April, 2023

      “REMEMBER THE MAINE” was the slogan used as a pretext for the seizure of Cuba, Puerto Rico  and the “Philippines” from the weakening Spanish Empire by the United States.   An American warship blew up in Havana  and Spain was the presumed culprit. It is now believed it was a spontaneous eruption, […]

      A FAR FROM EXHAUSTIVE LIST   MALAYA, which was subjected to a major war from 1948 to 1960, massive bombing, including with Agent Orange,the forced removal of hundreds of thousands of people from their lands into “protected villages”  a euphemism for prison camps, mass murders, headhunting by British forces who were happy […]

    “Oh look – over there – a unicorn standing on its hind legs!” That’s not a direct quotation from Ian Paisley Jr, but it does indicate what Paisley and the DUP generally are seriously anxious to do: get the spotlight away from them as they scurry around in circles, bumping into each other, […]

    There’s something to be said for a political party that against all odds can still refuse to accept, against all the evidence that it responsible for the absolute mess NEI is in today.  Some of that blame must lie firmly with the electorate of the DUP and more than a little of the […]

After a brief Rest and Recuperation (R&R) period, we’re  back. Hooray! This Friday, we look at the British budget delivered to Stormont, since it has no working Executive (guess why?). Chris Heaton-Harris has psented it as a ‘flat’ budget – no more and no less than usual. Is he being economical with the truth? Alex […]

The British Secretary of State has just announced the budget for our stateen. Stormont, we gather, has overspent by some £300 million, and the fear was that Chris Heaton-Harris would deduct it from the block grant that the British government hands to this  shamelessly impoverished slum-corner of the UK. Omigod! Don’t do it, Chris old […]

So – Michelle O’Neill and Alex Maskey are to attend the coronation of King Charles III.  If you’re like me, you’ll have heard a faint but distinct creaking sound, as your tolerance and commitment to a better future are seriously stretched. How much more stimulating it would have been if Michelle and Alex had done […]

  Ruth Perry, a respected headteacher, took her own life when faced with an unfavourable OFSTED report on her Reading primary school. School inspections may be stressful for all involved in them , depending on circumstances. My teaching career began during the early sixties in Northern Ireland. At that time , the first two years […]

    The weekend past was a rough one for my family.  My fiancée’s brother’s dog, Lola took ill on Saturday morning, frothing at the mouth and taking what can only be described as a tic in her face.  While I was working my fiancée took both her brother and Lola to the out-of-hours vets […]

    The following is a quote from an article written by a Franciscan priest Daniel P. Horan published for Earth Day 2023:  “In his 2009 book The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the 21st Century, the late Passionist Fr. Thomas Berry reflected on Christians living in an age of climate catastrophe. Drawing from the rich […]