Panem et circenses

 

1961 Ford Econoline

 

 

 A scene from "A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS"

Sir Thomas More: "Have I your word that what I say here is between us two?"

The Duke of Norfolk: "Oh, very well."

Sir Thomas More: "And if the king should command you to repeat what I said here?"

The Duke of Norfolk: "I should keep my word to you."

Sir Thomas More: "Then what has become of your oath of obedience to the king?"

The Duke of Norfolk: "You lay traps for me!"

Sir Thomas More: "No, I show you the times."

 

I asked Grok (AI) "What is the fate of the Whore of Babylon?"

The "Whore of Babylon" (also called "Babylon the Great" or "the Great Harlot") is a symbolic figure in the Book of Revelation (primarily chapters 17–18) in the New Testament. Her fate is described in detail and is uniformly one of total, violent, and divinely ordained destruction. 

Key elements of her fate (Revelation 17–18, 19): 

1. Sudden betrayal and destruction by her former allies (Rev 17:16–17)  

• The ten horns (kings) and the beast (Antichrist figure) that once supported and empowered her will turn on her.  
• They will “hate the prostitute,” strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.  
• This is explicitly said to fulfill God’s purpose (“God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose”).

2. Complete desolation and ruin (Rev 18:2–8, 21–24)  She is declared “fallen” twice (“Fallen, fallen is         Babylon the Great!”).  

• Her city becomes a haunt for demons and unclean spirits; no one will ever inhabit it again.  
• In a single hour her plagues come: death, mourning, famine, and she is burned with fire.  
• All international commerce that made her wealthy ceases instantly—ships’ captains and merchants stand afar off, weeping over the smoke of her burning.

3. Divine judgment for specific sins  

• Drunkenness with the blood of the saints and martyrs (17:6,18:24).  
• Seduction and fornication with the kings of the earth (political corruption).  
• Luxury, arrogance, and self-glorification (“I sit as queen…I will never mourn” – 18:7).

4. Heaven and the saints rejoice over her destruction (Rev 19:1–8)

• A great multitude in heaven shouts “Hallelujah!” because God has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality and has avenged the blood of His servants.

• Her smoke “rises up forever and ever,” indicating permanent, irreversible judgment.

 

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. --Lao Tzu

Sandstone

Point Lobos

 

 

 

 

A country run by banks 

will always be in debt

Healthcare run by Big Pharma

will never cure disease

A state run by war 

will never know peace

A nation run by media 

will never know the truth

-Tony Seruga

 

The irony is strong with this one.

 

      Tender-heartedness to a wolf is tyranny to a sheep.

 

 

I’m a-wonderin’ if she remembers me at all

Many times I’ve often prayed

In the darkness of my night

In the brightness of my day

 

The Destiny of the United States

 

Excerpt from "The Priceless Pearl" (1969), Ruhiyyih Rabbani's biography of Shoghi Effendi:

"The American nation...stands, indeed, from whichever angle one observes its immediate fortunes, in grave peril. The woes and tribulations which threaten it are partly avoidable, but mostly inevitable and God-sent..." He went on to point out the changes which these unavoidable afflictions must bring about in the "obsolescent doctrine of absolute sovereignty" to which its government and people still clung and which was so "manifestly at variance with the needs of a world already contracted into a neighbourhood and crying out for unity" and through which this nation will find itself purged of its anachronistic conceptions and prepared to play the great role 'Abdu'l-Bahá foretold for it in the establishment of the Lesser Peace. The "fiery tribulations" to come would not only "weld the American Nation to its sister nations in both hemispheres" but would cleanse it of "the accumulated dross which ingrained racial prejudice, rampant materialism widespread ungodliness and moral laxity have combined, in the course of successive generations, to produce, and which have prevented her thus far from assuming the role of world spiritual leadership forecast by 'Abdu'l-Bahá's unerring pen - a role which she is bound to fulfill through travail and sorrow."

 

Janet Hougham

R.I.P.

 

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.”

― George Orwell, Politics

 

 

Painting by Mars Black

 

Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel

"We desire but the good of the world and happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment.... That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled—what harm is there in this?... Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the “Most Great Peace” shall come...." Bahá'u'lláh

"Find Me" by Sahar & Hoda

"Pass by whatever exists in this world and find Me. I am the Sun of Perception and the Ocean of Science. I revive the withered ones and quicken the dead. I am that Light which illumines the path of Insight. I am the Falcon of the Hand of the Almighty; I bear healing in My wings and teach the knowledge of soaring to the Heaven of Truth." ~~Baha’u’llah

 

 

"In the vastness and diversity of its Holy Writ; in the number of its martyrs; in the valor of its champions; in the example set by its followers; in the condign punishment suffered by its adversaries; in the pervasiveness of its influence; in the incomparable heroism of its Herald; in the dazzling greatness of its Author; in the mysterious operation of its irresistible spirit; the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, now standing at the threshold of the sixth decade of its existence, had amply demonstrated its capacity to forge ahead, indivisible and incorruptible, along the course traced for it by its Founder, and to display, before the gaze of successive generations, the signs and tokens of that celestial potency with which He Himself had so richly endowed it."   --Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By

 

     

 

 

Comfortable digs

 

"Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out" -Emperor Claudius 

From the novel I, Claudius, by Robert Graves

Image from the TV Mini Series (1976)

 

 

1947 Cadillac Series 62 Sedanette Fastback

 

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆:

How is the Bahá'í concept of a New World Order different from commonly understood interpretations of the term?

𝗔𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿:

The Bahá'í concept of a New World Order differs significantly from the commonly understood interpretations of the term, particularly those found in political, conspiracy, and dystopian contexts. Here’s a comparison:

_________________________________

𝟭. 𝗕𝗮𝗵á'í 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿

_________________________________

The Bahá'í Faith envisions a New World Order as a divinely inspired system centered on unity, justice, and peace for all humanity. It is not a political takeover or a secretive global government but rather a transformation in human consciousness and social structures that align with spiritual principles. Key aspects include:

𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱

The Bahá'í teachings emphasize that humanity is one family, and the New World Order is meant to foster global cooperation rather than division.

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 

It is based on divine teachings, advocating for ethical governance, economic justice, and the elimination of prejudice.

𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 

Bahá'ís advocate for a system of global governance built on consultation, justice, and participation, without authoritarian rule.

𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 

A key goal is the establishment of lasting peace through collective security, international cooperation, and disarmament.

𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆

The Bahá'í vision promotes economic justice, eliminating extreme wealth and poverty while ensuring the dignity of all people.

_________________________________________

𝟮. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 "𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿"

_________________________________________

In contrast, the phrase "New World Order" in popular discourse often carries negative or conspiratorial connotations:

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

Many associate it with secret elite groups allegedly plotting global domination through oppressive means.

𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹

Some fear a centralized world government that suppresses national sovereignty and individual freedoms.

𝗗𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 

The term is often linked to fears of authoritarianism, surveillance, and loss of personal rights.

_________________________

In short, the Bahá'í New World Order is an optimistic vision of a just and peaceful global civilization, whereas the popular interpretation is often rooted in fear of authoritarianism and control.

Bahá'i Feast of Alá at my house

"We hear that thou hast in mind to embellish thy house from time to time with a meeting of Bahá'ís, where some among them will engage in glorifying the All-Glorious Lord... Know that shouldst thou bring this about, that house of earth will become a house of heaven, and that fabric of stone a congress of the spirit."               -Abdu'l-Bahá

 

CARMEL SUNSET

Lori D'Ambrosio

 

1956 Mercury Monterey

 

Inspired by a story of Abdu'l-Baha's service to others and selflessness, Jeffrey Cobb serves the dinner he prepared for us on his 15th birthday.

 Nature's Dance

Madelena Santos, Portugal

Satanella variation

 

I just ran across a few names scam-busters posing as elderly victims used in calls to scammers in India. LOL

Gene Poole

Anita Knapp

Anne Teak

Anita Nubody

 

Many people are objecting to the elimination of fact-checkers on Meta platforms.  I've found that community notes on X are effective and are generally free from political bias.

 

Pen and Ink

Alma Sheppard-Matsuo

The story of Jonah is clearly about God's limitless mercy. Nevertheless, believers embrace the literal interpretation of the swallowing by the fish. An expository device appropriate for belief thousands of years ago is superstition today.

 

RENEÉ

Amedeo Modigliani  1917