#prophetic validation

[404-found]

Prophecy, Crystal Ball or Clever Spin?

One of the biggest skeptic barbs is this, “Prophecies were written after the fact, so it’s all clever hindsight.” Seriously? Tell that to the dusty scrolls and fulfilled forecasts that nail history before it happens. “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.”— Amos 3:7 Let’s test the accuracy. Micah’s Bethlehem Bullseye.Written…

[10000year-old-child]

Do you ever think about how Shen Yuan was completely valid for his reaction to PIDW?

If you've ever wondered how Shen Yuan and Shang Qinghua might've experienced PIDW (whether writing, reading, living it.. etc) just watch Supernatural.

I was watching some Supernatural episodes and I just realized this is our real life PIDW, we have like 15 seasons?? (Literally nobody else I know have even watched or finished the series except for me. My family & friends thinks I'm delusional for watching this very long trainwreck)

Plot? Is so long and rich that I genuinely discover new things every time I decide to rewatch ANY of the seasons... Everytime I discover I forgot some pretty major events. but sometimes it's also lowkey bad writing and we have BIG plot holes that nobody addresses even after the show ends.

World building? Magnificent. If not for the new cool creatures (new wives) added left and right never to be mentioned again.

The main wives_ ahem, creatures..(Castiel, ALL the angels, Lucifer, Gabriel, "the prophet"... you see what I mean..?) were really cool and powerful at first until they got lost somewhere in the plot.

As for Characters? Don't get me wrong I love my boys, but you have to admit Sam and Dean were ridiculously overpowered. They killed every single being under the sun (HOW did the universe in Supernatural not collapse??? You cannot convince me all that messing around did NOT cause some catastrophic power imbalance in creation Itself!!) including themselves like an unreasonable amount of times and just came back to life completely fine after and kept walking.

Honestly OG Luo Binghe could only dream of reaching that level of plot armor. No wonder my guy Shen Yuan was pissed.

[nova-moshi]

What if I was the most correct person on planet earth LMAO I PREDICTED THIS 7 HOURS PRIOR? /HJ

My babies......ough my babies

[kaos-incarnate]

I feel there is potential for something very lgbt to happen here

[propheticfire]

I know it's the menstrual hormones talking, but I'm feeling very "I don't deserve to follow [insert religion here] because I am too wretched a creature and cannot live up to its expectations" these past few days.

[islamic-soul-08]

The Prophet's Prayer ﷺ according to authentic Ahadith💯

Reference : Sahih Bukhari 738

[thedeafprophet]

when do you think they'll be uploading the June roadmap. I need to emotionally prepare for if they're doing a summer event this year

[deceit-and-knowledge]

**the dragon is still on the defense. They won’t let mortal cookies close. They trust themselves no longer, even with the cuffs on (upid. Self sacrificing upid overthinking dumbass). Emotions still emanating through the healing bay, the dragon locks eyes with sage. There’s tiny tears pricking at their eyes** I’m dangerous. I would guess that’s the reason I was lied to, and the reason these cuffs are on! (Dw led them to this conclusion) And yeah! I am a fool! So strong yet foolish and weak enough to get controlled to hurt those dear to me! I tried to hurt YOU! I tried to help break you down! So Why?! Why are you trying to reach out?! I’m not Smilk or Vani or Recluse or ANY of the others deserving of help! I’m just a monster — Rime Dragon Cookie - aka bird anon

f: can you stop being so ignorant ..

You're not a monster, you weren't even in control of your body.. *groans*

Eternal sugar cookie was puppeteering you like you were nothing but meat to her. SHE made you attack everyone.

you only have those cuffs on because you have the tendency to use magic when you should be recovering. WE ALREADY EXPLAINED THAT ONE TO YOU! ....*huffs*

staff: fount of knowledge, you're not helping..

f: ...This is why I'm not helping dreamweaver cookie..I'm horrible at this....

I'm better off just going then..

[the-masterless-press]

I can't word this properly again but I'll just copy paste what I sent to a friend here:

You know for a setting that centers on the idea of love, having the only destiny with the PC's love be the one where they're married is kind of fucking stupid

Which implies that any other kind of love (romantic sans the marriage, familial, platonic or queer-platonic) is lesser? What happened to "Look to love, always"?

[per1w1nkl3]

yes o'brien must suffer but sometimes,,, he also risks getting some. slay miles slay!

[mindfulldsliving]

Responding to Robin Schumacher’s Critique: Joseph Smith’s First Vision and Apostolic Parallels

Robin Schumacher’s op-ed comparing Joseph Smith to the Apostle Paul raises a familiar yet thought-provoking question: can Joseph’s First Vision truly align with Paul’s divine encounter? For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this discussion touches on fundamental beliefs about prophecy, revelation, and the foundation of their faith. Critics often challenge the First…

[wickedzeevyln]

Smoke and Mirrors

Let me weigh on this for you, my friend. Of the long-winded wishlist of everything you are not—perfect is something you cannot be. It wasn’t about words. It was never words. It couldn’t be. Not with all his whining. It was about his promise—the way you leaned into the bond like a boxer sizing a lanky opponent. A twig ready to snap against the surging wind. His embrace, lukewarm at best, is…

[deancasforcutie]

#one of those moments at the time i took as wry subtext oh ha ha very funny spn #now it's oh you were serious Balthazar was 100% serious he noticed it and was just saying it #Balthazar gave us The Truth in 2011 angel prophet of Destiel (via @dotthings)

6.17 My Heart Will Go On

[anneapocalypse]

Urianger coming to the First and seeing firsthand the effects of his actions upon this world is both a good thing and a terrible thing. It is, of course, a good thing that the First is saved. It is, obviously, a good thing that Minfilia traveling to the First managed to halt the Flood of Light before the entire star could be wiped out.

But for Urianger personally, seeing it firsthand is also a terrible thing, because it completely validates all of his most self-destructive impulses and affirms to him that everything he did to save the First was not only right but necessary. Everything he put himself and his loved ones through was necessary. Which means that if a similar situation arises, he'll have no choice (in his mind) but to do it all again. Which is exactly what happens! He's asked to be the deceiver again, and he sees no way out, and he dutifully puts on the costume again and plays the role he's been asked to play. He puts on the soothsayer's costume and plays the role of the prophet with a smile and words of wisdom, all while quietly dying inside and wishing he could actually tell the truth.

And that's the real bitter irony, I think, that the costume is, at the time, a lie--but he doesn't want it to be! The soothsayer is what he wants to be but not what he actually gets to be, not yet, because everything he's seen has only reinforced his belief that he has to be something else.

So he has to see that role fail before he can believe he's allowed to be anything else. The turning point of his character is not when he puts on the new costume, but when Exarch's plan fails. He is only able to become what he wants to be when what he has forced himself to be utterly crumbles around him, and he is forced to rebuild his sense of self out of those ruins. In this, the costume that was a lie eventually becomes true.

[bonefall]

[ID: Ask from @storiesandsquirrels, transcribed in alt text]

also: link to Cow Lore

There's one major misconception here I've gotta correct before answering earnestly; Holsteins do need Super Duper Food. This is one of their major problems as a breed, you need to give them high quality feed for high quantity, low quality milk.

But! That said! These are valid questions that deserve real responses. In spite of the quick correction, I actually want to answer them as you phrased them because I think it would be more illuminating. I'm going to try and summarize them as I go along;

Question 1: "Why wouldn't we want to use The Most Efficient Cow?"

The simplest answer is disease. My ""prediction"" came true, and bird flu has mutated to spread extremely easily through the infected udders of Holsteins. No one has died of bovine-contracted HPAI yet, but with Brainworm Bobby and his love of raw milk in charge of the CDC...

well. my last prediction was prophetic. let's hope this one's not.

Minmaxing a breed for one specific purpose always means intensive inbreeding. Like I mentioned, 9 million Holsteins are genetically equivalent to 60 individuals. A more genetically diverse population is one that will be better at preventing disease outbreaks, and reducing their severity when they do.

And what even is the Most Efficient Milk Cow? If you're only selecting for pure milk production to drive down its cost, you get a breed of cattle that lacks every other important trait that would make it good livestock;

They get sick more often, due to inbreeding depression and lack of physical fitness, requiring more antibiotics and veterinary care.

They are bad parents who will need more human intervention to birth and raise calves

They won't be good grazers, meaning they need a specific food grown for them, increasing how much "functional" land is actually dedicated to cattle husbandry.

Their carcass won't yield as much meat, so more cattle have to be raised and slaughtered to meet demand.

Their bodies will burn out much quicker than a healthier animal, meaning you need to replace your livestock more often.

When it comes to living beings, "efficiency" is "fragility." It's not a stable system to begin with.

Even with the pure logic aside, just, step back here and look at the situation with a heart. We'd be making unhealthy, short-lived animals lacking critical instincts to lead good social lives. AND we probably haven't even fixed the "less land" problem, just shifted the land off-site.

For what? For more milk? We have SO MUCH milk we don't even know what to do with it!

Question 2: "Isn't an overabundance of cheap milk a good thing?"

no.

Under the infinite genius of Capitalism, thousands of gallons of milk just gets poured into the sewer daily because there's too much of it. Transporting it to a processor would cost more than it's worth, sometimes the processors turn milk away because they don't want to overproduce products, and even the US government can't subsidize every last drop; it still has 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in various caves and warehouses across the country.

The price of milk cannot get any lower because it's already being sold below the cost it takes to produce it, and yet, we're still here literally pouring it down the drain.

[photo from bill ulrich who photographed a farmer dumping milk back during the pandemic. this isn't even a recent photo. this happens every time there's a milk surplus. im using this photo because i like the farmer's cunty little pose. look at him. "just ain't right"core.]

And milk being dumped into the sewer is more than just wasteful. It's a biohazard.

Milk doesn't stop rotting when it's dumped. If you live downstream of a milkhouse, improper milk disposal reeks.

It's full of nutrients, too, which causes diatoms, cyanobacteria, and other types of algae to go into overdrive-- causing a Harmful Algal Bloom event in the water, or HAB.

HABs are horrific. There's HUNDREDS of different types. They can suck up oxygen and create "dead zones" which kills all aquatic life, they can poison the water supply for an entire town, and some can even cause toxic fumes that make it hard to breathe on land.

Now, listen, I don't want to scare you into never dumping out rotten milk or anything! It's that on an industrial scale, it's REALLY REALLY bad if a farm overproduces milk-- especially crummy milk that can't be made into decent cheese or other dairy products.

In fact, if we did produce milk on a smaller scale, it would be better for everyone! Unless you're a Milk Guzzling Fiend like I am, you probably wouldn't need to buy a whole gallon at a time. In countries like Italy, it's sold fresh and in smaller containers, and you're just expected to pick it up as you need it.

This is why milkmen used to exist, and still do in places that are cool; they'd deliver your supply fresh from the creamery. Less waste, less stress! The "subscription model" is actually sooooooooooo much better for milk production, since it helps to stagger out those "surges and drops" of demand that leads to milk dumps.

Question 3: "If the cow eats less, doesn't that mean less land for pasture, which is a good thing?"

There's a lot to unpack within this sentiment. It's actually based on a couple of common assumptions on a few levels, which are incorrect in fascinating ways. Challenging this means opening up your worldview on how complex keeping livestock actually is!

I'll start with the simpler part;

You could cut fresh pasture out of the equation entirely and shove a cow into a concrete pen with a food box-- but are you counting the land growing the fodder?

When you grow corn the way that we do on industrial farms in the US, it's unbelievably destructive. Unending oceans of monoculture. Fogged with pesticide, pumped full of fertilizer which causes HABs like dumped milk does, sprayed with thousands of gallons of wasted water.

When you look at this image, I need you to understand you are looking at a dead zone. Like a suburban lawn, just because it's green doesn't mean it's good. Nothing grows here but corn and pests of corn, which gets poisoned and dies without returning any of that energy to the ecosystem.

This is usually what is being given to "grain-fed cattle," either when they're sent to a feedlot to hit their slaughter weight, or when they're lactating so they need the extra nutrition. It's also so nasty it's inedible to human beings.

Now, a lot of cattle farmers will just supplement their cow's diet, doing a mix of pasture feeding (much cheaper) and grain feeding (quicker gains). But the facts on this are clear; pasture-kept cattle result in LESS emissions and need LESS total space than cows in confinement.

In fact, there were a LOT of benefits!

Overall gas emissions from the cows dropped by 8%

Ammonia pollution was down by 30%

Not needing to run farm equipment for fodder planting and harvest reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 10%

Rotated crop fields didn't sequester carbon; but the newly converted perennial grasslands store as much as 3,400 pounds per acre.

The outside cows did produce less milk volume, but the milk they did produce was higher quality. So, looking at all the benefits here, it's clear that pasture is actually something that should be embraced for ecological reasons, not rejected.

In FACT, it should be EMPHASIZED. Because, this is the mind-blowing part,

Pasture can ALSO be an ecosystem.

In fact, I'm a Warrior Cats guy who once did a deep dive on moorlands just so I could write WindClan better. There are entire biomes that only exist because of grazing, and British lowland heath is one of them!

Keeping cattle in a sustainable, ecologically sound way is going to look different depending on where in the world you're doing it. So many earnest, good-willed people have bought into the lie that humans are a problem, and that everything "associated" with us becomes a barren wasteland as if we are tainted. YOU are not the problem! The problem is, and always has been, exploitation. Unsustainable relationships with the land we're part of.

Indigenous people in Europe, Asia, and Africa have been keeping cattle for thousands of years. In North America, cattle can be used to maintain ecosystems that have been badly affected by the colonial eradication of the American Bison. In South America, Brazil specifically has been making incredible advances with highly efficient integrated crop-livestock-forestry farming.

Generally, pastures here in the US are not as intensely managed as an equivalent crop field. Some people fertilize them, or water them mid-summer, but absolutely not to the same extent as industrial corn farms. Cattle are typically rotated between pastures, allowing each to re-grow before they come back to graze again.

Obviously, yes, overgrazing can be an issue. Not every open space should be converted into a pasture, and the destruction of other environments to turn into cow land is a problem. But that is an issue of bad land stewardship, not the mere practice of keeping livestock.

Bottom line, though? Cattle who can graze and survive outside are better for the environment than cattle that can't.

...but hey, you know what Holsteins happen to be really bad at?

EVERYTHING. GRAZING.

They are notoriously terrible grazers. They can't do megan THEEEEE thing that cows are known for. Fragile frames, a lack of fat to keep them warm outside, increased demand for food, distaste for any rough forage, horrible mothering instincts, the list goes on. Holsteins are a NIGHTMARE to try and keep outside all year round compared to other breeds.

(especially heritage breeds, like the Milking Devon, Florida Cracker, or Texas Longhorn. Between these three, you'd be totally covered in 80% of American climates.)

I've already explained why it's not actually very good or important that we minmax milk volume, but even if that was actually something we should value, there are so many downsides that they would absolutely not be the dominant cow breed in a truly "efficient" system.

"Less cows means less cow food and cow land" is sound logic, but Holsteins are not the right cow for that job.

Question 4: "How could this be done in a way that doesn't increase cost of living?"

I'm not sure how to answer this question, simply because I'm not Bonestar, Leader of AmericaClan. Wish I was. I would rule tyrannically.

It's worth noting that Brazil is the second largest producer of beef in the entire world, AND the number one largest exporter of it, AND only puts 30% of its land to total agricultural use. The USA dedicates over 50%. And also Brazil is net reducing its amount of agricultural land while increasing output.

It seems clear to me that the USA actually has a massive food waste and resource distribution problem, to the point where the price we pay for stuff is actually wildly disconnected from the actual value of the goods and labor.

I think the way that us Americans tend to frame our conversations on these topics as "growth" vs "cuts" instead of asking how to minimize waste by making existing systems more efficient prevents us from solving problems. We're also just... really culturally resistant to the idea of anything being more "expensive," even if it ends up costing us a lot more money in waste or mismanagement later.

Penny wise and dollar foolish ass country.

Question 5: "What can we personally do about this?"

I mean, I wasn't making a call to action in Cow Lore, I was just explaining to one of my regulars why I don't like Holsteins LMAO. Since you're asking though...

I don't think we can change the wider trend in the dairy industry without actual government intervention and regulation, though, and that's very unlikely in the current political environment. they just sent random dudes to Ausalvador-Birkenau and when the Supreme Court said "bring this specific person back" they said "nuh uh." fellas I don't think we're getting better dairy regulations in the foreseeable future.

So I think the most productive thing to do is focusing on supporting small farms and heritage breeds. Get involved in your community garden or heritage society if you have one.

Not only is that generally a very rewarding thing, but it will be helpful to you in case The Situation Gets Worse. Knowing your neighbors and having real human connection is your best defense against economic recession.

Supporting the locals is always a great thing to do, which can be as simple as going to farmer's markets. You don't need to buy fancy food every day to make an impact on your community-- it can be a treat sometimes!

You could also subscribe to the Livestock Conservancy's free newsletter, where they talk about the work they're doing and upcoming events. If you're a knitter, crocheter, or any other kind of fiber artist, you could even join in on a challenge they're running where you make items out of rare wool for prizes!

Should you end up liking the work they do, you can become a member for 4$ a month, or go to one of their educational events.

Even just talking about the problem can do a lot! Did you know the Highland Cow was actually critically endangered in the USA within the past 10 years? It was the work of the Livestock Conservancy, plus a surge in their popularity, that helped to bring their numbers up. Word of mouth is a powerful thing.

All that said, remember, you can't solve every problem. It's a big world and there's a lot of them. Being made aware of an issue doesn't mean you have to drop what you were previously doing-- just care a lot about something that you want to improve, and let that guide you.

[books-and-omens]

So.

I wonder. I wonder when Aziraphale is going to know.

How long until he realizes what Heaven needs him for? It’s not reform. The Second Coming, they need him in Gabriel’s place to organize the Second Coming, to try and end humanity and time itself.

They were planning a nuclear war to start it off, yes? And then Gabriel literally said, ‘naaaaah’.

(I am laughing hysterically over that moment. “Naaaah.” “Naaaah?” “Yep. Naaaah.”)

They need Aziraphale to stand in Gabriel’s place and repeat after them. To say that amen. And do we think, for a moment, that Aziraphale would? Gabriel is deposed for ‘refusing to exercise his celestial authority’; yes, they can threaten Aziraphale with this same thing, and would he go along with it then?

No. No, he would not.

What does Metatron say about Gabriel’s punishment? “For one prince of Heaven to be cast into the outer darkness makes a good story. For it to happen twice makes it look like there is some kind of… institutional problem.”

“Which there isn’t,” Michael hurries to add.

Two rebellions, in themselves, would look like a pattern. Hey, Heaven—so how about three?

They (or anyway, Metatron specifically) think they can keep Aziraphale in line. Make him do what they need him to do. He is soft, he needs validation, he needs praise, he needs to be separated from his demon and there, that’s it, the bad influence’s gone, he is in their pocket.

He won’t be. Metatron thinks he knows humans; “So predictable,” he says in the coffee shop, condescending.

He thinks he knows Aziraphale, too. And—sure, he does to an extent: Heaven has molded Aziraphale so much, has exercised so much control.

But d’you remember what Crowley says—a side-note, such a seemingly small thing—to explain why Aziraphale is hosting the meeting of the traders’ association? “He’s… unpredictable. He has discovered his civic obligations.”

And I hope it turns out fucking prophetic.

Aziraphale, give them hell.