Days: it’s a blog thing
Since August, 2001. Surely it can’t last…
Thursday, November 22, 2001 ↓
WHERE WERE YOU?
It’s often said that everyone who was around at the time remembers where they were when JFK was shot on November 22, 1963. I do, and I was just a few weeks short of my seventh birthday.
Since September 11, 2001, the old “Where were you?” question has a new slant.
Wednesday, November 21, 2001 ↓
EXPLOITATION OF CELEBRITY
I remember pop producer Jonathan King being charged, but then of course everything went quiet for a long time until his case came to trial. Apparently he was convicted in September, but reporting restrictions were only lifted today so now we hear that he has been sentenced to seven years on four charges of indecent assault, one of buggery and one of attempted buggery.
The means by which he lured these young boys was particularly sneaky and clever. From Shenai Raif, of PA News:
The predatory paedophile had at least 10 travel bags containing photos of a naked teenage girl holding a placard reading: “Let's do it.”
The prosecution said that over the years, King used copies of this same picture to deceive youngsters into thinking they would be provided with girls for sex.
He had his seduction kits ready because he did not know when he would need them.
Suggest to a young teenage male that you will help him procure his first sexual experience with a girl, and it will be relatively easy to make him go with you. Especially if you’re famous.
Prosecuting counsel David Jeremy said, “What he was really doing was perhaps exploiting his celebrity. That is what this case, in a funny way, is about — not so much for sexual exploitation, but the exploitation of the young by the use of celebrity.”
I’VE BEEN BAD, VERY VERY BAD…
Well, according to The Naughty or Nice Test, in which (somewhat to my surprise) I scored 80:
You’ve been bad, very, very bad… and you love it! If your naughty streak hasn’t already gotten you involved in some risqué situations, you’re definitely on your way to a life of debauchery… especially when it comes to sexual escapades. You appear to have difficulty resisting temptation, and jump at the chance to have some naughty fun regardless of the potential consequences. While these little adventures may be harmless in some situations, they could also seriously backfire. Next time you’re presented with an opportunity to exercise your wayward ways, take a minute to consider the damage you could be doing — either to other people or yourself. Is it always worth it?
Just as well it’s only for fun and comes with a disclaimer, because it makes me sound like some kind of «casting round for male equivalent of slut» with no personal boudaries! By the way, changing your answer to just a single question can make a pretty significant difference to the result.
Tuesday, November 20, 2001 ↓
LEGION OF BLOGGING EXTRATERRESTRIALS
You may wonder wtf Rustine Chianti Merriwether Morrison is all about. Perhaps one day I’ll tell you.
ROYAL AFFAIRS
November 20 seems to have been a busy day in the lives of our Royal Family (not Caroline Aherne’s crew, I mean this lot):
- November 20, 1947 — the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, married Prince Philip
- November 20, 1992 — Windsor Castle caught fire and was extensively damaged
- November 20, 1995 — Diana, Princess of Wales, gave her manipulative, cloying TV interview to the BBC’s Martin Bashir, in which she admitted she had had an extra-marital affair (like that was a big surprise to everyone…)
Note for the Diana fans: I never liked the woman, and it would be hypocritical of me to pretend otherwise just because she is no longer with us. But I never wished her dead, much less the way in which she died.
ANSWERING THE CALL
Just been making some travel arrangements, as it’s time to go back to Sweden this weekend.
Monday, November 19, 2001 ↓
THE WAY TO A MAN'S HEART…
is through his stomach. And Natalie sounds like a girl after my own heart.
Now if I could just find a place that would serve me Dim Sum, followed by North Indian Chilli Garlic Chicken, with baklava to finish…
UNLIKELY BEDMATES
From the New York Times, unlikely bedmates: Cleopatra and Osama.
"I agree that a kind of religion motivates the Taliban, but the religion in question, I'd say, is not Islam," Robert McElvaine, a history professor, wrote in The Washington Post. It is "insecure masculinity. These men are terrified of women."
Perhaps moreso in Saudi Arabia, guilty of "treating women like chattel."
Sunday, November 18, 2001 ↓
WE’RE COMING TO GET YOU
With reports appearing that the Taliban is ready to strike a deal for the surrender of Kunduz, British and American special forces are confident that they are close to catching up with Osama bin Laden. I’m still confident that when they capture people who are in the know, either the fear of imminent death or the prospect of great wads of cash will clinch his betrayal.
When they do catch up with him, I rather hope he resists arrest, for that will be a good reason to shoot him dead on the spot. Capture followed by an argument over where he should be tried so that he should get a fair trial, then a long legal process with an inevitable result and an equally inevitable appeal, would only prolong the agony for the families of the victims of September 11. I don’t generally go along with the dispensation of summary justice, but there are occasions…
There was a time in Britain when someone guilty of unspeakable crimes would be hanged, drawn and quartered and their head put up on a spike on London Bridge as an example for all to see. I would forego the hanging, drawing and quartering bit, but perhaps putting his head on a post on Brooklyn Bridge wouldn’t be a bad idea. And we could air-drop thousands of pictures of it over all the countries that harbour sympathisers with his cause.
Now some would say that by executing him we will only make him a martyr to his followers — but I don’t think so. Some kind of example has to be made. And this so-called holy warrior, who does not publicly admit to his crimes, then goes into hiding and has to be hunted down like the cowardly mongrel he is, hardly merits martyrdom. Even his own twisted al Qaeda cronies must see that.
FIRST DATED BOOK IN BRITAIN
On this day in 1477, Caxton completed printing of the first dated book issued in England, The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers.
Previous entries
Older material is stashed away under Replays.
