Happy Independence Day to all you Americans out there, real or imagined. There is not really much to add to that basic greeting on this, the 233rd anniversary of American independence, other than do not eat too much barbecue, do not drink too much and drive, and do be careful when you are drunk anyway and lighting the children's fireworks. No one wants little Buffy or Muffy to go up screaming in flames (well, almost no one).To round off my discussion of the last entry concerning astronomy and astrophysics, I have been watching season two of the History Channel's series on the Universe. It is very good, not quite as elementary as the first season,
with topics that are equally as interesting. There are some very compelling bits on exoplanets in one episode, and the hopes of astrophysicists that life may be discovered much nearer and much sooner than we had imagined. (Hitler's 1938 Olympics broadcasts are only now reaching our stellar neighbors.) Apparently a prime candidate is Gliza 436 b, a mere 40 to 50 light years from Sol. The presenters talked blithely about how the planet was only 5 to 8 times the mass of Earth, orbiting close to its red dwarf star (thus in its own proper frame of reference, the habitable zone). In recognizable terms, that means it is about the size of Uranus, therefore habitable is a relative concept. Certainly not habitable for human beings, but perhaps it is the home planet of the Giant Space Crabs. As is well known, the Giant Space Crabs long ago 
colonized Mars, exploiting it to the point of turning it into a vast, barren desert world before moving off to strip mine other, newer discoveries. At the time, Earth was very unpromising, fluctuating between ice ages and volcanic hell, so Earth was left untouched. Sedna, the furthest icy worldlet of our solar system, is another remnant of their interstellar "raze and burn" civilization. In line with this, one of the greatest surprises for modern astronomy is the absolutely perfect hexagon at Saturn's north pole. It is 25000
kilometers in width, the size of three to four earths, with each side measuring around 13,800 kilometers. It rotates completely once every 10 hours, 39 minutes and 24 seconds, which happens to be exactly the length of radio emissions from Saturn. It is blindingly obvious to anyone with eyes, except, apparently, astrophysicists, that it is in fact a giant hex nut with which the Giant Space Crabs originally tuned and regulated Saturn and his rings. Think about it: the rotation of the hexagon; the length of radio emissions from Saturn; the obviousness of the rings as a giant satellite dish aimed "elsewhere"; the pure geometric perfection of the hexagon contrary to all known interstellar physics. Saturn is not natural, it is a crabmade technological device. "To what end?" you ask. To which I reply, "Do you really need to ask? Did you foolishly think we are alone, that no 'one' is keeping tabs?" Silly rabbit. In a sidebar, I would ask you if it never 
occurred to you, when you were a child and read Dick Tracy comics in the daily newspaper, that the French had long ago colonized the Moon? Chester Morton, the author of the eponymous comic, obviously thought so. Why else, for several long, uninterrupted years, did Dick Tracy court Moon Maid, discover that she was the daughter of the dictator of the Moon as well as discovering that their only exportable product, indeed their only product at all, was giant escargot? All lunar feasts consisted solely of giant escargot, along with whatever edible comestibles Tracy and his cohorts had brought along from Earth. All of which means that the Lunarians, as well as the French, are in for a tough time when the Giant Space Crabs discover that they have been harvesting and devouring creatures much closer to the crab phylum than we are.In the neighboring realm of pure physics, I am currently reading a book entitled, It's About Time : Understanding Einstein's Relativity. N. David Mermin, Princeton Univ. Press, 2005. It is a text written by an
eminent physicist for non-physicists, for laypeople. I read approximately one chapter per day so as not to push ideas and concepts too quickly into my mental apparatus, to understand them as fully as possible before moving on to the next step. It is wonderfully clear and precise, and quite droll in its own way. One can read in the first chapter the following:" 'All other things being the same' raises deep questions. In the case of translational variance, it means that when you move the experiment to a new place or time you have to move everything relevant; in the case of rotational invariance you have to turn everything relevant. In the case of the principal of relativity, you have to set everything relevant in motion.
If everything relevant turned out to be the entire universe, you might wonder whether there was any content to the principle. One can thus descend immediately into a deep philosophical abyss from which some never emerge. We shall not do this."
I laughed out loud when I read that and immediately thought, "I am going to like this author." If you see nothing droll or amusing in the above statement, perhaps this is not the book for you, assuming you have any interest in understanding the principle of relativity. If you do have such an interest, however, I can highly recommend this book. It claims to be an "easy read," which it is not, but it is certainly an understandable one. Use your brain, flex those neurons!
The French Supreme Court (or its equivalent) recently struck down a government proposal to cut off Internet
access for anyone found "guilty" of downloading p2p files, torrents and the like, without paying for them. This means movies, music, etc.. The law proposed that one could be "convoked" twice for the offense, and if found culpable a third time then Internet access for your computer was cut off, for good. The problems with this idea are so many, so evident, that the mind boggles. The Court's argument in striking down the proposal was that the Internet fell under the domain of freedom of the press, freedom of information, the rights of man, etc. etc.. Good for the French court, and the middle finger to the Sarkozy governement that wanted this. It is blatantly in line with governmental hand-in-hand politics with the moneyed copyright interests, the movie and music industries, and political control of public access to information, in a creeping, dictatorial kind of way. Shades of China and its control of public access! One can only imagine Prohibition of the Internet and the resulting mass underground system of "Screw you, I'll get the 'Net anyway!" In fact, it sounds like a match to start a revolution. If the French government thinks that it can control access to information in such a way, and with such a "law abiding" step, I suggest it take its head out of the sand and look around at the populace, the era we live in and the global communication structure. They cannot control it in Iran, they cannot control it in China, so what makes the French government think they can control it in one of the nerve centers of Western society? It is far, far too late to try to smother the baby in its crib, it has grown up.International news has simply bored me silly recently. The death of "a well-known musical celebrity" (I refuse
to use the name) has been covered ad infinitum, as if his death is the greatest tragedy to befall humanity since our exclusion from the Garden of Eden. S'il vous plaît, he was a sad, confused, deeply conflicted, drug-addicted individual who did not know which end was up anymore. Obama is getting out of Iraq (cheers!) and more heavily engaging in Afghanistan (judgement reserved). North Korea is running around the cocktail party with a lampshade on its head, screaming drunkenly, "Look at me! Look at me!" A man in England tried to circumcise himself with nail clippers and was rushed to the hospital, only to be immediately transferred to a mental asylum (quelle surprise). The Italian president, Silvio Berlusconi, adamantly denies his involvement with voluptuous 18 year old girls and prostitutes by stating, "Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?" - he retains his position in a vote of confidence. Turkey is back on the assault for membership in the European Union saying, "Alright, we will stop killing Kurds and Armenians, does that suffice?" (I do not care, I still want to visit Istanbul.) Spain's unemployment hits 20% and nobody seems 
unduly concerned; "Hello? Is anyone home? Do you realize what is going on?" I recognize almost no one in the current generation of film stars, not that that is a concern for anyone but me, but who ARE these people? It is shocking, and a sign of my age, that almost all current "hot" celebrities are people I have never heard of nor do I care to inform myself about them. Celebrity is as common as Coca-Cola® these days. Karl Malden died. Finally?? Farrah Fawcett-Majors died; quick, drape your blowdryer in black crêpe.On a personal note, it is hot here in the DHOSF. I am speaking of the weather. In the six years since I came as a missionary to the DHOSF, I have noticed the effects of global warming. Winters are not noticeably worse, but summers are becoming brutal. I have finally succeeded in making the change, mentally, from Farenheit to Celsius, so now when I hear that the temperature is 32°, I think, "God, that's hot!" Perhaps this accounts for my dream cycles of late. I am having wild, outrageous dreams. One of my latest came in the form of a film, as if presented at the cinema, it even started with a technirama title, "Les Divinités Assiégées." In the dream, I was back in the USA, trying to buy drugs but having no success. I wondered why until I looked down
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into my hands and realized that all my money was in Euros. In another, I was commissioned by an unknown deity to write the sequel to Moses' story, entitled, "And If Moses Had Remained in Egypt?" In yet another, I had written a very popular noveled entitled "Nu à Rome" ("Naked in Rome), a first-person account by Vercingetorix of his defeat and l-o-n-g stay in Rome before his public execution before Caesar. I was being wildly attacked by French literary critics on every side, but eventually was redeemed by winning the Prix Goncourt (a very prestigious French literary award). For no particular reason, I find it easy to invent French as I go along, perhaps this a quality of my being American. For instance, the verb "to editorialize" does not exist in French. Yet, I can easily whip out "Elle éditorialise sur n'importe quel sujet." ("She editorializes on any subject.") The French, generally, do not even blink an eye. If one 
does not know me well, he/she may comment, "That doesn't exist in French.", but I find a withering glance suffices to shut that kind of niaiserie firmly up. Dewi, who was a French language teacher before she transcended to goddess, no longer bothers to correct anything unless I ask her advice on such-and-such a construction, declination or argotic turn-of-
phrase. French is a wonderful language and if it is not your native tongue it is a constant source of both amusement and knowledge. I am reminded of my use of English, when I would use abstruse constructions simply to amuse myself, much to the annoyance or mystification of those around me. Quoting from a well-known citation one evening at a bridge party, I turned to an opponent after an unfortunate bid and declaimed, "You are evil, and you must be destroyed!" Much to my surprise, she was wounded by this, taking it to heart. I did not correct her impression, as it left her off guard and contributed to her partnership's eventual defeat. I find "obliterate" to be an useful word as well, as in, "If you continue in this manner, I shall be forced to obliterate you." The English hoi-polloi have done this for centuries, aping their betters. Go ahead, throw in "You swine!" the next time you are upbraiding someone and see if it does not give you an immediate gloss of English aristocracy.On to other things. I have been asked by a dear friend to publish the following. After my last statement about forming my own religion, the Path of Totality, I was shocked to be contacted by an individual, well known to me, who informed me that, indeed, such a belief system was already in its formative stage and that I would be welcome to join the effort to concretize its existence. Naturally I acquiesced, as the propagation of a serene, systematic and rational approach to enlightenment in the three human realms (physical, mental and spiritual) is my dearest desire. In light of which, I give you the following as given to me by its preceptor and guide:
" Work has begun on the creed for the new faith, The Path of Totality. There shall, of course, be a spiritual founder, leader and Grand Hierophant. ("Dear Prophet" is far too North Korean. "Supreme Prophet", unfortunately, has overtones of "Supreme Leader", as in Iran, so that is unsuitable as well.) This will not be a faith of force but of spiritual Illumination, not as in Freemasonry or the Illuminati movement, but rather individual striving towards personal transformation and realization. Yes, yes, I know many of you are thinking, "Ho hum, been there, done that, what else is new?" But it will not be simply a $5.95 (10.65 € , including 19% VAT) paperback course in modern self-help gobbledygook, or abracadabra mysticism mixed with a few feel-good truisms and moronic maxims. It will be a faith of dedication to the belief that with serious effort, dedication and ruthless self-honesty anyone can attain transformation from this level of being to a better, higher plane of existence, knowledge and action. I believe the Synthesis of Mysticism will be central in the new creed, although it will need to be broken down and worked out in simpler terms for step-by-step progression. For those of you not familiar with the Synthesis of Mysticism, it goes as follows:
"Human Will, illuminated by Science and manifested by Action, creates the
Realization of a power that is used or abused according to good or bad Inspiration in the circle traced out by the laws of universal order. After overcoming the Trial that is imposed by divine Wisdom, Will comes, by means of its Victory, into possession of the work that it created and establishing its Equilibrium on the axis of Prudence, dominates the oscillations of Fortune. The Strength of man, sanctified by Sacrifice that is the voluntary offer of itself on the altar of devotion and expiation, triumphs over Death and its divine Transformation elevates it, beyond the tomb, to the serene regions of infinite progression opposing the reality of an immortal Initiative to the eternal lie of Fatality.The course of time is measured by means of the ruins but, beyond every Ruin, the dawn of Hope can be seen reappearing in the twilight of Disillusionments. Man incessantly aspires to what escapes him and the sun of Happiness only rises for him after the Renewal of his being through death that opens up a higher sphere of will, intelligence and action to him. Every will that allows itself to be governed by bodily instincts is an abdication
of freedom and condemns itself to
Expiation of its mistake or blame. In apposition, every will that joins God in order to manifest truth and operate justice enters, right from this life, into participation with the divine power over beings and things: the eternal Recompense of freed spirits."No easy task, as you can see. On the mundane side of things, a general organizational format and hierarchy will not only be unnecessary but highly discouraged, from the top to the bottom, from worldwide community to local chapters or cells. One of the great errors is to allow such organisms to start in order to foster the growth of a belief system, but inevitably the organizations become cumbersome,
tyrannical, self-serving and parasitic, warping while at the same time feeding off of the very body of spiritual thought which they were meant to protect, foster and encourage to grow. The Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church, organized Christianity, the ruling bodies of Islam, all theocracies, fundamentalism in any form and Scientology are all examples of spiritual systems ruined beyond redemption by the cancerous, bloated growths of their organizational hierarchies. (In the case of Scientology, it is, of course, simply sheer lunacy rather than a spiritual system per se.) Now I know many of you are thinking, "But how, then, will the Path of Totality be able to propagate and
spread?" It will, of course, be slow to start, but it will grow inevitably as the example and pattern of the progression, peace and transformation of its followers becomes apparent. Money will not form an element in the faith, for from the necessary organizational system needed to channel money always springs endemic ill in the body of faith. (Donations to the well-being of the Grand Hierophant, of course, will be accepted, but will be neither solicited nor encouraged.) In time, perhaps, a commemorative temple could be constructed, somewhere where an entrenched, dogmatic spiritual belief does not have a stranglehold on the political, intellectual and spiritual spheres of the host country. Perhaps this could be Switzerland, or somewhere in western Europe where its existence would not be remarkable. However, such a project is far in the future, depending entirely on the need for such a 
commemorative temple as expressed by the adepts of the Path of Totality and, of course, the financial wherewithal necessary, but again, the evils and strictures of financial entanglement must be avoided. Donations, while necessary, must never be equated with influence.Symbology will be central to the Path of Totality, oriented around ancient truths and universal imagery; more about this at a later date. There will be a "book", of sorts, which is already well known but, again, this will be more fully revealed in the course of time. For now, the formation of the creed is all-important and constitutes my first duty as Grand Hierophant of the Path of Totality. In coming days I hope to present the fully formulated creed to you who, I hope, will become its core practitioners. My duties as Grand Hierophant will be onerous, without doubt, but no sacrifice is too great to disseminate the knowledge for realization and trancendence."
The Grand Hierophant has told me that soon he will share the creed and at the same time publish an address where one may direct more personal inquiries and questions of faith. We can all only hope that this moment will approach with haste as we consider a world descending into savagery, violence, decay and death. (Please participate in the poll that appears at the bottom of the blog. You need only strike "End" for it to immediately arrive.) Until the next,
Leducdor
Leducdor
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