Oil And Water

When oil and water are blended
to make plastic it is the end
of a lot more water than it should be.   

 

When Humour Wins The Day

When the news gets bad enough
that what the newspapers tell us 
gives you, and who you trust,
arguments for trying to make sense of it,
then please don't be ashamed
at rejecting the indigestible,
and wanting humour instead.

You want it less because you need the laughs
and more because for humour to work well
the script has be tight, to be consistent,
and have a strong internal logic to be
what is in effect a self contained world,
that works better because it is not reality.      

Six Degrees

Used to be the width of separation
between two random strangers
when, together, they set to work out
who they held in common
for them living in proximity to each other.

Now that same six degrees
is how much hotter the world might be
for there to be nobody left
to have anyone, or anything,
in common with, not even
for the lonely scientist
who is measuring the rates
of animal and human extinction.   

A Summary Of The Internet

For anyone with any humility, finding The Truth
is more than we can take in with much confidence.
To expect the truth to 'make sense' easily,
or be obvious, is surely asking for far too much. 

 

The Best Mistakes Are Shared Mistakes

When Adam partook
of the tree of learning,
encouraged by his wife,
who was part of himself
more than he realised,
he was doing nothing more
than E(a)vesdropping.

The Fear Of Poverty Has Always Been With Us

How well I remember 'growing up poor',
it did not mean what many might think,
it never meant a total lack of money. 

It meant being kept busy,
'keeping the wolf from the door'
to the point where we dare not ask
whether the wolf was actual debt,
or the fear of debt,
the fear of delay
in paying the bills
until the red letter bill
dropped through the letterbox;
that was the bill of shame,
and proof of profligacy
beyond endurance.

Many a time we cut corners
to contain our costs, knowing
that what made the present bearable
would cost us dearer in the end.
With every economy we made
we knew that we were denying
our future selves their choices. 

On Being 'Self Directing'

Choosers will never be beggars,
however poor they are.
But choosers who allow others
to choose for themselves
will be harder to find
in selfish times.

Read It Again

Because when any law presents itself
as so totalitarian and dystopian as to be
written only for the ease of the rulers,
and dis-ease of the ruled, who have to live by it,
the ruled will resist the new discomfort
which is for the comfort for the rulers.

 Those most in need of what the law refuses
them will be at their most secretive
and their least controllable, given half a chance.
Here is some advice about internet security
for those who are contemplating abortion
in police states where computers run everything
and abortion is circumscribed to the point of being illegal.  

 

Picture Set Of The Month - Irish Bank Notes

The last Irish £10 bank note, issued 1992-2001.
In 2001 the euro replaced the punt/pound, this note
was noted for depicting James Joyce in The Obrien design.  

An Irish £1 Bank note that was legal tender 1945-60
featuring Lady Hazel Lavery (1880-1935) American wife
of painter and society artist Sir John Lavery.

An Irish £20 bank note featuring William Butler
Yeats, it was legal tender between 1976-93 the quote
'we fed our hearts on fantasies' vertically on the left
was not meant to refer how the pounds in our pockets
can, and will, vary in the value of what they can buy. 

 

An Irish £10 Banknote featuring Jonathan Swift
and they were legal tender between 1976-93.
Please read here for more info on Mr Swift.