Horror films are really not my genre, but I do admit that if the storyline is good, and the special effects not too distasteful, they can make for compelling viewing. With aspiring model, Jesse, moving to Los Angeles, and getting gobbled up by predatory beauties, Nicolas Refn’s 2016 film, “The Neon Demon”, certainly underscores my […]
Society
Sexism And The City – Nature Or Nurture?
Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them. – Margaret Atwood The last time I said anything remotely qualified as sexist, was in 1980, in a Chinese restaurant in the West-End of London. The chopsticks were hygienically wrapped in a beautiful red paper sleeve, decorated with Chinese […]
Facebook Is No Longer Michel Foucault’s “Heterotopia”
The Missing Comma It started with the sharing of a tweet in a Facebook group. There followed a heated discussion between those, like myself, who thought that the tweet had more than an undertone of racial prejudice and white supremacy, and those who didn’t. I don’t recall that the person who posted the tweet […]
Pardon Me, Your Honour – I’m a Sexy Lady With Talent
In May this year, Lavinia Woodward, an Oxford medical student, was found guilty of stabbing, and seriously injuring, her boyfriend. An exceptional delay in the verdict was pronounced, the court having heard of her ‘extraordinary talent’, as sufficient reason for this strange decision. The judge had made it clear that he did not favour a […]
I Can See The Toilets, But Where’s The Bar?
Rightly or wrongly, I cannot relate to how members of LGBT communities feel about themselves and the situation they find themselves in. This does not mean that I’m not aware that, most of the time, these human beings are the victims of severe and unwarranted discrimination. The fact is, that due to my own sexual […]
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Dressed To Thrill: Meet The “Kini’s”
When we stopped over in a hotel in Strasbourg, on our way down to Italy, my son was looking forward to a dip in the hotel pool. We were deeply disappointed to find out that the hotel rules did not allow boxer-short-type swimming trunks, the reason being that such trunks “disturbed other clients”. “Discriminatie” (discrimination) […]
Pour L’Amour De La Nation (For The Love Of The Nation)
Individualism, patriotism, nationalism?…A spectre of human interpretations of the world around us – each one a potential danger. Maybe I have no sense of patriotism due to my upbringing – loving two cultures and living in a third. However, more importantly, the world I live in is my representation and no-one else’s. For Donald Trump, […]
Simone Veil And Abortion – A Woman’s Voice In A Man’s World
Simone Veil (1927 – 2017) Simone Veil will be remembered as the health minister who gave women throughout France the right to abortion, as well as being the first woman to become president of the European Parliament. She represented the voice of women in a man’s world. Political figures who have had a profound influence […]
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Cold Justice: “The Red Pullover” – Part II: The Trial
On 6th November 1975, Christian Ranucci was officially charged with the abduction and murder of 8-year-old Marie-Dolorès Rembla, in June 1974. The official investigation was characterised by numerous “potential” irregularities, including the “rejection” of a last-minute testimony from a witness favouring Ranucci’s innocence. The two major controversies related to the investigation were Ranucci’s sudden U-turn on […]
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Cold Justice: “The Red Pullover” – Part I: The Crime
In March 1976, Christian Ranucci was tried and condemned to death, for the murder of 8-year-old Marie-Dolorès Rembla, in June 1974. He had his request for pardon rejected by president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, and was executed on July 28th 1976, at 4.13 am. The death penalty was abolished by François Mittérand, in September 1981. Ranucci […]