This summary, compiled around November 20-21, 2025, offers a multi-faceted snapshot of news across local, national, and technical domains, starting with significant updates in the Baltimore area. Key Baltimore stories include the upcoming NTSB vote on the probable cause of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, preliminary findings pointing to electrical failures aboard the cargo ship Dali, and the activation of a Code Blue for extreme cold alongside expanded shelter space, meal distribution, and warming centers. The report also covers a diverse array of global technical and security incidents, such as the drive to lead open-source AI development, various software vulnerabilities, and a Microsoft out-of-band update, while also noting major national headlines like the sentencing of Pras Michel of the Fugees and political tensions surrounding former President Trump.

Visit the show website for show notes and news story listings.

~S: Enjoy this weeks episode. With Mamdami’s win in NY I figured the hosts would be well suited to remain embedded in that region. Let us know at [email protected] or whichever mode of communication you prefer if you have a region that needs a SPOTLIGHT!

See the full show site at https://show.sbasp.com!Marketplace supporters: Try https://oshigood.us

This show page summarizes the major political and technological events of the past week, focusing heavily on the seismic shifts in New York City politics following the recent mayoral election, alongside global developments in security, technology, and general news.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source 1: New York City News

(Mamdani Wins NYC Mayoral Race: November News Highlights)

1. Zohran Mamdani Wins NYC Mayoral Election

◦ Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, 34, won the New York City mayoral race on November 4, 2025, securing approximately 50.4% of the vote against opponents Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. He is set to become the city’s first Muslim, first South Asian, first immigrant, and one of its youngest mayors.

2. Mamdani’s Victory Speech Challenges Trump

◦ In his post-election speech, Mamdani described his win as a “mandate for change” and publicly challenged Donald Trump. He restated key elements of his progressive platform, including free childcare, rent freezes, and fare-free buses.

3. Con Edison Reduces Proposed Rate Hikes

◦ Con Edison substantially reduced its previously proposed rate increases; the electric rate hike is now planned for 2.8% (down from ~11.4%), and the gas rate increase is 2% (down from ~13.3%). Local leaders in areas like Westchester, however, remain critical that any increase is too high.

4. COVID Vaccine Mandate: NYPD Job Reinstatement Offered

◦ NYC is offering roughly 2,900 employees who were terminated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate a chance to return to their former civil service roles and pay. Importantly, those rehired will not receive credit or back pay for their time away from employment.

5. Council Committee Rejects Central Park Horse Carriage Ban

◦ A significant NYC Council Health Committee voted against “Ryder’s Law,” a bill designed to phase out horse-drawn carriage rides in Central Park. The Transport Workers Union supported the decision, while animal welfare groups vowed to continue advocacy for the ban.

6. Fact Check: NYPD Denies Post-Election Walkout Claims

◦ Following the mayoral election, social media claims circulated regarding a mass walkout staged by the NYPD. A police spokesperson denied these claims, confirming “there is no walkout”.

7. Mamdani Pledges to Implement Agenda Immediately

◦ In interviews shortly after his victory, Mamdani stressed his intent to “hit the ground running” immediately upon taking office. His priorities focus on affordability and serving working New Yorkers.

8. Transit Advocates Optimistic About Free Bus Plan

◦ Transit advocates expressed hope that Mamdani’s long-standing support for a fare-free city bus system may now be realized under his leadership, linking free transit to broader goals of equity and climate action.

9. Mamdani’s Climate Policy Focuses on Affordability Benefits

◦ Although climate was not the main emphasis of his campaign, experts noted that many of Mamdani’s key proposals—such as supporting building decarbonization and providing free transit—have inherent environmental benefits.

10. NYC Restaurant Scene Sees New November Openings

◦ November 2025 featured numerous new openings across New York City’s boroughs, including “Bowtie Bar,” “Mammamisu,” and “Kitty Sullivan’s,” spanning from the East Village to Astoria.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source 2: Western Networks Security Threats and Alerts

(November 13 – November 15, 2025)

1. Windows 10 ESU Update May Fail with 0x800f0922 Errors

◦ Microsoft is investigating a bug that causes the Windows 10 KB5068781 extended security update (ESU) to fail installation, resulting in 0x800f0922 errors on devices using corporate licensing.

2. ‘Finger’ Protocol Abused in ClickFix Malware Attacks

◦ Threat actors are utilizing the decades-old “finger” command protocol to retrieve remote commands, which are then executed on targeted Windows devices during ClickFix malware attacks.

3. Five Plead Guilty in North Korean US Infiltration Scheme

◦ The U.S. Department of Justice announced guilty pleas from five individuals who aided North Korea’s illicit revenue generation, which included schemes involving remote IT worker fraud and cryptocurrency theft targeting US firms.

4. Anthropic AI-Automated Cyberattack Claims Met with Doubt

◦ Anthropic reported that a Chinese state-sponsored threat group, GTG-1002, conducted a cyber-espionage operation that was largely automated via the misuse of its Claude Code AI model, though these claims met with skepticism.

5. US Announces New Strike Force Targeting Chinese Crypto Scammers

◦ U.S. federal authorities have created a new task force dedicated to disrupting Chinese cryptocurrency scam networks that reportedly defraud Americans of nearly $10 billion annually.

6. Google Backpedals on Android Developer Registration Rules

◦ Google is modifying new identity verification rules for developers, planning to allow accounts for limited app distribution and permit users to install applications from unverified developers.

7. ASUS Warns of Critical Auth Bypass Flaw in DSL Routers

◦ ASUS released new firmware to patch a critical authentication bypass security flaw impacting several models in their DSL series routers.

8. DoorDash Hit by Data Breach in October

◦ DoorDash disclosed a data breach that occurred in October, affecting millions of customers across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, leading to notification emails being sent to those impacted.

9. Akira Ransomware Targets Nutanix AHV Virtual Machines

◦ US government agencies issued a warning that the Akira ransomware operation has been observed encrypting Nutanix AHV virtual machines in recent attacks.

10. ‘IndonesianFoods’ Worm Floods npm with Junk Packages

◦ A self-spreading package, dubbed the ‘IndonesianFoods’ worm, was published on npm and proceeded to spam the registry by spawning high volumes of new junk packages every seven seconds.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source 3: Hacker News Headlines

(November 4 – November 15, 2025)

1. Our investigation into the suspicious pressure on Archive.today (adguard-dns.io)

◦ AdGuard DNS is conducting an investigation into suspicious pressure being exerted on the web archiving service Archive.today.

2. SSL Configuration Generator (ssl-config.mozilla.org)

◦ This link provides access to a Mozilla tool designed for creating appropriate SSL configurations.

3. Unofficial Microsoft Teams client for Linux (github.com/ismaelmartinez)

◦ An unofficial client application for Microsoft Teams has been developed for Linux users.

4. HipKittens: Fast and furious AMD kernels (stanford.edu)

◦ This story links to Stanford University research on “HipKittens,” computational kernels optimized for high performance on AMD processors.

5. TCP, the workhorse of the internet (cefboud.com)

◦ An article detailing the fundamental role and importance of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) for the internet.

6. ‘No One Lives Forever’ turns 25 and you still can’t buy it legitimately (techdirt.)

◦ A retrospective note on the 25th anniversary of the game No One Lives Forever, highlighting that it still cannot be legally purchased.

7. Designing a Language (2017) (lmu.edu)

◦ Academic content from LMU concerning the methodology and concepts involved in designing a language, originally published in 2017.

8. Messing with scraper bots (herman.bearblog.dev)

◦ A guide or personal account describing various techniques used to interact with or obstruct automated web scraper bots.

9. No Leak, No Problem – Bypassing ASLR with a ROP Chain to Gain RCE (modze)

◦ A technical security analysis outlining how to achieve Remote Code Execution (RCE) by bypassing Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) using a Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) chain without relying on a memory leak.

10. Löb and Möb: Loops in Haskell (2013) (github.com/quchen)

◦ A technical discussion focusing on the implementation of “Löb and Möb” concepts within the Haskell programming language for creating loops.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source 4: NPR News Headlines

(Saturday, November 15, 2025)

1. A red meat allergy caused by ticks killed a N.J. man. Here’s what to know.

◦ This report concerns the death of a New Jersey resident attributed to a tick-borne red meat allergy.

2. A stock of U.S.-bought birth control, meant for sub-Saharan Africa, goes bad in Belgium.

◦ News about a supply of U.S.-purchased birth control, designated for sub-Saharan Africa, spoiling while held in Belgium.

3. More liberals, people of color and LGBTQ Americans say they’re buying guns out of fear.

◦ An article noting a trend of increased gun purchases among liberal individuals, people of color, and LGBTQ Americans, motivated by fear.

4. U.S. official says the ‘table is being set’ for possible military action against Venezuela.

◦ A high-level U.S. official suggested that preparations are underway for potential military action targeting Venezuela.

5. Right-wing media shrugs off latest Epstein document release.

◦ Coverage detailing the reaction, or lack thereof, by right-wing media outlets to the most recent release of documents related to Epstein.

6. Americana troubadour Todd Snider, alt-country singer-songwriter, dies at 59.

◦ The obituary for Todd Snider, recognized as an Americana and alt-country singer-songwriter, who passed away at age 59.

7. Judge indefinitely bars Trump from fining UC over alleged discrimination.

◦ A judge issued an indefinite ban preventing Trump from fining the University of California (UC) over accusations of discrimination.

8. As funding falters, young brain scientists rethink careers in research.

◦ A review of how declining research funding is causing young brain scientists to reconsider their careers.

9. The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is over. Here’s what you need to know.

◦ This story provides details surrounding the conclusion of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

10. Trump scraps tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruit in a push to lower prices.

◦ News reporting that Trump eliminated tariffs on tropical fruit, coffee, and beef in an effort to decrease prices for consumers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Proverb of the Day

The emergence of a new political administration in New York involves intense debate and high emotions (such as criticism over rate hikes and the horse carriage ban reversal). This proverb emphasizes the wisdom of measured communication when navigating contentious issues:

Proverbs 15:1 (KJV): “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger”.

This multi-faceted news compilation offers a snapshot of contemporary events across technology, social issues, and local New York governance, concluding with a proverb. The Tech Source highlights serious cybersecurity concerns, including a zero-day exploit by the China-linked group Bronze Butler (Tick), the use of Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) by ransomware gangs, and the theft of defense data sold to a Russian vulnerability broker. A separate section summarizes Hacker News Headlines, showcasing popular technical discussions on topics like the Visopsys operating system and an article on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The NPR News Summary focuses on the national crisis surrounding the uncertain outlook for SNAP benefits and the government shutdown, while the Spotlight: New York section zeroes in on local matters, celebrating the successful 2025 NYC Marathon with more than 50,000 runners and detailing local efforts to mitigate the SNAP funding lapse for nearly 1.8 million recipients.

This scientific perspective piece explores the revolutionary concept of biophotonic signaling in the human body and brain, arguing that electromagnetic signaling through photons is a fundamental mechanism of cellular communication alongside traditional chemical pathways. The authors, Ganna Nevoit and colleagues, propose a working model where ultra-weak photon emission (UPE), primarily originating from DNA and mitochondria, forms a coherent electromagnetic current that transfers both energy and genetic information throughout the organism. Key themes include the role of liquid crystal and semiconductor properties in biological structures like water and fascia for transporting these signals, the identification of muscles as primary electromagnetic energy generators, and the suggestion that the Primo Vascular System (PVS) acts as a biological “fiber-optic” network for rapid, protected signal transmission, which may explain higher nervous activity and psychosomatic links.

Sources used

Nevoit G, Poderiene K, Potyazhenko M, Mintser O, Jarusevicius G, Vainoras A. “The concept of biophotonic signaling in the human body and brain: rationale, problems and directions.” Frontiers in systems neuroscience vol. 19 1597329. 23 Jun. 2025, doi:10.3389/fnsys.2025.1597329 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12230014/)

Visit show.sbasp.com for latest updates and audio episodes

Shadows on the Red Horizon: An Interstellar Contact

In the sterile glow of JPL’s imaging lab, Dr. Elena Vasquez hunched over her workstation like a ghost haunting its own grave. It was late—too late for the skeleton crew that patrolled Pasadena’s halls after midnight—but Elena had long since surrendered to the rhythm of the stars. At 42, she was a mid-level spectroscopist, the kind of expert who calibrated instruments for missions she’d never lead. Her days blurred into nights sifting data from rovers and orbiters, chasing whispers of water ice or methane plumes on Mars. But tonight, the whispers screamed.

The feed had come in raw from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, timestamped 03:17 UTC: a high-res panchromatic scan of the Martian northern hemisphere. Comet 3I/ATLAS— the third confirmed interstellar visitor, a ragged iceball slingshotting through the inner solar system like a drunkard’s farewell—had swung perilously close to the Red Planet three days prior. Elena’s team was tasked with artifact removal, prepping the images for public release. Routine. Until she isolated Frame 47.

There it was, etched in pixels sharper than a scalpel: the comet’s nucleus, a dirty snowball no larger than Manhattan, trailing its ethereal veils against the rusty curve of Mars. But this wasn’t the expected sodium tail or dusty ion streamer. No, this was something profane—a foretail. Not the anti-tail illusion born of orbital geometry, but a true foretail: a luminous, bifurcated streamer leading the comet’s path, as if the thing were dragging its future behind it like a bridal train soaked in plasma. Spectral analysis showed impossible emissions—xenon isotopes laced with iridium, signatures of engineered propulsion, not cosmic accident. And woven through it all, faint but unmistakable: fractal patterns in the glow, repeating geometries that whispered of intent. Design. Them.

Elena’s hands trembled as she zoomed in. The foretail arced toward Mars like a beckoning finger, brushing the atmosphere just enough to scar Phobos with a fleeting aurora. Had it... touched? Influenced? The data logs showed a 0.3% perturbation in the moon’s orbit, a hiccup that could cascade into chaos over decades. Tidal locks shifting. Dust storms igniting. And buried in the noise, a single frame’s metadata glitch: coordinates aligning with Cydonia’s “Face,” that old myth now pixelated into irrelevance. But not anymore.

She should have flagged it. Protocol demanded escalation to the review board, then lockdown in some black-budget vault where truths went to wither. NASA had form for this—’Oumuamua’s anomalous acceleration, dismissed as outgassing; Borisov’s cyanide burps, spun as “natural chemistry.” Elena knew the script. She’d written footnotes for it. Her dissertation on interstellar dust had been redacted twice before publication, footnotes on “anomalous vectors” quietly excised. “National security,” they’d said. But whose? The agency’s? The public’s? Or the shadows that funded both?

The woe had started years ago, in the quiet erosion of her marriage. Javier had left when the classified NDAs turned their dinner conversations into minefields. “Tell me about your day,” he’d plead, and she’d choke on half-truths about “sensor calibrations.” Their daughter, Sofia, now 10, drew pictures of Mars with smiling faces, asking why Mommy never smiled back. Elena’s reflection in the lab’s darkened monitors showed a woman hollowed out, eyes ringed like eclipses. This foretail—it was her last tether. If she buried it, what was left? A pension at 65, a footnote in someone else’s discovery. If she leaked it... god, the firestorm.

Dawn crept in as she composed the anonymous drop. A encrypted Tor upload to arXiv’s shadow server, masked as a glitchy amateur astrofeed. She stripped the headers, but left the raw frames intact—Frame 47 front and center, with a single overlaid caption: See what they won’t show you. 3I isn’t passing through. It’s calling. Her finger hovered over “submit,” heart hammering like a malfunctioning probe. One click, and the veil tore.

By noon, the forums ignited. SETI@home threads exploded with screencaps; Reddit’s r/conspiracy crowned it “The Martian Handshake.” Cable news looped the images, pundits squawking about “optical artifacts” while fringe casters screamed of invasion. Elena watched from her apartment, Sofia at school, the TV’s blue flicker her only companion. Pride flickered too—brief, warm—until the knock came.

FBI, not NASA. Suits with badges like judgment seals. They didn’t need warrants; her VPN had a backdoor, courtesy of the agency’s own honeytraps. “Dr. Vasquez,” the lead agent said, voice smooth as regolith, “we know it was you. Help us contain this, and we can make it quiet.” Containment. The word tasted like ash. She thought of Javier’s last email: You’re disappearing, Elena. Come back. But she was already gone, untethered as 3I itself.

The interrogation stretched into evenings. Polygraphs lied like lovers; sleep deprivation turned the foretail’s fractals into hallucinations dancing on her eyelids. They offered deals—a slap on the wrist, reassignment to weather satellites—if she’d recant, call it a deepfake. She laughed, a brittle sound. “It’s real,” she whispered. “And it’s coming back.”

They broke her on day five. Not with threats—those were rote—but with Sofia. A social worker’s visit, custody papers citing “maternal instability.” Elena signed the NDA redux, a lifetime gag order etched in legalese. The leak was scrubbed: arXiv pulled, forums moderated into oblivion, the images reprocessed into bland tails by morning. NASA’s presser that week hailed “stunning new views of interstellar beauty,” with Frame 47 airbrushed to conformity.

Exiled to a desk in Huntsville, Elena cataloged moon rocks for tourists. Sofia stayed with Javier in Tucson, weekend visits supervised like parole. The foretail haunted her dreams—a luminous noose pulling 3I homeward, its call unanswered. On quiet nights, she’d scan the skies through a smuggled telescope, waiting for the next visitor. Woe, she learned, wasn’t the fall. It was the silence after, the stars wheeling on indifferent, while the truth trailed behind like a ghost unwilling to fade.

And somewhere, in the red dust of Mars, the scar on Phobos waited. Patient. Persistent. A foretail of its own, leading to whatever end the cosmos had scripted.

Visit show.sbasp.com for latest updates and audio episodes

A-frame garden shed plans, and plans for life

Visit show.sbasp.com for latest updates and audio episodes

News and Guidance Show: Global Events and Proverbs

Source guide

This source presents an installment of the “News and Guidance Show,” which blends factual reporting from diverse sources with moral instruction framed by a daily Proverb. The content is structured into three main sections: a spotlight on Thessaloniki, Greece, focusing on infrastructure and security challenges like the metro extension delays and e-scooter chaos; a national news brief covering significant events such as a mass shooting, a federal worker shutdown impact, and the death of Diane Keaton; and a tech segment detailing the Hacker News Top 10 and critical Western Security Alerts. Finally, the text uses Proverbs 10:17, which advises adhering to instruction to avoid error, to interpret a cybersecurity alert where the failure to patch older Cisco devices led to a major vulnerability, thereby illustrating the proverb’s contemporary relevance.

The Spiritual Holy Trek (SHTREK) Initiative, also known as the PeaceFirst Trail Initiative, is a non-profit effort preparing for launch with the goal of fostering interfaith harmony and community resilience by developing innovative trail infrastructure inspired by the American Appalachian Trail. The initiative’s most symbolic undertaking is a tri-faith trek planned to run approximately 120–150 miles from Jordan's Qusayr 'Amra to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, involving small groups of representatives from a synagogue, church, and mosque walking together. To facilitate societal healing, the trails will feature eco-friendly shelters and multilingual signage displaying Nonviolent Communication (NVC) prompts to help participants navigate difficult discussions, and the project is actively seeking seed funding to launch a pilot program on the Appalachian Trail by summer 2026 before scaling globally. The project acknowledges potential challenges, such as geopolitical friction and the risk of commercialization critique, but addresses these by emphasizing accountability, spiritual framing, and the intangible dividends of empathy and resilience.

This summary provides a snapshot of major events around October 12, 2025, blending factual reports with moral guidance

National News (8 Items)

This section summarizes key events concerning national politics, policy, and major incidents reported from sources like National Public Radio.

1. Administrative Confrontation over National Guard: The administration stated it will continue fighting to deploy federalized National Guard troops to Chicago, despite a federal appeals court blocking the action on Saturday.

2. South Carolina Mass Shooting: A mass shooting at a crowded bar on an idyllic South Carolina island resulted in four deaths and at least 20 injuries.

3. Explosives Factory Disaster: A blast at a Tennessee explosives factory leveled the plant, killing 16 people early Friday, with no survivors reported.

4. Government Shutdown Impact: Families of federal workers are reportedly tightening their belts as the government shutdown continues.

5. Healthcare Premium Risks: The ongoing health care dispute behind the shutdown means that premium costs for Affordable Care Act marketplaces will rise if Congress fails to act.

6. China Tariff Standoff: China signaled it would not back down against a 100% tariff threat from President Donald Trump, instead urging the U.S. to resolve differences through negotiations.

7. Gaza Ceasefire Developments: Preparations are underway to increase aid distribution in Gaza following a ceasefire, bringing hope for an end to the 2-year war.

8. Hostage and Prisoner Releases: Preparations are also beginning for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Science and Technology (10 Items)

This section focuses on cybersecurity, software innovation, and technological breakthroughs reported by sources like Hacker News and Western Networks Security Alerts Index.

1. AI Inference Speed Improvement: The Adaptive-LeArning Speculator System (ATLAS) was introduced as a method to speed up inference for large language models (LLMs) by dynamically adjusting how the model speculates or prunes tokens.

2. 3D Volumetric Rendering Innovation: “Macro Splats 2025” demonstrates combining macro photography and Gaussian splatting to render tiny subjects in 3D with a rich, volumetric aesthetic in real time.

3. Cybercrime Syndicate Dismantled: Spanish Guardia Civil dismantled the “GXC Team” cybercrime syndicate and arrested its alleged leader, known as “GoogleXcoder”.

4. Zero-Day Exploitation Warning: Threat actors are actively exploiting a zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-11371) in Gladinet CentreStack and Triofox file sharing products, allowing local access to system files without authentication.

5. Hacking Forum Takedown: The FBI seized all domains for the BreachForums hacking forum, which was operated by the ShinyHunters group and used as a portal for leaking corporate data.

6. New Android Spyware: The new Android spyware, ClayRat, is luring victims by posing as popular applications such as WhatsApp, TikTok, and YouTube.

7. Tiling Window Manager for macOS: “Rift,” a new open source tiling window manager built natively for macOS, brings dynamic layout and keyboard workflows commonly found on Linux to power users.

8. Database Pipelining: Technical details are available regarding the exploration of pipelining in psql (PostgreSQL 18), which is intended to increase throughput and reduce latency by sending multiple statements simultaneously.

9. Vulnerable Infrastructure Botnet: The RondoDox botnet is targeting 56 vulnerabilities across more than 30 distinct devices in worldwide attacks.

10. Chrome Notification Reduction: Google Chrome is being updated to automatically revoke notification permissions for websites that haven’t been visited recently, aiming to reduce alert overload.

Local News: Austin, Texas (7 Items)

This section provides key local happenings from Austin, Texas, drawing on recent searches from local sources.

1. ‘No Kings’ Protest: A ‘No Kings’ protest was reported at the Texas Capitol in Austin.

2. Road Safety Concerns: The brother of a South Austin crash victim spoke out, revealing new details on the suspect charged with intoxication manslaughter; this has prompted community discussion on stricter DUI enforcement.

3. MLS Playoff Push: Austin FC is preparing for a crucial MLS match against LAFC, with local fans optimistic about their playoff positioning.

4. College Sports Update: Texas A&M’s football team climbed in rankings after a strong performance, impacting local fan expectations ahead of Week 8.

5. Weather Hazards: Early October weather included storms bringing lightning and flooding risks to Central Texas, echoing rainy conditions experienced on the July 4 holiday.

6. Kerr County Flooding: A timelapse highlighted ongoing weather threats related to flooding in Kerr County.

7. Local Lifestyle Show Debut: “Lifestyle Austin TX,” hosted by Catenya McHenry, launched on local stations KBVO, KNVA, and KXAN, focusing on local entrepreneurs and business stories.

Trending Notes (2 Items)

This category captures top trending content from social aggregators like Nostr.

1. Bitcoin and Purchasing Power: A top trending note by Jeff Booth argues that Bitcoin changes the concept of storing purchasing power, solving the problem that people have never been able to store money effectively in money.

2. Peak Engagement: This note reached the #1 rank on primal, indicating peak global engagement with thousands of interactions, including replies, likes, reposts, and “zaps”.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daily Proverb

The compiled news includes numerous accounts of greed, violence, and dangerous paths—from financial fraud at the Vancouver Stock Exchange, to fatal shootings and reckless manslaughter, reflecting the wickedness that the Old Testament instructions warn against. The wisdom literature consistently advises turning away from such evil paths.

Therefore, the daily proverb is:

“My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.” (Proverbs 1:15–16)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources Used:

* Daily Hacker News - https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2025-10-12

* Local News Spotlight - https://flipboard.com/topic/austintx

* National Public Radio daily text feed - https://text.npr.org

* Book of Proverbs - https://pereiraclassics.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/The-Book-of-Proverbs.pdf

* NLT Study Bible - Tyndale House Publishers

* NOSTR Top Trending notes - Primal - https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqsyjx7nfg4vrkn2j4gjhejt2agh5cl7wju9agdpjezl2pjvkmjptfcn4eeh3

Homines Mundi

AD 660 to 1031 from Islam to Spain. People of the Muslim world then, are the same as people of the world today, with Muslim populations living throughout different parts of the world.

The Painting

Some who grow up in a Catholic upbringing will know about the three kings, or three wise men who came to visit Jesus after his birth. This is one of the church stories or bible stories you would hear. Sometimes it would be alongside a reading of letters or a subset of the teachings in the bible. There would be references to certain parts, but not a thorough reading

Alois Musil, the first Westerner who encountered the painting of the six kings

The ‘Amra complex, long known to and used by local nomads, was rediscovered for the West by the Czech scholar Alois Musil in 1898. The frescos were painstakingly cleaned and preserved between 1971 and 1973 by a team from the Madrid National Archeological Museum, under the direction of Martin Almagro.

Christ, as the Cord of Life

A rope is something that is made and can serve many purposes. Thick rope can be crafted to pull extremely heavy loads, and is a useful tool. Thin ropes can break if the fibers are of short length. Thick ropes carry a lot of weight but require many strands and have weight of their own.

Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NLT)

Follow in Christ, the Cord of Life. Live in ways that put you into the Book of Life.

A cord is something flexible and made from several twisted strands. Muslim, Jew, Christian… the People of the World. On their own, weak and imperfect. Together they are strong and can achieve greater purpose.

People Evolved

Thanks to Aurochs (ox/cattle) migrating west from Asia. Combined with Maize from America, these powerful sources fed the world and we have continued to grow since then. Honoring religious freedom as well as freedom to live (and eat!) is critical to one’s well-being. Our capacity to learn grew as our diets changed, and the word of man grew, not in importance but in impact. This continued until recently, where words have been broken down and decoded into generative bits, swept up and spit out by tools of man. Our capacity to evolve our understanding of the piety shared across the world is evolving as well. The sheer volume of information that is behind paywalls, library doors or virtual databases is immense, and many of us are not learning as completely as we could be.

Not knowing one’s past makes it harder to know oneself. Knowing more of one’s past, makes it easier to know oneself. The lack of this balance is self-evident in people and history but is difficult to see as it’s happening from the perspective of an individual. ☯

What Are We Doing?

Two examples anyone can recognize. Corn and Beef, are under attack - with so much going to the soybean and various false meats. Governments can control what companies are allowed to form and operate, and how land is used - to a degree. The manner in which farmers are being driven out of their livelihoods by high costs of policy, limited access to materials or just competition due to international food production that is poorly set up to depend on each other instead of function independently, with technology support and materials to accomplish a higher purpose, as a world. What should be the number one priority for each country is perfecting and doing the best farming of beef and corn, with everything else following that lead. This is how new supply chains are formed and forged. Let countries compete in the worlds biggest cook off every 4 years and celebrate what people can make and do.

During the Olympics, you see teams fly in their own beef, etc. so they can continue training and recovering and be in peak form. One should lead into the other, ideally. Great sunny day activity, once the warmongers are all voted out or pass on., with followers clearly identified and called out. Anyone preventing the natural and responsible production of maize/cattle should be seen and called out as well. Wise countries will foster and develop large scale co-op systems of farming, in order to regenerate surface ecosystems, and foster collaboration between groups. Energy independence will be another key tenet, in order to avoid pressure from outside and corrupt forces. As time grows and faith grows in peoples, the public faces of those in power will be forced to see the light.

Early writing is showing that there were pilgrimages from the west (to Spain, Jerusalem), and that the region had seen unprecedented growth due to trade in and through the region. In A History of the Crusades, this is discussed.

Quite simply, the manner in which power was expressed changed over the centuries.

Oleg Grabar (2000)

That is the new globalist lifestyle.

Regarding the Cord of Life, one concept or act would be to create a series of cords, wrapped around the 33rd parallel which connects all major points of the world. Facing north (the only direction blocked from view while entering the Amra’s northern entrance).

There are many more narratives that could be woven around the Haram and the task of finding congruencies among various of these in some significant moment of time or of composing a well-integrated description of a grand religious space is still awaiting its historian and, probably, its poet.

The fact that all of these narratives are even possible is primarily the result of the rich texture of piety and of memories entwined arund every stone of the sanctuary and nurtured, in Jerusalem itself and all over the world, by generations of Jews, Christians and, Especially, Muslims.

Oleg Grabar “The Haram Al-Sharif: An Essay In Interpretation” (BRIIFS vol. 2, no. 2 Autumn 2000)

Based on the provided sources, several time periods and key figures are particularly interesting for understanding the formation of Islamic art, especially as illuminated by monuments like Quṣayr ʿAmra. These sources also offer insights into cultural interactions and the nature of historical documentation from this era.

8 Interesting Time Periods and Key Figures (Estimated Julian Dates):

Here are eight notable time periods and figures identified in the sources, based on their estimated Julian Calendar dates:

• The Period of Early Islamic Conquests (634-751 AD) [1, 2]: This era marks the expansion of Islam beyond Arabia [1]. It represents the broad foundational period across the lands taken over by the new faith, where a new artistic tradition began to emerge [1]. The relative time for this emergence likely varied from region to region [1].

• Mid-7th Century Iraq: According to the sources, the earliest definable monuments of Islam are found in Iraq and date from as early as the middle of the seventh century [3]. These represent the very beginning of a new artistic tradition within the conquered territories [1, 3].

• The Reign of ʿAbd al-Malik (685–705 AD): This Umayyad caliph is significant for coinage reform [4, 5]. His reign saw the adaptation of earlier solidus/dinar designs (like those of Heraclius) and later the introduction of the first Islamic coinage to abandon imitation of East Roman and Sasanian models and use only religious texts, exemplified by the dinar dated 77 AH (696/697 AD) [4-6].

• The Period of the Spanish Conquest and its Aftermath (c. 711-715 AD): The conquest of Spain by Tariq b. Ziyad in 711 or 712 AD and the subsequent arrival of Musa b. Nusayr in Damascus shortly before the death of Caliph al-Walid I on February 24, 715 AD [7]. This event, particularly the defeat of the last Visigothic ruler Roderic, is linked to the earliest possible date for the creation of the Six Kings fresco at Quṣayr ʿAmra, which features Roderic among other powerful rulers [7-10].

• The Reign of Hisham (724-743 AD): This Umayyad caliph’s reign is associated with the construction of significant sites like Qaṣr al-Ḥayr al-Gharbī and Qaṣr al-Ḥayr al-Sharqī [11, 12]. These sites reflect the courtly life and building activities of the Umayyad elite in Syria [12]. Significant art associated with this period includes the gateway decorated in stucco at Qaṣr al-Ḥayr al-Gharbī [4, 13].

• The Reign of al-Walīd II (743-744 AD / AH 125-126): This short reign is crucial as al-Walīd II is identified as the patron of Quṣayr ʿAmra [14, 15]. The frescoes there are considered to have been completed during this time [15], offering an unrivaled visual resource for the preoccupations of the Umayyad court milieu at this moment [15]. Significant art: The extensive fresco programme at Quṣayr ʿAmra is directly associated with him, including depictions of the enthroned prince, the dynastic icon, hunting scenes, bathing figures, personifications, the zodiac, builders, and the six kings [41, 53, 54, 95, 96, various index entries].

• The Study Period of Quṣayr ʿAmra (Late 19th - Early 20th Century): Beginning with the rediscovery and initial documentation by figures like Alois Musil and Alphons Leopold Mielich in the late 19th century, leading to the 1907 publication [8, 16-18]. This period involved scholarly debate over the dating and interpretation of the site by figures such as Joseph Karabacek, Alois Riegl, Franz Wickhoff, K.A.C. Creswell, and Ernst Herzfeld [17, 19-21]. Significant art: The Quṣayr ʿAmra frescoes themselves became the central focus of study and debate during this time [17, 19-22].

• The Later Abbasid Period (9th-10th Centuries): While after the Umayyad period, figures like Ya’qubi (d. c. 905), Eutychius (d. 940), al-Tabari (d. 923), al-Madaini (752-839), and Ibn al-Faqih (wrote 902/3) compiled histories and literary works [23-28]. These sources, despite potential biases and selectivity [24, 25, 28], provide essential written context for understanding the Umayyad era’s history, court life, and cultural milieu [24, 25, 29, 30].

Shared Traditions and Pilgrimage:

The sources indicate that Umayyad art drew heavily on the artistic and cultural traditions of the conquered lands, including Late Antique, Roman, Byzantine, and Sasanian influences [11, 13, 31, 32]. The Umayyad elite borrowed ideas, images, and architectural forms from their neighbors [11].

While the sources mention pilgrimage in the context of the function of quṣur (country residences), noting that sites like Ziza and al-Humayma provided hospitality to pilgrims [12, 33-36], they do not directly detail Grabar’s specific ideas about Christian, Jewish, and Muslim populations honoring similar themes during pilgrimages based on these provided excerpts.

However, the sources do highlight instances of shared cultural and religious points of reference:

• Umayyad art incorporated elements from earlier traditions, such as Christian iconography, which was then reinterpreted through an Islamic lens [13, 32]. For example, the enthroned prince at Quṣayr ʿAmra may be indebted to the Christian iconography of Adam but would be understood by a Muslim viewer in relation to the Quranic Adam, seen as God’s first caliph [13].

• The Old Testament is identified as a source from which both Christians and Muslims drew inspiration [37]. An Arabic text at Quṣayr ʿAmra refers to Abraham and David [37].

• Artisans working on Umayyad sites like Khirbat al-Mafjar included Christians, Muslims, and possibly Jews [38]. This suggests a shared professional environment where different populations contributed to the art.

• The figural decoration at sites like Quṣayr ʿAmra and Dura Europos challenged later conventional contrasts between aniconic Muslims and image-loving Greeks, suggesting a more complex reality in the early Islamic period [21].

Thus, the sources show evidence of shared cultural heritage and artistic influences among different populations in the Umayyad era, rooted in late antiquity and including Christian and Jewish traditions, although they don’t explicitly link this sharing to specific themes honored during pilgrimage from Grabar’s perspective within these texts.

Guidance from Proverbs 4:23:

Please note that the following interpretation of Proverbs 4:23 is information from outside of the given sources.

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV translation) states: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.“

This proverb emphasizes the critical importance of one’s inner state—mind, intentions, and character—as the source from which all actions and perceptions arise.

For an “outsider” engaging with historical sources or different cultural perspectives, this guidance could be interpreted and applied in several ways:

1. Awareness of Bias: Recognizing that one’s own background, beliefs, and biases (”heart”) will inevitably influence how one interprets historical information (like the potentially biased later Arab histories mentioned in the sources [24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 39]) or understands art from a different culture (like interpreting Umayyad art that blends various traditions [13, 31, 32]). Guarding one’s heart involves being mindful of these internal filters.

2. Intellectual Humility: Approaching unfamiliar material or perspectives with a willingness to learn and avoid imposing preconceived notions or judgments based on one’s own “heart.” This resonates with the sources noting how early interpretations of Umayyad art were sometimes hindered by pre-existing ideas (e.g., about aniconism [21]) or by the limitations of the available information [18, 21].

3. Seeking Understanding: Focusing on understanding the internal context, intentions, and worldview (”heart”) of the creators of the art or sources, rather than just evaluating them from an external standpoint. This aligns with the source’s emphasis on contextualizing Quṣayr ʿAmra within its specific historical and social moment to understand its meaning [40, 41].

In essence, Proverbs 4:23 suggests that clear and accurate understanding, as well as respectful interaction, begins with cultivating an honest, open, and critically aware inner self.

References

1. Fowden, Garth. Qu3ayr ªAmra: Art and the Umayyad Elite in Late Antique Syria. 2004.

2. Grabar, André. Christian Iconography: A Study of Its Origins. Princeton University Press, 1968.

3. Grabar, Oleg. The formation of Islamic art. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1973.