GRADUATES

Theme Thursday, Booking Through Thursday & ABC Wednesday
With Thursday Thirteen news & more prompts below
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POLLY TICKS

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

GREEN IS GO

Green light is on. Go! Time to BE. But don’t be green, meaning naïve –
but DO be green, meaning environmental. Green can have so many
meanings it can make you dizzy – turn you green – sickly green. Or
maybe green with envy. In the UK green is also the colour of the
pagan (not literally, you understand); and it is maybe good that a
spirituality based on nature is getting the green light nowadays. But
getting everyone to follow the green nature agenda seems to be as
illusive as meeting little green men.

THE GRAMMAR THING

Is grammar important? Only to a point. It’s
communication that counts – is the work
readable? Of course, I would say this. I’m
virtually self taught, having left school at 15
as soon as I learnt 2+2=3. But as far as I’m
concerned it’s the style wot’s important
– innit!!? … 😦

GRADUATES

Take a handful of young, impressionable people who are searching for
knowledge, add a charismatic kind of guy who’s on a mission to
convert you, and you’ve got yourself a cult. Slowly the mission-guy
places his thoughts in their minds and, for want of a better word,
they’re brainwashed. However, the thing about cult mentality is that
it extends to normal life; and in a way, this same process occurs in
university education. An under-graduate could well be part of a
watered-down cult, so his independence of thought could well be
degraded. This is particularly so with ‘top’ professors. Sure of
themselves, they tend to be single minded, and there’s a real
possibility that the students don’t even get a rounded education in
the subject, but simply HIS ideals. But in general I think education is
suffering today by the requirement to teach for work rather than
teach for education’s sake. This, combined with increasing numbers
going to university, leads to a degrading of initiative and other values
that used to be important. It is producing a bland mediocracy, led by
a new generation of dumbed down graduates. Of course, many in
universities argue we’re not dumbed down, but maybe it is unnoticed
by passing generations. By this, I mean that a professor from the
1980s would disagree that dumbing down has occurred by the 2000s
because he relates it to his intellect, which he could not possibly
admit has dumbed down since the 1960s.

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

BRIT NEWS: Stories are
circulating again about Gordon
Brown’s legendary bullying. If true,
another reason why he’s unsuitable to lead?

BRIT NEWS: Tories accuse Labour of purposely driving
up debt to make it difficult for their successors to run the
country. I can believe that.

WORLD NEWS: Afghan President hints he can appoint entire election
watchdog. Not surprising. Democracy will not come to Afghanistan.

BRIT NEWS: As poll says 75% Brits want banks regulated Tories want
to offer state-owned discount shares to public. What? More
fund bosses?

WORLD NEWS: Toyota grew too quick and got priorities confused.
And are we to suppose they are alone, or was it simply so
obvious? Big is Bad.

GREEN NEWS: A 30% drop in Brits who think climate
change a definite. It never was, but how probable
is it? We take insurance on probability.

BRIT NEWS: Poll suggests Hung Parliament
coming. So nothing will get done. Yet,
getting things done got us into
this mess. We need a break.

THE CRIME POST

It would be criminal not to read it

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – Friday Flash 55
Heads or Tails – Three Word Wednesday
Sunday Scribblings – Thursday Poets’ Rally

HESITATION

Should I take it? It’s just lying there,
I’m an honest guy – people stare;
‘Will he take it?’ I hear them say,
Should my morals go away?
It’s only money lying on the ground;
Who’s that? What cheek! Says …
‘Look what I’ve found?’

IT’S ENTERTAINMENT

Fiction: It was a constant battle for ratings. Two channels, two true
crime shows. They argued long which was the best. One had the
more grisly reconstructions while the other pumped up the victim’s
emotion. Tears were great for ratings – but so was blood. Of course,
the ratings war came to an end when one of the Producers was
arrested. Hiring your own killer was a ratings ploy too far.

TIMETHINK

Plenty of time to think it out,
Sometimes certain, at others doubt,
The body is there inside my mind,
Why is peace so hard to find?
If only these bars didn’t keep me in,
I’d be able to atone for my murderous sin

FLASH 55 – THE FULL KILL

Fiction: I hated him and I wanted him dead – totally dead. That’s why
I shot him in the head. Which was a mistake. It seems he was an
organ donor, and the medics managed to get him to hospital before
his organs degraded. I want him totally dead – which means I’ve four
more people to kill.

THE CUP

Go on, drink it – nice cup of tea;
Poisoned? What – me?
Steamy, tasty – such a vice;
Go on, drink it – ever so nice;
But before you do, can you sign this, please,
Then I’ll have your money when you’re deceased

A MAZE

Walking these passages does amaze,
I feel so frail in this sacred place,
The mighty bronzed Bull stands as guard,
Getting past it was so very hard;
Myths of Heroes fill me with dread,
But robbing this museum will up my cred

FLUWENT

They spoke correctly, always had,
No infection, no words bad,
Until the day litocalypse came,
Words were mangled, such a shame,
Language murdered, ignorance next,
As soon as we all began to text

FILM WATCH: The BAFTAs were
a bit weak this year. Hardly any Brits
nominated. Not much made. Result of the
Recession, no doubt.

BRIT NEWS: Govt ‘forces of hell’ to smear Chancellor
in 2008 for speaking truth about the economy used, he
claims. Smears are what they do.

HEALTH NEWS: Needless deaths at Stafford Hospital. When an
organisation becomes infatuated with targets & cost cuts this will
happen.

BRIT NEWS: Fears of private pensions fall aired again. Such pensions
are always gamble on economy. We were mad to degrade State
pension.

CELEB VIEW: I’ve noticed a big increase in celebrity marital
problems in UK. Just one big profile row and they all
want to do it.

BRIT NEWS: BBC report possible cuts to website
& radio causing union strike threats. Don’t
they realise massive cuts everywhere
must be?

© Anthony North, March 2010

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