-
Overwhelmed and overpowered
The “West”, meaning the USA and their coterie of client states are currently engaged in two wars, in Ukraine and in the Middle EAst. Most of us who live in US client states in Europe were knocked out of our political lethargy when we learnt that Europe was at war again “for the first time…
-
Literature – letter to a king
I am currently reading The Years, Virginia Woolf’s last novel, published in 1937. Actually, I bought the book accidentally, in French, mistaking it for Ernaud’s Les Années. Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse happen to be among the very few books I have read twice. Having dutifully read some 20 % of The…
-
The hero and the villain
Team Biden eventually considered it expedient to offer Assange a filthy plea deal. Do I thank them? Certainly not, though like everyone else, I’m relieved that the barbaric mistreatment of Assange has come to an end. So are, I suspect, Biden’s few remaining supporters. Please note that even Associated Press (AP) comments the public’s distrust…
-
I missed the jokes
I am not and never have been in thrall to US entertainment, so I never heard the late comedian George Carlin. To be honest, I might not have appreciated him back then (he died at the age of 71 in 2008) because I was not partial to foul language. Now, of course, thanks to rap,…
-
The inscrutable ways of the brain
Climate and ecology activists, e.g. in Extinction Rebellion, are often bitterly accused of moralising. The rest of us, all who do not follow their rigorous precepts, are made to feel we are an abomination to the planet. I am certainly not innocent in this context. Although far from being an activist, I tend to consider…
-
Break
I’ll be taking a break now for a while. I have to devote some time elsewhere, in my own language, which is Norwegian. Besides, as far as I’m concerned, there’s not much more to be said about the Ukraine war and the lies we so relentlessly are being spoon-fed by the mainstream press. There is…
-
Overstory
Things are not looking good for Ukraine, but at least the country seems able to strike Russian oil depots and refineries, thus in effect striking the rest of us. All our efforts day after day – yours and mine – to reduce our carbon footprints are derisory compared to the output of a few hours’…
-
Whitherto
Where are we heading? I wonder. When the USA and the UK and Israel (attacks against Palestine, Lebanon and Syria) go around bombing countries they dislike, there is reason to fear anarchy in the worst sense of that word. For one thing: If they can do it, why can’t anyone else? One or more of…
-
Cartel
What’s the matter with those people? Running around the world shooting and killing as though they were a drug cartel…! The cartel barons in Washington take it into their heads to go off and bomb Jemen, and since self-gratification is Law for cartel barons, there is nothing to stop them from doing just that: bombing…
-
Hail South Africa
Where I live, winter has been unusually severe so far. Temperatures have dropped to 24 below zero (centigrade), and dog walkers like me have had to wade in knee-deep snow. Yet, South Africa’s powerful response to the Israeli genocide and in defence of innocent Palestinian civilians, has warmed every last one of my frozen bones.…