Donkeyshott & Xuitlacoche

David Clark of the Russia Foundation - cold war mercenary I do not condone corruption and oppression in Russia, what person in their right mind would? But neither do I believe corporate capitalism should be allowed to drive a horse and coaches through Russian sovereignty and force the Russian Federation to 'open up' to exploitation. The choice we are offered by the ideological tricksters in the think-tanks and the so-called quality newspapers, between a dodgy kleptocrat like Khodorokovsky and Russia's senior elected officials, is a false choice. For example, to listen to David Clark, that British intellectual cold war pipsqueak, pronounce on the hopes 'we' had that Medvedev would help open up Russia so that oligarchs like Khodorokovsky can continue to convert Russia into lebensraum for mittel European and United States capitalism, revolts me to the core. For a while I couldn't believe it. The hubris of it. The implied desire to make Russia pay reparations ...

Où est papa?  En Afrique, voyons!   Voila! Le nom de papa. C'est son livre. Ton livre aussi. Où est -il en Afrique? Dans le sud.  La bas.  Voyez? Et quand la guerre est finis nous aller aux Afrique du Sud, nous deux. Verrons-nous ces animaux ? Bien sur!  J'aime l' Afrique.

Mom and Lucy

Chris and Andy at the Franz Beckenbaur School of Football, Munich, 10th August 1972

Hand-bound book made for Tomas Fritta by his father Bedrich Fritta. Tomas survived. The Jewish Museum in Prague has published an English version of it. 'Bedřich Fritta Born September 19, 1906 in Višňová u Frydlantu, Czechoslovakia; died November 8, 1944 in Auschwitz-Birkenau Background He worked as a cartoonist and graphic designer in Prague before the war.  Internment in Theresienstadt On November 24, 1941, Fritta was among 342 Jewish men from Prague deported by the Germans to Theresienstadt as part of the Aufbaukommando (construction battalion). In Theresienstadt he worked in the Technical Department, the Zeichenstube , where many artists were assigned. There he had access to drawing materials and paper, and he and other artists made drawings of  Theresienstadt and its prisoners. On July 17, 1944, he was arrested with other painters there for creating what the Nazis called "horror propagand...

  My Mother in Matumi, dignified, anxious and preparing for departure in 2007.  Mom was in a hurry. She travelled more and did more than most people and understood more and more of what she did meant something. But she was always very nervous before a trip. The first big trip she was to make when she was four didn't happen. Then there was the anxiety of departure from France after the war when she was 10. Finally they got away in 1947 on Czechoslovakian passports. Matumi 2007 She was always very nervous before a trip. I want to talk in the present tense because the past tense frames events and gives them an artificial rim. Was I the closest person to my mother. Was I the most beloved. Of course not. Of course I was. Love is not a false dichotomy. The more of an outsider you are the more paradoxical relationships appear to you-especially if you are a parvenu. Remember I have been frighteningly aware of my surroundings and my parents since I was three. When did you appear on...

Puerto Vallarta 1996

 Mohammed Daoud Kahn, President of Afghanistan between 1973 and 1978 Dominic Tweedie surprised me when he responded to the parallels I was drawing between the cartels in Mexico and the cartels in Afghanistan by dismissing them, implying that the narco-war was a sideshow and what was really happening was a nationalist uprising against foreign invaders, the USA and NATO. On a separate occasion, Dominic remarked that certain interpretations of history are completely ignored. For example, in the universities and think-tanks in the USA and Europe the key role played by the Cuban forces in the liberation of the Front Line States and the ending of Apartheid is simply not a useful idea. Modern mainstream historians, explained a colleague, have no illusions that there is anything scientific about history. They are aware that what they write is only worth writing if it furthers a political agenda. Modern history relies on thorough investigation, historiography and convincing narratives ...

We went to Handel's Messiah at the Albert Hall last Sunday, John and I, at his request. The last time we went was with Mom and Dad and it was St James' Church Piccadilly and the seats were quite hard. John said he preferred to listen to the Messiah in a religious setting and I agreed. Unfortunately, I had a fierce cough and for at least some of the performance I was concentrating on trying not to cough. I failed. There was the shoe issue again. You must give me warning Dad, said John and so he had to wear my over sized shoes again with the soles glued on. It was cold and we stayed at home as long as we could before jumping out of the house and heading for town. We had a good view of the stage, the little orchestra. There were 500 hundred singers ranked vertically up the side of the concert hall, behind the stage. It was either this or the Red Army Choir, I whispered to John. Both equally inspiring and then I remembered of course, that there is no such thing as a Red Arm...

I find this fascinating. Why is everyone lionising this man? Didn't he authorize the bombing of Serbia? Not cool! One of my dearest friends and her first child and husband were there during the bombing. The first such action since the second world war and aimed at unarmed civillians. Shame on the memory of Holdbrooke and those who lionize him! The point is this folks, before we get ourselves into too much of a senseless vitriolic lather: Serbs will hate him, obviously. Europeans will hate him too. Anyone with an ounce of historical memory will despise him and yet, folks... Peter Galbraith praises him to the skies. Obama calls him a man of peace. The BBC wheels out politician after politician to speak well of him with no hint of any criticism except to say that he was 'forthright'. A euphemism if ever I heard one. But this is the point. The interconnecting webs of patronage reveal themselves through the support for Holdbrooke. I am convin...

 Mark Vernon, philosopher and former priest. Dear Mark. I read your articles on line and think they are among the best on the site. Obviously you must have a lot in common with Karen Armstrong . But what exactly will Alan Rushbridger have to say? Does he have a real unmediated view on anything? If I lay my hands over the Guardian and moan a little in prayer and ask for spiritual guidance on what the overall viewpoint of Rushbridger's Guardian is -because I won't read it anywhere in the paper -I would come up with: Highly principled insightful and brave, whilst at the same time shallow opportunistic and cowardly. And I suppose that odd mixture, that response reflects my view of Rushbridger's approach. Now to me, that particular combination of qualities is one that precisely reflects the moral outlook of a humanist and a pragmatist. All pragmaticians must be agnostics. As a pragmatist whether to believe or not is both a clear and a contradictory choice. The nature...

Rawlsianism is an evil calculus, a game of percentages.   Rawls from Wikimedia commons Listening to the ideological justification for the demolition of the social democratic state it is clear than John Rawl's ideas are the weapon of choice. Isaiah Berlin , George Orwell , Karl Popper were wonderfully 'useful idiots' in their time, but it is John Rawls whose philosophy really does the dirty trick for global capitalism. Certainly that simpering Philip Blond , the Peter Lorrie of political advisers, can't hold a candle to Rawls. Did you hear his perverse defence of monarchism on Radio 4 this week? Right now in central London students are being arrested and suffering gung ho cavalry charges by mounted policemen - I hope my son is alright. These cavalry charges against unarmed students are the direct result of of Rawlsianism put into practice. Rawlsianism in practice is a calculus - a percentages game. So long as you can buy off the lowest most marginalise...

From the Portfolio Travel Blog By Garth Johnstone  Inspired by the most recent, larger and excellent edition of “Slackpacking: A Guide to South Africa's Top Leisure Trails”, by Fiona McIntosh and edited by David Bristow, John Hall, the owner of Pleasant Places *Guest House in the Lidgetton Valley, believes the growing craze of slackpacking will catch on in the KZN Midlands in the New Year. Front Garden at Pleasant Places John wears the look of a quietly confident man when he says, “We'll get this up and running in January. The trails are 90% sorted and I've consulted and obtained permission from farmers, whose land the trail traverses. It's for people who want a challenging walk, but don't want to haul a heavy backpack around." Getting people to know about the charms and attractions of the Lidgetton Valley is a passion for John . . . and not just for the potential business opportunities. ...