Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn't just have the High Ground! He was born on it!

Imagine if both of them could get real life, real size statues!

Make a statue of Obi Wan Kenobi and Wedge, place it in their home town: Crieff, Scotland

Dedicated to the hero of the Rebellion and to a great Jedi master! They will always have the High Ground! Both of them would like to say: "Hello there!" to the town's visitors! The town is in the Highlands, so naturally the statue will always have the high ground! The statue should be in a sandpit so that a certain "I hate sand!" will not be able to attack it!

https://www.change.org/p/star-wars-fans-make-a-statue-of-obi-wan-kenobi-and-wedge-place-it-in-their-home-town-crieff-scotland

Make a statue of Emperor Palpatine and place it in his home town: Carnoustie, Scotland

The Emperor of the great GALACTIC EMPIRE, has a humble origins in the Scottish town of CARNOUSTIE. It is imperative for us, to get this GREAT man, Chancellor, Supreme Chancellor, GALACTIC EMPEROR, a massive statue in his BIRTH PLACE.

It is very important to get the SENATE a statue!

https://www.change.org/p/star-wars-fans-make-a-statue-of-emperor-palpatine-and-place-it-in-his-home-town-carnoustie-scotland

Help us to restore the St Andrews Geology Wall!

Scottish Geology Trust inspires Angus man to lay foundation for new group celebrating Tayside landscape

Geology field trip to Ballantrae last year to see the amazing diversity of Scottish geology!

Geology outreach with the University of Edinburgh!

Geology field trip to Barns Ness. 

https://www.scottishgeology.com/best-places/barns-ness-dunbar/

Hunor Deak

I am a BSc Geology graduate from the University of Edinburgh, School of GeoSciences. I studied various aspects of geosciences for 5 years. I worked for the University of Edinburgh as a Student Ambassador, Receptionist and Office Aide. I wrote geology based blogs to several sites of the School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh. I am an active member of a major UK political party and a UK wide Councillor association (Liberal Democrats). I am interested in mining geology, European history, Museum management, international relations, the history of propaganda, student recruitment and Scottish local politics.

https://hunortraiandeak.medium.com/

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hunor_Deak

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunor-de%C3%A1k-458503121/

My name is Hunor Deák. I am a geology student and Student Ambassador at the University of Edinburgh. I deeply enjoy the subject of geology. My interests are wide spread, ranging from Paleontology to Volcanology. So far I’ve been enjoying the fieldtrips and the lab sessions at this wonderful university. Before becoming a Media Rep I loved taking photos of the hand-specimens in Earth Dynamics. I tweeted few of the photos to the Cockburn Museum. This year I decided to make this passion a bit more productive, so here I am starting to blog.

Inspecting a Puzzle of an Ore under a Petrological Microscope

Inspecting a Puzzle of an Ore under a Petrological Microscope

There are many ways to travel around the world, Seeing many words, worlds, different weather. There are many ways to go back in time, You just need a telescope, look up in the sky, the starlight of today was emitted 1000s of years ago! But there is only one way to travel back in time, and travel the world as well, the Ores- Petrological microscope.

The Petrological microscope is a strange creature, Made of multiple stages, Pulls light sources, and a multitude of lenses, The stage can be rotated around, Scattering spectra in all directions. The microscope opens little worlds!

Slides of rock cut down to 0.003 mm, Put through the probing light of the eye, The rock sparkles in a multitude of colours. Little worlds trapped in stone.

The ores show their true beauty under the direct light as well, They are gold, creamy with milky, or a tad bit brown, Chalcopyrite veins cutting the earlier sphalerite, Hematite dances with Pyrite, While the Pentlandite looks on, Telling us the tales of past ore deposition.

The colours dance as the stage spins around, Garnets, stay ever so dark, With Olivines keeping their bright blue colour, Plagioclase feldspars stripe through the maze, As carbonites dance in a night club like haze, Way too many minerals to name!

Unicorns hide in the eye piece!

The government does a lot of good work trying to increase democratic participation. MPs and House of Lords members give regular lectures and speeches to the public and universities. The BBC produces regular programming and has a dedicated channel, BBC Parliament to cover Parliament and debate political issues. The British government pours mountains of money, effort and people to make us vote and care.

Yet… outside of the main issues democratic participation is all time low and falling (and when it comes to the big issues like the EU Referendum, people vote on emotion without thinking about the long reaching consequences). People don’t know the democracy they are living in. Few people know their MPs and almost none know their MEPs.

This sounds very paradoxical as despite the funds and effort, people are not very much interested in voting and know very little about British Democracy. So what could be the cause of this?

In my opinion there is no problem with the method of the British Government. The problem lies with where and when is the political education applied. The government should concentrate on secondary schools and start political education there. A civics class should be mandatory part of the standard curriculum. This would normalize the concept of democracy early on. It would introduce young minds to it, making the concept of voting as natural, the rule of law a second nature.

When I went to secondary school I got no education in politics. In Social Education we touched on many issues like racism, war, drugs, social problems etc., but we completely skirted the subject of politics and government. All the knowledge I have, I gathered from books, newspapers, TV shows and YouTube videos. The only reason I got interested in politics was due to my English teachers and the English department. My English teachers encouraged me to read newspapers like the Times and the Telegraph. The English department started a newspaper for the school and a debate club. I took part in both of them at lunchtimes and in the afternoons. These activities introduced me to concepts like Parliamentary Democracy, the First Past the Post System, Political Parties and Proportional Representation. They allowed me to think about my ideas and organize them by writing articles. These clubs provided me with a fairly good political education. The problem is this was not mandated by the school or by the government. These clubs were created by teachers who used up their own time to facilitate the newspaper and drive the debate club to evening competitions. I was lucky that I had the teachers who cared. Because of them I became politically aware with knowledge and respect towards democracy. Being knowledgeable about you own democracy shouldn’t happen by chance, it should be part of the basic education of every child. A mandatory civics class should be necessary in every public secondary school.

This section of the article will be more of the discussion phase of my idea where I am outlining what I think should be in the curriculum. (I am not an educator just a concerned citizen, who sees his fellow men being woefully undereducated about our government, democracy and political parties. So please do not expect some great insight, these are just my ideas on how to get young people to understand democracy and government. I do hope that my ideas get into the hands of more knowledgeable people who can develop it into a full subject that is presentable to secondary school children.)

In first year I took this politics course as my outside subject. It taught me why I shouldn’t take any outside subjects. Don’t get me wrong the course itself was educational. It informed me of important world issues. However it had no relevance to my degree whatsoever. I realized that when I take a third course I should chose the ones that cover the same or similar topics as my mandatory courses. Geology is geology, I shouldn’t get too creative. So lesson learnt there.

The University of Edinburgh is an important part of the city. It played a key role in its history and contributes so much to the local economy. The students call the city their home where they spend most of their leisure time. In this blog post I plan to share my favorite places that are well worth a visit and bring a person closer to Edinburgh.

Yesterday, I had a great day out in Arbroath. All the museums did a wonderful job of presenting new and exciting things. A big thank you to all who safeguard the heritage of the town!

Short film about the Bellrock Lighthouse and the Year of the Light celebrations to commemorate its bicentenary. Includes interviews with John Boath, the last principal keeper of the lighthouse; and David Taylor, authority on the subject and creator of www.bellrock.org. Graphics using engravings from Robert Stevenson's account of the construction of the Bellrock Lighthouse show how the structure was built off the coast of Northeast Scotland 200 years ago.

James Hutton Memorial Garden - The place upon which the house of James Hutton stood. James Hutton was one of the giants of the Scottish Enlightenment being one of the first chemists of Scotland and the father of geology as a modern natural science. The garden contains stones that played an important role in his Theory of the Earth. -http://www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/edingeologist/z_38_06.html

This weekend I visited the Sculptured Stones of St. Vigeans. It is amazing to see the great range of culture available in Angus! The stones are an excellent combinations of Scottish history and geology. (Part 3) - https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/st-vigeans-stones-and-museum