Prince Harry’s video clip uttering racial remarks stirs up hornet’s nest
January 14, 2009
The News of the World reported that Harry (third in line to the British throne), used offensive terms referring to people from Afghanistan and Pakistan decent. The incident occurred in 2006.
An army lieutenant in the Household Cavalry’s Blues and Royals is held responsible for the racial remarks in an airport departure lounge as soldiers waited to travel to Cyprus on a training mission.
As per the report, in the video, Harry referred to one colleague as “our little Paki friend” which in turn is a derogatory term for people of Pakistani origin. It was also reported that Prince Harry called another cadet, who was wearing a headscarf a `rag head`. According to the newspaper, the video was filmed by other cadets and supplied to them.
St. James’s Palace, the office of Harry and his elder brother Prince William said on Saturday that Harry was sorry for any offense caused by his use of the word `Paki`.
“Prince Harry fully understands how offensive this term can be, and is extremely sorry for any wrongdoing his words might cause. However, on this occasion three years ago, Prince Harry used the term without any malice and as a nickname about a highly popular member of his platoon. There is no question that Prince Harry was in any way seeking to insult his friend” said spokesman, Patrick Harrison.
Britain’s defence ministry in a statement said:
“Neither the army nor the armed forces tolerates inappropriate behavior in any shape or form. The Army takes all allegations of inappropriate behavior very seriously and substantive allegations are invested.”
Prince’s apology is genuine, states PM
January 13, 2009
Prime Minister Gordon Brown believes that the British public will give Prince Harry benefit of the doubt.
The prince apologised for making use of racist language. He was caught on film calling his fellow cadet a racist term. Gordon Brown though thinks his apology was genuine.
Labour MP, Keith Vaz stated the term was ‘wounding and unacceptable’. A senior army officer is going to look into the peculiar circumstances surrounding the comment, made.
It was made in a home video that Prince Harry made while he was an officer cadet and one that was obtained by a newspaper. The prime minister, speaking on GMTV, stated
“It was indeed a mistake and he has made the admission of that. The British people are good enough to give someone who has actually been a role model for young people and who has done well fighting for our country… the benefit of the doubt.”
Labour MP Keith Vaz though told BBC Radio 4 that Prince Harry needed to spend more time to learn from his father, who had shown how much indeed, can be done towards building relations between communities! Rod Richards, who has served in John Major’s Conservative government as a Foreign Office minister and also as the Royal Marines officer, defended the prince.
A true happy New Year for siblings separated for 43 years
January 7, 2009
Ken Whitty had lost contact with Yvone, his sister, for almost 43 years. As fate would have it, the two siblings were living just 300 yards apart in neighbouring streets.
Sixty four year old Ken said: “I have walked past her house lots of times and I’ve even seen her in the garden. I have walked pat her in the street and never realized she was my sister.”
Yvone and Ken were orphaned when they were children and they were living at a family friend’s house. Yvone, at the age of 21, left home and as a result they lost touch. At Christmas, Ken decided to place an ad in the local newspaper.
He said: “I often wondered what had happened to ‘our kid’. I’ve tried lots of different ways to find her over the years and it all came to nothing. I just had to do it this year. I didn’t even know if Yvonne was still alive.”
Soon after the letter appeared Ken received a phone call. Ken bursting into laughter said:
“It happened just like that. I couldn’t believe it. It’s just overwhelming.”
The siblings then discovered that they were living just yards from each other in Greater Manchester. Ken was happy to spend the New Year, introducing to his wife, Carolyn, four children and six grand children. Yvonne who is also married has four children and 10 grand children.
Both paid an emotional visit to the grave of their father George – who passed away in 1952 when Ken was eight – and mum Marry, who died five years later. The efforts by Ken eventually paid off and he got God’s remarkable New Year gift.
The rise of ‘relay parenting’
December 20, 2008
One in four parents, according to a new finding, has cut down on their working life so that they could spend extra time with their family. A new government study has charted the rise of ‘relay parenting’ whereby both partners do the parenting to fit around their working life.
Families are under immense stress from the intense pressures of juggling home and work life. Working parents are far more likely to remain together owing to major financial problems, states the Cabinet Office study that traces the changing nature of the UK families. It was presented at a conference by Ed Balls, the children’s secretary, to show the big impact of family breakdown on innocent children.
The paper notes the end of the ‘typical’ family.
The introduction by minister for families Beverley Hughes and Cabinet Office minister Liam Byrne states:
“”We see an increasing range of family structures – to the extent that arguably there is no longer a ‘one-size-fits-all’ family in the UK today. This is diversity and not decline. Warm, stable and loving relationships matter more for our wellbeing and happiness than the legal form of a relationship.”
It documents in detail the impact of long, tough working hours on families. Around 25% of working adults (aged 30 to 59) have quit their jobs, reduced their working hours or have changed their career path.
Romantic flicks create unrealistic expectations among couples
December 19, 2008
Researchers at Edinburgh have carried out a study to find out the effects romantic comedies on couples. For a long time, it was believed romantic stories might have fired the love lives of many. Contrary to popular belief, a new study has claimed watching the romantic comedies is more likely lead to the belief in predestined love.
According to them, viewing even a single romantic comedy is enough to sway people’s attitudes to romantic love. Dr. Bjarne Holmes, the lead researcher, said:
“Marriage counselors often see couples who believe that sex should always be perfect, and if someone is meant to be with you then they will know what you want without you needing to communicate it. We now have some emerging evidence that suggests popular media play a role in perpetuating these ideas in our minds.”
For their study, the researchers from University of Heriot Watt studied almost 40 top box office films released between 1995 and 2005 before identifying the common themes that are unrealistic. Holmes said;
“The problem is that while most of us know that the idea of a perfect relationship is unrealistic, some of us are still more influenced by media portrayals than we realize.”
Interfering mother-in-laws cause sadness
December 5, 2008
Researchers in the UK conducted a study on the relationship between a mother in-law and daughter in-law and found it is the root causes of many family conflicts. Friction between the two can resulting in long term unhappiness and stress to their daughters in-law who accuse the elder women of showing unreasonable jealousy and maternal love towards their sons.
The Daily Telegraph quoted lead researcher Terri Apter as saying,
“Mother In-law and daughter in-law conflict emerges from an expectation that each is criticising or undermining the other. But this mutual unease may have less to do with actual attitudes and far more to do with persistent female norms that few of us manage to take off completely.’
Mr. Terri added:
“As they struggle to achieve the same position in the family as primary woman, each tries to establish or protect their status; each feels threatened by the other.”
Interviewing, hundreds of families, for her new book, ‘What Do You Want From Me?” he found that over two-thirds of women said their husband’s mother caused them anxiety while the mother in-law complained they were isolated by their daughters in-law.
More often the researchers found disputes starting over simple matters like who is more aware about issues such as cooking and the welfare of the child.
In UK you can be locked-up for slapping son’s bottom
November 20, 2008
It happened the other day when Mark Frearson found out the hard way. Mark Frerson, a company director was out shopping with the family. He was seen striking his seven year-old son, for running off while shopping in public while they were out, on the bottom. Shortly after the family returned, on opening the door in response to the knock they were surprised to see police officers at their door. The officers arrested the 47-year-old dad on suspicion of assaulting a minor and the father was taken away for examination.
At Plymouth’s main police station, Mark told that as the witness who reported the incident was in no “fit stage” to make a statement, it was necessary for the father to be held up and as a result he will have to spend the night in the lock up. In the morning, next day Mark was released as the witness who claimed he had seen a man kick Harry to the ground, changed his story.
Fearsson said
“I appreciate the police’s concern, but I am still angry and bewildered at events. They seemed far too ready to presume me guilty and then cause distress to my son by taking him from me.”
As Harry’s parents are separated, the child lives with his 33 year-old mother, Kate. On that day, he was visiting his father when the pair went to the local supermarket. The child disobeyed fathers instruction not to venture out as he wanted to play in the park and so when Fearson caught up with the run-away out side a shop he smacked him once on his backside.
Harry was also made to visit the police station where he was forced to strip to his underwear for an examination.
“He is a shy boy and it must have been scary. One minute he was watching TV and the next he was stripping in front of a policeman.”
A spokesman for the Parent Organisation said:
“This is a classic case of police overreacting. They should apologies and the father should have the right to compensation from his accuser.”
To fight recession effectively you may turn to hobbies
November 17, 2008
The Centre of Economics and Business Research (CERB) has already warned that around 62,000 financial jobs will be axed in London this year and the next thanks to the havoc wrought by the credit crunch. Take the case of Nasser Azam. He had passion for arts and had dreamt of becoming an artist. But due to parental pressure, he took up a banking job working his way up to becoming chief operating officer of Merrill Lynch in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, after putting up 23 years of dedicated service.
As now he has plenty of time to pursue his art work, his work is now exhibiting alongside icon Salvador Dali at London’s County Hall and he is also winning commission after taking to full time art. Pravin Virani having spent the last decade as a successful mortgage broker, has now applied becomes a policeman. He has even made enquiries with the M15, hopping that the intelligence agency which has been trying to recruit from ethnic minorities will give him a job.
There will be many more on the look out for alternative source of livelihood. Phil Sheridan, UK managing director of Robert Half, a recruitment firm said,
“There are people talking to us about transferring their skills to something outside banking, others are talking about restraining.” Teaching is another option that can be considered in such times. Officials from the Training and Development Agency for schools are scouting for bankers and accountants to help fill a shortage of maths and science teachers. Thirty- three year old John Conway who lost his job in the City and is now training to be a teacher said: “I had always wanted to be a teacher.”
To fight recession Britons are also growing their own vegetables for reducing cost on food at the same time trying to save some money.
Prince of Wales celebrates birthday
November 16, 2008
For many, a 60th birthday is usually a time for looking back and reflecting. It’s a time for a gradual winding down of activities, and handing over everything to the kids, and looking forward to a peaceful retired life. But not so for the energetic Prince of Wales, who celebrates his birthday on November 14.
All his life, right since the age of three, the Prince has been readied for that day when he would be succeeding his mother. And it could happen maybe next year, or maybe not for another 10 years because the Queen is much fitter than her mother at the same age.
Barring an accident or an illness to the Queen, Prince Charles happens to serves ‘by only standing and waiting’, if one says so. He has already become the oldest Prince of Wales and also third-longest serving heir-apparent. In five years’ time, he would turn the oldest person to have ever become king.
Meanwhile, he continues to carry on. Last month, he had a lengthy tour of east Asia (Brunei, Indonesia and Japan). This week, there are remembrance services in Verdun and London, a dinner with the Sarkozys, a British Antarctic expedition, receptions for insurers and a comedy gala that stars Robin Williams, Joan Rivers and John Cleese.
Last night (November 13) the Queen had a private dinner for 170 special guests at Buckingham Palace. The birthday entailed visits to Prince’s Trust projects plus a party at Highgrove.
Over one million older people feel lonely
October 31, 2008
Over one million older people reveal that they always or often feel lonely, a Help the Aged report suggests. The charity found over a third of older people in the country, comprising half of women over 65, now lived alone. Almost half a million pensioners in the UK leave their houses just once a week; a further 300,000 are wholly housebound, the report states.
The charity wants more assistance for older people and added many only get to talk to delivery people. Paul Bates, the Help the Aged spokesman, said:
“Many older people interact only with their postman on a day-to-day basis.
The report has blamed a variety of factors for them to get isolated like the absence of opportunities to pursue their hobbies, a lack of local services like post offices, and low incomes. Amongst its pertinent recommendations, it states the government should make sure that the state pension is at a level that allows older people to be comfortable and stable.
An improved design of most public areas, greater provision of bereavement support and better healthcare are other issues that need to be tackled, it says.
