From a Yahoo! Finance article:

The Great Recession of 2008 (and beyond) is hurting men more than women. It is hurting homeowners and investors more than renters or retirees who rely on Social Security checks. It is hurting Latinos more than any other ethnic group. A year ago, a greater share of Latinos held jobs than whites. Today, the two have switched places.

Why weren't people telling you this little fact when they were pushing for such measures as HR 4437 and groups like Save Our State were busy painting "Hispanic Immigrants" as detrimental to U.S. society?

I've always told you guys that the immigrant population they want you to hate were simply hard-working people looking for economic betterment.

The article goes on to explain how the housing construction sector has been severely hit in the economic crisis and therefore has disproportionately affected the Latino American population.

Anyways, seems like old news since now everyone is too busy trying to save their homes or find jobs to spend time scapegoating Latinos. But still, makes you wonder why you were never told that little fact by those who wanted you to hate us...

Atom

Hey everyone,

12/25/2008 marked the release of "Son of Slaves and Lords", my third (and probably final) album. I have been crafting it for three years and the final result is a poltically charged, philosophically smart, ultra-intelligent Hip-Hop album. The album features Righteouz Knight, Lord Metatron, Redencion, and Luz, with production by myself, Righteouz Knight and Skitch Beatz.

The album is now available on my website, as a FREE album download. I only ask that if you're blessed by it, you donate to one of the charities on the download page.

Son of Slaves and Lords: Free Download



Track Listing:
1. Freedom (Hasta la Victoria)
2. Nazca
3. Acropolis
4. Los Pobres
5. Q'enqo
6. Organizate (La Lucha Sigue)
7. The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire
8. Takeover (Ilias vs. Atom)
9. Palenque                                            
10. Messiah Lion
11. Magen David
12. Bolivian Streets (La Paz)

Let me know what you think.

Atom

"At the end of three years, even the same year, you shall bring forth all the tenth of your increase, and shall lay it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the alien, and the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates shall come and shall eat and be satisfied; so that YHWH your G-d may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do." (Deu 14:28-29)

This was from my daily reading this morning. I thought I'd share it with you because it highlights something that I feel many people who call themselves followers of Messiah miss: G-d is concerned with social issues. Many who call themselves "Christians" try to follow (most of) the Bible's spiritual teachings, but then turn around and simply ignore the social teachings in the same book. Can we obey one and not the other?

It angers me especially, since I feel compassion for immigrants. No, I am not an illegal immigrant, nor is anyone related to me. I'm not Mexican, Central American, or South American. That doesn't matter, but I don't want people to not listen because they think I am only saying this becuase it affects me. I care because people are involved and you Khristians are giving my Messiah a bad name.

If you read Torah, you will continually come across commands to watch after the fatherless (orphans), the widows (elderly) and aliens (immigrants). Khristians will set up orphanages and visit people in nursing homes, but how many of you help immigrants in your community? How many make them feel welcomed?

Or do you instead seek for harsher laws against them? Do you want to strip them of their language and identity? Notice, Torah does not say that they must first give up who they are before you accept them.

I am sick of Amerikan Churchianity, especially when it is mixed with racism. In the words of Tech, the voice of racism speaking the Gospel is devilish.

On a slightly related note, I was laughing at a news story I saw a preview for the other day, where local residents were getting outraged that a southern california pizzaria was accepting pesos as payment. WHO CARES!!! If it is not your pizzaria, what does it matter if they accpet pesos, dollars, yen or shekels? If a pizzaria near the Canadian border was accepting Canadian dollars as an alternative form of payment, Amerikans would not be bothered. But ah yes, racism still exists. When it is our other bordering country, Mexico, and it is Mexicans doing it, it suddenly becomes a cause for concern.

Where is all the talk about Amerika losing its culture to Canadian Culture (in the North)? I have yet to see a news story with that topic.

I guess it is because Canadians aren't busy planning a Reconquista every weekend like we Latinos are. (sarcasm)

Or maybe they just aren't as dark-skinned.

And if it is the Spanish language that bothers you, get over it. Go to Europe, see how many people are multi-lingual there. When you border a country, you usually have some language spillover. It isn't some Communist, balkanizing plot, it is simply the way the world works, stupid.

Atom

You shall not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not despise an Egyptian, for you were an alien (immigrant) in his land;
(Deu 23:7)

Building on what I wrote last time dealing with Immigrants and those who call themselves Christians (you can read it in my blog if you haven't), I wanted to extend the idea on the relationship. So far, I have only talked about it from the perspective of the duties of the society where Immigrants are coming into.

But Torah also tells us of the Immigrant's duty in the society which it finds itself.

First, let me explain about Egypt and the Israelites. The children of Israel sought refuge in Egypt after a famine wiped out the crops in Palestine, being welcomed by the Egyptian government at the time. After many years the Egyptians became frightened of an Israelite "Reconquista" plot (no joke!), and began enslaving Israelites. This lasted for 400 years. After this time, the Israelites were freed from their captors, taken back to Palestine, and on the way were told the instructions given above. To not hate those who had been enslaving and abusing them for 400 years.

This goes back to the general Torah based satyagraha (non-violent love) principle that we are to love those who hate us and do good to those who do evil to us. Even when that evil is slavery and oppression.

(BTW, this is something I really struggle doing!!!! I don't want to look like I'm pointing fingers.)

Does this mean we should remain in slavery? By no means! The Israelites did not and neither should you if you are oppressed. Seek freedom when you can, Messiah teaches as much.

So to apply this to America, we would translate:

"Do not hate the American, for you were an immigrant in his country"

Now how many of you just translated "American" as "White Person" or pictured that in your head? Raise you hand. Ok, wrong translation. You should have read "American" as "Native". This is their country. (This is not a European country, they have simply been colonizing it for the time being.) We (non-natives) are all aliens in their lands. Therefore, we should have no hatred towards Natives.

Or if you're Australian, for Aborigines. Or if you live in Hawaii, for actual Hawaiian Natives. Or if you're South African, for Blacks.

Ok, now that I got your thinking changed, let's ask, can we apply this to White Amerika and Immigrants? I think we can. If we think of White Amerika as a large immigrant society welcoming (or more often than not, not welcoming) immigrants into their community. It is one immigrant society taking in more immigrants, of a different country of origin. In this case, the general prinicple still applies: we are to not hate the same racists who hate us. We are not to hate White Amerika, though they oppress us. Even though these Latino "immigrants" have more of a right to be in America due to their ancestral heritage. For the time being, we are moving into a White Amerikan (illegal itself) community. Therefore, we are to practice love towards those who do evil to us.

(Hard to do! But it is what is required of us.)

So, let's think of another example that actually involves White Europeans as the rightful owners of a land, where it is not a colonial situation: England. That land belongs to Brits, and those of us who are non-Brits living there would be the immigrants spoken of. So if you are, for example, an Indian or African living in Britain, you are to not hate the Brits, even though they oppressed you in their land. What they did (oppression) is evil, but we are to love those who do evil to us, simply because this is what Messiah would do. And it is what he did.

Ok, so hopefully I didn't lose you all in the application.

Another verse in the same chapter teaches:

You shall not hand over to his master a slave that has escaped from his master to you. He shall live with you, among you, in the place which he chooses inside one of your gates, wherever it is good to him. You shall not oppress him.
(Deu 23:15-16)

We are taught that we are not to return (deport) those who seek refuge in our land, even if they are breaking the law to do so. (A runaway slave would be at very least a civil-violator.)  This should speak to anyone who says "But Illegal Immigrants are breaking the law!" G-d would say to you: So what. The law was made for humans, humans were not made for the law. We are to give immigrants refuge and not return them to their masters (government and economic conditions responsible for their seeking refuge.) We are to let them settle among us and not oppress them.

Again, person claiming the title of "Christian", if you follow Messiah, listen to the teaching of how we are supposed to treat those who are aliens among us. We are to welcome them and help them; not oppress them, capture them and deport them. In the same way, if you are an immigrant yourself, you are to not hate those whom you dwell among, regardless of their treatment towards you.

Atom

Track: Bolivian Streets (La Paz)
Album: Son of Slaves and Lords
This was the first piece of music I wrote in 2005 when I returned from South America. It was a tough time in my life and it was finally through writing this track that I began to come to terms with everything. It was almost like the music was a form of therapy and that by writing this I was finally able to understand what I was feeling. Needless to say, it means something to me.
Parts of this track are from the original writing, while I have changed other parts of it. The whole track brings me back to La Paz and I'm sure it will mean different things to different people.
Lyrics:
Bolivian Streets (La Paz)
-------------------------
("And hardened in the furnace fires of Bolivian streets")
We descended from kings/
Immortal lineage the indian brings/
When the blood of his body is deeper than the source of a spring/
We're rooted to the earth/
More specifically to the path/
from Tierra del Fuego down to Canada on the map/
...The winds, of change, have come/
But my people have still remained strong in the face of adversity/
I'm mixed blood, almost every color occurs in me/
The culmination of the genetic set of diversity/
Inside the Mayan university, where they taught theories of math, engineering structural city plans/
To the mound-builders of Cahokia/
Long as Andean millenia and the history of Bolivia/
To the city-states of Nasca/
Part of a free-trade pact, spanning Patagonia to Alaska/
To the Caribbean, Blackfoot and through Nebraska/
For Centuries, before anybody conceived of NAFTA/
..This land was densely populated in fact/
With more peoples in the Americas than Europe at that/
With greater population density than India packed/
Until the epidemics attacked on first contact/
Like in...

Chorus:
-------
(x2)

I admit, it's easier to preach than live it/
I almost lost my life as a Christian/
Lying on my back in derision/
Hardening my heart in my condition/
You never knew it/
Because you never listen/
Hate given over the fate that people were given/
..And the faith that I wasn't living/
But I refused to remain calm/
..Thought of myself as strong/
Your mind'll play tricks on you when the devil's got your arm/
And you're alone in a world of harm/
With nothing to lean on but a knife and an ice grill like bronze/
...I thought I understood the church's past/
Till I was face forward in the reality of brutality/
Seeing indigenous people in poverty/
Because of a colony/
Consecrated by religious authority/
Now I understand the hurt/
And why the people of earth will curse the church/
As if it were dirt/
(chorus)
Walking the streets of La Paz/
Giving pause to every thought of Western progression you've ever had/
Inside societies that were ravaged hundreds of years/
You can see another side of humanity that appears/
And another side of yourself when you look in the mirror/
It's enough to make you want to repent/
When you see a grown man cover his face as he's working for rent/
To try to hide the shame of shining your shoes for tweleve cents/
But/
When that's the option you got, gotta take it/
Immigration laws, gotta break it/
Especially when your kids are barely able to sleep from hunger pains/
And you know it stays the same the longer that you remain/
..You'll become an easy target for blame/
But surviving, you gotta break the rules playing in this unfair game/
Know there's more to life than driving a car with a fancy name/
So I spit a flame to create change.


Be blessed,
Atom

"Trickle-Down Economics", "Reganomics" or "Voodoo Economics" were names given to the Regan Administration's theory on how tax cuts given to the rich could boost the economy. Motivated by the Laffer Curve in economic theory, the idea is that if you give the rich more money (by cutting their taxes) they would in turn have more money to invest - creating new jobs and more taxable income in the process. This theory was tested by the Regan Administration and is also a favorite theory of our current US administration.

Although the Laffer Curve does have some application in extreme cases (if the government is taxing you 99% it would take away your motivation to work at all), it does not hold in the way "Voodoo Economists" want to believe. Money, in general, trickles upward - from the consumer (the masses) to the producer (the elite). Common sense would tell us that if we wanted to infuse money into the ecomony that will affect all levels, we should give it to those at the bottom - it will end up in the hands of the rich anyway, because that is the normal flow of money. A new study confirms this:

Food stamps offer best stimulus - study

Apparently, we should just give the poor more food stamps in order to help everybody.

As for the actual documented impact of tax cuts, alas, they do not work as advertised (further confirming our common sense intuition.) From Wikipedia's article on the Laffer Curve:

(The Cato institute disagrees with these findings, of course. What else could they do? However, until a study shows otherwise, in quantified empirical terms, we are left with this assesment.)

So don't believe the hype. The rich can afford to save extra income; the poor cannot. If you want more money circulated throughout the enitre economy, give it to the poor.

Be blessed,
Atom

I am not a big reader of fiction; almost all of what I read is either science, history, philosophy, or economics. So for me to recommend, or even read, a non-fiction book is unusual. Which means that the book must be something worth reading, both fun and able to keep my attention.


"The Days of Peleg" by Jon Saboe is one such book. The Days of Peleg (DOP for short) begins with the question: what if man did not rise to his current state from simpler beings (the standard western mythology), but instead began as ultra-intelligent super humans, only to lose their capabilites over time and eventually become who we are today? An interesting question to be sure and the story builds on that theme.

DOP is about a man, Peleg, and his journey around the earth thousands of years ago. His society (in ancient Mesopotamia) is trying to come to grips with recent events that have shaken the course of man. The main concern of his society is to suddenly answer the question: Why is humanity dying? You see, while deaths had always occurred, the apparent lifespans of those around them were becoming shorter and shorter. In time, they might only live one or two hundred years! So a mission is sent out to explore and find answers, and Peleg's voyage begins.

What he encounters along his trip is interesting and amazing (if not also historically accurate): pre-colombian civilizations with advanced engineering knowledge; a south polar passage through Antartica (which 20th century scientists have indeed confirmed exists under the ice sheet, yet has not been seen in modern times but still appears on early maps...); Neanderathal societies with engineered biotechnology and organized structure. The well-researched book takes you on a trip through the continents and around the world, all the while exploring themes of death, purpose and redemption.

I don't want to give too much away about the plot in my Reading Rainbow summary, but suffice it to say that this fiction book kept my attention all the way through and I finished it fairly quickly. If you enjoy historical "science"-fiction then I suggest getting a copy of the book. Since I discovered the book, Jon and I have become friends and he is a great person as well - so just another reason to support this independent writer.


Atom

The message of Christmas is the meaning of Messiah.

-Atom
 
The Meaning of Messiah

If I had only one opportunity to speak with you about anything and have you listen with an open mind, I would use that opportunity to tell you about Messiah. While other issues are important to me, no other is as important.

Messiah literally means "Anointed One", which is another way of saying "Chosen One." I'll get to that in a minute, because before I introduce the hero of the story, I must explain the need for a hero.

Man was designed and formed by G-d. If you have not come to this realization or think it is nonsense, then stop reading here. You will be held responsible for all truth revealed to you, and it will condemn you to know more truth than you're ready for. Instead, get a better understanding of the situation here, here, and here. Come back when you're ready.

If you're reading this, I'll assume you recognize the truth that human beings were created by G-d. When humans were made, they were designed perfectly, but with the ability to choose and change. In addition to the capacity for voluntary choices they were given the dignity to see their choices carried out. As perfect beings, any choice or change would lead to either an equally perfect state or one that was less than perfect. Through a series of choices, man choose to become less than perfect. And from that early history mankind began to rebel against his creator.

As the designer of the system, G-d was free to choose the proper function and goals of the system. So he made laws for the elements to obey (physics) and for man to obey (ethics and morals). Each of these provided the framework in which the system could function properly to carry out its designed purpose. While the elements were given no freedom in their ability to obey the rules, man was different. As mentioned before, he was allowed the freedom to either submit to the rules of not; when he chose not to, the system would not function as designed and inevitably destruction and chaos would follow.

This is why adultery (a moral prohibition) leads to destroyed families; why lying leads to broken relationships. Murder destroys lives as well as communities. Children disobeying their parents allows them to make poor choices, which often ruin lives. All these moral laws were designed to protect us. When we don't follow them, we must endure the consequences.

G-d does not want his system destroyed nor does he want to see his beings within the system destroyed. Furthermore, as a perfect being, G-d embodies perfect justice. So to counter the destruction wrought by the breaking of moral laws, G-d acted. He declared that he would carry out justice on earth and judge every human being according to whether or not they had brought destruction into his system. The punishment for the crime would be equal, life for life. Since law-breaking would bring destruction into the the system of G-d, destroying the life within, G-d would bring destruction into the life of those who committed such acts. This is what justice requires and what Hell is.

As dark as the story has become, it gets somewhat darker. We become the villians of the story because we have all have broken the moral laws. In the language of G-d, we have all sinned. G-d laws are simple and easy to understand:

Do not worship anything on heaven or earth other than G-d.
Do not make any physical representations of G-d for worship.
Do not speak lightly of your creator or mention his name without reverence.
Set aside the seventh day to rest from work.
Obey your parents and honor them.
Do not murder.
Join with only one person during life and stay with that person until death.
Do not steal.
Do not lie.
Do not covet what belongs to someone else or have greedy desire.

Yet we have all broken those laws, most of us repeatedly. If you were judged according to that standard would you be judged innocent or a law-breaker?

As law-breakers, a sentence of punishment hangs over our heads. We are guilty of the same crimes our ancestors were guilty of, each bringing chaos and destruction into G-d's perfect system by our choices. We have all earned punishment and could be left here without hope, to die and receive our own destruction.

But G-d did not abandon us.

Much as an angered parent still loves the child that is ruining their own life, G-d, even in his anger, took pity on fallen man. G-d's love for us was so great that he sent us a savior, a hero, to rescue us from our self-caused destruction. This savior's name was Yeshua (Jesus) and he was born roughly 4 BC in Judea, under Roman rule. His birth is what we remember in Christmas and what we celebrate. This man was unique, sharing in G-d's essence and being one with him in a way we do not fully understand. G-d called him his only begotten son. This Messiah, chosen by G-d, was sent to lead mankind and to save us. We, the sheep without a shepherd, were given someone to watch over us at last.

Yeshua openly confronted the religious and political authorities of his day, speaking truth. Because of this, he was sentenced to death by crucifixtion around 32 AD. Though he was innocent and could muster forces to fight on his behalf, he went silently to his death; because only through his death could he pay the price for our sins.

Yeshua willingly offered himself as a sacrifice on our behalf, taking the punishment we deserved, because of his pity and his great mercy for us. The destruction of his life fulfilled the demands of justice for the destruction we had caused by our actions. He took our place in G-d's courtroom to save us from the destruction that awaited us.

After his death, he came back from death three days later, startling and completely shocking his downcast followers. He had one message, that they were to go into the world and repeat to them what had happened and what they had seen firsthand. They were to teach people from all races and nations who Messiah was and what he had done on their behalf. This small group of followers, emboldened by Messiah's apparent power over death itself, quickly spread the good news to all the known world. It cost almost every one of them their lives, as men hate to be confronted with truth, but those left continued to spread the message. The message has been passed down faithfully even to our day, when someone many years ago shared the message with me. And I now pass it on to you.

Through Messiah, you can have forgiveness. Your sins can be wiped away and G-d will not remember any of the former evil deeds you have done. Yeshua came to bring life and provide a path back to G-d.

In his words: "I am The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father except by me."

To this day, man still has the ability to choose. The penalty for sin is real and judgment is coming. If you identify with Yeshua, and become one with Messiah through confession of your sins to him and asking him to enter in your life, becoming baptized as one of his followers, then his death becomes yours and your sins will become forgiven. If not, then you must pay for your own sins at the cost of your destruction.

May you come to know the same Messiah I have known. There is much, much more to say about him, about Resurrection, his Coming Kingdom, prophecy, the spiritual reality, and many more things concerning the life he brings, but until you make that decision, I can only leave you here.

"Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it. But narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
(Mat 7:13-14)

I've shown you the gate; where you go from here is your own choice.

-Atom

PS If you decide you want to follow Messiah, contact me and I'll tell you what to do next.

PSS Now you know why the birth of Messiah is worth celebrating each year.