Steve Bosserman

  • 05 December 2022

    Kamál, 13 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Skies just before sunset

    Done

    This is my final entry in the current format to Micro.blog. Today marks the last post in the “239 Days” series on Frameworks for Understanding the World. Tomorrow, I will begin another series of quotes taken from The Nine Year Plan: 2022-2031 Messages of the Universal House of Justice. Such a shift seemed like the perfect opportunity to reorganize what and where I post everywhere.

    The routine of daily mention of my books, LPs, and photos will continue as individual “toots” by @steveb@social.coop on Mastodon. The balance of my “Daily Log” on Micro.blog will be converted into postings to Frameworks, Greener Acres Value Network News, or Mastodon.

    I’m not sure what’s in store for my Micro.blog site in the future. It’s been a good friend in that it helped me learn how to do consistent posting. But I’m at the point where I must conserve energy and distill my online presence into fewer platforms. So, we’ll see …

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Franz Schubert– Fantasy Sonata In G / “Wanderer” Fantasy | Anton Kuerti

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Park, Robert M. Diary of a Wayward Balloon. 1st ed. Harper, Kansas: Robert M. Park, 1971.

    Quoted

    This is my last meeting with you, for now I am on the ship ready to sail away. These are my final words of exhortation. I have repeatedly summoned you to the cause of the unity of the world of humanity, announcing that all mankind are the servants of the same God, that God is the creator of all; He is the Provider and Life-giver; all are equally beloved by Him and are His servants upon whom His mercy and compassion descend. Therefore, you must manifest the greatest kindness and love toward the nations of the world, setting aside fanaticism, abandoning religious, national and racial prejudice.

    The earth is one native land, one home; and all mankind are the children of one Father. God has created them, and they are the recipients of His compassion. Therefore, if anyone offends another, he offends God. It is the wish of our heavenly Father that every heart should rejoice and be filled with happiness, that we should live together in felicity and joy. The obstacle to human happiness is racial or religious prejudice, the competitive struggle for existence and inhumanity toward each other.

    Your eyes have been illumined, your ears are attentive, your hearts knowing. You must be free from prejudice and fanaticism, beholding no differences between the races and religions. You must look to God, for He is the real Shepherd, and all humanity are His sheep. He loves them and loves them equally. As this is true, should the sheep quarrel among themselves? They should manifest gratitude and thankfulness to God, and the best way to thank God is to love one another.

    Beware lest ye offend any heart, lest ye speak against anyone in his absence, lest ye estrange yourselves from the servants of God. You must consider all His servants as your own family and relations. Direct your whole effort toward the happiness of those who are despondent, bestow food upon the hungry, clothe the needy, and glorify the humble. Be a helper to every helpless one, and manifest kindness to your fellow creatures in order that ye may attain the good pleasure of God. This is conducive to the illumination of the world of humanity and eternal felicity for yourselves. I seek from God everlasting glory in your behalf; therefore, this is my prayer and exhortation.

    Consider what is happening in the Balkans. Human blood is being shed, properties are destroyed, possessions pillaged, cities and villages devastated. A world-enkindling fire is astir in the Balkans. God has created men to love each other; but instead, they kill each other with cruelty and bloodshed. God has created them that they may cooperate and mingle in accord; but instead, they ravage, plunder and destroy in the carnage of battle. God has created them to be the cause of mutual felicity and peace; but instead, discord, lamentation and anguish rise from the hearts of the innocent and afflicted.

    As to you: Your efforts must be lofty. Exert yourselves with heart and soul so that, perchance, through your efforts the light of universal peace may shine and this darkness of estrangement and enmity may be dispelled from amongst men, that all men may become as one family and consort together in love and kindness, that the East may assist the West and the West give help to the East, for all are the inhabitants of one planet, the people of one original native land and the flocks of one Shepherd.

    Consider how the Prophets Who have been sent, the great souls who have appeared and the sages who have arisen in the world have exhorted mankind to unity and love. This has been the essence of their mission and teaching. This has been the goal of their guidance and message. The Prophets, saints, seers and philosophers have sacrificed their lives in order to establish these principles and teachings amongst men. Consider the heedlessness of the world, for notwithstanding the efforts and sufferings of the Prophets of God, the nations and peoples are still engaged in hostility and fighting. Notwithstanding the heavenly commandments to love one another, they are still shedding each other’s blood. How heedless and ignorant are the people of the world! How gross the darkness which envelops them! Although they are the children of a compassionate God, they continue to live and act in opposition to His will and good pleasure. God is loving and kind to all men, and yet they show the utmost enmity and hatred toward each other. God is the Giver of life to them, and yet they constantly seek to destroy life. God blesses and protects their homes; they rage, sack and destroy each other’s homes. Consider their ignorance and heedlessness!

    Your duty is of another kind, for you are informed of the mysteries of God. Your eyes are illumined; your ears are quickened with hearing. You must, therefore, look toward each other and then toward mankind with the utmost love and kindness. You have no excuse to bring before God if you fail to live according to His command, for you are informed of that which constitutes the good pleasure of God. You have heard His commandments and precepts. You must, therefore, be kind to all men; you must even treat your enemies as your friends. You must consider your evil-wishers as your well-wishers. Those who are not agreeable toward you must be regarded as those who are congenial and pleasant so that, perchance, this darkness of disagreement and conflict may disappear from amongst men and the light of the divine may shine forth, so that the Orient may be illumined and the Occident filled with fragrance, nay, so that the East and West may embrace each other in love and deal with one another in sympathy and affection. Until man reaches this high station, the world of humanity shall not find rest, and eternal felicity shall not be attained. But if man lives up to these divine commandments, this world of earth shall be transformed into the world of heaven, and this material sphere shall be converted into a paradise of glory. It is my hope that you may become successful in this high calling so that like brilliant lamps you may cast light upon the world of humanity and quicken and stir the body of existence like unto a spirit of life. This is eternal glory. This is everlasting felicity. This is immortal life. This is heavenly attainment. This is being created in the image and likeness of God. And unto this I call you, praying to God to strengthen and bless you. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 468-470. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/33#435933475 [return]

  • 04 December 2022

    Jamál, 12 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Granddaughter with a little help from Omi, made numbers out of Play-Doh

    Done

    Corresponded with Stephen Beckett and Tony Budak earlier today about timebanking:

    Stephen asks, “How do we make our initiatives the most welcoming to the broadest audience?” I suggest we engage those whose youthful energy is driving learning and positive change in those PUBLIC forums (as opposed to private ones like Slack) where they participate. Two that come to mind immediately are Loomio and Hylo.

    Stephen posits, “hOurworld is trying to raise the value of ANYTHING anyone does for anyone else including raising the value of learning by rewarding all the players in an event.” This sentiment manifests itself in almost any setting where people give serious consideration to current circumstances and future probabilities. The occasion is nigh for the principles of timebanking to be applied in response to humanity’s growing awareness that our true value lies between our ears. The challenge is how to get what we process in our heads 24 / 7 out there so that everyone else can benefit. Timebanking can help us do that by documenting what we do with the time we have, day in and day out. It can link with technology to do this automatically in the background.

    This links nicely with what Tony asserts, “We need to use nouns for the name of the tasks or work that people do. In other words, what are you held accountable for?” Yes. I am a member of one human family. I am a node in a human network that connects me with everyone else. I am a human agent. I am responsible and held accountable for my involvement in human-agent teams.

    The disruptive, rapid, and pervasive developments in technology, artificial intelligence, in particular, encompass us all. This shifting landscape changes the measure of human value. Our time is all we have. It’s invaluable. Assigning a dollar value to our time as a measure of personal worth is quickly becoming anachronistic. Timebanking can address this, but we have to dive in where change happens.

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Obruchev, Vladimir. Plutonia: An Adventure through Prehistory. 2nd Printing 1988. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1957. http://archive.org/details/plutonia-gnv-64.

    Bookmarked

    Bhalla, Jag. “Free Market Genocides: The Real History of Trade.” Evonomics (blog), September 11, 2022. https://evonomics.com/free-market-genocide-the-real-history-of-trade/.

    Bhalla, Jag. “White-Collar War Crimes and For-Profit Famines.” Current Affairs, October 11, 2022. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/10/white-collar-war-crimes-and-for-profit-famines.

    Epstein, Alex. “The Climate Debate Ignores the Reasons We Burn Fossil Fuels in the First Place.” Tweet. Twitter, December 4, 2022. https://twitter.com/AlexEpstein/status/1599471173527605250.

    Krammer, Florian, and Aubree Gordon. “Covid, Flu, RSV: We Know How to Deal With Them. Will We?” The New York Times, November 28, 2022, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/opinion/winter-rsv-covid-flu.html.

    Loury, Glenn. “The Reality of Black Solidarity.” Substack newsletter. Glenn Loury (blog), December 4, 2022. https://glennloury.substack.com/p/the-reality-of-black-solidarity.

    Span, Paula. “Who Will Care for ‘Kinless’ Seniors?” The New York Times, December 3, 2022, sec. Health. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/03/health/elderly-living-alone.html.

    The Ethical Skeptic. “The Earth-Lunar Lagrange 1 Orbital Rapid Response Array (ELORA).” The Ethical Skeptic, September 14, 2019. https://theethicalskeptic.com/2019/09/14/the-earth-lunar-lagrange-1-orbital-rapid-response-array-elora/.

    Sorted

    Started cleaning another set of LPs. These are some of my classical music recordings — Schubert’s sonatas and piano trios. It’s been decades since I’ve listened to them. I’m pumped!

    Quoted

    As we have before indicated, this human reality stands between the higher and the lower in man, between the world of the animal and the world of Divinity. When the animal proclivity in man becomes predominant, he sinks even lower than the brute. When the heavenly powers are triumphant in his nature, he becomes the noblest and most superior being in the world of creation. All the imperfections found in the animal are found in man. In him there is antagonism, hatred and selfish struggle for existence; in his nature lurk jealousy, revenge, ferocity, cunning, hypocrisy, greed, injustice and tyranny. So to speak, the reality of man is clad in the outer garment of the animal, the habiliments of the world of nature, the world of darkness, imperfections and unlimited baseness.

    On the other hand, we find in him justice, sincerity, faithfulness, knowledge, wisdom, illumination, mercy and pity, coupled with intellect, comprehension, the power to grasp the realities of things and the ability to penetrate the truths of existence. All these great perfections are to be found in man. Therefore, we say that man is a reality which stands between light and darkness. From this standpoint his nature is threefold: animal, human and divine. The animal nature is darkness; the heavenly is light in light. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 465. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/33#049738900 [return]

  • 03 December 2022

    Jalál, 11 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    My neighbor’s yellow mums earlier this season.

    Done

    Attended a Zoom webinar titled, “What the Countries of the World Hope to Agree on in Montreal in December for the Protection of Nature” hosted by International Environment Forum. The presentation focused on the upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference (COP-15) in Montreal, December 7-19.

    Meanwhile, life goes on among the 8 billion, not in attendance…

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Murfin, James. National Park Service Guide to the Historic Places of the American Revolution, 1975. http://archive.org/details/nationalparkserv001776.

    Bookmarked

    Bakker, Karen. “Coming Up: Karen Bakker, Listening Across the Tree of Life.” Interspecies Internet, December 3, 2022. https://www.interspecies.io/lectures/coming-up-karen-bakker-listening-across-the-tree-of-life.

    Coupet, Jason. “Man Voting in Georgia Is so Different than in Illinois.” ThreadReader, December 2, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1598827111392968704.html.

    Degli Esposti, Michelle, Hsing-Fang Hsieh, and Jason E. Goldstick. “Firearm Injuries Are a Critical Driver of Health Disparities in the United States.” JAMA Network Open 5, no. 11 (November 29, 2022): e2244240. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.44240.

    Duran-Nebreda, Salva, Michael J. O’Brien, R. Alexander Bentley, and Sergi Valverde. “Dilution of Expertise in the Rise and Fall of Collective Innovation.” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 9, no. 1 (October 12, 2022): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01380-5.

    Eddy, Melissa, and Patrick Junker. “Germans Have Seen the Future, and It’s a Heat Pump.” The New York Times, December 2, 2022, sec. World. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/02/world/europe/germany-heat-pumps.html.

    Knowles, David. “Finding Safe Haven in the Climate Change Future: The Pacific Northwest.” Yahoo! News, December 3, 2022. https://news.yahoo.com/finding-safe-haven-in-the-climate-change-future-the-pacific-northwest-100034487.html.

    Lazare, Sarah. “This Whole Railroad Workers Episode Further Clarifies That the ‘Essential Worker’ Discourse.” Tweet. Twitter, December 1, 2022. https://twitter.com/sarahlazare/status/1598417982119723008.

    Mazza, Patrick. “Labor Struggle Shows Need to Put Rail on a New Track.” Substack newsletter. The Raven (blog), December 2, 2022. https://theraven.substack.com/p/labor-struggle-shows-need-to-put.

    Sahm, Claudia. “Burden of Proof Is on the Inflation Hawks Now.” Stay-At-Home Macro, December 3, 2022. https://stayathomemacro.substack.com/p/burden-of-proof-is-on-the-inflation.

    Weisenthal, Joe. “Right Now, Feeling More Concerned about What AI Will Mean for Songwriting than Journalism.” Tweet. Twitter, December 3, 2022. https://twitter.com/TheStalwart/status/1599085940588224512.

    Sorted

    Developed templates for books and LPs in TheBrain. I could import data from Evernote, which is a huge help.

    Quoted

    I have attended more meetings in New York than in all the other cities combined. Day and night, individually and collectively you have listened to the teachings and exhortations of Bahá’u’lláh. I have proclaimed unto you the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God and explained the wishes of the Blessed Perfection. I have set forth that which is conducive to human progress and shown you the humility of servitude. The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh have been clearly interpreted. The time has now come when I must leave you; therefore, this will be our farewell meeting.

    I am greatly pleased with you all and rejoice that you have shown me the utmost kindness and affection. It is my desire that Bahá’u’lláh shall be pleased with you, that you may follow His precepts and become worthy of His confirmations. The requirements are that your minds must be illumined, your souls must be rejoiced with the glad tidings of God, you must become imbued with spiritual moralities, your daily life must evidence faith and assurance, your hearts must be sanctified and pure, reflecting a high degree of love and attraction toward the Kingdom of Abhá. You must become the lamps of Bahá’u’lláh so that you may shine with eternal light and be the proofs and evidences of His truth. Then will such signs of purity and chastity be witnessed in your deeds and actions that men will behold the heavenly radiance of your lives and say, “Verily, ye are the proofs of Bahá’u’lláh. Verily, Bahá’u’lláh is the True One, for He has trained such souls as these, each one of which is a proof in himself.” They will say to others, “Come and witness the conduct of these souls; come and listen to their words, behold the illumination of their hearts, see the evidences of the love of God in them, consider their praiseworthy morals, and discover the foundations of the oneness of humanity firmly implanted within them. What greater proof can there be than these people that the message of Bahá’u’lláh is truth and reality?” It is my hope that each one of you shall be a herald of God, proclaiming the evidences of His appearance, in words, deeds and thoughts. Let your actions and utterances be a witness that you are of the Kingdom of Bahá’u’lláh. These are the duties enjoined upon you by Bahá’u’lláh.

    Bahá’u’lláh endured the greatest hardships. He found neither rest by night nor peace by day. He was constantly under the stress of great calamity—now in prison, now in chains, now threatened by the sword—until finally He broke the cage of captivity, left this mortal world and ascended to the heaven of God. He endured all these tribulations for our sakes and suffered these deprivations that we might attain the bestowals of divine bounty. Therefore, we must be faithful to Him and turn away from our own selfish desires and fancies in order that we may accomplish that which is required of us by our Lord.

    It is my wish that you shall arise to live according to these teachings and exhortations; that all of us may be divinely strengthened, enter the paradise of the spiritual Kingdom, diffuse the lights of the Sun of Truth, cause the waves of this Most Great Ocean to reach all human souls so that this world of earth may be transformed into the world of heaven and this devastated ground be changed into the paradise of Abhá. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 460-461. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/33#799684413 [return]

  • 02 December 2022

    Istiqlál, 10 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Another collage of fall leaves from earlier in the season…

    Done

    Participated in the weekly Zoom call with Helen Stucky-Weaver and the Wellness Weavers “Inner Circle” group. I had an opportunity to review my strategy for digitizing and organizing my work so it can be accessed on a website. I referenced the “Music Brain” as an example of how to use TheBrain for this purpose. The Wellness Weavers information would easily fit into this format—it’s just a matter of how much time one wants to spend doing it. They encouraged me to keep looking into it. And so I will!

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Benny Goodman - Live at Carnegie Hall 40th Anniversary Concert

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Morgan, W. Y. (William Yoast). The Near East. 1st ed. Topeka, Kan.: :Crane & Co., 1913. http://archive.org/details/neareast00morg.

    Bookmarked

    Bakker, Michiel A., Martin J. Chadwick, Hannah R. Sheahan, Michael Henry Tessler, Lucy Campbell-Gillingham, Jan Balaguer, Nat McAleese, et al. “Fine-Tuning Language Models to Find Agreement among Humans with Diverse Preferences.” arXiv, November 27, 2022. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2211.15006.

    Baquero, Carlos. “The Legacy of Peer-to-Peer Systems.” Communications of the ACM, December 1, 2022. https://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/267236-the-legacy-of-peer-to-peer-systems/fulltext.

    Bjoin, Bob. “Cherish the Experience at Wapsie Pines Tree Farm.” Iowa Farm Bureau, November 28, 2022. https://www.iowafarmbureau.com/Article/Cherish-the-experience-at-Wapsie-Pines-Tree-Farm.

    Bordoff, Jason. “Emmanuel Macron & Other EU Leaders Have Used Inflammatory Rhetoric to Criticize 3 Aspects of US Energy & Climate Policy over Profiteering from Ukraine & #IRA.” ThreadReader, December 2, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1598697099335708672.html.

    Columbus Democratic Socialists of America. “Statement on Fascist Threats Against the LGBTQ+ Community in Columbus.” ThreadReader, December 2, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1598814711172268032.html.

    Garry, Hugh, and Anjali Ramachandran. “Unlocking Creativity, 52 Lessons. Monsters of Doc.” Substack newsletter. Storythings Newsletter (blog), December 2, 2022. https://storythingsnewsletter.substack.com/p/storythings-newsletter.

    Goldberg, Brad. “465 Patients Checked into Our ED in a 24hr Period.” Twitter, November 30, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1598101949127106560.html.

    Heilpern, Layah. “Bill Gates: I’m Gonna Put a Microchip inside You Everyone: EVILLLLL.” Tweet. Twitter, December 1, 2022. https://twitter.com/LayahHeilpern/status/1598181995917774848.

    Loury, Glenn. “John McWhorter and James Beaman – A Peek Behind the Antiracist Curtain.” Substack newsletter. Glenn Loury (blog), November 28, 2022. https://glennloury.substack.com/p/john-mcwhorter-and-james-beaman-a.

    Packer, Dominic, and Jay Van Bavel. “What’s the Least You Can Do to Turn People against Each Other?” The Power of Us, November 29, 2022. https://powerofus.substack.com/.

    Pearson, Catherine, Photographs by Sara Naomi Lewkowicz, Vanessa Leroy, Sarah Rice, and Yehyun Kim. “What It Really Takes to Breastfeed a Baby.” The New York Times, November 30, 2022, sec. Well. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/30/well/family/breastfeeding-nursing-formula.html.

    Rixey, Charles. “When Nature Falls: A COVID-19 Conversation with ‘Scientists.’” Substack newsletter. Prometheus Shrugged (blog), July 8, 2021. https://prometheusshrugged.substack.com/p/when-nature-falls-a-covid-19-conversation.

    Roubini, Nouriel. “That Is Why AI Will Make the Job of Most Economists - Including Myself - Obsolete over the next Few Decades.” Tweet. Twitter, December 1, 2022. https://twitter.com/Nouriel/status/1598426365166243840.

    Sheahan, Hannah. “So Happy My First Major Piece of Work at DeepMind Is Now Published!” ThreadReader, December 1, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1598349628499496960.html.

    Sorted

    Developed a workflow for saving and organizing bookmarks using TheBrain. Next up, learn about templates.

    Quoted

    I will speak to you concerning the special teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. All the divine principles announced by the tongue of the Prophets of the past are to be found in the words of Bahá’u’lláh; but in addition to these He has revealed certain new teachings which are not found in any of the sacred Books of former times. I shall mention some of them; the others, which are many in number, may be found in the Books, Tablets and Epistles written by Bahá’u’lláh—such as the Hidden Words, the Glad Tidings, the Words of Paradise, Tajallíyát, Ṭarázát and others. Likewise, in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas there are new teachings which cannot be found in any of the past Books or Epistles of the Prophets.

    A fundamental teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the oneness of the world of humanity. Addressing mankind, He says, “Ye are all leaves of one tree and the fruits of one branch.” By this it is meant that the world of humanity is like a tree, the nations or peoples are the different limbs or branches of that tree, and the individual human creatures are as the fruits and blossoms thereof. In this way Bahá’u’lláh expressed the oneness of humankind, whereas in all religious teachings of the past the human world has been represented as divided into two parts: one known as the people of the Book of God, or the pure tree, and the other the people of infidelity and error, or the evil tree. The former were considered as belonging to the faithful, and the others to the hosts of the irreligious and infidel—one part of humanity the recipients of divine mercy, and the other the object of the wrath of their Creator. Bahá’u’lláh removed this by proclaiming the oneness of the world of humanity, and this principle is specialized in His teachings, for He has submerged all mankind in the sea of divine generosity. Some are asleep; they need to be awakened. Some are ailing; they need to be healed. Some are immature as children; they need to be trained. But all are recipients of the bounty and bestowals of God. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 453-454. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/33#416617759 [return]

  • 01 December 2022

    Istijlál, 09 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Now that it’s fully into the Christmas season, here’s another photo of the burning bush (Euonymus alatus) I first posted in the Daily Log on 16 November 2022.

    Done

    Participated in a standing Thursday Zoom session with Tony Budak this afternoon. We talked about my “obsession” with data visualization. In particular, how best to embed the data I’ve accumulated over the past 35 years in a webpage so it can be easily accessed, searched, and displayed. This led me to do more research after the call as reported in the “Sorted” below.

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Madonna - True Blue

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Markman, Harvey C. Fossils : A Story of the Rocks and Their Record of Prehistoric Life. Third Edition. Denver: Denver Museum of Natural History, 1954. http://archive.org/details/fossilsstoryofro00mark.

    Bookmarked

    Brown, Gordon. “Britain’s Poor Face the Worst Winter in Living Memory.” ThreadReader, December 1, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1598267035250659329.html.

    Why It’s Rude to Suck at Warcraft, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKP1I7IocYU.

    Grose, Jessica. “Give Moms the Gift of Guaranteed Income.” The New York Times, November 30, 2022, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/30/opinion/moms-holiday-giving.html.

    Hedges, Chris. “The Chris Hedges Report Podcast with Richard Wolff.” Substack newsletter. The Chris Hedges Report (blog), December 1, 2022. https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-speaks?publication_id=778851#details.

    Hoeven, Nicole van der. “Getting Started with Obsidian.” YouTube. Accessed December 1, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-1Nqb2waX4Vba6QDVS5rhnSb9pZGTO4b.

    Johnson, Sophie Lucido. “Here’s What Big Dinner Parties Are For.” Substack newsletter. You Are Doing A Good Enough Job (blog), November 30, 2022. https://goodenoughjob.substack.com/p/heres-what-big-dinner-parties-are.

    Lat, David. “Biglaw’s Latest Cancel-Culture Controversy.” Substack newsletter. Original Jurisdiction (blog), December 1, 2022. https://davidlat.substack.com/p/biglaws-latest-cancel-culture-controversy.

    LePera, Nicole. “Let’s Talk about Social Anxiety Disorder.” ThreadReader, November 30, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1597968600370884610.html.

    mash tun timmy. “I’ve Noticed a Psych Trend Where Nearly Every Pop Psychologist Invites People to Transfer Blame to Their Childhood Environment.” ThreadReader, November 30, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1598055786005295106.html.

    Matias, J. Nathan. “Policy on Scraping and Automation?” Social.Coop on Loomio, December 1, 2022. https://www.loomio.com/d/IYF6POHb/comment/2814963.

    Steffen, Alex. “‘Being Too Far Ahead Is the Same Thing as Being Wrong.’” Medium, July 21, 2021. https://thenearlynow.com/being-too-far-ahead-is-the-same-thing-as-being-wrong-757ca567da69.

    Thompson, Derek. “Your Creativity Won’t Save Your Job From AI.” The Atlantic, December 1, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/12/why-the-rise-of-ai-is-the-most-important-story-of-the-year/672308/.

    Vickers, Peter. “How to Identify a Scientific Fact.” OUPblog, November 30, 2022. https://blog.oup.com/2022/11/how-to-identify-a-scientific-fact/.

    Zong, Jonathan. “Building Collective Power to Refuse Harmful Data Systems.” Citizens and Technology Lab (blog), August 12, 2020. https://citizensandtech.org/2020/08/collective-refusal/.

    Zong, Jonathan, and J. Nathan Matias. “Bartleby: Procedural and Substantive Ethics in the Design of Research Ethics Systems.” Social Media + Society 8, no. 1 (January 1, 2022): 20563051221077020. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221077021.

    “Coalition for Independent Technology Research.” Accessed December 1, 2022. https://independenttechresearch.org/.

    Sorted

    Researched the publishing features of TheBrain compared to Obsidian. I’m leaning toward TheBrain even though its user-friendliness is like many relationships — complicated

    Quoted

    As to the third meaning of sacrifice, it is this: If you plant a seed in the ground, a tree will become manifest from that seed. The seed sacrifices itself to the tree that will come from it. The seed is outwardly lost, destroyed; but the same seed which is sacrificed will be absorbed and embodied in the tree, its blossoms, fruit and branches. If the identity of that seed had not been sacrificed to the tree which became manifest from it, no branches, blossoms or fruits would have been forthcoming. Christ outwardly disappeared. His personal identity became hidden from the eyes, even as the identity of the seed disappeared; but the bounties, divine qualities and perfections of Christ became manifest in the Christian community which Christ founded through sacrificing Himself. When you look at the tree, you will realize that the perfections, blessings, properties and beauty of the seed have become manifest in the branches, twigs, blossoms and fruit; consequently, the seed has sacrificed itself to the tree. Had it not done so, the tree would not have come into existence. Christ, like unto the seed, sacrificed Himself for the tree of Christianity. Therefore, His perfections, bounties, favors, lights and graces became manifest in the Christian community, for the coming of which He sacrificed Himself.

    As to the fourth significance of sacrifice: It is the principle that a reality sacrifices its own characteristics. Man must sever himself from the influences of the world of matter, from the world of nature and its laws; for the material world is the world of corruption and death. It is the world of evil and darkness, of animalism and ferocity, bloodthirstiness, ambition and avarice, of self-worship, egotism and passion; it is the world of nature. Man must strip himself of all these imperfections, must sacrifice these tendencies which are peculiar to the outer and material world of existence.

    On the other hand, man must acquire heavenly qualities and attain divine attributes. He must become the image and likeness of God. He must seek the bounty of the eternal, become the manifestor of the love of God, the light of guidance, the tree of life and the depository of the bounties of God. That is to say, man must sacrifice the qualities and attributes of the world of nature for the qualities and attributes of the world of God. For instance, consider the substance we call iron. Observe its qualities; it is solid, black, cold. These are the characteristics of iron. When the same iron absorbs heat from the fire, it sacrifices its attribute of solidity for the attribute of fluidity. It sacrifices its attribute of darkness for the attribute of light, which is a quality of the fire. It sacrifices its attribute of coldness to the quality of heat which the fire possesses so that in the iron there remains no solidity, darkness or cold. It becomes illumined and transformed, having sacrificed its qualities to the qualities and attributes of the fire.

    Likewise, man, when separated and severed from the attributes of the world of nature, sacrifices the qualities and exigencies of that mortal realm and manifests the perfections of the Kingdom, just as the qualities of the iron disappeared and the qualities of the fire appeared in their place.

    Every man trained through the teachings of God and illumined by the light of His guidance, who becomes a believer in God and His signs and is enkindled with the fire of the love of God, sacrifices the imperfections of nature for the sake of divine perfections. Consequently, every perfect person, every illumined, heavenly individual stands in the station of sacrifice. It is my hope that through the assistance and providence of God and through the bounties of the Kingdom of Abhá you may be entirely severed from the imperfections of the world of nature, purified from selfish, human desires, receiving life from the Kingdom of Abhá and attaining heavenly graces. May the divine light become manifest upon your faces, the fragrances of holiness refresh your nostrils and the breath of the Holy Spirit quicken you with eternal life. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 451-452. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/33#235439943 [return]

  • 30 November 2022

    ’Idál, 08 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    After several cloudy days, the blue skies were most welcome!

    Done

    Thanks to a suggestion from my colleague, Bill Fulkerson, I installed TheBrain on my iMac. At first blush, it seems to be a blend of Evernote and MindNode. I hold out hope that its visualization features compare favorably with the interactive graphic display capability of Obsidian. Like so many applications, it’s easy to get caught up in the bells and whistles of what they COULD do. Enough so that before you know it you’ve forked over the money to access all those specials only to find out later either you can’t figure out how to make them work or that you don’t need them at all. Licensing TheBrain is not inexpensive. I want to make sure I know how to use it and that it does what I need it to. If so, I might trade in Evernote, MindNode, and Obsidian for TheBrain. But we’ll see…

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Jefferson Starship - Earth

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Brookes, John. 101 Essential Tips: House Plants. 1st American Edition. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1996. http://archive.org/details/houseplants00broo.

    Bookmarked

    Bendell, Jem. “Deep Adaptation Quarterly, Issue 12, November 2022.” MailChimp. Deep Adaptation Quarterly, November 2022. http://eepurl.com/ieROB1.

    Bronstein, Yosef. “Yosef Bronstein: Rav Tzadok & Rav Kook on Jewish History.” 18Forty. Accessed November 30, 2022. https://18forty.org/podcast/yosef-bronstein-rav-tzadok-rav-kook-on-jewish-history/.

    Loury, Glenn. “Cruelty in the Name of ‘Antiracism.’” Substack newsletter. Glenn Loury (blog), November 29, 2022. https://glennloury.substack.com/p/cruelty-in-the-name-of-antiracism.

    Naftalovich, Rotem, Daniel Naftalovich, and Frank L. Greenway. “Polytetrafluoroethylene Ingestion as a Way to Increase Food Volume and Hence Satiety Without Increasing Calorie Content.” Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology 10, no. 4 (January 24, 2016): 971–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932296815626726.

    Nirenberg, David. “The World John von Neumann Built.” The Nation, November 28, 2022. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/john-von-neumann/.

    Solé, Ricard. “What Is Possible in the Space of Microbial Cognitive Complexity?” Tweet. Twitter, November 29, 2022. https://twitter.com/ricard_sole/status/1597701897120403456.

    Woodhouse, Leighton. “The Dogma of Harm Reduction.” Substack newsletter. Social Studies (blog), November 16, 2022. https://leightonwoodhouse.substack.com/p/the-dogma-of-harm-reduction.

    Sorted

    Returned to entering books into my Zotero library along with their availability for checkout on Internet Archive. I’m about ready to prepare a list to sell online and approach buyers for bids. This should be fun — NOT!

    Quoted

    There are other questions and evidences to be considered. Abraham was a Manifestation of God and a descendant of Adam; likewise, Ishmael, Isaac, Jeremiah and the whole line of prophets including David, Solomon and Aaron were among His posterity. Were all these holy men condemned to a realm of punishment because of a deed committed by the first father, because of a mistake said to have been made by their mutual and remotest ancestor Adam? The explanation is made that when Christ came and sacrificed Himself, all the line of holy Prophets who preceded Him became free from sin and punishment. Even a child could not justly make such an assertion. These interpretations and statements are due to a misunderstanding of the meanings of the Bible.

    In order to understand the reality of sacrifice let us consider the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. It is true that He sacrificed Himself for our sake. What is the meaning of this? When Christ appeared, He knew that He must proclaim Himself in opposition to all the nations and peoples of the earth. He knew that mankind would arise against Him and inflict upon Him all manner of tribulations. There is no doubt that one who put forth such a claim as Christ announced would arouse the hostility of the world and be subjected to personal abuse. He realized that His blood would be shed and His body rent by violence. Notwithstanding His knowledge of what would befall Him, He arose to proclaim His message, suffered all tribulation and hardships from the people and finally offered His life as a sacrifice in order to illumine humanity—gave His blood in order to guide the world of mankind. He accepted every calamity and suffering in order to guide men to the truth. Had He desired to save His own life, and were He without wish to offer Himself in sacrifice, He would not have been able to guide a single soul. There was no doubt that His blessed blood would be shed and His body broken. Nevertheless, that Holy Soul accepted calamity and death in His love for mankind. This is one of the meanings of sacrifice.

    As to the second meaning: He said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.” It was not the body of Christ which came from heaven. His body came from the womb of Mary, but the Christly perfections descended from heaven; the reality of Christ came down from heaven. The Spirit of Christ and not the body descended from heaven. The body of Christ was but human. There could be no question that the physical body was born from the womb of Mary. But the reality of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the perfections of Christ all came from heaven. Consequently, by saying He was the bread which came from heaven He meant that the perfections which He showed forth were divine perfections, that the blessings within Him were heavenly gifts and bestowals, that His light was the light of Reality. He said, “If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.” That is to say, whosoever assimilates these divine perfections which are within me will never die; whosoever has a share and partakes of these heavenly bounties I embody will find eternal life; he who takes unto himself these divine lights shall find everlasting life. How manifest the meaning is! How evident! For the soul which acquires divine perfections and seeks heavenly illumination from the teachings of Christ will undoubtedly live eternally. This is also one of the mysteries of sacrifice.

    In reality, Abraham sacrificed Himself, for He brought heavenly teachings to the world and conferred heavenly food upon mankind. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 449-451. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/33#865612551 [return]

  • 29 November 2022

    Fidál, 07 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Photo from earlier this fall…

    Done

    Staked up three small jade plants (Crassula ovata). Originally, I had rooted them in water before I potted them as one cluster earlier this year. They grew tall and spindly. I hope the staking will support them until their trunks gain more girth.

    Repotted one of my sister’s mother-in-law’s tongue plants (Dracaena trifasciata) into two smaller pots. As I was doing this I thought about how, other than my sister and nephew who live hundreds of miles away, no one else in the family likes houseplants. When I’m done, the plants are done. Don’t tell the plants, though. Better they don’t know their fate ahead of time ;-)

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Pink Floyd - The Wall

    Notes by Discogs.com

    SO GOOD!

    Read

    Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich. The Philosophy of History. New York : Dover Publications, 1956. http://archive.org/details/philosophyofhist0000hege_h8r0.

    Bookmarked

    do, emi. “On-Boarding Q&A for New Members!” Social.Coop on Loomio, November 28, 2022. https://www.loomio.com/d/weg1CJB5/comment/2813651.

    Halpern, Nicole Yunger. “Beyond the Second Law of Thermodynamics.” Quanta Magazine, March 31, 2022. https://www.quantamagazine.org/beyond-the-second-law-of-thermodynamics-20220331/.

    Heeswijk, Wouter van. “Mass Layoffs in Tech — Is The AI Winter Coming?” Medium, November 20, 2022. https://towardsdatascience.com/mass-layoffs-in-tech-is-the-ai-winter-coming-d7f9968006d.

    Jarvis, Jeff. “On Joining Mastodon.” Whither News? (blog), November 24, 2022. https://medium.com/whither-news/on-joining-mastodon-d539eed5e41a.

    Jauhar, Sandeep. “How Would You Feel About a 100-Year-Old Doctor?” The New York Times, November 28, 2022, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/opinion/doctors-aging-competency-test.html.

    Loury, Glenn. “The Ethics of Giving in the Very Long Term.” Substack newsletter. Glenn Loury (blog), November 20, 2022. https://glennloury.substack.com/p/the-ethics-of-giving-in-the-very.

    Masters, Suzette Brooks, and Ruby Hernandez. “Imagining Better Futures for American Democracy.” Democracy Funders Network, 2022. https://www.democracyfundersnetwork.org/resources/betterfuturesreport.

    McKibben, Bill. “Organizing After Twitter.” Substack newsletter. The Crucial Years (blog), November 29, 2022. https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/organizing-after-twitter.

    Pogrebin, Robin. “Anderson Cooper Explores Grief and Loss in Deeply Personal Podcast.” The New York Times, November 28, 2022, sec. Arts. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/arts/anderson-cooper-grief-podcast.html.

    Sahm, Claudia. “Inflation Due to Covid and War in Ukraine Shows Us the Limits of Monetary Policy.” Substack newsletter. Stay-At-Home Macro (blog), November 29, 2022. https://stayathomemacro.substack.com/p/inflation-due-to-covid-and-war-in.

    Sloley, Chris. “BlackRock Closes ESG Fund Due to Lack of Interest, amid Poor Performance.” CityWire South Africa, March 18, 2022. http://citywire.com/za/news/blackrock-closes-esg-fund-due-to-lack-of-interest-amid-poor-performance/a2382697.

    Social.Coop Members. “How To Make The Fediverse Your Own.” Social.Coop Wiki. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://wiki.social.coop/How-to-make-the-fediverse-your-own.html#diplomacy-with-the-fediverse.

    Sorted

    Nope. Still nothing more.

    Quoted

    This evening I wish to speak to you concerning the mystery of sacrifice. There are two kinds of sacrifice: the physical and the spiritual. The explanation made by the churches concerning this subject is, in reality, superstition. For instance, it is recorded in the Gospel that Christ said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.” He also said, “This [wine] is my blood … which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” These verses have been interpreted by the churches in such a superstitious way that it is impossible for human reason to understand or accept the explanation.

    They say that Adam disobeyed the command of God and partook of the fruit of the forbidden tree, thereby committing a sin which was transmitted as a heritage to His posterity. They teach that because of Adam’s sin all His descendants have, likewise, committed transgression and have become responsible through inheritance; that, consequently, all mankind deserves punishment and must make retribution; and that God sent forth His Son as a sacrifice in order that man might be forgiven and the human race delivered from the consequences of Adam’s transgression.

    We wish to consider these statements from the standpoint of reason. Could we conceive of the Divinity, Who is Justice itself, inflicting punishment upon the posterity of Adam for Adam’s own sin and disobedience? Even if we should see a governor, an earthly ruler punishing a son for the wrongdoing of his father, we would look upon that ruler as an unjust man. Granted the father committed a wrong, what was the wrong committed by the son? There is no connection between the two. Adam’s sin was not the sin of His posterity, especially as Adam is a thousand generations back of the man today. If the father of a thousand generations committed a sin, is it just to demand that the present generation should suffer the consequences thereof? 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 449. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/33#112906790 [return]

  • 28 November 2022

    Kamál, 06 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

    Seen

    Hi!

    Done

    Below is the most recent exchange I’m having with the timebank genius, Stephen Beckett. I’m honored he takes the time to engage with me on what I consider foundational questions!

    I wonder about all the possible causes of our time bank lethargy. Is it software? I don’t think so - our numbers were the best when our software was the worst. We have rewritten and improved the UI and functionality all along the way, Certainly ease of use can improve participation for the less adept… Is it the Trump era of hatred and division? That fully half the nation has gathered behind a narcissistic sociopath who has promoted permissions to all of the ugliness we are capable of and now many of us are less neighborly? Certainly, Covid has impacted us, like a final blow from a loving god to crush any remaining efforts to collaborate. Participation in the gig economy has blossomed in direct correspondence with our decline, I’m thinking about polling the members of a few of our time banks that have gone quiet, but what questions should we ask? Open-ended, like “Why are you no longer time banking?,” or more succinct like a survey: “Are you working in the gig economy?” “Are you volunteering?” “Do you have a second job?”

    Ideas?

    I suggest another factor. To quote a popular campaign slogan back in ‘92, “It’s the economy, stupid!” For timebanking to work in its current form requires members to have discretionary time. Over the past six years, people have been consuming more time with money matters. In other words, they have less discretionary time. The cost of basic needs is increasing, the value of one’s time earning money is decreasing, and the effectiveness of government programs in providing security is struggling at best. All that soaks up the time people have trying to survive.

    The answer is simple: local communities organize to ensure the availability of all their members’ basic needs.

    The roadblock is twofold. First, our economic system is built on owning and controlling access to resources and profit-making from the use of those resources. Second, our social system is built on the principle that some people are worth more than others. Those who own and control resources are worth more than those who don’t. And those who can’t “earn” enough to pay for the resources they need are expendable. With that kind of economic and social disparity, trust in the overall system – its institutions, its governance structure, and its supportive processes – is at an all-time low.

    So, we need a different system – one in which people can easily participate, everyone is welcome, each can contribute their value, and all can meet their basic needs in exchange. Cooperatives provide an opportunity for members at local levels to define the rules that enable such systems to form, experiment, learn, adapt, and prevail. Timebanks, where one person’s hour is equal in value to the hour of anyone else, and cooperatives, where each contributes to the sustainability of all through acts of service, go hand in hand. Platforms, pandemics, and politics do not prevent us from getting on with it. But our attitude towards one another surely will.

    I suggest we dust off hOurworld’s cooperative development materials from decades ago, update them with examples popping up worldwide, engage timebanks in the hOurworld network (like Tony’s A Learning Network or Michael’s Care and Share Time Bank or my GAVNet TimeBank) in Loomio groups, and let the rampant experimentation begin.

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Artist - Title

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Hofmann, Paul. Cento Città : A Guide to the “Hundred Cities & Towns” of Italy. New York : H. Holt, 1988. http://archive.org/details/centocittguide00hofm.

    Bookmarked

    Co-operatives UK Staff. “Co-Op Values and Principles.” Co-operatives UK. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://www.uk.coop/understanding-co-ops/what-co-op/co-op-values-and-principles.

    Cole, Margherita. “Japanese Artist Cuts Black Paper Against Colored Lights to Look Like Gorgeous Landscapes.” My Modern MET, October 30, 2020. https://mymodernmet.com/hiroki-saito-paper-art/.

    Design You Trust Home Page. “Design You Trust.” Design You Trust. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://designyoutrust.com/.

    Design You Trust. “‘I Thought They Were Photos!’: Japanese Artist’s Exquisite Work Earns Plaudits Online,” November 2020. https://designyoutrust.com/2020/11/i-thought-they-were-photos-japanese-artists-exquisite-work-earns-plaudits-online/.

    Fujiyama, Emily Wang. “As Climate Warms, a China Planner Advocates ‘Sponge Cities.’” AP News, November 15, 2022.

    https://apnews.com/article/floods-entertainment-asia-beijing-climate-and-environment-54f2b3282cad5ce8f165914f38023bdb.

    Johnstone, Caitlin. “The Claim That Capitalism Is the Best System for Generating Profits Is Basically Correct; It’s Hard to Beat Greed and Starvation as a Carrot and Stick to Get the Gears of Industry Whirring.” ThreadReader, November 27, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1597004657418608641.html.

    Noyes, Matt. “Regular Mastodon Contributions.” Social.Coop on Loomio, November 27, 2022. https://www.loomio.com/d/l8eYRQWi/comment/2812761.

    Ritchie, Hannah. “Are Meat Substitutes Really Better for the Environment than Meat?” Substack newsletter. Sustainability – without the Hot Air (blog), November 28, 2022. https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p/carbon-footprint-meat-substitutes.

    Winkless, Laurie. “Could ‘Sponge Cities’ Help Us Prepare For Our Flooded Future?” Forbes, July 27, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriewinkless/2021/07/27/could-sponge-cities-help-us-prepare-for-our-flooded-future/.

    Sorted

    No. But I’m closer to getting back after it.

    Quoted

    This meeting of yours … promotes love and fraternity among all humankind, seeks to abolish and destroy barriers which separate the human family, proclaims the equality of man and woman, instills divine precepts and morals, illumines and quickens minds with heavenly perception, attracts the infinite bestowals of God, removes racial, national and religious prejudices and establishes the foundation of the heavenly Kingdom in the hearts of all nations and peoples. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 447. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#955162073 [return]

  • 27 November 2022

    Jamál, 05 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Low-light experiment …

    Done

    Some thoughts about cooperatives and timebanking:

    Community development is a wicked problem. I find three contributing factors to this challenge. We see evidence of people everywhere learning every day that 1) humans are genealogically members of the same family regardless of skin color, nationality, ethnicity, cultural heritage, etc; 2) genetic commonality bestows upon us a shared human spirit that interconnects us despite our unique differences as individuals or geographical distances that separate us; and 3) social connectedness means that what each of us thinks, says, or does impacts everyone else. Such knowledge of cause and effect demands each of us bear responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable for their impact. Of course, not all community members express the same willingness to embrace responsibility and accountability. And that form of diversity is what makes the challenge of community development so sticky.

    Our current social systems of inclusion (membership), governance (rules of conduct), and exchange of human value do not honor the three factors outlined above. We are quite content to 1) leave some people out of the social system that could provide their basic needs, 2) cause those who are in the social system to play according to the rules in order to get their basic needs, and 3) force people to exchange their time for money to secure their basic needs. The advent of technology (tools) allows people to see what the system does to them, experiment with alternatives, and drive change in the formal systems of governance based on what they learned from their experiences.

    Platforms like Loomio, Hylo, Slack, Discord, Mastodon, etc. foster communication whereby people see what’s going on and engage in rampant experimentation. Groups like Social.Coop and Collaborative Technology Alliance on those platforms have a governance component that defines the rules one agrees to when choosing to join. And they all have some kind of “accounting system” that seeks to establish value for the time members devote to tasks they commit to doing.

    At present, cooperatives constitute the only viable legal governance structure for these groups to organize and maintain their principles. Timebank networks offer the only mechanism by which people can document their time without pegging it to some form of monetary compensation. The hOurworld network is that it combines cooperative development with timebanking as the article by Linda Hogan and Terry Daniels states:

    Cooperatives are, as we know, an excellent way to do business in harmony with our values. It is why the two of us, and our third partner, Stephen Beckett, formed hOurworld cooperative five years ago. Although hOurworld’s foundational mission is to provide immersion training, social architecture and free software to time banks, we quickly realized that the social architecture component extended beyond the world of time banking. 1

    I don’t know what it would look like for hOurworld to be involved with these groups as they build on the experimentation hOurworld itself spearheaded well over a decade ago. But I do know there’s a future play for the hOurworld network, cooperative development, and timebanking going forward. After all, we desperately need an adaptive social architecture that enables us to embrace a renewed moral compass and wisely guides us in how we use those tools we keep developing at a scorching rate. At this stage of life, the best I can do is stand on the river bank, point to the other side, and say the land of opportunity is over there - go for it!

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    The Moody Blues - Octave

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich. Reason in History, a General Introduction to the Philosophy of History; New York, Liberal Arts Press, 1953. http://archive.org/details/reasoninhistoryg00hege.

    Bookmarked

    Hogan, Linda. “Returning to the Essence of Neighborhood.” Grassroots Economic Organizing, November 26, 2014. https://geo.coop/story/returning-essence-neighborhood.

    Hogan, Linda. “Community Currency Classroom-It’s All about Building Community.” Grassroots Economic Organizing, December 13, 2016. https://geo.coop/story/community-currency-classroom.

    Hogan, Linda, and Terry Daniels. “Community Cooperatives-Fusing Cooperatives and Time Banks to Meet Community Needs.” Grassroots Economic Organizing, December 31, 2014. https://geo.coop/story/community-cooperatives.

    Johnny. “Kimono Portraits Were Popular Souvenirs for Sailors Visiting Japan in the 1800s.” Spoon & Tamago (blog), November 18, 2022. https://www.spoon-tamago.com/2022/11/18/horyu-goseda-kimono-portraits/.

    Johnny. “The Amaterasu Railway Now Runs on Leftover Tonkotsu Ramen Broth.” Spoon & Tamago (blog), November 21, 2022. https://www.spoon-tamago.com/2022/11/21/the-amaterasu-railway-now-runs-on-leftover-tonkotsu-ramen-broth/.

    Johnny. “Paper-Cut Cityscapes by Kirie Artist Hiroki Saito.” Spoon & Tamago (blog), November 22, 2022. https://www.spoon-tamago.com/2022/11/22/paper-cut-cityscapes-by-kirie-artist-hiroki-saito/.

    Loury, Glenn. “The Tribute of Criticism.” Substack newsletter. Glenn Loury (blog), November 27, 2022. https://glennloury.substack.com/p/the-tribute-of-criticism

    Sorted

    Still no …

    Quoted

    This meeting of yours tonight is very different in character. It is a universal gathering; it is heavenly and divine in purpose because it serves the oneness of the world of humanity and promotes international peace. It is devoted to the solidarity and brotherhood of the human race, the spiritual welfare of mankind, unity of religious belief through knowledge of God and the reconciliation of religious teaching with the principles of science and reason. 2

    1. Hogan, Linda, and Terry Daniels. “Community Cooperatives-Fusing Cooperatives and Time Banks to Meet Community Needs.” Grassroots Economic Organizing, December 31, 2014. geo.coop/story/com… [return]
    2. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 447. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#955162073 [return]

  • 26 November 2022

    Jalál, 04 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Day of the Covenant

    Seen

    My sister’s Christmas cactus is in full bloom two weeks after the last update posted to the Daily Log on 12 November 2022.

    It is especially gorgeous in the early morning sunlight!

    Done

    Explored more features on Obsidian. Of particular interest is how to aggregate notes by folder, group, tag, and link, then display their interconnections in different configurations. I suspect that to take full advantage of what Obsidian offers a person needs to invest in Obsidian Publish. But I need to know I’m committed to following thru so I don’t spend money and time for little benefit. The goal now is twofold. First, organize notes by major projects/topic areas that hold my attention. Second, determine how to derive greater benefit from that structure and process compared to what I’m doing now.

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    The Now Explosion

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Fugate, Francis L. Roadside History of New Mexico. Missoula : Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1989. http://archive.org/details/roadsidehistoryo0000fuga.

    Bookmarked

    Bernstein, Paul. Workplace Democratization–Its Internal Dynamics. Kent, Ohio: Comparative Administration Research Institute : Distributed by the Kent University Press, 1976. http://archive.org/details/workplacedemocra0000bern.

    Cosier, Susan. “How Floating Wetlands Are Helping to Clean Up Urban Waters.” Yale E360, November 22, 2022. https://e360.yale.edu/features/floating-wetlands-cities-pollution.

    Mason, Ronald M. Participatory and Workplace Democracy : A Theoretical Development in Critique of Liberalism. Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, 1982. http://archive.org/details/participatorywor0000maso.

    Mazza, Patrick. “Rejoining the Circle of Life.” Substack newsletter. The Raven (blog), November 25, 2022. https://theraven.substack.com/p/rejoining-the-circle-of-life.

    Ritchie, Hannah. “Global per Capita CO₂ Emissions Have (Still) Peaked.” Substack newsletter. Sustainability – without the Hot Air (blog), Accessed November 26, 2022. https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p/global-per-capita-co-emissions-have.

    Ritchie, Hannah. “Welcome to Sustainability – without the Hot Air.” Substack newsletter. Sustainability – without the Hot Air (blog), November 19, 2022. https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p/welcome-to-sustainability-without.

    Tejo, Matthew. “Why Twitter Didn’t Go Down: From a Real Twitter SRE.” Substack newsletter. Matthew’s Writing (blog), November 21, 2022. https://matthewtejo.substack.com/p/why-twitter-didnt-go-down-from-a.

    Sorted

    No. Make it a three-day break ;-)

    Quoted

    The effect of such an assembly as this is conducive to divine fellowship and strengthening of the bond which cements and unifies hearts. This is the indestructible bond of spirit which conjoins the East and West. By it the very foundations of race prejudice are uprooted and destroyed, the banner of spiritual democracy is hoisted aloft, the world of religion is purified from superannuated beliefs and hereditary imitations of forms, and the oneness of the reality underlying all religions is revealed and disclosed. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 447-448. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#955162073 [return]

  • 25 November 2022

    Istiqlál, 03 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    See something you’d like to read?

    Done

    Participated in the weekly Zoom call with Helen Stucky-Weaver and the Wellness Weavers “Inner Circle” group. Helen updated the group about a continuing education opportunity from PESI, Trauma & Telehealth: Dual Certification Training Course, that she and Dr. Ameena Matthews enrolled in. We mentioned a couple of somewhat recent TV series that offered contrasting views about what constitutes a “messiah:” The Chosen and Messiah. Always a compelling topic!

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Billy Joel - 52nd Street

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Dalí, Salvador. Dali by Dali. 1st ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1970. http://archive.org/details/dalibydali0000dali.

    Bookmarked

    Obsidian experiment #2 — the daily random bookmark selection…

    GregTheAnalyst, @Analyst_G. “$DE - I’m Watching It Very Closely…” Tweet. Twitter, November 23, 2022. https://twitter.com/Analyst_G/status/1595513057710669824.

    Kemp, Charles, Duane W. Hamacher, Daniel R. Little, and Simon J. Cropper. “Perceptual Grouping Explains Similarities in Constellations Across Cultures.” Psychological Science 33, no. 3 (March 2022): 354–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211044157.

    Krugman, Paul. “Watching the World’s Richest Man Descend Ever Deeper into the Q-Hole Has Been Amazing.” ThreadReader, November 24, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1595783337813200901.html.

    McKenzie, Hamish, and Chris Hedges. “The Active Voice: Chris Hedges Stands with Whatever Side Is Being Crushed.” Substack newsletter. Substack Reads (blog), November 24, 2022. https://read.substack.com/p/the-active-voice-6-chris-hedges.

    Mollick, Ethan. “Humans Are Pattern-Finding Machines & Some Patterns Call to Us More.” ThreadReader, November 23, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1595291532621271041.html.

    Sensorica Staff. “Greens for Good.” Sensorica - peer into the future. Accessed November 25, 2022. https://www.sensorica.co/ventures/food-and-agriculture/greens-for-good.

    Stone, Christopher James. “The City Breathing: The Politics of Spirituality. The Spirituality of Politics.” Splice Today, November 3, 2022. https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-city-breathing.

    Thomas, Maura. “To Control Your Life, Control What You Pay Attention To.” Harvard Business Review, March 15, 2018. https://hbr.org/2018/03/to-control-your-life-control-what-you-pay-attention-to.

    Wong, Maggie Hiufu, and Tetsu Sukegawa. “The Japanese Beef Croquettes with a 30-Year Waitlist.” CNN Travel, November 13, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/japan-kobe-beef-croquettes-30-year-waitlist.

    Sorted

    OK. Make it a two-day break ;-)

    Quoted

    For such a meeting is established upon the very foundation of the laws of God. Therefore, in its constraining spiritual bond it unites all religions and reconciles all sects, denominations and factions in kindliness and love toward each other. In this way and by the instrumentality of such a gathering the causes of animosity, hatred and bigotry are removed, and enmity and discord pass away entirely. Every limiting and restricting movement or meeting of mere personal interest is human in nature. Every universal movement unlimited in scope and purpose is divine. The Cause of God is advanced whenever and wherever a universal meeting is established among mankind. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 448. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#955162073 [return]

  • 24 November 2022

    Istijlál, 02 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Happy Thanksgiving from the east…

    And the west…

    Done

    The Thanksgiving table at-the-ready for the arrival of people and food…

    Only our favorites: ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, whole kernel corn, candied sweet potatoes, and apple cake for dessert. Then, it’s downtime to process all those sugars and carbs — but what a way to go!

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    George Benson - Take Five

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Cromie, Robert. A Short History of Chicago. San Francisco : Lexikos, 1984. http://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofch00crom.

    Bookmarked

    First “experiment” with Obsidian…

    Beedy Parker associated with the “How’s The Weather?” project, curated the article…

    Granados, Monica, and Cable Green. “CC Partners with SPARC and EIFL to Launch a 4-Year Open Climate Campaign.” Creative Commons (blog), August 30, 2022. https://creativecommons.org/2022/08/30/cc-partners-with-sparc-and-eifl-to-launch-a-4-year-open-climate-campaign/.

    I deconstructed it into the following which you see represented in the diagram above.

    Creative Commons. “What We Do.” Creative Commons (blog). Accessed November 24, 2022. https://creativecommons.org/about/.

    Electronic Information for Libraries. “About | EIFL.” eifl. Accessed November 24, 2022. https://www.eifl.net/page/about.

    Granados, Monica, Cable Green, Heather Joseph, Iryna Kuchma, and Rima Kupryte. “Home – Open Climate Campaign.” Open Climate Campaign. Accessed November 24, 2022. https://openclimatecampaign.org/.

    Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Staff. “Beedy Parker.” Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners. Accessed November 24, 2022. https://www.mofga.org/stories/stories/beedy-parker/.

    Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Staff. “Beedy Parker, Part 2.” Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners. Accessed November 24, 2022. https://www.mofga.org/stories/stories/beedy-parker-2/.

    New Venture Fund. “SPARC: Setting the Default to Open.” SPARC. Accessed November 24, 2022. https://sparcopen.org/who-we-are/.

    Rausing, Lisbet, and Peter Baldwin. “Arcadia - A Charitable Fund of Lisbet Rausing & Peter Baldwin.” Arcadia. Accessed November 24, 2022. https://www.arcadiafund.org.uk/our-team.

    Soros, George. “Open Society Foundations.” Accessed November 24, 2022. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org.

    More experimentation to follow …

    Sorted

    Took a break today…

    Quoted

    Therefore, endeavor that your attitudes and intentions here tonight be universal and altruistic in nature. Consecrate and devote yourselves to the betterment and service of all the human race. Let no barrier of ill feeling or personal prejudice exist between these souls, for when your motives are universal and your intentions heavenly in character, when your aspirations are centered in the Kingdom, there is no doubt whatever that you will become the recipients of the bounty and good pleasure of God. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 448. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#812684147 [return]

  • 23 November 2022

    ’Idál, 01 Qawl (Speech), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Leaves living and less so…

    Done

    My partner and I reorganized a section of our workspace so it functions much better. Yay!

    I replaced the mantles in the front gaslight. Given the price of natural gas, I kept asking myself why I don’t just shut it off and leave it that way. But the need to conform to neighborhood expectations for those of us with yard lamps prevailed. And yes, it looks great ;-)

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Jimmy Buffett - Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Hawks, Frank. Speed. 1st ed. New York: Brewer, Warren & Putnam, 1931.

    Bookmarked

    Arnold, Carrie. “How Supergenes Fuel Evolution Despite Harmful Mutations.” Quanta Magazine, November 8, 2022. https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-supergenes-fuel-evolution-despite-harmful-mutations-20221108/.

    Breaking Market News ⚡️ @financialjuice. “GERMANY’S CHANCELLOR SCHOLZ: €200 BLN FUND IS NEEDED TO PREVENT BANKRUPTCIES AND JOB LOSSES.” Tweet. Twitter, November 23, 2022. https://twitter.com/financialjuice/status/1595338588262211584.

    Earley, James. “Protecting Organizations From Its Leaders / Post.” Post.News, November 23, 2022. https://post.news/article/2HxJb4aFAPVFvqbydeJKhPvh4iQ.

    Grace, Katja, John Salvatier, Allan Dafoe, Baobao Zhang, and Owain Evans. “When Will AI Exceed Human Performance? Evidence from AI Experts.” arXiv, May 3, 2018. http://arxiv.org/abs/1705.08807.

    Kelly, Kevin. “What AI-Generated Art Really Means for Human Creativity.” Wired. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://www.wired.com/story/picture-limitless-creativity-ai-image-generators/.

    Mollick, Ethan. “Two Areas of Technical Change Where Expert Predictions Have Consistently Been Way Too Conservative Are AI & Solar.” ThreadReader, November 22, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1595124336293466115.html.

    Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. “‘Mild Success Can Be Explainable by Skills and Labor. Wild Success Is Attributable to Variance.’” Tweet. Twitter, November 23, 2022. https://twitter.com/TalebWisdom/status/1595236272938917891.

    Sheikh, Knvul. “How Immunocompromised Health Experts Are Approaching the Holidays.” The New York Times, November 22, 2022, sec. Well. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/well/immunocompromised-holiday-travel-pandemic.html.

    Warren, Elizabeth. “Opinion | Regulate Crypto or It’ll Take Down the Economy.” The Wall Street Journal. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/regulate-crypto-or-itll-take-down-the-economy-fraud-reporting-know-your-customer-loophole-energy-disclosure-ftx-bankman-fried-ftx-11669123750.

    Sorted

    Experimented with Libib on the iMac and with the app. It worked great! It took less than a minute/book to scan 30 books into a Libib library. Once there, I can group them by those I want to sell or donate and those I want to keep. Also, it’s a straightforward process to look them up on Internet Archive and copy their bibliographic information into Zotero. And if a cover photo isn’t included on Libib, it allows me to upload one I take. I’m sure there are other features I’ll discover the more I use the app. But I’m happy with it as it is!

    Quoted

    This meeting is, verily, the noblest and most worthy of all meetings in the world because of these underlying spiritual and universal purposes. Such a banquet and assemblage command the sincere devotion of all present and invite the downpouring of the blessings of God. Therefore, be ye assured and confident that the confirmations of God are descending upon you, the assistance of God will be given unto you, the breaths of the Holy Spirit will quicken you with a new life, the Sun of Reality will shine gloriously upon you, and the fragrant breezes of the rose gardens of divine mercy will waft through the windows of your souls. Be ye confident and steadfast; your services are confirmed by the powers of heaven, for your intentions are lofty, your purposes pure and worthy. God is the helper of those souls whose aim is to serve humanity and whose efforts and endeavors are devoted to the good and betterment of all mankind. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 448. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#292746477 [return]

  • 22 November 2022

    Fidál, 19 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Beauty in the mundane…

    Done

    Long Zoom conversation with Tony Budak this afternoon. We had to make up for last Thursday’s RVL call I missed. As usual, we covered the waterfront. Here are some of the main topics we explored:

    Learn by participating

    • Include people
    • Make connections
    • Share what you learn

    Connections

    Faye Ku

    Matthew Slater

    Fritjof Kapra

    David Korten

    What’s Your Purpose?

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Billy Idol - Whiplash Smile

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest : Selections for the Year : The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers. Westwood, NJ : Barbour and Co., 1935. http://archive.org/details/1963myutmostforhishi00cham.

    Bookmarked

    Canticler. “‘Deus Vult?’ Uh…maybe Not. Why It Only Appears an Entire Religion Has Gone Insane.” Daily Kos, November 21, 2022. https://www.dailykos.com/story/2022/11/21/2137766/–Deus-Vult-uh-maybe-not-Why-It-Only-Appears-an-Entire-Religion-Has-Gone-Insane.

    Dans, Enrique. “Elon Musk and Twitter: A Masterclass in Moving Fast and Breaking Things….” Enrique Dans (blog), November 18, 2022. https://medium.com/enrique-dans/elon-musk-and-twitter-a-masterclass-in-moving-fast-and-breaking-things-d79e3ab1a4df.

    Follington, Ben. “Play-First Software.” Substack newsletter. The Shimmering Void (blog), November 21, 2022. https://shimmeringvoid.substack.com/p/play-first-software. 1

    French, Howard W. “Megalopolis: How Coastal West Africa Will Shape the Coming Century.” The Guardian, October 27, 2022, sec. World news. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/27/megalopolis-how-coastal-west-africa-will-shape-the-coming-century.

    Reed, Stanley. “Europe’s Wind Industry Is Stumbling When It’s Needed Most.” The New York Times, November 22, 2022, sec. Business. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/business/wind-power-europe.html.

    Thacker, Paul D. “Punching Down: How the ‘Anti-Disinformation’ Movement Worked with Big Tech to Protect Big Pharma.” Substack newsletter. The DisInformation Chronicle (blog), November 22, 2022. https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/p/punching-down-how-the-anti-disinformation.

    Thompson, Clive. “Twitter Alternative: How Mastodon Is Designed to Be ‘Antiviral.’” Medium, November 13, 2022. https://uxdesign.cc/mastodon-is-antiviral-design-42f090ab8d51.

    Dynamicland. Accessed November 22, 2022. https://dynamicland.org/.

    Sorted

    My partner in life and I have joined forces. She made significant progress in sorting, filing, and shredding as needed while I worked on content curation and communications. “Many hands make light work!”

    Quoted

    I have spoken in the various Christian churches and in the synagogues, and in no assemblage has there been a dissenting voice. All have listened, and all have conceded that the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are superlative in character, acknowledging that they constitute the very essence or spirit of this new age and that there is no better pathway to the attainment of its ideals. Not a single voice has been raised in objection. At most there have been some who have refused to acknowledge the mission of Bahá’u’lláh, although even these have admitted that He was a great teacher, a most powerful soul, a very great man. Some who could find no other pretext have said, “These teachings are not new; they are old and familiar; we have heard them before.” Therefore, I will speak to you upon the distinctive characteristics of the manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh and prove that from every standpoint His Cause is distinguished from all others. It is distinguished by its didactic character and method of exposition, by its practical effects and application to present world conditions, but especially distinguished from the standpoint of its spread and progress.

    When Bahá’u’lláh appeared in Persia, all the contemporaneous religious sects and systems rose against Him. His enemies were kings. The enemies of Christ were the Jews, the Pharisees; but the enemies of Bahá’u’lláh were rulers who could command armies and bring hundreds of thousands of soldiers into the arena of operation. These kings represented some fifty million people, all of whom under their influence and domination were opposed to Bahá’u’lláh. Therefore, in effect Bahá’u’lláh, singly and alone, virtually withstood fifty million enemies. Yet these great numbers, instead of being able to dominate Him, could not withstand His wonderful personality and the power and influence of His heavenly Cause. Although they were determined upon extinguishing the light in that most brilliant lantern, they were ultimately defeated and overthrown, and day by day His splendor became more radiant. They made every effort to lessen His greatness, but His prestige and renown grew in proportion to their endeavors to diminish it. Surrounded by enemies who were seeking His life, He never sought to conceal Himself, did nothing to protect Himself; on the contrary, in His spiritual might and power He was at all times visible before the faces of men, easy of access, serenely withstanding the multitudes who were opposing Him. At last His banner was upraised. 2

    1. Follington, Ben. “A Modular, Reactive Approach to Digital Education.” School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland, 2015, 95. https://cv.bf.wtf/thesis.pdf [return]
    2. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 431-432. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#280647098 [return]

  • 21 November 2022

    Kamál, 18 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Another late afternoon view that I couldn’t resist taking its picture

    Done

    Prepared checklist for registrants to International Environment Forum (IEF) webinars over a two-year period using Apple Numbers. That took longer than I thought it would — whew! Now, what to do with it :-(

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band - Eddie and the Cruisers Soundtrack

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    American Heritage Magazine. A Guide to America’s Greatest Historic Places. New York : American Heritage, 1985. http://archive.org/details/guidetoamericasg00amer.

    Bookmarked

    Archaeology, World. “Small Is Beautiful: Exploring the Drawbacks of Megacities.” The Past, November 16, 2022. https://the-past.com/comment/small-is-beautiful-exploring-the-drawbacks-of-megacities/.

    Bacon, Jono. “Build an Online Community in 6 Steps.” YouTube, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjzCsQ0iw6o.

    Barker, Eric. “How to Be Happier Without Really Trying.” Barking Up The Wrong Tree, November 21, 2022. https://bakadesuyo.com/2022/11/epicurus/.

    Cirillo, Pasquale. “(40) The Logic of Risk.” YouTube, April 21, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/@TheLogicofRisk.

    Hagel, John. “The Metapsychology of the Metaverse – John Hagel.” John Hagel (blog), November 20, 2022. https://www.johnhagel.com/the-metapsychology-of-the-metaverse/.

    Parker, Evan. “Does the Lindy Effect Apply to Law? (244).” Legal Evolution, July 11, 2021. https://www.legalevolution.org/2021/07/does-the-lindy-effect-apply-to-law-244/.

    Sahm, Claudia. “Get Money to People in Recessions, High Inflation or Not.” Substack newsletter. Stay-At-Home Macro (blog), November 21, 2022. https://stayathomemacro.substack.com/p/get-money-to-people-in-recessions.

    Span, Paula. “What If You Could Go to the Hospital … at Home?” The New York Times, November 19, 2022, sec. Health. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/health/medicare-home-hospital.html.

    “Pioneering Quantum Information Science.” Nature Computational Science, November 21, 2022, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-022-00368-0.

    Sorted

    Didn’t make much headway, today. Special project in “Done” did me in ;-)

    Quoted

    O my God! O my God! Verily, Thou dost perceive those who are present here turning unto Thee, relying upon Thee. O my Lord! O my Lord! Illumine their eyes by the light of love, and enkindle their hearts by the rays streaming from the heaven of the Supreme Concourse. Suffer them to become the signs of Thy bestowal amongst the people and the standards of Thy grace amongst mankind. O Lord! Make those who are here the hosts of heaven, and through their service and instrumentality subdue the hearts of humanity. Cause Thy great mercy to descend upon them, and render all Thy friends victorious. Direct them that they may turn toward Thy Kingdom of mercy and proclaim Thy name among the people. May they lead the people to the bounty of Thy most great guidance.

    O Lord! O Lord! Cast the glance of Thy mercy upon them all.

    O Lord! O Lord! Ordain for them the beauty of Thy holiness in Thy Kingdom of eternity.

    O Lord! O Lord! Protect them in every test, make every foot firm in the pathway of Thy love, and help them to be as mighty mountains in Thy Cause so that their faith shall not be wavering, their sight shall not be dimmed nor hindered from witnessing the lights emanating from Thy supreme Kingdom. Verily, Thou art the Generous. Thou art the Almighty. Verily, Thou art the Clement, the Merciful. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 441-442. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#736336029 [return]

  • 20 November 2022

    Jamál, 17 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Stand of Chinese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) in the late afternoon sun.

    Done

    Set up spreadsheets in Apple Numbers for cataloging books and records. Entered all the books and records sorted so far into the spreadsheets. Linked each entry to a note in Evernote and the Daily Log post in Ulysses and Micro.blog in which it appears. Saved the bibliographic information for each book in Zotero. Now, it’s much easier to navigate from one to the other as needed. Yay!

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Bryan Adams - Reckless

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Abbott, Morris W. Cog Railway to Pike’s Peak. 9th Printing 1979. San Marino, Calif: Golden West Books, 1973. http://archive.org/details/cograilwaytopike0000abbo.

    Bookmarked

    Online Workshop from Colectiva El Cambalache, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3TBzi-qW5k.

    Invitation to the Gathering Autonomies in Practice in San Cristóbal de Las Casas Chiapas, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My0xKHVLcq8.

    Garland, Susan B. “‘Do You Really Want to Rebuild at 80?’ Rethinking Where to Retire.” The New York Times, November 18, 2022, sec. Business. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/business/where-to-retire-climate-change.html.

    Gil, Yásnaya Elena Aguilar, and Ochy Curiel Pichardo. “ENCUENTRO AUTONOMÍAS EN PRÁCTICA: economías, identidades, artes, tierras y territorios que sanan,” November 2022, 5. https://cambalache.noblogs.org/files/2022/10/Informacion.pdf

    Hedges, Chris. “Reading Proust in War.” Substack newsletter. The Chris Hedges Report (blog), November 20, 2022. https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/reading-proust-in-war.

    Sinclair, Peter. “Video Examines Issues Involving Jet Stream Role in Extreme Weather » Yale Climate Connections.” Yale Climate Connections, November 18, 2022. http://yaleclimateconnections.org/2022/11/video-examines-issues-involving-jet-stream-role-in-extreme-weather/.

    Tooze, Adam. “Chartbook #173: Barred from Employment - How Criminalization Blights American Lives.” Substack newsletter. Chartbook (blog), November 19, 2022. https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-173-barred-from-employment.

    Autonomies. “Autonomies.” Accessed November 20, 2022. https://autonomies.org/.

    Climate Trace. “Emissions Map - Climate TRACE.” Accessed November 20, 2022. https://climatetrace.org/map.

    El Cambalache: inter-cambiamos. “Gathering Autonomies in Practice 2023/ Encuentro Autonomías en Práctica 2023.” Accessed November 20, 2022. https://cambalache.noblogs.org/post/2022/11/15/gathering-autonomies-in-practice-2023-encuentro-autonomias-en-practica-2023/.

    L4Ecozoic. “Gathering Autonomies in Practice: Economies, Identities, Arts, Land and Territories That Heal.” Accessed November 20, 2022. https://www.l4ecozoic.org/events/gathering-autonomies-in-practice-economies-identities-arts-land-and-territories-that-heal.

    Proyecto Cambalache. “Proyecto Comedor.” Accessed November 20, 2022. https://proyectocambalache.org.

    Facebook. “Tiendita Colectiva El Cambalache | San Cristóbal de Las Casas.” Accessed November 20, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075756351714.

    El Cambalache: Inter-Cambiamos. “Economía sin dinero, desarmando el capitalismo,” 2022. https://cambalache.noblogs.org/.

    Sorted

    Completed cataloging one box of 42 books. I’ll only keep a few and the rest will go. I have two more boxes to catalog before I determine what goes in the first wave. I hate to admit how many “waves” there are, but it’s a bunch!

    Quoted

    After every night there is a morn. In the supreme wisdom of God it is decreed that when the gross darkness of religious hatred and hostility, the obscurity of religious ignorance, superstition and blind imitations cover the world, the Sun of Truth shall arise and the spirit of reality become manifest and reflected in human hearts. At such a time as this Bahá’u’lláh appeared upon the horizon of the Orient. For fifty years He endured the greatest hardships and ordeals, ever striving to dispel the darkness of religious conditions, to remove the cause of enmity and rancor, to awaken the world of humanity from the beds of negligence and heedlessness by the flashing light of the glorious glad tidings and trumpet tone of the heavenly call and summons. For the spread of this message He offered His life and bore every vicissitude.… He was always under the threat and menace of the sword, yet He uplifted the standard of divine teachings and flooded the world of the East with illumination. In the Orient today the light of the heavenly glad tidings is visible everywhere, the divine call is heard, the effulgence of the Sun of Reality is shining, the precious rain is pouring down from the clouds of mercy, and the breaths of the Holy Spirit are bestowing fresh life upon the hearts of men. Erelong the darkness will pass away entirely, and the regions of the East will become completely illumined; enmity, hatred, ignorance and bigotry will no longer remain; the satanic powers which destroy human equality and religious unity will be dethroned, and the nations will dwell in peace and harmony under the overspreading banner of the oneness of humanity. Therefore, we supplicate the Lord our God with sincere and contrite hearts, asking aid and assistance in the accomplishment of this mighty end: that the nations shall be unified in the Word of God; that war, enmity and hatred between races, religions, native lands and denominations shall disappear and be forever unknown; and that peoples and nations shall spiritually embrace each other in the indissoluble bond and power of the love of God. Then will the world of humanity become radiant and the human race enjoy to the fullest capacity the graces of divine bestowal. So long as religious discord and enmity continue among mankind, the world of humanity will find neither happiness, rest nor composure.

    Pray that God may assist in this heavenly undertaking, that the world of mankind shall be saved from the ordeals of ignorance, blindness and spiritual death. Then will you behold light upon light, joy upon joy, absolute happiness reigning everywhere, the people of the religions consorting together in fragrance and felicity, this world in its maturity becoming the reflection of the eternal Kingdom and this terrestrial abode of man the very paradise of God. Pray for this! Pray for this! 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 440-441. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#708845191 [return]

  • 19 November 2022

    Jalál, 16 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Japanese maple (Acer palmatum)

    Done

    Organized space, books, and records.

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Special Jimmy Buffett Sampler - You Had To Be There

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    White, William Allen. Stratagems and Spoils : Stories of Love and Politics. 1st ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1901. http://archive.org/details/stratagemsandspo00whitiala.

    Bookmarked

    Bhatia, Aatish, Josh Katz, and Margot Sanger-Katz. “How Much Snow Will Fall Where You Live?” The New York Times, February 24, 2022, sec. The Upshot. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/upshot/snow-forecast-totals-lookup.html.

    Brewer, Joe. “Your Friendly Reminder That It Is All Connected…” Tweet. Twitter, November 18, 2022. https://twitter.com/cognitivepolicy/status/1593542659477540871.

    Bryant, Steve. “‘You Don’t Get It. You Aren’t the Point.’” Medium (blog), March 9, 2020. https://stevebryant.medium.com/you-dont-get-it-you-aren-t-the-point-7ac2e5f84300.

    Follington, Ben. “Software Can Be Fun.” Substack newsletter. The Shimmering Void (blog), November 18, 2022. https://shimmeringvoid.substack.com/p/software-can-be-fun.

    Garry, Hugh. “Bad Brand Storytelling, Social Contagion, Eno on Art.” Story|Things, November 18, 2022. https://storythingsnewsletter.substack.com/p/bad-brand-storytelling-social-contagion.

    Kamin, Debra. “Flying Alone With Your Kids? Make Sure You Have Proof of Your Relationship” The New York Times, November 16, 2022, sec. Travel. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/travel/airports-children-custody.html.

    Klaas, Brian. “How the World Sped Up.” Substack newsletter. The Garden of Forking Paths (blog), November 16, 2022. https://brianklaas.substack.com/p/how-the-world-sped-up.

    Martínez, Antonio García. “What Elon Is Doing Is a Revolt by Entrepreneurial Capital.” ThreadReader, November 18, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1593606745955348481.htmll.

    Mazza, Patrick. “Building a United Movement of Movements.” Substack newsletter. The Raven (blog), November 18, 2022. https://theraven.substack.com/p/building-a-united-movement-of-movements.

    Sanders, Laura. “New Brain Implants ‘Read’ Words Directly from People’s Thoughts.” ScienceNews (blog), November 15, 2022. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/brain-implant-reads-peoples-thoughts.

    Schindler, Esther. “6 Stupid Mistakes Companies Make with Their Online Communities.” Computerworld, November 13, 2008. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2373699/enterprise-software/6-stupid-mistakes-companies-make-with-their-online-communities.amp.html.

    Sciubba, Jennifer D. “World Population Is Now 8 Billion!” Substack newsletter. A World of 8 Billion Newsletter (blog), November 15, 2022. https://jennifersciubba.substack.com/p/world-population-is-now-8-billion.

    Vidal, John. “It Should Not Be Controversial to Say a Population of 8 Billion Will Have a Grave Impact on the Climate.” The Guardian, November 15, 2022, sec. Opinion. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/15/population-8-billion-climate.

    Sorted

    Downloaded Obsidian. I’ve been here before and didn’t care for it. I’ll try it again based on others who have written about their positive experiences.

    Quoted

    At such a time Bahá’u’lláh dawned from the eastern horizon like the glory of the sun. He renewed the basis of the religions of God, destroyed blind adherence to ancestral forms and established in their stead love and spiritual fellowship so that no strife, discord or hostility remained. This reconciliation of divergent sects is visible and evident. They now live together in love and unity. If you should enter one of their meetings, you would realize that they have become as one race, one native land, one religion; that they associate together in brotherhood and agreement. Praise be to God! These blind imitations and this darkness have ceased to exist, and the reality of the oneness of humanity has been practically proven.

    I consider the American people a highly civilized and intelligent nation, a nation investigating truth and reality. It is my hope that through the efforts of this noble nation the solidarity of humanity may be continually advanced, that the illumination of the human world may become widespread, that the banner of universal peace may be held aloft, the lamp of the oneness of the human world be ignited and the hearts of the East and West be conjoined. Then the reality of the divine religions shall become resplendent and refulgent, indicating that they were meant to be the cause of unity and love and that through them heavenly bestowals have ever been conferring light upon the human world. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 446-447. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#729562953 [return]

  • 18 November 2022

    Istiqlál, 15 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Look up!

    Done

    Participated in the weekly Zoom call with Helen Stucky-Weaver and the Wellness Weavers “Inner Circle” group. Today’s session included Dr. Ameena Matthews. I learned quite a bit about her father, Jeff Fort, who remains incarcerated in the ADX Florence supermax prison. And along with it considerable insight into the deep-seated dynamics of persistent racial discrimination and social inequality.

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    John Cougar Mellencamp - Uh-Huh

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Jordan, Michael, and Mark Vancil. For the Love of the Game : My Story. New York : Crown Publishers, Inc., 1998. http://archive.org/details/forloveofgamemys00jord.

    Bookmarked

    Frey, Robert J. “Stop Characterizing the Bankruptcy of FTX as a Black Swan!” Tweet. Twitter, November 18, 2022. https://twitter.com/financequant/status/1593620854805610496.

    Mosquito Capital. “I’ve Seen a Lot of People Asking ‘Why Does Everyone Think Twitter Is Doomed?’” ThreadReader, November 18, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1593541177965678592.html.

    On Commons / r3.0. “Agenda | R3.0 Conference 2022.” r3.0, September 6, 2022. https://conference2022.r3-0.org/agenda/#plenary2.

    Plenary 2: Funding Governance for Systemic Transformation, 2022. https://vimeo.com/748042919.

    Sorted

    Set up tables in Evernote notes to log “239 Days” postings made to Frameworks for Understanding the World

    Quoted

    The teachings and ordinances of the divine religions are of two kinds. The first are spiritual and essential in nature—such as faith in God, faith in Christ, faith in Moses, faith in Abraham, faith in Muḥammad, the love of God and the oneness of the world of humanity. These divine principles shall be spread throughout the world. Strife and enmity shall disappear, ignorance, hatred and hostility cease and all the human race be bound together. The second kind of ordinances and teachings concern the outer conditions and transactions of the world of mankind. They are the nonessential, accidental or temporary laws of human affairs which are subject to change and transformation according to the exigencies of time and place. For instance, during the time of Moses divorce was permitted, but in the time of Christ it was made unlawful. In the Torah there are ten commandments concerning retribution for murder, which would not be possible to enforce at the present time and under existing conditions of the world. Therefore, these nonessential, temporary laws are superseded and abrogated to suit the exigencies and requirements of successive periods. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 445. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#583494526 [return]

  • 17 November 2022

    Istijlál, 14 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    A favorite fall combination: Canadian goldenrod against a backdrop of Norwegian spruce.

    Done

    Set up a 30-year-old stereo system donated to me by my brother-in-law. It sounds great! I just need to learn how to use it ;-)

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Dire Straits - Communiqué

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Hillerman, Tony, ed. The Spell of New Mexico. 3rd paperbound printing. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1976.

    Bookmarked

    Ang, Carmen. “Synthetic Biology: The $3.6 Trillion Science Changing Life as We Know It.” Visual Capitalist, May 10, 2022. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/synthetic-biology-3-6-trillion-change-life/.

    Hedges, Chris. “The Chris Hedges Report with Justin E H Smith.” Substack newsletter. The Chris Hedges Report (blog), November 16, 2022. https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-chris-hedges-report-with-justin.

    Hutton, Tim. “Timhutton/Twitter-Archive-Parser.” Python, November 17, 2022. github.com/timhutton…

    Johnson, Sophie Lucido. “Community In Between.” Substack newsletter. You Are Doing A Good Enough Job (blog), November 16, 2022. https://goodenoughjob.substack.com/p/community-in-between.

    Maçães, Bruno. “What Is Essentially a Confession of Imbecility Has Come to Mean a Sophisticated Knowingness about the World.” ThreadReader, November 14, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1592230990814281730.html.

    Mollick, Ethan. “Take Ownership of Your Twitter Content:” ThreadReader, November 16, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1592992316989779969.html.

    Studios, NeoMam. “The Type of Business Every Country Wants to Start.” Visual Capitalist, November 11, 2022. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/the-type-of-business-every-country-wants-to-start/.

    Yglesias, Matthew. “Some Thoughts on the FTX Collapse.” Slow Boring, November 17, 2022. https://www.slowboring.com/p/some-thoughts-on-the-ftx-implosion.

    Sorted

    Set aside two more boxes of books that I pulled from shelves in our office area. These haven’t been looked at for longer than I care to admit. I’ll catalog them and send them on their way.

    Quoted

    Bahá’u’lláh, the Sun of Truth, has dawned from the horizon of the Orient, flooding all regions with the light and life which will never pass away. His teachings, which embody the divine spirit of the age and are applicable to this period of maturity in the life of the human world, are:

    The oneness of the world of humanity

    The protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit

    The foundation of all religion is one

    Religion must be the cause of unity

    Religion must accord with science and reason

    Independent investigation of truth

    Equality between men and women

    The abandoning of all prejudices among mankind

    Universal peace

    Universal education

    A universal language

    Solution of the economic problem

    An international tribunal.

    Everyone who truly seeks and justly reflects will admit that the teachings of the present day emanating from mere human sources and authority are the cause of difficulty and disagreement amongst mankind, the very destroyers of humanity, whereas the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are the very healing of the sick world, the remedy for every need and condition. In them may be found the realization of every desire and aspiration, the cause of the happiness of the world of humanity, the stimulus and illumination of mentality, the impulse for advancement and uplift, the basis of unity for all nations, the fountain source of love amongst mankind, the center of agreement, the means of peace and harmony, the one bond which will unite the East and the West. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 440. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#118365223 [return]

  • 16 November 2022

    ’Idál, 13 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Burning bush (Euonymus alatus) in 2022

    Compare that to almost a year ago in the “Daily Log” entry for 02 December 2021

    Done

    I participated in a Zoom call with  Christine Muller and Khela Baskett this afternoon. Christine is the General Secretary of the International Environment Forum (IEF). Khela coordinates webinars for IEF (here’s an example).

    We explored ways to further IEF engagement with attendees following the webinars. This included reviewing various social networking platforms for communication and collaboration. Age, experience, and comfort with technology make a huge difference in choosing alternatives!

    I committed to two tasks. First, outline an approach to move forward for the IEF board to consider in its December meeting. Second, assist Khela to categorize and message the webinar attendees.

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    England Dan & John Ford Coley - Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Wright, Carol von Pressentin, ed. Blue Guide New York. 1st ed. London ; New York: Ernest Benn Limited ; W. W. Norton & Co., 1983. http://archive.org/details/blueguidenewyork0000unse.

    Bookmarked

    Fontana, Luigi, and Frank B. Hu. “Optimal Body Weight for Health and Longevity: Bridging Basic, Clinical, and Population Research.” Aging Cell 13, no. 3 (2014): 391–400. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.12207.

    Hanauer, Nick. “Welcome to the Winning Middle-Out Era.” Democracy Journal, November 14, 2022. https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/welcome-to-the-winning-middle-out-era/.

    Howe, Neil, and Danielle DiMartino Booth. “Hedgeye Risk Management | FOURTH TURNING WEBCAST: Neil Howe 1-on-1 w/Danielle DiMartino Booth.” Hedgeye, November 10, 2022. https://app.hedgeye.com/insights/124899-webcast-danielle-dimartino-booth-1-on-1-with-neil-howe.

    The White House. “Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets.” The White House, March 9, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/09/executive-order-on-ensuring-responsible-development-of-digital-assets/.

    Weeks, Ryan, and Colin Wilhelm. “New York Fed, Several Big Banks Testing ‘Regulated Liability Network.’” The Block, November 11, 2022. https://www.theblock.co/post/185783/new-york-fed-several-big-banks-testing-regulated-liability-network.

    Sorted

    Didn’t get to this, today.

    Quoted

    Wherever the mention of Bahá’u’lláh rises up, that is the paradise of Abhá. Wherever purified, severed and illumined souls are found, that is the paradise of Bahá. Ṭihrán is the paradise of Bahá’u’lláh, for souls are found there you cannot call human; they are angels. In reality, the Bahá’í friends in that city are of the heavenly host. Whenever I think of them, I become happy.

    The Blessed Perfection suffered innumerable ordeals and calamities, but during His lifetime He trained in all regions many souls who were peerless. The purpose of the appearance of the Manifestations of God is the training of the people. That is the only result of Their mission, the real outcome. The outcome of the whole life of Jesus was the training of eleven disciples and two women. Why did He suffer troubles, ordeals and calamities? For the training of these few followers. That was the result of His life. The product of the life of Christ was not the churches but the illumined souls of those who believed in Him. Afterward, they spread His teachings.

    It is my hope that you all may become the product of the life of Bahá’u’lláh and the outcomes of His heavenly training. When the people ask you, “What has Bahá’u’lláh accomplished?” say to them, “He has created these; He has trained us.” 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 437. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#317807173 [return]

  • 15 November 2022

    Fidál, 12 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Late afternoon skies

    Done

    Received mixed results from my brother-in-law’s blood work taken yesterday. The numbers increased the importance of his initial appointment with the nephrologist next month :-(

    Checked in with my ninety-one-year-old sister, who tested positive for COVID yesterday. Thanks to quick action by the family, she’s taking Paxlovid and doing her best to hang tough. But considering she’s had three heart attacks, the most recent in early August, and her age — let’s just say I’m keeping her as well as her son and his family with whom she lives in my prayers.

    Drove back home from Detroit. Rained or snowed almost the entire trip. I’m done for today ;-)

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    The Crusaders - The Best of the Crusaders

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Tchekov, Anton. The Short Stories of Anton Tchekov. Edited by Robert N. Linscott. Modern Library. New York: Random House, 1932. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.79628.

    Bookmarked

    Flyer, Richard. “Sri Lanka’s Untold Story of Resilience: Sarvodaya’s Pathway Can Work Anywhere.” Shareable (blog), October 6, 2022. https://www.shareable.net/sri-lankas-untold-story-of-resilience-sarvodayas-pathway-can-work-anywhere/.

    Hedges, Chris. “Listen to This Article: ‘Writing on War.’” Substack newsletter. The Chris Hedges Report (blog), November 14, 2022. https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/listen-to-this-article-writing-on.

    Jarvis, Jeff. “Hope for a Post-Musk Net.” Whither News? (blog), November 5, 2022. https://medium.com/whither-news/hope-for-a-post-musk-net-f156d0cdf431.

    Johnstone, Caitlin. “Thoughts That Should Probably Occur More Often.” ThreadReader, November 14, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1592360227034529792.html.

    Leiden University. “Changing Our Diet Would Help Absorb Global Food Shocks, International Study Finds.” Phys.Org, November 15, 2022. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-diet-absorb-global-food-international.html.

    Littau, Jeremy. “A N00b’s Guide to Mastodon.” Medium (blog), November 7, 2022. https://jeremylittau.medium.com/a-n00bs-guide-to-mastodon-806d1b367f2d.

    Loury, Glenn. “It’s Time to Choose a Side.” Substack newsletter. Glenn Loury (blog), November 15, 2022. https://glennloury.substack.com/p/its-time-to-choose-a-side.

    Melenciano, Ari. “Computational Anthropology and Exploring Identity through Artificial Synthesis.” Medium (blog), November 6, 2022. https://ariciano.medium.com/computational-anthropology-and-exploring-identity-through-artificial-synthesis-927fe40b0f8d.

    Milgrim, David. “Living And Dying In The Attention Economy.” Medium (blog), November 2, 2022. https://davidmilgrim.medium.com/living-and-dying-in-the-attention-economy-370ff8d2ed21.

    Sorted

    Developed an index system for the LP collection.

    Quoted

    First among the great principles revealed by Him is that of the investigation of reality. The meaning is that every individual member of humankind is exhorted and commanded to set aside superstitious beliefs, traditions and blind imitation of ancestral forms in religion and investigate reality for himself. Inasmuch as the fundamental reality is one, all religions and nations of the world will become one through investigation of reality. The announcement of this principle is not found in any of the sacred Books of the past.

    A second characteristic principle of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is that which commands recognition of the oneness of the world of humanity. Addressing all mankind, He says, “Ye are all the leaves of one tree.” There are no differences or distinctions of race among you in the sight of God. Nay, rather, all are the servants of God, and all are submerged in the ocean of His oneness. Not a single soul is bereft. On the contrary, all are the recipients of the bounties of God. Every human creature has a portion of His bestowals and a share of the effulgence of His reality. God is kind to all. Mankind are His sheep, and He is their real Shepherd. No other scriptures contain such breadth and universality of statement; no other teachings proclaim this unequivocal principle of the solidarity of humanity. As regards any possible distinctions, the utmost that Bahá’u’lláh says is that conditions among men vary, that some, for instance, are defective. Therefore, such souls must be educated in order that they may be brought to the degree of perfection. Some are sick and ailing; they must be treated and cared for until they are healed. Some are asleep; they need to be awakened. Some are immature as children; they should be helped to attain maturity. But all must be loved and cherished. The child must not be disliked simply because it is a child. Nay, rather, it should be patiently educated. The sick one must not be avoided nor slighted merely because he is ailing. Nay, rather, he must be regarded with sympathy and affection and treated until he is healed. The soul that is asleep must not be looked upon with contempt but awakened and led into the light.

    Bahá’u’lláh teaches that religion must be in conformity with science and reason. If belief and teaching are opposed to the analysis of reason and principles of science, they are not worthy of acceptance. This principle has not been revealed in any of the former Books of divine teaching.

    Another fundamental announcement made by Bahá’u’lláh is that religion must be the source of unity and fellowship in the world. If it is productive of enmity, hatred and bigotry, the absence of religion would be preferable. This is a new principle of revelation found only in the utterances of Bahá’u’lláh.

    Again, Bahá’u’lláh declares that all forms of prejudice among mankind must be abandoned and that until existing prejudices are entirely removed, the world of humanity will not and cannot attain peace, prosperity and composure. This principle cannot be found in any other sacred volume than the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

    Another teaching is that there shall be perfect equality between men and women. Why should man create a distinction which God does not recognize? In the kingdoms below man sex exists, but the distinction between male and female is neither repressive nor restrictive. The mare, for instance, is as strong and often more speedy than the horse. Throughout the animal and vegetable kingdoms there is perfect equality between the sexes. In the kingdom of mankind this equality must likewise exist, and the one whose heart is purest, whose life and character are highest and nearest to the divine standard is most worthy and excellent in the sight of God. This is the only true and real distinction, be that one man or woman.

    Bahá’u’lláh has announced the necessity for a universal language which shall serve as a means of international communication and thus remove misunderstandings and difficulties. This teaching is set forth in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (“Most Holy Book”) published fifty years ago.

    He has also proclaimed the principle that all mankind shall be educated and that no illiteracy be allowed to remain. This practical remedy for the need of the world cannot be found in the text of any other sacred Books.

    He teaches that it is incumbent upon all mankind to become fitted for some useful trade, craft or profession by which subsistence may be assured, and this efficiency is to be considered as an act of worship.

    The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are boundless and without end in their far-reaching benefit to mankind. The point and purpose of our statement today is that they are new and that they are not found in any of the religious Books of the past. This is in answer to the question, “What has Bahá’u’lláh brought that we have not heard before?” Therefore, it is conclusive and evident that the Manifestation of God in this day is distinguished from all former appearances and revelations by His majesty, His power and the efficacy and application of His Word. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 433-435. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/32#451466439 [return]

  • 14 November 2022

    Kamál, 11 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    The literature states that the China Rose (Rosa chinensis) is long-bloomed and hardy. Here is an example where that is the case.

    It’s mid-November in Michigan and the temps have been below freezing!

    Done

    Took brother-in-law to his doctor’s appointment. It appears to be a good report, but we’ll know more when we get the blood test results tomorrow. And if all’s within reason, we’ll be heading home afterwards.

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube - Get Me Ready for School

    Listened

    Climax Blues Band - Sense of Direction

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Morgan, W. Y. (William Yoast). _A Jayhawker in Europe. Topeka, Kan., Printed by Crane & Co., 1911. http://archive.org/details/jayhawkerineurop00morg.

    Bookmarked

    Banks, Bryan A. “Putting the French Revolution on the Map.” Age of Revolutions (blog), October 31, 2022. https://ageofrevolutions.com/2022/10/31/putting-the-french-revolution-on-the-map/.

    Baue, Bill. “If One Were to Start with a Blank Slate to Design an Economic System That Provides for Comprehensive Social and Ecological Sustainability and Regeneration, Would Our Current System Be the Outcome?” ThreadReader, November 14, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1592184044711723008.html.

    Broughel, James. “The Right Kind of Anti-Intellectualism.” Discourse Magazine, November 7, 2022. https://www.discoursemagazine.com/politics/2022/11/07/the-right-kind-of-anti-intellectualism/.

    Carroll, Sean. “How to Think About Relativity’s Concept of Space-Time.” Quanta Magazine, November 14, 2022. https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-to-think-about-relativitys-concept-of-space-time-20221114/.

    Climenhaga, Nevin. “Epistemic Probabilities Are Degrees of Support, Not Degrees of (Rational) Belief.” ThreadReader, November 14, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1591545570648543232.html.

    LaFraniere, Sharon. “Moderna Says New Covid Booster Strengthens Immune Response Against Subvariants.” The New York Times, November 14, 2022, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/us/politics/moderna-booster.html.

    Sorted

    Set up Evernote “notes” to track progress (or lack thereof) on my current projects and daily routine thru mid-December. Next, prepare a bank of upcoming posts so I have some cushion. I’m getting closer to where I want to be!

    Quoted

    Furthermore, this immortal human soul is endowed with two means of perception: One is effected through instrumentality; the other, independently. For instance, the soul sees through the instrumentality of the eye, hears with the ear, smells through the nostrils and grasps objects with the hands. These are the actions or operations of the soul through instruments. But in the world of dreams the soul sees when the eyes are closed. The man is seemingly dead, lies there as dead; the ears do not hear, yet he hears. The body lies there, but he—that is, the soul—travels, sees, observes. All the instruments of the body are inactive, all the functions seemingly useless. Notwithstanding this, there is an immediate and vivid perception by the soul. Exhilaration is experienced. The soul journeys, perceives, senses. It often happens that a man in a state of wakefulness has not been able to accomplish the solution of a problem, and when he goes to sleep, he will reach that solution in a dream. How often it has happened that he has dreamed, even as the prophets have dreamed, of the future; and events which have thus been foreshadowed have come to pass literally.

    Therefore, we learn that the immortality of the soul, or spirit, is not contingent or dependent upon the so-called immortality of the body, because the body in the quiescent state, in the time of sleep, may be as dead, unconscious, senseless; but the soul, or spirit, is possessed of perceptions, sensations, motion and discovery. Even inspiration and revelation are obtained by it. How many were the prophets who have had marvelous visions of the future while in that state! The spirit, or human soul, is the rider; and the body is only the steed. If anything affects the steed, the rider is not affected by it. The spirit may be likened to the light within the lantern. The body is simply the outer lantern. If the lantern should break, the light is ever the same because the light could shine even without the lantern. The spirit can conduct its affairs without the body. In the world of dreams it is precisely as this light without the chimney glass. It can shine without the glass. The human soul by means of this body can perform its operations, and without the body it can, likewise, have its control. Therefore, if the body be subject to disintegration, the spirit is not affected by these changes or transformations. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 416-417. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/30#436836201 [return]

  • 13 November 2022

    Jamál, 10 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Done

    Processed email in an effort to catch up from yesterday

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Brown, Robert L. (Robert Leaman). Colorado Ghost Towns–Past and Present. Caldwell, Idaho, Caxton Printers, 1972. http://archive.org/details/coloradoghosttow0000brow.

    Bookmarked

    Alicke, Mark. “Willful Ignorance and Self-Deception.” Psychology Today, September 10, 2017. https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/why-we-blame/201709/willful-ignorance-and-self-deception.

    Cohodes, Marc, and Demetri Kofinas. “Who Is Sam Bankman-Fried & What Happened at FTX.” Hidden Forces (Podcast), November 12, 2022. https://hiddenforces.io/podcasts/sam-bankman-fried-what-happened-at-ftx-marc-cohodes/.

    Pettis, Michael. “Why the Bezzle Matters to the Economy.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, August 23, 2021. https://carnegieendowment.org/chinafinancialmarkets/85179.

    StormChasingVideo. “Drone Video Showing Catastrophic Damage To Daytona Beach, FL” - November 10, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MetfDyMvsM.

    Rothkopf, David. “The High Cost of Underestimating Joe Biden,” Deep State Radio, November 13, 2022. https://thedsrnetwork.com/the-high-cost-of-underestimating-joe-biden/.

    Wardley, Simon. “Are You on Mastodon?” ThreadReader, November 12, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1591552974815363073.html.

    Warren, Elizabeth. “Opinion | Elizabeth Warren: Democrats Just Held the Senate. Here’s What We Do Next.” The New York Times, November 13, 2022, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/12/opinion/elizabeth-warren-democrat-senate-midterm.html.

    Werdmuller, Ben. “The Fediverse Is Happening. Here’s How to Take Part.” Medium (blog), November 12, 2022. https://benwerd.medium.com/the-fediverse-is-happening-heres-how-to-take-part-11c42f5ebefd.

    Sorted

    My brother-in-law gave me some ideas about how to organize my LPs. This is like books only so much to listen to, so little time!

    Quoted

    Every composition is necessarily subject to destruction or disintegration. For instance, this flower is a composition of various elements; its decomposition is inevitable. When this composed form undergoes decomposition—in other words, when these elements separate and disintegrate—that is what we call the death of the flower. For inasmuch as it is composed of single elements, the grouping of multitudinous cellular atoms, it is subject to disintegration. This is the mortality of the flower. Similarly, the body of man is composed of various elements. This composition of the elements has been given life. When these elements disintegrate, life disappears, and that is death. Existence in the various planes, or kingdoms, implies composition; and nonexistence, or death, is decomposition.

    But the inner and essential reality of man is not composed of elements and, therefore, cannot be decomposed. It is not an elemental composition subject to disintegration or death. A true and fundamental scientific principle is that an element itself never dies and cannot be destroyed for the reason that it is single and not composed. Therefore, it is not subject to decomposition.

    Another evidence or proof of the indestructibility of the reality of man is that it is not affected by the changes of the physical body. These changing conditions of the bodily composition are definite and continual. At one time it is normal, at another time abnormal. Now it is weak, now strong. It suffers injury, a hand may be amputated, a limb broken, an eye destroyed, an ear deafened or some defect appear in a certain organ, but these changes do not affect the human spirit, the soul of man. If the body becomes stout or thin, decrepit or strong, the spirit or soul is unaffected thereby. If a part of the bodily organism be destroyed, even if it be dismembered completely, the soul continues to function, showing that no changes of the body affect its operation. We have seen that death and mortality are synonymous with change and disintegration. As we find the soul unaffected by this change and disintegration of the body, we, therefore, prove it to be immortal; for that which is changeable is accidental, evanescent. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 415-416. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/30#764695301 [return]

  • 12 November 2022

    Jalál, 09 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    I’m caring for my sister’s Christmas cactus. Although it likes a southern exposure, I can see I’m going to have to turn it around so it doesn’t grow into the windows. Besides the buds are about to pop open and they need room to expand!

    Done

    My partner and I went to Detroit this evening. Brief periods of light rain, snow, sleet accompanied us all the way. Now, it’s dry but cold. Her brother has a doctor’s appointment on Monday to check on his stroke recovery progress. We’re optimistic - with fingers crossed!

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    A Flock of Seagulls - A Flock of Seagulls

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Asbury, Herbert. Gem of the Prairie : An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld. DeKalb, Ill. : Northern Illinois University Press, 1986. http://archive.org/details/gemofprairieinfo0000asbu.

    Bookmarked

    Fenton, David. “The Activist’s Media Handbook.” David Fenton, November 1, 2022. https://davidfentonactivist.com/books/the-activists-media-handbook/.

    Hedges, Chris. “Listen to this Article: “Death of an Oracle.”” Substack newsletter. The Chris Hedges Report (blog), November 11, 2022. https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/listen-to-this-article-death-of-an.

    Schuetze, Christopher F., and Laetitia Vancon. “Can Germans Save Their Beloved Rhine?” The New York Times, November 11, 2022, sec. World. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/world/europe/germany-climate-change-rhine-river.html.

    I’m running behind today and may add more to this list as I catch up

    Sorted

    Made Evernote “notes” for the remaining books in the box I started sorting earlier this week. Now, separate those I want to keep from those to get rid of. Each of them conjures memories from my life — it’s like giving away parts of myself. UGH!

    Quoted

    O Lord! Confirm and aid this assemblage. Confirm these souls through the breaths of Thy Holy Spirit. Enlighten the eyes by the vision of these radiant lights, and make the ears joyful through the anthems of Thy call to service. O God! Verily, we have gathered here in the fragrance of Thy love. We have turned to Thy Kingdom. We seek naught save Thee and desire nothing save Thy good pleasure. O God! Let this food be Thy manna from heaven, and grant that this assemblage may be a concourse of Thy supreme ones. May they be the quickening cause of love to humanity and the source of illumination to the human race. May they be the instruments of Thy guidance upon earth. Verily, Thou art powerful. Thou art the Bestower. Thou art the Forgiver, and Thou art the Almighty. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 419. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/31#533139068 [return]

  • 11 November 2022

    Istiqlál, 08 Qudrat (Power), 179 B.E

    Seen

    Sunset - so beautiful!

    Done

    Participated in the weekly Zoom call with Helen Stucky-Weaver and the Wellness Weavers “Inner Circle” group.

    Shared ideas about how to increase membership and overall engagement with the International Environment Forum. I’m curious about how important it is to advance one’s reputation by posting frequently on one or two platforms as compared to making fewer posts on a lot of forums. Maybe my colleague Bill has some insight about this…

    Noted

    Astral Prospecting on Instagram | Astral Prospecting on YouTube | Astral Prospecting on Facebook

    Marc Bosserman on Instagram | Marc Bosserman on Facebook | Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

    Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

    Listened

    Dire Straits – ExtendeDancEPlay

    Notes by Discogs.com

    Read

    Kaplan, Robert D. The Coming Anarchy : Shattering the Dreams of the Post Cold War. New York: Random House, 2000. http://archive.org/details/cominganarchy00robe_0.

    Bookmarked

    Boulder Campus Human Resources. “Tenure-Track Faculty Positions in Air Quality and Robotics.” Jobs University of Colorado Boulder, October 11, 2022. https://jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDetail/Tenure-Track-Faculty-Positions-in-Air-Quality-and-Robotics/43355.

    Cepelewicz, Jordana. “Artificial Intelligence Finds Ancient ‘Ghosts’ in Modern DNA.” Quanta Magazine, February 7, 2019. https://www.quantamagazine.org/artificial-intelligence-finds-ancient-ghosts-in-modern-dna-20190207/.

    Collins, Ben. “Uh… You Did What Now?” ThreadReader, November 10, 2022. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1590861731865145344.html.

    Ellerman, David. Economics, Accounting, and Property Theory. Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and Company, 1982. https://www.ellerman.org/economics-accounting-and-property-theory/.

    Frndak, Seth. “His Name Was Alexander Hamilton: Tyranny Of The Majority & Unbridled Free Speech.” WikiTribune, November 8, 2022. https://wt.social/post/8v1c2ds5559630898861.

    Garry, Hugh. “Writing Tools, Innovation Writing, Kubrick of Confetti.” Substack newsletter. Storythings Newsletter (blog), November 11, 2022. https://storythingsnewsletter.substack.com/p/writing-tools-innovation-writing.

    Markolin, Philipp. “Asymmetric Power in the Information Age.” Substack newsletter. The Protagonist Future? (blog, November 10, 2022. https://protagonistfuture.substack.com/p/asymmetric-power-in-the-information.

    Ravi, Nikil, Pranshu Chaturvedi, E. A. Huerta, Zhengchun Liu, Ryan Chard, Aristana Scourtas, K. J. Schmidt, Kyle Chard, Ben Blaiszik, and Ian Foster. “FAIR Principles for AI Models with a Practical Application for Accelerated High Energy Diffraction Microscopy.” Scientific Data 9, no. 1 (November 10, 2022): 657. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01712-9.

    Vica. “Co-Ops Joining Social.Coop.” Loomio, November 11, 2022. https://www.loomio.com/d/2LGVIy7x/comment/2804035.

    Sorted

    Fitted the “mini drop over greenhouse” over the geraniums. Colder weather arrives tonight.

    Set up the propane heater in the Florida room. It’s not THAT cold, but better to take care of it now than when it is that cold!

    Quoted

    I am greatly pleased with the friends in Washington and experience real happiness in meeting them. Likewise, I am pleased with the friends from Baltimore, for I have observed that their hearts are attracted to the love of Bahá’u’lláh. Their vision is extended toward the Kingdom of Bahá. Their spirits are rejoicing in the glad tidings of Abhá. Verily, they are servants of the Cause of God. All are engaged in service, and the perfection of their desire is to enter into the Kingdom of Abhá and draw near unto God. For that reason I am very happy and well pleased with them. I pray for you all. May the favors of the Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh, encompass you, and may the lights of the Sun of Reality be your illumination. May you all become united and assured. May you serve the Cause of God as one single, united force. I give you the glad tidings that the confirmations of God will descend upon you. Be ye assured of this. Ye will become illumined. Ye will become conquerors. 1

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 428. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/31#309517566 [return]

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