#WinterSolstice. The real reason for the season. Sun. Light. Growth. Hope.

So here it is. The #WinterSolstice '2016'.

December 21st. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, today is Winter Solstice. The time of year when daylight is at its shortest. From this point on, the days will start to become longer, a consequence of the sun appearing higher overhead in the sky. It is literally 'the coming of the light'. This is why our ancestors held this time of year as an important marker in their calendar. They had made it to the darkest point in the season and could look forward to increased daylight from now on. It would have meant a new start, a new growing season and the prospect of new food. Celebrated by fire, lights, decorated trees, the giving of offerings/gifts and feasting on livestock.

This has been hijacked, bastardised and used by politically religious power-mongers to spread their

Thanksgiving - praise be to nature. That is all.

The fourth Thursday of November in the USA is 'Thanksgiving', their fixed celebration of seasons, harvest and plenty. Based on ancient, pagan, seasonal celebrations, now, high-jacked for religious / political gains, it wasn't always a fixed date. For millennia, early peoples would have been aware that the summer growing season was over and their journey in to winter was beginning and food stores would have to last

It is that time of year again. The sickly, plastic consumer adverts have begun. Winter

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,

'Perigee' or 'Supermoon' or 'Beaver Moon' - Don't expect too much.

TODAY

Monday, 14 November 2016.  From Apprx 5pm. (GMT)

The moon will be the brightest and biggest it has been for over 60 years. If you are lucky enough to have clear skies, it could be a great opportunity to get some lunar photos. The 'supermoon', AKA 'perigee full moon' will be slightly larger than normal. (Also called the 'Beaver Moon' as ancient hunters would lay traps in November in Northern areas before snows and freezing). Don't be fooled by reports of the "Huge moon" or "filling the sky", chances are you won't see much difference. Don't expect too much and you will just enjoy the experience.

Bonfire Night Guy Fawkes Burning Popes & Diwali. The links.

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

Diwali - another marker of season change. Light & Dark. 'Good' & 'Evil'.

Diwali. Another part of the global acknowledgment of our place in the solar system. You can tack on any religious nonsense you want to the event but it is essentially a seasonal shift marker. 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 Northern Hemishere 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 Bonfire Night, Halloween, American 'Thanksgiving' festive lights and Samhain, all of which are connected to the seasonal changes, harvest and winter

Samhain - 'Halloween' - Day of the Dead - Seasonal changes.

So here we are again. Halloween. Treats, costumes, lanterns, spiders, bats, blood, horror, death, ghosts.

It has its origins in the ancient, pagan, pre-Christian, Celtic festival known as Samhain ("sah-win"). The Feast of the Dead. A time when humans had much less knowledge of the world around them. Later, hijacked and assimilated by the religious ceremony of All Hallows Eve & All Saints Day. A day for the dead. Look it up. It is a celebration of the end of the harvest season, a recognition of the lengthening nights, worsening weather and the harsh winter season running up to the winter solstice ( Dec 21st aka Christmas. Here ). It represents the point in the calendar when livestock were moved to lower level farmland from the higher, summer feeding grounds and when animals were slaughtered for the winter larders.  In the northern hemisphere, the reduced daylight, winter temperatures and sparse food supply meant that our ancient, pagan ancestors felt the icy grip of winter tightening and closer to their (made up) spirit world, disease and death. The coming of the Light. Humans have always feared the things that they hadn't worked out.

Using hateful threats & violence to silence dissent. #BlasphemyLaws.

If your religion is 'insulted' by mockery or 'offended' by criticism, your religion is pathetic & not fit for modern society. Offended by imitation, ridicule, cartoons, films or even someone speaking? Then it doesn't seem a very well founded belief. Do you think people should be punished for doing these things? Grow up, move on and think about the relevance of your 'beliefs' within the modern world.

Blasphemy Laws are outdated and pathetic. They exist where & when archaic religions/cults use threats of punishment & violence to silence dissent. Often state sanctioned, they are a marker of a regressive society where protection of free speech & human life is valued below the

Legally binding MANIFESTO. Improving democracy.

With politics, both home & abroad, being at the centre of everyone's attention at the moment, our screens are full of hopeful, career politicians spewing half-truths and pretending that they (a.) believe them and (b.) intend to implement them. What is the answer to this blatantly un-democratic lie-fest? One thing stands out to me.

Make each party  MANIFESTO legally binding in the run up to an election. A manifesto that they pledge to enforce within SIX MONTHS of being voted in. These manifesto pledges will be spread over a number of set political areas that each party has to declare ( tax levels, benefit levels, environment, foreign aid etc ) and they would be legally binding. If they fail to follow up on these pledges, it automatically triggers an immediate election and

A reasoned and realistic look at the world. Humanism.

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

September 22nd '2016' is Autumn Equinox in NHem.

September 22nd 2016 is the Autumn Equinox for those of us in the Northern hemisphere. When length of light hours & dark hours draw towards #Equilux. The sun appears to pass the equator on it's journey in to the southern hemisphere at it's height. It means shorter hours of daylight as we head towards the winter solstice in December. For the next few weeks of the solar 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 human celebrations such as Diwali, Halloween, American 'Thanksgiving' and Samhain, all of which are connected to the seasonal changes, harvest and winter moons.

#Circumcision #FGM barbaric, religiously motivated child #abuse. Time to consign both to history.

FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) and Male Circumcision is nothing less than GBH (Grievous bodily harm) by another name. We should neither value nor respect a culture that promotes abuse of a child in such a manner. It's banning should be heavily enforced and those that practice such stone-age rituals should be exposed, shamed and imprisoned. It is pathetic that in a modern country we allow such disgusting practices to go unpunished.

Every right-minded person should be appalled by such activities which should be consigned to history along with many other simple-minded religious relics. A modern country should be a haven in which children are free from exposure to ancient religions and practices

We should do away with 'bc' & 'ad'. 'BP' is much more relevant.

Why is it that this solar year is called '2016'? The answer is that it is an arbitrary number, it actually has very little meaning. The very idea of '2016' is a human creation, forced on us by power struggles, religious bigots, greed and wars. It is merely an expression

Monday 20th June - Summer Solstice

Monday 20 June 2016.

The Summer Solstice. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, June 20th 2016 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

Women's Tennis should step up to 5 Sets. #Equality

With #Wimbledon2016 just around the corner, I find myself asking the same question that I have asked for many years. 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

Ramadan. Moon. Pagan.

Ramadan. Another ancient, pagan celebration based on the phases of the moon. Invented in, what would now be, India. Inspired, invented and re-invented by poorly educated, scientifically illiterate, pagan nomads. These early-culture humans failed to understand their world and worshipped multiple 'idols' within nature to convince themselves that the sun & moon would return and life could continue. From one crescent phase of the moon to another. A lunar month that moves year to year within the standard calendar. Fasting and feasting. Observed through time by people who blindly followed because their families did the same within living memory and that must make it ok, right? Highjacked by another man-made, Abrahamic religion that steals it's lead from the basic worship of nature and the passing of solar system realities. Pre-Islamic, pre-Christian, pre-organised religion.

St George's Day. Who the what the heck now? Irrelevant.

St George's Day. Let's face it, the day needs revamping. At the moment, it is a sorry excuse for a national celebration. It usually passes with a quiet whimper and a bit of flag waving, failing to be embraced by the vast majority of the English nation. Here is why.

We have a poorly educated, Roman soldier, allegedly born in what would be modern Turkey, who was possibly persecuted and executed for his religious beliefs in a made-up emerging cult nearly 1800 years ago. He also slayed a dragon that didn't exist ( most likely a graphical representation of victory in battle ) and then magically re-appeared to lead troops in to battle, approximately 1000 years after his death. Mumbo-Jumbo.

This military, religious icon was thrust upon us through war and tyranny. His myth is celebrated throughout many countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, Syria and Romania. As a figurehead of 'Englishness' he has very little going for him. He never even set foot in our green and pleasant land.

A small group of people 'celebrate' his holy-englishness by draping themselves in red and white flags, drinking ales and singing religious/football songs in pubs before vomiting in a bin and being thrown out for fighting. It is fairly lame

Spring - bring on the bullshit Easter chocolate mythical nonsense.

So here we are again. It is that time of year, "Easter". AKA the Spring Equinox. A bastardisation of a yearly solar event that has importance for all our lives. A moment of solar transition from one season to another. 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

The Superfluous 'Sshhh'.

Would you like to know about something minor that really gets on my nerves? I'm going to tell you. It may seem trivial but once I noticed it, I couldn't ignore it and now it has the ability to ruin TV shows, radio interviews and general conversations. I spend more time than is healthy listening out for it and now I am going to pass on this annoying ear-worm to you.

I call it "THE SUPERFLUOUS 'SSHHH'".

I hear it on TV and radio in the UK all the time now and I have no idea where it comes from or who is responsible for driving its insidious rise, but I hate it. It appears in words like 'Extreme', 'straight', 'Strange' and 'Street', turning them in to 'Exsshhtreme', 'Sshhtraight', 'Sshhtrange' and 'Sshhtreet'. Even words like 'construction', 'instruction' 'instructor', 'destroy' and 'constraint' are effected. These people must be idiots. They can't even shpeak proper. Sshhtupid morons. Rant over.

Other examples heard so far: Consumer = Conshumer. Restricting = Reshtricting. Frustrating = Frushshtrating.

Time for Change. 'P.E' instead of 'BC' & 'AD

'2016 A.D' Why is it that this solar year is called '2016'? The answer is that it is an arbitrary number, it actually has very little meaning. The very idea of '2016' is a human creation, forced on us by power struggles, religious bigots and wars. It is merely an expression

Is a TV license still relevant? Does the BBC need to evolve?

UK TV channel BBC3 has recently 'Moved online' Some would say 'closed down', others 'streamlined' or 'future-proofed'. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35578867 The end of the road for the License Fee?

Here's my opinion. The BBC is going to have to change the 'Television License' beyond recognition. They are going to have to move towards MICRO PAYMENTS for streamed or downloaded content. In the Digital age, the TV License is outdated. In the future, they will have to resemble the services provided by subscriber service competitors like YOUTUBE, NETFLIX and AMAZON - all of whom will probably end up charging for content too. All of whom are increasing their market share. Consumers paying for the things they watch - not all TV owners paying regardless of how much they watch. A multi-platform world market.

People are streaming more content than ever before. The BBC Trust itself has acknowledged that:

"..independent evidence shows younger audiences are watching more online and watching less linear TV".

A day for eating flatbread or cakes from a pan. #PancakeDay. Spring celebrated.

Pancake Day Some people call it #ShroveTuesday. Another hijacked, residual 'celebration'. Originally a pagan activity, it became part of the Christian spring celebration before loosing all religious meaning to become the bland, over-commercialised, greedy, modern leftover that we have today.

The word SHROVE comes from the old, English word 'shrive', which means to obtain absolution for "sins" by confessing. Thereby being "shriven" before the start of 'Lent'. Pancakes were 'traditionally' eaten on this day to use up perishable goods like eggs and milk before the 40-day fasting of 'Lent'. 'Lent' being invented to give religious control over the uneducated masses.

Before this Christian 'tradition' was invented and tacked on to their 'Oestre/ Easter' hijacking, it is thought that the event might have originated from a pagan observation, when eating warm, round, flour & water flatbreads - symbolising the sun - was a way of celebrating the arrival of spring and the new growing season. Full moon, Spring Equinox - same as Easter. Things happen, change & evolve over time and we have many residual celebrations in modern calendars.

E-Cigs. New industry, new rules needed.

It is simple. Take it outside. The insidious rise of 'vaping' as the acceptable face of smoking is astounding. It should be a regulated stepping stone that helps addicts to give up smoking, not a new billion dollar industry that creeps its way in to society, becoming seen as 'normal' or 'cutting edge', designed to snare a new, younger market for profit. Insidious. In the UK, vaping should be subject to the same advertising rules as smoking, the same taxation measures and pushed to the same outside areas as smoking.

Instead, we are served loads of  'sexy' adverts on TV, the portrayal of this habitual need to draw noxious chemicals in to your lungs as 'cool' and 'modern'. These 'lifestyle' ads should be banned.