Apology needed???

Words slip out all the time. We've all had the awkward "no, no, I didn't mean it like that..." defence when we accidentally let a few insulting sentences tumble forth. For most, a simple apology or explanation solves the problem, and conversation continues. If you're a Celebrity or Politician, however, things can get a little bit more awkward, and in some cases can turn the media against you.

Ian Davidson, a Labour MP and chairperson of the Scottish Affairs Committee, allegedly said "You're gonna get a doing" to Dr Eilidh Whiteford of the SNP if details of a private discussion were leaked to the media.

Mr Davidson

Dr Whiteford took this into a Sexual threat, and has left the committee until there is a new chair elected. Mr Davidson has not stood down, and has apologised to Dr Whiteford.

The word that springs to mind when first reading this story is: "Really?". Accusations of sexual threats, bullying and sexism are an indiscrete attempt by Dr Whiteford to gain media attention, and a bit of classic anti-opposition smearing.

There is not a single part of me that believes that the comments were in anyway malicious or threatening, and that in no way should Mr Davidson be held responsible. It was a mistake... Surely??



Dr Whiteford



We step once more into the muddied pool of rumour, where nothing is quite clear, and there are countless channels of Truth and Lies which we could easily follow. In politics, surely you've got to have a hard skin; afterall we all do love hating our Political Representatives! Should this story be getting just as much coverage as it is getting? Is this a little splash, blown totally out of proportion to Tsunamic Sizes?? Or should our Politicians be setting a good example to our already sexist, racist, homophobic society?

Let's strip Dr Whiteford and Mr Davidson of their MP titles, and we have a totally different story. A man tells a woman he will "give her a doing" if she does something, then tells her he didn't mean it in a Sexual way. In my opinion, the story would be forgotten and their two lives would continue un-changed. If we add a bit of Political bias, and the whole of the British Media World, we are left with a totally different story.

This offers the notion that either Dr Whiteford has no backbone,can't bring herself to cope with a teeny insult and shouldn't be an MP, Or Dr Whiteford has made this a Political stunt, isn't acutally insulted, and shouldn't be an MP. Either way = The Same Result.

People elected by us should not think that they are more important than us. They shouldn't have more of a right to be in a harmless bubble of safety, protected from the storm of insults and abuse that we all risk facing every day.

If we peer back a few months, we will discover that this story, isn't the only case of supposed Sexism by our Political pals.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister himself, was forced to apologise for comments aimed at women.

"Calm down dear!" he told MP Angela Eagle during PMQs, in the style of Michael Winner. Instantly Cameron was branded a "Sexist", until it no longer hit the headlines, when everyone forgot about it.

A perhaps more serious case of sexism by Politicians is that of Tory Candidate Payam Tamiz and Social Networking site Facebook,  which hit the news last year.

"Girls in THANET ... you are all slags, hoes, brasses and bheads." he posted on Facebook "Girls who comment under facebook pics boasting to their slutty friends about guys they've f***** and had one-night stands with are as low as they come!"

He consequently resigned from the Conservative party.

If we head back to the, in comparison, rather tame case of Whiteford and Davidson, I can't help but feel that this is only an effort for Media attention and votes by Dr Eilidh.

Now get off my headlines, and let's read about actual Life-Changing stories.

BBC = Biased But Cool?

BBC is supposed to be un-biased. BBC is paid for by us.

There is a thin line between being unbiased and, well, not. Recently, however, I am starting to see glimpses of the supposedly un-biased BBC crossing that line.

I talk of the controversial, yet informative BBC show "Panorama". This week, Darragh McIntyre led us through the finance issues of Popular to Hate political party, BNP.

We all know of the General distaste of Mr Griffin and his racist, homophobic and extremist Party, so it is no surprise that I tuned in to see them get a right thrashing in front of millions. But then I remembered. The BBC is unbiased, so no chance of a great show-down.

I should have stuck to my first thought. The BBC successfully poured litre after litre of allegation all over Mr Griffin's head; Fraud, Fraud, Fraud, Fraud.

Using European Parliament money incorrectly, forging fake costs... The BNP was hardly shown in a great light. Surely, this means the BBC failed at remaining impartial?

It all depends of course on how you define Bias. If it is showing both sides to the argument in equal measure, then I think it is quite clear that the Corporation was definitely biased. If it is offering each side the chance to par-take in equal measure, then the Opposite is Correct and the whole thing should be dropped.

Throughout the show, we saw Mr McIntyre, the presenter of the investigation, continuously try to contact Mr Griffin to arrange an interview and discuss the matter of finance and fraud, face-to-face.

When Nick finally agreed, the whole interview was a sham to try and embarrass Panorama with questions from angry BNP supporters, whilst Nick slipped out the door.

If the BBC did veer into showing the BNP badly, they did bring it on themselves. A non-guilty Leader wouldn't try to hide from the cameras; he would arrange a sensible interview, and clear out the facts and allegations. Nick Griffin did not. His whole interview fiasco left himself floundering in a wallow of doubt and guilt. But the BBC tried. Is that not enough? If they can only show programmes with the subject of the investigation being shown in a brilliant light, then the show would be pointless, and potentially criminals could get away with it all.

Being totally indifferent is impossible; especially when dealing with illegal, tax-stealing Racists.

Walking with Humans...

I have been following BBC TV series "Planet Dinosaur", which offers a great insight into the Prehistoric Era, built almost entirely on fact. It is amazing what one fossil can show us about what life was like Millions and Millions of years ago. A simple tooth mark, or bone position can tell us all about a Dinosaur Eco-system; who ate what, who was hunted, how they bred, fought or found food.

But watching the tales of Massive Predators, and equally huge herbivores, makes even the most deadly of our animals feel rather tame. The most deadly animal in the Globe is a Mosquito, whereas the largest land Animal in the UK is a Red Deer. Not quite as exciting as a T-Rex or Diplodocus I feel.

But perhaps I just have a longing, like most of us, to find out just exactly who trod on the Earth before us humans. And at one time or another, we have all dreamed of going to Jurassic Park (minus the escaped Velociraptors etc.). These creatures dominated the Earth for Millions of years; making the Human Race seem like a Millisecond on the Earth's Clock.

There is no doubt that Scientists and Archaeologists the World over have been working tirelessly to help uncover the true Mysteries of the Past, and if we stop for a minute to think about it, you can't help but stand in awe of the amount of things we do know about the past.

I could tell you the length, diet, main prey, and main predator of a Huge variety of Animals, from just what has been found in the ground on which we tread, in as much time as it takes me to Google it. Only 30 years ago this would have been impossible.

Life is unstoppable. Every species, be it Human, Dinosaur, Animal or Plant, has an amazing ability to make the most of what it has been provided.

And you can't help but think; We would know very little, if not nothing, about the Prehistory of this Planet, if us Humans weren't so God-damn Nosey.

Walking in circles...

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Getting lost is an integral part of Human Life. We have all been involved in the "Excuse me, can you tell me where..." or "Is this the right way for..." conversation. Despite the creation of compasses, Maps, Globes and, more recently, Sat Navs, the Human Race still has the amazing ability to end up in the middle of nowhere, with not a clue of how they got there, or more importantly, how to get back to where they want to be.

But it isn't always a case of reading the map wrong, or missing the turn. Sometimes, there is a more clinical reason for Getting Lost.

Sharon Roseman, a 61-year-old American, has developmental topographical disorientation. In plain English, this relates to huge problems of navigational skill, most likely going back into early brain development. But her confusion over directions is much more serious. Every single morning, she wakes up in a house, which seems to resemble nothing like what she is used to. The doors, hallways and rooms seem to have moved whilst she slept. Even if she makes it to her car, the problems are not over. A simple detour in her normal route means instant confusion. On one such occasion, an icy slope caused her to search for a new way out of the Estate. 40 minutes later she recognised her front door and gave up.

This condition is of course very rare, and in the main, a Map will get you out of most places. But Say you were lost in the middle of nowhere. No idea where you are. No idea how to get out. No Maps, phones, Sat Navs. Nothing. How would you get out? You have two options. Sun or Stars.

The Sun

A very simple way of finding direction, involves the Sun, shadows and a metre-long stick. Put the stick in the ground upright and mark the placement of the shadow with a stone, or marker. Wait half an hour (or 1,800 elephants, if you haven't got a watch) and then mark the shadow again. Draw a line between the two points, and the line will run West-East with the first marker being West.

"The Big Dipper will always point to the North Star"

If you do have a watch, hold it flat and point the hour hand towards the Sun. The point between the hour-hand and the 12, shall now be North.

The Stars

A more fun way of doing it is at night, with the Stars. It seems strange to think that fiery balls of gas millions of miles away could possibly offer support in navigation, but they can. Simply find the Plough (Big Dipper), follow the line made by the front two stars, and you will see the North Star shining brightly. This will always be to your north.

Bermuda Triangle

Location of the Bermuda Triangle

Perhaps the most famous place to get lost is the Bermuda Triangle. The area in the Atlantic Ocean supposedly holds host to UFO's, Ghosts, and some say the Devil himself. A number of ships and air crafts have gone missing in the area, and it is now somewhat of a Legend.

Larry Kusche, who has written books on the subjects, says that "The number of ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, proportionally speaking, than in any other part of the ocean"

However, the more fun way of explaining the missing crafts, is to blame it on the Supernatural. And that's exactly what a lot of writers and authors have done. Steven Spielburg, for example, used the missing Flight 19 crew in his alien film "Close Encounters of a Third Kind". My personal favourite explanation, however, is that leftover technology from Atlantis, the mythical Lost Continent, is somehow involved.

Back to Britain

If you do end up being abducted by Aliens, or called down to Atlantis, I think we could all agree that even the best navigational skills are going to be of little use.

But if you are merely lost in a village, town or city, there are 6 handy ways of finding the right way.

1. Satellite Dishes.

A rather humorous way of working out directions, I thought. The way this works, is that the majority of Satellite Dishes point at a satellite dish that remains at the same point all the time. In the UK, the dominant satellite broadcaster, presumably Sky, has one such satellite which is close to southeast. The majority of Satellites therefore point this way.

2. Religious Buildings

Early Churches gave hints at which way was which. Christian Churches are majorly aligned west-east, with the altar of the church at the Eastern side. This alignment is also true of Gravestones.

If the Building in question is a Mosque, you must enter inside and look for a niche in a wall, which will indicate which way to Pray. This shall always point towards Mecca.

And if the Synagogue is where your at, the Torah Ark is normally at the East End, so that worshippers can pray to Jerusalem.

3. Weather

All buildings are affected by weather; the rain and pollution is carried by the wind, leaving its mark on the walls. The majority of wind is from the Southwest in the UK, meaning that the most patterns will be on the South-West facing wall.

4. People

If you're in a city, sometimes going with the flow is the way to be. Look for where the crowds are going. In the evening, they shall be going towards the Bus/Train Stations. In the morning, the opposite is correct.

5. Road Alignment

Roads are built to carry traffic, and the main bulk of traffic is either heading towards, or away from a town. If you are in the North or South of town, the roads will be aligned North/South.

6. Clouds

Prevention is better than cure, and the clouds offer just that. Before you get lost, look up and see which way the clouds are blowing. This direction should remain constant for the rest of the day, thus offering a reliable way of knowing which way you just came.

Finally, I leave you with news, that when we are lost, we do actually walk in circles. Preliminary research has shown that when we are unsure of the way, the path we tend to take is in circles or curved lines. Further research is yet to take place to prove the point further.

That's it for now, so go on, Get Lost!!