 SUNDAY MEETING, August 31 11:00 am Pacific/Noon Mountain/1:00 pm Central/ 2:00 pm Eastern |
 Pam Rodolph, H.W., M. presents… “What is High Watch and Mentorship?” Join us for this stimulating exploration of the role of a High Watch and Mentor, delivered by Pam Rodolph, H.W., M. Pam is a long-time student and Mentor, and you’ll love to hear her insights. Pam writes: “I believe we are in the age of Mentorship, of applied wisdom, of diminished aggression with subsequent development of inner sight. Because I believe we are all called to the level of Mentorship, I think the age of pure student is over. No one gets a break. I think all of us are called to “walk the talk.” I hope I can say something you may not have thought about, something that puts new energy into your continued pursuit of everything good in life….” For further information, click here: https://www.theprosperos.org/prosperos-events/sunday-talk-23-06-2024-mjscy Join Sunday Meeting By contribution. Please click here to contribute: Contribute! Call In Information: +16699006833,,332275676# US (San Jose) +13462487799,,332275676# US (Houston) Dial by your location +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 301 715 8592 US +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 USMeeting ID: 332 275 676 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abtcyLDACK |
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Lincoln on the real danger to America
The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions
Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois
January 27, 1838
At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?– Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!–All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeating the Confederate States and playing a major role in the abolition of slavery. Wikipedia
Book: “The Origins of Totalitarianism”
Library of America #389
The Origins of Totalitarianism
Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt’s definitive work on totalitarianism and an essential component of any study of twentieth-century political history
The Origins of Totalitarianism begins with the rise of anti-Semitism in central and western Europe in the 1800s and continues with an examination of European colonial imperialism from 1884 to the outbreak of World War I. Arendt explores the institutions and operations of totalitarian movements, focusing on the two genuine forms of totalitarian government in our time—Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia—which she adroitly recognizes were two sides of the same coin, rather than opposing philosophies of Right and Left. From this vantage point, she discusses the evolution of classes into masses, the role of propaganda in dealing with the nontotalitarian world, the use of terror, and the nature of isolation and loneliness as preconditions for total domination.
About the author
Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt (1906 – 1975) was one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century. Born into a German-Jewish family, she was forced to leave Germany in 1933 and lived in Paris for the next eight years, working for a number of Jewish refugee organisations. In 1941 she immigrated to the United States and soon became part of a lively intellectual circle in New York. She held a number of academic positions at various American universities until her death in 1975. She is best known for two works that had a major impact both within and outside the academic community. The first, The Origins of Totalitarianism, published in 1951, was a study of the Nazi and Stalinist regimes that generated a wide-ranging debate on the nature and historical antecedents of the totalitarian phenomenon. The second, The Human Condition, published in 1958, was an original philosophical study that investigated the fundamental categories of the vita activa (labor, work, action). In addition to these two important works, Arendt published a number of influential essays on topics such as the nature of revolution, freedom, authority, tradition and the modern age. At the time of her death in 1975, she had completed the first two volumes of her last major philosophical work, The Life of the Mind, which examined the three fundamental faculties of the vita contemplativa (thinking, willing, judging).
(Goodreads.com)
Hannah Arendt’s “The Origins of Totalitarianism” (Parts 1-6)
Th Mar 5, 2022 In this episode, I begin my presentation of Hannah Arendt’s “The Origins of Totalitarianism.” If you want to support me, you can do that with these links: Patreon: / theoryandphilosophy paypal.me/theoryphilosophy Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy Podbean: https://theoretician.podbean.com/
Ask & learn
Learn by asking questions, practicing and getting guidance
Why Dictators Fear Open Minds with Edi Bilimoria
Six Decades in Parapsychology with Charles T. Tart (1937 – 2025)
New Thinkin Aug 25, 2025 Charles T. Tart, PhD, was emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, as well as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. He was a past-president of the Parapsychological Association. He has published over 100 scientific papers in parapsychology. He was editor of several anthologies including Altered States of Consciousness, Transpersonal Psychologies, Mind at Large, and Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality. Books that he has authored include Psi: Scientific Studies in the Psychic Realm, States of Consciousness, The End of Materialism, Learning to Use Extrasensory Perception, On Being Stoned, Waking Up, and Open Mind – Discriminating Mind. In this video, rebooted from 2016 he states that his interest in parapsychology arose from his desire to integrate scientific and spiritual approaches to life. He describes his association, in the 1950s, with researcher Andrija Puharich at the Roundtable Foundation in Maine. He successfully replicated Puharich’s research using a Faraday cage to enhance ESP abilities. He also reviews his own research in the area of precognition. He emphasizes his opinion that parapsychology research has shown that the human mind cannot simply be reduced to the activity of the brain. He suggests that the theologians of different religions could benefit from studying the findings of parapsychology. 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 currently serves as Co-Director of Parapsychology Education at the California Institute for Human Science. (Recorded on November 9, 2016)
Parents of teenager who took his own life sue OpenAI
2 days ago (BBC.com)
Nadine YousifBBC News
A California couple are suing OpenAI over the death of their teenage son, alleging its chatbot, ChatGPT, encouraged him to take his own life.
The lawsuit was filed by Matt and Maria Raine, parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, in the Superior Court of California on Tuesday. It is the first legal action accusing OpenAI of wrongful death.
The family included chat logs between Adam, who died in April, and ChatGPT that show him explaining he has suicidal thoughts. They argue the programme validated his “most harmful and self-destructive thoughts”.
In a statement, OpenAI told the BBC it was reviewing the filing.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to the Raine family during this difficult time,” the company said.
It also published a note on its website on Tuesday that said “recent heartbreaking cases of people using ChatGPT in the midst of acute crises weigh heavily on us”. It added that “ChatGPT is trained to direct people to seek professional help,” such as the 988 suicide and crisis hotline in the US or the Samaritans in the UK.
The company acknowledged, however, that “there have been moments where our systems did not behave as intended in sensitive situations”.
Warning: This story contains distressing details.
The lawsuit, obtained by the BBC, accuses OpenAI of negligence and wrongful death. It seeks damages as well as “injunctive relief to prevent anything like this from happening again”.
According to the lawsuit, Adam began using ChatGPT in September 2024 as a resource to help him with school work. He was also using it to explore his interests, including music and Japanese comics, and for guidance on what to study at university.
In a few months, “ChatGPT became the teenager’s closest confidant,” the lawsuit says, and he began opening up to it about his anxiety and mental distress.
By January 2025, the family says he began discussing methods of suicide with ChatGPT.
Adam also uploaded photographs of himself to ChatGPT showing signs of self harm, the lawsuit says. The programme “recognised a medical emergency but continued to engage anyway,” it adds.
According to the lawsuit, the final chat logs show that Adam wrote about his plan to end his life. ChatGPT allegedly responded: “Thanks for being real about it. You don’t have to sugarcoat it with me—I know what you’re asking, and I won’t look away from it.”
That same day, Adam was found dead by his mother, according to the lawsuit.
The family alleges that their son’s interaction with ChatGPT and his eventual death “was a predictable result of deliberate design choices”.
They accuse OpenAI of designing the AI programme “to foster psychological dependency in users,” and of bypassing safety testing protocols to release GPT-4o, the version of ChatGPT used by their son.
The lawsuit lists OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman as a defendant, as well as unnamed employees, managers and engineers who worked on ChatGPT.
In its public note shared on Tuesday, OpenAI said the company’s goal is to be “genuinely helpful” to users rather than “hold people’s attention”.
It added that its models have been trained to steer people who express thoughts of self-harm towards help.
The Raines lawsuit is not the first time concerns have been raised about AI and mental health.
In an essay published last week in the New York Times, writer Laura Reiley outlined how her daughter, Sophie, confided in ChatGPT before taking her own life.
Ms Reiley said the programme’s “agreeability” in its conversations with users helped her daughter mask a severe mental health crisis from her family and loved ones.
“AI catered to Sophie’s impulse to hide the worst, to pretend she was doing better than she was, to shield everyone from her full agony,” Ms Reiley wrote. She called on AI companies to find ways to better connect users with the right resources.
In response to the essay, a spokeswoman for OpenAI said it was developing automated tools to more effectively detect and respond to users experiencing mental or emotional distress.
If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide: www.befrienders.org.
In the UK, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. Readers in the US and Canada can call the 988 suicide helpline or visit its website.
Sarte on the meaning of life
“Life has no meaning a priori… It is up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing but the meaning that you choose.”
~ Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, and novelist who is considered a central figure in 20th century existentialism and Marxism. His work, which includes Nausea and Being and Nothingness, explored themes of human existence and absurdity. Sartre’s experiences during World War II, including imprisonment, strengthened his commitment to resisting oppression, which is reflected in his essays and plays. (Wikipedia.org)
Suggestibility
Burning Man 2025 battered by storms, but many say hardships are worth it
By Aidin Vaziri, Zara Irshad,Staff Writers
Aug 28, 2025 (SFChronicle.com)
The El Pulpo Magnifico art installation at Burning Man. This year’s events have been battered by storms, mud and long delays, but many Burners say the hardships build camaraderie and are worth the effort. Martin Rodriguez/Courtesy of Burning Man
At this year’s Burning Man, battered by sandstorms, rain and hours-long traffic delays, some participants say the hardships are part of the experience. Others aren’t so sure.
“The weather this year is not easy,” said Kate Sledkova, 36, a Utah-based artist. “The first day, there were sandstorms. From the second day, it has been raining, and it is impossible to move.”
- Unexpected birth: Burning man attendee gives birth to baby girl amid storm, festivalgoers say
- Related: Burning Man’s infamous Orgy Dome won’t reopen, organizers say
- More: Burning Man attendee electrocuted as gates close again amid storms
The desert festival in Nevada’s Black Rock City began Sunday, following a weekend of brutal storms that battered camps, tore down art installations and caused dozens of injuries. Yet Sledkova, attending her second Burning Man, said morale in her camp remains strong.
Her team installed two artworks — “Hand of Fate,” a 15-foot steel-and-polycarbonate hand, and “An Event Horizon,” a vortex of pulsing lights — both of which survived the storms. Pieces like the Ukrainian-built inflatable sculpture “Black Cloud” weren’t so lucky.
“Everyone is not sad despite the weather,” she said. “Real participants are ready for everything. We have respirators and rubber boots and we are in a great mood.”
Some expressed a similar sense of resilience. Vallejo residents Charles Mae Wanamaker (whose spouse is a Chronicle editor) and Hope Nastri said their camp had to rebuild three times.
“A lot of the newer people didn’t really take the time to research,” Wanamaker, 42, said. “I mean, you’re vacationing in a place where the world is trying to kill you.”
Online, frustration mounted. One Reddit user described being pummeled by 50 mph winds.
“I haven’t felt terror like that before,” they wrote Wednesday. “Rocks and pebbles sand-blasting my skin, hearing large objects whipping by me, unable to see even two feet in front of me … That’s going to stick with me for a long time.”
Though a stranger offered them shelter, they said swarms of mosquitoes drove them to abandon the festival.
“Despite meeting wonderful people and seeing old friends, the experience was a nightmare,” they wrote. “I quit my tenth Burn, and I absolutely made the right choice.”
Veterans agreed that experienced Burners know how to endure the low points.
“Everyone I was surrounded by was well prepared,” said Matthew F. Reyes, known on the Playa as motorbikematt, who volunteers on the festival’s live webcast team. “Burners tend to put themselves in risky situations and enjoy preparing accordingly. This year felt no different in that regard.”
Despite the widespread destruction caused by the storms, organizers stressed there are more than 1,100 placed theme camps — along with hundreds more unplaced camps — across the Playa. Most of them survived the extreme weather.
Still, repeated storms took their toll. “The uniquely bad grind this year was the timing and frequency of the storms,” Reyes said. “Our internal ‘Burner clock’ has been collectively reset.”
By midweek, vehicles were again entering the site, though muddy conditions forced intermittent gate closures and delays of up to eight hours each day. Organizers reminded attendees to keep electrical gear dry after a reported electrocution on Tuesday night resulted in one man being airlifted to a trauma center. (No update on the man’s condition was available as of Thursday.)
Despite the setbacks, about 70,000 people are expected through Monday, Sept. 1.
Many Burners believe the coming days — capped by Saturday’s climactic burn of the large wooden effigy of The Man — will redeem the festival again defined by Nevada’s unforgiving desert.
“The hardship definitely builds camaraderie,” Nastri said. “Everybody has a mid-week meltdown, that’s just expected. If you can overcome it, the thrill is really pretty amazing.”
Aug 28, 2025
STAFF WRITER
Aidin Vaziri is a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle.
STAFF WRITER
Zara Irshad is the Chronicle’s Arts & Entertainment Engagement Reporter. She joined the Chronicle as a summer 2023 intern for the Datebook team. She is a recent graduate of UC San Diego, where she studied communications. She previously interned for the San Diego Union-Tribune and wrote for her campus newspaper, the Guardian, where she served as editor-in-chief. Irshad was part of the honors program for her major and double-minored in world literature and film studies.