COMMONPLACE

... from the pages of the print edition of the Hackney Citizen

... Commonplace ... online episode archive ...

... http://www.flickr.com/photos/folkushackney/sets/72157625566703442/

a SPACE ODYSSEY

Stik meets Krishnamurti, the Great Outdoors, Samhain 2010

NEWS

.. A secondary school in Stoke Newington, Hackney, London, claims to have almost eradicated homophobic bullying after it started teaching lessons on gay history.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23891416-anti-gay-bullies-are-taught-a-lesson-or-two.do

"Anti-gay bullies are taught a lesson or two"

"caring" is all too often an excuse for being controlling

"My son is in his late 30s and drifts aimlessly through life. How do I motivate him?"

To which I replied ... What does it matter if he is "drifting aimlessly". I suppose if he was some kind of career drone you'd be happy. There most probably is no point to existence other than to explore the experience. And there is an infinite number of ways for each of us to choose how we are going to do that. Get on with your own autonomous adult life choices and let him get on with his.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/23/my-son-drifts-through-life

What is revolutionary activity?

3 brief general priorities of mine:

... I believe in trying ideas out, living ideas, putting them into practice, making commitments and experimenting, rather than just collecting ideas in books on shelves or just discussing them endlessly. Doing and Being. Do Be Do Be Do.

... I also believe in being consciously fallible, imperfect. Being too right-on can just end up making people feel defensive, guilty, apologetic, cornered etc without them actually evolving. I prefer to live life in the shades of grey.

... I strongly believe in making a conscious effort not to collude in any "them and us" divides. Judging people by their appearances or their background or their job, for instance, is the same irrational nonsense as racism and should be rigorously guarded against. I'm especially wary of activists who refer to others as "scum". This doesn't mean we have to be po-faced and humourless. It just means our humour has to be a little more creative and less knee-jerk.

superorganism

we are finally reaching the stage at which we must think of ourselves and the networks that connect us as an entity in its own right

http://rossdawsonblog.com/weblog/archives/2010/05/autopoiesis_and.html

Bus Stop 2005-2010

http://www.flickr.com/photos/russell-higgs/sets/72157624785469663/

PETITION: Petrol-free Parks For London

Target: Boris Johnson and the London Assembly

Can wheelbarrows, rakes, brushes and smaller, electric chainsaws make a comeback?

Can vehicles, if needed, be replaced with electric equivalents too?

Many of the capital's parks and green spaces no longer give respite from pollution.

Petrol-powered tools are used constantly, causing excessive noise, dust and fumes. Worst of all are leaf-blowers.

Year-round leaf-blowers, pole chainsaws and road vehicles have become commonplace. Air pollution, road risks, noise and dust are often worse than in the outside world.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/petrol-free-parks-for-london.html

screw the law, lets get naked

At one extreme, there is the proposal that Islamic full-face veils be prohibited. And at the other extreme, Steve Gough, "the Naked Rambler", is currently serving a 21 month sentence for "contempt of court"...

http://jackofkent.blogspot.com/2010/08/screw-law-lets-get-naked.html

A culture's power structure depends largely on how we look and how we are looked at.

Marilyn Monroe said

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

Henry Miller said

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.