Which side are you on?

Via India Express and Reuters

I have to admit that until Monday evening, I had never heard of Ariana Grande and even now, more than 72 hours later, I remain completely unfamiliar with her work but recognise that her talent and status make her important as an icon and role model for adolescent girls and various other sections of society we are happy to place in pigeon holes. Sadly, for all her riches, fame and adulation, Ariana Grande will be remembered for giving a concert in Manchester that ended with the murders of children who only wanted to see their idol perform.

Each barbaric atrocity that takes the lives of innocents brings out the very best and the darkest worst of human nature. Again and again the emergency services rush towards horrific catastrophe without a thought of danger for themselves and overcome the human instinct to run away from harm. Instead, they provided rescue, care and comfort to total strangers.

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Combustion in the trouser department

In primary classrooms, Sunday schools, Madrassas, Gurdwaras, Synagogues, Temples and nurseries across the planet the message is simple; if you tell a lie you will always be found out.

In corrupt business organisations those who are dishonest will always face accountability depending upon financial confidentiality and a variable definition of what is in the public interest.

In politics, honest men and women who have been quoted out of context are the victims of smears, fake news and alternative facts in blatant disregard of national security even if the victims actively promote smears, fake news, alternative facts and, to put it bluntly, downright, bare faced, whopping great lies.

Ministry of Magic

Silly Abbey Road

Of all the government departments labouring away in the dark recesses of Whitehall, none is more expert at artifice, trickery and prestidigitation than the secretive Ministry of Magic. Employing sleight of hand and illusion, its job is to conjure up enough distraction to deceive a gullible public into thinking that everything is going to be alright and that government is kind and is not stealing money from tax payers.

The latest piece of trickery is to announce a complete non-story via the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government that an oath of allegiance to “British values” might be introduced. Elected officials, including MPs and local authority councillors, civil servants, council workers, teachers and employees of the NHS and BBC will be expected to verbally pledge their loyalty to the crown. Smoke and mirrors are again being cleverly deployed to shift attention away from the ludicrous farce and ongoing train wreck that is our government`s stance on leaving the European Union.

Eschatology

Apocalypse by Viktor Vasnetsov 1848-1926

In terms of religious superstition, when Donald Trump talks of millions of illegal votes, Theresa May states that she is governed by her faith in Almighty God and Nigel Farage, without any sense of irony, claims that he is fear for his life, then it seems pretty certain that the end times are upon us.

Trump has suddenly realised what being POTUS entails and having made his point, is obviously attempting to reverse out of a position that he is clearly not qualified to occupy. Like Corporal Klinger in MASH, he is playing the diminished responsibility card in the hope that the people will let him go home. Why else would he pretend to be completely deranged in raving on about a rigged, not rigged, then rigged again election. He has realised that, unlike his business strategy, it is not easy to declare the United States bankrupt, write it off against tax and then start again.

Fourteen

Via aljazeera.com

As the sublimely wonderful Stevie Wonder so eloquently pointed out, if you believe in things that you don`t understand; you suffer – superstition ain`t the way. It is a distinct possibility that what separates religion from superstition is the comparative definition of faith and idiocy but when politics, the economy and policies ranging from health, education and immigration seem to be pulled from magic hats by black cats and chimney sweeps, tarot readings and the most transparent of crystal balls now pass for governance.

The French, during what became known as la belle époque between the Franco Prussian War and the First World War, invented a delightful compromise between religion and superstition by creating a new and lucrative career. Realising that 13 sitting down to dinner would result in terrible bad luck because that was the number taking part in the last supper, professional dinner party guests could be employed to make up the 14. Known as “Quatorzièmes”, these witty raconteurs could expect free food and drink in exchange for some outrageous banter the more scandalous and questionable the better. Inadvertently, the early “Quatorzièmes” paved the way for 21st century politicians and professional controversialist to make money and expect free food and drink by spreading outrageous, scandalous and questionable banter.