Terrorism and Immigration

I watched the News in shock  the other day, as I'm sure everyone did, as they broadcast the latest updates on the Terrorist Attack in Paris.
"Islamic Terrorist Attack?"
"Muslim Terrorists Attack Paris"
We've all seen headlines like these. 

I've also seen a lot of racist posts on Facebook -  and heard many opinions over the last few days which quite frankly are so naive it's shocking. 

Firstly the way we report these attacks HAS to change. By labeling these Terrorists as Islamic or Muslim is simply wrong, and in itself is causing racial tensions - a criminal offence in this country. The fact that the terrorists were of a Muslim faith is neither here nor there. It doesn't matter. What matters is that these people have for whatever reason been radicalized into thinking that the murder of innocent people is an acceptable act. 

Do you remember the guy in America who killed the Cinema goers at the screening of Batman? Or the one who killed the congregation of the Church? Were these Christian Terrorists? No of course not - they had "Mental Health Issues". 

Using religious beliefs to brand terrorism is very dangerous - and totally unfair to the majority of Muslims. I have Muslim friends, one in particular I am very close to. I don't look at them and think Muslim. I think Friend. I don't look at my Jewish Friends and even think about their religion. This segregation and religious tension is the result of Media portrayal based on the acts of a minority. 
Before we slate Muslims or blame Islam for the violence think about these things:

1. There are 6 Million Muslims living in France
2. Over 85% of the population of Turkey are Muslim
3. The Koran or the Bible do not promote Terrorist Acts
4. Saudi Arabia executed 19 people last month - a Muslim Country and ally of the UK. I that acceptable practice for an ally?

The thing we need to remember is that these things are dramtized by the media and mainly that is because it is closer to our Borders.

For sure there are terrible things going on in the world and ISIS must be stopped. In no way should the crimes of that organisation be allowed to continue. However - we all have to realise that there is much more going on than you see in the news. Unless its in Syria or Afghanistan (Helmand, Baghdad etc) we very rarely hear much about the terrible atrocities. We certainly don't see a sea of Facebook posts  or people changing their profile pictures in support of the victims of the Bombing of a funeral in Baghdad, the Suicide Bombing in Beirut, the victims of al-shabab or the victims of Boko Haram (People seem to have forgotten about them). 

Some of these extremists are Muslim, some are not. The fact of the matter is the faith of an individual does not turn them into a terrorist - it's their interpretation of it. If they are a violent person or have violence in them - they are more likely to commit these acts. It's not because their religion told them to. 100 years ago this problem did not exist - but Islam was still there. This is the ideology of a few which has been spread through recruitment and media promotion. 

I also keep seeing posts about how we should close our borders, and stop immigrants from coming over here and bringing the problem with them. Taking our jobs, increasing the crime rate etc. 

Absolute b*llsh**! 
First of all who do you think they are running from? Take a minute and google images of Syria. Would you want to stay there?
Granted I do believe we should have stricter controls regarding Immigration because there will always be the minority who are out to abuse the system, but the majority of Immigrants bring something to society - often working harder for less money than we do. Some have 2 or 3 jobs, and many work in the service sector - for minimum wage doing jobs that the English are too lazy to do - or feel is beneath them. 
If we removed Immigrants would we be better off? No. Not at all. What would happen to the NHS for a start? 

This problem is not caused by Immigration, or Religion. It is caused by individuals who's ideology is to cause carnage and mayhem, and who have excellent powers of persuasion over others. It is caused by a lack of Leadership across all nations, and mistakes by past governments. 

If we are going to overcome this problem and make the world a safer place we need to work together, not segregate ourselves further pointing the blame at people who's faith may be slightly different to our own, and we need to stop glorifying it in the Media.

Modern Dilemmas

As we approach 2015 I can't help wonder what further advance there will be, what process will be streamlined next, and what app will take the world by storm.

I'm 33, and the world is a very different place since I was a Teen playing snake on my state of the art Nokia. It even had a button to push to release the keyboard! I don't class myself as a techno-geek like many of the youth of today, neither would I class myself as Anti-Tech. I muddle along in the middle - I have an Iphone 4, use the interbubble and even post this blog. But I cant' help wonder what is next around the corner, and how this is going to impact us, both professionally and personally.

Using Facebook, Twitter or Flickr etc I can achieve in 1 post the same amount that used to take 2 pads of A4. I can practically like and follow a single loaf of bread if I want to (and I'm sure there are people that do). Granted it is revolutionising Customer Service, with the Consumer able to make their own purchases, self-service style. This helps with the running costs which, hopefully is reflected in the price. But at what cost and is it really better??

What about the person who got laid off who used to perform that skill? Have they been developed and adapted to help them make it in a Modern Techno World?

Let's think about Self Service Checkouts. Most people use them because the queues are shorter than those operated by a Human. Is this because it's quicker than waiting for the Checkout Assistant to do their job, or is it because in the Techno-World we now live in we're encouraged to use the most advance, and therefore better way of doing things? Whichever it is there are more of them appearing, all over the place.

Personally - I hate spending 10 minutes in front of a till trying to explain to it that I do not have an unexplained item in my bagging area.

Whatever happens in 2015, I think there is a real chance that the Winner of Customer Service 2015 Award will actually be won by a customer....for exceptional service to themselves.

Let's hope that doesn't happen just yet, and keep old Joe Bloggs in his job for a little while longer.

End of an Era??

This morning I bought a newspaper. It was the News of the World. I always buy this paper, granted its not the most intellectual read you're ever going to have. It's not won awards for pionneering journalistic trait and the less said about the agony aunt pages the better. However it does have a fantastic sport section, especially after a footballing weekend, and there are always some juicy stories on the front pages. Now those of you who say you dont care for such stories and that it's not proper "News" are kidding yourself. We all like to see what's going on in each others lives, and although we don't admit it, we all like to hear of someone elses' issues. It takes our mind off our own issues and makes us feel a little bit better about ourselves. So no judging!!! Anyway....I digress.

This weeks edition is special. It is the last edition of the paper. The Editor and holding Company have decided to remove it from print. There has been a lot of scandal recently involving some illegal phone tapping of various people for a few years starting in 2006. Im not going to go into all the details as I'm sure everyone has seen it on the news and knows it all anyway. Sufficed to say Celebrities, Politicians and the Families of Servicemen are not very happy. That's fair enough. I agree with that completely. I don't care so much for the Celebrities or the Politicians to be honest, but the fact that those fighting for our country or those who lost a loved one in the 7/7 bombings have had to endure such a breach of their privacy is horrendous. I genuinly feel sorry for them.

But there are two sides to every story. I'm not condoning what happened in any way shape or form, but what seems to have been lost in all this is the amount of good that the News of the World has done over the years, the charities it has aided, and the lives it has changed for the better. they have campaigned for Sarah's Law, which has made it easier for parents to find out about paedophiles in their area. That was groundbraking legislation. They have sponsored the Childrens Champions Awards that recognises the heroic work ordinary people do in supporting children who need it most, and last Christmas they delivered toys to all the children of servicemen who were on active duty fighting for this country and our freedom and way of life, as we enjoyed our Christmas Dinner with our families whilst they suffered wondering if Mummy or Daddy are ok. Add that to the countless criminals they have helped put behind bars and all of a sudden, listening to a few phone messages seems to be less important in the grand scheme of things. I'm not belittling the pain suffered by those involved, but it does make you think.

I'm sure there will be a replacement by the parent company, probably The Sun on Sunday, for example, but that's not the point. The News of the World has become a landmark, ask the mother of Sarah Payne how she feels about the paper, or Little Jessica who the NOTW paid for her to have specialist artificial limbs fitted after a battle with Meningitis.

The plain fact of the matter is that this week the politicians got involved and demanded action against something that was "Clearly not in the public interest". They want governement legislation over the press to ensure that this never happens again. The Right Honourable David Cameron MP, our glorious leader described it as "Regrettable, but necessary" that the paper closed. Surely this then sets a precedent.

Is it in the Public Interest that our soldiers have limited equipment and not enough training or support when fighting for our way of life?
Or is it in the public interest to reduce payment made to families when a relative is injured of killed on active service?
Is it also in the public interest to reduce funding to the NHS or the police forces to try and reduce the national debt, whilst bailing out the likes of Ireland and Greece?
Is it in the public interest for MPs to be claiming expenses for which they should have no chance of receiving, that untimately we pay for in tax? I'm sorry but if i get a bus to work I pay for it myself and if I get a job that is 200 miles away, I move house.

So surely following this precedent the people in charge of these decisions and countless others that do not have the publics interest at heart, should follow suit of the NOTW. They should resign in dignity, and the Government should should concentrate on sorting the state of the country out, so we can all live a better life, instead of jumping on a bandwagon to take the attention away from itself.