Our Gang – October 14, 1978

Posted on July 19, 2018 by cdsmiller17

Our Gang Oct 14 1978

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

In 1978, we lived in St. Catharines, Ontario. On a whim, we went to Toronto and stayed at the King Edward Hotel for the weekend.

We went to a play: The Incredible Murder of Cardinal Tosca – a Sherlock Holmes mystery.

Amy, just two-and-a-half years old, remarked in a very loud voice when a gun discharged on stage, “Man go bang!” The audience laughed.

At the intermission, Don Harron of Charlie Farquharson (from Parry Sound…) fame, looked admiringly at our very young theatre-goer.

Toronto Mounted Police 1978

Toronto Mounted Police near Old City Hall

We moved to British Columbia that December.

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Last Night’s Dream: Mixed Messages

Posted on July 18, 2018 by cdsmiller17

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Memory (Snow) Bank

Before I moved to England in 1985, I had a dream which seemed significant at the time. The one image that recurred in last night’s dream involved my assisting a woman who’s car was stuck in snow. It’s strange to dream of such things in summer, but that’s what makes dreams so interesting.

This time, the dream brought up subsequent events after I moved to England. The baby that was ‘left outside alone’ seems to be the main point of the dream. Guilt!

The mother of this baby was sleeping inside my home. Her husband came for her. We (her husband and I) embraced, and spoke in gentle tones while she slept on the couch. Then she woke up. The first thing she said was, “I’m taking you home with me.” This she said to her husband, much to my surprise.

I went outside and brought the baby into the house and gave it to its mother. Then I went outside again, and tried to keep others from nicking the baby clothes that were spread out on the kerb. I wasn’t entirely successful.

Interpretation

I happened to come across a small family tree on ancestry that was attributed to this woman. In the discussion about it, with a different woman who established the tree, I discovered that she and the baby’s mother are friends. I mentioned that if she ever wants to viewed my extended family tree, all she has to do is ask. I suspect that this dream was in response to that statement.

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Helsinki Summit: No Punch & Judy Show

Posted on July 17, 2018 by cdsmiller17

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What Did You Expect, Really?

Trump and Putin have met before in private, at least twice, to my recollection. And each time, no one else (except interpreters, I presume) were in attendance and we have been none the wiser about what they discussed.

They say ‘nature abhors a vacuum’; human nature, being what it is, requires details and proof. These were in short supply yesterday at the joint press conference. People expected (really?) fireworks between the leaders of Russia and the US; what they got was a pantomime puppet show.

Why?

It should be obvious that Trump’s “Art of the Deal” was not in evidence, even going into the summit. He talked in an interview on CBS that the European Union was more of a foe than Russia or China.

His usual style would have been to denigrate whomever he was to meet next, get them to compromise on some very heated discussion points and then talk nicely about them at the joint press conference afterwards.

This did not happen here. Perhaps the reason was that the Department of Justice indicting twelve Russian spies just days before Trump’s meeting with Putin did the job for him.

I can imagine what was said when the men met alone.

Use Your Imagination

The real purpose of this summit would have been Putin’s need to get Trump to lighten economic and political sanctions. He would expect that Trump could do that as he is POTUS. But autocracy does not exist in the American Republic, not unless the Senate and the People make someone Emperor for life (à la Julius Caesar). Then he’d have to be assassinated.

Trump has been pleading Putin’s cause on the world stage, suggesting that the G7 should become the G8 again. Also, Trump has been trying to undermine NATO, calling out other allies (foes) for not spending enough on defence. Maybe the real point of that is to get more countries, especially in the EU, to the edge of financial collapse. Trump’s recent tariffs on free trade items has certainly caused a lot of concern amongst American ‘friends’ (read, ‘enemies’) who have had to add tariffs of their own, bringing the cost of goods ever higher. Someone will suffer, mostly in the Western hemisphere.

And recent rhetoric on both sides about new and improved atomic missiles hasn’t made the residents of the world rest easy in their beds. Scary time, for sure.

Does Putin Own Trump?

The alpha and omega dogs were on that podium yesterday. You could clearly see which was which. No one seems to be able to account for that. But what if the rumours were actually true? What if Putin has ‘something’ on Trump? Would that make more sense?

Putin admitted yesterday that he wanted Trump to beat Hillary in the 2016 American Presidential election. And the press have returned to the moment in the campaign when Trump asked Russia to find Clinton’s missing emails. Evidently, the hackers then went to work on the server that was used by Hillary. But there’s no collusion, right? Sure…

I’m not even sure Trump wanted to be President. He was making excuses right up until the end that the election was probably rigged (against him, he thought). So, one has to ask: did he even want to run for President?

What happened at the Miss Universe contest in 2013 in Moscow? This seems to be the smoking gun, at least in my humble opinion.

Putin claims that he didn’t even know Trump was in Moscow at the time. Putin denies lots of things: that’s his style. But he used to be head of the KGB; as President of Russia, he would definitely have known. And the rumour of a dossier being compiled of Trump’s bedroom antics, subsequently reported to the Democrats by a British spy, makes this all the more intriguing.

Conclusion

We will never know until about 50 years from now when someone spills the beans: whatever Putin has on Trump has made the American President look like a traitor to his country.

Oh, and payback is a bitch: Trump kept the Queen waiting 10 minutes for their meeting; Putin made Trump wait an hour.

That shows you who really is in charge of the world stage…

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Sharon Tate: an Asteroid in Hollywood

Posted on July 16, 2018 by cdsmiller17

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A Star is Born to Die?

If it hadn’t been for a special on the Manson Family murders last night, I would probably have not thought of doing this birth chart. But I’m glad I did.

What really intrigued me was the thought that someone could be at the wrong place at the wrong time and lose their life. But what if Sharon’s life had intended just such an event? They say, “Only the good die young.”

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Chiron Conjunct North Node in Leo in 2nd House (Opposite Venus)

Sharon didn’t trust her good fortune. I’m sure she was glad of it: getting to be in movies, marrying Roman Polanski, getting pregnant and moving into the ‘safe’ house at 10050 Cielo Drive, Los Angeles. What she didn’t realize was that a former tenant, Terry Melcher (Doris Day’s son), had pissed off Charles Manson by ‘reneging’ on a recording contract.

The North Node in Leo is an individual who must become herself. The fact that this node is conjunct Chiron, the Wounded Healer, means that whatever befalls her will ‘heal’ something important in her life. The opposition to Venus implies a conflict with “Beauty”. And the 2nd House shows a basic insecurity about self-worth.

A lot of good-looking women feel that the attention that comes from their natural beauty is unwarranted and unreliable. They want to be seen in their own right, for their humour, their brains, and mostly their uniqueness. Sharon was unique, in spades.

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Cancer Rising with Jupiter in the 12th House

You appear gentle and soft, and you act rather reserved with others until you know them well and feel it is safe to be open with them. You have a strong need for emotional security and a sense of belonging, and are deeply attached to your past: your heritage, roots, family, cherished friends, familiar places, etc. Making radical changes or moves away from what is known and safe can be very painful and difficult for you. You tend to cling and hold on to people, memories, possessions of personal or sentimental significance. Having a home, a safe haven, in very important to you. (Cancer Rising)

You make others feel accepted and comfortable. You have a knack for breaking down feelings of alienation and you make others feel included and a part of group activities. You have a loving, protective side that wants to take care of everyone. Creating a supportive atmosphere that is nourishing both to yourself and to others is one of your strengths. Also, your home and heritage are important to you, and you maintain close connections to your past. (Jupiter in Cancer)

You are drawn to social work, the ministry, giving your time and energy to charitable organizations, or to serving and helping the disadvantaged in some way. Your generosity and unselfishness will bring you and others much good. (Jupiter in 12th house)

The Murder

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The time is approximate, but intended to show how Sharon’s birth and death events could be synchronized. Note, for instance, that the Midheaven of her murder is on her natal 8th house cusp (death). Also that the Ascendant of her murder is in the middle of her natal Saturn and Uranus conjunction.

A Yod (Finger of God) is formed by combining these charts. The Finger is pointing at Sharon’s natal Sun and Mercury conjunction, and the murder chart planets doing the pointing are a Moon/Venus conjunction on one side and Mercury on the other. This feels fated.

Manson had hoped to start a race war between Blacks and Whites. He hoped the Whites would be wiped out. That’s why “PIG” was written in blood on the Polanski front door.

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A Battle of Good versus Evil

There were two quotes in a documentary about these events that stood out for me. (I may be paraphrasing them slightly here.) The first one was something that Roman Polanski said about his wife:

“Sharon was good.”

The second one explained why we even still think about Charles Manson (who died last November):

“We will never forget Sharon Tate’s beauty.”

I think that says it all.

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Summer of ’69: Revolution!

Posted on July 15, 2018 by cdsmiller17

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The Persistence of Memory

We (of a certain generation) remember 1969 with a certain amount of pride, especially that summer. It was when we finally showed the previous generation who was really in charge.

However, there were lots of other things going on at that time which changed our world forever.

Apollo 11

Man finally walked on the Moon (at least we think he did…) and the space race between the USSR and the USA was finally over.

Chappaquiddick

An accident(?) ended the Kennedy family dynasty’s attempts to regain the White House. Two assassinations had cut down his older brothers before him, and this ‘incident’ made Ted Kennedy rethink his future moves.

1969 York Race Riot

It’s seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. Racial tension between blacks and whites has been going on for more than sixty years. Recent events have proven that where prejudice and violent reactions are concerned, some buried feelings run deep.

The Manson Murders

I haven’t tackled this one, yet. After watching last night’s 20/20 program on ABC, called “Truth and Lies: the Family Manson”, I have started to investigate Sharon Tate’s Astrological birth chart. Watch this space.

Woodstock Festival

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Just one week after the Manson Murders took place in Los Angeles, a “music and art fair” occurred in New York state which brought a kind of balance back into the world.

Notice that the Moon was quickly approaching Pluto in Virgo at the moment that Richie Havens opened the show. The ‘true’ Revolution had begun. Saturn in Taurus seemed to anchor the energies, which means that there would be mud, and lots of it!

Nobody born after that time can really appreciate what changed that weekend. Some have tried to tell us:

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Cornelius the Centurion

Posted on July 14, 2018 by cdsmiller17

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Acts 10:3 – The Angel appears to Cornelius the Centurion

Blame it on a blind spot, if you will: I had forgotten that the whole chapter of Acts 10 is devoted to Cornelius. This is the same Centurion that is mentioned at least twice in the Gospels: first as the Roman whose servant was healed by Jesus; and then as the soldier at the foot of the Cross.

His story is significant for a number of reasons, not the least is the fact that he wasn’t a disciple (how could he be?) and yet he has a direct interaction with an angel of the Lord. This makes him a Gnostic, doesn’t it?

Christianity Turns a Corner

Gentiles were considered unclean by the Jewish men who made up the early Christian Church. Peter, in a vision, is confronted by an image of beasts being let down from the heavens in “a great sheet knit at the four corners” (Acts 10:11). He is told to ‘Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.’ When he objects, a voice says, ‘What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.’ This happens three times, an echo of the three times that Peter denied that he knew Jesus during his trial before Pilate.

As this vision ends, Cornelius’ men come knocking on his door. The synchronicity is overwhelming: Peter knows that he is supposed to go to Cornelius in Caesarea. This he does, and the interaction between the two men shows Peter that Gentiles are part of Jesus’ flock, too.

Peter, Feed My Sheep

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This sequence in the Gospel of John, chapter 21, is also repeated three times. It is a well-known tactic in memory recall (and a vital tool for advertisers) that something needs to be said three times before it is retained. It would seem that Simon Peter definitely needed that to happen to get him to act in the way that Jesus wanted him to.

It bears repeating here, too. We are all in this together. There is no Us and Them. We are One.

The search for my Roman life is now done.

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Growing Old: The Hearing Test

Posted on July 13, 2018 by cdsmiller17

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What a drag it is…

I finally gave in, after years of Susan nagging me, and had my hearing tested. Anyone who knows me knows that I sometimes have to ask them to repeat themselves. My wife is tired of having to do that.

So, two things need to be said from the get-go: one, I was a rhythm guitarist in a rock band in my middle teens; and, two, I have had wax build-up over the years.

I always had the impression that my right ear could hear better than my left one, which is why I would incline my right ear towards a person speaking if I wanted to hear them clearly. I was wrong: I was doing that to compensate for my right ear not performing as well as my left ear. That came as a surprise.

But, because I normally live and ‘work’ in a quiet environment, my ‘need’ to hear isn’t all that pressing. It’s only when we have more than a handful of people around the house that it becomes a little more challenging, and, when we attend the Faith and Science group twice a month. Twenty-five people sitting in a circle in a big room has its moments. (I wish they would project their voices when speaking to the group, but most just speak how they would normally in a conversation.)

Then I got to ‘test run’ a pair of hearing aids. By the time the presentation was over, I wanted to tear those suckers out: I do not like them.

And the final nail in the coffin, as it were, was the price tag: between $5,000 and $6,000.

So, no, I will not be getting any hearing aids any time soon. You all will have to put up with repeating what you’ve said for a little while longer. Even if I won the lottery…

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ACUIA: the Foreign Exchange Caper

Posted on July 12, 2018 by cdsmiller17

Film Title: The Invention of Lying

Association of Credit Union Internal Auditors

When I was the Internal Auditor/Accounting Supervisor of the North Shore Credit Union, I was a member of a group of Internal Auditors. This was in the first half of the 1980’s .

We would meet once a month and share security concerns. Here was one such concern.

Foreign Exchange Loss?

The situation came to light when our Financial Controller found that one of the branches lost money with Foreign Exchange. This is impossible. All currency transactions would either be buying or selling, and the differential between rates was always better for selling than buying, by up to 2 percentage points.

If currency was purchased during the month, but not sold again, the inventory would increase and the month end calculation would produce an adjustment compared to the previous month end value. This is always a profit.

To have a loss implied something had gone wrong.

The Investigation

I was sent to the branch to check out what happened. The foreign exchange transactions for the month were listed in the FX account, so I had dates and times of these events, as well as who did them.

I came across several transactions which seemed to be buying US dollars only, with no subsequent sales (cash) or clearing items (cheques or American Express Travelers Cheques) for that day. They were all processed by one specific teller. Her US cash holdings had not changed for the month.

I then went to the security company’s offices where the surveillance tapes were stored. When I reviewed the entry times, the teller in question was nowhere near her till. In fact, she was sitting at a processing desk, during each transaction. That implied that they were false entries. There was no proof that she had taken the money out of her till, either before or after. But this was enough of a ‘smoking gun’ to have management bring her into the Head Office for questioning.

When confronted with the information, she admitted the fraud and theft, and, as a consequence, was invited to resign.

Conclusion

When a financial institution leaves an opening that entices an employee into a position of breach of trust, the financial institution needs to close that gap.

The North Shore Credit Union did just that. They introduced a FX voucher system that documented all foreign exchange transactions. If a premium was paid out for cash, the voucher was signed by the Credit Union member (a customer, in banks) as payment was made. This became a traceable document, something that could be ‘proven’ by an internal audit.

As far as I know, this prevented any further instances of FX theft and fraud where a NSCU branch teller was concerned. That’s what Internal Audits are for.

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Neale Donald Walsch: Devil’s Advocate?

Posted on July 9, 2018 by cdsmiller17

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The New Revelations

This is the fifth book by Neale Donald Walsch that I’ve read, and I suspect it will be the last. It’s not that I don’t appreciate his message, because I do, it’s just that his method of delivery is suspect. After all, to say that you’re having a ‘conversation with God’ is very presumptuous. At best, you might be talking with your Higher Self, or even the Holy Spirit, but God, as Walsch makes so very clear in the pages of this book, has no need to talk to a human, since there’s nothing He/She wants.

So, that begs the question: who exactly is doing the quoting of those holy scriptures of different faiths from around the world?

Might it not be Walsch himself, using the literary technique of a conversation with his own alter ego, to make spiritual points for his reading audience? Read these two passages for example:

Ripples

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First you must choose to be. You must select yourself. It is a matter of self-selection. You must decide that this is who you are.

Then, you must decide to demonstrate your decision about yourself, every hour of every day. You must understand that every act is an act of self-definition. Everything you think, say, and do defines you, announces your choice about yourself.

Life is a decision conveyor. It conveys to the world the decisions that you’ve made about yourself. It tells people what you’ve decided about who you are, and who they are, and why you are here, and why you think they are here, and what life itself is about.

Those decisions have greater impact than you could ever guess. They touch people in ways that go far beyond what you might have imagined.

Yet it does not begin by trying to change the world. It begins by seeking to change the self. Change the self and your inner world changes. And when your inner world changes, the outer world that you touch changes, little by little. And when the outer world that you touch changes, the world that it touches changes, and the world that it touches. Outward and outward and outward this spreads, like a ripple in a pond.

(Page 67 – The New Revelations: a conversation with God by Neale Donald Walsch – 2002 – Atria Books – New York)

One

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If all it takes is one person to instigate self-destruction, can it not also be one person who inspires self-renewal?

The human race now yearns to renew itself. You can sense this everywhere. You can feel it in the air. All that people are waiting for is someone to stand up and show the way. Someone to get the ball rolling. One person to topple the first domino.

Yet let me make something clear. The era of the Single Savior is over. What is needed now is joint action, combined effort, collective co-creation. What is called for now is not one person only, but a large number of humans willing to be the “one person” in their family, in their community, in their circle of influence, who will take on the task of bringing change right then, right there,

In this context one person can make a huge difference, for it is always one person within a group or cluster who calls forth the highest vision, who models the grandest truth, who inspires and cajoles and agitates and awakens and ultimately produces a contextual field within which collective action is rendered possible and becomes inevitable.

Are you that one person? Do you choose to be an inspiration for all those whose lives you touch?

That is the question your soul asks you now.

(Page 157-8, The New Revelations: a Conversation with God by Neale Donald Walsch – 2002 – Atria Books, New York)

Divisive Thinking

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I have to keep in mind that this book was written shortly after 9-11. Islamic terrorists had seemingly hit America where it hurts, in the emotional gut. There is no doubt that Walsch was seeking to understand “WHY?” So were we all. But this dialogue went down some very unsettling avenues of thought.

Religious intolerance is the reason for so much hate in the world. And we quote scripture to justify it: so do Muslims, so do Jews. Can we all be sure that God is on our side, and on every side at the same time? That premise is the basic misconception that this discussion was trying to undo. We have got it wrong, but we don’t want to change our beliefs.

“Could it be that a society that practices violence in order to end violence has something a bit backward?

“That is the problem with many ‘moral ‘ justifications. They can breed insane behaviors. Your planet saw evidence of that on September 11, 2001.

“Again.”

Conclusion

The jury is out: no one knows for sure what is going on here, not even me.

One little doubt keeps niggling away at my consciousness: could this be the work of the Devil?

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Oh, God!

Posted on July 5, 2018 by cdsmiller17

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As King on a Throne

This is the classical view of God. He is King over us all. He sits on a throne and dispenses justice for his Chosen People.

I like this image, because you cannot actually ‘see’ God: it is just the central Light of the Throne Room that catches our awareness. A bit like the flash of an atomic explosion: horrifying in its destruction, but awesome in its power.

As Architect of the Universe

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William Blake saw God as the Archetype of Creation. But he would have been considered blasphemous if people had understood that Blake was suggesting that God was actually the Demiurge, the Lord of this world only. That’s why laws and rules were created: to keep us under control.

As George Burns

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We really prefer to think of God as a harmless, but funny, old man, shuffling about the Earth as a wise-cracking recruiter of messengers. George Burns made a nice change: he made God human.

Morgan Freeman

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Morgan Freeman’s portrayal of God in “Bruce Almighty” was a complete surprise. The year was 2003, a full five years before Barrack Obama became the 44th President of the United States of America. Do you think it had a subliminal effect on the vote?

Now we realize that even ‘God’ has feet of clay: who could have seen that coming?

Conclusion

When the Bible says that God made mankind in his image, I suspect it was the other way around. And as we develop a better understanding of ourselves, we will better understand God, too.

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