THE DEAL IS AS ARTLESS AS THE DEALER
The end of the shooting in Iran should have cleared the confusion and skewed judgement of the “fog of war”. Instead, it’s been replaced by the fog of the catchall label “deal”.… Read the rest
COSTS AND LESSONS: IRAN VS ARTEMIS
The look at the dark side of the moon from Artemis II will not briefly unite humanity the way “one small step for a man” did. But it will offer a measure of the forces that have riven us from that brief awareness of what humans can accomplish.… Read the rest
LIES MAY CLEAR THE FOG OF WAR IN IRAN
The idiom “fog of war” to describe the uncertainty and confusion generated by the chaos of battle was spawned by 19th century cannon and cavalry clashes. Vengefulness and historical ignorance are turning the fog of the high tech Iran war opaque.… Read the rest
A KING, A GENIUS AND THE IRAN WAR
In 1970, a Moody Blues song asked why we never get an answer “…/to a thousand millions questions/about hate and death and war.” In the case of the war in Iran, it’s because no one seems willing or able to articulate one.… Read the rest
WHEN THE REAL NEWS ISN’T WHAT’S NEWS
It has become a sad truth that headlines, shouts of “Breaking News” and screen crawls deliver just enough news to make it appear to all but the most curious that a story has been told, thereby leaving the bitter vetch they herald untasted.… Read the rest
THE LEAST WORSE CHOICE PODIUM
In a week where excellence was defined by gold, silver and bronze, the race for the maintaining sanity podium was rage, merely quaking with righteous indignation, or taking refuge in a state of amusement.… Read the rest
THE SHAMELESS ARE RIDICULOUS
“Shame may restrain what law does not prohibit.”
If the ancient Roman statesman and philosopher Seneca who wrote that had met Jeff Bezos and his ilk, he might have added the caveat. “but only in those decent enough to recognise, or care, when something is fundamentally wrong.”… Read the rest
FILTH, FOOLS AND FELLOW TRAVELLERS
It’s comforting to think that the ranks of those who worry that the idiom “The world is going to Hell in a handbasket” is true, are swelling by the day. The discomforting, and perforce ignored fact, is that an equally growing number are untroubled by the idiom “Do not accept fools gladly.”… Read the rest
THE STAR AND THE BIT PLAYER
In amateur theater, being rejected as not good enough for a bit part is a hurtful snub. On the world stage, Donald Trump just turned that into a starring role, once again proving that he’s in a class of his own — just not in the way he fantasizes.… Read the rest
THE GOOD OLD AND THE BLAME DAYS
As much as it grieves me to say it, while “the good old days” and “blame it on the media” are simplistic cliches, in the space of two weeks, they have combined as a succinct summation of the state of the news business.… Read the rest