How does the internet affect our daily lives and is there a darker side?

We all think of the internet as Man's crowning achievement as far as communication is concerned. We can do anything online. Shopping, easy, Banking, No problems. Anything that can be sorted out by two Computer systems and a Wi-Fi connection. Social media means families can talk without all that tedious visiting lark. We can play games on computers and games machines all over the world in real time. Even the Government are now cottoning on as to how much cheaper it is to get your computer to arrange Car Tax, Taxes and so on with their computer. So much cheaper than all those nasty, expensive civil servants. Banks, too, know that they can keep taking a monthly fee for day to day transactions which have no need of an expensive clerk. Convenient for all but once again removing the human from the equation. It is also underlining the huge amounts of money being paid by us with no real effort or customer service on behalf of the organisation or business.

But let's leave aside the greed involved, Greed is the defining vice of this particular time in history though we embrace most of the seven deadly sins with enthusiasm.

So it's a good thing, right, this internet thing. No need to go out to arrange everything. Just switch on your computer and everything's great. But what of exercise? It's no coincidence that we are the most obese generation ever with all the health issues that go with it. Everything you need is probably available a few miles from home and you never walk.


O.K. So that's a bit of a drawback but that's the only downside isn't it? Well there is the idea that every webpage must have targeted advertising. How many times have you waited for a page to load all the advertising bots simply to read a paragraph of text? On a slow computer or connection it becomes almost impossible. Webpages have to pay their way and we have to be advertised at if we are to buy faster computers to cope with it all. That is without all the nasty adware that downloads to your 'Pooter on the back of software you actually asked for. On my P.C. it takes 5 minutes to load some pages. All to sell more stuff we don't need. Greed again.

Then there are those nasty but oh so clever crooks who have worked out how to make money with criminal hacking of systems. They can take your cash, your identity and buy stuff on your cards. It's a constant battle against this new breed of criminals. With computerised devices getting smaller they'll even nick the computer too, given the chance. Hey and it's greed again.

'But..' You may be screaming at this point. 'Social media is good isn't it? We talk all the time." Here are some negative things about social media......

Your real friends probably account for about 1% of your contacts.

There are all sorts of ways of making you see advertising on Facebook and Twitter.

You are not socialising, you are sitting staring at a screen.

Kids particularly are not learning social skills they are effectively hiding behind a screen.

Kids who were being bullied used to be able to get away from it at home. Social networking takes this small protection away.

Swearing, explicit images, adult videos and all sorts of other nasty stuff regularly creep into your timelines.

Are you really sure that all the stuff you store on Cloud storage is secure? Those nutty conspiracy theories about Facebook etc. may be silly but you are trusting personal information, images. telephone numbers to a computer which can be hacked. It's information can be fraudulently shared. Do you read ALL those terms and conditions?

I do love the freedom of the internet but I am a hardened nethead. I understand the drawbacks and how to guard against them and it doesn't rule me. This morning I went for a walk, came home and did a bit of housework. I am writing this and then may read or watch a T.V. murder mystery.

If I go on social media I apply the same rules as if I were face to face! I am honest but polite, if I have a point to make I will make it respectfully. I know what I can share or not share. On top of this I am also a people fan. I love talking to people, sometimes total strangers when I am out and about.

I am all for the wealth of information available, the things I can do with my computer and social media with the freedom it brings BUT I also treat it with respect. It is like a dog who seems friendly but is likely to bite you if given the chance. Modern security software helps but you are responsible for being aware of the dangers. the Internet is a great thing but there is definitely a Dark side.

Ghosts and Idiots ruining serious paranormal research.

As if the search for life after death is not wide open to fraud by people with knowledge of picture editing and competent in it, there are now Apps appearing on mobile phones which make it simple. Normally some knowledge of Photoshop or similar is necessary to make a good fake Ghost and it at least required some effort. Even so these pictures are usually easy to spot. Unless you have a very steady hand, cutting out the Ghost which is to be superimposed is not easy. The edges are noticeable and a human figure normally has bits missing. No picture of a human contains all the body and often fingers or toes, even the occasional leg or arm go missing.

As well as all this people always get the balance of believability versus detail wrong. Any serious student of the subject would tell you that full body apparitions are rare and that the reality of Ghosts is likely to be misshapen blobs of energy or E.V.P. (Electronic Voice Phenomenon.) So any clearly recognisable human apparition always awakens my scepticism. I do not believe in Ghosts but I would like to be proved wrong. I do know how to Photoshop though and I know the signs of a fake.

Now we have these Phone apps. There is an example of the above (Clearly not to be taken as real and an example of what can be achieved.) and a screenshot of one such app. These Apps quite openly state that they are designed to fool on social media, one even admits that they won't fool for long.

Now I hate users of social media whose aim is to get Likes, Shares or favourites by any means possible. Some claim that you are an idiot if you cannot do an ambiguous maths problem, some claim you are heartless because you do not share an emotive picture (Again often faked or with a story which cannot be proved. That child molester that hangs around schools is probably just a picture lifted from the net or someone who the poster has a grudge against.), and some just threaten ridiculous events befalling you if you do not send the post to all your Friends. All are designed to make idiots feel superior and generate attention.

Now these idiots can, with five minutes work, create a reasonably credible Ghost image and put it on a ghost picture group. The sceptical will feel obliged to point out that it is fake, the credible will instantly assume that the Ghost is real and is haunting any place you can take a picture of. Those who are not sure will say that it could be pareidolia but it is compelling.

Either way the attention whores on Social media sit back and have a chuckle at the way they have  made idiots of their so called friends. Bear in mind my previous comments about believability though, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Just when you thought this paranormal stuff was rubbish.

The Video above is of a very obscure, long forgotten animated T.V. Series. I watched it as a child but didn't particularly enjoy it.

Two nights ago I dreamed very vividly about it. I also heard the theme music from 'White horses,' another forgotten series, in the dream.

I haven't heard anything about the second one but on a Facebook thread about 1970's T.V., and after having forgotten about it for decades, someone posted about Belle and Sebastian. How spooky is that? What do you mean coincidence? Yeah right!

I await a post on 'White Horses' Whoever is doing this please stop.

Jack the Ripper

This is not going to be an exhaustive history of this case, there is just too much information out there to encapsulate in a blog post. I offer two links, the Wikipedia entry about the case and THE definitive website, the Casebook of Jack the Ripper. I also recommend a comprehensive A-Z book of the case.

Here I just wish to confess myself a confirmed Ripperologist and to try to explain why. What is the fascination? The murders were gruesome but not excessively so by today's standards. The Ripper was a serial killer in the autumn of 1888 but not a prolific one. There were 11 suspected killings of women who were all prostitutes, only 5 of which are considered canonical and even one of those has been questioned as a Ripper victim. There are letters supposedly from the killer which are now considered hoaxes.

The fascination for me is the fact that, after 127 years we still don't know who committed these crimes. The Ripper's hunting grounds were the most poverty stricken areas of Victorian London. It is also his seeming ability to kill, mutilate and disappear within minutes that fascinates. At least twice he must have been nearby when his victims were discovered. There was talk of his being linked to that great British bogeyman, Spring heeled Jack. Some even suspect a demonic Ripper. The mutilations were nasty by Victorian standards.

The conspiracies associated with the case are well documented and the Casebook website will tell you all about them but I don't think we are looking at a famous Ripper. He is just an ordinary man driven mad by syphilis or his poverty stricken surroundings. Try one of the links, you may get hooked on this Victorian mystery. Or maybe you will solve this ultimate cold case.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper

http://www.casebook.org/

Turing-Hero and Victim

     A post originally published on my Wordpress Blog

 

             

Alan Turing 1912-1954

 

As you will know I am totally immersed in Computing devices and the Internet. It is no exaggeration to say that without Alan Turing these devices would not exist. He conceived a universal computing machine, based around binary language, the description of which is the basis of all modern computing machines. His Ghost is probably looking over your shoulder now.

 

 His work in cracking the Enigma codes in World War 2 and the effect on the war in the north Atlantic are well documented. Unfortunately, the idea that Turing designed Colossus with Tommy Flowers is erroneous but he did design the Bombe, a mechanical device to work out the Enigma settings. His work in Crypto-analysis was central to Bletchley Park’s wartime success and his cracking of the German Naval codes helped Britain to stop the destruction of supply convoys. This undoubtedly shortened the war. Unfortunately this work and the Colossus machines were deemed top-secret and Britain handed the lead in this field to others. It is possible that we may all be using Colossi had it been developed commercially.

 

After the war Turing worked on the design of another computer system the ACE (Automatic Computing Engine) at the National Physical Laboratory.  In 1949 he became Deputy Director of the Computing Laboratory in the university of Manchester Mathematics department, working on software for one of the earliest stored program computers—the Manchester MK1. At this time he developed the Turing test, The idea that a machine imitating a human in a conversation, if it could convince a third-party that it was human, must be deemed intelligent

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In the 1950’s he turned to Mathematical Biology and the occurrence of Fibonacci sequences in flowers. He attempted, long before the discovery of D.N.A., to work out why cells separated in different ways to become different structures. He also wondered why certain animals of similar kinds developed different colouring and patterns. He posited  mathematical rules behind these changes, and of course he was right.

 

However he was doomed by his sexuality. Homosexuality was illegal in the U.K. in the 1950’s. He was burgled by a friend of one of his sexual partners, who got his address from the young man. A watch was taken that had been given to Turing by his father and naturally he wanted it back. In a totally Naïve move he called the police. He openly confessed to sex with the young man when questioned about the burglary and the police must have thought it was Christmas. A high-profile war hero and professor admitting to homosexuality. The burglary was quietly forgotten.

What happened next should stand as one of the most shameful events in British History. This war hero and one of the greatest minds of his age was given a choice, prison or chemical Castration. This involved the injection of female hormones, thus destroying the testosterone in the body, and stopping the sexual urges. It also involved shrinking of the testicles and growth of breasts. I can only imagine the shock to the system this would involve but it also impacted on his intellect. I wonder if he would still be alive if he had chosen prison. He once said he might have enjoyed it given his attraction to men.

 

At this time there was a paranoia about Gay men, who were seen as a security risk and much of his work with the government was taken from him. He travelled abroad to Greece and Norway, both places popular with homosexuals, no doubt enjoying the more relaxed attitude there. He must have felt that he was trapped in a nightmare but he bore the treatments without complaint. He cannot have failed to see the irony that his war work was against a country which practiced castration of Jews as well as persecution of Homosexuals and the insane. Now he faced the same persecution he fought against with his towering intellect. I also wonder if the treatments mad him fear madness. For whatever reason on 8 June 1954 was found dead of Cyanide poisoning. There was a half eaten apple (How ironic is that?) by his bed though it wasn’t tested for cyanide. The verdict was suicide with the apple being assumed as the means of ingestion.

 

There have been doubts. This is what Wikipedia says about it:

Philosophy professor Jack Copeland has questioned various aspects of the coroner’s historical verdict, suggesting the alternative explanation of the accidental inhalation of cyanide fumes from an apparatus for gold electroplating spoons, using potassium cyanide to dissolve the gold, which Turing had set up in his tiny spare room. Copeland notes that the autopsy findings were more consistent with inhalation than with ingestion of the poison. Turing also habitually ate an apple before bed, and it was not unusual for it to be discarded half-eaten. In addition, Turing had reportedly borne his legal setbacks and hormone treatment (which had been discontinued a year previously) “with good humour” and had shown no sign of despondency prior to his death, setting down, in fact, a list of tasks he intended to complete upon return to his office after the holiday weekend At the time, Turing’s mother believed that the ingestion was accidental, resulting from her son’s careless storage of laboratory chemicals.  Biographer Andrew Hodges suggests that Turing may have arranged the cyanide experiment deliberately, to give his mother some plausible deniability.
 

Andrew Hodges, and another biographer, David Leavitt, have both suggested that Turing was re-enacting a scene from the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), his favourite fairy tale, both noting that (in Leavitt’s words) he took “an especially keen pleasure in the scene where the Wicked Queen immerses her apple in the poisonous brew.

 

The British Government apologised for his treatment in 2013 but it is poor compensation  given that Turing should have been a hero and been decorated by  the U.K., not persecuted by it.

 

What to post?.......bad night.

The Bot brain is not up to scratch today and the reason is a mystery. Amongst the age related health issues and the Stroke I have sleep Apnoea. This involves wearing a mask every night. This forces pressurised air through the nasal passages all night keeping them open. Without it  they close and you wake from rem sleep every few minutes in a sleep/wake/sleep/wake cycle. Needless to say this is a disaster during the day and sufferers often fall asleep at weird moments. Hence the mask.

Great, got the mask, problem solved. Except once every few days I wake up and take off the mask. Suddenly I have all the symptoms of a cold. My nose runs incessantly, I sneeze,  my throat is dry and sore. Then miraculously these symptoms disappear after a few hours.

Then once in a few weeks I have a day like yesterday. The symptoms started as usual and just carried on. The sneezing was jarring enough to cause a headache. My throat was dry and sore. It carried on intermittently blocking my nose then it ran like a tap. I couldn't think properly. Now you might conclude, as I did, that the minor symptoms are the body reacting to having air forced into it. However all the fellow sufferers and the clinic I visit each year cannot explain it. They have no such symptoms as sufferers and the Doctors at the clinic are at a loss. All I can think is that the air coming through the machine has allergens which cause a reaction. As to the bad days, I suspect a minor infection of sorts. There are effects on other areas of the body too. Maybe it is just what it seems, a cold.

But guess what, I get up this morning and apart from a headache, a bit of a dry throat and a red nose, Nothing. Not a sneeze and a clear nose. I defy anyone to explain this, most medical practitioners just shrug it off.

The N.H.S. take on Sleep Apnoea

And the wikipedia version

What evolved power would you like? How realistic is your wish?

I pointed out in a post over on Wordpress ( Shameless plug ) that the human Brain was designed for nothing more taxing than Hunting and Gathering whilst staying alive and upright. D.N.A. has allowed us to upgrade and pass on these improvements but the Brain is still essentially primitive. Animal instincts and emotions rule it. It seems somewhere along the line we have somehow managed to start dealing with abstracts. Still it is nothing short of a miracle that we have reached the degree of understanding we have with such a limited processor.

Yet those instincts are something which offer hope of future evolution. I think of them as built in autonomous warning and information gathering programs accessed and read by the unconscious. One has always fascinated me. It is that burning feeling in between your shoulder blades that tells you that you are being watched. The advantage is obvious, it tells you that someone or something is showing interest in you. You are pre warned and your first reaction is to locate the watcher. Neat. But hang on, this sometimes happens when you are not facing anyone so visual clues are out. Often the watcher is in a crowded street so auditory clues are unlikely and smell would be difficult to pick up at such a distance and with so many other sources. Where does the information come from? Could this be nascent telepathy?

I don't know but I don't know how else it could happen either. Indulge me, then, if I extrapolate future human evolutionary changes from such a flimsy start. This is not a 'Which superpower would you like.' Post. I am only sticking to those powers that could possibly be ours in future. All this is my opinion and I am not citing any research or experiments to back it up.

Straightaway I am discounting teleportation, if it is possible, it would require more than just a normal brain, possibly a machine (As in Star Trek.). I cannot see the brain being able to move it's entire body vast distances unassisted.

Another one I would love to experience and some people claim is already ours is Astral Projection. The separation of consciousness from the body fascinates me and the idea of travelling in this way would enable you to experience the whole world while you sleep. Maybe you could even spy on your neighbours at their most vulnerable if that is your thing.

Despite my best efforts I have not experienced this but it does not seem like something you can develop. If you believe it, it is something you can already do or not, as with the 'Someone's watching me...' ability. This would be top of my wish list. I have tried to achieve this, result epic fail.

 

Next, and in my opinion most likely to develop within a few generations, is Telepathy. I have often felt that you can pick up on the emotions of another, especially if you are close in terms of emotional ties. No doubt there would be those who provide banal and commonplace explanations for this. You get used to someone's thought processes or you think in similar ways. However I have personally experienced this first hand and there is a distinct difference between knowing what someone would think and knowing what they are thinking. It is hit and miss but it has happened to me. In the future this may develop into a controllable ability.

 

 

Extra sensory perception is a hard one. Telepathy could be achieved, maybe by projection of bio electrical energy through the air with someone able to receive the signal, but this one requires a two way connection with inanimate objects. I can't see any logical way it would work. Once again there are those who claim this ability now but if it exists I have no idea how it would operate It would be very useful though.

 



 

Last of the more realistic abilities is Telekinesis. The movement of objects with the mind alone. Again a projected Bio electrical field may be able to achieve this. It would take a strong and constant field and a way of converting it into a semi solid physical force able to interact with other physical objects. I don't think it would ever work with large or extremely heavy objects, if it is possible at all. Again very useful if it ever happens

"What the hell is he on about?" I hear you scream. Well this is all just a thought experiments about which of these fringe ideas is ever likely to happen.

But what if we used technology? Professor Kevin Warwick of Coventry University already has implants which control computers responsible for Lighting, opening doors etc. The below is his Wikipedia entry with all the details and the second link is his personal webpage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Warwick
http://www.kevinwarwick.com/

Ok, it isn't true Telekinesis but it may be possible with cyborg like implants and Wi-Fi connections to create a passable telepathic ability. You may even be able to control machines that can move objects using the implants.

Personally I'd settle for telepathy. I would still REALLY like to do the 'Out of body experience' thing. If anyone has a set of instructions...................

First day of Autumn

We are now officially in one of my favourite times of the year. I don't like being hot or excessively cold so Autumn is just right. Keats had it right, Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness, especially in Kent where we were well known for orchards.

Kicking up fallen leaves is a cliché, but an enjoyable one. Kids and Conkers still have a connection, something which was true when I was one. The nights are chilly, with a hint of things to come in the long cold winter months, but when you get home and your home is warm all that can be forgotten.

Walking becomes enjoyable again as the trees grow brown, orange and yellow and gradually drop their leaves to form a carpet under your feet. My favourite walks, the local cemeteries, become colourful and the graves and tombstones are less morbid, their sombre grey, black and stark whites replaced with a riot of colour.

Yet again winter will drop rain, maybe snow from leaden skies as it grips the world with it's icy clutch. Until then nature takes on it's Autumn mantle, all part of the great cycle of death and rebirth.

Enjoy.

The lottery of intelligence

Above is a Victorian picture of my first home. I was born in the house behind the horse and cart in 1961. Few changes had been made sinc it was built. It had no hot water or bathroom and an outside toilet. It was a four roomed house. The living room and Kitchen formed the ground floor and two bedrooms the upstairs. My father worked in the local paper mill and I remember little of him. He died in 1973. I do remember that this mill worker loved building electric motors using copper wire, knitting needles and a wooden base. They worked too! I never really knew him but I am sure he had other interests you wouldn't expect from a working class person. At that time the pools, the Pub and the Saturday football results were the main interests of the working classes. reading matter included the Daily Mirror, the News of the World and whatever books came your way.

So along I came, a child of a very working class, fairly poor family. I too had interests you wouldn't expect. Classical Greek and Roman mythology fascinate me. I love working out what makes people tick and I find myself comfortable with Latin and the words deriving from Latin. This in turn helps with another interest, Trivia. I have crammed my mind with all kinds of nonsense, none of which is genuinely useful in life. I never pass up a chance to learn something new and am a voracious reader. I try reading Shakespeare and enjoy history both ancient and modern. You know, dear reader, of my love of superstitions and the paranormal. Crime is another passion, the grislier the better. All this from a poor lad who never made it past 'O' Level. Then when the rise of the Computer and the Internet began I found I not only had an interest in it but the technology and techniques involved came naturally to me. I did not suffer from the Technofear common to most of my friends and family. Now I couldn't be without at least 1 internet connected device.

Oh yes, I hate football and most other sports, though the occasional Rugby match is enjoyable. I don't drink or do small talk so Pub visits are rare.

 

This Guy was not from a super intelligent family. His Father had a failed company behind him and Einstein was working in a Patent office when he began his Thought Experiments which eventually led to the physics breakthroughs that dominate the subject today.

 

 

So my question is Why? How is intelligence doled out in the great Lottery. We all know of the idea of the Throwback, the son of a rich and well educated family who turns out to be totally useless. Obviously intelligence runs in some families who have no real use for it, given that they are only expected to work, raise a family and die. Some are lucky and break out of the cycle, others don't.

 

 

I like to believe that I came from a family of great scholars who fell on hard times but my Genealogy research proves that, at least back to the 1700's the family are all from the lower echelons of society. So where does all this thirst for knowledge  come from?

 

I suppose that, if you have a predisposition to reading and open yourself up to all sources of knowledge, you will eventually find that you have interests in all kinds of things you never expected. Maybe if my Father had lived beyond 1973 and discovered the Internet he would have sucked up knowledge as I do.

 

Or maybe just having a receptive and fast brain with good information matching skills is enough to ensure that you will fill it.

 

 

One more thing though, I am intelligent but I am basically unable to use that to my advantage. When I try to do so it inevitably fails. Maybe you can have intelligence or Money making skills, but not both.

Why are there so many 'New ' diseases'?

I am confused! I am a fairly intelligent person who understands people and what makes them tick. I understand how diseases spread. I am fairly aware of the modern diseases that were never heard of in my childhood. I even understand the diseases of the old and how we are much more aware of them. In my day there were whispered comments about an elderly relative 'Going a bit funny' My own grandmother assured me in the 70's that we had to get under the stairs because the German Bombers were coming. She died of cancer but was obviously suffering dementia too. My own mother is now providing first hand evidence of what dementia sufferers go through. Yet I would say that, for whatever reason, she gave up on life and that this was the root cause of her problems. The doctors have now diagnosed dementia but I am sure that it began with this lack of will to carry on with a life she found burdensome. It is known that psychological issues can cause physical problems.

But what of the debate over ADHD. Some swear it is a recognised disease, others that it is an excuse for a lack of discipline from ineffectual parents who wish to drug their children throughout their childhood. I think there is a case for both views but I also believe it is a psychological phenomenon. So much is expected of children now. Parents want one thing for them, teachers want them to pass exams in order to achieve figures imposed on them by the Government. Personal communications are over the internet. Many parents will not let them out to play, which was where children learned personal skills. Every child is a little prince or princess who can do no wrong until the bad behaviour begins.

It also has to be said that many children are bought up predominantly by a single woman which will inevitably mean a lack of an effectual male role model and that the woman concerned often  belittle and ridicule the only male example they have. I am speaking from experience here as many of my relatives have gone this route. Even if the child is in a Male/Female/Children home there may be frequent arguments, usually violent or verbally abusive. Again I do speak from experience. How is a child supposed to deal with that.

If Doctors say that ADHD exists I suppose I must bow to their superior knowledge but I know that children need time to be kids. One of my young relatives is a case in point. He is being assessed for ADHD and is violent and abusive in the family home yet we have him regularly and he is perfectly well behaved. It is my belief that he does not see us arguing, he is allowed to do what he wishes within reason but is disciplined if he crosses the line and so he knows what is expected of him, He does get loud and naughty when he is very tired but most children do.

Autism too is something I don't understand, or rather I do not understand how it has suddenly become an epidemic. According to another family member he has been diagnosed as Autistic yet he is perfectly capable of, and indeed does, live a normal life, albeit with depressive episodes. The symptoms he describes could equally have been applied to me in my younger days. I recall a documentary about this condition 10 years ago which showed young children who were incapable of living who were incapable of a normal existence. I do not wish to be an old curmudgeon (Though some say it is a done deal.). But I do feel that many parents see a problem with their child and would rather label it (Dare I mention the word Benefits here?) than change their behaviour before consulting a medical professional.

So why are all these diseases and conditions, unheard of in my youth, so often diagnosed now. Are we trying to label conditions which have always been around? I don't know but it does seem that we should make diagnosis a last resort and try to change the way we relate to and communicate with each other.

Rugby and the weekly shop.

I have not got a lot of time today but I enjoy a quick blog in the AM so here is a whimsical little post.

Today marks the beginning of the Rugby world cup. Now I hate sport generally but can actually sit through a Rugby match without too much trouble, There are no tantrums, no wimps lying on the ground because someone messed up their hair and above all lots of naked aggression. You can almost see the cloud of testosterone hanging over a scrum. It's great and we have a good chance of actually winning. I was watching the golden moment when Johnny Wilkinson scored THAT drop goal.

On the negative side it is showery here and I have to go shopping. Aggressive drivers, elderly people getting in your way while they select their biscuits, getting wet running across the car park, getting a shopping trolley in the leg and rude supermarket staff. Oh yes and don't be a minute over your time in the car park or it's £25.

On balance I'd rather be playing Rugby.

The Bible, Word of God or man?

Today I intend to leave the world of Ghosties and Conspiracy for the story of the most famous book in history and the source of many mysteries of it's own.

This is not about belief or lack of it. I leave it to my readers to make up their own minds on that. Just to set the scene, religion and religious books have always been a means of control. Superstition and Gods have had their priests, by whatever name, Those Priests have been a power unto themselves or have allied themselves to those who had power. For our purposes it is the bible we are concerned with. It is The Word Of God, Right?

Well no, not really. The old testament is a creation myth and a history of God and his chosen people. Many elements are common to other religions. There are countless flood myths (As in Noah's Ark.). However it is almost impossible to disprove anything so far back in history.

The New Testament is a different matter. If the story of Jesus and his ministry is true, and if the events after his death are accurate then we have first person testaments from his disciples. The New Testament is excellent first hand evidence.

Except that the whole thing is supposedly the word of Jesus filtered through the understanding of simple men. There would be misunderstandings and stories told which would be given spin in order to reflect the views and prejudices of those men. If there is a gospel of Jesus it would simplify things. That is if we assume the writers were actually the people they claim to be. The Gospel of Judas, though not a biblical gospel, is thought to have been written much later than Judas' lifetime.

Then we have the Book of Revelation by St John the Divine. This is a description of the last days before Armageddon. To me it seems to be totally out of place with the rest of the NT which preaches love and forgiveness while it is about God's revenge on sinners. The imagery seems like a drug induced nightmare rather than a vision from God. One can only assume it was included to put the fear of God into believers. Judging by the horror stories and films made about it, it succeeds.

As any Dan Brown reader will tell you, probably foaming at the mouth with enthusiasm, Pope Damasus I assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the Council of Rome in 382 CE. He commissioned Saint Jerome to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. There were many Gospels (including the famous ones about Jesus' family, and the gospel of Judas which is being posited as proof that the Resurrection never happened) that were never included. The end result was a list of approved books IN LATIN. But it did not include much of the 'Evidence' especially if it didn't agree with accepted doctrine.

This state of affairs continued for many years but the power of Monarchs and Popes depended on the Bible being used as a weapon. The Latin bible ensured that the word of God was filtered through the pronouncements of Popes and Priests. Other things which never appeared in the Bible were the result of changes to canon law. Confession, Purgatory and so on ensured income and the fear of hell kept the lower classes bent to the will of Church and Monarch and Priests preached duty to God, Monarch and your Lords. But none of this was in the bible, it was the work of men.

Then, in the Medieval era came the protestants. They argued that the Word of God (Diluted though it might already be.) Should be available to all. William Tyndale first translated the New Testament into English but even he put certain words in reflecting his own prejudice against the establishment. Before his famous reformation, Henry VIII had Tyndale executed because his translation was dangerous to the Status Quo. If anyone could read the NT they would find that no one had advocated the class system except the Clergy and Nobles.

With Henry VIII's break with Rome he swapped one tyrant for another and in a cynical about face he had someone else translate the bible into English and took credit himself. Yet even then most of the translation relied on Tyndale which persevered even in the King James version and thus into modern interpretations. Despite the break, Henry still believed in the power the Popes wielded but wanted it for himself. Therefore he would execute radical protestants one year and Papists the next, as his mood took him.

The New English Bible itself caused problems.  It led to ridiculous (To our eyes!) divisions such as the one which argued for and against the presence of Jesus' body and blood in the Wine and Bread. People were executed for being on the wrong side of this one.

And still the Bible was not available to many from the lower classes. Most were illiterate and still relied on someone else to read to them. Usually it was a priest so very little changed after all the upheaval.

After King James version the bible has remained substantially the same and still does. So is the Bible the word of God? I don't think so but I am an atheist. Even if you are a Christian it is obvious that the Bible has been written, interpreted and used as a tool by men. The extant version is one which ignores unwanted histories. The knowledge of this via the new God internet has meant more and more people can see it.

I would like to believe that Jesus existed but his story has long been corrupted by the actions of men. As for God I don't think he would speak to us via a book when he could speak to us in our heart and soul. Those in power have used this book to keep control of the masses over the years. If there is a God, and I like to think that there is a benevolent soul to the universe, you won't find him in the Bible.

One more thing. In any war, all sides will claim God is on their side and will, no doubt, find evidence for this claim in this Holy Book. If there is a God he must be weeping in despair at the uses men, in their pride, claim for his 'Sacred Word'

The Grand Unified conspiracy theory-apparently there is one!

You guys must know by now that I love a conspiracy theory, Believing is a different matter. Occam's Razor works overtime when conspiracies are concerned. Some I can see he reasoning behind and can almost see being true. Take the JFK assassination for instance. It is fairly believable that this........

........was not the work of just one man in November 1963. All it takes to make this conspiracy true is a few more shooters being involved. JFK could do a lot of damage to many interest groups some of whom could arrange a cover up. It is not beyond the realms of possibility, though working out just who carried it out gives rise so some very complicated amendments to the basic conspiracy theory.

 

Project MKUltra: the CIA's Mind Control Program was initially a conspiracy theory and only later was it found that the CIA did run such experiments. They involved electronics, hypnosis, sensory deprivation and verbal and sexual abuse and ran from the 50's to 1973.

 

Elvis Presley's faking his death, again, very silly but why not. If he had had enough of fame and lack of privacy he may have taken this drastic action. Faking death certificates is not difficult, nor is bribing medical personnel and witnesses. The same goes for Marilyn Monroe.

Elvis Presley's autopsy result and Newspaper report of the death of Marilyn Monroe.

 

In fact any theories based purely on human nature, Bribes and criminal acts are eminently believable. It is those with a paranormal basis which I have problems with. It is these where good ol' Occam walks in and calls Bull**it.

 

I was searching for another theory to bend your long suffering ears with today, when I found something which is completely different. It requires the level of belief which your average Roswell believer just doesn't have. S/He merely believes an Alien ship crashed and the government captured one which they later autopsied. Admittedly they also tend to believe other theories but only 1 at a time.

 

The Grand unified Conspiracy Theory is very different. Apparently all the conspiracies which have been put forward are not only true but are following a plan laid down by one central (And Evil of course....Mwahahahahaha.) figure. You can pick your own puppet master, Satan, the Illuminati, Mysterious time travelling figures from the future, Men in Black or a mysterious Wizard from the Dark ages.

 

It is a curious idea. First it presupposes that all conspiracy theories must be true, Second that the controlling entity is either a group still in existence or has access to time travel or has means of manipulating modern events through time. I can hear Mr Occam a knocking already. It is also odd in that the Arch manipulator must be aware of that we know of his plan. Therefore this knowledge is all part of the plan.

 

Of course, if you disagree with the plan then you are part of it. Another aspect is the politics. Some theories are more left or right wing in terms of those affected and those who commit the acts involved. Some have a religious basis, some are favoured by Atheists. The Grand theory is non political and non denominational. The idea is that the central group or character just has mischief in mind. Basically this is a theory for the paranoid. The evil one just wants to sow discord. Governments are his/her tools. Anyone who denies the reality of any conspiracy theory or the Unified theory is a tool of the evil one too.

 

Curiously there have been pictures purporting to be of time travellers at major events in 20th century history. To the normal person this is interesting but the word fake would be going through your mind. To the average Grand Unified Conspiracist it would be strong evidence. I believe it. And there goes a flying pig.

 



Why we need a little mystery.

 

The above pictures are fairly well known. Crop circles have been a part of our lives for a few decades. Nessie (Or the Loch Ness Monster.) even longer. The one with the Leg is a case of Spontaneous Human Combustion, whereby a human body is almost totally consumed by burning (Which would require extremely high temperatures.) yet there is little or no damage to the surroundings.

 

The rise of the internet has proved one thing. We love our mysteries. The more inexplicable the better. While researching this I typed 'Unexplained' into Google and clicked images. The hundreds of results included a time travelling man, a 1940's girl with a suited astronaut behind her, a man with two faces, various supposed Ghost images, Ditto UFO images. The list went on. Many sites collate these things. There is a crossover with conspiracy theories here because all are covered by the title unexplained. Allow me to present you with a uniquely British example.

 

Spring Heeled Jack

 

This was a diabolical figure with fiery red eyes and clawed hands and was reported fro 1837 till 1877 and in various parts of the U.K. He was scary enough but his true terror for Victorian witnesses was that, from a standing start, he could leap 9 feet or more in order to escape. Various explanations were put forward, mainly upper class pranksters. Phosphorous and metal claws accounted for the physical aspects. Even the 1888 Jack the Ripper case was briefly attributed to this British bogey man. More often his appearances were put down to superstition or mass hysteria. More information can be found HERE.

 

 

Time slips.

 



This is another unexplained phenomena. One of the best known is two ladies who went to Versaille, France in 1901. They got lost on their homeward journey but noticed many anachronisms. The clothing was different. The atmosphere changed. Everything seemed flat and lifeless and they observed phenomena strongly suggesting they were in the 16th century. The full story is HERE

There are many other stories of unexplained events. Some point to modern watches found in Ming dynasty graves. Others maintain that the JFK story in 1963 involved time travellers and/or the Illuminati. The British at the battle of Mons in early ww1 swore that Angels had appeared and protected them from the German guns. The Irish Banshee appears on the roof of a house only when a member of the family's death is imminent. The Nazca Lines in Mexico are designed to be seen from the air despite being made in a time before flight.

Now I am a sceptic, I try to debunk Ghost images and it isn't difficult. I like to think we possess innate telepathic or telekinetic abilities but have never been convinced by stories of these abilities. I believe in Alien life but do not believe they would bother travelling all this way just to examine our bodies. I think the Illuminati died out in the far past. I really don't believe in a lot outside our own knowledge as a race.

BUT I get a thrill at the idea of a high jumping monster, banshees scare me, I get shivers at the idea of witches and hags. I like a good Ghost story provided research has given it at least a fighting chance of being based in fact. I would love to slip in time. I want a convincing story of a telepath. The man with two faces- Edward Mordake- would seem feasible as a conjoined twin but is just creepy enough for me.

I think this is the point. Our lives are full of the known and explained that we are desperate for something we can't explain and if it is slightly creepy so much the better. I have given myself some shivery moments looking at pictures for this post and I am oh so rational. If no one has ever managed to explain something with all our modern science and the facts cannot be put down to fakery then it might just BE supernatural. Personally I need something that can't be explained.

The anniversary of The Battle of Britain

 

 

If you are having a bad day, if you are spitting your dummy out because your broadband is not working or your smartphone has died, or even if you feel low please spare a thought for those who defended this country 75 years ago.

It is  summer 1940. Young men, many still in their teens, are sent into the skies with minimal training in their Hurricanes and Spitfires. Meanwhile German aircraft try to break the R.A.F. with daily raids. Each day young men from both sides are sent in fragile aircraft to face death. Each day many do not return home. They are replaced with more barely trained recruits and the cycle begins again.

September the 15th was the day that Germany tried to bomb London, to draw the R.A.F. out and destroy it.

I know we are at peace but I can't help feeling that our troubles must be put into perspective by the fact that these young men faced death regularly and did not shirk that duty. In case we forgot the ladies, they were often trained in flying these machines in order to deliver them to airfields. I am sure a German pilot would not care if the enemy was male or female.

I can't help feeling that we, with our pampered lifestyles and reliance on a cradle to grave nanny state could do as well.

Conspiracy theory 2.......Obama.

You will no doubt know that I am a Brit. Despite this I am up for a good 'Merican conspiracy as any other. So I found this online.....

As far back as 2008, some Americans began to claim that Barack Obama was not born in the United States, but in Kenya. These claims have been promoted by fringe theorists, known as 'birthers', some of whom have sought court rulings to prove that Obama is ineligible to be the president. None of these attempts has been successful. Obama has released the full version of his birth certificate, which shows he was born in Hawaii. However, birthers claim it is a forgery. There has been what the Daily Telegraph describes as "a persistent campaign of misinformation on the subject", led at one stage by Donald Trump, the property mogul now hoping to be the Republican presidential candidate. According to a recent poll by New York Daily News 61 per cent of self-identified Trump supporters said they believed the president was not born in the US. Obama has nevertheless made light of the conspiracy and in 2011, during an address at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, even went so far as to release his "birth video": a scene from Disney's The Lion King.

Now my response to this is 'Errrrmmmmm, So what?' He must have been screened before standing and any discrepancies would have been found then. His enemies would have good reason to promulgate this idea so it is obvious where this theory would come from. Even if it had been true, it doesn't change anything. I can't even see who would benefit from such a conspiracy. They are hardly likely to impeach the Pres on such flimsy evidence (I.E. None.). Overall I don't see the point of this one.

The cemetary gets a bad press...........They can be really great places to relax.

Some of my friends and family would call me strange. Perhaps those less friendly might think 'Deranged' would be a proper term. Those who are not friends would probably go for 'Should be sectioned for his own good.'

Now one reason for this is that I love a walk in a cemetery (The picture above is the Local one.). Many would now be picturing an ancient Goth slouching along between the Graves but it couldn't be more different. Allow me to explain.

When I was a child we would go to dinner with Nan Elsie on a Sunday. After lunch in the summer she would inevitably announce a visit to the 'Sim'. Flowers in Hand the whole family would walk the mile or so, up tree lined lanes, to the place where most of her family were buried. There was a school in the lane (I later went there.) and it had wooden fences There was a smell of wood stain and the tree roots in the Lane grew up through the pavements. Each tree had a small plinth with the name of a soldier who died in WW1. It is still called the 'Avenue of Remembrance. On wet days there was a smell of leafmould from the last Autumn's fallen leaves that never quite disappeared.

Once in the Cemetary we would go to the family graves. We would perform the ritual of clearing them and laying new flowers. There were metal tanks with taps and watering cans. We would fill the cans and carry them to the graves to water the flowers. It is still a vivid memory.

Nan Elsie and Granddad Mac.

Nan introduced me to the delights of the cemetery.

 

I also recall visiting a grave with my Father, his Brother's I think. It sticks in my mind because it is one of the few times I remember being alone with him. He died when I was 11.

 

 

As I grew I started reading inscriptions on the graves, wondering who these people were. There was the grave of a footballer with a marble football carved in white marble. Another had an anchor carved on the headstone. It explained that the man died in an accident on the local creek. That one was doubly interesting because he shared my surname.

 

Later, graves became important due to my interest in Genealogy. It is one thing to know every date that was important in a given ancestors life. It is quite another to stand before his or her grave, Knowing that this is where they came when their particular race was run. This is another aspect of the Cemetary. If you are worried or troubled, there is a tremendous psychological boost to knowing that all the worry in the world cannot change the fact that we all end up here. Told you I was strange!

 

 

Then there is the fact that the Cemetary is a haven for nature in the middle of the mayhem. I first heard a Cuckoo there. Bird song is all around, squirrels run around between the graves and foxes are not unknown. There are no cars and there is little pollution.

 

 

When I had a stroke I knew I had to exercise and because of all this, a cemetery is still my favourite place to do so.

So in the summer it is one of my favourite places to go. What about the winter though? I still enjoy the cemetery then. There is a stark beauty to gravestones in the cold or with rain or snow sending a shiver down your spine. They will have connotations with death, how can they not. Yet they can evoke so many feelings while we are around to enjoy them.

So go to a Churchyard or Cemetary, open your senses fully and drink in the feelings it can evoke.

More Ghost stuff. Pictures, Common sense and the quirks of the Human Brain

I am a ghost sceptic and I have never seen a ghost picture I believe contains a genuine spirit. I would like to, but to date have never seen any convincing proof of the afterlife.

There are two concepts I would like you to bear in mind when reading this. They are:-

Pareidolia-is a psychological phenomenon involving a stimulus (an image or a sound) wherein the mind perceives a familiar pattern where none actually exists.

Common sense-exactly what it says. The thing that makes you say. 'Hang on that can't be right.'

Using these you should be able to debunk 90% of Ghost Photos. When dealing with pictures of supposed Ghosts I will usually give more credence to pictures taken on old fashioned film as opposed to digital. Film is much more difficult to falsify unlike digital images which any Tom, Dick and Harry can alter to a reasonable standard. I have photoshopped many a picture to create a completely false image, (For my own education in Photoshop.). Unless you are an expert there are always signs.

Recently on Facebook I have seen 2 pictures, supposedly of Ghost images. The first was a vague image of a face on a net curtain (Seriously, on a net curtain, what self respecting Ghost would haunt a curtain.). For me a clear case of Pareidolia from someone who desperately wants to believe. The second was in a fish tank. Yes you heard me right. Now given the way light and water react it is almost guaranteed to produce strange patterns at times. I came to the same conclusions as with 'Curtain Ghost'.

Another poster posted a picture of a grave with a strange discrepancy at the very bottom. Underneath was an enlargement of the area the discrepancy appears in. It was labelled 'Enlarged, Brightness, contrast and sharpness improved. Now if you have to go to that trouble to get people to see what you see, it isn't very clear to start with.

So lets examine some celebrated Ghost pictures with a view to the reality of the ghost in each. First, and to my mind the best image with a view to believability, is the one at the top of the page. It is of 'The Brown Lady of Raynham hall'. It is on film so that is in it's favour. It could be a double exposure but the Ghost seems to be consistent with it's surroundings. The image does show signs of Double exposure according to some experts. Others accuse the photographer of smearing grease on the lens. However it does not set out to  produce a sharp clear human image and most sightings are of this type. Only a vague shape is usually claimed by the observer. So maybe a 5/10 for convincing evidence.

 

How about this. The floating head appeared in a picture when the film camera was on self timer. The flash did not go off. Then another picture of the same scene was taken a moment later and the lady was gone. Those who were there do not know who the woman was and experts have said there is no evidence of double exposure. However it was taken on a camera on which the flash malfunctioned so I cannot discount a camera fault. Also given that Ghosts are disembodied and use energy to manifest, according to most accounts, this lady is way too clear and would fit in to any other images recorded in the restaurant that evening. Even the lighting of the face is the same. However, given the expert testimony against Camera error it gets 5/10.

 

 



This one is a good picture. The little girl unaware of what is happening behind her. The floating woman is consistent with her surroundings so there is no double exposure issue. She is a bit too clear for me (I.E. not Ghostly.) but she is clearly floating. the picture shows no photoshop tell tales, it may even have been on film. Should score high, Right? I give it ......0/10. That is because the lady, far from floating, is merely running and one leg is up behind her while the other is behind the post. Furthermore, somewhat tired of this picture being relentlessly duplicated across the Net, she has told the story on record. She was quite simply running and the camera snapped just as her legs were completely out of view.

In this one the head peeking around the Church disappears when you go around the corner. Well yes it would, this is a fake and my nephews pulled stunts like this all the time as kids. There is no evidence given as to time and only the submitters word that it was anything other than a couple of kids playing with a camera. 1/10

 

This one was from a Reverend K.F. Lord at Newby Church, Yorkshire. While no one has ever proved fakery this is almost a caricature of a ghost, note the sheet with eyeholes cut in it. It is someone with no imagination drawing on the popular idea of ghosts. 1/10.

Finally a cautionary tale, let us examine a Photo which almost had me convinced.

 

The picture was of a fire at Wem town hall in Shropshire. Note the girl at the bottom right. Pareidolia, possibly. The person was taking a picture of the fire not a girl so he had no reason to fake it. This picture taken by Tony O'Rahilly in 1995 A young girl had died in a fire in 1677 and there was no reason that similar circumstances shouldn't bring her shade out to play. It was compelling but it was only while I was researching this post that I found an article claiming that the picture was debunked. If you want to read about it, go to :-http://www.ghosttheory.com/2010/05/17/wem-ghost-girl-photograph-finally-solved

For those with less patience a gent from Wem found this little girl from a postcard of Wem High Street.

Look familiar?I am not saying it is debunked but it is a bit too much of a coincidence for me. 1/10.

I don't know why people fake pictures but in my experience most ARE faked, or coincidence or just plain lucky. Maybe people want their 15 minutes, or they genuinely believe patterns on the wall are grannies face. Even Vicars are not immune, though maybe it was to draw the tourists in to pay for the new roof.

So by all means go looking for ghost pictures on the internet and look at your own pictures for Ghosts. Just apply common sense. It is more likely that the light on the curtains is just  a pattern of light that your brain is misinterpreting than a visitation from a dead dude.

 



If I could have been born............

I was born in the early 60's, but if your era was that which provided the images, events and music that shaped you it would have been the tasteless 70's. My last post told of my yearning to be a city boy. This one is about what era I would have grown up in given the choice.

I would love to have been a teenager in the mid to late 60's It was a time when youth found ways to not be their parents. They found new ways to express themselves. They shook off the wartime values of austerity and dull fashions and created their own.

It was a time of change and you could help to make the changes. It wasn't all about profit.

There were many groups of youths with different ideals and fashions. Each one had their own music. What would I be? I Like The Jam, Ska and Two Tone. I enjoy music by the Who. The smart pressed suits appeal to me more than Kaftans and Sandals. The leather and greasy hair definitely don't appeal so I guess I'd be a Mod.

Instead I got Glam. Oh well. Perhaps I can get a Vespa and try to re-live the 60's. Bet it won't be the same though.

I want to go home...But I am home. It's a mystery.

 

This is not one of the best views in the world.........

But this is. What is the connection?

 

My family is the connection in this case. The top picture is of a town called Sittingbourne and is my home town. Just to ensure that this post is clear, this town and it's surrounding areas have been my hometown since my birth in 1961. I have never lived in London. Previously, My family on my father's side had lived Kent since the first few years of the 1900's

London is 40 miles to the North-West of Sittingbourne. My Great grandfather was the one who moved his family here, but before the move at least 3 generations (Dating back to the 1700's) lived in London. My Grandfather Donald Duncan Rayner was the last of my direct line to be born in London in 1898. So for 150 years or more my family were Londoners.

 

My great grandfather had his reasons to move. His last wife Laura and he had a daughter who was born in 1901 and died in 1902. An educated guess is that she died during an epidemic and it may have decided him to move. His own mother hailed from Kent so he may have planned to move anyway but the death was probably the catalyst.

 

Now it has often been said that I sound like a cockney (Native Londoner.) and many phrases I use hail from London. O.K. I may have picked them up from my father who got them from his, but my father did not sound like a cockney as I remember, so I have no idea why the tone and pitch of my speech sounds like I come from there.

 

The thing which really confuses me is that every time I have visited London I feel so at home. I step out of the train, breathe in the air and I feel as if I belong there. Many small town inhabitants are awed and nervous when they go to the capital city for the first time but I had no such qualms. I seemed to know instinctively where to go and felt that everything I saw was familiar to me, including those places which were not on the tourist circuit. I didn't want to go home afterwards, I felt I was home.

 

I know about race memory, though it doesn't quite fit this situation but I do wonder if there is something in my D.N.A. which fits me for life in London or memories can be passed down the family line. There are more things in Heaven and Earth.......

 

Certain things in my life are changing and those changes may enable me, in the future, to move to the outskirts of London. Just somewhere with a Tube station so the rest of the city is accessible to me at any time. I know as I sit here and type that it would be like going back where I belong. Sittingbourne is a pleasant town and I do feel affection for it but London's calling and if I get the chance I will go home.

Waterloo Sunset-The Kinks .

Dirty old river, must you keep rolling, rolling into the night
People so busy, make me feel dizzy, taxi light shines so bright
But I don't, need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo Sunset, I am in paradise
Every day I look at the world from my window
Chilly chilly is the evening time, Waterloo sunset's fine

Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station, every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don't want to wander, I stay at home at night
But I don't, feel afraid
As long as I gaze on Waterloo Sunset, I am in paradise
Every day I look at the world from my window
Chilly chilly is the evening time, Waterloo sunset's fine.

Millions of people swarming like flies 'round Waterloo underground
Terry and Julie cross over the river where they feel safe and sound
And they don't, need no friends
As long as they gaze on Waterloo Sunset, they are in paradise

 



Conspiracy theories Number 1 The Bard of Avon

In an occasional series I intend to look at conspiracy theories with a distinctly Tongue-in-cheek attitude. This is largely because I do feel many conspiracy theories are extremely far fetched.

In examining these things I use two golden rules to establish, in my view, the likely truth of the matter.

Occam's Razor

This states, at it's simplest, that given the available evidence, the simplest solution is usually the correct one.

 

Sherlock Holmes rule

This one is well known to any fan of the Conan Doyle classics. It states that, when you have eliminated the impossible whatever is left, no matter how improbable must be the truth.

 Between the two you can sort the facts and see if it affects your belief in the conspiracy theory.

 

So on to the Bard.......

 

 William Shakespeare was born in on 23rd April 1564. And straight away we hit the first possible porky (Porky Pie=Lie). He was baptised on the 26th which does not mean he was born three days before. This came  about because births were normally registered within three days. It is now almost universally accepted as his birthdate because he did die on 23rd April 1616 and everyone loves a coincidence. I personally hope he was born on that date because it is St George's day (Patron saint of England.), it has been mooted as an extra national holiday and I was also born on this date. Until now only the Queen gets a bank holiday on her Birthday so I am all in favour of the idea.

 At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, in rather a hurry. Six months later they had a daughter Susanna. It strikes me that he had been a bit of a naughty Shakespeare. Twins Hamnet and Judith followed. He had a basic education which would have included classics, Still would it equip him to write all those play and sonnets?

 Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. One has to wonder why he suddenly left Stratford to write? Was he seated in his house one day, having had an argument with the wife? Were the kids shouting and screaming? Did he just stand up and say "Sodde thys for a game of soldyers, I'm off to London to wryte summe plays?" The truth is no one knows. That a playwright and partner in a theatre by the name of Shakespeare existed is beyond doubt. Evidence for the Stratford Shakespeare writing anything beyond normal business letters and documents does not exist.

 

 

 

 

The Theories

 

Theory number 1. Shakespeare of London was NOT Shakespeare of Stratford. Occam's razor says it is unlikely given the evidence.

 

Theory number 2. Shakespeare did not write the plays.

 

The main objection to Shakespeare as author of the plays attributed to him is that he was not noble or well educated as most playwrights were. Therefore the plays must have been written by someone else using his name as a pseudonym. This begs a question. Why would he allow this to happen? Was he hungry for fame and saw it as a way of getting it with little effort? Was he paid to act as the face of an anonymous writer. Was the name Shakespeare plucked out of the real authors imagination and became entangled with a nobody from Warwickshire?

 

In this theory the main contenders as the actual author were Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Edward de Vere , 17th Earl of Oxford. There was even a theory that the plays were a group effort to which Shakespeare gave his name. Strangely this is quite a believable theory. Many authors use a pseudonym for work they are not sure will add to their reputation. Again  using Occam this is unlikely to supplant the official history. It would be a lot of trouble to achieve very little.

 
Theory Number 3 Shakespeare's sexuality.

 

Nothing to do with the plays in this one but it is claimed that the Sonnets were coded love poems to a young man, i.e. Shakespeare was gay. As this would be purely speculation and does not affect anyone except him, his wife and potentially the young man concerned I will not venture an opinion.

 

Theory number 4 Shakespeare's religion.

 

Basically says that He was a Catholic in a time when it was illegal.  The strongest evidence might be a Catholic statement of faith signed by his father, John Shakespeare, found in 1757 in the rafters of his former house in Henley Street. The document is now lost, however, and scholars differ as to its authenticity. He may well have been Catholic but he certainly conformed to the legal religion publicly.

 

The only theories which intrigue me are 1 and 2. The first has personal echoes. I am not well educated but I enjoy writing, I like to think I could make an income from it but have trouble with believable plots. Is it beyond the realms of possibility that I would move away to an area in which writers flourish in order to follow the dream. Therefore I believe that, trapped in a marriage forced on him by unwanted pregnancy and in a rural backwater, he did just that.

 The second is related to this. I think he joined a group of players and playwrights who helped him with his plays for which he had a talent already. Maybe they were a group effort to which he happily gave his name. Or maybe he was just a fantastic author and knew he would never amount to much at home.

 Evidence exists that he retired to Stratford-upon-Avon which would tend to disprove theory 1 and Occam tells me that number 2 is unlikely. If you were a successful playwright and the plays were as successful as his were, would you write under a pseudonym, specially if the name you used was a country bumpkin.

Conclusions

 So in conclusion Occam tells me that 1 and 2 are unlikely. 3 I really don't care about. Sexuality has nothing to do with talent and is a matter for the individual. As a non believer number 4 is irrelevant to me but if he was Catholic he hid it well.

 Sherlock Holmes tells me nothing as nothing mentioned here is impossible, though some things are improbable.

 So I believe the official version but with the caveat that a group of playwrights may have been involved.

 Oh and if you have trouble understanding Shakespeare, don't worry. Some of his stuff makes good sense but sometimes I have no idea what he is going on about.