The end is nigh — “Hate, disdain, or fear, self-love or self-contempt, on human brows no more inscribed, as o’er the gate of hell, ‘All hope abandon ye who enter here.” ― Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound I wish to make it very clear that I certainly am not a pessimist by heart and in…

Better the second time? — Yes, I did. I decided to reread a very revered and referenced book by George Orwell a few days ago. There were a few reasons why I did this. I as a writer seem to be referencing the work more and more when I write about our political situation in…

Is love, at first sight, real or a desire to be complete? — “Love’ is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete.” ― Plato, The Symposium Many decades ago I experienced what we rather prosaically refer to as ‘Love at first sight’. …

The existential challenge for the 21st century — ‘‘My object in life is to dethrone God and destroy capitalism.’’ — Karl Marx ‘‘Man is the measure of all things’’ — Protagoras Has there ever been a more controversial and perhaps utterly misunderstood and misconstrued phrase than the one written by Freidrich Nietzsche in 1882, ‘God is dead’? In…

The Male Gaze, Female Agency, and a Mystery — “He was a yard in front. My voice shook when I spoke - Orpheus, your poem’s a masterpiece. I’d love to hear it again He was smiling modestly when he turned when he turned and he looked at me.” — Carol Ann Duffy, Eurydice’s Lyrics It is one of the…

God, Videogames, and War. — “This is a war universe. War all the time. That is its nature. There may be other universes based on all sorts of other principles, but ours seems to be based on war and games.” — William S. Burroughs Although we can confidently trace cosmic history back to one second…

Reading and the Functioning of Democracy — I watched the film Shadowlands on BBC1 very recently with the great Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. They play C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham. Lewis the writer and creator of the Narnia stories and a seemingly confirmed bachelor and Professor at Oxford meets Joy a married mother of two boys…

Twenty-seven months in prison for Mike Lynch-White — I am a follower of a news publication known as The Canary. I also contribute a small amount each month to help it publish news and keep afloat and continue its very independent journalism. Today it reported that Mike Lynch-White a co-founder of Scientific Rebellion — an offshoot of Extinction…

The Shadow Chronicles — “The Knight looked surprised at the question. ‘What does it matter where my body happens to be?” he said. “My mind goes on working all the same.” — Lewis Carroll, Alice Through The Looking Glass The Netherlings had found Morloch in pieces scattered all over the Netherworld. There were pieces…