What I find extremely important about things like search engines from the 1990s onward, social media from the mid 2000s, and AI currently; is that, from a high level, we are being manipulated strategically.

By strategically; I mean over a timescale of many years.

For this to be possible, the manipulation must be ...

In the originally published version of my last post, "Can you metamorphosize?," I incorrectly typed a quote as referring to "syncs from September." I've since corrected it to December, but since errors like these can be serendipitous, I decided to look through my posts from September 2024. I then kept scrolling and ...

A few days ago, I was supervising some of Diego's preschoolers as they were eating breakfast, and a girl said, "Teacher, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. What's your question?"

"Can you metamorphosize?"

"Can I what?"

"Transform into a butterfly!"

"Nope, sorry. Only caterpillars can do that."

A chorus of voices ...

I will have a new roof installed on the house next week, starting on Tuesday. I had aimed to have the roof redone about four or five years ago, but the events of 2020-2021 significantly delayed that goal. In light of this, I feel immensely pleased and relieved that the roof’s time has finally arrived.

In many ...

As reluctant as I am to add fuel to Bill's recent speculations, God forbid that I should self-censor for such a reason.

For those who have missed all the drama here and at Leo's blog, Bill has decided that the syncs are telling him that I'm the reincarnation of Ar-Pharazôn, a megalomaniacal villain from the writings ...

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What did they do with the rest of the ox? Why do I get to eat its tail?

Several of the common and everyday foods of my childhood - things I would be served almost every week, like it or not - have all-but disappeared.

These are many; and include canned oxtail soup, steak and kidney pies, tapioca ...

The well-known Alice Bailey books are a development of Theosophy though with greater emphasis on Christ than Blavatskian Theosophy, even if he is still not the Christ that Christians know but a kind of grand hierarch. But then, since the assumed source of these books is Buddhist, that might be expected. Also, we must ...

From the metaphysical assumptions of many religious conceptualizations, it is hard to imagine why anyone would want to incarnate as a mortal (for example, an embodied human being) - given all the intrinsic problems, as well as the possible risks?

Why wouldn't spirits want to stay as spirits?

Stay safe and ...

The boar, the barrier:

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The core, the carrier:

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The door, the derriere:

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The whore, the hairier:

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The score, the scarier:

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The war, the warier:

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Ulysses wasn't long enough.These verses add some other stuff,As sung and strummed by that great playler,Ukinbad the Ukuleler.

Flinbad the Flailer was a sortOf Gnoll, quite strong but rather short.

(That couplet was the only choice.Old Gary Gygax knew his Joyce.)

Frinbad the Frailer isn't strongerThan the others any ...

These army men and leggy girlsWith weaponry and flaxen curls,Respectively, are plastic toys,One kind for girls, one kind for boys.

And when the kids are in the shop,Accompanied by mom and pop,Each for their favored plaything begs,The boys for arms, the girls for legs.

But mothers dream potential harmsIf anyone ...

Those few who have been following me for a really long time will remember that there was a period of time where ambigrams took over this blog, much as syncs have done now, and accounted for the bulk of my posts. I haven't done any in a long time, but my recent post "Varda Elentári" said:

Given the recent theme of ...

Following an insightful post on "AI" by Francis Berger; in the comments, Laeth produced a simple and convincing re-conceptualization of what lies behind this global strategy

I have edited this excerpt.

Ahrimanic refers to a type of totalitarian/ bureaucratic/ systemic evil, that is materialistic in assumptions and ...

Very early this morning, while in a hypnopompic state, my mind latched onto the word rail. Bill had been railing against me, I thought, and I had been railroaded — summarily declared guilty before even being informed of the charges. From there, my train (heh) of thought wandered to Rinbad the Railer, and before I ...

People who regard themselves as of the Right are displaying an insane and blinkered optimism that they are winning, and rolling-back Leftism.

This is because they do not understand what the Left is, in its fundamental nature.

If they did understand, those who proclaim themselves of the Right would realize that ...

The "swarms of bees" with which the Jaredites traveled (Ether 2:3) have come up on this blog many times. It thus got my attention when I saw "The Life of a Busy Bee (and Beekeeper)" on Synlogos and found that it included this:

When her mother asked Lucia of Fatima what she would like as a gift when she made her ...

In "Ladybird WOW, and She had no choice but to be rescued by the Abelards," I related a dream in which I saw a picture of a ladybird and under it the word WOW written in black. I associated both of these with Our Lady, but Bill proposed instead that they referred to Ungoliant, the main clue being that WOW is MOM ...

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would it be weird, say, for a woman to rub scented oil on a supposedly celibate man's feet? would you think there's something else going on, so to speak? innocent question of course. implying nothing at all about no one in particular

religion may have been the oppiate of the masses but 'AI' will be the ...

Bill has proposed (in comments on Leo's blog here) that when I pray the Hail Mary, my prayers are heard not by their intended recipient but by the Black Madonna, who is Ungoliant. His reasoning is that Jesus said to pray to the Father in his name, making any other form of prayer hazardous and likely to be intercepted ...

Since Google's 2K search engine was far superior to any so-called AI; then why are people in 2025 so awed and submissive about AI?

It's an interesting question.

There was certainly a vast degree of hype about The Internet in the 1990s, as well as many serious and thoughtful attempts to predict its consequences ...

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I have been re-reading (after many previous readings) my favourite work by Charles Williams - The Place of the Lion (1931) a book that, I believed, profoundly influenced the writing of both JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, as well as being of unfailing fascination to me.

But every time I read it, it ...

I have read Charles' Williams's The Place of the Lion many times over a span of several decades; and almost accidentally found myself doing so again last week (actually, re-listening to the audiobook version).

I thoroughly recommend trying PlotL; if you are at all interested in grappling with Charles Williams; or if ...

In a brief dream, I was training a student in the art of penmanship. The student’s identity was not clearly defined, but what he or she was writing, slowly and carefully on three-lined paper, was the name Varda Elentári. The student first wrote Elentári, leaving a large space to the left, and then went back and ...

My last post took as its title a quote from Dignan in Bottle Rocket: “They’ll never catch me, man, . . . .” This reminded Bill of my 2023 post “Mr. Mxyztplk revisited,” where Mxy says “Catch me if you can!” and even Superman can’t catch him. Bill also mentions that Mxy is associated with things written ...

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Captain Hook - with his lantern jaw, five o'clock shadow, and double-cigar holder!

Yesterday, I re-watched (maybe the fourth time?) Walt Disney's 1953 animated movie Peter Pan; and again it struck me as one of the very best of the Disney full length cartoons (running at about 75 minutes).

Of ...

Secondary thinking—thinking via language, symbols, and images—is an unavoidable and, until recently, seemingly irreplaceable form of thinking in mortal life. I say seemingly irreplaceable because current and projected AI applications have encroached and will likely continue to encroach upon this level of ...

It's understandable that Catholics are happy they have a new pope. A page has been turned and there is naturally a feeling of optimism for the future. Not being a Catholic, I have a slightly different perspective. It may be that the pope makes a difference to rank and file religious Catholics, but from the deeper ...

Mental jukebox upon waking this morning was "2000 Man" by the Stones. For me, this song is inextricably associated with this scene in Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson's first, and best, film, released in the magical year of 1996):

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Rewatching that classic scene now, I connected the yellow jumpsuits with ...

As a solid and nearly universal generalization: "People" grossly underestimate how bad things are.

We see this almost everywhere, including among those who regard themselves as radical, uncompromising, anti-Establishment, Christian-motivated - or whatever.

Think of the past US elections, and the way that so many ...

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A little treat for lovers of the baroque oboe - slow movement from a concerto by Vivaldi; played by the greatest oboist of whom I know - Heinz Holliger - and the lyrical and resonant strings of I Musici. The continuo harpsichordist is also improvising some lovely things.

The melody is very simple ...

Move over, cicadas. I've found something even more unlikely to read.

I've almost finished my current tube of toothpaste, and when I brushed my teeth this morning, I found that my wife had put out a new one for me -- a brand I've never used before but which certainly looked familiar.

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An empty box ...

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