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What would he say about Harry Potter? *Update*
Harry Potter and Central Casting will teach you what to think. George Orwell spent time perusing the magazine shelves at his local tobacconist. He liked to keep an eye on what the little people read...
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Shooting an Elephant
Shooting an Elephant (1936) is one of Orwell’s famous essays and it is rightfully held up as excellent writing. I’m not going to argue against that here. I will say that the essay shows why Orwell was...
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In Waves
Reblogged from bits 'n pieces: Dreadlocks of weed from blank coral skulls tickle the soles of our feet. Patches of sunlight in broken glass patterns; green then black. Brief tastes of salt burning...
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Out with a whimper?
Jonathan Turley talked about his recent Washington Post piece looking at the issues of surveillance and privacy and U.S. citizens’ loss of privacy protections. Happy Voting Day!
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Part 1, Orpheus
Reblogged from bits 'n pieces: “I had a nightmare.” “What happened?” her voice was a whisper between sheets and ruffled pillowcases. “I dreamt that you died.” The train ricocheted off the walls of the...
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Perverse Movies
A battle rages across the internet… the problem: There’s an editor in Niagara Falls who won’t publish movie reviews that he doesn’t like. Imagine that- an editor exercising editorial control. But as...
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Mustard
Thanks to ukmagic.co.uk A few weeks ago the BBC’s Food Programme (Channel 4) aired its final episode in a series on spices, the episode is titled “Mustard”. You can download it for free through...
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The secret truth about writing
Reblogged from The Red Pen of Doom: When was the last time you went to a movie and wanted to stay behind and watch it again? What was the last political stump speech that made you laugh and cry and...
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Can Permaculture feed Britain?
I was elated to find the embedded BBC documentary on YouTube. A Farm for the Future (2009) looks at modern farming’s dependence on fossil fuels– be it organic farming or not– and the problems this...
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Misdirection
Any story with a surprise ending uses misdirection to lead the reader towards one conclusion, then throws another at them. This switch is annoying if it’s not done well. I’ve written a bit about what...
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Character Matters
Angelina: Behind the Blow I’ve watched more than my fair share of children’s cartoons. There is a real shortage of heroes. I don’t mean characters with special powers, I mean characters who show kids...
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A Gift
I was reading a story from Bulgakov’s A Country Doctor’s Notebook last night, titled The Embroidered Towel. The stories in this collection are all somewhat autobiographical. Bulgakov was sent to a...
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Tempora
I will take the heat. You read it here first. The Tempora programme of Britain’s GCHQ eavesdropping agency is known in the intelligence world as a “full take”. Britain is charging ahead of the pack to...
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Snowden Interview Part 2
Video recorded June 6th 2013. Snowden understood how apologists for the NSA and its collaborators would try to defend themselves: they would yell “traitor”, “extremist” while downplaying the truly...
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Latest from Sheremetyevo
I watched Edward Snowden’s press conference live today on Russia Today; and by ‘live’, I mean I watched the airport door behind which Snowden’s press conference supposedly took place. There were only...
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The Fabulous Marconi
Snicker, snicker. Edward seems to be settling into Russian life, so it’s time for the Free World to roll up its sleeves and improve itself. I’ve stated before that the most important of Snowden’s...
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Marconi Lives
“Confound their Politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks…” Wow! It’s been a fun week in the press so far. If you were interested in my post on Guglielmo Marconi and the military outsourcing empire he...
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Silence around Mr. Appelbaum *Update*
At least he has a sense of humor. Everyone concerned with the PRISM revelations should now be contacting their representatives and encouraging their friends to do the same. That’s what should be...
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Abaddon
Where will the fires start next? I’ve wanted look at the character of Margarita from Master and Margarita for some time, but I’ve been reluctant to do that until I got a copy of My Life with Mikhail...
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Are you sure you’re sleeping well, Mr. Appelbaum?
Mr. Jacob Appelbaum, representative of the Navy-funded Tor Network, spoke on behalf of Edward Snowden during the 2013 Whistleblower Award ceremony on Aug 31st. The ceremony took place in Berlin, and...
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