Toddler on the roof

Donald Trump offers US medical help to ‘incredible guy’ Boris Johnson – The Guardian

Don’t jump off the roof Dad.
You’ll make a hole in the yard (…)

Popular song

Trump’s behaviour may resemble that of a spoilt toddler, as many people have pointed out, but it is coherent and consistent.… (Read more...)

The Bernie Sanders’ answer

Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire. Photo: The Guardian, Drew Angerer, Getty Images (Click on the photo to read the Guardian article by Arwa Mahdawi)

Beyond the roaring of those trying to boot Bernie Sanders off the political pitch, including fellow Democrats and much of the media, his grass-roots approach, which combines both intense social media presence, bringing a real discourse rather than summary, raging tweets, with intensive direct contact with voters rather than slogan-filled, mass-media shows, might well be the answer to Trump.… (Read more...)

Brexit – a power-word full of consequences

On this nth ‘crunch’ day for the so-called ‘Brexit’, some thoughts about an empty but powerful word with heavy consequences.

One word, many meanings

Brexit. The word has become anathema to many people. They are heartily sick of it. And justifiably so. Politicians  and pundits unceasingly wave it around like a magic wand, or a trunk full of treasures, the very thing everyone needs, a saving grace, or a can of worms, a red cloth to a bull, a door open to certain disaster.… (Read more...)

Captives of a flat, mono-coloured world

Why on earth do some people believe the blatant lies of Boris Johnson or Donald Trump? That question has had me perplexed. Now I may have stumbled on the answer. To get to that I need to make a detour via Jeanne d’Arc and Greta Thunberg. As I often do, I am bringing together two (hopefully) unrelated images to create a new understanding.… (Read more...)

Denouncing shocking poverty levels in the US

As the US threatens to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council, objecting to criticism of Israeli shooting thousands of unarmed Palestinians, a UN report of that very council reveals the shocking level of poverty in the United States. In an interview on Democracy Now with Philip Alston, author of the report, it was mentioned that the US is the only country in the world where the overall life expectancy is decreasing.… (Read more...)

Say no to elimination

Elimination is the keyword that runs through many of the atrocious tales that assail us from around the world. Elimination is a solution to no problem. The wish to eliminate others as the source of our problems is based on a wildly false premise, that those people are to blame for our predicament and that by getting rid of them we rid ourselves of the threat we perceive in them.… (Read more...)