Opinion

Those titular words were sent to me by Fr. Daniel Berrigan shortly before he died.

Our society is besieged by a series of interconnected crises. Millions of people around the world know this and are crying out for change, for a different way of living, for justice, peace and freedom.

“Historically, reactionary forces on the verge of extinction invariably conduct a last desperate struggle against the revolutionary forces, and some revolutionaries are deluded for a time by this phenomenon of outward strength but inner weakness, failing to grasp the essential fact that the enemy is nearing extinction while they themselves are approaching victory.”

… When Darkness and Disorder Began to Reign in a Kingdom…
There Appeared the Loyal Ministers.
— The Tao Teh Ching

It is easy for us as news writers to live in a bubble. That bubble is created in part by our own personal perspectives on our topics, (sometimes these perspectives escalate to the points of view we call biases).

There is nothing sadder and more pathetic, than a notorious liar shouting, spitting saliva, insulting normal people left and right, while terrorizing those who are telling the truth.
Lately, the West has gone clearly berserk. The more it is scared of losing control over the brains of billions of people in all corners of the world, the more aggressively it is screaming, kicking and making a fool of itself.

Overwhelmed by anxiety and image insecurity a friend’s 20-year-old daughter recently quit her university course and withdrew to her bedroom where she took to self-harming. Company and environments in which she felt emotionally secure became harder to find, until she stopped venturing out at all together.
‘Alice’ is one of a growing number of people, young and old, but disproportionately under 30 years of age, who feel unable to meet the expectations and challenges of contemporary life — whether real or imagined.

On Tuesday (4/3/2018) the US published a list of Chinese imports, set to be hit with a $50 billion tariff increase. This is the latest in an escalating trade skirmish between the US and China, that could escalate into a war.

Imagine! The western monotheistic world worships all these gods – never mind the contradiction in monotheistic –  and variations of gods – the Jewish god, the Muslim god, the variety and shades of Christian gods, stretching from the god substitute in Rome, to the reformist gods of Calvins, Luthers, Zwinglis, and, of course, the god of the Freemasons – and surely many more – but none of these gods has the stomach, the courage, in fact, to scream murder for what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians for the last 70 years no end. None.

Salisbury is still suffering from the crazy Skripal/nerve agent event that took place on Sunday 4th March.  Four weeks on the picture is still grim despite local efforts to encourage people to come to the city.  It is after all a shopping and tourist magnet.