Author: PaLao

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Bloody Cartoons, Bloody Hypocrisy

The BBC program ‘Bloody Cartoons’ made interesting watching, not least for the double standards it exposed on both sides of the divide.

Some time ago the Danish newspaper, Jyllands Posten, carried some cartoons featuring a bearded person. To me he looked like Ali Baba’s father-in-law having a bad day. But bigots on both sides chose to assume that the character portrayed there was the Prophet Mohammed. Each side had its own agenda for such an interpretation.

The cartoons went unnoticed outside of Denmark until a Muslim cleric brought it to the notice of the Muslim world. About half a year later the manufactured ‘outrage over the insult’ resulted in widespread destruction of Danish and other western property in some Islamic countries.

None of the leaders, or any of their followers being exhorted to kill westerners, had even seen the cartoons. But that was irrelevant. The prejudices of one side were being matched by the ignorance of the other.

The presenter of the program interviewed a number of people on both sides including the Danish prime minister. Some of the Muslims interviewed were emphatic that insults to their religion, and especially blasphemy against the Prophet, would not be tolerated.

There was no mention of the blasphemy, intolerance and persecution that some Muslims practise against people of other faiths. There was no mention of the daily risks to life and limb, often institutionalised in many Islamic countries, for people belonging to other religions. There was no mention of the fact that some Muslims would willingly deny to other religions those rights that they demand for themselves. And there was no mention of the fact that in their adopted countries some of them seek to impose the very restrictions that they have fled from. They are oblivious to their distortions of Islam and the shame they bring upon their co-religionists.

On the other hand, the resolve to defend the freedom of speech sounded equally hypocritical.

The cartoonist and other people interviewed, mainly Danish and French, talked of the need to defend freedom of expression. But would such a claim stand up to scrutiny?

The western media has a long history of ignoring, glossing over or biased reporting on issues that are not part of their agenda. There have been instances galore in the western press where stories critical of Israel and her illegal occupation of Palestinian lands have been suppressed. In the United States, that so-called bastion of free speech, reporters, columnists and academics have seen their careers destroyed for daring to have a balanced view of the situation in the Middle East.

In the BBC program one of the Muslims interviewed tendentiously wondered why, if freedom of expression was so sacrosanct, did some countries have laws to prevent any questioning of the Holocaust? The line of reasoning was sick but correct.

The Danish premier who had earlier defended the right of freedom of expression suddenly lost his ardour for free speech when there was talk of boycotting Danish products in the Middle East. His principles, it turned out, weren’t in his heart or his head, but in his wallet.

Liberalism is very often a point of view we take when our vested interests are not at stake. Similarly, freedom of the press is often freedom for the owners and editors to publish what does not affect their profits.

So much cant about cartoons.

COMMENTS

Jan

June 15, 2011 at 9:10 pm

For the reading pleasure of all who visit this site:
Link from the Atlantic Magazine
http://www.theatlantic.com/…
enjoy….

Jansan52

Jan

June 15, 2011 at 9:13 pm

Or for that matter Christopher Hitchens’ “GOD is not GREAT”…

Jansan52

Jan

June 15, 2011 at 9:14 pm

“If your GOD is WEAK he (definitely a HE) needs all the help he can get….”
Monotheism amongst all the “isms” is the most dangerous and intolerant “ism”. Simply because the fight always starts with “my god is the ONLY true GOD”…and the rest of you are infidels, goyim or unbelievers.
I recommend all your esteemed readers to beg, borrow, steal or buy (last resort) Prof. Richard Dawkin’s last book “The God Delusion”.
And may YOUR god go with you…

Jansan

© Percy Aaron

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A one-sided view of Iran

Mahmud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, appears to be a thoroughly odious man, and it is a pity that he ‘won’ the election. But it’s fair to say that if there are more poor Iranians than rich ones, and that they were his electoral base, then he actually did win the elections. While it can be argued that not all the poor voted for him, it can also be said that not all the rich or middle-classes or westernized Iranians voted against him. Any alleged rigging only increased the margins.

So, no matter how unpleasant the victor is, he is still the winner.

The situation is somewhat similar to that which exists in Thailand; though the big difference is that in one of these countries the army is behind the incumbent.

The coverage in the international media has been so one-sided that it disregards this. Images on TV have been so manipulative focusing only on opposition supporters with little or no coverage of the other side.

Sadly, it will appear, the Iranians are in for a long period of turmoil which is neither good for them, or for the region.

The people of this troubled nation will continue to pay the price for the long history of outside meddling in their internal affairs. Another country cursed by its oil wealth.

(Published in the Bangkok Post, Monday 29 June 2009)

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My Birthday

(Note: This short story got me more rejection slips than all my other writing combined. One editor wrote me a personal note that he loved it but couldn’t understand how it could fit into his magazine’s fiction section. It also got me two job offers from national magazines. Years later, it was read by a psychotherapist, who asked me if it was really fiction. He asked permission to use it in a psychotherapy seminar at the University of Chicago.) 

Today is my twenty-fifth birthday. Being the silver jubilee of my existence on earth, I guess it ought to be a particularly significant day for me. But I feel that I’ve already lived twenty-five years too long.

I’m having a massive attack of depression, which in itself is not unusual, only this one is the most severe, ever. Have you ever experienced one? If not, you have no idea how fortunate you are. Believe me, it’s terrible. I don’t know about depression in others, but I suppose each one has his or her own experiences. And if they’re anything like the ones I get, you have my deepest sympathy. Felicity of language could never explain adequately, the intense misery.

It’s like you’re going down a narrow mine shaft and that feeling of sinking is worse because you’re descending into total darkness. You are drowning slowly but dare not cry for help because others might hear you and laugh at you in your predicament. You are suffocating but dare not shout out for it will only invite ridicule. Huge hands knead your heart as if it were of Plasticine. Two gigantic plates start to crush your skull but at the last moment ease off the pressure.  Starting again and suddenly stopping. Crush, relax, crush, relax. All above you people are rushing past oblivious to the peril you are in. You try to choke a cry, fail and start sobbing uncontrollably. You hate yourself for the show of weakness but are unable to do anything about it. You are creeping towards that line that divides sanity from insanity and are terrifyingly aware of it.

Life can be miserable, and boring too when it’s in a shambles. It’s especially worse when you’re one of those types that is unwilling to fight your way out of the rut because you like wallowing in self-pity. You think sensitivity is a good thing, that it’s essential for creativity. And martyrdom too. And since in this case sensitivity is being kicked in the teeth you allow it to happen again and again. You force yourself to be aware of the feelings of others and not of your own; which is being thin-skinned in a cock-eyed way. And if you are the romantic or emotional type and women play an important role in your life, you get kicked ever so often. This is not to suggest that women are poison but the very nature of man-woman relationships makes the chances of having an ideal partnership as remote as winning the jackpot or writing a bestseller.

Occasionally you do get the chance to kick back but those you kick do not deserve it and those who deserve it, kick you first. I think of the woman who still obsesses me and it hurts to think that she now probably considers me just an episode in her past. That is if she even remembers me. I remember the woman who loves me, ‘a hundred million, billion times and if there’s anything more than that, I love you that too,” and I’m sorry that I cannot reciprocate. It’s really one large, vicious and unhappy circle.

I’ve been kicked a number of times recently; good and proper. Each time I’ve taken a sanctimonious and martyred attitude and come back for more. I got my last dose only yesterday. The emotional hangover I’ve got explains this depression I’m having on this twenty-fifth birthday of mine.

I know how to spite her, how to make her suffer! I’ll commit suicide. When she hears about it she’ll be filled with remorse. So will anybody who has ever done me a wrong turn. But then I realise that I will only be cutting off my nose to spite my face. And when she hears about it her reaction will be typical, “poor sod”, or more likely, “stupid sod.” So I try to take my mind off such morbid thoughts by thinking about something else. Anything else.

I look at the papers and see that the witch hunt is gathering momentum. I hope that Mrs Gandhi gets what she deserves for all the unhealthy precedents she has created. I read about the present leaders, who claim that they have no personal scores to settle, but aren’t doing a good job of masking their thirst for revenge. I read about the antics of some of our ministers and wonder if they constitute a central cabinet or national circus. My mind wanders to their policy of prohibition and think, “What nerve! who are they to impose their whims on others?” I wonder how many paying lip service to this cause, will actually practise it in private. I’m willing to bet that liquor will not be any more difficult to obtain. I think of their desire to impose Hindi throughout the country and I remember my experiences in railway stations in Patna, Varanasi and Allahabad. In those bastions of Hindi, I with my limited knowledge of the language have had to patiently read the timetables to those who spoke the vernacular fluently. There are statistics, fudged I’m sure, that show Hindi is the most widely spoken language in India and I wonder what percentage are literate in it.

I am touring Rajasthan and today I’m in Udaipur. Beautiful Udaipur!

The Rajputs seem to have had a glorious past but I cannot help feeling that a good portion of their history is sheer legend. Public spirit must have something to sustain it, even if only tales of valour.

I notice that there are fewer beggars to be seen in this state than in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

What interests me are the Rajasthani women, with their shapely figures. I feel that if the peasant women were only more feminine, they would have been a very comely lot. Their blouses are so short that they cover only half their breasts and when they carry anything on their heads, which is often, the blouses ride up to their necks. I am amused to note that in spite of this, their faces remain covered all the time.

Thinking of women, my mind comes back to the woman I love who does not love me anymore; to the woman who is the cause of this king-size depression that I’m having on this twenty-fifth birthday of mine. I sit and brood, longing for her. Suddenly I get a brain wave. I know, or at least I think I know, how I can forget her.

And I stuff some money into my pocket as I make my way in search of a brothel.

COMMENTS

Louknam Phrachanpheng

August 26, 2011 at 9:13 pm

Good story ^^but I had to read it twice to understand..

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Any strong accent will confuse

Robert Patnicroft’s letter (Saturday, 11 June 2005) made absurd reading.

He seems unaware that Thai students find any strong accent confusing. Some Indian accents (and there are many aside from those caricatured on TV or in the movies) are difficult to understand but so are many British, American and the typical Australian one too.

What the Thai authorities should be concentrating on is hiring educated teachers with neutral or “international accents”.

To state that the quality of teaching will deteriorate if teachers from the subcontinent are hired, smacks of racism. I am sure that he is aware that many of the westerners teaching in Thailand are semi-literate or poorly educated and have managed to get jobs as teachers solely because the Thais have a complex and look up to anybody, especially a white man, who knows a little more English than they do. In my opinion, hiring teachers from the subcontinent would improve the level of education and ensure that students in Thailand are not shortchanged. One of the main reasons for the poor standards of English in the country is that the Thais have not been very discerning about the quality of the people they hire, very often choosing people who would be unemployable anywhere else in the world.

Further, Mr Patnicroft states that it is an indictment of the level of funding if the educational system cannot afford native speakers of English. This clearly shows that he does not know the meaning of native speaker. A native speaker of English would be somebody whose principal or sole language is English. Some educationists define it as the language one speaks before the age of seven. In either case, there are millions of such people in India.

I wonder if Mr Panticroft is aware that an increasing number of teachers from the sub-continent are being recruited to teach in the U.S, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. And if he cares to switch on some of the international news channels on TV, he will find many newsreaders from the subcontinent.

It seems to me, that Mr Panticroft is worried that the days are numbered for those westerners, who with little or no skills, have managed to dupe themselves into jobs as “teachers” of English.

(Published in the Bangkok Post, 16 June 2005)

COMMENTS

Jan

June 15, 2011 at 8:24 pm

Couldn’t agree with you more on this one.
However, I am certain, that this applies not only to Thailand but to most other Asian countries as well, especially Japan, China and Korea, just to name a few. Globalisation and the dominance of English has somehow given many cause for concern and a reliance on so called “native English speakers”.

Jansan

Jan

June 15, 2011 at 8:25 pm

I would very much like to share this discourse with your other readers:
http://timesofindia.indiati…

Jansan

Devinder

June 15, 2011 at 8:26 pm

You are spot on. Very often teachers who are non-native speakers of the language make better teachers because they can relate to the difficulties students face in learning English. If teaching pronunciation is a problem the there is no shortage of tapes and other listening material in the market

Devinder

Trophime D’Souza

June 15, 2011 at 8:27 pm

I could write volumes on this topic…and will perhaps eventually do. I’ve now been around on this England-USA circuit rubbing shoulders with ‘qualified’, ‘half-qualified’ and ‘poorly-qualified’ academics who parade ‘English’ and really leave a lot to be desired in terms of knowledge or delivery. But the British Pound is strong and the American Dollar still holds sway, with the Euro fast catching up and the Australian and Canadian Dollars travelling places in those ‘western’ concentric circles. Somewhere along the line ‘colour’ interferes and then the image gets blurred…
Colour takes over and you are just made to believe!!!
Money and colour are two dangerous bed-fellows, but strangely today they dominate a world of show; not too many days back, our own great ‘Ponting’ made quite a show of ‘coloured’ aggression, and he’s nearly got away with it!
Language is a skill, an art. it is not related to any one species. the sub-continent speakers (you have rightly pointed out) would perhaps bring in education, and English alongside. Many of our ‘bright-coloured’ brethren perhaps only get the flip side of the need.
More on this another time…heaps of experiences to recount. but lest you should generalise….there are some good ones, and some really good ones, among all that host of experimenters…who almost by accident claim affinity to the ‘native English’ clan.

I’d like to write more about also how Indian English should move forward with improved usage and diction. Maybe use more of ‘Cobuild’ and ‘Daniel Jones’ and less of ‘desi’ experiments.

CNN-IBN and NDTV need a makeover in language. I’d be willing to help out.

Trophime D’Souza
Cert TESOL, Dip TESL, LTCL (Sp. Dr), MA (Lit), BA. Hons. (E.Lang)
trouza@yahoo.co.uk

Reply

Troy

June 15, 2011 at 8:31 pm

I think another few points to add to this debate are the questions of, “Why are the students learning English”, and “What is English?” They could sound like absurd questions, but in fact they aren’t.

The first point regarding the WHY is extremely important. Are the students learning English in order to travel to an English country, and in that case which? Are they learning English for business purposes, and in this case, who will they be using their English with? Americans? Indians? Japanese, Italians? In all of these cases, in order to learn expediently, should the students therefore be exposed to the style of English spoken in their target area, or should they be taught a more international English?

Which leads me to my next point, what exactly is English? A mix of languages that was given birth to on a very small island and then exported overseas. Native and proficient speakers alike know the inherent flexibility that exists in English, there is no official academy that dictates what is correct English or not and even the Oxford dictionary appears to be loosening its mothball ridden criteria, though surely more for economic reasons than academic.

Prejudice against speakers of one style of English doesn’t only exist in Asia but here in Europe where I teach as well. I constantly come across learners with the ingrained idea that for some reason British English is the ‘real’ English. What does this mean? That hundreds of millions of people using the language around the world are somehow using a pirated version?

My point being, the English that should be taught is the one that the particular teacher uses and is most comfortable with. Learners only stand to benefit from being exposed to the broad spectrum that is English and hopefully motivate them with the realization that it is indeed the world’s language now. Debates around this topic will then hopefully migrate to the more important issues that affect the English teaching profession, those of qualifications and methodology. A native speaker is not a teacher for the simple fact that s/he speaks the language. A teacher is someone with the tools to guide learners with the most efficiency possible.

Troy

© Percy Aaron

Posted on

Very good, very good.

Wat That Luang © Photograph by Mark Ulyseas
Wat That Luang © Photograph by Mark Ulyseas

Early one morning in Vientiane I was on my daily walk in the square in front of Wat That Luang, Laos’ iconic stupa, when a man sidled up to me.

‘Excuse me, what your name?’ he asked. I told him, ‘oh, very good, very good,’ he replied.

I asked him his name and he answered.

‘What your job?’

‘I’m a teacher,’ I replied.

‘Very good, very good,’ he said.

I asked him what he did, and he told me that he taught Lao at the National University of Laos.

Despite his limited English, he was friendly and I thought I’d take the opportunity to practise my Lao. I asked him a question but in fractured English he told me that he wanted to practise his English. I was sure he was having trouble understanding my mutilations of his very tonal language.

As we passed a group of joggers he asked at the top of his voice, ‘where you live?’

‘In Ban Nongbone,’ I replied.

‘Very good, very good,’ he repeated. ‘You married?’ he continued.

‘No, I’m not,’ I said.

‘Very good, very good,’ he exclaimed. ‘You have girlfriend?’

‘Yes, I do,’ I smiled.

‘Very good, very good,’ he answered.

He was about chest high and so I lengthened my strides and quickened my pace to get away from this very limited conversation but he trotted alongside me.

‘Girlfriend yours, she is Lao?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Very good, very good,’ he repeated. ‘She is beautiful?’

‘Yes.’

‘Very good, very good,’ he panted, struggling to keep up with me.

‘Excuse me, your father what he do, he teacher too?’ he asked breathlessly.

‘My father’s dead,’ I replied.

‘Very good, very good,’ he shouted after me.

COMMENTS

March 5, 2011 at 10:16 am

Very good, very good. Interesting especially to those who have been to Laos and understand the level of English of the local teachers.

Devinder

jansan52

March 5, 2011 at 10:19 am

“Wat that Luang”?? A Temple? And “Ban Nong Bone”?? Maybe I should pay you a visit!

Jan

B ^^

June 15, 2011 at 7:22 pm

Hello and Sabaidee Percy !! I really like this story !! it’s very funny !! and very interesting ! I like it !! Ha !ha ! very good very good!!!

B ^^

pAo

June 15, 2011 at 7:28 pm

hahaha….thats funny!!you should write a book…..i like it:)

pAo

Sunami

June 15, 2011 at 7:29 pm

The story “very good” is funny , but if we look the other way that is pity of his poor English. I think he tried to practise his English with a foreigner. Yes, he is teacher in university, but he has less chance to speak/communicate with foreigner (speak English)

Sunami

KEO

October 6, 2017 at 9:26 pm

Haha… Very good very good story Percy !!!!

Pop

October 2, 2018 at 6:52 pm

Ohhh it’s good experience about you and him. This story teaches me that everybody should have confidence. Don’t be shy to speak the language you’re learning . Although your language or pronunciation may be wrong, it’s okay. Try again and again and learn from mistakes.

Jay Lattanavilod

October 4, 2018 at 3:40 pm

Haha it’s very funny.

Phonemaly Khattiya

October 4, 2018 at 3:44 pm

I read the article and I agree that
speaking other’s language can be very difficult, to understand and
to communicate with others. Sometimes there are funny conversations and
sometimes there are not.

Touk

Alisa – GI3B

October 19, 2020 at 5:45 pm

Thanks Percy! It was described a lots of local Lao Education by the vocabulary that we handle less than we should know. Laotian are always friendly, we’re interested to speak with foreigner to improve English skills.
In my opinion, I would like to say he’s very good, very good to try and don’t be shy to speak up even it wasn’t good enough but he was worked for it.

Alisa – GI3B

October 19, 2020 at 6:04 pm

This story describes the situation when beginners practice a new language. Usually we are interested but shy to show our English skills especially at speaking, In this situation, I would like to say he was very good, very good in not being afraid to practice his English with a foreigner. I’m sure that he will improve his skills by learning from his mistakes.

Yer

October 20, 2020 at 11:12 am

Learning languages is difficult especially for the beginner. It seems that he has a quite low level of English but he is eager to practice it in any situation.
Anyway, very good very good

Yer

Ann

October 20, 2020 at 2:32 pm

Umm…very good very good..!!

Baramy

October 20, 2020 at 7:51 pm

This story is very funny. I think i was in his situation many years ago but that is the only way to practice speaking with foreigners but it’s very funny that he always answers ”very good , very good”

B

October 21, 2020 at 10:36 am

The story ‘very good very good’ is very funny ! I like it. This man is trying to practice communicating with a foreigner, I think is a good way to practice English by not being shy but we need to understand the meaning because sometimes it’s not funny at all.

Sodo Phunyathiboud

October 21, 2020 at 9:46 pm

The story is really funny. But I can see if we can only reply “very good” that will make conversation uncomfortable. I think in future this man will develop more and more.

Cocoon

October 27, 2020 at 1:00 pm

This is a very funny because this guy just answers with ‘very good very good’ for everything, even the bad things.

Penny

October 30, 2020 at 7:49 pm

The last sentences surprised me.

Noy

November 5, 2020 at 5:31 pm

This’s a funny story!!! with his answer Very good Very good. And even the last sentence he should have answered that way but it made me laugh. 🤣

Nayo

February 2, 2021 at 10:14 am

I’ve observed that this is a very common interaction among locals and foreigners, which I think is a very good thing. It should happen more often. It indicates that nowadays locals are not afraid or intimidated by foreigners anymore. Although his vocabulary was very limited he did not hesitate to start a conversation. When situations and interactions like this happen it makes me happy, as I am aware that people, especially youth, often make fun of each other because of accents, etc. I strongly dislike this as it discourages learners. I’m very glad that people are more open and accepting of others now.

© Percy Aaron

Posted on

PTSD

The BBC’s Panorama had an excellent program on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD).

The presenter, Alan Little, started by recounting his career as a war correspondent, which he found exciting. Later, he discovered that he had all the symptoms of PSTD, lived with its nightmares, allowed it to wear off, and then went back to his career, even back to covering wars.

Mr. Little then tells of people, encouraged by lawyers, who claimed financial compensation for stress suffered: a teacher in a ‘stressful’ school situation; a sailor on a fishing trawler forced to abandon ship during a storm – the other members of the crew ridiculed his claim; a fireman who injured his knee when he took the full force of the water hose during a fire; etc.

Mr. Little wondered whether the above experiences could be put in the same category as those suffered by combatants and non-combatants in a war situation.

Trauma in itself is difficult to detect, and even more, to measure. When lawyers, not the most reputable of people, get involved in drawing up agreements on compensation sharing, claims become suspect.

Mr. Little interviewed a number of medical experts. Naturally, those working with the lawyers differed in opinion from those who felt that compensation claims accentuated, exaggerated and prolonged any feelings of ‘trauma’. When claims are contested, as they usually are, lawyers for the defence subject ‘victims’ to accusations of cheating, malingering, etc. Then, in order not to compromise their legal positions ‘victims’ are forced to ‘wallow’ in emotional or mental situations that are best put behind them.

Interestingly, some of the claimants even suggested that they had made a mistake in seeking compensation.

Some experts believe that PSTD could be the effect of accumulated negative experiences in the past that are triggered off by a ‘traumatic’ experience. Mr. Little asked a very pertinent question. He wanted to know if he caused somebody to have an accident, was he guilty for all the accumulated negative experiences in that person’s past?

I have often wondered when victims of abuse are awarded large compensation, if their trauma disappears once the money is deposited into their accounts.

For example, Catholic priests guilty of sexual abuse should be punished. But penal payback for penile transgressions is fairer than awarding large sums of money in compensation. This cash comes from donations that were made for some better cause and not for the personal use of the priest. This would also preclude the possibility of false accusations.

March 2009

© Percy Aaron

Posted on

Clean up the beautiful game

The referee’s blunder in awarding a penalty to Chelsea in their recent Premiership match against Liverpool and this week’s interview with ex-Premier League official, Graham Poll, emphasized the need for introducing TV replays to clean up the game.

With the increasing pace of football matches referees not only have to keep up with players 10-20 years younger than them, but must also be able to make split-second interpretations of the rules correctly. To add to their difficulties, they have to handle blatant cheating, on-the-field histrionics, abuse and intimidation by players, managers and supporters, and subtle pressure from clubs. Sometimes they are even criticized for ‘killing the game’ by interpreting the rules too strictly!

It is humanly impossible, under these conditions, not to make mistakes from time to time, i.e. assuming there are no ‘illegal’ reasons for these errors.

Why would anyone in the world want such a thankless job!

Most other sports use TV replays to assist officials. The principal argument against introducing it into football is that it will affect the flow of the game. This is absolute nonsense. Every time the ball goes out of play, the flow is interrupted. Every time there is an injury, the flow is interrupted. Every time players waste time, the flow is interrupted. In fact, each time the referee blows his whistle the continuity of the game is disturbed.

Given his opposition to such state-of-the-art practices, Michel Platini’s election to the top job at UEFA, European football’s governing body, is a set back to the introduction of electronic refereeing.

But TV replays must be used to control at least some aspects of the game, such as cheating and boorish behaviour.

Despite a few protestations to the contrary it is well-known how mercenary today’s footballers are. The best way to punish them then is to hit them financially. Thus in routine post-match analyses players who have cheated must be banned for a number of games, and fined heavily too. If the match result has gone the way of their team then the club or country must be fined too. The fines must be severe enough to hurt the guilty parties.

Referees and linesmen should also be wired up so that every exchange between them and the players is recorded. Players using abusive language on match officials should also be fined.

And sponsors, who are concerned about corporate image, should help clean up the game by insisting on sponsorship deductions for every red or yellow card received and for all behaviour not punished by the referee.

COMMENTS

Devinder

June 15, 2011 at 9:08 pm

I totally agree with you. It’s time TV replays are used. If rugby and tennis can use it why can’t football use it.

Devinder

© Percy Aaron

Posted on

Biased Broadcasting Corporation

BBC World news (GMT 14.00, Tuesday 14 August 2007) covered the issue of Chinese-made toys in the U.S for a total of 19 minutes. Yes, 19 minutes! If this does not suggest an anti-Chinese bias, what does?

As the countdown to the Beijing Olympics starts there are daily BBC reports from China that are extremely critical. The other day the reporter covering the festivities talked about, among other things, the limits on expressing opinions that went against the official viewpoint. And all around him there were tens of hundreds of performers. Why didn’t officials stop that telecast?

If sub-standard and unsafe products are being dumped on the rest of the world by Chinese manufacturers, it is happening with the connivance of their western buyers who turn a blind eye to such practices. Foreign buyers source from China to cut costs. If corners also get cut, so be it.

So why does the BBC and other international media not expose the other side too?

While undoubtedly free speech does not exist in China, the western media is no paragon of honest reporting either. In totalitarian societies, governments control the media. In the West the ‘free’ press is controlled by big business and other special interests groups. Freedom of the press is the freedom of the owners to publish or broadcast what they want.

In days gone by when the BBC did not conduct surveys or ask for viewer feedback, its reputation was impeccable. What has gone wrong?

And back to the issue of unsafe Chinese-made toys in the U.S. The average American child is at greater risk on U.S streets and schools than from toys made in China.

COMMENTS

Peter Markham

June 15, 2011 at 8:47 pm

Up ‘the anti’ mate. I totally agree with you.

Peter,

Teresa

June 15, 2011 at 8:48 pm

Need more of this …….the other side of the effects of globalisation!!!!

Teresa

Jan

June 15, 2011 at 8:49 pm

“Globalisation” is just another name for BIG BUSINESS to make even more PROFITS at the expense of the less fortunate…be it Chinese, Indian or Bangladeshi (underpaid and overworked) labour.
Maybe MATTELL have no money to pay for the toys they ordered?? And are rejecting them this way….
Besides, I do know for a fact, that all MNCs have QC reps on site wherever they produce their junk. So, were these overpaid US employees sleeping on the job, or what?
And what freedom of the press if Murdoch owns all the media!
BBC = Blair/Bush Broadcasting Co.

Jansan

Jan

June 15, 2011 at 8:50 pm

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
H. L. Mencken

Jansan

Minnie

June 15, 2011 at 8:51 pm

It’s all about SPIN with the media in the west..and Britain and the US have mastered it well.

Minnie

Juhi

June 15, 2011 at 8:52 pm

Great article !! Very well written…maybe we should consider entering it in the Washington Post here.

Juhi

JanSan

June 23, 2011 at 6:32 am

Hallo Percy,
Nice Web Blog. Keep up the good work educating us idiots!
JanSan

© Percy Aaron

Posted on

A high price for free speech on the Internet

A clutch of US politicians, pastors and other assorted Bible thumpers have shown us, again and again, that Christian fundamentalists are fundamentally unchristian in their attitudes. But not all fundamentalists, Christian, Muslim or Jewish, condone violence.

However, the tragic events in Norway last week once again raise the issue of freedom of expression. The extremism in one man’s word can very easily be translated into extremism in another man’s deed. When does one person’s right to express himself freely, impinge on another person’s right not to be insulted or assaulted by such outpourings.

The advent of the Internet and the ease and speed with which hate is disseminated means that this issue needs to be addressed urgently. Laws of the 19th and 20th centuries cannot be used to regulate technologies of the 21st century.

The right to unlimited free speech must be balanced with the duty to speak and act responsibly. A person who incites hatred should be considered as culpable as the fanatic who pulls the trigger, or detonates the bomb. In today’s stressed out world there are too many crazed people out there, with too many weapons, for this kind of catastrophe not to occur again and again.

Let us start by condemning all violence unequivocally: whether it is by a lone lunatic or by states against their people.

We cannot have one standard for the Syrian and another for the Bahraini.

(Published in The Independent, U.K., 28 July 2011)