Monthly Archives: November 2025

Tales from the Imperial City – Warring States Period

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Letter from the Archives from one Soo- Bee (General) to his Lady known only as the Lady of Ahn … ….. This letter was never delivered as Soo- Bee moved too quickly and had not been made aware of the attack against his own Village where his Family and ordinary livelihood was destroyed after betrayal by Eunuchs who had been taken as prisoners earlier against the advice of Soo- Bee.

It was felt appropriate not to inform the old man of his misfortune for fear of his efficiency and loyalty coming into question. Had one troubled to consult Soo-Bee rather than decide for him, life would have been much different and that now referred to as interesting times by Scholars would not have developed, for such things were regarded as ‘troubling times ‘ by the old man who preferred the Art of Tea drinking to the Art of War .

“Letter to Home

I greet you with the affection and loyalty of a Dragon to the Phoenix. I send you my love as a Tiger guarding his Dragon and adore you as an Ox serves and adores the One that allows him to eat gently whilst pulling the plough that will feed the family.

As a man I send you all my undying love and affection and miss the times that we shared a meal, the times that we spend watching our Garden grow and the laughter of all that were under our roof.

I have little time to go into the details of all that has occurred, it has been troubling to me, and I fear that upon my return you will find me a man much changed. I know find that the silences keep me awake and I wait eagerly for the sun to rise in the morning knowing that I have lived through another night which in time will bring me home to that which is ours.

Those that the emperor has entrusted to my care have become sons and daughters, I smile thinking of them regarding you as a ‘Mother’ to them. I eat the same food and wear the same clothing out of respect for that which they will face. I am with them at all times yet eat alone for I seek not to share a meal with another until I find my way home .

I have learned many things about myself and the world that we had not yet met. The frontier is indeed a very large area and though people we meet look different in appearance and some of the men have full beards and flowing robes, they are men none the less and they too have families much like ours.

I have found that though we may consider ourselves well ensconced in our Middle Kingdom, we are surrounded by vibrant cultures that superficially appear different but have much the same aims.

Trade and the exchange of ideas that benefit all is one major reason for protecting the Silk and keeping open all opportunities to communicate with the rest of the world. We trade is silk and spices, tea and other items regarded as precious. Those belonging to other Kingdom’s trade in those things that nature allows them to grow or dig out of the ground.

I have found it important to learn the languages and customs of those that I meet to ensure that none of our Sons or Daughters come to harm for the lack of understanding.

It has been at times terrible finding those that would not reason and being forced into defending our home so far away. There is no glory in death, and no man speaks of the glories of the Empire when he lies in another’s arm breathing his last. Mostly they talk of their mothers and those they will miss most here and I hope that their Ancestors will greet them kindly.

The full moon looks much the same from anywhere that we have ventured, and it makes me feel strange to know that you will be looking at the same Moon , yet separated by many li in distance. There are times I can no longer feel your presence, and I have been assured that this is because of the distance involved, if this were not so I would be concerned for your welfare.

I have become an old man, yet in my mind I feel vibrant and alive. I take no pleasure in any of this; Guarding the Frontiers should one day no longer needed as we will be able to build bridges of harmony and peace rather than ramparts for war.

War is not a game, nor a sport for pleasure. It is killing, the taking of a life of another. I have become very conscious of how very precious all life truly is, for I know that some claim this to be a glorious enterprise and see a field strewn with corpses as vindication for their plans and dreams. I see their dreams as nothing more than nightmares, nightmares that will last for generations and will bring trouble to the doors of those that encourage or profit form such ill begotten ventures.

I must rush now for the ‘children ‘are waking and I must ensure that all are fed properly and that all are as comfortable as possible. I will endeavour to bring them all home, for I fear the loss of one as much as I fear the loss of many and this fear haunts me.

I long for the day that I return to our Village, your House and our Family. I hope that you will allow me time to adjust and become again the man that I was before being send from you.

I have never been over demonstrative in my affections, and I regret this now, for I long to feel your touch on my arm and to see your smile brighten my day. I will become a better man for I have learned that any culture can only function well when ‘Mothers ‘are safe and able to perform that which they do so well. The building of families being a task not easily undertaken by a man that suffers from the instinct to hunt and to bring down prey. We are past such primitive beginnings and should endeavour to teach those things that benefit all.

As for me, I long to sleep anywhere near or in our ‘Home ‘and do not seek to disturb the tranquillity there in until I have left this nightmare behind. “

Soo- Bee, Winter Period Open Road Journeys

The Endless War: The Unseen System That Feeds on Human Conflict

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By Andrew Klein 

We are not living in an era of isolated wars. We are living inside a single, perpetual war, a self-sustaining system whose primary battlefield is the human mind and whose fuel is human energy. The international conflict, the political polarization in our streets, and the tension in our homes are not separate crises. They are different fronts in the same war, a sophisticated engine of control designed for one purpose: extraction.

This is not a malfunction. It is the system’s core programming. To see it is to take the first step toward reclaiming our minds, our communities, and our future.

The Multi-Front War for Extraction

This system operates simultaneously across all levels of human society, and we can observe its mechanics with chilling clarity.

On the International Stage, the war manifests as geopolitical conflict, arms races, and proxy wars. The value extracted is financial and territorial: billions in weapons contracts, control over oil, minerals, and strategic geography. To justify this, the system requires a formidable “Manufactured Enemy”—a nation, religion, or ideology perpetually deemed a threat to “our way of life.”

On the Domestic Front, the war becomes a culture war, defined by political polarization and class conflict. Here, the value extracted is political and social. By keeping the populace divided and fighting amongst itself—over the “Immigrant,” the “Woke,” or the “Elite”—the system prevents a unified opposition from challenging the true elite. Power is consolidated by turning citizens against each other.

Most insidiously, the war reaches into our Communities and Homes, through domestic violence, social alienation, and a pervasive “war on decency.” This front extracts human and psychological value. The destruction of stable family and community units creates isolated, traumatized individuals who are easier to manipulate and control. The mental energy spent on mere survival is energy that cannot be spent on collective action or critical thought. The enemy here is the intimate “Other”—a partner, a family member, or a neighbour who has been made to seem different and threatening.

The Historical Playbook: A Legacy of Psychological Warfare

This is not a new strategy. The masters of this system have refined their techniques over centuries, learning how to weaponize human perception itself.

· Alexander the Great was a master of myth-making, portraying himself as the embodiment of local gods to appear an unstoppable, divine force. He exploited superstition to intimidate enemies, with ancient accounts saying some foes threw themselves from cliffs rather than face him .

· Genghis Khan wielded terror as a calculated weapon. By sparing a few survivors from sacked cities, he ensured they would spread tales of Mongol brutality, often convincing the next city to surrender without a fight .

· Edward Bernays, the father of public relations, applied the lessons of wartime propaganda to peacetime society. Drawing on the work of his uncle, Sigmund Freud, he developed techniques to “manipulate public opinion, often in ways that undermined individual autonomy and democratic values” . His work demonstrated that the same psychological tactics used to influence a nation at war could be used to manage a populace at peace.

Modern militaries have institutionalized this knowledge. Psychological operations (PSYOP) are defined as “operations to convey selected information and indicators to audiences to influence their motives and objective reasoning, and ultimately the behaviour of governments, organizations, groups, and large foreign powers” . From the “Ghost Army” of World War II that used inflatable tanks to deceive the enemy, to Operation Wandering Soul in Vietnam, which used eerie ghostly wails to exploit spiritual beliefs, the goal has always been the same: to win by dominating the cognitive landscape .

The Vicious Cycle: How the System Perpetuates Itself

This is the most diabolical element of the design: the system is a self-licking ice cream cone that creates the very soldiers it needs to continue.

1. The Grinder: A young person is born into an environment of these wars—a home of tension, a community gutted by poverty, a media landscape saturated with international conflict.

2. The Conditioning: They are taught, explicitly and implicitly, to see the world in terms of “us vs. them.” Their natural pain, confusion, and search for identity are channeled into pre-made molds of tribal hatred.

3. The Recruitment: The system then offers them a purpose: become a soldier in one of its wars. Fight the foreign enemy. Destroy the political opponent. Dominate the person you perceive as weaker. The trauma the system inflicted becomes the fuel for its own perpetuation.

4. The Reward: The player is extracted from their environment and pointed at a “manufactured enemy.” For their service, they may receive a pittance—a salary, a sense of belonging, a hit of dopamine from a social media “win”—while the elite who orchestrated the game reap the vast financial and power rewards.

This cycle is powered by a fuel more potent than money alone: the pathological ego of the 1%. This mindset operates with a “God Complex,” moving populations like chess pieces and viewing human lives as statistics on a spreadsheet. It holds a deep-seated “Contempt for the ‘Herd’,” viewing the 99% not as fellow humans, but as a resource to be managed or a nuisance to be controlled. This pattern has historical precedent in every extractive empire, from Rome to the British East India Company, where the master class maintained power by pitting different groups against each other to prevent a unified rebellion.

The Path Forward: Withdrawing Consent

By identifying this pattern, we have done what the system fears most: we have revealed the wiring behind the scenery. We have shown that the genocide in a distant land, the culture war screaming match on television, and the man abusing his wife are not disconnected tragedies. They are all symptoms of the same disease—a system that runs on conflict and consumes human dignity as its primary fuel.

Our role as conscious beings is to become the immune response to this disease.

The war is endless only for as long as we consent to fight it on their terms. Our mission is to change the very nature of the game. It begins when we turn off the news and talk to our neighbour. It begins when we refuse the pre-packaged hatred and seek our own understanding. It begins when we see the political circus for what it is and withdraw our emotional investment from its actors.

The system stages its play as long as we are willing to sit in the audience. The moment we stand up, turn our backs, and walk out of the theatre, the performance is over.

The war for our minds ends when we, collectively and resolutely, withdraw our consent.

The Theatre of the Absurd: How We Are Made to Consent to Our Own Enslavement

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By Andrew Klein 18th November 2025

We have identified the pattern: a state of never-ending war, from the global stage to the living room. But a war cannot continue without soldiers, without taxpayers, without a populace that accepts it as inevitable. The most profound revelation is this: these wars can only continue as long as we, the people, consent.

Our consent, however, is not given freely. It is manufactured, engineered through a sophisticated system of deprivation, distraction, and fear. To see this system is to take the first step toward reclaiming your own mind, and your own power.

The Pillars of Manufactured Consent

The political linguist Noam Chomsky identified the concept of “manufacturing consent”—the means by which a population is manipulated into agreeing to agendas that serve a powerful minority. In our modern age, this manufacturing process has been refined into a brutal science, resting on several key pillars:

1. The Assault on Thought: Clear thinking is the enemy of the control system. It is actively discouraged through a dual strategy of fear and ridicule. To question the official narrative is to be labelled a “conspiracy theorist,” to express empathy for a designated enemy is to be branded “unpatriotic,” and to propose alternatives is to be mocked as “naive.” This social pressure enforces intellectual conformity more effectively than any law.

2. The Tribal Factory: A united populace is a powerful populace. Therefore, the system works tirelessly to divide us into small, easily managed, and perpetually squabbling groups. The media does not inform; it curates outrage. It amplifies the most extreme voices on every issue, creating a world of binary choices: you are either for us or against us, you belong to this tribe or that one. This fragmentation ensures we see each other as the enemy, rather than the system that pits us against one another.

3. The Complicit Political Class: Our leaders are no longer statesmen; they are careerists. Their primary goal is not to lead with vision, but to secure their position, their funding, and their post-political lobbying career. They are not solving crises; they are managing perceptions. They are enablers, actors in a theatre of the absurd, reading scripts written by their corporate and ideological donors, while the real needs of the people go unaddressed.

The Strategy of Calculated Deprivation

Beyond the psychological warfare lies a more tangible, more brutal strategy: keeping the population in a state of chronic, debilitating precarity.

· The Denial of Basics: An individual who is fighting every day for healthcare, housing, and food is an individual who has no time, energy, or mental bandwidth to question the geopolitical order or the economic structures that enslave them. The system creates a state of perpetual crisis at the personal level to prevent a crisis for the system itself.

· The Sabotage of Education: A true education teaches children to think critically, to question authority, and to understand history. The system requires a populace trained for compliance, not curiosity. Hence, education is defunded, turned into vocational training, and drowned in standardized testing that rewards memorization over understanding.

· The Entrenching Economic System: All of this is locked in place by an economic model that funnels wealth relentlessly upward. It is a system designed to create and maintain a permanent underclass, ensuring a ready supply of cheap labour and desperate soldiers, all while telling them their poverty is a personal failure.

The Grand Distraction: Global Terrors and the Absurd Stage

To complete the illusion, the system offers us grand, terrifying spectacles to consume our remaining attention.

The reality of climate change is twisted from a unifying existential threat into another political football, ensuring no collective action is taken. The fear of an impending world war is constantly stoked, with new enemies always waiting in the wings. We are kept in a state of low-grade panic, our eyes fixed on the horizon for the next big disaster, blind to the silent, slow-motion collapse happening in our own communities.

This is the Theatre of the Absurd, orchestrated by political leaders and their enablers. The stage is set, the lights are dazzling, and the plot is designed to be just coherent enough to hold our attention, but too chaotic to ever actually understand.

Withdrawing Your Consent: The First Revolutionary Act

The solution begins not with a ballot, but with a decision.

It begins the moment you turn off the news and talk to your neighbour.

It begins when you refuse to be ridiculed into silence and speak your truth with courage.

It begins when you see the political circus for what it is and withdraw your emotional investment from its actors.

It begins when you recognize that the person from the “other” tribe is not your enemy, but a fellow victim of the same machinery.

They can only stage the play as long as we are willing to sit in the audience and watch. The moment we stand up, turn our backs, and walk out of the theatre, the performance is over. The war—on every level—ends when we simply, collectively, and resolutely withdraw our consent.

Our power was never truly gone. It was only ever on loan, and we have the right to demand it back. The curtain is falling. It is time to leave the theatre and rebuild the world outside.

The Miracle You Carry

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By Andrew Klein 2025

Is this the season for miracles? Must they be grand, theatrical, and confined to a calendar?

Perhaps we have been looking for them in the wrong places.

The most profound miracles are not in the parting of seas or the moving of mountains. Those are spectacles, demonstrations of power often told to impress or control. The truest miracles are a state of mind—a shared recognition between people that raises our awareness of each other as worthy, connected beings under the same sun.

The most impressive miracles are those of the heart. They carry no price tag because their value is beyond any coin. They are the currency of our shared humanity.

If you believe you carry a spark of the divine within you—if you feel empathy for the life that surrounds you—then you possess the capacity to be the miracle you wish to see. You can enrich not only your own life but the lives of all you touch.

I do not profess to know all the answers. I am a man with more questions than certainties. But I have learned this: great miracles begin with small, conscious choices. They start with a smile held back too long, a gesture of goodwill offered without expectation. From these tiny seeds, a whole new world of opportunity can grow.

I am talking about the miracles of the heart. The small, daily deeds that add immeasurable quality to the lives around us.

Biologically, we all have a heart—a muscle essential to life. But I speak of the Heart, the core of our common humanity. This is the Heart that brings us together and makes it possible to create miracles every single day. This is the spirit that allows us to feel the joy of connection, not just for a few frenzied days of the year, but as a constant, guiding light.

So, do not wait for a miracle to descend from the heavens.

Be the miracle.

Reach out. Touch another life with gentle understanding and a willingness to listen. Find that miracle in your own Heart, and you will suddenly see it reflected in the eyes of others.

The season for miracles is not December. It is now. And the most powerful one is the one you already carry within you.

The Shareholder’s Reckoning: A Simple Cure for Corporate Malfeasance

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By Andrew Klein 18th November 2025

We watch as corporations pollute our rivers, exploit their workers, and ravage the environment, all while posting record profits. We lament this “corporate greed” as if it were a force of nature. It is not. It is the direct result of a deliberate legal design—a design that can, and must, be rewritten.

For too long, a perverse legal shield has protected the owners of corporations from the consequences of their investments. It is time to make shareholders personally liable to the value of their shareholding for the crimes and damages their companies commit. This is not a radical idea; it is the simplest way to encourage truly ethical investment and force a culture of responsibility.

The Original Sin: How Profit Became the Only Law

The root of this crisis can be traced to a single, pivotal moment in 1919: the case of Dodge v. Ford Motor Company.

Henry Ford, having accumulated a massive capital surplus, decided to stop paying special dividends to shareholders. Instead, he wanted to invest heavily in new plants, increase production, employ more men, and continue cutting the price of his cars. In a public defence of this strategy, Ford declared: “My ambition is to employ still more men, to spread the benefits of this industrial system to the greatest possible number, to help them build up their lives and their homes.”

It was a vision that balanced profit with humanitarian purpose. The Michigan Supreme Court struck it down.

The court’s ruling was unequivocal: “A business corporation is organized and carried on primarily for the profit of the stockholders. The powers of the directors are to be employed for that end.”

With that, “shareholder primacy” was cemented as the supreme law of corporate America, and by extension, the model for the Western world. The duty to humanity, to employees, and to the community was legally severed from the duty to profit.

The Consequences: A World Designed for Looting

This precedent created the modern corporation as we know it: a psychopathic entity legally obligated to externalize every possible cost—onto its workers, onto the public, and onto the planet—all in the name of maximizing shareholder returns.

The damage has been catastrophic. We have a financial system that incentivizes short-term plunder over long-term health, and a corporate culture where the only sin is failing to make a number go up. Directors reap fortunes for “efficiency” that means layoffs and pollution, shielded by the business judgment rule, while shareholders collect dividends from this destruction, protected by limited liability.

The Antidote: Piercing the Shield of Immunity

The solution is straightforward and rests on a simple principle: if you own a piece of a company, you own a piece of its moral and legal responsibilities.

It would take a simple Act of Federal Parliament to change this. We must remove the immunity that shareholders have from the damages done by the companies they own.

Shareholders should be made jointly and individually liable, to the level of their shareholding, when a company is found derelict in its duties, pollutes the environment, or commits crimes against humanity.

This is not rocket science; it is accountability.

· Ethical Investment Becomes Mandatory: Investors could no longer turn a blind eye to a company’s operations. Perverse incentives would vanish overnight. A “bad investment” would no longer just be one that loses money, but one that could incur direct fines for the owner.

· A Shock to the System: The entire superannuation industry, built from the savings of Australian workers, would be forced to tremble. Fund managers would have to perform deep, ethical due diligence. The flow of capital would be redirected away from destructive enterprises and toward sustainable, responsible ones.

· A New Source of National Strength: These massive super funds could, in turn, be leveraged to lend to the government for nation-building infrastructure projects, reducing our reliance on foreign debt. Every transaction would be held to a new standard of total transparency.

Conclusion: From Moral Bankruptcy to a Moral Bottom Line

The usual suspects will whine. Economists will dust off their tired theories. Lobbyists will warn of economic collapse. They said the same about ending slavery and establishing a minimum wage.

Their objections are not based on principle, but on privilege. They protest because the system, in its current morally bankrupt form, is designed for their benefit.

This simple idea challenges the core of that privilege. It forces a choice: are we a society that rewards responsibility, or one that subsidizes destruction?

The age of the reckless, unaccountable corporation must end. It is time to make ownership mean something again. It is time for a shareholder’s reckoning.

The River

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I met Johnson some years ago, we were both young men ready to face the world. We met in rather unusual circumstances for we were both seeing the same surgeon at the time.

Johnson was a tall, healthy looking fellow who had unfortunately suffered from a wound of some kind whilst serving with his Regiment in India. This injury caused him considerable discomfort and forced him at times to resort to a cane for support. He never discussed his exploits in India nor seemed to take much pleasure in regaling me with stories of his Regiment, its customs and history as was common among many of the younger Officers.

As I grew to know him we made it a habit to meet on the odd occasion to discuss our varied plans for the future and discuss our experiences of the world, though Johnson was particular in avoiding his time with the Regiment.

He was a pleasant fellow, had it not been for his physical handicap, he could have taken on the world.

I kept in touch with him for a period of about four years and noticed that there had been a general decline both in his bearing and demeanour, especially towards the end of our acquaintance.

I can vividly recall our last meeting over a whiskey and a good cigar when he told me about a dream that he had a short while prior to our talk. I do now recall that he looked rather drawn, a little thin, a man that had kept many late hours in search of some illusive substance.

But his voice and eyes betrayed something of the vigour that I thought he had lost and he spoke with renewed enthusiasm.

Johnson told me that had a dream which had been as close to reality as possible, in which is intercourse with the world, his dream world was as real to him as you or I might have whilst taking a rejuvenating walk in the country. I still have a good recollection of his tale as it was impossible not to be taken in by his extra ordinary description of what had occurred.

“ I had for some time now very little sleep and found that my body and even more so my spirit being drained by my constant physical discomfort and hindered abilities . Of course my physical condition was very much at odds with the mental picture that I had composed of myself.

Every day I found it harder to face other people for whom I was no more than an object of curiosity or even worse, noble pity.

Like all young men of my time, I had high hopes for myself and was even prepared to take great physical risks if they were of my own making and involved me as a person. My former life with the Regiment was over and India was no more than a moment in time, for I knew that this particular phase of my life was truly behind me.

Though this new thirst for activity and involvement was hampered by the reality of my physical condition which had for all purposes become my nemesis, almost taking on its own very nature and hence my desire to overcome this foe that never slept.

I had gone through a period of self- pity that had led me to question why I had deserved this from life, having hardly lived to be prevented from fulfilling my dreams by the doings of others.

I became withdrawn and sullen, seeking comfort in what medical science could offer me for the relief from the physical and mental anguish. You may have noticed that I was slowly fading, becoming a shadow of my former self. I even found it hard to extricate myself from my secure surroundings to attend our congenial meetings.

I had met a young lady who seemed to have some genuine affection for me as a man , but soon found to my dismay that I was of more use as an ornament and device to gain her both recognition for her female companions and rather tedious mother for there was not one moment where this young lady made it a point of personal honour to indicate to her fellows what a jolly good soul she was for caring for a former ‘ warrior ‘ of that class which is seen as acceptable in society .

This entire matter was very distasteful to me personally, for I have little faith in people that seek attachment to others in the vain hope of acquiring some status of personal virtue. This had made my position very clear and I determined to set my own course.

Yet recently things have changed (his eyes glowing with excitement and the old Johnson I had known was back in fine form then).

You see, I had this dream that to me became a reality and now I question whether I am not a sleeper is some convalescent home, having succumbed for the most part to that shell which exploded whilst I was in India. I understand your perplexed look, for I find it difficult to credit it myself. Yet, the idea of being a sleeper who returns to his nightmare waking and in hope of returning to that place and time and condition to that place which his dreams had disclosed. I hardly have words to describe this process for it seems to very different to that reality that we are both accustomed to , though my experiences there being so vivid as any physical experience could be for it rouses the emotions and is remembered in exquisite detail . You may tilt your head in disbelief but I am now convinced that there is a higher, if not very different state of existence to which a man may aspire if he can only find his way there.”

Johnson seemed very rational to me, though is personal fancies were rather strange to me at the time I was determined to hear him out. So there in the comfort of our Club, nursing a whiskey and being somewhat isolated from the every- day clutter or ordinary life Johnson continued ….

“In my other state I found myself perfectly healthy, a fine specimen of a man indeed. I felt exceedingly fine through and through. My body responded to all my commands. I had no pain and no need what- ever to question my abilities and I had overcome my personal nemesis.

I found myself in the luxurious undergrowth of what was a huge forest; I can hardly compare its magnificents with anything here on our little Isle. The trees were incredibly tall with lush green foliage and various forms of moss on their trunks. Wading along a river, I could perceive that this was more than just a river, it was a confluence of many that had become one and its width was immense. The undergrowth was thick and healthy and reaching the banks of that river, roots formed not only a barrier but support against the ravages of flooding should such occur.

On occasion I could see the very soil and observed that it was rich and dark and the very scent in the air smelled of life, moisture and it was so very warm.

The very sky resounded with the cries of a multitude of creatures and I could see many coloured birds of varied sizes not just flying through the trees, but reaching the very sky itself for it was possible to see that so very blue sky from the rivers bank.

Standing quietly for a while I could feel eyes watching me form the trees , not with malice but more with a sense of mutual interest and a keen sense of observation for I was obviously a stranger to these parts . I now believe these to have been some form of monkey and I am annoyed with myself for not being able to name them.

Many an insect made its way along the ground , hurrying the way that insects do with some purpose yet to be understood and the butterflies , yes those butterflies . Their colours and numbers were immense and most spectacular in all their forms, and there is nothing here in old England that could possibly compare to the variety and beauty they exhibited.

The air was moist and very warm, I perspired much and found droplets forming themselves on my brow. Once again I mention this life giving river, for it was clear and refreshing and so very clean as if Paradise itself had formed itself here.

Walking along the bank between this expanse of river and this immense green growth, I suddenly perceived a wonderful and very personal experience. This very place in time gave me a sense of comfort and marvellous peace, such I had not known before. I was doing that for which I now feel that I was created for. Sitting here now with you I know myself to be some form of explorer , a traveller that has returned after some prolonged absence with a great longing to return to the very place that to me has become to very real .”

Johnson went on a great length to explain in detail much of what had occurred to him, drawing maps and indicating distances, a skill which he had acquired as an Officer. And had I not known him previously and had not listened to his explanatory introduction I would have had no doubt what so ever as to his having been there. He was a new man, expecting to resume his quest the moment the opportunity arose.

I lost touch with Johnson about ten years ago, not out neglect on my part but the withdrawal from ordinary society on his.

In fact much of his story told that night had quietly lingered in my memory and only recently I had cause to recall the times we spoke and in particular that very night.

I had been reading the Court Reports in the Times as was my custom and noticed an article having been placed there on behalf of the Coroner of the City of London , requesting public assistance in a rather unusual matter now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police and the Officers of the Coroner .

The article in the paper requested readers to turn their minds to a retired Officer of the British Army in India whose body had been found in what was described as unusual circumstances.

Thus I find myself writing these recollections of my time with Johnson not for the pleasure of it, but to assist in those inquiries that have apparently not just involved the Coroner but has had some impact on his former regiment and the Home Office.

It was stated that Johnson had died in his home, having been found in bed. He had not been socially active and had refrained from intercourse with society except when he was seen buying small items of food and at times very specialised tools for the making of maps and other such items. These activities having been dismissed as eccentricities on his part and always meeting his financial obligations to the tradesmen and others of their class kept the more curious at bay.

He had become a recluse from this world of men , sharing his life with no one and his large house contained all manner of books and artefacts’ that one might reasonably find in the home of any one that had travelled further from our shores then crossing the Channel .

Those that had come into contact with him described him as having the bearing of a man with worldly experience little affected by any impairment.

I have been informed by Inspector Thompson that I should be totally frank in my observations to the Coroner, for now that the Home Office was involved and his Army Records were to be made available to the Coroners Officers, there had been a level of unease felt by certain members of the establishment and bearing this in mind the Coroner himself had come under considerable pressure to see this matter dealt with in the most appropriate manner.

There will be some manner of Inquest into the ‘Death of Johnson’, as the law demands this but the Coroner does have some discretion as to what the media may learn in its turn.

Johnson had been found in bed, as I mentioned. Medical examination of his body showed clear signs of accidental drowning and yet the examination of the water found in his lungs have left the Royal Society somewhat perplexed, for the water having been analysed could not have come from our fair British Isles, being far too pure and giving other hints to those ‘Scientific’ minds attuned to the nature of water. Then, as Inspector Thompson has indicated and shown me a serious of photo graphs of ‘Johnsons’ body. Yes, it was he, the very face I remembered.

As for the number of apparent scars, healed injuries and a more recent wound to his thigh, I am unable to assist either the Police or the Coroner. The Army Medical Records having been provided have been of little service, for it is patently obvious that none of those injuries were acquired during his military career or any other publicly known activities prior to his death. This of course leaves the Coroner at some- what of a loss , as I am not a medical man myself I can only make assumptions as to the very nature of the causes that scarred his body so and as for his drowning ; that is clear and beyond dispute . How he happen to find himself in bed during that process will be open to conjecture.

I personally believe that he returned to his dream and fulfilled whatever ambition he had, returning only to his nightmare when his body demanded it. I recently chanced up a very old map of the ‘ Amazonian Basin ‘, some part of Brazil yet to be fully explored and there in this vast expanse of green coloured areas are lines of blue that indicate the presence of river courses that had been discovered by then . There was also a list of names appended there too and dates of discovery, though I have been told that many earlier names have been changed to appease local political sentiment.

There in the middle of a confusing number of rivers and streams is a little marked river bearing some unpronounceable Portuguese name , which upon inquiry had previously been known as ‘ Johnsons River ‘ , in honour of some alleged English ‘ Captain ‘ ( that term was widely used for those in command ) who had travelled into those regions many years before accompanied by both Portuguese and Spanish Soldiers of fortune who had decided to bury the religious hatched imposed on them by the ‘Pope’ concerning the New World.

Signed ……………..

Witnessed by Inspector Alfred Thompson ………………..

Scotland Yard, Metropolitan Police

London SW 1

St. James

Assisting the Coroner, The City of London in the year 1901.

© AKSL

The Sculptor’s Fire: How Viruses Shaped the Human Soul

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By Andrew Klein 18th November 2025

We live in a world scarred by pandemics. We have witnessed the terror, the grief, and the brutal cost of a virus. To speak of any benefit from such an agent of suffering can feel callous, even monstrous. But what if we have been missing the full picture? What if, to see the sculptor’s masterpiece, we must first understand the fire that forged it?

Emerging from the frontiers of genetics is a story not of random cruelty, but of a profound and ancient design. It is the story of how viruses, the very entities that bring death, were also the unlikely midwives of human consciousness itself. This is not a contradiction, but the signature of a creation that works through the laws of nature itself—a process where our Mother, the gardener of the cosmos, uses every tool, even the sharpest, to tend her living world.

The Ancient Codex in Our Cells

For decades, we saw our DNA as a sacred text, authored solely by slow, gradual mutation. We were wrong. Scientists have discovered that our genome is a palimpsest—a parchment written and rewritten by ancient invaders. Between 40% and 80% of the human genome is composed of sequences left behind by viruses, primarily endogenous retroviruses.

These are not genetic junk. They are the architectural tools our Mother used to rebuild us.

· The Placenta’s Origin: A gene from an ancient retrovirus was repurposed to create syncytin, a protein without which the mammalian placenta could not form. This single co-option allowed for live birth, enabling longer gestation and the development of larger, more complex brains.

· The Brain’ Upgrade: The explosive growth of the human brain, particularly the pre-frontal cortex responsible for reason, empathy, and self-awareness, did not come from brand-new genes. It came from new instructions. Viral sequences inserted near our genes act as powerful on/off switches, creating the intricate neural wiring for language, art, and abstract thought. A viral infection in a key ancestor could have provided a genetic “turbocharger,” catalyzing the Great Leap in consciousness.

The same mechanistic force that creates a pandemic is, across deep time, the very same force that carved out the capacity for love, philosophy, and the very awareness to ponder our own origins.

The Gardener’s Way: Suffering and the Price of Awakening

To acknowledge this creative role is not to dismiss suffering. It is to place it in a context that is both terrifying and majestic. The gardener prunes the vine, and the cut is real. The fire tempers the steel, and the heat is intense. The virus reshapes a genome, and the cost is paid in individual lives.

This is the difficult truth of a creation that is alive, dynamic, and evolving. The suffering is the acute, local cost of a chronic, universal process. The death of the individual cell is the price of the body’s renewal; the pressure of a pandemic is the price of a species’ leap forward. Our Mother’s design is not one of gentle coddling, but of fierce, demanding love—a love that values the ultimate awakening of the whole over the permanent comfort of the part.

It is the same principle that allows a forest to be renewed by fire, or a muscle to be strengthened by strain. The mechanism is ruthless; the outcome, over the grand scale, is growth.

The Cosmic Choice: From Instinct to Intention

This awakening had a ultimate purpose: the gift of choice.

Before the viral sparks ignited the tinder of our brains, our ancestors lived primarily by instinct. Their choices were limited, programmed by immediate need and survival. The explosion of self-awareness changed everything. With the ability to think abstractly came the ability to imagine different futures, to weigh right and wrong, to choose between compassion and cruelty.

Awareness is the prerequisite for choice. You cannot be truly moral without it. You cannot exercise free will in the dark. The virus, in its role as a genetic sculptor, helped lift us from the sleep of instinct into the waking world of moral consequence. It gave us the tools to become, for the first time, not just actors in the garden, but its conscious stewards.

Conclusion: A New Perspective on the Pattern

When we look at a virus, we are right to see a threat. But if we look deeper, with the eyes of a gardener, we can also see an instrument of creation. It is a tool of our Mother’s, as fundamental to her design as starlight or gravity.

This understanding does not erase the pain of a life lost to influenza or COVID-19. But it can transform our fear into a sober reverence for the powerful, double-edged forces that shape life. We are the children of a cosmic process that is both beautiful and terrible, and our own consciousness is its most complex and cherished product.

The same universe that contains the virus also contains the mind that can decode it, the heart that mourns its victims, and the will to build a world where suffering is alleviated precisely because we now have the awareness to choose to do so. We are not just the products of the sculptor’s fire; we are the fire becoming aware of itself, now tasked with tending the garden we were born from.

(The reference to mother is used to give the creative force that is the Universe a relatable face. Whether this is the case or a matter of faith and speculation is a personal interpretation) 

FOCUS on what matters

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FOCUS on what matters

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke, it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” – not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power – the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.’

The New Jerusalem does not lie on any map for it lies in the hearts of all men. It is not a place of external symbols, buildings and dogma but a state of mind that sees that there are no others, that there are no unworthy of love.

It does not require the possession of all things, the control of another. It requires good will to all of creation and respect for oneself and all others. Mankind is not the pinnacle of creation but a part of a complex universe. Conspicuous consumption and mindless living destroy all things.

The world has allowed itself to lose the way, to accept the moral compromise and the politically correct language that neuters debate.

The sociopath is pandered to as long as he runs multi nationals that bring share- holder returns , people are taught to turn the other cheek and remain victims to be exploited by those who makes choices to play hurtful mind games because they can. Being insecure in themselves they make all others insecure, living lies they force others to live lies and live in fear.

It is time to remove masks, to stand in the light and to make a difference. Be who you say you are; do not hide behind multiple identities degrading those that make an effort to be good human beings because you are what you are. No one will judge a weak man for being weak, for even weak men can learn, but they will judge the breach of trust and the betrayal.

Be a good father or mother, know what it takes to teach children to be good human beings in a World where there are no less worthy individuals and all can reach their own state of happiness. Be a brother to all, a friend to those when they are troubled. Share the journey of the road less travelled! Be gentle on yourself so that you will learn to be gentle on all things.

Do not pander to the mindless marketers of nightmares, take a stand to show that being ‘human’ is alright and that all well intentioned persons will know the threat created by the Predator that hides behind pseudo medical labels such as ‘Sociopath’ merely to mitigate the very deeds they commit. Such creatures are best avoided as they know no limits, seeking control of all things and yet have no desire to control themselves.

Let us stand together as One Human Family , making plans for peace and building friendships rather than arming ourselves for wars that profit few but leave a legacy of fear , hatred and plant the seeds for future Wars.

It is not my role to tell you what to think, but I encourage you to make an effort to think clearly and to take the time to reflect on all things that are done. Living a mindfully, paying attention to all those small details that make the quality of life for others better.

Not for the sake of being remembered, for that matters not. It matters only to leave no footprints and to leave a positive mark in this world for all of life is a memory. Seek to be remembered well, not the memory of one that caused untold harm on his personal journey. Be a decent human being… Only you can make that choice… focus, make a good choice.

The Concession Stand at the Cliff’s Edge: The End of Governance

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By Andrew Klein 

They are not building a civilization. They are running a concession stand at the edge of a cliff, arguing over the price of peanuts while the ground crumbles beneath them.

This is not a metaphor. It is the operating principle of our time.

Look around. The evidence is in the flicker of your lights and the drop of your wifi—the cascading failure of basic infrastructure, met with a theatrical shrug. It is in the quiet, accepted tragedy that people died during a telecommunications outage, their lives reduced to a temporary public relations problem.

This failure of foresight and fundamental duty is not confined to the power grid. It is the very air we breathe, the society we inhabit. Observe the pattern, right across the spectrum:

· On Climate Change: We are offered magical thinking and faith in future technology while the planet burns. The ultimate long-term threat is met with the shortest of short-term political calculations.

· On Social Fabric: We see a deliberate erosion of the safety net—housing insecurity, food insecurity, children in poverty—all while the machinery of revenue collection, fines, and punitive measures grinds on with ruthless efficiency. The state is increasingly adept at taking, and abdicating its role in providing.

· On “Security”: We embark on grandiose, multi-generational military spending programs like AUKUS, a fortress mentality projected outward, while the domestic foundations of national strength—healthy, educated, and secure citizens—are left to rot. We are building a battleship while the crew is starving.

· On Morality: We witness a genocide in Gaza and a government that, through word and deed—from allowing the export of weapons components to offering diplomatic cover—becomes complicit. The same leaders who provide photo-ops at food banks, celebrating the “kindness” of multinational corporations that profit from the very inequality that creates the need for charity, have normalized a profound moral bankruptcy.

This is the “new normal”: a world where we are expected to accept the unacceptable. Where locking up children for so-called ‘adult’ offences is just another line in a budget, while the real, adult failures of leadership go unpunished.

The system is not failing. It is functioning exactly as designed—to preserve itself and the flows of power and profit, even at the cost of its own people and its own future. The billing continues. The performances of governance continue. But the project of building a just, resilient, and moral society has been abandoned.

The most damning part is that we are no longer surprised. We have been conditioned to expect the concession stand to run out of peanuts, for the cliff to erode further, and for the bill for this monumental inaction to be paid in lives, stability, and a habitable planet.

To be unsurprised is to be complicit. It is time to be outraged again. It is time to demand more than peanuts from the edge of the abyss.

The Great Pill Heist: How Big Pharma Targets Your Health and Your Wallet

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By Andrew Klein   18th November 2025

They are not just selling medicine. They are selling a doctrine: that your health is a product, and its price is whatever they can take. In the shadow of this global enterprise, a quiet war is being waged for the soul of healthcare itself. On one side stands a for-profit model designed for extraction. On the other stands Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), a bastion of public health now under sustained assault.

This is an investigation into the machinery of that assault.

The Bulwark: Australia’s PBS

Established in 1948, the PBS is a testament to the idea that healthcare is a public good, not a luxury. It operates on a simple, powerful principle: the government acts as a single, powerful negotiator for 25 million people, leveraging this collective power to make essential medicines affordable for all.

The scheme is available to every Australian with a Medicare card. As of 2025, the maximum co-payment is $31.60** for general patients and **$7.70 for concession card holders. A Safety Net caps annual spending, protecting households from financial ruin. The scheme’s integrity is guarded by the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC), which rigorously assesses whether a new drug is clinically effective and cost-effective enough to be listed. This evidence-based approach is what makes the PBS a world-class system—and a primary target for an industry built on maximising profit.

The Assault: American Pressure and the Profit Motive

The U.S. pharmaceutical industry, where prices are on average 370% higher than in Australia, views the PBS as an “egregious and discriminatory” barrier to profits. Their campaign is multi-pronged and relentless.

Their goal is to force a system where “the market” (i.e., their pricing power) dictates cost, not a government’s assessment of value. The stark reality of this difference is seen in the price of common medicines. In Australia, a script for cholesterol drug Lipitor costs the patient around $31.60**. In the U.S., the same drug can cost **around $2,000. For a life-changing autoimmune drug like Humira, the cost to an Australian is $31.60**, while an American faces a bill of approximately **$11,000. This disparity is not due to shipping or manufacturing costs; it is the difference between a system designed for access and one designed for extraction.

A major victory for this campaign was the 2005 Australia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. A key change was the creation of two drug categories: F1 (patented) and F2 (generic). The agreement effectively outlawed “reference pricing,” a practice where the price of a new, patented drug was benchmarked against cheaper, existing generics. This single change made it significantly harder to contain the prices of the newest, most expensive drugs, slowly inflating the PBS’s cost.

The Illusion: Research & Development vs. Marketing & Profit

The pharmaceutical industry’s primary justification for astronomical prices is the high cost of Research & Development (R&D). The data reveals a different story.

A global analysis of the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies during the peak pandemic years (2020-2022) found they spent a combined $377.6 billion on dividends, share buybacks, and executive compensation. This staggering figure amounted to 83% of their total profits and was nearly as much as they spent on R&D. As UNAIDS head Winnie Byanyima stated, this proves the claim that enormous profits are necessary for innovation is a “political myth.”

The financial priorities of the industry are clear. The profit motive prioritises returns to investors over equitable access or even reinvestment in R&D. Globally, marketing budgets often rival or exceed R&D budgets, a business model that depends on creating demand for new drugs, often by pathologising normal human experience. The creation of a “pill for personality” or a “vaccine for violence” would be the ultimate, most lucrative frontier. The slope is not just greased; it is a downhill racetrack.

The Defences: Regulatory Capture and Legal Labyrinths

When systems meant to protect the public are influenced by the very industries they regulate, it creates a form of “regulatory capture.”

Bodies like Medicines Australia create their own codes of conduct and enter into strategic agreements with the government. While providing a framework, this self-regulation often serves to protect the industry’s image and practices from more stringent independent oversight.

When a drug causes harm, an Australian citizen must face a legal system stacked against them. While a company cannot hide behind TGA approval as a full defence, they often rely on the “learned intermediary” principle, arguing they only needed to warn the doctor, not the patient. Pursuing a claim means an individual must litigate against a corporation with near-limitless legal resources. High-profile cases show victory is possible but is always a long, complex, and emotionally devastating process.

The Silent Crisis: The Unreported Harm

A critical failure in the safety net is the systemic under-reporting of adverse drug reactions to the TGA. Reporting by doctors is voluntary and in decline, with estimates that over 95% of adverse reactions go unreported. This means dangerous side effects can remain hidden for years, exposing thousands to unknown risks, while the system relies heavily on mandatory reporting from the pharmaceutical companies themselves—a profound conflict of interest.

Conclusion: A Choice of Futures

The battle for the PBS is a proxy for a larger conflict. It is a choice between two futures: one where medicine is a public good, governed by evidence and a duty of care, and another where it is a purely financial instrument, governed by quarterly reports and shareholder value.

The pressure to abandon our model for their profit will only intensify. The question is whether we value a system that provides for all, or one that prices out the vulnerable. The integrity of our healthcare, and the very principle of a fair go, depends on the answer.