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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.”

Below is an editorial (with translation) that I wrote in 1992 whilst working as a summer stand-in for Svenska Dagbladet. 

German Review? 

Once again Germany’s global military role has raised serious questions in the Federal Republic.  This time the SPD opposition was able to extract an extra session in parliament in view of federal chancellor Kohl’s decision to send a destroyer to participate in the international task force presently patrolling the Yugoslav coast. Parliament however upheld the decision despite the opposition claiming it violated German Basic Law. The German government faces a serious dilemma. After the second world war a re-written German constitution limits the possibilities for German armed forces in engaging in activities outside of NATO territory. Bearing in mind Germany’s recent history many people both within as well as outside the Federal Republic would like to see German military stay at home and especially the largest party in opposition, SPD would like to see continued restrictions on Germany’s military commitments.  Although, since the fall of communism and major changes in East-West relations, international pressure on Germany has been on the increase. Western allies believe that the country should do its share of international peace-keeping. The Federal Republic was subject to intense criticism when it didn’t take part in the Gulf war under a UN flag, with one of the accusations being that Germany was hiding behind its constitution.  This criticism, which was regarded as damaging for the reputation of the Federal Republic, was a painful reminder of the unbalanced nature of German politics: economic giant – security policy dwarf.  In an attempt to avoid a future repeat the government sought to change the constitution, however without success.  With the situation in former Yugoslavia having led to both the EG and the UN becoming involved, the question of Germany’s military role has once again arisen.  Will Volker Rühe, Germany’s minister of defence, be able to convince popular opinion of the necessity in allowing the country to place its troops at the disposal of the EG, NATO or the UN for international engagement to promote peace.  Will he be able to make his fellow Germans realize that their country of 80 million inhabitants with its strong economy and stable democratic foundation within the EG, has a responsibility that stretches further than opening a wallet.  In that case a, for european emancipation welcoming, change in Germany’s constitution is to be expected.   24th July 1992

Much has happened since then and although German Basic Law remains unammended with regard to the use of German armed forces, in 1994 the constitutional court ruled that the constitutional text did allow German military participation both in NATO and in UN peacekeeping missions thereby shedding the country of its self imposed ”never again” military straight-jacket, a reaction to Germany’s role in the horrors of the second world war.

The same could be said of Sweden joining NATO thus abandoning its neutral stance lasting over 200 hundred years and including two world wars.  From beginning to end the political process in achieving that goal was uncommonly short and fraught with less anxiety than might have been imagined. To be fair the invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s nuclear threats served well as a political catalyser.  

Both Germany and Sweden have freed themselves from untenable international policies, policies that can at best be seen as an embarrassing ”don’t call us, we’ll call you” and at worst as counter-intentional suicide.

Europe has woken up to the true nature of Putin’s Russia and its cherry-picking attitude to the rules of war and international law and is acting accordingly by supporting Ukraine.  Unfortunately it would seem that Europe has not yet woken up to the fact that a politically unstable USA and seeing China as a greater threat than Russia, may end up implementing that very same ”don’t call us, we’ll call you” strategy in relation to both NATO and the EU. 

European unity has come a long way since the early days of Robert Schuman’s coal and steel community project. The EU is now a household name with a majority of Europeans aware of what is at stake, brutally exemplified by the UK’s Brexit hangover. 

In light of the aforementioned the next policy step, exemplified by the about turn attitude change of both Germany and Sweden, should be for Europe to free itself of its transatlantic military dependence.  The argument that this is unachievable has its flaws considering Europe’s economic clout in contrast to Russia.  More so the debate should be about survival. The survival of Europe and our free and democratic life-style,  dependent on no other and guaranteed by our own ability to defend ourselves. 

Yesterday was a good day if at 29°C somewhat warmer than usual. 

Since Russia invaded Ukraine my familly has been engaged in that country`s struggle against the, in my opinion justified epithet, ”ghouls of this Century.”  Without going into any detail I would just say it is about contributing money, goods or services wherever  the need arises. Our contribution, often under the auspices of any one of the many organisations engaged in helping Ukraine, may be considered small but as they say in Sweden, ”many small streams make a great river.”

With more than a passing interest in politics I am fully aware of the overwhelming political support Ukraine has in Europe. From a Swedish angle it is a case of political Consensus with a capital C.  Proportional representation with a large number of smaller political parties in parliament rarely equates with this, indicating not only the strength of support but reflecting a high level of indignation.

Why was yesterday such a good day? 

Selling plastic ducks for a duck race at Västerås City Festival with all the money to be spent on equipment for Ukraine was the reason we were there. 

Meeting people, listening to them and realizing that Ukraine occupies many people`s hearts and minds made it a special day.

Soon the equipment from the proceeds of the duck race (dedicated to equipping trucks with mobile showers for front-line troops) and the equipment from other fund raisers will be on their way via ”SKICKA VIDARE TILL UKRAINA” (Send on to Ukraine). 

Meanwhile I would like to pass on this message for ”our/Europe’s soldiers in the trenches.”

The people of Sweden have your back.

Based on language and somewhat more than just sojourn, not to mention heritage I would claim to have an in depth cultural knowledge of three European countries namely Germany, the UK and Sweden. Small traces of an English accent and I hate to admit the odd grammar faux pas, prohibit me from passing off as a Swede but in the English and German speaking world I suppose I might be considered a native of either one much depending on which of the two factors,  ”born and brought up,” you accept as the most pertinent. Or on the other hand if the prequisites for, ”a native of,” are an inflexible combination of these two then I suppose I will just have to consider myself, ”a native of Europe,”  for want of anything more specific. Not that that particularly bothers me; as times change and as an emerging geopolitical European identity waxes it does so not under the dark shadows of nationalism but in the spotlight of cultural and linguistic diversity deeply routed in a shared history. 

A European identity has morphed from the realms of geography and ethnicity to a political force embracing at present 27 countries in the EU. Each with its own language or dialect, each with its own customs and traditions. A European identity is more than the mutual benefits of a single market, it is the understanding that the people of Europe share common values concerning the rule of law, human rights and democracy. A European identity transcends traditional nationalism with the caveat being that its very existance rests on a foundation made up of nations.

European nationalism in contrast is an oxymoron, which in itself is a threat to flag waving populists with nothing better to offer than the politics of division, stigmatization and hatred, all to the bitter end as history repeatedly shows us.

At the beginning of June Europe goes to the polls and it might be worth recalling a fairytale from childhood.  ”The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” reminds us that you reap what you sow.

Nate White is a British writer who penned the best description of Donald Trump I have ever read. Below is his answer to why some British people do not like Donald Trump. I am in no disagreement with the picture Nate paints and even taking into account a large number of for a politician irrelevant character traits, enough remain relevant to question the wisdom of ever letting a man like this near the White House. Many Republicans are of course prepared to turn a blind eye and reap the support of Trump´ s Maga base for political gains. Reprehensible maybe but in the world of politics not that uncommon. Trump´ s Maga base on the other hand seldom lends the impression of being politically astute, rendering the question what´ s in it for them? They obviously worship him and his puerile language and they possibly feel he is giving them not only a voice but a voice they can understand and relate to. If so that is pretty scary.

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”

”A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump ’s  limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief. 

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don ’t  say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. 

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn ’t  just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. 

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He ’s  not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don ’t  need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man. 

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. 

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?’ If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

-Nate White

Boiling the frog is a well known if somewhat unpleasant metaphor for achieving results by slower, more calculating means avoiding undesired counter-measures. 

Ukraine and its fate both long and short term have constituted the most part of my media cum social platform (Ex Twitter) attention since the 24th February 2022. 

Following two years of fighting their intruders and with considerable success at the outset, Ukraine` s struggle on the battlefield has lost its momentum with the exception of the Black Sea theatre and the extremely successful attacks on Russian oil infrastructure; in both cases due to the domestic development and production of drones. After initially humiliating Russia by inflicting unfathomable losses including both soldiers and material, on what was once considered the second best army in the world, Ukraine now finds itself short of what is needed to finish the job. 

If you have never seen an episode of the classic cartoon series the Keystone Cops I suggest you Google it. In my opinion the reaction of western countries towards the threat from Russia couldn ´ t be visualized in a better way. Well meaning yet sadly lacking.

The shinanigans over the past two years have been toe-curlingly embarrassing. From first offering to send 5000 helmets at best, to then gradually upgrading to Leopard tanks, HIMARS, Storm Shadows, and F16s but definitely excluding Taurus missiles. At times like these politicians expose themselves as being as ordinary as the ordinary people they represent. The hang-ups, the indecisiveness, the tos and fros, the one step at the time, the fear of going too far. (think nuclear response)

Intentional or not, it all looks like a classic case of smoke and mirrors and that the West has chosen to boil the frog rather than risk the consequences of the alternative. It would make sense and taking into account the size of the hole Putin has dug for Russia and its people, the outcome is given. The continued bravery and resilience of Ukraine as well as support from the West are tantamount to success. 

Slowly increasing the heat is a prerequisite for boiling a frog. Perhaps the time has now come for the next step and supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles.