The law locks up the man or womanWho steals the goose from off the commonBut leaves the greater villain looseWho steals the common from the goose. The law demands that we atoneWhen we take things we do not ownBut leaves the lords and ladies fineWho take things that are yours and mine. The poor and…
Nolan’s mere meander
Modern cinema and television adaptations of foundational works are a minefield of factual-inaccuracy, with post-modern, intersectional insertions. I didn’t go to see Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ in theatre because the trailers and clips aired before its release failed to convince me. The analyses by historians such as Thierry Lentz and Patrice Gueniffey reinforced my impression by…
The Hollow Men ~ T. S. Eliot
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…