LOVE FOR THE LOST

On Monday 22 May the City of Manchester (one of my favourite cities in the world), was turned upside down when suicide bomber Salman Abedi went to the Manchester MEN Arena (not the MCCC. That's the other one, just to be clear) and detonated a IED which killed 22 people and badly injured 116.

It was an act of cruel and cowardly terror and by all accounts a scene of absolute horror.

The immediate reaction was what you probably expect: Anger, sadness, a desire to see something done about these cowardly acts that keep happening and of course we had our loud mouth idiots and Islamaphobes who really should have left things unsaid.

There was a young man I interviewed who said that just trying to solve one terrorist attack is not good enough, we need to take a look at the bigger picture. I completely agree. However, a lot of people have been saying that in our aim to stop horrors such as at the MEN Arena and the shooting at the Bataclan, we should be specially targeting Islam and the Muslim population. This is, of course, completely ridiculous.  A terrorist is a terrorist regardless of his background or nationality.

Of course, this is what some people want to happen. But from the very beginning of this incident, the people of Manchester showed everyone what should happen.

People opened their doors to give stranded people a bed for the night when the transport system was brought to a complete standstill. Taxi drivers (some of whom were the Muslims people say should be targeted) gave free rides to anyone who was stuck. The Holiday Inn hotel opened its doors and effectively became a lost childrens' centre. People on the internet retweeted the faces of lost children to say either "find this person" or an alert to say "they have been found". And a homeless man treated the injured, scared witless children who were coming out of the Arena. And all that was just the beginning of the kindness.

I went to Manchester the day after. And I met amazing people. The friendly police, the Muslims (yes, the people who are being vilified for no reason) showing such immense kindness by talking to people and giving them reassurance that they condemned this cowardly attack as much as everyone else. In Albert Square, different charities and associations were giving out free snacks and drinks. And people were going around with signs saying, "Love for Manchester" and "free hugs". I sure as hell needed a free hug. I went to St Peter's Square where there was a modest but beautiful memorial. And I went to the police cordon where I spoke to a nice policeman and told him what a good job he was doing. I thought all this was all pretty wonderful.

Loving and helpful people of Manchester

Solidarity for Manchester

Then on Thursday I returned, this time to St Ann's Square. The sight there was even more amazing! There were more flowers in one place then I'd ever seen in my life. Along with lots of balloons, teddy bears and messages of sympathy.  And there were chalk messages written all over paving slabs. I even wrote one myself. It was the most amazing outpouring of grief, love, compassion and kindness. It was everywhere. I walked around and saw it wherever I went. I walked into the Cathedral, said my prayers for the 22 people who died, lit a tealight, signed a book of condolence and made a donation. My way of showing my love to the victims and their families.

St Ann's Square - a memorial to the lost

I did all this, but it didn't change how I felt. Angry. Very angry. Upset as hell that anyone had such cruelty in his heart that he could murder innocent people enjoying themselves, just because he had taken the words of Mohamed (PBUH) that are so beautifully written, (I know. I've read the Q'uran) and turned it into some twisted ideology that makes no sense whatsoever.

Angry with MI5, who were allegedly told in January (yes, JANUARY!!) that an attack was going to happen and did absolutely nothing about it.

Angry at the government for putting military on the streets to support the police who couldn't cope because Theresa May cut their funding in the first place.

Angry because I saw (and as an empath, felt) these people suffering and could do nothing to ease their pain. I just felt really angry at the whole horrible situation.

We can (and should) keep laying the flowers, singing the songs, saying the prayers, but it's not solving the main issue here that we need to stop terrorism. But targeting the Muslim community is not the way it should be done. In fact we shouldn't be targeting any one, except the terrorists. We need to take terrorism as it is and deal with it. Terrorism - not Islam.

I am no longer angry, as anger really doesn't change anything. What we need to do is find a proper constructive way to stop terrorism and soon.

My love and condolences to the people of Manchester.

My message for the lost

HOW TO BE A MARATHON SUPPORTER

There is something mad but amazing about all marathons. But London is probably the best one in the world. It's even better when you are there to support a friend and a charity that you love. Hence where this story begins. I must explain up front that my blog is from a supporter and spectator's view - not a runner's. Not likely. This is my typical day at a London Marathon.

My story starts in 2013. That Marathon was very special to me for more reasons than I can count. It was my first experience of any Marathon. It was my first time volunteering for ANY charity; it was certainly my first time volunteering for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY). It was the year of the Boston Marathon Bombing, so the atmosphere was even better as not only were we cheering our own runners, but we were cheering in solidarity for the people of Boston, who had suffered such cruelty, just for trying to help their fellow man. It was also the year I first met CRY's patron and soon to be my dearest friend Bill Neely. He was already running his fourth (eek!) marathon. I couldn't have began in a better way.

Supporting CRY at the 2013 London Marathon

And now here we are five years later, me on my fifth year of volunteering and Bill on his eighth incredible run. So, how do you spectate at a marathon? Well, go nuts is my advice.

The first obstacle is getting to your chosen spot. As we are CRY volunteers, we are allocated mile 18 and mile 23. The transport is horrendous and you have to be very quick to get around. If you are not used to it, it can be very frustrating, but once you get used to it, it's easy to work out the best and quickest way to get around. One thing we have always done is to avoid mile 8. It's the worse place to go. It's horrible. I only did it once - never again. Most smart people try to work out which are the quiet spots. We've done it many times, so we have mastered the transport hassle.

Mile 18 - one of the CRY cheer points

Once you get to your chosen spot, the easy bit begins. Everyone who runs a marathon is amazing so cheer on every single one of them whether you know them or not. Make all the noise you can. Don't hold back. Be loud; be proud. These brave people deserve it! We shake rattles, scream, wave pompoms, bang things together and we don't worry about looking silly. It's part of the fun. We just let go and enjoy! This time I had help cheering Bill on by a rather delightful little boy, who had the right idea from the very beginning. Noah cheered on everyone, and he even borrowed my pom-pom and plastic hand clapper. His enthusiasm was unrelenting. He asked my friends name. I said, "Bill, but we always shout "Neely"!" He shouted Neely for the next hour even before Bill had arrived, when Bill arrived, and an hour after he had gone! He was wonderful and so was his brother Kaya.

Noah cheers on the runners with some help from Pikachu

And that's the other thing: it's a good time to make friends. Sometimes, they will only be friends for that day and you may never see them again. Or sometimes they will become friends who you will know for a long time. Noah's Dad is half-Japanese. So he was quite impressed when I shouted, "Ganbarimasu (do your best)!" at a passing Japanese runner. We exchanged email addresses and I will be passing on the photos I took. 

That's the easy bit. Now comes the harder bit. Spotting the runner you're supporting and, in my case, trying to catch them on camera, video etc, is very difficult. Downloading the tracker app only helps you in so far as you will know when they are likely to turn up on the street you are on. Actually, there is a slight delay on it, so you have to switch on the camera five minutes earlier to make sure you get them. This time Don managed to time it perfectly, while I tried to do it and messed it up completely. My little camera was attached to the left side of my glasses, which is fine except I waved with my left arm, so covered the camera while waving. Oops. But Don got this brilliant shot. Bravo Don!

CRY Patron Bill Neely at mile 18 

After your runner has passed by, you can get back on the horrendously crowded transport system to go to the meet and greet in Horse Guards Parade and The Mall. There you have to wait for and somehow find your runner as they finish. There are posts with letters on to make it easier, so for instance Granner (my name) begins with an 'G', so Don would wait at the 'G' post. Also some charities have their own separate meet and greet points.

As we were not family in the literal sense, we headed to our next destination. Here I can only speak for CRY as I have no clue what other charities do. CRY puts on facilities for the returning runners. The runners get a well-earned round of applause when they arrive, they get a massage and are also able to take a shower. And this year they got a souvenir medal. It is also where family and friends can wait for their runners. Which is where we come in. We headed for the hotel and were met by the very welcoming CRY staff and volunteers. We were offered food, drink and relaxation. It was wonderful. We sat and chilled, and gave a round of applause to every single runner who came back, because they are all incredibly awesome!

The amazing CRY gang

I walked back upstairs because I was restless and saw a bus arrive, as CRY always transports its runners back from the meet and greet. Bill arrived and I was able to present him with his medal. After we had spent some time with the lovely volunteers and Bill, he headed home and we headed elsewhere to do other stuff.

I love the marathon, the atmosphere, the fun, the support of everyone and the pride of helping a charity you love. I have become a part of something so amazing and I have made some wonderful friends. So my advice to you is try just once to do a marathon, or if like me you are a coward, then go and support your favourite charity and the people who run in these things because they are so wonderful and very, very brave.

I want to be doing this every year for a long time to come! And maybe, just maybe, one day I may be brave enough to give it a try. Lastly, I wish to say thank you to CRY, and say well done to every single marathon runner. The London Marathon - the best event in the world.

Marathons are AWESOME!

Bill celebrating a (3 hour 11 minutes!) eighth marathon

    

WESTMINSTER UNITED

On Wednesday 22 March, London was shaken by terror after a man drove his 4x4 along Westminster Bridge, ploughed through pedestrians and crashed the vehicle into the fence surrounding the Palace of Westminster hitting even more people. The guy then climbed out the car, got through the fence, and stabbed an unarmed policeman. He was then shot by police.

No sooner had this awful thing happened than the hatred began. The 'let's blame Islam' bigots, the conspiracy theorists and the false flag nutters all crawled out the damn woodwork.

The worse thing was nasty comments from people on Fox (yes, Katie Hopkins, I am talking about you, you evil woman!) saying how Britain was divided, cowering and that liberals in the rest of the UK hate London. Which is of course completely and utterly wrong. I'm from Yorkshire. And I LOVE London.

Every time something like this happens, idiots try and make out that the government are behind it and all the people are actors. We had it here, in Sandy Hook, in Paris and in Brussels. For Heaven's sake! Terrorist attacks happen. It's horrible and wrong, but it happens. It's not some stupid government conspiracy and saying any of this stuff is doing nothing but dishonouring the victims and their families.

And then we have the Islam/Muslim haters, like one who tweeted - before we even knew who the perpetrator was, "How much are you betting that is was done by a Muslim?" What? Good grief! It seems that people are too ready to blame the Muslims for absolutely everything. Even if nothing happens. Example: the day after this in Bellingham a guy did a similar thing - he drove his car onto a pavement, hitting people. Instantly, people were screaming, "terrorism". Except it wasn't. It was a guy who was under the influence of drink. Something that happens every day of the week in many parts of the UK. Muslims are not responsible for everything and they condemn these attacks as much as everyone else.

We need to stop the hate speech, racist paranoia, the conspiracy theories, and the false flag nonsense. When something this awful happens, regardless of where in the world it may be, we need to stand together in solidarity, and condemn it. And we need to stand up and say we will support the memories of the victims and their families.

I was in Westminster on Saturday 25th March four days after this appalling incident happened and all I saw from the majority of people was kindness, friendship, love for the people who died and for their families. And they weren't just Londoners. They came from far beyond the capital city. I myself had travelled from Leeds. We paid our silent respects together, prayed together, and in some cases wept together. We hugged the police who were around, thanking them for the work they do, the protection they give us every day, showing them how sorry we were that their colleague had being killed. Like journalists, police risk their lives to do their jobs, and like us, they sometimes lose it in the process. I saw more flowers and beautiful messages than I have ever seen in my life! It was amazing and incredibly moving and an image of compassion that I will never ever forget. I cried until I got on the train home an hour later.

This is what I will remember about this particular week. Not the hate, not the conspiracies, but people holding hands, weeping and being supportive of their fellow human beings. Exactly the way that it is and the way it should be.

To PC Palmer, thank you for everything you did to protect the world around us. May you and everyone who perished on that sad day Rest In Peace. X

Flowers for the victims of the Westminster attack

Message of support for London

SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

Many people have written articles and blogs about Donald Trump since he became President and Commander-In-Chief of the United States of America. They've written about his misogynism, his racism, and his homophobia and his Nazi ideals. What not many people have written about though is his constant hateful behaviour towards journalists.

Since his campaign trail for the White House began, President Trump has consistently and persistently harassed and insulted the media. Not only as a collective group, but he has lashed out at individual outlets and worse he has targeted specific journalists.  He has basically declared war on us.

Not that journalists are any strangers to being targeted. There are plenty of instances where the free speech of journalists has been at best curtailed and at worse silenced all together.

I have already written many times about the horrific press crackdowns in the Middle East, but press freedoms are also a luxury in South East Asia and Turkey.

But that couldn't happen in the West could it? Well, it could and recently did. Six journalists in the United States were charged after covering an anti-trump riot and being caught up in the mass arrests afterwards. Their punishment? Ten years in prison.

So the last thing America needs in charge is a man who clearly sees journalism (and the media in general) as the spawn of Satan. And that is not an exaggeration.

He has insulted women journalists with his usual misogynistic expertise. He mocked disabled journalist Serge Kovaleski in the most insulting way possible.

Of course, every time he does something that stupid, he will claim it never happened, despite the fact there are cameras watching him and sometimes photographic evidence. He thinks we are either forgetful, blind or in some cases both.

He tells us we are liars, and we are trying to make him look bad, even though he is doing a perfectly good job of that himself. And when people try to tell the truth he shuts them down. The US National Park Service was banned from tweeting refutes of Trumps lies about the attendance at his inauguration. The National Parks Service, to their utter credit, started tweeting rogue tweets in an effort to back-handedly tell Trump to sod off. He has also said he is going to ban the media from the White House. What he actually means is he will only allow in journalists who agree with him, lie for him, print/broadcast those lies and print/broadcast his Nazi rhetoric.

The one thing that disturbed me most is his verbal abuse at particular journalists. The most notable instance being at a press conference where CNN's Jim Acosta tried to ask him a question. Trump's uncalled for response was, "I'm not giving you a question - you are fake news!". When, as a good journalist does, Acosta persisted, Trump told him, "Don't be rude!" Right, so a guy doing his job tries to ask a question, Trump stomps on him, tells him his organisation is a liar and he accuses Acosta of being rude? Seriously?

He then compounds this idiocy by saying that the media needs to be held to account. If we screw up, then yes, we deserve to be scrutinised just like anyone else, but if we are telling the truth then we are just doing our job.

My message to Trump: You have no idea how this journalism thing works have you? We stand you up to scrutiny, Mr President. NOT the other way around. Our job is to tell truth to power. You are that power now, and we will hold you to account, especially if you lie. Oh, and while we're at it, give it a rest with the fake news garbage. What you actually mean is you want to lie and get away with it and will say it's fake news if we tell people different. In other words when we tell them the truth. You need us the press corps. You forget, if it wasn't for the media, you wouldn't be where you are or have the high public profile you have enjoyed up until now. Get off that self-absorbed high horse you are constantly on and admit, no matter how much it hurts, because the truth usually does, that you need us. You need journalists, you need journalism. Stop acting as if journalists are your mortal enemy. We're not and we never have been.

My message to journalists is this: Peter Greste once said that journalists are a cantankerous lot, we are very competitive, we never agree on anything. Well, right now we need to be the opposite. We need unity. We need to come together and show Trump that we will not ignore his lies, we will not cease to call him out when he talks complete nonsense, and most important of all we will not sit back and let him insult us and our profession. The more he insults us, the more we must stand up to him. The more he lies, the more we must tell the truth.

We have at least four more years of this and it's going to be very painful. We must not let Trump destroy us. Let's defend to the hilt our passion and the love of our profession.

"The more you refuse to hear my voice, the louder I will sing" ~ Labi Siffre

 

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE. OR IS IT?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Mainly because of a Twitter account by a little girl called Bana Alebed and also a Twitter account by The White Helmets.

In the show Star Trek - The Next Generation, Patrick Stewart quotes this: "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to THE TRUTH. Whether it be Scientific truth, historical truth or personal truth".

This rule also applies to journalism. Our first duty is also to the truth.

Sadly the truth can get lost in waves of lies, propaganda, and - forgive me as I hate this expression - "fake news"

Which is where our little friend Bana comes in. As soon as she started tweeting, people - and yes, even I'm guilty - were so moved by her tales of life as a seven year old in war torn Aleppo, Syria, that virtually overnight she gained thousands of followers!

Of course as soon as she did, the trolls and conspiracy theorists had to stick their noses in. They sent tweets to her followers (including me) denying she exists, saying it was part of the White Helmet's propaganda machine, because people have been sceptical about their agenda too.

The questions that were asked about her were:

Where does she get her internet from?

Why were her and her brothers wearing spotless and (possibly new) clothes, in a place full of rubble, dust etc? And most seven year olds get dirty just playing outside.

Why as a seven year old can she write excellent English in her tweets, but in a video can't string two words together?

And so on....!

These questions are valid, but I think what is more important is what she is doing for Syria. She is highlighting the horrific conditions and fear of the most vulnerable and innocent across her country. No-one wants to think of a child suffering. So what she says resonates with us. We wouldn't be human beings if it didn't.

Then we have The White Helmets. The bravest people in the world who enter places most of us wouldn't have the courage to go, and if we did, we wouldn't last long. These men have rescued hundreds of people from destroyed buildings and again many have been children. There was Omar - the little guy in the ambulance, an image that is burned into the memories of many people. Then there was the little toddler who was rescued, that made us understand the heroism of these people. Some of the images they've given us have reduced us to tears.

People need to just for once take things at face value and accept that The White Helmets are The White Helmets and Bana is just little Bana.  The little seven year old, who is living a life that none of us would like to be living, thank you very much. We (the world in general) need to stop seeing conspiracies where there are none.

I personally believe Bana is real and I believe The White Helmets are not trying to spread propaganda, but just doing their job as rescuers for some very frightened and desperate people.

I for one will continue to support and communicate with this frightened little girl, if it helps her life be a tiny bit better and I have nothing but praise for The White Helmets.

One of the worst things about this is that because journalists are reporting this stuff, they too are being labelled as propagandists and liars.  We are nothing of the kind. We are telling the truth as we see it. I'm not saying that there aren't some unscrupulous people out there who have an agenda, but they are few and far between and should not even call themselves journalists.

Whether the stuff about Bana or The White Helmets is true, is something only you can decide.

As they say on the X Files, "The truth is out there".

The truth. All we journalists can do is tell what we believe to be the truth. It's the truth as far as we understand it. Whether you believe us is up to your discretion.  

"All we can do is keep asking questions and that is the best we can do" ~ Lyse Doucet BBC.

MY SYMPATHY FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE US

On 8 November, the United States made their choice as to who would be the 45th president of the United States.

Unfortunately their choice was Donald J. Trump. A man who knows a lot about business, but knows absolutely nothing about diplomacy, defence, politics, or anything else he needs to make him a successful President of the United States. It's a completely different animal and he has no idea how to tame it. His brash talking may have got him into the White House, but it will need a lot more than a big mouth to keep him there. 

Many Americans are baffled as to why everyone else voted for this man and so am I. Putting aside that (as here in the UK) the voting system is completely flawed, he has shown himself in a very bad light and has alienated practically everyone he comes in contact with. He has insulted woman, ethnic minorities, the disabled, other leaders, and even us poor journalists have been victims of his wrath. He is a misogynistic, racist bigot. And, as a pacifist with more compassion than is sometimes good for me, he and his behaviour are an anathema to myself and everything I stand for. Just to recap, here are some of the stupid things he has allegedly done:

Misogynism:

Commented on what the future size of his one year-old daughter's breasts would be. How utterly disgusting! 

Called a lawyer disgusting because she wanted a break to breast-pump milk for her kid. I am guessing he is one of those men who thinks breast-feeding on public transport should be a no-no, too.

Said women should be punished for having abortions.

Racism:

Saying we should stop all Muslims going into the United States. Saying the families of terrorists should be executed, said mosques should be shut down.

Says the murder at the pulse night club proved him right about Islamic terrorism.

Said he would build a wall along the US-Mexican border, and make the Mexican government pay for it. He also threatened to leave NAFTA (North American Free Trade Association) if they refused to do so.

Said President Obama may be Muslim - as if it even mattered. As long as he is a US Citizen - which he is - his religious believes are irrelevant to him being POTUS.

Discrimination:

Made spiteful gestures in regard to a disabled reporter

Said veterans who suffer from PTSD aren’t “strong and can’t handle it"

Had supporters wearing T-shirts saying, "Journalist. Rope. Tree - some assembly required".

And on and on the list goes!

This guy is one of the most hateful people there is and by voting for him, America has basically said that all these disgusting traits are acceptable despite it being the 21st century. Also, the guy has a very short fuse. Any world leader could say just one annoying thing and he could give the order to press the nuclear button. Is this really the man America needs as their Commander-In-Chief?

He is dangerous. He is unpredictable. He is frightening. He has a huge arsenal at his disposal and I believe he is manic enough to use it for the wrong reasons just because a world leader (or possibly one of their keys) said something that irritated him.     

I do not trust this man and I do not trust his supporters. Since he was elected there has been a rise in racist abuse against many minorities. A lot of people are comparing this to the Brexit when the same thing happened. People feel they now have carte blanche to harass others with whom they disagree because there leader feels the same way. Wrong, they do not and should not be doing this.

A lot of white supremacist groups are cheering the election of Trump, which only cements the view that he should not be holding the most powerful office in America and one of the most powerful positions in the world. He is no more fit to be President of the United States than the Kim's are to be in charge of North Korea.

The majority of Americans voted for Hilary. Unfortunately, the college votes screwed it up and made a mockery of the way people feel in the US and around the world.

Ethnic minorities in America (especially the Mexicans) are now absolutely terrified. And no-one should have to live in fear like that.

By spreading and condoning hate and bigotry he is not making America great again. Far from it. He is making the United States a joke.

I will never accept him as the President. In all good conscience I cannot. And I will not. My husband said to me, "Respect the position if not the man". I do respect the position, but not while Donald J. Trump is in it.

To everyone in the United States, you have my sincerest condolences for the next four years. I wish you the best of luck. You'll need it.

THE (NOT SO) OLD MAN AND THE SEAGULL

There is an old adage in television. NEVER work with children or animals. However,  an incident this week proved that sometimes you can work with them. It also proved something I've always believed: Compassion in journalism is not a crime.

It all started on Friday night, when a herring gull appeared on the steps of 200 Grays Inn Road. Like the gull, I've sat there many times. A lot of people would have probably just walked right past, letting the bird do it's own thing, Or more selfish people may have said that seagulls, pigeons etc are vermin and not even cared.

But one person did care.  Alastair Stewart. As most Twitter users will know, he is no stranger to animals, he grew up with horses and encouraged his family to love them too. He has horses, donkeys, a dog, cats, chickens. he near enough owns a zoo! So even though what happened is not surprising, it still deserves praise.

This particular night, he left ITN, assuming he was just going to have a quick cigarette break and then get back to work. Something he has probably done a thousand times, without a second thought other than possibly "I really should give up smoking".

However, this time was completely different. There on the steps was the gull, sat completely still, very quiet and not exactly looking happy.  Some of Alastair's colleagues were also worried.

They took the trouble to be concerned for the bird, call the RSPCA, and finally get the bird to a place where it could be properly looked after.

As an animal lover myself, I have nothing but praise for Alastair and his colleagues. Alastair's attitude towards another living creature was exemplary and it says a lot about the kind of person he is. Any animal that in future ends up living with the Stewarts' couldn't have better owners. I don't know what happened to the gull, but I do know that - thanks to Alastair - it is a little happier at least.

And that's the amazing thing. In journalism you can be confronted by the most dangerous situations or the most beautiful things, and you never know what is around the corner. Journalism isn't always about bad news, sometimes events can have a good ending as this one did.

Martyn Lewis - a veritable advocate of good news - would be very pleased!