Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Of the Fi and the Spirits of Things [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

The Fi believe everything has a spirit. Not only do individual "objects" have spirits, but groups of things and types of things and types of actions, etc., have spirits, too. The spirit of each thing (whether what we would understand as an "object," or a group of things, or type thing or action) is intimately connected with the true nature and essence, etc., of the thing. The spirits of groups of things and of types of things and actions are something akin to "spirit-gods" of those things. The spirit of an individual thing or "object," on the other hand, is something akin to its soul or "spirit-soul."

Monday, June 13, 2022

The God of All Things [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

Generations ago, likely on the coast of the Neosho, the Sy went their own way from the Fi, the traditional belief system of the Alithinoi Anthropoi

The Sy's trident symbolism suggests the first Sy were likely fishermen and sailors. Maybe, then, they pulled away from the Fi as they felt the influence of the new cultures and religions they found in foreign lands. Or maybe they pulled away yearning for a more satisfying personal spirituality or a sense of the sacred than the Fi allowed. Or maybe -- maybe -- they simply had greater expectations about life -- and hopes beyond death -- than the Fi offered. Regardless, the Sy movement spread, and eventually the Sy intermixed throughout Alithinoi Anthropoi society, and then into the world. 

The Sy feel the universe is governed by an all powerful Universal Spirit. This Spirit can be anything or everything it wants at any given moment. Thus, it can also always be whatever people want it to be. This is The God of All Things.

Saturday, June 11, 2022

The Rubblemanae [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]


Far in the north beyond the rubble of the Slew, near the Big Bend River's headwaters in the Delmar -- the river the Grey Elves in the south call the Flumenmors -- nestled between the rich bogs of the Wydown and the tall trees of the Forsyth, lies the land of the Barbarians known as the Rublemanae. These, the Rubelmanae, huddled in their long living halls they call their "dorums," are a people of fearsome gods and arcane practices, seekers in a world of constant turmoil, a world regularly ending in judgments, then reborn, a world cycling through opportunities and hardships, battles fought in glory and disgrace, loves found and loves lost, dreams made and dreams unfulfilled.

The Power of Yep

 


Collected Links (06/10/2022)

  •  At least 20 million people watched the prime time coverage of yesterday's Congressional hearing on the events around January 6, 2022. That is roughly equivalent to a Monday Night Football broadcast, and does not include watchers on PBS, which may have been several million. Presidential debates, by comparison, get numbers around 68 million -- three times as much. Fox News, of course, did not broadcast the debate live, with sound. During the first part of the debate Tucker Carlson was on, who said, among other things:

It’s deranged, and we’re not playing along,. . . . This is the only hour on an American news channel that will not be carrying their propaganda live. They are lying, and we are not going to help them do it. What we will do instead is to try to tell you the truth.

(Quoted in the NYT article linked; see also Fox News itself, or this similar article at Huffington Post.) The hearings were also covered or reported on by news networks outside the United States, and even on Fox News, eventually, so, I guess Tucker thinks there is a worldwide conspiracy against him.

The number of young people who identify as transgender has nearly doubled in recent years, according to a new report that captures a stark generational shift and emerging societal embrace of a diversity of gender identities.

The analysis, relying on government health surveys conducted from 2017 to 2020, estimated that 1.4 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds and 1.3 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds were transgender, compared with about 0.5 percent of all adults.
   . . .

But the numbers, which vary widely from state to state, also raise questions about the role of peer influence or the political climate of the community.

The article has superlative graphs of the variance by age and among states.

Friday, June 10, 2022

Introduction [from The Codex]

Pursuant to the authority invested by the Superior Council of Pyth, the Office of Cultural and Religious Affairs (ORCA) hereby issues The Codex to provide a complete summary of the officially recognized religions active in Pyth. Each summary has been assiduously prepared by a noted expert in the field of religion, anthropology, philosophy, or linguistics, and that expert has brought their extraordinary perspective and understanding to the discussion, allowing you, dear reader, to have the most profound understanding. 

Of course, discussion of religion is also a discussion of culture. And, indeed, to be certain, some religions are amalgams of many cultures and many peoples. Even some of the world's oldest religious practices, which began as the special faith of a people, duly steeped in their culture, have, over time, opened their doors to what were formerly outsiders. (Why they have done this? It is a matter of debate: some say it is that they view their religious truths as necessarily encompassing all peoples and so the doors must be open; some say expansion increases resources, power, and influence and open doors are a keen strategy; some say it is a necessary tactic in a heated religious environment, a necessary pragmatism to defer irrelevance.) Nonetheless, there are equally as many religions who have refused admission to people they view as physical or cultural outsiders. (Usually the excluding group views themselves as superior.) Mixing and diversity among religions and cultures is particularly apparent in Pyth, of course, as, compared with any other place in the world, Pyth is a haven of openness, a center of wisdom, and a gateway to all the possibilities the world may offer. But as a citizen of Pyth, you, of course, already know this.

Prepared by A. Kircher, DMA, DAA
Director
Office of Religious and Cultural Affairs

Collected Links (06/09/2022)

  • “‘Needless to say’ is needless to say, needless to say.” — Enoch Haga, via Futility Closet
  • A (simplistic) slyt video on the Langland Project in mathematics, video by Quanta Magazine Science Channel, link via Nag on the Lake.
  • Fox News has been pestering me with stuff today, none of which suggests I watch (or which even references) tonight's Congressional hearings regarding the events of January 6, 2021. It does have an article regarding the hearing on its website. They suggest George Takei doesn't understand the Second Amendment because he says the millions of AR-15 rifles Americans have could be better used in Ukraine to fight the war there (yeah really, Fox News said that -- it is liberally mixing idiocy and mendacity on this one); "Fox News contributor Joe Concha took sharp aim at late-night host Jimmy Kimmel's ‘tee ball’ interview with President Biden [hitting] Kimmel for being a ‘political activist’ and leaving all of Biden's claims unchallenged" (Concha's description of the interview is inaccurate, to be kind, but it's particularly absurd for a supposed news channel regularly engaging in distortion to accuse an overt comedian of not asking hard enough questions); Fox News claims false that "dem leaders" are supporting "menacing protests" outside of Supreme Court Justices homes (that is ridiculous and false for several reasons -- such protests have been denounced by "dem leaders" -- and such protests are not new or one sided); Fox News calls (or supports calling) Democrats "the party against civil rights" by seeking a ban on assault rifles; "Kayleigh McEnany blasts Biden's [supposed] silence on Kavanaugh murder attempt: 'Where are you, President Biden?'" -- these are just stories Fox News is pushing to me on social media -- its other overage remains the same shit-storm of bias and dishonesty it always is.
  • Meanwhile, in Missouri the Governor signed a bill that, among other things, shields doctors who write and pharmacists who fill ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine prescriptions. That's because these medicines "work so well" in treating COVID that we better make sure the doctors and pharmacists don't face consequences for using them. 
  • Key points from the Congressional hearing regarding January 6, 2021, tonight:
    • Donald Trump was explicitly told by the Attorney General and others that the evidence showed Trump was (a) going to lose the election as the votes were counted, and (b) lost the election;
    • An independent investigatory body was sought originally: the Republicans in Congress torpedoed that;
    • Trump and Mark Meadows were explicitly told by Trump's and the Republican's actual election experts, as well as their Attorney General (Bob Barr), that the allegations of fraud were groundless, and their claims regarding Dominion Voting Systems were false.
    • Trump and his cronies lost over 60 lawsuits claiming the election was rigged;
    • Donald Trump spent millions of dollars of campaign funds advertising his claims of election fraud even though he knew those claims were groundless and what he was saying was false;
    • Trump and Jeffrey Clark at the Justice Department falsely claimed the Attorney General supported the fraud claims and tried to get Clark appointed as Attorney General so he could support Trumps false claims;
    • Trump repeatedly pressured Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election -- Pence refused and knew if he had capitulated to the pressure it would be illegal;
    • John Eastman, a lawyer, hatched a legal plan to try to get the Vice President to not properly certify the election but send it back to the States even though he knew the legal arguments for that action was meritless;
    • Trump secretly met at the Whitehouse with cronies, excluding his Whitehouse advisors and lawyers, to hatch a plan to overthrow the election;
    • Immediately following that secret meeting Trump tweeted, calling for his supporters to come to D.C. and engage in action against certifying the election results on January 6;
    • Jared Kushner took the threats by Whitehouse counsel and others to resign as "whining" -- many officials, of course, had threatened to resign (and some did);
    • On January 5 Steve Bannon said that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow";
    • At a speech on January 6 to a large crowd Trump told the crowd to march on the Capitol and to "fight like hell";
    • The Joint Chief of Staff did not immediately act regarding the January 6 events because although the Vice President repeatedly and forcefully called for action, the President did not;
    • Very compelling video of the January 6 attack on the Capitol shown;
    • A police officer (Officer Edwards) testifies about her experience of the attacks -- it was very violent -- she was left unconscious -- she describes the officers injuries and calls it carnage -- she says she was in the middle of a battle -- hours of hand-to-hand combat;
    • A documentary filmmaker (Mr. Quested) testifies about his experience on January 6 as well as a meeting between the leaders of the Proudboys and Oathkeepers the night before, which he filmed. The Proudboys and Oathkeepers on January 6 headed to the Capitol while the President was speaking -- he describes the events there as very violent;
    • Rioters (on video) stated that Trump asked them to come and march on Capitol.

Thursday, June 9, 2022

The School of the Five Philosophers [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

"The School of the Five Philosophers," sometimes known as "The School of the Five Magicians," is a Pythian academy of magic with pseudo-religious overtones. Though lacking a strict theology and espousing no gods, it propounds specific world views, demanding followers' adherence in thought and deed. Similarly, its pedagogy is premised upon eulogizing its philosophers as "ideational prophets." Thus, it is appropriate to review it within The Codex.

The five philosophers are best understood through their viewpoints rather than biographies. Little is known of them, individually, though speculation sometimes passes as fact. Most of them lived, if at all, hundreds of years ago. Each philosopher has its own House within The School.  Below, therefore, we review each House in turn.

Collected Links (06/08/2022)

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Of The Zetac [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

Of the Zetac, we must begin with what we must understand: that many of their quotidian practices have been banned in Pyth. That is on occasion of those practices’ abominable nature: cannibalism, hominid sacrifice, blood feuds and grotesqueries of violence, arbitrary religious diktats and social commands contravening the very organic laws of Pyth, and, not in any manner least, the keeping of the most vicious and savage animals.

The Zetac remain in Pyth due to the hoary promises made to their ancestors, the Kokokol. They, the people of the Zetac, so long ago saved the Gens Electae from the ravages of the Kromena and were promised within Pyth a permanent home. That promise is honored yet this day. But the Zetec also by promise must abide within Pythian law and custom, and, indeed, their priests, of due course, did this agree.

Hence, to wit, we must herein discuss both the practices of the Zetac duly permitted in Pyth, and, then, their execrable practices, banned as they are. For those practices are yet followed by the Zetac in their distal Northmen homelands and elsewhere the Kokokol are found, and, moreover, such practices seemingly form the scaffolds of Zetac religion and culture, permitted and unpermitted alike. And, moreover and more troubling, many Zetas, it is keenly suspected, continue these self-same practices in secret and with subterfuge within the confines of Pyth, illegal though that is.

Collected Links (06/06/2022)

Monday, June 6, 2022

Collected Links (06/05/2022

Sunday, June 5, 2022

Uptown Funk Funkified

Bob's Nondenominational Church of Charisma [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

Bob's Nondenominational Church of Charisma is a really fast growing, "self-styled" "dynamic" congregation that oddly isn't connected with any of the other religions in Pyth. Although it got off to a pretty rocky start when it was founded a few years ago, "Bob's" or "the Church," as everybody calls it now, has gotten a lot of followers and now is even seeking franchisees! Recently it was even completely "accredited" by ORCA despite some seriously harsh objections from typical "mainstream denominations."

Bob's Church was, unfortunately, originally built on some inexpensive land over the City's old sewer outflows, leading to some so-called "wags" calling it "The Temple of Stink." This may be why some people are so negative about it. Bob, anyway, said his decision to found a church was because he had an "ecstatic revelation," but some people made fun of this, too. They said his only "ecstatic revelation" was how to make some quick money. Obviously, people are mean that way.

Collected Links (06/04/2022)

Friday, June 3, 2022

Collected Links (06/03/2022)

Ringism [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

It is said that when Pyth's Old Quarter was first built its buildings were constructed upon the archaic remains of older structures. This rumor cannot be confirmed, of course, as long ago the foundations of the Old Quarter's buildings were sealed against flooding, given the Quarter's proximity to the sea. Some claim, though, that they were actually sealed to prevent hoary spirits and miasmas rising from the deep. They say that below the archaic structures are even older ones, and, below that, even older, and that people have travelled there. Going down, moving through shafts and breaks, tunnels and drops, level after level, older and older the building gets. The farther one travels in the dark deep the farther one travels into the past. Magic and meta-magic fade underground, of course, eventually ceasing to work at all. Yet, far down, it is said, ancient magics arise. The deeper one goes, the stronger these grow. Deepest down lie mystical wonders and things of enormous power. Here there are still creatures living, it is claimed, some who make their own light, and some who live and hunt in the darkness.

Ringism is supposedly based on the beliefs of the survivors of this journey, but "supposedly" only, for there are no known survivors. Still the rumors persist in Pyth, and they have developed a devout following, dedicated to what they believe are the rumors' truths. These, they say, show a true religion, a religion of a Ring God, and supposedly show how to connect with the god and how the god, when understood, empowers followers. But what truths they have, if any, are fragmentary: bits and pieces of lore, conjecture, and fantasy. 

Collected Links (06/02/2022)

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Collected Links (06/01/2022)

  • Linguistic Relativity (Sapir-Whorf) -- Wikipedia -- well written and thorough.
  • "Gravity is Not a Force" -- Veritassium -- really great but does not define what is meant by a "force" -- i.e. the title is misleading because he means "gravity is an effect of space-time, which effect some people might call a "force" but it is not a "force" acting independently from that effect (and let's not get too deeply into gravitons or the Standard Model or gravitational waves)." In the Standard Model bosons are particles that form fields, but bosons are also the consequence of fields. Einstein famously did not believe in "spooky action at a distance," and the idea of a space-time field with a mediating particle (gravitons) is consistent with General Relativity. So, saying "gravity is not a force" is a little misleading since it ignores what might be meant, when closely examined, by "force."
  • Newton's method of calculating pi -- Veritassium -- superlative video --  includes getting from πr to πr2 -- also includes great stuff on Pascal's triangle in negative numbers and fractions and continuums -- shows (without overtly saying so) why Newton was a brilliant mathematician -- Newton's method developed from integration and series and development of (1+x)2.
  • Newton's Pendulum (Gangnam Style)
  • Göbekli Tepe -- at Reddit -- at Wikipedia -- quote from Reddit: "built around 9500BC while Britain was still connected to Europe and humans hunted mammoths in Siberia. We are closer in time to the construction of Stonehenge and the Giza Pyramids, than [Stonehenge and the ancient Egyptians] were to [Göbekli Tepe]."
  • Fox News: "Biden keeps repeating false Second Amendment claim, despite repeated fact checks" --  -- the quoted language that is asserted to be false is "You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment was passed." Fox News, of course, provides no evidence that ordinary people could just go out and buy cannons. Fox News, of course, provides no evidence that, in the words of the Second Amendment, that ordinary people would "keep and bear" cannons. It seems absurd to believe (without evidence, natch) that some people kept cannons, say, at their households or even on their person. Cannons at the time were very difficult to make. The only evidence is that cannons were bought and sold for military or quasi-military use. (N.B. "quasi-military" because the U.S. military as a body was loosely organized and depended on state militias and not in any substantial way on a federal military body in the years after the American Revolution. See, e.g.) Fox News, citing Politico. claims all weapons were unregulated because it asserts there were no formal federal gun laws until 1934. That's nuts. There were numerous state gun restrictions before that time. Moreover, restrictions on ownership (and practical inability and common understandings of prohibitions) were a product of the common law not written laws or regulations, as law at that time was driven by common law not statutory law. Fox News's and Politico's suggestions to the contrary  are, frankly, wrong and indicated of legal and historical ignorance. Indeed, the Constitution's explicit provision for issuing Letters of Marque and Reprisal shows the understanding that the use of weapons such as cannons had to be authorized -- it was not some sort of freely floating around right. Fox News also states as a fact "The Second Amendment as it is written does not limit who can 'keep and bear arms' or what kind of arms people can keep and bear." Actually, the Second Amendment does not say any types of weapon or any amount of weapons can be owned. The Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly made this clear (see specifically Section III of the Court's opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller, which is the watershed "pro-gun rights" decision from the Supreme Court and still makes this clear). Indeed, the clerks for Justices Scalia and Stevens recently made this clear -- Scalia and Stevens wrote, respectively, the Court's opinion and main dissent in Heller -- in a lengthy and detailed op-ed.  The assertion that Biden's statement is false, extends back to Politifact, which called it "dubious," not false, i.e. not a lie. It was "dubious" because Biden did not, gratuitously, point to a specific case where someone was prohibited from owning a cannon. But that is incorrect: it puts the "proof" requirement on the wrong person: if you say private individuals could go around owning cannons, in the sense we mean, not for military purposes as they existed then, then I think the onus is on you to prove it. As discussed above, I think that notion -- that private laypeople owned cannons -- edges on the absurd for several reasons. Having that view, as Biden evidently does, is  not a lie. Fox News's story is intended to cement in the reader the belief that Biden is dishonest. Biden, like all of us, makes plenty of mistakes. He certainly says many things poorly. He has, without question, told lies during his life and long political career. This the statement here, right or wrong (and it may be right) isn't a lie.. Fox News knows that and goes ahead, anyway. Again, this story was pushed to me today by Fox News. It's not like Fox News is also pushing stories that are truthful. 
  • Fox News, again! Michael Sussman, a lawyer connected with Hillary Clinton's 2016 Presidential campaign, was found not guilty of lying to the FBI. The supposed "lie" was hawked by Fox News as a major scandal involving Clinton and the Democrats. Fox News repeatedly suggested the supposed "lies" were actual criminal conduct and involved "massive fraud" and was, in fact, "the biggest political scandal in modern history." Sussman was prosecuted by a special prosecutor selected by Trump; the supposed "lie" involved Trump's alleged wrongful conduct in relation to Russia. So, there was a patent conflict of interest from the get-go as Trump appointed a prosecutor to investigate and prosecute a political opponent's campaign over statement's about Trump. According to Mother Jones (on a story pushed to me, BTW), the special prosecutor's investigation has actually strengthened the case against Trump. Anyway, the jury was not out long before ruling for Sussman and rejecting the Trump special prosecutor's prosecution. Fox News's response? The result was due to "jury nullification." "D.C. juries are famous for failing to follow the facts and the law." The jury was "biased" and composed of "Hilary Clinton peers." And more and more. Fox News is not just mendacious but prolific.

Llamdianism [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

The Llamda, we understand, believe that a God, or the Gods, or, collectively, a "Godhead," created the Universe, but that life on our planet, Arret, at least sentient life, as it is, was inadvertent, a, shall we say, divine accident. The Llamda believe this, because, they think living things on Arret have so many flaws, and shortcomings, and life and death are so arbitrary, that they could not have been intended, or purposefully created ... ! So, too, they believe that the thought processes of sentient beings on Arret contain so many inconsistencies, uncertainties, and lapses, that people’s “thinking,” as such, is plainly imperfect, and not possibly an intentionally created thing. A Godhead with the power to create an entire Universe would not purposefully have made such badly designed beings or processes. So, life, at least sentient life on Arret, in their view, was an accidental outcome of the Godhead’s enormous endeavor of Universal creation.