Tasers and Excited Delirium: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
(LastWeekTonight)
March 30, 2025: John Oliver discusses whether Tasers are as safe and effective as the company that makes them claims, the broader effect Tasers have had on abusive policing, and why you shouldn’t test (Axon "exposures") Tasers out on any of your family members, workers, interns, or new recruits. You’d think that goes without saying, but clearly it doesn’t.
Subscribe to the #lastweektonightYouTube channel for more almost news as it almost happens, or find on favorite social media platform we may or may not have discussed at length on the show:
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These words are attributed to Einstein: "A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty" (A surprisingly Buddhist quote by Albert Einstein. : r/Buddhism).
DMT opens phases of a liquid crystal in our minds?
Scientists just PROVED the past can change! (Be Inspired) "The future already happened."
What if the past isn’t fixed? Scientists have just proven that the future can influence the past (retro-causation), shattering everything we thought we knew about time and reality. From mind-bending quantum experiments to the shocking science of precognition, this video explores the hidden connections between time, consciousness (vijñāna), and the universe.
Theories of Everything (TOE). New Substack (personal writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com. Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyTOE. Become a YouTube member (early access videos): @theoriesofeverything. Support TOE on Patreon: curtjaimungal. Twitter: toewithcurt. Discord Invite: discord. As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe. #science.
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: There may be a few links in this description that, at no cost to viewers, will earn a commission if chosen and clicked on and a purchase is made. Don’t worry. Only products that are known and trusted are recommended.
Be Inspired, March 2, 2025; Curt Jaimungal, March 10, 2025; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
The experiment in the video is from the following video from Veritasium. Even though I don't agree fully agree with their interpretation of the experiment, I think it's an excellent explanation of QED. I highly recommend it!
What is directly-perceived light? It may be kalapas, the smallest units of materiality (rupa, form)
.
It is possible to directly perceive light
In Buddhism, āloka-saññā means the "perception of light." A recurring Pali language canon passage reads:
"Here the meditator contemplates the perception of light, fixes mind on the perception of the day, as at daytime so by night, and as at nighttime so by day. In this way, with a mind clear and unclouded, one develops a stage of mind that is full of brightness."
That is, mind becomes full of the perception of light.
This perception is one of the methods for overcoming drowsiness in meditation recommended by the Buddha to the chief male disciple "foremost in psychic powers," Mahā Moggallāna (A.VII. 58). [He may have said the same to the chief female disciple declared "foremost in psychic powers," Uppalavanna Theri.]
Attain absorptions, see kalapa, review in slo-mo
According to DN 33, this method is conducive to the development of "knowledge and vision." (See "purification," visuddhi). And it is said to be helpful for the attainment of the psychic "divine eye." (See abhiññā). Light can also be the direct subject of meditation as a kasina (a disk or special meditation object).
Buddhism has its own physics? Oh, yes. It is called the "Doctrine in Ultimate Terms" or Abhidhammapitaka. Why? In Buddhism, there is conventional reality as distinct from ultimate reality. In one world or perspective, there are things and persons. In another, there are only ultimate mind and matter, nama and rupa ("name and form") or the ultimate constituents of things, namely cittas ("mind-moments") and kalapas ("particles").
Something strange happens when we trust quantum mechanics
(Veritasium) March 4, 2025: Does light take all possible paths at the same time? Massive thanks to Dr. Andrew Mitchell for his help and expertise. To delve further into this topic, see his lecture on classical physics derived from quantum mechanics: Classical physics derived from quantum...
0:00 What path does light travel?
2:40 Black body radiation
6:47 How did Planck solve the ultraviolet catastrophe?
9:42 The quantum of action
13:25 De Broglie’s hypothesis
15:16 The double slit experiment
20:00 How Feynman did quantum mechanics
25:01 Proof that light takes every path
31:16 The Theory of Everything
Incredible gratitude to Prof. David Kaiser, Prof. Steven Strogatz, Prof. Geraint F. Lewis, Elba Alonso-Monsalve, Prof. Christopher S. Baird, Prof. Anthony Bloch, and Prof. Stephen Bartlett for their invaluable contributions to this video. Special thanks to Mahesh Shenoy from FloatHeadPhysics for his help with this video. Check out his excellent intuitive video on the UV Catastrophe here (Sept. 2024): I wish I was taught the birth of Quan...
Looking Glass Universe, 3/28/25; Veritasium, 3/4/25; Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary,āloka-saññā edited and expanded by Dhr. Seven; Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
What happened? More than 1,500 people showed up from in and around Pasadena to welcome the great, albeit softspoken, doctor and environmental icon. She told the story of her life, gave reasons for hope that our planet can be saved, then took questions submitted by students. What can we all do to save animals, save humans, and save the forests? Go vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, or intermittently veggie. Join a local chapter of Jane Goodall's Root & Shoots, and consider that every decision we make individually about a clean environment adds up (forming collective action) until, one day, it's clean and restored.
Conservation icon Dr. Jane Goodall will speak in Pasadena on March 30, 2025. This inspiring afternoon with Dr. Goodall will focus on hope, resilience, and the power of collective action. [Watch this event FREE and LIVE on KLRN Pasadena YouTube channel.]
Dr. Goodall, known for her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees in Tanzania, has spent her life advocating for protecting all species and the environment. Nowadays, she inspires action through the work of the Jane Goodall Institute and Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots. FREE TO RSVP:
Hosted by the Pasadena Education Foundation, Pasadena Unified School District, and the Roots & Shoots LA Basecamp, this special event will take place at Pasadena High School, where Dr. Goodall will share personal stories from her remarkable life, reflecting on the resilience of people and wildlife alike and the importance of community in creating lasting change.
She will discuss how the lessons she’s learned from her decades of conservation work can inspire the next generation to take meaningful action for the planet, animals, and local communities.
(Jimmy Kimmel Live) April 13, 2023: Dr. Goodall talks about her love of animals, dreaming of growing up to study wildlife, her mother’s encouragement, women not being scientists when she started out, bonding with one chimp in particular named David Greybeard, chimp “language,” the mourning and grief around a chimp when they die, being open to the idea that Bigfoot [Yeti, Almas, Orang Pendek, and Sasquatch-like cryptids] might exist, and her new Apple TV+ series “Jane” about the adventures of a little girl and her imaginary chimp.
This event is designed for young people and families, providing insights into how we can all contribute to a more sustainable, compassionate world. Before the lecture, localRoots & Shootsgroups and community partners will display information about their projects and offer opportunities to connect and learn how everyone can get involved in efforts that benefit the environment, animals, and communities.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson likes chimps and ETs
Sunday, March 30, 2025, 3:00-5:00 pm
Pasadena High School
2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd.
Pasadena, LA County, CA 91107
Live broadcast
Can’t make it or interested in tuning in remotely? This event is being broadcast live! Tune in at 3:00 pm on the KLRN Pasadena YouTube Channel.
Jane Goodall on why we should be HOPEFUL for the future
(The Project) June 3, 2024: Dr. Jane Goodall has been on a lifelong mission to reconnect humans with the natural world and take on urgent climate action and she tells us why we all should have hope for the future. #JaneGoodall#Chimpanzees#ClimateAction
Event details
Dr. Goodall with kids in wetlands
Tickets are available by invitation only. Advanced reservation is required to attend. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. Arrive early to access the best seats in the house (general seating). Fifteen minutes before the program begins (2:45 p.m.), reserved seats will be released to guests waiting in a standby line. American Sign Language interpretation is available. PARKING: Ample parking is available on campus at Pasadena High School. Extra parking is available down the street at Victory Park, where electric vehicle charging stations are also available. Street parking is also available. Guests are encouraged to carpool, use public transportation, or ride-sharing apps.
ALERT: Photography and videography: This event is being captured. Please note the photography and videography disclaimer: By registering for and attending this event, attendees acknowledge and consent to the audiovisual recording of likeness and voice during the event activities. Jane Goodall Institute may capture still and moving images and audio recordings for promotional materials, publications, and other media related to the organization’s mission and activities. These materials may be used on print, digital, and online platforms by Jane Goodall Institute and its affiliates. By participating, attendees grant Jane Goodall Institute the right to use, reproduce, and distribute such recordings without further approval or compensation. This consent includes using and disclosing images and voices in the public domain.
Real-life samurai Sasaki Rui (佐々木 累), or Rui-San, was a Japanese swordswoman, Onna-musha and kenjutsu expert of the early Edo period (mid-17th century). She was known as the "Strangely Dressed Female Sword Master" [1, 2, 3].
Life of Sasaki Rui
Sasaki was born in Koga domain, located in Shimōsa province (modern-day Koga, Ibaraki), exact birthdate unknown. Her father Sasaki Uōto was a member of a clan of kenjutsu masters in service to Doi Toshikatsu and was thoroughly versed in the martial arts.
Since Rui-San had no brothers and her attempts to take a husband ended in divorce, upon her father's death from illness the Sasaki clan name became extinct [1, 2, 3].
Rui-San went to Edo, where she rented a house in present-day Asakusa and began teaching the martial arts.
At the same time that her teaching was becoming well-known, she began to be famous for her unusual dress:
She would leave the house wearing a black silk crepe haori (a man's garment at the time) emblazoned with the Sasaki family crest, her hair done up in an indoor style with hairpins, and wearing the samurai's long and short swords [1, 2, 3].
At that time, the ruffians known as kabukimono or hatamoto yakko were running rampant in Edo, and Rui-San began fighting with the "Shiroe" gang, among other groups [1, 2]. More
Various samurai clans struggled for power during the Kamakura shogunate. Zen Buddhismspread among the samurai in the 13th century and helped shape their standards of conduct, particularly in overcoming the fear of death and [the wrongdoing of] killing. Among the general populace devotional Pure Land Buddhism was favored however. More
Samurai had arranged marriages, which were engineered by a go-between of the same or higher rank. While for those samurai in the upper ranks this was a necessity (as most had few opportunities to ever meet women), this was a formality for lower-ranked samurai.
Most samurai married women from a samurai family, but for lower-ranked samurai, marriages with commoners were permitted. In these marriages a dowry was brought by the woman and was used to set up the couple's new household.
A samurai could take concubines, but their backgrounds were checked by higher-ranked samurai. In many cases, taking a concubine was akin to a marriage. Kidnapping a concubine, although common in fiction, would have been shameful, if not criminal. More
Ratak Puntso may seem like any other 2-year-old, but he has always been destined for an exceptional life. Recognized as the prodigious reincarnation (tulku) of the grand master Kalu Rinpoche, Ratak is already inducted as a grand Lama of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. He will spend his childhood without much contact with peers of his age. Instead, he will be surrounded by monks (lamas), tutors, and servants who all take part in passing down Buddhist Teachings as well as protecting the “precious” child. Documentary: The Lama Child. Directed by Jeanne Mascolo and Bruno Vienne. Producers: Mona Lisa Production.
TULKU (official trailer)
(Chewyguru) Tulku? "Divine birth, ordinary life."
This is the official trailer for Tulku, a documentary film directed by Gesar Mukpo.
Tulku is a documentary film written and directed by Gesar Mukpo. It details the personal experiences of five young Western men who were identified in childhood as being tulkus, or "reincarnated Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist masters."
[Jesus Christ, known as St. Issa in Tibetan Buddhism, may have also been a tulku reborn far to the west of Ladakh and Kashmir, where he returned as a youth to study at Hemis Gompa and remember his divine mission of attempting to save others as a Maitreya or Messiah.]
For over 700 years, tulkus have been sought out as highly revered leaders and teachers of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism.
Beginning in the 1970s, several tulkus have been identified as having incarnated in the West. These new, Western-born, very modern tulkus lead lives prone to East-West culture clash and identity confusion.
Background
Gesar Mukpo, who wrote and directed Tulku, was born in 1973, the son of world-renowned Tibetan Buddhist master [scandal ridden sex guru] Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his [underage] British wife Diana.
At the age of 3, Mukpo was identified by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche as the reincarnation of the late Shechen Kongtrul Rinpoche (the Jamgon Kongtrul of Shechen), one of his own father's teachers in Tibet [2, 3].
Three-year-old Gesar Mukpo was then "enthroned" as a tulku in radical Sixties town Berkeley, California, across the Bay from San Francisco. More
(victress108) Produced by Chariot Videos (chariotvideos.com). Blessings tells the story of 3,000 nuns who live in the remote nomadic region of Nangchen in Eastern Tibet. They practice an ancient yogic tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Despite near extinction during the destruction of the Cultural Revolution, these remarkable practitioners have emerged to rebuild their monasteries by hand...stone by stone. Now, their wisdom tradition is once again vital and growing. In 2005, Tsoknyi Rinpoche III led a small group of western students to meet these amazing women. Narrated by Richard Gere, with music by Ani Choying Drolma and Steve Tibbetts, Blessings is the story of this extraordinary journey.
There are too many names to thank here, but suffice it to say that this film would never have happened without the belief, trust, patience, and extra hours of so many contributors. Thanks, everyone!
I attended two Tesla Takedown protests. The generation that showed up was the one I least expected."Tesla Takedown" protests have happened in cities around the country in opposition to Musk's DOGE work.
Demonstrators are calling for Tesla owners to sell their stock and cars. Some owners have seen their vehicles vandalized.
Tesla's stock price taken a hit this month, and some shareholders told BI they want to sell their shares. Criticism of Elon Musk has spilled out from the virtual walls of social networks and into the streets. Demonstrators have gathered in cities around the US in recent days and weeks to participate in "Tesla Takedown" protests of varying sizes.
Meanwhile, some Tesla owners have said they have faced insults or vandalism amid the Musk criticism. Participants of the protests have called for a boycott of the EV giant in response to Musk's involvement with the Trump administration and DOGE's efforts to decrease the size of the federal workforce.
SpaceX, please send Elon Musk to Mars
The "Tesla Takedown" effort started on BlueSky, a competitor to Musk's X platform, and now has a dedicated website (teslatakedown.com). The site calls for Tesla owners to sell their vehicles and stock in an effort to "stop Musk now."
The website's organizer, "Bill & Ted" actor and filmmaker Alex Winter, wrote in a Rolling Stone op-ed that demonstrations have happened at over 100 Tesla showrooms and other locations.
Stop pretending racism is American patriotism
Tesla owner and shareholder David Abrams told Business Insider he's heard about multiple protests but wasn't aware of the "takedown" effort specifically.
Abrams said he added "Anti Elon Tesla Club" and "I Bought This Before Elon Went Crazy" stickers to his car window and is hoping that's enough to keep it from getting vandalized.
"I absolutely want to sell my car and my shares," Abrams said, adding that he's waiting for the stock price to go up and would have sold his car already if it made financial sense. More
Elon Musk's DOGE team breaks silence
(Fox News) Premiered March 28, 2025: Elon Musk and his team at DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency, the office rather than the bad crypto coin) sit down with "Special Report" Anchor Bret Baier to discuss their effort to reduce wasteful government spending. The "Fox & Friends" co-hosts also weigh in.
#elonmusk #doge #politics Watch more Fox News Video: http://video.foxnews.com
Watch Fox News Channel Live: http://www.foxnewsgo.com/
FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC has been the most-watched television news channel for 18 consecutive years. According to a 2020 Brand Keys Consumer Loyalty Engagement Index report, FOX News is the top brand in the country for morning and evening news coverage. A 2019 Suffolk University poll named FOX News as the most trusted source for television news or commentary, while a 2019 Brand Keys Emotion Engagement Analysis survey found that FOX News was the most trusted cable news brand. A 2017 Gallup/Knight Foundation survey also found that among Americans who could name an objective news source, FOX News was the top-cited outlet. Owned by FOX Corporation, FNC is available in nearly 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.
Story by lvaranasi@businessinsider.com (Lakshmi Varanasi), photos by Nic Antaya for Business Insider, 3/30/25; Fox News, March 28, 2025
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