2006: poetry, hate crimes in the news, and a loss still keenly felt today
It’s an entry from 2006 that, every year since, gets an impressive flurry of hits around GCSE exam time. Thankfully, I know the information I posted in Carol Ann Duffy: A Beginner’s Guide, all about one of Britain’s most successful poets, is correct—but really, despite GCSE results around the country usually being quite good, it concerns me that kids are still using the Internet for last-minute revision despite all the warnings that, when it comes to study, books should be used and not websites that haven’t been given a stamp of educational authority. I mean, I know the stuff I wrote isn’t fiction, but I agree with the advice. Sites like Wikipedia are most often used, despite anyone being able to contribute to them.
This was the year that the US government sided with Iran, Zimbabwe and China against allowing pro-gay advocacy groups to join the UN’s Economic and Social Council. Evil, like misery, loves company—until such time as the haters turn the hate on each other. The parents of the killers of gay barman David Morley clearly demonstrated why we have feral children turning into murderers, when they hurled abuse at Mr Morley’s parents as they left the court, one of them drawing a finger across his throat to indicate that the desire to kill ran in the family.
