Painters, writers, and simple bohemians of the 19th century used Absinthe, often to extremes. In “Absinthe’s Mind-Altering Mystery Solved” the writer attribute Absinthe’s wondrous creative and degenerative affects to alcohol.
The century-old absinthe contained about 70 percent alcohol, giving it a 140-proof kick. In comparison, most gins, vodkas and whiskeys are just 80- to 100-proof.
Could that be true? Did E. A. Poe’s absinthe deluded dreams come only from ethanol? What about Van Gogh, Baudelaire, and Verlaine? Is their art attributable only to their raw talent coupled with  140-proof Muse?
Anyone writing about the 19th century will run across absinthe laden tales. Thujone, the active ingredient in Wormwood, or Artemesia absinthium, is said to have marvelous qualities, though none appear, as far as I can find, scientifically validated. From my point of view, it is better to find period claims of the effects of absinthe and duplicate them in writing. Though they may not be scientifically validated, it is just possible that imbibers of Absinthe believed in their 140-proof muse and opened their minds through the power of that belief alone.
Been in Mexico. A beautiful place, I can tell you. Violent and scary, but beautiful. But I confess that I am behind the times, so it is past time for another Political Roundup…
The Right Wing Media through the mouth of Politico is once again expressing its dismay with GOP fears Pelosi power grab on Iraq. The heading should have been “GOP whinesover Pelosi use of Congressional power to oppose the President’s unconstitutional demands,” but no one calls such things for what they really are.
Republicans are howling over what appears to be Nancy Pelosi’s plan to bypass the House Appropriations Committee on the upcoming Iraq war supplemental, complaining that the move will be the beginning of the end of the usual appropriations process and will further consolidate power in the hands of a speaker who already has a lot of it.
The Republicans are complaining about Pelosi having too much power. When they controled the house they were willing to threaten other members on the House floor, as they did with Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich., like gangsters kneecapping a debtor. Whining is whining. Republicans lost power because they failed to do their jobs, and now they want to whine about it. If they want to get back in power, they should quit whining and do the job they were elected to do.
A new study by the Pew Research Study shows that viewers of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report have the highest knowledge of national and international affairs, while Fox News viewers rank nearly dead last:
I’m not surprised that FOX news doesn’t inform its viewers. The purpose, after-all, of propaganda is not to inform but to control.
Of course, if you want to talk about Politics and the news, you have to talk about Iraq. The good news about Iraq is…Oh hell! There ain’t no good news. Bush is lying and Americans are dieing.Why is it that we have to go to the BBC about such news? The Right Wing Media in American simply does not want Americans to know all of that good news.
US troops killed in Iraq clashes
Four US soldiers have been killed in two separate mortar or rocket attacks in Baghdad, the latest casualties of fierce clashes with Shia militia.
At least 38 Shia militia fighters have also been killed in the past two days of fighting, the US military has said.
Though if you want all the Good News that the Right Wing Media refuses to print you have to go somewhere like McClatchy.
The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers Special Correspondents in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It’s posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy’s Washington Bureau.
Baghdad
- Around 11 pm Sunday, 4 mortar shells hit the Green Zone (IZ) in central Baghdad. No casualties reported.
- Around midnight, 3 mortars hit the intelligence headquarters in Baladiyat neighborhood (east Baghdad). No casualties reported.
- Around 3 am, three mortar shells hit Mamil neighborhood. Five people were injured in that incident.
(Read the story for the incomplete list.)
Looks like Afghanistan continues in a death spiral. Sunday, the Taliban made a well orchestrated attack on Hamid Karzai.
Karzai assassination attempt shakes Afghanistan
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — The attempted assassination Sunday of President Hamid Karzai deepened fears that Islamic militants remain able to penetrate the defenses of security forces here despite a boost in international and Afghan troop strength.
Karzai escaped unhurt after gunfire erupted at a public ceremony attended by him and a number of local and foreign dignitaries, including the U.S. ambassador, who also was unharmed. But the brazen attack, mounted from fairly close range, has raised questions about the effectiveness of measures to beef up security in this troubled capital before an expected “spring offensive” by the Taliban insurgency.
Why is it that President Bush is incapable of doing anything right. It took around 4,000 US troops and the Northern Alliance when we broke the Taliban in 2001, we now have 31,000+ American fighting men and there is no end in site.
And, of course, there is the GOP is incensed that Democrats would dare use McCain’s own words.
How dare they accept John McCain at his word. He says 100 years. We should believe that this is what he wants.
I’m back, and Mexico was great.
Of course, I did not enjoy the full sensory experience. Pessach in Mexico lacks one of the most basic experiences, the food. Because we arrive 2 days before the first day of Pessach, the experience was not entirely lacking. We remained one day after its finish, and enjoyed something of the Ciudad de Mexico style of food. But this visit, particularly, I did not enjoy Mexico in the Gustatory fashion that I prefer.
I did, however visit cities Anthropology museum. The show that linked Kukulkan with Isis, showing both Egyptian and Mesoamerican artifacts was the best show I’ve ever seen. It is worth seeing even if you must travel to Ciudad de Mexico to see it. But more on that tomorrow. The hour grows late and I’m tired from the flying.
“Marseguro,” by Edward Willett, examines prejudice, fanaticism, the conflict between science and religion, the immorality of war, and the definition of human in a story set in a future when humans have colonized other worlds and learned to construct new races using genetic manipulation.
This novel is better understood by its conflicts than by its characters, but to understand the conflicts you must know where they came from, and that leads to one of he first flaws I found in the novel. About 50 years before the major events of the story, “the Miracle” happened near earth. Scientists discovered an asteroid that would annihilate life on earth when it struck. One person founded new religion by claiming this asteroid was God’s punishment of Earth for violating the purity of the human form by using genetic manipulation. The “Avatar” led hosts of his “Body Purified” and took over the world government, which included destroying all genetically altered crops and abolishing all other religions and killing everyone who had used genetic manipulation. Then, another asteroid came from nowhere and obliterated the first. The advocates of the new religion went to all human colonies and purified them, which meant they murdered anyone that did not agree with their religious message. I found the notion that a society capable of traveling to the stars and colonizing distant world would have two asteroids appear from nowhere, one threatening the earth and another mysteriously saving it does not ring true. Today we are looking at ways to stop such a disaster; a society with the benefit of a century of science should not have been surprised. This doesn’t destroy the novel, but it made willing suspension of disbelief harder for me.
A few other aspects of the novel did not work from a Science Fiction point of view. Some of the physics of weapons used seemed out of kilter, invading and conquering a world with 1 ship and just 300 men doesn’t work tactically. Most readers may not notice these, but the sounded wrong to me.
The way he handled his conflicts worked for me. He took all the flaws and extremes found in various religions and made them a part of his Avatar and his Body Purified. They made an excellent and despicable opponent whose leaders acted out of virulent fanaticism to commit the most horrendous, by 21st century standards, crimes against humanity. They were evil, devoid of any redeeming qualities, and a little one-dimensional. However, the leader and the group made good antagonists.
The primary characters were more believable. Chris Keating taught to hate anything different at his mother’s breast had some good qualities but was able to justify anything through the torture logic of racist hate and fanatic belief. Richard Hanson, grandson of the man who created the race of Selkies (humans with gills adapted to living under water) wanted to heal the stain put on his family by his scientist ancestor and was willing to overlook any crime committed by the “Body Purified” to belong to them. These men are not great characters, but believable enough. Emily Wood, a young Selkie revolting against her parents plunged into war is the best character and the most fully realized.
With good characters and an interesting story that looks at very difficult issues that are important to the world we live in today, Willett managed to elevate the story to a good read. What I saw as its flaws in story telling were not bad enough to outweigh my enjoyment of the tale.
For the next ten days I will be in Mexico City for Passover with family.Â
I fully intend to continue, as much as possible, to blog the experience. There are a number of things that I hope to write about there that will illuminate my writing experience.
California has OK’d creating a Think Tank to address global warming issues. For the avergae Californian this will cost about 25 – 30 cents a month. After the state was whpped like a red headed stepped child for trying to initiate their own automobile emission rules, it might occur to some people to ask why we, as a state, would want to put ourselves through that.
The Federal government under George W. Bush has chosen to go with the power brokers who funded the Republican control of the Oval office. Even the Environmental Protection Agency has been Bush’s marionette, mouthing whatever “Big Lie” the Bush Administration wants to perpetrate on the American people.
With Bush facing an end to his tenure in office, California seems intent on moving past January 20, 2009, into a new area when governments admit openly that global warming is a threat far greater than 500 million Islamic fundamentalists.
It happened in Iraq, a strike. By strike, I don’t mean “air strike” or any other term for a military assault, but the opposite, a kind of half assed labor strike. The labor, in this case, were the police and military that refused to fight in Basra and have now lost their jobs in a country where unemployment is still at epidemic levels, 60-70% over the last two years.
1,300 Iraqi troops, police dismissed The Iraqi government has dismissed about 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted or refused to fight during last month’s offensive against Shiite militias and criminal gangs in Basra, officials said Sunday.
The solidarity here was not with fellow laborers suffering due to inequities in pay or a disagreement with management. The solidarity of these 1300 was that they felt with fellow Iraqis and fellow Shi’ite. They did not want to be forced to kill those who were brothers in faith and in spirit.
In the aftermath we can only ask how deep this problem goes. A government that chooses as a matter of national policy to use violence relies on their military to do what they are told. It appears that there are deep divides in the military, just as there are throughout Iraq. How long will it be before the whole house of glass collapses. How many American children will die there when it falls apart.
Today I bought a camera, a EOS Rebel XTi, and I am pretty please about it.Â
Yes, that’s it over to the right. It has been four years since I owned a good camera, having given the last one to my daughter for her birthday in 2004
And it came along just in time for my trip to Mexico. I hope that I can get some good pictures as I blog my vacation.
Allianoi was a Roman thermal spa where the ancient Romans traveled to bask in the healing heated waters. Archeologists discovered it, only now to face loosing it again, on the bottom of a lake.
According to Uncertain future for ancient spa, Allianoi is mentioned only one book, called “Hieroi Logoi”, or “the Sacred Tales”, written by Aristides. Asritides wrote;
“on my way to Pergamon (sometimes called Pergamum), I came across a thermal place. I had a sore throat, so I took a bath and I prayed to the God Zozimos. Then I was cured… and this place was called Allianoi.”
From a writer’s point of view, this is a marvelous bit of history that touches on a world that is alien to modern thought.
Painters, writers, and simple bohemians of the 19th century used Absinthe, often to extremes. In “Absinthe’s Mind-Altering Mystery Solved” the writer attribute Absinthe’s wondrous creative and degenerative affects to alcohol.
I’m back, and Mexico was great.
“Marseguro,” by Edward Willett, examines prejudice, fanaticism, the conflict between science and religion, the immorality of war, and the definition of human in a story set in a future when humans have colonized other worlds and learned to construct new races using genetic manipulation.
I fully intend to continue, as much as possible, to blog the experience. There are a number of things that I hope to write about there that will illuminate my writing experience.
Today I bought a camera, a EOS Rebel XTi, and I am pretty please about it. 
Allianoi was a Roman thermal spa where the ancient Romans traveled to bask in the healing heated waters. Archeologists discovered it, only now to face loosing it again, on the bottom of a lake.