TO LEARN, DON’T JUST LOOK
Nature abounds in lessons and metaphors. But they’re subtle, only obvious when we pause long enough to actually see, rather than merely look through lenses clouded by haste or preconceptions.… Read the rest
BY THEIR WORDS SHALL YE KNOW THEM
Those who “speak truth to power” by calling out injustice and demanding change are exalted as courageous. So what word shall we apply to those with power who speak weasel words instead of acting?… Read the rest
FLATTERY, FOOLS AND THE FECKLESS
In the fairy tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, a small child pointed out that a vain leader was riding naked in a procession meant to show off what he had been conned into believing was the most magnificent wardrobe ever created.… Read the rest
VALUES SKEWED AND MIS-SKEWED
Ask school-aged kids in a disadvantaged place what they want to be and the answer is almost invariably a variation of doctor or nurse or teacher. Their values and ambitions are skewed to serving the greater good.… Read the rest
WHAT THE WAR MAKERS OWE THEIR DEITY
They probably don’t know it and wouldn’t acknowledge it anyway, but Ali Khamenei, Binyamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump owe the common god they claim as an exclusive ally the same thing: a little time off.… Read the rest
WILL WISDOM WIN OUT OVER WAR?
The writer John Steinbeck called war “a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal.” Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz characterised it as “the continuation of politics by other means.” The latest version is the triumph of hubris, ego and ignorance of history and culture.… Read the rest
THROUGH THE PRISM OF A WATER GLASS
If you find putting the seemingly endless welter of news about suffering and deprivation into perspective daunting, to the point where ignoring it is easier, try looking at it through the prism of a glass of water.… Read the rest
NONSENSE NEWS AND NEWS NONSENSE
Unless you’re an inveterate news consumer — and increasingly, even if you are — discerning whether the news you’re seeing, hearing and reading is nonsense, or is news because it is nonsense, is becoming a mind-curdling task.… Read the rest
THE MOST DAMNABLE LIE OF ALL
There is considerable dispute over who coined the phrase: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” What is indisputable, is that anyone who ignores or manipulates statistics to diminish violence and human suffering, is a liar of unforgiveable proportion.… Read the rest
WHEN VENAL MET VAINGLORY
The New York-set movie to which the headline of this post owes a nod, romped its way to a predictable happy ending. The Middle East-based horror show to which the headline refers is relentlessly lurching its way towards unhappiness that shows no sign of ending.… Read the rest