Beautiful People 12

Is this the iconic photograph of our summer? It may have taken me some time to get my party photos onto the Internet, but finally they are here. And, with their arrival, it's time to launch a competition of sorts, to find one photo which can sum up our summer. Send them to the normal address under 'Summer Photo' to theoneandonlypaul@gmail.com. The prize is yet to be confirmed, but entries must be in before the 31st August, so get them sent! Good luck!

The I.R.A.

After the London bombings for the second time last week, it’s good to have some good news to report at long last.

The IRA has finally agreed to down arms and fight its cause for a united Ireland peacefully and through the democratic channels. After 30 years of violence, including the horrors of the Manchester bombing, they have decided to put their arms beyond use by January 2006.

The question is though, why did it take 30 years of on and off cease-fires and the killing of hundreds of people to decide that violence isn’t the answer?

The Thursday Thought

Unfortunately, as I keep disappearing from my house and spending more time in Bolton than at home, the Thursday Thought has been suspended for this week only. But here's something to muse over.

What was finally decided at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles? No, really?

Friends!

There’s something about friendship.

It’s powerful, meaningful and causes more emotions than almost anything else.

Unlike most things in this world though, it’s not all that flawed. Short term friendships come and go, that’s a fact. But if you can keep a friendship going for 4 years, 7 years or even 14 years (putting that into perspective, it’s more than 77% of your life so far) then it must have gone through so much. The question would be, if it’s lasted so long, would you really want to go out of your way to jeopardise its future?? If it’s lasted so long, no matter what happened, you’d be willing to at least talk it out face to face and try and work out the problem that did indeed threaten it lasting for a lifetime. At 14 years, it would have lasted for some of the more trialling times of your life and it would be very likely indeed to last the lifetime. And these friendships are very hard to come by.

Friendships should not be thrown away over one reason. Ever. However good the reason was at the time, it won’t stand. I know, big bust-ups never really last more than a month or so, if the friendship is good and true, isn’t that right Chris?

Friendships never really end, they always continue for many more years than you recognise that they do, as our memories are long and vast, so take into compass every single friend you’ve had, and that remains.

We are sociable people, this too is a fact. And the more friends you have, the richer a person you are. Arguments will happen – we are only human – but what will separate you from everyone else is remaining calm, not skipping to conclusions and approaching the situation in a mature and calculated way. Big arguments get you nowhere, especially if you come to rash conclusions during one.

So I urge you all to keep the friendships you have. They are amicable things. And the good friends you have, whatever the argument, will stay by you even if all looks lost. They are trying their best to work things out in their own way, and you’ve got to help them by talking things over with them. Even if it seems like they’re against you, you’re probably wrong. So take a few deep breaths and approach them, face to face, eye to eye, voice to voice and talk it out. Don’t get angry, don’t let them push you around, but make sure that the friendship stays and grows to take on a new, eve stronger form than it had before.

I don’t know about you, but the friends I have now I want to keep for some time yet and combine them with the new ones I will make, not lose and replace them. You need to live life to the full, and the only way to do such a thing is to have as many friends as you can keep. So, keep your friends and live this life like it’s your last – mainly because it is.

Time is precious, as are friends. Don't waste either!

London 07-07-05

Well, what else could I really write about today other than the happenings in London?

**Stunned silence**

Mind you, what can I say about it?

Safe to say we are in shock and awe about it and words alone cannot express our condolences for the people and the families involved. My Uncle is in fact in London at a meeting and fortunately he is safe and sound, although a little stuck.

The sheer barbarity of the monstrosities let loose during the London rush hour on an already strained public transport network has left thousands of people stranded and with no means of travel.

Safe to say an attack on home soil was more a matter of time than really unexpected, as we have been standing alongside the U.S.A. on the matter of terrorism and have been a main perpetrator in the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq.

What is the effect though?

Well, Britain will be shaken by it, but our resolve will not break. It will definitely make us more aware of what has been happening elsewhere in the world and security will be stepped up to a level never seen before, most likely.

It’s not going to simply affect national security. The G8 summit at Gleneagles will have been hit hard by these attacks, and so the topic of global warming and aid in Africa will have the spotlight robbed from them, and the series of events like Live 8 will have their effect very much stolen, as the focus once again will switch to national security. This is a great shame, really, as they finally had the attention that they deserved, driven forth by a country which takes both far more seriously than most others.

But, as London revels from the bombings of this morning, some are showing strong signs of resilience to being forced into living in fear, whilst others will need that strength to pick them up again.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have been affected by it, the lives lost – last count of 33 – the scores of people injured, most seriously and the many more traumatised by the sights they saw. This is something we did not want to be repeated ever again, but unfortunately it has, and we have no choice but to try our best to cope.

Perhaps the most poignant question would be, why? Who could find the reasons to bomb innocent civilians when they were at their most vulnerable on their way to work? And, if suicide bombers were in fact involved – which is half suspected – how could they do it?