Tea and Vitriol

Tomorrow is Memorial Day in the USA. It is the unofficial start of summer, after which fashionistas can wear white shoes and white slacks until Labor Day without attracting the criticism from self-appointed arbiters of taste. It is a federal holiday, so all schools, government offices, courts and banks will be closed, and bully for all those employed in such fields. Most other businesses remain open, as are retail establishments, albeit with slightly shortened hours to "celebrate" the holiday. In my youth, when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, EVERYTHING was closed on Memorial Day to honor our fallen war dead, to give Americans the time to ponder its meaning and perhaps spare a thought or two about them. Yes, there will be parades tomorrow, attended by politicians seeking re-election, accompanied by their fan clubs wearing "Vote for so-and-so" t-shirts with which to indoctrinate the crowds of people watching and proving their "connection" to their constit...

Conflicts are never solved of their own accord.  They are usually settled by the stronger powers and their settlements are imposed on the smaller or weaker powers. That is the norm in history, and it will be no different regarding settling the war between Ukraine and Russia. US President Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin last week to begin "negotiations" regarding a peace settlement for Russia's war against Ukraine. Neither the European Union nor Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were informed beforehand. Neither was the United Kingdom. So much for the much touted (by the UK, anyway) "Special Relationship" between the US and they. They were informed of the phone call after the fact and erupted with righteous indignation. They all expected to be part of the so-called "peace process" and have seats at the negotiating table. They were all bypassed and were not invited. The negotiations began this week in Saudi Arabia, which is...

World War I was billed as "the war to end all wars." Only it wasn't. There have been dozens of wars since then, producing mass destruction, death, genocide and ethnic cleansing to name just a few items on the bill of fare "civilization" offers to people who disagree with others. Justification for such acts are always publicized to absolve perpetrators of guilt or as a publicity stunt to make war mongers feel better about themselves. True, there is evil in the world, which most people choose to ignore if it doesn't affect them...at first. True, it can be nipped in the bud if the so-called "peace-loving" nations stand firm against it. But most of the time they don't. The industrialized Western nations are all willing to make deals with the devil in order to provide themselves with resources that they themselves do not possess, arguing that their various peoples NEED them, when actually it is the ruling elites who need them in order to preserve TH...