#samuel berkowitz

[jewishsimming]

Early photos of Samuel and Rachel with Jacob. How cute??

[hillside-dangler]

Born To Kill COMPLETE SERIES 2005-2016

“Going back to the age-old Nature vs Nurture debate, a good way to think about it is that genetics provide an individual with a spectrum and the individual’s environment, developmental and otherwise, determines where you lie on it. A predisposition may lie dormant for eternity, but feed it a stressful environment and increased risk factors such as malnourishment and trauma, and it will manifest. Clinical facts must be tempered with ethical concerns when applying science to society.” Source

)c(

Season 1

S01E01 Fred West

S01E02 Harold Shipman

S01E03 Jeffrey Dahmer

S01E04 Myra Hindley

S01E05 The Washington Snipers

S01E06 Ivan Milat

)c(

Season 2

S02E01 Ted Bundy

S02E02 Charles Starkweather

S02E03 John Wayne Gacy

S02E04 Aileen Wuornos

S02E05 Richard Chase

S02E06 Albert DeSalvo

)c(

Season 3

S03E01 Gary Ridgway

S03E02 Edmund Kemper

S03E03 Richard Ramirez

S03E04 Donald Gaskins

S03E05 David Berkowitz

S03E06 Dennis Nilsen

)c(

Season 4

S04E01 Charles Manson

S04E02 Dennis Rader

S04E03 Beverly Allitt

S04E04 Hillside Stranglers (Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono)

S04E05 Colin Ireland

S04E06 Herbert Mullin

)c(

Season 5

S05E01 Peter Sutcliffe

S05E02 Donald Nielson

S05E03 Patrick Mackay

S05E04 John Linley Frazier

S05E05 Cary Stayner

S05E06 The Briley Brothers

S05E07 Hadden Clark

S05E08 Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka

S05E09 Thor Christiansen

S05E10 Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman

S05E11 Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog

S05E12 Douglas Clark and Carol Bundy

)c(

Season 6

SE06E01 Robert Napper

SE06E02 John Duffy and David Mulcahy

SE06E03 Gerald and Charlene Gallego

SE06E04 Levi Bellfield

SE06E05 Tony Costa

SE06E06 Richard Cottingham

SE06E07 Cleophus Prince Jr.

SE06E08 Sean Gillis

SE06E09 Timothy Wilson Spencer

SE06E10 David Alan Gore and Fred Waterfield

SE06E11 David Carpenter

SE06E12 Bobby Joe Long

)c(

Season 7

SE07E01 Peter Moore

SE07E02 Trevor Hardy

SE07E03 William Suff

SE07E04 Charles Albright

SE07E05 Allan Legere

SE07E06 Robert Reldan

)c(

Born to Kill/Class of Evil 2017

Season 1

SE01E01 Peter Tobin

SE01E02 Altemio Sanchez

SE01E03 Alton Coleman and Debra Brown

SE01E04 Stephen Griffiths

SE01E05 Graham Young

SE01E06 Joanna Dennehy

)c(

Killing Spree 2014

Season 1

SE01E01 Suffolk Strangler

SE01E02 Terror in Paradise

SE01E03 Northumbria Rampage

SE01E04 The Miami Murders

SE01E05 Horror at the Mall

SE01E06 Columbine Massacre

)c(

Season 2

SE01E01 The Hungerford Massacre

SE01E02 Soho Nail Bomber

SE01E03 New York Knifings

SE01E04 Revenge Cop Killer

SE01E05 The Family Slayer

SE01E06 Woman On The Rampage

)c(

Criminal psychologists: Louis B Schlesinger, Helen Morrison, Katherine Ramsland, David Wilson and Robert Ressler.

Narrator: Christoper Slade

TwoFour productions

[sporadiceagleheart]

Here's my Tribute show me the way for the angels that welcomed 6-year-old Lucy Morgan Louis XVII, Shirley Temple, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, Jailah Nicole Silguero, Serenity Gail Elmore, Ava Jordan Wood, Skylar Annette "Sky " Neese, Semina Mary Halliwell, Saffie-Rose Brenda Roussos, Makenna Lee “Kenna” Elrod Seiler, Eliahna “Ellie or Elle” Torres, Jacklyn Jaylen “Jackie” Cazares, Layla Salazar, JonBenèt Ramsey, Destiny Arianna Kay Riekeberg, Catherine Violet Hubbard, Sloan Mattingly, Audrii Cunningham, Liliana Marie “Lily” Peters, Olivia Pratt Korbel, Elizabeth Shelley, Sara Sharif, Charlotte Figi, Jersey Dianne Bridgeman, Sidra Hassouna, Avery Jean Lane, Hartog “Harry” Abram, Helena “Hetty” Abram, Pauline “Paultje” Adelaar, Walter Adler, Samuel Max “Sam” Akker, Felilia Alter, Berta Ament, Dora Ament, Deborah Gail “Debbi” Stone, Deborah Anne “Debbie” Bricca, Ingeborg Hertha Angress, Klaus Angress, Fiorella Anticoli, Fiorella Anticoli, Zdenka Apler, Nelli Apter, Matilda Aron, Elena “Lena” Aronova, Moisei Novodvorski Aronovitz, Lois Janes, Luise Charlotte zu Mecklenburg, Sophie d'Artois, Hubert Restoueix était le fils de Jean (né le 19 juin 1886, à Cognac-la-Forêt), forgeron, et de son épouse Anna née Teillet, Renate Charlotte Asch, Rebecca Asser, Marika Miriam Austerlitz, Hans Peter Bacharach, Ichak Bachrach, Abraham “Appie” Barend, Aron Barend, Eva Barend, Andras Barta, Rudolf Max Bartenstein, Anna Veronika Bartok, Betje Baruch, Silvia Juliette Basch, Frederik Jack Batavier, Yekhiel Bauman, Leopold Becher, Edith Roseij Beek, Kazbek Bekoyev, Arnold Belgorodski, Roza Belotinski, Lora Ben, Pauli Benger, Gabriel Berger, Judit Berger, Sarlota Sheina Berger, Yaacov Yehuda Bergman, Ervin Shraga Berkovits, Andreas Pista Berkovitz, Ibolya “Ibike” Berkovitz, Brigitta Ruth Berkowitz, Etylda Berkowitz, Max Meir Bermann, Marika Besnyo, Levie Beugeltas, Egon Birnbaum, Mei Leung, Dayle Okazaki, Lucy Morgan, Mendel Blank, Ziko Blank, Anna Glinberg, I have another edit for semina Halliwell next tomorrow morning

[saulcastillo]

⩔ ¿Una infografía hablando sobre el jamón ibérico español en el Washington Post? ¡Y tanto que sí! 

Samuel Granados y Bonnie Berkowitz invitan a sus lectores a disfrutar del placer del buen jamón, analizando cómo se corta, las mejores partes, la dieta a base de bellotas e incluso cómo comprarlo en busca de la mejor calidad. ¡Buen provecho!

» The Washington Post, del 7 de febrero de 2024

[nellygwyn]

BOOK RECS

Okay, so lots of people wanted this and so, I am compiling a list of my favourite books (both fiction and non-fiction), books that I recommend you read as soon as humanly possible. In the meantime, I’ll be pinning this post to the top of my blog (once I work out how to do that lmao) so it will be accessible for old and new followers. I’m going to order this list thematically, I think, just to keep everything tidy and orderly. Of course, a lot of this list will consist of historical fiction and historical non-fiction because that’s what I read primarily and thus, that’s where my bias is, but I promise to try and spice it up just a little bit. 

Favourite fiction books of all time:

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock // Imogen Hermes Gowar

Sense and Sensibility // Jane Austen

Slammerkin // Emma Donoghue 

Remarkable Creatures // Tracy Chevalier

Life Mask // Emma Donoghue

His Dark Materials // Philip Pullman (this includes the follow-up series The Book of Dust)

Emma // Jane Austen

The Miniaturist // Jessie Burton

Girl, Woman, Other // Bernadine Evaristo 

Jane Eyre // Charlotte Brontë

Persuasion // Jane Austen

Girl with a Pearl Earring // Tracy Chevalier

The Silent Companions // Laura Purcell

Tess of the d’Urbervilles // Thomas Hardy

Northanger Abbey // Jane Austen

The Chronicles of Narnia // C.S. Lewis

Pride and Prejudice // Jane Austen

Goodnight, Mr Tom // Michelle Magorian

The French Lieutenant’s Woman // John Fowles 

The Butcher’s Hook // Janet Ellis 

Mansfield Park // Jane Austen

The All Souls Trilogy // Deborah Harkness

The Railway Children // Edith Nesbit

Favourite non-fiction books of all time

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman // Robert Massie

Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King // Antonia Fraser

Madame de Pompadour // Nancy Mitford

The First Iron Lady: A Life of Caroline of Ansbach // Matthew Dennison 

Black and British: A Forgotten History // David Olusoga

Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court // Lucy Worsley 

Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Katherine Howard, the Fifth Wife of Henry VIII // Gareth Russell

King Charles II // Antonia Fraser

Casanova’s Women // Judith Summers

Marie Antoinette: The Journey // Antonia Fraser

Mrs. Jordan’s Profession: The Story of a Great Actress and a Future King // Claire Tomalin

Jane Austen at Home // Lucy Worsley

Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames // Lara Maiklem

The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth // Anna Keay

The Marlboroughs: John and Sarah Churchill // Christopher Hibbert

Nell Gwynn: A Biography // Charles Beauclerk

Jurassic Mary: Mary Anning and the Primeval Monsters // Patricia Pierce

Georgian London: Into the Streets // Lucy Inglis

The Prince Who Would Be King: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart // Sarah Fraser

Wedlock: How Georgian Britain’s Worst Husband Met His Match // Wendy Moore

Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from the Stone Age to the Silver Screen // Greg Jenner

Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum // Kathryn Hughes

Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey // Nicola Tallis

Favourite books about the history of sex and/or sex work

The Origins of Sex: A History of First Sexual Revolution // Faramerz Dabhoiwala 

Erotic Exchanges: The World of Elite Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century Paris // Nina Kushner

Peg Plunkett: Memoirs of a Whore // Julie Peakman

Courtesans // Katie Hickman

The Other Victorians: A Study of Sexuality and Pornography in mid-Nineteenth Century England

Madams, Bawds, and Brothel Keepers // Fergus Linnane

The Secret History of Georgian London: How the Wages of Sin Shaped the Capital // Dan Cruickshank 

A Curious History of Sex // Kate Lister

Sex and Punishment: 4000 Years of Judging Desire // Eric Berkowitz

Queen of the Courtesans: Fanny Murray // Barbara White

Rent Boys: A History from Ancient Times to Present // Michael Hone

Celeste // Roland Perry

Sex and the Gender Revolution // Randolph Trumbach

The Pleasure’s All Mine: A History of Perverse Sex // Julie Peakman

LGBT+ fiction I love*

The Confessions of the Fox // Jordy Rosenberg 

As Meat Loves Salt // Maria Mccann

Bone China // Laura Purcell

Brideshead Revisited // Evelyn Waugh

The Confessions of Frannie Langton // Sara Collins

The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle // Neil Blackmore

Orlando // Virginia Woolf

Tipping the Velvet // Sarah Waters

She Rises // Kate Worsley

The Mercies // Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Oranges are Not the Only Fruit // Jeanette Winterson

Maurice // E.M Forster

Frankisstein: A Love Story // Jeanette Winterson

If I Was Your Girl // Meredith Russo 

The Well of Loneliness // Radclyffe Hall 

* fyi, Life Mask and Girl, Woman, Other are also LGBT+ fiction

Classics I haven’t already mentioned (including children’s classics)

Far From the Madding Crowd // Thomas Hardy 

I Capture the Castle // Dodie Smith 

Vanity Fair // William Makepeace Thackeray 

Wuthering Heights // Emily Brontë

The Blazing World // Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle

Murder on the Orient Express // Agatha Christie 

Great Expectations // Charles Dickens

North and South // Elizabeth Gaskell

Evelina // Frances Burney

Death on the Nile // Agatha Christie

The Monk // Matthew Lewis

Frankenstein // Mary Shelley

Vilette // Charlotte Brontë

The Mayor of Casterbridge // Thomas Hardy

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall // Anne Brontë

Vile Bodies // Evelyn Waugh

Beloved // Toni Morrison 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd // Agatha Christie

The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling // Henry Fielding

A Room With a View // E.M. Forster

Silas Marner // George Eliot 

Jude the Obscure // Thomas Hardy

My Man Jeeves // P.G. Wodehouse

Lady Audley’s Secret // Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Middlemarch // George Eliot

Little Women // Louisa May Alcott

Children of the New Forest // Frederick Marryat

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings // Maya Angelou 

Rebecca // Daphne du Maurier

Alice in Wonderland // Lewis Carroll

The Wind in the Willows // Kenneth Grahame

Anna Karenina // Leo Tolstoy

Howard’s End // E.M. Forster

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 // Sue Townsend

Even more fiction recommendations

The Darling Strumpet // Gillian Bagwell

The Wolf Hall trilogy // Hilary Mantel

The Illumination of Ursula Flight // Anne-Marie Crowhurst

Queenie // Candace Carty-Williams

Forever Amber // Kathleen Winsor

The Corset // Laura Purcell

Love in Colour // Bolu Babalola

Artemisia // Alexandra Lapierre

Blackberry and Wild Rose // Sonia Velton

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories // Angela Carter

The Languedoc trilogy // Kate Mosse

Longbourn // Jo Baker

A Skinful of Shadows // Frances Hardinge

The Black Moth // Georgette Heyer

The Far Pavilions // M.M Kaye

The Essex Serpent // Sarah Perry

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo // Taylor Jenkins Reid

Cavalier Queen // Fiona Mountain 

The Winter Palace // Eva Stachniak

Friday’s Child // Georgette Heyer

Falling Angels // Tracy Chevalier

Little // Edward Carey

Chocolat // Joanne Harris 

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street // Natasha Pulley 

My Sister, the Serial Killer // Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Convenient Marriage // Georgette Heyer

Katie Mulholland // Catherine Cookson

Restoration // Rose Tremain

Meat Market // Juno Dawson

Lady on the Coin // Margaret Campbell Bowes

In the Company of the Courtesan // Sarah Dunant

The Crimson Petal and the White // Michel Faber

A Place of Greater Safety // Hilary Mantel 

The Little Shop of Found Things // Paula Brackston

The Improbability of Love // Hannah Rothschild

The Murder Most Unladylike series // Robin Stevens

Dark Angels // Karleen Koen

The Words in My Hand // Guinevere Glasfurd

Time’s Convert // Deborah Harkness

The Collector // John Fowles

Vivaldi’s Virgins // Barbara Quick

The Foundling // Stacey Halls

The Phantom Tree // Nicola Cornick

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle // Stuart Turton

Golden Hill // Francis Spufford

Assorted non-fiction not yet mentioned

The Dinosaur Hunters: A True Story of Scientific Rivalry and the Discovery of the Prehistoric World // Deborah Cadbury

The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History to the Italian Renaissance // Catherine Fletcher

All the King's Women: Love, Sex, and Politics in the life of Charles II // Derek Jackson

Mozart’s Women // Jane Glover

Scandalous Liaisons: Charles II and His Court // R.E. Pritchard

Matilda: Queen, Empress, Warrior // Catherine Hanley 

Black Tudors // Miranda Kaufman 

To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape // Charles Spencer

1666: Plague, War and Hellfire // Rebecca Rideal

Henrietta Maria: Charles I's Indomitable Queen // Alison Plowden

Catherine of Braganza: Charles II's Restoration Queen // Sarah-Beth Watkins

Four Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses // Helen Rappaport

Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832 // Stella Tillyard 

The Fortunes of Francis Barber: The True Story of the Jamaican Slave who Became Samuel Johnson’s Heir // Michael Bundock

Black London: Life Before Emancipation // Gretchen Gerzina

In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon’s Wars, 1793-1815

The King’s Mistress: Scandal, Intrigue and the True Story of the Woman who Stole the Heart of George I // Claudia Gold

Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson // Paula Byrne

The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian England // Amanda Vickery

Terms and Conditions: Life in Girls’ Boarding School, 1939-1979 // Ysenda Maxtone Graham 

Fanny Burney: A Biography // Claire Harman

Aphra Behn: A Secret Life // Janet Todd

The Imperial Harem: Women and the Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire // Leslie Peirce

The Fall of the House of Byron // Emily Brand

The Favourite: Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough // Ophelia Field

Night-Walking: A Nocturnal History of London // Matthew Beaumont, Will Self

Jane Austen: A Life // Claire Tomalin

Beloved Emma: The Life of Emma, Lady Hamilton // Flora Fraser

Sentimental Murder: Love and Madness in the 18th Century // John Brewer

Henrietta Howard: King’s Mistress, Queen’s Servant // Tracy Borman

City of Beasts: How Animals Shaped Georgian London // Tom Almeroth-Williams

Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion // Anne Somerset 

Charlotte Brontë: A Life // Claire Harman 

Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe // Anthony Summers

Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day // Peter Ackroyd 

Elizabeth I and Her Circle // Susan Doran

African Europeans: An Untold History // Olivette Otele 

Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron, and Other Tangled Lives // Daisy Hay

How to Create the Perfect Wife // Wendy Moore

The Sphinx: The Life of Gladys Deacon, Duchess of Marlborough // Hugo Vickers

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn // Eric Ives

Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy // Barbara Ehrenreich

A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie // Kathryn Harkup 

Mistresses: Sex and Scandal at the Court of Charles II // Linda Porter

Female Husbands: A Trans History // Jen Manion

Ladies in Waiting: From the Tudors to the Present Day // Anne Somerset

Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country // Edward Parnell 

A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles // Ned Palmer

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine // Lindsey Fitzharris

Medieval Woman: Village Life in the Middle Ages // Ann Baer

The Husband Hunters: Social Climbing in London and New York // Anne de Courcy

The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex, and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc // Suzannah Lipscomb

The Daughters of the Winter Queen // Nancy Goldstone

Mad and Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency // Bea Koch

Bess of Hardwick // Mary S. Lovell

The Royal Art of Poison // Eleanor Herman 

The Strangest Family: The Private Lives of George III, Queen Charlotte, and the Hanoverians // Janice Hadlow

Palaces of Pleasure: From Music Halls to the Seaside to Football; How the Victorians Invented Mass Entertainment // Lee Jackson

Favourite books about current social/political issues (?? for lack of a better term)

Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power // Lola Olufemi

Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Worker Rights // Molly Smith, Juno Mac

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race // Reni Eddo-Lodge

Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows // Christine Burns

Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism // Alison Phipps

Trans Like Me: A Journey For All Of Us // C.N Lester

Brit(Ish): On Race, Identity, and Belonging // Afua Hirsch 

The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence, and Cultural Restitution // Dan Hicks

Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls: A Handbook for Unapologetic Living // Jes M. Baker

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists Forgot // Mikki Kendall

Denial: Holocaust History on Trial // Deborah Lipstadt

Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape // Jessica Valenti, Jaclyn Friedman

Don’t Touch My Hair // Emma Dabiri

Sister Outsider // Audre Lorde 

Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen // Amrou Al-Kadhi

Trans Power // Juno Roche

Breathe: A Letter to My Sons // Imani Perry

The Windrush Betrayal: Exposing the Hostile Environment // Amelia Gentleman

Happy Fat: Taking Up Space in a World That Wants to Shrink You // Sofie Hagen

Diaries, memoirs & letters

The Diary of a Young Girl // Anne Frank

Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust // Renia Spiegel 

Writing Home // Alan Bennett

The Diary of Samuel Pepys // Samuel Pepys

Histoire de Ma Vie // Giacomo Casanova

Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger // Nigel Slater

London Journal, 1762-1763 // James Boswell

The Diary of a Bookseller // Shaun Blythell 

Jane Austen’s Letters // edited by Deidre la Faye

H is for Hawk // Helen Mcdonald 

The Salt Path // Raynor Winn

The Glitter and the Gold // Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough

Journals and Letters // Fanny Burney

Educated // Tara Westover

Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading // Lucy Mangan

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? // Jeanette Winterson

A Dutiful Boy // Mohsin Zaidi

Secrets and Lies: The Trials of Christine Keeler // Christine Keeler

800 Years of Women’s Letters // edited by Olga Kenyon

Istanbul // Orhan Pamuk

Henry and June // Anaïs Nin

Historical romance (this is a short list because I’m still fairly new to this genre)

The Bridgerton series // Julia Quinn

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover // Sarah Mclean

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake // Sarah Mclean

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics // Olivia Waite

That Could Be Enough // Alyssa Cole

Unveiled // Courtney Milan

The Craft of Love // EE Ottoman

The Maiden Lane series // Elizabeth Hoyt

An Extraordinary Union // Alyssa Cole

Slightly Dangerous // Mary Balogh

Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance // Jennieke Cohen

A Fashionable Indulgence // KJ Charles

[berkowitzbrat]

let’s talk about the occult

what have i spent my afternoon doing? looking a little like that one charlie day picture that denotes insanity. that said, i’ve gotten no further than maury terry did about 30 years ago.

so in the david berkowitz interview, in his own words, david speaks a little about untermyer park, owned by samuel untermyer, an attorney in NYC. he claimed that samuel ‘brushed shoulders’ with aleister crowley, and was in fact a member of the golden dawn, a hermetic magic order founded in england in 1887 and dissolved in 1903. aleister crowley was a member of such a society, and it inspired wicca and thelema among other satanic orders of the 20th century.

i find it ever so slightly hard to believe that untermyer himself was part of the golden dawn, because it was fairly limited to people in the UK and probably dissolved before he could get his hands on it. i think what david meant to allege was that untermyer was an attorney for a satanist, possibly crowley himself, though this is a... nebulous claim. nevertheless, some freaky shit went down at untermyer park, which, you guessed it, was owned and designed (quite beautifully) by samuel untermyer and named after him posthumously. so, what happened?

the process church likes german shepherds:

the process church of the final judgment, founded by mary ann maclean and robert de grimston (a close friend of charlie manson) was said to have been related to the manson family murders, and also the son of sam murders. the connection to the manson murders have a little more evidence, though are still largely baseless, but i’ll detail the reaches made for the son of sam ones.

the PCotFJ seemed to have a.. thing.. for german shepherds. not sure why, don’t think they killed them; but someone in yonkers, ny was. german shepherds started showing up, carefully mutilated and skinned, in the south aqueduct. this was in 1976, the start of the son of sam shootings, and also not the first instance of murdered alsatian dogs showing up in the park. these ‘sacrifices’ were thought to be part of the cult rituals and rites that went on in the park (which had been abandoned in the preceding decades and open to criminal activity and general mayhem because, why not) and known to those in the neighborhood. in the aforementioned interview, berkowitz claims he moved to pine street as to be close to this park and its ritual happenings. the aqueduct in the park was also colloquially referred to as ‘the gutter’ or ‘the sewer’, both of which are mentioned in one of the SOS letters (the hello from the gutters, hello from the sewers one)

hello from the gutters of nyc:

the fact that berkowitz lived near the park and used this terminology has led people to believe that he was involved in whichever cult operated in yonkers, based in untermyer. berkowitz himself claims that the cult had its headquarters in yonkers (god knows why you’d set up a cult hq in westchester) but this is always open to the interpretation of DB deflecting guilt and responsibility.

the terminology of ‘gutter’ is used in the letter to jimmy breslin, the one in which he lists the monikers of his supposed cult buddies, including john wheaties, thought to be john carr, sam carr’s son (yes; the sam carr with the dog, who was also apparently possessed by samhain, a 3000 year old druid. sam carr had a lot going on, it seems)

john carr and his brother both died in the years following berkowitz’s arrest, but DB maintains that they were part of the cult carrying out the SOS murders, and that the other memebers are alive and still operating (albeit as of 1979). DB also had his throat slit in prison for blabbing about the cult, supposedly, but as many of D’s stories do, this narrative has changed intermittently between ‘he tried to kill me for running my mouth’ and ‘he tried to kill me to make a name for himself’

my two cents:

personally, i think there’s something to this. the composite sketches look nothing like D and frankly all of them look different—even that awful one of richard ramirez looks at least something like him. still, i think it’s very tempting for D’s guilty conscience to latch into theories such as this which abridge his guilt. i don’t doubt there were stupid teenagers and young adults at untermyer park talking to the devil and killing animals, but i don’t think they’re part of the process church conspiracy necessarily.

[mementomorisam]

( jared padalecki, 30, cis male, he/him ) Welcome to Hell, oops I mean Seattle, SAM WINCHESTER. Are you really a HUNTER from SUPERNATURAL? I’ve heard you can be SELF-LOATHING & STUBBORN, but you’re also COMPASSIONATE & INTELLIGENT. Regardless, you better hope your survival instincts are refined.

the basics --

Full Name: Samuel William Winchester. Nicknames: Sam, Sammy, Bitch, Moose. Date of Birth: May 2nd. Species: Human (’special child’ -- term used in reference to the people whom were fed the demon Azazel’s blood as infants) Occupation: Hunter (saves people from monsters, demons, ghosts, and other creatures of the supernatural variety) Known Aliases: Agent Hamill, Robert Singer, Mr. Berkowitz, Detective McCreedy, Father Frehley, Dr. Jerry Kaplan, Deputy Marshal Frank Beard, Detective Dante, Police Chief Phil Jones, Agent Page, Detective Bachman, and Special Agent Gabriel. Physical Appearance: Sam stands at 6′5″ and is of muscular build. His hair is brown and on the longer side. His eyes are hazel (appearing a light green or brown, depending on the light). While typically clean shaven, has taken to sporting some stubble as of late. On his chest is a tattoo (anti-demon possession symbol) that matches that of his brother’s.

Personality: Sam is empathetic, intelligent, and independent. He’s kind and compassionate, seeing the potential of good in others, even some supernatural creatures. He can be quite stubborn at times, sticking to what he believes is right even if it causes conflicts between himself and his brother. He also carries a lot of guilt and self-loathing, being aware of his past mistakes. Mistakes that have caused pain (physical and emotional) to those he cares about.

biography key points --

For a more in-depth look at Sam and his journey thus far, feel free to take a look [ here ].

At six months old, Azazel visited him in his crib to feed Sam his blood. Upon being discovered, the demon killed Mary (Sam’s mother) and set the house ablaze.

His older brother, Dean, at the tender age of 4 helped him escape the flames.

From that point on, John (his father) became a scarce figure in his life, choosing his desire for vengeance on the demon over his children.

Sam was forced to grow up living a hunter’s lifestyle, something that he resented and rebelled against. As soon as he could, Sam left the lifestyle, in favor of a more ‘normal’ life by attending college.

At 22, when Sam was preparing to take on law school, he’s reunited with his brother who inform him that stheir father had gone missing while out on a ‘hunting trip.’

While assisting Dean for the weekend, Sam eventually returned to school to witness his girlfriend (Jess) suffer the same fate as his mother, embarking him on the journey to find his father and the demon that took both his mother and girlfriend from him.

John re-entered the brothers’ lives only to be taken from them through a deal with a demon that exchanged John’s life for Dean’s.

Dean reveals a secret that John confessed to him before dying. That Sam had demon blood running through his veins and Azazel had evil plans for him. If Dean couldn’t save him then he would have to kill Sam. 

During the journey to kill the yellow eyed demon, Azazel, Sam ends up trapped with others like him (psychics, special children) where they have to battle it out. Dean eventually finds Sam but is killed by one of the psychics.

Sam is brought back to the living when Dean makes a deal with a demon, exchanging his soul for Sam’s life.

Try as they might to find a loophole and save Dean’s life, Sam has to witness his brother’s death.

While his brother is gone, Sam is coaxed to indulge in drinking demon blood and tapping into his demonic powers by a demon (Ruby). An act that he quickly becomes addicted to as not even his brother’s return is able to stop him from this horrible behavior. Eventually Dean discovers the truth and attempts to help him.

Sam continues to put his trust in Ruby, believing she’s attempting to help him stop Lucifer from being brought to earth only to become the reason that the fallen angel is released when he kills Lilith (the first demon who had been attempting to break the seal holding Lucifer back).

Seeking to redeem himself for having released Lucifer, Sam learns he is to be the fallen angel’s vessel and, eventually, allows Lucifer to take control of him. While Lucifer is in possession of him, Sam manages to regain control long enough to open the gate to Hell and throw himself in.

Sam is returned to earth, though his soul remains in Hell, tortured.

Death returns Sam’s soul though a barrier is placed to block his memories of Hell. Eventually, he breaks through the wall that had been erected and remembers.

During this time the brothers are betrayed by Castiel (who had brought him back from Hell) by partnering with a demon and opening up Purgatory, taking souls into himself then proclaim himself as God.

With the wall between Sam and his memories broken, his mental state begins to deteriorate. He begins to have hallucinations of Lucifer that torment him.

The souls within the angel Castiel are returned but Leviathans are released in the process, setting the brothers on a new journey to stop them.

With Sam’s mental state in continual deterioration, Castiel intervenes, taking on Sam’s suffering and allowing the hunter to continue on with his life.

While on their journey to stop Leviathans, the brothers lose their father figure, Bobby. And it all comes to a head with the Leviathans’ defeat but Dean and Castiel are sent to Purgatory in the process.

With his brother gone, Sam begins to live a normal life.

The brothers are reunited when Dean finds a way to escape Purgatory and, eventually, Sam makes the decision to rededicate himself to hunting.

NOW -- (plot related)

Having discovered that there is a way to seal the gates of hell forever through three trials, the brothers (more specifically, Sam) set about completing them only to find themselves unable to do so when, after the first two trials had been completed, the world was set upside down by Chuck.

important relationships --

Dean Winchester [ brother].

John Winchester [ father ].

Bobby Singer [ father figure, mentor ].

Castiel [ savior ].

[sciencespies]

Over 100 years of searching hasn't found key differences between male and female brains

https://sciencespies.com/humans/over-100-years-of-searching-hasnt-found-key-differences-between-male-and-female-brains/

Over 100 years of searching hasn't found key differences between male and female brains

People have searched for sex differences in human brains since at least the 19th century, when scientist Samuel George Morton poured seeds and lead shot into human skulls to measure their volumes.

Gustave Le Bon found men’s brains are usually larger than women’s, which prompted Alexander Bains and George Romanes to argue this size difference makes men smarter. But John Stuart Mill pointed out, by this criterion, elephants and whales should be smarter than people.

So focus shifted to the relative sizes of brain regions. Phrenologists suggested the part of the cerebrum above the eyes, called the frontal lobe, is most important for intelligence and is proportionally larger in men, while the parietal lobe, just behind the frontal lobe, is proportionally larger in women. Later, neuroanatomists argued instead the parietal lobe is more important for intelligence and men’s are actually larger.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, researchers looked for distinctively female or male characteristics in smaller brain subdivisions. As a behavioral neurobiologist and author, I think this search is misguided because human brains are so varied.

Anatomical brain differences

The largest and most consistent brain sex difference has been found in the hypothalamus, a small structure that regulates reproductive physiology and behavior. At least one hypothalamic subdivision is larger in male rodents and humans.

But the goal for many researchers was to identify brain causes of supposed sex differences in thinking – not just reproductive physiology – and so attention turned to the large human cerebrum, which is responsible for intelligence.

Within the cerebrum, no region has received more attention in both race and sex difference research than the corpus callosum, a thick band of nerve fibers that carries signals between the two cerebral hemispheres.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, some researchers found the whole corpus callosum is proportionally larger in women on average while others found only certain parts are bigger. This difference drew popular attention and was suggested to cause cognitive sex differences.

But smaller brains have a proportionally larger corpus callosum regardless of the owner’s sex, and studies of this structure’s size differences have been inconsistent. The story is similar for other cerebral measures, which is why trying to explain supposed cognitive sex differences through brain anatomy has not been very fruitful.

Female and male traits typically overlap

Even when a brain region shows a sex difference on average, there is typically considerable overlap between the male and female distributions. If a trait’s measurement is in the overlapping region, one cannot predict the person’s sex with confidence.

Chart shows how measurements that differ between sexes (f = pink, m = blue) also overlap. (Ari Berkowitz, CC BY)

For example, think about height. I am 5’7″. Does that tell you my sex? And brain regions typically show much smaller average sex differences than height does.

Neuroscientist Daphna Joel and her colleagues examined MRIs of over 1,400 brains, measuring the 10 human brain regions with the largest average sex differences.

They assessed whether each measurement in each person was toward the female end of the spectrum, toward the male end or intermediate. They found that only 3 percent to 6 percent of people were consistently “female” or “male” for all structures. Everyone else was a mosaic.

Prenatal hormones

When brain sex differences do occur, what causes them?

A 1959 study first demonstrated that an injection of testosterone into a pregnant rodent causes her female offspring to display male sexual behaviors as adults.

The authors inferred that prenatal testosterone (normally secreted by the fetal testes) permanently “organizes” the brain. Many later studies showed this to be essentially correct, though oversimplified for nonhumans.

Researchers cannot ethically alter human prenatal hormone levels, so they rely on “accidental experiments” in which prenatal hormone levels or responses to them were unusual, such as with intersex people.

But hormonal and environmental effects are entangled in these studies, and findings of brain sex differences have been inconsistent, leaving scientists without clear conclusions for humans.

Genes cause some brain sex differences

While prenatal hormones probably cause most brain sex differences in nonhumans, there are some cases where the cause is directly genetic.

This was dramatically shown by a zebra finch with a strange anomaly – it was male on its right side and female on its left. A singing-related brain structure was enlarged (as in typical males) only on the right, though the two sides experienced the same hormonal environment.

Thus, its brain asymmetry was not caused by hormones, but by genes directly. Since then, direct effects of genes on brain sex differences have also been found in mice.

Learning changes the brain

Many people assume human brain sex differences are innate, but this assumption is misguided.

Humans learn quickly in childhood and continue learning – alas, more slowly – as adults. From remembering facts or conversations to improving musical or athletic skills, learning alters connections between nerve cells called synapses. These changes are numerous and frequent but typically microscopic – less than one hundredth of the width of a human hair.

Studies of an unusual profession, however, show learning can change adult brains dramatically. London taxi drivers are required to memorize “the Knowledge” – the complex routes, roads and landmarks of their city.

Researchers discovered this learning physically altered a driver’s hippocampus, a brain region critical for navigation. London taxi drivers’ posterior hippocampi were found to be larger than nondrivers by millimeters – more than 1,000 times the size of synapses.

So it’s not realistic to assume any human brain sex differences are innate. They may also result from learning. People live in a fundamentally gendered culture, in which parenting, education, expectations and opportunities differ based on sex, from birth through adulthood, which inevitably changes the brain.

Ultimately, any sex differences in brain structures are most likely due to a complex and interacting combination of genes, hormones and learning.

Ari Berkowitz, Presidential Professor of Biology; Director, Cellular & Behavioral Neurobiology Graduate Program, University of Oklahoma.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

#Humans

[blackyouthproject]

Landlord set on destroying iconic Biggie Smalls mural in Brooklyn

Landlord set on destroying iconic Biggie Smalls mural in Brooklyn

For two years, a mural dedicated to Brooklyn’s own Biggie Smalls could be seen on a building at Bedford Ave. and Quincy St. Sadly, due to the landlord’s determination to renovate the building, the mural is likely going to be destroyed.  (more…)

[mountainsatellite]

9 people you want to get to know better - tagged by @hixystix

Last song: The Mandalorian - Epic Version by Samuel Kim (lmao it’s on my fanfic playlist)

Last show: Vox’s Explained on Netflix.

Currently watching: Space Force s2. It’s so good you guys.

Currently reading: Hahahahahahahaha I can’t focus on anything anymore

American Cheese by Joe Berkowitz

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Broken by Jenny Lawson

Bad at tagging, so if you want to, knock yourself out.

[jewishsimming]

So to recap (because it's been a while, sorry) Aaron married his wife Greta in mid-1915, and since then they've been working on fixing up the farm.

Oh, did I say they? I meant Greta, because Aaron's been busy studying to pass his exam to be a lawyer. He's never had much interest in keeping the family farm going, but Greta is a good wife from farmer stock and knows the value of hard work. So there she is cutting grass at 16 weeks pregnant while her husband is... somewhere, doing something.

(He's kind of a jerk, if you haven't figured it out yet).

Once their first child Esti (named for his mother) is born, Greta devotes herself to caring for the baby, and with Aaron receiving an offer of employment with his first law firm, farm chores begin to fall by the way side.

Fortunately, Sarah's eldest son Sam has no interest in continuing his education beyond primary school, and every interest in learning to manage the farm. So he moves in with Aaron and Greta and gets to work.

[sporadiceagleheart]

Louis XVII, Shirley Temple, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, Jailah Nicole Silguero, Serenity Gail Elmore, Ava Jordan Wood, Skylar Annette "Sky " Neese, Semina Mary Halliwell, Saffie-Rose Brenda Roussos, Makenna Lee “Kenna” Elrod Seiler, Eliahna “Ellie or Elle” Torres, Jacklyn Jaylen “Jackie” Cazares, Layla Salazar, JonBenèt Ramsey, Destiny Arianna Kay Riekeberg, Catherine Violet Hubbard, Sloan Mattingly, Audrii Cunningham, Liliana Marie “Lily” Peters, Olivia Pratt Korbel, Elizabeth Shelley, Sara Sharif, Charlotte Figi, Jersey Dianne Bridgeman, Sidra Hassouna, Avery Jean Lane, Hartog “Harry” Abram, Helena “Hetty” Abram, Pauline “Paultje” Adelaar, Walter Adler, Samuel Max “Sam” Akker, Felilia Alter, Berta Ament, Dora Ament, Deborah Gail “Debbi” Stone, Deborah Anne “Debbie” Bricca, Ingeborg Hertha Angress, Klaus Angress, Fiorella Anticoli, Fiorella Anticoli, Zdenka Apler, Nelli Apter, Matilda Aron, Elena “Lena” Aronova, Moisei Novodvorski Aronovitz, Lois Janes, Luise Charlotte zu Mecklenburg, Sophie d'Artois, Hubert Restoueix était le fils de Jean (né le 19 juin 1886, à Cognac-la-Forêt), forgeron, et de son épouse Anna née Teillet, Renate Charlotte Asch, Rebecca Asser, Marika Miriam Austerlitz, Hans Peter Bacharach, Ichak Bachrach, Abraham “Appie” Barend, Aron Barend, Eva Barend, Andras Barta, Rudolf Max Bartenstein, Anna Veronika Bartok, Betje Baruch, Silvia Juliette Basch, Frederik Jack Batavier, Yekhiel Bauman, Leopold Becher, Edith Roseij Beek, Kazbek Bekoyev, Arnold Belgorodski, Roza Belotinski, Lora Ben, Pauli Benger, Gabriel Berger, Judit Berger, Sarlota Sheina Berger, Yaacov Yehuda Bergman, Ervin Shraga Berkovits, Andreas Pista Berkovitz, Ibolya “Ibike” Berkovitz, Brigitta Ruth Berkowitz, Etylda Berkowitz, Max Meir Bermann, Marika Besnyo, Levie Beugeltas, Egon Birnbaum, Mei Leung, Dayle Okazaki, Lucy Morgan, Mendel Blank, Ziko Blank, Anna Glinberg,

[cfijerusalem]

NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE WITH  GOD: ONE MONTH OF RAIN IN ONE NIGHT.

“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27.

“In those days, ten men from nations of every tongue will take hold – they will take hold of every Yehudi by a corner of his cloak and say, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that Hashem is with you’” Zechariah 8:23 (The Israel Bible). 

We have many miracles here in the Land of Israel all year round. We want the nations to hear about them. One recent one is rain. The word for rain in Hebrew is geshem. It literally means “timely/blessed rain” geshem bracha. If it rains earlier or later, it can damage the produce. For that reason, the Hebrew language has special words for the first rain yoreh and for the last rain of the season malkosh. The Torah tells us that rainfall in Israel is dependent on keeping God’s laws. Prayers for rain have been bountifully answered this year. Reports inform us that Israel normally receives seven inches of rain for the entire month; seven inches fell overnight on a Sabbath when Jews read the Torah portion of Toldot making it one of the rainiest days in modern Israel’s history. Some areas of Israel’s coast have already seen over 40% of their average annual rainfall. Mount Hermon in the north received its first snow of the season.

“Rain in Israel is a reflection of the relationship between the Jews and God. ‘If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving Hashem your God and serving Him with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late…’ Deuteronomy 11:13-14. Eleven years ago, Israel was suffering from a horrible drought. Recently during this pandemic, rains fell here, but another plague of locusts hit Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It was right after Israel recited a passage in the Bible ‘For if you refuse to let My people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts on your territory’ Exodus 10:4 The Israel Bible.” ~ Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, Biblical News

A massive swarm of locusts ate up everything in its path in Africa and crossed the Red Sea into Saudi Arabia. For now, the Arabians have it under control, but if it continues to spread (which it seems to be doing), it could bring a welcome respite to war-torn Yemen whose starving inhabitants consider the locust to be a delicacy. In the summer of 2019, locusts invaded Yemen just prior to the month-long Ramadan fast. The insects were snatched up by the Yemenis who traditionally eat them roasted as a protein served with rice and vegetables. Yemenis claim that eating them has health benefits which include easing diabetes and hypertension. Despite human consumption of insects being strictly forbidden by the Torah, locusts are the notable exception and are kosher (Leviticus 11:22-23). It is interesting to note that recently Jews in synagogues all around the world were reading Parsha Bo - the section of the Torah describing the plague of locusts that struck Egypt before the Exodus. Locusts invaded all the land of Egypt and settled within all the territory of Egypt in a thick mass; never before had there been so many, nor will there ever be so many again. They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt (Exodus 10:14-15).

According to Jewish tradition and based on a verse in Micah, the ten-plagues will reappear before the Messiah. “I will show him wondrous deeds, as in the days when You sallied forth from the land of Egypt” Micah 7:15. Jewish sources predict that all of the plagues will reappear in the final Redemption but in even more powerful forms. It is written in Midrash Tanchuma, homiletic teachings collected around the fifth century, that “just as God struck the Egyptians with 10 plagues, so too He will strike the enemies of the Jewish people at the time of the Redemption.” Rabbi Bahya Ben Asher, a 13th-century Spanish commentator, wrote, “In Egypt, God used only part of His strength. When the final redemption comes, God will show much, much more of His power.” The world is ripe for judgment, including God’s People who need to return to God’s ways. However, we know that God is at work in Israel, as well as in the nations. Nothing – nothing at all is impossible with Him. We need to “watch and pray” Matthew 26:41 as Jesus instructed us. This way we will be encouraged that we are moving forward in redemption for Israel and the nations. Keep looking “up” and you will “hear” more about what He will do with His Chosen People in the latter days.

Let’s Enter the Throne Room in Unity and Purpose

REAL TIME PRAYER CONCERNS

Syrian media reported seeing Syrian Army Troops on the Lebanese side of the Hermon Mount recently. (With its summit straddling the border between Syria and Lebanon, Mount Hermon was captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. After becoming the northernmost point in Israel and therefore of huge strategic significance, the Hermon was recaptured by Syria at the outset of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It was recaptured by Israel after fierce fighting by the Golani brigade.  

The pre-Yom Kippur War Syrian-controlled sector was returned to Syria after the war. Syria maintained an extended occupation of Lebanon from 1976 to 2005.) Headlines here read: “Syrian Troops Spotted Amassing Near Israel’s Mt. Hermon Border” (Adam Berkowitz, January 2021).The area has become very active lately. Recently also, four Syrian family members were killed by falling debris from the Syrian air-defense system reacting to an alleged Israeli airstrike. On January 13, airstrikes also attributed to Israel targeted dozens of sites in the Deir al-Zor region of eastern Syria resulting in 25-50 casualties. Two weeks earlier, an attack attributed to Israel targeted a munitions factory in north-western Syria near the city of Masyaf. There is so much hatred of Israel by Arab nations; however on the other hand, a Muslim Mayor of Nazareth says :We love Israel” (David Sidman reported).

Pray for Godly leaders in Israel’s government (Memshala, ממשלה ) in Hebrew, to arise in Israel to replace the disunity with unity. The real King of Israel is yet to come back. That’s Yeshua! Until then “...give them a warning. Tell the people what a king will do to them. Tell them how a king rules people” (I Samuel 8:9 ERV).

Ask God to give Israel wisdom as the IDF prepares in a massive war drill slated for this upcoming summer. The drill is expected to last a month and will simulate a full-scale war, including with Gaza, and extending to the northern threat, which will be the main focus. “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.” (Proverbs 4:6-7).

Intercede for a real spiritual change to take place in the people of Israel as disunity and division is reigning at the moment. All need to draw back to God and follow His Ways. “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

Thank God that even though Israel claims democracy, they must still look for their King. May they be able to see that they can never be truly satisfied with a political kingdom, but need a theocracy in which God Almighty will rule. (Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2). Proclaim the Coming Kingdom under God’s government and according to His Ways.

Be hopeful and look up for the Torah will “go forth” to the world the way the Coming King will deliver it, not the way of rabbis, not the way of pastors, but the voice of the Word of God through the King of Kings.

Praise the God of Israel that He has a plan to remove the system(s) of the world. Man has tried to perfect it - but it is worldly. Thank God for the days when man shall not have positions, titles, nor power, but all will bow the knee to the God of Israel and His Messiah. (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11).

Pray and intercede for Yeshua to come and establish God’s Kingdom on earth in Jerusalem. Christians are citizens of that Kingdom along with a redeemed Israel that will emerge when He arises. Our identity is here with Israel. “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).

Keep our eyes upon the Mountain of the Lord, Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Pray for Godly voices to arise in Israel to want to bring the people back to the Torah of Almighty God. Yeshua (Jesus) was always teaching it to His Disciples as we see in the New Testament. May the Church, along with Israel, no longer reject the truth of God’s Word, but abide by it and be reminded that in spite of hardships and hard days, God is going to fulfil every “jot and tittle” of His Word just as Jesus told us He will. (Matthew 5:18).

Many here in Israel realize that Israel is on her way to Redemption. It may not appear to be that way, but God is always working towards His Goals and His Word. That means in our Christian terminology that the approaching of the Messianic Kingdom is in motion. Birth pangs will be difficult, but as in any birth, one must “pass through” or “pass over” the pain of it all. Each new day here brings forth new opportunities to be a shining light to Israel and to prepare the way of the Lord. Thank you for every prayer warrior around the world. Let us all continue to pray, “Thy Kingdom come...on earth...” (Matthew 6:10). Won’t it be wonderful to see how the Lord changes many hearts upon His arrival?

Until that time, continue to persevere in prayer, believe the Promises of God for Israel and the Nations, and to remember to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). Troubling days lie ahead.

Lots of love always.

In His Service Together,

Sharon Sanders

Christian Friends of Israel - Jerusalem

[judchuks1]

Brain scientists haven't been able to find major differences between women's and men's brains, despite over a century of searching

Brain scientists haven’t been able to find major differences between women’s and men’s brains, despite over a century of searching

Are there innate differences between female and male brains? SebastianKaulitzki/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Ari Berkowitz, University of Oklahoma

People have searched for sex differences in human brains since at least the 19th century, when scientist Samuel George Morton poured seeds and lead shot into human skulls to measure their volumes. Gustave Le Bon found men’s brainsare usually…

[didanawisgi]

A Letter on Justice and Open Debate

July 7, 2020

The below letter will be appearing in the Letters section of the magazine’s October issue. We welcome responses at letters@harpers.org

“Our cultural institutions are facing a moment of trial. Powerful protests for racial and social justice are leading to overdue demands for police reform, along with wider calls for greater equality and inclusion across our society, not least in higher education, journalism, philanthropy, and the arts. But this needed reckoning has also intensified a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that tend to weaken our norms of open debate and toleration of differences in favor of ideological conformity. As we applaud the first development, we also raise our voices against the second. The forces of illiberalism are gaining strength throughout the world and have a powerful ally in Donald Trump, who represents a real threat to democracy. But resistance must not be allowed to harden into its own brand of dogma or coercion—which right-wing demagogues are already exploiting. The democratic inclusion we want can be achieved only if we speak out against the intolerant climate that has set in on all sides.

The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted. While we have come to expect this on the radical right, censoriousness is also spreading more widely in our culture: an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty. We uphold the value of robust and even caustic counter-speech from all quarters. But it is now all too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to perceived transgressions of speech and thought. More troubling still, institutional leaders, in a spirit of panicked damage control, are delivering hasty and disproportionate punishments instead of considered reforms. Editors are fired for running controversial pieces; books are withdrawn for alleged inauthenticity; journalists are barred from writing on certain topics; professors are investigated for quoting works of literature in class; a researcher is fired for circulating a peer-reviewed academic study; and the heads of organizations are ousted for what are sometimes just clumsy mistakes. Whatever the arguments around each particular incident, the result has been to steadily narrow the boundaries of what can be said without the threat of reprisal. We are already paying the price in greater risk aversion among writers, artists, and journalists who fear for their livelihoods if they depart from the consensus, or even lack sufficient zeal in agreement.

This stifling atmosphere will ultimately harm the most vital causes of our time. The restriction of debate, whether by a repressive government or an intolerant society, invariably hurts those who lack power and makes everyone less capable of democratic participation. The way to defeat bad ideas is by exposure, argument, and persuasion, not by trying to silence or wish them away. We refuse any false choice between justice and freedom, which cannot exist without each other. As writers we need a culture that leaves us room for experimentation, risk taking, and even mistakes. We need to preserve the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences. If we won’t defend the very thing on which our work depends, we shouldn’t expect the public or the state to defend it for us.”

Elliot Ackerman Saladin Ambar, Rutgers University Martin Amis Anne Applebaum Marie Arana, author Margaret Atwood John Banville Mia Bay, historian Louis Begley, writer Roger Berkowitz, Bard College Paul Berman, writer Sheri Berman, Barnard College Reginald Dwayne Betts, poet Neil Blair, agent David W. Blight, Yale University Jennifer Finney Boylan, author David Bromwich David Brooks, columnist Ian Buruma, Bard College Lea Carpenter Noam Chomsky, MIT (emeritus) Nicholas A. Christakis, Yale University Roger Cohen, writer Ambassador Frances D. Cook, ret. Drucilla Cornell, Founder, uBuntu Project Kamel Daoud Meghan Daum, writer Gerald Early, Washington University-St. Louis Jeffrey Eugenides, writer Dexter Filkins Federico Finchelstein, The New School Caitlin Flanagan Richard T. Ford, Stanford Law School Kmele Foster David Frum, journalist Francis Fukuyama, Stanford University Atul Gawande, Harvard University Todd Gitlin, Columbia University Kim Ghattas Malcolm Gladwell Michelle Goldberg, columnist Rebecca Goldstein, writer Anthony Grafton, Princeton University David Greenberg, Rutgers University Linda Greenhouse Rinne B. Groff, playwright Sarah Haider, activist Jonathan Haidt, NYU-Stern Roya Hakakian, writer Shadi Hamid, Brookings Institution Jeet Heer, The Nation Katie Herzog, podcast host Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College Adam Hochschild, author Arlie Russell Hochschild, author Eva Hoffman, writer Coleman Hughes, writer/Manhattan Institute Hussein Ibish, Arab Gulf States Institute Michael Ignatieff Zaid Jilani, journalist Bill T. Jones, New York Live Arts Wendy Kaminer, writer Matthew Karp, Princeton University Garry Kasparov, Renew Democracy Initiative Daniel Kehlmann, writer Randall Kennedy Khaled Khalifa, writer Parag Khanna, author Laura Kipnis, Northwestern University Frances Kissling, Center for Health, Ethics, Social Policy Enrique Krauze, historian Anthony Kronman, Yale University Joy Ladin, Yeshiva University Nicholas Lemann, Columbia University Mark Lilla, Columbia University Susie Linfield, New York University Damon Linker, writer Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Steven Lukes, New York University John R. MacArthur, publisher, writer

Susan Madrak, writer

Phoebe Maltz Bovy, writer

Greil Marcus Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Kati Marton, author Debra Mashek, scholar Deirdre McCloskey, University of Illinois at Chicago John McWhorter, Columbia University Uday Mehta, City University of New York Andrew Moravcsik, Princeton University Yascha Mounk, Persuasion Samuel Moyn, Yale University Meera Nanda, writer and teacher Cary Nelson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Olivia Nuzzi, New York Magazine Mark Oppenheimer, Yale University Dael Orlandersmith, writer/performer George Packer Nell Irvin Painter, Princeton University (emerita) Greg Pardlo, Rutgers University – Camden Orlando Patterson, Harvard University Steven Pinker, Harvard University Letty Cottin Pogrebin Katha Pollitt, writer Claire Bond Potter, The New School Taufiq Rahim Zia Haider Rahman, writer Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, University of Wisconsin Jonathan Rauch, Brookings Institution/The Atlantic Neil Roberts, political theorist Melvin Rogers, Brown University Kat Rosenfield, writer Loretta J. Ross, Smith College J.K. Rowling Salman Rushdie, New York University Karim Sadjadpour, Carnegie Endowment Daryl Michael Scott, Howard University Diana Senechal, teacher and writer Jennifer Senior, columnist Judith Shulevitz, writer Jesse Singal, journalist Anne-Marie Slaughter Andrew Solomon, writer Deborah Solomon, critic and biographer Allison Stanger, Middlebury College Paul Starr, American Prospect/Princeton University Wendell Steavenson, writer Gloria Steinem, writer and activist Nadine Strossen, New York Law School Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., Harvard Law School Kian Tajbakhsh, Columbia University Zephyr Teachout, Fordham University Cynthia Tucker, University of South Alabama Adaner Usmani, Harvard University Chloe Valdary Helen Vendler, Harvard University Judy B. Walzer Michael Walzer Eric K. Washington, historian Caroline Weber, historian Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers Bari Weiss Sean Wilentz, Princeton University Garry Wills Thomas Chatterton Williams, writer Robert F. Worth, journalist and author Molly Worthen, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Matthew Yglesias Emily Yoffe, journalist Cathy Young, journalist Fareed Zakaria

[emwinters]

from @gregorysiff I MIGHT JUST, 2020, acrylic and krink on canvas, 36 x 36 in. A new canvas for a new show that will exist this evening. @TZPROJECTS Tonight exhibiting strong with many prolific LA Artists on glass. CURATED BY: TORIE ZALBEN Going Home: a picture show TZPROJECTS 8070 BEVERLY BLVD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90048 May 15, 6 PM - 12 AM — ends May 20, 2020 GOING HOME: a picture show will be a drive-by and walk-up-to art show. @penskeprojects @theartofelysium @projectangelfood @addlanes @4am_gallery @this_means @rude_inn @sophiapenske @rusconistudios @beaudunn @garybaseman @shananys @robertstandish @andymosesart @therealpazdelahuerta @daviddonaldsutherland #gregorysiff Going Home: a picture show is about the notion of home. For some it can be the final destination, for others it can be a feeling. Many unrelated images will connect via a slideshow to create a visual sense of home, meaning and purpose as to where we may be going to and coming from during this unprecedented time in history. TZ PROJECTS is an alternative not-for-profit space located at 8070 Beverly Blvd. that presents the work of both established and emerging artists in experimental exhibition modalities that advocates for the power of art in uncertain times. The launch on MAY 15TH consists of projected video window displays to provide a destination activity for Angelenos during quarantine. RULES: You can view the show from your car or walk up to the window display while adhering to social distancing guidelines. ARTISTS: AARON AXELROD, ADRIAN ARREDONDO, ADRIENNE ADAR, ALDO CHACON, ALEX COUTO, ANDREW MADRID, AMANDA FLOWERS, ANDY MOSES, ANGELA VIENS, ANTHONY JAMES, BEAU DUNN, CHANNING HANSEN, CHRISTY ROBERTS BERKOWITZ, CLAIRE CHAMBLESS, DAISY MECINAS, DIANE HOLLAND, DARIAN ZAHEDI, DAVID DONALD SUTHERLAND, FORREST KIRK, FAWN ROGERS, GARY BASEMAN, JAMES GALLAGHER, JAMES ORLANDO, LEV ABRAMOV, MARINA MASIC, MAX JANSONS, MAX OSTROW, MELANIE PULLEN, NED LOW, OSCEOLA REFETOFF, PATTI PENN, PAUL RUSCONI, PAULO TORRES, PAZ DE LA HUERTA, RIVER GALLO, ROBERT STANDISH, SALOMON HUERTA, SAMUEL J. ROBERTS, SARAH BAHBAH, SARAH SITKIN, SPENCER MAR GUILBURT, TOMMY MAY, ZELLAH DE BELLA, SHANA NYS DAM https://www.instagram.com/p/CBQDAc5nyxf/?igshid=8tq3ckbetgio