K. Morris's Blog, page 778
August 10, 2014
Amazon Campaign For Cheaper Ebooks
Amazon are campaigning for the price of ebooks to be reduced, http://www.readersunited.com/. Much of what Amazon says makes sense. The cost of producing and distributing an ebook is negligible compared to traditional books and yet many electronic texts are only marginally less expensive than their venerable hard and paperback cousins, indeed some ebooks cost more than the tomes on sale in book stores which can not be justified.
As an author myself I want as many people as possible to buy my books. Reading is for everyone and yes, of course I want to make a little money!
Take a look at the above link and make up your own mind as to whether Amazon’s campaign is worthy of support.
August 9, 2014
Chris Mccausland The UK’s Only Professional Blind Commedian
The August/September issue of RNIB’s Vision Magazine contains an interview with the UK’s only professional blind comedian, Chris Mccausland (http://dl.groovygecko.net/anon.groovy/clients/rnib/podcast/vision-aug-sept-14.mp3). Chris is perhaps best known for advertising Barclays talking ATM machine which is designed to help visually impaired people withdraw cash independently.
As a blind person I can relate to Chris when he says that he doesn’t wish his comedy to centre on his blindness because visual impairment is only a part of his character.
I would be a rich man if I had a penny for every time I had to smile, through gritted teeth at a joke entailing blindness. Don’t get me wrong, many jokes about blindness are funny but when, as a blind person you have heard the one about the blind man who was swinging a guide dog round his head in the supermarket for the hundredth time you just switch off because it is, quite frankly no longer funny!
(Much against my better judgement I will end with the joke refered to above:
A blind man goes into a supermarket and starts to swing his guide dog around by it’s lead.
“What are you doing?” demands the manager.
The blind man replies “I’m just looking around”. Groan, groan!).
Open Windows
Open windows, rain falling softly on the garden below. Often the scent of the ground, rich with earth wafts upwards like a fine tobacco but, tonight nothing. Why so scentless this evening?
My arm encased in it’s dressing gown explores. The touch of rain hardly a whisper on my hand – barely raining? And yet the sound of the water continues, rain falling, nature saying something but what?
August 8, 2014
The Free Promotion Of Street Walker Ends On 9 August
The free promotion of my collection of short stories, Street Walker And Other Stories ends on 9 August. To download Street Walker free please go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Walker-other-stories-Morris-ebook/dp/B00HLRNDP4 (for the UK) or http://www.amazon.com/Street-Walker-other-stories-Morris-ebook/dp/B00HLRNDP4 (for the USA). If you download Street Walker please do consider leaving a review at Amazon.
Many thanks,
Kevin
August 7, 2014
Please Help Find Tess The Missing Guide Dog
Below is the text of an e-mail which I have received from The Guide Dogs For The Blind Association (GDBA) regarding a 6-year-old guide dog which went missing in Scotland. GDBA are asking for the public’s help in reuniting owner and guide dog. As a guide dog owner myself I know very well the incredibly strong bond which develops between owner and dog. To me Trigger, my guide dog is not merely a mobility aid (although he does a fantastic job), he is also a close friend who accompanies me almost everywhere. If, by any chance you can help Guide Dogs please do contact them.
Many thanks,
Kevin
“You may have heard through the media about Tess, the guide dog who has gone missing.
The six-year-old black curly coated retriever disappeared while walking off-lead with her owner in Nairn, a seaside town about 16 miles east of Inverness.
Obviously this is an extremely distressing situation, particularly for the guide dog owner, and we are doing absolutely everything in our power to reunite
the partnership.
We have enlisted the help of local organisations and agencies in the effort to find Tess, including the police, dog wardens, veterinary practices and the
SSPCA (Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).
We have been in touch with rail networks, as well as Royal Mail to get word out to postal workers and drivers.
An appeal was launched in local media shortly after Tess’s disappearance on 23 July and thousands of people have now got behind it on
and
Guide Dogs volunteers and supporters have been playing a vital role in our appeal to help find Tess and we’d like to ask for your support too.
Although she went missing in Scotland, Tess could now be in any part of the UK, so we really do need everyone’s help to find her. If you see a dog who
looks like Tess for sale in your local area, or notice that someone has recently acquired a black curly coated retriever, or if you have any other concrete
information which may help us, please get in touch with us immediately on 0800 688 8409. Please do not reply directly to this email.
We are running a poster campaign to widen the appeal.
Please download our new official poster
and
share it on Facebook
or
Twitter,
or print it off and display it in your window (particularly if you live in Scotland).
The more people who support our appeal, the better our chances of finding Tess and reuniting her with her owner.
Jayne George
Director of Fundraising and Marketing”.
Thought For The Day For Satanists (Humour, Not To Be Taken Seriously)!
I must confess to finding XFM’s Thought For The Day For Satanists rather humorous. It is, I hasten to add a very much tongue in cheek production, not meant to be taken seriously and can, I believe be enjoyed by people of all faiths and none, https://soundcloud.com/the-xfm-breakfast-show/thought-for-the-day-for-3
Matilda By Hilaire Beloc
I first came across Beloc’s poem while browsing through a book of poetry in the school library. I think that I first read “Matilda” in the Oxford Book Of English Verse, although it may have been another anthology. The endings of Beloc’s characters are often grizly as in the below poem and in Henry King who, it will be remembered expired as a consequence of eating string. Grizly though they undoubtedly are, we smile none the less at Beloc’s verses.
—
Matilda told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one’s Eyes;
Her Aunt, who, from her Earliest Youth,
Had kept a Strict Regard for Truth,
Attempted to believe Matilda:
The effort very nearly killed her,
And would have done so, had not she
Discovered this Infirmity.
For once, towards the Close of Day,
Matilda, growing tired of play,
And finding she was left to alone,
Went tiptoe to the telephone
And summoned the Immediate Aid
Of London’s Nobel Fire-Brigade.
Within an hour the Gallant Band
Were pouring in on every hand,
From Putney, Hackney Downs and Bow,
With Courage high and Hearts a-glow
They galloped, roaring though the Town,
“Matilda’s House is Burning Down”
Inspired by British Cheers and Loud
Proceeding from the Frenzied Crowd,
They ran their ladders through a score
Of windows on the Ball Room Floor;
And took Peculiar Pains to Souse
The Pictures up and down the House,
Until Matilda’s Aunt succeeded
In showing them they were not needed
And even then she had to pay
To get the Men to go away! . . . . .
It happened that a few Weeks later
Here aunt was off to the Theatre
To see that Interesting Play
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray.
She had refused to take her Niece
To hear this Entertaining Piece:
A Deprivation Just and Wise
To Punish her for Telling Lies.
That Night a Fire did break out-
You should have heard Matilda Shout!
You should have heard her Scream and Bawl,
And throw the window up and call
To People passing in the Street-
(The rapidly increasing Heat
Encouraging her to obtain
Their confidence)-but it was all in vain!
For every time She shouted “Fire!”
They only answered “Little Liar!”
And therefore when her Aunt returned,
Matilda, and the House, were burned.
Iraq And The Islamic State
Standing in my bedroom, the much loved pine bookcase giving off it’s scent of forests mixed with books. The flat is quiet, England is at peace. What a contrast to the situation in Iraq where madmen in the shape of The Islamic State murder and persecute Christians together with anyone else who dares to disagree with their warped view of the world. Mad men doing evil, chaos reigns and I stand, breathing in the smell of books mixed with pine, at peace in a free land.
The other day an acquaintance remarked that they felt uncomfortable in the presence of women wearing the Burka (the cloak worn by some Muslim ladies which leaves only the eyes exposed). France has banned the garment as an affront to equality, a decision recently upheld by the European Court of Human Rights despite the claims by some Muslims that the ban on the Burka in public breeches human rights. Is the prohibition a peculiarly French piece of legislation stemming from Rousseau’s view, expounded in The Social Contract that man “must be forced to be free”, (in this case those Muslims wishing to wear the Burka must subordinate their desire to “the general will” which, in France appears to be in support of the Burka ban?
Some in the UK are calling for the country to go down the French route and prohibit the Burka in the interests of “social cohesion”. One can not, they claim interact with fellow citizens when all but their eyes are concealed behind black cloth. The Burka is “sinister” and should be prohibited in public. Calls for a prohibition on the wearing of the Burka have found support among some muslim scholars who say it has no place in a modern conception of Islam, (see, for example the following recent article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2695181/Why-I-Muslim-launching-campaign-ban-burka-Britain.html.
Others argue that banning the Burka runs counter to a long and honourable tradition of British liberty. It is, they say intolerable for the state to dictate to people how they aught to dress. The British philosopher J S Mill was suspicious of what he termed “the tyranny of the majority” and adherents of Mill’s views might well argue that to impose “the general will” or what most people would call “the will of the majority” on fellow citizens as regards how they choose to dress is illiberal. The idea of a person being arrested merely for wearing a certain kind of garment sticks in the throat of many liberals. However other liberals argue that Muslim girls and women often come under intense pressure from within their own communities to wear the Burka and, in many cases it is far from being a free choice of clotheing. Therefore we must assist such women by prohibiting the wearing of the garment in public.
Leaving aside for a moment the rights and wrongs of the Burka there is also the argument of pragmatism. At a time of limited resources is it a good use of police time to go around arresting women for flouting a Burka ban? If such a prohibition where introduced might it act as a recruiting sergeant for Islamic extremists who could portray it as persecution of Muslims?
At a deeper philosophical level can one “force people to be free?” Would prohibiting the wearing of the Burka promote outward conformity with western norms of dress but leave those who wish to wear it inwardly seething with anger?
The advance of the terrorist Islamic State in Iraq undoubtedly helps to fuel suspicion and, in some cases paranoia against Muslims most of whom abhor what is being done in their name in Iraq. We must be steadfast in our opposition to extremism (whether Islamic or otherwise) but, at the same time consider long and hard before going down the road of Burka bans and other similar measures.
August 6, 2014
Database
“But Professor we have statements from 15 witnesses confirming that Michael Marsh was drinking in the Rising Moon between approximately 5:30 pm and midnight. Mr Ramesh, the owner of the Indian Post takeaway remembers serving a very drunk man, matching Mr Marsh’s description at around 12:15. We’ve checked the takeaway’s CCTV which shows Mr Marsh getting there at 12:20 and leaving at 12:33. The post mortem shows that Amanda Jones died at sometime between 7 and 9 pm, so that puts Mr Marsh out of the frame”.
“But Inspector, Marsh’s DNA was found on Amanda’s body, in her bathroom and on one of the wine glasses. The DNA database never lies”.
“Strictly off the record Professor I’ve never trusted the database”.
“With respect Inspector, independent studies have shown the database to be at least 98 percent accurate as regards catching criminals. As you know every child’s DNA is now taken at birth and stored in vaults with security at least equivalent to that used by the Bank of England. Those with direct access to the samples are cleared at the very highest level. I can tell you the security services wanted to know about my entire personal life including my brief flirtation with a lady from the International Marxist Organisation. She was a complete crackpot but great fun in bed”.
Inspector Martha Beckett glared at the Professor. “I’m not in the least bit interested in your love life Professor! Coming back to the matter in hand I, personally have my doubts about the database. There are rumours that those independent studies where funded, behind the scenes by well known gene therapy companies and that those organisations have unofficial access to the DNA database”.
The Professor’s hands tightened around the arms of his chair, his knuckles turning white with the pressure. “What, exactly are you implying Inspector? Slander is a very serious matter”.
“I’m not implying anything Professor, I’m merely repeating what is all over the internet – the rumours that the DNA database is in bed with leading players in the gene therapy industry”.
“I don’t believe it, a policeman who objects to an organisation which makes the task of policing easier. You will be telling me next that you’re a card carrying member of the Free People Party with their crazy ideas about abolishing identity cards, destroying the DNA database and radically reducing the presence of CCTV in public places”.
“My politics are my affair Professor” the Inspector said flushing with anger. “Look Professor the fact is that a jury simply won’t convict on the basis of DNA evidence alone and they certainly won’t return a guilty verdict when the evidence shows Mr Marsh couldn’t possibly have done it”.
The Professor changed tack. “Look Inspector we have the same interests at heart. We both want to put whoever raped and murdered that poor girl behind bars for a very, very long time. We have that man, Michael Marsh. His DNA is all over the crime sceene. I’m sure with a bit of digging some at least of those witnesses who say they saw Michael in The Rising Moon could be discredited. The pub’s a known haunt of criminals after all”.
“What makes you say that?”
“Haven’t there been stories in the paper about the place?”
“If there have I’d be interested to see them”.
“Maybe I’m getting the pub confused with another place”.
“Look, Professor I do genuinely appreciate your help in this investigation, however, as I’ve already said a jury is highly unlikely to convict given that at least 16 independent witnesses will swear blind that Mr Marsh was 10 miles away when the crime took place. On the basis of the evidence I will be releasing Mr Marsh. He is, in any case “helping the police with our enquiries”, he hasn’t been charged.
—
The sound of crashing waves filled his skull. He reeled grabbing hold of the desk for support. It was always the same, the sense of drowning, of losing control. He must assert himself, show them all that he was not a mere cog grinding away, lacking all individuality in the great impersonal machine. When he killed blessed silence reigned for a while but he knew that the release was merely temporary, that the breaking waves would soon fill his head, driving him mad again.
Finding loners wasn’t particularly difficult. He usually chose alcoholics. It was easy, buy them a few cans or bottles and the poor sods would be your friends for so long as the booze lasted. A man, once drunk will tell you his life story. It wasn’t difficult for him to ascertain their personal information or at least enough to be able to tie it to the DNA stored on the national database.
Dressed in a disposable lab suit from head to foot he left no trace. He made sure to spread DNA before leaving the crime sceene. He could have left no DNA at all but given the presence of everyone’s material on the database he took the view that this would arouse suspicion, so the DNA of an innocent man was used to cover his tracks. They where alcoholics, the scum of the earth. No one really cared what happened to them despite protestations to the contrary. On returning to the lab the suit would go into the furnace together with the condom leaving no trace of the Professor’s involvement in the crime.
He had made a mistake with Michael Marsh though. How could he have known that the man would break his usual solitary habit of drinking in a sparcely populated park and decide to spend the evening in a crowded pub? Yes choosing Marsh had been a big error of judgement. He must, the Professor thought be more careful in the future.
August 5, 2014
The Last Hurrah
Thronging the doorway
“Excuse me please”. The throng parts letting me through. Sometimes a kind soul holds open the door allowing me to enter.
In all weathers the die hards stand puffing away. In summer the scent of cigarettes wafts through the pub’s open door bringing with it memories of yester year, a time when walls turned yellow with nicotine and I, a non smoker returned home, my clothes smelling of smoke, cursing the filthy weed.
The rain drives the hardy band ever closer to the pub’s sheltering doorway
“Excuse me, excuse me” I say attempting to retain my fixed smile as I try to enter or leave.
Some said the British would never stand for it, this intrusion into the rights of the individual to light up in public. But what about the liberty of the non smoker not to have his lungs clogged with poison? The latter argument won the day.
and so you stand. Not quite the last hurrah but something noble in your tenacity not to give up despite the pouring rain.
I sit enjoying a pint, thinking of the bedraggled smokers outside.
