My Life on this planet.

Recently at the start of 2021, the British royal family came more than once in the news as a result of the bad relationship with part of the media, and certainly between Meghan Markle who is married with Prince Harry, also known by their titles Duke and Duchess of Sussex.  An interview by these Duchesses of Sussex with Oprah Winfrey made things worse, including the relationship within the Royal family such as between Prince William and Prince Harry. Indeed, certainly Prince Harry always had visible troubles with the (gossip) media as he blames them for the death of his mother Princess Diana. That is also one reason why over one years ago the Duchesses of Sussex decided to withdraw as senior Royals and moved first to Canada and later the USA. This decision already put strain on the Royal family and their relations between each other.  Things became even worse when Prince Philip was in hospital at the time when the interview was broadcast and certain gossip media even blamed the...

The month October. A further slow build-up of tensions between the West and Muslim countries. The reason? Terrorist attacks in France as a result of the publication of cartoons by the magazine Charlie Hebdo whereby certain caricatures depict the Prophet Muhammad, even when the magazine knows this is unacceptable for many (religious) Muslims as it suggests they are all extremists and thus their publications will increase tensions with Muslims and radicalise some as the terror attacks against the magazine and later attacks proof.  For me,  it is unbelievable that people want to sacrifice themselves and even loved ones because they are angry about pictures. Still, as God says in old books, let those who want to die for God die for Him. But, it is sad that innocent people die. And thus potential terrorists should be stopped, the reason why telecom companies should be able to save and store telephone calls for a certain period (of course, with respect for the privacy). But, believe...

What was to be expected that may happen one day: a war against the tabloids by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle . Indeed, Prince Harry never forgot how the media was responsible for the dead of his mother and thus now he wants to protect his wife and child against the gossip media, certainly because part of the media is considered as hostile towards his dark-skinned wife who decided to have a break away from the media during her pregnancy as is her right to do. He's not the only person who is fed up with the intrusion of privacy by part of the media , a media that has been warned since years they are overstepping lines. And thus, as phone hacking is illegal without a court order, I think they should be able to win that part if they can proof part of the media hacked them. Of course, it will not make them popular with the media. However, after reading this article whereby I understand her father went to the media with the letter she wrote, it seems to suggest the real ...

The second most important person in the current US government, president Trump’s direct adviser Steve Bannon, told the media “… to keep its mouth shut …” and many journalists were chocked at this direct attack. This is not surprising to me nor should it be for the media that should follow and thus understand what goes on in society, illustrating that Mr Bannon may be right when he says that “ The media should … keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile ” as “ They (= the media) don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States ” while one would expect journalists may even have foretold this if only they took what's going on in the world more serious: people who protests for a better and fairer society versus people with an opposite view in an increasingly polarised world. But certainly powerful people in movements such as the Tea Party should be taken serious as they can influence politicians and business wit...

A political row was emerging between Germany and Turkey because of what a German comedian said about Turkish President Erdogan. As a reaction, President Erdogan demanded that the German government would take action against the comedian and PM Merkel allowed this to happen as I think should be done although troubles may return later. Here is why … The comedian Jan Böhmermann deliberately insulted President Erdogan during a show on ZDF television in which he called the Turkish president some names and described him as someone watching child pornography but also accused the Turkish president of “repressing minorities, kicking Kurds and slapping Christians”. And this was not by accident because before he read the poem, he informed the public that it contained allegations that breached German rules on free speech and thus he knew (hoped?) actions could follow. Of course, sometimes laws need to be broken (e.g. when Hitler was in power) but I do not agree that here laws should have bee...

Recently, the trial of bosses of newspapers from the Murdoch group ended and all except one person were found not guilty. OK, the worst offender, the News of the World, does no longer exist and a number of smaller fish were already convicted while it seems millions of pounds are already paid to victims of the hacking (although they may start having to fear that they may have to return some money now newspapers may claim the court proved them to be innocent. Likewise, BP, the company responsible for the Deepwater disaster, started to claim they paid too much to some victims. Because, mercy they don't know, they know only profits). When the hacking became public a few years ago, public outrage was big, not so much because celebrities were targeted because many people like to know what celebrities do as the latter earn money being famous and thus the public loves to know about any of their (mis)behaviour. No, outrage was mainly because ordinary people were targeted who had suffered...