"These are galaxies of the Hercules Cluster, an archipelago of island universes a mere 500 million light-years away. Also known as Abell 2151, this cluster is loaded with gas and dust rich, star-forming spiral galaxies but has relatively few elliptical galaxies, which lack gas and dust and the associated newborn stars. The colors in this remarkably deep composite image clearly show the star forming galaxies with a blue tint and galaxies with older stellar populations with a yellowish cast.
The sharp picture spans about 3/4 degree across the cluster center, corresponding to over 6 million light-years at the cluster's estimated distance. Diffraction spikes around brighter foreground stars in our own Milky Way galaxy are produced by the imaging telescope's mirror support vanes. In the cosmic vista many galaxies seem to be colliding or merging while others seem distorted - clear evidence that cluster galaxies commonly interact. In fact, the Hercules Cluster itself may be seen as the result of ongoing mergers of smaller galaxy clusters and is thought to be similar to young galaxy clusters in the much more distant, early Universe. "
“There was a tale he had read once, long ago, as a small boy: the story of a traveler who had slipped down a cliff, with man-eating tigers above him and a lethal fall below him, who managed to stop his fall halfway down the side of the cliff, holding on for dear life. There was a clump of strawberries beside him, and certain death above him and below. What should he do? went the question. And the reply was, Eat the strawberries. The story had never made sense to him as a boy. It did now.”
"Imagine a world where our distant ancestors, even before Homo sapiens, built wooden structures with amazing skill. Believe it or not, scientists in Africa have just found the oldest known wooden building—dating back nearly half a million years. And that’s just the beginning! We’re about to explore ancient wonders from Greece to Japan that might change everything you thought you knew about early humans."
"Hidden deep in the Himalayas, is Mount Kailash. It's a place where many people believe the gods live. But besides its high peak and holy reputation, there's a mystery hidden within its old rocks that has puzzled both scientists and spiritual thinkers for ages. Recently, a brave group of explorers and scientists set off on a journey to uncover Mount Kailash's secrets. What they discovered inside astonished them, making them rethink everything they believed about history, rocks, and spiritual beliefs. What secrets lay dormant within these ancient walls? Could this discovery hold the key to unlocking the secret of Mount Kailash's sacred significance across millennia?"
"All men and women are born, live suffer and die; what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams, whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things, and what we do to make them come about... We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live."
- Joseph Epstein
○
"George Harrison knew something most of us didn't and still don't: there is a reality beyond the material world and what we do here and how we treat others affects us eternally. As he sings in "Rising Sun":
"But in the rising sun you can feel your life begin,
Viewer Comment: @brotherofiam: "The normal tool that the FED would use to fight inflation is to raise interest rates. But if the FED raised interest rates it could not afford the debt, and things would blow up. The destruction of the job market is the only tool now that can be used fight inflation. No work, no pay, no money, no buying of goods. If goods do sell at current price, prices are lowered. Inflation kept in check, at the cost of the workforce."
"We're diving into the harsh truth: Are we entering another depression? With the growing economic challenges and rising concerns of the "Working Poor," the signs are hard to miss. From the struggles of businesses like #HomeBuilders and #NAR, to the #TheFed's impact on inflation, we're exploring whether our current trajectory mirrors the 1920s. #Zelle#Venmo#Chargeoffs#Banking#Allegedly#Paypal"
"I Went to a Russian Holiday Village for the Weekend"
"Join me on a weekend trip to Provincial Russia. I was lucky to be invited to a Russian holiday village in the Kaluga Region of Russia, 3 hours from Moscow. This Holiday Village has everything you need for an amazing getaway."
"Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told- and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.' The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion."
"Inertia is a human frailty. Too often, we go along to get along. We conform. Because of this, those who claim authority can get most of us to do their bidding if it comes with a plausible justification and is only incremental. We get nickel-and-dimed to death, the death of a thousand cuts.
Back on April 5, 1933, His Majesty, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), had a pen and a telephone. So he issued Executive Order 6102, which made it a federal crime for Americans to own or trade gold anywhere in the world. There were some minor exceptions for some jewelry, industrial uses, collectors’ coins, and dental gold, but the vast majority of the gold had to be turned in. My father instantly understood what was going on and he didn’t like it. “They’re going to devalue the dollar!” he predicted.
Roosevelt didn’t give much time to comply either. The deadline was May 1. And if Americans did not comply, they faced criminal prosecution under the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. Scofflaws were looking at a fine of up to $10,000 (1933 dollars, about a third of a million dollars today) and up to ten years in prison.
My parents made the conscious decision to become outlaws. At every possible opportunity for the next three weeks (and substantially longer), my parents followed Gresham’s law (“Bad money drives out good.”), not federal law. They spent paper and collected gold. My father was a dentist, so he could own some dental gold, but that wasn’t enough. He wanted to covert as much paper into gold as possible. So he gave his patients discounts for payment in gold. “Sam,” a neighbor who was a banker, also helped collect gold for himself and my parents. They would repay his help later when they periodically ‘laundered’ gold for him and themselves.
Even after the deadline, gold still kept coming in. Mostly it was from people who didn’t have the time or the inclination to turn in their gold to the government. However, many feared prosecution and were happy to deal with my parents instead of FDR. Plus they got a better deal.
So where did they launder their tidy little nest egg? Why, “South of the Border, Down Mexico Way,” of course. Mexico had no Executive Order 6102. My mother was born in the mountains above Albuquerque, New Mexico, and spoke fluent Spanish. She and my father loved traveling though the backwaters of Mexico. At first, they traveled alone, and later, after my brother and I came along, the whole family (including the dog) would go exploring in the land of mañana. (Somewhere there is a picture of me, age one, sitting on a portable potty, experiencing my first-ever bout with “Montezuma’s revenge.”)
My parents carried whatever gold they intended to sell, stashed in the car or on their person. The usual routine was to go to the section of town where casas de cambio were found. (Think of it as the “Street of the Money Changers.”) My mother – all 5’1” of her – would go down the street and show a gold double eagle to every money changer at every kiosk and storefront. In Spanish, she would ask, “How much will you pay for these?” When she found the best price, she would give my father the high sign. He would join her and they would conclude the deal. Sometimes the gold was theirs, sometimes, Sam’s. Sometimes they got pesos and sometimes dollars, depending on what they needed at the time. So, the ‘illicit’ gold paid for a fun trip and got converted to ‘clean’ funds for themselves and Sam. What’s the crime in that?
And the Beat Goes On…My family never showed much respect for government laws, per se. No victim, no crime, even if the government disagreed. The general ethical belief of the Sandfort family was pretty much in harmony with the Golden Rule. It had worked for cultures and religions for thousands of years and it worked for us. That was our law. Man-made laws either adhere to the Golden Rule (don’t murder people, duh) and so are unnecessary, or they violate it, such as “The War on (Some) Drugs,” so they were nominally complied with, ignored, or circumvented.
So, when wartime laws said that a seller had to follow certain rationing rules to sell his own products, many buyers and sellers simply conspired to make their own decisions. When my parents needed and could afford a new car for business, the local Chevy dealer was happy to ‘cook the books,’ take their money, and give them a new sedan.
Later, when my family traveled in that car and others, my mother would prepare food for us to eat as we drove. We stopped only for gas… and the agricultural inspection station at the California state line. Of course, we had items that we were required by law to declare, but if you hide them in your backpack or under the car seat and lie, you can save a lot of time and keep from having to throw away perfectly good food.
And then there was the time we smuggled a live Mexican iguana in a cigar box, but don’t get me started…"
"With each passing day, the Middle East inches closer to a full-scale, devastating war. Multiple regional powers are involved, each being pushed by its own internal and external pressures further away from peace.
The situation intensified following the events of October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel, prompting a fierce response from the Israeli military. Palestinians continue to insist on a return to the 1967 borders and the establishment of their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital, while Israel refuses to make these concessions. Tensions remain high, severely complicating any attempts at a diplomatic resolution.
Some Western officials, however, particularly in the US, claim that a ceasefire agreement is imminent, and optimism about these statements is buoyed by Iran’s restraint in not yet retaliating for the assassination of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, 2024. Iran seems to be holding back, perhaps in hopes of stabilizing the region.
However, there are forces within and beyond the region that continue to exert a destructive influence, seemingly unaware that their actions could lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands, the collapse of several states, and disastrous consequences for the entire world.
This is precisely what Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed during a press conference on August 27. He expressed the view that some parties involved in the Middle Eastern conflict are not interested in a resolution. According to him, these parties prefer to continue the hostilities, betting on potential changes in the global political landscape. Lavrov noted that it appears some of these actors are deliberately maintaining violence to achieve their political goals.
Lavrov also highlighted the connection between the situation in the Middle East and political processes in other countries, particularly the upcoming election in the US. He suggested that the Israeli leadership might be hoping for changes in American policy that would reduce international pressure on Israel concerning its military operation in Gaza. The foreign minister expressed concern that these expectations could delay a resolution of the conflict.
Furthermore, Lavrov stressed that Russia, like many other countries, condemned the terrorist attacks that occurred on October 7. However, he pointed out that a response involving collective punishment of the civilian population violates international humanitarian law. He criticized approaches that cause suffering to innocent people and exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe. Lavrov paid special attention to statements by Israeli military officials who claim there are no civilians in Gaza, suggesting that all its residents are terrorists. He called this rhetoric dangerous, noting that it further inflames tensions.
In recent weeks, negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas have failed to produce any concrete agreements on a ceasefire. While the talks in Cairo were described as constructive, no agreements were reached. This situation illustrates that, despite the efforts of the international community, the parties to the conflict are not yet ready for peace.
Why is Iran holding fire? The recent assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, a prominent leader of Hamas, has raised numerous questions about Iran’s response, given its longstanding support for Palestinian resistance groups and the fact that the man was killed in Tehran. Iran has yet to strike back against Israel, which at first glance might seem surprising. The reasons for this restraint lie in Iran’s strategic interests and its desire to avoid a large-scale conflict.
First and foremost, the Iranian leadership understands that a war with Israel could have catastrophic consequences. The situation in the Middle East is already highly volatile, and an open conflict involving Iran would only exacerbate the crisis. Furthermore, Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, a representative of the reformist bloc, is focused on normalizing relations with the West. The primary reason for this is Iran’s dire economic situation. In 2024, the Iranian economy continues to face significant challenges: Inflation has reached 40%, unemployment has risen to 15%, and the national currency continues to depreciate. Under these conditions, Iran is not interested in a war that could further undermine its economy and increase social tensions within the country.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly expressed a willingness to negotiate a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal) under fair terms. These statements indicate that Iran is pursuing diplomatic solutions and recognizes the need for international cooperation. Tehran is aware that the outcome of a war with Israel, backed by NATO, is unpredictable. Thus, the delay in responding to Israel’s actions is more of a political tool than a sign of weakness. Iran seeks to use this pause to exert diplomatic and political pressure on Israel and the US to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
If a ceasefire is reached, Iran could claim that its wise policy led to the cessation of hostilities, marking a political victory for Tehran in its confrontation with Israel. This would allow Iran to improve its international image and strengthen its position in the region without the need for military engagement.
On the other hand, Iran has not officially ruled out retaliating against Israel, which creates a certain level of informational and political pressure on the Israeli authorities and public. This stance by Tehran has fueled growing discontent among the Israeli population regarding the actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, exacerbating internal tensions. This leads to political instability in Israel, which plays into Iran’s hands as it seeks to weaken its main regional adversary without direct military confrontation.
Thus, Iran is playing a complex game, trying to avoid direct military conflict while simultaneously increasing its influence and pressure on Israel and the West through diplomatic and political maneuvers.
Why Netanyahu won’t end the war if he can help it: The administration of Netanyahu finds itself in a challenging situation both domestically and internationally. Declining support at home and insufficient backing from the West, especially from Washington, are pushing Netanyahu toward continuing the conflict. Ending the military operation in Gaza at this stage could be a political blow to his government.
Domestically, Netanyahu’s approval ratings are falling. The public is weary of the prolonged fighting and the uncertainty brought on by the unstable situation in Gaza and other fronts. Meanwhile, in the West and particularly in Washington, Netanyahu is not receiving full support. The administration of US President Joe Biden has taken a more restrained stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is reflected in its attitude towards the current Israeli leadership. Netanyahu is banking on the return of Donald Trump to the White House, hoping this will improve his situation.
Netanyahu is confident that with Trump’s return to power, his domestic standing would be bolstered, and Israel’s position in the region would become more secure. During Trump’s first term, relations between the US and Israel only strengthened. Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and imposed additional sanctions, increasing pressure on Tehran. It was also under Trump that the Abraham Accords were signed, through which Israel normalized relations with several Arab countries. All of this created favorable conditions for Israel in the region.
Netanyahu’s far-right cabinet is determined to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state, as evidenced by a recent Knesset resolution passed by a majority vote. In the view of Netanyahu and other right-wing forces in Israel, the establishment of Palestine poses a threat to the existence of the state of Israel. Therefore, they oppose any attempts to create an independent Palestinian state and are willing to use all means necessary to prevent it.
Even if Netanyahu temporarily reduces the intensity of the military action in Gaza and agrees to a temporary ceasefire with Hamas to free hostages, this will not signify the end of the conflict. It is likely that Israel will intensify military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon or even resume strikes on Gaza. To secure his interests and ensure his strength, Netanyahu needs Washington’s support, both financially and militarily.
Thus, under Netanyahu’s current government, the war is likely to continue. This is due to the need to maintain domestic political support and leverage the geopolitical situation to strengthen Israel’s position in the region. In these circumstances, ending the conflict does not align with the interests of Netanyahu’s government, and he will likely continue to escalate tensions until he secures the necessary guarantees of support from the US and reinforces his standing at home.
The Axis of Resistance is a shaky one: Recent reports have surfaced about growing disagreements between Iran and other members of the ‘Axis of Resistance’, a coalition of various groups and organizations that oppose Israel and its allies. These divisions are believed to stem from Iran’s ambiguous response to Israeli actions, which has led to a deterioration in the positions of groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis (Ansar Allah).
The situation surrounding Hezbollah continues to escalate. In recent weeks, tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have significantly intensified. Mutual shelling has become more frequent, and several high-ranking Hezbollah members have been killed in Israeli attacks. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his associates find themselves in a difficult position, as their failure to respond to Israel’s actions could further weaken their standing within Lebanon.
Hezbollah is currently facing challenging times, as Lebanon has been mired in a deep political, economic, financial, and energy crisis since 2019. Amid this crisis, Hezbollah’s political influence is waning and the organization is losing public support. If Hezbollah fails to achieve military successes like those seen during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, its position within the country may weaken even further, threatening its continued existence and political influence.
A similar situation is unfolding in Yemen, where the Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, also faces internal challenges. Although the Houthis have strengthened their position through anti-Western and anti-Israeli rhetoric, the prolonged war and crisis have depleted the country’s resources and its population. If the Houthis do not remain consistent in their actions and fail to demonstrate their ability to resist external adversaries, their popularity and internal support could significantly decline.
Amid rising tensions and instability in the region, the risk of conflicts escalating through the actions of non-state actors, such as Hezbollah and the Houthis, increases. Iran, which is unlikely to engage in direct warfare with Israel, will probably use its proxy groups for retaliatory actions. However, this strategy also carries significant risks, as there is no guarantee that Iran can stay out of a large-scale regional war that could engulf the entire Middle East.
Thus, the current situation in the region remains highly unstable, and the future of the Axis of Resistance, as well as regional security in general, depends on the ability of these groups to adapt to changing conditions and maintain unity in the face of common challenges.
Everything has spiraled out of control: The situation in the Middle East remains extremely tense, and it seems that wider conflict has become inevitable. The Israeli authorities feel compelled to continue military actions, believing this necessary for survival and protection against threats from various groups within the Axis of Resistance. At the same time, these groups find themselves in a similarly dire position, needing to respond to Israeli actions to maintain their influence and political support within their own countries. Mutual hostility and distrust fuel the escalation, creating a vicious cycle of violence.
Attempts to resolve the conflict through diplomatic means face significant obstacles, as neither side is willing to make compromises. Israel seeks to maintain its security and territorial integrity, while members of the Axis of Resistance refuse to abandon their goals and strategies. Both sides rely on force as the primary tool for achieving their interests, making peaceful negotiations nearly impossible under current conditions. The lack of trust and willingness to engage in dialogue only exacerbates the situation, turning it into a protracted conflict with unpredictable consequences.
At present, the conflict has become part of a global transformation of the world order. It seems that no one is capable of preventing further escalation, as events in global politics unfold spontaneously, beyond the control of individual states and international organizations. The existing crisis in the world order has led to an uncontrollable wave of chaos and conflicts that have engulfed various regions around the world. Amid the weakening of international norms and rules of order, every state and political actor is trying to minimize its damage, reacting to events as they occur.
Thus, the current instability in the region reflects a broader issue related to the global transformation and changes in the world order. In the absence of effective international mechanisms for conflict resolution and growing distrust among key actors in the global community, the future of the region remains uncertain. The conflict we are witnessing now is just one of many flashpoints around the world, and its development will depend on the ability of the international community to adapt to new realities and find ways to coexist peacefully."
"Russia Is Literally Threatening US With World War III,
But Most People In The Western World Don’t Seem To Care"
by Michael Snyder
"The Russians just told us again that the world could soon be facing nuclear war if western powers don’t stop escalating the conflict in Ukraine, but this is yet another warning that has gone in one ear and out the other. The Russians can talk about nuclear war until they are blue in the face, but nothing that they say is going to sink in, because our leaders simply do not care. They are entirely convinced that the Russians will never use nuclear weapons, and so they are not afraid to keep pushing the Russians closer to a breaking point. When the Russians finally reach their breaking point, what will they do?
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been playing this game for decades, and he always chooses his words very carefully. So when he publicly brings up the possibility of nuclear war, that is a really big deal. The following comes from an article that was posted on Yahoo News entitled “Russia warns the United States of the risks of World War Three”… “We are now confirming once again that playing with fire – and they are like small children playing with matches – is a very dangerous thing for grown-up uncles and aunts who are entrusted with nuclear weapons in one or another Western country,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow. “Americans unequivocally associate conversations about Third World War as something that, God forbid, if it happens, will affect Europe exclusively,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov added that Russia was “clarifying” its nuclear doctrine. Obviously the Russians do not want a nuclear war. But unlike the U.S., the Russians have been feverishly preparing to fight one. Today, their strategic nuclear arsenal and their anti-missile systems are far superior to our own. Most Americans don’t realize this.
I have been writing about this for years, but most people in the western world are not interested in such warnings. And the Russians also very clearly understand that whoever strikes first will have the best chance of surviving a nuclear conflict.
Over and over, the Russians have made it clear that they would very much prefer to avoid using nuclear weapons. But the Russians have also told us over and over that if they are pushed too far they will use them. Right now, the Russians are extremely angry. We saw more evidence of this when they just launched the largest air assault on Ukraine since the war started…
"Russia launched a “massive” missile and drone attack aimed at energy infrastructure across Ukraine at the start of the week, marking the biggest air assault since the war began, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow has since followed that with a second wave of strikes early Tuesday morning. Monday’s onslaught, which killed at least seven people and caused power outages in several cities, marked Russia’s “most massive air attack” in more than two-and-a-half years of conflict, according to Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk."
The reason why the Russians are so angry is due to Ukraine’s surprise invasion of Russia’s lightly populated Kursk region…"Three weeks ago, Ukraine’s military launched a stunning operation to take the war in Ukraine back onto the territory of the country that launched it. Three weeks later, the Ukrainians still occupy hundreds of miles of territory in Russia’s western Kursk region.
The incursion had a number of goals: to force Russia to divert its forces from Ukraine to defend its own towns and cities; to seize territory that might later be used for bargaining leverage in peace negotiations; and to send a political message to the Russian people and their leaders that they are not safe from the consequences of the war launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin nearly two-and-a-half years ago."
Unfortunately for Ukraine, the Russians did not divert assets from eastern Ukraine to defend Kursk. Instead, the Russians have continued to move forward steadily in eastern Ukraine, and now they are closing in on the key city of Pokrovsk…And that means Russia’s eastern offensive, which kicked off last fall and widened around the New Year, has continued unimpeded through August. The consequences for Ukraine’s defensive campaign in the east have been dire.
In essence, Russia is trading Kursk for part of eastern Ukraine. Ukraine is trading part of the east for Kursk. Whether either tradeoff is worth it is a political question - and one without an easy answer for either side. The drumbeat of recent Russian advances east of Pokrovsk, northwest of Donetsk, should sound like an alarm in Kyiv. On Friday, Russian infantry marched into Novohrodivka, seven miles east of Pokrovsk.
Ukraine sent many of their best units (along with significant numbers of western mercenaries) into Kursk, and so much of the front in eastern Ukraine is now defended by new conscripts that are very poorly trained…"As Kiev attempts to bask in triumph over its territorial gains inside of Russia, its forces are losing territory along the Eastern front lines in Ukraine. Ukrainian military commanders say the reason for the losses is poorly trained soldiers; many are even afraid to fire their weapons.
Speaking with the Associated Press, a battalion commander in Ukraine’s 47th Brigade said, “Some people don’t want to shoot. They see the enemy in the firing position in trenches but don’t open fire. … That is why our men are dying. When they don’t use the weapon, they are ineffective.”
The decision to invade the Kursk region is turning out to be a massive strategic blunder. The Ukrainians have lost vast numbers of men and vehicles in Kursk, but they aren’t going to be able to hold Russian territory for very long. Meanwhile, the front in eastern Ukraine is at risk of completely collapsing.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to insist that the invasion of Kursk is part of his “victory plan” which he will soon unveil to Joe Biden…"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his troops’ incursion into Russia’s Kursk region is part of a “victory plan” that he will present to US President Joe Biden next month.
Speaking at a forum on Tuesday, President Zelensky said the success of the plan would depend on President Biden and on whether the US would give Ukraine “what is in this plan or not, [and] whether we will be free to use this plan, or not”. “It may sound too ambitious for some, but it is an important plan for us,” he added, saying that he would also show the plan to both US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump."
The only way that the Ukrainians can possibly achieve victory is to get the U.S. and other western powers directly involved in the conflict. So far, the Ukrainians have not been able to do that. But if that does happen at some point, that will bring us literally to the brink of nuclear war.
Sadly, most people have no idea what a nuclear conflict would actually look like. According to author Annie Jacobsen, the initial blast of one nuclear warhead in Washington D.C. would immediately wipe out everything in a 9 mile diameter…"So with a 1-megaton bomb on Washington, DC, what happens in the very first millisecond is that this thermonuclear flash expands into a ball of fire that is one mile of pure fire. It’s 19 football fields of fire.
Then the fireball’s edges compress into what is called a steeply fronted blast wave - as dense wall of air pushing out, mowing down everything in its path three miles out, in every direction, because it is accompanied by several-hundred-mile-an-hour winds. It’s like Washington, DC, just got hit by an asteroid and the accompanying wave. When you think about this initial 9-mile diameter ring, imagine every single engineered structure - buildings, bridges, etc. - collapsing."
That is what one nuclear warhead would do. The Russians have thousands of them. Millions would die during a full-blown nuclear exchange between the United States and Russia, but billions would potentially die during the nuclear winter that follows…"A Nuclear war would plunge our planet into a deep nuclear winter. In the worst-case scenario, a nuclear exchange between the U.S. and Russia (which together possess nearly 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons) could eject up to 165 million tons (150 million metric tons) of soot into Earth’s atmosphere, reducing surface temperatures by 16 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius) and sending global calorie production plummeting by as much as 90%."
We should do whatever it takes to avoid such a scenario. If leaders on both sides were sane, they would sit down and try to talk things out while it is still possible to do so. Unfortunately, neither side is interested in talking at this point, and so we continue to steamroll toward the unthinkable."
The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in these increasingly turbulent times.
"James Baldwin on How to Live Through Your Darkest Hour
and Life as a Moral Obligation to the Universe"
by Maria Popova
“Yesterday has already vanished among the shadows of the past; to-morrow has not yet emerged from the future. You have found an intermediate space,” Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote of life’s most haunting hour. But what we find in that intermediate space between past and future, between the costumed simulacrum of reality we so painstakingly construct with our waking lives and reality laid bare in the naked nocturnal mind, is not always a resting place of ease - for there dwells the self at its most elemental, which means the self most lucidly awake to its foibles and its finitude.
The disquietude this haunted hour can bring, and does bring, is what another titanic writer and rare seer into the depths of the human spirit - James Baldwin (August 2, 1924–December 1, 1987) - explored 130 years after Hawthorne in one of his least known, most insightful, and most personal essays.
In 1964, as the Harlem riots were shaking the foundation of society and selfhood, Baldwin joined talent-forces with the great photographer Richard Avedon - an old high school friend of his - to hold up an uncommonly revelatory cultural mirror with the book "Nothing Personal" (public library). Punctuating Avedon’s signature black-and-white portraits - of Nobel laureates and Hollywood celebrities, of the age - and ache-etched face of an elder born under slavery and the idealism-lit young faces of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Georgia, of the mentally ill perishing in asylums and the newlyweds at City Hall ablaze with hope - are four stirring essays by Baldwin, the first of which gave us his famous sobering observation that “it has always been much easier (because it has always seemed much safer) to give a name to the evil without than to locate the terror within.”
At no time does the terror within, Baldwin argues in the third essay, bubble to the surface of our being more ferociously than in that haunting hour between past and future, between our illusions of permanence and perfection, and the glaring fact of our finitude and our fallibility, between being and non-being. He writes:
"Four AM can be a devastating hour. The day, no matter what kind of day it was is indisputably over; almost instantaneously, a new day begins: and how will one bear it? Probably no better than one bore the day that is ending, possibly not as well. Moreover, a day is coming one will not recall, the last day of one’s life, and on that day one will oneself become as irrecoverable as all the days that have passed."
It is a fearful speculation - or, rather, a fearful knowledge - that, one day one’s eyes will no longer look out on the world. One will no longer be present at the universal morning roll call. The light will rise for others, but not for you.
After singing some beautiful and heartbreaking Bessie Smith lyrics into his essay - lyrics from “Long Road,” a song about reconciling the knowledge that one is ultimately alone with the irrepressible impulse to reach out for love, “to grasp again, with fearful hope, the unwilling, unloving human hand” - Baldwin continues: "I think all of our voyages drive us there; for I have always felt that a human being could only be saved by another human being. I am aware that we do not save each other very often. But I am also aware that we save each other some of the time."
That alone, Baldwin insists, is reason enough to be, as Nietzsche put it, a “yea-sayer” to life - to face the uncertainty of our lives with courage, to face the fact of our mortality with courage, and to fill this blink of existence bookended by nothingness with the courage of a bellowing aliveness.
In a passage that calls to mind Galway Kinnell’s lifeline of a poem “Wait,” composed for a young friend on the brink of suicide, Baldwin writes: "For, perhaps - perhaps - between now and the last day, something wonderful will happen, a miracle, a miracle of coherence and release. And the miracle on which one’s unsteady attention is focused is always the same, however it may be stated, or however it may remain unstated. It is the miracle of love, love strong enough to guide or drive one into the great estate of maturity, or, to put it another way, into the apprehension and acceptance of one’s own identity. For some deep and ineradicable instinct - I believe -causes us to know that it is only this passionate achievement which can outlast death, which can cause life to spring from death."
And yet, so often, we lose faith in this miracle, lose the perspective we call faith - so often it slips between the fingers fanned with despair or squeezes through the fist clenched with rage. We lose perspective most often, Baldwin argues, at four AM: "At four AM, when one feels that one has probably become simply incapable of supporting this miracle, with all one’s wounds awake and throbbing, and all one’s ghastly inadequacy staring and shouting from the walls and the floor - the entire universe having shrunk to the prison of the self - death glows like the only light on a high, dark, mountain road, where one has, forever and forever! lost one’s way. And many of us perish then."
Baldwin - whom U.S. Poet Laureate Gwendolyn Brooks described as “love personified” in introducing his last public appearance before his death - wedges into this foundational structure of soul-survival the fact that in a culture of habitual separation and institutionalized otherness, such self-regard is immensely difficult. And yet, he insists with the passion of one who has proven the truth of his words with his own life, we must try - we must reach across the divides within and without, across the abysses of terror and suspicion, with a generous and largehearted trust in one another, which is at bottom trust in ourselves.
Echoing his contemporary and kindred visionary Leonard Bernstein’s insistence that “we must believe, without fear, in people,” Baldwin adds what has become, or must become, the most sonorous psychosocial refrain bridging his time and ours: "Where all human connections are distrusted, the human being is very quickly lost."
"Braided, serpentine filaments of glowing gas suggest this nebula's popular name, The Medusa Nebula. Also known as Abell 21, this Medusa is an old planetary nebula some 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. Like its mythological namesake, the nebula is associated with a dramatic transformation.
The planetary nebula phase represents a final stage in the evolution of low mass stars like the sun, as they transform themselves from red giants to hot white dwarf stars and in the process shrug off their outer layers. Ultraviolet radiation from the hot star powers the nebular glow. The Medusa's transforming star is near the center of the overall bright crescent shape. In this deep telescopic view, fainter filaments clearly extend below and to the left of the bright crescent region. The Medusa Nebula is estimated to be over 4 light-years across.”
“How you approach life says a lot about who you are. As I get deeper into my late 30s I have learned to focus more on experiences that bring meaning and fulfilment to my life. I try to consistently pursue life goals that will make me and my closest relations happy; a trait that many individuals search for their entire lives. Nothing gives a person inner wholeness and peace like a distinct understanding of where they are going, how they can get there, and a sense of control over their actions.
Seneca once said, “Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.” “No people can be truly happy if they do not feel that they are choosing the course of their own life,” stated the World Happiness Report 2012. The report also found that having this freedom of choice is one of the six factors that explain why some people are happier than others.
In his best-selling first book, “Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now”, Dr Gordon Livingston, a psychiatrist who’s been listening to people’s problems for decades, revealed thirty bedrock truths about life, and how best to live it. In his capacity as a psychiatrist, Dr Livingston listened to people talk about their lives and the many ways people induced unhappiness on themselves. In his book, he brings his insight and wisdom to the subjects of happiness, fear and courage.
“Life’s two most important questions are “Why?” and “Why not?” The trick is knowing which one to ask.” Acquiring some understanding of why we do things is often a prerequisite to change. This is especially true when talking about repetitive patterns of behavior that do not serve us well. This is what Socrates meant when he said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” That more of us do not take his advice is testimony to the hard work and potential embarrassment that self-examination implies.”
Most people operate on autopilot, doing the same things today that didn’t work yesterday. They rarely stop to measure the impact of their actions on themselves and others, and how those actions affect their total well-being. They are caught in a cycle. And once you get caught in the loop, it can be difficult to break free and do something meaningful. Past behavior is the most reliable predictor of future behavior.
If your daily actions and choices are making you unhappy, make a deliberate choice to change direction. No matter how bleak or desperate a situation may appear to look, you always have a choice. “People often come to me asking for medication. They are tired of their sad mood, fatigue, and loss of interest in things that previously gave them pleasure. ”…“Their days are routine: unsatisfying jobs, few friends, lots of boredom. They feel cut off from the pleasures enjoyed by others.
Here is what I tell them: The good news is that we have effective treatments for the symptoms of depression; the bad news is that medication will not make you happy. Happiness is not simply the absence of despair. It is an affirmative state in which our lives have both meaning and pleasure.” “In general we get, not what we deserve, but what we expect,” he says.
Most people know what is good for them, they know what will make them feel better. They don’t avoid meaningful life habits because of ignorance of their value, but because they are no longer “motivated” to do them, Dr Livingston found. They are waiting until they feel better. Frequently, it’s a long wait, he says. Life is too short to wait for a great day to invest in better life experiences.
Most unhappiness is self-induced, Dr Livingston found. “The three components of happiness are something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to. Think about it. If we have useful work, sustaining relationships, and the promise of pleasure, it is hard to be unhappy. I use the term “work” to encompass any activity, paid or unpaid, that gives us a feeling of personal significance. If we have a compelling avocation that lends meaning to our lives, that is our work, ” says Dr Livingston.
Many experiences in life that bring happiness are in your control. The more choices you are able to exercise, and control, the happier you are likely to be. “Happiness is an inside job. Don’t assign anyone else that much power over your life,” says Mandy Hale. Many people wait for something to happen or someone to help them live their best lives. They expect others to make them happy. They think they have lost the ability to improve their lives.
The thing that characterizes those who struggle emotionally is that they have lost, or believe they have lost, their ability to choose those behaviors that will make them happy, says Dr Livingston. You are responsible for your own life experiences, whether you are seeking a meaningful life or a happy life. If you expect others to make you happy, you will always be disappointed.
You can consistently choose actions that could become everyday habits. It takes time, but it’s an investment that will be worth your while. “Virtually all the happiness-producing processes in our lives take time, usually a long time: Learning new things, changing old behaviors, building new relationships, raising children. This is why patience and determination are among life’s primary virtues,”
Most people are stuck in life because of fear. Fear of everything outside their safe zones. Your mind has a way of rising to the occasion. Challenge it, and it will reward you. Your determination to overcome fear and discouragement constitutes the only effective antidote to that feeling on unhappiness you don’t want. Dr Livingston explains. “The most secure prisons are those we construct for ourselves. I frequently ask people who are risk-averse, “What is the biggest chance you have ever taken?” People begin to realize what “safe” lives they have chosen to lead.”
“Everything we are afraid to try, all our unfulfilled dreams, constitute a limitation on what we are and could become. Usually it is fear and its close cousin, anxiety, that keep us from doing those things that would make us happy. So much of our lives consists of broken promises to ourselves. The things we long to do — educate ourselves, become successful in our work, fall in love — are goals shared by all. Nor are the means to achieve these things obscure. And yet we often do not do what is necessary to become the people we want to be.”
As you increasingly install experiences of acceptance, gratitude, accomplishment, and feeling that there’s a fullness in your life rather than an emptiness or a scarcity, you will be able to deal with the issues of life better.
Closing thoughts: Dr Livingston’s words feel true and profound. The real secret to a happy life is selective attention, he says. If you choose to focus your awareness and energy on things and people that bring you pleasure and satisfaction, you have a very good chance of being happy in a world full of unhappiness, uncertainty, and fear."
