I have finally posted the Prelude and the first five chapters of the second Mac Mackenzie novel, THE HUMAN HOAX. Wish I had time to write more, but at least this might give you a taste of what's to come...if I can ever find time in my busy life.

I have posted my entire first novel as a BLOG NOVEL. It's a private eye mystery that naturally contains a lot of what interests me. To that extent, it's a kind of intellectual autobiograhy. But I hope it's a good read. Go there now: THE SATAN MANEUVER

The number 1 top page is my Sin City story, a pretty good one, especially if you have seen the movie, at

http://www.witnit.org/archives/2005/08/fictional_frida.php

My number 2 top page is this archive. I looked through it and realized, hey, I was doing pretty good that month:

http://www.witnit.org/archives/2005/05/

Don't be led by whatever has been handed down by past generations.

Don't be led by hearsay or common opinion.

Don't be led by what the scriptures say.

Don't be led by mere logic, deduction or inference.

Don't be led by considering only outward appearance.

Don't be led by preconceived notions.

Don't be led by what seems acceptable or believable.

Don't be led by what your teacher tells you is so...

But wait, there's more...

See you there!

I'd observed that lust, greed, envy, sloth, and their pals are giving the world a good run for its money, but that nonetheless, people in general seem to get from day to day; and that we in the United States get from day to day under rather wonderful and privileged circumstances—that we are not and never have been the villains that some of the world and some of our citizens make us out to be, but that we are a confection of normal (greedy, lustful, duplicitous, corrupt, inspired—in short, human) individuals living under a spectacularly effective compact called the Constitution, and lucky to get it.

For the Constitution, rather than suggesting that all behave in a godlike manner, recognizes that, to the contrary, people are swine and will take any opportunity to subvert any agreement in order to pursue what they consider to be their proper interests.

To that end, the Constitution separates the power of the state into those three branches which are for most of us (I include myself) the only thing we remember from 12 years of schooling.

The Constitution, written by men with some experience of actual government, assumes that the chief executive will work to be king, the Parliament will scheme to sell off the silverware, and the judiciary will consider itself Olympian and do everything it can to much improve (destroy) the work of the other two branches. So the Constitution pits them against each other, in the attempt not to achieve stasis, but rather to allow for the constant corrections necessary to prevent one branch from getting too much power for too long.

Rather brilliant. For, in the abstract, we may envision an Olympian perfection of perfect beings in Washington doing the business of their employers, the people, but any of us who has ever been at a zoning meeting with our property at stake is aware of the urge to cut through all the pernicious bullshit and go straight to firearms.

I found not only that I didn't trust the current government (that, to me, was no surprise), but that an impartial review revealed that the faults of this president—whom I, a good liberal, considered a monster—were little different from those of a president whom I revered.

Bush got us into Iraq, JFK into Vietnam. Bush stole the election in Florida; Kennedy stole his in Chicago. Bush outed a CIA agent; Kennedy left hundreds of them to die in the surf at the Bay of Pigs. Bush lied about his military service; Kennedy accepted a Pulitzer Prize for a book written by Ted Sorenson. Bush was in bed with the Saudis, Kennedy with the Mafia. Oh.

And I began to question my hatred for "the Corporations"—the hatred of which, I found, was but the flip side of my hunger for those goods and services they provide and without which we could not live.

And I began to question my distrust of the "Bad, Bad Military" of my youth, which, I saw, was then and is now made up of those men and women who actually risk their lives to protect the rest of us from a very hostile world. Is the military always right? No. Neither is government, nor are the corporations—they are just different signposts for the particular amalgamation of our country into separate working groups, if you will. Are these groups infallible, free from the possibility of mismanagement, corruption, or crime? No, and neither are you or I. So, taking the tragic view, the question was not "Is everything perfect?" but "How could it be better, at what cost, and according to whose definition?" Put into which form, things appeared to me to be unfolding pretty well.

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I've decided to just write this as an experience, straight on, without an attempt to prove of justify. It's impossible to prove anyway, and I gain nothing by telling this story other than risking responses by genuine whackos. This is just what happened to me and how I interpret it, the most reasonable interpretation in my opinion.

I can't talk about all aspects of it, because some things I'll simply have to keep to myself for various reasons. I'll tell as much as I can and leave it to the reader. I report, you decide.

Past lives (reincarnation) directly implies that some central identity in us is immortal. I was raised believing no such thing. Only through study did I come to believe in the possibility. It made sense to me that if there were anything resembling a divine plan, the Christian model was not it. One shot, judged forever. I don't think so.

So I embarked on a study and certain personal spiritual exercises to see if I could open that door. It didn't matter what I read or what my mind believed. I wanted direct experience. It took 10 years of work to get that experience.

And when it came it scared the hell out of me.

I'm such an anomoly. A science-reason guy living with these experiences.

Anyway, after that first past life experience, I had a second one which I don't share with anyone, no matter how much I trust them. Not even my wife. Some things are just for you and you alone. Especially when the thought of sharing it with anyone is simply terrifying. The one time I did try to share it with someone, it did not go well.

This is the third past life I experienced. This is a complex one, requiring the development of several strands of thought, and so please be patient. I think this is the toughest past life that I've had to accept and reconcile so far. The good news is that it seemed to be a kind of test: Once I fully accepted the reality of this lifetime, over the 6 months right after, I had about a dozen lifetimes open up to me. It was overwhelming in some ways and exhausting, but I got enough of the overall story to make some sense of things in my life that never quite came together.

Here is what I believe. This is probably much more than you’re asking for. (My Comments aren't working for me, so I'll post this.)

First, a story:

God had finished creating the earth and invited four angels to help him with the final detail: Where to hide the Truth so that it would require great effort for mankind to find It.

The first angel said, ‘Place Truth on the highest mountain.’ The second said, ‘Place Truth at the bottom of the ocean.’ The third said, ‘Place Truth deep in the earth.’

The fourth angel said, ‘Sooner than later humans will seek out the highest mountains, dive to the bottom of the oceans, and explore deep within the earth. Place Truth within man himself. It will be the last place he will ever think to find it.’

What follows is what I’ve been able to put together so far. Any part of it is subject to change without notice based on further personal experience. More of this than you would believe I know firsthand. I may be crazy, but at least you have to admit it is a pluralistic vision that validates pretty much everyone’s place in this world. Take it for what you will. Since I’m not of a proselytizing nature, I pretty much don’t care if you believe any of this or not. I have nothing to prove. All I know for sure is that you are unlikely to have heard it put this way before.

(If you have a strong reaction to what follows, just relax. Take it in as entertainment, as the ramblings of an unusual mind. I'm not dangerous to anyone. Really!)

So, onwards: