believed that the world was created by the Devil.
It certainly seems that way...
The book of the Jews, the Christians
and the Muslims states:
'GOD saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually.
And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth,
and it grieved him at his heart.' (Genesis VI)
A man is thus a million times
more harmful than a slug.
So why are the priests of those religions
so irredeemably smug ?
__________
'For what has man of all his labour,
and of the vexation of his heart,
wherein he has labored under the sun ?'
- Ecclesiastes.
Dingo the Dissident
Friday 30 November 2012
Thursday 29 November 2012
'Gentlemen's Clubs'
were, I thought, places where
gentlemen went to smoke their pipes
read, snooze, drink port or brandy,
discuss philosophy or politics...
But now I learn that they are
Lap-dancing venues, where The women
who work there are naked or nearly so,
though sexual stimulation is usually forbidden.
The women keep what money men
(often also nearly or quite naked) give them.
A small bottle of water costs £6.
The profit goes to the establishment
and to fix the flics.
I think real gentlemen might have a better time
smoking pipes, browsing my website,
discussing philosophy or politics.
gentlemen went to smoke their pipes
read, snooze, drink port or brandy,
discuss philosophy or politics...
But now I learn that they are
Lap-dancing venues, where The women
who work there are naked or nearly so,
though sexual stimulation is usually forbidden.
The women keep what money men
(often also nearly or quite naked) give them.
A small bottle of water costs £6.
The profit goes to the establishment
and to fix the flics.
I think real gentlemen might have a better time
smoking pipes, browsing my website,
discussing philosophy or politics.
Wednesday 28 November 2012
An interesting lacuna.
We can save and replay sounds,
take photographs, make videos...
but have made no effort towards
connecting with our animal selves
by analysing, storing, reproducing,
broadcasting smells.
take photographs, make videos...
but have made no effort towards
connecting with our animal selves
by analysing, storing, reproducing,
broadcasting smells.
Tuesday 27 November 2012
For women
in most societies
the quality most valued
is kindness.
In men
the talent most praised
is violence.
the quality most valued
is kindness.
In men
the talent most praised
is violence.
Monday 26 November 2012
A new genre: the poetic e-mail
(received yesterday)
"I remember entering Williston, North Dakota, the blackened, oily heart of the Bakken oilfield for the first time from the East.
The first thing I noted, other than the horrendous decay of the highway and streets,
was the town's Walmart store.
It looked like some macabre oasis.
Travelers of all persuasions and economic conditions stopped there for sustenance
or a moment's respite - but from what?
It seemed more a leap from the frying pan into the fire..."
Many thanks, Willie.
- And for incidentally explaining what a Black Friday is.
* * *
Now read:
Less an aspiration, more a fantasy ->
"I remember entering Williston, North Dakota, the blackened, oily heart of the Bakken oilfield for the first time from the East.
The first thing I noted, other than the horrendous decay of the highway and streets,
was the town's Walmart store.
It looked like some macabre oasis.
Travelers of all persuasions and economic conditions stopped there for sustenance
or a moment's respite - but from what?
It seemed more a leap from the frying pan into the fire..."
Many thanks, Willie.
- And for incidentally explaining what a Black Friday is.
* * *
Now read:
Less an aspiration, more a fantasy ->
Sunday 25 November 2012
Over twenty years after the fall of the USSR,
Moscow is host
to hundreds of Central Asian,
bruised and beaten slaves,
some of them, born in captivity,
who have never seen the light of day.
Russia is a New Democracy.
to hundreds of Central Asian,
bruised and beaten slaves,
some of them, born in captivity,
who have never seen the light of day.
Russia is a New Democracy.
Saturday 24 November 2012
Modern Heroes
The more our civilisation
'advances',
the more that psychopathic behaviour
is praised and rewarded,
and the less value
is given to simple kindness,
the greatest, most beautiful of talents.
'advances',
the more that psychopathic behaviour
is praised and rewarded,
and the less value
is given to simple kindness,
the greatest, most beautiful of talents.
Friday 23 November 2012
Dividing Lines
Thursday 22 November 2012
Perhaps
and perhaps unfortunately
you need to taste romantic love
before you can properly
judge and then appreciate
friendship.
you need to taste romantic love
before you can properly
judge and then appreciate
friendship.
Wednesday 21 November 2012
For the food !
- The only good reason to go to Jerusalem.
Especially if you're an eastward-looking
vegetarian vasectomised
anti-natalist atheist.
Especially if you're an eastward-looking
vegetarian vasectomised
anti-natalist atheist.
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Fifty years ago
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
was published in the USSR
as part of Nikita Khrushchev's
'deStalinisation process'.
That book was one of the principal
harbingers of the eventual
collapse of the pseudo-communist system.
In liberal democracies
what is unacceptable is ignored.
There is no need for censorship
or suppression when and where
freedom of speech is to be found.
There is such a flood of mediocre words
that the good ones get drowned.
was published in the USSR
as part of Nikita Khrushchev's
'deStalinisation process'.
That book was one of the principal
harbingers of the eventual
collapse of the pseudo-communist system.
In liberal democracies
what is unacceptable is ignored.
There is no need for censorship
or suppression when and where
freedom of speech is to be found.
There is such a flood of mediocre words
that the good ones get drowned.
Monday 19 November 2012
Totem and Taboo
People will talk
about almost anything
(even suicide)
except overpopulation.
And on the rare occasions
in their overpopulating lives
that they briefly touch upon the subject,
their own rôle in the appalling
process is not mentioned.
about almost anything
(even suicide)
except overpopulation.
And on the rare occasions
in their overpopulating lives
that they briefly touch upon the subject,
their own rôle in the appalling
process is not mentioned.
" Et miraris
quod paucis placeo cui cum paucis convenit,
cui omnia fere aliter videntur ac vulgo,
a quo semper quod longissime abest id penitus rectum iter censeo."
(Petrarch, Epistolæ de Rebus Familiaribus, Book XIX, Letter 7.)
cui omnia fere aliter videntur ac vulgo,
a quo semper quod longissime abest id penitus rectum iter censeo."
(Petrarch, Epistolæ de Rebus Familiaribus, Book XIX, Letter 7.)
Sunday 18 November 2012
A Short Sunday Sermon
On the one hand,
you might say that crime began
in the limbo of cities,
not in a garden, not with a woman,
not with a snake, but with
malnourished, deracinated
desperate men.
On the other hand,
you might say that crime began
with the fence around
the Garden of Eden.
you might say that crime began
in the limbo of cities,
not in a garden, not with a woman,
not with a snake, but with
malnourished, deracinated
desperate men.
On the other hand,
you might say that crime began
with the fence around
the Garden of Eden.
Saturday 17 November 2012
Friday 16 November 2012
Music of the Spheres
Incandescent bulbs, whose manufacture has been banned
within the European Union, will soon be as rare as hens' teeth...
The sublime is often criminalised.
Thursday 15 November 2012
Necessarily,
politicians are liars,
cheats, betrayers and frauds.
Armed forces are necessarily
well-organised bands of
thugs with expensive training
and very expensive weaponry.
The press is pervertedly infantile
when not an instrument of misinformation.
This is not necessary, nor inevitable.
The Christians killed simple Jesus
a long time ago, when they opted for autocracy.
This was maybe necessary but not inevitable.
Necessarily, it seems, politicians, military,
press, Christianity - and ourselves
through 'social media' -
all manipulate us - now, inevitably,
in the name of democracy.
cheats, betrayers and frauds.
Armed forces are necessarily
well-organised bands of
thugs with expensive training
and very expensive weaponry.
The press is pervertedly infantile
when not an instrument of misinformation.
This is not necessary, nor inevitable.
The Christians killed simple Jesus
a long time ago, when they opted for autocracy.
This was maybe necessary but not inevitable.
Necessarily, it seems, politicians, military,
press, Christianity - and ourselves
through 'social media' -
all manipulate us - now, inevitably,
in the name of democracy.
Wednesday 14 November 2012
An extraordinary observation ;-)
It is now considered insulting
to refer to ordinary people.
Which is why
there is no such thing as society.
to refer to ordinary people.
Which is why
there is no such thing as society.
Tuesday 13 November 2012
Crime without punishment.
The most consistently
and spectacularly lucrative
form of capitalism depends on the ongoing
criminalisation of certain commodities;
and the money that keeps on flowing
from supplying (and fleecing)
and policing
keeps the whole system going.
and spectacularly lucrative
form of capitalism depends on the ongoing
criminalisation of certain commodities;
and the money that keeps on flowing
from supplying (and fleecing)
and policing
keeps the whole system going.
Monday 12 November 2012
'Social Capital'
The vast, towering machinery
of capitalism grinds anti-socially.
'Social Capital', judged by status,
ambition, acquisition,
is essentially unsociable.
of capitalism grinds anti-socially.
'Social Capital', judged by status,
ambition, acquisition,
is essentially unsociable.
Sunday 11 November 2012
Eleventh hour
At the eleventh hour
of the eleventh day
of the eleventh month
militarists, their lackeys,
and their dupes
briefly remember
cannon-fodder,
and congratulate themselves.
A nation-state without an army
would not now be considered
a nation-state, though Denmark,
probably the oldest European nation-state
had no army in 1940.
Now, at some eleventh hour,
nation-states are starting
to disintegrate.
of the eleventh day
of the eleventh month
militarists, their lackeys,
and their dupes
briefly remember
cannon-fodder,
and congratulate themselves.
A nation-state without an army
would not now be considered
a nation-state, though Denmark,
probably the oldest European nation-state
had no army in 1940.
Now, at some eleventh hour,
nation-states are starting
to disintegrate.
For most of human life on earth
it was rare to find someone without
disfigurement, even among the rich
and powerful. But in our culture
of mass-vanity,
a blemish is a kind of curse,
and the blemished
are seen as victims,
objects of pity.
disfigurement, even among the rich
and powerful. But in our culture
of mass-vanity,
a blemish is a kind of curse,
and the blemished
are seen as victims,
objects of pity.
Saturday 10 November 2012
It is much easier
to legalise
than legitimise,
just as it is much easier
to condemn
than judge.
Systems and institutions
can't tell good from bad.
than legitimise,
just as it is much easier
to condemn
than judge.
Systems and institutions
can't tell good from bad.
Friday 9 November 2012
Sense of History
A generation has grown up which cannot imagine
a world without computers, the internet, cell-phones,
credit-cards...
How will people be able to imagine a world without plastic,
without radio, electricity, plumbing,
without coffee or tomatoes,
chimneys, forks or chairs,
without glass, cotton, steel,
cotton, paper, cement, without stairs...
without even the potter's wheel ?
a world without computers, the internet, cell-phones,
credit-cards...
How will people be able to imagine a world without plastic,
without radio, electricity, plumbing,
without coffee or tomatoes,
chimneys, forks or chairs,
without glass, cotton, steel,
cotton, paper, cement, without stairs...
without even the potter's wheel ?
Thursday 8 November 2012
No-one's supposed to be single.
Just as the most boring people
are those who are frightened of boredom,
the loneliest
are those who are frightened of loneliness,
and those trapped by marriage.
But no-one's supposed to be single.
are those who are frightened of boredom,
the loneliest
are those who are frightened of loneliness,
and those trapped by marriage.
But no-one's supposed to be single.
Wednesday 7 November 2012
The Comfort of Age
As I get older
the 'sex' gets better
and better - and longer
and longer - with myself.
All that's missing
is kissing.
the 'sex' gets better
and better - and longer
and longer - with myself.
All that's missing
is kissing.
Tuesday 6 November 2012
Corporate
Capitalism (which we now know
will devour even itself)
offers heaven on earth -
and delivers
hell with Super-HD/3D movies.
will devour even itself)
offers heaven on earth -
and delivers
hell with Super-HD/3D movies.
Monday 5 November 2012
Restricting men's sexual activity
makes them tense
and even dangerous.
So armies and patriarchies
came about simply by
restricting men's sexual activity
mainly through monogamy.
with the subtle help of alcohol.
and even dangerous.
So armies and patriarchies
came about simply by
restricting men's sexual activity
mainly through monogamy.
with the subtle help of alcohol.
Sunday 4 November 2012
Some light relief.
A Stoplight-Loosejaw photographed by Alex Ries.
This deep-sea fish has a dislocatable jaw, teeth in its throat, and “night vision”
light-organs that illuminate a hapless victim unable to see the wavelength they emit.
An observation..
There is so little record of child sexual abuse
in historical documents - including show-trials
for heresy and witchcraft - including
even Stalin's show-trials - that either it
was so common and acceptable that
it deserved no mention,
or that it hardly existed before, say, the advent
of television and video.
in historical documents - including show-trials
for heresy and witchcraft - including
even Stalin's show-trials - that either it
was so common and acceptable that
it deserved no mention,
or that it hardly existed before, say, the advent
of television and video.
Saturday 3 November 2012
For John Gray
The philosopher
who claims to be rational
is like the meat-eater
or the child-maker
who claims to be harmless.
who claims to be rational
is like the meat-eater
or the child-maker
who claims to be harmless.
Life is like a game of poker.
Yesterday I heard
a really good line
in a popular song:
'The best that you can hope for
is to die in your sleep.'
- Kenny Rogers, 'The Gambler'.
a really good line
in a popular song:
'The best that you can hope for
is to die in your sleep.'
- Kenny Rogers, 'The Gambler'.
Friday 2 November 2012
On the banality of evil :
The spineless are the drones
of evil. They do more harm
than missiles.
- adapted from an aphorism of
Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, known as Nicolas Chamfort.
of evil. They do more harm
than missiles.
- adapted from an aphorism of
Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, known as Nicolas Chamfort.
Thursday 1 November 2012
A rational individual
can act only through power of reason -
which is why human beings
cannot call themselves rational,
and indeed are less reasonable
than almost any other creature.
which is why human beings
cannot call themselves rational,
and indeed are less reasonable
than almost any other creature.
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