There's an interesting town in South West England which is not exactly a 'sleepy, olde-worlde place':
On the ‘Welcome to Totnes’ sign that greets people to the town somebody added ‘Twinned with Narnia’ below it. It’s been removed since by those who don’t have a sense of humour, but to me it’s a perfect description of Totnes. The town has been described as ‘New Age’, ‘Alternative’ and even ‘eccentric’ but however you like to describe it, Totnes is different to any other town in the South Hams, or even Devon for that matter. Totnes - Twinned with Narnia - Easymalc's Wanderings
What’s happening in the Devon town of Totnes? The small town of Totnes in Devon is known for its warmth and open-mindedness, gong baths and healing crystals, but a fault line has emerged between the minority who’ve been drawn in by disinformation laced with hate and those who are fighting against it. Some in the town were drawn into a conspiracy theory movement during the pandemic, one whose monthly marches and rallies persist to this day. A conspiracy theory newspaper called The Light seems to have played a key part in the division there. BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring investigates how the theories that dominate its pages are changing the town.Marianna in Conspiracyland – 1. Entering Conspiracyland – BBC Sounds
This has been challenged by some who, by no means conspiracy theorists,
At the end of my street in Totnes a huddle of people gather around a trestle table each week hawking newspapers. They’re surrounded by rhetoric denouncing vaccines, denigrating the government and even denying climate change. The newspaper is The Light, a controversial print publication that describes itself as the ‘uncensored truth’ with links to inflammatory ideologies and far right figures. As a journalist, I know I should probably stop and find out what they’re about but I know they see me as the MSM (mainstream media) and I fear I’d probably get a barrage of abuse. So even though I happen to love engaging in conversation with people who see the world differently to myself, I tend to cross the high street...
It’s a bit bonkers. But it’s not ‘dangerously crazy’ as Totnes resident Peter Shearn suggested this week. He was interviewed by BBC journalist Marianna Spring for her documentary Conspiracyland which was released on BBC Sounds and Radio 4 and expressed his fears about the impact that The Light and its cabal was having on the town. Conspiracyland documents the rise of conspiracy theories since the pandemic - people who largely believe that Covid-19 and the vaccine are a form of governmental control. Totnes is one of several hubs across the UK where The Light is passed out on the street, but it has become a central focus because it’s a town that has always embraced alternative thinking.
And by making Totnes the central focus, it exacerbates its image as a slightly crazy - even dangerously crazy - place to hang out. In actual fact, it’s a liberal-thinking, sustainably minded, increasingly affluent town where alternative views are embraced. Sometimes those alternative views venture into conspiracy. I loved Marianna Spring's documentary for shining the light on a growing movement that is emerging in many parts of the country. But it's not representative of most of Totnes. It’s a small, straggly band of people with a megaphone giving away a free newspaper that very few read in a tucked away corner of the high street. I would call them the lunatic fringe (maybe because I'm in the MSM). If you don’t like it, just cross the street.I live in 'Conspiracyland' Totnes and it may be bonkers but it's not dangerously crazy - Jacqui Merrington - Devon Live
Teachers tend to ignore pronunciation - so-called 'non-native' teachers who doubt their own pronunciation and so-called 'native' teachers who are just too sure.
How though are we going to work on our pronunciation?
For all types of teacher, there are some excellent resources online - which provide good solid models to give the students - who can use most of the same links for themselves.
Different countries see the whole World War One thing very differently:
On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip assassinated in Sarajevo the Austrian Archiduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (heir to the throne) and his wife Sofia. This act allegedly triggered the World War One.
History is not written by the victors but by the historical visionaries, and it's not about truth -- it's about paradigms. It's an art to argue, a performance to convince, and the victory condition of history itself is to create a story that seem plausible, and also applicable to different times, in the future, in the past.
Consider the First World War, the first Great War, a war without precedent and supposedly impossible nowadays. The lad who pulled its trigger was Gavrilo Princip, a teenage Serb, a Bosnian Serb one might say, a Pan-Slavic conspirator against the Austro Hungarian Empire, a Yugoslav, an activist, a terrorist, a patriot, a national freedom fighter… what a lot of names he has.
In Bosnia 28 June hundred years later Gavrilo is celebrated in the Serbian part as a hero (thanks to the famous director Emir Kusturica), while in Bosnian Sarajevo he is remembered as a terrorist.
In Belgrade, Gavrilo Princip has his own road, which descends from the seven Belgrade hills, to the banks of the meeting point of two big rivers Sava and Danube.
While many Serbs see Princip as a hero, many Croats consider him a terrorist, and schools in former Yugoslav countries teach different histories about the causes of the 1914-18 war, reflecting more recent conflicts in the region, as a recent BIRN investigation showed.
Statue of assassin who unleashed WW I unveiled in Sarajevo
By Ralph Ellis, CNN
June 30, 2014 -- Updated 0732 GMT (1532 HKT)
Bosnian actor Jovan Mojsilovic poses with a plastic gun replica at the unveiling of a statue of Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, June 27.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Gavrilo Princip fired the shots on June 28, 1914
He fatally shot Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife
The assassination is considered the start of World War I
(CNN) -- One hundred years after firing the shot that set off World War I, Gavrilo Princip was toasted by some Saturday in Sarajevo -- whether they wore T-shirts emblazoned with his face or admired a statue recently unveiled in his honor.
Today, opinions on Princip are mixed. Some in Bosnia-Herzegovina -- of which Sarajevo is the capital -- think he was a terrorist, reported CNN affiliate N1. But there are also a number of Bosnian Serbs who view him as a hero, N1 reported.
The former viewpoint was on display in Friday's unveiling of a statue of Princip in Sarajevo. Media footage showed officials clapping as others looked on to catch a glimpse of the life-sized portrayal.
Princip was 19 years old June 28, 1914, when he assassinated Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, as the couple rode in an automobile through the streets.
"The shooting acted as a trigger, metastasizing from a Balkan street corner into a continental crisis by releasing pent-up tension between rival blocs of Great European Powers: the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany on one side and France, Russia and Great Britain on the other," Tim Butcher, author of "The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin who Brought the World to War," wrote in an op-ed piece for CNN.com.
As Saturday 28 June marks 100 years since the start of World War One, we take a look back at some of the most famous propaganda ads from the time.
Your king and country needs you
The Secretary of State for War awarded Sir Hedley Le Bas, Eric Field, and the Caxton Advertising Agency a contract to advertise for recruits in the major UK newspapers.
While the war was essentially set in motion on 28 June, following the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand, Britain did not officially declare war on the German Empire until 4 August 1914. The next day, this ad appeared in print.
Lord Kitchener
The famous image of Lord Kitchener pointing and encouraging men to join the army originally appeared as a London Opinion magazine cover in September 1914, before being adapted as a recruitment ad.
War bonds. Feed the guns!
Created by artist Bert Thomas in 1915, this was one of many ads urging members of the public to buy bonds in order to raise money.
National Service Women's Land Army
Promoting that women can play a role in the war is this "God speed the plough and the woman who drives it" poster by H.G. Gawthorn.
Go! It's your duty lad
Created by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, this ad shows an older woman encouraging a young man to enlist, and plays on the patriotic values of Britain.
To prevent this - buy war savings certificates now
Another war certificates ad, this suggests that if members of the public do not buy, then the nation will be taken over by Germans and Brits will become slaves.
Young men of Britain! The Germans said you were not in earnest
Another ad hitting out at Germans, this recruitment ad looks to make men who haven’t signed up yet want to prove Germany wrong.
Designed and printed by Johnson, Riddle & Co, this came amongst a series of ads warning against “the barbarian”.
Don't
While rationing is more associated with World War Two, it was in place in WW1, as this ad reveals. Cutting down on the number of servants and not just wearing clothes once are all suggested as ways to save money.
Once a German, always a German
This British Empire Union poster from the immediate post-war period shows images of German violence, cruelty, and drunkenness during the war – including a baby on a spear - suggesting that any German item bought offended Britain.
And back in Britain, there is controversy over whether the War should be 'celebrated' at all:
Artistic West View children celebrate centenary of World War One
West View primary school pupil Elliott Bloor with his drawing in the exhibition.
ARTISTIC children celebrated the centenary of the First World War with an exhibition in their school.
The talented youngsters from West View Primary School, in Davison Drive, Hartlepool, used water colour paints, pastels, charcoals, collage and printing to each create a work of art for the gallery.
The 390 pictures and paintings – by every child in the nursery and school – have been professionally framed and hung in the hall and can be bought by parents.
So far sales of the paintings have raised more than £250, with £1 from every £6 piece being ploughed back into the school’s pot for creative activities.
The other £5 is to pay the company which set up the gallery.
Teacher Michelle Ellis said: “The gallery was set up to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of World War One.
“The children have created paintings based around the subject of the war.
“So every class created paintings from every pupil and then we had a company come in and frame and hang all of the work.”
Parents have been invited into the schools to see the hundreds of paintings on display and Miss Ellis said it has gone down very well.
She said: “The parents have loved it and the children have really liked doing it.
“They keep asking to go into the hall to see the gallery so that they can point out their picture.
Schools should teach children about the feelings and suffering of German soldiers in the First World War, Michael Gove has suggested, as he admits he would "love" a greater focus on how Britain's enemies felt.
Mr Gove, the education secretary, said he would encourage teachers to give more time to "an exploration of how others felt" during the conflict.
Speaking at the Chalke Valley History Festival, he argued it was "just as fascinating" to examine how the soldiers of Germany approached the war as to read about the feelings of the British.
When asked whether the point of view of Britain's "enemies" should be taught in secondary schools, Mr Gove said: "Ideally yes.
"I have to be careful, because one of the arguments I often make is that teachers are better equipped to decide how lessons should develop and where the emphasis lies.
"It's perfectly possible to have a good series of lessons about the experience of British soldiers and what happened to Britain.
"But I would love it if there was more understanding of and more space for an exploration of how others felt.
"Understanding why German bishops pray for victory in 1914 and why the Germans thought theirs was a just war is fascinating."
In an event to celebrate the poetry of the First World War, he told an audience: "Among the things I think it's important to do as we remember both the tragedy of the war and the bravery of those who fought, it that we should rescue those who fought from what's been called the condescension of posterity."
