Articles & Essays
When he isn't in the Operating Theatre or in consultation with patients, the Doctor busies himself with producing acute cultural commentaries which are often only available in alternative publications (or here at the Clinic). The articles here range over the last two decades and were, in several cases, ahead of their time.
- Islam as Other - Islam holds up a mirror to the secular West. Note: This was written some 30 years ago as an intro to an issue of Whole Earth Review focusing on Islam. It has long since taken on a life of its own. I certainly never expected it to be turned into a dawah pamphlet, and just in case you are wondering, the positive things I have to say about Islam are not to be construed as approval of Islamism.
- Hip: R.I.P. - Giving up on staying hip as middle age encroached
- Spies R Us - the information society is turning us all into intelligence agents
- Esotericism - do esoteric spiritual traditions really exist?
- jane siberry live - a 1993 review of a 'non-concert' by one of our great contemporary singers
- Private Revolution - a blow-by-blow account of one of the world's most futile demonstrations
- New Age Critique - looking for redeeming qualities in a heap of dolphin mugs
- The Return of Baal - are the Elder Gods returning from the Depths?
- Digital Politics 101 - the complete, unedited rant that was trimmed down into WIRED's "Anarcho-Emergentist Republicans"
- If Software Companies Ran the Country... - Is that fine print fiddling with instituting new property relations?
- The Pornographic Impulse - That nude photo is only the tip of the iceberg.
- The Disharmonic Convergence - The far left and far right as strange political bedfellows.
- Beyond Left and Right - A much later (Summer 2000) consideration of the drawbacks of left-right thinking. This was the intro to an issue on that theme that I guest-edited for Whole Earth Review.
- Jack the Ripper, "From Hell" - Why the 2001 movie about the Ripper murders was lousy history.
- The Political Gnosis of Philip K. Dick - Cosmic alienation and political alienation meet in Dick's life and writing.
- Magic and Awakening - A review of Introduction to Magic by Julius Evola and the UR Group.
- Islamic Dilemma and the Sufi Message - A post-9/11 look at conflicting approaches to Islam.
- Lessons Still Unlearned: "The Weather Underground," Thirty Years Later - A review of the 2003 documentary film on the WUO.
- Review of Zeitgeist, The Movie - BoingBoing asked me to review an online video smash and a few feathers were ruffled.
- The Conspiracy Boom - Spiked by Salon, this essay investigating the present growth in conspiracy-awareness ran at BoingBoing as a follow-up to the Zeitgeist kerfluffel.
Magazines & Newspapers
What's a waiting room without magazines and newspapers? Why not thumb through these?
- GNOSIS - The Doctor's favorite publication and his usual venue for info dissemination during his middle adult years. GNOSIS suspended publication in the Spring of 1999, but back issues are still available — including complete sets! Order now or else. These won't be around forever.
- New Dawn - Fringe news, controversies, from Down Under.
- Le Monde Diplomatique - Sophisticated French political analysis in English translation.
- Hurriyet Daily News - Keep up with the daily news in Turkey.
- New York Observer - Get your online fix of NYC dish without having to live anywhere near New York.
- Agence France-Presse - Can't say I think much of their lawsuit against Google News, but it never hurts to get another point of view.
- Guardian - Oh joy! Now I don't have to fly to London to read The Guardian or The Independent.
Blogs 'n Boards
By now, you probably have your own list of favorite blogs, presuming that you bother reading blogs in the first place. So the Doctor has overhauled the list of lefty and righty blogs that was formerly here, too many of which were shills for either the Democratic Party or for neocon wingnuttery. Instead, we have a pared down list of sites that mostly defy easy ideological pigeon-holing. As with the rest of the links at the Clinic, proceed at your own risk.
- Empire Burlesque - Chris Floyd, formerly of the Moscow Times, lays it all out in blistering fashion. Trenchant analysis of the current thugs in the cat-bird seat.
- Arthur Silber - The guy's long-winded in his political analysis, but pierces through the fog like a laser. Mixed metaphors, anyone?
- Informed Comment - Juan Cole provides insightful low-down on our government's interaction with the Middle East.
- Boing Boing - These folks hardly need my endorsement; their popular blog's traffic dwarfs that of any other site listed here. There are little gems and odd news items posted on Boing Boing daily.
- Howard Forums - Great resource for cell phone users with questions, problems, solutions, or obsessions.