#columbia | ruler

[sethshead]

When you actually listen to the student protestors' vision, you find that it is substantively identical to that of the even more radical, violent protestors outside. To define Ashkenazim as inherently the oppressors of brown people is both bigoted and historically ignorant. To call Zionists "Babylon swine" is a slur against all Jews. To permit Jews into your encampment and allow them to celebrate Passover (a holiday about our return to the homeland of Eretz Yisrael, which ends with the words "Next year in Jerusalem") is not indicative of seeing us as equals when you also call to strip Jews as a people of the right to self-determination and self-defense. If you would see the seven million Jews of Israel expelled or fall into the clutches of a Hamas that has promised to slaughter or enslave every Jew they get their hands on, then you will ill upon the Jews. If you wish to see Jews as a vulnerable minority throughout the world, with no dedicated safe haven, in living memory of the Holocaust and the ethnic cleansing of a million Jews from the Arab world, then you wish ill upon the Jews. If you do not care what happens to the Jews of Israel if Israel is suddenly no more, then your callousness makes clear that you are no friend to the Jews. If you cannot understand why the Jews (and many non-Jews) of Israel will fight to the very last (a nuclear-tipped last, I should add) to defend Jewish self-determination in Eretz Yisrael and think a few more Oct. 7s, a few more rockets, more dead on both sides, more rejection of a sovereign Palestine within a two-state paradigm will bring about the fall of Israel, then you don't much care about the Palestinians, either.

In light of this, the Jews in that encampment look less like welcome guests than like dhimam, tolerated only so long as they accept their subject, subordinate status and praise the rulers who have power over them. Don't forget: even after accepting subjugation and onerous taxation as the price of dhimitude, the Jews of Khaibar were still expelled by their Muslim overlords. No Jew is safe depending on the beneficence of others for the simple right to live.

I appreciate Powell's article: unlike anything you read in the New York Times, where concerned Jews at Columbia are balanced by anti-Zionist Jews on a one-to-one basis, this article at least implies, meekly, that the Jews allied with the encampment are a distinct minority, and that the mainstream Jewish student body is very much on edge among their anti-Zionist peers and professors. That is a situation that should never have been allowed to happen.

[saturniandevil]

April 2024 Important Dates

AKA my notes on The Astrology Podcast's April forecast, hosted by Chris Brennan and Diana Rose Harper (Austin is away on paternity leave). This is one of the most astrologically active months in the year. In addition to planetary movements, there's a comet that will be visible soon in the night sky and a nova.

We're going into the month right off the tail of a Libra lunar eclipse on March 25th. We're in "eclipse season," the time between eclipses, with much activity to report. Starting off, Baltimore's Key Bridge collapsed after a container ship crashed into it, which Austin called last forecast when he said that Mars's entry into Pisces (approaching a conjunction to Saturn) would involve a sudden halt in maritime trade. Astrologically it's quite on the nose, with a Libra (associated with trade/commerce) moon conjunct the South Node (symbolizing lack and decrease). We even have a chart for the opening of this bridge: it was an exact Mars return for this bridge, as well as its Uranus opposition and nodal opposition. Also on the Libra eclipse was the UN Security Council's vote for a ceasefire in Gaza. The April 8th eclipse will show us whether this resolution is successful, and a final Libra eclipse in October will tie these events together.

In celebrity news, we had obviously doctored photos of Kate Middleton prompting increasingly wild speculation on what the British royal family was hiding, culminating in Kate announcing her cancer diagnosis & chemotherapy plans on the March 22nd Venus(women, exalted in Pisces = royalty)-Saturn (slow illnesses) conjunction. She was also born on a lunar eclipse & announced this right before one. Just 3 days after the eclipse, on March 28th, Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the newest development in a story that began on an eclipse when BitCoin crashed and revealed his role in one of the biggest instances of financial fraud in US history.

In smaller news, a nova in the T Coronae Borealis system will be visible as a new star in the night sky this year. This nova is visible every 76 years or so (the last time was 1946), and has been observed as far back as the Middle Ages. Add this to the eclipses and the comet, and Chris hasn't seen such an astrological buildup since forecasting 2020. As the eclipse hit his 3rd house Donald Trump published a book combining the Bible and the US Constitution, while in other news an orca was stranded in British Columbia, another dolphin & orca-related development in the (Mars-)Saturn in Pisces in cycle and Arizona announced Pluto as their state planet.

April Overview: with significant activity in Pisces, Aries, and Taurus simultaneously, we'll be getting hard aspects to every modality (and trines to every element)--everyone will be getting hit with some kind of change (but will have opportunities for growth as well). Chris makes a distinction between the challenging first half of the month, and a second half which will see more clarity.

April 1st - Mercury stations retrograde By time of posting this retrograde is in full swing: disruptions in communication, plans, travel and technology. Diana describes this as especially frustrating in Aries, trying to go one way but some huge miscommunication gets in the way. We may have to walk back on words spoken in anger and renegotiate situations where we identified the wrong target as our enemy. With the eclipse's ruler Mars conjoining Saturn on the 10th, anyone who travels for the eclipse and hangs around for a few days may run into blockages, likely due to rain and floods. Other general Mercury retrograde significations: people come back into your life, unfinished projects become relevant again, and situations from the past resurface. For example, Sagittarius risings often see the "duderang" effect where male lovers come back into their lives, as Mercury rules their Gemini 7th house. Mercury rx also brings delays and slowdowns, and is generally a good time for introspection and "emotional alchemy."

April 3rd - Venus conjoins Neptune This occurs right as she leaves the sign of Pisces. Venus-Neptune keywords: dreamy, fantastical, imaginative (especially with art), compassionate, and opportunities to find new avenues of enjoyment and pleasure. Saturn's copresence in Pisces can bring us some grounding and reality. This can also bring unclear boundaries, uncertain relationships, and idealizing one's lover--like using the soft lens. In events, AI images and videos and toxic synthetic dyes also fall under Venus-Neptune. Is the siren's call too good to be true?

April 4th - Venus enters Aries Chris hopes that Venus's copresence to the eclipse will mitigate some of its effects, but on the flipside this means she's left Mars and Saturn alone with each other in the Pisces chart of our house.

April 8th - Total Solar Eclipse in Aries This eclipse will be visible over much of the (particularly eastern) continental US:

Diana calls it a chiron eclipse, so here's the chart with chiron:

The Moon will eclipse the Sun at 19 Aries, which is where Chiron will be as well. Mythologically, Hercules brings back the head (North Node, Aries) of the hydra to Chiron, whose poison causes him incredible pain because he is immortal and cannot die from it. He eventually trades his immortality for Prometheus and Zeus puts him in the heavens as a constellation. Narratively, eclipses invert what we expect: it becomes dark in the middle of the day! Prominent people fall suddenly from grace and new rulers skyrocket to power during eclipses. Because the eclipse occurs in the sign of the Sun's exaltation, leaders and heads of state/organization/etc will be especially affected. A similar Chiron-influenced Aries solar eclipse occurred in 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Nelson Mandela was sent to jail under an eclipse, but was also freed under another eclipse and elected to office under yet another eclipse.

For individuals, make note of what house this occurs in for you; this will be the end of one chapter and the opening of a new one in this area of life. Anything close to 19° of Aries will definitely feel it, as will any placements at that degree of Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn (hard aspects to the cardinal signs), while 19 Leo and Sagittarius (trine to fire signs) may feel some support. Generally, this series of events in Aries-Libra began a year ago, and will have its final eclipse on this axis in March of 2025.

This eclipse is ruled by a Mars (♓) who's just about conjunct with Saturn (♓), grinding things to a halt. Whatever's happening in the Aries and Pisces place is going to take some extra time. Other keywords: the end of a life cycle, matters of great importance & turning points in world history, major disasters as well as scientific discoveries. Eclipses highlight just how much is out of our control, like being on a teacup ride that's going too fast and being unable to stop unless something hits you. 6 months later, we'll get an eclipse that connects to some of these events:

Diana also points out that there will be an influx of tourists to rural areas of the US, advising travelers to stay courteous and noting that many local municipalities advise residents to stock up on basic supplies so they won't be lacking when a small area is flooded with new people & their needs. Generally, the eclipse will be a very creepy experience, with the Sun going completely dark, colors becoming muted, and stars may even be visible--some cultures have warnings against going outside during eclipses. Back to metaphors, Chris points out that the small seeds of much larger events are often planted during eclipses. Sometimes you don't know until later just how important this obscured implantation is because, like the Sun, our vision is occulted. Take notes, even of subtle things.

April 10th - Mars conjunct Saturn in Pisces We expect the two malefics to bring us challenges: their conjunctions in late Capricorn & early Aquarius heralded the first COVID lockdowns, and other hard aspects brought new variants and similar pandemic news. In 2022 a Mars-Saturn conjunction occurred with an epidemic of ebola. However, note that these are all airborne viruses, and these movements occurred with Saturn in the air sign of Aquarius. What will this look like in Pisces, a water sign? Chris predicts that existing Saturn-Pisces issues with water pollution and maritime trade/travel will have destructive moments as Mars comes in, while Diana thinks about water as a vector of disease, such as cholera & sewage treatment. Now that deep permafrost is melting due to climate change, we may also see new pathogens or substances released, as well as complications from farm water runoff. We'll definitely see the effects of this Baltimore bridge collapse, and, with the outbreak of dengue fever in Latin America, may see developments around diseases borne of insect bites. We may also hear about the ill effects of microplastics, lead, and asbestos as a result of this conjunction. More generally: pollution, ocean, liquids, extremes of hot and cold, feelings of constraint (and literal constraint), and spiritual or emotional burnout. Pisces is a sign of inescapable enmeshment with each other, so we'll likely deal with compassion fatigue and emotional isolation (especially involving social media). Questions of whether or not something is "real" remain relevant as ever.

On the positive side, Mars-Saturn brings discipline and self-control. Sometimes Mars and Saturn can temper each other to give us self-sustaining focus. We can combine hard-won wisdom with the drive we need to achieve it, like a martial arts training montage. Do we have the belief and conviction to achieve mastery? With determination we can reach heights we once only imagined. There's also stamina, resilience, and rigidity. Overlapping with the Mercury retrograde, we can also see delays and obstructions. If there are boundaries you've been meaning to enact, now is the time. We can see potential pitfalls, but beware of pessimism and not believing in yourself. Resentment and pent-up anger can also come into play as Mars's impulse butts up against Saturn's inaction, but incremental progress adds up.

April 11th - Sun conjunct retrograde Mercury (Cazimi) This marks a turning point in the retrograde. Diana uses a spelunking metaphor: during the retrograde we're diving into the cave, and at the cazimi we've found our treasure...but we still have to make our way back out. Our personal eclipse stories may become clearer during this time as well.

April 19th - Sun enters Taurus, Retrograde Mercury conjunct Venus Venus will help sweeten communications during the last week of Mercury's regression.

April 20th - Jupiter conjunct Uranus This brings freedom, liberation, and sudden rapid growth--completely different from the Mars-Saturn activity earlier this month. This may also set us up for the Jupiter-Mars conjunction later this summer. The Uranus in Taurus story has brought labor organizing and unions to prominence, so expect those stories to intensify during this conjunction. General keywords: technological breakthroughs and scientific discoveries, sudden revelations and growth, revolutions, rupture, and unexpected shifts. This conjunction takes place every 14 years, so Chris expects new discoveries, optimism and "quantum leaps" or new precedents in some fields. In Taurus this is related to food and agriculture--in addition to new technologies we'll likely see further developments with the farmer's protests in India and Europe. Finance and money is another Taurus signification, so disruptions in banks & questions about decentralizing currency may arise. Freedom, rebellion, and general eccentricity become important. We'll feel like anything is possible, but in disregarding the rules and refusing to compromise we may make rash decisions.

The comet Pons-Brooks may also start to become visible during this time. It comes by about every 80 years and is named for its 18th century discoverers. Ancient literature on comets is similar to that of eclipse: an ominous phenomenon heralding the deaths of rulers and falls of kingdoms. However, they note the color and appearance as indicating some positive effects when associated with Jupiter, and the planets whose path it crosses are relevant as well. Pons-Brooks passes closely by the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction, putting an exclamation point on the planetary significations.

April 23rd - Scorpio Full Moon

We're finally out of eclipse season, so things are starting to calm down. However, this lunation (04♏) squares Pluto (02♒), bringing some conflict in. It'll be stabilizing, but not necessarily comforting. Acceptance is bittersweet medicine. The full moon illuminates the deep transformative experiences Pluto brings to the early degrees of fixed signs in our charts. We're really getting to the bedrock of things. When Venus enters Taurus she'll square Pluto, and Mars will trine Pluto when he enters Aries. With those personal planets in domicile, it'll feel like coming home, but home is a little different. Pluto will retrograde soon and Chris predicts this station will bring major events in AI and related technologies. Mars is also quickly nearing his conjunction with Neptune, bringing the weaponization of these technologies.

April 25th - Mercury stations direct

April 28th - Mars conjunct Neptune (typo in image) Aside from weaponization of AI and social media, Mars-Neptune also connotes the manipulation of reality for political purposes. Revealing that a shocking news story was actually false wont necessarily diffuse the feelings it arose. Even if it didn't happen, you may still hold resentment towards the wrong target. Think the "fog of war" or shadowboxing. Other keywords include conflicts in or about water, idealism & ideologically-charged conflicts, confusion, acid, corrosion, lethargy, sapped vitality, and unnecessary martyrdom.

April 29th - Venus enters Taurus She immediately squares Pluto. Venus in domicile brings us to the election for the month:

April 29th - Selected auspicious election (not pictured)

Set the chart for about 12:55PM local time, which gets you Leo rising with the Ascendant ruler Sun in the 10th whole sign house in Taurus, where it's copresent with Jupiter, Uranus, and Venus. This chart is good for 10th house matters like career, reputation, social standing, overall life direction and accomplishing goals. The Moon is in Capricorn, applying to a trine with Jupiter, bringing support. Mercury has stationed direct, bringing us away from some of the delays and issues we experienced earlier. Even the Mars-Saturn conjunction is about as far away as we can get, and a day chart Jupiter conjunct Uranus brings creativity to our efforts. Diana associates the 10th house with the gestating parent and thus recommends doing something nice for your mom now.

April 30th - Mars enters Aries Entering firey and decisive Aries, Mars is no longer encumbered by slow Saturn and diffuse Neptune. This complete chapter change comes with a sextile to Pluto--the tone shift will feel like getting our oxygen back. This opens us up for a lot of quick movements through Aries and Gemini in May.

#astrology #forecast #the astrology podcast #april 2024 #solar eclipse in aries #saturn conjunct mars in pisces #venus conjunct neptune in pisces #mercury retrograde in aries #mercury retrograde #great north american eclipse #jupiter conjunct uranus in taurus #jupiter conjunct uranus #mars conjunct saturn #venus conjunct neptune

[waheelawhisperer]

Pick a new collab for arknights and outline the plotblurb for the event.

I considered Bloodborne but we kinda already have that with the Abyssal Hunters

I considered RWBY but I sorta already did that in a prior post

Let's go with a crossover with professional basketball in a Space Jam-esque goofy event where the Rhodes Island Defenders have to save the world from whatever the fuck necessitated the construction of the false sky that Kirsten broke by defeating them in an exhibition match. The players train with NBA Hall-of-Famers at their respective positions, while Coach Doctor learns strategy and tactics from the legendary Gregg Popovich. The roster is as follows:

Point Guard: Nearl (trainer: Steph Curry)

Shooting Guard: Horn (trainer: Dwyane Wade)

Small Forward: Saria (trainer: Kevin Durant )

Power Forward: Eunectes (trainer: Dirk Nowitzki)

Center: Hoshiguma (trainer: Shaquille O'Neal)

The players on the roster all get basketball skins, as does Amiya, who gets a lore-relevant Defender Alter as one of the team's substitutes and the one who scores the game-winning buzzer-beater. She later uses her newfound skills to dunk on Theresis and take her place as the King of Fiends, ruler of the Royal Court.

Blemishine, Bagpipe, new 6-star event operator Kirsten Wright, Gavial, and Ch'en all get cheerleader skins. Amiya's associated cheerleader is Kal'tsit, but she threatened Closure to keep the skin from showing up in the shop, thus forever depriving us of the ability to deploy Mon3tr with a skirt and pom-poms.

The event starts with the Galleria Stellaria crashing down through the hole in the sky it initially ascended through and landing near the border between Columbia and Sami. Saria, recieving Kirsten's distress call and fearing what the Columbian government will do to her after her actions in Lone Trail (because her first thought is still to protect her), asks Rhodes Island to recover her from the wreckage before either the DOD or Maylander can arrive. Upon receiving medical treatment, Kirsten reveals the existence of invaders from beyond the stars and warns that Terra has limited time to prepare. As Rhodes Island's operators clash with DOD/Maylander strike teams, Kirsten informs the Doctor that the combined military might of Terra's sovereign nations is insufficient to repel the impending attack, but mentions that the files she stole and decrypted from one of the enemy ships implies that they can be convinced to retreat by defeating their mightiest warriors in a form of ritualistic combat known only as... "basketball".

Saria arrives at Rhodes Island to check on Kirsten and they have many Yuri Moments together while everyone else in the room stands there coughing uncomfortably. Kal'tsit contacts the Maylander Foundation and the Tin Man arrives shortly after, bearing a missive from President Mark Max on behalf of the Columbian government. The Tin Man provides all the data Columbia's archives have on this mysterious "basket ball", warning the assembled members of Rhine Lab/Rhodes Island that everything he has shared is highly classified and that the President expects their discretion. Most of the data is useless, but a report from a Columbian research station in Sami indicates that more information about "basketball" can be found by traversing one of the many dimensional rifts in the northern icefields. Rhodes Island calls in every ally it can find, assembles a team of its hardiest operators, and sets out for the frozen north.

After fighting its way through hordes of icefield demons, Rhodes Island and its allies manage to locate a likely portal and send forth communications and scouting drones in hopes of locating information about "basketball". What they find is a nation similar in many respects to the Columbian Union, though its advanced technology is in many respects very different from what they're used to seeing on Terra. Fending off attacks from the icefield demons, our heroes are about to lose hope when one of the communications drones picks up a reference to a place known as... Madison Square Garden. Video and audio footage of that night's Knicks vs. Spurs game is sufficient to convince Kal'tsit and the Tin Man that they have found the "basketball" they seek. The rules of the sport are not overly complicated, but developing the skills and strategies in the time they have available is not considered feasible, so Rhodes Island sends Operator Hellagur, at great risk, to make contact with the winning coach in hopes of securing his assistance. A bargain is struck - Pop will tutor the players in basketball basics and teach the Doctor how to coach the team, while a group of the best players to ever touch the game will help Rhodes Island's roster refine its techniques. In exchange, Rhine Labs will help the "National Basketball Association" adapt its broadcasts for a Terran audience.

The Doctor recruits other Rhodes Island operators to serve as the Rhodes Island Defenders' practice partners while the Columbian military sets up defenses around the portal and its communications array. The team improves steadily, but it feels like something essential is missing. No one has any clue what that might be, until one day when Kirsten shows up at practice claiming to have found the missing component. She mentions that after poring over every scrap of footage she could find, she determined that what the team needs is a group of fans and well-wishers, and follows this pronouncement by unveiling official Marthe cheerleader outfits, commissioned jointly by Rhodes Island and Rhine Labs. Several operators volunteer to form the Rhodes Island cheerleading squad (Ch'en gets bullied into it), and Bibeak alters the uniforms to fit them. They practice alongside the basketball team, and the players demonstrate notable improvement with something to simulate the adoration of their fans.

The fated day arrives, and after a brief clash with the alien forces, wherein Rhodes Island and its allies just barely manage to hold the line, an avenue of communication is opened with Kirsten's help and the challenge is issued: if the Rhodes Island defenders can defeat the alien invaders in a game of basketball, they will win their world a brief reprieve. Using alien technology, the match will be broadcast all across Terra, and people from every nation on the planet send Rhodes Island and its team tokens of their support. The world comes together, sort of, in perhaps the first time in Kal'tsit's living memory, to her equal parts amazement and chagrin.

The match is epic, brutal, and violent, with things like "fouls" reserved for injuries at least as severe as broken bones. The team fights hard and gives as good as it gets, but eventually star point guard Margaret Nearl is forced to leave the court with serious injuries after she leads an epic comeback and puts her body on the line to protect her teammates. Amiya subs in for her as Saria runs the offense, and the Doctor's coaching is crucial to allowing Rhodes Island to keep the game close. At a pivotal moment, Amiya manifests Nearl's shield and swordspear, much like she did with Chi Xiao against Talulah, and strikes down the enemy's deadliest player before sinking a fadeaway jumper as the clock runs out.

All of Terra erupts into cheers. The alien invaders retreat. Rhodes Island and its operators are hailed as heroes worldwide. Many people get drunk and party. Lots of babies are born nine months later. Someone posts pictures of Kal'tsit's ass on social media. Only a few in the know worry about the eventual return of the invaders.

Kirsten Wright is the 6-star banner operator for this event. She's the first operator with the ability to switch classes outright during an operation - her base class is an offensive ranged unit whose kit focuses around manipulating the planetarium spheres from her boss fight, while her alternative class is a Bard Supporter and features her donning her cheerleader outfit to encourage her allies. The banner 5-star is Jordan, a Forte Sniper with a sick jump shot and a habit of sticking her tongue out in battle. The event welfare is S&C Coach Sideroca, a 5-star Instructor Guard who provides stat buffs and heals to Guards, Defenders, Snipers, Vanguards, and Specialists.

Skins include the aforementioned basketball outfits and cheerleader getups, as well as Coach Dobermann and Athletic Trainer Silence. General Manager Hellagur, Towel Boy Bison, and Concession Stand Worker Schwarz (she hates customer service) also make a limited-time appearance in the shop.

The final boss is actually five different units at once. As each unit is defeated, the remaining units gain buffs depending on which unit was defeated previously. When all five are defeated, they revive with greatly reduced HP and increased movement speed, becoming briefly unblockable as they mount a last-ditch drive to the basket. Take them down quickly, or all of Terra will pay the price...

#arknights

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin #21:

Paul Simon's There Goes Rhymin' Simon

When I was little my mother loved to brag about how ugly I'd been as a baby.

"He looked just like a frog," she'd tell her friends while I stood about, often with my finger deep in a nostril. There was always love in her eyes when she said it, but looking back on the photos, I'd say she was putting a positive spin on things. Frogs are, after all, fairly cute.

And so, when my own children were about to be launched into existence I felt fairly excited. Would they look like aged dwarves/me or cosmic goddesses/my wife? Sadly, they all were angelic and beatific, and wound up smart and kind as well, which makes them fairly boring to write about.

So, forget about them. Let's talk instead about one of the ugliest record covers in my entire collection. There's plenty of grossness to report on...

If you want sheer trashiness, cast a terrified eye upon Neil Young's American Stars and Bars. It's ugly on a number of fronts: first, we've got a directly vertical, up from a glass floor, vantage point of Young's plastered and pressed face; work in the barmaid's ridiculous unmentionables and take note that my own 99 cent version is ripped to shreds, and you've got a contender for the ugliest record of all time.

But the vinyl inside is pristine and the album features two of the best songs of all time back to back (Like a Hurricane and Will to Love, of course), so who cares: ugly is awesome in the Dollar Bin.

And then there's Fairport Convention's Live at L.A. Troubadour which is famously horrifying to gaze upon. The art department at Island Records either hated the band, or themselves, or the whole planet. As dedicated Dollar Binners can tell you, my own coveted copy is also slightly melted so its ugliness knows no bounds.

And no ugly cover contest is complete without mentioning Dylan, the infamous Screw You Bob! record of outtakes Columbia put out when Bob jumped ship in 73 for Asylum Records. The only thing uglier than the portrait on the cover is Dylan's cover of Big Yellow Taxi.

(But don't buy the hype that Dylan is terrible; in spite of Columbia's best efforts to end the Bobster's career, the album contains a few great tracks; but that discussion will have to wait for Dollar Bin #642, or maybe #643. That's right: I've got the next 64 years of this nonsense already planned out...).

I could go on and on (we haven't even touched on the giant weird stylus phallus on the cover of The Bunch...). My personal Dollar Bin is chock full of unsightly greatness.

But, without further adieu, let me submit for your very personal consideration what is arguably the greatest ugly record of all time: Paul Simon's There Goes Rhymin' Simon.

Behold the horrifying cover art concept: every track on the album gets its own infantile piece of pop art horror somewhere on the gatefold. Mingled in are an archival photo of teenybopper Simon with a full head of hair and another photo of daddy Simon with a full head of combed over hair.

The Dollar Bin teems with copies of this record; everyone, and their weird uncle, bought a copy of Rhymin' Simon in 73 because the music within it is awesome, but they, or their grandkids who inherited the collection, just couldn't bear to look at the insidious cover and therefore eventually pawned it off on dollar bins the world over. If you don't own a copy, get a life and go get it. Put it on your turntable but don't look at the cover; like Medusa's visage, it may turn you to stone. And I like you just the way you are: unstoney.

Indeed, I'd argue that There Goes Rhymin Simon is proof positive that most people in these troubled times are more focused on how their record collection looks on the shelf than how it sounds. You know 'em: they've got Steely Dan albums enshrined in plastic and they can't wait to show you their minty copy of The Wall. Yuck. Lend me a ruler and I'll draw you some bricks, if you really want to see some, but I won't force you to listen to Roger Waters drone on and on about his own hideous meaning of life.

I was deep in a dollar bin recently, knees aching on the floor, when two college kids came in, asking for directions to the Yes records. They very clearly did not own a record player; rather they wanted Yes to grace their dorm room walls. Indeed, that's probably the sole reason anyone on earth has ever had for owning a Yes record. I've never owned one, and I never will. I declare Hell No to Yes.

Only a masochist would mount Rhymin' Simon on their wall. Who, you ask, do we have to blame for undercutting the fourth masterpiece of Simon's career (The first three are Bookends, Bridge Over Troubled Water and Paul Simon) with such shoddy pop art? The answer is none other than Milton Glaser, the guy who foisted the following on us all:

Imagine the greatest, most recognized thing in your entire life taking you six seconds to create and being something a fourth grader could come up with. I heart NY to, but I mean Neil Young when I say so; why isn't anyone offering me a solo show at the Pompidou Center?

Glaser could have designed a plain brown paper bag to hold Simon's record, then slipped a fresh cow pie in alongside it and thereby have done Simon an immeasurably better turn in the art department.

Before you accuse me of just being ignorant about modern art let me offer the defense that I actually took a course in modern art at Cambridge for a term which led to religious experiences in front of Rothkos and Chagalls. Furthermore, Glaser has made some wonderful art in his career. Consider Dylan's psychedelic hairdo:

I'm guessing that Simon finished Rhymin' and then ordered Glaser to give him the Dylan treatment on his cover. But Glaser took one look at Simon's hair and said, "Paul we're going with ugly rather than comb over with this one," then turned out Rhymin's abomination. Simon learned his lesson: every one of his album covers since then has either featured tasteful art or a photo of Paul with a hat or hairpiece carefully in place.

It's tempting to think of Rhymin' as Simon's own version of Chrome Dreams, Neil Young's abandoned (but recently released) 70's album of masterful individual songs. Almost every track on Chrome Dreams comes from a separate recording session and every song stands on its own, seemingly unrelated to its neighboring tracks. Like the eclectic stops on Odysseus's journey home, both Rhymin' and Chrome Dreams can be experienced as a series of only vaguely related adventures. There's plenty of terror from Polyphemus cave to be witnessed on each record, just like there's a lot of lust to be had in Circe's bed.

Glaser's juvenile and segregated artistic approach on Rhymin' only strengthens this sense. What does a cheap, jaundiced Mardi Gras mask possibly have in common with equally cheap, inverted dollhouse chairs? And what's with the terrifying heart-pupiled eye? Can't we ask Odysseus to ram a spike into it or something?

But on close listen, Rhymin' finds cohesion, its greatness unfolding around us as we sail narrow straights between the Scylla of 70's pop schmaltz the Charybdis of cultural appropriation.

Let's start on the Scylla side, shall we? Simon can sound saccharine on occasion. Songs like Why Don't You Write Me and The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine sound like byproducts of a men's retreat with Stephen Stills and Paul Anka. Everyone ate whipped cream out of tubs, compared biceps and combed their chest hair with care.

The album opens in these Scylla infested waters with Kodachrome, an almost too perfect pop number which, if taken a step further, would sound like a Chicago song. But Simon adds kick to the mix, enunciates the word "crap" with aplomb, and chides his ego whilst among the ladies. And so the whole thing rolls nicely: when this number comes up on FM radio, you'll hum along.

Other moments when he dodges the six heads of schmaltz include Quincy Jones' feathered pillow arrangement on Something So Right and the overall daddyrific vibes of Saint Judy's Comet. But both of these songs are masterpieces lyrically and melodically; we lean into the schmaltz because everything about the songs is indeed so very right.

I'm pretty convinced Dylan listened to Something So Right with great care before wrestling, over and over again, with You're a Big Girl Now a year later. Simon famously told Dylan in the mid sixties that he liked the rough sketch of a song Dylan had just cut in the studio. Paul encouraged Bob to take his time and build the track up into something great. Dylan responded by saying that the single rough take would be the only take; he had bigger fish to fry. The story is cute, but not altogether accurate; after all there's about 4000 studio takes of Like a Rolling Stone. And by 74 Bob gave Simon's perfectionist approach an even more earnest try. Thank god he did.

Listen for the organ to come soaring in, landing on the fence of Dylan's soundscape like a precious bird of flight. Am I wrong to think that this glorious track is a fitting cousin to Something So Right?

Okay, that covers the schmaltz. But the awkward whirlpool of cultural appropriation has also been a hazard in Simon's career and he narrowly dodges a few Charybdis sized abysses on Rhymin'. Three years after going full karaoke on El Condor Pasa he swims his way through two slightly cringy, I Wanna Be Black, soul numbers on Rhymin': Tenderness and Loves Me Like a Rock. Both come with the full support of The Dixie Hummingbirds. I'm even whiter than Simon so I can't comment with any authority on the ethics of Simon taking the lead while these great Black artists support him.

But I can tell you that I love both songs, especially Tenderness, and that Simon did a lot more than any other white artists of his generation to promote and give credit to the artists of color he worshiped and leaned on. He took the Peruvian band responsible for El Condor Pasa, Urubamba, as well as the Jessy Dixon Singers, on tour with him after this record, and both groups are featured with prominent respect on his subsequent live album (Live Rhymin' is another Dollar Bin classic and another significant entry in the ugly cover contest).

And we all know how Simon earnestly introduced American audiences to Brazilian and African artists in the 80's. Simon's career may be built on a good deal of appropriation, but it seems to me that he always tries to do it with respect. After all, he treats Aretha Franklin's version of Bridge over Troubled Water as the song's authoritative take.

But I'm not sure that even all those qualifiers can rectify the soft reggae vibes of the Rhymin' track Was A Sunny Day. If it's okay with you, let's give Simon a pass there, as the song does feature the vinyl debut of The Roches.

Alongside these skillful schmaltz and appropriation dodges Rhymin' also features a few straight up Paul Simon classics. Take Me to the Mardi Gras, One Man's Ceiling, Learn How to Fall and America Tune: these are beautiful songs from start to finish, each of them simple and incredibly complex all at once. Simon has the uncanny ability to turn easy listening into high art and there's a dark turn to be found in each song if you lean in. Listen to the Reverend Claude Jeter sing the glowing, devout bridge on Mardi Gras; worry about who's doing what behind Simon's building in Ceiling; count the impossible number of balanced harmonizing parts in Fall; and, most of all, take a moment to appreciate the towering greatness of American Tune.

As a teenager I saw Simon twice on the Rhythm of the Saints tour. Everything was dense, earnest and slick. But when Simon came out alone, in midst of the First Gulf War, and sang American Tune I got my first real taste of true patriotism: Simon loves his country enough to criticize it through earnest, complex and open-ended metaphor. I'd say he did the same thing on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 as well:

I don't care how little hair he has, and I don't care what his albums look like. Paul Simon is a Dollar Bin genius, an old friend who's still standing with us as we watch the Statue of Liberty sail away to sea. I sure hope we can come together and reel it back in.

Happy November everyone.

#milton glaser #paul simon #neil young #bob dylan #stephen stills still sucks #Youtube #fairport convention

[sunder-the-gold]

So, what was Andoain's plan?

Let's set aside any idea that Andoain thought the pope had any power to offer Liberi and other races the choice to become Sankta. No one ever suggests that such a power exists.

With that said, Andoain has two scenarios:

The Pope Disagrees

Andoain fails to convince the pope to change his governing policies, so he murders the pope with his Guardian Gun and becomes a fallen angel.

If the pope's returning guards do not kill Andoain, the furious and panicking populace will. In the panick and outrage, the people of Laterano would probably hunt down and kill every Pathfinder they can find.

If any of the foreign guests attending the internal conference are harmed, it could become a 'cause for war' with the other nations.

At the end of it all, the Laterano people (or its government) chooses a new pope who will be anxious to avoid being assassinated, and the people (and other government officials) are going to expect tighter controls to avoid such a thing happening again.

I cannot see any other way for this scenario to play out, and certainly no way for it to achieve anything the Pathfinders want, or anything Andoain wants except spiteful satisfaction.

It's not until after learning the truth of the Law and having Fiammetta's unhealthy obsession reignite his own conviction, that Andoain finally realizes what he should have done when the pope said "No" is just LEAVE and go BUILD a new Laterano.

With blackjack and hookers Sarkaz and half-breeds!

The Pope Agrees

Andoain successfully convinces the pope that Laterano needs to do more than host international conferences to try and build peaceful connections between the competing empires and nations of the world.

But what exactly did Andoain want Laterano to do?

Did he simply want the government to devote public property and taxpayer money towards providing Temporary Emergency Relief Aid to citizens of other nations in response to natural disasters?

Did Andoain want to pay for this foreign aid by cutting budgets to the existing government agencies, or increasing the people's taxes?

Did he only want the government to inform the people of foreign crisis situations and organize donation drives, so that the people would voluntarily offer charity to the needy?

Agrees 2: The Absurd Extreme

Certainly, Andoain couldn't think that Laterano should go so far as to systematically subsidize other nations.

Before the Profound Silence ruined his Iberian village, the Iberian Empire was experiencing its Golden Age. They used the unmatched naval technology afforded to them by the Islander Aegirians to plunder the rest of the world, enriching the Iberian nobility through plunder and conquest. Iberia began the long suffering of Bolivia, kicking that nation down so that it would be an easy victim for Leithania and Columbia in the future.

After the Profound Silence, the Iberian nobility left the coastal villages to rot and starve. The Inquisition provided no aid to these people, and only executed any peasants caught stealing from 'their betters'.

Empires and feudal ruling classes, as a rule, take as much as they can from everyone else to enrich themselves. By war or by taxation. No amount of wealth is ever enough for an empire; imperial conquest is always about taking more.

Iberia, Victoria, Ursus, Leithania, Kazimierz... all of them would all gladly let Laterano spend as much as it could to help their peasants.

That just lets the rulers tax the peasants even more.

#arknights #andoain #guiding ahead #laterano

[the-technicolor-whiscash]

Ok so here are all of the lovely vintage pictures I won from that space memorabilia auction now none of them are numbered or particularly special outside of their age (bc they are all relatively contemporary to their various subject matter) and their content but regardless they’re still really cool so that’s why I bought them

These aren’t the best pictures I could’ve gotten of them all and I was also lighting it from the side with a headlamp to get better color for the camera but it’s still fairly accurate to how they look to my eyes

In order from top to bottom, left to right:

Two of the Skylab pictures, one featuring the Skylab 4 (also sometimes known as Skylab 3 due to a numbering hiccup) crew of Jerry Carr, Edward Gibson, and Bill Pogue. The other features the Skylab space station, as seen from the Apollo command module used to visit Skylab.

The other two Skylab pictures, showing a Saturn IB used to launch the Skylab crew into orbit. I find these particular pictures really cool with the red color of the photographs adding a fantastic effect that makes it eerie.

A close-up of one of the Saturn IB launch pictures. Cool stuff.

A picture of the Space Shuttle Columbia at launch complex 39A, readied for STS-1. Both of the Shuttle pictures are originally from Rockwell International, the manufacturer of the shuttle. There’s a little tag that says it in the bottom right, but that part didn’t get caught well by my camera for some reason.

A closer picture of Columbia at LC-39A for STS-1. Notice the white external fuel tank, since it’s before they stopped painting it (the paint was found to be unnecessary, and it saved a significant amount of weight)

An illustrated photo of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project astronauts, with printed signatures. Yes I knew that coming into this and bought it anyway because I wanted something to make visitors to my home think, “what is wrong with him?” I like the fact it has the full crew both US and Russian I like the colors I like that it has the rockets and even though the signatures are printed I still find them charming. Also, first and foremost, I am a sucker. The ruler I stole from an art class in college is there for you to understand the scale of this image I now have to find a spot to display in my home. With the matting it is 16 by 20. Ma we gotta take down the family portraits, Deke and company are going up.

All in all I really enjoy them. I am not proud at how much money I spent on them but as I said, I am a sucker. And they’ll look great on my wall.

#the whiscash administration #nasa #space program

[debunkingtherightwing]

Charlie Kirk warns against trusting in experts - instead urges his audience to put their faith into random accounts on Twitter

In our last post, we discussed how Charlie Kirk used his coverage of the Columbia University encampment to spin baseless conspiracy theories about how the campus protests are being funded by George Soros because he noticed that the tents that the protestors were using looked kind of similar. Well, I thought that would be the end of Charlie Kirk's brilliant coverage but boy was I wrong. Charlie's May 6th episode was just pure uncut stupidity. Lets get into it.

Charlie starts by laying out the theme of this episode, no it's not who's funding the campus protestors like the episodes title promises. It's "I don't like smart people and why don't colleges just teach people what I think they should be taught".

15:30, Charlie Kirk: "The more college educated you are, the more likely you are to support Joe Biden. The more degrees you have, the more support you are (sic) of what Joe Biden is doing to this country. The more time you have spent on a university campus, the more you think Joe Biden is crushing it."

I said this in the last post but I'll say it again, colleges aren't teaching some net doctrine to students, they're teaching students what they're paying to be taught. Engineering students aren't doing dissertations on leftist political theory.

Charlie elaborates on this a bit more after the radio break.

22:51, Charlie Kirk: "Ok everyone, welcome back. So, the more time you spend on a college campus, the more degrees you have, the more trusting you are of flashy titles. When you hear a title you say 'Oooh, he must be very smart. He must know what he's talking about.' You see, this is what Plato talked about as the philosopher kings."

That's not what a philosopher king is. The term philosopher king refers to a ruler who governs utilizing both philosophy and political knowledge. Plato was actually quite for this as he believed that an ideal state could only be brought into being by a ruler who possessed philosophical knowledge so Charlie pretending that Plato viewed philosopher kings as a bad thing is kind of funny if you have even a directional idea of what that term means.

This isn't even the first time that Charlie has misused this term on this blog. The meaning that Charlie ascribes to it shifts around constantly and I'm 100% convinced that he just views it as "scary phrase that makes me sound smart".

24:13, Charlie Kirk: "Experts say, experts say, experts say. Experts have done more damage to this country than the working class ever could imagine."

This is kind of Charlie's show in a nutshell. "Yeah, don't trust the experts. Look, I used the term philosopher king incorrectly so I know what I'm talking about. Now buy my crap."

24:24, Charlie Kirk: "Doctor Fauci should be in Gitmo for what he did. The experts shut down our schools, the experts masked our kids, the experts had lunatics driving alone in their cars masked and afraid that the radio was going to emit COVID."

Still being pissed about wearing a mask in 2024 is a bold move. It's an absolutely whiny and stupid one but a bold one. I have no idea what he's talking about with the radio emitting COVID but he has zero right to talk about crazy scientific beliefs. Charlie Kirk thinks that birth control makes people Democrats and that the height of your apartment building determines your political orientation.

24:43, Charlie Kirk: "We have become so trusting of experts and thanks to social media and thanks to Elon Musk opening up X so that we can see who they really are we realize that the people who are in charge of our society, that have been given all of this power, who were never been elected, they've never run for office, they never had to answer tough questions. Not only are they morons, they're not wise, but they're incredibly confident."

Yeah, so Charlie's whole point in this segment is that you shouldn't trust the people who have merely dedicated their lives to studying certain subjects and have extremely broad knowledge of what they're talking about....no, you should trust random people on Twitter. Really, what Charlie is doing here is supporting his grift. As long as people aren't accessing actual information from experts who know what they're talking about and staying in their right-wing media bubble, Charlie Kirk makes money.

Charlie's whole definition of an expert is so vague by the way. I guess they're some sort of academic ruling class that Charlie is speculating runs the nation. But I can't really take Charlie's hatred of the "experts" all that seriously when he's also posting videos with titles like this:

"And he knows what he's talking about because he's an exper-oh-oops"

25:12, Charlie Kirk: "I get asked all the time, I say 'Charlie, why do you go to college campuses and talk to these kids?' Outside of the obvious answer that-"

Is that obvious answer that a lot of people subscribe to your YouTube channel when you post clickbaity debates with people who don't have actual interview and debate training while also selectively cutting out the ones that make you look like a complete idiot?

25:19, Charlie Kirk: "That they're the future of the country and they're voters."

Oh, how silly of me.

Charlie does an ad break for the radio, does an ad for gold, and then launches back to his extremely stupid tirade against "experts".

36:50, Charlie Kirk: "The yielding to the experts is the deterioration of the sovereign citizen, you're no longer thinking for yourself. Being a sovereign citizen means I might buy silver and gold, I might not take the shot, I'm not going to just feed my kid high fructose corn syrup, I'm not going to listen to the government when it says that the people who give birth aren't women but birthing people."

It's so telling that the first thing a sovereign citizen does on the Charlie Kirk Show is buy into the gold scam he's been plugging. The birthing people thing is stupid too. There are plenty of trans males who still have the biological capacity to give birth. It just boils down yet again to the rights lack of knowledge over the difference between sex and gender.

Charlie Kirk rants about Jared Bernstein making a gaffe for a bit and then complains that people are going to protest his event in Seattle.

40:52, Charlie Kirk: "Meanwhile you got these protestors with a bunch of -- you got tent city, the ugliest laziest people that society has to offer."

Nothing screams lazy quite like....protesting? I don't even know what he's talking about anymore.

41:01, Charlie Kirk: "I don't mean ugly even from an aesthetic standpoint, I want to be very clear. I mean, you can't control your looks and you should never make fun of how somebody looks. I mean ugly from how they present themselves to society, I mean the choices of how they dress. I think that's very important."

"Yeah, I don't mean ugly from an aesthetic standpoint. I mean ugly from an AESTHETIC standpoint, get it right guys."

41:23, Charlie Kirk: "I'm talking about when you double nose pierce your nose -- pierce your nose. You've got tattoos all over the place, you haven't showered in three weeks, and you've got purple hair. You're ugly."

Some hard hitting criticism that sounds like it came from your 76 year old uncle complaining about how kids these days get all these tattoos and dye their hair and back in my day that satanic claptrap was never tolerated.

Now it's time for Charlie Kirk's analysis about the election. He somehow manages to make himself sound stupider as he goes along.

42:01, Charlie Kirk: "And it really is going to be, as Andrew put in the previous episode with Josh Hammer, the country class versus the ruling class."

I really am baffled by the cognitive dissonance required to believe that the "ruling class" aren't on the right. Charlie was literally just praising Elon Musk, a guy worth $196.9 billion dollars, for "opening up" Twitter (read: allowing the Nazi stuff that Charlie likes back on). Charlie himself lives in a $4.75 million dollar house in a gated community that charges nearly half a million dollars for a country club membership. Charlie Kirk, the people who pay him, and the people who he supports are the elites that Charlie fearmongers about so much.

42:23, Charlie Kirk: "Who is actually supporting the Democrat coalition? They have more support than ever from college educated women, college educated women have an attachment to the Democrat Party like Catholics have to the eucharist. College educated women are one of the most difficult demographics for Republicans to break. They consume NPR, New York Times, many of them think it's great that their kids are getting transed. The downfall of Colorado can be best described as the college educated female demographic so we're gonna have to navigate that."

Golly, I wonder why women are for the Democrats. Could it have something to do with the fact that the Republicans are working overtime to strip their rights and bodily autonomy away? There's just no self awareness here. Of course the Republicans are going to alienate groups that they take rights away from, it only makes sense.

Charlie doesn't seem to understand how the grotesque actions of his party have led to this consequence and instead seems to have came to the conclusion that "Oh, these women are just college educated. Yeah, that's the problem. These women really are the downfall of America. They gotta just start pumping out babies".

The next hour is Charlie interviewing Glenn Greenwald, Michael Knowles would be stunned at how leftist Glenn is here. I'm not going over any of it.

Conclusion:

Well, this episode was kind of anticlimactic. I was excited to hear Charlie's bombshell evidence about how the campus protests are secretly funded by the left and instead I got him going on misogynistic rants and complaining about "experts and the elite". Maybe he got into it in the interviews but I guess this is what I'd do too if my evidence was "Hey, look at those tents".

Original Video:

“Who Backs Campus Rioters? + Speech in Peril + Faith against the Darkness | LIVE 5.6.24.” Rumble.com, 6 May 2024.

Sources:

Study.com, 2023, study.com/academy/lesson/philosopher-king-history-examples.html.

“How Trump’s MAGA Movement Helped a 29-Year-Old Activist Become a Millionaire.” AP News, 10 Oct. 2023.

#right wing bullshit #conservative bullshit #journalism #bad takes #fact checking #conservatives #disinformation #politics #debunking #charlie kirk #fuck maga

[madamlaydebug]

Mme Abomah was known as the Amazon Giantess and the African Giantess. She was something of an international celebrity and traveled all over the world in the early 1900’s, as the tallest woman in the world: Australia, New Zealand, South America, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland. She was billed as being 7’6″ tall, but photographic evidence suggests she was more in the 6’10” – 6’11” range. A good number of photos still exist of her towering elegantly over other people.

Several sources say her real name was Ella Grigsby; a newspaper advertisement also calls her “Ella Abomah.” While still in her teens, Abomah went to work for Elihu and Harriet Williams. It is speculated that since Grigsby was the name of her parents’ slaveholder, she was reluctant to use it, and so adopted her employer’s last name. In nearly all sources, she’s known simply as “Abomah.” Abomah claimed none of her other siblings were unusually large and she had been contacted by various vaudeville and circus promoters to sign a contract and tour as a giantess, but always refused. However, while working as a cook in her native South Carolina, she agreed to be hired by Frank C. Bostock for a tour of the British Isles in 1896.

In her own words Mme. Abomah says “I was born near Cross Hill in Laurens county. None of my sisters or brothers are unusually large. For years every time a show man saw me he would want me to sign a contract, but I never could make up my mind to leave Columbia. Finally in the fall of 1896 while I was cooking for a prominent family in Columbia, Manager F.C. Bostock got me to sign up for a tour.” (1915)

Bostock was known as “The Animal King”; he specialized in presenting menageries of African wildlife. He renamed Ella, making her into Mme. Abomah (Abomey being the then-capital of Dahomey, now known as Benin), giving her out to be an African warrior princess. She was billed as a Dahomey Amazon, a real life caste of female bodyguards who protected the ruler.

[galerymod]

Yang Hengjun turned his back on the Communist Party and became an Australian - now China has sentenced him to death

There is great excitement in Australia. What did the naturalised author do to deserve the capital punishment in the eyes of China's rulers?

Patrick Zoll, Taipei 05.02.2024, NZZ

Australian Yang Hengjun, who was sentenced to death in China, in an undated photo with his wife Yuan Xiaoliang.

Australian Yang Hengjun, who was sentenced to death in China, in an undated photo with his wife Yuan Xiaoliang.

After five years in isolation in pre-trial detention, Australian author Yang Hengjun has been sentenced to death in China. The sentence will be commuted to "life imprisonment" if Yang does not commit any offences for a further two years. As Yang's health has recently deteriorated massively in prison, according to Australian reports, he will probably die in prison.

The Chinese judiciary has never announced in detail what it is accusing Yang of, nor has it provided any evidence. On Monday, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing said, according to the Reuters news agency, that Yang had been convicted of espionage. All necessary procedures had been followed and "the Australian side" had attended the sentencing. What exactly this means remains unclear - Australian diplomats have repeatedly complained that they have hardly any access to Yang.

From Chinese functionary to democracy blogger

Yang emigrated to Australia in 1999. He had previously worked for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and State Security. He studied in Sydney, wrote a doctoral thesis on the influence of bloggers on a possible democratisation of China and became a blogger himself. "Yang gave up his career as a communist cadre member to work for freedom and democracy," the Australian newspaper "Sydney Morning Herald" quoted Feng Chongyi, Yang's doctoral supervisor, as saying. Yang obtained Australian citizenship in 2002.

In 2019, Yang was arrested at Guangzhou airport when he travelled from the USA with his wife. At the time, he also held an academic position at Columbia University and was involved in the import-export business between China and the USA.

In captivity, Yang is said to have been repeatedly tortured and held incommunicado. He was tried behind closed doors in 2021.

There is a lot of excitement in Australia following the harsh judgement for Yang. Foreign Minister Penny Wong wrote that her government was outraged. All Australians wanted Yang to be reunited with his family. They will continue to stand up for him. However, Wong is probably aware that she has little room for manoeuvre.

The judgement comes at a delicate time in Australian-Chinese relations. These have only slowly begun to ease in recent months after years of ice age. The close trading partners found themselves in a serious diplomatic crisis. Australia accused China of interfering in and influencing Australian politics. During the coronavirus pandemic, Australia then demanded an investigation into the cause of the outbreak, which angered China's rulers so much that they imposed several punitive measures against Australian products.

The communist regime severely punishes "treason"

In November, Anthony Albanese became the first Australian Prime Minister in seven years to visit Beijing. Shortly before this, the Chinese government released the Australian journalist Cheng Lei. Like Yang, she was born Chinese and later obtained Australian citizenship. Cheng worked for the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN and was arrested, allegedly because she had ignored an embargo period. She was held for more than two years, but was never convicted.

Hopes at the time that Yang would soon be released did not materialise. On the contrary: the conditional death sentence exceeded the fears of most of his supporters. The 57-year-old's real "crime" was probably that he had turned his back on China and the Communist Party as a former member of the party cadre. In the eyes of those in power, this is treason and should be severely punished.

In Australia, Yang's harsh punishment is also seen in a political light. The director of the think tank Australia Strategic Policy Institute, Justin Bassi, described the judgement to the Sydney Morning Herald as hostage diplomacy. Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham told the public broadcaster ABC that the death sentence was a warning of the differences between Australia's and China's legal systems and the risks involved in doing business and maintaining contacts with China.

The West should finally understand that XI will not tolerate any resistance or criticism from the Chinese Communist Party, and if they do not retaliate today, they will retaliate at some point, without mercy or humanity.

The West must take advantage of China's weaknesses and exploit its dependence on China and the ultimate prosperity of the Chinese people.

In order to live in peace with China, the following must be realised.

China's business enterprises (mostly dependent on the CKP) cannot acquire shares in systemically relevant companies and infrastructure in Europe, nor in agricultural enterprises. Without exception, not even in the form of straw companies.

China's weakness is its size and the fact that ultimately China's land cannot feed the Chinese people sufficiently, which in turn means that the CP, which always emphasises that it and the people are one, must provide the people with food and quality of life. For better or worse! China has a large area, but this area is not exactly fertile.

Europe has the ability to supply China with the food China needs, but it should always understand that this is exactly the trump card to stop China.

Europe must also secure its supply routes and not be intimidated by China's behaviour in terms of exerting influence. Europe is China's sales market and if we get the sniffles, China is sick!

Mark Aurel more or less

According to the motto divide and conquer, keep a watchful eye on China because everything China does is part of a plan. They punish to negotiate, they smile to negotiate but always in the interest of the CKP and thus XI's plans.

No blogger is safe from dictatorships! Only democracy and freedom guarantee freedom of expression and thus participation in an open society. Someone should be persecuted because of their thoughts, opinions, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

A nation in which everyone is equal agrees on common rules of coexistence for the benefit of all.

Freedom is non-negotiable, human rights are non-negotiable.

Justice is when everyone is treated equally, publicly and transparently.

Everything else is injustice, there is no right in wrong!

#abc news #yang hengjun #death penalty #china is not our friend #reality #freedom of speech #free will #freedom of expression #save our democracy #protect humanity #Patrick Zoll #Taipei #nzz #wikipedia #mark Aurelius #Youtube #free Blogger #equal rights #equal justice

[paganimagevault]

Qing dynasty painting of Epang Palace by Yuan Jiang 1722-1735

"The First Emperor felt that, in view of the large population of Xianyang, the palace of the former kings of Qin was too small. “I have heard,” he said, “that King Wen of the Zhou had his capital at Feng, and King Wu had his at Hao. The area between Feng and Hao is fit for the capital of an emperor or a king.” He accordingly began construction of a state palace in the Shanglin Park south of the Wei River. First he built a front hall at Epang which measured 500 bu from east to west and fifty zhang from north to south. The upper part could seat 10,000 persons, and in the lower part flag poles five zhang high could be erected. It was surrounded by covered walks which then led from the hall directly south to the Southern Mountains. The summit of the Southern Mountains was designated to be the gate of the palace. An elevated walk extended from Epang north across the Wei River to connect the palace with Xianyang,

The palace at Epang had not been completed at this time. The emperor intended to select some appropriate name for it when it was completed, but meanwhile, since it was being built at a place called Epang, everyone referred to it as the Epang Palace. Over 700,000 persons condemned to castration and convict labourers were called up, part of them being put to work building the Epang Palace and part assigned to Mt. Li.90 Stone was quarried from the northern hills and timber transported from the regions of Shu and Jing, all being brought to the site. In the area within the passes there were a total of 300 palaces, while beyond the passes there were more than 400. The emperor had a stone set up at Qujie on the eastern sea, declaring that it was the eastern gate of Qin. He had 30,000 households transported to the town at Mt. Li, and 50,000 households to Yunyang, exempting them all from taxes and corvée labour for a period of ten years.

Master Lu said to the First Emperor, “I and the others have searched for zhi fungus, rare herbs, and the immortals, but we can never seem to encounter them. There would appear to be some entity that is blocking us. The magic arts teach that the ruler of men should at times move about in secret so as to avoid evil spirits. If evil spirits are avoided, one can reach the status of True Man. If the whereabouts of the ruler of men are known to his ministers, this hinders his spiritual power. A True Man can enter water without getting wet, enter fire without getting burned, soar over the clouds and air, and endure as long as heaven and earth. But now Your Majesty, though ruling the whole world, has not yet been able to attain calm and quietude. When you are in the palace, do not let others know where you are. Once that is done, I believe that the herbs of immortality can be obtained.”

The emperor said, “I long to become a True Man. From now on I will refer to myself as True Man and will not call myself zhen.” He then had elevated walks and walled roads built to connect all the 270 palaces and scenic towers situated within the 200 li environs of Xianyang. He filled the palaces with curtains and hangings, bells and drums, and beautiful women, each assigned to a particular post and forbidden to move about. Anyone revealing where the emperor was visiting at any particular moment was put to death."

-Sima, Qian. Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty II (p. 57). Columbia University Press. Kindle Edition.

#qin shi huang #chinese history #qing dynasty #qin dynasty #18th century art #ancient literature #history #ancient history #pagan #paintings

[toki-macross]

This was another Christmas' present for my nephew. They were visiting, and at night, I worked on this to eventually give to him. (Actually later inspired him to ask for his own Faux Stainglass making stuff.) Click below for the crazy process to get it made.

Now... I was in my families guest bedroom, since my bedroom was larger and better for my brother's family to be in. Previously in this room, was our collection of weapons. Because my family appreciates the astetic and well, also the use in some regards. Though mainly machetes and hatches, for outdoor yard work. A bunch are just wall hangers. Though some are sharp, and some are heavy.

(Dad has taken them down, so he can build a better, safer case to put them in. So smol children can't get grabby.) Trying to get the piece done in time. I realized that it was late, and I needed a good straightedge. Now, I grew up in a family, that had many sharp things about the house. With my father being a woodcarver. I was taught at an early age, to appreciate and respect sharp things. For being useful, and also dangerous. As an adult, I think I own... (counts) um... ALOT of sharp and pointys in my bedroom. But my bedroom also doubles as my workshop, so it makes sense. Though, I do have some collection stuff in here. But mostly functional blades, like my exactos, box cutters and the like for crafting/building.

And the reason I tell this story, is because it was second nature, to just do this...

Reached back, (since I couldn't go to my room to possibly grab the Jill Ruler) And took out the collection's oldest resident. My father's Machete he brought to America from his birthplace in Columbia. It's older then me by a long shot, probably 50-55 years old, and beloved as a main staple when it comes to outdoor wood chopping. It is certainly a first reach when needing to do things, and using it as a straight edge was normal for me... But as I was working on it, forgot that this isn't normal and had a chuckle about it. And sent pictures to friends who know me, and they were amused. Note: it is sharp, and can be dangerous. Treat any sharp object with respect and care. Don't just grab things willy nilly. So, with a straight edge secure, I started working on the design.

The process of making Faux Stainglass, usually takes me 3-4 days. Sketching and doing the lines, is day one. Because the liquid leading needs to ideally, cure overnight. I tend to sketch out the design, then overlay it with Sharpie. Since the general thickness of a basic sharpie, is about what the lines are in Liquid leading. (Though a properly skilled person, probably could make the lines how ever they want. I am still learning)

As you can tell from my Wobbly lines. It also doesn't help that often these projects were at minimum, a year apart. If not several. So any good lineart skill I gained, might have been downgraded as I worked on a new project. Day 2 is color, which then needs to cure overnight as well.

And this is what it looked like, before drying. So, there is some color change as it becomes more transparent. Day 3-4 is letting it cure fully. In case various sections might have had too thick of paint, and it taking longer to cure. Mainly a choice I make to make sure that the piece is finished, before being presented as a present.

#my art #pokemon arceus #notfr #pokemon #faux stained glass #be safe when using sharp objects. Even for straight edges #Arceus

[newwayastrology]

SUN/MOON MIDPOINT & MEAGAN GOOD

Any soul that is born and inhabits a body does so to learn lessons. We can see these lessons in a horoscope. Meagan Good is a lovely actress with an impressive resume. However, her relationship life has aways been way less fulfilling than her career.

If Venus has hard aspcts from outer planets, or the ruler of or planet in the 7th has hard aspects from Mars or an outer planet, or if Mars or an outer planet are at one's Sun/Moon midpoint, relationships will be one of the ways that a person learns about themselves. Meagan's 7th House ruler, Neptune, squares Venus. Too much idealism in relationships will cause problems in relationships that teach her lessons she couldn't learn otherwise. Punctuating it mightily is Saturn at her Sun/Moon midpoint!!!!! I should add that even when Sun/Moon is not occupied natally, hard transits and arcs to it are often just like when Venus receives a conjunction, square, or opposition from Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, or Mars.

In 2011, Meagan started dating Devon Franklin. He was a Columbia Pictures Exec and a preacher. You can see in the measurements listing that her 2011 started with both Jupiter and Pluto transiting Sun/Moon. They were joined in 2012 by Uranus and Meagan and Franklin were married in 2012. They divorced in December, 2021.

Meagan's next relationship was with actor, Jonathan Majors in early 2023 with transiting Jupiter at her Sun/Moon. Today, Majors was convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend!!!!!

Ya think she has some lessons to learn about what goes through her head when choosing a partner for a relationship?!

She has Venus in Virgo. Cerebral matters can take things over when it comes to romance and romantic feelings. Understanding emotions often displaces feeling them. Venus here has the ability to express emotion without feeling it. As an actress she can be very good at this.

I hope the lesson has been learned.

#meagan good #sunmoonmidpoint

[yostresswritinggirl]

it is me, the arknights geek Rabbit and i'm back at the nations.

grandma, is Higashi tiny to you? Please wait until you see Kjerag and Kazdel.

btw if i write short for any countries, it's either the stuff about that country is too long or it's too short... Or I just don't like talking about that country lmao.

Kazdel

Originally called Teekaz from ancient times. Kazdel is a nation that was ravaged by war and has never truly experienced peace.

Ruled by a Monarchy system, the top of it all is the Sarkaz King, Theresa. However, the one currently leading this nation is Theresa's brother, the regent, Theresis. (Theresa is "dead")

This nation consists solely of the Sarkaz race. In history, the Sarkaz was feared and discriminated against by the rest of Terra because of their brutal cultural practices (cannibalism is an example) and fearsome Arts.

The outsiders think like that of Kazdel, but the Kazdelians do not think of the outsiders in any more good light. They believed that the rest of the world are invaders and that the Sarkaz was the original inhabitors of Terra (or as they prefer, Teekaz).

Kazdel's history is awash in war and bloodshed. Civil wars, three times of disintegration because of attacks from other nations... The third time, Kazdel faced a very heavy attack from an allied force of many other countries, which caused its already disintegrating size to lessen even more.

Although the Royal Court kings tried their best to defend, destruction was inevitable. Now, Kazdel mostly lies dormant. Not for long though.

There was a recent civil war in Kazdel, involving the usurpation of the Sarkaz King, Theresa (led by Theresis, her brother). It only ended after Theresa's organization of her loyalists, Babel, was sieged and Theresa's assassination.

Kazdel is a very significant nation in the game's story and Theresa, the former Sarkaz King plays a very vital role in this game's backstory, even if she's "dead".

Kazimierz

Horses!! Horses!! Kazimierz is a corporatocratic oligarchy nation that is inspired by Poland.

A nation that's native to the horse hybrids, Kuranta. Its previous rulers prior to the rise of capitalism were the Pegasi subrace of the Kuranta, who were famed for having extremely good eyesight .Kazimierz's history was famed for its knightly traditions, even dubbed as "Land of the Knights". However, present day Kazimierz is dominated by capitalism.

Other than some various major capital city where it's a major metropolis (and it reeks of capitalism), the rest of Kazimierz are remote sedentary villages. The stark difference between everything is baffling.

The Land of the Knights now has lost its meaning of a true knight. Kazimierz has a triennial jousting event named Kazimierz Major, however the event is heavily commercialized because, well, capitalism!

Land of the Horses is also known for its institution of slavery. It's not as brutal as Earth's slavery tales, but it's still slavery. Most of the slaves are the Infected. The Infected can be knights as well, but they are not allowed to participate in official tournaments, instead being forced into violent fights to the death before they can join official tournaments.

There is also the urban legend, the Armorless Union. This union actually exists and consists mostly of talented archers who conducts assassinations on possible threats of the Kazimierz General Chamber of Commerce such as defected knights for the K.G.C.C.

Of course there still are true knights remaining in this place, like Margaret Nearl, of the most popular noble Nearl family.

The string of events called Kazimierz Major (Consisting of the three events: Maria Nearl, Pinus Sylvestris and Near Light) takes place in Kazimierz and is possibly currently the longest ever event series in game.

Also, Kazimierz names are hard to pronounce and to spell as fuck.

Columbia

A federal republic nation located further to the west. I don't know what country Columbia is based on, but I'm guessing that it's America.

Originally a colony of Victoria (a country based on England, you can probably tell why I guessed Columbia is the US by now), but during an invasion to Victoria by Gaul, this colony took the chance to declare its independence. Due to the invading Gaul's pressure, Victoria had no choice but to retreat its forces from Columbia and approve of its independence.

Columbia's citizens are interracial, meaning there's no real race that is native to this place.

The very thing that sets Columbia apart from other nations is how they treat the Infected. Their treatment of the Infected is way, way, way better than most other nations, being willing to give the Infected jobs and a place to stay and work. However those who emigrate to Columbia has to work for a while in order to earn their citizenship there.

However true that the Infected's lives in Columbia is way better than say, Ursus, in comparison, but it's not like there's no discrimination. The higher-ups in Columbia thinks of the Infected as nothing but a cheap labour force, but effectively, it's a win-win situation for the nation and for the Infected.

The Infected workers however, have to be separated from non-infected living places and work separately. They essentially live and work in restricted areas compared to the non-infected.

Columbia is trying to race against major nations such as Ursus, Leithania (we'll get to these goats later) and Laterano (also later) in an arms race. In order to gain technological supremacy, some factions in Columbia are rumoured to partake in many unethical experiments. Do you remember Rosmontis? She was a subject of one of the many unethical experiments, having her brother killed and having his consciousness implanted into her brain, giving her powers akin to Lucy's powers in Elfen Lied.

Despite everything, Columbia's culture can't be denied of its vibrancy. It's colorful culture was spread around Terra. Movies, music and sports, all countries around Terra was exposed to them all. Some conservative nations even went through culture shock.

Columbia is where the event Mansfield Break takes place, the Mansfield State Prison in Columbia, to be precise.

===

7 down, 10 more countries to go :sob:

What the fuck?! Does each hexagon represent one of the moving cities? To think that place of all places is heavily lore important hm *strokes chin* But such a small country ruled by a monarchy and eaten up by civil and foreign wars geezus - oh wait those places exist today nvm

Ohhh land of knights turned to capitalism, that was quite the whiplash haha which makes me curious how it transpired to that - the knight and horses being related is a funky touch but the fact that slavery is rampant there is very ironic cuz you know, horses. I can also see the struggle with the names haha

Columbia?! Oh lol yeah I guess it makes sense especially with the Victoria thing - upon reading further, yeah this is definitely the US. This is really just the American dream but tweaked, but I definitely like the Infected life there, it's still sensible and within reason. *googling Rosmontis* I've never seen this girl in my life but I get the picture

My grandchild, I have zero clue what these events are so you'll need to give a bit of context every time you mention them haha

#arknights #rabbit #exile.goblet #show and tell #finally back to answering asks

[sunder-the-gold]

Arknights: The contradictions in Sesa’s lore, regarding his invention [escalation or democratization?]

Allegedly, Sesa is inspired by Alfred Nobel, the man who invented dynamite and various other explosives. World governments began to use these substances for weapons, earning Alfred the epithet "Merchant of Death" before he tried to rehabilitate his name by establishing the Nobel Peace Prize. (Others suggest he’s inspired by Oppenheimer, one of the inventors of the atomic bomb, with whom Sesa shares a birthday.)

Unlike his inspiration, Sesa seems much more immediately concerned about causing an international arms-race with his research into reducing the Originium Adaptability requirement to use Arts Units or other Originium-based tools.

Certainly, it concerns Rhodes Island, as Sesa's fourth Archive File states:

...the idea of 'letting anyone pick up an Originium firearm even without being able to use Arts' is inherently not feasible and not allowed. Originium-based technology might still have its limitations, but if certain people throughout Terra catch wind of these developments and attempt to use this technology to escalate geopolitical conflicts, there is no telling what kind of brutal, all-consuming wars we may face in the future."

'The power I deliver is growing closer to the real deal, and that is both dangerous and eye-catching... So, uh, that's why it's absolutely necessary to keep this technology under wraps!' He explained it himself.

However, Rhodes Island and Sesa also contradict themselves.

Sesa's archive files mention repeatedly that Sesa is not only providing his particular brand of Originium-based weaponry modification services to Rhodes Island now, but also that he sold those services on the black market in Sargon. Even if he only did business with customers of fine moral character, Sesa had absolutely no control over who bought or stole those weapons later, just as he has no control over what happens to future products of his work (such as for Rainbow Team 6, who went to Columbia with the weapons he provided them).

And if Sesa didn't exercise the utmost discretion and moral discrimination with his Sargonese clientele, he certainly contributed to escalating arms-races in Sargon, even if the local warlords and foreign world powers didn't catch wind of his work before Rhodes Island did. So, he's not so concerned about keeping his discoveries "under wraps" that he's trying to keep anyone from finding out about it. He's simply not shouting about it from the rooftops and openly advertising himself to the world powers.

But the other contradiction is that his work isn't actually that dangerous.

Rhodes Island itself states in the very same fourth Archive File:

In reality, the [Columbian] military giant that Sesa and his brother worked for did not focus on Originium firearms that can only be used by a select few, as the versatility and lethality of such weapons generally fell short of just applying Originium Arts to traditional crossbows. (emphasis mine)

Despite his inspiration, Sesa's invention doesn't parallel with dynamite at all, let alone the atomic bomb.

Before the invention of dynamite, no one on Earth had access to such destructive power. Whereas on Terra, hundreds of thousands of people across the world have far more destructive power than mere dynamite. Based on what rumors I've heard about the Witch King of Leithania and some Sarkaz lords from Chapter 10, some individuals on Terra are comparable to nuclear bombs.

Earth has no equivalent to Originium Arts.

On Earth, the ruling class arose from a professional warrior class that originally offered farmers protection in exchange for food. Over time this became a protection racket, as the warrior class became hereditary rulers who used their superior capacity for violence to oppress and steal from farmers and other producers. To make it easier to maintain their monopoly on violence, the ruling class usually outlawed commoners from owning weapons, which also furthered their dependence on the warrior class's protection racket.

On Terra, the capacity for violence includes Originium Arts.

The ruling class (and their professional warrior class servants) have the most leisure to study and practice Originium Arts, and the most wealth to safely acquire and use Originium as fuel for experimenting with Arts and for wielding Arts as a weapon against their own subjects.

These elites receive the least amount of benefit from the proliferation of Originium-based weapons that any peasant's child can pick up and use simply by pulling a trigger.

Indeed, the elites are the ones most threatened by such a thing, in the same way that the elites are threatened by the capacity of the Infected to use Originium Arts without an Arts Unit and thereby to discover untapped talents for powerful Arts, or to develop such talents from mutations.

Sesa's weaponry threatens to be an equalizing force between the elites and the UNinfected peasantry of the world.

To the extent that Columbia might want to use it to cause geopolitical instability, it would be to ship as many of these weapons into the hands of farmers suffering under Kazimierian and Imperial Ursus taxation, and sit back to watch the peasants revolt.

Not an escalation of international violence, but a democratization of civil violence (rather than the monopolization of civil violence enjoyed by the elites) that would change class-based struggles forever.

#arknights #sesa #guns #democratization of violence #monopolization of violence

[myrfing]

another example of the thing i liked about this event…the columbian ideal of “all men are created equal” is just not lived up to and the contradiction it creates in people raised within it to believe in liberty, justice, progress, and equality but not really being able to live life according to those ideals unless you have power and money which…makes it moot in the first place. it works exactly the same in leithanian as it does in columbia, it’s just not a part of explicit law; policies written to punish for other things like “not having money for insurance” will eventually take out the undesireables or have them be enslaved to labor for the powerful in either case. and then it is not the “fault” of the state, it’s just the homeless and the poor and the impoverished didn’t do enough and are paying a due consequence.

loken was dorothy’s teacher; it’s obvious that he had a great deal of influence on her and both sought to pursue the ideal that “all people are born equal” as a pure concept versus taking into account for all the elements that create inequity because that contradiction is too bizarre to face. our society values fairness and equality; so why is this not reflected in reality? + being indunated with the idea since birth that your poverty and misfortune is always 100% your personal intrinsic individual responsibility and that you must simply have lacked talent or not worked hard if you end up in the margins. dorothy takes it one step forward from her teacher and says “it’s because didn’t have the opportunity to try….because of something they lack” which is also not the problem, the problem is that columbia at its core doesn’t really care about the value of people’s lives or efforts at all. all those ideals are pretty much just nothing and were a total lie regardless of if you made everyone intrinsically “equal” or not. because they already are, as humans, and this was ignored, because it’s all made to mantain a status quo and concentrate power in the preexisting ruling class. the only thing that matters to them is how you can contribute to that; as cheap labor, or as a talented arms developer, or etc.

that all being said it is weird because “awaken” WOULD have drastically disrupted the status quo. because arts usage isn’t like, race, or sex, or something unquantifiable and dictated by immaterial constructed categories: it’s weaponry. the primary function of arts in the game that we see is destructive force. being bass boosted at arts casting is how multiple disenfranchised groups in the game have wrested some level of power and influence whereas they'd normally remain utterly at will of their rulers, i.e. the sarkaz, and reunion. and here’s where the writing gets ??? because the counterargument provided is that it’s too dangerous to give the unionized masses armed power and they would be coopted by the powerful anyway (something that’s kind of like, ubiquitous to every arkn storyline dealing with the subject of revolution lol):

at first silence’s comparison seems wonky (not even counting that last line because ??? that's everyone anyways) because the distribution of diablous shards is limited and within the hands of the ruling class already, and the transmitter by dorothy’s directive would be distributed to literally every single person in columbia at least, but. im guessing ferdinand’s/the colonel’s plan was to distribute the transmitter to a ton of columbian soldiers and officials and take over the hub by sheer numbers, and then carefully control the distribution of the transmitter…but doesn’t that just not account for the fact dorothy had her own literal lake of the stuff and is the sole person who understands the mechanism of her research and had originally developed the transmitter and “machine” for mass and indiscriminate distribution. and also of course at the birth of the machine this small group of original hub members who were loyal to her had the sole control of an entity that could teleport anywhere and completely alter the construct of anything at will. how did ferdinand realistically plan to seize control of it…AND THEY OBVIOUSLY DIDNT LMFAO BECAUSE IT JUST DISINTEGRATED ITSELF BECAUSE THE DUDES IN THE HUB WANTED IT TO? anyway i get it’s supposed to me a bizarre in-itself-not-fully-literal represenation of…well schmovement but man what…

#arkn #obviously even if everyone had equal arts firepower it would be weaponized by columbia for colonial power anyways #but again thats assuming theyd have total control over transmitter distribution and they literally just never did not even from the get go. #there’s literally nothing that could’ve stopped the awaken from hopping borders and juicing people worldwide #then again columbians seem americanlly myopic and maybe then it just wouldnt have the sentiment to be global. i dont know #It Works Like How We Need It To Work In Whatever Moment - arkn #unless there is actually just 0 organized opposition to the established order in columbia #so power distribution would’ve been moot in a totally unified country. i dont know

[claudiosuenaga]

Frases de Eric Voegelin

Reunidas, traduzidas e compiladas por Cláudio Suenaga.

Eric Voegelin nasceu em Colônia em 1901 e trocou a Alemanha por Viena quando tinha 9 anos. Ele se formou em direito e ciência política, mas sua verdadeira educação, ele disse mais tarde, veio da leitura de Karl Kraus (1874–1936), o mordaz jornalista vienense cujos ataques à hipocrisia e à vulgaridade de seu tempo moldaram a geração que atingiu a maioridade por volta da Primeira Guerra Mundial. O distanciamento de Voegelin de sua pátria austríaca preparou-o para dar um passo incomum para um jovem acadêmico europeu. Em 1924 viajou para os Estados Unidos com uma bolsa e passou dois anos estudando em universidades americanas, frequentando os cursos de John Dewey (1859–1952) em Columbia e descobrindo as obras de George Santayana (1863–1952). Essa experiência inspirou seu primeiro livro, On the Form of the American Mind (1928), que deve mais a pensadores alemães como Max Scheler (1874–1928) e Wilhelm Dilthey (1833–1911) do que a pragmatistas americanos como Dewey. Ainda assim, a experiência americana de Voegelin teve grandes efeitos. Quando voltou a Viena para aceitar um cargo na universidade, trazia consigo um ódio permanente ao racismo e as vergonhosas justificativas intelectuais dele. Depois que trabalhos pseudocientíficos apoiando o racismo biológico dos nazistas começaram a circular na Áustria, ele os atacou em dois livros publicados pouco depois de Hitler tomar o poder. Esses e outros de seus escritos fizeram dele um alvo escolhido pelos nazistas austríacos, que ordenaram sua prisão imediatamente após o Anschluss em 1938. Ele escapou de trem enquanto a polícia revistava seu apartamento.

Saiba mais sobre a vida e a obra de Eric Voegelin aqui:

“Um governo tem o dever de preservar a ordem, bem como a verdade que representa; quando um líder gnóstico aparece e proclama que Deus ou progresso, raça ou dialética o ordenou para se tornar o governante existencial, um governo não deve trair sua confiança e abdicar. E esta regra não sofre exceção para governos que operam sob uma constituição democrática e uma declaração de direitos. O juiz Jackson, em sua discordância no caso Terminiello, formulou o seguinte: a Declaração de Direitos não é um pacto suicida. Um governo democrático não deve se tornar cúmplice de sua própria derrubada, deixando que os movimentos gnósticos cresçam prodigiosamente sob a proteção de uma interpretação turva dos direitos civis; e se, por inadvertência, tal movimento chegou ao perigo de capturar a representação existencial pela famosa “legalidade” das eleições populares, um governo democrático não deve se curvar à “vontade do povo”, mas reprimir o perigo força e, se necessário, quebrar a letra da constituição para salvar seu espírito”.

― Eric Voegelin, A Nova Ciência da Política, 1952.

“A government has the duty to preserve the order as well as the truth which it represents; when a Gnostic leader appears and proclaims that God or progress, race or dialectic, has ordained him to become the existential ruler, a government is not supposed to betray its trust and to abdicate. And this rule suffers no exception for governments which operate under a democratic constitution and a bill of rights. Justice Jackson in his dissent in the Terminiello case formulated the point: the Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact. A democratic government is not supposed to become an accomplice in its own overthrow by letting Gnostic movements grow prodigiously in the shelter of a muddy interpretation of civil rights; and if through inadvertence such a movement has grown to the danger point of capturing existential representation by the famous “legality” of popular elections, a democratic government is not supposed to bow to the “will of the people” but to put down the danger by force and, if necessary, to break the letter of the constitution in order to save its spirit.”

― Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics, 1952.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“O uso do método como critério da ciência abole a relevância teórica. Em consequência, todas as proposições relativas aos fatos serão promovidas à dignidade da ciência, independentemente de sua relevância, desde que resultem de um correto uso de método. Sendo o oceano dos fatos infinito, torna-se possível uma prodigiosa expansão da ciência no sentido sociológico, dando emprego a técnicos cientificistas e levando à fantástica acumulação de conhecimento irrelevante através de imensos “projetos de pesquisa” cuja característica mais interessante é o gasto quantificável que entrou em sua produção.”

― Eric Voegelin, A Nova Ciência da Política, 1952.

“The use of method as the criterion of science abolishes theoretical relevance. As a consequence, all propositions concerning facts will be promoted to the dignity of science, regardless of their relevance, as long as they result from a correct use of method. Since the ocean of facts is infinite, a prodigious expansion of science in the sociological sense becomes possible, giving employment to scientistic technicians and leading to the fantastic accumulation of irrelevant knowledge through huge “research projects” whose most interesting features is the quantifiable expense that has gone into their production.”

― Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics, 1952.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“O problema de um eidos na história, portanto, surge apenas quando uma realização transcendental cristã se torna imanentizada. Tal hipóstase imanentista do eschaton, no entanto, é uma falácia teórica”. ― Eric Voegelin, A Nova Ciência da Política, 1952.

“The problem of an eidos in history, hence, arises only when a Christian transcendental fulfillment becomes immanentized. Such an immanentist hypostasis of the eschaton, however, is a theoretical fallacy.”

― Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics, 1952.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“Quando Deus estiver invisível atrás do mundo, o conteúdo do mundo se tornará novos deuses; quando os símbolos da religiosidade transcendente são banidos, novos símbolos se desenvolvem a partir da linguagem mundana da ciência para tomar seu lugar. Como a ecclesia cristã, a comunidade mundana também tem seu apocalipse; ainda assim, os novos apocalípticos insistem que os símbolos que criam são julgamentos científicos.”

― Eric Voegelin, Modernidade sem Limites: Religiões Políticas; A Nova Ciência da Política; e Ciência, Política e Gnosticismo.

“When God is invisible behind the world, the contents of the world will become new gods; when the symbols of transcendent religiosity are banned, new symbols develop from the inner-worldly language of science to take their place. Like the Christian ecclesia, the inner-worldly community has its apocalypse too; yet the new apocalyptics insist that the symbols they create are scientific judgements.”

― Eric Voegelin, Modernity without Restraint: Political Religions; The New Science of Politics; and Science, Politics and Gnosticism.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“Os seres humanos vivem em sociedade política com todos os traços do seu ser, desde os traços físicos aos espirituais e religiosos. Apresentamos apenas exemplos das áreas de cultura mediterrânica e europeia ocidental, mas a tese é universal e aplica-se também às formas políticas. A comunidade política está sempre integrada no contexto global da experiência do homem do mundo e de Deus, independentemente de a esfera política ocupar um nível subordinado na ordem divina da hierarquia do ser ou de ser ela mesma divinizada. A linguagem da política é sempre entremeada pelos êxtases da religiosidade e, assim, torna-se um símbolo no sentido conciso ao deixar que experiências preocupadas com os conteúdos do mundo sejam permeadas por experiências transcendentais-divinas”.

― Eric Voegelin, Modernidade sem Limites: Religiões Políticas; A Nova Ciência da Política; e Ciência, Política e Gnosticismo.

“Humans live in political society with all traits of their being, from the physical to the spiritual and religious traits. We have only presented examples from the Mediterranean and Western European culture areas, but the thesis is universal and also applies to the political forms in the East. The political community is always integrated in the overall context of man’s experience of the world and God, irrespective of whether the political sphere occupies a subordinate level in the divine order of the hierarchy of being or whether it is deified itself. The language of politics is always interspersed with the ecstasies of religiosity and, thus, becomes a symbol in the concise sense by letting experiences concerned with the contents of the world be permeated with transcendental-divine experiences.”

― Eric Voegelin, Modernity without Restraint: Political Religions; The New Science of Politics; and Science, Politics and Gnosticism.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“A filosofia brota do amor de ser; é o esforço amoroso do homem perceber a ordem do ser e sintonizar-se com ela. A Gnose deseja domínio sobre o ser; para assumir o controle do ser, o gnóstico constrói seu sistema. A construção de sistemas é uma forma gnóstica de raciocínio, não filosófica.”

― Eric Voegelin, Ciência, Política e Gnosticismo in Obras Reunidas, vol. 5: Modernidade sem restrições, p.273.

“Philosophy springs from the love of being; it is man’s loving endeavor to perceive the order of being and attune himself to it. Gnosis desires dominion over being; in order to seize control of being the Gnostic constructs his system. The building of systems is a gnostic form of reasoning, not a philosophical one.”

― Eric Voegelin, Science, Politics, and Gnosticism in The Collected Works, Vol. 5: Modernity Without Restraint, p.273.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“A natureza de uma coisa não pode ser mudada; quem tenta “alterar” sua natureza a destrói. O homem não pode se transformar em um super-homem; a tentativa de criar um super-homem é uma tentativa de assassinar o homem. Historicamente, o assassinato de Deus é não seguido pelo super-homem, mas pelo assassinato do homem: o deicídio dos teóricos gnósticos é seguido pelo homicídio dos praticantes revolucionários.”

― Eric Voegelin, Ciência, Política e Gnosticismo, 1959.

“The nature of a thing cannot be changed; whoever tries to “alter” its nature destroys the thing. Man cannot transform himself into a superman; the attempt to create a superman is an attempt to murder man. Historically, the murder of God is not followed by the superman, but by the murder of man: the deicide of the gnostic theoreticians is followed by the homicide of the revolutionary practitioners.”

― Eric Voegelin, Science, Politics, and Gnosticism, 1959.

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A repetição ajuda!

“… a desordem espiritual de nosso tempo, a crise civilizacional de que todos falam tão prontamente, não deve de forma alguma nascer como um destino inevitável; que, ao contrário, cada um possui os meios de superá-la em sua própria vida… E nosso esforço deve indicar não só os meios, mas também como empregá-los. Ninguém é obrigado a tomar parte nas crises espirituais da sociedade, ao contrário, todos são obrigados a evitar a loucura e viver sua vida em ordem. “

― Eric Voegelin, Ciência, Política e Gnosticismo, 1959.

Repetita iuvant!

“…the spiritual disorder of our time, the civilizational crisis of which everyone so readily speaks, does not by any means have to be born as an inevitable fate; that, on the contrary, everyone possesses the means of overcoming it in his own life. And our effort should not only indicate the means, but also how to employ them. No one is obliged to take part in the spiritual crises of society; on the contrary, everyone is obliged to avoid the folly and live his life in order.”

― Eric Voegelin, Science, Politics, and Gnosticism, 1959.

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“O Deus que brinca com o homem como uma marionete não é o Deus que se torna homem para ganhar sua vida sofrendo sua morte. O movimento que engendrou a história salvadora da divina encarnação, morte e ressurreição como resposta à questão da vida e a morte é consideravelmente mais complexa do que a filosofia clássica; é mais rica pelo fervor missionário de seu universalismo espiritual, mais pobre por sua negligência do controle noético; mais ampla por seu apelo à humanidade inarticulada do homem comum; mais restrita por seu viés contra o articulado sabedoria dos sábios; mais imponente por seu tom imperial de autoridade divina; mais desequilibrado por sua ferocidade apocalíptica, que leva a conflitos com as condições de existência do homem em sociedade; mais compacto por sua generosa absorção de estratos anteriores da imaginação mítica, especialmente por a recepção da historiogênese israelita e a exuberância da operação de milagres; mais diferenciada pela experiência intensamente articulada de ação amorosa-divina na iluminação da existência com a verdade. A compreensão dessas complexidades pelas quais o movimento do evangelho difere do movimento da filosofia clássica, porém, não pode ser avançada usando tais dicotomias tópicas como filosofia e religião, metafísica e teologia, razão e revelação, razão natural e sobrenaturalismo, racionalismo e irracionalismo, e assim por diante.”

― Eric Voegelin, CW VOL 12, O Evangelho e a Cultura, § III, p. 189.

“The God who plays with man as a puppet is not the God who becomes man to gain his life by suffering his death. The movement that engendered the saving tale of divine incarnation, death, and resurrection as the answer to the question of life and death is considerably more complex than classic philosophy; it is richer by the missionary fervor of its spiritual universalism, poorer by its neglect of noetic control; broader by its appeal to the inarticulate humanity of the common man; more restricted by its bias against the articulate wisdom of the wise; more imposing through its imperial tone of divine authority; more imbalanced through its apocalyptic ferocity, which leads to conflicts with the conditions of man’s existence in society; more compact through its generous absorption of earlier strata of mythical imagination, especially through the reception of Israelite historiogenesis and the exuberance of miracle working; more differentiated through the intensely articulate experience of loving-divine action in the illumination of existence with truth. The understanding of these complexities by which the gospel movement differs from the movement of classic philosophy, though, cannot be advanced by using such topical dichotomies as philosophy and religion, metaphysics and theology, reason and revelation, natural reason and supernaturalism, rationalism and irrationalism, and so forth.”

― Eric Voegelin, CW VOL 12, The Gospel and Culture, § III, p. 189.

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“A Filiação divina não é revelada por meio de uma informação oferecida por Jesus, mas por meio da resposta de um homem à presença plena em Jesus do mesmo Deus Desconhecido por cuja presença ele é movido incoativamente em sua própria existência. O Deus Desconhecido entra no drama da passagem do reconhecimento de Pedro como a terceira pessoa. A fim de estabelecer a distinção entre revelação e informação, bem como evitar o descarrilamento de uma para a outra, o episódio termina com o encargo de Jesus aos discípulos “para não dizer a ninguém que ele era o Cristo” (Mateus 16:20).”

― Eric Voegelin, CW VOL 12, The Gospel and Culture, § III, pp.201–202.

“The divine Sonship is not revealed through an information tendered by Jesus, but through a man’s response to the full presence in Jesus of the same Unknown God by whose presence he is inchoatively moved in his own existence. The Unknown God enters the drama of Peter’s recognition as the third person. In order to draw the distinction between revelation and information, as well as to avoid the derailment from one to the other, the episode closes with the charge of Jesus to the disciples “to tell no one that he was the Christ”(Matt. 16:20).”

― Eric Voegelin, CW VOL 12, The Gospel and Culture, § III, pp.201–202.

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“A política gnóstica é autodestrutiva na medida em que seu desrespeito pela estrutura da realidade leva a uma guerra contínua.”

“Gnostic politics is self-defeating in so far as its disregard for the structure of reality leads to continuous warfare.”

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“Este sistema de guerras em cadeia só pode terminar de duas maneiras: ou resultará em horríveis destruições físicas e concomitantes mudanças revolucionárias da ordem social além de suposições razoáveis; ou, com a mudança natural de gerações, levará ao abandono do sonho gnóstico antes que o pior aconteça.”

“This system of chain wars can end only in two ways: either it will result in horrible physical destructions and concomitant revolutionary changes of social order beyond reasonable guesses; or, with the natural change of generations, it will lead to the abandoning of Gnostic dreaming before the worst has happened.”

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“O interesse público deslocou-se da natureza do homem para a natureza da natureza e para as perspectivas de dominação que sua exploração abriu; e a perda de interesse se transformou até em ódio quando a natureza do homem se mostrou resistente às mudanças sonhadas por intelectuais que querem somar o domínio da sociedade e da história ao domínio da natureza”.

“The public interest has shifted from the nature of man to the nature of nature and to the prospects of domination its exploration opened; and the loss of interest even turned to hatred when the nature of man proved to be resistant to the changes dreamed up by intellectuals who want to add the lordship of society and history to the mastery of nature.”

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“As pessoas podem deixar que o conteúdo do mundo cresça de tal forma que o mundo e Deus desapareçam atrás dele, mas não podem eliminar a problemática de sua existência. Ele vive em cada alma individual, e quando Deus se torna invisível atrás do mundo, então o conteúdo do mundo se torna novos deuses; quando os símbolos da religiosidade supramundana são banidos, novos símbolos desenvolvidos a partir da linguagem científica interior mundana tomam seu lugar”.

“Die Menschen können den Weltinhalt so anwachsen lassen, daß Welt und Gott hinter ihm verschwinden, aber sie können nicht die Problematik ihrer Existenz aufheben. Sie lebt in jeder Einzelseele weiter, und wenn Gott hinter der Welt unsichtbar geworden ist, dann werden die Inhalte der Welt zu neuen Göttern; wenn die Symbole der überweltlichen Religiosität verbannt werden, treten neue, aus der innerweltlichen Wissenschaftssprache entwickelte Symbole an ihre Stelle.”

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Collected Works of Eric Voegelin #5

Modernity without Restraint: Political Religions; The New Science of Politics; and Science, Politics and Gnosticism

Eric Voegelin, Manfred Henningsen (Editor)

Publicados juntos pela primeira vez no volume A Religião como Política, A Nova Ciência da Política; e Ciência, Política e Gnosticismo, foi publicado pela primeira vez em 1938 em Viena, o ano da emigração forçada de Voegelin da Áustria para os Estados Unidos Estados. The New Science of Politics foi escrito em 1952 e estabeleceu a reputação de Voegelin como um filósofo político na América. Ciência, política e gnosticismo foi a palestra inaugural de Voegelin na Universidade de Munique em 1958 e o apresentou ao público intelectual da Alemanha Ocidental.

Embora esses livros tenham sido escritos durante circunstâncias históricas notavelmente diferentes da vida de Voegelin, todos os três apresentam uma análise da civilização ocidental moderna que perdeu seus fundamentos espirituais e é desafiada por várias convicções ideológicas. Voegelin critica nesses textos uma “modernidade sem freio”. É uma modernidade com características hegelianas, marxistas, nietzscheanas, heideggerianas, positivistas, fascistas e outras predominantemente alemãs. O autor confronta essa modernidade com significado ocidental tal como surgiu na Grécia antiga, Roma, Israel e no cristianismo e se transformou na Idade Média européia, no Renascimento italiano e na formação política anglo-americana.

Este volume três em um investiga as complicações intelectuais e espirituais da modernidade, traçando sua evolução desde as civilizações antigas até o século XX. Em sua nova introdução substancial, Manfred Henningsen explora o pano de fundo experimental que motivou as análises teóricas de Voegelin e a nova relevância que seu trabalho ganhou nos últimos anos com o colapso inesperado do socialismo de estado na Alemanha Oriental, Europa Oriental e União Soviética. Modernity without Restraint será um valioso acréscimo à história intelectual e aos estudos de Voegelin.

Cláudio Suenaga é mestre em História pela Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), onde defendeu a primeira dissertação de mestrado sobre o Fenômeno OVNI no Brasil. Colaborador de inúmeras revistas e escritor com cinco livros publicados, milita como jornalista investigativo à caça de civilizações desaparecidas, cidades perdidas, monumentos megalíticos, tecnologia avançada antiga, fenômenos ufológicos, paranormais, milagrosos e sobrenaturais, seitas messiânicas, milenaristas e satânicas, sociedades secretas e todo tipo de teorias conspiratórias e mistérios em geral.

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