13 o'clock

At the beginning of George Orwell's 1984 it opens with the line,

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

Today I read from the Telegraph about a village clock that has started striking 13 here

and just a month ago in London this

I found this story today about how a Tesco One Stop store has twice refused a 70 year old woman from buying wine unless she proves ID.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/7854789.stm

I started to think along the usual lines of the coming National ID which the government are attempting to foist on us, but then I realised that actually this is a simple, honest and sincere attempt to cut down the amount of underage drinkers who dress in disguise as old folk and attempt to purchase alcohol.

So, well done Tesco! May I suggest also that sellers of false beards and moustaches, wigs, make-up, joke warts, pimples, noses and ears etc also request ID before purchase.

Isn't thinking that the President/Prime Minister is THE MAN in control a bit like thinking its the chauffer who is in charge of where the rich guy in the backs going?

Cosmic Dance of Shiva

here is a very beautiful video (in 6 parts).

Shiva's Tandava Dance by Jayan Cherian

The Crowley Thumb Sign

here is a clip of Tony Blair doing his famous hand signal

and here is Gordon Brown doing the same thing but much more frequently

did they pick this up from The Beast himself, Aleister Crowley? Is this a ritual magic hand signal?

Choice #3 Drugs

Just came across this article in Time Magazine.  As well as annoying me for it's unbalanced view on whether marijuana is good or bad for you, it annoyed me because Dr Sanjay Gupta seems to think that because a substance is "bad for you" that peoples choice should be taken away from them.

If I decide to use a substance that is bad for me and doesn't really affect anybody but myself then that is MY business NOT the governments. 

Red meat is bad for you, along with alcohol, tobacco, sugar, cream cakes and MSG, but all these things are also made by choice and  legal. Why should drugs of any sort be any different?

There are plenty of things which are dangerous and effect other peoples lives without any choice in the matter. I don't have any choice whether I breathe in car exhaust fumes or have to live in a world we bomb the planet with depleted uranium and build nuclear plants.

Keeping drugs illegal benefits criminals, makes quality hard to control and takes away freedom of choice.  Legalize them all!

(Of course, if you are a Freeman-on-the-Land, then statutes don't apply and you are free to use and/or abuse any substance you wish, but this type of attitude still stinks!)

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1552034,00.html

edit - Terence McKenna quote sums it up nicely

If the words 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on. -Terence McKenna