In Zite (the app/news aggregator) this morning, I came on two interestingly interlocked quotations:
First quotation:
“There’s a generation of young people who still want some sense of meaning beyond what appears to be a world that’s not what they’d been promised.”
Second quotation:
[He cited a world of]"masses of young people" . . . especially in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—where "if these kids are left to no devices, or their own ... something is going to come along and say, 'The world is disappointing you, and we're a better alternative.' How else do you get young kids to strap themselves in suicide vests and think thing are better on the other side? But that's happening."
It struck me that both quotations said just about the same thing: that there are many young people from the emerging generations who are angry . . . and malleable by those who make them the promises they want to hear.
The first quotation is from “Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll,” in Pitchfork. (another news aggregator, this specializing in the pop music world). Here's a link to that article It's an interview with Peter Bebergal, author of the new book, Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll.
The second comes from The Atlantic on-line, quotation pulled from an interview with Secretary of State John Kerry. "John Kerry explains why world leaders are scared of young people"
Interestingly, the two articles also reminded me of this passage describing what’s happening via the efforts of the Twisted Messiah movement, a world-wide superstar rock group that has deliberately transitioned into an international quasi-political movement with a lurking undercurrent of potential terrorism, and an army of dead-end kids.
‘What’s in the mind of the people behind the Twisted Messiah movement? They already have a world-wide army in the mindless masses of kids who’re ready to follow their Twisted Messiah. It’s my impression that these kids have been brainwashed into believing that their lives are futile, that they have nothing to contribute, nothing to accomplish, and hence nothing to lose if they get into crime or drugs or whatever. In that sense, they’re a lot like the Islamic martyrs of the middle-east, willing to die for the cause.”
”But there’s a difference, a crucial difference. The Islamic terrorists at least have a cause, a belief system that motivates them. These kids, the ones enthralled by the Twisted Messiah message, have no cause, other than destruction for its own sake. Worse, they’re among us, every race and nationality, not just identifiable men with Middle-eastern features.”
This third quotation is from my technothriller, The Grail Conspiracies, iwhich touches on, among other themes, the role of the occult and certain kinds of music, as well as the latent rage of some young people that is waiting to be tapped by those with the right message and the right medium. (To be clear, Twisted Messiah is a fictional group, so far existing only in The Grail Conspiracies.)
Here’s a link to some excerpts from The Grail Conspiracies, relating to that theme.
Background: (trying not to be a plot-spoiler): In my book, theTwisted Messiah group is a world-wide force, first as rock superstars, then emergingh as an international quasi-political force.)
Tags: army of angry young people, occult and music, political protest by mobs, Sec. John Kerry, The Grail Conspiracies
When we were designing the cover of my speculative spiritual thriller, THE GRAIL CONSPIRACIES, a montage of Da Vinci's classic drawing, termed the "Vitruvian Man" on "The Eye of God," the NASA photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope seemed a natural.
God + Da Vinci teaming up on your cover? Of course! Go for it!
What triggered this blog was my happening on the review of a new book: DA VINCI'S GHOST: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image.
I only came on the review today, so haven't gotten to the book itself, but it sounds fascinating.
You'll find Don Oldenburg's review in USA Today.
The book, in both print and Kindle versions, is available at Amazon and other sellers . . . ESPECIALLY your local bookshop (which needs your business a lot more than does Amazon).
The book cover was designed by Russ Shoemaker (rshoemaker@bigplanet.com) who also designed the cover for my related book, JOINING MIRACLES.
Michael Coleman Talbot (September 29, 1953 – May 27, 1992) was an American author of several books highlighting parallels between ancient mysticism and quantum mechanics, and espousing a theoretical model of reality that suggests the physical universe is akin to a giant hologram. According to Talbot ESP, telepathy, and other paranormal phenomena are real and are a product of his holographic model of reality.
His books that I used:
MYSTICISM AND THE NEW PHYSICS. (I used the British edition, Rutledge and Keegan Paul, 1981.)
BEYOND THE QUANTUM: How the secrets of the new physics are bridging the chasm between science and faith. (c) 1987, Bantam in the US.
THE HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE. (c) 1992. New paperback version published in 2011. This also touches on Karl Pribam's application of holography in his holographic theory of the mind.
Posted at 10:15 AM in "New Reality Paradigm", Books, Books & research I relied on, Holographic theory, Many-worlds hypothesis, Mysticism, New physics, Paranormal phenomena, Quantum physics, Religion, Science, Scientific thriller | Permalink | Comments (80)
Tags: ESP, holographic theory, many-worlds hypothesis, Michael Talbot books, mysticism, quantum physics
Max Hastings' book: DAS REICH.The March of the 2nd Panzer Division Through France
Max Hastings (now Sir Max Hastings) began his career as a war correspondent, then served as editor of two London newspapers: THE DAILY TELEGRAPH and THE EVENING STANDARD. He has also written numerous books and been involved in a variety of TV series.
That's background to his book, DAS REICH.The March of the 2nd Panzer Division Through France, American edition, Henry Holt, 1982, which gave me some relevant history on what was happening in the area around La Rochelle, France, around the time of D-Day . . . an era that formed the backdrop of my speculative thriller, THE GRAIL CONSPIRACIES.
Amazon: Max Hastings DAS REICH the March of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Through France
That is the same Max Hastings I referenced in another post on this blog for his article commenting on the riots in England last summer, which, to my mind, were an eerie playing-out of the Twisted Messiah "celebrations" that occur in my THE GRAIL CONSPIRACIES. Here's a bit from that post, quoting Hastings:
The "feral humans" who partook in them did it as much for the excitment as for the goods they could steal. Sadly, "The depressing truth is that at the bottom of our society is a layer of young people with no skills, education, values or aspirations. They do not have what most of us would call 'lives': they simply exist." And a bit later: "They have their being only in video games and street-fights, casual drug use and crime.
My blog post: "Twisted Messiah" fan riots improbable? Reality strikes in England!
Max Hastings article in London Mail online
Posted at 11:44 AM in Army of feral humans, Books, Books & research I relied on, Current Affairs, Twisted Messiah's "army" of angry young | Permalink | Comments (1)
Tags: Das Reich Panzer, La Rochelle France, London riots, Max Hastings, Nazi occupation of France, Twisted Messiah
THE MURDERED MAGICIANS: The Templars and their Myth, by Peter Partner
In my research before starting to write the speculative thriller, THE GRAIL CONSPIRACIES, I read and reread Peter Partner's THE MURDERED MAGICIANS: The Templars and their Myth.
As a matter of fact, I ended up buying the same book twice, and passed it on to one of my undercover sources for all sorts of interesting and weird stuff, whose name is Larry Crum.