An irregular hodgepodge of links gathered together … Omnium Gatherum for January 5, 2022

It’s the first Omnium Gatherum of the month, so, here on the blog, hello again to all Patrons! And, in a year, hello to everyone else!

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

• Watch “Welcome to MOVE – A 30 Day Yoga Journey | Yoga With Adriene”—”Join me for a group breath. Let us gather. Today is orientation day! This welcome video contains some tips to support you on your 30 Day Yoga Journey. We also ask the question, ‘What do I want to move towards?'”
• “Save these dates! Astronomical events for astrophotographers in 2022. From eclipses to supermoons, there are lots of out-of-this-world opportunities for astrophotographers in 2022.”
• Public Domain Day! “Winnie-the-Pooh, an Ernest Hemingway Classic and a Massive Library of Sound Recordings Will Enter the Public Domain on January 1.” Also thread: “Hello! Good morning! Happy New Year, for those who are celebrating! It’s #publicdomainday, and the following is a list of the best characters from the pulps who were created in 1926 and thus fall into the public domain starting today. 1/78.” Also “Public Domain 2022: Join us 20 January for a Celebration of Sound.” Also “Happy Public Domain Day 2022!”
• Peacock Angel: The Esoteric Tradition of the Yezidis [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Peter Lamborn Wilson , due April, 2022. This is a re-issue. “An examination of the beliefs and history of the secretive Yezidi sect. Explains how the Yezidis worship Melek Ta’us, the Peacock Angel, an enigmatic figure often identified as “the devil” or Satan, yet who has been redeemed by God to rule a world of beauty and spiritual realization. Examines Yezidi antinomian doctrines of opposition, their cosmogony, their magical lore and taboos, the role of angels, ritual, and symbology, and how the Yezidi faith relates to other occult traditions such as alchemy. Presents the first English translation of the poetry of Caliph Yazid ibn Muawiya, venerated by the Yezidis as Sultan Ezi. The Yezidis are an ancient people who live in the mountainous regions on the borders of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. This secretive culture worships Melek Ta’us, the Peacock Angel, an enigmatic figure often identified as “the devil” or Satan, hence the sect is known as devil-worshippers and has long been persecuted. Presenting a study of the interior, esoteric dimensions of Yezidism, Peter Lamborn Wilson examines the sect’s antinomian doctrines of opposition, its magical lore and taboos, and its relation to other occult traditions such as alchemy. He explains how the historical founder of this sect was a Sufi of Ummayad descent, Sheik Adi ibn Musafir, who settled in this remote region around 1111 AD and found a pre-Islamic sect already settled here. Sheik Adi was so influenced by the original sect that he departed from orthodox Islam, and by the 15th century the sect was known to worship the Peacock Angel, Melek Ta’us, with all its “Satanic” connotations. Revealing the spiritual flowering that occurs in an oral culture, the author examines Yezidi cosmogony, how they are descended from the androgynous Adam–before Eve was created–as well as the role of angels, ritual, alchemy, symbology, and color in Yezidi religion. He also presents the first English translation of the poetry of Caliph Yazid ibn Muawiya, venerated by the Yezidis as Sultan Ezi. Showing the Yezidi sect to be a syncretic faith of pre-Islamic, Zoroastrian, Christian, Pagan, Sufi, and other influences, Wilson reveals how these worshippers of the Peacock Angel do indeed worship “the Devil”–but the devil is not “evil.” God has redeemed him, and he rules a world of beauty and spiritual realization.”
• The Bavarian Illuminati: The Rise and Fall of the World’s Most Secret Society [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by René Le Forestier, trans. by Jon E Graham, due in a few days—”The definitive history of the Bavarian Order of the Illuminati and their founder, Adam Weishaupt. Details the rise and fall of this famous and infamous Order, including its penetration of Bavarian society and its destruction by the Bavarian government. Explains the Bavarian Illuminati’s grades, rituals, ceremonies, and fundamental philosophies and examines the leaders of the Order. Contains the only surviving record of documents that were destroyed during the two World Wars. The most celebrated secret society in the world, the original Order of the Illuminati was founded by Bavarian professor Adam Weishaupt in 1776. Although the Order was banned and brought down by the Bavarian Elector when he became aware of the extent to which it had infiltrated the courts, schools, and his own administration. Charting the rise and fall of this infamous Order, this book first published in French in 1915 and never before available in English remains the definitive history of the order of the Bavarian Illuminati and their founder, Adam Weishaupt. Many of the documents the author consulted for the writing of this book were destroyed during the two World Wars, making this book the only surviving record of many of the order’s secrets. It is also significant for its history of contemporary Masonic Orders such as the Templar Strict Observance and Von Hund’s Templar Freemasonry. The author explains the Bavarian Illuminati’s grades, rituals, and ceremonies as well as its fundamental philosophies. He examines the leaders of the Order, including Weishaupt, Baron Knigge, and Xavier von Zwack. He reveals how Weishaupt early on decided to subvert the existing German Freemason Lodge as a shortcut to gain esoteric hegemony over the occult world, all in order to extend Illuminati influence into the society at large and the government. The author also provides extensive detail of the Order’s eventual destruction by the Bavarian government. In addition to its revelation of little known secrets of the Illuminati Order, the author also sheds new light on much of the occult life of this time, including the activities of figures such as Cagliostro and Mirabeau and other active groups such as Freemason chapters, the Rosicrucians, and the Martinists.”
• Greek Myths: A New Retelling [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Charlotte Higgins, drawings by Chris Ofili, due in a couple days—”A brilliantly original, landmark retelling of Greek myths, recounted as if they were actual scenes being woven into textiles by the women who feature prominently in them—including Athena, Helen, Circe and Penelope. ‘Greek myths were full of powerful witches, unpredictable gods and sword-wielding slayers. They were also extreme: about families who turn murderously on each other; impossible tasks set by cruel kings; love that goes wrong; wars and journeys and terrible loss. There was magic, there was shape-shifting, there were monsters, there were descents to the land of the dead. Humans and immortals inhabited the same world, which was sometimes perilous, sometimes exciting. The stories were obviously fantastical. All the same, brothers really do war with each other. People tell the truth but aren’t believed. Wars destroy the innocent. Lovers are parted. Parents endure the grief of losing children. Women suffer violence at the hands of men. The cleverest of people can be blind to what is really going on. The law of the land can contradict what you know to be just. Mysterious diseases devastate cities. Floods and fire tear lives apart. For the Greeks, the word muthos simply meant a traditional tale. In the twenty-first century, we have long left behind the political and religious framework in which these stories first circulated—but their power endures. Greek myths remain true for us because they excavate the very extremes of human experience: sudden, inexplicable catastrophe; radical reversals of fortune; and seemingly arbitrary events that transform lives. They deal, in short, in the hard, basic facts of the human condition.’—from the Introduction.”
• Echo [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, due February, 2022—”From international bestselling sensation Thomas Olde Heuvelt comes Echo, a thrilling descent into madness and obsession as one man confronts nature―and something even more ancient and evil answers back.” “Nature is calling―but they shouldn’t have answered. Travel journalist and mountaineer Nick Grevers awakes from a coma to find that his climbing buddy, Augustin, is missing and presumed dead. Nick’s own injuries are as extensive as they are horrifying. His face wrapped in bandages and unable to speak, Nick claims amnesia―but he remembers everything. He remembers how he and Augustin were mysteriously drawn to the Maudit, a remote and scarcely documented peak in the Swiss Alps. He remembers how the slopes of Maudit were eerily quiet, and how, when they entered its valley, they got the ominous sense that they were not alone. He remembers: something was waiting for them… But it isn’t just the memory of the accident that haunts Nick. Something has awakened inside of him, something that endangers the lives of everyone around him… It’s one thing to lose your life. It’s another to lose your soul.”
• “Beyond Sherlock Holmes: five Victorian detective stories you must read.”
• “Graphic Novel Production Schedules Are Too Short—and the Publishing Industry Should Care About It“—”The problem is the schedules. They’re too fast, too short, and place too much wear and tear on an artist’s body and mind.”
• “Perfectly preserved baby dinosaur discovered curled up inside its egg“—”An unprecedented fossil of a baby dinosaur curled up perfectly inside its egg is shedding more light on the links between dinosaurs and birds. The 70-million-year-old fossil preserves the embryonic skeleton of an oviraptorid dinosaur, which has been nicknamed Baby Yingliang after the name of the Chinese museum which houses the fossil. Baby dinosaur bones are small and fragile and are only very rarely preserved as fossils, making this a very lucky find, said Darla Zelenitsky, an associate professor in the department of geoscience at the University of Calgary in Canada. ‘It is an amazing specimen … I have been working on dinosaur eggs for 25 years and have yet to see anything like it,’ said Zelenitsky, a coauthor of the research that published in the journal iScience on Tuesday. ‘Up until now, little has been known of what was going on inside a dinosaur’s egg prior to hatching, as there are so few embryonic skeletons, particularly those that are complete and preserved in a life pose,’ she said in an email. The egg is around 17 centimeters (7 inches) long and the dinosaur was estimated to be 27 centimeters (11 inches) long from head to tail. The researchers believe as an adult, had it lived, it would have been about two to three meters long.”
• “Giant marine reptile skull discovery reveals new evolutionary theories“—”The discovery of a giant marine reptile skull in the United States has revealed new theories about the speed of evolution and how quickly the process can produce diversity. The giant ichthyosaur fossil — with a skull measuring almost two meters (6.6 feet) in length, an estimated body length of more than 17 meters (55.7 feet) and a weight of 45 tonnes – was found in Nevada. Ichthyosaurs are large extinct marine reptiles that dominated the sea more than 200 million years ago. Analysis of the skull of this particular ichthyosaur fossil has revealed a new species: Cymbospondylus youngorum.” Also “This Sea Lizard Had a Grand Piano-Size Head and a Big Appetite. Scientists have described a giant new species of ichthyosaur that evolved its 55-foot-long body size only a few million years after the lizards returned to the seas.”
• “Woolly mammoths survived on mainland North America until 5,000 years ago, DNA reveals. Environmental reconstructions reveal that mammoths persisted long after they disappeared from the fossil record.” Also “‘Extraordinary’ Mammoth Graveyard Discovered in England. Stone tools belonging to Neanderthals were also found at the 210,000-year-old site.”
• “Neanderthals may have cleared a European forest with fire or tools. When Neanderthals lived at a site called Neumark-Nord in Germany, the region had far fewer trees than surrounding areas, suggesting they may have cleared the forest on purpose.”
• “Here’s what we know sex with Neanderthals was like. Scientists know a surprising amount about the titillating episode in human history when our species got together, including whether we kissed and the nature of their sexual organs.” So, wait, hold on. The full meaning of this just occurred to me. All those recreated Neanderthals filling every natural history museum are … sex dolls?! Um. BRB. Going to go edjumacate ma self some.
• Watch “Prof. dr. Henk Barendrecht on Consciousness: flexibility, risk factor, wisdom“—”In the second presentation of the ‘Science of Consciousness’ conference 2021, Prof. dr. Henk Barendregt brings the rigor of mathematical logic to our understanding of consciousness and its various states and manifestations. For good measure, he also discusses Vipassana meditation within this formal context. ”
• “Israeli archaeologists find treasure trove among Mediterranean shipwrecks. Hundreds of Roman and medieval coins and artefacts uncovered near ancient city of Caesarea.”
• From the NOPE! dept: “Newly Discovered Millipede Is First With More Than 1,000 Legs. Despite their name, none of the leggy arthropods had made it to 1,000 legs before now. This one has 1,306.”
• Watch “Giving bug-like, flying robots a boost“—”A new fabrication technique, developed by a team of electrical engineers and computer scientists, produces low-voltage, power-dense artificial muscles that improve the performance of flying microrobots.”
• “Perseverance rover makes ‘completely unexpected’ volcanic discovery on Mars“—”Lava once flowed at the site of an ancient lake on Mars. The Perseverance rover landed on the planet just 10 months ago, but it has already made that surprising discovery.”
• “How NASA’s most powerful telescope ever will reveal unseen corners of the universe. The Christmas launch for the long-delayed James Webb Space Telescope goes off without a hitch. Here’s everything you need to know about the mission.” Also “Why the World’s Astronomers Are Very, Very Anxious Right Now. The James Webb Space Telescope is endowed with the hopes and trepidations of a generation of astronomers.”
• “Juno flyby reveals stunning new images of Jupiter, sounds of its moon Ganymede“—”The largest planet in our solar system appears to look more and more like a work of art. It’s full of surprises — and so are its moons. The NASA Juno mission, which began orbiting Jupiter in July 2016, just recently made its 38th close flyby of the gas giant. The mission was extended earlier this year, adding on a flyby of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede in June. The data and images from these flybys is rewriting everything we know about Jupiter, said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, during a briefing at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans on Friday. There, Bolton revealed 50 seconds of sound created when Juno flew by Ganymede over the summer. The clip of the moon’s audio was created by electric and magnetic radio waves produced by the planet’s magnetic field and picked up by the spacecraft’s Waves instrument, designed to detect these waves. The sounds are like a trippy space age soundtrack.” Listen “Audio of Juno’s Ganymede Flyby“—”This 50-second animation provides an auditory as well as visual glimpse at data collected by Juno’s Waves instrument as the spacecraft flew past the Jovian moon Ganymede on June 7, 2021. The abrupt change to higher frequencies around the midpoint of the recording represents the spacecraft’s move from one region of Ganymede’s magnetosphere to another. The audio track is made by shifting the frequency of those emissions — which range from 10 to 50 kHz — into the lower audio range.”
• More on this: “Comet Leonard has been dazzling the night sky in a pre-Christmas show“—”Comet Leonard, which last passed by Earth 80,000 years ago, has been dazzling the night sky before Christmas, and there’s only a few days left to see the celestial object before it disappears forever.” “It travels closest to the sun on January 3, taking it within 56 million miles (90 million kilometers) of our star, slightly more than half Earth’s distance. If it doesn’t disintegrate, its trajectory will fling it into interstellar space, never to return, said NASA.” Also “Comet Leonard, the brightest of the year, is fading and acting strange. Comet Leonard is not brightening like scientists thought it would.” Also there’s, apparently, a Twitter account for this? C/2021 A1 (Comet Leonard). At least as of Jan 4, it was still chuggin’ along!
• “This asteroid sample could reveal our solar system’s origin story“—”Just over a year after Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission returned the first subsurface sample of an asteroid to Earth, scientists have determined that the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu is a pristine remnant from the formation of our solar system. This was the first material to be returned to Earth from a carbon-rich asteroid. These asteroids can reveal how our cosmic corner of the universe was formed. The organic and hydrated minerals locked within these asteroids could also shed light on the origin of the building blocks of life.”
• Revenge! “Should Pluto be a planet again? The debate rages on. A group of researchers say Pluto was unfairly maligned by a decision to relegate it to ‘dwarf planet’ status — and that we should consider our solar system to have more than 150 planets.”
• “Astronomers discover largest group of ‘rogue planets’ yet. ‘Several billion of these free-floating giants’ could exist.”
• “Massive planet 10 times bigger than Jupiter discovered orbiting pair of giant stars. ‘Until now, no planets had been spotted around a star more than three times as massive as the Sun,’ wrote the European Southern Observatory.” Also “Massive planet found orbiting 2 of the hottest, most massive stars.”
• “Giant black hole inside a tiny satellite galaxy of our Milky Way defies explanation. ‘There is no explanation for this kind of black hole in dwarf spheroidal galaxies.'”
• From the TAANSTAAFL dept: “In 2022 a Moonrush will begin in earnest. Countries are racing to explore Earth’s closest neighbour.”
• “New FDA-approved eye drops could replace reading glasses for millions: ‘It’s definitely a life changer’.”
• “Taking Viagra cuts the risk of Alzheimer’s by up to 69% and it could be prescribed to beat dementia, study suggests“—”Scientists claim the love drug may help boost brain health and cut levels of toxic proteins that trigger dementia.”
• “Study can’t confirm lab results for many cancer experiments“—”Eight years ago, a team of researchers launched a project to carefully repeat early but influential lab experiments in cancer research. They recreated 50 experiments, the type of preliminary research with mice and test tubes that sets the stage for new cancer drugs. The results reported Tuesday: About half the scientific claims didn’t hold up. ‘The truth is we fool ourselves. Most of what we claim is novel or significant is no such thing,’ said Dr. Vinay Prasad, a cancer doctor and researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the project. It’s a pillar of science that the strongest findings come from experiments that can be repeated with similar results. In reality, there’s little incentive for researchers to share methods and data so others can verify the work, said Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers lose prestige if their results don’t hold up to scrutiny, she said.”
• Not just for generational terraforming of Ireland from rock into green anymore! “One farmer’s seaweed discovery could help slow methane emissions — and change the world“—”Dorgan knew instinctively that seaweed would be healthy for cows, but research revealed an unintended consequence: seaweed made cows less gassy.”
• “Uber Wants Drivers To Foot The Bill For Its Greenwashing. Uber worked with UK EV startup Arrival to create a new electric car specifically for ride-hailing firms. Convenient?”—”Uber has an awful record of exploiting workers. In the US, the ride-hailing firm and its rival Lyft have both backed bills to limits workers rights, and Uber only started offering its UK drivers pensions after a court ordered it. Despite successful efforts to avoid recognizing the people who do the labor that creates its revenue as ’employees,’ it’s still lost $25 billion dollars since 2016, and it’s not exactly clear how they plan to make money. But now, Uber is working with a UK electric vehicle startup to develop a battery-powered taxi that its drivers may one day have to buy.”
• “Read the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 developer’s deleted explanation for why you’re getting NFTs. GSC Game World was widely criticized for its NFT news on Wednesday.”
• “The NFT Ghouls Are Going Full Mask Off With Stan Lee and Bob Ross Collections. NFT profiteers want to cash in on Stan Lee and Bob Ross’ legacies with digital items nobody needs.”—”Earlier this year after the internet summarily denounced one NFT minter’s Oscar-season attempt at capitalizing on Chadwick Boseman’s death, it seemed for a brief moment that perhaps people might think better of engaging such transparently opportunistic and morally bankrupt routes. Unfortunately, that’s turned out to be anything but the case, and now that big brands are going all in on these untouchable tokens, it seems as if things are only getting worse. Because Stan Lee, Bob Ross, and Dr. Seuss are all dead, none of them can share their opinions about having their likenesses and legacies co-opted by the three different companies that have recently announced NFT collections tied to the creators’ works. This week, NFT production houses (because that’s a thing now, apparently) Orange Comet and Dapper Labs, as well as Funko shared their plans to offer up different NFT collections they hope people will want to give up their hard-earned cash for.”
• Tweet—”This is fucking wild. Norton “Antivirus” now sneakily installs cryptomining software on your computer, and then SKIMS A COMMISSION.” Also “FAQ: Norton Crypto.” Apparently, other than opting out, Norton controls most of the settings too.
• “China harvests masses of data on Western targets, documents show. Hundreds of projects launched since 2020 show that Chinese police, state media and the military are gathering data from sites including Twitter and Facebook to track perceived threats.”
• “Strong encryption with a 10-sided die ? Dec 30 – Jan 2” [PDF]
• “Thieves can use AirTags to track and steal your car from your driveway“—”Earlier this year, Apple launched the AirTag tracker, and the device became quite popular with users. Like Tile trackers, AirTags can help you locate any objects that you tag them with. Unlike Tile, Apple uses the hundreds of millions of iPhones in the wild to locate any lost or stolen devices. The AirTags ping nearby iPhones anonymously, and the phones then send location data to the AirTag owner. Nobody else gets that location information. Not even Apple. These privacy and security features are so good that criminals are now finding ways to use the AirTag technology to commit crimes. Specifically, thieves use Apple’s AirTag to tag a car in a public parking lot and track it to the owner’s home. They then steal the vehicle from the driveway rather than risking a heist from a more public location.”
• Apple is at it again! “Tumblr blocks tags for ‘sensitive content’ in order to stay on the App Store. iOS users won’t be able to search for a lot of terms on the website’s app.”
• “Walmart illegally dumps 1m toxic items in landfills yearly, lawsuit claims. California attorney general accuses retail giant of failing to properly dispose of items including batteries, cleaning supplies and electronic waste.”
• Because when Valve acquired Left 4 Dead, that worked out so well, smdh: “Tencent is acquiring Back 4 Blood developer Turtle Rock Studios. Tencent is behind some of the biggest games on the planet.”
• “Snotty-nosed hippos test positive for coronavirus in Belgium, the first known cases in species. It is unclear how Imani, 14, and Hermien, 41, contracted the virus.”
• “The Coronavirus Attacks Fat Tissue, Scientists Find. The research may help explain why people who are overweight and obese have been at higher risk of severe illness and death from Covid.”
• “Massive New Bird Flu Outbreak Could Be 2022’s Deadly Pandemic. DOES NOT AUGUR WELL. In the Galilee, migrating cranes infected with H5N1 are dying by the thousand, raising fears of a global pandemic.”
• “No more annual flu shot? Scripps Research and collaborators find new target for universal influenza vaccine. A new antibody discovered in the blood of some people vaccinated against or infected with influenza can recognize a broad variety of flu viruses.”
• “Experimental mRNA HIV vaccine safe, shows promise in animals. NIH scientists developed vaccine platform.”
• Thread—”‘The CDC now says that…’ jk, I’m here to give you historical examples of federal science agencies leaving science and public health behind. This is NOT to discredit any institution, but just to nail down the point that science is, was, and will always be, political (1/10).”
• “How to Prepare for a Solar Flare Hitting Earth (Because It’s Probably Going to Happen). Other than destroying the sun, there’s nothing we can do to prevent solar flares—but we can prepare for them.”
• “Reality Winner and the debate over the Espionage Act“—”Former election officials at the federal and state level told 60 Minutes that, while they do not condone Winner’s violating her security clearance, her leak helped contribute to more secure elections in 2018 and 2020. When Pelley asked Winner her motivation for leaking the NSA document, she told him she never meant to cause harm. ‘My only intent,’ she said, ‘was that maybe one person could restore the foundation of truth and integrity in a really tumultuous year.'”
• “Since Jan. 6, the pro-Trump Internet has descended into infighting over money and followers. Pro-Trump and QAnon influencers have squabbled bitterly over online audiences in the year since Trump left office. They’re ‘desperate for money’ and there’s only so many ‘people you can fleece,’ says one researcher.”
• “Gabriel Boric vows to ‘fight privileges of the few’ as Chile’s president. Leftwing former student leader pledges to unite country and tackle poverty and inequality.”
• “The Show Goes On, Even After China Tried to Shut It Down. An Italian city rejected a request from the Chinese Embassy in Rome to cancel an exhibition by Badiucao, an artist who has been described as the Chinese Banksy.”
• “LBPD Sergeant Arrested for DUI.” Tweet—”A $318,532-a-year Long Beach police sgt. was arrested for a DUI charge after attending a party at a park run by the police union under a contract with the city that stipulates it be accessible to the public for a fee except the union closed it. Story by an ex-LAPD deputy chief.”
• Thread—”Let me tell you about a good scam. There are 10.9 million job openings right now. If you ask the left, that’s millions of people unwilling to die for capitalism. If you ask the right and center, no one wants to work anymore.” “It’s the faking of due diligence throughout the economy. See, we had this thing called PPP loans. It was welfare for all who want it. And one of the conditions was performing some type of productive effort for that loan. In other words, creating jobs.” “That’s right, I am saying millions of these job openings are fake. On the order of 8 million probably. Every business in every sector has an accountant, this is just good book cooking. It’s fucking free money if you just fake this. So this explains the anomaly.”
• “Canada bans conversion therapy, a practice Trudeau calls ‘despicable and degrading’.”
• “What is aquamation? The process behind Desmond Tutu’s ‘green cremation’. The anti-apartheid hero requested an eco-friendly cremation, which uses water instead of flames to process the remains.”
• “Why we can’t have a ‘meritocracy’: We have no idea how to measure worth. Under current conditions of capitalism, our only measure of worth is wealth — which leads to worsening inequality.”
• “The Bundle in 2021“—”In spring I once again experimented with advertising, but Twitter proved unexciting and Facebook useless. I’ve come to believe typical commercial advertising is not just unproductive for me but actively harmful to society.”
• “Pope Francis decries ‘shipwreck of civilization’ as he visits refugees on Greek island of Lesbos“—”Pope Francis met with refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Sunday, his second trip to the island — which has become a symbol of the migrant crisis — in five years. ‘Please let us stop this shipwreck of civilization!’ the Pope said at the Mytilene Reception and Identification Center, decrying the loss of life in the Mediterranean and countries that close their borders to refugees. ‘We are living in the era of barbed wire and walls,’ Francis said, but the coronavirus pandemic has made us realize “we are all in the same boat.’ ‘Let us stop ignoring reality,’ the Pope said, ‘stop constantly shifting responsibility, stop passing off the issue of migration to others.’ The Mytilene camp currently holds about 2,000 refugees, many of them from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa.”
• “Hello and Welcome to THE REALIST ARCHIVE PROJECT. A complete and unexpurgated republishing of all 146 issues (including supplements and related ephemera) of The Realist”.
• Tabletop jousting! Watch “The MOST UNDERRATED Games Workshop Game? FULL TILT Warhammer Jousting | Classic Bretonnians“—”In this video we are Playing FULL TILT, the Warhammer Jousting Game! Published back in White Dwarf 215, this classic ruleset is a ton of fun. I go head to head with my wife in a three day tournament culminating in an epic showdown with the BLACK KNIGHT!”
• It’s like the old Amiga demo scene, but contained in a tweet and run in Pico-8: watch “Pico-8 Tweetcarts – Making Games In 256 Characters Of Code?“—”Pico-8 Tweetcarts are Pico-8 carts made from less than 256 characters of code! They are games or art designed to fit in a single cart. In this video I go over my experience making a few tweetcarts and learning the basics of how they are made! This is a tweetcart tutorial about how to make a game in 1 line of code and how to make a game in 256 characters in Pico 8 and Pico8! This is a Brackeys 2021.1 game jam indie devlog save and load system made with Pico-8 and not unity 3D tutorial, It is an indie game devlog with indie games like hollow knight silksong and celeste classic walkthrough. how much money did my indie game make!? it is a game made by 1 person – a solo devlog! This indie game pico-8 unity devlog is a unity 3D tutorial devlog.”
• Watch “Shroom and Gloom – A deck-building, dungeon-crawling, first person tale of mushrooms and madness!“—”Play for free on itch.io https://teamlazerbeam.itch.io/shroom-… Descend into the unknown in Shroom and Gloom a first person, dungeon-crawling, deck-building tale of mushrooms and madness. Enter The Underealm armed with nothing but a rust blade, a dying phone and a healthy appetite for roasted mushrooms. Explore your way through the depths, digging up new weapons in your quest to reach The Void King at all costs! Combine, grow and enchant your discoveries as you battle your way through terrifying Terry’s, enchanting Bardshrooms and otherworldly Pizza Blobs!”
• “He Used Plastic Surgery to Raise Rock Stars From the Dead. Decades before hologram tours, one rogue ’70s promoter found another way to put Elvis, Janis, Jim Morrison, and other late icons back onstage.”
• “In Good Spirits. Carissa Schumacher channels the dead for her A-list celebrity clients.
  But most days, she’s in the forest.”

• Watch “Metamorphosis— Animation short film (KazNUA 2021)“—”Animation short film ‘Metamorphosis’. Graduation film by Aitolkyn Almenova. This is a story about an autistic child and a young mom against the society.”
• Watch “‘Twas A Bible Accurate Christmas…“—”The Nativity is one of the best-known stories of all time, but there are some weird parts to the original tale that often get overlooked. What’s more, there are a bunch of non-Christian elements, like gifts, trees, and mistletoe, that were originally pagan customs. What was the first Christmas actually like? And where do all the unusual traditions come from? In this video, we’ll investigate the Christmas story as depicted in the Bible, and explore the many nuances and misunderstandings of the original text. Of course, no one can ever be truly “Bible Accurate”, so note that these depictions are entirely subjective.”
• Watch “a 90s Christmas family movie but it’s 1890s“—”this video cost me my sanity so I hope you like it.”
• Watch “Official Trailer | Death on the Nile | 20th Century Studios”—”Every passenger has a motive. Watch the new trailer for Death on the Nile, in theaters February 11. Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot’s Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couple’s idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short. Set against an epic landscape of sweeping desert vistas and the majestic Giza pyramids, this dramatic tale of love gone wrong features a cosmopolitan group of impeccably dressed travelers and enough wicked twists and turns to leave audiences guessing until the final, shocking denouement.”
• Watch “The Tragedy of Macbeth — “O, full of scorpions is my mind” Teaser | Apple TV+”—”O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife. From Academy Award winner Joel Coen, The Tragedy of Macbeth stars Denzel Washington and Frances MacDormand. Coming to theaters December 25. Streaming on Apple TV+ January 14.”
• Watch “Official Rasputin Dance Video | The King’s Man | 20th Century Studios”—”Meet Rasputin, Russia’s greatest love machine. See #TheKingsMan only in theaters December 22.”
• Watch “Living in a Metaverse“—”Facebook Metaverse is on its way and it will change our digital social lives in a revolutionary way. After Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta introduction, I couldn’t stop but to think how it will make us even more disconnected from reality. A real Doomer scenario. In this video, Wojak lives in a crypto metaverse where he meets a tradgirl (a girl right?). She confronts him of his lonely life to which he responds by switching her for a less annoying NPC.”
• “‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Is the Antidote to the Superhero Genre’s Copaganda Problem. Few movies have been as intentional as this one in espousing some model of restorative justice.”—”The conclusion to Holland’s Homecoming trilogy presents a new type of hero movie altogether, in which villains aren’t inherently villains, and superheroes like Holland and the Spider-Men who later back him up aren’t simply law-abiding, law-enforcing demigods. It’s not exactly new for superhero movies to portray sympathetic villains or off-beat heroes, but few movies seem as intentional as No Way Home in presenting some model of restorative justice and compassion as the superior alternatives to the harsh law-and-disorder regimens of nearly every other hero movie.” “When all of its pieces come together, No Way Home is an emotive, modern story of what it really means to be a hero. Heroes aren’t cops, or gods rendering judgment; they’re ordinary people who will push themselves to the brink if it means helping even one person. Anyone can be a hero, even a plucky nerd from Queens, if they’re willing to make a sacrifice and to recognize the universal dignity of human beings. No Way Home is deeper, more beautiful, even, than the love letter to fans it’s being lauded as—it’s a love letter to everyone who wants to see this world outgrow its punitive limitations, and honor every person’s worthiness of a second chance.” Counterpoint: “Spider-Man: No Way Home Is Aggressively Mediocre. A spoiler-filled review of what works, what doesn’t, and what works until it doesn’t in Tom Holland’s latest outing as Peter Parker.”—”It does take a unique brand of corporate cynicism to drain any and all grandeur from the sight of Spidey swinging through the canyons of Manhattan; trapping the most cinematic of all superheroes in nondescript swirls of CGI sludge feels like its own act of villainy.”
• Watch “Villeneuve is Making a Rendezvous With Rama Movie after Dune!“—”Villeneuve will be adapted one of Arthur C Clarke’s Classics, Let’s Talk. Plus bonus video about that book I wrote.”
• “Where Does James Bond Go From Here?“—”It’s a cathartic rebuke to the nauseating, never-ending interconnectedness and self-referentiality of just about everything else.” “He isn’t real, he can’t be real, and he shouldn’t be real — which means he really can be anything we want.”
• BE SEEING YOU?! They pulled a Prisoner! WTAF?! Watch “John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023 Movie) Announcement“—”Be seeing you. 3.24.23.” Welp. They did it. So, now, if they don’t pay off on that Prisoner reference big time, I will be so very disappointed.
• Watch “UK pardons historical convictions for abolished consensual same-sex crimes – BBC News”—”More people will be eligible for a pardon for historical criminal convictions relating to homosexual activity, the UK government has said. It means anyone convicted or cautioned for consensual homosexual activity, under now-abolished laws, can apply to have them ‘disregarded’. The convictions would be wiped from record and an automatic pardon given. Home Secretary Priti Patel said she hoped the revised scheme ‘would go some way to righting the wrongs of the past’.”
• Watch “Does The Myers-Briggs Test Work? | QI”
• Watch “Fist fight in Jordan’s parliament caught on live stream – BBC News”—”A meeting of MPs in Jordan, discussing constitutional reforms, descended into a fistfight which was live-streamed to local television. The argument began as the chamber debated adding the Arabic female noun for a Jordanian citizen into the constitution’s section on equal rights, an amendment branded by some MPs as ‘useless’.”
• Watch “Wild crow visits woman daily to play games“—”Wild crow visits woman daily to play games.”
• Watch “Ancient DNA reveals the truth about Vikings – BBC REEL“—”Vikings are often thought of as ‘pure-bred’, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed warriors who changed the course of European history. Now a team of international scientists has debunked this modern-day myth of the Vikings by examining their genetic ancestry. The largest-ever DNA sequencing of Viking remains reveals their surprising ethnic diversity.”
• Watch “Lördagsgodis: Sweden’s delicious Saturday tradition that prevents decay – BBC Reel“—”In Sweden, a family of four eats one kilo of sweets a week on average, yet children have better dental health than most Europeans. This has been attributed to a tradition called ‘lördagsgodis’ which literally means ‘Saturday sweets’.”
• Watch “What did Popular Music in Ancient Rome sound like?”
• Watch “don’t you want to become a cult leader?”

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