June 2025

I’m a fan of Shakespeare. His thoughts and words have been inside me for many years. I understand part of him. I’ll die without knowing the writing of the whole man. But, no worry. Until my last minutes  I hope to keep exploring his head and heart. Frequently I think,  is there a way to reach into the head of a child with the Bard? Because, if that is possible then the Sweet Swan of Avon may become  a lifelong friend and companion to the child as he/she grows.  What a gift!. But, things go wrong, eh!  Politicians want  to force him down our throats.Read More →

I have been reading a little modern history today from the US Brown University Watson  Institute of International and Public Affairs . It notes  that US led wars resulted in in 940,000 deaths since 2001 in conflict zones. This ignores other indirect deaths such  as war related diseases, US military deaths and those linked to them, such as the tasks of contractors. DT says today ‘CONGRATULATIONS WORLD, ITS’ TIME FOR PEACE. A friend of the US, the Israel Culture  Minister Miki Zohar says, ”….what we’re facing – a regime that is trying to kill innocent people. When you are dealing with evil, this is aRead More →

…would surely be welcome. The President says his Director of Intelligence has got it wrong about Iran. Where does the DT get his information from?  Trump secret files and social media $$$$$$. Awful, Angry, Airy Intelligence.   Any intelligence at all? And let’s dare not talk about  care and concern and humanity!!!! Here in NZ, like the rest of the world we are sadly impacted by this DT man.   He  admires Israel. Please give him citizenship, an air ticket and a house.  Now!!!!! His talk about waiting for two weeks on an Iran War decision may be yet another message of false intelligence.  Read More →

In NZ we  trade with the world. Our P.M.today is in China  for that purpose. But  we sit on the fence about this latest war and did you look at today’s murder/genocide by Israel of the defenceless . This  headline was from the BBC. We trade with the world, how come we choose to ignore much of the world action? Its nothing to do with NZ, I hear you say!!!!!! Israeli forces kill 51 Palestinians waiting for flour at Gaza aid site, witnesses and rescuers say  Read More →

There was once an expression about ‘ Hitler’s Children’ . It had an ominous  feel and fear to it.  I think we can now talk about ‘ Netanyahu’s Children’. Who would be an innocent Israeli or a Jew (not the same) living outside Israel and feeling fearful for their safety? Trust in the US must be moving downhill at great speed.  Rubio says the US did not know about the attack on Iran, Trump says he knew . What I do know, is that I feel sick about war and peace.  The former word, war, seems to be the same as the latter for theRead More →

A dialogue on values.  Elon Musk says, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilisation is empathy”. Hannah Arendt who lived in Hitler’s Germany and covered the Israel trial of Adolf Eichmann, a German war criminal wrote, “The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism.      Read More →

I have always read  the world news. Guess it’s the DNA of being a journalist and I was that for many years.  But theatre has been a huge love too.  I see world events recurring on stage again and again.. Today I saw it.  Some years ago ago I directed  the play Antigone, the Greek  legend about how a ruler stops the burial of a dead Prince after a war. His mourning sister. Antigone, defies Creon, the ruler and buries her brother. She dies too. When Russia invaded Ukraine, I revamped the legend  to  a modern setting  and made  Vladimir Putin, the ruler.  Today  theRead More →

I have been  watching “Good Night and Good Luck” with George Clooney on Broadway. Exciting  Relevant. And… am I the only person thinking that President Trump was mentored by the philosophy of  the Junior  Senator from Wisconsin.Read More →

You’ll find snippets in this section of my website about William Shakespeare . I’ve been interested in the playwright and bis plays  since childhood. As a small child I lived in Scotland between Aberdeen  and Inverness and not far from Forres. This is Macbeth country. I was a child, around seven years of age when I arrived in the north of Scotland.. After school was over, we  would fight  each other  in  fatal battles with branches from trees and bellow at our opponents  “Lay on Macduff, and dammed be him who first cries,  Hold. Enough ”  We  shouted  “How far to Forres?”  without knowing why! Read More →

Interesting. Within  hours of my last post, I find that Alexa gives more  accurate information about Trump. I rephrased my questions in different ways. Got different answers.  Some accurate, some less so…some which maybe devious…with Alexa saying I don’t have an answer to that question, but you can look at …..???????  Alexa – if you make mistakes, perhaps you are on the way to becoming human?  Read More →