#International Association for Near Death Studies

[hauntingsofafuturespast]

An interview with Rosemary Thornton on her Temporary Death Experience and Healing

This is an interview done with Rosemary Thortnon, by Alex Ferrari, who died for 10 minutes and came back to life after having a very vivid Near Death/Temporary Death Experience.

2.17.24

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Supercomputer simulations of giant radio galaxy formation challenge current theoretical models

Enabled by supercomputing, University of Pretoria (UP) researchers have led an international team of astronomers that has provided deeper insight into the entire life cycle (birth, growth and death) of giant radio galaxies, which resemble "cosmic fountains"—jets of superheated gas that are ejected into near-empty space from their spinning supermassive black holes.

The findings of this breakthrough study were published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, and challenge known theoretical models by explaining how extragalactic cosmic fountains grow to cover such colossal distances, raising new questions about the mechanisms behind these vast cosmic structures.

The research team—which was led by astrophysicist Dr. Gourab Giri, who holds a postdoctoral fellowship from the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory at UP— consisted of Associate Professor Kshitij Thorat and Extraordinary Professor Roger Deane of UP's Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences; Prof Joydeep Bagchi of Christ University in India; Prof DJ Sailkia of the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, also in India; and Dr. Jacinta Delhaize of the University of Cape Town (UCT).

This study tackles a key question in modern astrophysics: how these structures, which are larger than galaxies and are made up of black hole jets, interact over cosmological timescales with their very thin, gaseous surroundings.

"We mimicked the flow of the jets of the fountains in the universe to observe how they propagate themselves over hundreds of millions of years—a process that is, of course, impossible to track directly in the real cosmos," Dr. Giri explains.

"These sophisticated simulations enable a clearer understanding of the likely life cycle of radio galaxies by revealing the differences between their smaller, early stages and giant, mature stages. Understanding the evolution of radio galaxies is vital for deepening our knowledge of the formation and development of the universe."

"While such studies are computationally expensive," Prof Thorat adds, "the team embarked on this adventure informed by the exciting, cutting-edge observations carried out by new-generation radio telescopes, such as the South African MeerKAT telescope, which has been instrumental in providing us with the details of the structure of these cosmic fountains."

Astronomers study galaxies for more than just the stars they can see, Dr. Giri says. "We also look at many, often interrelated, phenomena. One of the most amazing things to see is when a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy, which is relatively tiny in size compared to the galaxies they grow in, 'wakes up' and starts eating up lots of nearby gas and dust. This isn't a calm, slow or passive process.

"As the black hole pulls in material, the material gets superheated and is ejected from the galaxy at near-light speeds, creating powerful jets that look like cosmic fountains. These fountains emit radio signals as the accelerated high-speed plasma matter generates radio waves. These signals are detected by very powerful radio telescopes, built through the collaborative efforts of multiple countries working together."

"With the recent advent of powerful and sensitive radio telescopes—such as MeerKAT in South Africa, the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) in Europe and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India—astronomers are now detecting these fountains even in their faintest stages," Dr. Giri adds.

"These advanced telescopes can capture the weakest signals from dying or fading parts of the jet, leading to new discoveries of more such extended sources that were previously undetectable."

The study also implies that these giant jets may be more common than previously thought.

Since the discovery of these high-speed fountains in the 1970s, astronomers have been curious about how far the ejected matter travels before eventually fading out. The answer was astounding as they began to discover that cosmic jets travel vast distances—some reaching nearly 16 million light-years (nearly six times the distance between the Milky Way and Andromeda).

"I took on the challenge of developing theoretical models for these sources, rigorously testing the models with the advanced capabilities of modern supercomputers," Dr. Giri says.

"This computer-driven study aimed to simulate the behavior of giant cosmic jets within a mock universe, constructed according to known physical laws governing the cosmos. Our primary focus was to answer two questions: Is the enormous size of these jets due to their exceptionally high speeds; or is it because they travel through regions of space that are nearly empty of surrounding matter, offering minimal resistance to the jets' free propagation?"

The UP-led study presents evidence that a combination of these considerations is a key aspect in the formation of these giant jets.

With the help of the supercomputing power of the Inter-University Institute for Data Astronomy (a collaborative network consisting of UP, UCT and the University of Western Cape), the international research team was able to analyze the vast quantities of simulated data, effectively spanning millions of years.

"These computer-based models, which simulate jet evolution in a mock universe, do more than explain the origin of most giant radio galaxies," Dr. Giri says.

"They're also powerful enough to address puzzling exceptions that have confused astronomers in this field. For example, they help explain how some cosmic fountains bend sharply, forming the shape of an X in radio waves instead of following a straight path, and clarify the conditions under which giant fountains can still grow in dense cosmic environments." These findings can be tested further by radio astronomers using advanced telescopes.

"Studies like this lead the way in formulating our understanding of these wonderful objects from a theoretical perspective," Prof Thorat adds. "This provides a complementary picture to deep-sky observations by telescopes like MeerKAT and the upcoming SKA, making simulations a key tool along with artificial intelligence techniques and high-performance computing to maximize the discovery space and optimize the scientific understanding of these and other 'exotic' objects."

Prof Sunil Maharaj, Vice-Principal for Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Education at UP, noted that the University is proud of the rapid growth of its radio astronomy research group.

"This was enabled by strategic investment in the Inter-University Institute for Data Astronomy and key personnel focused on science with world-leading African telescopes," he says.

"It's just one example of UP's leadership role in harnessing cutting-edge technology that increases Africa's contributions to pushing scientific frontiers while developing the next generation of researchers on the continent. The research we are doing today is opening up new worlds and possibilities for the future."

TOP IMAGE: An artistic representation of what a giant cosmic jet the size of the distance between the Milky Way and Andromeda could look like (image for illustrative purposes only). Credit: University of Pretoria

CENTRE IMAGE: Depiction of the scale of a cosmic fountain ejection. Credit: University of Pretoria

LOWER IMAGE: Simulation "GRG_lp_min" (low-powered jet propagating along the minor axis of the environment) showcasing the structure of the evolved GRG at the highlighted age. Top-left panel: x − y variation of (ρ/ρ0), accompanied by contours of velocity (0.1c for white, 0.01c for black). Credit: Astronomy & Astrophysics (2024). DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451812

[reikiajakoiranruohoja]

The gothicness of dogs

I was watching Lavendertowne's video on senses as monsters, where she mused how a cadaver dog is a morbid job for a dog. And that got me thinking on the morbidness and gothicness of dogs. We usually associate the words 'morbid' and 'gothic' with cats, since cats have been seen as some sort of mystical creature in most cultures over the centuries. Cats do deserve it,too, as they are efficient killers who tend to stalk at night. Dogs, on the other hand, have been stereotyped as happy-go-lucky goofballs who are the very opposite of cats. At most, Anubis from Ancient Egyptian mythology is seen as gothic, but Anubis' species is still in question. However, I'd say between cats and dogs, dogs are far more prone to being morbid. The domestic cat is a very straight subspecies of the African Wild Cat, therefore it has kept its hunting skills sharp (technically, at least.) Dogs, meanwhile, came from a now extinct wolf-like creature that ate the scraps around human campfires. It is this scrap eating that makes dogs so morbid if you live anywhere near the woods. Especially if the dog you own has a prey drive. Dogs seek out carcasses, whether animal or human. Many bodies dumped in woods have been found by a dog walker whose dog followed the scent of death. It isn't just carcasses that dogs can track, there have been studies on dogs detecting cancer through smell. They can smell a diabetic shock and even seizures before they happen. While cats have a great sense of smell as well, dogs are far more adept at using it. Hence the long snout.

It shouldn't be forgotten, of course, that dogs are also capable of killing their prey. While a cat tears its prey apart, dogs have jaws that crush bone and muscle with ease. Often wounds made by dogs look far less severe than they actually are, because the damage is mostly internal. While a cat might bring you dead mice or parts of them, a dog will lead you to an already dead thing and then tries to eat it. Even beneath thick snow cover, if there is a dead rat or a hare, a dog will find it. It should also be noted that for every fluffy poodle-mix, there is a far less cuddly husky or a mastiff.

[hauntingsofafuturespast]

Temporary death experiences.

Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD - A Lifetime of Studying the Paranormal

What is an NDE?

A near-death experience (NDE) is typically a profound, life changing, intensely emotional experience that usually occurs during a clinical crisis and has common characteristics and aftereffects. It is not a dream, hallucination, or mental illness (Greyson, 1983). There are no predictive variables to identify who will have an NDE. They happen to people of all ages, religions, socio-economic groups, cultures, educational backgrounds, and belief systems. They occur under a variety of circumstances such as accidents, near-drownings, illnesses, combat, surgical procedures, and childbirth. Following an NDE, experiencers (NDErs) often display some common aftereffects. Research has established a set of common NDE characteristics and long-term aftereffects. Theories used to explain near-death experiences in purely physical terms have been proven inadequate by NDE researchers and others.

[sataniccapitalist]

#thewaronyou

Another winter of death is now unfolding in the United States and across the Northern Hemisphere as the JN.1 variant of the coronavirus continues to surge globally. Wastewater data from the United States released Tuesday indicate that upwards of 2 million people are now being infected with COVID-19 each day, amid the second-biggest wave of mass infection since the pandemic began, eclipsed only by the initial wave of the Omicron variant during the winter of 2021-22.

There are now reports on social media of hospitals being slammed with COVID patients across the US, Canada and Europe. At a growing number of hospitals, waiting rooms are overflowing, emergency rooms and ICUs are at or near capacity, and ambulances are being turned away or forced to wait for hours to drop off their patients.

According to official figures, COVID-19 hospitalizations in Charlotte, North Carolina are now at their highest levels of the entire pandemic. In Toronto, Dr. Michael Howlett, president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, told City News, “I’ve worked in emergency departments since 1987, and it’s by far the worst it’s ever been. It’s not even close.” He added, “We’ve got people dying in waiting rooms because we don’t have a place to put them. People being resuscitated on an ambulance stretcher or a floor.”

Dr. Joseph Khabbaza, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, told the Today Show website: “The current strain right now seems to be packing a meaner punch than the prior strains. Some features of the current circulating strain probably (make it) a little bit more virulent and pathogenic, making people sicker than prior (variants).”

Indeed, two recent studies indicate that JN.1 more efficiently infects cells in the lower lung, a trait that existed in pre-Omicron strains which were considered more deadly. One study from researchers in Germany and France noted that BA.2.86, the variant nicknamed “Pirola” from which JN.1 evolved, “has regained a trait characteristic of early SARS-CoV-2 lineages: robust lung cell entry. The variant might constitute an elevated health threat as compared to previous Omicron sublineages.”https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/1MGIQxPf0Ig?rel=0An appeal from David North: Donate to the WSWS todayWatch the video message from WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North.DONATE TODAY

The toll on human life from the ongoing wave of mass infection is enormous. It is estimated that one-third of the American population, or over 100 million human beings, will contract COVID-19 during just the current wave. This will likely result in tens of thousands of deaths, many of which will not be properly logged due to the dismantling of COVID-19 testing and data reporting systems in the US. When The Economist last updated its tracker of excess deaths on November 18—before the JN.1 wave began—the cumulative death toll stood at 27.4 million, and nearly 5,000 people were continuing to die each day worldwide.

The current wave will also induce further mass suffering from Long COVID, which has been well known since 2020 to cause a multitude of lingering and often debilitating effects. Just last week, a pre-print study was published in Nature Portfolio showing that COVID-19 infection can cause brain damage akin to aging 20 years. The consequences are mental deficits that induce depression, reduced ability to handle intense emotions, lowered attention span, and impaired ability to retain information.

Other research indicates that the virus can attack the heart, the immune system, digestion and essentially every other critical bodily function. The initial symptoms of COVID-19 might resemble those of the flu, but the reality is that the virus can affect nearly every organ in the body and can do so for years after the initial infection. While vaccination slightly reduces the risks of Long COVID, the full impact of the virus will be felt for generations.

The latest winter wave of infections and hospitalizations takes place just eight months after the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Biden administration ended their COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declarations without any scientific justification. This initiated the wholesale scrapping of all official response to the pandemic, giving the virus free rein to infect the entire global population ad infinitum.

A virtual blackout of any mention of the coronavirus in the corporate media accompanied the swan song of official reporting. From then on, if illnesses at hospitals or among public figures were referenced at all, it was always with the euphemism “respiratory illness.” The words COVID, coronavirus and pandemic have been all but blacklisted, and the facts about the dangers of the disease have been actively suppressed.

Summarizing the cumulative results of this global assault on public health, the WSWS International Editorial Board wrote in its New Year 2024 statement:

All facts and data surrounding the present state of the pandemic are concealed from the global population, which has instead been subjected to unending lies, gaslighting and propaganda, now shrouded in a veil of silence. There is a systematic cover-up of the real gravity of the crisis, enforced by the government, the corporations, the media and the trade union bureaucracies. Official policy has devolved into simply ignoring, denying and falsifying the reality of the pandemic, no matter what the consequences, as millions are sickened and thousands die globally every day.

In response to the latest wastewater data, there have only been a handful of news articles, most of which have sought to downplay the severity of the current wave and largely ignored the deepening crisis in hospitals.

The official blackout has given rise to an extraordinary contradiction in social life. The reality of mass infection means that everyone knows a friend, neighbor, family member or coworker who is currently or was recently sick, or even hospitalized or killed, by COVID-19. Yet the unrelenting pressure to dismiss the danger of the pandemic means that shopping centers, supermarkets, workplaces and even doctor’s offices and hospitals are full of people not taking the basic and simple precaution of masking to protect themselves. Every visit outside one’s home carries the risk of being infected, with unknown long-term consequences.

As the pandemic enters its fifth year, it is critical to draw the lessons of this world historical experience. The past four years have demonstrated unequivocally that capitalist governments are both unwilling and incapable of fighting this disease. Their primary concern has always been to ensure the unabated accumulation of profits by corporations, no matter the cost in human lives and health.

The real solution to the coronavirus is not to ignore it, but to develop a campaign of elimination and eradication of the virus worldwide. To do so requires the implementation of mask mandates, mass testing and contact tracing, as well as the installation of updated ventilation systems and the safe deployment of Far-UVC technology to halt the spread of the virus. The resources for this global public health program must be expropriated from the banks and financial institutions, which are responsible for the mass suffering wrought by the pandemic.

All of these measures cut directly across the profit motive and the real disease of society: capitalism. As such, the struggle against the coronavirus is not primarily medical or scientific, but political and social. The international working class must be educated on the real dangers of the pandemic and mobilized to simultaneously stop the spread of the disease and put an end to the underlying social order that propagates mass death. This must be developed as a revolutionary struggle to establish world socialism.

[fatehbaz]

Razak Iyal and Seidu Mohammed recently celebrated becoming Canadian citizens. Their stories have been intertwined since they crossed the Canada-United States border to seek asylum near Emerson, Manitoba, on Christmas eve of 2016. Their lives nearly ended on that frigid night at the side of a rural road.

The two men survived but both lost all their fingers to frostbite.

Others have not survived. On March 31 [2023], two families perished at the Quebec-US border, including an infant and a three-year-old.

Stories like Razak and Seidu’s have captured intense political and public attention in Canada.

Why aren’t people going to official ports of entry?

The answer is that the law, specifically the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between the US and Canada, deters people from using official border entry points because they will be turned away and denied the opportunity to make a refugee claim. Canada has acknowledged these crossings by erecting pop-up border stations like one at Roxham Road, facilitating the movement of migrants. Quebec’s premier and main opposition leader have called for this makeshift port of entry to be shut down. And now, as part of US President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Canada, the two countries have decided to do just that, under a renegotiated STCA that came into effect starting midnight on Friday, March 24 [2023]. 

Now anyone crossing any point of the Canada-US land border to make a refugee claim will be turned away.

---

They will not be able to make a refugee claim and will be sent back to the US side of the border.

Until now, this agreement only applied at official land ports of entry which pushed people seeking asylum to cross at unofficial points and made the remote Roxham Road that dead-ends at the boundary line between Hemmingford, Quebec, and Champlain, New York, a legal and well-travelled option.

The newly expanded STCA now applies across the entire Canada-US land border, including areas between official ports of entry and certain bodies of water. Anyone making an asylum claim within 14 days of crossing without authorisation or valid immigration status will be brought back to a US port of entry and excluded from being able to make a claim in Canada. [...]

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Advocates argued that the agreement not only infringes migrants’ rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but also violates Canada’s international legal obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention [...]. Rather than suspending the agreement as many refugees and their advocates have long called for, the Canadian government has instead expanded it even though its legality is in question. [...]

How many deaths and other casualties of the STCA will it take before Canada reconsiders its reliance on increasingly restrictive and short-sighted policies? For the answer is blowing in the frigid wind along the US-Canada border: the Safe Third Country Agreement offers no real safety [...].

---

Text by: Jamie Liew, Petra Molnar, and Julie Young. “The new US-Canada border deal is inhumane - and deadly.” Al Jazeera. 19 April 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.] Liew is a lawyer and associate professor at University of Ottawa. Molnar is associate director of the Refugee Law Lab. Young is Canada Research Chair in Critical Border Studies and assistant professor in Department of Geography and Environment at University of Lethbridge.

A summary, from elsewhere:

The deal, which the Canadian government said would come into effect early on Saturday [25 March 2023], effectively extends the so-called Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) to the entire US-Canada border. “The United States and Canada will work together to discourage unlawful border crossings and fully implement the updated Safe Third Country Agreement,” US President Joe Biden said during an address to the Canadian parliament in Ottawa on Friday afternoon. But human rights groups said the move will not deter refugees and asylum seekers [...] but instead will push them to take riskier routes. [...] “This is very dangerous,” said Frantz Andre, spokesperson and coordinator of Comite d’action des personnes sans statut, a Montreal-based group that provides support for asylum seekers and others without immigration status. [...] Why is this happening now? Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been under political pressure domestically to respond to an increase in crossings, particularly from conservative politicians in Quebec and at the federal level.

Text by: Jillian Kestler-D’Amours. “What the new US-Canada border deal means for asylum seekers.” Al Jazeera. 24 March 2023.

[eowynstwin]

this is me asking for the monastery gelato story :)

I feel like this might be underwhelming lmao. So in May 2018, I went on a month-long study abroad trip to Florence, Italy to make art, eat pasta, and as it turned out sweat my ass off because Europe for some reason does not believe in the miracle of air conditioning.

The curriculum was VERY rigorous, not just academically but also physically by necessity of the fact that we had to walk fucking everywhere to get literally anywhere. I walked all over central Florence to get to museums, art galleries, various historical sites, and the international art school hosting us for in-studio classes.

One of the historical sites we visited was San Miniato al Monte, and I figured out the hard way that "al Monte" meant "at the top of a big fuckoff hill".

This is not my photo. The phone I took all my photos with for this trip shat itself in Venice when I left it next to a running sink. I have very few photos of this entire trip, and none of this story.

Luckily, we had a bus to drive us there! Just kidding. The bus took us from the station and deposited us at what I swear to god was the very base of the hill. We proceeded to walk up that hill for the next forty-five minutes.

Here's a fun fact about me: the heat makes my brain melt. I think it's an autistic thing. My brain also doesn't function when I'm hypoglycemic, which in Italy I always was because I'm a sensitive eater and didn't have enough time to figure out any safefoods (which I'll point out that at the time I didn't know was something I could or should do). Likely at that point in the day all I had eaten was a croissant and an espresso.

So I don't actually remember a lot about this day trip. I remember sweating like a whore in church (ha, get it, because it's a church), I remember a graveyard with old weathered statues, and getting eaten alive by mosquitos. We went inside, and I vaguely remember the interior.

Fun fact about churches in Italy, you have to cover your shoulders if you're a woman. I have a corny Venezia scarf from that trip to Venice that I had to buy last minute. But that's a story for another time!

So, after we got the tour we were set free to explore the grounds. Personally, I was not interested in exploring the grounds, on account of being near death by way of mosquitos and starvation and sweating every fluid from every pore. So I went to the gift shop. It was the only air conditioned building in the vicinity.

I remember there being a gorgeous rosebush outside the shop, heavy with pink blooms. I distinctly remember snapping a photo of the biggest of them, but that photo is lost to time and Apple products' vulnerability to singular drops of water. Before the gelato, that rose was the best part of my day--I've always loved flowers, and even when you're tired and hungry a pretty rose is going to remind you that life is not in fact horrible.

In the gift shop were displays of handmade little gifts directly from the monks that lived in the monastery. Little ceramic doodads and figurines, all hand painted and signed, lined the shelves, and in one corner of the shop was a waist-high freezer filled with plastic-capped paper cups.

I remember the pattern around the cups was green and pink and probably floral. I was of course minutes from death so I picked out the one that looked the fullest. It did not look impressive--just some chocolate ice cream, about the same size as little single serve cups you can get at Walmart or any gas station.

I paid maybe two euro for it, bought a little ceramic ewer to go with it (I don't have a picture of it but I'll post one later if I can find the thing), and found somewhere on the grounds to sit and eat.

I am an ex-Baptist and very passionate about that. I do not believe in the Christian god nor any of its associated divinity. But reader, when I took that first bite of gelato, Jesus Christ Himself floated down on a shaft of sunlight to stroke the hair away from my face and smile at me in the way a gentle parent might. The best ice cream I had ever eaten did not compare to how good this gelato was, on that hot Italian morning, in a quiet, weathered graveyard, with a rosebush swaying nearby in a breeze that finally seemed to be picking up.

I had gelato many, many times again on that trip--even from a very famous gelateria, Amorino, that you will probably find all over social media because they sculpt flowers out of gelato on a cone.

Not my picture. Venice must always have its pound of flesh. Apple products are more suicidal than lemmings.

But nothing, not a single scoop, compared to that little paper cup of gelato. I will likely never be able to find that gelato again, because to be candid I'm not even totally sure it was the San Miniato monastery we went to. Time, mental illness, and trauma have stolen a lot of memories from me. But I will never forget that little moment of piece and sweetness for as long as I live.

[dd20century]

Henry Dreyfuss: Groundbreaking UI Designer Part Two

This is the second in a two-part series on designer Henry Dreyfuss. Read part one.

World War II and a Move to California

Henry Dreyfuss, Raymond Loewy, and Walter Dorwin Teague designed a series of strategy rooms for the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff at the beginning of World War II. Dreyfuss’s contribution was “four 13-foot rotating globes, one each for Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, and the Joint Chiefs” (1).

In February 1944, when The Society of Industrial Designers (SID) was founded Walter Dorwin Teague was its first president, and Dreyfuss served as the organization’s first vice-president. After the War, Dreyfuss moved his family to Pasadena, California, and “opened a second office near his home” (2). In 1946, William F. H. Purcell and Robert Hose became partners in the firm. (1)

Henry Dreyfuss, SS Constitution for American Export Lines (1950). Image source.

In the early 1950s, Dreyfuss designed two steamships, SS Independence and SS Constitution for American Export Lines. (3) For these ships, he developed aluminum deck chairs to replace the heavier wooden deck chairs. (5) Although his firm had done consulting work for Honeywell since the late 1930s, it wasn’t until 1953, Dreyfuss designed the most important product for that firm, the round Honeywell thermostat, “which allowed it to fit cleanly on a wall whether it was askew or not, unlike rectangular ones which frequently appeared crooked”(4).

Henry Dreyfuss, Thermostat for Honeywell (1953). Image source.

During this time Dreyfuss continued working with Bell Laboratories. “In 1949 Dreyfuss updated Bell’s Model 300 telephone with the model 500, which would become the first phone to be offered in a color other than black beginning in 1954. It would ultimately go on to be the most popular phone ever made”(4). An updated version of the wall telephone and the Princess phone were introduced during this decade.

Henry Dreyfuss, Bell Laboratories Model 500 telephone (1949). Image source.

The 1950s also saw Dreyfuss publish his seminal design book, Designing for People. “The book illustrated his ethical and aesthetic principles, [and] included design case studies, many anecdotes” (5), along with anthropometric charts. A second book dealing with ergonomics, The Measure of Man, was published in 1960. (1)

Dreyfuss’s Late Career

During the 1960s Henry Dreyfuss Associates clients included American Safety Razor Company and Polaroid Land Company, which introduced his design for the model 100 camera in 1963. Also during this time, his firm was responsible for the rebranding of American Airlines and continued to collaborate with its long-time client Deere & Company designing four new tractor models during the decade. (3)

Image source.

In 1965 several professional design organizations, including The Society of Industrial Designers, merged to form the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). Dreyfuss was its first president. (7)

Henry Dreyfuss retired from the design firm that bore his name in 1969, but remained working “with top management of several clients to analyze and improve their contact with customers”(3). In 1972 Dreyfuss, along with his wife Doris, worked on Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols, a reference guide “of over 20,000 symbols [that] continues to provide a standard for industrial designers around the world”(4).

Henry Dreyfuss, Cover pages for Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols, McGraw Hil Publishers (1972). Image source.

The Tragic Deaths of Henry and Doris Dreyfuss

In 1972 Henry and Doris Dreyfuss had been happily married for 42 years, but Doris was suffering from terminal cancer. At one point the pain became too much for Doris to bear.  On October 5 of that year, the Dreyfusses went into the garage of their home at “500 Columbia Street in South Pasadena, California”(3), got into their car, and turned on the engine. “Within a few minutes they both died. They had lived their life together and ended it together”(7). “Authorities reported the cause of death as carbon monoxide poisoning”(3). The couple was survived by their son and two daughters.

Henry Dreyfuss Associates

The firm that Henry Dreyfuss founded in 1929, continued as Henry Dreyfuss Associates for over four decades after his death”(4). “After Dreyfuss’s retirement, Donald M. Genaro served as president of the company until 1994. In the 1970s, Henry Dreyfuss Associates was responsible for designing the “interiors of nuclear-powered Trident missile submarines”(3). In the next decade, the company “added a major new client in Falcon Jet Company”(3), and was averaging about 50 new products a year. (2)

When Genaro stepped down as president in 1994, a team of several partners took control of the firm. During the 1990s a new utility vehicle was designed for long-time client John Deere, and the company designed the interiors of a line of business jets for the Astra Jet company. Projects for AT&T in 1992 included a notebook computer and a smartphone “which featured an onscreen keyboard”(2).

Henry Dreyfuss Associates relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2004. (3)

The Legacy of Henry Dreyfuss

In 1963, “Henry Dreyfuss became a trustee of Caltech,… though he had been a faculty member of the engineering division for many years, and had annually lectured on industrial design to students in Business Economics”(5).

In 1996 a major retrospective of the work of Henry Dreyfuss appeared at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, the same year a book on his work was published. The Industrial Designers Society of America posthumously awarded Dreyfuss the Individual Achievement Award in 2004. (2) The Henry Dreyfuss Archives are located in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

A second retrospective of Dreyfuss’s work was held in 2020 at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa. Currently the Cooper-Hewitt celebrates the 50th anniversary of Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols with a special exhibition that runs through Spring 2024.

Henry Dreyfuss’s genius spans product design, graphic design, user interface design, as well as business and marketing. His greatest contribution to design is emphasizing the importance of the utility and usability of a product as well as its style.

References

Industrial Designers Society of America, (2023). Henry Dreyfuss, FIDSA. https://www.idsa.org/profile/henry-dreyfuss/

Uhle, F. (n.d.). Henry Dreyfuss Associates, LLC. https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/henry-dreyfuss-associates-llc

Wikipedia, (24 February, 2023). Henry Dreyfuss. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Dreyfuss

Futurama, of the city of, designed by Norman Bel Geddes for the General Motors Exhibit at the New York World's Fair in 1939. New York, 1939. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2012645722/.

Dreyfuss, J. (22 October, 1972). Henry and Doris Dreyfuss. https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/2944/1/dreyfuss.pdf

Industrial Designers Society of America, (2023).  Our Story. https://www.idsa.org/about-idsa/our-story/

Jones, R. A., (7 May, 1997). Our Dreyfuss Affair. La Times Website. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-07-me-56286-story.html

[lboogie1906]

Attorney Roger Wood Wilkins (March 25, 1932 - March 26, 2017) attorney, civil rights activist, journalist, and historian was born in Kansas City, Missouri to Earl and Helen Jackson. His father was a business manager for the Kansas City Call newspaper, and his mother was the first Black president of the YWCA. After his father’s death, they moved to Harlem and lived near relatives, one of whom was his uncle Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the NAACP. His mother remarried and the family relocated to Grand Rapids, Michigan. He earned a BA and JD from the University of Michigan. He served as an intern for Thurgood Marshall.

President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him assistant attorney general. He joined the Ford Foundation, where he oversaw funding for drug rehabilitation, job training, and education for the poor.

He started a new career in journalism, writing for the Washington Post, the newspaper received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for exposing the Watergate scandal. Members of the Pulitzer board cited the investigative work of reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward and the newspaper’s editorials, many of them written by him.

He joined the New York Times. He was the first African American on its editorial board and worked as an urban affairs columnist. He served as associate editor and writer for the Washington Star. He became a senior fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies. He helped establish the Free South Africa Movement.

He served on the board of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, chaired the Pulitzer Prize Board, and was a member of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. He became a professor of History and American culture at George Mason University.

He wrote Jefferson’s Pillow: The Founding Fathers and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism, a widely acclaimed study describing the contradictions between the ideals of the Founding Fathers from Virginia and their ownership of Black enslaved. He published The Crisis, the journal of the NAACP, for several years.

He was survived by his wife, Patricia A. King, one son, two daughters, two half-sisters, and two grandsons. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[thebardostate]

A Near-Death Experience from Drowning

Near-death experience of a 18-year-old boy (from International Association for Near-Death Studies website)

As soon as I started to breathe water, my body began to slow down quickly and I realized that I wasn’t going to escape. My last thought right before my spirit left the body was “Huh! Dying’s not so bad after all!” There was just a moment of panic, then acceptance, and my spirit was out of the body, seeming to leave through the top of my head. The next thing I knew, I was in outer space. There were no stars, just me and this glowing entity (my life). I call this entity the “space slug” because it had kind of an elongated aspect. It was every experience I have ever had. We experience reality in three dimensions tied together with time, which made it a four dimensional object. I remember thinking, wow look at that…four dimensions! It should be mentioned that I was still me. I never once stopped being me, nor did I lose consciousness. All I really lost was my body. My body died; I went on, and I was still me. So I’m out in this void, looking down at my life. I noticed that I could take in everything I’ve ever experienced in my entire life– every tree, every wave, every chalkboard–all at once, and it didn’t seem like all that much. It was what it was. I had the insight that we are so much more than we think we are. In a human body, our capacity for information is extremely limited compared to what we can handle in spirit form. I also noticed that some memories, or life experiences I should say, were brighter, or stood out from the rest. This inspired another insight: We live our lives for just a few special moments and the rest is really filler.

[nancyspsychicview]

Spiritual Revelations from Beyond the Veil with DouglasCharles Hodgson

What Humanity Can Learn From the Near Death Experience" Since his retirement his passion is as a seeker of the answers and a writer of Some fabulous spiritual books. He reveals the findings from the International Association for Near Death Studies Inc. The answers we are looking for are in the words of the people who lived to tell what they saw, heard, felt and know. We talk about what happens when you die? Does God exist? Do we have a unique purpose on earth? Are we judged when we die? What the life review about? Are there beings of light, your Guardian Angel and Guides? This is a fabulous book and a wonderful interview with Douglas. Douglas Hodgson is a retired Dean and Professor of Law,  and a Lawyer in Perth, Western Australia. HIs areas of expertise include International Humanitarian Law, Civil Law and Causation Law. May your  2024' be joyful, prosperous full of love and bright! Come and see me In LA In February at the Conscious Life Expo 2024' I will be conducting a workshop on Angel Communication Using Spiritual Law. https://consciouslifeexpo.com?ref=mge5otn

 Love to all Nancy

[kylemcmahonofficial]

S1/E8 8: The Afterlife

In episode 8 of Death, Grief And Other Shit We Don’t Discuss, Kyle McMahon discusses the odd and seemingly unexplainable things that began to happen immediately after his Mother passed away.  Then, Kyle talks once again with Dr. Jan Holden, President of the International Association for Near-Death Studies, and retired Professor Emerita of Counseling at University of North Texas (UNT). They…

[blogparanormalexpresso2stuff]

Dead for 24 Hours! w/ Jay Martin

Jay Martin grew up on the South Side of Chicago and later, at the age of 24, moved to Columbus, Ohio with his family to provide them with a better life. After arriving in Columbus, he experienced many obstacles, including family deaths and multiple health diagnoses such as Lupus, severe depression, severe anxiety attacks, a pulmonary embolism, and angina.

On August 18, 2016, while coming home from work one evening, Jay suffered a fatal heart attack that left him clinically deceased for nearly 24 hours. Miraculously, he was able to come back to life and, while in a coma, experienced 26 strokes. Today, he still resides in Ohio with his wife, his youngest daughter, his stepson, and his four adult children.

Connect with our guest:

✨ Jay's Links:

Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1984307568/...

Website: http://www.dalethsanctuary.com/

Social media: https://www.facebook.com/NasiUzziel?m...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr_martin77...

Facebook business : https://www.facebook.com/DalethSanctu...

Connect with our host:

✨ Betty's Links

FB: buddhabetty

IG: buddha.betty

YouTube: @buddhabetty

Contact: exploretheextraordinarypodcast@gmail.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

Explore The Extraordinary is a groundbreaking podcast brought to you by the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS). Exploring everything from near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, lucid dreaming, encounters with divine beings, and more, this podcast delves deep into extraordinary experiences and perspectives that challenge our understanding of the world around us (and our place in it). Through thought-provoking interviews, insightful discussions, and personal anecdotes, Explore the Extraordinary offers a unique platform for listeners to broaden perspectives and contemplate profound mysteries of human (and spiritual) consciousness. Join us on this incredible journey of discovery as we explore the fascinating realm of the extraordinary.

✨ Join IANDS: https://iands.org

[nathanielalcovendas]

1.)Nearly 70 years after the establishment of the modern State of Israel, its Jewish population remains united behind the idea that Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people and a necessary refuge from rising anti-Semitism around the globe. But alongside these sources of unity, a major new survey by Pew Research Center also finds deep divisions in Israeli society – not only between Israeli Jews and the country’s Arab minority, but also among the religious subgroups that make up Israeli Jewry.

Nearly all Israeli Jews identify with one of four categories: Haredi (commonly translated as “ultra-Orthodox”), Dati (“religious”), Masorti (“traditional”) or Hiloni (“secular”).

2.)For a small country, Israel holds a place of great importance for three of the world’s major religious groups. The modern Jewish state is not only the “Promised Land” for Jews, but the only country in the world where they form a majority of the population. For Christians, Israel is the “Holy Land,” because it is the place where Jesus’ life and death unfolded. And, for Muslims, Jerusalem is the place where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

Although Israel’s religious significance dates to ancient times, the country still receives frequent international attention due in large part to near-constant religious, ethnic and political conflicts. As part of its effort to better understand religion around the world, Pew Research Center has conducted a comprehensive study of religion in Israel, where there are major divisions not only between Jews and Arabs, but also among the major subgroups of Israeli Jews.

3.)Israel is especially popular as a destination for religious tourism, pilgrimage and education due to being situated in the historical region where many sacred sites and events are believed to have occurred. In particular, the ‘Old City’ of Jerusalem contains various historical and sacred sites that evoke strong emotional and spiritual feelings for many Jews, Muslims and Christians. The walled ‘Old City’ of Jerusalem is diverse and cosmopolitan, while simultaneously being divided into four distinct quarters: Armenian, Christian, Jewish and Muslim. Synagogues, churches and mosques in various architectural styles can be found throughout. Various sacred and spiritual sounds can be heard, such as church bells, the call to prayer from the minarets of mosques, and Jewish prayers.

4.)The majority of Palestinians are Muslim, including those living overseas. All residents in the Palestinian Territories are required to declare a religion on an identification card issued by the Israeli government. According to this record, 98% of Palestinians identify as Sunni Muslims.1 Christianity is the main minority religion, with roughly 52,000 Palestinian Christians believed to be living across the occupied territories as of 2013.2 It is believed the numbers of religiously unaffiliated Palestinians (i.e. atheist or agnostic) in the West Bank and Gaza are very low.

There is also a substantial population of Jewish Israeli settlers residing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (see Israeli Settlements under Core Concepts).3 Jewish settlers in the West Bank are generally more religious than those living in Israel, with a higher proportion identifying themselves as ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) (26%) and religious (Dati) (36%).4 For information on the Jewish Israeli population, see Religion in the Israeli profile.

5.)Palestine, area of the eastern Mediterranean region, comprising parts of modern Israel and the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip (along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea) and the West Bank (west of the Jordan River).

The term Palestine has been associated variously and sometimes controversially with this small region, which some have asserted also includes Jordan. Both the geographic area designated by the name and the political status of it have changed over the course of some three millennia. The region (or at least a part of it) is also known as the Holy Land and is held sacred among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Since the 20th century it has been the object of conflicting claims of Jewish and Arab national movements, and the conflict has led to prolonged violence and, in several instances, open warfare.

6.)Islam is a major religion in Palestine, being the religion of the majority of the Palestinian population. Muslims comprise 85% of the population of the West Bank, when including Israeli settlers,[1] and 99% of the population of the Gaza Strip.[2] The largest denomination among Palestinian Muslims are Sunnis, comprising 98–99% of the total Muslim population.

Palestine underwent many demographic upheavals throughout history. By the 4th century, the Jews, who had formerly constituted a majority in Palestine, had become a minority.[3] The Jewish population in Jerusalem and its environs in Judea suffered a heavy blow during the Jewish–Roman wars (66–135 CE) that was never fully recovered. In the following centuries, many Jews emigrated to thriving centers in the diaspora. Others continued living in the region, especially in the Galilee and the coastal plain, and others converted to Christianity.[4] Later, the failure of the Samaritan revolts against the Byzantines (484–573 CE) resulted in the decline of the Samaritan population.[4] The conversion of local populations, along with the immigration of Christians, led to the creation of a Christian majority in Late Roman and Byzantine Palestine.[5][6].

[allengreenfield]

https://iands.org/148-uncategorised/archived-pages/981-study-on-rats-proposes-a-mechanism-for-ndes.html

[helenssd]

Complete Webinar: "Lessons for Lena: 80 Years of NDEs and SDEs"with Shaun Lether of Hawaiian IANDS and his guest, Dr. Helen L. Stewart

Shaun Lether, founder of Hawaiian IANDS (affiliated with the International Association for Near-Death Studies), has graciously granted permission to post here the full video of my recent guest appearance on his YouTube series about Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs). Our virtual conversation occurred on 2 May 2023. In this video I will discuss my own unusual experiences and offer tips…