(Image from rado76.wordpress.com)
“Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.”
–Solomon 4:7 King James Bible
Solomon’s Song
St. Augustine’s famous quote
(Image from Wikipedia.org)
- Google AI Overview
You are referring to St. Augustine’s famous spiritual reflection, where he prays: “Lord, let me know myself, that I may know You.” This profound theme is most prominently found in his Soliloquies (Book 2) and his spiritual masterpiece, Confessions. [1, 2]
In his writings, St. Augustine of Hippo explores the inseparable link between knowing oneself and knowing God. He believed that because God created humanity in His image, looking inward to recognize our own limitations and the “darkness” within ourselves allows us to see how deeply we need God’s light. By accepting our flaws, we open ourselves up to receiving His divine grace and wisdom. [1, 2, 3]
James Webb Just Saw Pluto for the First Time And It Shouldn’t Be Possible!
Proof Jul 15, 2026 Did the James Webb Space Telescope really see Pluto for the first time—and why are some people saying it “shouldn’t be possible”? Although Pluto was famously explored up close by New Horizons in 2015, James Webb observes the dwarf planet in an entirely different way. Instead of taking close-up visible-light photographs, Webb uses its powerful infrared instruments to analyze Pluto’s atmosphere, surface ices, temperature, and chemical composition with unprecedented sensitivity. These observations are helping scientists investigate how Pluto’s thin nitrogen atmosphere changes over time, how methane and carbon monoxide ice behave in extreme cold, and how the distant dwarf planet continues to evolve billions of kilometers from the Sun. Despite sensational headlines, there is nothing impossible about James Webb observing Pluto. The telescope was designed to study faint infrared objects throughout the Solar System and far beyond. What makes these observations extraordinary is the level of detail Webb can detect—not the fact that it can see Pluto. In this documentary, you’ll discover: Why James Webb observed Pluto despite New Horizons already visiting it. How infrared astronomy reveals details invisible to ordinary telescopes. What scientists learned about Pluto’s atmosphere and frozen surface. How Pluto compares to other icy worlds in the Kuiper Belt. The latest discoveries from NASA’s most powerful space telescope. The difference between scientific breakthroughs and sensational internet headlines. Join us as we explore how James Webb is giving astronomers an entirely new perspective on one of the Solar System’s most mysterious worlds. ???? Do you think Pluto should still be considered the ninth planet? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Free Will Astrology: Week of July 16, 2026
by Rob Brezsny | July 14, 2026 (NewCity.com)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In honor of the intensive homecoming phase of your astrological cycle, I have homework for you. 1. Make a prediction about how old you will be when you know precisely who you are. 2. Forecast the day when you will look in the mirror and recognize your face as an intricate portrait of every experience you have ever loved. 3. Imagine the dawn when the boundary between your own longing and life’s longing will dissolve, revealing they’ve always been the same current. 4. Predict when your heart will be as wild and free and brave as you have always wanted it to be.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Ornithologists studying migration know that some birds don’t fly directly to their destination. They follow “leading lines.” These are geographical features like coastlines and mountain ranges that provide orientation. Even when this means taking a longer route, the certainty of having a guiding landmark outweighs the efficiency of a straight line across nondescript terrain. I recommend the birds’ approach to you in the coming weeks, Taurus. Follow your own leading lines: practices and intuitions that provide lucid orientation even when they don’t offer shortcuts. The indirect path offers the surety you need.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): What’s an important truth you keep forgetting about? Maybe it’s a promise you once made to yourself, or an understanding that your younger self knew, or a wisdom your body keeps trying to communicate while your mind ignores it. What truth returns again and again in different guises: through synchronicities, seemingly random comments from friends, recurring dreams, or the same lesson repeating in new situations? What crucial insights about life do you remember during crisis or ecstasy, only to abandon them once normalcy returns? Now is a favorable time to fully recover this lesson and install it firmly at the heart of your life.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Make a list of your five greatest pleasures. These are experiences that stir your senses, steady your pulse, and remind you why you love being alive. Write them down as if they were sacred prayers. Sing a spontaneous song of praise of them. Then set out on a quest to discover pleasure number six. This is a delight you have never tasted, touched or imagined before. Maybe it will come from saying yes to a possibility you usually decline. Treat this experiment as a form of worship and a way to boost your devotion to your healing life force.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to neuroscientists, the “default mode network” is the area of your brain that lights up when you’re daydreaming, drifting through thoughts and feelings, and letting your imagination roam around. This is when your deep self does crucial work: weaving memories into stories, making creative connections, rehearsing possible futures and forging your sense of identity. I mention this, Leo, because the coming days will be prime time for you to indulge lavishly in this healing and restorative activity. Don’t let a task-obsessed world shame you out of your reveries. Your genius will bloom from their slowly swirling flow.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Here are three gentle nudges: 1. One of your trusty tools or assets still seems to be working fine, but I suggest you look into the possibility that it will soon need repair. 2. Unless you act proactively to ease the strain on your system, a mini-breakdown could be on the horizon. 3. The monster hiding in your closet is hibernating, which makes this the perfect time to summon an exorcist before it rouses. Here’s the very good news, dear Virgo: Because you are reading this oracle, you are now armed with all you need to stave off turmoil and head in the direction of an exciting renaissance.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Researchers who study improvisational jazz have found that master musicians often anticipate each other’s ideas milliseconds before anyone actually plays the notes. Their brains become exquisitely synchronized through deep listening rather than rigid planning. Maybe more than any other sign, you Libras possess a similar aptitude in managing your intimate alliances and social connections. In the coming weeks, this superpower will be even more necessary and available than usual. I’ll provide a reminder: Pay less attention to what people claim to mean and more attention to the rhythms beneath their words. Let your intuition guide you. The subtly shared timing will generate elegant cooperation.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “It’s bad luck to be superstitious!” is a delightful paradox that I enjoy playing with. It makes fun of our tendency to believe that invisible forces are constantly keeping score on our behavior. On one level, the phrase pokes at the way superstition multiplies anxiety instead of easing it. If you really believed it’s bad luck to be superstitious, then your belief about bad luck would itself be a superstition. So you’d have to avoid the very thinking pattern you’re using to feel safer. It exposes how easily the mind can tie itself in knots trying to control the uncontrollable. On another level, “it’s bad luck to be superstitious” is an invitation to examine which of your little rituals are entertaining and nourishing and which are cages. Keeping a lucky stone in your pocket is fine if it amuses you, but believing you’re doomed if you don’t carry the stone isn’t so fine. My advice: Notice when your charm or taboo is no longer a quirky companion, but starts being a tyrant that shrinks your freedom.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Are you the type of Sagittarius who pushes open doors with “pull” signs on them? Do you get a secret kick out of opening boxes from the end that says “open other side”? Maybe you even yack on your phone in designated quiet zones. If so, I’d like to suggest channeling your rebellious spark into grander acts. In the weeks ahead, you will be carrying some potent renegade energy. Used wisely, your radiant defiance could topple a stagnant situation that’s overdue for change.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Many healers favor the slow-and-steady path. They often meet with people once a week, trusting that even stubborn issues must be unwoven with patience and gentleness. But there are also bold experimenters who work differently. I know an acupuncturist who invites clients to live at her clinic for six days straight, offering a new treatment every two hours during the waking hours. She creates a healing immersion chamber. That’s the spirit I recommend for you in the coming weeks, Capricorn. You’re at the threshold of resolving a long-standing imbalance. What will serve you best isn’t dabbling at it but offering it focused, sustained, wholehearted attention until the shift activates.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You can refresh and boost your ambition if you give it a firm, precise adjustment sometime soon. Your raw vitality will surge back if you refrain from indulging in a careless habit that has been draining it. Your willpower and determination have been weakened by the fallout from an old misstep, but you now have the clarity needed to repair that error. Your libidinous energy is not as clear and potent as it could be, but it will become so once you get more honest about what truly excites you.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You’re like an arrow that has been shot from a bow and is three-quarters of the way to the target. You’re a delicious meal still simmering on the stove, or a pregnancy at seven months, or the last two weeks before a major election. When I tuned my inner vision to you, I glimpsed a honeybee wriggling a dance to show its coworkers where a stand of blooming lilac awaits. Have you ever been on the verge of speaking a new language with ease? That’s where you are now, Pisces: just before true fluency clicks.
Homework: Do a ritual in which you vow to attract more blessings into your life. tinyurl.com/ommm777
Socrates’ daemon
- Google AI Overview
Socrates’ daemon (or daimonion) was his famous personal inner voice or “divine sign”. Unlike a malevolent demon, it acted as an infallible guide—always warning him against taking the wrong actions, such as making a speech or fleeing Athens. It never told him what to do, just what to avoid. [1, 2, 3]
Socrates referred to this phenomenon in Plato’s dialogues (like the Apology and Phaedrus) as an adjectival “divine something” rather than a specific god, and trusted it implicitly. It has been interpreted by philosophers and historians in various ways: [1, 2]
- Conscience: A highly developed internal moral compass.
- Intuition: Subconscious, rapid processing of situations.
- Divine Guardian: An intermediary spirit connecting him to higher, divine wisdom. [1, 2, 3]
You can read more about its historical and philosophical context in this breakdown by TheCollector or review the exact references on Wikipedia. [1, 2]
Book: “Conservatism: America’s Personality Disorder”
Conservatism: America’s Personality Disorder
Christopher Armitage, D. Carl Brown
AMERICA’S PERSONALITY DISORDER
Conservatives often defend policies that feel hard-hearted. Why? Christopher Armitage and D. Carl Brown argue the root problem is a measurable empathy gap, not mere ideology.
Their concise analysis shows how this gap drives positions on poverty, immigration, pollution, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ equality, hurting millions while claiming virtue.
Grounded in psychology and real-world data, this book reframes the culture war and offers a path toward compassion-led politics.
Christopher Armitage is an Air Force veteran and researcher in psychology, law enforcement, and public policy.
D. Carl Brown is a clinical psychologist who studies empathy and personality in political behavior.
About the author
Christopher Armitage
Is Congress thinking of merging U.S. military with Israel?
- Google AI Overview
Congress is not merging the U.S. military with Israel, but lawmakers are actively debating provisions in the annual defense bill that would heavily integrate their technology and intelligence. [1, 2, 3]
Specifics on these legislative efforts include:
- The “Deadly Merger” Provisions: Sections in the House and Senate versions of the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)—such as Section 224 in the House—aim to create the “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative”. [1, 2, 3]
- What the Bill Proposes: This initiative requires the U.S. Secretary of Defense to appoint an official to synchronize research, weapons co-production, and data fusion in high-tech warfare areas like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, and quantum technology. [1, 2]
- The Opposition: Bipartisan lawmakers (such as Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna) have proposed amendments to strike this language, arguing it compromises U.S. sovereignty and entangles American forces in endless foreign conflict. [1, 2, 3]
- Current Status: The broader NDAA, which contains these integration provisions, is currently stalled. Senate Democrats recently blocked debate on the defense bill over broader war funding issues and concerns regarding these integration clauses. [1]
The Sapient Cosmos with James B. Glattfelder
New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove Jul 14, 2026 Dr. James B. Glattfelder is an author, academic, and quantitative researcher whose work bridges physics, complexity science, and the philosophy of consciousness. He holds a Master’s in theoretical physics and a PhD in the study of complex systems, both from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich. As a doctoral researcher, he co-authored The Network of Global Corporate Control, a landmark study mapping the architecture of ownership across the global economy. He is the author of two major works integrating physics, philosophy, complexity science, and the study of consciousness: Information—Consciousness—Reality and his most recent book, The Sapient Cosmos: What a Modern Synthesis of Science and Philosophy Teaches Us About the Emergence of Information, Consciousness, and Meaning, which offers what he calls syncretic idealism — a wide-ranging integration of complexity science, analytic idealism, the perennial wisdom traditions, and the contemporary philosophy of consciousness. In this conversation, James explores the foundations of his inquiry — from his early encounter with quantum physics through the questions that eventually led him beyond the limits of physicalism, and into the metaphysical framework he calls syncretic idealism. He speaks to the hard problem of consciousness, the rise of contemporary idealism, the role of psychedelic experience, and the place of contemplative traditions within a rigorous scientific worldview. He considers symbolic cognition, synchronicity, the re-enchantment of the cosmos, and what it might mean to live in a participatory universe at a moment when humanity is, by many accounts, in a crisis of meaning. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction 00:04:20 From quantum physics to the question of consciousness 00:10:03 Science, philosophy, and the metaphysical commitment 00:17:51 The hard problem of consciousness 00:34:09 Pure consciousness and its contents 00:45:18 The unconscious: ontological or epistemological? 00:52:45 Psychedelics, set, setting, and the return to trust 01:08:11 Re-Enchanting the universe 01:19:37 Cultural complexes and the choice of hope New Thinking Allowed Guest Host Leanne Whitney, PhD, is a depth psychologist and transformational coach based in Los Angeles, CA. She is the author of Consciousness in Jung and Patañjali and currently serves as Executive Director of Center for Transformation and Integration. Her website is https://leannewhitney.com/ To learn about Leanne Whitney’s upcoming Transformational Coaching Certification Course with an emphasis in Somatic Integration Therapy, please visit: https://transformationandintegration…. Producer: Ricky Derisz Editor: John Hartmann (Recorded on June 19, 2026)
Russia launches NASA astronaut Anil Menon and 2 cosmonauts to the International Space Station
By Mike Wall
Last updated yesterday (Space.com)
Liftoff occurred at 10:47 a.m. ET, and the spaceflyers reached the ISS three hours later.
The International Space Station has three new residents.
NASA’s Anil Menon and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:47 a.m. EDT (1447 GMT; 7:47 p.m. local time in Baikonur), heading toward the orbiting lab.
Their Soyuz executed nominal side booster separation about two minutes after launch, followed by second stage separation about 2.5 minutes later, as the rocket flew at 105 miles (169 kilometers) in altitude. Third stage orbital insertion and separation was completed at about 8 minutes and 46 seconds, putting Russia’s Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft and crew on course to chase down the International Space Station (ISS).
The trio caught up to the ISS after just two orbits, docking with the outpost at 1:52 p.m. EDT (1752 GMT). The two spacecraft were flying 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the Mediterranean Sea at the time, NASA officials said during the agency’s docking webcast.
That webcast will resume at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT) ahead of the opening of the hatches between the Soyuz and the ISS, which is expected around 3:55 p.m. EDT (1955 GMT).You may like
- Watch 2 Russian cosmonauts take 5-hour spacewalk outside the ISS today
- Russia launches 3 tons of cargo to the International Space Station from Kazakhstan (video)
- Russian cosmonauts complete ISS spacewalk to install and retrieve science experiments
The MS-29 trio will join the seven astronauts already living aboard the ISS — NASA’s Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, the European Space Agency‘s Sophie Adenot, and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev, and Andrey Fedyaev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
This is the first spaceflight for Menon, who was selected as a NASA astronaut candidate in December 2021, in the agency’s Group 23. He’s married to Anna Menon, who was picked in the next astronaut candidate class, Group 24, in September 2025.
Anna Menon has already been to space, though not with NASA. In September 2024, while an employee of SpaceX, she flew on the company’s Polaris Dawn mission to Earth orbit. That five-day flight, which was funded and commanded by current NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, featured the first-ever commercial spacewalk and reached a maximum altitude of 870 miles (1,400.7 kilometers) — higher than any previous crewed Earth-orbiting mission had gotten.
Anil Menon is a former SpaceX-er as well; he was the company’s first-ever flight surgeon.
MS-29’s flight is the second-ever space mission for both Dubrov and Kikina. Dubrov lived aboard the ISS from April 2021 to March 2022, and Kikina spent five months on the outpost, from October 2022 to March 2023.What to read next
- SpaceX launches 6,500 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station after delay (video)
- China just launched 3 astronauts to Tiangong space station. One will stay for a full year. (video)
- Canadian astronaut Josh Kutryk finally flying to ISS after Boeing Starliner mishap: ‘I’m committed to making the most of this unique opportunity’
Kikina, the only female member of Russia’s active astronaut corps, flew to and from the ISS back then on SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission. That was a big deal: She was the first Russian ever to fly on a private U.S. spacecraft, and the first cosmonaut to fly on any American space vehicle since December 2002, when cosmonauts Valery Korzun and Sergey Treshchov came back to Earth from the ISS aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.
The MS-29 trio will spend about eight months living and working on the orbiting lab. Menon will help conduct a wide variety of scientific experiments during that stretch.
“He will continue research to refine in-space production of semiconductor crystals to enable the large-scale manufacturing of components needed for high-performance computers, artificial intelligence, and improved medical devices,” NASA officials wrote in a July 9 media advisory.
“Menon also will perform ultrasound using augmented reality and artificial intelligence methods that could eliminate the need for medical support from Earth on future space missions,” they added.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1:55 p.m. ET with news of successful docking.
Spaceflight and Tech Editor
Michael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, “Out There,” was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
Thane’s Birthday: July 15
Dean and Founder of The Prosperos
(from TheProsperos.org/Thane)
Thane’s approach to teaching was revolutionary, his method the oldest kind of therapy in the world — agape. Agape is a very special kind of love: the unselfish, unconditional giving of love.
Nowhere in the world today is the idea of agape more clearly demonstrated or espoused than in the teachings of Thane of Hawaii. In his classes, in open lectures, on recorded lessons, and in his writing, Thane demonstrated a unique ability to draw the truest meaning of agape from his students.
Thane was the Founder and first Dean of The Prosperos. He was also a well-known figure in the fields of psychology, philosophy, education, consciousness, religion, and cosmology. His many years of research in such diverse areas as occultism, mysticism and Freudian and Jungian psychology enabled him to be among the first to bridge the gap between old and new, between modern scientific knowledge and ancient spirituality. Throughout more than 60 years of teaching, Thane found exciting new methods for communicating both timeless secrets and current insights from the fields of Mind study and physics to an immensely diverse following.
If one were to ask, “What did Thane teach?”, any answer that included philosophy, spirituality, ontology, thought-power, religion, psychology, or consciousness would be correct, but his aim could not be captured by categorical titles. The Teaching is not confined to intellectuality or what is called “metaphysics.” The goal is to reach each individual at his or her point of confusion and frustration and lead them to insight. The subject matter is not chosen to be charming social talk, or clever intellectual repartee, but rather to be meaningful guidance for those seeking a more wholistic view of themselves and of their world. Thus, Thane taught in either the oral tradition or through constantly up-dated letter-lessons to his students. (Prosperos Mentors continue this tradition of the “ear-whispered word.”)
Of all the topics and perspectives Thane addressed, none gained him more notice than his advanced positions (for the time) on sexuality.
Like Socrates, Thane knew that imparting information is not enough. Each student enters his search for Self at a unique state of mind and affairs. He realized that the task of a true teacher is to draw knowledge out of each student rather than to add information to misconception. Each student must, therefore, be taught as individually as possible.
Every person coming in contact with Thane’s teachings is connecting to a great legacy of knowledge. Thane’s extensive background ranged from some of the most noted thinkers in the fields of psychology to some of the most obscure groups studying metaphysics and occultism. He was a student of Mr. Gurdjieff (the Sufi master from Russia). He studied zen in Japan, yoga in India, occultism in Europe and America. Lillian DeWaters, Emmet Fox, J. Krishnamurti, C.G. Jung, Kurt Lewin , and Lewis Mumford are among the many famous thinkers with whom he associated. As a lecturer he traveled several times around the world, addressing groups ranging from a mere handful to thousands, teaching the common and the famous alike. Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science, titled Thane, “the teacher of teachers.”
In addition, he served with the military during World War II; he was in the “underground” in Germany prior to World War II and spent months in Nuremberg prison. He authored many books (presently published by The Prosperos, by reprint permission are such titles as: I Saw Hitler Make Black Magic, Not So Secret Doctrine, Old Wine in New Bottles, Leap Into Sanity) and articles on a wide array of topics. Thane had an unusual association with the entire panorama of the world of entertainment. He appeared in plays, light opera, and motion pictures and counted many stars from the entertainment field, as well as from academia, among his students, clients and friends.
To some of his students, perhaps the most important factor of all was his sense of humor, coupled with precise timing and his judgment of when humor could be the best therapy of all. This is clear in the recorded classes where he could sometimes move from an atmosphere of thoughtful exploration to complete hilarity and then to profound insight in a matter of minutes.
“What did Thane teach?” . . . any answer that includes philosophy, spirituality, ontology, thought-power, religion, psychology, or consciousness would be correct.
Ultimately, Thane’s work has been for his students. Beyond the background and training which were his tools he brought a compassion for the world that was his alone. He exemplified the principle that the relationship between student and teacher is more than a professional liaison — it is a sacred trust. It was no less than life to him. Whatever the problem, the obstacle, the confusion or the hurt, it was there that he tried to touch and to heal.
Of all the topics and perspectives Thane addressed, none gained him more notice than his advanced positions (for the time) on sexuality. This may seem odd today, but it is nonetheless true. His approach was basic openness and frankness without dogma. In all of his teachings he proved the limitlessness of every person’s individuality and disproved the barriers placed on love — barriers arising from materialistic constructs which generate frustration and contribute to the agonized condition of the world today.
Because his concern was for all people —their hopes, their dreams, their fears — Thane was known as a social innovator. Throughout his life he advocated for every individual’s freedom and personal rights. He was among the first to stand against racial, social, and sexual hypocrisies. Compassion of this sort was unusual for a teacher so well known in fields relating to spirituality or religion. But it follows; Thane was never a man to draw lines but rather was a zealot at erasing them.
Thane’s concepts of the universe and of man are not new; his concepts of teacher and student are ageless, and yet his practice of timeless Truth was distinct. As Thane learned from his teachers, so his students learned from him. Thane went beyond his teachers in his understanding, and his hope was that his students would surpass him.
This is the tradition of Thane. Every class and all training of Mentors incorporates these principles. The ultimate goal is the student’s liberation from hypnagogic enslavement to materialistic theories.