THE DIARY OF Z

As we said last week, the consternation and upheaval caused by the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajoekull left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded across the globe after airspace across Europe was closed for six days.

This week… rather as I predicted, (I do quite enjoy saying to the world; “I told you so”) airspace in northern Scotland and across Ireland has once again been closed due to high levels of ash concentration in the atmosphere. The ash is still drifting from Iceland and is disrupting a further 1300 flights and yet again leaving countless passengers stranded.

This fresh disruption to the skies comes as European Union transport ministers are meeting in Brussels to talk about ways to improve air traffic organisation in the wake of last month’s events. The Civil Aviation Authority has closed airspace for a minimum of eight hours because ash concentrations exceeded the levels agreed as safe by engine manufacturers.

I have to say I’m rather pleased, though. This seems to suggest that the CAA seems to have regained some sense of authority and dignity over the last week, and that they are continuing to keep people’s safety as their paramount concern.

But does it not go to show, that perhaps the flights that have been circling over Europe over the last 10 days were flying not because it was deemed safe to do so, but because the Governments of Europe didn’t want to bail out angry airlines? Speculations galore, indeed.

Contributed by Jenny Wren-Charlton

The terrorist attacks that took place in Mumbai in November 2008 shattered Mumbai and shocked the world. 174 people were killed in the brutal slaughter including 9 gunmen; the unpleasant incident further souring relations between India and Pakistan.

On May 3rd, an Indian court found 22-year old Pakistani, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, guilty of terrorism. He is the sole surviving gunman from the attack charged with 86 different crimes including murder and waging war on India. The prosecution team is hoping for the sentence to be the death penalty. Also on trial alongside Kasab were two Indian nationals, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed, both charged with aiding the attackers in their preparation for the gun attack. But they were acquitted.

Ujjwal Nikamm, a special public prosecutor said the prosecution proved that Kasab was "part of a larger conspiracy to create terror and destabilise the economy ". He found the outcome to be the ‘right’ one, having amassed a huge range of evidence from eye witness accounts from 610 witnesses, to CCTV footage and more.

It’s indeed a relief that the 210-day trial finally came to an end. However, the real perpetrators who instigated Kasab are yet to be brought to book. Who are they? Are they really Pakistanis, Indians or indeed Americans? Or are they just terrorists who abhor peace?

Contributed by Jenny Wren-Charlton

This year, the voting public of the UK are witness to the development of a totally new kind of electioneering with the implementation of TV election debates between the party leaders in the run up to the General Election on May 6th. Last night saw the third and final live showdown between Brown, Cameron and Clegg, with the state of the economy raising its ugly head as the main topic of discussion.

But the real question is, do these televised ‘debates’ really contribute anything to the campaign and are they actually useful when it comes to deciding which box you want to ‘X’ on polling day?

Nick Robinson, the BBC’s political editor felt that after last night, he saw no clear winner in terms of the debate, but said that the momentum currently seems to lie with the Conservatives and Mr Cameron who has gone up 5% in YouGov polls.

After a catastrophic week for the Labour party, with Mr Brown referring to a local constituent in Rochdale as ‘a bigot’, he had a lot to make up for last night. In his opening statement, the Prime minister seemed to want to draw a line under the row saying; “There is a lot to this job and, as you saw yesterday, I don’t get all of it right.” But does this not suggest that perhaps a part of him is tired of the job and is giving up?

The ‘darling’ of the debates is undoubtedly Nick Clegg who has boosted the Lib Dem party’s popularity to a height that it hasn’t seen in over 60 years.  But will his charming exterior be enough to get him into power?

Who knows?

The leader of the English Democrats, Robin Tilbrook said that the 3 “motor-mouthed leaders showed increasing desperation” throughout the debate, and I completely agree.

Should any of these men, with their schoolboy tantrums and tactics, really be in charge of running the United Kingdom?

Contributed by Jenny Wren-Charlton

When an offshore drilling rig sank in The Gulf of Mexico last week it was anticipated that the flood of oil that was entering the surrounding waters could be controlled. Initially experts believed only 1,000 barrels worth of oil a day would leak out, an amount they deemed manageable, and that they felt could be contained.

However, after the flow continued at the same rate for some days and the wind turned to blow inland, test sections of the slick have been set on fire in an attempt to burn off the oil before it reaches the shores of the surrounding countries which, if it does, would cause unprecedented environmental damage.

The major area that is of the most concern for conservationists is that of the Mississippi Delta and the Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana, an area which contains some 40% of the US’s wetland breeding grounds for fish and birds.

President Obama has been briefed on the situation and he has offered the service of the defence department to help control the spill.

However, one is left thinking, with increasing pressure on the G8 countries to reign in their carbon emissions for the sake of climate change, surely our greedy drilling for oil should fall into a similar bracket, and more restrictions on hunting for fossil fuels need to be made?

No there aren’t oil spills like this every day, but they are becoming more frequent, and the catastrophic environmental effect that each spill leaves behind scars our planet; our home, more violently than 5 years of carbon emissions.

Surely this is something worth thinking about?

Contributed by Jenny Wren-Charlton

Ours is a period of history where much of our daily lives are consumed by topics that are inherently negative and destructive; terrorism, global warming, natural disasters, incurable disease, the list is endless. The other day, however, I found a real sense of joy in finding a positive and uplifting headline piece in the world news, a story which inspired rather than appalled.

This week, Imtiaz Sooliman, an Indian born man, received the Order of the Baobab in Silver award, from South African President Jocob Zuma, "for his excellent contribution through the Gift of the Givers Foundation to humanitarian aid in South Africa and humanitarian relief missions in various countries."

Sooliman set up the ‘Gift of the Givers Foundation’ over a decade ago which has since provided humanitarian aid to people in countries all over the world which have been torn apart by war or natural disaster. The Foundation’s most recent effort was in providing aid to the victims of the earthquake which killed over 250,000 people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It was with the help of Sooliman’s team that the first survivor of the disaster was found.

In an age where there is such a huge barrier between those who have and those who need, isn’t it wonderful to see the stories of those who give, honoured for what they do and put up on the front page where they belong?

The day is not far when newspapers and TV channels will dedicate a section of their space and air time on do-gooders and positive news.

Contributed by Jenny Wren-Charlton

The, i-pad, the newly hailed king of technologies has recently hit the US market, and is slowly making its way eastwards, advertised by Apple as ‘a magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price’. At $499, ‘unbelievable’ is the word… although I believe Apple, I think it’s cheap and I think it’s not?!?!

It has the capability to run around 150,000 apps, yes, 150,000. These range, inevitably, from the useful through to the downright lazy and ludicrous. 

On the useful (ish) scale, you can read the Wall Street Journal, play scrabble on your way to work and you can add up the calories you eat in every meal. And on the barking mad crazy scale? You can turn off the lights in your home, you can take an eye test instead of visiting the opticians, and you can race a Lamborghini around Las Vegas. What on earth?

On the plus side, it’s versatile and easy to use, slim line and very light and basically acts as your television, movie theatre, laptop and mobile phone all in one neat little packet. You can be talking to your mother one moment and be creating a PowerPoint presentation the next. But is this compact little object really such a good thing?

Surely this new technology; rather than enhancing the ability to communicate effectively as I’m sure Alexander Graham Bell intended when he invented the telephone, now takes communication technologies one step further towards ending face to face communication forever. We have reached such a far-fetched level of computer madness that we no longer need to walk to the shops to buy groceries or to see the doctor to get a diagnosis. Is this, the i-pad, not one way to start losing contact with people altogether and in effect live in a ‘Terminator-esque’ world alongside the machines?

Perhaps I’m just old-fashioned? 

Contributed by Jenny-Wren Charlton

If someone had asked me two months ago what I thought of wacky therapies like acupuncture I would have said something along the lines of ‘a load of piffle, pointless and probably painful.’ 

As a life long sufferer of eczema and generally dry skin, I have tried every medicated cream, soap, wash and spray under the sun. Results varied from a vague improvement for a couple of days to extreme irritation and crazy rashes on my arms that made me, and those around me wince at the sight of them. 

Exasperated, I decided to follow my mother’s advice. I went to visit the local acupuncturist. She sat me down and went through my symptoms. We talked for ages… it was a bit like having a counselling session. Another type of ‘therapy’ I was not much convinced by until recently. 

So following a long chat, I was told my skin didn’t have enough ‘wind’. To be honest, I didn’t know my skin was supposed to be windy at all, but there you go, learning something new everyday!

As such, she laid me down and proceeded to prod and poke me with no less than 10 needles. I make a big deal, but actually there was no pain. It was quite soothing, in fact. Once I was transformed into a living pincushion, I was left to doze for half an hour to let the effects of the pins run through my ‘wind channels’.

Results?

Impressively and surprisingly positive. Not cured, but significantly improved after four weeks. Perhaps this hippy freaky nonsense is worth a shot! 

Moral of the story: Always follow your mother’s advice.

Contributed by Jenny-Wren Charlton

In the wake of a spectacular, if slightly troubled IPL series, a crisis the like of which has rarely been seen in the world of Indian cricket, has hit India’s favourite sport. The BCCI in what some termed a ‘midnight coup’, recently suspended the IPL chief, Lalit K Modi following accusations of tax wrongdoings and corruption. Mr Modi defiantly denied all claims stating; “The recent happenings are only based on innuendoes, half truths and motivated leaks from all sides.” Nonetheless, the top man has been dropped as swiftly as Kevin Pieterson resigned his captaincy of England, after a similarly damaging public row last year.

As one of the largest and most followed cricket leagues on the globe, the IPL has gained substantial financial backing from a range of influential businessmen and harvests some of the world’s best cricketers. The President of the BCCI, Shashank Manohar, commented that; "The alleged acts of individual misdemeanors of Mr Lalit K Modi have brought a bad name to the administration of cricket and the game itself." 

The calamity entered the public sphere after a blunderous remark made by Mr Modi on Twitter sparked investigations into dodgy investments into a consortium which then awarded a new IPL franchise in Kochi. Perhaps, as many a celebrity has learned recently, it is often best to keep your thoughts to yourself in cases such as this. And if you must divulge, stay away from the ‘tweet’ button.

Contributed by Jenny-Wren Charlton

As a ‘volcanic ash victim’, I became all too aware of the frustration of the many thousands of travellers left at the mercy of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajoekull over the last 10 days. My flight departure was scheduled for April 17th, but I finally arrived in Bangalore on the 25th. But should I have?

Airspace in and around Europe was closed for a total of six days with only a handful of test flights going on. And all the while, airlines became more concerned about the loss of revenue as time flew by. So after calls for the government to start contributing to bail out expense claims and pour more money into the ‘repatriation’ effort for Brits stranded abroad, airspace was miraculously deemed safe to fly in. 

Looking at the history of volcanic ash clouds, surely, a basic view of the facts suggests that this could be a grave mistake. The infamous flight that flew into the ash of Mount Galunggung after it erupted in Indonesia on 24th June 1982 and was lucky to restart its engines proves that ash hovers in the air and poses considerable risk up to three weeks after eruption. On 13th July 1982, another flight in the same area suffered a similar fate, yet luck was on its side as well. 

Yes, the globe is suffering from its worst economic setback since the Wall Street crash. But will pushing aside scientific evidence and historical fact in order to save crucial pounds, pence and euros be worth it if a 747 turns into a gliding bomb that lands in the middle of Europe tomorrow?

Hopefully, we shall never know. But the governments of Europe will have some severe questions to answer if luck is not on their side.

Contributed by Jenny-Wren Charlton

Ever since Twitter bowled me over with it’s 140 character functionality, blogging has taken a back seat.

It’s good and bad.

Good, because there are many things that go unsaid because you either don’t have the time to blog or don’t find it good enough for a blog post.

Twitter breaks those restrictions…. The more irreverent and personal, the better chance of tweeting the idea. It’s an opinion and idea bin that everyone can be part of.

In a few months, I have over 1500 tweets and over 300 followers. Sometimes, I tweet 25 times a day and sometimes zilch. It all depends on your free time and state of mind.

What do you think of Twitter?

Posted by Wordmobi