QUANTUM

Theme Thursday, Microfiction Monday & ABC Wednesday
With Thursday Thirteen news & more prompts below
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

GURU TONY

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. Here’s hoping you enjoy your visit. Plenty
for everyone here so do call again next week.

MICROFICTION

Fiction: The Buddhist monks were told never
to hurry. But after straying from the eight
fold path they had to run to catch up.

QUANTUM

Quantum theory has an inbuilt ‘uncertainty principle’ where nothing can
be known for certain. Devised by the physicist Werner Heisenberg, it
locks true knowledge behind a shroud we can never penetrate because
we can never observe absolutely. It is at the base of all modern
scientific understanding, so how can some science types now say they
know things for certain? I suspect those who do are relying more on a
religious impulse towards certainty rather than the scientific. Maybe
we should have a societal and knowledge-based uncertainty principle
in all areas. It shouldn’t affect a person’s belief, but could well allow a
little more toleration of others.

MYSTERY

Fiction: He went in search of mystery
– lived for it; travelled far and wide for
it; yearned for it. Yet all he found were
answers and was unfulfilled. Only upon
his death did he realise it was the
journey that counts.

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

MEDIA NEWS: Record numbers
of UK TV viewers complain about foul
language. About time, too. I hate this new
punctuation. No need for it.

HEALTH NEWS: Research says 5 mins spent alone with
beautiful stranger causes so much stress in men it’s bad for
health. We’re so brave.

BRIT NEWS: More tragedy for Redgraves with the death of Lynn,
following brother Corin and Natasha last year. Bye, bye Georgy Girl.

SCI NEWS: Video showing chimp ‘grieving’ sparks debate. My own
opinion: animals open to human interaction are marvellous mimics.

EURO NEWS: Greece gets €110bn deal for pledges to overhaul
failing economy. They just don’t get it. The Euro will fail.
Was a bad idea.

WORLD NEWS: After New York car bomb attempt, terror
leaders warn it’ll always be a target. Like Londoners,
they know that. And they carry on.

WORLD NEWS: Tough talk ahead for Middle East
WMD ban? They can talk as tough as they
want but chance of Isreal scrapping
nukes is zero.

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

One Single Impression
Sunday Scribblings – Friday Flash 55
Three Word Wednesday – Thursday Poets’ Rally
Writer’s Island – Weekend Wordsmith

TREMBLE THING

Darkness, clinging, coming close,
You don’t know what you fear the most,
All around you a sinister air,
Heart pronounces an edge of despair,
If only you knew what it was so near,
Maybe – just maybe – you’d conquer your fear

FLASH 55 – THE GREEN MONSTER

Fiction: The single eyewitness had said it was green. The man was just
sat in his garden and the green monster appeared from nowhere and
devoured him. Afterwards there was no sign of either of them.
Forensics solved it, of course. They found his DNA in the grass. Maybe
he should have mowed it more often.

SALE

Buy it now, a bargain true,
Beautiful statue just for you,
Don’t listen to rumours that persist,
Curses on statues don’t exist;
Buy it now – a fortune you’ll save,
And it will fit nicely in your grave

WEIGHTLESS

Fiction: I’d always wanted to be an astronaut and I couldn’t ignore the
urge. Yes, as I worked towards my goal there was fear – would it be
safe? How many ways were there to be killed? But my friends and I
trained, persevered. Well, I’m here, in the darkness, among the stars,
weightless. I call to my friends but they don’t hear me. If only I’d made
it. If only I was here in more than spirit.

COURAGE

Garlic no good, cross broke in two,
Vampire approaches, heading for you,
Razor sharp teeth break out of the dark,
Nowhere to run – it’s certainly no lark,
Grasping courage, must go on to the end,
No help available, no plea to send,
Horror impinges all round your form,
Can’t wait for 3D horror to be the norm

THE KEY

Find the key to know it all,
Ultimate knowledge to enthrall,
It’s in the deep mind, get it out,
Become a mystic, most devout,
Suddenly it floods in, the good and bad,
But beware, it’s enough to drive you mad,
Then you’ll be stuck needing another key,
Or the Asylum’s your only destiny

ELECTION REPORT

As I write we do not know who will be Prime Minister of the UK. Gordon
Brown is clinging on to No 10 with split nails, but if we need anything,
it is Not Brown! This is not a party political statement, but an
understanding of why the UK had a Hung Parliament in this election. A
cycle that descended us into the most extreme politics we have ever
known is hopefully coming to an end. It began in 1979 with Thatcher
and entered part two in 1997 with Blair – two landslide governments
powerful enough to do what they wanted, both eventually descending
into moral corruption before we say no. The UK doesn’t work well with
landslide victories. Governments with ideally small majorities should be
the way. This creates a balance between the power of the Cabinet
and the power of Parliament. This is why I am happy we have a Hung
Parliament. Whatever coalition forms the next govt, it won’t last long
– Id give it up to a year – but during its time hopefully we will scourge
ourselves of landslides and carry on a form of government best
identified by Churchill in his term ‘keep buggering on’. That’s what
Britain does, or should do if we really can ditch the cycle of the last
30 years. Some may say it is a bad way to do government, but in this
way Britain invented modern democracy, forged the Industrial
Revolution, created the greatest Empire ever known, and faced down
the world’s greatest terror. Hang your extreme politics – just keep
buggering on.

© Anthony North, May 2010

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