Strange Angel

Strange Angel

29. Let her be dedicated, consecrated, blood to blood, heart to heart, mind to mind, single in will, none without the circle, all to me.

30. And she shall wander in the witchwood under the Night of Pan, and know the mysteries of the Goat and the Serpent, and of the children that are hidden away.

—Jack Parsons, Liber 49, 1946

Over the past decade, there has been renewed interest in the bizarre story of Jack Parsons, the mad rocket scientist, and his occult workings in the desert of California. Parsons, a pioneer of rocketry and a disciple of Aleister Crowley, was convinced that the sexual rituals he was performing would give birth to a Moonchild -- an elemental being. Parsons "Babalon Working," though ignored by conventional historians, was a pivotal episode in modern occultism -- the mystical and synchronistic shadow of the explosion that heralded the atomic age.

But the debate over the efficacy of ritual magick -- whether it's just kooky, fantasy-prone mumbo-jumbo or whether it really works -- is a contentious one. Parsons' best friend, fellow rocketeer Ed Forman (above right), was initially skeptical of Jack's odd hobby. He played along to be polite, it seems, until he had an experience that shattered his skepticism and left him forever changed.

From George Pendle's excellent book, Strange Angel: The Otherworldly LIfe of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons:

Parsons was now forgoing his OTO colleagues and enacting rituals with his old friend, Ed Forman. Despite his doubts about the reality of Crowley's magick, Forman was always willing to help out with what he saw as Parsons' hobby . . . "They thought, 'Let's work on the heavier stuff at the end of the magic book without doing any of the simpler stuff," remembers Forman's wife, Jeanne. "They were tinkering with magic spells as they had with their rockets."

On one such occasion their frivolousness had such a dramatic and unsettling psychological effect on Ed Forman that his family still discusses this story to this day. It seems that Forman was returning to his bedroom late one night following the performance of a ritual, when he felt the whole house shake. At the same time he heard a piercing scream coming from outside his window and looking out of it, he would recall, he saw a number of horrible entities floating outside his window, what he recognized as banshees -- female spirits whose wailing warns of a death in the house. with the sound of their screams filling his ears he rushed downstairs to ask the other members of the house if they, too, could hear it, but nobody could. "Up until then he had not believed in Jack's hobby," remembered Jeanne. "Now he was absolutely terrified." The events of that night would unsettle Forrman for the rest of his life.

Related links:

Attempted Manipulation of UFO manifestations (with further links to Parsons, Crowley, Hubbard, and LAM)

Jack Parsons Wikipedia Entry

Disinformation: Anti-Christ Superstar

And two excellent books:

Strange Angel: The Otherwordly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons

Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons

[via: professor pan]

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NEW BILL COULD DEFINE ANTI-WAR PROTESTORS AS ENEMY COMBATANTS

Attorneys for the Center for Constitutional Rights claim that what appears to be the final version of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 could allow the government to detain the attorneys themselves as 'enemy combatants.' CCR Legal Director Bill Goodman said: "This bill makes a mockery of the rule of law."

The current version of the Military Commissions redefines an "unlawful enemy combatant" so broadly that it could include anyone who organizes a march against the war in Iraq."

link - [via]

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From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism

Deerskin jackets and potter’s wheels, geodesic domes and star charts, instructions on raising bees and on repairing Volkswagens, advice on building furniture and cultivating marijuana: all this can be found here, along with celebrations of communal life and swipes at big government, big business and a technocratic society.

Can this encyclopedia (Last Whole Earth Catalog) of countercultural romance have anything to do with today’s technological world, a world of broadband connections, TCP/IP protocol and the Internet?

How could the romantic, utopian culture of the 1960’s, with its deep suspicions about modernity and its machinery, be closely linked to one of the most important technological revolutions of the last hundred years?

link
login: bozetta
password: rednose

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Richard Brautigan's Please Plant This Book (1968) is a sweet little book with 8 poems inside 8 packets of garden seeds. I don't think you can buy it anyplace unless it's from a private collector now.

Although he died in 1984, he is still very much a celebrated cult figure today. Sure would be nice to find one in decent condition.

link

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HYPERSPATIAL MAPS

MESCALYSERGIC VISIONS
(Vol. VII, No.1)

"I read that LSD and mescaline could be combined to yield a trip that was longer-lasting and smoother than either alone."

As it turned out, his experiment yielded him a shiny octopus-like creature that was loving and gentle. Makes sense to me now to have the vibrancy of the acid with the loving feelgood of the mescaline, although I never thought to combine the two before.

Floating in the corner of my room was an enormous, shimmering, translucent, opalescent, octopod/jellyfish-like creature from which the tentacles protruded! My initial reaction was one of disbelief, mixed with a substantial degree of fear. However, the thing immediately began to caress me with its tendrils--as if to reassure me, and my apprehension completely melted away. Amazingly, I actually perceived a gentle, soothing pressure against my skin as it caressed me like a child! As it touched me I felt its consciousness partially merge with mine, and I was then flooded with a sense of love unlike I have ever experienced before, or even imagined to be possible.

Thanks to Page 2 in the free issue Entheogen Review. (PDF file)

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In her new book, A Photographer's Life, Annie Leibovitz, our most famous photographer, places celebs side by side with surprisingly personal images of love and loss. An exclusive.

Sitting in her Greenwich Village office, wearing jeans and sneakers, Leibovitz explains how Sontag's death in December 2004—followed only weeks later by the death of Leibovitz's father—propelled her to make this book. "It totally came out of a moment," she says. "I had already done some looking at photographs of Susan—that was very hard—for a little memorial book. I had never taken the time to see what I had, really." She would weep and pin the pictures up on the long walls of an old barn at her country place in upstate New York. "And then, I got very excited, trying to look from 1990 to 2005, as if Susan was standing behind me." Leibovitz tears up and reaches for a box of tissues.

Photographer Annie Liebovitz does Newsweek, and shoots her own cover. What may be the most controversial aspect of Leibovitz's book is the intimate pictures from her relationship with Susan Sontag, and particularly the painful images of the writer when she was seriously ill with cancer. Don't miss the photos, especially the one she took the day after Sontag died. Just a very tender and beautiful piece.

link

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Asheville-based non-profit, Kleiwerks International, is hosting an exciting one-night fundraiser with Starhawk, author, activist, and one of the most respected voices in modern earth-based spirituality. At this critical juncture in Asheville 's growth, our community is fortunate to have this rare opportunity for hundreds of us to gather, envisioning and activating our city's future.

Visioning Asheville’s Future with Starhawk & Janell Kapoor of Kleiwerks International. Join 200-300 local visionaries/actionaries for a slideshow presentation, guided visioning, interactive discussion, raffle/auction, and catered snacks.

Date: Monday September 25th, 2006--TONIGHT!
Time: 6pm-10pm
Location: Jubilee! 46 Wall Street - Downtown Asheville
Information: Call Janell at 828.279.1955 or email janell@kleiwerks.org

Affiliated with Asheville's Earthaven Ecovillage and others.

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Latest Pharma-Scam?

Are people really buying into the Restless Leg Syndrome? I find it one of the most bogus campaigns I've ever witnessed.

If I was a corrupt pharmaceutical company, I'd brainstorm with my minions to find some chronic faux illness we could make millions of dollars from. Maybe I'd put up some wild illnesses on a spinning wheel and throw darts to decide on the next one. "Hey, what about 'Restless Leg Syndrome'? That should bring 'em in in droves!"

Some doctors claim the condition, also labeled *Ekbom's syndrome*, has been concocted or at least exaggerated to help sell drugs.

"I am not saying some people do not experience pain and restless legs but claims on the website that it is a widespread and serious condition are disproportionate."
link

If you're considering getting treatment for RLS, please research it thoroughly. If you're currently being treated for RLS, the pharma-cowboys have already sheered you and put your fluffy ass out to pasture.


*UPDATE: There seem to be two forms of Ekbom's. Ekbom's Syndrome is delusional parasitosis is a form of psychosis in which sufferers hold a delusional belief they are infested with parasites. It is usually diagnosed as a subtype of delusional disorder and was named after a Swedish neurologist, Karl Axel Ekbom, who published seminal accounts of the disease in 1937 and 1938. It is not to be confused with Wittmaack-Ekbom syndrome (restless legs syndrome). via - thanks, jh!

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Bas Jan Ader - an intriguing conceptual artist whose last act was performed at sea.

From the Mediated website:

"Yesterday in Rotterdam I visited the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, which is quite an interesting spot. Of note was a retrospective of conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader, who disappeared in 1975 while doing a solo sailboat journey across the Atlantic, as part of his “In Search of the Mysterious” project. At the show there were a number of short films, some photographs (often of similar scenes from the films) as well as other odds and ends. The photo above is titled “I’m too sad to tell you” and was created as a postcard in 1970."

"Apparently there’s quite a cult interest in Ader, and I found the work strangely affecting. Here’s an Artforum article on Ader from 1999."

Mediated » Bas Jan Ader

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Most of us were quickly bored with the UN kerfuffles, but the other game in town had outstanding success. I'm referring to the Clinton Global Initiative.

I've read their weblog off and on today and I don't mind saying that it made me weep with joy. What they were able to accomplish this past week in unprecedented. Sadly, the only news being fed to us from there has bordered on salacious when it was reported correctly that Barbra Streisand networked with Rupert Murdoch, and Bill Clinton greeted Laura Bush.

Anyway, if you think there's no good news in the world, these final reports from the Clinton Global Initiative will delight you.

"The final session begins a little after 11 on Friday morning. All of the conference-goers stream begin milling and buzzing around the Metropolitan Ballroom. It's quite crowded. Yes, everybody is here. But wait! There is one person who is not here, and suddenly at 11:20, we realize who he is when a huge disembodied voice begins to speak to the throng. Suddenly, on huge overhead monitors, he is everywhere. Madiba! Yes, there is Nelson Mandela, seated, looking very relaxed in an African shirt, and speaking about how much the conference means to him. It's not a short message either -- he goes on for a few minutes, showing both his advanced age (88) and the force that still clearly drives him. At the end of his message, he introduces Bill Clinton, and the crowd rises as one. I believe I hear trumpets at this point, but Your Blogger hasn't been sleeping very much."

"Clinton begins with the news we've all been waiting for -- the final tally. Over the past 60 hours or so, CGI has raised 7.3 billion dollars. That is more than the GDP of about 70 nations, between #110 Nepal ($7.516 B)and #111 Paraguay ($7.247 B)."

Not too shabby.

Clinton Global Initiative weblog

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AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

Sept. 23, 2006, 12:03 A.M. EDT

Mabon, or Autumnal Equinox is being celebrated soon. The Wiccan calendar contains 13 full moons (Esbats) and 8 Sabbats, or days of power, making 21 Wiccan ritual occasions. The Esbats are for celebrating the Goddess. The Sabbats mark the sun's yearly cycle and tell the story of The Wheel of the Year. On this day, the length of night time is equal to the length of daytime.

The full moon associated with the fall equinox is known as the Wine Moon.

THE RITUALS
This is the second harvest Sabbat. The Goddess is entering into cronehood, and the dark of the year is beginning, so this is a time often associated with mysterious lore and wisdom. The altar and circle should be decorated with autumn leaves, gourds, berries, pine and cypress cones, acorns, oak sprigs and other fruits of the season. [More...]

Blessed be this season of Mabon, time of the second harvest, the harvest of fruit and wine.
Tonight all things are in balance: Goddess and God, Life and Death, Light and Dark.
Tonight the darkness will conquer the light, leading us deeper into the waning year. [More...]

** World Unity Celebrations and Global Sunrise Meditations - Wake up and tune in as We Unify the World as One with Our Love this Equinox! link

Either through your religious affiliation or just as a member of the human race, I'd like to hear what you do to celebrate this event.

Blessed Mabon

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The Dreamers Book of the Dead
by Robert Moss

EXCERPTS:
In most dreams, the departed appear to be living, and very often the dreamer is unaware that the person he or she encounters is "dead" until after waking. The reason is that the departed are indeed alive, though no longer in the physical realm.

The departed may appear as the dreamer remembers them from their last days of physical life, especially in the first dream encounters. But over time, it is quite common for the departed to alter their appearance, to shrug off signs of age and bodily ailments, and to present themselves as healthy and attractive. People who died in later years frequently reappear looking around 30 years old.

Robert Moss website

I just ran across this book and thought it was something some of the EBC readers and I might like to read.

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I'll bet Bush wishes he'd spoken with Ahmadinejad in private now. He didn't come off as the bloodsucker the adminstration would have you believe.

If you didn't know who was addressing those reporters in the UN assembly this morning, you might think it was just another world leader speaking about peace and humanity and going so far as to say that his country was concerned about the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

He also stated that the IAEA is welcome to inspect their nuclear technology.

"We have not hidden anything from anyone. You're welcome to come visit anytime. School children, educators take tours of the facilities. The time for nuclear bombs have ended.

Heavy duty.


And now we see Hugo Chavez today unveiling another Oil for the Poor program. This one-two punch from Bush's enemies is providing grist for the neocon fodder. Too bad Kim Jong-il didn't get to make the trip.

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Update on Perry Farrell - from Jamie O'Shea @ Supertouch

Caught up with musical mastermind Perry Farrell in a Santa Monica studio today for a first listen to his newest musical project, Satellite Party. With shredding guitarist Nuno Bettencourt at his side and guest appearances from Dr Hook, John Frusciante, Flea, and a shocking surprise guest, the new songs sound mature & futuristic.

See more great photos along with the rest of the article at the website.

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New York Protests

SDS New York marched to the United Nations on Tuesday, September 19th, 2006 to protest the presence of George W. Bush in New York City. Bush, whom the SDSers regard as a war criminal, was in New York to "try to sell the world community a bill of goods - a handful of irrational, unbelievable, excuses for acts of barbarism in Iraq and elsewhere - committed in the name of the people of the United States", said Lauren Giaccone of Pace (University) SDS. John Cronan, also from Pace SDS, said: "we are also sending a message to the anti-war movement - it is time that the students' voice be heard as we are the group that is most directly affected by Bush's murderous policies".

link

SDS Pace was the first chapter within SDS New York to endorse the "Number The Dead" protest - held on September 17th, 2006 on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. They were followed by MDS New York. Members of New School, Pratt and UCF SDS. The goal was to have 2700 participants stand along the east side of Fifth Avenue - in a human chain extending from 8th Street to 98th Street.

Yoko Ono donated 3000 buttons that stated: "Imagine Peace" - these were distributed to participants by the organizers. At the event, each participant held a placard that contained the name of a dead US soldier or stated "11,000 Iraqis". A documentary film crew videotaped the vigil. More photos by Fred Askew

Tuesday - September 19, 2006 - 17 Arrested at UN Rally

So exhilarating to see the students pick up the torch as they organize their SDS chapters and take it to the streets.

link

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Banksy Got Banksied

"This is so genius I kind of can't believe more people didn't do something like this this weekend."


“Los Angeles artist Jeff Gillette ‘banksied’ Banksy this weekend by sneaking in and installing his 11×14 painting Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass with with Taliban, Burkhas, RPG’s and McDonalds taken out. Apparently Gillette made it through security with ease and installed it in the back room. It was only up for 15 minutes.”

link

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Halliburton to Wounded Employee: You'll Get a Medal -- If You Don't Sue

Ray Stannard was a truck driver in Iraq for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. In 2003, he was part of a fuel convoy that was ambushed by insurgents. Seven Americans died in the attack and 26 were injured, including Stanner. He is suing the company.

His company knew the convoy's route was dangerous and unprotected, he says, but sent the convoy through anyway. "What they did was murder," Stannard told CBS News recently. "And I stick by that."

The circumstances of his injuries qualified Stanner for the U.S. Defense of Freedom medal, the civilian equivalent to a soldier's Purple Heart. In offering to forward Stanner's medical records to the Department of Defense so they could confirm and appove his award, KBR required him to sign a release form.

The release would absolve him from filing any type of lawsuit against the firm.

The sleeze factor is alive and well in the Halliburton family.

link

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Movie & TV deals for Little Britain

Little Britain stars David Walliams and Matt Lucas have revealed plans for a film version of their hit BBC show and also might do something for TV out ther.

The comedy duo have signed a deal with Pop Idol producer Simon Fuller to develop a US version of Little Britain for the American cable network HBO.

The pair are also developing a spin-off series for the BBC based around their popular characters Lou and Andy.

Great. Can't get enough of Little Britain. See some of their characters here.

link

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Rickie Lee and two members of the Squirrel Nut Zippers (Tom Maxwell and Ken Mosher) have written a witty, incisive and extremely relevant song called "Have You Had Enough?", in response to these troubled times. Addressing the crookedness of the Bush Administration, and the tremendous and lasting damage they have wrought on our civil liberties, our environment, our foreign relations, our quality of life and on and on, "Have You Had Enough?" is a song that means a great deal to Rickie and is one that she wants to share with anyone who it speaks to.

To that end, this song is available for FREE, downloadable from Rickie's MySpace page. Please feel free to share it with everyone and anyone you know...

Find it here:
www.myspace.com/dutchessofcoolsville

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Ten Reasons We Already Miss Ann Richards

Ann Richards, the famously silver-tongued and silver-haired former governor of Texas, died Wednesday from complications of esophageal cancer. She was 73. Here's just some of what we'll remember and miss about her:

1. Richards used her wit not only to disarm her political opponents but to encourage other women to get into politics: "Let me tell you, sisters, seeing dried egg on a plate in the morning is a lot dirtier than anything I've had to deal with in politics," she said.

2. As a homemaker raising four kids, Richards became politically involved by volunteering on campaigns, including helping elect Sarah Weddington, the 25-year-old lawyer who had successfully argued Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court, to the Texas House. Richards called Weddington the first "out-and-out feminist activist" she'd ever met, according to the Washington Post.

3. Two years after undergoing rehab for alcoholism in 1982, Richards was elected state treasurer, making her the first woman elected to a statewide post in Texas in 50 years. Of her return from addiction, she said: "I believe in recovery, and I believe that as a role model I have the responsibility to let young people know that you can make a mistake and come back from it."

4. When Richards gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 1988 -- where she zinged the elder George Bush -- "Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth" -- she also reminded the audience that she was only the second woman to give the keynote address at the convention in 160 years. The first was Barbara Jordan.

Continued in the Comments.

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Keith Olbermann: This Hole in the Ground

"How dare you, Mr. President, after taking cynical advantage of the unanimity and love, and transmuting it into fraudulent war and needless death, after monstrously transforming it into fear and suspicion and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three elections? How dare you - or those around you - ever 'spin' 9/11? Just as the terrorists have succeeded - are still succeeding - as long as there is no memorial and no construction here at Ground Zero. So, too, have they succeeded, and are still succeeding as long as this government uses 9/11 as a wedge to pit Americans against Americans." [READ MORE...]

Profound piece. This former sportscaster cum newscaster increasingly gains respect for speaking out against the Bush administration's neverending clusterfuck in a very concise and controlled manor.

link

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World Unity Sunrise Meditation - Equinox Sept 23rd. Unifying the World as One in Peace with Our Love!

The Global Sunrise Meditations are intended to create flowing moments of silent prayer for peace in the world. Every equinox and solstice all participants focus their minds, 10 minutes before the sunrise and 10 minutes after, on a world unified through unconditional love, to heal oursleves and the planet. Believe in our power!

Find an event or someone in your area through our network links. There are many events paralleling this one and you may have one locally that you can attend. For example, San Francisco's having a LoveFest. Build up to the Year of World Awakening 2012...

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality... to change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. Buckminster Fuller

link

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'He created his own universe and became its star'

Director David Cronenberg explains the debt he owes to Andy Warhol's bizarre and chillingly prophetic work

Empire is the classic. It was outrageous - yet somehow it worked. An eight-hour shot of the Empire State Building, it was high concept, not in the Hollywood sense, but the art sense. It's got potency, resonance. Andy even said the Empire State Building was a star. It's so New York, which was the centre of the artistic universe at the time, the 1960s. That's why I decided to begin the Andy Warhol show I am curating with Empire.

Andy Warhol Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters, 1962-64, curated by David Cronenberg, is at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada, until October 22. Details: 001 416 979 6648 or Ago.net.

Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts features | David Cronenberg: on Andy Warhol

Is there anyone who could film something similar to an eight-hour shot of the Empire State Building and present it as art today? Probably not.

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9/11 Press For Truth

9.11 Press For Truth

Following the attacks of September 11th, a small group of grieving families waged a tenacious battle against those who sought to bury the truth about the event—including, to their amazement, President Bush. In ‘9/11 PRESS FOR TRUTH’, six of them, including three of the famous “Jersey Girls”, tell for the first time the powerful story of how they took on the greatest powers in Washington—and won!—compelling an investigation, only to subsequently watch the 9/11 Commission fail in answering most of their questions.

See AlterNet story

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UntitledCaoimhe Butterly interupts Tony Blair Press Conf in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- An angry protester accusing Tony Blair of complicity in the recent Israeli bombardment of Lebanon disrupted a news conference and thousands more shouted outside Monday as the British prime minister visited Beirut in a show of support for the devastated nation's government.

"This visit is an insult," the woman shouted as Blair and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora spoke at Saniora's office complex. "Shame on you Tony Blair."

She held a banner that said "Boycott Israeli apartheid" in front of live TV cameras until security guards holding her by her arms and legs carried her out. The two leaders stood quietly as she shouted.

The "woman" is peace advocate Caoimhe Butterly and she's very well respected around the globe for her unwavering fight against the war machine. Read more about her at Wikipedia.

BBC: Caoimhe Butterly interupts Tony Blair Press Conf in Lebanon - Indymedia Ireland

technorati tags:protest, antiwar

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may i feel said he


may i feel said he
(i'll squeal said she
just once said he)
it's fun said she


(may i touch said he
how much said she
a lot said he)
why not said she


(let's go said he
not too far said she
what's too far said he
where you are said she)


may i stay said he
(which way said she
like this said he
if you kiss said she


may i move said he
is it love said she)
if you're willing said he
(but you're killing said she


but it's life said he
but your wife said she
now said he)
ow said she


(tiptop said he
don't stop said she
oh no said he)
go slow said she


(cccome?said he
ummm said she)
you're divine!said he
(you are Mine said she)

--e e cummings

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Send an email to ABC

On September 10 and 11, ABC Television is planning to run an inaccurate film depicting the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks. The film was written by an avowed conservative and it largely places the blame for failing to prevent the attacks on the Clinton administration while whitewashing the failures of the Bush administration.

Our review of the film shows it to be full of such inaccuracies. Its distorted version of history is inconsistent with the 9/11 Commission Report, upon which it claims to be based. The events leading up to September 11, 2001 are too important and too tragic to play politics with the facts.

link

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What are we to make of the recent facts that

1) a video shows Bin Laden talking to the 9/11 hijackers and

2) Pakistan has admitted safe harbor for him?

What do we take from these two news items? Questions. All I've got is questions.

I can't help but feel the possible coordinated reveal of these two items may be greater than the sum of their parts.

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My Random Ten Songs

The Oldies Playlist

1. Dirty Water - The Standells
2. Trains - Porcupine Tree
3. Visions of Johanna - Bob Dylan
4. Stop - Mike Bloomfield/Al Kooper/Steve Stills
5. Have You Seen Your Mother - Rolling Stones
6. Rock My Plimsoul - Jeff Beck
7. Gov't Mule - Wandering Child
8. Doctor Oh Doctor - Electric Flag
9. Waiting For the Wind - Spooky Tooth
10. Dissolution - Ozric Tentacles

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Harlequina on Flickr

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Hard to pick a favorite Snailbooty.



The creations of Snailbooty are like fantastic childhood dreams, creepily suggestive, often nightmarish, grotesque amalgamations of memorable toys and half-forgotten figurines and characters, set against bizarre and strangely evocative scenery.

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Last week the man who gave us "stuff happens" and “you go to war with the Army you have" outdid himself. In an instantly infamous address to the American Legion, he likened critics of the Iraq debacle to those who "ridiculed or ignored" the rise of the Nazis in the 1930’s and tried to appease Hitler. Such Americans, he said, suffer from a "moral or intellectual confusion" and fail to recognize the "new type of fascism" represented by terrorists.

Mother Jones sez:
The whole (Frank Rich) column is brilliant, and should be read by as many people as possible. So screw Times Select.

Thank you Mother Jones, for posting the 'paid subscription only' column. Go read Donald Rumsfeld’s Dance With the Nazis - By FRANK RICH in it's entirety.

HuffPo, can we put you down for Wednesdays?

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Iraqi armed forces have arrested the (cough, cough) No. 2 leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the country's national security leader said Sunday. link

Oh, yeah? I know what you're thinking. Just how many number 2s are there in al-Qaeda, anyway?

You may also wonder why there are no No 3s in al-Qaeda. A potential #3 could join up with any old gang and rate a number 2 promotion. So the decision was made to use 2000 right hand dudes or No 2s. Al-Quaeda tried to keep it on the down-low but with the media always blaring out "No 2 guy killed today!", it's increasing harder to explain to the A-Q guys.

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Occult Classic

The thematic daring and genre-bending perversity of the original Wicker Man by Graham Fuller. Whatever the fate of Neil LaBute's Yank remake of The Wicker Man—which Warner Bros. is releasing this Friday (without advance press screenings) —it's unlikely to generate the enduring passion and rancor inspired by the 1973 occult classic.

Other British films, such as Peeping Tom, The Devils, Straw Dogs, and A Clockwork Orange, steeped in violence and sexual sadism, have been more controversial; Get Carter, lionized by the '90s lad fad, has similarly gained in retrospective glory.

But The Wicker Man's genre-bending, thematic daring, and tortuous history have made it the U.K.'s definitive cult movie. Equally admired by witchcraft geeks and cineastes, though critically neglected, it has spawned two books, three documentaries, websites, and fan conventions.

village voice > film > by Graham Fuller

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Channel 4 was criticised last night over a "docudrama" that shows George W Bush becoming the fifth President of the United States to die at the hands of an assassin.

President Bush, his head superimposed on to an actor’s by computer-generated imagery, being assassinated by a sniper in the Channel 4 drama, Death of a President.

The channel's programme, Death of a President, looks back on the events of October 2007, when America has become even further polarised by the President's policies and the War on Terror.

Leaving a hotel in Chicago after speaking to a meeting of business leaders, President Bush is confronted by anti-war demonstrators and in the confusion is gunned down by a sniper.

The resulting hysteria is inflamed when it emerges that the chief suspect, Jamal Abu Zikri, was born in Syria.

link

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