Intoning “absolutely” as a response to a statement or question has become as ubiquitous and irritating as scattering “like” in sentences. However, its inclusive definition of “without exception, doubt or reservation”, is an ideal summation of the intractable “thinking” that plagues our times.… Read the rest
Railing against the idiocy and iniquities of pusillanimous media barons, shameless political opportunists and the perpetrators of the abomination of the war in Gaza having had little to no effect, it’s time to deploy what they fear most — mockery.… Read the rest
When you’re typecast as terminally polite and stuck next to a family determined to revel in being the stereotypical “neighbours from Hell,” the courteous thing to do is offer them a copy of Robert Burns’ poem, “To a Louse”.… Read the rest
A few days ago I spent some time with the loon family I wrote about last week. The parents called out twice, to help the two chicks find them in the choppy waves, which prompted the thought that my exasperation with news coverage, and the world in general, is directly related to the excessive use of pointless words.… Read the rest
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
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
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