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These Moorhen chicks are going about their business of doing what they do, with hardly a care in the world. Light as the proverbial 'feather', they are resting on the waterlily! Please take a look and see if it dissolves some of your cares!

And now, as has been the tendency with the disingenuous preoccupation of the West with 'liberating' perceived oppressed peoples and giving them 'freedom and democracy.'   The citizens of Mosul City are now 'free', but they have also been freed of the City, of their houses, lands, and livelihoods.  What they now have is a destroyed city, and the question is this: who will rebuild the City of Mosul? Who will rule what has been left of this once renown and estimable City?  Will it the new City be one of peaceful coexistence between its residents, or will it, again, become a conflicted City?  With Sunni fighting against Shia, and Sunni and Shia fighting against Iraqi Kurds, as well as each against the others? The government of Iraq will probably make commendable  pronouncement about the rebuilding of the COM.   But governments are about politics and power, and are known for oftentimes not fulfilling their promises.  To destroy is always easier than

This means that, the concept of providing a 'national and global minimum wage' for everybody of working age, say, could be fraught.  If it does not take into consideration the social and psychological evolutionary stage of the particular country and/or society. So, creating more wage-earning jobs in poor African, Asian and other countries, would not be just one part of a more complex, global development.  With the different aspects influencing the others. For example, if their are more jobs in poorer countries, then, it removes some of the factors driving their people to move to Europe and America to get jobs. Having jobs means that they would have more financial independence, be less reliant on patronage from family and tribal and/or religious affiliations.  Yes, it would provide these countries and societies with the necessary conditions to undertake, more quickly, the process of freeing themselves of the mindsets, the traditions and societal factors which ar

This is a short video of what seems to be a very large flock of ducks. Please take a look!

Needless to say, this kind of 'Marshall-Aid Programme' like incentive, will need the direct involvement of western governments, and multi-national public and private companies. It has to be a multi-national, a global, as well as a national and local initiative.  It would not be without its detractors, for example, those people who are arguing against 'globalism.'  Similarly, some workers in western economies are likely to see the creation of new jobs in poorer countries, and part funded by western governments and capital, as a threat to their own employment and job security.  To some extent, those fears will be substantiated. However, there are complementary changes taking place in all around the world.  And the real issue is not primarily  about whether people in the West, especially the more developed countries, have or will be able to get a job.  Instead, it is about whether they will continue and be able to have 'a living wage or salary.'  I

Now, it is not the case that I opposed to the Iraqi and allied forces ridding Mosul of its ISIL occupiers and oppressors of the people.  Rather, my argument is about the ironic manner in which they have gone about it. The fact that they should have destroyed the city and thousands of its civilian population in the process.  That the city has been turned into rubble, and will probably never be rebuilt. That it has been made into a place which is hostile to normal human habitation. I have no hesitation in saying ISIS, Islamic State or Daesh, it a virulent disease which needs to be removed from the  earth.  It is not a humane way of life. It speaks of death, of unhappiness, of misery, of oppression and inhumanity.  The doctrine of Islamic State, of Al Queda, Daesh and ISIL, is a doctrine of death.  Even when their followers appear to be living, they are actually dead.  The best thing the followers of Islamic State could do for themselves and for the world, would be for the

We look for the commonality between us and others; the things we can identify with and which give us and reinforce our sense of having a shared humanity and worldview; weltanschauung.  But, of course this is not something which is going to be achieved overnight; it has to be established and nurtured, by a spirit of trust.  Accordingly, it is a precondition of achieving this, that we all work towards reducing  and/or de-emphasing the things, ideas, behaviours, etc, which make monuments of what separates and generate strife between us, humans. This process will undoubtedly take many generations to achieve, but it does need to be actively pursued over those generations, both by governments and the people. It is also the case that, it is not only religion, customs and cultures which links people across different countries, but also families and economics.  Poor people gravitate towards where there are jobs, so that they can feed, educate and care for their families.  These

This coordinated action could including helping the authorities in the embarkation points to set up migrant camps in their countries.  From where joint work could be done to help to repatriate the migrants to their countries of origin.  The second prong of this coordinated action, would be process the migrants and refugees in the host countries.  With them being temporarily housed in appropriate accommodation, while this is being done.  Having numerous migrants  roaming or living on the streets of European countries, or problematically housed, however temporarily, is not good for Europe or for the migrants.  It is a situation which can easily lead to serious disorder. Because of its economic and good governance aspects, it requires Europe and America to consider increasing their job creation and development projects in the affected and at risk countries. With the quest for jobs, and the reality of chronic and massive unemployment in African, Middle Eastern and Asian

'There is a tremendous irony in a situation in which a great or lowly city, town or village, can be transformed from a habitable place into one of utter devastation., a nd still lead some humans to declare it 'liberated.'  For how can a  habitable place be described as 'liberated', when it is destroyed, unless it be considered 'liberated from both its people and its presumed previous occupiers?' The Iraqi city of Mosul, which was occupied by ISIL forces back in 2014, following the disgraceful and catastrophic retreat of the Iraqi forces, have, it now seems, been retaken by the Iraqi Armed forces. Supported by American and Nato air power and Iranian forces. Mosul, of course, after this 'liberation', is no longer a city, great or small.  It has become a killing field. A place where ISIL forces and civilians who might or might not have supported ISIL, willingly but had been forced to do so.  Have all been put to the sword of Iraqi f