The death of Jacintha Saldanha at the virtual hands of Mel Grieg and Michael Christian

Australian DJs, Mel Grieg and Michael Christian should be considered murderers. They are the pranksters who called the King Edward VII hospital, impersonating the Queen and Prince Charles, seeking private information, on the health of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate. The nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, who first took that call and put it through, has been found dead. The implication is, of course, that she committed suicide, although no details have yet been released.

I realize that the law is silent on this kind of situation. I view it in moral terms. Mel Grieg and Michael Christian, committed an immoral act – that of impersonating the Queen and Prince Charles, to gain access to private information about a public figure and member of the Royal household. That is clearly wrong in so many ways. They knew this when they planned it and carried it out. They saw this as a “joke”, something to be laughed at – but it has had the consequence of the death of a well-regarded nurse. Since the nurse’s death is a direct consequence of their actions, I feel they should be charged with some variety of murder, however such things are framed in Australian law. They should pay for their moral crime, with a real prison sentence – anything less would, itself, be immoral, for it would say that it is OK to shame someone to death – which is what they did to this nurse.

Mel Grieg and Michael Christian acted without forethought as to the consequences of their act – but nevertheless, they should have to pay for those consequences.

Were it my decision to make, I would have Mel Grieg and Michael Christian charged with murder, or manslaughter and prosecuted.

I expect, however, that they will get away with a period of public shame (ironically) followed by a resumption of their show (which has been taken off the air, at present). As for that – it is clear that they should never be allowed to be on air, again – for being a broadcaster of any kind is a responsibility they are not fit for.

I would also welcome a civil case for damages from Jacintha Saldanha’s family against Mel Grieg and Michael Christian. Perhaps while mulling their loss of personal fortune, along with personal freedom, behind bars, Grieg and Christian (whose behaviour wasn’t very Christian at all), might come to understand the reasons why moral conduct is considered preferable and how much harm immoral conduct can do.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

Modelling for Guess Kids

A few days ago, I had the rather unexpected experience of watching my two youngest boys modelling for Guess Kids clothing. It was a “runway” show, without a runway, since it was actually in the Guess store in Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur.

Fintan, 9 and Tiarnan, 6, had been chosen to represent Guess Kids at a live in-store fashion show.  There had been no prior rehearsal, before the day, but on the day, the boys were shown what to do. They were asked to walk through the store to the doorway, where photographers were to be waiting, then they would pose. The lady from Guess Kids asked them to pose – and they duly threw funny faces and postures. This worried me a little since I was concerned that they might not do it properly, when it came down to it. Nevertheless, this was their lighthearted approach to the rehearsal.

Watching them get ready was funny. Both Tiarnan and Fintan had their hair styled.  Fintan was OK with his, since it merely accentuated his natural curls. He was comfortable with that. Tiarnan however, was most unhappy. They had made his hair spiky. When he saw himself in the mirror he was on the edge of tears.

“They are trying to make me look cool.” He said, most put out. “I don’t want to be COOL.”

I tried to persuade him that, actually, he looked very nice. He was, however, completely unconvinced. I had to have a word with the stylist and she duly restyled his hair sans spikes.

After posing for the cameras, they were to walk through the store to the other side, where a group of mothers and children would be waiting. There they were to pose for their customers.

After an hour or so, the show began. Fintan was the second last to be on show, Tiarnan the last. The other three models were all young girls. The girls went first.

To the sound of music, the kids walked through the store one by one. The girls were cute, but they didn’t seem to have a natural flair for the camera. That was not the case with Fintan. When he got to his first posing position, he did such a cool move with his arms that is difficult to describe – he grabbed at the lapels to his jacket, flicked them forward and folded his arms, in a lopsided way, with tilted head, all in one smooth motion. It looked so, dare I say it, COOL (which Tiarnan had so desperately not wanted to seem). Fintan was a definite dude, in that moment. His gesture was greeted with applause and the whirring of cameras.

Then Fintan went and posed in front of the mother’s and kids (who hadn’t seen his display) – and did the same thing, holding his pose at the end, with a very Brandoesque demeanour. The cheers were wild. The compere said: “It seems we have Justin Bieber, here!” The crowd roared louder still, appreciating the reference.

Then it was Tiarnan’s turn. He is the shyer of the two and I did worry about whether he would handle it. He was absolutely fine. He seemed to have learnt a bit about posing from Fintan, since he adopted lopsided folded arm pose, for the crowd – without the cool gesture before it and stared moodily into the cameras. He then did the same for the mothers and kids. This time the compere remarked: “Whaaah. So serious! Models these days, must not smile, but have to SERIOUS!” He then compared Tiarnan to the band One Dimension. Again the crowd appreciated the reference and cheered.

The boys changed quickly for their second set of clothes and repeated the procedure with some variation.

The crowd cheered them – yet they remained so cool in front of them. I felt a definite pride in their composure.

The boys were pleased to learn that they would receive clothes in payment and each, funnily enough, selected some of the clothes they had been asked to try on, for the show.

It was a good afternoon.  I think the experience was confidence building and showed the boys that they could manage themselves in front of a live crowd. As learning experiences go, I think that is one of the more valuable ones, for later life.

Well done my Guess Kids boys!

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)