A penny for the Old Guy We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning togetherHeadpiece filled with straw. Alas!Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaninglessAs wind in dry grass Or rats’ feet over broken glassIn our dry cellar Shape without form, shade without colour. Paralysed force, gesture without motion; Those who have crossedWith direct…
Starfleet Academy
Apologies… but I just had to. Starfleet Academy takes the weakest, most self-centred, self-absorbed and insecure parts of humanity and presents them as ‘you’re perfect just the way you are.’ There are no challenges to face. No growth to aspire towards. No standards to meet. Nothing to reach for beyond self-validation and perpetual affirmation. Status…
Going Going ~ Philip Larkin
I thought it would last my time –The sense that, beyond the town,There would always be fields and farms,Where the village louts could climbSuch trees as were not cut down;I knew there’d be false alarms In the papers about old streetsAnd split level shopping, but someHave always been left so far;And when the old part…
Wearified
I don’t know about you but over the past few months – particularly – I’ve grown weary and dismayed over the geopolitical space and world events. On the one hand we are told – constantly – that the ‘evil nexus’ of Russia, Iran and China are set on world domination through military and economic means….
!!!TARIFFS!!!
Smoke and mirrors. Gaza. Lebanon. Syria. Yemen. Iran. Ukraine. Not to mention the strangulation of free thought and free speech in the west. Lookit the shiny golden thing.
Rusty Iron Trap
It would appear that since Trump’s inauguration we have seen naught but theatre and narrative peddling from the west. Following ‘negotiations’ between the USA and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia we are now told that the ‘ball is in Russia’s court’ – this phrase uttered in concert from a variety of western sources (always a tell)….
Security Guarantees!!!
Interesting how ‘the west’ views ‘security’ as such a vital consideration, all of a sudden. The United Kingdom, European Union and Ukraine are fixated upon the importance of ‘security guarantees’ not just for Ukraine, but – in face of the (fictitious) ‘existential threat’ that Russia and Putin pose – for the entire ‘free, sovereign, democratic,…
Disquiet
Given Russia’s previous experience with the Minsk (one and two) agreements, and the manner in which comments are currently being made – from the EU, UK and now the US – regarding ‘peacekeepers’ in Ukraine… I fear yet another trap is being set for Putin of a similar nature. Whilst the Russian negotiating team have…
Trump Disruptive
Right or wrong, good or bad… whatever your subjective opinion regarding Trump, his ability to disrupt the ‘established’ status quo and challenge the received wisdom of western political, cultural and media classes is obvious. Less than one month since his inauguration and the global landscape is replete with dusty and tattered rugs that have been…
Unconscionable Ignorance
Great Britain lost 450,000 casualties (military – including ‘crown colonies’ – and civilian) during World War Two, a war fought against the Axis powers of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, a variety of ideologically-aligned collaborationist voluntary military units raised across Europe (for example from France, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Croatia, Bosnia,…