It may be risking an accusation of churlishness, but isn’t “going somewhat over the top” a reasonable criticism of the world’s media in its reaction to the death of Mohammed Ali?
He was, after all, a man who made his fame and money from pummeling the senses out of his opponents, in what is probably the most barbaric activity still considered a “sport” in the 21st century.
While applauding his stance over the Vietnam War, for which American society of the time crucified him, and begrudgingly accepting his work for black equality – although the Nation of Islam was a highly suspect organisation – it’s ironic to note that the thousands of white people pouring out their grief at Ali’s passing were more than once condemned by Ali as his ‘true enemies’.
His poor health can almost certainly be attributed to the damage he suffered in the boxing ring over many years. In this way he was no different to other boxers who rose to fame, and died early, from their beatings.
With a lull in the U.S. election, and the boredom of ‘Brexit’, it’s easy to see why the media is making such a fuss of Ali’s passing. Less easy to understand is the political fawning over a man quick to condemn the white political establishment. Ex-president Bill Clinton will give a eulogy at the funeral, and the present incumbent, Barack Obama, on hearing of Ali’s death, stated:
Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it.”
Unfortunately, he failed to explain just how the world is so improved, and how worse off we would all have been had this man never existed.
There is no wish to belittle Ali’s achievements in the boxing ring, nor as a champion of the U.S. black community, but he was no ‘God’ in life, and neither should he be treated as such in death.
If there’s one thing the internet’s really good for it’s highlighting the human species at its worst. The lack of coherent thought, sanity, or rationalization, abundant in our fellows is difficult to condone when thrust at us through the pages of Facebook or Twitter, and picked up by the gutter press to spread the gospels of hatred, venom, and self-righteousness.
The latest episode of humanity’s lack of love for its fellow beings has emerged in the furore whipped up by the sad, though necessary, killing of Harambe the gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo recently.[1]
As an animal welfare inspector in the U.K. for fifteen years, working for the largest animal welfare charity in the world, the writer would dare anyone to accuse him of lack of compassion towards those creatures who share this planet with us. If we fail to extend that compassion to our own kind, and restrict our emotions to those classed as “poor dumb creatures” then we risk our motives becoming ego-based, and consequently worthless.
No-one will ever know if the gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo, whether deliberately or accidentally, would have harmed the three year old boy who fell into his enclosure. Equally, no-one will ever know whether he would have protected the youngster and gently held him until officials could return him to his parents.
Because no-one can know the outcome there was only one right course of action. It was taken and the boy was saved, returned to anxious parents who, because human beings are not machines, had inadvertently taken their eyes of their child momentarily, allowing the curious little boy to do what a three-year-old will sometimes do – get up to mischief.
Images similar to the one fronting this post, display to the world that there are those who place the life of an animal above that of a three-year-old child. The venom and aggression shown to the parents of the child reveal the fractures that exist in our relationships with each other as human beings. Failure to place oneself in the position of, firstly, the parents desperate for the plight of their offspring, and secondly, the agonizing decision of the zoo staff, forced by circumstances to kill one of their beloved animals, is becoming all too common as human beings band together on the internet, intent only on focusing their ill-felt viciousness on innocent members of their own species.
“There, but for the grace of God,” is a simple thought sadly lacking in the minds of those so quick to condemn.
While the media circus was focused on the tragedy at Cincinnati Zoo this week, in Australia a 42-year-old woman, enjoying a paddle on the beach with her friend one moonlit night, was grabbed by a saltwater crocodile and carried off into the sea, never to be seen again.
In California a swimmer lost a leg in a vicious shark attack. Meanwhile, in Iraq innocent people are dying yet again in Fallujah as the U.S. backed Iraqi army attempt to drive ISIS out of the city.
Where are the placards demanding justice for the woman eaten by the crocodile, or the swimmer now missing a leg, or the poor children being slaughtered yet again in Fallujah?
Stuff happens. The world is a dangerous place. There will always be accidents – tragedies we can never wholly guard against.
There’s a time and place for demonstrations and waving placards. This was not one of them. There is no blame to be attached to anyone for what occurred. Gorillas are normally placid animals, but can turn dangerous when threatened, or they become confused.
The woman eaten by the crocodile, the swimmer who lost his leg to the shark, were victims of accidents. Sadly, there was no-one around to shoot the crocodile, or the shark, before they could do what came naturally to them.
The little boy in the gorilla enclosure at Cincinnati Zoo was in some danger. It was fortunate there was someone available who could save his life. For that we should all be grateful.
Had the child been killed or maimed by the gorilla, what then would the placards have read?
Occasionally, society is faced with a disease that threatens humanity. Usually vaccinations are manufactured that control the organism and all is well. Then, surreptitiously, the disease reappears under a different guise and new vaccinations need to be discovered to deal with it.
Unfortunately, society appears to have no effective vaccine to permanently overcome the virulent organism that is the ex-British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
After some years on the outskirts of society, shunned by the media, the Blair organism has gradually been reintroducing itself. More and more frequent cases have been appearing on the back pages of media sites and popular news tomes, until now the beginnings of an epidemic are apparent on the front pages of the BBC, Guardian, and other U.K. news outlets.
This latest outbreak is cleverly disguised as a benevolent bacteria. It fronts the latest Blair attempt to ingratiate itself back into society as one of those ‘benevolent bacteria’. The “Blair Foundation” is ostensibly portrayed as a means to :
…promote greater understanding between the world’s religions and to challenge extremism and prejudice…[1]
It’s a clever device to hide a malignancy once more spreading across the U.K., and if not stopped, eventually the whole of the Western world.
Don’t be fooled. Since time immemorial there have been many organisations specifically designed to “promote greater understanding between the world’s religions,” – they’re called “churches”.
The “Blair Foundation” is a clever mutation to once again spread Blair throughout humanity, and it’s using the mainstream media to infect us all with its malignancy.
Blair’s latest quote: “The West is not to blame for the situation in the Middle East,” is paramount in recognizing the true malignancy of this latest mutation of the organism. There can be no element of doubt, when facts are truly known and the West’s interventions in the Middle East over the last century properly analysed, that Western nations – mainly Britain, France, and more latterly, the United States – are the sole reason for today’s “situation in the Middle East.”
The Blair is on the move. It can be stopped. The Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War is finally to be published on July 6th, and this latest outbreak of the disease is surely in readiness for that. The report will unlikely be sufficient on its own to prevent further spread of the infection. Only a public uprising, condemning once and for all the malignancy of Blair, in all its mutations, and ensuring it’s locked away for good where it can do no further harm to humanity, will suffice to prevent further contamination.
Be warned. Be prepared. Blair is once again out to get – YOU!
