Lifestyle topics
The Komische Oper (Berlin) production of Carmen by Sebastien Baumgaryen, revived this season, is set in a bombed-out urban setting that included a former Santander Bank branch, morphing into the Grand Hyatt Berlin for the bullring scene. The band of gypsies held portraits of Marx and Lenin. Carmen first appeared in a sort of voodoo …
Long before the days of the Roman Empire weapons were banned in temples. These were places of safety, reflection and peace. The christian church has for centuries followed this ancient societal consensus, and nowhere, to the best of my knowledge, even during the horrors of the Tutsi massacres, have weapons been taken into churches (despite …
The British right-wing political party, UKIP, is very much on the rise in the UK, and a similar thing is happening in France. UKIP stands for the UK Independence Party, a protest movement against immigration, squeezed living standards, job insecurity and membership of the EU, a general punch-bag for grumpy old men. A snapshot of …
Continue reading ‘The wages of “free” trade and globalization’ »
I have no problem with gun ownership. My father had a shotgun for hunting. When not in use it was locked up, and from time to time its security was checked by the police to stop bad people getting hold of it. This is the situation in nearly all countries that have the rule of …
The pressure on young people to get into top universities has become ridiculous and counter- productive. They are expected to get straight A’s and then frantically play sport all weekend. They feel they have to study into the small hours, are constantly exhausted, get injured on the playing field and have no time to think, …
