Discovering Secret Paths: the crazy world we live in
The map depicts those parts of Switzerland where the Swiss Post may no longer be required to deliver post in the very near future as cuts are made in so-called universal service. No doubt this evolution is the impact of extensive internet penetration, the liberalisation of postal services, sparking fierce competition particularly in parcels, and a general tendency to slash the budgets of state-run services.… (Read more...)
Many of the pictures of Forty-five* published in the press, not to mention his unpredictability and his ravings on stage, point to some form of mental trouble. Yet American psychiatrists have shied away from speculating on his sanity or lack of it, afraid of coming away smattered from a messy combat, as if a diagnosis at a distance would undermine their credibility, putting them on a par with astrologers.… (Read more...)
For all its cry of sadness and rage – at the Orlando shooting tragedy – this music/dance video by Sia, with the dancer Maddie Ziegler, is a call to life. Dance, the ultimate expression of the human body in movement, fills me with wonder and joy. This video is excellent. I know.… (Read more...)
Quote of the day: Research showed that, breathed in through the nose, nano particles of Magnetite (an oxide of iron) entered the brain via the olfactory nerve. These nano particles are thought to play a role in degenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer. (Freely translated from French. Source: Le Temps Sept.… (Read more...)
Have they become so dumb, so deaf, so blind, so hopelessly unfeeling, so caught up in petty squabbles if not bloody skirmishes, wary of friends and foes alike, so enamoured of their own words that they are ensnared in their own bullshit, so worried about sinking ratings, their eyes riveted on opinion polls and the rumblings of social media, so pressured by lobbyists slipping white-washed cheques in wide open pockets, so engrossed in engineering an endearing  and enduring image, so faithful to their ideology while enslaved by procedures and rules and the status quo, so afraid of being singled out, caught with unclean fingers straying where they shouldn’t go, so obsequiously obedient to their party line, so bound to the glorious market place that promises to save those who save themselves, … that they have forgotten they are human beings and neglect the welfare of the world and the people who live in it?… (Read more...)
Forty-five* will not endorse Paul Ryan as Republican splits widen says The Guardian. It’s almost as if the candidate is seeing how far he can go before he gets booted out on his ears, except that the more outrageous the things he does and says, the more despicable they are, the more the mass of his supporters clamour for him to do more and ultimately be elected.… (Read more...)
The Have-Your-Cake-And-Eat-It brigade is at work again. Boris the Johnson is quoted as saying to press in the US: “Brexit means us being more outward looking, more engaged, more energetic, more enthusiastic on the world stage than ever before.†There is a very precise word for such nonsense, bullshit. No. Not lies.… (Read more...)
Why so much disrespect directed towards politicians? The buffoons, the liars, the twisters-of-truth, the fear-mongers, the hate-makers, the racists, the wall-builders, the divide-and-conquerors, the off-with-her-headers, the its-their-faulters, the power-hungry führers, the mad hatters, the control freaks, the drug-pedlars-for-sportlers, the you-know-who-I-meaners. The problem is not so much this foul-mouthed, foul-breathed breed of would-be politicians, but the fact that they are acclaimed by the crowd, granted legitimacy by a vote and handed power over our futures.… (Read more...)