Last night I was looking at the Governor’s home in Salem. This Tudor is my kind of place, except – it is too big! Prophets are supposed to live in caves. All night I dreamt about my Prophetic Posts. Meta crashed after I posted on my Computer Fiction. Russia shut down a radio station. Phill Knight gave his first contribution. There is talk about Civil War- and fear of Trump’s evangelical followers! If I do not dwell in Salem, I will run for Prophetic President of the United States. Will Trump be alive? Will we wrestle for the nomination of the Republican Party – founded by folks in my family tree? However, this mansion would be perfect for meetings for my Shakespeare Society and my Sir Francis Drake Treasure Hunt NFT. I might operate a Harry Potter-like School For Prophetic Children with Reader’s Clubs!
How about a College of Augury? I suspect the Master Augur, Pontius Pilate, put Jesus to an Agur’s Test and found him “without fault”. Didn’t Jesus say he was going to build a new temple?
John Presco ‘Prophetic Politician’
By Hillary Borrud | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Nike co-founder Phil Knight has written his first big check to a candidate in this year’s Oregon governor’s race: $250,000 to unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson.
Johnson’s campaign received the donation on Monday and disclosed it in the state’s campaign finance system Thursday morning. The six-figure donation could mean Johnson has locked down a commitment from Knight to supply her campaign with more cash in the months ahead.
The Royal Air Force scrambled fighter jets Thursday in response to aircraft approaching a UK “area of interest.”
- British authorities declined to identify the nationality of the approaching aircraft.
- On Wednesday, British aircraft intercepted four Russian strategic bombers amid rising tensions between Putin and NATO over Ukraine.
Just one day after intercepting a handful of Russian strategic bombers, the Royal Air Force again scrambled fighter jets Thursday in response to more aircraft approaching a UK “area of interest.”
“Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighters from RAF Lossiemouth, supported by a Voyager Tanker from RAF Brize Norton, have been launched against aircraft approaching the UK area of interest,” a RAF spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.
“We will not be offering any additional detail on this ongoing operation until complete,” the air service said, declining to identify the nationality of the aircraft.
Thursday’s incident follows an engagement the day before with four Russian bear bombers.
U.S. State Department approves first potential weapons sales under Biden, says Pentagon | Reuters
Wayne Morse and the Vietnam War | Wayne Morse Center (uoregon.edu)
Does Trump have the right to send in federal forces? – BBC News
Dürer drawing bought at a yard sale for $30 is worth more than $10 million, experts say (msn.com)
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (darpa.mil)
At RNC gathering, rift emerges between Trump’s interests and the GOP’s (msn.com)
off former President Donald Trump. They all recognize his singular hold over the party’s electoral base.
But a distinct chasm is emerging between Trump’s obsessions and the issues many GOP operatives consider crucial to winning the midterm elections in November. Republican candidates need to make voters’ concerns a central focus, as opposed to Trump’s day-to-day attacks, RNC members suggested this week.
Few will put it quite so bluntly; they are loath to antagonize Trump and possibly drive off his hard-core followers. Yet in interviews, party officials showed little appetite for organizing the GOP around Trump’s grievances.
Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio Sees U.S. on Path to Civil War as Political Polarization Rises (msn.com)
(Bloomberg) — Ray Dalio warned Thursday that the U.S. appears to be on a “classic path” toward “some form” of a civil war amid a dangerous combination of large deficits, high taxes, inflation and gaps in wealth and values that lead to political polarization.
“When that happens at the same time as there are foreign powers that are becoming strong enough to challenge the leading world power that is encountering this civil war dynamic, it is an especially risky period,” he wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “That is the period I believe we are now in.”
Dalio, the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, said that both the left and right are “fighting to win at all costs,” eliminating moderates and the ability to compromise as a result. He said that a “loss of truth” in the public domain was making some people “too afraid” to speak up or run for public office.
“The biggest question is how much the system will bend before it breaks,” Dalio said. “History shows that the biggest risk to democracies is that they produce such fragmented and antagonistic decision making that they are ineffective and disorderly which leads to bad results and revolutions.”
6 Reasons Meta Is in Trouble (msn.com)
eta, the company formerly known as Facebook, suffered its biggest one-day wipeout ever on Thursday as its stock plummeted 26 percent and its market value plunged by more than $230 billion.
ts crash followed a dismal earnings report on Wednesday, when Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive, laid out how the company was navigating a tricky transition from social networking toward the so-called virtual world of the metaverse. On Thursday, a company spokesman reiterated statements from its earnings announcement and declined to comment further.
Russia and China Align Against U.S As They Issue Demands to Joe Biden (msn.com)
Beijing on Friday ahead of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
Russia and China’s leaders issued a joint statement after the summit, calling on NATO to rule out expansion in eastern Europe and criticizing Asia-Pacific security blocs.
They also called on the U.S. to abandon plans to deploy intermediate and shorter-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.
The statement released by the Kremlin said China and Russia “oppose the further expansion” of the U.S-led alliance, calling on the organization to “abandon the ideological approaches of the Cold War era.”
German anger as Russia shuts global broadcaster DW (msn.com)
Germany and the EU have condemned Russia’s decision to shut down the Moscow bureau of international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).
Phil Knight makes first donation in 2022 Oregon governor’s race – oregonlive.com
Kesey Mural Passes Augur’s Test
Posted on August 25, 2015 by Royal Rosamond Press
Work on the Ken Kesey mural in downtown Springfield came to a sudden halt while I registered the auspices of this grand undertaking. As Master Augur of the West Coast, I felt it was my civic duty to put Ken’s mural to the Augur’s Acid Test. I am happy to report this fine work of art passed with flying colors.
Jon ‘The Augur’
“Let the boundaries of my templa and the wild lands (tesca) be as I declare them with my words. That tree of whatever kind it is which I deem myself to have named, let it be the boundary of my templum and the wild land to the right. That tree, of whatever kind it is, insofar as I deem myself to have named it, let it be the boundary of my temple and the wild land on the left. Between these points I have established the templa and the wild lands by means of directing (conregione), viewing (conspicione), reflecting (cortumiones) as far as I have been most rightly aware of it within this limit.”
(Varro: On the Latin Language, VII.8)
The augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was the practice of augury, interpreting the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds: whether they are flying in groups or alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of birds they are. This was known as “taking the auspices.” The ceremony and function of the augur was central to any major undertaking in Roman society—public or private—including matters of war, commerce, and religion.
The Roman historian Livy stresses the importance of the augurs: “Who does not know that this city was founded only after taking the auspices, that everything in war and in peace, at home and abroad, was done only after taking the auspices?”[1]
Augury sought the divine will regarding any proposed course of action which might affect Rome’s pax, fortuna and salus (peace, good fortune and wellbeing).[2] Political, military and civil actions were sanctioned by augury, historically performed by priests of the college of augurs and by haruspices on behalf of senior magistrates. The presiding magistrate at an augural rite thus held the “right of augury” (ius augurii).[3] Magistracies (which included senior military and civil ranks) were therefore religious offices in their own right, and magistrates were directly responsible for the pax, fortuna and salus of Rome and everything that was Roman.
http://www.societasviaromana.net/Collegium_Religionis/augury.php
Before taking the auspicia impetrativa (“requested” or “sought” auspices; see below) the templum, or sacred space within which the operation would take place had to be established and delimited (it should be square and have only one entrance)[21][22] and purified (effari, liberare).[23]
| The Roman form of augury was said to have begun with Attus Navius around 600 BCE. According to legend, Navius was a swineherd who owned a vineyard. One day when he lost one of his pigs, he prayed to the Lares that if they would assist him in finding the pig, he would sacrifice his choicest bunch of grapes to them. The next day the pig was found. Going to the center of his vineyard, Attus Navius used his swineherd’s staff to divide his vineyard into four quarters. He then noticed that the birds favoured one particular quarter. He went to the center of this quarter and again using his staff he divided it into another four quarters. Again the birds favoured one quarter, and so he again divided that section of his vineyard into four sections. Proceeding in this manner he discovered an enormous bunch of grapes, which he then sacrificed to the Lares. News of this spread to Navius’ neighbors who then began to consult with him. Thereby Navius gained a reputation as an augur. When news of Navius reached the king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus, he was called upon to take the auspices for an important matter. |
| A spot is selected to mark out a templum on the ground, drawing out first the cardo running east and west, then the decumanus running north and south, according to astronomical observations. The same is described for laying out an estate, as Pliny mentions (NH XVIII.76-77), or a military camp, a colony or a city. The cardo is determined by the point on the horizon where the sun rises and sets, altering through the seasons, and not by determining the true east-west direction. The decumanus is determined by observing Polaris and not by employing a compass. Then two sets of parallel lines are drawn to form a rectangle in a proportion of 6:5. At the center of the templum the Romans would erect a tabernaculum, a square tent with its opening facing south.The magistrate taking the auspices is referred to as an auspex, distinct from the augurs who interpret the signs (Cicero: On Divination 1.48; On the Nature of the Gods II.3; On the Laws II.13). The auspex sits out in front of the tabernaculum, usually near the edge of a hilltop, while his assistants and the tibicines and tibicinae will stand within. The purpose of the tabernaculum was to avoid the auspex from being distracted by auspicia oblativa, or naturally occurring omens, and that he might concentrate on the auspicia imperitiva being sought in the sky (see below).Throughout the ceremony the tibicines and tibicinae are to play their flutes. Mention is made in the ancient texts that this was done to prevent the magistrate from being interrupted by the sounds of any ill omens. However there may have been more to this and the flute players might have also been present to draw birds to the templum. It was normal practice to have tibicnes and tibicinae play during any Roman ceremony, as a way of pleasing the gods. The first step in the ceremony would be to perform a libation to Jupiter, stating the reason that auspices are being taken and asking that He give his approval. Only Jupiter sends the birds to act as messengers of the gods in public auguries (Cicero: On Divination 2.34, Aves internuntiae Jovis; On the Laws II.8, Interpretes Jovis optimi maximi publici augures). For private auguries other gods or goddesses may be called upon and a sacrifice would then be offered to them. One emblem of an augur is the special earthen vessel (capis) used in making this libation. Incense and flute music are also offered as a part of this opening sacrifice.Next the magistrate would employ his lituus to designate another templum in the sky. A lituus is a special wand of augury, made from a tree branch (possibly ash or hazel) without any knots and with one end naturally curled. With the lituus he would again draw out a templum by designating the cardo and decumanus. One formula has the auspex call out, “This shall be to my left is the East, and this to my right shall be the West. This before me is South, that behind me is North.” Then the enclosing sides are drawn. The boundaries of this celestial templum are designated by the auspex in calling out points of reference on the ground. Varro says that different formulas were used to designate a templum, and offers one such formula as was used on the Arx:“Let the boundaries of my templa and the wild lands (tesca) be as I declare them with my words. That tree of whatever kind it is which I deem myself to have named, let it be the boundary of my templum and the wild land to the right. That tree, of whatever kind it is, insofar as I deem myself to have named it, let it be the boundary of my temple and the wild land on the left. Between these points I have established the templa and the wild lands by means of directing (conregione), viewing (conspicione), reflecting (cortumiones) as far as I have been most rightly aware of it within this limit.”(Varro: On the Latin Language, VII.8)The plural form is used here, seemingly making each boundary line a templum. Varro goes on by quoting from Ennius’ play Medea, “Contemplate and see the templum of Ceres on the left…” to draw a parallel between the words contemplate (contempla) and templa. The formula also mentions the plural form tesca that is translated as “wild lands” but these are rural sanctuaries of gods. The area within the boundaries of the rectangular templum is divided into four quarters by the cardo and decumanus, and there were further divisions, to a total of sixteen, each division dedicated to a particular divinity. A similar practice is found in the Etruscan practice of haruspicy where the liver of a sacrificial animal is divided into sixteen sections, each associated with a particular divinity. This formula by Varro seems to indicate that other regions beyond the designated templum were also associated with divinities. The cardinal directions marked out above were associated with light and life in the East, darkness and death in the West, the abode of the gods was held to be in the North, while the South was associated with the lower regions of the earth and below.Once the templum is established, the auspex would then pray, “Juppiter Optimus Maximus, and all You other gods and spirits whom it is proper to invoke, I ask that if it is good and right that (the proposed action) be done, that You will send clear and certain signs within the boundaries that I have marked.” Here the auspex may specify the kinds of signs he wishes to appear within the templum he has marked out. These become the auspicia impeeritiva that he must watch for. He may also designate other signs that he will ignore, whether within or outside the templum. These, together with all other omens, become auspicia oblativa, and while they may be noted and used in clarifying more details about the augury, they are not to be considered as omens specifically answering the question posed. The auspex then awaits the auspices by watching the sky (sevare de caelo) for signs (spectio). This was to be done without interruption (silentium; silentio surgere) and anything that might make the augury invalid was called a vitium. For the auspices taken for inaugurating an official, the templum that was drawn and established on the ground might be made after midnight, where the auspex would remain in contemplation and offering sacrifices to the gods. Just before dawn he would then draw the templum in the sky and begin to look for signs. |
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