Flatley's Cat
Topic: by Lenny
Flatley’s Cat

or

Magick and Neuroscience

note: Statements in italics are quotations from n essay by Robert Anton Wilson. All other statements (especially the idiotic) are mine and to be taken as such.

By the neuro-semantic field I mean the total vocabulary, grammar, syntax, logic etc. by which an extremely rapid system of feedbacks synergetically links the verbal centers of the brain to the neuro-muscular, neuro-chemical, neuro-immunological, neuro-respiratory etc. systems of the organism-as-a-whole. In other words, I explicitly reject, not only the traditional verbal division between "magick" and "communication," but the equally fictitious splits between “mind” and “body,” between “reason” and “emotion,” between “thought” and “reflex” etc.

Students of the occult, physics, pop science and psychology have been hit repeatedly with a certain notion: namely, that all one experiences is a product of their mind. You do not see, feel, or hear anything: data is transmitted, received by your brain and coded into representations, "sight," "sound," "taste," "touch."
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Shock and Awe
Topic: war in Iraq
"The first 21 months of Operation Iraqi Freedom have been nothing less than a horror-story, and following the logic of any colonial invasion, violence has been focused directly on the prime enemy of empire: ordinary civilians. The euphemism “shock and awe” was coined by ‘defence intellectuals’ within the Bush administration. As a terror tactic however – the idea being to shatter your adversary’s will to resist through a massive display of barbarity – it is nothing new. Genghis Khan used it to great effect during his invasion of China in 1213. His own version was to slaughter the entire population of cities that opposed him, while merely enslaving those cities that were sufficiently ‘awed’ to capitulate peacefully. The problem with this particular strategy is that most often it serves to inspire resistance rather than break it, as the Pentagon is now realising. As with Bush however, Genghis was a man who found a plan and stuck to it. Before the Mongol invasion, China had a population of about 100 million inhabitants. After complete conquest in 1279 a census showed it be roughly 60 million."

Guerrilla News Network here.

Holy Shit! Army building tomorrow's Storm Troopers!
Topic: police state


You'd think they'd go for something

a little less 'Darth Vader'-esque...



"What should Soldiers expect by the year 2025? According to the 24th Army Science Conference, future warriors may be wearing high-tech uniforms that field liquid armor, 360-degree situational awareness technology, plus virtual reality screens that enable them to navigate an environment by projecting maps on the ground."

read YEAR 2025: Army's Futuristic Uniform here.

Meta-Humor
Topic: by Lenny
As many of you know, a friend and I are writing a novel, a satirical take on all those Left Behind books and the like.

When writing fiction I try not to read any, for the obvious reasons. But sometimes you can't help it. So, yesterday I was rereading the Illuminatus! Trilogy for the first time in ten(plus) years, and came across this passage:

_______________

     "Got your book review read, Eppy?"

     "Have it tomorrow, dear boy. Can't be any faster, honestly!"

     "Tomorrow will do..."

     "It's a dreadfully long monster of a book... and I certainly won't have time to read it, but I'm giving it a thorough skimming. The authors are utterly incompetent -- no sense of style or structure at all. It starts out as a detective story, switches to science-fiction, then goes off into the supernatural, and is full of the most detailed information of dozens of ghastly boring subjects. And the sequence is all out of order in a very pretentious imitation of Faulkner and Joyce. Worst yet, it has the most raunchy sex scenes, thrown in just to make it sell, I'm sure, and the authors -- whom I've never heard of -- have the supreme bad taste to introduce real political figures into this mishmash and pretend to be exposing a real conspiracy. You can be sure I won't waste time reading such rubbish, but I'll have a prefectly devastating review for you by tomorrow at noon."

     "Well, we don't expect you to read every book you review..."

_______________

The book she refers to is, of course, the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. Then again, she could very well be referring to the book that I am writing with Josh.

9/11 Intelligence Bill Expands Powers of Patriot Act
Topic: police state
Tue, 14 Dec 2004 16:54:28 -0800

Summary: The intelligence reform bill passed by Congress includes little-discussed provisions that would greatly expand the government's policing power and centralizes the intelligence community's surveillance powers which civil liberties advocates say increases the likelihood for government abuses. Amy speaks with Robert Dreyfuss of Mother Jones and Timothy Edgar of the ACLU.

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Article analyses U.S. blunders in Iraq.
Topic: war in Iraq

Iraq spent another night in total darkness due to a cascading infrastructure failure that shut-down electricity throughout the country. It was another major tactical victory for Iraq's global guerrillas in their campaign to keep the country in perpetual failure. In contrast, the US is focused almost exclusively on what they consider Iraq's most important need: January's elections for self-determination. This asymmetry demonstrates a problem that will continue to dog US efforts in the country.

Read more at Global Guerrillas here.

Blowback from Iraq War is Global
Topic: war in Iraq





And it's growing...


Tue, 14 Dec 2004 08:51:49 -0800 Blowback is a term invented by the Central Intelligence Agency to describe the unintended consequences of policies kept secret from the American people. Chalmers Johnson’s excellent book, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, helped popularize the term. Originally intended for internal use only, blowback increasingly characterizes global reaction to Bush administration policies in and out of the Middle East.

read more here.

Space Mixer
Now Playing: that "it's better in the matinee" song by Franz Ferdinand
Topic: Physics
I get some ridiculous links when I go to my blog, and I just had to share today's:

Gravity Breakthrough
New understanding of gravity solves today's greatest physics mysteries! TheFinalTheory.com.

The Theory of Everything
Learn about the quest to develop a theory of everything. space-mixing-theory.com.

Quick links to a grade "A" number one jerk.
Now Playing: "Joe Louis" by John Squire (live in Japan).
Topic: by Lenny
In order that you all will know what to avoid, I am offering a quick link to the postings that are original "Lenny" items (not just links) here.

And don't forget to check out our new project here in Pittsburgh, Blastfurnace Internet TV. Let me know what you think (and if it works)!

Convergent evolution
Topic: Evolution

If it walks like a flamingo and looks like a flamingo, it is not necessarily a flamingo - or even a close relative. A controversial genetic study suggests we have completely misunderstood how the majority of birds are related, and that some species that look almost identical are not related at all.

The discovery comes from an analysis of the evolution of the bird gene beta-fibrinogen. It suggests that the Neoaves, a group that includes all modern bird species except waterfowl, landfowl and flightless birds, actually comprises two distinct lineages called the Metaves and Coronaves, and that many birds which look alike are not in the same lineage.

New Scientist article: here.