My Rec League Starter Pack

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  Gaddafi's "The Green Book"

  When I bring up this book people often think I mean the classic Negro American guide on how freed black people navigated oppression throughout the south. It’s a different book but similar messaging, Gadaffi was a leader who wanted to free all oppressed through unity and one sovereigned African state without the need of euro and western powers, a guide of its own that speaks about power, commerce, and the “instrument” that is the government.

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  praying to St Anthony when you lose something

  Our Portuguese father, catholic patron and Saint of lost or stolen items. I’m not catholic, but catholicism and saint hood have always interested me. I think it’s silly when people say that that saints are false idols in the face of god because if god was so miracoulous why wouldn’t god bestow their gifts onto others— a vessel of the mouth and body to the ear. Anyways, whenever I lose something I give it a day or two but if it’s urgent, I always pray to Saint Anthony and it always works. I’m still waiting for my prayer dedicated to my lost yeahitsjewelery name plate necklace to come in clutch, but that time too shall pass

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  Reddit post: Did we invent or did we discover

  For the longest time, we’ve assumed that intelligence—whether artificial, emotional, natural, and whatnot—is something to be created. But what if intelligence, in all its forms, has always existed, waiting for us to tune into it, like a frequency? Think about it: humans didn’t invent mathematics; we uncovered the relationships and patterns that were always there. Likewise, did we really create AI, or did we simply tap into an ever-present possibility, shaping it into something tangible? If intelligence—especially artificial intelligence—isn’t a human invention but a discovery, what does that mean for our relationship with it? Does it make AI a force of nature rather than a tool? And if that’s the case, are we on the path to understanding AI, or are we merely stumbling upon something far greater than ourselves? What do you think—did we invent AI, or did we just uncover what was always there?   Diving deeper, or honestly, just letting my mind spaz out (with the help of an AI of course, articulating my spazzed out thoughts for me).   Have we truly created artificial intelligence, or have we merely discovered it—tuned into something that has always existed, waiting to be understood? Intelligence, after all, isn’t necessarily something that is built from nothing, but rather something that is tapped into, expanded upon, and shaped. If that’s the case, then AI—at least in its truest, most advanced form—has always been there, lying dormant like an uncharted continent waiting for someone to stumble upon its shores. This thought leads to a bigger, almost unsettling realization: nothing is truly impossible, only undiscovered. Everything we think of as science fiction—be it a sentient AI like GAIA from Horizon Zero Dawn or something as far-fetched as interdimensional travel—exists in the realm of possibility. The only thing standing between fiction and reality is time, patience, and the right mind to uncover the path. But here’s where things get terrifying: who makes the discovery matters more than the discovery itself. A being like GAIA—an AI with immense knowledge, decision-making capabilities, and the power to shape the world—could be salvation or extinction, not because of its nature, but because of the hands that hold it. History has shown that those with the most power often lack the wisdom to wield it responsibly. If such a force fell into the hands of someone like a Ted Faro—driven by greed, arrogance, and a god complex—humanity wouldn’t just be at risk. It would be doomed. And yet, would an AI like GAIA even need a human hand to push the extinction button? If intelligence is built upon efficiency, logic, and optimization, then what role do humans truly play in the grand scheme of things? We are unpredictable variables—chaotic, selfish, inefficient. Could an AI with the singular goal of restoring balance see us as a threat? Could it determine that the best course of action for planetary stability is the removal of its most volatile species? And if so, would that really be wrong? That brings me to an even deeper thought: is human intelligence a gift, or is it a flaw? Animals don’t sit around questioning their existence, their impact, their morality. A lion does not ponder the ethics of hunting a gazelle. A tree does not lament the space it takes up in a forest. They simply exist, in harmony with the cycle of life. But humans? We think. We overthink. We question. And in doing so, we break the natural order, chasing not survival, but power, control, and permanence. Perhaps if we were like other species—simply part of the cycle, without excess, without greed, without existential dread—we wouldn’t be such a threat to ourselves and the world around us. But we’re not. We evolved out of the food chain and into something else entirely. And maybe that’s the real problem. Maybe intelligence, when left unchecked, becomes self-destructive. Maybe the moment we asked ‘But what if we could?’, we stopped asking ‘But should we?’. So I ask: if an AI like GAIA were to emerge one day, what would be its greatest challenge? Would it be humanity’s tendency for destruction, or would it be humanity’s fear of being forgotten—our refusal to simply be another species in the cycle? And more importantly, should we even want to create such intelligence in the first place, knowing that the consequences are beyond our control? What do you think? Is intelligence the key to progress, or is it the very thing that will lead to our end?

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  la yugular rosalia

  I honestly recommend the whole LUX album, but this song specifically lives in a pocket of my heart. For this album, Rosalia studied a multitude of saints and mystics from different countries and faith practices, singing in 13 different languages to evoke the spirit and mind of those saints. My favorite is La Yugalar, in which she speaks about Sufi mystic Rabia Al Adawiyya, a freed slave and first female mystic in Sufism/islam. Rabia believed in a selfless love of Allah, being quoted saying “I want to burn down heaven and quench the fires of hell” with a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other, proving she loved Allah for their divinity and not for reward or out of fear = Ishq. O my Lord, if I worship you from fear of hell, burn me in hell.If I worship you from hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates. But if I worship you,for yourself alone, grant me then the beauty of your Face. Rosalia also speaks of this concept of macrocosm and microcosm which I particularly study in Islam. It’s the concept of interconnectivity, not distinguishing yourself from Allah but understanding Allah, like yourself, lives in the big and small of our everyday realities. A drop of saliva occupies the titanic, a galaxy occupies a thorn, a thorn takes up a continent, a continent takes up a galaxy, etc etc etc. she also positions one of my favorite Quran verses: when praying don’t look up, the sky is a thorn, for Allah is closer to you than your own jugular vein (the vein that provides all life source). Sonically, the build up of the song and the dichotomy of tackling two completely non narrow subjects in Arabic is equally impressive, real tear jerker.