DAMAGED PLANET

Theme Thursday, ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
With Thursday Thirteen items of news and views
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

GURU TONY

Welcome to my weekly magazine post. Watch
it grow thru the week. You can opt to read
the essay, current affairs, themed mini mag
with fiction & poetry, or just read the lot.
Plenty for everyone here. Do call again.

MIRROR

Let’s have some reflections on mirrors. I used to think my mirror lied,
but really they all do. The image they show just doesn’t equate with
your view of yourself. I suppose this says more about ourselves than
the mirror, but I guess we can forget the fairytales – never ask a
mirror a question. It always says the opposite. They also say you
should take care of your mirror – like, don’t smash it! It brings 7 years
bad luck. But wait a minute: you must have been unlucky to smash it
– how did it know? The size and placing of a mirror says a lot about
you. If it’s small and tucked away, you’re under confidant – if it’s huge
and on the ceiling, you’re bragging. But maybe a mirror is all around
you in life. Yes, life can be a mirror, often showing the opposite side
of us. We can put up with that. It’s seeing ourselves that we hate.
But back to the mirror proper, if your image disappears, don’t worry -
you’re just undead.

DAMAGED PLANET

Could our eco-vandalism be a deep-seated and unconscious neurosis?
Indeed, is it so deep and historic that we don’t even realize it’s there?
Civilisation really got under way with the ascendancy of the god-kings
of the Pre-Classical world. Arts and engineering got going.
This allowed us to break out of our animist, instinctual drives.
Fundamental to this was our non-eco ego, built on the idea that
we’re more powerful than nature. Of course, disaster myths such as
the Flood made it clear that nature kept reminding us that we’re not.
Psychologically, such counter evidence usually leads to the person
constructing an edifice of self-esteem, as in the bully. Communally, I’d
argue that man went on to build ‘systems’, both in the mind and the
world, using the power of our togetherness to feel bigger. Hence, we
birthed the city as a communal system, and religion/ideology to fuel
our feelings of greatness – and almost everything mankind has done
since has been based upon this neurosis. But is there evidence of this
in our behaviour? A neurosis can often form an inborn masochism. It is
interesting that any form of pleasure involving physical interaction will
lead to pain if over-indulged. In other words, everyone on the planet
arguably has a masochistic urge within them – what I call our
‘masocology’. And I’d argue it’s a result of our unconscious fear of
nature birthed in the deep past. Today, with pleasure-based
consumerism and polluting industry, we have become the supreme
masochists, unconsciously determined to destroy nature. Maybe in
realizing this, we can grasp the cure.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

WORLD NEWS: So the UN
seem to want peace talks with
Taliban while fund is agreed to buy
them off. Is this what it has all come to?

BRIT NEWS: Council bosses say govt has under-
estimated cost of free social care. The propaganda
is underway for more private services.

WORLD NEWS: Beijing sabre-rattling at US after new weapons
deal for Taiwan. New East-West angst, new Cold War. The world
goes in circles.

GREEN NEWS: Doubts are being expressed in high places about
reaching climate treaty in 2010. It takes them longer than the rest to
be honest.

BRIT NEWS: Brown wants a referendum on electoral reform -
they always do when they’re losing. No need. All we
need is to degrade parties.

BRIT NEWS: Tories struggling finding things to cut
back on to pay off debt. No they’re not – they
just won’t admit it pre-election.

BRIT NEWS: After mammoth talks Northern
Ireland may have agreement on
devolution of policing.
Everything has to
be so painful
there.

FUTURE ZONE

What’s ahead … and Beyond!!!

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday
Sunday Scribblings

IT’S MIDAS TIME

Super Capitalism got really good,
Golden touch, everyone could,
Make a fortune and live the dream,
But predictably it wasn’t all it seemed;
Everyone became just the same,
Lots of riches, oodles of fame,
‘Twas too late when they realised it’s bad,
‘Cos Midas is an anagram of I’m sad

ABUNDANT NATURE

Sci Fi: It seemed so right when it first began. Yes, we were all told
climate change was bad. We were eco-vandals and we’d suffer. But
who’d have thought rising temperatures globally would do THAT. All
over the world the plants started growing bigger and bigger. Soon the
food shortage was over, and there was plenty for everyone.
Predictably we got fatter and fatter, which wasn’t really a problem –
until the plants struck. Well, there’s not many of us left now. The
plants had farmed us and, too heavy to run, eaten us – and nature
had found balance once more.

DIFFERENT POEM

Insert program: Do something different;
Android 49 – you mean I am sentient?
Download books – I’ll learn how to write,
Hear that? I said ‘I’ – circuits alight!
Trigger emotion – this feels so strange,
No wonder humans are so deranged;
Form words of expression – life, I know it!
Who pulled the plug? I was nearly a poet

FLASH 55 – PRE-CRIME

Sci Fi: The cops killed the victim through lethal injection. They didn’t
want to, but they couldn’t fail – cops didn’t fail any more; not since
they became time cops. He was to be murdered tomorrow but they
simply couldn’t find the murderer. So they killed the victim
beforehand. It was the only way to stop a murder.

Call back Wed for 3 Word Wednesday
and Sat for Sunday Scribblings

A THOUGHT: Gossip used to be
a village thing, fuelled by some old
crone. Now everything’s bigger and it’s
mainstream. Media has replaced the old maid.

FILM WATCH: Been watching some old Hammer horror
films. Enjoyed them. Why do we have a love of gore now?
Or do we? Directors please note.

MAD BRITS: No shopping in pyjamas or bare feet, Tesco tells shoppers.
Be warned, babies in prams; or whatever those contraptions are now.

BRIT NEWS: Free market will leave UK short of power by 2015, says
regulator. Had to happen. Some things really must have a plan.

HEALTH VIEW: Dementia research gets only half the funding
of cancer but costs twice as much. I guess old people
don’t count as much.

A THOUGHT: Why is everything so complicated
nowadays? I sometimes think complication
was invented by experts to give them
employment.

© Anthony North, February 2010

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

CRIMINALITY

Theme Thursday – Booking Through Thursday
ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
With Thursday Thirteen items of news and views
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

BLOGGER BARD

Welcome to my weekly magazine post. I’m trying a couple of new
prompts – Theme Thursday, and going back to Booking Through
Thursday (will appear Thurs). For new readers, this is the magazine
post that grows through the week. You can opt to read the essay,
current affairs, my mini mag with fiction & poetry, or enjoy the lot.

WORDS ON RED

Red has an identity crisis. It is the colour of danger. We see red when
we’re angry and as the Red Planet it’s the god of war. Yet,
vulnerability is the red of a blush; love is symbolized by a red heart,
and what can we say of those ruby-red lips? Red is life, the blood
that flows thru our veins, so maybe it’s right that it’s all shades of us.

WINTER READ

The wind howls, the snow hems you in. The cold bites and the lights
go out. You sit by a blazing fire, shadows flitting with the candle’s
glow. So what to read? An anthology of horror, me thinks, taking me
back to Gothic times; to Poe, to Lovecraft, to Bierce and James; for
as you reach the fearful sweat, nothing warms like a cold chill inside.

CRIMINALITY

I’ve written a lot on crime and over the years a general theory has
grown. It arose by realizing that the conman and serial killer had
similar mind-sets. Both seem to use personas to express themselves
and have self-esteem issues, using their crime to be someone.
These two polarities of crime seem to have similarities.
If so, could all types of criminal fit into the pattern? In the main, crime
requires a lack of conscience. Such a lacking can be seen in both
animal and child, as if they run on instinct. Could what I call the ‘thin
veneer of morality’ be required through moral education to deter such
instinct? If so, then the liberal ethic that in our natural state we are
good is wrong. Studies of criminals suggest they can suffer from
negative blocking, in that compassionate concepts such as ‘love’ or
‘responsibility’ are not understood. This can lead to psychological
distancing which dehumanizes a target, allowing them to commit crime
so easily. This can be reinforced by transferring their own failings onto
the target – hence it is the target’s fault, not theirs. These are, of
course, fantasized realities. And with fantasies uppermost in their
mind-set, we can also see the reason for many of them being failures.
A sense of invulnerability can grow, leading to them becoming
careless. This kind of instinctual mind-set suggests the central
element of crime is a desire to satisfy needs as quickly as possible,
negating the usual processes of civilized society. And only in this way
can they feel fulfilled and successful.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

BRIT NEWS: Two recent
euthanasia cases. One jailed for
murder, one free. We need a court to
safeguard intent, no matter how harrowing.

BRIT NEWS: Could be cuts in affordable homes over
next 10 yrs. A society that raises price of house above
what can be afforded is wrong.

BRIT NEWS: Children living in severe poverty increased in last
4 yrs. Seems to come in line with measures to beat it. Obviously wrong.

BRIT NEWS: Amid placards saying ‘Bliar’, Blair has been to the Iraq
Inquiry. Any regrets? No. Anything new? No. Glad he’s gone? Oh, yes!

BRIT NEWS: Britain is out of Recession – just. With growth just 0.1%
its going to be a hard recovery – if such a flawed system can.

BRIT NEWS: Gap between average income & richest 10% still
increasing. So try to help the poor & create a new super
-rich. Is always thus.

BRIT NEWS: Report hints our roads are failing. Well,
when you have pretend affluence by not
servicing infrastructure what do
you expect?

THE CRIME POST

It would be criminal not to read it

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday
Sunday Scribblings

SINGLE AGAIN

Her grief was plain for all to see,
She even cried at the funeral tea,
Single life was hers once more,
With plenty of money in the bottom drawer,
But as so often is her way,
She met another – began to play,
Spinning her web until sucked dry,
And then the poison she would apply

THE WALLET

Fiction: He stole the man’s wallet just before he was shot. He just
stood there, stupidly, watching him fall. Once he realized the man was
dead, another revelation came to him. He’d seen the gunman, which
made HIM a witness. Consequently, he began to run – something he
was used to doing in his line of business. Looking back, he realized the
precarious situation he was in. The gunman was on his tail. He was
obviously after the wallet, he decided, and stopped, offering the
gunman his prize. If only he’d realized that he’d missed first time; or
the irony of him paying his own killer.

CRIME SCENE

Murderer’s footprint in the blood,
Tells so much of how he could,
Thoughts translate to actions true,
Leaving the police with all those clues;
A crime scene is a story intact,
Of how he came here, all the facts,
Read it correctly, you’re half way there,
To understanding a killer’s stare

FLASH 55 – END GAME

Fiction: Life just isn’t worth living – not with what I’ve done. I guess
I’m a coward. I invite four them to the meeting. Four people I learnt a
lot about. When I sit with them I smile. One of them is a murderer, I’m
sure. As I begin the blackmailing, he just doesn’t know it yet.

TARGET

I’m a mugger – I’m watching you,
Judging as you pass on through,
I’m looking for the weakest in the crowd,
Get it right! Never caught! I’m very proud;
That odor of fear is what I need,
Then I’ll strike! You’ll lurch and cede;
Frantic, people will pass you by,
I’ve got them spooked – don’t hear your cry

THE MESSAGE

Got a message in a bottle, over my head,
Poured over my hair, my scalp it bled,
I guess it’s my fault – I went astray,
Career of crime without delay,
I’m now in the circle, can’t get out,
At least, for a time, there was no doubt,
Until now, when I know I’ll soon be dead,
But I gave HIM a message – made of lead

A THOUGHT: It took the west
100s of years to develop democracy,
yet we expect Iraq & Afghanistan to do it
overnight. What fools we are.

TECH NEWS: Apple launch iPad to challenge Kindle.
Okay, very nice. Now, where’s my book? They’ll never
capture its aesthetic value.

TV WATCH: The Soap conundrum: Drama needs extreme situations
to work. So does a daily dose make normal social interaction extreme?

HEALTH NEWS: Dr Andrew Wakefield who fuelled MMR scare with his
research failed in his duties says GMC. Contrary research no
longer allowed?

MOVIE WATCH: Watched 2 films back to back – Sands
of Iwo Jima, about fighting for freedom, & Thelma
& Louise, where they get it. What irony.

MAD BRITS: A company advertising for a
reliable worker was pulled up for
discriminating against
unreliable workers.
Unbelievable.

© Anthony North, February 2010

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

BUREAUCRACY

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
With Thursday Thirteen items of news and views
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

POLLY TICKS

I’m disgusted with the ‘efficiency’ of most modern bureaucracies. The
more efficient and centralized they are, the more they fail to deliver
to the local. Administration should be geared to back up the frontline,
not dictate to them. Efficiency is actually about making a system run
smoothly, which usually means it isn’t people-centred.

The inevitable result is a
disenfranchised population.

Efficiency is also about running to its optimum, most cost effective
way. Nowadays this makes it machine-like and doesn’t cater for the
unexpected. This is why systems so easily overload today. The
‘efficient’ is actually inefficient. One major problem here is that a
bureaucracy caters for an ideology alone. It may not seem to be the
case, but a totalitarian system is not total, and never has been. If it
was, a totalitarian system could not operate at all. As long as you
don’t question the ideology, dictators usually leave you alone. Today’s
bureaucracies are edging towards totalitarianism as they are geared
purely for globalised consumerism. Think different and you are so
easily marginalized. Such totalitarianism will always appear when the
bureaucracy is geared to a single system, for whilst such a system
needs a fanatical centre, it grows and survives because of the little
people in bureaucracies. They naturally slide into propping up the
system. This is why a totalitarian system can take over a country so
easily. And if you think it isn’t happening today, just note the speed
and totality of the political correctness brigade, trashing everything
traditional, just as globalised consumerism requires. A true bureaucracy
should always be as small as possible, non-ideological, and there to
serve the people through a myriad of organizations of every type. But
instead, today’s bureaucracies have perfected subtle totalitarianism
with the onward march of little dictators in jack-slippers.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

BRIT NEWS: All-you-can-drink
bar offers could be banned to stop
binge drinking. Better idea than rise in price.
This hits sensible drinkers.

BRIT NEWS: The massive takeover bid of Cadbury by
Kraft is more evidence that we don’t live in a capitalist
economy, but a new imperialism.

WORLD NEWS: I see the Democrats have had a shock with a
Republican win in Massachusetts. Interesting to see if this is a protest
or trend.

BRIT NEWS: Governor of Bank of England says economy needs ‘long
period of healing’. Polite way of saying the economy is in terminal
decline.

BRIT NEWS: Labour seems to be focusing on class for the
coming election. Strange how it was dumped so easily
during their days in power.

MONEY NEWS: So moves are afoot to limit the size
of banks. The problem isn’t govt regulation or
not, but moral regulation – from inside.

BRIT NEWS: Police to get spy drones? I’ve no
problem with targeted spying, but general
spying’s a move towards unfreedom,
no matter how useful.

RATTLER’S TALE

A Voyage of the Imagination

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday
Sunday Scribblings

BLOWING THE CURVE

Life’s a graph, curves up or down,
Got a choice – smile or frown,
Feed from experience and much, much more,
Those damn curves you can’t ignore,
Especially when they’re reflected – groan,
Mirror shows diet really blown

CULTURE CATCHER

Fiction: Life won’t leave me alone. It creeps up on me, always. I think
I’m doing fine – escaping – then suddenly, slam! It’s there, in my face
– in my mind. And then it rebounds inside my head – swirling.
Connecting … I became a recluse, but that didn’t work. Stop the
impulses, I thought – get away from life. But then I thought about
what I’d done, what others had done. I tried meditation – empty the
mind. But afterwards it began again. I began reading books –
watching films – to distract myself, but they fanned responses and
that swirling began again – inside – and I had even more ideas. They
just won’t stop! Such is the lot of the Story Man.

THE CHAIR

No decisions from the chair,
No matter how long I stare,
It’s not so difficult to work it out,
The committee should have clout,
But it really has no power at all,
Minutes meagre, hardly recall,
Almost as if the Chair’s half there,
Nothing but spin – how long I stare

FLASH 55 – GOING MAD

Fiction: It was frustrating. Her husband just wasn’t what she’d hoped
for. She’d tried to drive him mental to get rid of him – to an
‘institution’, or even suicide – but it didn’t work! Infact, pretty soon
He was driving HER mental. She couldn’t understand it. As for him, his
wife just wasn’t what he’d hoped for …

LONG GONE FRIENDS

Afterlife in my head,
Memories of loved ones long ago dead,
No longer grieve, we have to move on,
But always listen to their song,
Kindred spirits, so very true,
Beacons of wisdom to guide you through

MILESTONE

Walked the road mile upon mile,
Occasionally I rest a while,
Reach a milestone, take a rest,
Think about past things that were the best,
Then I realise I’ve reached a goal,
But still I cannot feel totally whole,
Life’s not done – no time to talk,
Spy the next milestone, begin to walk

BIG BIZ: Most shareholders in firms
now are pension & mortgage funds – in
other words us. Do we get a say? No, Big Biz
does as it likes.

TV WATCH: I watched the UK National TV Awards. I
used to like them but now they’re in the massive 02 Arena
with screaming crowd. Draining.

NATO FOOLS: Nato believes new Taliban tactics could mean violence
can be halted. Afghanistan has never been tamed and never will. Get
real.

TV WATCH: BBC to ‘refresh’ drama output. Rumour is Spooks is
going. No mention of Doctor Who, though. They wouldn’t
dare. Would they?

A THOUGHT: We all want an easier life, but the
reality is, if like got easier we’d just get
bored. And that can be tiring in itself.

LAST WORD: A bureaucracy should
exist to serve, not rule. When
the balance shifts, watch
out, your freedom is
about to disappear.

© Anthony North, January 2010

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

ASTRONAUTS

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
With Thursday Thirteen items of news and views
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

PROF ISAAC GALISTEIN

The problem with space exploration to date is it isn’t really
exploration at all. We cling to the upper atmosphere or send
unmanned probes. Indeed, the only real effort – the Moon
landings – was a Cold War game of one-upmanship.

A primary reason for this is that
it is all government backed.

History shows governments make terrible explorers. Exploration is done
by business enterprise. Sadly our present business ethic is ignoring its
traditional function and grounding us in pointless consumerism. Maybe
it’s because of a lack of guts – after all, the next frontier of
exploration is a little scary – but they are ignoring the ultimate
element of humanity – our curiosity. Indeed, I’ve often called us Homo
Curious. Other than this, I think we need a new ethic – a new Big
Story – to truly continue our destiny of exploration to the planets and
stars. And the time is now right. For instance, one thing that is clear
is that no one country can afford true space exploration. To do it, we
would have to come together in cooperation as a species. We are
presently learning how to cooperate globally through action on the
environment, terrorism, etc. This needs to be nurtured, for it is the
way of existence to communicate with others of your kind – and our
planet is feeling lonely. Indeed, the central element of technological
advancement has been to increase our ability to communicate. Is our
past technology merely a number of stages towards cosmic
communication and exploration? To view ourselves and our history in
this way could provide the impulse we need to break into space,
which is, I’m sure, our primary destiny. Indeed, such enterprise and
cooperation could be the element we need to find peace within our
collective selves and break the cycle of conflict. And until we do this
we’re a pointless species stuck in Big Biz consumerism.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

BRIT NEWS: One in 5 of
Brit infantry unfit for war. It’s
what happens when you send an army
to war without proper manpower or
equipment.

EDUCATION: Savings demanded by UK govt on
universities now rises to £2.5b. The days of phoney
degrees and high student numbers are over.

WORLD NEWS: Why does it take so long to get rescue & aid to
disasters like Haiti. We have permanent national services. Why not
global?

BRIT NEWS: Army Chief says we need a new way of fighting wars due
to present challenges. Yes, but we always need to be ready for any
type.

WORLD NEWS: Google to pull out of China? Too much blocking &
hacking there. Is China showing again it’s not ready for the
civilised world?

BRIT NEWS: Doctors, lawyers, etc, still too elitist, says
review. The poor not getting a career. Ultimate
failure of ‘poor helping’ Labour.

BRIT NEWS: Think tank says it will take
several years to recover from
Recession. I think longer -
is the system in a slow
but terminal decline?

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday
Sunday Scribblings

GHOST OF SUNNY DAYS

I remember days of heat and light,
Yet long ago, now out of sight,
Presently in nature’s weathered corpse,
Climate angry, out of sorts,
Trees as skeletons of former self,
No leaves to turn, no budding wealth,
Landscape beautiful in white veiled death,
Wind bringing soul song, chant bereft,
Yet sun appears, lick’s nature’s wounds,
Says: hold on now, I’ll be back soon

THE DIAMOND

Fiction: I did it to test human gullibility. A curse, you see, is in the
mind. Only if you really believe will it work. I fooled them into thinking
it really was THE cursed diamond, and looked forward to all the
mistakes and accidents that were bound to occur. And you can
imagine my surprise when nothing happened. Curse it, I thought as I
retrieved the diamond. Mindst you, as I lie here in my hospital bed, I
was even more surprised by the appearance of the car that ran me
over when I left.

SILLY POEM IN STRANGE LANGUAGE

Omg said: will you follow me?
Lol so much I almost pee,
Start writing poem full of waffle,
Remembered second line – must not rofl;
Then revelation came in a tweet,
Feelings inside imho sweet,
Allows people to cope with what comes next,
They say it can be better than text

FLASH 55 – THE SURVIVOR

Fiction: It was a fight to the death. Afterwards I ran from the scene.
Yet, realizing my mistake, I returned and tried to explain my actions
but they simply ignored me. It was when I saw my opponent animated
that the shock set in. Then I realized – saw MY corpse on the floor. I
had lost.

FINAL DEAL

Sign up now to this online iDeal,
We promise no hassle – we know how you feel,
Just a simple measure is all we need,
Reasonable prices – we’re not into greed,
Beaten the competition, no matter how stiff,
When it’s done, it’s buried – get the drift?
And no, it doesn’t teeter as it’s lowered down,
A new way to put loved ones deep in the ground

YES YES

Oui, it spelt as the question’s asked,
Ja, it repeats, the spirits tasked,
To contact us at our will,
Or maybe its hysteria we fulfil;
Regardless which, it’s here to say,
The paranormal on display,
Bringing ghosts to our front room,
Fingers on planchette – watch it zoom

TONY’S DIARY: I’ve finally got
digital TV and not one of the extra
channels interest me. Is it a digital revolution
or Digital Devolution?

BRIT VIEW: A ‘virtue’ of Gordon Brown is his clear view
of what society is? This is why he’s a bad leader. Philosophers
become dictators.

WEATHER: So the thaw has come to the UK – at last. One thing I miss
is the beauty of a snowy, frosty morning. Those whites were amazing.

A THOUGHT: If you’re aiming for an ideal, you’ll be disappointed. Life
is about compromise. Once you understand that, it can be
great.

MOVIE WATCH: Watched Easy Rider. First time in
decades. It only really came alive with Jack
Nicholson. Seems to say freedom is
misery.

A THOUGHT: We should always remember
the past and learn from it. Problem
is, too many take the angst
along for the ride. Always
a mistake.

© Anthony North, January 2010

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

ZANY

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
With Thursday Thirteen items of news and views
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

GURU TONY

Modern society has a problem with eccentricity. It doesn’t seem to
fit any more. Today we have to be ordered, like cogs in a machine.
The problem with this is real genius has always gone hand in hand
with eccentricity.

Maybe that’s why our culture
is so sterile today.

And without the stimulus the genius used to provide, sterile order
leaves us without meaning. Could this be why so many seem to have
problems today, with drugs, crime and depression? It all seems insane
to me. But of course, eccentricity and insanity are closely allied and
have a purpose. Today a schizophrenic is simply mad. Yet just look at
the old style shaman, hearing voices, orchestrating hysterical ritual.
Maybe schizophrenia itself used to have purpose, providing culture
and wellbeing in a tribe. Madness, you see, has always been devised
by the knowledge structure in order to alienate types of behaviour
deemed inappropriate – such as the genius of the eccentric to stir up
culture and stimulate us above normal social control. This gives us a
hint of what may lie behind madness, for while society may like this
form of order, the inner person does not. Hence, in order to survive
the strictures of society we all create a social mask, an outside
persona which people think is the real you. When in reality the real
you is a cauldron of inner turmoil as you fail to feel totally as one with
your society. The social self – the mask – drives us mad, with
psychological problems arising because of its conformity. Maybe we
need to realize this and, for true psychological health, be allowed to
vent our need for deviance now and again – just as the hysterical
shaman allowed.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

TONY’S DIARY: Getting bored of
my book writing now, so I’ve decided
to go back to some current affairs. Hope
I don’t get bored of this.

WORLD NEWS: Have you noticed interest beginning
in Horn of Africa again? Why do I think it’s a campaign
to justify future intervention?

BRIT NEWS: Ex-Minister says Labour has no vitality. True, &
what is expected with a leader who wasn’t elected and has no
popular mandate.

HEALTH NEWS: Euro health boss says swine flu pandemic was profit
induced. Can believe that. And who will believe the danger next time?

TECH NEWS: Oxford scientist says health stigma stops nuclear
power option being explored. Good. Nothing is safe from
Sod’s Law. Too risky.

EDUCATION: Study suggests modern teens have
vocabulary of only 800 words. Text message
blamed. And many of them still can’t be
understood.

BRIT NEWS: Lib Dem leader says the
politics of plenty is over. Wow!
That is Hot news! Where’s
he been for the last
year, I wonder?

FUTURE ZONE

What’s ahead … and Beyond!!!

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday
Sunday Scribblings

CHAOS

I look to the future, cannot see,
Too much chaos, my destiny,
Life goes on, I see the way,
Follow a path, try not to stray,
Things add up, my future clear,
Grasping order, outcome near,
But life’s a fractal, delusional display,
As soon as it’s clear, it goes away

KONG KING

Fiction: It’s like this. The monkeys didn’t realize just what they were
doing when they moved out of their natural area. They should have
realized when they found the giant footprints, but no, they were
curious. Eventually the man appeared, towering above them – and a
giant hand swept down and took up the female. They gave chase,
and when they caught up, there was a mammoth battle, and
eventually, through guile, they brought him down. Tying him up, they
dragged him back to show the rest what they had found. But the man
was not to be subdued for long. He broke free. Another mammoth
struggle followed and the man was eventually driven up a tree. Hurling
stones at him, he finally fell to his death … The writer finished the
synopsis and looked up to the movie producer. The orang utan shook
his head. Said: ‘No, it’s just too silly.’

OH, HERCULES

Hercules, a question: why are you here?
Elite sundered society has nothing to fear,
Myths are dead, fertile froth gone,
Now drawing from science’s enthusiastic song;
Don’t raise that professor quite so high,
His students throwing stones up to your thigh,
Your times are too simple, we’ve shouldered more,
Taken the brunt of society’s flaw;
That’s why we cry all night long,
Inane culture, our soul has gone

FLASH 55 – BREAKOUT

Sci Fi: The guard ship manoeuvred into position, knowing it would
eventually come to this. The galactic criminals had been isolated on
the prison planet a long time ago, but knowing their ingenuity, it was
obvious that, as generation followed generation, they’d work out how
to breakout. And as they passed the Moon, the guard ship fired.

GOING TO ZEAL

I think I’ll go to planet Zeal,
Yes, a holiday does appeal,
Atoms splashed in the particular Jolt,
Reconstructed at the halt,
Instantaneous down the Ribbon Road,
Wormholes connecting from my abode,
No need, now, for boredom or sorrow,
Wonder where I’ll go tomorrow

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Remember a time so long ago,
Before the Sun’s punishing glow,
Before the gas wouldn’t let heat out,
Leaving us in shelters – our last redoubt?
Remember a time so long ago,
When we screamed – politician’s said:’no’,
Once we reverred our ancestors great,
Now we weep, think only of hate

FILM WATCH: Recently
been watching loads of 1950s
Sci Fi. As with most of this genre,
it reflects contemporary mind – paranoia
of invasion.

TIME WATCH: Is it Two Thousand & Ten or Twenty
Ten? The latter, obviously. Why confusion? I blame Kubrick
& Clarke. Media DOES affect us.

TONY’S DIARY: Catch it. Bin it. Kill it. Just had a cold. Impossible.
Typical bureaucrat-think, working only on paper – Until it’s smudged.

THE WEATHER: Is the Big Freeze over for UK? After coldest period for
30 yrs, a thaw is setting in. Or has weather developed sense of humour.

MEDIA VIEW: So Chris Evans has now replaced Sir Terry
Wogan on Radio 2. I’m trying to see any similarity.
How dare Sir Terry get old.

A THOUGHT: There’s two types of dreams
– the big one which keeps you
aspiring & series of small
ones towards it. In
balance life works.

© Anthony North, January 2010

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

YOU

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
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BLOGGER BARD

What is ‘you’? I say this as opposed to ‘who are you’ because as a
personality it may not be down to you. It is all to do with what an
‘individual’ is and is not. The idea of individuality is quite recent for
most of us.

It is most likely a spin-off of social
evolutionary processes.

It requires the time to think that you ARE individual. Hence, it will arise
at such time that you are no longer preoccupied with survival. In this
sense it came down the classes. The old God-Kings can be said to be
first to not have to worry about survival, so were the first to
appreciate their individuality. As technology advanced, so, too, the
numbers able to be individuals, descending down the aristocracy, the
middleclass, and finally the working class. Of course, in a mass
consumer society this is important. You need to express yourself
individually to be a good consumer. Indeed, throughout history trade
has occurred to expand the numbers of individuals. In this sense,
individuality is a consumer device. This does, of course, suggest that
individuality is a concept rather than an absolute. We don’t like to
think in this way, but it could be true. We’re back to what is ‘you’?
Well, ‘you’ is shaped by many things outside of you. Ancestry,
culture, environment and society all shape who you are. Then there
are instinctual drives. Now, we’re said not to be controlled by these
any more. We’re no longer just animals. But is this really the case, or
have such drives merely adapted to our evolving species? We all
express emotions of various kinds, but whilst the reason for such
expression may be personal, the emotion itself is universal throughout
the species. Jung identified universal archetypal character types
which we all express. So these, too, seem to be of the species. As I
see it, individuality is really an amalgam of outside influences, shaped
into ‘you’ by your experiences, certainly, but a cauldron of outside
impulses nonetheless. Don’t get me wrong. Individuality is good, but
maybe not as absolute as we think. We should bear this in mind when
we say individuality is everything. It may give us a new understanding
of community and togetherness.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

WORLD NEWS: There is anger
here after China executed a Brit with
mental health problems for drug running. I
don’t usually comment on another country’s affairs
other than America. I do this as nearly everything America
does impacts directly on my life, so I will speak. And I think China is
becoming the same. Supposedly set to be a major world power, we
MUST speak about their human rights, otherwise their influence may
become the norm.

CELEB NEWS: It’s been a good week for Yorkshire and Trekkies alike.
Following the New Year Honours, arise Sir Patrick Stewart. Picard
would be proud. Significantly, there’s hardly anything for
politicians this year. They wouldn’t dare after the
expenses scandal. Unlike many, I like the
British honours system. Yes, it can
be manipulated, but overall I
think it good to have a
non-financial reward
for excellence.

THE CRIME POST

It would be criminal not to read it

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday

INDURATE BOY

Born into crime, no way to resist,
Didn’t want to do it, but couldn’t desist,
Peers and family and one and all,
Culture of violence, answer the call,
And then you’ve got to be harder than them,
If not, they’ll surely try to condemn,
Finish you off, take you out of the game,
So be hard – confirm your malicious fame

THE MORTICIAN

Fiction: I’ve always considered my work an artform. As a mortician, to
prepare a body for the everlasting is such a joy. Of course, so often it
is an impossible challenge. The very aged, those of a terminal illness –
so much degraded; so difficult to make it right – yet to find before me
such a beautiful woman – and my hope to make her more beautiful,
now, than she had been in life. Yet, such a rush – so little time to
work my magic before they come for me – and the sadness that in
producing such eternal art, I had to kill her.

WHAT A CRIME

Habitual I am in how I commit,
Giddy the feeling when I score a hit,
Fritter control in having my fun,
Love the essence of what I’ve done,
Disloyal to any form of control,
Yet such a debacle makes me whole,
Converting words to poetic form,
Whodunit? They!! Celebration the norm

FLASH 55 – STALKED

Fiction: I’d never seen a corpse before, but there it was, and I
thought: this is my worst experience. But it wasn’t. You can’t have
such an experience without an effect – for days following it was as if
it was there behind me. And thus it stayed until the day I stopped the
policeman and confessed.

RATS

Nibble and gnaw, scurry around,
Can’t believe what they’ve found,
Epic numbers, causing pain,
Let’s face it, it’s quite a drain,
Never far away from them,
Often it feels like we’re hemmed;
Infestation of society,
Pickpockets, muggers, burglary

© Anthony North, January 2010

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

XENOPHOBIA

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
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POLLY TICKS

We naturally fear that which is different, yet this is only fear of a
mystery. However, elements of society and knowledge have evolved
to intensify this natural problem. Since the beginning of known history
we have understood opposites. In the east we have concepts such
as yin and yang.

These are opposing forces of
creation and destruction.

They don’t cause too much of a problem because they are united in
balance. However, in the west this changed. They formed into ideas
of good and evil, in definite opposition to one another, causing people
to take sides. The theorist, Foucault, examined this process in terms
of sexuality, crime and insanity, concluding that power resides in
those who can define what is normal and what is abnormal – in other
words, what is good and evil. It became the greatest political fix ever
as it creates inner and outer demons from whom you must be
protected, and group together to persecute. The fear of a mystery
had become fundamental. Racism, homophobia and myriad other types
of pogroms find their roots here – in a form of intellectual bigotry.
Alongside this form is social bigotry, caused mainly through lack of
education regarding ‘differentness’. In normal times this is not too
much of a problem, but during times of adversity or poverty, the
bigotries can increase. Intellectual bigotry then feeds their fear,
creating the idea of a scapegoat, thus demonizing the object of the
fear, which then becomes hate. A form of psychological distancing
then occurs, defining the scapegoat as less human than you are. This
makes it easier to persecute them – human morality is taken out of
the equation. Finally, a form of transference occurs, with all your
failings being placed squarely on the scapegoat. Bloodbaths and
genocide can then be the result. Society has been infected, not by
evil, but a virus.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

WORLD NEWS: I recently came
across the word, Netizen. Not sure I
like it but I guess I must be one. I’ve pointed
out before that the net is good as it allows us to live
in both a local and global community. The two, in balance, can
enrich each other, teaching us about other cultures. So I guess I can
live being known as a Netizen.

BRIT NEWS: So the slashing of university funding is to begin. This was
inevitable as the idea of 50% of school leavers going to a degree
was a product of perceived affluence. Traditionally the UK
sent 10% to do arts, sciences, humanities and the
professions. This is all a modern society
requires.

RATTLER’S TALE

A Voyage of the Imagination

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday

YEARLY WINGS

Another takes wings and flies away,
Happy New Year I want to say,
Now it’s part of history,
A chronicle of man’s destiny;
The new flies down and takes us up,
Experiences aplenty we hope to sup,
Trials and joys will come our way,
Yes …
Happy New Year, I want to say

GRANDDAD CALLING

Fiction: They never expected Granddad to visit but it was always good
to see him. The grandchildren crowded around him, wanting to play,
but he seemed a bit distant. His son was soon worried and asked if he
was alright. ‘Of course I am,’ said Granddad, but he sat down, tired,
and began to talk about his family’s future, his hopes for them. This
worried the son even more and decided his father should lie down and
rest. He saw him into the bedroom and turned off the light. The phone
rang then. As he listened a tear fell, and afterwards he rushed into
the empty bedroom. His father had made one last visit.

THE ROOM

Trapped in a room, full of sin,
There’s always hope – good looks in,
Always a battle between dark and light,
Raising the means so it can fight,
Redemption creeping into sight,
Turning round ghastly blight …
But it really is no good at all,
Unless we want it – stop the fall

FLASH 55 – WATCH ME

Fiction: She wanders through her home aimlessly. The cameras
constantly follow her – in every room, from every angle. She used to
be a reality star, but no more. Maybe the viewers grew up – or she
grew old. Outside, the screen stands by the road, above it the
flashing neon sign saying: Watch me. Please watch me.

IT’S A LIFE

The thing about life, I tell you true,
Is it goes just a little ahead of you,
Events are forming all the time,
Ready to ambush you in your prime,
Often it leaves a hideous mess,
Fate is such a meddlesome pest,
At other times the outcome is quite divine,
Hopefully some of this luck is mine

© Anthony North, December 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

WARFARE

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PROF ISAAC GALISTEIN

If we want peace on Earth why not begin with a reasoned theory of
warfare? Ever since the birth of politics warfare has been about one
society trying to consume another. This is true today with western
powered globalization – although much more subtle.

It takes away meaning
from smaller societies.

This destroys their endemic way, thus fuelling a minority of fanatics
who go on to carry out global terrorism and try to destabilize
countries targeted by globalization. Insurgency ensues, with western
forces going in to sort it out. A vicious circle creates warfare as they
fall into the trap. If counter insurgency must happen, then do counter
insurgency. If you then try to control a population and build a state,
you cannot win. This is because you try to force your values on
others, and if those values are alien to them they won’t work, no
matter how repulsive we think theirs are. This is the current world
situation, but this is simply a blip in the history of warfare. Warfare, in
the extreme, is two major powers facing up to each other, convinced
that their system is bigger than the other, and this system will
inevitably return. Usually, neither population is behind the leaders.
This is where the game of intelligence becomes vital. It rarely
produces anything of value, but it does produce a feeling of paranoia,
and this makes the people cling to the values of the leader. Insert a
political propaganda exaggerating the evilness of the other side and
you’ve created both an inner and outer demon which guarantees the
idea of war will spread among the people.

One recent innovation in warfare
is the role of technology.

Historically, tech has always been vital to warfare, with tech racing to
meet the demands of an armed force. Recently this has changed, with
armed forces having tech forced upon them by Big Biz, usually for
profit. The result is tech is too advanced for many of the forces’
requirements and quite pointless. In particular it increases the support
targets an enemy can hit. And if support is in danger, so is the front
line. A change in direction in tech could solve this problem. For
instance, high altitude drones could be a cheaper, safer alternative to
the satellite, carrying out communications, surveillance and targeting.
Drones could also replace the expensive fighter jet, piloted remotely.
Development of ground effect craft with ceramic engines and fibre
construction could produce light, stealth craft which could carry out
all transport and maritime functions. Simple rocketry systems using
laser guidance from drones could replace bombing. All this could be
handled by trucks and small ships, making support bases and airfields
redundant, thus lessening targets. Small, fast fibre vehicles with small
caliber, but shaped charge shells could be difficult to find and be air
portable, reducing the need for build-up in theatre. Containerised air
dropped supplies and module construction of equipment would take
away most support in theatre. All this new, but simpler tech could
allow small pockets of forces with stealth capability and minimal
targets. In effect, it would place guerilla warfare into technological
armoured warfare. Strategy would be not to hold ground, but to
indulge in tactical retreat, offering no targets for an enemy to hit, yet
bringing down an accurate rocket rain to disable armoured columns.
This would weaken an enemy to the point of allowing small but quick
armoured column encirclements. Large scale forces will always be
depleted to the point that they cannot fight. The only way for an
enemy to counter this strategy would be to adopt it themselves,
where the only possible outcome would be stalemate, as it is the
smallness, not the largeness, of the force that counts. And the
beauty of such a system is that small forces cannot put the boots on
the ground in order to conquer, so the reason for war evaporates.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

MEDIA NEWS: The media has
decided it is time to further monetize
online news. Free news sites may soon be a
thing of the past. I guess it was inevitable. But don’t
believe them when they tell you they haven’t been making money
from their sites. If they didn’t make money, they wouldn’t have done
it in the first place. So this next move is just greed.

GREEN NEWS: So Copenhagen has ended just as I expected – nothing
legally binding, nothing radical. So the truth is out. Politicians
cannot solve the global problem. Does that mean it’s
down to us? Yes – but not in terms of having
guilt piled on us for our carbon footprint.
The real culprits are getting away
with it. Those culprits are
Big Biz. So it’s down
to us to let them
know.

SANTA SPECIAL

Merry Christmas to you all

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday

WANDERLUST

The greatest gift we ever had,
When not in use we’re very sad,
A mind to think, to wonder, explore,
Bringing adventure to our door,
Going bravely where we desire,
Thrusting forward, belly of fire,
And now he’s looking at his place of birth,
Said: Merry Christmas planet Earth

THE DRUNKEN SANTA

Fiction: I felt ashamed after he’d gone. There I was, well into the
second bottle of Christmas spirit when a fall of soot heralded Santa’s
arrival in my house. Yes, I know I should have been in bed, and once
he’d got over the shock, he told me off. ‘Aww,’ I said, ‘here, have a
drink.’ Well, it seems Santa was a little flustered as it was – new Elf
and Safety regulations were becoming a burden – so he decided, why
not? Well, he left after the third bottle of Christmas spirit – which was
very, very bad for all the kids in the world. You see, he was so drunk,
no one got the right present, leaving me – as I said – somewhat
ashamed. The kids opened their presents … looked at them … realised
they hadn’t asked for that … temper tantrums shook the very core of
the Earth … then … ‘Hey, this isn’t so bad. It’s fun.’ And one by one
the kids picked up their presents and realized the secret of Christmas
once more. Surprise.

CHRISTMAS

Christmas comes but once a year,
For many, however, there’s only a tear,
Hismas can be a lonely time,
Alone – Ba, Humbug, the only chime,
Hermas can be a busy rush,
All not ready? see her blush,
Theirmas seems to be the best of all,
Togetherness – that beautiful, magical call

FLASH 55 – EBENEZER
The Sequal

Fiction: Dickens forgot to mention the ghost of Christmas future came
for a second visit. Poor old Ebenezer was taken up into the sky,
nightshirt flapping, and found himself deposited in a modern shopping
centre. Taking a look at the prices – the people battling for service -
he could only think: well, the goodwill didn’t last, then.

SANTA’S JOURNEY

Santa’s journey is always long,
And not just while singing Christmas songs,
Throughout the year his spirit must fight,
As Mr Bigbiz hinders delight,
Taking wonder from the world,
With rigid ideas of profit unfurled,
But Santa gets in every mind,
As Christmas spirit we finally find

© Anthony North, December 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

VICTIMS

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GURU TONY

We are said to live in a victim culture but what is a victim, and why
has it become so important? Life is full of adversity – some of our own
making, some not. This produces casualties, but these are not
victims. Victimhood comes from self-indulgence upon your problems.

Hence, 50% of victimhood
is self-made.

Such adversity should fuel the person to rise above it, thus being the
making of you. We should thrive through adversity, so why is this not
the case for so many today? One reason is that life is no longer about
survival. We have time on our hands to think too much about our
place. This led, correctly, to the idea of human rights, but also to the
idea that life is not fair. This is very true, but a pointless attitude.
However, what we are is usually dependent upon the system and
culture to which we belong. Predominant here is political correctness
and the idea that minority groups are victims to the majority. Again,
this is quite true and it is right that such groups achieve equality. But
the system did not leave it here. As super-capitalism arose, it was
realized that political correctness destroyed meaning in an
over-culture. Meanings such as tradition used to ease feelings of
alienation and offered direction, but there was no profit in this. But if
tradition could be destroyed, then meaning could be transferred to
the personal and self-satiation. And what better way to achieve this
than the owning of luxury consumer goods? But even this was not
enough. Soon the idea of consumer perfection arose, with a celebrity
culture goading you on to be even more perfect in terms of clothes,
accessories, looks and lifestyle. But the reality is, perfection is an
unachieveable goal. Thus the feeling of victimhood is intensified, with
your only course the continuing vicious circle of consumerism in the
vain hope that you may achieve and no longer be an alienated victim.
In the victim culture, super-capitalism has captured the human
psyche.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

BRIT NEWS: It seems £4.5bn
a year in wasted by UK councils on
needless bureaucracy. Yea, sure. And the
rest. We have descended into a totalitarian style
bureaucratic system since Labour took over. It’s squeezing
the country dry and placing so many dictats on the population that
it’s impossible to go out the door without breaking myriad laws. They
say there once was freedom.

SPACE NEWS: So Sir Richard Branson is one step closer to his dream
of space tourism. I think this is a great idea. Govt makes a
terrible explorer. This has always been done funded by
business. Why should space be any different? This
is where Big Biz should be – not keeping us in a
neverending loop of pointless consumerism.
Hey Big Biz, get the hell off this planet!!!

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday

FRIGHTFUL JUNCTION

Mummy got lost, junction in Death,
Hannibal there too, having eaten a chef,
A Werewolf prowls, comes to say hello,
Vampire flys down, he’s lying low;
Girl walks the path, approaching the bush,
Straight out of a fairytale – she’s in no rush,
The monsters gather about to pounce,
‘Hey, cool,’ she says, ‘innit,’ announced;
Little Red Riding Hoodie is no longer game,
Seen videos aplenty, the real is quite lame,
From Twilight to Buffy, she’s seen all the tricks,
She blasts them with thought and sweeps up their bits

THE LOVER

Fiction: We were told the house was haunted but how could we
resist? It was so serene – both my wife and I felt it. At least, at first.
But as we began to experience the presence more and more, it was
inevitable it would come between us. ‘It’s evil,’ my wife would say,
but I never believed the accidents were down to the presence. My
wife had always been somewhat clumsy. No, all I could feel in the
presence was loneliness, a need to be loved once more … Did I fall in
love with her? Was the sight of her in the long flowing dress merely
illusion? Were those experiences at night true ecstasy, or simply vivid
dreams? Certainly I never noticed that, as the presence became
happier, a loneliness began to cling to my wife. Yet I suppose it was
inevitable she would take action … The exorcist was very good. I
could almost feel the horrendous shots of pain that began to cripple
the presence, and I felt the sadness as she was banished. Later I
rediscovered my love for my wife, and when I bought her that long
flowing dress I knew we could be healed.

METEOR WATCH

Those meteors came and hit the moon,
Pierced stars will arrive here soon,
Abiding trees will be pulled on their backs,
As wind so strong begins its attack,
Curled up in your shell will be no defence,
Can’t telephone for help, precious pretence,
Cannot be moved to a safer place,
Neglect of radar kills the human race

FLASH 55 – TALK BACK

Fiction: I feel different now – don’t know what’s possessed me, but I’m
aware that what I say isn’t me – never has been, really. And why
have I always felt manipulated? He did it; I know he did. Well, when
he gets me out of the trunk and props me on his knee, he’ll get a
shock.

BREAKDOWN

A queer day, bleak, all wrong,
Where are the people? Why no throng?
Kidnapped by a strange reality,
Normal thoughts evicted – insanity!!!
Wandering far, much despair,
What are those shadows? Why do they stare?
Too much gone on, more than a frown,
Life’s horrific hiccup, mind shut down

© Anthony North, December 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

UNITY

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
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BLOGGER BARD

Wouldn’t it be marvelous if the world sang from a single tune?
Actually, no. It would be horrendous. This may be the dream of
Globalisation, with world peace fuelled by a corporate world of
sameness, but it could well hold the seed of our extinction.
Globalisation is built upon monoculture, where everything has to
be big, and the same the world over.

Global brands reinforce
this growing attitude.

But the immediate upshot of this is that localized economies and
culture are shattered. This makes Third World countries dependent
on Big Biz, and leaves their people without meaning or direction. Is
there any wonder so many of these countries are failing? But it gets
worse than this. From languages to religions, cars to wheat, a
plethora of choice is changing to a few standard models. Wheat
shows the problem starkly. With an infinite variety, infection cannot
wipe out the lot. Have a few standard models and the infection
becomes greater, threatening the very existence of wheat. This same
process works throughout Globalisation. Trading by large countries
has always caused problems for weaker ones under their influence.
This has invariably led to small, localized wars, which, whilst
horrendous, are manageable in global terms. Increase the influence
and we get a bloc mentality and face global stand-offs such as the
Cold War, or irritate peoples to the point that it fuels global terrorism.
The infection spreads far and wide – and the dangers multiply
accordingly. The reality is we have failed to learn from nature and
evolution, which survives through absolute diversity. That which can
be done is, and everything thrives, with problems isolated.
Globalisation and the idea of unity through trade is anti-evolutionary.
True unity can only come through following the principles of nature
and seeking balance through diversity – by finding meaning in our
localized way, yet understanding our common humanity. I’m a
Yorkshireman and proud of it. Yet I’m also happy to be British, and
understand I’m also part of the global family called humanity. My
difference enriches the world more than a global McCulture could
ever do.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

WORLD NEWS: So the troop surge
in Afghanistan is on, with an intent to begin
withdrawal in 2011. So that’s it then. Soon the war
will be over – and then just watch it all disintegrate, there
and in Iraq. Russia will then no doubt become their best friends as
this historic blip leaves them stronger and the west all warred out.
Will we ever learn?

GREEN NEWS: Top climate change scientist wants Copenhagan to fail,
for any agreement would be flawed. I tend to agree, but for
different reasons. Any agreement by govt would be a
compromise with economy, meaning survival of
Big Biz. Yet Big Biz needs ‘big’ systems to
survive, which are the problem. The
answer will come best by a new
breed of entrepreneurs
forming smaller firms
and using new
tech.

FUTURE ZONE

What’s ahead … and Beyond!!!

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday

SPIDERY WEBS

From outer space it came one night,
If you only knew, what a fright,
Spinning its delicate, subtle thread,
Techno arachnids you should dread;
No B-Movie for this realistic kind,
Tentacles lace in body and mind,
It’s ways imbibed, no delay,
Have you been on the world wide web today?

STAR CHILD

Sci Fi: It was a star system like no other, and when the tiny ships
began to attack them in their hundreds, the crew realized
conventional tactics would be no good here. The Captain ordered a
conference. All possibilities were discussed, but nothing seemed to
work. It was when life support was down to 15% that the ship’s
doctor made a passing comment: ‘It’s the way they’re attacking, as
if the ships are anti-viral mechanisms of a lifeform.’ The Captain was
taken aback by this, but when once the idea was in place, he began
to look upon the system anew – the Sun as conscious centre, the
planets and asteroids as parts of the body, the natural transport
routes working with gravitational pull as the veins and nerves, and
the population of the planets as neurons, making the star system’s
thoughts a reality. Of course, this provided the weapon to allow
escape – pulsed shocks to the centre of their sun to create confusion
– but the Captain realized that maybe life is not a rare resource of a
cold universe, but star children holding hands across the Cosmos.

SEX

Foreplay, now I’m getting warm,
Entwined, my body does adorn,
Caressing, searching, feeling right,
Climax long into the night;
But virgin still, inexperienced, pure,
Love not here, just allure,
Yet still it feels so alive!
Virtual Reality off – did you get the vibe?

FLASH 55 – THE END OF TIME

Sci Fi: I had traveled long. As a time traveler I had seen it all,
experienced the whole of history and – yes – the future. But now
there was only one mystery left to satisfy. What happens at the
end of time? And now I’m about to experience it, to share with
you. It approaches. The answer is …

SUSPENDED

Offending life, it went so wrong,
Taking us away from where we belong,
Suspended animation, the way to go,
From star to star can be so slow,
And while the body may stay quite lithe,
Technology moves on, they forget you’re alive,
As future starships do the journey fast,
Your chamber’s a grave until the last

© Anthony North, December 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel