www.owohrod.com.

Getting a clearer view of corruption? The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has recent forcefully stuffed both his feet into his, admittedly, big mouth, by telling the Queen and the Archbishop, and, unbeknown to him at the time, the world, that Nigeria and Afghanistan are the most fantastically corrupt countries. Naturally, the Nigerians were not happy, and their President, Muhammed Buhari, suggested that Britain should return the proceeds of corruption from London back to Nigeria. The Afghans, it seemed, were not as offended as the Nigerians, with their President indicating that his country does accept that corruption is a problem in his country, but that it is something they are working hard to address. It would not be going to far to argue that corruption, whether it be that pertaining to money and or resources being rendered  or given to someone or a business, in order for the giver  and the receiver to acquire some dishonest or illegal advantage, or in situations whe

T his Salome of whom I speak, is  now a physically frail, beautiful Black woman of no less than Ninety-Six (96) years old, but with the soundness of mind and memory recall which could challenge that of her ageing children. Salome is a proud woman afflicted with the degenerative diseases and physical mobility problems which are common to probably most elderly people. She is no longer able to move as swiftly and gracefully as she used to do in her younger years in both her native Jamaica and, later, in her adoptive country of England. T his Salome of whom I speak and whom the gods have given additional years, is now the sole survivor of 12 children, born to Susan Bryan (who was born in the parish of Trelawny) and Charles Allen, in the village of Cascade District, ST Ann, Jamaica. S alome, Aunt Sal, to some of her friends, like probably most Jamaicans and other people of her age and time, did not have the luxury of an easy life. Trained as a Seamstress

H ow things change over time. Some people, probably  especially the younger generations, might not think enough changes have been made, or that it has not been fast enough. but, just under 30 years ago, Britain did not have a single Member of Parliament from her minority ethnic, or, according to contemporary classification, her Black and Minority Ethnic population. W hereas before 1987, there was not a single Black or Brown face amongst the 650 Members of Parliament, today, May 2016, there are 41 BME Members of Parliament, with 27 of them being Labour Party MPs, and 16 belonging to the Conservatives, and one being a Scottish National Party member. A s I have said, for some people, this kind of significant political change might not seem to be large or fast enough, while for others, such as those who fear the increasing demographical diversity of Britain, it might be too much change too fast.  Let us, however, be posit

I t seems to me that there has been an increasing tendency for disaffected people to go onto the streets and call up on their elected governments to remove themselves from office, or to be removed. We have seen this occurring in Europe, particularly in some of the countries from the former Soviet Union, and now, with even greater effect, we have seen it happened in Brazil. W hat is this about; is it not the case that, if the people, the voting electorate, voted the party or parties which form the government, then that government should remain in power until the electorate is again given the opportunity to vote  and decide which party or parties should form the government? I t seems to me that the tendency to given in to populist 'demockeracy' should be discouraged, because, what is the point giving the electorate the privilege of voting, only to have a situation where the expression of their 'democratic rig

This is a video of our garden in Spring, which, as you can see, is still lacking some of the vibrant colours and verdance  which we can expect in the Summer and Autumn of Fall months. I have matched it with an audio tune which I think complements it. I hope you, like me, enjoy it.

There I was with two close friends , having an intense but amicable conversation about many things, but particularly that about what could be termed ‘the meaning of life’ conversation. It began with us considering the comparative merits and demirits of whether a Muslim organization should be allowed to advertise the refrain “Allahu Akbar” on British buses, when a Christian organisation had already been refused the request to have The Lord’s Prayer recited during the interval in Cinemas. Now, Allahu akbar, as I understand it, means that god is great, and is a saying which Muslims utter when they are moved to acknowledge his greatness. The Lords Prayer, or 23 rd Psalms, as I understand it, is the Christian’s acknowledgement of god’s greatness, and their way of thanking him/her for meeting their needs and beseeching of him not to lead them into temptation and deliver them from evil, and so forth. There is, in my view, I informed one of my friend, no difference between the Chr

I have just heard that Brazil's Supreme Court has refused to annul the Lower House's recommendation that President Dilma should be made the subject of impeachment proceedings. This, despite the fact that the Leader of the LH has been suspended, apparently partly because of some concerns about his role in how the House came to recommend that Dilma should be recommended to the Senate for impeachment proceedings, and the fact that his replacement has, initially set aside that recommendation. The Brazilian Senate is now considering and voting on whether the President should be impeached, and, sadly, is expected to vote for impeachment, having already made up their minds to do so. It is clearly another very dark day for Brazil, and one which is likely to be followed by a much darker and long night, which could lead the country back into its past wilderness years. President Dilma Rousseff must not be allowed to fall and set this terrible precedent for Brazil. Brazilians

Political correctness, or PC, does have a lot to be said for it, such as the fact that it restrains us from voicing some of our basest prejudices, ignorance and uncouth thoughts. For example, we might think racist thoughts, sexist thoughts, ageist thoughts, and homophobic thoughts, at times, but, if we are living in countries and societies which are trying to develop greater enlightenment of the human condition, then the 'principle of political correctness', for those of us who are aware of its existence and meaning, will kick in and stop us from making social pariahs of ourselves. If I recall correctly, the French Sociologist, has argued that 'civilization is a superficial veneer.' This suggest that it might not be the basis or foundation on which human societies are based, but on something less ostentatious, which we are trying to gradually be replaced, with the right conditioning, such as being 'politically correct, as we progress towards 'civilization&

I t was not much later yesterday that I sat down to write a post extolling  the beauty and satisfaction I was feeling about the gloriously sunny day we were having in our part of the world. I also recall that I commented on how the heavens had opened up two days before, and the Rain God showered us with torrents of rain which did caused some flooding, through which I and others had to cautiously drive through. A nd here we are again, about 24 hours after yesterday's lovely weather, with me looking through my window again, but, this time there is no Sun to be seen high in the sky, no blue sky and uncomfortable humidity. Instead, it is all about the rain, falling at first heavily, then more softly, before easing up, stopping and, starting again. It is not as torrentially heavy as it was on Saturday, but it has been heavy, and the grey overcast sky is portentious of probably much more to fall. O ne has to be or

The bridge of time taking adults back to their childhood repeatedly, to make sense of the past and progress their lives. Separations and losses are common everyday aspects of the human condition. Daily, millions of people experience separations and losses, due to their parents separating, members of their families dying, moving from one place to another, changing schools and losing contact with friends, their parents having new partners, and so forth. Separations and losses can be horrendous for adults, such as when partners become separated from each other, through the ending of their relationship or death. In some cases, when partners become separated because one or both of them want out of the relationship, it result in one of them displaying signs of acute behavioural and psychological abnormality, such as being violent to their ex-partner, or self-harming. So, if adults can become very seriously affected by separation and losses,  what about children, who are, ipso facto

It is now 1650, but, looking through my window, you would not think so. The Sun is still alot higher in the sky than it would have been, had it not for the fact that it is late Spring, and it is, as they would say here, a beautiful Sunny day.  Yes, if you are indoors, as I am at present, you are likely to feel the humidity and the discomfort - not to be said too loudly, in case the Sun God gets angry and instruct the Rain God to punish us, as it did on Saturday, when the heavens opened up and the rain descended on us in torrents; so much so that parts of many roads were flooded) which is normally associated with this heat and lack of sufficient breeze. Anyway, about two or so hours ago, my friend and I decided to go for a walk and enjoy what does feel like and is a lovely day.  We intended to go one way but, along the way, decided to change our planned route. On lovely Sunny days like these, it can be a joy having a walk, as there is more chances of you meeting neighbours and

We have heard much about the might and the nefarious and subversive nature of the Rightist media; of the stranglehold which media magnets such as Rupert Murdock has over the reporting of what is given as 'truth' and what is given as 'misinformation. Of how they can not only 'manipulate' the 'news', but can also 'create' what is propagated by 'official' and 'respected' media outlets, such as the British Broadcasting Corporation, The Guardian, The Times, The Mirror, et at, as 'accurate'  presentation - or representation - of what happened or is about to happen, such as when the media predicts a 'hung Parliament' in a general election, and you never know whether it is not doing so in order to try to swing the electorate from supporting one party to supporting another. Whereas a Lefist political party tends to support the rights of ordinary people and those most disadvantaged by the existing status quo, the media, in