There is this amazing side to human intellect – the slow uncovering of the universe, the divesting of myth and superstition for a more in-depth understanding of nature, the continued advance of medical science, the ability t bond with others in partnership and groups, the acceptance of empathy. Not to mention pure academic reasoning and…
Month: August 2025
Quiet Day
When the days pass with violence, stress, murder and crimes around the world – which are miscalled international politics – it is worthwhile on a rainy cooler day like today to just work quietly and let is slide. I can post a hundred times but I will never be able to debate online, never be…
Who do we need?
I remember the British politician Tony Benn saying that we don’t actually need national politicians or a supposed ‘leader’. That if we kept a functioning police force and a free judiciary we could rule ourselves quite happily. I saw somewhere today a critique of so called democratic countries not being democratic at all. I said…
Language
Languages never sit still. we were talking abound the dictionaries we had at school and how even the words included in new editions have changed and many of the Latinate words have been dropped. We also wondered if grammar and syntax are taught anymore as we were taught to parse sentences into clauses so they…
Where does ethics lie?
I recall writing an essay and attending a lecture on Kant’s Categorical Imperative, an attempt to give a non-religious framework to ethical decision making. I knew at once it was unworkable but I did think that he understood what may be obvious but needs elucidating: that all ethical conversations begin and end inside one’s head….
State Craft
I do wonder where State craft has gone in the international arena. To me the obvious play would be to say they will recognise a Palestinian State the minute the living and dead hostages are returned, whether or not Israel declares a cease-fire. This would not be acceptable to Hamas because it is not enough…
Interesting Photograph
So I went with my photographer friend who had been given the commission to photograph an ancient bridge in a local town. We got there about half an hour after sunrise and waited for the river to reach high tide and the sun to break out of the clouds so she could get the bridge…
I Must be getting weaker
Managed to gain a flat tyre yesterday and this morning I prepared everything to change it and I can’t undo the nuts. I never had that problem before but not one of them will budge with the spanner I have so i have had to ask my neighbour if he has a more professional tool,…
Bridging the Gaps
It is interesting to read about the struggle in Italy to build a bridge over to Sicily. It reminds me of the undersea tunnels that are built and planned in Europe. It echoes the way in which cities expand and gobble up villages and towns that then become no more than the suburbs. This constant…
Statistics
There were 3.2 million Jews living in Europe fifty years ago. Today, there are just 1.3 million. Sadly that number still seems too many for Jew haters who seem to think that 1.3million are the cayuse of all the suffering in the Middle East. That’s like saying 200 Mullahs in Iran are responsible for all…