Nothing to do with your made-up religion. Solar reality. That.Is.All.

The #WinterSolstice is here. The depths of the Northern Hemisphere winter. December 22nd. From now on, the daylight will slowly return and the sun will appear higher in the sky. We have reached the point in the celestial year where the tilt of the globe keeps the sun low above the horizon and the darkness envelops most of our day. Our ancestors would have been aware of the changing seasons and celebrated reaching this point by feasting on livestock, lighting fires and offering gifts to their 'gods' in exchange for a good harvest in the following year. Decorating trees, creating lights, giving gifts and eating too much. It all sounds so pagan doesn't it. All parts of a meaningful celebration without all the religious nonsense that surrounds this celestial reality, no matter where on the world you look. Each culture marks the passing of an Equinox or a Solstice or a Full Moon near to either. These solar realities mark our progression round the Sun and the shifting seasons of our lives. All the superstitions that have been tacked on to it are nothing more than distracting waffle. Merry Solstice. May your journey round our star bring you health and happiness.

Festivals of light, harvest, rebirth and solar reality. Diwali for example.

Diwali. Another part of the global acknowledgment of our place in the solar system. The battle between 'good' and 'evil'. The victory of light over darkness. A new moon after the autumn equinox. Fire, lights, celebrations of life and yearning for springtime and harvest. Our ancestors would have been acutely aware of exactly what advancing darkness and longer nights meant to their everyday lives and their geographical position. Preparing for longer, colder nights and celebrating with festivals such as Diwali, Halloween, American 'Thanksgiving' festive lights and Samhain, all of which are connected to the seasonal changes, harvest and winter

The reality of an over-commercialised zombie christmas. Humbug.

It is that time of year again. The sickly, manipulative adverts have begun. People are gearing themselves up to spend too much money on a bunch of made up, zombie nonsense. Eating, drinking and buying too much plastic tat that makes them feel like they are part of something. Walking mindlessly through the shopping and eating 'traditions' like something undead.

I am talking, of course, about 'Christmas' and 'New Year'. At the risk of being called 'a humbug' or a 'party-pooper,' it really is the worst time of year. The depths of a Northern Hemisphere winter spoilt by overly commercialised, overly religious festivals that nobody thinks about and that should have limited place in a modern society. Think about it. Creationism, prophecies, virgin births, angels, wise men, magical moving stars, stables, donkeys, trees, turkeys, crackers, reindeer, chimneys and gifts. Really? What a load of absolute hokum. Nothing more than a mixed up, patchwork quilt of Pagan,

'Faith Schools' are a contradiction. Brainwashing is not education.

I live in Britain, We, as a nation, should be leading the way in all areas of modern life. We should be demonstrating to other nations of the world how to move forward in to an increasingly fact-based world. We should be leaving behind outdated rules, traditions, thoughts and processes. We should be pushing the boundaries of modern science and technologies and debunking myths wherever they exist within our society. We should be modern.
It is for this reason that we need to get rid of 'Faith Schools' from the education system, not just the state schools but across the board. Schooling should be about education and knowledge, truth and evidential sciences. It should not be about brainwashing vulnerable children and forcing them to believe clearly wrong, ancient myths and religions. Those that their parents wish to impose on them. It is nothing short of

Bonfire Night. Another 'leftover' tradition with roots in our Seasonal past.

Bonfire Night. Burning Popes, religions, cats and traditions.

Another crazed, religiously inspired, leftover celebration. Guy Fawkes was a Catholic man who wanted to over-throw the King. The King was a Protestant who knew the importance of instilling religious fear in his servants . As the King survived an attempt on his life in the 1605 plot, it was thought that the Protestant version of 'god' was good and puritanical ministers in government effectively made it a day of compulsory worship. There is even the possibility that the whole 'plot' was an exercise in spin, designed to inflame anti-Catholic feelings. ( here ) In 1606, to avoid being hung, drawn and publicly disemboweled for his 'crime', Guy Fawkes jumped from

5p "charge". It's in the bag.

Can we please stop calling it a #BagTax. It is a 5p charge on those people who are too lazy, forgetful or stupid to find a way around it - let's say by bringing their own bags or boxes. Why we don't just ban 'plastic' bags and use an environmentally sound alternative that breaks down in to natural compounds within days of being exposed to water or sunlight, I will never understand. Is that really beyond the realms of imagination? People could then pay a charge for these bags to encourage re-use of 'Life' bags. The charge could be then be given to charity ( enforced, unlike at present )

Autumn Equinox - Sept 23rd 2015 - Daylight diminished.

September 23rd 2015 is the Autumn Equinox for those of us in the Northern hemisphere. It means shorter hours of daylight as we head towards the winter solstice in December. For the next few weeks of the year, we will lose appx 4mins of daylight per day (in UK). Our ancestors would have been acutely aware of exactly what this event meant to their everyday lives. Prepare for longer, colder nights and look out for celebrations such as Diwali, Halloween, American 'Thanksgiving' and Samhain, all of which are connected to the seasonal changes, harvest and winter

National Anthem - silly and irrelevant. Time for a new one.

"God save our gracious Queen..." - the opening line to the British national anthem. As a non-royalist and an atheist, singing these words at events such as the World Cup, Olympics or special, national occasions with passion and pride is next to impossible. I am proud to be English/British, we have a great country/nation that should represent fairness and equality, providing a beacon to emerging nations around the world, a modern and advanced society. Our national anthem should represent these nations and be uplifting and inspiring, with lyrics that fill people with pride and awe, not divide the nation along religious/royalist/nationalistic lines by banging on about gods, a ruling monarch and an historical, warring past.

The idea of singing about national pride at sporting events seems a little silly in the first place but, if we are going to do so, then we should at least be singing something that all involved can feel

Dignity.

Today, at 2pm a man passed away. He chose to do so. He had to travel from the UK to Switzerland in order to make it happen. His name was #BobCole. He had terminal cancer and wanted to leave on his terms. He should have been able to make that choice at home, with his family, with checks in place and the backing of doctors. We are human beings, we should have more compassion for people in his position and we need to change the LAW. Religions and beliefs should not be allowed to get in the way of a compassionate change to these outdated rules that do not have majority public backing. In a fair-minded society, rational arguments and discussions should be used to create a new series of laws that protect the rights of certain groups to a dignified exit from their one life. Discus.

21st June. Summer Solstice 2015 & World Humanist Day.

Saturday, 21 June 2015.

The Summer Solstice. World Humanist Day. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, June 21st 2015 is the #SummerSolstice. It is the point in our celestial year when the sun appears to reach its highest point in the sky. In the Southern Hemisphere, it represents the winter solstice when the path of the sun in the sky is at its lowest. For many thousands of years our ancestors would have celebrated this time of year and

Why Don't the Women play 5 sets in Grand Slam Tennis?

I'm just sat watching the tennis. The French Open, Women's Singles Final for 2015 and, as usual, I am wondering why the women get away with only playing 'Best of 3 Sets'. The Men's Final is 'Best of 5 Sets' so why the inequality? Surely, in times where equality is pushed with such fervour (rightly so), it is only right that the women get the same prize money for the

Like you, I am a human being.

Like you, I am a human being. A member of a species that has evolved over millions of years to the point where we control our environment and resources. An intelligent, rational, sociable creature that has the ability to be compassionate and caring. Instead however, we have allowed our species to become ill-informed, miseducated, anti-social beings, lacking understanding and divided by our levels of ignorance. Happy to exploit each other and our world to attain levels of greed far beyond sustainable limits. We look at the world through rose-coloured glasses, given to us by a system that wants to control and abuse rather than advance and nurture. We have it wrong. We have it ALL WRONG. From the moment we are born we are bombarded

'Noah' myth used by BBC 'The Ark' and people complain that it wasn't 'true to life'..morons

The BBC showed 'The Ark' last night on UK TV and social media went crazy. Mostly, people were divided into those that enjoyed it and those that thought it was utter rubbish. Some dumbass souls complained that it didn't stay faithful to 'the historic accounts'. It's a myth people. Grow up. A myth created by humans of very little understanding. Here's another made up, but more likely, version of the origins of such a tale....

Once upon a time in an underdeveloped society, far, far away there was a group of humans that had a very basic understanding of the world around them. They didn't understand the world or their place in it and they relied on tribal elders who made up random stories to help them make sense of the things they saw. They were fearful that the sun wouldn't rise, they thought that supernatural powers controlled the weather and that demons and monsters roamed the flat earth. They had very little knowledge.

One day, someone was walking up a hill somewhere and there, they found fossils and shells and evidence of previous life and they just couldn't get their primitive brains around what they were or how they could have got there. It made no sense to them as they had very little knowledge. So, they went to the tribal elders ( who enjoyed a life of privilege because they had nurtured fear and ignorance in those below them ).

"How can these animal bones have got to the top of the hill oh wise one?" asked the fearful and ignorant humans. Not in eloquent English obviously, but in some primitive form of language. The tribal elders decided that this was another great opportunity to reinforce their position as leaders so they told another story of a vengeful and destructive deity who would smite them unless they complied with the rules ( made up by the elders

Eostre easter equinox full moon spring rebirth and chocolate

So here we are again. It is that time of year, Easter. Yet another public holiday based on a religious myth that has nothing to do with it's actual origins. 'Easter' is a laughably movable celebration within the Christian church that is held between 21 March and 25 April. It falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the northern hemisphere spring equinox - how amazingly pagan that all seems to be. Just think about it. Spring equinox, a new growing season, rebirth and the return of the sun (light) to the northern hemisphere, rabbits for reproduction, eggs for fertility, and lots of chocolate because it is tasty and encourages spending - it is all just 'symbollocks'. Even the name 'Easter' is taken from a Germanic Pagan goddess and is related to the fact that sunlight returns ( the dawn ). As humans, we are

Time for a new English National anthem. Here is my suggestion.

Time for a new English National anthem. Here is my suggestion.

"God save our gracious Queen..." - the opening line to the English national anthem. As a non-royalist and an atheist, singing these words at sporting events such as the World Cup or Olympics with passion and pride is next to impossible. I am proud to be English, we have a great country that should represent fairness and equality, providing a beacon to emerging nations around the world, a modern and advanced society. Our national anthem should represent this nation and be uplifting and inspiring, with lyrics that fill people with pride and awe, not divide the nation along religious/royalist/nationalistic lines by banging on about gods, a ruling monarch and an historical warring past.

The idea of singing about national pride at sporting events seems a little silly in the first place but, if we are going to do so, then we should at least be singing something that all involved can feel connected to. There are even other verses to the English national anthem that seem more appropriate than the one we currently use. ( Same Tune ) Check out the lyrics for the 4th verse:

Fairy tales & myths make great films (but rubbish historical fact).

Recently, 'Exodus:Gods and Kings' joined the long list of cinema blockbusters based on mythology that received criticism for not being 'faithful' to the original myth. Myths & fairy tales are just stories that someone once made up. They have no, or little facts to them.  'Clash of the Titans', 'Thor', 'Hercules', 'Battlefield Earth', 'Robin Hood', 'Beowulf' and 'Noah' are all examples of films based on various myths and humans shouldn't be upset by the use of old stories that have no place as fact in a modern world.

For example: Noah, the growth of a myth. By, me.

Once upon a time in an underdeveloped society, far, far away there was a group of humans that had a very basic understanding of the world around them. They didn't understand the world or their place in it and they relied on tribal elders who made up random

Telescope up! #CometLovejoy is rising.

Comet Lovejoy is coming to within  appx 44 MILLION miles of earth and you can see it in clear, dark skies of the Northern Hemisphere with binoculars or a good sized telescope during the early part of January 2015. It will be closest to the earth on the 7th of January and you should be able to identify it with the naked eye. If you scan the skies below and right of ORION, you should be able to locate it. With an orbital path of ~8000years, it could be a while until you next get the chance. Lovejoy will pass to within 120MILLION miles of the SUN by the end of January, continuing its journey for many thousands of years.

Comet Lovejoy is named after an Australian amateur astronomer - Terry Lovejoy, who discovered it in 2014 using a standard 8inch telescope.