Tag: John Ruskin

The charity plans to make the site accessible to the public

UK: Heighington Station [1827] – First Train Platform in World! (19.1.2026)

Last year Heighington Station, which dates to back to 1827 and was part of the first passenger railway to use steam trains in the world, was bought by the charity Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

The group’s chair Niall Hammond said the excavation of a small train platform located near the site was planned.

He said it was presumed it was the “original for the building” because it looked the right size and shape.

He said plans were still in the early stages, but that the group hoped to attract lots of volunteers to the dig over the summer.

Hammond said the platform, which is next to the station, was “tiny” and had cobbles.

He said ideally the team would find a “Georgian penny” at the bottom of the platform during the dig which would confirm its age.

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A Tribute to Walter Rodney!

A Tribute To Walter Rodney – Why Are We Assassinating Our Greatest Thinkers? (13.9.2025)

Once that “something” is resolved – the label of “Whiteness” will disappear. As a label, we all inherit certain responsibilities regarding its symbolism. Blatant or shallow “reaction” is very common – but it is not helpful. Adolf Hitler is the arch-reactionary and his disorganised intellection is no answer to the historical crimes of the capitalist ideology. In this sense, we are ALL victims in the broad sense. In the narrow sense, victims and oppressors are identified. Where should the lens of visibility focus? Even within Whiteness there are internal victims and oppressors (every girl and woman reading this will understand what is written). The middle class oppresses the working class, the rich crush the poor, and so on. Then, the White monolith imposes its collective will beyond its own geographical boundaries – upon those who are not “White”.

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Buddhist Swastika

China: How to Read the Buddhist “卍” (Swastika) Symbol Currectly! (17.10.2024)

Empress Wu Zetian (武则天) of the Tang Dynasty was attracted to Buddhism very much and often invited Ch’an Masters to the palace to explain Buddhist Sutras to her. It was under the promotion of Wu Zetian that Huayan (华严) Sect became a major Buddhist school during the Tang Dynasty.

At that time, there was still no consensus on the pronunciation of “卍” within Buddhism. Some people insisted that it should be pronounced as “万” (Wan4) or “The Ten Thousand Thing” – but others opposed this interpretation – and believed it should be pronounced as “万”(mo2) or “Scorpion” – referring to an Oracle Bone Inscription which refers to a non-Chinese primitive tribe (during the Shang Dynasty) that worshipped the “Scorpion” whilst mimicking its movements in a ritualistic dance (perhaps implying the “foreignness” of India).

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