A STORY YOU WILL NEVER FORGET

 

 

I tend to get a tad maudlin as Hogmanay approaches and loved ones come to mind.  I never know if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but I tend to think 'good' because the memories always make me smile. 

 

I feel blessed that I have had such incredible people in my life, my dear old mate 'Big Lynn' who's light burned so bright, it only burned half as long'.  My mother who's craziness eventually made sense, didn't live to a grand old age, but she lived every minute she was here.

 

And my dear old dad, who never stopped believing in me.  To this day, the last birthday card he sent me is by my side 'and without any doubt at all, your impending success in the future xxx Dad', he wrote.  He loved my writing and he loved my success, small as it was, a play on the radio and a column in a local newspaper.

 

Sinclair Mathieson of The People's Friend found my story of Constance compelling, beautifully written and deserving of a wide audience.  Unfortunately, it was 'too political' for The People's Friend, but he wished me well.   Happily, it was picked up immediately by a former BBC producer Paul Kent for a new digital radio station called Oneword.  He was able to produce it in 'one' without any editing or alteration, and so good was his production, it was nominated for a Sony award, and Oneword won Radio Station of the Year. 

 

Constance is an original story of an East End servant girl in Edwardian times, but more downstairs than upstairs.  Constance is a dreamer with ideas way above her station, who steals the family silver and runs off to America.  Unfortunately, the ship she sails on is The Titanic.

 

On Christmas Day 2001, as the rest of the UK sat down to watch James Cameron's Titanic, we tuned into Oneword Radio for the premier of Constance!  We cracked open the champagne and thereafter no-one was allowed to speak for an hour.  My Dad always believed 'Constance' would be the making of me, bless him.  And it should be, it's a great story and the heroine is as delicious a character as Scarlett O'Hara. 

 

Constance does deserve a wider audience, it is a gripping read with the kind of story that cries out for the big or small screen.  It was fantastic on radio.  If anyone knows Ken Loach, it's just his kind of thing!  Meanwhile, to all those who enjoy historic drama, and my unique writing style, who want a cracking story and a compelling character to engross you, please do give Constance a read.  It's long enough to sneak away for a couple of hours, but not so long that it eats up all your holiday.

 

Please forgive the 'homemade' book cover, and any errors or omissions within.  Think of it as 'First Edition', that might one day be precious!  Before the professionals get hold of it!  It has been discovered by those 'in the know' twice, I am hoping third time it will take!  Unfortunately, it has rather faded away under my 'real' name and there are no reviews, so please someone, anyone, lol, be the first! 

 

In answer to my original musing question, yes it is good to think of lost loved ones, because as the good memories come flooding back, so too do the feelings of well being, and dare I say, old hopes and dreams, we thought were long gone.  Today, as I think of my old Dad, and the Scotch he would be getting in, lol, I can see his beaming face and tears of pride as my play came on the radio.  He never stopped believing which is making me wonder why I did. 

 

That memory has given me the confidence to market my work, failure to do so being my biggest flaw as a writer.  Lack of confidence, lack of time, I hate being dragged away from writing, but something  I really must tackle next year.  I have a whiteboard on which I accidentally wrote 'New Years Resolutions' in permanent marker - ergo, it is only really valid for about one week a year. 

 

I jest of course.  It's all very well writing books, but I really ought to 'sell' them - even Charles Dickens visited town halls to read passages from his books.  I pay homage to Dickens of course, but also to Moll Flanders and the feisty Scarlett O'Hara.  The lack of strong female 'leads' in my upbringing, drove me to create one!  Constance stood out immediately from 20,000 scripts for good reason.  Please do read it, share it, retweet it and tell your friends about it, especially those producers looking for projects.  Constance is as fresh, original and appealing as it ever was and just waiting to be scooped up.

 

It is sad that I have to say this, but as a writer I have been blacklisted for years for my views on the missing Madeleine case.  My blog stands as testimony to the fact that my views are not 'hate' filled, it's neither my nature nor my style.  I know that people return here again and again, not just to catch up on Madeleine news, but also because my writing is appealing, entertaining and dare I say it, compelling.  Well yes I dare, because it has taken years to perfect my style doncha know dahlinks!  Goes without saying that my plotting and story telling is divine! 

 

OK, maybe a tad over the top with the confidence there, I think have overdosed on Bette Davis this Christmas, the glamorous Bette obviously, not Baby Jane.  Though some might argue that.  Please be among the first to read Constance, she is character you will never forget.

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Rosalinda-Hutton/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ARosalinda%20Hutton 

 

£2.47 on Amazon

Free on Kindle Unlimited

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

PUZZLE RETURNED - UNSOLVED

Dear Portugal,

 

Apologies for charging in like 18th century colonials on your investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.  We can't solve it either, been nice working with you, ta ta, Operation Grange.       Chances of this happening, on a postcard please.

 

As often happens, a blog begins with a reply……

 

Bjorn is away in the wilderness 20:00, so good time to attack eh? lol

 

I have never seen Bjorn write 'reams of accusation', analyse the Smith sighting 'to death' or even discuss the Gaspar statements, but while he's not here I suppose, it is a good time to say he does.

 

This case is going nowhere you say.  The magic forensic wand didn't work in 2007, it won't work now eh?  'Why would that change?' you ask, 'there would be a political war and the backlash would be too big to control

 

Bizarre, because on the other side of the Atlantic, the President of the USA and most of his family, look likely to be arrested any day now, obviously they are not AS big as Gerry and Kate.  Your  'case is going nowhere' argument is obliterated by the fact that Scotland Yard have invested £12m and over 6 years of police time and resources to solve it. No-one does that for something that is ‘going nowhere’.

 

No police force, no government, no giant corporation, no private individual, invests in a project and keeps throwing money at it, with the objective of failing.  The idea that the ultimate goal of Operation Grange is to obfuscate the disappearance of Madeleine further is ridiculous, actually more than ridiculous, it's batshit crazy.  Why would 30+ SY homicide detectives conspire to cover up the possible murder of a child? Do people honestly have that little faith in human nature?

 

There are other missing child cases worldwide that remain unsolved. Unsolved, in the sense that they have become cold cases, the police are not looking for a live child or an abductor because they know who is responsible but they can’t prove it.  This is where Madeleine’s case differs, two police forces in two countries are still conducting live investigations, this is not a case they are going to give up on.

 

Nor, when they reach the end, are they going to provide a false narrative.  1) Because it would be wrong on every level and 2) Too many details of the case are known to the public.  The ONLY explanation that will cover every question will be the truth.  Lots of other options have been tried but none have succeeded.  Madeleine’s disappearance is no longer referred to as an abduction, most significantly, not even by her mother, who this week gave an interview to The Mail, and apart from telling the Mail she still buys Christmas presents for Madeleine (Jeez), referred to Madeleine as missing, not abducted.  

 

A £12m police investigation is not going to end with failure and stuttered apologies, had that been their aim, it would have ended £11m ago, why bring attention (for 6 years) to something you are trying to cover up?  I was never really a Trekkie, but having two boys, Captain Kirk and Spock were impossible to avoid.  But I did take a liking to Spock, his clear thinking logic made a lot of sense, especially to an OTT drama queen, who usually thought and did the opposite. Many a former lover was spared a drunken 3.00am phone call when I began to precede my actions with ‘what would Spock do?’.  In this case, only the logical explanation works.

 

I think those who see Operation Grange ending with apologies to the parents, the funding government department, and the caring pubic who want to know what happened to Maddie, are slim to zilch.  How embarrassing to announce to the world, that despite all the time, funding and resources that were made available to them, they are still none the wiser than the PJ in 2007. Or worse, ‘we know the answer but we’re not telling anyone - not even the parents’.  

 

All those police officers, both here in the UK and in Portugal, have their lives and careers ahead of them. Why would they cover up a heinous crime, knowing the truth could come out at any time, and knowing it will be on their records forever?  And the human psyche just isn’t made that way. Most people are intrinsically good, that is they are ruled by their own conscience.  It’s a sad, bad world at the moment, but the good still outnumber the bad.  Any police officer asked to cover up the death of a child, would probably respond with two words, the second one being ‘off’.  

 

Added to that, Gerry and Kate are not sympathetic characters and the police are no different to the rest of us, some people we empathize with and want to help more, than we do with others. Kate and Gerry’s initial reaction to the police (the PJ), which they seem to be quite proud of, was one of scorn and arrogance.  They might just as well have said, we are a few tiers up from you on the intellectual and social scale - think Marie Antoinette talking to the plebs.  They are the kind of people who hold up the queue by demanding to speak to a ‘superior’ while demeaning a flustered shop worker and pissing off everyone in the line.  

 

Admittedly, the police they were demeaning at the time were Portuguese, but is there any reason to believe that a British police force would be treated with more respect?  Gerry and Kate are snobs, they weren’t relieved when the police arrived on the scene that night Madeleine disappeared, they were angry it wasn’t someone more important.  Kate referred to the two police officers as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, not in the heat of the moment, but 5 years later in her book Madeleine.  Clear and callous defamation of character and libel, and published at a time when she knew those police officers could be tracked down by the thugs guarding the McCanns’ interests online. Kate further goes on to demonstrate her attitude to the police, by boasting about her petulant behaviour as a detective tried to interview her.  She had no respect for him, so she sat chanting ‘f**king to**er’.  I’m amazed he didn’t spot her superiority right there and then.  

 

Of course, we have no idea what the relationship between the McCanns and the UK and Portuguese police is like now.  Clarence, as always, lies with as many teeth as he has in his mouth, and Gerry and Kate rarely speak.  Even in Kate’s latest interview, she is using the same script. ‘We miss her every day, yes her room is still the same, yes I still buy her presents’. She is missing the opportunity to beg Operation Grange to tell her what is going on, and she is missing the opportunity to speak ‘directly’ to 13 year old Maddie.  She can’t give any updates on the investigation because she doesn’t appear to have any.  That is either horribly cruel of the police, or she is hiding something big. She isn’t thanking any of the officers personally, for all the work they are doing on Madeleine’s behalf, no friendships have grown out of this investigation.  

 

I doubt any serving police here in the UK (or Portugal) have any inclination to pledge allegiance to Gerry and Kate personally, and I doubt they have ever become confused as to who the victim is in this case. The only reason they could have for continuing the investigation is because they have the will to solve it.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND BOOK UPDATE

 

UPDATE 22/12/17

Even at this time of year, those with malicious intent are still scribbling away with their little poison pens.  Again, I thank you for pointing out my faults, and again I point out I will not be following your advice as I have no desire whatsoever to be like you.  Stamp your feet as much as you like, and accuse me of being 'so mature' in a Vicky Pollard accent, but your criticism again and again lacks any sign of creativity or originality.  Learn a few more adjectives ffs!  Pick up a book now and again. 

I have no problem at all with being 'roasted', but make it funny, or at least credible.  Yes, I am a struggling writer, unless you are successful, the words struggling and writer naturally go together.  And yes, I have to do the same as every other independent website, I have to ask for contributions.  I love what I do, but the pay's shit!  I continue because I believe in myself, I believe in my talent, and I believe in my ability to connect with my readers.  Mostly because I never treat them as if they are stupid.  I treat them as equals, because they are, even if some don't know it yet. 

I'm not publishing your whinging and whining Unknown and Anonymous, why should I give you a platform?  You have run your own forums into the ground with such unsavoury reading that the general public are repulsed. You are not bringing my blog down to that level.  Suck it up or take it elsewhere.  

But I am good spirits!  A good friend has just given me a box of cherry liquors, it's a pre Christmas present, unwrapped, and with no other purpose other than to cheer me up!  I heartily approve!  I have a long day of baking tomorrow (shop bought quiche [blushing smiley]) but lots of homemade cupcakes.

Meanwhile, a wee 4 minute gift!  I am a huge fan of 'flash mobs' and here's one I find especially appealing, something to get us in the festive spirit!  I once joined a work choir many years ago to put on a Christmas performance of the Hallelujah Chorus.  I had delusions that I could sing at the time and I was especially fond of the guy organising it.  Happily most of the choir was made up of professionals, so I was able to give up any attempts at trying to hit the high soprano notes.  King of Kings, Lord of Lords, is especially painful (for listeners) when attempted by the untrained voice!  Ergo, when I hear it sung beautifully, it sends a shiver down the spine!  Enjoy.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

   





Apologies to all those awaiting the release of my new book, I promise it is underway and taking shape but it won't be ready for Christmas.  I have been somewhat disorientated by poor health and  a few mountains to climb.

Regardless, I am of course, in full Diva mode, crying into my delicately raised, elbow, I can’t work like this!  I think I'm going to spend next year in an isolation tank.  I watched a docu-drama about Abba last night and totally empathised Agnetha's need to go hide away in the forest.  It was a little alarming that she had a liaison with her stalker, but totally understandable.  I would, and probably have, done the same thing myself in the past (more the book, lol).  So few understand the daily pain of an artistic temperament.  Let me tell you dahlinks, I feel if I were sat with the troubled Vincent Van Gogh and the impoverished, beer swilling Marx, I’d be the one in the middle, saying ‘tell me about it’.  

 

These have been a difficult few months - I will spare  you all the details, for now, suffice to say, that I still have the power to get back up again, when I have been knocked down.  Something, I lost for a little while there.  I have a tendency to allow sorrow to completely engulf me, and at the moment I am so afraid for the future of mankind, the sorrow has been winning, but not for very much longer I hope.

 

Meanwhile, thank you to all my readers and contributors for coming back again and again.  As a younger woman, I always daydreamed about being part of the very elite Bloomsbury Club, a place in which I could hear new innovative ideas, talk endlessly, drink good coffee, and pass the opium pipe.  .I kind of feel I have created my own anything goes version here.

Christmas should of course be a time of love and family harmony, but quite often it is the eruption of a volcano that has been simmering for years or an unexpected swipe around the head with a turkey drumstick.  My Christmas message is chill.  As irritating as your spouse, parents, children, distant relatives might be, December 25th is not the day to tell them to change.

Having grown up with a mother who's clinical notes described her as 'quite a character' I'm not unfamiliar with the concept of 'who's going to kick it off this year'.  On this front, and indeed many others, the best advice I ever received was, 'she is as she is'.  When I stopped looking at my mum from a grumpy, embarrassed daughter perspective, I began to see why so many of her friends, especially gay men lol, doted on her.  I stopped scolding her and began to enjoy her delightful eccentricity, and we enjoyed our happiest years together.  My message there is, celebrate your eccentrics, one day it might be you :)

Thank you all again for coming back, seeing those numbers go up really does inspire me, and they are the reason I keep going.  In the McCann case, I feel a sense of responsibility to keep discussion of it in perspective, especially at this time of year.  Personally, I don't have it in me to wish anyone an unhappy Christmas, and I certainly don't want to add to anyone's pain, so I'm steering away for the present.  I hope the family can find peace.  Not through more deception, but through love, honesty and acceptance of responsibility. 

Meawhile, I wish everyone a lovely, snuggly, or wild partying Christmas, I'll raise my glass to you either way, with lots of laughs and not too many rows.  And if you are feeling in a festive and generous mood and would like to reward this particular irreverent author with a restorative box of Ferrero Rocher, or glass of bubbly, a cyber donation to my paypal button would be much appreciated. 

WHAT'S THE BIGGEST DANGER TO CHILDREN?

 

Because I am trying to host a sane, logical, discussion about the subject of child pornography, I am again being accused of spreading dangerous propaganda and sailing close to the wind.  Apparently my blog is policed regularly for evidence of some kind of misconduct.  Now I feel obliged to give that one regular reader a shout out!  Hiya, hope you're enjoying it thus far, but put your seatbelt on, I'm about to sail a bit closer to the wind. 

 

Firstly, I am as repulsed and disgusted at child pornography as any sane adult, and I'm not trying to legalise it or promote it.  As someone who always takes the side of the vulnerable and who has taken a stand in a courtroom against child abuse, I defy anyone to accuse me of supporting monsters.  My point, again and again, is why aren't the producers of these films, images etc, being arrested?  How about those actually defiling the kids in the images?  We keep hearing about child pornography, but we never hear about kids being rescued?  Why not?  Why aren't the actual victims, the children, the number one priority?

 

Every generation, going back hundreds of years, blames the arts, music, literature, the culture of their time, for society's ills.  I'm not claiming child pornography as an Art by the way, but I am concerned that the hysteria about images crosses so easily into The Arts sphere.  When someone claims an image is responsible for a criminal's behaviour, we should all be worried.   Some even want to criminalise cartoons ffs - there goes Family Guy and Herbert the Pervert!  The Arts are a mirror, not only do they reflect our lives right back at us, they capture the spirit of the times for all eternity.  That's why great writers (and wannabes like moi), carve our words with pride. 

 

Most of us, probably 99% behave with decorum in public, not so much online.  Not because we would be in the dock and held accountable if we didn't, but because that is how we were raised and because that is the right thing to do.  It isn't the Law that keeps us in check, anymore than it is the law that stops obscenities flooding the market?  Free will and the free choice of the majority NOT to view these images or visit these sites, keeps them off our screens.  Nobody wants them. They don't flood the markets because most people have no interest in them.  Supply and demand, the demand isn't there.   

 

With child pornography and child exploitation, the majority of us are so reviled by the it, that even underground suppliers would struggle and whistleblowers would be everywhere.  Ergo, the market is very, very small, very, very sleazy and always will be.  It's not a clear and present danger, just as the 4% of Muslims who make up the British population are not going to make a hostile takeover. 

 

The biggest danger to children comes from the home and from people who know them.  That's a fact.  The smallest danger to children is a predator on the internet.  I feel like Father Ted explaining small and far away to Father Dougal using pictures of cows.  More importantly, why is abuse always thought of as sexual?  Physical and mental abuse are far more prevalent and often prove fatal.  'So you were beaten to within an inch of your life, but did he TOUCH you? .  What of those disciplinarians who move in on young families and enforce inhumane regimes?  Those who think they can break a child's will by beating them or locking them up?  Is it OK to thrash a child, but not hug them?

 

Abuse comes in many forms, but only sexual abuse grabs the headlines.  As if dissecting the graphic details of a 40 year old grope will somehow help those children who are suffering today.  Those children going home to empty larders, empty cupboards and parents pushed to breaking point.  Or how about those refugee children desperately in need of safe home for themselves and their families?

 

As often happens, the discussion from the last blog has spilled over here.  Not least the ludicrous idea of banning whatever it is that turns paedophiles on - experts apparently can see things in pictures, that we regular people can't.  And I'm quite delighted about that.  Actually, I always look for the beauty around me, it keeps me sane(ish) and I think kindly of most people, until they give me good reason not to. 

 

However, the idea of pinpointing one generic trigger that fits all, is batshit crazy.  A movie might trigger one raging maniac to go on a killing spree, but it didn't affect all the millions who saw it in the same way.  And who is to say the movie was the trigger, it might have been one of the adverts?  That advert for Haribo sweets with adults talking like children, sends me demented!   I confess.  I did, as a teen watch 'The Evil Dead' after it was officially declared a 'video nasty', as indeed did everyone I knew, it was being passed on daily.  And no, no-one went on a rampage. 

 

The idea of banning things that MIGHT turn on this very tiny percentage of weirdos is in itself bizarre. How do you compile a  generic list of paedophile turn ons ffs?  would it include ice cream as claimed in the cesspit? How about a saucily shaped banana as cited in the Swedish case of two small cartoon characters?

 

I once looked after an elderly disabled gentleman, who's turn on was school girls in their short skirts.  Not an uncommon turn on, even among men who wouldn't dream of touching a child.  The netball matches in Lincoln's Inn Field had a very large audience of City gents.  My client's problem was he was very vocal about it.  He also used the internet to look up school girls etc, and he would often go out and photograph them.  He was often brought home by the police.

 

He was mentally and physically disabled, and couldn't nor wouldn't, ever hurt anybody.  He shared his home with another gentleman who was wheelchair bound, and during the night, he would check on him and bring him drinks.  He had a kind, caring nature, and just couldn't understand why he shouldn't whistle, leer at or photograph schoolgirls. He would cry and apologise and promise never to do it again, but he always did, he had short term memory loss.  Sadly, he would be just the kind of man an angry mob would take pleasure in hanging from a lamppost, there would be no time to explain or ask for compassion for his condition, that is where this hysteria has taken us.  

 

But going back to banning, should school girls go back to wearing their skirts one inch above the knee, because one poor old guy, couldn't hide his glee?  Should he be lynched?  Or should schoolgirls be aware that there are some unfortunate people in this world who don't know how to behave appropriately. And that they are not necessarily a threat to them.   Is it so difficult to spend a few moments explaining to a child how and why other people are different to them  and they should feel compassion rather than leaving their fears unexplained? 

 

I spent my early childhood in the shadow of the great Holloway Sanatorium in Virginia Water, and both my parents worked there, it cared for the gentrified mentally disabled and exhausted celebrities.  Visitors, including the Queen Mother, arrived in Rolls Royces.  Our small village was dominated by the Sanatorium, hospital workers and residents out for a stroll.  Both my father and mother instilled it in me to show kindness and compassion to the residents, just as they did. And I was happy to, I met some great characters, I feared no-one, and I learned very early in life that most people, especially the lost and lonely, just want a friend to cheer them up.  It breaks my heart when I see families and children flinch at the disabled, they truly don't know what they are missing.

 

Of all the jobs I've had, care work was the most rewarding and indeed most enlightening.  Seeing human behaviour in it's simplest form taught me far more than a study of the more complex characters. It was a huge learning curve.  Take a horrible character and strip them of their motivation, their vanity, their self awareness, their complex schemes, and you are left with the nicest basics and the nicest natures.  I just wish people could understand there is nothing to fear, that just because someone's looks different, it doesn't mean they will harm them.   I loved the time I spent with my clients, unfortunately, as much as they loved my 'big kid' antics, my employers didn't.  

 

I worry that these paedophile hunters and vigilantes do not consider the mental health of those men they go after.  The old guy I looked after wasn't capable of grooming anybody, but imagine if he was lured to a car park by an angry mob?  Unfortunately, history is littered with the mentally disabled being hung in error. 

 

The best way to protect children is by educating the parents about the very real risks.  The new boyfriend, the over helpful neighbour, the always willing babysitter and yes, the professionals.   Like a mummy tiger helping it's cub out into the world, we must teach them how to ward off predators.  But we should also point out to them those most likely to be friends.  

 

Just like the animal world, predators are always on the look-out for the weak and vulnerable and steer away from the strong and confident.  The best gift we can give our children is the confidence to protect themselves.   I wasn't in the least bit perturbed when my 13 year old son began an online relationship with a voluptuous 18 year old called Lollypop Happy (yes the name was that unforgettable). He would keep me updated on his daily chats while I and his big brother teased him mercilessly.  I think what finally burst his bubble, was when I pointed out Lollypop Happy was probably a big auld hairy arsed builder in his fifties. 

 

Kids (mostly) aren't stupid, especially where the internet is concerned.  They have grown up with it, they understand it better than we do, or probably ever will.  Where they are naïve however, is in understanding the behaviour of others, they don't have the life experience to discern what is or isn't appropriate behaviour.  It isn't difficult to teach.  Children are mimics.  They copy everything you do and say.  If you won't allow  yourself to be disrespected, neither will they.  If you treat your child with respect that will be the standard they expect from all others, like the difference between right and wrong   A confident kid will know that it is not OK for an adult to make them feel uncomfortable and they do not have to tolerate it. 

 

It is ridiculous that the subject of child pornography is not open for debate, by and large, because the sane, reasonable and logical, dare not voice their fears out loud because of what people might think of them.   Resulting in the debate being dominated by hysteria and extremists who think mobs can be driven into a sexual frenzy by a cartoon.   

 

WHAT'S TO FEAR ON THE INTERNET

One of the joys of owning a blog and being single is that I can argue with stubborn, obstinate old men without having to sleep with them, or put poison in their coffee.  Some men, when they get to a certain age, become so set in their ways, they should be hammered into the ground, quite literally.  And it irks the hell out of me as a woman, when a man automatically positions himself as older and wiser.  Truth be told, in most cases I'm wiser, and if I'm not I acknowledge it.  And in the case of you, ZT/Ziggy, that will never happen. 

 

In response to your latest, patronizing, demeaning attempt to make me look ill informed and lacking in education, here are a few home truths.

 

Yes, it's my thing now, Trump is the benchmark for everything evil and everything tacky. Well spotted. Trevor Noah? Yes indeed I am a fan, he's  a genius who didn't go to Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard or Yale. I have my own criteria for measuring genius VT, and top of my list are comedians, political ones especially who can take in and sum up an entire situation in one funny line. 

 

I'm sure I will enjoy movies all the more now I have your approval VT, my film posters and stars can remain on my walls :)  Funnily enough, I told a good friend the other day, I would bequeath her my large portrait of Charlie Chaplin, but I'm not sure she was happy about it.  I think she has her eye on my china tea set.

 

Movies are educational! How many millions have learned about art, history, literature, music, the lives of their ancestors, famous characters from history, famous incidents from history, the list goes on and on.  I knew all about Oliver Cromwell at 13, because my Dad took us to see it in the West End.  Is it likely any of us would have picked up as many books as films we have watched? Or how many books we go on to read after watching a film.  You will argue that films are not historically accurate, but I would argue they are another interpretation, just as two artists could paint the same landscape, and you would have entirely different pictures.  

 

We watch a movie, we buy the book, we may take it further.  I may have mentioned I have a deep and passionate interest in the French Revolution, I have even written a couple of screen plays that I really should submit to someone.  Studying it in greater depth is a treat I am saving for my twilight years, when I hope to do another degree. I always say my interest began with 'It was the best of times and it was the worst of times', Dickens 'Tale of Two Cities', but to be honest it was 'Carry On Don't Lose Your Head'.

 

How many kids learned about the Roman Empire while watching 'Carry On Cleo'? OK, for some kids that's ALL they will ever know about the Roman Empire, but at least it's something.  You cite The Alamo and Schindler's List - in what way were they distorted to benefit someone?  Who was benefitting from the propaganda? Was Schindler's List a lie? Or was it a way to tell generation after generation about the Holocaust? Something the world should never forget.   How many people would have known about Schindler or even The Alamo, if it hadn't been for those movies? 

 

You have an elite attitude to popular culture that is ridiculous VT.  You cite times past as better times, as though we should be looking backwards instead of forwards.  Your fear of the internet, is no different to the fear of books, art or music.  As if someone might write, paint or sing something that will sent the world into meltdown.  As though people need to be protected from themselves. 

 

Living in fear is a life choice ZT, you can lay in bed at night worrying about some anonymous troll or shill, or you can switch off by reading a book or watching a movie, like the rest of us.  You choose to worry about weirdos on the internet.  That's weird in itself.   You seem to think we are being brainwashed by some dark, sinister force - Mark Zuckerburg as a CIA Operative was a cracker. 

 

The internet is the best thing that has ever happened to Mankind.  For the first time in history we are all in contact with each other - all over the globe.  The citizens of one country can talk to citizens of another country in real time!  The internet is not a threat to multitudes, it's a threat to those who hold the power.  Crowds can assemble within moments, unpopular laws can be defeated by the masses.  The best example of the massive shift in the paradigm is the people's choice of Jeremy Corbyn as the Labour Party leader and his growing popularity throughout the country.   

 

I don't know what your real fears are ZT, you have written volumes but never actually said.  In the whole scheme of things, the internet is relatively new, will it evolve into Orwell's '1984'?  What cheers me is that those young internet geniuses who fight to preserve internet freedom are always ahead of the Authorities.   Whatever they design must be superior to the hackers.  Daily. 

 

Without knowing what your actual fear is VT, it is difficult to understand.  While each of our names are important to us, they are rarely of any interest to anyone else.  If someone says something nasty, so what? If it matters that much we can respond, or we can ignore it.  Sure as eggs is eggs, someone in the real world is saying something nasty about you right now.  That's life.  Being a somewhat flamboyant and some might say, eccentric, character in real life, I'm used to being talked about. 

But, as another of my Hollywood Icons (the divine Marilyn Monroe) would say, 'If I worry about other bitches, I'd be just like them, another worried bitch'. 

 

It really saddens me to see people such as yourself spreading this mythical fear about the internet.  The dangers, are hugely exaggerated, especially where grooming young people online is concerned.  Young people today are far more savvy than our generation, they have grown up with the internet, they know more than we ever will.  If they are going to be stalked or abducted, it is far more likely it will be by someone who knows them or an opportunist.  Not an impoverished gang of youths in an internet café in Azerbaijan.  To be honest, I am very uncomfortable with the whole idea of vigilantes' tracking paedophiles' down online.  I am certain there are far more practical and effective ways to protect the young and vulnerable, than cornering an old bloke in a car park with a crowd screaming and carrying baseball bats. 

 

 

Not being James Bond, I kind of accept the Dr. Evil threat as a possibility.  Though had it worked out for Blair, I would have marched until I had blisters, as I would if any of his henchmen were elevated to power again.  I accept in the sense, that I know, I personally can't stop it.  That will irk most activists, quite rightly, but don't get me started on the number of causes I feel I should be involved in.  It sets my conscience off.  There may or may not be a Dr. Evil plotting as we speak, but it's beyond my control.  I'm always on the lookout for a calming chant, a favourite for a while was 'Serenity Now' from Seinfeld which involved a lot of arm waving, these days I prefer the more tranquil 'beyond my control'.

 

More likely than Dr. Evil, is a slow erosion of the freedom of speech we presently have.  And we have that courtesy of those movers, shakers and music makers, who I refer to as the new Masters of the Universe, the owners of the social networks.  I am being castigated on my previous blog for calling Mark Zugerburg the antithesis of Donald Trump.  Gold Plated toilet seat.  I rest my case.

 

The danger lies in the slow erosion, the calls for policing of social media by the same people selling us scare stories.  These government approved scare stories usually come in on the back of a major tragedy. That is the bans, restrictions and legal enforcements are introduced virtually overnight if public feeling is strong enough.  

 

Apologies ZT for using you as an example of everything that drives me nuts about men of my own age.  It is not all personal.  But it does irk me that you keep you deliberately keep your eyes shut when it runs counter to your own set in stone beliefs.  You have no, zero, zilch, interest in learning, you think you have reached that point where you know everything, therefore opening another book is not necessary.  How do you learn anything if you are never wrong?

 

As for my Hollywood the Dream Factory, I learned rather more than the title line ZT, and by the way, doesn't every artist strive to create a dream? How many great works of art are dreams? how about the words of writers who take you into their world, and the songs that take you to an alternate state of mind?

 

You have a very closed mind ZT, and one I can only feel pity for, because you will never change.   I would give you a recommended reading list ZT, but you would discard it, as not worth  your time.  You are proud of rejecting things you won't even try to understand.  It baffes me but you are far from alone in your demographic. 

 

I don't feel in the least bit ashamed of my love of movies, because I take something from every film I see (not The Happening, for which I have still not forgiven Mark Wahlberg)*, the movies are an endless source of information and entertainment, I feel sad for you that you will never feel the magic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Forgave MW after Ted :)

 

Apologies, it's very late and I have an awful cold, please forgive any errors or omissions. [Sheepish smiley]

CAN SOCIAL MEDIA PERVERT THE COURSE OF JUSTICE?

I have no doubt that when Operation Grange finally comes to end, there will be a Public Inquiry, and among the questions asked will be, did the McCanns’ media campaigns pervert the course of justice and if so to what extent?  This will be followed by a huge outcry and demands that the Government do something about it - ie. Police the internet.

 

Hopefully, the logical, the reasonable, the sane and the huge Freedom of Speech lobby rally to oppose the irrational demands of the over sensitive.  As my regular readers know, I am vehemently opposed to banning anything, I still have enough belief in the goodness of human nature, to know that nasty, spiteful trolls and anti social individuals are usually defeated by peer pressure.  They are desperate for an audience, why give it to them? 

 

Ban is my least favourite word in the dictionary, a close second to gusset and gobsmacked.  In fact I would ban the word ban.  I was watching Question Time last night and the discussion turned to banning Donald Trump.  Bizarrely, I was with the lady in the sparkly jacket, let him come, giving us just enough notice to let a few eggs and tomatoes go off.  As a Marxist and a Republican, I've never been particularly fond of the Royal family.  Fascinated, but not fond.  However, I think we Brits have got something in our genetic nature whereby at the age 60 we go all gooey over Royal weddings and babies!  I hate myself for this, and will later go burn my dungerees and bovver boots (also a feminist), but I love Meghan Markle!  OK, I love Harry, Wills and Kate too, and I shed a tear when I think how proud their mum would be. 

 

Even the old Queen who I have oft called a miserable old bat over the years, gives me a teeny glow of pride.  If a face can speak a thousand words, I am pretty sure hers will have much to say to the Donald.  Or maybe just two words, one beginning with 'F' followed by 'orf'.  The Windsors have more class, more style, more charm and more diamonds than the Hillbillies in the Whitehouse could ever imagine.  Kate and Meghan are naturally stylish, Melania and Ivanka are styled by a 71 year old man fixated on beauty queens.  They dress as an accessory for his elbow, not themselves. 

 

Mieow, and while I'm at it, it pleases me immensely that Barack and Michelle Obama will be welcome guests of the bride and groom.  Everything Trump and his ghastly family ever dreamed of, riding down The Mall in a gold carriage, goes again to the man he envies the most.  Ok, maybe not literally the gold carriage (sulky smiley), but an elite club from which he will forever be excluded. 

 

But back to the original question.  The internet is still relatively new.  That is, many of us remember manual typewriters, and some, ink and a quill.  I jest, sorry.  We are not yet fully aware of the extent of it's powers.  The Madeleine story captured the zeitgeist, we were all finding new and exciting ways in which to use the wonders of the world wide web.  For the first time, a missing child could be publicised worldwide within hours of disappearing.  Someone had discovered a 'good' use of the internet, a use that was morally sound.  Searching for a missing child united us - globally. 

 

It's a bit like Winston Churchill's 'Never have so many owed so much to so few.....'.  He had used it several times before, but it never had the resonance it had when he applied it to the brave pilots who defended the British coastline.  It's like a 'perfect storm', a culmination, when all elements come together at the same time.  The birth of the internet, Spin as an acknowledged profession, a government seeking a way in which to access the public's private internet activity, etc, etc. 

 

Unfortunately for the McCann family and all their advisors, they could no more see into the future than the rest of us.  The monster that filled their coffers and elevated them to icon status, then went on to devour them.   They foolishly believed they could keep the monster on a leash.  There is an almost childlike naivety in Gerry and Kate, an old fashioned belief in the values of England in the 1960s'.  They have spent all their money on a quest to get a Court to rule them innocent, as if a Court Order would be treated with any respect on a lawless internet.  (And let me be clear here, I love the lawlessness!).  Those days when we all tipped our hats to Judges, policemen and doctors are a thing of the past.  We are no longer told what to think, we can think for ourselves.

 

The answer to the title question is of course yes.  But there is no legislative answer.  As a curious onlooker of the McCanns' campaigns, I would never make any demands for them to be banned.  That's one of the best things about Freedom of Speech, if someone says horrid things about you, you are free to challenge them and put forward your own argument.  It's a level playing field.  The best answer wins. 

 

I'm afraid I have little, OK, no sympathy for those who claim the internet destroys lives.  Of course, I have spent my entire life being the outsider, the non team player, so I'm used to people talking about me and whispering in corners.  If they're not, I feel the need to up the ante.  Can we focus on ME please, lol. 

 

I have always found high profile libel actions hilarious, they always end up exposing things the claimants don't want exposed, and they never end well.  Those who would never have given a second thought to whether you were guilty or not, now believe you are.

 

Claiming you have been affronted, is all about ego.  The way in which you perceive yourself without first reading the words of Rabbie Burns.  Nobody outside of your head gives two hoots that you were called a bitch online, in the Sun, or wherever.  Most of us think about ourselves 99% of the time, but libel claimants go the full 100%.  Because their obsession is themselves, they are very easy to manipulate with smarmy lawyers queuing up on the doorstep.  Pistols at dawn wasn't nearly so lucrative. 

 

Those perpetuating the idea that internet trolls are one of the greatest threats to society, are in fact inviting the public to demand the government take control of the greatest source of information the world has ever seen.  They are consciously or subconsciously, telling us we need 1984 authoritarian protection.  In a nutshell, they want us to fear our laptops.

 

In this big bad world, internet trolls are the least of our fears.  OK, they say nasty things, they even make threats, and write movie scripts for Saw, but the reality is, said creep is probably some bitter, socially inept loner, hiding in his/her room 500 miles away.  Ergo. Not likely to climb in your bedroom window, should you decide not to sleep in a panic room.  They have NO contact with their victims, that's the whole point. They can persecute people from afar without fear of being caught.The  chances of them wallpapering their front rooms with your picture and lurking outside your front door are miniscule, especially if they are stalking you from Kurdistan for example. 

 

Governments have every good reason to keep the population living in fear, it's a bit like the old protection racket.  They create the fear and then offer to protect us from it.  Media campaigns, whatever we think of them, should not be banned.  And as loathsome as some of the Madeleine forums are, even they should have their freedoms protected. We all have the free will to read and write whatever we want.  Even the dull and the ignorant. 

 

I am a great believer in the Law of Attraction.  If you put out negative energy, that's what you get back.  Forums like CMoMM drove all the reasonable and rational people away with their appalling manners and hostile attitude.  I doubt there are more than half a dozen remaining.  No ban was necessary, they destroyed themselves. 

 

The Madeleine campaign was probably the first active media campaign run by the family of a missing child, but it hasn't been done to the same extent since.  Not least because the printing of t-shirts and the holding of candlelight vigils now sets off alarm bells.  The Campaign helped I think by creating the idea that the public overwhelmingly supported the parents of Missing Madeleine, even if they didn't.  Those media monitors in Whitehall etc, then see the 'stats', million likes on facebook, and put the government's support behind the popular cause.  That's why it has always been integral to Gerry and Kate to convince interviewers that the public are fully behind them.  'Opinion is roughly 50/50 Kate', said the Irish host, 'no, no, she replied, it's only a tiny handful, I don't know anyone like that, do you?'. 

 

Much of this case, as newcomers will have discovered, is full of myths, smoke and mirrors.  Gerry and Kate worked hard to present themselves as the faces of a hidden, giant army of helpers and supporters.  In the early days I seriously imagined a packed sweatshop with trolls working their fingers to the bone fending off McCann critics.  I now think it is just a very prolific handful.

 

The McCanns made a huge success out of what they did.  I know success doesn't seem like the right word, but they achieved everything they set out to do.  Madeleine became the most famous missing child in the world, and they presented as two erudite professionals to whom something terrible had happened. 

 

The internet can and will, always sway public opinion, just as newspapers have in the past, but at this point in history, we now have hundreds of news sources to choose from.  The Madeleine story wasn't confined by borders.  The British media were promoting the abduction story, but the Portuguese were reporting something else. And anyone taking 10  seconds to google, quickly stumbled on the news not being reported in the UK.  Not only could the McCanns not control the news coming out of Portugal, nor could the mainstream media.