Canyon Independent School District pulled sections of the Bible from its library shelves over concerns that its “sexually explicit” material violated Texas law.

ELIZABETH NOLAN BROWN | 12.31.2024 (reason.com)

(Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash )

Is the Bible too “sexually explicit” for minors? The Canyon Independent School District in Texas was apparently concerned that it might be. The district pulled the Bible from school library shelves earlier this month as part of a review of potentially “sexually explicit material.”

According to Superintendent Darryl Flusche, the district was worried about running afoul of a new Texas law known as the Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources (READER) Act, or House Bill 900.

“House Bill 900, which passed during the last legislative session, establishes library standards that restrict content in school libraries,” Flusche wrote in a leaked email to parents, citing the section of the law defining sexually explicit material (that which “describes, depicts, or portrays sexual conduct”). “This standard for library content prohibits books that have one instance of sexual content” that meets the definition.

As a result, “numerous books, including the full text of the Bible,” were verboten in school libraries, Flusche continued, pointing out that portions of the Bible were still available to students. “We are more than willing to assist a student who would like access to a Bible by arranging this from one of our partnering churches,” he added. Flusche also asked parents to “share their voice with the legislators concerning HB900.”

Polar Vortex Set To Bring Extreme Low Temperatures To Eastern US

Did Flusche really feel that stocking the Bible violated Texas law? Or is he simply trying to make a point about the broadness and potential unintended consequences of the READER Act?

Either way, he has the wrong idea, according to the Texas state Rep. Jared Patterson (R–Denton), who sponsored the bill.

“Let me be very clear: the Bible, and other religious texts, are protected under HB 900…. Any assertion to the contrary is either rooted in ignorance of state law or an open hostility to the will of the people,” Patterson wrote in a letter to Flusche. “Not only is your interpretation of HB 900 completely wrong, but your decision to ban the Bible was likely illegal.”

Patterson cited a part of the Texas education code that requires schools to carry “religious literature, including the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament.”

Of course, that precludes the Bible from meeting Texas standards for “sexually explicit” material. It just means that Texas authorities make exceptions for certain texts portraying sexual conduct. It also illustrates further how involved the state government is in micromanaging exactly what can and can’t be available in schools throughout the state. And it’s kind of funny how the only “religious literature” explicitly named in the code is the Christian Bible.

In any event, the Bible is now back on Canyon Independent School District library shelves, the school district said in a statement. Furthermore, it was never removed from schools entirely. “The Bible has always been, and continues to be, available in our schools to support instructional resources and meet all [statewide education] requirements,” said the district. “This longstanding practice has not changed. Additionally, our libraries contain books about the Bible, including Bible stories, which remain available to our students.”

“Following the passage of House Bill 900, Canyon [school district] conducted a comprehensive review of library materials to ensure compliance with updated state guidelines,” the district explained. “After receiving clarification from Representative Patterson regarding library content, we reevaluated the guidelines and are pleased to have the Bible available in each of our Canyon [school] libraries.”

David Landsel

Wed, January 1, 2025 (New York Post via Yahoo.com)

Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.

Spears the deal.

The world’s only “asparamancer” — who claims to to be able to see into the future by tossing a handful of asparagus into the air and observing the way it lands — predicts a major health scare for president-elect Donald Trump in the coming months.

Jemima Packington, 68, who correctly predicted major events such as the Queen’s death and Brexit has revealed her top predictions for 2025, saying the world is in for a series of surprises.

Besides the eyebrow-raising news about the soon-to-be Commander-in-chief, the veggie voyeur anticipates more deaths in Britain’s royal family — and the arrest of some high-profile celebrities.

In addition, Packington said, there will be “off-the-scale” shakeups politically and at least one natural disaster with mass casualties.

The sustenance-based spiritualist has been releasing her predictions for some time now — with a 75-90% accuracy rate, she told SWNS.

“Seeing the patterns for me is instantaneous, possibly that is because I’ve had years of practice,” Packington explained.

“Occasionally I get one slightly off, where I haven’t quite read it correctly, but I’m never far off.”

“I predicted Boris Johnson would become [UK] Prime Minister before he did and everyone laughed their socks off,” she recalled.

Packington picks a handful of tips, tosses them into the air and “reads” the shapes they form when they land.

She said she saw the spears of the veg form the shape of a broken crown just months before the Queen died on September 8, 2022.

“The spears formed a broken crown which indicated to me that there would be a great royal sadness,” she remembered.

10 New Year’s predictions for 2025

1. More civil unrest throughout Europe and the Middle East. Europe will undergo especially turbulent times.

2. Political resignations will be off the scale worldwide.

3. Trump will have a major health scare.

4. European car makers will hit major problems – all connected with EV’s.

Instead of partying, thousands turn New Year celebration into anti-government protest in Serbia

Associated Press

5. Stock Markets worldwide will be extra jittery. More bust than boom.

6. The Royal Family will have more trials and tribulations but will overcome these.

7. Sadly more Royal deaths.

8. The culture of so called influencers on social media will be mired in even more scandal.

9. Mixed global reactions to climate changes. A catastrophic event will occur. It will involve major loss of life

10. Show Business personalities will again make the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Arrests will shock the public.

(Contributed by Janet Cornwell, H.W., m.)

The Seven of Cups The Lord of Debauch is one of those warning cards that we must always take seriously when we come under his influence. Without fail, when he appears we must expect to be subjected to some kind of temptation or test. We must be on our guard for making the exact mistake that he tells us is possible.Temptations come in many shapes and forms, don’t they? Some of these are minor, and others much more serious. The Seven of Cups deals primarily with sensual pleasures… sex, food, money, status.Sometimes, the card indicates that we are surrounded by a multitude of different pleasures, and cannot quite make our minds up which ones to choose, out of the many available to us. In so doing, we miss the boat altogether and end up with nothing. Or, alternatively, we greedily snatch at everything we see, possibly missing the real treasure that is waiting for us to notice it.Greed, triviality, surrender of moral ethics are the big problems when this card appears. We must guard firmly against any of these things, holding hard to our sense of love and goodness.On a day ruled by this card, you need to keep a sharp eye open for all of the above. Also try to monitor your reactions and responses to others – another way we can give in to the Lord of Debauch is to treat another human being in a way we wouldn’t wish to be treated ourselves.If your irritability quotient goes up, spend some time with yourself working out why, and then deal with it. That way you won’t snap the heads off the people you love. If you feel impatient and frustrated, again, work out why… then go and satisfy yourself.On the high spiritual level, this is a day where forgetting what you believe in will accrue some debt unnecessarily. Be alert for tests of your belief, strong in your love, and bright in your life. That way you should pass the test!!Affirmation: “I am strong in love and bright in life. I shine with the radiance of a star.”

(Angelpaths.com)

Christina Lopes, DPT, MPH • Jan 1, 2025 Get the 20 affirmations here ???????? https://bit.ly/3OFzQ4x

(Courtesy of Ned Henry, H.W.)

New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove • Jan 1, 2025 Saul-Paul Sirag is author of ADEX Theory: How the ADE Coxeter Graphs Unify Mathematics and Physics. He is also author of an Appendix titled “Consciousness: A Hyperspace View” that was published in the 1993 edition of Jeffrey Mishlove’s book, The Roots of Consciousness. In this interview, rebooted from 2018, he points out that the original founders of quantum theory in physics generally believed that consciousness literally causes the collapse of the wave function. This is the standard, Copenhagen interpretation. He goes on to explore the Einstein Podolsky Rosen paradox, and Einstein’s objection to quantum theory, as well as Bell’s Theorem. Subsequent experiments by John Clauser and others proved Einstein to be wrong. Sirag’s own work relates to hyperspace and the mathematical underpinnings of string theory. New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. He is Co-Director of Parapsychology Education at the California Institute for Human Science. (Recorded on September 14, 2018)

How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival

David Kaiser

The surprising story of eccentric young scientists who stood up to convention-and changed the face of modern physics.

Today, quantum information theory is among the most exciting scientific frontiers, attracting billions of dollars in funding and thousands of talented researchers. But as MIT physicist and historian David Kaiser reveals, this cutting-edge field has a surprisingly psychedelic past. How the Hippies Saved Physics introduces us to a band of freewheeling physicists who defied the imperative to “shut up and calculate” and helped to rejuvenate modern physics.

For physicists, the 1970s were a time of stagnation. Jobs became scarce, and conformity was encouraged, sometimes stifling exploration of the mysteries of the physical world. Dissatisfied, underemployed, and eternally curious, an eccentric group of physicists in Berkeley, California, banded together to throw off the constraints of the physics mainstream and explore the wilder side of science. Dubbing themselves the “Fundamental Fysiks Group,” they pursued an audacious, speculative approach to physics. They studied quantum entanglement and Bell’s Theorem through the lens of Eastern mysticism and psychic mind-reading, discussing the latest research while lounging in hot tubs. Some even dabbled with LSD to enhance their creativity. Unlikely as it may seem, these iconoclasts spun modern physics in a new direction, forcing mainstream physicists to pay attention to the strange but exciting underpinnings of quantum theory.

A lively, entertaining story that illuminates the relationship between creativity and scientific progress, How the Hippies Saved Physics takes us to a time when only the unlikeliest heroes could break the science world out of its rut.

About the author

David Kaiser

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

David Kaiser is an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he teaches in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society and the Department of Physics. He and his family live in Natick, Massachusetts.

(Goodreads.com)

(Courtesy of Heather Williams, H.W,. M.)

Bob Mankoff | TEDxUofM

• February 2024

Can artificial intelligence be funny, or is comedy a uniquely human trait? In this witty and insightful talk, cartoonist Bob Mankoff explores the art of humor, the evolution of AI and what happens when the two collide.

• Technology
• Art
• Comedy
• AI
• Humor
• Life

TED is supported by ads and partners

About the speaker

Bob Manko

Cartoonist, AI humor researcher

Critique of Pure Reason

Immanuel Kant, Paul Guyer (Editor), Allen W. Wood (Translator)

‘The purpose of this critique of pure speculative reason consists in the attempt to change the old procedure of metaphysics and to bring about a complete revolution’

Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (1781) is the central text of modern philosophy. It presents a profound and challenging investigation into the nature of human reason, its knowledge and its illusions. Reason, Kant argues, is the seat of certain concepts that precede experience and make it possible, but we are not therefore entitled to draw conclusions about the natural world from these concepts. The Critique brings together the two opposing schools of philosophy: rationalism, which grounds all our knowledge in reason, and empiricism, which traces all our knowledge to experience. Kant’s transcendental idealism indicates a third way that goes far beyond these alternatives.

About the author

Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century philosopher from Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). He’s regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Europe & of the late Enlightenment. His most important work is The Critique of Pure Reason, an investigation of reason itself. It encompasses an attack on traditional metaphysics & epistemology, & highlights his own contribution to these areas. Other main works of his maturity are The Critique of Practical Reason, which is about ethics, & The Critique of Judgment, about esthetics & teleology.

Pursuing metaphysics involves asking questions about the ultimate nature of reality. Kant suggested that metaphysics can be reformed thru epistemology. He suggested that by understanding the sources & limits of human knowledge we can ask fruitful metaphysical questions. He asked if an object can be known to have certain properties prior to the experience of that object. He concluded that all objects that the mind can think about must conform to its manner of thought. Therefore if the mind can think only in terms of causality–which he concluded that it does–then we can know prior to experiencing them that all objects we experience must either be a cause or an effect. However, it follows from this that it’s possible that there are objects of such a nature that the mind cannot think of them, & so the principle of causality, for instance, cannot be applied outside experience: hence we cannot know, for example, whether the world always existed or if it had a cause. So the grand questions of speculative metaphysics are off limits, but the sciences are firmly grounded in laws of the mind. Kant believed himself to be creating a compromise between the empiricists & the rationalists. The empiricists believed that knowledge is acquired thru experience alone, but the rationalists maintained that such knowledge is open to Cartesian doubt and that reason alone provides us with knowledge. Kant argues, however, that using reason without applying it to experience will only lead to illusions, while experience will be purely subjective without first being subsumed under pure reason. Kant’s thought was very influential in Germany during his lifetime, moving philosophy beyond the debate between the rationalists & empiricists. The philosophers Fichte, Schelling, Hegel and Schopenhauer saw themselves as correcting and expanding Kant’s system, thus bringing about various forms of German Idealism. Kant continues to be a major influence on philosophy to this day, influencing both Analytic and Continental philosophy.

(Goodreads.com)

Calling All Evolutionary Leaders in Service to Conscious Evolution! This Is Our Moment of Choice!

Together, we can accelerate the evolution of human consciousness and co-create the future.  Are we ready to step into our power and take an Evolutionary Leap?

 In This Issue

JANUARY HIGHLIGHT: NONVIOLENCE!

• Nonviolence Events in January 2025 – Pato Banton, Antoinette Rootsdawtah, Rick Ulfik, Scott Catamas, Jon Ramer, Kurt Johnson, Riane Eisler, and more!
• 7 Days of Rest, January 1-7 – Hope Fitzgerald
• Founding Mothers First Campaign Starts Jan. 1 – Laura George
• Awakening Our Evolutionary Eyes, Jan. 1 – Patricia Albere
• United Nations Decalres World Meditation Day, December 21st – Sr. Jenna (video)
• Liberate With Shakti for 2025 – Shamini Jain
• The Way of Love New Years Retreat, Jan. 10-12 – Tatiana Speed

NEW BOOKS BY EVOLUTIONARY LEADERS

• The Dragon Key: Memoirs of a Galactic Guardian – Adam Apollo
• Wholehearted Living: An Enchanted Journey for Your Soul – Christian Sorensen
• Your Teeming Transformation – Free Workbook by Tamsin Woolley-Barker
• The Next 100 Years – Pavel Luksha
• Book Launch for Light on Kundalini – Karuna (video)
• The Global Coherence Pulse Presents “Pure Human” with Gregg Braden (video)
• Invitation from New Generation Leaders
• Exploring the Holomovement: The Deep Interconnectedness of the Universe – Will Keepin (video)
• REF All Members Meet in Argentina – Alan Gegenschatz

EVOLUTIONARY LEADERS RECEIVE AWARDS

• Jean Houston Amarded 2024 Spiritual Hero
• Nate Zeleznick Receives Two Awards in Dubai
• Rev. Joni Carley Given Award for Interfaith Leadership
• Dr. Marty K. Casey Receives Lifetime Community Award
• The Mind-Body-Spirit Connection – Bruce Lipton (video)
• Pathways to Peace Programs in Guinea – Tezekiah Gabriel
• Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview – Thomas Legrand (video)
• One Voice – Brothers Koren & The Kin (video)
• Hospitable to the Soul – Marilyn Hamilton
• Evolution of Sustainability: Love Your Mother – Geraldine Patrick Encina and Mindahi Bastida (video)
• Consensus in Conversation – Rinaldo S. Brutoco (podcast)

2025: HOPE FOR THE NEW YEAR

• What Will 2025 Hold?n– Jennifer Hill
• New Year’s Meditation Reset – Jan. 4 – Michael B. Beckwith (video)
• Sacred Solstice Concert – Kristin Hoffman (video)
• A Year of You – Anita Moorjani
• I AM GAIA – Sarah McCrum and Gary Malkin (video)
• New Year Simple Reset – Suzanne Giesemann
• Solstice Launch Party for Elowyn: Quest of Time – Anneloes Smitsman (video)
• Divine Power and Anniversary Celebration Jan. 5th – J.J. and Desiree Hurtak
• In Loving Memory of Elisabet Sahtouris (1936-2024)
• “Our Moment of Choice”
• We Answered THE CALL 
• Visit the Evolutionary Leaders YouTube Channel
• Invest in Synergy to Power a Transformed World

“The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.”

― William Gibson

William Ford Gibson (born 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Wikipedia

Born: 1948