The approximate cost of the inquest was £8 Million, over 10 years after Diana’s death. With no criminal proceedings likely to come from this the big question is was it worth it?

Diana has always been the UK Media’s sweetheart, the very hint of her name causes newspaper sales to rocket and the public to grip their television screens. Since her death over 10 years ago a seeming morbid obsession has arisen into her demise with many criticising the media’s handling of the stories.

Stories such as “Why Diana would have loved Kate”, “Diana: Scandal of body mix up” and “Diana’s death: Spies flashed laser beam at crash driver” have caused major questions to be asked of the British press.

A similar situation has occured with the story of Madeleine McCann, climaxing with certain newspapers having to compensate her family after wild acusations where made.

With the de-proffesionalisation of journalism, the new trend of ‘Churnalism’ and large amounts of job losses within the industry, the future looks very bleak indeed.

I would love to hear what people believe will be the future for journalism and where we can go from here. I will also be blogging on this issue over the next few days.  

South Africa ended New Zealands 47 match winning streak to take the IRB Adelaide sevens on Sunday. The republic won 15-7 in what was the first time they have beaten New Zealand since Dubai in 2006.

Highlights can be found at www.sarugby.co.za.

We all know the story. When a person comes to power as a result of a civil war or military coup the record shows it never ends well. When Toussaint L’Ouverture routed the British in 1794 he took position as political leader in Saint Domingue. Betrayed by the Americans he was then overthrown and handled the situation so badly it ended up destroying the local population driving them further into the oppression they started with. Another example is Fidel Castro, the freedom fighter who eventually ended up controlling the island of Cuba and in the years of his control crippled its economy. Another dictator Mohamed Farrah Aidid took control of Somalia in the early 90′s and subjected his people to a terrible regime. The list goes on and all it shows is that these men are incapable of running the countries they lead. Of course they are incapable, they are not politicians, they are military men.

But if we are to live in a free world, without oppression and where the might of the west may protect those in need we must not pick and choose where we intervene. These regime’s should not be allowed anywhere, so how can we continue to ignore some but not others? Nicolas Sarkozy is right to boycott the Beijing Olympics and if the politicians of the west have any moral backbone they will follow his lead. How can we justify a war in Iraq for the freedom of its people, yet ignore the oppression imposed in Tibet?

I say stop condemning some and not others, Mugabe must be pressured into allowing the political process to work and the west must take political action against China over Tibet. Military force may not be the answer, but taking a political stance is a must. We must stand by our beliefs and the dream of a free world, no matter the cost and no matter the instigator.

What i wish to talk about is not why we should feel sorry for this section of the American public, nor as white people how we should feel the need to ignore history as a bad memory, attempting to pretend that our ancestors could not have been so cruel. What i wish to speak about instead is how do we move on, where do we go from here, and why we as a species need to stop this destructive mentality of doting on the past.

January 1st 1863 and Abraham Lincoln free’s all black slaves forever, black people are now not slaves but are still second class citizens. 1954 and the supreme court makes its landmark ruling on the abolition of desegregation in schools. Finally black people are deemed equals to their white counterparts 91 years after they where given freedom from slavery. 

2007 and the supreme court only votes 5-4 against the use of racial criteria in the acceptance of children to public schools. 2008 and a black man is still seven times more likely to go to prison than a white man and the ‘Black ghetto’ is a permanent feature of many US cities, with their poverty and crime caused by severe unemployement. Have things really improved for the black community over the last 150 years?  

As we remember Dr Martin Luther King 40 years on we have to say no. The black community are not equals, and until they are treated fairly in a court of law or in a job application they never will be. However it is not just the ‘white fascists’ that are causing this problem. It is also the Black community themselves. By doting on the past and constantly reminding the world of their ancestors struggles they can never truly put the past behind them. It is fair to be proud of your past and for a black man to be proud of his roots as i am proud of my own ancestry, but by constantly looking behind is it not impossible to look where you are going? 

My family is from South Africa and as recently as 15 years ago they employed black people as maids, gardeners and other domestic employee’s before coming back to England. Should i then be expected to stand up and apologise for my family following certain social norms during an apartheid regime? Ofcourse not. So why is it that we as white people feel the need to apologise for our ancestors social behaviour 150 years ago and keep bringing up our muddy past? And why do black people want us to? i feel the secret is that neither white nor black people actually want this. Instead we do it as a kind of polite tradition. A polite tradition that i feel will only serve to further segregate our people (and in particular the american people) further.  

And so as we remember Dr Martin Luther King, for the great man, public speaker and humanist he was let us honour his memory, not by looking backwards and doting on the past, but by moving forward together. Trying to put our differences where they belong, firmly in the past.

I am 21 years old and currently in my second year at the University of Winchester where I am studying

I also play the Guitar and used to sing in a band with whom I made it to the national finals of the Global Battle of the Bands competition, making us one of the 12 top unsigned acts in the country. During my time with them we also played at the Carling Academy in Birmingham, The Mean Fiddler in London, The London Astoria and an open-air festival to over 9,000 people. I currently now only play for personal enjoyment and am not pursuing a career in music.