And there I was, thinking that all you needed to play football for your national team was (i) citizenship, (ii) more than average skills and, (iii) to be picked by the trainer. Silly me, I must say. It was pretty much obvious that you must also be of the appropriate ethnicity, to avoid cynical remarks […]
Extremism
Cultural Appropriation Is a Myth – I’m Not My Culture, I’m Me
The French and English cultures in which I grew up, influence my tastes and moral judgements. But they are not me…I am. Cultural appropriation is a myth because there is nothing to appropriate. For Tania de Montaigne, a French journalist and writer, Blacks do not exist, but blacks do. “Why the capital B?”, she asks. […]
How Catholic Conservatism Could Conquer Secular France
Marion Maréchal is the grand-daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the French extreme-right-wing Front National. She wants to implement a political ideology that is soaked in a thick mantle of Catholicism. It is ironic that, in the eyes of many, the return of Catholicism may be the answer to the battle (if battle there is) […]
Houellebecq’s “Submission” – A Caliphate Fantasia In Rotterdam
Michel Houellebecq’s controversial novel, “Submission”, published in 2015, received a mixed reception from both the press and politicians. Not surprisingly, Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-winged “Front National”, described the work as, “fiction that one day could become reality.” Michel Houellebecq’s political fiction is in nothing a visionary work, it’s just a succession of false provocations. […]
Charlie Hebdo And The True Value Of Freedom Of Expression
How much would you be willing to pay for the privilege to be able to open your mouth, and air your opinions? One Euro a day, or ten? Do you have a price limit, beyond which, it’s not worth the expense, and you will just shut up? Is being “priced out” of freedom of expression, […]
Brexit Musings (12) – “Fool Britannia”
I thought that I could peacefully finish the day, away from Brexit and Facebook, when I accidentally came across the following tweet from a leader of a Western democracy whose shoulders are probably hurting from the weight of responsibility that they carry. The tweet is so full of self-contemplation, disregard for others (bordering on contempt), […]
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 […]
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 […]