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EU Does Nothing, News Reports

From Reuters BRUSSELS, July 6 (Reuters) - The European Parliament on Wednesday backed EU rules labelling investments in gas and nuclear power plants as climate-friendly, throwing out an attempt to block the law that has exposed deep rifts between countries over how to fight climate change. That just about gives you the short version. Some points to clear up: this (apparently) isn't a rash movement that is occurring only because of the current energy crisis. The question of whether nuclear energy and gas could be classified as 'green' aka sustainable under the EU taxonomy was put forward back in 2020, with the rules now in the news being put forward back in early February of this year, prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Secondly, the article doesn't claim that the EU plans to declare that nuclear energy or gas are 'green,' rather that investment into nuclear and gas would count as investment in green energy, which doubtless carries all sorts of financial

Diamond Ring

INT. PAWN SHOP - NIGHT The JEWISH STEREOTYPE behind the counter scrutinizes a jewel. The bell rings. EVERYMAN walks in. JEWISH STEREOTYPE Welcome to Shlomo's Shop'n'Drop, how can I help you today. The lack of a question mark is audible. Everyman pretends to inspect the wares. EVERYMAN You uhhhh, got any rings? JEWISH STEREOTYPE Yeah. Yeah I got rings. EVERYMAN Diamond rings? JS Mmmmmm hm. EVERYMAN There's uhhh, there's this girl. JS I didn't assume. EVERYMAN And I, I, I really like her, and I just think, you know, it's finally... time. JS Time? EVERYMAN Yeah time. Y'know. JS Mmmmmm hm. EVERYMAN And I figure I should get her a ring. JS Sure, sure. EVERYMAN Like, a big ring. JS Big ring, yeah. EVERYMAN Just like, a ring everyone looks at and says... JS What? EVERYMAN But, like, a ring that she'll look at and say... JS Ah! I get ya kid, I get ya. EVERYMAN Really? JS Sure, sure, it happens more than you think. EVERYMAN                                   

Selected Highlights from Sadly, Porn

[Following an analysis of Oedipus Tyrannos ]  Be given the crown, be given the throne, be given the queen-- not a crown, a throne, a queen--  the exact same throne, the exact same queen , this is the limit of his imagination, the imagination of a 5 year old, an imagination which was never forced=allowed to want something different.  Always: who am I ?  And never: what do I do ?  “I want to be King.”  You want to rule?  “Easy does it, let's not get ahead of ourselves.”  It can't be birthright because birthright isn't you; and anyway it means you are no longer an individual but have inherited all of the responsibility of action.  “I’m not so shallow to want to be the main character in my own story, what I'm really looking for is to be the main character in a play written and directed by someone else.”  Well, I got this short one, there's not much action in it, it's more of a character piece.  “That sounds perfect.”  It ends tragically.  “Even better, at least then

Some Highlighted Passages from Wedemeyer's 'Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism'

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I've finally finished reading 'Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism' by Christian Wedemeyer. I started on the book the better part of a year ago, making steady progress until classes resumed. Now with Thanksgiving, I've been able to give it the time it deserved.  This is the first scholarly work on Tantra I've yet read (also the first scholarly work of history and semiology, so there was a period of adjustment there), and this book is a good antidote to misinformation from other sources. Wedemeyer is especially concerned with errors of history and interpretation of Tantra, and he lays out some very, very large errors in the current literature, some of which I had absorbed second-hand through the writing of David Chapman. I'll be writing up a reflection on these disagreements swiftly.  Definition and Elaboration of Tantra, and the Setup for his ultimate Thesis As the term will be used in what follows, Tantric Buddhism comprehends those forms of esoteric Buddhism that