TONY ON BIG, WAX & MORE

Including ReadWritePoem and Manic Monday.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Monday Magazine post.
Regular readers will know I have a thing about ‘big’. The bigger an organization is, the more dictatorial it can become. Well, now it seems BA and AA are to cooperate to grasp the lion’s share of trans-Atlantic air travel.

Good for customers, they say.

Really? I rather think it is good for them, for now they will really squeeze smaller companies out of the market. And that means the death of competition. But ‘big’ is getting bigger in other areas.
A major think tank in the UK has just advised the millions of residents of northern cities to migrate to the south east, ‘cos their cities are beyond revival. Welcome to the Super-Metropolis of London, where everyone will disappear into obscurity!

Just as Russia flexes its muscles in Georgia, a new warning comes.

Moscow reserves the right to attack Poland with nuclear weapons if it hosts the new generation of US rockets. Bluff? Most likely, but bluff can be a dangerous thing.
During the Cold War I supported nuclear deterrence. Indeed, I was in the forces for nine years during the period. But this was a lesser evil due to the way the world was following the end of World War Two.
Today, things are different – or they could be, if we let them. Russia, by its very nature, is paranoid over its defence. This is due to the lack of geographical defences on the way to Moscow. Hence, corner a rat, and it bites.
The west has continued to try to stretch NATO eastwards. This was bound to raise the temperature in Russia. World War Two is a long time over. What is going on today is a game of bluff and counter-bluff more reminiscent of the insanity that led to World War One.
Don’t forget my Tuesday Essay. Next Magazine post, Wednesday. See you soon.

© Anthony North, August 2008

A LITERARY MIND

I sit here, thinking - in my usual space,
my mind’s eye takes me to another place,
where the books about me speak out loud,
of writers, ancient, so very proud,
of characters, creations, denouements great,
of moral dilemmas to relate;
Poe and Hardy and Dickens, too,
Shakespeare, Lawrence, take me through,
stories that come from mighty minds,
as brilliant plots begin to unwind,
genres proliferate as they write,
space trips, detectives, no respite,
as genius is portrayed in glorious prose,
love stories, tragedies, heroes repose,
within the pages until read,
coming alive as your mind is fed;
Inspirartion, one and all,
constantly they do enthrall,
the wannabe writer such as me,
surrounded by literary divinity

(c) Anthony North, August 2008

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WAXY WITCH – Horror Fiction

Waxy and Wane were sisters of the Moon. At least, that’s what they liked to call themselves. But most people would just class them as a couple of eccentric old witches. Complete with long black skirts, pointy hats and craggy, warted faces, they certainly looked the part.
Waxy was definitely the dominant one of the pair, Wane less confident and more the practical joker. Such as the time she added her smalls to the cauldron. At first Waxy thought they had produced ectoplasm, but it turned out to be the addition of washing powder.
‘You really must take it more seriously,’ Waxy used to say. To which Wane would reply, ‘but it’s only in the mind, anyway’ - which was definitely not what Waxy wanted to hear.
The latest commission had come in on the night of the story, and Waxy had worked hard on the effigy. Wane had selected the subject’s nail clipping and lock of hair from the National Witchery Database, and the waxen model was taking shape perfectly around them.
Finally, they were ready. Holding the effigy in one hand, Waxy cast the spell and added the flame. Red hot drops of wax began to plop to the floor.
Suddenly, Wane shouted: ‘Oh, hoot!’
‘What?’ replied Waxy.
‘Wrong samples. They were yours.’
Waxy looked at the dripping effigy, a look of horror on her face. Slowly, green steam seemed to rise from her, beginning with her feet and rising upwards. And as the steam rose upwards, Waxy’s body dissolved downwards, hissing at it fell.
Finally, a distorted, manic face peeped out from the pointy hat on the floor, and in a final fizz, she let out a blood curdling scream and was gone.
Wane looked on in horror. ‘Just kidding,’ she said.
It seems it may well be in the mind, of sorts.

© Anthony North, August 2008

TONY ON BIG BIZ, FEAR & MORE

Including Totally Optional Prompts and Three Word Wednesday.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Wednesday Magazine post.
The end of Big Biz marches on – I hope. UK houses have seen the biggest drop in value since 1983. Repossessions have now reached 100 a day as families struggle to afford to pay the mortgage.

Home fuel prices continue to rise.

But why is this? Well, one of our big suppliers is the French-owned EDF. The French government has capped their increases to 5% in France. Guess who’s subsidizing the French?
These two snippets have one thing in common. Both are influences that affect the Brit purse, but were not caused by them. That’s globalization for you. You’re at the mercy of other people’s influence. When we realize this, Big Biz will be finito! I hope.

Just a few more snippets from last week.

The UK government has opened a helpline to shop rogue employers who don’t pay the right pay rates. Parents of overweight children are soon to receive letters from government about their child.
I kid you not. It’s getting THAT bad. Snooper Britain and the Nanny State is well advanced. Of course, they can argue that they’re just improving our health and wealth, so that’s good. It seems to have bypassed them that snooping and diktat is never good – anywhere – ever!
But this is the killer. A government committee has named a flu pandemic as the greatest risk to our security. Did you get it? SECURITY!!!! No, no, no! Risk to our health, yes, but when you tie everything into the politics of fear like this, you’re generating paranoia.
But then again, they like us fearful nowadays. It’s a useful device to mould society when they claim ideology to be dead.
Next Magazine post Friday. See you then.

© Anthony North, August 2008

ODES TO THE LION

Poem One

Standing proud, it is a lie,
it lays around, its smile so wry
letting the female do all the chores,
gorging, then sleeping, head on claws,
this is how the lion will sin,
and they say the monkey is our closest kin

Poem 2

Aslan is a mighty beast,
to read about him is a feast,
of myth, of heroes eternally true,
spiritual destiny of me and you,
he is the oldest tale yet told,
as every spiritual myth unfolds,
without him life is unbearably cold

Poem 3

As a lion I must complain,
at times our press is quite profane,
okay, the odd Christian we may have eaten,
but in finding food we were often beaten;
On and on and on you drone,
just ‘cos Nero was all skin and bone

(c) Anthony North, August 2008

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NATURAL LAW – Horror Fiction

He thought it would have gotten easier once he had crossed the river, but it was not to be. Damned nature, he thought, how am I supposed to survive in this?
He had been brought up in the city; had gone to university, become an engineer, and a successful career in oil exploration followed. And it would have continued if the light aircraft hadn’t crashed, he the only passenger, and the pilot dead.
Nature was lush about him, but he had no idea how to survive. He tried waiting by the plane for rescue, but after several days, no one came. So he took the gamble – attempted to walk out.
He was near exhaustion as he came upon the clearing and almost collapsed.
Suddenly a voice said: ‘You okay?’
He looked around. Saw the man. He was a large man with a beard, scruffily dressed, a weather beaten face, a battered homburg pushed back on his head. ‘Thank God,’ said the engineer, sure that he was now to survive.
The man smiled; sat beside him. ‘Were you in that plane that crashed over yonder?’
‘Yes. I’ve tried to walk out, but I’m no good in this place. I know nothing of nature.’
‘Ah, the modern predicament,’ said the man. ‘What do you do?’
‘I’m an oil man.’
The man winced. ‘Oh, one of those. Don’t you understand what you’re doing to nature, destroying it?’
‘What do I care for it? We’re technologists now. What do we need with it?’
‘Well if you want me to help you get out, you’d better start to learn.’
It was many hours later, and much conversation, before the engineer began to be lulled by the environment around him. The man had told him how to just sit there, taking it all in, and he had to admit, it made him feel relaxed for the first time in his life. Around him, the bush seemed to expand, as if coming to him, and he felt an intimate relationship with it all. And it wasn’t long before he had this thought that maybe he never wanted to leave after all …

It was two days later when a small helicopter landed with the two man search team. They had found the aircraft and were following his trail when they spotted him.
‘Well I’ve never seen anything like it,’ said the first man.
The second was speechless, just looking into the bush, the engineer almost entwined within it, his body cold, but a serene look upon his face.
Just a few yards away, they found a skeleton, years, maybe decades old, a battered old homburg hat beside it.
They were about to leave to report what they’d found when they saw a bearded figure close by. ‘You okay,’ he said.

© Anthony North, August 2008

TONY ON GEORGIA, BOIL & MORE

Including ReadWritePoem and Manic Monday.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Monday Magazine post.
The outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Georgia should have us all worried. And don’t think it has anything to do with South Ossetia. The problem is much more complicated.

Georgia traditionally comes under Russian influence.

And as with most recently freed satellite states, will do so again. The area between the Black and Caspian Seas is the new flash point for 21st century conflict.
To the north, the Russian Federation, to the south, Iran. North west, you have the Ukraine, and the south west, Turkey. Hence, you have major states wanting to court the west, lying next door to the heart of Islamic fundamentalism.

Further trouble comes from oil.

Just south of this region are the Middle East oilfields, which more than ever have proved to be the crucial element of western economy. Hence, these satellite states are the major element in Russian strategy to damage the west financially.
But more than even this, a new US-backed oil pipeline actually runs through Georgia, allowing the west a degree of independence from Middle East oil. Hence, whoever rules Georgia has the on/off switch of western wealth. Indeed, the area, including the Caspian Sea, is rich in oil.
In terms of religion, politics, economics and security, this region is the new strategic centre of global intrigue. So forget any idea that anyone cares for South Ossetia. This is all about who rules the world.
Tomorrow, my Tuesday Essay. Next Magzine post, Wednesday.

© Anthony North, August 2008

MARCH
A month and an action

A month ago we bought some potatoes, they were rather cheap,
now they cost a fortune, inflation, it does creep
upon us as the economy turns, plummets to the depths,
and we all worry for the future, fearing all those debts

I sometimes think I’m selfish to rant about such things,
when so many in the past have shed their blood; freedom’s song they sing;
But the credit crunch is quite important, it speaks of our society’s dearth,
as Big Biz conned us out of our money, their power turning us into the serf

Since man thought of civilisation, it has infected just a few,
the idea of ruling everything, including me and you;
Today’s Big Biz is no different, they just use more subtlety,
so better to say it now, before we’re all buried under a tree

Read the words of the martyrs who fought dictators long,
written in blood of the dead of a supposedly obedient throng,
do this month what we should have done before their power was big,
‘cos as Orwell made very clear, there’s no difference between them and a pig

(c) Anthony North, August 2008

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BOILING MAD CHEF – Horror Fiction

Chef was not happy, and to be fair, you could hardly blame him. The hotel manager had called the police, and when they arrived, he had put it thus:
‘This is the fourth kitchen porter we’ve lost since he’s been here. But according to this one, he threatened to cut him up and boil him.’
The police were, of course, skeptical. After all, chefs will be chefs, and they weren’t exactly known for placid behaviour. But when it was discovered that the other three had disappeared without trace, the case took on a new urgency.
‘You cannot be serious’ Chef had said as he stirred the big, bubbling vat. But indeed they were. And as they emptied the contents and took it away for analysis, the manager commented further on the complaints of chewy meat of late.
Chef was, of course, cleared. No human remains were found, and the police and the manager felt suitably stupid.
And so they should, thought the Chef as he picked up the phone. ‘Yes, that’s right,’ he said to the suppliers, ‘a new deep fat frier. Large.’

© Anthony North, August 2008

TONY ON OLYMPICS, DESPOTS & MORE

Including Sunday Scribblings, Matinee Muse and Rockin’ Chair Writers.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Friday Magazine post.
I write this as the Olympic Games are about to begin. A great big metaphorical carpet has been laid over Beijing, and all the pollution, corruption and human rights violations have been skillfully swept under it.

But enough of the politics.

Regardless of what everyone in a position of power thinks, let us hope we have a great and peaceful explosion of sport and goodwill. Sport is one of the few human activities that still has the power to bring us together.
Oh, and please, please, please, let the UK win a few more medals than usual. Talking of medals, how about the gold medalists standing on the podium and offering peaceful protests for Tibet? After all, even the Chinese population will think it strange if they see no medals won.

Local government officials love Eco matters.

Last year it seems they obtained information on 270,000 motorists from the DVLA (licence) database in order to trap people committing ‘environmental crimes’ in Britain – noise, litter, etc.
The eco-message has led to a whole new area of local snooping and totalitarianism, feeding the urge towards power of these petty, petty officials. And make no mistake, it is dangerous.
When we think of dictators we think of Stalin or Napoleon, or Hitler. But no dictatorship can work without the petty officials grasping power and importance from the leadership. Such pettiness is the stuff of the totalitarian state.
Next Magazine post, Monday. See you then. Have a great weekend.

© Anthony North, August 2008

ASK

‘Ask’ is such a little word, almost as small as ‘I’,
the first leads to the second, forcing us to try;
Without the question compelling us to end up as we are,
we’d still be on our haunches, our minds not looking afar;
To ask is to be inquisitive, always needing to know,
sometimes this knowledge is spectacular, at others, just a blow;
but regardless of where it takes us, or what it makes us do,
it’s surely why we’re human, and not in a primeval stew

(c) Anthony North, August 2008

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AS I AM – Fiction

‘My favourite restaurant is …’
He stopped. He looked at the cameras, the studio audience, the inane idiot asking the questions. Revelations, when they come, are fundamental things, and he suddenly realized this was not important. He threw the mike to the floor and stormed out.
His name was Flinders Freeman – well, it wasn’t really, but his real name had no ring to it. And as he had intended to become a billionaire by marketing a brand, he may as well start with his name. And he was good at what he did, soon rising from eating in cheap fast food joints, to the top restaurants in town, and eventually he dined with royalty and presidents.
Flinders never doubted what he was about. He had a confidence greater than most people could dream of achieving. Or maybe it was simply a delusion of grandeur. No doubt that was why, once he’d made the money, he agreed to that stupid show – a game show about wannabe entrepreneurs, for God’s sake! And it wasn’t even original, with similar idiots doing it before him!
He’d met Jessica on that first show. He’d never had any trouble with women, but Jessica? She had been different. Younger than him, yes, but what did that matter nowadays?
She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he was soon under her spell. ‘I want you,’ he had said, on numerous occasions, but always that same reply: ‘You haven’t done enough in life to have me yet.’
Of course, it crossed his mind that she was a gold digger who wanted it all, but it made no difference – she was a witch and he was under her spell. Thoughts of her consumed him. And perhaps that was why he took his eye off the ball - beginning the day he walked out on that show.
It only takes one mistake in the shark infested waters of big business. And, distracted, he had made that mistake. It took months to unravel, but the kiss of death was upon him, and people knew it. And when he finally went bust, it was spectacular.
It was a couple of weeks later, trying to eat in the cheap fast food joint, when he saw Jessica stood by him.
He seemed a different man, his shoulders hunched, his confident demeanour gone, a vulnerability about him no one had ever seen before.
He smiled, weakly. ‘Well, you won’t want me now,’ he said, ‘I’ve lost it all.’
Jessica smiled, too. She saw him as a human being for the first time, and knew he had done enough.
‘Or maybe you’ve just found it,’ she said, and she kissed him.

© Anthony North, August 2008

TONY ON APES, SPACE & MORE

Including Totally Optional Prompts and Three Word Wednesday.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Wednesday Magazine post.
A new assessment warns that almost half of primate species are facing extinction, mainly due to loss of habitat. I just thought I’d mention this, as wider environmental news doesn’t seem to hit the headlines much nowadays.

I know, man-made global warming is always there.

But this is a problem in itself. Whilst I think it is wise to combat the possible effects of warming, we are being induced to give it too much attention. But what do I mean by this?
Main media only reports what Big Biz wants it to report. And Big Biz has realized two advantages in global warming. First, it hopes to scare the public into accepting more nuclear power (supposedly eco-friendly), and it stops other eco-issues making the news.

It seems celebrities are beginning to clamour to be first.

First to what, you may ask? To go into orbit with Virgin. And I love this idea. Anything that popularizes, and provides money for, private space endeavour is okay by me.
This is because enterprise needs to be in space. It is the only way we will finally begin proper exploration, and wrench control of space from government. For as I’ve said before, governments make terrible explorers.
And also for another reason. NASA is too hi-tech - good for Big Biz contracts, but bad for tech in the long run. For instance, they still blast people into space, whilst Virgin is showing that all you need is to get a craft up high, and then gently catapult it higher.
Much simpler, and cheaper, don’t you think?
Next Magazine post Friday. See you then.

© Anthony North, August 2008

LOST IT

I’ve lost it - damn! Where’s it gone?
I know what it is, where it’s from;
I had it before, I’m sure I had,
if I find it, I’ll be so, so glad!
You’d enjoy it, too, I’m sure you would,
believe me it is very good;
You’d find it is exceeding fine,
with a marvellously melodious rhyme,
but I’ve lost that damned last line …

(c) Anthony North, August 2008

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ABSENT THOUGHTS – Horror Fiction

The power of control. As individuals, living in a material world, we don’t understand just what it means. We go through life, the real impulses going unnoticed. I know this because I used to think like everyone else. Until I met HIM.
I’m a psychiatrist, and he came to my attention when he was referred to me by the police. In his mid-twenties, he had lived a moral, law-abiding life until some six months ago, when for no apparent reason, he went on a crime spree. Finally caught, he had no idea what he had been doing – indeed, it was as if the last six months had been totally wiped out of his mind.
Time and time again I tried to access those unconscious thoughts – try to work out what had motivated him. But I’m sure if I’d hypnotized him a million times, it would have been no good. So eventually I decided to look into his life instead.
I did, of course, confirm that there was no possible reason in his past why he should have turned like he did – and obviously no reason why he had suddenly become the man he was before his black-out. But when I discovered the mystery concerning his birth, I felt I had at last a lead to follow.
He was an orphan and it took a great deal of time to track down the circumstances of his birth. And when I discovered the ‘secret’, I knew exactly where I had to go.
I found Reggie Brown two days later. He was, in a way a pitiful sight. It was some eight months since the accident that left him crippled - a car crash following one of his many burglaries. And in his early twenties it was even more tragic.
I suppose you could call him a paranormalist, perhaps even a medium, although he didn’t contact the dead. He had had an interest in the subject for many years, ever since he began to have feelings that he was not quite himself. Researching the subject, he wondered, first, if he was picking up telepathic thoughts from someone else, and soon learnt how to use the ability himself.
And it was then that he saw, in his mind’s eye, someone else identical to himself. And once the accident had happened, and he could no longer live his own life, he decided to live it psychically through his twin – until he got bored.
Well, I’m back from my interview with Reggie, writing down my thoughts before telling his twin – and possibly trying to convince the police, but I don’t hold too much hope of success there. The twin is sat down before me, but wait … what? …
There is a strange glint in his eye. He is moving forward, menacingly ….

© Anthony North, August 2008

TONY ON LABOUR, FLIERS

Welcome to my latest current affairs post. You’ll find at least four a week at Beyond the Blog. Click here for my fiction, poetry and essays.

Britain’s Labour Party seems to have a young pretender in little David Miliband. Not exactly saying he’s going to challenge Brownski for top job, we all know, from his smile, that he is. And they know it.

Some Cabinet Ministers are rallying around the PM.

Only some. A memo comes to light from Ex-PM Tony Blair, speaking of Brownski generating ‘hubris and vacuity’.
Well, most of them are on holiday at the moment, preparing for the next round of back-stabbing politics come September. Of course, it will be pure theatre, and it will fill the headlines, and another purpose.
It will keep stories of economic decline off the front page.

One area of Big Biz IS suffering from the economic downturn.

This is air travel. British Airways, for instance, expect profits to nosedive by 90%. As for smaller airlines, they are highly likely to go under.
Which is interesting. The present economic climate seems to be affecting smaller Big Biz more than huge Big Biz, and if this trend moves to other sectors, what would be the result? Well, huge Big Biz will just survive, and be in place to reap huge profits when it’s over, and keep new smaller Big Biz from doing business.
In effect, we could be witnessing a global cull of smaller Big Biz, with only super companies surviving. And in this process, the last vestige of capitalism will have disappeared – competition.

© Anthony North, August 2008

TONY ON RIGID BRITAIN

Welcome to my latest current affairs post. You’ll find at least four a week at Beyond the Blog. Click here for my fiction, poetry and essays.

Two conflicting reports grabbed my attention last week. The business community felt a shudder as the UK Prime Minster offered concessions to unions. Meanwhile, a report from MPs claims the six biggest energy providers are purposely keeping prices high.

Britain has a love affair with unions and socialism.

The undercurrent runs just below the surface, and has resulted in a marvelous, if abused, national health and social security system in Britain. It has also led to union action that, at times, has brought the country to its knees.
This union power was destroyed by Margaret Thatcher. Or was it? Maybe what really happened was that affluence took away the need for people to need unions so much. But now that an economic downturn is here, the situation is changing.

Recently, local government workers went on strike.

For a day or two rubbish bins were not emptied. Afterwards, one story was that of a man whose bin was not emptied because it was too full – because, of course, it was not emptied earlier due to the strike!
I think this symbolizes Britain today. Unions declined and business became all-powerful – so energy companies can make sure prices remain high. In effect, they are too rigid in what they do.
And the story of the bin shows, now that they’re flexing their power again, unions will be too rigid also. As increasing poverty infects my country, I fear for it. We are about to suffer an attack of rigidity.

© Anthony North, August 2008

TONY ON LAW AND EMOTION

Welcome to my latest current affairs post. You’ll find at least four a week at Beyond the Blog. Click here for my fiction, poetry and essays.

The UK government is playing games with criminal justice again. At present some 100 people a year escape a life sentence for murder by the refusal of juries to convict them. These are women who have killed an abusive partner.

As such, the government wants to change the crime.

If they successfully claim they were wronged by the ‘words and conduct’ of the victim, then it should be manslaughter. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but contempt for this kind of partner, and I can totally understand why the sufferer kills.
This said, we demean life by treating its end so casually in law. These women HAVE murdered, and MUST be seen to be classed as murderers in law. From there, I think the answer is automatic leniency in punishment - perhaps even to the point of a suspended life sentence, so in effect, they walk free. But, for whatever reason, murder IS murder, and must remain so.

This move is part of a larger problem.

Throughout western society emotion is becoming increasingly more important. In the news we often see the victims of tragedy. In court, the feelings of the victim increasingly come into play.
This is a dangerous precedent. The success of law is its ability to be unemotional. Laws must be made in a rational way, and enacted without emotion. If this is not so, then legislation and criminality is answerable only to public opinion.
In many ways, the media have driven this new need for emotional expression. When we see an injustice, it is natural to be emotional about it. But the upshot of such emotionally charged lawmaking is that laws become bad, and respect for the law declines.

© Anthony North, August 2008

SUE’S DEFENCE

This is the story of a girl called Sue,
her husband beat her - what could she do?
She’d be in fear most of her life,
cursing the day she became his wife;
Nightmares existed wherever she turned,
sometimes he’d be meaner, and she got burned;
One day Sue decided she’d had enough,
so she stuck him with a knife
Tough!

(c) Anthony North, August 2008

TONY ON CEOs AND SERFDOM

British Gas has just put up home heating gas by 35%, thus placing some 6 million households in the UK in ‘fuel poverty’ – i.e. having to decide between heating their home or feeding their belly. I’m expecting more elderly than usual to die this winter.

It is going up because of the ‘international situation’.

What does this mean? Well, as far as I can see it is all to do with the decision to link gas prices to oil prices. As oil goes up, so does gas. But the point is, their costs haven’t.
Are you beginning to feel ripped off yet? Well, let me put it plain and simple. If the CEOs stopped the link between gas and oil, the cost of home heating could fall massively without hurting the gas companies. So why doesn’t it happen?

Well, I suppose ‘shareholders’ wouldn’t like it.

But what ARE shareholders nowadays? Well, very few ‘people’ own large shares. The controlling shares of most of Big Biz belong to the mortgage and pension funds, whose decisions are made by a small number of other CEOs.
CEOs, it seems, are ruling the world – and maybe as few as 500 of them! Which is, of course, why I often call us ‘serfs’ nowadays. So, are you getting the picture? CEOs are our guardians, guaranteeing that your mortgage and pension doesn’t collapse by ripping you off so much that you can’t afford to pay your mortgage and pension … but don’t worry, Big Biz would still own your house, so they won’t lose. And well, if pensions collapse, they just don’t pay out, so they CAN’T lose.
But why is this so important? Well, maybe because if you didn’t pay in to a fat mortgage and pension plan, they wouldn’t have the money to HAVE their Big Biz in the first place.
No, business and society would be much smaller, more customer, environment and service orientated, and politicians would actually still be running our countries for us.
Ah! Serfdom is such a subtle thing nowadays.

© Anthony North, July 2008

TONY ON OILY SPACE

Welcome to my latest current affairs post. You’ll find at least four a week at Beyond the Blog. Click here for my fiction, poetry and essays.

The head of NASA has warned that once the Shuttle program is over, the organization will struggle. Hang on a minute! Didn’t Bush say a few years ago that he wants to begin real exploration of Mars?

Oh, sorry. Was it just political spin?

Of course it was. Make people feel good at a time when things aren’t going well. Which is, of course, a disgrace. We are explorers by nature. It is why mankind is so successful. We should be out there now.
So why aren’t we? Well, one reason is NASA – a government controlled organization. History tells us that governments make terrible explorers. It is done by private enterprise. So hopefully he is right about NASA. Scrap it! And turn that expertise over to a new breed of space entrepreneur.

The British oil giant, BP, has just announced its profits.

In the first half of 2008 they had a 23% rise on the first half of 2007. That adds up to 13.4 billion dollars. Yes, you heard it right!
So, as most of the world begins to struggle, we can rest sure that our tiny percentage of mega-rich will continue to rub our noses in it. The word ‘sick’ comes to mind. When will these mega-rich realize the truth of capitalism?
What is that truth? That profit goes hand in hand with service – caring for the customer, and riding the ups and downs with them. When profit becomes their only concern, then contempt is all they deserve.

© Anthony North, July 2008

NOTE: Regulars will notice a change here. I am condensing my literary endeavours into two magazine posts, on Wednesday and Saturday, allowing more time for some four current affairs posts a week. At present, it is a trial, to see how it goes. Hope you like it.

OUR FUTURE IS SPACE

Space, space, there’s stars to chase,
the ultimate role of the human race;
What are we doing sat on this Earth,
stuck in a frightful, boring dearth,
of courage, of vigour, of get up and go,
infatuated by celebs called so and so;
Wake up mankind! Realise your mission,
there’s more to life than your car’s tranmission;
Time to stop selfishness, mass consumerism, too,
time for daring, curiosity to renew;
So gather the CEOs and other toffs,
put ‘em in a rocket, and blast ‘em off!

(c) Anthony North, July 2008