Semi-Skimmed Democracy

Semi-Skimmed Democracy: Someone once said, “just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.” In the same way, referring dismissively to conspiracy theory doesn’t mean there is no conspiracy.

There are different levels of conspiracy, of course. There may not be any aliens in control of our planet - who knows? - but it is a fair bet that there are all sorts of reptilian characters up to no good. Sometimes they meet in rooms. This is, by definition, a conspiracy.

Useless Idiots: cuts, war crimes and quantitative easing

Useless Idiots: cuts, war crimes and quantitative easing: While the banks are busy looting the world in what is effectively a financial protection racket, forcing the sell-off of public assets at rock bottom prices, the defence of those assets becomes a priority for all concerned citizens

Who Says We Are All In It Together?

Who Says We Are All In It Together?: "Currently the top 1% of the population owns 23% of the wealth, while the lowest 50% of the population share 7% of the wealth between them. This is a huge disparity in the distribution of wealth in this country and it shows how unjust our economic system really is."

Sandy Back: the true heart of Whitstable

Sandy Back: the true heart of Whitstable: "I want to use this opportunity to say goodbye to my friend Sandie Back, who died recently after a long struggle with cancer."

An Optimist Considers 2012 and other stories

An Optimist Considers 2012 and other stories: "An optimist is someone who believes thatthings will always turn out for the best. A pessimist is someone who believes that things will always turn out for the worst.

They are both right about half the time, and wrong about half the time. The difference is that the optimist has a far more enjoyable time while he’s at it."

Save Whitstable and Herne Bay Delivery Offices

Save Whitstable and Herne Bay Delivery Offices: "The same technology which has cut into the letters business also allows customers to buy books and other large items over the internet. Ebay and Amazon have replaced utility bills and personal letters as the Royal Mail’s main business."

The Castle Grounds Whitstable: No Spirit of Place

The Castle Grounds Whitstable: No Spirit of Place: "I miss the wooded area over by the road, which has been replaced by what appears to be a garden centre, and the weird bit of box hedging around the statue of the Milk Maid, which served no purpose whatsoever, but was quaintly eccentric in an old-fashioned, English sort of way."

The Hypostasis of the Archons: Gnosticism, The Roman Empire and the Myth of Christ

The Hypostasis of the Archons: Gnosticism, The Roman Empire and the Myth of Christ: "The archons imprint their model on us, their dead world. That’s what we see through the eyes of the ego: a dead world. A world of objects, of things, bereft of life, hollow, empty, meaningless. A world ripe only for exploitation. A purely economic world. A world in which some humans have the power of life or death over others, a world where we can go to war for possession of a commodity. A world in which men and women, adults and children are slaughtered for the economic benefit of a few."

Landscape and Possession

Landscape and Possession: "When a ghost enters a man we say he is possessed.

But what if he is already possessed and he no longer knows it?

What if the mind that he carries around in his head isn’t his real mind at all?

What if it isn’t just one man, but all of humanity that is possessed? Possessed by the demon of possession, in fact, by the mistaken belief that anyone can ever own anything."

The Trouble with HubPages

The Trouble with HubPages: "The pressure is on for self-promotion. I’m sure you get people sitting up all night writing some generic comments on as many hubs as they can find in order to promote their own hubs. This must make for some very awkward relationships as on-line self-promoters promote themselves on other on-line self-promoters self-promoting hubs. Who’s promoting who here?"

We do the work. Someone else takes the wealth.

Economics is easy to understand. Wealth comes from human beings. It’s as simple as that. It comes from human beings engaging with nature in an intelligent and productive way in order to make all of the things we want and need. It is work that makes wealth.

Read more here: http://hubpages.com/hub/We-do-the-work-Someone-else-takes-the-wealth

The End Of The World As We Know It

You may have heard people talk about 2012. Some people say it is the year when the world will end.

By Steve Andrews & CJ Stone

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-End-Of-The-World-As-We-Know-It

The Power of the Light

CJ Stone tries an alternative therapy that is set to cleanse his soul and aura. The question is: is he evolved enough to step into the light...?

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Power-of-the-Light

Hair Pie

Crosby Stills Nash and Young sang a song about it. In those days hair was a revolutionary statement. But what's its purpose? That's the question on CJ Stone's mind.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Hair-Pie

You Can Write To King Arthur

King Arthur is this ex-biker, ex-soldier, ex-builder (not necessarily in that order) who had a brainstorm back in the eighties and decided he was King Arthur, after which he donned a white frock and a circlet, and has been causing various kinds of trouble ever since.

I wrote a book with him once.

http://hubpages.com/hub/You-Can-Write-To-King-Arthur

LSD Refugees

I've just taken LSD. For the first time in 25 years. That little brown drop of liquid, placed on the end of my finger and ingested some 30 minutes ago, is about to play havoc with my sense of self...

http://hubpages.com/hub/LSD-Refugees

Columns III: War and Asylum

In the controversy surrounding the issue of asylum seekers, we tend to forget some of the very real human stories that lie behind it. It's too easy to see it as an "issue" and to forget that these people are human beings, with mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, sisters and brothers who love them, with hopes and aspirations just like ours, who suffer just like us, who laugh just like us, who dream just like us, and who die just like us.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Whitstable-Times-Columns-II

Baghdad Girl

She is fifteen years old and she has just finished her exams. She likes cats. She has a blog which consists almost entirely of pictures of cute little kittens rolling about on well-tended lawns, or relaxing, stretching and yawning, or playing with balls of wool. She is like most teenage girls the whole world over.

Her name is Raghda Zaid and she lives in the United Arab Emirates. She used to live in Baghdad.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Baghdad-Girl

Columns IV: Welcome to the Future

These days we seem to be under the quaint illusion that the progress of civilisation is the same as technological innovation.

Every day there are hundreds of new products on the market; from mobile phones that take your picture, to palm-top computers the size of cigarette packets; from cars without pistons, to video streaming; from vacuum cleaners without dust bags, to "Blue Tooth" technology that allows you to use your computer in any location. All of this is seen as "progressive", as if the accumulation of more and more gadgets was really the measure of human worth.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Welcome-To-The-Future

Computer Troubles

I’m very worried about my computer. It’s been doing some very odd things of late. I tell it to do one thing and it does something else. It’s like a recalcitrant teenager throwing a permanent paddy, stamping its foot and going off in a virtual sulk.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Computer-Troubles