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Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
Comments
A NZ journalist called John Campbell has been investigating Destiny Church ( Cult being the more appropriate term). There was a segment on our local news this evening...

The video quality not the best, but you will get the gist of how despicable the self proclaimed bishop of bling is ... Despicable as in his behaviour....
Seems like this Brian Tamaki is more a troublemaker than a religious figure… I find it hard to believe how civilised men could be so much into aggression, against women and whoever else this Brian sends them after.
OatZ
Yes, he’s a real nasty piece of work. He cruises around on a Harley Davidson, paid for by tithe money he syphoned off from his cult followers, and is flanked by his personal henchmen and bodyguards, many of them ex-gang members. Yes it’s more Hells Angels than holy.
Our wild mouse seems to have died of old age, I read that field mice only live 2-3 years and we haven’t seen him in the house for at least a year.
If it was a female @Jeroen, and she had children, they may decide to pay you a visit ....
Mainland Spain, Portugal and parts of France have experienced a blackout!
I don’t know if it was a he or a she, but we live in a well-built concrete house and one of the problems our mouse faced once it got in through one of the upstairs windows was finding a way out again. I doubt that it did, and it lived out it’s days under the stove…
It was on the news here. They say it will take up to 10 hours to completely restore electricity.
Good morning my friends… I’ve been away for a few days because my father had a stroke, and is in the intensive care of a hospital near where he lived. I really miss our morning talks, he was a rock for me. I’m now back at my home taking care of my mother but it has been really intense… my father was always very health focussed and a sporty guy, I never considered seeing him suffering a delirium.
That sucks @Jeroen. Take care. I hope your father recovers quickly and well.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Wishing your father a speedy recovery!!!
Best wishes for your Dad, @Jeroen
Be well @Jeroen, and may your father find peace in body and mind.


Anyone know if @how is okay..I left plenty of Zen bait and he has not said much..and now I realise he has not been online since the 27th!
One of The Netherlands’ Trappist Beers is going to vanish. These beers are brewed by Trappist monks, and there are not enough monks left to run the abbey. Young people are preferring to live lives outside the monastery, it seems. The brewery may continue as an independent concern.
I can recall @how saying that sometimes he goes on retreat.
Another one hits the dust!
Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
The Circle of Life (and death of course).
Wait....Howard has passed away? Really?
@Kotishka That's probably just @lobster being lobster.
...............
Grrr! Got scared!
You could argue that the whole of life is about not getting scared, it’s a long process of adjustment to the scary moments.
That is very true! Or seeing that there is nothing to be afraid of.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/netflix-will-show-generative-ai-ads-midway-through-streams-in-2026/
I thought this was interesting. It seems it won’t be long before the add platforms try to analyse your emotions. Who is watching what, you the tv or the tv watching you?
https://nos.nl/artikel/2567613-zorgwekkende-toename-co2-vooral-doordat-natuur-minder-lijkt-op-te-nemen
This was a worrying article about how CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere are rising because the environment is absorbing less. This has to do with rising seawater temperatures, deforestation, and so on. It seems fossil fuel usage also has not yet peaked, despite the advancement of electric cars and renewable energy.
Went for a great walk this morning, before the humans and their pet canines start filling up the new pathways...

Thus have I heard :

'The Universal One' is online here:
https://archive.org/details/the-universal-one-1926-walter-russell/mode/2up
Shr00mz
Morning Agent K! Hope you are well.
Good morning friend @Jeroen!
how is it going ?
Busy busy… travelling back and forth, and my dad’s cremation is tomorrow, and I still have a speech to write… my dads girlfriend has been a great help, she has done all the selecting of music and photo’s for the ceremony.
I recently came across a description of sky burials in Ladakh. They have these specialised undertakers called ‘bonebreakers’ whose job it is to break up the deceased bodies… not very nice to see a relative go like that.
I should not laugh @Jeroen at this time. But I do.
What would be nicer? Burning or buried to rot? Frozen in a money making business for future revival?
You don't watch the bone breaking and feeding of meat to vultures...
Anyway I am off to prepare for my death...
7 Weird Ancient Egyptian Gods & Goddesses You've (Probably) Never Heard Of - Fun Guide for KS2
Updated: Mar 31
The Ancient Egyptian religion includes over 2000 gods and goddesses. Although there’s so many, there’s a great number of Egyptian gods & goddesses that we know very little (or sometimes nothing) about. Because of this, you’ll often find a select few of the most popular gods and goddesses are included in every book, worksheet, article and classroom display about Ancient Egyptian religion.
We’ve even written an article about these popular Egyptian deities ourselves!
Ancient Egyptian imagery
But what about the less well-known gods and goddesses? What about the ones that nobody mentions because they’re just a bit… well… odd?
Well, we’ve scoured the long lists of Egyptian deities to find you 7 of the weirdest Ancient Egyptian gods & goddesses that you’ve (probably) never heard of.
Ancient stone toilet seat, rectangular with a circular hole, displayed under warm light. The surface is textured and beige in color.
An Ancient Egyptian toilet - courtesy ddenisen
Dua
God of: Toilets
Dua was the Egyptian god of sanitation and, yes, toilets! This meant he was responsible for keeping things clean, particularly in very dirty places such as bathrooms. Sanitation also includes the safe disposal of everything that ends up in your toilet (yes, this was a long winded way of saying “getting rid of your poop”!). So in many ways he could be described as a deified flush.
Weathered stone pharaoh statue with headdress, in dim light. Textured surface, some damage visible. Calm expression. Dark background.
Not enough prayers to Khenti-Khas to protect this nose!
Khenti-Khas
God of: The Noses of the Dead
And the award for the most obscure job for an Egyptian god goes to Khenti Khas, who is responsible for protecting the noses of the deceased. And clearly Khenti-Khas had his work cut out for him: many Egyptian statues were vandalised by ancient Egyptian people who believed that chopping off a statue’s nose would kill any part of that person’s spirit still living inside the statue. Lets hope Khenti-Khas was more successful in protecting the noses on the mummified dead bodies themselves.
Stone lion head fountain spouting water against a blurred green and dark background, evoking a regal and serene atmosphere.
Its not polite to spit - courtesy Linnaea Mallette
Tefnut
Goddess of: Spit
Alright so you may have heard of Tefnut before – she is often summarised as the goddess of water. But “goddess of the water” is a very generalised title and we certainly don’t want to get her confused with Anuket who is also a goddess of water, but more specifically the water in the River Nile. So let’s get down to the specifics. Tefnut is the goddess of moisture. This includes moist air, dew, a light drizzle and yes, even spit. In fact, Tefnut’s name can be translated as meaning “to spit”. And she has even been depicted as a picture of a mouth in mid-spit action. Poor woman!
Ancient Egyptian painting of four adults and a child walking, wearing patterned garments. Background has floral motifs and symbols.
Ancient Egyptian clothing
Hedjhotep
God of: Fabric
Hedjhotep was said to have invented clothing and was responsible for creating the clothes for the Pharaohs, the gods and the deceased. Not a lot is known of Hedjhotep, but he occasionally turns up in Egyptian mythology stories alongside other gods and goddesses. For example, he often hangs out with Tayet, the goddess of weaving. He also occasionally turns up in mythical stories featuring Shezmu, the god of treatments for headaches and stomach aches (pretty sure he should have made it onto this list too) where Hedjhotep sensibly makes bandages for him.
Egyptian painting of Anubis, a jackal-headed figure, embalming a mummy on a lion-shaped bed. Hieroglyphs and geometric patterns in background.
Ancient Egyptian Mummification in progress
Sepa
God of: Centipedes
Centipedes seems a strange thing to be a god of – but Sepa’s job was a very important one. The Egyptians were obsessed with preserving their dead and would mummify dead bodies to keep them in tip-top condition. Unfortunately for the Egyptians, insects would often attack the dead bodies before they could preserve them, forcing the body to start to decay. But the Egyptians had a secret weapon – the centipede. Centipedes feed on other insects so the Egyptians believed they protected the dead. So it was Sepa’s job to protect the dead through the use of predatory myriapod invertebrates with 100 legs (that's a centipede to you and I).
Egyptian painting of three figures in traditional attire, holding ankh symbols. Ornate geometric patterns and lush plants in background.
Helping Anubis mummify the dead
Kebechet
Goddess of: Freshness
No, we’re not saying that Kebechet was the goddess of armpit deodorant or fabric conditioner. Kebechet was the daughter of Anubis, the Egyptian god of death & mummification. So Kebechet was responsible for keeping the dead bodies nice and fresh during the embalming process. Imagine what a difficult job that must have been. But Kebechet knew what she was doing, because she was also the goddess of embalming fluid. Lucky thing.
Goose with outstretched wings stands on green grass by a lake. Sunlit feathers show brown, white, and black hues, creating a calm scene.
Could this be the "Great Honker" himself?
Gengen Wer
God of: The Celestial Egg
If this isn’t something straight out of a video-game, we don’t know what is. Believe it or not, Gengen Wer was a celestial goose. And if that wasn’t enough, his name means the “Great Honker”. In Egyptian mythology, it is said that Gengen Wer laid a great honking heavenly egg that contained the life force. Gengen Wer’s job is to protect that life force. What a goose!
I've been making daily plans (to-do lists) for a long time now. It helps tremendously with keeping anxiety at bay, knowing what I'm supposed to / want to be doing, not getting sidetracked, and knowing whether I hit my targets for the day.
However, this week, for the first time, I made a weekly plan for work. Even better, I've been sticking to it. I was drawn to do it because I had a phase of a lot of work, and the last time that happened, I became an anxious mess. The weekly plan has done wonders for my anxiety and allowed me to do fun things without remorse or worry before work and once I hit my targets for the day.
Can recommend!
I used to make plans for people’s engineering work years in advance…
Ancient stone toilet seat, rectangular with a circular hole, displayed under warm light. The surface is textured and beige in color.
An Ancient Egyptian toilet - courtesy ddenisen
Dua
Holey crap

At yesterday’s weekly Gaza rally and march, a young Kiwi Palestinian woman sang while a young man played the violin beside her. Her voice was haunting and strong. She was meant to be on the March to Gaza currently taking place in Egypt, but was stopped at Egyptian immigration, detained, and then deported.

Our government has said nothing about this. Neither has our mainstream media.
This is not the first time she has tried to break the siege. She was also on board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship Handala last year, which was blocked from reaching its destination.
A rough translation
Your voice, my people,
a song that carries forward,
softly resting in a home,
then rising again—
a melody that never fades.
Your voice, my people,
makes a lily bloom
from stone.
Your voice, my people,
a lullaby that sleeps
and wakes within our homes
a melody that does not vanish.
It makes a lily bloom
from stone.
Your voice, my people,
a song that hides,
then rises again
in a melody that never fades.
It makes a lily bloom
from stone.
We are here to be heard.
Oh my people
your voice, your poetry
makes lilies bloom
from stone.
No matter how long the night,
the dawn will come.
The threads of sunlight will return,
my people.
From the rubble of death,
life rises.
My people live.
Oh, and Destiny Church,aka the Dysentery Cult, held a large anti-LGBTQI march that ended in the same square where we held our rally. There was a significant police presence. but fortunately no major disturbance.
I've just been reading in a local newspaper that the Destiny Church march wasn't about the LGBTQI, (even though they are often targeted by them). it was a protest against ‘foreign’ religions in Aotearoa. Islam, Buddhism, and Sikhism,
Happy belated 4th of July to the US contingent!
I'm writing sad poems lately. Attachment to emotions and partners is annoying. But oh well!
It makes you human after all.
@Kotishka, the Path never ends. Use the emotions to write Rad poems.
Beautiful