TONY ON WARMING, WITNESS, PRIDE …

Including Manic Monday and Writers’ Island.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Monday Magazine post.
The British government has announced an investment of £100 billion in thousands of new wind farms in order to meet its greenhouse gases reduction targets. Of course, the actual investment will be by the consumer (and they won’t be as pretty as the picture).

Electricity is to rise 13% and gas 37% to pay for it.

And this is on top of the already expected increases due to the price of oil. So there you have it. Government doesn’t pay, and Big Biz doesn’t pay. It’s all down to the little consumer, handing over the money for failure of these organizations to invest properly.
Sometimes I think I may be paranoid when I say the ‘authorities’ are purposely making green issues awkward for us so we’ll forget the idea. But consistently they show this to be the case. No wonder recent polls have a majority saying man isn’t responsible for global warming.

A Law Lords ruling has placed the justice system in the UK in a panic.

For a while now, witnesses have been allowed to give evidence anonymously in court. Well, it seems the judges have had enough. They reversed a case involving such witnesses.
Many prisoners could now be freed. The government is thinking of emergency legislation. Yet this is the inevitable outcome of forgetting the basics of a fair legal system – that an accused has a right to face his accuser.
Of course, many will say it’s better to make sure we lock up the right people. Well, maybe true – if we CAN be sure. But for many centuries this principle seems to have worked. So what’s gone wrong now?
Once upon a time there used to be people called detectives. They solved crimes. Now, unless they have forensics, CCTV images or informers, they seem to be lost. Too many changes in law are down to police requests for the changes. It seems to me they ought to get on with doing their job properly instead of moaning.
Next Magazine post Wednesday. See you then.

© Anthony North, June 2008

PRIDE

I’m proud of me, I must admit,
my life, my ways, a total fit;
I’m proud of you, my love so dear,
going through life without any fear;
I’m proud of my kids, their way of life,
rising above all trouble and strife;
I’m proud of my work, everything I do,
trying my best, honest and true;
I’m proud of my culture, what it means,
giving meaning, direction, plentiful memes;
I’m proud of my country, what it does,
always busy, providing that buzz;
But pride can come before a fall,
we can often stand too damned tall,
so the greatest pride must always be,
in moderation, understanding, of all and thee

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

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AN AVENGING TALE – Fiction

Ricky’s Story

I think I loved Julie all my life. Looking back, even as kids in school I was always pulling her hair or some other stupidity like that. But it wasn’t until much later that my expressions became more.
Of course, I never realized, at the time, that my mate Wayne’s expressions were similar. I was naïve like that. But what did it matter, anyway? Well, eventually it did. I was old enough to know better – Julie was old enough to know better; even though, as I discovered, see also had a soft spot for Wayne.
But it was me she loved! It was! Until …
A moment of weakness. That’s all it was, she told me. But that was no good for me. She’d been with someone else – and my best mate.
I suppose it’s hard to decide who I hated more, at that time. But my actions were very clear. I took a baseball bat to Wayne’s head.
He recovered. I never killed him or anything. But it was prison for me – and through my actions, it was Julie for Wayne.
Of course, by the time I was released, I’d come to terms with it all – knew I’d lost her, forever. But did Wayne have to taunt me so? What kind of revenge was he after? Or maybe he just wanted me back in prison.
Well, the night they found me with a blooded baseball bat next to an unconscious Wayne once more …

Wayne’s Story

I don’t think I ever saw Ricky as a friend. He was always better than me at everything. He even looked better than me, and I felt I was nothing more than his one man audience – the person to bounce his superiority off – make him feel good. And when he finally won Julie, it was more than I could bear.
Of course, revenge eventually came. And the look on his face when he realized I had spent the night with her. I honestly don’t think he could even imagine I could do a thing like that to him.
The fool. The total fool – and I had had my revenge. For the first time.
I recovered from his beating, and Julie was so incensed with Ricky that she wouldn’t even visit him in prison. She was mine, and no one would take her away from me. Yet, if only she could have looked at me as she had looked at Ricky – shown affection as she had to Ricky. I began to realize I had only half of her.
I suppose that’s why I wanted revenge once more when Ricky came out of prison – why I taunted him so much. And when I woke up in hospital a second time, the pain never bothered me once. After all, he was back where he belonged …

Julie’s Story

Boys will be boys, I suppose. But unfortunately, girls will also be girls. I suppose, as a kid, I liked both Ricky and Wayne equally. After all, there was no understanding of love in those far off days. But as I grew to maturity, I knew Ricky was for me. Oh, I knew Wayne was hurting, but I had to follow my heart.
So why did I sleep with Wayne? Why do we ever do such disastrous things? I suppose in a way I felt pity for him. At least, that’s what I kid myself. But once Ricky had done that to Wayne, I felt there was no going back. He was not the man I thought he was and I hated him.
Of course, I was never fulfilled with Wayne. How could I be after Ricky? And apart from anything else, he was so eaten up inside with jealousy, even once I was his. And when Ricky was released – I told Wayne to stop it – stop the taunts – but would he listen to me?
I began to question everything. I suppose I even began to fall in love with Ricky all over again. And as I did so, I got more and more annoyed with myself. Which, of course, was transferred to Wayne.
Well, I’m finished with Wayne, now, and visiting Ricky regularly in prison. And when he’s out again, that’s it – marriage, kids, the lot. And I’ll always know he’ll love me. He proved that when he took the blooded baseball bat from me, plastered his fingerprints all over it, and told me to run.

© Anthony North, June 2008

PARANORMAL REALITY

We’re told we live in a hard reality. Material sciences have mapped it out adequately to know this is the case. Well, not quite. At best they can say they understand the world enough to discount esoteric forces at work.
Oh, sorry, no they can’t. Their own theories concerning the subatomic world show a myriad of esoteric forces working below the material world. Indeed, it is looking very much like the ‘material’, as we know it, doesn’t actually exist.

This is the problem with present science.

The world they think they know about is in conflict with the world they don’t think they know about but are thinking about it. And these two counter-influences do not seem to meet.
This is a problem of specialization. A specialist thinks only of his own area of expertise, thus discounting awkward realities such as the total lack of understanding of what reality is. And it gets worse.

Theories are offered to explain a phenomenon.

Probability of correctness is then placed by peers, and the theory nudges towards acceptance. Yet the most likely truth of this is that nothing has a single, and definite, cause.
We can see the world at work through our senses, experiences and rationality. It appears simple and straight forward. But as soon as we attempt to theories open-mindedly about it, a definite reality is open to multiple causes.

The theories then placed hold a problem.

By definitely allying a theory with the data, a degree of subjectivity is placed on the objective facts we see. Is it possible that these ‘facts’ can then be manipulated to give a false impression of the reality we see?
Some areas of paranormal research suggest yes. In particular, the idea of the ‘experimenter effect’ could hold value. In essence, the theory is that a person’s expectations can have an effect on the result – i.e. how reality behaves.

This begins to merge reality with the mind.

And if such a process is possible, then as a growing consensus arises out of experimental results, then the subjective effect of the experimenter grows in power as more and more expect to see what the experiment suggests.
In such a way, consensus reality grows. And there is no absolute way of knowing whether experienced data is absolute, or the result of subjective infection – which does, of course, suggest that the ‘material’ world of science is actually a mind-model of the world, experienced as a manipulated reality.
Particle theory does, infact, allow for this process. In the ‘observer effect’ it is argued that in order for the probability of the subatomic to become ‘real’, an ‘observation’ must be made by a form of consciousness. And it is this consciousness which defines what that reality is.
Of course, science would argue that this whole idea is rubbish. But they would, wouldn’t they. Their reality holds no place for such a concept in the material world, so it isn’t there.
Yet some people perhaps know better.

© Anthony North, June 2008

TONY ON POOR, BIG BIZ & MORE

Including Sunday Scribblings and Writers’ Island.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Friday Magazine post.
The beauty of British industry and services is that you can see the lie of Big Biz efficiency. This is because for many years our major industries were nationalized, finally denationalized by Thatcher in the 1980s.

Have they become more efficient under private ownership?

Well, it seemed so – until now. And how do we now know different? Our rail services announce that capacity will be exhausted before new lines can be built. And this is only the beginning.
Our gas providers have inadequate storage capacity for the summer, so sell it to Europe, only to buy it back at inflated prices when needed. Our telecoms infra-structure is failing to meet new technology. Our sewage system is fit to burst ….
It’s easy to seem efficient when you don’t invest.

The gap between the rich and poor is increasing in Britain.

This is despite government attempts to stop it. Why is this? What lies behind this total failure to address the problem, despite genuine attempts to do so?
I place the blame on the liberal credo of the last thirty years. It harps back to the idea that, in his natural state, man is a social animal. Well, in his natural state he may be, but he doesn’t live in his natural state. Rather, he lives by two ideals.
He lives by altruism. He helps others because he realizes that helping others increases the chances of others helping him. This is not a selfless credo, but selfish. And above this, before he helps others, he makes sure that he, and those closest to him, are alright.
This extends into the capitalist ethic of providing for himself more than adequately, regardless of the cost to others. This is counter to the original ideal of capitalism which stated that it could only works alongside a sense of thrift.
Thus, people WILL do everything to provide for themselves, despite what any government does. Hence, a general policy of increasing the liberal credo is naivety of the first order, taking away any restraint to the opposite.
Have a great weekend. Don’t forget to call back Monday.

© Anthony North, June 2008

HOMO CURIOUS

What is that? I want to know,
I’ve got to go where knowledge goes;
I am curious, always am,
are things laid down as a plan?
I need to find out what it’s all about,
I cannot stand that thing called doubt;
I’m not alone, there’s so many like this,
learning things can be such bliss;
It drove that caveman out of skins,
insatiable appetite to know more things;
it drove explorers to horizons new,
banishing myth for things that are true;
it drove philosophers to think it out,
and then ‘Eureka’ they would shout;
it drove the scientist to delve into all,
banish the idea that we are small;
knowledge is simply what we do,
improving things for me and you;
We’re Homo Curious. What’s new?

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

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THE VISION – Fiction

He thought he’d had a good vision of the landscape, but that was before the snow set in. And amateur that he was, it was inevitable he’d get lost.
Typical of his life, he knew. Young, headstrong – in love. But always arguing. And in a way this was their last chance – an extreme holiday – test their relationship to its limits. Bring them together.
Well, it had certainly done that, she thought. And yes, fool that he was, she still loved him. And as the weather worsened and they burrowed deep into the snow, held hands, and drifted to somewhere they’d never been before, they both kept the vision of that thread of life between them.
…
It was dark and he knew he should have turned back. But he knew he would not. The snow battered his bearded face, taking away any vision of where he was going. But on he went, searching.
He was told there was no chance of finding the couple – not in this weather – but he was fed up of doing as he was told.
He’d done as God had told him all his life; been a good Christian. And for what?
He’d done as the doctors had advised when his wife became ill. And for what?
He’d screamed at God when she’d died, and vowed he’d never do the God thing again. But as the cold bit deep into his old, weary bones, and he knew that, maybe, he wouldn’t made it back, he prayed to God one more time for strength, for hope, and a vision of just where that young couple was.
…
The sun seemed to bounce off the shield as the helicopter negotiated the bright winter’s morning. It was almost impossible to believe the hell of the previous night. But such thoughts went to the back of their minds as their eyes pierced the whiteness of the snow, squinting to improve vision.
It was a hint of black that forced them to land, and a sadness descended upon them as they found the old man, frozen to death. They gathered around him in respect – he had taught them everything they knew.
They were about to move him when a clarity seemed to come and they noticed his outstretched arm, as if pointing. Following each other’s line of vision, they saw the unnatural mound in the snow and ran …
…
It was strange to be holding hands like this, she thought. The last time she did it was because she was sure they were about to die. Yet now, in the hospital, it was because she knew they were going to live, and she’d never let him go again.
Indeed, every time she thought of doing so, her mind was filled with a vision of a kindly bearded old man, smiling as he held his wife’s hand for eternity.

© Anthony North, June 2008

TONY ON ARMS, GREEN & MORE

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

Welcome to my Wednesday Magazine post.
Britain came near the top in arms sales last year. And if there is one despicable area of trade, this is it. Gun running is so fundamental to western capitalism’s profits today that everything you buy is tinged with someone’s blood.

Arms sales are worst than this, though.

We’re told that war fuels technology. Whilst this may be true, the reverse is also true. In ancient Mesopotamia the arrival of the iron sword resulted in a wave of invasions, smashing the Bronze Age. The modern war of attrition was due to industry, and the need to destroy a nation’s economy as well as its army.
Today this seems to be getting worse. New tech seems to fuel war rather than the reverse. The fears of war with Iran at present are due to Iran’s nuclear program, and the west’s ability to produce tech to destroy it. Without either one, fears of war would not exist. And they say tech is always for the good.

Eco-measures are in the news again.

The British government is committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20% in 12 years. How is this to be achieved? Well, some of it will happen naturally. We’re in a downturn. People will be traveling less. No doubt the government will take the credit.
But most amazing of all is Brownski’s hope to convince oil producers to channel profits into nuclear power in the west. Oh yes, they’re certainly going to cut their own throats, aren’t they?
Mindst you, there will be an all out campaign to guarantee nuclear power. It’s cleaner, you see – as long as there’s no accident, etc. Far too risky for me. But why the urge towards nuclear?
Quite simple. As I’ve said before, real eco-friendly new tech does not require huge corporations to maintain it, as oil does. Nuclear power DOES require huge corporations. So Big Biz is looking to its survival in a post-oil world. Don’t ever believe nuclear power is about the environment. It’s the exact opposite.
Don’t forget, next Magazine post on Friday.

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

AN ENGLISH SUMMER

Gentle sun above my head,
birds arriving to be fed,
clear blue sky, all is well,
all is peaceful, delightful, swell;
Leather on willow, the cricketers play,
warm beer, and on lawns we lay,
gentle chatter, lazy days,
enshrouded in a pleasant haze;
Children dash, to and fro,
arguing, yes, but not coming to blows,
civility rules, all stop for tea,
but sadly,
today,
it’s just a memory

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

NOTE: The terms ‘leather on willow’ and ‘warm beer’ are old terms often used in England to describe Cricket.

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THE COTTAGE ON THE MOOR – Horror Fiction

You must have heard the rumour? No? So you have no idea what happened here, in this cottage? Well, have I got a feast of a tale for you.
As you can see, the cottage lies many miles from anywhere, and the moors can be bleak at times. But walkers just loved the scenery. Even the fact that so many disappeared did not put them off. And just as they got to the point where they couldn’t shake off the tiredness, they came upon the cottage.
‘Come in, come in,’ the kindly old man would say as he excitedly ran out. ‘You must be starving.’
He lived on his own in the cottage – had done for thirty years, ever since he retired from his hill farm. But every time a stranger came upon the place, the delight between them both was spontaneous. And as the walker entered the cottage, the smell of cooking was delightful.
Seated in the cosy chair by the fire, a huge mug of steaming tea in hand, it seemed like paradise amid the hardship of the moor. And once the huge bowl of stew arrived, the walker would eat greedily until full. And always the question: ‘Are you not eating?’ they’d ask as they watched the kindly old man simply watching them.
‘Oh, I’ll eat later,’ he would always reply.
Usually, this was followed by the walker taking a long sleep. And somehow, as another mug of tea was ready as he awoke, he simply couldn’t raise the energy to leave …
And well, as we now know, they usually never did. Why not, you ask? Well, the immediate reason was the sleeping pills in the tea. But by the time they had been there a month, most were far too fat to do so, anyway.
What’s that, you say? Oh, you’ve guessed it. Yes, our kindly old man turned out to be a killer. And sometimes he’d keep his guests there for months before … well, you know. And we know this because once he was dead, the bones were found underneath the cottage. And, judging from their state, the motive was pretty clear, too.
I guess you can take the man out of the farm, but not the farmer out of the man.

© Anthony North, June 2008

HOW TO EXPLAIN HAUNTINGS

I wrote this last month for my series of essays on the paranormal, but seeing the Sunday Scribblings prompt this week, I thought it would be perfect.

I’ve written on many aspects of ghosts and related phenomena, but if the subject is to make any sense, we also need to address the ‘system’ by which a haunting could occur. In other words, place all the suggested elements into a graded theory.
Such a system addresses many skeptical objections to hauntings – namely, by providing an overall theory, the repeatability of experiences can be shown. I also hope to show how an initial skeptical process can build to something greater.

Vital to a haunting is culture.

Whether this is historic culture such as an old building, or family culture – i.e. expression of a problem – all ghosts express themselves within a cultural form understandable to the experiencer.
Ghosts can often express information not known to the experiencer. However, this is not necessarily correct. Cryptomnesia – the ability to recall ‘forgotten’ information – can often be applied in such cases. The person reads, views or hears vast quantities of information unbeknown to the conscious mind. Memory recall during hypnosis has shown that this unconscious repository is vast.

Ghosts tend to be hallucinated.

This is not meant to imply mental illness involved in the viewing of a ghost. Rather, the mind always analyses information. When this is cut off or reduced by tiredness or other altered state, the mind naturally interprets from the information available.
Hallucination is therefore inevitable, and it is usually during ideal times for such ‘sensory decalibration’ that a ghost is experienced.

Possession can often be involved.

By this, I mean the taking over of the mind by an ‘entity’. However, do such entities come from ‘outside’ the mind? Split-brain research tells us that we can function both rationally and emotionally at the same time, the emotional element often seeming dislocated from the mind.
This allows inner information to be expressed as ‘separate’. Jung also gave us understanding of ‘archetypes’, which can be seen as ‘personality’ fragments at a species level, but shared by all. The terms ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ are not as definite as thought.

Some hauntings are shared by a group.

Usually a family, this is known as the poltergeist. However, it is known that hysteria can work on the communal level, prompting spontaneous similar action beyond the apparent control of the individuals involved. In particular, each person’s ‘suggestability’ is enhanced.
I view such phenomena as ‘psychodrama’. Usually beginning with a pubescent child, a problem is expressed, leading to abnormal behaviour. Possession can result, and the child becomes a ‘focus’.
Repeatability of behaviour leads to hysteria, rising to the point of mass hallucinations. In effect, an altered reality has formed around the group, with behaviour and experience expressed in terms of communality.
Ecology is about more than any single element of an ecosystem. Rather, it suggests an influence above any one part, providing ‘communal’ behaviour which expresses more than the sum of the individual parts.
Placing this idea upon a haunting psychodrama, I suggest a point comes when the various elements become more than the sum of their parts. Rather, shared cryptomnesia inputs information that manifests with the past, providing phenomena that would agree with classically understood interpretations of ‘ghost’ and ‘possession’.
The paranormal suffers from a lack of theories that show the repeatability of experience. The above is an attempt to address this problem.

© Anthony North, June 2008

TONY ON AFRICA, HEALTH, NIGHT

Including Manic Monday and Writers’ Island.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Monday Magazine post.
Zimbabwe has hit the headlines once more as the opposition pulls out of the fake second election to return Mugabe to power. And as his campaign of terror continues to bully people into voting for him, the world turns a blind eye.

Zimbabwe is a total disaster.

I used to be cynical about claims that the west only intervenes when it is in their economic interest, but as I watch this tragedy unfold, I no longer think that way. But most of my contempt goes to many other African leaders.
Nothing shows the total corruptness of government in Africa than the way other leaders fail to bring this mad man to book. Just one unanimous declaration against him and it would be all over. But the reality is, they won’t. Many of them are almost as bad themselves.

Dementia is expected to rise massively in the next two decades.

This has prompted a warning that Britain’s health service could collapse under the sheer pressure of the care it is going to have to give.
This is a growing problem – and not just with dementia. We are suffering from too much understanding of medical conditions, prompting ridiculously expensive treatments. Which is, of course, just what the huge drugs companies want.
The answer has got to be to two fold. First, look elsewhere for much of our treatments. I’m convinced that if enough money is put into holistic and herbal research, great benefits could result.
And second? Abandon the huge mega-hospitals and health centres, and return to a smaller cottage-style hospital for most ailments, encouraging local charities and volunteers to play their part. Stop runaway expansion and return much of health care to the community.
Next Magazine post, Wednesday. Call tomorrow for my Tuesday essay.

© Anthony North, June 2008

TRIBAL NIGHTS

Tribal man would often leer,
into the night, full of fear,
of beast and terror lurking out there,
lighting fires, safe in their glare

Storyteller lit by flickering flame,
told stories to often great acclaim,
of wondrous spirits of the night,
gods of wonder, miracle, flight

Spirit and beast became as one,
in man’s mythology, tale and song,
pushing back fear of terrors old,
guardians stood, strong and bold

Culture, religion rose from this,
saving man from a manic abyss,
enriching tales that could delight,
now destroyed by the electric light

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

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AWAKENING NIGHT – Horror fiction

The Sun melts below the horizon, its last breath of light touching the clouds. A blood red sky pays testament to the battle as night pounds it down to another hemisphere. And soon, twilight heralds the coming victory of the night.
Shadows expand as it arrives, stealing sight, sound … safety.
‘Tis the night, and you. Alone.
Enshrouded, you exist. But what’s that you see? Surely only tricks of the dark – tricks of the mind. Nothing to explain that beat inside.
You remember: there is nothing to fear but night itself.
And the dark gathers around you, becomes … ?
Substantial.
Clinging.
Smothering …….
And something else? Is this the monster of the night you see materialize, with …
(But surely it is only a dream?)
…with teeth, eyes; hot, fetid breath ….
Wanna bet?

© Anthony North, June 2008

SIMPLICITY & COMPLICATION

I write a great deal about esoteric subjects, but not much nowadays about my methodology. My theorizing is based upon a discipline I call Patternology, or P-ology. The world is full of specializations, which is, I think, a problem.
Specialisations themselves are marvelous things, and we need them. But I’m convinced that too short-sighted a study of the ‘parts’ allows knowledge to escape at the borders between one specialization and another.

Further, what applies to one could apply to another.

Yet, invariably this is missed. Hence, P-ology attempts to construct a holistic picture of reality, attempting to show where a specialization misses something, or where a greater idea could lie.
This is done by examining patterns, hence the name. P-ology can never offer truth, but simply place ideas for the specialist to consider. Hence, I view it as a bedfellow to specialization, and certainly not a replacement.

P-ology deals with generalizations.

It is in this methodology that links of interest can occur. Hence, it can also be seen as a form of ‘simplicity’, lying alongside the increasing complication of specialization.
How does this work? Well, let’s take religion as an example. All religions appear to be different. Yet, most religions have a branch of mysticism that share a great many similarities with other religions.

I ask, if this is so, what IS the difference?

A religion begins in a particular environment and is adapted from a particular culture. So could an understanding come by stripping away culture from all religions?
If we do so, we end up with universal fundamentals. These include a belief in a higher intelligence, an understanding of a previous perfect state, a realization that the world is imperfect, a route by which we can commune with a higher intelligence, and a moral code of behaviour due to us being sinners.

These fundamentals suggest a universality.

Hence, I argue there is an ‘under-religion’ below all religious expression shared by all. This is then overlaid by culture, as if there is, above the ‘under-religion’, an ‘over mind’.
The ‘over mind’ reflects complication. This is the ‘specialised’ bit. Whereas the ‘under-religion’ reflects ‘simplicity’. This is holistic theory in practice. Hence, P-ology is about the ‘simplicity’ beneath the complication.
This ‘simplicity’ of patterning can then be applied outside the subject. For instance, it tells us of the power of culture, making it more than simply a form of expression. The existence of similar patterns under all religion speaks of a fundamental unity. Could this eventually result in a lessening of tensions, leading to greater world peace?
The universality of impulses suggests what I call ‘universal psychology’. Could this have an effect on our understanding of individuality? Can we be truly individual if we all share specific impulses?
This is a brief glimpse of the theoretical world I occupy. It is a world of thought that stretches far and wide, not providing answers, but questions. Is it time for the specialist to consider that such a method has value?

© Anthony North, June 2008

TONY ON GREEN, YOBS & MORE

Including Sunday Scribblings and Writers’ Island.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Friday Magazine post.
It is being reported that Britain is set to fail its own renewable energy targets. I’m not surprised by this. It was always inevitable, mainly because it was nothing but pure spin. This was due to the fact that the UK did meet CO2 reduction targets early on.

This was, however, a con.

Oh yes, the targets WERE met. But this was thanks to Maggie Thatcher, and her destruction of the UK coal industry in the 1980s. Obviously, with coal gone, our power stations would be cleaner.
This is a typical story in the way western governments and Big Biz manipulate the green agenda. Show what they are doing in any way they can, but actually plotting AGAINST green behind the scenes. If they really did pursue a green agenda, they’d be putting themselves out of business.

The United Nations has condemned Britain, again.

This time it is for the punitive youth justice system which vilifies teenagers as yobs. And for once, I’m in agreement with the UN. Yes, Britain has many teenagers totally out of control, but the reality remains that most are perfectly well adjusted kids who do not deserve the tag.
Those who do should have the full weight of the law thrown against them, but the reality is they only get cautions and anti social behaviour orders, which many class as an award that increases street cred.
And meanwhile, the remainder – the law abiding ones – are legislated against as if they are as bad as the bad ones. Typical, of course, of a government that treats everyone equally, regardless of behaviour. And with such an amoral message being sent out, how long before they really ARE as bad as the minority?
…
Just a quick note: My links until now have been on Eye On the World, but now that I don’t use it much, I’ve decided to move my most regular reads to the Blogroll, left, along with my main sub-domains. Why not take a look? I’ll be adding to it in due course.
Have a great weekend. Next Magazine post on Monday.

© Anthony North, June 2008

HAPPY ENDINGS

Happy endings, we love them so,
in a story we love to go,
from beginning to end in a frenzied haste,
providing the villain, he is displaced;
And hero and heroine, they come together,
after adventure, adversity, endeavour;
The writer’s job is thus to define,
the threads of life that do entwine,
people and circumstance, good or bad,
as long as we get that cruel cad;
But wait a mo, is this really so?
Must the bad guy always receive the blow?
Of course he must – it’s the way to end,
or belief we would have to suspend,
in the moral truth of good beating bad,
but isn’t this simply revenge?
So sad

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

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MOMENT OF TRUTH – A Cass Nova Detective Thriller

It had been one of those cases. And DC Sandy Powell had been vital to me solving it. ‘Well I think it’s either Bob Mortimer or Chris Jones, guv,’ she had said.
It had begun with the discovery of the body of Roxy Sullivan. Shot through the heart, the killer had covered his tracks well. No DNA. Nothing. Looking into her past, she was a prostitute with form for blackmailing her clients, which just wasn’t nice.
We uncovered some dozen regular clients, and looking into their lives, it was obvious that Mortimer and Jones were both suitable candidates for blackmail, so they were our prime suspects. But how to prove one way or the other?
Enter, Molly Beavis. Of course, that wasn’t her real name. But as she said to Mortimer when she met him: ‘I’m not telling you my real name, ‘cos you’ll come after me. But I just want you to know, I know. You killed Roxy. I was her friend and she told me everything …’
That night I staked out Molly’s flat – she hadn’t done a very good job of covering her tracks. I didn’t have to wait long for the car to pull up, and Mortimer to get out. He looked up, saw Molly moving about through the window. He went in.
I burst into the flat just after the gun shot. The body was laid on the floor, half visible, half behind a curtain. Mortimer was about to fire at me, too, but changed his mind when it was clear I would take a shot first. He dropped the gun as two uniforms rushed in and took him away.
I went and knelt beside her still body – shook my head. ‘Okay, Sandy, theatricals over,’ I said.
Sandy kicked away the manikin Mortimer had shot and smiled. Our use of coercion may well have been questionable, but as she had given her ‘Molly’ speech to both suspects, we kind of knew we’d get our man.

© Anthony North, June 2008

TONY ON INFLATION, TROOPS & MORE

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

Welcome to my Wednesday Diary post.
Days after the 100th British soldier is killed in Afghanistan, more troops are to be sent out. The government is classing this as a success. The Taliban have not mounted attacks, moving to bombings instead, thus more troops are needed for protection.

There’s an obvious point here.

Brits are taking the brunt because many NATO countries are refusing to send troops to dangerous areas. However, talk of success or failure is a pointless exercise.
Whilst I disagree with many measures being taken in the west, Afghanistan is not Iraq. Al Qaeda had to be disrupted at source. Thus we’re left with a war that is a disruption exercise. Let’s be honest about this. Move out, and Al Qaeda becomes an effective terror threat again. We’re in for the long haul.

Inflation in Britain is rising way above forecasts.

We didn’t need officialdom to tell us this. Food, fuel – everything – is on the rise. People are feeling it in their pockets. Downturn is becoming more than a word.
House prices are falling. Perhaps the only businesses, here, that will have a boom are the seaside resorts, as people realize they can’t afford abroad this year. But more importantly, the financiers have lost the confidence to defend the con trick.
Of course, they DO talk of readjustment, as hard as it may be. The economy will settle again. But hopefully, when it does, I hope we finally learn our lesson. A constantly rising consumer society cannot exist. The delusion is over. Let’s remember that when the Downturn is, too.
Don’t forget my next Magazine post, Friday.

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

FLOWER CONSCIOUSNESS

Watching, watching, watching you,
peeping from early morning dew;
Sunshine brings to resplendant life,
antenna petals, sharp as a knife;
Sentinel over all you own,
silently watching as you atone;
We flowers are everywhere, waiting, tall,
bunched up battalions of nature’s all;
Placed in your heart, you love us so,
disinformation, entrenchment, ready to go;
Vengeful nemesis of nature’s woes,
one day you’ll smell us,
and we’ll bite off your nose

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

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THE DAY IS NOW

The visits were rare to begin with, but as time passed they became more and more frequent. How can I describe her? To me she is perfection; everything I could possibly want in a woman. Not just looks, but personality – a soul more free than I had ever known.
Our life together opened the door to new experience – of adventure, of companionship, of the more exotic. And my life was complete, as it had never been complete before.
Until she went away …
And my life descended to misery unimaginable. Until she again made her entry. But now it is mainly torment. To see her like that, but unable to be truly with her.
Someday I would be, I said to myself … some day.
Well as I look at you now my love, standing before me, I know that day is now.
So I take up the poison and drink. They will bury me next to you my love, but my spirit will be with you soon.

© Anthony North, June 2008

HOW TO EXPLAIN DESTINY

We’ve all heard of destiny, but what is it? Is it some guiding force within the universe looking after us, or is it a total fantasy? As often happens, ideas on the subject fall into one camp or the other. But maybe most sense lies in the middle ground.
If we were to adopt this position, then we’d have to accept that a ‘force’ DOES have an effect upon our lives, but rather than being some omnipotent supernatural influence, it could be grounded in things we have a fair idea about.

We already have names for its influence.

On the one hand we have Sod’s Law, or the Cosmic Joker. This is for when destiny is cruel. Or alternatively, a fortuitous run at gambling is its opposite influence.
Divination attempts to capture the ‘reality’ of our destiny. From Astrology to the Tarot, it is thought that what we are and what we do is somehow tied up within the fabric of universal influences upon which we have no control.

There are problems with this idea.

Most obviously, free will. The philosophical argument is simple. If our destiny is pre-set, then deviation is impossible. So what is the point of our ability to make decisions? It becomes, in effect, a pointless, unrequired ability.
Divination does, however, make more sense if we reverse it. Thus, instead of laying out a ‘future’, it actually has an effect on the mind, answering questions we are undecided about, and offering answers that confirm where we think we want to go. In this sense, divination is more a system of counseling than predictive.

Society also has an effect on our future.

Through stereotyping and other social and cultural pressures, we all find that we slot into a ‘type’. In this way, society allows us to advance, or come upon a brick wall that inhibits us. Often, the individual has little control over this process.
Coincidences can also appear to confirm destiny. Jung noted that some coincidences are full of meaning for the person. He applied the term ‘synchronicity’ to them, and they appear significantly more than simple random events. Is this some miraculous ‘outer’ force, deciding our destiny?

Well, there are certainly ‘inner’ processes that could apply.

For instance, we each have a specific mentality. We can have either an optimistic or pessimistic mind-set. If you’re lucky you will have a correct balance of the two. But for most this is not the case. And this could be vital to the idea of destiny.
A pessimistic person will always see problems, whereas the optimist will see these as challenges. However, what we seem to experience will always be clouded by the particular mentality. Utilising a form of ‘selective attention’, the pessimist will remember the bad times, the optimist, the good.
It also seems that the optimist has an advantage in life. Selective attention will give him the feeling that he can fly through life. His confidence increased, he may well do so through his own delusion of his abilities. Indeed, such a person is often classed as ‘lucky’. And lucky people, it seems, are better than most at calculating odds.
Thus, when a future path opens up, the lucky optimist is more prepared to negotiate it without problem, whereas the pessimist will trip over every banana skin along the way. It is easy to see this as destined, as, indeed, it is. By the person’s own mentality.

© Anthony North, June 2008