Introduction: Flags, Fear and the Manipulation of Public Behaviour THROUGHOUT HISTORY, populations have been guided, swayed, and at times manipulated by those in positions of authority. The mechanisms of control are not always overt. More often they take the form of subtle nudges—engineered crises, health scares, product shortages, price hikes, media campaigns, symbolic gestures—that channel …
Turning the Page SOMETIMES THE END of one chapter really is the beginning of another. Take Lee Child, for example. Back in the mid-1990s, he wasn’t yet the bestselling author we know today — he was Jim Grant, a TV executive at Granada Studios. And then - after nearly two decades in the industry, he …
Nordic Folk Since August, 2023 I've presented on here several pieces of music, compositions which may be best described as 'Nordic Folk.' Ulvetime On August 18 that year I posted 'Ulvetime (Hour of the Wolf)' by Northern European group, 'Songleikr.' The song’s captivating lyrics confront mortality with a mood of dread and restlessness, yet my …
IN 2022 I began journaling. My first entry, dated Wednesday, May 18, began: 'It's been suggested to me that I begin journaling as a means of gaining a degree of 'inner knowing,' and as an aid in navigating the difficult times we're living through.' I found this to be true. By November of that year …
Why Master & Commander Still Rules the Screens THERE ARE SOME movies you watch once, enjoy, and then forget. And then there are movies like Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)—films that stick with you. Films that quietly work their way into your imagination and refuse to leave. HMS Surprise Directed …
Ever since I discovered the joy of novels at an early age, my bookshelves have been a sort of gentleman’s club. Not through sexism or prejudice — I just figured men wrote in a style I was most comfortable with. One glance at my book collection will show that I like a literary diet of …
Yesterday, I published the post 'The Pandemic Playbook,' in which I presented a post-mortem of what we were told was a catastrophic pandemic. Here, I draw a line under that subject by adding a brief footnote. It is one dedicated to all those who courageously resisted unprecedented levels of State Tyranny and remained autonomous. IN …
A Post COVID-19 Autopsy 'Fill them with news that they can’t breathe.They will feel like they are drowning in information, but they will think they are intelligent.' - Ray Bradbury IN EARLY 2020, the word pandemic became an everyday term — repeated in headlines, political speeches, and on endless, real-time news feeds. The world was …
'The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.' Philip K Dick A Novel Idea While reading the novel 'Shake Loose the Border' by Robert Low, I came across a passage that set …
OVER THE PAST several months, I’ve spent dozens of hours litter-picking in and around my local community. However, what began as a simple effort to improve our immediate environment has uncovered a troubling trend—one that speaks to a wider, largely unaddressed public health issue. Among the crisp packets, takeaway wrappers, and plastic bottles, one type …
RAVEN MOON 