Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Just ask the Buddhist monks...
Ah, so a has-been pop musician from the 60's is going to open up a new "meditation-based college" and solve all his country's problems. From the AP story:
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Donovan, famous for '60s pop hits such as "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and "Mellow Yellow," has announced plans to open the Invincible Donovan University, where students will adhere to the principles of transcendental meditation.
"I know it sounds like an airy-fairy hippie dream to go on about '60s peace and love," said the 61-year-old singer, who was born Donovan Leitch in the Maryhill area of Glasgow. "But the world is ready for this now, it is clear this is the time."
Um, sure, Donovan - there hasn't been anyone else who has done something like this. Go for it, buddy.
According to the news report, he's hooked up with David Lynch to build this school. Why?
"For a country the size of Scotland it would take only 250 students meditating to protect Scotland from its enemies and to bring peace, to stop violence and drug abuse," Lynch said. "That is just a byproduct of the students meditating together."
So, Scotland, a country of over 5 million people, can be protected from all its enemies and problems just by having 250 people practice TM. Right. Meaning that the US could be protected by what, 15,000? Why on earth are we spending so much money to support a huge military then? It's obvious that having people meditate will protect your country from it's enemies - just ask the Dalai Lama how well that worked out for Tibet, or if you can find one who isn't currently in prison (or dead), ask one of the Buddhist monks in Myanmar how successful they were in stopping oppression in that country through prayer and meditation.
Sheesh.
Yeah, yeah, I know...those Buddhists weren't doing it "just right". Because the particular form of incantation/prayer makes all the difference.
Jim Downey
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Get rich scheme?
All I know is that I won tickets to see Donovan here in Boulder a couple of years back. While he sounded alright, my wife and I decided to leave early, after his fourth or fifth shameless plug for his CD box set. It got to be so bad that every time he started to say something between songs, we rolled our eyes and said, 'Here comes more begging to buy his products!'
So I'd be more surprised if this wasn't a fleece.