Myths and Legends of the World

2017 was a year that felt like a century thank from the brat 45 to Mother Nature. Here is some of the highlights of the year. Fight for the Freedom of Press Reports released this week from  Reporters Without Borders , also known as Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), and the  Committee to Protect Journalists  (CPJ), reveal an overall decline in the killings of journalists worldwide in 2017 compared with previous years. But both organizations warn that some of the reasons for this downward trend are not cause for celebration. RSF counted 50 professional reporters killed in the line of duty ― its lowest tally in 14 years ― in addition to the deaths of 15 citizen journalists and media workers. CPJ recorded 42 intentional slayings of journalists, the lowest such number since 2008. Both RSF and CPJ, which conduct their research independently, had listed Syria and Mexico among the deadliest countries when their reports were published on Tuesday and Thursday...

This month is about creation so I am starting with the best known creation story: Genesis. Genesis: in its first three chapters have a major impact on Judaism and Christianity through the ages. It show man fall from grace, the role of women, and reveal we have conflict and death today. If you read carefully you can see how old genesis and the echo of ancient pagan roots. In the beginning, about 3,000 years ago*, Jewish desert dwellers in what is present-day southern Israel told a story around campfires about the creation of the first man and first woman.  The story they told, and passed on to generations of future desert dwellers, described a pre-creation scene much like the desert landscape in which they daily struggled for existence.  From the dry desert dust the Creator forms a man and breaths life into him, and then places him in a beautiful oasis-like garden, abundant with fruits.  The Creator takes a personal interest in this first man, and sets about trying to ...

A message from Mnemosyne; Titan Goddess of Memory. "Remember  some of the key moments of 2013." March 13: Pope Francis elected Roman Catholic history was bent in 2013 by two stunning events: Pope Benedict XVI resigned, the first in 600 years to do so, and elected to replace him was Argentinian bishop Jorge Bergoglio, the first South American and first of the Jesuit order to rise to the papacy. Starting with his appearance on the Vatican balcony March 13, Bergoglio has struck the world as "different." He is the first Pope Francis, honoring mostly St. Francis of Assisi, who renounced family wealth to live as and serve the poor. The new pope followed suit, refusing to move into the luxurious papal apartment. His sharp focus on the poor is just one of the startlingly plainspoken attitudes now issuing from the tradition-bound Vatican. Others include less judgment toward gays and those who've had abortions, more connection with other faiths, firmer dete...

A message from Dr. Asclepius Today is World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988. Today, many scientific advances have been made in HIV treatment, there are laws to protect people living with HIV and we understand so much more about the condition. But despite this, people do not know the facts about how to protect themselves and others from HIV, and stigma and discrimination remain a reality for many people living with HIV. World AIDS Day is important as it reminds the public and Government that HIV has not gone away – there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education. HIV Fact: HIV stands for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a virus which attac...

Early this morning the two cities known as Sodom and Gomorrah were destoryed. Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Qur'an. According to the Torah, the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim and Bela. These five cities, also known as the "cities of the plain", were situated on the Jordan river plain in the southern region of the land of Canaan. The Jordan river plain (which corresponds to area just north of the modern day Dead Sea) has been compared to the garden of Eden, being a land well-watered and green, suitable for grazing livestock and farming. The Book of Genesis is the primary source that mentions the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Major and minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible have also referred to Sodom and Gomorrah to parallel their prophetic events. In suite, the New Testament also contains passages of parallels to the destruction and s...

Thank the gods the Defense of Marriage Act, the law barring the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages legalized by the states, is unconstitutional , the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday by a 5-4 vote. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion: " The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity.  By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment.” Justice Kennedy delivered the court’s opinion, and was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito all filed dissenting opinions. Justice Clarence Thomas joined Scalia's dissent in whole and parts ...

What is Loving v. Virginia?  Loving v. Virginia is the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared unconstitutional any ban on interracial marriage.It’s hard to believe, but it was around 1992 before a majority of Americans supported interracial marriage. That’s crazy! Also crazy: kids who were born in 1992 are turning 21 this year, which means they're just hitting the world of adult dating. Raised in a climate of tolerance and approval, interracial coupling is simply no big deal to these youngsters. And on June 12, we’re coming up on the 46th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case that ended state bans on miscegenation. At the same time, we’re just days away from a Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8, another milestone in the civil rights fight. So, with interracial couples no big deal, a civil rights milestone nearing the half-century mark and another milestone waiting in the wings, is marriage and equality on everyone’s mind at ...

The Goddess Hera told me the benefits of same-sex marriage. Legalizing same-sex marriage can be politically beneficial for lawmakers, considering about. But marriage equality has its economic incentives as well.

10 ways to cut the budget of the United State Government without raising taxes on the wealth (pussy Republican). Prison Reform The U.S. incarcerates its citizens at a rate roughly five times higher than the global average. We have about 5 percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of its prisoners, according to The Economist,. This status quo costs our local, state and federal governments a combined $68 billion a year -- all of which becomes a federal problem during recessions, when states look to Washington for fiscal relief. Over the standard 10-year budget window used in Congress, that's a $680 billion hit to the deficit. Solving longstanding prison problems -- releasing elderly convicts unlikely to commit crimes, offering treatment or counseling as an alternative to prison for non-violent offenders, slightly shortening the sentences of well-behaved inmates, and substituting probation for more jail-time -- would do wonders for government spending. End ...