Ciaran’s Omnipurpose Blog

Last Friday, I rocked up to York University to go to the 46th Annual Samaritans Conference and hooked up with my friends from my branch, who were already up there.

We spent the rest of the weekend at plenaries and seminars, which were often thought-provoking and informative. It was also very nice to meet lots (about 1,100!) of other volunteers from all over the place and get a new perspective on a couple of things. The food, accomodation and booze were all very nice too!

We were sponsored by a tea company and ended up carrying almost 1,000 tea bags home with us. Unfortunately, our train home was cancelled and we lost our seats meaning we had to stand from York to London, although we made camp on the floor with some good cheer, occasioned by the presence of some very nice cakes from the Betty’s Tea Shop in York.

Click here for photos.

Aren’t these things endangered?

I was taking a stroll through Borough Market with my friend, Mobin, and we came across this Porbeagle Shark. Apparently, it makes good eating and is a good challenge to a sports fisherman, but I couldn’t help feeling sad that such a beautiful creature is now sitting in central London covered with flies.

Poetically enough, a lovely butterfly made its home on the greenery next to the shark.

In publishing this post, I'm going to do a few things:

1. Add to the mountain of "news" around the Islam issue in this country.
2. Air some half-baked ideas I've got.
3. Open myself up for possible abuse and threats.
4. Hopefully learn from my readers through their comments on my thoughts.

  I don't really understand where the government is going with its efforts to engage the "Islamic Community". I don't even think there is an "Islamic Community"; maybe there are "Islamic communities". It seems the government is talking to people who are mainstream, who are not involved in the terrorist atrocities and near-misses we've seen in this country. What's the point in that? Didn't we make the same mistake by not talking to Gerry Adams in the first place, instead putting it off for decades? And on the other hand, I see some logic in what they're doing. Maybe they're trying to dry up the water around the terrorist fish. Maybe if the mainstream community could be persuaded to seek out and reject the terrorists in their midst, we'd have less of a problem. As it stands, though, I don't see (perhaps the media isn't telling me) Muslim leaders condemning their fellows for effigy-burning, bombing and incitement to violence. I do see the government funding projects that separate people, including separate faith schools, which I think is a terribly backward step. What got my back this time was reading about the heckling John Reid got. I'm all for politicians getting heckled, but here's what was said to him by Abu Izzadeen:

"How dare you come to a Muslim area when over 1,000 Muslims have been arrested?"

John Reid was later interrupted during a question and answer session by Anjem Choudary to tell the home secretary that Muslims did not need British values:

"We believe Islam is superior, we believe Islam will be implemented one day. It is very rich for you to come here and say we need to monitor our children when your government is murdering people in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Later on, one of the above explained is actions saying that he would not dicsuss these matters with a non-muslim. So it seems that these opinions assert:

1. That there are areas in Britain where only Muslims should be allowed to go.
2. That the number of muslims arrested has any bearing on the issue of whether people should blow themselves up and take others with them.
3. That Islam is superior and that a move to overturn the liberal democracy we have in the UK is to be applauded.
4. That British foreign policy absolves Muslim parents of any responsibility for their childrens' upbringing.
5. That if you're not a Muslim, your opinion is worthless to a Muslim.

We're told that this is a minority view, Of course. We're told that these chaps don't represent mainstream Muslim opinion. So:

1. Why isn't more being done or being seen to be done by the mainstream Muslims who want to live by our laws and by our cultural norms?
2. Why does the media give people like Abu Izzadeen the spotlight and not the two women he told to "be quiet"after they tried to encourage dialogue?
3. I know there are people out there who want to make this country an Islamic theocracy, but is all the attention they're getting all some sort of media conspiracy?

I don't really see what the problem was with John Reid's speech on its own, other than it stated the bleeding obvious. What he seems to have been asking for was that parents should raise their children to be tolerant and to resist those who would call on them to become terrorists. The simple reaction should have been, "Yes. That's how we bring up our children." The other point that he was making was that if you see a crime being committed or if you see someone premeditating a crime, you have an obligation to report this to the police. The simple reaction should have been, "Yes. That's morally right and it is the law of this country. We agree." The summary of the responses from the crowd in front of John Reid should have been: "And your point is?"

Today be talk like a pirate day! Shiver me timbers and Yo-ho-ho!

If yer be wantin’ t’ talk like a pirate, but need a helpin’ hand, try this translator. Gar.

Aye, and if you want t’ know more about Talk Like a Pirate Day, try this site, gar!

On Friday, we heard the news that Lucy Braham, the daughter of a Harrow schoolteacher had been murdered. We have a few friends who teach at the school and we live about half a mile from the house in which Lucy died. 

The atmosphere on the Hill has been sombre. The news really does appear to have affected people here quite deeply. It is also very strange to see police in the streets on the Hill as the area is pretty crime-free.

We’re both really upset about this tragic and senseless death. Our thoughts are with both families and their friends and colleagues.

I’m working at a client site in Borough High Street and saw this as I was heading home. The chap is one of the hundreds of people paid to hand out free copies of The London Paper (owned by the same people who publish the Times and the Sun). Nothing wrong with that, except look where he’s standing: right in front of a newspaper shop.

As it happens, I was planning to buy the Standard this evening anyway, so I ended up with two newspapers that day. Imagine if you owned that shop. I’d be complaining to News Corp pronto!

Call me soft if you like, but I love cats. This is despite being allergic to them even after trying accupuncture to cure the allergy.

I saw this cat sitting on this street corner this morning as if he owned the place and watching the humans foolishly scramble to and fro in their wage slavery. I’ve not seen him about before. Perhaps he as just declared his fiefdom here…

This is a very old clip but relevant this week, given the struggles our civilisation is facing. This sort of thing happens every single day on TV and radio. Wouldn’t we all be a lot better off if politicians actually answered our questions? Aren’t they our public servants?

So today is September 11th. Five years ago today, thousands of people lost their lives in the largest terrorist atrocity in history. Almost three thousand human beings died at the hand of a backward theological fascism.

I remember how my workplace dropped what it was doing and how everyone was transfixed by what was happening on the TV screens. I remember every single major news website shutting down due to overload. I remember sitting with Rebecca in her flat in Queens Park whilst we watched the news all night.

I remember how much we cried.

I remember thinking how sick and twisted and evil the people who had done this were and that nobody deserved this.

I’ve been brought up to have a lot of gratitude for what the USA has done for the world. The energy, inventiveness and resourcefulness of the USA is incredible. We must never forget how much we owe them after we were bailed out in WW1 and WW2 and the Cold War. I still look to the USA as a place I’d love to live in someday and I think that the spread of democracy throughout the world should be encouraged. I think the United States is in general a positive force in the world.

I’m also not above being selfish. I’m aware that many of the benefits I enjoy by living in the Western World are due, in part, to the environment that exists and is supported by the USA. I’m talking about our world trade system. I’m talking about the uneven distribution of wealth in the world. This is a result of the corporate interests that drive America. I’m not proud of it, but I’m glad to be here and living a life of relative plenty and security.

But please don’t think I consider the USA to be purely altruistic. The USA has put itself in a position (as befits the dominant world power) whereby it feels obligated to protect and support its interests around the world. As the world economy has become more integrated, but certainly traceable from the days of the Monroe Doctrine, the USA has proven to be more active in areas that one might consider aren’t in its “Back Yard”. The USA is also inconsistent in spreading its values across the globe if it suits.

To many, the USA has been meddlesome. To some, it is the embodiment of evil.

So I struggle with the dilemma of looking up the the USA and being grateful to it on the one hand with a revulsion for the exploitation and meddling I am associated with by existing in the system that the USA dominates.

I would love to see a world where resources are shared more fairly, even though I struggle with the thought of having to give up my luxurious lifestyle.

I do remember thinking at the time that the USA had an unprecedented opportunity to say, “OK. People have given up their lives in a very spectacular and desperate way to hurt us. Let’s reflect on what we can do to make the world a better place through non-coercive means. Let’s use the unity this atrocity has brough to make a Marshall Plan for the world and work together to elminate the causes of this evil.”

Unfortunately, that vision did not bear fruit. Perhaps it was unworkable or utopian. I almost wish we had tried.

What I do know, from the Cost of War site, is that the war in Iraq has cost over $313,848,570,000 to date. That’s right - Three Hundred and Thirteen BILLION DOLLARS!. With that money, we could have provided for the health 0f almost 190,000,000 children or built 2,500,000 houses.

All that, for a war that had nothing to do with 9/11.

I also see that in the USA and across the world our freedoms are being eroded by anti-terror legislation. We’re starting to do the job for the terrorists by cutting our own throats.

My thoughts today are with those who tragically lost people that day and for those who have lost people in the War on Terror and related conflicts.

And whilst I love the ideals of America I cling to the hope that they will awaken once more, with an America under the leadership of Statesmen, not politicians. People who think of the long-term interests of their country and the world, not the narrow interests of their patron corporations in timescales of election cycles.

As one of the the Founding Fathers, Thomas Paine, once said, “My country is the World. My Religion is to do good.”

I eagerly await the return of that spirit. The world needs it right now.

My dear friend Nick, who’s stag we celebrated in August (See previous post) got married on Saturday to Jenny in Birmingham Cathedral.

I was supposed to be an usher at the wedding, but came to within a gnat’s crotchet of being too late. The M6 was closed. Not only that, but we got lost getting to the hotel to drop off the car. Tom at the Holiday Inn in Birmingham was a lifesaver! He stayed on the phone for 20 minutes and guided us in.

Thankfully the Cathedral wasn’t far, so with a four weddings and a funeral level of cursing as we pulled on our best outfits, we ran out of the door to the Cathedral. In the nick of time, I was given my buttonhole and started to usher people in.

Midway through the service, a couple of American tourists wandered in. I got up, greeted them and invited them to sit if they wanted. They sat and watched through the service.

The choir was fantastic. It lifted the roof in fact. This was in no small part due to the fact that Nick himself is a chorister and this choir was his own!

It was also good to go to a service where the vicar actually had something relevant to say about the person(s) involved. I remember some time ago going to a funeral where is was painfully obvious that the priest had no idea about the man he was burying. In this case, though, the vicar was a friend of Nick’s.

So after 45 minutes, with vows exchanged, Nick and Jenny were married!

The American tourists got up and asked the other Usher, Jim, what the name of the film was that we were making. They had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that they had sat through a real wedding.

Rebecca’s mum had warned us to get some food in before the wedding since it would be a long time before we’d eat. She was right, but we were too late arriving to get fuelled up. We were starving even before the photos. It must have been the stress of getting to Birmingham through all that traffic.

The photos themselves were taken in the Cathedral Square. The photogenic nature of the the occasion was marred somewhat by the fact that a load of goths had decided to wrestle amongst the gravestones. I’m a bit puzzled by what brought them out into the sunlight in the first place…

We managed to work up even more of an appetite by walking through the streets of Birmingham and across a large overpass to get to Lasan, the venue of the reception and “Curry Banquet”.

We were fortunate to be seated with some lovely people. In fact, everyone at the reception was lovely. Special mention goes to Nick’s Mum who was definitely one of the coolest people there. Music was provided by a three-piece jazz band and someone’s iPod later on when the innner lunatics were freed from their cages of sobriety.

So yet another one of us leaves the ranks of batchelordom. Who, if anyone, will be next??

Full gallery is here http://www.hanway.co.uk/wp-gallery2.php?g2_itemId=1827.