Authors Comments

Before you as the reader embarked on this literature review, I want to make it absolutely clear that I have taken an objective view, as a Christian myself my spiritual journey’s have left my faith stronger than ever before, one has to be mindful that religion is one of the most delicate of subjects, many politicians especially in Great Brittan and America when going to dinner parties for instance, there are two subjects that are taboo, politics and religion, with increased media attention to various methods of bombings all around the world, one feels that this is the eve of something unimaginable, after speaking to some Muslims and various other religious cultures, it is felt generally that whatever we believe in religion or not, it shouldn’t get in the way of friendship, it is the opinion indeed that skin colour, race origin and religion shouldn’t get in the way of our views of other people, we live in a state as what is described in media terminology “disequilibrium” with countless revenge attacks from the east and counter attacks from the west, one has to think, where and when is it all going to stop? What price all parties have to pay for the future!

Feelings here that at this point it must be revealed that one is ashamed at how some of our ancestors white Cascadian’s have treated various black and other cultural races, using slavery to ease our very fabric of our daily lives, this is unacceptable! I have an Indian uncle, and he’s extremely educated and now in his retirement years, lectures at various colleges. Even though I have been brought up in a small town with set traditional values and ideals, it has always left me dissatisfied, out of place and isolated.

My experiences and challenged I have faced, has left me constantly challenging, reflecting and re-evaluating my own view points, now has left me with one of many conclusions to life, life is far too complex to be stagnant, keep challenging your own ideas and conclusions to various aspects within and around life, most people will never know what is beyond their own two eyes and everything in turn must be tactile to them, change the way you think and feel, this will keep you healthy in mind and soul. How will our future ancestors feel about us? What life are we ensuring them? What examples are we going to leave behind? I would rather leave behind something good to teach others in a positive productive way than something negative, to be thought of as a puppet and in turn flow with the current. History has been replete with mistake and even though the “confrontational game” has changed, the rules stay the same. However one still has to wonder, how far can we as a democratic society view our own individuality and self reasoning?
Increasing media attention to the fact that confidentiality is a myth, with ever more CCTV cameras in society, government’s monitoring phone calls and internet sites in the name of fighting terror, monitoring our accounts to build a general psychological analysis of each and every one of us. One feels by reading the book that I have chosen to review generally on some level integrates it’s self quite delicately and discretely that one topic flows into the next, stand back and try to look at the bigger picture.


Abstract

In this review I will discussed some of aspects in the book, The Holy Grail and what was controversial about it. How it all began and where the story originated from story of the nineteenth-century French priest who, in his mountain village at the foot of the Pyrenees, discovered something which enabled him to amass and spend a fortune, uncovered that the Catholic Church from the 6th Century by a bishop preached and wrote that Mary Madeline was in fact a prostitute, despite this flaw of understanding and that the Catholic Church knew for over 1.300 years that this was not the case. The Knights Templer, why did they collect a fortune. The significance of Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon, the origins and why they were executed. How did Leonardo Da Vinci became involved, if so why has this come to light now? The Catholic Church did indeed cover up any inaccurate biblical text but why?

I have chosen to review The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail and research will undoubtedly briefly investigate some research to the Holy Grail, the Knights Templer, there is countless avenues and documentation within the book about claims to Masonic origins, secret letters and the Pierre documents which claims that Leonardo Da Vinci, claiming that he knew something that is now controversial, a genius in his own right, awoke to find that the whole world was asleep, ahead of his time and his famous painting “The Last Supper” which has been in high speculation, with claims from theorists that on the right side of Jesus wasn’t the disciple Peter and the absence of The Holy Grail, from the table, was this a reference in it’s self, for future generations to examine? Further more claims of a Third World order that has been speculation that has been carefully plotting for hundreds of years maybe even thousands, for complete world control over a global scale to control everyone and everything.
Synopsis
All around the globe all cultures have been enthralled with the story of the nineteenth-century French priest who, in his mountain village at the foot of the Pyrenees, discovered something which enabled him to amass and spend a fortune, it is believed that he found secret documents that could have shaken Christianity as a whole, repaid for his findings by the Catholic Church in Rome of some what millions of pounds. His house keeper was the only other that knew of the story, she died before she could reveal anything. The tale seems to begin with buried treasure and then turns into an unprecedented historical detective story a modern Grail quest leading back through cryptically coded parchments, foundations of the very fabric of the free mansions perhaps links to the knights templar and other intricacy infringes of secret societies, the Cathar heretics of the 12th and 13th centuries and a dynasty of obscure French kings deposed more than 1,300 years ago. Now, after more than thirty six years of research has past since it all began in 1969, Cevennes, a holiday destination, Henry Lincoln and his co-authors, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, publish the results of their inquiry into this taunting enigma. What really lies at the core of this discovery of Rennes-le-Chateau is not material riches, but a secret - a secret of explosive and controversial proportions, which radiates out from the little Pyrenees village to encompass the whole of Western civilization. The secret is no mere historical curiosity. “Its repercussions stretch all the way to the contemporary politics and the entire foundation of the Christian faith” (Richard Leigh et al).

It involves nothing less than the Holy Grail - not as a mystical chalice of medieval legend but as something more tangible which has played a vital role in the shaping of Western history. The enigma extends to our present day, implicating such men as de Gaulle and Malraux. It also casts an astonishing new light on such events as the Renaissance and the Crusades. Most startlingly it pertains to the origins of Christianity and the very identity of Jesus. Since this book was first released in 1982 there have been a number of books that are trying to uncover and duplicating these topics.
In this conspiracy theory and everybody loves the unknown, wanting to be let in, a sense of uncovering the truth or embark on their own treasure hunting. Bletchley Park code-breakers have joined the hunt too (Brendan O'Neill, 2006) for information to seek clues to re-enforce their faith or disprove, whatever you’re reason once you begin to explore this vast in-depth sea of knowledge, there is no end to what you will find, complexities of culture, myth and ideology.

Why has so much time and attention been invested in the Holy Grail, relic that plays no major role of any significance within any of the biblical texts? The answer can be traced from the fact that so many different sites lay claim to it or at least to a connection to it: the presence of the Holy Grail provides a link to the salvation history in the Bible itself[1]. In the painting “The Last Supper” the holy grail which was thought to be the cup was in fact not present in his painting and further more it is thought by some that at the right side of Jesus was in fact Mary Madeline not Peter, religious foundational sects have rebuked these claims and said this was a young man, one has to wonder and understandably that the young boy to the right side of Jesus does look like a woman.

Books, documentaries and now the highly controversial film The Da Vinci Code wrote by Dan Brown et al, is understandably cased an out rage in religious constituencies throughout the world, as his claims and indeed countless other theorists who have embarked on similar quests have uncovered that the Catholic Church from the 6th Century by a bishop preached and wrote that Mary Madeline was in fact a prostitute! Despite this flaw of understanding and that the Catholic Church knew for over 1.300 years that this was not the case. The Catholic Church somewhat embarrassed has reluctantly now admitted this mistake in a number of documentaries on SKY and the BBC.
However it has quietly been filtered through the media with much resistance, one has to wonder why this curtail biblical information was kept under such secrecy, it is no wonder why so many people have decided to investigate further. The repercussions have been tremendous, with gold diggers destroying the country side and what is now thought a global hunt for the Holy Grail and other religious documentation. If the Catholic Church had released that in fact it was wrong why not say sooner! One theory comes to mind, that if the church as powerful as it was and is indeed is today, admitted that even the most senior of religious of personnel do get it wrong, after all we are only human and the very core of humanity branches from the learning and understanding of our mistakes, could this also in fact have had catastrophic affects! If revealing one flaw how many more are there? Followers may have felt cheated and then start to question the very core of the church, something that would have been unheard of, even more recently, the consequences would have been unthinkable,[2] fear was apart of the church which in turn controlled it’s followers,[3] with countless church building reference this by countless statues inside and out, looking down at the individuals who gaze upon them reminding us, and as though giving a sense of judgment, reminding followers that they are being watched especially Medieval architecture. Poussin was said by some to have been a Grand Master of the Knights Templar, named after the order that captured Jerusalem during the Crusades and who were known as the "keepers of the Holy Grail". The Knights Templar was an order of warrior of allegedly of six monks, originally formed to give pilgrims protection in the Holy Land. The order soon became wealthy and powerful. Through their contacts with Muslims and Jews in the Holy Land, some members of the order developed interests in occult and hermetic ideas. Eventually, the order's relationship with the Catholic Church turned to conflict. Temples throughout Europe were imprisoned on charges of here say, and the Templar grand master was burned at the stake. Many myths and romantic stories have become associated with the Templars. The Knights Templar was founded in 1119. This was after the capture of Jerusalem and the First Crusade. Many of the crusaders had returned to their homes, having fulfilled their vows, but some protection was still required for pilgrims to the Holy Land. The Knights Templar were founded by a small number of French knights who wanted to devote themselves to the protecting pilgrims en route to the Holy Land, and who wanted to form a religious community with that aim.
The king of Jerusalem gave the knight’s quarters in a part of the former Jewish Temple of Solomon, which had been the Al Asqa Mosque. The Templars take their name from the Temple of Solomon.

“The significance of Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon in particular, rests on the concept of Holy Place. A Holy Place is, properly, a point where the supernatural world connects with our own. Properly speaking, this is not a pinned down physical location, but a person. The Temple of Solomon, as constructed in Jerusalem, is a symbol for the Hebrew God, but is not the thing itself. Exactly the same argument applies to the Ark of the Covenenteory authors”.
(JC Cooper,2006)

In 1129, the Knights Templar received papal recognition, and was established as a holy order, with their own set of rules. The Vatican authorized the Templars to keep spoils taken in battle, and exempted them from the payment of tithes. The clergy were ordered to protect the Templars and encouraged Christians to contribute to them. The Templars came to acquire vast wealth, both through donations, and through acquiring the property of those who wished to join the order, as the individual Templars could have no worldly possessions of their own. The properties which they acquired became working farms, and other enterprises, which generated income to pay for the expensive military operations in the Holy Land. [4] All of the rituals, practices and even daily services of the Knights Templar were performed in secret Ibid. This was highly unusual for monastic orders and is the source for all the mystery surrounding the Knights Templar as well as the source for their condemnation. They began soon after finding secret document in Jerusalem and turned to perform Satanic rituals

Conclusion

Reading The Holy Blood and the Holy grail one has to admire Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln for their forward thinking and research, they have come against constant dead ends in their research, resistance from practically everywhere and yet they inspire the reader not to take even their research at core value as they wrote in this addition, it is only a start to research, a starting point, a taste and a thumbnail of thousands of years of conflicting documents. Dan Brown’s novel however was a much easier book to read it was somewhat childlike with conflicting evidence that isn’t properly referenced and unfortunately even though I admire Dan Brown’s work and Dan Burstein and that the risk they have taken accompanied by controversy he has made his point clear that conspiracies are occurring. Historical factors come into place here, what would history recall about the Second World War if Germany had won? Only now we hear of the other side of the coin as it were from German accounts. The problem we see today as evidence within all media texts and in film, events in true stories have been sculpted for entertainment and the fact there is only so much time the viewer can watch, with a film mostly only lasting ninety minuets, understandably things need to be edited. Much can be said about The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail, you can see where the authors want to disclose more of their research. However due to editing and the fact that it’s so much in depth, the reader may loose interest, I myself found it a challenge especially with the links with the Sinclair family and countless French origins and The Pierre Documents which must be said you as the reader of this review must do a lot more further reading. In 2008 in my third year of Broadcast media, I will produce a challenging dissertation on this subject and expand on my own research as I too want to elaborate. One feels that this is an extremely sensitive, extensive and exhausting subject, this involves the very core of secret societies, conspiracies and conflicting evidence, one has to be mindful who is writing the documentation so I again will take a more objected account to my research, however I feel that it’s worth the risk and there’s nothing to fear if we are bold enough to embark on our own research, gold mining frontier. Although in my past experiences have been quite extensive, with reference to organizations that cover up vital information to benefit themselves seriously puts in question the very fabric of a democratic society.

Bibliography

Baigent, Michael, Leigh, Richard & Lincoln:The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail.Coxs & Wyman LTD,Reading,Bedforshire, (1996)
Bursten, Dan. Secrets of the Code: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind. Squibnocket Partners LTD.2004
Richard A. Rutyna and Peter C. Stewart The History of Freemasonry in Virginia, A. Rutyna and Peter C. Stewart, published in 1998. Review by Wallace McLeod in The Royal Arch Mason, Winter 1999, vol. 19, no. 12, pages 375-376

The Knights Templar and their Myth, by Peter Partner, (1990)
Review by Wallace McLeod in The Royal Arch Mason, Winter 1999, vol. 19, no. 12, pages 372-373

The Knights Templar and their Myth, by Peter Partner, (1990)
review by Wallace McLeod in The Royal Arch Mason, Winter 1999, vol. 19, no. 12, pages 372-373 cited in, The Labyrinth of the Grail, by William F. Mann (1999)
Review by Wallace McLeod in The Royal Arch Mason, Spring 2000, vol. 20, no. 1, pages 22-24

http://atheism.about.com/od/imagegalleries/ig/Holy-Grail/Percival-with-the-Holy-Grail.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk
http://northernway.org/school/templars.html/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4044765.stm
http://www.davincispeaks.net/chapter-1.htm
http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/paper/constabl.html
http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/paper/jinty.html
http://www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rants/1013a-almanac.htm
www.timesonline.co.uk
www.whsmith.co.uk

APPENDIX

For further reading
This will be elaborated in my final year

The Knights Templar was an order of warrior of allegedly of six monks, originally formed to give pilgrims protection in the Holy Land. The order soon became wealthy and powerful. Through their contacts with Muslims and Jews in the Holy Land, some members of the order developed interests in occult and hermetic ideas. Eventually, the order's relationship with the Catholic Church turned to conflict. Temples throughout Europe were imprisoned on charges of here sey, and the Templar grand master was burned at the stake. Many myths and romantic stories have become associated with the Templars. The Knights Templar was founded in 1119. This was after the capture of Jerusalem and the First Crusade. Many of the crusaders had returned to their homes, having fulfilled their vows, but some protection was still required for pilgrims to the Holy Land. The Knights Templar were founded by a small number of French knights who wanted to devote themselves to the protecting pilgrims en route to the Holy Land, and who wanted to form a religious community with that aim.
The king of Jerusalem gave the knight’s quarters in a part of the former Jewish Temple of Solomon, which had been the Al Asqa Mosque. The Templars take their name from the Temple of Solomon.

The significance of Jerusalem, and the Temple of Solomon in particular, rests on the concept of Holy Place. A Holy Place is, properly, a point where the supernatural world connects with our own. Properly speaking, this is not a pinned down physical location, but a person. The Temple of Solomon, as constructed in Jerusalem, is a symbol for the Hebrew God, but is not the thing itself. Exactly the same argument applies to the Ark of the Covenenteory authors
In 1129, the Knights Templar received papal recognition, and was established as a holy order, with their own set of rules. The Vatican authorized the Templars to keep spoils taken in battle, and exempted them from the payment of tithes. The clergy were ordered to protect the Templars and encouraged Christians to contribute to them. The Templars came to acquire vast wealth, both through donations, and through acquiring the property of those who wished to join the order, as the individual Templars could have no worldly possessions of their own. The properties which they acquired became working farms, and other enterprises, which generated income to pay for the expensive military operations in the Holy Land.
The Templars and the Hospitalers became essential for the defense of the Christian crusader states of the Holy Land, and the pilgrim routes. At their height the Templars numbered about 20,000 knights. They possessed around 870 castles, preceptories, and houses throughout Western and Southern Europe. Several major castles in the Holy Land were built by the Templars specifically to defend the pilgrim routes.
The Templars created the first banking system. Pilgrims were able to deposit money with the Templars at their point of departure, and to collect the money at their destination, avoiding the dangerous practice of carrying money with them on their journey. The Templars' financial and trading activities soon far developed beyond the requirements of pilgrims. This led to the acquisition of considerable wealth, and influence.
In 1187, Jerusalem was recaptured by the Muslim Saladin, and the Christian forces retreated to a few Crusader forts along the Eastern edge of the Mediterranean.
In 1198/90, the 3rd Crusade, led by Richard the Lionheart and Phillip II, strengthened the Christian positions, but did not recapture Jerusalem. But agreement was reached with Saladin, to allow Christian pilgrims access to the Christian shrines. The Templar headquarters moved to the town of Acre.
Jerusalem was in Christian hands from 1229 to 1239 and from 1240 to 1244. After that, the only Christians who remained in Jerusalem were the Greek Orthodox and other Oriental groups. In 1291, the Templar stronghold at Acre fell, and Crusaders were expelled from the Holy Land.
In the 14th century the Franciscans began to represent the Roman Catholic interests. The Jews, who had been barred by the crusaders, returned and from the mid-13th century inhabited their own quarter. In 1517 the Turks captured the city, and occupied it for the next 400 years.
Reference
Baigent, Michael, Leigh, Richard & Lincoln:The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail.Coxs & Wyman LTD,Reading,Bedforshire, (1996)


[1] These stories about Jesus take place in a distant land with foreign people (Austin Cline 2006)
[2] We are becoming used to seeing almost any area of history as a site of struggle and contest, and particularly familiar with analyses that emphasize the repressive nature of the medieval church,( John Arnold (Mr.) Teaching Fellow University of York,1996)
[3] Church-state conflicts through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as well as discussing the impact on political ideas of 'the revived legacy of antiquity' in law and philosophy; the fourth pursues church-state conflicts, and also conflict within the church, in the late Middle Ages ( Professor Janet Nelson, November, 1997)
[4] It was on this date, October 13, 1307 — and presumably on a Friday — that King Philip IV ("the Fair") of France arrested all of the Templar Knights. The religious order had been the subject of rumors of blasphemy and irreligious practices, but in fact the Knights of the Temple of Solomon or (from their logo) the Red Cross Knights, were "just brutal, pious, simple-minded men," who became wealthy and corrupt as soon as the Church showered blessings and money on the order (Ronald Bruce Meyer, 2006)

For my Broadcast Media and Popular culture assignments i had to take pictures of the city if you look at my blog you will see a link to look at more pictures as a slide show. However i thought this one with the lamp post to you're left and the thick fog late at night really gives a gostly mysterious effect, added with the fact that the darkness and lighting has taken some of the information away, which i think gives the viewer the chance to explore the possibilities what could be written about this frame, just give it a chance, you could come up with a scene for a horror or thriller. You'd be supprised how you're imagination will take you to new levels of possibilities if you try.

This is one of my favourite images, this often represents how I feel living in the city, even though there are crowds of people I sometimes feel alone and isolated. This image connotes how sometimes even though we have many encounters of challenges in our lives, the world is so vast we are really insignificant, how small we are compared to the world we live in. If we look after the world and not abuse it, its beauty will reign for our children and our children’s children, what a wonderful gift to leave for our future ancestors. We are only here for a blink of an eye, a brief moment in the worlds moment of history, what we leave behind is as important as how we’ve lived, I feel time is a companion that holds our hand along the way. You can be surrounded by beauty, crowds, tranquillity and trouble, what defines us is not how we fall, but how we rise to the challenges of living, and of life.

Click here to download my beautiful slide

This is my first photo of manipulation during my Information Technology lesson, I used photoshop a good software product, this is an example of what you can do via photoshop, the possibilities are endless you should try it, it’s well worth the money, if you know of any better software please let me know!

Lee Lewis

Broadcast Media & Popular Culture

I have always been interested in the media industry, A couple of months ago my friend had just finished her second year within Media and film, I thoroughly enjoyed helping her film the battle of the bands at Bridgend in South Wales, learning about her course I knew that i wanted to join the world of media.

I chose BroadCast Media and Popular Culture as this course offers a wide rang of opportunities and I’m not quite sure what field I want to specialise in yet. The Broadcast Media and Popular Culture course seems to offer a variety of course choices for good job prospects that I haven’t even began to imagine, a new world of ideas, possibilities and challenges awaits.

______________________________________________________
My CV

I have been involved in a charity for terminally ill children with cancer (Christian Lewis Fund), where we had held a charity events to raise money for families who don’t have the finances to take their loved ones away on maybe their last holidays abroad.

For Fourteen months I had been trained as a full Samaritan to answer the general public via telephone and face-to-face contact, this is a rigorous challenge as you are in contact with vulnerable adults and children. Often you have to deal with suicidal callers and includes a wide variety of problems however even with abusive callers you need to show professionalism and take a non judgemental view.

I have also taught other new Samaritans at the branch within their training programme and to elevate any worries or queries they may have. I taught teenagers in schools with the training team about the effects of bullying and what Samaritan’s have to offer. I became Samaritan Leader and was in charge of shifts and also became a Samaritan counsellor and reviewer. I had letters of gratification from callers which is extremely rare. I extremely enjoyed the Samaritan’s and was sorry to leave and one day I would like to re-join in the near future.

Hobby’s and interest

My hobbies are reading, writing short stories, scripts, physical training, acrylic painting and oil painting.

I was a member of the Rhondda theatre group. Where I enjoyed acting, singing and dancing in musicals and Pantomimes, which are performed at the Park and Dare Theatre Treochy.

I have always had a great interest in singing and acting. This began when i was extremely young at infant School.

Primary school where I always participated in school plays and concerts. This continued into secondary school, where I began to take leading roles in the drama societies. Where I played my fist big lead role in the musical Joseph and a leading role in performance of Lion Witch and the Wardrobe.

At the same time I took lessons playing the following instruments when I was in school:

· Double Bass
· Bass guitar
· Violin


Out side school, I was a member of a church drama group. Here I took leading roles in community productions.

Also at this time I was a member of the Welsh National Opera and took part in many of their performances including The Magic Flute and phantasia. While involved in this I was interviewed by the BBC for a television documentary about the group and how brining such a large organisation for the first time into the Valleys.

Today I am a member of the Rhondda Theatrical Society and taking part in such performances as Me and My Girl (playing the part of the Pearly King).
At this time the B.B.C were making a Welsh film called A Light In My Valley, where I was an extra playing the part as the Pearly King on stage in the Parc and Dare Theatre Treochy.
I have successfully completed playing a lead comedy roles such as Danny Boy in a Pantomime performance of Little Red Riding Hood.

In another group production I requested to take smaller part in the world premier Mary Poppins to design and work behind the scenes to gain knowledge about the stage.
I was selected one out of 20,000 people at the BT telephone karaoke competition to make a new single with Boy George early in 1999 however I only passed the first audition.

Also in early December 1999, I was asked to audition twice for Rising Star at Drill Hall theatre West End in London however University commitments restricted me from taking the addition.

On January 8th 2000 I attended a two and a half-hour workshop for the National Youth Drama Theatre of Wales.

I was the character Quasimodo in a premiere pantomime, The Hunch Back of Notre Dame where I sang two of the songs from the animated Disney movie,

I successfully passed two auditions at the H.T.V studios, I was against over five thousand people right throughout Wales and only 26 of us passed to for Nuts and bolts workshops which I had completed successfully.

This included sketch improvisation, writing monologues of our own personal experiences and put these into scripts, and writing our own character brake downs, scenes, improvisations and interpretations on speech, on the 25th and 26th of March I was on location for the pilot episode of Nuts and Bolts where I was a members of the cast for a character as Gary.

In January 2002 I had a small role in a documentary of Darwin’s Quest which was on location at Bristol (England) on a replica ship.

Also apart from my acting I have had professional singing lessons, I have played another lead role as Bobby in a show "A Chorus Line" which involved singing and many different types of dancing routines.

30th September 2006

Is a blog good or bad and who decides?

New to my blog and the whole Blogging experience, I’ve been asked to write an article about the pros and cons of a blog system. I have given some considerable thought about Blog’s and I have come to a conclusion that the internet is an asset of our daily lives for a vast mass of reasons, I know this seems obvious to most of you.

In recent years, I have found the internet an essential asset of my daily life, learning about subjects and places I have never even known existed or would have imagined, it gives us all the advantages of opening our minds to new possibilities and higher reasoning, we don’t have to be stuck in our small corner of the world anymore.

However I’m confident that you have read and have your own thoughts upon this subject, never the less I think it is worth while exploring, scraping on the surface and I’m sure you will as well.

My aim in this short article is to give some “food for thought”, not going into considerable depth at this stage, but as time goes by I would like to reinvestigate some subjects I have touched upon briefly.

Even though the internet is a wonderful tool in our modern ever changing competitive world.
You must be mindful with a blog and internet sites. Answer these following questions before you go ahead with you’re research:-

Who wrote the article?

Are they qualified?

Are they accountable?

Is there been a lot of research on their chosen topic? If so, what other evidence can they share/support to their findings or a link to their sources?

What influences have the writer(s) have encountered previously before writing their article? This may alter their perception considerably upon their world they live in; their reality may be somewhat different to yours. Their perception of the world around them may be different to yours, thus changing and altering their own theories towards the world around them.

What is their intention?

Obvious! I know, however we may forget this from time to time, the list can be elaborated I’m sure.

The writer may be well placed, they may even have “good intentions” about their chosen subject. I won’t mention names nor certain web sites, however the best of us do get things wrong, after all we’re only human.

Before putting into you’re essays, research, general browsing etc, finding facts and drawing up you’re conclusion, you would be well advised to draw upon a number of resources at you’re disposal, more the better.

Look up the good old book. Book you say? Of course! Remember that with a book the subject has been closely monitored and vetted, usually there has been more thought and usually been more researched, with a good old fashioned book, the author has had to “jump through the hoops” as it were.

As you are aware this doesn’t make the author impenetrable from being taken to court, or tagged with bad publicity. The sad fact is we live in a claim happy society and increasingly at work etc, there is now paperwork on top of paper work to protect our employers from being prosecuted, this is just an example.

The internet as you are aware has its vulnerabilities, every sociological environment, constituency, and establishment, are open to corruption and abuse. Take another example, child pornography has seemed to sore in resent years, with more and more media coverage, with technology becoming more affordable so everyone can have a chance to purchase computers and having internet access to the World Wide Web, the international community are becoming more computer literate.
As a more media aware society, are we more knowledgeable and excepting to the fact that there is problems out there that needs to be addressed, perhaps the internet has opened or highlighted the problems? This of course is up to you to debate.

Blogs are wonderful tools for our international community to share a wealth of knowledge to our worldly neighbours, our experiences, our fears, our triumphs, our humour and our grief. This is for everyone to examine and debate, the floor is left too you. You have a chance to view you’re thoughts and feelings, a diary of you’re life, if you choose to be a little more personal or graphic, that’s the beauty of you’re personal blog.

Please remember to be mindful how “personal” you want to be! You never know who’s reading. Remembering the internet isn’t as well vetted as traditional channels, or is it? Also take into consideration there is people out there who could gather personal information on you for a dishonourable purpose.
Looking at it from another point of view
Well I suppose you could look at it from another angle, a blog can be said to represent an interpretation, a profound feeling and need for “Freedom of speech”.

Even though it is thought we live in a democratic society, there are barriers in all societies, some good, and some bad. It’s up to you to imagine, interpret and “think for you’re self” to what they are! It’s not my place to judge nether would I ever want to. (Lee Gwyn Lewis, September 30th 2006)