My most recent experiment

As I have previously announced on multiple occasions successful weight loss experimentation only to be unable to repeat the success, I am hesitant to keep doing so. However, one day I think I'll succeed, and I'd like to have a record of all the things I tried. It should be good for teaching my descendants the importance of creativity and persistence! 

So here is roughly what I did for the past two days which seems to have potential for helping me burn some fat:

0.5) At least an hour before, drink some celery leaf/roasted banana leaf ash/distilled water (strained with nylon mesh).

1) Microwave for 60 seconds 4 raw juniper berries and some dried parsley leaves. Use a plastic IKEA children cup with a small blue translucent lid so as to keep in any gases formed. Let cool while doing the next 4 steps.

2) Microwave for 60 seconds around 20 raw juniper berries in a white mug with beer salt (for the silicon dioxide in it). Stir with something gold (I use a Black Hills gold earring). Press 2 of the juniper berries into a small amount of salted butter on the tines of a personal blender.

3) Swirl into the (2) mug some roasted banana leaf ash and microwave for 60 seconds more. Stir with the same gold item. Press 2 of the juniper berries into the salted butter, too.

4) Grate some cinnamon bark into the (2-3) mug, swirl it, then microwave it for 60 seconds more. Press 4 of the juniper berries into the salted butter, too.

5) Swirl into the (2-4) mug some dry ash from banana leaves that were soaked in a solution of distilled water and epsom salts and then roasted. Microwave for 60 seconds. Press 2 of the juniper berries into the salted butter. Stir with a silver implement (I used a silver fork handle). Press 3 of the juniper berries into the salted butter.

6) Use the personal blender to make a puree with distilled water and the juniper berries in the salted butter from all the preceding steps.

7) Make "DCT" (microwave 60 seconds dried dill weed on Hershey's cocoa in a Classico pasta sauce glass Mason jar, then stir in with plastic some just-sliced small pieces of Roma tomato).

8) Make "VOC" (microwave 60 seconds in a mug a little roasted banana ash on a little onion powder on Hershey's cocoa), and put some into a room temperature mug ("VOC-lukewarm"). This room-temperature step seems crucial.

9) Pour some distilled water in which dry soybeans have been soaked overnight into both VOC and VOC'. Also pour some of the (6) butter puree into VOC and VOC'. Stir in with plastic, not metal utensils.

10) Pour the two mixes from step (9) simultaneously into the (7) DCT and stir with plastic.

11) Eat half of the (10) mixture. Add some just sliced small pieces of raw green cabbage and eat the rest.

[I tried an additional step with cream of tartar, but I think the potassium in it messes something up.]

[Update 05/04/2025: Leaving out the potassium seems to have resulted in another weight drop over the course of yesterday. Either that or there's a time lag from the day before or the Bertolli's pasta sauce had something special in it...I had three servings of spaghetti at a church fundraiser last night and none of the salad or breadsticks. The pasta was DeCecco's, made in Italy but with added vitamins. The sauce was Bertolli's organic, and I think some ground beef was added to it by the church leaders.

I did do one other thing different yesterday. When I made my broccoli/cacao nibs/gelatin smoothie that I always have with any food eaten after noon, I added into the blender (with the broccoli and cacao nibs) a juniper berry from step one above and a juniper berry from step five above. I had the smoothie at lunch (a low carb lunch of broccoli, cauliflower, and eggs), snacks (some dried cucumber, later an orange, and occasionally a tiny bit of dried chili powder), and dinner (3 plates of spaghetti with sauce). I didn't even exercise yesterday. I hope my scale isn't just messing with me. I really should be using a better bathroom scale if I am going to pay so much attention to it!]

[Update 05/05/2025: I'm down another pound this morning. I'm at my lower weight limit and will have to stop low-carbing for lunch. We'll see what happens next....]

Thoughts on how to exploit good students to provide cover for criminals

I've been looking in magazines published by the LDS Church and its universities, and there does seem to be a pattern where illustrations that show variations of "bug on a jar", including "book or Bog (Bog=God in some Slavic languages)) on a jar or ajar (meaning slightly open)" yield possible "clues" with deeper meanings when doubles are cancelled and then the key TSHV (see my post on April 10, 2025) is applied.

Key TSHV:

A    B    C   D   E    F   G    H    I    J    K   L   M

                                           S    R   Q   P   O   N

                                           T

                                                 U

                   Z   Y    X   W   V

I recently came across such an illustration with the caption "The Gospel of Jesus Christ," an often-repeated phrase in church meetings and publications. Doing doubles-cancellation and the key TSHV on "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" yielded, after applying one more key ("IR"), two possible clues. One appeared to refer to using cuffs as a sign (DP-LC-J-B-CUF = deep L's hook be cuff). The other yielded a "new key" (XFU) together with a reference to Akish, the founder of secret combinations in the Book of Mormon (WKOX-QY-XFU = Akish-key-XFU). See Ether 8:13-16:

13 And it came to pass that Akish gathered in unto the house of Jared all his kinsfolk, and said unto them: Will ye swear unto me that ye will be faithful unto me in the thing which I shall desire of you?

14 And it came to pass that they all sware unto him, by the God of heaven, and also by the heavens, and also by the earth, and by their heads, that whoso should vary from the assistance which Akish desired should lose his head; and whoso should divulge whatsoever thing Akish made known unto them, the same should lose his life.

15 And it came to pass that thus they did agree with Akish. And Akish did administer unto them the oaths which were given by them of old who also sought power, which had been handed down even from Cain, who was a murderer from the beginning.

16 And they were kept up by the power of the devil to administer these oaths unto the people, to keep them in darkness, to help such as sought power to gain power, and to murder, and to plunder, and to lie, and to commit all manner of wickedness and whoredoms.

After applying another key (X) to WKOX-QY-XFU, I got more possible "clues", that read "ZK GPA" ("seek GPA"?), "KOE NY" (Company New York?), "XGQ HW" ("pirate GQ is ho?) and "IEO FU" (missing "AU", or gold, means messed up?). 

The first and last possible clues seem to have clear meanings to me. 

"Seek GPA": I think the Honors Program at BYU had a relatively high percentage of closet pretend-faithful church members when I was there. I still remember how a third of my Honors Freshman English class, when told to write an essay about a traumatic experience in their lives, wrote about finding out their parents had lied to them about Santa Claus. I thought they were being straightforward about Santa Claus, but more recent experiences have helped me see that some were probably using it as a metaphor for finding out that their parents didn't actually believe in a divine Jesus. I still remember the one time I tried to hang out in the Honors reading room; I was put off by the mocking, denigrating things I overheard students in there saying about faithful people and never tried studying in there again. I can see why non-faithful people would send their children to BYU, for the tuition is a great deal compared to other universities, and the substance-free, goal-oriented lifestyle is a good way to raise youth. Still, couldn't they be less hypocritical? It's a big world out there and no one forces adults to stay members of the LDS church. Like any social organization, there is social pressure to remain, but I don't understand being happy to live a pretense just to save "face" and money.

Missing Au, messed up: Years ago, I realized that hydrogen peroxide buildup in the mouth and nose is likely contributing to dementia onset (as well as graying hair). Gold helps break down hydrogen peroxide to harmless water, and people used to have gold in their fillings. But now it's almost all silver or composite fillings, and the store shelves are stacked with peroxide-filled whitening toothpastes and mouthwashes; dementia is simultaneously occurring sooner than it used to across the population. Yes, there are other factors contributing to dementia, but very little can break down hydrogen peroxide easily (go look at a chemistry standard reduction potential table to verify it for yourself) except for gold.

An interesting thing is happening as I engage in decoding possible messages. My culture and education allow me to see meaning in what would look like random letters to someone else. Is a group of people actually putting secret messages in church publications or are they using media (and now search result algorithms) to make "decoded" letter combinations appear meaningful afterwards? I think a combination of the two is happening. 

The more background knowledge people possess, the more likely they are to find meaning where it was not intentionally put. Thus, it makes sense to recruit high GPA students to shadowy movements when one realizes that this phenomenon of meaning-finding doesn't work as well with low GPA students. Honors students aren't actually being recruited because they're highly intelligent so much as because this method of making them suspicious of others is far more effective on them.

We hear so much in the headlines about AI--artificial intelligence was already being programmed over thirty years ago, and much could have been done in that time to make people think that there are a lot more conspiracies floating around with a lot more people involved than there actually are. To what end? To hide actual wrongdoing. 

Obfuscation, diversion, distraction, and framing others are all effective ways to keep people blind to actual crimes. The existence of many wrong conspiracy theories don't mean that no one is engaging in conspiracies. "Conspiracy" is a just a fancy way to say that two more more people work together to do something criminal. As our incarceration statistics attest, there is no shortage of criminality in our country.

One might say, OK, if there are people or companies engaged in actual criminal behavior who are able to use their super-computers and IT consultants to create the appearance of numerous conspiracies, then how are insignificant bloggers like me able to see through the smoke and mirrors while CNN and NPR stay silent on the subject?

Remember the movie Fight Club? It teaches that the one main rule is "Don't talk about fight club."

Conspiracies that don't want to be exposed naturally view as enemies those people and companies that insist on truth, transparency, and freedom. Sometimes, the removal of the truthtellers is violent, like recently happened with Maria del Carmen Morales and her son in Mexico (https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/25/americas/mexican-activists-killed-jalisco-intl-latam/index.html). But overt violence is messy, which draws attention and possible exposure. Sometimes the removal is as easy as removing opponents' platforms. How do I know there aren't hundreds of other people out there noticing the same thing that I am but who have no way to spread the message effectively? Google isn't going to show me what they're posting on their little webpages when they can't pay to appear higher up in the search results.

Modern technology offers ways to contract out the silencing of truthtellers, as well as other opponents, in plausibly accidental ways: vehicular accidents, heart attacks, destructive intrusive thoughts, strokes, aphasic episodes, PTSD attacks, medication errors, emotion manipulation, destruction of reputations from long ago documents/posts, etc. I know that my blog has been deemed worthy of "blocking" by the internet filter at my local public library, but I can't imagine what in it is actually offensive. (As you see above, I'm not even comfortable using the words for the abbreviation FU.)

Conspiracies to maintain silence, no matter how justified they might seem, are causing great harm to our society. Failure to share information makes everyone more vulnerable to real criminals, who have technology at their disposal that was unthinkable in the time of our grandparents. One would hope that high GPA people would have figured out by now that they are being used....I guess this is why we get warned against pride, for it keeps people thinking that they are just too smart to be fooled.

Another interesting thing about this phenomenon of meaning finding is that it can be exploited in any language. I wonder to what extent it is going on in other cultures.

Ingredient scarcity and weight-related food experiments

I can't find good baking cocoa in the grocery stores. I don't recall any news headlines about that being an issue, but there simply isn't any on the shelves. That's going to drastically change what I and now my teenage daughters do in the way of weight loss experiments.

Also, I have run out of red raspberry seed powder. I won't be buying more. It's expensive and hasn't had the same effects as batches of the same brand bought and used several years ago. 

Have you noticed that "superfoods" don't stay super?

Because of my recent (and lasting) two-pound weight loss from expensive deli meat (Boar's Head) with just four ingredients--sodium phosphate, turkey, water, and sugar--I'm wondering if there are some helpful gas molecules produced in processing the meat and sugar on special equipment that has been cleaned with certain chemicals. Remember decades ago when we all got told to beware of cleaning with both chlorine bleach and ammonia together? What if they, used sequentially on food processing equipment, actually were beneficial to making needed chemicals in food?

For now, I'm looking at different things that happen chemically in the kitchen with beryllium (especially as Be(2+) ions), gold, iodine, and possibly ruthenium or bromine (especially as BrO3(1-) ions before H is bonded to them), particularly in combination with phospholipid-type molecules that have arsenic/bismuth/antimony instead of the phosphorus atom.

[Update 4/23/2025: I don't know whether it's related to weight loss, but today I repeated an experiment from a month ago that brought on "hot flashes" (especially in my back, where we tend to have brown fat deposits) then and now. Quite unexpected. Sure, it could be hormones or perimenopause, but I don't recall ever having had those sensations besides those two times, and the "heat" today didn't start until I consumed exactly the same things that I did a month ago; a partial copying was insufficient. Caffeine, which sometimes gets partially blamed for hot flashes, alone wasn't enough. Here's what I ate/drank that seemed to bring on the heat both today and a month ago:

Item 1: My usual celery leaf/distilled water/roasted banana leaf beverage just after waking. 

Item 2: A little raw green cabbage on and off before, during, and after small experiments.

Item 3: Sips of a slightly varied version of my snack and mealtime broccoli smoothie:

Prepare in a jar a little beef gelatin powder mixed with room-temperature distilled water.

In a high-speed blender, blend some fresh, rinsed broccoli florets with rinsed raw cacao nibs and distilled water.

Pour the blender contents once pureed and steaming (that takes about 50 seconds in my Blendtec at its top speed) into a second jar with some distilled water and a couple tablespoons of the beverage listed as Item 1 above (strain out the celery leaf and ash with a plastic mesh strainer). Then pour that into the first jar of gelatin-water. Mix together in the jar.

Dilute with more distilled water to a pleasant drinkable texture.

Item 4: A new kind of juniper berry/soybean smoothie:

Microwave 4 raw juniper berries with dried parsley uncovered in a ceramic mug for about 1 minute. Press the juniper berries into some salted butter on the blades of a small personal blender. 

Microwave around 8 raw juniper berries with powdered white eggshell and beer salt (as a source of silicon dioxide) in a mug uncovered for about 1 minute. Stir with a small golden earring (I used a "Black Hills gold" earring because that is what I have on hand). Add ash from toasted banana leaf and a little just-grated cinnamon bark; swirl in and microwave for 60 seconds more, then stir with the handle of a silver fork. Press the juniper berries onto the same salted butter in the blender.

When everything on the blender blades is at room temperature, make a puree with the treated juniper berries, the salted butter, and distilled water.

In a different personal blender, puree distilled water and 1 dry soybean.

Pre-mix some of the two purees together into a plastic container. Keep at room temperature.

In an IKEA plastic cup, microwave dried dill weed and home-ground chili powder (made from inexpensive Walmart-brand red chili flakes) about 2 minutes. [Hmmm....I tried to recreate this later on the same day, and it looks like, based on my log, that the correct combo is actually gelatin powder on dill weed on Hershey's cocoa powder. I'll try again in the next few days.] Pour the mixture of purees into the IKEA cup and swirl to mix. Drink it all.

Until I made Item 4 with the specific juniper berry treatment above, I did not get any feelings of heat. I used cocoa powder three times for various experiments sort of like Item 4 this morning with no apparent results, which is why I think that caffeine alone is insufficient. 

I noticed the heat in my back an hour ago, fifteen minutes after consuming Item 4, and it has continued to be noticeable since then even though I am wearing light clothing and sitting a place where I usually feel chilled.

I don't know what molecule(s) might be connected to this feeling of heat; I will have to repeat these specific food tests to see whether I get the same sensations. Wouldn't that be useful to find a clear food trigger for "hot flashes"!]

[Update 4/24/2025: I haven't been able to recreate yesterday's feeling of "heat." The only differences I can see between what I've been doing today and what I did yesterday is that the experiment that was most likely the one connected to the warmth was done by microwaving gelatin, dill weed, and cocoa in an old Classico spaghetti sauce Mason jar, which cracked during the one minute I had it in the microwave; it didn't break, so I used the result, but I didn't recreate the experiment exactly because I didn't want to break another jar. Perhaps there is something about needing a specific kind of sheared crystal structure as a catalyst. I guess I could break some quartz and try that as an ingredient, as that should mimic having fractured glass.

I tried the fractured quartz and didn't notice anything. Thinking back to the stevia/silicon dioxide that my daughter successfully used for weight loss years ago, I wonder whether there was something in the stevia that "doped" the silicon dioxide to make it do what it did for her. Glass jars do have sodium and sometimes aluminum or boron in them, from what I've read. Stevia is a leaf, and I already have roasted banana leaf ash on hand, as well as roasted banana leaf that was first soaked in magnesium sulfate. Maybe the roasted banana leaf has sodium or a similar element (lithium, rubidium, etc.) in the right form. I'm trying microwaving a combination of roasted banana leaf, gelatin, and dill weed in a ceramic bowl and then stirring in some sulfured-roasted banana leaf. I'm also trying the same combination but with a combination of roasted banana leaf, gelatin, home-ground chili pepper and dill weed (this second one seemed to cause a slimming feeling right afterwards, while the previous one did not, but I also put some sulfured-roasted banana leaf in with the pre-made mixture of purees, so I didn't isolate the variables sufficiently).]

[Update 4/25/2025: Years ago, I came across a big chunk of glass in a can of canned salmon. I laughed a little, remembering headlines about people suing companies for scary things found in processed food, and then threw it away without making a fuss since it was obviously too big to go unnoticed and thus not dangerous to me. While it would be dangerous to a child, young children don't tend to operate can openers and wouldn't be opening this brand of cans. The mere existence of big chunks of glass in or next to food is not dangerous. We eat food out of glass jars and vessels all the time. Just don't ingest glass pieces that could hurt you.

Today I microwaved four recently-fractured chunks of food-grade glass in a ceramic bowl together with cocoa, dill weed, red chili powder, and gelatin powder; those last two are included because apparent interference by sodium chloride with the silicon dioxide in my beer salt, as well as the often-added boron and aluminum in store-bought glass jars, makes me think that perhaps I want to combine beryllium or strontium with heated glass to make a catalyst.

After microwaving, I mixed in the two purees from above and consumed the liquid part of the mixture (being careful to remove all four glass chunks because I'm curious but not stupid), I did feel a new sensation in my thighs and my fingers seem to feel thinner. I would like to retry this experiment with roasted banana leaf ash and/or cinnamon bark in place of the chili powder, but I'm out of purees for today. One batch suffices for a day. I want to consume real food, too!]

[Update 4/26/2025: I saw Hershey's cocoa back on the shelves, but it looks repackaged, as if the labels had been reglued on for some reason. Odd.]

[Update 4/27/2025: Now that I'm out of red raspberry powder, I'm experimenting with using beef gelatin powder in place of it, i.e., microwaving a mug with a little gelatin powder on a little roasted banana leaf ash on a little onion powder on some Hershey's cocoa. I might have gotten a "cooling" sensation from that. I think it would be from making tetrahedral bismuth/antimony/arsenic given the ingredients.]

[Update 4/30/2025: Temperatures when mixing ingredients look like they might be important. Yet another variable to track....]

Bugs/Divinities on jars and manufactured "secret messages"

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that in my 1982 LDS "triple combination" scripture index, the entries for various names of Jesus (e.g., Wonderful, Counselor, Eternal, etc.) seem to have possible "encoded messages" found by doing doubles-cancellation on the regular-font letters of each of the entries and then doing a V-type manipulation of the results (i.e., taking the letters before and after the V--or another symmetrical noun or concept spelled in the results--in alternation, moving outward from the "V").

Most people think of a goat as a medieval depiction of the devil, but Jesus is talked about as being a scapegoat who bore our sins. So I did a doubles-cancellation on the entry for "Goat." It gave me BKYUGONAJRTSHV, which did not have anything symmetrical contained within it. But then I noticed that if I pulled out "KY" (often used to denote possible decoding keys), I got "BUG ON A J[A]R  TSHV." I decided to look for LDS media with depictions of bugs over jars and use the key TSHV on doubles-cancellations of their accompanying text.

Key TSHV:

A    B    C   D   E    F   G    H    I    J    K   L   M

                                           S    R   Q   P   O   N

                                           T

                                                 U

                   Z   Y    X   W   V

The very first one I tried was the not-in-quotes portion of the title of an official LDS news release about this spring's general church conference, which news release had a painting of Jesus over a large jar. Now, in Slavic languages and languages that incorporate them (e.g., Yiddish), "bug"="god". Even for non-Slavic-language speaking American audiences, the Men in Black movie equated bugs with superhuman, highly-evolved beings. So that painting fit the "bug on a jar" phrase. Doing doubles-cancellation on "Finding...through Jesus Christ this Easter season" gave a result of "FPJCRSN", and applying the TSHV key resulted in "XZQCUITVHM"; that appears to be saying "execute" and two initials that might be HM or MR (I think the latter is correct due to the V, or Roman numeral five, possibly indicating to shift the following letters forward five letters). If the Church President, Russell M. Nelson, who is 100 years old, dies in the next six months, I guess this will be a perfect example of the manufactured (possibly self-fulfilling) prophecies that I think have been being put in (or made reality afterwards) in some church publications.

I have continued to look in church publications and the "bug on a jar" motif seems to be a genuine, repeated sign. The 2008 version of the illustrated New Testament Stories has a picture of Mary holding baby Jesus over a jar on page 18. Doing doubles-cancellation on the regular text under it, I got VGCKULOSEINT; applying the TSHV key to that gave me HSTWCPIROLTVHYRUMVHS, which immediately drew my attention because it spells out Hyrum, best friend and brother of LDS Church founder Joseph Smith. If one takes the V's as indicators of reading in a different direction, this could be read as TL O RIP CWT SH - HYRUM - SH, which read phonetically is "Tell 'O' R.I.P.  Cot Shhhh Hyrum Shhhh." That looks like a threat to not talk about cipher-ring-related things on pain of death, which Hyrum might have run afoul of by telling them to Joseph in connection with a cot. Odd, right? Especially since Joseph and Hyrum were later murdered together.

In the last few years, an unusual story has been being circulated that Hyrum Smith attended an elite boarding school and came home and told Joseph all about what he learned there while Joseph was laid up in bed recovering from a serious illness. That isn't a church history story that circulated until recently; I think it might have been manufactured or inflated to fit this supposed "encoded message."

It's too easy to put or find garbled messages in texts with macros. How is a person supposed to know whether such messages are legitimate claims, especially if false stories are later circulated to make the messages look legitimate?

Ring Wars and better uses of neuroscience advances

As you might have gathered from some of my posts over the past five years, I think secrecy is overrated.

I just saw something that could be interpreted to mean that oaths, covenants, and confidentiality agreements could be used to set up a circular war, a "ring war."

Instapundit used to mockingly talk about "circular firing squads" and the prisoners' dilemma (a hypothetical where prisoners can get a shorter sentence by all confessing but a longer one if they are the only wrongdoer who confesses, so they all stay quiet).

How do we end secrecy-dependent ring wars? Since people are going to respond to rational incentives, society needs to be change the prisoners' dilemma. Genuinely repentant wrongdoers should be given a lesser penalty for being the first to confess, especially if they help identify their co-conspirators. It should be a race to confess first.

How do we discern who is actually repentant from who is merely manipulative and insincere? There is a large body of neuromarketing research now on how to find out what people prefer. Use it in law enforcement. Also, use it in security clearances! If someone shows a preference for service to fellow humans, they should get jobs that need people with such a preference (as opposed to a preference for wielding power to use others). All that brain activity research should be put to uses more important than finding out which kind of cola we prefer.

Song title word "games"

Last year, the Eurovision submission from Israel was a song called "Hurricane." Cancellation of doubled letters turns that song title into "Hui Cane." Eight days after the Eurovision finale, Iran's president and foreign minister were killed in a helicopter crash. The helicopter was a Bell 212, which appears to be the kind of helicopter known as a "Huey." "Cain" is the first recorded murderer (see the book of Genesis in the Bible), something which would have been common knowledge to both Iranians and Israelis, despite their many differences.

If the 2024 song title was an announcement of an intended attack via helicopter crash, then we should all scrutinize the 2025 Israel song title being submitted to Eurovision now: "New Day Will Rise"

Doing cancellation of doubled letters on "New Day Will Rise" results in "NDA Y RS." 

An NDA is a non-disclosure agreement. "RS" is pronounced "ars," as in crafts and skilled arts. "Y" looks like a drover's rod for herding cattle. 

I've posted some articles recently that point to the development of technology that can "read" and "nudge" people's minds (see https://petticoatgovernment.blogspot.com/2025/02/mind-reading-can-be-done-by-technology.html cancellation), and I think someone in Israel is using this song title to tell the western world that this kind of technology is being used to herd us and that many who know about it are unable to openly discuss it due to non-disclosure agreements.

(As you look at Israelis demonstrating to show disgust and anger at their leaders for bombing tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza, remember that some of those Israelis likely know about any psy-ops being used to stoke conflicts but are prevented from saying anything about them. Violating confidentiality agreements in the military can result in prison and possibly worse consequences. Most Israelis are good people, and they need to be freed from their own captors.)

A scripture passage that was fulfilled despite looking on the surface as though it wasn't

In the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 21:9-10 says

For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.

This statement appears to be about Joseph Smith, Jr. But it says he wouldn't be "hurt," and Joseph Smith, Jr. was murdered by a mob in 1844 in Illinois. So wasn't this prophecy not fulfilled? Also, how can one be "marred" yet not "hurt"? That seems logically impossible.

The meaning of "mar" is 1) to ruin or diminish the perfection or wholeness of : spoil; 2) (archaic) a) to inflict serious bodily harm on; b) destroy. (See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mar.)

Joseph Smith, Jr. repeatedly had serious bodily harm inflicted on him. He was never "perfect," so the first definition about "diminishing perfection" seems inapplicable to him.

My enormous old dictionary, in its etymology and meanings for the word "hurt", points to a lesser-known definition of "to hurt" as meaning "to check" or "to hamper" (see the 2b definition):

As we know from hockey, checking is blocking, not necessarily injuring (see definitions 5 and also 6):

The inclusion of abating as a synonym of checking is interesting. "Abate" is a strong word in its most common legal and construction usages, meaning to nullify or get rid of. See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abate.

The "check" meaning of "hurt" is kept in the first definition of "hurter":

I think this Book of Mormon passage above is saying that Joseph Smith, Jr. would be marred--both in the sense that he would suffer serious physical injury and that his work would be tarnished and slowed down, including by his unjust death--but that he and his work would not be entirely blocked. It has taken 200 years now, but his main work--the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon--still continues. The Book of Mormon tells the world that Jesus was divine and that he really rose from death (not just a chemical stupor like the fictional Juliet in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet) and visited his "other sheep," i.e., people in the Americas.

Men in Black and Marbles

The news has been hot about President Trump yelling at President Zelenskyy in the White House recently. One tidbit stood out:

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was wearing black slacks, boots, and a black sweatshirt with an embroidered Ukrainian trident...."You're all decked out today," Donald Trump remarked mockingly.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/did-zelenskyys-outfit-at-the-white-house-tick-off-donald-trump-heres-what-he-was-wearing-as-the-president-took-a-sarcastic-dig-at-him/ar-AA1A3xQS?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Zelensky was all in black, including a sweatshirt, for a very formal kind of meeting. What is the symbolism he was going for? To some people, "men in black" are pirates (who might be good guys underneath), as we see in The Princess Bride movie.

To others, "men in black" are super cool defenders of the universe from the really bad creatures out there.

But, as the movie and its rap song spell out for us, "Men In Black" equals "M.I.B."

Here come the Men In Black

It's the MIB's, uh, here come the MIB's

Here come the Men In Black, Men In Black

They won't let you remember*

Nah nah nah.

The good guys dress in black, remember that

Just in case we ever face to face and make contact

The title held by me, MIB

https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/3529257/Will+Smith

I was intrigued to find in my huge, old dictionary that "mib" means "mig" in the sense of a marble used for playing marbles. See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mib.

Do you remember how, at the very end of the first Men in Black movie, the earth and our universe are portrayed as being inside a marble that an alien hand is playing marbles with? I don't think that was a lucky vocabulary coincidence. Is that final movie scene saying that the men in black are being "played with" just as much as everyone else? If so, who is playing everyone else? The technology we see and know about is like the visible tip of an iceberg, and I have felt myself "nudged" to do or say things in the past few years that I wouldn't have otherwise thought of doing or saying.

Of course, a "Mig" is also a USSR-era fighter jet.

So, when Trump makes a big deal out of Zelenskyy showing up dressed as a "mib"....what is really going on? There's so much that is unclear in international politics right now.

* If mind reading and altering technology has been being researched and patented since the mid-1970s (see https://patents.google.com/patent/US3951134A/en) then there has likely been progress on helping induce forgetfulness in targeted ways. Perhaps the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was only partially science fiction.

Mythology dark sides

My daughter is taking a world mythology class. Yesterday she was in tears over having to read raunchy Native American mythology stories about graphic sexual violence. I find nothing amusing about perpetuating the idea that appreciation of Native American cultures includes acceptance of such horrible behavior, especially since "Native or Indigenous children are 7 times more likely that other children to be subjected to criminal physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or a combination of all of these" (https://www.ncacia.org/post/the-overlooked-epidemic-child-abuse-in-indigenous-and-native-american-populations).

The stories that are used to set forth the ideals, or lack thereof, of a culture are powerful. 

For example, some can take a verse in Genesis to mean that God will let them have influence over sin itself if they walk the path of "Perdition," as did Cain, the first murderer:

And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Genesis 4:6-7.

"Unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." Say what? The devil/sin will want to please people if they follow him? He's represented in the Bible as being selfish. That makes no sense.

Joseph Smith, Jr. was inspired to write that passage as follows:

And the Lord said unto Cain: Why art thou wroth? Why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee; and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire. And thou shalt rule over him;

"It shall be unto thee according to his desire." Now that makes sense. This second passage puts people on notice that the devil/sin aims to accomplish his/its own purposes, not the wishes of those who give in to him/it.

See how a little difference in a founding story of mythological import can mean the difference between thinking the devil is going to try to please a person versus being warned that the devil is going to exploit that person? They are basically opposite beliefs and will take us down different roads behaviorally.

We should always be ready to examine the power of myths in our lives and cultures. Failure to examine them only makes dysfunctional outcomes persist longer.

Artificial intelligence software can cause a loss of faith in LDS media content creators

When looking closely at my paper copy of the 1980s LDS triple combination index, I discovered something in the entry for "Book of Commandments" (the original name of the Doctrine & Covenants). It has the following reference:

67:7 the Lord counsels to study B. of C.

But that's not what verse 67:7 says. Here is that verse and the surrounding ones:

5 Your eyes have been upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and his language you have known, and his imperfections you have known; and you have sought in your hearts knowledge that you might express beyond his language; this you also know.

6 Now, seek ye out of the Book of Commandments, even the least that is among them, and appoint him that is the most wise among you;

7 Or, if there be any among you that shall make one like unto it, then ye are justified in saying that ye do not know that they are true;

8 But if ye cannot make one like unto it, ye are under condemnation if ye do not bear record that they are true.

9 For ye know that there is no unrighteousness in them, and that which is righteous cometh down from above, from the Father of lights.

Why is there a printer or publisher error pointing directly at this verse? I think it's because the publishing field has likely had access to content creation software since the 1980s, software that could duplicate specific writing styles the way any child can these days with ChatGTP. Because some publishers could produce writing that sounded like the Doctrine & Covenants, they could feel justified in not believing the very scriptures they were printing.

If I am correct, that would explain a lot of the published material coming out of Utah these days. Shallow gospel interpretations that constantly push a myth of "prophetic infallibility" on us have become the norm, when The Book of Mormon itself clearly teaches that church leaders don't always know about bad things going on in the world and even in the LDS Church (see Mosiah 26:9, where Alma, the prophet of the Nephite church didn't know about iniquity in the church and had to be told of it). It appears some nonbelievers in Church media services don't want us to question anything they say as they pretend to be faithful enough to fit in in Salt Lake City.

[Update 2/16/2025: I found another significant-looking typo in the triple combination index. This one points to a KGB connection to supposed signs and poisons in use by super-secretive groups within the LDS Church. I know, incredible, right? But keep in mind that the index was put together in the early 1980s when the USA and the USSR were pointing nuclear missiles at each other and relying on the idea of "mutually assured destruction" to keep the other side from hitting the launch buttons. A little messing with a staunchly anti-Communist, pro-military church (especially one whose adherents avoid most kinds of substance abuse) is hardly something the Soviets would have been ethically above doing.

I'll lay out the details:

1) The index entry for "refrain" erroneously indicates that Alma the Elder ("Alma1") lectured his son Corianton; it should have said Alma the Younger ("Alma2"), the actual father of Corianton.

2) Double-cancellation on the index entry for Alma1 (including the "1" as the start of the references and not considering it to be part of the entry title) gives the following string of letters and numbers: z0jwcyghpr2945ond. Dividing the numbers by 26 and using the remainders to get the corresponding letters of the alphabet, I get zzjwcyghprgond; using the doubled letter correspondence trick, that gives mjwcyghprgond. 

From the index entry title, "Alma", I do doubles-cancellation and get "LM" to indicate which cipher to use. Applying the "LM" cipher to mjwcyghprgond, I get lobvzrqigrjku. Combining the two strings of letters and removing the ones that form words (joke, gap, argon, and lobe), I am left with mydvzrqigrjku.

Application of the v trick (start at the v and move to the front and back sides) gives dzyrmqigrjku.

Then, application of the z trick (zigzag from the ends in towards the z) gives dukjrgiqmry. Turn it upside-down to get pnk(rj)gibwjl. (The rj is left out as it tells us just that this clue is upside-down. Y upside down is the Greek letter lambda, or "l".) Sounding this out, we can read "pen KGB wjl."

Three-letter ciphers are something I recently started looking at. They can be made by imitating the shape of a slide rule. A cipher based on wjl looks like this:

A   B   C   D    E    F    G    H     I     J     K

                       Q    P    O    N    M   L

                       R    S     T    U     V   W    X    Y    Z

Isn't that cool looking?

Going back and applying this cipher to lobvzrqigrjku, I get wj-tg-b-im-z-eq-re-mv-ot-eq-lw-k-hn. Removing the letters that form words (ream, vote, and cane), I am left with wjtgbimzeqqlw. 

Double q is a d, so I now have wjtgbimzedlw.

Doing the z trick starting from the left side gives me wwjltdgebim, which (because ww=j and jj=w) is wltdgebim; turned upside-down, it reads wiqd(bp)tlm; leaving out the bp as an indicator that this clue should be turned upside-down, we get a string that appears to say "wicked teal M," which appears to be a cryptic clue linking naughty Masons in the LDS church to the color teal.

Doing the z trick to wjtgbimzedlw from the right side, I get wwljdtegbim, which is jljdtegbim. Turning it upside-down, I get w-iq-b-d-t-prlr. "W" frequently shows up in these kind of possible clues as an indication of a poison or toxin, so this clue can be read as "toxic to intelligence is the tea parlor." While a missionary in Poland in the mid 1990s, I saw the height and health differences between young men raised drinking lots of tea in Poland and LDS young men raised avoiding tea in the USA. I don't pretend to know whether the American boys were also more intelligent, but they were obviously much taller and healthier than their Polish counterparts. A KGB audience could easily believe that there was also an intelligence-damage connection with tea here.

Which came first? The teal and tea clues were intentionally inserted? Or, what I consider more probable, a printer inserted a call out by/to different subgroups in the KGB/CIA to get their attention and then some people who know what kinds of messages printers can send via typos and moderately basic ciphers spent a couple of decades "fulfilling" the "clues"? Communists know all about the need for patience and "long marches" through institutions they want to gut and destroy from the inside out.

A problem with secret messages is that they can be made to appear where they were not originally intended and the audiences who think they are "in on it" won't know they are being fooled because...secrets!]

"Mind reading" can be done by technology you are wearing and carrying around

There's a whole field called neuromarketing that focuses on neural processes and emotions, such as fear, anger, happiness, and sadness. The purpose? To sell you items! And to convince you to do/believe/think in a variety of desired ways: agitation, fervor, complacency, etc. Market research has come a long way from relying on focus groups and telephone surveys.

The neural-investigation devices used in scientists' studies are quite small and wearable these days. Think cellphone- and smartwatch- small. They need to be able to measure blood oxygenation, which is cheaply done. Nowadays, one can buy an oximeter for under $8 on Amazon, including shipping.

Have you ever wondered how Facebook gets you to keep scrolling and knows what algorithms to deploy on you to keep you engaged? Your cellphone camera(s) can track your eye movement, which indicates what you are interested in.

The neuromarketing technology has gotten so good that it can read your unconscious preferences. For example, it can predict what people will do with respect to stock transactions even before people have consciously come to a decision.

This is impressive, world-altering technology, and we too often are oblivious that is available to marketers and influence-sellers. There is a reason that data analysts are so highly paid. There is a lot of data out there to analyze.

Here are some studies to back up the above claims:

1) Cherubino P, Martinez-Levy AC, Caratù M, Cartocci G, Di Flumeri G, Modica E, Rossi D, Mancini M, Trettel A. Consumer Behaviour through the Eyes of Neurophysiological Measures: State-of-the-Art and Future Trends. Comput Intell Neurosci. 2019 Sep 18;2019:1976847. doi: 10.1155/2019/1976847. PMID: 31641346; PMCID: PMC6766676. Online at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6766676/

[F]irstly, we will describe the historical development of neuromarketing and its main applications in assessing the sensory perceptions of some marketing and advertising stimuli. Then, we will describe the main neuroscientific tools available for such kind of investigations (e.g., measuring the cerebral electrical or hemodynamic activity, the eye movements, and the psychometric responses). Also, this review will present different brain measurement techniques, along with their pros and cons, and the main cerebral indexes linked to the specific mental states of interest (used in most of the neuromarketing research). Such indexes have been supported by adequate validations from the scientific community and are largely employed in neuromarketing research. 

2) Rawnaque FS, Rahman KM, Anwar SF, Vaidyanathan R, Chau T, Sarker F, Mamun KAA. Technological advancements and opportunities in Neuromarketing: a systematic review. Brain Inform. 2020 Sep 21;7(1):10. doi: 10.1186/s40708-020-00109-x. PMID: 32955675; PMCID: PMC7505913. Online at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32955675/

Physiological response measuring techniques such as eye tracking, skin conductance recording, heart rate monitoring, and facial mapping have also been found in these empirical studies exclusively or in parallel with brain recordings. 

3) Rigby D, Vass C, Payne K. Opening the 'Black Box': An Overview of Methods to Investigate the Decision-Making Process in Choice-Based Surveys. Patient. 2020 Feb;13(1):31-41. doi: 10.1007/s40271-019-00385-8. PMID: 31486021. Online at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31486021/

A variety of methods of pre-choice process analysis have been developed to investigate how and why people make their decisions in such experiments and surveys. These techniques have been developed to investigate how people acquire and process information and make choices. These techniques offer the potential to test and improve theories of choice and/or associated empirical models. This paper provides an overview of such methods, with the focus on their use in stated choice-based healthcare studies. The methods reviewed are eye tracking, mouse tracing, brain imaging, deliberation time analysis and think aloud. For each method, we summarise the rationale, implementation, type of results generated and associated challenges, along with a discussion of possible future developments.

4) Colomer Granero A, Fuentes-Hurtado F, Naranjo Ornedo V, Guixeres Provinciale J, Ausín JM, Alcañiz Raya M. A Comparison of Physiological Signal Analysis Techniques and Classifiers for Automatic Emotional Evaluation of Audiovisual Contents. Front Comput Neurosci. 2016 Jul 15;10:74. doi: 10.3389/fncom.2016.00074. PMID: 27471462; PMCID: PMC4945646. Online at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4945646/

Estimation of emotional states is a powerful tool in the marketing field. Efficient monitoring of human emotional states may provide important and useful information for marketing purposes (Frantzidis et al., 2010a). Such monitoring could follow either subjective or objective methods. Subjective methods (psychology-oriented approach) are based on qualitative behavior assessment or by means of questionnaires and interviews, whilst objective methods (neuropsychology-oriented approach) consist on monitoring and analyzing the subject biosignals (Frantzidis et al., 2010a).

It is now recognized that making use of standard marketing techniques, such as depth interviews or focus groups, in which customers are exposed to the product in advance of its massive launch or afterwards, provides biased answers due to the respondents cognitive processes activating during the interview and by the influence that the interviewer may have on their recalls (Vecchiato et al., 2014). Furthermore, people are not able to (or might not want) fully express their preferences when they are explicitly asked (Vecchiato et al., 2011a). Therefore, marketing researchers prefer to complement traditional methods with the use of biosignals.

To follow the objective approach, different features of either positive or negative emotions can be extracted from physiological signals, such as electrocardiography (ECG), electroencephalography (EEG), galvanic skin response (GSR) or the breathing response (Frantzidis et al., 2010a). This techniques allow to assess human emotions in terms of it is able to reveal information that is unobtainable employing traditional methods (Vecchiato et al., 2014).

Electroencephalography and the magnetoencephalography (MEG) allow to record on a millisecond basis the brain activity during the exposition to relevant marketing stimuli. However, such imaging brain techniques present one difficulty: the recorded cerebral activity is mainly generated on the cortical structures of the brain. It is almost impossible to acquire the electromagnetic activity yield by deep structures which are often associated with the generation of emotional processing in humans with EEG or MEG sensors. To overcome this problem, high-resolution EEG technology has been developed to enhance the poor spatial information content on the EEG activity. With this technology, brain activity can be detected with a spatial resolution of a squared centimeter on a milliseconds basis, but only in the cerebral cortex.

Furthermore, autonomic activity such as Heart Rate (HR) and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) are also able to assess the internal emotional state of the subject (Christoforou et al., 2015; Ohme et al., 2011). GSR activity is actually a sensitive and convenient way of measuring indexing changes in sympathetic arousal associated with emotion, cognition and attention (Critchley, 2002). Lang et al. (1993) discovered that the mean value of GSR is related to the level of arousal. Blood pressure and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) also correlate with emotions, since stress may increase blood pressure. Pleasantness of stimuli can increase peak heart rate response, and HRV decreases with fear, sadness and happiness (Soleymani et al., 2008). Respiration has proven to be an adequate emotional indicator. It is possible to distinguish relaxation (slow respiration) and anger or fear (irregular rhythm, quick variations and cessation of respiration). It is possible as well to detect laughing because it introduces high-frequency fluctuations to the HRV signal (Appelhans and Luecken, 2006).

5) Stallen M, Borg N, Knutson B. Brain Activity Foreshadows Stock Price Dynamics. J Neurosci. 2021 Apr 7;41(14):3266-3274. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1727-20.2021. Epub 2021 Mar 8. PMID: 33685944; PMCID: PMC8026346. Online at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8026346/

Many try but fail to consistently forecast changes in stock prices. New evidence, however, suggests that anticipatory affective brain activity may not only predict individual choice, but also may forecast aggregate choice. Assuming that stock prices index collective choice, we tested whether brain activity sampled during the assessment of stock prices could forecast subsequent changes in the prices of those stocks. In two neuroimaging experiments, a combination of previous stock price movements and brain activity in a region implicated in processing uncertainty and arousal forecast next-day stock price changes—even when behavior did not. These findings challenge traditional assumptions of market efficiency by implying that neuroimaging data might reveal “hidden information” capable of foreshadowing stock price dynamics.

6) Çakar T, Filiz G. Unraveling neural pathways of political engagement: bridging neuromarketing and political science for understanding voter behavior and political leader perception. Front Hum Neurosci. 2023 Dec 21;17:1293173. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1293173. PMID: 38188505; PMCID: PMC10771297. Online at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10771297/

The present investigation used a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system as primary data collection instrument. The NIRS system utilized in this study is produced by fNIR Devices, model 11001 and is rooted in the research development units of Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA, USA) (Ayaz, 2010). The system consists of three elements: a flexible sensor with 16 optodes (8 light sources and 8 detectors) arranged in a 4 × 4 grid, and which is securely fixed to the participant’s head; the control box with electronic components and analog-to-digital converters; and the system computer, which runs the COBI Studio software and facilitates real-time data monitoring and recording. The sensor, equipped with four distinct light sources, detects oxygenation levels through ten detectors while concurrently recording data streams across sixteen distinct channels (Ayaz et al., 2011). Notably, the sensor is designed so that the light source and the detector are approximately 2.5 centimeters apart, thereby enabling measurements from depths of approximately 1.25 centimeters. This fNIRS system uses two wavelengths (760 nm and 830 nm) to measure the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (Hb) in the blood. Functionally, the system boasts a data acquisition frequency of 2 samples per second (2 Hz) and is capable of measuring neural activity within the Brodmann areas BA9, BA10, BA44, and BA45 (Ayaz et al., 2011).

The non-invasive and portable nature of the optical brain imaging system is instrumental to its effectiveness. 

[Update 2/12/2025: Not only can it "read" our minds, our portable technology can also be used to affect our mental states. Smart phones now usually come with the capability of generating infrared light, which can be used to improve mood and reduce inflammation:

Giménez MC, Luxwolda M, Van Stipriaan EG, Bollen PP, Hoekman RL, Koopmans MA, Arany PR, Krames MR, Berends AC, Hut RA, Gordijn MCM. Effects of Near-Infrared Light on Well-Being and Health in Human Subjects with Mild Sleep-Related Complaints: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study. Biology (Basel). 2022 Dec 29;12(1):60. doi: 10.3390/biology12010060. PMID: 36671752; PMCID: PMC9855677. Online at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9855677/

Therapeutic exposure to doses of red and NIR, known as photobiomodulation (PBM), has been effective for a broad range of conditions. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, we aimed to assess the effects of a PBM home set-up on various aspects of well-being, health, sleep, and circadian rhythms in healthy human subjects with mild sleep complaints. The effects of three NIR light (850 nm) doses (1, 4, or 6.5 J·cm−2) were examined against the placebo. Exposure was presented five days per week between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm for four consecutive weeks. The study was conducted in both summer and winter to include seasonal variation. The results showed PBM treatment only at 6.5 J·cm−2 to have consistent positive benefits on well-being and health, specifically improving mood, reducing drowsiness, reducing IFN-γ, and resting heart rate. This was only observed in winter. 

I think that housing people in windowless buildings is a very bad idea, per this study. We need some of this kind of light.]

[Update 2/13/2025: I think the most secretive, well-funded agencies have been working on mind reading capabilities for decades. Last fall, Popular Mechanics reported the military is going to develop mind reading helmets for aircraft pilots, ones that are non-invasive (i.e., not relying on brain implants) and so precise that the military intends to have the pilots use the mind reading capabilites for launching weapons. You don't rely on technology to launch weapons until you're sure it works and works extraordinarily well! Here's a link to the Popular Mechanics story:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a62719626/darpa-n3-ai-helmet/

If mind reading technology is being used on us civilians these days, I think DARPA and other such agencies are obligated under the Constitution, as constructed and understood to be about providing for the common defense, to tell us about it, no matter how many non-disclosure agreements they initially signed back when our society wasn't being run into the ground by unproductive uses of new technologies.]

[Update 2/16/2025: As I look at news headlines, I'm struck with the realization that they make a lot more sense if one hypothesizes that some people are using advanced technology to manipulate politicians and prominent business/entertainment people. Sort of a Sim-City game, but real. Is it plausible?]

[Update 2/24/2025: Here's more to read about non-invasive mind reading tech. https://gizmodo.com/the-next-generation-of-brainwave-control-helmets-looks-5484416. The article is already four years old.

So what about technology that goes the other way? Instead of merely observing, it  influences, massages, and even induces brainwaves in a way targeted to create, amplify, or dampen a person's emotions? It looks like that actually can be done non-invasively now.

Despite many studies showing abnormal brain rhythms in multiple diseases, limited means to target deep brain regions noninvasively has restricted the therapeutic potential of driving brain rhythms. Accordingly, we developed a noninvasive millisecond precise sensory stimulation to drive brain rhythms. Here, we introduce for the first time newly developed open-source software and instructions for building, testing, debugging, and using BrainWAVE (Brain Wide-spectrum Audio/Visual Exposure) stimulation. We demonstrate BrainWAVE stimulation across multiple species and different experimental settings. 

Attokaren MK, Jeong N, Blanpain L, Paulson AL, Garza KM, Borron B, Walelign M, Willie J, Singer AC. BrainWAVE: A Flexible Method for Noninvasive Stimulation of Brain Rhythms across Species. eNeuro. 2023 Feb 24;10(2):ENEURO.0257-22.2022. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0257-22.2022. PMID: 36754625; PMCID: PMC9979148. Online at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9979148/

Here's a patent on tech that remotely changes brain electrical activity that was filed back in 1975: 

Apparatus for and method of sensing brain waves at a position remote from a subject whereby electromagnetic signals of different frequencies are simultaneously transmitted to the brain of the subject in which the signals interfere with one another to yield a waveform which is modulated by the subject's brain waves. The interference waveform which is representative of the brain wave activity is re-transmitted by the brain to a receiver where it is demodulated and amplified. The demodulated waveform is then displayed for visual viewing and routed to a computer for further processing and analysis. The demodulated waveform also can be used to produce a compensating signal which is transmitted back to the brain to effect a desired change in electrical activity therein.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US3951134A/en

Why would anyone blithely stare at screeens for hours or wear headphones once they find out brain activity-altering technology exists? And that it has existed since at least 1975! Oh, almost nobody knows. 

If the average person even considers the possibility of mind control being done by their wearable tech, they are going to think it's just science fiction. Meanwhile, the people who know it has become scientific fact are either intentionally keeping it out of public view for their own purposes or are bound by confidentiality agreements, as is routine in research and government jobs.]

[Update 3/21/2025: Here's a report of achieving mind control (or at least "mind nudging"):

In summary, we investigated whether ultrasound, a pressure wave applied remotely, can modulate brain activity to an extent of producing notable effects on forming decisions. We found that brief, low-intensity ultrasonic pulses remotely delivered into oculomotor circuits of nonhuman primates markedly influence perceptual decisions. The presence and polarity of the effect were controllable by a specific target region. This result takes us a step closer to being able to modulate, noninvasively and reversibly, neuronal activity in specific brain circuits. This could open the way to future systematic studies of brain function in humans and to targeted personalized treatments of brain disorders.

Kubanek J, Brown J, Ye P, Pauly KB, Moore T, Newsome W. Remote, brain region-specific control of choice behavior with ultrasonic waves. Sci Adv. 2020 May 20;6(21):eaaz4193. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz4193. PMID: 32671207; PMCID: PMC7314556. Online at https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaz4193]

[Update 3/31/2025: If technology has gotten to the point where it can manipulate the brain from outside of the skull, what else can be done remotely? Muscle relaxation seems likely, due to the electrical impulses that are involved in muscle contraction and relaxation. Such a use has potential for great good and great harm. The heart is a muscle, a really important one. 

Remotely affecting someone's heart's electrical activity could either fix heart rhythm issues or cause them. High tech "invisible" assassinations, anyone?...Talk about a technology that would almost certainly be kept secret by government agencies via non-disclosure agreements.... I think it already exists. 

I saw a TED video where one person's nerve impulses were detected and used to move someone else's arm; while that video from years ago relied on wires and electrodes connecting the people to computers (and through computers to each other), they were not implanted inside the participants' bodies and so I think the process could be done wirelessly, too. People are far too casual about the mini-computers (for example, smart watches, headphones, and cellphones) they compulsively keep on or right next to their bodies. Those personal computing devices transmit and/or receive all kinds of data and instructions wirelessly.]

[Update 4/3/2025: My husband pointed out that electromagnetic signals decay markedly with distance. I think we need to look at what quantum physics findings there are, too. There is a phenomenon called "long distance spin transport"* in which spin (a form of information that is instantly transmitted between entangled particles) travels without decay. 

This is important because quantum spin and interference, in conjunction with an external magnetic field, affects Hall resistivity.** Hall resistance is connected to the voltage difference between two points, which voltage difference is crucial to the operation of and communication between our neurons and thus our entire sensory and neural systems.

There has been research on the Hall effect*** since the 1950s, but no one talked about it in my college physics course on electromagnetism. 

There is also interaction between areas of variable temperature and electromagnetism (see the anomalous Nernst effect). Human bodies are constantly changing temperature locally as blood flow increases and decreases. Combining the anomalous Nernst effect with Hall resistivity, which can apparently be altered via a decay-less quantum phenomenon over distances, produces new ways to affect our bodies "wirelessly."

* Zhou, Z., Szwed, E.A., Choksy, D.J. et al. Long-distance decay-less spin transport in indirect excitons in a van der Waals heterostructure. Nat Commun 15, 9454 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53445-5

** Salawu, Y.A., Yun, J.H., Rhyee, JS. et al. Weak antilocalization, spin–orbit interaction, and phase coherence length of a Dirac semimetal Bi0.97Sb0.03. Sci Rep 12, 2845 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06776-6

*** Berlincourt, T.G., Hall Effect, Resistivity, and Magnetoresistivity of Th, U, Zr, Ti, and Phys. Rev. 114, 969 – Published 15 May, 1959 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.114.969]

[Update 4/6/2025: Now I'm thinking of ideas for how quantum entanglement could be achieved between an external controller and our bodies. Drinking fountains, especially the fancy new ones, seem like they could work to entangle particles in water as part of a relay system. Then after we drink the water, the entangled particles could remain in our bodies for some time and thus enable interference with our cells.

Sone people might have already considered this a plausible possibility. If so, they would want to get rid of any such treated water in their bodies. Most of our drinking water gets disposed of via urination, but I think somee would linger in interstitial fluid. There would need to be additional ways to get rid of such water in the lymphatic system. I just saw a possible coded message recently that appeared to say that men could use having vaginas as a cover for getting rid of "bilge," which means water that seeps in or out. (See this article on neovaginal discharge in people who have vaginas implanted: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8726601) That would be wild if that actually worked as a way of "cleaning" out their lymph.]

[Update 4/25/2025: If food and drink are sometimes being used to put quantum-entangled particles into our bodies, I think greenhouse produce is also sometimes used for that purpose. My most recent weight loss experiments don't use tomatoes, which I used to experiment with every day, and I feel like my cognition is different...not necessarily better or worse, but definitely different from when I eat tomatoes daily. When could quantum-entanglement-causing machinery be used on tomatoes? Probably not in the irrigation or wash water, but I can't rule it out, or perhaps while the tomatoes are being moved via conveyor belts and rollers.]

[Update 5/3/2025: As I read a headline this morning about Warren Buffett saying that sometimes trade is "war" and see so many photos of shipping containers and dock machinery at ports, I wonder how many people have figured out that our cosmetics and groceries might have been altered subtly during transit into a means to achieve quantum entanglement with the US public and thus mess with our thoughts and feelings. 

After all, as Instapundit asked, wouldn't it be cheaper to swap recipes than it is trade processed foods across the oceans?]

Fenugreek, paranoia, and a hidden cure

Five years ago, life got weird. Before 2020, I was just a homeschool mom, researching and writing about nutrition insights in my spare time.

I found myself really hyper after I started to eat toasted fenugreek seeds. 

I got a lot of robo-phone calls trying to sell me extended warranties. Instapundit, a blog I had followed for a decade, started to have comments that appeared to refer to things going on in my life. 

Then, as the world watched COVID advance and close everything down, I blogged and posted repeatedly on social media about glucosamine and its possible role in helping heal from respiratory illnesses before they progress to pneumonia.

The robo-phone calls kept coming, and after the calls, I suffered from paranoia episodes. Some were very frightening. Finally, I checked myself into mental health in-patient care. After more than a week, I was able to come home. I had been prescribed Seroquel, which I took for a few days. But then insidious thoughts of suicide started to float around in my mind. Because I knew that suicidal thoughts are a common side effect of Seroquel and similar pharmaceuticals, I stopped taking the Seroquel.

I continued to float around in a semi-paranoid but functional-enough state while the USA shut down for COVID. My spouse worked from home, I homeschooled (like everyone else in the country, but it was basically our usual routine), and I cried and dealt with anxiety-causing delusions on my own time when the rest of my family was occupied with other things.

Then it was Passover time. We celebrated it as a cultural, educational event, and to be more authentic, we included foods imported from Israel. My cry of "Hosanna!" ("God save us!") was one of the most devout things I've ever said at the dinner table.

Two hours after we ate our Passover meal, the delusions I'd been suffering quietly started to lift. I was able to talk to my husband about what was going on, and the next morning when I woke up, the paranoia was gone. For the first time in two months, I wasn't paranoid.

Over the next seven months, I was able to narrow down the trigger for my sudden, non-pharmaceutical release from paranoid delusions. It was the matzoh crackers--kosher but not certified for a Passover dinner--imported from Israel.

Fenugreek is common in the middle East and south Asia. I think it's likely that some people in the middle East have known and even weaponized toasted fenugreek's ability to mess with mental states. Perhaps it explains the two phases of life of the founder of Islam, for those who have studied the difference between his Mecca and Medina stages. I similarly think that some people have figured out how to counteract fenugreek's potential harmfulness and that I benefitted from their knowledge when I ate Israeli matzoh crackers. I now avoid all maple flavoring (it can be made by boiling fenugreek seeds) and fenugreek, and I haven't had a recurrence of the paranoia I experienced in 2020.

More on nutrition and IQ

I think aspartic acid compounds are linked to higher spatial intelligence. Here's a roundup of a few sources supporting that:

Low levels of choline and high levels of NAA were associated with high IQ.

Statistical analysis showed that the chemicals together could account for 45% of IQ variation. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/388548.stm

N-Acetylaspartic acid, or N-acetylaspartate (NAA), is a derivative of aspartic acid with a formula of C6H9NO5 and a molecular weight of 175.139.

NAA is the second-most-concentrated molecule in the brain after the amino acid glutamate. It is detected in the adult brain in neurons,[2]oligodendrocytes and myelin[3] and is synthesized in the mitochondria from the amino acid aspartic acid and acetyl-coenzyme A.[4]  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-Acetylaspartic_acid

Working memory and N-acetylaspartate level in hippocampus, parietal cortex and subventricular zone

 Introduction. Recent studies show that decreased N-acetylaspartate (NAA) level results in memory decline in animals (Xi, 2011) and in humans with mental disorders (Bertolino, 2003; Harris, 2006). In present study we compared memory tests performance and NAA level in different brain structures of healthy subjects. Methods. Subjects: 18 right-handed females (mean age – 59±16) without neurological and mental disorders. All subjects performed working memory tests – verbal and spatial N-back task and visual memory task of complex spatial figures (“snake”). NAA levels in hippocampus, inferior parietal cortex and subventricular zone of both hemispheres were measured with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy performed with 3T MRI scanner. The received data was analyzed by calculating non-parametric correlations (Spearman, p < 0.05) between individual behavioral and biochemical measurements. Results and conclusions. According to the obtained data, N-back task performance correlates negatively with NAA level in right hippocampus. Moreover, the amount of correct answers in verbal task variation correlates positively (0.71), whereas in spatial task variation the correlation is negative (-0.81). “Snake” test performance correlates positively with NAA level in left hippocampus (0.83). Reaction time in both variations of N-back task correlates negatively (-0.83 for verbal and -0.70 for spatial variations) with NAA level in subventricular zone. No significant correlations between memory tests performance and NAA level in inferior parietal cortex were revealed. Thus, NAA level in both hippocampi and subventricular zone might indicate working memory functioning characteristics in healthy humans.

https://istina.msu.ru/publications/article/1079814/

http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000092000000000000000-1.html?

Neuroimage. 2012 Jan 16;59(2):1058-64. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.08.114. Epub 2011 Oct 1.

N-acetylaspartate concentration in corpus callosum is positively correlated with intelligence in adolescents.

Aydin K1, Uysal S, Yakut A, Emiroglu B, Yılmaz F.

Author information

1

Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Capa, Istanbul, Turkey. dr.aydink@superonline.com

Abstract

The corpus callosum is the largest white matter bundle in the brain and integrates inter-hemispheric cortices during sensory-motor and high-order cognitive processes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations between the metabolite concentrations in the corpus callosum and intelligence among adolescents. Thirty male adolescents aged between 14 and 16 years were included into the study. We measured the intelligence quotient (IQ) scores of the subjects by using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (verbal, performance and full-scale IQ) test. We used proton MR spectroscopy to measure the absolute concentrations of N-acetylasparate (NAA), creatine (Cr) and choline (Cho) in the genu, midbody and isthmus/splenium regions of the corpus callosum. We also measured the whole brain parenchymal size and used it as a confounding factor in the statistical analyses. We assessed the correlations between neurometabolite concentrations and verbal, performance and full-scale IQ scores. We found a significant positive correlation between the whole brain parenchymal size and the full-scale IQ scores. And, the NAA concentration in the isthmus/splenium region was positively correlated with the performance IQ and full-scale IQ scores. NAA is a marker of neuro/axonal integrity. NAA concentration in white matter is related to the structural and functional integrity of axonal fibers. The positive correlation of the IQ scores with the NAA concentrations in the isthmus/splenium region indicates that more efficient inter-hemispheric data transfer between parieto-occipital cortices may enhance intellectual performance.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21983183

J Clin Psychiatry. 1993 Dec;54 Suppl:19-25.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in social phobia: preliminary findings.

Davidson JR1, Krishnan KR, Charles HC, Boyko O, Potts NL, Ford SM, Patterson L.

Author information

Abstract

Proton localized magnetic resonance spectroscopy was studied in 20 social phobics and 20 age- and sex-matched controls. Stimulated Echo Acquisition Mode volume element localization was used with chemical shift imaging. Choline and creatine signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) were significantly lower in social phobia than in controls in subcortical, thalamic, and caudate areas. In the social phobic group, N-acetylaspartate (NAA) SNR was significantly lower in cortical and subcortical regions, and ratios of NAA to other metabolites were lower in social phobia. Choline, creatine, and NAA SNRs were inversely correlated to total social phobia and fear symptoms, as measured by the Brief Social Phobia Scale, in the thalamic and noncortical gray areas. In a small number of patients who received clonazepam, posttreatment SNRs generally increased relative to baseline. Our results suggest a promising place for magnetic resonance spectroscopy in social phobia and also indicate potential pharmacodynamic uses of this technique.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8276746

Amino Acids. 2010 May;38(5):1561-9. doi: 10.1007/s00726-009-0369-x. Epub 2009 Nov 5.

Evidence for the involvement of D-aspartic acid in learning and memory of rat.

Topo E1, Soricelli A, Di Maio A, D'Aniello E, Di Fiore MM, D'Aniello A.

Author information

Abstract

D-Aspartic acid (D-Asp) is an endogenous amino acid present in neuroendocrine systems. Here, we report evidence that D-Asp in the rat is involved in learning and memory processes. Oral administration of sodium D-aspartate (40 mM) for 12-16 days improved the rats' cognitive capability to find a hidden platform in the Morris water maze system. Two sessions per day for three consecutive days were performed in two groups of 12 rats. One group was treated with Na-D-aspartate and the other with control. A significant increase in the cognitive effect was observed in the treated group compared to controls (two-way ANOVA with repeated measurements: F ((2, 105)) = 57.29; P value < 0.001). Five further sessions of repeated training, involving a change in platform location, also displayed a significant treatment effect [F ((2, 84)) = 27.62; P value < 0.001]. In the hippocampus of treated rats, D-Asp increased by about 2.7-fold compared to controls (82.5 +/- 10.0 vs. the 30.6 +/- 5.4 ng/g tissue; P < 0.0001). Moreover, 20 randomly selected rats possessing relatively high endogenous concentrations of D-Asp in the hippocampus were much faster in reaching the hidden platform, an event suggesting that their enhanced cognitive capability was functionally related to the high levels of D-Asp. The correlation coefficient calculated in the 20 rats was R = -0.916 with a df of 18; P < 0.001. In conclusion, this study provides corroborating evidence that D-aspartic acid plays an important role in the modulation of learning and memory.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19890700

Flexing

A weird thing happened at my church conference last month. A leader stood and talked for a while about the good qualities of a fellow church leader--admirable, but eventually tedious. Then the speaker looked around, paused, and flexed both his biceps at once in front of hundreds of church goers. There were a few little laughs, but most people didn't seem to realize he'd just posed like a bodybuilder. Then he grinned, as if he'd just gotten away with something.

I asked my husband about it, and he didn't even notice it had happened.

Another odd thing has been happening in my church. We are taught our whole lives to respect the temple ceremonies, which are given through revelation to the church leaders. We do not discuss them much outside the temple, except in general terms, for we are taught that they are sacred. But they have been altered four times in the past five years. They rarely changed before that. What is going on? Why is no one speaking up and saying that something seems odd about that?

I think that new technology is being used to "blind" people, or at least distract them. The two odd things I mention above seem like "flexes" to check to see how distracted we are.

Why do I find them odd while my husband and others don't seem to notice?

I have some hypotheses:

1) I remember to verbally revoke the overly generous permissions I have given to technology apps.

2) I follow the counsel given to Joseph Smith to avoid tobacco, hot drinks (tea and coffee, back then), and strong drink. I have even started avoiding any yeast products, as yeast makes alcohol and yeast is regularly bio-engineered to make pharmaceuticals.

3) I wash my clothes with baking soda and a minimal amount of detergent. I make certain not to add sulfates.

4) I am, as any reasonable person would do, experimenting with not wearing the church-issued garments. Yes, I still dress modestly, as I would to cover the garments, but people used to be able to sew their own garments. Now we are all expected to wear church-issued underclothes with no exceptions. That seems unreasonable to me, and the guidance we receive about garments is that we don't have to wear them when it would be unreasonable to do so. My husband is serving as my control group for this experiment, and he really does seem less bothered by things that I think would otherwise bother him a lot.

I think we're living through a time described by 2 Nephi 28:21. We know music can help us feel comfortable and less annoyed by unpleasant things. I think other forms of media, as well as biological and chemical interactions, are being used to help increase senses of false security.

[Update 3/16/2025: Now I'm wondering what other "flex" signs there might be out there. I think raising the right arm at a right angle is being used currently, but it's done so often in other settings for non-bragging reasons that it would be hard to single out as as an intentional signal. I wouldn't be surprised to find out the Nazi salute was being used as a "flex" sign around a decade ago.]

A key to faking angelic visitations

Yesterday, I found what looked like an encoded message in a Brandon Sanderson fantasy novel that said "angel" and "EMI." EMI was a British movie studio, so I looked at what special effects could be used to cause people to appear like they glow, i.e., angelic.

There are compounds called "scintillators" that glow under the right wavelengths. Long ago, when I was college-aged, I went to the Manti Temple pageant staged outdoors by the Manti temple in Utah. It told about the Book of Mormon and had some impressive special effects when it came to angels; the actors playing angels really did seem to shine in the stagelights. Sadly, the pageant no longer is held. 

One of the top British science fiction movies is The Man in the White Suit (1951), which stars Alec Guinness (the original Obi-Wan Kenobi) as a man in a super-white suit that can't be stained. I wonder whether there was some scintillator use in his white suit, for I remember watching the film and thinking that his suit practically glowed in comparison with its surroundings.

If someone wanted to pretend to be an angel, especially if they wanted to fool a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, using scintillators would be an obvious thing to do. Here is one description of angels that most Latter-day Saints would recognize:

I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor....He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom....Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person.

Joseph Smith History 1:30-32.

I hope Latter-day Saints are aware that even angelic visitations can be faked with the right special effects. (And shaking a fake angel's hand wouldn't tell you anything--see Doctrine and Covenants 129--because live humans can shake hands, too. I'd watch out for the ones doing "special" handshakes, especially.)

Suspicious behavior by printer of 1700s King James Version of the Bible

Yesterday I looked at the introduction to the King James Version of the Bible that the LDS Church uses.

I was surprised to notice that the occurrence of italicized letters was kind of arbitrary, which is often the case, in my experience, when the publishers are hiding messages.

According to my big old dictionary, italicized disconnected typeface can also be labeled "cursive", which when applying the "v" step, turns into "iesruc", which is "I's are U's." So I decided to use a cipher in which I=U.

I did a doubles-cancel operation on all the italicized words in the preface: BY THE GRACE OF GOD England Sion Occidental Star Elizabeth Sun Christendom English tongue England. 

That gave me "YFZRMISLD." Applying the 26-letter alphabet ring circle where I=U, I get "EXDLQUKRZ." Applying the "z" step, I get "EXDLQUKR." Applying the "x" step, I get a dyad (i.e., two) solutions, one a taunt and the other a reference to a food/science secret:

"ER KUQLD" which appears to be calling someone with the initials "ER" a cuckold, i.e., a man whose wife is having children with a different man.

"EDL QUKR" which appears to be a reference to cooking with an "EDL" utensil or process. According to my old dictionary, the only "edel" process is an "edeleanu process" that uses sulfur dioxide, which frequently shows up in foods that I've experienced otherwise unexplainable weight loss/control from.

I dug into publishers of the King James Bible, and the cuckold taunt appears most likely to be referring to the husband (initials "RE") of Sarah Baskerville, a live-in housekeeper whose husband disappeared and who then married her employer John Baskerville, printer of the 1763 folio version of the King James Version.

[Update 9:55 pm, 12/16/2024: Here are photos of the two mentioned definitions from my old, huge dictionary:

Who knew that cursive could be nonjoining letters, too? Very interesting.]

[Update 12/28/2024: Looking at EDL QUKR, to me this looks like it could be "Edel Sugar." Spelling didn't become standardized in English for centuries, and other European languages, including German, were common sources of words used by English speakers. The German prefix "edel" = "fine" or "noble." The German word for "sugar" = "Zucker," and in some south Asian languages, the word for sugar actually starts with a K/G sound rather than a sibilant "sss." Considering how much sugar ("gula" in Bahasa Indonesian) was imported to Europe from Indonesia in the 17th and 18th centuries, it makes sense that there would not yet be uniformity in what Englishmen called "sugar." "Kucker" to me looks like a plausible way of indicating sugar in the 1700s; I speak Polish, and "cukier" = "sugar" in Polish. 

Early sugar needed refining, and the process was messier than the scientific processes now used. Refining, i.e. making "fine") sugar used to be done by adding egg whites, a very good source of sulfur! The chemical process named for Edeleanu obviously didn't get its label until around 1900, but it's interesting that it is the only chemical process that starts with "edel" in my enormous dictionary and the only notable thing about the process that the dictionary writers included is its use of sulfur dioxide.]

[Update 1/7/2025: I have realized that people who know about hiding encoded messages could easily frame others for having encoded messages when they were completely innocent and ignorant. What a mess one could make of society by exploiting that!]

[Update 3/10/2025: In Sunday School, we were just talking about how the Book of Mormon was first published. There was a man who attempted to create a parody corruption of it before it was even finished (see Dogberry Paper on Winter Hill and Esquire Cole). Apparently someone at the printing press of E.B. Grandin was allowing access to the partially-printed portions of the Book of Mormon and facilitating Esquire Cole. People are too trusting of those in the printing/publishing business; that "gatekeeper" position allows them to bury or discredit what they don't want widely read, as well as to divert all the best information and discoveries for their own profit. Nowadays computers can be used similarly by promoting and hiding search results.]