Add the numbers 1 through 16 to the 4 x 4 grid shown so that each row, each column, and both diagonals have the same sum. Some numbers have already been added.
Monday, December 30, 2024
The Danger of CO2 Release From Carbonate Rocks - Another Aspect Of The Climate Crisis Steve Koonin Ignores
Almost coinciding with climate alarm skeptic Steve Koonin's WSJ piece ('The Right Way to Ditch The Paris Agreement'), WSJ p. A12, Dec. 16) we learned of a new study by Ella Walsh and colleagues at Oxford University. They showed that warming temperatures in western Canada over the past six decades have driven increased rates of weathering reactions that release CO2. (Physics Today, December)
This ought to be a shot over the bow of climate alarm minimalists or skeptics like Koonin and Bjorn Lomborg given this was preceded (22 yrs. ago) by an even more alarming article in Eos (‘Progress Made in Study of Ocean’s Calcium Carbonate Budget’, Vol. 83, No. 34), from August 20, 2002. That paper noted that sedimentary carbonates represent the largest reservoir of carbon on Earth. The author also noted that “a third of the anthropogenic CO2 that has been added to the atmosphere since the middle of the 18th century has been absorbed by the oceans."
This means that the oceans, acting as CO2 reservoirs, have actually masked the worst effects of global warming. And that when their saturation point is reached, the spillover effect will be rapid and calamitous indeed. The analysis of Walsh and colleagues follows up on this, using water chemistry data collected from rivers in the Mackenzie River basin in Canada between 1960 and 2020.
The basin, which includes several smaller river watersheds, covers an area of about 1.8 million km2, roughly 20% of Canada. A modeling study published over a decade ago had estimated that increased temperatures, rainfall, and vegetation, all associated with climate change, would produce weathering reactions in the basin that would draw more CO2 from the atmosphere over time. The rocks’ silicate and carbonate minerals react with CO2 to form bicarbonate, which dissolves in river water and is ultimately delivered to the ocean.
According to lead author Walsh the contribution of sulfide weathering wasn’t factored into those estimates. Oxidation of sulfide minerals, like pyrite, produces sulfuric acid. To wit, we now know that acid reacts with carbonate minerals to release CO2 and dissolved sulfate to river waters. The research team analyzed the sulfate flux for individual river basins, known as catchments, within the larger system. “By looking at this catchment scale, we were able to look at what some of the possible drivers are, why some catchments have greater increases than others,” says Walsh.
Walsh and colleagues extrapolated their findings in order to reckon how much CO2 flux in the Mackenzie River basin would result from different climate change emissions scenarios, as shown in the graph. The increases—possibly several teragrams of carbon per year by the end of the century—are large enough to warrant consideration for future carbon budgets and climate models. But the high spatial variability means that accurately representing such fluxes would require conducting similar studies across other regions. Walsh says that understanding how weathering processes are affected by climate change may also be important for assessing concerns about future water quality. (E. V. Walsh et al., Sci. Adv. 10, eadq4893, 2024.)
None of this matters a whit to Steve Koonin who wrote in his WSJ piece that Trump must be adamant about withdrawing from the Paris Accord. In his specious words:
"The Paris Agreement foundered on fundamentals....Mr. Trump should highlight its failings and the absent evidence of a climate emergency as part of an explanation for our country's exit from the Agreement."
But given Trump lies like he breathes does Koonin really think it will be gulped down by Americans? Well, for sure the ones who voted him back in after his insurrection will take his BS drug once again. But if he complies watch for the rest of us to remain as he torches other climate agreements as well and sending this planet careening into more climate catastrophes.
See Also:
And:
Friday, December 27, 2024
2024 Election End Data Shows Low Information Voters - Most Susceptible To His BS - Put Trump Into Office
"What quickly becomes evident about the median voters in an American focus group is how profoundly opposed they are to even the most basic factual information. On the contrary, it's a community with a pathological aversion to reality, where people compulsively react to anything truth-shaped with hostility, running as hard as they can toward disinformation. They are addicted to BS. Of course they voted for Trump, the country's most reliable dealer of their favorite drug." - Amanda Marcotte, 'The Year QAnon Went Mainstream', Salon.com
The end results of the 2024 general election have now been released and they ought to strike a note of alarm in the sentient population. First, Trump can claim no majority, given more voters chose someone else. Specifically, Trump grabbed 48.8 % and Kamala got 48.3 % of the votes.
Meanwhile, the third party candidates nabbed 1.7%. For a non-Trump total: 48.3% + 1.7% = 50% and 50% > 48.8%. In other words, had these Boffkins grasped that their 3rd party fantasy was an egregious exercise in futility and voted for Harris, we wouldn't be saddled with a traitorous convicted felon now.
Even worse, as Lawrence O'Donnell pointed out, polling of over 13,000 voters over a month revealed that those who invested the most time in serious news gathering - from reputable sources- went for Kamala Harris by 6 points. Those who ignored legitimate sources and avoided political news altogether went for Trump by 19 points. In other words, our nation - namely the critical swing state voters - has been rendered hostage to ignoramuses.
In Book 8 of his Republic, Plato described in detail how and why a democracy is unlikely to remain stable over time. The chief reason is the offer of freedom without concomitant responsibility. This was echoed in what one young Michigan primary voter voiced 7 months ago:
“I acknowledge the American right to vote, but we also have the right to not do so, especially if you don’t agree with any of the candidates,”
An opinion from the mouth of an entitled, spoiled brat. And that includes wasting a vote by allowing one's ego to trump common sense and voting 3rd party. When even a non-Mensan, average IQ person knows damned well it could let in an unfit candidate. Again, claiming "freedom" and "the right" to do so but with zero sense of responsibility.
Plato then recognized that even in that ancient era weaker minds could be triggered by false promises and false attacks on opponents. This then led to the citizens making false choices. This was particularly if they were unread, a view reinforced by Thomas Jefferson in his Notes on Virginia, i.e.
"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves therefore are its only safe depositories. AND TO RENDER THEM SAFE, THEIR MINDS MUST BE IMPROVED"
Jefferson understood it was up to citizens to become the "safe depositories" of democracy by the improvement of their minds to enhance the judiciousness of their (electoral) choices. Failure to do that meant ignorance opening the door to tyranny - as Plato himself worried. In this sense, the recent news that Trump won because of the 19 point advantage conferred by 'low information' voters runs exactly counter to Jefferson's words. Those voters then opted to allow their minds to degenerate in a morass of lies and propaganda rather than enhance and improve them by access to serious news sources. (See Amanda Marcotte's blog post at the end.)
The fact so many of these numskulls actually believed Trump was better for the economy, e.g.
Brane Space: Donald Trump & GOP "Better For Economy" ? This Delusion Is Belied By The Facts
Was a case in point. To be specific, according to an Ipsos poll cited in The Wall Street Journal (12/20, p/ A8): "Almost half of Americans who mainly watched cable news and read national newspapers said in October they saw the cost of gas or groceries drop in the previous three months."
The proportion was almost exactly reversed for those who watched no cable news at all or read any national newspapers. Which proves my point on the nature of derelict, uninformed voters unfit to make sound electoral judgments. Or in Jefferson's parlance, "minds not improved".
Classic example of boneheaded denial of reality, is the following quote from a struggling older person appearing in today's WaPo:
"We are old and tired and just want to be taken care of, and Trump has too much common sense, so I don’t think he is going to do anything to hurt us.”
And this apt reply:
I cannot stand to read one more word about how these ignorant people think drumpf has common sense and cares about them. Incidentally, a carton of cigarettes has gotten outrageously expensive. Someone “subsisting” on roughly $1000/month still chooses to buy expensive cigarettes and hopes that a con artist will “take care of them”…You just can’t fix stupid.
This failure of knowledge and reason exemplified can then can set the stage for an ancillary outcome based on passions rather than wisdom of choice. This was best articulated by James Madison in his Federalist #10 :
"citizens - whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole - are united and actuated by a common impulse of passion (to cast their votes) adverse to the rights of other citizens or the permanent and aggregate interests of the community".
This is exactly what Trump voters ('the minority') did in 2016, motivated by passion and recklessness fueled by Trump's violent rhetoric and rallies - embodied in this image:
Thereby militating against the majority's interests and welfare by inserting a low class grifter into office. And repeated in this election cycle by ignoring all serious news sources to allow themselves to be misled by Musk's lies and misinformation and Trump's repetition and reinforcement of them. Given so many were misled by lies and propaganda - especially issuing from Musk's white supremacist sewer X- I totally concur with the lawyers who've argued in The Hill that Trump's certification cannot go forward:
Congress does not have to accept Trump's electoral votes
And that the 'dicta' emanating from the earlier Supreme Court ruling to negate disqualification amounts to non-binding babble. Yeah, if pursued all hell will break loose from the Rightists, Repukes and Foxites, but better to save the majority than be sunk and skewered by the few. As one latter day patriot said: "Let Justice be done or the heavens fall."
See Also:
by Frances Moore Lappé | December 24, 2024 - 6:14am | permalink
It’s a crisis. America is now among 11 nations deemed most threatened by both mis-and disinformation.
Little wonder that almost 90% of us fear our country is on the “wrong track.” And, President-elect Trump has led the way with 492 suspect claims in just the first hundred days of his first presidency. Then, before the 2020 vote, in a single day he made 503 false or misleading claims. By term’s end he’d uttered 30,573 lies, reports The Washington Post.
Now, he is joined by his promoter Elon Musk who is flooding his own platform X with disinformation—for example, about the bipartisan end-of-year funding deal.
Some play down our current “mis-and-disinformation” crisis as nothing new. Referring to the Vietnam War era, the Heritage Foundation says “Trump is not guilty of any lie, falsehood, fabrication, false claim, or toxic exaggeration that equals the lies of one past president [Lyndon Johnson] whose Alamo-sized ego caused the deaths of thousands of Americans.” In 2018, Heritage dismissed Trump’s lies as insignificant embellishment about “his wealth, his girlfriends of decades ago, or the size of his inaugural crowd.”
And:
by Amanda Marcotte | December 27, 2024 - 6:37am | permalink
In the face of Vice President Kamala Harris losing the presidential election to Donald Trump, the punditry's focus has been almost exclusively on asking how the Democrats couldn't beat a relentless liar with 34 felony convictions and a previous attempted coup under his belt. Everyone has a different theory about Harris' "messaging," with every critic inevitably arguing that if she had just talked more about their pet issue, she would have won.
Another option, however, is to listen to what swing voters who backed Trump said about their decision. That would seem the wisest choice, but to be fair to people who don't want to go there, hearing these people out is a truly miserable experience.
What quickly becomes evident about the median voters in an American focus group is how profoundly opposed they are to even the most basic factual information. On the contrary, it's a community with a pathological aversion to reality, where people compulsively react to anything truth-shaped with hostility, running as hard as they can toward disinformation. They are addicted to BS. Of course they voted for Trump, the country's most reliable dealer of their favorite drug.
And:
by Thom Hartmann | December 27, 2024 - 6:17am | permalink
A fascinating article in The New York Times this week by Kurt Gray, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, gives us the beginnings of an understanding of how and why social media is so destructive to society.
Gray points out that most people assume humans have historically been predators, the metaphorical big cats of the jungle. In fact, Gray says, we’ve historically been prey, the victims of predators:
“This picture of fearfulness is consistent with our understanding of human psychology. We’re hard-wired to detect threats quickly and to stay fixated on places where threats once appeared, even after they have vanished. We fear that ‘child predators’ will abduct our kids even when they are safer than ever.
And:
Voters' Ignorance and Denial Means U.S. Is Not Really A "Protector" Of Democracy
And:
Opinion | Consumers finally realize that Trump could worsen inflation - The Washington Post
And:
Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Sol Invictus, The Winter Solstice, Mithras And The Origin Of Christmas
The Roman Sol Invictus image bearing the inscription: "The most holy and sacred Sun"
Par for the course in our culturally and socially divided country, much hullaballoo is made every year over the celebration of Christmas, using the words "Merry Christmas" and the possibility those nasty atheists and secularists are trying to "destroy" the holiday. Very seldom do any inquiring minds chill out long enough to investigate the actual origins of the holiday - which dates back to antiquity.
For example, we know the first certain record associating December 25th with the birthday of Sol Invictus is the ROMAN Chronography of AD 354 where, in the part known as the Philocalian Calendar, VIII Kal. Jan. is identified as N INVICTI CM XXX (Natalis Invicti; CM abbreviates circenses missus or circus races) "Natalis Invictii" refers to the birth of Sol Invictus, NOT Christ. (See graphic attached of a Roman rendering of Sol Invictus). The celebratory factor in the inscription is punctuated by the fact XXX (30) races were to be scheduled in the Roman Circus. This would never be done to commemorate the exclusive birth of a Jewish Messiah! Even given that the Edict of Milan was formalized some 40 years earlier.
Coincidentally, this is also the earliest reference to December 25 as the birthday of Jesus. In a commemoration of Christian martyrs, the notation for VIII Kal. Jan. is natus Christus in Betleem Judeae ("Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea"). Because the Depositio Martyrum was completed in AD 336, the first celebration of Christmas can be dated to that year as well. In the list of consuls, there also is the note: "Dominus Iesus Christus natus est VIII kal. Ian".
Par for the course in our culturally and socially divided country, much hullaballoo is made every year over the celebration of Christmas, using the words "Merry Christmas" and the possibility those nasty atheists and secularists are trying to "destroy" the holiday. Very seldom do any inquiring minds chill out long enough to investigate the actual origins of the holiday - which dates back to antiquity.
For example, we know the first certain record associating December 25th with the birthday of Sol Invictus is the ROMAN Chronography of AD 354 where, in the part known as the Philocalian Calendar, VIII Kal. Jan. is identified as N INVICTI CM XXX (Natalis Invicti; CM abbreviates circenses missus or circus races) "Natalis Invictii" refers to the birth of Sol Invictus, NOT Christ. (See graphic attached of a Roman rendering of Sol Invictus). The celebratory factor in the inscription is punctuated by the fact XXX (30) races were to be scheduled in the Roman Circus. This would never be done to commemorate the exclusive birth of a Jewish Messiah! Even given that the Edict of Milan was formalized some 40 years earlier.
Coincidentally, this is also the earliest reference to December 25 as the birthday of Jesus. In a commemoration of Christian martyrs, the notation for VIII Kal. Jan. is natus Christus in Betleem Judeae ("Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea"). Because the Depositio Martyrum was completed in AD 336, the first celebration of Christmas can be dated to that year as well. In the list of consuls, there also is the note: "Dominus Iesus Christus natus est VIII kal. Ian".
Note that although the first celebration can be dated to the year 336, it was not formalized! As I noted in a post from December, 2011, the formalization wasn't until 29 years after the Council of Nicaea, in 354 A.D. Then the newly liberated Christians formally claimed December 25th - the designated original birth date of the Sun god Mithras - as their own nativity for Christ. This exactly parallels the timing already in the Chronography of AD 354 where, in the part known as the Philocalian Calendar, the date first emerges in a written record. We see then a confluence between Christ, Sol Invictus (the Roman Sun god) and Mithras.
Regarding Mithras' birth date (also on Dec. 25th), one should note that just as Jesus' date of birth was ahistorical, Mithras' was as well. The assignment of ancient god-man births to this date is understandable given the ancients investment in agriculture, and the Winter solstice marked the day of shortest daylight giving way to increasing lengths of day through Spring. See e.g.
Some who complain about Mithraism in general insist there's no evidence that Mithras was a great teacher. But this is belied in Ized 28. (We were introduced to this in our Comparative Religion class at Loyola, in 1966). In brief passages we see Mithras teaching the multitudes about son-ship and stewardship and the Logos-Trinity. One trope used to try to demean the import of Mithras as an ancient god Man is that he was said to have "been born of a solid rock". Hence, is worthy of belittlement.
The notion of Mithras being "born of a solid rock" can probably be traced to certain writings of early Church Father Justin Martyr, who analogized Peter as the mystic "Rock" of the Church ("Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church") and to the emergence of Mithraism with Mithras. Researcher J.M. Robertson ('The Origin Of Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World') speculates that Martyr's ruminations are "in touch with the Graecized but probably Semitic myth of the Rock-born Agdestis, son of Jupiter".
In other words, not peculiar to Mithraism proper, but a subsequent syncretic addition which then became distorted into a "rock birth" by early Christians. Not surprisingly, probably because of the Agdestis- connection, Mithras is derived from the Latin "rock born" and that concept has been perpetuated with the name.
In other words, not peculiar to Mithraism proper, but a subsequent syncretic addition which then became distorted into a "rock birth" by early Christians. Not surprisingly, probably because of the Agdestis- connection, Mithras is derived from the Latin "rock born" and that concept has been perpetuated with the name.
A number of ancient authors (e.g. Porphyry) bemoaned the catastrophic destruction of many of the original works at the hands of the Christians. Nonetheless, we do have enough in Ized 28 of the Zendavesta to document much of Mithras' mythological basis. Perusing through it there is no mention of battling a "bull" - which likely originated from the Graeco-Roman version of the myth, which was probably distorted by re-translations over centuries (much the same way the Christian New Testament has been).
In the actual Izeds (#23- #28) there’s no record of any “Bull”. There is a peripheral reference (by Porphyry) to Mithras as "the Bull of Demiurgos and lord of generation". But again, no "battle" with such. (so it's likely corrupted over time). Robertson (p. 121) speculates Porphyry's reference is actually based on a conceptual error mixing up the Mithraic seat at the equinoctial table (assigned to the Ram, Aries) "which also bears the sword of the Ram." He adds (ibid.): "The sword of the Ram is simply figured as a cross, since the sword IS a cross".
In the actual Izeds (#23- #28) there’s no record of any “Bull”. There is a peripheral reference (by Porphyry) to Mithras as "the Bull of Demiurgos and lord of generation". But again, no "battle" with such. (so it's likely corrupted over time). Robertson (p. 121) speculates Porphyry's reference is actually based on a conceptual error mixing up the Mithraic seat at the equinoctial table (assigned to the Ram, Aries) "which also bears the sword of the Ram." He adds (ibid.): "The sword of the Ram is simply figured as a cross, since the sword IS a cross".
A much older version, probably more accurate, is cited in Robertson's 'Pagan Christs' (p. 119) wherein he notes that according to a (Vendedadic) legend "Mithras shoots an arrow at a rock, and water gushes forth where the arrow strikes". The passage is believed by some scholars of pagan mystery religions to refer to either an incident where Mithras saves his followers who are lost in the desert, or that he uses his arrow to reveal an analog to the Judaeo-Christian Decalogue.
Aspects of Mithraism that later filtered into the Graeco-Roman world (in the form of emergent Mithraic cults) undoubtedly came from this text (the Izeds, wherein “Mithras” was chief and ruler) as well as others likely destroyed with the burning of the library at Alexandria. (See, e.g. J.M. Robertson’s ‘Pagan Christs’, 1966) . Many scholars believe the greater details including Mithras’ disciples, the full recounting of his miracles: including walking on water, raising the dead, changing water to wine etc. were in those destroyed manuscripts.
According to Plutarch, Mithraism first arrived in the Roman Empire through the Cilician pirates whom Pompey subdued, then brought back to Rome as slaves. (Many were actually believed to have been soldiers for whom Mithraism would have been the religion naturally embraced).
Mithraism was a mystery religion, so its historical legends would have always been more accessible than its precepts. Rituals were held in strictest confidence – available only to the select few - as a secret society would. (Much like today’s Free Masons who maintain absolute silence as regards their rituals.) As Frank Zindler notes, "no specific works of Mithraism are known since like other Mystery Cults, it centered around a secret or body of secrets only known to those initiated into the rites. Most of our knowledge of it is derived from the iconography of its temples”.
Aspects of Mithraism that later filtered into the Graeco-Roman world (in the form of emergent Mithraic cults) undoubtedly came from this text (the Izeds, wherein “Mithras” was chief and ruler) as well as others likely destroyed with the burning of the library at Alexandria. (See, e.g. J.M. Robertson’s ‘Pagan Christs’, 1966) . Many scholars believe the greater details including Mithras’ disciples, the full recounting of his miracles: including walking on water, raising the dead, changing water to wine etc. were in those destroyed manuscripts.
According to Plutarch, Mithraism first arrived in the Roman Empire through the Cilician pirates whom Pompey subdued, then brought back to Rome as slaves. (Many were actually believed to have been soldiers for whom Mithraism would have been the religion naturally embraced).
Mithraism was a mystery religion, so its historical legends would have always been more accessible than its precepts. Rituals were held in strictest confidence – available only to the select few - as a secret society would. (Much like today’s Free Masons who maintain absolute silence as regards their rituals.) As Frank Zindler notes, "no specific works of Mithraism are known since like other Mystery Cults, it centered around a secret or body of secrets only known to those initiated into the rites. Most of our knowledge of it is derived from the iconography of its temples”.
Another common canard is that Mithraists copied from Christians to fabricate their god -Man not the other way around. This is totally false, and can be ascertained from Tertullian’s writings combined with just minimal reasoning ability. My class notes, e.g. from my Comparative Theology course, are fortunately still in one of my old file boxes with Exegesis notes. The main theme, to summarize, is that the course was based on the original writings of Church fathers, including Tertullian, Justin Martyr and Julius Firmicus – all referencing Mithraic scriptures and references therein.
After describing the “Lord’s Supper’ for example, Justin Martyr evinces outrage as he writes (from my notes):
“WHICH THE WICKED DEVILS HAVE IMITATED IN THE MYSTERIES OF MITHRA, COMMANDING THE SAME THING TO BE DONE”
Tertullian also bears this out, scolding:
“The Devil, by the mysteries of his idols, IMITATES EVEN THE MAIN PARTS OF THE DIVINE MYSTERIES. HE ALSO BAPTIZES HIS FOLLOWERS IN WATER THAT PURIFIES THEM OF THEIR SINS”
After describing the “Lord’s Supper’ for example, Justin Martyr evinces outrage as he writes (from my notes):
“WHICH THE WICKED DEVILS HAVE IMITATED IN THE MYSTERIES OF MITHRA, COMMANDING THE SAME THING TO BE DONE”
Tertullian also bears this out, scolding:
“The Devil, by the mysteries of his idols, IMITATES EVEN THE MAIN PARTS OF THE DIVINE MYSTERIES. HE ALSO BAPTIZES HIS FOLLOWERS IN WATER THAT PURIFIES THEM OF THEIR SINS”
As the notes indicate, a careless Christian reader might jump to the conclusion that the Mithraists copied from the Christians, but this simply isn’t so, on closer examination. The refutation of this notion inheres in the language of the same trio of Christian Fathers. They all speak, for example, of resemblance of Mithraic rites to Christian rites as being “the imitation of devils”.
But why such an obscure use of language, when they could simply have stated the Mithraists IMITATED their own works, and done? Why the need to introduce devils? This presumes a supernatural influence over and above ordinary human copying.
An answer becomes manifest when we examine more closely the words of Justin Martyr, who expressly argued that "the demons ANTICIPATED the Christian mysteries and prepared PARODIES of them BEFOREHAND"! (Pagan Christs, p. 118).
But why such an obscure use of language, when they could simply have stated the Mithraists IMITATED their own works, and done? Why the need to introduce devils? This presumes a supernatural influence over and above ordinary human copying.
An answer becomes manifest when we examine more closely the words of Justin Martyr, who expressly argued that "the demons ANTICIPATED the Christian mysteries and prepared PARODIES of them BEFOREHAND"! (Pagan Christs, p. 118).
As Justin further writes (cf. from Loyola Theology notes):
"When I hear that Mithra was begotten of a virgin, I understand that the deceiving serpent also counterfeited this!"
(Addendum in Comparative Theology notes: No one pretends the Pagan virgin myth in general is LATER than Christianity. Justin’s own words: "ANTICIPATED the Christian mysteries" can mean only one thing: he KNEW the Mithraic version PRECEDED the Christian version. What he said also underscored the arguments from Tertullian and Firmicus. He was so incensed that the Mithraists trumped the Christians' Savior myth on the timeline, that he attributed this to demonic work, aka the "imitation of devils".)
Robertson (op. cit., p. 121) also cites other common symbols that the Christians appropriated from Mithraic traditions, including the Agnus Dei, or "Lamb of God". As he notes:
"The Christian assimilation of Mithraism is still more clearly seen in the familiar Christian symbol in which Christ is represented as a lamb, carrying by one forefoot a cross."
"When I hear that Mithra was begotten of a virgin, I understand that the deceiving serpent also counterfeited this!"
(Addendum in Comparative Theology notes: No one pretends the Pagan virgin myth in general is LATER than Christianity. Justin’s own words: "ANTICIPATED the Christian mysteries" can mean only one thing: he KNEW the Mithraic version PRECEDED the Christian version. What he said also underscored the arguments from Tertullian and Firmicus. He was so incensed that the Mithraists trumped the Christians' Savior myth on the timeline, that he attributed this to demonic work, aka the "imitation of devils".)
Robertson (op. cit., p. 121) also cites other common symbols that the Christians appropriated from Mithraic traditions, including the Agnus Dei, or "Lamb of God". As he notes:
"The Christian assimilation of Mithraism is still more clearly seen in the familiar Christian symbol in which Christ is represented as a lamb, carrying by one forefoot a cross."
The takeaway here? Celebrate Christmas by all means, but bear in mind it is actually the celebration of the birth of Mithras-Sol Invictus and the date itself is consistent with that of the winter solstice - or the "rebirth of the Sun". Christians later copied this ancient pagan template for the nativity of their own god-Man, Jesus.
Monday, December 23, 2024
The 'Best of all Possible Worlds' - Leibniz' Take On Reality Is As Jarring As His Meme Suggests
The great German philosopher and polymath Wilhelm Leibniz once opined that natural disasters - say like the Indian Ocean Tsunami in December, 2004 (which killed 227,000), aren’t the result of any divine punishment for sin but simply the consequence of a regulated and overall consistent system of natural laws. In fact, according to Leibniz we actually inhabit the "best of all possible worlds". That is, in the sense of balancing all the physical aspects of its formation along with the realistic consequences that can arise from them.
In order to make his case Leibniz invoked the Principle of Sufficient Reason. Suppose God created two parallel Earths, one A - over 'here' (in our own Milky Way galaxy), one B - over 'there' (in the Andromeda galaxy). There would be no sufficient reason why he should not have placed them the other way around. Thus, the Principle of Sufficient Reason - which was necessary for the world to exist in the first place- would have been violated. I.e. how can two 'best possible worlds' be totally exchangeable in respect to their created locations?
More importantly, Leibniz contended - in an exchange of views with another philosopher, Malebranche- that: “God permits evil for the sake of a higher value”[1]. I.e. to entice fellow humans to assist and give of themselves. Hence, for God to intervene to halt suffering – say by child cancer victims, or those affected in the horrific Boston Marathon bombing, or killed in the Newtown massacre - would “require Him to violate superlative principles He put in place to govern the world[2].”
In other words, humans shouldn’t complain because in fact this Earth we live on is the “best of all possible worlds”. It has exactly the right admixture of evil, relative to good! Along the same lines, one must bear in mind that the cosmos and world are still in a process of evolution, and that de facto incomplete process allows for what we call evil. It was the philosopher N.M Wildiers who first observed[3]:
Whatever is yet to be completed is of necessity
imperfect, defective, unfinished. Evil
is thus structurally part and parcel of a world in evolution. An evolving world
and a perfect world – these are mutually contradictory ideas.
A perfect world was always impossible because whatever defects the world exhibits can be traced to its incompleteness. In other words, evil - natural and man-made- is inevitable in an imperfect world governed by evolution. If we know and have data to support that we inhabit an evolving world and universe then it is irrational to expect it not to display evil. But at the same time we need to recognize the evil apparent is not overpowering or absolute.
One Notre Dame professor writing several years ago about Leibniz and his philosophy, noted[4]:
One unsettling consequence of Leibniz’s view is that God’s plans and purposes aren’t as human-centered as we might have believed. It is oddly wonderful to think the whole cosmos, even natural disasters, revolves around us, but that belief may already be hard enough to sustain given what we already know about the history and size of the universe.
Indeed, and I might add it's the epitome of human arrogance and conceit to believe such given a cosmos sixty-six billion light years in diameter and teeming with trillions of galaxies each containing over a one hundred billion stars each on average. Only a totally ignorant or self-worshipping species could entertain such an incredibly egomaniacal fantasy!
So to believe any natural disaster or cosmic event is purely for human purposes and interpretations is to commit a ghastly mental crime that boggles the imagination. It rivals that of the egomaniac ant in one ancient Barbadian legend. According to that legend, an ant decided one today to pick up a small piece of straw in its mandibles and drive all humans from its land! Before it could move two inches it was squashed by a human foot. Not intentionally, but merely because the ant’s movements were in the wrong place at the wrong time
The whole history of the advance of modern science, especially astronomy, also provides a cautionary tale to anthropocentrism in showing how humanity has been repeatedly driven out of its preferred roosting perches: from Copernicus’ revelation of the heliocentric theory of the solar system (showing the Sun, not the Earth was the center of the solar system), to the discovery that the solar system is not at the center of the Milky Way galaxy but two thirds to the edge, to the discovery that the Milky Way itself is not the center of the cosmos, but that all galaxies (in clusters) are moving away from each other in the expansion with no single geometric center.
Finally, in 1997-98, the discovery that the matter of which we are composed doesn’t even comprise the predominant building blocks for the cosmos. It’s only about 7 percent of the total. The other 93 percent is dark energy and dark matter![5]
We’d do well to bear all
this in mind, next time we fancy a major earthquake or natural disaster is "God’s punishment". Or that multiple earthquakes or other natural disasters
herald some "end times" event!
See Also:
Brane Space: The Complexities of Natural and Human Imperfection ("Evil")
[1] Nadler: The
Best of All Possible Worlds: A Story of Philosopher, God and Evil, 133.
[4] Newland,
The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2010, A15.
[5] This is
based on a wealth of data from multiple publications, referencing the Boomerang
and MAXIMA UV measurements to do with type Ia supernovae. See e.g. . Perlmutter,, Physics Today,
April, 2003, 53.
Solution to Differential Geometry Problem
The Problem:
Obtain the arc length s of the curve between x=0, x=2):
f(x) = x3 / 2 - x2 / 3
Solution.
f(x) = x3 / 2 - x2 / 3
d(f(x) / dx = 3 x2 / 2 - 2x/ 3
(d(f(x) / dx) 2 = (3 x2 / 2 - 2x/ 3 ) (3 x2 / 2 - 2x/ 3 )
= 9 x4 / 4 - 2 x3 + 4 x2 / 9
Then:
L = ò 2 0 Ö(1 + 9 x4 / 4 - 2 x3 + 4 x2 / 9)
= 3.775 units
Check vs. Mathcad computation:
Friday, December 20, 2024
Govt Shutdown? Credit Default? Blame World's Richest Oligarch - Elon Musk Rat
"Elon Musk has now proved he's even stupider than Donald Trump. With the last gasp Musk-Trump redo of the original bipartisan bill to keep the government open, he's shown he doesn't understand how a bill is passed, the role of the Speaker, the role of the Senate or the President. But then they never taught those things in his South African elementary school that the rest of us learned here in the U.S. Worse for him, 38 Republicans voted against his bill despite being threatened with having their political lives killed.". With Lawrence O'Donnell, Last Word, last night on MSNBC
"If the government shuts down after midnight Friday, 1.3 million active-duty troops will go without pay, as will hundreds of thousands of civilian workers. National parks will close, air traffic and airports will be snarled over the holidays, food-safety inspection will be curtailed, tax refunds and operations at Social Security offices will be delayed, and millions of poor and working-class people will lose access to other government services. The shutdown will add billions of dollars to the debt. But Musk (net worth: $440 billion) will be just fine — and he is now the one directing the Republican agenda in Congress."- Dana Milbank, 'As Musk Forces A Shutdown The Trump presidency Is Already Collapsing Into Chaos', Washington Posy
"It’s not the Democratic Party’s job to convince the American people to not elect a fascist, racist, rapist, felon, insurrectionist security threat to the highest job in the nation. To imply otherwise is simply to infantilize half the nation. Half the country has decided that the rule of law is arbitrary and political, all politicians are crooks and care not a whit that a convicted felon and man found liable for sexual assault will occupy the office of the Presidency of the United States. They do so because they believe profit-seeking propaganda organs and buffoonish confidence men more than public institutions like governments, courts of law, and honest media." NY Times comment
We were already warned two years ago about the perils of letting the Reepturds run the government. This was thanks to Financial Times columnist Edward Luce, warning before the 2022 midterms about the cost of such folly, e.g. my post at the time:
As Mr. Luce noted:
"The only real damage the Republicans can wreak - if they gain control of congress - is if they follow through on their threat not to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. That could trigger a market crash."
Or a recession or even depression but certainly a credit downgrade or default. Yet 230,000 dumb fuck, clueless voters in 3 Blue wall Swing states actually believed a twice-impeached traitor, egomaniacal felon, congenital liar and braggart would be more "effective" in meeting their needs - so voted for the degenerate. Subtract these morons and Kamala wins on Nov. 5th.
And since Judge Juan Merchan has refused the Trump cabal's demands to remove his felon status - voted in a convicted felon as well. First time in American history. These dolts are now suddenly discovering - over the past few days - they also effectively voted in the South African oligarch Elon Musk as Trump's co-president. Don't believe it? Then why did Trump back him up after he first threatened to primary any congress critter that voted for the new bill to keep government open, avoiding a shutdown?
Back to the implications of a default arising from a shutdown. A U.S. default could trigger a worldwide financial crisis, possibly a depression. That’s because financial markets currently treat U.S. debt as the safest of assets, with all other assets around the world benchmarked against us. Our default would send waves of financial panic cascading through lots of other markets, too. If the government can’t borrow to pay bills that come due, it would have to suspend certain pension payments, withhold or cut the pay of soldiers and federal workers, or delay interest payments, which would constitute default. Unless Congress raises the debt ceiling, the Treasury could be forced to cut payments by more than 40%, including Social Security, VA benefits.
The pain is only now being glimpsed, as these MAGA predators make clear their intentions, including issuing bogus "reports" to try to implicate the January 6th commission members (such as Liz Cheney) in "crimes". But the pain is also going to come like thunder for the semi-educated loons that voted these pigs in as they see housing costs soar, as well as the prices of groceries and everything else from electronics to baby formula - thanks to Trump's planned tariffs. But see, that is the price of reaction - base instinctual mindless reaction to an economic and political environment - as opposed to thinking it through. Thinking through the down stream costs of putting into power a convicted felon and insurrectionist who ultimately is about himself, no one else.
As well as a know -nothing oligarch who had problems even getting a security clearance (in connection with Starlink, Space X projects) on account of his use of marijuana and ketamine. This drugged out dunce and twit - who thinks he can intrude on the separation of powers- and is already in possession of a swelled head ten times that of Dotard's.
Don't believe it? Remember Musk Rat single-handedly sunk the bipartisan spending bill Wednesday, wielding his powerful X account to pressure House Republicans to torpedo this bill. A critical lifeline that would have kept the federal government open for three months- and also would have delivered the $100 b in assistance victims of the hurricane disasters in TN, NC, VA have been waiting for. But now, thanks to the richest guy in the world, they're left to pound sand.
As WaPo columnist Dana Milbank noted:
"Musk, with an extended tantrum on his social media site X, successfully sabotaged the spending bill, which would have provided aid to farmers and disaster relief for storm-ravaged North Carolina, Florida and other parts of the country."
Musk also went wild yesterday posting one hundred false claims on X, including that congress was supposed to grab a 'criminal' 40 percent raise. Then on the social media site he owns, the brigand proceeded to trash the bill in an hours-long tirade, calling it “terrible,” “criminal,” “outrageous,” “horrible,” “unconscionable,” “crazy” and, ultimately, “an insane crime.” No, fuckface, the only "insane crime" is you traipsing through our glorious Capitol Bldg. despoiling it with every footfall.
But the good aspect of the latest effort to pass the Musk-Trump version of the spending bill, was seeing 38 Repubs (including Rep. Chip Roy (TX)) shoot it down - voting with the Dems to slay it on the spot. And that despite Musk's huff and puff on X to primary them and end their political careers. But despite his threats these 38 gave him the finger and a preview of what the next 4 years is likely to be like.
Still, given how Musk is throwing his weight (as well as $$$) around it's little wonder many are referring to this Turd as a "shadow president". Then - when I heard Bulwark contributor Sarah Longwell say on Deadline Whitehouse yesterday that "voters in focus groups" told her they voted Trump because "they wanted Musk too", I almost blew my top. How the fuck could so many goddamned idiots be so functionally illiterate, ignorant and pathetic at the same time? To believe a foreign born numbskull - who doesn't know squat about legislation or the Constitution- could be a sound advocate for stable government.
Maybe these same people - over the next four years - will finally learn the meaning of the phrase: "Repent at leisure" . Because that will be the name of the game for them. As former dean of the School of Public Policy at University of Maryland noted (TIME, Dec. 30, p. 52): "Americans are not prepared for the level of disruption that Trump's second stint in the White House is poised to bring, from potential changes to the education system, to revisiting childhood vaccines" and the repeal of regulations on everything from food to drinking water and air quality.
Maybe next time these voting imps will think twice before putting a psychotic populist and felon into the most powerful position in the world.
See Also:
As Musk forces a shutdown, the Trump presidency is already collapsing into chaos
And:
And:
'Musk is an idiot': Chris Matthews launches scathing rant battering 'clown' Trump adviser
And:
by Robert Reich | December 19, 2024 - 6:52am | permalink
— from Robert Reich's Substack
Friends,
If the government shuts down Saturday, Elon Musk will be largely to blame.
Musk went on a daylong rampage yesterday against the continuing resolution drafted by House Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team to keep the government going.
Musk posted nearly nonstop on his social media platform X about how lawmakers must kill it. “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote in one post.
Musk — the richest person in the world — was joined in his posting spree by another billionaire, Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Trump asked to partner with Musk in an effort to slash government spending and reduce the federal budget deficit.
And:
by Heather Digby Parton | December 21, 2024 - 6:44am | permalink
Back in 2016, the whole country was left in shock when celebrity businessman Donald Trump managed to take over the Republican Party and win the presidential election. At the time there was quite a bit of resistance within the GOP establishment due to the fact that Trump had not run as an ordinary conservative but rather as a populist demagogue. They had no idea that their voters were so hungry for his message. Gone were all the usual paeans to small government and family values and even his strong advocacy for expanding the military was coupled with a discordant isolationist stance that harkened back to the pre-WWII America First movement. (Trump had no idea about that history — he thought he came up with it himself.)
However, he was all for tax cuts for the wealthy, which is the lifeblood of the Republican Party. And he was reflexively hostile to anything his predecessor Barack Obama ever did, which meant that he was willing to reverse much of the progress that had been made in the previous eight years, pleasing Republicans to no end.
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