This past week a British member of Parliament suggested the United Kingdom would go to war with Spain if necessary to maintain Gibraltar as part of the Commonwealth.  Our regular writer, Terry Field, a British citizen sojourning in Florida for the winter, has recoiled in horror and pessimism to this statement.  Thus he has written the following item, a pessimistic one, in which he decries the growing tide of nationalism as the Post-World War II order of western alliances appears to be breaking down. This is a piece requiring our reflection. - Glenn N. Holliman

Nationalism is an infection of the Soul 

by Terry Field

In these current times, there is a change in the air.

In the West, since 1945, the experience of American peace, and Soviet eastern hegemony, with mutually interlocking alliances that protected the nations in bondage on both sides of the political divide from expressing themselves, one could be forgiven for thinking that stability, continuity, quietness surrounded by unusable military power (except in remote peripheries where proxy wars raged) prefigured a future where it was possible to reduce the awareness of, and potency of distinct national difference.

Only in America and Russia, the centres of control for these new unchanging times, was there a little more awareness of the pride of nationhood. In all other states, that pride was stained with failure, collapse, murder, horror. Across the globe, people looked to a future of quiet, family and individual-centred lives; less and less military service – volunteer armies became the norm – nobody heard any more the sound of marching regiments, the stir to the heart from martial music. No speeches to enhance forlorn hopes of glory and of conquest. Every minority became our obsession.

'The impulse to clump together with other citizens of the nation state is seductive - it allows one to avoid rational complex thinking.' - TF

All became, by reference to the past two centuries, relatively quiet. Quiet is the word that characterized our lives until recently.

The computers talk to each other over the globe. We request goods. They arrive. We enjoy those goods, and see only our pleasure; all the while, the dispossessed who used to work as labour in factories, all now closed, live at the margins; eat poorly; weep inside for the past; die conveniently young. Often assisted by opiates.

From recent experience, as well as from the 20^th century in Europe, it is fairly obvious that in a secular society morality is plastic and deforms at will. Our love of companionship used to be based on all the people in our villages, our small towns, only rarely in big city neighborhoods. All were welcome to join the celebration of togetherness.

It is striking, for example, how rapidly populations switch from liberal democracy to socialism. When that fails, as it has in most places in Europe (when it is financed by irresponsible debt by corrupted politicians, be it in Britain, France, Italy, Spain, the list is long), socialism morphs to national socialism. That is in rapid progress in Britain, is clearly possible now in France, and has established itself in other North Sea countries recently, deforming their prior-constructed open societies.

Strangely, the weak, southern states bordering the Mediterranean have not declined to this condition; a possible reason may be that these areas are less confident in the concept of the nation state. Italy was never a cohesive nation, and Mussolini leaves a recollection of disaster, whilst Spain has the association of Franco and that schism in society whenever the nation state is closely regarded.

The post war European political space was dominated by togetherness, coddled in a nest built by bothRussia and the United states. Both nest-builders are now ripping the twigs and moss away now.

The response of Europeans to economic stress, global competitiveness that they can, in general, not survive well in, and pressure from a massive Muslim violent competition to the south, together with a vibrant Russian autocracy in the east, has generated national awareness in the northern states not seen since the 1930s. Except, possibly, for Germany. In Germany, they still recall the collapse and the consequences after the most bass-relief nationalism ever constructed.

But time passes; I do not consider German revanchist nationalism as improbable.

The post-war order of alliances linked to the super-powers is coming to an end. This leaves vacuum.

I have seen nothing to suggest that, should nationalism rise across the globe, to include the United States, that it would not include aggressive fascism. Fascism is simply the weak binding together to become unbreakably strong. The United States celebrates a benign version of this – in its parliamentary halls, there is a bundle of fasces ensconced either side of the speaker’s chair in the lower house. E Pluribus Unum is the Latin representation of a fascistic ideal. Out of many  (weak) one (strong).

It is not at all inevitable that the unity of the many otherwise weak reeds results in vicious fascism in the mould of 1920s and 1930s Europe. The actions and high-mindedness of the United States since 1914 attests to this; but the reason this great power has behaved so kindly and well in accommodating and respecting small states, and in promoting human rights may in part – even in large part – be because everything was acting to reinforce comfort, prosperity and ease in that continent.

That tide turned some decades ago, and the rise of the internet has commoditised news, and degraded quality and truthfulness of information, as well as having made finding truth and honest reporting harder to achieve.

This degraded environment of wise thinking is a return to the days of press supporting irrational and violent nationalism.

In the mind of the citizen, the impulse to clump together with other citizens of the nation state is seductive - it allows one to avoid rational complex thinking, to avoid economically rational decision making that can be so tiresome, to disregard the perils minorities find themselves exposed to.

It also allows one to live for today, and to hell with tomorrow.

More sinister is the camouflage that nationalistic fever offers to those who would do violence to people, ideas, property, fragile human relationships, in order to coral the minds of the stupid to support their corrupted desires.

Europe, under the Divine Right of Kings, with the imprimatur of the Universal Church, allowed for unending super-violence against groups of citizens, against cities, indeed against whole populations to have no moral challenge. Ultimately, this institutionalized freedom to kill with impunity led to the horror of the Fist World War.

The ultimate face of nationalism combined with machined steel and explosives came in the Kaiser's definition of conflict: ‘We do not kill people – we simply destroy the enemy’.

After him, when the German state had failed to overcome the massive strength of Soviet armies, the defeated Fuhrer combined Darwin – his version – with nationalism, in the nihilistic acceptance that the German State (and the people within it) could be destroyed utterly by the greater competitor power.

When Goebbels, late in that war, rallied the faithful, by now almost starving, with horrors visited on them from the air daily, and asked ‘do you want total war?’, the screamed their assent.

These things are the end product of nationalism. It is the ultimate evil.

The tribe together – that must find enemies outside, and is happy to suffer together. With nationalism, suffering becomes a proof of participation; it can be seen as desirable. Dissociated maleness twisted to self-destruction by the new world of massive power, the inconsequential individual, the leader. All this lives within nationalism.

I note Farage (UK Independence Party leader) was kind to the idea of the leader; was kind to the leadership of Putin. He is on record as sneering against representative democracy.

Trump is recorded as being admiring of the strong leader.  For these people it is an end in itself.

I further note that the Tory Party in England is less concerned with the economic result of Brexit- which clearly will be unfavorable, and much more concerned with shoring up the national pride and national awareness.

This week, a failed previous Tory Party leader, one Michael Howard, stated that Britain would make war on Spain to ‘protect’ Gibraltar.

We have thus got to the point where the post war togetherness in Europe is replaced with the contemplation of war. That the British State is poor, hemmed in by problems, almost non-functional militarily, actually adds to the imperative to jingoistic bluster.

In the wider world, the Trump new American nationalism suggests a final treatment of the North Korean ‘problem’, with senior people talking about final defeat of Korea, whilst contemplating the attack by North Korea on the South. Seoul is close to the border. It could be destroyed before the American ally turned the tide of attack.

No matter.

Nationalism and all that goes with it is back again.

The press in the USA are reduced, as would be expected where nationalistic tribal togetherness reduces tolerance for diverse discussion and subsequent cohesion by consent.

All this was seen long ago.

Aristotle saw mass democracy as inevitably falling to autocracy, as corrupted politicians buy the votes of the millions and impoverish the state. The Browns of this world; the Hollandes of this world.

It happened in Europe in the 1930s.

It has happened again.

Will the system finally collapse to violent nationalistic autocratic poverty? It appears to be really quite probable now.

Trump, Farage, Howard, Johnson, May, Le Pen, Putin, all tend to this outcome.

How can it now be stopped?

I have no idea.

The structure of the liberal democratic order born of war has crumbled and is falling to pieces before our eyes.

At root, we are tribal, aggressive, tend to mass murder when possible, and have decided not to protect our climate, nor our vital world that sustains us.

We are indifferent to what we do to creatures under our care; we care not at all about the mass destruction of habitats and their occupants.

Why?

In every case, our nationalistic, tribal, dissociated cushion anesthetizes our care.  Morality is plastic.

Can anyone see a way out of the horror that is our increasingly probable future? - Terrance Field

Comments:

Hi there Glenn

As far as Terry’s concerned, sounds like we’re all going to hell in a handbasket, and I believe this may be true especially after all the posturing and Trump upping the ante in Syria after those emotive pix of chemical warfare. Even stupid Australia sent a ‘show of force’, whatever that means. I really do despair. An Aussie expert on this matter has gone against popular opinion and said that for all Assad’s ‘imperfections’, we would be much better to support the regime. As things are, we are supporting - who? I’m not really sure. And who are we fighting? Er, I’m not really sure.

Maybe nationalisation is to blame for many of our current woes, but nationalising doesn’t have to mean fascism and atrocity. It can simply mean, let’s revert to having a bit of say in the running of our own country, and pull back on this recent worship of globalisation. I know we have to think big when it comes to trade, but I hate the way we have to kowtow to China, no matter how China abuses human rights and supports others who do the same, because we need China for our trade deals. Not sure what the answer is to this if I had to be a pragmatic leader. It represents a moral stance up against an economic one, and there are no prizes for guessing which always has to win.

And the major world leaders, including my own, have withdrawn from any ideas of putting the planet first. So, I think Terry is right. Sooner or later, we are going to hell in a handbasket.

Happy times!!

Steph Mc

An Evening of Lunacy

by Glenn N. Holliman

Terry Field is no stranger to this space.  His insightful and pithy articles often make for challenging reading.  In this tome he moves into a different writing mode, describing the neighbors who drop by for a visit.  Terry and wife, Fina, spend their winters in a semi-gated, semi-retirement community along the Gulf Coast of Florida.  

Terry Field, a Brit wintering in Florida USA

Yesterday afternoon, pleasant neighbours agreed to visit our humble home for a return match of drinks and dips. Dips – American culture – with the promise of ‘cocktails’, to be made by yours truly.

Fina and Terry incognito on another occasion.

Both wearing MI6 inspired shades.

The neighbours are great folk – one couple includes a retired lady police commander from the hell of northern US rust-belt cities. This gentle lady, then armed to the teeth, broke up drug-houses, patrolled streets whilst dodging happy little teenagers spraying sub-machine gun bullets for fun and kicks. Her husband, also a serving police officer as well as ex-military, was also in attendance.

Wearing combat fatigues. (Probably planning to fight off the local alligators).

In some ways it reminded me of Tonbridge Wells. Anyway, back to the plot.

These pleasantly cocktail-dressed ex-warriors arrived with a brand new pair of neighbours in tow, to share hospitality. These wore in no way military; they had had physiques once, but not anything to speak of.

The additional pair were quiet, with roaming eyes, and thin bodies. Booze I thought. They want booze.

I offered a ‘martini’ as a starter to our arrived guests.

“We make a real dry Martini’, said the thin man.

‘Aah’ said I; ‘the expertise in cocktails is American rather than British – so you

mix your own’.

He did.

It was dry as a bone; it was a massive slug of vodka, ice, nothing else.

His thin female companion did the same.

Right, the Florida room with a southern exposure, 

the scene of the conversation.

All moved to the Florida Room for the ‘dips’; the ladies grouped together and us

men coagulated at the other end of the room.

I sat down; the thin man together with the husband of one of the police

commanders both joined me.

I sipped my martini. The vodka drained and the thin man refilled and returned.

He turned to me, announcing ‘I am pissed that my taxes go to these immigrants,

lefties, commies and tattooed scum’ followed by ‘Trump will put an end to this’

‘That Muslim bastard Obama wrecked America, screwed us over. What do you

British think of Trump?’

By now, he had become coloured around the neck; you know, the way a grouper

is on a fishmonger’s slab. Purple with pink lines.

The eyes rolled as they tried to bore into me.

I took my courage in my hands, and ventured

‘Well, since you ask, I think Trump is a liar, an idiot, and an irrelevance’.

The pressure cooker that had been the thin man’s head whistled; steam poured forth; ‘You think that our president is a liar! That he is an idiot! He is leading us out of the crazy mess the liberals and that Muslim Obama left us’.

‘Our young people are brainwashed by our teachers, and by the time they go to

college that are all God-damned communists. AND they are tattooed!’.

Fearing apoplexy (his, not mine), I back peddled a touch, smiled and nodded, all

the while sporting a rictus smile. I looked like a corpse; I felt I may soon be a real

one if this thin neighbour was ‘packing heat’.

‘It’s gone too far; that Obama wanted to ruin America!!!!!’ ‘He does NOT

represent American values’

He launched into a long tirade of hatred about the idle scum who were draining

his tax-dollars.

‘Can I offer you a celery stick and some avocado dip?’ I ventured. That was the catalyst that made Vesuvius emit a mini pyroclastic flow.

‘Lazy bastard liberals have ruined this country. This president is going to stop all

that! He’s bringing back factories and jobs.’

‘But factories don’t need people any more’ I said.

‘I earned two hundred thousand a year in the seventies’ Thin Man said.

Well done! I responded.

Silence.

I broke the ice. With a little flame-thrower.

‘I know some very nice people – friends actually, from Pennsylvania. They are

educated, responsible, hard working types, kind, pay their taxes, have no tattoos,

have always worked creatively – and are Democrats who loath your Trump and

love and respect Obama. As do I.’

The Thin Man mixed another massive vodka on the rocks, sank into the chair,

rolled his eyes to heaven and said ‘impossible’. They must be AARP!!

“What is that?’ I asked. ‘Being British, I am unfamiliar with American medical terms, I ventured.

‘AARP’ he said. ‘It’s not a disease. It’s the Association of Retired Persons’ he said.

His even thinner and equally vodka-filled lady-wife enquired what the first ‘A’ in

‘AARP’ stood for.

‘I dunno’ the sozzled spouse responded.

‘I think I know what it stands for’ I purred, now trying to ingratiate myself.  ‘It stands for ‘America’.

‘No it can’t be that’ they both said. ‘But anyway, AARP is all communistical’.

“Really’ said I.

At this stage in the progress to a full-blown asylum status for my little condo. I

had visions of other entities, such as the ‘Salvation Army’ as being responsible for

a contemporary ‘Manchurian Candidate’ type attack, or the American

Automobile Association’ planting IEDs along the National Mall.

Clearly I was loosing it. But my companions had already done that.

Brightbartic paranoia was hovering about proximate to my frontal lobes. I reached for a comforting piece of carrot and plunged it, with uncharacteristic force, into the Maine Lobster dip. I retrieved a tasty piece of crab-leg. Munched; relaxed. The danger seemed to pass. I spoke too soon.

Left, Terry relaxes and keyboards his latest thoughts on the human condition

“Them Mooslyms want to kill the world, then each other, then get at the virgins!’.

This helpful interjection entered the fray from the direction of the gentleman

husband of a police commander. He had been in Iraq. He was packing heat. I

smiled at him, nodded sagely, offered a slice of desert with marinaded

strawberries – he declined because that would ‘contaminate his blood’.

‘Excellent decision’ I said. Much better to remain pure!

NOW I was entering a dark world of Dr Strangelove; My condo had become

Burbleson Airforce Base. I identified with Peter Sellars in an entirely new way.

Now the Thin Woman extracted herself from the gaggle of ladies, approached her

subsided ‘principle other’ and said ‘Let’s Go!’

Joy unconfined. Oh wonderful Day’.

I rose unbidden. ‘Thank you SO much for coming and welcome to the

neighborhood.’

The thin man rose, stared at me for a long moment and asked ’Am I an

irrelevance’.

‘It’s possible’, I replied.

Quietly, all left. The packed heat left.

I made a strong coffee.

‘Welcome to America’ I thought.

Allen Hench, for many years a successful Pennsylvania attorney, has traveled extensively world-wide, taught at a major university in the States and has even hosted an early morning classical music hour on public radio.  One suspects he does his best thinking and composing while doing his daily run of several miles.  When in gathering, he always seeks out the opinions of others as if searching and probing for a better understanding of our human condition.  Here from a Christian perspective he ponders how to reconcile the Gospel, historic American values and the present political and social situation in the United States. - Glenn N. Holliman

   . . . And, just what version of the New Testament supports current US policy regarding humankind world-wide ?    

The Statue of Liberty -- closed for the next four years

Emma Lazarus’ famous 1883 lines obliterated

 “AMERICA FIRST” -- The new national motto

Our new  goal -- US supremacy

“America the Beautiful” replaced with “America the Great”

The problem

I am troubled and perplexed.  I do not understand how we got to this era of a national selfishness, abandoning long-standing US concern for non-Americans.  I, and others, cringe at the ugliness that oozed from the inaugural address.  The sentiments proclaimed were embarrassing.  

 What happened to the idea of being a citizen of the world?  Or, the Christian notion that all mankind-internationally-is our neighbor?   Are  these old-fashioned notions that shaped customary US headship,  now superseded by a warped or perverted national pride? 

Is a Christian to have two levels of brotherly love: one for Americans, and a lower one for non-Americans?  I never thought so—but it seems a large portion of the country, including many Christians, do.

Right, Allen and his wife, Ellen, often open their home for hospitality.

The recognition

On Feb 12, we prayed:   “Forgive us, God, for thinking we are the center of your world.”[i]  We  acknowledged:  Our “harsh judgment of brothers and sisters, strangers and friends  . . .  [our] ridicule . . . [our] silent grudges . . . [barring] us from freely accepting others  . . . “  

Is more required?                                                                                                                                                      

We confessed these failings.    But, does it end there?   Where do we go now:   individually . . . , as a Church, and . . .  as part of the American Christian faith community?   Should we explore a response to this “unchristian-like” turn our country has taken?  Should we develop or implement a Call or Plan of Action for our Congregation, and/or the greater American Christian community?

Determining the action plan   

                                                                                                                            

To answer that, analyze the upcoming Lenten preaching scriptures.  The point from Deuteronomy: Walk in obedience to God, or else.  From Isaiah: Woe to those who make unjust laws, . . .  issue oppressive decrees, . . . deprive the poor of their rights  . . . withhold justice from the oppressed . . . .  and continues asking:    What will you do on the day of reckoning, . . .  Where will you leave your riches?   [These excerpts sound like God-inspired authorship proclaimed in the last four weeks---and, maybe, as a direct rebuttal to some political pomposity].   Add the final scripture from Luke and the package of principles  grounded on the words and actions of Christ along with other New Testament teachings. 

 Christian values used to determine public policy                                                                                           

Should not this package, considered in its totality, be our guide, as Christians, in helping to determine public policy in 2017 ?   And, how should we be effective proactive Christians, especially when a large part of the Christian community, the “Christian right,” may be strongly supportive of some of the Administration positions others would challenge?    

This writing is not intended to suggest ignoring  legitimate security issues relating  especially to immigration; and these contentions may indeed justify some positions, or at least warrant caution. But, somewhere there must be a balance between security issues and theological truths, and give us a reasonable, just approach.

What do we do now? 

                                                                                                                                                    

I do not want the within to be just rhetorical even though I admit I have no answers.    I invite reaction, improvements to the articulation of the issues, suggestions, thoughts --- a dialogue.  What do we do now ?   Can we progress as a national Christian community, or are the philosophical divisions thereof too wide?   Or, do we ignore a national crusade, and forge forward as a congregation?  Or individually?

Allen Hench                 

                                                                                                                  

 “In any situation, the best thing is to do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.” Theodore Roosevelt

Comments?

---

A Little Note Taking Stock of the Underlying Poison

Terry Fields, our Englishman who lives in France and who winters in Florida shares his latest take on the transatlantic political scene.  Grab a cup of coffee, read, challenge and reflect. - Glenn N. Holliman

I am snug at home, prosperity increases for the asset-rich, but others shudder with fear.

The brexit vote and the Trump victory are now a little way behind us, but little of consequence has yet happened, unless you are an undocumented migrant in the United States, where you now have cause to wake at 4 am in a sweat of fear.

Photograph by Terry in his Florida haven, picture taken this past week of mother and baby owls.  Fitting that owls, the wise bird of history, should take us residence with our well-read Mr. Field!

The British have railed both for and against the brexit referendum, but nothing has happened to affect the economy, society or the political life of the country, and the continent.

The press in Europe is, in general, in a foment of rage, indignation and moral superiority concerning Trump; anything he says and does causes a new scream of undiluted rage and anguish; The town halls of America are the sites of expressions of fear and anger over the future of ‘Obamacare’. The president says many of the protesters are paid and thus not genuine; many seem honest and fearful on inspection of MSNBC or CNN. On Fox, they are suggested to be paid insurgents. Pay your money; take your choice.

Global stock markets are enjoying a good run up; in the context of the last decade, it is still really quite modest, but profitability is rising in corporate land, and there is undoubtedly a focus on business in the USA. One is reminded of the dictum of President Coolidge ‘ The business of  America is business’.

Inroads are being made on the panoply of controls and environmental directives that have constrained American industry, with an early decision to allow Appalachian coal producers to dump their run offs in local streams and rivers. There will be very much more of this in the future; the accent now is on business, not on controls and regulations.

As I write, there are very large numbers of ‘undocumented’ immigrants who must be experiencing acute anxiety – the easing of restrictions, levels of criminality etc that puts many millions ‘into the frame’ for removal by the ICE.

Yet most Americans are comfortable, more or less. Most are safe, adequately prosperous, secure. I am in this category also. This new politic makes one bring to mind the European political instabilities we all recollect, where the safe comfort of the citizenry contrasted with the terror experienced by those the state chose to target.

A Mexican committed suicide by throwing himself from the border bridge – after his third ejection from the United States.

Brexit Fun.

BY the end of May, the future of the EU in the short to medium term will very probably be established. If Le Pen has won in France, the house of European cards will collapse, and Brexit will become a side story as Europe implodes politically, socially, culturally and very probably economically. Similarly with the Dutch election, but less critical in its implications for EU continuation.

If the EU continuity seems probable, then there will be the potential for a robust defence against the British attempt to maintain market access but with no commitment to the ‘four freedoms’ and no fee-for-access payment.

British Prime Minister May’s entire potential for any success depends upon the EU and its constituent parts being disordered and at each others throats. That will not happen if France and Germany stabilise, and coalesce around a developing response to the Trump administration.

The Soul of the Nation is alive in its Town Halls.

Watching the confrontations – for that is what they are – between the attendees and their – in general – Republican senators where raw emotion concerning the probable removal of Obamacare and its possible replacement  - puts me in mind of the rage felt in Britain by very many people  over the performance of the NHS. No riotous meetings, but vast numbers of people enraged, frightened, badly treated, abused by inappropriate neglect, and much more besides - but unlike in the United States – cowed by the British power elite, since unlike the American, the Brit has a forelock and is often required to tug it hard.

Both systems are failures, for frighteningly similar reasons. In Britain, the rich use BUPA, Nuffield, or self-finance. For the rest there is the soviet-style NHS.  Thus in Britain funding inadequacy is a core problem.

And in America?

There is funding inadequacy to finance Obamacare, since the young with low probability of using the system are not required to buy the insurance, so, predictably, they do not.

In the USA, a high percentage of the total healthcare system cost includes litigation for tortuous wrongs.

In the UK, the tortuous wrongs are autofunded by repeat usage and the social payments of the welfare state to the damaged.

Either way, the costs of healthcare are inadequate to demand.

Both systems achieve the same outcome – local impoverishment of supply for the most disadvantaged – but each system starts from very different opening positions.

Therefore will someone please go back to basics, create insurance costs based on herd basis mortality and morbidity statistics, and generate an inexpensive system of corrective actions for tortuous loss, that removes lawyers and adversarial litigation from the process?

Whoever does this will win election and power from now until the ending of the world.

Hint here – in the US we have a system of mutual care operated by church groups, whereby the mortality and morbidity statistics are applied to compute reasonable premiums and excellent coverage. If they can do it, why is it not universally applied?

A simple impediment to the roll out of such a scheme – the existence of the extremely rich.

The rich patient

The rich doctor

The rich lawyer.

They all want more than their moral share.

Rich men, eyes of needles, the Kingdom of God. Remember.

Fear is the key.

In the eighties, it was the Libyans, in the nineties it was the Iraqis, in the noughties it was 911 and the Middle East neocon agenda, now it is every migrant trudging past our front doors to the next casual employment.

Time to ditch the fear. Across the Atlantic, there are two populations of rich and comfortable, but fearful people that number not much south of a billion in number.

What can these migrants do to us?

Why work for us, join us, live with us, and become our friends.

Or at least most of them can.

And that means it really is time that a serious conversation needs to be had concerning Islam, its real nature, its precepts, the directions and requirements held within the Holy Koran, its ‘political’ project in non-Islamic countries and societies, its objectives, and how it fits – or does not fit – into western society.

That is the hardest of all, since the legions of the politically corrupted need to be set aside and ignored in order for such a social conversation to be undertaken.

Climate Change

To avoid catastrophe, the removal of carbon usage from energy systems need to be achieved by 2050. 

That will not happen with the United States using political distortions against responsible science in order to prosecute industrial policies designed to garner the votes of the desperate.

Nothing more needs to be said on this matter at present. And nothing worse could be imagined.

The internet and Universal Suffrage.

Are they both compatible with the continuation of western democracy?

Discuss.

Happy days.

I am Terry Field and I approve this message. ( Was that ok, Vladimir, or do you want anything redacted?)