am sure there was self-interest there but that's just how things work. I think that the problem for the US has always been understanding the rest of the world properly. To understand you have to engage and avoid the kind of hubris which led to Vietnam and also the aftermath of Iraq. I'd like to see a US president who really understands the rest of world not one who turns inward.

Very nice. Thanks for posting.

Scotty - have you no sense of humour ... sorry humor? You say almost no way it would happen ... therefor you have left open the possibility it might. I admire your realism. Jolly good show.

Why don't you guys just accept you would be far happier being part of Greater Britain again. Its been a 250 year experiment that quite frankly has been full of disappointment. Go to Boston, fish the tea bags out of the harbor, pay your taxes properly and we can arrange for proper parliamentary elections and a real democracy. All you have to do is swear allegiance to Her Majesty Elizabeth II and we will overlook your rebellious nature.

Very interesting and well written if I may say so. I would suggest we move this (or you can just copy it) to General Discussion.

OK I do use Google and after some looking around I found it eventually. Its not krst but qrst (originally) ... qrs means 'to bury' and qrs.t is the noun 'burial'. Sound shift q > k is believable. So you can get krst meaning burial. A title of Osiris is neb-qrst meaning Lord of Burial. Birch apparently makes a link to 'gs' meaning anoint ... on the basis that the mummification process involved use of oils (as well as salts i.e. natron). So another sound shift qrs > krs > gs ... hmm not sure about that one. Oh well thanks ... I like to be certain where these ideas are coming from. PS. I won't comment on the US/Christian agenda ... as a Brit it all means little to me. You should have remained a colony and could have become as secular as we are (ironically in view of the established church) .... (lol)

Yes that is quoted in the OP.

Thanks Ralis very interesting. It suggest I think that we are actually biologically geared up to adapt to changing and mildly antagonistic environments. The idea that healthy balance is a kind of stress free comfort zone is wrong. Rather we should enjoy a level of challenging stimulation. A waking up process rather than a sleepy one.

Vmarco, What is this word Krst? Is it Ancient Egyptian ... all I can find is 'khr' which means tomb and also the word for anoint with oil is 'gs'. Your ideas are interesting but I like to look for the origins of anything Egyptian. Late representations of Serapis do look very Christ-like BTW. Thanks A.

Thank you for that explanation.