A Martian dust devil was captured winding its way along the Amazonis Planitia region of Northern Mars on March 14, 2012, photographed by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Dust devils on Mars are important for scientists because they help to redistribute dust across the planet’s surface, driving its weather patterns and even the Martian climate. They can range in size from small, harmless whirlwinds to massive, kilometer-wide spirals that can last for hours.
(NewThinkingAllowed.cm)
Published: January 24, 2025 (TheOnion.com)
CENTENNIAL, CO—With a series of television ads that will run in all major media markets and feature dozens of bloated, wincing celebrities, industry trade group the National Beef Council debuted its new “You’re Supposed To Feel Like That” campaign on Friday. “If your stomach hurts and you feel sleepy, that just means the beef is working,” the Emmy-nominated actress Sydney Sweeney says in one of the ads before taking a large, sensual bite of a hamburger as words like “intestinal cramping,” “acne,” and “heart disease” appear on the screen. “Sure, you may need to sprint to the bathroom, but that’s the point. If you’re not doubled over, shaking, and sweating through your shirt, then you need to eat more beef. You should be able to feel the beef in your colon.” The National Beef Council has simultaneously launched billboard and glossy magazine ads that feature a row of coffins with the tagline “Beef: It’s supposed to kill you.”
23 JANUARY 2025/SF NEWS/JAY BARMANN (SFist.com)
You may not know that there was a liberal priest in San Francisco who was performing same-sex marriages as far back as 1968. But there was, and he was a much beloved and sometimes controversial figure in the local Episcopal diocese.
Reverend Robert Warren Cromey passed away last week at the age of 93, and he’s remembered as a principled, compassionate, progressive clergyman who dedicated his life to celebrating inclusion and advocating for equality.
On his Facebook page, Cromey’s header image is a quote: “I will always be on the side of those who have nothing and who are not even allowed to enjoy the nothing they have in peace.”
As the Bay Area Reporter explains, Cromey was injured in a fall in his home last month, and while getting ready to come home from a rehabilitation facility, he died in his sleep on January 14, one month shy of his 94th birthday.
While Cromey was straight, and married to his wife of many years, Ann Cromey, he moved from New York to San Francisco in 1962 and immediately became an outspoken advocate for homosexual equality and civil rights. He gave a guest sermon at Grace Cathedral in 1963, as the Chronicle reports, the same year he attended the March on Selma, advocating for the equal treatment of gay people — a sermon that got him “banished” to St. Aidan’s Episcopal in Diamond Heights.
“The Gospel lesson for the day spoke of the Christian concern for the outcasts,” Cromey himself recalled.
As Ann Cromey tells the paper, “[That sermon] was so radical that most people thought he was completely crazy. That was the last time he was invited to preach at Grace Cathedral.”
Reverend Cromey would go on to stand with Rev. Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial at a 1965 press conference protesting the arrest of drag queens at a New Year’s Eve ball — a pivotal moment in the LGBTQ civil rights moment in San Francisco. And when he later became rector of Trinity Church on Gough Street, the oldest Episcopal parish in the West, he became known for radical inclusion.
He performed his first lesbian wedding in 1968, and in 1982 he allowed a gay wedding to take place at Trinity Church. In 1996, a gay wedding at Trinity was broadcast on ABC’s news magazine “Turning Points.” As the BAR recounts, he also presided over 72 funerals at Trinity Church in the 1980s for gay men who died of AIDS.
Cromey wrote his own brief memoir about his involvement in the LGBTQ civil rights movement, explaining that this was purely an issue of equal rights for him, for a persecuted minority. But, he says, he believes his own father was a closeted bisexual.
“The Bible appears to say some negative things about homosexual activity. I am not a Biblical literalist,” Cromey writes. “Those passages must be looked at in light of the date, the context in which they were uttered and the prejudices of people at the time they were written. None of them are the inspired word of God.”
“He was very brave,” Ann Cromey tells the BAR. “People really did think he was crazy… I think he was highly principled and not afraid of opposition.”
| Self-Remembering |
| “When you become aware not only of what you are doing but also of yourself doing it, you see both ‘I’ and the ‘here’ of ‘I am here.’ This is self-remembering.” – George Gurdjieff |
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (January 13, 1866 – October 29, 1949) was a Greek–Armenian philosopher, mystic, spiritual teacher, composer, and movements teacher. Wikipedia
― Sophocles, Antigone
Sophocles (circa 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least one play has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those of Aeschylus and earlier than, or contemporary with, those of Euripides. Wikipedia
A.Word.A.Daywith Anu Garg
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
noun: One overly concerned with their personal appearance: dandy.
adjective: Overly concerned about one’s appearance.
ETYMOLOGY:
A combination of prick (to pierce) + me + dainty (delicate), from Old French daintie (pleasure), from Latin dignus (worthy). Earliest documented use: 1529.
Published: January 23, 2025 (TheOnion.com)
WASHINGTON—Pointing to the mounting scientific evidence showing the risks of using such explosive devices, outgoing U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory this week in which he recommended adding cancer warning labels to all nuclear bombs. “Nuclear bombs can cause cancer anywhere they are detonated, yet far too few Americans understand the dangers of standing in a nuclear blast zone for even a few minutes every day,” said Murthy, who described the warning labels as a necessary corrective to counter decades of misinformation from nuclear weapon makers. “Back in the ’50s and ’60s, detonating a thermonuclear device every once in a while was seen as a harmless way to blow off some steam with friends. These days, though, we know that’s not the case, particularly for those who are nursing or pregnant. These labels will ensure that Americans understand they are putting their health at stake when they set off a few fusion bombs during a night out.” Murthy added that California had already been applying such labels for decades and had seen a marked decline in nuclear bomb users.
Translation is a 5-step process of “straight thinking in the abstract” comparing and contrasting what you think is the truth with what you can syllogistically, axiomatically and mathematically (using word equations) prove is the truth. It is not an effort to change, alter or heal anything.
The claims in a Translation may seem outrageous, but they are always (or should always be) based on self-evident syllogistic reasoning. Here is one Translation from this week.
1) Truth is that which is so. That which is not truth is not so. Therefore Truth is all that is. Truth being all is therefore total, therefore whole, therefore, complete, therefore thorough. Truth being true is therefore real, therefore actual, therefore correct, therefore perfect, therefore right, therefore incomparably good. I think therefore I am. Since I am and since Truth is all that is, therefore I, being, am Truth. Since I, being, am Truth, therefore I, being, have all the attributes of Truth. Therefore I, being, am total, hwole, complete, thorough, true, real, actual, correct, perfect, right, incomparably good. Since I, being, am truth and since I am mind (self-evident), therefore Truth is Mind. (Two things equal to a third thing are equal to each other.)
2) We are being led by a mean-spirited, vengeful, petty charlatan.
Word-tracking:
we: us, self and others
self: personality, characteristics and attributes of person
lead: to guide, cause
mean-spirited: malicious, bad-tempered
mal-: abnormal or inadequate
vengeful: vindicate, to show someone or something blameless
petty: small, insignificant
charlatan: empty talk, liar
3) Truth being one, there cannot be self and others (we), therefore Truth is one Self. Truth being mind and Truth being all that is, therefore Truth is all-knowing. Truth being all-knowing and since to guide implies not knowing what to do or where to go, there are no leaders and followers in Truth. Therefore Truth is the leaderless following of itself. Truth being whole, complete and perfect cannot at the same time be abnormal or inadequate. Therefore adequacy is the norm. Truth beng perfect cannot at the same time be blameworthy, therefore Truth vindicates Itself. Truth being all is therefore without limit, therefore infinite, cannot at the same time be petty or small or insignificant. Therefore everything is significant. Truth being all and Truth being true, that which is not true is a lie and is not so. Since there are no lies, there are no liars, only truthers in disguise.
4) Truth is one Self.
Truth is all-knowing.
There are no leaders and followers in Truth.
Therefore Truth is the leaderless following of itself.
Adequacy is the norm.
Truth vindicates Itself.
Everything is significant.
There are no liars, only truthers in disguise.
5) There are no liars, only truthers in disguise.
Weekly Invitational Translation Group invites your participation. If you would like to submit a Translation on any subject, feel free to send your weekly Translation to zonta1111@aol.com and we will anonymously post it on the Bathtub Bulletin on Friday.
For information about Translation or other Prosperos classes go to: https://www.theprosperos.org/teaching.
23 JANUARY 2025/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/JAY BARMANN
(SFist.com)
In an interview with Jesse Eisenberg on Fresh Air this week he talks about his changing view of a man he portrayed over a decade ago, Mark Zuckerberg. And, apparently, a sequel or follow-up to The Social Network may be in the works.
The Social Network was something of an Oscar darling after it came out in 2010, getting nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for star Jesse Eisenberg, and going on to win Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin) and Best Score (Trent Reznor — who, sidebar, got snubbed today with no nomination for the Challengers score).
This week, as Eisenberg gets a second Oscar nod, this time for his screenplay A Real Pain, he was on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. And the conversation naturally came around to The Social Network, and how Eisenberg’s view of Zuckerberg, whom he portrayed as a younger man in the 2003 to 2007 era of Facebook, has changed.
He tells Gross that he saw Zuckerberg as “an outcast in the world” who created a platform where people could interact virtually because “he felt uncomfortable connecting with other people through more traditional social norms.”
She asks him if he feels at all connected to Zuckerberg when he does something that makes news, especially something he’s vilified for, like ending fact-checking and some forms of content moderation on Facebook.
“As an actor, your job is to kind of like really understand your character, even if your character is a villain in a movie, your job is to defend your character,” Eisenberg says. “So I spent a lot of time thinking about this guy… and at the time, when I was acting in it, I thought, ‘This is wonderful. I’m totally defensible. This is a guy who is ambitious because he has this great thing he is going to unleash on the world.'”
But, Eisenberg says, his views on Zuckerberg have of course changed, and he isn’t so defensible anymore.
Regarding moves like the recent one to end fact-checking, or going on Joe Rogan’s podcast to brag that he’s making Facebook “more MAGA-friendly,” Eisenberg says, “I wonder if that’s really an extension of that same person, a person whose ambition sort of supercedes their caution in a way that can be pretty dangerous.”
He says, of where Meta/Facebook has gone in the last decade, and who Zuck has become, “I feel a little bit sad. Like, ‘Why is this the path you’re taking?’… This is that same person that I spent a long time humanizing and thinking about and trying to justify his behavior.”
Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin mentioned last year that he is working on a script for a January 6th movie, which no doubt could get greenlit this year, which sounds like it could center on Facebook and decisions around content moderation following the 2020 election. He added that he “blames Facebook” for the January 6th debacle (though surely we have to blame Twitter and Telegram too).
E! Online took this to mean this could be a sequel to The Social Network, but it could also just be a different film in which Zuckerberg figures in as a supporting character.
When asked if he would be up for reprising his role as the older but un-wiser Zuckerberg, Eisenberg told E! in November, “Will I be in that movie? Yeah, I’ll be in anything.”
| The Five of Swords This card, the Lord of Defeat, has much more to do with how we limit ourselves in order to avoid disappointment, than it does to do with external events. Nobody ever gets every single thing they want out of life. But if, to avoid additional pain, they don’t take chances and risks, then they will end up never achieving their fullest potential, never seeking out success, and always feeling as though life has somehow done the dirty deed to them.A day ruled by the Five of Swords may have more than its fair share of setbacks. You might get news that you don’t want, or have one of your hopes dented a bit. If that is the type of day you have, don’t turn that disappointment into fear. Spend some time with your feelings. You are entitled to feel let down when something that matters to you goes awry. Do something gentle with yourself, to remind yourself of the things which are right in your life. Give yourself a good cuddle. And then dust off your disappointment, and decide which course of action will serve you best in order to try to follow through on what you need.Very often, when we get a knock-back, we compound it by beating ourselves up. In no time at all, the original disappointment has been overwhelmed by a bunch of other negative thoughts and attitudes that hurt and damage us. By the time we’ve finished we are desperately distressed, have kicked our self-esteem into touch, and feel completely incapable of contributing anything useful or worthwhile.If, instead of doing this, we empathise with ourselves, we will find the original disappointment easier to get into perspective, against the backcloth of the rest of our lives. We will find it simpler to see the REAL problem, rather than cloaking it with a bunch of insecurities and difficulties. And we will not gather fear around us which makes us hesitate when taking the next necessary step.If, on a day ruled by the Lord of Defeat, it is not outside events which cause problems, then spend time thinking about your overall attitudes. Seek out your fears about defeat, and confront them. Call them by name, and challenge them out into the light, where you can get a good look at them. Fearing pain does not stop us experiencing it. But living in accordance with fear can stop us from experiencing life. Affirmation: “I welcome success and fortune into my life.” |
(Angelpaths.com)