Rememberence ceremonies have been held all over the US, with moments of silence being observed at each of the three sites, where victims perished.

Like many people around the World, I can vividly recollect finding out about the initial strike on the World Trade Centre on 11th September 2001. 

I was working in Glasgow at the time, and I remember my supervisor receiving a phonecall from a friend about the first plane striking the Tower.

“An aeroplane has crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York!”

“What!?!”

“A plane has crashed into the World Trade Centre!”

“How could that happen?  Was it a passenger plane?  What was it doing flying near the building?”

“I don’t know.”

Soon, the whole building was gripped by the horrific events as they unfolded.  People flocked to the Directors’ offices to watch the live news feeds on television.

Just as in millions of offices and homes across the globe, we went through many emotions: shock, fear, sadness, anger.

Almost six years later, I was caught up in another terror attack.  On 30th June 2007, my family and I had just arrived home from a lovely holiday in Menorca, when two terrorists crashed a jeep, loaded with petrol cannisters into Glasgow Airport’s terminal buidling.  My wondeful husband  was one of a band of civilians who bravely intervened and helped to thwart the terrorists in their attempts to cause carnage.  He was injured in the fracas and spent several days in hospital.

Even though the Glasgow attack was on a far smaller scale than the 9/11 atrocities, when you find yourself caught up in such an event, when it involves your own family and a vicious attack on your home town, it is truly terrifying.  I can only begin to appreciate what the 9/11 victims and their families went through.

These acts of atrocity, along with several others in recent years, have changed my perception of the World forever.  As a result of these acts, I am a little more cynical, a little more wary, and all the more fearful of the World in which my daughters are growing up in.

However, I have to try to twist my perspective and see things from another angle.  These events have not simply demonstrated the scale of evil that man is capable of.  These acts have also demonstrated how great the human spirit is:  the brave acts conducted by emergency services and members of the public, the great teamwork achieved in the aftermath of the attacks to get the cities up and running and back to normal again.  The defiance of Society to be frightened from carrying on, to continue travelling and gathering in public places.

It is this human spirit, which gives me hope for the future, hope for the continued freedom and democracy for my daughters, my future grandchildren and their future grandchildren.  Without this hope, the World would be a very bleak place.

I read an article on the BBC News website today, which opens up debate on whether or not one should leave the Caps Lock off, when typing email correspondence. The article reports that ProCare Health worker Vicki Walker from Auckland, was sacked for “spreading disharmony at work” by sending colleagues emails in capital letters. Some emails also contained “provocative” text in bold or red.

However, Paul Luna, director of the department of typography and graphic communication at the University of Reading, describes complaints that capital letters are harder to read as “nonsense”. He points to new research that has found capitals and lower-case letters make no real difference. Instead, the caps-lock key has become a tool for writers. “It’s a great aid to articulating a message, really,” he says. “And if that means the occasional CAPITAL e-mail, then so be it.”

Much as I am irritated by receiving emails in the offending capital letters, I do not feel that it is a sacking offence. I get equally irritated by emails that are entirely in lower case with no punctuation. Such emails are even harder to decipher than the offending “Caps Lock” ones.

While there is no strict etiquette regarding the writing of emails, I think it’s only fair to try to make your emails ‘reader-friendly’.

What do you think? Do you get as irritated by indecipherable emails as I do? Or are you one of the offenders, with a permanent Caps Lock?

“Mother with 18 children all with ‘J’ names is pregnant again – and is expecting grandchild… to be christened with letter ‘M’”

The couple, of Springdale, Arkansas, are not only looking forward to the birth of their 19th child in March, but also their first grandchild. 

Judging by the various comments at the end of this article, the size of the Duggard brood appears to be very controversial.  Many people question the mother’s need to continually reproduce.  Many question the amount of love and attention that each individual child is able to receive from the parents, and criticise the stance that the older ones can help bring up the younger ones.  Others believe that bringing so many children into an over-populated world is incredibley selfish.

I have read several articles in recent months, stressing the need for parents to limit the number of children they have to just two.  Although I can appreciate that the growing global population is a problem, the idea of governments dictating the size of families we have makes me very uncomfortable.  Do we really want to adopt the strict one-child policy of China?  I have read many heartrending stories from desperate Chinese families.  I certainly wouldn’t want to live in that culture or environment.

As far as I can see, the Duggards seem like an incredibly close and loving family.  They live in a debt-free house they built themselves.  The father works to provide for his family.

They are Conservative Christians, who decided after suffering a miscarraige earlier in their marriage to ‘let God decide’ how many children they would have.  The couple adhere to a movement called Quiverfull, whose members take seriously the biblical exhortation to be fruitful and multiply.  They believe that every child is a gift from Providence.

Their lifestyle choice may not appeal to everyone, but it is certainly not a terrible lifestyle.  

I believe that the ‘overpopulation arguments’ against these rare enormous families are cancelled out by the growing number of women who decide not to have children.  That is their rights, just as it is the Duggards right to have their enormous brood.  They have the space and money to do so.  They’re not doing anyone any harm.

However, many families simply cannot afford to be fruitful and multiply.  Problems can arise when couples have too many children, and not enough space to house them.  If you were to look at social housing waiting lists in any local authority in the UK, I will guarantee that they are full of families, headed by both couples and single parents, who have had children without the space or money to house them.  Many of these families will be on full social security benefits, many with none of the parents working.

I’m certainly more objectionable to couples who think they can have as many children as they want, while Society houses them and pays them.  People who do not equate having children with earning a living. 

It’s a touchy subject, but I welcome any constructive comments you may have.

Read more of the Daily Mail article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1210530/Jim-Bob-Michelle-Duggar-excecting-19th-child–grandchild.html#ixzz0Pwoqc5JQ