Patrick Craddock

It’s just over 100 days since Trump attacked Iran for the second time. His rhetoric about the end of war and making “a deal” accumulates like toxic waste in a dump.  I recall  the other lies he told about another “strait”, an artificial one …The Panama Canal. Trump bullied Panama,  a small state for US ships to get special reduced fees to use the Panama Canal.  He  argued the control of The  Panama Canal was vital to US national security and  the canal “a US asset” that was “given away”. Trump repeatedly claimed and lied that China is effectively “operating” the Panama Canal, citing unfairRead More →

The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) is to be scrapped, and when it’s gone  the media will self-regulate. Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith says New Zealand’s media landscape has changed  but “regulatory settings have not kept up”. He makes his case in a blunt manner … if you don’t like what you hear or see you can turn it off and listen to somebody else.  He goes on about media…  if they find they’re offending everybody and nobody listens to them, they will soon be out of business.” This viewpoint fits in with this triage government thinking. Dollars and their free speech  are all that matter withRead More →

I was born into an British army family.  My father spent much of his life in the army. He joined as a young man and left when he was an officer some thirty years later. I never liked the military and still don’t. But I did my military time even as a kid. Military schools and then Conscription. Joined the RAF and got kicked off a course for fighter pilots. I have never accepted the propaganda story that the military  was to defend me and my country from attack by enemies, It’s too simple and glib. The British army had its share of attack andRead More →

Palestinian people …. Semites….Arabs… lived in the land called Israel for centuries. By the end of the 19th century, the population of Palestine was overwhelmingly Arab. According to historical records, in 1852 there were only about 13,000 Jews, representing just 4 percent of the total population . At the start of World War I, the population was home to roughly 60,000 Jews compared to more than 700,000 Muslims and Christians . Towns and villages inhabited by Palestinian Arabs bear names derived from ancient Hebrew, Canaanite, Greek, or Roman origins showing a continuous inhabitation over centuries. Nablus derives its name from the Roman Neopolis, and JeninRead More →

Reza  Pahlavi, the eldest son of the last Shah of Iran  and now in exile in the US would love to return to Teheran and become the new leader. Would he be a believer in democracy and encourage it?  I doubt it. Before the obvious and evil oppression of the present regime, the Shah of Iran  had his own oppression security force, SAVAK. It used surveillance with extreme brutality and  operated its own detention centres, such as the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran. One report I read said SAVAK had 5,000 personnel. Amnesty International noted SAVAK interrogations included: Bastinado: Whipping the soles of the feet. Electric shock:Read More →

In Greece you can still visit the place where the ancient Greeks asked for answers from their Delphic Oracle.  This involved getting answers with double meanings or cryptic phrases that could be interpreted in  different ways. The ambiguity often ensured the oracle’s prestige, as the statements could be seen as correct after the fact, regardless of the outcome. For example, King Croesus of Lydia (c. 560 BC) or the self-appointed King Donald of the US might ask what’s going to happen if they wage war against the Persian Empire (Iran)? · Oracle’s Answer: “If you make war on the Persians, you will destroy a greatRead More →

Trump has one God. The ancient Greeks didn’t have just one God of War, but two of them. Ares, the male alpha God and Athene, the wise woman War God. They show us two sides of our natures. Trump and the religious clowns who sat in the White House Oval Office touching him with reverence and sanctimonious thoughts have one idea, one philosophy. They are sure they are virtuous and right and support Trump, who like thousands of leaders before him goes to war with his one  idea. Ares is his God. Ares  understands destruction. The Trump legacy is dead civilians and destroyed culture inRead More →

A CNN report describes the Pentagon under Secretary Pete Hegseth as a “black box”  in that he uses his position to polarise media viewpoints. He uses the language of official secrecy and by restricting access to information. Since he came to office most press briefings have been replaced by one-way video releases and social media posts, with the Pentagon correspondent corps largely kept at arm’s length. Questions referred to the White House often go unanswered. Pirate Pete Hegseth has been accused of using almost exclusively Trump-aligned outlets like Fox TV.  He has stifled the opportunities of journalists to ask tough follow-up questions. This vacuum forcesRead More →

  He killed 51 people worshipping at a Mosque in Christchurch in New Zealand during  March 2019. The terrorist was apprehended by two policemen as he was preparing to  kill more people.  In court he pleaded guilty.  There was an abundance of evidence. He had a manifesto online. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole. A psychologist and a psychiatrist who had assessed the terrorist before his sentencing in August 2020 concluded that he was fit to plea at that time. Now the 35-year-old Australian claims he pleaded guilty only because he was irrational due to the solitary nature of his prison conditions, andRead More →

There are so many good thinkers  and writers on theatre, film and other arts. Your writing  is on past and present theatre, film and other arts.  Great. I want to read more of what you write. But I hate you.  I really do. And for good reason. Damn university!!!!!!! Your academic books are so expensive even on Kindle. Then when I look for your essays and articles I frequently find that either you or your university want to sell them to me. In some cases you expect me… a  mere single human being to morph…. to become an institution… to pay a large subscription feeRead More →