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Dear Indyvidual,

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You wrote :

« Why do we live in this "Democracy" ? Because that's where we are for various reasons .. »
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That’s a very enlightening reply, Indyvidual.

It’s the acknowledgement that you appreciate the importance of the question and have taken the time to give it some deep thought and reflection before answering to the best of your ability.

Many thanks, Indyvidual. I appreciate it.

It will be interesting to see what ttbn, and mhaze have to say. I’m not surprised that they are taking a little more time. It’s not something to be taken lightly and the reasons they prefer to live in Australia with our government and democracy could be quite complex – perhaps more so than yours.

As you say, you can't speak for them any more than you can speak for yourself.

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Dear Foxy,

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Since the death of her husband in the Russian penal colony north of the Arctic Circle, the Basmannyy District Court in Moscow accused Yulia Navalnaya of "participation in an extremist organization" and ordered her arrest “in absentia”.

She used to be known as the “First Lady’ of the Russian opposition. She is now its figurehead. She was last seen in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where her husband’s activist organization was located.

On 1 July 2024, she was named chairperson of the Human Rights Foundation, succeeding Garry Kasparov.

She was born in 1976, the same year as her husband. He was 47 years old when he died. Her days are probably numbered too.

Here is an interesting article by Time Magazine on Yulia Navalnaya :

http://time.com/6967013/exclusive-yulia-navalnaya-speaks/

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I think one much over-looked vital factor in these opinions is the life experience & subsequent mentality of a poster. Actual experience is nearly always dismissed as being out of touch by the younger & older folk have lost the patience to wait for the inexperienced to gain sufficient experience to lift the veil of idealism.. I remember remarking & hearing about topics 40 years ago only to be taken for granted yet now these views are deemed valid but only if an "educated" person utters them. Political Party allegiance is a clear example hence so many varied opinions on issues so many can't even relate to but comment they do anyway.
Idealism is the biggest hurdle to realistic social harmony particularly the idealists who lack the exposure to the requirement of merit to go through life !

Hi Banjo Patterson,

Recently on the 'Multicultralim' thread we spoke about the Olympic Games opening ceremony, and the discussion about what apeared to be a mockery of 'The Last Supper', and you spoke about pagan rituals.

I also noticed at one point somewhere you mentioned 'Yiddish', so I wondered if you might be Jewish (no judgement or animosity whatsoever)

Also earlier in this thread I stated 'Jews probably helped facilitate those opening ceremonies for all we know'.

I've been thinking about what I said, and my thoughts involve 'Kabbalah'.

Now I haven't watched the entire opening ceremony, but I wonder if the focus on all this paganistic stuff, relates to Kabbalah.

I remembered back to London 2012 Olympic Games, some people said that logo in fact spelled 'Zion'.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/28/iran-london-olympics-logo-zion

Now like I said, I haven't watched the entire opening ceremony, but I wonder if I did, would I see and depictions of serpents 'Leviathon', or maybe any 'Eye of Providence' Ain Sof?

I came across a youtube video yesterday, showing an 'Eye of Providence' on the Eiffel Tower, (just like on the US dollar bill) but it may have been 'clickbait' as the videos thumbnail image, can't find the video now, but that got me thinking...
- I'm not actually sure if it really was on the Eiffel tower.

I also noticed that the Olympic medals have hexagons on them.
I also find the depiction of fire as the games symbol somewhat interesting too, as this is one of the 4 elements Fire, Air, Water, Earth. 'The flame of God is the soul of a human being'

I never looked too much into the Kabbalah, but I find all this paganistic symbolism, at least somewhat curious.

I also find Yuyutsu's belief in reincarnation interesting, as this also relates to Kabbalah, not just Hinduism.

Dear Banjo,

Thank you so much for the gift of information, and the
Time magazine article link, that you gave me about Alexi
Navalny's wife - Julia Navalnaya. I cried reading it.
I hope that she and her husband's organisation is safe
in Lithuania.
Putin's reach is long and strong.

Thank you deeply.

I've re-written the poem I gave earlier:

Russia, a nation soulful and deep
Thinkers like Dostoevsky made people think
Tolstoy wrote about War and Peace
His Anna Karenina was hard to resist

Rudolph Nureyev's leaps were entrancing
Mikhail Barysnikov made a name dancing
Kirov and Bolshoi set ballet standards
Which Margot Fonteyn also demanded

It wasn't vodka that made Russians sing
But the plucking of strong balalaika strings
Cossack dancers led the way
Joyously demonstrating their hectic display

Volga Boatmen, was a popular choice
Kalinka, Katyuska, were given a voice
And who can forget - otschi tshorniye - dark eyes
With which Ivan Rebroff did melodicly surprise

However, the dark side of this nation
Is its Frozen Inferno, an aberration
Where millions of bodies lie side by side
Crimes the authorities try to hide

Alexei Navalny, whose widow weeps
She tries in his name justice to seek
The prisons and psych wards and abominable nooks
Solzhenitsyn exposed in his famous book

The Gulag Archipelago became well known
Showing to the world Russia's terror zone
Autocrats like Putin will someday depart
Hopefully his replacement will have a heart

And, like Gorbachev, he'll try to reform
But, a nation asleep is hard to transform
Russia's a nation that will need to dig deep
So that one day it may wake up from its sleep
Otherwise all the deaths and all the pain
Would have been suffered by its people in vain.