Riches And Stitches in the EU It’s quite interesting to see how different European countries tackle the outcome of a general election that didn’t quite go to plan. It seems that, nowadays, the electorate want a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and end up getting nothing. Dutch politicians rhymed their way […]
Charlie Hebdo and the Caliphate Factory
“We didn’t know.” At the time of Hurricane Harvey, Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon, featuring Nazi’s drowning in Texas, with the caption “God exists, He has drowned all the Nazi’s in Texas,” provoked a mis-directed world-wide outcry. The latest controversy will probably cause much less international hysteria – if at all – but is even more important […]
The Fallacy of Creationism: Life-Style Diseases And Human Evolution
The obstinate refusal of certain religious adepts to accept the fact that humans are capable of evolving, like their animal counterparts, is one major reason for the sometimes violent discord between believers and non-believers. The sooner all religions accept the fact that Man is not a divine creation, but the product of an evolutionary process, […]
Two Of A Kind – Mutual Recognition Of Professional Qualifications Post-Brexit
One of the cornerstones of the European Union, concerns free movement of labour, and the freedom for the self-employed to establish themselves in other Member States. In both cases, the basic objective is that all EU nationals be treated equally. Article 57 of the Treaty on European Union empowers the Council of Ministers to issue […]
Replacing The Dumbo At The Jumbo
If life has tought me one thing, it’s appreciating that my wife is the one going to the supermarket on a weekly basis. It’s not that I am unwilling to help her, it’s the fact that she has become so good at spotting the difference between Dutch peas and French petits pois, that I feel […]
Brexit Musings (7) : Sparks and Larks in the City of Westminster
When I was a child, I used to cry my eyes out on Bonfire night. I was terrified of fireworks and had to stay inside and watch behind the safety of a closed window. For those of you who may not be familiar with this, Bonfire night or Guy Fawkes night, is celebrated in the […]
Cataluña Mi Amor – Catalonia’s Romantic Revolution
The Catalonian saga makes Brexit look positively boring and predictable. To begin with, an illegal referendum is so much more exciting and romantic than a legal one, even if the Brexit referendum was flawed. The Brits – bless them – are so fair-play, sticking to the rule book. In triggering Article 50, like all good […]
“Adios…Catalonia?”
(image: barcelonaconnect.com) It seems like a rotten sequel to an already very bad film. If you thought “Brexitmania” was bad, now we have the very latest cheap remake on a theme that is well past its “sell by” date. In deciding to go it alone, Catalonia has done exactly what the UK did, on 23rd […]
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 […]
I Won’t Cry For You, Sally Jones
The death of UK-born Isis recruiter, Sally Jones, may be considered regrettable for one reason only. Had she been captured, she may have given us valuable information concerning the methods used in the recruitment of terrorists. Under the circumstances, though, her death could not have been avoided. So far as her son is concerned, one […]