strangelets
Last week, when I wrote tomorrows letter about todays article, I had no idea that Christmas 2012 was going to be so mild.
Come on, Playmobil, or it never happened.
(Yes, I know, but the tradition must survive)
Staff at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) spend their days trying to prise open the secrets of other dimensions … including by staging occult rituals. So says Agence France Presse (AFP) which became aware of this NSFW YouTube vid in which a ritual staged at CERN's Geneva campus is depicted. The “ritual” …
"was intended as a joke but was not in any way authorised."
Welcome to a world where your boss needs to give you a thumb up before you make any joke.
"Yes, Mr. Gilligan, please fill in this Application for Making a Humorous Video On Company Property in triplicate. The Board of Directors meets in three months so we'll get beck to you no less than six months after that."
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We can all have a giggle, but you know, messing around with SpaceTime is serious stuff.
It's ok, Gordon Freeman is already at CERN and ready to help.
Actually, I'm not.
While all the EU/ Brexit malarkey about research funding is going on ( I get to play at CERN thanks to EU funding that now may not happen once the grant runs out in october), came back to Aberdeen to write up things, make nice graphs, annoy undergrads, and drink lots of coffee.
The crowbar's in my bag, though.
"The crowbar's in my bag, though."
Isn't that a bit risqué, though? These days that crowbar is all our most distinguished public servants and keepers of the peace aka the fuzz need to nick you on the spot, for carrying tools you obviously intend to break into the first house you see with, no...? At the very least, make sure you never wear a hoodie...
Perhaps not demons but certainly Zombies as a bunch of PhD students at CERN made a zombie apocalypse film back in 2012. It's pretty good considering the amateur shoe string budget production.
Back in the days of my Spectrum and cassettes, if the the cassette recorder was having a bad day and I was repeatedly was getting the 'R Tape Loading Error', I had a little ritual. I'd read somewhere that cats could produce static in their fur, and that static was bad for the tape loading. So I'd go and find the cat, hold her flat on the floor to 'earth' her, and if I could keep her there for 5 minutes without wriggling then the tape would definitely work.
Modest cat torture (Cuddling) was what it took for a single 10 year old to work a ZX Spectrum. Maybe a multi-billion science project requires a human sacrifice ritual.
The whole CERN thing is like an organisation designed to trigger conspiracy theories. A huge symbol of Shiva, the destroyer of worlds, dancing on the back of a demon dwarf standing in prominent position of their grounds? It's so ludicrous how could it not be hiding something sinister?
This has nothing whatsoever to do with conspiracy theories since there were obviously multiple persons involved, but it could be offensive to people who hold religious beliefs, or who just dislike violence.
If CERN is a publicly funded scientific institution (apparently promoting reason over belief), why is there a religious icon of Shiva on the site? Religious symbolism is usually banned from public institutions in secular countries so why is this exception allowed?
How does performing a mock execution provide amusement to anyone of sound mind - how about a mock nuclear explosion or mock Holocaust for extra thrills? My guess is that the real motive of whoever dreamed up this stunt is some deeper psychological issue they're hiding.
@ YARR
It's a joke.
Religious people might be offended, but the obvious solution is for them to pray to whichever god they choose to follow to smite the unbelievers.
If their god does not smite, then they can happily assume that the god thought it was funny, just like the rest of us.
@YARR
If its a joke (and in true superposition style I'm not saying it is or isn't, and am not looking any closer in case it resolves into "isn't"), if its a joke then they are mocking the hundreds of conspiracy theories that abound all over the internet and is exactly the kind of thing that young un's are liable to do when accused of doing something silly by someone even sillier.
"why is there a religious icon of Shiva on the site?"
Goddess of creation and destruction. I bet you can't guess what they do there?
And I bet of you look at all the public buildings in your town or city, especially older one, you'll see all sort of religious symbolism if try hard enough.
And FWIW, the only country I know of (there probably are plenty of others) who ban religious symbols on or in public buildings is the US. The place where every President ends their speeches with religious symbols, ie "God bless America" and generally makes a point of referring to God at every opportunity.
RE: USA and religious symbols
Well, yes and no. Attempts may occasionally be made to prevent symbols of modern religions, and I use the word modern with reluctance, such as crucifixes, but the whole country is stuffed with religious and occult symbols, especially on the older buildings, including federal ones. You can take occult tours of Washington DC to see all the weird stuff. Gargoyles and obelisks and masonic totems and sacred geometry. It is all there. All the religious language is just ritual language and has lost any real meaning these days. Oh, and don't forget Denver airport - its just stuffed with occult imagery and symbols with gods and weird shit everywhere. Personally I don't mind any of it; its better than dull drab concrete and rubber stamp buildings. I like churches too. Big cathedrals have a wonderful spooky quality to them, but that's straying from the point.
"Goddess of Creation and destruction? Surely not, I always thought Shiva was male and had to be placated by his Wife to ensure he didn't destroy the Universe?"
You are correct. I greatly simplified, probably over simplified. Hindu gods have many, often conflicting aspects, and Shiva is one of three gods who make up a triumvirate of creation, constancy and destruction, Shiva being the destruction bit but has many positive aspects too.
...I'm highly offended my the video I haven't watched and a demand everyone is sacked, just after being forced to make a pointless apology. I demand that it is removed from YouTube and it's the BBC's fault that the migrants are forcing us to have bi-weekly bin collections. You want to see what videos like this do to house prices!
RE: "The video both causes and cures cancer"
Is that a binary switch - If you have cancer you are cured, if you don't it gives you cancer. Or does it cure you after giving it to you? What happens if you watch it twice? Its a bit lame. P'raps I should watch it again just to be safe.
>>If that's Hillary then the demon dwarf its dancing on the back of is Trump.
Somehow I get the strange feeling there's a lot of truth in that statement. After Trump won the republican nomination he seems to be doing everything possible to appear worse than Hillary.