Is a rose a rose by any other name? Or a sandwich?

Is a rose a rose by any other name? Or a sandwich? Well, not when it refers to a human being it seems. In fact, you have to marvel at how the media and sociologists love to come up with catchy names that we'll all remember. I guess this is because we have such short attention spans these days that we get this kind of thing. The latest is what have been called the "sandwich" and "club sandwich generations". Who sits down and thinks these things up?

"The newly identified group is being described as the “club sandwich” generation, as they will be called upon to support three layers of their family, one more than today’s so-called “sandwich generation” who put their children through school and university while also caring for their parents in retirement."

Don't know about you, but if I was nearing retirement and had a lifetime of service to others, and had raised a family too, I'd be unhappy at being referred to as a "club sandwich" kind of person!! Perhaps I'm just being too sensitive but it invites parallels with expressions like "a sandwich short of a picnic" if you know what I mean!

"This generation, the club sandwich generation, are taking on quite a lot, providing the care both to children and to older people that would otherwise have to be provided by the state."

Given that these people are the backbone of any society, shouldn't we be just a little bit more respectful?

Why Michael Moore's posting bail money for Julian Assange is a noble act worthy of our attention

It's refreshing and noteworthy to see that many people from the world of the arts and elsewhere have come out in support of Julian Assange. It comes as no small surprise that free speech is now under attack after the Bush years. If you look around you, there are rarely ever any instances any more of whistle blowing from large corporations or even governments. Why have so many capable journalists been muzzled and the so-called Guardian of the Fourth Estate, the Media, been so silent when so many civil rights' abuses seem to be everywhere from China and Tibet, to Burma and Thailand, and from the USA and the UK sending soldiers to their deaths in the thousands which, as we all know, was based on a lie e.g. that Saddam Hussain had chemical and/or nuclear weapons.

It seems too that the venom with which US politicians have gone after Mr. Assange is quite shocking and the way large mostly US corporations have been cowed into dropping his Wikileaks accounts: Mastercard, PayPal, Amazon.com but to name a few. Why too have none of the other news organisations not been attacked? They too published the documents but appear to have done so with complete impunity. Isn't there a double standard being applied here?

Thank goodness then that Michael Moore has done something noble by offering to post bail for the entrenched whistle blower and also to provide website space to continue to enable Wikileaks to post the other documents:

"Furthermore, I am publicly offering the assistance of my website, my servers, my domain names and anything else I can do to keep WikiLeaks alive and thriving as it continues its work to expose the crimes that were concocted in secret and carried out in our name and with our tax dollars."

He is not alone in offering help. Ken Loach, the noted film director has also lent his financial support along with Jemima Khan and John Pilger. Many others too have helped such as the new cyber-bandits known as "Hacktivists', who have attacked and in some cases, brought down the likes of Visa and PayPal.

It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out as Assange clearly has a lot of grassroots support, and I am for one count myself among them. I think it's about time someone stood up to these demons of the world who spout rhetoric about free speech but then plant hollow rape charges against you and then try to get you locked up! I predict that this is the start of an new era in cyber-terrorism as the Internet has been policed far too rigidly and suppressed free speech. Watch this space as they say.