http://rense.com/general62/method.htm

Seems to be an interesting book. More of our European roots coming to light . . .

http://www.egypt-tehuti.org/books/egyptian-romany.html


This book reveals the Ancient Egyptian roots of the Romany (Gypsies) and how they brought about the civilization and orientalization of Hispania, over the past 6,000 years. The book also shows the intimate relationship between Egypt and Hispania-archeologically, historically, culturally, ethnologically, linguistically, etc., as a result of the immigration of the Egyptian Romany (Gypsies) to Iberia.

Sample Highlights:

The Romany / Bohemians / Gypsies / Gitanos / Moriscos / Mudehars / Mossarabs.
The “orientalization” of Hispania.
The flamenco.
The Running of the Bulls.
The sacrificial rituals of the bull.
The Hispanic and other Mediterranean Basin languages.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Table of Contents


Table of Contents  5
Preface  9
Standards and Terminology  14
Map of the Mediterranean Basin  16
Map of Ancient Egypt  17
Map of the Iberian Peninsula  18

 
1. The Romany (Gypsy) Essence of Hispania
The Egipcianos of Hispania
The Egyptian-Iberian Fugitives
The Cultured Romany/Gitanos
The Most Religious
The Timeless Egyptian-Hispanic Culture  21  

 
2. Our Heavenly Mother
The Ascension of the Queen
Lady of Sorrow
The Virgin Mother with the 10,000 Names
Matrilineal/Matriarchal Society
The Ama Rules
The Revered Ama
The Bull of His Mother  37  

 
3. Out of Egypt
The Mirages of Iberia
The Egyptian Romany Colonies
The Egyptian Influence in the Eastern Mediterranean
The Spread of the Egyptian Religion
The Twin Sisters  55  

 
4. The Egyptian-Hispanic Alloys
Who Needed Iberian Minerals?
The Egyptian Knowledge of Metallurgy and Metalworking
The Golden Silver Alloy (Electrum)
The Copper and Bronze Alloys
The Glazing Alloys
The Egyptian Mining Experience
Fortifications of Isolated Communities  67  

 
5. In the Beginning – Almeria
The Sirets and Petrie Archeological Connections
The Telling Tombs
Dry Weather Farming
The Early (New) Settlers  83  

 
6. Masters of the Seas
The Egyptian Ships
Egyptian Goods
The Egyptian Geodesy
Patrons and Shrines of the Seafarers
Our (Holy) Mother of the Sea  93  

 
7. Merchants of the Seas
The Phoenicians’ Homeland
The Egyptian-Phoenician Connection
The Egyptianized Phoenicians
The Seafaring Phoenician/Carthaginians
The (Non-) Phoenician Iberian Colonies  107  

 
8. Canopus and Cádiz: A Tale of Two Harbors
The Gitano Dancers of Cádiz
Egyptian Fishing Techniques at Cádiz
The Many (Egyptian) Names of Cádiz
The Immortal Hercules: The Egyptian Lord of Travel
The Greater Canopus Harbor (Alexandria before Alexander): Maiden of the Seas
The Foundation of Cádiz
The Lost Temples of Cádiz  117  

 
9. The Assyrian Devastation and Aftershocks
The Assyrian Rise
The Egyptian Exodus
Turdetania Urbanization
The Persian Rampage of Egypt  133  

 
10. Romanticizing the Romans
Romanticizing the Romans
The Fictional Romanization of Iberia
The (Non-) Roman Temples and Tombs  141  

 
11. The Moors and the Egyptians
The Identification of the “Moors” (The Moabi Brothers)
The Nomadic Moorish Rulers
The Civilized Populace
The Egyptian Green Revolution
The Egyptian Hispanic Arts and Crafts
The Egyptian Housing and Gardens of Iberia  149  

 
12. The Origin of the Hispanic Languages/Dialects
The Egyptian Source of the Arabic Language
Sound Shifts and Linguistic Studies
The Distinction of a Language
The Intimate Egyptian-Hispanic Tongue
The Divine Mother Language
Romancing the Mother Tongue
Writing Variations and Linguistic Studies  167  

 
13. The Animated Religious Traditions
The Animated Cosmic Order
The Role of Saints
The Cyclical Renewal Festivals
Egyptian Mysticism in Galicia (Priscillianism)
Santiago de Compostela
The Egyptian/Iberian Mystical Societies  191  

 
14. The Egyptian-Hispanic Musical Heritage
The Egyptian Romany Muses
The Music of Civilization
The Heavenly Musical Forms
Love Conquers All
Singing and Poetry
The Musical Instruments
Rhythmic Dancing
The Musical Activities
The Heavenly Muses  207  

 
Glossary  237  
Selected Bibliography  240  
Sources and Notes  249  
Index  258  
About T.R.F. Books  268  
Ordering Information  272  

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0%2C6903%2C1396575%2C00.html

The mysterious end of Essex man

Archaeologists now believe two groups of early humans fought for dominance in ancient Britain - and the axe-wielders won

Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday January 23, 2005
The Observer

Divisions in British culture may be deeper than we thought. Scientists have discovered startling evidence that suggests different species of early humans may have fought to settle within our shores almost half a million years ago.
They have found that two different groups - one wielding hand-axes, the other using Stone Age Stanley knives to slash and kill - could have been rivals for control of ancient Britain.

'The evidence is only tantalising, but it is intriguing,' said palaeontologist Chris Stringer, of the Natural History Museum, London. 'Certainly it suggests Britain may well have been multicultural 400,000 years ago.'

This new interpretation of our prehistory is based on the recent discovery of a site - by archaeologists working with engineers building the Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link at Ebbsfleet in Kent - that shows ancient hunters once chased a giant elephant into a bog in Kent, trapped it there and then cut it to pieces, eating its flesh raw.

Four hundred thousand years ago, Britain's climate was warm, there was a land link to the continent and animal life included lions, rhinos, buffalos, and a species of elephant, Palaeoloxodon antiquus - the Ebbsfleet elephant - which stood four metres high at its shoulders and weighed twice its modern African equivalent.

'There are other sites where we have found elephant remains in this country,' said Southampton University archaeologist Dr Francis Wenban Smith, who led the Ebbsfleet excavations. 'However, this is the first that has been found with stone tools and that looks as if it was hunted and butchered.'

But it is the nature of the tools used for this butchery that has raised scientific eyebrows. At other ancient sites around Britain, archaeologists have found hand axes: beautifully honed, fist-sized tools that were probably held like daggers and used to rip and stab prey by a species of human called Homo heidelbergensis.

But none was found at Ebbsfleet. Instead, there were remains of dozens of much smaller stone implements, made up of razor-sharp flakes and blades. 'They were like Stanley knives,' said Wenban Smith. 'They could have slashed and torn to devastating effect.' Only one other major site in Britain, plus a couple of smaller ones, has revealed this distinctive assemblage of smaller stone tools: at Clacton, in Essex. Until recently, scientists were unsure of the importance of this 'Clactonian' culture. Now they have found a second, major site, a discovery that could have profound ramifications.

'This is extremely important,' said Prof Stringer, director of the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project, which is investigating how the British Isles were originally colonised. 'It certainly supports the idea that there was more than one ancient culture at this time.'

Cultural variation in a creature that relied on brute strength and little intelligence for survival is considered improbable by scientists, a point stressed by Michael Pitts, editor of British Archaeology. 'That hominids this ancient should express "cultural" variation would add a new perspective to the behaviour of creatures that many of us still think of as being nearer apes than humans,' he states in the current issue of the journal.

Instead, he argues that two completely different human species, each with its own culture, may have been slugging it out for conquest of our shores.

The trouble is that scientists are stymied by the paucity of remains of men and women from this period. They have lots of tools but only a shinbone, two teeth and some bits of skull from a human.

'At this time in Europe, Homo heidelbergensis was giving way or evolving into Neanderthals,' said Stringer. 'But there are hints gleaned from comparing bits of their bones and tools that we have found in Britain and the continent that there may be separate species of this creature: one that made hand-axes and one that did not. This is one of the big questions of human evolution studies today and a major focus for our work.'

As to who triumphed in Britain between the hand axe wielders and the Clactonians, scientists have established that the remains of the former are almost always found in more recent archaeological layers and appear to replace those of the Clactonians. In other words, the fate of the first Essex men was probably extinction.

By posting this, I am not necessarily agreeing with the spin on this article, but I think it is interesting to juxtapose pop culture of today with years past - what is being fed into our ears - makes me wonder if it is possibly socially engineered.

http://rense.com/general62/decline.htm

Decline Of American Culture - Lyrics Then & Now

From Olivia
1-26-5

Hi Jeff,
 
You and your guests talk a lot about the decline of American culture, and a little research I did on the matter reinforced that point nicely.
 
I looked at Billboard's top ten of their 'Hot 100' songs (which uses both radio plays and sales to rank songs) for 2003. I summarized the theme(s) of each song in a couple of words and extracted a sample lyric. If the song contained any 'mystery lyrics' -- those written in whatever passes as 'English' these days, but which have no meaning to the average educated person -- I included those as well.
 
I then did the same thing for the year 1981, the year I graduated high school. (Since songs were written in 'real' English 20 years ago, there are no 'mystery lyrics' among those songs.)
 
The differences are profound. Whilst the 1981 lyrics wax poetic about love and relationships, the 2003 lyrics are an orgy of sex, violence and drugs. Oh, yes and a good helping of obsessive 'love.' A sad comment on the state of our culture, don't you think?
 
And before anyone protests that sex, drugs and violence were also themes in songs from the 80s (or 70s or 60s), let me just say that this little exercise was not meant as exhaustive research, but rather to show the differences in the 10 MOST POPULAR, MOST LISTENED TO songs for each year I researched.
 
Read it and open your eyes to where we are headed.
 
+++++++++++++++++
 
2003 Billboard Hot 100 (Top 10)
 
1. 50 Cent - 'In Da Club'
[sex, drugs, alcohol, violence]
 
You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub
Look mami I got the X if you into taking drugs
I'm into having sex, I ain't into making love
So come give me a hug if you into to getting rubbed
 
mystery lyric:
But homie ain't nothing change hold down, G's up
I see Xzibit in the Cutt that nigga roll that weed up
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/50-Cent/In-Da-Club.html
 
=============
 
2. R. Kelly - 'Ignition'
[sex]
 
Girl, please let me stick my key in your ignition, babe
So I can get this thing started and get rollin', babe
See, I'll be doin' about 80 on your freeway
Girl, I won't stop until I drive you crazy
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/R-KELLY/Ignition.html
 
=============
 
3. Sean Paul - 'Get Busy'
[sex]
 
It's all good girl turn me on
'Til the early morn'
Let's get it on
Let's get it on 'til the early morn'
Girl it's all just turn me on
 
mystery lyric:
Me want fi see you get live 'pon the riddim weh we ride
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Sean-Paul-Busta-Rhymes/Get-Busy.html
 
=============
 
4. Beyonce Knowles - 'Crazy In Love'
[obsessive love]
 
Got me looking so crazy, my baby
I'm not myself lately
I'm foolish, i don't do this
I've been playing myself
Baby i don't care
Cuz your love got the best of me
And baby you're making a fool of me
You got me sprung and i don't care who sees
Cuz baby you got me so crazy
 
mystery lyric:
Young hova
Ya'll know when the flow is loco
Young b and the r-o-c uh oh
O-G, big homie
The one and only
Stick boney but the pockets are fat like ton
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Beyonce-Knowles/Crazy-In-Love.html
 
=============
 
5. 3 Doors Down - 'When I'm Gone'
[obsessive love]
 
Everything I am
And everything in me
wants to be the one
You wanted me to be
I'll never let you down
Even if I could
I'd give up everything
If only for your good
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/3-DOORS-DOWN/When-I-m-Gone.html
 
=============
 
6. Matchbox 20 - 'Unwell'
[mental illness]
 
I'm talking to myself in public
Dodging glances on the train
And I know, I know they've all been talking about me
I can hear them whisper
And it makes me think there must be something wrong with me
Out of all the hours thinking
Somehow I've lost my mind
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/MATCHBOX-20/Unwell.html
 
=============
 
7. Chingy - 'Right Thurr'
[sex]
 
I like the way you look in them pants, see ya fine
You're momma a quarter piece, she far from a dime
The type of girl that'll getcha' up and go make you grind
I'm thinkin' about snatchin' her up, dirty; makin' her mine
 
mystery lyric:
Girl can I taste yo khaki for three hundred to step,
Like buyin' a throwback
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Chingy/Right-Thurr.html
 
=============
 
8. Aaliya - 'Miss You'
[obsessive love]
 
I...can't...breathe...no...more
Since you went away I
Don't really feel like talkin'
Don't wanna hear you don't love me
Baby do you understand me
I can't do a thing without you
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/AALIYAH/Miss-You.html
 
=============
 
9. Kid Rock with Sheryl Crow - 'Picture'
[sex, drugs, booze]
 
Livin' my life in slow hell
Different girl every night at the hotel
I ain't seen the sun shine in three damn days
Been fuelin' up on cocaine and whiskey
Wish I had a good girl to miss me
Lord, I wonder if I'll ever change my ways
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Kid-Rock/Picture-Featuring-Sheryl-Crow.html
 
=============
 
10. Evanescence - 'Bring Me To Life'
[obsessive love]
 
Wake me up
Wake me up inside
I can't wake up
Wake me up inside
Save me
Call my name and save me from the dark
Wake me up
Bid my blood to run
I can't wake up
Before I come undone
Save me
Save me from the nothing I've become
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/EVANESCENCE/Bring-Me-To-Life.html
 
+++++++++++++++++
 
1981 Billboard Hot 100 (Top 10)
 
1. Kim Carnes - 'Bette Davis Eyes'
[seductive woman]
 
And she'll tease you
She'll unease you
All the better just to please you
She's precocious and she knows just what
It takes to make a pro blush
She's got Greta Garbo stand off sights
She's got Bette Davis eyes
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Kim-Cares/Bette-Davis-Eyes.html
 
=============
 
2. Lionel Ritchie with Diana Ross - 'Endless Love'
[love]
 
And your eyes
Your eyes, your eyes
They tell me how much you care
Ooh yes, you will always be
My endless love
Two hearts,
Two hearts that beat as one
Our lives have just begun
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Lionel-Richie/Endless-Love.html
 
=============
 
3. Kenny Rogers - 'Lady'
[love]
 
Lady, I'm your knight in shining armor and I love you
You have made me what I am and I am yours
My love, there's so many ways I want to say I love you
Let me hold you in my arms forever more
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Kenny-Rogers/Lady.html
 
=============
 
4. John Lennon - '(Just Like) Starting Over'
[love]
 
Our life together is so precious together
We have grown, we have grown
Although our love is still special
Let's take a chance and fly away somewhere
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/John-Lennon/just-Like-Starting-Over.html
 
=============
 
5. Rick Springfield - 'Jessie's Girl'
[forbidden love]
 
And I'm lookin' in the mirror all the time
Wonderin' what she don't see in me
I've been funny; I've been cool with the lines
Ain't that the way love's supposed to be
Tell me why can't I find a woman like that
You know I wish that I had Jessie's girl
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Rick-Springfield/Jessie-s-Girl.html
 
=============
 
6. Kool & The Gang - 'Celebration'
[celebrate]
 
Everyone around the world
Come on
It's a celebration
Celebrate good times
Come on
It's a celebration
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Kool-The-Gang/Celebration.html
 
=============
 
7. Daryl Hall & John Oates - 'Kiss On My List'
[love]
 
My friends wonder why I call you all the time
What can I say
I don't feel the need to give such secrets away
You think maybe I need help, no, I know that I'm right
I'm just better off not listening to friends' advice
When they insist on knowing my bliss
I tell them this
When they want to know what the reason is
I only smile when I lie, then I tell them why
(Because your kiss) your kiss is on my list
Because your kiss is on my list of the best things in life
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Hall-Oates/Kiss-on-My-List.html
 
=============
 
8. Eddie Rabbit - 'I Love A Rainy Night'
[nature]
 
Well, I love a rainy night
It's such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain on my face
To taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadows
Puts a song in this heart of mine
Puts a smile on my face every time
'Cos I love a rainy night
 
http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/eddie_rabbit/i_love_a_rainy_night.html
 
=============
 
9. Dolly Parton - '9 to 5'
[work, ambition]
 
They let you dream just to watch them shatter
You're just a step on the boss man's ladder
But you've got dreams he'll never take away
In the same boat with a lot of your friends
Waitin' for the day your ship'll come in
And the tide's gonna turn
and it's all gonna roll your way.
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Dolly-Parton/9-To-5.html
 
=============
 
10. Reo Speedwagon - 'Keep On Lovin' You'
[love, forgiveness]
 
And though I know all about those men
Still I don't remember
Cause it was us baby, way before then
And we're still together
And I meant, every word I said
When I said that I love you I meant
That I love you forever
 
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Reo-Speedwagon/Keep-on-Loving-You.html

http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/25/bush.meeting.ap/index.html

Bush talks issues with black leaders
To meet with Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Posted: 7:22 AM EST (1222 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush told black leaders Tuesday that his plan to add private accounts to Social Security would benefit blacks since they tend to have shorter lives than some other Americans and end up paying in more than they get out . . .

http://batr.org/autonomy/012005.html

It is interesting to think about this term "Anti-Semitism" - and more interesting to notice the adaptation of this term in today's times.

I think if one goes back into history, the term "anti-Semitism" most likely stemmed from the European persecution of Muslims and Jews. Today the use of the term is succinctly aligned with anti-Jewish sentiments. It is interesting how this works. Today it is acceptable and is actually foreign policy to be "anti-Semitic" against middle-eastern adherents to Islam. It is not acceptable however to be  "anti-Semitic" towards Jews, many of which are more thoroughly European than "Semitic."

It seems that the white power structure has co-opted the Jewish identity for itself  while maintaining the same old anti-Semitism while fighting "anti-Semitism."

Interesting . . . a pattern perhaps? . . .  

""Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know." - Donald Rumseld

http://kurtnimmo.com/blog/index.php?p=485

January 07, 2005

Opposing Bush: A Form of Mental Illness?

It’s not the stolen election or the war crimes committed in my name. It’s not the fact Bush is a liar and a criminal. It’s not the Strausscons in the White House and the Pentagon, plotting multiple wars in the Middle East and elsewhere. It’s not Congress, sold out to neolibs, multinational corporations, and Wall Street loan sharks.

It’s me.

I’m suffering from “political paranoia” and need Paxil, a prescription drug for the treatment of anxiety and depression. It’s not the 100,000 dead killed by my government in Iraq. It’s not torture or loose talk of nuking enemies. It is a serotonin imbalance in my brain. I suffer from any number of possible maladies—depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (thus writing this blog every day), and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. I suffer from mental illness and need help.

Congress may come to the rescue—and soon.

“When the 109th Congress convenes in Washington in January, Senator Bill Frist, the first practicing physician elected to the Senate since 1928, plans to file a bill that would define ‘political paranoia’ as a mental disorder, paving the way for individuals who suffer from paranoid delusions regarding voter fraud, political persecution and FBI surveillance to receive Medicare reimbursement for any psychiatric treatment they receive,” writes Hermione Slatkin, Medical Correspondent for the Swift Report. “Rick Smith, a spokesman for Senator Frist, says that the measure has a good chance of passing—something that can only help a portion of the population that is suffering significant distress.”

“If you’re still convinced that President Bush won the election because Republicans figured out a way to hack into electronic voting machines, you’ve obviously got a problem,” says Smith. “If we can figure out a way to ease your suffering by getting you into therapy and onto medication, that’s something that we hope the entire 109th Congress will support.”

Characterizing political dissent as a form of mental illness is the hallmark of authoritarian government. In China, for instance, forensic psychiatrists label dissent “political lunacy” (see Jacob Sullum, Head Games: What are the rules for defining mental illness?) and in Soviet Russia political dissenters were routinely cosigned to mental hospitals. Nowadays, with modern pharmacology, mental hospitals are no longer required—the mental hospital is internalized through chemical intervention.

No need for FEMA camps or “preventive detention” when we have a “medical armamentarium” of serotonin uptake inhibitors. All that is needed now is for Frist and the Republicans to devise a law defining “political paranoia” and determining that “political paranoiacs” are a threat to society.

You will take your Paxil—or something far more debilitating—and by court order. Recall Bush’s effort to screen the entire population for mental illness, i.e., the New Freedom Initiative. Bush’s commission found that “despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed” and recommended comprehensive mental health screening for “consumers of all ages.” Naturally, Frist and the Republicans are mostly concerned about the “political paranoia” form of mental illness, as the above news item indicates.

As a “consumer,” is it possible I am suffering from “political paranoia.” or is the whole thing a product of my feverish imagination and the result of reading too many news items on the web?

Finally, note that I could not find mention of Frist and the classification of “political paranoia” after a lengthy Google news search. Mention of it only appeared on the Swift Report website. Rick Smith’s above quote returned no results. Of course, this does not mean that Bill Frist and the Republicans do not consider the opposition—including more than a few Democrats—as mental cases and tinfoil hatters. Rush Limbaugh calls us nutters every day and millions of gullible Americans take what he says as gospel.


http://kurtnimmo.com/blog/index.php?p=485

Any thoughts on this?

"Not One Damn Dime Day" - Jan 20, 2005
(Mark your calendars now)

Since our religious leaders will not speak out against the war in Iraq,
since our political leaders don't have the moral courage to oppose it,
Inauguration Day, Thursday, January 20th, 2005 is "Not One Damn Dime
Day" in America.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day" those who oppose what is happening in our
name in Iraq can speak up with a 24-hour national boycott of all forms
of consumer spending.

During "Not One Damn Dime Day" please don't spend money. Not one damn
dime for gasoline. Not one damn dime for necessities or for impulse
purchases. Not one damn dime for nothing for 24 hours.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day," please boycott Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target...

Please don't go to the mall or the local convenience store. Please don't
buy any fast food (or any groceries at all for that matter).

For 24 hours, please do what you can to shut the retail economy down.

The object is simple. Remind the people in power that the war in Iraq is
immoral and illegal; that they are responsible for starting it and that
it is their responsibility to stop it.

"Not One Damn Dime Day" is to remind them, too, that they work for the
people of the United States of America, not for the international
corporations and K Street lobbyists who represent the corporations and
funnel cash into American politics.

"Not One Damn Dime Day" is about supporting the troops. The politicians
put the troops in harm's way.

Now 1,200 brave young Americans and (some estimate) 100,000 Iraqis have
died. The politicians owe our troops a plan - a way to come home.

There's no rally to attend. No marching to do. No left or right wing
agenda to rant about. On "Not One Damn Dime Day" you take action by
doing nothing.

You open your mouth by keeping your wallet closed.

For 24 hours, nothing gets spent, not one damn dime, to remind our
religious leaders and our politicians of their moral responsibility to
end the war in Iraq and give America back to the people.

Please share this email with as many people as possible.

The next "Swan"?  
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/12/20/plastic.shtml

wow - the homosexual nature of the power structure effects even the fish.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/12/21/potomac.fish.ap/index.html

Sewage or factory effluent may be cause of 'intersex' abnormality
Tuesday, December 21, 2004 Posted: 10:14 AM EST (1514 GMT)


SHARPSBURG, Maryland (AP) -- Male fish that are growing eggs have been found in the Potomac River near Sharpsburg, a sign that a little-understood type of pollution is spreading downstream from West Virginia, a federal scientist says.

The so-called intersex abnormality may be caused by pollutants from sewage plants, feedlots and factories that can interfere with animals' hormone systems, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

Nine male smallmouth bass taken from the Potomac near Sharpsburg, about 60 miles upstream from Washington, were found to have developed eggs inside their sex organs, said Vicki S. Blazer, a scientist overseeing the research for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Authorities say the problems are likely related to a class of pollutants called endocrine disruptors, which short-circuit animals' natural systems of hormone chemical messages.

Officials are awaiting the results of water-quality testing that might point to a specific chemical behind the fish problems, Blazer said.

"It certainly indicates something's going on," Blazer said of the new findings in Maryland. "But what, we don't know."

The Potomac River is the main source of drinking water for the Washington metropolitan area and many upstream communities. It provides about 75 percent of the water supply to the 3.6 million residents of Washington and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

Blazer, who works at a federal fish lab in Leetown, West Virginia., said she found the latest abnormalities last week while examining tissues from fish taken from the river near Sharpsburg.

The same symptoms had previously been found about 170 miles upstream, in the South Branch of the Potomac in Hardy County, West Virginia.

Blazer and other scientists discovered the problem there last year while investigating a rash of mass fish deaths.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers are seeking money for a much larger study across the Potomac watershed.

Endocrine disruptors comprise a vast universe of pollutants capable of driving a hormone system haywire. Some are hormones themselves -- such as human estrogen from women taking birth-control pills or animal hormones washed downstream with manure -- that can pass through sewage plants untouched.

In Hardy County, officials were especially concerned about chicken waste from poultry farms.

Others endocrine disruptors are hormone "mimics" -- industrial chemicals or factory byproducts which confuse the body because they are chemically similar to natural hormones.

These pollutants are often found in very low concentrations, so until recently no equipment could detect them. But the first nationwide survey, in 1999 and 2000, found hormones in about 37 percent of streams tested.

Many scientists are concerned that people, as well as other animals, might be affected. "It's not good news that there's something that feminizes male fish in your water," said Gina Solomon, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

But the Environmental Protection Agency has not set standards for many of these pollutants. Because of this, many drinking-water plants make no special efforts to remove them.

Authorities in West Virginia are investigating whether there is a link to higher rates of certain cancers in people there.

A recent survey of cancer in Hardy County, where some residents get drinking water from the South Branch, found rates of cancer of the liver, gallbladder, ovaries and uterus that were higher than the state average. All four cancers can in some cases grow faster in the presence of estrogen or chemicals that mimic it, cancer experts said.

"It is at least theoretically possible that those two concepts are worth thinking about side-by-side," said Alan Ducatman, chairman of the Department of Community Medicine at West Virginia University.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/12/21/potomac.fish.ap/index.html

http://rense.com/general60/relka.htm

Relationship
By Judy Andreas
12-19-4

For some time now, I have had a strong desire to write an essay about relationships. What was stopping me was that I knew nothing about them. Sure...I've had relationships ...more than I care to mention, and two marriages as well. (I guess they too classify as relationships) In other words, I had thoroughly researched the topic. But what did I learn?
 
As part of my research, I occasionally listened to what "they" say. I haven't a clue who "they" are...but "they" seem to have a lot to say about things ...and people must respect them because "they" are always being quoted. "They" say that you teach what you need to learn. I guess that makes sense....but I am only guessing. In all honesty, why would you would teach what you have not yourself mastered ? But, obviously, everyone is doing it. The bookstore shelves are overflowing with people who know nothing about relationships and are still writing about them.
 
It's really too bad that the "planet thing" has already been used. I would like to write a book called "Women are from Nebiru and Men are from Uranus." Pardon me, I saw an opportunity for a pun and I carpe diemed it. Actually, I happen to like men and am certainly not faulting them for the course of true love not running smoothly.
 
Did you ever wonder why some couples can make a "go" of it, while other couples merely "go" from it?
 
Obviously, nobody knows what's going on behind closed doors, sometimes not even the members of the couple. When my daughter was 3 years old, her father and I belonged to a baby-sitting cooperative. It was a wonderful way to go out and avoid paying costly baby-sitting fees. The members of the pool would baby-sit for one another. When the couple returned from their night on the town, the husband walked the sitter home. On one occasion, after I finished sitting for Couple X. and as the husband prepared to leave, he and his wife passionately embraced. She said "Hurry home, darling" I tried not to giggle, since we were only walking to the next building. Less than two months later, couple X were two singles. Y? Don't ask me. Perhaps the "hurry home" was prompted by Mr. X's tendency to make other (ahem) stops. Things are not always as they appear.
 
When I was in my early 20's I was called a "raven haired beauty" In the deepest part of me, I was sure that people were talking about somebody else. My physical appearance was my asset and yet , even in the foolishness of youth, I knew that it was a fleeting one. Under the wrappings....the package was empty. Two marriages, three children, and assorted laugh lines later, I embarked on a very different mission; to develop my inners and forget whether or not I was having a "good hair day."
 
In my late teens I became interested in the "mind" and voraciously read the works of Wilhelm Reich and Carl Jung . In my 30's I took the short trip from Carl Jung to metaphysics. Books became appendages and, as time would permit, my nose was well placed between the pages. Armed with some cursory knowledge and questions, I set out on a journey along the spiritual path. Somewhere in the distance, the promise of enlightenment dangled like the proverbial carrot.
 
Later on, however, I realized that the promise of "enlightenment" had been merely a drug to dull the pain of existential loneliness. I concluded that all drugs, including the drug of "relationship" were an attempt to break free of the illusion of the separate self. But...hold on a minute...... I am defying the law of physics and getting ahead of myself.
 
When we think of relationship....we create a picture of that "special someone"....the companion who is going to nurture us and soothe the eternal ache. We think of ecstatic sexual union in which the two become one. We fantasize an end to the sense of separation, alienation and isolation. In most cases, we set ourselves up for failure. Our gauge is on "empty" and another being cannot to fill the isolation tank. In an effort to feel complete, people often enter into relationships that are cruel both mentally and physically while making excuses that even they must find repugnant. Allowing oneself to be treated with anything less than reverence, cannot be dismissed with such cliches as:
 
"She had a tough childhood."
 
We hurt and hurt back and allow shallow motivation and unconscious desires to drive our vehicles into the abyss of codependency. Perhaps, if we could look beyond our own selfish needs.....we might find that, as Moulder said "the truth is out there." And ..the truth is more incredible than the most satisfying orgasm. Can you accept that we are in relationship with everyone and everything on this planet? (Yes....even George Bush) Not only are we in relationship, but, if you will allow me a mystical moment (or more) ...we are part of everything and everyone on this planet. That's not an easy concept for most. The initial leap is believing it. The harder part is living it.
 
Can you look at pictures of mutilated babies in Iraq and realize that they are the flesh of your flesh? Even more challenging, can you look at the ruling elite and apply the same rules?
 
David Icke, in Tales From the Time Loop, states "Infinite love is the only truth-everything else is illusion." It is easy for many to dismiss these words as new age drivel....but that would be sadly missing the mark. These words contain "the biggest secret." Once we come into that state of "infinite love" differences begin to burst like the proverbial bubble. The "many" becomes the "one." The particle becomes the wave.
 
Icke, through his ingestion of a plant called ayahuasca, had an experience of oneness.
"I had no body, I was only consciousness, and I was everything. There were no divisions and no polarities."
 
He concludes "If only people could experience the bliss of Oneness the world of the five-senses would be transformed in an instant."
 
Most people have a hard time understanding the real meaning of the word "love" no less experiencing it. They confuse a state of being with the fleeting euphoria of romantic love and, ultimately, scratch the head of confusion as romantic love becomes bickering and separation. The definition of "Romantic Love" too often contains a hidden agenda "what's in it for me?" rather than "what's in it for you?" Authentic love builds bridges rather than bombs them.
 
Mr. and Mrs. Right is a sitcom whose time has passed. We are at a critical point in history and the window of opportunity is about to close on our pointing, accusing finger of blame.
 
Are we a doomed species or is there still hope? Is it possible for us to extend the boundaries of consciousness? Can we look at one another, despite differences in color, size, shape and age, and see only the sacred and the reverential. Is it possible for us to open our minds and hearts and souls to all sentient beings and accept our true relationship with everything and everyone on this planet? The choice is ours.
 
Copyright 2004: Judy Andreas
www.judyandreas.com
JUDE10901@AOL.com

http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa100499.htm

Prince Henry the Navigator and the Institute at Sagres

Portugal is a country that has no coast along the Mediterranean Sea so the country's advances in worldwide exploration centuries ago comes at no surprise. However, it was the passion and goals of one man who truly moved Portuguese exploration forward.
Prince Henry was born in 1394 as the third son of King John I (King Joao I) of Portugal. At the age of 21, in 1415, Prince Henry commanded a military force that captured the Muslim outpost of Ceuta, located on the south side of the Strait of Gibraltar.

Three years later, Prince Henry founded his Institute at Sagres on the southwestern-most point of Portugal, Cape Saint Vincent - a place ancient geographers referred to as the western edge of the earth. The institute, best described as a fifteenth century research and development facility, included libraries, an astronomical observatory, ship-building facilities, a chapel, and housing for staff.

The institute was designed to teach navigational techniques to Portuguese sailors, to collect and disseminate geographical information about the world, to invent and improve navigational and seafaring equipment, to sponsor expeditions, and to spread Christianity around the world - and perhaps even to find Prester John! Prince Henry brought together some of the leading geographers, cartographers, astronomers, and mathematicians from throughout Europe to work at the institute.

Although Prince Henry never sailed on any of his expeditions and rarely left Portugal, he became known as Prince Henry the Navigator.

The institute's primary exploration goal was to explore the western coast of Africa to locate a route to Asia. A new type of ship, called a caravel was developed at Sagres. It was fast and was much more maneuverable than prior types of boats and though they were small, they were quite functional. Christopher Columbus' ships, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were all caravels.

Caravels were dispatched south along the western coast of Africa. Unfortunately, a major obstacle along the African route was Cape Bojador, southeast of the Canary Islands (located in Western Sahara). European sailors were afraid of the cape, for supposedly to its south lay monsters and insurmountable evils.

Prince Henry sent fifteen expeditions to navigate south of the cape from 1424 to 1434 but each returned with it's captain giving excuses and apologies for not having passed the dreaded Cape Bojador. Finally, in 1434 Prince Henry sent Captain Gil Eannes (who had previously attempted the Cape Bojador voyage) south; this time, Captain Eannes sailed to the west prior to reaching the cape and then headed eastward once passing the cape. Thus, none of his crew saw the dreadful cape and it had been successfully passed, without catastrophe befalling the ship.

Following the successful navigation south of Cape Bojador, exploration of the African coast continued.

In 1441, Prince Henry's caravels reached Cape Blanc (the cape where Mauritania and Western Sahara meet). In 1444 a dark period of history began when Captain Eannes brought the first boatload of 200 slaves to Portugal. In 1446, Portuguese ships reached the mouth of the Gambia River.

In 1460 Prince Henry the Navigator died but work continued at Sagres under the direction of Henry's nephew, King John II of Portugal. The institute's expeditions continued to venture south and then rounded the Cape of Good Hope and sailed to the east and throughout Asia over the next few decades.

from:
http://www.thornr.demon.co.uk/kchrist/overview.html
Portugal and the Military Orders

In the time of the Crusades, two large international military orders were formed to protect Christian interests in the Holy Land - the Templars and the Hospitallers. At the same time, in the Iberian peninsula, military orders were founded to combat the saracen incursions which had begun in the eighth century. About the Templars  
The Templars were founded around 1118, and soon formed commanderies around Europe to support their efforts in the Holy Land. By 1190 they had a castle at Tomar in Portugal. They became a very powerful military, financial and political force over the next two hundred years. Their downfall began in 1307, when Philip of France ordered the arrest of all Templars in France.  

The Foundation of the Order of Christ
King Dinis didn't believe the accusations made against the Templars, and when the Pope dissolved the Templars, he decided to form a new order, to which the Templar holdings would be given. The Order of Christ was founded in 1319. It is unclear whether many Templars continued in the new order. Some writers seem to think that the Templars just continued under a new name, whereas others think that the Order of Christ was a new formation.  

The First 100 Years  
The Headquarters of the order was eventually established at Tomar, which had been the Templar centre since the twelfth century. The Convento de Cristo at Tomar was extended throughout the Order's flowering in the age of discovery. It still exists, and is well worth a visit.

Henry the Navigator and the Seagoing Order
Prince Henry the Navigator was born in 1394, the third son of King João of Portugal.

At the age of nineteen, Henry and his brothers convinced King João to launch a Crusade against Ceuta, a Muslim stronghold on the African side across from Gibraltar. Henry's avowed aim was to extend the Holy Faith of Jesus Christ and bring it to all souls who wish to find salvation. This aim throws some light on his vocation for crusade and exploration.

Soon after the success of the expedition against Ceuta, Henry was appointed Governor of the Order of Christ, beginning an association whereby the Order became involved in Henry's voyages of discovery around the coast of Africa.

The Atlantic islands - the Azores and Madeiras had probably been discovered earlier, but Henry colonised them. His main aim was however to explore, and specifically to go south beyond Cape Bojador, just south of the Canaries, whose reefs and difficult currents had presented a psychological stopping point for previous expeditions. For generations, Spanish sea-lore had asserted that the coast of Africa was unnavigable past this point, and it took Henry 15 expeditions between 1424 and 1434 before one passed beyond the Cape. The exploration continued, and in 1441, an expedition brought back 200 slaves, the first tangible commercial success of the exploration. This changed public opinion of the expeditions, which up to that time had been seen as a waste of money.

The trade continued to prosper, and African goods filled Lisbon's markets and swelled the coffers of the Order of Christ. Trading posts were established, defended by the brethren, while the Templar's red cross continued to sail south. In 1460, the year of Henry's death, King Afonso V granted the Knights of Christ a 5% levy on all merchandise from the new African lands.
 

Discovery After Henry
After a brief hiatus at Henry's death, the discoveries continued. In 1469, King Afonso V granted a five-year monopoly in the West Guinea trade to a wealthy citizen of Lisbon, and then passed this on to his son João, who became King João II.

João continued the explorations, which culminated in Bartolomeu Dias's expedition to the Cape of Africa in 1488. Columbus was present when Dias returned to Lisbon, trying to persuade King João to fund his expedition to the West. Columbus had lived in Portugal from 1476 to 1484, making various sea voyages. Columbus's wife was the daughter of one of Henry's favourite Captains and the first governor of Porto Santo. Columbus spent some time living in Porto Santo, and examining his father-in-law's papers and charts. There are also suggestions that his father-in-law was connected with the Order of Christ. In the end King João was unwilling to support Columbus, and so Columbus went to Spain instead.

In Portugal the discoveries continued. King Manuel, João's successor, sent Vasco da Gama (a member of the Order of Christ) to sail around the Cape of Africa to India. He set sail in 1497 and reached Calicut. By 1509, Portugal had established a Viceroy in India.


The Order after Henry
The power and riches of the Order seem to have peaked in the reign of King Manuel, in the early 1500's. By the end of his reign the order possessed 454 commanderies, in Portugal, Africa and the Indies. Manuel also made extensive additions to the Order's headquarters in Tomar.

However, the religious vocation of the Order was faltering - in 1496 the brethren were dispensed from celibacy, and in 1505 from poverty. One source claims that in 1522 the Order was divided into two branches - one religious under the Pope, and one civil, under the king, as they remain today, although the evidence for this is disputed.

In 1530 there was an extreme attempt to reform the order. Fra Antonio of Lisbon attempted to reimpose the original rule, but this failed, and only a few knights remained under this new discipline.

In 1789 the Portuguese Order lost its religious character, being secularised by Queen Mary. The Papal Order became the Supreme Order of Christ, the highest of the five Pontifical Orders now in existence. Membership is reserved for Christian heads of state.