Never too late to dig up conspiracy theories

New evidence, in the form of a supposed contract killer's diary, indicates that Tycho Brahe may have been poisoned with a heavy dose of mercury by a cousin in employ of the Danish king. Modern forensics can now do the magic required to prove whether this was the case. Brahe the alchemist would likely appreciate that fact and not bring down the wrath of a supernova upon those who would dare to disturb his bones. i'd love to buy the rights to this story, because you just know that if it turns out there actually was a state conspiracy to murder him, all the major studios will want to recreate it in celluloid. Long-suspected assassin Johannes Kepler could be played by Alan Rickman, the demented king by Clive Owens and in the leading role, how about Anthony Hopkins? (There just aren't that many older actors who could pull off the wooden nose, and anyway, it'd be a great part for him.)

The Prague Post (2.2.09) reports:

A Danish-led team of archaeologists and forensic experts have filed a request to exhume the remains of 16th-century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe from an ancient vault in Prague's Týn Church... Researchers have new evidence that the astronomer was poisoned to death with mercury in 1601 on orders of King Christian IV of Denmark.

Evidently the young king suffered from severe Oedipal paranoia: he feared his father may in fact have been the astronomer rather than papa king and, if the truth came out, he would lose his throne. He had Brahe's great island observatory, Uraniborg, totally dismantled, and basically drove the great (albeit heretical) star-gazer to seek refuge in the Prague court of Emperor Rudolf II.

Schematic of Uraniborg, pulled off Der Spiegel's website.

The Danish request is now being considered by the Archdiocese of Prague. They are 'not keen on the exhumation,' though the reason for this is not made very clear. Brahe died on 24 October 1601. His bones have been sitting behind a stone slab in the Tyn for over 400 years; does the archdiocese expect to find something other than bones, and if so, what? Do they fear his ghost will escape and haunt the church as payback for their once accusing him of heresy? Naturally, the Czech antiquities department will have to weigh in as well; the tomb is made of granite and elaborately carved, truly among Prague's national treasures and definitely on par with the other cryptic sites Dan Brown has so lucratively expounded on. Cracking the stone in order to crack this conspiracy is probably not worth it. If we can live without knowing who really killed Kennedy, what was on those 18 minutes of Nixon's tapes, and whether Dick Cheney had once gone hunting with Mohammed Atta, i think we can live without knowing the truth about a bygone disfunctional family.

Pepe Escobar Simplifies the Insanity

Escobar's report speaks for itself, so i'm not going to write much. He calls it Full Spectrum Dominance, a term which actually originated with the US SAC (Strategic Air Command) in their Vision 2020 report (late 1990s, early 2000) and detailed the need for the US to control space militarily. Eventually our piping periodista Pepe gets around to this, bringing in the missile defense shield the US is pushing on the new NATO countries (Poland and Czech Republic are to actually get the anti-missile missiles systems, other countries like Hungary and Romania provide related infrastructural needs). Now, before you start having nightmares that Ronald the Raygun has risen from the dead, think back to that period and like John McCain, you'll probably agree: the Cold War geopolitical framework was a lot easier for voters to warp their brains around than the War on Terror for Oil framework. Enough of this elusive taliban shit, snakey Gulf sheikhs and should or shouldn't psychologists be involved in torture. i'm tired of Guantanamo, i want another Cuban missile crisis. White people threatening other white people makes so much more sense, even to the non-white people who are wrecked in the process.

Foray into Tibetan history

Just finished reading an article on Tibetan military history by the ever-cynical though often insightful (in spite of his best intentions, apparently) Gary Brecher, who writes a column called The War Nerd for The Exile. Thought i'd pass it on in case anyone reading this is interested in the topic. Here's an excerpt on Britain's invasion of Tibet in the early 20th century:

Younghusband marched into Tibet in December 1903 with a force of Sikhs and Gurkhas—pretty scary mix, like rottweiler plus pit bull. And the Gurkhas were definitely the pit bulls in that pair. Sikhs are very tough but not blood-crazy. The Gurkhas were not only devoted lovers of knife-work, especially on POWs, but ancient enemies of the Tibetans. It didn’t take much to push them to a massacre. The Tibetans knew the British were dangerous and tried not to resist at all. But as the British force pushed farther and farther into Tibet, the local commanders decided to resist. That was a mistake. This wasn’t Tony Blair’s cool Britannia they were dealing with.

His comparison with the Chinese invasion, put in the historical contest of early Tibetan challenges to Chinese hegemony (going back to the first millenium AD), offers up some food for thought and basically lays to rest the premise that Tibet has, historically, been part of China and thus the current occupation by the Chinese govt/PLA just sets things right again at the higher elevations of the Asian continuum. Even if Brecher's account is full of falsehoods (which it may well be; i am - admittedly - no expert on this subject and am unlikely to acquire any expertise on it in either the near or distance future), i do not believe that rectifying the injustices of present day foreign occupations can be managed through a deep historical lens. In terms of finding a path to justice and reconciliation in Tibet in the 21st century, the present is the best we have to work with - and what's fair for the future. When native people talk about thinking of the seventh generation, they are referring to those yet to be born, not those who have already passed into the annals of history and the shifting sands of their bindings.

Grateful Dead Archives

Tegnap este, a Morcheeba koncertbe mentem és nagyon, nagyon jól volt!! After the show, a friend celebrating his 19^th birthday sent me this text message: hope you too had something like orgasm there! No kidding. Ross Godfrey’s guitar playing is right up there with the best of the lyrical guitarists of our age and their new French vocalist was excellent, a perfect fit for Morcheeba's swooning, bluesy tunage. The ticket cost more than i paid to see the Rolling Stones last summer, but no complaints. It’s probably about as close as i’ll come on this continent to a traditional Bay Area musical experience, which is to say that i came out in a different – much improved - state of consciousness than i had going in. “What more is there?” asks the closeted rock & roll junkie, the languishing deadhead, the misplaced citizen leaning towards misanthropy.

What more? Indeed, there are always the archives…. tangible proof that the power of good music never stops. Last week, the Grateful Dead announced they are gifting their archives to my alma mater, the University of California, Santa Cruz. i’ve always been proud to be a UCSC grad, but perhaps never moreso than now, when they’re about to become Dead Central. i’ll be damned. A pedestal of my own counter-culture foundations is being enshrined for research posterity, it’s an exciting thing to have happen. For those of similar persuasion, or who otherwise might be curious about why i’m going all gaga over the folder files maintained by what’s still called a 1960s rock band, it appears that the press conference (which i watched live on iclips) will go up on the Dead’s website soon – check here for it. The press conference was actually hilarious, with questions like “How will my girlfriend find her ticket order envelopes?” and “Bobby, will you be archiving a pair of your cut-off shorts?” For more info about the archive, check here at UCSC’s Special Collections,

The librarians said they’re already getting requests for loaning the material, so even though the band themselves have stopped touring, their wild collection of art and sundry will continue to travel North America. Hopefully beyond, as well. It’s fun to think of people lining up outside Moscow’s Pushkin Museum for an exhibit called The Grateful Dead: LSD and American Anarchist Experience. Just think of the changes in consciousness that could bring about – mind-boggling possibilities. Or maybe it’s too late for the “dead phenomenon” to have that kind of impact, since it’s one of those “you just had to be there” kind of things? Yet i’ve got this friend here, a Brit, always quizzing me about shows and personages, etc. lamenting the fact that he missed it all… but on a deeper level, he’s totally got it, even though he never experienced a live show. The magic is in the mystery unfolding, i guess. For those of us who drove from Santa Cruz all over California to share in that particular bit of magic, this recent news leaves us with nothing else to do but smile, smile, smile.