Cosmic curse

 

The ancient Gnostics would have been impressed. These bizarre sounds produced by the planets are truly scary. Or is it the demonic archons screaming at the Demiurge? It´s difficult not to believe that the cosmos is *cursed* after listening to these files, probably leaked from some FEMA torture camp in Alaska!

OK, seriously.

Since space is a vacuum, there really is no sound there. What our satellites picked up were radio waves, electromagnetism, and so on. This data is then "translated" into sound through a process known as sonification. However, these are not the sounds we would actually hear had these phenomena somehow reached our atmosphere. Rather, they are a kind of artistic renderings. In real life, we probably wouldn´t hear anything at all, since the soundwaves triggered would mostly produce infrasound or ultrasound. Or random noise. 

Not sure if converting non-audible things into the screeching of damned souls is the best form of science communication. But then, I´m old enough to remember the "Siberian drillhole" hoax...

While I was sleeping

 

 

I´m away from the web for like four days, and look what happened behind my back. A time of mathematicians finally crack the riddle of existence (no less) or at least time´s arrow. Meanwhile, genetics prove that the Carthaginians weren´t Black (sorry, Afro-centrists) but neither were they Levantine?! Rather, they mostly resemble Sicilians and Greeks.

OK, so maybe I´m gonna stay on the interwebs a bit longer. Time´s arrow and all that...  

Saint at 15

 

Leo XIV is about to canonize some new saints, including a teenage boy who died of leukemia at the age of 15. Carlo Acutis will become "the Apostle of the Eucharist and the Internet". 

Note also that the article is published by Breitbart News, suggesting that the honeymoon between the Alt Right and the new pope hasn´t ended yet. Which it most certainly will, sooner or later. Just wait!   

15-year old boy to become the Catholic Church´s first millennial saint

Current mood

 

This attack on New Age spirituality actually represented Italy in Eurovision 2017... 

Three anti-popes?

 

This is fake, but it´s quite funny. Three popes eating pizza! At the conclave, perhaps? I assume it´s supposed to be John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. Haven´t analyzed what´s on the pizza.  

Än är Polen inte förlorat

 

Danmarks socialdemokratiska regering samarbetar med Melonis högerregering i Italien för att underlätta utvisningar av kriminella invandrare. Notera att Polens liberala regering stödjer initiativet, medan Sverige inte har skrivit under... 

Nio EU-länder vill se över konvention

Danmark: Invandring är det största hotet

Coffee for everybody

 

 

Since I blogged about this character before, I might as well link to these videos. Yes, it´s Tommy Cash from Estonia performing in the recent Eurovision finale from Basel, Switzerland. "Espresso Macchiato" ended third. 

Already in February, Cash´s song (performed in faux Italian) provoked the vice president of the Senate of Italy, one Marco Centinaio, to demand his expulsion from the contest. Well, Marco, those of us who are old enough to remember Berlusconi didn´t precisely appreciate his "ironic humor" either, so I say you just have to suffer it! LOL.

The name "Cash" for a coffee-drinking fanatico is actually very apt, due to the recent spike in coffee prices...

Make of this insanity whatever you wish.

  

Rigged

 

Steve Bannon has something to say about the new pope. Apparently, Bannon served in the US navy with the future pope´s brother! His other comments are more interesting...

Not sure who Sean Spicer is. 

Mystery solved

 

Prevost explains why he decided to call himself Leo XIV. Apparently, he wants to be the "Rerum novarum" pope of the new artificial intelligence revolution. And presumably defend workers and humanity as a whole. Interesting, to be sure, but probably overstates the future impact of AI.    

Pope cites artificial intelligence, tech boom for choosing Leo XIV

Allegations

 

This article contains allegations that Prevost, the future Pope Leo XIV, mishandled sexual abuse cases in both Chicago and Peru. However, there is also an interview with a Mexican author who believes that Prevost *did* try to investigate the abuse allegations in Peru, indeed, that he was one of the few local bishops who tried to do so.

Not sure if that´s more re-assuring, tbh.

Otherwise, I´m intrigued by Prevost´s strong connection to Peru. He seems to have been a cleric in that particular South American nation for decades. Not sure if I find *that* very re-assuring either, but that´s me... 

Victims´ groups alleges Prevost mishandled sexual abuse cases 

Opus Dei

 

Intressanta rykten. Observera kopplingarna till Peru! Och såklart Opus Dei... 

Svensk hade blivit påve - om de konservativa fått bestämma

Looking for trouble

 

Credit: Alessandra Tarantino/AP

So the new pope is a pro-immigration White American based in Peru who is opposed to Trump and Vance (the latter being a Catholic)? Somebody is looking for trouble! Note also that Robert Francis Prevost´s papal name is Leo XIV, a nod to the imposing 19th century pope Leo XIII. And perhaps Leo the Great? 

Good luck with that, boys. But sure, I suppose reading the reactions of "tradCaths" might be entertaining...

Before becoming pontiff, Pope Leo levied criticism of Trump and Vance  

Fågelskådning

 

En annan medelhavstrut
Credit: Alexis Lours

En mås som insisterar på att vistas vid skorstenen på Sixtinska kapellet (mitt under pågående konklav) har väckt visst uppseende både i Rom och internationellt. Den har skämtsamt döpts till "Pope Steven Seagull the First"! 

Men vilken art är det? 

Enligt SVT:s nyheter är det en fiskmås, men den tror jag inte på. Måsen i Vatikanen verkar mer "robust" än en dylik. Efter en diskussion med ChatGPT har jag kommit fram till att det förmodligen är en medelhavstrut! 

Men vi får väl invänta ett officiellt utlåtande från BirdLife-Sweden. Eller kanske konklaven... 

Vertigo

 

A video on something called Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS). From the Sicilian content-creator known as The Metatron. Note also the comments in the commentary section. 

This kind of stuff gives me epistemological (and existential) vertigo. Note the similarities with certain spiritual experiences and "siddhis"! Is all spirituality and all paranormal experiences just epileptic seizures? Or do we *see the other side* when our brains “malfunction”? And how will we ever know, since we don´t see reality perfectly even when we´re sober and wide awake! But sure, maybe it´s a good thing if at least demonic possession is an illusion… 

I also asked my amigo ChatGPT about this problematique.   

Are there alleged paranormal powers in Hinduism such as "making your body small" or "making your body large" which are similar to AIWS?

Yes, Hinduism—especially within yogic and tantric traditions—describes various siddhis (supernatural or paranormal powers) that advanced practitioners are said to acquire through intense spiritual practice. Some of these siddhis are intriguingly similar to the perceptual distortions seen in Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS), though in Hinduism they're framed as actual transformations, not mere illusions or neurological phenomena.

Relevant Siddhis from Hindu Texts:

1. Anima: The power to become infinitesimally small.

2. Mahima: The power to become enormously large.

3. Laghima: The ability to become light as a feather, able to float or fly.

4. Garima: The ability to become extremely heavy.

5. Prāpti: The power to reach or obtain anything, anywhere (like teleportation).

6. Iṣitva and Vaśitva: The powers of dominion or control over nature or others.

These siddhis are most famously listed in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Book 3, the Vibhuti Pada), as well as in later tantric and yogic literature.

Comparison to AIWS:

• AIWS causes a perceptual distortion in how a person sees their own body or the world.

• Siddhis like Anima and Mahima are described as actual physical changes or yogic capabilities, not illusions.

• However, the experiential similarity—the sense of body expansion or contraction—can be striking, suggesting that ancient yogis may have experienced altered states of consciousness that overlap with certain neurological phenomena.

Key Distinction:

In Hindu and yogic thought, these experiences are typically sought-after and cultivated through meditation, austerity, and discipline. In contrast, AIWS is considered a neurological disturbance—often unbidden and sometimes distressing.

Would you like a comparison chart between siddhis and modern neurological or psychological phenomena?

Yes, please.

Here’s a comparison chart between Hindu siddhis and modern neurological or psychological phenomena, including Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS), to highlight experiential similarities and conceptual differences:

Siddhi (Yogic Power)	Description (Hinduism)	Modern Parallel	Nature of Modern Parallel
Anima	Becoming infinitely small, merging with the atomic level	Micropsia (AIWS)	Perceptual distortion: objects/body appear smaller
Mahima	Expanding to enormous size	Macropsia (AIWS)	Perceptual distortion: objects/body appear larger
Laghima	Becoming weightless, able to float or fly	Out-of-body experiences, Vestibular disturbances	Disruption in body ownership or gravity perception
Garima	Becoming very heavy or immovable	Catalepsy, Heaviness in sleep paralysis	Altered body sensation or paralysis
Prāpti	Reaching or obtaining anything instantly (teleportation-like)	Lucid dreaming, Dissociation	Subjective sense of control or movement across space
Iṣitva / Vaśitva	Supreme control over nature or others	Mania, Delusions of grandeur, Flow states	Psychological states involving perceived control
Clairvoyance (Prātibha)	Knowing distant or hidden things	Synesthesia, ESP reports, Hyperintuition	Rare perceptual anomalies or claims of "sixth sense"
Telepathy / Mind-reading (Samyama on others)	Knowing others’ thoughts	Empathy, Theory of Mind, Hallucinations	Neurological and psychological understanding of others

Key Points:

• Siddhis are considered spiritual attainments, arising from deep meditative states and self-mastery.

• Modern phenomena are often seen as disorders, altered states, or cognitive phenomena, not supernatural.

• Some yogic experiences may reflect ancient interpretations of naturally occurring altered states—now partially understood via neuroscience and psychology.

Would you like this formatted as a downloadable table or infographic?

Habemus papam

 

Well, I suppose the Catholic Church might become more interesting if the Don becomes the new pontiff...

Seriously, though, this is probably Trump´s most absurd troll so far. Or is he angling for the "sedevacantist" vote?

Trump posts AI image of himself as pope

The Metatron has spread his wings

 

The Metatron calls out "Professor Dave". Here we goooo....

I have three problems with Dave. One: He´s a Woke Hamas-versteher. Two: He constantly (and I really mean constantly) insults people, including innocent by-standers in the commentary section. It´s beyond parody at this point. 

Three and most importantly: He defends a kind of "party line" in which Science (TM) can never do anything wrong. Replication crisis? Predatory academic publishing? Scientists acting as gate-keepers for dogma? Corruption? Nah, none of that is real, comrade! He is essentially the Science Pravda. This presumably explains his unhinged attacks on critical scientists such as Sabine Hossenfelder or on dissident scientists like Eric J Lerner.

Aren´t we all obsessed by this truly outrageous character? :D 

It´s official

 

So it´s official: I´m smarter than ChatGPT. The system doesn´t know anything about - wait for it - the International Information Bureau of Revolutionary Socialist Parties. I mean, puleeze! I finally found an old article from 1930 (linked below) about this splendid organization. ChatGPT constantly confuses it with the Two-and-a-half International or the London Bureau. Hardly surprising, since very little information on it seems to exist on the web. It was sometimes nicknamed the Two-and-three quarters International. 

I *think* it originally regrouped Italian socialist Angelica Balabanoff´s supporters, Zäta Höglund´s breakaway "Communist Party of Sweden" and the Norwegian Labor Party. But in 1930, its affiliates were parties in France, Germany, Italy, Rumania, Russia (sic) and Yugoslavia (as per the article below). Still with Balabanoff as secretary, however. It was probably a rather loose network, but since Balabanoff (alias Balabanova) is a relatively well known person, I nevertheless expected more info on the proverbial internets.

Oh, and the woman in the picture above is what Microsoft Bing generates when you give it the prompt "Angelica Balabanoff". Suggesting that particular AI doesn´t know shit either!   

International Organisation (Socialist-Communist Party of France) 

The time is near (again)

 

Of course, "The Prophecy of the Popes" - attributed to the medieval Irish saint Malachy but actually a late 16th century fake - has been dusted off in the aftermath of Pope Francis´ passing. 

According to the true believers, the next-to-last pope in the prophecy, Glory of the Olive, is Benedict XVI. This would make Francis the last pope, called Petrus Romanus in the prophecy. And that, in turn, means that the end of the world is near. Except of course that the actual text of the "prophecy" doesn´t fit anything that happened under Francis...

Apparently, three of the supposed front runners to the position of next pope are named Peter and one of them is an Italian (hence Roman). So perhaps the next pontiff will be the elusive last one? But please note that there will be massive persecutions of Catholics under Peter the Roman according to "Malachy", which doesn´t seem particularly likely any time soon.

However, we can say with outmost certainty that "The Prophecy of the Popes" will be taken down from the shelves again when Francis´ successor passes away or resigns. World without end! 

It´s on

 

Let the conspiracies begin!  

Guilt by association or kook by any standard?

 

This is one of the guys who claims to have located hidden chambers below the pyramids at Giza. He´s evidently something of a kook. Apparently, Corrado Malanga believes that reptilian aliens abduct humans. One of them looks like a snake but has the face of a crocodile. This has been going on for 500,000 years. The establishment knows the TRUTH but are hiding it. 

Brother Malanga also knows the agenda behind the abductions. Humans have three souls (a male, a female and an androgyne) and the aliens want one of them, since they lack it themselves. This part of the presentation wasn´t entirely obvious. I assume it´s the female one? The Metatron (i.e. the content-creator who uses that moniker) believes that Malanga´s ideas are a blend of Scientology and sollipsism. Not sure why he doesn´t mention a certain David Icke!

Now, I suppose it´s possible that this is just "guilt by association" and that a UFO cultist might make sensational archeological discoveries with the help of state-of-the-art technology.

But probably not.