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AFRICAN COUNTRIES - PEOPLE BEST SERVED WITH GOOD GOVERNANCE?

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D eeds which have been done in the realm of darkness, whether they are good or bad are less likely to be revealed unless the light is shone on them, and although such deeds do have a way of being revealed, it can sometimes take very long, which might add to or diminish their significance and impact. W estern and other countries and organizations have been involved in countries in Africa, helping them to exercise good governance, including principles of 'democracy', accountability to their people and transparency in how they are carrying out the functions of government and business.  S ome people in Africa and elsewhere, including the African diaspora in America, Europe, the West Indies and the Americas, have, with some justification, been wary and critical of American and European attempts to get more African countries to adopt the 'European model of 'democracy',  perceiving it as no more than a neo-colonial s

ANTI-SEMITISM ATTACK ON BRITAIN'S LABOUR PARTY: CONSPIRACY AT WORK?

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B ritain's Labour Party is currently under what seems to be a concerted, voracious and, probably, extremely damaging attacked arising from allegations of anti-semitism within the Party.  The Labour Party MP, Naz Shah, who has since apologised for remarks she made about Israel being moved to the United States, and Labour Party member, Ken Livingstone, have both been accused of making antisemitic comments. Indeed, even the Party's leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has himself been accused of having met people from organizations, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which have been deemed to be antisemitic. T he press and media in Britain is currently having a 'feeding frenzy', as they delve into the issue, massage and manipulate it to their advantage. This attack is being waged so viciously and systematically that it does beg the question: 'Is it a conspiracy to weaken the Labour Party, especially coming as it did, less than a week before the

THE PARADOX OF PROTEST VOTES - GREECE AND SPAIN

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Choosing the right ally or victim can determine failure or success. F irst we had Greece, where Syriza loomed larger than life, as it were, with millions of disillusioned Greeks turning to its strong advocacy of Greece opposing the ultimatum from Brussels that it surrenders to the demands of the EU, that it adopts austerity policies, only have its wings singed and 'fall in line' as the months pass. A nd now we have Spain, where the party of apparent popular protest, Podemos, has done spectacularly well in the recent Spanish elections, but the triumph of which has not been translated into helping Spain to move forward. Which has meant that the changes for which the Spanish electorate voted, will have to, at best be delayed. B oth Syriza and Podemos are new political parties which appeal to those Greek and Spanish electorate who want to see change in their countries, and are tired of

BLACK BIRDS DEFENDING FROM MAGPIE

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This is a video of several Black birds defending their nest from a raiding Magpie. See what you make of it.

IS THERE A CREDIBLE CASE FOR PENAL SOLITARY CONFINEMENT?

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Freedom can be precarious but it allows choices It would seem that humans have a penchant for inflicting inhumane 'punishment' on their fellow humans. Indeed, a lot of the information we get from what we have received as the history of human societies speaks forcefully and coldly of humans having an inhumane desire to inflict the most merciless of pain on others; something which, is seems, is confined only to us humans. Not satisfied with 'simply' killing someone, history tells us of people being drawn and stretched until their limbs are dislocated, then they are killed, quartered, and impaled on spikes. They are skinned alive or have organs ripped out of their bellies and left to die slowly. Eyes are gouged out and tongues removed. Such is the history and continuation of our specie, that there has been and are still among us those who feel the need to not be satisfied with the condemned person having to or being able to die only once, but that their deaths shoul

LOST IN PERCEPTION

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A river scene in the Welsh Valleys, Wales, UK S o, there I was having what seemed to be a rather heated discussion with my son, who was confidently putting his position to me and enquiring what was the point I was making. Feeling somewhat baffled and disempowered, as I felt I was eloquently making my point and could not understand how it could have lost its clarity in translation, I tried another tactic; changing the subject matter of the discussion from the specific to the general. M y son responded to this approach in what seemed to me a more receptive manner, and we were then able to continue the discussion constructively. W hen I asked him what made the difference, my son told me that it was changing from the specific to the general. We went on to debate about whether it is the 'teacher' or the 'pupil' who is responsible for ensuring effective communication, with my son placing the primary responsibility onto the teacher.

THE FANATICS OF BANGLADESH ARE TRYING TO MURDER PROGRESS

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Why, you might ask, do some people become insecure and fearful when confronted  developments which advance the cause of human progress?  Probably even more significant is the issue regarding the kind of people who become fearful. Prior to Neil Armstrong landing on the Moon, many people were concerned that such a thing could lead to catastrophic events, as it was seen as man or humans invading the domain of the gods.  There are, it seems, among us, people who make it their god damned business to 'protect the gods' and to do so by committing all manner of unspeakable crimes against their fellow humans. How absurd and ironic is this, that anybody should be so unlearned, ignorant and intellectually challenged, to think that the gods need to be protected from physically vulnerable, but intellectually extremely capable humans? This, the ignorance and cretinous nature of the 'god protectors', is of course the very thing which makes it impossible to reason with the ki