It doesn’t matter where they come from or where you read them, online comments seem to have one overriding common characteristic: obnoxiousness. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Facebook, You Tube, or newspaper websites, online comments coming from people I’ve never met, and thankfully never will, excel by their virtuosity in handling the written word. What […]
Morality
Party Time At Number Ten
How I longed for today to arrive. The invitation that lay dormant on my mantelpiece was coming to life at 7.00 pm. I held it tight and read it again: Yours Truly had been invited to Boris Johnson’s (BoJo from now on) garden stroke office party. Come on BoJo! Pull the other one – […]
Sexual Violence Under The Steeple – Child Abuse In The French Catholic Church
My Dearest Child, Let me come. Sit on my knee, my child. Let me teach you the deeper meaning of the Holy Text, and only when you have finished providing me with the pleasure of the flesh that I seek, will I let you go. I don’t expect you to find answers to your questions […]
The London Times And Facebook: One And The Same?
The simple answer is, yes because of the comments section. Whether it’s the Times or Facebook, little anonymous nerds point their dirty little fingers at the dusty keyboard and poke you in the eyes with their six-inch-long fingernails. But they forget to pass their brains and collect two hundred credits for coming up with a […]
The Love and Soul of Antimatter – Five Poems
Poem One What’s so cool about… Antimatter, the hub of creation, Pathway to my […]
Black Lives Matter In A Land Of Hope And Glory
You’re at it again, aren’t you? Playing mind games with traditions, tearing up musical scripts and peeling off black make-up on white people’s faces. I got used to seeing Black Peter roaming the streets of Dutch towns and cities, distributing marzipan tasting biscuits to smiling children. The children believed; the children loved. There was no […]
Don’t Fire Dominic Cummings Until He Tells You To
Chief advisor to Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings, is in a spot of trouble, and only he can advise himself how to act. He is a top advisor, after all. The UK’s Brexit guru and pandemic scientific expert has been spotted visiting his parents, not once, but twice, during lockdown. Now, who’s been a naughty boy […]
Women Of Solicitude – Clapping Carers Is Nice, Rewarding Them Is Better
If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us one thing, it is to appreciate the true value of all the dedicated women nurses and carers, who are bearing the brunt of the viral attack, in a courageous attempt to save lives and protect those in need. These women do this every day, regardless of whether there […]
Mark Rutte Patronizes The Dutch Dental Profession
I’ll give Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte the benefit of the doubt. Here is a man under pressure because his entire liberal, easy-going vision of the world is being deep-frozen by a virus that’s even smaller than the smallest of viruses. In answer to a question on whether dentists could open their practices, Rutte patronizingly […]
Our Biggest Weakness Is To Think We Are Invincible
Weakness, is thinking of oneself as invincible. – Roberto Saviano Exactly one month ago, I started cancelling appointments at my dental practice, following advice from the Dutch dental association to only treat acute emergencies, and avoid patients who have been tested positive for the coronavirus or who present symptoms, like the plague. We are […]