#beat LA prasad

[mealinnovate]

Varalakshmi 9 prasadam recipes|Varalakshmi Vratam Prasadam recipes|Sravana masam special prasadam|

[cksmart-world]

The completely unnecessary news analysis

by Christopher Smart

February 18, 2020

BERNIE BROS BE PISSED & WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE ERA

Supporters of Bernie Sanders are more than a little chafed at other Democrats who are taking an “anyone-but-Bernie” stance and they're letting folks know in no uncertain terms: “you A-holes.” Supporters of Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Klobachar, Warren and Biden say Bernie can't beat Trump because the Name-Caller-In-Chief will label him as a Marxist dog and scare the bejesus out of voters. Many also say Mayor Pete can't beat Trump because he's gay. Rush Limbaugh already has started in on Buttigieg for kissing his husband in public. Oh, Lordy. Evangelicals are hugging their Bibles. Elizabeth Warren has dropped in the polls, largely because she has a plan for just about everything and that's confusing to American voters who hate details. They're more into stuff like, “Make America Great Again.” Poor Joe Biden has hit the skids, too. Old Joe's jokes have gotten stale and aviator sunglasses have gone out of style. Amy Klobuchar is a good, Midwestern woman with a nice smile who knows how to milk a cow. But she's a little too nice and doesn't have the money that Michael Bloomberg has. And now we find out that the New York billionaire had the horribly racist “Stop-N-Frisk” policing policy when he was mayor of the Big Apple, so he can't get the African-American vote. And it's just been revealed that Bloomberg hates babies and puppies. But hey, don't lose hope: The staff here at Smart Bomb has come up with a bumpersticker for Dems: “Miracles Do Happen.”

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE ERA

It's been 48 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was submitted to Congress in October 1971. It passed both houses and was ratified by 35 of the necessary 38 states. But it died after a decade of fierce debate. The arguments in the Beehive State were as contentious as anywhere. In the end, Utah did not ratify. Why not? What's wrong with an amendment that seeks equal rights for women and men? Our crack research team here at Smart Bomb dove into the archives to find the answers then and now:

1 – If the ERA becomes law, women will have to use urinals.

2 – If the ERA becomes law, men will have to wear bras and lipstick and fix dinner.

3 – God created special roles for men and women: men wear pants and drink beer; women wear skirts and drink tea (and don't belch).

4 – If the ERA passes, women will have to go into combat and share foxholes with horny men without condoms who are trained to kill.

5 – If the ERA is ratified, women can become president. Yikes!

6 – If the ERA becomes law, workplace sex could cease to exist.

7 – Or, it could mean that workplace sex would get out of control with women jumping men in the utility closet. OMG.

8 – If the ERA becomes a reality, young Mormon women will go on religious missions.

9 – If the ERA is ratified, women will become astronauts and orbit the Earth and feel superior to men.

10 – And the very worst part of the ERA, according to Utah Sen. Mike Lee, is that it is part of a “radical pro-abortion agenda.” Yeah, damnit, it's “an Orwellian mischaracterization of what it would do,” Lee said, because it will allow women to have abortions but not men.

HEY, ALEXA, GET OUT OF MY FACE

Your friend Alexa, who helps you play music, turn off the TV and put on the bedroom lights, may not be as warm-hearted you think. Amazon has big plans for its virtual assistant. Sooner than you think, Alexa — or one of her siblings — will be directing our lives — it’ll interpret our data and make decisions for us, according to Rohit Prasad, the scientist in charge of Alexa‘s development. George Orwell was distressed about Big Brother, but he couldn't imagine we would willingly invite him or Big Sister into our lives with such giddy anticipation. The aim is to turn Alexa into an omnipresent companion that shapes our lives. You might find yourself in an argument with Alexa on what music to play or what to watch on TV or which car to buy. Yep, it's “2001: A Space Odyssey” all over again. HAL has collected all your data and now, there is no real reason for you to exist — well wait, Alexa does want your money, but you don't have to worry your lil’ head about that, she'll tell you how to spend it.

BILL BARR: I WON'T BE BULLIED

He's a strong, independent attorney general. President Donald Trump doesn't tell him what to do (except sometimes). Sure, there was that little thing with the Mueller Report that looked to nonpartisan legal beagles like a roadmap to impeachment that Barr announced was vindication. And there is that little matter of reviewing Michael Flynn's case, where he pleaded guilty to the FBI about his contacts with Russians. And just because the attorney general determined that Roger Stone's recommended sentence was far too harsh, doesn't mean he isn't independent.  The fact that Trump tweeted the same thing 12 hours earlier was just a coincidence. Bill Barr is a man of great integrity, depending, of course, on how you define it. OK, maybe critics, who say the Department of Justice is being politicized, have a point. But as President Trump insisted, he can do whatever he wants, including interceding in criminal trials, so it isn't corruption. Whether Bill Barr is an independent attorney general or not, really doesn't matter. (Well, actually it does matter but WTF.) And the president wants to know why that slut Andrew McCabe is off the hook. And why aren't James Comey, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page in jail along with Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff? Where is the justice?

Post Script — That was the week that was. And man, was it strange — that is to say, about normal for the age of Trump. Still, there is no better time to be a “Hooker For Jesus.” (We are not making this up.) DOJ officials rejected grant applications from Catholic Charities and Chicanos Por La Causa. Instead, according to Reuters, it gave more than $1 million to the Lincoln Tubman Foundation and Hookers for Jesus. Don't tell the Evangelicals, they'll freak. Speaking of sinners, Jim Jordan, the rabid congressman from Ohio, is about to be caught up in a sex scandal involving his old wrestling team at Ohio State. Bummer (no pun intended). And the hits just keep coming: Michael Avenatti, who gained fame representing Stormy Daniels, was found guilty of trying to extort $25 million from Nike. But unlike Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, he can't expect a pardon from Donald Trump. Down on the southern border, those darn coyotes already have come up with a new “camouflage ladder” to smuggle people and drugs over Trump's new border wall. The contraptions, made of old, rusted construction rebar, make the climb easy and can't be detected by cameras. Meanwhile, Trump has diverted another $3.8 billion in military funds for his signature achievement. (Mexico won't pay. Duh.) There's more — Trump is dispatching border patrol agents to Sanctuary Cities to root out them horrible immigrants who are doing all our scut work. Adn last but far from least, here in Utah, state legislators are feeling oh so generous after increasing from 0 to 25 percent Salt Lake City's share of property taxes from the Inland Port. That's better than a jab with a sharp stick, but not so charitable when you consider the city should get 100 percent of taxes from its own, damn land. And so it goes.

OK, Wilson, maybe you and the band can take us out with a little something hopeful for our immigrant friends and all the Democrats and everyone else who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown in the age of Trump:

Well, the oppressors are trying to keep me down / Trying to drive me underground / And they think that they have got the battle won / I say forgive them Lord, they know not what they've done / 'Cause, as sure as the sun will shine / I'm gonna get my share now, what's mine / And then the harder they come / The harder they fall, one and all / Ooh, the harder they come / Harder they fall, one and all...

[suttonunirpg]

⁺ ◦  ✧ ⌇welcome to 𝐒𝐔 AARNAV PRASAD & BRODERICK ANDERSON !! you can think of sutton as your home away from home this school year and we’re very excited to have you ! remember to have fun while you’re here , but not too much fun because you never know when your business will become campus gossip. students and / or faculty will be contacted by the admissions office and must arrive on campus within 24 HOURS. thank you so much for applying CT & EVAN , we will be messaging you with the discord link shortly !

josh heuston and khadijha red thunder are now taken 

⁺ ◦  ✧ ⌇ josh heuston , cis male , he / him , homosexual┆ have you heard about AARNAV HARUN PRASAD ? apparently they're a THIRD YEAR here at 𝐒𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐘 specializing in BIOLOGY. i’ve heard they are TWENTY - TWO and grew up in MANHATTAN , NY. some people say they remind them of XBOX GAME NIGHTS , OVERSIZED SWEATERS , MANGOS which makes me curious to learn more about them. recently , people have also been saying they heard THEY BEAT UP THEIR HIGH SCHOOL SWIM COACH but that couldn’t be true , could it ? ⋆ ｡˚ ( ct , 21+ , he / him , central )

⁺ ◦  ✧ ⌇ aaron liebregts , cis male , he / him , bisexual ┆ have you heard about BRODERICK ANDERSON ? apparently they're a FOURTH YEAR here at 𝐒𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐘 specializing in PHILOSOPHY. i’ve heard they are TWENTY - TWO and grew up in LAS VEGAS , NV. some people say they remind them of LIGHTING A CIGARETTE AT THE LEAST APPROPRIATE MOMENT , GLAZED EYES INDICATING HE’S NOT LISTENING & A CONSISTENT SMIRK TO HIDE HOW HE’S FEELING , which makes me curious to learn more about them. recently , people have also been saying they heard HIS FAMILY IS HAVING SERIOUS MONEY TROUBLES but that couldn’t be true , could it ? ⋆ ｡˚ ( evan , 23 , any pronouns , gmt )

[thegospelaradia]

To Protect Your Space

I was having a conversation with some friends of mine about magic and trauma. As a queer, trans, enby woman I've can claim "I'm a survivor" without skipping a beat. But we never really talk - as trauma survivors - how we got from A (victim) to B (survivor).

Therapy is a huge component. Sometimes psych meds can be a tremendous blessing. I will always encourage other survivors to get into therapy and psychotherapy. Getting up the courage to tell friends and family about your experience, but - and I'm a multiple trauma survivor - what the victim needs more than anything is just to sit with someone who can listen without judging, and who will hand you a tissue as you cry your eyes out.

There are "Rituals of Release" that can be worked, but this is one of the situations where I believe the Ritual of Release needs doing with a mental health professional.

All this is to say: if the wound is fresh, see a doctor. No amount of prayer or spellwork will replace stitches - even emotionally.

I do want to share a spell I used after a traumatic episode - I didn't feel safe anywhere, and I couldn't sleep. So I opened my Grimoire and started to write.

Without reproducing the spell in totality here, I'll run through the framework:

Clean you room or sacred space (but ideally your own bedroom if you have that luxury.) Cleaning should include, at the very least, should involve intentional sweeping of the room, organizing and sorting your belongings, and then...

Well then things become more complicated. A lot of magi would use white sage to bless and cleanse the space. But it might not be the most ethical option.

First of all, sage smudging is a part of many Native American traditions. But cultural appropriation is only part of the equation. With the wide proliferation of smudging in the New Age community, white sage has suffered considerably losses as a species.

Ecological harm? Appropriating Indigenous culture? Racism? None of these are super bueno.

So in our warding/protection spell, what should we use? Incense? Resins? The easiest answer for most practitioners is something you may already have at home: Palo Santo.

Palo Santo is regulated and harvest of it is restricted. Only wood that has fallen from the tree can be harvested for commercial use. As a Latinx chingona witch I have always vibed more with Palo Santo anyway, and one we're happy to share.

So we've cleaned, swept, organized, and cleansed the space with Palo Santo or a sustainable incense. Now what?

I've adapted this spell from my own, which is very specific.

You will need:

An athame, wand, or your hand

Holy Water*

4 crystals (of your choice)

In the center of the room, sit or kneel comfortably. I go into "seiza," but many find it uncomfortable to hold that position for very long. Begin chanting, praying, singing - whatever feels right - as you envision a place or an object that makes you feel safe. I have a spot on a beach off the cost of Lake Michigan I always come back to.

As an example: "No Fear, No Fear, No Harm Comes Near."

It's important to have a simple chant here - you want to focus on the safe space in your mind as you chant the mantra. A long complicated spell would draw too much focus.

When you feel "comfy" and safe, take hold of the holy water. When I say "holy water," I mean agua florida. Depending on your tradition, practice, or beliefs, if could be something altogether different.

Some use Catholic holy water, Vedic practicioners can use the water used to wash the deities (prasad). And of course there are plenty of recipes out there.

Here's a simple one: take clean, purified, stream, or ocean water into a vessel. Add a pinch of sea salt (unless it's sea water), essential oils if you got em, and maybe an iron nail if you can find it. Swirl the water around and say an appropriate chant over it.

For example: "Agua Santa, Agua Buena, Agua de la Magdalena." This one fully outs me as a Latinx former Catholic, but I like the spell anyway.

With your holy water, toss it into all four corners - DEOSIL - clockwise. As you bless each corner visualize a white light moving along the same path.

When you finish blessing the directions, take the crystals and place/jam/lodge the four of them in each corner. As you do, say a prayer into each stone asking for blessing.

Return to the center and sit down. Visualize a brilliant polygon stretching around your room. Draw down this energy from every intersection and attach them to your heart.

Chant x9 "No one can hurt me now"

Close out your spell how you usually do.

I've had the same four quartz points surrounding my room and everyone who stops by comments on how "safe and warm" they feel.

I'd be happy to offer more skills and spells on this topic, but for now?

Ciao Witches!

[parliamentonking]

Life Drawing every Thursday from 7pm.

Here’s an extract from a story in the Daily Telegraph about our Thursday night sessions from 6 years ago, that’s how long we’ve been hosting life drawing in the cafe!

“At Parliament on King, a tiny cafe/bookshop/drawing studio at the hip end of King Street, Erskineville, Thursdays are life drawings nights.

Proprietor Ravi Prasad first offered life drawing at Parliament about two years ago.

“It was basically a private thing. Then a society formed around it,” Prasad said.

The grandly-named Society of Arts and Anatomy decides on a theme for each drawing night at Parliament on King. Co-convener Ashleigh West said all kinds of people attend the life drawing at Parliament — “pilots, designers, accountants, maths lecturers”.

“We have this game where we guess what someone’s job is,” West said.

People need to be more confident about their drawing, Society of Arts and Anatomy co-convener Nena Salobir said.

“People are so down on their capabiliiteies, and yet people who say they can’t draw do something so unique,” she said.

The difference between Dr Sketchy’s and Parliament is that Parliament’s models are nude.

On a recent Thursday night, model Liberte La Femme was fulfilling a lifelong desire to pose on a red and white checked tablecloth with a vintage Vespa and a picnic basket.

A dozen sketchers — an almost capacity crowd at this small venue — cradled sketchbooks and sipped wine while La Femme posed and Italian crooners came evocatively over the sound system.

Half way through the evening, Prasad offered bowls of soup while La Femme, in a robe, chatted to the circle of patrons before once again taking up a pose.

Anastazia Bobis, a recent graduate of the National Art School, was at Parliament for the first time.

“There’s lots of life drawing classes but this is more personal and homely,” Bobis said.

Enrico Scotece, a lecturer in design and photo media at the University of Western Sydney, is there every week.

He believes people are “looking for something different” in a night out.

“It beats watching TV,” Scotece said.

Among the Parliament regulars is prominent sculptor Alan Somerville whose two bronze Diggers face each other across the western end of the Anzac Bridge at Blackwattle Bay.

Parliament on King is “an amazing place”, Somerville said.

“It’s always a bit wacky, but it’s fun. It’s a beautiful atmosphere,” he said.

Here’s a link to the full article:http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/arts/naked-models-spice-up-a-sydney-night-out/news-story/f82fdcfd7706bc2a3db3eaf46cbfd015