In case anyone was wondering why I haven’t made an entry in a while, it’s down to me being ill (flu again – worse than back in December), having lots of work to do (what’s new), some other issues that are occupying my brain lately, and finally some problems with the server that kept my blog out of reach for a while.
Anyway, I hope to be back on soon… watch this space.
Watch it!
It’s the space over here —->
….keep watching….
Still with nothing organised to write, I present you with the Wonderfowl Ducks of Bradford! Seriously.
Something happened last week (early Friday) that rang that wake-up bell in my head and sent me thinking.
In what was by far the most depressing meeting I’ve ever attended, my two supervisors and me finally confirmed the ugly fact that I will not be finishing my PhD in the appointed time save for a miracle (they don’t believe in miracles, of course – I just tend to pay more attention). This means that I will have to land this plane without a salary come next autumn.
It’s not like I didn’t know; I’ve been screeching that sad truth since last year. But that honest assessment and acknowledgement woke me up and reminded me how temporary and fragile everything is, including my life. And also that I should start looking for a job.
It’s ok. This sort of thing happens to me every now and then, and I learn different things each time, even though they are all variations on the One Theme: Faith. Trust. Dependency for Independency and vice versa.
In the end, we’re all just passing through, although we act like we own the place and we’re going to be here forever. Just a thought.
So it’s back to 70 hours per week and seven-day weeks until the end. Because, you know, it’s been so relaxing up to now.
But I am thankful for all the wonderful people around me that have encouraged me through this desperate phase and have stood by me as true friends. And I’m thankful to the God I believe in, Who’s always seen me and pulled me through these things, often kicking and screaming. These are the times when faith is tested and – when it’s founded on Him – it comes out stronger and more effective from the other side.
Your colours show, they say, when the chips are down. And my mine are officially on the table. But I don’t gamble.
For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. – Hebrews 13:14
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” – Matthew 6:31-34
One of my favourite photographs: Ferocious power, unbridled force, predacious brutality... Amazing what you can find in the shower.
Well, I’ll be honest. I didn’t plan to write anything spectacular today. I just wanted to do 
something unusual: Bid farewell to Peter Benchley, author of “Jaws” (the book, not the film), who died today aged 65.
Why do I mention him? Simply because “Jaws” was pretty much the first novel I ever read in English, and also because it was Benchley who first got me fascinated in sharks. And his work on great whites with photographer David Doubilet for National Geographic in April 2000 , was just mesmerising. But then again, I’ve always loved the ocean and have been mysticised by the life we find in the deep places of the world…
Anyway, that’s why I was attracted to Biology in the first place. Life always has, and always will, fascinate me. And Mr Benchley was a part of it.
Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” – Genesis 1:20-22
I don’t know if you’ve heard of a film that is out these days, “Munich” by Steven Spielberg. It’s the story of a young Mossad agent (alias “Avner”) who, with another four agents, undertakes a revenge mission to assassinate the terrorists who were behind the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. I haven’t seen the film yet but I’m looking forward to it, and I’ve already started going through the original book by journalist George Jonas.
What fascinates me is not so much the details of intelligence work (of which the book is full) or the personal challenges that young “Avner” encounters. Suffice to say that the people involved in this type of work are very different from the rest of us and their motivation is often a very hard nut to crack. However, what I am interested in are – as the story intends – the strange dynamics of political terror.
There is no doubt that our era will be branded “The Age of Terrorism” by future historians. Is there anyone out there that can keep track of the daily car-bombs going off in Iraq and Palestine? Today alone the UK mourned its 100th dead soldier in Iraq. The recent election of Hamas in Palestine caused ripples of concern in the EU who had to re-think its funding to the country. And in the background, people are being kidnapped, people are blowing up undergrounds, buses, buildings and themselves in the name of whatever ideology/religion they follow.
It’s certainly not new. The idea of using terror to impose and/or propagate ideas is pretty old and becomes ancient if the definition is broad enough. Those familiar with Guy Fawkes and his friends will trace it back to 1605. I personally tend to view the Crusades as a form of organised terrorism myself. And the debatable list goes on and on.
The issue that Avner’s story raises is a little different though. It’s the question of how far can someone go to counter terrorism without resorting to the same tactics terrorists use. And especially to anyone who’s ever had a little combat and tactics training, the question is intensely pertinent, simply because they have a taste of how thin the line between offense and defense is.
(In the end, dead people all look the same).
No, I’m not going to offer solutions to the Middleastern problem – there are far more qualified people out there who are trying to. But it is sad to watch this global perpetuation of unecessary violence, especially when it affects the lives of children, as happened in Beslan in 2004. But I suppose that that is the purpose of terrorism: to instill fear and threaten the innocent in order to affect the higher-ups. And as a former soldier, I can only regard such use of force as cheap, cowardly, incompetent, and contemptible.
The Upturned Microscope 