Lägg märke till att den här tönten inte heller har någon lösning på problemet. Luftrummet är mycket riktigt stängt, och det råder fullt krig.
Ärligt talat verkar folk ha väldigt märkliga föreställningar om vad UD kan eller inte kan göra i den här typen av situationer. Har varit något av en följetång de senaste 20 åren eller så...
There are so many strange Hindu deities and god-forms. Here is one I never heard about before: Dhumravarna, a form of Ganesha conceptualized as the Supreme Being who appears at the end of the Kali yuga to help Kalki, the tenth avatar of Vishnu?!
Could he please come back sooner, I mean, you know...
Is MAGA *really* disintegrating because of Trump´s more and more "Neo-Con" activities? Michael Tracey has the receipts...
>>>As of a month ago, Republicans were by far the most likely to support regime change in Iran. Expect that number to skyrocket even higher now, especially among self-identified "MAGA Republicans." >>>WSJ, 2/19/2026: A recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll found that self-identified 'MAGA Republicans' are the group most likely to back regime change in Iran—75% said they supported it, vs. only 69% of "traditional Republicans"
Imagine being in paid partnership with the Demiurge and thinking you´re still free...
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| - You sure that´s God? - Just continue meditating, bruh! |
What is the most compelling argument for God? Or, rather, what is the most persuasive fact of reality which points to the Divine? When I started my "spiritual quest" over 20 years ago, I would have said the moral argument and the hard problem of consciousness. Of course, back then I had a more "theist" view of the Divine and was Christianity-curious.
Today, I would say first and foremost that the case for the Divine is cumulative. It´s like assembling pieces of evidence and connecting the dots. How do I know whodunit? Let´s call it a hunch! I would say that the hard problem of consciousness is *the* major hunch that materialism simply can´t be true. First, materialist scientists still haven´t been able to solve it (and not for want of trying). Second, it simply can´t be solved.
Even if somebody conclusively demonstrates a causal connection between atoms and consciousness, I would *still* suspect there is something more to it. Obviously, since I have immidiate first-hand knowledge of my own mind and its subjectivity. I perceive and know that my consciousness simply cannot be reduced to whatever material stuff scientists claim caused it (or is identical with it). The hunch won´t go away and the quest would continue.
The above doesn´t necessarily prove theism, deism or dualism. Pantheism and panentheism are other possibilities. But the point is that we are "plugged it" to something that isn´t brute matter in the sense usually understood by that term. Come to think of it, isn´t the materialist claim that matter can generate consciousness in itself a kind of pantheism, animism or even animatism? The pantheism that dare not speak its name...
Everything else feels like commentary to this. Very interesting commentary, to be sure!
Lindsey Graham believes that Cuba is next on the list. I suppose that could be a problem for the, ahem, US Socialist Workers Party...
OK, this was creative. I asked Gemini to make an illustration of how Brahman becomes seven rays in seven colors and then angels. This was the result! For whatever reason, the AI gave the rays the names "Will, Wisdom, Light, Harmony, Science, Devotion, Ceremonial Order". Freely based on Alice Bailey? And - wait for it - in the lower righthand corner you can see people with telescopes outside "Älta Observatory"?!
There is a suburb of Stockholm named Älta, and while there is no observatory there, there is a weather station (Älta väderstation). Judging by on-line maps, it really is close to a lake, although I have no idea how it actually looks like. Probably not as a cozy Swedish summer cottage...
But sure, the idea of "observing" Brahman and the Seven Rays on location in Sweden does have a certain intrinsic appeal.
There is a "blood moon" (a kind of lunar eclipse) this Tuesday. Doomsdayers on-line are already connecting it with the US attack on the Iranian regime, Gog and Magog, and (surprise) the end of the world as-we-know-it.
Now, read the articles linked below. They are from 2018, when similar apocalyptic fantasies were projected onto an earlier "blood moon". This because of some apocalyptic-mongering book from 2016 about "a tetrad" of such lunar eclipses.
Point being: we´re still here, and "blood moons" (including their alleged "tetrads") have entirely natural explanations. So no, the world won´t end this time either. Let me guess? The next time there is a bloody eclipse (next year, say) I will have to repost these links to debunk it *again*?
Blood moon myths and conspiracy theories
How many times do I have to repost this link, do you think?
Gog and Magog: Israel´s Mysterious Northern Foes
Also, see this (from my own blog):
Jag kan förstå att någon måste mellanlanda i t.ex. Qatar. Som den gamle popparen Dr Alban i artikeln länkad här nedan. Det är svårare att förstå folk som bor på lyxhotell i t.ex. Dubai under en rätt så uppenbar internationell kris i närområdet. Jag menar, varför i all sin dar åker man just *dit* på semestern?!
For the record, I don´t think Trump is attacking the Iranian regime cuz Epstein something-something. Even during his (rhetorically) most peaceful period, he always had an aggressive posture against Iran. Something he had since at least the 1980´s! Of course he can use it to deflect attention from the Epstein files, but so what? Other dynamics are at play here. Obviously.
Did anyone really think that "the Truth about Trump/Epstein" would surface when Bill and Hillary Clinton were deposited by the Congressional sub-sub-committee so-and-so? LOL.
More on Jesus and the resurrection. Sequel to the recent blog posts on the topic.
How likely was it that Jews would have expected an executed Messiah-pretender to have been resurrected? How would they have interpreted visionary experiences of a dead person? In other words, how unique was the resurrection belief in context of 1st century Judaism in Palestine?
Christian apologists Craig and Wright suggest it was unique, but "Skeptical Agnostic" begs to disagree. Interesting!
Influential evangelical-fundamentalist Church leader John MacArthur (who recently passed away) was apparently a "mental health denialist". He didn´t believe ADHD, OCD, PTSD or depression were real things?! Or, to be more precise, he seems to have believed they were forms of negative thinking you can somehow out-God away (or out-Church away).
For some time now, I´ve been baffled by the fact that many conservative Christians in the affluent West seem unaware of things such as autism or flatly deny it. Obviously, if people like MacArthur were preaching against the very concept of mental illness, that´s part of the explanation.
Maybe this is a case of "positive thinking" and some kind of Christian or Protestant perfectionism coupled with the American craving for success in this world. Of course, there might also be a (perhaps legitimate) worry that Big Pharma and Big Shrink just wants to sell you their shit for profit and hence over-medicate. Or over-charge you for lifelong therapy?
Still, the outright mental illness denialism in these clips doesn´t strike me as a very good solution to the problem...
I´m not a big fanboy of John MacArthur, but this joke is actually funny. And who knows, maybe it´s even true!
I just saw a triumphalist Christian video pointing out that Muslim birth rates are falling. Which isn´t even true, since they are still far above replacement level in many Muslim nations. Now, do Christian nations...
Exactly.
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| - Äpplen? Vilka jävla äpplen? |
Hur ska man tolka det här? Att SVT öppet tar ställning för regeringens mest kontroversielle minister, eller vad? Ha ha, nu kommer anmälningarna att hagla stenhårt. Valkampanjen senare i år kanske blir väldigt intressant, trots allt...
Leif GW anklagar SVT för äppelaktion
So the French left cracks anti-Semitic jokes, while their far right condemns anti-Semitism? The world is literally insane...
Dreyfus, something something.
A real conspiracy in the making? Did the CIA buy a secret Russian weapon, enhanced it and tested it on site in Cuba? You know, against the US embassy staff...
Dr Robert talks about his darshan at the Srirangam temple in India, where an idol of Vishnu gazes at an elephant, a horse and the backside of a cow (on cows, the backside is apparently the sacred side!) before humans are even admitted in its presence. The mummified body of Ramanuja is in the same temple. Since Robert is a Shaiva, indeed an Aghori, I didn´t expect him to talk about a highly orthodox Vaishnava temple, but there you go.
Drabbades själv av detta typ vid lunchtid. Ville nämligen kolla upp några, ähum, vägmärken...
Vägmärket ovan är förresten ren fantasi från AI-verktyget Gemini.
Transportstyrelsens datasystem ligger nere - tusentals drabbade
Försökte få Gemini att ändra datumet till "2026", men av någon avledning vägrar AI-verktyget att göra så. Fast "1 april" låter ju logiskt, LOL.
Både mellanårsval i USA och svenska val senare i höst. Ja, jäklar.
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| Credit: The Fourth Way |
I´m not so sure. Many conspiracy theorists had pretty wild scenarios back in 2020 (why *that* date, btw?) which didn´t come to pass.
For instance, that the COVID pandemic wasn´t real. Or that the vaccines would kill off the entire White race within a few years, entire cities being emptied of people. Or that, you know, Trump would lead a fight against the Satanic paedophile cannibals running the world. How well did *that* little prediction turn out?
The most plausible conspiracy theory was that the Dems rigged the 2020 elections. After all, everyone cheats in America. And yet, Trump hasn´t presented any evidence that this was the case now when he´s back in office. Instead, he has been more busy trying to derail the Epstein Files. Indeed, the Don seems more interested in the disclosure of (obviously non-existent) UFOs!
Are there true conspiracies? Of course there are. See above! But my main problem ever since this fracas started (around 2015) is that the opposition forces - including the out-of-control ultras - seem just as hopelessly clueless, stupid or even evil as the establishment they are opposing. They are decadent, too.
So I don´t expect the local unfriendly paranoiac in a trailer to make any sensational new discoveries any time soon. Except maybe by chance. And even then, they would have no idea what to do about it.
Maybe it´s time to bug out and take to the hills...
Overheard on the interwebs: "Islam is a political ideology masquerading as a religion. Communism is a religion masquerading as a political ideology." Not entirely accurate, in my estimation.
Both are religions. :P
Afghanistan is popularly know as "the graveyard of empires". That´s why at least a dozen empires managed to conquer it, right? So the British, the Russians and the Americans failed? That simply means THEY ARE GAY!
All-out war between Pakistan and the Taliban in Afghanistan? Here we go again. War-wise, that is.
Let´s see if the Islamic Republic can defeat the Islamic Emirate. Frankenstein´s monster and all that...
Jay Dyer (!) discusses C S Lewis´ "Chronicles of Narnia", specifically "The Horse and His Boy", seeing it as a veiled criticism of Islam.
Somatoparaphrenia is a type of monothematic delusion where one denies ownership of a limb or an entire side of one's body. Even if provided with undeniable proof that the limb belongs to and is attached to their own body, the patient produces elaborate confabulations about whose limb it really is or how the limb ended up on their body. In some cases, delusions become so elaborate that a limb may be treated and cared for as if it were a separate being.
Somatoparaphrenia differs from a similar disorder, asomatognosia, which is characterized as loss of recognition of half of the body or a limb, possibly due to paralysis or unilateral neglect. For example, asomatognosic patients may mistake their arm for the doctor's. However, they can be shown their limb and this error is temporarily corrected.
Yes, I do want to talk to "the manager"!
The quest for the only true religion continues...
This is a long presentation (taped on location in Oman) about Ibadism, the "forgotten" third branch of Islam alongside Sunnism and Shiism. Ibadism is the dominant form of Islam in the Sultanate of Oman at the Arabian peninsula.
The Ibadis were originally something as strange as the moderate faction of the Kharijites (the "anarchists" or "ultras" of the Muslim world). Their most important doctrine was that Muslims who commit major sins or even repeated minor sins aren´t really Muslims and should therefore be excluded from the umma. This even goes for the imams - unless he is sinless, the imam can´t be a legitimate ruler. This marked the Ibadis out from both the Sunnis and the Shias. The former believed that even sinful rulers should be obeyed for pragmatic reasons, while the latter denied that imams could sin at all. It seems the purist attitude was balanced with a more tolerant-pragmatic one in practice, which distinguished the Ibadis from the Azariqa, the militant Kharijites who believed that all "Muslim" sinners should be killed?!
Today, the tolerant and supposedly peaceful side of Ibadism is emphasized, with Oman having freedom of worship for various immigrant communities and also for the Sunni and the Shia. However, the video says relatively little about modern Omani history, perhaps because it isn´t particularly "tolerant". Oman is an absolute monarchy and it´s interesting to note that the Sultanate was often in political or even military conflict with the Imamate, despite both nominally being Ibadis. The British Empire and the black gold (you know, oil) lurks in the background...
Still, an interesting contribution.
Tack så mycket.
Den här bloggen är som bekant tvåspråkig, så här kommer en svensk uppföljare till det förra blogginlägget (som var på engelska). Vad sägs om det? Länkar till en av våra "ofrivilliga grannbloggar".
Det här är ett centralt stycke (om Lena Einhorns Jesus-bok): "Hennes metod är egendomlig. Trots att hon tror att Nya Testamentet bygger på en medveten lögn har hon en egendomlig tilltro till alla dess enskilda detaljer. Det är utifrån dessa detaljer – som ses som bokstavligt sanna – som hon bygger upp sin indiciekedja. Varför ett verk, som bygger på en medveten lögn om den döde och uppståndne Jesus kan vara så tillförlitlig i sina minsta detaljer kan hon inte förklara. Än mindre kan hon förklara varför ett verk som bygger på denna lögn samtidigt så beredvilligt skulle lägga in antydningar, för att hjälpa den misstänksamme läsaren att genomskåda lögnen…"
Har noterat att i stort sett alla konspirationsteorier om Jesus är uppbyggda på just detta sätt. Och kanske alla andra (orimliga) konspirationsteorier också? (De rimliga brukar som bekant vara sanna!) Här är i vart fall länkarna.
Not the best video on the topic, tbh. Watch it as entertainment.
For some reason, the atheist content-creator doesn´t mention the Jewish conspiracy theory that the disciples stole the body, which at least according to the Gospel of Matthew was the original skeptical explanation for the alleged resurrection of Jesus. Strangely, he thinks the "twin theory" (that Jesus had a brother who was his identical twin) is the most plausible, when it´s clearly a Gnostic allegory. The impostor theory is also highly unlikely. Did the impostor fool every single one of Jesus´ disciples, including his brother James? Or were they all in on it?
People in the commentary section also point out that Holy Koolaid missed the ancient aliens angle. "It´s low-tier but fun to argue". Yeah, maybe, but there *are* some New Religious Movements which un-ironically do believe that the Christ was cosmic. He actually was an alien from outer space! So be careful what you argue for in jest...
Unless the resurrection actually happened in the "traditional" fashion, there are three likely explanations IMHO. The first is that everything is a teaching story or myth. The second is that the disciples had really potent hallucinations. We could charitably call them "visions". The third is that the resurrection was a genuine paranormal phenomenon. Maybe the astral body of Jesus appeared to the apostles? In the two latter cases, the theology surrounding the resurrection may have been different from later accounts. Perhaps there wasn´t any contradiction between belief in a bodily resurrection of some sort and physical remains left behind in a tomb? (The Jehovah´s Witnesses seem to have a roughly similar belief today.)
Or it´s aliens. All the way up.
Overheard on the interwebs: "So, first John MacArthur dies and then Ozzy Osbourne. And you might be wondering, how is it that you could even be uttering these two names within the same breath? How different they were! You know, one was this massive rock star up on stage influencing millions of people, mumbling a bunch of nonsense, and the other one was Ozzy Osbourne."
ChatGPT has answers to every conceivable question, I mean, dude!
Were Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath Satanists or anti-Satanists?
Short answer: They were not Satanists — and in many ways their message was anti-Satanic.
Let’s separate image from belief.
Formed in 1968 in Birmingham, the band developed a dark, occult aesthetic that shocked late-60s audiences.
Their name was inspired by a horror film:
Black Sabbath (starring Boris Karloff)
But their lyrical content often gets misunderstood.
On their 1970 debut album:
Black Sabbath
The title track describes a terrifying encounter with a demonic figure. The tone is not celebratory — it’s fearful.
Geezer Butler (the bassist and main lyricist early on) has explained that the song was inspired by a frightening experience involving occult materials. The point was horror and warning — not praise.
Ozzy cultivated a shock-rock persona — especially during his solo career. Biting the head off a bat in 1982 cemented his “Prince of Darkness” image.
But:
He has repeatedly denied being a Satanist.
He was raised in the Church of England.
He has said he believes in God.
He has worn crosses throughout his career.
His use of dark imagery was theatrical — part horror, part rebellion, part marketing.
Many early Sabbath songs actually have moral or cautionary themes:
“After Forever” openly references belief in God.
“Lord of This World” critiques Satan as a deceiver.
“War Pigs” condemns warmongering political elites.
“Children of the Grave” is anti-war and pro-peace.
There’s more apocalyptic Christianity than occult devotion in their catalog.
In fact, some early critics accused them of being Christian moralists disguised as occultists.
In the late 1960s–70s:
Occult imagery was culturally provocative.
Bands used horror themes to differentiate themselves.
Media panic amplified “Satanic” accusations.
Later, during the 1980s “Satanic Panic,” metal bands were frequently accused of promoting devil worship regardless of lyrical content.
Satanists?
→ No evidence supports that.
Occult-curious?
→ Some early fascination, especially via Geezer Butler reading occult literature.
Using horror imagery artistically?
→ Absolutely.
Often morally cautionary in tone?
→ Yes.
Ironically, many of their songs portray evil as terrifying, destructive, and spiritually dangerous — which is closer to traditional Christian demonology than to Satanism.
If you’d like, we could also explore:
The difference between theatrical occultism and real Satanism
How metal’s use of “darkness” compares to earlier Romanticism
Or how later bands (like early Norwegian black metal) differed ideologically
Given your interest in religion and symbolism, the archetypal “Prince of Darkness” motif in modern music could be a fascinating angle.
Yes — that controversy became one of the most famous metal moral panics of the 1980s.
From the album:
By:
Ozzy and bassist/lyricist Bob Daisley have said the song was about alcohol abuse, not suicide advocacy.
The phrase “Suicide Solution” was intended as a play on words:
“Solution” = a liquid (alcohol)
Alcohol as a slow form of self-destruction
Ozzy has stated it was partly inspired by the death of AC/DC singer
Bon Scott
who died in 1980 from acute alcohol poisoning.
In interviews, Ozzy repeatedly said the song was meant as a warning about drinking yourself to death.
In 1984, the parents of a California teenager who died by suicide sued Ozzy, claiming the song contained hidden subliminal messages encouraging suicide.
The case went to court in 1986.
The judge dismissed it, ruling:
There was no evidence of subliminal messages.
Lyrics are protected under free speech.
There was no demonstrable causal link.
This case became one of the early cultural flashpoints in what later became the 1980s “Satanic Panic” around heavy metal.
Several factors:
The repeated line “Suicide is the only way out” (taken out of context sounds direct).
Ozzy’s dark public persona.
The broader cultural fear of heavy metal at the time.
Lack of nuance in media coverage.
But in context, the lyrics describe addiction trapping someone until they feel there’s no way out — not prescribing suicide as a solution.
Ozzy has consistently said yes.
However, there’s an important nuance:
The song is dark and ambiguous. It doesn’t clearly say, “Don’t do this.” It depicts despair vividly.
That ambiguity made it easy to misinterpret.
This mirrors the earlier accusation that
Black Sabbath
were Satanists — where horror aesthetics were mistaken for endorsement.
In both cases:
Darkness was treated as advocacy.
Artistic depiction was conflated with moral encouragement.
If you're interested, we could explore:
Whether art depicting despair increases or decreases harmful behavior.
How moral panic works psychologically.
Or how heavy metal’s engagement with death compares to older religious “memento mori” traditions.
Vi behöver en fransk general på tronen! En som *inte* allierar sig med Ryssland...
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| Credit: The Fourth Way |
The less you say, the more you hear. And the more you know, the less you say...
I´m a bit surprised by the large number of atheists on-line who naively assert that Satanists never harm anyone. Christians (especially the Catholic Church) are guilty of sexual abuse and what not. Satanists never are.
That is, people who *are explicitly named after an evil being in Christian/Western mythology* are actually harmless, while people claiming to follow the good guy are evil?! Yeah, I´m sure that´s the case. Or maybe not, since this sounds exactly like...Satanist inversion.
When does naivety cease being an excuse? If one group of evil-doers claim to be good Christians, why is it so bloody inconceivable that people who openly brag about being transgressive actually are so?
