Category Archives: Ethics

Don’t You Hate It When Ethics Calls You Out

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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’

Unbelievable? Sadly No

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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?

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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

The Wrath Which Came Out of a Technological Fog

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Wrath

Lebanon 17th September 2024 and new pages were added to the Book of War. Not a new subject because Humanity has always preferred to engage in warfare at long range. Stone, sling, spear, bow, gun, missile delivered from land, sea or air and of late the cyber domain. This time the means and nature were normally the preserve of the techno-thriller, had he lived longer, material for a Tom Clancy novel? This was Reality though, and unlike a book or its TV or Film derivatives, you can’t close it or switch the TV off. Think of the cyber world as a large expanse of water, and think of detonation of thousands of electronic pagers as being merged together as one piece of a cliff face falling into that water. Ripples? Think of waves, very big ones, tsunamis heading towards the shore of Humanity. They happen in Nature, and we are secondary to Nature. Like many events Humanity starts them, then they take on their own momentum, impose themselves on Reality and the events are not done with us. To this event then.

Hezbollah a very well equipped and funded Shia Islamist organisation based in but somewhat independent from Lebanon, as been waging war along the border with Israel for four decades. The increase in the war between Hamas in Palestine and Israel allowed a temporary settling of the Sunni / Shia difference to make common cause, having Israel fight a war on two front.

The overall narrative is still developing. It is known that electronic devices used by Hezbollah members were planted with some explosive materials which were denoted by remote control. Hezbollah had moved to using the lower tech pagers as it suspected Israeli ‘s Mossad, may have hacked into their mobile phone network.

Pagers have their origins back in the later 1940s and although have been overtaken by mobile phones as a means of communication are still a preferred choice for several emergency services as being more rugged and dependable in areas where signals are volatile or weak. They also cannot be hacked in the conventional sense. So how was this done? Well the media was quick to seek out answers, here is a link as to the practicalities of how such an event might be accomplished:

https://news.sky.com/story/how-does-a-pager-explode-the-steps-needed-to-remotely-detonate-hezbollah-devices-13217335

Then we have to consider just how all this was arranged. It is being claimed that the pagers originated from a Taiwanese Company, the owner of which denies direct involvement:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9qvl3vlvlvo

And as you will discern from the BBC article nothing is as simple as just saying ‘They Did It. They Supplied Them’ I am guessing that many a Technology, Security or Cyber Warfare journalist will be spending a few days or more trying to constructive from the myriad of threads of possibility, the rumours and the false trails even the beginnings of the comprehensive narrative as to how this came about. Some basic questions:
Who and how did they ensure the planting the explosive?
At what stage was the explosive implanted and by whom?
By what means did they ensure this supply would go to Hezbollah?
How did they make sure the signals would reach each and everyone?
Who were the Guns for Hire complicit in the physical acts? 

I’m fair certain I have missed some more important questions too, for this is deep and long term work. It is the stuff of future books. If you have read of the preparations the Allied Forces went into to ensure D-Day had a reasonable chance of being a success, you’ll know it’s a lot more than just a few plucky heroes sneaking behind the lines. The planning, the construction and the enacting of this plan would have taken many folks long hours and efforts. This is, and always has been Espionage. 

And, quite frankly, it is all military. More clinical than the dropping of ordinance out of the air, firing shells or missiles both in the vague direction of the foe, which is basically what most operations are, because maybe only those which take place in remote regions between conventional forces leave civilians unscared by direct fire. This one more clinical but not perfect, of course. You can’t ensure your target is not walking along holding the hand of their child, whose face is level with the pocket carrying the small explosive device, or has the child sitting of their lap when they activate the pager, or just happens to be in the same vicinity, or maybe as children do even pick up the device on a sudden whim. Some battles maybe clean of civilian casualties but no war ever has been. nor will be. There will be professionals deep in their crafts who will admire without thought what they see as astuteness of we assume the Israelis. You do not want to be that deep. Yet this is nothing new, only because of the technology does it cause a sharp intake of breath, killing the foe before they kill you, disrupt their networks, hit their moral. Older than recorded history. 

Meanwhile the waves roar out across the cyber lake towards our shore. Folk start to look at their pager in another light. Can you blame them thinking ‘But What If?’. All those firms who are publicly connected in the supply chain will be in for a hard time; conventional orders falling off, obviously; Suspicions weighing heavy (who would want to be on Hezbollah’s list of Suspected Collaborators With Israel?); Markets in general hate any Uncertainties- this one Cyber Crime literally going explosive- what or who might be next? (A Japanese company associated with walkie-talkies for starters). And naturally the on the ground repercussions.
Of course the Conspiracy Junkies will be high for months to come yet, having had two allegorical nostrils full of this kind of cocaine, and they going screaming about the place in hysterical delight will unsettle others. Not that we really need them do we? After years of suicide vests, random shooters, people running amok with knives, driving cars into crowds, hackers screwing with vital utilities for thrills or on orders, never mind those incidents when a new system or system upgrade just cannot cope with the practical work load, and suddenly your debit card just doesn’t work today, or your phone goes off, or your laptop goes blue.  All these convivences come with prices, terms and conditions, in languages we, the masses, can barely grasp.   

The story will birth its own brood of stories which will quickly gives rise to another generation as the search for that elusive full narrative goes on. There will be Governments, CEOs, heads of organisations asking questions, needing reassurance from their tech folk, who might be only able to give a qualified ‘Maybe’. Because out there, let us remember, somewhere, somehow, the physical act of implanting many explosives devices was carried out, by some party within the tangled network of construction or supply chain. This was not simply a code constructed by another group of hackers, this was physical war work.

The waves are not yet done with us; those who watch, those affected, and those involved in the act. There will always be repercussions. Forget protesting on this one. War is finding opportunities and it is not caring, never mind listening. Trying to stop the next one is our best Hope.

Before You Go Any Further on Palestine

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Protests at DNC

Foreword / Forewarning : We are going to some very unpleasant places, where choices have to be made in which no one wins all that they want. There is no easy out either, it’s so narrow, even not getting involved is a choice, and maybe when considering the stakes and options, the very worst. Welcome to the Reality of The World. Accept the harsh facts. What ever you will do, you have to hope it was the least worst option. Bleak? I am afraid so. For many around this world, even in your home region, it is a way of Life. Read on. 

It is understandable that folk are upset, angry, furious or incandescent at what has been taking place in the Gaza region of the Middle East. Even though there is a fearful and dread predictability to it, you only have to travel a few hundred miles north to learn the same type of slaughter took place a decade and less ago; the difference being at least in the UK the demonstrations were not to get involved at all, apparently Assad was entitled to slaughter his own people and the government was criticised for trying to get involved.

Yes folk should be horrified. At any slaughter or mass abuse. I have listed them before, if you don’t know about any others I would suggest checking on Wikipedia under ‘Genocide’. Of course folk will tell me the difference now is that the ‘our’ governments are supporting Israel and supplying arms. This is a good and relevant argument, in part that is, for the simple, grim, unavoidable reason that this event in Gaza is not taking place in isolation. One of the many factors it is linked to is what is and will be taking place in the USA from now until 5th November 2024. The stark choice between a possibly less than perfect Democratic candidate of Kamala Harris and thence her administration, and the manifestation of all that is wrong with the USA’s political and social judgement Donald Trump along with the cabal of Right Wing reaction behind him. The forces which are restricting women’s right to abortion, censoring to what can be read in schools, intimidating the right to walk safely in public places by allowing guns to be proliferated, the persecution of the right to be of any sexual orientation, the eradicating of an administration staffed by folk who do not necessarily agree,  with the president and of course whether you will be allowed not to believe in a god of their manufacture. Make no mistake it will be one or the other. Make no mistake if Trump is let back in at a time of his own questionable judgement there will be a whole group of folk with him with their own agendas, and as long as they feed his ego that will be just fine.

There are folk demonstrating at the Democrat Convention, raising the political tensions. Distracting for events in their own back yard, truth be known. There appear to be some 750,000 voters who have made much of being undecided about voting democrat because of the current administration’s support for Israel. As unpleasant as they might find that stance, I cannot see what solace they would have in by withholding their votes and possibly allowing a Trump administration in, or how they would believe that administration would be sympathetic to the Palestinians. And this is a terrible fact. If this body of voters withhold their votes and by default Trump gets in, then they will be complicit in whatever fate befalls the Palestinians.

And it gets worse. Not just the Palestinians but the Ukrainians. Does anyone need reminding that for some twisted reasoning many Republicans like Putin, he is their kind of guy. And if that were not bad enough. Read back to the summary two paragraphs above. Withhold those votes let Trump in and those 750,000 will be complicit in the misery of women with unwanted or dangerous pregnancies, the fear gripping the LGBT communities in many states, the pressure on teachers to teach ‘The Right Way’, the questionable religious indoctrination of communities, the intimidation of minorities and of course the pardoning of several individuals found guilty of riot and assault on the seat of government.

By now I can imagine some readers may be shaking their head or howling at my words. Demanding what solution do I have then? Am I content to let an extreme religiously fundamentalist government slaughter thousands. Firstly I would have to say ‘no’ and then follow up with asking where were those asking that question when previous genocides were taking place? If you care, you don’t get to pick and chose which Crime Against Humanity you feel is worthy of your attention. Secondly and more importantly at this juncture, at this crossroad, at this challenge  to the stability and democracy of The USA do you, questionnaire feel you have the right to destabilise or hinder an attempt by the forces of true Democracy and Tolerance to halt the march of Intolerance and Regression in your own land? Because by your demonstrations and your other actions that is exactly what you are doing.

Some choice huh? Get behind a government that supports Israel or allow another in which will not just support but encourage Israel. There is no ‘wriggle room’ here. There is no space to shout loudly  in one direction and refuse to support them because they are not being perfect for you. When the Harsh Realities surface on your newsfeeds because everyone knows that the Middle East makes good copy, there are no simple choices involved. Not now. It’s not as simple as it was in previous wars. There has been one going on in your own backyard these past twenty years and it really heated up when an African American was voted in twice to the Whitehouse.

And there is the grimmest of all choices. You stick to your outrage, and you risk letting Trump back in. 

Simple as that.

Welcome to the Rest of the World. There are people making choices like this all over the world. Compromise, take the least worst path, for the alternative will come back to haunt you.   

No escape from that. You can’t switch it off like a TV or a Video Game.     

When You Can See From The Side You Hate

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Left SideRight Side

Riots in the UK. The first of the volumes are being written, of course the political ones, then the social ones and the analytical ones. While there are the excruciatingly narrow-minded blatherings or one liners on social media.

And everyone seems to have forgotten that there are families in a town called Southport who are experiencing unimaginable grief, and there are children whose once young, joyous lives are now permanently engraved with the image of a knife-wielding man stabbing, slashing, stabbing; blood, blood, screams. Yes, let’s not dwell on that. Far better to scream, rage, hate, simmer or slump into a corner as the fog despair seeps in under doors, through cracks in on the air.  At some stage we might pay attention to the twisted motivation or cause of that attack.

Currently the riots are the thing. So maybe the people of Southport can grieve in some sort of privacy from a media swarm whose attentions are elsewhere.

So what about the mindset of those mobs? What were those motivations? What was racing through them? Can you comprehend even beginning to answer those questions? Does you disgust at the actions simply have you justifiably recoil?

WARNING: The expression of very strong views will follow. You may be upset, you may recoil. You may encounter triggers. You may even be upset with yourself for agreeing. It is not my intention to win over coverts. The intention is to take those chose to follow into a Mindset. A lesson? A warning? A sharing? There won’t be any answers here. Just illustrations. Sorry about that.  

The anger is a constant. I cannot abide the extremism birthed out of ignorance, prejudice, nor because someone read something on social media and straightways took it to heart. I care not the political affiliation, nor the cause. I despise in equal measure the bigot on the Right and the single subject protestor on the Left. Though for the latter it is an analytical contempt for choosing only one subject for one reason and not for embracing others in equal suffering.

When it comes to the Right and their violent physical bullying foul mothed degenerate hate. Well, all reason goes out of the window and my urge is to respond in equal measure. To pay like with like. Orders to the police ‘Arrest and contain with extreme prejudice’. Recall parliament. Announce a state of emergency could be declared. Warning to any newspaper on the Right or legal politicians that unless you support the authorities you are against them and we will shut you down. More arrests. Those arrested paced in currently empty military camps under military guard. Announcement to the public to report any hate speech or support of hate speech or anything sympathetic seen on social media to be reported to The authorities (text, Whats App, phone number, Gov.UK web site supplied). Aggressive social media response to the Right. Message to Elon Musk or anyone outside of the UK to keep out. If Russia or Iran were involved in mis-information set up units to reply in kind on their own doorsteps. Bring any UK right wing activists home by all means available. Let the world know whoever they are the UK govt is playing by the Big Boys and Girls rules.

It’s all very bizarre actually. Thinking like Putin or Lukashenko of Belarus when it comes to domestic policy on any disruption, agreeing with their methods when not their reasons. But then I have always been inclined to respond that way when nudged. Irrational, visceral, extreme response to any perceived threat to my way of life, to my set of ‘values’. Response and not consequences. As long as there is the chance to lash out at the foe. As long they can be seen being crushed under foot and so battered they can’t rise again…… There must be something wrong there somewhere. Talking and reasoning one way, preaching about seeking the middle, rational ground, while knowing that down, just below the surface simmers, crouching The Beast. Ready to spring on anyone of a very long list of potential ‘threats’ (to me anyway). But as I have argued, I am very broadminded when it comes to who or what qualifies as a threat, political, social or religious. If they are intolerant, bigoted, ignorant of the facts, a threat to the stability of the whole community; they go on the list. Never negotiate with diseases. That’s what I say. Say. Say.

Actually when it comes down to it. When you consider the folk of Southport’s own response, the Mosque where they came out to talk and give food to protestors

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84jjv7kp1wo

When thousands came out across the UK to stifle another round of Right-Wing protests:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cy8497l7dx8t

When the authorities are going about the business in a lawful, administrative way :

See above.

Well then, look at me. Poster-Boy for the emotional motivation of those Right-Wing thugs. Just the sort to react to the media and inflame the situation. The guy who every time he has put up a political post there has been a sometimes subtle, sometime not, sub-textual slap in the face for an extremist. For I am very extreme in my hate of extremists. Yes, beneath the emotional skin I am not so different. Beware folks, beware. The extremists come in all shapes and sizes, tones and means of argument. Hypocrisy?……Me?……Gosh. I can’t stand it! Nothing worse than folk who say one thing and think another….Err…whoops?

Yes…definitely Mea Culpa time. Or to be sardonically humorous about it, taking a leaf out of my Far Left wing inclinations and having a dose of ‘self-criticism’ (which was actually a communist regime’s process of getting scapegoats to take the blame for something to state had done wrong).

And there you are a look inside the sort of convoluted mindset that was going on in those riots. Nothing pretty, nothing reasonable, nothing noble, nothing justifiable, nothing constructive. Just a Nothing. That’s how I know. I visit there. Far too often.

And sorry to everyone for not replying much to your tireless posts, it takes a lot of effort to keep The Beast chained up and to heel. Once it was loose I’d never really know where it was going to lash out, or how.

But let’s end on a lighter note:

My daughter Meg who is a Matron Midwife in Barnet, within the general region of London offered to her Muslim staff the chance to go home early if they wanted to. To a woman they said they would stay.

‘Hi Meg. Mum was showing me your txt msgs
Manager to manager – Dad to daughter let me say how proud of you I am for offering your Muslim Staff the opportunity to leave work early. Now that is management. Well done.
Also if you feel it is correct to do so let those staff know from me they displayed true courage, true devotion and true care to this country. Each one of them is worth fifty of that rioting trash. Bless you. Bless them’ 

Maybe it makes up for a week spent internally raging.

Now a deep breath, and get back to writing, reading and reviewing fiction. I said a while back I was going to do a lot more of that. I should be, I really should be.

There Are Good Folk Out There. There Is Still Hope.

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Good People Doing Good Things — Russel Honoré

Once a week on a Wednesday Jill raises the spirit with her regular Good People Doing Good Things post.

This one has its origins, to quote from Jill’s latest post in the early days of New Orleans’ great flood of 2005.

One man reaching out, and from there the story just grows with evidence that there truly good folk and how good deeds inspire.

Please read.

Thanks Jill for brightening the day.

A Comprehensive Warning Not Be Ignored But Studied.

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Global macro trends – looking forward from 2012

Keith is a blogger I have long admired. His approach is mature and thoughtful. He brings together facts and marshals them into powerful arguments for his point of view.

In this post he looks back over the recent years and our still too modest approach to environmental concerns. This post is at a challenge, a steady yet remorseless case for more constructive action.

Please read and share. For our futures and our descendants

Thank you Keith

An Open Essay To The Current Protestors of The USA On And Off Campus

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US protests

Foreword: For those not familiar with my site. Just a brief introduction. British. 73 years old. Christian (slightly heretical- I’ll square it with God when the time comes) . Left Winger but not of a type you would be likely to recognise. 65 years with an interest in and an affinity to the USA. 60 years interest in politics. A possible affinity to Martin Luther of Eiseben without the vitriolic antisemitism common to his time. OK. That’s me. Let’s get down to issues.

Warning
There will be harsh statements, there will be very uncomfortable points of view, there will be a number reminders about The World, there will be questions asked of the reader, directly. And there will no simple arguments or points of view or answers 

Overview
It has to be accepted that the current one of the many outbreaks of full scale violence between Israelis and Palestinians has attracted the attention of the world. Emotions are running high as well as broadly justifiable feelings at the violence and the loss of life. Looking out from my allegorical window you must accept me thinking. ‘What a pity such demonstrations had not been expressed in other recent times for other peoples in their own sufferings through violence. The events were on accessible on the news and received sustained coverage on the Internet,’ I am not just discussing Ukraine here. Just check the word ‘Genocide’ and look back over the past twenty years. That said we must move on, for there is a future to discuss. We can learn from The Past. We may act upon The Present. But We must prepare for The Future. Your Future. The Future of Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.

Next, something about The Past and The Nature of Events.

Events, Reactions and ‘Causes’. The Shadows and Shrouds of History
Political and Social Events which make the news do not have simplistic backgrounds, they have complex histories, and History has a way of extending itself back and back and back. There is no sudden start point. Back into the deep past there will be a gradual build up of a momentum which at some juncture reaches the Deluge or Avalanche or Earthquake stage and from there on those Earlier Events will have a strong resonance in the causes of Subsequent Events, and so on. Each one causing its own set of ripples or fault lines, criss-crossing the Human Geography of Peoples and their Communities, while calling up the echoes and resonances of the Past at a pace and frequency which leaves the observer possibly embracing the notion that Time is not linear or moving in one direction.

To witness October and onwards and put these in full focus requires what some would call an unsatisfactory and arguably heartless approach. Some would in the spirit of outrage at the loss of life simply deny. Usually these opening words of mine would be a conclusion of a paragraph. In this case just take them as warning of where we are going, a place where Death and Ruination have often walked, and the participants comfort themselves with many justifications, which depending on your view can appear strong but reasonable. We start in A Place which will have a focus in History. 7th October 2023. A concerted incursion by Hamas into Israel causing a very heavy loss of Life.

Of those protesting ‘Regrettable’ some might say. Even condemnatory. However they will add, for there is often an ‘However’ in these matters ‘Just look at the way Israel has treated the Palestinians. That is terrible and has been going on for so many years’ . Well in the harsh prism of History, yes that is an understandable, even acceptable outlook. Treat a people badly and there will be a violent reaction. There is a problem though with that line. The Jewish peoples of Europe (Russia gets included whether it likes it or not) for one thousand years or more were subjected to similar treatments and killings. When they finally get back to what they call their lands they have a long history of their own justifications. They learnt from ‘Europe’ (since there still appears to be a majority of American citizens who can trace European ancestry that includes You too). Therefore the tacit acceptance argument which is used for Hamas gets comparably morphed with a bloody swiftness and ease into one of ‘understanding’ the Israeli approach. Still be horrified? By all means be so? Tell me I am distorting the position? Be outraged. Point out that the death toll in Palestine exceeds that of Israel 30 fold. That is your right. Of course.

Now dip into the bloody, wide, deep, tribute river of War, one that ever flows from the larger River History.  350,000-500,000 German civilians in the allied strategic bombing campaign of WWII. 70,000 British civilians in the German aerial campaigns by bomb or rocket. True that is ‘only’ 7 fold. At the time the governments accepted the other sides losses- ‘they started it’. Thus do not be surprised at the Israeli response. It is one that takes place with regularity throughout the world throughout the ages, and no one seems to have a solution which puts an end to it.

You may now, if you wish express more outrage, only please do not accuse me of justifying Israel’s response. I am merely pointing out to you the Horror. This is how it works. I cite a few others. Ask the Syrian’s. Ask those Chechen folk not in a warlord’s pay, ask the Tamils, ask the Uyghurs, ask The Iranian Women and the Afghan Women (although the latter two were not bombed or shelled, just beaten up and locked up, only ‘a few’ died the other thousands upon thousands only live in terror and cohesion, and being locked up ). Ask the Women where Rape is used as a weapon of war. Keep on asking. You should. Keep on asking. For if you have taken up the Palestinian Cause, it does not end there, not in this troubled turbulent dangerous world. Marching on one Embassy, up and down one street is not going to trouble the worshipers at the Triple Altars of Death and Ruin and Oppression

“We can learn from The Past. We may act upon The Present. But We must prepare for The Future.”

Into Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Now to you. You who have taken up a Cause. You who have felt the need to protest. What will you do now?
Pack up and say ‘I did my bit’, then go onto the ‘rest of your life’
Continue with the Palestinian Cause
Or sign up for the Great Struggle.-The one where the Oppressors, Merchants of Violence, Hate Mongers, and Opportunists With Guns are legion. The one where the victims are counted in their millions, be they dead, dying, sick, injured, terrorised, brutalised, violated and ever on the move or sitting in hapless squalor. All located somewhere on the inside pages of a newspaper, maybe mentioned as a filler on a news channel, or when some anniversary comes along, or to be found by following a few links on the net. Those dead and those anguished faces, along with those dulled-eyed with the whole horror, forgotten. What comfort do they have? A few dogged journalists? Charities working ever hard?

If you are truly honest, if you truly care, you will learn a lesson from this time in Palestine and in the South West of Israel. You will realise there is no respite, there is no time to congratulate and go home to Sunshine and Lollipops. Hate. Violence. They never rest. They are never cowed permanently. If you are not ever alert, keeping a weather eye, willing to challenge not just your government but the ones who gave the acquiescence to pull the triggers, then somewhere, somewhen Some Folk will be suffering. One episode of protest does not cut it. If you care, you do not get to select the Cause. The Causes will come to you and ask for at least some attention.

Just take some time out and take a lot at the Amnesty site, or Medicins San Frontières’ or UNHCR, or – you just look.

Did you? Will you? When you do, be prepared for the shock and the feeling of absolute helplessness. Be ready to say without thinking ‘But I Can’t Be Everywhere!’.

No you can’t. Nor can those in the charities which work through the world. They try and they spread slender resources. I know how you feel. I challenge myself every day. As I write this the nagging thought  burrows deeper. ‘Fine Words. Now What Else Are You, Roger, Going To Do?’ and ‘Do you know you are in danger of sounding like John Bolton. An old guy demanding younger folk sacrifice themselves for your ideals?’ 

But I am not trying to stir the passive or the complacent or the apathetic. I am addressing You, those who have seen it right and just to take up a Cause, remember it is but one piece of a larger, bloodied ghastly picture where blood, tears and body parts are the paints and the canvas is human skin.

This in Palestine, as it did in Ukraine, in Syria will pass from the headlines, it already has started. At least it made the headlines. Learn then from this which will become the Past and realise there will be more of the same next year and the year after and so on. Unless we all in same way, somehow, some-constantly do whatever we can, how we can, where we can, when we can.

My generation with its flowers, face paints, gaudy clothes and music which at times was over-long and self-indulgent, we quite frankly failed. We went to a music festival or two, we might have marched, most certainly purchased the right albums, and then? We in the UK voted in Margaret Thatcher, You in the USA did likewise with Ronald Regan and two Bushes (the elder Not So Bad, The Younger in Comparison with now…?). And in our later years We welcomed Boris Johnson and Brexit and  You let Donald Trump, the Action Toy of MAGA be placed in the Whitehouse. Don’t fall into the trap of complacency or that curse of ageing which tends to set in in the 40s the ‘Huh! In My Day’ response as if what will take place will be nothing to do with us ‘We did our bit’
Yes, about that

One Final Message, Wrapped Up In Fable, A Warning And Even Admonishment

And this year. This possibly fateful year. The one which made decide whether the USA carries on, stumbling as do all nations, or slides off that time-honoured road, down the one where there are always storms and you can only just make out the sign-post ‘Warning. Rock Slides Ahead’. You have seen the intentions of the Right, you have heard the ravings of the spolied Brat who did not forgive for losing the last Presidential Election. To elaborate let me tell you that fable:

There was this guy. A man of simple Christian Faith, who prayed every morning, noon and night. He did not doubt God for a minute.
One day he hears on the radio a severe weather warning, storms are on their way, bringing heavy flooding. At once he gets down on his knees and prays to God to protect and deliver him. The rains start, the worst he has ever seen. He prays. A little later, a knock at the door, a police officer is there ‘Sir. You’re house is in danger of being hit by the flood. You best evacuate,’. The man assures the officer God will protect him, he will pray. The officer doesn’t argue, he’s got more houses, anyhow the fellow will soon change his mind when the waters come. The waters come, his house is cut off. An emergency crew in a boat turn up, hailing him. He tells them the same thing. They get a call on the radio, a woman not far off is in labour. Well she comes first. Off they go. The waters rise. The man is now on the roof, still praying. Along comes a rescue helicopter. He waves them off calling up that God will protect him. The crew have been on a long shift, the storm is getting worst. They can’t hang around, they got kids to save. So the house is swept away and he drowns.
He arrives at Heaven’s Gate, greeted by and angel with a clipboard. The man complains at sound length about how he prayed and yet still was drowned, How does that figure? Why didn’t God listen and  help? The angel consults his clipboard.
‘Well dear friend. God sent you a radio warning. God sent you a police officer. God sent you a rescue crew. In the end God sent you a helicopter. What more did you want?’

So then, I ask you, in all sincerity. What is this business about not supporting Biden? Have you not had enough warnings about what the Right has in store for you and the rest of the USA? They’ve made it very clear, give them that. They are going to roll up their sleeves and they are going to do their level best to sweep away liberal reforms. They are going to display their ignorance of socialism, squawk about this ‘woke’ word like crows with indigestion, get hysterical about what other folk do in their privacy, pick bits out of the Bible like stale crumbs and their followers are going to love it, then as a special treat they will throw minorities to the mob.

I would ask you, do you think, not just for one spasm of angry thought, but as a whole agenda that your selective punishment of Biden over Palestine is going to help those folk? Must I remind you that the alternatives are locked into an style of Christian Fundamentalism that is quite content for Israel to do this? If Trump gets back in the Whitehouse and you still stuck with your own fundamentalist agenda then you in part will be responsible for any more Palestinian deaths. Yes. Cause and Effect are terrible twins. In this ever tightening world none of us are actually free of them, but some choices can have more bitter effects than others. You do not get to try and parse your way out of this one. It is Biden or it is Trump. You cannot hide from that brutal truth. This World I have to emphasise is ever complex, nothing is easy, nothing is straightforward, nothing has but one answer. It is all hard work and dirty words like Compromise, Accommodation, Acceptance, Deals, Manoeuvre, Politics and all the rest that get the job done. You might wish for a better one, you might even be working for a better one, but in the meantime, you have this one.
There are other implications to punishing Biden and the danger of letting Trump in. Other aspects you will have to take in part-responsibility. You will have to explain to the LGBT+ community, to women living in fear of getting pregnant, to librarians, to minority groups, to teachers, to the future casualties and families of mass killings how your stance in punishing Biden was the right moral choice.

I am aware I appear cutting, but there is no other way. Implications hang heavy on the shoulders of anyone taking up a cause. They have the challenge of getting the balance right. and the challenge which turns inevitably into a responsibility. There is no way out. Nothing is simple. Ever. You might call me cynical. You are mixing that up with Realism. If I was cynical I would not have taken ten hours over four days out of my time to work on this. (That doesn’t include the thoughts running through my head while doing chores). I would have ‘let them get on with it, they’ll find out in time,’

In Conclusion
You will, I expect be holding fast to your beliefs that your opposition to Israel is the right course for you to take, that this is not a passing phase in the summer of 2024. If this is your choice may I make a plea in these points.

Remember the target is the current Intolerant Fanatical Government, whose brothers in Hate reside in Tehran, who gifted Trump the playbook on how to get The Big Seat. The target is not the Israeli people. And curses upon those who tell you it is the Jews. The target is the government, don’t forget.

Reach out across the distances to those in Israel who are angry at their government and wish to be rid of it. Support them. If they are demonstrating , then you should be in sympathy to. Have them realise there are friends out there, that they don’t have to circle the wagons with the unsavoury fanatics. Israeli politics is another complexity, one shove in the correct direction can bring change.

Research just who are the internal oppositions in Israel, the ones who for long years have tried to preach the creed of accommodation and partnership with Palestinians who also tread that dangerous road of recrimination and violence from within their own communities. For too long The Western Groups supporting Palestinians have not taken that road. When it is the blindingly obvious one.

We must prepare for The Future. Your Future. The Future of Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.

Looking Through A Perspective of Rational Understanding

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My Thoughts On Recent Campus Protests

Brief foreword: I was this going to write a post on this subject. I am glad I did not because Jill pulled the rug completely from under a post potentially heavy with judgemental stuff that would not have been truly fair and deserved to the majority of protesters. A very hard line of socialism was getting hold again. As the saying goes….My Bad. Thanks Jill for holding me back.

Jill has taken a supportive, but balanced view of these protests which have been taking hold in USA places of education. Whatever your views are it is worth a read and a reflection. Her words from the heart should make you step make and draw breath and think just for a moment. There is already a great deal of Sound and Fury on this topic. Read Jill’s take on this and ponder.