www.owohrod.com.

Being the first or amongst the first to do something such as visiting another country inhabited by people who are ethnically, linguistically and/or culturally different from you is not only a very courageous thing to do, but it can be potentially very dangerous. Most of us will be au fait with the exploits of past explorers, whether it be Columbus 'discovering' the lands of the West Indies, the Spanish Conquistadors invading the Americas and dominating and destroying its native peoples, or Mongol warriors conquering and dominating the peoples of the Steppes of Asia, the Chinese emperors, before and after them, conquering and expanding their empires, or, in more recent times, the British, French, Belgian and Germans scrambling for the lands of Africa and the West Indies. Those invasions were based on explorers desire to accumulate wealth and lands for themselves and their countries of origins, and their invasions were not meant to be friendly or promoting peaceful co-exis

This is a short video of a walk by the Canal. Check it out and enjoy what you will about it.

The tragic death of the gorilla, Harambe, who was shot and killed by Cincinnati Zoo's staff, is one of those extremely poignant events which one tends to replay endlessly in ones mind, hoping for a different outcome. Sadly, however, we are not able to roll-back time and undo what has already been done or do what should have been done. Tragic as it is, Harambe has been called upon to make the ultimate enforced sacrifice, because the Zoo's staff, understandably, could not have known whether he would or would not have killed or seriously injured the innocent 4 year old boy whose misfortune it was to have fallen into the the Gorilla's enclosure. Harambe was seen having the boy in front of him, apparently not harming him. However, he was also seen dragging the boy in what us humans would call reckless fashion, through the water. He was also seen shoving the lad. Nobody can confidently say Harambe would have killed the lad or not killed him; considering he is an animal with who

In this the third part of A Jamaican Childhood, Shaka recalls a journey he and some of his brothers made through their village, to the hills overlooking it, in order to find food. During his childhood the family had to find ways of making ends meet, as it were, and this required the family to find ways of supplementing the regular remittance of money which Shaka's and his siblings father would send to them from England. On way of doing this was for the young men to go into the hills and mountains overlooking the village, to try and find ground provisions from long abandoned plots of land which had been cultivated by peasant farmers, and, probably, even slaves or former slaves. Just as how the mango season was a welcomed source of food, so Shaka knew that the fruits from the fruit trees and the ground provisions would help the family to subsist and eke out a living by combining them with remittance they would later received from Shaka’s father, who emigrated to England when sh

Activities in Stafford Town Centre For those of you who will be wondering  what or where is Stafford, it is one of  the biggest of the several towns - others include Lichfield, Tamworth, Newcastle-under-lyme, Hanley, Biddulph, and Rugeley - situated in the sprawling shire County of Staffordshire - thus the name, Stafford - in the West Midlands of England, UK. Stafford has a still functioning castle relic, in the form of Stafford Castle, and, along with other parts of Staffordshire, it has played  significant roles in the history of the then evolving English Monarchy and state, including the English Civil War of the 1640s, and, even before then, in the 900s, when Staffordshire was part of the Kingdom of Mercia, one of the 3 kingdoms reigning over different parts of the country at the time. Weatherspoon Bar in  Stafford Like many other towns, nationally, Stafford is experiencing its share of the effects of the global economic slow-down, and government imposed austerity progr

A short video of the hills above Padarn Lakeside Steam Railway Station, near to the National Slate Museum. See if it appeals to you in any little way.

What strategy to infuse the majority with a probably minority vision? Politics, it is said is the art of the possible. Some might also say politics is war by other more peaceful or less destructive means. I suspect that, for professional politicians and the team of people and businesses supporting them, their political campaigns, if they are to be successful, have to be fought with military-like planning and precision, with all that tremendous amount of logistical support being deployed behind the political leaders fronting the campaign. Next to this massive logistical support which is being deployed behind Bernie ~Sanders and Hillary Clinton, is the tactical and strategic game plans they and their teams are deploying, with, it is to be anticipated, the mastery of a brilliant chess player. Keeping the right balance between the 'left' and the 'right' to get to your destination. And so it is, that now, with the final stage of the Primary campaign approac

This is a short video of the view around Llyn Padarn, from the perspective of the Padarn Lakeside Steam Train, in Llanberis. Have a look and enjoy it, if it touches you.

Newcastle, or Newcastle-under-lyme, is a borough council situated in the northern end of the West Midlands of the United Kingdom. It is part of the County of Staffordshire and within close and, in some places, contiguous proximity with the historical and unitary local government authority of Stoke-on-Trent. The month of May has become a special one for the people of Newcastle and those who have come to develop a love of the Annual Jazz and Blues Festival, which the Borough hosts each year. Monday 30/05/2016 was a Boxing Day - national public holiday - holiday in the United Kingdom, but it also happened to have been the last day of Newcastle's 11th Annual Jazz and Blues Festival, which , on the previous week, saw the now highly regarded British Jazz musician, Courtney Pine, performing at the New Vic Theatre in the town. The Foyer And so it was that some closest friends and I decided to travel into Newcastle Town Centre to participate in and share some of what was on

A river scene in the Welsh Valleys, Wales, UK S o, there I was having what seemed to be a rather heated discussion with my son, who was confidently putting his position to me and enquiring what was the point I was making. Feeling somewhat baffled and disempowered, as I felt I was eloquently making my point and could not understand how it could have lost its clarity in translation, I tried another tactic; changing the subject matter of the discussion from the specific to the general. M y son responded to this approach in what seemed to me a more receptive manner, and we were then able to continue the discussion constructively. W hen I asked him what made the difference, my son told me that it was changing from the specific to the general. We went on to debate about whether it is the 'teacher' or the 'pupil' who is responsible for ensuring effective communication, with my son placing the primary responsibility onto t

The Drum, in New Town, Birmingham, United Kingdom The Drum is a multi-function community facility in New Town, Birmingham, United Kingdom, which has been earmarked for closure by the end of June 2016. At a time when the British government is forging ahead with its austerity programme and cutting local governments' funding, it is not surprising that said local governments, in turn, are going to cut the services they are providing for their residents. In this respect, it is probably not surprising that The Drum should have been condemned to be cut. One can imagine that the only community facilities to be spared are those which, for whatever political reasons, are deemed worth of being spared during the current or planned rounds of cut.  These, along with those whose patrons can successfully plead their case for 'special status', again, for whatever community or other reasons. Politicians make their decisions to cut services and the timing of their implementation on

I noticed these Robins being very busy flitting to and from this conifer tree, which suggested that they had a nest there. However, upon visiting the tree within 2 days of observing their activities, all I found was an empty nest. Not sure if I only noticed them at the very last stage of them rearing their young, or whether they have not laid their eggs as yet, or whether they have moved their fledglings.

On Thursday 26/05/2016, there was a report in The Guardian - a British National newspaper - citing an incident in which a group of Egyptian Muslims ransacked the homes of several Egyptian Christians, and attacked them.  Egyptian Muslims attacking Egyptian Christians; is this crazy or what? Are they not all Egyptians? And what is the reported cause of this vile attack by these Egyptian Muslims on Egyptian Christians? A story stating that a Christian was having an affair with a Muslim. This reported affair did not lead the Egyptian Christians to attack the Egyptian Muslims, but, for some demented reason, the Muslims attack the Christian.  Are they not all Egyptians and should the Egyptian heritage not take preference over their religious affinity, especially considering that both Islam and Christianity are not native Egyptian religions? When one recalls the fact that over 20 Egyptian working in Libya, who also happened to been Christians, were captured and butchered by Dae

L ewis Hamilton has finally achieved his first Grand Prix race during 2016. In doing so, he has 'chosen' the carnage filled but thrilling Monaco Grand Prix as the occasion. M onaco 2016, as have been others before it, presented the drivers with more challenges than many of them would have wanted, with the bad luck of some being transformed into becoming the good fortune of others; as was the case with Ricciardo and Hamilton, respectively. W ith the race having started under the aegis of the Safety Car, due to the heavy rain and hazardous conditions pertaining, it was not initially obvious that it would evolved into becoming so spectacular and accident prove.  F ate had decreed that many a car were to come to grief as they unsuccessfully negotiated the beckoning and hazardous track daring them to find the path of complete synchronisity and become one with it and flow to the end.  Hamilton and Rosberg worke

オバマ大統領の訪問TOHIROSHIMA AND CHEAP象徴 Obama daitōryō no hōmon TOHIROSHIMA AND CHEAP shōchō Being the first American President to do so,President Obama has set a precedent, in visiting Hiroshima, one of two cities in Japan, on which the then American government, during the Second World War, decided to try out what would happen if it dropped atomic bombs on them.  We now know what happened, with the bombs incinerating all in their path, the people, flora and fauna, buildings, and the very atmosphere. Yes, it was a terrible fate to befall the people of Japan. Of course, World War Two was a terrible time, as tends to be the case with wars, when people and their governments put aside their common humanity, and become,as they too often do, mindless and unconscionable objects. ~ The then Japanese government persecuted the war with the same, if not more ruthlessness than the Americans and the Allies, with the lives of their own people and those of the people they came across,