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Cesar Chavez – toppled off his pedestal
US civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, who rose to become a secular saint for many for his advocacy of the rights of farm workers has been exposed in a New York Times report as a flawed hero for his abuse of women and underage girls. In his later years he became increasingly paranoid and autocratic. … Read more
Roger Casement – a complicated man
Roger Casement, a hero of the Irish resistance to the UK or a traitor or a sexual exploiter of young boys many of them African, is the subject of a new biography. In A Rebel and a Traitor, Rory Carroll explores the tortured soul of Roger Casement — the British diplomat turned Irish revolutionary who … Read more
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American Round up 2 – Kent, Kushner, Witkoff
The cracks are widening on the US domestic front as the Iran foray sinks deeper in the mire with Israel relentlessly knocking out the top Iranian leadership, unpleasant types admittedly, but ones who might well have made a deal to stop the deadly tit-for-tat. Joe Kent, the top US counterterrorism official has resigned over the … Read more
Len Deighton – the Cold War brought him success
Len Deighton, one of the masters of the spy novel has died aged 97. His Ipcress File later made into a movie with Michael Caine as Harry Palmer became an instant hit coinciding as it did with the troubled zeitgeist – the building of the Berlin Wall, the uncovering of Soviet moles and heightening cold … Read more
American round up – Rubio, Vance and Carney
Cometh the moment, cometh the man. What did we ever do to deserve this? The toddler tyrant flailing in all directions, setting off bushfires without thought of the consequences, used as a patsy by Netanyahu and others, but amped up with his own delusional sense of invincibility. After the Donaldonian apocalypse, what next? Secretary of … Read more
Oscars – Jupiter crowns the winners
Jupiter came up with the goods at last night’s Oscars with Michael B Jordan taking Best Actor for Sinners and Paul Thomas Anderson a raft of awards including best movie for One Battle After Another. Michael B Jordan, 9 February 1987 8.14pm Orange, California, has a Sun Aquarius in his 5th house and an exact … Read more
War – broken campaign promises, Pope censure
Random thoughts on Trump’s cluster-catastrophe in the Middle East. With transiting Uranus square the Israel Mars until April 5th it always looked unlikely to be a speedy Venezuelan swan-in, smash n’ grab. Despite cheer-leading from the White House there is a creeping realisation of the weakness of their self-created (why bother to forward plan?) situation … Read more
Kelly McGillis – turning trauma to healing
Kelly McGillis, once a Hollywood golden girl with top billing in Top Gun, Witness and The Accused, has settled into a contented life away from the glitter after coming to terms with several massively traumatic events in childhood and her adult life. She now works full-time at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre ‘It’s just … Read more
Jessie Buckley – distracted by a cat story
Jessie Buckley has been hyped as the favourite to win Best Actress in today’s Oscars for her performance as the grief-stricken Agnes Hathaway (Shakespeare’s wife) in Hamnet. But a recent interview in which she said she had insisted her boyfriend get rid of his cats before she moved in has set off a backlash. … Read more