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cerisezero · 1 year ago

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I keep thinking about the times that someone has looked at the idea of writing their language and gone '…yeah no I'm gonna fix that' or 'yeah I want a piece of that action' and made it happen, for any reason. And I'm gonna make noises about it for a little bit. Maybe highlight a couple of things.

You've got King Sejong in Korea going "OK. The script we're using now is hella complex and …Chinese. I want something that's easy enough for a farmer to learn. And maybe to pay his taxes with." And he works out hangul, neat and logical and frequent winner of Best Writing System awards if such things exist. (And then the nobles don't like it because how are they supposed to look smart if the peasants can write too?)

You've got Sequoyah, thinking the settlers he's doing business with might have at least one good idea in this whole 'talking leaves' system they're using. So he throws himself into working out a syllabary that works for the Cherokee language even when his friends and family think he's losing the plot or he's possessed or… Anything. But he hangs in there. Teaches his daughter. Proves that this is something worth it, and goes on to see the syllabary he created become official and used throughout the Cherokee Nation.

These are the best known ones. But how many are there out there?

There are systems where a missionary or someone similar's come into a place, and gone 'hm, Latin ain't cutting it for writing this' - the Cree syllabics and their extended Canadian family fall into this box, though there's at least some accounts that dispute the usual story. (Given that a lot of those sort of stories come down to 'so we can make a Bible at these people', it's fair to put a big old asterisk on them, but… they're a thing.) Getting away from that issue, though? There's local creators making a bespoke system for their language when the ones they'd picked up from outside just don't fit the sounds or grammatical patterns. Writing systems that can really belong to a language and its people.

While it's absolutely not my place to say whether something is good or bad - the only people who can do that are the language users and community the script was made for - there can't help but be a few that catch the eye. For example, I'm quite fond of the Ditema tsa Dinoko script - it's a pretty recent creation from South Africa as a script for a wide range of Bantu languages, using compact triangular blocks in a way that reflects traditional patterns from Sesotho tradition. From my outside perspective, it's an elegant script. It's just one example, though - there's many creators in Africa who have done similar things, sitting down and making a script that their language needs and that isn't being shoved on them by… yeah. Vai and N'Ko are the biggest examples but there are so many! Moving on, in Oceania, we find the Avoiuli text from Vanuatu, designed so that any one character can be drawn with one stroke in the sand… and elsewhere, the scripts being created to use with signed languages which haven't used them in the past…

If I were to try and go into all of them, it'd be a whole essay. And I'd probably miss some as I'm an outsider nerd without access to the deep literature on some of this stuff. Instead, I'll link to The World's Writing Systems as an index to browse through - unfortunately, it doesn't allow searching by how the writing system was created. But there are plenty of indigenous scripts listed there too that deserve their own deep dive. (The fact it lists con-scripts specifically made for fiction… eh.) Their icon comes from the Afaka script, for the Ndyuka creole in Suriname. A lot of the letters are quite pictorial in nature - including the 'ka' in WWS's icon. Gotta say, that's a way to make things memorable.

…anyway, that's my ramble for today. Just gonna wrap with this source which I haven't fully investigated yet, and Endangered Alphabets which isn't so much for deliberately constructed scripts but (unsurprisingly) for endangered ones in general, and as such plain deserves a link.

Now I go back to my own scribbling. Maybe I'll finish a con-script enough to show off one day. Even if one rather smaller in goals.

#writing #writing systems #language #constructed scripts #conscript #long post #i like words :3 #just a ramble

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gemsofgreece · 2 years ago

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Sadly, Cleopatra isn’t the only one, they did it with Anne Boleyn, Charles V, Marie-Antoinette, China and Japan’s indigenous people. I mean, they still think that Caucasian means white.

I don’t understand why they refuse to explore or portray West Africa, East Africa, or Sub-Saharan Africa, its people, mythologies, religions. It has countless ethnic nationalities, and very rich and diverse cultures.

My theory is that it is because of two reasons:

This is an African American thing. Secondarily, similar ideas might be supported by next generation immigrants in West Europe at most. I find it wrong that it is called “Afrocentrism” because that trend does not represent indigenous people of Africa, or indigenous people in general, their concerns or their wishes. If you check videos about the whole Cleopatra discourse, Africans do not support the case, they feel weird about it and even embarrassed by the way African Americans tackle these topics. African Americans do not fight for Africa. They fight for their own place in the American society and because they have an extremely traumatic past imposed on them by the American whites, they see this movement in a peaceful yet clearly vengeful perspective. African Americans try to claim more space in societies that were traditionally considered white or colonialist. They do not care nowhere as much about empowering or boosting the voice and development of African countries as at this point they feel distant from them. They too are Americans now, after all. The ulterior incentive is not to present, praise and attract interest for African or other POC culture but rather to be seen as capable of competing with or even toppling white history and culture. Unfortunately, this very ill thought strategy is applied to feminism too. Instead of presenting women as complex people with their strengths, ideas, aspirations and motives, they force them always to a comparison with men or they have to aggressively belittle men and have women assume their positions (ie the James Bond discourse). That’s why the first Wonder Woman movie was so acclaimed and successful in its feminism with both women and men - it was an original female character who also worked peacefully with men. Unfortunately they don’t seem to take the hint of WW for what works and what doesn’t. And to go back to the original topic, this is why Black Panther is also much more acclaimed and successful than all those idiotic projects twisting history to a laughable degree. But these are superheroes and, therefore, also parts of the American culture. To ask Americans to go deep in studying African and Asian cultures and produce accurate and sensitive art from them is too much work and it is not even what they want to talk about anyway.

95% of these movies are made or produced by rich whites. Rich whites follow the trends of the time with zero interest in historical accuracy or sensitivity about other places in the world. A rich white American producer does not care how well his movie will be received in Tanzania or Yemen. He cares how many African or Asian Americans will go to the cinemas. This is the audience they cater to, plus white wokes which is another big trend that can provide his movie with a lot of traction. Neither Africa nor Asia nor indigenous communities in the Americas and Oceania have a remotely considerable benefit out of any of these. Nothing will change in Kenya or in Kenyan people’s everyday lives, concerns and challenges just because Anne Boleyn is now black. It’s been called USA and West Europe’s guilt syndrome but I think it is mostly the realisation that a pretence of a guilt syndrome pays well in these countries’ media production because some people in these countries suck it up like crazy.

#Cleopatra discourse #anon #mail #opinion

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marketing123456789 · 2 years ago

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Eubiotics Market Size, Share, Trend Research Profiling Players to Witness Massive Growth by 2031

As per Future Market Insights (FMI) analysis, the global consumption of eubiotics increased by year-on-year (YoY) rate of 6.7% in 2021 to total sales of US$ 2.68 Bn in the year. The overall demand for eubiotics represents 16.4% of the global animal feed market in 2021 and is poised to increase at 7.4% CAGR to reach a value of US$ 5.47 Bn in 2031.

The eubiotics market is emerging as antibiotic alternatives or animal antimicrobials by-product in the animal feed industry intended to boost livestock immunity and gut health while acting as livestock nutrition. Considering this, the increasing demand for animal feed additives and animal specialty drugs will result in high demand for eubiotics market.

The demand for eubiotics is growing as animal farming industries aim for improved effeciency, which includes an increase in livestock yield. Antibiotics, for the longest time, have remained crucial for improving animal productivity. Antibiotics are still in use in many countries as a sub-therapeutic substance for animal growth. But banning of antibiotics is encouraging manufacturers to go for alternative solutions, controlling the rise of AMR (anti-microbial resistance) products at the global level.

To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-11087

Eubiotics, such as prebiotics, probiotics, enzymes, and organic acids, can add the essential nutritional components to reduce the antibiotic use in farmed animals that can enable the industry to grow further. Key manufacturers like DSM are developing effective eubiotics solutions to reduce the prophylactic use of antibiotics and to remove AGPs to tackle AMR, to switch to antibiotic-free animal diets smoothly over time.

Key Takeaways from the Eubiotics Market Study:

North America eubiotics market leads accounted for 31.1% of the global eubiotics market in 2021.

Based on type, organic acid accounted for a dominant market share of 48.3% in the global market in 2021.

In terms of form, the liquid form is anticipated to register a CAGR of 7.8% during the forecast period (2021-2031).

By function, nutrition and gut health segment is accounted for 37.9% of the total market share in 2021.

Among livestock segments, demand for eubiotics in aquaculture is anticipated to increase by a CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period.

Who is winning?

Mature eubiotics markets can be influenced by consumer behavioral changes to dictate the demand-supply balance paradigm and the critical demographic position of the market as well. Focus on environmental sustainability is the broad level indicator of growth of the eubiotics market, as governments and regulatory bodies are introducing stringent rules regarding standard eubiotics products.

According to the Veterinary Medicines Regulation, published on December 11, 2018, the regulatory body has identified the need to control use of antimicrobial farm animal products and has put a ban on the prophylactic and metaphylactic antimicrobials usage in animals. The regulation will come into effect from January 28, 2022, compelling manufacturers to convert the antibiotic based products into sustainable alternatives like eubiotics.

Some of the leading companies offering eubiotics are Cargill Inc., BASF SE, Koninklijke DSM N.V., Novozymes, Eubiotics, Lesaffre Group, Kemin Industries, Inc., Novus International, Inc., Chr. Hansen Holding A/S, Beneo Group, and others.

Eubiotics by Category

By Type, eubiotics is segmented as:

Probiotics

Prebiotics

Organic Acid

Essential Oil

Enzymes

By Form, eubiotics is segmented as:

Dry

Liquid

By Function, eubiotics is segmented as:

Nutrition and Gut Health

Yield

Immunity

By Livestock, eubiotics is segmented as:

Cattle

Poultry

Swine

Aquaculture

Others

By Region, eubiotics is segmented as:

North America

Latin America

Europe

East Asia

South Asia

Oceania

Middle East and Africa

Preview Full Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/eubiotics-market

About FMI: Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in Dubai, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India. FMI’s latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously tracks emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.

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ark3750 · 3 years ago

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Timeline of the Summer Olympics

Jul 23, 2021 The Summer Olympics were first held in Athens, Greece in the year, 1896

Today, the 32nd Summer Olympic Games were finally declared open, in Tokyo, Japan, after being delayed by a year due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Since 1896, the Games have been held every 4 years, except in 1916 (Berlin), 1940 (Tokyo) n 1944 (London), when they had to be cancelled due to World Wars - I n II

The Games therefore have been awarded to be held 32 times but have been held 29 times in the last 125 years! 24 cities in 19 countries across 5 continents were awarded the hosting rights of 32 Summer Olympics Games n have hosted 29 Games over this period. 5 Host Continents: 1. Europe: Awarded 18 and hosted 16 Olympic Games 2. North America: Awarded and hosted 6 Olympic Games 3. Asia: Awarded 5 and hosted 4 Olympic Games 4. Australia: Awarded and hosted 2 Olympic Games 5. South America: Awarded and hosted 1 Olympic Games 19 Host Countries: 1. The US has hosted the summer Olympics 4 times n will host it for a record 5th time in 2028, the most by any country.

2. Next best is England,- awarded the hosting right 4 times, hosted thrice. The 1944 Games were cancelled due to WW-II

3 to 6. France, Germany, Japan n Australia have been all awarded hosting rights, thrice, but hosted the Olympic Games only twice till now. Berlin Games (1916) n Tokyo Games (1940) were cancelled due to WW-I n WW-II respectively while France n Australia will host the games for a 3rd time in 2024 n 2032 respectively.

7. Greece was awarded the honor of hosting the first Olympics in 1896 n over a century later, played host for a second time in 2004.

8 to 19. 12 more countries, across the 4 continents of Europe, N. America, S. America and Asia have had the honor of hosting the summer Olympics, once each.

24 Host Cities: 1. London has had the honor of being awarded the hosting rights a maximum of 4 times and went on to host the games, thrice. The 1944 Games were cancelled due to WW-II

2 to 4. Paris, Los Angeles n Tokyo were awarded the hosting rights, thrice each. All 3 cities have hosted the games, twice each. Paris will host the 33rd Olympics in 2024 n become only the 2nd city after London to host the games thrice and will be followed by Los Angeles in 2028. Tokyo would have earned that distinction right now in 2021 had the 1940 games not been cancelled due to WW-II

5. Athens has hosted the games twice, in 1896 n 2004

6. Berlin was awarded the hosting rights twice, but the first time it got cancelled due to WW-I in 1916. After a 20 year wait, it finally played host and the 1936 Games were declared open by none less than Adolf Hitler himself.

7 to 24. 18 more cities across the 5 continents of Europe, N. America, S. America, Asia and Oceania have been awarded the hosting rights, once each. 17 of these cities have already hosted the games and Brisbane will host the games in 2032

Australia holds the unique distinction of bagging the hosting rights thrice, each time in a different city,- Melbourne (1956), Sydney (2000) and Brisbane (2032)

Only the US has already played host across three cities over the last 125 years,- St. Louis (1904), Los Angeles (1932, 1984 and will again play host in 2028) and the centennial games in Atlanta (1996) OOO OO 🔥 💃 🏓🏸🏑🥅 ⚽🤽🏽‍♀️ 🎱 ⛹️ ⛹🏿 🏹 🤾🏾 🏊🥋🥊 🎾 ⛷️ 🏌️ 🏂 ⛳ 🏌🏼 🚣🏾‍🏒 🏇 🎯 🎳 🏃🚴 🏄 🧗🏻 🏄🏻 🤺 🤼 🥇🥈🥉💃

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recentanimenews · 4 years ago

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Tokyo Revengers Gets Stage Play Adaptation Starring Tsubasa Kizu in August 2021

A stage play adaptation of Ken Wakui's shonen manga Tokyo Revengers is set to be performed in Osaka, Tokyo, and Kanagawa in August 2021. 23-year-old Tsubasa Kizu, best known as Arslan in The Heroic Legend of Arslan Musical in 2019, will play the protagonist Takemichi Hanagaki, who repeats time leaps back to junior high school days in order to save his former girlfriend. In the forthcoming live-action film, which will be released in Japan on July 9, 2021, Takemichi is portrayed by 23-year-old Takumi Kitamura (Tonkatsu DJ Agetaro).

The stage play is written/directed by Naohiro Ise, who has worked on many stage play adaptations of popular Japanese games, manga, and anime, such as WORKING!! (2012), BROTHERS CONFLICT (2014-2016), Noragami (2016-2017), Your Lie in April (2107), Mr. Osomatsu (2018-2019), and BEASTERS (2020). He says, "While feeling a great deal of pressure, we will never give up, just like Takemichi's way of life. We will all run as fast as we can to the goal of the performance. We will deliver the 'Tokyo Revengers' that only the stage play can provide."

The stage play Tokyo Revengers will be performed at COOL JAPAN PARK OSAKA WW Hall in Osaka from August 6 to 8, at Nippon Seinenkan Hall in Tokyo from August 12 to 14, and at KT Zepp Yokohama in Kanagawa from August 19 to 22. Advance registration for the tickets will be accepted on ePlus from today, May 19 at 12:00 (JST).

Key visual:

Tsubasa Kizu as Tekemichi Hanagaki:

Jun Naoto as Naoto Tachibana:

Ryo Matsuda as Manjiro Sano:

Sho Jinnai as Ken Ryuguji:

舞台「東京リベンジャーズ」 2021年8月、大阪、東京、神奈川にて上演決定‼️ 本日5/19(水)正午12時よりチケット受付開始???? 詳細はこちら▶️https://t.co/u5KuwJXQlH#東リベ　#リベステ pic.twitter.com/Olu5fe5d7p

— 舞台「東京リベンジャーズ」 (@revengers_stage) May 18, 2021

Meanwhile, the TV anime Tokyo Revengers, directed by Koichi Hatsumi (Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga), premiered in Japan on April 10, 2021, and has also been simulcast on Crunchyroll to its members in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and CIS.

Key visual:

Source: Stage play "Tokyo Revengers" official website / Twitter

By: Mikikazu Komatsu

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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zire-7 · 7 years ago

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A Totally Biased Review Of Superstition

Oops...I had planned on writing a review for this one a couple weeks after its release, like I did with HAS; though its not like I'm getting paid to write a review. Anyways, there was a drama shitstorm involving a good friend of mine, she is not a fan of TBM, and I've been too busy almost dying to write a review. Now I find myself desiring to once again extol the virtues of The Birthday Massacre. (To anyone who read my last review, [http://zire-7.tumblr.com/post/33486561723/a-totally-biased-review-of-hide-and-seek] yes I was just as emotionally destroy and gutted with Superstition as I was with HAS

)

I..LOVE. IT. Even after 3 years of listening, I still find myself listening to Superstition. Its definitely got hooks, both lyrical and instrumental, as well as a new magical fairy tail esque world that is brought to life. Or, perhaps its a deserted island in the same world that N&N, Violet, WWS, PAN, and HAS, belong too.

Without further ado, the songs....

Divide

The opening is deceptive of the song's imagery, the song is haunting and uplifting at the same time. Like finding yourself stranded on an island but with a loaded flare gun. Except there's one flare and no one around to see it. Chibi's voice is enchanting, when isn't it, but this time its like the call of a Siren.

On the bridge (I think its the bridge? I don't know.) there is growling as we've heard in Blue and Down. And I do believe either Rainbow or Falcore are singing backing vocals, it could be Nate, it brings a little something extra to the song. The synths, drums, guitar, and bass are softer throughout the verses, building to a crescendo for the chorus before getting softer again. Of course there's the wicked awesome guitar solo and instrumental interlude. Two words, Bass drop.

Favorite lyrics: In the night, we dance with our devils and dine with the snakes. The dead will stare in joy and despair – rising up, away from the earth, and into the clouds.

Rating: 1000. It is an excellent opening song that sets the stage for an even more excellent album.

Diaries

The synths are strong with this one, but it does amazing things for the chorus and with clear vocals...this song was and is a fast favorite. The drums in combination with the synths makes your body move to the music; you'll find yourself singing along too. (I've certainly caught myself nodding my head many, many times when it comes on.) I'm not sure what a song needs to have, to be classified as an 'Anthem' but it is one. The bridge is amazing. The instruments are a kick to the face and the vocals trap you in a desolate frame of mind.

Favorite Lyrics: We were strangers when I believed I could wake up from this dream. As life goes on, I know that time will tear us apart and take you away. And when your gone, I'll wake up with a hand on my heart and a foot in my grave.

Rating: 2000. Its catchy, the lyrics will get stuck in your head, and its bleeds beautifully into the next song. It wouldn't be a TBM album without a few songs that bleed into each other.

Superstition

Okay, so this is one of those songs that you will listen to until your ears bleed and not even that will stop you from listening. I'm not kidding, its got the synths, very strong drums, guitars, powerful vocals, backing vocals by Rainbow(always great), it is very much a 'burn the witch at the stake' anthem of pure and utter BAMF-ness.

It will transport you to the mid 19th century (1800s, cause you know, the 20th century is the 1900s. I know its weird) during the Salem witch trials, only the witches are taking names and kicking people in the face. It is in my top five favorite songs from TBM. With each chorus the music gets more intense and keeps on going. The instrumental version of this song is just as enchanting as the version with vocals...I could go on forever about this song's 'ka-pow' and 'BAMF-ness'.

Favorite Lyrics: He stops me when I'm starting to pray. He says. “Intuition is awakening suspicion.” He says, “My tradition is the art of superstition.” I wake up in the light of a fire, eyes burning like the ashes in submission to the heat of desire. He tells me not to preach to the choir.

Rating: 300000. A. Totally. Biased. Review. Of. Superstition. I can do what I want...but in all seriousness, its a fantastic song. Also the 'jam session' music video for it, is amazing!

Destroyer

Its not exactly a bleed in from the other song but at the end of the previous one, it goes quiet and then bass. An excellent opening to this destroyer of eardrums (:D, see what I did there.). This song will break your eardrums if you crank it to max volume and if you don't, you won't get the impact. Ugh...the synths are so on point(This band definitely knows how to Synth or be techno...whatever).

On the vocal front, they open with a louder growling whisper; image the whispering of the Happy Birthday verses' and a dash of the harsh growling in Down. Though, Chibi mixes both hard and soft tones throughout to devastating effect. The masterful accompaniment of the drums, synths, bass and guitar enhances it even more.

Favorite Lyrics: Making wishes for me. Causing calamity. The only solution, abandons me. This a tragedy. I meet with it gratefully. Its my execution, and you're joining me.

Rating: 4000. It adds another layer to Superstition's story of a witch hunt. (In my opinion)

Surrender

I'm going to level with you, I hate the opening of this song so, so, so much. I just, the heavy panting breaths, in combination with the warble-y synths is off putting. It makes me not want to listen further. However, the the first verse is a work of art and is reminiscent of Midnight's 'kick to your eardrums' vocals. Its great. In fact, the verses are masterful and beautiful, the rest of the song has its good things and things I didn't like(I'm sure there are other TBM fans that liked them.).

Good things: haunting lyrics, an even more haunting melody during the verses, and its enchanting imagery. Things I didn't like: the weird breathy tone for some refrains, as well as those at the beginning and ending of the song, and the weird warble-y synths. (Usually I like how well TBM uses synths but not in this song.)

Favorite Lyrics: Tonight they're calling out your name. A light across the river. They're coming for you. Let me in and I'll explain. So dark outside here, I'm afraid I'll disappear. I know you're in there. I sense your fear.

Rating: 500. Unless I'm in the mood to listen to this song, I will skip it.

Oceania

The. Synths. Are. So. On. Point. They mesh so well with the vocals (also so on point) that make this song catchy AF. I lied, Diaries has got nothing on this song. You'll will sing along and you will dance to the beat. It has energy and its energy will give you energy. The lyrics weave a tale of a shipwreck in the Bermuda triangle and three kids wash up on an island with memory loss. Their memories create ghosts that drive the kids crazy. It also could be where they album art work comes from. This song's hooks are definitely Chibi's voice, I have no words.

Favorite Lyrics: A slight of hand to make us blind. Our past life shared, we left behind. When tomorrow comes, there'll be no end in sight. Home is something I'll never know. It's where I wanted to go. Cause in the world below, I was always alone.

Rating: 6000. This will transport you to another world.

Rain

Ugh this song is too perfect for words. The instrumental sections of this song are exceptional and make up for the slim vocal presence. The vocals that are in it, are mind blowing and cast a spell over you. Or its the Fae queen being described that does it...oh yeah we're all enthralled by a Fae queen. (I regret nothing!). There is an instrumental version of the song that is kick ass too.

Favorite Lyrics: Praise the truth come to light. The valley of night she gives to me, from her empty heart. By silence and shame, the poison and pain flows over me.

Rating: 7000. Repeat for days.

Beyond

Same thing with Surrender, I don't like the opening. When the music hits my ears, my soul screams: SKIP. I love the powerful delivery of the bridge's lines though...so much yes. The verses are good too, but not as good as that bridge. The vocals on the bridge and the verses, and the drums are the only things I like about it.

Favorite Lyrics: Out into the dark I stared, out there, at the edge of the world. I made a promise to never grow up and forget all the days here, when I was so young.

Rating: 800. I'll listen to if I'm in the mood, but it gets the boot like Surrender when it comes on more often than not.

The Other Side

We have another bleeder, Beyond fades into a howling wind that devolves quickly into organs(like a giant piano, not the parts...though a very legit and fair assumption considering its TBM.) Was/is anyone else reminded of Phantom of the Opera during the opening of this song? Cause there's where my mind instantly went. Everything in this song is powerful, the lyrics, the synths, the instrumental interludes, and just everything!

Without an instant favorite. I also get a very nord/viking vibe from this song. It reminds me of a winter-y wasteland and the Night King from Game of Thrones. I would happily listen to this song until my ears bleed.

Favorite Lyrics: Let me show you the way through the water. You don't have to explain yourself. Turn your face to the stars. I see you smiling. In summer I drowned you. In winter I found you.

Rating: 9000000 (Over 9000). I must have listened to it at least this many times already.

Trinity

The transition into this very alluring melody from the intensity of The Other Side is very unexpected but welcome. Though I don't like the high 'trumpet-y' synths in the middle. Other than that its a good instrumental track from TBM to close this album.

Rating: 1000. It gets more listens then the other two songs and isn't skipped as often.

Score:

All the awards!

Why you should listen to it, why you should go listen to it for the millionth time, and why its still has such a strong pull over me even after three years.

I am unable to escape from Superstition's magnetic pull. Every time I've listened to it, I fall in love with it all over again. Its full of mesmerizing lyrics, angelic and demonic vocals, kick ass drums, bass, synths, guitar, and soul; you name it, its got it. (Could just be my fan-ness talking...) There are things I dislike about it, but those things don't impact my desire to hear it. I still have 'Superstition' days. You know those days, the days where nothing is going right and your stressed AF. On those days you come home, change out of your monkey suit, and blast your favorite record. That record makes everything better.

Superstition is my second favorite album from TBM. (Violet will always be my #1. Not only did it introduce me to TBM, it has my favorite song on it.) I hope anyone who is new to TBM or is interested because of this review, will give this gem a shot. I certainly have no regrets from spending months on end listening to it.

#The Birthday Massacre #album review #Superstition #music

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certainheartrunaway · 5 years ago

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425 DX News No. 1478

31 August 2019 A.R.I. DX Bulletin No 1478

=========================== *** 4 2 5 D X N E W S *** **** DX INFORMATION **** =========================== Edited by I1JQJ & IK1ADH Direttore Responsabile I2VGW

9M2 – The Kuala Lumpur DX Team will be active as 9M4IOTA from Perhentian Island (AS-073), West Malaysia from 31 August to 2 September. They will operate CW, SSB and digital modes on 40-10 metres. QSL direct (see qrz.com for information). 9M2 – Special event station 9M16KING will be active on 1-30 September from Kuala Lumpur, West Malaysia in celebration of the incumbent 16th constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia, elected in January 2019. Activity will be on 80-10 metres CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL direct (see qrz.com for information). [TNX The Daily DX] 9U – Francesco, IV3TMM will be active again as 9U3TMM from Burundi from 31 August to 17 September. He will operate SSB and digital modes on 60-6 metres. QSL via Club Log’s OQRS and LoTW. [TNX DX World] D4 – David, CT7AUP (ex CT1EKU) will be active again as D44CH from Ilha do Sal (AF-086), Cape Verde from 29 August to 5 September. He operates SSB and FT8. QSL via LoTW and eQSL. DL – Look for Markus, DJ4EL/p and Thorsten, DJ5TM/p to be active from IOTA group EU-127 between 30 August and 2 September. They will operate from Neuwerk Island (WWL JO43fv), with a side trip to Scharhoern Island (WWL JO43fx) on 31 August and 1 September. E6 – Andrew, OZ1XJ/OZ5E (http://www.oz5e.dk/) will be active holiday style as E6AN from Niue (OC-040) on 7-10 September. This will be “a ‘research-activation’ to prepare for a ‘real’ DXpedtion later in the sunspot cycle, so there will not be very much activity”. He will operate FT8, SSB and maybe some CW mainly on 40, 20 and 15 metres, plus “maybe 160, 80 and 17” and “10m if it is open”. QSL via LoTW, or direct to OZ5E. EA6 – Alessandro, IU2IBU will be active holiday style as EA6/IU2IBU from Minorca, Balearic Islands (EU-004) on 7-13 September. He will operate SSB on 80-10 metres. QSL via home call (bureau or direct) and LoTW. [TNX NG3K] ES – Ari, OH3KAV will be active as ES0KA from Saaremaa Island (EU-034) on 1-5 September. He will operate mainly CW and FT8 on 80-10m. QSL via OH3KAV, bureau or direct. He will upload his log to LoTW and Club Log. ES – Eddie, ES2TT will be active as ES2TT/3 from Vormsi Island (EU-034) on 7 September, starting around 8.30-9 UTC. He will operate CW and SSB on 20 metres. QSL via home call, direct or bureau. GW – In celebration of the Bardsey Island Trust’s 40th anniversary, Rob, MW0IBF and Brian, GW4DVB will be active as GB4BIT from Bardsey Island (EU-124) on 3-8 September. They plan to operate on the HF bands, 6m, 2m and 70cm using SSB, CW, FT8/FT4 and SSTV. QSL direct only to GW4DVB. HB0 – Look for Tina, HB0/DL5YL and Fred, HB0/DL5YM to be active once again from Masescha, Liechtenstein from 20 September to 5 October. They will operate CW, RTTY (during the CQ WW DX RTTY Contest) and maybe some SSB on 160-6 metres, with a focus on the low bands for North America in their early morning hours. They will be looking for Asia and Oceania on the long path, as the short path is blocked by the mountains. QSL via home calls, direct or bureau. [TNX DL5YM] HK0_sa – The Czech DXpedition Team (OK1BOA, OK1CRM, OK1FCJ, OK1GK , OK2ZA, OK2ZC, OK2ZI and OK6DJ, plus HK3CW) will be active as 5K0K from San Andres (NA-033) between 17 and 29 October. They will operate CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8 on 160-10 metres, with a focus on the low bands. QSL via Club Log’s OQRS and LoTW; traditional cards via OK6DJ (direct or bureau). See http://www.cdxp.cz/ for further information and QSLling policy. JA – Take, JI3DST and Masa, JR8YLY will be active as JI3DST/0 and JR8YLY/0 from Sado Island (AS-206) on 6-11 September. They will operate SSB, CW, FT8 and RTTY on 80-6 metres. QSL via home calls. [TNX DX World] JT – RA0SMS, UA0SC, UA0SE, UA0SRQ and UA0SU will be active as JT7A from the Khovsgol Nuur National Park, Mongolia on 5-9 September. They will operate SSB, CW, FT8 and FT4 on the HF bands. QSL via Club Log’s OQRS, or via RA0SMS. OY – Look for OY/DL1ZBO, OY/DL2VU and OY/DL5FF to be active from the Faroe Islands (EU-018) on 2-12 September. They will operate SSB, CW and digital modes, and will participate in the Russian “Radio” RTTY WW Contest (7 September). QSL via home calls. [TNX NG3K] P2 – Puiu, YO5BIM will be active again in is spare time as P29VIM from Papua New Guinea between 29 August and 22 September. He operates CW, FT8 and JT9 on all bands. QSL via home call. PJ4 – Randy, K5SL will be active holiday style as PJ4/K5SL from Bonaire (SA-006) on 7-14 September. He will operate mainly CW on 40, 30, 20 and 17 metres. QSL via home call. [TNX The Daily DX] T6 – T6AA and T6A (for use during major contests) are the callsigns issued to Robert, S53R for his operations from Kabul, Afghanistan [425DXN 1468]. He expects to be QRV in early September, and continue until summer 2021. He will operate mainly CW, with some SSB and digital modes, on 160-6 metres. QSL via LoTW; an OQRS will be organized for paper cards (direct only). Updates will be posted to https://www.qrz.com/db/t6aa. T8 – Nobu, JA0JHQ (http://pandasan.jimdo.com/) will be active again as T88PB from Koror (OC-009), Palau on 6-9 September. Main activity is likely to be during the All Asian DX SSB Contest (7-8 September). QSL via LoTW (preferred) or direct to JA0JHQ. TA – A team from the YM1KM Amateur Radio Club will be active as TC0Z from Kefken Island (AS-159) from 31 August to 4 September. Four operators (TA0TA, TA2MN, TA6CQ and TA6N) will be QRV on 160-10 metres SSB and digital modes. The log will be uploaded to loTW and Club Log. V2 – Bud, AA3B will be active as V26K from Antigua (NA-100) on 8-20 September. In his spare time he will operate mainly CW on the HF bands. QSL via Club Log’s OQRS, LoTW, or via home call. [TNX The Daily DX] W – Organized by the Citrus Belt ARC, the 20th annual Route 66 On The Air special event celebrates the historic US Highway 66. Twenty amateur radio stations using 1×1 callsigns (W6A-W6I and W6K-W6U) will operate from cities along the “Mother Road” on 7-15 September. See http://w6jbt.org/ for information about the event and QSL routes.

PACIFIC TOUR —> Heli, DD0VR and Bigi, DE3BWR will be active as 3D2VR from Fiji on 2-8 September and again on 23-27 September, as 5W0VR from Samoa on 9-15 September, and as A35JY from Tonga on 16-21 September. QSL via DD0VR, direct or bureau. [TNX The Daily DX]

=========================== *** 4 2 5 D X N E W S *** **** GOOD TO KNOW … **** =========================== Edited by I1JQJ & IK1ADH Direttore Responsabile I2VGW

Access to the main functions of www.425dxn.org is provided by the 425DXN App for Android. It is available on Google Play – free of charge, no ads. Enjoy!

4U1UN —> The following update was posted to the United Nations Amateur Radio Club’s Facebook page on 25 August: “We are receiving a lot of messages regarding the lack of 4U1UN (United Nation Amateur Radio Club) activity on the bands. We will try to clear some things about the current Club’s activities. Many of you do not know that after the renovation of the UNHQ building in New York, the room dedicated to the recreation area, on the 41st floor, in which the 4U1UN radio equipment was located, was transferred to the special UN unit – Broadcast and Conference Support Section. That room now is allocated to professional communications equipment. This was the only room technically suitable to be used for installing our gear, with easy access to the roof but after renovation it became off-limits for any other services, except BCSS. Please do not think that UNARC members gave up and are doing nothing – believe me, almost daily communication has not been interrupted for the past seven years. After the successful activity of 4U70UN back in 2015, with the support of the UN Administration, we were able to secure a tiny 20-square-feet room for the Club’s needs on the ground floor of the building. For obvious reasons, no one will give us the opportunity to run a separate coaxial cable from the ground floor to the 41st floor. Considering the fact that the room, allocated for the Club, can be transferred to any other place at any time, we have developed a project for installing a remote station on the 41st floor. The main difficulty in quick implementation of such project at the UNHQ is not political, but administrative and organizational. The BCSS is responsible for the security for all the UN communications equipment. They provide the entire UN communication (including emergency etc.) to all UN field locations around the World. There are communication repeaters, satellite links and other equipment, access to which is strictly limited. Only security personnel, authorized by this service, have permission to be there. Coordination of access to this room for club members (UN staff) at such a high level, takes several months to be approved, and the time allowed for work is limited to only one or two hours per visit. If it were not for BCSS support, nothing would have been possible at all, even the placement of the beacon station and antenna! Imagine that you want to put a remotely controlled and unsupervised amateur radio station in the server room of the White House special communications service, and you will get the picture. Every time we get access – we are accompanied by representatives of three different UN services, and only because none of us is giving up – the process of returning the UN amateur radio station in the air, although slowly, continues. Now, some good news! This Saturday [24 August 2019, ed.], several members of the UN radio club, representatives of UN services and guests, once again got the opportunity to continue the configuration of equipment and its connections. Unfortunately, the assembled 19-inch rack and part of the equipment were disconnected during delivery to the 41st floor, including disassembling of the power amplifier. This is mainly because the BCSS personnel needed to hand carry all the equipment several flights of stairs to the top floor. The ACOM-2000A amplifier fully assembled is very heavy, so its disassembling was certainly needed. After four hours of work, the connections of the SteppIR BigIR vertical antennas were restored, a new SDA-100 controller was installed and a RemoteRig 1216H was connected for easy remote access. The antenna was tested and configured. Remote access from the first floor works (special thanks for the separately run Ethernet cable over the entire height of the building, for the use of the Radio Club). The operation of the ACOM- 2000A amplifier with an antenna was tested. While we were testing, we realized that our Elecraft K3 needed to be disconnected and sent for repair. Apparently, due to the lack of the ability to retract BigIR antenna earlier, static discharges damaged the K3 power control board. Updating/re-installing of the K3 firmware didn’t helped. Let’s hope for a speedy recovery of the transceiver after treatment at Elecraft! We really hope that in the very near future, after debugging and setting up all the equipment, we will finally be able to proudly look at the work done and begin to appear steadily on the bands; and you will be able to get ATNO with the UNHQ! Thanks to everyone involved, especially to James Sarte K2QI (UNARC President), Philip Dale G6CBR (UNARC), UN Security Staff, UN BCSS Staff, Adrian Ciuperca (KO8SCA). To be continued!”

50MHZ ITALIAN PROVINCES CONTEST —> The 18th edition of the 50MHz Italian Provinces Contest, sponsored by ARI Fidenza, will be held on 15 September from 7 to 15 UTC. Starting from this year, participation has been extended to stations operating from outside Italy. Complete rules can be found at http://www.arifidenza.it/contest.asp [TNX IK4CIE]

KL7RRC/P —> The IOTA DXpedition to Sledge Island (NA-210) [425DXN 1475] was delayed by bad weather, and started activity around 02:50 UTC on 29 August. The forecast does not look promising, and there is “strong possibility” that the team might have to leave on 31 August, much earlier than the expected QRT date of 2 September.

NCDXF —> The Northern California DX Foundation (https://www.ncdxf.org/) announced on 23 August that grants have been issued to two Pacific DXpedi- tion teams. “The 2019 Western Kiribati (T30L) and Nauru (C21W) DXpeditions slated for September have been granted $5,000 from NCDXF. Team Leader Yuris, YL2GM, has assembled another high-energy team to activate these two islands in an exciting back-to-back operation in September. One of the operators is Kristers, YL3JA, a 21-year old first-timer and future WRTC 2022 hopeful. The upcoming ZK3A DXpedition slated for October 2019 has been issued a $4,000 from NCDXF using a new grant matching program. To encourage more European club participation in early funding raising efforts for DXpedi- tion teams, NCDXF pledged $2,000 up-front to the ZK3A DXpedition team and also offered to ‘match’ up to an additional $2,000 in pre-trip funded grants obtained from an y EU DX Clubs or Foundations. We are happy to report that this new grant-matching plan worked well as the ZK3A team has received an additional $2,000 from European Clubs and Foundations in vital up-front funding. During the last 46 years, NCDXF has granted over $1 million to hundreds of DXpeditions – helping to put an ‘all-time-new-one’ (ATNO) in the log and make DX happen for thousands of DXers worldwide. DXpeditions to rare entities are becoming more expensive, a trend that will continue. If you agree with the importance of NCDXF’s work, please visit our website to study our history and to consider providing your support”. [TNX AA7A]

ZK3A —> Preparations for the 1-11 October DXpedition to Tokelau [425DXN 1471] are in the final stage (https://tokelau2019.com/). Three team members (KO8SCA, N7QT and ZL3WW) will be arriving a week earlier than the main team (YT1AD, UR0MC, UT5UY, K6VHF, PY2NDX, R7KW, RW7K, RX3APM, SV2BFN, UR9QQ, US0KW, UT8IO, UX0LL, VE7NY, VK3FY, VK3GK, WD5COV) to set up the stations. The Tokelau Islands (OC-048) consists of three atolls, and the ZK3A team will establish an Amateur Radio Club on each of them: Atafu (ZK3RA), Fakaofo (ZK3RF) and Nukunonu (ZK3RN). Each club will have a TS-590S and dipoles for 40 and 20m; in addition, ZK3RF’s equipment will include an A3S 3-element beam for 10, 15 and 20m, and a 800-watt linear amplifier. Power will be provided by solar panels, but the team will also donate a 6 kVA generator to each island. The total donation amounts to about 8,000 US$. QSL via Club Log’s OQRS (direct and bureau), or direct to YT1AD; the full log will be uploaded to LoTW six months after the DXpedition. A free of charge certificate issued in electronic format will be available for working ZK3A on 3 different bands regardless of mode, or on 3 different modes regardless of band (send your application to uz1rr[@]ukr.net). [TNX YT1AD]

=========================== *** 4 2 5 D X N E W S *** ******* QSL ROUTES ******* =========================== Edited by I1JQJ & IK1ADH Direttore Responsabile I2VGW

=================================================================== CALL MANAGER CALL MANAGER CALL MANAGER =================================================================== 3E1FD HP1RCP GB0NHL GM0TKB R1530IG UA3VLO 3G3G EA5GL GB1DLH GB1FBS S549APR S51A 3Z15UE SP6ZJP GB2ELH GM0GFL S92HP CT1ENW 3Z1OD SP1PBT GB2LBN GM4UYZ SF50CG SM0BYD 4L/G4ENL N4GNR GB2TD GW0LIS SK4RY SM4RGD 4L1R W3HNK GB5BL GI0BJH SK50HD SM6FKF 5Q5W DL2SWW GB5HCL M0KZC SN10WFF SP5C 8S7LHJ SK7CA GB5PSL 2E0ZDX SN80FL SP2PTU 9A0HRS 9A3JB H44MI DL2GMI SN80TR SP2TMT 9A7T 9A2EU H92L HP1MRA SO1919PS SP9ZHP 9H3IT IK4ALM HB9ILLW HB9FVR SP1919PS SP9PNB 9H9SEL 9H1XT HC1E EC6DX SP60DXC SP7DQR A65DR N4GNR HF100CC SP5PSL SV0AMS DL2MGP AN7AL EA7URI HF670ML SP8N SV8/IW7EGQ M0OXO AO7RL EA7KP HG30PANEU HA1KSS T41FR CO1RH CO6WD W0SA HP2DX HP2BWJ T46LC CO6CG CR6L CT1EXK II1CM IZ1YPF TC1LHS YM1KE CR6LH CT1GZB IY7M IZ7XNB TM0LHG PA0HEL CR6YLH CT2ISX KL7RRC/p N7RO TM10SRY F5KCC CS2LH CS5LX LX/OO9O ON7SS TM17FFF F4GFE CW1R CX1AA MM0XAU DJ6AU TM2LW F4ELJ CW5B CX2ABC MS0INT M0SDV TM36V F5OHM CX1T IK2DUW N2OB N2OO TM75LBJ F6KEX CX7CO EA5GL OA4GL EA7HBC TT8JLH ZS6AAG D73G HL4CCM OC3CH OA4O UE90AGN RZ4Z DK5T DK5ON OJ0MR OG2M UE90PR RK1O DM19LGS DG0ERS OJ0O OE1ZKC XF3LL EA5GL DR10WCA DF6EX OM100MRS OM3KHT XU7AKJ JA3ULS EG1FSA EA1RKA ON9BD ON6EF XZ2B JH3SIF EG1LWB EA1LC OX3LX OZ0J YJ8RN NZ4DX EH1LSI EA1AUO OZ0IL DL1UWE YP0F YO9RIJ EI0CAR EI4JR OZ0MF DF5LW YQ0BIKE YO6KNE EI0LHL EI5HXB PA6FUN PA3HHT YR9F YO9FNP EM30TPU UR7TWY PA6URK PA3GNE Z21LS DE1ZHB EN7P UT1PG PA75SODS PI4ZWN ZD8SC WB4GHY EO65QRC UR4QZZ PH6WAL PI4WAL ZF2EZ W5SJ GB0HL G4ARN R14MAKS UA3DJ ZS0RR PA2PGU

5H3DX Charles W. Powell, 201 North 13th Street, Louisburg KS 66053-3520, USA 7P8JK Arnold J. Kalan, 16690 Charmel Ln, Pacific Palisades CA 90272-2210, USA 9M4LHJ Jayakanthan M. Lachmanan, Surya 2 – G1, Jalan Cyber Suria, Cyber Heights Villa, 63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia 9M4LHN Rabindra Harichandra, Peti surat 73, 71007 Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia 9M4LHT PEMANCAR Terengganu, 4878 Jalan Tanjung Belor, Kampung Pengkalan Berangan, 21040 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia DR175CW Jamie Williams, 41 Overton Lane, Hammerwich, Burntwood, WS7 0LQ, United Kingdom EG5VCE Manolo Sanchez Perez, Apartado Postal 173, 03660 Novelda (Alicante), Spain GB1OL David Wishart, Curcum, Swannay by Evie, Orkney, KW17 2NS, United Kingdom GB1PBL David Houlden, 29 Court Barton, Portland, DT5 2HJ, United Kingdom JH3SIF Kiichiro Onishi, 3-19 Tomogaoka, Suma-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo, 654-0142, Japan KH0/KC0W Thomas M. Callas, P.O. Box 1058, Minnetonka MN 55345, USA KP3LH Puerto Rico Amateur Radio Team, PO Box 1179, Maunabo PR 00707, USA N7RO Richard J. Moen, 2935 Plymouth Dr, Bellingham WA 98225, USA NP3VI Vieques Island ARC, PO Box 1220, Vieques PR 00765, USA RM0F Burykh Yury M,. PO Box 12, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 693023, Russia RV1CC Sidorov Vladimir K., PO Box 127, Sankt-Peterburg, 191186, Russia VY2PLH George Dewar, 57 Perth Station Rd, Cardigan PE C0A 1G0, Canada W2GSB Great South Bay ARC, PO Box 1356, West Babylon NY 11704, USA YO9RIJ Stolnicu Petrica, CP 12 Buzau 7 Ghiseu 1, 120340 Buzau, Romania ZB2LGT GARS, PO Box 292, Gibraltar

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Expert: Christianity gave Eros poison to drink; he did not die of it, certainly, but degenerated to Vice. — Frederick Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We’ve got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen. — D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover The so-called consumer society and the politics of corporate capitalism have created a second nature of man which ties him libidinally and aggressively to the commodity form. The need for possessing, consuming, handling and constantly renewing gadgets, devices, instruments, engines, offered to and imposed upon the people, for using these wares even at the danger of one’s own destruction, has become a ‘biological’ need. — Herbert Marcuse, One Dimensional Man There is a vast literature analyzing the political prophecy of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Big Brother, double-speak, telescreens, crimestop, etc. – all applied to our current political situation. The language has become part of our popular lexicon, and as such, has become clichéd through overuse. Blithe, habitual use of language robs it of its power to crack open the safe that hides the realities of life. There is no doubt that Orwell wrote a brilliant political warning about the methods of totalitarian control. But hidden at the heart of the book is another lesson lost on most readers and commentators. Rats, torture, and Newspeak resonate with people fixated on political repression, which is a major concern, of course. But so too is privacy and sexual passion in a country of group-think and group-do, where “Big Brother” poisons you in the crib and the entertainment culture then takes over to desexualize intimacy by selling it as another public commodity. The United States is a pornographic society. By pornographic I do not just mean the omnipresent selling of exploitative sex through all media to titillate a voyeuristic public living in the unreality of screen “life” and screen sex through television, movies, and online obsessions. I mean a commodified consciousness, where everyone and everything is part of a prostitution ring in the deepest sense of pornography’s meaning – for sale, bought. And consumed by getting, spending, and selling. Flicked into the net of Big Brother, whose job is to make sure everything fundamentally human and physical is debased and mediated, people become consumers of the unreal and direct experience is discouraged. The natural world becomes an object to be conquered and used. Animals are produced in chemical factories to be slaughtered by the billions only to appear bloodless under plastic wrap in supermarket coolers. The human body disappears into hypnotic spectral images. One’s sex becomes one’s gender as the words are transmogrified and as one looks in the mirror of the looking-glass self and wonders how to identify the one looking back. Streaming life from Netflix or Facebook becomes life the movie. The brilliant perverseness of the mediated reality of a screen society – what Guy Debord calls The Society of the Spectacle – is that as it distances people from fundamental reality, it promotes that reality through its screen fantasies. “Get away from it all and restore yourself at our spa in the rugged mountains where you can hike in pristine woods after yoga and a breakfast of locally sourced eggs and artisanally crafted bread.” Such garbage would be funny if it weren’t so effective. Debord writes: The spectacle is not a collection of images, but a social relation among people, mediated by images….Where the real world changes into simple images, the simple images become real beings and effective motivations of hypnotic behavior. Thus sex with robots and marrying yourself are not aberrations but logical extensions of a society where solipsism meets machine in the America dream. As this happens, words and language become corrupted by the same forces that Orwell called Big Brother, whose job is total propaganda and social control. Just as physical reality now mimics screen reality and thus becomes chimerical, language, through which human beings uncover and articulate the truth of being, becomes more and more abstract. People don’t die; they “pass on” or “pass away.” Dying, like real sex, is too physical. Wars of aggression don’t exist; they are “overseas contingency operations.” Killing people with drones isn’t killing; it’s “neutralizing them.” There are a “ton” of examples, but I am sure “you guys” don’t need me to list any more. Orwell called Big Brother’s language Newspeak, and Hemingway preceded him when he so famously wrote in disgust In a Farewell to Arms, “I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, and sacrifice, and the expression in vain….Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene…” This destruction of language has been going on for a long time, but it’s worth noting that from Hemingway’s WW I through Orwell’s WW II up until today’s endless U.S. wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, etc., there has been the parallel development of screen and media culture, beginning with silent movies through television and on to the total electronic media environment we now inhabit – the surround sound and image bubble of literal abstractions that inhabit us, mentally and physically. In such a society, to feel what you really feel and not what, in Hemingway’s words, “you were supposed to feel, and had been taught to feel” has become extremely difficult. Language, as the Greeks told us, should open up a clearing for the truth (Greek aleitheia, unhiddenness) to emerge so we can grasp the essence of life. And so it is ironically appropriate that Orwell’s Winston Smith discovers such essence, not in analyzing Crimestop, his tormenter O’Brien, or Doublethink, but “in a natural clearing, a tiny grass knoll surrounded by tall saplings that shut it in completely” where he secretly meets a young woman who had passed him a note saying she loved him. Away from the prying eyes of Big Brother and his spies, amidst bluebells and a torrent of song from a thrush, they come together almost wordlessly. “Winston and Julia clung together, fascinated” as the thrush sang madly. “The music went on and on, minute after minute, with astonishing variations, never once repeating itself, almost as if the bird were deliberately showing off its virtuosity…He stopped thinking and merely felt.” Here the secret lovers affirm their humanity, the truth of sexual intimacy that is the enemy of all abstractions used by the powerful to control and manipulate normal people and to convince them to participate in killing others. “Almost as swiftly as he had imagined it, she had torn her clothes off, and when she flung them aside it was with that same magnificent gesture by which a whole civilization seemed to be annihilated.” Reveling in love-making in a free space outside the Party’s control, they felt they had triumphed. But as we learn in 1984 and should learn in the U.S.A. today, “seemed” is the key word. Their triumph was temporary. For sexual passion reveals truths that need to be confirmed in the mind. In itself, sexual liberation can be easily manipulated, as it has been so effectively in the United States. “Repressive de-sublimation” Herbert Marcuse called it fifty years ago. You allow people to act out their sexual fantasies in commodified ways that can be controlled by the rulers, all the while ruling their minds and potential political rebelliousness. Sex becomes part of the service economy where people service each other while serving their masters. Use pseudo-sex to sell them a way of life that traps them in an increasingly totalitarian social order that only seems free. This has been accomplished primarily through screen culture and the concomitant confusion of sexual identity. Perhaps you have noticed that over the past twenty-five years of growing social and political confusion, we have witnessed an exponential growth in “the electronic life,” the use of psychotropic drugs, and sexual disorientation. This is no accident. Wars have become as constant as Eros – the god of love, life, joy, and motion – has been divorced from sex as a stimulus and response release of tension in a “stressed” society. Rollo May, the great American psychologist, grasped this: Indeed, we have set sex over against eros, used sex precisely to avoid the anxiety-creating involvements of eros…We are in flight from eros and use sex as the vehicle for the flight…Eros [which includes, but is not limited to, passionate sex] is the center of vitality of a culture – its heart and soul. And when release of tension takes the place of creative eros, the downfall of the civilization is assured. Because Julia and Winston cannot permanently escape Oceania, but can only tryst, they succumb to Big Brother’s mind control and betray each other. Their sexual affair can’t save them. It is a moment of beauty and freedom in an impossible situation. Of course, the hermetically sealed world of 1984 is not the United States. Orwell created a society in which escape was impossible. It is, after all, an admonitory novel – not the real world. Things are more subtle here; we still have some wiggle room – some – although the underlying truth is the same: the U.S. oligarchy, like “The Party,” “seeks power entirely for its own sake” and “are not interested in the good of others,” all rhetoric to the contrary. Our problem is that too many believe the rhetoric, and those who say they don’t really do at the deepest level. Fly the flag and play the national anthem and their hearts are aflutter with hope. Recycle old bromides about the next election when your political enemies will be swept out of office and excitement builds as though you had met the love of your life and all was well with the world. But understanding the history of public relations, advertising, propaganda, the CIA, the national security apparatus, technology, etc., makes it clear that such hope is baseless. For the propaganda in this country has penetrated far deeper than anyone can imagine, and it has primarily done this through advanced technology and the religion of technique – machines as pure abstractions – that has poisoned not just our minds, but the deepest wellsprings of the body’s truths and the erotic imagination that links us in love to all life on earth. In “Defence of Poetry,” Percy Bysshe Shelley writes: The great secret of morals is love; or a going out of our nature, and an identification of ourselves with the beautiful which exists in thought, action, or person, not our own. A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many others; the pains and pleasure of his species must become his own. The great instrument of moral good is the imagination. We are now faced with the question: Can we escape the forces of propaganda and mind control that run so very deep into American life? If so, how? Let’s imagine a way out. Orwell makes it very clear that language is the key to mind control, as he delineates how Newspeak works. I think he is right. And mind control also means the control of our bodies, Eros, our sex, our physical connections to all living beings and nature. Today the U.S. is reaching the point where “Oldspeak” – Standard English – has been replaced by Newspeak, and just “fragments of the literature of the past” survive here and there. This is true for the schooled and unschooled. In fact, those more trapped by the instrumental logic, disembodied data, and word games of the power elite are those who have gone through the most schooling, the indoctrination offered by the so-called “elite” universities. I suspect that more working-class and poor people still retain some sense of the old language and the fundamental meaning of words, since it is with their sweat and blood that they “earn their living.” Many of the highly schooled are children of the power elite or those groomed to serve them, who are invited to join in living the life of power and privilege if they swallow their consciences and deaden their imaginations to the suffering their “life-styles” and ideological choices inflict on the rest of the world. In this world of The New York Times, Harvard, The New Yorker, Martha’s Vineyard, The Washington Post, Wall St., Goldman Sachs, the boardrooms of the ruling corporations, all the corporate media, etc., language has become debased beyond recognition. Here, as Orwell said of Newspeak, “a heretical thought…should be literally unthinkable, at least as far as thought is dependent on words. Its vocabulary was so constructed as to give exact and often very subtle expression to every meaning that a Party member could properly wish to express.” The intelligently orthodox, he adds, must master the art of “doublethink” wherein they hold two contradictory ideas in their minds simultaneously, while accepting both of them. This is the key trick of logic and language that allows the power elites and their lackeys in the U.S. today to master the art of self-deception and feel good about themselves as they plunder the world. In this “Party” world, the demonization, degradation, and killing of others is an abstraction; their lives are spectral. Orwell describes doublethink this way: To tell deliberate lives while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality one denies – all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth. It may sound silly to say, but language, as its etymology tells us, begins with the tongue (Latin, lingua). And the tongue is a bell, tolling out its meaning. Indeed, all language springs from the body – is body language. And when language becomes abstract and devoid of blood, it becomes etiolated and unable to convey the truth that is the mystical body of the world. It becomes a viper’s tongue, dividing the “good” people from the “bad” so the good can eliminate the bad who have become abstractions. When Winston Smith and Julia hid in the arbor and for once felt free and alive as they fucked – despite its transitoriness – Orwell was suggesting something that his dystopian novel denies is possible: that we can escape our own 1984 in 2018 by returning to fundamentals. Whitman told us that if anything is sacred it is the human body, and he sung “the body electric.” This is the task of artists: to sing the words that tell the truth the propagandists try to deny. James Joyce writes in The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Welcome, oh life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race. Perhaps we should add: in the smithy of our souls and bodies. His fellow Irishman, William Butler Yeats, brings us down to earth with the words: Now that my ladder’s gone/I must lie down where all the ladders start/In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart. “Yes, I said. Yes, I will, yes.” http://clubof.info/

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