What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?
Prison is the one place on earth I’d never want to visit . . . ‘cuz I might bump in to Dr. Fauci there.
Hahaha! 🤣
The illegal lab was operational in California and the public safety risk it posed came to light in December 2022 when observant code enforcement officer Jesalyn Harper saw a green garden hose in a hole in the side of a warehouse which was believed to be vacant for more than a decade.
Inside the illegal lab, Harper found manufacturing devices, laboratory equipment, vials, medical-grade freezers and lab mice. The vials were labelled in English and Mandarin and in a code which remains undeciphered
OVERVIEW
philistineQUICK REFERENCE
A person devoted narrow-mindedly to material prosperity at the expense of intellectual and artistic awareness; or (as an adjective) ignorantly uninterested in culture and ideas. This sense of the term comes from the insulting label Philister applied by German students to their non-academic neighbours in university towns, likening them to the enemies of the chosen people in the Hebrew scriptures; it was given wide currency in English by the poet and critic Matthew Arnold in his book Culture and Anarchy (1869), which attacks the philistinism of the British middle class. Arnold usually applied the term ‘the Philistines’ to the prosperous bourgeoisie, especially to its nonconformist Liberal representatives.
Reference entries
philistine
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (3) Length: 108 words
In 1962, as millions of Chinese citizens were gripped by Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution and the Red Guards enforced a brutal regime of communism, a boy was born to a poor family in southern China.
Chen’s family, once respected in the village of Yellow Stone. Now, were among the least fortunate families in the country. The Chens belonged to the landlord class, despised for their “capitalist” past. Grandpa Chen couldn’t leave the house for fear of being beaten to death; the children were spit upon in the street; and their father was regularly hauled off to labor camps, leaving the family of eight without a breadwinner.
Da Chen, the youngest child, seemed destined for a life of poverty, shame, and hunger. But winning humor and an indomitable spirit can be found in the most unexpected places.
Colors of the Mountain is a story of triumph, a memoir of a boyhood full of spunk, mischief, and love. The young Da Chen is part Horatio Alger, part Holden Caul-field; he befriends a gang of young hoodlums as well as the elegant, elderly Chinese Baptist woman who teaches him English and opens the door to a new life. Chen’s remarkable story is full of unforgettable scenes of rural Chinese life: feasting on oysters and fried peanuts on New Year’s Day, studying alongside classmates who wear red armbands and quote Mao, and playing and working in the peaceful rice fields near his village.
Despite this background of poverty and danger, Da Chen grows up to be resilient, tough, and funny, learning how to defend himself and how to work toward his future.
Da Chen’s story is both captivating and endearing, filled with the universal human quality that distinguishes the very best memoirs. It proves once again that the concerns of childhood transcend time and place.
Colors of the Mountain is a classic story of triumph over adversity a memoir of a boyhood full of spunk, mischief, and love, and a welcome introduction to an amazing young writer.
By the final pages, when he says his last goodbyes to his father and boards the bus to Beijing to attend college, Da Chen has become a hopeful man astonishing in his resilience and cheerful strength.
Colors of the Mountain: A Memoir by Da Chen (cf., 粉碎四人帮)
amoral (adj.)
“ethically indifferent,” 1882, a hybrid formed from Greek-derived a- “not” + moral, which is from Latin.
1. Said of a person: Devoid of moral sense.
2. Said of a human work, especially artistic: That of purpose dispenses with the moral end.
“Milk for babes and meat for strong men”
~Hermes Trismegistus
parable (n.)
“saying or story in which something is expressed in terms of something else; allegorical or metaphorical narrative, usually having a MORAL FOR INSTRUCTION,” late 13c., parabol, modern form from early 14c.
Why did Jesus speak to the multitudes in parables?
By The FISHER of MENSIS
With many similar parables Jesus spoke God’s ·message [word] to the multitudes—as much as they were able to ·understand it [hear]. Indeed, He would not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own ·disciples [disciplined students], he explained everything. ~ Mark 4:33–34
(cf., The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares: Matthew 13:24-30; God favored Jacob over Esau ·UNCONDITIONALLY [Prior to moment of conception] — “not because of works but because of Him who calls” ~Romans 9:11).
amoral (adj.)
“ethically indifferent,” 1882, a hybrid formed from Greek-derived a- “not” + moral, which is from Latin.
1. Said of a person: Devoid of moral sense.
2. Said of a human work, especially artistic: That of purpose dispenses with the moral end.
The disciples, bewildered by Jesus’ parables and wanting him to speak more directly, came closer and asked Jesus, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” (Matthew 13:10).
This is why He spoke to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” ~ Matthew 13:13
Jesus was revealing that they were indifferent legalists who did not understand the kingdom of God (cf., Matthew 12:10; Hebrews 5:11-14; Leviticus 5:17; Jeremiah 8:8).
Romans 2:13-16
13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by ·Christ [the Way; the Truth; and the Life Eternal].
English Standard Version
Jesus told his disciples that—in an incredibly important sense—the world is divided into two groups: those who hear and understand the parables, and those who hear but do not understand
(cf., The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares: Matthew 13:24-30; God favored Jacob over Esau ·UNCONDITIONALLY [Prior to moment of conception] — “not because of works but because of Him who calls” ~Romans 9:11).
The Gospel of Mark highlights this division when Jesus told the disciples: “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is in parables” (Mark 4:11).
The disciples must have been shocked by Jesus’ response, and if we are honest, we will feel that same shocking power today. Parables reveal and conceal simultaneously. They divide their listeners into two worlds. In one world, a parable reveals the secret of the kingdom of God. But in the second world a parable is still just a parable, nothing more.
We now see more clearly what is at stake in the parables and why Jesus used them practically every time he taught. It turns out that our response to the parables reveals everything important about us, with eternal consequences. Each of the parables is a shocking revelation of the kingdom of heaven, so if we hear the parables and all we hear is a bunch of “stories,” something is profoundly wrong with us.
The FISHER of MENSIS 