In 2024, 61 armed conflicts were recorded across 36 countries, 22 of which are currently classified as being in a state of war. All other efforts to “beat swords into plowshares” having failed, maybe it’s time to try the simplistic approach and just stop selling swords.… 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
The Moody Blues’ 1970 hit “Question” opened, appropriately, with the lines: “Why do we never get an answer/When we’re knocking at the door/With a thousand million questions/About hate and death and war?”…”
In a world where those three ills are at pandemic level, the answer may well be because the question “why” isn’t asked often enough.… Read the rest
Summits, which typically have more to do with words than actions, are habitually known by their acronym, which leaves the field wide open for re-interpretation. I therefore suggest that in the case of the major players in COP27, the “P” — which stands for “Parties” — be replaced with the plural of an archaic English epithet: “poltroon”.… Read the rest