Remembering the Forgotten Fallen
By coincidence, I walked past the little ‘Lest We Forget’ monument in St Mary Bourne yesterday. It is ever so well looked after and features, staggeringly, around 45 people from just this one small parish who were killed between 1914-1918. As I read through the names, I couldn’t help try and think of them individually. Who were the brave and foolhardy, who were the pacifists who didn’t want to die and kill others, and who were the ...
How Many Fall for Braverman’s Hate?
Not getting drawn into hating someone for their actions is always a test. I do try hard to be passive aggressive and not lower myself to the level of the hater. Sometimes I fail. This is definitely the case with Suella Braverman. Why is that? Why do I dislike her so much? Well, it because, in my opinion, she is purposely stirring up hate. Not only that, she is doing it ahead of Remembrance Sunday, an unnecessarily emotive occasion that gets ...
Reading FC Staring into the Abyss as Asset Strippers Hover
As I write this, Reading FC have received their latest HMRC winding up order. Fans of the club are waiting, hoping for a resolution. Over the last few days, there have been interested parties hovering around. Mike Ashley’s helicopter swirled above the stadium like a red kite swooping around mortally injured prey. Other asset strippers are also rumoured to be keen. Some of them, bizarrely, are merely attention seeking fantasists. To many, ...
Staying Informed v Bad News Overload
You don’t have to be an academic genius to stay informed. You just have to feel the need to do. If you can read, there is not much beyond your grasp. If you read enough and use fact checking websites, you needn’t get caught out by conspiracy theorists either. Personally, I like current affairs. It’s more a less a hobby. I like to read how people achieve elevated status or the origins of territorial disputes. It probably sounds a bit ...
Learning the History of the Middle East Descending into Hell
To understand the series of conflicts in the Middle East over the last 100 years takes a lot of effort. If you are not a Middle Eastern expert who has studied and worked in this area, you would have to give up years of your time to fully understand it all. There are lots of good websites though and I have been reading a fair bit, checking sources as I do so. 1917 - A Big Date To even begin to understand the conflict in Middle East, you ...