A ghostly apparition

Today I wanted to share the story of the day I saw a ghost and how I know this was not a figment of my imagination.

There are many people in this world who are sceptical about angels, ghosts, aliens and the like but just because science cannot prove it does not mean its not a reality. The story I am about to tell is a truthful account of what happened and the feelings I felt.

Not long before I was born (twenty seven years ago) my parents bought a newly built house in the suburbs of Leicester, this house was built on land formerly owned by a local farmer who had retired and not passed the farm on due to his son taking a different career path.

As a very young boy I don't remember any feelings of ill ease from within the property until I was around seven years of age. At this time I vividly remember one evening when my mum asked me to collect her book from her bed side table. I ventured up the stairs and crossed the upper hallway to my mothers bedroom (I was the only person upstairs at this point). I picked up the book but from reaching my mothers bedroom to picking up the book it felt like someone was close behind me the whole time. Due to this I ran as fast as I could back downstairs with the book. This does not give any direct truth that there was a ghost but there is a lot more to this story.

As I grew older I and all my other siblings (I am from a large family) always felt uneasy when in my mothers bedroom or the room below which were additions to the property after it was built. When in these rooms we always felt their was a presence there.

When I was just short of my tenth birthday I woke up in the middle of the night and turned to climb out of bed to go to the bathroom when I froze. Across the upper hallway there was a Victorian girl no older than about seven years old, she was wearing a gown and white bonnet on her head and moving from the corner where my mothers bedroom was to the bedroom of two of my sisters.

I was young and extremely scared, I was rigid and did not dare to move a muscle in case she sensed me there. After a few moments she passed in to my sisters bedroom and disappeared...needless to say I did not sleep well that night.

I woke up in the morning and told my mother, all she said was that she didn't want me scaring my sisters or brother so not to say a thing. I did not mention anything to my sisters or brother for quite a few years and always slept with the door closed from then on.

When I was around eighteen my sister (the one who's room the ghostly apparition ventured in to) told me and my older sister the story of one night when she was asleep and woke to see a young girl sitting on the end of her bed, at first she thought it was our youngest sister and asked what she was doing, it was only when the ghostly apparition turned to her that she realised it was not our sister, but a Victorian girl. Remember at this point I had not told my sister about my story and she did not know anything of my encounter.

My older sister then recounted a story of when her friend and her had stayed in this same bedroom and during the night she was awoken by someone slapping her hand hard as she was sleeping with it hanging out the bed. When she woke she looked around and no one was there except for her friend who was sleeping soundly in the bed on the opposite side. My sister then lay in bed and could hear scraping sounds along the floor to the side of the bed her hand was and became scared.

It was then that I recounted my story to my sisters....

So you see not only did I have a story to tell but my sisters also have stories that back up my claims....although this wont stop the sceptics. I know what I saw and trust what my sisters tell me.

What we did later find out, after my family moved from the house, is that the property was built on forest land rather than an old farmers field. Not only this but we also know that people had been murdered in this old forest many years ago, even that a man once received the death penalty for mudering a young girl.

When I was about twenty I was talking to my father who advised me that ghosts are the apparition of people who died a gruesome death and did not realise they had passed on. Could this be true? If it is it would explain why many people still see and hear the ghosts of German, English and French soldiers fighting in the battlefields of World War One.

When freedom of speech goes too far

Over half the countries in the world have some form of law that lets people exercise their freedom of speech, which I fully support BUT when does this go too far and something should be done to stop what is being said?

This is a difficult one to fathom as one could say that a law giving freedom of speech to the masses is not valid if it is still denying one portion of society the opportunity to air their views. Okay so what if for example an ultra nationalist is spouting off their views inciting racial hatred? This in turn causes mass riots, should this freedom of speech be stopped? In my view it should. Likewise if someone pro nuclear energy is talking about nuclear energy and a riot ensues between environmentalists and pro nuclear supporters, should it be stopped...well yes it should.

If this is the case then the issue arises again that you dont have real freedom of speech because if others dont like what you are saying and it causes civil unrest someone is censoring you meaning you dont have freedom of speech.

I am confusing myself as to whether freedom of speech should be allowed without rules and regulations or not......that is until I thought of the following point.

Once upon a time (1889) a young man was born in Austria to a working class family. As this young man grew up he was whipped by his father then was in the first world war as a runner for the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment.

Over time this young man became a German nationalist and joined the National Socialist German Workers Party otherwise known as the Nazi party. Due to freedom of speech and a strong mind this young man grew in stature and became the leader in German politics.....this man was Adolf Hitler.


Now due to the freedom of speech one has Adolf Hitler managed to control a nation, instigate a world war and cause the death of millions of people. If there had been some form of legislation giving rules on freedom of speech...would he have come to power, would their have been a world war...and would millions of innocent people have died in such awful conditions like the Jewish people in Bergen Belsen concentration camp? I think not....yet I still think their should not be rules on freedom of speech because then your still not free to talk.

Overall I have gone round in circles, while someone should step in when things turn fowl from one persons views, you still shouldn't stop them from airing their views no matter how much you don't agree.

Economical over Ecological?

Well the title says it all, you all know the drill by now....we all live in a world that is besotted with the latest ideas that save time, money and of course make life easy. Can you hand on heart remember the last time you willingly paid more for a product that was ecologically friendly over a similar product that is more economical yet not friendly to our environment????

Nope didn't think so, out of every one thousand readers of this post (Yeah I wish, I know) I bet only a handful really think about our environment when they tootle down to the shops to buy a deodrant, washing powder or use a plastic bag for their groceries.

In a world that looks like climate change is seriously starting to affect us (look at the change in animal migration and our weather), isn't it time for us to all start thinking a little more about the environment before the whole it can cause on our wallet.

In fact scratch my comment about the wallet, why not just start small and recycle your empty bottles, newspapers and plastic grocery bags...... yes plastic grocery bags, you can use them again you know.

Some people may have got this far and are thinking "Hang on one darn second" if your American or "Hang on just one minute" if you British...hell even "izchakai edin moment" if your Bulgarian...my reply is..."You hang on one minute and think about our Mother Earth she will not last forever".

Did you know that in England alone in 2005/06 17.9 million tonnes of rubbish that cannot be recycled was disposed of in landfill sites...thats a staggering number given the countries size.

So my rant a side I really do think it is time for us to stop for just a moment and think about our environment and the simple changes we can accomodate in our lifestyles to support Mother nature

Internet invading our sex lives

Many people know that the Internet is not just a useful tool for those who wish to research topics, write a blog or just want to shop online, it also has an underworld of sex and intrigue.

It has been said on many occasions that the Internet has liberated many peoples thoughts on sex due to the ease in accessing images and content at the click of a button. Has this gone a step to far and now pushed the boundaries of what some people view as "Normal" when it comes to sexual practises?

I believe in most peoples view the Internet has made it more acceptable to view porn. Long ago a person who wished to get their hands on porn used to have to visit their local shop, wait till their parents friends had left before snatching that top shelf magazine and running to the counter feeling ashamed. This was exacerbated by the fact that the magazine was then placed in a tell tale brown bag by a cashier who had a cheesy grin on their face. The Internet has meant that people can view porn without the knowledge of people they don't want to know, but has also made it more acceptable to talk about porn with people they feel comfortable with.

There are a couple of things that rise from porn on the Internet (pardon the pun).

The first is that the more hardcore and illegal porn has become easier to access which makes people who have tendencies towards this filth feel it is more acceptable and could possibly act on it.

The second, which is just as disturbing, is the fact that younger people are finding access to porn very easy. By accessing porn so young it is giving the youth of today the wrong idea about what sex is all about. Many of today's youth use porn from the Internet as their sex manual for when they start their first sexual encounters, this then means that they have a deluded view that some of the sexual moves carried out in porn movies are normal sexual practises. Without going into too much graphic detail I am talking about pushing the boundaries of what "normal" sexual practises are.

My personal view is that mainstream porn is healthy if used in the correct way (two consenting adults using mainstream porn as an aid to get them in the mood), but their are many people that now have 24 hour access to what I would view as porn that pushes the boundaries of legality. These same people grow their fantasies from this which can harm themselves and the society around them.

Female bloggers....whats the deal?

The title might invoke anger to those who do not read further on. The truth is that I have seen a great deal of people talk about whether a female blogger are as good as a male blogger.....I just don't see where this comparison can come from.

How can the two sexes be compared in their blogs, I mean there are different levels of intelligence and education, different cultural backgrounds and different subjects talked about. Overall I cannot see how you can compare sexes when blogging.

I have seen many blogs written by females that are amazing and riveting to read while I have also seen dreary blogs that I would never visit again, but likewise I have seen the same from male bloggers.

Is this feminists trying to prove a females worth? Or is it males trying to establish themselves as the better sex? Either way it is something I hear about all the time, yet think is the most pointless conversation someone could have.

Blogs have been created by many people, both male and female, to pen their thoughts on the issues going on in today's world, anything from technology to their favourite football teams. Just because a blog is written by a female doesn't mean I should automatically think it is useless and shouldn't visit.

Did you know that entire threads on forums are given to this very same subject? With pros and cons thrashed out with no real outcome, WHY....I beg you WHY.....A good blog has nothing to do with the sex of a person.

By the way, this post was written by a man!

A democratic twist

In an age where most of the western world lives in a democratic society, just how democratic are the countries we live in?

This question raised its ugly head as I lay here watching a television program about nomads in Kazakhstan who roam the lands with their animals living a peaceful, yet hard working existence. These people do not care for the politics of the world that we endure on a daily basis through taxes and various life changing decisions made for us by the powers that be.

What made me think about how democratic our election systems are is the facts that it seems politicians have the ability to make decisions that are against the policies which bought them to power and are also against the will of the people they serve.

Take Tony Blair for instance, when were the British people given the opportunity to have a say about the decision to go to war in Iraq, or George Bush and his decisions on foreign policy which a lot of the American population probably don’t even know about, let alone support.

It seems that we can democratically elect a person on the policies they wish to change. Once they are in power, if they have the majority of politicians support them, they can change the policy against what bought them to power of a whole country at the drop of a hat.

While I understand it is not always feasible to change policies that the people want, all we ask is that you are up front and tell us the truth instead of making decisions that affect our lives without consulting us first.

A Racial Divide

Recently I was talking to some friends of different ethnic backgrounds when it became apparent that even in this day and age there is a divide in cultures.

By divide I do not mean there is a racist element splitting different ethnic origins so they cannot mix as friends. I am actually talking about parents forcing views on to their children about whom they can and cannot date.

It was surprising for me (a white European) to learn that although my friend’s parents do not mind the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of their friends, they are bound by parental control to the ethnic and cultural background of anyone they wish to form a loving relationship with.

One of my friends is of Indian origin and also practises Sikhism, due to this their parents and grandparents will not allow them to be with anyone other than someone of Indian origin who is also Sikh. Another of my friends is of Caribbean origin and they advised me that their mother would not be happy if they came home with anyone other than someone else of Caribbean origin.

While I understand that parents only want what is best for their children, I do not see how trying to safeguard a child’s future by drilling in to them that they have to marry in to the same ethnic group does this. This is the reason why there are ethnic divides, why can we not look past religion and skin colour to decide who we shall love and live our lives with?

The beginning

Today a new dawn has begun, this is not some biblical apocalypse or even a new political leader about to start reigning over a country far away, this new dawn is my blog VVIDE.

There are many millions of blogs on the Internet, some providing valuable information, some are satirical in nature while others are used as a tool to promote ones business. VVIDE has been created so one man (Me) can show his rambling thoughts on the world today, from items in the news to general interests I have.

I do hope you follow my ideas and thoughts as they help me grow as a person and hopefully provoke thought in those who read them.