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| Credit: Ambrogio1997 |
Har aldrig hört talas om detta tidigare.
Friday, April 17, 2026
Rabid materialism
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| - Yes, my dear Balambika, I remember John Gray, he came up here trying to convince me that materialism is true. I mean, I tried to tell him I´m God and all that, but he wouldn´t listen. Quite arrogant chap, like all those English colonialists! |
I just feel linking to this old book review of mine:
Noxious
Overheard on the interwebs: "Even noxious weeds have flowers". True, but this can be interpreted in two very different ways, right?
Chimp out
This wouldn´t be controversial, had it not been for the fact that chimpanzees are our evolutionary cousins. So a "civil war" between chimps in darkest Africa is a thing. Should I or you tell the non-paying public about the bonobo, the vegan-bisexual chimpanzee and their matriarchal chimp outs?
Quinvigintillion
The title of this article is hilarious. And oh, can anyone please tell these *modern scientists* to step out of the Biblical framework? That´s where the idea that the universe has a beginning and an ending come from, you know...
The universe may start dying in just 10 billion years, alarming new model predicts
The last pharaoh?
Archeologists found an Egyptian stela portraying the Roman emperor Tiberius as a Pharaoh. Not sure how interesting this *really* is to Egyptologists, but the non-paying public (bored to death by Cleopatra) might find it intriguing...
Friday
A rather non-classical Friday goddess, surrounded by mutant(?) bluebirds or something to that effect...
Hello, Houston, u have a prob
"The crisis in cosmology is even bigger than u think, earthling, muh-hah-hah-hah"
Thanks for noticing
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| - Remember us, human? |
New research proves that the Hubble tension is real and that there actually is a crisis in cosmology. Thanks for noticing!
Elephants have no rights
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| - Gotta problem with pachyderms, huh huh? |
Why animal rights and veganism doesn´t work. The brains of our ancestors (Homo erectus again) became big thanks to hunting and feasting on primordial elephants...
Without "speciesism", no Man. Deal with it.
Clear as crystal
A sequel to the previous blog post. Homo erectus collected crystals already 800,000 years ago. Other hominins have also valued these little trinkets. Here is a quote from the paper linked below: "Notably, none of those crystals was used as a tool, weapon or ornament. They were neither worked, modified or repurposed in any way, nor do they show signs of use as jewels. Yet, hominins valued these stones enough to transport them from the geological outcrops to the caves used as refuges. These findings suggest that, almost 800,000 years ago— possibly earlier if additional claims are confirmed—, H. erectus displayed attraction to quartz and calcite crystals, treasuring them for reasons beyond practical necessity." The authors point out that in Homo sapiens, this would surely have been interpreted as evidence for symbolic thought!
Unfortunetely, the bulk of the paper is less impressive. Why is it strange that a few chimpanzees from circuses who are used to seeing and handling objects of human interest find crystals sufficiently alluring to collect them? Clue: it isn´t, and the researchers even admit it themselves. They recommend studies on wild apes instead...
Ahem. So nothing has really been proven here.
Connected to the cosmos
This is sheer speculation, of course, but it´s still intriguing. Hindus actually worship ammonite fossils (shaligrama stones), so that´s certainly a thing. But did Homo erectus really have a symbolic culture? I mean, could they even speak? It would be absolutely fascinating if the erecti were "spiritual but not religious"! Apparently, even chimpanzees collect shiny stones with no obvious utilitarian purpose...
Diagnostic dilemma
This is really a pro-paranormal article, but strangely enough, it has been published on the pro-science website Live Science?! The case is interesting, to be sure. Read it before it´s removed.
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Young at heart
A young Doreen Virtue when she promoted "New Age occultism" at the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Cyberpunk
Is this really existing cyberpunk? We assumed we would be living in cyber-utopia by now. Or at the very least a very interesting cyber-dystopia (think "Blade Runner"). Instead, we got...this.
A humanoid robot named Edward chases invasive boars in Warsaw, Poland. Yes, really. Boars. Wild pigs. Suids.
"I have seen the fire birds of Orion, the space ships at Tannenberg Gate, the suids of Warsaw". HA HA HA!
Trump can´t meme
Claim: there are two versions of the infamous Trump meme showing the Don as Jesus (or is it Geezus a.k.a. Brian). The one to the left is the original one (original source unknown), the one to the right is the meme that was actually published on Truth Social.
Before the meme was posted by the POTUS, somebody changed one of the soldiers in the sky to a winged creature with apparent horns. I´m not the only person who thinks it looks like a demon or the Devil himself. Did Trump change it? Did somebody else? If so, why? Is some of Trump´s advisors secretely undermining him?
I suppose the most charitable interpretation is that the "soldiers" really are demons and that Trump opposes them by healing the sick man. But if so, it contradicts the "pro-military" atmosphere in the rest of the meme. Maybe it´s pointless to analyze memes (ironic or otherwise), but the picture was deleted from the Trump account after an unprecedented backlash from American Christians (many of whom presumably voted Republican).
On to the next scandal...
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Ambition noll
Några avhoppade SD-are har tydligen bildat ett nytt parti, Ambition Sverige. En snabbtitt på hemsidan ger vid handen att partiet försöker profilera sig som "det riktiga SD". Alltså med "riktig" SD-politik, inte alla urvattnade kompromisser. Oklart varför de inte går till Alternativ för Sverige? Men min ambition att botanisera i detta är rätt nära nollpunkten. Kommer såklart inte att bli (åter)invalda i riksdagen (några av "vildarna" har tydligen gått över till Ambition Sverige).
Bordlägges!
Wednesday
"Yeah, so I have original friends. What´s that to you, boy? And no, I won´t give you no sweets."
Alla tiders
Har kollat lite på Fria Tider. De är så där härligt onyktra som bara högerextremister kan vara. Nu igen. Stöd till den shia-muslimska teokratin i Iran. För att de likviderar judar? Reza Pahlavi kallas "diktatorsonen" och hans far shahen "skänkte bort Irans olja till USA". Okej, vem stödjer Fria Tider i kalla kriget? Sovjet? Röda Kina, kanske? Kanske har de uppdämda nationalsocialistiska sympatierna nu äntligen börjat krypa fram.
Eller inte. För Fria Tider verkar även vara motståndare till allmän värnplikt i Tyskland. LOL! Fast det kanske beror på att de tänker på Tyskland som *Väst*tyskland. Snarare än Hitler-Tyskland, då. FT har förresten fortfarande en bild av Karl XII i tidningshuvudet, trots att de alltså är pro-ryska. Till skillnad från Hitler, som ju "stödde Ukraina" och invaderade Ryssland.
Många nubbar blir det!
The Golden Child
"The Creator" is a 2023 science fiction movie. It comes across as a peculiar hybrid between "Blade Runner", "Star Wars" and the US war in Vietnam. The first portion of the film is interesting. In the second half, the Vietnam War analogies and Buddhist savior-complex becomes downright cringey.
The story begins with a technological breakthrough: humanoid robots with Artificial Intelligence. Something goes wrong and the robots detonate a nuclear bomb that wipes out Los Angeles. The United States promptly stops all AI development, but a competing nation known as New Asia refuses. The American military builds a space station called NOMAD to wipe out the Asiatic robots (and all human Asians who stand in the way). This may be an allegory for the fact that China is supposedly a world leader in AI technology. But as already noted, the similarity with the US intervention in Vietnam 1965-73 are also obvious. New Asia is clearly located in Indochina.
The main characters have religiously inspired names: Joshua (compare Joshua or Jesus in the Bible), Maya (compare Buddha´s mother) and the robot "Alpha and Omega" (compare God or Jesus). A mysterious character is named Nirmata, apparently the Nepalese word for creator - according to ChatGPT, the term has no metaphysical connotations, but in the context of this film, it presumably does. New Asia turns out to be a strange place in which humans and robots live in peaceful harmony with each other, both apparently being Buddhists (or something like it). It´s clear that the robots are a stand-in for the Other, the excluded, the marginalized, and their armed rebel movements. The good guys are almost all colored, while the bad guys seem to be exclusively White (including a White female). Naturally, it turns out that the nuclear blast which destroyed LA might not have been the work of the AI, after all.
"Alpha and Omega" (nicknamed Alphie) is a child, but also a Messiah-like savior with paranormal powers. She can control all technology and hence might wipe out NOMAD, which explains why the Americans want to kill/de-activate her. Note again that Alphie´s "mother" or creator is named Maya, suggesting that the child might be the Buddha. Note also that Alphie is artifically engineered by Maya, perhaps a reference to a virgin birth. It further struck me that there could be a weird parallel to the Biblical story of Joshua and the harlot Rahab, since the character Joshua in the film is tasked with infiltrating New Asia before NOMAD (= the nomadic Israelites?) wipes them out (like Jericho?). Note that he meets "Rahab"/Maya in an apparent strip club!
OK, so I´m a nerd...
Despite all the above, "The Creator" nevertheless feels like a self-parodic low budget production. Perhaps because the left-liberal message is too obvious. These days, films apparently *must* be like explicit pamphlets, otherwise the Woke autists don´t get it. Or something. Well, at least the religious allegories were *somewhat* hidden. One intriguing feature of "The Creator" is that the White Evil Empire isn´t really evil. The atomic explosion in California seems to have been an accident, rather than the result of a conspiracy. Thus, the US are misguided rather than actively malevolent. The worldview of the film turns out to be a form of milktoast liberalism in which everyone might at least potentially get along, rather than the hardline Marxism you expect from a "pro-Viet Cong" allegory. It´s all so "unproblematic".
OK, so I didn´t like this production. Or did I simply misunderstand its intended demographic? *Is* it a film for very young middle schoolers? Or for 24-year olds who think like 14-year olds?
Not sure how many stars to give "The Creator". Perhaps two-and-a-half out of five.
Wow, Trump gets his way
About a dozen European nations, headed by France and the UK, will appearently have a conference to discuss how the Strait of Hormuz should be secured once the Iran War is over. Catch: the United States isn´t invited. In other words: the Europeans are doing exactly what Trump said they should do. You know, sort out the Hormuz situation all by themselves.
Something tells me he won´t like it, however. But then, I doubt much will come out of it anyway...
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Galaxy *cluster* brain?
Has MOND finally been proven? Sabine is skeptical, but if true, then we don´t need "dark matter" to explain the behavior of galaxy clusters. Since galaxies apparently contain twice as much normal matter than previously expected! Interesting, to be sure.
War through weakness
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| Credit: myth-matters.com |
There might be a "rational" reason for Trump´s strange gyrations during Operation Epic Fury (or is it Epstein Furry). He wants to do the same with Iran as he did to Venezuela: take out the old top leadership, make a deal with the remaining regime, and take control of the oil. Trump´s seemingly bizarre proposal to impose tariffs on all traffic through the Strait of Hormuz *together with Iran* (fifty-fifty?) points in that direction. It fits a broader pattern. Not just with Venezuela. Remember the "mineral deal" with Ukraine?
If that´s the plan, I have to say it´s a daring one. Venezuela is in South America, so no other great power can really do much if the United States decides to move against it. But the fuckin´ Strait of Hormuz is in the Middle East and very directly concerns China, India and Europe. And, I suppose, the Gulf States and Iran! China will never accept US control over the strait. If Trump somehow manages to take it over, China might respond by blocking the South China Sea or even take Taiwan.
Maybe even Trump understands this. Was that why that Malawi-flagged but US-sanctioned Chinese ship was let through the strait? It wasn´t carrying Iranian oil, after all. This time. Next time...who knows?
The main victim in this scenario (at least initially) is the Iranian opposition, who might get massacred again by the supposedly acephalous regime. The next victim might be world peace...
Let´s hope that I´m wrong. I mean, none of my predictions come true, so there is a non-zero chance that this one won´t either!
DoorDash
This is getting more and more embarrasing by the hour. Look what Iran´s embassy in Ghana just posted. Assuming it´s an authentic account. But it´s reported as such in the mainstream media, so it´s embarrasing for the US anyway.
>>>BREAKING: "Rich Starry," a Chinese oil tanker sanctioned for shipping Iranian oil, flying the flag of Malawi — a country with no coastline — just sailed through America's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The Navy, with its many "big beautiful ships," issued repeated warnings. Reportedly, the tanker's captain upgraded to premium to skip the ads.
>>>EDIT: We're being told the blockade only applies to countries the US isn't afraid of. That list used to be long. It now fits on Trump's McDonald's receipt, delivered by DoorDash."So you have chosen death"
Wallenberg-sfären investerar flera miljarder i Stegra. Vilket antagligen betyder slutet för Wallenberg-sfären. Såvida det inte är avancerad skatteplanering. Eller finns en deal om att skattebetalarna tar smällen ifall Wallenbergarna förlorar sina pengar...
Bara en liten tyckaråsikt så här i brådrasket. Nej, nu måste jag käka frukost!
Work is worship
I had no idea about this. So this god (Vishwakarma) is sometimes worshipped by Hindu industrial workers?
Monday, April 13, 2026
Silicon blasphemy?
Breitbart News complains about "Silicon (Valley) blasphemy". OK, a couple of things. One: Your leader just compared himself to Jesus Christ. Two: How is an AI Jesus who charges by the minute any different from, you know, any other commercial jesusy product peddled by American Protestants for the past 50 years or so? Three: See one and two.
Silicon blasphemy: Tech company introduces "AI Jesus" that charges by the minute
Yes, really
Trump actually posted this on Truth Social, but later deleted it. He´s apparently Jesus healing a sick man?! In other words, Trump is literally portraying himself as the Anti-Christ. If you believe the Bible, that is.
It can´t be long now.
Det där gick snabbt
Péter Magyar säger att han motsätter sig ett snabbspår för EU-medlemskap för Ukraina. Ähum, vet inte den där killen vems bitch han är?
Tisza is flooding
Not sure what this is. Some kind of "alternative" take on the Hungarian elections?
>>>Lots of weird takes on the Hungarian election result from both left and right here. >>>Peter Magyar is a socially conservative immigration restrictionist who wants to cut taxes and double the defence budget. He criticized Orban for admitting too many guest workers, and wants to increase Hungary's already generous pro-natal incentives. >>>On virtually every issue, his platform is well to the right of centre, by European standards. >>>His foreign policy is to end Orban's alliance with Putin, remove the Hungarian veto on EU loans to Ukraine, normalize relations with the European Union while opposing more Euro integration, and strengthen relations with Eastern Europe's anti-Russian governments, e.g. Poland. >>>His election was not a sudden shift to the left, but a rejection of Orban's corruption, the failure of his interventionist / statist economic policies, and the humiliation of his relationship with Putin.
The Song of the Lord as it is
Previously posted on May 5, 2023.
I assumed I had reviewed the Song of the Lord before, but either I´m just imagining things, or it mysteriously disappeared (and perhaps merged with Brahman)…
It´s difficult to review a religious scripture, but after reading most of the Bhagavad Gita (in the Wordsworth Classics edition) in one sitting, I´m nevertheless tempted to give it a try. I´m not sure what the scholarly consensus says at the moment about the Gita´s date of composition, but the editors of this particular translation place it around 500 BC. Since a few verses sound “Buddhist” (the ones advocating a middle path for ascetics), a post-Buddhist date seems likely, unless of course we´re dealing with later interpolations. The dates and historicity of the Mahabharata, the epic the Bhagavad Gita forms a small portion of, are also hotly debated questions. It´s probably not difficult to suspect that we may be dealing with composite works that evolved over a larger period.
The social milieu of the Bhagavad Gita doesn´t seem Brahminical. The main characters, Krishna and Arjuna, are presumably both from the warrior “caste” (Kshatriya). Of course, Krishna later turns out to be God! The setting of the story is the battlefield of Kurukshetra, where Krishna serves as Arjuna´s charioteer. When Arjuna refuses to fight, Krishna admonishes him and explains that everyone must carry out their caste duty. Ascetics are another important part of the Gita´s social universe. The scripture also states that anyone – even women and outcasts – can carry out devotional worship of the Lord and hence be saved. The Vedic sacrifices (associated with Brahmins) aren´t repudiated, but the reader is told to be indifferent towards the fruits of ritual action. The sacrifice is seen as a spiritual technique, rather than a method for gaining worldly boons.
Famously, the Bhagavad Gita claims that there are several different paths to liberation. I guess this was an attempt to create a “Hindu synthesis” out of the varied strands of Indian religious traditions available at the time: Vedic sacrifices, Upanishadic asceticism with the goal of merging with an impersonal Brahman, theist devotionalism, perhaps even a kind of theist mysticism. In modern times, Western readers have interpreted the message of the Gita as one of universal religious pluralism and hence tolerance. Implicitly or explicitly, this is a polemic against Christianity and the “Abrahamic faiths” more generally. While I suppose you could view it that way, it´s also important not to be anachronistic. While everyone can be liberated by Krishna, the god-man never abolishes caste and is clearly on a first-name basis with rulers and their elite warriors. That´s not how moderns conceptualize “tolerance”! Still, I suppose it´s interesting that a “Hindu” synthesis was attempted already during the Iron Age…
Other modern misinterpretations of Krishna´s preaching seem to include the idea that “karma yoga” (the path of action) is the most important aspect of the Bhagavad Gita, and that this somehow corresponds to the Protestant work ethic described by Max Weber. And “jnana yoga” (the path of knowledge), clearly a reference to asceticism and meditation, has very little to do with getting an American college education! A more reasonable take is that the Bhagavad Gita sees “bhakti yoga” (the path of devotion) as the highest path (it´s even described as “secret”), while nevertheless trying to incorporate karma yoga and jnana yoga into its system. Sacrifices to demigods or spirits aren´t rejected either, but the boons from such worship are said to be temporary and of a lower order than worship of Krishna. The Lord´s devotees should concentrate on Him only. Nor is it wrong to be a normie who simply does his best to follow rules and regulations of society, since such a person might get a better rebirth, perhaps in a spiritual family. There are also temporary heaven-worlds where people might end up after their physical deaths, until their merit is spent, and they have to be reborn on the physical plane again.
The Bhagavad Gita places strong emphasis on the maintenance of social order. As already indicated, karma yoga means the carrying out of one´s caste duty without complaining and without expecting any fruits from such a course of action, indeed all fruits should be handed over to God. Caste circulation is criticized: it´s better to carry out one´s one dharma imperfectly, than to carry out another person´s dharma perfectly. The reader is admonished to follow the laws and regulations found in the Dharmashastras. Krishna is said to appear on Earth under various guises every time the dharmic order is under threat, defending it. More interestingly, karma yoga is also a spiritual method of sorts, since those who follow this path come across as a kind of worldly ascetics. It´s their perfect equipoise that will eventually enable them to merge with the divine.
Within Hinduism, the Bhagavad Gita has been interpreted in many ways. Does the text say that the divine is the impersonal Brahman of which Krishna is merely one manifestation, or does it suggest the exact opposite, i.e. that God is personal? And who is this personal god? Is it Krishna himself, or is Krishna merely a humanoid avatar of the cosmic deity Vishnu? At least from this English translation, I get the impression that the text is deliberately multivalent on these rather crucial points! It´s also panentheist, since Krishna (or Vishnu, or Brahman…) is said to permeate the entire cosmos and somehow be identical with it, while also going far beyond it. Indeed, the world is “in God”, rather than God being “in the world”. A panentheism in which God is nevertheless personal is intriguing, to be sure. My rather strong impression is that the Bhagavad Gita reflects a religious sensibility in which strong and unswerving devotion to a personal god is seen as central. And since he is mostly referred to as Krishna, the Hindu groups who see Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead (rather than just a temporary avatar) aren´t entirely off topic, either.
From an atheist viewpoint, virtually everything is wrong with this text, including its strong condemnation of atheism (presumably the Charvakas). Christians may have objections, too. The time scale is vast, the universe is said to be cyclical, and the cycles are never-ending. After each destruction, the universe is simply recreated, with “new” creatures who are really reincarnated souls from a previous universe, being forced to work out their karma in the newly minted universe. Only a few souls in each cycle seem to reach liberation, and it´s possible to interpret the text that some demoniac souls either can´t be saved and/or will be completely destroyed (perhaps this is less objectionable to Calvinists who believe in predestination). From a Christian viewpoint, there is no real redemption in the Song of the Lord. Of course, a Hindu might respond that many people are eternally lost in the Biblical drama as well, while many others get a second chance in Hinduism…
With that reflection, I end this review.
Geopolitiska vindsnurror
Woke-vänstern stretar på. Att elbilar och vindsnurror skulle vara geopolitiska maktmedel är såklart skitprat. För det första kan man inte driva militären på batterier. För det andra blir man beroende av Kina om man "ställer om". Tyskland blev som bekant beroende av rysk gas när *de* ställde om till en grön ekonomi! Ironin. Men fortsätt ni med era löjliga utopier. Det är underhållande, på ett sardoniskt sätt.
PS. Notera stödet till kärnkraft i sista meningen. LOL. Försök få Miljöpartiet att gå med på *det*, din jävla tönt! Och jag antar att du vet att uranbrytning inte förekommer i Sverige, va?
Charlie och Lola
Låter ju som en pseudo-nyhet, men okej då, vi lägger ut! Verkar *inte* vara kopplat till situationen i Hormuz-sundet.
Sect of astrology (part 3)
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| Credit: Bernard Gagnon |
ChatGPT, please teach me astrology (advanced class).
Yes, please.