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As far as watchdogs go …
So, am I being watched? I mean, am I subject to more scrutiny on the part of western intelligence agencies than the average man and woman? Are you, who are reading me, being watched? Because we are all being watched, remember? Not only by the NSA, which appears to have assumed extra-judicial powers and which,…
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In the Dark
When I turn off the main road, a narrow winding route takes me into the forest. Deep into the forest. Gaunt, tall pine trees, standing close together like freezing soldiers, sternly witness my slow progress ever deeper into their midst. I drive carefully, as it is more than likely that a deer will suddenly leap…
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“Los versos mas tristes”
Reading a poem by Pablo Neruda this morning, I realised that his mood was mine today, though his poem was allegedly about a love long gone. Mine – had I written it – would not be about love at all. It would be about autumn, about the slow dying of everything around us, as temperatures…
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Be happy + FAQ
I never understood the point of advertising. Oh, I’ll admit any day that if all my friends are raving about Vex – “and you know, it actually works,” – I might very well buy Vex regardless of what it’s for or whether I need it. But if some smooth humanoid that looks like Bambi pops…
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Grave robbery in Sweden
Of course, you don’t have to believe the common-law wife of the late Stieg Larsson. They’d been living together for more than thirty years when he died, but I’ll grant you any day that we can’t rule out that she’s a scheming bitch. I mean, all I know, except that “know” is a misnomer here,…
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The games they play
I hear they brought in a new top gun in Nigeria. Everybody’s very pleased, it seems, except the Nigerians, of course, but they don’t count. “Finally, democracy comes to Nigeria”, observers say. As for the Nigerians, I admit they did vote for Buhari, but I expect they did so mainly to please us. I really…
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Point of view
In my town, people don’t like Mr Putin. Come to think of it, I don’t like him much myself. In my town people look down their noses at Rambos, and Mr Putin, it would seem, is a Rambo. Around here, they prefer the spindly type, the Spidermans, agile and supple. And they don’t condone belligerence…
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Two sides of Mercy
Christianity claims to be merciful. And indeed, for believers who have no problem with the awkward concepts “original sin”, “immaculate conception”, “resurrection”, etc., who are happily married, give birth to healthy children, and who don’t have to steal to feed their young, the mercy of Christianity may well be a blessing. Caring for their loved…
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Alternative warfare – Christmas proposition
UNESCO has published a list of killed journalists. This year there were 60 of them. Sixty killed journalists! That’s a lot of dead journalists. Many were killed in 2013, too. And not only in Syria! Just take a look at UNESCO’s list: Unesco condems killing of journalists Being dead may, however, be better than being…
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What’ll it be, eh?
I have just read an article in El Pais which alerted me to a debate that appears to be raging in many academic circles. The writer refers to the immortal opening lines of Dicken’s novel Tale of Two Cities, which he finds particularly relevant. And who could disagree? It was the best of times, it…