In a previous post, I mentioned that stories of mistaken identity become more complicated, if not impossible, in the atmosphere created by modern identification technology.  Upon further reflection, it is interesting to see how this technology has affected the Myth of the Stranger in general, particularly as it occurs in the stories of the ancient ( Read more... )

 The media likes to connect things that it doesn't like to Hitler, and fascism.  Does the label “Islamo-fascist” denote a legitimate comparison viz the Third Reich in Germany, and the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle-East , Africa and Asia?

Yes.  It does. The term is a ludicrous instrument of propaganda, but there is a distinct similarity at work ( Read more... )

After the schism within the Golden Dawn, Crowley published numerous papers which were formally the order’s closely-guarded secrets.  Throughout his life, when writing about the occult, Crowley worked to make the material available, and accessible.  This marks the beginning of what is arguably the most important paradigm shift in occult history.  ( Read more... )

For the naive who are incredibly ignorant of history, I’m sure that this seems like a significant story.  I notice that it has gone largely unreported in the Canadian news, as CBC continues to lose its grasp on journalism at what seems like an exponential rate.  Before 1967, this was the Israeli approach to conquest.  Before both invasions of ( Read more... )

I do not read the magazine “High Times” with any regularity.  I do smoke a lot of weed, but it has never been necessary for me to follow this up with other consumer habits.  Recently, someone left an issue in the smoking area at work.  Out of morbid curiosity, I picked it up ( Read more... )

In any case which involves international law and international decision-making, we turn to the United Nations, much like sailors lost at sea who end up drinking their own urine.  It may be unpleasant, but it is all that we have.  When I began my study of the Israeli Palestine conflict in 2002, I was expecting a sea of controversy among the various ( Read more... )

A very special Star Chamber Lite, which examines the relationship between the Bible and History, pig-theft, conspiracy theory, and the Dutch role in porcine affairs.

It is an commonly held belief (usually in the vehicle of a sceptical tone rather than a definite statement) that the existence of myths in Summeria, Egypt, Akkadia, etc. which prefigure ( Read more... )

It is a common misapprehension that the goldfish is a particularly unintelligent, or at least forgetful, animal.  This strikes me as somewhat isomorphic to the conditions of our own society.  When raised in the proper environment, goldfish live for long years, and remember specific people.  They can be called, like other pets, and come for treats ( Read more... )

Revolutions of the poor against the rich are not pretty.  In the past they have been characterized by torture, rape, and finally execution, or death-by-the-mob.  Those who inherit wealth are born into their position, every bit as much as the poor or middle-class are born into their positions.  The plutocracy has been around long enough to have a de ( Read more... )

Dear lord,   I’ve grown to accept my lot as a dirty, neckbearded, drunken/ aspergic loser.  I have given my life, or at least my sundays, to Jesus/ the Simpsons and his/ their teachings, or at least to listening to someone else talk about them/ watching them while I eat Dorritos.  I ask only one thing in return:  please Lord, don’t let me marry a ( Read more... )