A Study in Contrasts
So the San Bernadino shootings turn out to be the work of a couple of Moslems who were self-proclaimed jihadists. ISIL too claims that they were on Jihad. Yet it took several days for the U.S. authorities and the liberal dominated media to take them at their word and to agree, hesitantly and reluctantly, that this was an act of terrorism. Contrast the shooting in a South Carolina church a few months ago by a young…
Encountering Antisemitism
By Max Musson: Since the Charlie Hebdo shootings and the siege of the kosher supermarket in Paris, the authorities on both side of the Channel have gone into overdrive in pandering to Jewish sensibilities, as if the issue of security in the face of Islamic terrorism revolves solely around the security needs of Jews and so much so, that the needs of the rest of us don’t really warrant attention. We have seen the Prime Minister, David…
Live And Let Live
By Jez Turner: First they came for the Fascists … First, they came for the Fascists and I did not speak up because I wasn’t a Fascist. Then they came for the Nazis, the neo-Fascists, the neo-Nazis and I did not speak up because I wasn’t any of those either. What did I say? “Live and let live”, and I got on with living my life. Then they came for the anti-Communists and I did not…
Tolkien: Master of Middle Earth
By European: Despite the universal derison of the literary establishment, which could never comprehend its inherently noble spirit, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was recently[1] voted the greatest work of fiction of the 20th Century by thousands of Waterstones’ customers. The accolade is well-deserved, for Tolkien’s masterpiece is a classic of heroic romance. Drawing inspiration from traditional European mythology and from his love for the English countryside, Tolkien created an imaginary world and invented…
Mandela, a Role Model?
By Max Musson: Following last nights extended TV news coverage, the front pages of today’s newspapers prominently feature headline news articles announcing the death of Nelson Mandela and the beginning of several days of mourning that will see every current world leader and every extant ex-world leader gushing in fulsome praise of every aspect of the great man’s being. Nelson Mandela we will be endlessly reminded, was a man who through his unwavering determination, great…
Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter
By Max Musson: There has been a mixed reaction to the recent broadcast on German TV of a three-part series entitled ‘Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter’ (‘Our Mothers, our Fathers’), depicting the effect that the Second World War conflict had on the lives of ordinary German citizens, and on the lives of five young Germans in particular. The five young friends are; brothers Wilhelm and Friedhelm; a young nurse Charly; aspiring singer Greta; and her Jewish…