03.21.08

Interview with Fred Kaplan, author of Daydream Believers

Posted in Uncategorized at 8:02 pm by jamesrfrench

Plenty of books have beaten up on the Bush administration’s military and diplomatic strategies. But Fred Kaplan’s Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power may be the most broad-based assault yet. In it, Kaplan hammers on everything from the White House’s faith in military technological superiority to its holier-than-thou approach to negotiating (or not). Kaplan, who writes Slate’s “War Stories” column, also explores the roots of many of these beliefs. And that’s where we start this Q&A — this first of many, I hope, with leading authors on national security.

03.14.08

Remains of 17th Century Witchcraft in Cornish Pits

Posted in Uncategorized at 8:08 pm by jamesrfrench

Evidence of pagan rituals involving swans and other birds in the Cornish countryside in the 17th century has been uncovered by archaeologists.

Since 2003, 35 pits at the site in a valley near Truro have been excavated containing swan pelts, dead magpies, unhatched eggs, quartz pebbles, human hair, fingernails and part of an iron cauldron.

03.13.08

An outsider’s experience of the Gnostic Mass

Posted in Uncategorized at 7:47 pm by jamesrfrench

Anyone familiar with the Catholic Mass will notice similarities. The Gnostic symbolism, however, leans more toward taboo than tradition.

It’s interesting to see the Gnostic Mass reported on as part of a “survey of local churches” type of series. I do get the feeling that the Mass in question was “barbaric,” with the priestess remaining clothed throughout. The reporter doesn’t mention a naked priestess, and the description of the space makes it sound as if it is partially outdoors.