Archives for January 2017

Dictatorship 1, Democracy Nil – The People Loose

31/01/2017 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Democracy needs to be nurtured and looked after, if not then it gets strangled and we end of with a barren land. (David McFarlane)

Law, as it had been known, was no longer decisive in legal proceedings. Judges, now more than ever, were working toward the Fuehrer. Judicial independence, once the ideal of the German state, nearly vanished….Jim Snowden (https://jimsnowden.com/2013/11/06/the-nazi-judiciary/)

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”..John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902)

The problem with being an ‘outsider’ to another countries politics, is just that, you are an outsider. I don’t profess to understand American politics, but I do reserve the right to comment on what I perceive to be a fundamental change to society and the impact that it is having on others. When Hitler came to power, even though he had been well treated by the German Judiciary, he set out to control the courts and to remove fundamental rights. He succeeded, and to those who suffered because of this came the ‘Holocaust’ and the ‘Death Camps’. The United Nations states ‘The Rule of Law and Democracy Section stands as OHCHR focal point for democracy activities.’ The rule of law is the legal principle that law should govern a nation, as opposed to being governed by arbitrary decisions of individual government officials. The decision by President Trump goes in the face of all legal precedents except when you look at dictatorships such as Nazi Germany etc. Indeed it bares direct comparison with Hitler,

I expect the German legal profession to understand that the nation is not here for them, but that they are here for the nation*, and that from now on, I shall intervene in these cases and remove from office those judges who evidently do not understand the demand of the hour. (Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, vol III, the Justice Case,Washington, 1951 Page 51″)

President Trump - Democracy? Most of the world did not stand up to Hitler and his political aspirations, and the world ended up in a world war. In all conscience I cannot stand by and say nothing, President Trump is going down a very dangerous road, and the problem is that he is taking people who didn’t vote for him with him!

Donald Trump has fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she ordered Justice Department lawyers to stop defending the president’s controversial immigration orders.

Source: Donald Trump sacks US attorney general Sally Yates for defiance over immigration ban – live

Breach – A Movie Review

27/01/2017 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Name of movie: Breach

Date: 2007

Length (hrs) Approx 1 hr 45 mins

Film genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller

Characters:

Chris Cooper as Robert Hanssen

Ryan Phillippe as Eric O’Neill

Laura Linney as Kate burroughs

Breach Breach

Awards: AARP Movies for Grownups Awards 2008 – Best Actor ‘Chris Cooper’

Setting: FBI Headquarters, Washington DC

Plot information: Robert Hanssen was a high level FBI agent who spied for Russia for money and other reasons.

When does the movie take place? Approximately 2000-2002

What happens in the movie? The plot is quite simple in that Robert Hanssen is transferred to FBI HQ to head up a new section, but in reality his move is to sideline him and to enable the FBI to monitor more closely his behaviour. To this end O’Neill is brought in as his gopher, but in reality again he is to observe and report on Hanssen’s moves.

What makes the movie interesting? The interesting features of the movie is that there is not action sequences, it is all based around character; and to this end both Chris Cooper as Hanssen, and Ryan Phillippe as O’Neill are brilliant. It is the development of the character of both of these men, of how they are both living double lives, and how eventually both come to the end of the story having moved their personal life in a totally different direction

I was really surprised at Ryan Phllippe’s handling and development of his character of O’Neill (a young, enthusiastic agent who is looking to grow within the agency), and look forward to him doing more work which is character led rather than some of the light weight items he has previously carried out.

How do you feel when the movie ended? The movie didn’t bring up any surprises, but it did leave some unanswered ones, especially since watching the movie I have read up on Hanssen.

I would recommend this movie to those who are will to watch and listen, and enjoy character led stories.

On a scale of 1 (don’t like) – 5 (like), for me I would give this movie a 4 out of 5

Lifelong Learning and Education is the KEY!

10/01/2017 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Learning

Lifelong Learning

I have spent most of my life trying to educate myself; by this I mean I have been out getting those bits of paper which employers desire so much, and with which you hope to get that all illusive job and ‘salary’.

I have to admit that I have been successful, I have attended university three times and passed out with degrees and a post graduate diploma, and on top of which I have achieved numerous other professional qualifications. But, for all of these, and though I am now basically retired, I still feel the need to strive for more ‘education’.

Today I am doing MOOCs (Massive Online Courses) which i attend virtually online, and these are held around the world in numerous universities. They are short in duration, but no less enlightening and educational; and what is even better a lot of them are ‘FREE’.

I have studied art fraud, journalism, cyber crime, and I am now about to start project management and web design. The sky is the limit.

The blog article linked to at the end of my piece is from Srinivas Rao, and is about the same thing I have written about – continuous education – life long learning. With the changing face of the workplace, we need to debvelop tactics and abilities to keep ourselves fresh and valid for this workplace. Have a read, make an effort to learn more, go for your future.

Many people don’t read a single book after they complete their formal education.

Source: Give Yourself an Informal Education that Kicks the Crap out of Your Formal One – The Mission

Boys Failure is not an option!

08/01/2017 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Failure is not an option

The infographic (link in the further reading section) gives some interesting information as to why boys seem to be lagging behind girls in terms of achievement in education, and their future development academically

Some interesting facts:

girls out perform boys in ALL countries when it comes to reading.
At age 15, 60% of the lowest achievers in mathematics and science are boys
20% of boys play collaborative online games as against 2% of girls

There is considerably more information on this infographic which was produced from OECD figures and reports.

The following excerpts from the report ‘The ABC of Gender Equality in Education: Aptitude, Behaviour, confidence is telling and worrying –

…Young men are significantly more likely than young women to have low levels of skills and poor academic achievement, and are more likely to leave school early…(Osborne et al., 2003: Charles and Grusky, 2004)

…Many boys find school out of sync with their interests and preferences and, as a result, often feel disaffected and not motivated to work in school…the underachievement of young men has severe consequences not only for their own futures (Erikson et al., 2005; Rose and Betts, 2004), but for societies as a whole (OECD, 2010)…

The continuous tinkering with the United Kingdom’s educational system, the under investment, and undermining of teachers, the closure of libraries with also the lack of ‘relevant’ areas of interest for boys within both education and libraries means that we are on a road leading to failure for both our society and our country.

Failure is not an option, if we want to succeed as a country!

Into The Wild – A Movie Review

05/01/2017 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Name of movie: Into The wild

Date: 2007

Length (hrs): 2h 28mins

Film genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama

Characters: Christopher McCandless

Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars; Won Golden Glove ‘Best Original Song’, Nominated Golden Glove Best Original Score, Screen Actors Guild Awars Nominated Actor in 4 areas, AFI Awards Won Movie of the Year

Setting: Mostly Alaska

Plot information: Christopher McCandless has just graduated from Emory University as a top student and athlete. However, he is disillusioned with the ‘rat race’ and gives his $24,000 university savings account to charity and then through a series of adventures and encounters with wonderful characters, who are like pen drawings in their details and shortness on the screen, he makes his way to Alaska – his journey ‘Into The Wild’.

This is based on a true story, and the movie comes across as real, as do the characters. You get engrossed with the development of the story, and also you want to know what happens with all the characters.

When does the movie take place?

Who are the main characters:

See IMDB Cast

What makes the Into The Wild interesting? For myself what makes this interesting, is that earlier in my life, I considered going walk about. I looked at Canada, I looked at the Grand Canyon, I looked at many areas to get away from it all. I think many of us during our lives encounter a time when we have had enough of ‘life’ and want to escape. For most of us, we shake it off, probably regret it at some time in the future, but we settled down for the mundane. This movie shows what can happen if you follow that dream.

The best part for me is when he discovers Alaska and finds his dream. He encounters many adversities during his time in Alaska, and at times evens has pangs for the’real’ world. However he stills ends up staying in Alaska.

The people who will love this movie are those who can dream, and can understand why others have dreams which are outside the norm for society.

On a scale of 1 (don’t like) – 5 (like), how do you rate this movie? I give this move a 5

Brexit questions to be answered

01/01/2017 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Brexit - walls shored up with sand Over the next months, Brexit questions are going to start being raised which will need to be answered, for example:-

What is going to happen to the civil servants currently working for the United Kingdom MEPs in Europe, when Brexit starts impacting properly?
How is the government going to help with documentation and communication re standards to comply with EU markets when Brexit has been implemented?
How will regions and counties in the UK be supported from the government with the additional costs that Brexit will generate? Can we look at how Germany handles it regional areas for inspiration?

Obviously the questions will continue to grow, as will the dissatisfaction with the lack of response from Teresa May, the Prime Minister of the UK. Yes I do understand that the PM and the government must be allowed time to formulate policy and the negotiation platform, but unless the extraneous areas as I have mentioned above are put into the pot as well, then this exit will be a completed fiasco.