Vin Suprynowicz‘Our entire universe is contained in the mind and the spirit’5:04 pm February 2nd, 2015Despite a bit of predictable straying down rabbit trails (which the host admirably tolerates in preference to “over-moderating,”) an interesting discussion developed not long ago beneath the first part of her recent interview with me at Claire Wolfe’s site ( www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/ClaireWolfe/2015/01/03/ ), albeit mostly among people who of necessity (since it had only just come out) hadn’t yet read “The Testament of James.”“As for entheogens,” one commenter offered, “if there is a real God, I want to know Him. I mean the *real* one, not some chemistry set ‘god’ that comes from a pill or from a fungus filtered through a caribou’s kidneys, or a weed, or some tree bark distillation.“And if there is no real God, I want to know that too. I want to know what *is*, not just what *seems*. I don’t want to believe in some chemically-induced phantasm that exists only in my addled brain. I’m interested in the God whose existence and reality are in no way dependent upon anyone’s perceptions.”An interesting goal, given that the world as we know it can exist only as a model re-constructed in our brains by our organizing intelligence, or “minds,” based precisely on our “perceptions,” which are necessarily limited. (Unaided by “artificial” means, can you perceive X-rays? Microwaves? Sounds above the frequency range of human hearing? Then how can you “know” they exist, any more than — barring reliance on your “perceptions” — you can “know” Napoleon lost at Waterloo, or that the battle was ever even fought, or that your mother loves you, or anything else?)More »Share this:PrintEmailMoreFacebookGoogleTwitter| Category: Books, Drug War, Entheogens, Law Enforcement | 2 Comments »Don’t forget to look up!4:51 pm January 30th, 2015Halo around the moon!(Brunette, here.)OK, unfortunately the picture doesn’t really do it justice. I stepped outside last night, and could so easily have missed this — the biggest, brightest ring I’ve ever seen around the moon. It’s not unusual to spot halos around the sun, I’ve taken many pics of those … but this felt pretty awe inspiring.  So, next time you’re out — day or night — don’t forget to look up!More »Share this:PrintEmailMoreFacebookGoogleTwitter| Category: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »Doug French reviews ‘Testament of James’8:14 pm January 24th, 2015Economist, banker and former head of the Ludwig von Mises Institute Doug French offers his take on “The Testament of James” at http://douglasfrench.liberty.me/2015/01/22/book-review-the-testament-of-james/ .In part, Doug reports: “Peddling used books has a treasure hunt side that is particularly