Sunday 4 January 2026

Happy New Year to all – though it hasn’t started well and it’s not good for our mental wellbeing. The terrible situations in Gaza and Sudan, continuing intransigence from Putin on Ukraine, mounting protests in Iran and this astonishing attack on Venezuela by Trump don’t augur well. Thanks to the lawless conduct of Trump, PutinContinue reading “Sunday 4 January 2026”

Sunday 21 December

As people retreat into intense Christmas preparations, I get the feeling that Donald Trump’s latest attack on Europe isn’t being taken half seriously enough. The sentiments expressed in the US new National Security Strategy are truly disturbing and will certainly be affecting our mental wellbeing at a conscious or less conscious level. Whereas some ofContinue reading “Sunday 21 December”

Sunday 23 November

As Trump’s capitulatory and short-termist non solutions to Gaza and Ukraine struggle to take hold, not surprisingly, and Budget speculation gets worse, not better, there are three interesting sources of silence. One is that the BBC, having lost another Board member this week, has still not received the threatened law suit from Trump (is heContinue reading “Sunday 23 November”

Sunday 28 September

In the wake of the Trump state visit and as the British political party conference season takes hold, there’s no shortage of concerning news, much of it subjected to mendacious massage by the right wing media including the BBC. (Private Eye got it in one with their ‘fake news’ about Chris Mason, the much criticisedContinue reading “Sunday 28 September”

Sunday 22 June

As the bloodshed continues unabated in Ukraine and Gaza, the latest escalation in the Middle East crisis has the power to unleash unprecedented global shockwaves. I won’t be only one who finds it frankly terrifying that, thanks to Trump, Putin and Netanyahu wrecking the rules-based international order so no organization (eg the UN) any longerContinue reading “Sunday 22 June”

Sunday 13 April

When I began this blog during the first 2020 lockdown, the key theme, which has continued ever since, was the deleterious effect on our mental wellbeing caused by leaders’ (such as employers and governments, which in psychoanalytic theory serve as proxies for our original source of authority – parents) failure to take care of usContinue reading “Sunday 13 April”

Saturday 29 March

As we approach the quarter year mark there’s as ever no shortage of news, the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, the Signal scandal and Donald Trump’s clumsy political posturing and tariffs stunt dominating the airwaves. But a bit less of this due to the massive earthquake having hit Myanmar and Thailand, rescue operations in the former likelyContinue reading “Saturday 29 March”

Saturday 15 March

For many of us the world has never felt a more unsafe place, due to President Trump’s casual destruction of the rules-based international order and the resulting fall out. From his initial executive orders, to his Ukraine/Zelensky debacle, from his absurd claims to Canada and Greenland to his massive tariffs, we barely have time toContinue reading “Saturday 15 March”

Saturday 16 November

Having been buffeted by various political maelstroms in recent weeks, which can tax our sense of mental wellbeing, perhaps we’re now in a phase of digesting and adjusting to the effects of these key events including the new government’s first Budget and the election of Donald Trump in the US. Add to this the farContinue reading “Saturday 16 November”

Saturday 23 January

As the week began, the NHS said to be in its most precarious situation ever, anti-lockdown Lord Sumption stirred up another storm by suggesting some lives (in this case a cancer sufferer) are worth less than others. Although many are rightly horrified by his Darwinist stance, hard decisions are already having to be made inContinue reading “Saturday 23 January”