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I try to stay away, but the tigers getting the coronavirus @ the bronx zoo was pretty crazy to me 

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I try to stay away, but the tigers getting the coronavirus @ the bronx zoo was pretty crazy to me 

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yeah people injecting themselves with cleaning products is pretty crazy

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yeah people injecting themselves with cleaning products is pretty crazy

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it's all crazy toons!

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Randi Bivona Remains Convinced Coronavirus is a Hoax!

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Randi Bivona Remains Convinced Coronavirus is a Hoax!

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I've also been doing my best to avoid the news.

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I've also been doing my best to avoid the news.

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People injecting themselves with sanitizer

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People injecting themselves with sanitizer

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I’ve been trying my best to stay away from the news.

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Don’t have cable or news channels and don’t get newspapers. Trying to keep positive especially with anxiety. 

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Don’t have cable or news channels and don’t get newspapers. Trying to keep positive especially with anxiety. 

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Ditto Lindsay, I don't see much news anymore, it's depressing. And also ditto Scott, I saw Britney's post last night too haha 

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Ditto Lindsay, I don't see much news anymore, it's depressing. And also ditto Scott, I saw Britney's post last night too haha 

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I've been intensely avoiding the news so I can't think of any right now

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I've been intensely avoiding the news so I can't think of any right now

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The UFO one that Michelle B. mentioned was crazy. 

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The UFO one that Michelle B. mentioned was crazy. 

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All of them

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"Britney Spears says she accidentally burned down her home gym -- oops"

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"Britney Spears says she accidentally burned down her home gym -- oops"

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Poison Control Center calls spike over injections of disinfectant.

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Poison Control Center calls spike over injections of disinfectant.

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I watch the news more than read the paper. Everything seems crazy in quarantine

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I watch the news more than read the paper. Everything seems crazy in quarantine

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I've been avoiding the news, but I do allow a daily check on People.

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I've been avoiding the news, but I do allow a daily check on People.

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Pentagon releases three UFO videos taken by US Navy pilots

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Pentagon releases three UFO videos taken by US Navy pilots

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i'm not finding these and the plexiglass nursing home atm hello chamber anything but tragic tbh

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Anything relative to aliens. I’m just not in a point of my life where I can think, process or handle that right now. :)

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2020 NFL draft surprises: Why did the Packers, Eagles draft quarterbacks Jordan Love, Jalen Hurts?

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2020 NFL draft surprises: Why did the Packers, Eagles draft quarterbacks Jordan Love, Jalen Hurts?

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"In Psychotherapy, the toilet has become the new Couch"

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"In Psychotherapy, the toilet has become the new Couch"

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In some ways, the losses can be boiled down to this: loss of everything that makes us feel human.

"Aren't you burned out from listening to all of this?" people ask me. "By the end of the day, aren't you just completely drained?"

But then the toilet thing happened.

My patients sheltering at home have had to find a place for their therapy sessions where nobody else can hear them. Sometimes they find privacy in a bedroom or a closet or a car, but often it's in a bathroom, with my patient sitting on a toilet seat while we speak.

Her face turned red. "Am I the only one who Skypes with you from the toilet?" she asked, mortified.

"Not at all," I said. "The toilet has become the new couch."

"And so are you," she said, indicating the unmade bed behind me. We laughed and laughed.

And that's a good thing. Because while we're so focused on protecting our physical immune systems, we shouldn't forget to protect our psychological immune systems as well.

We may have lost so much of what makes us feel human, but we haven't lost it all.

Lori Gottlieb (@LoriGottlieb1) is the author of "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed."
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We'd like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some . And here's our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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Opinion | In Psychotherapy, the Toilet Has Become the New Couch

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In some ways, the losses can be boiled down to this: loss of everything that makes us feel human. "Aren't you burned out from listening to all of this?" people ask me. "By the end of the day, aren't you just completely drained?" But then the toilet thing happened.

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Seeing the Vice President visit the Mayo Clinic...without a face mask

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Seeing the Vice President visit the Mayo Clinic...without a face mask

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So many to choose from...the top two that come to mind is of course Trump's bleach comments🙄and about how Delhi residents are stunned by how blue the sky really is as a strict lockdown cuts back drastically on air pollution.

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So many to choose from...the top two that come to mind is of course Trump's bleach comments🙄and about how Delhi residents are stunned by how blue the sky really is as a strict lockdown cuts back drastically on air pollution.

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Georgia opening nail salons and Florida with packed beaches. 

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Georgia opening nail salons and Florida with packed beaches. 

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Brazilian mystics say they’re sent by aliens to ‘jump-start human evolution’ – but their vision for a more just society is not totally crazy

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Every May 1, before sunrise, several thousand members of the religion known as the Valley of the Dawn gather in silence at a temple outside the Brazilian capital of Brasília. They come from around the world to "synchronize their spiritual energies."

As the Sun's first rays appear over the horizon, the members, in fairy-tale-like garments, chant their personal "emissions" - a ritual invocation of cosmic forces that fills the air with a collective drone.

Valley of the Dawn adherents "manipulate" cosmic energies to heal themselves and others. They describe themselves as members of a spiritual tribe called the Jaguars, who are the reincarnated descendants of highly advanced extraterrestrials sent by God some 32,000 years ago to jump-start human evolution.

Normally, the May 1 Day of the Indoctrinator ceremony attracts Jaguars from across the globe, as well as spectators and journalists.

This year, the ceremony has been postponed because of the coronavirus - dismaying Valley of the Dawn members, who believe their spiritual force field could really help in this global crisis.

The Valley of the Dawn's beliefs are fantastical, but their practices may be less otherworldly than bemused journalists have often suggested. My scholarship on Brazilian religions and research at the Valley of the Dawn finds that some of the group's rituals speak directly to the harsh realities of the modern world.

Jaguars past and present

Valley of the Dawn, called Vale do Amanhecer in Portuguese, is a recognized religion in Brazil. It has over 700 affiliated temples worldwide and nearly 139,000 registered members.

According to Valley of the Dawn doctrine, the Jaguars inspired some of humanity's greatest achievements, including the great pyramids of ancient Egypt and Mesoamerica, before eventually straying from their mission.

Their spiritual tribe was reunited in Brazil in 1964 by a woman called Aunt Neiva, who foresaw the world as we know it ending within decades.

My research indicates that Valley of the Dawn members are mostly middle- and working-class Brazilians, of all races. Many live in the town that has grown up around the Mother Temple; others travel there for ceremonies.

To redeem the bad karma they believe they have accrued over the millennia, Valley of the Dawn members perform spirit-healing rituals called "trabalhos," or works. These are offered to the public at the Mother Temple nearly 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

In Brazil, which has hundreds of spirit-based religions, such healing is widely accepted.

According to anthropologist Emily Pierini, who has studied spirit healing at the Valley of the Dawn, thousands of Brazilians suffering from health problems, mental illness, grief or addiction visit the Valley of the Dawn each month to remove negative spiritual influences and channel healing forces. Most patients have had unsuccessful experiences with both Western medicine and other religions.

Meaningful work and education

The Valley of the Dawn has grown steadily since the founder's death in 1985, spreading from Brazil to Portugal, the United States and England.

Outsiders often dismiss the Valley as a cult. A BBC journalist who visited the community in 2012 called it a " refuge for lost souls."

But my research offers an alternative explanation of why some people might find the Valley of the Dawn appealing: It offers a more progressive, egalitarian version of modernity.

Brazil, with its corruption scandals and savage social inequalities, has not always lived up to the motto "order and progress" as inscribed on its national flag. It is not alone. Across much of the West, the promise that modernity would bring higher living standards, greater personal freedoms and a more just society remains largely unfulfilled.

Instead, the 21st century has created low-wage jobs with little security and government institutions that too frequently benefit the richest and most powerful. Individualism has supplanted community, leaving people increasingly isolated and lonely - and that was before coronavirus and social distancing.

The Valley of the Dawn, in contrast, offers a collective life that members find gratifying.

"By living out the doctrine, you see what you can improve in your life and how you can repair the errors of the past," a member named Ilza told me. "You see the results of your dedication."

Rejecting capitalist values, Valley of the Dawn members refuse to work for money. Healing "trabalhos" are offered freely as an expression of unconditional love.

In Brazil, where poverty prevents many from completing their education, the Valley of the Dawn has its own education system premised on merit, not privilege.

It offers free "courses" on personal development, moral conduct and mediumship taught by trained instructors. Educational advancement earns members a title, like "Master" or "Commander," and the right to wear specific clothing, participate in new rituals and take on leadership duties.

Restorative justice

Justice in the Valley of the Dawn likewise offers a progressive alternative to contemporary criminal justice systems that emphasize punishment and incarceration. In the Valley of the Dawn, justice means reconciliation for past harms - not retribution.

According to Valley of the Dawn doctrine, much human suffering and wrongdoing is the work of spirits called "cobradores," or debt collectors. A cobrador is the spirit of a person - usually a family member or friend - who was harmed by a Jaguar in a past life.

When the spirit attaches itself to its living "debtor" - causing depression, for example, or aggression - the afflicted Jaguar spend a week gathering signatures from fellow Valley members who wish them positive energy to pay off their spiritual debt.

The week-long prison ritual - conducted in a colorful dress or, for men, black shirt with a leather sash - culminates in a courtroom "trial." There the cobrador, channeled by a fellow Jaguar, explains the wrongdoing that caused the karmic debt. After the prisoner expresses regret, balance is restored.

"He forgives me, I forgive him, he leaves and I am released," as a Jaguar named Master Itamir explained.

Fantastical solutions to real problems

I find no evidence, by the way, that this New Age group has an unsavory underbelly, or that its leaders are exploiting members. People are free to join or leave the Valley of the Dawn at any time. For Jaguars who cannot afford training, the community provides food and housing.

My research indicates members find real meaning in the Valley of the Dawn's egalitarian work, education and legal systems, all structured on the principles of equality and justice.

In that sense, despite their mystical nature, the social practices of the Valley of the Dawn aren't alien at all: They are a reaction to the very real deficiencies of modern secular society - with some flamboyant costuming on the side.

[ Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]

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Brazilian mystics say they're sent by aliens to 'jump-start human evolution' - but their vision for a more just society is not totally crazy

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Every May 1, before sunrise, several thousand members of the religion known as the Valley of the Dawn gather in silence at a temple outside the Brazilian capital of Brasília. They come from around the world to "synchronize their spiritual energies."

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Teacher Steps In To Take Care of Newborn While Family Recovers From Virus

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Teacher Steps In To Take Care of Newborn While Family Recovers From Virus

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Just saw this a few minutes ago

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I think people are missing the part where Trump suggested we could get sunlight injected into our veins.

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I think people are missing the part where Trump suggested we could get sunlight injected into our veins.

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It sounds like the topic of some new metal genre...Rainbowcore? I'll work on it.

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Drinking bleach 🤦

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Beyonce's collaboration on the Savage remix

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Beyonce's collaboration on the Savage remix

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unexpected. very unexpected.

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GM this is Mindy.

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All the stuff about drinking bleach lol 

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All the stuff about drinking bleach lol 

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But I am fascinated by Kim Jong Un. I need to know what happened to him.

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There are so many crazy headlines at this time that I can't just pick one.  But the disinfectant inside our bodies horrified me. 

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There are so many crazy headlines at this time that I can't just pick one.  But the disinfectant inside our bodies horrified me. 

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Anything relating to people drinking bleach and UFOs are confirmed

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Anything relating to people drinking bleach and UFOs are confirmed

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The largest Arctic ozone hole ever recorded is now closed

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The largest Arctic ozone hole ever recorded is now closed

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Just as suddenly as it first formed, a record-breaking has healed. The largest ozone hole to ever open up over the Arctic is now closed, after first opening up earlier this spring.

Scientists monitoring the "unprecedented" hole at the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service ( CAMS) announced the closure last week. Despite coronavirus lockdowns leading to a significant reduction in air pollution, researchers said the pandemic likely was not the reason for the ozone hole closing.

"Actually, COVID19 and the associated lockdowns probably had nothing to do with this," CAMS tweeted Sunday. "It's been driven by an unusually strong and long-lived polar vortex, and isn't related to air quality changes."

Now that the intense polar vortex has ended, the ozone hole has closed. CAMS said Monday that it does not expect the same conditions to occur next year.

The unprecedented 2020 northern hemisphere #OzoneHole has come to an end. The #PolarVortex split, allowing #ozone-rich air into the Arctic, closely matching last week's forecast from the #CopernicusAtmosphere Monitoring Service.

More on the NH Ozone hole➡️ https://t.co/Nf6AfjaYRi pic.twitter.com/qVPu70ycn4
- Copernicus ECMWF (@CopernicusECMWF) April 23, 2020

According to recent data from NASA, ozone levels above the Arctic reached a record low in March. The "severe" ozone depletion was certainly unusual - 1997 and 2011 are the only other years on record when similar stratosphere depletions took place over the Arctic.

"While such low levels are rare, they are not unprecedented," researchers said.

Human-made chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons have been destroying the layer for the past century, eventually causing the famous hole that formed in Antarctica in the 1980s. Experts pointed to "unusual atmospheric conditions" as the cause of the most recent hole, leading to industrial chemicals interacting with high-altitude clouds at abnormally low temperatures.

"This year's low Arctic ozone happens about once per decade," Paul Newman, chief scientist for Earth Sciences at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland said in a press release. "For the overall health of the ozone layer, this is concerning since Arctic ozone levels are typically high during March and April."

#Ozone cross sections (along the date line, across the Npole & back to equator) from @CopernicusECMWF #AtmosphereMonitoring Service @ECMWF show how the unusual NH #OzoneHole developed and how values along this line have increased again (1Feb-22 Apr 2020) @m_parrington @VHPeuch pic.twitter.com/CQrzJjVn0B
- Antje Inness (@AntjeInness) April 23, 2020

Earlier this month, scientists from the European Space Agency said that the rare hole covered an area about three times the size of Greenland. They expected it to heal as temperatures increased, breaking down the Arctic polar vortex and allowing ozone-depleted air to mix with ozone-rich air from lower latitudes.

After signing the Montreal Protocol in 1987, 197 countries agreed to phase out chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons in order to protect the ozone from further damage, which has contributed to a decrease in the size of the hole over Antarctica. Without those regulations, the Arctic ozone hole this year could have posed a threat to human health.

"We don't know what caused the wave dynamics to be weak this year," Newman said. "But we do know that if we hadn't stopped putting chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere because of the Montreal Protocol, the Arctic depletion this year would have been much worse."

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The largest Arctic ozone hole ever recorded is now closed

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Just as suddenly as it first formed, a record-breaking has healed. The largest ozone hole to ever open up over the Arctic is now closed, after first opening up earlier this spring. Scientists monitoring the "unprecedented" hole at the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service ( CAMS) announced the closure last week.