2012 - The Way Things Are

How things really  are today is difficult to fathom. Newspapers seem to be sold more on bad news and events than good and much the same  (without the actual selling) appears to me to apply to the BBC although the BBC is  free or at least paid for out of taxation.

Even aspects of life which appear intrinsically good are featured in the news  more when they are subject to negative features than  for their  ongoing positive overall support for and contribution to life.

Yet when reading the newspapers this Saturday morning I accept that there is indeed much to report which seems poor for man and the world. UK weather for example is rainy and wet and has been for weeks. Usually at  this time of year summer sunshine is the order of the day  and Saturday morning coffee and newspapers are all enjoyed in the garden but not in 2012. The last time we enjoyed a balmy read of the news papers on a Saturday morning  in the garden was I think just before Easter.

I note too that  at the same time in parts of the USA, the heat seems extreme with forest fires being reported.  However weather changes are part of the  natural  order  and mostly mankind can cope with such weather fluctuations. Of greater concern are the consequences of man's inhumanity to man which the media focuses upon. I wonder if this savage part of mankind's behaviour has always been with us but is more obvious than in previous years  because of the comparative ease of reporting and the multiplicity of ways we now have of receiving information or whether more people are becoming selfish. The former is in my view correct and so far at least a WWIII has at least been avoided.

Yet events in the Middle East continue to dismay. Every day another man made disaster in Syria comes to light.The events at Tremseh  mentioned in today's Guardian newspaper for example,are not yet clear other than the fact that many people seem to have been killed. Simultaneously there are reports of Syria's chemical weapons which make the blood run cold yet Syria is hardly the largest country in that region. The fact of democratic elections taking place in Egypt seems to a step forward but given not only the outcome but also the increasing frisson between the Egyptian military and civilian powers one could  wonder how long it will be before that country regresses to dictatorship rule. Iran is said to be developing Nuclear weapons.

Then on the other side of the world the Chinese are still  endeavouring to interfere in the running of the Catholic church by seeking to appoint bishops, which is surely a matter for the Church to determine not for the State. However it should also be said that at the same time, the Chinese  rule by dictatorship continues although   the economics of life seem to have improved for many Chinese.

Here at home despite the weather, the 2012 Olympics are about to begin and my view is that the  Olympic events will, despite all the criticisms about money, roads and railways, provide a huge reminder about the dignity of man and woman; they will also be fun for those who give them a chance to be.