Dickens Lives in New York

American Notes

I would suppose this should be an addendum to American Notes for General Circulation which detailed Charles Dickens' trip around North America between January and June 1842.

As it were, he visited prisons and mental institutions, so why not in 2008 include an orphanage? This story is littered with the works of Charles Dickens much as they reflect observations that seem to find true today.

Well, this is the cruel sign of the times as we record the way our sense of compassion and humanity is lost to bureaucracy and litigation.

An English family of three comprising the mother and her two daughters aged 15 and 13 took advantage of the appreciated pound over the dollar and decided to visit New York. [BBC News]

Unfortunately, the mother took ill with pneumonia that she had to be hospitalised but her daughters being minors could not stay in the hospital with her.

Lodgers of the workhouse

The doctors then arranged that they should be kept with foster parents for the period their mother was in hospital, this would have been the remit of the Administration for Children’s Services in New York (ACSNY).

To cut a long story short, in the whole of glorious New York, New York, they could not find a foster family so they placed the girls in an orphanage.

At the orphanage, they were stripped of their clothes, issued uniforms, given medical examinations and questioned about whether that had been abused.

Beyond that, they were made to shower in front of strangers and refused visiting rights to their mother. So we have perfectly normal children who being distressed because of their sick mother, frightened because of their separation, terrified because of treatment they have received are now traumatised by being interrogated and coerced to express grotesque, deplorable, despicable and reprehensible experiences they have never had. Children's Services?

When their mother heard that her daughters had been placed in an orphanage, she discharged herself and retrieved her kids from what Charles Dickens in his time would have called a workhouse.

Governess on leave

Obviously, in those times, people who could afford to visit America rather than the settlers would have travelled with a retinue of servants and definitely a governess.

Now, the mother has received a "standard" letter from the ACSNY informing her that she is being investigated.

I would suppose for falling terribly ill that she could not make adequate provision for the accommodation and safety of her daughters.

One would have thought there was an inkling of humanity and compassionate intuition in the ACSNY at least in the 21^st Century to have been able to make adequate provision; but they have rolled back the years – the girls probably made an acquaintance with Oliver Twist asking for more and the Fagin directors of this disservice really thought they were doing their jobs.

Supposedly, every child is an abused child until proven otherwise – this is the most cynical outlook to life that can be expressed to any child.

A snapshot of the battle of life

This sad tale is just another snapshot of America where almost 47 million have no health insurance, where foreclosures are rising, where dishonesty has given rise to the credit crunch that has stifled the world’s economy and where they could not find a friendly caring foster family to care for two kids for a day or two.

That is The Battle of Life I suppose many Americans face, no doubt the family went to New York with Great Expectations, the experienced Hard Times in a Bleak House.

Dickens surely lives again in New York – it is definitely now off limits or where else would one learn to pick a pocket or two [YouTube (Oliver Twist Musical)].

The unassailable Paula Radcliffe

The incomparable Paula Radcliffe once again got the Union Jack flying as she finished the closely run New York City marathon with the winner of the Berlin Marathon – Gete Wami coming second.

It brought a tear to my eye as I watched the return of a woman to the top of her sport after all the disappointments and troubles she has had over the years, take the tape, wrap the flag about her, get baby Isla and kiss husband Gary.

In her wake were champions all, but as holder of the world record, Paula is a class by herself and no doubt would have her place in history as one of the best marathon runners ever that has graced this sport. Bring on Beijing, my voice is hoarse already for the cheering in a year's time.

Her interview before the marathon talks about preparing for the Beijing Olympics and motherhood – this girl makes me proud as an example of dogged determination, supreme confidence, perseverance and self-belief.

Well Done – Paula Radcliffe.

Mile-high monkey takes hat seat

Fist full of monkey

One would hope that this was not for real, but the incredible is now par for the course, it really has to be astonishingly miraculous to be surprising nowadays - it is impossible to shock anyone such that ones jaw dropping to the floor can be termed a rebellious response to conserving energy and body heat.

In this age of the war against terrorism and the paralysing paranoia of running the gauntlet of airport security one would think this was a science fiction dream.

Somehow, a man travelled from Lima, Peru to LaGuardia airport in New York with a few hours stopover in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his monkey (marmoset) pet under his hat without detection, till the animal came out for a breather during the second leg of his journey within the United States.

It would appear there was a time someone thought the swishing tail of the monkey was the man's ponytail.

Scanning voids

So much for security checks, X-Ray scanning and checked baggage, if a man could successfully go through customs checks without once having to doff his hat - it is no doubt a daring thing to do and no matter that charges are filed against the man, there was a complete lapse in checks at Peru and within the United States.

Supposedly, he was a passenger in transit in Florida and hence might not have had to go through stringent checks reserved for those entering the travel circuit from Florida, it is still amazing that no one noticed on the flight from Peru which would have been a good few hours.

A vector for terror

The greater concern however is the possibility that if this animal were a vector for some pathogenic organism, the conditions in a depressurised cabin for the hours of flight might have had the passengers in such danger graver than could be imagined - the Ebola virus or some simian-borne agent that could be so contagious and transmissible.

Seeking commonsense and comfort

Before we get ahead of ourselves, the monkey has now been handed over to the New York animal control officials and the man arrested. There is the plan to keep the monkey in quarantine for a month, but what if, the people on that flight had picked up something for which they should be in quarantine rather that walking the streets incubating secondary vectors of a disease?

Commonsense should prevail in this case, but the more serious matter here is that checks did not discover this possible terrorism opportunism and the consequences that could be too scary to narrate. Roamland Insecurity rules.

11th of September 2006

In remembrance of those whose lives were changed irrevocably by the events of that callous attack on America.

Those in whose name, goodwill has been squandered, wars are being fought, liberties are being eroded, democracies are being stifled, freedoms are being lost and lies are being told.

In the memory of those who we would like to contemplate in silence, but that tranquillity is blotted out of our minds by the bombs that go off daily in Iraq.

Who, if they were to be resurrected would most likely forsake life and fatherland, this time, for a hegemony has been built in the quest for vengeance in their name, one they would barely recognise.

In empathy with those who lost, them who grieve, many who weep, ones who cry, day and night, because once our peace was shattered they who could have brought us succour brought more blood, more sorrow, and more bodies from lands of them with a strange tongue.

Yes, the world has changed, but if they that we lost could speak to our hearts and talk to our minds, would they justify this change that we have acquiesced to, as the War on Terror masquerading as the Great War for Democracy wages on?

If you would have forgiven, then we would be remiss of our actions, if we were to seek vengeance, have we excelled?

In all, you might have departed in such destruction but have entered into your rest, may we in your memory find rest from all the turmoil that surrounds us.

The dead are dumb when money talks

Letting the dead bury the dead

Once, a person looking for a purpose in life was offered a career opportunity with prospects that make heroes of the subjects of the Bible, but he felt that he could only take up that prospect after he had buried his father.

The response of the employer was, "Let the dead bury the dead". There is a possibility that this meant the literal but I'll err on the side of the figurative.

The inference being let those who have not prospects continue in their purposeless lives and those who do get on with doing something meaningful.

Blunt as that may seem, the proponent was never known for mincing his words and these ones in particular.

This saying however carries more poignancy when viewed in terms of some recent events that have caught my attention. The last weekend witnessed the occurrence of two major but man-made tragedies.

First the 3 suicide bombings in Bali, Indonesia [1] and then the day after a tourist boat capsized on Lake George in New York State. [2]

Both events bought untold grief to the victims, survivors, relations and citizenry in general; as an act of terrorism in Bali [3] and some freak accident on Lake George.

What however bothered me more was the way the news was delivered without a pause to allow the disaster to sink in before agonising about the loss of tourist revenue and business.

Now, there is no doubt that those locations do really depend to a great extent on people visiting as tourists, keeping those economies and livelihoods going, but there is no use being an anxious tourist.

For those who are not anxious, it is not time for the bravado for business as usual in the midst of the recovering from the event.

It is saddening that subtle aspects of humanity and conditioned response to tragedy are being lost to the quest from the tourist dollar above all else.

Indeed these places do need tourism as I do say again at the risk of inadvertent tautology, but at least, let the wounded be succoured and let the dead be buried before we return to counting the pennies which either fall from heaven or come from afar.

References

[1] Two questioned over Bali bombings

[2] Jemaah Islamiah split but still deadly

[3] Tourists die in US boat disaster