XENOPHOBIA

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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.

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Essays on everything from science
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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.

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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
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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

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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
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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

TECHNOLOGY

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
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POLLY TICKS

Technology is good but we don’t understand it. We need a philosophy
of tech, taking into account its psycho-socio-political implications.
Tech made us human, in that it required an opposable thumb for
manipulation, also freeing our forelimbs for erect walking. But I think
its effect was deeper than this. Tech required us to concentrate on
the task in hand, freeing us from instinctual drives.

This required a repository for
thoughts not of relevance.

Hence, could tech have caused the split between conscious and
unconscious mind? If so, then a specifically shortsighted conscious
would have been the result, with the possibility that the more
information we have, the smaller and more individualistic our
conscious becomes. History bears out this possibility, with moves
against spirituality and community as tech information increased. If
this process continues, the time could come when tech shrinks our
mind so much that we are no longer human. We can see this in moral
behaviour. We seem to be far more benevolent to each other
nowadays, but could this only be because tech provides services and
order which cancel out our need to survive? It could be that we have
simply sidelined morality instead of being moral. Modern info-tech
holds problems. Information and surveillance has now come to the
point that the private is disappearing. As this trend continues, we are
increasingly monitored, and this is allowing authority unprecedented
control over us. Tech is taking away our freedoms. It is also taking
away our ability to think. Computer tech is rigid, with tasks now
following strict patterns taking away our ability to use our initiative.
This is transferring to society, where rules are becoming increasingly
fundamental. We are becoming cogs in a social machine. Forget The
Terminator. The machine world is already here, and it’s subtle! All
these problems can be overcome if we realize that they exist. Do so
and tech can be what it should be. Our servant, and not our
master.

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

BRIT NEWS: So the police
have passed 4 cases of possible
law-breaking MPs involved in the expenses
scandal to the Crown Prosecution Service. The rest
may not be suspected of breaking the law, but they did break
the spirit of decency and trust. Once upon a time certain institutions
had a culture of decency, which people offended at their peril. Once
trust goes, those institutions are tarnished for decades.

BRIT NEWS: The long awaited Iraq War Inquiry has begun. We’re told
its range will go far and wide. I’m always suspicious of such affairs,
as they cannot be independent as they are always headed by
an establishment figure, with certain endemic biases built
into the system. But we will see how ‘open’ this
inquiry becomes when Tony Blair stands
before it, most likely in January. But
sadly the very idea that this will
bring confidence back to
govt is laughable.

THE CRIME POST

It would be criminal not to read it

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday

THE LIGHTHOUSE

Banish disaster from the rocks,
Shine a beam, mental blocks
Conscience alert, fend off the crash,
Mind is safe with neuron flash;
The lighthouse there, within the mind,
Makes those dark thoughts hard to find,
Plain sailing through the ocean of life,
No wrecks here – avoiding strife

LITTLE MAN BIG

Fiction: I guess some people crawl through life happy. Ambition is
nowhere to be seen and the daily grind becomes somehow comforting,
adding security, belonging, meaning. My wife was like that, but I was
not. So often I’d dream of breaking out of the grind, making it big. But
always she’d laugh, remind me I’m just a little man – a little cog in a
big machine – and I should be happy with my lot. The world, she
advised, will never hear of me. And of course, when my promotion
came, she had plenty to say – taking too much on; trying to fill shoes
too big for my feet. Well, I did become big – eventually – and
everyone knew my name. Wife killers become big like that.

POMMY GRANITE

Not fruit but a Brit as hard as stone,
A Pom, as in Oz we’re known,
Masters of cricket and rugby, too,
Excellent sports, I’m telling you;
Ideas we have like seeds in a fruit,
From democracy to gravity we recruit;
But named after juices all the time?
Please don’t get me onto lime

FLASH 55 – VENETIAN OUTCOME

Fiction: It was an unreasonable demand. These merchants make lambs
of lions with their deals. But this lamb will not be silenced. This is one
merchant who has ripped me off once too often, and I was
determined to get justice. So I got my pound of flesh. It went down
well with a nice claret.

MANUFACTURED PLEASURE

Plastic taste, sumptuous cherries,
So soft inside, pleasure buried,
Fondle long before the kick,
Often it’s impossible not to lick;
Melting into delight so strong,
Even alone you CAN belong,
Satisfying that overpowering ache,
For another slice of that cream cake

© Anthony North, December 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel