Alliston, Ontario, Canada. Thanks for stopping by!
So, we rise from the rubble...
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
"The Sometimes Hidden Beauty of ‘This Too Shall Pass’"
"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent a sentence to be ever on view and which would be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words, 'And this, too, shall pass away.'"
"The Sometimes Hidden Beauty of ‘This Too Shall Pass’"
By Richard Haddad
"“This too shall pass.” This proverb has no doubt been repeated millions of times in many different languages. Now the sentiment may be difficult to accept amidst so many hardships from lost jobs, lost businesses and lost lives.
This adage grew from the roots of a Persian fable and became known in the Western world primarily through a 19th-century retelling by the English poet Edward FitzGerald, who crafted the fable “Solomon’s Seal” in 1852 illustrating how the adage had the power to make a sad man happy but, conversely, a happy man sad. The fable was reportedly also employed in a speech by Abraham Lincoln before he became the sixteenth President of the United States.
But the version I want to share today that I think is most beautiful and powerful was written in 1867 by American newspaper editor and abolitionist Theodore Tilton. He reworked the fable into a poem called “The King’s Ring.” Here again, the retooled adage wields a double-edged sword. It can help us endure the passage of difficult times, or keep our perspective and humility during good times. Here is the Tilton poem:
"The King’s Ring"
"Once in Persia reigned a King,
Who upon his signet-ring
Graved a maxim true and wise,
Which, if held before his eyes,
Gave him counsel, at a glance,
Fit for every change or chance;
Solemn words, and these are they:
“Even this shall pass away.”
Trains of camels through the sand
Brought him gems from Samarcand;
Fleets of galleys through the seas
Brought him pearls to rival these.
But he counted little gain
Treasures of the mine or main.
“What is wealth?” the King would say;
“Even this shall pass away.”
In the revels of his court,
At the zenith of the sport,
When the palms of all his guests
Burned with clapping at his jests,
He, amid his figs and wine,
Cried, “O loving friends of mine!
Pleasures come, but do not stay:
Even this shall pass away.”
Lady fairest ever seen
Was the bride he crowned the queen.
Pillowed on his marriage-bed,
Whispering to his soul, he said,
“Though no bridegroom never pressed
Dearer bosom to his breast,
Mortal flesh must come to clay:
Even this shall pass away.”
Fighting on a furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield.
Soldiers with a loud lament
Bore him bleeding to his tent.
Groaning from his tortured side,
“Pain is hard to bear,” he cried,
“But with patience day by day,
Even this shall pass away.”
Towering in the public square
Twenty cubits in the air,
Rose his statue carved in stone.
Then the King, disguised, unknown,
Gazing at his sculptured name,
Asked himself, “And what is fame?
Fame is but a slow decay:
Even this shall pass away.”
Struck with palsy, sere and old,
Waiting at the Gates of Gold,
Spake he with his dying breath,
“Life is done, but what is Death?”
Then, in answer to the King,
Fell a sunbeam on his ring,
Showing by a heavenly ray -
“Even this shall pass away.”
I believe enduring well is an essential part of the test we must pass while on this Earth together. I am still taking this test. We all are. I also believe we must have a certain amount of faith and hope as we do all in our power to make things right in this world while also accepting that we don’t have the power to control all outcomes. I’ve been learning these truths and striving to apply them more in my own life. In the past I have sometimes hearkened to gloomy voices in the world. Many a time I entertained unnecessary doubt and worry. But I am learning that worry works against faith and hope. My mother once shared this other saying with me that I have tried to apply in my older years - “Worry is interest paid on money never borrowed.”
"May we all strive to endure, live and love well, for this too shall pass."
"The Real Glory..."
"The image that comes to mind is a boxing ring. There are times when you just want that bell to ring, but you're the one who's losing. The one who's winning doesn't have that feeling. Do you have the energy and strength to face life? Life can ask more of you than you are willing to give. And then you say, 'Life is not something that should have been. I'm not going to play the game. I'm going to meditate. I'm going to call "out". There are three positions possible. One is the up-to-it, and facing the game and playing through. The second is saying, "Absolutely not. I don't want to stay in this dogfight." That's the absolute out. The third position is the one that says, "This is mixed of good and evil. I'm on the side of the good. I accept the world with corrections. And may the world be the way I like it. And it's good for me and my friends." There are the only three positions."
- Joseph Campbell
o
“How Buster Douglas Beat Mike Tyson”
by johnnysmack7
“Going into the fight, Mike Tyson was the undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. He held the WBC, WBA, and IBF titles. Despite the several controversies that marked Tyson’s profile at the time, such as his notorious, abusive relationship with Robin Givens; the contractual battles between longtime manager Bill Cayton and promoter Don King; and Tyson’s departure from longtime trainer Kevin Rooney, Mike Tyson was still lethal in the ring, scoring a 93-second knockout against Carl “The Truth” Williams in his previous fight. Most considered this fight to be a warm-up bout for Tyson before meeting up with then-undefeated number 1 heavyweight contender Evander Holyfield (who was ringside for the fight). Tyson was viewed as such a dominant heavyweight that he was not only viewed as the world’s top heavyweight, but often as the number one fighter in the world pound-for-pound (including by “Ring Magazine”), a rarity for heavyweights.
Buster Douglas was ranked as just the #7 heavyweight by Ring Magazine, and had met with mixed success in his professional boxing career up to that point. His previous title fight was against Tony Tucker in 1987, in which he was TKO’d in the 10th round. However, a string of six consecutive wins gave him the opportunity to fight Tyson. In the time leading up to the fight, Douglas faced a number of setbacks, including the death of his mother, Lula Pearl, 23 days before the fight. Additionally, the mother of his son was facing a severe kidney ailment, and he had contracted the flu on the day before the fight.”
- http://www.knockouts2sleep.com
“The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back.
That’s real glory. That’s the essence of it.”
- Vince Lombardi
Full screen mode recommended.
At 2:40 of this video Douglas takes a tremendous uppercut and goes down, kneeling to clear his head; look closely...you can see him wondering to himself if he should get up. No one at all expected him to, but he reached for something deep inside himself, found an inner strength perhaps even he was unaware of, and got back up to continue the fight. The rest, as they say, is history… and real glory. – CP
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"Scott Ritter: Syria Truth Exposed, Putin & Iran on High Alert as IDF Bombs Damascus"
Danny Haiphong, 12/10/24
"Scott Ritter: Syria Truth Exposed,
Putin & Iran on High Alert as IDF Bombs Damascus"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Times Of India, 12/10/24
"Putin 'Enters' Syria-Israel War: Russia Rains Fire
On Netanyahu For Seizing Syrian Golan Buffer Zone"
"Russia and Israel are now at odds over the situation in Syria, with tensions escalating after recent remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Golan Heights. During an address on Dec 9, Netanyahu said that the Golan Heights will "forever be an inseparable part" of Israel. In response, Russia’s Ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, criticized Israel’s contradictory statements on the matter. Watch for more."
Comments here:
"Miracle on the Pampas"
Argentine President Javier Milei
"Miracle on the Pampas"
Everybody knows what causes a nation to sink and decay.
Everybody knows that over the long run, you can’t spend more than
you can afford. And everybody knows that people will game the system.
by Bill Bonner
Baltimore, Maryland - "Reuters…on the most exciting story in the financial world: Argentina’s Milei wants to make austerity great again. Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei laid out a bleak vision in his maiden speech a year ago amid an economic crisis. He warned there was "no money", pledged shock therapy for the economy and said things would get worse before they got better. A year later Milei has managed to pull off a gravity-defying feat: keeping that fervor burning and avoiding tipping the country into fiery protest even as he rolls out severe spending cuts…
A year ago, the question on the table was whether democracy was capable of genuine reform. We know from observation as well as theory - dating to the time of the ancient Greeks - that democracy seems to have a ‘best if used before’ date. As time goes by, elite special interests gain more and more power... and curdle the milk. They are corrupted by power... and the government becomes a means of ripping off ‘The People’ and distributing the loot to competing elite groups.
Then, along comes a demagogue who appeals directly to the masses, who by then are completely fed up with it, and promises real change. He dismantles much of the ‘checks and balances’ that restrict his own power... and the country becomes much less ‘democratic.’ And then, there are always surprises - catastrophic events, war, bankruptcy, hyperinflation, plague or revolution. Debts go unpaid. Assets are marked down. Rich and poor are both impoverished... and the process begins all over again.
And so it was that a year ago today, Javier Milei took over as El Presidente in Argentina. ‘The People’ had had enough. He offered a new direction. He was very straightforward about it, carrying a chainsaw to his rallies and promising to use it to cut back the government. So far, Milei has done what he said he would do. He’s fired 50,000 employees. He stopped the red ink and put an end to money-printing. The results? Our friend on the scene, Rob Marstrand reports:
"Consumer price inflation hit 25% in the month of December 2023, as Milei took office. That’s equivalent to an annual rate of close to 1,400% (with compounding). Actual (backwards looking) inflation peaked at over 280% in the early part of this year. By October, the latest available figure, Argentina's monthly inflation rate had dropped to 2.7%, equivalent to 38% a year (with compounding). That's still high, but it's a major improvement. It's also propped up artificially, to some extent, by the progressive removal of the previous government’s price subsidies for utilities (electricity, natural gas, water), fuel and transport (buses and trains). My electricity bill used to be $8 a month (now about $35), and a ride on the subway was about 10 cents a year ago (now about 80 cents). Both are still cheap, but rising."
There’s no secret to this. Everybody knows what causes a nation to sink and decay. Everybody knows that over the long run, you can’t spend more than you can afford. And everybody knows that people will game the system, if they’re allowed to.
Trouble is, it is very hard to correct. In a democracy, if you want power, you need your man to get elected. And he won’t get elected if he attacks the money flow. Because, whenever the feds spend, part of the money is destined for lobbying, campaign contributions, think tank support - all for the purpose of increasing the money-flow. Try to eliminate the unnecessary spending... and the moneyed elites start working to eliminate you. The rich and powerful will undermine you. The poor – deprived of their handouts – will take to the streets.
Milei’s story is unusual because he has a strong ideological commitment to reducing the power of the government. But he also came along at just the right time in the Primary Political Cycle. Cynics may doubt the motives of public figures. Cynicalists that we are, we assume the system works for those who control it. And in the election battle of 2023, it looks to us as though the Peronists (national socialists) who have ruled the roost in Argentine politics since the 1940s, took a dive.
Why? Because the elites had squeezed so much juice out of the economy there wasn’t much left. Mismanagement and rip-offs had brought about the aforementioned 1,400% inflation. And it was getting worse. Chaos and catastrophe were on the way. Better to let a ‘free market’ guy get the blame. Or, in the unlikely event that Milei were to succeed in reviving the economy, the Peronists would at least have more to steal when they returned to power.
Argentina is still no paradise. There are confusing and difficult money rules. The employment rules - very similar to those in France - make it hard to employ people. And there are still a lot of bills to pay. But Milei explains his progress so far: ‘When we took office…the inflation in the first week of December [last year] was running at 1% per day, which meant it was 3,700% per year…. In addition, for 10 years the economy had not grown. Per capita, it fell by 15%. Wholesale inflation was at 17,00%. Now it’s only 28%. And now we are bringing consumer inflation down to just 2.5% annually. And the poverty rate was 57% in January [2024], now it is only 47%.’
What is probably most remarkable about Milei’s speech is that he is able to talk about complicated and subtle economic issues confidently and intelligently. We know of no American politician who can do the same.
The drop in the poverty rate already has released about four million households from poverty. Investors have taken notice, too. A group of them recently visited our area, Salta, looking for bargains... and potential boltholes. And some investors see in the Argentina story the kind of boom that took place in Eastern Europe after it was freed from the Soviet Union in 1991... or in China, after the entire economy was unleashed by Deng Xiaoping in 1979.
Of course, the Milei revolution may still fail. He’s cutting back on salaries, jobs, benefits and giveaways. As time goes by people are likely to forget why these cuts are necessary... and long for the good ol’ days of something-for-nothing. But for now, Argentina is the biggest turnaround story since the Soviet Union disbanded. Stay tuned."
Gregory Mannarino, "Banks Are In Trouble, But They're Getting A Backdoor Bailout, And You're Not"
Gregory Mannarino, AM 12/10/24
"Banks Are In Trouble,
But They're Getting A Backdoor Bailout, And You're Not"
Comments here:
So, let's see... $170 BILLION to Ukraine; God knows how many $BILLIONS secretly given to the psychopathically inbred degenerate Israeli monsters to keep slaughtering old people, women and children; $3 BILLION a DAY to pay the interest on the inconceivable $37.5 trillion national debt; the Big Banks getting countless BILLIONS to keep them from the bankruptcies they so richly deserve; a $1 TRILLION "defense" budget; and on and on and on. But what you won't see is any help for YOU, Good Citizen, because they don't give a goddamn about us... - CP
Dan, I Allegedly, "Here Is A New Low"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 12/10/24
"Here Is A New Low"
"We explore why so many Americans are facing impossible choices in today's economy. From sky-high housing costs to mounting insurance expenses, discover the real reasons behind this growing crisis. Plus, hear shocking statistics about how many people are selling their possessions just to make ends meet. We also cover the disgraceful treatment of disabled students at a Cracker Barrel restaurant, troubling news about phone spyware affecting 8 million devices, and updates on bank controversies. Learn what these developments mean for your financial security and what steps you can take to protect yourself. This is more than just statistics - it's about real people making heartbreaking choices every day. Whether you're struggling yourself or want to understand what's happening in our economy, this video provides crucial insights into America's growing meal-skipping crisis."
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Cash Jordan, 12/10/24
"More Renters Go Homeless…
As NYC Destroys Itself"
"A recent report reveals the shocking freefall of NYC's housing market,
which is now forcing renters to make choices most Americans could never imagine."
Comments here:
Adventures With Danno, "Major Changes At Dollar Tree"
Adventures With Danno, AM 12/10/24
"Major Changes At Dollar Tree"
Comments here:
Canadian Prepper, "Alert! Russia/Iran Running Out Of Options; Congo 'Disease X'"
Canadian Prepper, 12/10/24
"Alert! Russia/Iran Running Out Of Options;
Congo 'Disease X'"
Comments here:
Monday, December 9, 2024
Jeremiah Babe, "Beware Of An Ominous Black Swan Event, Global Financial Markets Will Be Rocked"
Jeremiah Babe,12/9/24
"Beware Of An Ominous Black Swan Event,
Global Financial Markets Will Be Rocked"
Comments here:
"Another Rental Crisis Will Leave Millions Of Americans Without Homes"
Full screen recommended.
Epic economist, 12/9/24
"Another Rental Crisis Will Leave
Millions Of Americans Without Homes"
"If you’re a renter, you will want to hear this. A toxic mix of soaring rental prices and vanishing support for renters is triggering the largest spike in evictions since 2019. New data reveals that more than half of the nation's renters are at risk of losing their homes as prices continue to climb above incomes, and more people fall behind on payments. The situation is reaching critical levels right as we head into the winter. Today, we are going to reveal the true forces driving this alarming rental crisis and explain why things are about to get a whole lot worse than you can imagine."
Comments here:
"Hobson's Choice"
"Hobson's Choice"
by Jeff Thomas
"Thomas Hobson owned a large stable of horses in Cambridge, England in the early seventeenth century. As he had some forty horses in his stable, prospective customers assumed that they’d maximise their possibility of choice there, if they needed a mount.However, each potential customer was told by Hobson that he could rent the horse in the stall closest to the door, or rent none at all. This approach allowed Hobson the ability to assure that none of his horses would ever be overused. But, in the bargain, it gave him control over his clientele.
Henry Ford used Hobson’s choice very effectively. He created his inspired "car for the multitude" in 1908. His market share increased enormously. Then, in 1913, he discovered that that black paint dried more quickly than any other color. Black cars could be produced more quickly and were therefore more profitable. So, beginning in 1914, he eliminated all color choices for his popular Model T cars. From then on, he said, "Any customer can have a car in any color as long as it is black." Like Mr. Hobson, he gained control over his customers by minimizing their choices.
It’s important to recognize here that neither Messrs. Hobson nor Ford had the ability to implement such restrictions when they first started their businesses. It was only after they had secured a significant market share through a free market, that they were in a position to make that market less free. In this, we see an important aspect of the concept of government. The United States began as a Republic, but downgraded quickly into a democracy, then downgraded further, over time, into a quasi-collectivist democracy and is now moving quickly into a fully-collectivist state.
But, this is not a new idea, nor a new effort. Some 2400 years ago, Greece came up with the idea of a republic – a state in which the freedom of choice of the individual was paramount. Laws were minimal and, as long as he followed those basic laws, he was free to do as he pleased.
Ancient Rome was the same. After a state of prosperity due to increasing production, a republic was formed, but it was soon downgraded into a democracy, then later became an empire, then collectivism set in.
The pattern is the same. Productivity leads to prosperity, which leads to a rise in individual rights. The nation then peaks in terms of personal freedom. Then, the decline begins, as democracy slowly replaces individual rights. Democracy sounds good, as it’s presented as "the will of the majority." But, in fact, it’s the thin end of the wedge.
Thomas Jefferson said, "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." In every country, democracy appears to be benign, but it opens the door to collectivism. But, how is this possible? Why, after over a century of the consistent and blatant failure of collectivist states, is it still possible for a waitress from New York City to hold up a photo of Karl Marx and get elected by a substantial margin over a liberal incumbent?
Well, the answer lies in Hobson’s choice. In primitive times, a king called the shots. No choice existed. But, democracy introduced the illusion of choice. Since that time, it has been possible to remove more rights and to impose greater taxation than ever before if the population believes that their deteriorated condition is the result of personal choice. And the greatest refinement of this process is to always proffer two (and only two) "viable" choices. All other possible choices are beyond any real consideration.
In his career as a power broker (referred to in polite circles as a "diplomat"), Henry Kissinger became a master at always offering two choices and two choices only. Whether it was to either destroy the Soviet Union or face Armageddon, or invade Southeast Asia or see the end of democracy in the world, Mr. Kissinger acknowledged later in his books that Hobson’s choice was one of the most formidable tools in his toolbox in succeeding in his goals.
It has often been said that "Hobson’s choice is essentially no choice at all." Well, in reality that’s true, but technically-speaking, Hobson’s choice is always an "either/or" choice. "Take the horse in the stall next to the door or be without transportation. (Hobson never suggested a third choice, which might be to go to another stable.)
As to Mr. Ford, he essentially said, "Accept a black Model T or be without transport." (He never suggested a third choice, which might be to buy another make of car.) And, of course, Mr. Kissinger never offered any third choice, either. He never said, "We might additionally consider true diplomacy, in which all countries have their own sovereignty and arrive at their own decisions."
And so, in the US today, as in Europe, Canada and many other countries that at one time made up the Free World, we’re presented with a series of Hobson’s choices. "Vote for Trump, who offers the empty promise to drain the swamp." (The implied alternative is the unchecked growth of the liberal Deep State.) "Vote for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who offers the empty promise of full collectivism." (The implied alternative is the unchecked growth of the conservative Deep State.)
And this is how an otherwise, relatively intelligent, relatively educated people come to be subjugated. It’s easy to hate a king who you feel oppresses you, but most people are unable to fathom the Jesuit logic of Hobson’s choice. So, is that it? Life is doomed to end in collectivist totalitarianism? Well, no. It’s just one of many phases that nations pass through.
Let’s look back at Henry Ford again. During the mid-1920’s, his son Edsel convinced him that Americans had tired of his practical, but grim little car. Other auto producers were offering cars with new improvements over the Ford, in addition to a variety of colors. Their market share was increasing, as they offered more freedom of choice. In 1926, Henry begrudgingly acquiesced and began offering colors again. The following year, he admitted that the Model T had become outmoded through freedom of choice and the Model T’s last model year was 1927.
Just as collectivism has failed wherever it’s been introduced, in every one of these countries, it was (initially) welcomed with open arms by the hoi polloi, as they bought into the tempting Hobson’s choice. Predictably, collapse was inevitable, as collectivism only works for the rulers. Then the country has to begin the cycle all over again, beginning, as always, with productivity. But the process is always the same. The welcome of collectivism is always the first step and the nation then progresses downhill for generations.
Historically, very few people recognize when their nation is at the turning point. Nor do they recognize the universal effectiveness of Hobson’s choice. The con is that there is not a multitude of choices; there are only two and one of them is clearly unlivable. So, we’re not forcing you to do anything in particular, we’re just funneling your brain so that you fail to understand that you have choices other than the one we’re leading you into. The answer is to question everything. Envision other choices. Choose your own destiny."
"A Look to the Heavens"
“While drifting through the cosmos, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by stellar winds and radiation to assume a recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42). A potentially rewarding but difficult object to view personally with a small telescope, the below gorgeously detailed image was recently taken in infrared light by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.
The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500 light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star Sigma Orionis. The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by the high energy starlight.”
- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130422.html
Chet Raymo, "Nullius In Verba"
"Nullius In Verba"
by Chet Raymo
"Britain's Royal Society, established in 1660, was the first formal scientific association. It's early membership included such luminaries as Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton. They took as their motto Nullius in verba, which can be translated roughly as "Take no one's word for it." And thus ended, in that gathering at least, a millennium-and-a-half of a European intellectual tradition based on quoting authorities as proofs of arguments. It always helped, of course, to have Aristotle on your side. Or Augustine. Or Aquinas. Or best yet, the divinely inspired scriptures. No matter which side of an argument you were on, you lined up your authorities like soldiers on a battlefield.
Citation of authority. A way of knowing that advanced human knowledge not one whit. Always looking backwards. Never ahead. And along comes "Nullius in verba." A new way of knowing. The only arbiter of truth is the interrogation of nature. The experiment. Data that does not come tagged with some illuminary's name. Data that can be reproduced by believers and skeptics alike.
And what happened when the new way of knowing was applied to miracles? They vanished. It turns out that there is not a shred of non-anecdotal, reproducible evidence for the miraculous, no supposed manifestations of divine intervention that cannot be explained within the natural order. I believe it might have been Francis Bacon who said that it is a common human attribute to mistake coincidence for causality. And there, I quoted an authority, and a smart one at that. But the fact that Bacon (or whoever) said it carries no weight unless what he said matches our experimentally controlled observations of human behavior."
Citation of authority. A way of knowing that advanced human knowledge not one whit. Always looking backwards. Never ahead. And along comes "Nullius in verba." A new way of knowing. The only arbiter of truth is the interrogation of nature. The experiment. Data that does not come tagged with some illuminary's name. Data that can be reproduced by believers and skeptics alike.
And what happened when the new way of knowing was applied to miracles? They vanished. It turns out that there is not a shred of non-anecdotal, reproducible evidence for the miraculous, no supposed manifestations of divine intervention that cannot be explained within the natural order. I believe it might have been Francis Bacon who said that it is a common human attribute to mistake coincidence for causality. And there, I quoted an authority, and a smart one at that. But the fact that Bacon (or whoever) said it carries no weight unless what he said matches our experimentally controlled observations of human behavior."
- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/
"Are We Living In A 'Matrix'-like Superhologram?"
"Are We Living In A 'Matrix'-like Superhologram?"
by David Talbot
"In 1982 a remarkable event took place. At the University of Paris a research team led by physicist Alain Aspect performed what may turn out to be one of the most important experiments of the 20th century. You did not hear about it on the evening news. In fact, unless you are in the habit of reading scientific journals you probably have never even heard Aspect's name, though there are some who believe his discovery may change the face of science. Aspect and his team discovered that under certain circumstances subatomic particles such as electrons are able to instantaneously communicate with each other regardless of the distance separating them. It doesn't matter whether they are 10 feet or 10 billion miles apart. Somehow each particle always seems to know what the other is doing. The problem with this feat is that it violates Einstein's long-held tenet that no communication can travel faster than the speed of light. Since traveling faster than the speed of light is tantamount to breaking the time barrier, this daunting prospect has caused some physicists to try to come up with elaborate ways to explain away Aspect's findings. But it has inspired others to offer even more radical explanations.
University of London physicist David Bohm, for example, believes Aspect's findings imply that objective reality does not exist, that despite its apparent solidity the universe is at heart a phantasm, a gigantic and splendidly detailed hologram. To understand why Bohm makes this startling assertion, one must first understand a little about holograms. A hologram is a three- dimensional photograph made with the aid of a laser. To make a hologram, the object to be photographed is first bathed in the light of a laser beam. Then a second laser beam is bounced off the reflected light of the first and the resulting interference pattern (the area where the two laser beams commingle) is captured on film. When the film is developed, it looks like a meaningless swirl of light and dark lines. But as soon as the developed film is illuminated by another laser beam, a three-dimensional image of the original object appears.
The three-dimensionality of such images is not the only remarkable characteristic of holograms. If a hologram of a rose is cut in half and then illuminated by a laser, each half will still be found to contain the entire image of the rose. Indeed, even if the halves are divided again, each snippet of film will always be found to contain a smaller but intact version of the original image. Unlike normal photographs, every part of a hologram contains all the information possessed by the whole. The "whole in every part" nature of a hologram provides us with an entirely new way of understanding organization and order. For most of its history, Western science has labored under the bias that the best way to understand a physical phenomenon, whether a frog or an atom, is to dissect it and study its respective parts. A hologram teaches us that some things in the universe may not lend themselves to this approach. If we try to take apart something constructed holographically, we will not get the pieces of which it is made, we will only get smaller wholes. This insight suggested to Bohm another way of understanding Aspect's discovery. Bohm believes the reason subatomic particles are able to remain in contact with one another regardless of the distance separating them is not because they are sending some sort of mysterious signal back and forth, but because their separateness is an illusion. He argues that at some deeper level of reality such particles are not individual entities, but are actually extensions of the same fundamental something.
To enable people to better visualize what he means, Bohm offers the following illustration. Imagine an aquarium containing a fish. Imagine also that you are unable to see the aquarium directly and your knowledge about it and what it contains comes from two television cameras, one directed at the aquarium's front and the other directed at its side. As you stare at the two television monitors, you might assume that the fish on each of the screens are separate entities. After all, because the cameras are set at different angles, each of the images will be slightly different. But as you continue to watch the two fish, you will eventually become aware that there is a certain relationship between them. When one turns, the other also makes a slightly different but corresponding turn; when one faces the front, the other always faces toward the side. If you remain unaware of the full scope of the situation, you might even conclude that the fish must be instantaneously communicating with one another, but this is clearly not the case.
This, says Bohm, is precisely what is going on between the subatomic particles in Aspect's experiment. According to Bohm, the apparent faster-than-light connection between subatomic particles is really telling us that there is a deeper level of reality we are not privy to, a more complex dimension beyond our own that is analogous to the aquarium. And, he adds, we view objects such as subatomic particles as separate from one another because we are seeing only a portion of their reality. Such particles are not separate "parts", but facets of a deeper and more underlying unity that is ultimately as holographic and indivisible as the previously mentioned rose. And since everything in physical reality is comprised of these "eidolons", the universe is itself a projection, a hologram.
In addition to its phantomlike nature, such a universe would possess other rather startling features. If the apparent separateness of subatomic particles is illusory, it means that at a deeper level of reality all things in the universe are infinitely interconnected.The electrons in a carbon atom in the human brain are connected to the subatomic particles that comprise every salmon that swims, every heart that beats, and every star that shimmers in the sky. Everything interpenetrates everything, and although human nature may seek to categorize and pigeonhole and subdivide, the various phenomena of the universe, all apportionments are of necessity artificial and all of nature is ultimately a seamless web.
In a holographic universe, even time and space could no longer be viewed as fundamentals. Because concepts such as location break down in a universe in which nothing is truly separate from anything else, time and three-dimensional space, like the images of the fish on the TV monitors, would also have to be viewed as projections of this deeper order. At its deeper level reality is a sort of superhologram in which the past, present, and future all exist simultaneously. This suggests that given the proper tools it might even be possible to someday reach into the superholographic level of reality and pluck out scenes from the long-forgotten past.
What else the superhologram contains is an open-ended question. Allowing, for the sake of argument, that the superhologram is the matrix that has given birth to everything in our universe, at the very least it contains every subatomic particle that has been or will be - every configuration of matter and energy that is possible, from snowflakes to quasars, from blue whales to gamma rays. It must be seen as a sort of cosmic storehouse of "All That Is." Although Bohm concedes that we have no way of knowing what else might lie hidden in the superhologram, he does venture to say that we have no reason to assume it does not contain more. Or, perhaps the superholographic level of reality is a "mere stage" beyond which lies "an infinity of further development."
"It Is Our Fate...:
"Well, it is our fate to live in a time of crisis. To live in a time when all forms and values are being challenged. In other and more easy times, it was not, perhaps, necessary for the individual to confront himself with a clear question: What is it that you really believe? What is it that you really cherish? What is it for which you might, actually, in a showdown, be willing to die? I say, with all the reticence which such large, pathetic words evoke, that one cannot exist today as a person – one cannot exist in full consciousness – without having to have a showdown with one’s self, without having to define what it is that one lives by, without being clear in one’s mind what matters and what does not matter.”
- Dorothy Thompson
The Poet: James Broughton, "Having Come This Far"
"Having Come This Far"
"I've been through what my through was to be,
I did what I could and couldn't.
I was never sure how I would get there.
I nourished an ardor for thresholds,
for stepping stones and for ladders,
I discovered detour and ditch.
I swam in the high tides of greed,
I built sandcastles to house my dreams.
I survived the sunburns of love.
No longer do I hunt for targets.
I've climbed all the summits I need to,
and I've eaten my share of lotus.
Now I give praise and thanks
for what could not be avoided,
and for every foolhardy choice.
I cherish my wounds and their cures,
and the sweet enervations of bliss.
My book is an open life.
I wave goodbye to the absolutes,
and send my regards to infinity.
I'd rather be blithe than correct.
Until something transcendent turns up,
I splash in my poetry puddle,
and try to keep God amused."
- James Broughton
Free Download: Charles Mackay, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds"
"Extraordinary Popular Delusions
and the Madness of Crowds"
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we've been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back." - Carl Sagan
"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" is an early study of crowd psychology by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay, first published in 1841. The book chronicles its subjects in three parts: "National Delusions", "Peculiar Follies", and "Philosophical Delusions". MacKay was an accomplished teller of stories, though he wrote in a journalistic and somewhat sensational style.
The subjects of Mackay's debunking include alchemy, crusades, duels, economic bubbles, fortune-telling, haunted houses, the Drummer of Tedworth, the influence of politics and religion on the shapes of beards and hair, magnetizers (influence of imagination in curing disease), murder through poisoning, prophecies, popular admiration of great thieves, popular follies of great cities, and relics. Present-day writers on economics, such as Michael Lewis and Andrew Tobias, laud the three chapters on economic bubbles. Scientist and astronomer Carl Sagan mentioned the book in his own discussion about pseudoscience, popular delusions, and hoaxes.
In later editions, Mackay added a footnote referencing the Railway Mania of the 1840s as another "popular delusion" which was at least as important as the South Sea Bubble. Mathematician Andrew Odlyzko has pointed out, in a published lecture, that Mackay himself played a role in this economic bubble; as leader writer in the Glasgow Argus, Mackay wrote on 2 October 1845: "There is no reason whatever to fear a crash."
Freely download "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds"
"We Deserve Better..."
"We are the world. We are the people and we
deserve better, not because we're worth it, but because no
worth can be put on the incalculable, on the infinite, on life."
- Nick Mancuso
○
“Each of us inevitable; Each of us limitless -
each of us with his or her right upon the earth;
Each of us allowed the eternal purports of the earth;
Each of us here as divinely as any is here.”
- Walt Whitman
Dan, I Allegedly, "Stop Texting Now - FBI's Urgent Warning"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 12/9/24
"Stop Texting Now - FBI's Urgent Warning"
Comments here:
"Decades And Weeks"
"Decades And Weeks"
By The ZMan
"Lenin famously said, “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” The world has just experienced, and perhaps is continuing to experience, those weeks where decades happen. There is the war in Ukraine, of course, which keeps tempting the world to the abyss, but now there is the collapse of Syria, which promises to make the Middle East more dangerous. On top of that is the political crises in South Korea, France and Romania.
The easiest to diagnose is the Ukraine crisis, which has been creeping toward a conclusion most have understood since it started. The Russian army is slowly grinding up the Ukrainian army, which is slowly retreating. Slowly has been slowly becoming quickly, leading to rumors that big changes await Kiev. Zelensky has all but volunteered to be Trump’s personal footstool to find out what, if anything, Trump plans to do about Ukraine in 2025. The answer is probably nothing.
For their part, the Russians seem to have decided that they will have to sort things out despite whoever is running American foreign policy. The thing to watch is who Tucker Carlson has on from the Trump team after he returns from Russia. There is a good chance that Tucker is operating as an unofficial go between for Trump or who Trump will trust to manage the Ukraine problem. Regardless, the end of Project Ukraine promises to be weeks where decades happen.
The problem that promises to create lots of chaos for the world is the unexpected collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. One of the things you must learn when doing business in the Arab word is that nothing is ever as it appears. That is most certainly true with the fall of Assad and his exile in Russia. While it is clear that the Turks trained and supplied the “rebel” army, made up of mercenaries from around the Muslim world, it is unlikely that they anticipated this result.
It is also certain that the United States and Israel had a hand in developing this “rebel” army and setting it on its course. Like everyone else, they appear to have been unprepared for this result. Strangely, the Russians and the Iranians seem to have anticipated this result or at least were the first to see what was happening, so maybe they had a hand in this as well. The Russians have been operating in that part of the world for generations, so they understand Arab reality.
What we know is that Syria is now “controlled” by a collection of Muslim fanatics who have little in common with one another. They lack the resources and manpower to remain in control for long, so that means the many other factions and their sponsors will be looking to either flow into the void left by Assad or carve out more space for themselves in what used to be Syria. Iran, Russia, Israel, the United States and the Gulf countries will be backing their proxies in this chaos.
As an aside, the Trump demand that the United States stay out of the Syrian crisis is only going to make things worse. One reason is we will see a flood of refugees from Syria into Europe. This will be done on purpose to draw the West into the conflict, despite what Trump says. Then you have the portion of the foreign policy blob that exists to “manage” the Middle East. There is zero chance that they stay out of of what they see as an early Christmas present.
The Arabs are not having all the fun. South Korea just had an attempted coup, which saw the current president try to arrest parliament. The parliament fought back against martial law and then the president backed down. Then parliament tried to impeach the president but could not find the votes. If you want a laugh, Costin Alamariu did a piece on the bizarre politics of Korea. If North Korea decides it is time to invade South Korea, no one should be surprised.
Europe also is experiencing weeks in decades now. The Romanians tried to have an election, and things did not turn out as expected. They carefully followed the rules of “our democracy” by banning opposition parties and making sure the media ignored anyone questioning the authority of the regime. The result was the “far-right” candidate won a big victory in the first round and was holding a massive lead heading into the second round, so the Romanians annulled the election.
The reason they annulled the election is they said there must have been Russian interference causing the unexpected result. You see the logic of “our democracy” in how Western rulers operate. “Our democracy” is a system that always confirms their righteousness and their right to rule. Any other result means someone or something has sabotaged “our democracy.” Since “our democracy” is sacred, any means necessary must be employed to defend it, even annulling elections.
There is something similar happening in France. Last summer, the French populist party scored a stunning win in the first round of legislative elections. This is the party led by the Le Pen family. They were poised to win a majority in the national Assembly until Macron conspired with the other parties to rig enough seats to prevent it. Then Macron finked on his partners and appointed a prime minister none of his partners liked, which has now led to the collapse of the government.
Convention says that when the government is paralyzed this way, there are new elections to break the deadlock. The only way this can happen is for Macron to resign, which he is not going to do, because Notre démocratie est trop importante pour la laisser aux mains des électeurs. This means France is currently without a government, other than Macron playing the organ grinder’s monkey to Trump. French bonds are now less attractive to investors than Greek bonds.
The political chaos in France is a foreshadowing of what lies ahead for all the EU countries as the bill for Project Ukraine comes due. Germany is headed for elections in 2025, and they are desperately trying to avoid a Romanian result, so they will probably jail anyone who could be a problem. Britain is now ruled by a party that is slightly less popular than rectal cancer. The opposition party, the Tories, is led by a clown they imported from Nigeria.
Overall, the European economy is in serious trouble. It is a thing that Western media ignores, for the most part, but anyone doing business in Europe or with companies having exposure to Europe understands. It turns out that an economy built on cheap energy from Russia performs poorly when that cheap energy from Russia is replaced by expensive energy from America and even more expensive energy from Russia, sold through Asian intermediaries.
What all of this points to as we close out the year is that what lies ahead is a time when decades happen in weeks. The looming chaos that is the next Trump administration only adds to the uncertainty. Through no fault of his own, Trump will inherit an empire surrounded by chaos of its making but lacking the human capital to understand the problems and set them right. Instead, it will be old solutions to the new problems, meaning this may seem like a calm time by comparison."
Bill Bonner, "Converted or Deleted"
"Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders," by Emile Signo
"Converted or Deleted"
The choice of the Crusades as a model for a modern defense chief is strange and
unsettling. Disorganized, cruel, and ineffective, the Crusades were a monstrous failure.
by Bill Bonner
"We did well under the first Trump Administration. We did better under
Biden. I think we’ll do even better in the next administration."
- Palmer Luckey, co-founder of leading defense firm Anduril
Baltimore, Maryland - "When Dwight Eisenhower was elected, he promptly cut military spending by nearly 30%. The war was over. Eisenhower understood that the nation should return to a peacetime military. No more! Mr. Luckey let the cat out of the bag. Now, it doesn’t really matter who is in the White House, or what the public wants... or what the press reports... or what Messrs. Musk and Ramaswamy get up to...The Primary Political Trend is towards more firepower.
Investors are dizzy with dreams of riches... now that the dynamic duo - Musk and Ramaswamy - are on the case. We can’t remember anything like it... unless it was when Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980... or Trump himself in 2016. Finally, the back of the Deep State is broken, say the optimists. Now, it’s full speed ahead. Nothing to worry about, right? MarketsInsider: "The stock market’s ‘fear gauge’ is trading at lows...The stock market has been acting jubilantly over the past month, with the S&P 500 up about 6% since the U.S. election and all three major U.S. stock indexes trading near all-time highs. Throughout the optimism, Wall Street’s so-called “fear gauge” has been trading near lows for the year."
But the disappearance of fear is itself an alarming signal, While it is always possible that a new boom is coming, the most likely thing would be a bust. That’s just the way it works. When investors forget to be afraid, stocks get too pricey, and the returns over the following years tend to be disappointing.
A sell-off in stocks would engender many unwelcome phenomena, most likely including new stimulus from the Fed - in the form of lower interest rates and QE (bond buying... money printing). These, in turn, would send the economy and its markets into another wingding of bubbles, inflation, and crashes. But with so much fearlessness afoot, no one is in the mood to think about a bear market, so we will continue wondering about where the Primary Political trend is taking us.
“I’m all about lethality,” says the nominee for head of the defense department. ‘Lethality. Lethality. Lethality.’ Really? No strategy? No Efficiency? No mercy? No peace? Any reasonably competent high school janitor would probably have a more nuanced approach. But Pete Hegseth wears his cartoonish worldview, permanently inked on his body. Like an impressionable teenager in a hill-country Bible school, he believes in a crusade between good and evil... between the forces of Christianity and those of barbarity.
He can think what he wants, of course. But this is not a view that is likely to find favor with America’s, Moslems, Jews, animists, gnostics, agnostics, non-believers Hindus or Rastafarians. Nor does ‘fighting’ or ‘lethality’ have a prominent role in Christendom. Doing unto others as you would have them do unto you does not usually include bloodshed, And yet Hegseth... even without so much as the brush of angel wings against his delicate cheeks... is ready to open fire.
In any case, the choice of the Crusades as a model for a modern defense chief is strange and unsettling. Disorganized, cruel, and ineffective... the Crusades were a monstrous failure. In the first one in 1095, for example, crusaders marched down the Rhine Valley, on their way to the Holy Land, and massacred every Jew they found. No military geniuses they... when they finally left Constantinople, they were tricked by the Turks and destroyed at the battle of Civetot.
More experienced troops in subsequent crusades actually got to the Holy Land and took the town of Antioch... where they massacred the Muslims and Jews, along with Greek Orthodox, Syrian, and Armenian Christians. Crusaders quickly figured out Saladin’s professional troops were no pushovers. So, they turned their violence against civilians at home. The Albigensians, in France, were all but exterminated. Later, crusades were launched against the proto-protestant followers of Jan Hus. The pagan Wends in Germany were also a target. Bernard of Clairvaux explained the goal: “They shall either be converted or deleted.” And so it went for 200 years.And at the end, as at the beginning, the crescent moon hung over the Holy Land, not Hegseth’s cross of Jerusalem.
We are trying to imagine the look on Dwight Eisenhower’s face if someone such as Pete Hegseth had been recommended to him as Secretary of Defense."
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