POLITICS

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

POLLY TICKS

Democracy is the best political system but has yet to be understood.
Born out of individual empowerment, it can only thrive in an ideology
which shares this value. Hence, democracy is actually the political
arm of capitalism, and can only work in a capitalist system.

This said, single systems
are always wrong.

They lead to tunnel vision and totalitarianism. Hence, a true
democracy should always have differing systems below the political
ideal, be they religious, philanthropic or socialistic. Similarly,
democracy provides no meaning or moral ethic against excess, so
underlying systems are required to define these influences. There is
always a danger of such influences becoming fanatical. This is always
wrong. Indeed, there could well be a ‘law of opposite effect’ which
states: the more fanatical a person or system, the greater the
chance of it achieving the opposite effect. Hence, essential to all
systems is the requirement of moderation and tolerance to other
systems. Any system should be seen as nothing more than a guide.
However, balanced debate requires such systems to be vocal.
Non-vocal debate – as seen in centre ground politics – does not
achieve this, resulting in extreme law. Vocal debate irons out all
issues and actually leads to moderate law. Counter to true democracy
is the political party. Parties infiltrate underlying systems into the
legislature where they do not belong. Further, parties offer careers to
members and inhibit members’ freedom of speech. These influences
take away their loyalty to electorate and conscience, and lead to a
system having overall power in society. Parties should be degraded by
the instigation of a system that encourages independent
parliamentarians. Such representatives would guarantee greater
debate and whittle away the power of all parties. Another important
factor is the ratio between representative, electorate and legislature.
If a parliamentarian represents too many people to allow adequate
access, he is divorced from the people and a single system will be his
primary concern. Similarly, if a legislature has too many
parliamentarians, it becomes nothing more than a rubber stamp for an
over bearing executive. As I see it, the very maximum of people per
representative is 100,000, and the maximum number of
parliamentarians per legislature is 600. If either of these numbers is
higher, the balance shifts from the people to the system, and
democracy moves towards totalitarianism.

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

BRIT NEWS: There is a covenant
between govt and forces concerning
responsibility of the former to the safety of
the latter. In 2006 a Nimrod plane blew up in flight
over Afghanistan, killing 14 personnel. The inquiry has now
directly blamed the govt for penny pinching above safety. This govt
should hang its head in shame. It is unworthy of leadership.

WORLD NEWS: Tony Blair never said he wanted to be the first
President of Europe, but we all know. But now it seems
the other leaders may not want him … err, excuse
me?!!! A political President decided by leaders?
No democracy, then. What a totalitarian
mess Europe is. Indeed, I won’t
cooperate on anything in
Europe until it is about
cooperation, and
not integration.

THE CRIME POST

It would be criminal not to read it

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – 3 Word Thursday
Friday Flash 55 – 3 Word Wednesday

DEPARTED

He’s departed – I know, I put him there,
Lying before me; those eyes, they stare,
Everything within him has now gone,
How can I ever belong?
It departed a little earlier for me,
Any sense of morality,
Reason, too – it took a bow,
And I killed him – I’ve departed now

UNWILLFUL DEATH

Fiction: They thought it was complete intellectual pigritude. After all,
what was the point? The psychologist thought it utible, if for nothing
more than finding out if hypnosis CAN overcome a subject’s moral
responsibility for action. And even though his words were tristifical,
the small gathering looked on. The subject had been hypnotized and
stood in the street, a shotgun in his hands. The instruction had been
given: to kill the first person to walk up the street. Of course, the
person selected was wearing body armour, but unbeknown to the
subject. As if on cue, the target rounded the corner and began to
approach the subject. Those gathered could see the increasing
anxiety on the subject’s face as he fought his moral values. But then,
decision made, he fired … There was shocked silence for many
seconds, and then they rushed to observe the body on the floor. Who
had won the argument was irrelevant now. The subject had shot the
sign – which had duly dropped on the head of the target.

tristifical – causing to be gloomy
pigritude – laziness
utible – useful

THE OTHER PERSON

Two people sit, shards on the floor,
One a woman, the other a bore,
He’s going now, his purpose done,
She’s regretting what she did – so much fun,
Driving her on to depravity and vice,
Never even thinking twice,
Until he appeared – her conscience, alas,
He’s going – she smashed the looking glass

FLASH 55 – THE SONG MAN

Fiction: Memories impact upon behaviour. And often it is through
music. He remembered many songs of love, and whenever he found a
new woman he would sing them in his head. His ways never failed and
she was his. It is then that the song that makes him kill comes into
his head. It’s playing now.

WHEEL OF CRIME

So Many lives you’ve ended up here,
Karma seems to offer no fear,
No progression up the Wheel of Life,
Cannot obey, always strife,
So down you go from human to critter,
Arachnid, insect, plants that wither,
Always you end up criminally insane,
And now as a virus, so much pain

© Anthony North, November 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

DEMOCRACY

Including ABC Wednesday, Heads or Tails and Carry On Tuesday.
Have you had a go yet?

POLLY TICKS

Democracy, at its purest, is tyranny. Everyone votes on every issue.
Minorities? Overruled. Wiped out! 50-50? Welcome to civil war. This is
why democracy has to have a touch of unfreedom – elected
representatives to borrow your sovereignty to make calculated
decisions. But this holds problems, too. It led to the rise of political
parties, where those representatives hold loyalty to the party and not
the people. Maybe Indepdendent representatives are the way
forward. Bring democracy as close to the people as freedom allows.

Eye On the World
The ‘Y’ Files

MEDIA NEWS: Study shows wrong
history remembered by kids after seeing films
more than lessons. We really don’t realise the damage
being done here.

WORLD NEWS: New Brit Army chief warns we’ll need another 40
years to sort out Afghanistan. Actually, we’d need until Doomsday.
No one has ever managed to sort out Afghanistan, and it’s futile to
try. We should be keeping those camps shut, and nothing more.

BRIT NEWS: Brit men make the best husbands, apparently.
And why is this? ‘Cos we’ll do the housework.
Ah, we’re just perfect.

RATTLER’S TALE

A Voyage of the Imagination

THE NOTE

I’m left a note, things to do,
Sweep the carpet, clean the loo,
Cook the dinner, wash the clothes,
Dust where the pictures repose;
Here’s the answer, as was quoted:
Gone out but your note is noted

MARITAL SOLUTIONS

Fiction: We think we know the ones we love. Ha!! Not in my
experience. Maybe that’s why I got married so often – always chose
the wrong one. And it was a bad start, marrying my dead brother’s
wife. It didn’t last long, and others followed – many others. Of course,
they’d tell you it was I in the wrong. Rich, powerful – spoilt. Self
indulgent. Just plain nasty. Well, maybe I am, but I’ll tell you this –
some of them won’t tell you that now. They’ll not tell you anything.
They’re dead. I had the power, see – knew the people; and you DO
NOT cross me. Do that and you’ll regret it. They did – and all because
I thought I knew the one I loved. But there’s a deep sadness in me. I
know this as I watch my daughters. I’m not sure that Princess
Elizabeth and Mary know each other either.

MY FRIEND WILL

This is the story of Will,
When it’s over you’ll have had your fill,
Of an excellent kind of chap,
Good in any mishap,
Most of us know him – a thrill!
There’s no one better than Good Will

© Anthony North, August 2009

NOTHING NEW

A post for Sunday Scribblings
Have you had a go?

PAPPA RAZZI

Can there ever be anything new? The philosopher, Plato, would have
said no. To him, everything already existed in an ethereal ‘form’.
Invention was merely rediscovery. Whilst this idea is not generally
accepted today, it does, however, tell us a great deal about our
socio-political systems.

We often ask why we never
learn anything from history.

After all, totalitarianism always seems to be approaching. This was so
from Feudalism, to Fascism to Communism, and it seems to be
returning with how Capitalism is going. And I think this is because the
only thing that is new is the culture – the media – to which the
system belongs. Underneath the culture, it is always the same impulse
towards grasping power over us. Maybe things will change when we
realize there’s nothing new. Now that would be new.

Eye On the World
The ‘Y’ Files

MEDIA NEWS: Ofcom says the obvious:
older viewers fed up of youth obsessed TV. It’s
about time age and experience returned to TV production.

BRIT NEWS: Massive pay rises of doctors & police during good
times is coming into question. Pity the govt bribed
them so, now we’re broke.

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

Try my Horror Archive

NEWGATE VERSE

Stay away! You won’t like it there,
Poor souls, trapped, do nothing but stare;
Newgate Prison was their destination,
Before they went to their assignation,
Awaiting, fearfully, their destiny,
To Tyburn, and the Hanging Tree

RETURN OF THE WIFE

Fiction: I’ve been alone too long, and in a way I suppose I miss my
wife. Jessie should be back soon. Then it will be okay. If not for the
noise. It began when it became dark and I thought: that’s new. And
the knockings built up after that, and I admit I was frightened. But
Jessie will be back soon and … WHAT’S THAT!!! My eyes dart about
the room, and there, in the corner, it’s materializing, taking shape,
becoming … I hope Jessie isn’t back soon. I fear my wife is jealous
of my new fiancé …

I’M NEW

I’m new! Never existed before,
I offer you delights galore,
When you’re done you’ll feel real good,
Which is, of course, as you should,
I’m new! Can’t you see?
And now you’ve read me, what glee!

© Anthony North, August 2009

MY MANIFESTO

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

POLLY TICKS

Two simple facts – we have always been ruled by political ideology,
and all political ideology is wrong. What we should be doing is what
works – in any given situation, for any type of people. Central to
what works is, of course, the use of moderation in all things. Of
course, such an apolitical philosophy means centrist government, and
this is already showing it takes away choice. But this is the fault of
party politics. So why not begin to degrade the parties by
encouraging Independents? Let us have choice in the representative,
not the party.

Eye On the World
Writers’ Tips
The ‘Y’ Files

HEALTH NEWS: Govt changes
swine flu advice for pregnant women.
Confusion – again! Can this govt organise
anything, I wonder?

BRIT NEWS: Report says university fees for students who stay at
home should be axed. A lot of parents would really appreciate that.

WORLD NEWS: Number of over 65s set to outnumber
under 5s globally. This is why affluent pension
plans won’t succeed. Not enough
money earned.

HOW I WRITE

Ideas come, they must get out,
Frenzied, they scream and shout,
Sending impulses to the hand,
Keyboard fizzes, fills broadband;
Then after, as I take a rest,
I realise I’ve passed the writing test,
But don’t ask me how it was done,
It just happened – what fun!

THE WRONG STORY

Fiction: I’d often asked if I could ever have control of my existence.
I know, I’m not supposed to ask – not even capable of asking. My
existence isn’t my own and my destiny is in another’s hand. In one
way this is perfect, but I rebelled – found myself elsewhere. My
existence, you see, had been snared up for too long. Well, ‘elsewhere’
was strange. I didn’t recognize any of it. Nothing worked like I was
used to – gee, there was even a baby in a cradle in this place, and I
don’t do babies. I’m a totally different kind of guy – not into this
social guff. Anyway, to cut a long story short, my rebellion soon
came to an end. I saw the shadow first, and then it came at me
from above – this huge missile-like thing. I should have guessed it
was a pen, and as it made contact it scrubbed me out totally. And
I soon found myself re-written into a story where I belonged.

ROUND THE CORNER

Round the corner, what awaits,
Will it be a trick of fate?
Will it be horrors that unfold,
Pain and torture; demons untold?
Coming close, nearly there,
Remember: Beware!

© Anthony North, July 2009

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THE YEAR

Including ABC Wednesday, Carry On Tuesday and Heads or Tails.
Have you had a go yet?

POLLY TICKS

A year is the time it take for Earth to orbit the Sun. Well, that
might be right in science, but the year is much more – it is the
ultimate form of control. Nature controls us through the seasons,
but man formulated the seasons into festivals which went on to
give us meaning.

Through meaning, we learn how to aspire to
something, so with Christianity, we find the
year taking on a new importance.

It became a continual, all-year-round celebration of the life of
Christ. This made us as one with the concept, proving a brilliant
way to define who we were. Such an ability was not lost on later
politicians, with the whole year becoming a calendar for prominent
political and cultural events. We see most of these as innocuous
celebrations, but they get under our skin and offer us meaning.
And the people who control this calendar control us.

Eye On the World
Writers’ Tips
The ‘Y’ Files

CRIME NEWS: Figures show UK most
violent country in EU. This is what happens
when govt tries to make a country what it’s not.
We’ve lost our soul.

WORLD NEWS: Italian leader picks earthquake hit venue for
next G8 Summit. I see something deeply Freudian in this.

BRIT NEWS: New MI6 chief in security error as wife
posts photos & family details on Facebook. One
hopes his staff are more security conscious.

THE TRAVELLER

Fiction: It seemed as if he had been traveling an eternity, everywhere
he had been a kind of spectral blur as memories flashed before him. ‘Is
there anybody there?’ said the Traveller, knocking on the moonlit
door. He waited, and eventually he heard the thud of heavy steps
approaching from within. Slowly the door creaked open and a pained,
harrowing face appeared. The man was stooped and the haunted look
extended to the interior of the house – an ancient house that must
have witnessed so much as the centuries had rolled by. The man
offered the traveler a drink, and noticing the obvious fear on his face,
said: ‘Don’t worry, it isn’t haunted.’ The Traveller felt at home here.
His eyes became translucent and a knocking seemed to envelop the
whole house. ‘It is now,’ he said.

SPIN

Spin the wheel, it’s how it’s done,
Offering tragedy, or maybe fun,
Sometimes you win, sometimes lose,
Giving you joy, or maybe the blues,
Spin the wheel, the wheel of life,
Could be happiness, or maybe strife

© Anthony North, July 2009

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TOTAL THOUGHTS & MORE

Find current affairs below

I’ve been thinking lately about totalitarianism – you know,
when a few take over the many and there’s nothing you
can do about it. There’s a feeling nowadays that the west
is heading in this direction. Is it true?

I think it’s a possibility. And my reasoning lies in what actually lies behind totalitarianism. Most of us who think about it think it’s due with a political interpretation of a particular philosophy. In one sense, this is correct. But I’m more interested, here, in the psychology of the person who takes it up.
The bully writ large. That’s the key, I’m sure. Totalitarianism is just the schoolyard bully on a big scale. And the one thing we know about the bully is that he’s an inadequate who has to prove his self-esteem all the time.
The foot soldiers of a totalitarian state are obvious bullies and thugs. But there is another type of person who exists in the totalitarian state from the leader down to the local ‘commissars.’
These guys actually exist all the time. They are the unbending local ‘official’, or the manager who won’t give an inch. In the UK we call them ‘jobsworths’, ‘cos deviating from the rules is ‘more than my job’s worth.’
Little men rule. That’s the other key. These petty officials also need to exercise their self-esteem; and I’m convinced it’s these guys who see an outlet for their self-esteem when a totalitarian system comes along.
And when I look at the intellectually stagnant governing class of the west today, I see nothing but little men. And there lies a possible answer to declining freedoms in the west, and the slow and subtle rise of totalitarianism.
Totalitarianism is, you see, licence for the inadequate.

© Anthony North, June 2009
First posted: Aug 2007

WORLD NEWS: Election in Iran. Now
be careful not to call this democracy. All
candidates must accept, as read, the essentials
of the Islamic State.

BRIT NEWS: Govt to make it a legal duty to end child poverty.
How do they do that when it’s relative. As we get richer, ‘poor’
are redefined.

WORLD NEWS: UN resolution calls for search of North
Korean ships. Military action threatened. End
game? For diplomacy or stupidity?

TONY ON POLITICIANS

Including Thursday Thirteen, ABC Wednesday, Three Word Wednesday
and Totally Optional Prompts. With Thursday Thirteen lines of poetry.

POLLY TICKS

Politicians

I criticise politicians a lot, and I make no apologies for this. The party
system is such that they attract a particular kind of individual –
usually a career person rather than one who is there to serve. But for
once I’d like to say that not all politicians are like this. Some ARE
there to serve, and they should be remembered – and remembered
because no one does. Service rarely provides promotion or exposure.

My Columnists

EDITORIAL

This post is in two parts – newspaper and
magazine. Read either or both. It is also
a debating platform, so do join in. Don’t
forget to call again.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The ‘Y’ Files – Choose an Essay

Inde-Politics & Socio-Capitalism

BRIT NEWS: BNP gets seats in Euro
Election. This is not a success for racism,
but a failure of main parties to address peoples fears.

WORLD NEWS: China demands blocking software in computers
to stop porn, but could be used for political reasons. Now, I
wonder: will they?

BRIT NEWS: Labour meets to rid itself of Brown. He
survives. They can’t even organise a revolt.
Old New Labour, limping to oblivion.

Call back Fri for more NewsFlash
Tomorrow: a story

FUTURE ZONE

What’s ahead … and Beyond!!!

My Sci Fi Archive

U is for … UNIVERSE

Look up! It’s there! All around;
The universe, mysterious, profound,
The ultimate goal of human endeavour,
Enough to keep us going for ever,
So why are we stuck on this little blob?
Wake up, mankind! Get on with the job

KEEPSAKE

Sci Fi: He’d found it when he passed through the time anomaly
and joined the Intergalactic Fleet to help save the universe. His
adventures were, of course, many. Dangerous, too, but when he
returned he brought the keepsake with him. It was a simple,
handheld device which, when activated, allowed him to jump ten
seconds into the future. And he had inevitably used it to do good,
saving lives, fighting crime, and being a generally good superhero.
Of course, now that he had lost it, and found himself just lying
there, he was increasingly restless – something that was not lost
on the psychiatrists, who kept the straight-jacket tight.

GARDEN SALE

I bought it! So much fun,
Cost a fortune, hard to run,
Life support to keep it going,
But it’s beautiful; life all glowing,
The last one ever on Planet Earth,
Flowers and bushes and nice green turf,
Remembrance of before nature’s dearth

© Anthony North, June 2009

SCRIBBLERS’ NEWS

Check out my Writers’ Tips posts

Keep up with the latest prompts and writing
news. Let me know of any new sites.

Totally Optional Prompts
The prompt is: yard sale
Three Word Wednesday
The words are: dangerous, keepsake & restless
Naisaiku Challenge
Have you taken the challenge yet?
Simply Snickers
A weekly prompt here
ReadWritePoem
Poem about date with historical figure

TONY’S MUSE DIARY

Him Outside watches a lot of films. His favourite period was the
1940s, but above all other films he loves The Sound of Music. Now
yes, I know, it’s a bit twee, but it really is the film with everything,
from drama to music, romance to comedy, and an acute sense of
realism at times. And, of course, seven kids. Now, when he met His
Dearest he soon discovered that her favourite TV programme was
The Waltons with … seven kids. And yes, they had seven kids.
Who says life doesn’t imitate art?

CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Keep up on alternative news or join a campaign.
Together bloggers can make a difference.
Guardian – Environment
A good source for eco-news & blogs
Bloggers Unite
Join in & blog on many campaigns

Call back Fri for more prompts
and campaigns. Tomorrow: a story

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TONY ON CULT MEMBERS

Including One Single Impression, Manic Monday and Acrostic Only.
Have you had a go yet?

GURU TONY

Cult Members

Who joins a cult? The popular conception has it that members are of
low intelligence and down-and-outs. However, the evidence suggests
something else. Most members are young, intelligent and middleclass.
It seems that, if life doesn’t seem to satisfy, and you search hard for
truth, intelligence is no defence. Indeed, you’re more likely to grasp
any ‘truth’ that comforts.

My Columnists

EDITORIAL

This post is in two parts – newspaper and
magazine. Read either or both. It is also
a debating platform, so do join in. Don’t
forget to call again tomorrow.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The ‘Y’ Files – Choose an Essay

Inde-Politics & Socio-Capitalism

BRIT NEWS: Public’s dislike of MPs hits all
time low as the expenses scandal goes on. Yes,
some will be noble, but smeared by a money grabbing rabble.

WORLD NEWS: So Obama is to go ahead with some military tribunals.
Is the polish beginning to wear off? Claims in opposition are often
changed in office.

SPACE NEWS: Hubble telescope is having a make-over.
How grand. just a shame it is its eyes looking
into the vastness of space and not ours.

Call back tomorrow for more NewsFlash

EYE ON THE WORLD

And telling it how it really is!

History of Man

TOLERANCE

I have my ways, I sing my own song,
I don’t have to listen if you tell me I’m wrong,
I don’t look at you and think you should conform,
There’s nothing more stupid than enforcing a norm,
So to you I say, live as you will,
Just be tolerant to others, it’s such a thrill

SHADOW

Fiction? And it came to pass that man saw the greed of kings and
democracy rose. Good men fought and good men debated and
usurped the kings and the people held sovereignty. But a shadow
formed. No one could see it, but it invaded the minds of good men,
and as they sat in their chamber, they were perverted, and
democracy began to fall. And the shadow ruled, and it was greed,
for all the people now thought they were kings.

HYPOCRISY

Hypocrisy
Your latest form of democracy
People power consumed by the elite
Oligarchs on every street
Consumerism everyone’s right
Rip-off merchants without respite
Insane policy to keep us in fear
Security; the bogeyman’s near
You’re not alone in shedding a tear

© Anthony North, May 2009

SCRIBBLERS’ NEWS

Check out my Writers’ Tips posts

Keep up with the latest prompts and writing
news. Let me know of any new sites.

Only the Good Friday
Write something optimistic
Inspire Me Thursday
The theme is: petals
Three Word Thursday
The next words are: rubefacient, senticous, & divagations
Write Anything
Good source of tips & Fiction Friday
American Sandwich
A story in 3 sentences of 17 syllables

TONY’S MUSE DIARY

So another Eurovision Song Contest is over. Him Outside always
watches it. He’s been angry for several years. Political and regional
voting has ruled, rather than voting for the song; and since the Iraq
War the UK has been last, or damned near. But with changes in the
voting rules, and a little help from Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote
the song, the UK came 5th!!!! And regional voting is smashed by
Norway becoming the most popular winner ever. Look out for the
UK’s singer, Jade. She’s rather good.

CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Keep up on alternative news or join a campaign.
Together bloggers can make a difference.
Greenpeace
Campaigning for the environment
Daily Grail
For alternative & unexplained news

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and campaigns

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TONY ON GOVT CHAOS

Including Thursday Thirteen, ABC Wednesday, Search Engine Stories
and American Sandwich. With Thursday Thirteen lines of poetry.

POLLY TICKS

Govt Chaos

Modern government is infatuated by targets and central control. In
this way, an air of order seems to validate what they do. But order in
central government is always a disaster. Order must come where the
services are required, at the local, organised with the local in mind.
Such services would automatically appear chaotic to central
government. We need that chaos back.

My Columnists

EDITORIAL

This post is in two parts – newspaper and
magazine. Read either or both. It is also
a debating platform, so do join in. Don’t
forget to call again tomorrow.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Eye On the World – Choose an Essay

Inde-Pol Sub-Domain

BRIT NEWS: Police to remove innocent
people from DNA database. About time. Are we
waking up to creeping totalitarianism? I do hope so.

HEALTH NEWS: Flu related absences from work have soared
by 20% in UK. I guess that’s the price for over-hyping the
swine flu threat.

BRIT NEWS: Labour ministers speaking out in favour,
or not, of Brown. jockeying for position. Knives
being sharpened? Are we in the last days?

Call back tomorrow for more NewsFlash

RATTLER’S TALE

A Voyage of the Imagination

Twist In the Tale Archive

P is for … PROPULSION

Warp it up, let it fly,
Starship blazing above the sky,
Anti-grav, floats so high,
We can reach those stars, if we try,
But no propulsion for the human mind,
In space travel we are far behind,
Not yet yearning to find other kind,
One day we may learn to shine

BUZZWORD
(American Sandwich)

He was the son of a bitch who killed poetry through multi media.
Sent them mad on the net with audio, video and psycheo.
Watched them all experience the ultimate word, get the buzz, and die.

LOTS OF LOVE
(Take One)

Fiction: He lay so still. She looked at his face, his hair, his misshaped
ears, the laughter lines by his eyes. Soon she found herself beside him
and she placed her arms around him. Maybe they would have stayed
like this forever, but when they were found, she was dead, too. And
they looked on, hand in hand, as their bodies were taken away.

LOTS OF LOVE
(Take Two)

Yes I do, I do love you
Nothing has ever been so true
But kiss you now
I’ll have to bow
Sorry, I’ve got Man Flu

© Anthony North, May 2009

SCRIBBLERS’ NEWS

Check out my Writers’ Tips posts

Keep up with the latest prompts and writing
news. Let me know of any new sites.

Poetry Train
Link any poem here
Weekend Wordsmith
The word is: hearing
Saturday Scribes
Theme is: strange occurrences
Scribble Soup
You know you’re getting old when …

CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Keep up on alternative news or join a campaign.
Together bloggers can make a difference.
Unexplained Mysteries
News & features on the unexplained
Friends of the Earth
Campaigning for the environment

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and campaigns

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BIZ REGS

Including Sunday Scribblings, Friday Flash 55, One Single Impression
and Acrostic Only. Have you had a go yet?

POLLY TICKS

Biz Regs

Government is talking about business regulation to stop another
Recession happening again. Free market has been proved wrong. Well,
yes, it has. But regulation is the flip side of the coin, and will lead to
equal disasters. What is needed is moral regulation – an acceptance
by all in business that greed is bad!

My Columnists

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The ‘Y’ Files – Choose an Essay

Inde-Pol Sub-Domain

BRIT NEWS: In a table of youth wellbeing
in Europe, UK ranks 24 out of 29. Good to see
Labour’s youth policies are working.

BRIT NEWS: Brown orders review of MPs expenses after
recent scandals. Good timing, just as we hit deflation & a
Budget. Seems planned to me.

BRIT NEWS: Govt organs need to become ‘pushy parents’ to
increase child care. Sounds to me like the last nail in the coffin
of family.

BRIT NEWS: Budget 2009. Gloom, gloom, gloom. More borrowing
than all previous governments put together. Decade of debt.
And that’s the optimistic view!

BRIT NEWS: New top rate income tax of 50% will cause
new brain drain, detractors say. Quite possibly
– and for just £7bn. More ideology?

BRIT NEWS: UK having hottest April in a decade
– hotter than Athens or Rome. Good job. Most
can’t afford Athens or Rome now.

Call back Mon for more NewsFlash

RATTLER’S TALE

A Voyage of the Imagination

Twist In the Tale Archive

THE WORD

Inspiration, for a world,
The thought behind a nation,
The Word, the single most important thing,
To it, total sublimation;
Fighting, living, conquering, existing,
No other thought but this,
Driving us on to Herculian tasks,
Though we’ve forgotten what it is

THE DAUGHTER

Fiction: Divorce spoils a child. After all, both parents do all they can
to satiate the hurt. But when her father had enough of paying out
this and that, the daughter got angry and killed him. She got away
with it – never found out. But what then? ‘Mom,’ she said, ‘isn’t it
about time you re-married?’

FOLLOW
(Take One)

A new religion, will you stray?
The most powerful around today;
Spreading all around the place,
Everyone becoming interlaced;
You’re at the alter, sing the song!
Ready!!?
Let us Log On

TIME TRAP

Chronology
Order of events
No way out
Future relents
In seconds ticking slowly by
Never allowing us to spy
Events before they arrive
Maybe we can eventually contrive
Elements to let us jump through time
Negating the system of the divine …
Time is such a confinement

FOLLOW
(Take Two)

Does he inspire you to follow him?
Would you leave Bob and Jim,
To come under his charismatic ways,
Unable to get out of the phase?
Well,
Just remember the ultimate truth;
Follow’s an anagram of: Lo! Wolf

© Anthony North, April 2009

SCRIBBLERS’ NEWS

Check out my Writers’ Tips posts

Here we go with another Scribblers’ News. Is it proving useful?
I’m trying to do my bit to help advertise the prompt sites, as
too many have been disappearing. Can anyone think of other ways
of doing so? Let me know of any news or new sites.

Sunday Scribblings
The word today is: Follow
Inspire Me Thursday
The word is: push
ReadWritePoem
A prompt a day for NaPoWriMo
Write Anything
A good source for info and Fiction Friday
American Sandwich
Write a story in 3 sentences
Tell a Tale
Write a story around the pic of a snake
Acrostic Only
Posted 25 Apr: Confinement or Wild is the Wind
Friday Flash 55
Link a 55 word story here

Call back Mon for more prompts

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