12th November 2017

If I should die 

Think only this of me

That's there's some corner of a foreign field

That is forever England

Rupert Brooke

Today millions will attend war memorials. Why oh why do we do this? I'm not talking about remembering those who have died. Heaven knows we must all remember those who have lived on this Earth - otherwise for what purpose their lives? No, I'm talking about sending young men, full of life, into front-line war zones where they are trained to kill and be killed. I know many are the times when mad despots rise to positions of power with murderous intent - Hitler and Stalin come to mind - and they must of course be stopped at all costs. So, what's the solution?  Ask Alexa!  I kid you not. Now is the age to stop all human killing. At last we have the technology to build and programme silicone robots to do the job of killing for us. They should be the soldiers of the future, programmed to wipe out just enemy robots in the field. Just think not only of the human lives saved but also the food, accommodation and salaries no longer needed. We know it can be done. Already countries like Japan have replaced human hotel staff, butlers, car makers etc, and surgeons use robots for delicate surgery, so why not replace human soldiers? On this day, at the 11th hour, make a wish:  stop killing our young men in war for ever.

15 November 2015

France is in shock. On French TV a woman lays flowers at the café 'La Belle Equipe' in the rue de Charonne in Paris....

Several weeks ago I was discussing aspects of past wars, based on my two forthcoming WWII novels, with a French friend in Toulouse. He said the world was already experiencing WWIII but no-one seemed to realise it. He says that war has now morphed into a new form, fuelled by our digital age and money-laundering. The frightening thing is: this isn't just one evil person any more, some kind of new Hitler, but a large, dispersed, group comprising trained passport-holders from every country. Is my friend right? France is a modern, western democracy, long holding true to its ancient lores of liberté, egalité and fraternité. As with others in the West, it's always welcomed diverse cultures and faiths as long as each person respects each other and does not seek to impose any kind of forced proselytisation on others. Live and let live in peace.

I thought that's what everyone wanted. Until last Friday, 13th November. What do I think?

At early morn' I had a dream

that man would cease his futile scheme

Fighting battles, suicide missions

Murder, hatred, blazing seditions

What man needs is re-appraise

in eyes of beings not so fazed

Yes, don't fight tribe v tribe

as if nothing else but diatribe

But see with eyes afresh from birth
that we're all one tribe - that of Earth! 

9th March 2014

Warm sunshine outside, but on the news talk about war - comme d'habitude!  Doesn't matter where in the world, there's always a megalomaniac leader somewhere who wants to wage war with another. But here's the rub: he doesn't fight himself, just uses his country's people as cannon-fodder to achieve his own spurious aims.  In Britain, Deputy leader Clegg is to have a live debate this month with UKIP's Farage over whether to vote In or Out of the EU.  If being in the EU means an end to war in a continent which historically has been involved in countless wars and which instigated two world wars, then I'm In. I know the EU is flawed at the moment. Such an enormous ideal is bound to involve difficulties. Just ask Texans when they originally were coerced into signing the US Declaration. Yet now? They know a united US (complete with flaws!) is better than another Civil War! So, the more countries that join the EU - even if presently against it - means pushing those terrible wars further and further to the extremes of the globe. I even wrote a controversial book about France in WW2 called 'Vichyssoise' - a cold, murky saga about why one ordinary man (Petain) allowed himself to be drawn into Hitler's mindset - in a vain attempt to show why man goes to war.  So, come on Britain. I want many more countries to sign up too. The only way forward for peace.  

28th October 2008

Every Saturday morning when we walk to our tiny village market, I like to walk past the 15C castle and through the crumbling stone arch which heralds the ancient walled cite within. Either side of the arch are stone ledges at sitting level, their surfaces worn away by weary people taking a breather. Just above the right-hand ledge, looking out over the river valley in the distance, is a man-made vertical slit in the stone where, many centuries ago, brave men poked their bows and arrows in the war of the French v the Cathars. One of the original Cathar parfait vows was to live 'in community'. It was one of the great strengths of this region back in the 13C that the Cathar church functioned so smoothly in the heart of the Aveyron and Languedoc regions - until, that is, they encountered the inevitable 'tribal warfare' from elsewhere.
Today, as we enter the narrow cobbled street, each side is still framed by crazy, leaning houses that used to house the blacksmith and horse farrier. The windows either side of the street are so close, the occupants wouldn't have to lean out far to shake hands with one another. But shake hands with each other they do. Although yesteryear's wars were hard-fought and bloody, the eventual peace in this region benefited everyone.
I, myself, being a lateral-thinker, look forward to the day when we are all members of Earth, have an Earth flag, an Earth language and Earth currency. Only then can the world live in peace together. That is, until Earth has to fight alien invaders from another planet. That's me - ever the worrier!