HubNews

John Lilly: psychedelic scientist

2012-01-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

John Lilly: psychedelic scientist: In the province of the mind what one believes to be true, either is true or becomes true within certain limits. These limits are to be found experimentally and experientially. When so found these limits turn out to be further beliefs to be transcended. In the province of the mind there are no limits. However, in the province of the body there are definite limits not to be transcended

2011-12-20T01:57:00.000-08:00

Fellow Creatures at Christmas: a Ranter's Yuletide Fable: there is something about Christmas. We set it aside. It has a resonance, a quality, that imbues it with special meaning. We dress up for it. We eat a special meal. We associate it with profound things, like “peace on earth” and “good will to all men”. It has emotional power, spiritual significance. It has its roots deep in history. From the Christmas dinner table, indeed, we send out messages of hope and reconciliation throughout the world.

Manufacturing Consent for an Attack upon Iran

2011-11-27T01:12:00.000-08:00

Manufacturing Consent for an Attack upon Iran: It’s at this point that I’d like to remind you of the dodgy dossier - information gleaned from a disaffected taxi driver, and cut and pasted from the internet - which made up the bulk of evidence in the run-up to the war on Iraq.

This is what Herman and Chomsky are referring to when they talk of “the manufacture of consent”. This kind of information doesn’t have to be true, it merely has to be repeated often enough and loud enough for people to start to believe that it is true.

2011-11-22T03:32:00.000-08:00

Manufacturing Consent for an Attack upon Iran: The phrase “the manufacture of consent” was originally used by Walter Lipmann in his 1922 book Public Opinion. In fact the term “public opinion” when used by Lipmann is a euphemism for propaganda, since the book is about the control and manipulation of public opinion, not about attempting to follow it.

In the Temple of the Heart: Amanae Receiving Workshop, Brussels, June 3rd - 5th 2011

2011-11-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

In the Temple of the Heart: Amanae Receiving Workshop, Brussels, June 3rd - 5th 2011: I could feel the breath like an arrow piercing my sternum and entering my heart. It was like a column of light going directly to my heart. I was brimming with light. All around me in the room I could hear the sounds of other people whose hearts were opening. There was like a shiver of ecstasy passing around the room.

2011-10-31T02:31:00.000-07:00

Semi-Skimmed Democracy: Tony Blair, responding to questions about leaked reports that he had had to refrain George Bush from bombarding the al-Jazeera TV station, said, “but honestly, I mean, conspiracy theories...”

Yes, we know what he means.

He means that using the phrase “conspiracy theory” in a disparaging tone suggests that it can be ignored.

Tam Lin, Halloween and the Ritual of Transformation

2011-10-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Tam Lin, Halloween and the Ritual of Transformation: Then would I never tire, Janet,
In Elfish land to dwell,
But aye, at every seven years,
They pay the tithe to hell;
And I am so fat and fair of flesh,
I fear 'twill be mysell.

The Market has a Name. It is Goldman Sachs

2011-10-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

The Market has a Name. It is Goldman Sachs: The human race is in debt to itself for more money than there actually is in existence. Even if we all tightened all of our belts and starved ourselves to death to pay off the debt, we still couldn’t succeed. There just isn’t enough money to do it.

The War on Drugs Means More Drugs

2011-10-17T03:42:00.000-07:00

The War on Drugs Means More Drugs: After the St. Paul's riots in Bristol in the 1980s - which was sparked by a raid on the Black and White cafe, a well-known place for scoring ganja at the time - heroin suddenly started appearing on the streets of the district. There had never been heroin there before. Why was that?

Releasing Your Pain: How Amanae Works

2011-10-16T05:49:00.000-07:00

Releasing Your Pain: How Amanae Works: "I feel so much love flowing around in me, I'm buzzing! There is also a stillness, a deep sense of calm that is the cause of the flowing and the buzzing.
It matters little to me which area released what; I'm just glad it did. It felt right and good (effective)."
Jessica, Yoga Teacher, UK

Jerusalem Postponed: homelessness, the House of Saud and history inverted

2011-09-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

Jerusalem Postponed: homelessness, the House of Saud and history inverted: So how did it happen that a revolutionary anthem, written by a republican, in honour of a republican, has somehow transmuted itself into a patriotic hymn to be sung at Royal Weddings?

Stranger things have happened I suppose. But not many.

The Opposite of Love

2011-09-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

The Opposite of Love: The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is indifference.

Rupert Murdoch, Media Bias and the Phone Hacking Scandal

2011-09-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

Rupert Murdoch, Media Bias and the Phone Hacking Scandal: Prior to 1964 the Sun was called the Daily Herald. It was a trade union paper. In the 1930s it was the most widely read daily newspaper in the world. It was fiercely left wing. As a consequence it struggled to get advertising revenue. Over the years its cover price began to rise relative to the right wing press. Slowly its readership dwindled and in 1964 it was renamed the Sun. In 1969 Rupert Murdoch bought it, profoundly shifting its editorial policy in the process.

Thus Britain’s most left-wing paper became its most right-wing paper overnight.

Malta: A journey back to the days when Britannia ruled the waves

2011-09-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

Malta: A journey back to the days when Britannia ruled the waves: The way the Maltese tell the story, they were so pleased with the departure of the French that they decided to have a drink to celebrate. They invited the British in to join them. It was a very long drink. It lasted the better part of 200 years.

The Empire of Things. On The Social Psychology of Looting

2011-09-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

The Empire of Things. On The Social Psychology of Looting: We’ve had over 30 years of rampant individualism, of consumerism, of me-ism and the devil take the hindmost; 30 years of mortgaging our future to pay for our present consumption; 30 years of selling off our birthright for a mess of consumerist pottage; 30 years of corruption and greed, of the worship of Things. It is an Empire of Things.

Rubber soul: The Bard of Ely's Rubber Ducky Song

2011-09-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

Rubber soul: The Bard of Ely's Rubber Ducky Song: I played that song so much that one day I had to kill the rubber ducky. One night at the Chapter Bar in Cardiff, I rearranged some of the song lyrics to include the death of the duck, and with some help I stabbed and stamped it into its shoe-box coffin. We even had a guy dressed up as an Undertaker. Of course, that wasn't the end of the bloody duck. I got calls to do the re-incarnation of the duck. I did it a couple of times, I'm sorry to say.

Ham and Chris in the Mountains of Harghita, Romania.

2011-09-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

Ham and Chris in the Mountains of Harghita, Romania.: The hillside meadows around me are terraced, showing evidence of large-scale human activity some time in the past, and are festooned with flowers. I counted maybe twenty different species in the space of only a few more yards. And one day I saw this spectacular iridescent blue flower that then flapped its wings and flew away. It was a butterfly. And beyond that, rustling quietly in the breathless light, lies the forest, hushed and dark like a cathedral, the all-pervading presence that encircles our lives.

Useless Idiots: cuts, war crimes and quantitative easing

2011-09-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

Useless Idiots: cuts, war crimes and quantitative easing: While the banks are busy looting the world in what is effectively a financial protection racket, forcing the sell-off of public assets at rock bottom prices, the defence of those assets becomes a priority for all concerned citizens.

2011-09-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

Lawyers and Bankers: These lawyers are very wealthy, but they are not the wealthiest people in the world. The wealthiest people in the world - without exception - are bankers.

Bankers control the economy. Lawyers administer it for them.

So that was my thought: we’ve become a nation ruled by lawyers on behalf of bankers.

Stop the Closures!

2011-03-05T00:54:00.000-08:00

Stop the Closures!: "As readers will have heard by now, Herne Bay and Whitstable Royal Mail delivery offices are due to close some time in 2012.

This gives us plenty of time as communities to organise against the decision."

Woman in the Sky: a novel set in the free party and rave scene of the 90s

2011-02-05T10:03:00.000-08:00

Woman in the Sky: a novel set in the free party and rave scene of the 90s: "Woman in the Sky is a novel set against the backdrop of the free party and rave scene of the nineties.

It is written in the first person, in the present tense, and has an urgency and a vitality that makes it hard to put down."

Tenerife by Bus

2011-02-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

Tenerife by Bus: "Tenerife is a very popular holiday destination in the Canary Islands. Tourists flock to its resorts in the south of the island where they enjoy its beaches, bars and all-year sunshine. But, staying put in Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Am�ricas, so many of them miss out on the magic of the rest of the island. The answer is to jump on a Tenerife bus."

A Dancing Frog on Twelfth Night

2011-01-09T13:24:00.000-08:00

A Dancing Frog on Twelfth Night: "I always remember how strange Twelfth Night seemed as a child, that last faint spurt of Christmas after you’d gone back to school, when you got to eat the chocolate decorations from the Christmas tree. It just seemed odd because Christmas was long-gone, and yet the decorations lingered on, like a unwelcome straggler at a party, well into the New Year."

Who Says We Are All In It Together?

2010-12-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

Who Says We Are All In It Together?: "Currently the top 1% of the population owns 23% of the wealth, while the lowest 50% of the population share 7% of the wealth between them. This is a huge disparity in the distribution of wealth in this country and it shows how unjust our economic system really is."

Sandy Back: the true heart of Whitstable

2010-12-02T04:53:00.000-08:00

Sandy Back: the true heart of Whitstable: "Maybe we are all immortal beings, made mortal in order to learn the secrets of love."

An Optimist Considers 2012 and other stories

2010-11-25T13:40:00.000-08:00

An Optimist Considers 2012 and other stories: "An optimist is someone who believes thatthings will always turn out for the best. A pessimist is someone who believes that things will always turn out for the worst.

They are both right about half the time, and wrong about half the time. The difference is that the optimist has a far more enjoyable time while he’s at it."

Save Whitstable and Herne Bay Delivery Offices

2010-11-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

Save Whitstable and Herne Bay Delivery Offices: "There are about fifty workers in the Whitstable office. Every one of them will have to do four car journeys a day: into and out of work, and to and from their round. That’s two hundred car journeys every day in place of one lorry-load of letters."

The Hypostasis of the Archons: Gnosticism, The Roman Empire and the Myth of Christ.

2010-10-19T04:47:00.000-07:00

The Hypostasis of the Archons: Gnosticism, The Roman Empire and the Myth of Christ.: "The words “Pistis” and “Sophia” mean “Faith” and “Wisdom”. It is the name given by the Gnostics to the female spiritual principle. She is their goddess. It’s a startling fact that this Christian group acknowledged a goddess figure in their pantheon, and that they equated the God of the Old Testament with such negative concepts as blind thought and blasphemy."

Is Cannabis a Gateway Drug and other stories

2010-09-15T00:14:00.000-07:00

Is Cannabis a Gateway Drug and other stories: "Sometimes some of our beliefs make some sort of sense. But often they don’t. Some of our beliefs have been inculcated into us since early childhood. They’ve been repeated so often we take them for the truth. Our whole world is built around received belief-systems such as this.

Personally I always retain a healthy scepticism about anyone’s beliefs… and that includes my own."

Stonehenge and Civilisation

2010-09-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Stonehenge and Civilisation: "It probably took over a thousand years to build, from its first to its last, and was in constant use for several thousand years after that. Indeed, you could say that it has never really gone out of use, if my visit to see the sunrise with Joe can be counted too. Who are we but the latest in a long line of visitors come to admire and wonder at this mysterious structure?"

Landscape and Possession

2010-09-12T01:42:00.000-07:00

Landscape and Possession: "That is what I mean by possession.

When a ghost enters a man we say he is possessed.

But what if he is already possessed and he no longer knows it?

What if the mind that he carries around in his head isn’t his real mind at all?

What if it isn’t just one man, but all of humanity that is possessed? Possessed by the demon of possession, in fact, by the mistaken belief that anyone can ever own anything."

Weird is the English Word for Fate

2010-09-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

Weird is the English Word for Fate: "When fate casts its strange shadow – as it does sometimes – over the ordinary processes of our lives, it does so with reason. Fate is the question we ask of ourselves. Fate is the choice we are given. Once we have made that choice, then our lives are determined by it. But the moment of fate itself is actually the moment of greatest freedom."

Schrodinger’s Uncertain Cat

2010-09-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

Schrodinger’s Uncertain Cat: "you can’t know if the cat is alive or dead until you open the box, because you can’t know if the atom has decayed or not. Mr Schrodinger merely posited the cat as a way of highlighting the weird contradictions inherent in the world of Quantum Mechanics; that is, on the small scale of atoms and subatomic particles."

Dancing With The Demons

2010-08-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Dancing With The Demons: "From poppy tea to codeine tabs, from cough linctus to “chasing the dragon”, from skin popping to, finally, the whole junkie works, the needle, the spoon and the tourniquet. To him this was all the height of romance, like dancing with the demons, like a love affair with death. It was his version of poetry."

Mental Arithmetic

2010-08-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

Mental Arithmetic: "What are the kids being taught these days? At one stage they were allowed to use calculators in their maths exams. I don’t know if this is still the case, but one thing is certain: they can’t add up any more."

Whitstable, a unique North Kent town

2010-08-22T05:13:00.000-07:00

Whitstable, a unique North Kent town

Believe it or Not

2010-02-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

Believe it or Not: "People believe a lot of things that aren’t necessarily true. In the case of that shop-assistant, she had obviously rung the wrong figure into the till, and when offered a choice between what the till was saying and the word of a customer, preferred to believe the till."

Tsunami: Where Was God?

2010-02-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

Tsunami: Where Was God?: "One extremist Muslim said that it was a punishment for tight clothing, while the most profound statement came from a Hindu woman whose son had been swept away in the Tsunami. She was grief stricken but resigned. “God has returned to God,” she said."

Is Cannabis a Gateway Drug?

2010-02-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

Is Cannabis a Gateway Drug?: "Plus when people find out that they are not instantly and irrecoverably addicted to cannabis after a few smokes, they begin to disbelieve the official line on drugs as a whole, and to imagine that they can handle heroin in the same way."

Driver's License

2010-02-01T08:05:00.000-08:00

Driver's License: "My Dad has just had his driver’s license taken off him, having failed his compulsory eye-test. I drove him back from the test centre."

Views on The Law of Attraction

2010-02-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

Views on The Law of Attraction: "The Law of Attraction” is little more than a giant pyramid scheme selling wish-fulfilment fantasy."

The Sun of gOd by Gregory Sams

2009-11-18T03:48:00.000-08:00

The Sun of gOd by Gregory Sams: "I have to admit that I was already half-open to this idea before I heard about Greg’s book. I guess anyone who has ever taken part in a psychedelic experiment must be open to such thoughts. At the very least you are aware that something is going on; something for which the normal explanations seem inadequate."

Sanctuary Town: SHEN therapy In Bewdley, Worcestershire

2009-11-15T02:50:00.000-08:00

Sanctuary Town: SHEN therapy In Bewdley, Worcestershire: "I also have an image of a tight, narrowly confined street which is blocked with traffic, an image which Tony feels describes the congested state of my biofield.

I have no reason to disagree."

Tennis For Free

2009-09-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

Tennis For Free: "There was a mix of young and old, rich and poor, serious players or just families having fun. These days the courts are mostly empty."

Along The Pilgrim's Way

2009-08-29T01:03:00.000-07:00

Along The Pilgrim's Way: "There are many words for walking. We amble. We stroll. We march. We trudge. We perambulate. Best of all, perhaps: we saunter."

The Unknown at the Labour Club

2009-08-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

The Unknown at the Labour Club: "So that was the impression you were left with: that this being was “the Unknown” - a mysterious, radiating stranger - and that he made people stand back in awe and fear and wonder."

In Memory of Geoff Squires

2009-08-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

In Memory of Geoff Squires: "The reason I knew him is that we were both Midlanders who came to Whitstable at about the same time. Geoff was from Coventry, while I am from Birmingham."

Canterbury City Council and the Situationist International

2009-08-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Canterbury City Council and the Situationist International: "The organization calling itself “Canterbury City Council” is, in fact, the front for a highly organized group of international revolutionaries out to exploit the discontent of the toddlers and young people of Whitstable for their own nefarious ends."

Keep Whitstable Different!

2009-08-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

Keep Whitstable Different!: "Local residents have set up a campaign to ‘Keep Whitstable Different’ in response to the proposed development of the Gladstone Road Post Office"

Is It Tesco Or Isn't It?

2009-07-29T23:56:00.000-07:00

Is It Tesco Or Isn't It?: "In other words, the fact that a voracious, profit-hungry superstore in our midst could, quite conceivably, suck the heart out of our town, is irrelevant in planning terms."

The Cornwallis Circle play area

2009-07-23T01:42:00.000-07:00

The Cornwallis Circle play area: "Perhaps Canterbury City Council have some secret anarchist political agenda?

Or perhaps someone in the council offices has just made a mistake in transcribing the web address?"

Hugh Hopper, ex Soft Machine, dies in Whitstable

2009-07-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hugh Hopper, ex Soft Machine, dies in Whitstable: "This is very sad. It makes me think that we might have been friends, if only I’d have known."

The Great British Holiday

2009-07-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

The Great British Holiday: "A nostalgic journey into a lost world of holiday camps, caravan parks, and camping sites. Of trips to the seaside: of Punch and Judy shows, Ice cream parlours, donkey rides, B&Bs, fish and chip shops, sandcastles, kiss me quick hats, knotted hankies, saucy postcards and end of pier shows"

Too Old To Volunteer?

2009-07-11T01:53:00.000-07:00

Too Old To Volunteer?: "“I could take the world on up top,” he says, pointing to his head. “It’s just my leg that lets me down.”"

The Sign Outside The Old Neptune Pub

2009-07-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

The Sign Outside The Old Neptune Pub: "For the second year running that sign has appeared outside the Old Neptune pub in Whitstable."

What Happened to the Climbing Frame on Westmeads Rec?

2009-07-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

What Happened to the Climbing Frame on Westmeads Rec?: "My niece, Beatrix, is four years old.

She really is the brightest little creature I know"

Money Reform

2009-06-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

Money Reform: "One of the unfortunate side-effects of the current scandal over MPs expenses is that it seems to have taken people’s minds off that other group of perennial fiddlers, the banks."

Town Centre Supermarket

2009-06-19T01:31:00.000-07:00

Town Centre Supermarket: "The presence of the superstore up the hill is already a drain on the High Street, and a number of well-loved shops have been forced to close, to be replaced with generic and out-of-town names."

Whitstable Library

2009-06-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

Whitstable Library: "Library stocks in the UK have fallen by over 20 million in the last ten years. Eighty two libraries in Lancashire, Cumbria, Devon, Buckinghamshire, Cambridge and Hertfordshire are set to close."

Kindred Spirit: Tales of Ordinary Magic

2009-05-08T03:53:00.000-07:00

Kindred Spirit: Tales of Ordinary Magic: "A selection of stories from CJ Stone's column in Kindred Spirit magazine: Tales of Ordinary Magic."

The Home Front

2009-04-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

The Home Front: "Accommodationally challenged after a disastrous foreign trip in 2007, CJ Stone was forced to take refuge with his parents. It was the first time he’d lived with them since his teens, and he was surprised to find himself in a war zone. Following are CJ’s bulletins from the front line in the eternal war of age and sex."

Dancing With The Demons

2009-03-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

Dancing With The Demons: "There’s something else about junkiedom: the lure of the inevitable decline. Because all junkies follow a certain trajectory. Sooner or later, it happens to them all. They even have their own expressions for it. “I’m a scum-bag junkie.” “I’m a rob-yer-grannie junkie.” In the end the call of chemical absolution is too strong and the bonds of mere loyalty too weak."

Borderlands: In The Footsteps of a Radical Birdwatcher In Dobruja, Romania

2009-03-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

Borderlands: In The Footsteps of a Radical Birdwatcher In Dobruja, Romania: "Dobruja is a distinct region of Romania between the Danube and the Black Sea. CJ Stone goes in search of birds and memories while contemplating the mysteries of communism."

My Son Joe

2009-02-03T04:04:00.000-08:00

My Son Joe: "Joseph was born sometime in the early hours of the morning, September 15th 1980. It was one-thirty in the morning. Or at least I think it was."

One Day In The Co-op

2009-02-03T04:03:00.000-08:00

One Day In The Co-op: "I first caught sight of him in the second aisle in the Co-op where I‘d gone to get bread and milk. He was sort of shuffling about in his pyjamas, looking confused."

Big Issue Columns: "On The Edge"

2009-02-03T04:02:00.000-08:00

Big Issue Columns: "On The Edge": "It was one of those days. First of all a kid threw his bicycle onto the railway line. He was mucking about, spinning the bike in the air to show off to his mates when, all of a sudden, he lost his grip. It went sailing across the track in awful slow motion, and then landed directly on the live rail."

Big Issue Columns: "Common People"

2009-02-03T04:01:00.000-08:00

Big Issue Columns: "Common People": "The following are a series of columns I wrote for The Big Issue, a magazine sold by homeless people, under the general title “Common People”. You may recognise some of the characters."

Anti-Zionism Is Not Anti-Semitism: What You Can Do About The Atrocities In Gaza

2009-02-03T04:00:00.000-08:00

Anti-Zionism Is Not Anti-Semitism: What You Can Do About The Atrocities In Gaza: "There is a ceasefire in Gaza. For the moment at least Israeli shells are no longer desecrating the land nor frightening the people. Palestinian women and children are no longer being killed in their beds or shot dead in their doorways. No rockets. No sniper bullets. No white phosphorous shells. "

Witness to a Massacre

2009-02-03T03:58:00.000-08:00

Witness to a Massacre: "We were sitting and suddenly there was bombing on our house and everyone started to run. There were three rockets. I have no idea where they came from."

Gaza: This Is Not A War, It's A Massacre

2009-02-03T03:57:00.000-08:00

Gaza: This Is Not A War, It's A Massacre: "They stole my land, burnt my olive trees, destroyed my house, took my water, imprisoned my father, killed my mother, starved us all, humiliated us all. But I am to blame: I shot a rocket back. So they stole more of my land, burnt my olive trees, destroyed my house, took my water, bombed my country…"

Empires of Unease

2009-02-03T03:56:00.000-08:00

Empires of Unease: "Conspiracies, Countercultures, Counterfeit Realities…"

Another New Year

2009-02-03T03:55:00.000-08:00

Another New Year: "A happy new year to you.

Also, a happy new day, a happy new hour and a happy new minute. A happy new second. A happy new breath. A happy new moment. A happy new everything."

All About My Earliest Memories

2009-02-03T03:54:00.000-08:00

All About My Earliest Memories: "My earliest memory is of my Dad. He was leaning out of the window wearing a cap, waving as the train pulled out of the station. I thought he was the train driver. It was only on reflection, many years later, that I realised it was a Navy cap he was wearing, and that he wasn’t a train driver at all, but a sailor."

The End Of The World As We Know It

2008-11-09T14:45:00.000-08:00

The End Of The World As We Know It: "You may have heard people talk about 2012. Some people say it is the year when the world will end.

By Steve Andrews & CJ Stone"

Angels of New York Part I

2008-11-01T05:25:00.000-07:00

Angels of New York Part I: "this hub of humanity, this vortex of ceaseless activity, of time and life and psychosis, this city of hallucination and exhilarating insanity, mad like the gods, a modern Atlantis rising out of the waves, miraculous, expansive, fuelled by vanity and electricity, by sex and by greed, breathless, startled, crazy, alive"

Samhain and Cider

2008-10-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

Samhain and Cider: "And while you're doing it, while you're picking up those apples, breathing in the strong, sweet scent, sweating and panting slightly, there's a sense of deep satisfaction, that this process has been going on since the beginning of Time. You know you are doing something ancient and true. Thousands of generations of human beings just like me, picking up the Summer's harvest, so that it can be preserved and enjoyed in the depths of Winter. Sharp, strong cider, like the Summer Sun glowing in your glass."

Atlantis

2008-10-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

Atlantis: "...for these histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end. This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable… Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others…”

With these words, from the dialogue of Timaeus, written in about 360 BC, the philosopher Plato would unwittingly launch a deluge of speculation, investigation, argument and counter-argument, that has lasted the better part of 2,500 years."

Baghdad Girl

2008-10-22T00:22:00.000-07:00

Baghdad Girl: "Her name is Raghda Zaid and she lives in the United Arab Emirates. She used to live in Baghdad.

If you want to know what life in Baghdad is really like, then you should take a look at Raghda’s blog. In between pictures of cats she adds these totally unselfconscious comments on the state of her city, on the killing and the violence all around, on the fear that stalks their every move. It would take a hard man indeed not to be moved by the simple humanity of this one, small girl."

Welcome To The Future

2008-10-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome To The Future: "I mean: what’s a ‘Scart‘ when it‘s at home? Is it related to the Snark or is it more like a Jabberwock? Wasn‘t sure whether to hunt it, talk to it or kiss it on the lips and call it baby.

So the warning should have read something like this:

“Warning: scart lead not included. Please note, use of the term ‘scart’ is strictly controlled. Anyone over the age of forty using the word ‘scart’ in public will be made to feel woefully inadequate.”"

Computer Troubles

2008-10-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Computer Troubles: "Actually, George Orwell seems to have got a number of things right.

Britain is indeed Airport One for the American Empire, as he predicted: we are permanently at war, the government is adept at double-speak and we have a Ministry of Truth telling us lies and a Ministry of Peace selling us war. And if it’s not exactly Big Brother watching over us, it’s Google, and meanwhile we are all watching Big Brother.

Is this a case of life imitating art or the other way round?"

Whitstable Times Columns II

2008-10-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

Whitstable Times Columns II: "It was the playwright, Arthur Miller, who said: 'Few of us can easily surrender our belief that society must somehow make sense. The thought that the State has lost its mind and is punishing so many innocent people is intolerable, and so the evidence has to be internally denied.'"

Hair Pie

2008-09-14T00:51:00.000-07:00

Hair Pie: "Crosby Stills Nash and Young sang a song about it. In those days hair was a revolutionary statement. But what's its purpose? That's the question on CJ Stone's mind."

Sweet Nothings: The Small Schoolgirls of the Borderlands in Eastern Anatolia by Vanessa Winship. A Review.

2008-09-07T02:29:00.000-07:00

Sweet Nothings: The Small Schoolgirls of the Borderlands in Eastern Anatolia by Vanessa Winship. A Review.: "They are just here, that’s all, in this place of borders, on the threshold of becoming. What do their faces tell us? Are they sisters? Are they friends? It’s not clear, even, when these photographs were taken. There is an archaic quality about them, as if the camera is a time machine and we’re looking through the lens to another time, another era, maybe a century ago."

The Power of the Light

2008-09-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

The Power of the Light: "Why on earth would the power of the light want to banish the glamour of this world, when it's a perfectly good world, I was thinking? And what about the birds and the trees and the animals: would it want to banish them as well? I mean, where would they go once the world had been banished? The only thing I could see that might be worth banishing was what us human beings have done to it. So maybe I could have agreed with the power of the light had it wanted to banish the cock-ups of humanity."

Drug problem or drug solutions?

2008-08-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

Drug problem or drug solutions?: "Most of the arguments for the continued prohibition of cannabis are, in my view, actually arguments for its legalisation"

Reality Is What You Make It

2008-07-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

Reality Is What You Make It: "sometimes we see only what we are told to see. It is this mechanism that magicians use for their slight of hand tricks. They divert our attention from the important action by focussing our brains on irrelevant details."

Bear Nation: Looking For Bear in Harghita County, Transylvania - Part 1

2008-07-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

Bear Nation: Looking For Bear in Harghita County, Transylvania - Part 1: "It was after this that I first heard a bear speak. It was Lydia. She was walking up and down by the fence making this noise. It is a unique and unmistakable sound, like a plaintive nasal cry, slightly wistful, slightly melancholic. The Latin name for bear is 'Urs' and that is exactly the sound they make. 'Ur?' It's a question. There's a questioning tone to it, like something you might ask of the mountains, of the wind. Something slightly sad. 'Why have you left me, Ur? Where have you gone, Ur? Why do all us creatures have to die?' You can hear the peaks of the mountains in its voice. You can hear the breathing nearness of the wind. You can hear the echoes of the forest. You can hear the lonely miles of travel. You can hear mortality and loss."

Bear Nation: Looking For Bear In Harghita County, Transylvania

2008-07-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

Bear Nation: Looking For Bear In Harghita County, Transylvania: "It was Attila who saw them first. He pointed them out to us, these shapes emerging from the trees, muscular and huge with hulking shoulders and craggy heads like great black rocks, with curling tusks and wet noses, snorting and trotting up the hill with a sort of hungry wariness, cautiously looking around them for any possible danger. They were a family group of about ten individuals, snuffling about and rooting in the soil for the corn."

I Don't Write For Money, I Write For Love

2008-07-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

I Don't Write For Money, I Write For Love:

"So, you have to ask, what is the difference between a professional writer and an amateur? The difference is that a professional writes for money, of course, and demands a proper rate of pay. This is reasonable enough you might say, and it's certainly true that I could do with being paid for some of the things I write. But the real truth is that most of these professional writers not writing for themselves. They write for an editor who works for a proprietor whose main purpose is to fill his paper with advertising. So in the end, most writers are writing for advertisers."

Instant Karma's Gonna Get You

2008-07-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

Instant Karma's Gonna Get You: "In Hindu philosophical terms karma is a process of blind inevitability, a force of the universe, like gravity. You don‘t get a choice over how gravity works, your only choice is whether to jump off any high buildings, and whether to carry a parachute if you do."

The Economics And Romance of Space Exploration

2008-07-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

The Economics And Romance of Space Exploration: "In my imagination there's a part of me out there wandering in the infinite desolation of space with these machines. They are remote control vehicles for the strange miracle we call life from this oasis, the Earth."

Mothers Club In Erdington

2008-07-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

Mothers Club In Erdington: "Mothers Club in Erdington, Birmingham, an early psychedelic music venue, opened on the 9th of August 1968 with a performance by Duke Sunny, and closed on the 3rd of January 1971, with a blockbusting three-band show by Quintessence, Stonehouse and Happy. The following is a personal record of that club, and that era."

What To Do at The End Of The World

2008-07-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

What To Do at The End Of The World: "Yet another great, thought provoking hub, CJ! Personally, I've decided 'end of the world' only means end of the world AS WE KNOW IT. Planet Earth isn't going to explode, implode, or otherwise disapear, which is the implication in all of the end of the world predictions. Humans may turn it into one huge wasteland, or the North Pole may shift from the Arctic to the equator, but the planet itself will continue to circle the sun for another gazillion years."