It’s been a recurring nightmare for nearly 50 years, but since yesterday I can really say that I’ve vanquished an old ghost, banished a demon for ever and ever. A 13-year-old boy is so vulnerable, so impressionable – especially at school. My recurring nightmare featured my old French school, in South Kensington, and how I […]
Society
Why I Left Two Anti-Brexit Facebook Groups
I’ve written a lot of stuff about Brexit since the earth moved under my feet, in June 2016. Judging by the reactions, some of it was good, and some of it not so good. I admit that maybe, here and there, I wrote something that was not 100% factually correct or that I had incorrectly […]
Charlie’s Angel – Zineb El Rhazoui And The Fight Against Fundamentalist Islam
Zineb El Rhazoui’s views on the problems that we face, concerning the effects of religion on society, are very close to my own. Namely, it is the interpretation and application of written texts and superstitions as a political doctrine that cause problems. For the former journalist at Charlie Hebdo, even a recipe book can […]
The EU Should Learn From Brexit, And Be Inspired By The Enlightenment
Of all the political and economic crises that the European Union has faced in recent years, the UK’s decision to leave – for whatever reason – is the most challenging for the EU governing bodies. At least, it should be if the EU values its continued existence. The UK had a fair share of internal […]
- Brexit
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“Foreigners Go” – The Settled Status App For EU Citizens
If ever you have wanted to play an online game that put your whole future at risk, now’s your chance. If you are an EU citizen living in the UK, just download the government’s “settled status” app, as soon as it becomes available, and start playing. The fact that the government insists that the application […]
Domestic Violence – Because It Was Her, Because It Was Me…
A 31-year-old French woman, known as “ Aïda,” has been found partially responsible for her paraplegia, after having returned home to her companion, whilst knowing that he was violent – having been victim to domestic violence in the past – and despite police advice not to do so. The couple had no home of their […]
- Satire
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If There’s Life Without Facebook, Send Me The Link!
It’s one minute to midnight and we are entering the last day of the year. Forget about Brexit, Trump, and violent men with yellow vests. Forget about the fact that we haven’t had a white Christmas for ages, and that the Japanese are hell-bent in chasing sharks. This time of year […]
The Living Dead (1): Victor Hugo – “The Last Day Of A Condemned Man”
Anthony Charles Graves (born August 29, 1965) is the 138th exonerated death row inmate in America. With no record of violence, he was arrested at 26 years old, wrongfully convicted, and incarcerated for 18 years before finally being exonerated and released. He was awarded $1.4 million for the time he spent imprisoned, and the prosecutor who put him in prison was […]
- Psychology
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The Case Against Evolutionary Psychology – When Science Forgets Morality
I’ve had a brief encounter with the world of evolutionary psychology, by posting my last piece in a Facebook group baring the same name. It was accepted by a moderator but not, it seems, by the group’s members. Maybe they didn’t like the way I criticized psychologists. I was accused of submitting a blog post […]
- Psychology
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Macho Man Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls
A man’s only as old as the woman he feels. – Groucho Marx I suppose that it’s the job of every psychologist to analyse the deep and hidden impulses that underscore the actions of men and women. Their job is to enlighten us, to differentiate between what is inherent to our genome, from what […]