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What does Donald Trump and his backers mean by "MAGA", and at whose and what cost is it to be achieved? Donald Trump is the billionaire Republicon presidential nominee for the Presidency of the United States of America.  In the unfortunate event of him winning the 2016 Presidential election in November, he would have the distinction and probably notoriety of becoming the 46th President of the USA.  Should that happen, it might not be as cataclysmic an event as, as I just heard my partner bemoaning, "the world is coming to an end", but it could be something quite close to that. Is it then likely that, Donald Trump could be the 'anti-Christ'', Damian? And, if he is, who is going to protect the world from the pain which this man, who postures and has been presented as 'a buffoon', but clearly has the venality to become probably the most reckless and dangerous President, if he were to be  elected to the White House? When we consider t...

Making the transition from a graduate to a consummate social work professional can be a daunting but rewarding challenge. Having spent several years at University studying/training to become a social worker, the graduate social worker is now ready to take his/her ambition and aspiration to the next level; that of getting a job as a social worker and practising to acquire the experience and skills which he/she needs to transform themselves into becoming a competent professional. In the past, the newly qualified social worker would probably have sought to get a job doing generic social work, which, all things being equal, would have provided him/her with the opportunity to work with different categories of service users, such as children and families, adults, people with mental disorders, people with learning disabilities, and so forth. The object of which would have been to help the graduate to find out what he or she is best at doing, so that they could pursue a care...

Today is another day, which will be different  for different people, as no two lives, unless probably for identical twins are likely to be the same. For some of us today will be a bright and sunny, which might be complementing the joy and happiness we are feeling. For others it might be bright and sunny outside, while in our minds and our hearts, as it were, we are filled with sadness of people and things lost to us, either in their entirety or partially, or we might be grieving for functions of mind, intellect and body which have become impaired and not what they used to be. For still others today might be too sunny or too rainy so that they become like a curse because you might be inundated with water and unable to find enough shelter from it, or the sun might be too hot and there are too little shelter from its oppressive heat coupled with too little water to quench your heightened thirst, or that of your livestock and the crops you are so dependent on, for your and...

Here is a short video of a small shoal of fish simply going with the flow, as if, and they most probably, have not a care in the waters of the canal. Endeavour to go with the flow of living, even if it is only for a part of this day. Enjoy, if you will and/or is able to do so.

Visiting the past can be exciting and fascinating, but it is still the domain of the dead. Better to spend our time and space creating our own future, which is the preserve of the living. It seems to me that a person can 'choose' to live their lives in one of 4 ways. Namely, we can choose to live in the past, or the present, or the future, or a combination of all 3.  Those of us who opt to live in the past, in the sense that we idealises it and/or uses it as our primary prism and compass to make sense of and to navigate the present and the future, are likely to have a certain disregard, disrespect and mistrust of the present and the future. Arguably, you could count amongst these people, the devotees all or most of the major religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Islam, Shintoism, et al. Conversely, those humans who have a preference for living in the present, or, as some people might refer to it, the now, are those who use ...

This is yet another short video reflecting my fascination with the peaceful and contemplative setting of the local canal. Have a look and see what you can extract from it.

Kevin Mackenie has a problem with a British woman journalist of Muslim background fronting a Channel 4 News programme on the tragedy which has been inflicted upon the people of the French city of Nice, by a French citizen of Tunisian origins. A man who, we have since gathered, had a significant mental health episode, had a history of being violent, including to his estranged wife and children, and who, we have also been informed, by media reports, used to drink alcohol. In other words, the mass murder, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, has nothing to commend him to Islam as a believer, or a 'true believer.'   The indications are that he falls into the category of 'rent a fake jihadi' to carry out a grossly heinous act which no self-respecting Muslim would perpetrate; only someone who is damned or who wants to be damned to perpetual hell, if their was such a thing, would atrocities such as these. Full-stop. God or Allah would not contemplate such a heinous crimes an...

Whatever 'race' or 'ethnic group you belong to, all experiences 'the light and the dark.' If there is one thing which might cause me to want to kick a computer or television screen, it is the 'self-styled black' person who presumes to know 'what is wrong with the black race, why it is as it is.' Yes, granted that I am a person of a certain age, and that people of a certain age, providing they are learning and growing, will always have a tendency to have their perspectives influenced, to a greater or lesser extent, by the battles of living which they have fought and won or lost. By the same token, I imagine, the perspectives of younger people might be more in the form of being painted 'black and white', as it were, with little or less room for shades of grew. Because of this, the views of the younger generations, to the ears of the older generations, might have a certain de ja vu feeling, stringency about it. This might...

Living involves us having to traverse many bridges, each of which might sometimes help to prepare us for crossing the next. So can one generation sometimes assist the others that follow, but all might  have to cross their life bridges.. The younger generations can, at times, be characterised by their arrogance and thinly concealed mistrust of the older generations. They are oftentimes not minded to accept the premis that the older generations, partly by virtue of the fact that they have been living on the earth longer than them, have really used their time productively to become wiser, and are really able to teach them how to avoid having to learn from painful experiences. Yes, despite this almost automatic belief within the younger generations that 'I can do better' than the older generations, including their fathers and mothers, who, in their childhood, they might have aspired to become like, leadership within the world, has become the prerogative of the older...

The eyes saw what happened in Turkey's 'convenient coup', but we have only the account of the government to go on. Yes, it really is the case that we should give some consideration to whether the President of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan, might have had a hand in the botched coup which apparently tried to overthrow his regime. Similarly, might there have been a more sinister reason for  Mesut Yılmaz replacing Mehmet Davutoglu' Yet, the very thought of it being so seems so incredible that we might automatically want to consign it to our over-active peurile imagination.  After all, the coup attempt did result in the death of over 300 Turks, the injuring of many more, and some destruction of property. As well as rudely reminding Turks of a time in their not so distant national past, which was so painful that has probably traumatise some of them.  If it was intended to be 'a make belief' coup, bloody as it still was, would the plotters, including mem...

Just another brief video walking along the Canal, and seeing what I can see. In this case, both flora and a few fauna. Not much to see, but take a look!

Michelle Obama as Melania Trump's fountain of knowledge? So, consider this: Is Melania Trump really emulating Michelle Obama's 2008 speech, and, if so, why is the wife of Donald Trump emulating an African-American, even one as outstanding and as worthy of being emulated as Michelle Obama? Well, yes, you might have expected that the wife of a notorious anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and probably anti-black Republicon presidential candidate, would not have wanted to associate with Michelle Obama, and, by association, her African-American husband/President. However, if you work on the principle that politics is about expediency, opportunism and eclecticism, it makes good sense for Melania to have an esteemed role model as Michelle Obama.  By being a Michelle Obama aspirant, Melania is declaring that she - unlike her husband, Donald - is not racist, and is able to understand and empathise with ordinary Americans of all ethnic backgrounds. That, like ...

The people of Iraq needs to build a unity bridge, but first, they need a reputable architect.  It has now been 11 days since the forces of destruction which have been on leashed on the people of Iraq, by the American and coalition forces, set of devastating bombs on the citizens of Baghdad. These Iraqis were unaware of the inferno which was about to engulf them and take the lives of at least 300 of them, with  many more being badly injured and disfigured. This insanity; this madness, just like that perpetuated by the Tunisian-French citizen on the innocent people of Nice, is what Daesh/IS propagates as the 'victories' and 'successes' of their spineless and devilish fighters. Now, if achievements mean anything, it should be that are things and ideas which advance the progress of humans, so, by what kind of perversion does IS/Daesh considers the the destruction of the innocents as 'victories' and 'successes', unless it is the intention to effect th...

Will the people of Bahrain have to wait for the will and might of their oppressors to crumble before they gain greater political and personal freedoms? The news out of Bahrain is that the country's government is using its judicial system to dissolve the Shia opposition group in the country, thereby depriving its Shia population of the right to have their own political voice and representation, outside of the government. It seems that the government is hell-bent on silencing its Shia population by depriving them of all peaceful and legitimate means of legally and peacefully exercising their rights to political and social rights. The government, it appears, is accusing them of causing trouble, According to an article in The Guardian newspaper, the "Authorities suspended al-Wefaq’s activities and froze its funds last month, accusing the group of creating “a new generation that carries the spirit of hatred” and of having links with “sectarian and extremist...