Tuesday, November 10, 2009

All about me and nothing but me Or The Perfect Suicide

On one beautiful summers day, he hung by the neck. Wearing his best clothes, all black from head to toe. In the background playing, in a loop, is the song “Goodbye Cruel World” by Pink Floyd.

He hangs peacefully, his soul is at rest.

On the chair he used to stand on is a short letter:

This act was not out of despair or depression. What is the reason of this act? Was it due to loneliness?

It was a rationale act that can be attributed solely to the world around us. This world is sick from within, people have lost sight of what truly matters, and we are evolving into a race that will surely self destruct. By living in this world the feelings and fact arose that I was no better than everyone else and that I along with everyone else was contributing to this feverish sickness.
In retort to loneliness, everyone is alone. In the end there is only yourself and yourself alone. People mask this loneliness with social constructs of peace and happiness. But that is all it is, a mask, a lie. The hones truth is we would save certain people from danger at all costs but this is not done out of Love for them, it is a primal instinct, the same as an animal. The human race is no better than the dogs or cats we care for. We pretend to be with our lavish designs and wondrous abilities. But instead of using these gifts we waste them on useless tools such as weapons and pointless ideologies.

Through this act I have touched the other side. I now know the truth of the universe, all that is real and all that is a lie. If God exists I believe that he will forgive for he knows the deepest truths.
Do not despair about this act and the loss, live happy and free knowing that I entered this situation with a smile. There is nothing you could have done and no way you could have changed the result. All that could be said it was time. Your life is ahead of you, cherish the time we had and do not worry yourself. This is not my demise but a beginning of the next stage.

Peace and Love

Dead Soul

Lost, Found and Periodic Publish

A dilemma has occurred due to the finding of many lost articles that have been written but never used. The dilemma is this does one post them all at the same time? or does one wait and post them periodically? With the quest to post one more piece every month up until 10 posts a month is reached and then resetting to one post again, the pressure is on now with such a busy period in daily life. Is there enough time to reach the quota this month?

For the moment however the temptation to saturate the world with the lost articles is being resisted. Instead, in the interest of staying topical as one does not know what is around the corner, the lost articles will be published one at a time, in various different months depending on the situation.

To answer those who want to know if the next part of Abstruse and the adventures of dear Sheridan are on the way within the hourly or daily future; I am going to have to report a negative on that star ship, we don't have clairvoyance. Whoever is watching Sheridan has got a lock on and does not want to be seen and revealed.

While Abstruse is bogged down in earths atmosphere, Abstract however is in space floating around purposefully and waiting to enter Violet Galaxy. Many things can be achieved with a little help from friends no matter how far away they maybe.

The One that Never Was

The following is a Thesis proposal that was written up but never saw the light of day and was duly scrapped for a better and more rounded. As it was never used I decided to post it here, it may give somebody a thought or two.

Rationale: “If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience!” Man and the Superman, George Bernard Shaw. This dissertation aims to examine the politics of the British government from signing the Versailles Treaty in 1919 to the beginning of World War II in 1939 focusing on their relations with the rise of Nazi Germany. This dissertation hopes to pinpoint the policies which allowed the Nazis’s to consolidate power and implement an aggressive foreign policy. The blame for the Second World War is pointed solely at Hitler. While he committed atrocities in power maybe these could have been prevented and that’s where the blame falls on the allies. “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,” Newton’s Third Law.


Defining the Topic: There are a few key questions that this dissertation hopes to answer. What was the role of the Versailles Treaty? Did it help cause the rise of fascism? The people who really suffered from the Treaty did they really do anything to deserve it? The Versailles treaty is the beginning of World War II, only by understanding its role can such a “farce” be avoided again. What was the role of Appeasement? and the Munich Agreement? How much are Britain to blame for causing World War II? Another key question, which may be controversial, is how did Hitler come to power and what was the role of Britain in helping Nazi’s gain control? What was the affect of the Versailles treaty and what British government did during Hitler’s slow ascent to power? Did the Versailles Treaty back Germany into a corner where they looked for a strong leader to help them? Did the appeasement policies failure still have heavy influence in British politics?

Literature Review: There are many documents and books about the subject area. Two of the best primary sources are The Gathering Storm by Sir Winston Churchill and Guilty Men by “Cato”. Guilty Men was written in 1940 under a pseudonym by Michael Foot, Frank Owen and Peter Howard. The book is an attack on the men the authors believe to be responsible for poor policies and action against Nazi Germany. However the book is not very objective in its outlook and is very critical of the men it believes are guilty. It is a good starting point and gives a good insight into the views of people at the time.

From this a more objective view but still a primary source is Sir Winston Churchill’s book Second World War. The first volume The Gathering Storm deals directly with the lead up to World War II. This book comes to the same conclusion as Guilty Men which is that the policies were inadequate. Where the two books differ is in their approach, this book is more objective. These two books are good starting point into the topic and give great first hand insight into events. Therefore when secondary source books are used in the dissertation a fuller view can be obtained.


The Thesis: There are three main sources that will be used to research the topic. The primary sources will include government documents, treaties and other official documentation e.g. speeches etc. Primary Source books on the subject areas will be used. Books such as Churchill’s Second World War book specifically the First Section The Gathering Storm and Guilty Men by “Cato”. The last source will be Secondary Source books written after War. The dissertation will be broken into four different sections. Each section will focus on one specific incident that led to World War II. After and introductory section about the purpose and aim of the dissertation, the section will centre on the Versailles Treaty and the impact that it had on Germany and the involvement of the UK in its drafting and signing. From this the policy of appeasement will be studied. What is the policy? What affect it had on the UK domestically? What did the parliament and citizens think of the policy at the time? This section will also look at what Germany was doing at this time in terms of armament and other growth. The next two sections study appeasement in action, firstly the UK response to the Rhineland and German policy of Lebensraum. The UK’s response will be compared with the French reaction and policies as well as the German reaction to the UK’s response. Following this three incidents will be reviewed that led directly to World War II. Firstly the Munich Agreement and the breaking of the agreement, what it was and its implications and then the strain it put on foreign relations specifically with France. The final incident was the Anglo-Polish military pact and the invasion of Poland by Germany that led to the beginning of World War II. The final section of the dissertation will be an analysis of the information in the dissertation and will end with a conclusion.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Twilight, Religion and Democracy

This is in three parts with no part connected to the other.

Twilight

The twilight saga is currently the hit book and film franchise at the moment, well among teenage girls and a few other stragglers. It has become so big that I had to watch the film and get a summarisation of the books (Watching the film is one thing but I couldn't’t bring myself to reading the books.)

I don’t like being a hypocrite or unduly biased so I entered watching the Twilight film with an open mind.

My conclusion about the film as a film: I would give the film 1 out of 5 stars. The acting was woeful and many of the dramatic and important scenes I found myself laughing. This was due to how the dialogue and facial expressions of the actors was delivered and I honestly felt I was watching a satirical film of teenage films. I still find it hard to believe that it is a serious piece of work. An example of this is when Edward is in the forest with Bella and she asks him to show his true form. At this I got quite excited to see the depiction of the vampires. However I was let down big time, his skin shone, that was it, extremely disappointing to say the least. The voice-over was poor and the film essentially plot-less. There were two exciting moments the film pushed, the first was a baseball game which was a bore that not even Muse’s Supermassive Black Hole playing could save. The other was the climatic chase scene at the end that never got any tension going and played like a bad horror film with the usual mistakes characters make so everything falls in line. As a film it was woeful, actually I’m reconsidering that 1 star it might be too generous.

The themes of the film and presumably the book as well are quite astonishing and some are demeaning of women and their equal rights. The basic theme is that women can’t live without men as Bella points out that she has nothing to live for but Edward. Edward who doesn’t sleep spends his time following/stalking Bella everywhere as evident in him saying he watches her without her knowing and also his heroic act of saving Bella from a group of thugs just in time.

Moving on to keep this brief we shall move to the fourth book Breaking Dawn where the sickest thing I have ever heard of in a young adults book occurs. It is so bad that only one of the people I know who read the book defends it. This is of course “imprinting” by the character Jacob. Imprinting is where a werewolf involuntarily finds his soul mate. That concept is fine until Jacob imprints on a new born baby and waits until she is of age to consummate. So basically he falls in love with a child, I think that is called paedophilia.

I will leave it there without touching on the topics of teenage sex and teenage pregnancy which are promoted in the books through the actions of the characters. I also will watch New Moon film and the rest of the saga.

Religion

When all the different religions are taken into account it is hard to find a middle ground. So which one is right?

Well lets for the sake of this discussion assume that firstly there is a God and secondly that there is only one God. God is meant to be a Superior Being and therefore God would not be subjected to human emotion for if God was then he would not be superior. So we will assume then as a Being of some sort that It is rationale and takes all events and reason into account when judging. This raising the question why one should worship and pray to him? By demanding that people worship him then this is egotistical and not very superior. Would God not prefer that people not show their thanks by doing good deeds rather than spending their lives worshipping him and getting others to do so? In this case also then saying his name in vain and praying to him in a different way wouldn’t matter.

My conclusion to this differs heavily from organised religions. First off to be quite blunt God does not give a shit what religion one is, why would God differentiate? If he is an egotistical maniac all worship is good in his eyes. I don’t believe that God wants us to worship in the manner that we are told. Secondly I don’t believe in God as a Being of a sort. If he was he would be subject to the laws and other traits that make him not so superior to us. Instead God is pure light, a sort of positive energy. Does it not make more sense for people to do good deeds in their life and attract positive energy? I am not talking about being a goodie-two shoes angel but being helpful and looking out for people in general. What you do to others you get back, karma I suppose. I don’t know what happens when you die but surely if you’ve lead a good life then you’ll get some reward. That reward maybe that you led a good life, is that not enough? The whole notion of spending your life preaching and worshipping a God just seems a waste, you can achieve more by doing things that make an impact, that helps people on earth.

In the case that you disagree then there is nothing wrong with following your religion but what difference does it truly make to you if someone believes differently? As long as they are doing positive things in society then surely God wouldn’t mind?

Democracy

This came out of the news that David Cameron supports referendums in Britain in regards to Europe. I am not a conservative or support David Cameron but I believe he is right in this case. Recently Ireland voted yes to the Lisbon Treaty but for all the wrong reasons. It is not democratic to vote out of fear, which the Irish did, it is not democratic to hold a second referendum because you didn’t like the answer, which the Irish did, it is not democratic for government or political parties to take a side and promote it. The Lisbon Treaty should be solely voted by the people based upon the Treaty itself. For parties to say it is right for Ireland and Ireland will be removed from Europe is wrong and undemocratic.

From this to go broader in terms of democracy I concluded it doesn’t exist. In both the UK and Ireland for instance the Prime Minister/Taoiseach is not elected by the people but by politicians who were elected. The whole you vote for a politician because you want the party in power is ridiculous. One should vote for a politician because they like that politicians ideas as he may have different views from his party in some areas. So the US system is best where the President is elected by the people. This is good except the US system of electing is flawed. This is due to the electoral system in place which means a President can be elected without having the majority vote. This of course happened in 2000 with George Bush. That of course is not very democratic at all

Politicians purpose is to run the State in the interest of the people. I don’t think many would argue that they do. If they truly worked for the peoples interests then political parties would not be needed. This is because while people have a differing view they would compromise in the interest of the people because it is not about what they think is best but what is best for the people, therefore a middle ground should be achieved. Of course this won’t happen because politicians have ego’s like us all and that interferes with their duty and democracy is not served nor exists.

Maybe Plato’s Republic is best, to a degree at least.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Abstract and Abstruse: The Incoherent Thoughts of a Sane Man put together in a Coherent Manner

Abstruse

Part 1

Drifting slowly out of touch with perceived reality, that is what Sheridan was. Obscure and alleviated from the chores of the life he had. Behold the truth of majesty and construct, in all its glory. A glorified mess no doubt and without charm. Where does he begin? Surely not at the start as that will only lead to a begrudged meaning and give the world something without thought or purpose. Poor Sheridan, his mind holds all the answers but the answers are contrary to common belief. How can one live a life knowing that everything that people are taught and know is a lie. The truth is everything is wrong but because he knows the real truth he must be then outcast, a loner. Let his battle begin, the battle of knowing and giving the world the truth. He must fight in the face of adversary and despair, they are coming for him and his time is limited. Poor Sheridan, it is not his fault but it is his problem and fight he must or surely die.

So the tale begins not at the beginning but just after halfway through. Now before it starts a problem arises. As the narrator of this fine tale is not Sheridan and as such the tale that is told may not be true. It might be an accidental lie or he, the narrator, could be one of “them” and the tale is a fabrication so that the world continues believing in the lie. Nobody can answer this and the reader must decide for themselves whether the tale is true or not. Whether you believe the narrator or not is your decision.

There are a few rules you must learn and follow so that the tale can be understood. The first rule is only Sheridan knows everything and does not lie.

Walking down towards the tower that stood beside an orange post box was not an easy task. It was a bumpy road and the gravel was sharp, an unforgiving terrain for the barefooted Sheridan. If the unreachable tower was grasped Sheridan knew the hardest and most treacherous part of his journey would be over. “So close now,” Sheridan gasped to himself, only a few more yards. Something moved swiftly, Sheridan saw it in the corner of his eye. He turned around and faced the direction where the movement came from. Nothing was there, nothing unusual anyway but then swish and again. In the corner of his eye Sheridan caught sight of it again and once again Sheridan turned to where the perceived movement came. Alas there was nothing there but then in the corner if his eye he saw it. Moving lightning fast and disappearing just as quick as it appeared. Sheridan repeated the this process of sighting and turning over and over. To no avail in the end he was just spinning in circles. Eventually he gave up and walked on towards the tower. Whatever it was it had won or at least had some fun at Sheridan’s expense. As he continued on a terrifying and daunting feeling came over him, he knew whatever that thing was it was watching him intently but he did not yet know why.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Project Tetu: Shameless Plugs

Join and spread the word, if you please.

http://twitter.com/AGandM

http://www.myspace.com/ageofgodsandmortals

Beginning of something, good hopefully but only time tells.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Obama: A Lost Article

A recent review of saved documents on my computer has given me a few forgotten gems. The following article I wrote just after Barack Obama took office. It’s an interesting piece that has since been proven right. I have not altered it and is a straight copy from my computer.

I am a supporter of most of Barack Obama’s policies and believe that he was the best choice of all who wanted to be US President dating back to the primaries. However a number of issues relating to his policies have irked me into a response. Obama’s careful play of words have led some media outlets and people to have a misconstrued belief in Obama’s aims.

The first issue is related to his military policies. Obama has been portrayed as peaceful, non-militaristic idealist and has even been called a left wing communist by some media outlets. These claims though are slightly askew of the truth. Obama is not against the military, in fact to the contrary he hopes to expand it. In his campaign promises stated that he wants to increase the size of the UA army, marine corps and special forces. He is also going to change tact with Iran which is quite aggressive. Like Bushes statement you are either with us or with the terrorists Obama has stated that he will talk with Iran and offer them some incentives not to continue their nuclear programme or face political isolation and economic restrictions. Which will escalate as time goes by.

Another big issue that Obama has been praised for is his expected closure of Guantanamo Bay detention centre, a promise he is fulfilling as I write this because a draft proposal has been written up. Obama is closing Guantanamo Bay but Guantanamo is a lot better compared to other detention centres the US operate. One in particular is Bagram Theatre Internment Facility which has nearly double the detainees of Guantanamo. Not only this but the conditions the detainees suffer are far worse than those suffered in Cuba. Captives are called ‘unlawful enemy combatants’ not ‘prisoners of war‘ hence the detainees do not have the same rights as POWs. Many former detainees have stated that the conditions in Bagram are far worse than that suffered in Guantanamo.

I must stress that I am a supporter of Obama and that this piece is not against Obama but its purpose is to highlight some facts that I have found to have been overlooked by many people.