Expanding the Legacy
European Hard Right Stopped in France and Britain
The forward march of the hard right in Europe, deemed unstoppable, has bumped into a roadblock set up by British and French voters. In a surprise outcome of the early parliamentary election, France swung to the left and kept Marine Le Pen’s National Rally well short of the expected majority.
Dutch Parliament Rips into Prime Minister Schoof
It was only his third day in office, however, parliament showed no mercy for Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. In a tumultuous session, the opposition let it rip, leaving Mr Schoof gasping for air amid a veritable assault on his cabinet. The leaders of the opposition, acting in concert, demanded to know what the prime minister thinks of two of his cabinet members who have expressed concerns over ‘population replacement’ (‘omvolking), a supposedly deliberate policy to replace the native Dutch with immigrants.
Toxic Work Environment Uncovered at WEF
Klaus Schwab, the octogenarian founder and chairperson of the World Economic Forum, has been a naughty boy. Mr Schwab repeatedly and persistently harassed female staffers with suggestive and vulgar comments and, on at least one occasion, propped his leg on a desk to place his crotch in front of a staffer’s face whilst lamenting the fact that she wasn’t from Hawaii, explaining that he would have enjoyed watching her in ‘Hawaiian costume’.
Tory Omnishambles Awaits a Reckoning
On Thursday, voters in the UK will render their verdict on fourteen years of Tory rule. It is expected that the Conservative Party will receive an electoral clobbering of note. Some polls predict that the party may even be relegated to third place, behind both Labour and either the Liberal Democrats or Reform UK, the new kid on the block of Brexit provocateur and Trump-wannabe Nigel Farage.
Artificial Intelligence: Enough with the Hype Already
There is nothing intelligent about artificial intelligence. The clue is in the name: artificial. At best, AI mimics intelligence. And such, it fools the more simple minded into believing that AI is a brainiac whereas, in reality, AI is merely good at crunching big data to distil trends and source possibilities.
K Schwab Steps Back, Raising Hopes of WEF Demise
WEF executive chairperson Klaus Schwab (86) is taking a step back from the organisation of the talkshop that brings thousands of ‘thought leaders’ to the Swiss mountain resort Davos each year. Conceived as a low key event to allow movers and shakers to swap ideas and experiences away from probing microphones and cameras, the annual event has of late become a stage for grandstanding from where the holier-than-thou dispense lessons in ethics to the unwashed hoi polloi.
NATO Boots-on-the-Ground in Ukraine
This is how a continent sleepwalks into war. It’s not that Europe desires war, or pines for it after a hiatus of seventy years. Rather, the continent is slowly being ushered into one by immutable circumstance over which it no longer has control. It happened before. In 1914, the German...
Epilogue
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 – The corona (covid) virus arrived unexpectedly out of left field and held the world in its grip for well over a year. Government and business were caught by surprise – and woefully unprepared. Crisis management had to be improvised on the spot as developments succeeded...
Prologue
Friday, May 1, 2024 – How to stand out in a crowd? Consider idiosyncrasy, a peculiar behaviour or attitude that marks the slightly unusual personality of the odd one out. This need not involve appeals to the outrageous as a mechanism to generate attention. The strategy was successfully deployed over...
‘The Madman’ Takes Charge
In his inaugural address to the nation on Sunday, delivered on the steps of the Argentina’s domed neoclassical congress, President Javier Milei (53) repeatedly reminded the crowd that “all the money” has gone and austerity looms. His message was met with roars of applause even as he warned the nation...
