Mini Blog

EDUCATION PROBLEMS

2009-04-06T02:57:00.000-07:00

BRIT NEWS: A teaching union blames parents for problems in schools. In many cases, quite true, but those parents are the first generation who were taught rights over duties by those same schools. The words pot, kettle and black come to mind.

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ROUND AND ROUND

2009-04-05T02:35:00.000-07:00

Round and round destruction goes,
When will it end? Who knows;
Societies crumple thru illicit thought,
What a nerve, ending in naught;
Maybe we dream of the perfect world,
waiting for Utopia to be unfurled?
Problem is, if we could ever afford,
There’d be nothing to do!
We’d end up bored

© Anthony North, April 2009

Click here & scroll down for my poetry archives

MEDIA FREEDOM

2009-04-05T02:31:00.000-07:00

We are what we know, and we know what the media allows us to know, but how free is this process? Advertising has become the biggest income for the media. So answer me a question: would you advertise in a media-form offering a message you didn’t like? Of course not – and that’s how Big Biz makes sure you only know what they want you to know.

© Anthony North, April 2009

Click Eye On the World for deeper essays

LABOUR SLEAZE

2009-04-05T02:19:00.000-07:00

BRIT NEWS: Another minister - Geoff Hoon - caught up in a claims row. Bring it on. Of course, such things always go on, but as with the dying days of the last Tory government, the media gets stuck in and won't let go. Problem is, why do we have to rely on such media power?

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BE STILL

2009-04-05T02:16:00.000-07:00

Be still as you run so fast,
Be still, escape is in your grasp,
Be still as you fight it out,
Be still, you’re the last redoubt,
Be still as you absorb, are hooked,
Be still as you read the book

© Anthony North, April 2009

Click here for my writers' tips

LIE DETECTORS

2009-04-05T02:13:00.000-07:00

BRIT NEWS: Sex offenders to be part of pilot scheme using lie detector. Such things always worry me - bringing in new measures in a way no one will complain. That's how we lost the right to silence.

Check out my True Crime sub-domain

THE HANDSOME KING

2009-04-04T02:52:00.000-07:00

Fiction: He was a God-king of ancient times. Everyone knew him; everyone revered him; everyone feared him. And he was undoubtedly the most handsome man in existence. Well, no – he was quite ugly really. He was born ugly and he’d remain ugly in death. But aware of this, once he’d battered all his subjects, he was the most handsome man in existence.

© Anthony North, April 2009

Click here for my fiction archive

EXPECTATION

2009-04-04T02:49:00.000-07:00

Paranormal events may well happen, but what defines them? Looking at the various ‘entities’ of the past – ghosts, fairies, vampires, etc – they all have many characteristics in common. Maybe the thing that separates what we see is the cultural expectation of what we believe we will see.

© Anthony North, April 2009

Click The Unexplained for all the mysteries

MADONNA & CHILD

2009-04-04T02:46:00.000-07:00

WORLD NEWS: Malawi courts stop Madonna adopting another child. Is this the end of celebrity moralising by symbol? I do hope so. After all, adoption can best be done quietly.

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SOLITUDE

2009-04-04T02:34:00.000-07:00

All alone, nothing to say,
nothing to entice, no waylay,
All alone, is there anyone alive?
Why do I feel I’m in a hive,
People buzzing this way and that,
No time for me, that’s a fact,
Crowds are of people, but not intact

© Anthony North, April 2009

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EASTENDER TRAGEDY

2009-04-04T02:30:00.000-07:00

TV WATCH: Eastenders brought the Danielle/Ronnie story to a close this week. Mother could have been reunited with daughter in a marvellous feelgood story. But no. Eastenders killed daughter off! Is there anyone involved in this show who isn't a depressive?

© Anthony North, April 2009

FOOD CRISIS

2009-04-04T02:27:00.000-07:00

BRIT NEWS: Save the Children warn of crisis in UK due to food price rises. Yes, a deep moral crisis going on in the heads of supermarket bosses. And good is losing.

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WORD FIRE

2009-04-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

Linguistic sensation, sending it home,
Words with meaning perfectly honed,
Guided phrases to activate mind,
Meaning, story, in which to confide,
Writing, reading - satiate desire,
Word bombs launch, neurons fire

© Anthony North, April 2009

Clcik here for my Writers' Tips

END OF THE ECO?

2009-04-03T02:53:00.000-07:00

GREEN NEWS: US climate negotiator advises BBC they'll only do what's pragmatic and technologically possible. That's it then - eco-measures are dead.

Click Green Scene - save the planet

POLICE BRUTALITY?

2009-04-03T02:50:00.000-07:00

BRIT NEWS: 100s of peaceful climate protesters raided after dark by police using dogs and batons. If this is the future of policing, bring back freedom.

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A VARIED LIFE

2009-04-03T02:46:00.000-07:00

A varied life I’ve lived, it’s true,
Lots of different things to do,
In youth a crush for many a girl,
Later lots of jobs unfurled,
Until I found the knack to write,
Now let poems come forth without respite

© Anthony North, April 2009

Click here for this & much more

G20 HOT AIR

2009-04-03T02:41:00.000-07:00

WORLD NEWS: So, the G20 Summit ends amid a blast of hot air. A trillion dollars of available loans, new powers for World Bank, etc, and a few regs. Leaders feel good. We get on with the inevitable.

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REAL KNOWLEDGE

2009-04-03T01:42:00.000-07:00

Intellectuals seem to spend so much time falling out with each other nowadays. It’s as if debate is out of date. I blame unbridled individuality. It gives one the feeling that your views are that much more important than others. Maybe they should remember that any knowledge that doesn’t begin with humility and moderation is wrong.

© Anthony North, April 2009

Click Eye On the World for my short essays

ECO-ESPIONAGE

2009-04-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

GREEN NEWS: Do we now have Green espionage? An exec from power supplier EDF investigated for conspiring to hack into Greenpeace France's computer systems. The French don't seem to like 'em, do they?

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THE BIRD

2009-04-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

I see him not, I close my eyes,
Then into sight he surely flies,
Guides my mind to vistas new,
Nature’s truths are now in view,
My animal guide then lowers a claw,
To mystic lands, together we soar

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BIG IS BAD

2009-04-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

BRIT NEWS: Local council shake-up creates some new super-size authorities. Another move towards the 'big'. They claim better efficiency, but only for the council itself. For the people, they become even more remote. Remember Big is Bad!

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MEDIA DOSES

2009-04-02T03:01:00.000-07:00

Scripture defines more than religion. It also defines time. Through media, our entire year is based around the life of Christ. It used to be kept alive by daily Biblical doses, defining who we were. We should remember this process ‘cos it still exists today. Typical is the Soap Opera, giving us a daily dose of how we should live.

© Anthony North, April 2009

Click Eye On the World for essays to make you think

CHRISTIANITY

2009-04-02T02:54:00.000-07:00

For general subjects scroll down to pages

Christianity is to do with the life of Jesus Christ. Born to a Virgin in a stable, Jesus was brought up a poor carpenter. Following his baptism, he began a three year mission preaching and doing miracles, accompanied by his 12 disciples ...
... read more ...

See also:

The Christ

CULTS

2009-04-02T02:46:00.000-07:00

For general subjects scroll down to pages

Cults are thought of as on the fringe of society. Whilst this may be true, I think they hold importance to understanding society. This is because I am convinced they highlight the extreme end of the spectrum of normal social interaction ...
... read more ...

See also:

G20 NON-RIOT

2009-04-02T01:15:00.000-07:00

BRIT NEWS: So far so good. The expected G20 riots did not materialise. In the main, a peaceful, often funny, protest was had, spoilt only when the police coralled them all and stopped them leaving. Anger from some. Was that legal?

Click Green Scene - save the planet