Hopelessness
Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I’ve been afflicted by an all-encompassing sense of hopelessness lately when I think about the world, and blogging has seemed pointless. I look at all the people absorbed in the minutiae of…
The Vocabulary of Protest
Some day I’m going to compile a list of all the adjectives used by journalists writing about protesters. Sometimes protesters are irresponsible, obstructive or stubborn, other times they are aggressive or violent, and usually the word anarchist crops up sooner…
The Burkini Affair: a follow-up
Just wanted to do a quick follow-up to the story of Manal Omar that I posted a few weeks ago. (Brief synopsis: woman tries to wear Islamic-style swimsuit in British fitness centre and all hell breaks loose.) Islamophobia Watch points…
Happy Bank Holiday!
Why, exactly, does it have to rain every Bank Holiday Monday? Personally, I blame the name. Bank Holiday. I mean, who names a public holiday after a bank? Do banks have any good connotations for anybody? I’m surprised we don’t…
Terrorists I am scared of
I lived in New York through 9/11, orange alerts, red alerts, purple alerts and all the rest, and never really felt a visceral fear of Al Qaeda, any more than I felt afraid of the IRA living in London during…
I merely belong
When I lived in the USA, I was always amused and confused by people who puffed out their chests and said how proud they were to be American. Now that I’m back in London, the government here declares its intent…
More mindless killing
To continue for a moment the theme of senseless killing for squalid and trivial ends, I’m reading a book of essays by Texas Death Row inmate Gene Wilford Hathorn. He’s been on the Row for 21 years now, and has…
How about a little humanity?
Does this sound familiar? A war in the Middle East launched for obscure reasons. The justification changing constantly according to what ministers think can “sell” it to the people at any particular time. Disregarding the United Nations. Bombing people in…