Oooh-ah-ah !

It’s a strange thing that we are unwilling to accept or even admit how much of our system is running on primate hardware. Instead of acknowledging the power of our basic operating system, which sends us off on an often cruel fight for survival whether on the battle field or the office floor, we claim divine origins.

How unenlightened is that?

Unwilling to admit our humble motivations, we hide our primitive roots only to have them undermine our deepest aspiration: to be special. But we are not. Men continue to sniff each other out to determine status, they rival over resources and territory, sex with many continues to be preferable than monogamy, and aggression, in some form or another, still establishes superiority.

All the while, the female watches on and wonders who the winner might be. Really, quite basic despite moon landings, microchips and Monet.

The Growth Malady

Let’s face it, growth spurred by aggressive marketing and consumerism has more negative externalities, namely waste and excessive pollution, than long-term benefits. And whether the boost to the GDP is really going to promote positive growth in secondary areas to counteract the negative output it creates remains to be seen. As long as politics, business, finance and industry remain closely entangled, there is very little hope that overall growth will sustainably improve our quality of life, much less so that it will do so evenly and fairly. On some level, we already know it - but for better or for worth, we don’t want to do anything about it. Not yet. I guess we still haven’t reached Act V...

You call that News?

Since we moved to the UK, I have tried to warm up to the much beloved and internationally acclaimed BBC.

For the first two years, when we still had a TV, I used to tune into its numerous roundtables and panel discussions while all the time wondering how slowly stuffed up males could talk and still be paid for it. 

I watched endless History programs on World War II and I tried to see the benefit of turning old horrors into news without adding any more insights.

Very occasionally I still am adventurous enough to tune into the morning news like today  when I was once again reminded why I usually shun the media. It’s always the same story, just in a new wrapper.

Here it is: men sexually abuse whenever they get a chance - most often their targets are women and girls.  The way this "news" was tailored this time was that "eighty percent of rape victims in war zones are children under the age of sixteen, both boys and girls." The men committing these horrible acts were, however, carefully shrouded by refering to them as "combatants" as if they were some kind of abstract figure, like a Darth Vader.

But then, one would not want anyone to draw any connections to the scandal about the sexual abuse of minors that was so skillfully covered up by this most venerated institution for many decades.

Here is the the news - the only one really worth reporting: We still cannot admit that there is a problem with men although they regularly use violence (on varying levels) as a means to achieve their goals.

Stubborn Splendor

In a Europe where everyone feels the need to move closer despite good reasons not to and in a world where the US taste for fast food and highways has found many followers, the Brits like to differ. For the better. Nothing wrong with making friends, but why follow their lead or be bullied?

Are you Blond?

While busy making pumpkin soup and attending to my red-eyed snot-dripping family, I was listening to another round of ol’farts talk on the BBC. The subject was North Korean where missiles have recently been moved from one corner to another. Well, guys, why are you peeing your pants now when sixty years ago you welcomed nuclear weapons as a means to consolidate dominance by the “good guys”. Really, how naive can you be?

Fooled - again!

Digesting a generous helping of Belgian Chocolate truffles while basking on the sofa in our sun drenched cove in a sort of post Easter celebration, I could not help but contemplate welcoming the arrival of daylight saving hours by venturing out on an early evening stroll through the fields without a carefully chosen combination of hat, scarf and gloves. Fooled indeed!