In history everything becomes “narrative” — a smoothed-down facsimile of more complicated and ambiguous truths. This is almost always ‘weaponised’ to point in one direction for a political benefit. World War II is notorious for this, and nothing makes this clearer than the initial act of the war, which was the British declaration of war […]
“The time for reconciliation is over. Now is the time for justice.” These are the words of Julius Malema, the head off South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters party/gang. To use a contemporary cultural reference point, Malema is essentially the Killmonger to Nelson Mandela’s T’challa, a more nuanced take on Black power, but both of which […]
The French have a term for it, L’esprit de l’escalier, or “staircase wit.” It means bright and witty sayings thought of too late as one is exiting a party. But history has its own “staircase” element as well, namely events that receive historical attention much later than they should if, as we are supposed to […]
The quintessential Dutch flower is of course the Tulip. But few people realize that the origin of the word is actually derived from an Islamic word for “turban”—an ill omen indeed! This is sadly appropriate now because Amsterdam, the main city of the Netherlands, is fast becoming a Muslim city (15 to 20%). It […]
Why, oh why is the BBC routinely called fake news these days? One of the main reasons is their ludicrously overprotective treatment of Muslims, which leads them down the path of ridicule, along the lane of absurdity, and into the parking lot of incredulity. Everybody, including Joe Public, the BBC’s intended audience, knows that Muslims […]
The world tends to run more on unintended consequences than intended ones, it seems. One of the reasons that Trump is now in the White House tearing through Obama’s flimsy legacy like an angry tornado is because he was ultimately seen as the “peace candidate,” while Hillary came to be perceived as the “war candidate.” […]
