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Another Warning Out of History
I normally don’t or shouldn’t make particular, targeted appeals to my friends in the USA on matters political. My themes are normally general commentaries, messages of support and overall condemnatory. The rest are left to your good selves.
Here’s one there, short and not so sweet, which originated from this news headline:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g31n4ey9go
The expiration of the treaty is not news, and there has been, is and will, be much written about it.
My contribution is based on a warning out of History:
The Reinsurance Treaty of 1887 between the Imperial Powers of Germany and Russia, forged by German Chancellor Bismarck.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinsurance_Treaty
In 1890 Bismarck was forced to resign by Kaiser Wilhelm II-
basically because the former was being smarter than the latter (sometimes a few words of flippancy are worth paragraphs of analysis). The Treaty due for renewal was allowed to expire in the same year. A number of historians of World War I cite this as a contributory factor in the growing undercurrents of mutual tensions and suspicions wherein the old diplomatic system failed to operate during the final crisis that erupted in 1914.
That war had a particularly messy ending with an absence of important formal national surrenders; only an jagged Armistice which allowed an extremist conspiracy to foster in Germany which in turn led to World War II. Not that there was much peace between 1918 and 1939.
With this in mind, the next time you have cause to write to any elected official you might want to raise the point concerning the recent expiration.
Take care everyone
Roger
Oi !! Draft Dodger in the Whitehouse!! This is for YOU!!!!
This should need no introduction. Suffice it to say just when you think that odious, self centred, unpleasant, ignorant creature cannot get any worse; the next day he does.
Yesterday I could not write about his latest without involving very coarse language.
One day and a half I am still ‘spitting’ angry
457 times I write:
Shame on you Trump Shame on you Trump Shame on you Trump
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OK, I’ve said my piece.
The USA in South America, Once More. Nothing New, Except The President
The USA physically intervenes in a South American state. At the risk of upsetting some at what may seem a cynically laid back view:
Nothing New There.
Quite the heritage in fact. To name a few with varied resources and results
ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_Wars
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Chilean_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Panama
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Grenada
There were of course others not in the USA backyard.
Again all this is nothing new. It’s what imperial powers, or those who like to call ‘the actions’ something else, do. In the Age of Empires: Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Ottoman Empires, and China were all busy invading or replacing one smaller nation’s rulers with one they liked. You could say it all boils down to International Relations (Even going back to the Classic Greek era- it’s there).
So on the face of it how does the latest USA in this case into Venezuela differ? Threats, intrusions, the abduction or assassination of the leader, well that’s all part of the playbook. Some might say that regime had it coming. The Maduro regime has been tracked by Amnesty International for a number of years:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/americas/south-america/venezuela/report-venezuela/
Taking into account all those aforementioned events we might even say ‘Business As Usual’.
However…..
For there is always an ‘However‘
Regime Change (Or Dice Rolling Politics)
Unless you are a brutal authoritarian outfit with a fixation that you need to physically extend your borders going about Regime Change is a process that is always going to have problems that will bedevil your initial decision. To begin with not everyone is going to wave flags at you as liberators, secondly unpleasant opportunists who have motives venal or political will rise to the surface, and no one native is going to thank you for telling them how to run their nation, and those are just the simple ones which would tax a mature experienced mind. What an emotional, egotistical, unfocused fellow such as Trump would do…you have experience of the treatment of his fellow citizens. You would have thought after Iraq at the start of this decade a lesson might have been learnt….. think again.
So to date officially No American Was Harmed in the making of this venture and a large number locals are glad to see the back of their own president. You will note though that only the ex-pats felt safe and confident enough to go out on the streets to celebrate. Well so far, so good….right?….. But there’s that Iraq question again….no local liked Sadam Hussain, did they?
Sorry folk but unlike in the movies we don’t have a final frame and then roll the credits. History doesn’t work like that…..anyway in that movie scenario don’t forget that extra piece at the end in which it shows the ‘villainy’ still hasn’t really gone away…… Should I mention Iraq again, or Afghanistan even?
Read on…
In The Aftermath (And what comes out in the Aftermath)
Whenever there are major events, the details do not rush out in one blaze of clarity, official statements, journalistic questioning and the occasional verifiable independent witness, they all play their part. Along with the International Reactions.
Now this was not just a case of a US president saying ‘I’ve had enough! Go get that S.O.B’ and everyone dutifully scrambles to one of those Hollywood pre-action planning montages. The latest information indicates this had been a long planned for operation, which maybe with some important internal help went smoothly for America, that is. Please read.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp37yr2xq7no
This indicates the plan was long in the making, which in turn suggests it was also long in the policy formulation, and likely long in the discussion. If this has its conception back in the previous presidency or even in the Obama tenure I would not be shocked. (don’t forget under whose watch Osama bin Laden was taken out). There is an old saying attributed to several sources, which goes along the lines of ‘There are two things you do not want to see being made. Sausages and International Policy’ (or the other way around). So, did the current president just pick up a loose ball and run with it? I guess historians will clarify.
Meanwhile we have this piece of good news concerning the release of political prisoners
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0mkwl2g499o
So are my words in the previous Regime Change paragraph unduly pessimistic? Am I just serving up sour grapes because all this is happening with the ‘Wrong’ president, the one of whom the very act giving credit for anything is an anathema?
Read on
Hubris Plays The Very Long Game
A brief look back to the International Tenure of Tony Blair as UK PM. A seemingly sunny sort of fellow; obviously, annoyingly, very self-confident. His early ventures into the international scene. Kosovo (1999)- Blair was a major advocate for a ground offensive against Slobodan Milošević’s forces. Sierra Leone (2000): A limited but highly successful military intervention that swung the tide against a most vile rebel force in the Sierra Leone Civil War….So far so good. So much so that some sources suggest President George Bush jnr would not have gone into Iraq without Tony Blair’s approval. And then, yes Iraq. And a hero of the vulnerable and fighter against brutality was then labelled as a war criminal.
And now we have Donald Trump as president on whose authority the operation in Venezuela took place….
(Forewarning I have been sort of balanced and restrained thus far, but a guy can only give so much restraint …. Justifiable Rant Warning – Level 12 and rising)
The same fellow who now wants to grab Greenland by any means. Bear in mind this is not some guy shouting out on a phone call-in or rattling out (as we do) on our laptops prior to pressing an ill-advised ‘Send’.
This is the president of the U-S-A. Who is claiming he wants to have Greenland for the ‘Security’ of because of….
Russia?… Wait a smidge – Doesn’t he understand Russia’s point of view (well some of the time). Or is he changing political socks?
China?…. Now let’s look at the map there. You might recall that China is more focused on the Pacific region, a South-East bit of the world. Beijing at not indicated it is building any artificial islands up in the arctic, a North-West bit of the world. Currently, in China’s play book it is as usual all trade which can be fragile, and the only way China would get boots on the ground would be if Greenland and Denmark backed by a seriously pissed-off Europe did so just to spite the Arch-Brat in Washington
AND Aside from that…
Back to those For Security Purposes. A landgrab off of a NATO partner. How in the name of Sweet Reason is that supposed to aid unified western security?? What happened to the old school? Soft nagging of the government in Copenhagen and waving dollars under their noses, all in the name of security from big, bad Russia. Jeeeeez Loooeezzz back before 2016 you could have given that to a Whitehouse intern to do the initial spade work, before the big names grabbed the credit.
In this case the current Whitehouse gest a big F on their paper (that’s F as in ‘failed’ by the way – I know, I know another word occurred to you too…but let’s keep this family friendly, people?)
Thus….‘Security’ ….Oh yeah…..Big laugh…A bitter one.
And thus I sign off with this final thought.
It is not the SUV that is USA foreign policy that worries me, it is the driver careering around, one foot on the gas and the other one nowhere near the brake, while he is constantly looking over his shoulder at the passengers and yelling ‘Hey lookit me! Some stones…huh??’
Take care of yourselves and everyone close to you. Keep steady.
Seasonal Hand Across The Ether (The Metaphorical Version that is)
Of the 752 images stored on my WP blog, the first entry still seems the most applicable to cover all posts which are sent in a spirit of Friendship and Hope. Hope. Speaking of Hope
Some task huh?
The third decade of the 21st century appears to be one wrapped in gloom, anguish, despair turmoil, and you my dear reader will be able to add your own words to that list. It would seem that the usual toxins of Greed, Violence, Intolerance and Suppression and now joyously aided by Denial and Ignorance they growing frenetic on the social drugs of Conspiracy and Indulgence. This wretched alliance seems more than capable of finally stifling the brief season of instinctive Joy and Goodwill which used to be a theme of Decembers. After all do you really feel like humming, or whistling, even singing to those seasonal songs and carols which still permeate the air waves and public places or does ‘It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas’ really stick in your craw this year?
This is the stage of the post when I am supposed to heave-ho on the allegorical Helm and wheel the whole sentiment into one of Joy and of course Hope. After laying out One Hundred and Thirty plus words in doing the exact opposite.
Some task, huh?
We could start with giving ourselves, individually speaking, some space. It is my opinion based on many years’ experience and observation that one problem in the world is whereas the ruthless, selfish, greedy, arrogant folk will very rarely admit to their faults or flaws, ordinary folk are all too willing to blame themselves for much lesser matters as if those were Crimes Against Humanity and by default give the worst of folk wriggle room. Let’s start with those foundational attributes Compassion, Respect and Tolerance (while leaving pop-culture summaries of Nietzsche and his ilk out of it).
Most of us, hereabouts, would like to think that we are predisposed to those qualities, which is something of a plus for Human Nature- we would like to think we are ‘Nice’ (ish). Then we will metaphorically look over our shoulder or maybe agonise over our shortcomings. Now, whereas, it is only right for us avoid being smug, self-congratulatory and hypocritical there are also times when we will wince and think ‘Urgh. That could have gone better’ or ‘What the heck was I thinking of’ . Which is fine, because most of us have an analytical system working there. However:
Compassion– Do you care for those you have not met, but feel because of their situation as a minority or a currently persecuted section or a unfortunate one of a few, that what is being heaped on them is just not fair. That they have been labelled and you, I, us know nothing about them as persons and the negative attention is all unjust. Is that your default position? Well give yourself some credit then. By not embracing Disdain, Suspicion or Apathy, by supporting, or at least not joining in with the mob; there is Compassion in you.
Mind you Compassion makes tough calls on you. How about those folk you have labelled?…. Yeah I know…..Yeah boy do I know…..Still as long as you don’t want all of them incarcerated in a ‘place of correction’ as long as you find that disturbing…. Well keep on keeping on…
Respect– Do you know or have ever countered folk or a community or a people, whose views or ways you do not agree with, or even not understand, and yet your only response is ‘Yes, not for me, couldn’t be like that’ And yet you feel they have a certain something or somethings within their outlooks which merits an understanding and acceptance. Now that should not be the unconditional sort of, like everyone within that group should not be criticised- for every circle has its jerks (yes that was deliberate-stop sniggering at the back). To do that is to condemn the rest by allowing abuse and domination by unpleasant characters. In the individual case it gets even more complex because you may find there are times when an individual has been a complete idiot in one instance over their beliefs but not in every facet. Respect is an even tougher caller than Compassion. But if you can disagree with a view (not necessarily an act) and allow that person their opinion (I know…I know….we are coming to the qualifier when discussing Tolerance). If you can least understand someone’s stance and agree to disagree or Live and Let Live. Are you trying to balance that, but wobble just a bit in the balance? Well it’s something to work with. You are doing well though, just keep working.
Tolerance-This is the deal breaker of the trio. It requires an ability to accept those whose views are opposite to yours and whose comments might even set your teeth on edge. However the door swings both ways in that they must react the same way. You do not have to accept those who espouse Intolerance and Hatred, to be biblical and refer to the teachings of Jesus Christ – Matthew 10:4 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. This is a fairly allegorical piece of advice. Turn your back on Intolerance and its poisons. Well yes do not expect that balance to be easy. There will always be those places when you get tested to the absolute limit. Oh for the simple loud mouthed bigot, you say, and not this quiet sincere person who speaks in a rational calm way. And yet do you struggle on to make with conversation and contact, even if failing the first, second, third time? Do you ever give up on one attempt but still say ‘Next time. Next time it will go better,’
The measurement is in your willingness never to in your heart give up on these three. To just keep on trying to spread them, trying to bring people into the fold, try and try and even when it all goes wrong ,you try some more. And never, ever give up on yourself for trying
And there you are. For doing those few efforts – You are worth it
You are not perfect. But You are worth it.
Bear that in mind this Season. Give yourself a smile, a nod and a whispered ‘Well it might have gone better. But next time. Yeah next time,’.
Best of wishes and hopes to you all; Christmas, Holiday, Looking to 2026 whatever.
An Explanation and Something of a Justification
I cannot quite place which of the Laurel & Hardy films Olly looks at Stan in that wonderful exasperated expression and asks ‘What did you do that for?’ . It seems to fit the theme of the post though.
Preamble
I have long forgotten what my ‘WP Name’ was when first starting out on WP some fourteen years ago. All went well until between them WP & Kismet turned my replies to other posts into either unknown or spam. Neither would not admit to a flaw or offer an apology and would refer me to the other. That PAID FOR account was closed down and I set up a new FREE account (Are you reading this WP?). 
Anyway, simmering from the previous treatment I chose the name ‘determineddespiteWP’ as my ‘name’ in thinking a point was being made, if only to myself.
And there it was for years and years and years. Quite forgotten, to the extent when folk replied to me by the name ‘determined’ for a few moments there would be no recognition until the ‘Oh Yeah’ kicked in.
The Build Up
The original reason for joining WP was to raise my writing profile and interact with other Indy writers. However (there is always an ‘However’), once involved with the ‘back and forth’ and dipping into random posts which caught the attention of my political side, I became involved in that track…….. Bound to happen. 
And gradually, then at an increasing pace the folk being followed and my own posts took on a majority political slant; there was even a second site given over to politics but that withered a bit. The writer in me lamented…loudly at times…but despite a few public announcements there would be no more politics it did not take much for me to slip back to political views as a theme.
Now being a reader of histories, historical references and allegories tended to abound in my writing….. Here comes another ‘However’…….. Most of the my favoured subject matter were Military Histories along with the associated political causes and effects; and when wars are involved there are certainly no happy beginnings or middles and very rarely any truly satisfactory much less happy endings. This leaves an inveterate reader of these histories with a certain outlook. Some might call it ‘Realistic’, some might compliment you with ‘Incisive’ , others might simply suggest ‘Gloomy’ of ‘Judgemental’ – I would not argue with the latter.
Thus my posts or responses were along the lines of ‘It’s Happening Again. And Won’t Turn Out Well,’ or very censorious observations on the flaws in Human Nature.
This outlook resulted in one recent throwaway line ‘Call me Cassandra’ used in a response to another’s post and they took up the challenge. I could not leave well alone.
Rationale
Whereas the name has its origins in the Greek Mythologies around events in Troy, I cannot, truly identify with this most unhappy young trojan prophetess or her life. That would be, when examining the detail, downright ridiculous and weird. My allusion is with the common modern assumption that the name is all to do with very ominous predictions which many might feel extreme. BUT also and more to the point the popular British newspaper journalist William Connor, who headed his column with this name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Connor
In this there is a certain amount, albeit presumptuous dignity.
Conclusion
My blog will still remain though
Writing Despite Computers and Programmes
For this seems to be a common missions statement for most Bloggers hereabouts.
File this under ‘Just Saying. That’s All’
Best wishes to you all.
Roger
Don’t You Hate It When Ethics Calls You Out
Foreword: You are not going to like it…..No more that I do.
Often we will talk about Ethics, normally about someone who is being unethical. We will wield the word as a weapon in a just war, pointing out someone’s most grievous faults and actions, and we feel good about it.
We might, at some stage become involved in a discussion over the nature of Ethics and cite either hypothetical or historical events to support our views and naturally our political opinions.
We are in someway comfortable in these encounters, because there are degrees of separation from the actual daily encounters with Ethics
And then.
One day.
We are called out because of an event, and not a simple one like being critical of a politician or inhabitant of that world because they had said something we don’t agree with. Oh no, we don’t get off that easy, for the event has taken place in the grey and jagged area of Conflicting Beliefs, and Ethics itself has come calling asking very difficult questions of us. We wish it hadn’t.
Right now there is hope that the one conflict situation which has been The Many-Layered Big Global News event of the past two years might be coming to an end. Folk living in the Gaza region may be given a chance to not to fear that they may be killed today or tomorrow. Folk living in Israel might be reunited with their hostaged loved ones. The guns, for the moment may be laid down.
And we may give out with an expression of relief.
It would be so simple to embrace that ideal and feel good, save for one niggling detail.
Not only did it happen on President Donald Trump’s watch, it would seem his personal intervention has played a major role in this Peace Effort. The evidence might indicate that through his personal drive and characteristics he has steam rollered all parties into agreeing.
And Ethics stands at our door, barring our way out of the room and asks ‘Well?’
Don’t we wish Ethics had gone next door to ask that question.
Regular readers and I. We have spent the past nine or so years vilifying Trump. We have castigated his past, torn apart his judgements, pounced on his every word rounded on his appointees, associates, high profile supporters, family members and anyone else who came into our sights. We were justified in that we saw the whole miasma surrounding him has a threat to the basic stability of the USA and a threat to democracy. And when you look back on the past and in more detail the recent record we have a solid case. What good ever came from that collection of fundamentalists, prejudicial Conspiracy junkies and snake oil opportunists.
Right?
I made frequent use of adapting Churchill’s comment on the stance of supporting Communist USSR in 1941 ‘If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons.’ changing that to ‘If Trump said the World was round, I would at least do Flat Earth believers the common courtesy of visiting their internet sites,’ (and variations). After all what practical good has Trump ever done for Humanity in general?
Right?
So what is our response to this recent event? Trump linked to an Humanitarian Initiative? Do we start looking for the flaws, seeking some gratification in realising by our exacting standards it is not going to work? Do we go down the common train of thought, what does Trump think is in it for him, maybe it is just a colossal Vanity project enabling him to stamp his name favourably into History? Maybe, perhaps, just this once we’ll go scampering off down a Conspiracy Route? Or is our response a rather sour feeling that Trump should not get credit on the World Stage for anything; never mind what, how and that a ravaged and persecuted population should benefit?
And while we jump to deny that Trump could never, ever under any circumstance be associated with any good idea, anywhere, anyhow, Ethics is still there, at our door.
Herein lies our problem. The conundrum. The person who is currently at the head of an administration which seems intent on dismantling Democracy and Tolerance in the USA, is associated with a Life Saving measure in The Middle East. Broadly this is nothing new. History has its catalogue of individuals renowned for some positive achievement who also have a weight of questionable if not downright hideous actions to their name: Stalin being a classic case and whatever historical heroes you might have there will be very questionable actions linked to them. This one however is happening right here, right now before our very eyes, when we have invested so much in our one stance.
Therefore, do we, for the sake of thousands of Palestinians give Trump some grudging approval, nay even support? If we care that much for them should we consider it, shift just a smidge? Hope it will work out for the best? Put aside our differences, on this one isolated issue?
Or do we remain knowingly entrenched? Reckoning it will only be a question of time before the whole thing falls apart like some political Ponzi scheme, and it was only a Trump effort to win a Nobel Peace prize, no more than that- we knew it!!……And we heave a secret sigh of relief. Well yes, the continued loss of Palestinian lives would be unfortunate, horrific of course, but at least we were right about Trump.
And is that what matters??
No we say, we have a bigger picture to consider. The quality of lives and wellbeing of millions are at risk here. We can’t let down our guard, we think to ourselves. We say, we cannot celebrate. There are greater issues at stake. This is all a ruse. It’s all you need to know about Trump, we argue. He cannot be trusted.
Ethics is still standing at our doors…..Waiting.
For our Churchillian moment?
Don’t expect a definitive answer from me I’ve retreated behind another phrase…
‘Just saying. That’s all’
Try Not To Do Selective Outrage. (An Appeal)
Sudan a nation riven by internal conflicts from more than since the 1950s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_Civil_War
And on the 15th April 2023 things became even worse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_civil_war_(2023%E2%80%93present)
A land where mass killings, rape and roving brutal gangs masking as militias do as they please, preying on hapless civilians. These are daily events heart-breaking horrors which basically the Western populations have not bothered about much. You can even be told off for mentioning it, as distracting from other calamities.
Consider these figures taken from the Wikipedia link:
- Likely significantly more than 150,000 total killed
- More than 700,000 children with acute malnutrition (with 522,000 likely being dead)[
- 8,856,313 internally displaced
- 3,506,383 refugees
And now between 250,000 to 300,000 are trapped in El-Fasher while militia forces close in, forces that see these people as foes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8wzzjze8xo
Now the thorny part.
We know full well about the horrors which are taking place in Gaza. We see that a right-wing nationalistic fundamentalist government backed by an ultra violent section of the population are running free of most restraints and are taking war to the ultimate most extreme sort – elimination of the foe from its land. And people have taken to the streets and social media in protest. Because Israel and the Middle East always attracts news headlines and attention.
People are naturally horrified by what is taking place.
So I will ask of you. Why doesn’t Sudan warrant the same reaction?
Why are there no marches or protests?
The BBC News (much maligned by some activist groups) has kept up a steady stream of items. So has Al -Jazeera. PBS, CNN, ABC in the USA have reported on it. Newspaper columnists have drawn attention to it. There is a steady output of appeals from Aid Agencies and Charities on Social Media. The campaigning group Avaaz is currently running an appeal for signatures.
And yet…and yet..
Where is the Western Public Display of Outrage and Horror?
And there are more out there, maybe not as large but as equally horrifying for the people living through them.
Need to know more? Here’s one window.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/armed-conflict/
Of course you my dear reader cannot be everywhere physically marching, you can’t contribute to every appeal, you can’t be emotionally invested in every one of the conflicts across this world, you’d be frazzled out in a month.
Spare a thought once in a while for those suffering, everywhere across the globe, day in day, lament for them from time to time and if you have a spare few ‘coins’ choose one charity to donate to. Make it your business to have at least an idea of the series of conflicts taking place. You don’t have a working knowledge of each one, that’s not possible unless you are a professional.
But at least care. And stay Woke.
Orem, Utah, 10th September 2025
If you live outside of the USA and until today have not heard of Charlie Kirk, then chances are you will by now. A far right activist favoured by Trump and on the 10th September 2025 slain by a currently unknown gunman. In the eyes of The Right now elevated from a favoured son into a Martyr and a Hero. And unless you are someone devoted to the MAGA and Trump, where do you start?
There is a mirrored synchronicity of 9/11 unfolding. Firstly, because what would normally be a day of solemn reflection and for many recollections of where they were has now turned into another media event which will have effects on America. Although this one could have far greater repercussion, 9/11 tore at America’s heart and soul, this assassination has the capacity to shake a foundations already weakening by a series of other quakes. So where do you start?
Are you saddened at another loss of life through violence and worried for the future?
Are you angered and in mourning from a bright young man taken from you?
Are you fearful for you and yours at the random backlash by an extreme Right Wing has a propensity for violence, encouraged by a volatile president?
Are you just satisfied, taking a ‘Game On Stance’; even if it is only secured away in a small place in your being and will only be let out in some long coded way?
Are you detached with a ‘Those Who Live By The Sword Die By The Sword’ outlook?
Or are you far enough gone to just rejoice?
In writing this being British but essentially ‘intolerant of Intolerance’ I am detached. There are qualifiers though. Spare at least a thought.
For his wife Erika who was watching the event and his children, one old enough to possibly perceive some of what is happening. There is a pain none of us should ever wish upon anyone.
For those youngsters witnessing a close up killing who will have that image branded on their minds. Their innocence ripped away from them and Reality ground into their souls.
For those of his family and true friends, who have lost someone close.
As I write this, the breaking news on BBC is that the FBI have a weapon, possible forensic evidence and now they have an image of the Person of Interest. Whether this will result in a rapid detention remains to be seen. Sudden assumptions would have been made along the ‘Grassy Knoll’ line and the Conspiracy Industry would have gone into overdrive. We could have been forgiven for thinking the assassin was one with professional experience, the accuracy of that shot? Along comes The Action Film scene through a scope, the shot and then camera to the face of a hardened veteran looking grim and stealing away. Instead, we might have to consider a young loner with an agenda, who was aiming for the head but hit the throat.
Motivations? One volunteer of an extremist group? One truly lone gunman? Just looking to kill one particular target? Or seeking the chance to throw one final match on a forest of folk tinder-dry through polarisation and start the urban war the shooter yearns? Or maybe some disenchanted MAGA member? Or maybe just someone looking to make a play for infamy? Or someone so far out anyone with a profile would do?
Whoever and whatever. In a year with so far 150+ acts deemed as political violence this one comes perilously close to setting off a whole sequence of events, the parallel of which sits back in 1914 in a town with its named etched into history, Sarajevo and a previously inconsequential fellow Gavrilo Princip. Would that I might be just one person writing alarmist rhetoric. But I am not am I? A fear which has been simmering amongst Americans since Trump first got into the Whitehouse will have been notched up.
And I worry for you all.
For those who do not want violence at all; the innocents are always the first, last and most to suffer.
For those who dally with the idea of violence, because unless you have been in a place riven by communal violence you seriously do not know what you are dealing with.
For those who dream about violence, are you ready to live as people did in Northern Ireland for thirty plus years, never who is at your door, checking underneath and all over your car?
There is one person who I have no sympathy for and that is your president. He has dallied with violence, he has made NO appeal to those who did not vote for him, he has poured forth irrational invective. If he had cared so much for Charlie Kirk then why did he not use his presidential power to ensure the man had some more efficient security? Somebody else has died for you Trump. Because of your ego, your vanity, your stupidity. And I fear they will not be the last.
For my friends in the USA
For those I exchange views with,
For those I do not know, but just want a quiet life,
For those who will loose their innocence.
For those who will see their dreams turn to nightmares
I worry and fear for you
Unbelievable? Sadly No
I was going through FaceBook this morning and encountered this item from ABC7 a news outlet in Los Angeles and Southern California. You will see an all too familiar type of headline.
It was not the headline which took hold of my attention. It was the reaction emjois. Now Facebook being Facebook you can expect a few twisted and ignorant souls to put up laughing ones when there is a human tragedy and also thumbs up when Trump’s administration does something. After all it’s FaceBook where the ignorant, ill-informed and prejudiced of any political stripe be it Right or Left congregate.
The aspect which disturbed me was that there were approximately 200 thumbs up (maybe more now and worse 150+ whose reaction was to put the laughing face. A quick glance at the comments revealing one GIF ICE – themed support.
These twinned actions say much about a corrosion of the common sense of Humanity. That folk can support or mock the misery of children, vulnerable and frightened small individuals does speak harshly about those folk.
Now down Humanity’s long jagged, ragged road there is nothing new in this. One of the most frightening creations we have to offer is mentality of The Mob, be it a howling scream missile throwing horde or a host of folk with access to social media. Of any political or social stripe by the way. Against these waves of irrational hate and screaming War can at times look positively sanitised ‘It’s nothing personal. It’s just business,’. It is also fearfully easy to be swept up in the emotions of a crowd whose passions have been ignited.
The most dangerous aspect of this mindless action comes from the Opportunist. The Opportunist comes in many forms. We think of them as simply charlatans looking out for no more than personal gain from ‘the rubes’. But there are those who harbour extreme beliefs who will sense the discomfort and anger, to harness it and thus have a fertile ground to promote those ideas. There are those who are possessed of a narcissism and thus will use any means to promote themselves. There are the professionals who are there at the behest of an organisation or nation to stir up the Mob, who will be quite unaware they are fodder. And there are those who just want their moment of Glory, not really sure where it leads. All of these types will work upon the crowd, turning it into a mob, mindless.
Now aside from the expert professionals and the more astute of the charlatans both of whom know when to fade into the background or ‘jump ship’ at the right time there can grow amongst the rest an unholy alliance between Opportunist and Mob. This being that the Opportunist delivers what The Mob want to hear, but The Mob will want more, howling for it, so the Opportunist begins to do at the behest of The Mob and thus the cycle picks up a giddy pace both parties locked into a whirlwind of emotion where all perspective is lost. The end leads to some type of destruction, either materially or of the Soul, sometimes both. For within this there will always be the danger of the element of retribution, and that comes in many forms.
To return to those foolish folk who applauded at that news item. They would do well to consider an incident where some of their own; close friends or relatives are attending a gathering, a rally. There is an accident, a fire in the building maybe, loss of life much injury. How will they feel in the aftermath of that horror and tragedy to see thumbs up and laughing emjois along with cruel comments?
The door swings both ways.
And since there appear to be those who say they espouse Christianity, then they should meditate on the words of Christ as recorded in Matthew 25 verses 31-46
The War Posts Part IV – A VJ Reflection – Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Why the Resonances?
Foreword:
The original post was written on 9th August. It was longer with more detail. WP wiped it out and I foolishly had not created two back-ups. This is a short version which ends a series on War. And expands upon points I raised in the previous post .
15th August 2025. 80th Anniversary of Japan’s surrender and marked the official end of WWII. There will be commemorations in the UK. That’s the official term we will not celebrate the event that would not be proper. Particularly when the events leading up the surrender were overshadowed by the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Everything else which took place from the 7th July 1937 when Chinese and Japanese forces clashed until the 6th August 1945 has taken second place in the Western World public consciousness; the provinces of folk with interests in the entire era.
The question remains. Why the particular abhorrence in public mind of the nations involved in the victory over Japan. There is only one event of that era which supersedes the revulsion and that would be the Nazi Concentration Camps and attendant genocidal actions in the field.
The casualty lists make grim reading both in the explosion and aftermath.
Hiroshima: 80,000 – 166,000 killed, injured not accurately recorded
Nagasaki : 80,000.
Higher than the following:
The controversial firebombing of Dresden Feb 1945 :Estimates 25,000 dead
The Firebombing of Tokyo March 1945: Estimates 100,000 dead.
French civilian casualties by allied air action during 1944: Estimates 15-20,000 dead
Those three examples are in the provinces of military history. The public in general can be forgiven for not knowing about them and many other events which were part of the 75- 80 million deaths associated with WWII.
London, Leningrad, Warsaw, Stalingrad, Philippines, Okinawa, Berlin, Konigsberg all have their own bloody tallies of dead and injured civilians , some do figure in some sections of the public consciousness, but none weigh as heavily as the fates of those two Japanese cities. Why is that?
This is my statement. It is my considered opinion that the objections and the revulsions to the use of the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki result from shock and at the bottom of our Human being- Fear of what took place. The idea that approximately 20% of the Japanese civilian casualties of WWII were caused in two locations in mere minutes is horrific information that vibrates deep into the Human consciousness. So quick, so efficient. So possible, everywhere? For it is an acceptable fact by most people that if one nation has a weapon then sooner or later another will have the same weapon, and that it could be used ‘here’.
And we don’t want that. We want it to be uninvented. If there’s a war and some foe flies over with conventional bombs and drop them on our city, that is frightening but we reckon the damage is local(ish) and can be repaired and we can all work together to help out, because even if our location is in chaos there’s one down the road to lend a hand. We can cope with conventional wars. We have our own ideas of what to do.
Not so with Nuclear Weapons. We have been brought up to understand that those bring destruction on an ultimate scale. They lay waste on a massive scale. Everything collapses. No emergency services, no health support, no supplies. Better off at ground zero than miles away and surviving. And naturally, understandably, we do not want to live with that knowledge. The idea that there is a means so powerful, so effective, so dreadful that all we have known, accepted, learnt to live with can be gone. And worse, we are some of the survivors?
Now harsh words will follow.
A First World perspective?. There have been at least 300 what we might call wars since WWII ended. There are whole swathes of the world whose miseries and terrors might not be nuclear ones but are or have been as dreadful in their own, small ways, small because in most cases the rest of the world doesn’t even know they are going on; much less care. Unless of course it suits some purpose to notice. If you protest or are angry about one, then what about the ten that went before, or elsewhere in the world? Sorry if I am getting cross – but I try not to do ‘Selective’.
Anyway, back to….. analysis?
Meanwhile we are angry and scared that our lives or way of lives can be wiped out. I suggest therefore that the Atom Bombs became our own worse, personal nightmares. In our fear or rage we blame individuals for unleashing them. We are so frightened we want to blame someone. And we want to give our fear a justification, so understandably we channel it into an outrage. We call this one particular act of war a crime. We will of course call other acts crimes as well, and each of us no doubt as a list of those depending on our own trigger points. But no acts of war, to date has been so monumentally, individually, terrifying as those two bombs.
Yes they brought horrible suffering. War does that. Look back at the casualty lists above, and those are just some air raids. I have not included the urban battles, not the sieges, not the post battle eras of pillage, rape and random killings, not the unfortunate killings of folk who just got in the way, not the reprisals, not the massacres….not the….not the…
By all means beware of The Logic of War. It leads to paths such as the dropping of nuclear weapons. A straight line from the splinting of the atom by Professor Rutherford in a laboratory in Manchester UK 1917.
By even more effort embrace Compassion, Respect and Tolerance, because around the corner, waiting in the Shadows waits Violence and Hate and they have their own version of those Horrors I have been writing about.
And dear reader, there is no other way to end this series.
Take care. Walk wide of violent solutions.
The War Posts – Part I .An Introduction to War
The War Posts Part II – The Logic of War
The War Posts Part III – When Industry Replaced Cavalry and its Arm Grew Long
Writing Despite Computers and Programmes 