Today, Sunday, the 7th of December, 2024
Cornelius Hamelberg
I asked my always sharp & critical Ghanaian Pan-African bro about John Mahama the newly victorious President-elect of Ghana, and my Ghanaian Pan-African Bro, sharper than a Wilkinson razor, was brief and to the point: “Old wine in new bottle” , he said.
At least he didn’t say “old ogogoro” like Chippi, or “old akpeteshie”, or ”old palmy” ( palm wine) the beverage we encounter in The Palm-Wine Drinkard
Today, Sunday, the 7th of December, 2024 is also the day that Bashar Al-Assad flew out of Damascus.
It all happened so suddenly, like that “A sudden blow” in Leda and the Swan.
Those with a Biblical bent of mind exclaim, How are the mighty fallen !
How is the Iranian Regime feeling? Ask Presstv
And The Arab League? Russia? Turkey? The Kurds? Donald Trump and the USA? Syria’s neighbours , Israel, how are they feeling?
Those who are more inclined to think methodically, probably want to start at the very beginning: “And G‑d caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his sides, and closed up the flesh in its place. And G‑d built the side which He had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.”
The Gradgrindians of course want facts, maybe even satellite images by which to trace certain trajectories, satellite images like the star which the magi (astrologers) followed to locate and adore the baby Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem, so too the satellite images which guided the advance of the rebel forces, first Aleppo ( the birthplace of our grand Sheikh Abdullah Yafei) then Homs, then Damascus….
Take note : Familiarity breeds contempt ! Be nice to them a little and they start thinking bigger than their brains will allow...
Before anyone starts pontificating on second hand news items of which they are not the authors, anyone who has not been even near the theatre of action, I’d like to ask, what does Syria mean to us - us in this forum ? If I asked the same question about Israel ,there are surely those who will start pontificating about or quoting Jesus, and of course in this rapidly approaching Christmas/ Christmas season, even in Nigeria, it’s all about Bethlehem…
For me, personally, and thinking associatively Syria begins with the Syrian Diaspora in Sierra Leone, fast forward to a childhood friend, Denys Blell ( the author of “No Place to Hide in America: Or the American Misadventures of a Honky White Boy Puerto Rican Mulatto Negro Cracker Syrian Uncle Tom Bastard from AFRICA”) incidentally, Denys’ brother Joe Blell was Sierra Leone’s ambassador to Nigeria 1993–2002. Fast backwards to circa the mid 90’s and the mention of Syria conjures kaleidoscopic thoughts about ELI COHEN; fast forward further still and a little learning is not dangerous thing if it’s the consummate reading of the so very much that has been written by John of Damascus; paddle back to the era of Hafez al-Assad when it was a criminal offence and punishable by law, to mention the word “ Israel” within any part of his Syrian dominion.
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I have listened mostly to the BBC today ,will check Israeli news , Israpundit and MEMRI later
The rabbis say that if your knowledge doesn’t increase, then it decreases…which implies that it doesn't or won’t remain constant. So, to increase it even if ever so slightly, earlier in the day to take my mind off the Golan Heights, I googled the topic and found this ( new knowledge) :
When it comes to my love, poetry, I’m conscious of some of the great ones that have been around the last three thousand years…
To while away the time, this afternoon I listened to Stephen Fry ( great guy, wonderful language buff ) Passionately Argues the Catholic Church is NOT a Force for Good” | Intelligence Squared
…the Catholic Church is NOT a Force for Good is the kind of topic that could be debated until the return of Jesus…
I then listened to A List of Apologies from the Catholic Church - according to Christopher Hitchens | Intelligence Squared
A List of Apologies from the Catholic Church could also be considerably extended (until Jesus returns
And rounded it off with Neil deGrasse Tyson holding forth on YouTube, about religion