Mubarak, whom I suspected might have been complicit in Sadat’s murder, is going, leaving an Egypt longing for democratic policies that don’t include secret police and the de facto rule of the army. I sometimes wonder if people really understand themselves. A long time ago I heard a Buddhist monk say that anyone who converted…
Digital Evolution
One of the more interesting things about scientific advance is to suppose that evolution on Earth is an expression on how the universe works. If evolution is something that can be charted across all the galaxies, within the galaxies themselves, then when we find something that works, some way in which matter acts and reacts,…
Eye Of Needle
It Christian communities it has long been debated what Jesus meant when he said a camel could pass through an eye of a needle more easily than a rich person can get into heaven. I accept that all ‘holy’ writ has come down from the minds of people but it interests me to wonder what…
Elephant Castles
Zoos bug me. I have been told there is no other way for children and some adults to experience the exotic animals of the world and that zoos do immensely important work saving species through breeding programmes. The problem I have with these arguments is that they overlook the entirely synthetic nature of zoos. You…
An Incapacity To Know
I recently tried reading a modern, humorous book about everyday life and I found it incredibly hard to get into, in fact I have given up. I rarely give up on fiction – the last time was because of the inherent racism of the writer – but I found it impossible to get into the…
Sailing
I would like to have done more sailing than I did, though I have to admit the sailing I did was sports sailing and after going round a couple of buoys six times it gets rather boring. But what never got boring was the feel of being on the sea (except the force six which…
The Subtle Storm
There are many people who look at history and see quite clearly the guiding mind of a god, citing the frequent times in history when an event benefiting human kind happened almost fortuitously. Most recent would be the election of Churchill when he wasn’t the front runner, to Prime Minister in 1940. Many others could…
The Art Of Design
I remember being taken down a London street with an architect a while ago and being told to look up at the roof tops, and upper windows. I was quite amazed to see so many different architectural statements, even small statues, so high up most people rarely see them. It made me wonder why they…
Facebook Revolutions
Let me first say the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt will not change the political map for the better in the Middle East as far as the Western idea of change is concerned. There will be no great democratic whirlwind because the leaders who are falling are old men, their time had come years ago….
Emotional Intelligence
Every mind is different, and whilst we are on the subject of mind we should all remember that every baby and child is a growing mind and however cute we think them everything we do and most of what we say, is being collated in there somewhere. This difference means that not every child is…