Knowledge can improve the world we live in

There are photos of Ukraine’s president in combat gear, circling the internet now, with all sorts of headings about great leadership…

I do not believe ANY of these leaders, be it Putin, Zelenskyy, Biden, Boris Johnson, Macron, have demonstrated great leadership. Could Zelenskyy not have come out more forcefully, sooner, to ask for an open assessment of what Putin had issues with? Yes, we can all say it’s all Putin’s fault, but is it? And even if it is, could this all have been de-escalated much sooner? Preventing military intervention must be everyone’s SOLE goal. Where is all the tough-talks now, when ordinary civilians are the ones paying the price for this madness???

None of these leaders have shown great leadership. We simply should not be having these kinds of outcome. Yes, many would argue that attempting diplomacy with Hitler turned into concessions and placation, then war anyway. But surely we now have enough examples to indicate the outcome of wars ain’t great. Should leaders not have a clear approach to these kinds of situations? If sanctions destroy Russia’s economy and their people start to feel the discomfort, their reaction may well be, to support the war instead of opposing it. As was seen with Hitler, it could become a ”see what the world is prepared to do to you” kind of situation…

These supposed ”Leaders” appear to lack the capacity to lead. If you want sanctions to pre-empt a situation, you issue the sanctions BEFORE, as a deterrent, and not AFTER the horse has bolted. The current sanctions will only lead to Russians feeling isolated and that the west treats them differently – after all, we know of other countries that have invaded other countries and those were supposedly ok. Great leadership is when leaders prevent wars!

This morning, we’re reading that some demographics are receiving preferential and hateful treatment in Ukraine. Well, why should that be surprising?

It is an uncomfortable truth, but one that is there for all to see. All the pictures out there to date, show largely women & children being moved to safety. Contrast that with the composition of the crowds supposedly fleeing other wars and you see thousands of strapping young men of fighting-age, purportedly fleeing to safety? You have to defend your country. Much as my position is that we must find means to prevent wars; there should never be a tenable reason to opt for military intervention, but given the inevitability of it, ensuring it doesn’t turn into a people-smuggling bonanza is also highly imperative as many end up being exploited and are unwanted at their intended destinations.

Majority of Ukraine’s men, young men and boys of a fighting age have stayed back, to try to defend their country. Credit to them…

It shouldn’t matter who the aggressor is, or their reason. Genuine or not. There must be an absolute end to one country rolling tanks into another. or a group of countries deciding to roll in. The world has been quick to condemn what we’ve seen this week in Europe. We now need to go and do the same, everywhere else and hopefully bring to an end, these needless military interventions – they never solve anything..

And that, friends, is why we are in an incorrigible, hopeless world! A world set-up solely to exploit!

I am sure those popular words: ”we stand with you”, ”our thoughts and prayers are with you”, will come rolling out shortly, but when you check the list of new billionaires from oil prices going up…..

sad….

We have allowed the world to slide out of control (not that it was ever any better for some I suppose)…

As I have previously written; each country should state its values and rules, for example, the UK is a secular Christian monarchy where we want tidy streets (no fly-tipping or littering) and freedom of speech (but with consequences of course), no censoring and we want people to cone here to live the way we do, abide by our values, contribute positively to our society and come in the legal and orderly way. There are other countries out there where you go to jail if you publicly insult their leader or your twitter feed is constantly monitored and censored – those countries should not be described as barbaric. if that is what they do and it works well for them (or not), who are we to criticise them? BUT people should have a choice, whether or not to live in those countries. There are countries where religion and religious laws apply; again, that should be their prerogative, and those who like such arrangements should head for those countries. Trying to create societies that cater for everything, while dumping on what those countries feel they stand for, is what leads to intolerance and rancour.

The madness that we currently have is doesn’t appear to be working for anyone… except of course, the few people who exploit these situations. Be it populist politicians or others…

There will have to be a reset sooner or later. it is inevitable. You only have to look at what’s presently going on in Ukraine, to see that we are heading for a tragedy..

Human hypocrisy knows no limit. And that applies to all of us. PERIOD!

Quoting from a post I read this morning:

Artificial snow in Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, 49 million gallons of water for the alpine skiing competition alone! While there are thousands of people around the world dying for access to portable water, walking miles daily, to get to usable water. Why in god’s name do we do this? The tournaments can of course be hosted wherever they wish to, but surely, one can host some specific events in a country that’s got snow when the event commences e,g. if the host country is China and there’s no snow, do curling, ice hockey etc. there and move the alpine skiing and other events that require snow to Japan or where ever they have snow aplenty. How difficult is it to do that?!! Instead of this madness! while we go on about saving the planet from climate disaster! And you cannot solely blame China, all the countries represented at the events utilising this artificial snow are as guilty. And for what purpose exactly? So that athletes and countries they represent can show their prowess? PATHETIC!!!

Human beings are hopeless! The hypocrisy is sickening! Personally I have lived my life as an individual for the last 30 odd years being as independent as I can be from a young age and have rid myself of most hypocrisy. I am of course not perfect and indeed, why would one seek to be perfect in such a ridiculously hypocritical world? Just try to be as good a person as you can be, and when you’re not, get on with it. That’s my motto. We are entirely surrounded by hypocrisy!

The World Cup (Soccer) in Qatar later this year will be held in air-conditioned stadiums in the middle of a desert! can you imagine how much energy is going to be wasted?!! The football world and leaders say it is to spread football to less popular parts of the world. FINE, we all support that. Can’t alway be help in Europe and such places, BUT, for goodness sake, can they not just hold the opening match and perhaps the final and a handful of matches in Qatar, while the rest of the tournament is held elsewhere, so that Qatar can use just one venue with these air-conditioned stuff? To cut down on this insane waste of energy!!

While all the above is going on, we are prosecuting some 12-seat cafe or bar some place for using plastic straws!!! SERIOUSLY????!! The hypocrisy is just mind-boggling!

Major European airlines are presently flying empty to retain their slots and routes due to EU regulations.

That is why the attempted persecution of countries like China, for not signing up to some agreements to cut emission etc., is just laughable. All these countries are sat there cheering away, as their athletes ski away on artificial snow as they tally their medal haul, which supposedly makes them superior or special? what a farce!!!

…. clearly, everyone doesn’t. America need to roll out televised shows that breaks down and explains their electoral process to every day Americans

You won’t end the lying and misinformation by calling people stupid!

The way their election results are tallied and made public also needs to change: counting mail-in ballot after displaying election-day figures confuses people and allowed the mischief-makers to exploit that. When you have two main political parties and one favour election-day voting, while the other favour the convenience of mail-in voting, it is dumb, to post the figure from one form of voting before the other. Especially without context. If it is stated that for this State or district, 50% of the vote is expected to be in-person and the rest by postal ballot, with a total vote of say, 100,000 voters, then that’s good context. But nope, they display one party leading by 40% and then several hours later, losing by 5%, and the liars use that to say there has been irregularities, when all that happened is that election-day figures were tallied first and reported, ahead of mail-in. Clearly, this manner of reporting counts has now backfired and has to change. Nothing should be reported till an equal number of election-day and mail-in ballots have been counted

It is now 2022. Very little has been done, to avoid a repeat of 2020 when they get to 2024. is that not dumb?

Sitting about saying, we are right and they are lying is hardly going to be effective is it? GET THE FACTS OUT THERE!!!!

Use past election figures to demonstrate the reality of how this works. Spend the billions America waste on lobbying, on getting BIOMETRIC data collected for EVERY AMERICAN. There are only 335,000,000 Americans, spend $100 on each American, to get all biometric data collected and use that for election-day and mail-in ballots if you wish. Funny thing is: it will likely be the people saying the 2020 election was stolen, who will reject biometric data gathering, the same way they don’t want Covid vaccines. So, perhaps there is indeed no hope for America?

Either way, they do need to take some action NOW!!! or it is certain that every presidential election that the Republican party fail to win going forward, will be declared as stolen. What some of them want, is for voters to be the exact demographic as it was in 1888. That is the real issue that lurks behind the situation today….

It really is nauseating, when human beings try to be too clever!
I suppose people can ask to be called whatever they wish to be called: Sting, Bono, Thandie or Thandiwe etc. With most Chinese folks in the west going from Chuhai to Charles etc. Nothing wrong with trying to blend in or just insisting people make the effort to be ok with difference – and if we all effortlessly learn to pronounce famous names (Tchaikovsky and the likes), a bit of respectful patience could help us pronounce other less famous names and we also somehow learn to pronounce Llewellyn correctly, so why not chukuwami? and Jesus not being the biblical Jesus!

But seriously!!?? what a shower Thandie Newton is!? Absolute hypocrite and attention-seeker. I am assuming all those slaves and descendants who had no choice in the names they were handed, now need to change John to Jabana and Philip to Philidwe to demonstrate their independence and freedom? What utter tosh! When it helped her blend in and succeed, Thandie was handy. How about handing over all the $millions she made as Thandie and then go and start from scratch as Thandiwe and see where that gets her? There is absolutely nothing wrong with pointing out that over the past few decades, and it still ongoing, people have faced disadvantages if they show up looking one way or the other or if their name isn’t Steve or Jane —- there’s been several demos of that over the years, with CVs and how people gain employment or get left behind. But there are other marketing reasons why many actors and actresses want cool-sounding names: Walter Bruce Willis preferring Bruce Willis to Walter Willis and many entertainers just picking new names they deem cooler or their bosses forcing them to do so. And it isn’t just about going from Brumabana to Bruce!

And as for Thandiwe’s tearful apology for being apparently privileged because she says she has lighter skin and should have stood up more for the darker skinned folk: seriously??! what an absolute joke! has there been and is there an ongoing prejudice? of course. But for goodness sake!!! this virtue-signalling is fast becoming worse than the prejudice itself. This creation of another layer, another step, the ”look at me, whites are number one and I am number two due to my light skin and feel so sorry for these darker number threes who are always getting such a raw deal. Well Thandiwe darling, you are now part of the creation and promotion of that “number three” status, whether you know it or not.

Absolutely nothing wrong with her saying, look, I’ve always liked my full name but got lumbered with Thandie for decades, by those who thought Thandie was cooler and blends in better, the same people who told Whitney Houston she needs to straighten her hair to fit in better and sell more records, the same people responsible for the £multibillion skin bleaching industry today? and for the caste system in India or for Eileen Gu being more marketable than Naomi Osaka?, and now that I can afford to kick back against all that, I will insist on being called Thandiwe and perhaps, shine some light on this issue.
What she may need to note, is that there are still many Thandiwes out there, who cannot yet afford rejecting Thandie. Just look at criticism of the superbowl half-time show this week: go figure…

There are people without arms, legs, eyesight etc. out there , who are getting on with life. Others with disabilities with people laughing at them etc. Our dear Thandiwe’s sitting about crying about lightness of skin and all that cack! Yes, it is horrible to be ill-treated differently because of the colour of your skin BUT for fig’s sakes!!! there’s a lot more going on out thee Thandiwe! get off your shallow horse and get real!!!!

But seriously, what is to be achieved? Yes, there are issues, but NO, Thandiwe, No, no, no. Make your personal choices but give it a bloody rest please! millions of dutch, scandinavian, polish, jewish and other settlers anglicised their names over the years and yes, perhaps not in an effort to be accepted or as the necessary step to get by, but jeez! ease up Thandie or Thandiwe! give it a rest PLEASE!!!!

We are creating a society that seeks to straight-jacket us all! But sadly, with no real progress in areas that matter e.g. police brutality in America, mishandling of immigration – leading to increase in intolerance etc.

It is apparently ok for black and brown ladies to wear long blonde wigs but it is cultural appropriation when a white lass does corn-row…

I wonder if that extends to Arabs wearing suits and ties?

It is a tad confusing. perhaps I need to read up on it some…?

Cultures should, in my opinion, be accessible to whoever’s keen on it. Should never be a one way street!

Helen Miren is currently being criticised for playing Golda Meir in a film because she isnt Jewish. Is this whole caper not called ACTING?
For some reason, Idris Elba can’t possible play the FICTIONAL character, James Bond. Why don’t we get a real donkey to play donkey in the next Shrek, and a real fish tomplay Nemo? I see no bloody reason why Eddie Murphy couldn’t play JFK and Steve Carell play Mandela! it’s all ACTING for pete’s sake!!! I can accept an argument on the basis of creating roles to ensure others get roles, BUT surely, if acting is what it is, i.e. acting, why do we need to be so bothered about matching faces or features. Just get on with the blooming acting!
Kids have the right idea with their ’make belief’, where literally anything can represent anything, and they’re good to go!

We’re heading nowhere fast, with these daft concepts….

This week has seen fresh talks in the UK about this subject and I will now add my two cents worth!

Nobody alive today is in a position to offer a meaningful apology for the transatlantic slave trade. PERIOD. Anyone who does, is simply being disingenuous.

Similarly, NOBODY in the UK today, living here, is not a beneficiary of slavery – whether you’re black, white or whatever other colour’s in use. Most of what we have today, be it schools, universities, our strong financial system, our economy, our way of life, ALL benefited from those centuries of cheap labour. CHEAP as it wasn’t free – some evil folk were paid for each slave.

The problem we have today is that people continue to spout rubbish. Critical Race Theory? bollocks! You don’t need any theory to understand the economics and depravity of what went on back then and how it has impacted people. The wilful distabilisation of a continent, to promote strife and conflict, leading to sale of hundreds of thousands of people. The ongoing distabilisation of that same continent – for a different set of reasons today. The way schools should teach slavery is simple: no race on earth, no nation, has escaped the clutches of slavery in human history. We have all been enslaved at one point or the other. The most recent and therefore, most savagely vivid example, being the transatlantic slavery of the 1500s to the 1800s but that is only one era of slavery. And for those who wonder why the church didn’t intervene – after all the head of the church of England is the King or Queen – well, if you ask that question, it means you have never read the Bible. Slavery dates back to biblical days and was sanctioned as a winner takes it all concept. So, no chance of religion stepping in to try to stop it in the 1500s or later. You only have to look at the religious status of slave owners in America to reach an accurate conclusion.

It happened. It was vile. It fed into what we all now have today, whichever way one is to look at it. So, tearing down the statue of a slave-trader can only be meaningful, if we also hand back centuries of societal benefits and the infrastructure that was built on the back of those poor slaves. Clearly not feasible right? Well, what then??

Heinous things were done to the transatlantic slaves and many of the surviving photos are shocking, BUT why do we expect the perpetrators or their descendants to be horrified? I doubt there is anything done to these slaves that hadn’t been done before at Newbury prison and other 14th, 15th century prisons in the UK (all the famous de-bowelling, hung-drawn-quartered etc,) done to each other as it were, so doing those things to African slaves was very readily done and mist likely without any second thoughts whatsoever. What is more concerning, is the TODAY, hundreds of years later, we still have some crude and primitive means of torture, which is inexcusable. Including extra-judicial killings by the police in America, mass incarceration of drug peddlers while the consumers go unpunished etc,

Anyone who thinks someone will denounce or renounce what Britain got from trading slaves, when we are still refusing to hand over more recent items from the days of the empire e.g. the Elgin marbles, need their heads testing! Yes, you will readily find many who are appalled by the brutality of slavery and are keen to join statue-toppling protests, but when you lay out how they have and still benefit (and we all still do) from slavery, you will get nothing from them, other than conjecture. It is impossible to uncouple the impact of hundreds of years of slave labour and revenues from it, from what we still enjoy today. So, what would an apology be worth? NOTHING!

We just have to move on. Teach history with some blooming perspective and not in a manner that continue to make some people feel like victims in the 21st century.

Your ancestors were enslaved. All ancestors have been enslaved at one point or the other through history. Move on. Let’s focus on today’s problems, and if some of those problems are still directly linked to slavery and/or colonialism (which is indeed the case), the solution is clearly not where people keep looking, which is why it has dragged on for this long….

I do not know enough about Russia or Putin, to make any honest/informed statement about whether or not he is evil. Same for Xi of China. I do not know enough to sit in judgement.

But history will tell us that the times we have tried to remove supposedly ”evil” leaders, the result hasn’t been encouraging and the collateral damage remain till today: Saddam, Gaddafi etc. – yes, horrid folks, but what’s been the aftermath?

But seeing the likes of Macron of France, turning this into an ego-boosting Photo opportunity, smiling like a cheshire cat next to Putin, on his supposed trip to Moscow to sort the Ukraine stand-off, is stomach-churning! We do not want another war. And yes, various leaders wading in now, to pre-empt this needless conflict is good, but this is no photo-op moment!

It is fairly obvious that if the west can change the hypocritical and baseless narrative that always seek to paint Putin as a monster, he will also change his stance. I do not believe Russia want another war either – it is such a needless waste of life! But for Europe to depend so heavily on Russian gas – and willingly take it, but continue to make the guy out as this hairy monster, is clearly hypocritical. If you don’t like or trust the guy, stop supping-up his gas!!!

Almost every item you get from Amazon (an American giant by the way) is ’made in China’. It seems the rest of the world have downed tools and stopped production! So, while we are happy to consume their products, why disparage them?? Trump called Covid a Kung-flu and his audience cheered. But you visit each of their homes and you’ll find Amazon-delivered ’made in China’ products!

I am not for a minute saying Russia and China are faultless, quite frankly, I do not know. But what I do know, is that no country is faultless – we all have our demons. Be it prisons full of minorities (and their crime largely being supply of drugs that our posh university students consume!) or other stuff. But it is so easy to point at Russia or China…

Safe to say good & bad emanate from every country. Salisbury Novochok poisoning was horrid, but some will say that so is an allegation of weapons of mass destruction that were never found but the death toll piled up high. I am not sure what the solution is, after all we already have a United Nations (not sure what impact they have though…). How can countries make war an option that is NEVER taken up?

If the west change our approach and rhetoric, a great deal more will be achieved in getting Russia and China to perhaps re-assess their approach too. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Crimean, Ukraine…. there has to be a peaceful means of sorting these matters…

Maybe I am just too naive and the world simply can’t be at peace…

Awesome Sadio. Well done..

Seems to work well for the elite. Followed by an apology when written proof such as emails or photos are produced.

….”my recollection differ from that or from his or hers“. I wonder what the verdict will be, if a thief’s defense in court is that he has no recollection of stealing what he’s seen stealing on CCTV?

But such is the predicament we find ourselves in. Our politicians now seek to get away with blatant lies with that phrase: ”I do not recall…”, well, let me jog your memory with a few photos and emails. The next line will be: ”I have been assured that no rules were broken”. What that means, is that someone else shall carry the can for it! Afterall, I didn’t lie to you, I was assured that is the truth, so, don’t blame me when it turns out to be yet another lie!

Plain speaking has never been our strongest point and we wrap around fancy words. BUT surely, when someone holds a public office they must know that the level of scrutiny that comes with that, will require a fair bit of plain-speaking? or perhaps not..

A government is not or should not be an individual right?

But now, everyone’s coming out taking pot shots at Boris Johnson. Where were they 4, 3, 2 years ago?

The story is ALWAYS the same. Human beings are natural users! Once you’re no longer deemed useful, they turn on you.

It matters little whether or not you are a fan of Boris or not. He was useful for Brexit (regardless of whether or not him wading in was a self-seeking, opportunistic move) as he lent credibility to a movement led by fringe folks with scant credibility. Ok, the 80-strong Tory majority he delivered after Theresa May was kicked to the turf, could have been achieved by a donkey, given how poor the opposition was. From the final days of Gordon Brown – who should never have been Prime Minister as he was not electable as his only general election proved – to Ed Milliband who is a great guy but was never going to be a Prime Minister in a million years, to an even greater human being, Jeremy Corbyn who was never going to be a Prime Minister in a trillion years, to the present leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, who is probable a very genuinely nice guy, but is never going to be electable as Prime Minister. A very long list of individuals that the Tories must be delighted to see heading the opposition. David Milliband or similar, is what the labour party need to go and dig up, to stand a chance. I mean, half the work has already been done for them by the current bumbling of this government. A donkey could win a general election against Boris right now. Unfortunately, not Kier Starmer or the other alternatives the labour party think they have – they are not electable.

But back to the Boris situation. Did he just become what people are saying he is? NO. So, it was ok, when he was of use? they were all happy to accept him as he is, when he was of use right?

The Tory MP who defected to Labour last week would have us believe he has now only just seen the light? What a joke!

Yes, holding parties at 10 Downing Street while churning out rules to the rest of us, will likely bring this government down and end Boris’ run as PM, BUT for people to start coming out now, to nail him to the mast and say he is unfit for office, when they all lapped it up over the years as he delivered the stuff they all lapped up (including an 80-seat majority, vanquishing the Labour red wall etc.) just shows you the horrible side of us humans. But then, Boris should have seen it coming shouldn’t he?

Where are the world’s so-called elder statesmen?

Does it really matter who’s wrong or right? One can partly understand WWII as an individual decided to take the world on and declared war. Nobody has as of today, declared war in Ukraine; so, why don’t we try to de-escalate now?????

Instead, it’s threats of sanctions and reprisals. Ok, maybe that will work. But what if it doesn’t? Are we going to march off to yet another war?

Look at Libya today. Iraq, Syria….. do they now have democracy? safety? what exactly is the improvement that’s been achieved? thousands of refugees left, right and centre..

I do not have the answers, BUT can the big names out there not speak up now and try to find a means of solving this problem in Ukraine before we’re all at war again??

A teenager plays her first ever grand slam, does well, plays her second (US Open), wins it; yeah, WINS IT. ok, possibly a fluke plus some very fortunate absentees. BUT she still won it. Thousands of players play their entire careers without ever winning a single grand slam.

She is still only a teenage and regardless of her current form, she will win more tournaments sooner or later. And if she doesn’t, she would still have achieved more than most, in winning her 1 x grand slam.

One hit wonder? so what? that is still one hit more than several other players!

Perhaps not in our nature?

Recent revelations of Members of Parliament taking on second and third jobs, jobs that may or may not be a Conflict of Interest – but certainly jobs they would never have been offered, were it not for them being MPs – so, make what you want if that.., makes it quite clear that very few now go into MP roles with a view to be of service to the public. Or at best, the public service aspect is now a sideshow.

If you think about people who got drafted into the army during wars. That is public service. No choice and many didnt even understand what the war was about.

The role of MPs in how our democracy functions, is critical and I am sure some of them put themselves forward in order to keep that going and to serve. But seriously??! how can we now be in the muddle we presently are in? with photos of rule-breaking parties and even the opposition leader has been photographed having drinks with his staff; he says no rules were broken. BUT for goodness sake! can these folks not find something else to do in their spare time during this pandemic??????!!!!! why sit about having drinks regardless of what the bloody rules are?? if you are the leader of the opposition and you know how these optics can be twisted and how these stories can be used to question your credibility. Why in god’s name can he not just bloody drink at home with his family??? just till this pandemic’s sorted. If a member of his staff has an event or needs cheering up, meet up for coffee!!! The entire situation has become so pathetic! just think of the distraction!!!!

These are clearly now JUST paid jobs and descriptions such as ’public service’, ’civil servants’ need to be scrapped or simply limited to those who are truly providing service!

Baffled!

If one is happy to host a tennis competition in the middle of a pandemic – supposedly to entertain people and keep things moving – why would you not want the world’s best tennis player there?

You can get the guy to take a Covid test twice or three times a day. If as it were, he has already arrived in Australia, get him to self-isolate (apart from mixing with his team of staffers) for the duration of the event and take daily tests as a minimum – if he doesn’t test positive, what is the harm? YES, the chap was very arrogant in thinking he can just waltz into Australia with some ill-scripted exemption, but I doubt he would have expected to become a political pawn..

The reasoning that he may give voice to anti-vaxxers or his presence leading to unrest in Australia, is perhaps the most bizarre argument I have heard in years! You only have to conduct a very basic investigation, to find that most likely a majority of government officials have been flouting the Covid rules. Or is there anyone dumb enough to think it is only the UK’s 10 Downing Street staff throwing lockdown parties?!

When Covid broke out, governments around the would could have shut borders but didn’t. Can Covid be spread by vaccinated people? I believe the answer is Yes? So, they depot a guy who hasn’t rested positive because they wanted to make a point? if only the vaccinated can travel, make that mandatory – but nobody seems to have the guts to do so. I am fully vaccinated and will gladly take future jabs, but I fail to see the need for this persecution of those who choose not to be vaccinated – when what should be mandatory is proof of whether or not you have the virus (how to make the provision of such proof reliable, is where governments should have focused months ago) and as we have seen, some will still flout whatever rule is put in place – and in the UK, it appears it is those putting those rules in place that are flouting it without any penalty

Yes, all the crap being stated by Djoko’s father and the rest, is just that: CRAP. He just fell victim to political games that’s all. He should have been smart enough to ensure the event organisers confirmed all aspects before jetting out to Australia. There is no conspiracy nor attempt to put Serbia down. Australian politicians simply say an opportunity to use him in scoring cheap points and they couldn’t pass it up. It is very similar to how we use every crime committed by a foreigner, to say we should kick all foreigners out. Forgetting all the crimes locals also regularly commit.

This is the sad, sad state the world is in today. But in truth, that is the sad state the world has always been in, the only difference is that social media and tech now get these stories out there at record speed…

For a country largely made-up of immigrants (Australia) to behave the way they now behave, is truly tragic. But not at all surprising.

Canadian tennis player Vasek Pospisil wrote: “Novak would never have gone to Australia if he had not been given an exemption to enter the country by the government (which he did receive; hence Judge Kelly’s initial ruling). He would have skipped the Australian Open and been home with his family and no one would be…talking about this mess. There was a political agenda at play here with the elections coming up which couldn’t be more obvious. This is not his fault. He did not force his way into the country and did not “make his own rules”; he was ready to stay home.”

This is an individual who doesn’t require a passport to travel. An individual who is old enough to have witnessed an era in which her ancestors directly ruled a huge chunk of the world. But above all, this is someone who could choose to ignore these rules if she wanted to. BUT instead, chose to be an example.

I am not a royalist, but you don’t need to be, to respect a frail old but powerful lady who still wants to live by example and lead by example.

So, what excuse could be tenable, for the recent and ongoing revelations of partying that was allegedly going on at 10 Downing Street during the supposed lockdown???

Madness!

The issue here, is not about anti-vaxxers or the principles around the need for people to get the jab etc. How on earth can a civilised country get into this kind of embarrassing situation?????

A daft battle of egos between their government and the organisers of the tennis event. With Djokovic caught in-between. Not entirely faultless, given his needless coyness relating to the vaccine, BUT still, the adults in the room should be the Aussie government and their event organiser.

A World Number 1 tennis player who has for a while been known to oppose vaccination and has never said he has been vaccinated, says he has been granted a medical exemption, tells everyone he is heading to Australia, is allowed to board a flight (just think about this: if you don’t have a visa to enter Australia, will an airline let you get on the flight from your departure point?)

If Australia’s Prime Minister has so much time on his hand to comment about this, while his country is being ravaged by Covid, could he not have come out the day Djokovic was about to leave Dubai for Australia, that he needs to head home as Australia won’t let him in? If he (the Australian PM) cares so much about his country, would he not have pre-empted this embarrassment by just saying ”exemption or no exemption, Australia will not allow any non-vaccinated entry”. Djokovic could then have stayed in Dubai and started legal action from there, if he wants to challenge

To lock a World Number 1 tennis player in a refugee hotel and think that demonstrates toughness or Australian principles or anything else, is just idiotic:

1. The event (Australia Open) promotes Australia and prima donna or not, Djokovic’s presence elevates the event
2. The usual objection to ”one rule for some and another for others” is a semi-illiterate’s folly. Of course it is one rule for some and another for others. When has life never been that? Some of us who are not part of the elite, just have to deal with it. That is what it is. Anyone who thinks politicians and rich people are ever going to face the same treatment or challenges as us mere mortals is either a semi-illiterate or just an idiot. So, Djokovic is well within his right as a rich elite, to think he is above the laws that us mere mortals have to comply with: that’s how they (the elite) all see it and that’s the privilege they have always enjoyed
3. Why is the Prime Minister of Australia commenting on this? can he do the same for the thousands of refugees and asylum seekers they have in Australia? if not, why not? After all, he is saying Djokovic should be treated just as every other traveller right? so why isn’t he giving us his thoughts on every person denied entry into Australia? this is all just political point-scoring.. And pathetic at best

The saga makes Australia look like a third world country where individuals can just make it up as they go along. They will now perhaps try to overrule the common sense judgement handed down by a judge today, confirming Djokovic is to be let alone. Madness indeed!!!

I would like to think the UK government unlikely to get into such a dumb situation as we approach Wimbledon later in the year. They would likely have applied common sense immediately. Either stop the guy from leaving where he was (Dubai) or let him in, if he has arrived and does indeed have the exemption, which he clearly has, as your event organisers confirmed it!!

You hear the phrase: ”this country that my ancestors fought and died for“ fairly frequently in the UK. And more so when you come across groups of semi-illiterates or in underprivileged parts of the country. These folks seem to think that only brits died to keep us free….?

A quick google search will yield the following basic information:

DEATHS BY COUNTRY
 

Country	Military Deaths	Total Civilian and Military Deaths
Albania	30,000	30,200
Australia	39,800	40,500
Austria	261,000	384,700
Belgium	12,100	86,100
Brazil	1,000	2,000
Bulgaria	22,000	25,000
Canada	45,400	45,400
China	3-4,000,000	20,000,000
Czechoslovakia	25,000	345,000
Denmark	2,100	3,200
Dutch East Indies	—	3-4,000,000
Estonia	—	51,000
Ethiopia	5,000	100,000
Finland	95,000	97,000
France	217,600	567,600
French Indochina	—	1-1,500,000
Germany	5,533,000	6,600,000-8,800,000
Greece	20,000-35,000	300,000-800,000
Hungary	300,000	580,000
India	87,000	1,500,000-2,500,000
Italy	301,400	457,000
Japan	2,120,000	2,600,000-3,100,000
Korea	—	378,000-473,000
Latvia	—	227,000
Lithuania	—	353,000
Luxembourg	—	2,000
Malaya	—	100,000
Netherlands	17,000	301,000
New Zealand	11,900	11,900
Norway	3,000	9,500
Papua New Guinea	—	15,000
Philippines	57,000	500,000-1,000,000
Poland	240,000	5,600,000
Romania	300,000	833,000
Singapore	—	50,000
South Africa	11,900	11,900
Soviet Union	8,800,000-10,700,000	24,000,000
United Kingdom	383,600	450,700
United States	416,800	418,500
Yugoslavia	446,000	1,000,000

Among those are the ancestors of many people we now refuse entry to the UK or when they walk out streets, they get told to ”go back where you came from”.

The so called ”WORLD WAR” brought the world together to confront hate. Soon as the war ended, we broke ranks and the world swiftly switched back into ”your country”, ”my country” and you only have to see the pattern of the countries that retained wealth versus those who are now in abject poverty.

Amongst those who gave their lives so that the UK could avoid the clutches of Hitler and his goons, were tens of thousands of people who had never been to the UK. Their descendants are some of those ”foreigners” we now despise so much, when they walk our streets today. 87,000 Indians as an example….

Britain’s contribution and sacrifice is unquestionable and I get irritated when the French refuse to acknowledge this (if brits had caved-in or formed a similar nazi-leaning vichy govt…) or when historians forget the fact that in the end, someone had to standup to Hitler, for others to join. And if Britain hadn’t been the one to stand up to him, the course of history may well have been tragically different. In addition, the loss of nearly 400,000 british lives, is in itself, a massive per capita toll. But our ancestors didn’t do it without the 87,000 indians who died, other commonwealth folk etc. None of those millions who died fighting hate during WWII would believe where we got to in 2016 with Trump and his hateful supporters taking over America or where we are today, when you read some if the vile comments people put on chats and spout on our streets. 27 illegal immigrants wash up on our shores a few weeks ago and we just shrugged and carried on spouting hate. How can this be where we have ended up after all that sacrifice made in 1939 – 1945???

Our politicians continue to sit back and oftentimes provoke hate for political gain, when we should relentlessly stamp it out. As I have repeatedly written on here, borders must be made secure and immigration should be via due process, BUT hate and abuse/discrimination must never be allowed to become acceptable in our society; there are no credible excuses for tolerating hate. Others died to keep us free, not just brits! While that doesn’t mean they can now all move here (i.e. their descendants), when they are here, they should never be exposed to or have to up with hate and bigotry!

I don’t know the details of what JK Rowling has been saying about transgender folk or whatever else she is said to have done, BUT surely, to hold a Harry Potter reunion event and block her, is a farce right?!

It would appear that actors whose career is already in its twilight and have nothing else to prove e,g. Robbie Colchrane were the only ones bold enough at the reunion to praise JK. Any Harry Potter actor present at this event in JK’s absence is an ingrate!

If they disagree with JK’s views on the transgender matter, they are within their rights to say so. BUT to swan around, attending a reunion event that she was not involved in, is pathetic. It’s like saying the world must distance itself from drinking tea because Hitler liked tea! It really is that pathetic! We can all understand that going around promoting copies of Mein Kampf as a best seller may be frowned upon or construed as sharing Hilter’s views, but turning down tea because he used to drink tea or refusing to breath air because Hilter used to breath air, is what most would agree is ridiculous!

So, if JK Rowling is deemed to have transgressed, fine. Feel free to crucify her or burn copies of her books that you previously bought (if you want to be so foolish) or refuse to follow her on twitter. BUT surely, you cannot ”un-read” the Harry Potter books you have read nor ”un-watch” the films right?

I am not a Harry Potter fan. Never read any of the books and haven’t watched any of the films. But seriously!!! we need to be better! To see a bunch of idiots who made millions and became stars thanks to JK’s books, gather for a reunion that she wasn’t present at, is laughably pathetic

Whatever anyone think of JK’s stances, you cannot seek to dissociate her genius/writing from the product (movies) of her work.

Apart from her obvious and ill-advised attempt to overhaul or upend or modernise our monarchy, what crime is Meghan Markle guilty of?

She is constantly vilified at a similar level to a serial killer or a child molester, by the rough end of the British public, the exact ones who should see her as a beacon of hope. Why?

Envy. Pure and simple

It eats at you, right to your core.

I’m sure you’ve all had the experience of a chat by the coffee machine in the office, when a colleague mentions another colleague has just bought an awesome house and instead of feeling pleased for him or her, as most of us would be, you get that one colleague whose retort would be: how old is he/she? (trying to reassure themselves that they are younger than the colleague who bought a house and in time, they will buy a house too).

I had never heard of the TV show called ’suits’ and most Brits probably hadn’t before Meghan turned up. But does that mean she was a Z-listed or rags-to-riches story? NO. Many in the UK today have never heard of ’Seinfeld’. But automatically, she had to be a gold-digger. None of us had heard of Kate Middleton nor the Middletons, wealthy as they are, prior to her showing up with William. But she couldn’t possibly be in it for anything else other than love (which is perhaps true) why? because society just assumes an American divorcee who is an actress on a show we haven’t heard of, cannot possibly be in it for love. Had to be a gold-digger, a manipulator. We immediately and conveniently forgot Harry’s past steely resolve and single-mindedness that previously made him the darling of the masses. Now he is just that easily manipulated empty head that the Meghan puppet-master has been able to twist around her little finger. Very convenient indeed.

But what is most shocking, is the way this convenient and very deliberate narrative has been allowed to build-up. And to what end exactly? What conclusion are people hoping for exactly? And why should such a conclusion be pleasurable to any decent human being?

The unrelenting hounding…

What exact ending is being sought?

You look at Meghan’s family; they all thought they had an average actress sister, of whom they were mildly jealous, but just as we feel, when we see a very nice car and a footballer pops out of it and you breath a sigh of relief, because you would hate for it to me any day-to-day hardworking person like yourself, but are ok with it being a footballer or a golfer. But suddenly, she pops up into super-stardom by landing a prince (and not just any prince, and English one..), and the rush of envy was just too much for them to bear. Why couldn’t it have been me her half-sister thought? Forgetting she never even made it as far as ‘suits’. And what has followed, with all the telltales and harmful stories have been nothing short of horrifying. I am sure that if Meghan’s kids ever sent a Christmas card to these vile creatures, their very first thought would be how to use it to get on a TV show or sell yet another story. While some blame the press for sniffing around and motivating them, I do not think the press forced any of these vile creatures into deciding the path to take with their horrifying stories and attempt to paint Meghan as an evil, manipulative creature – that was all driven by ENVY. Period. Now, let us assume Meghan is everything they say she is, and worse. Let us assume she is evil, manipulative, a gold-digger etc., well, Harry has made his bed, so, why not just let him find it all out on his own? What exactly do one get from ”I told you so?’. The behaviour of the Markle family towards Meghan, is just unimaginably deplorable. There is absolutely nothing, NOTHING she could have done to her Father, her half-sister and half-brother, to justify any of their action or words. Not including them in her life? feeling better than them? not inviting them to her wedding? turning her nose up at them? taking their money? I mean, none of those actions justify any of the stuff they have been putting out there about her. The entire saga just goes to show exactly how low human beings and society at large, can descend

Even those who have for years voiced their opposition to having a monarchy this day and age, suddenly jumped on the bandwagon of calling out a supposed social-climber in Meghan.

She’s a social climber. So what? How many of those criticising that would have turned down the same opportunity?????

Could she and should she have sat down to better understand (instead of stupidly thinking she is now here to sort it all out! just like most of the twitter-generation think they can sort out the past, knock statues down and make every past wrong right) what our monarchy is all about? should she have kept her head down and accepted that once you decide to opt in, you need to observe the rules, the etiquettes, the tradition? YES, YES and YES. But nothing she has done or will do, and no matter how things end for her, justify the envy-fuelled hate and nastiness that has been visited on her by all and sundry. No human being deserves that. I truly hope all parties will shortly calm the hell down. That she will get off her high horse and adjust to what being part of the british royal family requires (for the sake of her wellbeing and her kids) and that her horrid family will just melt away or at least stop talking about her (we’ve all heard enough) and that the rest of society find something else to fixate on (and yes, that cuts both ways).. Nobody decent stands to gain anything from this relentless hounding of Meghan…

….. but anyone with half a brain will know why this will never abate. MONEY! clicks, tweets, press coverage….. this has become pure gold and were she (Meghan) to become a nun and move into a remote nunnery somplace, people will still find stuff to say and print and sell. Her father will say she is a fake, insincere nun and pictures of her shaking hands with the devil when she was 2 years old will be leaked. There is never going to be an end to this…..

Just think about this for a minute: even if Meghan was the greatest lying schemer the world has ever seen, does that make her immune to mental health impacts, when you have your Father going out there spouting all sorts about your life and saying you are fake and horrible. That is in itself, enough to cause anyone (regardless of how tough and evil you are) mental health issues. BUT the minute she raises the issue, out pop the trolls again, claiming she is pretending and she could not possibly have any mental health stress because the superhuman power that liars have, is impervious. Seriously??!!! Society is truly finished! Hate has definitely won (at least at present). Pathetic really!!

Food banks are not enough

eradicating poverty is easily doable but won’t be done. So, how about simple, practical solutions?

Supermarkets discard tons of food every week. Clothes store burn out of date clothes! SERIOUSLY???!!!! There are hundreds of empty government buildings around the country. BUT hey! we want to be horrible as deterrent! We’re worried that if we help, more people will seek help…

I am not a socialist and I understand that individuals should avoid drugs and other issues that contribute to becoming homeless. I also understand that the government cannot be expected to fix every problem, BUT seriously!!! Just look at our defence budgets, cost of wars etc. All taxpayer funded. Yes, we need defence budgets as there are enemies out there, BUT we have more than enough resources to create new industries, more jobs, train people up, get the minimum wage up etc.

There is absolutely no reason for us to have the present levels of poverty in developed countries. As for homelessness, shame on all of us!

Just read ’Curb your enthusiasm’s Larry David’s article describing Christmas as an absolute joke, a farce and an environmental disaster. Couldn’t agree more.. Some will say, ”well, he’s Jewish”. Sure, but Jewish holidays are not mandatory public holidays here, and they do jot heap pressure on everyone like Christmas do…

Many years ago, after school, I wanted to be a writer and I took 2 years off to travel the world, to decide what I will write about. What I saw around the world left me totally empty and will haunt me till my very last day on earth. Words fail me. I still struggle to understand or describe how entitled we feel, when we saunter around the world, waiting to be served, expecting service because we can pay for it. You see glitzy towns and a step off the main streets you see hungry children digging through dustbins to find food to eat.

We created a monetary system and financial sectors that ensure the same old traditional supremos remain in control, while the rest of the world are locked in, under that financial control, as the supremos hand them loans. You have the likes of Greece, Ireland and pretty much every so-called third-world country owing billions. And hey! that all makes sense but Cryptocurrency doesn’t. Bitcoin is doomed, it is based on nothing, it has no value, yap, yap, yap. Well, what value exactly has the monetary system that has kept so many countries in abject poverty for so long???? Much as I am not an advocate of Cryptocurrency and do not know anything about it, it makes as much sense as the present rigged financial systems we have, which brilliantly keeps the poor countries poor. They produce, they have natural resources, but we allow their leaders to embezzle billions (why? and where do they stash those funds?). Why do we have so many poor and homeless in the UK, US and other developed countries? – are we saying we lack the resources to eradicate poverty here? People are hungry, even as large stores throw unsold food away weekly.

Now, what has all the above got to do with Christmas one may ask?

It has everything to do with it. It is the same narrow mindedness that led to the creation of a convoluted, fake period where lonely people feel even more lonely and desolate (read an article in the Guardian this morning about the hopelessness felt by single folk at Christmas), but hey! what do we care? You do You. There are all sorts of excuses out there: it’s tradition (whose tradition?), it’s religious (ok. and where is religion when the next lonely person commit suicide as they dread the arrival of Dec?), it’s just a time to be merry (ok – but so many do not have the wherewithal to be merry and are under pressure). But hey! we can’t change the world….

Personally, I just try to be as sensible as I can: i don’t fuss about Christmas or New Year or Birthdays or any other celebration. BUT I try not to ruin it for others, if they wish to. I try to keep my perspective, while avoiding fouling it for those who derive pleasure from these celebrations. But it does reemphasise the reason the world will always be exactly as it is …… our selectiveness and NIMBY attitude means we will continue to look away when inconvenient truth stare us in the face..

….. and a merry xmas to you all (ha ha) .

You can’t find a more unscientific phrase than the phrase ’trust the science’.

The whole purpose of science is to use logic to establish facts and visible solution. The minute it becomes just a matter of ’trust’ without clearly laid out evidence, it has become a religion

Some say it us undisputed that lying is something human beings do best (then we lie about not lying), but we decide which lies are acceptable e.g. we start early by telling children about Father Christmas or Santa Claus and we weave in a bunch of lies and people get to sell all sorts of Christmas merchandise and ensure this fabrication never ends – but it keeps children happy we tell ourselves, then we later tell the same children that life isn’t about materials etc. We laboriously manipulate and hijack a middle eastern story of a messiah, turn him caucasian, come up with convincing images of Jesus and compose a bunch of songs to go with it. But hey, those are ok lies we say. Personally, I am never one to judge, if that works for many – and it appears to – good for them. Carry on. But with science, when there’s a pandemic and we initially ignore it as a Chinese thing, then it’s all about washing your hands with soap for 20 secs, then wearing masks, then standing 2 metres apart, then staying at home (lockdown), then vaccination followed by more vaccination, then boosters likely followed by more boosters and then out pops variants and we now face likely more lockdown shortly. And NO, nobody should question the science, just trust the science…

It’s like climate change; we can all see the changes happening. Can scientists gather data, compare past occurrences and speak coherently? NO. What we end up with is a bunch of bored teenagers saying more needs to be done and the minute anyone seeks to ask them an intelligent question, the reaction is: ”how dare you question a child?”. Environmental Engineering was part of my degree at university and I am a strong believer in the urgent, critical need to tackle climate change and that so many human activities are a major contributing factor e.g. reckless use of fossil fuels, pollution, how we use & discard plastic, other waste etc. BUT I believe questions MUST always be allowed. Science must not become a matter of blind faith and trust without any question allowed. Science cannot be taken over by barely educated teenagers no matter how passionate they are or however convincing their speeches and twitter following. Science is stronger with questioning

Like so many others, I have taken my Covid vaccines and booster, to ensure our health system isn’t chronically crippled, with beds taken up by Covid patients, while other illnesses are pushed aside and surgeries postponed etc. And I have complied fully with all social-distancing rules at all times and will continue to do so – regardless of all the stories of affluent people ignoring these rules – to ensure its controlled. BUT what is frustrating is that similar to Brexit, society has again been allowed to form these crazy, inflexible faction, which has now symbolised the social media generation, with facts out of the window, replaced by horrific lies and the science that should drive a prudent set of actions that could help us all, is what suffers irretrievably. I believe that if the implications are better explained, there may well be no need for the spread of some of the dumb conspiracy theories out there and most of the crazy anti-vaxxers may understand that taking the jabs is not just about the individual but helps prevent the spread to others who are more vulnerable, takes up hospital beds that could have saved other lives etc. But similar to Brexit, madness has taken over. Britain quitting the EU was a very necessary move, but not for the lies that were and are still being told, but solely because the EU has become a pointless redtape run by people with their own agenda that has very kittle to do with the reasons the EU was created. But in order to sell the exit, whipping up hate via false narratives was seen as the quickest, easiest route – and it proved quite effective. Would the brexit vote have favoured quitting the EU if the campaigners had stuck with just facts? Probably not – so, perhaps like the Santa Claus example, they simply did what had to be done to get Britain out and the means justifies the end? —- they probably think so. Either way the reaction of EU and the aftermath, firmly underline the fact that brexit was very timely and necessary – if the EU was such an awesome organisation to be a part of, why did they have to be so hateful when Britain decided to leave? (a decision that was made democratically via a formal referendum by the people, and whether or not they were lied to, is beside the point, a vote was conducted and that was that) if Britain is set to miss out on EU goodies, should the EU not have just celebrated our exit and joyfully waved us goodbye? – what is the need to make an example of the UK to apparently prevent others exiting? If the EU was such a good thing, would others not just stay? So, one can only assume that the vindictive backlash visited on Britain is just a personal decision of the individuals in charge of the EU? Either way, it only served in demonstrating to Britons that brexit was indeed necessary. I hope that in the coming years, the EU will soften its approach to the UK – what we could have all fought to avoid, was the need to call a referendum in the first place, but we didn’t. Once it was called and the result favoured an exit, WHAT ELSE COULD BE DONE? the same people who are now trying to frustrated implementation of brexit should be the ones trying to focus on dealing with the reasons so many people chose to vote in favour of an exit, but again, we will focus on the wrong things or just ignore it, to later cry over spilt milk! It is exactly the same with Covid – how are so many people believing the dumb conspiracy theories out there? BECAUSE WE ARE FAILING TO GIVE THEM COHERENT FACTS. Yes, some loonies will still believe whatever they want to believe, even with facts in front of them, but why don’t we at least try to get those facts out there? Instead, we sleep-walk, just as David Cameron believed the british population would never vote to exit the EU. With Covid, we now see society again needlessly split, with sides pitched up against each other yet again, while hundreds more continue to die.

Knight of the British ’Empire’, Officer of the British ’Empire’ etc. A few more were awarded this week and the usual objections have been raised by those who ask where this so-called ’Empire’ is?

But really, what is there to complain about?

It is indisputable that the British Empire is an antiquated concept that is now only as real as the existence of the Loch Ness monster or Big Foot, if someone is happy to issue these awards with description ’Empire’ on it and someone is delighted to accept them, what’s the harm?

The fact that Turkey is not issuing Knight of the Ottoman Empire or Greece carrying on with Knight if the Alexander the Great Empire or Italy issuing Knight of the Roman Empire, is perhaps their business. If as we all know it, that Empires come and go, and the British Empire only lives in the minds of a few remaining octo and nonagenarians, why not just leave them to it.

Most multi-generational Brits (a term I use to describe brits whose ancestry date back at least 5 generations – and NO, I do not imply that makes them any more British than a child born yesterday to an immigrant who arrived in Britain last week. But multi-generational Brits bear that burden of thinking they are the only ones who need to defend its history) believe that the British Empire enlightened the dark world by bringing their light and educated savages etc., but are those savages now better off? Would Africans prefer living in caves now and munching on fruits, with the occasional tribal wars and tens of deaths, compared to millions of death from slavery, manipulation leading to bloody wars, all to have a battery-powered cigarette lighter and the ability to add 1 + 1 = 2 and learn about Jesus? It is best to leave Africans to answer that question. Same applies to native inhabitants of Canada, the US, Australian, Brazil etc. Seeking the removal of some visual reminders (by going through the proper channels – not wanton destruction during riots) if some feel strongly about it e.g. statues, is ok, even though I believe removal avails little. But to demand that words such ’Empire’ is removed from awards, when we still have a monarch is pointless. As explained above, nobody is saying a British Empire is still out there, and if anyone thinks or states that, well, good for them. I would like to see him/her stroll across a US Immigration control at JFK without their passport and tell the officer that as an Officer of the British Empire, they can just stroll in. Some points are simply not worthy of debate

Whether or not the British Empire is seen as a brutal period that’s best forgotten like most other past Empires or as an era that brought light to dark parts of the world, fixation on the continued use of the word ’Empire’ in the honours is pointless. The awards can be called whatever the Queen wants to call them and whoever’s happy to accept them should, and those opposed to them have the option to refuse them. But the daft attempt to try to force the removal of the word ’Empire’ is quite frankly, daft.

Today’s daft notion by people with very little intelligence but huge followings on social media, that we can undo the past, rewrite history (history is a flawed concept anyway – always manipulated and told from the perspective of those seeking to manipulate), right every past wrong by knocking down a statue here or there, really is exactly what it is: DAFT. Yes, there used to be a British Empire, yes, that empire, like all others before it, was designed solely to the benefit of those who created it (is that surprising) and yes many would argue it wreaked more ill than good (but as explained above, only those on the receiving end of the brutality would point at the ills). Apologising for it today, is pointless. Can’t be retrospectively fixed nor undone either. So….. let’s move on…

I can understand the pain that some previously colonised people may still feel towards Britain, and the pain that many non-white people still feel about how they are perceived and treated in today’s Britain, BUT let us imagine the reaction if a Brit living in Spain starts demanding an end to Bull-fighting? Perhaps not the best analogy but you catch my drift. Some of the freedoms we all have in the UK today, which includes being able to speak freely, must never be taken for granted. There are practices in every part of the world that could be improved, if we can get to a point where all that’s left to improve in the UK is the use of the word ’Empire’ in a honours award that people can opt out of, if they not interested, then life is good aint it?

Raising awareness is always useful and it is laudable e.g. Movember or charity events etc. And I do believe that people spending a night on the street (albeit in their nice new cosy sleeping bags) is a worthwhile experience BUT has anyone actually asked a homeless person what they think?

Surely, spending a night or two out on the street, while knowing you have a home to go back to, AND the fact that this homelessness experience is of your choosing and when it ends, is also your choice, is in no way a peek into the life of a homeless person whose dilemma is not just about a physical shelter but addictions in some cases, safety (spending a night or two on the street in the company of co-workers with our mobilephones on the ready to dial for help if needed is not the same as being out there permanently with no protection, no help at hand etc), without any healthy food is the real dilemma, apart from the mental aspect, which can never be replicated. That constant feeling of hopelessness, helplessness in a society where we have the resources and means to do something about it but our politicians choose to do nothing, leaving individuals and charities to it. How on earth can anyone explain the large and growing number of homeless people on our streets, in our so-called developed nations???!

Absolutely pathetic!

Society really must change. We can do so much more, to help the unfortunate in our society. It doesn’t matter whether or not it is a self-inflicted situation due to drug use or other reasons. They are where they are and for all the money our governments waste on election campaigns (I mean, just look at how much funding they raise in America to run election campaigns….) and other stuff, it shouldn’t be individuals trying to solve this problem

The reason American prisons are full to capacity with hispanics and blacks have absolutely nothing to do with race or racism. it is pure opportunism. One of the largest money-earners is the business of locking people up: it feeds lawyers, judges, prison-owners, food industry and the list is endless. And the easiest, cheapest groups to incarcerate are the poor and the disadvantaged; people who will not be able to hire sleek lawyers to drag the process; people who are almost certain to keep reoffending – to keep coming back to jail. Their cases last a few minutes in court and the sentences can be harsh, as there will be no public outcry, nobody will protest and the money-making machine rumbles on.

You only have to look at the number of people in jails for selling drugs. If you round-up and imprison the people who buy these drugs – rich, affluent doctors, lawyers, politicians and their kids, the sale of drugs will come to a grind. But NO, for decades, we have continued to ignore those responsible for generating the DEMAND for these banned substances, while concentrating solely on the unfortunate fools who get caught-up in the vicious world of supplying these drugs

The people who go around torturing others in the name of protecting the rest of us, believe they are doing the right thing, the most expedient thing and they go back to their families, sleep well at night, because they have built-up those excuses. The vile lunatics who go around killing people in the name of religion, tell themselves they are doing so, because God told them to do so or to right some supposed wrongs – do we think that if God wanted all of us to be muslims or Christians or Hindu or whatever other religion, that he couldn’t have just done it? Do we really think an all-powerful God needs a bomber to help him spread a religion?

You look at armed robbers; they probably tell themselves society is rotten and you should take what you can; afterall, banks cheat us all, politicians lie to us etc. People wish to leave something for their children etc. But surely, if we all decide to become robbers, none of us will survive right? But individuals will always find the appropriate excuses to permit the evil they decide to engage in and justify their need to do so.

We create countries, we create borders, we create a need to stratify society: rich, poor, educated, illiterate, etc. Some go as far as to create castes: ”untouchables”. How vile. To label another human being as an ”untouchable”. Some countries are safer than others because people choose to observe certain rules. You take for instance, speeding on roads: we all know the speed limits right? And ABUSE – and I do not mean racial abuse; I mean ALL forms of abuse, be it those based on race, body size, age, sexual orientation etc. People engage in hurling abuse for a number of reasons, each with an excuse attached…

But we continue to create these excuses.

You look at the Covid-19 pandemic and the way wealthy countries have monopolised the vaccine. Discarding millions of doses as they expired. You would think that a common adversary such as a virus, would bring us all closer together? instead, it has shown us off for what we are: travel bans on non-consequential countries that governments do not see as capable of standing up for themselves. Fit young men & women shoving old people in supermarkets to grab (and stash) rolls of toilet paper. And we pile up the explanations and excuses..

You will always find a volunteer for any crime, regardless of how heinous. And they will have their reasons: “it was an order and I cannot refuse an order” or ”I did it for my country”. Why has the Biden administration not reviewed & dropped America’s pursuit of Julian Assange? ok, he revealed classified information. I haven’t read the story in full, nor do I know the full details, BUT surely, some compassion could be applied? Try him in absentia, sentence him to a few more years in jail (which he could complete where he is now, in the UK) and that should be ample deterrent for anyone else trying to leak classified data. Assange should of course apologise unreservedly to America – regardless of the efficacy of the data that his organisation leaked, if they are classified, there could be other risks to leaking them and recklessness is never true journalism. As for whistleblowers in general, yes, it is noble to flag up an issue, but breaking laws to do so, is also not right is it? There has to be legal means to object to actions perceived to be wrong – what we cannot have, is a society where people are hired into sensitive jobs, sign an agreement that bar them from leaking security/sensitive information, and then go out there and plaster it all over the internet. There is a great deal going on out there, that individuals should simply refuse to do, but go ahead by making excuses to themselves for doing it and we end up with sale of humans, world wars, holocaust, hate etc. Be it in the name of religion, God, governments, dictators, race (e.g. genocide) etc. At the bottom of it all, you will probably find: financial gain, mental health issues etc.

We are simply who we are: dreadful beings largely.. and we’re bloody good at coming up with excuses….

Humans are possibly the vilest form of life on earth: we are very destructive (also apparently excusable..) and need very little reason to hate on each other (with plenty of excuses to hand..)…

Last week 27 migrants drowned in a single incident on the English Channel. The family if one of the dead migrants said: ”she wanted to make a better life for herself and she chose the UK”…

I find that statement baffling.

she chose the UK? well, the point of entry into the UK is not via an inflatable boat sneaking in via the English Channel is it? Such an needless waste of a promising life!

If you’re not fleeing persecution or war etc., and you choose the UK as a country where you want to live, just fill in the forms and apply for a visa. if the application is rejected, try again, while carrying on with your life as best as you can where you are. The grass isn’t always greener, and falling victim to people-smugglers and ending up at the bottom of the English Channel is an awful way to go…

For the sake of refugees fleeing persecution and other folks genuinely seeking asylum, governments must put an urgent stop to the criminal enterprise of gangs charging unfortunate victims thousands of pounds with the promise of getting them through Europe to the UK or whichever destination. 27 human beings drowning is so terrible that one can only wonder why we are still arguing about whether or not it is Brexit to blame or France – for letting them access the channel so freely. Does it matter???? it doesnt matter who’s at fault, it just needs to be stopped! The UK government, France, the EU must all come together now! to end this madness. Anyone looking to make a better life in the UK, Europe etc., should be able to apply via legal means and those fleeing persecution and seeking refuge, should surely not be ending up at the bottom of the English Channel….

The onus is on us to shut down these illegal points of entry to end these deaths and then facilitate timely processing to end the lure of attempting these risky attempts

Seriously, what is wrong with people these days??!!!!

YES, some will argue we were never any better. But surely, there must be a minimum standard at least in so-called developed countries right?

I was reading about the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse this morning and although the acquittal itself is not surprising to me, what has really got on my nerves this morning, is the stuff being said by elected members of the US Congress – these are politicians elected by the people, supposedly representing the people and being paid by the taxpayer!!! I do not have any issues with the verdict of a jury – right or wrong, that is the system we have and it is what it is. I have no interest in reading the background to the Rittenhouse story BUT two human beings were killed – shot dead by a guy who came from out of town to supposedly protect property from rioting looters – we must assume that the said property is more precious than human life? As it would appear that loss of human life was ok? If we look at the investment that the parents of the two that were killed have made: education, feeding, drives to baseball games etc., love & care… Is this how that investment should end?
I am not interested in whether or not Rittenhouse is guilty or not, the fact is that I am sure there were many others carrying guns that day, who chose not to use it. When will America ban the bringing of guns to gatherings? They can keep their guns and carry it around, BUT surely, there can be a law making it illegal to bring guns to any gathering where there are more than 10 people. Or something along those lines. But the main issue I have, is the fact that sitting members of congress can come out in public and congratulate Rittenhouse and offer him jobs – even if in jest – that really is reprehensible! Two Americans were shot dead. Whether or not it was in self defence and whether or not they were chasing Rittenhouse is beside the point. He shot and killed them. They are dead. Yes, a jury has decided to find him not guilty, that is fine. BUT, what is a US Congressman or Woman doing revelling in this???

Rittenhouse himself will soon find out that it is not a bed of roses being a killer – be it a legal or illegal killing – once you have taken a human life, you will bear that burden for life – regardless of a jury’s verdict. He should be at home, reflecting. Not doing TV interviews, regardless of what he is saying.

It appears American politicians have forgotten that ONCE ELECTED, they are paid from taxes of ALL Americans, not just those who voted for them or just those who agree with them. A congress man or woman represents the congress of the united states of america, not just americans they agree with or who agree with them. Donald Trump coming out to congratulate Rittenhouse is no surprise, he is also an individual who has failed to understand that when you are a president, you represent every American.

This is not even about being partisan or not, what is presently happening in America and happened between 2016 and 2020 is a disgrace to democracy and what democracy stands for. They now have a totally dysfunctional system where their elected politicians are only interested in what they need to do to win the next election and to keep those who vote for them happy. Forgetting that once elected, they should stand for all Americans!

If human life hadn’t become so cheap, Rittenhouse himself would offer to do community service and any human that takes another person’s life should reflect on it, not swan around doing TV interviews or allowing some politicians to turn him into their new emblem. Two people are dead for goodness sake!

It is beyond reprehensible that politicians would come out to start glorying in the verdict of not guilty. Even just out of respect for the dead, this should be a period of quiet reflection for America, followed by the enactment of laws that ban guns from any large gathering.

The world is in such dire straits!

Freedom of speech is not the same as Freedom from consequences!

I just read an article about 2 kayaks washed-up on the English Channel, which means 2 or 3 illegal immigrants have drowned. 99% of the comments by members of the public celebrated this and rejoiced. How vicious can we be?

Ok, blocking them from posting such horrible views won’t make them better individuals, BUT what exactly is the benefit derived from allowing these horrible, inhumane comments and views online?

At the very least, allowing those abhorrent comments and postings makes them mainstream and many now see it as an acceptable way to converse in public.

I am against illegal immigration and these incessant forceful entry, because in the long run, nobody stands to benefit (apart from the people smugglers) as the locals hate on them, the illegal immigrants then start bottling up hate too. if the facilities are not there and they’re not likely to be, it will end in tears for most – but in many cases, the folks caught up in all this, have already experienced worse and as such, are undeterred.

But to rejoice and celebrate the loss of human life is despicable and it shows that our society has now lost all moral values and the only thing keeping us safe is our laws & enforcement. Without that, I dread to see what society would be like, with such reprehensible human beings who think celebrating someone’s death is ok

Comment options should be disabled for articles that would attract reprehensible posts… i don think that takes genius and should be urgently implemented by the various online news outlets. Enough is indeed Enough!!!

Has she done anything that many others before her haven‘t? The simple answer is: NO.

So, why is there so much ire?

There is nothing complicated about the Meghan Markle story or saga. Yes, some sad twists and turns concerning her father and half-siblings going on ’celebrity’ shows and the people who continue to exploit them to get bizarre stories and rants out of them. All very bizarre, given they claim she had blanked them for years – so, how are they credible sources? But then, credibility is no longer an issue these days right?

Would Markle have gone for Harry if he was just your everyday brit? we all know the answer to that question, but it should not lead to the concentrated public vilification she now faces, as what she did has been done several times before. Her audacity, in trying to ’sort our royal family out’ is what quickly became unacceptable and it didn’t matter much, how she went about it.

We are in a society today, where people leak sex tapes and the publicity propels the supposed victim to superstardom and £billions. You can put anything out there and you’ll become a social media infuencer, and having a crowd behind you, for whatever reason, is now a huge money-spinner as the morals of advertising has never been about reasons but numbers.

It is such an unfortunate situation and its conclusion is inevitable as Prince Harry will be back in the royal family fold sooner or later and the only question is whether Meghan comes back with him, eat some humble pie, accept her role is to fit in with what she chose to get involved with – an institution that has been there for centuries and imperfect or not, it won’t be Meghan Markle sorting it out! Whoever Markle’s advisors are, they couldn’t have done a worse job of it! Even if she is just headstrong and ignoring their advice. This notion of leaks or intentional leaks or letters drafted with or without the knowledge that it may or will be leaked etc., is a worn-out episode and the entire sorry saga is just awful. Now, children are involved, and although it is safe to say that those kids are always going to be well-provided-for, this is all so avoidable.

I am not sure what people call ”black” these days or how it is defined, but personally, I do not see how Meghan Markle is black? she is not. She is a product of a black mother and a white father. Any un-royal-like behaviour exhibited by her, is also not due to her supposedly being black. She simply isn’t from within those circles and no matter how hard they train her, some of these things are not taught, they are ingrained and if you aint got it, you aint got it.

The question of whether or not the royal family should modernise or whether or not the whole arrangement has passed it’s use by date is a very separate matter, and one that regardless of which side you’re on, majority are agreed that we (brits) do not want it addressed in this manner and certainly not while Queen Elizabeth II is on the throne. It cannot possibly be social media via a girl who chose to sign-up for the trappings to sort our royal family out.

But the daily articles trying to paint Markle as an opportunist and all that, is just tiring: is it not an opportunity for anyone to get hitched to Prince William or Harry? of course it is – regardless of who you are – rich, poor or even if a member of any other royal family, it still takes you to a different level. So, it is indeed stating the obvious, in trying to continually make markle out as some desperado who was only after a meal-ticket.

I do not see any half-way house here. Harry & Meghan only have one source of income, which is entirely tied to them being part of the royal family – whether that income comes from netflix deals or Oprah Winfrey exposes, it is still all down to the same thing. So, even if they renounce their royal titles and say they are now just every day citizens, the only paycheque they will get from any source will still only be tied to their past – even if it is a tv deal to provide commentary of a football game. So, this is all just a pointless saga.

Has irreparable damage been done? I don’t think so. As stated above, there’s nothing Meghan’s done that’s not been done before. And if you’re one of those who claim she is black and all that, well, her being in or out of the royal family won’t change any of that. There’s a footballer in the UK right now, who gets racist chants cast at him because his granddad was black. The chap himself is as white as Wayne Rooney, but someone dug up the fact that his granddad was black and now, he (the footballer) is black, even though physically white! what a laughable world we live in. Almost as laughable as the incident I read this morning of an American Olympian of Asian descent who recently won a gold medal for America at the olympics, being pepper-sprayed and racist slurs hurled at her by a white American (guess what? a descendant of immigrants himself – as majority of America).

There will be no quiet, if we continue to enable these ludicrous sagas…

There is never going to be an ideal world with no issues. Bullies thrive when you show them they are hurting you. People need to toughen up…

Take a look at countries that claim to oppose western culture and you’ll find a large section of their population quietly overdosing on hollywood movies…

Many claim to loath elitism but if you offer their kids a place at Cambridge or Oxford they’ll snap it up and later conjure up reasons why it makes sense….

…. amass billions and then promise to give it all away? why not simply amass less…?

….. well, what a mouthful!

For starters, have they asked the other side if they are prepared to reconcile? perhaps just a national day of TRUTH would have been a better idea? afterall those folks have waited decades foe such truth….

and then perhaps next year, one can then suggest a national day of reconciliation if the truth has indeed finally found its way out?

in any case, whose truth? I am sure most if the folks who would need to provide such truth are long gone…

as someone said to me last week: if we look away for a moment and let our guard down holocaust will be repeated (and worse), slavery can be back with ease – and you will see keen participants – i mean, there are still people out there who do not believe women should be allowed to vote – the world is not a better place today – you only have to spend 10mins in online forums or on the street to know that – history has taught us nothing!

So, i hope Canadian first nations get something out of this national day of truth and reconciliation – they deserve better. the issues are of course very complex, diverse and far-reaching, but I am not at all convinced that these kinds of national day type solutions will yield anything tangible…

Picture this: an individual has just crossed the Atlantic in a tiny inflatable boat, after weeks of perilous treks and in company of people who would cut your throat without any second thought, and we think making it difficult for them to get access to benefits or healthcare is an effective deterrent? Some of these individuals have faced situations (including those that are just economic migrants trying to pass themselves off as refugees) and hardship that we could never even imagine. Yet, we think hateful words or verbal abuse such as ”go home” will stop them from coming here? Our government speaks of creating a ”hostile environment”; laughable isn’t it? Some of these people are fleeing gunshots and bombings and famine etc. And even those who are economic migrants or opportunists have spent weeks in horrible conditions at the mercy of people-smugglers. So, I’m afraid, putting their children in cages like they did in America or our ”hostile environment” here, is just pandering to hate and populism, it is not curbing illegal migration or any other type of migration!

What needs to be done, is to improve our immigration infrastructure, educate our communities, address poverty here – so that all poor, suffering locals get enough help (benefits, healthcare, social housing etc) so that they do not feel neglected at the expense of immigrants (yes, a few numpties will remain intolerant regardless, but they will be a small minority), mandate adoption if our basic norms & behaviour etc.

So much money is being wasted on these clearly ineffective methods such as ’hostile environments’ – utter rubbish! Use that money to fund a robust process and you won’t need to create hostile environments. There’s so much decent cultural experiences that can be shared e.g. cuisines. BUT littering, attempts to practice sharia law in the UK, forced marriage or wearing trousers so low that your underwear is on full display, is not acceptable behaviour in the UK and our laws and norms should be respected and followed by everyone wishing to live here, without exception..

…. proves nothing other than the fact that she is a fantastic tennis player who took the opportunity she had in front of her and also, that we can learn to pronounce surnames that are not ”smith” or ”porter” when we wish to..

Other than that, the long line of hasty commentators rushing in to point at this supposed example of the goodness of migration are just clutching at straws as always. China is hardly an awful place is it? (not only do they have a wonderful history and a long list of inventions, today – and regardless of some of the negative press – they are leading in technology and production) and Romania is hardly Yemen! So, would the fanfare and circumstances be the same had Emma Raducanu been born in Honduras to a Ghanaian dad and Iraqi mom and then move to/represent England in tennis? I shall rest my case….

More importantly, it is abundantly clear, that WE WILL NEVER GET IT! conflicting cultures and way of life is the problem, not really differences in race or colour (used to be), it is about BEHAVIOURS! Nobody had/has much of an issue with Helen Mirren (daughter of a Russian) or other immigrants who moved to the UK, accepted the UK way of life and got on with it. The problem is around people coming in and looking to impose their own way of living here. Coupled with the fact that we have now created a toxic, unfriendly, unwelcome environment that gives them no chance to want to integrate or accept our way of life. it is a catch-22 situation. Those elected to sort it out (politicians) have found out that it is more profitable (to secure easy votes) to leave it as it is, as they can rile people up with this topic, to secure easy votes. The solution is very simple, but we will not even try, because we choose not to. If politicians want to end intolerance & hate, they can easily do so, but they choose not to. The solution is there: tone down the hateful rhetoric, educate people – so that they understand that it is more costly if we bring migrants in and do not welcome them and help them settle in, help the natives who have fallen on hard times – so that they no longer see incoming migrants as a threat or perceive they are receiving preferential treatment, ensure the infrastructure is in place – to process migrants promptly and expel those who are simply trying to exploit the charity and end illegal forced entry as it makes a total mockery of legal immigration and refuge-seeking. Society would win all round. Yes, there will remain a handful of hateful individuals, but they would be heavily outnumbered.

People wonder why it is usually the semi-literates, the poor and downtrodden who flock to support hate-speeches and anti-migrant agenda? It is very simple: if you strip privilege from the privileged, they will become exactly the same as these folks. The privileged speak favourably of reckless migration because they know they do not have to put up with it – the migrants are hardly going to move in next door – and if they do, the privileged will be out on a yacht in Monaco. The rich have no reason to listen to the worry of the poor who fear migrants could take their jobs or reduce their access to benefits such as assisted-housing. The rich and our politicians (including those exploiting the anger out there) have several houses and their jobs are not on the line. If you end poverty (or at least try to address it), set-up the infrastructure to bring migrants in properly (without any perceived detriment to native poor) and mandate all incoming people (be it migrants or refugees) adopt the norms of the country accepting them, the current levels of intolerance and hate would melt away. BUT then, politicians such as many of those we have seen in recent years will have nothing left to get their rallies going or get their voters out – so, they want to retain, maintain and promote the current toxic environment so that indigenous poor, working class people continue to feel threatened, continue to feel nobody is listening to them and as such, continue to spread hate and intolerance.

Watching children grow is fascinating. You ask a child to draw a person and they will try to do so, without any thought on fat, slim, redhead, blonde, black or white as topical features; they will simply try to draw a person (perhaps someone they see often, who may be slim and blonde or chubby and brunette …) as a person.. PERIOD

At some point in their development (and teachers play a huge part in this – but they tend to manage to avoid scrutiny as parents are usually under that spotlight) they begin to learn to be biased and today’s society is an easy accelerant

It’s so easy to point fingers these days BUT the truth is: WE ALL HAVE A TENDENCY TO BE BIASED and we all have one -ism or the other in us. The only difference is that some of us continue to educate ourselves and ensure we never allow our bias to creep to the surface or play a part in the decisions we make concerning others. Access to such education and poise, is not widely available and in particular, to the poorly educated in low-skill jobs and those that society place in the lower-classes or working class; leading to the rampant public outbursts we see today, amplified by the internet and usually under that illiterate heading: ”free speech”. Speech has never been free of consequences…

It is so easy to point the point finger at others. We expect clergymen & women to be sinless and faultless – forgetting they are human. Yes, if you take an oath of office to serve & protect for example, you should try to keep that oath and such situations cannot be watered/down or likened to how ordinary citizens behave, as the consequences are much more severe as in the cases of miscarriage of justice

But the simple truth is that we are all hopelessly stuck with the physical. we take one look at someone and the only impression that register is whether they are black, white or whatever other colour. And we begin making up our assumptions straight away: what kind of neighbourhood have we just entered? what’s the likely danger? all based on a mix of news, hearsay etc. When we look for Chinese people, we are automatically looking for that picture we have in our head of what we think a Chinese person looks like, forgetting there are hundreds of thousands of Chinese people who do not look anything like that – you have the Uyghurs for instance. But we all have a mental barrier that is quite frankly, impossible to shift!

You hear phrases such as: ”that is so British”, which is usually linked to what we assume to be British, from TV shows or exposure to a Brit, which is never representative of the very very different types of Brits, which of course include the Scottish, Welsh, English and Northern Irish and in England alone, the mannerism and accent and appearance of those from the South East is indeed very different from the North East or elsewhere for that matter, before you even begin factoring in 2, 3 generations on non-white brits who may or may not fit into that TV-based expectation of what’s British

But we have that mental block. We look for rosy cheeks or yellowy skin (in the case of jaundice) but forget those are not generally applicable. But we remain stock in that mental block. We have been brainwashed regarding what’s beautiful and what’s ugly – the fashion industry is of course now trying to adjust a little and TV commercials are now trying to be a little more representative of the reality of society – with not so skinny folks finally getting a chance to be on telly, but we still decide some accents from the north of England for instance, are not TV-worthy. We’ve laid out that mental grade of where we draw the boundary: may be good enough for Coronation Street but not for the news at 10!

Elocution. One would think we’re still in the 1800s with finishing schools..

Add on the poverty line and you have the full picture.

But we sit at home and blame a policeman or policewoman for their behaviour. Yes, perhaps they swore an oath and we haven’t, but the same logic applies: they push around those who do not have the means to make them accountable. You think if those shoved face-down on the concrete and stopped/searched in America were wealthy, with ample access to lawyers and legal muscle that cops will continue pushing them around? of course not. They ate soft targets and will always be soft targets until they dust themselves up, get educated, create jobs, make money, gain ample access to lawyers, lobbyists etc. It is all circumstantial.

It has taken me decades of trying to look at people and ignoring their physical appearance: I avoid the ”where are you from?” or ”where are you from originally?” or ”where are your ancestors from?” question, which used to form in my mind the minute I see someone that one would automatically assume to be out of place? —- why else would one think to ask those set of questions?

Nowadays, I keep my mind blank when I see someone. Does it matter what colour they are? how cheap their clothes are? The moment you begin with those physical assessment, you cannot control your bias. It may begin with just an opinion and wanting to explore, but I now let people tell me – should they wish to – where they’re from or what their ancestry is, but whether out of general interest or not, I curtail my enthusiasm and retain a blank view of the physical. it is of course easier said than done…..

I recently had some of these items explained to me in great detail:

(1). Majority if not all of the developing or 3rd world countries are less than 100 years old and are still on a learning curve

(2). We often say they are corrupt and their leaders embezzle funds, BUT most if not all of such embezzled funds are not kept nor invested in 3rd world countries – they are sat in Swiss bank accounts or other banks in the so-called developed countries; so, a bit of complicity there right?

(3). Most of these countries are exactly where developed countries were at the same stage. In any case, you only have to look at the supposed ”united states of america” where the present division and partisan wrangling means truth and facts no longer exist. And the United Kingdom? (with Scotland ever so keen to quit the union). Compared to majority of the so-called 3rd world countries who only came out of colonial rule few decades ago (70, 80 years ago?), inheriting forced union of tribes and people who were bundled together sole for colonial convenience. It is a wonder that there haven’t been many other Rwanda-style genocide in many of these post-colonialism countries

(4). We left them with a system of government (democracy) that took centuries to work in the so-called developed countries, but expect the 3rd world countries to miraculously make it work in just a few decades and when they struggle with coup after coup, we call them savages, forgetting our own history…

(5). Instead of helping them to industrialise and develop, we put a noose around their neck with IMF and World Bank loans, unlike the freebies handed to Japan and Germany post-World War 2. The intention is all too clear: you only have to look at the colour of inhabitants of every 3rd world/under-developed country and that of every so-called developed country and those who think the idiots that yell abuse or throw bananas at football games are the threat? Nope. it is decades of our policies that’s the threat and kept these countries in the pitiful state they are in, so we can call them shit-hole countries and tell visitors to ”go back where you’re from”…

(6). We have continued to manipulate and destabilise these countries for a number of awful reasons. People ask where some of those warring in 3rd world countries get their weapons from? These are countries where we watch TV clips of children starving to death but shiny machettes and AK-47 assault rifles are somehow affordable?

(7). The best talents from 3rd world countries are left with little choice but to move over to developed countries (even if they face double standards there)

It took most developed countries several centuries (ignoring benefits of the forced labour (slavery) they enjoyed for centuries and additional decades of colonialism) to develop – and even after that stretch of time, you only have to look at ongoing economic struggles in Greece and depressions in Ireland and other countries at the turn of the last millennium, to see that the expectation that these less than 100 year old 3rd world countries can emerge from colonialisation to become super-powers? Where they are today, is exactly where any country under the same circumstances will be! They are not corrupt savages.

Unfortunately, in a free enterprise system, it’s like the Olympic games: all have to compete regardless of circumstances and we award medals: ”developed”, ”developing” and ”3rd world”….

Just watching BBC’s Last Night of the Proms and you see why Great Britain is indeed great. We just need to help others; our greatness is not diminished when we help 3rd world countries get to a level of development too. We must hush-up those who seek to divide, spread hate etc. Mistakes of the past are what they are – nobody can undo that, but we can enable a better future, but we haven’t yet….

Unarguably it is necessary to fix a lot of the issues being flagged up; be it racism, other forms of bias & intolerance or distribution of wealth and opportunities etc. But, you only have to spend 10 minutes driving on our roads, to see the hopelessness of humanity. One reckless driver decides he or she is late for an appointment and off they go…. surely, others may wish to get home or to work too?

You look at LINKEDIN, the professional networking site set-up for people to discuss jobs, work opportunities etc. it is now cluttered with posts on weddings, wedding anniversaries etc., and each time one of those posts come up, the person uploading the posts starts with: “I don’t usually upload personal stuff….”, surely, the minute you type those opening words, you would resist the temptation to upload those wedding pictures on LINKEDIN and head off to FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER and tens of other sites made specifically for such posts? But oh no, they believe they love their wives better than others or their personal stories are worth sharing more than others. Imagine if everyone on LINKEDIN decide to upload just 1 x personal story? with the same selfish attitude, it will take hours of scrolling before one can get to a job advert or work-related post that the site was specifically created for. That, in a nutshell is the human failing… Simplistic analogy, but it does represent rather accurately, why society is in such dire straits

Look at Liberia. Look at Sierra Leone. Someone thought it was a splendid idea to go and resettle freed slaves in Africa. Now, they are divided by accents after a couple of generations since. The American-sounding descendants of slaves versus the indigenous folks. Look at Haiti and other places, with light-skinned blacks versus darker blacks. Today I read a newspaper article by Fast & Furious actor Tyrese Gibson saying he was passed over for several Hollywood roles as Terence Howard, a lighter-skinned black chap being the preferred black. Ha ha. Perhaps not funny, but one really must laugh. Tyrese added that this was the same experience he had growing up in the hood. Ok. But surely, he may or may not have heard of several actresses dying their hair blonde over the years right!? And just look at the roles Anthony Quinn played: a basque, Mexican outlaw, Greek soldier etc. he was stereotyped for decades, same for Yul Bryner and they got on with it, made the best of it. I am not for a moment saying it is right, but these pampered, entitled actors and actresses of today, like Tyrese, after $millions (while nurses work tirelessly on low wages as they save lives), will still continue to moan about the disadvantages they supposedly face for being black! What a joke!

You can solve every form of -ISM out there and there will still be bias and preferences. Making sure there are processes that are not systemically put in place, to disadvantage one type of human against the other, sorting some of the needless violence etc., is where society needs to focus, but we are currently distracted by silliness . No race is made-up of saints; we’re all as bad as each other! given the opportunity, I doubt many would perform differently to what’s been seen so far in human history . You only have to travel across Africa, Asia and other parts of the world, to see that racism and bias is not the sole preserve of white on black/brown/others engagement.

The world is messed up because human beings are messed up and those that get it, largely tend to stay out of it and as such, it goes on and on…..

In movies you see people giving it all up to be monks and give back to society etc. That is quite practicable and many in society do indeed do that. But what really is privilege?

There is no notion dumber than thinking people will give up their privilege!

Even if they try, they can’t. Why? Because PRIVILEGE is not something you can give up

Spreading it round and trying to create privilege for others is perhaps achievable

You take for example, kids born into poverty, they get to schools where the teachers have low expectations of them, they get a lot less exposure to other natural means of learning e.g. travelling. They most likely have friends who are in the same situation and are likely to be in a network of later CEOs who can offer them opportunities. You see children of working-class folks in the Western Hemisphere taking a year University exchange in third-world countries, rubbing shoulders with children of the elite in those countries – that’s privilege. You won’t see children of working class nor even the elite of third world countries studying in the UK rubbing shoulders with our elite would you? At best, they will be expected to hangout with working class kids here.

Privilege is when you get up one morning in the UK, US or elsewhere in the developed world and decide it’s time to spread your wings to go and work in Australia, Sweden, Japan or any other developed country and you saunter across.. Do we then expect those with these privileges to give them up in the name of equality? Don’t be obtuse! Why would they?

When people yell to others on the street: “go back where you’re from!” It is solely because they believe those countries are in a dire strait or as a infamous politician was said to have said “shit holes”. So, what happens if we industrialise those countries and develop them? What happens if we end the need for people to risk losing their lives and those of their children on rubber boats crossing the Atlantic? I doubt anyone would yell “go back to where you’re from” if they can see that those countries are better or at worst, as developed and pleasant as over here would they?

But therein lies the dilemma

Even if an individual decides to give-up his or her privilege, it is not achievable as such action will still be in the knowledge that’s should things get sticky, there is a network of privileged friends and acquaintances (you can’t delete old schoolmates etc.) to fall back on. The underprivileged do not have that safeguard.

Even though a class of “old money” folks will still try to look down on those they would describe as “new money” and many still look down on footballers, basketball rich folks etc., compared to centuries ago when only children of certain privileged families got access to education and travel, the opportunities are slightly more open today, but society still has some work to do, but we will choose not to. Instead, we have mechanisms such as loans and penalties to continue to keep many down in the gutters. The map of global wealth is cleverly arranged and countries such as China, who have, through hard work, managed to get out of poverty, face negative press and criticism from countries such as the USA, where’s millions are incarcerated and many are afraid to drive on their roads as a stop by their police for a broken rear light or hanging an air-freshener on a rear-view mirror usually ends up fatal for those demographics. I am not a supporter of China as I do not know enough about their country to be a supporter, neither do I know enough about them to criticise them and in any case, I am sure they have positives and negatives and may also be out to rule the world like others have tried to, over the years. But they have worked hard and have innovated and developed their nation and if Africa, South America, South-East Asia and other under-developed parts of the world can do the same, sustain themselves, industrialise like China have, some of the delusions of grandeur by the types who feel “go back where you’re from” is an insult, will quickly change. Imagine shouting “go back where you’re from” to a Chinese person? the response would be: GLADLY! 35 years ago, China had 0km of high speed railway. Today, they have more kilometres of high speed railway than the rest of the world combined. Yes, they are criticised for human rights issues and other issues, but the “Land of the free” (our dear USA) is the country that has more prisoners than any other country in the world and a country where a past president tells other immigrants like himself (noting almost every American is an immigrant) to go back to where they’re from, but still, 74 million Americans (nearly half of the country) decided he is the leader they want? Similar to China, I have a limited knowledge of America and no reason to have any issues with them, there remains a lot of positives about America and the 80 million+ who decided they needed to have a different president and a less intolerant direction. In any case, there’s not much difference in America, compared to other developed countries. We all need to do better: China, America, US, Canada, Australia, African countries etc., the current state of the planet is a collective failing, be it in terms of human rights, poverty, immigration, you name it. It is a collective fiasco..

We are hell bent on repeating past mistakes.

Can America drastically reduce its mass-incarceration, train its police force to serve & protect instead of doing the stuff we see in the news (whipping out a gun regardless of a situation is not a demonstration of serving and protecting)? YES. Will they do so? probably not

Can China improve its human rights record and stop trying to take over the world to become the new America? They can, but will they? probably not

Is the US a good country? YES. If not, why would so many tried so hard to get there? Same for the UK and others. But there is good & bad everywhere. The world saw Iraq invade Kuwait, tried to do good there; are they better off? Look at Afghanistan today. Libya, list goes on. There must be other ways and methods to do good….

Can the privileged give up their privilege? Not really. Should they? No (in any case, they can’t even if they tried). But can we achieve equality by providing privilege to others? Yes we can, even if total equality can never be achieved. As Confucius said: THE FIVE FINGERS ARE BROTHERS BUT NOT EQUALS.

There’s an old saying: “when you live in Rome, act like Romans ”

A mix of cultures: cuisine, sports etc. is great. Where there are conflicting cultures, local norms should apply

The world got it horribly wrong and this is where right-wingers blame liberals. But pointing fingers now, isn’t going to resolve anything. The horse has bolted out of the stable…

Travel is awesome; you experience different cultures etc. Would that be possible, if those cultures had been suppressed?

What we should have had in the mid-1900s is each country clearly defining their norms, laws, religion, societal values etc., and made those sacrosanct for anyone looking to live in each country, you come in and live by those rules and if not to your liking, you select the best suited country to go and live in.

There would be no problems with immigration or accepting refugees as everyone would come in, behave the same way and integrate. But it would require laws and norms to be set in a manner that do not target newcomers or target some races as was done in America where they deliberately crafted legislation designed to keep their black population in chains (from slavery to jails) or countries where sentencing for crimes committed is a lot harsher for some. It would be naive to assume this could all have been a very straightforward arrangement. It isn’t. You have complications in the form of religious freedom and other complex aspects, but it is clear that if each country had defined those rules, all must comply to live there and can practice their religions provided they do not attempt to impose forcefully on others or seek to subvert. There will always be a suitable country matching each and every preference and people can migrate across to locations that cater for what they believe in, how they want to live and the values they want to hold dear.

It is a failure to do this, that has fatally pitched conservatives against liberals. Reality has been set aside and replaced with hate, intolerance, open racism, hurtful slogans with meaningless promises such as “America First” – of course it is America First, but the people you’re saying it to, are also Americans. So, kind of pointless really. Each country should put itself first , in the situation we are in right now, where nobody wants to put humanity first. There is nothing wrong with America First (without the hateful rhetorics and overt racism – almost all Americans are migrants and descendants of migrants). Unfortunately, it is probably impossible to implement this now as it would mean suppressing the views of some. But as we are in a DEMOCRACY, I do not see why we don’t just put it to a vote? We did with BREXIT in the UK, even though it wasn’t a perfect process and many feel they were lied to and misled, and there certainly wasn’t enough detail made available or known at the time, making it difficult to judge, BUT one thing is certain, as a Brit, I want British laws and not dictates from a European group who have a very limited understanding of how we want to live our lives in Britain. Being able to trade freely and engage with Europe should never be at the expense of losing our way of life to German-French dictates. So, YES, exiting the EU was the correct decision, but the way it was done and the lack of care for those to be impacted harshly, is what has left a foul taste in many mouths and the full implication may still be yet to come.

But yes, each democratic country can still today, use democratic means to restructure and set new rules relating to societal norms, afterall we have that in our laws. Ignorance is not an acceptable defence in law. So, we can mandate that anyone coming to live in each country needs to accept how things are done there (as opposed to granting liberties that anger the locals because people coming in are coming in to form their own enclaves and carrying on with certain practices e.g. forced marriage, and instead of integration, we’re left with conflicting cultures, leading to more hate and intolerance across the board). There can then be a variety of options. A migrant or refugee looking to practice arranged marriages or corporal punishment for instance, can migrate to countries that allow that as opposed to moving to countries that do not normally do that, but seeking to exploit civil liberties in those countries to circumvent their norms

I believe there is a democratic way to redress this and set each country up, so that the views of the majority creates an environment where the values of each country is maintained by all-comers, with full integration. It is the only way to avoid intolerance and hate brewing..

This will be a very short article…

So, now, the UK say we will take in 20,000 fleeing Afghans and one can assume the USA will take in as many or s bit more, Canada will take some, perhaps France, Germany and Australia will take some too?

So, WHY DIDN’T WE JUST DO THAT in 2001 or 2006 or 2011 or 2015?…..

Instead of a 20 year war with those folks caught in the middle!!

When this latest war in Afghanistan started in 2001, or for argument’s sake, let’s say it took a few years for some Afghans (i.e. the ones who are now fleeing) to make a choice to turn their backs on the Taliban and embrace the west, why didn’t we invite those folks to move over then? Would that not have been a better organised, properly vetted move, with them bringing their belongings and being settled without chaos. THEN, you know everyone left back in Afghanistan want to be there and most likely will support the Taliban. But most importantly, you are able to avoid leaving those who helped the allies behind to face certain persecution and death (which is what all the veterans of this war are finding so hard to take, and it is the reason they are all so angry now and feel their sacrifices may have been for nothing).

Imagine how many thousands of allied (and mainly American) lives could have been saved.

After 5 years of this war, in 2006, the allies were in control of most parts of Afghanistan and with a little bit of foresight, the offer could have been made to relocate Afghans who want a western-style life or simply want something different. It all could have been done in civility instead of people now having to cling to airplanes on a runway

War solves nothing. And a 20 year war solves even less! But most importantly, if the need for a show of force was the only option (and may well have been, in 2001), a clear plan should have been put in place, with a humanitarian objective in mind, instead of an endless sojourn, ending in chaos, with very little achieved in the end. Imagine what kids born in 2002, now 19years old and perhaps in university could add to society?

The world has a penchant for looking away from the readily achievable, to focus on what we cannot achieve and we continue to waste resources as others suffer:

Achievable: condemning hate and intolerance in all formats (be it clever tailored formats by some news channels or less subtle abuse on our streets) and standing up for human decency

Unachievable: a wonderful world where we all love each other, re-write history, undo past evils such as slavery, genocide etc., remove every statue relating to past evils etc.

Majority of human endeavour start with a noble intention before it either gets hijacked by others with less noble intent or gets exploited. A good example is FACEBOOK. I am sure that when the idea popped up, it would have been with the intention of providing people with a tool to stay in touch, share photos etc. as opposed to creating a behemoth that has now become a tool that people seek to use to spread disinformation, impact elections etc. That is the sad reality of humankind. People say: what do you need nuclear deterrent for? Well, it is because there are people out there who will hurt others in their quest to rule the world or force their own ideas or religion or ideology on everyone else, if they are not deterred. And that leads to the word I dread most: VALUES.

VALUES

Few days ago, I wrote an article about the Olympics and how some athletes or nations see the use of enhancement drugs simply as a part of competing and they do not see it as cheating. Given the fact that there are so many other forms of advantages that some athletes and some nations have over others e.g. access to funding, training facilities etc., those are conveniently ignored, but when Russians are allegedly caught out using drugs, that is supposedly an advantage they cannot be allowed to utilise. But when athletes from wealthy countries who do not have to keep full-time jobs on the side, who can concentrate solely on their sport and practice round the clock, step out to compete against athletes from poor countries who have to work full-time jobs and hardly get opportunities to practice, we believe that is fair competition? I am not in support of cheating nor the use of performance enhancing drugs, but how do you redress the years of fame, publicity and positivity that Lance Armstrong for instance, generated for the United States? Can we take all that back?

Whenever people who say they are CONSERVATIVES talk about VALUES, they get shut down by those who say they are PROGRESSIVES, but do any of us think we can survive in a society taken over by rules we cannot relate to?

The problem is alway down to where I began above: good intentions of those who say they are right-leaning, hijacked by the Marjorie Taylor Greens of this world, who are ill-equipped to be the face of any sane movement. Take religious tolerance as an example. We have our laws in the west and it is not based on what a holy book states. But there are countries that practice religious laws and we must not condemn them, but that is not what we want to do here in the western world. If we briefly look at the matter of the Windrush generation in the UK: West Indians/Afro Caribbean folks who moved over to the UK in the 50s and 60s, seeking a better life, but arriving to find a very hostile environment, where they are only offered menial jobs, where their children – already afraid to go to school as they are suddenly in an unfamiliar environment- got to school only to be told by the teachers they are no good and will never do well – so, they drop out and largely turned to crime, we’re exploited and fulfilled those predictions and we now wonder why our prisons are filled with children and grandchildren of that generation? The intention was noble, but the result is two to three generations now, of suffering, intolerance and few opportunities to break that vicious cycle. Since the recent Black Lives Matter protests in the UK, every time a black person commits a crime, society say: well, see what we mean? they are criminals. They are no good. Well, who ever said there are no black criminals?

It would be interesting to see what the reaction would be, if every non-white person in the UK was offered £5million to leave the country. Afterall, the generation of black people who moved to the UK seeking a better life and rarely finding it, can surely head back to their ancestor’s country of origin, with the funds to perhaps start a better life? The problem with that, is of course the appearance of promoting segregation – afterall, all children born in the UK, white and non-whites alike, just happened to be born there and did not have a say in the matter, and as such, should be treated equally right? But when a set head to school and are treated differently, and perhaps also behave differently (not to just lay the blame on teachers) due to the harsh environment they grow up in, instead of going the extra step to help them, we give up on them and many fall into the hands of criminals and end up in jail. It really is a vicious cycle, and one that some now protest as being very deliberate. You lift the lid and you can’t find conservatism nor values, what you find is one race trying to exert dominance and superiority over the other (and this applies to all, be it white, black, brown etc.) as it is never an issue for a Helen Mirenovsky to blend in, become Helen Mirren (no disrespect to her; she is a wonderful lady), play the Queen on telly acceptably, but an Iris Elba must only play Mandela ofcourse and even a fictional character such as James Bond, cannot possibly be an Idris Elba, as we cannot lift that mental block and will table every excuse possible. The problem remains a complex one because society lack the courage and conviction to separate true values from personal hatred and biases. At some point, it may be well worth trying something different. It is near on impossible to reverse some of the issues but there has to be a way. If some people do not wish to live we live I never the west, no point trying to force them is there? But are we to blame for trucking people in, in their time of need, without preparing them for how they will need to live, helping them integrate; the simple answer is YES. Part of that process has to involve educating the local population to understand that when we bring people in, they need more help and support (and urgently) or the consequences down the road, will be for all to bear.

This is why the notion of migration and just carting people around when they flee wars or persecution is NOT the right thing to do. I would love to see a world with no borders, no races except a single human race etc. BUT our values are not the same across the board are they? This is what conservatives go on and on about, and the dismissal of those concerns, is what has led to the recent rise of populism and intolerance. Those on the left will say: yeah, bring all those refugees in, we have to me kind and human. BUT they do not ensure there are facilities in place, to ensure those people come in, into an environment they are not familiar with (with crowds of angry people who do not want them there) are not then turned into a breeding-ground of hate themselves, seeking to harm their host. Again, another vicious cycle.

The world needs to come together to find a better way.

Is there ever going to be an era of NO WARS, NO DISPLACEMENT, NO PERSECUTION or no economic migrants seeking to exploit the charity put in place to help those in distress? I don’t think so. So, why don’t we try to rewrite the rules and make things clear, so that the needless loss of lives (a society desperate people try to get to the west by all means, falling prey to people-traffickers along the way) can end? If we must have borders, then make them secure! To deter people getting on rotten boxes to cross oceans and lose their lives. Avoid wars at all cost! Help as many parts of the world as possible, to create safe havens, to avoid having to ship people enmass to countries where they are not wanted and will only face hatred and intolerance, which then ends in them being angry themselves and hating and seeking to harm their hosts.

The current view-point is too narrow, but unfortunately, those who have tried to widen the discussion have largely done so in a hateful manner, leading to the current stalemate we have today, with neither side standing to gain. We bring people in, have no facilities ready to help them, pitch them up where they are seen as resource-sappers by poor locals, leading to intolerance and it goes on from there, to lack of opportunities, with many turning to crime and the rest is history

Neither side or neither position (left or right) is helping and those that suffer and will continue to suffer, are the people caught in this vicious cycle

The UK is a wonderful country (well, people won’t be prepared to die to get here if it wasn’t) and we get a fair bit right, but we also get a fair bit wrong too. The world needs change. Sorting the climate is urgent, but so is sorting the current mess of lack of humanity: we are no longer in the 1950s, we need to be better!!!

This week has been dominated by goings on in Afghanistan and opinions are flying in from all corners of the world

I do not believe anyone has got it right or wrong

We all continue to make the same mistakes over and over again

There should never be an acceptable reason for war. If all other forms of engagement or pressure fail, try again. War cannot and must not EVER be on the table.

The folks manufacturing weapons of war should have no fear, carry on doing so. Countries wishing to buy these weapons can continue to do so. Keep stockpiling them, but only as deterrent or bragging right, we should never resort to actual war

On the other side of this equation is religion, interpretation of religious beliefs, religious tolerance and impact of religion on the wider society. I am a strong believer in the existence of God, but I do not believe in religion. Religion and what we say religion demand is largely open to interpretation and has been a very challenging aspect of life. We all have to promote tolerance.

Who stands to gain from the mass displacement of Afghans? NOBODY. Afghanistan is a country where clearly, a majority of the population support the Talibans, otherwise, they wouldn’t be in a position to do what they have done this week. So, shipping thousands of fleeing Afghans over to the US, UK, Canada or where ever else, is not helpful to those Afghans unless majority of people in those countries (i.e. US, UK, Canada etc) want them there and accept that we will have to help them settle and integrate into society. How has that worked out in the last 50+ years? If incumbent natives of those countries do not accept that these unfortunate (fleeing Afghans) folks will have to skip the queue for housing and social care and that we cannot later hate on them for that, DONT BRING THEM IN! To bring them in, to face hate and hardship will only lead to them and their children despising those countries and few years down the road, we’re back to where we are today, with the Windrush crisis in the UK or intolerance between those seen to be foreign (even after 2, 3 generations) and those who believe they have sole right to those countries as natives (which is a little laughable in the case of Americans, Australians and a few other countries formed largely through immigration).

Regardless of the argument, migration CANNOT be via charging down a border or showing up in a canoe across the English Channel or crossing the Mediterranean via inflatable boats and barging in. Whether or not one agrees with the current world order, it is what it is and one or few countries CANNOT take in the population of another country (what of those left behind?). Not every Afghan who disagree with the Taliban will be able to flee right?

I am not going to sit in judgement of the pain and anguish that drives people to risk crossing oceans in bathtubs BUT the world needs to redefine and restructure an approach to refugees to ensure we help desperate people in a manner that avoids them falling into the hands of people-traffickers or exposure to perils such as death in transit vans etc. New rules with international acceptance is urgently needed as the hardship faced by those heading to western nations, where they are seen as a problem, is not worth the trip and illegal migration has led to increase in intolerance and denies help to those truly in need of refuge. But all that is a separate topic on its own, how can we make all parts of the globe worthwhile, so people stop embarking on these perilous trips?

Was America, Britain and others right to withdraw from Afghanistan? YES

Should they have gone there in the first place? NO

Could they have exited in a less chaotic manner? PERHAPS, but this was never ever destined to have a fairytale ending

Those criticising the withdrawal are hypocrites

Could there ever be a time when the Talibans would have been totally defeated and Afghanistan becomes a very bubbly westernised nation? NO. Unless they suddenly found billions of tons of oil in their mountains of course.

If Afghans overwhelmingly do not want the Taliban to rule them, they will make that decision sooner or later

With gun crimes in America, knives in the UK, prisons filled with black people and ongoing discovery of murdered and brutalised native children in Canada, these are hardly examples that countries like Afghanistan should be asked to emulate are they?

If the Talibans takeover Afghanistan as it appears they have, the next reasonable step for the rest of the world is to look at options to engage in dialogue and ways to incentivise them to consider some aspects of western life that honestly do not limit their zeal for their religious beliefs e.g. allow for equality between men & women, allow women to seek education and decide their own destiny, try to allow for other opinions, even if not what they believe in and also avoid harbouring individuals who seek to inflict harm on others (e.g. the west) – that was what started the last war (the world will only be at peace, if nobody is actively trying to harm others) . With time, a great deal can be achieved through engagement and incentives. I am not sure much has been achieved through war to date. Years and years of bloodshed to no avail, and now, possibly years of finger pointing when commonsense is needed. I keep reading about people saying: “is this what we fought for?”, well, sorry, what exactly has the war achieved?

The coming months will undoubtedly be tough for many, but dropping the blame-game to focus on dialogue and incentivisation will yield better results than war or displacement

Mass relocation of fleeing Afghans isn’t going to solve anything either. Will more likely put those folks in harms way and years of putting up with intolerance and hate

Yikes!

It appears many Americans have forgotten how and why America was formed and what America should stand for….

The woman (Rapinoe) is now said to be “anti-America”. All she did was try to stand for the rights of the LGBTQ community and demand equal pay for women. If that is now anti-America, god help us all!! The issue is not about being for or against LGBTQ, it is surely about being against any form of prejudice or oppression. I have no interest in the debate and be it religion versus or otherwise, all human beings are first and foremost, human beings and we all need to respect that

I watched a video last week of an American soldier, in the uniform, with the American flag on his uniform, being pepper-sprayed by a policeman in Virginia (Lt. Caron Nazario) as they dragged him out of his vehicle. Where was respect for the American flag? Even if they no longer respect the army uniform and what it represents surely, the American flag clearly visible on his uniform should have commanded some respect? So, to attack Megan Rapinoe or anyone else taking a knee or trying to make a statement to highlight an issue dear to them is an indictment of where society is today

Thank goodness for the sensible policing we have here in the UK, where our police understand they are there to SERVE & PROTECT, and that every taxpayer in this country effectively pay their wages and must be treated decently. In the Virginia situation with Lt. Nazario, the two policemen were barking instructions at him, with their guns drawn: PICTURE THIS: put your hands where we can see it. So, he has both hands hanging out, through the driver-side window right? Ok, so, he still had his seat-belt on,right? Now, get out of the vehicle: how? He has clearly seen and read about this situation over the years in America. The minute he moves his hands back in, either to undo his seat-belt or to reach for the door handle, they will spray him with 100 bullets and claim they thought he was reaching for a concealed weapon. So, he does nothing and keeps his hands out the window, next thing is the chubby cop spraying him with pepper-spray, like he was applying after-shave. How can anyone treat a taxpayer, and especially one wearing a military uniform in such a horrifically callous manner? They say he drove a long way before pulling up? would any sane person not find a well-lit area before pulling up in America? When you can already see what happens in broad daylight, his chances would have been zero, coming out of that situation alive. They need to get guns off the streets in America and that includes taking guns off the police: if a police unit spot a suspicious driver, tail the car and call an armed unit in. Going to attend domestic bickering, routine traffic stops (of drivers for a broken tail-light or hanging air freshener on the rear view mirror) and whipping out guns that can fire tens of bullets, is such a recipe for disaster and innocent Americans continue to lose their lives at the hands of the people paid to SERVE & PROTECT them….

But in a country formed largely through immigration and a diversity of ideas by the founding fathers, this new definition of “anti-America” is worrying and it is being promoted by those who seek to continue dividing America. Over here across the pond in the UK, it is saddening to see what’s happening with America

Essentially, if you can look at another human being (be they black, white, brown or whatever colour really..) and feel ok with harming them or abusing them just for reasons of what they look like, then we really are in a deplorable position

Yes, the world was never better and today’s technology is what’s getting this out into the public domain, but the situation is so grave in America that they really need to step back and try hard to stamp a position as the world needs America (a 300 million plus population nation) to try to lead by example and calling one of their own (a lady who has done more to promote America than many) anti-American and boycotting a product she advertised, is awful. To think this is the behaviour of a few, is why things have continued to head in the wrong direction and not only in America..

I am sick to my teeth of hearing or reading about people complaining about being called this or that. Well, Jews have put up with horrendous abuse for decades, so have women, fat people, black people, the Irish etc.

Yes, abuse is abhorrent and needs challenging BUT jeez! We are fast losing focus on the real evil out there: discriminatory policies. Policies that continue to allow and promote voter suppression, harsh sentencing for some (filling our jails with specific types), inequality – keeping poor people in poverty and driving divisiveness. Policies that ensure certain folks remain downtrodden. Employment practices, even distribution of lottery wins

Might be the boarding-school boy in me, but you can never deter a bully by showing them they are hurting you! The more people continue to cry about like babies about use of abusive words, the more those occurrences will pile up. Abusers are bullies, especially cowardly keyboard (online) abusers and the more you cry about it, the bolder they will get, as they will see the success of their intent, which is to hurt others.

POLICY is what we need to focus on getting changed…