WAS HENRI PAUL DRUNK? Monday, Jul 30 2007

The Diana conspiracies are in the news again – this time concerning whether Lord Stevens has added to the problems. The ex-Met Commissioner chaired the recent inquiry into Diana’s death.
The inquiry concluded that driver Henri Paul was drunk, yet it is claimed that he told Mr Paul’s parents that he was not. Lord Stevens may well find himself as a witness at the Diana Inquest himself.
So who is right, who is wrong? Perhaps the answer can be found in the very nature of officialdom once conspiracy theories have arisen. The pressure to get it right is enormous, and equally the attempts to confuse the issue rise, usually taken out of all proportion by a media that repeatedly stirs the pot.
I don’t know who is right in this latest glitch in the Diana story, and I can guarantee you we never will – not for certain. For that is the essence of conspiracy theory – to continually turn black and white into grey.
As I’ve said before, it will be a long, long time before Diana can rest.

© Anthony North, July 2007

Have you clicked Diary of a Writer on Blogroll? Meet me, up close and personal.
Click Tony On, on Blogroll, for my current affairs blog.
If you like fiction, click Fiction Page on Blogroll for my short stories.

Leave a Response »

 

CHILDREN OF THE WORLD? Saturday, Jul 28 2007

A new study has advised that children in the UK will sit in front of a TV or computer screen for 7 hours a day when not at school. Dairy Farmers of Britain carried out the survey to show how our young are becoming disconnected from ‘outdoors.’
There are many reasons for this, other than technology. ‘Outside’ is now viewed as far more dangerous than it really is by parents and authorities. After all, killers stalk ‘out there’, and heaven forbid the poor mite may have an accident.

Socialisation

We are all to blame for this state of affairs, so it is no good just blaming the child. Yes, of course they will be happy with this slothful life. However, there is a greater danger to all this that is usually ignored.
A child grows up to be a sociable adult through close contact with his peers and society. This important educational process is now being eroded, leaving children with a new means of contact.

Hi-tech

Through hi-tech, the new friends are often distant, and full socialization does not take place. A friend is a brief image on a screen, a few words in text. Can full socialization be taught in such a way?
And yet another problem is that friends are no longer local but global. In one way this is good, the child having access throughout the planet. But is it possible to truly understand yourself if no sense of your place enters your world?

© Anthony North, July 2007

Have you clicked Diary of a Writer on Blogroll? Meet me, up close and personal.
Click Tony On, on Blogroll, for my current affairs blog.
If you like fiction, click Fiction Page on Blogroll for my short stories.

Leave a Response »

 

THE MYTHICAL AIRCRAFT CARRIERS Wednesday, Jul 25 2007

The building of two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers is about to be announced – perhaps. These super-duper ships were first authorized ten years ago, and should have been in service by 2015.
Sorry, that’s not true. THREE carriers were authorised, so that the UK would still have a fleet even with one in for refit. It was cut to two by saying they should be as simple as possible so that refit would be quick.
The carriers were supposed to be British, fly British planes, and be simple. Then the wrangling began … and the stalling. As I now understand it, they will be a French design with American aircraft … and very, very hi-tech.
It might be American aircraft, for the last I heard is that the planes being designed are too heavy for the carrier. The carriers may even be built … but don’t expect them for a couple of decades.
What is the moral of this story? What the military want, they never get – and they get what they don’t want far later than they wanted what they didn’t want. And why? Because it’s all about the defence INDUSTRY and profit. Military needs come a second best.

© Anthony North, July 2007

Have you clicked Diary of a Writer on Blogroll? Meet me, up close and personal.
Click Tony On, on Blogroll, for my current affairs blog.
If you like fiction, click Fiction Page on Blogroll for my short stories.

Leave a Response »

 

KNOW YOUR HISTORY Sunday, Jul 22 2007

Ofsted have advised that the study of history in UK schools is shunned. Up to 70% of pupils drop the subject before GCSE. Further, it is a trend that has been gathering steam for some time.
Hence, the previous generation also shunned history, resulting in a new generation of teachers who discarded the subject before age 14. As such, even those kids who are interested in history can have teachers without the ability to teach it.

Britain’s Past

Why have we got to this state of affairs? Why is history seen as such as bore? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that we’re told we should be a forward-looking country, rather than wallowing in the past.
As to that past, political correctness has labeled it as the world of arrogant, nasty Brits stomping all over the world, creating empires and oppression. This may be right, to a point, but if the UK was that bad, why do most of the former colonies volunteer to be in the Commonwealth?

The reality is …

Yes, much nastiness occurred in the past, and it applies to more countries than the UK. But rarely is it pointed out that Britain is also responsible for modern democracy, the presumption of innocence, capitalism, and most of the other benefits the modern world enjoys.
History is perhaps shunned most of all because of the hatred of the British past by a liberal elite who think that all good stems from them. This is incorrect. Why, even legalization of homosexuality and equal rights for women came before ‘political correctness’ was invented.

© Anthony North, July 2007

Have you clicked Diary of a Writer on Blogroll? Meet me, up close and personal.
Click Tony On, on Blogroll, for my current affairs blog.

5 Responses »

 

TALKING OUT PROBLEMS IS DEPRESSING Sunday, Jul 22 2007

Well that’s one in the eye for the touchy-feely, ‘talk-about-your-problems’ culture. Dr Rose, a researcher from the University of Missouri-Columbia has advised that teenage girls who talk about their problems too much are more prone to depression.
Her six month study involving 800 girls and boys (it doesn’t seem to affect boys) should place a touch of common sense on the subject. For it is obvious that if a culture says discussing problems is good, the young will talk away forever.
And it is also just as obvious that dwelling on a problem is a guarantee that you simply never get it out of your head. Further, if you form a friendship based on the discussion of problems, then continuing to talk is the only way to guarantee the relationship goes on.
Of course, I’m not saying that ‘problems’ should not be discussed. Totally ignoring a problem can lead to repression, and unconscious influence upon your actions that can be counter-productive.
But the secret of a healthy mind is to find a balance between letting your emotions flow, and moderating them. Unfortunately, the psycho-babble culture does not place this restraint, resulting in a generation that is becoming increasingly depressed.
At least, it keeps the therapists busy, I suppose.

© Anthony North, July 2007

Click Tony On for more current affairs

Leave a Response »

 

THE WEDDING DAY Sunday, Jul 22 2007

History May looked a picture of beauty as she walked down the aisle. Her short blonde hair was obscured by the veil taking away a big part of her person, but she didn’t really care about that. At the altar stood her man, and she was going to be happy ever after …
At least, that is what is supposed to happen. That is what she decided to do this day. Put her life on a different track. But with every step she took down the aisle, she left behind a little puddle of certainty. And when all certainty has gone, all that is left is the uncertain.
Bloke, her trans-sexual friend, had laid it all out before her. ‘You’re not the marrying type,’ she had said.
‘I may be, History had replied.
‘But you use men,’ said Bloke.
‘I may change my mind,’ said History.
‘Well by the time you get to the altar, you’ll have changed it again.’
And the last step and she was there. To her front, the vicar. To her left, her mother, who was reluctantly giving her away. And to her right, the groom and best man – and it took her long enough to decide which one to marry in the first place.
It was at that point that History decided she could not go through with this. And at the same time, she decided she didn’t have to. After all, someone would burst into the church and save her. Take her away. Run off with her. Like in the film.
The vicar spoke. The congregation sang. The vicar spoke again. The ceremony was on. And history turned to look at the door.
Faces flashed through her mind – of men she knew didn’t want her to marry. Faces of men who WERE men; who would stand up for what’s right. Who would save her. And she turned to look at the door again.
Bloke came into her mind then: ‘I was a man, once. And it doesn’t happen like in the films.’
History May was just about to decide men were failures and she’d have to run herself when the door burst open and a voice said: ‘Don’t do it. I won’t let you.’
‘I’ll kill the cow,’ said History, as the groom turned tail and ran.

© Anthony North, March 2006

Find more short stories on Fiction Page. See Blogroll.

Leave a Response »

 

SEND IN THE CLONES Thursday, Jul 19 2007

Professor Keith Campbell, creator of Dolly the cloned sheep, has said that farmers should take up cloning as a source of cheap food. The US is already taking steps in this direction.
People who want cloned food production are immediately going on the attack by saying the food produced will be identical to what we eat now, so we have absolutely nothing to worry about.
I beg your pardon? Will the food be the same?
Absolutely! No difference at all. However, by immediately putting our attention on this point, they cleverly side step the real issue, which is this.
One of the greatest dangers facing mankind today is the way industry is reducing diversity. Nature and evolution require diversity to thrive, allowing all possible alternatives and directions to explore.
Without this simple rule, we would not be here. But now, it is being proposed to clone our meat products. One standard cow. One standard pig. One standard sheep.
Yes, it would work well, producing cheap food – until it met the one standard killer germ. Then there’d be no food at all.
If you don’t believe me, ask the Irish about the potato.

© Anthony North, July 2007

Click Tony On for more current affairs
Environment Page

Leave a Response »

 

ONLY CATHOLIC IS THE TRUE CHURCH? Thursday, Jul 19 2007

The pope has recently said that only the Catholic Church is a true church, with other denominations having no value in holy orders. He may have a point in one respect. The slightest hint of a slur about Islam and the world was up in arms. But hardly a whimper about this ‘slur’ on Protestantism.
Seems to me that if you cannot defend your faith, it can’t be that strong, can it? And no, I don’t mean defend through threat or violence. But I didn’t hear a single major defence in terms of debate. Or maybe the media didn’t think it worthwhile reporting it.
I actually suspect the latter. Which basically adds up to the same thing. If the cultural media in which a Church exists cannot place a slur on that Church top of the agenda, does the Church have validity? After all, no belief = no Church.
But the pope misunderstands what much of Protestantism is about. Initially devised as a local answer to a universal, or Catholic, Church, Protestantism allied itself directly to the culture of its parishioners. Hence, as the culture changed, so did the Church.
Catholicism, on the other hand, is independent of local culture. It is a concept above government or any other Earthly authority. Hence, as culture changes, the Church can remain the same. There are good and bad points about this, but the reality is, in this sense, it is a Church like no other.

© Anthony North, July 2007

Click Tony On for more current affairs
Religion Page

One Response »

 

TESCO COPS Monday, Jul 16 2007

Police shut 14 Tesco stores. They soon re-opened, and we’re told it had nothing to do with extremism, but the Police are keeping their mouths firmly shut regarding what it was all about.
Hints have, of course, leaked. The most likely explanation is a loner criminal attempting to blackmail the stores. This kind of thing has happened before, but this time there is something worrying about it all.
This worrying aspect is the fact that the Police are refusing to say what it is all about. Sometimes this is necessary, such as if someone has been kidnapped. But the vital thing in such cases is that we don’t know a crime is on-going until it is over.
We plainly DO know, this time, that something is going on. And I don’t think I’m alone in thinking there is no sensible reason why the Police are not giving us more information. Which leads me to the conclusion that they’re treating the British public with contempt.

© Anthony North, July 2007

Click Tony On for more current affairs
Crime Page

Leave a Response »

 

ANTI-BBC Monday, Jul 16 2007

The recent controversy over the trailer for the up-coming documentary on the Queen lays bare the reality of the BBC. In incorrectly insinuating that she had walked out of a photo-shoot, their hatred of what Britain stands for is laid bare.
The Anti-British Broadcasting Corporation needs to take a close look at itself, and the ideological commissars that have spread like an infection through it. Expressing the spleen of the rabid anti-British liberal, it is doubtful they still deserve the word ‘British’ in their name.
With a hatred of tradition from family to Royalty, they are decimating the culture of a country that already had, at its heart, a tradition of compromise and fair play. Perhaps this is what it is all about.
After all, why do we need a new liberal credo if it already existed?

© Anthony North, July 2007

Click Tony On for more current affairs

One Response »