Rick´s News

In my younger, Saturday morning matinee days, cowboy films would sometimes feature a snake oil salesman selling his proclaimed miracle potion from the back of a covered wagon. Often depicted as a rather amusing character with unmistakably sinister undertones. Undertones which were, at the time, more or less wasted on my still to be honed analytical skills. Nowadays I like to think the film industry was making a point here into educating people about the importance of thinking twice or perhaps it was just a case of making fun of gullible people´ s ignorance?

Whatever the answer, things haven´ t changed much. Gullible people as well as ignorance are still two a penny. The snake oil salesmen on the other hand have upped their market to now include grievance, distrust, xenophobia, envy, intolerance, resentfullness you name it, aimed at a larger section of the population. No smoke without fire when it comes to the above unfortunately. The root causes thereof and the complicated strategies required to combat these, make things easy for our modern day snake oil salesmen who just like their predecessors always seem to have a simple solution to the most complex of problems. Funnelling hate towards useful scapegoats like immigrants might be considered as product development.The deception is rarely lasting which sadly cannot be said of the damage done. What people don´ t see to begin with will eventually result in their noses being shoved in it.

The US is on an autocratic roller coaster with the black hole of fascism waiting at the end of the ride, if brakes are not applied. Whichever way it ends the farewell get-together for the one time leader of the democratic West will have to wait until then. 

Brexit Britain is on life support and an ongoing reset transfusion has a majority hoping for a quick recovery. Brexiters are still trying to flog the same snake oil but it appears people haved twigged the hoax.

Germany, a country that should know better than any other, has so far managed to stave off its own political ghost from the past. Considering the disaster caused by the last snake oil salesman it is mind blowing that anyone in Germany should ever conceive of once again going down that road.

German chancellor to be, Friedrich Merz announced recently that he will be honouring his election campaign pledge and supplying Ukraine with Germany` s blockbuster Taurus missiles. With a striking distance of, ”all the way to Moscow,” Russia` s peace loving politruks are far from amused. Putin` s press secretary Demitry Peskov accused Merz of warmongering and has-been Dimitry Medvedev took time off from threatening Europe with nukes and called him a Nazi and that he` d better watch out. 

Not everybody is in agreement as to what is required to earn a Nazi epithet but there are some undisputed basic skills. Perhaps the best manual on the subject is a history book covering the horrors of world war 2.  

”Never again” was the anguished cry in 1945. ”Never again,” to be actually realized by the strategic thinking of Jean Monet and the birth of a new Europe. 

And it worked or, according to Dimitry and Dimitry, until Merz started threatening Russia with Taurus missiles that is. As if that wasn` t  enough, Germany together with her European allies is supporting a veritable Nazi Ukraine with its Jewish head of state. 

Russian troops on the other hand, in their brave endeavour to ”denazify” Ukraine, are breaching internationally recognized borders, bombing residential areas, kidnapping children and executing prisoners of war. Anybody in their right mind would understand that resisting that kind of behaviour is as Nazi as it gets. 

Make no mistake Dimitri Peskov, not even Russians are fool enough to fall for your spin unless of course they are threatened with a few years in a labour camp. Calling Merz a warmonger is straight out of Goebels playbook. Right down to the part where intelligent and educated people show no qualms in exposing themselves as thoroughly corrupt. 

I have always wondered what the price is for getting someone to accept a place in history as a schmuck?

”Mixed feelings,” maybe a somewhat wishy washy way of describing my reaction to the gigantic upheaval the world is facing right now but it` s  the best I can do. History may possibly have the year 2022, plus an uncertain number of years onwards, on a par with the fall of the Roman Empire no less. Unfortunately I  won’ t be around to study the historical version and must resign myself to seeing things at close hand. 

America has crapped itself. The ”great” generation has moved on,  replaced by the ”price of eggs” generation where some 70 million Americans voted for a man who, in front of a large crowd, mocked a handicapped reporter. Comprehend that and you get the gist of things. If anything the Gulf should have been named Shamerica. Canada is now the enemy and Putin` s Russia, the friend. The heroes of Hollywood have become the fake news of our time. The 7th Cavalry has morphed into a joke.  Wyatt Earp, the Marshall in Tombstone may just as well have come riding in on a donkey and waving a banana. John Wayne will be remembered as Marion Morrison, the fraud. Reagan and his political ilk have become invertebrates. The Statue of Liberty is once again French. ”O say can you see by the dawn’ s early plight….” It is never ending and cheered on by a sycophantic group of greedy oligarchs.  Simply gut wrenching. 

There is nothing ambiguous about  America` s demise on the world stage nor in fact its present antithsesis, the rise of Europe. Brexit woes notwithstanding, the UK clearly demonstrates where home is. That home is now raising its voice in unison against Russian imperialism and its ”lager lout” supporters in the US. A united Europe has long been a dream stymied by regional narrow mindedness. No longer. Our own diverse european neck of the woods has begun to re-draw the line between national diversity and european unity, realizing perhaps that one does not exclude the other.  Hope inspiring.

It never ceases to amaze me when I hear voices lamenting Europe’ s military weakness in contrast to the US and in the face of Russian aggression. Considering the events since February 2022 and the erratic and extremely unreliable behaviour of Europe`s one time saviour and baby-sitter since 1945 there may be reason to go over some of the facts. Not that these facts are in any way hidden from view, just conveniently ignored. Perhaps the most striking is that Ukraine has humiliated Russia on the battlefield and turned an intended three day special military operation into a three year special military and Russian nightmare. Were it not for periodical lack of support including restrictions on the use of that support, Ukraine would have been in a far better position today, possibly even master in its own house again.

Ukraine is at number 20 in the global firepower list with several European countries within the top 20. The less than enthusiastic spending on defence over the years, in favour of other priorities has of course to be considered and rectified.  Suffice it to say there is no lack of money,  as european countries’ GDP rankings indicate, nor the understanding that it has to be done. As the saying goes ”where there is a will there is a way.”  

Europe has little choice and time is running out with the tectonic plates of global politics shifting faster than could have been envisaged a mere month ago. Europe needs to combine its military resources and speak in one voice much as it has done with great success in other matters. Wars are seldom fought on the battlefield alone and a quick glance at Russia´ s GDP reveals it as on a par with Italy.  A determined, independent Europe, united  in its defence policies and prepared to stand up to Russia´ s imperialism by all means necessary, will be the shortest way to a lasting peace.

One of my favourite expressions requiring no further explanation even for speakers of English unfamiliar with home-made Anglo vernacular is,  ”getting your knickers in a twist.” A metaphore requiring absolutely no introduction other than an understanding of the word ”knickers”. The mother of all predicaments is easily and immediately recognized as being amusing, embarrassing and difficult in solving without causing further embarrassment. 

Political one liners are usually not my favourites but this one has to be an exception.  ”Britain has got its Brexit knickers in a twist.” It has been five years since the UK left the European Union and large numbers of people are realizing and a few politicians are admitting that the sunlit uplands as advertised in the travel brochure turned out to be not much more than a foggy bog. I shall not dwell on the well known turbulence of Brexit only mention something I heard recently.  Apparantly having an Irish grandparent has become the envy of the young as it offers access to an Irish passport thus once again opening the gates to Europe so cruelly shut by you know who.

Good for them showing up the Brexit nationalists (the Irish bit must really be getting up their xenophobic noses) as well as showing more initiative than the Labour government suggesting that the knickers may be uncomfortable but will somehow be made to work by putting a left foot forward. 

The rest of the country, with the exception of Brexiters who obviously prefer wearing their knickers back to front, want to put things right. There are suggestions that perhaps by stretching the material a little, might not only ease the pressure but be a step towards putting things right.  Unless you are wearing a kilt where the problem would not have occurred in the first place, most enlightened people are aware that the solution to this predicament requires removing one leg after the other, aligning the knickers and then firmly replacing each leg in the intended place. The trick is to not fall over during the manoeuvre. 

Will we be seeing brave political craftsmanship in the near future or do we have to wait for the kids with the Irish passports?

A dumbstruck world and a sense of impending disaster saw the light of day in the wake of the US elections. If anyone ever doubted that ”truth is stranger than fiction,” imagine reading a novel with a similar plot twist, hardly credible in my view. Since then the air has been abuzz with analyses of why and what we are seeing, all from the gleefully mocking to the sad, scapegoat seeking. As the way things are of this world the reasons are highly complex where ”one liners” only satisfy the gullible.  In essence giving democracy a face without the make-up. 

Notwithstanding the constant cries of cheating, the people of America have decided on who they want for President. Therein lies not the problem; it’s just the name of the game.

It is wise never to ignore the importance of  the ”what’s in it for me” phenomenon, pertinent even to the democratic process albeit more often on a group rather than on an individual basis. Casting a vote is weighing up the pros and cons, identifying the swings and roundabouts and calculating that the downsides are a willing price to pay for the seemingly more important issues. Whatever the ”what’s in it for me” was about this time, resulting in a vote for Trump and his MAGA, it meant accepting or at best turning a blind eye to the President-elect’s disdain for the law, morality and the truth. Behaviour that is seen as reprehensible by vast numbers of people across the globe is  apparently a price worth paying for a majority of Americans. Furthermore putting their trust in a man of his calibre is in my opinion cringeworthy naivety.

The implicit meaning of ”Make America Great Again” is that it is no longer considered as great as it once was.  Electing a man like Trump as the President of the United States rather underlines this sentiment although the irony might be lost on his supporters.

Time will tell how all this pans out but one thing is certain, the reputation of the USA has been taken down a notch or two and any aspirations to future greatness will forever be darkened by the shadow of the Trump era.

Please excuse the affrontery of me writing to you directly but circumstances are leaving me no choice.

Let me begin by saying it was love at first sight from the very start of our acquaintance. My first hamburger in 1968 and the all embracing Summer heat of South Dakota were bodily sensations that will stay with me forever. Memorable visits, amongst others to an Indian Pow Wow where one of the traditional dancers proudly claimed to be a Vietnam veteran, something I opted out of becoming after visiting the local army recruiting office in Sioux Falls despite offers of a paid college education. A few days later a visit to a Mennonite colony had me grappling to understand the archaic German spoken there and fascinated by this tiny piece of Christian Europe thriving in splendid isolation in the American Midwest. A thrilling drive south through several states in an eight cylinder Mustang to North Carolina before heading north again for New York. I will never forget the experience of Kitty Hawk sands and the palpable presence of two of my boyhood heroes thus far only known to me in books.

There were to be many more ”over there” visits ranging from Holt,Rinehart and Winston`s publisher’s meetings in the early 70’s to a considerable number of private visits from the turn of the Century and onwards. 

Having travelled on Amtrack from Newark to New Orleans, marvelled at its European colonial archicture, swilled a beer on Bourbon St. to then continue through Louisiana,Texas,New Mexico,Arizona to Los Angeles. From there by car to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon,the Mojave desert and Yosemite National Park ending up at Fisherman’s Wharf and those wonderful sea lions in the harbour thumbing their noses at all and sundry.  A later visit to San Francisco, this time arriving by sea, resulted in a second visit to irresistible, kaleidoscopic Vegas and then continuing via awesome Bryce Canyon on an unforgettable road trip across the Colorado Rockies to Denver. Other visits involved a number of family holidays in Florida as well as a trans North America tour; driving from Boston, with its touching statue depicting newly arrived Irish immigrants, to Niagara Falls not forgetting a visit to the farm home of John Adams in Quincy.   The train ride from Toronto to Vancouver through the Rockies was at the courtesy of your neighbours but once there it was on to Seattle and Anchorage. Riding over the railway tracks in a bus through the alternate one way tunnel to Whittier bears witness to problem solving engineering. It was pointed out to me that if you cut Alaska in two, each half would still be bigger than Texas. It is said that everything is just a little bit more of everything in America and I understand the sentiment.

A multitude of friendly people and pleasant memories where the not so pleasant ones often seem to have a caveat. The flower placed in the 1968 Chicago National guardsman´ s rifle will have to stand as a symbol for those. Churchill, being half American, knew what he was talking about when he said: ”you can always count on Americans to do the right thing after they` ve tried everything else.”

I am most definitely not the only European wishing this to be true, symbollicaly enough, on Guy Fawkes day this year.

Pondering over my choice of subject for the month has me ticking off one dark subject after another.

War in Ukraine, war in the Middle East, China’s threats to all and sundry in the South China Sea, a felon running for President of the United States, neo-Nazi politicians popping up here and there in Europe, record warm weather world-wide with a side order of serious flooding just to mention a few of the bleakest of my possibilities.

Perhaps I should just leave these bastard offspring of human nature for the time being and write about something completely different.

After the isolation that came with the pandemic we found our travelling feet again with a number of exciting destinations including a South African safari, Mauritius, Bali and a delightful river cruise from Vienna to Bucharest. 

Once home again from Romania we were sucked up into the planning whirlpool for our eldest daughter’s 50th birthday. At a weak moment I had promised to brew some suitable beer for the event. Turned out as 32 litres of German pils and 16 litres of Hennessy Irish stout. My son-in-law had arranged for an empty cask painted in Guiness colours complete with emblem to be shipped from the Emerald Isle. 

My one and only grandson, with an impressive network of contacts (not bad at the age of 14), had negotiated the use of a variety of equipment suitable for the intended carnival theme. This included several cable-drums of different sizes (for tables), a popcorn machine, a sound mixer complete with loudspeakers, a wheel of fortune and a tombola. 

A number of family meetings leading up to the 3rd of August ensured that everyone had something to contribute one way or another. Needless to say the party was a success not ending till the early hours of the following morning thanks to the abundance of giggle water in various forms and not forgetting the weather. 

It’s been a long and hot summer with few leaves turning brown before the second half of September. A visit from Sussex by a family very dear to us coincided with the party and added to making this a year to remember. 

As a footnote I might add that all three beer kegs were emptied with one ardent beer drinker asking for the name of the brewery so he would know where to buy some for himself.

Things don’t get much better than that.

Will the Autumn of 2024 go down in history as the time the world changed for the better or, God forbid, never become history. 

Crises, catastrophies, wars and plagues are in historical abundance and despite the pain and suffering and at times even thanks to these, human-kind always seems to muddle through. Hopefully this will remain true although there are a number of current issues all with warnings of a show-down before Christmas and what that could mean for the rest of us.

The Middle East is at boiling point and may erupt at any moment unless there is agreement over the negotiating table concerning Gaza. Failing to do so will be setting the stage for a wider conflict.

Putin is said to be getting less sleep these days which is as understandable as it is scary. The future of his Russian empire is at stake with Ukraine having exposed Putin´ s Wizard of Oz syndrome and has the Russians wondering what to do next. That Putin will not be part of any plan for that future is as certain as that future is uncertain. 

The Prosecutor and the Felon could be the title of a play by Tom Stoppard but in fact it is an American reality show with serious connotations. This November we will see the direction America takes. 

As the tune goes:

”Gimme hope, Kamala

Gimme hope, Kamala

Hope before the morning come.”