Respect To The Survivors In Japan!

If the recent events in Japan were the plot of a Hollywood disaster movie, we could all be forgiven for laughing at the lack of credibility in the story and suspecting that the scriptwriters had been sniffing too much apple juice.
 

Sadly, they are reality!

Five days after the initial earthquake and the devastation of the tsunami that followed, the estimated body count keeps rising and over 400,000 people are now homeless. With well over ten thousand officially unaccounted for, it is now claimed to be the largest death toll, ever, from a natural disaster.

I find it, even now, so hard to take in the sheer scale of the carnage. If the sight of ships laying on top of buildings and buildings being moved hundreds of yards from where they were built is not enough, there is still the ongoing possibility of a massive nuclear incident following the explosions at the power plants that we have already witnessed.

One thing, though, has been just as noticeable as all the other sights. It is the reaction of the survivors and their fellow countrymen. 

Despite the unbelievable structural damage, the queues for fuel and the lack of food on the supermarket shelves, I have not heard one report of looting, violence or other opportunistic crime.

I wonder how many other countries in the world would be able to claim the same thing if they had suffered as much as parts of Japan?

Let’s hope we never have to find out!

Respect!

A Moment To Reflect On Japan...

I doubt there can be anyone who watched today’s events unfolding in Japan, who was not moved by the sheer scale of what they were witnessing,

It seemed unbelievable that an unstoppable ten metre high wall of water, caused by the earlier record breaking offshore earthquake (measuring 8.9) swept everything out of its path as it rolled across the shoreline. Cars, boats and even whole buildings were simply crushed and carried along by the Tsunami, as it drove ever onward across the land.

As I write this, it has been reported that at least 350 people are dead, a cruise ship is missing and two trains have been completely washed away. The final death toll can only be a guess, as many will probably never be found.

Perhaps, it is a timely reminder, to us all, that whichever religions we follow, however powerful our weapons or strong our armies, and whatever the political ambitions of the world’s feuding nations, we are not the ultimate controllers of our own destiny.

There is a much more powerful force at work than we can ever hope to invent. When it decides to demonstrate its power, we are all left helpless in its shadow.

My thoughts, this weekend, are with all those affected in Japan.

No Room At The Inn For Gays - But Jesus Is OK!

While the political rumblings might not be as severe as the 7.2 on the Richter scale being experienced by those in Mexico, Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling, must have felt more than a little quake in the pit of his stomach following publication of comments he made in private to the Centre For Policy Studies, a centre-right think tank.

He was referring to the case of a gay male couple turned away from a B&B on the grounds that the owner’s religious convictions meant she could not allow them to stay.

Mr Grayling expressed his personal view (in private to the committee but secretly recorded and sent to the Observer) that: "I think we need to allow people to have their own consciences” and “if it's a question of somebody who's doing a B&B in their own home, that individual should have the right to decide who does and who doesn't come into their own home."

Of course, technically at least, he is wrong as the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 states no one should be refused goods or services on the grounds of their sexuality.

But, the law does not often allow for the concept of common sense or political point scoring.

The media has been full of what should really have been a non-story and the fact it has even gained such prominence I find to be more worrying than the actual incident at the B&B itself.

Most of us would have walked away from the experience with the attitude that ‘shit happens’ and booked into somewhere else that was more tolerant of our lifestyle and was run by someone with less hostile views. Nothing would ever have been heard of the story again.

However, the couple in question, who apparently felt "we were treated as lepers in the worst possible way." (is there a good way?) felt the need to report the B&B owner to the police and are considering suing “for a principle”.

And that is where 'politics' checked into the B&B and I became disturbed:

One of the couple is, apparently, leader of the Lib Dem group on his local council.

Stonewall the activist organisation promoting gay rights has warned:

"There are lots of gay people out there who are thinking about voting Conservative – many for the first time in their lives,"

"They will now be interrogating these issues much more thoroughly."

Did you spot the implied threat?

The Observer, a paper which would be outraged if a similarly dubious recording had been made by an agency of the state, seems to find it acceptable to print Mr Grayling’s personal views when they are not even shared by the party he represents.

We are in election year and we must remember everyone wants to ‘score a goal’ against the opposition, or position themselves into a better place on the field of play.

One thing is for certain. Legislation cannot force acceptability of what is still a minority (yes, shock horror, the gay community is still a minority), albeit vocal group of people.

Acceptability comes about by behaviour and example.

For me, the couple lost all sympathy when they were seen on yesterday’s news 'mugging' the camera while draped in each other’s arms. It was a show of carefully staged ‘affection’ making a political point too crass even for the Camerons or the Browns to attempt.

Perhaps, the situation was best summed up by Andrea Williams, the director of the Christian Legal Centre:

"It is vital in a diverse and free society that we truly tolerate one another's views."

That should be taken as a two way street!!

The Cost Of Balancing Art And Earthquakes!

The above life-size bronze sculpture, by Swiss Artist Alberto Giacometti, was sold at auction in London, yesterday, for the record sum of £65m after just eight minutes of bidding.

The UK appeal for the disaster victims of the earthquake in Haiti has raised £70m and taken almost three weeks.

Somehow, comparing those two facts makes me feel uncomfortable.

I am not sure whether it is because one person can have so much as to be able to spend such a huge sum on a piece of bronze, or whether it is that so many people are left with so little, and are not able to find even the basics necessary to survive.

I guess that is the balance of life....for those who have, there are many more who have not.

It just does not seem a fair equation to me!

Planet Earth to Collide with either Mars or Venus!

We're all doomed!

Computer simulations have predicted that our planet Earth might collide with either Mars or Venus- but not for at least another billion years!

By that time, we will probably already have destroyed ourselves by one of a multitude of perils like Swine Flu, nuclear stupidity, global warming, another crap government or boredom from watching the contestants on series one billion of Big Brother!

Roll on the collision I say!!

The Italian Quake.

The earthquake around the Italian city of L'Aquila has killed over 150 people and made tens of thousands homeless.

It is one of those natural disasters that no-one ever believes will happen to them. One minute life is normal and peaceful and the next there is little left.

A claim has been made that an Italian scientist had tried to warn the authorities about the imminent danger some time ago, but he had been silenced for scaremongering. However, a spokesman for the Italian Civil Protection Agency has said he does not believe this would have been possible.

Whatever the truth of the claim, it is too late to be of comfort to the people who were killed or made homeless by the quake, which registered a massive 6.3 on the Richter scale.

It is humbling to think that an event that lasted for only around 30 seconds, could cause so much devastation and loss of life.

Once again, nature has sent a reminder of how vulnerable we really are!