Scrolling through my Twitter feed a couple of days ago I came across a photo that made my day: Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai together in Oxford. I showed the picture to my nine year-old-daughter who cheered loudly; Malala and Greta have inspired both my daughters in various ways.

While Malala and Greta don’t need any further introduction, I’d like to call attention to another young woman whose activism is not very well known, but which is equally important. Her name is Heidi Crowter, she’s 24 years old and she has Down’s Syndrome. This week Heidi went on television to highlight Britain’s discriminatory policies against people with Down’s Syndrome. Continue reading →

Either I’m in the midst of a full-blown midlife crisis, or I am proof that propaganda does work, for how else to explain what’s been happening to me lately? As I wrote a few weeks ago, I thought I’d given up on self-improvement and made peace with my failings, but alas, it seems I am growing a conscience at the tender age of 47 and ¾. Continue reading →

I loved learning as a child (and still do), and I was generally a studious child. Even so, much of what my history teachers taught me, have long since disappeared into a cloud of fog. I’ve all but forgotten the names of the kings and queens I had to memorise, not to mention the myriad of dates of important historical events. Ask me today what I learned about Mesopotamia, or ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, etc., and I’ll shake my head in embarrassment. It’s all a blur. Continue reading →