In May this year, Lavinia Woodward, an Oxford medical student, was found guilty of stabbing, and seriously injuring, her boyfriend. An exceptional delay in the verdict was pronounced, the court having heard of her ‘extraordinary talent’, as sufficient reason for this strange decision. The judge had made it clear that he did not favour a […]
Society
I Can See The Toilets, But Where’s The Bar?
Rightly or wrongly, I cannot relate to how members of LGBT communities feel about themselves and the situation they find themselves in. This does not mean that I’m not aware that, most of the time, these human beings are the victims of severe and unwarranted discrimination. The fact is, that due to my own sexual […]
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Dressed To Thrill: Meet The “Kini’s”
When we stopped over in a hotel in Strasbourg, on our way down to Italy, my son was looking forward to a dip in the hotel pool. We were deeply disappointed to find out that the hotel rules did not allow boxer-short-type swimming trunks, the reason being that such trunks “disturbed other clients”. “Discriminatie” (discrimination) […]
Pour L’Amour De La Nation (For The Love Of The Nation)
Individualism, patriotism, nationalism?…A spectre of human interpretations of the world around us – each one a potential danger. Maybe I have no sense of patriotism due to my upbringing – loving two cultures and living in a third. However, more importantly, the world I live in is my representation and no-one else’s. For Donald Trump, […]
Simone Veil And Abortion – A Woman’s Voice In A Man’s World
Simone Veil (1927 – 2017) [perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Abortion is a drama and will always remain a drama[/perfectpullquote] Simone Veil will be remembered as the health minister who gave women throughout France the right to abortion, as well as being the first woman to become president of the European Parliament. She […]
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Cold Justice: “The Red Pullover” – Part II: The Trial
On 6th November 1975, Christian Ranucci was officially charged with the abduction and murder of 8-year-old Marie-Dolorès Rembla, in June 1974. The official investigation was characterised by numerous “potential” irregularities, including the “rejection” of a last-minute testimony from a witness favouring Ranucci’s innocence. The two major controversies related to the investigation were Ranucci’s sudden U-turn on […]
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Cold Justice: “The Red Pullover” – Part I: The Crime
In March 1976, Christian Ranucci was tried and condemned to death, for the murder of 8-year-old Marie-Dolorès Rembla, in June 1974. He had his request for pardon rejected by president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, and was executed on July 28th 1976, at 4.13 am. The death penalty was abolished by François Mittérand, in September 1981. Ranucci […]
Tolerance In The Attic
If ever a ranking of ordinary-looking houses that possess a universal value were made, the building situated at 38 Oudezijds Voorburgwal, in the centre of Amsterdam, would probably be near the top of the list. Whereas the Anne Frank House, situated on the nearby Prinsengracht, symbolises all that is bad about human nature, this house epitomises […]
The Moral Landslide: Defying Discrimination
I’ll be honest with you. Before writing this post, I had no idea what a “LGBT person” actually was. “In what sort of world is this guy living?”, I hear you ask. Well, I live in the same world as you, but the meaning of this dreadful label that has been tagged on the shoulders […]
When “Likes” Can Kill: The Darkest Side Of the Web
Sometimes by pure accident you read about an act of violence in the news, that fills you with such disgust and hate for the perpetrators that you just feel like shouting your anger to the world. Today, quite by chance, I came across this news story from the Dutch television news website. The act of […]