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Showing posts from April, 2014

Pistorius verdict must separate intention and perception

Oscar Pistorius, L (Image: ABC News) Two weeks ago, I went to see 12 Angry Men in the West End. The show was about twelve members of a jury who had to decide whether a 16-year-old was guilty, or not guilty of murdering his father. If they all agreed to the former decision, the teenager in question would be sent to the electric chair and die. If the jury decided the child wasn't guilty, he'd be given a second chance in life. The production was set in the 1950s and I'm happy to say that the large chunk of this planet has moved on from giving people the death sentence. Some may disagree with this. However, in my eyes, the show's key theme was the basis of reasonable doubt. The jury had to be absolutely sure that the 16-year-old definitely murdered his father. Initially all-but-one said the teenager is undoubtedly guilty. But as the show progressed, one-by-one, the eleven jury members had their doubts over what really happened the night that father died. Some man

Culture department needs to relate to British society

Maria Miller (Image: BBC) How do you solve a problem like Maria? Once, this was a popular TV talent contest in the UK where the nation was on the search the next Maria Von Trapp for the West End production of The Sound of Music. Ms Von Trapp was considered a 'remarkable' woman and was massively appreciated when she was in the convent, and afterwards. Her life is still remembered, more than 27 years after her death but it was fair to say that whenever she had a problem, she knew how to sort it out. It is not so easy to say the same about a certain Maria who has dominated the front pages over the past ten days. Maria Miller MP was at the centre of an embarrassing political storm which caused widespread debate. It started in December 2012 when the Daily Telegraph exposed her of claiming over £90,000 in parliamentary expenses for her second home where her parents lived. After an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, they said in February 2014 tha