On the Nature of Evil

Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1830, Louvre) - Photo: Wikipedia

In psychological terms, evil is an aberration of the ego. An evil ego has a strong desire to dominate other egos. An evil person knows that terror is the most effective way to dominate other people because terror induces incapacitating fear. People who are stricken with fear cannot take effective action to defend themselves and while they are in that state, an evil person can do anything they want to do to them. This aberration of the ego can be termed "sick" because the perverted ego will inflict pain and suffering in order to experience the joy and thrill of being in total control. A healthy ego will not do that. A healthy ego is self-sufficient, peaceful, joyful in its natural state, and it has a desire to help and serve others. A healthy ego does not have a desire to dominate and it will not purposefully inflict pain and suffering. The concept of ego domination has been practiced throughout human history but it has not necessarily been fully understood by the practitioners. 

However, in the 20th century, the Nazi's not only fully understood the concept, but they were the scientists of evil. They perfected the science of terror for the first time in history. "Blitzkrieg" is the term for warfare that terrorizes without warning, completely surprising the victims and totally incapacitating them by knocking them out before they have a chance to understand what is happening to them. Torture on a mass level is the method for keeping a population in a state of terror. This is the sick psychology of evil.

In religious or spiritual terms, evil is an aberration of the soul. The soul can be defined as that which was created in the image of God so it is naturally peaceful, loving, happy and eternal. Let us assume that God gave his/her children the gift of free will. Let us also assume that in the beginning, there was a soul named Lucifer who was an angel. In response to the gift of free will, all the other angels exclaimed, "Thank you very much, God, how beautiful your gift is!" Their response was not surprising because the angels were simply reacting in accordance with their true nature. Lucifer retorted, "Really. I can do anything I want to do now? OK, fine. I want to be God." Lucifer's vanity was the aberration. Not particularly liking Lucifer's retort, God banished Lucifer from heaven. 

Lucifer's reaction to being banished from The Fun House was to dedicate his existence to wreaking as much havoc as possible. God was caught in his/her own trap because free will precludes interference. But I have to assume that God has a vastly superior intellect and undoubtedly foresaw this possible outcome. Almost all believers think there is a Master Plan. If there is one, it follows logically that evil is a part of the plan because otherwise, the Almighty would have put a stop to it immediately.

Anybody who has a basic grasp on the reality of human existence knows that it's not possible to manifest everything we want and desire by applying our free will, concentrating our minds, working hard to get what we want, or even through the power of prayer. There is a will in our universe that is infinitely stronger than our free will. If our will and desire happen to be in sync with the infinite will, then we can manifest our desire. If our will and desire are not in sync with the infinite will, we can try, try, and try again ad infinitum and nothing will happen except that we will frustrate ourselves. Someone once said, "When the Karmic Door is shut, even if you have the right key, the lock won't turn." For example, all my life I've had an overpowering desire to be rich and famous. Say what you want about me, but there's no question that I have a powerful will, a powerful mind, and I'm a high energy person who pursues his dreams with great vigor (oh thank you, JFK). Now witness the fact that I'm still destitute and completely unknown!

Individual free will tends to have very limited power. On the other hand, mass free will can be defined as what occurs when many millions of individuals unite in basic agreement behind a common purpose and mass free will tends to be unstoppable. I believe that when masses of people unite behind a good purpose, the universe smiles and says "Go!" Now consider what has occurred as a result of the aberrant free will unleashed by the dictators of the 20th century. World War II is believed to have been necessary in order to stop Hitler once and for all. But there was a moment in time when the expenditure of millions of American lives would not have been necessary. Winston Churchill knew when that window of opportunity had opened up but he was unable to muster the forces of resistance in time. America was isolationist and England could not do the job alone because Nazi Germany had become too powerful by the time Churchill had achieved political control of England. We have seen many atrocious people ascend to power in various countries. A few examples are Stalin in Russia, Pol Pot in Cambodia, and Idi Amin in Uganda. The list of atrocious dictators is a long one but I'd like to focus on Saddam Hussein because he is our creation in the sense that we trained him, armed him, and even supported him against his enemies in the mistaken belief that he would remain "our boy". By the time our government understood that big mistake, it was too late and we have paid dearly for our government's mistake. The invoice for our cost is still mounting and our soldiers are still dying in a foreign land.

There is an answer to the problem of stopping evil on Earth from getting out of control, and the answer does NOT involve having America police the world. Why should the American people pay the cost of having a world police force? The cost of our military might is in the trillions and the debt affects our daily lives by increasing our cost of living dramatically. The reality is that evil must be resisted and overcome the very moment it first manifests itself before its power grows and becomes unmanageable. But the responsibility for dealing with planetary evil should not rest on the United States alone. An emasculated body already exists whose proper job it should have been to assume that responsibility. I'm talking about the United Nations and I'm suggesting the creation of a United Nations Rapid Strike Force which should possess the best weapons, technology and training possible. It's not too late to re-invest the United Nations with the power, the authority, and the freedom to act without being stopped in the Security Council by one major power and I'm suggesting that the United Nations Charter be revised to give it the power to act on the basis of majority rule in the General Assembly. A majority vote in the General Assembly is the truly democratic method of reaching an appropriate decision to send in the Rapid Strike Force.

Consider how many lives have been lost in the 20th-century wars against evil governments that expanded their destructive power outside their own borders. We must understand that somebody needs to stop these governments whenever they wreak havoc on their own people, not only because terror is WRONG, but also because massive governmental cruelty is the warning sign that an evil government is in the process of expanding its power. We should not wait until a country like Iraq becomes dangerous outside its borders. By the time that happens, a war (legal or undeclared) is necessary and too many lives are lost. It's no longer practical for us to believe that individual countries have an inherent right to do anything they want to do within their own borders. Even the smallest atrocious government can endanger the world if they are able to develop nuclear weapons. They can even buy or steal nuclear bombs. I believe that whenever terror and torture become methods of governing, the concept of territorial autonomy needs to be abrogated - if not in the name of human rights, then it should be done for our own protection. A United Nations Rapid Strike Force is the answer because the window of opportunity to eliminate an atrocious government without excessive expenditure of lives occurs during the beginning of the government's expansion of power, and that window is only open for a short period of time. The idea is to blitzkrieg evil before it gets a chance to blitzkrieg us.

Of course, I realize that America would have to release some of its power and accept the possibility that a decision could be implemented with which America would not agree. But that would be a small price to pay in order to save thousands or even millions of American lives. That would also be a small price to pay to get out from under the crushing debt that has been and is being incurred for maintaining the gigantic military force that Americans believe is justified in order protect ourselves and to police the world. I believe that it is the responsibility of the world to police itself. If you've gotten this far in your reading and you agree that my idea has merit, please write to your representative in Congress. That would make me feel much better about being destitute and completely unknown. (Text from 2007 !!)

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The Past of Ancient Egypt In a Nutshell

Photo: Pixabay

The long past Egyptian civilization is a great one, and you will be hard pressed to find someone to who will think otherwise. Ancient Egypt in modern terminology is situated in Africa, in the northwest area. 

The Nile River, in most cases just called the 'Nile', passed through the center of the civilization. The northern part was known as Lower Egypt, and the southern part as Upper Egypt - a fact which has lead to some misunderstanding among tourists. The Nile is understood as the longest river in the world, but recent scientists find that there is a possibility that the Amazon River situated in South America may be a short distance longer. 

Specifically, there are three separate sections or periods of time that Egyptian history can be divided up into. These are known as the Old Kingdom, the Central Kingdom, and the Modern Kingdom. Each period has specific facts which are unique to it, and are best learned and studied independently.

The kingdoms of ancient Egypt were under the leadership of the Pharaoh at the time, and in fact, the ancient Egyptian individuals themselves held the strong expectation that somehow their gods were responsible for choosing each Pharaoh, thus the inhabitants could rest soundly at night, knowing that all was under control. In fact, the government of ancient Egypt can be described as the first national government in the world, and people referred to as viziers, who were officials assigned to the Pharaoh, also helped to rule.

The Egyptian culture, like the Sumerian culture, had a language and writing system of their own. A Papyrus plant was used to make paper - thus defining the origin of the word, paper!

A lot of people find the ancient cultures, Egyptian significantly, to be profoundly mysterious as a result of the incredible massive monuments, most significantly the Great Pyramid at Giza, very close to Cairo, that remains to this day.

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History Of The American Flag Explained

American Flag

It was on January 1, 1776, that the Continental army was restructured and adjusted according to a Congressional resolution which heralded American forces to the command of George Washington. On that day, the American Continental Army was blockading Boston which had been taken over by the British army. It has been said that the first American flag was made in May of 1776 by Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress who was actually a friend of George Washington and acquainted with other prominent and high-ranking Philadelphians.

Ross suggested that the five-pointed star is used instead of the star with six points. This is because the five-pointed star can be cut off easily with a few trims of the scissors. It is also said that Betsy Ross was the one who made the flags for the Pennsylvanian navy. However, the first unofficial flag of America was called the Grand Union Flag, also known as the Continental Colors. It was raised at the order and command of General Washington close to his headquarters outside Boston January 1, 1776. This first unofficial flag was composed of thirteen alternating white and red horizontal stripes, with the British Union Flag in the canton. However, the first official American flag was accepted by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. This flag was also known as the Stars and Stripes for it consisted of 13 stars which represented the first 13 colonies. However, there is no assurance of who actually designed and made this flag. It is said that it was Francis Hopkinson, a Continental Congress member, designed the flag.

However, between 1777 and 1960, the Congress implemented procedures that varied its shape, design, and structure of the flag. And it was decided that there was a need for additional starts to represent all the states of America. It was on January 3, 1959, that President Eisenhower issued an executive order which states that the arrangement of the stars should be in six horizontal rows of eight, every single point of every star directed upward. In 1791 and 1792, after Kentucky and Vermont were added to the Union, two stars and two stripes were added during 1795.

This brought inspiration to lawyer Francis Scott Key to write and compose a poem which later became the U.S. National Anthem. It was in 1818 that five more states had been added and declared and the Congress decided to pass legislation that fixes the number of stars and stripes. The stars would have equal numbers as the states. On July 4, 1960, the last new star was added after Hawaii became a state, which gives a total number of fifty stars. The American Flag has been the emblem of the nation’s power and harmony for more than 200 years. It serves as the binding material that brings millions of citizens together in attaining one goal.

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How to defeat terrorism

Photo: Pixabay

Stopping terrorism is not like gambling, in poker, there are different variables that can affect the outcome but it fighting terror the only way to win is to fight to the end.

Many people think that the terrorist feels they have been wronged by something or someone and that giving them something will end the fight be it land or money, but history has repeatedly shown us that by appeasing the terrorists we are only giving them what they want and prolonging the fight. They will continue to take everything they are given but they never stop wanting more.

An example of this is clear in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Israel allows the PLO to return to the west bank and Gaza and form the Palestinian Authority, Israel supplied weapons and the Americans provided training to the Palestinians so they could start an army to fight crime and terrorism.

Israel was repaid by the terrorists by suicide bombings in malls, restaurants, clubs, and busses. 

More recently Israel pulled all Jews from Gaza and gave all the land to the Palestinians. The Israelis left behind infrastructure and greenhouses, which could have been used for businesses by the Palestinians. The moment the last troops were out of Gaza the terrorists destroyed what the Israelis left behind and again repaid them with rockets on Sderot and Ashkelon, two Jewish cities bordering Gaza.

Many of you are thinking that these problems were brought on by the Israelis stealing Palestinians land, but what was it that the United States did that angered Al Qaeda?

Many will say it is because America has troops in Saudi Arabia where the two holiest locations to the Muslim people are, these people are wrong. This fight is not about the terrorists wanting America out of the Middle East. 

This was is about the pride of one individual. Osama Bin Laden, and that’s all it is about. 

In 1991 when Saddam Hussein Invaded Kuwait, Saudi Arabia was worried and was looking to get help to protect its oil fields. Osama Bin Laden offered his assistance to help protect his homeland with the help of his Mujahadim, who had helped protect Afghanistan from the Russians in the 80's.

But rather than gamble on Bin Laden's holey warriors, the Saudis asked for help from the United States, and this wounded Bin Laden's pride. Now Bin Laden is on a quest to show the world that he is the true protector of Islam, do not be fooled this is a war of religion.

The only thing that has ever worked is not to try to negotiate with these people but to fight them with force. You will find that with any military action against terrorists once you start to make some headway they will start to yell about a Hudna or temporary cease-fire.

When you are in a poker tournament in Casinos Online or land-based and your opponent is almost out of chips, do you back off and let your enemy regroup or go all in and force him out.

The Only way to defeat terrorism is to fight terrorism whenever and wherever it shows its head and to never let up on those who would use terror to forward their goals.

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Bombers of the Second World War

Lancaster Bomber - Photo: Pixabay

The Lancaster is probably the most famous of all the bombers of the second world war. According to Capt. Donald Macintosh (ex-second world war bomber pilot, and author) it was a lot smoother to fly than the Wellington; the experience of which was close to that of a fighter plane (with no payload, of course). 

Survival rates on bombers. 

The life of a second world war bomber pilot was probably the most dangerous of all the armed forces of the second world war. Less than 50% survived their tour; each tour consisted of roughly 25 operations or raids with the chances of survival for each raid being 96%. That is what the commanders always told the crew before a raid to keep up morale. But if you compound 96% over 25 times, the survival rate was closer to 50%. When Donald looked at his Florida academy group photograph after the war, he counted around half of those still alive. 

WHAT KILLED BOMBER CREWS? 

Training 

Enemy fighter planes

Lack of rear radar (called Monica: only introduced later in the war)

An incompetent navigator

An incompetent rear gunner

Flak

Poor attitude

Bad luck

TRAINING - Rushed training caused a few deaths. President Roosevelt wanted to train pilots within 2 years which would be woefully short in peacetime, but due to the high chop rate, they had no choice. Donald sometimes saw burnt-out bombers on the runway from fatal mistakes made by cadets. A fairly experienced New Zealand pilot and his crew died in a ball of flames in the air during training. They speculated it was because one of the crew members had smoked during the flight. 

Also, the bombers used in training were not maintained properly, if at all. All the good maintenance staff were looking after the bombers flying real operations. This could cause engines to fail, which killed a few crew members. 

In fact, Donald had several very near misses himself in just such scenarios. The excerpt: "The Landing" from his book is just one example of inexperience nearly killing him. "Russian Mechanics" is another; the Russians didn't have the competence or equipment to maintain planes as Donald found out. 

ENEMY FIGHTER PLANES - Fighter planes out-gunned and could out-manoeuvre bombers. The typical fighter tactic was to dive under the bomber and swing around and up, shooting up at the undercarriage. This wasn't without total risk to the fighter, as the explosion of the payload could also destroy the fighter if he was too close. Donald experienced a Focke Wulf 190 first-hand using just this tactic. 

The best defence was the cork-screw dive. This meant diving 45 degrees to the left, then 45 degrees to the right and then fly back upwards 45 degrees left. The odds though were still against you. At night time, if an enemy fighter was detected soon enough, the cork-screw dive was very effective at shaking them off. 

LACK OF REAR RADAR - Rear radar, or Monica as it was called, saved countless bomber crew's lives. This enabled the crew to detect an enemy fighter sneaking up behind very early. The cork-screw dive manoeuvre was then quite effective. Using Monica, during night-time raids especially, allowed the bombers to easily shake off enemy fighter planes. Monica saved Donald's life when it was introduced. It was a pity that his Squadron Leader also didn't have it when he battled a German ace. See "Squadron Leader" for this story. 

AN INCOMPETENT NAVIGATOR - According to Donald, the navigator was absolutely crucial to survival. If you got lost over enemy territory, you had had it. Not only could you accidentally fly over enemy fighter bases or flak installations, but your fuel would run out. Donald's bomber crew experienced their fuel running out twice, once in training and once over Russia. 

AN INCOMPETENT REAR GUNNER - Although the rear gunner was not as important as the navigator, he needed to be very alert for detecting enemy fighter planes coming in from behind. He would call out the ranges and shout out the exact time when the pilot should cork-screw. The actual gunfire was usually inadequate to bring down the fighters; it distracted them more than anything else. 

FLAK - At the end of the war flak was largely ineffective. This was because the German flak crews were the old men or inexperienced young boys who weren't trained well enough to operate them properly. Of course, you could be exceedingly unlucky. If a professional flak crew was shooting at you, then you would be in trouble. When Donald was carrying out a raid over Holland, he flew over German Naval Gunners who shot down the plane three behind him, killing all but three of her crew. 

POOR ATTITUDE - Those pilots and crew who didn't put everything into it, who didn't really want to be there, were often the ones who got what they wished for. Donald tells of an Australian pilot Tyrell, who had an apathetic attitude always asking when his leave was etc. He died on his first mission over Stuttgart. 

Another important factor was teamwork amongst the crew members. Some crews couldn't get along with each other. They constantly argued, even disobeying orders. Unsurprisingly, this raised the probability of not making it over a raid. 

Nervous disorders were a common problem with crew members who were nearing the end of their active duty. In fact, according to Donald, at this stage of their careers just about everybody had some sort of nervous disorder, whether it was a nervous tic or the handshaking when lifting up a glass or teacup. It was far worse with bomb-aimers. They saw everything below: flak exploding just beneath them etc. Bomb aimers were usually relieved earlier of their duties than most since after a while they would crack up. "The Mad Gunner" is a short story of a bomb-aimer who had done around 70 raids and had completely lost it. He was allowed to continue because he loved doing it and also the fact that he was very good at his job.

BAD LUCK - A lucky flak shot or something critical overlooked in maintenance was what usually happened. When Donald had to choose his bomb-aimer, he had a choice between Pete or his friend, George. They flipped a coin and Pete became his bomb-aimer and lived; George, however, never made it to the end of the war. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Capt. Donald Macintosh flew over 40 raids from D day until May 1945, including: 

3 attacks on battleship “Tirpitz” (sunk) including the flight to Russia;

1 destroyer, Gdynia harbour, night; prob sunk;

2 heavy gun emplacements;

3 dams;

2 oil refineries;

4 viaducts;

3 bridges;

3 submarine pens;

1 ammo dump;

2 flying bomb sites;

2 cities;

Finally, Hitler’s home at Berchtesgaden, April 25th.

After the war, he flew for another 30 years in civil flying some of which was almost as lethal as wartime. Based in the Bahamas, he flew Yorks and Lancastrians for British South American Airways and then went on to fly the world’s first passenger jet, Comet 1, to Africa and the Far East.

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Imperfect Presidents

George Washington Caricature - Photo: Flickr

More important than proving perfection on your parties side, is a willingness to seek out the mistakes and correct them; to improve; to monitor your integrity. In the face of the opposition bashing away and looking for any sign of weakness, it is tempting to deny any fault at all, but it is still weak to ignore potential improvement. For a leader to inspire confidence, he must maintain a balance between claimed efficacy and a willingness to examine and adapt when changes will make a real impact; Not because the opposition is demanding apologies for not adhering to their views, when their only cause is your destruction, and only when reason makes a strong case. 

There are those so hungry for a disaster to blame on a president, nothing will prevent their finding fault with the opposition while their party's errors are given a pass.

I've been reading 1776 by David McCullough. George Washington was a confident optimistic leader in public while in his personal conversations and correspondence he admitted great concern for the Patriot Army's success. He made several bad decisions in the defense of New York City; splitting his army against a superior force; picking the wrong leader for a post and then switching midstream. The changes which confused soldiers prior to battle. Washington also overlooked a lesser used Long Island road which allowed the British to flank and surrounds his troops. 

Fortunately for Washington, he didn't have a post-battle press conference with reporters loyal to the enemy demanding he admits he was a failure. No, he had done his honest best and he and his troops learned and grew better eventually defeating Britain, which was considered the period's military superpower. Though he made mistakes, he was still the best man available for the job. Though he did modestly tell congress he felt inadequate to the job, he put all into its success. The enemy made many errors as well, but if Washington had been dismissed for his lack of perfection, our history would be much different. Congress knew of his error's but saw past them to his leadership and intelligence, rather than using every opportunity to improve their political positions.

Politicians today tend to look for anything that can tarnish the opponent, with no regard first for the facts, and no regard for damage to the country. The media plays along amplifying the agenda, to the detriment of the business at hand. More and more of us see through the shrill deceits of the knee-jerk politicians. We see who is working for our safety and who is busy spouting whatever sounds good to their political circles. If they only knew how nutty, how empty their words are, how devoid of purpose and integrity they appear to the discerning public.

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