For those of you based in the UK who are early risers (ugh), I should be on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in about half an hour to talk about this 😬👇
Yes, you try explaining the changes to the Artemis lunar landing timeline, & also all the things that *weren’t* said during yesterday’s NASA presser, in just five minutes.
I’ve spent all night thinking about it & am none the clearer 😱
#Space #SpaceExploration #SpaceFlight #BBCRadio4 #BBCTodayProgramme #Artemis
Tiny interview with Zac at about 0735 then Reform guy (or was it Labour?) and then onto ThoughtForTheDay at 0750ish.
(ex-non-religious but very religious nutcase Giles Frasier now very religious nutcase Reverend Doctor Giles Fraser does a ThoughtForTheDay about monarchical prerogatives and christianity)
Rev Dr Giles Fraser
Thought for the Day
2025-01-07 0744ish
transcript
The Bible doesn’t call them kings, nor that there were three of them. But tradition has come to call them kings, with their famous three gifts - gold for wealth, frankincense for divinity, myrrh for death. And there are other kings in the story.
Herod is the tyrant king, the might is right king, the king who will do anything to retain power. And Bethlehem, where all the action takes place, is the City of King David, the harking back to the glory days king. And then there is the child in a stable king, the one who will be crowned with thorns, the one to whom the so-called three kings bow down. Epiphany is a reflection on what makes for a good king.
It’s an interesting coincidence that the feast of the Epiphany, on the 6th January, is also the date of that attempted insurrection in Washington DC, where thousands stormed the Capital building to try and overturn the results of the 2020 election. And last year the No Kings demonstrations brought millions of people out onto the streets in protest. American independence was gained by throwing off the authority of George III, which is why someone behaving like a king can feel like a threat to American identity.
Back in Bethlehem two thousand years ago, a weak and pathetic baby gurgles in an out-house, surrounded by cattle. For Christians, this child is the presence of God Almighty, the king of kings. But he doesn’t look like a king. “Mild he lays his glory by” we sing. Power and wealth, typically defining qualities of kingly rule, seem to have been set aside by this strange monarch. In adult life he will come to speak about a kingdom, but one quite unlike the kingdoms of the earth. Here the first shall be last, the poor will be robed in ermine, here peace will have more effect than violence, where human love is the battle cry and strength is made perfect in weakness. It is a curious programme of political action – except that over the centuries billions have pledged their allegiance to it. And whilst some have argued that kings have some God given right to rule, others have referenced the kingdom Jesus spoke about as one to whom all, even monarchs, should pay homage. “No King but Jesus” was the revolutionary cry of the Parliamentarians as they sought to bring down the regime of Charles 1st.
In that stable in Bethlehem, those three kings cast their crowns before the Christ child. This is the template for genuine Christian rule, an acknowledgement that all are subject to that other kingdom, however glamourous and mighty they might think of themselves. And as for that last gift of myrrh for death, it is a reminder that no kingly rule can last forever. In the end, Christians believe that we will all have to give an account of ourselves. And the mighty of this world will be judged accordingly.
downloadable
#RevDrGilesFraser #ReligIon
#ThoughtForTheDay #BBCRadio4 #BBCTodayProgramme
BBCTodayProgramme 0740ish
segment on techbro bullshit capability
(Good bit about techbro companies not actually having product or delivery capability at the time when they sell a project to government/business/public. (I may edit this with details later.))
🇬🇧 Online Hospital! 🧐
... Amol Rajan chokes on his cringe ... 0745
'BoredofFarceYuck and UK Police get new Nicking-Your-Phone powers' (paraphrase)
t-shirt with a burger on it? 🤔
new rules mean that food companies can no longer advertise "unhealthy food" BUT they can still promote their wider "brand"
#BBCTodayProgramme around 0707ish
"electronically blacklisted"
people placed on a secret electronic blacklist for the suspicion of committing a crime (shoplifting)
BBCToday 0640ish
Rishi Sunak strikes again? 🤔
#BBCRadio4 #BBCTodayProgramme #ElectronicBlacklist #FacialRecognition #RishiSunak #SherbetMadmoo
Mark McCaughrean
quangobaud