Europe is on Vacation

August. Everyone seems to disappear in August. Usually by 2pm on a business day, I would have had close to 50 or so emails and I would be deep into multi-tasking a number of different activities. Today? I have had 1 email on my business account and perhaps 8 on my personal account. OK so the US is about to get to the office on the east coast and things may pick up but here in Europe – everyone but me is on holiday! Yes. The entire continent is on vacation for August it seems. On Friday, I sent an email to a list of contacts about a conference. I would say 95% returned an I am on vacation message! We also decided to spend the weekend at a spa

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The Check (or Cheque)

I went to my bank this lunchtime here in Brno in the Czech Republic with something I haven’t seen in quite a while – a paper cheque. Actually, it was a paper check as it originated in the good old US of A. I took it to the cashier and she took it and looked at it carefully. “What is it?” she asked. “A check,” said I, with a smile. I was asked to take my check and take a seat. About five minutes later, one of the ladies from the back office came looking for the ‘American with the paper check’. I’m unsure as to which was more unusual – the American (naturalized) or the paper check! We sat down at her desk and she pulled out a huge manual.

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Who is Lisa Ann?

I must confess to having read a story on one of the newspaper sites about the browsing stats published by a pornographic outlet called Pornhub. Apparently, the average Brit visits this site for just under 10 minutes a day if I understood it correctly which is just behind the US but significantly more than much of the rest of the world. Most revealing was the fact that a small town called Ware wins the award for most compulsive pornography viewing town in the UK. I have vaguely heard of Ware but that’s about it. Actually, the data, if you can stomach it, is pretty revealing. Apparently, what does for an American isn’t a Brit’s cup of tea and there appears to be a good deal of nationalism when it comes

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Suddenly, Everyone’s an Expert

Have you noticed how, these days, everyone is an expert about everything? Its social media that has done this I think. Stories are floated around woefully lacking in any truth, substance or reality and people read them as if they were gospel. Many feel compelled to benefit us with their encyclopedic knowledge on the subject matter and quite honestly the result makes me laugh at its stupidity … except it doesn’t because people simply can’t tell fact from fiction, truth from lies and they do not know who or what to believe. It is sad and it is dangerous. There is an old movie starring Peter Cook. He works his way up from nowhere to be PM of Britain and, using a combination of theatre and by allowing everyone to

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Come On Americans!

OK. This is gonna be a self-serving article. Apologies and all of that. However, I am wondering why The Last Observer isn’t selling as well in the US as elsewhere….. Having lived most of my adult life in the USA I am a tad disappointed and dismayed by this. Come on you Americans….. where are you? Step up and take a look at The Last Observer. Here is what one American reviewer says…. “To the seekers of hidden knowledge everywhere, the way is long and hard. Don’t cut corners!” from the book The foreword, by Anthony Peake, begins with the statement that for centuries there has been a secret, occult tradition that developed in a parallel fashion with science. Identical in form in the beginning, their approach to reality included

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Complexity Unchained

How many passwords do you have to remember? To be honest, I don’t know if I could count all the passwords and PINs etc. that I need to remember but I would guess it at around 75. Life is complex. I won’t get into all of the details but being a citizen of two countries and yet living in a third is part of the complexity – especially if one of those countries – the USA – treats its exPat citizens as criminals. My US tax return recently filed ran to 122 pages! I killed a tree for the US Government folks. Oh, and I still had to file my FACTA as well and my Czech tax return – which despite the love of bureaucracy here – was just 3

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Computerized Democracy

The US Government has shut down – ran out of money. Do we think anyone will actually notice? I’m being facetious of course but I am so sick of US politics. Apologies to friends and family who have strong feelings but the Republicans and the Democrats are bankrupt of ideas and have simply managed to create such an ideological gulf between their respective supporters as to make civil unrest a distinct possibility. Unfortunately, this bankruptcy of ideas isn’t just an American phenomenon but affects the entire western world. So here is my proposal for a new system…… I dreamed it up when I was a kid but it might have some merit to it. Since a census is taken every decade, we have a description of each nation. We know

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Special Kindle Promotion on The Last Observer

The publisher – Roundfire Books – is running a promotional price on the kindle version of The Last Observer. As I understand it, its a 2-week promo and will NEVER be repeated and is designed to get a few reviews. Of course, you can also get a reasonable price on the paperback if you prefer the smell of books – as I do! On Amazon UK its priced at 99p and its also discounted on the US site so far as I can see.. Please tell your friends.

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9-11… It’s my Daughter’s Name Day

Today is 9-11 and my 6-year old daughter’s name day. In the Czech Republic, everyone has a name day – except me. My name is too English unfortunately to appear on the calendar (it does however, appear on the Slovak Republic’s Dog Name Calendar…..:-)) A few years ago though, 9-11 meant something quite different to me….. I walked into my office in The Woodlands, TX that morning shouting a cheery “Hello,” as I passed other’s office doors. One of the other business owners looked up at me as I walked by. He looked shocked and pale. I stopped. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Have you seen the news?” he asked. “No, why?” “A plane has crashed into a building in New York,” he replied. I didn’t quite know what to say.

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Inner Journeys Out On Kindle

Thoth has finally made Inner Journeys available on Kindle. It can be ordered at both the US and UK Amazon sites for immediate download. Inner Journey: Explorations of the Soul was my first foray into publishing my experiences. It is somewhat autobiographical in that it deals with why I had an interest in all things Occult and follows my trail to the point where I found the Servants of the Light. It then tracks my experiences of taking the SOL’s first course over 5-6 years and provides some insights into what I learned. In fact, it was Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, the SOL’s Director of Studies, who suggested I write the book and who kindly provided an introduction too. Inner Journeys: Explorations of the Soul is the compelling account of one man’s

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