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Illuminati: Do Beyonce, Kanye West go to ‘satanic cult’ that originally was a revolutionary order opposing chu – MEAWW

Posted: May 26, 2020 at 8:47 pm


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Of all the conspiracy theories to spiral out of control with baseless rumors to support its existence, the Illuminati has to be at the top of the list. Prior to some crazy chimera about a devil-worshipping cult and satanic rituals associated with its operations, the Illuminati used to be a very real group and even had some specific ambitious goals. When it seeped into popular culture is still a mystery, but the fact is that it does not exist anymore.

People, however, continue to churn factless stories and live in paranoia passing off anything unconventional as the work of the Illuminati. Then there is the endless claims that Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Madonna, even Ariana Grande are a part of it. However, only one of the several unfounded claims about the Illuminati stands true it was a secret society. And influential intellectuals and free-thinkers of the 18th century were a part of it.

In the historical sense of the term, 'Illuminati' referred to the Bavarian Illuminati which was a secret society that was in operation for only a decade, between 1776 and 1785. It was founded by Adam Weishaupt, a professor of law at the University of Ingolstadt. He founded it as the 'Order of the Illuminati' and strongly believed in Enlightenment ideals. The organization opposed the Roman Catholic Church's influence on philosophy and science and sought to break religious control over society as well as the abuse of power by the state by enabling a space for critique, debate and promoting freedom of speech.

Inspired by the Freemasons and French Enlightenment, it also encouraged education for women and equality among all, and also aimed to 'enlighten' people tp free them from superstitious beliefs and prejudices. Initially, it began with six members after Weishaupt hand-picked five of his most talented law students and went on to expand from there. The members set out to disseminate Weishaupt's radical teachings and in its 10 years of existence, housed 2,000 members throughout Eastern Europe.

In retrospect, it is understandable why the conspiracies that have surfaced over the years point at the Illuminati being unusual. They had odd rituals, ideals and symbols. The members of the society would use symbols such as that of an owl as an emblem and pseudonyms to avoid being identified by authorities. They also had a very complicated system of hierarchy distributing divided ranks and an initiation ritual, as well.

While they were increasingly paranoid of their identities being discovered, they also went the extra mile to protect other members' secrecy. Their worldview endorsed Enlightenment ideals like rational thought and self-rule, and their motive was based more on revolution than world domination.

The Illuminati had some influential members including many dukes and leaders who with their contacts and power, managed to garner more people's attention and initiated them into the organization. Some Freemasons also became members of the group deepening their prominence.

However, the Illuminati was only mildly successful at being revolutionary before the Bavarian authorities sniffed them out due to their growing numbers and fully put a stop to the society. In 1785, the Duke of Bavaria, Karl Theodore Dalberg, banned all secret society and instilled serious punishments for anyone who became a member which included the death penalty. He went as far as to associate the Illuminati with branches of Freemasonry, which was an illegal organization at the time. The government then began to scour out and eliminate members of the Illuminati, which caused Weishaupt to flee Bavaria, and maintain long-distance contact with leaders of the order or Areopagites through letters.

The government searched the home of one of the Areopagite and seized documents that had more than 200 letters between Weishaupt and Illuminati leaders that detailed all of the orders' secrets. They immediately published the documents and made their information public knowledge.

Conspiracy theories sprang up as soon as the Illuminati was discovered and included accusations of infiltration by the Freemasons and even claims of the French Revolution being the organization's brainchild. In the later years, some Founding Fathers also managed to fuel the interest in the Illuminati in the US. George Washington for that matter, wrote a letter to address the Illuminati threat, saying he believed it had been avoided but nonetheless it only aroused the myth. Thomas Jefferson was also accused of being a member of the Illuminati.

Even so, the Illuminati still lingered in the background of popular culture. However, it made a full-blown comeback in the 1970s when a literary trilogy introduced the 'triangle and the eye' symbol that it holds today. 'The Illuminatus Trilogy', by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, depicted the Illuminati with ironic detachment. This trilogy became a countercultural touchstone, and its intermingling of real research Weishaupt is a character in the books with fantasy helped put the Illuminati back on the radar", writes Phil Edwards for a Vox article.

Then it was featured in popular cultures, like in Dan Brown's best-selling novel 'Angels and Demons', and other subcultures where it is often linked to Satanism, alien myths, and other ideas that were in stark contrast to the real Bavarian Illuminati's beliefs.

But are Jay Z and Kanye West a part of the Illuminati? For years conspiracy theorists have associated the two rappers to be Illuminati but they've both addressed these unfounded rumors before. Jay Z called the gossip revolving around his Illuminati membership "stupid", and Kayne West said it was "ridiculous". But then again, according to conspiracy theorists, that's exactly what a member of the Illuminati would say secret society and all, remember?

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Illuminati: Do Beyonce, Kanye West go to 'satanic cult' that originally was a revolutionary order opposing chu - MEAWW

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May 26th, 2020 at 8:47 pm

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BILL KILFOIL: The plague: Playing the cards youre dealt – TheChronicleHerald.ca

Posted: May 25, 2020 at 12:48 pm


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Bill Kilfoil muses on missing his and his buddies Irish Poker club. - J. R. Roy

BILL KILFOIL

During Scotlands 18th century, when the Scots were busy inventing the modern world, several social/intellectual societies were at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment. In 1762 in Edinburgh, the remnants of The Select Society formed a group called The Poker Club, whose commission it was to meet weekly, sit civilly, drink all the available claret and exchange ideas in a cordial atmosphere. Their stated mission was to improve themselves in reasoning and eloquence and by free debate discover the most effective ways of promoting the common good. Membership, which included the likes of Adam Smith and David Hume, met weekly at Thomas Nicholsons Tavern in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Their Poker Club had nothing to do with card games. It was so named to encourage members to stir up the controversies of the day as a fireplace poker stirs hot coals to flame.

In our neighbourhood, back in pre-covid days, a bunch of us had a poker club of our own. We met every Thursday from 7 until 10 (facially unmasked, digitally unwashed and socially un-distanced) to play Irish Poker and tell lies. At these card games, during those carefree days before the plague, the principles of hygiene were routinely violated. We dealt the same cards with greasy hands, passed around the same stale potato chip bowl, circulated slabs of cheese and pepperoni sticks and breathed the same stale hoppy air.

The cards have not been dealt since Thursday, March 5. Our pious congregation is dispersed, our noble tradition deceased, one of the petty casualties of the pandemic. Interruptions such as these, in the grand scheme, are trivial and inconsequential. But as advanced thinkers have suggested, for our general well-being, even frivolous and gratuitous occupation should not be discounted. We miss the little things more than we thought we would. Something is lost.

Needless to say, our Thursday night poker club is nothing like the Scottish version (those guys in Edinburgh were smart); no deep thoughts for us, nothing high-minded about what we do, no extravagant talk, no highfalutin nonsense, no high-horses got on. We may debate the urgent questions of the day or express vigorous opinions, but the conversation was neither eloquent nor enlightened. We know that our views are not necessary for the survival of western civilization. From time to time, we used words that are not part of the Christian tradition.

Mostly retirees, we go through the entire evening and nobody checks their cellphone. A couple of guys who are still working claim to pay the pensions collected by the rest of us. They recommend we show a little gratitude. To this suggestion no attention was paid. We all understand that the purpose of our aging is to introduce us to a variety of mental and physical deficits.

At these gatherings, the prattle is sustained without effort most of the time it involves ridicule, whining, insulting, or commentary on political alliances and pulmonary disorders. Pearls of wisdom and erudition are rare. There is no place for delicacy of thought or feeling. Anyone taking things too seriously doesnt really belong at the table. All the card players know that sombre, humourless dialogue should be avoided if it goes on too long, someone might send for a doctor.

Most of us are beer drinkers except for the senior ex-military statesman among us who sips Protestant whiskey from a small flask Bushmills Black, from the North of Ireland. Moderate for the most part, we drink just a few beers over the three hours. And when the seal is broken, we get up every 10 minutes to pee. These bathroom visitations are frequent, flatulent and weak-streamed.

Although one among us (a Scottish immigrant) relentlessly attempts to enliven the conversation by poking and fanning the flames of argument, we are, for the most part, well behaved. A range of opinions hardly ever leads to violence, property damage or legal action.

Our game is a version of Liars Poker, renamed by members of our group as Irish Poker because some players believe (in an attempt to irritate me) that when Irish eyes are smiling, theyre usually lying as well, and the Irish (with their celebrated history of blarney) have an unfair advantage in a game whose outcome depends on the ability to persuade others that you might be telling the truth. Where some see prevarication, the Irish see creative genius. Its all part of the craic.

To be successful, each successive player doesnt have to be able to make the hand theyre claiming, they just have to convince the guy on the left that they might. A prudent player needs to be careful. Knowing that the next guy can challenge your claim, he can choose to tell the truth, perpetrate a previous lie or fabricate a shiny new one. Lies need to be told with the voice and intonation required for credulity. This behaviour is not distinguishable from that of a seasoned politician or car dealer.

When the clock strikes 10, one of the guys (the Scot, of course) discharges his fiduciary responsibilities, doling out the dividends of the evening. Little heed is paid to the redistribution of wealth; no fortunes are won or lost. The proceeds might buy a double-double and a donut. No one counts their money while sitting at the table, and when the dealings done, well have a wee deoch-an-doris and then go home. We all live within walking distance.

It has been a couple of months since we enjoyed the poker and the lies. We dont know when the prohibition will be lifted. We fear we are in danger of losing the requisite poker skills. Prevarication is an acquired talent if not practised and polished, it may be lost just ask any Republican.

Recently, Premier Stephen McNeils relentless chin has been wagging about easing restrictions on parks, fishing and golf, but there hasnt been a peep out of him about re-opening the Irish Poker economy. I guess its no big deal. Everyone has to play with the cards theyre dealt. For now, its solitaire.

Returning to 18th century Edinburgh, those learned Scots (busy conceiving capitalism and democracy) appreciated the sedentary and restorative nature of their Poker Club. Enlightenment philosopher David Hume (understandably depressed thinking about the powers of human reasoning) found his Poker Club a relief and a remedy, where he would ... be merry with my friends and after three or four hours amusement, return to my speculations.

See what I mean?

William J. Kilfoil lives in Mineville.

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BILL KILFOIL: The plague: Playing the cards youre dealt - TheChronicleHerald.ca

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May 25th, 2020 at 12:48 pm

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Artists, Writers, Musicians, and More Explore the Intersections of Art and Ecology – Hyperallergic

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Adam Chodzko, O, you happy roots, branch and mediatrix (2020), screen 2, two-channel video, Hildegard von Bingens lingua ignotae, and image recognition algorithm (image courtesy the artist)

In the last few years, the humanities have seen a marked shift in interest towards nonhuman forms of intelligence. The recent vegetal turn in eco-philosophy and curatorial practice, for example, attempts to recognize the central but overlooked cultural and ecological presence of plants and to find imaginative ways of engaging with them. The upcoming exhibition The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism and the Cosmic Tree at Camden Art Centre, London, looks likely to be a high point on this trajectory towards using creativity and criticality to reveal and correct a modern tendency towards what scientist Monica Gagliano has called plant blindness.

The show was scheduled to open in mid-April, but when the ongoing coronavirus pandemic caused its postponement the Camden Art Centre team worked to create alternative ways of accessing the ideas and imagery touched on in the exhibition. The result is The Botanical Mind Online, a dedicated website exploring the key themes of the exhibition combined with new commissions by artists, writers, musicians, and philosophers.

The Botanical Mind Online opens with an introductory video narrated by curators Gina Buenfeld and Martin Clark, offering an impressively succinct summary of the projects journey through a series of complexly interconnected topics including plant intelligence, patterns and geometry, music and harmony, psychedelia, and the notion of the tree as an axis mundi. Together, they suggest, these aspects point to an encoded intelligence in the patterns of nature a botanical mind.

The online platform draws on perspectives that offer alternatives to Western rationalism: outsider artists and philosophers, Indigenous cultures from the Amazon rainforest, and recent investigations into plant sentience. As such, it hints that an understanding of the vegetal can help to challenge the destructive dualistic divides that characterize much Western post-Enlightenment thought.

Moreover, The Botanical Mind is a laudable attempt to achieve what eco-philosopher Michael Marder describes as encountering plants on their own terms while maintaining a recognition of their radical alterity. This can be seen in Adam Chodzkos new digital commission O, you happy roots, branch and mediatrix (2020). The film uses an algorithm to scan footage of a forest for ciphers visual traces of a secret language created by the 12th Century Christian mystic Hildegard von Bingen. Chodzko has assigned the ciphers a sound from Hildegards choral compositions and uses them to spell out the names of plants both real and imagined. The website features a clip from the work which, in the curators words, attempts to become an idea of botanical transformation at once both a process and its experience.

Elsewhere on the site, ideas and imagery are collected under a range of tantalizing headings, such as Sacred Geometry, The Cosmic Tree, and Astrological Botany. The chapter on Indigenous Cosmologies explains how the patterns found in nature are the basis of sacred geometries found in the visual cultures and music of Indigenous Amazonian communities, many of whom believe these patterns weave the universe together. There is a particular focus on the Yawanaw people, a group of whom Camden Art Centre had been working with to develop a new artwork for The Botanical Mind in collaboration with Delfina Muoz de Toro, an indigenist, visual artist, and musician from Argentina. As the Yawanaw collaborators are currently self-isolating in their village (Indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to foreign diseases), The Botanical Mind Online presents artworks related to their community. These include two experimental ethnographic films and a series of atmospheric sound recordings by Priscilla Telmon & Vincent Moon, which are presented alongside photographs and musical compositions by Muoz de Toro.

Meanwhile, the chapter on Vegetal Ontology picks up on the theme of patterning and applies it to the biological functions of plants. Gemma Andersons Relational process drawings, for example, are made in collaboration with a cellular biologist and a philosopher of science. They re-imagine the dynamic patterns of plant life by expressing the relationships between processes on molecular, cellular and organismal levels as musical compositions or dance choreographies.

Much has been made of recent research which shows that plants send each other electrical signals and nutrients through strands of symbiotic fungi, dubbed the wood wide web. The Botanical Mind Online effectively makes use of this parallel between plant communication and the internet, using the branching nonlinear structure of a hyperlinked website to subtly hint at plant forms and create a resource rich in multidirectional thought. During this period of enforced stillness, the curators argue, our behavior might be seen to resonate with plants: like them we are now fixed in one place, subject to new rhythms of time, contemplation, personal growth and transformation.

The Botanical Mind Online continues at http://www.botanicalmind.online/. The online platform and related upcoming exhibition at Camden Art Center, London, are curated by Gina Buenfeld and Martin Clark.

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Artists, Writers, Musicians, and More Explore the Intersections of Art and Ecology - Hyperallergic

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May 25th, 2020 at 12:48 pm

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Spencer Critchely, Never-Trumpers Look to Save Democracy – Good Times Weekly

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Spencer Critchley, managing partner for Boots Road Group, is hosting a discussionthe fourth in an ongoing seriesthat seeks to improve communication across political divides, but the true goal of the discussion is more profound, as evidenced by its title, Saving Democracy.

Its finding the people wherever they sit on the ideological spectrum who believe in civil debate, says Critchley. The members of this partythe party of democracyhave to find each other.

The next Saving Democracy installment is Tuesday, May 26 from 6:30-8pm, streaming on Facebook Live.

Past Saving Democracy events have spanned ideologies, with voices from both the right and the left. Critchley says Tuesdays event will focus on the conservative perspectives and on political moderates. It will be titled What Would Lincoln Do. Guests will include former California Republican leader Kristin Olsen and Dan Schnur, who once served as media chief for Senator John McCains 2000 presidential campaign and who now teaches at both USC and UC Berkeley. Another guest will be Mike Madrid, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, a conservative group aiming to defeat President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box, according to the organizations website. None of the guests are fans of President Donald J. Trump.

Critchley will moderate the talk.

He says the thing that makes Trump so dangerous is his corruption. That includes the presidents self-dealing, his firing of anyone who gets in his way, his efforts to solicit help from foreign governments, and his persistent lies, which are intoxicating in and of themselves, Critchley elaborates.

The point is not to get away with the lie. The point is to do away with the concept of truth, Critchley says.

He says Americans should not give in to their differences, or else those who are driving divisions will get their way by making groups of people hate each other more. Critchley says many of those who pursue a divisive brand of civil discourse are Trump supporters, but not all of them.

Theres a brand of liberal intolerance. Its a different brand. It takes a different shapeif you disagree with me, then youre corrupt, he explains.

Critchley, author of the new book Patriots of Two Nations: Why Trump Was Inevitable and What Happens Next, traces the central schism in American political discourse back to the founding days of United States. There was a group that supported the ideals of the enlightenment and another, which he calls the counter-enlightenment, that did not.

In order to win elections in the 21st century, Critchley says, Democrats will need to learn to better communicate with those they disagree with.

The problem is not Trump, he says. The problem is that someone like Trump could become president.

Saving Democracy: What Would Lincoln Do will air on Facebook Live on Tuesday, May 26, from 6:30-8pm. Attendants may register in advance, to get a reminder when the event goes live. Visit bootsroad.com/democracy for more information.

UPDATE May 22 7:50pm: A previous version of this headline misspelled Spencer Critchleys last name.

Jacob, the news editor for Good Times, is an award-winning journalist, whose news interests include housing, water, transportation, and county politics. A onetime connoisseur of dive bars and taquerias, he has evolved into an aspiring health food nut. Favorite yoga pose: shavasana.

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Spencer Critchely, Never-Trumpers Look to Save Democracy - Good Times Weekly

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May 25th, 2020 at 12:48 pm

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Scientism versus Scientism’s Caricature of Christian Theism – Patheos

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A note from the British Marxist literary critic Terry Eagletons 2008 Terry Lectures at Yale University, published as Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009):

Dawkins falsely considers that Christianity offers a rival view of the universe to science. Like the philosopher Daniel C. Dennett in Breaking the Spell, he thinks it is a kind of bogus theory or pseudo-explanation of the world. In this sense, he is rather like someone who thinks that a novel is a botched piece of sociology, and who therefore cant see the point of it at all. Why bother with Robert Musil when you can read Max Weber? . . .

Dawkins makes an error of genre, or category mistake, about the kind of thing Christian belief is. He imagines that it is either some kind of pseudo-science, or that, if it is not that, then it conveniently dispenses itself from the need for evidence altogether. He also has an old-fashioned scientistic notion of what constitutes evidence. Life for Dawkins would seem to divide neatly down the middle between things you can prove beyond all doubt, and blind faith. He fails to see that all the most interesting stuff goes on in neither of these places. Christopher Hitchens makes much the same crass error, claiming in God Is Not Great that thanks to the telescope and the microscope, [religion] no longer offers an explanation of anything important. But Christianity was never meant to be an explanation of anything in the first place. It is rather like saying that thanks to the electric toaster we can forget about Chekhov. (6-7)

One can hardly fail to be reminded in this context of an exchange in C. S. Lewiss early novel The Pilgrims Regress a book that seems to me more prescient with each passing year. The conversation revolves around the Landlord, who, in Lewiss allegory, represents God:

But how do you know there is no Landlord?

Christopher Columbus, Galileo, the earth is round, invention of printing, gunpowder!! exclaimed Mr. Enlightenment in such a loud voice that the pony shied.

I beg your pardon, said John.

Eh? said Mr. Enlightenment.

I didnt quite understand, said John.

Why, its plain as a pikestaff, said the other.

Your people in Puritania believe in the Landlord because they have not had the benefits of a scientific training. For example, I dare say it would be news to you to hear that the earth was round round as an orange, my lad!

Well, I dont know that it would, said John. feeling a little disappointed. My father always said it was round.

No, no, my dear boy, said Mr. Enlightenment, you must have misunderstood him. It is well known that everyone in Puritania thinks the earth flat. It is not likely that I should be mistaken on such a point. Indeed, it is out of the question.

(C. S. Lewis,The Pilgrims Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason, and Romanticism[Grand Rapids, MI.: Ecrdmans. 1992], 20-21 .)

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May 25th, 2020 at 12:48 pm

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Boris is taking the public for fools – Reaction – Reaction

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Should you follow your instinct or follow the rules and guidance set in place by the government? That is the assessment we were invited to make by the PM at the daily press conference on Sunday in the case of Dominic Cummings and his trip to Durham with his family.

Our lockdown has been comparatively relaxed compared to those imposed in France, Spain and Italy. We have been able to exercise once a day and we do not need papers to leave our houses. By contrast, the slogans have been highly aggressive: stay home and save lives; or to put it another way, leave home and risk lives.

We have been invited, again and again, to follow the rules and the guidance and to ignore conclusions derived from common sense, both before the legal lockdown was instituted and throughout its most intense period. For some of us, thankfully, those dilemmas have presented in trivial ways; for others, those dilemmas have been deeply, deeply painful.

Common sense has a great place in the history of ideas. It is the guiding spirit of the Enlightenment and the animating force of the most significant liberal ideals. The maxim We hold these truths to be self-evident cannot make any sense to men who do not share in reason. But we were asked by the UK government to put our common sense aside for several months. Indeed, that it was in our best interests to do so.

We were invited to take part in a national effort, to protect the NHS and save lives. We were asked to direct all our behaviours in light of that effort our contact with family, friends and loved ones, our exercise habits, even the number of times we shop and what we buy in the supermarket.

This was a project that the vast majority of the British public participated in, however grudgingly. If a fundamental question of politics is who has the right to tell me what to do? in normal times; then in a national crisis, this question has a far more potent and urgent set of associations: Who do I trust with my freedoms? Who do I trust to take care of my security?.

And while the public may have held with the government on these questions in the first phase of this crisis, the Cummings argument sets the scene for the next act mass unemployment on a scale that many have not seen in their working lifetimes, a destitute hospitality sector and the potential for a deflationary death spiral.

It is vital for the survival of his administration that Boris Johnson comes up with a far more assured response to this central question: Who has the right to tell me what to do? He may find that in future he has far fewer voters prepared to give him a fair hearing.

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May 25th, 2020 at 12:48 pm

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If Only People Listened to Modi, They’d Understand Him Better – The Wire

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For Prime Minister Narendra Modis vast demography of admirers, he cannot say anything that they wouldnt agree with. Therefore, when he speaks, they do not pay sufficient attention. For his very wide circle of detractors, he cannot say anything that would rouse their cheer. Hence, memes of censure in their quiver are always ready to take aim.

Essentially, in this polarised ecosystem, nobody listens to Modi because they are pre-decided on his message. One wonders if this is a logjam or a paradox? There is a predictability to the reaction we see, but Modi himself is not so predictable at times in his communication. For instance, the May 12 lockdown address he delivered was the most layered of his speeches in recent times. Speeches may do nothing, they may just buy time until action, or the absence of it, begins to speak louder, but nevertheless it is important to grasp the intent of words since they navigate action.

Modi appeared to be advocating self-reliance all through his latest lockdown speech, but interestingly, he was creating a complicated global circuitry to his concept of atmanirbhar. He kept emphasising that Indias self-reliance is not a self-centred game, but generously accommodates the happiness of the world. He imposed a kinship on the world when he borrowed the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. He also spoke of Jai Jagat and Vishwa Kalyan. He emphasised more than once that India was firm on its global path. He said the world has begun to trust Indias ability to help mankind, and mentioned its recent medicine exports, and of course yoga and Y2K. He told us how much the world needs India. There was unabashed flair and zero circumspection in placing India at the centre of global action. Here, his facts may fall short, but he knows emotion and pride can never be fact-checked.

Also Read: The Simple, and Simplistic, Messaging of Modis Lectures Is a Big Hit With His Audience

Amazing certainty

Modi always speaks with amazing certainty. He leaves no doubt in his words because to sound doubtful is to appear human. Speaking to his constituents in Varanasi, on March 25, after the first lockdown announcement, he had said the Mahabharata battle was won in 18 days but the Covid one would take 21 days. There was no solution in sight to the pandemic nor was there a vaccine in production when he spoke of victory in 21 days, but that did not deter him from giving definite goals. When definite goals are a bulb of mythical layers then the discourse is not scientific or a rational one. It is always a satsang, a darshan, a vision in a very Indian sense. Time too is in a puranic cycle, not what is shown on the ultra-slim Movado wristwatch that he is said to wear. Therefore, the 21 days meant something else. More infinite than what an ordinary watch can measure. If one recalls his famous demonetisation address on November 8, 2016, then too he was sure of its consequences. In Ayodhya as well, his party was sure that Lord Ram was born at that very spot where the masjid stood.

Anyway, returning to Modis idea of self-reliance in his recent pandemic address, it does not emanate from 20th century economic thinking, either eastern or western, but comes from cultural thinking from a very distant past. A past that again escapes temporal calculations and is imagined to be in the spartan realms of the Vedic divine. To enhance this, there was a gentle sprinkling of Sanskrit to give a varnish of antiquity to his utterances. That appeared to be a deliberate act. That was a differentiator and a response to all those accusing him of not consulting experts like Rahul Gandhi has been doing to improve his score. It was a more euphemistic way of saying that this ancient civilisation has known it all, like it has flown airplanes in the glorious past, conceived IVF babies, and has performed plastic surgeries. Again, he knows faith cannot be fact-checked.

Rahul Gandhi and Abhijit Banerjee. Photo: Screengrab

Amidst this thread of glorious past, not unexpectedly, cropped up Indias subjugation in more tangible history. There was first glory, and then there was ghulami, he said. But now, in the 21st century, glory was destined to return. It appeared he pictured himself as the chosen one, to transition India into that glorious amorphousness. What lay for him between the golden glory of the past, and what is magically shaping up in the present is stygian darkness. In this dark phase of his understanding, India had been subjugated because it neither had atmanirbharta, atmabal nor atmashakti, he interpreted. Therefore that was the real stimulus he was now offering, bigger than the zeroes one could count after twenty. It was the most unusual address in a pandemic season. But Modi presented himself as an epoch maker who was seizing time to bend it to his needs.

Science and technology

In the past, his critics have weighed his COVID-19 addresses against that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel or Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for whom brevity and science make up communication. But Modi never speaks of science or deliberates through science. It is only technology that fascinates him. Science is a philosophy that clashes with all his training, but technology does not challenge anything. It will take the direction of the mind that deploys it. It can function outside reason. In the May 12 speech technology had a distinct velvet position.

Modi speaks like most Indians converse in their mother tongues. Every conversation is a faux spiritual discourse. It is like a retelling of the epics, where sub-plots are as riveting as the main plot. Where each narrator is allowed his own sub-plot, like it often happens with news on WhatsApp; the detours are more delectable. Hence, speaking only about the trajectory of COVID-19 in a lockdown address is boring, and unengaging. Not surprisingly, he took nearly 18 minutes to come to the point.

A municipal worker sprays disinfectant on the bags of people, as they maintain social distancing while sitting in a line to receive free food distributed by Delhi government, in a school during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, April 21, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis

In line with this is state policy to replay the pop version of epics on television. It keeps people in a familiar loop in uncertain times. It constantly reminds them of their karma. That helps the state abdicate responsibility. The individual is responsible for his fate. That is atmanirbharta too. The play on the word atma is anyway an indirect invocation of fate. The anglophone liberal who follows the linearity of a beginning-middle-end narrative may scoff at the meandering, figurative, non-linearity of Modis narratives, but the majority identifies with it.

Any counter to Modi will need the superior skills of an M.K. Gandhi, who knew how to blend European Enlightenment with the enlightenment of Indias loaded past. In an essay by novelist Raja Rao, republished recently, Nehru says: Weve had enough of Rama and Krishna. Not that I do not admire these great figures of our traditions, but theres work to be done. And not to clasp hands before idols while misery and slavery beleaguer us. It may be honest and true, but Gandhi would never clinically segregate the two streams. Therein perhaps lies a clue to all those who intend to bait Modi.

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If Only People Listened to Modi, They'd Understand Him Better - The Wire

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May 25th, 2020 at 12:48 pm

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Shawn Green and the greatest offensive game in MLB history – ESPN

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The greatest performance in MLB history happened 18 years ago today.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were facing the Milwaukee Brewers in the finale of a three-game series. Dodgers right fielder Shawn Green, a two-time All-Star, was struggling in the early going of the 2002 season, hitting just .231 through the first 42 games.

Los Angeles lost the opener in Milwaukee 8-6, but Green broke out of his slump with a pair of solo home runs. The next day, Green hit a triple in the Dodgers' 1-0 win, but the best was yet to come. In the third game, Green had arguably the greatest offensive game in the history of baseball.

Not long before his epic game, Green had started studying Buddhism. He applied what he'd learned on the field that day in Milwaukee -- and his focus on Eastern philosophy helped inform and inspire a performance for the ages. In his own words, Green recounts what happened at the plate during that game and how his newfound mental approach helped him perform as no baseball player had before.

Thursday, May 23, 2002

We had a 12 o'clock game in Milwaukee. I got to the ballpark around 9 a.m. to take batting practice. I hadn't been playing well that spring, and I was struggling to get my timing down. I think a big part of it was because I'd had my best season in 2001, when I hit a career-high 49 home runs. I struggled at the start in 2002 because I felt like I needed to exceed it.

I wasn't. A quarter of the way through the season I was on pace to hit 13 homers. I got booed for the first time in my career, during our last homestand before our trip to Milwaukee. I was the No. 3 hitter, and I was 0-for-18 [on the homestand]. It's definitely painful when your home crowd turns on you. That Saturday, our manager, Jim Tracy, came up to me and said, "You really need a break, because you're not playing well." He benched me for a game against the Montreal Expos. I was a guy who wanted to play every day. So it's kind of a big deal when the manager says, "You really need a break."

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In Milwaukee, I just wanted to ground myself with my tee work. Set up the tee, put the ball on the tube with the four seams facing the right way. Take a swing and kind of get my body where I feel the movements and I can connect with my breathing.

This wasn't just my batting practice. This was my meditation.

At some point in high school, a friend of mine read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and turned me on to it. It resonated with me. Both my parents are Jewish, but my household wasn't religious. I liked Eastern philosophy because it was about finding a way to stay in the moment, be focused and stay present. I devoured other books after that: "Way of the Peaceful Warrior," "Zen in the Art of Archery," "Siddhartha." All of them contributed to how I perceived baseball, especially by the time I was a professional. You know that old Zen koan, "Chop wood, carry water before enlightenment. Chop wood, carry water after enlightenment"? It really made sense to me because baseball is such a process-focused game. A lot of times the results don't add up, so you just have to stick with the process, succumb to the daily routine and sort of let go of what the results are going to be.

That's what I was trying to do on the tee that day in Milwaukee: listen to the sound of the ball as it hit the back of the net. It sounded like the swish of a basketball going through the net, a perfect shot. And I tried to connect with that sense. Something I really liked from "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" was when Dan Millman writes, "You'll have to lose your mind to come to your senses."

The thing about Zen and baseball and how I tried to play -- it's not like you do it all the time. You have to remind yourself to do these things right. And way more so than any other time in my career, that day in Milwaukee was when I was good about remembering to be present.

When I left the cage, I was in a place where my timing, my stride, everything was starting to feel in sync. It was the feeling I'd been searching for the whole season.

Top of the 1st, 1 out, no score

Glen Rusch was on the mound that day for the Brewers. I knew he would try to get me to chase a slider away. When I came to the plate for that first at-bat, we had a guy on second, Cesar Izturis, and I fell behind 0-2 in the count. I thought, "Here we go again, right?"

I took a breath. I wanted to take the doer out of the equation. I thought, "I'm just going to watch and then trust that the pitch is actually a good pitch to hit."

It was down and away, and I just kind of stayed on it -- my front shoulder didn't turn really fast out of the way -- and hit a hard ground ball down the first-base line, just inside the bag, for a double. We scored a run. I was standing on second thinking, "That's a nice, quality at-bat right there." I'd hit a triple the night before and we'd won 1-0. So standing on second the next day, I felt like things were at last starting to turn.

Top of the 2nd, 2 outs, 3-1 Dodgers

The second time up, we had runners on first and second and two outs, but I didn't want to press. So much of Eastern philosophy is just staying relaxed and in the moment. I knew Glen was gonna try a fastball in. I took it for a ball. I didn't overthink, but I knew what Glen was going to throw next: He was gonna come inside.

He threw a fastball on the inside corner. I swung at it. It broke my bat, but the ball took off toward right field. Home run. A three-run shot.

When you do that [homer with a cracked bat], you sort of just want to joke around, show off the bat to the guys: Look how strong I am! But the truth was, I didn't shatter the bat. There was just a crack in it.

What the at-bat really showed me was that I was dialed in. Just completely relaxed. It was me trying to practice everything I'd read.

Top of the 4th, no outs, 8-1 Dodgers

I led off the fourth inning against a rookie I'd never faced before, Brian Mallette. I studied him as he warmed up. Once I was at the plate, I thought one pitch coming my way was a slider. So I waited back a little longer and crushed the ball for a home run. It landed on the walkway in right-center field. I didn't even feel my legs moving as I jogged around the bases.

With each at-bat, I was getting deeper in the zone -- to the point where it really started to feel like I was a spectator, where the pitcher's throwing and it's like I'm just watching how I react. What was even more interesting was that I didn't feel the pressure to analyze my performance or try to hold on to this state. I was just a witness to it.

Top of the 5th, 2 outs, 9-1 Dodgers

The fifth inning was the easiest at-bat of the day. Same pitcher: Mallette. I knew he'd probably throw a two-seam fastball that ran away from me. He was young, and I'd already hit a double and two home runs, so he was going to keep everything to the outside part of the plate. He didn't want anything to do with me. But the outside part of the plate is actually what I wanted. I have long arms and could extend them through the zone. He threw it exactly where I thought he would. I just crushed that one, deep to left-center field.

At this point, I'm 4-for-4 with six RBIs. So yeah: You could say I no longer feel like I'm in a rut.

Top of the 8th, no outs, 10-2 Dodgers

I lead off the eighth inning and I want to hit another home run -- but I'm not over-trying either. I don't change my approach. I'm facing a new pitcher, Jose Cabrera, and on a 1-1 count I swing at a pitch at probably mid-shin level. It was the hardest ball I hit all day. I just couldn't get any air under it. A base hit to center field.

After the inning, Jim Tracy came up to me and said, "Greeny, why don't you hit the showers?" I usually would have taken him up on it. The game was a blowout, and I wouldn't have normally wanted to gear up for another at-bat -- especially after a 5-for-5 day and when we were facing Curt Schilling the next day in Arizona -- but I told him, "Hey, if we get a couple guys up in the ninth, I could get up again."

Part of the reason I wanted to stay in was that I was surprised at being this spectator and not feeling any anxiousness to maintain that feeling, any pressure to hold on to this incredible wave that I'm riding. It was almost this Eastern-inspired curiosity: How is this not changing?

Top of the 9th, 2 outs, 14-2 Dodgers

Cabrera was still the pitcher. I wanted a pitch up in the zone, up above the shins where I'd hit the last one. He threw me one, and I swung as hard as I could. But I foul-tipped it.

So I just waited for the next one. It was on the inner part of the plate, and this time I swung even harder.

The ball landed above the walkway in right-center. The farthest shot of the day. I was just trying so hard not to smile so I didn't show up the Brewers, but the fans in Milwaukee gave me a standing ovation. Me, the guy who'd just been booed at home.

Green goes 6-for-6 that day with six runs, seven RBIs and a record 19 total bases. ESPN's David Schoenfield later picks the performance as the greatest by a hitter in MLB history.

I hear that a lot: the greatest performance ever. It's wonderful to hear. I could get very streaky. The first pitch I saw in the next game -- in Arizona, against Curt Schilling -- I hit for a home run. I ended up with two more hits that day. And the day after that, I had two more home runs and six RBIs. Later that year, I had four home runs in four at-bats across two games against the Angels. Crazy, crazy streaks. The point is: I think studying Zen and Eastern philosophies all those years, they allowed me to go deeper in the zone than other guys.

It made me a better player. It's helped to make me a better person, not think about what you should or shouldn't have done. Just take this moment in front of you. Focus on that.

Green played for five more years, retiring before the 2008 season, and at one point was one of four active players -- the others being Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Gary Sheffield -- with 300 homers, 1,000 RBIs and 150 stolen bases. In 2011, he published a book about the game and his study of Eastern philosophy called "The Way of Baseball." He lives in Southern California.

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Shawn Green and the greatest offensive game in MLB history - ESPN

Written by admin

May 25th, 2020 at 12:48 pm

Posted in Enlightenment

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Events don’t create enlightenment; people do – SCNow

Posted: May 6, 2020 at 7:50 pm


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Events dont create enlightenment; people do

I read the April 26 letter of Dennis Taylor (Potential for enlightenment has never been greater) several times in an effort to determine exactly what point he was trying to make. I could not determine if he was writing about individuals or our nation when he mentioned the hoax of independence and self-reliance.

Only a person who is blind to his surroundings could believe that we are independent as a nation or as individuals. I have been preaching for years that, at least as a nation, we should once again become independent as we were 80 years ago.

Reliance upon other nations for critical material is folly. Global harmony would be great, but it will never happen as long as humans are running things. Too many people believe their way is the only way and want to make everyone conform to their standard.

What defines the worth, character or essentiality of an individual? I agree that money, possessions, education and title are not in themselves the measure of a person, but they are an indication of the qualities necessary to achieve these things. Some of these qualities would be honesty, willingness to work and accepting responsibility.

Everyone should have the opportunity to work, and they should be paid a living wage. We need available jobs to accomplish this. It would also be nice to provide everyone with the opportunity for a quality education, quality medical care and quality social services.

How do you propose to pay for this? We are already $24 trillion in debt, because our government programs were instituted to get votes, and that will never change as long as we keep electing career politicians.

I totally disagree with the third paragraph (to be or not to be). I dont believe in the whatever it takes philosophy. There is no such thing as absolute safety in any endeavor. So what is the proposal for accomplishing this whatever it takes? I dont know anyone who likes to parade around in public with an assault rifle hanging off his chest, and I spent 20 years in the military during the cold war.

On Aug. 26, 2016, I wrote, When all of our people have a decent home; when all of our people have nourishing food; when all of our sick have the best medical care available; when all of our children get a quality education; when none of our children are afraid; when we provide a rewarding and meaningful life for our elderly and our people with disabilities; when our people respect all others; when our well-off people help those in need; when our country is out of debt; when our government takes care of its citizens rather than itself; when we have eliminated crime, poverty, abuse, bigotry and strife; when we do what is right even when no one is looking; when we are a country that other countries respect rather than hate; and when we are strong enough to prevent war rather than foster it; then we will be great.

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Events don't create enlightenment; people do - SCNow

Written by admin

May 6th, 2020 at 7:50 pm

Posted in Enlightenment

Enlightenment thinking must prevail in America – Opinion – recordonline.com – Middletown, NY – Times Herald-Record

Posted: at 7:50 pm


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Saturday May2,2020at2:00AM

There is a theory gaining traction on fringe, right-wing websites that we are in a "civil war" caused by Democrats. The theory is vastly misplaced so let's get it right. No doubt there is cultural and political conflict today but it is the product of Trump's authoritarianism, fueled by his lies, and fear mongering.

To retain power Trump is perpetrating a "moral inversion" on his followers. This is a tactic of dictators where truth becomes falsehood, fact is fiction, right is wrong. The follower must obey the authoritarian leader rather than previously held moral beliefs. Hence, they "Liberate Michigan" despite the governor of Michigan's stay-at-home order.

America is the product of Enlightenment thinking, not authoritarianism. The Enlightenment thought is an optimistic belief that people are capable of self-government. It is a belief in individual freedom, reason, science over superstition. The Enlightenment philosophers influenced Jefferson, Madison, and Franklin. Their influence is found in the Declaration of Independence, and our Constitution. It made America a beacon of freedom for the world.

Trump wants to change that so he exploits his followers through a campaign of fear, lies and distortion. He seeks to accumulate more power. He surrounds himself with fools and yes-men. He does not trust people to make political decisions so he lies.The conflict today is between the Enlightenment tradition and pessimistic authoritarianism practiced by Trump. For the sake of all that is decent, the Enlightenment must prevail.

Peter Eriksen

Walden

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Enlightenment thinking must prevail in America - Opinion - recordonline.com - Middletown, NY - Times Herald-Record

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May 6th, 2020 at 7:50 pm

Posted in Enlightenment


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