In 1979 my late friend Brian Barron filmed a documentary on the vanishing hunters of Africa. Sadly, Brian died in September last year. His cameraman of many decades, Eric Thirer,  with producer Simon Smith and film editor Amanda Gunn resurrected the old reels and created a totally superb documentary which is on BBC I player http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00psz4h/Our_World_Vanishing_Breed/

Tom Friedman writing in the New York times:-

……no laws or walls we put up will ever be sufficient to protect us unless the Arab and Muslim societies from whence these suicide bombers emerge erect political, religious and moral restraints as well — starting by shaming suicide bombers and naming their actions “murder,” not “martyrdom.”

Murder is about other people; martyrdom is about themselves.  It’s the ‘me, me, me,’ thing again.

I love this emotive rant from Charles Dickens when, in his 1842 journey to America, he travels south where slavery is legal:- 

…..the Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America, which solemnly declares that All Men are created Equal; and are endowed by their Creator with the Inalienable Rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…….It is the inalienable right of some of them to take the field after their Happiness, equipped with cat and cartwhip, stocks and iron collar and to shout their view halloa! (always in the praise of Liberty), to the music of clanking chains and bloody stripes.

Whether Yemen, Iraq or Virginia, much is about human dignity. 

Click here: Democracy Kills                                                                   Click here: Democracy Kills

The new, hot economic grouping is the E7 — China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey — and mid-decade it is due to take over from the old G7 – America, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada — in GDP purchasing power parity. So is the shift of economic power from West to East inevitable? 

Click here: Democracy Kills                                                              Click here: Democracy Kills

In British society the   ‘put-down’ is seen as a clever social mechanism in which one person feels good by making another feel bad. One hint of why America works differently comes in the wonderful New York Times illustrated essay by Maria Kalman called And The Pursuit of Happiness in which she lists George Washington’s ‘rules of civility and decent behaviour in company and conversations. 

Rule 1:- Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect for those who are present.

A debate on private school curriculla cropped up shortly after midnight at the colourful and imaginatively risque Chelsea Arts Club New Year’s Ball. Two guests, Katie and Lucy, both single, were former pupils at Cheltenham Ladies College. Each fancied men connected with the band — the Peter Golding T Bones Players; one a song writer; another the lead guitarist. Each was introduced, then swiftly back-pedalled, complaining that their school had not taught them how to pull rock musicians. Given the £170,000 plus annual salary of the Cheltenham head teacher, many revellers became drawn into their quandry and thought this skill should be added to the Ladies’ College curriculum. Lucy later conceded, however, her relief at not having to go through the difficult process of eviction in the morning.