The Good
Despite the political fallout and controversies, the dragging off stage of one of our great actors who was seriously miscast, all of which the organisers should learn from, the GREAT British public gave a whooping £63.5million to Comic Relief on Friday night. Down on 2018 and well short of the record set years ago, but we live in uncertain times and £63.5million is a lot of money. Well done Britain!
Another good…
And on the same theme, what about Azim Premji, 73, one of India’s richest men? He’s just given £5.65billion to charity. It brings his total charitable donations to £21billion. Where did it come from… vegetable oil and rice! Keeps himself to himself and gets on with his job, obviously rather well. Good luck to him!
The Bad
I commented last week on Facebook in ‘the bad’, and would no doubt have commented this week on the atrocity in New Zealand anyway… but have put the two together.
Just a week earlier I was at the Peace Symposium at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in South London, home to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It could so easily have been there and not New Zealand, which explains the high level of security that was in place. The Symposium had no answers but there were 800 people at least talking about how we try to find one. True, I wasn’t impressed with hearing from some people about all the committees they go to to try and solve the problems. They were talking shops and nothing more. I ran into Peter Tatchell who I interviewed a few years ago, who had a large clear cover over his left eye. I know he twice tried to perform a citizens’ arrest on Robert Mugabe, who I have also met! As he approached Mugabe, the heavies moved in on him. In London, the police took immediate action. In Brussels, he says he was badly beaten up and that’s what years later necessitated him having to have the recent eye operation.
But how was it Facebook didn’t close down the feed as soon as they knew what was happening? How was it that other platforms continued to push it around the world once Facebook had acted? Why is it that those to whom we allow free speech and expression try so hard and with such repulsion to prevent the freedoms that let them literally get away with murder? Social media platforms have a duty to be part of the fight against terrorism. That’s not me making the mistake of saying action needs to be taken, but having no ideas. I’d be as happy to be involved in solutions as I would be with knife crime in Britain.
Another bad…
A Northwestern University medicine study in the US says that if you eat more than three eggs a week, you increase your risk of a heart attack by 6 per cent. As someone who dislikes and never eats eggs, I’m not affected. Professor Tom Sanders is quoted in the Telegraph as saying: “Eggs in moderation – around 3 to 4 a week – is fine.” But four is 33 per cent more than three and numbers can mean many things!
The Mad
What do you do that’s different for your Dad’s 62nd birthday? Well, in Linwood, New Jersey, a man’s two sons rented a billboard and put a poster on it asking people to ring him and wish him Happy Birthday! 15,000 people did, and he’s now had to get a new phone… two days before his actual birthday!
And finally…
You might have noticed that Donald Trump uses his hands a lot when speaking. Nowt wrong in that, many people do, indeed I do! So does Beto O’Rourke, the Texas Congressman who entered the Democratic Primary race. Trump, when asked about him, said: “Well, I think he’s got a lot of hand movement. Is he crazy or is that just how he acts?” I don’t want 15,000 phone or email answers!
Despite the political fallout and controversies, the dragging off stage of one of our great actors who was seriously miscast, all of which the organisers should learn from, the GREAT British public gave a whooping £63.5million to Comic Relief on Friday night. Down on 2018 and well short of the record set years ago, but we live in uncertain times and £63.5million is a lot of money. Well done Britain!
Another good…
And on the same theme, what about Azim Premji, 73, one of India’s richest men? He’s just given £5.65billion to charity. It brings his total charitable donations to £21billion. Where did it come from… vegetable oil and rice! Keeps himself to himself and gets on with his job, obviously rather well. Good luck to him!
The Bad
I commented last week on Facebook in ‘the bad’, and would no doubt have commented this week on the atrocity in New Zealand anyway… but have put the two together.
Just a week earlier I was at the Peace Symposium at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in South London, home to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It could so easily have been there and not New Zealand, which explains the high level of security that was in place. The Symposium had no answers but there were 800 people at least talking about how we try to find one. True, I wasn’t impressed with hearing from some people about all the committees they go to to try and solve the problems. They were talking shops and nothing more. I ran into Peter Tatchell who I interviewed a few years ago, who had a large clear cover over his left eye. I know he twice tried to perform a citizens’ arrest on Robert Mugabe, who I have also met! As he approached Mugabe, the heavies moved in on him. In London, the police took immediate action. In Brussels, he says he was badly beaten up and that’s what years later necessitated him having to have the recent eye operation.
But how was it Facebook didn’t close down the feed as soon as they knew what was happening? How was it that other platforms continued to push it around the world once Facebook had acted? Why is it that those to whom we allow free speech and expression try so hard and with such repulsion to prevent the freedoms that let them literally get away with murder? Social media platforms have a duty to be part of the fight against terrorism. That’s not me making the mistake of saying action needs to be taken, but having no ideas. I’d be as happy to be involved in solutions as I would be with knife crime in Britain.
Another bad…
A Northwestern University medicine study in the US says that if you eat more than three eggs a week, you increase your risk of a heart attack by 6 per cent. As someone who dislikes and never eats eggs, I’m not affected. Professor Tom Sanders is quoted in the Telegraph as saying: “Eggs in moderation – around 3 to 4 a week – is fine.” But four is 33 per cent more than three and numbers can mean many things!
The Mad
What do you do that’s different for your Dad’s 62nd birthday? Well, in Linwood, New Jersey, a man’s two sons rented a billboard and put a poster on it asking people to ring him and wish him Happy Birthday! 15,000 people did, and he’s now had to get a new phone… two days before his actual birthday!
And finally…
You might have noticed that Donald Trump uses his hands a lot when speaking. Nowt wrong in that, many people do, indeed I do! So does Beto O’Rourke, the Texas Congressman who entered the Democratic Primary race. Trump, when asked about him, said: “Well, I think he’s got a lot of hand movement. Is he crazy or is that just how he acts?” I don’t want 15,000 phone or email answers!