Futurology is a branch of Eschatology, a discipline of study that examines the past in order to postulate probable futures using consensus views and the evolution of myths that underlie them. The debate is whether this discipline is philosophy, theology, science or mysticism.

Futures as its known by its practitioners is not prognostication, although it is often confused with foretelling the future by mystics who claim to have more then just five senses. Eschatologists use history to predict likelihoods by reconstructing the past and present to find systematic patterns that can explain trends much like forecasting the weather.

From a  scientific point of view we are taught that fate is nothing more than a convergence of probabilities that leads to one outcome; although there are infinite elements to consider at any given time to be sure of one particular result, accuracy is more about determining boundaries of possibilities then it is on being exact, and yet the assumption is that being “scientific” means completely testing every presumption before deciding whether its a fact or not.

Frequently, we have to make fast decisions based on preconceived notions and prejudices evoked from experience because things happen so fast in the real world that there is no time to process them or we’ll never get anything done. Does this mean that quick decisions based on gut instinct are unscientific?

If we view the future simply as the summation of all the steps it will take to get there, then the direction pursued to reach it is defined by some kind of horizon beyond which nothing can be seen, and the only reason to be concerned about what will happen in the future is because we are unhappy about the present and want to know that the future will be a happy one.

When The Avengers, issue #1, was first published in September 1963, a creation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it had a somewhat different cast then the movie version released on May 4, 2012. After the group’s classic battle cry, “Avengers Assemble,” an odd blend of Marvel’s most popular characters put aside their personal differences, but not without difficulty, to save Earth from global peril. In the comic book version they included Iron Man, Ant Man, Wasp, Thor, The Hulk and later, Captain America. Over time other members joined as some of the original members left.

Many of Marvels heroes had imperfections that tended to make them social outcasts, competitive and antagonistic towards each other and unable to combine their powers to unite as a group. Much of the 2012 film adaptation is spent on this same struggle, overcoming their ego’s to find common ground and save the planet. Picking Joss Whedon to write and direct the film was a brilliant choice as it brings him back to his creative roots.

Whedon is best known for his highly successful creation of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, another super hero trying to fit in and have a normal life as the chosen one with a destiny to rid the Hellmouth of demons. Buffy ran for seven seasons and became a cult classic. So Whedon brought a unique understanding of the misunderstood hero with a dark side trying to find a place in the world while carrying a burden. This is also one of the main themes of The Avengers movie, and it is reflected in a witty script with the right amount of humor and drama that is just as endearing as it was in the Buffy universe.

The Avengers movie is by far the most energetic of the Marvel films with outstanding special effects, but what makes it stand apart is that it is a fast moving action film with numerous character conflicts that make it more than just another summer blockbuster and proves that you can have both a high budget action film, ($220 million dollars), while bringing something new to the development of each character.

The ensemble cast includes some of the actors who already played their characters in a starring role in other films. Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Chris Evans as Captain America. Mark Ruffalo takes over as The Hulk, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D and finally Scarlett Johansson who plays Black Widow with Kung Fu moves that resonates with some of the moves that Buffy used.

As he did as the villain of The Avengers, issue #1, Loki, the north god of illusion and mischief,  tries to reign supreme on Earth by causing mayhem between the heroes and stealing The Tesserat ( a fouth dimension analog of a cube with unlimited power), using it as a bargaining chip to bring an alien race from outer space to conquer Earth. Loki, portrayed by Tom Hiddleston plays the role with relish and a devilish grin that brings to mind Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight. If he cant rule Asgard, then Earth will be his domain and humans will bow to him as the god he claims he is.

Once the ego’s of the Marvel heroes are put aside and saving the planet becomes the common goal, the action and special effects intensify with the alien attack directly over Stark Enterprises in Manhattan. The film is well acted as the ensemble cast first struggles to take the threat seriously. Iron Man plays it rogue up until the final battle begins. Dr. Banner is calm and tempered as he tries to control his transformation into The Hulk. Thor doesn’t seem particularly interested in working with mortals to defeat his half – brother, and Captain America is still trying to figure out his life in the twenty-first century after being frozen in suspended animation for sixty years.

What is so unusual is that rarely do we have a film with a complex combination of personality conflicts played out in the main characters with blockbuster action and special effects. This is largely due to Whedon who deserves much of the credit for the film’s success, as his ability to combine all of the elements in a solid script filled with just the right amount of humor makes it all work. The Avengers is highly recommended in 2D, 3D, or perhaps 4D when the technology becomes available.

For a complete list of characters and credits for choreography, score and special effects, click on the IMDb link. It has a running time of 2 hours and 22 minutes and is rated PG-13.

Why The Incredible Hulk is Green

Puerto Rico con una población actual de 4 millones de habitantes, es la isla principal de varias islas más pequeñas, tiene una historia rica y compleja aunque se sabe muy poco sobre ella antes de la llegada de Cristobal Colón. No es sorprendente, ya que la historia de América del Norte, como se enseña en las escuelas en los Estados Unidos empezó con “Colón.”

La isla ha sido conocida con varios nombres antes de llamarse Puerto Rico. Cuando Colón llegó en su segunda expedición al Nuevo Mundo en 1493, el la  llamó San Juan Bautista en honor a Juan el Bautista. Los taínos de la isla la llamaron  ”Borikén (Borinquen)”, de ahi que los habitantes son llamados “Boricuas”  No está claro de donde proviene su nombre actual, pero se conoce como Puerto Rico poco después que Ponce de León se convirtió en su primer gobernador en 1508.

Según Wikipedia, el primer intento de descubrir los orígenes de Puerto Rico es descrito por Fray Iñigo Abbad y Lasierra en 1786, trescientos años después que los primeros españoles arrivaron. Los primeros pobladores se cree llegaron desde el valle de Oronico en América del Sur que emigraron a través del Caribe, poblando las Antillas desde Trinidad y Tobago hasta Puerto Rico. Recientes expediciones arqueológicas encontraron pruebas de su existencia en la isla de Vieques (1990), que data aproximadamente de 2000 ac. Entre las primeras tribus que se cree que descienden de los Taínos era la cultura de los indios Arawak. Eran la sociedad dominante hasta  la llegada de los españoles en 1493.

Los españoles trajeron con ellos enfermedades que se propagaron por toda la población indígena afectando a la fuerza de trabajo, lo que obligo a los españoles traer esclavos africanos para reemplazar fuerza de trabajo y transformar a Puerto Rico en el puerto de entrada de el Caribe en su camino hacia América del Sur, México y partes de lo que que hoy es Estados Unidos. A pesar que las lenguas  Francés, Inglés y holandeses ocuparon la isla en varias ocasiones, no estuvieron el  tiempo suficiente para afectar  la cultura o la lengua sino hasta que Estados Unidos invadió Guánica en 1898 al comienzo de la Guerra de la América española. Posteriormente, España se vio obligada a ceder  Puerto Rico a los Estados Unidos en el tratado de París (1898).

Bajo la ocupación de EE.UU., en el siglo XX, Puerto Rico fue tratado como un adversario vencido, controlado por el ejército estadounidense, con un gobernador funcionario político nombrado por el Presidente de los EE.UU.. No fue sino hasta 1917 cuando la Ley Jones-Shafroth concedio US ciudadanía a los puertorriqueños bajo el tratado “estado libre asociado” en que  en elecciones libres se estableció su capacidad de elegir su camino cultural y su primera  elección de gobernador que tuvo lugar en 1948.  Sin embargo plena e igualitariamente la representación con voto en el Congreso de EE.UU., que ofrece la condición de Estado, todavía no llega a Puerto Rico.

Parte de los problemas que los puertorriqueños enfrentande bajo la ocupación de EE.UU. ha sido la de la industria farmacéutica y otras empresas que establecieron una fuerte presencia en la isla, debido a los beneficios fiscales que ofrece el Estado Libre Asociado. Vastas zonas (bosques) de la isla fueron destruidas para construir fábricas para apoyar los intereses comerciales de USA, mientras se hacia poco para enriquecer la vida económica de la población con trabajos mal pagados. Puerto Rico también sufrió agudamente la Gran Depresión y los desastres naturales como los huracanes, como las pérdida de puestos de trabajo de esas empresas. Muchos migraron hacia  USA principalmente la ciudad de Nueva York, donde ellos, la segunda y tercera generación representan un gran porcentaje de la población latina, manteniendo  lazos con la isla, y esperando un voto en el futuro estatus de la isla. Con  el tiempo, un menor número de habitantes recuerdan que nacieron antes de la ciudadanía entre 1898 y 1917. En muchos aspectos, sigue siendo “un país del Tercer Mundo”, con zonas de pobreza y con un porcentaje de desempleo elevado.

A lo largo de años, Puerto Rico se le han presentado tres opciones, la independencia, la condicion de estado o estado libre asociado, sin embargo, protectorados, territorios o estado libre asociado están desapareciendo rápidamente en el siglo XXI.  Puerto Rico no será capaz de mantener su estado actual por tiempo indefinido. Ellos se enfrentan a la elección en el futuro, de su singularidad cultural renunciando a la ciudadanía americana con todos los beneficios y protecciones que ofrece en un mundo cada vez más incierto. El futuro de Puerto Rico será la independencia o la estadidad.

translated by Davin Blu

A year is not a long time to wait to find out what will happen, if anything, on December 21, 2012. The Mayans calculated it as the end of the cycle we are now in and the beginning of another. From their experiences natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and volcanic activity surrounded the passage from one cycle to the next, and all of them they noticed, tended to be on a cataclysmic level. There was no reason for the Mayans not to think that this cycle would be any different.

Some fatalists point to metaphysical texts such as those from Nostradamus and others throughout history, usually scripted in archaic language and open to interpretation, about this date. Their range of credibility is wide, and conventional thinkers discount coincidences as any more predictable than seeing chaos within order, or visa versa.

Many scientists point to convincing evidence which does support the claim that the climate change now occurring is from human manipulation of the environment. The disagreement is about how close we have come to the point of no return, and what needs to be done to restore the balance, resulting in essentially no action.

Some within occult circles see this change as a tangible point in the evolution of consciousness. They claim a spiritual alteration will occur, and its effects might not be immediately perceived. How this will manifest is still left uncertain.

Perhaps this will be the day extra-terristrials will make contact with Earth, possibly to offer their help in solving our environmental problems. Will we accept it? or will it lead to suspicion and mistrust?

We only have to look back and recall , “To Serve Man,” a third season episode (#89) of The Twilight Zone, based on a short story of the same name by Damon Knight. It was first published in the November 1950 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. The story was adapted by Rod Serling for television and directed by Richard L. Bare. It was the episode that everyone was talking about the next day.

The story told in 25 minutes is narrated in flashbacks by Michael Chambers, a linguist who is now on a space craft on its way to an alien planet. The Kanamits, a race of nine foot tall aliens came to Earth, a year earlier. Speaking telepathically to the United Nations, they offered their technology to help us solve our environmental and social problems, during the height of the cold war. The outline of their offer is presented as a book entitled, “To Serve man”, and given to the world freely. The initial reaction is skepticism and suspicion. Soon, by ending famine, showing us how to achieve energy efficiency cheaply and by  curing all sorts of diseases, the Kanamits  earned humanities’ trust. In less than a year an exchange program had begun, transporting humans to the Kanamits home planet.

As he is boarding the steps of the spacecraft, Chamber’s assistant who is helping him translate the text, runs up to gate and yells, “To Serve Man, its a cookbook.” But its too late for Michael Chambers who is being fattened up for the menu.

A year is not a long time to wait to find out what will actually happen, if anything, on December 21, 2012. But the countdown has begun and all eyes will be focused on unusual events that may occur in the coming year leading up to December 21, 2012, including first contact with alien life.

As the release of The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn, Part 1 continues to dominate box office receipts, it has earned over 250 million in the first seventeen days since its premier on November 18th, 2011. Its difficult to assess which of the four installments, based on Stephanie Meyer’s love story between Bella, a teenage mortal and Edward, an immortal vampire, is best. I suppose it depends on which part of the story resonates most with the person reading the book; beginning, middle or the end.

My preference still remains the second book, New Moon. In this part of the story Edward decides on his own that it is best for Bella that he remove himself from her life. Rather then treating her as an adult and letting her participate in the decision, he disappears for the rest of the book then re-emerges at the very end. Although this suggests they had a co-dependent relationship, it merely implies that vampires can be as insensitive as mortals.

Bella’s depression, crushed from his rejection is visceral to anyone who has had a similar experience; withdrawing from life unable to utter his name and flirting with danger in the hope of somehow capturing his attention. A vulnerable place to form a close friendship with Jacob, two years her junior, another kind of immortal being, a Native American who can change into a wolf, and has the ability to pull her back from isolation by mending the broken pieces of her heart, then falling in love with her. Its the suffering that is so identifiable that makes the reader care for Bella and the way she grapples with her pain.

All the important arcs in the novel develop from this place, where her despair emanates and hope seems lost until Edward, thinking that Bella has committed suicide, decides to end his own existence, later proclaiming, “I couldn’t live in a world without you.” Bella puts the rejection aside an flies to Italy, in a plane,  to save him from suicide and confronts the gods that rule the underworld, the Volturi offering her life in exchange for his. Only when it is agreed that Bella will become a vampire, does she escape death.

Rising Dawn captures the last stage of Bella’s transformation into an immortal. The film, directed by Bill Condon and screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg chronicles her marriage, honeymoon and unexpected pregnancy. Although vampires have sex, and enjoy it, they have not been known to breed. It sympathizes, as does the book, with the issues surrounding a mothers right to make the choice to continue a pregnancy even at risk of her own life; everyone else seems to know whats best for Bella and treats her like a child so much so that she needs a bodyguard, Rosalie, to protect her decision.

Although it only lasts for three weeks, its a difficult pregnancy characterized by severe malnutrition, broken bones and an irregular heart beat. Only then, Edward is forced to change her into a vampire. After a bloody Cesarean section he injects a syringe of his venom directly into her heart and proceeds to encircle her lifeless body, biting her arms legs and neck.

Bella lies motionless as the venom heals her body, changing her into a new born immortal; a life she felt she belonged to throughout the three previous books. Memories pass in reverse using flashbacks from the previous movies as her      heart slows, then stops. Surrounded by the Cullen clan, her eyes open and they are now red. This is where the movie, Breaking Dawn, Part 1 ends.

How will Bella adjust to immortality? The fans will have to wait until December 2012 to find out. Already filmed, it wont be released until then. But, If anything can be said about the last installment using the book as the basis, it will most certainly include all the events that will happen from now before the words, …”and she lives happily ever after,” are uttered.

The film has a running time of 117 minutes and is rated PG-13 and although it remains faithful to the novel, it was not my favorite part of the story.

As November 18th, 2011 approaches and the premier of Twilight, Breaking Dawn, part 1, draws near, the excitement of Bella’s marriage to Edward Cullen is intensifying as she approaches her  destiny, fated in Stephanie Meyer’s four part novel, The Twilight Saga. As with the Harry Potter series, the fulfillment will not be in discovering what will happen, as the outcomes have already been revealed in the Novel; but how well the film adaptation visually portrays memorable events from the book. With that in mind, I have decided to re-post an essay I wrote after reading all four installments, seeing the first three films but before the release of the last two. I am not a fan of Stephanie Meyer’s style of writing, since I found The Twilight Saga written like a romance novel  encountered on the supermarket check out counter next to The National Enquirer. Never the less I did notice similarities to several ancient myths which made up for any of the story’s shortcomings.

Elements Of Mythology And Bella’s Journey

When Twilight, the four part novel written by Stephanie Meyer first appeared as a book in 2005, then in film in 2008, similarities between this story and other legends and myths were evoked. One tale that comes to mind is of the young maiden Persephone, kidnapped by Hades and brought to the underworld to be his consort and queen.
The legend has always had the appeal of an epic conflict that proliferates over her abduction. Demeter, her mother, goddess of fertility, is so overcome by emotion, she becomes vengeful, refusing to let anything live or grow. Begrudgingly, Hades agrees to let Persephone go but not before she tastes Pomegranate, the fruit that will forever bind her to the underworld forcing her to return for part of the year, delineating the four seasons.

Another tale describes a king with three beautiful daughters. The most attractive was the youngest, Psyche, who was so dazzling that people began to neglect the worship of Venus, goddess of love and beauty. Venus, a jealous god, asked her son Eros to make Psyche fall in love with an ugly creature. When he saw her beauty, Eros dropped the arrow meant for her and pricked himself instead, falling in love with her, marking the beginning of her long journey of trust, betrayal, sacrifice, redemption, transcendence and rebirth, told from her perspective.

In Twilight, Bella travels a similar path to Psyche as she describes in narrative her experience of herself as flawed, idolizing Edward but wondering why “a perfect god” would be so drawn to her. When he abandons her in New Moon, using a pretty flimsy excuse, she  articulates in vivid detail her feelings of isolation and the depths of profound depression. So severe is her pain that she flirts with danger and death to evoke Edwards presence even though she finds it difficult to utter his name, a common reaction when one is faced with unexpected rejection.  Finally, after finding redemption by offering to sacrifice her life to save Edward, traveling underground to face the gods of the undead, the Volturi,  she still experiences severe trials of strength and character as Bella and Edward marry and her transformation into an immortal begins when she discovers she is pregnant.

Bella’s unnaturally rapid pregnancy brings her close to death in the last novel, Breaking Dawn, and Edward is forced to change her after she gives birth to a beautiful, angelic and gifted child they name, Renesemee. A central theme of the last part of her journey, told in diary narrative, chronicles her rebirth as a vampire who is in total control of her blood lust, contrary to the behavior expected from “newbies,” suggesting that the Cullen’s, who carry the burden of being “damned,” are by their actions not. They have chosen out of free will not to feed on humans. This conscious choice and love made it possible for Edward, a vampire, to produce a child of beauty and warmth, and contrary to what is believed, redemption is possible even for vampires who exhibit compassion and prove by how they live their lives that they are not without souls.

Breaking Dawn will be filmed in two parts and is currently in production. The journey of Kristen Stewart, the actress who portrays Bella in all five films is how she will emote her narration in her performance in the last two films so that the audience can identify what it might feel like to be immortal. Rarely in literature is the opportunity presented to covey the evolution of both perspectives, before and after, from an autobiographical point of view.

Unrequited Love And The Twilight Saga

The notion that seeing things anew was always more of a metaphor than a fact of life, or so I thought; but being hopelessly myopic had been at best a restriction that, over time, was something I had become accustomed to. Little did I know how much it had effected my perceptions about so many things.

The first thing I would reach for in the morning were my glasses, usually very expensive and so thick that I could never hope to get frames that were fashionable. Everything was so out of focus that when my vision worsened I had no clue what was happening until I started noticing a perfectly formed halo with rainbow colors around lights, especially at night.

Perhaps this was a vision from above sent to me as an indication I was evolving spiritually, I initially thought, until crossing the street at night became dangerous because I could not judge the speed of oncoming traffic.

It was not until I consulted my opthamologist did it occur to me that I had posterior cataracts and they were progressively getting worse to the point that I began tripping over wires I could not see. It was then I decided to have surgery although my judgement was clouded for years by fear of all things medically invasive. But the decision was made and I intentionally avoided googling the procedure, so that I would not back out at the last minute.

Having experienced bypass surgery, popliteal aneurysms, rotator cuff surgery, I had become accustomed to viewing my scars as a metaphor for Frankenstein’s monster, squeamish of all things related to hospitals regardless of how simple the procedure seemed. After all, I thought, bleeding and infection can change the simplest procedure into a nightmare.

One eye was done first. This is common to ensure that if something does go wrong, the other eye is not effected. When the bandage came off I was amazed that not only had my vision been restored to 20/20, but light and color was so intensified and clear,  I had never realized that I had been seeing all things through rose colored glasses. In my case it was brown. I though white was a shade of sepia . I had missed all the vividness and subtleties of shades and the blueness of light. With the right eye for comparison,  I learned a lot from roaming the  streets of Manhattan covering one eye with one hand, then switching, noticing different images as the left eye, once the weaker, was now   dominant, and everything right of the mid line became a total blur . Although this effected depth perception, I could compare  the differences in light between the two. The right side was like wearing brownish tinted sunglasses. All colors I thought were red, I saw differently. The right eye was corrected one month later, and now I can see without glasses.

Perhaps that old saying that seeing things through rose colored glasses is more than just a cliche. All I can say for certain is that it motivated me to look again at many things that I took for granted as true because I could not see what other people saw,  and drew different conclusions based on my limitations. Maybe this has psychological and philosophical implications that go beyond just sight, and involves the basis of many foundations I built upon as my journey of discovery continues with new insight.

If the fear of reincarnation is knowing who you are by recollecting what you have done in past lives, both positive and negative, then hope is affirmed by the willingness to accept responsibility for them by reflecting on their meaning and the impact that they have had on one’s present life and change one’s thinking, the basis of free will. The actions that follow will be built upon insights created by new thought.

This state is difficult to achieve without objectivity, when clarity resonates consciousness without the influence of unbalanced emotions and the ability to focus on the things that really matter becomes the primary motivator of actions.

When a milestone is set movement begins as each step, confident with clear perception, one is ready to encounter unknown elements along the journey. It is here where the ability to draw on spiritual instinct helps when facing demons that lurk beneath habits as doubt clouds judgement and fear begins to appear.

Balancing emotions does not mean avoiding them. It’s in their embrace that awareness changes and the calmness of equlibrium is achieved. Then it is possible to walk the tightrope along the abyss with confidence and knowledge that this time any goal can be achieved.

Setting goals too far ahead can be deceptive as thought can change anywhere along the journey and alter the original vision conceived about possibilities and purpose of the initial direction. Willingness to reassess all intentions is crucial at each step as perception changes to meet whatever is encountered and transmutes the landscape of any goal.

Looking at it from a cosmic perspective is making a connection between how the universe operates and apply those principles to daily life on a personal level, recognizing  that cycles are best represented by the spiral. Looking at them from a bird’s eye view, the spiral appears as a circle, and although movement along its circumference feels repetitive it is not. From a side view its clear the spiral evolves and what seems to be circular is a cycle that moves to another level, although once we think something has been overcome, events throw us a reminder that there are still fundamental lessons to be experienced, again and again.

Reincarnation is the law that offers karma, cause and effect, its way to play itself out. The point is to experience all the lessons physical existence offers and move to another level where other laws may be at play. The way to see this is to remember what has occurred in previous lives and accept past lessons by consciously absorbing them, so that during one of those lifetimes the epiphany revealed suggests the doorway to get off the wheel and move on to another existence. This is the hope of reincarnation.

The Fear Of Reincarnation