Generation You Tube

Words I never thought would fall from my fathers lips:

"Google it Beryl"

"Are you using spotify?........ how do you stream your music?"

And a personal favourite of mine.........

"Have you seen this clip on You tube?"

My father is a 74 year old semi retired accountant.  When we discuss his school days, he talks of chalk and slate, pen and ink..... certainly, my father is a product of the hard rather than soft copy era.

Mater & Pater

It's therefore more remarkable that he has embraced this new technology and added it to his arsenal of communication and learning tools.  In fact, ever since my parents attended a "silver surfers course" (the internet made easy for the older generation) there has been no holding him back, in fact quite often, he demonstrably puts me to shame with his online prowess.   Always googling or "learning how to" with you tube videos.  Hold that thought,  learning "how to ......." by using you tube videos.  That is exactly what I intend to demonstrate in this Blog "Generation You Tube".  I will be investigating alcohol,  and by the end of this blog, you the reader will have a greater understanding of the following:

1.  How and why we decant alcohol? 

2.  Why do we fall over when drunk?

3.  How is alcohol made?

So let us look at decanting alcohol, specifically red wine, even the lambrinin classes of this world know that red wine needs to breathe and that it should be at room temperature before serving.  But what of decanting?  Why should we decant and why?  I hope that the video below will go some way to resolving all of these questions.

So in under 2 minutes,  we have succeeded in expertly showing you not only how to correctly decant but also as a result of the sediment integral to a bottle of red wine, why we decant over candle light.  A skill to add to your dinner party prowess perhaps?  Come Dine With Me eat your heart out!

In this next part, we move on to consumption instead of decanting.  I am sure that I am not alone when I say that I have suffered from wobbly leg syndrome following a little over indulgence and certainly the women amongst you will understand when I say that I have often regretted my choice of stiletto shoe.  Take a look at the next you tube which will better explain the symptoms indicative to being drunk. A squiffy chap is trying to make his way home and failing miserably after a skin full.




So we are all now visually clear about the affects of alcohol on the body,  but do we really know and understand why this happens?  why and how does alcohol affect our coordination and judgement?  A video, posted below for your perusal has been produced by "Drink Wise Australia" and goes some way to answering those questions:



A succinct 7 minute video, viewed 2, 146, 464 times that delivers the science behind our questions.  Alcohol or more accurately ethanol affects various parts of our brain resulting in changes to our biology and behaviour.  Let me quickly recap, the areas of the brain affected are listed below and along side which I have listed the physical affect on our bodies:

Frontal Lobes   -  Act without inhibition, lack of self control, act upon urges.
Cerebellum       -  Coordination affected, lack of balance, thinking skills impaired.
Hippocampus   -  Become forgetful, prone to blackouts, memory loss.
Hypothalmus    -  Increase in blood pressure, thirst, hunger and greater urge to 
                             urinate.
Medulla            -   Body temperature and heart rate affected can lead to hypothermia.

With questions 1 & 2 answered this leads me neatly on to 3.  How is alcohol made?  During my time in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where alcohol is "Haram" (Arabic for forbidden), thankfully not for Diplomats, however those expats within the gated communities they called home were quite entrepreneurial in their approach to making home made hooch which they called "Sidiki" (Sid for short).  Based very loosely on the drink we know as gin, I often wondered how it was that these seemingly average Joes knew how to create hardcore liquor in their back rooms - it seems that you tube has the answer:



Let me start by saying how thankful I am that I can simply pop into a local store or supermarket to pick up a bottle of my favourite tipple rather than having to make my own moonshine!!!!!  I looked at quite a few you tube videos pertaining to explain in a few easy steps how to make your own alcohol and the above video was by far the easiest viewing with step by step instruction.

I am sure that I am not alone when I say that this all seemed very technical, took a lot of patience and prowess with very little gain.  Who knew that you could buy a still on amazon?  any takers?  no, I didn't think so.

The internet is truly a wonderful place where much learning can take place in abundance,  today I learnt that I would rather buy a bottle of chilled white than install a still in my back room.  Horses for courses as they say, thanks for watching.

Capital Punishment - Where do you stand?

The entrance to death row - San Quentin, California State

Today, capital punishment continues and is permitted or rather is carried out in 58 countries.  That said between the years 1848 and 2009 the death penalty was outlawed in 98 countries worldwide.

Is there such a thing as a fair trial? is there scope for error? Can we ever be beyond reasonable doubt? Pro capital punishment lobbyists would have us believe so, and that countries with the death penalty experience lower crime rates. Can one ever truly compare countries with different demographics and social problems?  Is their argument valid or is the death penalty a thing of the past - something soon to be resigned to the history books?

 I set about researching a plethora of opinions on three blogs whose written word backed up with facts and figures could not be further from each other;  each blog supporting their stance with suitable biblical quotes and statistics.  Below is a synopsis of the content of each blog followed by my own conclusion based on the arguments presented.

Pro Capital Punishment Blog - Criminal Justice degree.com.  A blog scribed by Wesley Lowe, a staunch supporter of the death penalty.  In his blog, Wesley Lowe opens with the following quote:-

Viewing room for the relatives of the deceased, the relatives of the Condemned and the Press.

"In a world as dangerous and as imperfect as this one, we will always be putting innocent lives at risk no matter what we do, or don't do.  The death penalty is a choice that is least dangerous and the most sensitive to those put at risk"

Lowe backs his rigid opinion by hiding behind old testament quotes, case in point:

Mathew 26:52 "All who take the sword will perish by the sword"

Exodus 21:12 " He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death"

Whilst the author quotes the scriptures in abundance as a means to substantiate his point of view, at no point does he refer to the new testament, or the 6th commandment "Thou shall not kill".

Furthermore the author refers to article 3 & 5 of the American Constitution "Everyone has a right to life, liberty and security of person",  "...... no one shall be subjected to cruel or degrading punishment".  Lowe continues by discounting life without parole (LWP) instead of the death penalty. We are told the cost of LWP is $1.2 million more expensive than the death penalty.  I ask, can one put a price on life?  And his reference to article 3 is a contradiction in terms;  if everyone has a right to life, then why not the condemned?  why not he who committed the crime?

Modus Operandi

The undecided among you will always raise the question of "what of the innocents"?  what of the wrongful execution of innocents.  Lowe addresses this concern by quoting a US Senate report 2012:

"All that can be expected of (human atrocities) is that they take every reasonable precaution against the danger of error ......... if errors are made, this is the necessary price that must be paid within a society which is made up of human beings"

Let me sum up - the end justifies the means, so what if there's collateral damage along the way?  Oregon District Attorney Josh Marquis said the following about the effectiveness of the justice system:

"The number of inmates taken off death row specifically because DNA cleared them is 5"

A figure low enough to make errors acceptable it would seem!  The low number that bears no name nor physicality.

Lowe goes on to tell us "No murderer put to death will ever commit a crime again". 

 I ask are things really that simple?  is life and death that black and white?

I sought out a neutral opinon on line.  Tricky as people are either for or against no middle ground, however an anonymous blogger and member of the Pew Research Centre sourced an article from BBC news30 September 2016 that highlighted that Capital Punishment was "..... at its lowest for over four decades".  Research carried out by the Pew Centre found  "...a sizeable slump in public approval for state executions"

Moving on from neutral my question is, Is crime on the increase, or is more a case that media today is quicker and better at covering incidents nation and worldwide? Do we really need Capital Punishment?  or is it simply a knee jerk reaction to what we hear is happening on our door steps and further afield?   Perhaps today's educated audience may offer a more balanced view, aware that not everything is always as it seems, all that glitters is not gold.

Brian Evans , Director of Amnesty Internation  certainly thinks so. In an easy to navigate and well written Blog, Evans arms the reader with quick links to stone cold indisputable facts, hyper links that read as follows:

1.  Death Penalty and trends

2. Death Penalty and Innocence

3. Death Penalty cost

4. Death Penalty and race

5. Death Penalty and Arbitrariness

6. Death Penalty and Deterrence

7. Death Penalty and Mental Illness

Reading and injesting the content of each subheading immediately casts doubt on the the justification of the death penalty.

Erams states "The death penalty, both in the States and around the world is discriminatory and is used disproportionately against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethic and religious communities"

I find no figure in any Blog that proves that the death penalty is a deterrent. A US Supreme Court Justice Harry A  Blackburn February 22, 1994 said " 20 years have passed since the court declared that the death penalty must be imposed fairly and with reasonable consistency, or not at all, and, despite the effort of the States and the  courts to devise legal formulas and procedural rules to meet this daunting challenge, the death penalty remains fraught with arbitrariness, discrimination, caprice and mistakes"

What is clear, having read the Blogs, the varying opinions, the cliched arguments for example " why kill people to show that killing is wrong" or the reference to the 1948 UN introduction of The Universal of Human Rights.  The declaration states that "one is permitted life and freedom".  If this were taken verbatim then not only would Capital Punishment be abolished but also all forms of incaceration.

An interesting study in the Death Penalty News Blog found that being younger and spending longer in formal education (sadly not an option for all)made respondants less likely to support the death penalty.

Could education therefore be the key?  Not only to educating the populus but also the criminal so that he may see the error of his way.  Education for all from grass roots, all backgrounds and minorities thus affording individuals a platform to prepare for the future and the next generation.   Should governments be investing in education rather than in Capital Punishment procedures?

Have we failed those on death row?  Had they been given a better start in life, an equal footing would they have walked the same path to the gallows?  You decide..........

About Me - A path less travelled

My life today is very different to what used to be, today I live a very normal life in the sleepy hollow that is North Wales.  It wasn't always this way.....

In 2003 I enlisted into the British Army, The Adjutant General Corps to be precise.  My core skills were as an interpreter and classified document administrator.  My career spanned over 10 years serving in every arm pit at home and overseas finally culminating in a Joint Commanders Commendation for exceptional work during Operation Palentine in Banja Luka, Bosnia whilst working alongside the Joint Commission Observers (22 SAS) who were working under cover.

In 2013, I was to be promoted and posted to Germany.  This was the moment I decided to pull canopy and resign my commission.  I wanted more from life, more than moving from one location to another every 2 years or so.  In August 2013 I became a civilian.  SO! what next ...... well I landed a job working for Bain & Co ( an American bank based on the Strand in London).  I was to be the new private equity coordinator, my first task, managing the private equity take over of Debenhams the clothing store.  I immediately hated the job and being civilian,   I had started work with Bain on the Monday and by Wednesday of that week I was boarding a flight to Iraq with Tim Spicer, the Director of Sandline International and Aegis.  We were heading to war, as I had done before but never as a civilian, never without the backing of the Battalion and never without a weapon.  This was the beginning, a turning point.  Below are photographs of my base headquarters, Saddam Hussein's old Palace as well as his portrait of missiles from within one of his dining rooms, the bombed out National Guard HQ and Saddam's throne.

This is where life started to became interesting .......... We were hit by a vehicle borne improvised explosive device(VBIED), I broke almost every bone in my body, lost 23 teeth and had 98 staples to the back of my head..... I returned home to the UK to recover and consider my options.  I was broken but alive and was thankful for that.

In December 2005, now fully recovered I joined the Foreign Office (FCO), following 4 years of training I deployed to the Middle East, I won't bore you with the detail but below are some pictures of the highlights of my time there.

         

Welsh Society celebrating St Davids day in the British Embassy Riyadh

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the FCO, but its a lonely existence for a single woman.  After years of being away from home and loved ones I decided to return home to Wales in 2014 and carve a new career, a new path, so here I am........ pastures new.