Knowledge Keepers

New York Post argues that the mass graves of Native children in Canada are a gigantic hoax. I linked to articles about this topic before. 

"Biggest fake news story in Canada": Kamloops mass grave debunked

Lack of hemlock

 

And don´t forget, my friends, that atheism merely means a lack of belief in something!

At the river Kebar

 

Works and days

 

Some Christians and atheists actually believe this, LOL. 

Dax att lägga ner "Veckans Strasser"?

 

Dags att lägga ner den här bloggens mest populära inslag? Jag menar, vad är poängen när t.o.m. Märta Stenevi (Miljöpartiets kaoskvinna) försöker fuska till sig utmärkelsen "Veckans Strasser"...

Lyssna på Märta Stenevi - för en gångs skull

"All paths lead to the same goal"

 

Scholar of religion and Tantrik practitioner Christopher Wallis (Hareesh) argues that all religions don´t lead to the same goal, indeed, even in India, there are a dozen different traditions that are mutually incompatible. 

Near enemy 15: All paths lead to the same goal

No more quiet nights

"Independence Day: Resurgence" is a 2016 sequel to the classic "Independence Day" from 1996. Since the spectacular original already exists, "Resurgence" simply doesn´t have that future classic vibe. But sure, if you liked ID4, you will probably like this one, too. For starters, we get to see more of the aliens, their starships and their social structure. The crazy hippy scientist is back, and so is "the old Jewish dad". The UFO cultists are notable by their absence, though, but then, they got fried already in the first flick! A new race of aliens is introduced, which unsurprisingly turns out to be "virtual" (as in sentient super-computers of the globular kind). The weakest part of "Resurgence" are the new human characters. And yes, there seem to be some loans from "Starship Troopers"... 

A weird fact: in ID4, fictitious and clean-shaven president Whitmore says "We will not go quietly into the night". Whitmore also plays an important part in "Resurgence", where he is bearded. Now, I seem to recall that Senator Ted Cruz used those exact words at the pro-Trump rally before the faux insurrection at the Capitol in 2021. At the time, Cruz had a beard, and hence looked pretty much like Whitmore! A co-incidence? Or was the senator from Texas consciously mimicking an actor from this film?

"Independence Day: Resurgence" ends with humanity gaining knowledge about the homeworld of the Harversters, as the evil aliens are called, and it´s implied that Homo sapiens (sapiens) will one day take the struggle there, to wipe out the oversized bugs once and for all. Perhaps in 2036, we will thus see the closure of this syfy extravaganza? 

We certainly won´t go quietly into the night...

It´s Ehrenfest time, boyz´n´girlz

 

I admit I don´t get half of this, but apparently, Quantum Mechanics were falsified already during the 1950´s...sort of. QM can´t be used to predict the behavior of chaotic systems, of which there are many in our macro-world, such as the erratic motions of the Saturnine moon Hyperion. Always suspected there was *something* fishy about that one, LOL.

Seriously though, it seems that QM does have problems when trying to describe the physical processes in the "big" world, something I knew already. All attempts to reconcile QM´s "linear equations" and "wave-functions" with what´s actually going on up here, seems to have failed so far. The equations "work", in some sense, but they don´t describe actual physical processes...

Time to go back to theories about the ether, maybe?

Veckans Strasser

Sedan Putler invaderade Kievrus har ju Veckans Strasser legat nere, och istället ersatts av Veckans Shachtman, men nu verkar det vara läge att damma av den här bloggens mest populära inslag. Och utmärkelsen går denna vecka till...sossarnas jämställdhetsminister?!

Det börjar märkas att Miljöpartiet lämnade regeringen...

"Skaffa inte fler barn än du kan försörja"

QAnon Tantra

This is an actual headline from Daily Mail:  

"EXCLUSIVE: Embattled QAnon congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene 'openly cheated' on her husband of 25 years with a polyamorous tantric sex guru and then moved on to another affair with the manager at her gym."

And here´s the article:

QAnon congresswoman cheated with Tantric sex guru

Putinpriser

Åh, högvördade mästare,
vi har kommit hit till Edra lotusfötter för att
Ni ska lära oss krigspropagandans grunder! 

Börjar tröttna lite på propagandan i svenska medier om kriget i Ukraina. Fast jag kanske inte borde vara det. Jag menar, jag stödjer Ukraina. Och propagandan verkar ju fungera.

VÄSTMEDIA: Ukraina håller på att besegra Ryssland!!! Sanktionerna fungerar!!! Azov är inte nynazister!!!

OCKSÅ VÄSTMEDIA: Ukraina behöver mer vapen ASAP!!! Sanktionerna måste förstärkas!!! Vi måste gå med i NATO om ryssarna skulle anfalla oss också med käääärnvapen!!! Men Azov är inte nynazister!!!

UKRAINAS VÄNNER: JA, JA, JA, JA!!!

Om man kan "skoja" allmänheten på det här sättet, borde jag hålla tyst och spela med? Jag kanske inte är tillräckligt cynisk och hårdkokt i sådana har skarpa lägen. Fredsskadad, rentav. 

Men kom inte och klaga på mig om allmänheten om ett år skyller Putinpriserna på den där lille komikern i Kyiv, snarare än på Putler. Och slutar läsa Aftonbladet...

Venerable Vyasa has the floor

Sure thing, I wrote 20,000 books in my lifetime, including all those Tantric sex manuals, but I promise, I didn´t write the US tax code!

Current mood

 

Sverigebilden

 

Aktivister från Feministisk Initiativ på väg till Olofström för att protestera mot sexistiska klädkoder på flyktingboendet. 

Nej, vänta...

Young Americans

 

I refuse to believe this. Nobody can possibly be *this* stupid. Fake? Or was he trolled? 

A jump of madness

 

Sadhguru, who could be classified as a Tantric Shaiva, discusses kundalini in this short YouTube clip. 

Kundalini is the life energy, and hence exists everywhere. In the human body, it´s concentrated in 114 energy centers or chakras (but later, Sadhguru says that there are six chakras and 112 ways to open them). Of the 114 chakras, humans only need 21 to function optimally. Kundalini yoga can open the rest, but this is a dangerous process, and should therefore only be attempted under the expert guidance of a guru. And even then, fast kundalini awakening will "dissolve the social world" around you. Hence, only ascetics should attempt it, although a slower method for house-holders also exists. 

In and of itself, kundalini is neither "good" nor "bad", the real question being whether you are ready for it or not. Sure, it´s dangerous, but so is electricity, which can nevertheless be used to good ends. The 112 techniques to open the chakras only work up to the sixth chakra or sixth dimension (Agna), located in the human skull. The seventh chakra, Sahasrara, which hovers above the physical body, cannot be reached by any of the standard techniques. "You can only jump into the abyss" says Sadhguru, and if you do, you have to do it in "trust, devotion, or madness"! 

We can´t say we haven´t been warned...

Ascension Day?

 

Ascension Day

 

I feel really safe now

 

Come and meet our great new war leaders! Somehow, I think Mannerheim and Pilsudski would have been more convincing... 

Sex offenders everywhere

Here we go again... :-( 

Top Southern Baptists stonewalled sex abuse victims

Southern Baptist leaders covered up sexual abuse claims

The game is on

It seems Vox Day is back in the Alpha Game. He has some opinions on the game of the Ukrainian female refugees. The Daily Mail article he comments is linked to next. 

Apex Predators, Unleashed

Father of two dumps his partner in favor of Ukrainian refugee

Peak propaganda?

Terminator?

I admit I don´t believe a word of this. Anders Åslund has reached some kind of peak propaganda delirium tremens. 

Does he really believe that the Ukrainian army has managed to kill 28,000 Russian soldiers in just three months, which is more than the number of Russians killed during nine years of war in Afghanistan? If so, the number of wounded must be three times that number, making the total Russian casualties 112,000. In three months?! Zelensky must be some kind of Terminator! And yet, the Russians have taken Mariupol and Kherson, and thus control a corridor between the LDNR and Crimea - one of the goals of the invasion...

Also, mainline media reports suggest that the sanctions aren´t very effective, that the ruble is stronger than ever (sic) and that several EU governments are backhandedly giving permissions to businesses to pay for oil and gas in rubles...

But sure, the claims of Åslund´s article are testable. And on record. On Twitter, Åslund writes: "The overall picture from the war in Ukraine is that the Russians are attacking, but hardly making any headway. The Ukrainians are holding & waiting probably three more weeks to receive more heavy artillery before starting their serious counteroffensive."

Three weeks, then. Then we´ll see...

"Putin is going to lose his war"

Can we *now* arrest Kissinger for treason? Please?

Credit: EPA/Sergei Chirikov

Henry Kissinger again! The relevant excerpts:

>>>Veteran US statesman Henry Kissinger has urged the West to stop trying to inflict a crushing defeat on Russian forces in Ukraine, warning that it would have disastrous consequences for the long term stability of Europe.

>>>The former US secretary of state and architect of the Cold War rapprochement between the US and China told a gathering in Davos that it would be fatal for the West to get swept up in the mood of the moment and forget the proper place of Russia in the European balance of power.

>>>Dr Kissinger said the war must not be allowed to drag on for much longer, and came close to calling on the West to bully Ukraine into accepting negotiations on terms that fall very short of its current war aims.

>>>“Negotiations need to begin in the next two months before it creates upheavals and tensions that will not be easily overcome. Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the status quo ante. Pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine, but a new war against Russia itself,” he said.

>>>He told the World Economic Forum that Russia had been an essential part of Europe for 400 years and had been the guarantor of the European balance of power structure at critical times. European leaders should not lose sight of the longer term relationship, and nor should they risk pushing Russia into a permanent alliance with China.

>>>“I hope the Ukrainians will match the heroism they have shown with wisdom,” he said, adding with his famous sense of realpolitik that the proper role for the country is to be a neutral buffer state rather than the frontier of Europe. 

The rest of the article is also interesting, arguing that the sanctions against Russia doesn´t work. 

Henry Kissinger: Ukraine must give Russia territory

Serpentine cryptozoology

"Secret Snakes and Serpent Surprises" is a recent book (2022) by Dr Karl P N Shuker. Or perhaps not so recent, since much of the material has already been published, more or less, at the author´s website ShukerNature. The book is a motley collection of articles on every conceivable topic related to cryptozoology and snakes. "Cryptozoology", usually considered a pseudo-science, is the name enthusiasts have given to the search for monstrous mystery animals, often called cryptids, and it hardly comes as a surprise that many cryptids are serpentine. Eye witness accounts of impossibly large snakes exist from all over the world (in America, they are known as "boss snakes"). There are also tales, more or less believable, of strange hybrids, snakes that crow like a rooster, snakes with two heads (the second one in the rear), and (of course) ultra-venomous snakes (the bite of the "snow snake" can supposedly turn your blood into ice). There are also weird ophidians in religious mythology, and Shuker actually discusses observations of divine Nagas in Southeast Asia and India. One chapter deals with the snake that tricked Adam and Eve in Eden (did it walk on two legs and had the head of a female?). Shuker has also discovered a new Bible difficulty: the Acts of the Apostles mentions Paul handling a viper on the island of Malta, where no vipers existed in Biblical times...

Some of the reported sightings are dubbed "pseudo-snakes" even by the author. The colorful flying "snakes" in Wales simply must be a tall tale, and so is the "snow snake" of North America. (For some reason, he missed the lindorm reported from 19th century Sweden.) Other observations are more promising, but often impossible to verify. Perhaps there were boss snakes at one point in North American history, but since being large increased the risk of being killed by humans, selection pressure made the snakes smaller. "The scarlet viper" in the UK is perfectly real, but has turned out to be a color morph of juvenile common vipers, not a separate species (which an enthusiast tried to describe over a century ago). Snakes on New Zealand (where no such creatures should exist) have been reported, and even investigated by the proper authorities, but nothing was found. Of course, feral snakes are always a possibility in every survivable climate. 

One cryptid snake has actually been scientifically described: Cryptophidion ammanense, based on a photo of a lost museum specimen, the specimen in question being from Vietnam. Yes, the paper was published in a cryptozoological journal. However, more established scientists believe that "the secret snake" is really a misidentified sunbeam snake (a known species). 

Shuker clearly wants at least some cryptids to be the real deal, and is very charitable towards "the Namibian flying snake" and the "Mongolian Death Worm". Another distinct possibility is that they are simply creatures of folklore. One problem with judging reports of this kind (which Shuker also points out) is that folklore about known animals also exist, for instance claims that harmless snakes or lizards are really super-venomous. So there is always a possibility that even a "flying snake" might be a bizarre misidentification of a real creature, perhaps a gliding snake, or a snake with wing-like membranes which, however, can´t fly. On Madagascar, there is a folk tale about ants building snake-traps, fattening the captured snake by bringing it food, and then killing and eating it. Recent research suggests that what actually happens is that one species of snake lives inside anthills and defends them against another snake species, which likes to eat ants!

What makes me skeptical to most of these cryptid stories is that the reports are mostly old, and that we now live in the era of cell phone cameras and mass tourism. We should have more evidence for mystery ophidians than we seem to have, had they been real. Note that the only supposed cryptid snake ever described scientifically was very similar to a known species. The discovery of a fossilized Titanoboa (60 million years old) shows that super-sized "nagas" aren´t intrinsically impossible (this primordial serpent was 12 meters long!), but finding such creatures - and even stranger ones - today will probably prove much more of a challenge... 

Bodhisattva Bear (?!)

 

This is cringey as fuck...

Bloodlands

I have no idea what is *really* going on in Ukraine right now. 

Below, I link to two articles which claim that Russia has suffered major losses (one third of its soldiers either killed or wounded) and is having trouble filling the man-power shortage. However, I also link to a third piece pointing out that the Ukrainian military has suffered heavy causalties, too. This per Zelensky himself. Who is telling the truth? If both sides had major losses of this kind, the war in Ukraine is an absolute carnage! 

Add to that civilians being killed, and millions of refugees.  There have also been recent news report (not linked here) according to which the Russians (who are supposedly "losing") are really continuing their offensive in the Donbass, or entrenching themselves. 

So no, this isn´t over yet. Not by a long shot. Note that even if we assume that Putin´s original goal was to take Kiev and instal a Yanukovich-style puppet government, "only" taking the Donbass and the areas north of the Crimea is a perfectly tolerable "plan B" from a Russian viewpoint, especially if the Russians de facto block Ukraine´s Black Sea ports, since this would make Ukraine an economic and (perhaps) political basket case. The West, by contrast, presumably needs a stable and prosperous Ukraine to get a permanent geopolitical bridgehead in post-Soviet space. 

Note also that Russia could use chemical and (smaller) nuclear weapons in Ukraine to make up for any man-power shortfall due to corruption, war-weariness, or whatever.

This war could drag out for years, or even escalate. Unless something really unexpected happens. Say, a coup in Moscow. Or even a coup in DC...

Russia scrambles for soldiers amid man-power shortage in Ukraine 

"We have to buy everything": Russian soldiers under-equipped in Ukraine

Up to 100 Ukrainian troops could be be dying in Donbas each day, says Zelenskyi

Det första Centerpartiet

Har ju länge trott att de främsta sektologerna i Sverige är jag själv, Mattias Gardell och Erik Rodenborg, men det verkar som om Tobias Hübinette försöker göra oss rangen stridig, jag menar, *vad* har han hittat här?!

"Den som en gång badat sin själ i den ariska religionens och naturfilosofiens kristallklara vatten, återvänder sedan aldrig mera till de lägre stående religionerna".

Verkar ju intressantare än Annie Lööfs variant, onekligen!

Om det första Centerpartiet

ARIGs and gatekeepers

"Scientifical Americans" is a book by Sharon A Hill, an American geologist and skeptical blogger. It was published in 2017. Unfortunately, the book is badly written and extremely tedious. It looks like an extended draft. I had expected it to contain more field notes and entertaining anecdotes from the author´s forays into paranormal research, but instead it´s a frankly boring work concentrating on "the method" or "the process" of science. Perhaps Hill really didn´t have fun when joining ghost-hunters on nocturnal expeditions to Civil War battlefields?

Hill have attempted to study what she calls ARIGs or Amateur Research and Investigation Groups. At least in its current incarnation, this is a relatively new subculture that seems to have gotten off the ground around the year 2000. Two typical representatives are the ghost-finding group TAPS and the Bigfoot "hunters" of the BFRO. Both were made popular by TV shows, "Ghost Hunters" and "Finding Bigfoot" respectively. I never seen "Ghost Hunters" (I think), but I did find "Finding Bigfoot" at least mildly entertaining. The ARIG concept is fairly simple: amateurs equipped with various technological gadgets roam supposed "paranormal hot spots", often at night, hoping to gather evidence for whatever paranormal activity they happen to be interested in. Bonding, search for higher meaning, and a subcultural identity are just as important to ARIG participants as the thrill of experiencing the paranormal. It´s a hobby, but often an important one to the people involved. Many join ARIGs after having had paranormal encounters by themselves. Together with other like-minded individuals, they want to find answers, or at least belong to a social group that doesn´t ostracize them. Hill concentrates on ARIGs which deal with ghosts or cryptids (hidden monstrous animals), but there are also ufology groups that fit the description (these are discussed more in passing). Of course, grifters and hoaxers can also join or form ARIGs for reasons all their own.

Since ARIGs claim to gather evidence of the paranormal, their relationship with science (which mostly rejects such claims out of hand) is bound to be rocky. While a few ARIGs are explicitly religious, most are "secular". Many claim to be scientific, while many others are eclectic, accepting Ouija boards, dowsing rods or mediums as valid ways to contact ghosts or spirits, alongside more scientific methods. As a skeptic, Hill naturally believes that the "scientific" pretensions of the ARIGs is mostly bunk. Cases aren´t properly documented, mundane explanations are rejected out of hand, the scientific-sounding terminology of the researchers frequently make no sense (how does "quantum entanglement" explain ghosts?), folklore is accepted as fact, and so on. Expensive techno-equipment is an important part of the sciency image of these groups. Actual scientists are accused of  being closed minded, but when ARIG claims are subject to rigorous testing, they always fall short. The most extensive DNA study of supposed Bigfoot samples, for instance, failed to find anything else than DNA from known animal species. Curiously, ARIGs have very limited contact with parapsychologists, who try to develop scientific methods to study certain unusual phenomena. 

Maybe I´m naive, but I was surprised by the close connection between real life ARIGs and various scripted American TV shows. Many ghost-hunting groups in the United States are associated with TAPS from "Ghost Hunters", or consciously mimic their antics, even including their T-shirts! It´s as if people don´t understand that the shows really are scripted. People are in effect LARP-ing as LARP-ers. Or so Hill believes. When hard evidence for the paranormal proves elusive, ARIGs can embrace conspiracy theories or move even deeper into the paranormal. Cryptozoologists who fail to find Bigfoot might conclude that he isn´t a real flesh-and-blood animal after all, but a space alien or interdimensional being, perhaps even a deity of some sort. That would explain how Bigfoot can avoid (scientific) detection. The author believes that this "supernatural creep" have become more and more common in the ARIG milieu.

"Scientifical Americans" is unabashedly elitist. Or at least comes across that way. It´s not always clear whether Hill *wants* scientists to be "gatekeepers" (her word) that attack all paranormal claims as a threat to their institutional authority (and perhaps to society), or whether she simply describes what´s actually going on, but in such a dispassionate way that she sounds supportive of the practice! For instance, Hill points out at several points that scientists who become interested in paranormal topics are often ostracized by the scientific community, even when they use strict scientific protocol when approaching their chosen subject-matter. But surely that is a bad thing? The author is dogmatically materialist, and really seems to think that "supernatural" explanations can be rejected out of hand. The matter was settled long ago, since everyone knows that the SPR or the parapsychologists failed to find any evidence for the supernatural. But perhaps the matter was settled only because certain gatekeepers chose to *define* science as materialist, period? Since ghosts simply *cannot* exist, it´s not clear what kind of evidence would convince the author that they do...

At one point, Hill writes about her encounter with two true believers in the existence of "the skunk ape", a Bigfoot-like creature said to inhabit swamps in the southern United States. Chris and Mark, as they are named, live in Florida and believe that the mysterious creature lurks in a place called the Green Swamp. Apparently, the two men have a conflict of sorts with the author, since she refused their offer to travel to the swamp and see for herself. The interesting thing is that Hill seems genuinely astonished by Chris´ and Mark´s reaction. Why *should* she undertake a potentially dangerous trip to a remote swamp in Florida in search of a creature that simply can´t be real anyway? The ARIG teams may do all kinds of things wrong, but perhaps this incomprehension is also part of the problem...   

The monkeypox theodicy

 

Here we go again, must be the third time I link to this. It´s about COVID, but could just as well be applied to monkeypox. Sadhguru´s form of Shaivism is a very different religion from, say, modern main-line Christianity...

Åh nej

Inte nu igen...

17 misstänkta fall av apkoppor i Montreal

FHM: Fall av apkoppor upptäckt i Sverige

The Grand Chessboard revisited

This was originally posted on Amazon in 2016, and on this blog in 2018. Note that the book under review is from 1997! I repost the review here, since it´s quite relevant...

“The Grand Chessboard” is a famous work on American geopolitical strategy, written by Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter. Published in 1997, the book argues that the United States is the “first and last” truly global empire. In order to ensure its domination, the United States must seek to dominate Eurasia, which to Brzezinski is the key to world power.

Europe should become a single super-state through the European Union, and both EU and NATO should expand all the way to Russia's Western border by including the Ukraine. Indeed, Western control of the Ukraine is central to ensure Russian compliance and is therefore non-negotiable. Russia itself should have a “democratic” government and a “free market” oriented economy, and be transformed into a loose confederation. Russia must give up its imperial ambitions as U.S. power extends all the way to Russia's “near abroad”. Turkey, which was still largely secular when the book was written, should join the EU. Brzezinski further calls for an American-Chinese alliance, while keeping the American-Japanese alliance in its present form. Interestingly, he wants a thaw in American relations with Iran. I always wondered why the U.S. is so interested in maneuver with the Islamic Republic, ostensibly an implacable enemy nation. Brzezinski clarified this: while Iran is hostile to the United States, it's equally hostile to Russia and hence de facto functions as a buffer against Russian expansion to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. This would explain a lot of things, from Iran-Contra-gate to Obama's nuclear deal.

Although Brzezinski denies it, I think it's obvious that his program is to encircle, weaken and perhaps even split the Russian Federation. Russia (“the black hole” in the author's estimation) should be contained on all sides by American allies and partners: the Ukraine, Turkey, Iran, China and Japan. This is really a continuation of the Cold War policies of the United States, now directed not against Communism but against Russia proper. But why does the old fox call the U.S. the “last” global empire? I think Brzezinski really wanted a kind of One World Government, subsuming even the United States under entirely new international structures.

Today, Brzezinski's globalist agenda is in shambles. The EU is crumbling and will probably be all gone within a decade or so. Turkey, while still insisting on EU membership, is Islamist. Russia has been resurrected under Vladimir Putin and is actively challenging the United States outside its near abroad, in Syria. In the Ukraine, the two great powers are stalemated. As for China, it has become increasingly clear that the rulers in Beijing have pulled a “long con” on the U.S. establishment. The Chinese call the shots now. The West has been destabilized by uncontrolled migrant streams and terrorism. And just this week, Donald J Trump, whose foreign policy seems to be almost the exact opposite of the proposals in “The Grand Chessboard”, was elected president of the United States. Interestingly, Brzezinski seems to have tacitly endorsed Trump by calling for closer co-operation with Russia, but it remains to be seen whether we are dealing with a “death bed conversion” or simply a chameleon-like protective coloring.

It seems Zbigniew Brzezinski has been checkmated.

Out of darkness, into dusk

Yes, Henry Kissinger is still alive. He was recently interviewed by the Financial Times (see clip above). It´s not clear to me whether Kissinger doesn´t know what to say, or is dissimulating (after all these years). Probably the latter, since he is still active, in the guise of being "a private student of international relations". Kissinger has met with Putin about 20 times (!), and also had conversations with China´s Paramount Leader Xi. He describes Putin as having a "mystical" view of Russian history, but when asked about Putin´s red line (when would Russia use nuclear weapons?), Kissinger says he has no idea. Maybe he really doesn´t. He *does* sound worried, however...

Kissinger indicates that regime change in Russia or China shouldn´t be an American priority, unless the US is forced into such a situation. He also implies that Russia and China should be treated differently, so they won´t unite against the US (they already have, but Kissinger regards this as unnatural - the interviewer points out that China might want to take Siberia). In other words: one of them should be treated better than the other. However, he refuses to say which nation the US should prefer, but in interviews made some years ago, Kissinger (unsurprisingly) preferred Beijing. The old Secretary of State also discusses his "pingpong diplomacy" with Mao´s China, the purpose of which was to encircle the Soviet Union. 

I get the impression that despite the talk about "a new era" and the worries that Putin might push the button, Kissinger at bottom believes that very little will change "once the war in Ukraine is over". Both Russia and China will remain great powers, and the task of the United States will be to create a balance of power with them, which looks strikingly similar to the old one Henry has been used to most of his life. 

The old dinosaur seems oblivious to the fact that the world actually has entered a new era. An era in which Russia and/or China *or even the United States itself* might collapse. An era of climate crisis, peak oil, famine and Völkerwanderung. Cynically speaking, some idle threat by Russia to nuke a town in the Donbass might become the least of our worries. 

Maybe Henry Kissinger should stay in the shadows...

The hermitage of the heart

"Polytheistic Monasticism: Voices from Pagan Cloisters" is a recent book edited by Janet Munin and published by a press with the inevitable name Moon-Books. Yes, it´s time for a deep plunge into the netherworld of Neo-Paganism again! Full disclosure: I´m skeptical to the entire Neo-Pagan concept, and this little work just confirmed my impression. But YMMV, to quote a favorite expression by one of the contributors...

Apparently, some "polytheists" (as the contributors insist on calling themselves, rather than the more tainted Neo-Pagan designation) want to form cloisters or leave like hermits. The book contains contributions from a number of people about how this could be done. Or how it can´t be done, since many of the authors agree on such a project being almost impossible in the modern Western world. Apparently, the Maetreum of Cybele in the Catskill Mountains is the only functioning polytheist cloister in the United States as of this time. I think it´s pretty obvious what the reason for this is: Neo-Pagans are fiercly individualist, and not always in a good way, making it downright impossible to pool money, resources and energy into forming a cloistered intentional community. Living as a hermit is also problematic. Most of the contributors are married, take care of elderly relatives, have teaching positions at colleges, and so on. 

To be honest, the female or "non-binary" contributors to this volume come across as emotional train wrecks, sollipsistic, and pretty damn weird. There is a strong tendency towards a kind of essentialist feminism, with a lot of talk about "nurturing", "sustenance", living inside a cocoon, lying in fetal position, and what have you. The spiritual perspective is broadly Wiccan, with some authors claiming to be female Druids, and strongly eclectic. Ironically, Christianity is strongly present in the mixed stew, although most authors don´t even realize it. Many have an intensely personal relationship to various Celtic and Norse gods, something the ancient Celts and Norse probably didn´t, this being an evangelical or perhaps charismatic Christian influence. The monastic perspective itself is also Christian, not Hindu or Pythagorean, since the polytheist nuns dress like stereotypical Christian monks. Yet, they constantly attack "monotheism"!

The only cis-male contributor seems to be John Michael Greer, whose perspective is markedly different. Greer is the former head of several small esoteric groups, including the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA) and the Universal Gnostic Church (UGC). One of his more recent projects is called the Gnostic Celtic Church (GCC). On the one hand, these groups have a formal structure and training programs, quite unlike the chaotic Neo-Pagan milieux. Greer even tacitly admits that many people probably have to be excluded from the GCC, having the wrong "Awen" (destiny or karma). On the other hand, not even these groups try to form actual pagan cloisters. Rather, the goal is to create a "hermitage of the heart" by becoming a solitary practioner of various specified rituals. I previously reviewed Greer´s own book "The Gnostic Celtic Church: A Manual and a Book of Liturgy" here on the blog. Despite the churchly designation, the GCC doesn´t sound Christian (or even Gnostic), and it´s in fact hard to see any difference with its Druid Revival parent group. 

And no, none of the Neo-Pagans demand celibacy. There, I said it.  

The anima of Jordan Peterson

 

The latest Twitter drama is that Jordan Peterson called the woman above, Yumi Nu, ugly (she is a "plus-sized model" in Sports Illustrated), and when called out about it, left Twitter in a rage. Well, for the moment...

Your Twitter stake out, Ashtar Command.

Azovstal has surrendered

Azovstal has surrendered to the Russians, although the pro-Ukrainian Western media is trying to spin it as an "evacuation". A strange evacuation, this, to a hospital in a Russian-controlled town! I support Ukraine, but the propaganda is sometimes ridiculous...

Hundreds of Ukrainian troops evacuated from Azovstal steelworks 

Almost authentic

 

From the parody Twitter account "Darth Putin". Borderline true!

Rubicon

Och här kommer det, äntligen efter alla dessa år! Tobias Hübinette passerar Rubicon och vinner utmärkelsen Veckans Strasser (och dessutom Veckans Shachtman...samtidigt). Slava Ukraini!

>>>Tyvärr är delar av vänstern och kanske också högern fortfarande emot att den f d Azov-bataljonen ser ut att faktiskt vilja strida till siste man i Mariupol och just försvara Azovstal tills ingen av dem längre bokstavligen kan stå upp men oavsett om Mariupols och Azovstals sista aktivt stridande soldater är högerextremt lagda eller ej så är de trots allt hjältar efter att ha hållit ut ända sedan den ryska invasionen inleddes den 24 februari i år (för på samma datum inleddes nämligen belägringen av Mariupol).

>>>Tyvärr var det t ex budskapet från en av talarna på 1 maj-mötet vid La Mano-monumentet på Söder i Stockholm som samlar merparten av den samlade arbetarrörelsen och vänstern i huvudstadsregionen (SAP, V, LO, SAC o s v) – d v s att det är fel att som antifascist stötta Ukraina då nazister försvarar Mariupol och har grävt ned sig under Azovstals fabriksruiner och vägrar ge upp och denne 1 maj-talare fick tyvärr en hel del applåder efter att ha framfört det budskapet.

Welcome to the dark side, my son. 

"De sista ukrainska soldaterna som försvarar Mariupol är inget annat än hjältar"

I väntan på revolutionen

I väntan på den där anarkistiska världsrevolutionen, som visst aldrig kommer, kan man ju göra så här, exempelvis... 

"Vänsterextremister hotar skapa kaos på tysk ö"

Ge honom silkessnöret

 

Börjar tröttna lite på den här pizzabagaren från Ankara (som tydligen är huvudstad i Türkiye) som tror att Jorden är platt och har fyra hörn i kanterna. Han köpte visst olja från IS också, och verkar ha köpt hälften av sina pickadoller från Rus, inte från NATO. 

Får man beställa en liten färgrevolution? Var finns Ergenekon när man väl behöver dem? Hota södra flanken, få silkessnöret. Den typen av deal. Eller?  

The real Kakan

Hade nästan glömt bort Kakabaveh. Det är såklart hon som är "PKK-terroristen i det svenska parlamentet" som Erdogan klagade på för några dagar sedan. Inte helt oväntat har Kakabaveh blivit överkörd av SAP-regeringen, även om det kanske var oväntat att det skulle bli i *denna* fråga (tacka Putte för det). 

Amineh Kakabaveh drar tillbaka sitt stöd till Magdalena Andersson

Jupiter or Daladier?

Marine Le Pen reportedly told Ukrainian president Zelensky to make territorial concessions to Russia so Putin could "save face". Meanwhile, Donald Trump said on Truth Social that Russia shouldn´t be "humiliated", since this would be repeating the mistakes of the Versailles peace treaty.

Nah, I just made that up.

It was Macron. 

Note, however, that even Zelensky himself sometimes claims to be ready to simply go back to "status quo bellum ante", leaving Crimea and the de facto territory of the LDNR in Russian hands!

So I suppose the headline of this post, and the photo above, is overdoing the whole thing a bit...  

Zelensky says Macron urged him to yield territory in bid to end Ukrainian war

Botflies

 

Elon Musk probably suspects that more than 5% of Twitter accounts are bots. Content-creator Styx (here above) agrees and believes that it´s *much* more than 5%. On some accounts, the number of bots must be around 90%. Styx believes that CNN is one such culprit. If Musk buys Twitter and purges all bots, wouldn´t it be funny if he also throws out the official media accounts, since they constantly break the rules? 

Styx also drops some hints that maybe Musk is secretely colluding with Trump backstage, since at this point, if Musk wouldn´t go through with the Twitter buy-out, the company´s stock would dramatically plummet in value, perhaps forcing Twitter out of business altogether. This would leave Trump´s Truth Social as the only viable alternative. Speculation at this point, but who knows? 

(Another conspiracy theory, not mentioned here, is that Musk is fronting for a certain Deep State faction that wants to take over Twitter and use it for its own nefarious ends, including gate-keeping of conservatives.) 

Remember the Titans

"Godzilla: King of the Monsters" (2019) is a sequel to "Godzilla" (2014), and the third film in total in the so-called MonsterVerse series (I haven´t seen the fourth one yet). I didn´t find it particularly interesting, except for a few Lovecraftian references, but I suppose I´m a bit too old for monster films! 

The concept of the MonsterVerse is that a primordial breed of "titans" have been awakened from their underground slumber. The monstrous creatures are studied (and sometimes chased) by a secretive government organization known as Monarch. These cryptozoologists believe that humanity can co-exist with the Titans, indeed that the world somehow belongs to them rather than to us (compare the Old Ones in Lovecraft´s horror fiction, but with a more positive spin). Naturally, the more regular military disagrees and rather wants the monsters dead, buried and gone. 

"Godzilla: King of the Monsters" introduces a rogue faction, headed by a former military officer who has become an eco-terrorist. With the help of a Monarch turn coat, the mad colonel wants to use the Titans as WMDs to wipe out large portions of humanity, thereby restoring the precious ecological balance of our planet. Unfortunately, the plan goes awry when it turns out that one of the titans is really a gigantic space alien, known as King Ghidorah, who can telepathically brain-wash the other monsters with the goal of destroying *all* humans, presumably including Monarch and the deep ecologists themselves...

One of the plot twists is that Godzilla is on our side ("for now"), and so is Mothra, a bizarre and over-sized insectoid extravaganza. When Godzilla loses the first round of fighting against Ghidorah, and flees to the ruins of an ancient city at the ocean floor (Atlantis?), Monarch helps the titan by "doping" him with a nuclear explosion! In the dramatic finale, Godzilla unleashes the nuclear energy, incinerating the alien dragon once and for all (unfortunately together with most of Boston). Or so we hope, since MonsterVerse will probably just continue this franchise until we all drop dead...

Since "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" was made in 2019, it´s of course very politically correct, with female scientists, Black female military officers (one of them fat), and a super-smart young girl who looks like a boy. The Titans have sex across the species barriers and turns out to have an ecological consciousness, helping humanity to save the coral reefs and making the deserts bloom?! It´s therefore quite ironic that a more classical Hollywood save-the-nuclear-family petty drama also forms part of the plot. 

In the end, not even the Hollow Earth and Eldritch angles could save this production for me. The family drama was just annoying, the mad military man isn´t mad enough, and there are just too many monsters (and nuclear bombs). It probably isn´t a relevant criticism of a scy fy flick, but "King of the Monsters" comes across as *unrealistic*. In real life, kids aren´t that smart, nor do fat women become military commanders. But perhaps Japanese scientists really do carry out kamikaze missions? A further exploration of the Titan mythos would have been more interesting, but I suppose the American audience want to see woke mayhem in the neighborhood of Boston... 

The latest drama

I leave the web for like 15 hours and look what happens...

Elon Musk says his buy-out of Twitter is "on hold". And Turkey´s lose cannon president Erdogan wants to put Sweden´s and Finland´s NATO memberships on hold.  At least Paludan seems to have taken the day off. Or has he? Perhaps he´s just on hold...

But OK, it´s Friday the 13th, so maybe that´s why! 

Time for a color revolution in Ankara? Where is Ergenekon when you finally need them? How´s that for drama...

Dear atheists

Lack of belief, huh? I show you "lack of belief", kiddo!

Why do YouTube atheists insist so adamantly that atheism is just "a lack of belief" in something (God or the God-concept, in this case), rather than an actual worldview? A bit like calling a lack of belief in the Great Pumpkin a-Great-Pumpkinist, and claim *that´s* a worldview, which would (of course) be absurd. Another favorite quip: "Atheism is to worldview as baldness is to hairstyle". 

But by their actual actions, American atheists clearly show that they *do* regard atheism as a worldview. They admit that they are hard or positive atheists, they call themselves "atheist activists", create organizations, hold conferences and form a distinct subculture. And when they want to combine their "lack of belief" in pumpkins, pardon, God, with actual beliefs in something, they call it "Atheism+" (Atheism-plus) rather than "Worldview-minus"...

What´s going on here?

The absence of belief in a monotheistic, transcendent, personal god who created the universe and makes demands on humans is obviously very different in kind from absence of belief in the Great Pumpkin, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or the Invisible Pink Unicorn. How can it *not* have consequences for you worldview on a very basic level? 

Note also that the therm atheism is derived from an ancient Greek insult against the likes of Socrates, who obviously wasn´t persecuted for a simple "lack of belief" in great pumpkins on top of Mount Olympus. Socrates´ supposed denial of the gods was seen as a direct threat (and a threatening alternative worldview) to the established polis. 

Also, is there anyone except small children who are so uninformed about God or the God-concept that they literally lack any belief in it?

It´s true of course that atheism (as in deliberate rejection of all things religious and active struggle against same) can be combined with different worldviews, in the sense that an atheist could be anarchist, Communist, centrist, conservative, even fascist. But it will still be an important and defining aspect of that worldview, quite unlike any absence of belief in the Great Pumpkin, Santa Claus, Covfefe, Esmeralda and Keith, or what have you. And in the United States, I get the impression that most atheists (at least on the web) are libertarians, meaning that most of them *do* share a worldview. 

So what´s the problem, really?

Cough cough cladistics cough

Dinosaurs are extinct, right?

So I recently visited the Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, Sweden. In the climate crisis exhibition, they show a funny video featuring a dinosaur scaring the hell out of the UN General Assembly. Then, the dino addresses the diplomatic multitude, saying things like "extinction is bad" and "I know a lot about extinction". 

There´s just one little problem.

The dino seems to be a Deinonychus (the "raptor" of "Jurassic Park" fame). But while the Deinonychi are extinct, some of their close relatives are not. They belonged to the group of dinosaurs from which birds evolved. Indeed, birds *are* dinosaurs. So the entire dino extinction rebellion is fake news! 

Somebody should school the Museum of Natural History on the basics of cladistic systematics.

Yeah, really. 

What the fuck am I even watching

 

Most crazy Eurovision song, nay, pop song like ever? Come and meet Subwoolfer and "Give that wolf a banana". Any relation to a certain henge? 

Coming soon to a Baltic island near you

 

It´s happening as we speak, fam... 

The grizzly toll of capitalism

 

I just can´t help share this with my audience. From Twitter. With apologies to Emil O W Kirkegaard.

Tantra and anti-capitalism

 

An Ananda Marga supporter lectures about Tantra and capitalism. Or rather anti-capitalism, in this case.

Ananda Marga is a controversial "New Religious Movement" from India, often accused of being a terroristic sect or cult. It has a "leftist" political perspective, and an ideology called PROUT, which sounds like a version of cooperative libertarian socialism (I haven´t studied it in-depth, though). Ananda Marga criticizes both capitalism and Soviet-style socialism.

I´m not a big fan of this particular group, but having nothing else to do at 2AM in the morning, Swedish local time, I might as well link to this clip, as part of my never-ending series of blog posts about Tantrism (both right hand path, left hand path and now left *wing* path).

Namaskar! 

Ananda Marga...again!

 

A short history of Ananda Marga, from the perspective of Ananda Marga themselves. 

It doesn´t mention the Hilton bombing in Australia and other acts of terrorism attributed to this controversial neo-Hindu movement. Instead, the monk claims that Ananda Marga were persecuted by the Communists in West Bengal and the corrupted government of Indira Gandhi. (The one obviously doesn´t contradict the other.) 

He also mentions the "socialist" message of Ananda Marga (known as PROUT), and even one of their secretive Tantric rituals, which he calls "Kapalik meditation"! Yes, it´s performed at night at a graveyard "to combat fear". (Interesting perspective.)

Linx don´t imply endorsement, guys.  

The absurdity creates a contradiction

 

Since Putin didn´t say anything important in his Victory Day speech, I watched the above instead. Secret atheist avenger Logicked schools VenomFangX on logic and the nature of Reality. Quite good speech, actually. 

Better than Putin´s, at any rate. 

Seger i förskott?

Segerdagen whatever whenever, bla bla bla, Putin bla bla, whatever. Ska kanske inte lyssna på "experterna" i fortsättningen...

KPS-lajvare?

 

En bild från första maj någonstans. Vad står det på banderollen? Står det faktiskt "Återupprätta ett kommunistiskt parti i Set Perssons anda"? Är detta något slags KPS-lajvare eller vad???

Wiccan refugees

 

Thomas Sheridan looks good today, despite talking about the crisis of modern paganism. The crisis has three aspects. First, "catlady pagans" or LARP-ing cosplay pagans. Sheridan believes that many of them are ex-JWs (sic) and/or "Wiccan refugees". He never liked Wicca, and believes that Gardner and Crowley created the Wiccan pseudo-religion to keep the idiots away from *real* magic and occultism, a scheme that no longer works in the age of the Internet. Ex-Wiccans have now invaded the real pagan milieu and turned it into a virtual LARP-fest. 

The second problem is taking the pagan gods literally, which is especially problematic in northern European paganism, since much of the textual material was written by Christians. Sheridan believes that the "gods" are really archetypal forces and energy patterns in the cosmos. 

The third crisis is political correctness. While Sheridan claims to be apolitical, he is certainly not a leftist progressive. I would place him broadly into the Alt Right/libertarian camp. To Sheridan, paganism was a realistic worldview, which accepted the darker sides of reality, including war. Not like the hypocritical Christians, who talked about turning the other cheek, and then went to war anyway! His perspective is also "tribal" rather than "inclusive" or universalist. What are politicians, American Indian pseudo-shamans or LGBTQ activists doing at Beltane celebrations? Sheridan also polemicizes against those who believe that the pagan milieu is teeming with racists. 

All in all, a rather interesting contribution from a man whose content is usually *much* more extreme than this! 

The ultimate YouTube atheist?

 

So I´ve checked some atheist YouTube channels...

It seems YouTube atheists are obsessed with claiming that atheism is "merely" about "a lack of belief", and they define the term so broadly that even "religious atheists" can exist. 

By this redefinition of the word, the crazy cult leader Osho, linked to above, is an atheist. Indeed, he seems to be the ultimate YouTube atheist! Or "would have been", since the man is...I don´t know...atheistically undead somehow?

But of course, nobody IRL would use the term "atheist" in this manner. Osho is universally seen as a *religious* cultist wackjob. You can of course define words any way you like, but something tells me New, New New or Double Plus New New atheists don´t want to be associated with the man previosuly known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh...

Ironically, the way most people use the term "atheism" fits the YouTube atheists themselves pretty damn well: actively anti-religious/anti-spiritual nerds who base their active non-belief in anything supernatural or paranormal on science and/or naturalism (materialism). Did I mention the nerd aspect? They are a kind of identitarian atheists. 

So what on earth is the prob?

Jag är skeptisk

Rätt roligt att Aftonbladet kallar Sinn Fein för "Londonskeptiker" på startsidan. 

Överlag säger nyhetsrapporteringen nästan ingenting om att det faktiskt är en nationell och religiös konflikt mellan två distinkta folkgrupper. Istället framställs Nordirlandkonflikten som en vanlig partipolitisk konflikt á la Brexit.

Londonskeptiker? LOL. Fast det kanske är partiets eget fel? Dagens Sinn Fein kanske är helt jävla gay...

Landsförrädare

En recension av en memoarbok skriven av Fredrik Reinfeldts talskrivare (hon med "öppna hjärtan"-talet). En bok jag med stor sannolikhet aldrig tänker läsa.  

"Lätt att tycka illa om Reinfeldts förra talskrivare"

From Pyatigorsk with love

 

There have been a number of very strange splinter groups from the ISKCON (Hare Krishna movement) in Eastern Europe. 

Here is another one, apparently from Pyatigorsk in Russia (Pyatigorsk is a resort town in the Caucasus). The members look either completely brainwashed or very, very awkward, as if they *really* don´t want to be at the kirtan, satsang, or whatever this crazy disco is supposed to be. 

Yes, disco. Hare Krishna disco. 

From a YouTube channel that contains a lot of short clips attacking cults in general and the ISKCON-ite milieu in particular.  

The fash aesthetic

 

Gotta love the fash-Communist aesthetic on this one, but the slogans are pretty damn bland... 

Twitter: Fascist agents of Trotskyist Titoism?

 

So much good content on Twitter these days, I should have joined sooner! 

En multipolär värld

 

Ovanstående är saxat från Aftonbladet. Det mest anmärkningsvärda är att påstått "västvänliga" (och relativt viktiga) länder som Saudi-Arabien, Förenade Arabemiraten, Brasilien och Indien de facto inte vill följa USA:s linje. Ett annat stort problem för västvärlden är givetvis att Kina inte vill göra det. Det är ett problem eftersom den kinesiska ekonomin är så sammanflätad med den västerländska. 

Det är alltså inte riktigt som under kalla kriget. Då fanns det också två stormaktsblock, men USA hade betydligt bättre kontroll på sina allierade...

Observera dock att Ryssland strängt taget inte har ett helt enat stormaktsblock heller. De flesta stater som "borde" stödja Ryssland har valt "vänta och se". Inget av blocken är alltså särskilt starkt...

Det betyder antagligen att varken USA eller Ryssland kan bli globala hegemoner, inte ens om en av dem besegrar den andre i Ukraina. 

Fördel Kina?