Team USA raises the American flag after winning gold with Simone Biles Owens in the center
Back, long ago, before Paris, Team USA succeeded. And now Simone Biles wins gold (CNN).
Team USA's Jade Carey (left), Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, and Simone Biles celebrate after winning gold during the gymnastics team final at Bercy Arena on Tuesday in Paris (Wally Skalij/LA Times).
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Look, Everybody, I can fly! Gymnast Biles in air
(LA Times) Fans at Bercy Arena wore white T-shirts with the Olympic rings printed across the front. Each ring featured a photo of a U.S. gymnast inside. Underneath, there was a single word: “Redemption.”
This felt like more. It was relief. It was a release.
It was gold.
The four members of the Olympic team who remembered their Tokyo disappointments rewrote their narratives by leading the United States of America back to gold with a dominant wire-to-wire performance in the team final on Tuesday.
Finishing with an untouchable 171.296 score, the north Americans ran across the floor after Simone Biles clinched the victory on floor, raising the U.S. flag to all sides of the arena and posing for photos.
Three years after withdrawing in the Olympic final because of "mental health" concerns, Biles blew a kiss to the crowd as she saluted the judges after her floor routine. More:
Her name is Simone [Aryan] Biles OWENS? And no one has noticed the similarity to that other great Olympian, Jesse Owens? He humiliated Hitler, Nazi officials, and white supremacists everywhere as a Black American beating the "master" race and others while Adolf and colleagues sat in the stands having to explain it to themselves. That was the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Blacks are better at sports? Diverse Americans are better than monochromatic Germans?
Ha, ha, Hitler! Eat this flag. This one's for Jesse Owens, furor! Go, Team USA, go!
In The Know; Brooke Gladstone, On the Media; CC Liu, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
In The Know | official trailer | Peacock original
(Peacock) Jan. 4, 2024: In The Know is streaming Jan. 25th on Peacock: pck.tv/3vuBPly.SYNOPSIS: Lauren Caspian is NPR’s third most popular host. He’s a well-meaning, hypocritical nimrod, just like you and me. He’s also a stop motion puppet. Each episode follows the making of an episode of Lauren’s show In the Know, in which Lauren conducts in-depth interviews with real world human guests. Lauren collaborates with a diverse crew of NPR staff. They are also puppets and nimrods.
ABOUT: Peacock is a go-to for hit movies, TV, live sports, and more. With the streaming service from NBCUniversal, you can watch new movies from theaters, current hits from NBC and Bravo, nonstop action from WWE, Premier League, Big Ten, and tons of other sports. Plus, stream exclusive originals, NBC News, and faves like The Office, Suits, Modern Family, and Yellowstone. Peacock is currently available to stream within the United States. #Peacock #OfficialTrailer #InTheKnow
In the KnowOn the Media (1/26/24): Hear about the new parody of National Public Radio (NPR) by the maker of Beavis & Butt-Head, Idiocracy, and Office Space Mike Judge and the team Woods and Gardner, two guys whose idea it was.
3. Zach Woods, an actor best known for his role of "Gabe Lewis" on The Office, and improviser and writer Brandon Gardner [@BrandonJGardner] talk about their new Peacock show In the Know, which parodies public radio and reflects our current culture wars. LISTEN
Plus, what gets lost in the blow-by-blow coverage of Trump's idiotic legal woes -- losing civil suits and facing four felony criminal trials.
After New Hampshire and Iowa, the GOP field is narrowing to Donald Trump's benefit once again. DeSantis' failed campaign has lessons for the political press: How did Florida Governor DeSantis go from right-wing media darling to loser and party outcast?
2. Dahlia Lithwick [@Dahlialithwick], lawyer and writer at Slate, on how our legal system isn't designed to save our democracy, and what's wrong with mainstream media's coverage of Trump's legal losses and upcoming trials. Listen.
1. Nick Nehamas [@NickNehamas], politics reporter for the New York Times, Mary Ellen Klas [@MaryEllenKlas], opinion writer at Bloomberg and former capital bureau chief for the Miami Herald, and Tom Scocca [@tomscocca], creator of the Indignity newsletter, on the rise and fall of Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign and the lessons it offers about how to cover elections. Listen.
Amber Ruffin’s Best Black History Month Lessons (Pt. 1) | The Amber Ruffin Show
(Peacock) Happy Black History Month! Watch The Amber Ruffin Show streaming now on Peacock: pck.tv/3pOiao8.
We love Malcolm X every day of the year
Amber Ruffin is here to celebrate and educate. Here’s a crash course on the importance of Black History Month, why it matters, and an uncomfortable but oh-so-important reminder of the impact systemic racism has on Americans to this day.
Synopsis: Amber Ruffin showcases her signature smart-and-silly take on the news of the week, responding to it all with a charming, late-night mix of seriousness, nonsense, and evening gowns.
ABOUT: Peacock allows one to stream current hits, blockbuster movies, bingeworthy TV shows, and exclusive originals — plus news, live sports, WWE, and more. Peacock’s got faves, including Parks & Rec, Yellowstone, Modern Family, and every episode of The Office. Peacock is currently available to stream within the United States.
The peacock was kept in a cage in the temple premises. I never could understand why the monk allowed him to be caged up like that. The whole day long he used to pace back and forth, back and forth, unceasingly inside his cage.
When this gorgeous creature let out his mournful cry, which resounded through the air, I recognized the call all too well. The note of pain, grief, lamentation, and despair in the cry was unmistakable.
I realized he was suffering from the pain of separation — from his mate, perhaps, his kith and kin, his familiar haunts in the jungle and, furthermore, he was experiencing extreme frustration at being locked up in a cage.
I walked up close to the cage and observed the marvelous colors of his body. He was a majestic specimen. He stood still, posing, feeling my admiring gaze on him. At that moment I knew he was not feeling any grief or loneliness. He was finding self-affirmation in my admiring gaze, no doubt.
I lost myself in the sheer beauty of his form, complexity of design, and color. He held his arched neck in a stately fashion, its head proudly poised with its dainty coronet. From the top of his head, down over his neck to his breast and under-carriage he wore, like a coat of mail, an eye-shattering resplendent blue.
Then came a bold pattern of black and white on its wing feathers, ending in a band of buff edging. On the nape of his neck, where the blue ended, there was a scarf, as it were, of ornate embroidery in greens and golds.
I had never seen anything like it before. Not even the richest of caparisons I and my companions wore in the Esala Perahera [Sri Lankan ambulations around the temple] could compare with this. And the whole of his body had a wet glistening gold sheen to it.
The fine quills of his green tail feathers with their "eyes" seemed a-quiver as though just dipped in liquid gold.
As I contemplated this ornate bird, this mythical vehicle of a Hindu god, my admiration slowly gave way to sadness. My little one's father, too, had been a lordly, majestic specimen, but old age, sickness, and death had overtaken him in the end.
The peacock was in the prime of his life, but if I were able to telescope time into a few minutes' duration, I would see the change taking place in him very clearly revealed before me as though I were watching a film.
The change in us takes place in such slow motion that we do not notice it from moment to moment.
Once an arctic tern told me that when he looked down from way up high at the great wide ocean beneath him, he saw no motion at all. Only a frozen sheet of blue with gashes of white swirls all over like a still from a film. That did not mean there was no motion in what he saw.
So perhaps we do not see the constant flux in us and all around us, but it is there all the same.
Though the peacock's carriage was haughty, his lackluster eyes betrayed his wretchedness. I longed to comfort him. But what comforting words could I give him?
"Friend," I said finally, trying hard to swallow down the lump that had got stuck in my throat, "We must count ourselves fortunate to be in the peaceful precincts of this temple."More
ABOUT: Suvimalee Karunaratna was born in Sri Lanka in 1939 and received her early education in Washington, D.C. and in the capital of Colombo. While living in Rangoon, Burma, where her father was posted as the ambassador to Burma from 1957-1961, she received meditation instructions from the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw and the Ven. Webu Sayadaw. Her first volume of short stories was published in 1973, and several of her short stories have appeared in anthologies of modern writing from Sri Lanka as well as in literary journals. She is the author of The Walking Meditation (Bodhi Leaves No. 113, BPS.lk) and The Healing of the Bull (Bodhi Leaves No. 140).
Blockers (Rotten Tomatoes) comes out today, a controversial film about female sexual agency. These crazy girls are trying to get laid...but not if their parents can stop them. Enter, male chicken blockers, the hair pulling parents to these rambunctious youngsters. It's not easy raising kids, and it's not easy dealing with parents. We were all kids, many of us will be parents, so whose side will we take? Let's watch. Will it be a summer blockbuster in the spring or a premature spring break classic coming too soon to get enough adolescents [donkeys] in cinema seats?
Losing my virginity:Blockers teen sex romp movie clips (2018)
C Blockers
Teen sex sells tix.
(Universal Pictures) Blockers arrives in theaters on Friday, April 6, 2018. Website: blockersmovie.com. When three parents stumble upon their daughters’ pact to lose their virginity at prom, they launch a covert one-night operation to stop the teens from sealing the deal.
I directed this $exploitation.
Ike Barinholtz (Neighbors, Suicide Squad), John Cena (Trainwreck, Sisters), and Leslie Mann (The Other Woman, This Is 40) star in Blockers, the directorial debut of Kay Cannon (writer of the Pitch Perfect series).
This is a comedy about sexual misconduct, so calm down. It's not like it's killing...unless someone gets pregnant and ends up committing abortion, which is murder (thought the Morning After pill may or may not be, depending on how it really works. Look into that detail, which is not on the label, before use or risk becoming a manslaughterer, which is terrible karma). Blockers (IMDb)
REVIEW: FilmWeek (4/6/18): A Quiet Place, Blockers, Chappaquiddick, 50th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick's [I helped fake the U.S. moon landing] 2001: A Space Odyssey
Produced by [men like] Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and James Weaver, under their Point Grey Pictures banner (Neighbors, This Is the End), alongside Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (Harold & Kumar series) and DMG Entertainment’s Chris Fenton (47 Ronin). Good Universe’s Nathan Kahane and Joseph Drake (Don’t Breathe, Juno) executive produce with Chris Cowles (Collide)
of DMG and Josh Fagen, Dave Stassen, and Jonathan McCoy. The film is
written by brothers Brian and Jim Kehoe, Hurwitz and Schlossberg, and
Eben Russell. Sex? Maybe. Contraception? YES!
When my parents said, "We want to talk to you about sex," I answered, "Sure, what do you guys want to know?" thinking they had to know that I knew more about the subject than they probably did. They were mad and shamed me. We never talked about it again. :/
Parent-child communication(Advocates for Youth) In a recent study, teens who benefited from perceived from parental guidance and who
reportedly had a “good talk” with parents in the last year about sex,
birth control, and the dangers of STDs were two times more likely to use
condoms at the last time they had sex than teens who did not talk to
their parents as often.
It’s one of the most colorful events on the calendar, when people take to the streets both in China and across the planet.
Unlike
Western festivities, which always take place at midnight between
December 31st and January 1st, Chinese New Year is a movable celebration --
and it all kicks off today.
(China is the most populous country in the world, and due to their diaspora, there are probably more Chinese people on the planet than any other kind).
The 2017 Chinese New Year
begins on Saturday, January 28. [Of course, Chinese culture is very
old -- the oldest continuous society and still going strong --
extending back 5,000 years -- so this is the year 4714. See the Chinese lunisolar calendar.]
What is a fire rooster?
Not all roosters (cocks or man-chickens) are equal.
There
are five different types, each with different characteristics. This is
the year of the Fire Rooster, which last fell in 1957. Fire Roosters are
known for being trustworthy, punctual, and responsible (especially at
work). More
Single on New Year's Day?
Chinese New Year is a joyful time for all except for singles above the normal
matrimonial age. This is because parents and relatives think they should be
settled down.
Some singles resort to renting a boyfriend or girlfriend (who are just for show, not gaudy good times)
for the New Year to avoid the awkwardness.
Like Xmas in the West, people exchange gifts during the Chinese Spring
Festival. The most common gifts are red envelopes.
Red envelopes have
money inside and are given to children and (retired) seniors. It is not a
custom to give red envelopes to (working) adults, except by employers.
Praying in a temple during Chinese New Year is said to be a
particularly blessed activity. It will lead to a smooth year.
In Shanghai, China's biggest city, thousands flock to Longhua Temple,
the city's biggest Buddhist temple, to pray for good fortune. More
The Buddha did not teach in a vacuum. His teachings were directed to those who shared the social world in which he lived.
John Peacock, a British scholar who studies and translates in more than a dozen languages and is familiar with the philosophical environment of the Buddha’s day, maintains that by framing the Buddha’s teachings in their original context, it is possible to RECOVER the original meaning of teachings that have been ignored and lost by later Buddhist schools -- including the Theravada.
Thera + vada = "Elders' Teaching" or "The Teaching of the Elders." Who are these "elders"? They are the immediate enlightened monastic disciples of the Buddha, the monks (theras) and nuns (theris) of ancient India.
These talks examine many of the ways in which Buddhist practice was radically different from the Brahminical and Upanishadic thinking of the time and, indeed, how it differs in substantive ways from much present-day understanding of the Dharma.
This exploration details the Buddha’s shift away from metaphysical thinking to a focus on internal experience and ethical activity. In the process there will be consideration of how the Buddha’s earliest teachings diverge from much of the Western philosophical tradition and often from what has become the traditional view of the Dharma today as well.
Karttikeya -- Lord Shiva's eldest son -- is the "God of the War," the warlord of a [literal] deva army. He replaces both Indra and Agni who, in the early stages of Hinduism, were considered to be gods of battles. In his role as defender of the devas,Karttikeya is more single minded than any of his predecessors. Hindu lore states that he is inte-rested in nothing but battles and war ventures.
He was conceived by his father's sperm alone. In turn, he was nurtured by Agni, Ganga, Sharavana (forest of reeds), and the Krittikas (six celestial nymphs, the Pleiades). His vahana (vehicle) is a peacock (a vimana or spacecraft in the shape of peacock).
Other names are Dvadasaksha (twelve-eyes), Dvadasakara (twelve-hands), Gangaputra (Son of the Ganga), Guha, Kumara (the Boy), Mahasena, Murugan, Rijukaya, Sarabhu, Skanda, Subramanya, Swaminatha, Trakajit. It includes the Buddhist tale, "How the Jackal ate the Elephant."
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