An irregular hodgepodge of links gathered together … Omnium Gatherum for October 3, 2021

Here’s a variety of notable things I’ve recently found that you may also be interested in checking out:

• “Stoicon 2021 by Modern Stoicism. The 9th Annual International Stoicon Conference, Organized by Modern Stoicism Ltd., Held Online: Saturday, October 9, 2021.”—”Modern Stoicism, Ltd., is a non-profit organization run by a multidisciplinary team of volunteers. If you’re interested in Stoic philosophy, whatever your background or occupation, this conference is for you. We’re making Stoic philosophy accessible to everyone by highlighting its practical relevance to the everyday challenges people today face in their lives.”
• Literary Witches of the Twenties – Lecture. Dr Rebecca Beattie unpacks the witchcraft in Lolly Willows and Precious Bane, novels which foreshadowed Wicca. 11 Oct, 19:00 – 21:00″—”The witchcraft portrayed in the novels of the early twentieth century contributed to the Pagan revival, and this lecture unpacks two of the most lively ones. In Mary Webb’s Precious Bane (1924) suspected witch Prudence Sarn apprentices with a cunning man. In Sylvia Townsend-Warner’s Lolly Willows and the Gentle Huntsman (1926) the heroine meets the devil, finds witchcraft and considers joining a coven. Both authors had occult, nature-mystic inclinations, and their witch heroines are smart and sympathetic. Join us as Dr Rebecca Beattie shows the occultism, feminism and pagan mysticism running through these amazing works. We promise this live lecture with Q & A will be a night to remember.”
• Christine Tobin, Phil Robson & Francesco Turrisi. Date Wednesday 13 October 2021. Location Online. Admission €10.”—”The magnificent stately home Bantry House, overlooking Bantry Bay, is the setting for this performance of poetry by William Butler Yeats poems by Irish singer Christine Tobin, UK-born guitarist Phil Robson and Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi. A favourite with US audiences, Christine and Phil have only recently returned to Ireland after five years living in New York. Chanting and enchanting, poetry and music have always been of equal importance to Tobin. In this work she has created a soundworld that uses a rich palette of harmony and colour and draws on influences from jazz, folk and twentieth century classical, from Miles to Messiaen. The poems are chosen from Yeats’s early work through to his final collection.”
• “Enroll in the online course Vast Sky Mind: Fundamentals of Nondual Meditation and Awakening. Mondays, Oct 18th – January 3rd, 2022. 7:30 am – 9:00 am Pacific Time.”—”Padmasambhava once said, ‘What is the difference between a buddha and a regular person? The only difference is whether or not they have realized the awakened mind. The substance of the awakened state, of Buddhahood, is already present inside you, but you don’t recognize it.’ Padmasambhava’s assertion that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, nothing to gain—because you already are that which you seek—is the essence of nondual meditation. Nondual meditation is the ageless path of realizing the awakened mind already inside you. Join meditation teacher and author Michael Taft and learn how to do this for yourself. Taft has trained in nondual meditation techniques for over 35 years and created this course especially for people who have done other forms of meditation, but who are curious about engaging in this very different path. While generally following Buddhist understandings, this course takes a non-denominational approach that is informed by modern neuroscience and scholarship. Whether you are new to meditation, or if you are a mindfulness meditator whose practice seems stalled, or if you have been following Michael’s guided meditation series on Youtube, if you are wanting something more—a practice that both engages with life and that can actually lead to awakening—then this course is for you.”
• Haha. Welp. Here’s more on that hoax story I mentioned previously: “Occultists Deny ‘Glensheen Denies Occult Rituals’ Story“—”Glensheen Mansion still has not denied the story of their denial, which if you think about it, confirms its veracity. Meanwhile the occult community has found the story — perhaps through a crystal ball! — and for the most part, they ain’t havin’ it.”
• “Theosophy and Race – I: Nordic Aryans” and “Theosophy and Race – II: Nordic Aryans”
• “Tarot: On A.E. Waite’s birthday, here’s everything you need to know about the creator of the most popular cards in the world. The Rider-Waite-Smith deck has sold in excess of 100 million copies, in addition to inspiring hundreds, if not thousands of clones.”
• “FT Weekend Quiz: Clark Kent, Rachel Weisz and ‘The Testaments’. Our ‘Round on the Links’ quiz tests your ability to draw connections. Thinking caps on!”—”7. In 1970, which guitarist bought the former home of the occultist Aleister Crowley?”
• “The Bible Does Not Validate Endless Exploitation and Domination of the Environment.”
• “Beautiful and compelling story of Jack B Yeats – one of Ireland’s greatest painters. The Man Who Painted Ireland examines the life of ‘underappreciated’ artist.” Brother of Hermetic Library figure W B Yeats.
• More on this: “She bought her dream home; a ‘sovereign citizen’ changed the locks.”—”The official-looking letters started arriving soon after Shanetta Little bought the cute Tudor house on Ivy Street in Newark, New Jersey. Bearing a golden seal, in aureate legalistic language, the documents claimed that an obscure 18th-century treaty gave the sender rights to claim her new house as his own. She dismissed the letters as a hoax. And so it was with surprise that Little found herself in her yard on Ivy Street on a June afternoon as a police SWAT team negotiated with a man who had broken in, changed her locks and hung a red-and-green flag in its window. He claimed he was a sovereign citizen of a country that does not exist and for whom the laws of the United States do not apply. Little was a victim of a ploy known as paper terrorism, a favorite tactic of an extremist group that is one of the fastest growing, according to government experts and watchdog organizations. Known as the Moorish sovereign citizen movement, and loosely based around a theory that Black people are foreign citizens bound only by arcane legal systems, it encourages followers to violate existent laws in the name of empowerment. Experts say it lures marginalized people to its ranks with the false promise that they are above the law.” “‘The Moors claim to be about Black liberation and opportunity, and uplifting Black people,’ Little said in an interview. ‘But he is literally oppressing me and taking what’s mine as a Black woman.'”
• More on this: “Justice is served with a high BAC on this week’s What We Do In The Shadows. After a wild weekend in Atlantic City, the vampires go back to work on this week’s episode.”—”I’m sure the board game enthusiasts in the audience will take this week’s mild poke at their hobby with grace and good humor… …as will the Thelemites to a simplification of the meaning behind Aleister Crowley’s famous saying, ‘do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.'”
• “Damon Albarn is in his element at Shakespeare’s Globe. The musician’s melancholy songs came alive in a London show featuring tracks from his forthcoming album.”—”Countertenor Christopher Robson was guest vocalist for ‘Edward Kelley’ from Albarn’s score for the opera Dr Dee, about the Elizabethan alchemist John Dee. Adapting the style of Elizabethan composers such as John Dowland, it was not only appropriate to the Globe but also linked Albarn’s love of musical melancholy to older traditions of English songcraft.” Doesn’t look like the Edward Kelley track is on the album The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows [Amazon, YouTube, Apple], due November 2021, so, bummer. Oh, but, there is, however, the 2014 album Dr Dee [Amazon, Apple].
• Heh. It’s RT (the Daily Mail of Russian propaganda), but … “Is imperialism driven by demonic forces? History gives us good reason to think so“—”Whether it’s building kingdoms by way of aggression, war and plunder or the modern enslavement of people by financial institutions, there’s a genuine case to be made that imperialism is caused by the power of evil. Are Empires demonic entities? The British Empire was invented by magician John Dee – a well-documented fact. He came up with the phrase and suggested it to Queen Elizabeth I. The story goes that he had conjured up a demon who inspired that imperial vision. Not bloody likely, of course, but the link between the demonic – the power of evil – and imperialism seems well-grounded.”
• “Green Lung’s Top 10 Occult Rock Albums. From Coven’s Satanic rites to the drug-fugged doom of Electric Wizard, here are Green Lung’s top ten favourite occult rock albums.”—”Throughout the years, occultism has been an ever-present source of inspiration for many artists, aiding them with a bottomless pool of ideas ranging from curious aesthetics to enchanting lyrics about hidden worlds and forgotten ways of life. Green Lung, whose name refers to the pagan ideal of living as part of nature at its core, stand as one of numerous bands who have explored this esoteric bounty. Professing to largely pull inspiration from the image of a local “village witch” rather than the bewildering and often dark workings of infamous occultist Aleister Crowley, Green Lung divulge into the albums that have crafted their own understanding of what it means to be an occult rock musician.”
• “Sensor is Junji Ito’s Most Ambitious Cosmic Horror Tale Yet—”Sensor is the latest horror manga by Junji Ito and one of his best, a sprawling, meandering serialized story that unites many of his usual themes to create a saga of cosmic horror and existential dread.” “Sensor is his longest story for a while, a serialized story that features divergence from the main plot to allow for more weirdness in the tangents—themes of Gnosticism and Lovecraftian cosmic horror loom larger than ever. To Ito, the universe is filled with malevolent forces out to get us, and there are more than enough people who want to help them. Ito’s slightly retrograde gender politics are at play here: the woman becomes a kind of cosmic Madonna symbolizing feminine mercy in contrast to another woman who stalks the reporter as a symbol of Ito’s – and Japanese men’s – fear of aggressive female sexuality. In his afterword, Ito talked of how the characters frequently refused to behave how he wanted them to and followed their own paths, which resulted in a sprawling, unpredictable story full of turns even he didn’t expect. He just had to put them on paper. He credits his editor with helping him wrestle the story into something that held together and reached a logical, satisfying ending. This highlights the importance of manga editors in helping creators shape their stories into something readable. Ito may feel Sensor is his failed attempt to find an answer to why the universe exists, but the journey is as grotesque, insane, and horrific as ever, and that’s what we read him for.” About Sensor [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library]—”Horror master Junji Ito explores a new frontier with a grand cosmic horror tale in which a mysterious woman has her way with the world! A woman walks alone at the foot of Mount Sengoku. A man appears, saying he’s been waiting for her, and invites her to a nearby village. Surprisingly, the village is covered in hairlike volcanic glass fibers, and all of it shines a bright gold. At night, when the villagers perform their custom of gazing up at the starry sky, countless unidentified flying objects come raining down on them—the opening act for the terror about to occur!”
• The Goblin Market Tarot: In Search of Faery Gold [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher] by John Matthews, illo. Charles Newington, due November 2021—”An outstanding new Tarot from John Matthews inspired by the Victorian poem Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti, beautifully illustrated by the renowned artist Charles Newington. The only Tarot to explore fully the whole world of faeries, including its more shadowy aspects – the goblins. This is a faery tarot with a difference, uncompromising in its portrayal of faeries as they really are: sly, frequently cruel, cleverer than humans and full of secrets, rather than the whimsical, sweet-natured creatures beloved of the Victorians and the New Age. It’s the world of Christina Rossetti’s The Goblin Market, a place where all denizens of the Otherworld come to buy and sell, to mingle and exchange gossip. It is a place unsafe for humans. But imagine if you could look through a window onto the scene, as Christina Rossetti does in her poem? Imagine the beings you would see there … Here is a tarot of wit and wickedness, of challenge and uncertainty, of wonder and truth. This 80-card deck with 176-page guidebook offers as the Major Arcana a gallery of strange and wonderful creatures, from the Faery Queen to the Wiseman, plus intriguing motifs from the poem, such as the Secret Way and the Fallen Tree. Minor suits represent magical implements, fruits, flowers and elements. Enter a haunted, magical world – an enchanting landscape of falling towers, crumbling walls and tangled woods, of streams tumbling amongst mossy stones, of fallen trees and bones threaded with vines and spiked roses. Prepare to be enspelled … and to discover the answers to your questions and dilemmas.”
• What A 1921 Texas Flood Tells Us About The Latino Climate Struggle Today. A new book, ‘West Side Rising,’ tells the story of the storm that ravaged San Antonio’s Latino community and gave rise to a political movement still growing today.” About West Side Rising: How San Antonio’s 1921 Flood Devastated a City and Sparked a Latino Environmental Justice Movement [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Char Miller, foreword by Julián Castro—”On September 9, 1921, a tropical depression stalled just north of San Antonio and within hours overwhelmed its winding network of creeks and rivers. Floodwaters ripped through the city’s Latino West Side neighborhoods, killing more than eighty people. Meanwhile a wall of water crashed into the central business district on the city’s North Side, wreaking considerable damage. The city’s response to this disaster shaped its environmental policies for the next fifty years, carving new channels of power. Decisions about which communities would be rehabilitated and how thoroughly were made in the political arena, where the Anglo elite largely ignored the interlocking problems on the impoverished West Side that flowed from poor drainage, bad housing, and inadequate sanitation. Instead the elite pushed for the $1.6 million construction of the Olmos Dam, whose creation depended on a skewed distribution of public benefits in one of America’s poorest big cities. The discriminatory consequences, channeled along ethnic and class lines, continually resurfaced until the mid-1970s, when Communities Organized for Public Services, a West Side grassroots organization, launched a successful protest that brought much-needed flood control to often inundated neighborhoods. This upheaval, along with COPS’s emergence as a power broker, disrupted Anglo domination of the political landscape to more accurately reflect the city’s diverse population. West Side Rising is the first book focused squarely on San Antonio’s enduring relationship to floods, which have had severe consequences for its communities of color in particular. Examining environmental, social, and political histories, Char Miller demonstrates that disasters can expose systems of racism, injustice, and erasure and, over time, can impel activists to dismantle these inequities. He draws clear lines between the environmental injustices embedded in San Antonio’s long history and the emergence of grassroots organizations that combated the devastating impact floods could have on the West Side.”
• “Answering a century-old question on the origins of life. The missing link isn’t a not-yet-discovered fossil, after all. It’s a tiny, self-replicating globule called a coacervate droplet, developed by two researchers in Japan to represent the evolution of chemistry into biology.”—”‘Chemical evolution was first proposed in the 1920s as the idea that life first originated with the formation of macromolecules from simple small molecules, and those macromolecules formed molecular assemblies that could proliferate,’ said first-author Muneyuki Matsuo, assistant professor of chemistry in the Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life at Hiroshima University. ‘Since then, many studies have been conducted to verify the RNA world hypothesis — where only self-replicating genetic material existed prior to the evolution of DNA and proteins — experimentally. However, the origin of molecular assemblies that proliferate from small molecules has remained a mystery for about a hundred years since the advent of the chemical evolution scenario. It has been the missing link between chemistry and biology in the origin of life.'”
• “Organic Molecule Remnants Found in Nuclei of Ancient Dinosaur Cells“—”A team of scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and from the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature (STM) has isolated exquisitely preserved cartilage cells in a 125-million-year-old dinosaur from Northeast China that contain nuclei with remnants of organic molecules and chromatin.” “The scientists extracted a piece of distal articular cartilage from the right femur of this specimen, decalcified it, and used different microscopy and chemical methods to analyze it. They realized that all the cells had been mineralized by silicification after the death of the animal. This silicification is most likely what allowed the excellent preservation of these cells.”
• Tweet thread—”Fun paper on the arXiv tonight, the discovery paper of the ‘mega-comet’ C/2014 UN271! Led by @phbernardinelli and Bernstein. I was involved in my first foray into solar system science, thanks to the magic of social media and the capabilities of @NASA_TESS.” Tweet thread—”New paper on arXiv tonight, analyzing the DES (and some others) data on C/2014 UN271 (BB), with a special contribution from @benmontet. We took a deep dive into the data, and figured some interesting things out.”
• “Hawaii’s Kīlauea Volcano Erupts as New Lake of Lava Forms. A stunning lava lake has formed in the crater of Kīlauea as the USGS and National Park Service monitor the eruption and what could come next.”
• More about this: “What ‘extinction’ really means — and what it leaves out. The US declared the ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 other species extinct. The story doesn’t end there.”—”Nearly two dozen species, including the iconic ivory-billed woodpecker and several kinds of freshwater mussels, were declared extinct this week by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, after years of surveys failed to turn up any of them. The 23 species on the list — which include animals and one plant — join another 650 or so species in the US that have been deemed lost to extinction or that scientists haven’t seen for decades. The announcement garnered widespread media coverage, and for a good reason: Extinction is forever, as they say, and 23 is the largest number of extinctions the agency has ever declared at one time — not to mention, ornithologists have been debating for years about whether or not the ivory-billed woodpecker is gone for good. But some researchers argue that the term ‘extinction’ — which is a focus for conservation groups trying to drum up support for their causes — underplays the vast scale of global biodiversity loss, and runs the risk of limiting interest and investment in the natural world. By the time we hear about species going extinct, there’s often little we can do to stop it.”
• Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. “US Army backs ‘sleeping cap’ to help brains take out the trash. Rice, Houston Methodist, Baylor College of Medicine designing noninvasive tech to aid removal of metabolic waste.”—”Engineers at Rice University’s NeuroEngineering Initiative in partnership with the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering (IBB) and physicians at Houston Methodist Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine will develop a ‘sleeping cap’ to analyze the cleansing flow of fluid that drains the brain of common metabolic waste during sleep.” “Ultimately, the team aims to develop a lightweight, portable skullcap that can analyze and stimulate proper flow to treat sleep disorders in real time.”
• “Looking to lose weight? Diet drinks might not be the sweet spot, according to new USC study“—”A synthetic aftertaste might not be the only side effect of switching to diet soda, especially if you’re trying to lose weight. Drinks that contain the artificial sweetener sucralose may increase food cravings and appetite in women and people who are obese, according to a new study by led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Just published in JAMA Network Open, the study is one of the largest to date to examine the effects of an artificial sweetener, also called a nonnutritive sweetener (NNS), on brain activity and appetite responses in different segments of the population.”
• “New treatment uses reverse vaccination to teach immune system not to attack life-saving drugs. Treatment prevents development of antibodies against drugs for hemophilia A and Pompe disease; could be applied to autoimmune disorders and allergies.”
• “AI-driven dynamic face mask adapts to exercise, pollution levels.”
• “Ageing the Unageable: UEA Researchers Develop New Way to Age Lobsters. Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have identified a way of determining the age of a lobster based on its DNA.”
• “Earliest Evidence of Human Activity Found in the Americas. Footprints at White Sands National Park in New Mexico confirm human presence over at least two millennia, with the oldest tracks dating back 23,000 years.”
• “A New Solid-state Battery Surprises the Researchers Who Created It. Engineers create a high performance all-solid-state battery with a pure-silicon anode.”—”Engineers created a new type of battery that weaves two promising battery sub-fields into a single battery. The battery uses both a solid state electrolyte and an all-silicon anode, making it a silicon all-solid-state battery. The initial rounds of tests show that the new battery is safe, long lasting, and energy dense. It holds promise for a wide range of applications from grid storage to electric vehicles.”
• I mean, because of course it is. “Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is a ‘toxic’ workplace, some current and ex-workers claim in essay. Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is described as a ‘toxic’ workplace, according to an essay by 21 current and former employees. The essay claims that the company pushes workers to sign strict nondisclosure agreements, stifles internal feedback, disregards safety concerns, and creates a sexist environment for women. Blue Origin responded that it ‘has no tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind’ and ‘promptly’ investigates claims of misconduct.”
• “Activision Blizzard Strikes An $18 Million Deal Over Its Workplace Harassment Lawsuit.”
• Unlikely to help the little people much, but it was a shot across the bow, I suppose? “Disney settles Scarlett Johansson lawsuit over ‘Black Widow’ streaming strategy. But the terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.”
• Solidarity! “An IATSE Strike Would Shut Down Film and TV Production Coast to Coast.” Also “Hollywood faces new crisis in strike threat from off-screen workers who keep productions running.” Also “Hollywood crews are poised to strike over brutal working conditions: Here’s what you should know.” Also “Strike looms over labor conditions on TV and film productions by big streaming services“—”A dispute over working conditions at “new media” properties like Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV and others may shut down productions across the country if a strike vote by the union succeeds. Thousands of workers on and off set claim they are not receiving appropriate wages, breaks, safety measures and other needs due to a contractual loophole exempting these companies from established film and TV production labor standards.”
• “How robots can tell how clean is ‘clean’. By giving the touch-and-inspect method a smart update, SUTD researchers have designed a sensor for autonomous cleaning robots that can quantify the cleanliness of a given area.” Also “How the team at ROAR conceives the robot of the future through critical design thinking.”
• “Amazon says workers and applicants fired or barred during marijuana screening are now eligible for employment. Amazon said it has “reinstated the employment eligibility” for former workers or applicants who were fired or deferred during marijuana screenings. Amazon ended pre-employment marijuana screenings for most job applicants in June. The company is also lobbying the federal government to legalize marijuana.” Of course, “It also realized that doing so would help it lure more job applicants in an increasingly tight labor market.” So, you know, self-interest über alles, but paint it as rosy as possible.
• “‘Mandates Are Working’: Employer Ultimatums Lift Vaccination Rates, So Far. In California and New York, where mandates for health care workers have gone into effect, many are complying.”
• “Insomnia, Grinding And Nightmares: How To Deal With COVID Sleep Problems. Experts reveal the most common ways COVID-related stress has disrupted our sleep cycles and how to fix them.”
• “Shrinking Waveforms on Electrocardiograms Predict Worsening Health and Death of Hospitalized COVID-19 and Influenza Patients. Spotting changes in the heart’s electrical activity may prompt more-aggressive treatment and monitoring.”
• “YouTube Finally Bans All Anti-Vaccine Content. The streaming video site said it’s also banned a number of high-profile anti-vaccine channels.”
• “UK Officer Accused Of Citing COVID To Detain Slaying Victim. Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared at London’s Central Criminal Court charged with the abduction, rape and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard.”—”A serving London police officer handcuffed a woman on the pretext that she broke COVID-19 lockdown rules before he kidnapped and killed her, a prosecutor said Wednesday.”
• “Breastmilk Could Protect Babies – And Adults – From Covid. Here’s How. Breastmilk from mums who’ve caught the virus retains key antibodies 10 months after infection.”—”Mothers who’ve been infected with Covid-19 continue to pass antibodies via their breastmilk for 10 months, new research suggests. The study, led by immunologist Dr Rebecca Powell, suggests breastmilk can offer infants protection from the virus for almost a year. The researchers also believe breastmilk could be used in the treatment of Covid-19 patients, potentially cutting the number of adults needing intensive care.”
• “Infowars’ Alex Jones liable for damages in Sandy Hook lawsuits, judge rules. Jury will now consider damages after far-right conspiracy theorist failed to produce documents for the court cases.”
• Just tell the judge it’s against Twitter’s religious convictions, maybe? “Trump asks U.S. judge to force Twitter to restart his account. Trump filed a request for preliminary injunction against Twitter in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Twitter and several other social media platforms banned Trump from their services after a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in a deadly riot on Jan. 6.”
• “Panel Subpoenas 11 in Capitol Riot Inquiry, Eyeing Jan. 6 Rally Planners. The second round of subpoenas issued by the House select committee investigating the attack signaled that it was moving aggressively to go after crucial witnesses.”
• “Memo Reveals Trump Campaign Knew Voting Machine Claims Were Baseless. The memo shows that Trump’s people were aware early on that there was no proof the 2020 election had been rigged.”
• “Trump May Have Let Slip Details Of His Election Scheme As He Attacked Georgia Governor. Trump said he wanted a ‘special election’ in Georgia — part of an idea pushed by some advisers to use the military to force a redo of elections in states he lost.”
• “School Boards Ask Biden to Review Threats and Violence as Possible ‘Domestic Terrorism’“—”A group representing local school boards says the federal government should review violence and threats involving schools to see if they violate federal statutes about domestic terrorism and hate crimes, amid ongoing tension and anger about COVID-19 policies.”
• “Knox County Cancels School After Anti-Mask Advocates Threaten Disruptive Protests. Video from a gathering Sunday shows one man urging others to use their cars to block school entrances.”
• “Newsom signs bill enabling return of seized Bruce’s Beach to descendants of original Black owners“—”California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Thursday allowing ownership of a prime beachfront property to be transferred to heirs of a couple who built a resort for Black people in the early 1900s but were stripped of the land by local officials.”
• “He Was Nearly Executed 4 Years Ago. Now A Texas Appeals Court Has Tossed His Conviction. Clinton Young, on death row 18 years, insists he’s innocent. The revelation that his prosecutor was on the judge’s payroll could give him another chance to prove it.”
• “Los Angeles DA moves to dismiss nearly 60,000 marijuana convictions. The new dismissals mean the possibility of better futures for thousands of people, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said.”
• “Three Polish regions repeal ‘LGBT-free’ declarations.”—”Three Polish regional councils voted on Monday to repeal motions declaring their provinces ‘LGBT-free zones,’ state-run news agency PAP reported, after the European Union threatened to withdraw funding. Numerous local authorities in Poland declared themselves free of “LGBT ideology” in 2019, part of a conflict in the predominantly Catholic country between liberals and religious conservatives, who see the struggle for gay rights as a threat to traditional values. This set Poland on a collision course with the European Commission, which says the zones may violate EU law regarding non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.”
• “VA tells veterans discharged under ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ they are eligible for all VA benefits“—”The Veterans Affairs Department issued guidance stating military service members who were discharged because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status under the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy are eligible for all Veterans Affairs benefits.”
• “The End of Excellence. Inside the empty thinking of America’s executive class.”—”And lest you think that GE is one big bumbling exception, they’re not. Big business’s widespread, painfully unimaginative conversion to finance is the rule. Apple is now an intellectual property broker and, primarily, a hedge fund. Airlines make money by selling their own currency: airline points. Major retailers like Macy’s rely heavily on profits from their proprietary credit cards.”
• “The Pressures Of The Small Coffee Biz: ‘I Feel Like Capitalism Is Killing Us’. Areli Barrera Grodski started out with $75 and has grown her business exponentially, but the Latina shares her many challenges, from representation to racism.”
• “Navient is quitting the federal student loan business“—”Embattled student loan servicer Navient announced this week that it is getting out of the federal student loan business, pending government approval. If it gets the authorization, about 6 million loan borrowers will be sending their monthly payments to a new servicer. Navient plans to transfer those loans to Maximus, a company that already contracts with the Department of Education to service student loans in default.” “Navient was sued in 2017 for allegedly processing payments incorrectly by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when Cordray was at the helm of that federal agency. Navient has denied the allegations and the lawsuit is ongoing. It has also faced lawsuits from several state attorneys general.”
• “This 5-Minute Workout Will Improve Your Posture If You Sit All Day. Stretch away the stiffness and build core strength with this quick circuit.”
• “I Gave Up On Love, And It Was One Of The Best Decisions I Ever Made. A year after my last date, my world probably looks the same from the outside. What’s different is how I’m now experiencing my life.”—”I spent years trying to understand what was wrong with me. I saw therapists and life coaches, read self-help books and tarot cards. I even let a friend persuade me to buy an extra toothbrush for the partner I had to ‘conjure’ into my world. At times I drank too much. Ate poorly. Cried frequently. When I imagined not doing these things anymore, decades of stress lifted. I suddenly realized how much space there was in my life when fretting over my romantic status was no longer part of it. I learned how joyful life could be if I filled each moment with activities I wanted to do for my own pleasure or prosperity, and not because I might find the love of my life. How liberating to not only put myself first but also prioritize myself exclusively. How much healthier I could be. How much happier.” “Being single is not necessarily better than being partnered, at least not for me. Not yet. But there is still life. Lots of it. And whether or not someone comes, I want to live it.”
• More on this: “‘Babylon 5’ Series Reboot From J. Michael Straczynski In Works At the CW“—”A new version of the Emmy-winning space opera television series Babylon 5 is in the works. The CW has put in development Babylon 5, described as a “from-the-ground-up reboot” of the critically acclaimed 1990s series, from original series creator J. Michael Straczynski and Warner Bros. Television. Written by Straczynski, the reboot revolves around John Sheridan (played by Bruce Boxleitner in the original series), an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, who is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space, a port of call for travelers, smugglers, corporate explorers and alien diplomats at a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war. His arrival triggers a destiny beyond anything he could have imagined, as an exploratory Earth company accidentally triggers a conflict with a civilization a million years ahead of us, putting Sheridan and the rest of the B5 crew in the line of fire as the last, best hope for the survival of the human race.”
• Watch “Official Trailer | La Brea” “The only way to get home is together. La Brea premieres Tuesday, September 28 at 9/8c on NBC.” It’s kinda like a Lost and Land of the Lost mashup.
• Ugh. Meh. “‘Law & Order’ Revived By NBC For Season 21 From Dick Wolf & Rick Eid“—”Eleven and a half years after NBC abruptly canceled Law & Order, denying its shot at making TV history, the network is bringing back Dick Wolf’s Emmy-winning series for a new season, its 21st. NBC has greenlighted a new installment of Law & Order, from Wolf and writer-showrunner Rick Eid, which will continue the classic bifurcated format and will once again examine ‘the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.’ There is no cast set but the new season is expected to feature beloved characters from the original series, with Sam Waterson’s Jack McCoy believed to be at the top of the wish list. The producers from Universal Television and Wolf Entertainment are expected to reach out to former cast member shortly about coming back. Some Law & Order stars are currently in the Wolf Entertainment/Uni TV fold, including S. Epatha Merkerson on Chicago Med and Alana De La Garza on FBI.”
• Yay! “Tony Hale’s Mysterious Benedict Society Renewed for Season 2 at Disney+”
• “FX’s ‘Shogun’ Update Sets Full Cast. Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai and Cosmo Jarvis will star in the limited series based on James Clavell’s novel, which has begun production.”—”Shōgun was previously adapted for a 1980 miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain, which told the story mostly through the eyes of his character, an English sailor named John Blackthorne. In discussing the series order in 2018, FX Networks chief John Landgraf said the new version would explore ‘a whole lot of point of view that was omitted from the original series because it was thought at that time that American audiences wouldn’t want to see the story from the Japanese point of view. And now, I think you have to tell the story from the Japanese as well as Western point of view.'”
• “‘Squid Game’ Is Gleefully Vicious and Violent, but Succeeds Best in Its Mundane Moments. Netflix’s South Korean survival thriller never makes its action look glamorous. Its intensity comes from feeling that you’ve gone beyond the end point of a chain of absurdist logic and you really might not want to see what comes next.” Also “‘Squid Game’: Wondering if You Would Survive? Here’s What to Read. “Squid Game” just took over the world (and social media). Here are some of the best takes and trivia.” Also “S.Korea broadband firm sues Netflix after traffic surge from ‘Squid Game’.” Also “A Korean man is being inundated with over 4,000 calls a day after his phone number was used on Netflix hit ‘Squid Game’. A Korean man said he gets over 4,000 calls a day after his phone number was used on “Squid Game.” “Squid Game” is a new Netflix hit series about a deadly survival game based on kids’ games. A South Korean presidential candidate has offered to buy the number off the man for $85,000.” Hahahaha, wow.
• “Carole Baskin Is Back: Netflix Confirms ‘Tiger King 2’ Is On The Way. The sequel promises more of eccentric zookeeper and big cat collector Joe Exotic, who is now in prison for murder-for-hire and animal trafficking.”
• “‘No Time To Die’ Director Points Out How Sean Connery’s James Bond Was A Creep. Cary Fukunaga cited a disturbing scene in the franchise’s past ‘that wouldn’t fly today.'”
• “‘Let the Right One In’ Starring Demián Bichir Ordered to Series at Showtime“—”Showtime has ordered the American version of ‘Let the Right One In’ to series, Variety has learned. The 10-episode series, based on the hit Swedish novel and film of the same name, was originally ordered to pilot at the premium cabler back in March. It is expected to go into production in New York City in early 2022. Demián Bichir leads the cast, which also includes Anika Noni Rose, Grace Gummer, Madison Taylor Baez, Kevin Carroll, Ian Foreman, and Jacob Buster. ‘Let the Right One In’ centers on Mark (Bichir) and his daughter Eleanor (Baez) whose lives were changed forever 10 years earlier when she was turned into a vampire. Locked in at age 12, perhaps forever, Eleanor lives a closed-in life, able to go out only at night, while her father does his best to provide her with the human blood she needs to stay alive.” Wait. Oh no. WTF? That’s not the story! Ugh.
• Watch “The Long Dark — Episode Four — FURY, THEN SILENCE — Teaser.” Also “DEV DIARY – SEPTEMBER 2021.”
• Watch “Greek Island Odyssey with Bettany Hughes | Knowledge Network”—”Inspired by Odysseus, Bettany Hughes embarks on an epic journey from eastern Greece to Ithaca, learning the truths behind Greek myths and legends along the way.” Also watch an epidode “Crete’s Minoan Secret: A History Of Civilisation | Island Of The Minotaur | Odyssey“—”The mysterious island of Crete has always loomed large in imagination, as the home of the Minotaur — that monstrous creature, half-man half-bull — imprisoned in Daedalus’ labyrinth. Before Crete collapsed in fire and violence, it gave birth to Europe’s first civilisation nearly 5,000 years ago, and boasted an advanced, prosperous Mediterranean civilisation.” “Odyssey is your journey into the world of classical antiquity; from the dawn of Ancient Greece to the Fall of Rome. We’ll be bringing you only the best documentaries that journey into the mysteries and ruins of worlds long lost.”
• “William Shatner’s TekWar Novels May Trek Into Animation. Pure Imagination Studios has a very ambitious plan for its adaptation of the cyberpunk series.”
• “Netflix scoops up Oxenfree developer Night School. The streaming giant continues its push into games.”
• Strike groups from the 30-50 Wild Hogs in Italy are spreading into Spain! “Shakira Says A Pair Of Wild Boars Attacked Her And Tried To Steal Her Stuff. The singer said the porcine thieves accosted her in a Barcelona park and made off with her bag.”
• “Dolly Parton Reacts In The Most Dolly Parton Way To Lil’ Nas X’s ‘Jolene’. ‘I was so excited when someone told me that Lil Nas X had done my song,’ the country legend tweeted.”

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