#that is journalism at its nadir

[moreobliviousthanpercyjackson]

If I see another shitty news story about the ‘mixed-weight’ marriage in Bridgerton, I will launch a DDOS attack and then neck myself. Why are we as a species trying to invent new ways to segregate ourselves. I haven’t even watched the show why am I seeing that.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New SpaceTime out Wednesday

SpaceTime 20240821 Series 27 Episode 101

Oceans of water found on Mars

Scientists have found evidence of oceans of liquid water deep under the Martian surface – enough to cover the red planet to a depth of more than a kilometre.

Galaxies in dense environments tend to grow larger

A new study has shown that galaxies located within galaxy clusters with lots of other galaxies nearby tend to be up to 25 per cent larger than isolated galaxies drifting through the cosmos alone.

Curtin’s Binar satellites arrive aboard the International Space Station

Northrop Grumman’s NG-21 Cygnus cargo ship has successfully docked with the International Space Station’s Unity module’s nadir port carrying fresh supplies including three Curtin University built experimental satellites.

The Science Report

Why the thymus dies early.

July shown to be the 14th consecutive month of record breaking heat.

AI-generated training datasets can cause machine learning model collapse.

Alex on Tech Google Pixel release

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States.  The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science.  SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research.  The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network.  Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor.  Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. Gary’s radio career stretches back some 34 years including 26 at the ABC. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. He was part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and became one of its first on air presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.  The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually.  However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage.  Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently.  StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016.  Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Joel Pett, Lexington Courier Journal

* * * *

 The most important development in the Republican “debate” on Wednesday evening was that six of the eight candidates pledged to support Trump for president if he is the nominee even if he is convicted in his pending criminal trials. (DeSantis, Haley, Scott, Ramaswamy, Pence, and Burgam said they would support Trump.) In essence, they pledged to be part of Trump's ongoing, slow-rolling attempted coup, the final stages of which include pardoning the coup plotters. That singular moment marks the Republican Party’s nadir, its everlasting moment of shame and humiliation.

          During the debate, the candidates espoused other outrageous positions: climate change is a hoax, support for a national abortion ban, blaming teacher unions and single mothers for the problems in education, proposing invading Mexico with US special forces, and cutting aid to Ukraine. None of the candidates provided an actual proposal for America’s future, other than Ramaswamy’s line, “Drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear.”

          On the one hand, it is distressing that the leading GOP candidates support such reactionary and dangerous positions. On the other hand, most Americans reject the positions articulated on the Fox debate stage Wednesday evening. On many major issues—like reproductive liberty and climate change—Americans reject the GOP positions by twenty to thirty percentage points. Republicans are on the wrong side of history and of this precarious moment for democracy. Trump's extremism has warped the GOP field so drastically that the candidates are taking positions that render them unelectable in a general election.

          The dysfunction on display on Wednesday evening provides an opportunity for Democrats. In addition to endless free videos for attack ads directed at the eventual nominee, Democrats should convert every negative, destructive, mean-spirited notion espoused on the debate stage into a positive, productive, forward-looking message about Democratic accomplishments over the last three years. We can do that; indeed, the positive messages write themselves after the hate-fest on display on Wednesday evening.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

+

Donald Trump has warned of a threat of conflict in the US after saying that he expects the Democrats to steal the 2024 election from him.

The former US president also suggested to Tucker Carlson, in a Twitter interview with the far-right former Fox News host staged to undermine the first Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, that he is concerned “the left” will try to kill him.

In a rambling interview, speckled with discussion of conspiracy theories from whether the billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was murdered in his jail cell to the role of federal agencies limiting the amount of water in washing machines, Trump took aim at critics on all sides in his traditional derisory fashion.

But the social media broadcast took a dark turn when, after discussion of the numerous criminal charges against Trump and divisions in the US, Carlson asked if he thinks the US is headed to “civil war” and “open conflict”.

Trump said he didn’t know but then added: “I can say this. There’s a level of passion that I’ve never seen, there’s a level of hatred that I’ve never seen, and that’s probably a bad combination.”

Carlson responded: “That is a bad combination.”

[The Guardian]

[briefinfluencernacho]

Behold, delve into the your inner realm. Shut tight the eyes that witness the mundane and attune yourself to the primal cadence of breath. Inhale deeply, seizing the very core of existence, and exhale, relinquishing the trifles that anchor you to the commonplace. Feel the grounding weight of the present, submerging yourself in the eternal now.

Envision an undisturbed sea within, its undulating waves mirroring the echoes of bygone emotions. Picture the zeniths of joy and nadirs of challenges as the rising crests and descending troughs. Acknowledge the brilliance of life reflected in euphoric moments, allowing them to cascade over you like a cosmic tide.

Yet, do not flinch from the shadows cast by emotional tempests. Stare unyieldingly into the abyss of challenging sentiments. Embrace mindfulness or the ancient practice of journaling as vessels for introspection. Transmute emotional tribulations into crucibles of self-realization and fortitude.

As the meditation gently concludes, linger in a state of contemplation. Extract sagacity from the opulent tapestry of your experiences, discerning subtle threads of insight woven throughout the day. Recognize recurring motifs, the patterns that shape the narrative of your existence.

Embrace this heightened self-awareness as a seeker embraces the pursuit of truth. Let it not merely serve as a tool for comprehension but as a catalyst for decisive action and personal metamorphosis. Your journey towards self-discovery and growth is a profound odyssey, a quest for authenticity in a world teeming with both chaos and wonder. I stand as a modest guide, a companion in the labyrinth of your own becoming. 🌌"

[thearchivistsjournal]

Day 261,

No bracelet alarm waking me up at night and I can still sense Lin.  That’s a relief.

As for last night’s dream of the Catacomb Depths, a terrible thought occurred to me in a more lucid moment.  For a long time now (ever since getting back from our floating island expedition if review of old journal entries serves), I’ve been actively heading deeper into the Catacombs.  And I’ve come to believe that even in between mist-induced nightmares my dream self continues wandering that place, and thus heading ever deeper.

The point I’m getting at, is while going deeper over time seems inevitable, how much have I sped that up, and more importantly seeing as how that place gets darker/worse the deeper I go, have I inadvertently doomed myself to a greater portion of my lifetime spent having worse nightmares?  What if having actively resisted my descent and trying to ascend instead would have slowed down the progression to where it might have taken me years to get to where I’ve arrived in months?

What if my descent is a fuze of sorts?  What if at the nadir I find not answers, but calamity?  An ending that I should be forestalling, not rushing toward.

So, of course, I began trying to search for ways back up once more so that I might again slow my descent.  There were none to be found.  The layer I’ve reached has no more openings to the bridge-latticed chasm.  No stairways.  Only tunnels that flaunt any waking sense of consistent geometry even more brazenly than the shallower levels of the nightmare.  Even when I go down a slope, when I turn around the way behind me is level.  Should I walk backwards for a time to keep the upward path in sight and then try to go back up it, after a short time it comes to a peak and then descends once more.

I fear I’ve passed a tipping point in that place.  A threshold.  The best I can do now is avoid downward paths whenever I can, and often I can’t.

I should talk to Pat about this.  I’ve been meaning to see him since we got back anyhow.  I owe him a big thank you, among other things.

But first, there’s still some more work here in the archive to take care of and then I want to take a brief trip to Siren Overlook.  Or maybe flip that order.  Hopefully it’ll help me not spend the day fixated on the possibility of reaching the bottom of the Catacombs, dying in the dream, then subsequently dying for real.  Or worse.

*******

Fell asleep at the Overlook again.  And once again the nature sprite woke me up.  Perched on my chest, gripping my wrists and pressing them to the ground, face inches from mine.  Was it simply reusing old tricks, or was this an intentional callback to the first time I dozed off there?

After my brief moment of surprise on waking, I chose to play into the latter interpretation, and politely asked it to get off of me.  Its fanged grin grew wider, as if I’d said the words it wanted from the game.  Callback it is then.

But then, instead of taunting me then forcefully leaping off, it stepped back, pulled me to my feet, and then slid into a pose I recognized.  The beginnings of that dance.

That did manage to send a spike of fear through me after having finally grown used to its presence once again, even starting to see it as a comrade of sorts.

My shock must have been visible, for it pulled its scattering of leaves and laughter on the wind disappearing act.  Prank complete.

I am reminded once more that at the end of the day it’s an inhuman spirit that enjoys scaring me, whatever else it may seem to be at times.  I think that hurts worse than the scare itself.

While I’d not dozed all the way until dusk this time, it was late enough that I deferred my consultation with Pat for a later date.  I wanted to get back to the house for the night.

All that said, between the nature sprite and review of my old journal entries, a possible defense/tool/weapon regarding my oneiric descent has occurred to me.  Back when I was in the early throes of that rhythm from the western Overlook, in my Catacomb I was the one hunting the other.  That could be a source of strength to tap into.  Yet, upon waking that morning I was horrified with myself.  Afraid of what I was becoming.  Afraid about what already might be inside me.  Is that a risk worth taking?  Not to mention the fact that that was the point I began actively trying to go deeper.  What if it’s a false confidence meant to lure dreamers in?

I don’t think I’ll be attempting that measure anytime soon, but I’ll keep it in mind the next time a funeral comes around.

<==Previous          Next==>

[thoughts-of-a-social-worker]

“By Virtue of our Bondage” – Why The 1619 Project Matters

There are several lessons I learned as an undergraduate student in the University of Iowa’s Journalism and Mass Communication program. I learned that journalism, at its heart, is about telling stories. Oftentimes, these are local, state, or national news stories, but journalism can also include feature articles spotlighting people and places and investigative pieces that shed light on the facts – even when they might be ugly. I learned that the First Amendment guarantees journalists protection from restraint or censorship by the government. This freedom of the press allows journalists to function in a watchdog capacity, investigating what is happening in our country, increasing transparency and accountability among those in power, and informing our citizens of the facts without fear of retribution. I was thankful to have professors who stressed the importance of the watchdog press and who encouraged us as students to pursue investigative stories. Investigative journalism is hard and often thankless work, but it is also crucial work. When looking at Nikole Hannah-Jones’ 1619 Project, I see many hours of research, collated data, writing, editing, and re-editing. I hold immense respect for her as a journalist and as an activist in the fight for social justice.

Hannah-Jones and I were raised in the same geographic region. I grew up in a small, and very white, town about ten minutes south of her hometown of Waterloo. As a child, I could count the number of Black people in my town on one hand (with fingers to spare) – most of the area’s Black population lived in Waterloo. I remember hearing stories when I was young about the “good” and “bad” sides of town. There were areas where people who looked like me (white) were warned not to go. With this as my context, I was unsurprised when Hannah-Jones wrote about her grandmother’s revelation upon arriving in the North: “She got off the Illinois Central Railroad in Waterloo, Iowa, only to have her hopes of the mythical Promised Land shattered when she learned that Jim Crow did not end at the Mason-Dixon line.” 

Like Hannah-Jones, my childhood was filled with cultural indoctrination of how white people and people of color were valued in our nation. Small, repeated micro-lessons were driven into my brain that promoted the “great American melting pot.” These lessons, while perhaps well-intentioned, lacked any sort of cultural competency and shared few perspectives outside of the white norm. It was not until reading Hannah-Jones’ 1619 Project that I knew the importance of the year 1619. I was not taught that this was the year that slavery began in what would become the United States. I was not taught about the hypocrisy of the founding fathers’ ideas on liberty and freedom. Even Abraham Lincoln, who is still enshrined in grade school textbooks as the man who ended slavery, wanted to ship freed Black people to Africa – a place most of them had never been. Yet, despite being beaten, broken, and abused, despite having every part of their culture and identity stripped away from them, despite being denied every basic human right, Black people fought to make America the land it claimed to be – the land of the free. 

The 1619 Project showcases the resilience and grit of Black Americans as they fought back against systemic oppression in America. It talks about their many gains during Reconstruction and the white backlash that followed during what is known as the “Great Nadir,” or second slavery. Hannah-Jones wrote, “No one cherishes freedom more than those who have not had it.” Black people in America believed in the American Dream, and they fought – and are still fighting – to make it real. Though systemic racism and oppression still exist, the culture formed by a disparate group of peoples brought together via the bonds of slavery permeates American culture today. Hannah-Jones talks about the influence of Black hairstyles and fashion, art and music, and Black naming practices. These things are the tangible results of a culture created by Black slaves hundreds of years ago. Even Black activism, fighting for rights that extend far beyond just those that serve themselves, has continued to the present day. 

Hannah-Jones closed her essay on democracy’s founding ideals with the following quote: “We were told once, by virtue of our bondage, that we could never be American. But it was by virtue of our bondage that we became the most American of all.” Armed with so much more than my once limited knowledge as a school girl in rural Iowa, I believe her statement rings true. According to the founding fathers’ own words, what is more American than fighting for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? As Hannah-Jones’ reporting shows, the fact of the matter is that none of those things were ever initially afforded to Black people (or women, or LGBTQ folks, or people with disabilities – I could go on). 

While controversial, I believe her 1619 Project showcases the very best of American journalism. The watchdog press has always been important, and it is this ability to share facts transparently and to hold those in power to account for their actions – without censorship or restriction from the government – that sets us apart. Hannah-Jones was right. Our founding ideals were false at the time they were written, and Black people have fought to make them true. Works like the 1619 Project enable us to have more informed conversations about problematic aspects of our nation. I hope to see more Nikole Hannah-Jones’ in the future who strive to amplify marginalized voices and engage in the work of the watchdog press – because America as we know it would not exist without all of these marginalized groups. Their stories, their experiences, deserve to be heard.

[vibesfc]

oh, and in case you missed it! on the same day liz truss became prime minister, the wall street journal reported this cute little tidbit:

The British pound slid to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since 1985, a reflection of the U.K.’s dire economic situation. Investors are braced for sterling to weaken even to a nadir not seen in more than two centuries of trading across the Atlantic.

so that’s cool i guess

[holidays-events]

Welcome to The Highlight’s Happiness Issue

What we might learn from other cultures, the explosion of positive psychology, why women are growing more unhappy, and how to spend to maximize joy.

By Vox Staff Nov 20, 2019

The news was dire.

This spring, despite our best efforts — despite all that yoga and meditation and therapy and astrological consultation and turmeric and that slightly worrisome addiction to self-affirming memes — levels of happiness in the United States dropped for the third straight year, according to the World Happiness Report, the United Nations’ annual barometer of global good times. In the country rankings, America slumped to 19. Now it is sandwiched below Canada, and safely above France.

The data on happiness is sparse, and the metrics by which we’re measured new; the World Happiness Report was introduced less than a decade ago and cobbles together survey answers to arrive at its results. But it illuminates a truth: We are failing at the thing so fundamental to Americanness that we made its pursuit a cornerstone of our founding document. If there is a happiness nadir, this seems to be it.

So in this issue of The Highlight, Vox’s home for features and longform journalism, we’re looking closely at the notion of being happy.

Are we woefully limited in our definition of well-being, and could a few words from other cultures help? And how did the ideas of resilience, achievement, and “flourishing” become benchmarks for happiness in just 20 years since the field of positive psychology was born?

We also look at how experts say you can spend money to enhance your general levels of well-being (trust us: spend to save yourself time) and investigate why women’s happiness continues to lag behind men’s — in a comic.

By shining a light on the universal struggle to ease our growing dissatisfaction, maybe we can lead to a little more well-being in the world.

American happiness is plummeting. Could a few words change that? A psychologist claims that learning “untranslatable words” from other cultures may be a key to being happy. I experimented on myself to see whether it’s true. by Sigal Samuel

Happiness psychology is a booming industry. But is it science, religion, or something else? Just over 20 years old, the field of positive psychology has captivated the world with its hopeful promises — and drawn critics for its moralizing, mysticism, and commercialization. by Joseph Smith

The other gender gap After decades of women’s rights gains, why are women less happy? by Aubrey Hirsch

How to spend money to squeeze more joy out of life Simply having a lot of it won’t automatically increase your sense of well-being. “But using it well can,” says one expert. by Laura Entis

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism? - Millions turn to Vox to understand what’s happening in the news. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today to help us keep our work free for all

[roadsterguysblog]

Just in case anyone thinks I was overreacting with the previous post - modern breastfeeding advocacy has become dangerous.  Even in that previous post, the language made it clear that using any amount of formula is ‘failing.’  Supplementation is an ages-old tradition, that has become safer for everyone involved with the development of modern formula.  Formula supplementation has even been shown, in some studies, to increase the success rate of breastfeeding - only the lactivists don’t ‘count’ that because any amount of formula is considered to be a ‘failure.’  

When combo feeding is actually the best of both worlds for a lot of lactating parents.

The discordant sibling study is one of the few studies that even tries to control for confounders, and the ‘benefits’ of breastfeeding drop to the level of statistical noise (in that study, some of the outcomes switch to favor formula - which is exactly what you see when you’re looking at statistical noise).  Since then, there have been more studies that dare to examine this dogma, like the recent Korea study showing that breastfeeding has no impact on cognitive development when you control for confounders.  The confounders that go into being able to successfully exclusively breastfeed are absolutely massive.

On the flip side, exclusive breastfeeding is increasingly being recognized as leading to jaundice, excessive weight loss, and hospital readmission.  Using a little formula prevents babies from suffering.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1876285917305661

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2673720

The 1970s were the nadir of breastfeeding in the United States.  It has been steadily increasing, to the point where the percentage of babies in the 2000s exclusively breastfed for 6+ months is about equal to the percentage of babies who got any breastmilk at all in the 1970s.  If the lactivists were right, we should be able to see a dramatic decrease in chronic diseases and obesity across that time period.  We don’t.

Breastfeeding is great and every person who wants to do it should be supported.  People who need to breastfeed in public should be able to do so without harassment.

Don’t lie about it and say it’s better than it is.  Let it stand on its own merits.  And FFS, don’t shame people who don’t want to do it, or pressure them into it.  Let everyone do what’s best for them.

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

Death and the Jackal: Why Miles Warren sees himself as a God

Let me state my ‘thesis’ up front.

It’s my belief that, within his own twisted mind, Miles Warren believes himself as not dissimilar to a creator God.

This hinges upon his cloning and genetic experiments.

In publication order Miles Warren was driven mad when Gwen Stacy died. He had obsessively ‘loved’ her from a distance and displayed a degree of passive aggression towards Peter out of jealousy. As I touched upon in my last article, he was devastated by her death to the point where he sought to ‘resurrect her’ through cloning.

During the flashback to the moment he cloned Gwen, his dialogue reveals three interesting facts.

He promised to punish those who ‘harmed her’. Not her original ‘host’. Not her predecessor. Not her metaphorical ‘sister’ or her ‘mother’. Just ‘her’. He clearly views the clone Gwen as actually being Gwen restored to life.

This is further corroborated by the second point of interest. Namely, his referring to cloning Gwen as ‘re-creating’ her.

Finally, his dialogue also arguably touches upon the idea of Adam and Eve. Gwen emerges naked and ‘innocent’ her mind is blank and unsullied. As originally intended perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch. But the idea is leant far more weight in the Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1, where Warren stated it was ‘positively Biblical’ that the first successful clone was a man, consequently name-dropping Adam and the Garden of Eden fame.

This clone was of course of Peter Parker.

Between the Gwen and Peter clones it would make a lot of sense for Warren’s ego to have gone waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of control.

In his own eyes his genius had not only functionally restored a dead person to life, but also gone a step further and outright duplicated someone still alive. As we know from later stories (such as the original ‘Carrion’ storyline) Warren in fact cloned himself. Wouldn’t that have been the ultimately proof of his mastery of life itself?

In addition to the above he can even exist in more than one place. Or if you will, exist as multiple entities at once. This was further confirmed in Web of Spider-Man #125 and Spectacular Spider-Man #225. In these issues we learn that Warren had set up a clone of himself as the husband of the original Gwen clone.

When the intervention of Peter and (the Phil Urich) Green Goblin ruined their suburban tranquility, Warren was furious that his ‘innocent little fantasy’ had been spoiled.

 At least on some level Warren clearly viewed his clone as himself. One entity as many entities? That’s such an impossibility for normal human beings it’d be more than likely to inflate your sense of ego, possibly all the way to Godlike proportions.

And, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that somewhat similar to the Holy Trinity in the Christian faith? Three aspects of the same divine entity? One being in more than one part?

Warren’s cloning experiments went further though. In Spec #31 Carrion (who possessed all of Warren’s genius) used Peter’s DNA to genetically engineer a Spider-Amoeba creature.

 Furthermore, in Spec #222 we see Warren unleash a horde of creatures from his ‘genetic soup’.

 And of course, there was Spidercide. In the Jackal Files one shot Warren tells Spidercide (yet another clone of Peter’s) that he gave him the ability to control his body on a molecular level.

In terms of their super human abilities, Spidercide was by all accounts more powerful than Peter or any of the other clones. Warren didn’t just copy Peter yet again. In his own eyes he improved  upon him.

All these examples demonstrate how Warren had the ability o play with the building blocks of human life, and contort it into unnatural forms of his own design.

This would naturally have inflated his ego yet further and helps explain his scheme in ‘Maximum Clonage’.* His plan was to mass murder humankind and replace it with clones. From a sane and rationale point of view this goal is nonsensical.

But that was rather the point, Warren wasn’t sane or rationale.

In his eyes life was merely worth the time, effort and resources it’d take for him to clone someone.** From his own twisted point of he was a God, a master of death, a creator of life. He could replicate, resurrect and improve upon nature itself. So, why not start over with a clean slate? Isn’t that what God did with that flood once upon a time?

Additionally let’s consider that, however bad they were, other stories have touched upon the idea of the Jackal as a kind of godlike figure.

In Scarlet Spider Unlimited #1 he was affiliated with the High Evolutionary, who arguably also views himself as a kind of God due to his own genetic experiments. In that same story we discovered that there was a cult among the High Evolutionary’s Ani-men that worshipped Warren as a sacred savior.

 In ‘Clone Conspiracy’ we see that Warren designed himself a new mask evoking Anubis, one of the Egyptian Gods of death. Whilst it was Ben Reilly who actually wore this costume, the fact that Warren himself invented lends credence to my thesis’.

 In conclusion, though much of his history is dogged by shoddy (to say the least) stories, there is nevertheless psychological substance to be found within the mad mind of Miles Warren.

*I’m not trying to defend that storyline.

In my opinion it is one of the absolute nadirs of Spider-History, especially the final Omega issue.  Among its other sins, it was an objectively terrible idea to take a character that began as a humble college professor with grounded ambitions and upscale him into a potentially global threat.

It’s as creatively short sighted as having Superman end nuclear war ala Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Or having Batman control crime by having one of his agents unite all the gangs; see the ‘War Games’ storyline.

Like those stories, whilst it might be theoretically possible  for the characters to want and be capable of doing those things, they shouldn’t.

**Which is probably why he was nonplussed by a room full of Gwen Stacy clones degenerating in front of him. He knew there were more where that came from.

[mrmrsvegan]

No geologist at the IPCC? Wonder why...

27 Simple Bullet Points Prove Global Warming by the Sun, not CO2: By a Geologist for a Change

Dr Roger Higgs, Geoclastica Ltd, Technical Note on ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332245803_27_bullet_points_prove_global_warming_by_the_sun_not_CO2_by_a_GEOLOGIST_for_a_change

1) The IPCC (United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has no geologists among the 100s of authors of its last major report (2013-14) & at most 1 in the next (2022; see my Tech. Note 2019-10). Thus IPCC focuses on only the last 150 years (since thermometer records began, c. 1850), yet Earth is 30 million (sic) times older, 4.5 billion years! Geologists know Earth has always warmed and cooled. Climate change is perfectly normal.

2) The IPCC’s very existence relies on public belief in man-made or ‘anthropogenic’ global warming (AGW) by CO2. IPCC authors, mostly government & university researchers, are biased by strong vested interests in AGW (publications; continuance of salaries; research grants). Similarly, universities have sacrificed their impartiality by hosting institutes mandated to confirm & act on AGW, e.g. Grantham Institute (Imperial College), Tyndall Centre.

3) The often-parroted ‘97% consensus among scientists that global warming is man’s fault’ (CO2 emissions) is untrue. It refers in fact to surveys of just a relatively small group of ‘climate scientists’ (a new type of generalist scientist, with strong incentives for bias; see Bullets 2 & 15), moreover only those who are ‘actively publishing’.

4) No educated person ‘denies’ modern global warming; it’s been measured (Bullet 11). ‘Global warming deniers’ is a deceitful term for man-made global warming doubters & deniers (most of Earth’s real scientists?).

5) CO2 is a ‘greenhouse gas’. But as CO2 rises, its theoretical heat-trapping ability sharply declines, already 67% ‘used up’ at 100 parts per million (ppm) CO2, 84% at 300ppm (NB 275ppm when industrial CO2 output began; Bullet 8), 87% at 400ppm (today 415ppm, or 0.04%) and >99% at 1000ppm. Moreover, Climate Sensitivity (CS), the warming due to doubling CO2, is guesswork. IPCC ‘estimates’ CS from climate models (circular reasoning) as probably between 1.5 & 4.5 (300% contrast!), but models are defective (Bullet 6). In reality CS might be very near zero, perhaps explaining why up to 7,000ppm in Phanerozoic time (Bullet 7) did not cause ‘runaway’ warming.

6) IPCC climate models are so full of assumptions as to be useless or (worse) misleading, e.g. forecast 1995-2015 warming was 2-3 times too high! Bullet 19 gives another drastic failure. Even Wiki (2019) admits: “Each model simulation has a different guess at processes that scientist don't understand sufficiently well”. Models also dismiss the sun’s fluctuations & omit the multi-decade delay between these & the resulting warming or cooling. This time-lag is due to ocean thermal inertia (mixing-time), grossly underestimated by IPCC (Bullets 15, 21).

7) For ~75% of the last 550 million years, CO2 was 2 to 15 times higher than now. Evolution flourished, with CO2 enabling plant photosynthesis, the basis of all life. Extinction events due to overheating by CO2 are unknown.

8) Through the last 12,000 years (our current ‘Holocene’ interglacial epoch), CO2 was a mere 250 to 290 ppm, near plant-starvation level (about 150ppm), until about 1850 when industrial CO2 emissions began, making CO2 climb steeply. CO2 today is still only 415ppm, or 0.01%, i.e. less than half of one-tenth of 1% of our atmosphere.

9) Until man began adding CO2 about 1850, warming (determined from ‘proxies’ like tree rings) since the 1700AD Little Ice Age nadir was accompanied by slowly rising CO2 (measured in ice cores). A simple explanation is the well-known release of CO2 by warming ocean water (decreasing its CO2-holding capacity).

10) Other evidence, besides Bullet 9, that rising CO2 is a consequence, not cause, of global warming is Humlum’s demonstration that changes in CO2 growth rate lag behind changes in warming rate (by about 1 year); and also ...

11) Since the ~1850 start of man’s CO2 additions, thermometer-measured global warming (1.3 degrees C) was interrupted by frequent minor coolings of 1-3yrs (not all attributable to mega-volcano ‘winters’) & two substantial coolings (0.2 deg) of 30yrs (1878-1910, 1944-1976), plus the 1998-2013 ‘warming pause’ (Wiki). In contrast, CO2’s rise has accelerated, with only a brief pause (1887-97) & a mini-reversal (1940-45), both during the 30-yr coolings.

12) This unsteady ‘sawtooth’ Modern Warming resembles the sawtooth rise of the sun’s magnetic output from 1901 toward a rare solar ‘Grand Maximum’ (GM; peak 1991), unmatched since 300AD! See Bullet 21.

13) Warming reached a peak in Feb 2016. Since then, Earth has cooled >3 years. NB no mega-eruption since 1991.

14) The ‘Svensmark Theory’ says rising solar-magnetic output deflects cosmic rays, thus reducing cloudiness, allowing more of the sun’s warmth to heat the land and ocean instead of being reflected by clouds. In support, a NASA study of satellite data spanning 1979-2011 (‘Modern Warming’; Bullet 12) showed decreasing cloud cover.

15) Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research vocal climate scientist Dr Stefan Rahmstorf (Wiki) wrongly said in 2008: "there is no viable alternative ... [to CO2 as driver of 1940-2005 warming, as] ... different authors agree that solar activity did not significantly increase”. Yet in 1999, physicist Dr Michael Lockwood FRS (Wiki) wrote in prestigious Nature journal: "the total magnetic flux leaving the Sun has risen by a factor of 1.4 since 1964” & 2.3 since 1901 !

16) Lockwood showed averaged solar magnetic flux increased 230% from 1901 to 1995, i.e. more than doubled ! The final peak value was 5 times the starting minimum value ! Bullets 17 & 18 likewise back Svensmark’s theory.

17) After the ~300AD solar GM (Bullet 12), in 0.5cm/yr), all reaching higher than today, long before industrial CO2. 27) If we stop expanding fossil-fuel use, CO2 will soon stabilise at a new equilibrium (nearer optimum for plants).

[picsofsannyas]

OSHO, ARE YOU INFALLIBLE?

OSHO, ARE YOU INFALLIBLE?

Thomas V. Kempis, I am infallibly fallible! First, I am not a perfectionist because to me perfectionism is the root cause of all neurosis. Unless humanity gets rid of the idea of perfection it is never going to be sane. The very idea of perfection has driven the whole of mankind to a state of madness. To think in terms of perfection means you are thinking in terms of ideology, goals, values, shoulds, should-nots. You have a certain pattern to fulfill and if you fall from the pattern you will feel immensely guilty, a sinner. And the pattern is bound to be such that you cannot achieve it. If you can achieve it then it will not be of much value to the ego.

So the intrinsic quality of the perfectionist ideal is that it should be unattainable, only then is it worth attaining. You see the contradiction? And that contradiction creates a schizophrenia: you are trying to do the impossible, which you know perfectly well is not going to happen -- it cannot happen in the very nature of things. If it can happen then it is not much of a perfection; then anybody can do it. Then there is not much ego nourishment in it: your ego cannot chew on it, cannot grow on it. The ego needs the impossible -- and the impossible, by its very nature, is not going to happen. So only two alternatives are left: one is, you start feeling guilty. If you are innocent, simple, intelligent, you will start feeling guilty -- and guilt is a state of sickness.

I am not here to create any guilt in you. My whole effort is to help you to get rid of all guilt. The moment you are free of guilt, rejoicing bursts forth. And guilt is rooted in the idea of perfection.

The second alternative is: if you are cunning then you will become a hypocrite, you will start pretending that you have achieved it. You will deceive others and you will even try to deceive yourself. You will start living in illusions, hallucinations, and that is very unholy, very irreligious, very unwholesome. To pretend, to live a life of pretensions is far worse than the life of a guilty man. The guilty man at least is simple, but the pretender, the hypocrite, the saint, the so-called sage, the mahatma, is a crook. He is basically inhuman -- inhuman to himself because he is repressing; that's the only way to pretend. Whatsoever he finds in himself which goes against perfection has to be repressed. He will be boiling within, he will be full of anger and rage. His anger and rage will come out in thousands of ways; in subtle ways, indirect ways, it will surface. Even people like Jesus -- nice, good -- are full of anger, rage: and they are against such innocent things -- you cannot believe.

Jesus comes followed by his followers -- that bunch of fools they call apostles. He is hungry, that whole bunch is hungry. They come to a fig tree, and the fig tree is not in season. It is not its fault, but Jesus gets so angry that he condemns the fig tree, he curses the fig tree. Now, how is this possible? On the one hand he says, "Love thy enemy as thyself." On the other hand he cannot even forgive a fig tree which has no fruits because it is not the season.

This dichotomy, this schizophrenia has prevailed in humanity for thousands of years.

He says, "God is love," but still God manages a hell. If God is love, the first thing to be destroyed should be hell; hell should be immediately burnt, removed. The very idea of hell is of a very jealous God. But Jesus was born a Jew, lived a Jew, died a Jew; he was not a Christian, he had never heard the word "Christian." And the Jewish idea of God is not a very beautiful idea.

The Talmud says -- the declaration is made in God's own words -- "I am a jealous God, very jealous. I am not nice! I am not your uncle!" This God is bound to create hell. In fact, to live even in heaven with such a God -- who is not your uncle, who is not nice, who is jealous -- will be hell. What kind of paradise will you have attained by living with him? There will be a despotic, dictatorial atmosphere -- no freedom, no love. Jealousy and love cannot exist together. So even the so-called good people have been causes of human misery. It hurts because we have never pondered over these things. We have never tried to excavate our past, and all the root causes of our misery are in our past. And, remember perfectly well, your past is more dominated by Jesus, Mahavira, Confucius, Krishna, Rama, Buddha, than by Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Tamburlaine, Genghis Khan, Nadir Shah. History books talk about these people, but they are not part of your unconscious. They may be part of history, but they don't make up your personality; your personality is formed by so-called good people. Certainly, they had a few good qualities in them, but side by side there was a duality, and the duality arose from the idea of perfection.

Jainas say that Mahavira never perspired. How can a perfect man perspire? I can perspire -- I am not a perfect man! And perspiration in summer is so beautiful that I would rather choose perspiration than perfection! Because a man who does not perspire simply has a plastic body, synthetic, non-breathing, non-porous. The whole body breathes, that's why you perspire; perspiration is a natural process of keeping your body temperature constantly the same. Now, Mahavira must be burning inside like hell! How will he manage to keep his body temperature constant? Without perspiration it cannot be done, it is impossible. Jainas say that when a snake wounded Mahavira's feet, not blood but milk flowed out of the feet. Now, milk is possible only if Mahavira's feet were not feet but breasts -- and a man who has breasts on his feet should be put in a circus! This is their idea of perfection: a perfect man cannot have a dirty thing like blood, a bloody thing like blood, he is full of milk and honey. But just imagine: a man full of milk and honey will stink! Milk will turn into curd and the honey will attract all kinds of mosquitoes and flies; he will be completely covered with flies! I don't like this kind of perfection.

Mahavira is so perfect that he does not urinate, does not defecate; these things are for imperfect human beings. You cannot imagine Mahavira sitting on a toilet seat -- impossible -- but then where does all his shit disappear to? Then he must be the shittiest man in the world.

I have read in the medical journals about a man -- the longest case of constipation: eighteen months. But these medical people are not aware of Mahavira -- this is nothing -- FORTY years! This is the longest period that any man has been able to control his bowels. This is real yoga! The greatest case of constipation in the whole history of man... and I don't think anybody is going to defeat him.

These stupid ideas have been perpetuated just to make humanity suffer. If you have these ideas in your mind then you will feel guilty about everything. Pissing, you are guilty -- what are you doing? Sitting on a toilet, and you are falling into hell! If blood comes out of your body -- a deep humiliation.

Jesus walks on water, tries to revive a dead friend, but cannot himself survive on the cross; tries to cure blind people, deaf people, but cannot make a single stupid man enlightened, cannot help a single fool to come out of his foolishness, cannot save a single human being by hitting him hard on the head and saying, "See, the goose is out!"

Thomas V. Kempis, I am very fallible because I am not a neurotic, I am not psychotic, I am not a perfectionist. And I love my imperfections... I love this world because it is imperfect. It is imperfect, and that's why it is growing; if it was perfect it would have been dead. Growth is possible only if there is imperfection. Perfection means a full stop, perfection means ultimate death; then there is no way to go beyond it.

I would like you to remember again and again, I am imperfect, the whole universe is imperfect, and to love this imperfection, to rejoice in this imperfection is my whole message.

The psychiatrist leaned back and placed the tips of his fingers together while he soothed the deeply-troubled man who stood before him. "Calm yourself, my good fellow," he gently urged. "I have helped a great many others with fixations far more serious than yours. Now, let me see if I understand the problem correctly. You indicate that in moments of great emotional stress you believe that you are a dog. A fox terrier, is that not so?" "Yes, sir," mumbled the patient. "A small fox terrier with black and brown spots. Oh, please tell me you can help me, doctor. If this keeps up much longer, I don't know what I'll do...." The doctor gestured toward the couch. "Now, now," he soothed, "the first thing to do is lie down here, and we'll see if we can't get to the root of your delusion." "Oh, I couldn't do that, doctor," said the patient. "I'm not allowed up on the furniture."

Once you get an idea deep-rooted in you it starts becoming a reality. Perfectionism is a neurotic idea. Infallibility is good for stupid Polack popes but not for intelligent people. An intelligent person will understand that life is an adventure, a constant exploration through trial and error. That's its very joy, its very juice!

I don't want you to be perfect. I want you to be just as perfectly imperfect as possible. Rejoice in your imperfections! Rejoice in your very ordinariness! Beware of so-called "His Holinesses" -- they are all "His Phoninesses." If you like such big words like "His Holiness" then make a title such as "His Very Ordinariness" -- HVO, not HH! I preach ordinariness. I make no claims for any miracles; I am a simple man. And I would like you also to be very simple so that you can get rid of these two polarities: that of guilt and that of hypocrisy. Exactly in the middle is sanity.

St Peter challenged the Archangel Gabriel to a game of golf. St. Peter's first drive resulted in a hole-in-one. Gabriel's first drive produced the same result The same thing happened at the next shot. St. Peter looked at Gabriel thoughtfully and then said, "What do you say we cut out the miracles and play some golf?"

I am not infallible, and I would never like to be infallible either, because that is suicidal. I would like to commit as many mistakes as possible and I would like to go on committing mistakes to the very end of my last breath, because that means life. If you are capable of committing mistakes even at the very last breath you have conquered death.

A Zen Master was dying... and I have a deep love for the Zen approach for the simple reason that they also rejoice in ordinariness. That's the beauty of Zen: no religion has been able to rise to such heights of ordinariness.

The Master was very old, nearabout eighty. He gathered his disciples and said, "Now this is my last day. I don't think I will be able to see the sunset, and the sun is setting on the horizon. I have called you all to suggest some new way to die." They were a little puzzled. They said, "What do you mean by 'new way'?" He said, "People have died in bed, people have died in the bathroom, people have died this way and that. All those things have been done before, and I always like to do things in a new way, in my own way. Can you suggest something? Have you ever heard of somebody dying in a standing posture?" There was silence. One man said, "Yes, I have heard about a Zen Master who died standing." He said, "Then that is dropped! Have you heard of anybody dying standing upside-down, on his head, doing a SIRSHASAN, a headstand?" Everybody said, "We have not heard of such a thing, we have not even imagined such a thing, that anybody would die standing on his head!" So he said, "That will do!" The old man stood on his head, and it is said that there were all the visible signs that he was dead. But there was a difficulty; the difficulty was that the Zen disciples were in a very puzzling situation: what to do with this old man now? They had never heard of any ritual for somebody dying standing on his head. What had to be done? They knew perfectly well what had to be done when somebody died in bed, but what to do with this man? And he was standing there dead on his head! Somebody suggested: "We should run.... His old sister lives just close by; she is a nun. She may be able to do something or suggest something. And she is even crazier than this old man!" So they ran. The sister came and shouted at her brother and said, "Look, your whole life you have been a trouble! At least die peacefully, don't make much fuss about it! And why are you driving these poor disciples crazy? Get up and lie down on the bed!" The old man laughed, got up and lay down on the bed, and he said, "Who has brought this crazy sister of mine here? She won't even let me die in an improper way!" But he said, "Okay, you be happy. This is your last desire, and I have never followed any advice of yours. At least this much I can do before I depart." But the woman did not stay there to see him depart. She said, "You just lie down there. I am going. And die on the bed in a proper way. No more trouble." And she left, and the old man died in the bed in a proper way.

This is how life should be lived. I am not a saint, I am not a sage. All those hocus-pocus words don't mean anything to me. I am certainly a little bit crazy, but it is because of my craziness that you can rely on me! Never rely on saints, never rely on sages -- they will drive you nuts!

It was teatime in the pad, and the air hung heavy in thick blue folds as the beat bunch and their tourist friends lit up. Suddenly, a loud voice in the hall demanded that they open the door in the name of legality. The smokers frantically gathered their still-smoking weeds and stuffed them in the cuckoo clock. The police entered, searched diligently, found nothing and left. The bunch breathed a sigh of relief and made for the cuckoo clock just as the clock's hands announced 3 a.m. The little door popped open, the bird poked his head out and said, "Hey, man, what time is it?"

Osho.

The Goose is out.

Ch 5

[antoine-roquentin]

Japan is arguably a male chauvinist paradise. It ranks 114th out of 144 countries in terms of gender equality, a ranking that has been in free fall since Abe assumed office in 2012.

His allies have been behaving (in)appropriately. In recent months, current and former cabinet ministers publicly ridiculed the claims of a female reporter who was allegedly sexually harassed by a senior bureaucrat and accused her of being the criminal. They were later forced to apologize when her allegations were proven true.

That was followed by an LDP lawmaker, personally recruited by Abe, penning a piece bashing homosexuals as “unproductive” because they did not produce children.

Even amid these low standards, a new nadir was reached this month. Eitaro Ogawa, an author and an unofficial mouthpiece of Abe, lobbied for the rights of molesters, or chikan.

“The deepest suffering belongs to the men who are plagued with the symptoms of train groper syndrome in which his hand automatically moves when he steps on a packed train and catches a whiff of a woman,” Ogawa wrote.

“Repeated offenses show that it is an uncontrollable urge stemming from the brain. Shouldn’t society protect and reserve their rights to grope?”

Train groping is indeed a problem in Japan – so much so that there are female-only cars during rush hour so women can go to work without fear of being molested. At the same time, there are also countless adult movies and comics glorifying chikan.

There are even legal sexual massage parlors that replicate subway cars, where men pay for a simulated chikan experience.

Ogawa’s essay was published in controversial right-wing monthly magazine Shincho 45, put out by Shinchosha Publishing on Sept. 18.

Predictably, a brouhaha erupted.

Within days of publication, Shinchosha apologized for its lack of oversight, and last Wednesday, announced the indefinite suspension of the magazine.

Given the damage he had caused, what exactly did Ogawa mean to say?

His intention appears to have been the denigration of sexual minorities rather than an outright promotion of sexual assault. In his essay, he argued that train gropers and LGBT are essentially the same thing – sexual deviants – and lumped them together with an anagram he himself created: SMAG – sadists, masochists, ass fetishists and gropers.

According to Ogawa’s logic, groping people on trains and being homosexual are just different kinds of deviance. Ergo: Offering to protect the rights of one group (LGBT) over another (gropers) is ridiculous.

Critics of this thinking have not held their fire.

“I think that the magazine ceasing publication has a lot do with the #MeToo movement growing in Japan and more people willing to point out what is just simply wrong,” stormed Mari Hiryama, a professor of law at Hakuou University. “The thought process behind arguing that the rights of gropers and the rights of LGBT are the same is completely mistaken.

His utterances may even discourage victims of sexual assault from coming forward. What in the world was Ogawa thinking when he made such a dubious statement?”

That is a fair question. And was he being malicious or just plain ignorant? Aya Goda, the editor of LGBTQ magazine Palette, suspects it is the latter.

“I think his inappropriate and discriminatory remarks come from total ignorance. But if we are going to blame his ignorance, perhaps we must blame the structure of Japanese society,” she said. “Japan’s schools and media aren’t fertile ground for promoting correct knowledge of LGBTQ.

“For the sake of the next generation, in order to prevent further remarks like his, we need to encourage a better understanding of sexual diversity.”

Such an understanding may be particularly essential in conservative circles, including some major publishers and close Abe allies.

The suspended Shincho 45 had previously drawn fire for an opinion piece in its August issue by Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Mio Sugita, who had been recruited into the LDP by Abe. In her column, she labelled gay couples “unproductive” on the grounds they don’t reproduce. Sugita added that taxpayer money should not be wasted on support for sexual minorities.

Despite a resultant public outcry, Abe refused to condemn or admonish her. He explained in a television program that he didn’t ask her to resign because “she’s still young.”

Sugita is 51.

She has also blamed victims of sexual assault for being victimized, has ridiculed the plights of refugees and essentially serves as the party’s leading bullhorn.

It was thanks to Sugita that Shincho 45 may have sealed its own doom. On Sept. 18th, it ran a lengthy 37-page special feature entitled “Is Mio Sugita’s article that outrageous?”

That was the title of Ogawa’s now notorious piece.

In it, he answered the question by not just penning a defense of Sugita’s homophobic rant, but by pushing the boat out even further. Ogawa also appeared with Sugita, in a joint interview for another right-wing publication, Japanism, published this August.

And it is Ogawa who is arguably the most outspoken and controversial of Japan’s right-wing writers.

Ogawa, a self-proclaimed literary critic, has made a career out of praising the prime minister while putting the boot into his enemies – making him a combination of Abe’s lapdog and pit-bull.

He was a relatively unknown author until 2012, when his book The Promised Day, lauding Abe and his first term as prime minister from July 2006 to September 2007 was printed by Gentosha, a right-wing publisher.

The book appeared shortly before Abe ran in the party’s election to be president of the LDP, and the book is partly credited with his political comeback. Abe’s political fund, Shinwakai, reportedly spent 7 million yen ($61,000) purchasing copies of the book, elevating it briefly to best-seller status.

While Ogawa has made a tidy sum wielding his pen on behalf of Abe, he has also stabbed himself with it – even before his latest blunder.

Last year, just prior to general elections, Ogawa released a book accusing the liberal Asahi newspaper of fabricating scoops involving Abe’s abuse of power to benefit political cronies. The LDP also reportedly bought thousands of copies of that work, pushing it up onto the bestseller list.

However, the allegations in the book were so serious that the Asahi took the rare step of suing him and his publisher for defamation. That case is still in court, meaning Ogawa could end up facing severe and expensive legal repercussions.

Ogawa isn’t the only writer to be rewarded tangibly or intangibly for lavishly praising the Prime Minister.

Journalist Noriyuki Yamaguchi, who was given the scoop on Abe’s retirement in 2007, also appears to have benefitted. In 2015, while working on his book Prime Minister (Sori) about Abe’s struggles, a female journalist, Shiori Ito, filed charges of sexual assault against him.

The police began an investigation and held a warrant to seize Yamaguchi on rape charges. But on June 8, his arrest was called off at the last minute by Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Criminal Investigations Chief Itaru Nakamura.

Nakamura was a friend of the prime minister and the former secretary to Abe’s second-in-command, Cabinet Spokesman Yoshihide Suga. Nakamura not only halted the arrest, he replaced all the detectives on the case.

On June 9, 2016, while the prosecutors were still reviewing the case, Yamaguchi’s book was published by Gentosha, the same publishers of Ogawa’s 2012 work The Promised Day. On July 22,, prosecutors dropped all charges against Yamaguchi, who has denied all wrong-doing. Ogawa has publicly expressed support for Yamaguchi.

Shincho 45 once had up to 50,000 readers a month, but has suffered a drastic drop in recent years. Since 2016, it has veered to the right in order to boost sales. The publisher admits that their trial-and-error efforts to boost sagging sales resulted in insufficient oversight of content.

Ironically, after the company announced it would cease publishing the magazine, prices of remaining issues sky-rocketed, with some used copies going for 10 times the cover price.

The sad part of this debacle is that Shinchosha also publishes Shukan Shincho, a weekly magazine which features some of the best investigative journalism in Japan. In fact, it was Shukan Shincho which first published a series of articles on the obstruction of standard criminal procedure in the rape investigation concerning Shiori Ito, which was later followed up by The New York Times, while the BBC released a documentary on the case, Japan’s Secret Shame, this summer.

Ogawa has not walked back his essay, nor has he apologized. As he usually does in such cases, Abe has remained silent.

However, newspapers and commentators in Japan are now openly discussing the problems with Shincho 45, right-wing magazines like Japanism, Hanada and others. Much of the discussion centers not only on content, but on whether these magazines are acting as the voice of the administration.

While Abe has not made discriminatory or misogynist statements himself, his propensity to represent himself with misogynists, gay-bashers and accused sex offenders is raising big questions. Japan is starting to wonder.

[tinyliltina]

Picture this

“Tell me again why I agreed to come with you-” Zander crossed his arms. Mars eyed the door before them, tilting his head. “Why’d we come here if we’re not gonna ta-”

“Work isn’t all there is to life,” Mars shrugged. “And speaking about our jobs in public isn’t wise, you know.” He pressed his free shoulder against the door. Zander snorted, but kept his mouth shut. Mars, although friendly, was still a giant to his two-foot frame. He didn’t need to piss the big guy off.

A chime tinkled above Mars as he entered. The thick scent of ink blanketed the air, and a sickening yellow light burned within the small shop. Mars glanced to a vendor’s counter, lined with papers and journals. The man behind the counter raised a hand.

“Eve to you,” the man nodded. His skin was pale, with the yellow light he looked sickly. Mars’ lips quirked, and he stepped to the counter.

“And to you, sir.” Mars smiled. “I’ve…” he rubbed his face. “Been looking for a picture of something scenic for my ill grandmother.” Mars paused, then touched at his scarf. That usually implied his grandmother gave him the scarf. Usually got a response, especially if he shuffled on his feet and looked down. “Do you have...anything of a beach? Or a forest, maybe-? My grandmother always loved to travel, but we’re afraid she make another trip.” He didn’t need to lie this man, but Mars took every opportunity to test his abilities.

“I see,” the employee’s voice softened. “I grieve for your family.” Mars nodded solemnly, murmured a thanks. The man’s gaze fell on Zander. “I see you have a goblin elf...my daughter asks for one each spring. Are they good with children?”

“That is a bold assumption. I am good when I want to be.” Zander snapped before Mars could stop him. The employee recoiled.

“My apologies-” he held up his hands. “I did not realize-”

“That I could talk? Or that I can speak for my-”

“I apologize for Zander’s behavior.” Mars cleared his throat. He could feel Zander’s eyes melting his skin. “But he-...he was my grandmother’s. Raised him once my mother left home.” Mars paused. “She never conditioned him, you see.”

Understanding flooded the shopkeeper's pale gaze. Of course, that story made more sense than the idea a goblin elf, a rodent, could survive on its own. Mars would pay for speaking of Zander like this, but it was necessary.

“Ah,” the shopkeeper nodded. He’d believed the story. For the time being, that was enough. Mars asked again about the pictures, and the man was quick to lead them towards the back of the store. The lighting changed as they walked, with the trio now bathed in a soft, white light. As they walked, the man introduced himself. His name was Nadir. He’d owned this shop for some time now, and enjoyed the quiet solace it granted him.

“The nature pictures are towards the back.” The man pointed, and Mars nodded. In this light, Mars could see his skin was a rich olive, covered in thick, black markings. Mars inquired about them, but Nadir dismissed them as “mistakes from his youth”. Mars smiled, and waved to Nadir as he dismissed himself.

Each of the walls was lined with dust tinted pictures. Every picture was framed, and every frame was unique. Mars approached a long, rectangle table in the center of the room. It was lined with standing pictures facing outwards. Mars found it strange how perfectly spaced each of the pictures were. He knelt, examining how even each space seemed. Zander shifted on his shoulder.

“You doing okay?”

Zander flinched. He shifted, then replied “I’m fine.”

Mars sighed. His hand moved to his shoulder, hovering until Zander’s weight shifted into it. Mars stood, lowered his hand to the table. Zander stepped onto the table, standing between two pictures. He faced Mars, arms crossed.

“You’ve not made a single snide remark about how much dust there is,” Mars pointed out. “Not a word about how strange it is for a single man to own this many pictures.” Zander shrugged, looking away from him. Mars couldn’t see anything in his eyes. That wasn’t unusual, but it was annoying.

“I’m fine.”

Mars raised his hands, and backed up. No point in trying to force anything out. He turned back to the pictures at the wall, skimming the rows up and down. Many of the pictures were of scenic things. Sunsets, falls, glittering stones, rows of crops in the wind. Some of the pictures had people in them. Dragon, elves, and fae commoned the pictures. They were all smiling, all posing. Mars paused after he’d browsed a moment, lifting a frame off of the wall. His hand brushed away the dust and grime, and he peered at the scenery hidden beneath.

The picture was of a sunset behind two hills. The hills were dark, almost black, cast deep into the shadow of the afternoon. Mars frowned. Why did those look so familiar? He examined the land beneath the hills. There, hidden in the darkness of dusk, was a house. Wooden walls, few windows, and the creaky, old door. His eyes traced gravel-lined walkway, children’s toys littered in the yard...the shed behind the house where he’d played games in his school days. Mars replaced the picture on the wall, closing his eyes and shaking his head. When he looked back to the picture, the house was gone. The sun was glittering behind the hills once more.

Mars looked to another picture. It was an old man, turned towards the camera. He looked angry, hands clutching his pocket. Mars backed away from the picture. Thief! The word rocketed through his skull. That had been a messy job-snatching the old man’s money. The boy, grab him! Mars remembered running, hiding in an alley.

He stepped away from the wall, blinking several times. Recollecting himself, Mars turned back to Zander. His long, drooped ears were pinned back, and his tail was stiff at his back.

“Zan?”

Zander jolted as if snapped out of a trance. He looked to Mars, then to the picture, and back to Mars.

“It was-...” he pointed. “I saw-us-and…”

Mars stepped towards Zander, offering him a hand. “I think it’s time to leave,” he said quietly. Zander nodded, clambering into Mars’ palm. Mars turned to the door, and locked eyes with Nadir.

“Who are you?”

~~~

A/N

Had to write based off a prompt for my class and decided to use these guys because why not-;0;

Mars and Zander are honestly??? some of my favorite characters to write with ;w; I love giving them attention and spoiling them oml-

What kind of tomfoolery have these guys gotten into? Who knows! Maybe if you l eave a nice reblog, I'll write a sequel so you can find out >3C

Mars and Zander are mine, please and thanks don't steal!

[realisadiamondblr]

Diamonds have captured the imagination of royalty through the centuries. They continue to beguile and fascinate women across all ages. Sathya Saran traces the gem’s journey from Mughal courts to its modern interpretations as an aspirational heirloom.

Almost as mesmeric and perennial in their sparkle as the stars in the sky, these are stars that nature rafts deep within the earth. Working in her mysterious way to transform base matter into a diamond with the same precision with which she helps a caterpillar emerge as a butterfly.

But unlike the butterfly which lives for a brief day, the diamond never loses its brilliance. Making it a gem that the powerful loved, seeing as they did in its hardness a symbol of their own invincibility; and in its brightness a reflection of their power and light. Today, the diamond continues as a signifier of individual achievement.

Lighting up Mughal courts

Indian kings have always found a special place for diamonds. Sir Thomas Roe, Ambassador to the Mughal court, notes with wonder in his manuscript, titled “Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the court of the Great Mogul, 1615-1619 as narrated in his journal and correspondence” that Jahangir was “laden with diamonds”. Many museum exhibits dating back to as early as 1625, show diamonds shining from Indian turban ornaments, and decorating the jade handles of swords and daggers that belonged to Indian kings or nobles.

Abdul Hamid Lahori who witnessed the court of Shah Jahan, speaks of the diamonds that dominated the gem-encrusted Peacock Throne. Lahori’s account includes the 186-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond, the Akbar Shah diamond weighing 95 carats, as well as the 88.77-carat Shah diamond and the 83-carat Jahangir diamond. The only other gem he notes is the exceptionally large Timur Ruby, which at 352.50 carats was the third-largest Balas ruby in the world.

A dagger hilt set with a mythical lion-headed beast, possibly from Tanjore or Mysore, was bedecked mainly with Kundan set diamonds, alongside rubies and emeralds.

Favoured embellishment

The mines of Golconda yielded their beauty, and royal houses in Hyderabad had gold betel leaf boxes that were decorated with diamonds and enamelled panels, as well as diamond studded gold bowls with matching stands, which were possibly from the late 1700s. And of course, the diamonds in the Nizams’ family collections could have bought the rest of India!

Table cut and round Kundan diamonds, combined with Cabochon rubies and emeralds were used to decorate Tipu Sultan’s throne, and by the 1800s, diamonds were indispensable and embellished every royal object from ankush to anklets. And historians write about Lord Clive, who brought back from his sojourn in India, two impeccably cut pear-shaped diamonds presented to him by the Nawab of Arcot. The ‘Arcot diamonds’ were, in turn, presented by Clive to Queen Charlotte, who wore the 1,20,000 pound gift in her ears. By the 20th century, Indian kings were patronising European jewellers like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Harry Winston, influencing their creations with Indian motifs.

Modern marvels

Over the centuries, many treasures created by these houses for royalty have disappeared.

The story of the Patiala necklace that Cartier created for Bhupinder Singh of Patiala in 1911, with 2,930 diamonds that centred around the 234.65 carat De Beers diamond is well known. While the cause of the necklace’s disappearance in 1928 was never discovered, the pieces of it found by a Cartier associate in a second-hand jewellery store were bought by the group to help reconstruct the original with imitation stones.

Also, part of royal history is the large diamond buckle that Shatrujit ‘Tikka’ Singh of Kapurthala remembers seeing, in photographs of his grandfather, at public receptions. According to him, “Mahajal, one of the world’s top ten diamonds was a cushion cut yellow diamond of 139.38 carats, procured in the 1730s when Nadir Shah was sacking Delhi and we were sacking him. It disappeared during the confusion of the Partition. Never to be seen afterwards. The story is it was cut into smaller shapes to suit changing tastes”.

Every royal family has a diamond story. Nawab Kazim Ali Khan of Rampur while remembering a tiara and a crown of incomparable diamonds, says: “Though our family was partial to Basra pearls and had baskets full of them”.

The aspiration to own and wear diamonds today continues to dwell in most Indian hearts, as much due to its romantic association with royalty and the past, as the stone’s own allure.

[mbdailynews]

Home-Flipper Opendoor Hit With Losses in Echo of Zillow Collapse

The US housing market’s sharp downturn has been bad for builders, flippers and almost anyone who had plans to sell a home when rising mortgage rates shut down the pandemic buying frenzy. The slump has been especially harsh for Opendoor Technologies Inc., pioneer of a data-driven spin on home-flipping known as iBuying. The company, which sells thousands of homes in a typical month, lost money on 42% of its transactions in August, according to research from YipitData. Opendoor’s performance — as measured by the prices at which it bought and sold properties — was even worse in key markets such as Los Angeles, where the company lost money on 55% of sales, and Phoenix, where the share was 76%. The losses, which don’t include fees charged to customers or expenses incurred in renovating and marketing homes, have been looming since the housing market turned suddenly in recent months. Opendoor warned investors that it expected to lose as much as $175 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the third quarter. Get 52 weeks of The WSJ Print Edition with daily delivery to your home or office for $318 “We provided third quarter guidance in our last earnings to reflect lower-than-normal transaction volume and home-price appreciation, as well as longer than normal hold times for our inventory associated with the most rapid change in residential real estate fundamentals in 40 years,” an Opendoor representative said in a statement. “We have moved quickly and decisively to prioritize inventory health and risk management.” The company’s rocky summer is reminiscent of the pricing problems that doomed Zillow Group Inc.’s iBuying business last year, according to a research note from Mike DelPrete, a scholar-in-residence at the University of Colorado Boulder. That doesn’t mean Opendoor is going to shut down the business, but it demonstrates the depth of the losses — and September is likely to be even worse than August, DelPrete’s analysis shows. “Opendoor’s metrics are in the danger zone,” DelPrete said in an interview. “They are very close to where Zillow was in its worst moments.” Opendoor Slump The iBuyer is selling more homes for less than it paid The iBuying model relies on acquiring homes, making light repairs and reselling the properties — often within a few months of the initial purchase. When home prices were skyrocketing earlier in the year, Opendoor banked easy profits. Then dwindling affordability and mortgage rates soaring toward 6% this spring finally pushed would-be buyers to the sidelines. By June, median home prices had begun to decline in some areas, especially the Sun Belt markets that had been frothiest in the pandemic boom days. The shift caught Opendoor by surprise, leaving it to offload thousands of properties it had agreed to purchase when prices were rising. Instead of canceling contracts, Opendoor decided to make good on the offers, explaining the decision as an investment in the company’s brand, according to a letter to investors in August. The shares slid 4.7% to $3.87 at 3:28 p.m. New York time Monday. They were down 72% this year through the close on Sept. 16. Subscribe to The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Digital for $89 Eventually, Opendoor will finish selling through the inventory it acquired before the market shifted, giving it a chance to stem its losses and start selling homes profitably again. The worst might already be over, with last week representing the nadir of the selloff, according to an analysis by Tyler Okland, chief executive officer of Datadoor.io. In the meantime, Opendoor’s struggles have been a boon for people like Troy Ready, who completed an online form to solicit a bid from the company for his Yorba Linda, California, home. He almost fell out of his chair when Opendoor offered $1.4 million, and closed on the deal at the end of March. Opendoor put the house back on the market two weeks later, asking just under $1.6 million, then cut the asking price every two weeks before selling the property for $1.3 million in August. “We managed to sell at the particular top of the market,” said Ready. “It felt like a big win.” Read the full article