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News - Over and out?

jweiss123 — Mon, 26 May 2008 10:49:09 +0000

“We were alienated from the rest of the world. All the high street shops overstocked with CB. There was going to be this huge demand. It didn’t happen,” notes Mr Crumpton.

Nevertheless, he maintains CB is “still alive and well” - the torch being carried by lorry drivers, off-road 4×4 enthusiasts and caravan clubs. While handheld mobile phone use is now illegal in a car, CB is not.

And there is at least one area where the CB dealers might see growth.

Tiverton Age Concern is using CB radio to combat the feelings of loneliness and vulnerability felt by older people living alone, often in remote areas.

After the charity was left a legacy by a CB enthusiast, it issued 20 pensioners with sets. For a generation where not all are comfortable with the internet, and with many finding mobile phones too expensive, the radios are a godsend.

For an hour every morning, they chat on the radio. Some even have call signs and use slang like asking for an “eyeball”, a face-to-face meeting, says Mary Healey of Age Concern.

“One chap said ‘I can listen to other people talking if I want join in I can but it means the world when you are on your own and have only got the cat for company’.”

Add your comments on this story, using the form below.

All those decades ago, my younger sister (”Angel Eyes̶ met “Arthur Daley” on the CB radio.. she went on it from under the duvet in her bedroom at night, all night and unbeknown to our parents. Once the eight foot long aerial hit the ceiling lampshade and knocked out the electrics in the whole house! I, as older sister thought the whole CB thing was incredibly naff! This “Arthur Daley” lived two roads away in south London and it was love at first “eyeball”.. they got married some years later and now have two lovely little girls! So it wasn’t just for truckers!
debbie, york

I have been on and off CB since the late 80s and I can say it has been a lot of fun. There was a time when it was almost impossible to find a clear channel to talk on - not so these days! We had endless fun on Saturday evenings playing a game of hide-and-seek in our cars using just the signal strength as a finder. The person who found could then go and hide and the game would begin again. Some of the home-bound home-base locals would often listen in to our silly banter as it made them feel part of the community. One year, the local CBers were asked to chaperone the Biggleswade Carnival; we had no trouble relaying messages around the whole town. The local police gave up and used us for messaging as their radios had too many black-spots!

The current consultation from the government has a use-it-or-lose-it approach and we are being encouraged to switch to the CEPT band used in Europe; ironically the very same frequencies used by the original American rigs, but still only FM. We are not too happy with that idea as some EU countries do not regulate their radio users quite as well.10-10 till we do it again…
Gary “The Electron” Myers, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England

Never forget, these idiots used these illegal toys in the complete knowledge that they interfered with emergency radio frequencies causing deaths, aircraft landing equipment, etc and these criminals thought destroying radio controlled models was a “sport” via intentional interuption of the signals, and were menaces on the road (like using a mobile).Criminal Band radio was an accurate term.
Allan, Durham

CBs at the time were the best thing since sliced bread in an age where mobile phones were just a dream (or a brick with a mortgage) and the internet hadn’t even been thought of. The ability to “talk” to multiple people in a chat room type environment was great and FREE! As for foul or abusive language, the community policed this themselves and just refused to give abusers airtime (or drove to their location and boosted transmission power to drown them out).
Fox Hunts with cars (hide and seek) were a weekend occurence. One car hides and the others seek. A general clue given to get you going then track them down using the SwR meter (the closer you get the stronger the signal). Catch you on the flip side!
Mick “MatchMaker”, Bishops Stortford, Herts, UK

Breaker One Nine - You got your ears on good buddy? Anyone recall that East Kilbride near Glasgow was known as Polo Mint City? - because it has lots of roundabouts. And a Skateboard was CB slang for a regular car. So when asked: “Breaker One Nine - What’s your Twenty?” (ie Where are you?) - I’d answer: “I’m the red skateboard heading for Polo Mint City…”
Ken Morton, Glasgow, UK

Quite agree Crazy Cat, Not just long distance drivers used it, my father had a cb radio hidden in a briefcase in his car! The illegality of it added to the fun. The whole family had handles and we used it to keep in touch. It lost its frisson when it went legal!

Mad Pony, Bristol

In response to Ian Macbeth, Leeds, the toll bridge in Selby is now free…. so does this warrant the re-naming to “Freetown”..?!!
Mark, “Paytown”, North Yorkshire

I was born in 1981. My Dad was constantly on the CB. He was a newleywed, but paid more attention to the CB than his new family. He met another woman, started sleeping with her. It broke up my parents marriage and cost me my father. He set up home with the other woman and had a family with her. It’s much the same as the horror stories you hear about internet chatrooms nowadays! Technology changes, people don’t!
Helen, Edinburgh

As an Army instructor in the late 1980s it was fun trying to eradicate ‘CB-speak’ from trainee radio operators! But only last Friday I went to a friend’s house and discovered he uses a CB set to keep in touch with his elderly dad down the road!
Megan, Cheshire UK

Well its still being used in Leicester and Leicester Control is still there with “Red Rust” and the gang (Hi Rob).
A lot of people i meet dont even know that CB still exists.It still has the music and swearing but its only like that on the calling channel.CB lives on though so get those radios from the loft and get back on the air
Dave “Cubwolf” Smith, Leicester

I had an imported AM ‘rig’ and a home made antennae. Everytime I transmitted I blanked out every television set in a quarter mile radius! I think that kit like mine was probably the reason it was illegal in the first place.
Sean Clark, Loughborough

1 - 9 for a copy! When at secondary school, as recent as 15 years ago, I persuaded my parents (both original ’80’s’ CB-ers) to utilise the aerial still up that tree in the garden to give me my own CB. At that time there were still several people at school with the same idea, using their parents equipment that had been lying unused for several years. I met my now husband on the CB, and before mobile phones or SAT NAV, never went any distance in the car without plugging in the CB. Essential if you got lost - always an obliging trucker to assist. Sometimes tempted to plug back in to see if the stalwart enthusiasts are still waiting for a copy!
vicky, Moray, Scotland

CB was a really big part of my teenage years. I met my now best friend on-air “Red October”. Does anybody remeber the “Fox Hunt”. We all had Minis (Mine was the best) and used to be up all through the night trying to find other cars. Those were the days hiding in the middle of roundabouts!
Martyn “NightHawk”, London

“DX-ers”, (long-distance CB enthusiasts), took the hobby as seriously as their licensed HAM counterparts. I spent many pleasant evenings chatting on side-band to America, Jamaica, Brazil, even Australia. OK, it was illegal, but the authorities didn’t seem to mind. The 30ft antenna towering over my house was fairly obvious!
“Kamikaze”, Maputo Mozambique

I’m surprised that so few truckers use it now. As someone who commutes down part of the accident-prone A14 ‘Highway from Hell’, I am amazed at lorries blithely passing the A428 exit and heading up towards a Huntingdon tailback, when a CB would have warned them to divert….
Kit, Cambridge, UK

When we lived in a fishing town in Scotland my two sons had CB and their not too intelligent readheaded friend had the handle ‘Red Herring’ and couldn’t understand why no one came back to him! A friend of mine’s handle was ‘Schoolboy’ so we could say Schoolboy do you copy?
Alex Mitchell, Stockport, UK

In the earlie 80’s I ran a small country hotel in East Yorkshire. I found it quite amusing that young “CB’rs” would spend a couple of hours in the bar chatting to each other, then go to the car park, sit in their cars next to each other and talk to one another on their CB’s. As they say in Yorkshire “Thre’s nowt so queer as folk”
John Pheasant, Nottinghamshire

I used to use the CB a lot. I spoke to guys with cool handles like ‘The Outlaw’, and ‘Spiderman’, it felt like I was part of something dangerous, a rebellion if you like. We were subverting the Government and played by nobodys rules, not even our own.

Eventually I went along to a meeting and realised I was speaking with a group of 30-something, basement dwellers who drove 50CC scooters. I sold my rig soon after, the magic was gone.
Greg, Wick, Scotland

The best part of it was the names for places. My favourite was “Paytown” for Selby where there was a toll bridge.
ian macbeth, leeds

I was very actively involved with legal CB in Leicester, with the very well known “Leicester Control” on ch23. This group of enthusiasts were famous for giving accurate directions to truckers in our area. I also wrote a monthly column for a CB Radio magazine. What killed CB was the internet and the availablility of mobile phones and computer-based . It was fun whilst it lasted and many CBers went on to tke the RA exams. But I never forgot Roger “Red Rust”, Jeff “Murgatroyd”, Sid “Sunray” and many, many others. Yes the bucketmouths and music-players were a pain, but I made some very good friends.
Rob “Captain Jack” Davis, formerly Leicester, now Telford

It does bring back fond memories of hooning around Tamworth and surrounding villages on a pushbike with friends to arranged “eyeballs” with other “breakers”. Often it seemed that a lot of my peers while on CB radio were about 20+ years older than me but most treated my curiousity with respect and even more information.

From CB radio and the contacts I made there I joined an organisation called Search & Rescue to assist members of the public, sporting events in the town etc - which eventually evolved to become a fully fledged British Red Cross Society members unit M16. So to Prinz Eugen, The Red Baron (and Snoopy), Viking and all the others of M16 - those really were fun days of my youth!
John Somers, Chesham,

I was a student in Leeds around 1981, trying to fly radio controlled gliders. My legal RC equipment used the correct alloted frequency of 27 Mhz or so. The illegal CB equipment used the same. This ‘CB was not appreciated by my RC glider. So, to gain some revenge back at my digs in Leeds I would wait in the evening until the local CB’ers came on the air by listening in with my ‘world bands’ capable radio / cassette and then turn on my radio contol transmitter and proceed to cause interference on their goings on. I know it worked because the incredulous voices would complain of the number ‘dB they were pulling’ dropping as I twiddled the control on my RC transmitter.
Steve Crutchley, St Albans, UK

Fond cb years remembered well, sitting in your car on the highest local hill trying to call out to others on hills across the country and if you were lucky recieving copies from abroad as well, great fun in its hey day but nothing like it was. Still got mine, gathering dust in some cupboard, you never know one day it might see some copies again. ‘Over and out’.
Andrew “Meatloaf”, Solihull, West Midlands

In 1981 I met my first boyfriend using my dads CB. Sitting in the car on the front drive I opened up a whole new world and a whole new group of friends, as a teenager who was bullied badly at school it was heaven to talk to people who didn’t have a clue who I was or what I looked like (or even where I was). Now my teenage daughter is on MSN night after night and we are endlessly warned about the dangers, in reality its no different to the CB, use it safely and its not a danger…

I soon left home and the fun of my dad’s CB set, however I wont ever forget cold winter nights sitting in his car chatting away feeling like any teenager anywhere, as if the world were at my feet. 10-10 till we do it again, Hot-Lips signing out.
Wanda “Hot Lips”, Welwyn Garden City

“Illegal for no good reason” and “harmless”? Not really. The reason ‘legal’ CB was introduced, using FM (a different mode, on a very slightly different frequency), was that FM transmissions cause a lot less interference than AM (as in illegal CB). It’s as simple as that. Unfortunately, the illegal users didn’t grasp the problems that they could have been causing to legitimate, and probably a lot more important, users of the radio spectrum.
Rob, Newcastle

The UK legal sets have restricted power and operate on FM, which reduces the transmission range. Due to the way sunspot activity affects us the early CBers could often talk to people in the States. I know people who were into CB in the early days who subsequently passed the exams to become Radio Amateurs so they could get back to talking to people on the other side of the world.
Darren Jones

Brilliant! I was “on the rig” for about 10 years - I had a severe stammer and it was my way of talking with people I’d (probably) never meet. As it happened, I met a girlfriend on there, and we had a great time. It was full of friendly people and I made many friends. The only downside was dismantling the 30ft antenna in my garden when a thunderstorm approached!
Edward Byard, Oxford

I remember using CB’s in the early 90s and by then it was becoming a joke - the sets were available for peanuts so many people would buy them and then mess around ‘on-air’. It just became a noisy mess where you couldn’t hold a real conversation without someone butting in and making silly comments. It was a great idea but spoiled by the same people who now cause trouble on on-line chatrooms. Technology changes - people dont…
Craig, Perth

All I remember is girls coming on air and dropping heavy hints their parents were out and why don’t you pop round to say hi. The rest of the evening consisted of a bunch of teens champing at the bit in a Vauxhall Viva outside some house realising you’d been had yet again and there were no girls, not there anyway.
Iain, UK

It’s still going strong, especially with 4×4 owners. The license is a complete waste of money as it hasn’t gotten rid of the foul language or the music on channel 19, but it’s getting better. You’d be surprised how many people are still using it, and it’s superb on the motorway!
David Jacobs, Hinckley

As a young kid living in rural Kent in the early 80s there wasn’t much to do of an evening. My memory of CB was sitting on Channel 14 - reserved for meeting other users, endlessly calling “one-four for a copy” and hoping someone would start chatting to me. In those days, people didn’t worry so much about children talking to complete strangers over the airwaves like they do now about internet chat rooms!
Tom “Lard”, Chelmsford

When off roading with others, CBs the best free all day conference call you can get and theres no limit to the number of participants. You dont get that with mobiles.
David Edwards, Chester

It’s still a great way to communicate between vehicles travelling closely together such as groups of truckers, caravaners, any vehicle marque clubs and for off-road driving. No cost for calling, no issues with network coverage and one person can instantly communicate to everyone else in the group. I got into CB in the early days but it’s better now because the airwaves are less cluttered and your less likely to get some idiot interupting you!
Chris, Nr Faversham, United Kingdon

My local Mini club uses CBs to make sure we all keep in touch, how sad do we sound? We often travel a long distance to shows and rallies and it’s nice to make sure we are all headed in the right direction should we get split up in traffic. Believe me - this is an absolute god send when going through the middle of London.
Philippa “Fluffy” Kruman, Cambridgeshire

It was through the interest of repairing CB and as a spin off two-way radios that I arived in my profession of communication engineering. Today I have work across Africa. That’s a big 10-4 good buddy… 10-10 till we do it again… we gone…
John “Septic Knuckles” Buckham, Lusaka, Zambia

Please dont perpetuate the old myth that CB’s were responsible for interference on radios, TV’s, hifi’s etc - they were not in the majority of cases. The electronic equipment at the time had ‘front ends’ which poorly discriminated between radio and audio signals, hence it was the receivers fault.
Yellow Horse, whitehaven, cumbria

As a 14 year old boy there was only one real reason for CB - girls. CB opened up a whole new way of finding girls and we certainly made the most of it!
Charles Codrington, Bedford

My first introduction to CB was at a training session for new hunt saboteurs when a hand-held unit was passed around and experimented with. They were a godsend for co-ordinating large numbers of ’sabs’ at a single hunt and all the sab vans and Landrovers could be seen with the 5-foot aeriels. Of course the hunts soon worked this out and would buy their own units to jam us out. Everythings switched to mobile phones now.
Roger, Derby

I was a member of a CB club when I was about 12 - I didn’t think it was illegal as a) I only had 2 channels b) I could never get a signal or anyone to talk to and c) all the cool dudes had a car to put their radio in - I only had my Grifter although it was tooled up with American emergency sirens - nice.
Kevin Wilkinson, Hornchurch

Breaker One-Nine, what’s your 20? I Hammer’d Down on the A3 I eyeballed a Kojak with a Kodak so I pulled in behind a Suicide Jockey.
Max Allen, Her’sham ‘69

My father was a reader for the local ‘News for the Blind’ in the Deal area. Filled the gap between local newspapers and regional radio.
simon mallett, UK Maidstone

Breaker 1-4 for a copy? CB radio at its time was a fun thing to do. I personally met some great friends and the fun of ‘catching the skip’ and talking to CB users in other countries was just amazing. Things move on and so does technology - its in the process of being replaced by VOIP and wireless openzones, but I feel there is always a need for a general public frequency band - in what form though, who knows.
Nigel Underwood, Bristol, UK

I was a CB-er for a few years in the early 80s and enjoyed it enormously. My first rig was second hand and I used to have it in my bedroom with a ‘mag mount’ attached to the radiator! I then had a 50-50 pole out the window, but I used to take it in when the wind got up. I briefly went back on air in the early 90s to avoid the road jams, but it was not the same. Good days - ‘What’s yer 20?’ ‘I’m on yer back door good buddy.’ Looking back I must have sounded an idiot!
Mike “Hunchback” Wilks, Ruardean, Glos

Being a “radio ham” (and taken the Morse test) on air officially, we had our own share of idiots who transferred to CB to be “rebelious”. Mobiles and text are cheaper, and with Internet phones, will return to the few as before who experiment and who - ironically push forward communications as we now know it.
Graham, Northampton

Half the fun of CB was because it was illegal - and illegal for no good reason. It was a harmless and fun way to cock a snook at authority. 10-10 ’til we do it again, good buddies.
Mark “Crazy Cat” Esdale, Bridge, Canterbury

In my experience the only use that people made of their CB sets was talking about their CB sets to other owners!!
I tried to get the idea going of a voluntary community info service. Where people with special knowledge on a subject would spend a few hours on air offering advice about local directions, medical advice, DIY help, cooking tips, fixing TVs or whatever. It might have taken off but the killjoys would have swamped it with endless music or noises and ended it pretty quick.
Nigel Andrews, Worthing, United Kingdom

I remember the CB craze. Only a few (richer)kids in our school ever got involved, as the cost was enormous. A large antena was needed and the cost of the equipment was a lot(in those days) for people counting out their pocket money. A few boffs would venture to Tandy’s and buy stuff but it was never as big a craze as people said it was with the young- more with 20+ age group- and they were working people who were just a bit sad and imagined they were trucking an 18 wheeler. Come in rubber duck! Very much like a Sinclair C5 - rare as chickens teeth
Mark Smith, Southampton UK

Talk about government control! People find a way of making the world smaller and benefitting all that use it and just because the government cannot tax or control it they make it illegal.
Jack, Sidcup, UK

I asked an American friend of mine what happened to CB? Apparently its alive and well and living in the USA.
This article is the first I have heard about CB in the UK for years.
Anthony, Cardiff

Oddly enough yesterday I was driving down I65, Chicago to Indianopolis, and stopped off at a coffee shop - which had a large CB section - rigs, whips, mikes, etc. It seems CB never went away for the US trucker community!
Peter, Loondon UK

I used to take my C.B. set away to sea with me in the early 1980s. For a 4 watt set the reception and transmission at certain times of the day was out of this world once away from the UK. The best “copy” was with the Island of Guernsey and a guy sat in his “roller skate” on Brighton sea front while I was off the coast of Ghana, west Africa. a distance of some 4000 miles! The UK legal sets were only supposed to have a range of 12-15 miles.
Chris “Wooden Horse”, Grimsby, England

“It was seen as heavy-handedness from a country that up until recently demanded that many long-range amateur radio users take a Morse Code test.”. Until recently it wasn’t ‘heavy-handedness’ by the British, it was an intenational requirement that radio amateurs demonstrated their competence in morse code. That has now been removed. Britain was the first to change its licence, although many countries retain morse code as a requirement for short-wave transmissions by amateurs.
Paul, Ayia Napa, Cyprus

CB was intended to be a local community facility. The equipment was low powered and antennas inefficiently short. Unless you lived a a remote area of the country it was a disaster from the start. A basic setup could transmit and receive for many miles and in or near cities the nutcases took over and filled the airwaves with abuse rendering it useless for its original intention. It seems to have been left to lorry drivers and taxi firms now. Many dedicated CB-ers went on Amateur Radio courses and took up that hobby.

However with all types of technology based hobbys of the 60’s 70’s 80’s they have succumbed to the computer and mobile communications. Many young amateurs and “proper” C.B’ers went on to be trained and employed in Communications or Technology based careers.
Mike, Hull

It became increasingly annoying towards the mid/late eighties to have someone use it as a Radio Station! I remember one Sunday morning whilst trying to chat to a freind, all 40 channels where being used and over half where complete morons! blocking channels with music. one was sending out just bleeps and squeals…At least these days we are only subjected to those who seem to have a passion for it. You listen, you join in….you switch off! easy!
Kathy, Cambridge

We used CB (FM) in Zambia in the 80’s as communication tools for anti-poaching operations, for free communications and even the Neighbourhood Watch base and operations vehicles used them. Fun to use, but almost valueless in highly built up areas where they require line of sight (unless the weather was ‘with you’). Great fun for a few years, I even used them as late as 1998 at my own safari camp.
Alister, Rugby, Warwickshire

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News - Do inter-racial marriages work?

jweiss123 — Sun, 25 May 2008 07:30:27 +0000

BBC Africa Live! wants to find out what challenges mixed race relationships face. Does it mean a clash of cultures?

Priti and KV live in Kenya and are planning their wedding for later this year.

They have been together for nearly nine years but Priti is Asian-Kenyan from a Sikh family while KV is a black Kenyan from the Kikuyu tribe.

They have faced strong opposition to their union from family members, but finally both their parents have given the couple their blessing.

Are you in a mixed race relationship or are your parents from different races? What’s been your experience?

Join the BBC’s Africa Live debate on Wednesday 2 June at 1630 & 1830GMT.

Use the form to send us your comments - some of which will be published below.

If you would like to take part in the discussion, e-mail us with your telephone number, which will not be published.

Your comments:

I think everyone is missing the point here focussing on the statement “skin colour does not matter”. The reality of inter-racial marriages, or how I would like to call them inter-cultural marriages is the challenges mainly arising from the difference in cultures. I have lived in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia, and I do notice the cultural differences and not the skin colour or tone. I have dated women from all the different cultures, and some I have cared for a lot, but I knew that in the long run it will never work. How do the children get brought up? What religion (if you are from different religions)? What language do you speak at home (if different)? Sometimes you have to let your brain take control of your heart, not the other way round.
Anonymous, Japan

I believe in inter-racial marriages though it didn’t work for me. I lived with a Nigerian man for five years. We never had any bad experiences. Everybody from both sides gave us a warm welcome. After five years I can honestly say that I learned a lot about my husbands culture and give my respect to it. Not so my husband. He had zero tolerance for my culture and didn’t make any effort to find out about it. He built up his little “Nigeria” in Germany and isolated me.
Evelyn Menke, Germany

Most Indians are awful towards black Africans and if this relationship was the other way round (Priti marrying a white guy) her parents would not bother at all.
Jason Louder, Cherry Hill,USA

Colour has never been an issue in my family

Kim, USA

My mom is white and my father is black. There are some who feel an interracial marriage is wrong, because the children are negatively affected. I am 24 years old and working towards my PhD. I am very active in my church, and I volunteer in my community. I feel blessed having been brought up in a home with two loving parents. Colour has never been an issue in my family. I have never felt confused, or out of place. I have always felt love, and I count it as a blessing having been brought up in an interracial family.
Kim, USA

I am Ugandan living in the United States, where generation X does not consider race as a factor in falling in love. Love is colour is colourblind. Today people are looking for someone who will respected them, and treats them well when they fall in love with that someone. I would like to congratulate Priti and KV on their coming wedding.
Peter Waggs, USA

I agree with Patrick Mangassa of USA whose sentiments are against inter-racial marriages. It is all very easy for two people to fall in love and pronounce themselves ready for matrimony, but does society understand what the children of multiracial marriages go through? I am writing from a country that has (72)seventy two tribes and even though all these tribes are black, it is still hard to merge two tribes by, or through marriage. When a woman marries a white man, out there, she is just treated like a house maid by the man’s relatives. When a black man entices a white woman whilst he is io his ventures as an immigrant, all does go well, but let them now come to mother Africa where poverty will welcome them at the airport. Many a time, these women do not last even half a year because they are not able to cope with our poverty datum line. I am not able to stop this inter racial marriage, but those that are wise should think twice before getting entangled to some other race.
Shutiie Libuta, Zambia /Central Africa

After almost nine years of marriage to a Zimbabwean - myself being a white American - I am only grateful to have found the partner I’ve got. If my relatives could only see further than the colour my husband’s skin - or recognise it as being equally acceptable to their own - our lives would be easier. Why do people waste time and energy trying to complicate the lives of others?
Anne Turner (Dr.), Rwanda

The success of mixed race relationship depends on the level of literacy and exposure of the families involved. It has worked in a society where the two families are well educated. While others are plagued with problems
Busola Ande, Lagos, Nigeria

My father and uncle were both married to Europeans (a German and a Belgian) and both are now divorced. Both relationships broke up for the same reasons other relationships do: a failure in commitment to make the marriage work and not the differences in race.
Wole Solana, Nigeria

Why do people waste time and energy trying to complicate the lives of others?

Anne Turner, Rwanda

What amazes me most is that despite a man and a woman falling in love and feeling good about it, family and friends often feel strongly against it just because of their racial biases. It’s a shame…let everyone live up to the saying: it’s the wearer who knows best where the shoe pinches!
Mzee Safari, kenya/uk

Being white and married to a Black British woman of West Indian decent, I find comments such as those made by Patrick Mangassa staggeringly offensive. What a shame that he feels he’s “lost” North Africa. Adolf Hitler felt much the same way about the Sudetenland in the 1930s. And he had similar ideas on the purity of race. Mr Mangassa doesn’t even have the guts to call himself the racist he so blatantly is, preferring to hide behind the cloak of conservatism.
Matt, UK

I think by calling the union a mixed race union is the problem in the first place. I’ve been married for 10 years to a coloured lady from South Africa and apart from the initial first year hiccups of settling in a new country for her and getting to know my mother, it has been smooth sailing. Granted, there are hiccups like in any normal functioning marriage, but none which cannot be overcome by a collective decision to let the marriage work. In hindsight, it is a miracle that it did with the backdrop of apartheid policies in Namibia before independence. Would I marry a person of another race and from another country again? Yep. Would it be my initial goal to go and find one: Nope.
Ripuree Haakuria, Namibia

Living in South Africa, the rainbow nation, I expected more open minded people but being white, my wife got classified as a coloured (during apartheid ) and my son, black. Almost everyday is a new challenge. I have a wonderful marriage but the ignorance of some people is a real challenge. When will that change? How many generations do we need, to learn that the separation of skin colour is created by ignorant people .
Volker, South Africa

I have realised that interracial relationships last longer when the both partners work but when one partner he is unemployed or has a lower income, the love starts to deteriorate and ends up in divorce. Nowadays, race has no meaning. What is important is money. If you are a monkey and have money the marriage will of course last. That’s been my own experience.
Sylvain Aristide, Finland

I personally do not encourage inter-racial marriages, for the reason that they destroy one’s cultural back ground. But as long as the two agree to respect and promote each others tribal and culture back ground, I would give it a green-light. That’s what I’ve been preaching to my three children.
Ntege Bigali Namutula, Winnipeg, Mb. Canada

I am a Pakistani muslim involved in a loving relationship with a Phillipino catholic. Our greatest hurdle will be telling my parents that we intend to marry. Until then our relationship remains a secret. Due to cultural and religious differences it will be hard for my parents to accept it: I find it selfish.
Isha,

Nowadays, race has no meaning. What is important is money

Sylvain Aristide, Finland

I am the result of a bi-racial marriage. I am 32 years old and in all of those years, I have faced different types of discrimination, but none bad enough for me ever to wish I was just one race. I feel I have the best of both worlds. I have been exposed and welcomed into so many communities because no-one ever exactly knows what I am or where I belong. I now work for the UN in Sierra Leone and I believe that my childhood experiences now help me to work in this organisation filled with people from everywhere. One of the dumbest questions I have been asked is which culture do you feel more comfortable in? I am a product of both cultures. A bi - racial friend once told me what her father told her while growing up. “Take vanilla and chocolate ice cream and put it in a bowl and mix together. Then try to take out the chocolate ice cream. You can’t”. We are a product of our parents.
Rachel Goldstein-Rodriguez, US

I’m Nigerian. My wife and best friend is German. We tied the knot approximately four years ago, after dating for 2 years. My family adores my wife. My mother in-law is the world’s best mother in-law and, I adore her. My wife and I love and respect each other. The success of a marriage depends, neither on colour nor race but, on the couple. My wife, is the best thing that ever happened to me and, I will do it all over again if I have to.
Norbert Dwayne Weweh, Germany

What about the cute kids? The reason I mixed my European genes with my husband’s Korean genes was for the cute kids. So what if he was getting his PhD and we loved each other and he needed his green card - deep down mostly I wanted to have adorable Eurasian kids. If I’d known any Africans in college I might have beautiful American children instead!!
Eve Somers, Redondo Beach, California, USA

Being different races has been kind of hard for me because I never feel like I can fit in entirely with one race. People often tap me on the shoulder and say stuff like, “What are you?” or “What’s your nationality?” (often people don’t know the difference between nationality and ethnicity), and they’re usually just complete strangers. Sometimes they think I’m Native American, other times Filipino, Hispanic, Mongolian, half Japanese and half white, or half black and half white… I could go on for hours. (I’m actually half Chinese, a quarter black, and a quarter white.) Chinese people don’t consider me Chinese because I hardly know anything in Chinese; the longest thing I can say in Chinese is “do not sit in my seat,” and it took me three months just to remember how to say that. (I’ve found that I look less Chinese to Asian people and more Chinese to non-Asian people.) I can’t fit in with black people because people seem to think I don’t “talk” black! I know my life would be less complicated if I was just one race, I like being what I am: it makes me glad that my parents didn’t care that they were different races and decided to marry each other and have kids anyway. I wouldn’t trade my ethnicity for anything in the world.
Madeleine, New York, United States

I’m a black woman from Kenya and fell in love with a white man from the most obscure of places in the United States. He was clueless about all things African, and we argue about issues all the time. But I wouldn’t have given him up for all the cultural differences in the world. If you’re going to get married, then you are going to get married - not your parents or your friends or the random rubbernecks on the street.
C.O., USA

The truth is my mum will not consent to an inter-racial marriage, not even to a person of a different ethnicity of the same skin colour. Do I hurt her or myself (assuming I do love someone of a different race)? I think they would work, a bit more difficult than ‘normal’ ones, but definitely.
Pari, India/US

KV and Priti are two young Kenyans obviously very much in love.They are very brave because mixed marriages between Kenyans of African and Asian descent are not very common.The two represent the true face of today’s Kenya and deserve all our support. I see no reason why the marriage should not work.Good luck guys!
L. Soita, Kenya

I wonder how much of my love for her is confused with my fascination with the Japanese culture.

Matt, Australia

Does it works? Yes. Will everyone accept it? There is always someone who will not. Is mixed race relationship for all? No. Some people cannot even get along with their own. One thing I want to say is that if she loves me and I love her only God can stop us.
Al, USA

I am a white Australian and my girlfriend is Japanese. We have been together for almost nine months now and love each other very much. There are lots of challenges for both of us and sometimes I wonder how much of my love for her is confused with my fascination with the Japanese culture. Often the two are inextricably linked. However, being able to recognise this facet also allows me to try to see my girlfriend as just a regular person who is special to me.
Matt, Australia

What would the world look like without colour? God made his world beautiful, the heavenly bodies with different shapes and colours, the human race of different colours, the sea and its creatures of different shape, size and colour, also the flowers, trees and animals. Why can’t we love each other, live in peace together and enjoy this beautiful world he made for us to live in?
George H. Waldron, USA

I am Indian, and my boyfriend is from Kenya. I’ve learnt a lot more about my own culture and his through this relationship — it’s brought perspective and depth to my relationship with him and with my own culture. It is definitely case-by-case, but ultimately what are now exceptions will enable greater cultural understanding — which can only be a good thing.
SS, India

I am hispanic American and my wife is Nigerian. We are both Catholic and by the grace of God our bond has lasted 7 years. If you marry an African woman, strong leadership will bring praise. Respect will bring longevity.
Peter Riley, USA

Over 50 years ago my east Indian Hindu mother ran from her father’s London home with only the sari on her back to join my black Egyptian(nubian) muslim father. Eventually they made their way to Trinidad where 6 children where born. Child 1 married a Nigerian, Number 2 married a Russian, Number 3 married a Chinese, Number 4 married an Italian/ Somali, Number 5 married an African American, and I, number 6 married an Afro Hispanic. Almost 60 years later and we are all still going strong. The best part is a picture my mom took with all her grandkids it shows that my family is the world!!
Faizah Assad, USA

I’m a British born white woman living in the US in a relationship of three years with a Sierra Leonean black Muslim man. The difficulties have been mainly cultural , but when communication is open and both parties respect and accept the other’s religion and culture, it can prove to be rewarding both intellectually, spiritually, and above all prove that people with all backgrounds can come together as one and learn from one another. May be the old saying is correct, “love conquers all”. Our families have stepped up to the plate and accepted our choices because in the end, they just want to see both of us happy. The world is becoming smaller and smaller and it is time we all started acting like the world is our home, not just the country we reside in.
Lisa, US

Being involved in a mixed race relationship has proven to be both difficult and yet extremely rewarding for me. I am a white Canadian woman who has been involved with a black man from Sierra Leone for about a year. During our relationship we have encountered people from both races who don’t like seeing us together in public, including some members of his own family. Thankfully, my entire family adores him and supports us 100%. To be honest I don’t know how things will work out between us in the long run as there are some cultural differences we have to work out, but that aside I am quite determined not to let others tell us we shouldn’t be a couple. Being with him has enabled me to learn about his African culture and he has had to learn about mine as well, although his language lessons are going better than mine! All I can tell others is that no one can determine who they fall in love with and that no one has the right to tell us who we can love and be with.
Corissa, Canada

If you are still bound by clan and family, all the better for a steadier relationship. The young may find differences challenging and fascinating, but may lack the patience to overcame some difficulties.
Marco, Ethiopia

The world is becoming smaller and smaller and it is time we all started acting like the world is our home, not just the country we reside in

Lisa, US

I’ve been in an inter-racial marriage for six years. My husband is Nigerian. If you want it to work, it will work.
Kari Umana, USA

The ancestral roots of KV and Priti are of two great countries and peoples. Their union can only strengthen their countries, their peoples, and themselves. They are both wished well and much happiness.
Wayne A. Philp, US

The problem with parents of mixed race couples arises because most are not familiar with each other’s culture. Women and men are the same every where. It’s just the social setting that makes the difference.
Mike, Norwegian/Nigeria

Mixed marriages never work because one culture will portray itself as superior, sooner or later
Simon Gath, Belgium

I am in a mixed race relationship. I think it is idiotic for people to be concerned about something as arbitrary as skin tone. “Race” is an artificial non-scientific construct.
Stephanie, USA

I’ve been in an inter-racial relationship for six years. We dated for five and then got married. We had no problems with our families. We have noticed some people act funny in public and also when we first introduce one another.
John Craven, USA

The colour of the skin doesn’t matter when love is there.
Fodzo Tchemwe, France

I am a white American and my husband is Nigerian. There have been times when people have said things or given us looks. Someone once asked me if our son was adopted, when I said no, she asked again, in such a way that showed her intentions to make me feel awkward. I always try to think positively about it. Our family tree is diverse and interesting and those who don’t like it were not asked ahead of time, which means that their opinions really don’t have much effect on me.
Leah Chukwu, USA

Inter-racial marriages are not a bad thing. However, men involved must be aware of the pressure they would get from society. One may risk isolation from his own people and attract malice from the other side. This can be most severe when a normal domestic issue, typical of husband and wife, is given a racial connotation blowing everything out of proportion.
Zimbabwe

I think that those who are against inter-racial marriages have narrow minds and cannot see beyond the simple fact that race is only about skin color.

Nephat Oliech, USA

I am a black man married to a white American lady whom I love very much. I think that those who are against inter-racial marriages have narrow minds and cannot see beyond the simple fact that race is only about skin color. What is important is character, somebody who makes you happy and respects you. In my opinion you get the best of both worlds by having a mixed race family. Good luck to both KV and Priti.
Nephat Oliech, USA

My mother is an English expatriate and my father is third generation Japanese-American. They met in Africa and moved to California, where I was raised. California has always had an incredible diversity of cultures and ethnicities. But being a mixed race child, even in this jigsaw puzzle of genealogies, still causes a lot of confusion, not only for the individual but also for society. I was never sure which box I should check off on demographic information and census forms, “Asian” or “Caucasian.” People would ask my mother if I was adopted. It was a strange sensation, because I felt as though I was not fully accepted as English or Japanese, and I was ashamed of both. It took me two decades to become comfortable in my own skin.
Robert Tashima, US

I am black and have not had a relationship with a person of a different race before, but have closely followed a friend, fellow black, who have had a relationship with a white girl. They live together in America where she comes from. He has told me that he has faced the following challenges from the girl’s family: prejudice, hatred and racial discrimination. The mere fact that he was a black man hanging out with a girl from a well-to-do family made the family all the more furious. On a personal note, I feel that inter-racial marriages can work if the couple accept each other, are sincere with each other, disregard all tenets of prejudice, skin colour, culture and religion. Love is what matters.
Melvin Nahwo Nye, Harbel, Liberia

I am against inter-racial marriage. Why? Because if we keep mixing our race with others, 400 years from now, Africa will look like Brazil. We lost North Africa already, please let’s keep the rest of Africa pure “black”. I am not racist but I am conservative.
Patrick Mangassa, USA

Multicultural marriages will always have a hard time as long as institutions like yours promotes these out dated divisive concepts and lies. Grow up and take . These are the kind of ideas fuel conflicts around the word such as in Iraq and Israel.
Gary Ormsby, USA

I’m Nigerian and my husband is Irish. We have more in common than others I know from a similar racial background. We’re both Catholic and that helps us see things from the same view point. Also, our families are very similar and share similar aspirations. My tip is, always get your mother-in-law on your side and the rest would be a doodle.
Anne, England

You marry whoever you fall in love with and you bring your children up to be stable and multi-cultured.

Benson Magaba, Zimbabwe

Out of six boys in one family, this is the current setting:
Boy 1 married a half South African girl
Boy 2 married a Botswanan girl
Boy 3 married an English girl
Boy 4 married a Malawian girl
Boy 5 married a Ndebele Zimbabwean girl
Boy 6 married a Shona Zimbabwean girl
Nephew married a German girl
Other nephew married an American girl.
This is one large and happy family with the longest marriage clocking in at 27 years. No divorce yet in the family. All parents involved are happy with their children. Only our government shouts abuses at us. You marry whoever you fall in love with and you bring your children up to be stable and multi-cultured. The main problem is how to guard against home sickness for those who move away with their spouses.
Benson Magaba, Zimbabwe

I think if people around the world inter-marry, there would be no discrimination.
Michael Nuul Mayen, Manitoba, Canada

My boyfriend is from Nigeria, is black and a Muslim. I am a white Christian from England. Although there are obviously cultural differences, we find that it does not have to be a barrier between us. I respect that his religion is important to him and it is part of what I love about him. It would be easier if we were of the same race and religion but love crosses those barriers. I think that our families will support us because they know that the love between us makes us happy.
Helen Watson, England

Mixed races? What do you mean? Aren’t we told these days that “races don’t exist”? Or is that just a lie, then?
Ron Brownlow, UK

Of course interracial couples are subject to all kinds of pressures, both internal and societal. Their successes depend on economic conditions and interpersonal communication. The prejudice of others can compromise inter-racial marriage if the couple are already on a shaky ground. It is beneficial for an inter-racial couple to receive the approval of their respective families, however it is not necessarily relevant all the time. Race is a social construct it is not innate to humanity but rather a tool for conditioning others.
Emmanuel, USA

Mixed marriages are like any other marriage: To work you need a combination of good luck, determination and hard work. I am Nigerian and my wife is (White) English. There will, as in all marriages, be hard times - perhaps as a result of “cultural clashes”. Mixed marriages don’t break down as a result of a clash of cultures. They break down because couples can’t choose their families and may forget why they got married in the first place. We have three beautiful children; we are blessed with wonderful families and we keep reminding ourselves everyday why we chose to spend the rest of our lives together.
Segun, UK

Inter-racial marriages would work if people looked beyond the colour of one’s skin and see the person for what they are. Bigotry in any form is destructive. Therefore if two people supportive and in love choose to be together, what difference does it make what they look like?
Bill, US

Inter-racial relationships are going to happen regardless of what observers think. The fact is we are all in search of peace and happiness. If my family loves me and cares for my well being and happiness then I think I should be supported with my choice of partner that makes me happy not what they think does not make them happy. After-all I will be sharing my life not them.
Thy Will Koku Amenya, Ghana/US

My dad was a Dene (native Indian) and my mum was a child of French & Swedish immigrants. They married in the 1960’s - a time of considerable racial prejudice in Canada - particularly against natives. They made it work by understanding that, for them, some of the problems in marriage would be cultural. To make such a marriage strong enough to withstand the outside pressures, a couple needs to assume that they can’t assume - and talk, all the time, about everything.
M. Thompson, Canada

Although it makes sense to ask people who are actually in inter-racial relationships about them, that is not the whole story. In some sense it’s like asking gay couples if same sex relationships work. Of course they work on some level for the people in them. That’s why they are in them. However, that says nothing about why humans and other sexually reproducing animals breed preferentially within their own race, variety or subspecies.
USA

The key to any marriage is love, compatibility, and respect for each other.

Dr. Freddy Kustaa, USA

I do believe that for an inter-racial marriage to work, it depends on the foundation. If I find someone who really cares about me and doesn’t bother about where I am from, we might end up in marriage. As a Nigerian living in California, all the females I date are from different races; Asians, Mexicans, Whites, etc. We should encourage real love, like that of Priti and KV, who have been together for nine years.
Stanley Njoku, Nigerian in US

I am Black and my wife is White. We have been married for 19 years. We have two handsome boys aged 11 and 18. In my view, my wife and I are happily married. Our marriage has gone through a number of problems that all marriages encounter regardless of the racial or ethnic backgrounds of couples. The key to any marriage is love, compatibility, and respect for each other. I think there is no proof that only couples from the same race or ethnic group have happier and lasting marriages than the so-called mixed ones. The divorce statistics in the United States and other countries among same race or ethnic group couples is a good proof of my statement above. Divorce and unhappy marriages occur among all married couples, not just the so-called mixed ones.
Dr. Freddy Kustaa, USA

Many inter-racial, inter-cultural, and inter-faith couples still experience a lot of pressures from family and community. Our world is not as open to these types of unions as we would like to believe. It is great that you are offering a chance for your listeners to discuss this important topic. I founded an organisation called Swirl a few years ago. It serves as an educational, social, and support network for mixed race couples, families, individuals, and transracial adoptees. We are now a national organisation with chapters across the US, and even an international chapter in Japan. Although many couples still experience what Priti and KV have faced, there are at least communities and resources out there that couples may contact for advice and support!
Jen Chau, USA

Inter-racial marriage has always been subject to challenges both from the boy’s and the girl’s families. But I think it is time to change this view as people are increasingly coming together and building friendship/relationships. It is something that cannot be stopped by traditional attitudes towards such marriages. on the other hand, it is also an important source of harmony and co-operation between two group of people.
Husein, Ethiopia

News - Israeli shop opens only to women

jweiss123 — Sat, 24 May 2008 03:17:26 +0000

You might expect to find one in Saudi Arabia or in other parts of the Middle East, but freewheeling Tel Aviv has just got Israel’s first women-only department store.

At first glance it looks like any other department store. Women browse busily through counters of make-up, household goods, clothes and underwear.

But look again, and you’ll spot the difference.

There are no bored-looking husbands or boyfriends waiting around. In fact, there’s not a single man in sight. Welcome to Israel’s first women-only shopping experience.

Sometimes I have to yell at them, sometimes I push them, but I keep them men out

Wana Borka,
security guard

No men are allowed up the escalators into this new mall in Tel Aviv’s ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood of Bnei Brak. Any male over the age of 10 who does stray upstairs is swiftly removed.

“I chase them out,” says 29-year old Wana Borka, the shop’s security guard, an immigrant from Romania who once worked undercover for the Taiwanese police.

She bridles at the dress code imposed on her - a long, loose skirt in keeping with the style of the area - but relishes the task of ensuring the store remains a women-only zone.

“Sometimes I have to yell at them, sometimes I push them, but I keep them out,” she says.

No men are allowed to go up the escalator

And the customers appreciate the unique environment of a modern department store specifically designed for traditional, religious women.

“I feel much more comfortable here because you don’t have to worry about who is looking at you, ” says Adina Slavin, an immigrant from Australia. “And the other modern malls are all full of clothes that aren’t suitable for religious women like me.”

The new store is owned by a 33-year old businessman, Yehuda Amar, who has previously been involved in building apartments.

You can try on hats without worrying men will look at you and your uncovered hair

Mariam Mashiach,
shopper

“Business is good, and it’s better because it’s women-only,” he says. “It’s what the people in this area want. They can look at the lingerie and make-up without worrying about men lurking behind them.”

Mariam Mashiach, out shopping with her 16-year old daughter for a new hat, plans to return. “I’d definitely recommend it to my friends,” she says.

“Hats are a sign of modesty for married women, and here you can try them on in peace without worrying that men will look at you and your uncovered hair.”

Lucrative market

Manager Pnina Greenberg says the mall provides an important social service in an area where the men spend most of their day in prayer and the women have little opportunity to spoil themselves.

“I see the on their faces and the light in their eyes,” she says. “Women are women wherever they are. It’s in their nature to shop.”

Israel’s million-strong ultra-Orthodox community, with its traditions, is proving to be a lucrative market for businesses selling 21st Century services and appliances tailored to meet their religious strictures.

Already, there is a “kosher” mobile phone, approved by the country’s rabbinical authorities, which blocks telephone numbers for sex and dating sites.

And those behind Israel’s first women-only store believe that “shopping Bnei Brak” may well set a trend in the country.

News - Pope urges action on sexual abuse

jweiss123 — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:04:46 +0000

The Catholic Church must take all necessary steps to prevent further occurrences of child sex abuse by clergy, Pope Benedict has said.

To do this, the church had to find out what had happened in the past, he said.

The Pope made the comments to a group of visiting bishops from Ireland, where abuse scandals dating back decades have damaged the of the church.

Trust in the clergy had been damaged, Pope Benedict said, and rebuilding confidence was an urgent task.

In March, a report from the Archdiocese of Dublin said that more than 100 Catholic priests in Dublin were suspected of having abused children in the last 66 years.

The wounds caused by such acts run deep, and it is an urgent task to rebuild confidence and trust where these have been damaged

Pope Benedict

But there have been other scandals in various parts of the world.

In the US, a Boston-based scandal in 2002 led to the prosecutions of a number of priests, large payouts to dozens of victims and of a cover-up by senior clergy.

‘Bring healing’

Pope Benedict said that abuse scandals had created deep wounds in the church.

“It is important to establish the truth of what happened in the past, to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent it from occurring again,” he said, according to a copy of the speech released by the Vatican.

“Above all, (it is important) to bring healing to the victims and to all those affected by these egregious crimes.”

But Pope Benedict said the abuse scandals should not overshadow the work of Ireland’s priests.

“The fine work and selfless dedication of the great majority of priests and religious in Ireland should not be obscured by the transgressions of some of their brethren,” he said.

Pope Benedict spoke in some of the strongest language he has used so far of his personal anguish and horror at what happened in Ireland, says the BBC’s Christian Fraser in Rome.

But some have whether the Pope’s comments are too little too late, and whether an apology should be made directly to the victims themselves.

While welcoming the Pope’s expression of regret, Colm O’Gorman, the founder of a victims’ group in Northern Ireland, said more action was required by the Vatican to introduce a worldwide system of child protection measures that would be underpinned in church law, our correspondent adds.

News - ‘Dogging’ craze sex disease risk

jweiss123 — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:51:56 +0000

The internet and text messaging are fuelling a practice which involves unprotected sex with strangers in public parks.

Health chiefs in Kent have taken to posting messages on sites promoting “dogging” - warning of a rise in sexually-transmitted diseases.

They say the craze may be partially for rises in chlamydia, HIV, syphilis and hepatitis.

More than 20,000 people are registered with one UK “dogging” newsgroup.

Dogging is an extension of “swinging” parties - and involves exhibitionist sex in locations such as car parks or country parks.

The location of dogging “events” is now frequently advertised on websites or communicated via mobile phone text message.

Those attracted by these messages may simply act as voyeurs - or be invited to participate.

Disease rise

The NHS Health Promotion team covering the Medway area in Kent noticed that the number of cases of hepatitis rose towards the end of 2002, and some patients said they had probably contracted the illness as a result of dogging.

They decided to post messages on the dogging sites warning of the risks of unprotected sex.

We’ve talked to people who do this - they are having unprotected sex with nine or more people in a week

Dr Richard Byrne, Harper Adams University College

One reads: “Avoid the sex lottery for yourselves and your associates.” It recommends NHS-sponsored safe sex websites.

One academic who has carried out a study into dogging suggests that modern technology is leading to a swift rise in the numbers taking part.

Dr Richard Byrne, from the Rural Affairs and Environment Group at Harper Adams University College in Newport, carried out a survey of country park rangers asking them about “anti-social behaviour” in their parks.

He expected their prime concern to be vandalism and , but found that many complained about the rise in the use of their park as a venue for sex.

He said: “One newsgroup about dogging has more than 22,000 registered users - and one we saw which set itself up only a few weeks ago already has almost 700.

“It’s a nationwide activity and in the last four or five years it really has grown.”

Many partners

He said that the health threat should not be : “We’ve talked to people who do this - they are having unprotected sex with nine or more people in a week.

“The issue of sexual health is a big one.”

Legally, the issue of dogging is a grey area - “doggers” are committing no offence unless they are witnessed by a member of the public who can be defined as “outraged” in the eyes of the law.

A new sexual offences Bill currently moving through Parliament may give the police more options to tackle the issue, particularly if it takes place in a location where it is likely that an unwitting member of the public is likely to witness it.

However, ministers say it is not their intention to criminalise outdoor sex in a public place that is sufficiently isolated as to make witnessing unlikely.

And while voyeurism on unknowing subjects is likely to become an offence, if there is consent, there is no offence committed.

Other dangers

Dr Byrne said that because dogging operated at the “fringes of legality and social acceptability”, those taking part were at risk.

He said: “There is the potential for younger and more vulnerable people to be drawn in - certainly there is heavy use of alcohol associated with these events, and there is anecdotal evidence of rohypnol (a “date-rape” drug).

“There are concerns that prostitutes will be drawn to areas where dogging is common, and that other types of crime will increase.”

He said that, in country parks at least, changes to the design of car parks might help curb their use as venues.

However, he added: “You can’t simply increase the amount of lighting - that just makes it easier to make videos or take pictures.”

News - The Silver Ring Thing

jweiss123 — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:06:09 +0000

How do you stop teenagers becoming pregnant?

Sex education is one - though there are continuing claims that the more you educate, the more likely you are to encourage precisely what you are trying to prevent.

“Just Say No” is another possibility, much touted in the United States where the Bush is very keen on teaching teenagers to abstain from sex. The Silver Ring Thing is one such American attempt to promote abstinence and make virginity cool.

It has arrived in Britain, but will a programme with its roots in Christian America make any impact on the not very religious British teens? Jackie Long reported.

Watch the report

JACKIE LONG:
Yes feel the love, but not too closely please. “The Silver Ring Thing”, doing the tourist thing in Covent Garden. They’re here to work, to sell their message that virginity is cool.

UNNAMED WOMAN 1:
We’re putting on a hi-tech show about sexuality. It’s a really cool message. It’s a lot of fun.

LONG:
Staying celibate until you get married is the way to help cure Britain of its moral sickness.

DENNY PATTYN:
(FOUNDER, SILVER RING THING)
There’s been a moral decaying going on over here that’s unprecedented. I was over here several weeks ago and read stories about 14-year-olds getting abortions without their parents’ permission. 13-year-olds being taken out of their home because they have a right to their sex life. Oral sex being taught to kids as young as nine during school hours to reduce teen pregnancy in those 104 schools. When I hear stuff like that, I think it’s gone too far.

LONG:
These are just some of the 22,000 young Americans who pledge to wear a silver ring, proving their willing to wait.

NICKY NATIELLO:
The ring is a silver ring, silver mainly because it represents being pure. On the ring it says, it’s from the Bible and says, “I will keep myself pure and holy and sanctified until marriage.” You are supposed to be able to give your spouse, your husband your virginity. To be able to give that, it’s probably one of the greatest gifts you can give them. You are free from all the guilt and all the shame and embarrassment that come with having sex.

LONG:
Silver Ring Thing shows it’s supposed to be going to a nightclub, without the drink, drugs or sex obviously. British youngsters will get the chance to see whether that their idea of a good time over the next few weeks. But they’ll have to hear silver ring’s doomsday scenario - teenagers having sex.

GORDO FLORES:
There are so many STDs out there. A lot of guys are asymptomatic to all the STDs. They don’t know they have the disease so they’re all having sex with whoever. If they decide to get married and have kids, their kids end up with the diseases as well.

JULIE PRESCOTT:
If you decide to have children one day and if you one of your STDs is active at that time, you can pass it on to your child. Your child can die in infancy because that disease was passed on in birth.

LONG:
The truth is in Britain death from sexually transmitted diseases, apart from HIV, is virtually unheard of. Nevertheless what’s also true is that the number of teenagers affected by STDs is soaring. Teenage pregnancy remains a very British problem.

CARMEN WOODROFFE:
A lot of people were having sex at the time, yes. I don’t personally think I was ready to. I think I just done it because everybody else was doing it.

LONG:
Carmen began having sex when she was 15. She now has a 16-month-old son she’s bringing up alone. She and her friend Nicola spend much of their time in schools in Lambeth talking to young people about sex. They’re finding those young people are having sex at an earlier age.

NICOLA MCLEAN:
I think around 13, I think. That’s the age group we target. A lot of them are actively having sexual relationships. They could have started younger, maybe 12 or 11.

LONG:
What do you think they would say if you went and said, our view is you should wait until you get married?

NICOLA MCLEAN:
I don’t think they’ll take it seriously. I think they realise that’s not a realistic point of view. You can’t just tell them not to have sex.

LONG:
Carmen says better, franker sex education is the only way forward.

CARMEN WOODROFFE:
If they are going to have sex, just use precautions, contraception.

LONG:
But not to wait till they get married?

CARMEN WOODROFFE:
No, not to wait. That’s a bit . You never know when you’re going to get married. I’m not looking to get married any time soon.

LONG:
You’d expect to have a sex life before you get married?

CARMEN WOODROFFE:
Yeah I do. To have a bit of fun. Go out there and explore. I suppose, yeah, it’s a part of life.

LONG:
For The Silver Ring Thing’s Gordo and Julie it’s very much not a part of their life. So how do they manage?

JULIE PRESCOTT:
We don’t stay in a dark, empty house, because those are tempting situations.

GORDO FLORES:
Me and Julie, we kiss and hug and hold hands and stuff like that. We don’t want to go further than that. We are afraid that might be the next step and the next step might be sex.

LONG:
The Silver Ring Thing touting for new members. Their leaflets are opaque to say the least. Promising a high tech show, about guys, girls and dating. No mention of sexual abstinence or the Christian message behind it.

HANNAH ELDER:
I thought I might try it. Might be good to go along. When I heard what it’s actually about, it’s changed my mind. I don’t agree with it.

LONG:
There’s no doubt that Silver Ring know how to dress up their no-sex mantra and make it seem much more attractive. But alongside the good time image is a determination to bring teenagers not just to abstinence, but to God too. That might make it hard to sell over here.

This transcript was produced from the teletext subtitles that are generated live for Newsnight. It has been checked against the programme as broadcast, however Newsnight can accept no responsibility for any factual inaccuracies. We will be happy to correct serious errors.

News - The Silver Ring Thing

jweiss123 — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:13:01 +0000

How do you stop teenagers becoming pregnant?

Sex education is one possibility - though there are continuing claims that the more you educate, the more likely you are to encourage precisely what you are trying to prevent.

“Just Say No” is another possibility, much touted in the United States where the Bush administration is very keen on teaching teenagers to abstain from sex. The Silver Ring Thing is one such American attempt to promote abstinence and make virginity cool.

It has arrived in Britain, but will a programme with its roots in Christian America make any impact on the not very religious British teens? Jackie Long reported.

Watch the report

UNNAMED WOMAN 1:
We’re putting on a hi-tech show about sexuality. It’s a really cool message. It’s a lot of fun.

LONG:
Staying celibate until you get married is the way to help cure Britain of its moral sickness.

LONG:
These are just some of the 22,000 young Americans who pledge to wear a silver ring, proving their willing to wait.

CARMEN WOODROFFE:
A lot of people were having sex at the time, yes. I don’t personally think I was ready to. I think I just done it because everybody else was doing it.

NICOLA MCLEAN:
I think around 13, I think. That’s the age group we target. A lot of them are actively having sexual . They could have started younger, maybe 12 or 11.

LONG:
What do you think they would say if you went and said, our view is you should wait until you get married?

NICOLA MCLEAN:
I don’t think they’ll take it seriously. I think they realise that’s not a realistic point of view. You can’t just tell them not to have sex.

LONG:
Carmen says better, franker sex education is the only way forward.

CARMEN WOODROFFE:
If they are going to have sex, just use precautions, .

LONG:
But not to wait till they get married?

CARMEN WOODROFFE:
No, not to wait. That’s a bit ridiculous. You never know when you’re going to get married. I’m not looking to get married any time soon.

LONG:
You’d expect to have a sex life before you get married?

CARMEN WOODROFFE:
Yeah I do. To have a bit of fun. Go out there and explore. I suppose, yeah, it’s a part of life.

LONG:
For The Silver Ring Thing’s Gordo and Julie it’s very much not a part of their life. So how do they manage?

JULIE PRESCOTT:
We don’t stay in a dark, empty house, because those are tempting situations.

GORDO FLORES:
Me and Julie, we kiss and hug and hold hands and stuff like that. We don’t want to go further than that. We are afraid that might be the next step and the next step might be sex.

HANNAH ELDER:
I thought I might try it. Might be good to go along. When I heard what it’s actually about, it’s changed my mind. I don’t agree with it.

News - Later life love - starting again at 50+

jweiss123 — Sat, 17 May 2008 21:59:50 +0000

A young couple starting life together may imagine their relationship will get easier as they age. But the reality can be rather different.

which have held together through the strains of raising a family and coping with work can break down when faced with the new stresses of an ‘empty nest’ and adjusting to retirement.

And of course many people have no choice in the matter, losing a lifelong companion through illness or accident.

No matter what a person’s age, those who decide to look for a new partner can be daunted by the prospect of getting “out there” again.

Years ago when people got to their fifties they’d start thinking it was pipe and slippers time

Paula Hall
Relate

Bob, 75, from Kent, was married for 40 years before his wife died of cancer.

“I have had a couple of relationships since and find it quite easy to meet new people,” he said, while admitting to some feelings of guilt over the memory of his marriage.

“I really believe in intimacy and in the joy of meeting someone you are compatible with, and am not ready to give up on that just yet.”

Bob’s continuing desire for companionship is echoed by the increasing number of people finding themselves single again in later life.

Divorce

There are more people in the over-50s age group in Britain getting divorced than ever before, figures from the Office of National show.

A survey for Saga magazine found the main reasons couples split was the sudden realisation they had spent years focusing on being parents at the expense of being partners, and the re-evaluation of what they wanted from the rest of their lives.

Dating websites for the over-50s are growing

“Years ago when people got to their fifties they’d start thinking it was pipe and slippers time,” says Paula Hall of relationship counsellors Relate.

“But increasing longevity means people have more time up their sleeves now, and they’re thinking more about what they really want to do with that time.”

There was a time when people who were bereaved or divorced would accept that situation for life but Age Concern’s Elizabeth Hickey says the mindset has changed.

“Many older people are dating, travelling, returning to university or continuing their careers.

“They are enjoying living life to the full and meeting new people and having new relationships as part of a positive approach to life.”

But she also warns divorce in later life can lead to increased isolation, making it important to keep socially active.

People who are 50 these days are acting like they are 40

Geoff Ellis
Over50s.com

While the for fresh starts and adventures seem endless for some, Saga’s Katherine Whitehorn says others find their options more limited.

“There is apparently more difference between the haves and have-nots in this age group than any other, between the educated and affluent and the poor and lonely trying to live on a state pension.

“And health, more than anything else, is the great determinant between those who cope well and those who are miserable.”

Dating websites

Online dating is one avenue older people are exploring to kick-start a later love life.

The website over50s.com has been running a dating service since it launched in 1999 and now boasts more than 250,000 registered users.

Managing director Geoff Ellis says almost three-quarters of the site’s clients are women. Some are looking for friendship, others for a long-term relationship - but all are looking for something new.

“People who are 50 these days are acting like they are 40,” he says.

Results can vary, and women often complain on similar sites that it becomes much harder to find a partner once they have turned 60.

That feeling of rejection can be painful, coming soon after the loss of a lifelong partner or a divorce.

But Mr Ellis says it was important to be patient and have realistic expectations.

“You can’t expect instant love or companionship. It’s like all relationships - it’ll either happen or it won’t.

“But these people are older and wiser. They’ve seen it all before and they can be picky too.”

Intimacy

Regardless of the potential pitfalls, there is evidence to suggest it is important just to try to maintain relationships throughout your 50s - and beyond.

“Research shows that men who are more sexually active actually live longer,” said Dr Sarah Brewer, author of Intimate Relations: Living and Loving in Later Life.

“Hormones are released during sex… men who have sex twice a week live longer than those who have sex once a month or less. In women, it can fight the effects of menopause and reduce wrinkling.”

It was not just sex that helped, she said, but any form of intimacy. And this time, you’d be old enough to appreciate it.

News - What the US knows about visitors

jweiss123 — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:49:57 +0000

A deal on the transfer of data about air passengers leaving the European Union for the US has run out, following the collapse of talks on its renewal.

The need to renegotiate the deal came as a result of a European Court of Justice ruling in May, and there have been repeated warnings since then that chaos would ensue if the talks failed.

Airlines have been threatened with fines of $6,000 per passenger or withdrawal of landing rights if they fly to the US without supplying the data, which American officials use to try to identify potential terrorists.

But the airlines could face prosecution under national data protection laws in EU member states if they do hand over the information.

Passengers on any flights that failed to supply the data to the US authorities would also risk being held up for hours at US immigration.

SOME THINGS US CUSTOMS KNOWS

Your history of missing flights

Your frequent flyer miles

Your seat location aboard

Your e-mail address

From 2004 onwards an agreement was in force allowing US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to access European airline reservation databases and pull out up to 34 pieces of information about each passenger.

However, this agreement was annulled by the European Court of Justice, which ruled that European officials had not given it an appropriate legal basis. The judges gave them until midnight on 30 September to correct the mistake.

The between the EU and the US on renewing the agreement were expected to centre on legal technicalities rather than issues of substance - however, they appear to have strayed in to controversial territory and become bogged down.

One EU official told BBC News that generally speaking the EU wanted to give away less data, while the US wanted more.

US demands for information are going to go up not down

Hugo Brady
Centre for European Reform

In future, the EU also wants to go over to a system where airlines “push” the data across to the US, rather than allowing the CBP to continue “pulling” it.

, European privacy authorities want the US to give legally binding guarantees regarding the protection of the data concerned, instead of the existing non-binding undertakings.

On the other hand, US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has said the CBP needs to be able to share the data more freely with other government , such as the FBI.

Now that the talks with the EU have run into difficulty, the US has the option of doing bilateral deals with each of the EU’s 25 member states, but it is likely to regard this as a last resort.

Passenger profile

The Passenger Name Record (PNR) data that has been up to now, falls into 34 overlapping fields, some of which contain very little information, for example the passenger’s name, while others contain a lot, including the passenger’s name (again), date of birth, sex, citizenship and so on.

Some of this information is collected when the ticket is booked, some of it at check-in, and some is information about the passenger’s travelling history, which can be gleaned from the reservation database. Not all the fields will necessarily be filled in.

The data can be broken down into the following categories

Information about the passenger: name; address; date of birth; passport number; citizenship; sex; country of residence; US visa number (plus date and place issued); address while in the US; telephone numbers; e-mail address; frequent flyer miles flown; address on frequent flyer account; the passenger’s history of not showing up for flights
Information about the booking of the ticket: date of reservation; date of intended travel; date ticket was issued; travel agency; travel agent; billing address; how the ticket was paid for (including credit card number); the ticket number; which issued the ticket; whether the passenger bought the ticket at the airport just before the flight; whether the passenger has a definite booking or is on a waiting list; pricing information; a locator number on the computer reservation system; history of changes to the booking
Information about the flight itself: seat number; seat information (eg aisle or window); bag tag numbers; one-way or return flight; special requests, such as requests for special meals, for a wheelchair, or help for an unaccompanied minor
Information about the passenger’s itinerary: other flights ticketed separately, or data on accommodation, car rental, rail reservations or tours.
Information about other people: the group the passenger is travelling with; the person who booked the ticket

The CBP system has been built in such a way that some “sensitive” information is filtered out.

Protected data

According to the undertakings on data protection provided by the US, this includes “personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, and data concerning the health or sex life of the individual”.

This means that Halal or Kosher meal preferences will not show up, while requests for a vegetarian meal will.

The PNR data is not used simply to check names against blacklists of known suspected terrorists, but to find new suspects with suspicious patterns of behaviour

“You can be sure that the US will construe whatever they can from the information provided. You can construe a lot from someone’s name,” says Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform.

The PNR data is not used simply to check names against blacklists of known suspected terrorists, but to hunt for people with suspicious patterns of behaviour.

“They have compiled a number of scenarios which they believe amount to suspicious activity and the data is screened for a match. Did the passenger pay cash, did he have baggage? And so on,” says Hugo Brady.

He adds: “US demands for information are going to go up not down and we are going to have to find a way of aligning security and privacy to a mutually satisfactory end.”