Hister, History, Hysteria

“Beasts ferocious with hunger will cross the rivers. The greater part of the battlefield will be against Hister. Into a cage of iron will the great one be drawn, when the child of Germany observes nothing.” – Nostradamus, 1555

Has humankind learned nothing?
In school, the facts of
the Third Reich were drilled into us.
One cannot shake it,
the terror of that time when the
mark of a madman was held high
and heels clicked in time
to the rhythm of death’s drum.
A mass of puppeteered people
was programmed to smite
the so-called subhuman ones.
This catastrophic coma of many
ended only with a wound to the head.
But horror and murder
have never been limited to camps,
and there is always a new tune
with a similar refrain of divide and conquer.
To bomb any part of this planet
is to burn down your own house.
To trample on the rights or bones of any human
is the boot in the face of your own mother.
Why do I see armies of people
still marching in the opposite direction of progress?
Compassion is the great lesson
that man has not mastered.
Like any nightmare,
these ongoing atrocities could end
before reaching a sickening conclusion,
yet so many choose to remain in the dark,
preferring the oblivion of sleep.

–Jenn Howe, 2017

This is my reality.  My country is tearing apart.

The photos above were taken not in the 1700’s, the 1800’s, or the 1960’s.  They were taken last week, in Virginia.

Today — right now, even as I type this — there is a group of white supremacists and neo-nazis protesting in a city that I love very much:  Hot Springs, Arkansas, located just 17 miles from where I sit.

We’ve already fought a civil war over this shit.  We fought a WORLD war over this shit.

We are now The Divided States of America.

There is hate everywhere.  There are too many guns.  There are police killing innocent civilians.  There are civilians killing innocent police.  There are shootings every day.

I fear for the minorities.  I’m sad for my country.  I don’t know what will come of all this, and I don’t know why it is happening.

I only know certain truths:

• Racism is wrong
• Sexism is wrong
• Speciesism is wrong
• War is wrong
• Violence is wrong
• HATE AND INTOLERANCE ARE WRONG

If you respect all life, all genders, and all races…I stand with you.

If you care about the planet and climate change…I stand with you.

To all the other countries of the world…I’m so sorry.  I apologize for what our nation seems to represent and the damage it is doing, but please remember — millions of us in America do NOT stand in judgment and hate.  We are NOT all ignorant, racist, over-consuming, wasteful, gluttonous, and egotistical. Some of us are working for a better life and a better planet.  We strive for improvement and we care.  We care so much.

To all my fellow Americans who stand with me in PEACE and LOVE…do not react with violence when those who stand in hate try to provoke you.  Offer love and protection to our brothers and sisters who are the targets of this archaic and senseless hatred.  Do not give up hope that we can heal what is broken in this country.  We have to love each other and hold strong.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…”