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| Credit: XKCD |
Skeptics and angry atheists on the web, like all the time. Or no?
Sunday, July 12, 2026
The secret sin of Jesus
OK, this was fascinating. When notorious 17h century Irish archbishop James Ussher procured Waldensian documents for a work on this medieval "heresy", two Cathar scriptures were found among them. One of them claims that *Jesus himself* sinned once - when he prayed to the Father to spare him from the crucifixion at the Garden of Gethsemane. This is somehow connected to Cathar theology concerning the physical body. As a divine being of Light, Jesus simply couldn´t stand being incarnated into one! Note also the doctrine that John the Baptist was Satanic...
The YouTube channel "ESOTERICA" seems to be an attempt to create a scholarly channel on esotericism which is still somehow esoteric. Make of that what you wish.
Back to the things themselves
Our man Formscapes (the mutant Anthroposophist) just came up with a new term: "physicalist traditionalism". If you want science to go back to its state circa 1890, you are a physicalist traditionalist. Common sense science before Einstein, the Copenhagen interpretation and (I would guess) all the dark matter bullshit. And common sense materialism, too! Differently put: there is no such thing as "quantum mysticism" independent of quantum physics, indeed, QM *is* quantum mysticism. It´s woo-woo all the way down to the super-strings.
Had I been a consistent materialist, I would probably be a "physicalist traditionalist". And while Marxism isn´t exactly that (due to its implicit teleology derived from one Hegel), there is certainly a family likeness. See Lenin´s "Materialism and Empirio-Criticism".
I admit a strong sympathy for this position even though I don´t consider myself a "physicalist"...
Bad news
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| Credit: Paul Gear |
Senator Lindsey Graham has suddenly passed away. WTF. In Swedish media, Graham is described as a "Trump loyalist", but the truth is that he wasn´t *really* a Trump aficionado but a more regular Republican who supported the erratic POTUS for tactical reasons.
Graham´s role was to constantly push Trump in a more pro-Ukrainian direction, hence acting as a counterweight to the "isolationist" Vance and similar types. Graham was also extremely pro-Israeli, but on *that* score, the Donald didn´t need much pushing! It´s probably bad news that the senator passed away exactly when Trump is (at least seemingly) making a pro-Ukrainian gyration, for instance by letting them produce Patriot missiles. What if Trump changes his mind...?
It would be very good indeed if somebody on the other side could suddenly drop dead, too. Witkoff, for instance. Or what about Putin himself? One thing is certain: this shit (evidently) isn´t over yet.
Green fireballs
This is an almost one-hour long presentation by our "house ufologist" Richard Dolan on the latest (fourth) tranche of released UFO files c/o the Trump admin. Despite the frankly boring format, it does contain some very interesting information. Although of course no "disclosure" sensu stricto.
For instance, the air force was aware of at least two UFO observations *before* that of Kenneth Arnold. One of these involved multiple trained observers of weather balloons, who also saw a very large metallic object shaped like a disc. The military also noted that many UFOs were observed around Los Alamos, various nuclear facilities and air force bases. Trained balloon observers in New Mexico saw strange objects making impossible maneuvers.
In 1949, high-ranking members of the military, the government and even the FBI held a classified conference at Los Alamos to discuss the "green fireballs" which had appeared around the research facility. None other than Edward Teller was there, trying to explain away the UFOs as meteorites, but eventually admitting that they couldn´t be so - provided the reports were accurate. Teller still thought that the physics of the fireballs made no sense!
The main suspect was (surprise) the Soviet Union. The military believed that the objects such be intercepted and identified. The matter is treated as a legitimate security / intelligence problems. Many of the witnesses were high quality: air force officers, air line pilots, astronomers, police officers. But in public, Project Grudge said that all UFOs have conventional explanations and that many witnesses are kooks or hoaxers!
Can all "skeptics" please go home now?
Frankly, none of this is super-surprising, but I suppose it´s good to finally get official confirmation. On a funnier note, the secret files also mention the avrocar, an actual attempt by the US military to build...ahem...a flying saucer. This in a CIA report dismissive of UFO observations?!
More disturbing is a 2015 case, during which an unknown flying object was spotted over the Pantex nucelar power plant, the most sensitive military installation in the United States (where the nuclear missiles are assembled). It could have been a drone, but if so, who was daring enough to send it there? Let´s hope it was just a drill!
On YouTube, everyone concentrates on a number of fairly bizarre videos, but Dolan is unimpressed by these. One probably shows a deformed balloon (something even the observer himself suspected), while the "star-shaped UFO" is just an artefact of the tracking equipment.
We´re either subject to some kind of next level disinfo, or objects far exceeding human technological capacity have been observed in "our" airspace (and in "theirs" too) since at least the end of World War II.
Hmmm...
Saturday, July 11, 2026
Can all skeptics please go home now?
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| Credit: Richard Dolan / YouTube |
From the fourth tranche of released UFO files...
A Buddhist rant?
Another post from Doug´s blog "Gleanings in Buddha-fields". Confirms my impression that there is a lot of sectarianism in the Pure Land Buddhist milieu. Especially the Japanese version, although I´ve seen Chinese sectarian content, too, on YouTube.
I wonder if the sectarian approach and "easy salvation" is what attracts some Americans to this form of the Dharma? You know, evangelicalism, cough cough. I just find it tiresome. Extremely tiresome, actually.
Apparently, Doug is an ex-supporter of Jodo Shinshu but is now a Tendai hang-around. In case you must know.
A medieval Buddhist revolution?
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| Gemini´s fantasy picture of the Ikko-Ikki rebels |
I blogged about the Ikko-Ikki before. Apparently, they are often seen as crazy religious fanaticos by Western commentators, some kind of Buddhoid Taliban of late medieval Japan. A more romantic version, I suppose, is that they were surprisingly succesful peasant rebels.
The links below go to a non-scholarly blog of a person who describes himself as a "history nerd". It turns out that the truth about the Ikko-Ikki is complex, although strong religious convictions and plebeian anger certainly played major roles.
Note that the blogger is a former follower of Jodo Shinshu, the Buddhist sect rightly or wrongly associated with the Ikko-Ikki...
A buddha at large
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| Amitabha Buddha in his Pure Land |
I somehow forgot about this blog (recommended by one of my "perennial commentators"). Kind of relate to the post, despite not being a "Pure Land Buddhist". Both the sectarian Japanese stuff, and the bewildering diversity (even in Japan) once you really start looking into it. Maybe I should procure the book under review?
Stupstock
Har ärligt talat inte orkat läsa hela krönikan (finns det ingen AI-sammanfattning?) men det slog mig att kulturbarnens "organiska" språkbehandling är så jäkla usel att AI antagligen kan höja kvalitén på deras output. Såvida inte AI-verktyget tränar på just Aftonbladets artiklar...
Och ärligt talat skiter jag i åsiktsmaskinernas contretemps.
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