As the world descends into chaos, I ask 'is the internet speeding our way to the dark side?'

Sunday Editorial from The Boss

I'm no spring chicken and I've seen my fair share of tragedy, personal and public, big and small, and I wonder how much more I will see, how much more I can take.  I'm an avid twitterer (you can tweet us by clicking the button below).  I think it's an amazing tool, but a quick trawl through the tweets of the major news networks (sadly we're not yet amongst them) and it's clear to see that the world around us is in danger of descending into moral turpitude and chaos.  I have no doubt that in broad terms social media is a good thing, as no doubt is the internet.  But, and it's a big BUT, is social media speeding our demise into the dark side?

It's too late, of course now, to go back.  One cannot rewind the clock as much it may be morally correct or socially responsible, were it possible.  One has to ask whether these innovations were set loose in the public domain without first being made totally clear what the aims of the various medium were and what their social responsibilities should be.  It's easy to say that Facebook, or Twitter, or any of the social media sites/apps cannot be held responsible for what is posted by their clientele, and whilst that may be true, is it right?  Is it morally correct?  Did Mark Zuckerberg foresee that Facebook would be used to radicalise so many unhappy, lost and disillusioned youngsters?  Did he foresee that Facebook would be used by extremists to peddle their selective versions of hate and misdeeds, broadcasting them to anyone willing to listen, to anyone with access to a search engine and the time to track them down?  Only he can answer.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that these innovative individuals should in any way be held accountable for what gets published via their media...or am I?

In truth, not really.  But I do think there was too little time spent thinking about where, given the time and inevitable and ongoing digital evolution, they could be steered.  Should there have been some sort of pre-legislation governing what could and could not be broadcast?  But censorship brings it's own arguments, for and against freedom of speech, etc, such that in the end it never really works effectively and often sends things underground (to the so-called dark web, for example).  In which case I revert back to the owners of these sites, and to the innovators; should they be more discerning about what, who and how people publicise their media?  I'm not a lawyer and wouldn't even begin to understand the legal realities of how that might work, but morally, surely they have a responsibility to the parents of abused kids, the victims of suicide bombers radicalised via chatrooms or social media, or the victims of so-called revenge sex.  The list goes on and on.  And often the administrators say that there too much data posted every minute of every day to keep a check on it.  But I'm sorry, that just doesn't wash.  Try posting a picture of the Missus topless on a beach on your page and see how quickly you get pulled up!

I was watching the news today (sadly I should have taken more note of which channel I was watching, but I was on Twitter at the same time and thus distracted!) when this young kid came on.....obviously a very bright kid.....who'd invented a gun that he planned to sell over the web.  Okay, nothing new there you say.  But you'd be wrong.  This gun is made of paper, is more than capable of killing and can be printed by anyone with a 3-D printer!  What the fuck!?!  

When asked what he would think if someone went on killing spree with one of his paper guns, he shrugged and said, basically, 'not my problem!  I'm not responsible for what someone else could do with the gun!'  I was dumb-founded.  All he was interested in was making money!  If he was my kid I would have kicked him all over creation for being such a prat!  Why couldn't he use his obvious talents and invent an MRI scanner, for example, that could be 3-D printed and actually help someone rather than putting a gun into the hands of anyone with £300 to spend on a printer!  I'm lost for words!  And what's to stop him?  

Nothing!  Nothing at all!

And when someone takes the paper bits onto a plane, assembles the weapon and brings the plane down or much, much worse, what then? 

"Well, so long as they paid their bill, then what do I care?"  

How can this happen?  Something has gone badly wrong with society when making money becomes more important than social and moral responsibility.  And do you know what, I find it all horribly depressing!  

Of course, the internet isn't the devil incarnate, but it does make one wonder.  

I firmly believe that the vast, vast majority of people in the world are good, reasonable and hugely tolerant. Throughout history Wars and conflicts have been waged by strong minded individuals who subvert the minds and opinions of those weaker than themselves, turning neighbour against neighbour, friend against friend, race against race, religion against religion, and the rest of us just trundle blithely along, pulling triggers or pushing the buttons that launch bombs because we're told 'it's the right thing to do,' whichever side of the fence you are! Do unto others, but do it first, and do it better (or should that be 'do it worse).  

Pick the morality out of that!

Foreign Policy magazine is, for me, an amazing and largely impartial resource, but my word, it's hard to get through the pages on their site.  The immense horrors that man commits against man is there for all to see (e.g. The Abdication of Moral Responsibility) and it makes shocking, yet illuminating reading.  

I am a firm believer in freedom, all freedoms, but freedom should go hand in hand with responsibility and we should have a collective hand in that responsibility.  We need to find a way between the peace-loving peoples of the world, to join hands and just say 'no!  We've had enough of the mindless slaughter!' 

This world is big enough for all of us to find our own space and live our lives as we, as individuals, wish to live our lives.  Gives Sunni Muslims their own homeland, as we have the Jews, give another to the Shi-ites and to the Kurds and to the Palestinians, another to the Catholics and so on and so on, and if never the twain meet then so be it, but if we have all that we need (and let's be clear, there is more than enough of everything to go round) then surely we can get along in peace and friendship and not feel the need to take what is not ours just because they are different from us.  Instead of Wars and conflict let our champions fight it out on the sports field and then, at the end, let the winners and the victors shake hands, drink from the same cup and then go home to their families, happy, replete and safe, as it should be.

I leave you in hope........

    

Tweet to @nn11pwb

Exhale, inhale ........Breathe!!!

After all the chaos of the last few days we at NN finally feel able to exhale after days of holding our breath. We are all slightly light-headed, still in shock to some extent, but at least we're still here.  Since the vast majority of us here at NN are manimals, religion to us seems to be a largely irrelevant source of angst and one that sometimes we struggle to comprehend.  To be sure, the biggest thing we worship is our lunch, or in Sonny's case it's not just lunch, you can include brekky, din-dins, supper and every snack time in between!  We worship at the full bowl ........prostrate ourselves in front of the empty bowl ....and sure enough, the powers that be fill it up again soon enough.  Now that's a religion that works in my book!

Watching the TV news with my bro's the last few days we couldn't help wondering why you hu-mans complicate your lives so much.  Think about language for instance: I don't know how many hu-man languages there are currently in use, but I'd take a wild stab at it and say there are more than 6 anyway. Linguistic differences are the first smokescreen layer between individuals that confuse communication and lay the first bricks in the walls of misunderstanding that each and every one of you builds.  Immediately you start relying on phrasebooks, dictionaries and interpretors just to fill your own bowl.  Why not simplify it? One species, one language, like us manimals.  I'm a Spanglish dog but I still speak the same lingo as any other dog no matter where he comes from....that's why I knew Scruffy's name (see the linked page, Snow Wolves and me, with Mister Cool's belated Festive TV review) wasn't Scruffy; it was George.....not that it matters, but it does illustrate the point. One species; one language;  equals no confusion.

This would also help to level the playing field.  If you understand each other it becomes that much harder to see yourself as different.  You become more likely to treat others as you would treat yourself.  In manimal society we have no 'oneupmanship,' no class system, no one manimal is better than another (or though, it doesn't necessarily stop one manimal eating another, but at least we show a bit respect whilst we're doing it!).

Next let's look at religion.  Now to my knowledge, apart from my little joke above about food, us manimals have no religion to speak of.  We all live our lives as if every day is the last with, for my wild cousins, our major preoccupation being food, sex, drink and more food (not necessarily in that order) and since we're so busy enjoying our day and living it to the full we don't have time for religion.

But look at you hu-mans.  So many different beliefs that inevitably you not only misunderstand each other, you tend to look down on others who don't share your beliefs.  This seems to be tied up with hu-man race, skin colour and cultural differences which serve only to widen the gulf of misinterpretation that exits between you.

Make it easy on yourselves.  One religion for all, or better still, just knock the whole lot on the head and go without. Worship life.  Worship love and worship your similarities rather than focusing on the differences. And you guys think we're stupid ones!  That we're the dumb manimals!  Talk about the kettle.......!

NN is based in Spain, as you may know, and more murderous bunch of characters you'd be hard-pushed to find.  I speak from personal experience, mind, so even though that assessment might seem a bit harsh to some, especially the Spanish, if the cap fits.......!  In Spain every holiday and every weekend for 5 months of every year they venture out to kill anything that moves.  We've had buckshot hitting our house (though, of course that is totally illegal but it doesn't seem to make a blind bit of difference), I myself have been shot and almost died because of it, but in the end thanks to my amazing vet I only lost my tail.  A lucky escape you might say!  And what did I do to deserve it?

Nothing.  Nothing at all.  Wrong place, wrong time.  In the same incident my nephew, Diamond, also got shot, initially only losing an eye, but subsequently his life!  Why?

Wrong place, wrong time!  And I should say, that 'wrong place' was less than 50m from my front door!!

What happened to the offender?  I'll tell you.....nothing!  Nothing at all.  Despite all evidence to the contrary the judge decided that 2 dogs shot didn't warrant taking someone's licence away.  So instead they rubber stamped it, said to him, "carry on mate!  Kill all the family pets you wish!"  Unfortunately, said offender took that encouragement to heart and 2 months later threatened an actual hu-man with similar violence when he thrust his double-barrelled shotgun into the hapless victims face and offered to re-arrange his features for him!  Finally, the law acted and took his gun licence away!  But the guy is still at liberty and will probably, in due course, regain his licence to kill and maim again.

And they call this justice!

Mister Cool, my other nephew and brother to poor Diamond, has also been shot whilst he was sleeping outside NN HQ.  He was asleep!!  Can you believe, and some f*%$£r just let go both barrels into his face. Luckily, the hunters aim was crap and he only caught Coolio a glancing blow resulting in lots of blood and minor surgery to remove over 40 pellets from his chest and one from his eye....that's why one eye is a different colour to the other!  His fur around his chest is so thick that only one or two pellets actually made it through and penetrated the flesh so, I guess you might say, he was lucky!  We could all do with that sort of luck, right?

But now every weekend until the season ends we have endure thousands (again, literally) of shots ringing out all within earshot and often much closer than that.  The law states....well, actually, we don't what the law says exactly about shooting close to houses, but whatever it does say the Spanish killers don't pay it any mind, and they just randomly rattle off as many shots as they can at (again literally) anything that moves within range; rabbits (which they are legally allowed to take), songbirds (by the dozen - if you ask them, they need at least a dozen thrushes to make even a half decent meal.....if they only mange to get 5 or 6, then they just leaves their little bodies where they lie and move on to the next tree to try again), wild boar, deer, hare, grouse, eagles, hawks, owls.......and anything else they come across.  And if you ask the Police or the Guardia what the law is in this regard (which manimals they are allowed to take & how close they can shoot to residences), they have no idea!  And you get the impression, they just don't give a shit either way!  Quite, quite unbelievable!   Why this Medieval and archaic practise is allowed to continue is quite beyond me.  I think it's because they have the cheek to call it sport!!  Sport!  Ha!  What a joke!

But if it must continue, then why it isn't restricted to specific areas away from residences where the dangers are minimised to the innocent and then the blood-thirsty hunters can shoot happily at each other all year long for all I care!  Alternatively, teach the rabbits how to use an Uzi, give 'em the ammo and set them loose on the hunters.  Now, that's what I call sport!  Where both sides start out on equal footing and have equal chances of achieving their aims.  When it's just slaughter, as it is now, sport is the last thing it is.

What with all rumpus the last few days in Paris you'd have thought some people might just take stock..."oh yeah, it's true....guns kill and they are dangerous.  I think I'll stop hunting!  We've seen enough blood shed!" But no!  Oh no, my friends!  This past weekend there seemed to be more than ever, almost as if the violence in France shook some out of their turgid apathy to remind them of the power of the gun!

My Dad and Mum have both said to me on numerous occasions that if they'd known what violent, don't-give-a-shit, thoughtless people the Spanish before they'd come here, they would not have come!  But hindsight is a wonderful thing!

And now to come full circle...... why do you hu-mans have guns at all?  What do they achieve?  Again, as far as we manimals are concerned guns are killing machines, nothing more.  Hu-man Wars constantly ravage our wonderful planet that we all share.  But it's only hu-mans who try to ruin that!  If manimals have a problem with other we fight it out, sure, and the winner is normally the strongest or cleverest one, not the one with the biggest gun, or the most destructive bomb.  If you lot have problems with each other why not choose champions who fight on behalf of a country, or religion or whatever other dumb reasons you guys have for wanting to kill each other and then the violence, damage, terror, pain is limited and doesn't bring the whole world to its knees and leave everyone living in fear!!

Can you imagine a gun-free world, where everyone understands and accepts everyone else as equals and Wars and disputes are settled with the minimum of fuss, bloodshed and angst.  We know it won't happen. But it should!

Negrito  

My Cartoon in support of Charlie Hebdo

None at NN can claim to be a cartoonist but we're trying to do our bit in support of all victims of terrorism.

PS.  Apologies for the line through the middle of the image, but I couldn't scan as a whole, so had to join it all up in photoshop!!!  Enjoy!

Paris hostage crisis ends.....

This was all too close to home...... I have family living in Paris, indeed one is a policeman and one more was on a plane on Tuesday from there, less than 24 hours before it all went off.  Watching the pictures all day on France 24 left me empty at the uselessness of it all.  It all felt way to familiar for me and took me back to the bad old days of  9/11.  I just hope the French nation don't opt for a Bush-style knee-jerk reaction.  New security Laws are needed, of that there is no doubt, but hopefully nothing as extreme as the US Patriot Act. Thankfully President Hollande doesn't seem the type and Manual Valls is way to smart for anything too outrageous, and anyway the French people have a much more rounded outlook towards freedom than perhaps does your average American and I couldn't see the French standing for anything as outlandish as French Patriot Act.  But time will tell......

For now, I'm sitting here waiting for President Hollande's address on the current state of affairs.  Reports are still sketchy and the numbers of dead (aside from those who asked for it) are not confirmed yet, and to the families of all the victims I can only offer my deepest condolences and hope that their deaths have not been in vain.

This is not the time for Politics or separatism.  Let's learn from the mistakes of 9/11 and let's come together in peace, everyone who believes in freedom and liberty, regardless of skin colour, nationality, race or creed. Let's begin on Sunday....attend the rally in support of the all the victims that is nearest to you and for one day let's forget our differences, forget our fears and come together in love.  We're all the same under the skin, we're all one under the sun and let's show our solidarity and move forwards in love, united across the oceans, under the skies and stand proud and fear-free and tell these fanatics who bring death to our streets that they cannot win, they will not win.  Let's fight with our words, not with guns; with love and not with hate; with togetherness and solidarity and we will win.  Lets #StoptheHate .