1. The Devil’s Advocate
Time Stamp: 8:07
- The Human Experience
- What does it mean to be human?
https://www.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=what-does-it-mean-to-be-human- We are one species of primate that emerged from the dry savannahs of East Africa just over 100,000 years ago and began a migration that continues to today.
- We weren’t the strongest animal, but we had an unusually large brain and held ourselves upright, giving us a high vantage to scan the distant horizon for enemies, and the freedom to use our hands for other purposes.
- We might have continued our short life of hunting, savagery, and brutishness right through to today, but for one important development – language. Other animals could communicate, but we evolved astonishing vocal ability, able to create sounds that represented not just objects, but also concepts. We learned how to express ideas. We could speak of danger, hope, and love. We became storytellers, able to weave together common narratives about who we are and how we should live.
- Twelve thousand years ago, we learned how to domesticate plants and other animals for food, and were able to settle in one place. We became a social animal, building complex communities that become kingdoms, learning to trade with each other using a concept called money.
- By 2500 years ago, a small group of humans in Southern Europe and the Middle East started to ask big questions about who we were. What is the best way to live? What is a good life? What does it mean to be human? How we responded to these questions is how we built our civilisation, art, and philosophy.
- Five hundred years ago, the scientific revolution began, allowing us to harness the resources of our planet to live longer and more productive lives.
- When the digital revolution began only 50 years ago, the world shrank. We became a global village, our hopes and dreams converted into an infinite stream of ones and zeroes echoing throughout cyberspace. Today, we stand astride the world as a god, with both the power to destroy our own planet and to create life.
- We may even be the last of our species to be fully human as bio-technology and artifical intellligence begin to rip apart the very core of who we are.
- As we discover more about reality, we continue our ascent into insignificance, becoming a vanishing footnote in space and time, a speck of dust in the vastness of the universe. But to be human is to be at the centre of our own universe, to experience life in all its colours and all its potential.
- Are Satanists truly different from other humans?
- Why is it so important to BE different?
- It is trite, but the vast majority of humans, regardless of age, ethnicity, culture and religion share the same experiences.
- We want connection
- We want safety
- We want meaning
- I have often said we can be distilled into two ideas: We create and we destroy.
- I am no longer sure that is it.
- What does it mean to be human?
2. Infernal Informant
Time Stamp: 35:58
- Women’s March in Austin draws crowds in protest of Supreme Court nominee
https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/womens-march-in-austin-draws-crowds-in-protest-of-supreme-court-nominee/- Outside the Texas State Capitol Saturday, cultural battles and heightened emotions played out weeks before the Presidential election.
- “I’ve supported this movement for the last four years. A lot of people feel like they aren’t being heard, and they feel marginalized,” said Women’s March Supporter Rosemary Cavazos.
- Nearly four years after an election brought in protestors nationwide, Women’s March leaders hope their second event of the year brings in a final show before Nov. 3.
- Women’s March supporters gathered outside the Wooldridge Square Park with a packed agenda Saturday. Supporters came bearing conversations about everything from the Black Lives Matter movement, to abortion rights, to COVID-19.
- “We should be talking about assisting with COVID resources, not rushing a court hearing,” said Cavazos. “Rushing Amy into the court system is really troublesome for me.”
- Honoring the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg rose to the top. The march took place days before the Senate has plans to hold its first vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, who would replace Ginsburg.
- In Austin Saturday, Women’s March supporters were also confronted by a counter protest group who say though they don’t fully agree with all of Ginsburg’s positions, they believe she represented the constitution well and feel Barrett will do the same.
- The senate judiciary committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett who would cement the conservative advantage on the Supreme Court.
- Halloween is going to look very different during the pandemic
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/17/business/halloween-businesses-pandemic/index.html- As families reconsider Halloween traditions, companies that usually rely on Halloween for sales have been shuffling to adapt.
- Candy
- To boost sales and keep customers interested, this season’s Halloween preparations include putting Halloween-specific packaging on fewer treats, focusing on family-sized packs and extending the shopping season.
- Costumes
- even though it may be unsafe to partake in traditional trick-or-treating. “Kids are still excited for Halloween. Parents don’t want to disappoint them — especially after a tough year of having school from home,” Steinberg said. “Whether or not they are trick-or-treating, there is still a reason for them to dress up as their favorite character.”
- Socially distant trick-or-treating
- Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Halloween safety guidelines, labeling traditional trick-or-treating as a “high risk activity.” As an alternative, the CDC suggested “one-way trick-or-treating,” which involves dropping off individually wrapped goodie bags at neighbors and friends’ houses.
- To shop or not to shop
- Online shopping has taken over during the pandemic, and curbside pickup — which minimizes human contact — has become one of the biggest shopping trends of 2020.
- In preparation for Halloween, Lowe’s is launching drive-through, curbside trick-or-treating events leading up to the holiday, giving customers free candy and pumpkins. Lowe’s is likely using the event as an opportunity to keep shoppers coming to their stores. The initiative allows customers to partake in curbside pickup for items they ordered from the store while simultaneously participating in curbside trick-or-treating.
3. Creature Feature
Time Stamp: 1:08:09
- David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
https://www.netflix.com/title/80216393
https://attenboroughfilm.com/- Celebrated British naturalist Sir David Attenborough has a broadcasting career spanning over six decades. He has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and bringing the wonders of the living world to audiences worldwide through ground-breaking natural history series. His work includes: Life on Earth, Planet Earth and more recently the Netflix original documentary series Our Planet.
- During his lifetime, Sir David Attenborough has seen first-hand the monumental scale of environmental change caused by human actions. Now for the first time, he reflects on the devastating changes he’s witnessed and reveals how together we can address the biggest challenges facing life on our planet.
- Produced by Silverback Films and WWF, David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet shares Sir David Attenborough’s greatest story yet – his witness statement for the natural world and vision for the future.
- He tells us that “we need to stop being a part of nature and start being part of it.”
- Our planet’s wildlife has plummeted by 68% since 1970 – within a single lifetime – and the last decade was the hottest on record. We’ve cleared half the world’s rainforests, we’ve overfished our seas to critical levels and half of the fertile land on Earth is now farmland. The challenges we face now will only worsen with inaction.
- As the first generation with a clear understanding of our impact, we must work to restore nature now to protect our planet and ourselves. This film shows the scale of the challenges that we are facing, and the role that everyone here can play in creating the solutions we know we need.”