Category: Current Affairs
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The Populist Plague
These ‘POPULISTS’. These men (as they invariably are) of ‘the people’, who claim to single-handedly and single-mindedly champion, speak for, and fight on the side of, ‘the people’. Who tell ‘the people’ whatever they think they most want to hear, totally irrespective of any genuine intention to make good on their protestations and promises. Whose…
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Here we go again!
On BBC’s Question Time, a panel member says that Boris Johnson’s father’s alleged history of violence is ‘on record’ and calls him a ‘wife beater’. Unless and until that’s proven to be the case, neither you nor I can know its truth or otherwise. Ms Bruce, required to maintain required BBC standards of ‘balance’ and…
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Irony of Ironies
Who is this a statue of? It’s of George Orwell who, in his book “1984”, warned us about the abomination of total state control over the lives of its citizens; what they do from minute to minute, and what they say in any place, at any time. Such control must include language. The state decides…
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Lineker, Language and Debate
In writing this, I have to confess that I’m not a fan of Gary Lineker, and have never watched ‘Match of the Day’. Since we’re dealing with today’s instant readiness to ‘take offence’, let me make it clear that this isn’t personal criticism, but a statement of fact and nothing more. As it happens, I’m…
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Weaponising “Offence”
In Putin’s Russia, to say the slightest thing which in any way “offends” those in power means ten years in jail. Do we want that in the UK? It’s time for people who genuinely value freedom of speech, verbal or written (provided it breaks no law) to take a stand against the ‘shut them up,…
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“For All Beings”
Here, from Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, teacher and author, is a beautiful, meaningful, moving, timelessly relevant, “if only” vision of humanity at its very best. It’s also ‘religion’ at its very best. It comes from the ‘beating heart’ of Buddhism, but surely also from that of Christianity, and all other religions worthy of the name. It…
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Mirror Images
When Donald Trump, defeated in the polls, tells his supporters to go to the Capitol and ‘fight like hell’, and then goes into denial mode, despite plentiful backup video evidence, the whole thing becomes a Democrat-led conspiracy, a ‘witch hunt’ and a ‘stitch up’. When Boris Johnson, flouting his own Covid lockdown regulations, joins with…
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Panacea for Po-Faced Politics
Delightful (to some) and Derided (by others) is the 40 year old Official Monster Raving Loony Party, complete with outlandish outfits and over-sized rosettes. Before writing them off, it’s worth taking note of the fact that some of their “ridiculous” proposals were eventually enshrined in law. It’s also worth noting that some of their “risible”…
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Offensive Realism?
John Mearsheimer, a Professor at Chicago University, is a political scientist and international relations scholar who has developed a theory of “offensive realism”. The suggestion is that interaction between the world’s great powers is basically governed by a determination, in an unstable international system, to gain and maintain the security provided by regional dominance. It…
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