The Law

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Details: Written by: Richard_McKie; Parent Category: History; Category: Recollections; Published: 11 January 2011; Hits: 60871

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History provided the basis for law making. Just as it is perfectly reasonable to establish laws and regulations to guard against bricks falling from high places into crowded streets or naked short-selling on the stock market, so all laws are cast in an historical context.

It is essential for the competence and proper functioning of society and of human relations in general, that laws and regulations are established. These are inevitably based on our perceptions of the past, 'History', and its relevance to a mutually desired future.

These laws need to provide that criminality or serious abuse against one's fellow citizens does not go unpunished; that people are free to seek their fortune within the law; and that people can attain high rank based on achievements and ability or popular acclaim. I believe that, in addition, everyone should have ready access to contemporary knowledge and ideas, limited only by their comprehension; and everyone should be able to live their lives, according to their own lights, with the maximum freedom, consistent with the freedom of others.

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Travel

Malaysia

In February 2011 we travelled to Malaysia. I was surprised to see modern housing estates in substantial numbers during our first cab ride from the Airport to Kuala Lumpur. It seemed more reminiscent of the United Arab Emirates than of the poorer Middle East or of other developing countries in SE Asia. Our hotel was similarly well appointed.

Fiction, Recollections & News

His life in a can

A Short Story

"She’s put out a beer for me! That’s so thoughtful!"

He feels shamed, just when he was thinking she takes him for granted.

He’s been slaving away out here all morning in the sweltering heat, cutting-back this enormous bloody bougainvillea that she keeps nagging him about. It’s the Council's green waste pick-up tomorrow and he’s taken the day off, from the monotony of his daily commute, to a job that he has long since mastered, to get this done.

He’s bleeding where the thorns have torn at his shirtless torso. His sweat makes pink runnels in the grey dust that is thick on his office-pale skin. The scratches sting, as the salty rivulets reach them, and he’s not sure that he hasn’t had too much sun. He knows he’ll be sore in the office tomorrow.

Opinions and Philosophy

Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell (Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970)) has been a major influence on my life. I asked for and was given a copy of his collected Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell for my 21^st birthday and although I never agreed entirely with every one of his opinions I have always respected them.

In 1950 Russell won the Nobel Prize in literature but remained a controversial figure. He was responsible for the Russell–Einstein Manifesto in 1955. The signatories included Albert Einstein, just before his death, and ten other eminent intellectuals and scientists. They warned of the dangers of nuclear weapons and called on governments to find alternative ways of resolving conflict. Russell went on to become the first president of the campaign for nuclear disarmament (CND) and subsequently organised opposition to the Vietnam War. He could be seen in 50's news-reels at the head of CND demonstrations with his long divorced second wife Dora, for which he was jailed again at the age of 89.

In 1958 Gerald Holtom, created a logo for the movement by stylising, superimposing and circling the semaphore letters ND.

Some four years earlier I'd gained my semaphore badge in the Cubs, so like many children of my vintage, I already knew that: = N(uclear) = D(isarmament)

The logo soon became ubiquitous, graphitied onto walls and pavements, and widely used as a peace symbol in the 60s and 70s, particularly in hippie communes and crudely painted on VW camper-vans.

(otherwise known as the phallic Mercedes).

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