Then And Now - In More Ways Than One

Having in my last blog compared life in Manhattan 60-some years ago, when I was just starting out on my lifelong search for Truth, to life in my old hometown of Long Beach today, in my retirement years (from the world’s affairs; not my personal vocation), I got to musing about it all.

I remember:

Young Irish cops walking the beat in my neighborhood, on the West side of mid-town Manhattan, and being given an apple by a grateful grocer; and speaking of apples, and, like, ‘road apples on the trail’: there is - 

living here in a fairly respectable section of town with dog poo a constant and sign-posted worry, and now added to it the feces of the homeless.  Knock on wood, this isn’t San Francisco.  Yet.  But even I have had my bout with the menace, when I went out one day to put my recyclables in the green bin and discovered a load having been dumped right outside our apartment’s - locked - back door.)  And speaking of cops on the beat: Now, here, they are called out to have to deal with such activity as stolen bikes, broken car windows, Peeping Toms casing the joint, broken-into garages and cars’ glove compartments rifled through, and now the latest in fashions: the theft of car batteries.  (Possibly somehow connected with devices to charge the batteries of all these electric scooters left all over the place???  

Something about this current scene has caused me pause, in relation to my life’s vocation.   I have talked before in these pages about my background, which has included membership, from family orientation, in the ‘Mormon’ religion.  At one point I got to reading the Book of Mormon, to find out what it was actually all about (hopefully about more than as Mark Twain has been reported as describing it, as “chloroform in print”), and, though I have subsequently ’read’ my way out of that religion - as with Christianity itself - I remember well reading in it about a time, supposedly, in the Central American setting of most of that book, when the people had fallen into a terrible state of ‘apostasy,’ and crime was rampant.  In large things and small.

Well, would you ever.  Now, that rings true.  True to form, of a people who have lost their way, and believe only in the ‘reality’ around them, as having any bearing on life.  

If The Book of Mormon is a fake, a fraud, a forgery, how come it rings so true, in such a curiously fundamental aspect of life, as we are witnessing in our own time and place???  

Let me set the stage for the remainder of this blog.  The ‘alternative’ story to the “Mormon’ story goes like this: 

A man by the name of Sidney Rigdon, in the early 1800s a preacher looking for a congregation, had a job in a book publishing company when a man named Solomon Spaulding came in with a manuscript that he had concocted, called a Romance, about life in Central America way back when, and, though it went nowhere with the company that Rigdon worked for (so far as I know), he saw some possibilities in it, and began tinkering with it, along the lines of a tale that would ‘prove’ the story in the Bible, both Old Testament and New, in the way of the ‘stick’ of Judah now joining with the ‘stick’ of Joseph, in the culmination of God’s Plan for mankind.  That’s it in a nutshell.  Only, how to sell it?? 

‘I know!’ he cried out, silently to himself, and went to a young man in the area, name of Joe Smith, who had developed a bit of a reputation for being a ’seer,’ in the way of looking into his hat, wherein he had, or at least said he had, a ‘peep stone,’ and telling people what he saw through it.  One thing led to another, and Rigdon and Smith, now in business with one another, came up with a story about how young Joe - now more ‘professionally’ Joseph - Smith, had had a vision (which changed somewhat in the telling in those days; there is more than one version of it in the record.  Contrary to the knowledge of most Mormons today), and as a consequence of it was led to uncover some gold plates in a nearby hill that had been buried there by a sort of prophet of olden days on the continent (whether in Central America or North America has been a bit of a quandary ever since; but to move on with the story.  As they did in those days as well); plates which told the story of a people who had been led over to, er, 'this' continent from the Middle East in Old Testament days, ‘for a marvelous work and a wonder’ - to be joined with their biblical forebears in the Last Days.  (Hence the true name of the newly-born church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; or LDS, as it is more commonly known, and referred to.  Besides by the name of one of the prophets in the to-be translated 'book’.)  All of this came out via sessions where young Smith - with a couple of observers present - translated, or pretended to translate, the plates - purportedly with the help of a gadget, described in the Bible, called the Urim and Thummin - behind a curtain.  (The observers didn’t actually ever see the ‘plates’ themselves; a weakness in the official version of this story.  One would think a fatal weakness; but never mind. A good story is a good story.)  And when finished, the plates were somehow magically returned to their place of burial, and Smith took his translation to a printer, and lo, The Book of Mormon was born, and lo, young Smith became the prophet of a new church, which Rigdon - who had kept his distance up until then - then ‘heard of,’ and, checking out this prophet of ‘our’ time and place, felt that this was the work of, er, God, and joined in the efforts to get it off the ground; and thus becoming the preacher that he had always wanted to be.  And when Smith was killed some years later (by a mob of ‘good’ Christians), missed his chance to take over the fledgling church, with the rise in it of one Brigham Young, who as a consequence of such persecution took the majority of the flock out West - way, way out West - where they could practice their religion in peace.  And Rigdon retired into obscurity thereafter.

That’s the essence of ‘the story’.  Now.  Is there any evidence for the veracity, not of this story - which has its own historical references - but of the story in the Book of Mormon??   Of such a people, having come out - brought out, somewhat magically - from the Old World into the New World in Old Testament times???

Not a lot.  But there is one thing in particular, that has caused searchers for truth, like me, some pause.  And that is what is known as The Lehi Stone.

That story:

Around 1941 some anthropologists/archeologists from National Geographic (as I recall the story), in engaging in some professional work in Central America, came across a large stone in the jungle that had a curious carving on it, and, not sure what to make of it, brought it back to the States with them, where, after puzzling over it for some time, they gave it to the Smithsonian Institution.  Where it stayed in their ‘archives,’ until someone who was either a Mormon or knew something of the Mormon’s religious book, many years later, recognized the carving as having significance to the Mormons.  The upshot: the carving was of an old bearded man (a bearded man?  In Aztecan country??) sitting against a tree, with rivulets like the depiction of a river nearby, and some other details, that all added up to a depiction of a story in the Book of Mormon about a prophet, by the name of Lehi, who had a dream whilst…sitting against a tree.1  Now, ‘you’ can say that some Mormon missionaries somehow managed to carve such a stone and deposit it in the Central American site where it was subsequently discovered by the team from the NG, and/or that that team itself was infiltrated by Mormons, not above some skullduggery in support of their religious beliefs.  But what are the odds?  and that they would leave it with the SI, and forget about it??

Forgeddaboudit.  There is something going on here.  But in the light of such excellent research into the New Testament as that of another Joseph, last name of Atwill - in his seminal work entitled ‘Caesar’s Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus’  - the whole Christian ‘story’  falls.  And therefore, so does any story connected to it. 

Ir would appear. 

        

Now where was I?

Oh well.  It made for an interesting story anyway.  I trust.

P.S. Now if the Christian story were true (or something close to it); and therefore, if the ‘Mormon’ story had any possible standing to be true…I would have done more to chastise the current Church authorities concerning the failure of theirs to honor a major prophecy of their Church’s Founding Father; when Joseph Smith reportedly gave a prophecy that has come to be known as the White Horse Prophecy.  It says, in effect, that there would come a time when the U.S. Constitution would be “hanging by a thread,” and the (Mormon) Church priesthood would be instrumental in its salvation.  Well, said Constitution has been ‘hanging by a thread’ ever since the Usurper, Barack H. Obama, assumed the presidency;2 thus making of that document simply a wet noodle, capable of being twisted any way one wishes to.  

     Regardless of the actual veracity of the Church or not:

     Still waiting, gang.  But the waiting will not go on much longer.

     One way or the other.

—

footnotes:

1 A rendition of this stone is in the Anthropology Department of BYU in Provo, Utah.  Or at least it was when I inspected it in the latter part of 1968, as part of my ongoing search for Truth.   And where I did some research in the stacks of the University’s library into original-source materials and doctorate theses regarding the founding of the Church. Which is where I came across a lot of the story as I have laid it out above.  As supplemented with some similar researching subsequently in the Utah State Historical Society in Salt Lake City, and at its Main Public Library.  And in some materials developed by some critics of the Church, available in an out-of-the-way place in downtown SLC, that I was able to find out about through some sourcing that I have forgotten.  Who came across the fact that some of the materials that the Church looks upon as ‘gospel’ had been edited - altered - over the years.  Very similar to the materials in the New Testament itself.

   But to continue.

2 Illegally, for not being a ‘natural born’ citizen, one of the eligibility requirements for that particular office.  All of which I have dealt with in these pages often enough for the subject to be coming out of my regular readership’s ears.

Down And Out In Manhattan And Long Beach

With my landlord/lady raising the rent again, for the second time in six years (I guess that’s fair enough), and living, in my retirement years, on the basic S.S. as I am, with a modest nest egg of savings to spare (for my potential medical needs, and end-of-life care.  Presumably), I have had to cut off completely now my financial contributions to a multitude of worthy causes.  (I never KNEW there were so many ‘worthy causes’ going on in my home country, let alone in the world at large.)  So I have been spending quite a bit of time lately going through my daily ‘dig’ of snail mail, checking out whether or not they have enclosed a postage-paid return envelope, and writing a brief note to those who have, ending with the request for them to take me off their mailing list.1  It has all reminded me of my down-and-out days in New York City, lo, those many years ago now…

After a ‘spiritual experience’ I had one evening I dropped out of university - in northern California; upstate from my home town here in Southern California (we, being a people unto ourselves, capitalize both words.  It is not just a matter of geography.  It is a matter of identity) - in the beginning of The Summer of '55, and headed for where I had figured there would be ‘the biggest public library in the Western world’: New York City.  Until my meager ‘income’ - a monthly payment from the will of my recently-deceased father;2 to be used for my ‘education’.  And it was doing so; just in another context than school - ran out and I had to get a job, I spent the little money I had, besides on a very cheap hotel room - just off Times Square (in the ragged and rugged heart of the City; on the West Side of its chest, near the seedy artery of 42nd Street) - on an occasional movie, when I wasn’t over at the Main Public Library, deeply engrossed in my search for Answers to Life.  All the world religions; History;3 philosophy; Theosophy; Spiritualism (ghosts); ESP/Edgar Cayce; even UFOs - you name it, I read it, circa mid-’50s.  And another break from my ‘studies’ was to go down to The Battery -  at the southernmost tip of Manhattan - and take the ferry over to Staten Island and back.  At 25 cents a pop, and with the (somewhat) fresh salt air in my face standing in the bow of the boat, and the view of the Statue of Liberty lighting my way, I learned how to appreciate the little things in life.4

Not that being poor is some sort of badge of honor.  But to have been there, is worth the price of admission. As they say…           

     

But not to worry - the GCR/RV is just about to kick in.  Or so they say.  (And have been saying for quite a while, now.)  And so everything - presumably - will change in a major way, on old Planet Earth.

Have you heard of that?  It stands for Global Currency Reset/ReVal(uation).  According to The Story, the world is going to go off the Central Bank/fiat money system, and go back to currencies pegged to precious metals, esp, gold, and/or to a basket of currencies based on their nation’s resources.  Presumably, people who have invested in a number of foreign paper currencies - Zimbabwe, Iraq, Vietnam among them - are going to see their investments pay off very handsomely indeed, with some becoming trillionaires, or more.  We will, of course, see.  That; or they can always stoke their fireplaces with it, or use it for wallpaper.  

What do I actually think about all this??  I actually think it’s a good idea.  It makes sense for a nation’s currency to reflect its resources, both physically and in its citizens’ resource-fulness.  And it definitely does not make sense for a nation to go to a fiat currency system, wherein and whereby it is based purely on ‘a promise to pay’ - in money that loses its value over time, with no check on its creation (out of thin air), so that it becomes worth less and worth less until it becomes worthless.5  So, we need - have needed - such a Resetting.  And especially now that we are entering a New Era.  In which we soon will need paper currency no longer; just an electronic system of credits and debits.  When we can trust those who are in a position to operate the New System.

Which will require us to move consciously Up into said New Era, based on Truth.  Falsehood no more.  The Falsehood that life has no meaning beyond just in and for itself only.      

In the meantime, I will have to stop financially supporting all these worthy causes that I have been involved in contributing to.  A shame.

But hopefully, 

it’s that

Time.

—

footnotes:

1 It has had to include those outfits who have sent me an unsolicited calendar for the new year.  All of which - big and little cats, dogs, horses, donkeys, nature photos, ‘life’ photos, classic paintings, patriotic themes - have gone to a worthy cause of my own, in the form of the Main Public Library in town.  Many of which pictures and photos have already been used for display purposes there.  So, they have had a good, valuable ‘landing,’ after all.   

2 no part of my growing-up, my mother having divorced him back when I was still in diapers.  But trying to insinuate himself into my life (and that of my brother, three years older than I) periodically.  Another story  

3 In that area of investigation I ‘discovered’ how the Sumerians had indicated their Great Gods with a star over their image imprinted on their cuneiform tablets.  That was particularly intriguing.  Fortunately, ‘in our day’ that has become more clear.

4 The Staten island Ferry then was in its way much like the Free Shuttle buses in the downtown area of Long Beach today, that take people to the Queen Mary and tourist points in the harbor part of town (known as the Shoreline Village, with many tony shops and restaurants).  As a tourist treat, it could be worse.  Very accommodating.  Oh - and a new feature of our downtown life (besides the rental bicycles found stationed all around the area; somewhat in competition with all the skateboarders in town) are electric scooters, scattered all over the place; available for a dollar minimum, that one.  Not a bad town, this.  Except for its being a Sanctuary City.

   But to continue.

5 Which is what has happened to the U.S. ‘dollar’.  I understand that it is now ‘worth’ about 97% of what it was worth in 1913, when this whole heist began, with first the establishment of the - private - Federal Reserve, and then, right on its heels, the Income Tax Amendment to the Constitution, to pay for the resulting bonanza.  For said private entities, and other bankers behind the scam..  But to continue.

   But P.S. right here: I put the word ‘dollar’ in quote marks because it is not really a dollar.  It is simply a piece of paper called a Federal Reserve note, with a promise to pay in itself.  No  longer in a certain amount of gold or silver.  A true dollar has a legal definition, of being worth a certain amount of silver.  

   I found all this out back in the mid-‘70s, when I began investigating all this funny-money business, based on Pres. Nixon taking us off any system of gold backing to our currency left since FDR’s day,  and discovered an ‘underground’ of people who had already done a lot of research on the matter, and were refusing to pay any Income tax, based on not having been paid in real U.S. dollars, and so not having real income to tax.  Tit for tat.  I was preparing my case for if/when I was taken to court for refusing to pay into the scheme’s account (having stamped my paychecks with a statement that I had not been paid in dollars pursuant to such-and-such a section of the U.S. Code), when Providence or whatever intervened, in the form of my finding out about a spiritual community in the north of Scotland that intrigued me sufficiently to go off there, and live there for the next chapter of my life.  And, upon returning to my old home town olive out my retirement life in the sun, I have found my home country deep into the debt trap that was set for it at least back in 1913; though really well before then.  But, as I say…

I CAN Handle The Truth. Try Me.

…Instead of trying me all the time with your incessant squabbling, acting like fools.  Having been ‘fooled’ by the enticements of the material realm into thinking, largely, that this is all there is, and so you might as well just make the most of it, by doing unto others first what they would do unto you if you gave them half a chance to.

Now, I accept that there may well have been a good intention behind the move towards what has become the EU, e.g., in attempting to stifle the incessant warring amongst the various tribes in Europe.  But that possible good intention was quickly taken over by the Cabalists, in their incessant attempts to take over the world, and subject it to their iron-fisted control.  Not understanding - mistakenly, or purposefully - that the way to ‘control’ people is from within, not without.  (To say as well: without awareness of the larger picture.)  Is to awaken them to their true natures, as the ‘offspring’ - the facets, fractals, aspects, points of view, expressions of their Creator Source.  In perfect alignment with the Will of The All That Is.

Foolish - fooled - human:

Awaken to your highest potential.  Not stay stuck wallowing in your lowest. 

Come on, Human race.  Show me - and yourselves - what you are really made of.

And truly capable of.  In controlling - conquering, if you will; or at least, overcoming - your ‘innate,’ to say incarnate, animal/higher primate instincts.

And heading for the stars.

And beyond.

In the spirit of the knowledge of what it is all a part of.

In high school I wrote an essay for my Junior or Senior English class, I forget which, wherein I listed a litany of wars that mankind had engaged in, and ended it with saying something like, ‘What can be behind this incessant warring?…It has become part of the nature of Man.’

Now, I understand that we souls while in incarnation on a material Planet of Choice are built on a primate template.  And yes, that will affect/be part of our makeup.  But that is not all that we are made of, ‘built’ on.  For a very long time on this human-damaged planet we have been demonstrating our lowest potential.  It’s time - and Time - to demonstrate our highest.

Or hadn’t you noticed….   

Let me - and us all; since We Are All One - inherit a kingdom worthy of the name.

Now.

And NOW.

And maintain it in proper Order.

Sort of like, Order Out of Chaos.

(Now, where have I heard something like that before...)

The Rescue

           The Rescue

              I am here

  to help lead us to the true

      New Order of Things

As we embark on this journey

 to the land of higher learning

             than ever

               before.

          And let's get it
                 ON.

          Because I really

 don't want to have to suffer

        like this any longer,
       having left this level

         of consciousness

                behind

              long ago.

               Where

        are my people?

            Ah - there

             they are.

             Drawing

                near.

             Coming

                  to

           the rescue.

                Just

           in the nick

                  of

               Time.

              Quick -

           let’s hurry

                 to

        the finish line

              before

        more calamity

             ensues.

             Choose

        wisely, friend.

          Your future

          is at stake

         for the next

               little

              while

         in whatever

          dimension

         you end up

                 in

          to start out

                 on

        the next leg

     of your journey

              back

      into Oneness

              from.

The Long Haul

A friend has emailed me of his marveling at the ‘info’ - or rather, say hypothesizing - that is contained in a book(1) calling into question our (‘long’) history on this planet, as preparing us for a condensed time of timelessness in a state of Singularity.  (A la Terence McKenna, under the influence of having had his mind opened by the use of various psychedelics, not contained in Time as we know it, Jim.)  My response (just off the top of my relatively more screwed-on head):

“’…we are actually collapsing in on ourselves (like so-called black holes) ultimately to a 'singularity' of infinite density, opening the door to timelessness…’

“This is all very intriguing.  My take on things has been that a) We are in a matrix, a hologram,[2] a device by which to give us the illusion of free will, that we may grow from the experience and specifically our experiences in it; b) We are approaching a Turning Point, a Completion of our Time in it, and will move (those of us who have earned, by the lifting of our consciousness, the graduation) out of 3/4D and up to 5D to start with - closer to our true reality - as we experience a Singularity Event, and move from being 'at effect' to being 'at cause,' in the expression of Werner Erhard (est), in moving into a field of timelessness; and c) That those who don't make the grade - as evidenced by their auras, and its information grid - will end up somewhere else, to continue the experience in 3D until they do make the grade, while we continue our journey back Home on Gaia, Who/which? is ascending as well, as a sentient being in Her/Its own right. Ascension taking place in heart experiences of expansion, and then ultimately by explosion.  Or something like that.

“Anyway: Keep me posted on what you find out from this very interesting-sounding book, and your ruminations on it all.  (I remember hearing about it, that the author found some parallels in 'history' that seemed peculiar to him, and began to deduce that they were repeats.  But then, we repeat 'history’ anyway, as we keep learning from the same experiences...)

“Stan” 

—

footnotes:

(1) ‘New Chronology’ by  Anatoly Fomenko

(2) ‘The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality’ by Michael Talbot; etc.

—-

As to all of this…

         The Long Haul

When we are ready to own our legacy

As the children of our God, then

We will really start getting somewhere

On this blessed planet, needing from us now

                      our best, 

No longer having to endure

                      our worst

While we wend our way

          back Home

From cur long journey

                         in

          Illusion

                        to test us

                        for

       the long haul

In administering Justice

                    fairly.

As for the Illusion bit

                         in

        the equation:

You don’t really think that our Father

Would give the keys to the car

To a six-year-old, now do you?

That would be unfair to

All concerned.  No.  

When we are ready

The Keys will come.

Not before.

        But ready or not

        for you, here

        they come.

Hold on to your hats.

  This is liable to be 

   A rather wild ride

       For a time

         in Time

            yet.

            —

Unity IN Diversity, Or...

Unity OR Diversity

Speaking of our colleges and universities, as I just did in my blog of earlier today… 

Take my alma mater.  Please.

I understand that Stanford has become a leader in the likes of ‘Identity Politics’.  Which is the idea of identifying with your group identity, whether that be by race, ethnicity, religion, or sex - “or even one of the scores of exotic new ‘gender identities’".1  Which is part of the push going on for ‘Diversity’.  Which is largely a scam.  Having nothing to do really with making the country ‘stronger’.2  But having everything to do with Balkanizing the country; and thereby leading to its breakdown.  So that the NWO termites can take it over, and turn it into merely parts of their long-intended global hive.  Which they plan to control.  With their superiority.  Or at least, their superior attitude.

Born partly of the Jewish mentality of being God’s Chosen People (hence the ‘Khazarian Mafia’  or ’Rothschild Zionists’ that some socio-political commentators talk about),3 and their recruiting of other minority groups into their Grand Idea (usually unwittingly so).  But also, simply those other souls who have been seduced, for whatever all personal reasons, by the idea of Power Over.  Power Over Others (or POO for short).  Rather than the idea of Power With, and Within.  As the fractals of our Creator Source that we all are.  

Chips off the old block.  Awakening to that fact.  And then doing something about it.  

Like, creating a One World, alright.  Just under different Management, from the one that the POO crowd envision.

So, let’s create the finishing of The Process that we are in.  Have been in, for long enough now.  For Truth to take over.  As we inherit our true legacy.  As the Outreaches of

The Most High.

Coming, to a theater of operations quite

near

You.

—

footnotes:

1 quoting David Kupelian on the subject, in his article titled ‘Americans’ Desperate Search For Identity’ in the current/October issue of Whistleblower magazine.  He goes on to say that this notion (of “tribalization”) “has become paramount, largely dictating your loyalties, political alignment and even your social interactions.

   “Unfortunately, it is in the nature of tribes that you are loyal only to those in your tribe - and everyone else is either your adversary or, at best, not your concern.”  

   Astute observation.  There are positive sides to ‘diversity’.  The bringing of fresh ideas into the ’pot,’ etc.  But that’s not what this current push for it - aka ‘multiculturalism’ - is about.  Contrary to the American idea of ‘E Pluribus Unum’.   

2 Quoting from the same issue, article titled ‘The Unpardonable Heresy Of Tucker Carlson’ by Patrick J. Buchanan.  Who opens it by saying:

   “OUR DIVERSITY IS OUR GREATEST STRENGTH.

   “After playing clips of Democratic politicians reciting that truth pf modern liberalism, Tucker Carlson asked,’How, precisely, is diversity our strength?  Since you’ve made this our new national motto, please be specific.’”  (And Buchanan goes on to describe how Carlson has been ripped a new one for going against the tide on the issue.)

3 And hence the vast majority of Bolsheviks, and their 'international socialism,' having been Jewish.
   N.B. Reminder that there are many 'good' Jews.  For you Millennials: Yes, the Rosenbergs (who sold our atomic secrets to the Soviet Union/Communists in Russia) were traitors.  But the judge of the court proceedings was also Jewish.  And he did a very commendable job, in adhering strictly to the law, and in his closing commentary on the case.  Well worth checking out.
   As long as we can still access such 'conservative' perspectives on our social media...

The FIRE In The Belly Of The Beast

(I recently penned a parody in these pages of the idea of kids going off to college or university and getting radicalized there these days in particular.  Another, rather more straightforward take on the matter:)

I have received a mailing from a member of the Board of Directors of an outfit called FIRE - for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education - which contained an excerpt from a Commencement Address to a graduating class at some university or other, centering, in an inspiring way, on the subject of the illiberal exercise of the suppression of free speech going on at many campuses of our colleges and universities these benighted days.  A lot of good ideas are imparted to the graduating classes of our institutions of higher learning at their Commencement Exercises, as they commence the beginning of their voyage on the seas of adult life.  But I have long thought that they should also be given a word of advice as they commence their time at college or university.  Something like:

‘A university is a place for the exploration of ideas, beyond just the preparation for a profession.  May it always be so.  And may you remember that, as you embark on your voyage on the sea of learning at this institution of higher learning.

‘Let me summarize the event, as part of the larger event, of life itself.

‘You are born, your grow up, you die.  What is this business in between those two singular events all about?  They are like bookends in a library, framing a huge amount of information.  What does that idea imply??  That:

‘Life is a school.  The purpose of which is to graduate.

‘All good wishes, and Welcome Aboard, as you commence your voyage on deeper seas of your life’s journey with us at this institution.'

P.S. The quote that I referred to?  

     “Tolerance for other people’s ideas, and the freedom to express your own, are inseparable values at great universities.  Joined together, they form a sacred trust that holds the basis of our democratic society.

     “But that trust is perpetually vulnerable to the tyrannical tendencies of monarchs, mobs, and majorities.  And lately, we have seen those tendencies manifest themselves too often, both on college campuses and in our society… Graduates: Throughout your lives, do not be afraid of saying what you believe is right, no matter how unpopular it may be, especially when it comes to defending the rights of others.

     “Standing up for the rights of others is in some ways even more important than standing up for your own rights.  Because when people seek to repress freedom for some, and you remain silent, you are complicit in that repression and you may well become its victim.

     “Do not be complicit, and do not follow the crowd.  Speak up and fight back.”

     Them’s fighting words.  And that particular fight is being waged on our campuses of higher learning by FIRE.  Which outfit is asking people to sign a petition of support for something called the University of Chicago Statement on Principles of Free Expression.  An excellent summary of the matter - this urgent matter of our times.  Check it out.  www.thefire.org

P.P.S. That Commencement Speech quote?  Let's see; that was from… -

     former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg?!  Why, that dirty rotten - 

     er……

     Actually: Well put, MB.

     Giving (course) credit where (course) credit is due.