Happy Holidays(1)...There's a Killer on the Loose...

...in the UK. The serial killer has killed up to five women now, and latest reports coming from Belgium's Free metro website indicate that the Ipswich police are calling on Interpol. Some colleagues of mine suspect it's a useful way for the UK govt to use this as an excuse to tighten immigration. You might have heard, if you have been following the story, that the killer is suspected to have left the country. Free metro writes:

Les enquêteurs envisagent la possibilité que l'auteur des meurtres soit un voyageur ayant transité par le port de Felixstowe ou un itinérant ayant regagné l'Europe continentale

Put simply, investigators suspect that the perpetrator is a traveller who transited by the port of Felixstowe, or is someone who has travelled back to continental Europe.

This is scary stuff...

Serial killers have been among us for as long as one can remember, but it gives goosebumps to think that at a time when we should be reflecting on the good things in life; milk of human kindness and all that, and just enjoying the season, someone, somewhere could be walking with you, and have a a psyche so tortured and distorted he finids it matter-of-fact to kill five prostitutes within a ten-day period and casually...stop.

[the Observer newspaper has an interesting write-up by Minette Walters, celebrated crime writer]

The title of this blog entry, I hope, will not be my last one; I certainly wouldn't want to end this year with such a horrific ending, but, yeah, I'm in on a Sunday, and checking mail, cos, in some ten minutes, the whole staff is travelling three hours out of the capital to a beautiful, greener part of the country, where for three days, residing ini a beach resort, we plan our work for 2007.

I hope by the time we come back, the Ipswich killer would have been closer to getting caught. When truth becomes stranger than fiction, especially when it's so far away, we might just reflect that the families of those who were killed find serious peace of ming at a time when most will seek to go overboard and get themselves, as the Brits say, totally plastered/wasted.

I would like to wish all those of you--from Sissoula, Daniel; Jen; Laura Tooth; Anchored Nomad (hope you're a mother by now!!)the happiest of times and a concurrent festive season. Spare a thought for the less privileged when you can, and may you continue to make your unique contributions in the unique ways you make them!

Happy holidays...part I;-)

tags:
ipswich;ipswich killings;christmas 2006;blogging;happiness;

Decembers are Terribly Blog-Averse

Telll me about it. Last year was the same: http://ekbensah.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_ekbensah_archive.html

 

Very little posting.

 

I am hoping you are going to forgive me, because I suspect you might quite understand why there has been little posting, yet a lot of reflection on a lot of things. Suffice-to-say, I might attempt at a summary, albeit horribly not-to-the-point.

 

Why I befriend beautiful women

I promised to write something about this in the previous entry’s comments section. (Jennelly bean, welcome!)

 

Well, call me a bit of a sadist, but thing is a penchant I developed from college days was to befriend beautiful women, and short of lusting after them, transform whatever lust I might have into building a constructive relationship. It’s as simple as that. I am no different than when I started college a decade ago. Most of my very good friends are attractive or pretty women. Not that women with a more “vanilla” physiognomy don’t get a look-in, but that’s just the ay it’s been for me. Small wonder, Juliet (http://ekbensah.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-best-friend-juliet-afte_114589863596836184.html ), mentioned earlier, apart from being a very dynamic and assertive personality—and a good friend—is a looker. My late friend, Nana Amma, who passed away in May (http://ekbensah.blogspot.com/2006/05/in-memoriam-oct-1972-1-may-2006.html) was, too. And the list goes on…

 

I wondered whether there was a utility at all in divulging what some might call a flawed character trait, but, hey, sue me right now…

 

Truth be told, the motivation is also a way of controlling the platitudinous lust so-often associated with men into positive energy. I find, in the ong run, that women make the best friends as platonic friendships, even when the guy might secretly hope one crosses the bar. Conversely, I suspect women are stronger and consider platonic relationships with guys as quintessentially platonic. Guys need to learn that from them, I feel!

 

Nato

There I was sitting an thinking about the big things in life (!!) when it struck me that Nato had been in the news lately, and the news on it had not been altogether positive. If you ask me, Nato sucks. I lost interest in that Cold War supreme organization the very day it over-rode the UN Charter to attack Kosovo in 1999, ostensibly to save the Albanians. That the attack was in the same year as the fiftieth anniversary of the organization was so obvious it wasn’t even funny. So obvious, because it was like Nato was legitimating, re-establishing its raison d’etre.

 

Between reports that then-Nato spokesman Jamie Shea (http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.07/09-NATO.html) is advocating the need for a Europe and NATO to work together, and the news in Xinhua that the Finns don’t see any need in joining Nato (http://english.people.com.cn/200612/06/eng20061206_329252.html), I see that the tectonic psychological shifts of policy makers who view a militaristic world predicated on a US and Nato is not going to wash forever.

 

Nato trying to intervene in Darfur, for me, is absurd: yet another organization trying to stretch the its credulity rubber-tight and coming back with serious egg-on-face.

 

I should know; I’ve had many egg-on-face situations in my life before;-)

 

Seriously speaking, I’m not interested in Nato, only in seeing it becomes much like the United Nations on Conference and Trade and Development (UNCTAD: http://www.unctad.org ) has become: a bureaucracy with insignificant power. Nato , as far as I’m concerned, should die a slow death.

 

If you thought about it, though, that well-secured building not too far from the airport in Evere, where Nato is located, (http://www.nc3a.nato.int/organization/route/brussels.html) if it ever went irrelevant totally, would creat serious human resource challenges, whereby there would be many NATO-employee wannabees, having studied military, security studies, and how to be a bully – couched in pedagogical language so subtle you wouldn’t even feel it—walking around needing to find something to do with their knowledge, and therefore turning into consultants…

 

Oh the joy. Now, given the degree of credibility consultants of that ilk enjoy, it wouldn’t be long before they themselves totally emasculated the organization.

 

Does it show I dislike Nato?

 

The way forward

Next week, I’ll be shuttling between a four-day strategy meeting organized by my organization on key battles to be fought in 2007 on civil society front (World Trade organization, etc) , in the capital, the office where my colleagues and I have to present some action plans and reviews of our programme work for the year; as well as our institutional retreat the week after. Little time to prepare for X-mas! AAAAArgh. Bought some card this afternoon, but the presents are now the headaches. Will be in a hotel almost the whole of next week, save Friday. And on Sunday, we’re off again outside the capital.

 

As I write, I have some reports to complete, including a 1500-word analysis of some of the key contestations of an aspect of our work to write.

 

Oh joy.

 

Till the next time I writeJ

Laters,

Have a good w/end, all!

 

PS pictures will be coming your way, so do be prepared!