A Thaw

Finally, we have some relatively good weather.

It seems like the winter would never end and with the horrendous weather we were enduring I had actually forgotten what it felt like to be warm. It seems that as a nation we had collectively forgotten the hope of spring and the warm embrace of summer. It seems that this week it has suddenly pounced upon us.

The 'recession' and economic hardship over the past few months has been compounded by depressing weather. While people may diminish the effect that weather has on national feeling I really do believe that it is quite important. In practical terms, the cold snap forced us to stay inside and avoid spending money. We were also less inclined to invest emotionally or place trust in each other as the cold moved in.

With the thaw in the weather I do hope that these patterns will reverse and they do seem to be. People seem happier and economies are to an extent, picking up with the better weather. However, thaws and freezes are cyclical. While we may not have saw an end to this last freeze it was certainly coming and while we may think this thaw will last forever that is not the truth either.

We should make hay in this weather, as the cold will come again.

-The English Student

Naive Politics

Many politicians inside and outside of the government have retired in the past month and they left office due to an unexpected failing.

It really does seem that politicians suffer from two major instances of naivety. On the one hand, these people seem to completely misunderstand why a career in politics is a good idea. Coming through college these people become empowered by the open environment and energised by an apparent will to create change. The assumption is that these patterns extend to a wider social level and that a politician can enter government and reform the entire system.

The other example of naivety comes from politicians that are already well acclimatised to the system. These people have been in the politics game for a long time and realise that new blood coming in is foolish to think that they can affect great change. However, the show naivety in other ways. These politicians believe that they are above the laws that they have sought to uphold. The system has obstructed all attempts to change so the rules are circumvented. While this may be done with good intentions it circumvents the entire basis of our democratic system,

Perhaps there is an even great example of naive politics in these areas. The belief going in to every election that we the people can actually affect life and policy is time and again proven to be false. It really does seem that it does not matter who is driving us forward, as the route has already been defined. It really is a case where the blind are leading the blind and we have given a mandate to be lead in this way.

While politicians may be naive, perhaps we are far more naive for actually believing in them.

-The English Student

Dubai Controvesy

An international crisis is looming as a murder plot in Dubai is unravelled.

Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service has been identified as the perpetrator of a murder in Dubai earlier this year. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander was assassinated in his hotel by a group of professional killers. These people held false European documents that they used to gain access to the country and perpetrate the murder. These revelations have lead to widespread condemnation of Mossad's tactics and its strategy of making citizens of others countries suspects.

What does not seem to be condemned is the actual assassination itself. On the contrary, this act has been identified as highly professional. Various news sites have interviewed ordinary Israelis that believe the assassination to be a point of pride for the country, while Arabs have been quoted as have grudging respect for high level of skill and organisation displayed by Mossad. By all accounts, the main international point of contention is Mossad's use of foreign passports.

My point of contention has to be the heinous lack of justice that is displayed on all levels of this act. al-Mabhouh was a criminal and wanted internationally for weapons smuggling. He should have been imprisoned for his crimes and at the very least faced a trial. Mossad acted with legally and yet with just as much disregard for life as any weapons smuggler. They committed a disgusting act, regardless of legality. The international community seems quite inept at taking action against Israel or Hamas for their mutually horrendous acts and so the cycle will continue.

Expect vengeful killings and attacks in response to this assassination and expect real justice to remain perpetually distant.

-The English Student

A Retail Rant

There are certain complete lies in the world of retail.

This 'customer is always right' stuff has to be our first port of call. How can this possibly be a truism? Not even me, the great and modest English Student gets everything right one hundred percent of the time. In fact, this statement is almost never true and often equates to downright disgusting behaviour. If the customer is always right, then they have no need whatsoever to show respect to others. Anyone working in retail becomes an obstacle to what a customer wants and as such, can be treated like the scum that floats up from the river of our capital city.

So what's the solution? Companies try to emphasise this basic tenet of retail and customers are determined to believe it. Perhaps if they understood that people working in retail are no different from themselves they may be more inclined to give respect. So I propose that everyone that would like to buy something from a retail outlet must work in a retail outlet also. Each member of the public would earn points based on the hours they do in retail and this can be exchanged for hours they spend as a customer. Not only would this force people to see the other side of the coin that they so readily ignore, it would result in truly idiotic shopping focused psychopaths like Paris Hilton working eighty hour shifts in the local newsagents!

Ok, perhaps it is best to take a few steps back from the precipice I have charged at here. I do not hate my job (temporary that it is) and I do not hate the public. In fact at times I absolutely adore my job. It is quite amazing when you can really make someone's day by helping them and the people that I work with are absolutely brilliant. So for all the abuse and hatred that get's hurled my way at various times in the day I certainly consider myself very lucky to have a job and miraculously lucky to have a job that I can mostly enjoy.

But at any rate, I will certainly be more inclined to respect others that work in retail.

-The English Student

City Conspiracy

In my spare moments in the city I have found myself becoming a bit of an amateur detective.

Two separate people have drawn my attention. Throughout the masses of the capital city, the bustle of every day life and the fast pace of the metropolis two people are recurring characters in my daily routine. The first is a somewhat elderly woman. My curiosity about her was aroused when I saw her trendy runners that were completely at odds with the rest of her austere clothes. She wears a dark coat and trousers and is invariably at my bus stop at 20:54, every day. I actually stumbled into her in a café at about 20:00 earlier in the week and subtly observed her from the other side of the room. An elderly man that she knew by name visited her and gave her newspapers, to which she said "I don't rely on anybody".

The second person I have seen less frequently. He is fairly heavy set and wears a dark jacket and jeans. His untamed hair and somewhat vacant stare draws the eye. He gets on my bus at various times in the evening and sits on the top floor of the bus in the second row from the front. One stop before his, he bows his head forward in a crouch while sitting and all of a sudden springs upright and marches straight off the bus. If I had to guess his mantra, it would be "I don't perceive anybody".

What has made me to make these bizarre observations? Am I simply deranged? Do I get some kind of sick pleasure from observing people? I would naturally be inclined to defend myself on these fronts and in any case I feel that there is something more systemic going on. The Panopticon society that we live in truly has begun to infect us all. We're Baudelaire's detective, as we walk the city streets not making any personal connection with people and thus, inventing one.

We observe all and are observed by all.

-The English Student

The Death of J.D. Salinger

As we all know, over the week the great American author, J.D. Salinger died at the age of ninety-one.

Being able to identify him as 'great' could seem problematic when the volume of his work is taken into consideration. We all know him as the writer that penned Catcher in the Rye. Many of us read this book while growing up and identified with the troubled, conflicting emotions of the main character Holden Caufield. But this was not simply a teen angst novel. Salinger perfectly caught the glimmer of teenage rebellion and placed it within the overall scheme of a life. While the struggle of Caufield was one of a hormonal teenager, it was treated as an important stage in his life. Salinger made the trivial important and in doing so, added importance to our own trivial lives.

Along with Catcher in the Rye, Salinger wrote a relatively small number of short stories. This is the total sum of his published works and has been a talking point for many critics over the past few decades. Salinger essentially disappeared off the literary map and went into hiding for decades. Some saw this as a confirmation of their opinion that Salinger had a limited vision for his literature, while others felt that he was doing a disservice to the literary community by isolating his talent.

Without really knowing the man I would still like to posit an alternative theory. Some critics have made the claim that Salinger felt that remaining in the public eye would compromise his work. While I do believe that he could have published many more fantastic works regardless of this pressure, this defense of artistic vision does ring true in relation to Catcher in the Rye. Holden constantly berates the 'phonies' that do not follow up on their promises and are only out to please themselves. This novel made every reader as important as the next and also as important as the writer. By becoming a recluse in this way, Salinger confirmed his own artistic vision in Catcher and made the book a more meaningful identification of ordinary heroics.

J.D. Salinger sacrificed his potential fame and fortune to imbue his work with more poignancy and this certainly allows us to call him 'great'.

-The English Student

Haitian Leverage

The first question countless people ask when observing external disaster: how can this benefit me?

While politicians may not admit to such callous emotions it almost certainly will cross their minds at some point. The Haitian disaster that has claimed the lives of at least 200,000 has inevitable been hi-jacked by such self-serving people. For governments and politicians there seems to be two main strategies of self-interest.

For smaller nations the strategy is one of self-promotion. For many reasons it is in the best interest of these governments to give generously to the people of Haiti. Doing so highlights the humanitarian spirit of the country and raises their international profile. If a country can boast a high ratio of donated money per citizen they will garden acclaim from all over the world. Larger 'world powers' face a different sort of playing field. Countries like the U.S. and the U.K. have frequently made claims to lead the world through decency and compassion. If they fail to live up to these expectations in this crisis then their entire ethos will be undermined. These powers need to act in order to preserve themselves. Obama does not want another Katrina.

So should we decry this hollow form of 'charity'? Indeed, does it even count as charity if the giver gains from it? I am tempted to take the line that our idealogical basis of charity is flawed and as such should be addressed, This would negatively affect the short term aid policy while hopefully creating a more generous and compassionate world in the long term. But the state of events in Haiti simply does not allow me to comfortably make this claim.

These people need aid and for once, the end might actually justify the means.

-The English Student