Paint Your Town Red by Matt Brown and Rhian E Jones tells the story of how one city in the north of England decided to level up without waiting for London to do something about it. Community Wealth-Building is a growing movement in the UK and elsewhere, aimed at transferring economic, social, and political powerContinue reading “1st June – Paint Your Town Read”
Category Archives: environment
25th May – The Great Mortality
What better time to read a book on the Black Death than during the Covid Pandemic? Once you’ve read this wonderful book by John Kelly, you’ll be glad you didn’t live in the period 1347 – 1450 when the population of Europe probably halved as did China’s during a similar period. Florence in Italy hadContinue reading “25th May – The Great Mortality”
16th April – Finntopia
Finland was until very recently poor and had been historically a country of extreme poverty for centuries. It is quite remarkable to see what a people and their politicians have achieved by caring for each other and being clever. Finland ranks at or near the top in air quality, education, happiness, honest government, opportunities forContinue reading “16th April – Finntopia”
31st March – Hermeneutics: Facts and Interpretation in the Age of Information
Hermeneutics is the theory of interpretation. It is the theory that everything is a matter of interpretation. Including this definition presumably, which is one of the reasons I found this book infuriating, because if this definition is true then how are we supposed to know what to do and think? What is a fact? HowContinue reading “31st March – Hermeneutics: Facts and Interpretation in the Age of Information”
20th February – Shambhala
I am reading Shambhala : The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa. In the chapter on Authentic Presence are written the following words. The way of exercising inscrutability is that you don’t spell out the truth. You imply the truth, with wakeful delight in your accomplishment. What is wrong with spelling out theContinue reading “20th February – Shambhala”
1st February – The Dig
I believe this film has been covered elsewhere. I would just like to say that I really liked this film and I believe it was completely unnecessary to have invented a character (I won’t say which one – spoiler non-alert) who falls for the wife of one of the archaeologists. The film implies that herContinue reading “1st February – The Dig”
31st January
I go for a run most mornings and for some reason this morning I noticed at least 6 people sitting in their vehicles for longer than the 3 minutes stipulated in the environmental by-laws. They were all petrol-driven cars as the smoke from the exhaust was disgusting and yes, polluting. I thought the city ofContinue reading “31st January”
