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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Usually, watching and reading the news, especially statements and claims by those who make it, puts me somewhere between despair and outrage. This week. I tried a new approach, listening for what wasn’t said.… Read the rest
Let me be clear from the outset that this week’s “atypical perspective” is slightly distorted by personal bias. Having worked for the best of CBS News bosses, I suggest current controlling shareholder Shari Redstone read some broadcast history, watch a movie and consider her relationship to the “glass ceiling”.… Read the rest
The death of Pope Francis has prompted more praise, comment, criticism, cliches and solemn analysis than I can compete with, or even match. Instead, I’ll share a few anecdotes and a personal conclusion based on travels with three popes.… Read the rest