CreativeVortex; the Blog

In forests deep, where shadows softly loom,
Among the damp and dark, where fungi bloom,
Mushrooms arise, in shapes both strange and fair,
Their whispered secrets float upon the air,
In silent dance, they weave their mystic spell.

In redwood groves, where silence reigns supreme, Tall sentinels embrace the azure sky. Their ancient whispers echo through the mist, A symphony of nature’s grand design. Through centuries they’ve stood, withstanding time, Their mighty trunks, a testament to strength. In every bough, a story lies entwined, Of resilience and life’s enduring length. Their roots, like veins, connect the earth below, In redwood forests, life continues to grow.

“The frog is my brother” may sound whimsical at first, but it holds a deeper truth about our interconnectedness with nature. In folklore and mythology, animals often symbolize qualities or traits we admire or aspire to. The frog, with its amphibious nature, embodies adaptability, transformation, and the cyclical nature of life.

By declaring the frog as one’s brother, one acknowledges a kinship that extends beyond human boundaries. It speaks to a recognition of the inherent value of all living beings and the importance of respecting and protecting the natural world.

In a broader sense, “the frog is my brother” highlights the interconnectedness of all life forms on Earth. We are not separate entities but rather part of a vast and intricate web of life, where every being plays a vital role in maintaining the balance of ecosystems.

Moreover, the phrase suggests a sense of equality and unity among all beings, regardless of their form. It challenges anthropocentric notions of superiority and dominance over other species, promoting a more harmonious relationship with the natural world.

In today’s world, where environmental degradation and biodiversity loss are pressing issues, embracing the idea that “the frog is my brother” can inspire a shift in perspective and behavior. It encourages empathy, stewardship, and a deeper sense of responsibility towards all living beings and the planet as a whole.

Ultimately, “the frog is my brother” invites us to reevaluate our relationship with nature and recognize the interconnectedness that binds us to all life forms. It reminds us that we are not alone on this planet but rather part of a vast and intricate tapestry of existence.

I am a Deist. This is a statement of my religious beliefs. I do not subscribe to any formal religion and my association with my supreme being is mine! I know there is something more than what we are fed as religion. I was brought up Eastern Orthodox and it was kind of mix and match. If there was no Russian Orthodox Church close to us when I was growing up we’d go to the Greek Orthodox Church or even those iconoclastic Catholics (it was close enough). My Mother made a serious segue when I was in High School and became A Christian Scientist: an interesting concept rarely practiced by adherents, but then that could be said about any religion. I found some tidbits in Christian Science that allowed me to form my own ideas. I remember in Sunday School one time I got in to serious trouble for questioning the teacher.  The teacher made a seriously derogatory statement about NAZI Germany that I found totally crosswise to what he was teaching And I asked about it.  That was the first time I realized that power of words: this man turned completely apoplectic and ushered me out to the corridor to wait until class was over and then he was going to take me to my parents to be properly re-trained. Little did he know that my Dad was a former Jesuit Priest who taught Philosophy and Literature. It was an interesting discussion. My dad completely kept his composure as this guy ranted and raved and then my Dad said something softly enough I didn’t hear. The teacher immediately whirled around and stormed out.  I asked my Dad what he said and all I could get was “Nothing!”

I was seriously questioning my religious upbringing and when I entered the University of Maine there was a very charismatic English professor who invited me to a lunch forum he sponsored for a n invited group of students. He invited community leaders to speak to the group at lunch and then one could enjoy an open conversation with people one would not normally meet. One of those people was Rabbi Sky, a reformed Talmudic scholar.  I used to walk past the Shul on my way home and one day he invited me in to his office and we actually formed a good friendship although he called me incorrigible!

As time went on and I joined the Air Force I was introduced to other religions in the areas I worked in around Asia.  I learned Yoga, not just the moves but also the philosophy which is rarely taught in the US. While studying Karate in Okinawa I was introduced to some of the concepts of Buddhism and although it is considered a practice as opposed to a religion and is compatible with many religions it has its own philosophy.  Karate do taught me bunkai which is the actual philosophy behind the various styles and techniques as well as Bushido which is the art of war.

As I traipsed about the world as a member of the US Government forces and later as an engineer I learned about many different beliefs. The think I took from most of them is that there Is a common thread among them.  Most often we refer to these beliefs as the Golden Rule or the Ten Commandments but these are universal truths almost everything else is a human construct.  I found my supreme being in an ambush where I came under heavy fire. My driver was killed, the car was riddled with bullet holes and out of nowhere there appeared loyalist forces and I was rescued through no effort on my part! This scenario happened several times and I began to notice that I had a connection. I was surviving things I had no right to survive: it really felt like some entity was actually looking out for me.  So I reached out and started a conversation.  Not surprisingly during a debriefing session that included a psychologist I was told that I am bordering on schizophrenia (in those days no one knew what bi-polar meant) I respectfully disagreed and the conversation quickly went down hill.  At that point I learned to keep my beliefs to my self.

I studied engineering which gave me a sense of order and I studied philosophy which allowed me to understand more of what was going on. I came to the conclusion if I just stayed with the few universal truths like the ten commandments, most everything else in religion was man made trappings. Trappings that retained the faithful and excoriated the wayward.  Religion was designed to retain its base that provided the means of expansion of the religion.  It really came to light when I spent time in Mexico for the Government.  There I learned that the revolution between the Christeros and the Mexican Federal Government.  The Christeros were the supporters of the Church in Mexico.  The Government made the practice of “diesmos” Illegal.  Before in Mexico it was required that 10% of your production be given to the Church.  That practice was no longer enforced by the Government.  The Christeros were extremely militant and murdered a l of people and had their own troops. Mexico finally confiscated Church property and made them Government owned museums for the pleasure of the citizens. The Church was allowed to practice their religion in the churches but they were no longer church property.

So I am a Deist, no formal religion, I talk directly to God and it is efficient! Who made priests and their superiors interpreters of Divine intention?

I’m sitting in my room at the Metropol Hotel over looking Red Square in Moscow, I can see the onion domes of St Basil’s above the other buildings and marvel at the colors. I wonder who goes up there to clean the domes so that the colors remain vibrant. The Metropol is an interesting place to stay. The rooms are decorated ith vintage furniture I am a little nervous, I’m about to consummate this mission.  I grab my back pack and head down to find a taxi.  Today is my first day at the Moscow State University Lomonosov.  I hail a taxi give him my destination and hand him some rubles.  I’m still having a bit of time adjusting to the exchange rates in rubles but the taxi driver is very helpful.

Lomonosov Moscow State University: the Largest University in the World shown in its reflecting pool.

My journey started many years ago. In school no one would tell me what my IQ was: I just figured I wasn’t smart enough.  I was born in Munich, Bavaria to a Russian Mother and an American Father who was stationed in Germany with the CIC an early precursor of the CIA.  My Mom, a former Nazi Financial Auditor, was forced to work for the Nazis or face the death of her parents.  As soon as the Allies were within striking distance of Berlin my Mom took what she could carry and she and her parents took different paths to the frontline and squeezed through to the other side. Immediate arrest and interrogation.  My Mom turned in a lot of information to the Allies: names, addresses, occupations, organization titles and phone books.

My Father happened to be the agent de-briefing my Mom. One thing led to another and they were married. Shortly thereafter I appeared.  My Grandfather was my constant companion, he used to play games with me, give me mechanical things to take apart or put back together again, tell me stories of Old Russia, and play games with me.  I didn’t know it at the time but my Grandfather was a Professor and the Head of the Department of Mathematics at the University in Moscow. Most of the games he played with me were actually mathematical exercises, or exercises in logic.  I just thought they were games.  We spoke Russian and English at home and I went to local German schools. My Grandfather took up the task of teaching me Russian and we spent a lot of time reading History of Russia, Russian literature, Russian Poetry (to this day one of my favorite poets is Sergei Nekrasov).  I even got to learn the Archaic Russian because one of the books my Grandfather had me read and copy was an ancient Bible.

We moved around Europe, Switzerland, Austria (one of my favorite homes was on Mozart Platz Strasse!). It was a lot of fun.  I saw little of my Dad, he always seemed to be busy.  One day he came home with a German Shepherd Dog, not a puppy but an adult and already fully trained. As a child I had no idea that this was a guard dog, she was just a dog to play fetch with.  A dog my Mom liked except when she went swimming and my Mother was a swimmer: she represented Serbia at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.  The same Olympics where Jesse Owens rubbed Hitler’s nose in the dirt and Germany’s the Great White Hope was decked by the US boxer! Jesse Owens was black and the Nazis considered the Blacks as schlechtes menschen or substandard humans.  I guess old Jesse showed them! Mishka (that’s what the dog was named, in Russian it means bear) would get alarmed when my Mom used to swim away from shore and she would run into the water and try to herd my Mom back into shore. Mishka was a very good guard dog.  One day I came home from school and saw my mother sitting in a chair in the middle of the living room, there was blood around a broken window. In her hands was a 1911A1 .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol.  It appeared that someone had tried to break into the house to harm my Mom but Mishka tore him up. Darn good thing because the way my Mom was holding that pistol she obviously was not comfortable enough to actually use it!

Growing up in post war Germany was quite exciting. There was constant rebuilding.  The Russians tried to grab all of Germany and the US stopped them in their tracks. There was the Berlin Airlift and It a interesting to go through the different sectors especially the French. We spent a fair amount of time in the French sector and I started to pick up some French.  When we moved to Switzerland we lived on the shores of Lago Como. The official languages of the Swiss are German, French and Italian. I studied French in Swiss schools as well as Italian.  Anyway we finally arrived in the US when I was 10.  My Father was from Maine, Bangor to be exact and we took the train from New York to Bangor to visit relatives.  I met my Maternal Grandmother for the first time and also some cousins.  My father had to go to Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth to muster out.  We then moved to Sebago Lake while my Father worked in Westbrook at as a purchasing agent at a paper mill.  I went to school in East Sebago and then to Potter Academy.  While at Potter Academy I was taken in hand by a science teacher named Mr. Haslam. It was curious he used to drop by and visit with my Mom and my Dad and kept me under his wing.  In November of my Junior year President Kennedy was assassinated.  Being in a small semi-private school on Douglas Hill there was a lot of confusion initially but we all wound up in the cafeteria where the school had set up a television and we watched the drama unfold.  At home we continued to watch over the Thanksgiving weekend.

We used to go to Florida in the Winter, to Key West specifically.  In 1964 my Dad had to go to Havana and my Mom wanted us all to go but my Dad said he had business and we would all go the next year when we came back.  We came back but Cuba had become a communist nation antagonistic to the US and we were no longer able to go.  It was still interesting because we spent some time on the Navy base.  It was fun for me to see the Navy ships and the aircraft.  I’d wander around town and head on down Eisenhauer Blvd. over to the Martello Towers which was an ancient Spanish fort which had a museum with an eclectic collection. I had my first love relationship there but one day My Dad asked if I could pass on a piece of paper to my Girlfriend to give to her Dad. It was cryptic code and when she saw that she totally freaked out and refused to see me again. My Dad was nonplussed.

I Graduated Valedictorian and was accepted at the University of Maine in Portland. In school no one would tell me what my IQ was: I just figured I wasn’t smart enough. I had a lot of fun but not much serous studies and after one semester I decided to leave. In those days the military conscripted soldiers and seamen and when I received my Draft notice I ran down to the Air Force recruiter and enlisted.  Shortly I was in Basic at Lackland AFB in San Antonio Tx.  After basic I sent to tech school to become a member of the Air Police. It was really funny, I was at the base exchange one day and this airman looked at my name tag and ran. In a moment he was back dragging another Airman with him with the same name tag.  It turned out to be my Cousin Dave whom I had met in Bangor years ago.

My cousin David and I. David is on the right!

I figured I was all set: no combat for this kid! Well fate never sleeps.  I received orders to go the 3628^th Squadron at Kadena AFB: 3628^th was one of two combat groups within the Air Force.  Kadena was a great base. Everything one could want was there.  I wasn’t into going carousing so I kind of hung out at the base and one of my Buddies asked if I might be interested in the Martial Arts.  I had nothing else to do with my spare time so we worked out. Eventually we started going to a Dojo (Karate Studio) in down town Kadena.  It was very rudimentary.  We practiced on a dirt floor with just a cover to keep the Sun off.  We sparred with the local kids daily and soon we became very good.  I received my first Dan there.

While at Kadena I was visited by a member of the NSA.  I was asked all kinds of questions and sent to Silver Spring Md. At Silver Spring I was given a barrage of tests including language and history tests.  They were concentrating on Russia and wanted to know everything I knew about Russia. Well I guess my Grandfather was a pretty good teacher because soon I was transferred to Silver Spring and released from the Air Force as a convenience to the Government.  Many years later I found that same comment on my Dads DD214 (Discharge paper) he was released to the CIC. I started getting special briefings and found out that because of my Dad and my testing in school the Air Force had been keeping an eye on me from my Sophomore year: Mr. Haslam it turned out was an NSA operative.

The time at Silver Spring was a lot of fun.  I learned about special clandestine weapons handling, weapons of mass destruction, how to destroy things especially bridges and big buildings and I did a lot of physical training, Karate, sparring, and special techniques developed by the NSA.  I was drilled in Russian again and again until I spoke and wrote like a native. Russian is a living language and I was speaking the language I learned from my Grandfather: outdated. I learned Orienteering, compass work, I learned the location of things in Moscow and the surrounding area.  I learned the interior of the Kremlin.  And then I was tried out.

My first mission was to do a surveillance of an area on the Black Sea. I wound up on a nuclear submarine (a fast attack) and entered the Black Sea through the Bosphorous while carefully sailing under a freighter between the shaft logs near the props to avoid detection.  Once in the Black Sea we listened to radio broadcasts and were even able to read newspapers through the periscope that people were reading on the shore. We spent several hours there and then found a convenient freighter leaving the area and we were out of there.

When I got back I was debriefed and given my next assignment.  Russia was studying mind control as a weapon.  Very little was known about the program but its home was at the Lomonosov institute of the Government University of Moscow.  I then was sent to Georgetown University to be brought up to speed on mind control.  There I found out that My Dad was an Ordained Priest who left the Church because of philosophical differences. After leaving the Priesthood he enlisted in the Infantry and earned a Bronze Star before being released to the CIC. Things were really taking a strange turn.  The NSA wanted me to enroll at Lomonosov as a student and enter the mind control program.  I was curious how I was to do that and was told that my mental abilities were already of interest to the Russians. Mental abilities? Me? Surely you jest! But I applied and was immediately accepted.

Two weeks later I was living in an apartment on Red Square with two other students. We had a good time. Moscow is like a huge Museum.  The Kremlin has incredible buildings and the Churches are Grand! We drank lots of Vodka and ate pilmeni (kind of like a spicy, meat-stuffed ravioli) in the outdoor cafes surrounding the square.  We went to se great shows and listened to music, great Balalaika music, great classical music and the Bolshoi Ballet… I got a chance to visit Ekaterinburg where there are specular minerals.  I had seen the malachite that was in Chapultepec Palace in Mexico City but what they had in the Kremlin made the Chapultepec malachite pale by comparison.  My room mates were upperclassmen and so we had different schedules and I started at Lomonosov in the morning.

Taxi drops me off in front of the university and all I could do is stand there and look at it. My Grandfather walked those same steps, he taught in the classrooms and here I was at least physically following in his footsteps.  It was a wee bit overwhelming.  The university is a very Imposing building, it was founded on January 25, 1775 by Mikhail Lomonosov. The school has over 6000 professors and lecturers and about 5000 researchers. The building is huge with a floor space of over 1 million square meters. It is also the tallest University in the World.  It’s imposing!

I entered and went to the guidance councellors office where I was signed in, given books and was put in the care of a fellow student to show me around. I had classes in psychology and neurology.  I was to attend a class simply called 348. When I inquired what 348 was I was told to never mention that again. That afternoon I sound up in aa small auditorium for class 348. Everybody was just flaked all over the hall and nothing was going on.  When I walked in the Professor gave me a hand out and pointed to a seat.  I took my seat and began to read it was a treatise on altered mental states along with some basic exercise to experience the altered states.  Many people think that you need drugs to reach altered states but if you have ever gotten into your car and driven to a location and not remember driving there you were in an altered state of mind, a very shallow altered state but that is how you start. There are many levels of mentally altered states and they take you deeper into the mind. So I practiced being in an altered state.  At the end of the class we were told that we were going on a field trip.  Tomorrow we were to meet at the Federal Courthouse. I was intrigued.

The next morning I got into a taxi and headed for the court. At the Courthouse I met up with the professor and the rest of the class.  I asked wat we were going to do and the Professor said we are going to watch.  It was a trial of a political dissident.  One of the students who had been in the program told me that this was an exercise in mind control and that our assignment was to alter the results of the case and make the political dissident recant and spill everything he knows.  I was skeptical but entered the court room.  The case appeared to be stacked.  The Judge was obviously a political apparatchik. The students spread out and we watched.  The judge acquitted the political dissident much to everyone’s surprise and we left.

The professor told us that we failed and better luck next time. He wanted us to try harder and study more. It seems that dissidents were frequently getting passes. I was invited to dinner at one of the student’s homes and thought it would be fun and it was but it was also revealing! The student took me aside after dinner and told me that the students were successful this afternoon. I was curious how did he believe we succeeded but the Professor said we failed. The student told me that many of the students get together and they found out that they really can alter actions but never in a negative way. The acquittal was what the students wanted because the dissident was on the side of truth and the Judge a Government hack.  Extremely valuable and interesting information.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Love! Books have been written, civilizations destroyed and fortunes lost over the concept! I may have an odd concept but the way I see it one loves but is not in control of who one loves. My concept may be a bit different.  I don’t love many.  I can think of only about 5 or 6 people I could say I love. Why I love them I have no idea: its very complicated.  I believe there are several ways one can love and one is sexual, another is platonic and there are actually numerous subsets that would stump a trasactional analysis guru.

I love but I do onto necessarily have to have someone love me back. There are people I love who may not even care for me, but that doesn’t enter into the equation. I love someone because of a connection I can not define.  I don’t love many people but the ones I do I love unequivocally. At times they even treat me poorly but that doesn’t reduce the love .

I may have to distance myself because of the nature of the relationship. Some relationships are destructive and toxic. I have pride and I have sense of accomplishment so if someone doesn’t care for me it doesn’t matter: I’m pretty contented with how I developed as a human. How can you love someone if you don’t love yourself?  Relationships are not bilateral contracts that’s why one gets hurt when one is rejected: they are strictly unilateral.

So, I love you but if you don’t like me it’s ok!

Well I thought I’d exercise my white privilege and join some friends in Alameda and sail the Bay (you don’t see no brothas sailing). On my way down I decided to stop and visit Chez Panisse so I pulled off at Gilman St and headed down San Pablo. On the way I had a flat tire and pulled off to the side. It appears I was attacked on the street and woke up in an Antifa camp on Grizzly Peak above the US Berkeley Camp. The Antifa Commander told me I was attacked by White Supremacists and I should stay a couple of days with them and enjoy the training camp. I wandered about and actually ran into someone I knew when I had a business at 80 Fiftieth St. near the coliseum. We chatted a bit caught up on times and old friends and I found out that they were coordinating with Black Lives Matter out of Oakland.  This friend was a third Dan blackbelt. He knew I used to be a black belt but I don’t belong to a dojo any more so I have nothing but I do work out regularly and remember my katas.  He laughs and says lets do Heian Shodan.  It was a nice and cool outside so we stripped to the waist and went at it.  After a good warm up we started sparring and some good natured trash talk jacking each other up.

He wanted me to start instructing a bunch of new recruits in Martial Arts and he knew I used to be in the Air Police in the Air Force so we did some extra work on grasp, take downs and the baton and in particular Bushido which is not taught much in this Country but since I started in Okinawa I had a good basis in Kanban. I also introduced found objects and self made weapons such as Molotoff Cocktails, substitute martial arts weapons etc.  In the evening we had speakers on various political and current event subjects. Wake up was early and we worked out before breakfast, then firing range before lunch and discussions of Urban warfare after lunch including tactics and strategy. The days just screamed by and I noticed a change in attitude in myself.  I realized I was wrong. America truly sux! the people are really oppressed and need to be governed by a benevolent dictator such as Hugo Chaves or Maduro.  I was beginning to realize we NEED Obama back because he cared. Everything from Obamaphones to Obamacare was given to the people who deserved it and needed it. We need more refugees, we need to bring in people of diversity like Somalis: they are so religious and family oriented You know they really care about women and are always willing to give them a hand or two. American women are too shameless and need to cover up instead of looking like a Penthouse spread. Genital mutilation is important to make sure that women are not excited by sex so that they can concentrate on serving the one true God: Allah!

I believe that we need a new type of leader and I suggest we elect Maxine Waters as POTUS. Auntie Maxine has given so much of herself in serving the People for many, many years.  Auntie Maxine would be so much better than Hillary, in fact she would be twice as good as Hillary: Auntie Maxine is black AND she’s a woman, how can you trump that! Auntie would really stick it to the capitalists too. Everyone vote for Auntie Maxine: it’s what the Country craves. Impeach Trump, elect Maxine Waters and stick it to the Man.

A weekend ith Antifa