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  • The Horror

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    News is frightening, not only because bloodshed and misery is more newsworthy than more uplifting stories, but because the global pandemic is having a long term effect on our attitudes. For some it dampens down the emapthy response, for others it amplifies the feelings of hopelessness and despair. The news…

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    Dante’s Divine Comedy

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    I watched a fascinating RTE programme about Dante’s Divine Comedy last night. My ignorance faded as I was shown the significance of various Cantos. Dancers and academics helped to illuminate the powerful thrust of Dante’s masterpiece. Banished from Firenze and grieving for his muse, Beatrice, he embarked upon this work…

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  • Love is bandied about

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                        Love is a word that’s bandied about.                   “I’d love a Martini” you hear people shout                    Across crowded bars where the eyes of a stranger                   Make contact, occasionally heralding danger                   Of falling so hopelessly, recklessly smitten                   Cupid has struck, the love bug has bitten.                  …

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    How to stop dictators

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    We live in a world where there are no rules. Diplomacy may soften the visible excesses of some governments, but Russia, China and Myanmar, to name just three, carry on regardless. To be a native of those countries is to be oppressed, whether you realize it or not. I came…

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  • Start of term

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    Start of term is always an exciting time. Escorted from our homes by helpful officials we travelled to our re-education college. Some of us had speculated that being Muslim was at the heart of our need for re-education. But that can’t be right. In our democratic republic we must be…

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  • Sentience

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    Rearrange these words into a sentienceConsciousnessFeelingsEmotionsAre trees sentient?You must be barking… Cogito ergo sumIs Descartes’ argumentBased on doubting everythingExcept his own thoughts Animals were excluded from thinkingSo they had to be machinesBut now we know moreAbout chimpanzees in reposeThey are just as capable of thoughtAs you or IBecause they have…

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  • Nobody’s safe until everyone’s safe

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    Nobody’s safe until everyone’s safe is the mantra being adopted by some leading nations in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. It might seem logical to apply this concern for the world’s wellbeing to a fairer distribution of the world’s wealth. Nobody’s well off until everybody’s well off. Boris Johnson…

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  • Blood Work

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    I took a flag, a symbol of oppressionAnd soaked it in blood to make an impressionI requested small samples of blood for my artSo indigenous people could play a big partIn sharing the memory of trauma and painInflicted by Britain again and again Aboriginal people raised their objectionAnd the festival…

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  • Conditions apply

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    Should is a word that’s heavy indeed Could is much lighter, implying no needto meet obligations unless you so choose Would the excuse every time that you lose

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  • Tabloid Ordeal

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    If you believe herHer plight was extremeHounded each dayA new royal memeA person of colourLiving the dream A nightmare of tormentNo right to complainOrdeal by tabloidA mountain of painYou cannot speak outThat’s just how we reign The advice from the WindsorsJust suck it up dearWe’ve all had to do itFor…

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