Monthly Archives: June 2023

Why the World Is on the Brink of Great Disorder – TIME

Posted: June 30, 2023 at 4:56 pm

Im a global macro investor who has been betting on whats going to happen for over 50 years. Ive been through all sorts of events and cycles in all sorts of places over a long time which led me to study how these events and cycles work. In the process, I learned that I needed to study history to understand whats going on and whats likely to happen.

Early in my career, I learned though a couple of painful mistakes that the biggest things that surprised me did so because they never happened in my lifetime but had happened many times in history. The first time that happened was on August 15, 1971 when I was clerking on the floor of the New York Stock exchange and the U.S. defaulted on its debt promise to allow people to turn in their paper dollars for gold. I thought that this was a big crisis that would send stock prices down but they went up a lot. I didnt understand why because Id never experienced a big currency devaluation before. When I looked back in history, I saw that the exact same thing happened on March 5, 1933 when Roosevelt defaulted on the U.S.s promise to let people turn in their paper money for gold and stocks went up. That led me to study and learn whywhich is that money could be created, and when its created, it goes down in value which makes things go up in price. That experience led me to study the rises and declines of markets, economies, and countries which Ive done ever since. For example, my studying how the 1920s debt bubble turned into the 1929-33 financial collapse led me to anticipate and profit from the 2008 financial crisis. Thats how I learned that its critical to take a longer-term perspective and understand the mechanics behind why history rhymes.

A few years ago, I saw three big things happening that hadnt happened in my lifetime but had happened in the 1930-45 period. These were:

Seeing these three big things that never happened in these magnitudes in my lifetime led me to study the rises and declines of markets, economies, and countries over the last 500 years, as well as the rises and declines of Chinas dynasties the last 2,100 years.

That examination showed me that these three big forcesi.e. the debt/money one, the internal conflict one, and the external conflict onetranspired in big cycles that reinforced each other to make up what I call the Big Cycle. These cycles were driven by logical cause-effect relationships Most importantly, this study of the last 500 years of history taught me that:

Said differently, history shows that the painful seismic shifts part of the Big Cycle comes about when there is simultaneously 1) too much debt creation that leads to debt bubbles bursting and economic contractions which cause central banks to print a lot of money and buy debt, 2) big conflicts within countries due to big wealth and values conflicts made worse by the bad economic conditions, and 3) big international conflicts due to rising world powers challenging the existing world powers at a time of economic and internal political crises In doing this study, I also saw two other big forces that had big effects. They are:

I call these the Five Big Forces. I saw how they affect each other and change in logical ways to produce the Big Cycle that produces big changes in the world order. I came to realize that if one understands and follows each of these forces and how they interact, one can understand most everything thats changing the world order. Thats what Im trying to do.

I will give you a quick summary of what I learned from my study but if you want to lean more about how and why things change you can get that in my book Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order.

In the U.S., we are now in middle part of what I call the short-term debt cycle and is also known as the business cycle. These short-term debt cycles have lasted 7 years on average, give or take about 3 years. There have been 12 1/2 of them since the new monetary world order started in 1945. So, we are now about half-way though the 13th of the cycles, at the point of the cycle when the central bank has tightened money to fight inflation that is just before the debt and economic contractions which will likely come over next 18 months.

We are also in a late and dangerous part of the long-term debt cycle because the levels of debt assets and debt liabilities have become so high that it is difficult to give lender-creditors a high enough interest rate relative to inflation that is adequate to make them want to hold this debt as an asset without making interest rates so high that it unacceptably hurts the borrower-debtor. Because of unsustainable debt growth, we are likely approaching a major inflection point that will change the financial order. Said differently, it appears to me likely that we are approaching a debt/financial/economic restructuring that will lead to big changes to the financial order.

More specifically. it appears likely to me that because of large deficits the U.S. Treasury will have to sell a lot of debt and it appears there will not be adequate demand for it. If that happens, it will lead to either much higher interest rates or the Fed printing a lot of money and buying bonds which will devalue money. For these reasons, the debt/financial conditions could worsen, perhaps very significantly, over the next 18 months.

In several countries, most importantly the U.S., we have seen a growing percentage of the population that are populist extremists (about 20-25 percent of the right are extreme and about 10-15 percent of the left are) and a shrinking of the percentage of the population that are bipartisan moderates. Though the bipartisan moderates still remain in the majority, they constitute a declining percentage of the population and they are far less willing to fight and win at all costs. In studying history, I saw this growing populism of both sides and increased conflict has repeatedly occurred when large gaps in wealth and values existed at the same time as bad economic conditions. At such times, significant percentages of the population chose populist political leaders who vowed to fight and win for them rather than compromise. In my book, I described the state the U.S. is now in as Stage 5 (When There Are Bad Financial Conditions and Intense Conflict) of the internal order cycle, which comes just before some sort of civil war and changes in the domestic order. That is what is now happening.

Looking ahead, the next 18 months will be an increasingly intense big election period which will lead to much greater political conflict which is likely to sharper the divide between the left and the right. Thirty-three Senate seats, the presidency, and control of the House will be fought over by a number of populist candidates and there will likely be poor economic conditions, so the fights will be vicious and there will be a real test of rule-following and compromising, both of which are required to make democracies work. You can see the movement toward a win at all cost fight while the respect for the legal and political systems declines. You can see this dynamic playing out even now, in things like Donald Trump and his followers being at war with the justice system, or as he and his followers would say, the systems war against him. Whichever perspective you have, it is clear that we are headed into a type of civil war over the next 18 months. To me the most important war is between the bipartisan moderates and the populist extremes, yet the bipartisan moderates are for the most part quietly staying out of this fight. The only thing the Democrats and Republicans can agree on, which most Americans also agree on, is being anti-China which brings me to my next big force.

The conflicts between the U.S. and China are likely to intensify as domestic political tensions will likely lead to increased aggressiveness toward China. That is because in the U.S. most everyone is anti-China and those running for office will want to out-China-bash each other in an election year. China and the US are already dangerously close to some form of war, whether an all-out economic one or, worse, a military one. There are also important elections in Taiwan next year, which is already a flash point in U.S.-China elections, and a U.S.-backed push for Taiwanese independence is something to keep a close eye on when weighing the potential for even more overt U.S.-China conflict. There are several issuesTaiwan, chips, dealing with Russia, sanctioning investmentsthat are being fought over, and both sides are preparing for war. I dont mean to say that we are destined for war, but I do mean that the odds of some form of a major conflict are dangerously high.

Acts of nature are of course harder to predict accurately, but they appear to be getting worse and are likely to be more costly and damaging over the next five to ten years due to climate change. Also, the world is entering an El Nio phase of the climate cycle over the next year.

What can we expect from technology/human inventiveness? Like acts of nature, it is hard to know exactly, though there should be no doubt that generative AI and other technological advances have the potential to cause both massive productivity gains and massive destructions, depending on how they are used. The one thing that we can be sure of is that these changes will be greatly disruptive.

Exactly how events will unfold is beyond my ability to say, but there is no doubt in my mind that those who assume that things will work in the orderly ways we have gotten used in the last few decades will be shocked and probably hurt by the changes to come.

How well these changes are managed will make all the difference. If our leaders can rise above their tendencies to fight and instead focus on cooperating, we can certainly navigate these tricky times to create a better world for most people. Presumably, this outcome is best for everyone, so we should be strongly against civil disorder and war between nations, keeping it in the back of our mind so we strive for cooperative decision-making. For example, now that a debt ceiling agreement has passed, it would be great to see the Democrats and Republicans mutually agree on a bipartisan group of very skilled people to come up with a practical, long-term bipartisan plan. I wrote an article Why and How Capitalism Needs to be Reformed? years ago which is still relevant today in case youre interested. Having said that, it is probably unrealistic to believe that we can materially change the course of events, so what is most important for most people is to visualize the worst. If you do that, you will be prepared for it and will probably be fine.

In closing I should say that the most important thing Ive learned in my 50 years of being a global macro investor is that I can be wrong. For that reason, while I suggest that you consider what I am sharing, I also suggest that you assess it and the circumstances for yourself.

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Why the World Is on the Brink of Great Disorder - TIME

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All the New Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books to Put on Your Radar for July – Yahoo Entertainment

Posted: at 4:56 pm

An upside-down house

The Possibilities

July is here, and its brought with it an almost overwhelming array of new sci-fi, horror, and fantasy books. Whether youre in the mood for magic, monsters, or mysteriesor some combination of all threeio9's monthly list of new releases has you covered.

Amazon has a ton of different Kindle options, so its a great time to check those out if youre looking to get an e-reader or upgrade yours.

London exorcist Felix Castor takes on a baffling new case, searching for a missing ogilarch whose mansion is home to malevolent forces both living and dead. To crack it, he assembles a team that includes a zombie, a cop, a warrior, and a reformed succubus. (July 1)

Odd-job specialists Indrajit (a poet) and Fix (an ex-monk) return for more adventures chasing crooks, solving crimes, finding lost objects and people, and dodging their rivals in a city full of turmoil and magic. (July 4)

Admiral John Black Jack Geary returns for a deep-space adventure involving a mysterious alien species, a different alien species with technological superiority, dangerous human factions, and shadowy forces rising within the Alliance hes long been loyal to. (July 4)

The Liaden Universe series continues as the light keepers and their allies band together to rebuild the station that once held the malevolent Tinsori Lightand keep it from falling into the wrong hands while theyre at it. (July 4)

After their young son dies, a couple tries different coping mechanisms to deal with their grief: the husband digs holes to keep his mind off the tragedy, while the wife turns to the occult. (July 4)

Story continues

In this fantasy romance, a troubled teen grows up next door to a family of shape-shifters; years later, in the wake of a terrible tragedy, he feels a spark with the son closest his age. (July 4)

A young woman whos sent to hell after she dies sees an opportunity for escapebut then must decide if she wants to return to Earth, or stay and try to fix what she realizes is a system of divine injustice. (July 5)

Fifteen zombie-themed tales from across the Bram Stoker Award-winning authors career, including a never-before-published new story. (July 6)

A 15-story horror and suspense collection from the author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World. (July 11)

This coming-of-age tale set in rural Pennsylvania is billed as The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, by way of Midnight Mass. (July 11)

A traveling sideshow in Victorian London achieves great fame thanks to its performers real magical powers, including the ability to grant wishes and create fire. Complications arise with blackmail and a forbidden attraction. (July 11)

This tale of corporate intrigue, political unrest, unsolved mysteries, and the havoc wreaked by one companys monomaniacal endeavor to build the worlds first space elevator comes from one of South Koreas most revered science fiction writers, whose identity remains unknown.(July 11)

The ninth book of this dark urban fantasy series follows necromancer Eric Carter through a world of vengeful gods and goddesses, mysterious murders, and restless ghosts.(July 11)

A royal spy tasked with keeping dark magic out of the queens realm must team up with her worst rival once she begins to understand the surprising strength of her own powers. (July 11)

This fantasy tale is described as a female John Wick story with dragon magic set in contemporary San Franciscos Chinatown.(July 11)

The Water City future-noir trilogy continues with a new mysterythis time taking our detective turned bounty hunter from his underwater home to the moon on the trail of a dangerous conspiracy. Read an excerpt here. (July 11)

This epic fantasy kicks off a new seriesthe Nightingale and the Falconthat reimagines the Mongol Empires invasion of Persia, following the lives and treacherous journeys of four key figures in the heart of war.(July 11)

Sisters who both have one son clash with each other and their community when one of them refuses to test her son for a gene that predicts violence. (July 11)

In a city full of doors that are actually portals, a young man escaping a violent upbringing finds his new home is packed full of divine destiniesincluding his own. (July 11)

In this YA space opera, a reincarnated god and a grumpy pilot go on a mission to save a beloved space DJ and stop an intergalactic war. (July 11)

In this debut sci-fi tale, a young tea expert is taken as a political prisoner and recruited to spy on government officialsa role that may empower her to win back her nations independence.(July 11)

Firefly meets The Breakfast Club in this tale set in a galaxy with a dying sun, and the unlikely group of misfits who just might figure out how to rescue it. (July 11)

A thief travels from her home moon to rob the richest attendees at a royal ball, but the mission gets complicated when the emperor is murderedand shes on the list of suspects. (July 11)

The black-sheep son of an industrial tycoon starts working for a tech pioneer whos running a biomedical startup selling nothing less than immortality, only to uncover the horrifying truth at the heart of her sublime promises. (July 11)

Cinderellas familiar story gets a retelling here, as the former maid schemes to become a princess with the help of her stepsisters and a limited supply of magic. What will happen when her powers begin to fadeand she starts to fall for the wrong prince? (July 11)

The Covenant of Steel trilogy ends as outlaw turned knight Alwyn begins to question the royal mistress hes long servedand a final battle for the fate of the kingdom looms. (July 11)

This all-new anthology in the long-running seriesset in a universe where an alien virus mutates some and grants superpowers to othersfeatures stories by Kevin Andrew Murphy, Christopher Rowe, Marko Kloos, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Bradley Denton, Walton Simons, Peter Newman, Gwenda Bond, and David Anthony Durham. (July 11)

A mysterious severed hand upends the lives of a washed-up singer and her son as they run from shadowy government agents and the random victims affected by the hands ability to incite anyone to extreme violence. (July 15)

After he dies and comes back, a security expert at a secret research facility sets out to help two deserving people who are still among the livingif he can avoid angering a street gang and an assassin capable of making a man die twice. (July 18)

The fourth installment in the Chronicles of the Avatar series follows Avatar Yangchen as she charts the course of her legacy, finally making peace with her choices and facing Avatarhood with the courage it demands. (July 18)

This collection gathers the first three books in the Hugo- and Nebula-winning Wayward Children series: Every Heart a Doorway, Down Among the Sticks and Bones, and Beneath the Sugar Sky. (July 18)

The Lightspeed first contact trilogy continues as humanity pushes forward in exploring new systems, and discovers the Fermi may not be the only alien intelligence in their midst. (July 18)

In an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories endure, an heir to a merchant family falls in love with a mysterious stranger. His search to find her may alter not just his life, but the lives of all the city-dwellers. (July 18)

Tingles first traditionally published novel is a horror tale set at a gay conversion summer camp. (July 18)

John Tucker Must Die meets Shrek in a revenge tale where princesses save themselves.(July 18)

The video game designerco-creator of Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3-D writes about his life and groundbreaking career in this new memoir. (July 18)

The Graven Trilogy ends with this concluding chapter in the space opera, which sees Caiden reunited with his long-lost sister and finally at peace with his worst enemy. But theyll need to face one last towering threat to the multiverse before they can rest easy. (July 18)

In this Egyptian-inspired fantasy debut, a fugitive queen strikes a bargain with her greatest enemy and becomes embroiled in a complex game that could resurrect her scorched kingdom or leave it in ashes forever. (July 18)

In this prequel to the authors sci-fi fantasy Coldfire trilogy, we follow colonists who arrive on a new planet thats nowhere near as welcoming as theyd expected. (July 18)

This feminist alt-history tale, a sequel to Widowland, is set in 1955 and imagines a dystopian London where the Nazis won World War IIand the woman hiding a huge secret whos tasked with convincing Queen Wallis Simpson to fight for whats right. (July 18)

In an America thats nearly all underwateran apocalypse brought about by climate changea teen and her adoptive father seek a community of survivors. But their journey wont be easy since the country is not only flooded, its populated by cannibalistic murderers. (July 18)

In this tale set in the film industry of 90s Mexico City, a sound editor and her best friend become drawn into the world of a cult horror director, who claims the unfinished film that ended his career is cursed with Nazi black magic. (July 18)

The romance of Poppy and Casteel continues as the newly powerful Poppy falls into stasisleaving Casteel to try and bring her back from the brink as a war between gods begins to brew. (July 18)

Gideon the Ninth meets the Game of Thrones White Walkers in this dark young adult fantasy about a disgraced ghost-fighting warrior who must journey into a haunted wasteland to rescue a kidnapped prince. (July 25)

The Godstone fantasy series continues as healer Fenra becomes caught up in a power struggle between the Red and White Court magic practitionersand starts to suspect their conflict has darker forces urging it forward. (July 25)

An AI that works as an investigative reporter uncovers a story so juicy its subject resorts to memory wipes to keep it from getting out. (July 25)

The authors Hades Saga concludes as Persephone and the God of the Dead excitedly prepare for their wedding, despite attempts at interference from Theseus in the mortal world as well as various Gods of Olympus. (July 25)

A new trilogy begins in the fantasy realm of Valdemar, where a gryphon hero sets out to explore an unexpectedly dangerous mystery with an old friend. (July 25)

This tale illuminates the lives of women involved in the Trojan War, including Prince Hectors warrior wife, Andromache; gifted horsewoman and spy Rhea; and legendary beauty Helen, who finally shares her side of the story. (July 25)

In this Gothic fantasy, a teen flees her familys estate after realizing shes cursed to see ghosts. But the refuge she finds, and the romance that accompanies it, soon begin to turn dark and frightening. (July 25)

The best-selling YA authors adult debut is an Antony and Cleopatra-inspired tale set amid a magical and deadly royal games tournament. Read an excerpt here. (July 25)

The Taking of Jake Livingston meets Cemetery Boys in this YA ghost story about a Puerto Rican teens battle with a malevolent spirit targeting his apartment building and the all-too-real horrors of gentrification. (July 25)

The Red Rising series continues as Darrowthe legendary leader also known as the Reaperdecides its finally time to reunite with his family on Mars, though the journey to his home planet wont be an easy one. (July 25)

In this ecological fable, a young woman must venture on a quest to find out why her land, the Real, has suddenly become enveloped in a noxious brown fog (July 25)

A new mother ventures into parallel worlds to find her missing child in this mind-bending novel that turns the joys and anxieties of parenthood into an epic quest.(July 25)

Psychic powers clash and different sets of twins must forge their own paths in this seventh entry in the authors Psy-Changeling Trinity. (July 25)

A homicide detective suspects an AI created by a top-secret Pentagon project might be tied into her new murder case in this thriller described as Silence of the Lambs meets Ex Machina. (July 25)

Two women embark on a unforgettable quest that draws them into a world of dark gods and ancient magic in this sweeping fantasy debut inspired by the history and folklore of colonial South America. (July 25)

A Black teen desperate to regain her Ivy League acceptance enters an elite competition only to discover the stakes arent just high, theyre deadly, in this searing thriller thats Ace of Spades meets Squid Game with a sprinkling of The Bachelor. (July 25)

This follow-up to Among Thieves returns to the world of the heist crew, who must put aside their differences and reunite to try and separate a dangerous criminal from an even more dangerous magical artifact. (July 25)

This novel inspired by Viking history and myths follows two womenone desperate only to save her missing sister, the other a witch destined to become queen of Norwaywho meet as children and form a magical bond that remains strong throughout their lives. (July 25)

After leaving her violent husband, a woman makes a new life tending an apple orchard in a town with magical rootsand must find the strength to overcome the persistent shadows of her dark past. (July 25)

The author expands her acclaimed Green Bone Saga with four prequel short stories that delve into the personal histories of the Kaul and Ayt families. (July 31)

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

The Naxos Quartet: The Greek Gods in the Modern World – Greek Reporter

Posted: at 4:56 pm

A depiction of Zeus and Athena in Olympus in the painting by Rene Antoine Houasse. Public Domain

The Naxos Quartet is a compelling series of novels by author Patrick Garner about the Greek gods in the modern world.

We know the Greek gods from mythology, and assume their stories ended there. According to Garner, they did not. The books which can be read as stand-alone novels or as a series makes the reader feel that he or she knows the gods and wont want the story to end.

For those who would appreciate a reminder of whos who, theres a glossary of the featured gods in each book.

The premise is that the ancient Greek gods were not myths at all, and have chosen this moment to reinsert themselves onto the world stage.

Books 1 4 begin with The Winnowing, and continue with Cycladic Girls, Homo Divinitas and All That Lasts. Much of the action takes place in Greece, centering on Mykonos, Delos and Naxos.

The Winnowing (Book 1)

The Olympic gods return to prevent humans from discovering immortality. As we know, geneticists worldwide are in a race to extend life to unimaginable lengths. The Fates three ancient goddesses who determine human life span reappear so they can manipulate events to restore the balance of life and death. Their machinations make this a classic Greek tale.

As long as the reader keeps in mind that the Olympic gods and goddesses are brothers and sisters who sleep with each other, marry each other, and generally behave without human morals, you wont be dismayed by the apparent incest that appears in the beginning of the book. Be assured that the Fates are involved, and a rollicking good story is about to unfold. Get ready for Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite and Nyx for starters, with mother earth Gaia in attendance.

Jack Night is a financier who raises his daughter by himself in a bucolic Pennsylvania country-side. When shes 19 extraordinary events begin, which include golden light and irresistible lust. Sightings of a massive, three-headed dog and the goddess Artemis occur in the backyard. Hes shocked to find his daughter claims to be one of the Fates.

Jack finds himself pulled into the amoral world of Greek divinities and a mad rush to take down world-famous scientists. A second Fate who also claims to be his daughter joins them at his estate. When a third daughter appears, the Fates are set for action.

The stakes rise and additional Greek goddesses join in the fray. As scientists are picked off one by one, Jack is torn between conventional morality and loyalty to his supposed daughters.

Just before the startling climax, Jack is aided by a nymph who is destined to become more powerful than the Olympic gods. She is the subject of Books 2, 3 and 4.

Cycladic Girls (Book 2)

The Greek gods once again take an active role in human events when one of Artemiss nymphs is transformed into the primeval Great Goddess. The reader is swept into tales of high fashion,

Cycladic islands, satyrs, alliances between the gods, and a powerful love story. Youll feel like youre on a first name basis with these deities.

The nymph Timessa becomes an internationally famous fashion model and leader of a group of young followers. However, she is tormented by constant mental and physical changes she cannot understand. She finds some solace in the company of women, but is increasingly unhinged. The Olympic gods recognize her growing power, and are concerned about how shell use it.

Demonstrating her new abilities, she visits the desolate island of Delos south of Athens, where she dances over the old stones. The alchemy of her ancient steps awakens the Olympic gods, who 1,600 years earlier had retreated there to escape the changing world. Now they are astonished at her mastery of long-forgotten sacraments.

One of the divinities who escapes the island is the war-god Ares. Weeks later in a small town in France, Timessa and Artemis confront him in an epic battle Timessas unconventional battle gear is a shear bodice, ruffled skirt and stilettos. Her victory confirms her ascendence as a divinity whose powers supersede the Olympic gods.

Homo Divinitas (Book 3)

Artemis former nymph Timessa fully embraces her transformation into the Great Goddess, a primal being who was worshipped throughout the ancient world. Her powers are second only to Gaias, and she doesnt know what to do with them.

Shes gotten as far as understanding that humans and gods are part of the same family tree, and that humans are the mortal variation of the Homo species. Unlike Homo divinitas which is what she calls the gods humans spend their lives worrying about death. Thats not an issue to the Olympians, whose lifetimes seem endless.

Timessa as the Great Goddess struggles to find purpose, which increasingly puts her at odds with Gaia. The Olympians see her as the new wave in their development, and provide assistance. Her attempts to ease human suffering using elements of the ancient Eleusinian mysteries rituals that ancient Athenians believed saved them from extinction at death set us up for one of the greatest love stories of all time.

All That Lasts (Book 4)

In the final book of the series, the Great Goddess Timessa is challenged by Gaia to correct her predecessors ancient failings. She is ripped in time from the modern-day Greek island of Naxos to Europe of 40,000 years ago, where the original Great Goddess reigned over a peaceful, matriarchal society. When she stopped protecting her followers from invading barbarians, the world was changed forever.

Gaia challenges Timessa to redo the old Great Goddess decisions. Timessa is forced to relive the ancient goddess trials, all the while chided by Gaia and confronted at every turn. The Olympic gods hold their breath as they watch Timessa struggle.

Concluding that Timessa, like her predecessor, has failed, Gaia strips her of her powers. The event forces the enfeebled Timessa to look inside herself and discover what all of us seek.

The Naxos Quartet and the individual novels explore issues of morality and purpose in an imaginative and compelling story. Readers may be interested to know that Gaia always appears to Timessa as a 9-year-old girl practicing ballet so she doesnt overwhelm her.

These four page-turners deliver. The Olympic gods are on center stage.

The Naxos Quartet is available on Amazon. Homo Divinitas is also available as an audible book at Amazon or Audible.

Patrick Garner is also the creator of the breakout podcast, Garners Greek Mythology, with listeners in 178 countries.

Continued here:

The Naxos Quartet: The Greek Gods in the Modern World - Greek Reporter

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July 10: Our Venerable Father Anthony of the Monastery of the … – Edmonton Eparchy

Posted: at 4:56 pm

Our Venerable Father Anthony of the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev (1073); Forty-Five Martyrs of Nicopolis in Armenia (321-3); Holy Brothers Francis, Mutius and Raphael and Those with Them, Martyred in Damascus (1860)

Polyeleos Feast.

GREAT VESPERS

Kathisma Reading

Blessed is the man is sung.

At Psalm 140

In Tone 1

When the love of God took possession of you, venerable Anthony,* you began to look upon the enticements of the world as vain.* For this reason you left your homeland and settled on the Holy Mountain.* There, among the father, your virtues have shone forth like a light.* Pray to Christ, Whom you have served already from your youth,* for the enlightenment and salvation of our souls.

When you were enflamed with the love of Christ* you despised the world its wisdom and passing glory -* and led an ascetic life, like an angel.* For this, God counted you worthy of the glory of the angels.* Now standing with them before Christ,* pray, Anthony, for the enlightenment and salvation of our souls.

When you, father, received into your heart the love of God,* you then entered a dark cave, as though it were a bridal chamber.* There you enriched yourself with knowledge, which is beyond all understanding:* To behold the future as though it were present,* and to openly preach it to all.* Pray to Christ, to Whom you have consecrated yourself, since your youth,* for enlightenment and salvation of our souls.

Your feastday has arrived, O God-bearer.* Brighter than the sun, your memory enlightens all who come to you in faith.* O Anthony, intercessor for our souls, your soul is fragrant with immortality* and you pour out healing for our souls.

O wonder-worker Anthony, you subdued the sensual and bodily passions* with the bridle of abstinence.* On earth you displayed angelic zeal* in subjecting bodily lusts to the spirit.* In the heavenly courts where you now dwell,* offer prayers for our souls.

O blessed Anthony, by discarding the old self and its urges,* and by truly clothing yourself with Christ,* you laid a foundation for virtue.* And so, after repelling many hostile attacks,* you became a guide for monks, O venerable one.* Offer your prayers for the salvation of our souls.

In Tone 6

Glory

Having witnessed your austere life and ascetic endeavours,* the fathers of the Holy mountain, under the inspiration of God,* sent you back to your homeland, saying:* Go, son, so that, there, the blind may learn about God.* Having returned, venerable father Anthony,* you enlightened your entire homeland* and became the head of community of ascetics* whom you have drawn to Christ.* Beseech Christ for us, that He protect us from the enemies of our souls* and grant us all salvation.

Now

Who would not call you blessed, O Virgin most holy?* Who would not sing a hymn of praise* to the glory of your giving birth without pain or travail?* The Only-begotten Son Himself,* begotten of the Father before all ages,* was made flesh out of you in a manner* that cannot be explained, O Woman most pure!* And for our sake, He Who is God by nature* assumed the nature of a man.* He is not divided into two persons;* He is understood to have two natures* without commixion or confusion.* O noble and blessed Woman,* intercede with Him that He may have mercy on our souls.

Readings (1) Proverbs 10:6-8; 8:6-21; (2) Wisdom 3:1-9; (3) Wisdom 5:15-6:3

Aposticha

In Tone 1

O venerable father, you followed in the footsteps of the great Anthony.* Seeking solitude, he dwelt in the desert,* so as to be counted worthy to converse with the angels,* while you shut yourself up in an underground cave,* in order to contemplate the unspeakable world.* Because you have imitated his life, you took his name.* Now that you stand before the Holy Trinity,* pray for the salvation of our souls.

Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His faithful.

Like a lampstand shining in a dark place,* you have shone forth, O father Anthony!* And like the prophetic palm tree you flourished in the house of God,* offering yourself, in an unbloody sacrifice,* as blessed fruit to the Master.* Therefore, having gathered together,* we always extol you as is fitting.

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in His commandments.

Because your life resembled that of the great ascetic Anthony,* in Gods plan you were called Anthony,* for, having gathered together many monks,* who observed your teachings, you led them to God.* Therefore, as a co-dweller of the monastics and righteous,* with whom you now stand before the Holy Trinity,* pray for all those who with hymns glorify your glorious departure.

In Tone 6

Glory

By zealous prayer and great faith you became likened to the prophet Elijah.* For he drew from heaven fire to consume the sacrifices,* while you through prayers drew fire from heaven* to prepare and purify the site where you desired to build a glorious church* in honour of the Lady and Mother of God.* Therefore, we extol you as a fellow-monastic of the ascetics and heir of the prophet* and implore you: Pray to Christ for the salvation of our souls.

Now

Christ the Lord, our Creator and Redeemer,* came forth from your womb, O most pure Virgin.* He clothed Himself in our human flesh* to set us free from the original curse of Adam.* Therefore, O Mary, we praise you, without ceasing,* as the true Virgin Mother of God,* and we sing with the angels:* Rejoice, O Lady, advocate, protector, and salvation of our souls.

Troparia

In Tone 4

Leaving behind worldly tumult,* O venerable Father Anthony,* in keeping with the gospel you turned your back on the world,* and leading a life equal to that of angels you attained to the calm haven of Mount Athos* from whence you came to the Mount of Kiev* with the Fathers blessing* and living there an arduous life you enlightened your fatherland,* pointing the way into the Kingdom on high to a multitude of monks and nuns* and thus lead your homeland to Christ.* Pay to Him that He save our souls.

Glory Now

O Mother of God, the mystery hidden from all eternity* and unknown even to the angels,* was revealed through you to those on earth:* God took on our human nature* and united it to His divine nature in a perfect but unconfused union.* Then, He willingly accepted the cross for our sake* and thereby raised again the first created man,* and saved our souls from death.

DIVINE LITURGY

Troparia and Kontakia

Troparion, Tone 4: Leaving behind worldly tumult,* O Venerable Father Anthony,* in keeping with the gospel you turned your back on the world,* and leading a life equal to that of angels you attained to the calm haven of Mount Athos* from whence you came to the Mount of Kiev* with the Fathers blessing* and living there an arduous life you enlightened your fatherland,* pointing the way into the Kingdom on high to a multitude of monks and nuns* and thus you lead your homeland to Christ.* Pray to Him that He save our souls.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Kontakion, Tone 8: Cleaving to God,* whom you loved from your childhood above all else,* you followed Him lovingly with your whole heart,* O Father Anthony.* Scorning this passing world as a trifle* you made your dwelling a cave in the earth.* There you fought well against the unseen enemys snares* and shone like the sun to the ends of the earth.* From whence you passed joyfully to heavens mansions* and stand now with angels at the Masters throne.* There we ask you to remember those who feast your memory* that we may cry to you: Rejoice, O Anthony, our Father.

Prokeimenon, Tone 7 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His venerable ones. verse: What shall I render to the Lord for all the things He has rendered to me? (Psalm 115:15,12)

Epistle: Galatians 5:22-6:2

Alleluia, Tone 6 verse: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he shall delight exceedingly in His commandments. verse: His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth. (Psalm 111:1,2)

Gospel: Luke 6:17-23

Communion Hymn The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance;* of evil hearsay he shall have no fear.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 111:6)

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July 10: Our Venerable Father Anthony of the Monastery of the ... - Edmonton Eparchy

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Is a Dukes of Hazzard reboot coming to Netflix? – Dexerto

Posted: June 28, 2023 at 12:32 pm

Kayla Harrington

Published: 2023-06-28T15:39:47

Updated : 2023-06-28T15:39:58

Thanks to newly circulated images of a potential Dukes of Hazzard cast, fans have wondered if a reboot is in the works at Netflix.

According to some people, it looks like those damn Duke boys might be at it again as fans are now speculating that Netflix could be cooking a new Dukes of Hazzard reboot.

The Dukes of Hazzard was a TV show that started in 1979 and ran for seven seasons. The show followed the lives of cousins Bo and Luke Duke who live on a family farm in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia. They were known as troublemakers as they raced around in their customized 1969Dodge Chargerstock car, which was nicknamedThe General Lee.

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The show was later turned into a film in 2005 and starred Johnny Knoxvilleand Seann William Scottas the Duke cousins along with Jessica Simpson as their cousin Daisy.

No other addition has been added to the Dukes of Hazzard brand since the film debuted, but now, thanks to some images circulating online, fans are wondering if a Netflix reboot is around the corner.

At this time, no plan for a Netflix reboot of the Dukes of Hazzard has been announced.

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But, fans thought a reboot could be in the works thanks to some A.I. generated images that have been making the rounds online depicting an all Black cast including the Duke cousins, Daisy, and their nemesis Boss Hogg.

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Some people were excited about the fake images as an all Black version of the Dukes of Hazzard would be seen as the ultimate middle finger to the brand thats all about the Confederate flag and all the worst parts about living in the South.

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However, and unsurprisingly, some people didnt react kindly to the mere thought Black people being in the Dukes of Hazzard as they claimed the hood of the car would feature a Black Lives Matter flag or the episodes would be a minute long as the Black Duke cousins would immediately be arrested by the police.

It should go without saying, but the color of a characters skin doesnt matter unless its directly tied into the story. And as the Duke cousins are just Southern boys who drive a particular car, having them be Black wouldnt be such a big deal.

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The idea of a Netflix reboot of the Dukes of Hazzard may be fact, but peoples bigotry definitely is alive and well.

You can check out some of our other Netflix hubs below:

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Is a Dukes of Hazzard reboot coming to Netflix? - Dexerto

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How ‘Swagger’ Raised Its Game – The New York Times

Posted: at 12:32 pm

The first season of Swagger, a sports drama set in the high-stakes world of high school basketball in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Seat Pleasant, Md., was released in fall 2021 to moderate critical acclaim. The creator, Reggie Rock Bythewood, and his cast and crew were proud of what they had accomplished.

But for the shows second season, which premiered on Apple TV+ last week, Bythewoods ambitions were much bigger. He wanted the narrative to be more complex. He wanted the basketball to be more exciting. And he wanted to use the story of a prep school sports team to make a statement about the country.

There is that athlete mentality of wanting to be challenged, Bythewood said in a recent video interview. He put the challenge like this: How do you take Season 2 of Swagger and hold up a mirror to America?

The series is about Jace Carson (Isaiah Hill), an elite high school athlete who is ranked among the top basketball players in his region and is expected to land a college basketball scholarship and, eventually, a spot in the N.B.A. Over the course of the first season, Jace both clashed and bonded with the people around him, including his single mother, Jenna (Shinelle Azoroh); his lifelong best friend, Crystal (Quvenzhan Wallis); and his demanding but supportive coach, Ike (OShea Jackson Jr.). The second season jumps ahead to Jaces senior year as the demands of budding fame and the pressure of mounting expectations reach a fever pitch.

Carson is based loosely on Kevin Durant, the Phoenix Suns power forward and multi-time N.B.A. champion, All-Star and M.V.P. who has been one of the leagues best players throughout his 16-year career. While Swagger is set during the present day Durant attended high school in the early 2000s much of Carsons biography is inspired by Durants own, including his having been raised by a single mother and having been a top prospect coming out of Seat Pleasant.

The concept of a show based on Durants life originated with the man himself, along with Rich Kleiman, his manager and business partner. Rich Kleiman and I had had the idea for a while to do something that was based on my earlier years and centered around the world of AAU basketball, Durant wrote in an email. We got connected with [the producer] Brian Grazer a few years back.

When Grazers Imagine Entertainment first approached Bythewood with the pitch, It didnt really sound like something I wanted to do, Bythewood admitted. But at that time Durant was still playing for the Golden State Warriors, based in the Bay Area, and Bythewood, in Los Angeles, figured it couldnt hurt to hop on a plane and take a meeting.

I met with the guy and talked to him about his life, and I found my own emotional connections to his story, he said.

Bythewood first developed an interest in acting as a high school student in the Bronx in his senior year, he landed a part in the NBC soap opera Another World. His soap stardom offered a window into some of the pressures a top athlete thrust into the spotlight from the middle of Seat Pleasant might face.

It was this idea of being an environment where suddenly all eyes are on you, he said. I really related to the plight, the joy, the challenges, all of it. Bythewood added his own perspective to Durants story, and from there Swagger was born.

The shows contemporary setting has allowed it to address modern political issues. In the first season, the characters dealt with Covid protocols and participated in Black Lives Matter protests; this season, Bythewood wanted to touch on the shift in the country away from the reckoning with racism and people wanting to re-examine themselves that came out of the Black Lives Matter movement. Now, he said, critical race theory is seen as one of the biggest enemies of the country.

He used the seasons predominately white upper-class prep school setting as a microcosm of the nation, depicting imbalances of power and the unique hardships faced by the Black students.

Bythewoods north star in Swagger has always been authenticity, he said. Given the serious nature of the subject matter off the court which also touches on a broad range of social issues including sexual assault, violence and homophobia he wanted to make sure that the sports action was as compelling as the drama.

When you do something that heavy, the basketballs got to be dope, he said. You cant tell the truth about society and then lie about the basketball.

From the beginning, Bythewood has refused to cheat or make compromises when shooting the game sequences in Swagger. When somebody dunks, theyre really dunking on a regulation hoop; they dont lower the rim or let the actor jump on a trampoline. Season 2 includes even more high-level, athletic court action. You will never see somebody on our show shoot the ball and then we cut to the ball going through the rim, Bythewood said.

That commitment to realism was demanding on the cast, which mixes veteran actors with amateurs from a basketball background. The actors had to learn to play convincing ball, and the ballers had to give convincing performances.

Wallis, the youngest best-actress Oscar nominee in history (for Beasts of the Southern Wild, in 2012), said in a recent interview that she didnt really play basketball before working on this show and couldnt do much more than dribble the ball. Her role as a top female basketball player with hopes of becoming a McDonalds All American required Wallis to do months of intense training, always in the gym, training with the boys, training by myself, doing free play, playing for realsies, she said.

Jackson said that while he had grown up playing basketball and remained a dedicated N.B.A. fan, he still underwent considerable training to sharpen my tools a little bit and get my handles right. As a coach, his character isnt asked to play as much full-on basketball as some of the younger players. But his skills were still regularly put to the test, as in a striking long take in the Season 2 premiere shot without the aid of invisible edits or C.G.I. in which Ike and Jace have a heart-to-heart while shooting free throws and making every one.

Reggie was like, Please let it work, Jackson said. Im like, Reggie, we got you man.

For Hill, who came from a basketball background and had never acted before being cast as the star of Swagger, the test was reversed: Dunking came more naturally to him than dramatic monologues. He said in a recent interview that seeing the other cast members work super hard giving it all on the basketball court was what had kept him motivated to work hard on his acting.

Some of them didnt know how to dribble three weeks before shooting, and in Season 2 theyre doing reverse layups and Euro steps, he said. Seeing them raise the stakes on the court every day made me want to raise the stakes on the acting side.

Bythewood noticed the effort. Isaiah did a great job in Season 1, he said. But at the end of Season 2, hes no longer a basketball player who can act: Hes an actor who happens to play basketball. The level of growth hes shown has been exciting.

Durant, too, has been impressed by the progress of the series.

Its cool to see how the relationships between the characters have evolved so much through Seasons 1 and 2, he said. The story has taken on a life of its own. I can definitely still see a bit of myself in Jace, but his character is absolutely his own person going through his own challenges in todays world.

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How 'Swagger' Raised Its Game - The New York Times

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Why Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing Still Matters – MovieWeb

Posted: at 12:32 pm

Legendary filmmaker Spike Lee shook the world with the summer release of his 1989 drama Do the Right Thing. For those unfamiliar with the picture, Do the Right Thing follows Mookie Blackmon, an employee of Sals Famous Pizzeria, as he spends one hot summer day delivering pizzas throughout New York Citys Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn neighborhood. While making his deliveries, Mookie encounters and interacts with the neighborhoods colorful characters in a thoughtful examination of race and class. However, despite Do the Right Thing being considered one of the greatest films of the 1980s (specifically the best film of 1989 by acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert), the Academy Awards opted to award the Bruce Beresford-directed period dramedy Driving Miss Daisy, a less controversial film, with the Best Picture honor at the 1990 Academy Awards.

Among the films brilliant acting performances is Lee as Mookie, the late Danny Aiello as Sal, frequent collaborator Giancarlo Esposito as Buggin Out, John Turturro (another of Lees frequent collaborators) as Pino, Rosie Perez in her feature-film debut as Tina, and the late Bill Nunn as the unforgettable Radio Raheem. As is often the case when artists tackle sensitive subjects like race and violence, Do the Right Thing received high praise and severe criticism from critics for its portrayals of people of color, race relations, and a memorable ending that forces audiences to consider whether Mookie did, in fact, do the right thing.

With Do the Right Things thirty-fourth anniversary occurring on the thirtieth of this month, well examine why Lees Do the Right Thing is a significant film and why its themes and messages are still relevant thirty-four years later.

A prominent theme in Do the Right Thing is the relationship between law enforcement and people of color specifically African American males, and even with both sides feeling threatened by the others mere presence, their relationship is contentious at best. However, as the day marches on and the already hottest day in New York heats up even more, the police and civilians of Bed-Stuy become increasingly more agitated with each other. This agitation and stress eventually and unfortunately culminate in a riot between Sals Pizzeria and the primarily Black inhabitants of the neighborhood and before anyone has the time to process whats happening, Radio Raheems murder by members of the NYPD.

Related: The Best Spike Lee Movie of Every Decade

On July 17, 2014, life would imitate art when footage of members of the NYPD murdering Eric Garner, an unarmed Black man, via chokehold in broad daylight surfaced. The situation and its eerily similar circumstances were not lost on Lee as the filmmaker would splice footage of Raheems death with footage of Garners, along with scathing remarks against the officers involved. Despite the many claims of police brutality against African Americans being a thing of the past, weve all bore witness to many instances of such still occurring throughout the nation.

Most recently, the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020 reignited the Black Lives Matter movement and the I cant breathe rallying cry started by Garners murder. Despite the tragic and racist circumstances that have led to these notable references to Do the Right Thing, they have exposed newer generations to the film and its anti-racist themes and, thus, will hopefully contribute to our society doing better.

Do the Right Thing is regularly screened and studied in college and university courses thirty-four years after its initial release, thus solidifying its status as a significant piece of art. Moreover, this film and the rest of Lees career have inspired many generations of filmmakers notably acclaimed writer-directors M. Night Shyamalan and Barry Jenkins. AFI included Do the Right Thing in its 10th Anniversary AFIs 100 Years 100 Movies list at number ninety-six, and New York Times film critic Wesley Morris has cited Do the Right Thing as his favorite film.

Related: John Turturro's Best Performances, Ranked

The respected film preservation company, The Criterion Collection, has restored and re-released the film twice once on DVD in 2001 and again on Blu-Ray in 2019 to coincide with the films thirtieth anniversary. Additionally, Quincy Street and Lexington Avenue, the neighborhood where the film is set, was renamed Do The Right Thing Way in 2015 after Robert Cornegy Jr. pushed for the New York City city council to honor the film and its legacy with the initiative.

Do the Right Thing is objectively one of the most influential films ever made, and its status as such is primarily due to Lees thought-provoking script, masterful directing, and notable usage of Public Enemys Fight the Power. The film offered insights on controversial topics from a rarely heard or seen perspective and concluded on a somewhat ambiguous note, leaving fans and critics still pondering its ending. Whereas a film like Miss Daisy played things safe, Do the Right Thing was provocative and insightful, challenging its audience to consider their biases, politics, and environments.

While Lee has gone on to have an exceptional career with follow-up classics like Malcolm X, Clockers, Bamboozled, 25th Hour, Inside Man, and BlacKkKlansman, Do the Right Thing will likely go down in history as the auteurs finest work chiefly because of its themes, cinematography, and social relevance across multiple generations.

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Why Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing Still Matters - MovieWeb

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The Fatal Tension at the Heart of Wokeism – TIME

Posted: at 12:32 pm

The more often the word woke is invoked, the more elusive it seems to become. Since the right began to use it as a war cry, many progressives have argued that the word is empty, merely a way to attack people of color, feminists, and members of LGBTQ communities without being directly offensive. Yet the fact that woke has become a slur in the hands of people like Ron DeSantis, Marjorie Taylor Green, and right-wing politicians across Europe should not prevent the rest of us from examining it. Even when they decline to say it publicly, for fear of giving aid and comfort to the radical right, most progressives I know are deeply uneasy about the turn taken in Western cultural politics of the last few years.

Whether you think woke is a curse or a blessing, youre likely to share one assumption: woke is left, or far-left, or hard-left. What makes woke positions hard to define is that theyre fueled by all the emotions traditional to most progressive views: sympathy for the marginalised, indignation at the plight of the oppressed, determination that historical wrongs must be righted. Those emotions, however, are derailed by a host of assumptions that ultimately undermine them. We rarely notice the assumptions now embedded in popular culture, for they are usually expressed as self-evident truths.

Even those who never read a word of Michel Foucault or Carl Schmitt, godfathers of many woke intellectuals, have imbibed conclusions from their views: justice is a concept invented to disguise claims to power; there is no common humanity; tribal connections and genetic interests determine our actions; most attempts at progress turn out to be subtler forms of domination, like the use of reason itself.

Its the mismatch between progressive emotions and reactionary assumptions that makes woke so hard to define. The idea of intersectionality might have emphasized the ways in which all of us have more than one identity. Instead of examining the wealth of identities all of us have, the intersectionality discussions often reduce all our identities to two. Race and gender are not only the most marginalized identities, but they are also those over which we have the least agency.

Woke emphasizes the ways in which particular groups have been denied justice, and seeks to repair the damage. In the focus on inequalities of power, the concept of justice is often left by the wayside. For ideas of justice, as Foucault and his heirs argued, are often used as smokescreens to disguise demands for power. Why not be honest, cut out the middleman and simply demand power for your tribe? Woke demands that nations and peoples face up to their criminal histories. In the process it often concludes that all history is criminal. Yet if we cannot acknowledge that progress has been made in history, we are unlikely to believe it can be made in the future.

Read More: Why Woke Is a Convenient Republican Dog Whistle

Defining woke, then, requires us to acknowledge the split between progressive emotions and reactionary theories. Its not surprising that woke intentions are at odds with their assumptions when many of the latter come from thinkers who were outright Nazis. You need not have read a word of Carl Schmitt or Martin Heidegger to have imbibed their views: liberal ideas of justice and democracy are empty, outdated husks of the Enlightenment, itself a scam by European powers bent on imposing their values and regimes on others.

In fact the best tendencies of the woke, like the suggestion that one view the world from more than one geographical standpoint, come from the intellectual movement they most despise: the Enlightenment, which invented the critique of Eurocentrism and was the first to attack colonialism on the basis of universalist ideas. When contemporary postcolonial theorists rightly insist that we learn to view the world from the perspective of non-Europeans, theyre echoing a tradition that goes back to Enlightenment thinkers, who risked their livelihoods, and sometimes their lives, to defend those ideas.

This is not merely a historical argument, for in misunderstanding progressive history, many contemporary voices have abandoned the philosophical ideas that are central to any liberal or left-wing standpoint: a commitment to universalism over tribalism, a firm distinction between justice and power, and a belief in the possibility of progress. All these ideas are connected.

What distinguishes the left from the liberal is the view that, along with political rights that guarantee freedoms to speak, worship, travel and vote as we choose, we also have claims to social rights which undergird the real exercise of political rights. Liberal writers call them benefits, entitlements, or safety nets. All these terms make things like fair labor practices, education, healthcare and housing appear as matters of charity rather than justice. But social rights are codified in the United Nations 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. While most member states ratified it, no state has yet created a society which assures those rights. To stand on the left is to insist that those aspirations are not utopian.

You need not study philosophical debates about the relations between theory and practice to know at least this: what you think is possible determines the framework in which you act. If you think its impossible to distinguish truth from narrative, you wont bother to try. If you think its impossible to act on anything other than self-interest, you will have no qualms about doing the same. The right may be more dangerous, but todays left has deprived itself of ideas we need if we hope to resist turn towards the right.

The international right is extremely well organized. What unites far-right nationalists across the globe is not the idea that Anglo-Saxons or Hindus or Jews or Hungarians are the best of all possible tribes, but the principle of tribalism itself: you will only truly connect with those who belong to your tribe, and you need have no deep commitments to anyone else. Its a bitter piece of irony that todays tribalists today find it easier to make common cause than those whose commitments stem from universalism, whether they recognize it or not.

The concept of universalism once defined the left; international solidarity was its watchword. What united striking miners and civil rights workers and freedom fighters was not blood but conviction first and foremost the conviction that behind all the differences of time and space which separate us, human beings are deeply connected in a wealth of ways. To say that histories and geographies affect us is trivial. To say that they determine us is false.

Hannah Arendt thought that Adolf Eichmann should have been not have been tried for crimes against the Jewish people but for crimes against humanity. Her distinction is even more important today. I support Black Lives Matter because the killing of unarmed people is a crime against humanity. At the same time, I reject the white countermovement whose members shout All lives matter, because it uses a banal general truth to distract attention from an important empirical truth, namely, that African Americans are more likely to be subject to police violence than other Americans. Its an empirical fact, but you need a concept of truth to see it.

Despite the universalist character of the 2020 movement in the first months after George Floyds murder, a racist right was quick to dismiss it as a case of identity politics, though a majority of American demonstrators in June 2020 were white. It wasnt only the right that moved towards tribal rhetoric. By the fall of that year few voices defending Black Lives Matter were universalist, though some allowed that white allies could play a role.

But I am not an ally. Convictions play a minor role in alliances, which is why they are often short. Alliances have little to do with principles: if my self-interest happens to align with yours, for a moment, we could form an alliance. The United States and the Soviet Union were allies until the Nazi regime was defeated. When the U.S. decided its interests lay in recruiting former Nazis to defeat communism, the Soviet Union turned from ally to enemy. To divide members of a movement into allies and others undermines the bases of deep solidarity and destroys what standing left means.

Its often recalled that the Nazis came to power through democratic elections, but they never won a majority until they were already in power. Had progressive parties been willing to form a popular front, as thinkers from Einstein to Trotsky urged, the world could have been spared its worst war. The differences dividing the parties were real; even blood had been spilled. But though the Stalinist Communist party couldnt see it, those differences paled next to the difference between universal progressive movements and the tribal vision of fascism.

We cannot afford a similar mistake today.

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Amazon is investing another $7.8B in Ohio-based cloud computing operations, state leaders say – The Associated Press

Posted: at 12:32 pm

Amazon is investing another $7.8B in Ohio-based cloud computing operations, state leaders say The Associated Press
Amazon To Spend $8B Building Data Centers In Ohio Bisnow
AWS to expand Ohio bit barns to the tune of $7.8B The Register

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Amazon is investing another $7.8B in Ohio-based cloud computing operations, state leaders say - The Associated Press

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Google Cloud Platform: Everything you need to know about Google’s suite of cloud computing services – Android Police

Posted: at 12:32 pm

Every tech giant seems to have a cloud platform. Still, if you asked someone what the Google Cloud was, they would probably have no idea. The Google Cloud Platform (GCP) isn't a collection of Google's most popular apps and software. They call that Google Workspace, which used to be G Suite.

Google Workspace includes things like Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Drive cloud storage. Google Cloud Platform is a suite of cloud computing services that run on the same infrastructure that Google uses for its end-user products. Unlike Google Workspace, which primarily caters to individual productivity and collaboration for everyday use, GCP provides tools and services that allow developers and enterprises to build, deploy, and scale applications, websites, and online services using Google's robust and reliable infrastructure.

Google Cloud Platform includes services for serverless and scalable computing, offsite cloud-based data storage, data analytics, machine learning, networking, the Internet of Things (IoT), security tools, and developer tools. These services are highly flexible, can grow as a company grows, and are designed to meet the needs of small-scale developers, all the way up to big data giants running queries against data sets in the terabytes.

While Google Workspace focuses on providing productivity tools for users, Google Cloud Platform is a comprehensive platform offering a ton of services, cloud resources, and the cloud infrastructure needed for DevOps teams. A handful of competitors offer public cloud services at this scale, and you'll recognize many of them. Some of GCP's largest competitors are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and IBM's cloud platform.

Amazon beat Google to the market with its cloud computing service in 2006. Google launched a preview release of App Engine in 2008, a tool that lets customers run their web applications on Google's infrastructure. At first, it was released to a limited number of developers. It didn't see its full release until 2011.

Since then, Google Cloud Platform has developed or acquired numerous services and products that allow companies to use all facets of its vast infrastructure resources. Google Cloud Platform quickly became one of the top international cloud vendors, alongside other cloud providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM.

Have you ever wondered how companies can offer their services and online products on such a huge scale? It's because most of them are built on cloud services like Google's. Some of Google Cloud Platform's most well-known customers include Snapchat, Spotify, Twitter, PayPal, Nintendo, and eBay.

Google Cloud Platform offers several "engines" or frameworks designed for computing, hosting, and application development needs. It has many useful APIs that use machine learning and its AI platform to develop AI models. It also has services for database work and can handle large datasets.

This is a short list of what's available through Google Cloud Platform. GCP also has Google Cloud Storage, Cloud Pub/Sub, Cloud Dataflow, Cloud Dataproc, Cloud Functions, Cloud Run, Cloud Spanner, Cloud Load Balancing, and a web-based GUI called Cloud Console to manage it all. The Google Cloud Platform is huge, and this is not a complete list.

GCP includes many managed services, meaning that Google takes care of the underlying infrastructure, maintenance, and operational tasks needed to run the service and the hardware that the service uses. If you've ever run a small home server on a Synology DiskStation NAS, you probably know how much can go wrong with server hardware. This allows customers to focus on developing and running things rather than managing the infrastructure. It also means that a company can take advantage of automatic scaling that adjusts resources based on their workload demand as their business grows.

With so many large companies moving their analytics, data processing, and machine learning workloads offsite and into cloud vendors like Google Cloud Platform, securing this data has become a top priority. GCP offers tools for monitoring, logging, and diagnosing security performance.

Google Cloud Platform doesn't only offer the tools and services that allow companies to use its infrastructure. It also provides security and management tools that protect everything a company puts on its platform.

Google Cloud Platform and Google Cloud may sound like the same thing, but they are very different. Google Cloud is a set of user-end tools and services, like Google Drive and Google Workspace. On the other hand, GCP is the backbone of many large-scale digital platforms, including Google Cloud. It may seem like a lot with all it has to offer, but there are plenty of tutorials and a flexible pricing model for smaller-scale uses.

To put it simply, Google Cloud Platform is Google's suite of cloud computing services that enable developers and businesses of all sizes to build, launch, and manage their applications and online services. Some of the biggest companies in the world use GCP to access Google's powerful infrastructure, the same infrastructure that Google uses for its services and products. GCP provides computational engines, an AI platform, machine learning APIs, a stable and reliable DNS service, and database services that can handle any size and type of dataset.

Google Cloud Platform offers all the security and management tools needed to safeguard a company's data and the sensitive user data they may have collected. Its set of security and monitoring tools helps companies automate many security tasks, monitor system performance, and manage access privileges.

The Google Cloud Platform is more than Google's version of a cloud computing suite. It's a comprehensive ecosystem of reliable and powerful services, from advanced computing capabilities to strong and dependable security measures.

Google Cloud Platform: Everything you need to know about Google's suite of cloud computing services - Android Police

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Monthly Archives: June 2023

Why the World Is on the Brink of Great Disorder – TIME

All the New Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books to Put on Your Radar for July – Yahoo Entertainment

The Naxos Quartet: The Greek Gods in the Modern World – Greek Reporter

July 10: Our Venerable Father Anthony of the Monastery of the … – Edmonton Eparchy

Is a Dukes of Hazzard reboot coming to Netflix? – Dexerto

How ‘Swagger’ Raised Its Game – The New York Times

Why Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing Still Matters – MovieWeb

The Fatal Tension at the Heart of Wokeism – TIME

Amazon is investing another $7.8B in Ohio-based cloud computing operations, state leaders say – The Associated Press

Google Cloud Platform: Everything you need to know about Google’s suite of cloud computing services – Android Police

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Future Euvolution

Lucid Dreams from Childhood

Genetic Revolution

Speciation + Self-Directed Evolution