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First it was Iraqi 'Kurdistan''s attempt to begin the process of realising its desire to become an independent country, by breaking away from the rest of Iraq.  The Iraqi Kurds, or, rather, the leadership of the Iraqi Kurds, doubtlessly supported by many of their people, want to have a 'country for the Kurds.'  Why, you might want to know? Well, according to some Iraqi Kurds, they, the Kurds, have nothing in common with the rest of the people of Iraq.   Or, they might have added, the 'Iraqis', ie, the Arabs, Turkomen, Christians, and others.  The Kurds are not looking for and emphasising the commonalities between them and their fellow Iraqis of different ethnic and religious backgrounds.  Their basic humanity and desire to build a better and prosperous, united Iraq. No, they are focusing on 'the differences', and how to maximise them. And the matter of those Iraqi Kurds who prefer to define themselves within the more encompass

When a person repeated and seriously harms himself, it is usually a symptom of a serious mental and/or emotional and psychological disorder, which needs to be appropriately diagnosed and treated. If it is to be stopped, ignoring it is not normally an option.  In fact, if it is ignored, then there is every likelihood that it will escalate, as the person takes it to the edge, in their attempt to get the attention they are seeking, and from the person or persons from whom they are seeking it. It might sometimes be the case that the person is trying to demonstrate their 'significance', their 'self-worth', their 'power', even though it is their belief that those qualities are lacking in their lives, which might be leading them to 'demonstrating' them by way of self-destructive behaviours. Following the most recent 'normal' - for the United States of America - gun outrage in the country. This time in Las Vegas, the gambling capital of

Finally, going back to the mother of British Jihadi, the young white man whose misfortune it was to join a band of evil-doers.  A very unlike 'Lawrence of Arabia' figure.  Of course his mother was right to feel a great sense of shame that her son, whom she had given birth, watched growing up from a baby to a toddler.   Then to a a young and carefree boy to a teenager and young man, should have turned himself against life and embrace killing and death.  It was only natural that she should have felt sorrow, regret and relief at his death.  To have the certainty that he would not be able to do anymore harm to innocent people, in his alliance with those who are addicted to killing, oppression and destruction.  But what of the British Jihadi's wife? The woman who could or would not comprehend or appreciate why the young man's mother's feelings terrible sorrow, grief and turmoil?  Indicating, instead, that she should have been feeling proud and happy at h

And for what??????  Surely, it cannot be to prove that Allah is Great, because, like all other such acts of barbarity, there in no greatness to be found in acts of barbarous inhumanity. As humans we need to endeavour to think for ourselves, to carry out our own analyses, based on what we have made of what we can see, hear and do.  We should never, never, invest in any other human, prophets or gods, the power to interpret for us what is  good  and what is  bad .  Those are things we can deduce for ourselves. But, if we delegate that power to the prophets, the gods, the Imams or the religious Clergy.   Then, we will remove the essential humanistic aspect of our reasoning, and give it to others.  Others who purport to know more than we do, and who might be able to argue that, on their supposed higher level of being, 'good can become bad', and 'bad can become good.'   As humans, we ought to be able to say,  fuck that, not in my human sphere of existence. 

Such behaviour might be more of an indication of the political leaning of those security officers. Something which might echo back to the dark days of Franco. At the same time, one thing leads to another, and the Spanish Central Government has to share the responsibility for it.  If the Spanish Constitution requires each of the constituent regions of the realm to follow a particular process, should they wish to secede from the union, and Catalonia does not follow it. Then, the outcome of its referendum would not have been legal and binding. Calmness needs to prevail, and more discussions take place between Catalonia's Regional Government and the Spanish Central Government.  It might be the case that Prime Minister Rajoy might have to pay a price for his rashness in trying to bring a quick end to the crisis, by being too brutal and resolute in his methodology. Living in a liberal democracy, does not afford any government right to use a sledge hammer to frustrate an

Confronted by the likelihood of such an eventuality, the Central Government panicked, with the government having made the decision that, the Catalonia's referendum must be prevented at all cost.  Why does the Central Government not want Catalonia to become independent?  We can imagine that there are a number of reasons. Including that, such an act of secession would be setting a precedent for other regions of Spain to follow. It might also have been that the Spanish Government wanted to and have disrupted Catalonia's attempt to hold a referendum, on whether or not it should become an independent state, because it fears that that process could confer some legitimisation of their objective. Yes, it has succeeded in doing that, but it has also succeeded in making itself appear to be the perpetrator of an act of great brutality towards some of the people of Catalonia.  It has further alienated many Catalonians, and make the Regional Government of Catalonia appear to

A government can either be patient and thoughtful in its response to a perceived crisis, or it can be crass and panicked into making an inappropriate response.  And, as we know, when your response is crass and is given rise to from a state of panic, you are at risk of losing control and not being able to manage the response properly; Not many governments, which pay homage to the concept and practice of being a 'liberal democracy', would have wanted to be confronted with the demands of millions of Catalonia's residents to be made independent of the sovereign Spanish state.  However, that was the reality for the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.  It was not a situation which had not been faced before in the western hemisphere.  The British Government of the former Prime Minister, David Cameron, had had to face just such a challenge.  When the Scottish Government decided to hold a Referendum on whether Scotland should become an independent stat