So where do we go from here?

... to be fair, I don't really know ...

No one does. 

The exploration of possible answers to the question I start with requires much more than 240 character Tweets or to browse though Instagram pictures. Certainly we need much more stamina to sit, read and explore than seems to be the trend on many (most?) social media platforms. Blogging, perhaps is viewed as slightly old school, so much change has happened in the way we spread and share information over the past few years. 

I know that I have changed; my priorities, day to day worries and concerns have changed.  The way I interact with the world; be it the real world or the virtual world has changed. People around me have changed and I have lost people whom I thought would forever have been there. 

As I've soldiered on through my 40s, some things have become very real - mortality, uncertainty and illness, questions around long established relationships, new relationships, personal ambitions, identity politics, political populism and media influence, culture, tech surveillance and as I write - global pandemics. So how do we deal with these issues? Where do we stand? Where should we stand? 

Essays, conversations, snippits, therapy and social media - I've continued share. I'm not altogether sure I am anywhere nearer the answers, but I know that I am not alone in my thoughts. So when the gloves are off, and I'm free to speak, I shall return to this space to explore - my outlet and my connection. 

Stick around.

To Tweet or to Blog?

I've been busy and a lot has happened in the world since my last posting so it's easy to let important events slip. Perhaps this is because we are forced to sometimes tune out of this world is that is bulging in information overload. With the sheer volume of news stories being run in the media at any particular time we are making an important choice and allow in only what is relevant into our conciousness. At least, I find I do. We can even develop a resistance to the shock and the negative energy that is the news. I have come to the conclusion that sometimes TV news must come in small doses and that in order to hold on to my own sanity it is wise to just switch off and to accept that there are only some things I am able to change.

And so, this past month, news stories have come and gone. Whilst seemingly on a sabbatical from Blogger, I have been updating things of interest on Twitter. Sometimes I don't have as much to say or, I don't want to carry the burdens of the world on my heart and soul. With Twitter, I can easily flag up a story or article of interest whilst I'm on the go. Blogger requires me to sit down when I have a quiet moment. I'm sure someone out there will be doing a study on the links between the different users of social media and the technologies they use. Broadly I go with Twitter for mobile technologies such as my Smartphone and Blogging when I'm at my home laptop (other matters having been dealt with). 

So here I am, nothing much to react to at the moment, but that's okay. Sanity is important.

Iron Lady

 

 Photo: AP

A rather eccentric teacher once posed the question that lives on in my mind: "What is it be to be young, from an ethnic minority and growing up in Thatcher's Britain?" I can't quite remember the answer, but what I do recall is that it was a gritty, rather detached and pessimistic time if you belonged to the demographic in the question. Margaret Thatcher is dead; governments and prime ministers have come and gone, but the social changes she started, live on. We live in an altogether more individualistic, ego-centric, and less compassionate world as a result of Thatcherism. Iron Lady she may have been styled, but cold and driven by hubris is how she appeared. There is nothing wrong in reaching out to those less fortunate than you and not everything is about making money and she sorely missed these points. I have to say, she will not be missed by me and quite clearly according to some, I am breaking a general taboo: never speak ill of the departed. The social media is abuzz with negative opinions; there is much more I could say, but for now I will leave that to others:

BREAKING: Wicked Witch dies, funeral procession to follow yellow brick road. huff.to/1487Mwv
— HuffPost UK Comedy (@HuffPostUKCom) April 9, 2013

Over the Moon

I've always been fascinated by Space and the possibilities of exploring and learning about what is out there. So it is rather appropriate that I should choose to write on a day that is none other than the birthday of Buzz Adlrin, the second man to walk on the moon. He happens to be in Scotland today and whilst we are not likely to cross paths, I am intrigued by the stories of a man who has been to the moon and back. 

I particularly admire the inspiration, the hope and the possibilities in Buzz's words to the next generation, so I'm going to dedicate this space to both the man and his mission:

Your parents may have told you “the world is yours” and I’m here to tell you they’re right. I want to take it even one step further and let you know that “the worlds are yours” as well!

When we look up at the sky, especially at night, we can see thousands of stars and planets. Every day, scientists and mathematicians and everyone in the Space Program are doing their homework and getting closer and closer to reaching these heavenly bodies.

When I was a boy, I wasn’t the only kid on the block who looked up at the stars and dreamt about going to the moon or other planets. I read science fiction books about it. But no one had ever gone up there before, so we used our imagination and dreams and figured out ways to make those dreams come true.

Your Mom and Dad, grandparents and great-grandparents, created a lot of terrific machines, from airplanes to rocket ships and space shuttles to land rovers. They worked smart and accomplished fantastic things that people had only ever dreamt of—from flying in the sky to blasting off of the Earth into outer space and, eventually, walking on the Moon.

I should know; I was one of the first two people to set foot on the Moon with my friend, and commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong. The most important thing about everything we’ve done is to get you off to a great start on your mission.

You are the future. And I’m your number one fan!

You are going to achieve super things that are out of this world and that no one else has done before and go to places that no one has ever gone. Earth isn’t the only world for us any more.

It’s up to you to take the first steps on Mars and other worlds, to discover and explore. A good friend of mine, Buzz Lightyear, best describes where you’ll go: “To Infinity and Beyond!”

Are you up for the mission? Will you be one of the first people to walk on Mars? You could even be among the first human settlers to colonize Mars!

But don’t stop there! You can go further on to Venus, Saturn’s rings or Jupiter’s moons—farther than your eyes can see and as far as your mind can dream.

Reach for the Stars!

With such inspirational words, just imagine.  

Twitter: TheRealBuzz

Earth Calling Mars

or rather Mars Calling Earth ...

Curiosity, the name given to NASAs latest Mars exploration rover touched down yesterday on the red planet itself, to start its 2 year mission (1 Martian year). I've always been fascinated with Space and the human pursuit of pushing back the frontiers to learn more about what lies beyond. This little animated video from NASA offers an insight into how Curiosity will send messages back to Earth. Oh, and you can connect to Curiosity via Twitter. Apparently, this robot has "her" own Twitter account.

Tweet and Rule

Twitter: I'm not a regular tweeter and nor do I avidly follow the tweets of the rich and supposedly famous-and-interesting. I sometimes tweet stories of interest and I occasionally get a notice that someone would like to follow my tweets. This usually prompts me to go back and see who might be interested, and though I can claim to be on Twitter so as not to sound disconnected, this is about as active as I am :). Perhaps at some point I may join up more of my various on-line activities though my current logic is that I don't want my entire life lived on-line. There have to be some elements to life that can be lived non-digitally. 

... And so perhaps there are moments like now when people like Diane Abbot may wish that too. I guess an MP's life is lived pretty much in the public domain and their choices and their words occupy a public space that makes what they say common property. The furore over Ms Abbot's tweet today, may be over blown and way out of proportion given the more important story of Stephen Lawrence but somehow it is now a big enough news story to have led to a formal apology. So what exactly did Diane Abbot tweet and what has led to this row? Well, apparently, the words ''White people love playing 'divide & rule'" have not gone down well by some media watchers and her fellow Labour politicians. Ms Abbot's party leader, the rather nondescript gentleman Ed Miliband, is reportedly outraged and has issued her a warning.

Perhaps in PC Britain, it is difficult to make a statement like she did and get away with it, but if she is speaking from a from a European colonial historical perspective, is she wrong to say this? And is she being vilified for the guilt that others feel? When it is clear that for too long the police response and the subsequent investigation into Stephen Lawrence's death has been mired with accusations of institutional racism, symptoms of confusion and embarrassment are likely to hang heavily in the public mood. Did Diane Abbot overlook the sensitivities of this or is there a ring of historical truth to her words? Did the timing of her tweet and the guilt and incompetence around the Stephen Lawrence case come together to hit a genuinely public raw nerve? 

Read more about Stephen Lawrence.

International Literacy Day

Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan are the nine most highly-populated countries. They represent more than 60 per cent of the world’s population, over two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults and over half of the world’s out-of-school children. 

Find out more by following the UNESCO International Literacy Day link and the Twitter Feed for Room to Read.

Fall of the Pharaoh: Umm Al Dunya

Umm Al Dunya

 

And so the Pharoah in Egypt falls after a 30 year grip on power. I may be forgiven for referring to Hosni Mubarak as a Pharoah, but see a Pharoah, was NOT just a despotic Emperor King who was considered a deity. The word Pharoah referred to a Great House. Does the Great House still hold power? When a House falls, crushed by the weight of its age and ruin, another one can be built in its place. But in Egypt do we see a  rebuilding or another Pharaoh King moving into the Great House? Right now the military has moved in so not much changes; later, perhaps, the old house can be demolished and a new one built by the will of the people.

The Egyptians call their country Umm Al Dunya - Mother of the World.  An ancient cradle of civilisation, social order, technology and writing. There will be many who in years to come will look back at how in 2011 the Egyptian Pharaoh of Old was brought down by a technology and social media of new - Twitter/Blogger/Facebook and the like. Now here's where I do get to see close up what is happening - I know people and have spoken with them, both in person and through electronic communications that this Egyptian revolution is an e-revolution of a kind.

I wonder about the transferability of the UAE model - it's a "minus democracy" model that isn't perfect, but evidently people coming in see prosperity, internationalism, relative freedom and hope. In many ways this is what the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions were about right? Hope itself? That, I pray, is the message that the people in our Arab neighbourhood carry in the months and years to come.