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There is a school of thought that posits that Adam - of Genesis fame - was not actually the first man, but rather the first prophet in the line of prophets that spawned the Abrahamic faiths. The crux of this is that there was nothing good nor evil prior to the teachings of the creator having reached us - hence like the ravening wolf or the ferocious lion, there was nothing intrinsically wrong in anything we did since it was only natural. Once the concept was introduced that there was a purpose-driven, life-loving God, however, good and evil could be finally identified as those behaviors which departed from that purpose and interfered with that life. Hence the tale of Cain and Abel and most everything else in the Torah.
Now I am not here to argue this idea today. I am more interested in the location. Adam is said to have appeared in the garden of Eden, and of all the locales that have been proposed as the "real" Eden, I have been most convinced by the suggestion of David Rohl that it might have been Tabriz. I think it was the documentary, In Search of Eden - which can be found on You Tube that mostly convinced me. I may well be mistaken, however, so do your own research.
What intrigues me about this location is that some six thousand years later, around 1844, another man appeared in Iran claiming to be next in the Adamic line of prophets. Ignoring every gory detail about this, I will merely note that the Islamic clergy of Iran had this man executed on July 9, 1850 in what was then downtown Tabriz.
In a sense, then, what began with Adam in Eden came full circle and was brought to a close in the same location. Curious.
So, if Iran was in fact the host to the original garden of Eden, then it would follow that some of the oldest cultural elements of civilization may have sprung from that region, and one might expect that some of the most mature concepts regarding life the universe and everything have been and continue to be evolving there.
Sadly, Iran is mostly being demonized these days - not without good reason, mind you - to the citizens of the USA, so it is a knee-jerk reaction of many in the West to eschew everything associated with Iran. In fact, most of the evils that issue out of that country seem to be caused by a minority of fanatics who have a stranglehold on governance and their oppressions are evident and well documented. To some extent, the people of that country are rising up against that oppression, so there may well be an end one day to that circumstance.
All of this is a long way around to recommending that every "educated" American should be familiar with the story of Layla and Majnun - perhaps the original "Romeo and Juliette". It is a tale familiar to most every Iranian, one that inspired Eric Clapton in composing perhaps his most famous tune. Maybe one day, Hollywood will grace us with a worthy film depiction of it.
Likewise, those who would account themselves as culturally informed might wish to peruse some of the poetry of Rumi:
BeyondOut beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field.
I'll meet you there.When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.Ideas,
language,
even the phrase "each other"
doesn't make any sense.
and Hafez:
Will Beat You UpJealousy
And most all of your sufferings
Are from believing
You know better than God.
Of course,
Such a special brand of arrogance as that
Always proves disastrous,
And will rip the seams
In your caravan tent,
Then cordially invite in many species
Of mean biting flies and
Strange thoughts-
That will
Beat you
Up.
So just some ideas on how to fill your new year, or whatever.
Oh yeah, and if any of your neighbors are Iranian refugees, consider going out of your way to talk with them. For the record, I am not Iranian, but one of my neighbors is.
--
"So make the best of the situation before I finally go insane", -Derek and the Dominos, Layla
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 11, @07:08PM (5 children)
As the chatbots take over, we become their material. Have to keep the customers satisfied, satisfied.
Do we want to be ghostwriters for corporate-state chatbots?
Now, think forward only a little while, for the brand new "I Love Lucy" episodes available free on your free cellphone-telephone, now with fresh new subplots and the cigarettes replaced by crack pipes. Soon thereafter, there will be no need to make the messages subliminal. And the videobots are our superstars. And the cellphone-telephones are mandatory. And our superstars are our leaders.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 11, @09:30PM
Hesitated posting that; then saw it as a fitting close (the long version lists steps, racing toward our good night). Along with #1290942 about that "Click" movie. And your #1290432 about physical health. And many more in this and previous threads that belong in a better place and time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 12, @01:13AM (3 children)
A few excerpts...
OTOH, I am optimistic that disinformation must ultimately betray its inherent bankruptcy, and the pendulum will swing retrograde.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 12, @04:41AM (2 children)
That sounds suspiciously like dangerous independent thought. You must trust the App. The App is the harbinger of truth. Set haptic interaction to maximum imprinting! Watch the balloons... watch the balloons... ignore everything else.
Up in a balloon, up in a balloon
All among the little stars, sailing 'round the moon
Up in a balloon, up in a balloon
It's something awfully jolly to be up in a balloon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 12, @07:37AM (1 child)
Once a metallized MylarTM helium balloon of unknown origin got tangled in the high voltage power line that runs by my home. It was snap, crackle and pop as it bobbled in the wind for a couple hours before I could get the utility to send somebody out to fix it. By the time they arrived, the wind had managed to disengage it and it had snagged on a low hanging branch of the pear tree in my yard. They retrieved it as evidence and said they would use it as a "show and tell" item of how to wreck a perfectly good power line.
I pay taxes so that there will always be an air force to shoot down stray balloons of uncertain origin, and maybe scramble F22 raptors when believers start floating into the sky. That's why we need Tom Cruise to make all those promotional movies.
--
I saw
a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic'sTom Skerritt drinking a grande latte at Whole Foods.His hair was perfect
-True story.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 12, @05:09PM
A Sunday morning like this, enough loud growling/wooshing to wake the... unawake. Cautiously looked out... balloons! Multi-human sized! Out in the backyard, one dipped low enough to touch the pine tree before the flame pushed it back up, up, not that far up. They called it a race, but I don't think you're supposed to drink wine during a race unless you're officiating. For years after, on this kind of Sunday, there were these affairs. Never announced who won. Kind of beautiful to watch them drifting away, to gather again in a pre-arranged field for barbecue and wine... except the ones that ended up in church and grocery store parking lots.
Joan Blondell sang that song in Lady For A Night (1942) [imdb.com]. Remember the "Memphis Belle?" Follow the link for the story. She sang it as:
Up in a balloon, boys, up in a balloon