A name is an identifier, sometimes unique depending on how creative your parents were if we're talking about people - occasionally if your parents get too creative, then changing your name by deed poll is an option once you come of age.
But how about countries? At one time, Britain had an empire that spanned a quarter of the globe and chose to name countries within her realm as she saw fit. Once those countries gained independence, a few decided to change their names such as Zimbabwe which was formerly known as Rhodesia and Sri Lanka which was known as Ceylon. For other countries such as China and Russia, the renaming was limited to cities so Peking became Beijing and Leningrad reverted to St. Petersburg after the break up of the Soviet Union.
In 1989, the military junta in Burma decided to rename the country Myanmar and the former capital city Rangoon became known as Yangon. Today saw the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, but whether it's a case of sticking two fingers to the military junta or a former colonial power refusing to recognise the diktat of a wayward former colony, the British press insist on calling the country Burma - Al Jazeera have no such problems.
If I tell you what I'ld like to be called then it behoves you to refer to me by my name choice, especially if you're seeking to engage with me. The British press are taking their cue from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office which persists in using the old name and that's tantamount to a diplomatic own goal.
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Shooting the messenger
In July, Wikileaks released over 70,000 classified documents on the war in Afghanistan putting themselves, and in particular Julian Assange, the face of Wikileaks, in the firing line of the US government. Both the US and UK governments were quick to condemn the release of the Afghan war logs and say that the lives of troops and people who had collaborated with them were at risk. This has since been shown to be yet another piece of propaganda as three months on, the Pentagon were forced to admit that not a single person has been harmed by the release of the logs. In the lead up to July, Wikileaks had contacted the US government to request their help in redacting sensitive information - the US government refused to cooperate and of course initially denied that Wikileaks had contacted them until documents surfaced proving Wikileaks had contacted the US State Department via an intermediary.
The release of Afghan war logs turned Wikileaks and Julian Assange into the US government's bête noir and so began numerous attempts to shut them down. Pressure was exerted on the British registered website that Wikileaks used for online donations and they succumbed to that pressure. A Swedish prosecutor decided to impugn Julian Assange's character by issuing a rape warrant which was cancelled 24 hours later. Last week, Wikileaks was subjected to an online attack that in their words "could have only been carried out by a highly skilled hacker", something that had been proposed by various persons within and without the US government. Fortunately, Wikileaks don't just have a Plan B, but a Plan C and a Plan D and their leak of the 400,000 classified documents on the Iraq war went ahead.
What is indisputable, is the accuracy and veracity of the documents so why is the US government hell bent on shooting the messenger instead of addressing the realities these documents reveal? With the Afghan war logs, the source, according to the US government, is Private Bradley Manning, but thus far the US government has not fingered anyone for the leak of the Iraq war logs - why?
At a press conference in London last Saturday on the Iraq war logs, Julian Assange noted that the first casualty of war is the truth and Wikileaks intent to redress that - the release of the logs shines a spotlight on seven years of propaganda peddled by the US and UK governments. Sitting alongside Julian Assange was Daniel Ellsberg whose courage about 40 years ago, in leaking the Pentagon Papers, served to make the US public aware of what was really going on during the Vietnam War and helped turn the tide of public opinion firmly against the war. During the press conference Daniel Ellsberg presented Julian Assange and Wikileaks with the 2010 Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence Award which the latter fittingly accepted on behalf of their sources.
The release of Afghan war logs turned Wikileaks and Julian Assange into the US government's bête noir and so began numerous attempts to shut them down. Pressure was exerted on the British registered website that Wikileaks used for online donations and they succumbed to that pressure. A Swedish prosecutor decided to impugn Julian Assange's character by issuing a rape warrant which was cancelled 24 hours later. Last week, Wikileaks was subjected to an online attack that in their words "could have only been carried out by a highly skilled hacker", something that had been proposed by various persons within and without the US government. Fortunately, Wikileaks don't just have a Plan B, but a Plan C and a Plan D and their leak of the 400,000 classified documents on the Iraq war went ahead.
What is indisputable, is the accuracy and veracity of the documents so why is the US government hell bent on shooting the messenger instead of addressing the realities these documents reveal? With the Afghan war logs, the source, according to the US government, is Private Bradley Manning, but thus far the US government has not fingered anyone for the leak of the Iraq war logs - why?
At a press conference in London last Saturday on the Iraq war logs, Julian Assange noted that the first casualty of war is the truth and Wikileaks intent to redress that - the release of the logs shines a spotlight on seven years of propaganda peddled by the US and UK governments. Sitting alongside Julian Assange was Daniel Ellsberg whose courage about 40 years ago, in leaking the Pentagon Papers, served to make the US public aware of what was really going on during the Vietnam War and helped turn the tide of public opinion firmly against the war. During the press conference Daniel Ellsberg presented Julian Assange and Wikileaks with the 2010 Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence Award which the latter fittingly accepted on behalf of their sources.
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Imagine
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
John Lennon 9th October 1940 - 8th December 1980
Words that are even more resonant today than when he wrote them.
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
There are no certainties in sport
Over the past week, there have been a number of sporting results which can be categorised as upsets; Rafael Nadal, the world number one tennis player losing to his compatriot, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, in Bangkok, Liverpool FC, England's most successful club, losing to newly promoted Blackpool on Saturday and the reigning NBA Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in an exhibition game at London's O2 arena last night.
While Rafa's loss can be categorised as bad day at the office given he had numerous break points, he got back to winning ways in his next match in Tokyo. For Liverpool, it's a different story altogether as this result has meant the club have made their worst start to the league for 57 years, far longer than I have been alive. The international break means the Liverpool players will have to wait until 17 October to see if they can turn things around - given they are playing Liverpool's other club, motivation won't be lacking, but it remains to be seen if that will be enough. The Los Angeles Lakers played all but 6 minutes without Kobe Bryant who is recovering from knee surgery he had in July. The Minnesota Timberwolves coach, Kurt Ramblis, is an ex Laker so his motivation for getting one over Phil "The Zen Master" Jackson was not in doubt. The Lakers kept things close in the first two quarters, but they made numerous turnovers in the third quarter and it was a similar story in the fourth quarter. The Lakers started with four of their usual starters; Derek Fisher, Kobe, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest, but only Derek and Pau played a significant number of minutes. Kobe has his eyes on a 6th NBA championship ring so it's no wonder he's playing things very safe.
The drama at Celtic Manor as the last day of the Ryder Cup unfolded is something that would have been labelled fanciful if a scriptwriter had come-up with such a rollercoaster of a plot as the destiny of the Ryder Cup remained uncertain until the 17th hole of the last singles match to be played.
Sport is a great leveller and the guaranteed uncertainty is what makes the watching and participation so compelling.
While Rafa's loss can be categorised as bad day at the office given he had numerous break points, he got back to winning ways in his next match in Tokyo. For Liverpool, it's a different story altogether as this result has meant the club have made their worst start to the league for 57 years, far longer than I have been alive. The international break means the Liverpool players will have to wait until 17 October to see if they can turn things around - given they are playing Liverpool's other club, motivation won't be lacking, but it remains to be seen if that will be enough. The Los Angeles Lakers played all but 6 minutes without Kobe Bryant who is recovering from knee surgery he had in July. The Minnesota Timberwolves coach, Kurt Ramblis, is an ex Laker so his motivation for getting one over Phil "The Zen Master" Jackson was not in doubt. The Lakers kept things close in the first two quarters, but they made numerous turnovers in the third quarter and it was a similar story in the fourth quarter. The Lakers started with four of their usual starters; Derek Fisher, Kobe, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest, but only Derek and Pau played a significant number of minutes. Kobe has his eyes on a 6th NBA championship ring so it's no wonder he's playing things very safe.
The drama at Celtic Manor as the last day of the Ryder Cup unfolded is something that would have been labelled fanciful if a scriptwriter had come-up with such a rollercoaster of a plot as the destiny of the Ryder Cup remained uncertain until the 17th hole of the last singles match to be played.
Sport is a great leveller and the guaranteed uncertainty is what makes the watching and participation so compelling.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
He came, he played, he conquered!!
At the age of 17 he won his first French Open and the deciding rubber that won Spain the Davis Cup. He successfully depended his French Open crowns three times and in the process surpassed Björn Borg's record for the number of consecutive victories on clay - they called him a clay court specialist, but by 2007 he had reached his first Wimbledon final on grass. In 2008, he would become the first man since Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back, but only reached the semi-finals of the US Open - they said he couldn't play on hard courts. In January 2009, he won his first Australian Open title, on a hard court, but his renowned mental strength was sorely affected by off-court tribulations and he made an unexpected exit at the French Open, wasn't able to defend his Wimbledon title, only reached the semi-finals of the US Open and lost all his matches at the World Tour finals in November 2009.
Still not at his physical peak, he had to withdraw from his match against Andy Murray at this year's Australian Open, but by the time the clay court season rolled round, he was back to his best, becoming the first man to win all three clay court Masters titles in a season and in doing so he took his tally of titles to eighteen, surpassing Andre Agassi and Roger Federer on seventeen. At the French Open, he swatted aside his 2009 conqueror and illustrated the gulf between himself and Andy Murray in the semi-finals of Wimbledon. His straight sets victory in the final over Tomas Berdych secured him his eighth grand slam and having decided to focus his energies on the one grand slam to elude him, he arrived at Flushing Meadows ready to cement his place in history with a remodelled serve.
Up until the final, he hadn't drop a set, but his opponent who played his best match in the semi-finals to thwart Roger Federer's attempt to appear in a seventh consecutive final, claimed the second set. However, Rafa was not to be denied and he won the third and fourth set to complete the tennis grand slam.
As he still believes he can improve, despite being world number one, having won nine grand slam titles, an Olympic gold medal, eighteen Masters title and three Davis Cups, the chasing pack should be afraid, very afraid!
Still not at his physical peak, he had to withdraw from his match against Andy Murray at this year's Australian Open, but by the time the clay court season rolled round, he was back to his best, becoming the first man to win all three clay court Masters titles in a season and in doing so he took his tally of titles to eighteen, surpassing Andre Agassi and Roger Federer on seventeen. At the French Open, he swatted aside his 2009 conqueror and illustrated the gulf between himself and Andy Murray in the semi-finals of Wimbledon. His straight sets victory in the final over Tomas Berdych secured him his eighth grand slam and having decided to focus his energies on the one grand slam to elude him, he arrived at Flushing Meadows ready to cement his place in history with a remodelled serve.
Up until the final, he hadn't drop a set, but his opponent who played his best match in the semi-finals to thwart Roger Federer's attempt to appear in a seventh consecutive final, claimed the second set. However, Rafa was not to be denied and he won the third and fourth set to complete the tennis grand slam.
As he still believes he can improve, despite being world number one, having won nine grand slam titles, an Olympic gold medal, eighteen Masters title and three Davis Cups, the chasing pack should be afraid, very afraid!
Felicitaciones Rafa!!
Sunday, 12 September 2010
The kindness of strangers
Over the past eighteen months, my expectations of support from people I know have become as permanent as the footprints left on a sandy beach. But when one door closes another opens and it's the kindness of strangers that has restored my faith in humanity. I believe in helping when I can and its karma that in my times of need, strangers have come through for me.
Je remercie les deux hommes qui m'aider la dimanche dernière et l'homme qui m'aider à l'aéroport il y a six mois.
Je remercie les deux hommes qui m'aider la dimanche dernière et l'homme qui m'aider à l'aéroport il y a six mois.
Sunday, 22 August 2010
All things considered
Given the heats were set up so I couldn't fail to progress to the finals, I did have serious reservations about how well I would do at yesterday's tournament, especially when it became clear that the other heat winners had actually won their heats. What's more, I lost my only warm up game, here.
My first match didn't start well when I did an air shot for my first serve and didn't land my second serve on the table so I was 0-2 down and it was first to five. Fortunately, I was able to turn things around and won the match 5-3. I won my second match 5-0, lost the third match 0-5 (my opponent used the pen-holder grip) and won my last match 5-3 which saw me top the group having won 3 matches and reach the quarter-finals. The matches were truncated to first to three and I won my first match 3-0. In my second quarter-final match, I was up against another pen-holder grip opponent and lost 1-3 to the person who would go on to win the tournament. In conversation afterwards, he mentioned that he plays for his firm so I thought I acquitted myself rather well.
Next up was a chance to practice stroke consistency with a robot and I had two goes at each table before taking my leave.
The organisers had provided me with a brand new bat when I registered and on the red side was a sticker saying, PLEASE, PUT ME BACK! As I was on my way out, I asked one of the organisers who I should return the bat to and was very surprised and delighted when he said I could keep it.
Now I have a bat and balls, I just need to find myself a club.
My first match didn't start well when I did an air shot for my first serve and didn't land my second serve on the table so I was 0-2 down and it was first to five. Fortunately, I was able to turn things around and won the match 5-3. I won my second match 5-0, lost the third match 0-5 (my opponent used the pen-holder grip) and won my last match 5-3 which saw me top the group having won 3 matches and reach the quarter-finals. The matches were truncated to first to three and I won my first match 3-0. In my second quarter-final match, I was up against another pen-holder grip opponent and lost 1-3 to the person who would go on to win the tournament. In conversation afterwards, he mentioned that he plays for his firm so I thought I acquitted myself rather well.
Next up was a chance to practice stroke consistency with a robot and I had two goes at each table before taking my leave.
The organisers had provided me with a brand new bat when I registered and on the red side was a sticker saying, PLEASE, PUT ME BACK! As I was on my way out, I asked one of the organisers who I should return the bat to and was very surprised and delighted when he said I could keep it.
Now I have a bat and balls, I just need to find myself a club.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
There WILL be medals in 2012
The sport that embodies the Olympic motto of Citius, Altius, Fortius is athletics (some of you may know it as track and field) and that's my first love given that I was a high jumper and sprinter back in the day. So it was very nice to be back at Crystal Palace yesterday for the second day of the Diamond League London meet.
On my way to my seat I stopped to congratulate the person responsible for British success at the recently concluded European Athletic Championships and urged him to tell UK Athletics to give Linford Christie a more prominent role in the lead up to 2012 as he knows how to get his athletes to medal at major championships (Mark Lewis-Francis, silver medallist in the 100m and Christian Malcolm, silver medallist in the 200m are two of the athletes Linford coaches). His response left me in no doubt as to who calls the shots at UK Athletics.
Nigeria's Blessing Okabgare, who won her 3rd 100m title at the African Athletic Championships in Nairobi a few weeks ago, shocked the second fastest women of all time, Carmelita Jeter (PB of 10.64s), in the heats and recorded a PB of 11.0s while doing so. Sadly, she was unable to repeat this success in the final, but once again Carmelita Jeter was defeated, this time by her compatriot Marshevet Myers. Allyson Felix completed the 200m/400m double but had to dig deep to secure victory in the one lap race. She intends to emulate Valerie Brisco-Hooks and Marie-José Perec, who completed this illustrious double in 1984 and 1996 respectively, in London 2012. Kenyan women are starting to make their presence felt in the 3000m steeplechase, Milkah Chemos stopped the clock at 9:22.49 which was an ACR. The Empress of Entoto aka Tirunesh Dibaba unleashed her devatasting sprint finish to secure victory in the women's 5000m, but overall Kenya secured more victories than Ethiopia. Augustine Choge wrote his name, literally, into folklore by winning the Emsley Carr Mile, the meet's last event.
On my way to my seat I stopped to congratulate the person responsible for British success at the recently concluded European Athletic Championships and urged him to tell UK Athletics to give Linford Christie a more prominent role in the lead up to 2012 as he knows how to get his athletes to medal at major championships (Mark Lewis-Francis, silver medallist in the 100m and Christian Malcolm, silver medallist in the 200m are two of the athletes Linford coaches). His response left me in no doubt as to who calls the shots at UK Athletics.
Nigeria's Blessing Okabgare, who won her 3rd 100m title at the African Athletic Championships in Nairobi a few weeks ago, shocked the second fastest women of all time, Carmelita Jeter (PB of 10.64s), in the heats and recorded a PB of 11.0s while doing so. Sadly, she was unable to repeat this success in the final, but once again Carmelita Jeter was defeated, this time by her compatriot Marshevet Myers. Allyson Felix completed the 200m/400m double but had to dig deep to secure victory in the one lap race. She intends to emulate Valerie Brisco-Hooks and Marie-José Perec, who completed this illustrious double in 1984 and 1996 respectively, in London 2012. Kenyan women are starting to make their presence felt in the 3000m steeplechase, Milkah Chemos stopped the clock at 9:22.49 which was an ACR. The Empress of Entoto aka Tirunesh Dibaba unleashed her devatasting sprint finish to secure victory in the women's 5000m, but overall Kenya secured more victories than Ethiopia. Augustine Choge wrote his name, literally, into folklore by winning the Emsley Carr Mile, the meet's last event.
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