Now, take a deep breath…….

Life wasn't meant to be easy....

It has not been a good start to the year. Each year we say to ourselves “Next year’s got to be better!” At the end we look back and you know what? Lousy!


Unfortunately for us in our quest for freedom and as the Americans put it, the pursuit for happiness , we believed that we all wanted improvement and change, regardless of nationality or creed. “Improve education, help them to help themselves” was the catch cry of the seventies and eighties. The quest has partially succeeded but with the good comes the uncomfortable.Change.

The Russians, no matter how miserable  their existence under Stalin and the yolk of communism now hanker for the good old days when they were a force to be reckoned with. Today we have a clash between old Islam and the new modern Islam.

In the 70’s and 80’s we saw the emergence of the Red Brigade, responsible for numerous killings of political leaders, the rise of The Black Panther movement in the U.S., followed closely by numerous terrorist hijackings and kidnapping by the PLO. The war in Lebanon should not be forgotten where kidnapping and assassinations were on the daily menu.

New communities, new countries freed from the colonials, new generations, new set of rules are to the fore as we enter another year. The trouble will be to maintain our equilibrium.

"Here you are, my lovelies! This might help!"
(Guest appearance of the witch by courtesy of Disney and Snow White)

The miserable science's Christmas

Sometimes  the right thing is done but for no reason it backfires dramatically. It's also a question that pricks the conscience of religious disciples; whether they have done the right thing for the wrong reason. It's a guaranteed method of self torture.People pray for many reasons and try to butter up the authority on high by including all the poor and oppressed in their orisons so as to give the impression that their own requests are pure and sincere. 

Strict observers of the self-help school become vexed when seeing money being given to those in need. They consider a trade agreement with inner Mongolia a better option ; that way the one-armed, deformed beggar would benefit in the longer term more so than money which would be spent on food or some such temporary need.

One thing is for certain.The government is cutting back on foreign aid, education and welfare in general because , economically, 'tis the right thing to do. No guilty consciences there.

The right thing....

....backfiring.