Maybe you can attend less frequently and still be involved somewhat?
Sure. And it would be a way to reconnect with the Atlanta “scene”. After 25 years in the DC area it’s weird going back to Atlanta. All my old spots are gone. Gulp. ** you do not have permission to see this link **
…there’s a hot star nearby exciting the gas…
Folks when I give you straight lines like this…
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The dwarf planets change everything would make a nice tee shirt or bumper sticker. The discovery of the Kuiper belt and the Oort Cloud has astrologers in a tizzy. Not to mention the demoting of Pluto as a dwarf planet. Even though these goobers don’t seem to realize that this classification has zero actual affect on the object in space we call “Pluto.”
The basic premise of astrology is that the configuration of the sky at the moment of your birth leaves its imprint on your constitution and life trajectory. As above, so below.
Not really. What As above, so below means is that at each moment there is a correspondence between all levels of the universe. So the organization of the heavens at the precise moment of your birth reflects a metaphysical reality we both share. A reality that can be read in the stars. This distinction is probably a little too subtle for our current crop of astral prestidigitators.
If in the past, the stars reflected a collective social order, today they are more often treated as a vast personal mirror.
Which just means it’s all subjective and culture bound. We assume a privileged position in reality for ourselves and project our desires and fears on to the universe which we see a vast mirror rather than an infinite depth of indifferent physical processes.
“No one questions whether Spanish is real…”
But lots of folks question whether Bigfoot is real.
Above all, it was presented to me as a kind of security blanket: a system for understanding the inexplicable, a way to make sense of a shitty day, a means to grasp the contours of current upheavals and find solace in their eventual end. During Covid, one astrologer explained: “People were really looking for answers. They were like, ‘Sky, tell me what’s going on.’”
Sorry to end on ** you do not have permission to see this link ** but pray tell how justice is served by this horror? We have simply debased ourselves.
Hegseth puts 'armor of God' at Pentagon's core with new religious affairs office reporting directly to him msn.com https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/pentagon-religious-affairs-office-hegseth-1823246
Pete Hegseth's New Religious Affairs Office Sparks a Legal Church-State Fight https://www.military.com/hegseths-new-religious-office-sparks-legal-church-state-fight
As if in response to our earlier comments about astronomical photos – perhaps there are Higher Forces at work – NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day site has posted an image of the entire ** you do not have permission to see this link **, totaling 313 objects! A “H II” region contains clouds of ionized hydrogen* which can include not only emission nebulas but also planetary nebulas and supernova remnants. Also note as the blurb indicates these images have been processed through various colored filters so that will throw off the color schema I outlined before a bit. It turns out that for astronomical analysis the visible wavelengths of light are frequently the less useful. The new James Webb telescope’s primary camera is set up for Infrared and not visible light. All these objects were photographed by one person in Eastern China and Inner Mongolia. The exposures lasted 2 to 6 hours. There are still places on earth where one can behold the heavens unimpeded!
*A hydrogen atom that has lost its single electron, leaving behind a positively charged proton. Loss of the electron is caused either by the high energy impact of photons, particles of light, in the ultraviolet spectrum, or high speed collisions of gas particles that occurs in the cores of stars or in the explosions of supernovae. Hey, I thought you’d want to know.
There are still places on earth where one can behold the heavens unimpeded!
Thankfully, there are.
We’ll be finally heading back to the States and will be there until about a week before Christmas. If things go according to plan, we’ll head up north one weekend. While we might miss out on the peak ** you do not have permission to see this link **and visible, weather permitting.
Thanks!
I was there for a month early last summer.
The longest I’ve ever been away is four years. When you’d go back then, you could sense the change and get just the slightest snippet of what Rip Van Winkle must have felt. A close friend used to take delight in hearing about all the things that had changed around him that he hadn’t even noticed.
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Coincidence? I think not.
A close friend used to take delight in hearing about all the things that had changed around him that he hadn’t even noticed.
Yep. It’s so hermetically sealed over here. Bruce I bet you know lots more about what’s happening in the States than anybody over here knows what’s happening in Europe. Nowhere else exists unless there’s somewhere to bomb or we hear about a natural disaster.
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The Lewis Family hasn’t seen it so they shouldn’t speak out. We haven’t seen it so we should.
The Brand? The BRAND!!! If I was an artist and some dumba$$ referred to my work as the “Brand” I would pluck out their fingernails and eyebrows.
I don’t share Lewis’s religious opinions but I remain an admirer of his imagination. He wouldn’t be the first writer who needs rescuing from his fans.
Stephen said:
I’ll be interested in your impressions.
Well, I’m still not fully recovered from jet lag so I suppose you might put down much of what I’m saying to a certain tiredness and perhaps an accompanying crankiness.
People seem more distant and not as welcoming as they once were. They are more isolated. It used to be not that long ago that if you came across someone you didn’t know while walking you used to say hi. Now if you do, at best you’ll be met with indifference.
I live in a condo, and a day or so ago I greeted the guy across the hall whom I’d never met. He just looked at me as if I was strange.
Prices! You don’t want me to get started about prices. I thought they were high in Greece. Everything is so damn expensive. I don’t know how anybody can afford anything. And seventy five dollars for basic cable, which as far as I can tell for the most part gives you access only to the channels one used to get for free and annoying ones trying to sell you junk.
Having said that, I have already had occasional encounters with people expressing genuine kindness, which gives me faith that not all is lost.
Well, taken one on one or in small groups, people are still fine. It’s when the “identity” markers kick in that things begin to unravel. Tell people you don’t know where you’ve been living and note the reaction. You may find it interesting. If you can stand it, take some time to watch American TV, especially the News and the commercials.
Americans generally find it hard to believe how much less the cost of living is elsewhere. You won’t recognize Europe in the perceptions Americans have it.
But you’ve been back and forth so you’re probably already aware. I’ve met Europeans who’ve traveled here for the first time for job or education and they’re just amazed.
The only TV I’m planning to watch is Vikings Football, The World Series, some old movies, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, stuff like that.
As for commercials, I mute them. I make an exception for the political ads, which are just downright nasty.
** you do not have permission to see this link ** can be made, but they rarely are.
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
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Robert