Katherine Birbalsingh – resisting religious splits ++

Katherine Birbalsingh, known as Britain’s strictest head teacher with an outstanding educational record in her school, is facing legal action over a ban on prayer rituals. She defended the policy, arguing that it was vital in order to “maintain a successful learning environment where children of all races and religion can thrive”.   Previously, the … Read more

Yemen – rich history leaves scars ++ beware the Ides of February ++ Ben Gurion Canal

Yemen is the latest epi-centre of conflict in an increasingly turbulent Middle East. US and UK forces, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, struck “a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels” in a bid to thwart their capacity to endanger international shipping moving through the Red Sea which in … Read more

Anaretic degree – dither and dash, packing a punch ++ more celebs

The anaretic degree from 29° to 29°59’59’’ was always deemed fated or problematic though it has also been associated with old souls who have reached a peak, with hints of the difficulty about being able to leave the past behind. The effect can be of the ‘dither and dash’ variety – unable to decide and … Read more

Supreme Court – blind justice being tested

The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether Colorado can ban Donald Trump from the presidential ballot, setting the stage for a potentially landmark legal decision that will have implications for the 2024 US election. The court’s move will put the spotlight on its nine justices, three of whom were appointed by the former … Read more

Free speech – limits on individual rights

Another nonsensical and damaging eruption from the bubbling cauldron of American academia produced the outrageous claim from three US college presidents that wishing genocide on a people might be acceptable depending on context. Sigh. What do these people use for thinking? From unformed, over-heated late teen brains it might be understandable if not supportable but … Read more

Argentina – desperation brings unlikely winner

Javier Milei, the right-wing libertarian oddball, Trump and Bosonaro admirer, has won a clear victory in the Argentina elections which some political analysts say is a reflection of the electorate’s desperation for change rather than support of his far-right ideology. He has promised to cut back the Argentinian state to its bare minimum and introduce … Read more

Hillary & Bill Clinton – domestic and global fears

Hillary Clinton dropped into Swansea University in Wales along with husband Bill en route to Iceland to promote her co-written novel State of Terror. Bill talks of heartbreak over Israel-Palestine given his years of trying to broker a peace. Hillary has been warning of Trumps’s Hitlerian tendencies and pointing out that Hitler was first elected … Read more

Pro-Gaza peace march calm, the fringes less so

300,000 people marched through central London calling for a Gaza ceasefire in a peaceful demonstration apart from what the Met police called “extreme violence from right-wing protesters” who set out to confront the pro-Palestinian marchers. Nine officers were injured and 126 people arrested, the vast majority of them counter-protesters. Serious offences relating to anti-semitic hate … Read more