The blog to end all blogs. Reviews and comments about all and everything. This blog is NOT affiliated with YouTube, Wikipedia, Copilot Designer or any commercial vendor! Links don´t imply endorsement. Many posts and comments are ironic. The blogger is not responsible for comments made by others. The languages used are English and Swedish. Content warning: Essentially everything.
Not the most interesting YouTube video, but if you can spare exactly 41 minutes and 32 minutes, I suppose you could watch this on a rainy day.
YouTube personality & influencer Emma Thorne wades through TikTok clips about Nephilim, Baphomet, astral journeys and obviously fake auras. I happen to believe in astral travel (in secret and only in the astral), but sure, much of the other stuff is hard to believe. Note Emma´s cute Baphometh dolls. Cough, cough, *is* she a Satanist?
Not sure if any of the above is enough to ban TikTok, though. Perhaps we should ban it just to show who´s boss around here. That kind of power trip. Take care during the Easter holidays! Ashtar Command, over and out!
A rather fanciful AI-generated version of the Last Supper
>>>For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23–26)
The above is from one of Paul´s epistles and is the earliest mention of the Lord´s Supper. It´s also extremely strange. Paul never met Jesus in the flesh. Yet, he says that he received the story of the Last Supper from the Lord. Not from Peter and James in Jerusalem, but from Jesus himself. There are two possibilities here. Either Paul means it figuratively. He actually received it from the original disciples. Or he means it literally. Paul saw the first mass in a vision.
The latter option is compatible with Mythicism. For why would our first mention of Holy Communion be a visionary experience by a man who never met Jesus?
It would be funny if some bozo from the local Skeptic Club (TM) could defend the necessity of grave-robbing, organ-harvesting and a vast trade in human skeletal remains (see previous blog post).
He could say something like this:
"Well, actually...it´s just religious superstition to oppose use of dead human bodies on a MASSIVE scale in scientific research. The humans are already dead, dead men can´t feel pain, nor can they rise, indeed, they are *by definition* not even conscious, so how can the question of consent even arise in this situation?"
"Nor can the relatives claim the body. That´s just cheap sentimentalism, probably also rooted in religious notions. No, science has the RIGHT, the right I say, to a neverending supply of bodies both fresh and old, in various stages of decomposition, and no amount of woo or flim flam about "souls", "spirits" or "ghosts" can hold us back."
"Rational planning and resource-management practically *demands* that people killed in wars, famines and natural disasters become harvestable resources for the benefit of the living. And, in particular, of Science. People dying of pandemics are especially interesting in this regard."
"It would be an enormous vaste, Mr Speaker, to let these resources go to waste. Facts don´t care about your feelings, und so weiter. Everyone already agrees that it´s proper to do research on aborted fetuses, not to mention pre-dead non-human animals, so why should there be a difference in this case. This is no different from mineral wealth extraction, and indeed, more research should be done on non-medical uses of recently deceased bodies of the species Homo sapiens, including fertilizer, food additives, soap, clothing, jewelry, and so on."
"Everything else is Communism and rank Primitivism, and will surely take us back to the Stone Age. Or at the very least the 1970´s!"
I was tempted to call this blog post "This is the world atheists want" or some even less kind title. Scott Carney is an investigative reporter most known for his rocky relationship with Wim Hof and his successors. He has been involved in other projects, too, however.
When blogging about the Aghori (the bizarre Tantric sect in Varanasi, India), one question always haunted me: where on earth do these guys get hold of human skulls, ribs and other mortuary paraphernalia? Their contacts with the untouchable caste which cremate dead bodies gave part of the answer. But surely you can´t just walk into a shop in India and buy fresh craniums?
Well, actually...you can.
I never read Carney´s book on this and related topics, "The Red Market". The YouTube clip above would therefore have to do for now. It features Carney interviewing an Indian-American scholar on this rather morbid topic. It turns out that there is an *enormous* international trade in human body parts, teeth and skeletal remains (or whole skeletons). Some of it is legal, much else less so. Carney has lived in India, which presumably explains his concentration on that particular nation. Of course, India´s enormous population and the fact that poverty is still relatively widespread makes it a "natural" provider for a market in dead people. There is never a shortage of corpses.
Carney does mention the Aghori, and also tells a story of smugglers at the Indian-Bhutanese border, who were providing Tibetan Buddhists in Bhutan with literal truck-loads of skulls and tibia, used in Tantric rituals. But the main culprit in this story is not religion, but science. Centuries ago, medical schools in the Western world were employing grave-diggers to obtain fresh corpses for dissection and study. "Anatomy riots" followed, as ordinary people attacked and burned down the medical schools. Oh, those superstitious plebs, with no understanding of scientific progress! I´m being ironic. Don´t show this to the local Skeptic club (TM)!
When Britain turned India into a colony, the market in corpses and skeletons expanded considerably. Indian corpses, to be exact. The periodic famines (which Carney and his Indian guest believes were caused by the British) were good for business. After independence, this Indian market *became even larger*?!
In India, a corpse must apparently be claimed within 48 hours. That leaves a lot of unclaimed corpses, and that creates business opportunities. Medical schools in both India and the United States still use real human body parts, hopefully obtained through informed consent procedures, but very often, probably not really. Carney did walk into a certain store in Calcutta and procured a skeleton of a 50-year old woman within minutes. He also learned that if you bribe a low-caste cremetion worker with 25 dollars, he will readily obtain a nice human cranium within a day or so. The store acts as middle-man.
"The Red Market" must have created quite a splash in India, since the Indian authorities did change the law on one point: foreign tourists are no longer allowed to leave the country with human body parts in their possession. There is even a huge sign to this effect at the international airport in New Delhi!
Well, always good to hear...
But what about the Aghori? Apparently, the sect often performs for tourists, so in that sense, morbid Western interest in seeing the sadhus "touch" skeletal remains fuels the local demand for precisely such remains. In the same ways, Western interest in shrunken heads makes tribals in other parts of the world go on head-hunts. However, I think it´s rather obvious that the evil White Man isn´t the only culprit here.
It´s almost as if the Aghori are right: the entire world is a gigantic charnel ground, at which Kali is dancing...
Content creator Emma Thorne (a former conspiracy theorist turned basic left-liberal) comments a bizarre flat earth video, which is apparently something of a classic.
I assume the original version is titled "No Forests on Flat Earth", but there is also a dubbed version called "No Trees on Flat Earth". Emma is commenting the original, narrated by a guy with a heavy Russian or East European accent.
The whole thing could be a troll, perhaps a parody of flat earthism. Or it could be a real kook. This far out on a limb, it´s impossible to tell. Nor is it overtly obvious how any of the weird factoids in the video proves that the Earth is flat?! But sure, the claims that Devils Tower is the petrified stump of a truly gigantic tree, that Grand Canyon is a quarry, or that a secret nuclear war was fought between 1780 and 1815, do have a certain intrinsic charm.
There are other whackadillos and wingnuts out there who claim that dinosaurs never existed, that Stonehenge is a modern fake, that the US Socialist Workers Party killed Trotsky, that many insects are robotic UFOs...you get the picture. However, I know for a fact that the claim that birds are really drones covered in plumage is parody, and I strongly suspect it´s the same with the girl who believes the cicadas in her backyard are harbingers of the apocalypse.
But, as any paranoiac will tell ya, that´s exactly what They *want* you to believe!
Not Dutton´s most interesting video (and it´s not even the whole thing) and it´s possible that he is being ironic. That being said, the Alt Right´s reactions to the Baltimore bridge disaster have been paranoid or downright retarded.
Russian terrorist attack? *Ukrainian* terrorist attack? DEI? (On a ship registered in Singapore?) Or was the bridge bad because of DEI? It was built in 1977...
I have no idea why the shit happened, but I wouldn´t be surprised if good ol´ capitalist profiteering had something to do with it. But you probably have to be a "Strasserite" to make *that* connection...
Oh, they found containers with hazardous goods. So it´s the Ruzzians, then. Yawn!
I often wondered whether feminists really are low IQ. How can they support stuff like this? Don´t they understand that they are being burlesqued by the Patriarchy? Many such cases...
A discussion between a number of far right personalities, all of them unknown to me. Taken from the magazine or perhaps web zine IM-1776.
One perspective calls for White identity politics on a federal level, first in the form of Trumpism, later as...who knows? Localism and sectionalism are explicitly rejected and seen as Whites fighting each other. Indeed, even local identities will become racial - witness Southern White identity versus Black ditto.
The other perspective argues that only a return to "place", to the local community or even the physical landscape as such, can overcome the "deracination" and atomization of modern culture and society. Any smart Third World immigrant can identify with a federal-level "American culture" (even a White-coded one), since it´s so broad, inorganic, modern and ideological. A strong sense of place could overcome this. Interestingly, though, this perspective also includes the idea that perhaps the US isn´t really "European" and should create a completely distinct civilization all its own...
Never really heard about "Spy Wednesday" before. Hardcore Catholics commemorate it as above (the pic is from Spain). Yes, it´s the day when the Sanhedrin and Judas (read: the Jews) plotted to kill Jesus!
Not sure if this means anything, or if it´s just empty posturing. But sure, even posturing at the Korean peninsula could ignite fires.
Judging by the article, most oil exports to North Korea comes from Russia. So the only way to "disrupt" this technically illegal oil trade (illegal according to the UN) would be to bomb the North Korean ships as they move to and from Russian ports...
An interesting proposition, to be sure. But probably not very likely under present geopolitical realities!
My odyssey
through hard-to-understand scholarly essays on the ins and outs of esoteric
Buddhist astrology continues. This time with a 2022 article in the journal
“Religions”, written by Jeffrey Kotyk. The title of the piece is “Astronomy and
Calendrical Science in Early Mikkyo in Japan: Challenges and Adaptations”.
Mikkyo is the Japanese term for esoteric or Tantric Buddhism, here also called
Mantrayana. The time period in question is the Early Middle Ages (by our
quasi-calendrical reckoning).
Buddhism
originated in India and astrology was part of its canonical lore. For instance,
monastic meetings were to be scheduled on astrologically auspicious days. In
China, this system was “translated” according to Chinese astrology, but many
other aspects of the Indian system were never implemented. They were treated as
canonical lore, but with no practical application. The planets were not
believed to impede enlightenment or have any influence on the bodhisattva path.
This changed when Mantrayana was introduced in China and Japan. Suddenly, a
detailed knowledge of astrology became absolutely necessary. The goal of
Mantrayana was to reach bodhisattvahood in the present lifetime, and for this
to take place, various complex esoteric rituals had to be carried out according
to Indian calendric calculations. Even in China, information on Indian
astronomy and astrology was difficult to come by, and in Japan it was almost
impossible. Yet, a knowledge of astrology was absolutely central to the Tantric
path. Mandalas had to be created at exactly the right dates. The mandala was
itself astrological in character, with the planets, zodiacal signs and lunar
mansions aiding the process to reach “bodhi”.
As already
mentioned, the article is quite hard to follow, but my understanding is that –
strictly speaking – the Mikkyo practitioners *didn´t* find a satisfactory solution
to their problems. They simply devised a new “abstract” system not based on
astronomical observations and calculations to find the “right” dates for their
rituals. The main Chinese sources used by the Japanese were moreover very
eclectic and hence already some steps removed from the “Vedic” original. Mikkyo
Astrology did use a seven-day week (the Shingon founder Kukai is credited with
introducing it to Japan), but that was the only “Indian” trait used. It was not
really used for advanced time-keeping, but to place religious festivals on
auspicious days.
That being
said, the Chinese and Japanese sources are nevertheless very interesting. Some
illustrations in them seem to show jinn, when Indian sources show Hindu gods
instead. (In other works, the author has argued that Chinese astrologers had
access to Iranian sources independent of the Indian ones, containing Hellenistic
star lore.) Also, there is no understanding of what star constellations the
signs of the zodiac refer to. Somewhat ironically, the icons illustrating the zodiacal
signs are fairly “correct”. For instance, one of the icons is a satyr-like
bowman, obviously a reference to Sagittarius. In Indian astrology, exact astronomical
knowledge of the zodiac and its signs was a necessary part of casting
horoscopes, but in Mikkyo, this knowledge was lost. It wasn´t until a few centuries
later, with the introduction of Sukuyodo (a more “regular” form of astrology),
that this was remedied, but that´s another story.
Not sure
who is even interested in stuff like this outside my little zodiac on the web,
but I suppose it does raise one question for true believers in Tantrism: did
any Shingon or Tendai practitioner ever become a bodhisattva during this lifetime,
if this requires a detailed knowledge of Indian astrology and even astronomy? And
why on earth (pun intended) would that be necessary for a true spiritual
super-man in the first place?
So I amused
myself by trying to decode a very heavy scholarly essay by Jeffrey Kotyk, with
the appealing title “Japanese Buddhist Astrology and Astral Magic: Mikkyo and
Sukuyodo”, published in the “Japanese Journal of Religious Studies” and copyrighted
in 2018. I admit that I hardly got half of it, but it was still a fascinating
read, after a fashion. My man Kotyk might be on to something! Perhaps he has a
good horoscope?
Apparently,
contemporary Japanese astrology is called sukuyo and is attributed to Kukai,
the medieval founder of the esoteric Buddhist sect known as Shingon. However,
this form of astrology is evidently fully modern and has very little to do with
“real” Japanese astrology from the actual Middle Ages (to use European terminology).
Kotyk argues that there were two distinct forms of astrology during the period
in question. He calls them Mikkyo Astrology and Sukuyodo. The former is part
and parcel of esoteric Buddhist practice, while the latter could be regarded as
“standard” astrology, including natal horoscopes, predictions of wealth and
success for prominent individuals, etc.
Mikkyo
Astrology, as should be evident by its name (Mikkyo being the Japanese word for
Vajrayana or esoteric Tantric Buddhism), was introduced to Japan from China by
Shingon and Tendai monks, including the aforementioned Kukai. The two prominent
Tendai monks Ennin and Enchin were two other transmitters. Mikkyo Astrology is based
on highly complex Chinese manuals which in turn go back to Indian sources. It
was necessary to correctly time various esoteric rituals. Of course, “Vedic” astrology
in its turn is heavily influenced by Greek astrology. Mikkyo Astrology also
includes astral magic, including worship of planetary deities, to ward off
disasters forecasted in the horoscopes. Kotyk therefore regards this form of
astrology as non-fatalistic.
While the system is Indian in origin, the author
has also identified Iranian elements in the Chinese sources. These in turn can be
traced further back, to Greek or Egyptian sources. The icon of Saturn used in
these texts is “Iranian-Mesopotamian” rather than Indian. During the later Tang
period in China, the cult of Saturn (seen as a malefic planet to be appeased)
became prominent among both Buddhists and Taoists. The main feature of the
astral magic, however, is presumably Indian in origin: the cult of a bodhisattva
referred to by modern scholars as Tejaprabha (a name unattested in any Sanskrit
source). This powerful figure was worshipped when heavenly anomalies disturbed the
peaceful skies, such as comets appearing in the “lunar mansion” associated with
the incumbent ruler. To complicate the criss-crossing lines of cultural influence
even further, Mikkyo Astrology in Japan also interacted with Onmyodo, a school
of divination indebted to Taoism. Its practitioners worshipped the Big Dipper
as yet another example of astral magic.
Sukuyodo
seems to have been originally connected somehow to Onmyodo, but later became an
independent lineage or school (or actually several). It had strong support in
the medieval Japanese aristocracy. What makes Sukuyodo interesting to the
author is that it must be derived from Chinese sources dependent not on any
Indian source, but on Iranian sources the contents of which goes back to the Hellenistic
astrologer Dorotheus. The lore itself can be traced even further back, to Alexandria
or even Babylonia. One intriguing fact is that Sukuyodo used the tropical zodiac
(also used in ancient Greek and modern Western astrology) while “Vedic” astrology
uses the sidereal zodiac. The positions of the star signs are somewhat
different in the two versions. Even Indian traits in Sukuyodo, such as the use
of the imaginary planets Rahu and Ketu (actually the lunar nodes) in horoscopes
could come from Iranian sources, since these had evidently taken up the
practice. What makes all this important is that it could point to a previously
unknown path of cultural diffusion from the Near East to China and Japan
(without passing India). The author wonders aloud whether music or medicine
could have followed this path of transmission, too.
What he doesn´t
mention is the profoundly humbling effect all of this should have on Chinese
and Japanese nationalists. Much of their “unique” cultures really come from “barbarians”,
including the White devils. If they will ever admit it, is another thing
entirely. Ex *Occidente* Lux? White Boy Summer is a thing!
Perennially pro-Trump Breitbart News are positively salivating over RFK Jr´s choice of running mate in the upcoming US presidential elections. The reason? She´s rich and she´s Woke, suggesting that RFK Jr will target Biden´s far left voters, making it more probable that Trump will be re-elected...
This can be empirically tested. Our favorite kook Gnowly claims that something *yuge* will happen on April 8 in the United States, probably Texas. Something so enormous and unexpected that it might change the course of history...forever. A black swan to end all black swans.
Not sure why, but it has something to do with Vedic astrology. Something about the astrological "new year" falling on the same date, indeed the same second (sic), as the upcoming solar eclipse. Add to that Mercury retrograde and shit just got real. Mercury is apparently moving into a position known as "Drowning" that will make everyone´s consciousness collapse?!
However, if you live in India or Sri Lanka, the effects will be minor.
As I said: this can be empirically confirmed or disconfirmed. In two weeks.
An interesting video about Soviet cryptids. I was struck by how unoriginal they were. Yes, it´s essentially the same kind of cryptids as reported from North America or Western Europe: hairy humanoids, lake monsters, sea serpents and extinct charismatic mega-fauna still supposedly lurking somewhere in the far corners of Siberia. In this case the Steller´s sea cow, the wolly mammoth, and the giant short-faced bear (never heard of that one).
There are two possible explanations for this curious fact. One is that the cryptids are actually real. After all, why *would* people behind the Iron Curtain see exactly the same kind of unknown animals as in the rest of the world? Another possibility is that Soviet cryptozoology was influenced by its Western counterpart. That´s not as far-fetched as it sounds, since one prominent Soviet cryptozoologist, Boris Porshnev, was a friend of Bernard Heuvelmans! (A book by Porshnev has been translated to English: "The Soviet Sasquatch") The same transformation of older folklore into "unknown real animals" - typical of much Western cryptozoology - may have transpired in the modernizing Soviet Union, too.
Misidentification is another factor. The Mongolian Death Worm (which was searched for by Soviet scientists) is often depicted as the monstrous Shai-Hulud from Frank Herbert´s science fiction novel "Dune". In reality, the Death Worm is only said to be about one and a half meters long. And it took me about five minutes to find *exactly such a creature* living in Mongolia: the desert sand boa. Case closed.
The Soviet Union was one of the few nations (if that´s the word for it) that launched several scientific expeditions in search of cryptids, both on its own territory and in Mongolia. Soviet scientists also participated in Chinese expeditions to find the Yeti. The fact that these official projects had as little luck as lay cryptid hunters in the US or Scotland is perhaps suggestive.
The creatures don´t exist. Or maybe they do exist, but since they are ghostly in nature, Communists feared reporting what they had *really* found...
Today is "Waffle Day" in Sweden. Which I completely missed. Yes, I´m too lazy to make my own waffles. Unless the local café or pastry store make them, I go with my ordinary candy. Or pancakes at the diner every Thursday!
How the Feast of the Annunciation became Waffle Day is, I suppose, an interesting story. Maybe I´ll tell it next year, LOL.
"By fixing the mind on the Lord through love, hate, fear, friendship many have attained God-realisation, e.g. the Gopis through love, Kamsa through fear, Sisupala through hate, the Vishnis through relationship."
Kamsa was an evil asura, Sisupala a king opposed to Krishna.
So I fooled around with Copilot Designer again. This came up when I asked AI to generate pictures of Tendai, Soka Gakkai, Zen and Shingon. Make of this what ye wish...
I´m not a big "Dune" fanboy...but then, I never read Frank Herbert´s novels. I *have* seen David Lynch´s cult film and the first of the two more recent "Dune" flicks, directed by Denis Villeneuve. Not even sure what the story is supposed to be about, or why I should give a damn.
That being said...yes, I noticed both the pseudo-Muslim angle, and the equally fake Russian one.
The video above contains a description of the religions of the "Dune" fictional in-story universe. The religion of the Fremen is obviously based on Islam (perhaps even Sufism) - even the terminology is sometimes identical - while also having some "pagan" traits.
I wasn´t aware of the strong religious syncretism in Herbert´s novels. For instance, the official religion of the Galactic Empire is based on something called "the Orange Catholic Bible". The video above never points out that this name presumably refers to the anti-Catholic Orange Order on Northern Ireland, here syncretized with Catholicism!
The YouTube clip also discusses the Bene Gesserit, a scheming secret order in Herbert´s story. Was their religion inspired by Hindu yoga, including the chakra system?
An interesting thought never explored further is that Herbert was inspired by al-Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldun´s famous book on the philosophy of history. The Muqaddimah is the introduction to the Kitab al-Ibar by the same author. That is, in the real universe. In "Dune", the holy scripture of the Fremen is called (you guessed it) Kitab al-Ibar...
I´m skeptical to this kind of spirituality for various reasons, but this is nevertheless an interesting one-hour lecture (or "satsang") featuring Christopher Wallis, a scholar-practitioner of Kashmir Shaivism or Non-Dual Shaiva Tantra in its Abhinavagupta iteration.
Liberation or knowledge comes through "clear seeing", a direct apprehension of Reality as it actually is, unmediated by thinking / thoughts or concepts. No dogma or complex theology can take you there. Neither can "experiences" in the usual sense of the term, not even spiritual experiences. They mean exactly NOTHING.
Tantric sadhana, including visualization and "deity yoga", are intended to refine your understanding so that clear seeing becomes possible. They play no other role. Indeed, these preliminaries may vary from person to person anyhow, depending on his/her personality type.
Wallis reveals that he himself was once stuck in his spiritual evolution (pardon the non-nondual phrasing), since his vast knowledge of the dogma and history of Tantrism (including the Sanskrit language) made him both proud and convinced that he was in some sense enlightened. None other than Adyashanti pointed out the truth to him. Wallis then decided to empty himself and become open for transmission...
Is sheer evil on the loose in the Mogador archipelago off the coast of Morocco?!
The local population of Eleonora´s falcon is said to hunt smaller birds, strip them of their flight feathers, and then imprisoning them in rock fissures or deep holes. Presumably with the intention of coming back later, the flesh of the live bird still being tender, and kill it then...
This bizarre behavior, known to the local fishermen for a long time, was only recently documented by scientists. Which is what counts. Except that some scientists are skeptical, no doubt because falcons aren´t supposed to be *that* clever.
Well, thank you. Now I can go back to sleep in the knowledge that Eufalconimorphae isn´t completely TAINTED!
A lot of speculation in this one. Or rather in the list the content-creator is commenting, a list of the ten most likely cryptids to be discovered during the 21st century.
The list sounds like wish-fulfillment.
From the top of my head (which is considerable - both the top and the head), the thylacine, the giant eel and the giant octopus seem to be the three most likely candidates. Since the other cryptids might not exist at all, their discovery - this century or the next - is *highly* unlikely...
Here´s a more certain prediction: there will still be enthusiasts in 2100 hunting the Gugu, the Megalenia or whatever cryptids will be on the top ten!
Concerning the brutal terrorist attack in Moscow: sometimes the provocation is more transparent than usual. I think it´s obvious that the Putin administration had foreknowledge of the attack.
If they ordered it, infiltrated the Islamic State to carry it out, or just waited and did nothing to stop a "real" IS operation, remains to be seen. Perhaps we´ll never know.
The Democrats are angry at Speaker Johnson for refusing to put a Ukraine military aid package to a vote in the House.
Oh.
Is this the same Johnson who became speaker after the Democrats blocked with Matt Gaetz in a "social fascist moment" á la Prussia 1931 to remove the more moderate Republican Speaker McCarthy? Well, cry me a river!
Now, the Biden Administration - sources say - have told Ukraine not to bomb the Russian oil industry with their drones, since this could lead to steep rises of the oil price. And therefore gasoline prices in the United States. Something the Biden Admin want to avoid at all costs before the election.
Meanwhile, Chuck Shumer called for regime change in Israel, and Biden didn´t really oppose the call (although he didn´t really support it either). Presumably this is an attempt to woo the "Uncommitted" and convince them to back the incumbent.
Something´s wrong when important foreign policy decisions are held hostage (pardon my French) to electioneering and untractable bickering in Congress. With allies like this, we probably don´t need any enemies! Perhaps it´s a good thing that the best semi-conductors are made in Taiwan, South Korea have a really good arms industry and Japan (I assume) has money. If only India or China could come to their senses, too. We have to start shopping around for a new hegmon.
Then, nobody would have to pay attention to what´s happening in DC...
Not my favorite YouTube channel, tbh, but something struck me when listening to this Buddhist nun´s description of asuras (the "titans" or "giants" of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology). An asura is always angry, intensely jealous, and prone to start fights and wars. However, they also have certain blessings, unspecified here but presumably including that they can´t be killed. They also have a lot of treasure.
Sounds familiar, doesn´t it? I mean, doesn´t the above sounds very much like the description of a certain Biblical character?
Angry, jealous, prone to start conflicts and even wars, immortal, loves to store up treasures on earth in the form of animal sacrifice, fine goldworks in a temple, et cetera.
Yes, that would be Yahweh. That is, God himself.
So the God of the Old Testament was really an asura. Somehow, that makes perfect sense!
>>>The largest recorded specimen [of the Lion´s Mane Jellyfish] was measured off the coast of Massachusetts in 1865 and had a bell with a diameter of 210 centimetres (7 feet) and tentacles around 36.6 m (120 ft) long.
>>>The tentacles of larger specimens may trail as long as 30 m (100 ft) or more, with the tentacles of the longest known specimen measured at 36.6 m (120 ft) in length, although it has been suggested that this specimen may actually have belonged to a different Cyanea species.This unusual length – longer than a blue whale – has earned it the status of one of the longest known animals in the world.
So the largest/longest animal in the world (as in "ever") is a...jellyfish?!
- The humans are looking for super-diamonds again! - Yes, I know, they should restore the wetlands instead...
New research suggest that a material 30% tougher than diamond can in fact exist...but probably only in the interior of exoplanets. However, once formed, it could remain stable even in our atmosphere. So now we know what to ask exoplanetary aliens to bring as gifts to our leaders, should said aliens ever visit our tried and tested "endoplanet"...
>>>Machines seem to be simpler versions of what biology can do - why would we create machines and then call the universe a machine, when biological life shows an even more complex and mysterious version of what’s possible… brilliant.
Exactly. It´s not that the universe is a gigantic watch, computer, or whatever. It´s us trying, with varying degrees of success, mimicking the organic or "cosmic" design that´s already out there. So to claim that the universe is "intelligently designed" *in the same sense as our technological contraptions* is problematic even as metaphor, and downright crazy if taken literally.
Kan inte riktigt släppa den här killen, LOL. Först ett citat från T.H:s senaste blogginlägg:
>>>Jag tilldelades m a o privilegiet att påverka hur ord som det svenska n-ordet och z-ordet beskrivs i dagens digitala version av SAOL som finns på nätet och hur de kommer att beskrivas i den nästkommande tryckta upplagan av SAOL i egenskap av att vara en av landets forskare som studerar ras och rasism inklusive svenska rasord. I revideringen av SAOB ingår likaså att uppdatera hur olika rasord beskrivs, som ursprungligen kanske formulerades på 1920-talet eller 1950-talet med allt vad det innebär av dåtidens syn på andra folkslag eller raser.
Lägg märke till att T.H. inte skriver ut vad "n-ordet" och "z-ordet" kan tänkas vara för något (neger och zigenare, gissningsvis). Han har också en irriterande ovana att kalla Adolf Hitler för A.H. Dvs han skriver aldrig ut dennes namn?! Men lyssna nu på detta (från ett tidigare blogginlägg):
>>>En eloge till TT och Svenska Dagbladets kulturredaktion som på FN:s internationella dag för avskaffande av all form av rasdiskriminering vågar översätta respektive återge (i dagens Svenskan) engelskans race till ras på svenska i samband med att Beyoncé nyligen uttalade att ”my hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant”.
>>>Normen i den färgblinda antirasistiska svenskspråkiga gemenskapen är annars att regel- och rutinmässigt översätta engelskans race till etnicitet och ibland även till kultur då ordet ras i sig är ett tabuord på svenska som närmast liknar ett s k noaord.
Jo, men det verkar ju som att T.H. själv är något av en världsmästare på just noaord (han använder "noaord" som en synonym till tabubelagda ord). Fast enligt det senaste inlägget vill han åtminstone inte förbjuda dem i själva ordboken.
>>>Med andra ord kommer den reviderade versionen av SAOB att liksom SAOL uppdateras vad gäller beskrivningarna av de svenska rasorden men däremot kommer inga av dessa ord att tas bort då SAOB är en historisk ordbok – d v s syftet med SAOB är att kunna hitta ord och uttryck som en gång var gängse inom den svensktalande gemenskapen och få veta vad de en gång syftade på.
Vad tror SSU att soldater gör i krig? Varför ska kvinnor omfattas av värnplikten över huvud taget? Och varför nämner inte SSU det faktum att vissa (trans)kvinnor inte har trosor?
This
particular YouTuber, Nish the Fish, talks too much in his videos (which are
*very* long), but he does say interesting things in this one – if you can spare
one hour and a half of your karmically conditioned existence in Kali Yuga to listen
and (perhaps) learn. Nish is a supporter of the Ramakrishna Mission, but “spins”
Ramakrishna´s and Vivekananda´s message in the direction of Kashmir Shaivism (alias
Non-Dual Shaiva Tantra). Or one particular version of it. I´m tempted to call
it ecstatic pantheism.
When you
realize Brahman through yoga (counted as “jnana” or knowledge), you will realize
that the whole manifested world is divine and exists for your aesthetic
enjoyment and ecstatic pleasure. Your whole life will then become one long
kirtan to the Divine – the same Divine you realize within yourself – and hence
resemble bhakti (devotion to a personal god). The point being that true bhaktas
often act as if mad or intoxicated. In a sense, then, we´re dealing with a kind
of creative synthesis of jnana and bhakti. At least in its modern “Western”
form, Kashmir Shaivism strikes me as very yogic and jnanic in character. It
also emphasizes the impersonal or formless aspect of God, while Nish (and his
role model Ramakrishna) rather prefer one of its personal aspects. Yes, that
would be Mother Kali and her play…
Nish also discusses
the magical aspects of puja, presumably a “Tantric” take on the matter. The point
of puja is to quite literally conjure the deity and make it possess the idol,
but also to stop any unwanted presence (demons?) to show up instead. Nish also
mentions the more terrifying and esoteric forms of Kali, dancing on the charnel
ground. These energies are used to overcome fear (almost through shock therapy)
and thereby come closer to enlightenment.
He may say
something else, too, but I really don´t remember! 😉
Do we finally have evidence that the Polynesians reached the New World long before the conquistadors showed up? Analyses of plant remains from Easter Island (Rapa Nui) suggest that the Polynesian settlers visited South America and took back food plants only found there. Which means they had contacts with some Native people growing them.
I´m not particularly surprised that the Polynesian connection have been proven. Or proven first? The Polynesian landfall was around 1000 AD, hence later than the "Viking" journey to Vinland, but still pre-Columbian. Sure wonder what else lurks out there...
The second link goes to an article arguing that the mysterious rongorongo script was developed independently by the Polynesians at Easter Island.
"Jag är ingen räka, mannen, så passa dig jävligt noga!"
Kommer första april ovanligt tidigt i år? Eller är detta Aftonbladets tafatta försök till post-modern ironi på riktig hög nivå? För inte fan kan hon väl mena allvar...
So I asked Copilot to generate a picture of Druids celebrating the spring equinox. The above was the most dramatic proposal. Looks like they are greeting a hurricane! Or ardently wishing for a vernal apocalypse.
Be ´fraid, ye Wiccans and Crowleyans, be very ´fraid!
I admit that the weather (and landscape) where I´m currently at doesn´t look even remotely like the above AI-generated fantasy on the theme "Spring Equinox". And where are the Druids, by the way?
The former chief of staff of the Polish armed forces, Rajmund Andrzejczak, claims that Ukraine has lost "millions" during the war. Judging by context, he means soldiers. No idea whether the general has access to secret intelligence, or whether he is simply trying to pitch for Polish intervention in the war (or at least a rapid rise in Poland´s military expenditures).
But yes, I also suspect that Ukraine has lost more soldiers than the Russians. Since Ukraine has a smaller population than Russia, even equal losses on both sides favors the latter...
