Author: Xanthe Hall

  • On Worms and Firewalls

    In a previous post, I made fun of the latest news about alleged alien intervention, cyberwar and men who stare at goats. But behind the mockery, there is an emerging problem that we need to address: The technological “fix”. The tendency to search for technological solutions to what are often ethical or even moral questions…

  • capricorn

    capricorn

    20×20 cm, canvas, acrylics

  • sagittarius

    sagittarius

    20 x 20 cm, acrylic on canvas

  • Aliens, Cyberwar and other curiosities

    At last I feel mitigated in my avid viewing of „The Next Generation“ and „Doctor Who“, for it seems that I am psychologically equipped for the reports of aliens tampering with the nuclear deterrent. I am not in the least phased by this, in fact I welcome our green friends to join “Global Zero” along…

  • The Bigger Picture

    Yesterday I did a press conference on behalf of the Congress organisers on the subject of nuclear disarmament. Christian Schönenberger from the Swiss Foreign Office joined us, as did Rebecca Johnson, Vice-Chair of ICAN. Christian Schönenberger referred not only to the excellent speech by Micheline Calmy-Rey, the Swiss Foreign Minister in the plenary that morning,…

  • 5-Minuten-Vorlesung zur Atomwaffenkonvention

  • Cutting the Gordian Knot

    “Turn him to any cause of policy, The Gordian Knot of it he will unloose, Familiar as his garter” (Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 1 Scene 1. 45–47) Before you all physically or mentally traipse off to New York – volcanic ash allowing – I’d like to say something. Nuclear weapons do have a purpose. What…

  • Reality kicks in

    13. Day Forty-two You haven’t heard from me for a while, not since day twenty-seven and today is already day forty-two of this Lyme Diary. I’ve been concentrating very hard on two things: planning for next year and what I want to do when I’m healthy again (that’s real proactive positive thinking, or what we…

  • Learning to Fly

    12. Day Twenty-seven The observant among you might notice that the numbering of these posts has changed. This is because I changed them. All of them. Day One is the day I started writing about my illness in order to externalise it, as part of the healing process (along with all the pills, dietary changes…

  • Walls Come Tumbling Down

    11. Day Twenty-one I didn’t write the blog yesterday because I was just too busy having a life. The 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Wall was something to behold, Berlin style. Big pompous show at Brandenburg Gate with Thomas Gottschalk and a spectacular domino event plus fireworks, while the more hands-on activist types…