Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God an English Voice

UK: My Review of David Teems’ Tyndale Book! (25.8.2026)

Writers are very good at being both “honest” and “dishonest” in equal measure. No genuine writer will disagree with me – but will instead knowingly puff on their pipe whilst inspecting a duck – or something similar (the mundane is lifted-up by a competent writer). Am I being too harsh on Mr Teems – of course. Yes – I am – and for good class-related reasons. The bourgeois already possess control over the means of production – what more do they want? We are left a) with our “words”, and b) the use of those “words”. My words must penetrate straight through the ideological heart of the matter and I feel that the author’s use of Soviet-era exiles is indicative of his world-view and political bias. And even if it is not – it might as well be.

A Scholar Can Accurately "Copy" Just As They Accurately Think Their Own Thoughts!

UK: Email – Defining the Latin-Term “Amanuensis”! (24.8.2026)

Thank you for your very interesting email. Years ago, when I was involved with formal academia (frequenting colleges and universities) the function of “amanuensis” was fairly common. I am not sure if this is the case today – as I am engaged in a broad post-doctorate study that involves researching in (and from) various sources of data. Generally, this is termed “field work”, etc, and can involve much travelling – but with the advent of the internet means that “without going out of my room – I can know all things” – to quote the Book of Change. I often find that examining the Chinese-language equivalent of Western words can give an important insght into the historical meaning of these terms.

A protest against AI outside OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco, California, on 11 July. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

US: Trump Vows to “Break Wynd” Over AI Row! (17.8.2026)

She said that when she was found guilty, she was “hit with a wave of grief” because she realised her peers “just didn’t get” the danger she believes is posed by the race to superintelligence. But she was beginning to feel “vindicated” as more prominent figures like Sanders were speaking out. She is now braced for the prison experience of an orange jump suit, “horrible food, dirt [and] you can’t sleep”. She has been previously jailed for short periods related to her decades of political activism over causes including Nicaragua, nuclear disarmament, western Sahara and Palestine.

Her message to the chief executives of OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta, which also reported a security incident with its model, was “regain your humanity”. Kaufmyn said her target audience was ordinary people “and the message being: stop the progress of this technology. Let’s get a global ban on the race to superintelligence.”

Prof Stuart Russell, a leading AI academic at the University of California at Berkeley and president of the International Association for Safe and Ethical AI, gave evidence in Kaufmyn’s defence. He claimed OpenAI’s activities “pose an unacceptable risk”, alleging it had deployed AI systems with inadequate safeguards. He said that further development of these systems “must be conditioned on rigorous guarantees of safety, which are currently unavailable”.

Sheldrake Lecture - 2004

UK: Should Cambridge University Investigate Rupert Sheldrake? (12.8.2026)

The Buddha does not contain ALL knowledge as if it were lying dormant in his mind at any given moment (therefore he is not “omniscient” in this sense) but he does say that an enlightened being can direct the mind in any direction he or she wishes (like a net enveloping and collecting all things) throughout the world, and in so doing bring any part of it into his enlightened conscious awareness.  This lasts for as long as concentration is held in that direction and then fails away – remember that the true nature of the mind is “empty” and spacious – so that all phenomena seems to arise and pass away within it.  In fact the Buddha states a long list of abilities and powers he possesses – including the ability for his mind’s awareness to travel to other worlds.  What happened over-time is that through various commentaries and translations, the fact that the Buddha could move his mind’s awareness in any direction (or none) became conflated with the idea that his mind’s awareness was already in every place and at every time.

A former apprentice stonemason who helped build the Houses of Parliament is thought to have borrowed the book in the late 1800s

Austral-Asia: Controversial New Find Suggests 19th Century Aussies Could Read! (9.8.2026)

“It does have beautiful illustrations in it and some pages that fold out to show you they were using exact measurements of some of the monuments in Greece.”

She said in 1872, the council got a £200 grant to establish the town’s library and and it had fewer than 1,000 books in its collection, with the overdue book marked as number 506.

There’s no way to know exactly who borrowed the book or when, Hudson said, as the library’s borrowing records from that period have since been lost.

However, the book is no longer available to borrow, having been added to the library’s collection of special items, which can be viewed on request.

“It won’t be able to go out again… we don’t want to wait another 150 years for it to come back,” Hudson joked.

As for the book’s much-delayed return, Simmons said he believes his great-grandfather would be pleased with the final chapter of its journey.

“I think he’d be happy to see the book returned and he’d probably have a bit of a laugh about it.”

The Spinning Jenny - Weaving machine

Surrey: Visiting Farnham Museum! (27.5.2026)

These former workers adopted the mannerisms, culture, and dress of their social betters (the “aristocracy”) and were even able to “purchase” an education for their children. This new bourgeoisie (the “Merchants”) were even able to stand for election in Parliament. After purchasing weapons and raising armies – the bourgeoisie eventually seized control of the means of production (following the English Civil Wars). They now comprise one of the most conservative strands in UK society – and certainly maintain this air of elitism in Farnham. A local book-dealer even tried to sell me Das Kapital Vols I, II, & III (printed in the USSR in hardback) for £100 – claiming they were “rare”. In fact, a full set is usually four volumes and I often find them on the bottom shelves of old book-shops – usually attracting dust – as no one cares for their content. I do collect them and usually spend around £5 per copy. Imagine that – a bookseller in Farnham attempted to reduce Marx’s critique of capitalism to yet another vehicle of that capitalism! But that is the way capitalism works and is exactly how Farnham has attracted its wealth and conservativism. Florence Nightingale gets a mention – Gee trained as a Midwife at St Thomas Hospital (London) – which maintains a Museum recording the life of Florence Nightingale. Indeed, Gee is designated as a “Florence Nightingale Midwife”.

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