"Corporatized - An Alternative To Corporatism & Beyond" short online course @ MLA + more at GEI

I just saw the email for the upcoming Maybe Logic Academy courses - there's another by Douglas Rushkoff called Corporatized - An Alternative To Corporatism & Beyond coming up in January 2009 - scheduled for 6 weeks from January 12 to February 22. his last class "Technologies of Persuasion - From Propaganda to Paranoia" was great - the class was very popular and had a lot of people in it. the first few weeks moved really quickly, by the last few weeks it was running at a slower pace so I could try and catch up. I was doing the The Crazy Wisdom of Philip K. Dick class with Erik Davis at the same time, so I was running behind on the Rushkoff class as the PKD class was so interesting! Fingers crossed there might be another PKD class with Erik Davis too - I asked and they said Maybe! (excuse the pun :)

I think Rushkoff's new class will be really interesting, especially as in the Persuasion class he mentioned his thoughts on the global economy and how we should be using a different 'money' system & alternative currencies. He's written many books, and columns with newspapers such as New York Times & Guardian of London. He now also writes for Arthur Magazine, which I think in some ways has taken over from where Mondo 2000 and previously Reality Hackers magazines started. Arthur No. 29, May 2008 has one of his articles, Riding out the Credit Crisis which I think was very timely considering the state of economic affairs around the globe now with some regions stating they are in a recession. this month's Arthur # 31 - October 2008 has another article by Rushkoff called "No Money Down" (pages 26-27) which is worth a read too - the pdf's are available to download on their site (part A has this article). he also has a forum on his site where some of the discussions can take place & continue from previous (and I'm assuming future) MLA courses, boing boing posts, Arthur articles and his books.

from Riding out the Credit Crisis :
"Whatever the case, the best thing you can do to protect yourself and your interests is to make friends. The more we are willing to do for each other on our own terms and for compensation that doesn’t necessarily involve the until-recently-almighty dollar, the less vulnerable we are to the movements of markets that, quite frankly, have nothing to do with us."

...

"Think small. Buy local. Make friends. Print money. Grow food. Teach children. Learn nutrition. And if you do have money to invest, put it into whatever lets you and your friends do those things."

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upcoming MLA courses from the MLA course page
(some are currently in progress, but you can usually catch up pretty quickly if you start late)

September 8 - October 19
Open Secrets - Robert Anton Wilson's Prometheus Rising - with Eric Wagner
(just finished)

September 22 - November 2
Astrologik - Astrology Without Tears - with Antero Alli
(in progress, his "Angel Tech - The 8-Circuit Brain in Theory and Practice" MLA class earlier this year was really interesting too)

October 6 - November 30
Meta-Magick - Where Magick Meets the Brain / Magick and NLP - with Philip H. Farber
(I meant to do this one but ran out of time)

October 20 - December 14
Crowley Tarot - Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot - with Lon Milo DuQuette
(starting today! his "Initiation - The Western Magical Tradition" class at MLA earlier this year was interesting too - I learnt about Masons and other things I'd heard of but didn't know much about & DuQuette has to be one of the nicest, jovial instructors on the net!)

January 12 - February 22
Corporatized - An Alternative To Corporatism & Beyond - with Douglass Rushkoff

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the MLA email mentioned they also have some classes hosted at a different site : the Growing Edge Institute

list of upcoming online classes from the GEI courses page

October 13 - November 23
INNER COMPASS - with Starhawk
(I did the "Earth As Teacher - Earth As Healer" class with her at MLA earlier this year which was also really good!)

October 27 - December 7
Align Your Life - Magic, Purpose, & Living the Way You Really Want - with T. Thorn Coyle

November 10 - 30
Cthulhu as your Writing Partner - with Don Webb

November 24 - January 25
Pop Culture Magick - An Exploration of 21st Century Mythology - with Taylor Ellwood

February 16 - March 29
Tarot and Psychology - Crossing the Sacred Divide - with Dr. Art Rosengarten

March 2 - April 12
The Magical Power of Language - An Exploration of Linguistic and Semiotic Alchemy - with Taylor Ellwood

"Growing Edge Institute is an innovative online learning institution and community. The Institute features online courses by some our most important and ground-breaking writers, theorists, artists and teachers."

"GEI courses are designed to help individuals broaden their perspectives and perceptions of the world. Our mission is to create a learning and community environment where alternative models, philosophies and methodologies can be discussed and explored at length with the guidance of an 'expert in the field.' If students leave the courses with more questions - and more options - we've done our job."