R.D. Hale's Blog

The history of that fine British institution -- the Monarchy

Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89, the Catholic King James II was overthrown and sent into exile by English Protestants led by Dutchman William of Orange who then became William III. Towards the end of William's life, there were no Protestant heirs to the throne so the Act of Settlement 1701 decreed all Catholic heirs would be bypassed until a Protestant could be found. Our Monarchy was then handed over to the German House of Hanover, and all Monarchs since are descended from Sophia of Hanover.Due to anti-German sentiment during World War I, the Monarchy changed its name to the more palatable House of Windsor, but the fact remained a family of German heritage controlled the Monarchy based purely on the outcome of 17th century religious conflict. There is absolutely no legitimacy to the Windsors' claim to the throne.We are supporting the extraordinarily lavish lifestyles of this family for no reason other than misguided sentiment. Royalists will tell you they generate huge sums of money for the economy. The fact is, they are using the Crown Estate -- a publicly-owned property portfolio -- to further enrich themselves. The Monarchy is antithetical to the principle of meritocracy and a symbol of our colonial past and today's grotesque inequality. We are funding a hugely expensive wedding this weekend while the homeless of Windsor are brushed to one side because, heaven forbid, we could not have the Royals laying eyes on the peasants.So many in this country are struggling to get by, eating from food-banks, and making extraordinary sacrifices, and we are told, rather perversely, to be grateful for the indulgences of a rich German family who stole our country!Needless to say, I will not be joining in this weekend's sycophancy!

Controversial themes

Today I want to touch upon the most controversial aspect of my Skye City series: Children taking drugs. At least one reviewer was furious about this and somehow thought writing about an issue equals endorsement. The sad reality is children around the world are abusing drugs. If you look at the slums of Rio (which strongly influenced my story), children are hooked on drugs at the age of 8 or 9. This is normal. They don't have reservations and they don't clean up their acts because they have no understanding of the consequences. Being high is an inextricable part of their existence. And this lifestyle is not reserved to the poverty stricken slums of the world either. When I was growing up in NE England, there were kids taking drugs from 10 or 11 years of age, and while the problem may not have been as prevalent as in the Rio slums, it certainly was widespread. I have in my life witnessed the many sides of drugs from the exhilarating to the tragic, having lost a friend through drug use. People who take drugs are not necessarily bad or stupid, and I wanted to challenge the idea held by some that only the untainted can be heroic. In the fictional Medio city, poverty is extreme, life is brutal, medical treatment and drug advice are non-existent, and people, even children, do whatever it takes to get through the day, to make their pitiful lives bearable. The characters are tainted, often foolish, and yet they are remarkable. They face the worst and somehow they survive, albeit in the most haphazard way possible. They are survivors and in spite of every obstacle thrown at them, they somehow figure out a way to change the world. Just don't expect things to work out perfectly for them. My series tackles many serious issues, aside from drugs, and if you do not wish to burst your middle-class bubble, it will not be for you. If you do read, expect to be challenged, expect to be provoked, expect to feel uncomfortable at times. Through the surreal fictional world I have created, you can experience the real world!

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Imagine if you were a God

If you could create a world from scratch and you made it exactly like this one, would this make you a benevolent god, or an evil megalomaniac?Imagine you could create a world with flowers and birds and trees and rainbows, and whatever else you desire. Imagine you had the ability to foresee every possible future within this world. Imagine you created inhabitants, and you gave them joy and laughter and music and art and poetry, but also disease and suffering and famine and drought and natural disasters and predators.
Imagine you gave the inhabitants a rule book, but rather than make your rules clear, you gave many horrible pseudo-instructions along with the good instructions, and you hid most of your messages in morally ambiguous parables. Imagine you also threw in some false rule books without clarifying which rule book was the real one. Imagine you demanded the inhabitants interpret your will from the real book, knowing that many will either read the wrong book, or no book, or misinterpret your will, and commit horrible acts in the sincere belief you had commanded them to do so.
Imagine you never revealed yourself to these people, but you demanded they not only accept the reality of your existence, but also demanded they worship you. Imagine you knew in advance which of these people would meet your expectations because, as stated above, you knew every possible outcome. Imagine you would eternally torture those who failed to fulfil your expectations, either because they failed to believe in your existence, or because they misinterpreted your views from your ambiguous rule book.
Imagine, you planned to forever torture people, even though you could so easily have created a world without suffering, even though you could so easily have made your rules clear, even though you could so easily have made yourself known. Imagine you chose to experiment on these people to decide who was and was not worthy, in the process inflicting suffering even on those who were completely innocent. Would this make you a benevolent god, or an evil megalomaniac?

The relaunch is finally here! *deep breaths* (Free 6th an...

The relaunch is finally here! *deep breaths* (Free 6th and 7th May) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I21QZUIHard to believe it's been over 7 years since I started this madness. Once I had a six-pack, then I decided to write, and I grew grey hair and a dad belly. I used to run 20 miles a day, now I can't walk up the stairs without injuring myself or making unnecessary noises or talking agitatedly under my breath. If you're thinking of becoming a writer and you value either your looks or your sanity, my advice is don't do it – you will lose both very quickly! If, like the rest of us weirdos known as authors, you have decided both are superfluous, then writing will simultaneously become the most rewarding and most soul-destroying thing you will ever do. It will push you to the brink again and again, and yet somehow you won't regret it!Last year, I decided that rather than write anything new, I needed to focus on updating my existing works, because although I was happy with much of the content, certain things just weren't right. Also, the sales, although decent for indie titles, had plateaued at unspectacular numbers. The key problem was I'd been obsessing with reducing word counts to conventional numbers, repeatedly trimming what I had. However, I eventually realised this approach was hugely detrimental. There was far too much going on in this series to be condensed to such an extreme and I lost much in terms of world building and character development, so last July I embarked on a 3 month plan to rectify these issues. Those 3 months ballooned into 10 and my 4-part novel went from 130k words to 250k. And I hope it is all the better for it! For those who don't yet know, I also amended my title due to a copyright issue (nothing to do with cockygate!). The new title was perfectly timed to coincide with the relaunch and a fresh start for my series.For the uninitiated, the Skye City series is post-apocalyptic / Dystopian sci-fi with a strong emphasis on biotechnology. Biopunk, if you will. It is different in many respects – from structure to writing style to world building – to what you will be used to. There is much going on, perhaps too much to some, but I make no apologies for that! This is not the typical sci-fi read you may initially perceive it to be. You will not pick everything up on a first read. It requires you to dig deep, scratch below the surface, and question everything, including the narrator himself. It is a read that requires commitment. A read that may make you feel uncomfortable. It goes to dark places but is laced with humour. Entertainment value was definitely the main focus, despite how inaccessible I may have made this sound!The characters in the book are tainted, scarred by their experiences. At times they can be heroic, at times they will let you down. They owe you no explanation or apology. They are products of their environments.The world of Eryx is as richly described as I could possibly make it. The narrative is image-heavy. The story takes you to many fantastical places. Each of the four episodes is distinct, fresh, and full of surprises. You will not know what's coming next.The plot summary is as follows:Religious extremists won The Great War and an oppressive societal structure was imposed under the law of their goddess. The lowest official tier – Level Three Citizenship – is one step away from slavery and the majority of the population opt out of the system altogether. These 'bottom levellers' struggle for survival in a world where technology is almost indistinguishable from magic and artificial lifeforms are hostile to their very existence.Arturo Basilides is the one in ten billion – an internet-educated outlaw with exceptional intellect and strong survival instincts. Traumatised and drug-ravaged, he spends his life daydreaming and trying to brighten his pitiful existence. Arturo ran away from an orphanage when he was twelve years old and now lives with his gang in an abandoned building. Together, they roam the shadows of Skye City – a two mile high playground for the privileged few. The teenagers survive adverse conditions due to remarkable self-sufficiency and they treat life as an endless narcotic-fuelled party.Arturo's old friend Smig offers a chance to earn some money and introduces him to a man called Jardine. Our hero finds himself sucked into a rebellion against the religious elite and he faces ethical dilemmas along the way due to that old adage – one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.

BBC Anti-Labour Bias

If ever proof were needed of the extraordinary bias of the BBC, this is it. Labour had their best council election results for 47 years, whereas the Tories had their worst. The BBC called this neck and neck, and implied it was a hugely disappointing performance by Labour, repeatedly asking whether the party leader should resign. The BBC is tax payer funded and therefore has an obligation to remain completely impartial, however, what we are receiving is state-sponsored propaganda. This has been demonstrated by numerous academic studies, but it does not take a genius to figure it out.

The Truth on Immigration

I've seen many idiots recently, family included, sharing or citing a meme about how illegal immigrants receive 30k a year and a free house when they come to the UK, and they seem convinced this is the root of their problems. If this applies to you, let me help you out here:If an illegal immigrant comes to the UK and tries to apply for benefits, housing, or even attempts to receive NHS treatment, they will be deported. (The clue's in the word 'illegal'). Illegals actually work when they come here, often in awful conditions for below minimum wage. You may not like the fact they are here, but there's no sensible way you can say their presence impacts you (unless it was your lifelong dream to pick fruit).Legal immigrants are not allowed to claim benefits either. My wife is an immigrant. Her Visa very clearly states no recourse to public funds. Not only do legal immigrants work, they are significant contributors to the economy, and our services, such as the NHS, literally could not function without them.Asylum seekers are not allowed to work until their application is processed. They are given 3k a year to live off, even if they are a couple (this would work out at £30 a week per person.) Only about 6% of immigrants claim asylum and if their application is rejected, they are deported.If you have a problem with us accepting legitimate refugees, I don't know what to say to you, other than stop reading The Sun,The Daily Mail, etc., and stop filling your head with hatred. The real cause of your problems is politicians and the rich people who own them. It is they who led us into war and created refugees in the first place. And it is they who led us into recession and imposed austerity upon us. People all over the world are being shit on by the elite and if you stop scapegoating for a second, you'll realise you have far more in common with immigrants than with your leaders.

Assad had Nothing to Gain from Chemical Attack

Assad had almost won the civil war in Syria. There was virtually nothing left of the opposition. He had everything to lose and nothing tactically to gain from massacring civilians. Also, he has never given any indication that he poses a threat to the west. This was an internal power struggle, arguably with bad guys on all sides, and arguably the least bad of them was winning. (The regime certainly aren't worse than ISIS.) Literally the one thing Assad could have done to lose the civil war at this stage was to commit an atrocity that would provoke western intervention, and we are expected to believe that is what he has done. Let's not also forget it is one year since he was last accused of a chemical attack on his own people and now all the evidence points to that attack being conducted by ISIS. The US have admitted there is no evidence he carried out last year's attack. Is it not awfully convenient that he attacked now, giving the west the excuse to overthrow him and collect the spoils of war? The way I see it, there are two possibilities: the first being a false flag attack conducted by ISIS who we know have chemical weapons. The second and less palatable possibility is that it was a false flag conducted by the west. Given the west have everything to gain from this conflict, and given there was no formal investigation to ascertain culpability, no debate in the US Congress or UK parliament, with the Prime Minister stating she would simply fall in line with the hotheaded Trump, only a fool would rule out the second possibility. And we have a responsibility as citizens, as human beings to challenge our leaders on this. 

Cover Reveal

Important Announcement

Hi guys, I have an important announcement to make and I'm afraid it will be difficult for some of you to swallow. After much deliberation, I have come to realise that Theresa May was correct after all, and that we have been sorely misguided.We wanted a magic money tree to take care of our interests, to eradicate poverty and create outstanding services, but it is clear now that such a money tree can only be used for things that matter like keeping the Tories in power. It was right and proper that the Tories offered £1 billion to the people of Northern Ireland because it meant the coalition would survive, but also because the public services of Northern Ireland should come before the services of the rest of Britain. Their kids should have free school meals, but ours don't deserve them. Is this not perfectly fair and reasonable?I now see that poor people are the reason there are poor people. It is because the unemployed smoke cigarettes and wear gold chains that bankers felt it necessary to gamble with the economy. Add to that, the fake Muslim refugee terrorists who come over to steal our jobs while refusing to work, collecting our benefits, raping our women and imposing Sharia law on us, and it's no wonder we're in a mess. I mean we can't even make our own laws because of the European Union, but Theresa is going to save us from their tyranny by taking us out of the EU, even though she wanted to remain, and she is going to repeal their evil laws, but probably remain in the common market which means she'll also keep their laws. Is this not a brilliant tactical move?It should also have been clear to us from day one that all disabled people are faking it, apart from the ones who aren't, but those people are still scroungers because they are taking handouts that I, as a tax payer, am paying for. I am glad to see these people go through humiliating assessments by untrained staff with no medical knowledge. Let's face it, they don't deserve better, thinking they should get money just because they're blind and deaf or paralysed or even terminally ill. People should work until they die, and if they can't work they should just, well, you know...But the biggest and most important reason for my change of heart is that life-long anti-war, anti-racist, anti-poverty campaigner Jeremy Corbyn actually wants us all to be poor and is extremely racist, especially towards his own race and towards Zionists, the bastard. But even worse, and you might wanna sit down for this, he actually SUPPORTS TERRORISM! Yes, that's not an error, he actually SUPPORTS TERRORISM! I would have struggled to believe this, but there can be no doubt because I read it in that paragon of quality journalism - The Daily Mail. Yes, that would be the same Daily Mail that supported Hitler, but they've clearly turned themselves around since those days, what with their hatred of Muslims, refugees, Europeans, and anyone who isn't exactly like us fine people.From this day forwards, I will use the full weight of this page to support Theresa May's government, to ensure the correct social order is maintained with tax cuts and tax havens for the better members of society, and low wages and no rights for the scroungers, and most importantly, a complete destruction of all public services and the welfare state. My taxes are paid only to fight wars and to ensure rich people get a tax cut. I AM A PROUD PATRIOT and you should be too. Thank you for your time, and remember, if you ever see a person with dark skin, yell at them to return to where they came from!