The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were forged by the Tsar’s secret police to discredit his opponents. They purport to describe a Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world, but were actually plagiarised from a satirical pamphlet. The Protocols have…
Monthly Archives: March 2016
Inspirations: The first modern conspiracy theory
Tagged with: anti-semitism, antisemitism, Belief, Berne Trial, conspiracy theory, David Aaronovitch, Forgery, Henry Ford, Lord Alfred Douglas, Maurice Joly, Okhrana, Philip Graves, Piotr Ivanovich Rachkovsky, Propaganda, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Tsar Nicholas II, Voodoo Histories
Posted in Inspirations, Wednesday Pontification
Posted in Inspirations, Wednesday Pontification
Monday Motivation: Doubt is a writer’s best friend
Originally posted on Allaboutwriting:
Doubt sits at the right hand of all writers. We spend a day at work, struggling with the challenge of translating our ideas into words on the page; struggling, too, with the perhaps more difficult task…
Posted in Reblog
Easter Bunnies
“Soon it will be Easter and there will be bunnies.” Annabelle’s excitement didn’t move Thomas. “I’m nine,” he said. “I’m too old for Easter bunnies.” “I’m sure your mother will be delighted to hear it,” said Uncle Harold. “It will…
Fiction Review: Time and Time Again by Ben Elton
On 28th June 1914, Driver Leopold Lojka took a wrong turn in Sarajevo. One of his passengers, the Governor of Bosnia, told him of his mistake. Lojka stopped, intending to reverse back on to his planned route. It was his…
Tagged with: Ben Elton, Fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, Time and Time Again
Posted in Book review: fiction, Wednesday Pontification
Posted in Book review: fiction, Wednesday Pontification
Feed the Dog
How was I to know you let your dog go through the rubbish bins? If you fed him properly, he’d stay at home like a happy dog instead of rummaging around in there and getting off his face on my…
Greater Minds: Elizabeth Pisani on rational stupidity and AIDS
Elizabeth Pisani is an HIV epidemiologist and author of The Wisdom of Whores. Her studies show us how decisions that may appear stupid were arrived at rationally. She has explored the decision making processes of drug addicts and politicians alike.…
Tagged with: AIDS, Decisions, Elizabeth Pisani, Epidemiology, HIV, HIV/AIDS, Norman Fowler, Policy, Pre-exposure prophylaxis, Psychology, Public health, Rationality, Truvada
Posted in Greater minds, Wednesday Pontification
Posted in Greater minds, Wednesday Pontification
Don’t Groan
Don’t groan. It’s only a couple hours after work. Most of you spend that long on your commute, don’t you? You want taxis? No, you’ll still have to make your own way home. OK, forget I mentioned the commute. We…
Greater Minds: Ray Bradbury on burning books
Ray Bradbury combined five short stories into Fahrenheit 451. The theme of censorship resonated at a time when the House Un-American Activities Committee was active. Fahrenheit 451 advocates for complexity as much as against censorship. In later editions, editing for…
Tagged with: Censorship, Dystopia, Fahrenheit 451, House Un-American Activities Committee, Ray Bradbury, science fiction, The Pedestrian
Posted in Greater minds, Wednesday Pontification
Posted in Greater minds, Wednesday Pontification
Longing Eyes
When I’m here with you, I can see you’re not really with me. Not that I say anything. I just watch your gaze drift away to…who is it that you’re looking at with those longing eyes? A younger man? A…
Should we fear the weekend effect?
The British health secretary wants to impose new working conditions on doctors. He says we’re more likely to die if we’re admitted to hospital over the weekend than during the week. The ‘weekend effect’ has been shown, but weekday and…
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Cockburn's Eclectics 