The Men Who Stare At Goats

When I saw the preview for 'The Men Who Stare At Goats' I had zero desire to see it. I thought the title was terrible and the goat plopping over with George Clooney staring at it was doing very little to reel me in. However I happened upon a podcast where the author of the book-which the movie is only 'loosely' based on- was being interviewed and I was intrigued by the subject matter. I decided to get the book at the library and once I started it I couldn't put it down-a rarity for me with any book.

The Men Who Stare At Goats is about the military's involvement in researching paranormal superpowers. That's right, our government, if you can believe it, wasting money on things that make absolutely no sense. The book details the governments investigation into psychic spies, subliminal mind control and killing animals by staring at them among other things.

Admittedly at times the author, Jon Ronson, I think tried to suggest a connection between these government activities and a host of other things that seemed a little far-fetched even though it made for interesting reading. For example, he writes about how a psychic spy trained by the military began training others and how one of these trainees eventually announced the arrival of a giant object accompanying the comet Hale-Bopp. He suggests this announcement inspired the Heaven's Gate cult mass suicide. He also discussed how Al Quaida is apparently looking into paranormal powers now as well. I hope this latter rumor is true. The more time terrorists spend investigating how to control our minds with silent messages and how to develop the power to harm people by staring at them the less they'll have to learn how to actually do something that might actually hurt someone.

All and all though it was a fun ride, leaving you fascinated at how individuals who have risen to the height of power can still be duped by psychics and paranormal gurus. Though eerily enough it's funny to see yourself asking-I wonder if that could really work? And if, by the way, the subliminal invisible message I wrote in white font between paragraphs is leaving you with an uncontrollable urge to send me loads of cash please let me know-preferably in a letter stuffed with loads of cash;).