Category: Discussion

In his 1952 book “Black Skin, White Masks” (note 1), Frantz Fanon argued that colonised people all too easily adopt the world-view of their colonisers, and thus risk losing their real identity. 19th century European explorers found strong monarchies in Central Africa, on a continent where they expected to find only “primitive tribalism”- so concluded…

 This is Tony Greenstein’s closing speech at his trial 20th August 2026. It tells you exactly why the jury took just two hours and eleven minutes to acquit him.   1. WHY I AM SPEAKING TO YOU MYSELF Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. First, a word about why I have chosen to address you…

Artificial Intelligence is becoming increasingly important in our lives, promising greater speed and efficiency in many processes, but also provoking fears of its getting “out of human control”, able to manipulate information and decisions (perhaps especially in wartime) through unlimited access to the world-wide web and its insights into human motivations and desires (see notes…

Cuba is now completely out of fuel, with intermittent power, uncollected rubbish, and families requiring regular food and water deliveries.  “Tommy Robinson”-led far-right protests followed a police incident in Southampton, with Nigel Farage in Parliament calling for “rage” about “two-tier policing” discriminating against white people.  Added to events in the Middle East a sense of…

Pope Leo 14th’s Encyclical Letter on AI was published on May 15th, 2026. Below is the AI summary (with apologies for the irony). Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical on artificial intelligence is Magnifica Humanitas (released May 25, 2026), an 82‑page document calling for AI to be “disarmed” and governed ethically to protect human dignity, prevent domination, and…

The May 7th local elections seem likely to produce a nationalist majority in both Wales and Scotland, though with no urgency for independence from either.  England looks to be polarising away from the centre (Labour or Conservative) towards Greens or Reform.  The key underlying question is a growing disillusionment with neo-liberalism since 2008 (except for…

John chapter 12 reports Greeks coming to the Jerusalem Passover Festival, asking to see Jesus.  He replies that his “hour” has now come, like grains of wheat which remain unproductive until they are sown in the earth and “die”.  This all means the “judgement” of this world, when the “ruler of this world will be…

The US and Israel’s attack on Iran has impacted families planning to fly via Gulf airports, the world price of oil and gas, but above all the people of Iran itself, Lebanon and the threat of other surrounding countries being dragged in.  And this from a President who once promised no forever wars or regime-changing…