Who Mourns for Maduro? The US attack on Venezuela

There are two words that come to mind when thinking about yesterday's events. "Outrageous" and "farce".

Firstly, this is a clear and brazen violation of international law. Venezuela poses no threat to the United States - it is not even a major source of narcotics for that country, with fentanyl largely coming from other places. Donald Trump's new doctrine of foreign policy twists the Monroe Doctrine, which was in its original form meant to be about protecting the independence of the countries that had just ejected the Spanish. Not about asserting US dominance in the Western hemisphere. It's abundantly clear that this is about getting hold of the oil.

Not that Maduro is exactly an innocent here. He was a dictator who rigged elections and jailed dissidents. He's run his country's economy into the ground and forced much of his population to flee. The narcotics stuff - well Biden didn't cancel the arrest warrant, did he? The fact that Maduro was like that has meant that all we'll be getting, even from China, is "thoughts and prayers". Well, just thoughts from China, which is officially atheist even as it is heading for the largest Christian population in Asia.

Second, the United States controls precisely zero territory on the country. They don't even have a functioning embassy in the country, with relations run from Bogota. Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez is in charge and she doesn't exactly seem willing to cooperate. If the United States wants to control the country, bar a coup, it is going to need ground troops. Quite a lot of them, possibly. Especially if an insurgency starts.

Does Trump really want hundreds of US troops coming home in coffins, like what partly did for George W. Bush's presidency?

"Short, victorious wars" rarely are.

Landing stuck. Mostly. (Review: 'Stranger Things 5')

 They came. They saw. They conquered...

(Spoilers galore below) 

Christmas 2025

About to head over to a Christmas Eve service at my church - possibly the only service that I'll be doing this year as I've had a whole bunch of other stuff that's stopped me going on the other days this month.

It's not exactly been a great year, especially for those living in the United States and the Middle East, with the return of one Donald Trump to the White House.

Jesus himself knew all about a hard life. He was born to an unwed mother (I can imagine that Nazareth would have full of gossip once Mary started showing) and became a refugee shortly afterwards. Assuming that he worked as a carpenter like his earthly father did until he started his ministry at 30, he'd have been faced with all the uncertainties of the building trade, not to mention a lot of toil in a world before power tools in a Mediterranean climate. He experienced all the hardships of life on Earth - and then death at the cross after a perversion of justice. But then he overcame that and is now preparing heaven for those who follow him - which will be easy in some ways and less so in others.

God knows of our sufferings and is there to help us. It might not be obvious how he does so, it might not be straight away, but help is coming and all will be set right at some point.

I wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Not the Burning Man you normally attend (Review: 'Fringe' 1.19, "The Road Not Taken")

So, two episodes left of Season 1. I have used some of a work Amazon gift card to purchase Season 2 on Prime, because I can download the episodes and don't have to sit through the ads. Also ITVX has a nasty habit of losing your place in the episode.

Anyway, let's head back to Boston in 2009 and this show actually has some bangs.

Up to Eleven, or Some Comments on 'Stranger Things 5', Volume 1

I was planning to watch one episode of this a day, skipping Friday when I was in the office, finishing this on Monday. So, yeah... that didn't happen. I got this done on Saturday morning and managed to avoid any major spoilers. Well, except one.

I plan to do a fuller review once the final part has dropped on New Year's Day.

So anyway, here are eleven comments on Volume 1. Spoilers naturally.

62 Years of Doctor Who

Or my annual post on the state of the show.

Frankly, it's not a great one. I stopped reviewing the most recent season due to lack of time, but what early promise it had pretty much evaporated by the time the final episode aired - which I watched in the cinema. Also, being funded by Disney didn't improve security about plotlines.

Disney never really cared for the show - they seem to have largely washed their hands of the deal (made under their previous CEO) even before the news that they were not paying for anything else after The War Between the Land and the Sea, which will air next month, then promptly be forgotten about by most people. The BBC haven't really rolled out the marketing on that one either.

The claims that the show has gone "woke" have very little merit. What has occurred is a decline in quality and quantity. When you're down to eight episodes and a Christmas special a year, then there is far less room for clunkers. While there weren't really any of those, nothing was truly excellent, with the exception of "The Well". Some of it got rather silly. There is little in the latest run that I would go back to rewatch unless I had no other choice..

The ratings have been pretty poor - worse than 1989. The show now longer attracts any major media interest and I would not be surprised if Stranger Things beats it handily in audience figures now that Netflix is appearing in the Top 10.

The show is now a BBC-only production, reliant on the licence fee and whatever sales it can get. It is going to be operating with a considerably reduced budget. It is telling that Russell T Davies is only stated to be writing the Christmas 2026 special and no mention of the showrunner is made. I suspect we'll be getting someone new.

As for the 16th Doctor. Will it be Billie Piper or someone else? I don't know. To be honest, the show needs a regeneration in more ways than one.

Ukraine and the "peace plan"

It looks like Ukraine is facing a very bad choice in the next week or two. Either accepting a humiliating peace deal or face the loss of US support at a time where it can ill-afford such loss.

It is clear to me that Ukraine is nowhere near being able to expel Russian forces from its territory. It can throw as many Flamingo missiles at oil refineries as it likes, but that is not going to make Russia collapse. A concerted campaign of sanctions and economic isolation would be more likely to do so, but like a game of Jenga, you cannot predict with certainty when the tower is going to collapse.

Accepting the deal would likely just be an armistice for a few years until Russia can reconstitute then attack again on some dubious pretext. But continuing to fight risks a Ukrainian collapse.

Europe is not going to commit actual ground troops to liberate Ukraine. It is too reliant on Russian gas.

There is a danger of pride overcoming common sense - but it might not be common sense. I wouldn't like to make this decision anymore than Zelenskyy.

Let's hope he makes the right one.