Opinions Archives - Dave Clements

Coming to terms with Trump

Preface: I’m keenly aware that as someone who has no voting rights in the USA, my words carry little weight, however, I’m also raising children (most notably, a daughter) in this environment, so I’m exercising my voice on behalf of my children who will one day have the ability to shape the world in which they live.

I’ve very much come to terms with the fact that Trump will be the next President. It’s done and I accept that.

What is much harder to come to terms with is the fact that people think this town jester who:

mocks the disabled,
lusts after and assaults women like an immature and dangerous college student,
considers “religion” to be an appropriate factor in determining one’s suitability for entering the country,
perpetuated the longstanding lie that Obama was born in Kenya
adjusts his limp backbone based on the response he gets from the people,
claims business acumen when his wealth would be double what it is today if he’d have retired in 1982 and invested in the S&P500,
derides people based on their looks despite looking like an orange-tinted, wig-adorned, plump corpse himself,
etc., etc. ad nauseam

is someone that a (near) majority of the people consider to be fit to serve in the highest office in the USA. It’s an absolute mockery. Continue reading “Coming to terms with Trump”

“Donald Trump didn’t come out of nowhere”

Donald Trump is the product of years of political stunts, extremism and a wide variety of differing right-wing political stances that have caused big chasms in the Republican party.

I typically try to stay out of political discussions, mostly because the opportunity for meaningful, thought-provoking and intelligent discussion has all but evaporated these days and because as a British citizen, I am little more than a bystander in American politics.

On a broader note, I saw this video this morning of a speech that President Obama made, where he criticised the GOP for creating an environment in which Donald Trump could succeed, abandoning him at the eleventh hour because openly bragging about sexual assault is apparently one step too far, and then trying to benefit politically from ditching him.

He brings to light the fact that the GOP has promoted, fostered and cultivated such extreme and disparate positions that there is simply no unity in the party anymore. Donald Trump is the prime example of this, saying what his brain tells him to and then recanting, flip-flopping and swerving in response to popular consensus, rather than stating his honest views and sticking by them. Continue reading ““Donald Trump didn’t come out of nowhere””

Fleeting thoughts on Brexit result

Yesterday, the UK held a referendum on its EU membership in which the electorate decided it should leave the European Union. I personally think it was a mistake fuelled by anti-immigrant sentiment and its inherent fear, especially among older people. I hope the UK comes back stronger in the end, but it’s going to be an uphill battle, especially for the first many years.

Yesterday, the UK held an historic referendum in which it decided whether to remain in the European Union which it joined in 1973 or leave it altogether (Brexit).

Early this morning despite a tight race, the result was declared in favour of leaving the EU. I was very much in favour of remaining in the EU. I’m not very good at coherently collecting my thoughts into a single unified article, so here’s some thoughts I have on the whole matter: Continue reading “Fleeting thoughts on Brexit result”

Orlando

The recent atrocity in Orlando is just another event by which to reflect on how awful guns have been for America and yet, we continue to make their ownership commonplace and cultural. Don’t bother with your thoughts and prayers: try acting for a change.

Obviously the events of Saturday night were horrific and devastating.

But what do we do with all of that? We might be quick to offer “thoughts and prayers” to those involved, or to comment on how tragic, scary and senseless it all is.

However in a week, America will get bored of hearing about it and our drive to do something about it will have all but vanished.

I think people resort to offering “thoughts and prayers” out of a numbness and an acceptance that “this is just what happens here. It’s bound to happen and there’s no way to solve it.” Continue reading “Orlando”

When did the news stop becoming the news?

I’d argue that most of what is called “news” these days is anything but. In fact, we could easily do away with 95% of the news and still have too much information. The American media is at the forefront of this trend and is making a mockery of the profession of journalism in the process.

A couple of years ago, the building that I work in installed televisions at the elevator landings. I’ve no idea why, but I guess they figure that people want to be constantly bombarded with news and media and the 15 seconds that we spend waiting for the lift is a perfect opportunity to cram in some utterly important information.

I never watch or consume American news. I very quickly grew tired of the talking heads, strongly biased views, selective withholding of stories and hype that became so overwhelming. Instead, both because I consider them to be (far) more neutral, reasonable and factual, and because I had an interest in continuing to follow British news after moving to the States, I rely heavily on the BBC for my news.

The thing that irks me the most about American news is that it’s just not news. To me, news is a factual, neutral reporting of events that are of importance to society. What most of us now know as news has devolved into highly-pointed delivery of largely irrelevant stories which have been spun into hyper-dramatic segments that don’t particularly focus on what happened and what its implications are, but rather create situations, possibilities, hypotheticals and outright lies that draw in the drama-hungry American audience. Continue reading “When did the news stop becoming the news?”

Comparing films to their respective book

Films and books are entirely different artistic media that produce very different results. So let’s stop comparing them when a book births a film.

Creating films from books is nothing new. Since the dawn of cinema, screenwriters have taken the success of literature and used that to create cinematic masterpieces. One of the earliest films I can think of – Gone With The Wind (1939) – was adapted from a book that was published 3 years prior.

However, films are not books. They are materially different media and to make a point of comparing a film to its literary genesis is pointless. If you’re a fan of literature – creating characters in your mind and taking artistic license to join the dots in the story – then by all means continue to do so, but to expect the same experience from a film is foolish. Continue reading “Comparing films to their respective book”

Do you mind?

“Do you mind?” is a phrase that should be removed from everyday usage I’ve decided. It’s because the response to the question and the resulting action do not match which almost always requires clarification.

Do you mind picking up some milk from the shop?

Yes.

So you’ll get it?

No, I have other things to do.

Can we just agree that it’s ambiguous and there’s always a better way to ask the question?

Can you pick up some milk from the shop?

No.

OK, I’ll get it myself.

Much better.

Greece: pay your debts

Is anyone else sick of Greece, Greeks and their attitude right now?

After years of overspending, cooking the books and tax evasion, Greece’s party is coming to an end. Trouble is, they got rather accustomed to the party lifestyle and paying for it all on a credit card.

Now, it’s all caught up with them and the monthly credit card statement has arrived, only to their shock, instead owing a few grand, they owe in excess of €300B.

Like the rest of us who have overindulged at one point in our life, it’s time to figure out how to pay off the credit card. Continue reading “Greece: pay your debts”

The irony of “love wins”

I love that the gay community used “Love wins” to celebrate their victory in the SCOTUS, doubly demonstrating the hypocrisy of many Christians of today.

I kind of love how the gay community took to using the term “Love wins” to celebrate their victory in the Supreme Court a couple of weeks ago allowing them to marry in the United States in the same way that heterosexual couples can get married.

The gay community was using the term to express that the act, existence and expression has won out as a result of the decision and that millions of people can now love equally in the eyes of the United States government.

For a long time, “love wins” has been used by Christians to indicate how the teachings of Jesus (of love, not hate) reign supreme and should govern their actions. In fact, if you’ll notice, it’s part of my tagline on this very website. I believe that Christians ought to be known by their acts of love, rather than their bible bashing, vindication or bullhorn ministry. Continue reading “The irony of “love wins””

Replacements for swear words

If people want to swear, I wish they’d just come out and say it instead of all these petty replacements: we know what you’re trying to say, so just come out and say it!

Gosh darn it. What the heck is going on in this effing place?

One of my pet peeves is people who use friendly replacements for swear words. As in replacing “God damn it” with “gosh darn it”.

The reason it bothers me so is that it’s a religious response intended to make these swear words more acceptable. However, the fact is, everyone knows that when you say “what the heck”, you really mean “what the hell”, so you just look like a hypocrite by trying to create a phrase equivalent to the original without actually saying it, thus alleviating you from the repercussions of saying it.

What a fucking joke. Stop being such a pussy and say what you mean. Stop giving a damn about what people will think of you and if the original phrase isn’t appropriate for the audience in front of you (e.g. kids or church) then perhaps you should reconsider whether your replacement phrase is appropriate as well, because we all know what you want to say, so just spit it out.