Yesterday, it appeared that Nameless and I were caught together in the shrinking gap between winter storm Anya and Hurricane Rafael. And, yes, I did receive some snow – about an inch and a half, which by afternoon had melted on the asphalt but was still clinking to the unpaved ground. They’r predicting 4″ more today and just under that tomorrow, with mostly sun on Saturday and sun all day Sunday. It’s a good thng for Trinette that she works from home, though. Many people, including people who have been born here, have not grasped that Colorado Springs does not have a climate, but a bundle of microclimates. I could tell you stories. Once I went from needing chains to dry road in the space of one interstate exit. And a coworker of mime when I worked on north Academy who then lived roughly where I live now (but at the time I lived a little north f downtown) setout for work, and at the time it was also dry on North Academy. But across the middle of town therer was asnow so thick and fast it was literally impassible. Anyway, I expect to be fine, and they don’t seem to expect Rafael to go as far west as Nameless. But I surely wish people would pay more attention. This video from Parody Project is much more fun than the Weather Unferground video. And it looks as though we’ll need some fun just in order to stay off of hard drugs
This from what used to be Twitter via Democratic Undergound could help
I recently read, I think it was at Democratic Underground, that it is easier to get to sleep if you go to bed thinking about three good things that happened during the day. They don’t need to be huge good things. Just something which is positive. I won’t go so far as to say it works, but I have tried it, and it does help. Accordingly, here are this, this, and this.
Yesterday, my back bothered me from the middle of my sleep time (it woke me up, and I never really got back to sleep) through the entire rest of the day. I seriously considered sleeping sitting up. I used the TENS unit and ice (not at the same time – those ice bags may be sealed, but that doesn’t stop condensation.) Both helped some, But not enough. Yes, I know, Urgent Care, but the last time I did that (for pain muchless sefver in a much smaller area) I ended up having to do so much walking I exacerbated it. If I exacerbate this much more, I’ll fall and won’t be able to get up. If it persists, I’ll do that.
Pro Publica points out that, while, yes, immigration has increased, that is far from the only change in immigration in recent years. They don’t go into the fact that many, particularly those from Central America are fleeing conditions which we, the United States, made possible by meddling in their nations’ politics through the CIA and, among other programs, the School of the Americas (now whitewashed as the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.”) And both of our major parties have blood on their hands. Our hands. Sure, a lot of that was on account of GOP rule. But I wouldn’t expect those injured by it to be able to make that distinction.
As a former DOJ prosecutor, Joyce Vance knows a whole lot more about the DOJ’s responsibiities than I do. I’ll just let her do the talking.
I didn’t have to look far for an ancient god with whom do discuss our current weather patterns (particularly in the east.) Huracán, the ancient Mayan god of storms, was right under my nose. (Yes, he is where the word “hurricane” derives from.) And if we ever needed a god to lay down the law about something it is now – and he is the one to do it.
I am posting this for today because I had a medical appointment yesterday as a new patient and I didn’t know how much that would throow me off. So there’s no Open Thread today. But please feel free to use this as one and comment about anything that’s on your mind
Some of the best evidence for this comes from the behavior of two of the most powerful beings of the Maya world: The first is a creator god whose name is still spoken by millions of people every fall – Huracán, or “Hurricane.” The second is a god of lightning, K’awiil, from the early first millennium C.E.
As a scholar of the Indigenous religions of the Americas, I recognize that these beings, though separated by over 1,000 years, are related and can teach us something about our relationship to the natural world.
Huracán, the ‘Heart of Sky’
Huracán was once a god of the K’iche’, one of the Maya peoples who today live in the southern highlands of Guatemala. He was one of the main characters of the Popol Vuh, a religious text from the 16th century. His name probably originated in the Caribbean, where other cultures used it to describe the destructive power of storms.
The K’iche’ associated Huracán, which means “one leg” in the K’iche’ language, with weather. He was also their primary god of creation and was responsible for all life on earth, including humans.
Because of this, he was sometimes known as U K’ux K’aj, or “Heart of Sky.” In the K’iche’ language, k’ux was not only the heart but also the spark of life, the source of all thought and imagination.
Yet, Huracán was not perfect. He made mistakes and occasionally destroyed his creations. He was also a jealous god who damaged humans so they would not be his equal. In one such episode, he is believed to have clouded their vision, thus preventing them from being able to see the universe as he saw it.
Huracán was one being who existed as three distinct persons: Thunderbolt Huracán, Youngest Thunderbolt and Sudden Thunderbolt. Each of them embodied different types of lightning, ranging from enormous bolts to small or sudden flashes of light.
Despite the fact that he was a god of lightning, there were no strict boundaries between his powers and the powers of other gods. Any of them might wield lightning, or create humanity, or destroy the Earth.
Another storm god
The Popol Vuh implies that gods could mix and match their powers at will, but other religious texts are more explicit. One thousand years before the Popol Vuh was written, there was a different version of Huracán called K’awiil. During the first millennium, people from southern Mexico to western Honduras venerated him as a god of agriculture, lightning and royalty.
Illustrations of K’awiil can be found everywhere on Maya pottery and sculpture. He is almost human in many depictions: He has two arms, two legs and a head. But his forehead is the spark of life – and so it usually has something that produces sparks sticking out of it, such as a flint ax or a flaming torch. And one of his legs does not end in a foot. In its place is a snake with an open mouth, from which another being often emerges.
Indeed, rulers, and even gods, once performed ceremonies to K’awiil in order to try and summon other supernatural beings. As personified lightning, he was believed to create portals to other worlds, through which ancestors and gods might travel.
Representation of power
For the ancient Maya, lightning was raw power. It was basic to all creation and destruction. Because of this, the ancient Maya carved and painted many images of K’awiil. Scribes wrote about him as a kind of energy – as a god with “many faces,” or even as part of a triad similar to Huracán.
He was everywhere in ancient Maya art. But he was also never the focus. As raw power, he was used by others to achieve their ends.
Moreover, Maya artists always had K’awiil doing something or being used to make something happen. They believed that power was something you did, not something you had. Like a bolt of lightning, power was always shifting, always in motion.
An interdependent world
Because of this, the ancient Maya thought that reality was not static but ever-changing. There were no strict boundaries between space and time, the forces of nature or the animate and inanimate worlds.
Residents wade through a street flooded by Hurricane Helene, in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on Sept. 26, 2024. AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa
Everything was malleable and interdependent. Theoretically, anything could become anything else – and everything was potentially a living being. Rulers could ritually turn themselves into gods. Sculptures could be hacked to death. Even natural features such as mountains were believed to be alive.
The illusion is not that different things exist. Rather it is that they exist independent from one another. Huracán, in this sense, damaged himself by damaging his creations.
Hurricane season every year should remind us that human beings are not independent from nature but part of it. And like Hurácan, when we damage nature, we damage ourselves.
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Huracán, I can’t even begin to describe how great our gratitude would be if you could just manage to get those who lie about the storms, about the relief efforts, and really about anything and everything to just shut up. We have been trying for what seems like forever, and we can’t manage it.
This from Wonkette is completely off topic (Trump** is not s force of nature, he just thinks he is0, But it’s so remarkable I didn’t want it to wait longer.
Yesterday, I heard from my “frosted sister” who lives in Bradenton, FL, right in Milton’s eye. I didn’t hear sooner because she had evacuated (which I was hoping she did), but she’s going back by Monday. The only structural damage to her house this time is to a room that’s more loke a covered porch, but she also lost a shed and a lot of fencing. (Michael, I think it was, took out all her windows, and she only just finished getting them fixed earlier this year.) I’m just glad she and her family and all their pets are safe. But now there’s this (Joyce Vance) Finally, Robert Reich’s election video week is here.
There has been a lot of complaining by people who do not follow politics that “We don’t know who [Kamala] is.” This week she has addressed that with appearances in the media which this article from HuffPo addresses – and also the effect of it on the polls (mostly good).
Living through Hurricane Milton must be just like living through the pandemic for those in the path, except that the liars aren’t in power (at least not in federal power) and not everyone lives in the danger zone. Doktor Zoom’s “Don’t make me”is actually pretty mild. I’m a “Don’t make me rethink free speech” level myself.
Yesterday, “Nobody can control the weather” was trending. It needs to be said – but it’s not entirely true. No single person or single group can control the weather. The entire human race working together cannot totally control the weather/ But the entire human race working together has some control over the climate, which means some control over the weather in the long run. We cannot bring down the temperature in any given place today. But over time, if we have raised the temperature in almost ever place, and if we can change our ways and minimize our worst habits, we have a chance of bringing it down, over time – over so much time that I for one will not live to see whether we have done it – or not.
I don’t often cite Steve Schmidt, or at least not a full article, but this one had to be shared. It is as much about morality and pholisophy as it is about politics (which should always be about morality at least, and philosophy if possible.) To make it a bit easier, let me state that he does eventually tell you who Rodney Edmonds was and what he did (and when he starts on the story, you may want a hanky.) Also, “revanchist” means “seeking revenge.” I didn’t know that, and figured therefore not everyone would, and wanted to save y’all a trip to the dictionary.)
This is a referral from Wonkette which I agree is well worth getting wider attention. Most people, including me, tend to think the economy is doing well nationally when we are doing well personally, and when we aren’t, it isn’t. Those who see beyond that are likely to look to the stock ,arket as an economic indicator, which it probably is if you are wealthy, but if not, not. Noahpinion gets us the four real indicators of a strong economy, and that is valuable to know.
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Madam Butterfly” by Puccini, the first opera I ever saw, when I was 8 years old. Despite the tenor being a jerk, it’s a pretty good first opera for a young person. For one thing, it’s generally gorgeous to look at. No one seems to have thought it a good idea to do it in black and white. For another, like all Puccini operas, it has catchy melodies, and Puccini takes advantage of them, not quite as leimotifs, but to associate with characters, and if nothing else, that helps clarify who is entering or exiting. And it’s a story line which has probably been told as my times, in as many languages, with local detail, as Cinderwlla. And now I’m off to see Virgil. I well as always check in when I get back.
I certainly do not want to praise the Heritage Foundation, so please don’t take it as praise when I say “they’ve thought of everything.” Everything to silence every last vestige of truth, integrity and just plain virtue from not only our goveernment but our entire society. If we lose this election, we will never be able to trust a government employee again. Ever. Not without a revolution.
If you wonder why I am citing this article by Steve Schmidt when it seems so self-evident – stick with it. I will say that, if you don’t know who MSgt Rodrick Edmonds is, hang tight – he will eventually tell you. Anwhen he does you may need a hanky. Also, “revanchist” as an adjective means “seeking revenge.” That was a new word for me, so I thought I’d try to save you a trip to the dictionary.
Yesterday, the defendant in the case of the shooting at the King Soopers in Boulder, CO, was found guilty on 55 felony counts, incluing 10 counts of first-degree murder. It didn’t even take them a full day to come to that conclusion. I had not been following this story closely enough to have previously seen the names of the victims, but I read it this time, and saw two surnames, both relatively uncommon, which were the same as those of people I had known in Colorado – when I lived in the San Luis Valley. But when I looked then up, there appeared to be no connection in either case. Still, all the victims were known to and kin to and important to someone, and looking that up made the shooting very real to me.
Talking Points Memo’s Morning Memo was hot yesterday. Every time I finished a section and was going to file the email, I’d see the next title and realized I wasn’t ready. I got all the way to the end, in fact. Fortunatel, I can give you a link to the whole thing so you can decide what to skip.
Over the weekend, Heather Cox Richardson reviewed the history of the Electoral College. It’s a history which is little kown, even among people who consider themselves history buffs. And it’s a grand demonstration of how much and in how many ways an institution such as the Electoral College is vulnerable to manipulation – and in how many ways (the Electoral College is the reason we have two Dakotas, for one thing.) I wish that everyone in Amereica, voting age or not, could be forced to read or to listen to it. In whatever language they understand.
Take this to heart when voting, America
