Epiphany

President Joe Biden was not aware for days that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. 

Does anything about these people make sense?

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A New York Times opinion piece openly speculated this week whether Taylor Swift is a closeted queer person. The NYT. Fit to print.

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Big day tomorrow.
United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket is scheduled to lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday at 2:18 a.m. EST (0718 GMT). The launch — the first ever for the powerful new rocket — will carry the private Peregrine moon lander.
The Vulcan Centaur will replace ULA's Atlas V and Delta IV workhorses.
The 202-foot-tall (62-meter) Vulcan Centaur consists of two stages, and its thrust can be augmented by up to six strap-on solid rocket boosters. Vulcan's first stage is powered by two of Blue Origin's BE-4 engines, so Monday's mission is also a big one for Jeff Bezos' aerospace company. (The BE-4 is also the first-stage engine for New Glenn, Blue Origin's big, reusable rocket, which remains in development.)

Monday's liftoff will be the first for Peregrine as well. The robotic lander, built by Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic, will aim to become the first private spacecraft ever to touch down softly on the moon.

Peregrine is flying via NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which aims to help pave the way for the agency's crewed Artemis moon landings. The private spacecraft carries a variety of scientific payloads, provided by NASA and other space agencies, as well as some commercial cargo. (culled from space.com)

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Epiphany

Shakespeare is famous for encapsulating the essence of a play in his opening scene. And there are many examples in literature where a scene or chapter is a concentration of the larger vision. The Epiphany is such a scene in the New Testament. The Magi--astrologers and dream interpreters--follow thin scientific promptings to Jerusalem and ask Herod for help in the final leg of their journey to find the Christ child. Herod asks his priests to explain who they are seeking. The priests use the Old Testament to explain the Christ prophesies. Then the Magi leave for Bethlehem and Herod plots to find the child and kill him.

So Christ is born, is sought and adored by Gentiles from a metaphysical caste, and is stalked by killers trying to protect their worldly power and position. So far, so good. But the priests are the stunner: They are the academic resource, the intellectuals who know the connection between the Old Testament and the evolving New, the students and teachers of the question. They explain why the Magi are there and explain where they likely are bound. The Messiah may be at stake. And then they, the intellectuals,....do nothing.