LinkedIn

Of the various social media options, LinkedIn was originally designed primarily for business folk, but clearly such a limit no longer applies. About once a month, I am asked to be in contact with someone on LinkedIn, always replying that I am not part of the circle. I don't think the solicitations are initiated by my correspondents, but rather by the owners of LinkedIn. i know very well that what I write online is "harvested", and that doesn't bother me, but I dislike having this reality thrust in my face.

Facebook

I don't think that I have ever posted anything on Facebook: that just isn't my style. On the other hand, I am very glad that I joined Facebook many months ago. It is a great source of news and photos of our extended family. I also can't remember ever posting a comment, but I regularly "like" many of the items that I read there. I am not eager to reveal my comments on Facebook to the world, a reticence which is inconsistent with my regular weekly blog. Somehow, I now have 23 followers, and I thank you all.

Troop

This is a useful term to describe a group of people, usually male, often young, and subject to some form of orderly discipline, such as marching or riding in formation. Boy Scout troops, and cavalry troops, are good examples of this usage. Unfortunately, this sense has been blurred by the media, where the word is used to mean individual soldiers or perhaps marines. "Six troops killed in ambush" is a typical newspaper headline. As is usually the case when a word is misused,one can't prevent this. The best I can do is to deplore it.

School's Out by Alison Boulton

For various reasons, my blog this week is belated, but I am taking the opportunity of posting with her consent an article written by a friend of mine, who is an occasional columnist for the Oxford Mail. Here it is: School’s out, and Oxford rejoices in its young families and confident, sassy teenagers. The summer stretches ahead with its long, lazy days and reversal of routine. Spare a thought for those other schoolchildren somewhere in the forests of Northern Nigeria: the 223 young girls snatched from their school in Chibok at gunpoint, and taken by force into the jungle, separated from everything they know, and faced with a new world order: subjugated in religion, lifestyle, liberty and matrimony. With their adult lives ahead of them: education promised them something infinitely precious: freedom of choice. Choice of career, marriage partner, location and belief – all have been seized – snuffed out in their brutal abduction by Boko Haram soldiers. The name means rejection of Western Education. But have they and their imagined futures been obliterated forever? It’s not yet clear. They may never be heard of again: their young lives and hopes absorbed in a new society. The old society of their families, religion and state may reject them yet: too difficult to extract, to rehabilitate, to marry off, blighted by alien captivity. For centuries, women have been carried off by force, and if kept alive, integrated into the societies of their captors – the spoils of war. The remarkable thing is that in an age when Michelle Obama – the wife of the most powerful man in the world - can pose with a slogan card that reads ‘Bring Back our Girls’ for a global audience, the Nigerian Government seems powerless to act effectively to both protect and rescue these, its most vulnerable and innocent citizens. Courageous teenage campaigner Malala Yousafzai has flown from Britain to Nigeria to highlight the missing girls’ plight, meeting President Goodluck Jonathan, in an attempt to refocus the world’s attention and action on behalf of Malala’s fellow school girls. When she visited Oxford some months ago, Malala spoke of the hunger for education among girls worldwide – and the lack of opportunities so many face. While Oxford students rose to their feet and applauded her before she’d said a word, Malala looked around the famously shabby Debating Chamber of Oxford Union - with awe. Standing beneath a portrait of Benazir Bhutto, the assassinated President of Pakistan, and one-time President of the Union, Malala declared the following: ‘Superpowers should not be judged on the size of their armies, or the range and power of their nuclear arsenals. They should be judged on the number of children in school. That is what I would like to see,’ She spoke of the beauty of Pakistan’s Swat Valley which she and her family were forced to leave after the attack on her school bus by the Taliban, which left her severely injured, and several of her school friends too. What kind of political or religious movement targets school children? Two at least – Boko Haram and the Taliban - who are gaining political power. Both seek to obliterate womens’ education. So Oxford, enjoy your school holidays. You don’t know how lucky you are to have a school to return to in the autumn.

Defense?

In sport, such as football, the meaning of he word is clear. It opposes the other team,'s offense. When it comes to politics, George Orwell would have appreciated the distortion of the word's meaning. We have a Defense department, successor to the former War Department. In the UK, although the word is spelled "defence", it is the same concept: it refers to all the armed forces. The Israeli force that has destroyed much of Gaza's infrastructure is the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force. Lately, a more appropriate name might reflect its role in aggressive actions against Palestinians.

Death Penalty

A federal judge in Southern California has said that the death penalty in California is unconstitutional, on the grounds that it causes cruel and unusual punishment. I think that it is about time for such a decision, with well over 400 people (mostly male "minorities") on "death row". There is probably still a majority of voting Californians who approve of the death penalty, despite the views of most state legislators, etc. Although I personally oppose the death penalty, I continue to believe that this is a decision for the majority of voters. However, when I read that it may take as long a twenty-five years to exhaust all the appeals and other delays, I agree with the judge's reasoning. Most developed countries have done away with the death penalty. If it needs to be retained in the USA, there also needs to be a limit to delays because of appeals, etc. I don't expect such legislation to pass, and so I strongly hope that the judge's decision will hold up against any appeals.

A federal judge in Southern California has said that the death penalty in California is unconstitutional, on the grounds that it causes cruel and unusual punishment. I think that it is about time for such a decision, with well over 400 people (mostly male "minorities") on "death row". There is probably still a majority of voting Californians who approve of the death penalty, despite the views of most state legislators, etc. Although I personally oppose the death penalty, I continue to believe that this is a decision for the majority of voters. However, when I read that it may take as long a twenty-five years to exhaust all the appeals and other delays, I agree with the judge's reasoning. Most developed countries have done away with the death penalty. If it needs to be retained in the USA, there also needs to be a limit to delays because of appeals, etc. I don't expect such legislation to pass, and so I strongly hope that the judge's decision will hold up against any appeals.