A Girl Alone - The Round-the-World Triumph of Laura Dekker
Laura Dekker aboard Guppy Photo: Zeilen Magazine via Facebook
I really admire this girl.
It's an incredible achievement by a girl who wouldn't give up, and the kind of pioneering that kids should be actively told about and shown.
Kids need to learn more about others who do this at a very early age, and be actively encouraged to aspire to reach for the stars, push themselves and dream. Even if they don't make their dreams, others should respect them for trying and they can absolutely respect themselves.
It's worth noting though that Laura has achieved it courtesy of a father who believed in teaching her seamanship when she was very young....all in the teeth of the leftwing, PC, "elf and safety" types who wanted to put a stop to it.
Good on you, girl - keep going!
Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Dutch teen sailor Laura Dekker completes solo world tour
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Nice how jealous people clamor and whine to discredit this young person's great achievement. She is the youngest to ever circumnavigate the globe. That's her record and an admirable success which can't be taken away from her.
Fat washed up has beens who never accomplished anything in their lives are expected to display their envy and jealousy and try to discredit this remarkable success.
Not only has she achieved this she has carried out her goals by intelligently and sucessfully defeating the socialist government vultures in Holland who believe they have some god given right to wreck the business of families to run themselves. Holland apparently is a european country overrun with gangs of worthless, corrupt socialist government bureacrats who couldn't be trusted to manage their own lives so they naturally stick their noses where they don't belong and try to make up ridiculous arbitary rules to trespass in the rights of families to their own self management.
She has the intelligence to recognize and support Sea Shepherd, which also creates envy in unsuccessful people since it is one of the few front line conservation organizations in world who have effectively taken direct action to save the planet's oceans and the ocean's wildlife from the destructive greed of governments and corporations.
Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Dutch teen sailor Laura Dekker completes solo world tour
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People forget that not so very long ago 14 year old's were classed as old enough to work, and even today we have 18 year old's in the armed forces facing hardship, combat and potentially death.
We have got into the habit of viewing late teens as still being children, however this is a fairly recent phenomenon.
Congratulations to her, at a young age she has had an experience people 40 years older's would envy having, she has shown herself to be capable and self reliant, attributes many people who are much older could do with possessing these days.
Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Dutch teen sailor Laura Dekker completes solo world tour
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I close my eyes and imagine being hundreds of miles from land in the middle of
the ocean and all by myself and I think back to being in my young teens and
remember how uncertain the world seemed and how unsure I was of having a good
footing....The ocean wields awesome power and this young girl has awesome
courage.
Read the article CNN/Dutch teen completes historic, controversial solo sail around the globe
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Congratulations Laura! You are an awsomely brave soul. Forget all the government
interference , and strangers judgements. To face the oceans and seas of the
world alone is an amazing accomplishment for any person of any age or
gender...to do it at your age is simply astounding! Few of us will ever know the
fierce courage you have proven on this voyage. And I have no doubt that same
strength will serve you well in all the future challenges life will throw your
way. You are an exceptional young lady, and an inspiration to us all
Read the article CNN/Dutch teen completes historic, controversial solo sail around the globe
Laura Dekker aboard Guppy Photo: Zeilen Magazine via Facebook
Awesome. There are few goals in this world that aren't restricted by those who
warn of the dangers. To follow your heart and intuition is what has allowed
civilization to not remain in one place but to move the boundaries of the safe
and known to new and dangerous heights. You're safe. Now use your sea smarts and
knowledge and vision and go do exactly what you what and feel is right. Don't
let others tell you it can't be done. You've already proven them all wrong. Good
luck for an awesome future
Read the article DAILY MAIL/She did it! Dutch girl, 16, becomes youngest to sail around the world on her
own
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"She believes she is 10-foot tall & bulletproof (aided & abetted by her
publicity-seeking lawyer) but ocean sailing is inherently dangerous with
unpredictable weather & the very real possibility of equipment failure." . - KJ, Wellington, NZ,
Walking across the street is dangerous!
Danger is everywhere in our world. I really don't believe she thinks she's
bulletproof. If she did, she would have been out in the worst of the storms and
not sitting in port waiting for them to pass. I understand that not every child
is mature enough to attempt something like this, I would say most aren't. But my
16 YO daughter could have done it, if she was an expert on sailing. She's not
though; she prefers writing and designing webpages by coding, which she taught
herself how to do. Point is, some kids have that drive and talent. We shouldn't
hold them back when they do.
Read the article DAILY MAIL/She did it! Dutch girl, 16, becomes youngest to sail around the world on her
own
Ronald Searle - A Witty Pen Sharpened Amid the Horrors of War
Roland Searle Blogspot
Searle's distinctive style was much admired here in the US, where it was
probably most often seen in "The New Yorker". It combined visual elegance with
(sometimes wicked, sometimes poignant) humor in a brilliant, highly original
manner. A Searle cartoon was instantly recognizable and always admirable. We
sometimes forget that cartoonists are artists. Searle never failed to remind us
that they are.
Read the article DAILY MAIL/St Trinian's creator whose genius was forged by torture: How cartoonist Ronald
Searle, overcame Japanese prison horrors to make us all laugh
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I once knew a guy, years my senior, and by accident, discovered he'd been a POW
in the Japanese camps. I just stared at him, seeing the image of a skeleton in
rags, beaten + worse by sadistic guards, working the Burma railway and leaving
Changi in 1945 weighing few kilos. But, what astonished me was his quiet dignity
and lack of hatred, a quality I suspect Mr Searle, and others I have read of,
possessed. As Maurice, the guy I knew said, 'Why should I mention it? I'd only
be an old war bore', and he'd got on with his life. This report on Mr Searle is
not only moving, but, evidence of how mankind can rise above their sufferings
and, as with Mr Searle, contribute so much. So, bless for St Trins., truly my
favourite ever school, that did so much to cause nervous breakdowns in the Min
of Education, and for giving the world many giggles. RIP.
Read the article DAILY MAIL/St Trinian's creator whose genius was forged by torture: How cartoonist Ronald
Searle, overcame Japanese prison horrors to make us all laugh.
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I bought a one of the big fat cat books when my nieces were very small - discovered in a charity shop - and then and now (aged 11 and 13) they capture my nieces imagination. As part of the bedtime ritual on many occasions over the years we have sat together and leafed through the book and scrutinised all the pictures over and over and said what we liked about them - we found something new in them -something funny and always something slightly dark - every time we looked. The girls never tired of this despite their increasing engagement with more 'sophisticated' types of entertainment via tv, films, facebook, etc.
I will make sure that we fish out some of Ronald's other work so the girls can have a greater appreciation. Something to look forward to. A very sad loss.
Read the article GUARDIAN/Ronald Searle, St Trinian's creator, dies aged 91
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Let me add a personal story to all these tributes. In 1956 my wife and I attended the Ideal Home Exhibition, and Ronald Searle was there sitting and drawing cartoons of whatever was going on. I naively asked him how he gained his inspirations, he turned to me and said, 'just look around you'. I've never forgotten that remark, or the valuable advice it proved to be in my own life.
We all owe him a debt of gratitude for the pleasure he gave to so many people, pleasure that will outlast his life here as we continue to enjoy his many creations.
Read the article GUARDIAN/Ronald Searle, St Trinian's creator, dies aged 91
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As a former student of the school which inspired his St Trinian's girls, I have always been awed and inspired by his works. Molesworth were are a part of my childhood, and World Book Days were always an occasion to dress up in my best St Trinians uniform, complete with beaten up hockey stick. When I lost a dear piano teacher aged 7, I turned to Searle for comfort. RIP, so many happy memories, and a lasting legacy.
Read the article GUARDIAN/Ronald Searle, St Trinian's creator, dies aged 91
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Even though as a school girl I modelled myself on a St Trinian's terror - much to the chagrin of my mother superior headmistress - there was so much more to Ronald Searle than St Trinians, little ponies or other humourous cartoons.
His war drawings, a record of the torture and misery inflicted in the Japanese prisoner of war camps after the fall of Singapore are a testament to just what an artist he was, and able to express what he saw and experienced while still just a young man.
Most of all though, he was a lovely, lovely man.
Read the article GUARDIAN/Ronald Searle was our greatest cartoonist – and he sent me his pens
READ MORE BEST COMMENTS: NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2011
