March 2026

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 →