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  'It is more than likely that all people, in the formulation and expression of their social, political, religious and economic thoughts, will be or have the potential to become 'imperialistic' and/or 'colonialistic.  In that they will have extended their visions to include people who do not share them, but would be expected to do so, if those thoughts were to be realised.' So, the people, the diverse people of Afghanistan are literally fighting for the soul and future of their country.  One might say that Afghanistan is still trying to achieve the status of 'nationhood.'  That the country is not only made up of people of different and divergent tribes, nationalities, religions and cultures.  But that its people also reflects different political ideologies and ideas about what the government of Afghanistan should look like.  There is religious divide between Afghans who follow the Sunni denomination of Islam, and those who follow the Shia version.  In common

  For those of us who have had or cared for babies, for young children, we can recall the anxieties we had about performing this serious role.  It is the role of a carer, whether it be the child's parents or other responsible persons tasked with the job of monitoring the child and ensuring his/her survival.  Making sure that they can and are breathing. That their nostrils, their noses and faces are not obscured or covered by things which could obstruct their breathing.  That they are in a secured sleeping area and are not going to fall and get hurt. The objective of monitoring and ensuring the well-being of the baby or young child it to ensure their survival into adulthood. The objective of monitoring my dear mother is to, as much as I can, ensure her safety, during this final stage of her life's journey.  So, yes, it is not the same kind of anxieties that I would have for a baby's safety, as these would be higher.  Considering that for the child, it is about maintaining he

  We have evolved and developed more sophisticated childhoods and social policies which promote the having of children.  At the same time that the 'religious' and evolutionary reinforcers and prerogatives have loosened some of their hold.  Although men and women having sexual intercourse with each other is still the most common method of having children and maintaining the human species.  It is not necessary for all a couple, in the form of a man and a women, to have sex in order for the woman to become pregnant.  A woman, providing she has the money, can now have the option of buying another woman's egg, having it fertilized, and inserted into her womb where it can develop. Indeed, it is now possible to clone our species.  So, in a nutshell, it is no longer necessary for every woman to become mother and every man a father, in order to ensure the survival of our human species.  Quite apart from whether, from a more over-arching perspective, it is cost effective and environm

  The sense of pleasure from sex maintains the attraction between the couple.  Of course, in puritanical societies, men and women were not supposed to make a big deal, as it were, about the pleasure and sense of euphoric satisfaction they receive from the sex act.  They, especially the women, were supposed to perceive of sex as purely a biological process.   Which they were duty bound to carry out, in order to serve 'God's purpose' of them going forth and multiplying to fill the earth and serve 'God.'  Sex was,  and  in some societies, for the woman, is still something they have done to them by men. It is not something they are meant to enjoy.  Which is clearly not the case and is an unnatural concept, when we look around us and see how the 'lower' animal species deal with sex and procreation.  By, in many cases, making it part of a highly ritualistic and intricate performance.  If a woman does not or is not allowed to enjoy having sex, then there is the lik

  Of course there is also another side to all of this, which is the emotional and psychological pain and distress which my dear mother might be suffering as she moves inexorably towards the abyss.  In social work, there is the perspective which holds that emotional abuse of  a child, at least some types of emotional abuse, can be more potent or damaging than some kinds of physical abuse.  And so it is that, as I watch my dear mother in her prolonged moments of silence, of sitting and then closing her eyes and seemingly drifting off.  That I find myself contemplating where she is? What is happen in her mind, in her consciousness at these times?  These moments, minutes of not appearing to be with me, or what is taking place in the environment which is external to her?  Does she fall asleep at these times or does she actually take leave of what is happening?  And then, there are the other times when I do gaze upon my dear mother, from near or afar, as it were, and beheld her very still bo

  And so it was, on this occasion, that, although Lewis Hamilton might have profited from the Hungarian Grand Prix as he had done from the British Grand Prix.  On this occasion it was not to be so, as both he and Team Mercedes, probably more the former than the latter.   Failed to make the right call, by not taking the opportunity to pit during the the restart of the race, resulting in only Hamilton, rather dejectedly, being the only racer on the starting grid, as the race restarted.  And thereby allowing Estaban Ocon to seize the opportunity of taking the lead and winning the race. Greatly aided and abetted by Fernando Alonso.  Hamilton's former and probably still smarting competitor of years gone by. Who performed the ultimate spoiler's role, of keeping Hamilton behind him and his team mate in the lead. Followed by the stalwart Sebastian Vettel, who, unbeknown to him at the time, was to have his P.2 position removed.   Because of his and his team's purported infringement

'The past is the place of our ancestors, and the future is the place of our children, but we of the present are the bridge of time and space which link them together.' It is not a certainty,  but who is to prove otherwise, that the very old little church of Dixton, in the diocese of Hereford, has not been serving its parishioners for over 1500 years?   Not one of your grand multi-storied churches of old, but the old little church of Dixton, historically, has much to be said for it.  It is probably the oldest church in Monmouth, if not farther afield. It might not be as imposing, infact, it is definitely not as imposing as its more resplendent and heraldic brothers and sisters of the Christian faith, but it has served the same purpose.  That of facilitating the communal worship of God by people who believe in God and wished,  probably even forced by the conditions of their lives, throughout the ages of the past.  To visit these ascribed holy and sacred places, and to humble, to