Good afternoon and welcome to what will be the last edition of The Retrospective. I am discontinuing this series simply because, on reflection, I cannot fit it into this blog's aim of presenting cultural commentary and ideas. No sir, and other news sites do it far better than I do, so rather than continue my lame attempts at it, I shall leave the stage to those far more suited to it. I will still post news items, especially following up on the Copts, but my intent is to cease a general weekly roundup.
But you do have to endure one more from me, OK?
Starting once more in Egypt, protests have once again engulfed the country, with the military crack down involving what is believed to be nerve gas. In the maelstrom, Christians demanding justice for their martyred brothers and sisters were attacked, and on that issue, footage has emerged of police and army units encouraging assaults on Christian protesters.
Hopping over to Libya, it has emerged that Saif al-Islam, one of Muammar Gadaffi's sons, has been arrested. The Libyans want to try him there, while the Hague wants him in the Netherlands, and I would probably say that a few retired politicians might just want him dead. Interesting times, indeed.
Moving on to Europe, a Swedish principal has told a student who was raped that rape was "boys being boys." I only wish I were making this up, and if I might address said principal and anyone who agrees with the sentiment (ie life is all about sex) - No it is not!
Dropping down to Germany, the German government has decided to create a register of neo-Nazis in the wake of the capture of several neo-Nazis who had gone on a murdering spree over a decade ago. To be honest, my only objection to this is the definition of a neo-Nazi, because to some, I would fit in that definition (said definition being George Orwell's "anything I don't like").
In the UK, Benetton has been forced to withdraw a poster showing the Pope kissing on the mouth an Al-Azhar cleric as part of their unhate campaign. Might I just ask - what's wrong with a hug?
It has also emerged that England is the 6th most crowded country on Earth (that's Earth, not Europe), which is honestly quite surprising, all things considered.
Additionally, a Muslim teacher who was caught on tape beating children has been gaoled for 10 weeks. While I am pleased at a custodial sentence, I must wonder why only ten.
Jumping quickly down to Spain, the conservatives have won the latest election in a landslide, and are looking to act decisively to try and repair seven years of socialist rule that saw the Spanish economy fall into deep trouble along with the rest of Europe.
On the EU in general, Niall Ferguson has written that the break up of the EU is more likely than the Eurozone's collapse. His points are interesting and well made, and it shall be curious to see. Meanwhile, reports have emerged that unless the European Central Bank steps in, Italy and Spain could default on their debts and bring this economic train wreck to a head.
In a microcosm of the EU, suggestions have been made regarding the breakup of Italy. Yet another curious comment, and certainly one that could bear interest in watching.
Moving across the Pond to Canada, Stepher Harper's conservative government is moving to scrap the hated hate speech laws that have allowed the Canadian Human Rights Commissions to prosecute people for "hateful" remarks. As Tom Lehrer so amusingly put it, I know there are people who do not love their fellow human beings, and I hate people like that!
This week however truly belongs to science, for several great discoveries have been reported. To begin with, the theory that empty space is not empty but full of virtual particles (that are created and then immediately annihilated) has been confirmed, while an earlier CERN experiment where neutrinos have been found to exceed the speed of light has been successfully repeated in the original setup. However, it has yet to be replicated in another laboratory, and there are still several objections to the experiment's validity that must be answered before it is accepted.
Continuing with particle physics, we have drawn closer to learning why there is something instead of nothing at the LHC, with new physics producing some surprising results. And finally, the University of California has announced that it has developed an extremely light, extremely strong material. I wonder, could this be used in a space elevator?
And that concludes this little experiment in news broadcasting, and so now I truly get to say that that is the end of the news.
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