Is there a spiritual side to dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic? – RTE.ie

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Opinion: for many, health of the spirit is every bit as important as physical and mental health

Covid-19 has come to us at a time when the old bastions of the western world seem very fragile. The land of the Free and the home of the brave seems to offer only fear, rage and division. Talk of walls and hard borders and broken treaties sweep away good will and compromise.

As public health systems throughout the world creak at the seams, health concerns beyond the purely physical are gaining ground. Experts increasingly refer to the mental health fallout from shrinking social circles, job instability, income insecurity, limited opportunities, fragmentation, isolation andloneliness.

It is interesting in the midst of this to hear author Mike McCormack talk of the 'spiritual health issues' that arise when we come up against the seemingly insurmountable. In many traditions, health of the spirit is every bit as important as physical and mental health. They are all mutually supportive, the boundaries between them blurred. Holistic approaches to medicine and nursing regard spiritual care as a life-enhancing factor and a coping resource, which helps patients to deal with adversity.

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From RT Radio 1's Leap of Faith,the spiritual inspirations from running 3,100 miles, the challenges for those observing Ramadan during the pandemic and we hear what is keeping Pope Francis busy in his period of isolation.

Various studies demonstrate that a persons immunity can increase significantly in response to spiritual care practices. In the Covid-19 context, South African health science researchers have been vocal on this issue, writing that "during this transition from the physical clinical setting to the virtual one, the importance of spiritual care should not be lost or forgotten because it forms part of the holistic approach to deal with the bodymindspirit aspect of the population".In the United States, palliative care experts have issued an urgent call for spiritual care specialists to address spiritual suffering...caused by this pandemic.

But talk of spiritual issues can be tricky. Most of us are private about our spiritual lives and wekeep them to ourselves. On the other hand, the inner life has as much to do with spirit as with mind. Coping with change, uncertainty and loss, like any truly human activity, emerges from inside. It comes from ones inwardness. As we live andinteract, we project something of our spiritual health onto those we engage with, and how we relate to them. The entanglements we experience are often the convolutions of our inner lives.

Viewed from this angle, Covid-19 holds a mirror to the spirit.If we are willing to look in that mirror and not run from what we see, we have a chance to gain self-knowledge and knowing ourselves is crucial in times of complexity and challenge. "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom". says Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, and this wisdom is the centre of true power in the face of adversity.

Perhaps this is the gift of Covid: the imperative to allow the spirit the space to breathe, the time to listen to the less obvious side of ourselves

Quaker educator Parker Palmer writes that charting the inner landscape requires the taking of three paths intellectual, emotional, spiritual. By spiritual, he means the diverse ways we answer the hearts longing to be connected with the largeness of life. Although grounded in the inner terrain, it constantly leads to the outer worlds of community and otherness. The inward quest becomes a journey for outward relationship.

The path of the spirit requires that we know the threads of our own stories, the desires of our hearts and what truly gives us joy. At home in our deepest selves, we become more at home with each other and with the world around us. This is the road less travelled, more difficult but ultimately more resilient to the forces that converge and threaten to overwhelm.

As a nation of dreamers and storytellers, we have traditionally gathered to talk, listen andknow that we belong. Without the space to do this, the spirit can feel lost, abandoned, caged. Perhaps this is the gift of Covid: the imperative to allow the spirit the space to breathe, the time to listen to the less obvious side of our selves.

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From RT Radio 1, Sister Colette fromthe Poor Clares in Galway on their number one bestselling bookCalm the Soul: A Book of Simple Wisdom & Prayers

Our Celtic ancestors had a great respect for the mystery and depth of the soul and human spirit and thatinstinct is still powerful among us. Look atCalm the Soul: A Book of Simple Wisdom and Prayer, a 2013 bestsellingbook by the Poor Clares, an enclosed order of nuns, which draws from the rhythm of their monastic lives and suggests simple practices to help nourish the soul, find calm, and achieve a sense of well-being in today's world.

This year, Eckart Tolles The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, an international bestseller for the past 20years, is enjoying a considerable resurgence of interest. The moment you realise, writes Tolle, "that all the things that truly matter beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace arise from beyond the mind", you begin to awaken.

Living in a Covid world is living with complexity, uncertainty and loss. It demands that we dig deep in order to craft a response. The spiritual side of human nature asks us to pay attention to our own interior lives, as much as to others around us and the world we live in, as part of that response.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RT

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The Wanteds Tom Parker and wife Kelsey say newborn son is light at the end of our tunnel after brain cance – The Sun

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THE Wanted's Tom Parker and his wife Kelsey have unveiled their newborn son Bodhi to the world.

Tom, 32, is battling a terminal brain tumour after being diagnosed withstage 4 glioblastoma and the couple described their new son as "light at the end of our tunnel".

8

It was so nice. I cried my eyes out, Tom described about the moment he first got to hold Bodhi.

Kelsey, 30, gave birth to their second baby in October, but have kept mum about his arrival until now.

The couple opened up about their tough year and how they chose the name Bodhi because "it goes perfectly with our situation right now".

Bodhi is a younger brother to 16-month-old Aurelia and is already proving to be a lot different to his older sister.

8

"He is the perfect baby especially compared to having Aurelia first. I barely even know Ive got him, Kelsey told Ok!

Tom added: Hes so chilled. Hes so different to Aurelia she was always very active.

The unique Sanksrit means enlightenment and ties into the Buddhist belief of spiritual awakening and freedom from the cycle of life.

"So it just goes perfectly with our situation right now. Hes the light at the end of our tunnel," Kelsey explained.

8

"Tom didnt want the name. I said, Tom, I dont care what you say were having Bodhi and thats it.

Kelsey had a unique labour after her waters broke while the pair were enjoying an episode of Towie.

Bodhis labour started during Towie At 10pm my waters broke and then nothing happened," she said.

"I rang my mum and she said, 'Get some sleep, then ring me'. I rang her at 7am and said, 'Nothings happened'.

8

"I rang the midwife, they came and checked me because I really wanted a home birth, but there was no sign of the baby."

Even though the labour took a while, once Bodhi decided to enter the world it all happened very fast.

When I gave birth it all happened quite quickly my birth time was 30 minutes.

The hospital allowed Tom to stay with his wife throughout the labor despite Covid restrictions, with Kelsey saying, "the NHS was absolutely amazing."

8

"He was there the whole time. They even allowed him to stay over the night," she said.

Kelsey admitted that Tom is the more emotional of the pair, but she could not contain her tears at seeing her husband overcome with emotion.

Toms emotional anyway, and Im the harder one." she said.

"But I was so overwhelmed when he was born, because it happened so quickly. When the babys on you, youre like, I cant believe it! We were all crying.

8

The couple had hoped to keep Bodhi's birth under wraps until their interview with Ok! but Tom's former The Wanted bandmate pal Max George let slip last month.

Although Tom had not addressed his newborn's birth publicly at the time, Max told ITV's Lorraine: "I spoke to him yesterday.He's doing good, he's doing great.

"Kelsey gave birth to their second child last weekso he is a fighter. Tom will be alright.

8

"If you're watching I love you all."

Tom previously revealed he thought he had "man flu" before being delivered the devastating news about his inoperable brain tumour.

Tom's wife last week shared a snap of themkissing on a day out with their 15-month-old daughterahead of welcoming their second child.

Kelsey wrote: "We really are still so overwhelmed by all your positive messages, love and support.

"Positivity is the way to fight this. Today we had a family day before our family of 3 become a family of 4!!! Let's go - Parkers against the world."

8

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Tom has already begun his six weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment since his shocking diagnosis.

After telling fans about his brain tumour battle, Tom said: "We truly are overwhelmed with everyones love, support and positivity.

"We have had so many people reach out with positive stories and its been incredible."

Singer and TV star Tom has taken part in Celebrity MasterChef, The Jump and The Real Full Monty since The Wanted went on hiatus in 2014.

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The Wanteds Tom Parker and wife Kelsey say newborn son is light at the end of our tunnel after brain cance - The Sun

The best response to Islamism is Christianity – Spectator.co.uk

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It has become normal to think of the Islamist attacks in Europe as attacks on a secular way of life. The beheading of the teacher in Paris, the murders in Notre-Dame in Nice and the shootings in Vienna are presented as a struggle between radical Islamism and a particular kind of enlightened secularism born of the French Revolution. Thats the way Emmanuel Macron sees it; thats the way most educated atheists across Europe see it. But what they forget is that Enlightenment ethics the ideas of tolerance and fairness have their foundation in Christianity. And the best response to violent Islamism isnt humanism, but the idea of a loving, merciful Christian God.

As Jonathan Miller says, secularism simply doesnt have the spiritual and moral resources to tackle a comprehensive social, political, economic and religious ideology like Islamism. To begin with, libert, egalit and fraternit, the values of French secularism, are not self-explanatory or self-evident. For most of human history, most people have not been free or equal. Brotherhood is, around the world, most often seen as tribal, limited to ones kinship or ethnic group. In Islam its the brotherhood of fellow believers that counts.

Freedom, liberty and the brotherhood of all men, precious not only in France but throughout the western world, flow from Christianity. Its Christianitys insistence on a personal relationship with God and an internalising of his moral demand on us that led to the primacy of the person and of conscience in western thought this is Larry Siedentops insight in his Inventing the Individual.

Christian freedom of conscience results in the value of free speech; to say what is in our minds and hearts within reason. Equality, as a value, arises from the Judaeo-Christian teaching that all human beings have a common origin and equal dignity because they have been made in the divine image. It was just this view that led to the Dominican bishop Bartolom de Las Casass brave struggle against the enslavement of the indigenous populations of Latin America, a struggle which gave birth to the language of human rights in Europe. The Christian idea of natural human dignity provided the slogan Am I not a man and a brother? for the largely Evangelical-led campaign against the slave trade and then against slavery itself. The radical Enlightenment, on the other hand, ended in the massacres of Robespierres Reign of Terror.

Throughout the ages, there have been Muslims, like the Sufis, who have, along with Christians, emphasised the importance of love. Others have held that there should be no compulsion in enforcing Islam on the unwilling. This is emphatically not the agenda of the man who murdered Samuel Paty. For an Islamist, the aim of jihad is to reduce freedom and equality. Speech, education, dress, diet and opinion are all controlled by the guardians of Islamist orthodoxy.

So there is a standoff here: the West believes its values to be the product of reason alone rather than the result of cumulative tradition and custom. Islamists, on the other hand, hold that their beliefs and values come from divine revelation, which is immutable. Where do we go from here?

The West needs to recover its nerve and to acknowledge that its values are not freestanding but arise from the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The situation in France and in Austria is a wake-up call for the West. We must re-examine the basis of our life together and remember our past, in order to have a future.

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Astrology 2020: Message of the Day (November 8) – Newsroompost

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08.11.2020

Special month, special healing, and special love to spread and heal with.

As we embark on another day of healing the self, be reassured that you are completely healed in the golden river of light and platinum lakes. The reservoir of immense wealth, which is full of spiritual love and light is illuminating a new consciousness for progress and prosperity. Stand alone for a while, reflect on the importance of the light in your life, light a candle (if possible) and use this moment to thank all the associations that took you to the frontiers of grace guiding your spiritual consciousness. Send out this light to your life and to your loved ones today. Know that your reservoir of loving kindness is being replenished with new energies of enlightenment and liberation. Use today to augment your act of renunciation and feel free. Healing hugs of complete fame. Love from the centre of knowledge.Renooji

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Huge chalk art project brings positivity to street on the Outer Banks – OBXToday.com

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Melanie Bortz created a huge chalk mandala on West 1st Street in Kill Devil Hills. [Screenshot from Kill Devil Hills police video]

In a stressful week marked by election and pandemic uncertainty, an Outer Banks artists work is providing a beautiful, but perishable, distraction.

Melanie Bortz worked 11 hours over two days to create a large and intricate chalk mandala in a cul-de-sac on West 1st Street in Kill Devil Hills. Bortz doesnt have an official measurement yet, but she said its only her second sidewalk-chalk mandala the first she created for the OBX Marathon, and it was about half that size.

Bortz, with help from her three daughters, worked on the street art from around 6 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Monday into Tuesday, then 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday. She picked the place because she figured it would get less vehicle traffic. And the timing was based on a pretty good weather forecast.

That it came on Election Day was a bonus.

I know people are really struggling with everything that has been happening this year so I wanted to change the energy focus from negativity to positivity, Bortz said. That was the main goal and I think it worked.

Bortz, who worked as a nurse for 10 years, left the field last year to dive fully into her artwork. She isnt necessarily a chalk artist, but she has created many mandalas, which in Sanskrit means circle. Mandalas are spiritual artworks in Buddhist, Hindu and other cultures, symbolizing paths to enlightenment and healing.

Bortz has also been teaching about the process of mandalas for about a year at Ascension Studio OBX.

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Huge chalk art project brings positivity to street on the Outer Banks - OBXToday.com

The birth of modern Europe – The News International

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COVERSTORY

Episode 2

If the present age social, political and cultural make-up of Europe can be most directly attributed to any particular era in history, its the Age of Enlightenment. This roughly 18 Century time period also known as the Age of Reason is what shaped Europe as we know it today. After the long and reformative process of the Renaissance, Europe awaited another phase of turmoil and agony called the Reformation after which it was both ready and eager to change or in fact explode and then rebuild itself into a desired model of its ideals, a profound example of which can be found in the French Revolution.

The Reformation

Around the same time as the Renaissance period when new ideas were sprouting in the European society, a major religious rift drastically changed the united Christendom and the fate of Christianity forever. This was the time when the now familiar segregation between Catholics and Protestants took place. The Reformation Movement started when several learned men across the continent started pointing out and advocating against the Church and its corrupt practices.

The biggest and perhaps the most well-known hero of the Reformation is Martin Luther. Luther rejected many corrupt practices of the Catholic Church; sowing the seeds of the split in the largest religion of the world was a rather interesting one. The Church had a custom of selling indulgences. These indulgences were written documents or certificates which could be bought from the priests in order to gain forgiveness. The practice was common and even kings were bound to get themselves pardoned in exchange for money if they had committed any offences, according to the Church. Martin Luther, who was a monk and teacher at the University of Wittenberg, Germany. found this practice very misleading and spiritually incorrect. Through his personal education and understanding, he came to the conclusion that ones relationship with God depends on ones faith: faith in peoples heart and thus forgiveness couldnt be granted through a piece of paper. Luther believed that the religious lives of the Christians should be dictated by the scripture rather than by priestly authority.

When asked by the Pope to recant, Luther said: Unless I am convicted of error by the testimony of Scripture I cannot and will not retract . Here, I stand, God help me! On October 31, 1517 Luther published his ideas and views in the form of 95 points, historically known as 95 theses which became the guideline for the Protestant faith in Europe. The document became extremely popular thanks to the newly developed technology of the printing press. Protestant leaders were labelled as heretics and burned and executed, and their followers were openly persecuted. The word Protestant came from the act of protesting against the Church, hence the name.

England, under King Henry VIII, was the first kingdom to openly defy the Roman Catholic Church and declare itself protestant. Considering how deeply the Church was rooted in the socio-political structure of the European society, the changes brought by the Reformation were more political than religious or social. Soon afterwards, several kingdoms, one after another, converted to Protestantism, while a few like Spain, Portugal and Italy remained Catholic. The continent was ravaged with religiously motivated war and conflict as different sects took up arms against each other. Europe became a bunch of quarrelling states, a continent ready to tear itself apart. In fact, the time that followed is regarded by some as the bloodiest century in the history of Europe. It is an irony how more people were killed in the name of the religion of love than any other cause in history.

The Enlightenment

The Renaissance was an age of arts and new ideas. What it did was enrich the minds of intellectuals and philosophers, equip their minds with the elements necessary to translate it into actual change in society. The revolution and social transformation of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was a direct result of the Renaissance.

The overall attitude of the Age of Reason can be highlighted in one question: Why are the things the way they are? Society experienced a drastic change in mindset; there was a newfound urge to question everything, including the legitimacy of the absolute monarchs who claimed that their right to rule was a divinely ordained phenomenon. The most significant work that paved the way for the Enlightenment was The Encyclopedie. In the mid-18 Century, the French philosopher Denis Diderot invited many of his countrys leading intellectuals, literary men, scientists, scholars and philosophers for a rather remarkable project. The goal was to assemble all the knowledge scattered in the Earth into a huge Classified Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Trades, for which Diderot was editor-in-chief and a contributor. The first volumes appeared in 1751, and full work was completed 21 years later, comprising 17 volumes of text and 11 volumes of illustrations. The Encyclopedie made huge quantity of relatively modern knowledge from every field of education easily accessible to the masses. The content of The Encyclopedie was a revolution in itself.

There was massive focus on reason and it paid a lot of attention to the practical sciences like trades and crafts that had a direct effect on the society. The articles reflected an overall air of rationality, the importance of observation and experimentation in science and the search for a way of organizing states and governments around natural law and justice. Surprisingly, there was no separate section for religion or theology which had been the major component of education and learning in Europe for more than a millennium. The subjects of God and the divine, the supernatural and the spiritual matters were discussed in other sections of sciences, history and philosophy, with little attention and focus. The whole work and its up-to-date and revolutionary ideas were a challenge to both the Catholic Church and the French monarchy, which relied on tradition and ignorance for their absolute authority. The works multidisciplinary articles distilled ideas and theories of Frances key Enlightenment thinkers including the legendary Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu. They argued about the universal truths and laws, set down by the doctrines of the church. For them, the evidence of the senses of a person and the use of reason was more important than blind faith. A Frenchman, Immanual Kant, when asked what enlightenment is, replied: Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason!

One of the greatest writers and social activists of the Enlightenment was Francois-Marie Arouet, publically known as Voltaire. In fact, his influence can be imagined from the fact that sometimes the entire 18 Century is regarded as the Age of Voltaire. Though born and educated in France, Voltaire moved to London to publish his initial works which were refused to be published by the rigid French monarchy. He was a prolific writer, and an outspoken activist which often resulted in short spells of prison for him. The most popular of Voltaires ideas in todays world is the notion of individual freedom and liberalism. Actually, the obsession of todays western society with the idea of individualism and freedom can be attributed, to some extent, to this man. He was an advocate of religious tolerance and multiculturalism. A well-known quote by Voltaire is: I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Through his wit Voltaire conveyed his ideas across the common people and they were often perceived quite well.

In his remarkable novel Candide (1759), Voltaire suggests that the earthquake that had caused massive destruction in Lisbon four years earlier was due to natural phenomenon instead of Gods wrath over the wrongdoings of mankind, and perhaps we did not live in the best of all possible worlds. This was a new and revolutionary idea because since forever the Church had made people believe that the world that we live in and everything that occurs in it including the social hierarchy, the royalty of the royals, the nobles nobility and tyranny of the peasants was according to a perfect and divine social order. The power of Voltaires work can also be imagined from the fact that even today, the world views some things as depicted through Voltaires pen. When he was residing in England, Voltaire came across the work of Newton, and was particularly mesmerized by his theory of gravitation. At the same time Newton was quite poorly known in France and the rest of the world and Voltaire knew just how to make his message popular among the masses. Hence came the story of the apple falling on Newtons head. Voltaire heard the story from Newtons niece and decided to stick with it; thankfully he skipped the mathematical details of gravitation.

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The birth of modern Europe - The News International

NLE Choppa Dated A 46-Year-Old Woman When He Was 16 – HotNewHipHop

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Prior to hisspiritual awakening, NLE Choppa was running around in the streets, rapping violent lyrics and living a fast lifestyle. In a short year, he's charged everything surrounding his lifestyle, seeking a more sustainable life.

The 18-year-old rapper has a vegetable garden in his backyard now and he's been doing tons of reading to educate himself on a "new world forming". While his ideas sometimes sound like those of a rambling conspiracy theorist, he's definitely on the path to enlightenment, which is nice to bear witness to.

In a new video interview with The Shade Room, which was filmed in the midst of his spiritual journey, NLE Choppa spoke about an array of topics surrounding his career, including women.

The interviewer asked him about his relationships, wondering how old his limit is when it comes to the ladies. Apparently, Choppa doesn't have much of a care, responding that, when he was just 16-years-old, he was dating a 46-year-old woman.

He realizes that the 30-year age gap is pretty extreme, but he doesn't seem regretful of it.

"She was bad, though!" exclaimed NLE Choppa. "I could have been her son's son! I don't wanna show you no pictures but if I was to show you a picture, you'd think she was 22. No surgery, no nothing. Just natural Black beauty. Black don't crack."

If this were the other way around, people would be trying to find the woman's identity. Do you think this is too large of an age gap?

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NLE Choppa Dated A 46-Year-Old Woman When He Was 16 - HotNewHipHop

Roy Exum: We Need God’s Help – The Chattanoogan

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No, the headline is not because Joe Biden was declared as the next President of the United States on Saturday; it is because Joe Biden needs to restore tranquility, decency, and a spirit for caring about one another back into the American people. Joes going to need Gods help and His grace to do that.

Actually, that prophecy if thats not too strong a word was delivered almost 25 years ago when Billy Graham was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. America has gone a long way down the wrong road. We must turn around and go back and change roads. If ever we needed God's help, it is now!"

Ive always been a big believer in the wisdom, If God brings you to it, God will get you through it, and when Biden became our president yesterday, regardless how it all happened to come about, folks like me pray hell turn out to be a dandy.

On Nov.

For instance, on Election Day he explained why America has no king:

* * *

A DEMOCRACY IS WHERE THE CITIZENS ARE KING

(NOTE: This is an excerpt from an article, Who is King in America? Not to Vote is to Abdicate the Throne! The Lord hold accountable! This article appears on The American Minute with Bill Federer on americanminute.com) November 3, 2020)

W.D. Ross wrote in Aristotle (London, Methuen, 1937, p. 247): "Aristotle's ... citizen is not content to have a say in the choosing of his rulers; every citizen is actually to rule ... not merely in the sense of being a member of the executive, but in the sense ... of helping to make the laws of his state."

The word "demos" means "people" and "cracy" means "to rule." A "democracy" is where the citizens are king - ruling directly. The word "democracy," in the broad sense, generally refers to people being involved in ruling, but as a specific political system, "democracy" only ever worked on a small, city-wide basis, where everyone could be present at every meeting.

Larger than a city, it broke down, as not every citizen could be there every day. A "republic" is where the citizens are king, ruling indirectly, through their representatives. Republics could grow larger, as citizens could take care of their families and farms, and send representatives in their place to go to the market every day to talk politics.

Americans pledge allegiance to the flag "and to the republic for which it stands." We are basically pledging allegiance to us being in charge of ourselves. Webster's 1828 Dictionary defined "REPUBLIC" as: "A state in which the exercise of the sovereign power is lodged in representatives elected by THE PEOPLE."

When someone protests the flag, they are effectively saying, "I don't want to be king anymore - I protest this system where the people rule themselves."

A "constitutional" republic is where a constitution lays out the rules of how to elect representatives, what their functions are, and what are the limitations of their power.

The experiment of an American republic began at a time when most of the world was ruled by kings, sultans, emperors, czars, and chieftains.

Nearly a century before Europe's "Age of Enlightenment," Pilgrims and Puritans fled from the King of England to settle New England.

In 1636, a Congregational minister, Rev. Thomas Hooker, and his church, fled again from Puritan Massachusetts to found Hartford, Connecticut. His church members asked him to preach a sermon on how they should set up their government.

Rev. Hooker preached a sermon, May 31, 1638, explaining:

"Deuteronomy 1:13 'CHOOSE YOU wise men and understanding and known among your tribes and I will make them heads over you captains over thousands, captains over hundreds, fifties, tens ...'"

Rev. Hooker continued:

"The choice of public magistrates belongs unto THE PEOPLE by Gods own allowance ... The privilege of election ... belongs to THE PEOPLE ... according to the blessed will and law of God ... They who have power to appoint officers and magistrates it is in their power also to set the bounds and limits of the power and places unto which they call them ...

The foundation of authority is laid firstly in the free consent of THE PEOPLE."

* * *

So, you see, the American PEOPLE just chose Joe Biden as our new leader. My loyalty is neither Republican nor Democrat -- It is to the American people. I am assured the world will not come to some fiery end with our new president and have found in my 71 years weve gotten along pretty well no matter who is in charge. I believe Mr. Trump accomplished a great deal and, with our political structure being what it is, I hope Mr. Biden will be equally a success.

The best way to look ahead comes from Wednesdays American Minute on the man who became Americas Preacher, Billy Graham. The fabled crusader preached to live audiences of over in person 210 million people in more than 185 countries during his lifetime, leading an estimated 3.2 million souls to Christ. All told, with television and other outlets, his voice was held by over 3 billion (with a b) people. Graham died Feb. 31, 2018, after being placed on Gallups list of Most Admired Men and Women in America for a record 61 times

* * *

GOD TELLS US TO SEEK THE PEACE

(NOTE: This article, titled, America has gone a long way down the wrong road. We must turn around ... If ever we needed God's help, it is now!" appeared on the americanminute.com site on Nov. 4, 2020.)

Born November in 1918, Billy Graham wanted to be a baseball player, but in 1934, after attending a revival at age 16, his life changed. Billy Graham became an evangelist in the 1940s.

He proclaimed: "All are sinners and stand under the judgment of God ... Christ came to make forgiveness and salvation possible. What did He do? He died on the cross as the complete sacrifice for our sins. He took upon Himself the judgment that we deserve ...

But like any gift, it becomes ours only when we take it ... I may say that I believe a bridge will hold my weight. But I really believe it only when I commit myself to it and walk across it.

Saving faith involves an act of commitment and trust, in which I commit my life to Jesus Christ and trust Him alone as my Savior and Lord."

He added: "Yes, it costs to follow Christ. But it also costs not to follow Christ."

Billy Graham personally addressed crowds of over 210 million people in 185 countries, which is more than any other person in history.

Through his radio and television programs, he reached over 2.5 billion with the Gospel. He repudiated racial segregation and insisted on racial integration at all his crusades. At his New York City revival in 1957, he invited Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., to preach.

Graham wrote in his autobiography: "One night civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whom I was pleased to count a friend, gave an eloquent opening prayer at the service; he also came at my invitation to one of our Team retreats during the Crusade to help us understand the racial situation in America more fully."

Becoming friends, Billy Graham shared a conversation with Rev. King:

"His father, who was called Big Mike, called him Little Mike. He asked me to call him just plain Mike." Rev. King credited Billy Graham with reducing racial tension, as Graham even canceled a 1965 tour of Europe to preach crusades in Alabama, allowing the Gospel to bring healing between the races.

Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote:

"Had it not been for the ministry of my good friend Dr. Billy Graham, my work in the Civil Rights Movement would not have been as successful as it has been."

Billy Graham stated:

"Jesus was not a white man; He was not a black man. He came from that part of the world that touches Africa and Asia and Europe. Christianity is not a white man's religion, and don't let anybody ever tell you that it's white or black. Christ belongs to all people; He belongs to the whole world."

Graham wrote:

"My study of the Bible, leading me eventually to the conclusion that not only was racial inequality wrong, but Christians especially should demonstrate love toward all peoples."

President Bill Clinton addressed the National Prayer Breakfast, February 4, 1993: "The first time I ever saw Billy Graham ... he came in the 1950's, in the heat of all our racial trouble, to Arkansas to have a crusade. And the white citizens council tried to get him, because of the tensions of the moment, to agree to segregate his crusade ... He said, 'If I have to do that, I'm not coming.'

And I remember, said Clinton, I got a Sunday school teacher in my church - and I was about 11 years old - to take me 50 miles to Little Rock so I could hear a man preach who was trying to live by what he said. And then I remember, for a good while thereafter, trying to send a little bit of my allowance to the Billy Graham crusade because of the impression he made on me."

On January 20, 1997, Rev. Billy Graham delivered the invocation just prior to the Second Inauguration of President Bill Clinton, stating:

"Oh, Lord, help us to be reconciled first to you and secondly to each other. May Dr. Martin Luther King's dream finally come true for all of us. Help us to learn our courtesy to our fellow countrymen, that comes from the one who taught us that 'whatever you want me to do to you, do also to them."

Billy Graham had an unprecedented access and influence on every U.S. President from 1950 to his death in 2018:

President Truman;

President Eisenhower;

President Kennedy;

President Johnson;

President Nixon;

President Ford;

President Carter;

President Reagan;

President George H.W. Bush;

President Clinton;

President George W. Bush;

President Obama; and

President Trump.

In 1986, Chaplain of the U.S. Senate Richard Halverson stated: "When Billy Graham comes to the Capitol, suddenly, the Senate and Congress are unimportant. To me, it's a miracle. Wherever Billy is, there is the gospel of Christ."

He was friends with Queen Elizabeth II, Pope John Paul II, and innumerable leaders around the world. He lauded Pope John Paul II's 11th papal encyclical, titled "Evangelium Vitae" (Gospel of Life), issued April of 1995, as: "A forceful and thoughtful defense of the sacredness of human life in the face of the modern world's reckless march toward violence and needless death."

At a news conference, March 21, 1956, President Eisenhower stated: "This is what I see in Billy Graham - A man who clearly understands that any advance in the world has got to be accompanied by a clear realization that man is, after all, a spiritual being."

John F. Kennedy told the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, March 1, 1962: "We bear great responsibilities and great burdens not only to ourselves in this country but to so many around the world ... I commend ... Reverend Billy Graham, who has served this cause about which I speak so well here and around the world.

He has, I think, said Kennedy, transmitted this most important quality of our common commitments to faith in a way which makes all of us particularly proud."

Ronald Reagan introduced Billy Graham at a California rally, stating: Why is a representative of government here? To welcome with humble pride a man whose mission in life has been to remind us that in all our seeking ... the answer to each problem is to be found in the simple words of Jesus of Nazareth, who urged us to love one another."

Graham stated: "In a world that might say one vote doesnt matter it does matter because each person is of infinite worth and value to God Your vote is a declaration of importance as a person and a citizen."

In answering a question about voting, Billy Graham stated, July 28, 2016: "The Bible says we should do everything we possibly can to be good citizens and work for the betterment of our society, and one of the ways we can do this is by voting. God tells us to 'seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you' (Jeremiah 29:7).

Rightly or wrongly, you say youre disillusioned by what you see in politics today. But how will it be changed? Let me tell you how it wont be changed: It wont be changed if concerned people refuse to vote!

... It also wont be changed if good people refuse to run for office, or if no one votes for them. In other words, staying away from the voting booth may only perpetuate the problems you see. Although this election has passed, dont let another one go by without your intelligent involvement ... Christians in the first century didnt have the privilege of voting; Caesar was a dictator, not elected by popular vote.

But those early believers were commanded to do the one thing they could do to make the world a better place, Dr. Graham explained, They were told to pray. The Apostle Paul wrote, 'I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all peoplefor kings and all those in authority' (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Our world will never be perfectnot until Christ returns. But in the meantime, God wants to use us to overcome sin and establish a more just world for His glory."

Rev. Graham added: "Bad politicians are elected by good people who don't vote."

Upon receiving the Congressional Gold Medal, May 2, 1996, Billy Graham continued his message, "The Hope for America": "After World War II ... we had the opportunity to rule the world ... Something has happened since those days and there is much about America that is no longer good ... the list is almost endless ... We have confused liberty with license - and we are paying the awful price. We are a society poised on the brink of self-destruction ..."

Rev. Graham continued: "What is the problem? The real problem is within ourselves ... I believe the fundamental crisis of our time is a crisis of the spirit. We have lost sight of the moral and spiritual principles on which this nation was established - principles drawn largely from the Judeo-Christian tradition as found in the Bible ...

What must be done? Let me briefly suggest three things: First, we must repent. In the depths of the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln called for special days of public repentance and prayer. Our need for repentance is no less today ..."

He explained further: What does repentance mean?

Repentance means to change our thinking and our way of living. It means to turn from our sins and to commit ourselves to God and His will. Over 2,700 years ago the Old Testament prophet Isaiah declared, 'Seek the Lord while he may be found, call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon' (Isaiah 55: 6-7, NIV) ..."

Graham continued: "Second, we must commit our lives to God, and to the moral and spiritual truths that have made this nation great. Think how different our nation would be if we sought to follow the simple and yet profound injunctions of the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. But we must respond to God, Who is offering us forgiveness, mercy, supernatural help, and the power to change ..."

Rev. Graham concluded: "Third, our commitment must be translated into action - in our homes, in our neighborhoods, and in our society. Jesus taught there are only two roads in life. One in the broad road that is easy and well-traveled, but which leads to destruction ... The other, He said, is the narrow road of truth and faith that at times is hard and lonely, but which leads to life and salvation ...

What are YOU going to do? ...

As I look out across this distinguished group gathered here, I see more than a few men and women who have what it takes, under God, to lead our country forward 'through the night'"

After the terrorist attacks of 911, Billy Graham prayed with national leaders, stating: "We are more united than ever before. I think this was exemplified in a very moving way when the members of our Congress stood shoulder to shoulder the other day and sang God Bless America.

Rev. Billy Graham gave a sober warning on October 27, 2015:

"In the event of a national catastrophe, much confusion, terror, and consternation would reign ... Suppose persecution were to come to the church in America, as it has come in other countries. The immunity to persecution that Christians in our country have experienced in the past two or three centuries is unusual.

Christ strongly warned Christians that to follow Him would not be popular, and that in most circumstances it would mean cross-bearing and persecution. The Bible says that all who 'desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution' (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus said that as the time of His return draws nigh, 'They will seize you and persecute you' (Luke 21:12).

We have no scriptural foundation for believing that we can forever escape being persecuted for Christ's sake. The normal condition for Christians is that we should suffer persecution. Are you willing to face persecution and death for Christ's sake?"

He continued: "Since we have experienced little religious persecution in this country, it is likely that under pressure many would deny Christ. Those who shout the loudest about their faith may surrender soonest.

Many who boast of being courageous would be cowardly. Many who say, 'Though all others deny Christ, yet I will never deny Him,' would be the first to warm their hands at the campfires of the enemy. Jesus, in speaking of the last times, warned, 'Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake' (Matthew 24:9). The Scripture says, 'because iniquity will abound, the love of many will grow cold' (Matthew 24:12).

The apostle Paul, referring to the coming evil day, said, 'Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done all, to stand' (Ephesians 6:13) ..."

He explained further: "Even though most Americans see the storm clouds gathering on the horizon, by and large we are making few preparations to meet God. This is a time for repentance and faith. It is a time for soul-searching, to see if our anchor holds.

Have you been to the cross where Christ shed His blood for your sins? Have you had the past forgiven? Have you come by faith, confessing that you are a sinner and receiving Christ as your Savior?

I tell you that this cross is the only place of refuge in the midst of the storm of judgment that is fast approaching. Make sure of your relationship with God ..."

Billy Graham concluded: "We must fortify ourselves by meditating upon the person of Christ ... Christ must be vitally real to us if we are to prove loyal to Him in the hours of crisis. Today our nation ranks as the greatest power on the face of the earth. But if we put our trust in armed might instead of Almighty God, the coming conflict could conceivably go against us.

History and the Bible indicate that mechanical and material might are insufficient in times of great crisis ... We need the inner strength that comes from a personal, vital relationship with God's Son, Jesus Christ. The wheels of God's judgment can be heard by discerning souls across the length and breadth of nations.

Things are happening fast! The need for a return to God has never been more urgent.

The words of Isaiah are appropriate for us today: 'Seek the Lord while He may be found, call you upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.'"

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Roy Exum: We Need God's Help - The Chattanoogan

Faith and Governance: The Role of the Church in Social Justice – THISDAY Newspapers

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Epa StevensAs the nation comes gradually but painfully to terms with the unrest that had engulfed its cities in recent times, many sociologists, historians and public administrators are reviewing the build-up to protest, the process that lead to the showdown and eventual outcomes for posterity.Nigeria, a highly religious country with predominant Moslem and Christian populations, was brought to a standstill recently after members of the armed forces allegedly opened fire on protesters demanding for end to police brutality in Lagos.

It noteworthy that a Lagos judicial panel of inquiry set up to look into police brutality and related matters, on Saturday, suspended its sitting following the withdrawal of two youth representatives from the panel on the basis of their bank accounts being frozen. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has earlier obtained a court judgement to freeze the accounts of 19 individuals and a corporate entity for their roles in the #EndSARS protest.

As one reviews these events, it is interesting to observe the dedication and dutifulness with which some Christian leaders have continued to add their voices to the call for social justice in the nation. Several churches in the country supported the demands of the protesters whilst condemning the violence.

Few amongst the numerous Christian leaders that have spoken out in the past two weeks include Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel, Pastor Tunde Bakare of The Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Godman Akinlabi of The Elevation Church, Rev Sam Adeyemi of Daystar Christian Centre, Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, and Pastor Paul Adefarasin of House on the Rock.

Speaking during a recent interview on Arise TV in Nigeria last Saturday, Godman Akinlabi, one of the most vocal clerics on the EndSARs movement said while prayers were needed to heal the country in the aftermath of large-scale unrest, religious organizations need to speak out for the helpless, needy, and marginalized. Religious organisations and leaders should be the conscience of the nation and prick the conscience of our leaders. What my conscience does to me is that it pricks me and makes me want to examine my ways so that I will choose the right path.

While emphasizing that a truly religious society must be equitable, and run on the platform of justice, the charismatic pastor added, What we have seen during these protests in general is that the country almost burnt to the ground because people were looking for hope and when that hope was not found they became seriously agitated. But the government must make this place conducive for the giving of hope.

According to him, Justice, equity, and accountability in leadership are what will give the atmosphere of hope. Explaining how the church should bridge the gap between the haves and have nots in the society to forestall future mayhem, Akinlabi, who was one of the first pastors to lend a supporting voice to the EndSARS protests, said, It is by playing our part as religious institutions to meet the needs of the youths, not just their spiritual needs, but also emotional needs, physical wellbeing, and the need for enlightenment and education.Known within and outside Nigeria for prioritised focus on social development, Pastor Godman Akinlabi and the Elevation Church have continued to reel-out one social development initiative to another in providing hope. The church has carried out several programmes to empower the youths.

Similarly, while speaking to former CNN correspondent, Isha Sessay, , Godman Akinlabi urged well-meaning Nigerians to persevere and not lose faith in the emergence of a greater Nigeria.He explained that the pains currently being experienced by many are birth pangs of new beginnings. In his words, the pain that we are feeling right now is like birth pangs, but you know what happens when it is protracted, when its a difficult delivery, it can lead to still birth and thats what we are trying to speak against and pray against that in the birthing of a new Nigeria we will not experience a still birth.

For any structure to change, for anything to be rearranged, it is going to be painful. Sometimes, it may be emotional, other times, it may be physical, but if we will persevere, we will see something different. I am asking that everyone who has been hurt, everyone who is in pain. to please seek for comfort, seek therapy, seek prayers and lets trust God to help us overcome the pain, but we need to persevere. He added.The Elevation Churchs interest in the Nigerian youth may have risen from the fact that its congregation is made up of 70 percent youths, according to Akinlabi, and has an entire parish or expression in Lagos dedicated to young people. The Church has carried out extensive programmes to empower thousands of young people. These include trainings, career fairs and business conferences to give youths access to opportunities.

Some of the profound initiative from the church that have touched the lived of thousands of Nigerians include the Ubomi Medical Outreach where there have been 7000 medical interventions for patients who did not have access to adequate medical services, and an extensive distribution of palliatives to the vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic; to the an international recognition for their good deeds towards inspiring a better society by an international magazine.The Elevation Church has continued to distinguish itself as catering for more than the spiritual yearnings of the people, so strong is this commitment that the church recently jettisoned its own 10th year anniversary activities to focus on lending its voice to the call for transformative change in Nigeria.

In a press conference recently, the church also hinted of a mega hospital for the underserved, and has various programmes geared towards boosting leadership in Nigeria with the launch of its Pistis Life and Leadership Institute (PLLI), an initiative aimed at building a community of leaders to influence the world in different spheres of life including leadership development, governance & politics, enterprise development and ministry.While reiterating the need to address the issue of inequality in Nigeria, the cleric sounded this note of advice:Any nation that is not concerned about the future of her young people is already failing.

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Faith and Governance: The Role of the Church in Social Justice - THISDAY Newspapers

When Raving Was Radical – The Nation

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The Love Parade in Berlin, 1996. (Photo by Karl Mittenzwei / picture alliance via Getty Images)

In Der Klang der Familie, the definitive oral history of the birth of Berlins techno scene in the wake of German reunification, it is said that the citys inaugural acid house party, a series called Ufo, began one night in 1988 in an old potato cellar in Kpenicker Strae. The ceiling barely hit seven feet, and plaster chips drifted down onto stacks of records as squelching bass lines shook the buildings foundation. The basement flooded when it rained, and power strips floated around in the muck like inner tubes coasting down a lazy river. A year later, at the very first Love Parade, which became an annual open-air electronic music festival that later typified Berlins club milieus most commercial leanings, 150 people danced and marched in the streets of West Berlin. They came together under the motto Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen, or Peace, Joy, Pancakes, a political commitment to disarmament, music as the route to understanding, and fair food distribution.BOOKS IN REVIEW

As one of the founders of the parade, artist Danielle de Picciotti,recalled, this sort of sincere public display wasnt quite in line with the usual Berliner attitude of the time, especially at the tail end of the punk movement. At the beginning, everyone was embarrassed, she remembers. It was not at all something Berliners usually got behind. In Berlin, you were serious, intellectual, avant-garde. Or at least dramatically addicted to drugs. With this call for pancakes, cuddle puddles, and peace, a new social form started to arise from the controlled madness of that old potato cellar, one propelled by a relentless desire to experience more mind-bending music with like-minded freaks.

It wasnt until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991 that these early techno raves migrated to a youth hall in the East under the name Tekknozid. With the reunification opening up vast swaths of vacant buildings in the West, techno had plenty of room to expand and mutate. As one early raver remembers, those Tekknozid parties evoked the sound of mines: down the shaft to hammer stones, and Wolle DXP, the partys promoter, says that drugs werent even necessary to find transcendence. People were totally spaced out, beyond good and evil, he says in Der Klang der Familie. No one was accessible, but hardly anyone was on drugs. They were on the music and in the music. Some people had to be carried off the pedestals when we stopped around 6 a.m. They were totally gone, time and space forgotten. Theyd danced themselves into oblivion.

This mid-rave feeling of being utterly present, devoid of any sense of time, place, or ego, is exceedingly difficult to capture in any sort of strictly representational art form, but German writer Rainald Goetzs 1998 novel Rave manages to convey the black hole of a dissociative dance floor experience with clarity. Newly translated by Adrian Nathan West, Rave avoids the saccharine tropes that most writing about dance music succumbs to, whether it be the glorification of excess, the distorting effects of nostalgia, or ham-fisted descriptions of euphoria.

Instead of trying to forcibly carve a narrative of the madness and hedonism of technos early days, Goetz embraces the transience of a night out, stitching together scenes of open-air parties in Munich and languid Ibiza nights. What unites the disparate locales is a combination of chatter and somatic response: snatches of random conversation and the babble of drug-induced breakdowns bleeding into each other; the feelings of bliss and depravity that race through a person over the course of hours spent on a dance floor. And in a nod to the collectivism inherent in the act of raving, Goetz doesnt even center his ostensible protagonist, himself (or someone like him, also named Rainald), a character whose incessant jabs at techno music journalism and Kraftwerk are easier to patch together than any more conventional understandings of his personality or disposition. Rainalds friends momentarily flit in and out as narrators, and their experiences are given as much weight as are those of the fictionalized Rainald.

Goetz is less concerned with charting his own personal experiences of the golden age of Berlin techno than he is with reconstituting the entire social matrix of these experiences, one where corny music journalists are trying to spin this nascent cultural energy into prime-time television shows, and an earnest recognition of the art of deejaying exists in parallel with the boredom and self-destruction that eventually catch up to every raver. Goetzs account of Berlin dance floors isnt just a straight transmission from his own eyes and earshe tells the story of those days by loosely following each stray glance and overheard phrase from those around him, piecing together a mosaic of this scene that avoids idealization. If some Berliners were dismissive of raving in favor of what they perceived as more cerebral cultural forms, Goetz offers the opposite claim: At the parties at which he found himself, he sensed that in techno there was a sense of art, politics, and language that was much more visceral than what prose alone could ever convey.

Rave isnt Goetzs first literary experiment with taking this shattered approach to narrative form. The novel is just one slice of his five-part survey of 90s pop culture and pop art, Heute Morgen. It also includes his play, Jeff Koons, yet another work that skirts any strict narrative or real sense of character development as indistinguishable voices seem to flesh out the world of artist Jeff Koons (although this is just impliedhis name is mentioned only in the title). With Rubbish for Everyone, his Internet diary centered on the media and consumerism, which is widely considered to have been the first literary blog in Germany, Goetz further established himself as a writer deeply invested in the democratizing effects of popular art in its interaction with mass culture. Before he became a literary figure, Goetz pursued a career in the medical fieldhe obtained two doctorates, in history and medicine, before publishing Irre (Insane,) in 1983 at the age of 30. In this debut work, he fuses at times technical and at other times disorienting descriptions of a doctor working at a psychiatric institution with the unhinged spirit of Germanys punk scene, jumping from nameless patients perspectives to the confused inner monologue of the main character, Dr. Raspe.

The opening of Pop-Kultur festival at Berghain in Berlin, 2015. (Photo by Jeers Carstensen / dpa via AP)

In that same year, 1983, Goetz further solidified his status as a subversive literary force as a finalist for the esteemed Ingeborg Bachmann Prize with his televised reading of his unpublished manuscript Subito. Not only did Subito satirize the very prize itselfin Goetzs fictional rendering, a few critics on the jury doze off while another covertly scratches his balls underneath the tablebut in the middle of his frenetic reading of the text, he swiped a razor blade diagonally across his forehead. A stream of blood dripped down onto the manuscript as he read it, saturating the bottom of the page red. He didnt win that prize, but the stunt raised his profile exponentially. In 2015, Goetz received the George Buchner Prize, one of Germanys most important literary awards.

In Rave, Goetz lays out the polar contradictions of a lifestyle dedicated to nightlife, cycling through flashes of enlightenment and tenderness to despair and cynicism. There are moments of drug-induced spiritual experiences, when Rainalds sense of self is sublimated in complete identification with the music: From the margins came legs and light, feet, flashes, paces and bass, surfaces and murmurs, equivalencies of a higher mathematics. He himself was the music. In less ecstatic moments, Goetz dials in on the inescapable self-aggrandizing stemming from petty scene politics. So then: theres all this mad stupid babble, loads of it, above all in nightlife, of course, about music. About labels, DJs, styles, lines, sounds. As soon as you post up next to someone who for some reason thinks hes intelligent, youre disappointed to hear him blurt out his super-mega-interesting divergent opinion.

More than just an inside look at the fleeting nature of the early German rave scene, Goetzs novel succeeds in translating into black and white an embodied and ineffable experience, something prose isnt especially equipped to accomplish. At one point early on in the text, Rainald sums up this approach to music and writing in a discussion with a friend: The difficulty was a fundamental one: how would a text about our lives have to sound? I had a sort of inkling inside of me, a bodily sensation that writing had to articulate.

The answer to this question is in the way Rave renders stilted dance floor conversations and inner monologues as a kind of sonorous poetry. Later on, Goetz says that the endless hours of music, dancing, and drugs, had altered at once the space of resonance in each individual, and at the same time the collective space where language sways back and forth, to test whether language even halfway conveys everything thought intended. He describes these halcyon techno days as a time thats both yearning to understand itself and to elude comprehension, leaving behind a sense of confusion that starts to wear away at the edges of ones ego but strangely can then start to pull people together.

In the midst of a party stretching out nonstop over days that headily roll into each other, Goetz acknowledges that there was a time before there really were words to describe the hedonistic experience he is undergoing. It was the wordless time, when we were always looking around with our big eyes so strangely in every possible situation, shaking our heads, and could almost never say anything but: speechlesspfbrutalmadnessspeechless, really, he says, then describes it further as an expression of the feeling that we had never experienced and couldnt imagine anything cooler and more dope etc etc. Great wonder, then great bafflement. Where am I, what was that? Hm?

On a more down-to-earth level, Raves patchwork of thoughts on aesthetic theory and on the media outlets, editors, and critics that sprang up around this fledgling scene does seem prescient, if at times disorienting. Goetzs incessant satirization of the popular culture that orbited German techno foretells the eventual breakdown of an industry concerned more with turning out fawning profiles and programs than confronting more difficult and messy truths. At an event sponsored by VIVA, Germanys answer to MTV that debuted in 1993, journalists flash their plastic press passes that read: No idea whatsoever about anything at all, and a poodle commands the decks. The poodle hasnt got a clue how to mix. Same as everyone else, his relationship to music is primarily anecdotal, hes heard this about that, picked this up from so-and-so. Goetz spends pages riffing on the lesson plan of the Red Bull Music Academy, which has since become a sort of electronic music institution. Day one starts with learning the importance of rhythm; day two goes on to an appreciation of tempos; and by the end of the program, the student needs to listen, look, and lean into the social aspect of deejaying without forgetting what is the central and highest purpose of all academies, congresses, fairs, discussion circles, and readings: partying and sex.

Goetzs critiques of the vapid nature of the music industry in some ways anticipated its fate. The Red Bull Music Academy closed its doors last year; almost all of the music magazines that he mentions are out of print now; and EDMs rise and fall reflected its ability to turn dance music into a billion-dollar industry only for a few solvent years. As chronicled in Der Klang der Familie, by the time major clubs like Tresor opened in 1991, some DJs and ravers were already convinced that the whole techno thing was over. Wolle DXP, the promoter of that first acid house party, viewed the growing commercial electronic music industry as the enemy, and he called the sound systems in now iconic clubs in Berlin embarrassing in comparison to the spirit of the spontaneous parties that started it all. (It was like listening to music in your kitchen, he said.) Meanwhile, DJs like Westbam, whom Goetz collaborated with on Mix, Cuts und Scratches, a treatise of sorts on the art of deejaying, felt that techno had already made its mark on the underground and that it was time to make a big pop statement. By the mid-90s, over a million people danced through the wide Berlin avenues as part of the Love Parade. But in 2010, the annual event was permanently canceled after the ramp that served as the only entrance and exit point of the festival became greatly overcrowded; 21 people died from suffocation, and at least 500 were injured.

Tanith, the DJ of a seminal party called Cyberspace, met Rainald Goetz at Mayday, an event that was basically the winter version of the Love Parade. They had both climbed up on the traverse above the stage, a spot where it wasnt so crowded and there was room to dance. Goetz was one of Taniths favorite writers, but Tanith found Goetzs unbridled enthusiasm for raving disappointing. I knew him as the RAF writer; that guy, I loved, Tanith said in reference to Irre. Later, he schlepped records for Sven Vth and Westbam. He was completely changed. I saw in him what [the drug] ecstasy could do, even to creative artists.

In Goetzs fictional rendering of a similar scene at the Love Parade, he decenters his own experience to focus on what he finds most valuable about a crush of people, a situation he feels is unfairly politically maligned. To Goetz, an event like the crowded Love Parade can represent the full spectrum of human potential. Its a reversal of the usual conception of a crowds power to suggest a narrow ideological point. Goetz instead finds beauty in the meeting of many different vantage points. Everyone who is actually present in such a place bodily and sees it with open eyes sees himself with revulsion and ecstasy amid this million-sharded mirror, is shaken and moved and inevitably must say something like: Yeah, thats me. Im one of those, too. A so-called person. Goetz is less concerned with subjective, drug-addled introspection than he is with the collective that he witnessed forming around him, one in which losing yourself in a crowd could actually make you feel more human.

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When Raving Was Radical - The Nation

Navigating the Mind: What Medication Cannot Address – James Moore

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I stand between two walls. On one side, my everything happens for a reason, just let it be mentality. On the other side, my mental illness. Perhaps both sides have many more surfaces that arent visible to those around me but frame my everyday life. They form a multi-faceted octagon, if you will. And all eight sides are made of glass, with nothing to grab onto, no handle to offer respite from the constant slip-sliding from face to face. Some days, it feels like the glass breaks and Im just falling into the center of my octagon, being crushed by my thoughts, my feelings, my exterior persona. Other days, it feels like an explosion bursts me out from the bottom of that pit and Im on top of the world, standing on the edge of my octagon with my hands on my hips and my head held high. The glass is shoddily glued together, just waiting until the next time I fall through.

I tried everything to find my grip on that octagon: food to sustain me, marijuana to stabilize me, maladaptive daydreaming and alcohol to help me escape. Yoga to calm me and aid me on my quest toward enlightenment, meditation to ground me. Some of these worked, some didnt. Some are no longer a part of my life and some are. Some come and go as if they have one foot out the door, but forgot their keys so they must return. This is still my story. This is my reality every day, yet I tend to minimize it so that I can try my best to fit into a society that doesnt work for me. Sometimes I dont even think I realize how much I push it toward the back of my mind. I am also an empath and I feel drained and tired. I feel alone on this journey and I still feel like I dont completely understand WTF is going on, not only inside of my own brain, but inside of everyone elses as well.

It was about seven years ago that I felt like something was wrong. Why was I always depressed? When I was in a good mood, it never lasted. My nights staying up until 5 a.m. creating business plans that never went anywhere, my self-transformations where I would lose 40 pounds in four months, my rapture, would give way to dark thoughts without explanation. When I was depressed (which was most of the time), I wondered when it would end. That was it: up and down, no middle ground, no escape from my octagon. I was persistent in trying to understand my mind, I can tell you that much. With constant journaling and researching, my foray into introspection what I deem to be my spiritual journey began. But it is also where my mental health journey began when I finally decided to go see a doctor.

I have been through three psychiatrists now, and it wasnt until the last one did I receive my official Bipolar II diagnosis. The first one put me on antidepressants because neither of us realized that my hypomania wasnt just the real me peeking through for a moment or two. We didnt realize that the antidepressants would turn me into a zombie, a shell with no personality and a flat affect. And to know me is to know that my very essence is the exact opposite of that.

The second psychiatrist placed me on the bipolar spectrum and prescribed lithium. I thought lithium was a godsend at first. But when you spend so long feeling like shit, anything that makes you feel an iota better is like the Messiah returning. After a while, though, I realized that I still didnt feel great. Yes, my symptoms were less severe, but I was still swinging all over the place. Her solution was to keep prescribing lithium. Each time I went to her office, she would ask the same questions, as if she were reading them off a list: Are you sleeping OK?, Have you participated in any extreme behaviors like spending a lot of money?, and things of that nature. I would leave with an increased dosage of medication and that would be that until the next visit. Welp, that didnt work.

My third doctor, and the one who Im currently with, finally said that it sounds like I have Bipolar II. I felt relieved because I thought it explained a lot. He suggested trying a new cocktail that has really worked wonders for me. He is a good man and a good doctor, always willing to hear my suggestions and discuss the various possible courses of action. He has helped me lower my lithium dose and introduced me to lamotrigine, which has been a miracle drug in my case.

Psychiatry has been both a friend and a foe along my journey. I realize that these doctors are not in my head. They dont understand. Their only context for making these diagnoses is the symptoms listed on a piece of paper in front of them. They are there to prescribe and thats about it. There is no explanation of whats going on. Maybe a quick diagnosis, and then the scribble of a pen and youre on your way with a slip of paper for a medication that youre not even sure will work. There is no suggestion of what to read, where to learn, how to deal with your diagnosis. Its a one-and-done kind of visit.

In my experience with psychiatry, my treatment plan was totally up to me, which is a good thing in some respects. On the other hand, I wish there was a little more guidance. I wish psychiatry was about more than just the meds. For me, Bipolar II (or anything on the bipolar spectrum) is so complicated. There are so many different aspects that pervade my personality, habits, the way I think, the way I perceive, feel, and more. I will say, though, that I never thought Id be able to find this kind of stability. I never thought Id be able to keep a routine, or exercise because I wanted to, not because of this crazy compulsion to go hard six days a week. I never thought Id quit marijuana after 15 years of very heavy use, or be sober from any mind-altering substances, really. I have found a kind of calmness that I wouldnt have found if it werent for medication.

Even though I dont think I would have gotten very far without the meds, I still wonder about how psychiatry handles the other aspects of Bipolar II; it seems that aside from the mood swings, these aspects are largely ignored. Sure, the meds keep me stable. I do feel happier overall. But the thoughts are often still the same. One day Im determined, the next, Im questioning everything. One day Im out and about, the next Im holed up in my apartment wishing the world would just understand: understand me, understand that the society we live in is fucked up, and that its all just an illusion. I dont get depressed or hypomanic anymore, though. Its just a different angle of the diagnosis that is rarely addressed by anybody in the medical field.

I also think my Bipolar II and empath traits go hand in hand, and I do wish I could understand why there are so many layers to our feelings and how to help ourselves when were feeling overstimulated or overcome by the emotions of someone else. These are all issues medications do not cover, and though these traits can be directed into creative outlets and other good and worthy causes, for me, more often than not, its difficult to be on this rollercoaster ride.

Im still learning myself, and Im still learning Bipolar II. I still dont know where Im going or where Ive been. Ive learned a lot, Ive seen plenty, but for some reason, none of it fills this void that I have and that Ill probably never be able to get rid of. Ive spent my whole life coming and going, never landing anywhere and, in all honesty, I still feel that way sometimes. I tend to know a little about a lot. Yoga and spirituality are still major parts of my life and they keep me sane. But I even still feel separate from the people who belong to these worlds. It seems that everywhere I turn, there is a sort of energetic brick wall that I cannot break through in order to relate.

I can tell you the things that nourish me: deep conversation, emotional and energetic connection, broad spirituality, solitude, nature, yoga, tarot, giving good advice, having my voice heard.

I can also tell you the things that deplete me: structure, social norms, hook-up culture, being around too many people at once, my persona.

But it seems that society only supports the things that deplete me. How can I be myself when an entire culture is stacked against me? How can I know myself when I feel like a failure for trying to make something out of nothing, trying to inspire real conversation and give people something to think about? Thus is my multifaceted mind, I suppose.

Well, at 34 years of age, Im finally learning to let go of that which depletes me and pursue whatever I am trying to accomplish. Im learning to accept that I am a fish out of water, swimming from one project to the next, needing constant stimulation, needing my income to be derived from things that I truly believe in, even if Im working on several things simultaneously. Im learning to accept that perhaps Ill never fully fit in and that perhaps I wasnt meant to. Im learning to believe that I was put here, exactly the way I am, for a reason.

I had to use the medication to give myself a fair shot. I am not a huge fan of being on a ton of meds, but at the same time, I feel like if you need something to help you, or if you feel like you need to be helped, theres no harm in giving it a try. Just be aware that they can only do so much. The rest of the journey requires some navigation and self-direction. Whatever path you choose to take, it has to be right for you and you only, for only you can know and understand whats going on inside that wonderful brain of yours.

***

Mad in America hosts blogs by a diverse group of writers. These posts are designed to serve as a public forum for a discussionbroadly speakingof psychiatry and its treatments. The opinions expressed are the writers own.

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Navigating the Mind: What Medication Cannot Address - James Moore

No Man’s Sky: 10 Things You Didnt Know About The Korvax – TheGamer

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Thanks tocontinued support and updates,No Man's Sky is now much closer to the original title that developer Hello Games first promised gamers. It has online co-op for up to four players, millions and millions of procedurally generated planets, and a world full of unique lore to unearth.

With a free next-gen update coming with the launch of the Xbox Series X and PS5, the game might see more users hopping on in the near future. But players can get bogged down by the sheer number of things to scan to also make time for lore.

RELATED:No Man's Sky: Everything You Didnt Know About The Gek

Both newbies and veterans alikewill be fascinated by the species known as the Korvax. Unlike the Gek and Vy'Keen, the Korvax are a peaceful race committed to science. But their past hides a gut-wrenching history and mysterious idolatry.

Compared to the Vy'Keen and the Gek, the Korvax are vastly different. For one, the other two species are organic, so they need things like air and food. But the Korvax are, essentially just robots with the spark of intelligence. They also consider themselves to be highly intelligent, being the most science-minded species found in the Euclid galaxy.

But this mechanical speciesis not native to the Euclid galaxy. Their homeworld was known as Korvax Prime and the Korvax traveled throughout many areas in space. They established and maintained several systems for research purposes, but these areas have all but been wiped out.

As with humanity, species in the Euclid galaxy have honorifics and monikers for status. While the Gek use things like "ToilGek" and "Overseer", the Korvax opt instead for a visual cue.

Their different helmet types indicate status within Korvax society. Like the Gek, titles carry weight to display the entitys place or status in society. Of 15 possible titles, Korvax can be a simple "Analyst Entity" all the way up to a "Divine Atlas Entity". For Travellers, the highest rank to achieve with the Korvax is "The Echo of [Username]".

Korvax bodies work kindof like hermit crab shells when it comes to their carapaces. Basically, a new Korvax will move into an empty shell once the previous Korvax has passed. As inorganic beings, Korvax "die" by initiating something known as the fading process.

RELATED:No Man's Sky: 13 Crucial Tips For Beginners

Using thefading process, Korvax move from their carapace into the Korvax Echoes thus making room for a new entity in the shell. Damaged shells get recycled unless the Korvax dies too far away from others. This degradation of the abandoned carapace eventually forms Korvax Casings.

Current players will instantly conjure up a giant red orb when "The Atlas" gets mentioned. It might also spark visions of pesky and invasive Sentinels. But there's a cult dedicated to the Atlas all around the Euclid galaxy and it started with the Korvax.

Their society has long been loyal to the Atlas going so far as to worship them.An unknown entitycreated the Atlas who then created the Sentinels to ensure order and peace throughout the galaxy. Think of it like the Leviathans, the Starchild AI, and the Reapers from Mass Effect. But the Korvax lived and worked alongside Sentinels, honoring their rules and laws.

Every culture inNo Man's Sky has its own ways of recording important events as they do in the real world. But instead of keeping physical records of some kind, the Korvax just use data.Information cubes enable the species to share information by putting data on them, inserting the cube into another carapace, and having another Korvax download the data.

Since all Korvax have access to the Echoes and constantly upload information, they operate similarly to how the Geth might from the Mass Effect universe. Thoughevery Korvaxis a unique entity, they are also all connected through the Convergence.

The Korvax language can be referential, oftenreferring back toinformation and memories in the Korvax Echoes. Think of that now-infamous episode of Star Trek: Next Generation where Picard is stranded on a desolate planet with a foreign leader whose language he doesnt speak. He says specific phrases such as Darmok and Jilad at Tanagra. Shaka When the Walls Fell. when specific things happen.

RELATED:No Man's Sky: 11 Things Players Didn't Know They Could Do

These phrases reference historical events, but also convey emotions and moods. While not as allegorical, the Korvax language requires more knowledge of Korvax culture and history than just phrases or sounds.

Korvax Prime was blown up by the First Spawn in order to gain fuel for their empire and war. The Korvax called this the Great Disconnection and is the most serious event in their history so far. Not only did it wipe out most of their population, but it also evaporated tons of data and information the Korvax had spent centuries collecting.

This included their own Echoes and memories. As a result of the First Spawn war, the Korvax will never be able to return to their home planet.

The First Spawn's domination of the Korvax and destruction of Korvax Prime was devastating. Surviving Korvax became enslaved and dead Korvax were broken down into components for the war effort. But someof those who survived made a noble sacrifice after the First Spawn War.

RELATED:No Man's Sky: 10 Best Ways To Make Money

In an effort to quell the zealotry of the First Spawn within the Gek Dominion, the Korvax released their own nanite clusters (essentially their blood) into the Gek spawning pools. The Korvax hoped that they could rewrite the Gek DNA to humble them and encourage dissidents to overthrow the First Spawn. This plot succeeded as players now see new Gekwho are more passive traders.

The Korvax Echoes offer a glimpse into a time before the Atlas were absent. The Atlas monoliths inspired other creatures to pursue knowledge with the Korvax being one. Supposedly, worshipping the Atlas and studying them granted the Korvax a formula for enlightenment. As such, the Korvax dont view disconnection as permanent; its just the start of a new equation.

This relates to how the Korvax stored information in the foundations of their now destroyed homeworld, Korvax Prime. The echoes of previous Korvax all worked to solve the equation of life. As new Korvax create new echoes, the process begins anew with a new equation. Theres a spiritual approach to the recycling of carapaces, uploading of Korvax minds and data, and finding an explanation for why the Korvax exist.

Without spoiling too much of the in-game story for new players, theres a Korvax named Priest Entity Nada. They reside on a unique spaceship known as the Anomaly that acts as an online hub for all No Mans Sky players to meet. Along with their Gek friend Polo, Nada hands out missions and helps the player progress through the story.

Categorized as non-compliant, Nada is not a part of the Convergence. The player can confirm this by a lack of the cervical connection which looks like a metal spine on the back of most Korvax. Precisely why Nada chose to break off is not truly known. But they dont believe the Atlas are the end-all, be-all as other Korvax do.

NEXT:No Man's Sky: How To Save (& 9 Other Things You Need To Know How To Do)

Next Genshin Impact: 10 Memes That Are Just Too Funny

Juliet Childers is an avid reader, writer, editor, and gamer based in Texas. She attended the University of Houston where she majored in Creative Writing with a business minor. She works mainly as a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader and has worked for a wide array of companies including the future-focused blog edgy.app. Her beat: video games, tech, and pop culture. @queenwyntir

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No Man's Sky: 10 Things You Didnt Know About The Korvax - TheGamer

Will the Defeat of Democrat Collin Peterson Be Good for the Climate? – Mother Jones

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Even before the apparent defeat of President Donald Trump, the 2020 election has already shaken up US farm policy. Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), the lion of the House Agriculture Committee, lost his seat to right-wing firebrand Michelle Fischbach. After Fischbach spent months attacking Peterson as a servant of what she called the socialist agenda of the Houses Democratic leadership (even though hes easily the most conservative Democrat in the House), she won by a landslide.

That leaves a power vacuum in the House Agriculture Committee, which shapes US food and farm policy by writing the twice-a-decade farm bill. Peterson served as the committees top Democrat since 2007, and started his second stint as its chairman in 2019, after the Democrats claimed the House in the midterm elections.

With Peterson out, agribusiness lost one of its most potent friends in Congress. Representing a western Minnesota district carpeted with subsidized soybean and corn crops, Peterson haslong championed the status quo of US farm policy, which has been embedded in farm bills since the 1990s: using direct payments and subsidized crop insurance to convince farmers to maximize production of corn and soybeans. The policy virtually ensures low prices for these commodities, providing cheap feed for the meat industry and cheap inputs for ethanol makers, another business interest Peterson supports. It also generates a robust market for patent-protected genetically modified seeds and the herbicides theyre designed to withstand.

Petersons campaigns hoovered up agribusiness cash, and the industry mourned his defeat. The American Farm Bureau Federation, an insurance conglomerate that doubles as the most prominent agribiz lobbying outfit, issued a note expressing our thanks to Rep. Peterson for his decades of service in the House of Representatives.

Peterson dominated agriculture policy in an era when climate changed emerged as mounting threat to our food system. Historic droughts bedeviled the crucial fruit, vegetable and nut growing regions in California, and ever-fiercer spring storms pounded the corn and soybean fields of the Midwest, creating a quiet and devastating soil-erosion crisis. The farm bills he helped shape did little to prepare farms for the ravages of climate change. While he didnt outright deny the existence of global warming, Peterson consistently belittled its importance. Theyre saying to us [that climate change is] going to be a big problem because its going to be warmer than it usually is, he told the Wall Street Journal in 2009. My farmers are going to say thats a good thing since theyll be able to grow more corn. He tirelessly fought efforts to regulate agriculture, helping ensure unimpeded emissions of potent greenhouse gases like methane from manure and cattle digestion, and nitrous oxide from fertilizer and manure.

During negotiations over the historic and ultimately failed climate legislation known as the Waxman-Markey bill in 2009, Peterson used his legislative clout to shape it to Big Ags liking: exempting farmers from its cap on greenhouse gas emissions but inserting provisions that would have lavished them with cash rewards for practices that do little or nothing to sequester carbon. A year later, he co-sponsored legislation that would have blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. He was still at it in 2019, resisting the push within his partys progressive wing to advance a national strategy to fight climate change, Politico reported. What is our goal? Planting all those trees? Im actually cutting down the forest, Peterson told the publication, referring to his own land in Minnesota.

The question now becomes who succeeds him. The Democrats held onto the House on election day, so that means the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, led by the House Speaker, will decide. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is widely expected to maintain her hold on the speakership in the next Congress. While Pelosi and her team can choose anyone on the House Ag Committee as chair, seniority on the ag committee traditionally drives the choice.

By that metric, three candidates have emerged. Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), who has served on the agriculture committee for nearly 20 years, has the most seniority; followed by Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), who represents a swath of Californias ag-centric San Joaquin Valley; and Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), a stalwart of anti-hunger policy whose district includes much of Cleveland and Akron.

Scott, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, is the likeliest contender. He represents a semi-rural district in the outskirts of Atlanta, and he is currently the chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credits. In negotiations over the 2018 farm bill, he successfully pushed a provision to fund $80 million in scholarships at 19 agriculture-focused historically Black colleges and universities.

In a Nov. 5 letter to colleagues, Scott expressed his desire to take the post: With each wildfire, hurricane, or flood more devastating than the last, it is incumbent upon us to ensure food security for future generations, he wrote. The threat of climate change is a present and growing danger, and we must promote sustainable agriculture solutions that are economically viable, ecologically just, and support the social fabric of our rural communities.

If he succeeds in his bid and follows through on that statement, Scott would not only be the first Black House ag committee chairhed also be the first one to take climate change seriously.

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Will the Defeat of Democrat Collin Peterson Be Good for the Climate? - Mother Jones

Letter: ‘Whether or not Mr. Peterson was involved in drug crime, he should not have feared for his life, and he should not be dead, over something as…

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Date: Monday, November 2, 2020

Once again, law enforcement officers have shot a man while he was running away, this time just off Highway 99 near the Jiffy Lube. This tragedy is the inevitable result of the laws and policies that make every interaction between a law enforcement officer and a person of color into a life-and-death crisis.

This is, perversely, normal. This normal creates fear and distrust of the police. It increases the risk of civil unrest. It goes against the mission of a police force, which is to curb violence and preserve public safety. Fear-based, warrior-mentality police instruction must be banned, because it makes police officers more dangerous without keeping them safe.

The policies that allow officers to shoot a fleeing suspect in the back must change, because this action is indefensible to the public conscience. If, as I expect, the ongoing investigation by the Camas Police Department finds that Clark County Sheriffs Deputies acted in accordance with established use-of-force guidelines when they killed Kevin Peterson, Jr., those guidelines must change.

The deputies were called out to investigate a possible drug crime. Whether or not Mr. Peterson was involved in drug crime, he should not have feared for his life, and he should not be dead, over something as trivial as drugs.

Rachel RossVancouver

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Letter: 'Whether or not Mr. Peterson was involved in drug crime, he should not have feared for his life, and he should not be dead, over something as...

Collin Peterson loses in CD-7, tight races in CD-1 and CD-2 – Bring Me The News

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Collin Peterson's long run in Congress has ended after he lost his seat in Minnesota's 7th District to Michelle Fischbach.

The self-described last remaining "Conservative Democrat" in Congress has held on to his seat despite his district getting increasingly red, but lost on Tuesday to the former Minnesota Lieutenant Governor.

One of the major reasons he was able to hold on for so long is because he wielded considerable influence in Congress as the chair of the House Agriculture Committee while representing the ag-heavy 7th District.

It was a good night for the Republicans in Minnesota's congressional races, with Jim Hagedorn holding off a challenge from Democrat Dan Feehan in the 1st District, and Pete Stauber retaining the 8th District seat in northeastern Minnesota he won in 2018.

In the 2nd District, the contentious race between Angie Craig and Tyler Kistner was extremely close, but the Democrat seems to have done enough to take the win.

Earlier in the evening, Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-CD5), Dean Phillips (D-CD3), Tom Emmer (RCD6) and Betty McCollum (D-CD4) were comfortably re-elected.

It will mean Minnesota's congressional contingent will be 4 Democrats and 4 Republicans, though Minnesota is set to lose one seat in the House in the next district re-drawing.

Here are the full congressional results for Minnesota:

Rep. Jim Hagedorn was ahead of Democratic challenger Dan Feehan in the 1st Congressional District race as of Wednesday morning. Hagedorn led Feehan by around 48.8% to Feehan's 45.3%. Grassroots - Legalize Cannabis candidate Bill Rood has around 5.8% of the vote.

More than 99% of precincts have reported results.

Democratic incumbent Angie Craig will keep her seat in Congress after beating out Republican Tyler Kistner. Craig won with more than 48% of the voted compared to Kistner's 46%.

The 2nd Congressional District race faced uncertainty following the death of Legal Marijuana Now candidate Adam Weeks in September. A Minnesota state law would have required the election to be postponed until February, but Craig eventually won her legal challenge, allowing the race to continue on Nov. 3.

Democrat Dean Phillips will also keep his seat in the 3rd Congressional District. Phillips beat Republican Kendall Qualls with more than 55% of the vote. Qualls had just over 44% of the vote.

Both candidates made appeals to moderate and independent voters and pushed healthcare as a key issue.

In one of the Democrats' safer seats in Minnesota, incumbent Rep. Betty McCollum is ahead of Republican challenger Gene Rechtzigel with more than 63% of the vote. Rechtzigel has almost 29% of the vote.

Grassroots - Legalize Cannabis candidate Susan Sindt has earned around 7.5% of the vote. More than 99% of precincts are reporting results.

McCollum, first elected in 2000, pushed her record in Congress on issues like protecting Minnesota's Boundary Waters.

Rep. Ilhan Omar easily defeated Republican Lacy Johnson with more than 64% of the vote to Johnson's nearly 26%. Legal Marijuana Now candidate Michael Moore earned around 9.5% of the total vote.

While Omar had a comfortable win in the solidly-Democratic 5th Congressional District, her vote share fell compared to her 2018 win, though her Republican opponent, Lacy Johnson, outspent her 2-to-1.

Republican Tom Emmer has comfortably retained his seat in the solid red 6th Congressional District. Emmer is ahead with 66% of the vote compared to Democratic challengerTawnja Zahradka's nearly 34%.

More than 99% of precincts have reported results.

Emmer is currently chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee. During his campaign, he emphasized his work on bipartisan efforts including CARES Act relief funding.

Republican incumbent Pete Stauber has won Minnesota's 8th Congressional District with almost 57% of the vote compared to Democratic challenger Quinn Nystrom, who has around 37.6% of the vote.

Grassroots -Legalize Cannabis candidateJudith Schwartzbacker has around 5.7% of the vote. More than 99% of precincts are reporting results.

If Stauber wins the district, it will be the first time a Republican was re-elected to the seat since 1944. The 8th Congressional District was also a hot spot for both presidential campaigns, with both candidates paying visits in recent months.

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Collin Peterson loses in CD-7, tight races in CD-1 and CD-2 - Bring Me The News

The EU is about to announce new rules for Big Tech and theres not much they can do about it – CNBC

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Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager talking to media in Brussels, Belgium.

Thierry Monasse | Getty Images News | Getty Images

LONDON The European Commission is about to propose a "revolutionary" overhaul of digital regulation that could hurt the business models of Big Tech, industry experts told CNBC.

The Digital Services Act, due to be presented in early December, is expected to overhaul the management of content on platforms like Google and Facebook and is the first of its kind since 2000. Broadly, the EU wants to make tech giants more responsible for the content on their platforms, and to ensure that competitors have a fair chance to succeed against the big firms.

"It's revolutionary," Thomas Vinje, a partner at the law firm Clifford Chance, told CNBC Tuesday.

The upcoming rules are "likely to require dramatic changes in the business practices and even business models" of Big Tech, he said.

Last month, Europe's competition chief Margrethe Vestager outlined some of the changes that could be included in the new regulation.

"The new rules will require digital services, especially the biggest platforms, to be open about the way they shape the digital world that we see. They'll have to report on what they've done to take down illegal material," she said.

"They'll have to tell us how they decide what information and products to recommend to us, and which ones to hide, and give us the ability to influence those decisions, instead of simply having them made for us. And they'll have to tell us who's paying for the ads that we see, and why we've been targeted by a certain ad."

This would be massive for tech firms, which have refused to disclose their algorithms for years.

"The strict prohibitions in discussion in the DSA are a tsunami in terms of how platforms do business in Europe," Nicolas Petit, competition law professor at the European University Institute said.

In recent years, the European Commission has launched high-profile investigations into companies like Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Google over concerns that their market dominance is hindering competition. These probes have been mostly been led by Margrethe Vestager, who took over the competition portfolio in 2014.

But real change as a result of these investigations is often elusive, with European officials frustrated by lengthy legal action.

Perhaps the biggest challenge we face with enforcement is making sure that we have the right legal framework and powers to keep digital markets competitive and fair.

Margrethe Vestager

European Commission Executive Vice President

For instance, in 2017, the European Commission fined Google 2.4 billion euros ($2.81 billion) for promoting its own shopping comparison service rather than allowing similar access to rival companies. Google made some changes in the wake of that case, but a study by Lademann & Associates showed in September that not much has changed. According to the study, less than 1% of traffic through Google Shopping was transferring users to rival shopping websites.

More recently, the Commission's decision to ask Ireland (a member of the EU) to recoup 13 billion euros in unpaid taxes from Apple has been challenged. The EU's general court decided in July that the Commission had failed to prove that the Irish government had given a tax advantage to Apple. The Commission has appealed that ruling, but it could be difficult for it to meet this burden of proof.

"Perhaps the biggest challenge we face with enforcement is making sure that we have the right legal framework and powers to keep digital markets competitive and fair," Vestager said in late October.

Speaking to CNBC on Monday, Georgios Petropoulos, research fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, said that tech giants were "anxious" about the upcoming rules.

Google has already voiced its concerns.

Karan Bhatia, Google's VP of global government affairs and public policy, issued a statement to CNBC last week that said in part: "As we've made clear in our public and private communications, we have concerns about certain reported proposals that would prevent global technology companies from serving the growing needs of European users and businesses."

In a blog post, Bathia explained that Google is worried about how the new rules may, for example, prevent its search platform from showing nearby restaurants and the option to book a table. "While we support the ambition of the DSA (Digital Services Act) to create clear rules for the next 20 years that support economic growth, we worry that the new rules may instead slow economic recovery," he wrote.

The regulation also is expected to hit Facebook, Amazon and Apple, and even some smaller players too.

Petit from the European University Institute said that "many European startups, merchants, or developers are not too hot" on the upcoming rules.

"If, by any chance, one of them was ever to make a killing on the market, the DSA rules would apply to it too," he said.

Whatever the European Commission proposes next month will have to be signed off by member states and the European Parliament.

"It should take several months before we have full legislation, which is an issue in a fast-moving tech market, but more importantly, the rules are only step one, with enforcement of these rules the key issue," Dexter Thillien, senior industry analyst at Fitch Solutions, told CNBC via email.

He added that Big Tech firms "will use the legislative process, and some have already started, to highlight the negative impact on innovation and the overall economy, to try and make the final rules less strict than the initial proposals."

Apart from some lobbying, however, there is nothing the tech giants can do to stop the new rules in the short-term, Clifford Chance's Vinje said. "They don't really have any friends here."

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The EU is about to announce new rules for Big Tech and theres not much they can do about it - CNBC

Big Tech stocks are better repositories of wealth than bonds, says Jim Cramer – AppleInsider

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CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer said that Big Tech stocks like Apple, Alphabet, or Amazon are much better repositories of wealth than bonds, owing to their strong balance sheets and financial performance.

The TV personality and former hedge fund manager made that claim in a recent episode of the CNBC show, and used the Big Tech stocks as a example of why investors may need to "re-think [their] notions about stocks versus bonds."

"This year we're witnessing the passing of the torch. Bonds were the safest assets back in '82, back when treasuries yield double digits," Cramer said. "Now they're risky assets, maybe riskier, riskier than anyone thinks."

Cramer said that for many major companies that he follows, the equity side is much safer than bonds. That translates to big tech stocks like Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft being a "much safer repository for wealth."

Although he cautioned that this isn't the case for all companies, he said that the Big Tech stocks are sitting on more cash than most countries. Microsoft has $138 billion, Alphabet has $133 billion, and Apple has $192 billion.

"They survived The Great Recession, and what happened? They came out stronger. The countries didn't," Cramer said. "In the great pandemic, they're not just thriving but they are actually putting up unbelievable numbers."

Cramer added that Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft are the "Fort Knoxes of our era."

Although the "Mad Money" host admitted that this is a brand new thesis, he said that the real lesson of the era is that "stocks are the ones that don't need government help here."

"That means if you're a young, wet-behind-the-ears broker at Goldman Sachs, I would tell you to forget all those bond ideas," Cramer concluded. "Just tell your clients to buy the stocks of terrific companies with nation state-sized balance sheets. You'll do much better with a heck of a lot less long-term risk and more dividends."

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Big Tech stocks are better repositories of wealth than bonds, says Jim Cramer - AppleInsider

What is FAANG? The 5 big tech stocks and their importance – Business Insider – Business Insider

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If you follow the financial or business news, you may have seen or heard the term FAANG thrown around. No, it's not a misspelling of an animal's tooth. It's an acronym that stands for five big companies some might say the big companies in the high-tech industry.

The FAANG quintet consists of:

These corporations all American, but with a global presence are not only household names, they're financial behemoths. Their combined market capitalization is over $4 trillion. The blue-chip stocks of the tech sector, they collectively make up 15% of the Standard & Poor's 500 (an index of the largest public companies in the US). So they represent not only one of the US' most significant industries, but a sizable chunk of the US stock market itself.

FAANG actually began as FANG. The origin of the acronym has been attributed to Jim Cramer, the financial TV host and co-founder of The Street.com. Known for his slangy abbreviations and catchy phrases, Cramer coined the term in 2013 to represent four tech stocks with outsized market appreciation. Cramer believed that these companies belonged together because they are all high growth stocks that share the common threads of digitization and the web.

Cramer's original term was just FANG it didn't initially include Apple. The company joined the ranks in 2017, reflecting the growth of internet services (iCloud, Apple Music, Apple Pay) to its revenues. So the acronym became FAANG.

And it's remained so, even though Google's official corporate name is now Alphabet.

They need no introduction: The five stocks of FAANG are all familiar brands, whose products and services permeate our lives daily. They are also American corporate success stories each has seen its stock shares experience triple-digit growth since 2015, and year-to-year as well.

Just to put these numbers in context: the S&P 500 has grown 57% in the last five years. So FAANG stocks have been at the forefront of the longest bull market in US history, significantly outperforming the overall market.

For investors, the tech sector has become increasingly important as a wave of high-technology companies have recently gone public through initial public offerings (IPOs) or SPACs. Tech stocks are now the go-tos if you want capital appreciation in your assets and be in on the next big thing.

While the FAANG stocks are fairly mature companies, they still seem to have a great capacity for growth. They dominate the technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite Index. And the fact that they account for roughly 15% of the S&P 500, a bellwether for the entire stock market, means their performance often heralds trends in the US economy as a whole.

There are several ways to sink your investment teeth into FAANG.

The FAANG gang is viewed by many as modern-day blue-chip stocks, not just tech companies. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google are firms that retail investors know and interact within their daily lives.

FAANG stocks have done well over the last several years, often beating the standard indexes. They also led the stock market's rebound during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. While historical growth isn't a clear predictor of future growth, it does appear these tech stocks will continue to have a broad influence over the market in general, given their substantial presence in the S&P 500.

However, these stocks are expensive, trading for more than $100, sometimes even $1,000, per share. An alternative option for investors is to find the next high-growth, market-moving stocks.

Given the influence of tech across industries and the recent string of IPOs, maybe there will be a new acronym in the near future.

Excerpt from:

What is FAANG? The 5 big tech stocks and their importance - Business Insider - Business Insider

Here’s what Big Tech employees are worried about on Election Day – CNN

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The days -- and possibly weeks -- after Election Day will be a huge test for platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google's YouTube. Doctored videos that could potentially be spread by anyone; fake accounts that could pop up anywhere; and tweets from President Trump himself could all contribute to undermining the result of the election and perhaps even stoke offline violence.

CNN Business spoke to more than a dozen people who are either employees at the major social media platforms working on the teams countering misinformation and extremism or people who work directly with those teams at the companies.

CNN Business granted them anonymity so they could speak about their work more freely.

"My biggest fear at this point is something totally unexpected happening that no one predicted," one Big Tech employee said. "This year we've all been preparing and working through scenarios for every possibility that we can think of, but this year has taught me not everything can be predicted."

Hyping the idea of the threat of the "other side" is something Big Tech employees are expecting around Election Day.

Multiple people who work for the tech platforms said they see a potential for domestic groups to stoke tensions and violence on the ground and then for foreign groups to possibly exploit that and fan the flames.

But the top concern for two of the Big Tech staffers who spoke with CNN Business wasn't foreign actors, nor some faceless anonymous account. It was Trump. One said, "the biggest threat to [the] democratic process -- and to societal stability as a whole -- is the President and his party."

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Here's what Big Tech employees are worried about on Election Day - CNN

Senate Hearing on Section 230: A (Small) Step Towards Treating Big Tech Platforms as Publishers? – CPO Magazine

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A recent Senate hearing on the Section 230 publishing protections that big tech platforms enjoy did not produce much in the way of productive results, but did formally open a federal-level dialogue on the subject.

Section 230 regards big tech social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook as something other than a traditional publisher, shielding them from legal responsibility for content that platform users generate (such as posts and comments). A debate about this protected status has fomented during the run-up to the 2020 election as the big tech platforms have been accused of blocking and censoring speech for political reasons.

Passed into law as part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, Section 230 codifies the idea that internet websites and platforms cannot be treated as the publisher or speaker of content created by their customers. The responsibility of sites and platforms is essentially limited to removing materials involved in the commission of a crime; the good faith provision also gives sites latitude to remove things like harassment, hate speech and obscenity without stepping into the role of publisher.

The basic argument for Section 230 has always been simple; if sites and platforms are held legally liable for everything that users say, then user-generated content becomes virtually impossible to maintain. That means putting an end to things like free publishing platforms, video services and potentially even something as basic as comments sections.

The debate over Section 230 has been brewing for some time, but has become acutely inflamed in recent months with the approach of the 2020 election. The recent flare-up dates back to Donald Trumps surprise victory in the 2016 election, and the belief that foreign intelligence and data brokers played a part due to the resistance of Big Tech platforms to moderating their actions. This has recently shifted to a belief that Big Tech has overcorrected, so to speak; American conservatives in particular argue that platforms like Twitter and Facebook are very quick to censor political speech associated with them, while granting more leeway to controversial speech that associates with progressive politics and Democratic candidates.

That was the mood going into the recent Senate hearings, which saw politicians from both sides of the aisle using it more as an airing of personal and political grievances than as an opportunity to have a substantive discussion about the future of Section 230. The subjects of this animus were Big Techs biggest names: Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The tech CEOs endured four hours in front of the Senate Commerce Committee, with most senators focusing on specific posts that they personally objected to.

The Republican position on Section 230 is complicated, with broad dislike for it but differing ideas on how to address it within the party. President Trump encapsulated this by calling for a repeal of Section 230 as the Senate hearing was going on, when previously he had expressed desire for it to be reformed specifically to encompass the handling of political speech. Interestingly, Biden has been expressing a similarly extreme position on Section 230 since early in 2020 before he became the Democratic nominee. Biden also wants Section 230 revoked, but on the basis of a belief that platforms need to more aggressively remove a wider range of harmful content.

Though the Senate hearing was not particularly illustrative of the immediate future of Section 230, it did provide a little insight into how Big Tech leadership would like things to be handled. Zuckerberg suggested that Facebook was willing to be more transparent about how it moderates user content, while Dorsey felt that the present regulations were adequate but that Twitter and other platforms needed to address a growing problem with user trust.

A second Senate hearing with the three Big Tech CEOs has already been scheduled for next month, this one to focus specifically on each platforms content moderation policies.

The prospects of meaningful Section 230 changes seem very limited so long as lawmakers are focused on immediate and politically convenient personal matters, however. But this hardly means that Big Tech is free and clear of the prospect of related regulation, something that there is increasingly strong public sentiment for. Google is facing an immediate antitrust lawsuit over the bundling of its search app with phones, and the FTC is in the final stage of deciding whether or not to bring a similar suit against Facebook over its acquisitions to consolidate social media market power. There is also an expectation that 2021 will see a serious push for federal data privacy laws that would apply to the entire big tech landscape.

Debate over #Section230 and #BigTech has been brewing for some time, but has become acutely inflamed in recent months with the 2020 election. #respectdataClick to Tweet

The question of Section 230 is still very much up in the air, however, as both political parties seem more interested in airing personal issues with the tech platforms than in coalescing behind a concrete policy proposal. Perhaps the next Senate hearing will be more productive in this regard.

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Senate Hearing on Section 230: A (Small) Step Towards Treating Big Tech Platforms as Publishers? - CPO Magazine