Good Things About 2023

 Good Things About 2023

Another year, another attempt to find some positives in what could be viewed as an abysmal year by many. Remember, negative news always spreaders wider and faster than positive news but that doesn't mean positive things aren't always happening.

#10 - The lionesses reach the world cup final

The lionesses continued their recent successes by reaching the final of the world cup for the first time. They may have lost but for 90 minutes we fully believed they might just do it. Plus, we got properly introduced to the legendary Mary Earps.

#9 - Pill cuts risk of breast cancer by half

A pill called Anastrozole is now being offered by the NHS which cuts the risk of breast cancer by half. It is currently being offered to women who are seen as being most at risk.

#8 - The Beatles release their last song

Decades after their last song, the Beatles released their lost track 'Now and Then' with a little help from AI. In my opinion, the song is only okay but you can't deny it being pretty cool that the biggest band of all time had a chance to release some new music. 

#7 - Barbenheimer

When Barbie and Oppenheimer released, they smashed the box office and received great reviews from critics. Hopefully signaling the end of cinema releases being made up purely of Marvel sequels and Disney remakes. 

#6 - Laurence Fox fired

Laurence Fox is the epitome of a human skid-mark. It boggles my mind that there are people on the planet that would admire him (do they exist?). Anyway he got fired from GB news for being a twat!

#5 - 4 day working week

The 4 day work week finally got trialed in the UK. Brits everywhere can dream of the freedom that a 3 day weekend would offer.

#4 - Beavers return to UK

Beavers have begun to be reintroduced into the wild in the UK. They were hunted to extinction 400 years ago but are finally making their welcome return in select areas. Beavers also help to create habitats for other wildlife so it could potentially impact the numbers of other wild animals in Britain.

#3 - Less deforestation in the Amazon

Deforestation fell by over 60% in the Amazon. The Amazon is often referred to as the lungs of the earth and its destruction is often viewed as one of the potential tipping points regarding climate change. Any steps towards lessening the deforestation it has been suffering are beneficial for all of us.

#2 - Gender pay gap shortening

The gender pay gap has been proved to be slowly declining and has fallen by over a quarter since the last decade. It still stands at 7.7% but this number improves when looking at people under 40.

#1 - Lad protects security guard

I can't explain how happy I felt when I saw this video showing an oxygen thief trying to ruin the day of  a Tesco security guard being immediately subdued by a 'have a go hero' who was sick of seeing someone behave like a complete arsehole. Seriously, if there is a Just Giving for this guy let me know. 

Anyway, have a happy new year everyone!

Why Roald Dahl Books SHOULDN'T Be Changed

 Why Roald Dahl Books SHOULDN'T be Changed

Unless you've been living under a rock, you have probably heard the furore surrounding Puffin deciding to edit Roald Dahl books in order to make them 'suitable for modern audiences'. These included Augustus Gloop no longer being referred to as 'fat' and the Twits no longer being referred to as ugly. That's right, they're removing insults made towards fictional characters. Fictional characters who are the antagonists of the books! I can't believe I'm favourably quoting the Queen Consort but she said, 'please remain true to your calling, unimpeded by those who may wish to curb the freedom of your expression or impose limits on your imagination'. When referring to writers, I think she's spot on. 

My first thought when reading about the edits my first though was that we knew words like fat and ugly were rude and offensive when I was a kid, that was part of what made reading Roald Dahl books fun. Any child who has a personality and any kind of mischievous nature (which is most children) doesn't want to read books that are 'safe'. They want to read books that are cheeky and have characters who do and say the wrong things. In fact, I can't think of a single great novel (for children or adults) that couldn't be considered controversial or offensive to some extent. When I was a kid, one of the things that put me off reading books was how safe and boring so many of them were. 

My job involves reading to children every single day and they never enjoy it more than when Horrid Henry plays a cruel prank, they learn something gruesome in Horrible Histories or they hear an insulting description of someone in a Roald Dahl book. Funnily enough, despite enjoying Roald Dahl, they know to not call someone fat or ugly in real life because children aren't idiots and don't need to be patronised. 

Furthermore, it is just wrong to edit a writers work without their consent, especially posthumously. A less interfering option could be to put a 'contains insensitive language' sticker on the front and just let parents, teachers and children decide for themselves. Probably almost every great children's novel could be edited for sensitivity. We could have Horrid Henry where Henry is polite to his teachers and never plays pranks on his brother. We could have an Angry Aztecs where we avoid mentioning human sacrifice. We could even write new books about a child who never upsets anyone or does anything challenging. I'm sure children would love reading that book, right? Let's not start with a book about Twits who aren't ugly.