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culture Religion

Treehouse of Life

This blog began about two years ago. With hope, fear, insecurity, desperation, and a curious shift in circumstances that brought an unexpected bounty of free time for reflection and naval-gazing (bad pun intended), I promised you all a weekly meeting. With the luxurious wallowing in free time enjoyed in those extraordinary circumstances of my first […]

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So What?

In my latest (publishable) dream I was standing on the quayside waiting for my ship to come in. I had been waiting for this ship for a very long time. As I caught a glimpse of it on the horizon, I received news that the ship had been infiltrated by treacherous rebels, and that we’d […]

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culture History politics Religion

Bearing Witness

I did once visit the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior. Not the current ship to bear that name, but it’s predecessor. She was an old Aberdonian trawler, cut down the middle and lengthened to accommodate various fast daughter craft on her main deck, ready for commando-style launching while underway at sea. At that time, around 2009 […]

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culture freedom History politics Religion Shipping

Any Old Reason

It’s dim now, but what I remember most about that night was the physical pain. My mother woke me in the middle of the night in a state of total hysteria. ‘Get up, now! It’s Tony! He’s in the hospital! Get up, NOW!’ My left ear was in agony. It felt like it had been […]

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culture freedom History politics Religion

Venerable Documents

Why does the whole world have to listen to America? Why is everyone supposed to care about this place, no matter where they live on earth? What is so important about this society? And can’t we just ignore them? Aren’t they just evil, selfish, bad, no-good merchants of death and inequality? The USA is a […]

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culture freedom History politics Religion

Corona Nation

Promotor Fidei, Punk. It has been one week since the anointing of King Charles III. King Charles the sausage-fingered. Sadly, William did not turn up in an Apache helicopter seeking trial by combat in a challenge to the throne, as I had hoped he might. The changing of robes, crowns and carriages was televised with […]

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Patterns of Pride 2

Conclusion. Happy Saint George’s Day, fellow dragon slayers! We have plenty of dragons to slay today. The borders are open. The pound and the dollar have nearly lost 100% of their value. The media actively avoid real information. The warmongers dress in sheep’s clothing. Consensus is manufactured, then called truth. Our city buildings fly the […]

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culture History politics Religion

Canterbury Assailed

I forget where I read this factoid, but if you make any absurdly unreasonable request of a stranger, like cutting in line at the supermarket, your odds of a successful request increase from 1% to 90%, if you provide a ‘because’ justification. E.g., Saying, ‘Can I skip ahead of you’ on its own is less […]

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culture History Religion

Candles and Badgers

Good evening. It’s nine p.m. on a Saturday night, so naturally, I’m sipping a Ribena and reading about IR35 tax reform. I’ve been ashore for a week now, and the kids all have some respiratory infection that has given me a rather itchy throat. However, the days are lengthening, and I can sense spring on […]

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culture politics Religion

Pure Resolve

Charlie Munger has two great quotes that I’ve been mulling over for several weeks: ‘It’s not greed that drives the world, but envy’. And ‘What good is envy? It’s the one sin you can’t have any fun at’. So, are we living in a world driven by humourless desire? Perhaps on Wall Street that is […]