Freedom

Freedom.  As seven letter words go this is by far the biggest, but what does it mean? Does it mean the same thing to you as it does to me? It almost certainly doesn’t. Is one man’s freedom another’s captivity? Most definitely. So where is the middle ground? Where is that place we can all agree freedom for everyone sits? Well if I knew that I would surely be ruling the world with a velvet gauntlet (Assuming of course that I’d be nowhere near as lazy as I am). The one thing I really wish we could agree on, as a collective race of people, is that everyone is free to do, think and aspire to anything one can think of but, alas, there are too many places in this world where that very sentiment would be considered dangerous. All I can do is give my point of view on events in the hope that you would use your freedom to consider what I am saying. God knows I don’t expect you to agree with me but I would hope that you’ll consider my position before shooting me down. By the way, it’s not all going to be like this it’s just that this is my first Blog and I wanted to set my stall out early.

If you hadn’t guessed it by now (what the hell is wrong with you?) this first entry will be looking at freedom using events from the past week or so. I want to keep it reasonably short so I won’t be touching on events in Libya or such like. A bit of a pussy move I know but I’m just settling in. So without further ado.

Abortion Debate

Nadine Dorries’ proposed amendments to the abortion laws have been shot down in the parliamentary vote today. Let’s get this very clear, the vote was not one on whether to abolish legal abortions but to take away publicly funded counseling for those women seeking terminations. These counseling sessions are a legal requirement for any woman looking to terminate a pregnancy and are there to make sure that the individual in question is of sound mind when seeking the procedure. They are not there to dissuade or to affirm they are there for the wellbeing of the woman. I would find it slightly more understandable if this was a notion tabled under the Conservatives financial austerity measures though still abhorrent, but Ms. Dorries has her own agenda here. She is an advocate for the abolishment of abortion and has herself admitted that the only way to achieve this is by chipping away at the law instead of calling for its abolition outright. We also know that her feelings on this matter are directly linked to her religious beliefs. Now calm down! As I have stated before, I believe that anyone can think, do and wish anything they want, but can we allow religion and politics to be bed fellows? A strange question? Maybe, seeing as some would argue that religion has shaped our societies for millennia, and they would be right but today’s society is extremely complex and we are all being pigeonholed in to minorities. Surely the logical conclusion is to have politics look at everyone equally and try and treat them fairly instead of letting our religions dirty the waters of freedom, if not there is a danger of an American  Republican style political party rising where persecution is rife and the almighty dollar is king this, in my opinion, would mark the beginning of the end of what I see true Britishness. We as a nation have managed, somewhat, to keep these two states of thinking (Logical and Spiritual) separate since Cromwell died and I would hope that it could stay that way all the while learning from each other to make society balanced. Two of my favourite people are both far more religiously minded than I. I know their beliefs and they know mine, do they conflict? Occasionally but we both love and respect each other and that’s why it doesn’t  come between us, now all we need to do is apply that sensibility on a bigger scale and lose the need prove ourselves to be right all of the time.  I know, I’m an idealist. A man can dream can’t he?

Blade Runner

Oscar Pistorius, nicknamed ‘Blade Runner’ because of his artificial running limbs, angrily walked out of an interview with the BBC today after being asked if “he was an inconvenient embarrassment to athletics”.

I’m not entirely sure what that question means or what the BBC expected after asking it, I can only assume that the question was inferring that Mr. Pistorius’ inclusion in the World Athletics Championship, the event itself usually being an ‘able bodied’ championship, was perceived as an embarrassment to the IAAF (the sport’s governing body). But what did the interviewer expect the reaction to the question to be? This is a very tricky topic. Who of us is to say whether Oscar Pistorius isn’t able bodied? After all he did win a silver medal in the 4 x 400m relay therefore he is able if not ‘able bodied’, but there lies the other side to the debate. Do his artificial ‘Blades’ give him an unfair advantage? Is he Bionic? I say a fair competition is on a level playing field and, as harsh as it sounds, there is no flesh and blood from his knees down and there for the playing field is about as level as the ground at Underhill. Mine, thankfully, is not the opinion that counts, so if Mr. Pistorius is happy being second best amongst his ‘able bodied’ peers and not top dog amongst his ‘limb deficient’ peers then good luck to him.

Where the puck’s gonna be

You may be wondering what this means. I was watching Kevin Smith’s televised Q & A ‘Too fat for Forty’ last night and in it he tells the story of one of his low points in life when his movie ‘Zak and Miri make a Porno’ was released and did poorly at the Box Office when, on paper,  it should have done very well. It’s a very funny but touching story that I wouldn’t do justice to by retelling it. To summarise though, he took solace in a series of documentaries on the history of Ice Hockey eventually coming to the saga of The Great One, Wayne Gretzky.  The greatest player in the history of the sport. During the film it covers Gretsky’s amazing statistics, not only did he have the highest score rate of any player but also an assist rate that was double his goal tally. When asked about these incredible stats Wayne related the wisdom his father gave him. ”Don’t go where the puck is son.” Said his father Walter “Go where the puck’s gonna be.” In essence, don’t go chasing what everyone else is after, try to stay ahead of the game and let the puck come to you. It may seem like a rhetorical sentiment but it’s what Gretzky says he owes his career to and it can apply to life as well as sport. I have decided to try to apply this to my life, to use my intuition and experience to put myself where I feel is right instead of chasing everyone else’s puck. Those who know and love me will find out how I intend to do this very soon and will hopefully support and or be a part of these little things. On a final note, I will be back very shortly with another blog in which I will be reviewing the movie Red State from the director, Kevin Smith.

I apologize if i have rambled but this is the first time i have written anything intended for others to read in a long time. I hope you stick with me, i promise to get better.

That is all.