G7 - 2015 - Germany

    This article was written just as Angela Merkel was holding a press conference at the G7. Just now Merkel wished all the success for the Bilderberg meeting, responding to the final question if she will attend the event. Obviously she will not because she is only implementing the decisions taken there.
    This G7 is a charade, a farce paid with our money. When Russia was a member in the G8 it was some sort of containment of the federation, now it's just like a gang meeting with everyone agreeing to agree and taking decisions with far reaching effects.
    The discussions should be televised with civil society taking an active role in questioning the actions and the directions decided by the group. If we are to be truly democratic this is the only way. Obama wants to garner support for his administration's plans regarding Ukraine, he is in absolutely no position to ask for such a thing, it would be, in fact, a lack of respect.

From the Past : Rain gods and spirits

Qu Yuan by Chen Hongshou

     The Chinese have the Yu Shi, the Master of Rain 1 . This spirit is mentioned in the Chuci (songs of Chu) in the poem "Yuan You" traditionally considered to have been written by Qu Yuan. The name means "distant journey". The Chuci collection of texts was composed during the Han period by Liu Xiang and brings together many other authors.
    Of slightly more renown is the Middle Eastern "super"-god Baal who is also mentioned in the Old Testament and in the Quran after which he received attention in various types of books from theological to esoteric to fiction.

    The term "ba'al" is actually semitic and means "lord" or "master", in Akkadian it would be "Belu" and can be applied to various gods and even to humans. In order to be more specific, the actual god of thunderstorms was called by his priests "Hadad" and also received the designation of lord of Heaven. The Cannanites had a Baal-Hadad deity. Somewhere along the way Baal became for Abrahamic religions Beelzebub, "lord of the flies".
    Greek mythology is more straightforward and less cryptic. The Nephelae, beautiful young women, nymphs, bring rain to the Earth and feed the rivers.