Hello digital migrants, Asktheanimals has followed your scent over here. Feel free to leave a scat on my comments. thanks!

Mary (or rather Miriam, after the sister of Moses) has always been a popular name amongst the Jews. A number of women of that name are found in the New Testament.

The specific information about Mary Magdalen is very limited.
We may guess that her surname is “place of origin”, probably deriving from Magdala, a fishing town on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
We know (Luke ch8 v2) that she was one of the women who accompanied Jesus in his travels along with his other disciples, and that seven demons had been driven out of her.
We know from the Easter narratives that she was one of the small group of women who sought to attend Jesus after his burial, and we have the story of John ch20 about her encounter with him after his Resurrection.

However, a few other stories in the gospels have had an great effect on the way that she’s been perceived, even though they don’t mention her by name.

Matthew has an “anointing in Bethany” story (ch26 vv6-13). While he is eating at the house of Simon the leper, an unidentified woman pours oil on his head. The disciples complain that the ointment could have been sold to provide for the poor, but Jesus declares that she is preparing him for his burial. No other motive is suggested. The implication is that this is an acted-out prophecy.

Luke has his own anointing story (ch7 vv36-50), but the setting is in the middle of the Galilee mission. The most recent place-name mentioned is Nain. The women is identified as a sinner and she is weeping. Not just from repentance and a sense of guilt, let it be understood. She is weeping with gratitude, superimposed upon the repentance, because she already knows that her sins have been forgiven, though her faith. That is clear from the remarks of Jesus, who says the magnitude of her sin can be measured by the magnitude of her grateful love. She anoints his feet, in humility, instead of his head. Before the anointing she must dry the feet with her hair, because her tears are making them wet.

Luke also has the story (ch10 vv38-41) of the reception of Jesus at the home of the sisters Mary and Martha. The village is not named, but Jesus has already “set his face” (ch9 v51) for the eight-chapter journey towards Jerusalem. There is no suggestion that either of them is the woman in the anointing story.

We come now to the story of John ch12 vv1-8, which complicates matters greatly. In his version of events, the household of Mary and Martha is combined with the household of Lazarus in Bethany, who is their brother. The event that takes place that night is Matthew’s Bethany anointing, on the whole. That is, the woman who anoints him is identified as Mary. Judas is the disciple who complains about the waste. John’s version of the reply Jesus made is a little odd; “Let her keep it for my burial”. How can she keep it, when she has already used it? Perhaps the simplest answer is to refer it to her previous decision NOT to sell the oil. “It was right that she should keep it and not sell it, so that she could use it for this purpose today.” On that interpretation, John agrees with Matthew in treating the act as “anointing in advance”.

John complicates things further by adding detail from the anointing in Luke. The act is transferred from the head to the feet of Jesus, and Mary wipes them with her hair even though it is not necessary. She has not been weeping, so the feet are not wet. Nevertheless, there is no suggestion of the “repentance for sin” motive. He does not identify Mary of Bethany with the sinner. Nor does he identify Mary Magdalene with either of them.

No, church tradition, interpreting the New Testament, has been responsible for dragging the name of Mary Magdalene into these events. The quest for ways of harmonising the gospels would naturally lead to the assumption that all three anointing stories were the same story at heart, which would have the effect of identifying Mary of Bethany as a reformed sinner. Apparently it was Pope Gregory the Great who first identified Mary Magdalene as the sinful anointing woman and more specifically identified her sin as fornication. He depended heavily on the assumed connection between fornication and being possessed by demons, which doesn’t have direct Biblical backing. Perhaps also “keep it for my burial” encouraged the idea that Mary of Bethany must have been one of the women around the tomb.

I had it in my head that Mary Magdalene spent the Middle Ages as patron saint of prostitutes, but this role seems to have been informal rather than official. Certainly the Oxford English Dictionary defines “Magdalen” as “a reformed prostitute”. Her name was given to communities of nuns formed from reformed prostitutes and other institutions designed to shelter them. All because Pope Gregory decided to simplify the Biblical character list and give her name to somebody else.

Propaganda: What does it actually represent as an idea?

I have heard it said that the word "propaganda" has early roots in the Latin phrase "Congregatio de Propaganda Fide" meaning "Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith."  That refers to a committee formed early in the Roman Catholic Church; their purpose was to spread church doctrine throughout the world.

"Propaganda" is a tool of persuasion.  It is an approach to communications which prioritizes the "motivation" of speech or writing (or whatever) over the content (or information) itself.  It manifests by taking the listener or audience on a speaker-controlled voyage... 

"... Actors, preachers, teachers, politicians, editors, advertisers, salesman, reformers, authors, artists, parents, - our friends and even ourselves - practice the art of persuasion... acting in the ancient Roamn tradition of the word, we are all missionaries for our causes.

Propaganda, as we know it today, can be a nefarious as well as a noble art.  For at one moment its techniques can be used to whip up racial hatred among groups of people; at another moment, it's methods can be employed to move persons to acts of warmth and kindness..." (From Lorne Green and Robert W. Allen in The Propaganda Game.)

In Allan and Green's short introduction they make an interesting, but important distinction.

"In a democratic society it is the role of every citizen to make decisions after evaluating many ideas.  It is especially important then that a citizen be able to think clearly about the ideas that are daily presented to him (or her.)  It is imperative that he be able to analyze and distinguish between the emotional aura surrounding the ideas, and the actual content of the ideas...."

And therein lies our first big hurdle... the standing question is that:

Are citizens actually "able" to make that distinction... can they detect when they are being subjected to persuasion?

Our education system certainly doesn't seem to value or pursue critical 'analysis' among students.  Our media and political theater actively 'hides' deliberate efforts to persuade, preferring instead to engender a confidence in the audience to simply accept that they are being "informed" rather than "persuaded."  Our social marketing is flooded with ideas where all judgement is removed, and the authors conclusions are presented as supported exclusively by impenetrable fact.

It has become so overt in practice that memes of the "stupidity" of people are all you can hear in the public voice.  We have been conditioned (perhaps brainwashed) into thinking people MUST be "told" what to think, because they can't be trusted to learn "how" to.  That embedded meme, or trope, is ever-present... it appears in theater, in media talking-head speech, in music, in think-tank 'pronouncements,' even in common parlance...   Common humor exalts the "stupidity" of people, often marking it as the only way we can freely laugh (at other people.)

The term "propaganda" has been conflated and obfuscated by the propagandizers themselves.  We hear words like "misinformation" and "disinformation," carefully defined in the most 'fuzzy' and insubstantial way.  Often never even treated as propaganda they are seen as stand-alone 'products' - used exclusively by "those people... (you know who I mean.")  Did you notice that?  That's one of the many techniques one might face in persuasive argumentation.

I offer an example of the end game of "people are stupid."

From SecurityWeek: Preparing Society for AI-Driven Disinformation in the 2024 Election Cycle
Subtitled: The rapid evolution of AI and analytics engines will put campaign-year disinformation into hyperspeed in terms of false content creation, dissemination and impact.

The subtitle contains several "propaganda" techniques, as it "persuades" rather than informs.  "AI" is currently "sold" to the population as an existing thing. It is not... technological advances have brought us close to the capabilities of AI, but it is not at all 'done and done.'  "Campaign-year disinformation" is neither "new," nor has it ever been... it is what "campaigning" is about... persuasion at any cost to the information.  "Hyper speed" is a technojargon term... meaning nothing, relatively speaking.  Demanding that the prevalence of disinformation means it is "effective" is a false concept... disinformation itself is nothing unless the audience actually accepts it as true.  Simply making 'disinformation' doesn't guarantee successful persuasion.
 

Hello all,

I’m not sure what took me so long to sign up here because it’s painfully obvious that ATS is likely on its last breath. It really is sad to see such a once great platform fizzle out the way it has been over the last five or six years.

Thank you so much DTOM for all your hard work as a Mod on ATS and for this new site you put together for everyone to resettle into… what you have accomplished is very admirable.

Many thanks to you!!!

As the membership of Deny Ignorance continues to grow, I want to announce that the Q threads will be joining DI.
Starting the 44th Chapter/New Chapter of the thread.....
https://denyignorance.com/Thread-TH3WH17...-THE-WORLD

Thanks dashen!!!

Here is a Twitter video illustrating what happened.

Watch it, as it shows the ships multiple power outages and steering to avoid.

Here is YouTube video from The Gaurdian showing the collapse:


The ship lost power multiple times and could not steer, along with current pushing it spelled disaster.

Sir Francis Scott Key Bridge. Container ship Dali. Ship owner hid in paperwork. Looks like accident not terrorism.

heartbreaking.

Many dead.

Prayers for all for those involved and hurt.

Hello ladies and gentlemen. Tis I Yuppa,the king of Noobs. I decided to spread out a bit so I am taking advantage to expand my rule so to speak.

From ScienceLine: Don’t freak out, but the cicadas are coming — lots of them
Subtitled: Billions will likely emerge across the eastern half of the US this spring, but climate change is a wild card



Oh, I remember the last time!  By coincidence, I moved back to the area where my entire life had been 'encrusted' with cicadas.  Wherever you could cast your eyes, cicadas could be seen in abundance... literally like a wallpaper over the telephone poles, ann on every building surface.  I kind of found it 'funny' until the noise nearly drove me mad.  

 Although the author treats us to the obligatory doctrine of these last few years, by opening with recipe ideas... there is some interesting information within NOT trying to 'sell' us on the 'joy' of eating bugs.

I seem to be collecting these ...  I promise I cannot say I actually agree (or disagree) since the math eludes me.

From ScienceDaily: New research suggests that our universe has no dark matter
 

Nowadays there are so many fighting for equal rights , Or being woke and excepting everyone for who they are or want to be . 

However I present to the supreme Court a case that represents out right oppression and unequal rights as Americans we have the right to be treated equal whether you are Men -Women-LGBTQRST or even want to pretend you are a dog .

But to this day any lady walking around with her boobs out will be sited or arrested and Men can do it at anytime day or night .

Take that case to the Supreme Court someone ! The ladies need reparations for all the anguish they have suffered from boob sweat having to cover up at all times .

I'm a Man you are a Women lets walk down the street together topless and see who gets arrested .

I thought the research article that appears in ScienceDaily: Two artificial intelligences talk to each other was very interesting.

A well-explained idea surfaces within it, one which featured some very accurate descriptions of what LLM (large language modelling) essentially is all about.  Namely...
 

I joined up and did not do my due diligence. So, here we go. I am an immigrant from everyone's favorite site. Cryptids, anything paranormal and history are the topics that really excite me, but like many of us I fall into the political threads because of how conspiracy heavy its become. I'm hoping to see some good non political topics become "in" again.

An interesting pregnancy phenomenon has been studied and found to be remarkable.

As it turns out, when women are pregnant, a process known as DNA methylation causes the mother to undergo changes to her cells which are usually associated with aging.  It seems to point to a stress on the mother which not only ages her by one to two years, but amazingly reverses itself after the pregnancy and if she breastfeeds, reverses itself and "undoes" the process, sometimes even beyond the pseudo-aging starting point.

From Science.org: Pregnancy may increase biological age by 2 years—though some people end up ‘younger’
Subtitled: Body’s cells appear to age faster during pregnancy, but they might recover—and even thrive—in the months after birth
 

I have long understood the idea of "Amazon warrior women" to be a mythological notion... but it appears there may have been some substance to the story.

From The Guardian: ‘Truth behind the myths’: Amazon warrior women of Greek legend may really have existed
Subtitled: Excavations of bronze age graves have found battle-scarred female archers, says the historian Bettany Hughes
 

The onset and development of Alzheimer's can be a tragic and devastating thing to experience.  The neurodegenerative disease has been said to cause brain shrinkage, brain cell death, and worsening dementia ... and it's no wonder we cringe inside when we know of the harm it has done to people everywhere.

A certain medication has surfaced in recent years, Viagra (Sildenafil) has been popularized because of the increasingly successful use in treatments of sexual disfunction (in both males and females.)  But it is also useful with pulmonary arterial hypertension, Raynaud's Phenomenon (numbness in certain body parts,) and now maybe (hopefully) something further:

From ScienceAlert: Huge Study Confirms Viagra Cuts Alzheimer's Risk by Over 50%
 

I'm not much of a follower of the Shakespearean lifetime, nor am I inclined to the thespian hero of old; but I found this article very interesting.

From ScienceAlert: Mysterious Author of 'Dangerous' Shakespeare Family Confession Finally Revealed
 

I am not sure how much to accept the author's article regarding the latest take of the "COVID origin theory"...

But I think I'll leave the judgment up to you...

From Neuroamer.com:  Latest on Covid Origins 14feb24.
 

• The grant proposal tried to downplay the involvement of the Chinese collaborators doing bioengineering work, because the scientists thought DARPA would be less likely to fund the project if they thought that work was occurring in China...
  
• The language originally listed work that could be performed at BSL-2 to save money compared to other viral models.
  

Previously known slightly on other forums of note, but mainly here to watch, listen, and learn. Thankful for another refuge, and for others who dare to question. Blessings.

Just a quick thought regarding recent releases on Netflix that deal with first contact.  2 hit shows, "3 Body Problem" and "The Signal" both deal with first contact and society's reaction if such an event happens.

Now, maybe I'm just noticing the coincidence (there are no coincidences) based on the content I watch and what Netflix pushes to me but given the prevelance of "news" regarding UAPs, the working groups in the US Gov that deal with them and ther shift in social-stigma when it comes to discussing such subject matter, does anyone else notice the increase in content that deals with such things?

According to many modern translations, the chief priests and scribes were anxious to arrest Jesus, but not “during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people” (Mark ch14 v2, Matthew ch26 v5). The AV modifies it by adding a supplementary word; “on the feast day.  These translations give the impression that they wanted to avoid action during a period of time. This in turn gives rise to the idea that they changed their minds when Judas showed them how the arrest could be made in the middle of this period.

However, I think this idea is a misunderstanding, based on a mistranslation.

The Greek expression translated as “during the feast” is EN TE HEORTE. But EN is the equivalent of the English “In” and has a wider range of meanings than “during”. That is why the AV translates “on” and is obliged to add “day” to make it more idiomatic in English speech. I’m going to suggest, though, that HEORTE is not a period of time but a location.

Let’s take a similar expression in modern English; “At the carnival”. The best-known carnival in the world is surely the Brazilian “Carnavale” (their spelling wanders further away from the Latin CARNI VALE, “farewell to flesh). The most recent  Carnavale was held on February 9[sup]th[/sup]-14[sup]th[/sup] 2024. But can we say that something is happening “at the carnival” just because it is happening during that time period? Surely a man can’t truly say that he is “in the carnival” or “at the carnival” unless he’s out there on the streets. If he’s hiding out in a back street hotel room, then he’s evading the carnival, not being part of it. “At the carnival” is as much about location as it is about time.

So “not at the feast” could be understood as “not in the streets, in the middle of the crowds which have gathered for the feast”. And that’s exactly how Luke seems to take it. His paraphrase is that Judas offered them a chance to capture Jesus “in the absence of the multitude” (Luke ch22 v6). While in John, the chief priests and Pharisees are giving orders that “if anyone knew where [Jesus} was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him” (John ch11v57). This too is about “away from the crowds”.

So Judas was, in fact, offering the authorities what they had wanted from the beginning, namely a way to arrest Jesus without interference, because it would be “not in the middle of the feast-crowds”.

Hi everyone, I have a 2005 range rover sport which 8s suffering from various electrical quirks, such as the wipers only working at high speed, the slow and automatic functions have just vanished. Both front electric windows have suddenly stopped working, both back ones are fine. There was a leak from the windscreen scuttle which I've now fixed and the car is drying out.
If anyone has this vehicle or any knowledge of land rovers/range rovers any help you can offer would be great fully recieved.
I'm pretty good with vehicles and do all repairs myself, whilst I know the car is nearly 20 years old I am very fond of her and don't really want to get rid of her. I'm UK based by the way.
Thanks in advance