I was wondering about the life of pirates in the classical pirate period (there have always been pirates and there are still many today) when they all hanged out in Jamaica. The typical screen rendition is of either a wronged man seeking revenge or a lovable rogue who kills the really rotten pirate. The derivation…
Month: October 2011
Overlooking Insects
Without insects all life on Earth would cease to function within weeks, if not sooner. Quite apart from the fact they are an integral part of the food chain and the smaller animals that live on them are predated by others right the way up the line, they perform numerous pollinations vital to the ability…
The Cherished Argument
I was watching some you tube videos on the reasons some people give to disbelieve there is a god. Having studied proofs for gods existence at university and, at that time, agreeing with Kant that such proofs are either easy to refute or so abstruse as to be virtually incomprehensible to reason, I have always…
Shanne Sands
Sheila Fell (On hearing of the death Of Cumbrian painter – Sheila Fell) I remember you, Sheila Fell, I remember your small Belsize Park Bedsit; stinking of oils – Your cats dinner stinking too – And your black cat as thin as you! I remember your lover Irish Clifford – And all of us standing…
Coastline
The sea is one of the most beautiful and yet dangerous places on the face of the earth for human beings. Oceans of fascination which have been instrumental in human civilisation by both denying people the ability to cross them and then allowing them too. Like so much on Earth this duality appears to be…
Fighting For Votes
No country in the world has ever given voting rights to citizens without a fight. And with the struggle in the Middle East for democratic rights its become obvious that people the world over want those rights. So why the fighting? The reasoned critique of leadership starts with the tribal ‘headman’, the best fighter, the…
Keeping One’s Enemies Close
When Obama became President I remember reading the general consensus that he had a spark of Abraham Lincoln about him. I thought at the time this was a back-handed compliment insinuating that the famous Bill to liberate slaves was the beginning of Obama ‘s political career, but the reason given was the way in which…
The Agendum
Every political party has an agenda. So what, that’s the nature if politics it is hardly worth mentioning. Except of course by being the nature of politics it leads us to question if that is exactly the weakness of politics. Agenda come in all shapes and sizes but in essence they all do the same…
Ernest Dowson
Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae Last night, ah, yesternight, betwixt her lips and mine There fell thy shadow, Cynara! thy breath was shed Upon my soul between the kisses and the wine; And I was desolate and sick of an old passion, Yea, I was desolate and bowed my head: I have…
The Dead Hard Drive
Every age brings with it, its own vocabulary. From the new inventions to the ‘lingo’ of the youth the forms have been different but the character has been the same. When tea was first introduced it created tea houses which became haunts of the intellectuals, artists and working men depending on where they were, and…