In our age of rational science the occult has never been more in demand: Angels and demons are popular, the Da Vinci code and lost symbols fascinate audiences worldwide and Hollywood is eager to turn out more movies with a paranormal theme.

So why is it that so many of these stories seem flat, and fail to reach the level of insight into hidden structures of the world true esoteric adventures are supposed to promise?

Perhaps the answer has to do with the failure of gifted directors to come to grips with the enormity of the unknown issues of human destiny, or to pose the fundamental questions their esoteric subject would demand.

We go away charmed by artistic visions, dazzled by the pageantry of cardinals in red capes and titillated by women in black garters but the Illuminati only scare us because of the blood they spill, not the existential issues they should transcend. They behave like any other gang of thugs, even if they utter their rough curses in Latin rather than street slang, cockney or modern Italian.

The circumstances that made this point clear to me arose when I watched again two movies within a few days, namely Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut and Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate.

Read More on BoingBoing

Nick P at Black Sun Gazette

In lieu of writing a big long article, I present selected shorts. Today’s roundup includes dumbfuck liberals, pig cops, radical culture in need of money, Obama preparing to bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran, and scariest of all, Cokie Roberts.

Z Mag Is Broke: Starting off with the good news (kind of sort of not really) my buddy Thrash Mike reports over at Refuse To Thrive that Zmag needs money. Zmag is an indispensable source of top-notch radical left reporting. While I don’t always agree with their editorial line (big surprise) I think the world is much enriched by their reporting and investigative journalism. I know the economy sucks, but this is even more important than your favorite local mutant convergence. Reach in your pockets and dig deep.

Read More At Black Sun Gazette

• Marvel! at a system with tons of money for killing Pakistanis but no money to bury dead poor people!

• Squirm! at the continued growth of sex panic which turns naked baby pictures into porn!

• Shudder! in horror at the latest quasi-fascist paramilitary group providing government services!

• Wonder! why the hell people voted for Obama when he threatens Iran more than he fights for the poor!

Read More at Black Sun Gazette

Polanski famously fled the states following his trial for the statutory rape of a 13 year old girl in 1977. The incident occurred in his friend Jack Nicholson’s home during a time when Polanski’s friends found the director to be suffering from a deep, chronic depression following the murder of his then-wife Sharon Tate and their unborn child at the hands of The Manson Family.

Polanski famously accepted his 2003 Academy Award for The Pianist via satellite as his returning to the United States would mean an automatic arrest.

As of this time it is unclear whether or not he will be extradited to America.