This is a true story of my late grandfather in his younger days adventures, back in the 1920s, when he went birds’ nesting and returned with a kestrel’s egg.
Nature was taken more notice of back then, without the distractions of smart phones and TVs that now dominate our lives. Although birds’ nesting and looking for rare or any birds’ eggs today is strictly illegal and frowned upon. Of course, back then, it was one of a school boy’s favourite pastimes. My grandfather in Wales when he was younger had many great times and had many memories of good times there.
Hawk Amongst The Pigeons
How often I had heard that proverb ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’, and my very first lesson as to the real meaning of this proverb came at a very early age.
In fact, I was only twelve and the bird in question was a kestrel hawk (Falco-Tinnunculus). I had long admired these miniature falcons, watching them hovering above the Welsh mountainsides and observing their superb dives upon a field mouse or even a beetle. What fantastic sight they possessed, as these dives were very often from a height of a hundred feet. I have heard, or read, that their sight is 50 times better than a human’s. I was drawn to this bird, although I was very fond of other birds as well, but this one could even do what an eagle cannot do – hover in one place in the air. To make this story more interesting, I must just mention that all of what I am writing about took place in the latter years of the 1920s and bird nesting was a school boy’s pastime back then. While some of my mates kept a magpie or a jay for a pet, I wanted something different and my word I did, when I decided to have a kestrel instead of what my mates had chosen.
Firstly, I had to find a kestrel’s nest, which is not easy as strangely enough this bird never builds a complete nest but prefers an old one built the previous year by a magpie or a crow. As there were scores of these old nests in this particular stand of Scotch pines, the question was, which one contained the kestrel’s choice, although most birds give the game away when feeding their young. I learned this in the art of finding hard-to-locate birds’ nests and in this situation it was the shrill cry of the kestrel, “kee leek’ and ‘kee-kee’ that led me to the correct tree. The nearer I came, the more agitated the cries became, so finally I was standing beneath the right tree, which happened to be a 40 ft Scotch Pines.
Now came the difficult part of scaling this tree. A tree of this kind can be very formidable to climb indeed. Those short boughs look easy as hand-holds, but they are deceiving, as quite a few of them are rotten, and it is quite difficult to distinguish between good ones and bad ones. However, my determination to keep something different from what my mates were keeping as a pet gave me the courage to climb this tree.
At last I got to the top without mishap and peered into the nest. From what I could make out, these young kestrels had never seen a human being before and I do not think they liked what they saw either, as they hissed and used their talons even at this tender age. There were four chicks in the nest and I picked out the largest, but of course I needed two hands to get back down to terra firma. There was only one solution as to the transportation of my hawk, so down my shirt he went, then on reaching the base of the tree, out he came and home we went, hawk and boy.
Now my greatest concern was to build a suitable cage for him and the solution to this problem was the local Co-op at Cymmer. One could always buy a tea chest for three pence.
So, the next morning I went down to the Co-op and got my cage without trouble, then called in to see Mr. Prosser the butcher at the said store. Here to my mind was the perfect man for the job, in his white apron with blue stripes and his straw hat jauntily leaning to one side. His moustache was pointed with military precision and that’s also how he treated his tools of the trade, as they shone, thanks to constant cleaning. The pride that this butcher had in his trade and himself was of a quality that still remains fresh in my memory. Even the sawdust on the floor seemed to be at one with his chopping block, as they were known in those bygone days.
I explained why I had come, not with the usual weekly order but my own special request for six pennies worth of scraps. The points of his moustache seemed to wiggle as he listened to my tale about my newly acquired kestrel. Obviously, I gave him all the attributes that this kind of hawk had, but the sixpence in my hand said more than I did as I handed it over the counter. Then once more I watched the art of how to chop meat up as it should be done, with great skill in the hands of a master of his trade, then in no time my bag was full of scraps which were enough to last the week.
“There you are Boyo,” was the comment from Mr. Prosser, “I have sold meat for cats and dogs, but never for a bird of prey.” My trip then to the Co-op had yielded me a cage and six pennies worth of meat scraps. It was a school boy who was very pleased with himself that climbed that steep hill up from Cymmer, way back in the twenties, with a tea chest in one hand and a bag of meat scraps in the other.
No doubt about it, Eric was pleased when he saw the contents of the bag, ‘Eric’ is what I called him, after much deliberation and having recalled a story at school about a viking raider named ‘Eric The Red’. What better name could I give him than this name, because here was a feathered raider of the same calibre as this Viking chief.
I soon had my cage fixed with the aid of a hammer and nails, together with netting wire. The Co-op meat must have suited Eric well as he soon grew into a fine adult bird and I became the envy of my mates, understandably so I thought , as they knew his potential as well as I did, and I took my responsibility towards him very seriously indeed. I did not realise at the time, but so did the pigeon fanciers think about their birds in the same way, as I was soon to learn.
I soon found out from my mates the extent to which pigeon fanciers hated hawks of any kind. I deduced from all this talk that the trouble was their total ignorance of the feeding habits of a kestrel and this led to fanatical hatred of this bird of prey, which led me into trouble.
The Pigeon Association even offered five shillings for a dead hawk, so I realised that I was treading on very dangerous ground. It was a very delicate situation as far as I was concerned, as the local pigeon addicts soon found out that not only was there a cat amongst the pigeons, as the saying goes, but a hawk of all things.
Every Saturday came the ritual of visiting Mr. Prosser for the usual six pennies worth of scraps and a chat. I told him about the danger looming from the local pigeon club and by the time he gave me the scraps he must have thought that he was part of the drama between hawk and racing pigeons. After all, he was providing the good quality meat to keep this so called killer’s voracious appetite satisfied. As time went by I began to wonder if he Eric lost his identity as a bird of prey, having his food provided for him, so one day I put a dead sparrow in his cage and all that wild instinct was only lying dormant, because of circumstances beyond Eric’s control. In a flash it was de-feathered and consumed with a look that seemed to convey the thought of ‘Any second helpings?’
So hawk and boy developed an understanding as time went by and I began to see it from Eric’s point of view as well as my own. I could see those fabulous wings and tail needing more room for stretching. So, out came my pocket knife and I soon shaped out a suitable wooden peg and drove it into our outside wall, which was about fourteen foot high. I got a rubber band and fixed it onto one of his legs, then attached a piece of cord about a yard long which I tied to the peg. So, here was our first act of mutual compromise and it was to lead to trouble – big trouble.
As I took Eric out of his cage and put him on his perch, he took to my hand quite naturally and showed me what those wings were like when fully opened, and preened his feathers. How proud he looked. He had every right to feel this way, after all he was a prince amongst birds, a miniature falcon and his skill on the wing was indisputable.
Soon it was spring again and I noticed that his wings were flapping more than usual as birds were flying over and who knows, he might have seen one of his own kind up in that great blue sky which was his birthright. He certainly seemed more restless at this time. I began to wonder why a bird like this, with such a powerful beak, with which he could tear raw meat into shreds, didn’t with a few short blows, sever the cord as clean as Mr. Prosser with his chopper could slice a piece of meat.
That was the link between Eric and the wild, just a piece of cord. I sometimes wonder if he really wanted to go, but the call of the wild was too strong and a few days later the inevitable happened. I went out one day with a piece of meat and was confronted by just a peg in the wall with about 4 inches of string hanging from it. So, truly the bird had flown; I was sad at this turn of events but not surprised, for who would want to keep him from using those streamlined wings to their full capacity.
With mixed feelings of relief and sadness, I was suddenly pulled up out of these thoughts by a cry from my mate a few doors away, ‘There’s a hawk in the chimney stack!’ As I looked up, there he was, preening his feathers. It seemed to me that he was still undecided whether to take advantage of his new found freedom or not, or was it the quality of the Co-op meat that really mattered. Still, I suppose he was thinking all this out in his own good time and was content to stay where he was for the time being. It was bedtime for me anyway, and I realised that he would probably be gone in the morning (at least that was what I was hoping). As I drifted into a troubled sleep, I couldn’t help thinking that if the Pigeon Association were prepared to pay five shillings for a dead hawk, then I would in a way be responsible for letting one go free with those pigeon fanatics breathing, as it were, down my neck. I remember having a nightmare in which I could see myself in a pigeon basket with a price tag on it marked ‘five shillings’.
One can realise the relief I felt on waking up. Someone must have paid that five shillings , because here I was still in bed. On getting up in the morning and looking outside, my worst fears were realised because there was Eric, still flitting from one chimney stack to another. Now I was in a fine predicament, with just three days to go before one of the biggest pigeon races of the year from Thurso in Scotland. As I was musing on these thoughts, another broadside came from a neighbour two doors away who kept chickens, he threatened me with dire consequences if some of his chicks ended up inside Eric. So, there looked to be trouble ahead. No good going to see my friend Mr. Prosser for advice – expert though he was in carving up meat, but as for the birds, well, even he could be of no avail in a desperate situation such as this. On reflection, it was not a bad idea to see my pal Dick Rowlands, although a pigeon fancier, he was a great pal of mine never-the-less, to see if he had any ideas, as desperate situations call for desperate measures as the saying goes, and two heads are better than one, albeit only two school boys’ heads.
Well, after we discussed the matter in detail, he came up with the brilliant idea of bombarding Eric with stones, with the idea of frightening him away. However, instead of frightening him away, he seemed to enjoy dodging these missiles. There was no trouble in finding stones in this part of the valley, so roofs soon started to echo with this bombardment in the attempt to ensure that all would be well for the big race on Saturday and that those chicks would reach maturity.
Soon heads popped out of back doors and windows and it seemed that instead of easing the situation, we had aggravated it. Then, the gentleman with the hen and chicks issued still more dire warnings in no uncertain manner. So much for Dick’s idea of how to drive away a hawk. We ended up being driven away ourselves by irate neighbours, and no wonder, after that bombardment of local stones upon their roofs.
So things were really desperate now and there seemed no end to the commotion that just one kestrel could cause. It seemed that all of the village was involved, with some no doubt on my side and others for the pigeon fanciers. Still, this was at this stage, cold comfort to me. If only they understood my kestrel’s feeding habits – why they only kill a very small bird the size of a sparrow or skylark and not a bird the size of a pigeon. They also feed on field mice, voles, beetles and lizards. But a hawk seemed to conjure up all sorts of images in their minds, and if they had the same attitude towards cats (who really liked a nice plump pigeon) the village would have soon been overrun with mice. But it was no good dwelling on about cats; as my hawk, who by now must have been getting pretty peckish, as several days had elapsed since his release from my improvised perch was still causing mayhem. I could not help thinking at this time whether or not those chicks were really in danger. The possibility was there as it had been some time now since Eric had been fed. I had not heard of any pigeon being killed so here I was trying to look on the bright side (if there was any). However, I could not help thinking of all the work I had done to ensure that Eric was looked after in a humane way, cleaning out his cage, walking a mile to the Co-op on Saturday mornings, not to mention my sixpence pocket money. Why, I had even pinched the mouse off our cat to give to Eric. I had to chase the cat around the house a few times before the cat gave up, and this is all the thanks I got for all this trouble. “No more hawks for me.” I said to my mate, and his reply was “Well, you have not quite gotten rid of this one yet.” So, much for a good mate.
At last we had an idea, why oh why had we not thought of it before? I dashed home and got a piece of meat and went outside into the garden onto the mountainside and held the meat up high so that Eric could see it. Once more those powerful eyes came into action and down he swooped. While he swooped down near me and while his attention was focused on the meat, my mate grabbed the piece of cord still attached to his leg and the bird was caught good and proper. I could not thank my mate enough for the part he played on that Welsh mountain, and with this bird in the hand, surely after all those trials and tribulations, Eric was worth six birds in the bush. Back in his cage he went and what a relief to see him away from those chimney stacks. This happened just in time for the race of the year on the following day. Those pigeons and their owners could now sleep peacefully in their beds once more and those chicks would reach the ‘laying’ stage after all.
Next morning, which happened to be a Saturday, down I went to see my old friend Mr. Prosser, who thought I had come for my usual scraps, but then I told him about Eric’s escapades. I also told him that my mind was made up that there was only one solution to the problem of keeping a hawk in a village where pigeon racing was the order of the day, and that was to take him back to where he came from – a windswept stand of Scotch pines on a mountain over at Tonmar. So, that was exactly what I did a few days later, right at the very tree on which Eric was born. There was no doubt in my mind that this was the right thing to do.
When I released him, up he soared into the great blue sky, the same sky he had no doubt admired from the peg on our back garden wall.
So, Mr. Prosser had lost a regular order for meat scraps and I had lost my hawk, as the pigeon race went ahead as planned. The upheaval that one boy and a kestrel can cause in a small village is true and that stand of Scotch pines is there even to this day. Five shillings for a dead hawk. But not for Eric, who lived to tell the tale and returned to his own kind, whilst no doubt retaining in his memory those special scraps from the Co-op, thanks to Mr. Prosser.
Leslie Baker
(Please note: My grandfather in his later years wouldn’t dream of birds nesting and was always kind and respectful with nature and living things)
Global warming will warm the oceans, send temperatures soaring and disrupt weather patterns. However, what other harmful effects will have a knock on effect on our health? What is global warming and it’s effects?
To start with, global warming arguably has already begun to disrupt the world’s weather patterns. This can lead to more severe heat waves, which can cause droughts and cut down any cooling relief that we will be desperate to seek. Floods will also become more and more common, which can cause drowning and help spread infectious diseases. Infectious diseases are underrated, as the deaths and damage caused initially from floods will capture our attention. Infectious diseases however can take root in a disaster and can spread to other areas, killing or infecting people over time, often long after the disaster has happened.
Global warming’s right hand henchman is the humble mosquito. Mosquitoes love the heat. Winter frosts kill mosquito eggs and larvae as well as fully grown mosquitoes. However, with the increase in heat, mosquitoes can flourish, dealing out lethal diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and encephalitis. Most insects can not only die in the cold but also in high temperatures. Not so with the mosquito, as they have a broader survivable higher temperature range. As the air becomes warmer, so too does their bite rate. They can also venture into previously inaccessible areas to spread diseases further afield with the rising heat.
So what is global warming and its effects to do with increased spreading of diseases?
Certain diseases flourish in changing temperatures too, such as the transmission of St Louis encephalitis and other diseases that prey on humans, birds and mosquitoes.
The West Nile virus that found its way in to New York in the year 2000 is an example of where rapidly changing weather patterns may be responsible for bringing this disease into the US, possibly due to the Culex Pipiens mosquitoes. These mosquitoes favour urban conditions and relish stagnant pools, sewers and damp.
Unstable weather conditions can be responsible for killing off predators that prey on mosquitoes, such as ladybirds and lacewings that can be killed off in a drought. Drought can also lead to birds having to flock together at water sources, helping to spread diseases between birds and of course giving the mosquitoes at these diminishing water sources open season on biting – Â to spread diseases even quicker.
So, it would appear that the mosquito will relish global warming and is ideally suited to flourishing in floods and also rising temperatures.
As for if the world will supposedly ending this year in 1012 – highly unlikely as it will still take time for the worst effects on our health to accelerate. The Aztecs predicted that the world will end this year, but they could not predict their own demise. So they are a little bit of a dodgy source to take advice from.
The surge of disaster movies where the world’s tectonic plates start dancing around and creating huge super tsunami waves probably won’t be happening soon either 😉
The mosquito on the other hand has all the time in the world to aid in our demise. What is global warming going to do for the humble but complex mosquito . . .? They are going to thrive.
Erik Bye, a smartphone app developer who runs Ellie’s Games has kindly taken part in a text interview.
He has a wealth of experience as a smartphone app developer and has many apps up in the App Store as well as having apps on Android devices. Erik is unique in his approach to creating apps, as his partner and tester is his two year old daughter Ellie. What a great partnership and a fun way of programming games involving the family.
1) How many apps do you have and what is your most popular app?
I currently have 14 apps published to the iOS App Store along with 3 Android apps published to Google Play & Amazon. Color Dots is the most popular in both App Stores with over 30,000 downloads
2) What made you start creating apps?
The company I work for wanted to build an internal reporting app for iOS. Â I expressed interest in the project and was given the hardware to have at it. Â Over the next few weeks I hacked together a working application and delivered the requested reporting app, in a user friendly package. Â I had a great time developing the project and continued investing time and effort into iOS even after our internal project got canned.
3) Have you had to overcome any learning curves or hurdles in your developing experience?
Tons of hurdles. Â Thereâ??s problems to be solved every time I start coding. Â I really enjoy problem solving, which is why I think I enjoy programming so much. Â Each development task involves some sort of problem to solve. Â Thereâ??s an infinite number of solutions, but only a handful of them are elegant. Â I always try to look for the elegant solution.
4) What languages do you program in? What is your favourite programming language?
Iâ??m a front end developer during the day, so lots of HTML/CSS/JS. Â I work with Java to support the front end stuff, but Iâ??ve never really been interested in service development. Â I learned C++ in college, although never used it when I got out. Â Over the past few years Iâ??ve taught myself Objective-C.
I truly enjoy programming in HTML. Â Itâ??s such a simple language to learn, but takes years to get good at. Â Completing a perfectly semantic document brings me lots of geek joy.
5) I know that you develop with your daughter’s valuable input. Can you tell us a bit more about this unique family team working arrangement?
Ellieâ??s an amazing teammate. Â She has almost no filter and I donâ??t think she understands that I am creating these games from scratch by myself. Â She doesnâ??t know there are a collection of games tailor made for her. Â She just enjoys playing. Â It works well because if thereâ??s something she doesnâ??t understand, I can pick up on it right away through visual queues and make adjustments. Â Sometimes itâ??s tough with a 2 year old partner. Â She can get bored pretty easily, so I donâ??t force her to play games or answer questions when sheâ??s not interested. Â I let it happen naturally. Â In fact I had almost completely finished Dot Collector before she had ever tried it.
6) Can you tell us a bit about your personality and hobbies?
I take pride in having a positive outlook on every aspect of my life. Â Itâ??s important for me to be happy and bring happiness to other people when I can. Â It may be cliche, but one of my greatest strengths is my positivity and the people around me would agree.
Iâ??m a very active person.  Fitness is an important part of my lifestyle.  A typical week includes 3 volleyball sessions, 2 rock climbing sessions, 1 personal training session, 1 golf session  and at least an hour of soccer.  And of course chasing Ellie around the house every evening after work.
I also consider myself a bit of a beer connoisseur too. Â Iâ??m lucky to live close to a handful of breweries and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
7) Do you have a future app or project planned for the near future?
Iâ??m currently working on 4 new apps, 6 app updates and 3 websites. Â When I finish all that, Iâ??m sure there will be another app, or project right behind it too. Â Time management is extremely important with so many projects in the works. Â It helps to set obtainable goals and quickly move on once they’re met. Â Itâ??s too easy for project scope to creep to an unobtainable goal, so every week I try to take a big picture perspective on what Iâ??m working on. Â Iâ??ll check if Iâ??m still on track or if Iâ??ve gotten derailed somewhere and make adjustments if needed.
8 ) Where do you see the future of the app markets going?
My opinion is that the app stores are going to be around for a long while. Â This isnâ??t a question of Apple vs Android as I think both environments will exist for quite some time. Â Itâ??s more of a general question on where the medium as a whole is going. Â The handheld hardware available now is incredible. Â I see that trend continuing well into the future. Â Therefore the apps built for those devices arenâ??t going anywhere either.
9) What tips and advice would you give to novice programmers beginning to create apps?
Program because you like programming, not because you want to make money. Â Iâ??ve spent hundreds of hours programming â??the next best appâ? only to have it flop after release. Â Iâ??m not upset about it, because Iâ??ve gained experience that I wouldnâ??t have had if I didnâ??t build the app. Â Donâ??t be afraid to make mistakes as itâ??s how you avoid them in the future.
10) Have you had any interesting or funny experiences whilst programming apps?
One time I tried to access an object before instantiating it and got an EXC_BAD_ACCESS error. Â So silly…
In the 18th century there was an eccentric fitness fanatic named Simeon Ellerton from Craike in the county of Durham. So why is he viewed as one of the most eccentric people ever to have lived? And why is his name now part of history? Here are the strange facts.
He loved walking and would often undertake errands for the local village or act as a courier to deliver items far and wide. However, he had an ulterior motive when he was out on many of his long walks . . . he would look for and collect stones that matched his specs and then carry them home on his head.
So what was the reason for carrying these stones back on his head after every long walk? Well, he had a grand plan . . . to build his own house with these stones. Not being a rich man, this way he would be able to have the building materials for free.
To keep anyone from commenting or interfering with his plans, if anyone asked him the reason for the stones loaded on top of his head, he would simply reply, “Tis to keep on my hat.”
Strange facts about Simeon were building up.
Simeon Ellerton eventually collected and stored so many stones that he had enough building material to build his very own cottage. He built the cottage himself, free from the costs of materials and builders’ fees.
So was Simeon Ellerton slightly mad or eccentric? After all, he built himself a house for free whilst keeping fit at the same time. With the above information I would have to say that he was a smart guy with a single goal in mind.
However, when the cottage was completed, he felt very uncomfortable walking around without any stones on his head, so he used to walk around with a bag of stones on his head just for the heck of it. This fact, together with the fact that there are easier ways to transport stones, such as a bag slung over his shoulder or tied to his waist for example, points out the fact that Simeon Ellerton was definitely eccentric without a doubt.
To prove how his fitness benefited him, he lived to the very respectable age of 104 when he died in 1799. Bear in mind that in the eighteenth century health and medical care was very undeveloped, which makes this feat of living a long life back then even more impressive.
If you are having a new conservatory built, maybe it would be a smart move to get your walking shoes out and consider a stone version? You’d get fit in the process too, which would be killing two birds with one stone, if you’ll excuse the pun. So, amongst the strange facts about Simeon, pehaps there was a strange logic at work.
The demands and desires of the modern human populous can be divided into two main groups; the concrete and the abstract.
The concrete demands of humans can be viewed as those necessary to survival; food, clean water, shelter and clothing can be considered the most essential. What is considered essential is subjective, for example some may consider only the bare minimum of food as essential, whereas others may feel it is essential to have sufficiently varied food as to maintain a nutritious diet. The abstract demands of humans are the desires which many feel they are entitled to, and are considered basic human rights, however they are not necessary for human survival; liberty, justice, equality, dignity, and so on. What is necessary to fulfil these demands is highly subjective and cannot be quantified.
In human history an example of the complete fulfilment of either concrete or abstract demands cannot be found although many political theories and ideals aspire to one or the other. Therefore I will use the ideals of the United States of America as a quasi-example of the fulfilment of abstract demands and the ideals of Communist China for the fulfilment of concrete values.
It is important to note that at present the complete fulfilment of concrete and abstract demands are mutually exclusive. In order to supply the concrete needs of the entire populous their freedom and equality must be reduced, and if people are given their abstract demands not everyone will have their concrete demands met, as those with the means of production will have the freedom to hoard resources. Also the complete fulfilment of all abstract values is impossible as complete freedom and justice are mutually exclusive as justice often requires the limitations of the freedom of an individual, therefore we will use an ideal balance of abstract demands which allows the maximum possible expression of all as our idea of the fulfilment of abstract demands.
Liberty is arguably considered the most popularly important abstract demand in our post-colonial, civil rights orientated modern world. Liberty can be considered the ability to continue on your chosen path unhindered by the government or state. There will obviously be a limit to personal freedoms due to law, although Hobbes suggested that law should only be there to prevent violence this is not the case as legislation is also used to protect national economies. If the state did not concern themselves with the economy, almost certainly drastically reducing the provision of concrete demands, it would result in a slight increase in personal freedom, however I believe that this sacrifice of concrete demands (which are earned, not given) would be too great.
Freedom can of course be personally and socially damaging. Many damaging superstitions, beliefs and practices are protected legally and emotionally as religious and cultural freedoms. A good example of this being the Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas, US. The church is allowed to picket the funerals of US military veterans with signs and slogans of hate, causing much distress to the bereaved. Although a highly controversial topic their actions are protected as religious freedoms.
However, there are also many examples of liberty being restricted by the views of the populous. The freedom of speech is extremely highly valued as a basic universal right but Sean Duffy of Reading, UK was jailed for posting abusive Youtube videos and Facebook messages about the deaths of four teenagers. Understandably this caused much distress to their families, but the act is very similar to those performed by the Westboro Baptist Church.
This raises an interesting question of when peoples freedom to express their beliefs should be restricted to protect those who are affected by this expression. It is commonly believed that if someone choses to express their beliefs through physical violence, such as the Unabomber, this should not be allowed; clearly the use of psychological or emotional violence is debatable.
The theory of Objectivism suggests that freedom (in particular commercial freedom and competition) is the driving force behind human progress and that if this freedom is restricted it can be damaging for humanity. For example, stem cell research, which could help to cure a huge number of medical issues placing humanity such as cancer, is restricted. This is due to the protests of, mainly religious groups, who view stem cell research as unethical and â??playing godâ??. This is a clear example of progress (in medicine, arguably the greatest human endeavour) being hindered by restrictions of freedom, and interestingly a situation in which the availability of concrete demands, in this case health and physical wellbeing, being hindered by a restriction of abstract demands, the professional freedom of scientists. Therefore we can see that limiting personal freedoms reigns in manâ??s ability to produce, which can damage the provision of concrete demands. This can also be seen (albeit with greater complexity) in Communist Chinaâ??s â??Great Leap Forwardâ?? production of steel, which was much less successful than the western â??free industryâ?? approach.
Karl Marxâ??s â??Communist Manifestoâ?? states that if there were no private property, and thus no class division, there would be no need for conflict as everyone would have their concrete demands met. However, I believe this to be ineffective as those who already have their concrete demands have moved on hierarchically to abstract demands, importantly the freedom to achieve their potential. Also it is important to note that the adequate provision by the state of concrete demands can have detrimental effects on the people, for example the â??welfare mentalityâ?? which displays a lack of motivation to produce. This was observed in Communist China when peasants, knowing their food and shelter would be provided no matter how little they worked, produced smaller harvests.
One interesting theory which concerns the supply of abstract demands, particularly the freedom to choose, is the â??paradox of choiceâ??, this theory suggests that the more choices which are available to us, the less happiness and satisfaction we will get out of life as we can always believe that if we had made a different choice, be it in our careers, relationships place these daydreams. Therefore if happiness is considered the purpose of the provision of concrete or abstract demands it could be seen that people may be happier without freedom. However, this theory is based on observations of pre-industrial societies where the lack of freedom to migrate or select an occupation was due more to a lack of financial means to do so than state enforcement, as it would be in a post-industrial society such as Communist China.
The subjective necessity of demands is hierarchical. A populous which has none of its demands met will want concrete demands first, once these are satisfied the society will move on towards abstract demands.
Obviously the preference of either concrete or abstract demands is highly subjective and heavily dependent on personal background. Those with a background in which concrete demands were not met satisfactorily would show a preference towards concrete demands due to their first-hand experience of life without these demands. Those who have always had their concrete demands met, and thus have no first-hand experience of this situation, and importantly little understanding of the difficulties of escaping a cycle of poverty (as many wealthier people assume people are poor because they are too unskilled or even lazy to achieve wealth) would desire abstract demands as these allow them to enjoy their wealth.
What is your understanding of Human Nature? How does that understanding relate to your notion of peace and conflicts as well as your assessment of the possibility of peace?
Although the societies around the world which form out of different cultures will express different values, with some of these societies, or states, are popularly considered to be more peaceful, for example Switzerland, and some less so, for example The USA, the basic universal human nature will have a massive impact on how the people in these societies relate to one another and furthermore how these societies act towards each other.
Almost all political philosophers have made observations on human nature and how these pertain to the needs, wishes and responsibilities of the state. These can be analysed to discover their suggestions as to the possibility (or impossibility) of peace.
It is important to begin by noting that human nature is too complex to be defined accurately in its entirety, therefore approximations and generalisations must be made. We also may not be able to consider what we believe to be human nature on an individual level as being accurate when viewing the society as a whole, as the volume of people can have distorting effects.
It is reasonable to consider that â??human natureâ?? would be the ultimate arbitrator? when considering the possibility of peace. All other aspects of humanity; technological, industrial, educational, political etc are fluid and show historical progression, however human nature remains static.
Finally it is necessary to state that for this analysis â??peaceâ?? will not be defined as only the absence of violent international conflicts, but as the formulation of a society in which all conflicts are resolved trough peaceful means.
Plato suggested that whilst human nature is complex it can be seen to comprise of three central elements: Wisdom, Spiritedness and Desire. All of these elements being present in everyone in various ratios. He theorised that if the populous can be effectively managed into a sustainable society peace would be achievable, however, desire acts as a stimulus creating a â??feverishâ?? society. These desires for luxury and convienience (which are clearly present in modern, western society â?? exemplified through materialism involved in iPhones and designer clothing) are the central cause of conflict as there is a scarcity of resources. Following Platoâ??s theories, to create a peaceful society it would be necessary to revert from our feverish society to sustainability. Unfortunately this would almost definitely require the use of force to oppress the peopleâ??s desires. This implies a use of force to create peace, obviously being contradictory. Furthermore, restricting personal freedoms can easily lead to internal violence such as rioting and civil war, as is currently being seen through the spread of democracy in traditionally oppressive regimes in the Middle East.
Whilst not strictly referring to human nature, Aristotle stated that the final development of the human race is to achieve â??the good lifeâ??, the capability to pursue virtues such as; practical wisdom, courage, justice and moderation (the last being difficult in Platoâ??s â??feverishâ?? society) This â??good lifeâ?? is dependant on the individualâ??s ability to control the desires of human nature. If everyone was willing to pursue these values a peaceful society would be the result. The problem arises when trying to create a society in which everyone shares these values, importantly, without resorting to force. Aristotle stated that â??man is by nature a political animalâ??, it is therefore conceivable that through political means such as education and public awareness campaigns Aristotleâ??s â??good lifeâ?? society would be achievable, although currently we are obviously ineffective at implementing this and it is difficult to imagine this being achievable.
The theories of Plato and Aristotle are highly important and relevant when analysing human nature, however when considering the idea of the â??possibility of peaceâ?? I feel they show too much idealism. The ideas of both philosophers, if implemented would, in theory, create societies of sustainable national and international peace, however there is not sufficient focus on the negative aspects of human nature and how the problems created by this can be resolved in the real world without expecting too much of the individual.
Niccolo Machiavelli, introduced â??realismâ?? to political theory regarding both human nature and peace. A defining summary on his view of human nature being, â??how one lives is so far different from how one ought to liveâ??. Whilst Plato and Aristotle suggested that the populous required what could be described as a â??cultural revolutionâ?? (not in the Maoist sense), Machiavelli felt the masses shouldnâ??t be expected to change, as he considered this â??unrealisticâ?? but that their weaknesses should be manipulated in order to reduce violence to an acceptanble minimum as a wholly realised peaceful society is never achievable. In my opinion, in attempting to achieve anything realism is a necessity, if ideas and implementation strategies are not relevant to the underlying aspects human nature there will be no progress.
Hobbes refers to a â??state of natureâ?? in which it is natural for humans to be at war in order to protect self interest, as in nature we observe the survival of the fittest. In this state of nature peace is only achievable through the forming of a social contract. This reflects his idealism as to achieve peace every member of the society must be willing to accept the social contract, even when it does not act in their favour, sometimes even attacking their self interest. The limits of any societyâ??s willingness to accept the social contract is widely apparent in the modern multiplicity of actors in the political sphere, with more and more groups protesting and petitioning to affect public policy to protect their self interests. It is also suggested that the state should only use its power to protect the populous and enforce the two agreements which form the social contract. However, in modern, industrial society the state has far more responsibilities, especially concerning economics, that this â??passiveâ?? state seems impossible without having significant effects on modern consumer capitalism which would in tern restrict the gratification of desires, thus creating conflicts. Hobbesâ?? social contract theory also states that the state/society is not natural, this suggests that mass, peaceful acceptance of a state is not a part of human nature. Even if we can achieve everyone living peacefully in a social contract this would only prevent internal conflicts, internationally there would still be a state of nature.
Immanuel Kant and the enlightenment period introduces what is, in my opinion, the most important idea when considering the possibility of peace. â??Historical developmentâ?? states that society progresses over time, that nothing is impossible in the future. Viewing only 19th and 20th century history this theory is evident in the industrial and technological spheres, and in politics and sociology we can also see a growth of values such as personal liberty, universal human rights and compassion and concern for the under-privalidged. When considering these advancements it is not too difficult to imagine that in centuries time maybe the mass acceptance of Aristotleâ??s â??good lifeâ?? society (or even David Cameronâ??s â??big societyâ??) will be possible. We can even see that some of Kantâ??s original ideas for â??perpetual peaceâ??, which seemed so alien at the time of his writing have since been fulfilled and indeed the absence of these seems inconceivable to modern man, for example, â??a state belongs to the people, it is not the personal property of anyoneâ??, even in states with monarchical regimes few would consider the state to be an asset of the monarch. Whilst Kantâ??s ideas are theoretically sound, it is difficult at present to imagine a time when this â??perpetual peace is an accepted fact of daily life, despite the massive growth in popular support for peace as shown in anti-war demonstrations in the USA and UK over the Afghan and Iraq wars in the last decade. One interesting statistic concerning â??perpetual peaceâ?? which comes from Kantâ??s studies (the specification that for international peace states would need a republican government) is that no two democratic nations have ever been at war with one another (though nazi Germany against the Allies in world war II being an anomaly to this â?? understandably due to the incredible atrocities which occurred), and it can be observed that most 20th century wars were borne of the conflicts between political ideologies, often democracies fighting communists, fascists or dictators, and indeed it appears that two democratic and politically developed countries entering into conflicts against one another would go against public mood in both nations. It is therefore reasonable to consider that if all nations were democratic there would be a significant reduction in violent international conflicts. This information combined with the growing spread of democracy in formally oppressed states (particularly in the Middle East, although also potentially spreading to China in the near future) give a tangible image of international peace being established in the not too distant future. Kant also discussed the â??Universal Right of Humanityâ??, involving ideas which led to the development of the UN declaration of human rights. Personally I believe human right is not a factor of human nature, when considering the widespread humanitarian atrocities (particularly genocide and persecution) in nazi Germany, Maoist China, Russian Gulags, Rwanda, Guatemala and many others over the last century, it seems unlikely that empathy and compassion pertaining to peace is a fundamental factor of human nature.
Karl Marx observed during the industrial revolution that the ability to produce (food, textiles, machinery, technology, etc) was an intrinsic part of human nature. He theorised that conflicts arise in society because of the creation of two classes: those who have the means of production and those who donâ??t. Therefore to eliminate conflicts you need to eliminate class divide through abolishing private property. However, a peaceful transition to this communistic society would require the entire populous to accept the new system. I believe it is human nature to desire to be perceived as being superior to others, what Hobbes refers to as â??vain gloryâ??, this would obviously cause a reluctance among those who posses the means of production to relinquish that, thus necessitating force and an almost inevitably violent transition.
My own thoughts on human nature as it relates to the possibility of peace are that in order to achieve peace society needs to be more aware of the emotional and cultural violence inflicted on people. Even if you manage to achieve international peace through any method there will always be individuals who due to a myriad of factors see violence as the only acceptable response to the society they observe. People like the Unabomber, Charles Manson, etc. I believe the actions of these people not to be borne of human nature but as a product of social human nature; the abstract creations and ideals of human society which then can make individuals feel they are separate from humanity as they cannot understand these abstractions of things such as love, success, lonliness, good and evil.
In conclusion I feel there four central points when considering human nature and its relationship with peace.
Realism is important as in order to create complete peace we must begin by reducing violence, I believe this cannot be achieved though idealistic stratagies requiring every human being to be accountable to a high standard, especially as the masses are largely apathetic. Methods must be established and implemented based on reasonable targets if they are to be affective.
Whilst in the present day humanity is so distant from achieving peace that it seems impossible, and the ideas of Plato, Aristotle and Kant seem so unrealistic to implement I agree with the idea of Historical development so far as saying that although it appears impossible now, that does not mean there is no hope for the future.
I feel international peace is within the grasp of humanity as it relies on good governance, or in Platoâ??s theory, the Philosopher King. However, I feel true, complete peace may be impossible as it would require such a dramatic shift of social attitude.
Both Plato and Marx acknowledge the importance of desire creating conflict, humans will inevitably protect their self interest, there is a scarcity of resources and thus there will obviously be conflicts arising when deciding who gets what when. It would be possible to control our desires in Platoâ??s self-sufficient society, however we have gone so far past that I feel it would be impossible to globally return to self-sufficiency.
Kard Combat by Hothead Games is one of the most popular strategic card battling games on the App Store. Â You must fight your way to the the gothic Tower over 33 epic battle scenarios . . .
So what makes this game so special? Well, it is unlike many mainstream games, that’s for sure. You play with virtual cards that deal damage or have special powers to fight your enemies. There are cards that cast spells, defensive cards, power up cards and one off special cards that deal out damage. This game was co-developed by Richard Garfield, creator of ‘Magic’. There are one hundred and twenty cards to collect in your journey to the tower. What’s more is that this game is free and you can play a 2 player game with your friends or online, as well as the main journey mode toward the gothic style tower. You can choose from between eight different characters and there is even a Challenge mode where you must solve brain-twisting puzzles.
The full game is quite pricey at $9.99 if you want all the cards and add-on options, although you can buy these sets in parts, priced at $1.99 each. However, the basic game is free, so it is a good game to sample before purchasing anything to make sure that you really like this game before breaking out the credit card.
This game is well liked as it has good star reviews, currently at 4.5 at the time of writing this review. This game looks especially good on the iPad. The game is in portrait mode when it opens and each character that you can select has their own special skills. The pass ‘n’ play mode is especially fun.
The game loads pretty quickly and saves the game on exit when you quit the game. You have ‘life points’ that you must defend as well as trying to deplete your opponent’s life points. You need mana points to unlock cards which you will initially see as darkened cards. Each card you submit depletes your mana points. The cards are colourful and imaginative, such as fire cards and earth cards.
As stated in the review, the only improvement that could be made is to alter the layout to look better on smaller devices. If you like this type of game, with the gothic atmosphere and dark atmosphere then you won’t be disappointed with this hit that is storming the App Market at the moment.
What follows is my late grandfather in Wales account of seeing an eclipse at his school in Wales when he was just 12 years old as a  child. The school that he attended was Abercregan School in the Welsh valleys.
In The Wake Of The Druids
We always knew when our teacher had something up his sleeve, and this certain day was no exception. We watched as he opened one of the classroom windows and looked at the sun through a piece of smoked glass. I turned around and said to my desk mate, “He’s up to something Dick!” Then it was only a matter of time before he would spring his surprise upon us. I say this because Hopkins, our teacher, knew the art of bringing a subject to the boil and then looking for a reaction on our part, and he was succeeding  as usual, hence our curiosity.
Not long after this took place we had a lesson on the eclipse of the sun, and great emphasis was placed on the fact that this unique event took place only every 100 years. It was extremely unlikely that any of us in our class would have the chance to see this again, so we agreed with our teacher that it would be well worth the effort to witness the event.
Now to the scope of that effort . . . by the time Hopkins had finished with us, nothing was impossible, even rising very early indeed and climbing a 1000 ft mountain to view this great event. So then came the last command . . . “I want you all to assemble on top of Cafn Afan mountain, tomorrow morning  at 6.30 am promptly.”
The sun seemed to take on a different look that afternoon. Hopkins had done his preliminary work for which his efforts were second to none. We each had our bit of smoked glass, done over a candle, so as not to harm our eyes, and the authenticity of this once in a lifetime eclipse was well embedded in our 12 year old minds.
Next morning we were up with the lark as the saying goes and made sure we washed our eyes out, as we did not want to miss anything, especially after the grilling we had received from Hopkins.
Although Hopkins was not a Patrick Moore, he was nevertheless, very good on this subject. After a spot of breakfast, I called on my pal who was still a bit bleary-eyed and off we went, climbing upward into the morning air, which contributed to us finally waking up.
We were about half way up the mountain when my friend said, with some effort in amongst the moaning, ” Good job it is only once in 100 years.”
“Never mind Dick, think of those ancient druids, they were at this game all the time. Cheer up, we shall soon be at the top,” I replied.
As I looked at the valley below, all was quiet and peaceful, as one would expect at half past six in the morning. Not even a dog was barking and most of the inhabitants were still sleeping. On reflection I began to think that maybe Dick was nearer the truth in what he had said, after all it is not everyone who wants to climb 1000 ft at an unearthly hour. However, look what those people below were going to miss by not being alert like we were, (thanks only to our teachers), but by Dick’s glum expression he was not on the same lines of thought . . . still, ours was not to reason why (more so when it was Hopkin’s orders).
When he gave a command, eyebrows went up, not down, and what a fine teacher he was, especially with the material he had to work on.
We reached the top at last, before joining the other boys of our class. The ‘Arch Druid’ was there waiting for us, and there we all were, watching for the sun to rise, like the druids of by-gone days.
Now is the opportune time to say more about Hopkins during this waiting period . . .
He started teaching when he was quite young and could throw a piece of chalk with unerring aim, which you realised if you were on the receiving end of the throw. He always walked to school, which was about a mile and a half walk in distance. There is more to this walk than meets the eye, as it gave us boys less of an excuse for being late for school. He had been a sergeant in the 1914 war and well we knew it at drill time in the playground, as he must have thought that he was still in the army.
When, at the end of term, before we had to go up into his class, the older boys would scare us stiff with a yarn, but boys will be boys and this was the warning . . .
“Look out! On a misty day especially. Why? Because he has a bayonet wound on his leg which required 25 stitches, which is aggravated by that kind of weather.”
I don’t know where the figure 25 came from, as 10 would have carried sufficient warning. Anyway, sometimes the mist lasted for as long as 2 or 3 weeks at certain times of the year in the valley. We were demoralised long before we even entered his class for the first time. Then, when the dreaded day arrived, and it came all too soon, with that kind of threat hanging over us, it seemed as if we were going into a lion’s den rather than a classroom. However, when the first lesson was over we emerged from the class all in one piece. As for myself, I thought that he was one of the best, but for some boys who were from a place called ‘Nant-Yr-Bar’, they were like red rag to a bull to Hopkins, and in fact, he had them weighed up even before they got to his classroom.
Although his observation skills were now directed toward the sun. and as he knew all about the eclipse, he seemed always to be in front and we admired him for this attribute. He looked at his watch and said, “Get your smoked glass.” That was the order, but in the next few minutes, something happened that even Hopkins had not taken into account . . . a cloud appeared just at the vital time of the eclipse and we saw precisely . . . nothing! So the 100 year phenomenon had turned out to be nought in the space of a few minutes. We looked at each other and realised that even Hopkins could be wrong at times! This then was the culmination of all our efforts.
As we went down the mountain on the way home, down went our estimation of Hopkins as well, but not for long.
After visiting relatives in Canada during the August holidays, he brought back an Indian Moccasin and a locust in a small glass case which he brought into the classroom to show us. I glanced at my mate and again, knew something was in the air that day, “Wait for it Dick,” I remarked. As we were very Indian conscious at that age, we wanted a story about that moccasin, but no, it had to be about locusts and what they were capable of doing, including the ability to block out the sun. When the part about the locusts being able to block out the sun came, the penny dropped. Here he was making good what had happened on that morning when the clouds stole the show. So his role of bing ‘the one in front’ was proved once more, so his observation skills were clearly still there, and up went our estimation of him once more.
Leslie Baker
Video of Welsh mining towns in the Welsh valleys before the strike to give an idea of the times back then. My Grandfather in the Welsh mining town would have been familiar with the strange silence that spread over these communities back then.
Save The Pencil, by Perfect Dimension is a puzzle game for the iPhone. There is a lite version of this game and also a paid version, currently priced at under $1. On the paid version of the game you are given several additional stages.
This review is for the paid version of the game. This game gives you a lot of game play for your money; as Andre says in the review, he has played this game often and has still not yet reached the additional levels in the full version. All the 5 characters are included in the full version, whereas you only have 3 characters in the lite version. The objective of this game is to reach the red dot on the screen.
Although this sounds quite basic, you really have to think your way through the levels and it can get quite complex. The game is optimised for retina display graphics and is very quick to download, as this game is only 12 megabytes in size. The lite version is only 9 megabytes in size.
It’s a game where you have to join the dots before reaching the red end dot point, but there are many factors in the game. The story behind the game is that the stationary cupboard has gone nuts in an all out rebellion and you as a HB pencil must bear the brunt of their grievances by escaping their wrath.
The pencil needs your help in crazy times.
The main screen layout is nice and simply laid out and has dynamic graphics of some of the characters moving about the screen. The mission selection screen after you press ‘play’ is a scroll view selection layout. You are awarded up to three stars when you finish each stage and there are bonus points which you can pick up too.
The beginning levels start off easy to show you how to play the game. You have to tap on a blue point to move the pencil to that point, aiming to end up on a red dot/point. Sometimes you can start and finish on the same dot. You cannot touch the paper clips, eraser or rulers for instance.
In the review, Andre shows you a complex level where he explains that you can revisit a dot that you have previously gone to. On the demo complex level you’ll see that there is no red dot. Instead, the object was to bring the health of the main eraser down to zero.
There are also moving enemies in the game, so that you have to factor in timing and speed to complete the levels. Although you can still complete the levels with no stars, it is a real challenge to try and get a three star rating however.
Andre finishes off the game by adding that the game is addictive and really good fun to play, as well as being nice and simple. However, one improvement that the developer might want to consider is making the scroll menu into something a bit different to the norm and transforming it into something more original.
UPDATE: Save the pencil now comes with additional dot packs as in-app purchases and there is also an iPad version of this game now.
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