A Thousand Years of Peace

I said I'd post more frequently, but today I was struggling to think what to type. Instead I was more inclined to continue editing the second book of my work of fiction. I'm not sure what draft this is. I think third, could be forth, not sure, but I'm at the stage where I'm semi-publishing each chapter on its blog as I go. This was the latest one:

Someone Else's Kingdom, BOOK II - Scene XIX

The chapters are labelled scenes in this second book. Everything's nice and short. Internet age friendly.

I also ended up blogging about my fpl (fantasy premier league) team. So, as per yesterday, it really is all about me.

The latest political thing is the Trump Gaza peace plan. I watched the press conference he and Netanyahu gave. It felt optimistic, so hopefully it's a big step in the right direction. Hope being the key word. I'm not sure what the expectation is.

Trump was doing his usual bravado thing. Saying things like this is going to be the first time we have peace in "thousands of years". People always get their knickers in a twist over these pronouncements. The, "He's an idiot!", "How can someone this stupid be president?!!" comments. They still struggle to understand that Trump is a salesman, and that he's honed this technique over decades. You can argue the rights and wrongs of it, but he knows what he's doing. He isn't an idiot. Of course, sometimes he does just get things wrong. Again, he's a salesman, not a historian. But it all misses the point. He's focused on outcome. He doesn't really care about the technicalities as long as what he's saying has the desired effect.

And that UN speech. Wow. You just never, ever, see a politician speak like that. It was truly incredible to watch.

Anyway, that'll do for today.

The Music of Dreams

I hear the chatter of magpies.

I said I was toying with the idea of posting more. Then, immediately after finishing that last post, something else occurred to me that I feel is worth noting down.

One thing I've been trying to improve is my sleep. I was going through a period where I was finding it very difficult to sleep (overthinking - endlessly rehearsed conversations in the mind with the trouble-making swan goddess). Anyway, I'm having very good sleep now ..thank God. And I really appreciate it. Less overthinking has helped, but also more practical things, like trying not to drink tea/coffee or eat in the hours before bed. Consciously slowing breathing has helped too.

Anyway, one consequence of sleeping more is more dreams. I've had quite a few recently. Last night I had one where some music was playing, and in the dream we (there were other people there) were trying to find out what band it was. Like when you hear a song on the radio that grabs your attention, so you search the lyrics on your phone in the hope of finding out what it is.

It was a strange dream, and I'm sure dreams are just kaleidoscope-like collages of the things that are already in your mind. However, it always amazes me that the mind can construct music in a dream. The music in this particular one was original. It wasn't something I'd heard in real life, though no doubt it was of a genre. I can't fully recall it now, sadly. There's more just that vague post-dream recollection of the sense of things. It was sort of goth rock/post-punk in vibe. That general ballpark. Still, the way the mind can do that is amazing really.

I wonder if AI works in a similar way to dreams. The way it takes all this real world information, then spits out a nearly-sensical construct of it. Or should I say, do dreams work in a similar way to AI?

Implementation vs Culture

I've been toying with the idea of posting more frequently again. I fear it might just be endless navel-gazing though, as my thoughts are all about me at the moment, and I'm kind of on vacation from politics. I'm trying to self-improve and be a better person, cliched as that sounds. Working on my weaknesses rather than indulging my strengths.

Also, I feel that politics is on autopilot currently. Everything's set. The directions of travel are obvious. We're not really at a pivot point where small nudges will make a big difference. Or where something new needs adding into the cocktail.

Labour have a huge majority. So that's something that just can't be changed at the moment. There's little point crying about it. The time for that was before the last election. People talk about an earlier general election being on the horizon, but why would you do that if you have a huge majority and you're implementing what you want to implement? And even so, Reform are broadly on the right track for if and when an election comes. So that's all happily in motion too.

It feels like there's this race going on between culture and implementation. In the UK the Blairite/globalist faction have the reigns and are just ploughing on with their plans. Meanwhile, the cultural landscape is moving in a different direction. Both feel like unstoppable trains. So the question is:

Will we see conflict or will we see synthesis?

The fact that Keir Starmer is waving union jacks and acknowledging the need for better border controls suggests we'll see synthesis. However, some of the talk around digital IDs and confronting Reform's 'racism' has more the feel of, "We're at war with our enemies."

So we'll wait and see.

In the US it's slightly different. There Trump, who's with the cultural momentum, has the reigns and is implementing his own things. And it's the more globally minded that are waiting it out. Planning for a post-Trump world. Either way, it seems everyone is planning for future battles. It's a time for sleeping on the battlefield, as I say. A good time to work on yourself ..if you're me.

Maybe I will keeping posting. Perhaps my more personal focus will be illuminating? Even if only for me. Returning to the idea of digital ID. Politically I'm completely against - I don't want the Chinese-style social credit system it may bring about. The digital dog lead is just that - a dog lead. However, on a personal level, I just don't have the fear anymore. I've kind of already accepted the coming reality of it. So that's an interesting thing to me. Is it stoicism? Is it resignation? Is it bravery? Is it a confidence that things will work out in the end? Or is it just a consequence of getting older?

Back at the outset of 2020 I had real fear, which brought with it a sense of panic and urgency. I don't have that now.

My Thoughts on the Charlie Kirk Assassination

This Charlie Kirk assassination thing has really bummed me out. Taking it on face value it's just a sad, sad thing. He seemed like such a good guy, who had so much potential. He was a key figure in the MAGA movement. The one person, from a long term strategy point of view, that you wouldn't want to lose. So it feels very hollowing, on both a personal and a political level.

However, this is the thing with the, "Taking it on face value," that I feel I have to squeeze in there. The sadness is amplified by a sense of uncertainty and dislocation. What happened? What's true and what isn't? Are my real emotions being wasted on unreal things? I try to speak in a more circumspect way these days, but as I've alluded to before on here, it's true that sometimes media/government just fabricate things. Parables are told in news form.

Everyone's a conspiracy theorist now it seems. So there's little point pretending I'm speaking some great secret here. In fact, in today's world of mass media, and now AI, you'd have to be lobotomised to not question things. In a world where artificial is so easy only a fool would accept things unthinkingly. And if you do choose not to think (as many do), the smart move is to automatically not believe the things you see on screen. As at least that way you avoid the emotional drain and the buy-in.

It's easier to not care. To console yourself that it's all just political theatre and that therefore you can cast things aside into the box labelled fiction. However, as I type, this looks very vivid and real. It looks like a man - a decent Christian family man - has been the victim of a mafia-style hit in broad daylight. The footage itself, from multiple angles, looks bloody and conclusive.

The official narrative is that it was carried out by a loony leftist with a trans girlfriend. A narrative with clear elements of soap opera. There are also other oddities: the boomer guy in glasses who originally claimed to be the shooter, who was led from the scene with his trousers around his ankles; the fact that the very question Kirk was answering was about trans shootings when he was shot. So it all leads itself to a mishmash of interpretation. A bloody act of violence wrapped in cartoons. I don't know how to fully parse it. I don't know what's happened.

And, of course, if you can't get a handle on what's happened you don't know how to respond. You find yourself fighting spooks, spectres and monsters. Are you swinging your feeble sword at a monster, or was it just a shadow? Or are the monsters fighting even bigger (and more dishonest) monsters themselves? The complexity leaves you helpless. Uncertain what the landscape is.

The one thing you can have certainty over though is your own values. In a world full of lies and violence your own actions can at least be true. Even if they tread uncertain ground. Which brings me to a point of optimism. I'm struggling to get a handle on this situation, but generally I'm quite good at reading the larger cultural landscape, and I think the major upshot of all this will be more people finding faith. It was going that way anyway, but this will only push that further. The left/right political stuff is becoming redundant, as people search for a firmer foundation to root their world upon.

In America they have a real, living Christianity, so that will swell from the upswing.

Here, in the UK, things are different. We really are a godless people. The only major living cultural reservoir in the country is Islam. So it's harder to say where things will go. Recently we've had all the flag waving on the streets. I love the Union Jack, but these political symbols are puny when stood up against the behemoth of faith-based religion. Even a nationalism rooted in ethnicity is weak as it lacks the power to convert. Once upon a time the Union Jack (and its English and Scottish parent flags) were symbols of religion as well as of nationhood. They're literally the cross. However, again, religion has to be living, and barely a single living Brit would think "Christianity" when they see these flags now. For sure, the street rabble of the English looks pathetic when compared to the church unity Americans often show.

It seems strangely unfitting to talk about the UK. Perhaps I should've saved that last paragraph for another blog post. May God bless America.