International – Page 9 – For the fainthearted . . .

Diner delight

At four o’clock on a Sunday afternoon the shopping centre had few dining options. We had to resort to a place that called itself a “diner.” Its menu did not live up to its bright red banquettes and shining chrome, it only offered various combinations of burgers and fries.

The decor of a traditional American diner seems to epitomize that age of optimism. There was nothing in Britain to match the brightness and the brashness of the American eating place. The traditional British café, with its menu of fish and …

Beating students

“Discipline was very strict in Roman schools and students would be beaten for making mistakes.”

The line came from the history textbook. Part of this morning’s lesson, it brought an unexpected response from some of the students.

“That would be good, ” said one.

The student concerned had not excelled at the Christmas test. “So, if you get a bad mark, you should be beaten?”

“Yes,” he said, “then I would do better next time.”

It was strange to encounter such a primitive behaviorist approach in a classroom in 2022.…

Woe to the doomscrollers

Third Year Religious Education between Christmas and mid-term is Buddhism. The topic today was the Eightfold Path and we tried to think about what right action, thought and mindfulness might mean for us.

We agreed that in the era of the smartphone and social media, the Buddha’s suggestions were unlikely to find many adherents in our own society.

We discussed “doomscrolling,” that propensity for people to pick up all of the negative stories. We felt that spotting bad news and potential danger was a useful evolutionary trait, but wondered if …

Bitcoin, Ponzi, and stamp collections

It is some ten years since the RTE programme was broadcast, fifteen years since the story was revived.

The edition of Scannal is still available on the RTE player. The programme narrates the tale of the development of a Ponzi scheme, a scam whereby early entrants receive large dividends from the investments of later entrants. The scheme works just so long as the base of the pyramid can be made wider and wider, that there are more and more people drawn into parting with their money.

The story had …

The wisdom of Vaclav Havel

It is the tenth anniversary of the death of Vaclav Havel. The gentle Czech poet-politician was one of the few leaders who seemed really to understand the way that the world has gone.

Speaking at Independence Hall, Philadelphia on Independence Day, 4th July 1994, Havel attempted to describe the contemporary worldview:

Today, this state of mind or of the human world is called postmodernism. For me, a symbol of that state is a Bedouin mounted on a camel and clad in traditional robes under which he is wearing jeans, with

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Woomera

The Ashes cricket series is a reminder that deep midwinter here is the counterpart of summer in Australia, a place that for years has had a fascination for me.

I think the fascination began with a jigsaw puzzle. Perhaps it had come as a Christmas present. Unlike most jigsaw puzzles, it was not square or rectangular, but was the shape of Australia itself.

For a primary school-aged boy, the shape made the puzzle more interesting, putting in the pieces that formed the outline of the Australian coast.

The puzzle was …