Hue of Lincoln

***

"On Friday, October 13, 1307 ... [King] Philip [IV of France ] ordered [Jacques] de Molay and scores of other French Templars to be simultaneously arrested. The arrest warrant started with the phrase : 

'Dieu n'est pas content, nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume' 

['God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom']" (Source)

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"Lincoln"  (definition)  "English city, county town of Lincolnshire, O.E. Lindcylene, from L. Lindum Colonia from a Latinized form of British *lindo 'pool, lake' (corresponding to Welsh llyn). Originally a station for retired IX Legion veterans. Lincoln green as a type of dyed cloth fabric made there is from c.1500. In reference to U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), Lincolnesque is from 1894 (earlierst reference is to the beard); Lincolniana is from (1862)." (Source; cf. here)

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"A United States Note, also known as a Legal Tender Note...a form of fiat currency..., is a type of paper money that was issued from 1862 to 1971 in the U.S. ...They were known popularly as 'greenbacks' in their heyday... On January 16, 1862, in a private meeting with President Lincoln, Edmund Dick Taylor advised him to issue greenbacks as legal tender. Congressman and Buffalo banker Elbridge G. Spaulding prepared a bill, based on the Free Banking Law of New York, that eventually became the National Banking Act of 1863. ... hitherto the Constitution had been interpreted as not granting the government the power to issue a paper currency. 'The bill before us is a war measure, a measure of necessity, and not of choice,' Spaulding argued before the House... Despite strong opposition, President Lincoln signed the First Legal Tender Act,... enacted February 25, 1862, into law, authorizing the issuance of United States Notes as a legal tender—the paper currency soon to be known as 'greenbacks.'" (Source)

(Source; cf. HERE; Obama "channels" Lincoln, King, and Kennedy too.)

"Obama and others paid homage to Lincoln in the form of tributes and references during several of the events, starting with a commemorative train tour from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. on January 17, 2009. ... [T]he inaugural theme [was] 'A New Birth of Freedom',... a phrase from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address from the Civil War era. ... The theme...was selected to...honor the 200th anniversary year of Lincoln's birth [and express] 'Lincoln's hope that the sacrifice of those who died to preserve the United States would lead to 'a new birth of freedom' for the nation.'...Obama wanted 'to give Americans reassurance that today, as in Lincoln's time, the country would find its way through any crisis' ..." (Source)

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"On January 18, 2009, the day after Obama arrived in Washington, D.C., an inaugural concert, 'We Are One', took place at the Lincoln Memorial. ..." (Source)

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"The eve of the Inauguration Day, January 19, 2009, fell on Martin Luther King, Jr.  Day, a U.S. federal holiday in recognition of [his] birthday. Obama called upon communities everywhere to observe the King Day of Service..." (Source)

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"The inauguration of Barack Obama ... took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. ...the inaugural theme to commemorate[d] the 200th anniversary of the birth year of Abraham Lincoln. ...Obama referred to ideals expressed by Lincoln... Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to Obama. Michelle Obama held the Bible, which was used by Abraham Lincoln at his 1861 inauguration, as Barack Obama placed his hand on the Bible and recited the presidential oath. ... Commemorating the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial, the red and white china used during the [inaugural luncheon [in National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol] were replicas of those used in the Lincoln White House. ... For the 2009 inaugural luncheon, the featured painting was Thomas Hill's 1865 View of the Yosemite Valley, a painting that commemorated Abraham Lincoln's 1864 signing of the Yosemite Grant... During the luncheon, Senator Ted Kennedy collapsed after suffering a seizure, and he was transported to a hospital for medical treatment. ... Early reports about the medical emergency suggested erroneously that Senator Robert Byrd, the oldest member of the Senate, also fell ill during the luncheon. ... These reports were later denied,... and Byrd, a longtime friend of Kennedy, eventually explained that the Kennedy incident disturbed him and caused him to leave. ... Obama also represented a generational change as the first man elected President who was born in the 1960s." Additionally, Obama's race and religion were "issues": "[T]here is precedent for this. Much was made of John F. Kennedy's Roman Catholicism during the 1960 campaign, but after his election, religion basically disappeared as an issue..." (Sources: 1 & 2)

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"Prayers for the [National prayer] service [On January 21, 2009] drew from passages from the 1789 inauguration prayer service of George Washington and the 1865 inaugural address of Abraham Lincoln..." (Source; cf. Here)

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On January 22, 2009, the day after Obama's Inaugural festivities concluded, the "Lincoln Magna Carta" went on exhibition at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. (Source)

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"The earliest origins of Lincoln can be traced to the remains of an Iron Age settlement of round wooden dwellings (which were discovered by archaeologists in 1972) that have been dated to the 1st century BC[citation needed] This settlement was built by a deep pool (the modern Brayford Pool) in the River Witham at the foot of a large hill (on which the Normans later built Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle)...The origins of the name Lincoln may come from this period, when the settlement is thought to have been named in the Brythonic language of Iron Age Britain's Celtic inhabitants as Lindon 'The Pool'..." (Source); cf. Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon.")

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There's a Lincoln Cathedral, also called "The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, or sometimes St. Mary's Cathedral". (Source) There are several references to a "St. Mary's" in V for Vendetta: There's a "St. Mary's Primary School" and the "St. Mary's virus" which struck the school in the story. "When completed the central of the three spires [of Lincoln Cathedral was] widely accepted to have succeeded the Great Pyramids of Egypt as the tallest man-made structure in the world." (Source) The Cathedral has a number of peculiar features, including a concrete structure said to be the concretized remains of a Satantic "imp" (Source). "[T]he eminent Victorian writer John Ruskin declared: 'I have always held... that the cathedral of Lincoln is out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles and roughly speaking worth any two other cathedrals we have.'" (Ibid.)

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The fascist party in V for Vendetta utilizes a version of the "Cross of Lorraine" (top). The Cross of Lorraine is also one of several crosses associated with the Knights Templar (middle). The Templars also used the Double Cross of Lorraine (bottom).

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Martin Luther King was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN.

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The coat of arms of Lincoln, England (above) is another Templar cross variant. The Templars were founded by Hugo de Payens: "Hugues de Payens or Payns (c. 1070–1136) was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar. ... His earliest certain appearance in documents is under the part-Latin, part-French name Hugo de Peans (1120-1125; details below). Later Latin sources call him Hugo de Paganis. In English works he often appears as Hugh de Payns, in Italian sometimes as Ugo de' Pagani. ...Count Hugh of Champagne made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1104-07 and visited Jerusalem for a second time in 1114-16. It is probable that he was accompanied by Hugues de Payens...Hugues de Payens approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem (whose reign began in 1118) with eight knights, two of whom were brothers and all of whom were his relatives by either blood or marriage, in order to form the Order of the Knights Templar. The other knights were Godfrey de Saint-Omer, Payen de Montdidier, Archambaud de St. Agnan, Andre de Montbard, Geoffrey Bison, and two men recorded only by the names of Rossal and Gondamer." (Source)

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Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh co-authored Holy Blood, Holy Grail with a Henry Lincoln.

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Lincoln, England is also home to the Lincoln Castle: "Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress." (Source) The castle's being built atop the ruins of a "Roman Fortress" is intriguing. Of the entire town of Lincoln, it is said: "It is not possible to know how big this original settlement was as its remains are now buried deep beneath the later Roman and medieval ruins, as well as the modern Lincoln." (Source) As James Shelby Downard may have phrased it: The Lincolns (town and castle) are palimpsests.

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"Palimpsest is a novel by Catherynne M. Valente, published in March 2009. It follows four separate characters as they discover and explore a mysterious city accessed only at night. In an interview with Terri Windling at Fantasy Book Critic, Valente describes the book: 'Palimpsest is an urban fantasy about a city that lives on human skin, a viral city whose citizens consist of those who bear parts of the city on their flesh, and visit it in their dreams. The story follows four such people as they search for others like themselves and a way to enter the city permanently.'" (Source)

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Lincoln, England was the home of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln, who had been believed murdered by Jews, and Bishop Saint Hugh of Lincoln. For more information, see here.

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And we see a connection, therefore, the names "Lincoln" and "Hugh." This sort of connection has been called a "Lexi-Link." Lexical nodes for "Linkin'" symbol patterns. Especially in the present context, then, we might instead call these "Lexi-Links" Lincoln Words/Names. Curiously, the inventor of "Lincolns Logs" was John Lloyd Wright: "John Lloyd Wright (December 12, 1892–December 20, 1972) was an American architect and toy inventor. ... He was the son of Frank Lloyd Wright and brother of Lloyd Wright." (Source)

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Frank Lloyd Wright was "born Frank Lincoln Wright" (Source) Loren Coleman has recently written about Frank Lloyd-Lincoln Wright here and here (including Wright's connection to the word "Phoenix", FLW's place of death).

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Victor Hugo was an author who wrote a famous story, infused with alchemical and Templar-style allusions, centered around a Cathedral (albeit French). "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris, "Our Lady of Paris") is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831." (Source) The Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum listed: "Victor Hugo (Notre Dame de Paris; Les misérables jusqu'en 1959)"

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23 years ago, one-time Category 5 Hurricane Hugo made landfall in the U.S. "Hugo" is a "cognate to Hugh" (Source)

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Victor Hugo seems also to fit into a pattern of "laughter" symbolism that has surfaced this year. See here.

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Hugo's novel The Man Who Laughs was alternately titled By Order of the King (Source). Of course, the Knights Templar were created and destroyed (ostensibly) by orders of Kings - King Baldwin II (Jerusalem) and King Philip IV (France; with an assist from "Pope Clement V, born Raymond Bertrand de Got").

For more Lincoln, see HERE.

Tony Scott, etc. [Updated - Bottom Up]

"I function off fear and the most scary thing I do is shooting movies." 

~ Director Tony Scott

"To manipulate the fears of others, you must first learn to master your own..."

~ Henri Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul, Batman Begins

"He ...symbolized Hollywood..." 

~ Producer Paula Wagner, Speaking of Tony Scott

"...as a man I'm flesh and blood I can be ignored I can be destroyed but as a symbol, as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting..."

Bruce Wayne/Batman, Batman Begins

Loren Coleman has posted a piece suggesting connections between Tony Scott and the alchemical rite known as the "Killing of the Divine King." Preliminary question: If Tony Scott is a (self-)sacrificed Dog-Days of Summer King, who is his tanist?

"...the king died as soon as the power of the sun, with which he was identified, began to decline in the summer; and another young man, his twin, or supposed twin – a convenient ancient Irish term is ‘tanist’ – then became the Queen’s lover, to be duly sacrificed at midwinter and, as a reward, reincarnated in an oracular serpent" (Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, p. 14).

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Coleman has already begun probing into the question of the "Queen." This talk is reminiscent of Jacqueline "Jackie" Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. "Jackie Kennedy is most often remembered as a beautiful and elegant First Lady with great taste in fashion, the Guinevere in the fable of an American Camelot." Of course, there have been no shortage of comparisons between "Jackie O" and "Michelle O."

As Recluse has mentioned on VISUP, this rite was initially exposited by James Frazer. Subsequently, James Shelby Downard observed numerous "symbol patterns" surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy that fit the alchemical model. Downard communicated these views to Michael A. Hoffman II  and William Grimstad, both in numerous private conversations, and also in the "Sirius Rising" audio recordings of the mid-1970s. Coleman notes that Downard (and Hoffman as well) also published relevant written pieces in Adam Parfrey's Apocalypse Culture anthologies (and in a similar book by Jim Keith). Hoffman has also privately published his own important expansion (viz. Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare) of a sort of broadly Downardian perspective on other high-profile killings besides the JFK assassination, including the Una-Bom.

In any case, Grimstad might have noted features like the embedded "23s": "Officials said that Scott climbed a fence on the south side of the bridge's apex and leapt off "without hesitation" around 12:30 p.m., according to the Breeze" and "Several people called 911 around 12:35 p.m. to report that someone had jumped from the Vincent Thomas Bridge spanning San Pedro and Terminal Island in Los Angeles Harbor, according to Los Angeles police Lt. Tim Nordquist" (cf. The Rebirth of Pan, ch. 6, passim.)  This same number crops up again in Scott's "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)". (There was talk of a "24"-movie, but I guess that would have been one too many anyway.)

And Downard, Hoffman, and Grimstad might take notice of the that the Los Angeles Coroner's name was initially misrepresented as "Joe Bell" instead of "Joe Bale" (later corrected): "Los Angeles County Coroner Lt. Joe Bell told TheWrap that investigators had identified the deceased, Anthony David Scott of Beverly Hills, as the director and producer"(cf. Ibid., p. 185). (Note: As of Aug. 22, 2012, even the linked cache of the relevant Chicago Tribune article now reflects the corrected spelling of "Joe Bale." My screen capture - above - dates from Aug., 19, 2012.)

Downard wrote: "Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, just like Alexander Graham Bell, and his favorite teacher in medical school was said to be Dr. Joseph Bell, after whom he is alleged to have patterned Sherlock Holmes. So the names Watson, Holmes, and Bell of telephone association are also associated with Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories" (Carnivals of Life and Death, Independent History and Research Edition, pp. 9-10 (excluding the introductory material) & The Carnivals of Life and Death, Feral House Edition, p. 18).

Coleman lists the movie "Killing Lincoln (2013)" as part of Tony Scott's filmography - and the predicted release date possibly "could be assumed to be 'characteristic' of, or symbolically identical with 23" (The Rebirth of Pan, p. 170). Of course, the killing of JFK has already been mentioned. And the parallels between the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy are legendary. Downard and Hoffman are also known for the monograph "King-Kill-33."

Michael Hoffman has also noted that President Barack Obama's inaugural ceremonies were associated with some weirdness. In the first place, specifically, Hoffman noted that Obama was sworn into office twice. It seemed that Chief Justice Roberts and Obama couldn't quite get the wording of the Presidential oath correct during the initial, public ceremony. Concerning the second rite, Hoffman wrote: "This second-time-around doppelganger oath was the real oath, since the flawed first one, done in the sight of millions and upon the Bible of assassinated President Abraham Lincoln was [in the words of the New York Times article quoted by Hoffman] a 'challenge (to) the legitimacy of his presidency...'" ("THE STRANGE CASE OF BARACK OBAMA'S INAUGURAL OATH OF OFFICE: A Cryptogram from the Cryptocracy?" The Hoffman Wire, Email, Jan. 23, 2009).

Hoffman goes on to note that, during his campaign, Obama himself had been compared to JFK. Hoffman connects some of these dots as follows: "There was no Bible the second time and with Obama having been compared to John F. Kennedy during the campaign, and with all of the macabre parallels between Kennedy and Lincoln ..., I'm not sure that if I were Barack Obama I would have wanted to step into the middle of such a highly charged symbol palimpsest -- unless of course the first inaugural oath-taking was little more more than shadow-play" (Ibid.).

"[T]he second oath was performed in secret: '...the two men [Roberts and Obama] convened in the White House Map Room at 7:35 p.m. for a brief proceeding that was not announced until it was completed...' ... The mysterious man in the portrait who silently presides over the authentic inauguration of Barack Obama as Commander and Chief, is Benjamin Latrobe, the great architect of the U.S. Capitol." (Ibid.)

(The Matrix's Masonic-Hermetic-Gnostic "GAOTU.")

Of course, 2012 is an election year. The election day is set for November 6, 2012. And the winner is slated to be sworn in on January 21, 2013.

2012 is also something of a "panic" year. The word "pan-ic" derives from the ancient Arcadian satyr-deity (half-goat/half-man) Pan (Greek for "All") a cloven "herder of sheep" (or "Sheeple") whose music (via his "pan-pipes") struck terror (i.e., panic) in people "in lonely spots" (like, perhaps, you and me...often in isolated houses, talking to each other only distantly and via electronic mediation?). Aleister Crowley specifically associated Pan with Baphomet, Capricorn, and the Devil.

In any case, the source of the panic - whatever such there be - is the so-called Mayan "Long Count" calendar which, to some commentators, signals something of interest on December 21, 2012. This date could be interesting, according to some, because on that date the world will end; but others disagree. It seems interesting to me mainly because it occurs one month prior to the next Presidential Inauguration Day.

Now Hoffman (and a few other contrarians as well) is on record criticizing the Y2K panic as it was occurring. And he noted, both at the time and subsequently, that as the Y2K panic sort of burned people out and left them psychically drained. And Hoffman has suggested that this drained state left people mentally ill-equipped to critically process the goings on of September 11, 2001 - 9/11.

Hence, it seems prudent to be especially on guard whenever the Cryptocracy trumpets a panic-inducing scenario such as alleged Mayan prognostications of "Apocalypse."

2013 has the makings of being an inauspicious year in any case. For it will mark the 100th birthday (reckoned from from relevant Glass-Owen Bill, and not the prefatory Jekyll Island shenanigans) of The Federal Reserve (which, it has been said, is neither "federal" nor a "reserve"). After the other 23s that we have reviewed, it probably will come as no surprise that the "Fed" was created on December 23, 1913.

Hence, we have a 2012 election year, featuring the reelection campaign of an incumbent President who has been publicly, symbolically linked with two former Presidents - Lincoln and Kennedy - who were both assassinated, Lincoln during the first year of his second term in office. And the next President of the United States, possibly Obama's second term, will be sworn in on Jan. 21, 2013, arguably during what we could term "midwinter" (in Graves' sense) and in something like an anticlimax to what may well be the media's climactic Dec. 21, 2012 Mayan "Doom's Day." Furthermore, the "birthday" of the Fed will roughly occur on Dec. 23, 2013, one year after the symbolically significant Mayan date.  

Lincoln had been sworn in the second time by the fairly newly appointed Chief Justice, Lincoln's former Treasury Secretary, Salmon P. Chase. "The first U.S. federal currency, the greenback demand note, was printed in 1861-1862, during Chase's tenure as Secretary of the Treasury. These greenbacks formed the basis for today's paper currency" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase). Both Chase and Lincoln helped tip the balance of power, considered as a tug of war between State and Federal, in the Federal direction.

Grimstad, with his recognition of the strangeness surrounding the /fay/ phoneme (in "fe," "fey," "fay," and cognates), would appreciate that Chase "collaborated with John Purdue, the founder of Lafayette Bank and Purdue University. Eventually, JP Morgan Chase & Co. would purchase Purdue National Corporation of Lafayette, Indiana in 1984" (Ibid.). Furthermore, "The Chase National Bank, a predecessor of Chase Manhattan Bank which is now JPMorgan Chase, was named in his [Salmon P. Chase's] honor, though he had no financial affiliation with it" (Ibid.).

As pictured above, Salmon P. Chase's face is also featured on the obverse of the $10,000 bill. Downard wrote about Alexander Graham Bell allegedly handling "a so-called Million Dollar or Multi-Million Dollar Gold Certificate." (Carnivals of Life and Death, IHR Ed., p. 15). Downard further remarks that "Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) obtained a Copyright on a book in 1892 that is called the 1,000,00[0?] Pound Bank Note and the book tells of how the sight of the Bank Note as well as the reputation that the holder had..., influenced people" (Ibid.).

Interestingly, Downard added: "Alexander Graham Bell had one or more 'look-alikes'. His 'son' looked enough like him to have been his twin and his cousin Chichester A. [B]ell is said to have [been] made up at times to look remarkabl[y] like Alexander Graham Bell" (Ibid., p. 10).

The Chicago-Tribune described Tony Scott as: "...cigar-chomping guy with tow-headed twins, a beautiful wife, a brother who was mentor, partner and friend - leaving that all behind on a bridge - that caught people short."

Graves connects the murder of Twins to the deaths of "the sacred king and his tanist" and notes that "Their punishment in Tartarus...seems to be deduced [sic.] from an ancient calendar symbol showing the twin's heads turned back to back, on either side of a column, as they sit on the Chair of Forgetfulness. The column, on which the Death-in-Life-Goddess perches, marks the height of summer when the sacred king's reign ends and the tanist's begins. In Italy, this same symbol becamse two-headed Janus; but the Italian New Year was in January, not at the heliacal rising of two-headed Sirius..." (The Greek Myths, p. 138).

Adduced "from an ancient calendar", you say? Well, that sounds a bit Mayan. And the "Italian New Year is in January"? Wow, so is Presidential Inauguration Day.

(http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-rt-us-tonyscott-reflectionbre87k0xe-20120821,0,5110623.story)

"A spacetime singularity is a breakdown in the geometrical structure of space and time. ... Because it is the fundamental geometry that is breaking down, spacetime singularities are often viewed as an end, or 'edge,' of spacetime itself. ... Our current theory of spacetime, general relativity, not only allows for singularities, but tells us that they are unavoidable in some real-life circumstances....Black holes are regions of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. A typical black hole is the result of the gravitational force becoming so strong that one would have to travel faster than light to escape its pull. Such black holes contain a spacetime singularity at their center; thus we cannot fully understand a black hole without also understanding the nature of singularities. ... Singularities are often conceived of metaphorically as akin to a tear in the fabric of spacetime" (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spacetime-singularities/).

"Scientists closing in on black hole at center of Milky Way...Though scientists have suspected for a while that a giant black hole lurks at the center of our galaxy, they still can't say for sure it's the explanation for the strange behavior observed there. Now researchers are closer than ever to being able to image this region and probe the physics at work – potentially shedding light on the great conflict between the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics. At the heart of the Milky Way, astronomers see some wacky things. For example, about a dozen stars seem to be orbiting some invisible object" (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46968468/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/scientists-closing-black-hole-center-milky-way/).

Some of the "Mayan Apocalypse" notions apparently springs from this: "Part of the 2012 mystique stems from the stars. On the winter solstice in 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years. This means that 'whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of the Milky Way will indeed be disrupted on 12/21/12 at 11:11 p.m. Universal Time,' [Journalist Lawrence] Joseph writes" (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-27-maya-2012_n.htm).

"'There was a life force pulsating through his movies, and suddenly he's ripped away - how could that be?' asked producer Paula Wagner, who was Tom Cruise's agent during both 'Top Gun' and 'Days of Thunder.' She told TheWrap: 'He so symbolized Hollywood with his passion and energy. He was someone who always seemed on top of things, always positive, so vital'," (http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-rt-us-tonyscott-reflectionbre87k0xe-20120821,0,5110623.story).

As far as I can tell, "Scott Free Films"/"Productions" operates out of: 634 N LA Peer Drive, West Hollywood, CA 90069-5602. There's a "Lapeer, MI" that was recently in the news: "Powerball winner bought ticket at Sunoco in Lapeer". As to the name "Lapeer": "How did Lapeer get its name? Folklore claims Lapeer was derived from the naming of the south branch of the Flint River, which flows northwestward over quite a long distance of rocky bed in Lapeer County. French and Indian traders frequently passed over this section of the county and through the river, ultimately naming our city for the stone that lay at the river bottom. The translation of stone in French is Le Pierre; the English translation of the Canadian French accent of this word is Lapeer. The river was named Flint, synonymous with stone. It is also believed that our first settlers who came from New York State may have brought the name Lapeer from a similarly named city in their home state. A third supposition is that French missionaries named the city Le Pere, meaning The Father."

"But 'scot-free,' as it turns out, has absolutely nothing to do with Scotland or the Scottish people. The "scot" in question comes from the Old English word "sceot," meaning a tax or penalty. As long as there have been taxes there have been tax evaders, and anyone who managed to avoid the tax collector got away "scot-free." Gradually the term came to mean one who escapes any rightly deserved payment or punishment. Speaking of words that sound as if they must have something to do with Scotland but don't, "scotch," meaning "to abruptly deflate or disprove" a rumor or theory, is another. This "scotch" comes from the Old French word "escocher," meaning "to cut." In this case it meant to "cut out" or destroy a rumor." (http://www.word-detective.com/122099.html#scotfree)

Thus, Tony Scott's family "scotched" the brain-cancer rumors.

"Jim Brandon": "Certain European Masonic rituals employ a 'Vault of Reflection' in which the aspirant meditates upon mortality and other solemn topics. The motto V.I.T.R.I.O.L. often displayed in these chambers is another hand-me-down from alchemy. It is an acronym symbolizing the phrase from the famous Golden Tractate of Hermes Trismegistus: [']Visitais interiora terrae rectificando invenies Occultum lapidem veram medicinam['] The translation is 'Visit the interior of the earth by following the right road and find the hidden stone, true medicine'," (The Rebirth of Pan, p. 230).

Aleister Crowley: "In this card, therefore, is foreshadowed the final stage of the Great Work. Behind the figure, its edges tinged with the rainbow, which has now arisen from the twin rainbows forming the cape of the figure, is a glory bearing an inscription, ['] VISITA INTERIORA TERRAE RECTIFICANDO INVENIES OCCULTUM LAPIDEM.['] 'Visit the interior parts of the earth: by rectification thou shalt find the hidden stone' Its initials make the word V.I.T.R.I.O.L., the Universal Solvent, to be discussed later. ... This 'hidden stone' is also called the Universal Medicine. It is sometimes described as a stone, sometimes as a powder, sometimes as a tincture. It divides again into two forms, the gold and the silver, the red and the white; but its essence is always the same, and its nature is not to be understood except by experience. It is because the alchemists were dealing with substances on the borderland of “matter” that they are so difficult to understand. The subject-matter of chemistry and physics in modern times is what they would have called the study of dead things; for the real difference between living things and dead is, in the first instance, their behaviour. ... The counsel to 'visit the interior of the earth' is a recapitulation (on a higher plane) of the first formula of the Work which has been the so constant theme of these essays. The important word in the injunction is the central word RECTIFICANDO; it implies the right leading of the new living substance in the path of the True Will. The stone of the Philosophers, the Universal Medicine, is to be a talisman of use in any event, a completely elastic and completely rigid vehicle of the True Will of the alchemists. It is to fertilize and bring to manifested Life the Orphic Egg" (The Book of Thoth, pp. 103-104).

"What does it all mean?" 

~ William Grimstad

I don't know! Relatedly, how will the Federal Reserve celebrate it's "official" birthday in 2(01)3? I don't know that either, I'm afraid. But I am pretty sure that I don't want any part of it.

[Update 22 Aug 2012]

In an article provocatively titled "Texas judge warns of possible 'civil war' if President Obama is re-elected", Yahoo! News reports: "What is it about election years? As if the negative political ads aren't enough, now a county judge in Lubbock, Texas, predicts possible 'civil war' if President Obama is re-elected."

The Yahoo! article quotes from a piece from Lubbock's Fox 34 News that quotes Lubbock County Judge Tom Head as giving one of the possible "contingencies, one that he particularly fears... if President Obama is reelected" in the following words: "I'm thinking the worst. Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe. And we're not just talking a few riots here and demonstrations, we're talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms and get rid of the guy."

I think that this shows (if there was any doubt) that the "psychic pressure" (so to speak) in this country is quite intense - and palpable. It's as if things are being pulled apart at the seams, and at the same time presented as being as "American as apple pie...".

[Update: 13 September 2012]

Today, the National Geographic Channel — which is also partially owned by News Corp, the parent of Fox News — announced that the two [Tom Hanks and Bill O’Reilly] will team up to turn O’Reilly’s book, Killing Lincoln, in to a two-hour television event. Hanks will host and narrate the movie, which will feature CGI-enhanced historical reenactments (Billy Campbell will portray Lincoln) interspliced with rare historical documents. 'Only Hanks can add that unique poise, intrigue and dynamism that are his trademark to a film about one of the most significant, life-changing events in America’s young history,' Ridley Scott, whose Free Scott Production will executive produce, said in a statement. 'His mastery always shines through and we can’t wait for viewers to be engrossed in this story.' The film is set to air in early 2013." (Source)

 "hank (n.) late 13c., probably from a Scandinavian source, e.g. O.N. honk, hank "clasp, hank," related to hang (v.)."

[Update: 27 September 2012]

Mitt Romney publicizes the "A-word": "(CBS News) Mitt Romney told CBS News Wednesday that despite calls from conservatives to be more aggressive, he is not going to engage in a campaign of 'character assassination' - despite the Obama campaign's willingness to do so. 'This is a campaign, not about character assassination, even though that's what I think has come from the Obama camp by and large,' Romney told CBS News' Jan Crawford before a rally in Toledo, Ohio. Crawford asked Romney if he was saying the Obama campaign was engaged in character assassination. 'Oh yeah, sure, they try and completely misrepresent my point of view, along with why I'm in this race,' he said. 'But I think fundamentally the American people are interested in who can make their life better. Who can make people get better jobs and better incomes. And I can. He's proven that he does not have the capability to do that.'" (Source)

[Update: 8 October 2012]

Maybe this is a bit of "Trainspotting."

"In the Oct. 3 debate, Obama praised President Abraham Lincoln’s support of the transcontinental railroad as an example of one of those “things we do better together,” reminding us that the Republican Party was once a great champion of railroad subsidies. The Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864, signed into law by Lincoln, provided land grants and government bond financing for the budding rail network." (Source)

(See here.)

Interestingly, "While Obama sees the transcontinental railroad as a symbol of America’s once-great infrastructure, it can just as easily be seen as a forerunner of the corruption and waste that comes with government aid. Congressional rail subsidies led directly to the 1873 Credit Mobilier scandal, which involved a future president, James Garfield, and other legislators." (Source) Garfield, "The twentieth president of the United States[,] gave [a] proof [for] the Pythagorean Theorem." For more on the also-assassinated President Garfield, see here.

Obama's Lincoln-train reference is highly intriguing. As reader John Cole's comment points out: In 2009, "Obama [Took a] Train Ride To History[:] Barack Obama arrived in Washington at the end of a whistle-stop train trip along the frigid mid-Atlantic seaboard that tracked Abraham Lincoln's historic route and brought the president-elect a step closer to inauguration." (Source)

"On the way to his inauguration, President-elect Lincoln met many of his supporters throughout the Union and narrowly avoided an assassination attempt ...In February, 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln traveled from Springfield to Washington, visiting his supporters and finding his voice on his way to taking the oath of office on March 4." (Source; See Lincoln's scheduled stops here.)

After his assassination, Lincoln (or, at least, his body) essentially took his inaugural train ride in reverse. "Abraham Lincoln's funeral train left Washington on April 21, 1865.  It would essentially retrace the 1,654 mile route Mr. Lincoln had traveled as president-elect in 1861 (with the deletion of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati and the addition of Chicago)." (Source)

The funeral train car was destroyed by fire. For more, see here.

[Update 13 October 2012]

"Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis admit fear drove them toward ‘Lincoln’[:] When it came time to tell the story of the 16th president of the United States on film, both Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis admitted they felt a certain degree of fear. ... 'I require fear in order to run towards something,' Spielberg explained, adding that the feeling of fear in his filmmaking reassures him that he has chosen his project wisely. 'The more frightened I am, the more I have to run into what's scaring me to figure out what it is,' Spielberg said. He concluded, 'The work that I'm proudest of is the work that I'm most afraid of.' ..." (Source)
For more on Lincoln, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and Obama, see here and here.

(Thanks to John Cole for pointing this out; Source)

See also:

"Threats"

"Hue of Lincoln"

"Hercules and His Twin"

"Now is the Time"