The art of rallying

This isnt the art of driving, I havent passed my test and only really had a few lessons, by my dad, in my mums polo. This is the art of psyching yourself up and going out so that you arent letting the team down. Freshers flu has hit me, not in a full blown way but it's certainly trying. In anycase I'm holding my ground. Finding a medicine box in my luggage was like finding the holy grail, filled with treasures such as "Max strength cold and flu" tablets and these blackcurrent losenges that, though they taste fairly gross after a while, are working wonders. The real skill is taking the time to read through all the labels and leaflets to see which of these little miracles can be taken with alcohol (or at least doesnt expressly say do not combine with alcohol). Anyway, the battle continues, wish me luck.

History and context of journalism lecture

I personally found this lecture awesome. The ancient history aspect is very interesting to me and full of revelations, for example I had no idea that the Greeks were origionally from Kurdistan. But yea, here are some notes.

Greeks:

·         Greeks originally came from Kurdistan

·         Greek, Persian and Sanskrit are all very similar. They can be translated into each other. Most European language is derived from Greek.

·         Greek was the source of the culture and Rome was the source of the power within the Roman empire

·         They kind of folded into one another.

·         Greek knowledge was remarkably advanced, many ideas that we consider modern were founded in Greece. For example Atoms. Though unable to see them the Greeks speculated on the existence of fundamental matter which formed everything.

·         The Roman Empire became decadent and corrupt. The main feature that brought down the Roman Empire was slavery.

·         Whereas Greeks had slaves, said slaves had certain rights. In Rome they didn’t.

·         The fatal moment for the Roman Empire was when the emperor was declared a god.

·         The romans came to embrace Christianity. This was strange because Christianity only had one god. In Christianity there was also the belief that everyone was equal.

·         The main problem with Christian/Jewish/Islamic belief is the cosmology.

·         The belief that the earth is only about 6,000 years old.

·         Christianity established in the orthodox world about 300 A.D.

·         This was the start of the dark ages, where no books, knowledge, science, economic growth or anything good happened.

·         Dark ages came to an end around 1300-1400. Contact with the Arab world helped. It was also the golden age of Islam. Arabs preserved far more of the ancient knowledge of the Greeks than western Europeans.

·         An example of lost Greek knowledge is the ability to build domes in architecture. The Greeks had the ability to make self-supporting domes. This ability was lost until the renaissance.

Aristotle:

·         Logic was invented by Aristotle.

·         It was the part of Greek science that was preserved by the catholic church in the western world.

·         The church used Aristotle’s logic to persecute heretics and defend Christianity.

Islam and Neoclassicism

·         Because Islam held onto more of the Greek knowledge they were seen by the western world as being far more advanced, it even being believed that they had flying carpets and buildings being crafted out of solid gold.

·         The truth was that they were slightly more advanced due to the Greek knowledge that they held onto.

Al Ghazali vs Avicenna

·         Al Ghazali was a religious fanatic who believed that all knowledge needed was in the Quran.

·         Avicenna was a mathematician, he used logic and believed that some of the knowledge in the Quran was wrong.

Law lecture

Found the first media law lecture interesting, here are a few notes.

·         Truth will get you out of 99% of lawsuits

·         Journalists are constrained by many laws

·         Law is a big source of original news

·         There are at least 40 different statutes which restrain journalists

·         There are three estates: the executive, the judiciary and the legislature (this is due to the separation of power)

·         Executive branch run the country

·         Judiciary controls the legal side

·         Legislature control the judges, the three often argue and therefore create news.

·         the press is referred to as the fourth estate and keep parliament (the executive) in check WHO POLICE’S THE POLICE?

·         Consent must be gained from the subject of stories (the example of the brick eating girl) in order not to breach the European Court of Human Rights’ right to privacy

·         However, right to privacy is balanced by the freedom of speech act.

·         CIVIL LAW

·         Civil law disputes are disputes between citizens.

·         There is no concern for the society in general

·         The principle court for civil proceedings is the county court.

·         They deal with small claims, compensation claims and civil disputes (such as fence placement)

·         Libel is a civil complaint.

·         It is very important in reporting law that you get the right sentence, for example, the difference between theft and burglary.

·         If a thief is reported as a burglar then they are then able to sue for being misrepresented.

·         If a crime carries a sentence of 5 years or more it is indictable and must be tried in a higher court, e.g. the crown court.

·         For fines and such you will get a summons and have to go to the magistrates court SUMMARY JUSTICE

·         Magistrates’ courts have no jury, and it is where all crime starts being tried.

·         Magistrates are also known as justices of the peace. Some are professional but most are volunteers.

·         Magistrates’ court will also deal with the big cases but all they will do is log the case. E.g. for murderers they will log the accused in.

·         If witnesses are in danger of death or being intimidated the case will be taken to the old bailey or, if the old bailey is full, Winchester crown court.

·         STANDARDS OF PROOF/TRUTH

·         Journalists should be more sceptical than other people

·         Standards of proof are different in civil court and criminal court.

·         Criminal= beyond reasonable doubt.

·         In practice this means that the prosecution must have a confession, forensic evidence or an eye witness.

·         Civil= balance of probability.

·         Double Jeopardy – you cannot be convicted of the same crime twice.

·         The police won’t arrest someone if they’re not absolutely sure that they will get a conviction. This is for serious crimes like murder.

Back in the saddle

Slightly strange title but I'm rolling with it. The meaning behind it is just a way of expressing the surge of familiar thoughts and feelings that are appearing. Having taken a year off to work and earn money it's been a fair while since I was at sixth form and had to seriously use my brain. To clarify, the thought of using my brain isnt a bad one, I've actually been looking forward to the challenge, but the feelings associated with work keep taking me by surprise. The main example of this happend last night when I got the all to familiar "oh god have I done the homework" feeling, just as i was about to go to sleep. I wasnt even particularly drunk which is what made it all the more jolting. In any case, hopefully moving back to thinking-mode will go smoothly, like getting back in the saddle... and yes I did just plug my own title.

Explaining Kenilworth

Hey, I'm Henry Haynes from Kenilworth which is in Warwickshire. Kenilworth is a fairly small town which, though historically important, has kind of faded into a haven for old people. The town high street  is littered with charity shops and, though there are a fair few pubs, the nightlife is pretty tame. The sightseeing tour of Kenilworth starts and finishes with the castle.