‘Independence’ Day
“What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, s
Weekly Round Up: Guava Island, A Black Hole Pic, and Fire in Notre Dame
Assange arrested On Thursday, April 11, WikiLeaks founder and director Julian Assange was arrested by British authorities at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Assange had been escaping extradition to Sweden and the US since 2012 under Ecuadorian protection at the embassy. However, Ecuador revoked As
Fyre Fest, The Oscars and Kamala Harris 2020
Trump’s Transgender Military Ban In yet another step backwards for America, The Supreme Court have granted President Trump his transgender military ban. Announced first by a ‘surprise tweet’, this ban blocks individuals who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria from serving in the US
On Jerusalem
You don’t have to have strong views on politics, or Donald Trump, or the Palestinian question, to acknowledge the sheer idiocy of the US president’s latest bout of verbal diarrhoea. In 1995, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, a law for the purposes of initiating and funding the relocatio
The Time is Now
‘In order to fulfil my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord’, announced President Donald Trump on June 1st 2017 from the White House. Yet the irony is plain to see as this summer both Texas and Florida were plunged
The Age of Extinguished Reason
We have not always had light. According to Hesiod’s epic poem, ‘Theogony’, the luxury of light was hidden by Zeus as a cruel punishment for deception. Prometheus, in an act of treachery, stole fire from Mount Olympus by smuggling a lit torch to mankind. His punishment was eternal – chained t
Creating Narratives to Change the Mood
On the first page of our story The future seemed so bright Then this thing turned out so evil I don’t know why I’m still surprised. Even angels have their wicked schemes And you take that to new extremes But you’ll always be my hero Even though you’ve lost your mind.
Post-Post Truth
When the Oxford Dictionary announced ‘post truth’ as its word for 2016, media around the world were quick to link the term to the improbable political events of the year. Trump’s startling triumph in the American Presidential elections, the success of the Brexit movement in Britain and the ris
‘Love Actually’ and Brexit
Admittedly, I hadn’t seen Love Actually until very recently. Criminal, you might say. But, unspoiled by any childhood viewing as it was, I was able to grapple with it fresh from a 2017 perspective. Because of the nine overlapping plotlines, I found it hard to properly engage with any of the indivi
