Tag: Summer

Respect for God!

North Devon: St Peter’s Church – Bratton Fleming! (26.8.2025)

This must be the most spectacular integration of religion and secularism. I never thought I would live to see the Church of England finally give-up their last line of sanctity and allow all and sundry to stay as many nights as they can afford – and do whatever they like during their stay – providing the interior of the Church is not damaged. As an academic who uses the average Church as an early form of a search-engine – I find this a fascinating opportunity – albeit slightly disturbing and a little bizarre. Theravada Buddhist Temples, of course, allow practitioners to stay within their interiors – being fed and cared for free – providing there is space. Absolutely NO money is asked for or required (a Buddhist monastic must not touch money of any type). Not all Buddhist Temples follow this idea outside of Thailand, Sri Lanka, or Laos, etc, but they should do.

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Galmpton Art Exhibition! (24.8.2025)

The local people are polite and inquisitive as the place is linked to Agatha Christie and during the Summer months they get hundreds of international visitors. The place is old, pretty and quaint. As this was the last day of the Exhibition – we thought we should go! The following videos allow you to experience our journey as if you are part of group! This a more conventional art exhibition – avoiding the modern variety – which tries to convince us that a White square on a white background constitutes “art”! Luckily, this type of of nonsense has not yet permeated it’s way to Galmpton!

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Zen of Galmpton! (24.8.2035)

Here we are. Zen is Ch’an in reverse – which is good as perception is the wrong way around. Turn it the right way around – and Zen becomes Ch’an the right way around. Not always an easy task – like catching a steam train whilst it is obscured by it’s own smoke. What a joy such contradictions are. They exist to test our perception and determination. As such, nothing else matters. We all look up – and we all look down – just like every koan (gong-an) you may have viewed. Still, none of it matters if you cannot lay it all down. None of it matters at all.

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Hedgehog Eating & Drinking!

Sutton: Hedgehog Asks for Water During Heat-Wave! (14.7.2025)

When I lived in Devon during my youth – hedgehogs used to be everywhere. We used to see them all the time and most gardens possessed at least one resident hedgehog. I know some lived very long and grew to surprising sizes. The last time I saw a hedgehog in Sutton was probably around 2008 in the back garden of the then house (in Westfield Road) I lived-in – but I have not seen one in the wild since then. The only time we have seen hedgehogs locally – has been in special areas of nature conservation but in a sense – these are not truly wild in the unmanaged sense. I am not sure why we do not see so many wild hedgehog in the Sutton area – perhaps their populations are low – or they choose to hide for some reason. We hope their numbers improve and remember to give them water and cat-food – or similar!

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Nanjing Bomb-Shelters Used in Heat-Wave!

China: Nanjing Opens 22 “Air-Raid Shelters” for Residents to Enjoy Leisure Time During Heat-Wave! (3.7.2025)

Imperial Japan invaded China between 1931-1945 – with history demarcating various points of this invasion as being specific. For instance, in December 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army turned its guns on the Nationalist-controlled Nanjing – the then capital-city of China. Although the West was not yet directly involved in the war against Imperial Japan, by and large the US and UK (amongst others) agitated against Japan in favour of China. This led to a number of air-raid shelters being constructed in the Nanjing area – designed for ordinary Chinese people to take cover when the Imperial Japanese Airforce began to blanket-bomb the civilian population of the city. Today, these shelters are maintained to a very high degree and are popular historical tourist attractions. Whereas the UK government has done NOTHING to assist the British population regarding the current heat-wave (Indeed, the UK Labour government sat in the air-conditioned Parliament and voted to cut the Benefits received by the old, disabled, and vulnerable throughout the country). This is an interesting juxtaposition between the predatory capitalism of the UK and the Socialism as practiced by Socialist China.

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Love Binds Humanity Together!

UK: Father’s Day – June 15th! (15.6.2025)

Seriously though, When I look back at the perfect days of the late 1970s – the UK was basically a Soviet State managed by not too convincing representatives of the bourgeoisie! NHS Staff were paid fully and received everything a grateful State could provide. Our NHS friends would go on holiday to Cuba and Yugoslavia – two Socialist States with free cradle to the grave healthcare. Tony Blair blanket-bombed Yugoslavia for 78-days in 1998 – simply because its people wanted to stay “Socialist” (the US deliberately bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade as a “warning”). Although I recognise the bravery of the RAF during WWII – I am reticent to visit RAF Museums on the grounds that since WWII – the RAF has been involved in one bombing atrocity after another – including killing our Comrades in Yemen. As an Englishman – I refuse to accept this behaviour from my country. England has a responsibility to bring peace and harmony to the world – emanating from Stone Henge – and not to participate in the destructive underbelly of US anti-intellectualism.

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