Death throws and 1974
Although I don’t dwell on the Old Reaper, this squirrel thought it time to throw away junk to make sorting easier for those left behind when I pop off, ...
Articles
Artificial intelligence or active intrusion?
This once-teen devoured sci-fi novels and it’s revelatory to watch as what knowledgeable and imaginative writers predicted becomes reality. Applications then lacked tech innovation, but with time, AI has ...
Democratia: the best we have?
Greek words pad today’s English, take politics. Ancient Greek ‘democratia’ selected those who would benefit under it: plutocracy.
What’s changed? Some politicians, supposedly maintaining its modern-implied, human rights ...
Dogs, instincts and the importance of balance
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Buddy was a rescued, fierce-looking, lovable Labrador-Great Dane cross. Friends adopted a Cane Corso mastiff responding in kind to love given. Buddy was left as nature ...
Pain delivers pain
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Why wasn’t Joe Biden’s ‘Outrage and heartbreak!’ at the brutal death of seven foreign aid workers the reaction of a man who suffered family ...
Cyprus needs an Irish wish
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Apart from Ed Speleers, the trailer for An Irish Wish was uninspiring. I’m not a Lindsay Lohan or rom-com fan. Still, it was a chance ...
Law ladies and lawyers’ ladies
THE WAY THINGS ARE
After getting into and out of Suits, I was happy to find on Netflix an actor I like, Nathan Fillion, and his female co-workers in The ...
Render unto Caesar, render unto God
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Critical thinking doesn’t mean teaching children selected influences the teacher either approves or disapproves of. It means giving unbiased information and allowing a child to ...
Rage against the dying of the light, with Baileys
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Euthanasia is legal in some countries, not in others. It costs to have the privilege of deciding when it’s time to die in comfort, slipping ...
Banana Republic(ans), septic Isles
THE WAY THINGS ARE
‘The politician man says do the best you can. And I will do my very best to help. Yes, please do sir, help yourself.’ So sang ...
Consensual sex – at thirteen?
THE WAY THINGS ARE
‘It wasn’t just the pain of violent penetration when I was dry and ignorant of what was happening, it was also constant fear when he ...
Ashamed and proud 2023
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Old Cypriots say the youth have lost their traditional friendliness, heads in phones. Hope lives. While food shopping my card blanked, so I separated necessities and ...
Christmas and the F-word
THE WAY THINGS ARE
You’ll read some articles relating to the celebrations around December 25 that include a health warning. Not just don’t overeat or drink but the F ...
Cannabis, or a Chinese master
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Self-help books advise on a range of things – grieving, diet, stopping smoking/drinking etc. This works for some people depending on their personality, how they think, ...
Biden’ your time, Joe?
THE WAY THINGS ARE
America’s main reelection candidates are two ageing men with no one apparently able to differentitate between them. Rumours augur Michelle Obama as a future Democrat ...
Horror entertainment for the young
THE WAY THINGS ARE
On a favourite site among the usual gems of advertised literature, I found horror stories especially written for children. Young adults enjoy scary thrills. I lied ...
War: words are never enough
THE WAY THINGS ARE
In the Jewish insurgency against the British, Israel’s Irgun, led by Menachem Begin, bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Ninety one people died, 49 were ...
Afxentiou, is this what you fought for?
THE WAY THINGS ARE
My son one day excitedly told me of a real life hero whose story he heard in class, that of Afxentiou in Macheras. On Sundays pre ...
Nasty men and women who admire them
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Yet another famous man is hitting headlines for alleged lewd, predatory behaviour towards women. Russell Brand wowed audiences with his audacious style – not for him the ...
Culture and the last straw for renters
THE WAY THINGS ARE
China’s one-party political system is not in tune with the West’s practice of democracy. Yet, as a major source of trading exchange for so ...
Cutting off our nose
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Liberty, equality, fraternity, a lovely thought to wrap around any flag. How many democracies live up to that? Liberty? Still mostly in evidence. Equality and fraternity? ...
Privacy and the unwanted
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Some in Cyprus won’t say they have adopted a baby, perhaps from the need to protect the child’s assumed identity or their private business. ...
Are you a boiling frog?
THE WAY THINGS ARE
For those who can’t afford hours of expensive aircon, the heat is hell. Are you a ticking pollution time bomb adding to climate crime? Mediterranean ...
The way things are going
THE WAYS THINGS ARE
Maari, hyperventilating, called from her retreat on Troodos. She’d been in her garden having a smoke, when a soundless, fluid presence passed through her plants ...