Category Archives: Politics
Everything flies at Half-Mast
After the terrorist attacks in Paris, flags fly at half-mast in places as far away as Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. But reading the comments and listening to part of the usual post-attack debate, I have the impression that many … Continue reading
What does the future hold for Putin?
He will manage a pub in Jerusalem, wedged between a shop displaying the star-spangled banner in its logo and one in Jamaican colors.
For once, the right people went to prison.
A friend in Iran took this photo of the prison at Shushtar, pointing out the freedom-celebrating graffiti on the wall and the mural of Iran’s previous and current Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei. Prison is exactly where they belong. … Continue reading
Mass Graves in Europe
Three years after the European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize, we have mass graves in Europe again. But it’s easier to ignore them now, because this time they are at the bottom of the sea. In a laboratory at the University of Milan, … Continue reading
Yugonostalgia
When enough years have passed since the end of a dictatorship, some people will become nostalgic. They will talk up the positive aspects of the dictatorship, forgetting about the labor camps, the political prisoners, the censorship. They will promote their … Continue reading
“Why We Lost” by Daniel Bolger
Maybe a book that promises “a general’s inside account of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and how it all went wrong” had to disappoint, but I didn’t expect it to disappoint so much. Lieutenant General Bolger sounds contrite in the introduction: … Continue reading
Thank you, refugees!
Dear refugees, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart! With your help, it has become very easy over the past few weeks to tell who of my friends, acquaintances, colleagues and relatives are xenophobes, racists and inhumane … Continue reading
Peace in Colombia? Just in time!
In January or February 2016, I will be somewhere on the Amazon river, on a boat, sailing upstream, deeper into the jungle. I will be on the way to one of the many tributary rivers of the Amazon, and chance … Continue reading
Britain, it’s time for a revolution!
What kind of a country is that which celebrates having had the same un-elected head of state for 63 years?
Ronald Reagan on Iran
Tonight, the three dozen or so Republican contenders for the presidential nomination will come together for their second televised debate. All of them will lambast the Iran deal, will say that the end of the world is near and will fail … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 