Month: July 2017

Z is for Zeus, King of the Gods

“Zeus’ most distinctive attribute was his stylized lightning bolt which he wielded in his hand like a javelin.”


There were 12 great gods of the Greeks, known as the Olympians, but Zeus was “the King of the Gods and the god of the sky, weather, law and order, destiny and fate, and kingship.”

In the program guide for the annual St. Sophia Greek Festival in May 2017, there was an article entitled “Greek gods in mythology, part IV,” featuring Zeus. The first three parts were in the previous years’ programs.

“Remember Cronus, the kid who attacked his dad, Uranus and banished him from the Earth because he was an abusive go?… Cronus was even worse… he swallowed each of his own kids… However, one child named Zeus escaped this horrible doom and was hidden by his mother.

“After mom, gave Cronus a potent drink which made him upchuck, the kids that he swallowed were set free… [Zeus, his sibs and uncles] prepared to fight the evil Titans.

“The Cyclopes… made the weapons… They armed Zeus wit a thunderbolt that shook the universe…

“It was a fierce and long 10-year war between the old gods and the new gods, but at last Cronus and the Titans were defeated…”

Zeus‘ “name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter. His mythologies and powers are similar, though not identical, to those of the Indo-European deities such as Indra, Jupiter, Perun, Thor, and Odin.”

Cronus was not the only person eater in this story line. “Zeus devoured the pregnant goddess Metis when an oracle revealed that her son was destined to replace him as King of the Gods. Their child, Athena, was subsequently born in his belly and birthed directly from his head.”

“Zeus’ most distinctive attribute was his stylized lightning bolt which he wielded in his hand like a javelin. His other attributes included a royal sceptre, a throne, an eagle, a miniature Nike (winged goddess of victory), and the aigis (a goat-skin arm-guard). The god was usually clothed in a long robe (chiton) and cloak (himation) but was sometimes depicted nude. He was often crowned with a wreath of olive leaves.”

For ABC Wednesday, Round 20

The conventional wisdom: Syria, Alex Jones

The man should be held accountable for every ACTUAL falsehood he’s perpetrated, and they are SO many.

Scott Ritter, 2006
ITEM: Mark Evanier wrote:

“Once upon a time, weapons inspector Scott Ritter warned us that Saddam Hussein did not possess Weapons of Mass Destruction and we should not go to war there on the belief that he did. Ritter was widely denounced as foolish and gullible, and his warnings were ignored.

He is now warning that Trump’s claims of chemical weapons in Syria are a lie that could be used to justify another war build on a false premise. Maybe someone oughta at least consider that this man could be right again.”

There are people who will dismiss what Scott Ritter says, based on issues having nothing to do with his expertise. But I heard him speak in June 2002 at an Albany United Methodist Society dinner. He said what was going to happen in the lead-up to the Iraq war in March 2003, and he was 100% correct.

ITEM: States refuse Trump commission request for U.S. voter data, as well they should. But it was the conservative Red State who writes that it is “simply another conspiracy theory that he’s bound and determined to use his office to pursue.”

ITEM: One of my good buds blasted NBC for the Megyn Kelly interview with the vile Alex Jones, “almost certainly the most prolific conspiracy theorist in contemporary America,” calling it “noxious behavior in service of the dollar.” And I didn’t see it that way at all.

I thought she pressed him on his bs. I’m not sure whether she “vivisected the bloated conspiracy hog”, but she gave it a go.

Does Alex Jones merit an interview? I like to know the enemy, so I say yes. And perhaps only Kelly, among the MSM folk, could have gotten it, a “Nixon goes to China” scenario.

Part of the problem was the tease from the previous week, which gave some the impression that the former FOX “News” personality was going to be buddy-buddy with this schmuck. I understand that, as a result of the backlash before the piece even aired, NBC re-edited it to be “tougher.”

ITEM: When a certain orange person said, “Comey better hope there are no tapes,” and then said there were no tapes, that is not a lie. (Unless there ARE tapes, in which case…) It was merely him saying words. It was an empty threat that, by itself, won’t reach the level of obstruction of justice.

The man should be held accountable for every ACTUAL falsehood he’s perpetrated, and they are SO many. But let’s pick the real prevarications.

ITEM: I was SO oversaturated with email, from both sides, regarding the expensive House race in Georgia’s 6th CD. And as If Jon Ossoff Wins… or Loses notes, the response to the outcome was predictable.

Music Throwback Canada Day: The Guess Who

The single version does NOT have Psalm 22:14,15

My favorite Canadian band is The Guess Who. Sorry, Arcade Fire and the Tragically Hip. But most of my favorites show up on the original greatest hits album.

The Wikipedia explains the band moniker: “Quality Records credited the [1965] single [Shakin’ All Over] only to “Guess Who?” in an attempt to build a mystique around the record… After Quality Records revealed the band to be Chad Allan & The Expressions, disc jockeys continued to announce the group as Guess Who?, effectively forcing the band to accept the new name.”

Sometime after Chad Allen left, the lineup I knew the best, and was most commercially successful, was Randy Bachman (guitar), Burton Cummings (vocals and keyboards), Jim Kale (bass), and Garry Peterson (drums). Bachman left in 1970 to eventually form Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and was replaced by guitarists Greg Leskiw and the late Kurt Winter.

Today the name The Guess Who is owned by Garry Peterson and James Kale.

“These Eyes” (Cummings, Bachman), #6 in 1969, their first single on their new label, RCA Victor — here or here
“Laughing” (Cummings, Bachman), #10 in 1969, and one of the very few singles I purchased as a teen – I was an LP kind of guy — here or here
“Undun” (Bachman) — #22 in 1969 as the B-side to “Laughing” – here or here

“No Time” (Cummings, Bachman), #5 in 1970 — here or here
“American Woman” (Cummings, Bachman, Peterson, Kale), #1 for three weeks in 1970, which they did NOT play at the Nixon White House — here or here or here (album version)
“No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature” (Cummings, Bachman) — “No Sugar Tonight” was the B-side of “American Woman” – here or here

“Hand Me Down World” (Winter), #17 in 1970 — here or here
“Bus Rider” (Winter), B-side of “Share the Land”, and my least favorite song on the album — here or here
“Share the Land” (Cummings), #10 in 1970 — here or here

“Do You Miss Me Darlin’?” (Cummings, Winter) — B-side of “Hang on to Your Life”, and probably the better choice for a single here or here
“Hang On to Your Life” (Cummings, Winter) — #43 in 1971; the single version does NOT have Psalm 22:14,15 at the end; I’ve put this version on a religious mixed tape – here or here

Also listen to The Guess Who – Anthology (2003)

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