Lottery jackpot: half a BILLION dollars!

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; Lottery Officials in Suckersville (USAmega.com/lottery-news.asp)

You want a $301mn lump sum or $502mn?

In the past Wisdom Quarterly has explained HOW TO WIN the lottery. Now's the time to use that information.

Here is the up-to-the-minute story of the half-billion dollar U.S. jackpot as of today, Wednesday, March 28, 2018:

• 11:40 am – $502 MILLION: Mega Millions grows to 10th-largest lottery jackpot of all time.
• Six years to the day after becoming the first lottery in history to feature a $500 million [which is half a billion] jackpot, the multi-state Mega Millions game is right back at the same level, offering a $502 million grand prize [$300 million lump sum] to be drawn Friday [March 30th, 2018] evening.
• 1:23 am – Mega Millions: There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Mega Millions drawing.
• But 2 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize, 1 from Illinois and 1 from NJ. 
• For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, a list of the California pari-mutuel prize amounts, the drawing video, and all other data about this drawing, see the Mega Millions Drawing Detail page.

This is what the story was yesterday when no one won the big jackpot on Tuesday, March 27, 2018:

• 11:10 pm – Mega Millions:  The Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Mega Millions drawing has taken place, and the results are 7-25-43-56-59, and the Mega Ball is 13.  The Megaplier number is 3. USA Mega

Buddhist Women's History Month (live)

Ananda M. (DMI), Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Molly Murphy MacGregor (nwhp.org)

The first picket line, College Day, Feb. 1917 (WHM/Library of Congress/loc.gov)

 

Billie Holiday, Downbeat, NY, 1947

To close out another wonderful Women's History Month, the Dharma Meditation Initiative will discuss Buddhist women by asking, "What happened to the Buddha's wife, mother, sister, and nuns?"

The Buddha had two chief female disciples, the enlightened nuns Khema and Uppalavanna. But we next to never hear about them or how they helped females gain enlightenment.

Siddhartha and Yasodhara break up one night.

At every key point in the story of the Buddha's life, there's a female. He became enlightened thanks to Sujata. He launched the Order of Nuns with Pajapati Gotami. Bimba ordained and became the most famous nun and disputant in the land. Bimba Devi is Princess Yasodhara (Rahula's mother) is Ven. Bhaddhakaccana Theri.

But all we hear is the legend, nonsense, a misleading allegorical tale about how "Siddhartha left his wife." What really happened? Why do women love Buddhism? Who are the Buddhist Tara goddesses, Kwan Yin, and Prajnaparamita Devi? Why was it originally so friendly and attractive to all genders?

• Pasadena Buddhist Meditation @ Sequoyah School
• FREE  6:00-8:00 PM, Thursday, March 29, 2018
• 301 Orange Grove Bl. (near Colorado), Pasadena 91103
• Read all about it: What about the Buddha's wife?

DMI - PasaDharma - DisclosureProject.org - Dharma Punx - MARC UCLA

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Why is March "National Women's Month"?

Exec. Director and Co-founder of Nat'l Women’s History Project Molly Murphy MacGregor

As recently as the 1970s, women’s history was virtually an unknown topic in American K-12 schools and the general public consciousness.

To address this situation the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women initiated a “Women’s History Week” celebration for 1978.

International Women’s Day, March 8th, was chosen as the focal point of the observance.

What did the Buddha's wife do?

Local Women’s History Week activities met with enthusiastic response, and dozens of schools planned special programs.

Over 100 women participated by doing special presentations in classrooms throughout the country. And an annual “Real Woman” essay contest drew hundreds of entries.

The finale for the week was a celebratory parade and program held in the center of downtown Santa Rosa, California. More

Female politician denies groping genitals

Miranda Moreno; John and Ken Show; Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Cristina Garcia denies being a hypocrite, sexual harasser, and genital groper

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (who kept a keg of beer in California's 58th District, Los Angeles) is still on leave from her job after being accused of groping male subordinates in her office.

Assemblymember Garcia was a proponent and leader in the #MeToo Movement, even appearing in the Time Magazine "Silence Breakers" issue.

[She was also a giant hypocrite molesting younger male employees, who were offered alcohol, groped, and feared the loss of their job if they complained or did not go along. Hey, it's just like when the tables were turned and men were on top!]

Politician Garcia -- who once set herself up in a bid for "woman of the year" -- did an extensive interview with KQED: Listen + Transcript

• Michigan State dean charged in Olympic Team USA Dr. Nassar's child molestation case
• Darth Vader Man uses "death ray" on neighbors
• Dark Truth: dark chocolate is good for anyone?
• How a young woman lost her identity (New Yorker)
• Everyone in Cali has job, no one under-employed?
• VIDEO: Who is super-orator Emma Gonzalez, Florida highschooler, bald, angry lesbian(?) with issues?

Michigan State dean charged in Larry Nassar scandal
Linda Brown, figure in school segregation case, dies
Elizabeth Smart demands porn bill backer stop using her name 
2 killer cops who shot black man to death won't be charged 
Political force or fad? Young voters' clout uncertain

World's richest man gets much richer overnight

Ashley Wells, Sheldon S., Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

Gosh, Billy, I don't know what happened. Crazy stock prices! - Feels good, doesn't it, Jeff?

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Reptilian lunch: Dinosaurs eat dinosaurs

How much is too much? (There's never enough, so no amount is too much). Revolutionaries of the past put it well, "There's enough for everyone's need, but not enough to satisfy even one person's GREED." Craving (lobha) is insatiable.

While we've all been distracted by Don John Trump's cheating with prostitutes and actresses scandal, Facebook selling and giving away our personal information, students being whipped up into the next over-produced public relations sensation, and Kevin Federline wanting more palimony from multi-millionaire ex-mom Brit-Brit Spears, the richest man in the world has grown a whole lot richer.

Who's the richest man in the world? No, not Mexican cellphone tycoon Carlos Slim. He fell off the top of the charts a while back.

No, not Russian gangster-dictator Vlad Putin, who is an all-around nice guy strongman defending his nation against NATO. His many billions have yet to be taken out of the country to wait for him on a nice tropical-style island in Sochi; he just has to stay out of Russian prison long enough to enjoy his ill-gotten gains.

No, not that woman who ran for office that time, former Hewlett-Packard heiress, and not that Heinz fortune magnate who married almost-US President John Kerry.

And, no, not even the Carlyle Group's George Bush or his family members. Not even the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, and not that fat WalMart family with all their stock.

No, we're talking about multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos (a.k.a. Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen), the owner of the Amazon.com fortune and new owner of Whole Foods Market. In one day this month, a mere 24 hours, he ended up with almost US$3 billion dollar more than the previous day. How? Amazon stock.

• CBS: World's richest man got $2.8B richer in one day
• USA Today: Jeff Bezos is now the richest of all time

Who is Jeff Jorgensen call me Bezos?
Wisdom Quarterly: let's edit his Wiki page

I may be rich, but I'm still bald? No. What'll I do with my money? Physical immortality, getting off the planet, downloading my DNA and memories, life extension technology by taking the liquid matrix of my consciousness into new bodies... Don't worry about it. I got plans.

 

Yeah, so what? WTF? It's a "free" country.

The rich get richer. Make that, the richest got richer. Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos -- already the wealthiest person on the planet -- saw his fortune balloon $2.8 billion in a single day, Forbes magazine estimates.

The magazine says the latest Bezos pot of gold was the result of a 2.5 percent rise in the Amazon stock price...

Amazon.com began as an Internet merchant of books and expanded to a wide variety of products and services, most recently video and audio streaming. It is currently the world's largest Internet sales online company, as well as the world's largest provider of cloud infrastructure services via its Amazon Web Services arm.
 
Bezos diversified his business interests when he founded aerospace company Blue Origin in 2000 (his own personal SpaceX because why should billionaire Elon Musk be the only one to get off the planet at a moment's notice?) Blue Origin started test flights to space in 2015 and plans for commercial suborbital human spaceflight beginning in 2018.

What do Bezos & Musk know?

Bezos purchased The Washington Post newspaper in 2013 for US$250 million in cash to help control the mainstream media that needs to show him in a good light for him to remain rich by selling influence and protecting the powers that be that could take his wealth away.

Bezos also has a number of other business investments that are managed through Bezos Expeditions.

On July 27, 2017, he briefly became the world's wealthiest person when he accumulated an estimated net worth of just over $90 billion.

His wealth surpassed $100 billion for the first time on November 24 after Amazon's share price increased by more than 2.5%.

He was formally designated the wealthiest person in the world on March 6, 2018 with a registered net worth of $112 billion by Forbes, becoming the first centi-billionaire.

As of March 21, 2018, he has an estimated net worth of $130.8 billion, and is contended to be on track to become the wealthiest person in contemporary history. More

Jeff Bezos in the news

• World's richest person just got a lot richer: Amazon (Newsweek.com) Jeff Bezos is worth $116bn but could become the world's first TRILLIONAIRE within four years if his fortune continues growing at its current rate.
• Amazon's Jeff Bezos: Son of a teen mom to a $105 billion fortune (CNBC) Bezos' wealth peaked as Amazon stock prices have climbed on the back of strong holiday shopping performance.
• Some have called Bezos "the richest man in history," but according to CNBC's Robert Frank, Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely richer (with no way to track his wealth). 
• Jeff Bezos is the richest person ever: What's his net worth? (Time.com) Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, already the richest person on the planet, got an extra notch in his belt this week with the release of Forbes' 2018 Billionaires List. With a net worth of $112 billion, Bezos surpassed Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the longtime leader on the list... 
• Jeff Bezos: Where the $106 billion man belongs on the all-time rich list... (TheGuardian.com) Jeff Bezos's Amazon accounted for 89% of online Christmas trading at big US retailers and he is now worth $106bn. 
• Amazon's Bezos is rich but not the richest yet (The National.ae) The shares of Amazon ended 2017 with a rise of 52.8 per cent, taking its market value to US$571 billion and the fortune of Jeff Bezos, its founder and chairman, through the $100bn mark. That means he made $33bn, or over $600 million a week, in 2018 alone and now ranks number one on the Bloomberg.
• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos now richest person in history: 2018 (CNN) Bill Gates in the late '90s was also richer than Bezos is now, in inflation-adjusted terms. His net worth was briefly above $100 billion in April 1999, when the Internet stock bubble helped to inflate the value of his holdings, according to Forbes. Adjusted for inflation, $100 billion in 1999 would be worth $148 billion...
• Amazon's Jeff Bezos is now the richest of all time (USA Today) Some speculate that Bezos is now the richest of all time but there are several ways to look at the measure. Depending on the criteria, he may not be. 
• World's richest man gets richer, Amazon's Jeff Bezos... (IndiaTimes.com, Nov. 26, 2017) Jeff Bezos's net worth has now risen to $100 billion. 
• Jeff Bezos is $6.6 billion richer after Amazon's earnings (Bloomberg.com, Oct. 26, 2017) Jeff Bezos is on track to become the richest person on the planet.

What the 7 Wonders of the World looked like

Duncan Madden (Forbes contributor); Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Seven Ancient Wonders at their prime

Duncan Madden

From the unmatched wonder of Cambodia’s Buddhist-Hindu temples in Angkor Wat to the sprawling majesty of the Theravada Buddhist temples of Bagan in Burma (aka Myanmar).

From Egypt’s Great Sphinx of Giza to the extraordinary carved city of Petra in Jordan.

The wonders of the ancient world have long cast a spell over travelers from every corner of the globe.

Portion of the Great Wall of China at Jinshanling, fortification against earthling-barbarians.

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Map: The Great Wall of China is many walls.

In fact, a quick check of any "most popular tourist attractions in the world" list (note attractions, not cities) will likely throw up more ancient human-made sites than modern attractions or natural wonders.

Peru's Machu Picchu, the Great Wall of China, the Acropolis of Greece, and Rome’s Colosseum regular contenders for the top spot.

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap

People’s interest is clear. We’ve long been fascinated by our past as and how it shapes our future -- how people lived, what technologies they had, what their homes and public spaces looked like, and just how they built these extraordinary edifices without modern machinery. More

• Duncan Madden writes topical, environmental, and experiential travel stories. Opinions expressed by Forbes contributors are their own.
• Twitter: See what seven of the great ancient ruins of the world would have looked like to those who lived with them at their peak. Enjoy.

Slayer...Evolution of Extreme Metal (video)

Slayer Early Days, Ep. 1; Sam Dunn ("Metal Evolution," Jan. 7, 2015); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Beautiful role model Kendall Jenner Kardashian is a terrible influence on people.

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Metal Evolution: EXTREME Metal

BANGER TV

For many metal fans, Extreme Metal is heavy metal. Death, Morbid Angel, Carcass, Entombed, Darkthrone, Dimmu Borgir, Opeth, guttural vocals, blast beats, lyrics about death and the occult...we couldn’t tell the story of metal without it.

And so Banger Films presents "Extreme Metal," the latest chapter in Metal Evolution, the biggest-ever TV series on the history of heavy metal and hard rock.

• What's Buddhism got to do with extreme music?

Don't bang your heads too hard, kids.

Hosted by Sam Dunn and based on Banger’s groundbreaking “Heavy Metal Family Tree,” this episode features new interviews with

• Death Metal,
• Grindcore, and
• Black Metal’s most influential sonic architects.

It's a global journey from the US to the UK and Norway to France's HellFest to investigate the history, myths, and intricacies of this innovative and transgressive sub-genre.

 

We're "thrash" and "black" but not "extreme."

How extreme is it? Too extreme for most TV networks! That's why Banger Films turned to crowdfunding—for support from the metal community around the world through an IndieGogo campaign.

That's how we made Metal Evolution: Extreme Metal a reality. And it doesn’t stop there: Metal Evolution will soon continue online on Banger TV. What part of the Heavy Metal Family Tree should we explore next? How about Nu Metal? Done:

(Metal Evolution) Is "Nu Metal" even metal music? Maybe. No rules.

Los Angeles lion caught pawing door (video)

ABC7.com; Dilan Vlogs in LA; Xochitl, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Lion territory: exploring mountains in Azusa, LA County, summer (instagram, vimeo)

LA mountain lion roaming in backyards captured today

AZUSA, California - A neighborhood in Azusa is breathing more easily Monday after a mountain lion (cougar, puma) roaming through backyards was captured.

Azusa police received a call around 6:15 am indicating a mountain lion was seen near a home in the 600 block of West Virginia Ann Drive.

RAW VIDEO: Mountain lion roams backyard of Azusa home

North American cougar in Yellowstone Nat'l Park

A mountain lion was spotted roaming through a Los Angeles neighborhood today, prompting authorities to warn residents to stay indoors.

The animal wandered through backyards, even pawing at the backdoor of one home. Authorities asked area residents to stay inside for their safety.

Officials from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife were able to track the animal down and strike it with a tranquilizer dart.

Authorities noted that the full-grown female appeared to be blind in one eye.

The lion was placed on a truck and was set to be taken to a suitable habitat, Fish and Wildlife officials said.

"We're going to take it up into open space, sit with it for a while. I have a biologist and a supervisor on the way, just to make sure it's OK," said Adam Smith with Fish and Wildlife. More

Azusa lion, 10 year-old male, safely darted, and returned to habitat. Little headache but otherwise ok. pic.twitter.com/UV9xENSjxk — Cal Fish & Wildlife (@CaliforniaDFW) 3/27

Good woman marries TREE in Florida

Minyvonne Burke (Dailymail.com); Dev, Kelly Ani, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Marry me, Ficus. I love trees!

"If they cut down this tree, I'm going to be a widow": Two women "MARRY" giant ficus tree to stop city from cutting it down.

• Two Florida women "married" a giant ficus tree at a Fort Myers, Florida park.
• The tree has been in the park for more than a century, but city officials wanted to kill/cut it down because its roots extend to a neighboring lot, on sale for US $1 million.
• In an effort to save the tree, Karen Cooper and Dana Foglesong decided to marry the tree at a ceremony in front of 50 people.
• City spokeswoman Stephanie Schaffer said city officials are now moving forward to save their new husband.

A wedding ceremony in a Fort Myers, Florida park saw a couple that weren't your typical bride and groom on Saturday. More (Comments)

I'm a female SEX AND PORN ADDICT (audio)

Erica Garza on "Latino USA" (Episode #1812) NPR via SCPR.org, Simon and Schuster Publishers; Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

They call me Blanca ("White"), a Hispanic from L.A., and a sex- and porn-addict.

Princesses? We're victims of a cruel SS false flag operation, so stop staring at our butts.

I'm in recovery, so I wrote this memoir.

Los Angeles sex addict Erica Garza (who made it back from the brothels of Buddhist Bangkok, Thailand), author of Getting Off: One Woman's Journey Through Sex and Porn Addiction, talks about her complex and often destructive relationship with sex.

• AUDIO: LISTEN NOW (starts at Minute 35)

This book is a courageous account of one woman’s unflinching and ultimately hopeful journey through sex and porn addiction.

A fixation on porn and orgasm, strings of failed relationships, and serial hook-ups with strangers, inevitable blackouts [from the abuse of intoxicants] to blunt the shame -- these are not things we often hear women share publicly.

But Erica Garza brings them with candor, eloquence, and introspection in Getting Off.

• HELP! I'm an addict, too! Is there any help? Yes: SASH
• Is there such a thing as Buddhist recovery from addiction?
• Inside Sex Addiction Rehab with Dr. Drew Pinsky (Oprah) Addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky helps male and female sex addicts. How to identify and treat intimacy issues. 
• VIDEO: Dr. Drew explains abuse, sex-addiction connection
• Sex Addiction: A Real Disorder (The Dr. Oz Show) Leading specialist explains sex addiction and its 5 warning signs.

It all started with...[Roman Catholic] shame.

What sets this account apart from a typical memoir is the absence of any [memory of a] precipitating trauma.
 

There was nothing beyond the garden variety of hurt we’ve all endured in simply becoming a person -- reckoning with family, learning to be social, integrating what it means to be sexual.
 

Lana Del Rey can sing the soundtrack.

Whatever violence or abuse Erica Garza’s life took on through sex addicted behavior was of her own making -- fueled by guilt, fear, loneliness, self-pity, self-loathing, and the hopelessness these feelings bring on.
 

Yes, girls watch porn and get addicted.

It happens as she runs from one side of the world to the other in an effort to break her habits -- gong from East Los Angeles to Buddhist Southeast Asia, through the brothels of Bangkok and the yoga studios of Bali, to disappointing stabs at therapy and 12-step programs back home in the USA. 

• My Addiction to Sexual Shame (The Cut) Essay about one woman's journey through sex addiction adapted from Erica Garza's book Getting Off
• A Recovering Sex and Porn Addict Tells All (New York Times) Is sex addiction real? I was never particularly convinced, until one afternoon spent in a dark theater in Buddhist Si Racha, Thailand, changed my mind. It was the spring... 
• "Sex addiction can happen to anyone" (The Guardian) Erica Garza confronts her experience of overcoming sex and porn addiction and the shame that still surrounds it. 
• Shame, Porn, and Perversion: “Getting Off” (LARB/lareviewofbooks.org) Kristin Sanders talks about sex, addiction, and technology in her review. 
• GETTING OFF by Erica Garza (Kirkus Reviews) Her memoir begins in bed, where she is having sex with a man she neither knows well nor particularly cares for. This scene sets the tone for a narrative that never deviates from its intent to educate and engross readers with the random sexual escapades and private pains of a woman at... 
• Getting Off: One Woman's Journey Through Sex and Porn (Goodreads) This is a bravely honest memoir from writer Erica Garza about her personal struggle... 
• "Getting Off": Erica Garza discusses recovery from sex and [orn (thefix.com) The common narrative about women who are sex or porn addicts is that they must have been sexually abused. But sex addiction can happen to anybody, [because] it doesn't have to start with abuse or a big trauma. 
• Erica Garza (@ericadgarza) on Twitter

It sucks, it sucks bitter b*lls to be an addict.

In these remarkable pages she draws an evocative, studied portrait of the anxiety that fuels her obsessions, as well as the exhilaration and hope she begins to feel when she suspects she might be free of them.
 

Yet, there is no false or prepackaged sense of redemption here. Even her relationship with the man she will ultimately marry seems credibly, painfully rocky as it finds its legs with several false starts.
 

[The Buddha was right about sex]

Her increasing sense of self-acceptance and peace by journey’s end feels utterly earned and free of recovery platitudes.

In exploring American and Mexican-American cultural taboos surrounding sex and porn from a female perspective, she offers a brave and necessary voice to our evolving conversations about addiction and the impact of Internet culture. Look Inside the Book

Speak up. I landed on my feet. It pays to be light-skinned (colorism) for any race.

Refuge Recovery: 12 Steps without "God" as a Higher Power: Against the Stream

Also on the audio: Priscilla Villarreal, who calls herself “Lagordiloca,” has become a highly controversial social media sensation in the North American border city of Laredo, Texas. Each night Lagordiloca drives through the streets of Laredo chasing and live-streaming violent crime scenes, accidents, and immigration raids. Latino USA goes on a ride-along with Lagordiloca. Plus La Chamba talks about their cover of 1979 classic chicha song, “Cariñito.”