IRS visits Matt Taibbi’s home! East Palestine drinking water pulled off shelves! with Dr. Pierre Kory
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Dr. Kory, IRS visits Taibbi, East Palestine water
People having a bad day (Funny Fails)
People having a bad day | Funny Fails Compilation
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Liberated from Myth of American dream
Alissa Quart, Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez (democracynow.org); Ed., Wisdom Quarterly
Alissa Quart on Liberating Ourselves from the Myth of the American Dream
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| Republic of Outsiders Alissa Quart (NYT) |
The promise that we can “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” is central to the story of the American Dream. It’s the belief that if we work hard and rely on our own resources, we will eventually succeed.
However, time and again we have seen how this foundational myth, with its emphasis on individual determination, brittle self-sufficiency, and personal accomplishment, does not help us.
Instead, as income inequality rises all around us, we are left with shame and self-blame for our condition.
BOOK
Acclaimed journalist Alissa Quart argues that at the heart of our suffering is a do-it-yourself ethos, the misplaced belief in our own independence, and the conviction that we must rely on ourselves alone.
Looking at a range of delusions and half solutions — from “grit” to the false Horatio Alger story to the rise of GoFundMe — Quart reveals how we have been steered away from robust social programs that would address the root causes of our problems.
Meanwhile, the responsibility for survival has been shifted onto the backs of ordinary people, burdening generations with debt instead of providing the social safety net we so desperately need.
Insightful, sharply argued, and characterized by Quart’s lively writing and deep reporting, and for fans of Evicted and Nickel and Dimed, Bootstrapped is a powerful examination of what ails us at a societal level and a plan for how we can free ourselves from these self-defeating narratives. Bootstrapped
Burned alive in border detention, MX/Texas
Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez (democracynow.org), 3/29/23; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
38 die in fire inside Mexican immigration jail amid broader crackdown near U.S. border
Surveillance video from the jail shows guards walking away as flames spread inside the jail cells, making no effort to open the jail cells or help the migrants who were trapped.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed the fire on the men who were being held at the detention jail, alleging that they set their mattresses on fire to protest conditions, while U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar claimed the tragedy was a consequence of "irregular migration."
The deaths in Mexico came just hours after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees urged the Biden administration not to adopt a proposed anti-asylum rule that would turn more refugees away at the border.
[This means our U.S. policy contributed to their wrongful detention, their abusive conditions without enough food and care, overcrowding, protesting, and being burned alive as guards walk away.]
Democracy Now! speaks with the U.S.-Mexico border-based journalist Luis Chaparro.
ABOUT: Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch livestream at democracynow.org M-F 8:00-9:00 am ET.
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Zoom: Vegan Group Meditation (4/3)
Tania, Dave, Reid (Vegan Meditation); Ananda (DBM), Seven, Jen (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
While no instruction is provided as to how to meditate, the basics are easy to learn through various online resources such as this (How to Meditate by Mindful) and this (How to Meditate by The New York Times - Well Guides).
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| Can I meditate in my PJs in my room? |
Get online for a free, peaceful half-hour vegan-oriented meditation with mindful sharing.
The group meditates together in silence for 15 minutes then shares brief thoughts on a mindfulness-related or vegan topic.
Talking during the second half is optional, but we do ask that all participants keep their video cameras on throughout the session to reduce trolling.
Please be sure to have Zoom installed and working properly before attending.
No prior experience with meditation is necessary. Meditators of all levels are welcome.
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| No masks are necessary unless one likes them. |
NOTE: the meditation begins promptly, so please arrive on time. When entering, a meditation timer is counting down from 15 minutes. Please join and begin meditating.
SECURITY NOTE: To discourage trolling, the Zoom link is not posted until one RSVPs, but will be visible in the event navigation bar after RSVP. The link will be sent in a reminder email the day of the event.
Please ensure Meetup notification settings are turned on at meetup.com/account/comm so as to receive this reminder email. And remember to calendar the event and Zoom link somewhere to readily find them.
ALSO NOTE: As a further anti-trolling measure, to enter the meeting one must first have signed into one's Zoom account. If one does not have a Zoom account, establish one for free at zoom.us.
Ptolemy's lost manuscript discovered
Pandora Dewan, Newsweek, March 2023; Pat Macpherson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
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| Photo of the recycled manuscript at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan undergoing imaging to reveal the hidden text (Lumière Technology/Pascal Cotte and Salvatore Apicella) |
.
Ptolemy's lost manuscript discovered in book found in medieval abbey
- Claudius Ptolemy (Greek Πτολεμαῖος, Ptolemaios, Latin Claudius Ptolemaeus, circa 100– circa 170 AD) [2] was a Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist [3], who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance to later Byzantine, Islamic, and Western European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest, although it was originally entitled the Mathēmatikē Syntaxis or "Mathematical Treatise," and later known as "The Greatest Treatise." (Wiki)
After years of painstaking work, the team, from the Sorbonne (Paris) and New York Universities, have deciphered the long-lost message detailing the construction and uses of an ancient tool for tracing distances and the stars.
"The pages in the manuscript with the scarcely visible Greek text were discovered back in 1819 by Angelo Mai, but he was unable to read most of the pages," Alexander Jones, one of the lead researchers on the study, told Newsweek.
"[He also] made the situation much worse for subsequent scholars by applying a chemical treatment to the pages that was supposed to bring out the writing but in fact just stained them dark brown."
For centuries, the parchment's contents remained a mystery. "Only a few words had previously been read from them, not enough to make it possible to tell more than it was [describing] something astronomical," Jones said.
In January 2020, the team began analyzing the manuscript in detail, using multispectral imaging techniques to reveal the hidden ink.
"By March 2020, under lockdown and collaborating primarily by email, we were succeeding in reading enough to identify the subject as a kind of armillary instrument — a complex assemblage of nested and mobile metal rings that can be used for astronomical observations and/or calculations — and, tentatively at first, to make the specific identification of it as Ptolemy's lost book on the nine-ringed instrument that he named 'Meteoroscope,'" Jones said.
Ptolemy's Meteoroscope was a tool to calculate heights and distances, often in relation to celestial bodies. It is referenced in several ancient texts, including Ptolemy's own book on mapmaking, the Geography. However, details of its structure and operation were lacking, until now. More:
Could this universe be fake? (video)
Closer To Truth, March 2, 2022; Sheldon S., Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Could our universe be a fake? | Closer To Truth Ep. 110
ABOUT: Closer To Truth Host Robert Lawrence Kuhn takes viewers on an intriguing global journey into cutting-edge labs, magnificent libraries, hidden gardens, and revered sanctuaries in order to discover state-of-the-art ideas and make them real and relevant.
▶Free access to Closer to Truth's library of 5,000 videos: bit.ly/376lkKN. Closer to Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share opinions. Seek your own answers. Register for free at CTT.com for subscriber-only exclusives: bit.ly/2GXmFsP
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Awaken by self-power or other-power?
Alan Watts; Dhr. Seven, Sayalay, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
In the decadent Kali Yuga, be reborn in Amida's "Western Paradise" instead of bodhi.
Jiriki (self-power) versus tariki (other-power), by our will or another's will, that is the question.
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| To love ALL means to love ourselves, too. |
Can we possibly attain selflessness (anatta, emptiness, the liberating realization that all things are impersonal) by self-will? Can we attain wisdom by our own ignorant efforts of trial and error?
It seems impossible. Or in any case, it seemed impossible until someone did it. Furtively scrambling in the dark, life after life, striving for complete liberation, someone came upon the ultimate truth and was liberated then pointed out the way for others to awaken themselves.
No one saves us but ourselves;
No one can and no one may;
We ourselves must walk the Path;
Buddhas only point the way.
Since then others have awakened to complete wisdom, having been shown the way. These beings are called disciples or followers of buddhas, particularly of a special kind of buddha, the supremely self-enlightened, supremely self-awakened (samma-sam-buddha), who managed to do it on their own over many, many lifetimes.
They weren't really on their own at all. They had a great deal of help all along the way, but as for the final awakening, that was not done under a teacher -- as no enlightened teacher exists when a buddha awakens.
They do it, it is said, by pursuing the development of the Ten Perfections over a long course of samsara (cyclical rebirth) over the span of aeons (kalpas) and great-aeons (mahakalpas), staggering periods of time (Vedic measurement).
Alan Watts on Amitabha's Pure Land
By self or help: jiriki versus tariki
(redirected from Tariki Buddhism)
Jiriki (自力) is one's own strength (will, power). It is the Japanese Buddhist term for self-power, the ability to achieve awakening (bodhi), liberation (moksha), enlightenment (in other words, to reach nirvana) through one's own efforts. Tariki (他力) means "other power," "outside help."
These terms in Japanese Buddhist schools classify methods by whether they rely on oneself (as the historical Buddha advised, particularly in his final admonition for us to "be lamps/islands (dipas) unto ourselves and to strive with diligence) or on an outside force.
Examples of an outside force are a Cosmic Buddha (e.g., Amitabha), God, Brahman, Brahma, or some other agency (higher power, other power, maybe even the group power of the Arya-Sangha, the community of enlightened disciples who followed the historical Buddha's advice).
How does one arrive at final emancipation, deliverance, liberation (moksha), reach the further shore of nirvana (the end of all rebirth and suffering)? How does one become spiritually enlightened? [2]
Jiriki is commonly practiced in Zen Buddhism, as in traditional Theravada (and the earlier "Hinayana" school, none of which survived and the last of which seems to have been the Sarvastivada) Buddhism.
- NOTE: Theravada is a back-to-basics movement, not a surviving form of Hinayana ("Lesser or Smaller Vehicle" schools, but as there are no more Hinayana schools to hurl invective at, ill-informed Mahayana ("Great Vehicle") Buddhists sometimes accuse Theravada as being such a school.
In Pure Land Buddhism, tariki often refers to the power of Amitābha Buddha [3].
Who needs to put for effort like Siddhartha?
These two terms describe the strands of practice that followers of every religion throughout the world develop.
In most religions we can find popular expressions of faith that rely on the worship of external powers such as an idol or "god" of some kind who is expected to bestow favor after being given offerings of faith from a believer (sacrifices, vows, pledges of allegiance).
Some believers of Pure Land Buddhism accept that through faith and reliance on Amitabha Buddha one will be led to enlightenment (salvation).
These are examples of tariki, reliance on a power outside of oneself for salvation.
Self-will
Jiriki is seeking spiritual enlightenment through one's own efforts.
An example of jiriki in Buddhism is the practice of meditation. In meditation, one observes the body (most often in the form of following the breath and mind to directly experience the principles of impermanence and dependent arising or "emptiness"/its impersonal nature or the selflessness) of all phenomena.
Such principles are formally discussed in the Buddhist scriptures, but jiriki implies experiencing them directly for oneself. More
Strange archeology in Buddhist Laos (video)
Dark5, March 8, 2023; Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
The giant ancient jars archeologists can't explain
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| Monks (Itchy Boots motorcycles through Laos) |
The Plain incorporates numerous mountain ridges, forests, and fields north of the Lao capital, Vientiane.
In addition to the local Laotian people, these lands are stalked by tigers and other hidden dangers -- most notably millions of American bombs illegally dropped on Laos (and neighboring Buddhist country Cambodia) during the U.S. War (illegal occupation and "kinetic action") on Vietnam.
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| Think of Laos as CIA/USA collateral damage |
French archeologists were among the first Westerners to study the jars. One named Henri Parmentier noted that, while most of the jars were empty, some still contained items such as ceramic pots, small weapons, and odd trinkets, including glass beads, bronze jewelry, and children’s teeth.
It was also noted that several contained remnants of human bones.
Close inspection finds a few of the jars adorned with primitive carvings of human faces and figures.
Laying among the monolithic jars are circular disks of stone, presumably lids, which, according to UNESCO, are "also sometimes carved with representations of humans, tigers, or monkeys."
One of the enormous jars features an odd “frogman” carving, a possible reference to -- or relative of -- the frogman painting at Huashan, China, which contains some of the oldest known cave paintings.
Archeologists initially estimated the jars to be some 2,000 years old, which would make them products of the Iron Age. [Of course, they are much older.]
However, a recent study published in 2021 has revealed that they may in fact be more than 3,000 years old.
While their true origins and purpose have baffled many academics, historians, and anthropologists, the locals have their own explanations...
Graham Hancock finds Ark of the Covenant
Future Unity, March 28, 2023; Sheldon S., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Graham Hancock finally found the Ark of the Covenant in this cave
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Israel under Dictator PM Netanyahu (video)
Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez (DN!); Sheldon S., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Palestinians to pay the price as corrupt dictator PM Netanyahu pauses judicial plan while empowering Far Right
The retreat came after months of unprecedented mass protests and a general strike on Monday [3/27/23] that shut down much of Israel.
PM Netanyahu had earlier fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for suggesting a delay to judicial changes.
(Democracy Now!) Top U.S. and World Headlines — March 28, 2023
In a concession to his far-right governing allies, PM Netanyahu has also agreed to establish a new national guard under the control of ultranationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was once convicted of racist incitement against Palestinians and supporting a terrorist group.
"He already has an immense amount of power over police forces that regularly inflict violence on Palestinians. Now there is talk of him having this national guard," journalist Natasha Roth-Rowland, an editor with _+972 Magazine_, says of Ben-Gvir.
Democracy Now! also speaks with Palestinian American analyst Yousef Munayyer, who says the public outrage over the judicial plan is due to many Israelis seeing their own rights threatened for the first time.
"The rights of Palestinians…have not been upheld by these courts for a very long time," says Munayyer.
ABOUT: Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch its livestream at democracynow.org M-F 8:00-9:00 am ET.
Support independent media: democracynow.org/donate.
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Christian view of DINOSAURS (video)
Answers in Genesis, 1/20/23; Sheldon S., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Most Christians don’t know this [Bible stuff] about dinosaurs...
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| Dinos went extinct? (Gary Larson) |
Learn more [Christian apologetics] about dinosaurs: answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs [so you, too, can argue with your old friends and new enemies].
COMMENTS
(@3shieldsitrust694) Feb. 2023 - Even as a child, I always figured Dragons was the old term used for Dinosaurs.
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| There be some weird dragons. |
And now, reading the accounts of Genesis and the Flood, and comparing to what science explains happened in history; the flood sounds an awful [lot] like the breakup of the supercontinent [Pangaea] scientists talk about.
When the Bible says Water busting from the Deep in chapter 7 of Genesis; sounds an awful like a breakup of land to me.
(Sheldon S.) March 2023 - Hey what about Leviathan and that behemoth? Sounds an awful like Dinosaurs (Dragons or tannins). Soft tissue found in super-ancient dinosaur bones and scientists hiding that, lying about that?! What if dinosaurs are a conspiracy like Eric Dubay says?
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| Would Bigfoot ride a dinosaur if dinosaurs survive in parts of Africa? (Wallace) |
Monday, March 27, 2023
ZEN POETRY, Alan Watts (audio)
Zenrin-kushū poetry, Alan Watts
Buddhist Radio: Hear Alan Watts on Sunday mornings at 8:00 am and Thursdays at midnight on (Something's Happening with Roy of Hollywood Tuckman on KPFK) or listen in the archive.kpfk.org.
Roy of Hollywood live on KPFK 90.7 FM - U.S. CONTROLS JAPAN using The Plaza Accord (and Germany and Puerto Rico, too), say Garland Nixon (KPFK.org, 3/28/23) and Daniel Kovalik (Clarity Press). What is TPA?
We train girls to kill: join the military (video)
4 Ever Green, 4/25/21.; Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
13 Highly Trained Female Combat Troops in the World
In recent years women have broken military gender barriers by getting into this male dominated job and proven to be just as trainable to kill.
They are the ultimate acknowledgement that whatever a man can do, a woman can do better. The battlefield is no exception.
Welcome to another episode of 4 Ever Green. This video showcases the most elite female special forces. Stick around for #1 as these bad arse women have become military forces one wouldn't want to mess with. They are giving their male counterparts a run for their money.
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All Christian denominations explained (video)
Redeemed Zoomer, 3/19/23; Sheldon S., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
All Christian denominations explained in 12 minutes
Timestamps
- Baptist: 0:31
- Anglican: 1:37
- Methodist: 2:18
- Holiness/Pentecostal: 3:13
- Lutheran: 3:41
- Pietist/Evangelical Free: 4:39
- Presbyterian/Reformed: 4:50
- Moravian: 6:32
- Protestants overall: 6:38
- Catholic: 8:24
- Eastern Orthodox: 9:47
- Oriental Orthodox: 11:06
Chinese Mahayana: Amitabha's Pure Land
Tung-Lin Temple, West Covina; Sayalay, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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| Cosmic Amitabha Buddha of Infinite Light |
It turned out she was not a girl but a full-grown woman, married, wise, gentle, compassionate, and wishing to teach the Dharma. We were amazed.
Then we came to find she had started a Meetup group as part of a small and much more obscure Chinese temple.
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| Ancient frescoes found inside Chinese caves |
Let's listen to a few minutes of this innocent angel's teaching.
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| Guanyin Goddess of Compassion |
Weekly meditation and Dharma class (in English) is held on Saturdays from 10:00 am—11:30 am. Meditation cushions, chairs, and water are provided. All are welcome to join.
Address:
- Tung-Lin Buddhist Temple
- 1488 E. Cameron Avenue
- West Covina, California 91791
Please park inside gate. (Keep going past roundabout driveway). The temple is the back building that looks like a house.
Check out its YouTube channel: youtube.com/user/f4iken2002.
- Why does Pureland Buddhism believe as it does? Alan Watts has an excellent and historical explanation for it as Buddhism declined and degenerated, losing sight of what the historical Buddha taught and developing speculative views and "shortcut" methodologies that made sense to later teachers and the founders of new schools.
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