Uncategorized

When you read Ventura, you always learn something, even if it’s something you would rather wasn’t true. I’ve never seen anyone who could get more out of a newspaper than he does routinely. In a sense, he’s using the newspaper as a huge reminder sheet, so we remember what happened the day before yesterday.

MICHAEL VENTURA

LETTERS AT 3AM –

ISSUES ’08: RUSSIA

Austin Chronicle – August 29, 2008

Once upon a time there was a Russian named Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Was he a gangster? Some say no, some say yes, and some say, “Sometimes.” Was he a democratic visionary? “Yes!” chants America’s press; others are not so sure. But all agree that by 2003 he was Russia’s richest person, the 16th richest man in the world according to Wikipedia, owner of that great and powerful Russian enterprise, Yukos Oil Co. Then came October 25, 2003 – a day sad for some, joyful for others, but an historical turning point for all: Vladimir Putin, president (now prime minister) of Russia, whose soul George W. Bush claims not only to have seen but to have approved, ordered the arrest of Khodorkovsky.

The West was shocked, shocked, do you hear?! Arrest the 16th richest man in the world?! That could never happen in a free country! The charges must be false! Well, we’ll likely never know whether the charges were false, half-false, or one-sixteenth false. We’ll likely never know whether the trial was even one-sixteenth fair. But off to jail went Khodorkovsky, and in jail Khodorkovsky remains. The Western press, as with one voice, declaimed that Putin is but a czar in blue-jeans (true, he often wears blue-jeans); as for Khodorkovsky, they say he was framed for his love of free markets, truth, democracy, and, you know, that stuff.

Continue reading Russia and the US — which is the superpower?

This very interesting think-piece from the arch-druid came via a friend. If our age is characterized by any one trait, I’d say it’s mythic illiteracy.

 

Dreams of a better world

By John Michael Greer

Created Jul 17 2008 – 07:12

http://www.energybulletin.net/print/45939

As it launched the modern worldview on its trajectory, the intellectual revolution of the 18th century – the Enlightenment, as it’s usually called – passed on a legacy with profoundly mixed consequences for the future. Central to the Enlightenment ethos was the claim that myths were simply inaccurate claims about fact, and should be replaced by more accurate claims founded on reason and experiment. This seems like common sense to most people nowadays, but like most things labeled “common sense,” it begs more questions and conceals richer ironies than a casual glance is likely to reveal.

One of those ironies became central to a discussion sparked by last week’s Archdruid Report post, when a reader took issue with my characterization of progress as a myth. Like most people nowadays, he assumed that “myth” meant a story that isn’t true, and drew the usual distinction between myth and science – that is, between the cosmological narratives of other cultures, which don’t usually make experimentally testable claims about the natural world, and the cosmological narratives of ours, which does. It took, as it usually does, several exchanges before he realized that the popular definition of myth he was using is not the only game in town.

Continue reading Dreams of a better world

A friend tried to download the free book of poetry and couldn’t make the link work. I should have explained that this was another in my list of coming attractions, available only when the website is completed. Sorry for any confusion/frustration this may have caused. Hang on, we’re getting there.

A couple of people have mentioned that they tried to comment on a posting and ran into problems. We’ve fixed the problems; at least, we think so. So, do try again, and if you have problems let me know at muddytracks@earthlink.net

 

Also, don’t forget that you can subscribe to the blog and receive an email any day that I post something. Not another email every time I post, just one a day, maximum, and none at all on days when I don’t post.

You can subscribe by clicking on “Subscribe to “I of my own knowledge…” by Email” on this page, right under Feed On, or by filling in the box on the lower left of the website home page, www.hologrambooks.com.

 

 

Make it easy on yourself!

If you’re interested in what I’m doing but don’t necessarily want to have to remember to check (just what you need, right, something else to remember?) you can subscribe to this blog. Then, any day I post something, you’ll get an email notice saying so. (You’ll get just one per day, though, not every time I post!)

It’s easy. Even I can do it.

Continue reading How to subscribe to this blog