Ugo Bardi – Donald Trump and the collapse of the Western Empire

Donald Trump seems to have taken everyone by surprise. Whether or not he gains the Republican nomination, and whether or not he becomes president, he took the media by storm: people writing on blogs and newspapers are reeling from the impact, asking themselves: where the heck did this come from? What is he? A God? The reincarnation of Hitler? Or of Mussolini? The devil? Or what? …

John W. Whitehead – What If Jesus Had Been Born In 2015 In The American Police State?

“Two thousand years later … the memory of the revolutionary zealot who walked across Galilee gathering an army of disciples with the goal of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, the magnetic preacher who defied the authority of the Temple priesthood in Jerusalem, the radical Jewish nationalist who challenged the Roman occupation and lost, has been almost completely lost …

CHARLES HUGH SMITH – Following in Ancient Rome’s Footsteps: Moral Decay, Rising Wealth Inequality

If you want to understand why Rome declined, look no further than the moral decay of ruling Elites. There are many reasons why Imperial Rome declined, but two primary causes that get relatively little attention are moral decay and soaring wealth inequality. The two are of course intimately connected: once the morals of the ruling Elites degrade, what’s mine is mine and …

How Did Jesus Get to be So Hot? The Fascinating History of (Wildly Unrealistic) Depictions of the Savior

Lyrics for the rap song, B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth), include [3] the following line: “The white image, of Christ, is really Cesare Borgia [4].” The idea that our modern image of Jesus could be based on a ruthless power-hungry illegitimate son of a 15th century Pope (and star of the bloody mini-series Borgia [5]) is startling and farfetched. But it is no more bizarre or fanciful …