In the first part of our Year of the Rat discussion, we considered the predictive value of certain political and economic matters over the ten presidential elections that have occurred in Rat Years since 1900. Of course, each of those elections was unique and was not decided by a single variable, so in this second part we will try to add some context by looking briefly at each election. The Rat Years, all of which were election years, are 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996 and 2008. Continue reading “YEAR OF THE RAT – 2020, PART 2”
Category: Random Thoughts
YEAR OF THE RAT – 2020, PART 1
The Oriental Lunar Calendar marks the Year of the Metal Rat as beginning with the new moon on January 25, 2020. As you probably know, each year is symbolized by one of twelve animals and each of those animal years cycles through affinities to the five elements – fire, earth, metal, water and wood. We now come to the Year of the Metal Rat, which occurs every 60 years. The Rat is the first animal in the hierarchy, so this is the beginning of a new 12-year cycle.
In this post, we will make some predictions for what may occur in the coming year. These predictions are not based on a belief that I am any more (or less) psychic than you are, or upon the traditional analysis used in Chinese astrology, Rather, we are looking at what has happened in previous Rat years and trying to extrapolate to the present.
A review of previous cycles is a bit difficult due to the nature of Rat years. Rats are seen as intelligent, shrewd, creative, freedom-loving and even downright sneaky. They don’t fall into established patterns like many of the other animals. Continue reading “YEAR OF THE RAT – 2020, PART 1”
A SHORT YEAR OF THE DOG RETROSPECTIVE
The Year of the Dog is officially over and we have begun the Year of the Earth Pig. I asked our dog, Darcy, if she had any words of wisdom as we move on. First, she said that she would like to think that this is now the Year of Groundhog (earth=ground, pig=hog), so we should pay attention to what goes on in the shadows. I told her to stop being silly. Then she suggested that I just go outside and look at the night sky for a few minutes. We went to the back yard and had the following conversation:
ME: It’s really clear tonight, and look at all you can see up there since it’s a new moon. Is that red one Mars? I had thought Mars would be a little lower in the sky.
DARCY: And I would have thought that Mars would not be flashing on and off and moving from southeast to northwest.
ME: Oh. Yeah. Look at that other bright star up by Orion.
DARCY: That’s the Dog Star.
ME: Sirius?
DARCY: Oh, yes. Dogs are very proud of the Dog Star and take it quite seriously – just as we took the Year of the Dog seriously.
ME: I mean the star, Sirius.
DARCY: I don’t know how to tell whether a star is joking. By the way, who’s on first?
ME: You’re right. It was that kind of year.
It was a teaching/learning moment.
YEAR OF THE PIG – 2019
February 4-5, 2019 will be the first day of the Year of the Earth Pig (or Boar) on the Chinese and other Oriental calendars. This is the 12th and final year of the Chinese zodiac cycle, so it is a time for culmination of matters that have manifested over the previous 11 years. As you probably know, each year is symbolized by one of twelve animals and each of those animal years cycles through affinities to the five elements – fire, earth, metal, water and wood. This will be the Year of the Earth Pig, which occurs every 60 years.
I am once again posting predictions for what may occur in the world during the upcoming year. Rather than claiming to be any more (or less) psychic than you are, I have assumed that the traditional cycles are valid, and have based the predictions on what has occurred in previous Pig years. You may review the history or jump directly to the predictions at the end of this post, after clicking the “continue reading” button. Continue reading “YEAR OF THE PIG – 2019”
WHY BOB DYLAN MATTERS
Richard F. Thomas, a professor of the Classics at Harvard University and a big Bob Dylan fan, has written a book called Why Bob Dylan Matters (2017).
Why Bob Dylan Matters is an interesting title, one that presupposes that Dylan does matter. Certainly he matters to this author; and in some 300 easy to read pages, you can get a pretty good idea why that is so. I enjoyed learning from Mr. Thomas, but would like to focus here on what I hope is constructive criticism.
YEAR OF THE DOG – 2018
Late on February 15, 2018, in the United States – February 16 in much of the world – the new moon will mark the end of the Year of the Rooster and the beginning of the Year of the Dog on the Chinese and other Oriental calendars. As you probably know, each year is symbolized by one of twelve animals and each of those animal years cycles through affinities to the five elements – fire, earth, metal, water and wood. This will be the Year of the Earth Dog, which occurs every 60 years.
For the past several years, I have posted predictions for what may occur in the world during the upcoming year. Rather than claiming to be any more (or less) psychic than you are, my approach has been to assume that the traditional cycles are valid. Then, by looking at what occurred in previous Dog years, we should be able to extrapolate predictions for the coming year. The posts of previous predictions are available for review, and most have been quite accurate.
REAL ID Act
It is hard to believe that Donald Trump has only been acting as president for about two weeks, and it is already getting tedious to think about his attacks on civil liberties and his actions making travel unnecessarily difficult. Of course, Trump is not the first president to 
infringe on our rights in those areas. Today, I want to look back at the REAL ID Act, signed into law by George W. Bush in 2005, and which will soon start having a large impact on many Americans. You may read the text of the Act here.
First, let me engage in a little personal digression. As I write this, my wife and daughter and grandchildren are visiting Southern California for a few days. When we woke up this morning, there was freezing fog and freezing rain and multiple accidents on the highways. It was a harrowing drive to the airport, and the plane was delayed in taking off, but they made it safely to their destination.
For some reason, our family seems to pick days like this to have to go to the airport. Back in September of 2013, our daughter, Suzanne, and son-in-law, Jeff were flying out of town, and the time for scheduled departure coincided with the worst rainstorms and flooding Denver has experienced in more than 100 years. There were trees washed away, roads flooded and closed and multiple travel advisories. Nevertheless, I drove them to the airport. It took longer than usual, but we made it. That is not the happy ending, though. When we arrived at the terminal, Jeff realized that he had forgotten to bring his driver’s license and had no identification. Because of the road and weather conditions, it would take at least an hour’s driving each way to go back to get the license, and he would miss the plane, anyway. Luckily, our son, Michael, was in town that day, so I called him and had him go get the license and bring it to the airport. It all occurred timely, and that is the happy ending.
At least we knew that his driver’s license would be accepted for identification. The situation would have been more complex if not for that given. However, in the not-too-distant future, many of you are going to learn that your driver’s license will no longer be accepted. We can thank the REAL ID Act of 2005 for that result.
That law essentially makes state-issued drivers’ licenses the equivalent to a national ID Card. Certain documents must be provided and other requirements met before the license may be issued. The license, itself is required to have certain information and be in a machine-readable format , which will facilitate the setting up of a nationwide database. The information in that database is to be shared with our friends the Canadians and with Mr. Trump’s “bad hombre” boogeymen in Mexico.
Half of the states are not yet in compliance with the law (it is “voluntary,” after all), though the effective date has been postponed several times, and a number of the states have been granted extensions.
Presently, January of 2018 is the date that is important for identification at airports. It seems that after that date, drivers’ licenses from Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington will no longer be accepted because those states have not complied nor have they asked for an extension.
An extension until June 6, 2017, has been granted to Alaska, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, and Virginia. If they have not become compliant by then, drivers’ licenses from those states will no longer be accepted for entry to federal buildings and facilities.
An extension until October 10, 2017, has been granted to California, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Texas. Similarly, if they have not become compliant by that date the drivers’ licenses from those states will not be accepted as identification at federal buildings and facilities.
As the effective dates get closer, we may look at the civil liberties issues that should be addressed. For now, consider this a heads-up so that you in the affected states can start working on getting your alternative identification documents together. Alternative documents include U.S. passport or passport card; DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST); U.S. military ID (active duty or retired military and their dependents, and DoD civilians); U.S. passport or passport card; DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST); U.S. military ID (active duty or retired military and their dependents, and DoD civilians); permanent resident card; border crossing card; DHS-designated enhanced driver’s license; airline or airport-issued ID (if issued under a TSA-approved security plan); federally recognized, tribal-issued photo ID; HSPD-12 PIV card; foreign government-issued passport; Canadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card; transportation worker identification credential; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766); and U.S. Merchant Mariner Credentials.
YEAR OF THE ROOSTER – 2017, PART 1
The new moon on January 27, 2017 (in the United States, which will be January 28th in many parts of the world) marks the beginning of a new year under the Oriental lunar 
calendar. As you probably know, each year is symbolized by one of twelve animals and each of those animal years cycles through affinities to the five elements – fire, earth, metal, water and wood. This will be the Year of the Fire Rooster (or Fire Chicken, as it is called in Vietnam), which occurs every 60 years.
For the past several years, I have posted predictions for what may occur in the world during the upcoming year. Rather than claiming to be any more (or less) psychic than you are, my approach has been to assume that the traditional cycles are valid. Then, by looking at what occurred in previous Rooster years, we should be able to extrapolate forecasts for the coming year. The posts of previous predictions are available for review, and most have been quite accurate. If you would like to check what was prognosticated for 2016’s Year of the Monkey, you may do so by clicking here.
This year I am taking a slightly different approach and dividing the prognostications into two parts. This first part is intended to be general, and look at matters in different areas of the world, which is pretty much the format I have used in the past. The second part will focus on the political situation in the United States since it seems that will have a major influence on what occurs this year and for many years to come.
First, let me say that this Oriental system of astrology is not really intended to make detailed predictions based on years. The system is actually much more complicated and there is an animal-element rulership of each hour and each month, in addition to that of the year. When looking only at the year, as we are doing here, one can imagine a pervasive annual vibration that interacts with the vibration that each person acquired from the year of his or her birth. When those two vibrations come together, the resulting wave forms may be considered positive, negative or neutral. Still, they only set the underlying tone. It is the actions of each person that ultimately lead to a good or bad result for the year. Continue reading “YEAR OF THE ROOSTER – 2017, PART 1”
YEAR OF THE ROOSTER – 2017, PART 2
The new moon on January 27, 2017 (in the United States, which will be January 28th in many parts of the world) marks the beginning of a new year under the Oriental lunar calendar. As you probably know, each year is symbolized by one of twelve animals and each of those animal years cycles through affinities to the five elements – fire, earth, metal, water and wood. This will be the Year of the Fire Rooster (or Fire Chicken, as it is called in Vietnam), which occurs every 60 years.
For the past several years, I have posted some predictions for what may occur in the world during the upcoming year. Rather than claiming to be any more (or less) psychic than you are, my approach has been to assume that the traditional cycles are valid. Then, by looking at what occurred in previous Rooster years, we should be able to extrapolate predictions for the coming year. The posts of previous predictions are available for review, and most have been quite accurate. If you would like to check what was prognosticated for 2016’s Year of the Monkey, you may do so by clicking here.
This year I am taking a slightly different approach and
dividing the prognostications into two parts. The first part was fairly general, and looked at matters in different parts of the world, which is pretty much the format I have used in previous years. This second part will focus on the political situation in the United States since it seems that will have a major influence on what occurs this year and for many years to come. Continue reading “YEAR OF THE ROOSTER – 2017, PART 2”
A POETRY PRIZE
Wouldn’t it be great if this blog was written by a prize-winning poet? Wouldn’t that give it a little bit of class, perhaps a sense of gravitas?
You bet it would. So, I would like to say that Nobel laureate Bob Dylan 
will be writing several ….. Oh, never mind. I would like to say that, but wouldn’t be true. If Mr. Zimmerman won’t return the Nobel Committee’s phone calls, I don’t have much chance of talking with him.
I guess the only way a prize-winning poet is going to write something here is for me to go out and win a prize, myself. How would I do that?
Well, there is a gentleman named Frank Kinslow, who is a chiropractor with extensive transcendental meditation training turned guru of sorts. He has written half a dozen books, which have been translated into many languages, teaching what he initially called “Quantum Entrainment” or “QE”; which has now expanded into the “Kinslow System.” This is not the time or place to try to explain that system. Let us just say that he recognizes a state called “Pure Awareness,” which is likened to David Bohm’s concept of implicate order. It is also similar to Tao and Advaita in that it is that from which both consciousness and matter arise.
Even though Pure Awareness is always and everywhere with us, most people do not know or recognize it. Dr. Kinslow’s books teach that it is possible to become aware of Pure Awareness, and we can start in the space between our thoughts. As a part of becoming aware, one experiences what Kinslow calls a “Eufeeling.” That is a made-up word that combines the Greek prefix “eu-,” meaning well or good or pleasant, with the word “feeling.” It is supposed to be the feeling that comes with the first glimmer of individual awareness of oneself as both separate and a part of a single unbounded field. Dr. Kinslow wrote a whole book on Eufeeling, so I won’t try to explain it any further.
Anyway, a few months ago I received an email newsletter about the Kinslow System, which included an announcement of a contest seeking poems on the subject of Eufeeling. I felt like writing a haiku that day, so I wrote a “Eufeeling Haiku.” Whoever the judges were, they liked the poem enough to award it third place and I am to receive an autographed copy of Dr. Kinslow’s book on Eufeeling. The winning poems are not yet on the Kinslow System website, but I will include a link when they are posted.
For now, let me share the poem with you:
Eufeeling Haiku
In silence, nothing.
Breathe, pause, feel — and nothing blooms:
a perfect flower.