Blog Archives

August 21st

8/21/2013

freeimageslive

My view on the news today is full of gloom. Three items prove my point.

1)      Highly radioactive water is leaking from a storage tank into the ground at Japan's Fukushima plant two years after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. More on the story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23776345

2)      About 50 firefighters have worked overnight tackling a huge fire at a UK, Greater Manchester recycling plant. Workers were on site when it started, they had just gone for a break. When the fire service arrived they met a rapidly developing fire. The fire built up quickly in stacks of recycled waste about 5m high, and raged through the whole site.

3)      In the Syrian conflict, activists claim chemical weapons attacks have killed dozens on the outskirts of Damascus. Both the rebels and government forces have accused each other of using chemical weapons during the conflict. It is not clear whether the inspectors will look into the latest allegations.

Although I searched through many stories, I couldn't find anything to lift my spirit.

Should we allow what goes on in the rest of the world to affect our outlook?

In my small area of reality, life goes on. My husband and I live a simple life, struggling to pay our debts while we support each other. With my walking disability, I'm lucky to have a loving partner to help with the running of the home. So many people live alone. Another family is in the process of moving into a tiny upstairs flat in our block of four. After the death of the previous aged tenant, the living space has been taken over as emergency housing and a husband, wife and teenage son will live there. About seven people helped with shifting the furniture.

What's really troubling me today, is a feeling of despair. I try so hard to achieve the best I can. I eat good food in moderation, look after my health, and write good stories. I love writing. It's my passion. You could say I live to write. But, the way things are going, I'll be dead long before anyone appreciates my novels and reads the message of eternal optimism. You wouldn't believe it from the content you're reading, but I was born with a positive outlook.

I guess it's best to concentrate on what we see around us every day. It's amazing how much diversity each person experiences in the same world.

August 20th

8/20/2013

www.worldaffairsabroad.com

In the worst floods for 120 years, Russia and China are battling to evacuate millions of people.

RIA Novosti news agency reports that more than 20,000 people have been evacuated from flood-stricken areas in Russia's far east, where the Amur river has burst its banks after heavy rain. The army and emergency workers have set up 166 temporary shelters across three regions, providing drinking water, hot food and medical supplies.

english.ruvr.ru

Despite the fear that the floods will not recede until September, many people do not want to be evacuated. They are camping out on rooftops, hoping to protect their possessions in case looting starts.

Near Blagoveshchensk, the capital of the Amur region, the Zeya river is usually just a few hundred metres wide. But now, the water stretches more than 10km (6 miles) from bank to bank, covering streets and gardens in several villages. A small dam is still holding, protecting the city, but local residents say if the waters rise further, this might not be enough.

The authorities have deployed thousands of troops and emergency personnel. They are calling for calm. Experts suggest the flooding will not get any worse over the next few days, but the weather forecast promises more rain later this month. The flood waters are not expected to fully recede until September.

dailymailnews.com

At least 105 people have died and 115 are missing after floods and a typhoon hit parts of China, state media report.

Heavy rain since last Wednesday has caused floods in the north-eastern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. Crops have failed across 256,000 hectares of farmland in the region, which is one of China's major bread baskets, Xinhua reports.

According to reports, almost 3,000 soldiers are helping with relief efforts for more than 8 million residents of the north-east, who have been affected by the floods.

China and Russia are working well together to fight flooding affecting both countries, central government says.

Here's a case where nations pull together in a time of need. Nobody can hope to battle against nature's forces alone. Sometimes the most desperate situations bring out the best in people. I'm sure many people are placing themselves at risk to help others, although the stories might remain untold.

Unfortunately, these same circumstances bring out the worst in those greedy individuals who seek to take advantage of other people's misfortune. The relatively few soldiers left to guard properties can't hope to prevent all looting.

The world's population is full of good and bad.

I've only once experienced a flood. Mounting water seeped into my home in Victoria, Australia. The water came through the front door and rose about two inches. I can't remember the fear I must have felt 50 years ago. These things fade if they're unimportant. My strongest memory is of trying to save my precious possessions from water damage. This is what will worry the Chinese and Russian people when they are evacuated from their homes. To save their lives, they must leave everything behind, knowing they may never see it again.

August 19th

8/19/2013

Yesterday, a horse rider from New Zealand died after a fall at an eventing competition in Cheshire. Olympic riders from several countries had been attending the trials at the River Dane valley site since Friday. The Somerford Park international in Congleton was abandoned after the itragic ncident which reminds of how precious life is.

City dwellers have little contact with horses apart from sport. They are missing out on the wonderful relationship that has developed between species.

However, I live in a semi-rural area with a strip of cottages beside part of the old Roman road called Watling Street, which leads out of Borehamwood towards London. Horse fields attached to a riding stable back the properties. At the front, past the busy road and a strip of tall horse chestnut trees, open fields stretch into the distance. The land belongs to Lord Aldernham. Horses roam semi-free on the grassland. Some are domesticated and some are shaggy-haired and big-footed. The Lord has refused permission for archaeologists to explore the area, so it remains a quiet place of peace.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The link between horse and man has existed since around 3500-4000 B.C.E., according to archaeological evidence of mixed equine and human remains in burial sites. The long history has made the association all the stronger, and today, nearly 6,000 years later, there is still a link which some call spiritual. It is estimated that there are 59 million horses across the globe.

Throughout human history, our collaboration with horses has given many advantages. Horses are trained to be ridden or driven in a variety of sporting events.

www.horsenation.com

As a child over 60 years ago, I lived in Melbourne, Australia. One of the highlights of a Sunday outing was to visit the museum, where I became acquainted with the form of Pharlap, the Australian wonder horse of racing fame, preserved for posterity.

Even without the competitive edge, horseback riding is relaxing, inspiring, and exhilarating. Horses are used for transportation, as an advantage in warfare, to convey search and rescue teams into rough terrain, and for labor-intensive careers such as cattle ranching. The benefits of horsemanship in the area of therapy and recovery can be reaped by people of all ages, including those with physical and mental disabilities. Recent studies have shown that interaction with horses can improve the behavior of inmates and discourage a repetition of previous crimes.

blogs.pshcycentral.com

Horses' grace, dignity, beauty and intelligence, coupled with their majestic size, is simply awe-inspiring. The historical admiration for horses has seeped into our global consciousness.

It has been theorized that domestication saved the species on the Eurasian continent, when they died out in the Western Hemisphere at the end of the last Ice Age.

Are horses prisoners or a clever species that know how to survive by allowing mankind to feed and shelter them?

August 18th

8/18/2013

As mankind advances further and further over the Earth, nature retreats, dwindles and in some cases becomes extinct. The latest news shows a case in point.

Macaque monkeys are in danger of losing their unique tool-using skill because of human development.

Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) feed opportunistically in many habitats. They live in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, India, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The Burmese subspecies inhabits coastal areas in southwestern Thailand and Myanmar, and some of their populations have adapted using stones for opening shells by the sea.

Scientists found that illegal palm oil and rubber plantations in Thailand are disrupting the monkeys' feeding behavior. Dogs used to protect the prohibited farms are repelling the macaques from the shoreline, which inhibits their tool-using activities.

The report in the international journal of conservation comes almost a decade after the first scientific description of tool-use among capuchin monkeys in South America. Researchers have been monitoring these monkeys on the Laem Son National Park, on the Andaman sea coast of Thailand, since 2007. They found that 88% of around 200 adults use stones to crack open hard-shelled invertebrate prey, including rock oysters, sea snails and crabs.
It is a rare skill set.

In addition to chimpanzees in Africa, the Burmese long-tailed macaques are the only primates known to use stone tools. If dogs repel those living in Piak Nam Yai island, Laem Son National Park, Thailand, the monkeys will visit the shore less and less. When they stop using tools in this way, scientists fear the monkeys will cease learning.

The study shows that all across South East Asia, there is a growing problem of macaques becoming acclimatized to living around people and becoming dependant on humans for food. Scientists are worried that these skilled monkeys could seek the same way of finding food.

I sometimes wonder what the end result of mankind's domination will be. Perhaps humans will imprison every animal or bird used for food and kill off anything they consider unnecessary. I wouldn't want to live in that world.

August 17th

8/17/2013

voiceseducation.org

In another case of civil unrest in the world, the Democratic Republic of Congo captures children to train as soldiers.

The UN mission in the country says that 82 children, some as young as eight, have been rescued from an armed group. The children, including 13 girls, had been forcibly recruited in the past six months by the Mai Mai Bakata Katanga militia, a group active in Katanga province in the south-east of the country.

Forty of the rescued children have been reunited with their families and the others are said to be receiving care. What sort of future do these children face? Can they ever settle down to live a normal life after such early indoctrination?
Just this year, 163 children, including 22 girls, have been removed from the militia.

www.bbc.co.uk

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, sometimes referred to as DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa or the DRC, is a country located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world. Correspondents say the region remains very restive, with local militia demanding a fairer distribution of wealth between the poorer north of Katanga and the southern zone where foreign mining firms operate.

Their concerns seem justified, although foreigners like myself know little about the situation. However, in my opinion, to use any means available to get the justice they demand will simply make matters worse.

Monusco, the UN's stabilisation mission in DR Congo, revealed information that the children had been identified and separated from the militia through the concerted efforts of child protection agencies.

They are extremely concerned by continued reports of active recruitment by armed groups in eastern DRC. They said that the recruitment of underage children and forcing them to face unacceptable risks could constitute a war crime and those responsible must be held to account.

commons.wikipedia.org

Mary Robinson, the first woman to be appointed UN special envoy, gave her special viewpoint. What strikes her is the lack of outrage and horror, particularly given the disproportionate impact the conflict is having on women and children. In 20 years of killings, rape, destruction and displacement, women have suffered most. Women's voices should not only be heard because they are the victims of the war. Their active participation in peace efforts is essential, because they are the most effective peace builders. As men take up arms, women hold communities together in times of war. This makes them stronger and better equipped to play a key role in securing real peace.

Here's a section of Still Rock Water, where Liliha views young boys in a similar situation through a vision:

After the murk lifts, my telescope vision focuses on a boy hiding in the bushes with another fuzzy image beside him. I don't force anything. After a moment, I drift down to merge with him, and then examine the mind of a young soldier in Rwanda.

Uri and his comrade, another fifteen year-old boy, have been soldiers of the Royal Military for months. They are puffed up with pride at their important mission—kidnap another boy of similar or younger age to join the army. A soldier had used this method to capture Uri. He and his friend hide behind spindly bushes to wait for a victim among the foraging villagers in the clearing ahead.

I hold myself ready to assist. Can I change Uri's mind?

Uri shakes with anticipation. Although he hasn't been allowed to visit his family in months, he eats at least once a day, wears new shoes and best of all, owns a gun. He hasn't killed anybody yet, but looks forward to the event with youthful enthusiasm. Ahead, the group of about fifteen people searches the soil for roots. Uri scrutinizes a boy of about twelve years, belly swollen, arms and legs thin. He looks the right type. He'll make a good soldier after they fatten him up.

I understand what I need to do. But I have to work out how to stop them. I whisper, 'It is better to starve, than to kill in a senseless feud'. Does he understand the concept? 'What are you fighting for?’ No reaction. I try to reach his emotion. 'Do you miss your home?’

A woman, probably the boy's mother, ambles away toward rough dwellings. She swivels to call her son, and then follows her companions, all searching the ground for food. Separated from the others by ten strides, he bends close to Uri's shelter to dig the earth with his hands.

Uri gathers himself, ready to pounce. His chest rises with expectancy. “You take his feet,” he says to his partner. “I'll grab him around the neck. Be quick.” The soil flashes by underneath his legs. Uri will reach him long before the villagers can help.

No. Let the boy alone. Rather than reason, I've got to do something drastic. I leave Uri and become one with the dry earth. I swirl my psyche and raise a cloud of dust.

Blinded for the moment, they stumble and fall to the ground, cursing in shrill voices.

I'm glad I've left the choking Uri.

The young boy spots the soldiers and dashes after his mother with a call. When he reaches her, they sprint to the safety of their village together.

Job done, I lift away.

I wish Liliha could rescue all the children who face a similar fate. I have to wonder if the women in the Congo are strong enough to stand up to their men and work their female magic to achieve peace for their children.

August 16th

8/16/2013

www.britanica.com

What's going on in Egypt? It seems the people don't care about the priceless treasures they house. I've always been fascinated by ancient Egypt, so much so that my bedroom is decorated in the style, and I've made references to the past civilization and artifacts in my novels.

But, the Egyptian capital Cairo, which contains the wonderful museum, is poised for renewed protests as supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi call for marches after Friday prayers.

It comes two days after authorities broke up Muslim Brotherhood protest camps in the Egyptian capital with the loss of at least 638 lives.

www.ibtimes.com

Egypt is in a state of emergency and police have been authorized to use live ammunition in self-defense. The Muslim Brotherhood called on its supporters to gather in mosques for Friday prayers and then take to the streets of Cairo. The group's leaders say they will hold marches under the slogan the people want to topple the coup.

In response, a pro-government group has called on people to protect their neighborhoods and churches throughout the country.

Egypt's Coptic Christian community has been targeted by some Islamists who accuse the Church of backing the army's overthrow of President Morsi last month.

Wednesday's violence, which has been widely condemned, began when armored bulldozers moved into the two Cairo protest camps. The smaller of the two camps, at Nahda Square, was cleared quickly but clashes raged for several hours in and around the main encampment near the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque. The mosque was badly damaged by fire.

The UN Security Council is calling on both the Egyptian government and the Muslim Brotherhood to exercise maximum restraint. However, with people on both sides believing they are right, the country could be heading for a holy war. We know of the heartache a civil war brings. Fighting for a principle seems like madness when the bloody battles are over.

www.bestourism.com

And what of the treasures the museum holds? Who will protect them? Remains of an ancient civilization could be destroyed forever. Despite the fact that things are not important, they hold the key to the past.

I've toured the Cairo Museum and seen the relics and priceless treasures. Inspired, I wrote my novels twenty years later. Liliha, in Still Rock Water, wears an ancient star moonstone ring which sends her on visionary journeys. Here's an excerpt from the time she lost the ring and went to the British museum to claim it back.

She took a shuddering breath. “Yes. That's it. I recognize the cuts on the side.” She reached out.

The older man slid the package back toward him. “This ring has a very special history. Let me tell you the story.”

He spread out several sheets of paper. “At the beginning of the New Kingdom in Egypt, the ring belonged to the first God's Wife of Amun.”

“Oh ... it comes from Egypt then.” Mind churning, Liliha pressed her back against the wooden seat. Her whole life had led to this event.

“There's no doubt about it. The king, Ahmose, gave the title to his queen: Ahmose Nefertari. She passed it on to her daughter who never married. Afterwards, each priestess adopted her successor for the role of The God's Wife.”

“Wow, was my ring part of all that history?” With a hammering heart, she shifted position. Would she ever get such an ancient item back? “What did the princess do?”

“We don't know the exact details of her role, but part of her function was to carry out ritual actions before the God, including shaking of the sacred rattle. The purpose seemed to be to keep him alert, so he would maintain and protect the created world.”

With so much unrest around the world at the present moment, I can only hope that sense will prevail. People need to settle their differences in a peaceful way.

August 15th

8/15/2013

All over the world, criminals are taking hostages in a bid to get what they want. For instance, the foreign ministry has confirmed that a Swiss woman seized by armed men in Yemen a year ago was freed on Wednesday.

In another instance, inside a rural Louisiana bank in the USA, one female bank employee was freed, while two of her colleagues remained held at gunpoint on Tuesday night while law enforcement officers manned positions and worked for a peaceful resolution. The woman's negotiated release came about eight hours into the standoff at Tensas State Bank's branch. Authorities interviewed the freed female hostage about her ordeal. The siege ended with the hostage taker dead, police said. The two remaining hostages were getting medical treatment.

How must the freed woman feel now that she is able to return to normal life? If she's lucky, she'll be surrounded by loving family and friends who will support her while she tries to shake off the traumatic experience. On the other hand, she may be a widow, or live alone by choice as so many women do these days in their drive for independence. Let's hope the episode has strengthened her and she gets the emotional backing she needs.

~~~

I read a story on a friend's blog the other day about a cock that grew too big for his spurs. He endangered the young son who liked to walk amongst the pet hens. You guessed it—the cock lost his spurs. Now he is unable to strut around with the normal aggression.

This seems off topic, but I'm getting to it, so bear with me. The boy named his special pet TS. He'd walk around with TS under his elbow and the hen would nestle close. The treatment raised the chicken's status. TS listened to conversations. Although the bird couldn't understand much, the realization dawned that her group were headed for close confinement. One day, the boy clutched her tight and shook with distress before he headed away with the other humans.

Abandoned, the flighty TS flapped her wings and wondered what they were for. None of the other hens seemed to know. They huddled together when the big man came toward them.

TS ran. Spreading her wings, the high-status bird headed for the open space where the flock often roamed to scratch the earth. The birds behind her squawked in distress, but TS didn't turn back in her new-found release. She flew toward freedom—the unknown.

Where would TS go? What sort of life awaited her? Would she ever find a place where someone would accept a renegade? She'd been through thorough training on how a bird should act and attained the top of the hen pecking order, only to face uncertainty.

When the boy cried for TS, his mother consoled him. "Tidal Surge is free now, son. She'll make a new life of her own."

The moral of this story: The fat chickens landing on our table lack flavor.

Solstice Publishing subjected Tidal Surge to scrupulous training before holding the novel hostage. At last released, the e-book is seeking a friendly place to reside. Don't let complacency override justice and compassion. TS is a strong book—a rebel longing for appreciation. Welcome the story into your life.
Tidal Surge:
Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/m8tk58c
Amazon.co.uk: http://tinyurl.com/obg2nnd

August 14th

8/14/2013

Gauguin's Girl in Front of Open Window

Since time began, people have coveted what their neighbor owns, and often stoop to taking it for themselves. Thieves cause untold heartache to others, especially when they remove much-loved or irreplaceable items. We teach our children that this behavior isn't acceptable when they snatch another child's toy. If the lesson isn't learned well enough, the child grows into an adult who takes whatever they want.

In the latest news, suspects in the theft of priceless artworks have offered to return them in exchange for moving their trial from Romania to the Netherlands. They are accused of stealing seven masterpieces from Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum last October.

Picasso's Harlequin Head

However, there are fears that some of the paintings had been destroyed. One of the lawyers said their clients had offered to return five of the paintings, with no mention made of the remaining two. Following her son's arrest, one of the mothers is thought to have burned artworks at her home in the village of Carcaliu, in the Danube Delta region of eastern Romania.

Artworks stolen from Kunsthal Museum:

    Pablo Picasso's 1971 Harlequin Head

    Claude Monet's 1901 Waterloo Bridge, London (above) and Charing Cross Bridge, London

    Henri Matisse's 1919 Reading Girl in White and Yellow

    Paul Gauguin's 1898 Girl in Front of Open Window

    Meye de Haan's Self-Portrait from around 1890

    Lucien Freud's 2002 Woman with Eyes Closed

The works have been valued at around 18m euros (£15m; $24m).

But, should thieves be jailed at all?

In a pamphlet released by the Howard League for Penal Reform, the charity said more people were sent to prison for theft or handling stolen goods than for any other crime. According to the UK Ministry of Justice, 19,293 people were sentenced to immediate custody for theft and handling stolen goods in England and Wales in 2012.

Should jail be reserved for offenders who commit crimes of a violent, sexual or threatening nature?

news.bbc.co.uk

The HLPR say fines and community sentences would be more effective for others and reduce the prison population in England and Wales by almost 6,000. Prison should still be considered in cases of robbery, blackmail and burglary. But property offences, (including theft, handling of stolen goods, criminal damage and fraud), should be treated another way. The priority should be to deal with such offences in the community—like giving compensation or reparation for the victim and, for serious offences, imposing a community sentence.

But a spokesman for Victim Support said the type of crime was not a reliable indicator of how much impact an offence had had on a victim.

If offenders knew they could keep committing certain types of crime and never be jailed, it might encourage further thefts. Also, the public would lose confidence in the system.

Rest assured. The UK government has no intention of changing the law to prevent judges sending thieves to prison.

In our UK society, each person has equal rights. Although prisons are bursting at the seams with inmates, criminals can expect good treatment and be housed and fed with plenty of perks like the best television programs while they serve their time. (Nobody would call their stay in prison a 'sentence'.) Instead, what if they were sent to an island and left to fend for themselves? What if they were sent to do mine-sweeping duty in a war zone? Or, in thefts from the elderly and vulnerable, what if they were forced to work for the person from whom they stole for the rest of either one of their lives?

August 13th

8/13/2013

www.cyh.com

Scientists now explain the near-death experience as a surge of electrical activity in the brain. The brain remains conscious after the heart stops beating, according to University of Michigan researchers. It may even function in a higher state of arousal in the moments immediately following cardiac arrest than it does when the body is in a normal state.

A study carried out on dying rats found high levels of brainwaves at the point of the animals' demise. Poor little rats. What they go through for science.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said that, in humans, the surge could give rise to a heightened state of consciousness. Rather than inactive, the brain is much more active during the dying process than even the waking state. However, scientists confess to know precious little about brain activity during death, let alone conscious brain activity. Brain activity in rats during cardiac arrest is a very different thing than human near-death experiences.

www.popsch.com

The world over, people who have come close to death but survived report bright white lights to out-of-body sensations and feelings of life flashing before their eyes. Activity can surge through brain areas involved in conscious experience, furnishing all perceptions with vivid feelings and emotions. However, scientists do not know exactly when the near-death experience occurs. Perhaps it was before patients had anesthesia, or at some safe point during an operation long before cardiac arrest. These new findings provide further speculation that the brain drives these fascinating and striking experiences.

Near death experiences were defined by the University of Kentucky researchers as a time during a life-threatening episode when a person undergoes an out-of-body experience, unusual alertness or sees an intense light or feels a great sense of peace.

The findings suggest that REM state intrusion contributed to near death experiences.

www.huffingtonpost.com

Long after a near-death experience, people recall the incident more vividly and emotionally than real and false memories. Across cultures and religions, people describe similar themes: being out of body; passing through a tunnel, river or door toward warm, glowing light; seeing dead loved ones greet them; and being called back to their bodies or told it's not time to go yet.

Some think near-death experiences show the spirit and body can be separated. Others claim an oxygen deprivation, or blame a cascade of chemicals in the failing brain. Some believe a transforming near-death experience reveals the existence of God or heaven. People say they're more empathic, they changed jobs, they're giving, and they want to help the planet. If they alter aspects of their life, there must be something more concrete occurring than a dream state.

What causes the surge of activity after the heart stops beating? I can't see the point if the body is virtually dead. Seems to me, this is the question scientists should be asking. "Why is it so?'

August 12th

8/12/2013

A survey shows almost one in five children who use social networking sites suffered a negative experience last year—bullying, cyber stalking, unwanted sexual messages, and feeling pressure to dress a certain way.

This figure is shocking. One fifth of all children! Yesterday, I read that over 30% of all homes in England were not connected to, or did not use, the internet. Therefore, the figure is even worse.

Layoutsparks.com

After a growing concern around the experiences children and young people were exposed to on the internet, the NSPCC commissioned a survey.

A large number of users of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were under the minimum age of 13. Figures taken from the survey showed the most common bad experiences among children were bullying and trolling. This involves insulting or intimidating others, usually under a pseudonym, to provoke a reaction.

Earlier this month, a 14-year-old girl hanged herself. Her father said she had been sent abusive messages on social networking site, ask.fm., which had 13.2 million daily visitors worldwide in June. Following the death, the Latvia-based website ordered a law firm to carry out a full and independent audit including its safety features.

Website members can ask each other questions and then get replies, which include text, photos and videos. One of its most controversial features is the ability for members to pose questions to others anonymously.

www.nls.uk

How dreadful that young people feel they can't speak to anyone about their problems on social networking sites. Why should they have to go through such a trial of fire to advance in normal society?

Once, children played outside on the streets or in country areas and learned how to deal with bullying in the playground by sticking up for themselves in a verbal and physical way. More often than not, another child would intervene. At home, they could read books like fairy tales for their amusement. Later, the young people established close friends with whom they could discuss their problems.

In Nuremburg, Germany, preschool children play outside in all weather under supervision. On farms in Australia, children are free to roam and learn all about nature and the animals.

Nowadays, more English children are confined to their homes because of real threats of abuse or stranger-danger in the streets. They turn to seeking friendship in a mental way over the internet. This separates them from the protection and advice of others.

It seems there is no halting progress, if we could label cyberspace with such a term. But it seems to me that humanity's young are bearing the brunt of a new form of danger.
If the Pied Piper comes along with an offer of help, we'd better pay him his dues.

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Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

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