Unholy Alliance

Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military by Neil deGrasse Tyson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Like it or not astrophysicists and the military are in an unholy alliance. Astrophysicists are generally peace loving people who want to make scientific studies for the sake of knowledge of for liking he sake of helping humanity. Military people want the discoveries to achieve dominance in the arena of battle. No two mentality could be further apart.

Who get the funding? Why of course military spending trumps all. Science experiments get little funding. So if astrophysicists want to carry their project forward it has to be militarily viable. Certain items that get discovered by scientist end up being used by the military. Hence we see the two fields intertwined.

Take for example the telescope. It was used for stargazing at first then later on it was used during the Revolutionary War to spy out enemy troops. The telescope theme grows even further as we use satellite to monitor cosmic phenomena. The military and government now use satellite to monitor people kind of like big brother. The satellite can also be armed with missile or lasers.

The book is long and at times dry but filled with facts. It is a good document examines the history of the military science relationship. Great insight from two great scientific minds.

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Hidden History of the Human Race

Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race by Michael A. Cremo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Humans may have been on this planet a lot longer then we may have realized. We tend to think that Homo Sapeins have been here at the most 30 thousand years. In reality human existence may stretch back several millions of years. How advanced those societies were is another question. It is. Supposed under this thesis that humans or Homo Sapien Sapiens may have existed alongside aide other humanoid like homo erectus, Neanderthal and cro magnoln

Archaeologist have found evidence of some semi advance human stuff going back. Millions of years to the Pleistocene era. Such items would include human bones, skiulls and handiwork’s . However when scientists bring this up they are often ridiculed by their academic colleagues . Often at the cost of their careers,

The last part of the book discusses cryptozoology . Mentioning other humanoid creatures that might still be out there but hidden. There are areas in Washington state and Canada that have not been thoroughly explored creatures like a big foot might be out there. Supposedly there have been numerous sighting.

The only on this book is the brevity of the audible. I believe this book has many pages and books of this length usually take several more hours to read through on audible. Hope we are not getting the abridged version here. That would Medan the readers are getting cheated.

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Travels to the Underworld

Underworld: Shamanism, Myth, Magick – Vol I by Chris Allaun
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

By Chris Allaun

The underworld the mere mention of it strikes an unpleasant chord in your mind. Death is a subject many of us are not only uncomfortable with but it a concept that we are downright afraid of. fear of the unknown? What happens after we die?

Different cultures have different myths and concepts of life in the here after. Our Judeo Christian thinking gives us the paradigm of heaven and hell. If you are good you go up to the sky to heaven if you are bad you get sent down below to Hell or the underworld. When we say underworld a very unpleasant picture comes to mind.

The underworld is not all doom and gloom. If one explores the mythology of many culture one might find that the underworld has some very beautiful spots. The underworld is also where there is spiritual knowledge. The seeker or shamans in the past have traveled to the Underworld for many purposes. Many times it is done so as to bring back knowledge and healing to the community. Of course with practice you too can travel into the underworld.

Chris Allaun not only includes some great techniques for your journey to the underworld. He also examines the cultural myths of the life after death. Sumerians, Norse, Celtic, Egyptian as well as Native American , mythic stuff was covered here.

Among the techniques discussed are finding your totem animal and your underworld guide. The book is very complete and thorough and perfectly sized. Good job Chris Allaun.

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