Observations on the world and its inhabitants
A ‘Trinidadian’ lawyer – Ula Nathai-Lutchman – played a prominent role in the Prosecution team that secured the historic Judgement against former President Charles Taylor. Mr. Taylor, who was indicted while he was still President of Liberia, is the first former Head of State to be convicted by an international criminal tribunal since the Nuremburg ...
Everyday situations bring some fascination about the human condition. I’ve done my shopping and return to a multi-storey car park. There is small bay where you go – on foot – to pay for the time that your car spent parked. There are two machines. One large, the other small and thin. I see keypads ...
The two words come together on Google but the concept has not been defined as I do here. And – there is as yet no single set of words that will define completely ‘opportunistic citisenship’ [OC]. I’ll give a thumbnail sketch of what OC may involve – but it is not a full concept at ...
There is an unwritten agreement between whatever you call ‘friends’, that if you need a favour: that your friends will pay attention to your need assist in whatever way they can for no fee. will do the above willingly, and without need of you begging about it. – subject of course, to the favour being ...
It’s no secret that I’ve been working on an analysis of how minds decide things and take their respective paths. Well, I can tell you right now that reading this will be painful for some. I mean let’s get real, who the hell has any time or effort to think about thinking. That’s painful isn’t ...
“The history of madness is the history of power. Because it imagines power, madness is both impotence and omnipotence. It requires power to control it. Threatening the normal structures of authority, insanity is engaged in an endless dialogue—a monomaniacal monologue sometimes—about power’.“ – Roy Porter in A Social History of Madness: Stories of the Insane, ...
“Walking the spiritual path properly is a very subtle process; it is not something to jump into naively. There are numerous sidetracks which lead to distorted, ego-centred versions of spirituality; we can deceive ourselves into thinking we are developing spiritually when instead we are strengthening our egocentricity through spiritual techniques. This fundamental distortion may be ...
In conversations with several others over the last month the above theme has come up several times. I’ve been thinking about it – and have put some thoughts together here. This is not advice. It appears to me that the avoidance of immediate or impending pain and discomfort is a major driver in decision-making. That ...
“The statues of the morally invincible will stand tall and glorious even if a bit beaten for no one with our degree of sentience to admire – if we do not cross the ‘bridge’ called self-annihilation – before we reach it.” – Captain Walker
I think it is stupid to pay for an email address when there are free high quality email services out there e.g. gmail, yahoo, gmx – but as I’ve said before the ‘dummy market’ is still wide open and waiting to be taken advantage of. Okay so you wanna know what’s motivated me to write ...
“Free your mind from the known, then you are truly free!” – Captain Walker 2011
My thoughts which follow have been deeply and uncomfortably compelled by the movie ‘Unthinkable’. This movie comes with a health warning – as it shows graphic scenes of torture. If you are likely to suffer stress or ill-health do not watch this movie. I’m not here to change anyone’s mind on anything. I have not ...
The survival of the human race is truly our collective ultimate right. Rights afforded by humanity ought not to be used for the total destruction of humanity. Those who use rights as shields under which they may safely conspire to effect such destruction, risk having their rights stripped from them. – Captain Walker, January 2012
“The disingenuous find comfort in shady spots – never any peace in the path of an oscillating spotlight searching relentlessly for the truth. ‘Tis only a matter of time that there is nowhere to hide.” Captain Walker – Dec 2011
Last night I had an experience – a simple one – most might think, that left me in some degree of bewilderment. I left it alone and allowed my ‘unconscious’ to process it overnight (while I slept). This morning I got up bursting with thoughts. I’m afraid most of you are not going to like ...
“The single thing that underpins the actions of a suicide bomber and the healing hands of a doctor, is the belief that it is right to do what they do. A sense of righteousness and justification, is therefore a powerful double-edged sword – one that can be wielded for good or for evil. It is ...
“Like a young bird about to take first flight discovers, the ‘freedom’ that awaits invokes fear – and later having mastered ‘freedom’ the youngster ‘thanks’ parents or siblings for giving that all important push!” – Captain Walker 2011
Bertrand Russell has had a profound effect on my thinking and outlook on life. I read a significant number of his books and philosophical essays when I was around 16 – 19. It is only, in recent years, when I overview the content of what I had read – stuff that may have slipped from ...
Research evidence has revealed that how lenient a judge might be is related to how close s/he is to a meal break! A hungry judge is an angry judge – you might think, and you’d be on the right track. Recidivism amongst offenders also predicted outcomes. However, even after controlling for that factor, the effect ...
People (in general – and yes there are numerous exceptions) know how to use household appliances, iron their clothes, make a sandwich etc – nothing surprising there. Some might know how to use a computer, fix a car, or a bicycle. Others may know how to build computers, programme computers, design circuit boards etc etc.. ...
I’ve been quite busy since September 2009, with new work and new experiences. There have been so many experiences to blog about but not in this space. I therefore spent much more time blogging at Jumbie’s Watch, My proper English on this blog has me rather restrained, which is no bad thing. At Jumbie I ...
I was motivated to write this having reflected on my interactions with the human species recently. They pride themselves as being several notches above other animals. They have built very large and complicated structures. Their intelligence has allowed them the privilege of creating weapons that could destroy the whole planet they live on. They have ...
Like huh? Well, one can never be 100% sure what others think of you (i.e. me). People basically don’t tell (by words) all of what they think – for umpteen reasons. So I’ve been asking myself what do others really think of me. I cannot be 100% correct either because I can never truly know ...
This is an exploration of how people interact with rules and regulations. It is largely based on personal observations. Therefore it is subject to all the biases and weaknesses that go with personal observations of the world. What kinds of rules are there? Law (Primary, secondary, delegated legislation, legal regulations). Quasi-legal regulations (i.e. codes of ...
There are times of course when I cannot punish idiots. On occasion an idiot may punish himself – and not even know it. It is not as good as actually dishing out the punishment, but sometimes you settle for second best. Case in question? Sure. Person calls a mobile phone from overseas weekly for about ...
The unconscious has been explored by Freud and many other psychoanalysts. What this ‘thing’ is, is largely unknown – simply because we cannot hold down the unconscious and look at it. After all it is that which is beyond conscious scrutiny. Yes there are loads of theories on the goings on in the unconscious but ...
It’s a question that’s been on my mind for quite some time. People go “I have many friends…or I only keep a few close friends“. Of course, defining what a friend is, is central to the question. However, friendship is the core issue and someone who maintains a real friendship is by definition a true ...
