62 Comments
Jan 20·edited Jan 20Liked by Madhava Setty

I find something "off" about Alex Berenson - I've wondered if he has some sort of mental issue. He has made some strange statements in the past and made uncalled for attacks on people. I watched a television interview that he and Dr. Malone did several years ago. Out of nowhere he attacked Dr. Malone on live television. I thought it was unfounded and weird and out of alignment with the direction of the interview. I had the distinct impression that Alex Berenson was jealous of the attention Dr. Malone was getting around that period. So I cancelled my subscription to his Substack. I get enough valuable insight and information from other writers who have actual science or medical backgrounds.

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Jan 21Liked by Madhava Setty

His attack on Malone and Ivermectin was off. I think his ability to interpret data is sometimes off. As I am sure everyone knows, the way medical data and statistics are presented makes accurate interpretation a somewhat specialized skill.

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You're right. He's a journalist. It's not his job to do research. It's his job to interpret what is being said and point out the strengths and weaknesses from the experts. He started off doing a good job with that in 2021. Somehow he views himself as some sort of scientific authority now.

His position on Ivermectin is also strangely indefensible.

I also have a soft spot for him. He was willing to share my report from the World Vaccine Congress with his substantial readership.

I do think there is value in maintaining a subscription to his stack. It's about the only way to address people who may disagree with you.

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Agreed. He was early to point out some significant issues to his substantial readership - and that has immeasurable value.

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Jan 20Liked by Madhava Setty

Berenson appears to be quite narcissistic. His refusal to realize the efficacy of ivermectin for Covid, even when Dr. Pierre Kory handed Alex his ass on a platter in a very civilized debate, made me distrust him forevermore. I listen to nothing he says.

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Same

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Delicious. I don't doubt that there's more going on than we humans can begin to fathom.

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Jan 21Liked by Madhava Setty

Dr Setty,

You rock. Blessings, blessings, more blessings & Namaste to you.

Pluto will retrograde back into Capricorn for some fun times, and won't stay in Aquarius until November 20. (Yes, November 20th!) One of the best books to read about the crazy Pluto-Uranus-Neptune-Saturn sky dances is "Cosmos and Psyche" by Richard Tarnas.

I agree, we're in for one helluva ride.

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Jan 21Liked by Madhava Setty

Ain't life grand when observed from that wider cosmic perspective. That is the only thing that saves me sometimes.

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awesome book and brilliant man is Richard Rarnas!

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Yet another possibility: Berenson is a provocateur who likes drawing attention to himself, by any means. He’s not on either side of a given debate, he’s on HIS side. Being right or wrong therefore doesn’t matter -- that’s too difficult for him to sustain. It’s much easier for him to generate publicity through sheer controversy, and to then avoid engaging in substantive analysis with critics, since defending himself or conceding an error is beside the point -- the point being that he’s the focus at the moment.

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It’s possible, but I’m not sure he would risk so much credibility for just some short term popularity.

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I think it’s a reasonable idea

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Jan 21Liked by Madhava Setty

I am sort of hoping that Pluto in Aquarius will upend the plutocracy that has been ruling us from positions of extreme power and authority that increasing looks like a criminal cartel. Aquarius may flatten the hierarchy enough that the broader needs of humanity will start to be addressed not through cartel like hierarchies but through decision making and problem solving process that involve AI AND more enlightened human group processes.

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100%

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Why do you mention AI as part of a free decision-making process?

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Because it can scan data for answers to questions much more quickly than anything else. We decide on the questions to ask, and what we do with the answers it provides. For instance, during Covid an AI project asked for three cheap, safe, historically proven possible treatments. It came up with three in a very short space of time. By learning how to ask the right kind of questions it can be a very helpful tool in getting perspectives that lead to solutions. A lot of time is wasted and there is a lot of inefficiency and effects from bias in the way humans process data. It could be a great resource. My fear is that it becomes another false god.

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Jan 21Liked by Madhava Setty

Enjoyed this, I'm always interested in learning more about your life journey of discovery. Destiny-wise, why not come back to California and be a folksinger with me? Or a stand-up comic, your choice. Coincidentally (or not?), my wife has been tracking the Pluto implications for a few weeks now, and even more unlikely, has rekindled an interest in palmistry, something she has not thought about in over two decades.

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I think Vernon is on the west coast

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Will look into it…sounds like an endorsement from you?

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Berenson had his moment when he called out the covid bs. He fell apart after that either due to his massive ego that he could not share the spotlight or that he’s just not that smart - I believe it’s both. If you watch the interview with tucker Carlson you find berenson making a statement as matter of fact & then contradicting it by the end of his sentence. I think he’s in over his head & has the elite mentality (his origin) that he knows best & never wrong.

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Yes. Only non scientists can be that certain about science

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Karen thanks for already writing what was in my head. Spot on in my opinion. I think Naomi Wolf sometime in the past year wrote an essay on that mentality in the ‘media elite’ from the perspective of once being a part of it.

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Jan 21Liked by Madhava Setty

Love the story about having your palm read. Really incredible. 50 years ago I was working as a waitress. A customer came in who said he could read palms. I gave him my hand and he said, Oh you've had a miscarriage. Well i had had an ectopic pregnancy. Then I had to move on to my next customer and never saw the palm reader again. There are people who are skilled at astrology and other fortune telling arts. It is amazing and thank you for sharing your story. I was listening to Rick Levine astrologer in 2019. He kept saying throughout the year that the most important date of the year was actually early in 2020 on January 12.

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My coworker, who is really into astrology, also quit in December of 2019 and she mentioned January 12, 2020 as being a very important date as well.

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Love the story of what led to your resignation, and its timing! (Though I remain curious about what Vernon M. "answered specifically" in response to your question regarding what you should be doing!)

Re: astrology, it will never quite work to try to fit it onto the Procrustean bed of our materialist assumptions about the universe. Astrologers may speak colloquially about "planetary influences," but, strictly speaking, the planets (through their apparent positions in the zodiac and their angular relationships) as interpreted by astrologers are not "causing" anything to happen. They are purely symbolic, like hands on a clock (there may be bio/geophysical effects of the movement of celestial bodies, as with, say, the Moon and the tides and the filling of Emergency wards at the time of a Full Moon, but that is not really what astrologers are dealing with when they consult their charts...).

I should also point out that Pluto is entering Aquarius in the Tropical zodiac, which is not the same as entering the Constellation Aquarius. Though they use the same names, the zodiac as used in Western Astrology is based on the Earth's yearly trip around the Sun, split into twelve sectors or "Signs," and beginning at the Vernal Equinox when Spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere. Some astrologers use other zodiacs, or twelvefold divisions of the heavens, as well, with yet other starting points.

Re: Pluto entering Aquarius (Impersonal Force -> Organization of collectives, social structures) it is interesting that coincident with this we find Ol' Man Schwab himself "speculating" that, with AI, elections where human beings vote to choose their leaders may be unnecessary:

https://open.substack.com/pub/theylie/p/klaus-schwab-why-do-we-need-elections?

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Great piece. I'm curious if Berenson will come out changing his mind on this. Surely he pays attention to the many voices that will offer him a totally different perspective.

I recall an interview I did with my astrologer friend in 2020 I believe. We had a great conversation about the age of Aquarius and this coming cycle of people beginning to reshape a worldview based on new ways of knowing. When he shared this concept with me I felt a deep resonation. Not only because of the passion I have for this subject but because I can't think of a better time for it that perhaps previous revolutions in thought and ways of living. We are yet again at another potent moment. Perhaps you and I will get our show ;)

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Berenson is a mystery. His dogged refusal to admit that no signs exists despite a jump in mortality rates around the world is not an honest mistake. Of all the things to cite, why would he choose hospitalizations in young healthy people to make his point? It's comical.

I think we have been witnessing an upheaval in the way we regard our experts. It's only just beginning.

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Re: whatever the palmist told you regarding "what you should be doing," I hope (and suspect) that it was something along the lines of teaching and/or writing (about the increasing deception, manipulation, and control of humanity), as I, for one, feel that your book was a unique achievement and of greater value to humanity than any medical work you could have been doing instead of writing it (which labour most likely was taken up by others, who themselves could not have accomplished what you did with WOKE).

Alas, while it is a book that would -- if persevered with! -- stunningly clarify the perspective we gathered here share (most of us, no doubt, without even having read the book), it is doubtful that any but a very (VERY!) tiny fraction of those who most NEED to read it would even open it if it were handed to them (ask me how I know this!), and of that tiny fraction, only an even tinier fraction would actually be willing and able to follow the thread of your argument through to its conclusion. There are, as you are undoubtedly aware, multiple reasons for this: shimmering screen culture making people unable to follow threads of argument across multiple chapters and dozens or hundreds of pages; the grotesquely successful "conspiracy theory" psyop, where now ANYTHING suggesting (secret or even overt!) collusion between powerful actors is immediately dismissed by the gullible, compliant, complacent and/or intellectually lazy as something "tinfoil-hatty" and unworthy of the slightest attention or consideration, underscored -- always, I suspect! -- by a (conscious or otherwise) fear of being ridiculed and becoming an outcast oneself, were one to actually find something of substance in the imagined "conspiracy theory."

What may really be needed is a (sorry!) "WOKE for Dummies," heavily illustrated. Or in video "documentary" form (along the lines of CHD's recent amphetamine-driven/paced production of the rather dry financial book, The Great Taking; is Vera Sharav, producer of that, aware of your book? She and her crew might be able to work a miracle with your text...).

Anyway, while it may not have been the decision guaranteeing the highest degree of physical comfort and security for you and yours, I'm sure you rest peacefully in the understanding that mere physical comfort and security are not the highest (or deepest) values, and sometimes one simply has no choice but to sacrifice imagined/expected ongoing material security for the sake of those values. As I'm sure many or most of us here have!

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Thank you for the kind words...

Your suspicion is correct. While Vernon was unaware of what I was interested in he was able to, from reading my palm alone, determine that the message I would be transmitting would be "resurrecting" to humanity. Obviously those kinds of predictions are seductive to a person who is having his soul examined under a lamp. Nonetheless I was impressed by his ability to discern the nature of my intentions without a single cue.

Thank you for reading the book I penned (published exactly a year after my meeting with Vernon). You are right, it has extremely limited appeal. I didn't write it to make any money. I have always said that if it changes a single mind it would would be success.

I haven't seen Vera's The Great Taking. I will check it out.

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While your book did not change this mind (it was changed many, many years ago, beginning with a college class with Marshall McLuhan's son -- and co-author -- Eric, after which I ceased watching television), I loved the very methodical approach you took in the book to introducing, through reasoned argument, this "alternative" perspective on how things are, to your typical "normie." I'm curious if any of those former school buddies of yours have shown any interest in reading your book (and, if so, what the result was....).

Re: Vera's Great Taking "docu": back in October, before her video was done, I mentioned the book itself to a friend (the first time I had suggested he read anything, given that he is the sort who pretty much believes everything he sees on the nightly news), and told him it was a short book that he could download for free from the author's website. Of course, he never mentioned the book again, and I'm pretty sure he didn't even bother to go to the website, which I had watched him bring up on his phone.

After the docu came out, I mentioned it to two other friends, again both of whom have conventional views like the other guy, and told them to go to chd.tv, and start watching it. If they thought it was just crazy conspiracy stuff, they could stop watching after a few minutes. Well, both of them watched the video all the way to the end, accepted what was said, and are taking action wrt to their investments based on what they learned! I don't think either of them would have bothered with the book itself, even though it is short and available as a free download. So, there is something to be said for the "moving picture medium" as a way to introduce new ideas/perspectives to non-readers...

I'm sure a fertile imagination coupled to technical expertise could find a way to adapt your book (or a portion thereof) to the screen in a way that made it as accessible as The Great Taking documentary.

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One of my college classmates read my book as soon as it dropped and bought a half dozen copies to distribute to his friends. A few others have read it from cover to cover but rarely speak of it, I assume out of respect and/or politeness.

None of what I presented can be dismissed on objective grounds. This is why I was surprised that most of my highly educated friends regard it as whimsical. Over the past few years it has become apparent that the more years spent in formal education the harder it will be to think outside the box. The box being the idea that our educational institutions are on target about pretty much everything. In other words, it is difficult for them to consider the possibility that they could be so wrong about things so important.

I attempted to write in a voice that could be heard by all curious beings, whether educated or not. It seems to have resonated much more with strangers and people who generally regard formal education as a waste of time and money.

I completely agree that a 90 minute presentation with animation and visuals is more effective than a four hour reading session. Indeed, that is what Vernon was seeing.

Everyone is different. The eye opener is different for different people. It's hard to predict. I thought that engineering folks would be the first to realize that the buildings that were demolished on 9/11 could not have crushed themselves because of office and jet fuel fires that burned for a couple of hours or less. Some see it. Most fiercely defend the narrative because of their faith in organizations like NIST and not their training.

Some people woke up because of the phone calls that were made from cell phones on the plane. Some because of Larry Silverstein's amazing prescience to increase the insurance policy on those buildings by ten fold six weeks before the event.

I also know pilots who still believe a person with a single engine license with almost no flying time could sit in the cockpit of a sophisticated commercial jet for the first time and fly it directly into a building at 500 mph of air speed.

We are dealing with a situation where the people who should know the most about these things continue to defer to the experts who are obviously controlled.

I have another friend who tolerated my rantings for years but only saw through the illusion because he was heavily invested in crypto and only recently saw how that market was being manipulated by propaganda and higher forces.

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Re: your friend "who tolerated my rantings for years but only saw through the illusion because he was heavily invested in crypto..."

Yeah, I think people are willing to consider formerly-dismissed pespectives when their money/investments are on the line. If I had pointed either of those two guys who watched The Great Taking to another video at chd.tv on, say, the dangers of the C-19 injection, I don't think they would have bothered watching it (assuming it to be "anti-vax" misinformation). But something about a respectable-looking-and-sounding (former) finance guy revealing how their investments are threatened? That's a different story! (Now, we just have to get them to see that Mr. Webb also shares the views of the rest of us on covid/9-11/etc., so maybe there's some truth to those views as well...).

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'March 23, 2020 turned out to be the last day of elective surgeries around the country.'

Now we know one reason why hospitals got paid so much money for testing people for COVID, putting them on ventilators and giving them remdisiver. But closing down hospitals and having only a few see Rona patients is one of the dumbest things ever. No matter so many hospitals were overwhelmed. There were tons of beds everywhere that were empty.

Yup it makes sense why hospitals got more money to kill patients than to keep them alive. Just disgusting that so many doctors went along with it.

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And they are still at it.

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Thanks, That's quite a journey, or a slice of the journeies. Astrologies, I think they can serve us, as languages serve us. I am less fond of relating my Double Virgoness (Virgo sun Virgo rising Libra Moon), as one astrologer joking started off my reading with the words 'I'm so sorry but....'

...so I relate more to my Vedic aspects (Bumblebee/Turtle) and my Chinese astrology (Wood Dragon).

If I were a Rat I probably wouldn't mention it!

As for bamboo, good on you. Land of big grass, so foreign to me. Clearcuts in the mountains, you would think the good employees would refuse, their lives at risk by doing so I would think.

Berenson is not really very smart, a bit thick from what I have watched. Seems sponsored heavily to me, by the timing of his rise to stardom. Maybe he is sending a signal.

Best

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Another way of looking at this is that it is not the planets influencing our behavior, but rather that the movement of the planets in space provides a sort of Akashic record for us

Maybe the palm does too

Maybe there are means made readily available to us to know and understand what is going on, but our religion of scientism has made us unwilling to use these avenues

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Yes. That's the way I'm seeing it.

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Jan 21Liked by Madhava Setty

Outer planets don't influence us.

They are only signs of what came before,

patterns that can be read from endless archetypes of being.

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That makes better sense

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