"In this excerpt from NOVAs two-hour special, The Bibles Buried Secrets, archeologist William Dever describes evidence that the ancient Israelite God, YHWH, had a female counterpart. "
In the complete 'Bibles Buried Secrets' [available on YouTube] Nova shows how ancient Judaism changed from polytheistic to monotheistic, and along the way Jehovah [YHWH] got rid of his wife. Contemporary Judaism, Christianity and Islam would all probably prefer to ignore this newest archeological and historical evidence.
"The last convoy of U.S. soldiers pulled out of Iraq on Sunday, ending nearly nine years of war that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives and left a country still grappling with political uncertainty.
The war launched in March 2003 with missiles striking Baghdad to oust dictator Saddam Hussein closes with a fragile democracy still facing insurgents, sectarian tensions and the challenge of defining its place in the Arab region.
The final column of around 100 mostly U.S. military MRAP armored vehicles carrying 500 U.S. troops trundled across the southern Iraq desert through the night along an empty highway and across the Kuwaiti border.
Honking their horns, the last batch of around 25 American military trucks and tractor trailers carrying Bradley fighting vehicles crossed the border early on Sunday, their crews waving at fellow troops along the route.
"I just can't wait to call my wife and kids and let them know I am safe," Rodolfo Ruiz said as the border came into sight. Soon afterwards, he told his men the mission was over, "Hey guys, you made it."
For President Barack Obama, the military pullout is the fulfillment of an election promise to bring troops home from a conflict inherited from his predecessor, the most unpopular war since Vietnam and one that tainted America's standing worldwide."
..."the most unpopular war since Vietnam and one that tainted America's standing worldwide."
As Americans mark the end of the Iraq war, they should acknowledge the loss of countless innocent Iraqi lives — losses for which the United States bears responsibility.
It is accepted that Saddam Hussein was a monster, but many of the actions by the Americans during the war and occupation of Iraq have been monstrous as well.
"One by one, the Marines sat down, swore to tell the truth and began to give secret interviews discussing one of the most horrific episodes of America’s time in Iraq: the 2005 massacre by Marines of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha.
...The 400 pages of interrogations, once closely guarded as secrets of war, were supposed to have been destroyed as the last American troops prepare to leave Iraq. Instead, they were discovered along with reams of other classified documents, including military maps showing helicopter routes and radar capabilities, by a reporter for The New York Times at a junkyard outside Baghdad. An attendant was burning them as fuel to cook a dinner of smoked carp.
The documents — many marked secret — form part of the military’s internal investigation, and confirm much of what happened at Haditha, a Euphrates River town where Marines killed 24 Iraqis, including a 76-year-old man in a wheelchair, women and children, some just toddlers. . . . "
"You cannot SMS ullu chod [owl fucker] in Pakistan anymore. Nor can you SMS monkey crotch if you had any reason to do so.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has banned 1,795 expletives on SMS, ordering telecom companies to filter out SMS-es containing these offending words with effect from 21 November 2011. The letter includes a list of 1,109 English words, more pornographic terms than expletives, and another 586 Urdu words which are more colourful sexual expletives of the standard South Asian kind rather than the plain garden variety pornography.
A letter from the PTA, dated 14 November and signed by its Director General (Services), Muhammed Talib Doger invokes the “Protection from Spam, Unsolicited, Fraudulent and Obnoxious Communication Regulations, 2009″ to pass the order. . . . . "
The Express Tribune also comments on this latest revelation from Pakistani PTA.
Pakistanis can still rape, pillage, murder, throw acid in the faces of women who piss them off [as long as they sing the praises of Allah], but mentioning 'owl fuckers', 'Athletes Foot', willies, condoms and more than a thousand other 'offensive' words will be forbidden.
"Speaking from the White House, President Barack Obama announced today that all US troops in Iraq would be withdrawn by the end of the year. The final drawdown will leave behind thousands of private security contractors and State Department employees.
"As promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year," Obama said during his announcement. "After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over." . . . . .
Between 4,500 and 5,000 private security contractors will remain in Iraq to protect two US consulates and the embassy in Baghdad, according to Denis McDonough, Obama's deputy national security adviser."
The State Department will have 16,000 civilian employees on the ground in Iraq and is preparing for its largest overseas operation since the end of World War II, according to a Washington Post report.
While onlookers in Washington were expecting today's announcement, the official end of the Iraq war is bittersweet for Americans who opposed the costly, bloody conflict in the first place. "Today's announcement marks the end of a war that should never have happened," , , , , ,
A pertinent comment to the above article:
"Sure, the private contractors remain making impressive salaries while our troops come home to fight for decent health care and affordable housing. Big business wins another war ! "
"9-11: Was There an Alternative?" , published in November 2001 and arguably the single most influential post 9-11 book, internationally renowned thinker Noam Chomsky bridged the information gap around the World Trade Center attacks, cutting through the tangle of political opportunism, expedient patriotism, and general conformity that choked off American discourse in the months immediately following. Chomsky placed the attacks in context, marshaling his deep and nuanced knowledge of American foreign policy to trace the history of American political aggression--in the Middle East and throughout Latin America as well as in Indonesia, in Afghanistan, in India and Pakistan--at the same time warning against America’s increasing reliance on military rhetoric and violence in its response to the attacks, and making the critical point that the mainstream media and public intellectuals were failing to make: any escalation of violence as a response to violence will inevitably lead to further, and bloodier, attacks on innocents in America and around the world.
This new edition of 9-11, published on the tenth anniversary of the attacks and featuring a new preface by Chomsky, reminds us that today, just as much as ten years ago, information and clarity remain our most valuable tools in the struggle to prevent future violence against the innocent, both at home and abroad."
It would appear that some charlatans will do absolutely anything to establish the validiity and historicity of Christianity, well, religion in general. The 'Jordanian Codices' episode began in March of this year. But by September it had been established that the 'Jordanian Codices' were undoubtedly fakes, not even very well produced fakes, and David Elkington's proposed book deal was in the process of collapsing.
Fascinating trail of deception, somewhat like a contemporary detective story. This involved story all began with a press release, passed though the hallowed halls of academia and scientific investigation, naturally was touted on Facebook, and eventually found its way to YouTube:
"One of the biggest and best preserved hoards of ancient sealed books, which had been secretly hidden for centuries, has been discovered in Jordan. Early indications are that some of the books could date from the first century CE/ADand may be among the earliest Christian documents, predating the writings of St Paul. Leading academics consider that the find might be as pivotal as the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947.The hoard consists of up to 70 ring-bound books (codices) made of lead and copper. Many of them are sealed on all sides. Scrolls, tablets and other artefacts, including an incense bowl, were also found at the same site. Some of the lead pages are written in a form of archaic Hebrew script with ancient messianic symbols. Some of the writing appears to be in a form of code.There is likely to be considerable academic and political debate about the collection’s authenticity, meaning and interpretation. But now there is also a race against time to safeguard the collection’s future. Having been originally discovered some 5 years ago in a remote cave within a militarized zone by Jordanian Bedouin, the hoard was subsequently acquired by an Israeli Bedouin, who illegally smuggled them across the Border into Israel, wheret hey remain hidden under his protection.However, legal advice has confirmed that the find qualifies as treasure troveunder Jordanian law, and is rightly the property of the Kingdom of Jordan. TheJordanian Government is now working at the highest levels to repatriate and safeguard the collection. The British team leading the work on the discovery fears that the present Israeli ‘keeper’ may be looking to sell some of the books on to the black market, or worse - destroy them.The collection appears to be of mixed provenance. But initial metallurgical tests indicate that some of the books made of lead could date from the firstcentury CE/AD, based on the form of corrosion which has taken place, which experts believe would be impossible to achieve artificially. Sealed books were used by early Christian writers as a code for secret teaching; they were heavily persecuted and needed to protect their knowledge. Until now, no such book has ever been found. The codices were discovered in an area to which Christian refugees are known to have fled after the fall of Jerusalem in 70CE/AD, and where important documents from the same period have previously been found. The existence of a significant, hidden collection of sealed codices is mentioned in the Christian Bible’s Book of Revelation and in other biblical books."
"The current consensus amongst expert bloggers in the fields of Religion, Archaeology and Linguistics is that the Jordinian Lead Codices are in – all probability – not authentic." [many links]
"More scandalous is the complete lack of journalistic integrity, honest research, and thorough fact-checking. These codices might never have been heard of if the authors of the reports for BBC and Fox News (among others) had just checked with the academic community before publishing the “find”. At the very least, the journalists might have used less authoritative language, expressed more caution, and exposed the controversy rather than simply stating, as if doing so made it fact, that these codices were “the earliest Christian texts” and that they held “early images of Jesus. . . . . .”
But my favortite report is from the sensationalist Daily Mail [with lots of lovely photos and is a must see/read]. This British tabloid is always good for a few chuckles.
"Seventy metal books found in cave in Jordan could change our view of Biblical history. For scholars of faith and history, it is a treasure trove too precious for price. This ancient collection of 70 tiny books, their lead pages bound with wire, could unlock some of the secrets of the earliest days of Christianity. . . . . "
"Andrew Wilfahrt changed his gait in the weeks before going off to basic training. He walked more upright. He bulked up with weights. He spoke with a deep Robocop voice. He acted "manly."
Through the eyes of his parents, Jeff and Lori, it was all a bit strange.
This was the boy who told them he was gay at 16 after being confronted with exorbitant bills from Internet chat rooms. Who lobbied for gay rights in his high school and escaped the fists of football players when hockey players came to his rescue. Who had the courage to wear pink and green even after his car was spray-painted with "Go Home Fag!"
All his parents ever wanted was for Andrew to be Andrew.
At 29, he sat his mom and dad down at the kitchen table and told them his life was missing camaraderie, brotherhood. "I'm joining the Army," he said.
The news surprised them. Why would Andrew enter the military, where he'd be forced to deny a part of who he is?
He was a lover of classical music, a composer, a peace activist, a math genius. He studied palindromes, maps, patterns, the U.S. Constitution, quantum physics.
...Then, on February 27, 2011, at the same oak table where Andrew said he was joining up, the Wilfahrts learned their oldest child was gone. . . . . . "
I have just read the CNN article about Andrew Wilfahrt. And wept. He was a truly remarkable human being. A tribute to our species. My heart goes out to his equally incredible and remarkable parents and to his family. I had never heard of Andrew, nor his story, until today, but his brief life, and what it stood for, has become a permanent part of my memory bank. Thank you Andrew, for having been you.
"Göbekli Tepe is a hilltop sanctuary erected on the highest point of an elongated mountain ridge some 15 km (9 mi) northeast of the town of Şanlıurfa in southeastern Turkey. The site, currently undergoing excavation by German and Turkish archaeologists, was erected by hunter-gatherers in the 12th millennium BC (c. 14,000 years ago), before the advent of sedentism. Together with Nevalı Çori, it has revolutionized understanding of the Eurasian Neolithic.
Göbekli Tepe is the oldest human-made place of worship yet discovered. Until excavations began, a complex on this scale was not thought possible for a community so ancient. The massive sequence of stratification layers suggests several millennia of activity, perhaps reaching back to the Mesolithic. The oldest occupation layer (stratum III) contains monolithic pillars linked by coarsely built walls to form circular or oval structures. So far, four such buildings, with diameters between 10 and 30m have been uncovered. Geophysical surveys indicate the existence of 16 additional structures.
Stratum II, dated to Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) (7500–6000 BC), has revealed several adjacent rectangular rooms with floors of polished lime, reminiscent of Roman terrazzo floors. The most recent layer consists of sediment deposited as the result of agricultural activity.
The monoliths are decorated with carved reliefs of animals and of abstract pictograms. The pictograms may represent commonly understood sacred symbols, as known from Neolithic cave paintings elsewhere. The carefully carved figurative reliefs depict lions, bulls, boars, foxes, gazelles, asses, snakes and other reptiles, insects, arachnids, and birds, particularly vultures and water fowl. At the time the shrine was constructed the surrounding country was much lusher and capable of sustaining this variety of wildlife, before millennia of settlement and cultivation resulted in the near–Dust Bowl conditions prevailing today ....."
So Karl Pilkington, in his globe trotting TV series 'An Idiot Abroad', continues in his world wide voyage. In this clip he finds himself in the Jordanian desert and consistent with Karl's luck, the camel he is riding has a breakdown.
God, I love Karl with his perfectly sculpted and very round head, and curiously even his thoughts seem a bit round as well. Absolutely brilliant comentator/philosopher, well, f you are especially fond of roundness.
"This camel's knackered, keeps stopping every 10 minutes. Camels have been around for years, the ships of the desert, that what they're known as . . . . . and we've ended up with the Titanic"..
