Christmas TV

When I was a kid, and even up to a few years ago, it used to be thee case that over Christmas, BBC and ITV competed to see who could get the biggest ratings by who got the biggest blockbuster film to show. I noticed, particularly, this year what a dearth of TV there really has devloped. I did enjoy "The Incredibles", but it was hardly like in the past when you waited with anticipation for the latest Bond Film, Star Wars, or Indiana Jones to hit the screen.

I suppose that in part its because in recent years actual film going has increased, so more people have already seen the latest releases, and more importantly BBC and ITV can't compete with Sky and Virgin providing all the latest films via the Movie Channels. But, they could compete with other programming, yet that was pretty abysmal too.

Twenty-five years ago, "Mr & Mrs", was a daytime TV programme watched only by Pensioners, and really sad perople. Today, as with much of modern life, include the word "Celebrity" in the title, and it becomes must-watch TV apparently. So much so, that it was prime-time viewing on Christmas Day! Cashing in on the latest Dan Brown book, Tony Robinson repeated his picking apart of "The da Vinci Code". Slightly entertaining, but I couldn't help feeling that it was a good way of Comrade Robinson, getting a cheap holiday, and being paid for it. I saw him a few years ago when I was on holiday in Javea in Spain. I don't know if he was on holiday himself, or if he'd managed to get one on the back of some programme investigating the Roman ruins uncovered by the sea there. But, its funny how TV presenters always manage to choose nice locations, in the Summer around the world to have to visit! Having said that Comrade Robinson did do all those "Worst Jobs in History".

Rather than actually dismantling Brown's conspiracy theory the programme was more like a Cook's Tour. Speak to a leading UK Freemason, "Are there secret rituals and so on?", "No.", "Oh right, that's dealt with that then"! Speak to a US architect about the design of Washington, "No its all perfectly normal.", "Fair enough". Do the Masonic designs and symbols on the dollar bill have any significance? "No". That's another myth dealt with then. What I thought was amazing was the fact that why would anyone NOT think that the Masons are a secret society of the rich and powerful in society!

Of course, you have to be careful in assigning too much significance to conspiracy theories. Brown's books show how easy it is to construct a story around facts that you only slightly distort. In general the means by which the ruling class rule has nothing to do with an organised Conspiracy. That doesn't mean that sections of that ruling elite don't engage in them. As the CIA used to say, Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean you AREN'T be following. Anything, that deals with things that science doesn't adequately explain is also open to such manipulation.

Part of the pllot of Brown's book involves the gaining of such powers such as telekineses - moving objects by thought alone. Robinson spoke to a Psychologist who said that although there is no evidence of such powers being possible, they had identified the potential of some people to influence processes, such as the numbers generated by a random number generator. The USSR also spent a lot of resources on developing ESP, whilst the CIA had groups whose function was "remote viewing". Some of those involved have appeared on TV to describe how they were able to learn to "see" things that were happening thousands of miles away, including locating where hostages were being held.

Of course, we have no proof they could do any such thing. They could be just putting out disinformation, in the same way that the US allowed UFO speculation to circulate to cover its covert work on developing advanced aircraft. On the other hand as part of my martial arts training I've seen demonstrations of things that seem pretty spectacular. Some of it mirrors things I've read and practiced from doing Yoga since I was about 14 - in fact Chinese Martial Arts were developed out of the training that an Indian Monk, Bhodidarma, gave to his students in China.

For example, I've been able to sit in a Full Lotus position from before I actually began studying Yoga. I can extend it to the swing position where you theen basically support yourself just on your fingertips, so you can swing back and forth. That requires some effort, but I cannot for the life of me manage to lift myself completely off the ground without the use of my hands! But, that is precisely what Yogic flyers do.



The first book on Yoga I bought was by Ernest Wood, who was a British scientist, and associate of Annie Besant, and whose writings about Yoga, attempt to fit it into that Western scientific tradition. Yet, I was never able to accept some of the claims that Wood made in the book about such "flying", levitation and so on. I still can't. Yet, the Yogic Flyers do seem to contradict the laws of Physicas, because it should simply not be possible to generate sufficent downward force from the legs in a lotus position to life the body to the heights they achieve. The ability of practiced Yogi to control things such as heart rate, are so well documented as to be accepted proof.

I've also done Lau Gar Kung Fu for twenty years and seen Master Yau drive his fingers into a solid leather punch bag, amongst other feats. Most of them are explicable in simple terms of Physics. For example, when I punch through a two inch thick piece of wood it is a simple application of the principle of force equals mass times acceleration. Many are simple application of the Newtonian principle that every action has a reaction. Some are less easy to explain. An Eighty year old man is able to shake a massive tree by focussing his Chi, and striking the tree with his palms. In Yoga Chi is referred to as "air", the idea being that through breath control you can direct this air to different parts of your body to make it hard. The Shaolin monks are able to place a solid metal bar on their throat, and through such control two of them are able to walk to each other and bend the bar between them!

As a materialist I obviously do not beleive that there is anything "supernatural" about such feats, but clearly humans - just as animals like homing pigeons have talents we do not understand - are capable of much more than we can currently explain. How wonderful it will be when Socialism frees each individual to develop such talents to their full, rather than being content with sitting full of food on Christmas Day watching "Celebrity Mr & Mrs".