Namaste
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
Best wishes for the Festive Season and your gift to vape by
Gift from Santa - One Hour of a warm fire and Christmas songs for those who want to save on Gas Bills and are sick of TV - or turn the sound down and watch TV too!
Namaste
Namaste
Monday, 23 December 2013
Why Christmas Carols are unbearable for me
I cannot bear to listen to Christmas Carols. They evoke in me overwhelming nostalgia for times past.
They conjure up memories of when I was a child and then a young mother singing carols, hearing strains of Christmas music on the radio, Father Christmas's in all varieties and many places, Nativity Plays, decorating the tree, the smell of fir leaves and cones, the gleam of glass baubles, decorations handed down from generation to generation - magical times when life was for living and fun. It was never without the action of sharing the joy with those less blessed, and we were poor, but not as poor as some. Christmas afternoon the adults slumped with over-indulgence from food, drinks and smoked cigarettes without guilt or shame and the children played. We were a family welded together with celebratory solidarity, good and bad. We felt wonderful.
This was a time when the newly formed World Health Organisation was dedicated to addressing poverty and illnesses in poor Nations. It was before the time of the Charity Industry, or Lobby Groups, or Tobacco Control, or Public Health had become intrusive into everyone's private health. It was before the Religion of Science stated that God was a Delusion, thus classifying most of the world insane.
So it was a time when I knew that good people worldwide were doing good things for those to whom it really mattered - the poor and the sick. It seemed a good world that had come out of a bad time of World War Two. I trusted those who ruled because they were trustworthy and wise. They would make the world safe from war and it would be better in every way. It was a time of hope. And the best feeling of all was, I BELIEVED it with all my heart.
Christmas Carols expose to me the depth of my young naivete and I can't bear them.
They conjure up memories of when I was a child and then a young mother singing carols, hearing strains of Christmas music on the radio, Father Christmas's in all varieties and many places, Nativity Plays, decorating the tree, the smell of fir leaves and cones, the gleam of glass baubles, decorations handed down from generation to generation - magical times when life was for living and fun. It was never without the action of sharing the joy with those less blessed, and we were poor, but not as poor as some. Christmas afternoon the adults slumped with over-indulgence from food, drinks and smoked cigarettes without guilt or shame and the children played. We were a family welded together with celebratory solidarity, good and bad. We felt wonderful.
This was a time when the newly formed World Health Organisation was dedicated to addressing poverty and illnesses in poor Nations. It was before the time of the Charity Industry, or Lobby Groups, or Tobacco Control, or Public Health had become intrusive into everyone's private health. It was before the Religion of Science stated that God was a Delusion, thus classifying most of the world insane.
So it was a time when I knew that good people worldwide were doing good things for those to whom it really mattered - the poor and the sick. It seemed a good world that had come out of a bad time of World War Two. I trusted those who ruled because they were trustworthy and wise. They would make the world safe from war and it would be better in every way. It was a time of hope. And the best feeling of all was, I BELIEVED it with all my heart.
Christmas Carols expose to me the depth of my young naivete and I can't bear them.
Sunday, 22 December 2013
Taking the micky out of being old - why not to take a retirement job!
This is why I only write blogs! Hope you enjoy as I did.
Saturday, 21 December 2013
Who are you Rose? - brilliant words all about vaping - thank you!
This is some nice thinking! I salute you Rose!
Quote -
On your first point we are in complete agreement. No group of people is more joyfully and defiantly independent of the tobacco industry than us “vapers”. “Big Tobacco” has not had a cent out of me for the last 18 months. And neither has “Big Pharma”, which is even better news. As I stated in my first email, apart from nicotine, an e-cigarette contains propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and food flavouring, substances generally regarded as safe. Exactly the same ingredients are to be found in Nicorette QuickMist Spray, except that the latter also contains anhydrous ethanol, trometamol, poloxamer 407, sodium hydrogen carbonate, levomenthol, sucralose, acesulfame potassium and hydrochloric acid. I should add that the dose of nicotine in this nasty product is so low as to be sub-therapeutic. It's a setup for failure.
Secondly, it must be clearly understood, the tobacco industry has only moved into the arena of small cigalikes. They have shown no interest in the larger personal vaporisers and nor are they likely to. It is not possible for tobacco companies to monopolise the sale of batteries, metal tubes, atomisers, wire and wick, nor propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nor food flavouring. The real business of enjoyable and safer nicotine consumption is Big Tobacco (and Big Pharma)-proof. And it is predominantly these products which are enabling smokers to make the permanent switch. Big Tobacco has in fact already had its “Kodak moment”. They are simply trying to chase after a horse that has long bolted. Consider this irony: tobacco companies, in a desperate bid for survival have found themselves selling small pre-filled cigalikes, a product that is strongly establishing itself as a gateway out of cigarettes, a product they monopolise, and a gateway into the realm of 2nd generation ecigs and personal vaporisers, products which they do not have a hope of monopolising. With or without the comprehension of the health establishment, Big Tobacco's days are numbered. Isn't this a good thing? Imagine successfully banning e-cigarettes. BT would live to fight another day.
And thirdly your point about smoking becoming re-normalised by the acceptance of e-cigarettes. This is understandably based on the fact that “vaping” small cigalikes looks like smoking from a distance. I could argue that drinking water looks like drinking vodka, but do I really need to? The reality is that though it may look like smoking, it is not smoking, and does not even closely smell like smoking. In fact it is usually quite pleasant. The fact that it resembles smoking so well is precisely why it works. And because the use of ecigs returns a healthy sense of taste and smell to the user, they very effectively make smoking unappealing. Smoking, directly or passively, is generally not well tolerated by vapers at all. And the overwhelming majority of vapers are ex-smokers. There is no evidence to suggest that non-smokers are taking up vaping to any significant degree. Even school children found to be experimenting with ecigs are predominantly the same kids who are experimenting with cigarettes. A recent study by the American Association of Cancer Research also concluded that ecigs are “not a gateway to anything”. (E-cigarettes:) Vaping doesn't normalise smoking. It normalises vaping. And vaping, thus far, has not been shown to be harmful, to either the user or to bystanders.
And to add to my enjoyment - I watched THIS.
I FEEL UPLIFTED! I hope you do too.
Quote -
On your first point we are in complete agreement. No group of people is more joyfully and defiantly independent of the tobacco industry than us “vapers”. “Big Tobacco” has not had a cent out of me for the last 18 months. And neither has “Big Pharma”, which is even better news. As I stated in my first email, apart from nicotine, an e-cigarette contains propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and food flavouring, substances generally regarded as safe. Exactly the same ingredients are to be found in Nicorette QuickMist Spray, except that the latter also contains anhydrous ethanol, trometamol, poloxamer 407, sodium hydrogen carbonate, levomenthol, sucralose, acesulfame potassium and hydrochloric acid. I should add that the dose of nicotine in this nasty product is so low as to be sub-therapeutic. It's a setup for failure.
Secondly, it must be clearly understood, the tobacco industry has only moved into the arena of small cigalikes. They have shown no interest in the larger personal vaporisers and nor are they likely to. It is not possible for tobacco companies to monopolise the sale of batteries, metal tubes, atomisers, wire and wick, nor propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nor food flavouring. The real business of enjoyable and safer nicotine consumption is Big Tobacco (and Big Pharma)-proof. And it is predominantly these products which are enabling smokers to make the permanent switch. Big Tobacco has in fact already had its “Kodak moment”. They are simply trying to chase after a horse that has long bolted. Consider this irony: tobacco companies, in a desperate bid for survival have found themselves selling small pre-filled cigalikes, a product that is strongly establishing itself as a gateway out of cigarettes, a product they monopolise, and a gateway into the realm of 2nd generation ecigs and personal vaporisers, products which they do not have a hope of monopolising. With or without the comprehension of the health establishment, Big Tobacco's days are numbered. Isn't this a good thing? Imagine successfully banning e-cigarettes. BT would live to fight another day.
And thirdly your point about smoking becoming re-normalised by the acceptance of e-cigarettes. This is understandably based on the fact that “vaping” small cigalikes looks like smoking from a distance. I could argue that drinking water looks like drinking vodka, but do I really need to? The reality is that though it may look like smoking, it is not smoking, and does not even closely smell like smoking. In fact it is usually quite pleasant. The fact that it resembles smoking so well is precisely why it works. And because the use of ecigs returns a healthy sense of taste and smell to the user, they very effectively make smoking unappealing. Smoking, directly or passively, is generally not well tolerated by vapers at all. And the overwhelming majority of vapers are ex-smokers. There is no evidence to suggest that non-smokers are taking up vaping to any significant degree. Even school children found to be experimenting with ecigs are predominantly the same kids who are experimenting with cigarettes. A recent study by the American Association of Cancer Research also concluded that ecigs are “not a gateway to anything”. (E-cigarettes:) Vaping doesn't normalise smoking. It normalises vaping. And vaping, thus far, has not been shown to be harmful, to either the user or to bystanders.
And to add to my enjoyment - I watched THIS.
I FEEL UPLIFTED! I hope you do too.
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Will sanity return? Its Public health that needs treatment
I really got steamed reading THIS
" The purported beneficial psychiatric effects of smoking is actually something that has long been known or suspected. It was once routine policy, I've been told, to supply hospitalized psychiatric patients with free cigarettes. Thanks to the Nico-Nazis, we have now banned any smoking whatsoever in psychiatric hospitals to the detriment of patients. Previously, in-patients had an isolated smoking room within the unit so they could smoke on their own timetable. Now, patients are given short furloughs from their wards to go outside to smoke. Those who are confined to locked units until they stabilize must be escorted outside by busy staff for whom that task is a last priority."
>>>>>>>>>>>>
"We hear from patients that a lot of behavioural issues start because they've been denied a smoke. Some have smoked for decades and suddenly, because they need mental health treatment, that's the end of it. They engage in acting-out behaviour and may end up in seclusion or restraints, which creates health and safety risks for patients and staff."
>>>>>>>>>>>>
"A somewhat different solution is to use electronic or e-cigarettes. These devices do not contain the chemicals and carcinogens found in tobacco cigarettes, do not smell or produce second hand smoke. They heat up liquid containing nicotine and produce water vapour rather than smoke. According to Melodie Tilson, policy director with the Non-Smokers' Rights Association quoted in the National Post, there's "virtually no chance an e-cigarette could be as harmful as a tobacco cigarette to the individual using the product."
But, as the National Post pointed out, she is opposed to them because "We need to look at the bigger picture and their impact on overall smoking rates. If the widespread promotion of these products, and availability, causes young people to use them and then transition to actual cigarettes, that's an increase in harm."!
At this point I KNEW who really needs psychiatric treatment.
" The purported beneficial psychiatric effects of smoking is actually something that has long been known or suspected. It was once routine policy, I've been told, to supply hospitalized psychiatric patients with free cigarettes. Thanks to the Nico-Nazis, we have now banned any smoking whatsoever in psychiatric hospitals to the detriment of patients. Previously, in-patients had an isolated smoking room within the unit so they could smoke on their own timetable. Now, patients are given short furloughs from their wards to go outside to smoke. Those who are confined to locked units until they stabilize must be escorted outside by busy staff for whom that task is a last priority."
>>>>>>>>>>>>
"We hear from patients that a lot of behavioural issues start because they've been denied a smoke. Some have smoked for decades and suddenly, because they need mental health treatment, that's the end of it. They engage in acting-out behaviour and may end up in seclusion or restraints, which creates health and safety risks for patients and staff."
>>>>>>>>>>>>
"A somewhat different solution is to use electronic or e-cigarettes. These devices do not contain the chemicals and carcinogens found in tobacco cigarettes, do not smell or produce second hand smoke. They heat up liquid containing nicotine and produce water vapour rather than smoke. According to Melodie Tilson, policy director with the Non-Smokers' Rights Association quoted in the National Post, there's "virtually no chance an e-cigarette could be as harmful as a tobacco cigarette to the individual using the product."
But, as the National Post pointed out, she is opposed to them because "We need to look at the bigger picture and their impact on overall smoking rates. If the widespread promotion of these products, and availability, causes young people to use them and then transition to actual cigarettes, that's an increase in harm."!
At this point I KNEW who really needs psychiatric treatment.
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Conversation with a councillor from the world of mean
Re our conversation on Sunday
about the actual facts on Second Hand Smoke, here is a comment on the
new study by The American Cancer Society I was telling you about.
Although I don't smoke, and I disagree with you that smoking should not
be seen in public as it then becomes "secret" and "salacious" to young
people, I still feel like an angry smoker that has watched society being
engineered on a lie.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/
I like the Lib Dem attitude against Nuclear
Power and Fracking which UKIP unfortunately favour. I do favour UKIP.
Smoking is not abnormal to the people it gives pleasure, but only the
ideology trying to make it so. The core, hardened, embattled smokers
have no rights, no voice. They have been politically crippled by the
allegations that their smoke kills others. The smoking ban needs
reassessing on scientific evidence and not the lies of smokefree lobby
groups. Farage smokes! I think
every angry smoker like me - they number one fifth of the population - 13000000 -
not to mention the 1 500000 vapers will favour UKIP. We are all voters!
I enjoyed the vibrant life of the past, when politicians were real people and often not very rich. I think pipes and cigars and even cigarettes made them look trustworthy. You, sir, certainly look shifty to me. You have been brainwashed. I don't like you!
I am going to only vote for Councillors, MP's or MEP's that smoke or vape. And you are not one of them!
I enjoyed the vibrant life of the past, when politicians were real people and often not very rich. I think pipes and cigars and even cigarettes made them look trustworthy. You, sir, certainly look shifty to me. You have been brainwashed. I don't like you!
I am going to only vote for Councillors, MP's or MEP's that smoke or vape. And you are not one of them!
Monday, 9 December 2013
Mandela - a different view
I believe that Nelson Mandela has been dead for months - there were suspicions of this way back in July in South Africa. (Read here)
"On June 26, 2013, the Guardian Express printed stories relating the death of Nelson Mandela, after learning that the Pretoria hospital where he was being treated turned off his life support system and allowed the great leader to pass on in dignity. Around the same time, other news agencies also reported the icon’s death, only to retract their stories immediately. With the news finally emerging that the South African legend is, allegedly, still on life support and in a “permanent vegetative” state, it is apparent that the Mandela family is colluding with the South African President Zuma to maintain the lie that Madiba is still alive."
So whatever is happening now is part of a grand illusion about Mandela. The image of him being a benevolent icon was "created" by the West.
Before Robben Island, he was a terrorist. He and the ANC had blood on their hands. Living in South Africa was like living in Northern Ireland, never knowing where the next bomb would blow up your friends, relatives, or yourself. Never knowing if the latest murder had been perpetrated by your side or "their" side. It seemed a vicious cycle and solution-less. Black people were "necklaced"(Winnie Mandela's necklace) regularly - hundreds of them for "non-cooperation" by their own side. It was a terrible, terrible death which she promoted and her husband tried to distance himself from.
After 18 years on Robben Island, Mandela lived on the mainland. This was the time of his "creation" into the gentle, Elder Statesman that we know, groomed to be the first Black President, a martyr restored, an icon, a leader. As President, he seemed without resentment, without rage at the terrible things done to himself personally, or to his people. He spoke of reconciliation -- a new word in the vocabulary of South Africans, but in fact practising Ubuntu.
Watch Pilger's Apartheid did not die it's a very outdated, still uncomfortable video that doesn't cover present government corruption. But the nub is money, corruption and greed - the Wests' - is still at work in the Rainbow Nation, keeping the poor, poor, and the rich, rich. Hear Mandela speaking from about 33:40mins to 38:40mins, his naivety and gentleness obvious.
As Mandela's term ended, and the new guard took over, the greed, avarice and confusion of the Rainbow Nation's government must have distressed Mandela - or did he just accept that that is the way corruption goes, the rewards you get for power? I don't think he ever said one way or the other - well not openly, and under South African press censorship, it would never have been published. And the world needs to hold onto the illusion that South Africa is a success. Instead, on retirement, Mandela gave lovely interviews to sportsmen, visitors and dignitaries, opened sports stadiums and charities, much like the Queen does for us here in the UK. As The Elder Statesman Figurehead Mandela's face was charming whilst animated, yet transformed into deep sadness at private moments. I think those were the real moments. I think the Mandela illusion caused goodness to happen in the hearts of others so they could weave more goodness under his banner. I think the real Mandela was profoundly sad.
I liked the sad Mandela with fire. I am afraid that it was obliterated from view so he could become gracious and inspiring in our eyes. I liked him when he didn't pull his punches, when he was sad and not good - when he made people uncomfortable!
"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings," Mandela
"If you look at those matters, you will come to the conclusion that the attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace." Mandela
"The UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians." Mandela
Mandela was the friend of Castro and Gadaffi - seldom reported in the press.
Mandela was on the CIA "terrorist" list till 2008
Now world leaders are slithering along to his funeral.
I am glad Mandela found love in his old age - real love, from a woman as gracious as himself. I hope this made his inner places less sad.
And most of all, I am glad he has been freed from his last imprisonment - the cruelest most unnecessary imprisonment of all - by his own avaricious family.
Ubuntu
"On June 26, 2013, the Guardian Express printed stories relating the death of Nelson Mandela, after learning that the Pretoria hospital where he was being treated turned off his life support system and allowed the great leader to pass on in dignity. Around the same time, other news agencies also reported the icon’s death, only to retract their stories immediately. With the news finally emerging that the South African legend is, allegedly, still on life support and in a “permanent vegetative” state, it is apparent that the Mandela family is colluding with the South African President Zuma to maintain the lie that Madiba is still alive."
So whatever is happening now is part of a grand illusion about Mandela. The image of him being a benevolent icon was "created" by the West.
Before Robben Island, he was a terrorist. He and the ANC had blood on their hands. Living in South Africa was like living in Northern Ireland, never knowing where the next bomb would blow up your friends, relatives, or yourself. Never knowing if the latest murder had been perpetrated by your side or "their" side. It seemed a vicious cycle and solution-less. Black people were "necklaced"(Winnie Mandela's necklace) regularly - hundreds of them for "non-cooperation" by their own side. It was a terrible, terrible death which she promoted and her husband tried to distance himself from.
After 18 years on Robben Island, Mandela lived on the mainland. This was the time of his "creation" into the gentle, Elder Statesman that we know, groomed to be the first Black President, a martyr restored, an icon, a leader. As President, he seemed without resentment, without rage at the terrible things done to himself personally, or to his people. He spoke of reconciliation -- a new word in the vocabulary of South Africans, but in fact practising Ubuntu.
Among
these awards is the shared 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk,
the last president of the apartheid government of South Africa (he too
is widely credited as an instrumental force in ending apartheid). - See
more at:
http://afkinsider.com/1772/10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-nelson-mandela/7/#sthash.1IQLuJpd.dpuf
I
believe he and de Klerk did a magnificent job of making the South African Transition
a peaceful one. It was not Mandela alone. But, as an icon, everyone, black and white could rally round Mandela, the Statesman, and
his image was promoted because it suited big business, money, the
financial institutions that actually rule our world and who were the ones doing the negotiations. The media and the
West have kept Mandela as an illusion - the lovable Mandela, the Mandela who "freed" his people.Watch Pilger's Apartheid did not die it's a very outdated, still uncomfortable video that doesn't cover present government corruption. But the nub is money, corruption and greed - the Wests' - is still at work in the Rainbow Nation, keeping the poor, poor, and the rich, rich. Hear Mandela speaking from about 33:40mins to 38:40mins, his naivety and gentleness obvious.
As Mandela's term ended, and the new guard took over, the greed, avarice and confusion of the Rainbow Nation's government must have distressed Mandela - or did he just accept that that is the way corruption goes, the rewards you get for power? I don't think he ever said one way or the other - well not openly, and under South African press censorship, it would never have been published. And the world needs to hold onto the illusion that South Africa is a success. Instead, on retirement, Mandela gave lovely interviews to sportsmen, visitors and dignitaries, opened sports stadiums and charities, much like the Queen does for us here in the UK. As The Elder Statesman Figurehead Mandela's face was charming whilst animated, yet transformed into deep sadness at private moments. I think those were the real moments. I think the Mandela illusion caused goodness to happen in the hearts of others so they could weave more goodness under his banner. I think the real Mandela was profoundly sad.
I liked the sad Mandela with fire. I am afraid that it was obliterated from view so he could become gracious and inspiring in our eyes. I liked him when he didn't pull his punches, when he was sad and not good - when he made people uncomfortable!
"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings," Mandela
"If you look at those matters, you will come to the conclusion that the attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace." Mandela
"The UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians." Mandela
Mandela was the friend of Castro and Gadaffi - seldom reported in the press.
Mandela was on the CIA "terrorist" list till 2008
Now world leaders are slithering along to his funeral.
I am glad Mandela found love in his old age - real love, from a woman as gracious as himself. I hope this made his inner places less sad.
And most of all, I am glad he has been freed from his last imprisonment - the cruelest most unnecessary imprisonment of all - by his own avaricious family.
Ubuntu
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Time off - kisses for reading my blog!
I'm having a hectic/scary time at the moment. Husband has been doing dramatic things like having a mini stroke not long after having a mini heart attack.
So I have nothing to say because there is too much to do - I'm the carer and the driver!
Whew!
Thanks for reading my blog....
See you again some time in the future.......
So I have nothing to say because there is too much to do - I'm the carer and the driver!
Whew!
Thanks for reading my blog....
See you again some time in the future.......
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Frank Davis - Science fires - lovely today
I was reading Frank Davis as my morning treat - How Do You Sleep At Night?
I had a thought - in the same era as Second Hand Smoke has been used to manipulate our behaviour, we have to also deal with Climate Change laid squarely at our feet. Both are designed to control us - to engineer society - to make us profitable. The first has made the Pharmaceutical and Government Corporations a fortune, and the second is yet another opportunity for extortion. The social engineering surrounding Climate Change is still evolving.
When I was a young woman, I remember being frightened of Nuclear War (in first place) and global cooling (in second place) and population explosion (in third place).
Nuclear war was immanent always in those days. A second ice age was already on its way and the world population explosion would give each human a metre square living space in thirty years time.
Well - that's what scientists said.
Now, I'm mostly frightened of politicians - a new career opportunity for academics instead of real people. In the UK, everything we do is overtly "evidence based" and "politically correct" but behind the scenes, God knows what actually happens. Science/Scientists have been compromised by its/their use to provide the evidence base for political manoeuvrings. Science is now in cahoots with anyone that can fund them, instead of living in garrets and discovering stuff!
I just loved Frank Davis's post - quote - So I see science as a bit like a campfire burning in the night. In the light of the fire you can see a lot of the things nearest to it. But further out they’re harder to see. And beyond that everything is lost in shadows. What we “know” lies in a little circle around the campfire. And what we don’t know lies outside it, and extends for hundreds of miles in all directions. So what we don’t know is vastly more than what we know.
I think a lot of scientists (and politicians too actually) are just sitting in the light of their own little fires - if you looked down on them from a satellite, there would be thousands of little pinpoints, making a lovely glow in the sky. The danger in that is believing it is your personal fire that is causing total illumination.
I had a thought - in the same era as Second Hand Smoke has been used to manipulate our behaviour, we have to also deal with Climate Change laid squarely at our feet. Both are designed to control us - to engineer society - to make us profitable. The first has made the Pharmaceutical and Government Corporations a fortune, and the second is yet another opportunity for extortion. The social engineering surrounding Climate Change is still evolving.
When I was a young woman, I remember being frightened of Nuclear War (in first place) and global cooling (in second place) and population explosion (in third place).
Nuclear war was immanent always in those days. A second ice age was already on its way and the world population explosion would give each human a metre square living space in thirty years time.
Well - that's what scientists said.
Now, I'm mostly frightened of politicians - a new career opportunity for academics instead of real people. In the UK, everything we do is overtly "evidence based" and "politically correct" but behind the scenes, God knows what actually happens. Science/Scientists have been compromised by its/their use to provide the evidence base for political manoeuvrings. Science is now in cahoots with anyone that can fund them, instead of living in garrets and discovering stuff!
I just loved Frank Davis's post - quote - So I see science as a bit like a campfire burning in the night. In the light of the fire you can see a lot of the things nearest to it. But further out they’re harder to see. And beyond that everything is lost in shadows. What we “know” lies in a little circle around the campfire. And what we don’t know lies outside it, and extends for hundreds of miles in all directions. So what we don’t know is vastly more than what we know.
I think a lot of scientists (and politicians too actually) are just sitting in the light of their own little fires - if you looked down on them from a satellite, there would be thousands of little pinpoints, making a lovely glow in the sky. The danger in that is believing it is your personal fire that is causing total illumination.
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Oh dear - so sorry - I really am
The neighbours had two huge Lielandii in their garden that leaned menacingly in our direction, blocked out the sun and housed a ton of little birds who woke us up every morning with an eardrum piercing dawn chorus. Even I could hear it and I'm classified "seriously" deaf.
On Saturday, tree fellers came along and took the two trees down. It was miraculous to watch how efficiently and neatly they did it. We had a jubilant day. The sun has reached our garden from the west for the first time in many many years.
But there is now no dawn chorus. Instead, there are tons of desperate little birds looking for their homes! Oh dear, so sorry. In my jubilation, I never once thought of you.
On Saturday, tree fellers came along and took the two trees down. It was miraculous to watch how efficiently and neatly they did it. We had a jubilant day. The sun has reached our garden from the west for the first time in many many years.
But there is now no dawn chorus. Instead, there are tons of desperate little birds looking for their homes! Oh dear, so sorry. In my jubilation, I never once thought of you.
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
We have to have Gods!
In prehistory we worshipped the Gods of the mountains, of Nature. We prayed and sacrificed to them.
Then we wrapped our spiritual impulse in religions where ONE God needed to be placated and promoted even in the sacrifice of life in war.
Then we chucked that out and became scientific. We learned to kill as powerfully as any of the old gods. But our God slot is empty. So we fill it with climate science and Medical science and vast corporations so we can feel controlled again. We practice guilt and sacrifice just as we ever did for the good of the whole.
We have replaced our old gods with new. We believe everything will get better if we worship them.
Then we wrapped our spiritual impulse in religions where ONE God needed to be placated and promoted even in the sacrifice of life in war.
Then we chucked that out and became scientific. We learned to kill as powerfully as any of the old gods. But our God slot is empty. So we fill it with climate science and Medical science and vast corporations so we can feel controlled again. We practice guilt and sacrifice just as we ever did for the good of the whole.
We have replaced our old gods with new. We believe everything will get better if we worship them.
Monday, 4 November 2013
One size fits all - modern western medicine
If you follow my blog, you know my husband recently had a heart attack.
He is not right and its nothing to do with his heart I don't think.
He is on pills, pills and more pills. Nine different medications actually because he is diabetic also. Only two are for that - the rest are inherited from the hospital admission. Two treat the same condition and another two treat two conditions he doesn't actually have! Three of five of the seven medications have "depression" as a side effect and the other two, the side effect of "not feeling well".
No wonder he's not right!
I think our National Health Service just issues a "one size fits all" list of medications to give to people when they have a heart attack - even pills for conditions they don't actually have!
Well, I think the size they have given to my husband is ill-fitting indeed. They need tailoring, yes?
He is not right and its nothing to do with his heart I don't think.
He is on pills, pills and more pills. Nine different medications actually because he is diabetic also. Only two are for that - the rest are inherited from the hospital admission. Two treat the same condition and another two treat two conditions he doesn't actually have! Three of five of the seven medications have "depression" as a side effect and the other two, the side effect of "not feeling well".
No wonder he's not right!
I think our National Health Service just issues a "one size fits all" list of medications to give to people when they have a heart attack - even pills for conditions they don't actually have!
Well, I think the size they have given to my husband is ill-fitting indeed. They need tailoring, yes?
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Bonfire night - not again in the rain. Nah! But thank god for the mud.
It rained, it poured, it still went on. It was physically horrible for me. Wrong clothes, leaky raincoat, freezing wind, glasses steamed up and dripping raindrops, squelchy mud and soaking feet, frozen hands.
The firework display started late and the introduction was a massive thunderclap that set off howls of terror in lots of little kids, leading to a grand exit home by mommies, daddies and grandparents. I helpfully grappled with the pushchair home, leaving the younger generation to enjoy the show, Don't they make god-awful pushchairs for kids now days? The wheels are totally unco-ordinated; the half-handles like baby elk's horns make them as heavy and difficult to steer along the cobbles as if they were indeed live elks struggling aganst capture!
At home, I realised I'd dropped my glasses (which I took off so I could see!) in the mud squished up by a thousand feet at the Bonfire viewing point. And we found them later, in perfect condition, protected from crushing feet that had simply splooshed them down deeper into the swamp. What luck! They washed up well.
Next year, if there is even the vaguest hint it might rain, I'm not going. Its not my idea of "fun". Bah Humbug!
The firework display started late and the introduction was a massive thunderclap that set off howls of terror in lots of little kids, leading to a grand exit home by mommies, daddies and grandparents. I helpfully grappled with the pushchair home, leaving the younger generation to enjoy the show, Don't they make god-awful pushchairs for kids now days? The wheels are totally unco-ordinated; the half-handles like baby elk's horns make them as heavy and difficult to steer along the cobbles as if they were indeed live elks struggling aganst capture!
At home, I realised I'd dropped my glasses (which I took off so I could see!) in the mud squished up by a thousand feet at the Bonfire viewing point. And we found them later, in perfect condition, protected from crushing feet that had simply splooshed them down deeper into the swamp. What luck! They washed up well.
Next year, if there is even the vaguest hint it might rain, I'm not going. Its not my idea of "fun". Bah Humbug!
Friday, 1 November 2013
Once apon a time
Once upon a time November 5th was Guy Fawkes Night. Poor old Guy Fawkes effigies were trundled out every year and burnt at the stake (our bonfires) in remembrance of the real Guy Fawkes who was a very naughty man who tried to blow up The Houses of Parliament on the 5th November 1605.
Guy Fawkes was demonised by his enemies and the celebration of his death went on for 300 years till modern times that even I can remember. It was really ghoulish to burn the Guy that we had spent many loving hours creating out of old stockings stuffed with hay and dressed in clothes we had once worn and filled with sqibbs and firecrackers. We prepared for Guy Fawkes. We collected wood, saved our money to buy fire works, spent hours making our Guy and the families that I knew, celebrated with a personal display in their own gardens. The daddies set off the big fireworks and we had sqibbs and jumping jack and sparklers - loads of sparklers. I loved Guy Fawkes Night. I never once thought it was ghoulish because, like Christians eating the body of Jesus and drinking His blood, never stop to think of the way others might interpret their actions, it didn't seem strange for ordinary people to execute annually a poppet of a man long dead.
So Guy Fawkes went out of fashion but was replaced with "Bonfire Night" and this seems to encompass all sorts of fire events. Most seem to be co-ordinated by local authorities and you go out to see the fireworks instead of staying at home with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grannies and Grandpas all together for a family gathering.
Now kids run around with glow sticks and dress up in Halloween costumes. In our village, they have a Halloween Pumpkin competition and all the entries are on display on tables so everyone can see them. Our display of fireworks is shortish and much more humble than the London Eye at New Year! But the kids love it. It all starts at 6:00 o'clock and that's early enough for the very young and the extremely old. And there's a hog roast to raise funds for next year's Bonfire Night.
Once upon a time, we kids revelled in lighting matches, scaring people by lobbing jumping jacks at their feet, writing our names in the air with sparklers, removing gates (why did we do that?), and finally setting the old Guy to death in the flames on his stake in the pyre and nimbly avoiding the blasts and explosions that emanated from him in his final moments. The frisson of danger was just wonderful!
But the village kids here where I live, seem to enjoy their glow sticks and the firework display put on for them, that they cannot approach because of health and safety, the mixture of the foreign Halloween celebrations, pumpkins, witches and broomsticks and Munch's "Scream" masks. The fact that they can never experience the danger like we did, or the wildness of it, the fear, the laughter and the relief from near misses or even the ghoulish execution that repeated itself in millions of English homes, doesn't matter. They will remember their own sanitised Bonfire Night with love - and that's what really counts. The world has changed.
Guy Fawkes was demonised by his enemies and the celebration of his death went on for 300 years till modern times that even I can remember. It was really ghoulish to burn the Guy that we had spent many loving hours creating out of old stockings stuffed with hay and dressed in clothes we had once worn and filled with sqibbs and firecrackers. We prepared for Guy Fawkes. We collected wood, saved our money to buy fire works, spent hours making our Guy and the families that I knew, celebrated with a personal display in their own gardens. The daddies set off the big fireworks and we had sqibbs and jumping jack and sparklers - loads of sparklers. I loved Guy Fawkes Night. I never once thought it was ghoulish because, like Christians eating the body of Jesus and drinking His blood, never stop to think of the way others might interpret their actions, it didn't seem strange for ordinary people to execute annually a poppet of a man long dead.
So Guy Fawkes went out of fashion but was replaced with "Bonfire Night" and this seems to encompass all sorts of fire events. Most seem to be co-ordinated by local authorities and you go out to see the fireworks instead of staying at home with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grannies and Grandpas all together for a family gathering.
Now kids run around with glow sticks and dress up in Halloween costumes. In our village, they have a Halloween Pumpkin competition and all the entries are on display on tables so everyone can see them. Our display of fireworks is shortish and much more humble than the London Eye at New Year! But the kids love it. It all starts at 6:00 o'clock and that's early enough for the very young and the extremely old. And there's a hog roast to raise funds for next year's Bonfire Night.
Once upon a time, we kids revelled in lighting matches, scaring people by lobbing jumping jacks at their feet, writing our names in the air with sparklers, removing gates (why did we do that?), and finally setting the old Guy to death in the flames on his stake in the pyre and nimbly avoiding the blasts and explosions that emanated from him in his final moments. The frisson of danger was just wonderful!
But the village kids here where I live, seem to enjoy their glow sticks and the firework display put on for them, that they cannot approach because of health and safety, the mixture of the foreign Halloween celebrations, pumpkins, witches and broomsticks and Munch's "Scream" masks. The fact that they can never experience the danger like we did, or the wildness of it, the fear, the laughter and the relief from near misses or even the ghoulish execution that repeated itself in millions of English homes, doesn't matter. They will remember their own sanitised Bonfire Night with love - and that's what really counts. The world has changed.
Thursday, 31 October 2013
Halloween in the UK - well exactly!
I stole this from Dioclese's Blog (that I regularly follow) - It's Halloween
It really delighted me!
It really delighted me!
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
This morning's delight
I started watching Fern Gully (which I've never seen before) with my granddaughter. But I stopped here because this number delighted me - and frightenened her...enjoy! It's how it is, yes?
Here's Tim Curry singing Toxic Love
Here's Tim Curry singing Toxic Love
Saturday, 26 October 2013
Fat,fat,fat - eat lots of it and live long!
It is becoming clear that fat is not our enemy. Do not eat "low fat" anything - we need fat in our diet.
Right now, I am listening to BBC News - the Government is demanding that saturated fats need to be removed from our diets. All sorts of food manufacturing corporations are co-operating from Asda to Chocolate companies. We are going to be exposed to even less fat than we get now.
Our meat is constantly trimmed, our milk and dairy products are distorted into low fat consumer products that millions of dutiful citizens consume "for health". Our Government is destroying our health!
Rebel! Eat fat - lots of it - and live long.
Right now, I am listening to BBC News - the Government is demanding that saturated fats need to be removed from our diets. All sorts of food manufacturing corporations are co-operating from Asda to Chocolate companies. We are going to be exposed to even less fat than we get now.
Our meat is constantly trimmed, our milk and dairy products are distorted into low fat consumer products that millions of dutiful citizens consume "for health". Our Government is destroying our health!
Rebel! Eat fat - lots of it - and live long.
Thursday, 24 October 2013
Curfew
In my last blog, I explained that we now have a curfew for the dog to keep our hedgehog safe.
Turns out Hedgehogs are rowdy creatures and the dog knows when he's around.
Hedgehogs make many noises, which will tell you how your hedgehog is feeling.
HUFFING AND PUFFING:
HISSING AND JUMPING
Turns out Hedgehogs are rowdy creatures and the dog knows when he's around.
HEDGEHOG SOUNDS
Hedgehogs make many noises, which will tell you how your hedgehog is feeling.
HUFFING AND PUFFING:
- The most frequent sound they make as they go about their business of searching their food, or exploring their cage
- when being handled
- when 2 strange hedgehogs meet for the first time
- compared to the sound of a locomotive train
- this does not mean they do not like you. This is their language
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ21hh-MKlo
HISSING AND JUMPING
- FRIGHTENED OR AGITATED
- SOMETIMES FOLLOWED BY A JUMPING OR POPPING MOTION
- EMITS CLICKING NOISE JUST BEFORE IT JUMPS
- USED AS A WARNING FOR ANY POTENTIAL PREDATORS
- BE PERSISTENT: USE A BLANKET TO PICK UP THE HEDGEHOG. POINT THE FACE DOWNWARD AND THEY WILL SLOWLY POP OUT.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W96EVcih5ac&NR=1
- Can hardly be heard over the sound of crunching food
- Sounds like a soft sniffing sound and can get as loud as a little pig's grunt
- If they get excited over what they eat, it can turn to a soft happy squeek
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OrLRioWoLE&feature=related
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXtDICohS7A&NR=1
- Please investigate. Something is happening whether they are stuck/hurt or fighting with another hedgehog
- sounds like a little scream and you will know it is a panic call
- very panicky squeak
- Many times if a male seeks a female, he will squeak from excitement
- does not sound like a panick squeak but more of a series of random squeals, very happy.
- much deeper than a squeal of harm
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-1tZWjpx1w
- Relaxed hedgies tend to make little sniffing noises as they explore
- When a hedgehog is active, lift them up and put them close to your ear. (You can hear how hyper they are )
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX4-fnTnmSg
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0C2WL1Zack
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
The case of the disappearing dog and the blessing
One night recently, the dog disappeared around bedtime. We searched everywhere indoors and out in the garden with torches to throw light under beds or behind bushes. We made delicious food noises and clattered the walkies leads. No luck - the dog had vanished, Eventually we discovered dog sitting perfectly still "guarding" something in the furthest and leafiest corner next to the neighbour's fence. I knew that stance, We'd seen it before. Dog was hunting and had found prey. I struggled into the bushes with a short training lead whilst husband illuminated the way behind me with the torch. Just on the other side of the fence was a large hedgehog, safe behind the bars. I congratulated dog on his hunting brilliance and popped the lead over his head. I loitered long enough to admire this beautiful creature in the garden of my neighbour, whom I now envied as blessed.
But, the blessing has been busily exploring our garden too. And we have been meeting on a regular basis every time the dog disappears! Find the dog, and we find the hedgehog. The hedgehog is a large and handsome creature and dog knows simply to stand in front of it and it will roll up and stay put. Eventually we come out and tell him how wonderful he is at finding the hedgehog AGAIN and we all go inside and secure the cat flap in the kitchen door for the night.
It has become so routine that we've had to change our way of life. We are under no illusions that, given half a chance, our brilliant hunter will kill our hedgehog sooner than you can say "dogfood". So at dusk each night now there is dog curfew. No dog outside at night. And we comfort ourselves that somewhere out there, our garden has been blessed.
But, the blessing has been busily exploring our garden too. And we have been meeting on a regular basis every time the dog disappears! Find the dog, and we find the hedgehog. The hedgehog is a large and handsome creature and dog knows simply to stand in front of it and it will roll up and stay put. Eventually we come out and tell him how wonderful he is at finding the hedgehog AGAIN and we all go inside and secure the cat flap in the kitchen door for the night.
It has become so routine that we've had to change our way of life. We are under no illusions that, given half a chance, our brilliant hunter will kill our hedgehog sooner than you can say "dogfood". So at dusk each night now there is dog curfew. No dog outside at night. And we comfort ourselves that somewhere out there, our garden has been blessed.
Monday, 21 October 2013
The best of village life and Vapemail
But today I had a wonderful surprise. I was sitting in the window of the local coffee shop with my daughter who took me "out" for coffee and a natter, when suddenly, the postmistress rushed in and placed this beautiful parcel on our table in front of me. "I saw you here" she said, "And this is for you!"
Oh bliss!
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Christmas? Naaa. Couldn't be bovvered.
We have been discussing amongst the family who will host Christmas this year.
It's too much work.
The host has to tidy their house.
They have to have to have a large enough tree to house all the gifts to be handed out at morning coffee.
They have to prepare the Turkey, the vegetables, make the gravy and steam the pudding.
They need a big table to seat us all.
They have to pool our cutlery and plates so there is enough for all of us to use.
Someone has to set the table.
Someone has to clear up all the mess of papers round the Christmas tree and then all the cracker mess and silly plastic cracker toys and jokes from the dining room.
Not to mention scraping the plates and packing the dishwasher several times over.
And then everything pooled has to be sorted and returned to the rightful families.
And then they have to clean the house AGAIN.
Mummy and Daddy did that for about thirty two years. It WAS a lot of work!
Christmas? Naaa. No one can be bovvered in our family - ESPECIALLY Mummy and Daddy.
Tuesday, 8 October 2013
Heart attack instructions. Temporary blog suspension.
Some advice for everyone. Five things to know about heart attacks.
1 You will not have the time/sense to read about heart attack symptoms on the Internet while your mate is having one.
2 There is nothing on the Internet that is really helpful at the time except phone 999
3 If you live in the country, just bundle your mate into your car and drive them yourself to the nearest hospital. You will get there quicker than the ambulance will actually arrive at your house.
4 Don't listen if your mate says "It's OK, it's nothing really. I just need to lie down for a while."
5 If you think someone might be having a heart attack, they probably are. Act on it even in doubt.
So, how did I know my mate was having a heart attack?
I had previously read up about symptoms. They are different in men and women. So do that now - just google it and read as much as you can until the basic stuff is burned on your brain.
It happenned quickly. One minute we were happy as Larry dishing up our Sunday supper. And the next he got such bad "indigestion" he couldn't eat it.
The indigestion! went up his jaw and down his left arm. (Classic symptoms)
He wanted to lie down and then he'd be "all right".
That was just MY husband. Everyone is different. No one has a heart attack in the same way.
If you know what happened to us, you know something you didn't know before. Sudden extra painful indigestion that feels like you swallowed something large and uncomfortable that's stuck down in the little cup you have at the top of your chest bones at the bottom of your throat, that is sending a pain up your jaw and down your left arm, is not indigestion.
My life is a bit chaotic right now - so I'll be blogging less and driving more. We live in the country, and the nearest heart hospital is a bit of a drive. One benefit of the whole situation is that hubby has learned to text - WITH smileys!
See you when we're all sorted out!
1 You will not have the time/sense to read about heart attack symptoms on the Internet while your mate is having one.
2 There is nothing on the Internet that is really helpful at the time except phone 999
3 If you live in the country, just bundle your mate into your car and drive them yourself to the nearest hospital. You will get there quicker than the ambulance will actually arrive at your house.
4 Don't listen if your mate says "It's OK, it's nothing really. I just need to lie down for a while."
5 If you think someone might be having a heart attack, they probably are. Act on it even in doubt.
So, how did I know my mate was having a heart attack?
I had previously read up about symptoms. They are different in men and women. So do that now - just google it and read as much as you can until the basic stuff is burned on your brain.
It happenned quickly. One minute we were happy as Larry dishing up our Sunday supper. And the next he got such bad "indigestion" he couldn't eat it.
The indigestion! went up his jaw and down his left arm. (Classic symptoms)
He wanted to lie down and then he'd be "all right".
That was just MY husband. Everyone is different. No one has a heart attack in the same way.
If you know what happened to us, you know something you didn't know before. Sudden extra painful indigestion that feels like you swallowed something large and uncomfortable that's stuck down in the little cup you have at the top of your chest bones at the bottom of your throat, that is sending a pain up your jaw and down your left arm, is not indigestion.
My life is a bit chaotic right now - so I'll be blogging less and driving more. We live in the country, and the nearest heart hospital is a bit of a drive. One benefit of the whole situation is that hubby has learned to text - WITH smileys!
See you when we're all sorted out!
Sunday, 6 October 2013
Oh dear, not so good 10 day post
I have loads of ideas that need to be written about for the sake of my health. This blog is my stress buster. I enjoy feeling passionate about somethiing - it makes me feel alive!
But my steam machine has failed me. I have been attacked by a nasty bug that has ruined my sleep and tormented me by day. I caught this wreched thing from my granddaughter who caught it from playgroup. Oh the coughing! Oh the sore throat! I haven't had such a sore throat since I was a kid.
I am SICK of feeling SICK.
I the meantime, the live feed of life around me goes on. The newspapers report all sorts of things that could have been a pin to hitch a blog on.
But I could'nt be bothered!
But my steam machine has failed me. I have been attacked by a nasty bug that has ruined my sleep and tormented me by day. I caught this wreched thing from my granddaughter who caught it from playgroup. Oh the coughing! Oh the sore throat! I haven't had such a sore throat since I was a kid.
I am SICK of feeling SICK.
I the meantime, the live feed of life around me goes on. The newspapers report all sorts of things that could have been a pin to hitch a blog on.
But I could'nt be bothered!
Friday, 27 September 2013
Ethical Public Health advertising? Aaaaargh! Disgusting.
I got momentarily excited today when I read the summary of this article.
Well at this point I thought I might read something intelligent on how criminal it is to brainwash humans using medical porn subliminals on "plain" packs of cigarettes - or any cigarettes for that matter - and - going into the future - the affront on obesity and alcohol, planned in the same way.
But no! It goes on.
"We acknowledge and discuss these concerns, but, using the public health ethics literature as a guide, argue that distressing advertising can be ethically defensible if conditions of effectiveness, proportionality necessity, least infringement, and public accountability are satisfied."
Oh yeah?
None of that has hapenned to smokers, has it? Ethics don't exist in Public Health. The only thing I see is lies, persecution and huge infringement in the rape of people's minds through the use of medical porn, brainwashing and fear. And now they plan to attack other groups of misbehavers.
Shame on you.
"We do not take a broad view as to whether distressing advertising is ethical or unethical, because we see the evidence for both the effectiveness of distressing approaches and their potential to generate iatrogenic effects to be inconclusive. However, we believe it possible to use the current evidence base to make informed estimates of the likely consequences of specific message presentations. Messages can be pre-tested and monitored to identify and deal with potential problems. We discuss how advertisers can approach the problems of deciding on the appropriate intensity of ethical review, and evaluating prospective distressing advertising campaigns against the conditions outlined."
Everyone knows smoking may harm them. Society has moved away from it naturally right from the day the first information percolated through to our consiousness. I think people will change their lifestyles on obesity, alcohol and other destructive aspects of modern life like detergent pollution, chemical overload, work stress etc, all by themselves without having to be bombarded with Public Health "advertising".
Ethical? No. Aaaaargh! Disgusting.
The ethics of distress: Toward a framework for determining the ethical acceptability of distressing health promotion advertising
And then plunged into my usual despair at the insanity of humans on this strange planet. I am not paying for the article, but the summary starts by saying "Distressing health promotion advertising involves the elicitation of negative emotion to increase the likelihood that health messages will stimulate audience members to adopt healthier behaviors. Irrespective of its effectiveness, distressing advertising risks harming audience members who do not consent to the intervention and are unable to withdraw from it. Further, the use of these approaches may increase the potential for unfairness or stigmatization toward those targeted, or be considered unacceptable by some sections of the public.Well at this point I thought I might read something intelligent on how criminal it is to brainwash humans using medical porn subliminals on "plain" packs of cigarettes - or any cigarettes for that matter - and - going into the future - the affront on obesity and alcohol, planned in the same way.
But no! It goes on.
"We acknowledge and discuss these concerns, but, using the public health ethics literature as a guide, argue that distressing advertising can be ethically defensible if conditions of effectiveness, proportionality necessity, least infringement, and public accountability are satisfied."
Oh yeah?
None of that has hapenned to smokers, has it? Ethics don't exist in Public Health. The only thing I see is lies, persecution and huge infringement in the rape of people's minds through the use of medical porn, brainwashing and fear. And now they plan to attack other groups of misbehavers.
Shame on you.
"We do not take a broad view as to whether distressing advertising is ethical or unethical, because we see the evidence for both the effectiveness of distressing approaches and their potential to generate iatrogenic effects to be inconclusive. However, we believe it possible to use the current evidence base to make informed estimates of the likely consequences of specific message presentations. Messages can be pre-tested and monitored to identify and deal with potential problems. We discuss how advertisers can approach the problems of deciding on the appropriate intensity of ethical review, and evaluating prospective distressing advertising campaigns against the conditions outlined."
Everyone knows smoking may harm them. Society has moved away from it naturally right from the day the first information percolated through to our consiousness. I think people will change their lifestyles on obesity, alcohol and other destructive aspects of modern life like detergent pollution, chemical overload, work stress etc, all by themselves without having to be bombarded with Public Health "advertising".
Ethical? No. Aaaaargh! Disgusting.
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Time for hot frogs.
Making hoarding a crime caught my eye on Twitter this morning. The new law would protect us oldies from ourselves and our clutter. I thought Hoarding was a compulsive obsessive disorder. I couldn't think of anything more cruel and barbaric than making those with clutter be legally forced to not hoard. It ranks with making older people to not smoke when they have done it for years. Or ban smoking in hospitals where the mentally ill have to re-home to sometimes.
This mornings tweet made me remember how utterly insane our legislators are. They actually have NO IDEA really do they? They overstep the mark of basic compassion.
We are living in a world where everything is cosmetic - it's got to look right. We have forgotten our messy past. We think we are building a better future by making things look right. Hoarding is messy. Hoarders don't follow the rules of being tidy. They haven't got neat minds. They must be made illegal. They are a danger to themselves and others. Their houses might burn down. Rats might infect the houses around them. It is unhygienic. Hoarders need disinfecting from society. They need LEGISLATING against.
Smokers are disgusting and dirty too. They stink. They are a danger to others with their second hand smoke which kills. They might burn the house down too. They must be legislated against to smoke outside, oh no, I forgot, not outside either. They mustn't be seen, even though they count as one quarter of the population.Children must grow up not seeing anyone smoking so they can be protected against it when they grow up and actually see people smoking.
And such a disgusting habit may not be practised by the mentally ill. Their second hand smoke will injure others around them. So they must be offered NRT patches immediately on admission. I think this is a crime.
Once we had laws against sexual orientation, race, pregnancy, abortion, prostitution, women, religion, witches, slaves that were all crimes against groups in society. In most Western countries, we expect to be free from government sponsored social discrimination.
I don't see this. I see discrimination alive and well. It disgusts me.
But the uplifting thought for my day is that our legislative madness will pass. One day, some of the frogs heating up slowly in the petri dish of life, will leap out - maybe.
This mornings tweet made me remember how utterly insane our legislators are. They actually have NO IDEA really do they? They overstep the mark of basic compassion.
We are living in a world where everything is cosmetic - it's got to look right. We have forgotten our messy past. We think we are building a better future by making things look right. Hoarding is messy. Hoarders don't follow the rules of being tidy. They haven't got neat minds. They must be made illegal. They are a danger to themselves and others. Their houses might burn down. Rats might infect the houses around them. It is unhygienic. Hoarders need disinfecting from society. They need LEGISLATING against.
Smokers are disgusting and dirty too. They stink. They are a danger to others with their second hand smoke which kills. They might burn the house down too. They must be legislated against to smoke outside, oh no, I forgot, not outside either. They mustn't be seen, even though they count as one quarter of the population.Children must grow up not seeing anyone smoking so they can be protected against it when they grow up and actually see people smoking.
And such a disgusting habit may not be practised by the mentally ill. Their second hand smoke will injure others around them. So they must be offered NRT patches immediately on admission. I think this is a crime.
Once we had laws against sexual orientation, race, pregnancy, abortion, prostitution, women, religion, witches, slaves that were all crimes against groups in society. In most Western countries, we expect to be free from government sponsored social discrimination.
I don't see this. I see discrimination alive and well. It disgusts me.
But the uplifting thought for my day is that our legislative madness will pass. One day, some of the frogs heating up slowly in the petri dish of life, will leap out - maybe.
Friday, 13 September 2013
Reincarnation and karma - good system
I believe that the idea of reincarnation and karma is a most satisfying one. Well it is for me. I never have to feel vengeance. Whoever it is that did me wrong will have to rectify it in some way at some other time. I don't have to do anything. It's a natural law.
All the nasty things I have said in this blog will need redressing by me too.
I am trying to fix my karmic bank balance for the future by not moaning all the time and feeeeling da luuv.
However!
In my new incarnation, I'd be hoping all the anti smokers be smokers.
That would be a good start.
All the nasty things I have said in this blog will need redressing by me too.
I am trying to fix my karmic bank balance for the future by not moaning all the time and feeeeling da luuv.
However!
In my new incarnation, I'd be hoping all the anti smokers be smokers.
That would be a good start.
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Legislative Vengeance
Legislative vengeance is not my phrase, but I am stealing it! Thanks
Jan. This idea covers what I feel is seeping into society drip by drip
by drop.
I think it might be something to do with my generation. It was the sex, drugs and rock n roll generation. First it was Rock 'n Roll, Elvis Presley and Rebel without a Cause James Dean era. We were the first official teenagers. Before that there were just mini-adults. We became "problems" for kissing in the backs of cars, for drinking, for smoking, for having fun. We became consumers. We grew up rebellious.
We needed to be heard and we yelled loudly. We yelled for peace. We yelled for black rights, gay rights, women's rights. We yelled to stop censorship. We watched Deep Throat and Caligula anyway. We fell pregnant. We had our babies cruelly removed from us by moral vengeance. We Twisted the Night Away. Psychiatrists told us to "let it all hang out". Psychologists wrote books on how to bring up the babies we managed to keep or have in wedlock. We had hopes and dreams of a world of peace and a better way of life. We made waves, we disobeyed, and the Press followed our antics so our message spread. We changed things because we wanted a world with a better future. We bought into the system Bill Hicks warned us against.
We grew older and our children became the teenagers becoming an even more permissive, self-indulgent generation. By that time legislative vengeance coming along behind us, had made using drugs a "crime". Instead of the Vietnam war there was a new war - on drugs. A big lucrative industry of criminals and law enforcers and prisons to keep the new criminals in, grew up.
And simultaneously, a new kind of drug baron found it's power, the Big Drug Corporations put themselves together in the style of Big Tobacco, using the marketing blueprint/template familiarly used now by all Corporations. Toggle the press to your side and propagandise about our wants, fears and weaknesses with "cures" and "solutions" and keep the fear alive at all costs. There is only room for allowed permissiveness and self-indulgences that promote the economy, and the "Bigs". Our children are now grown to middle age. They have been groomed by regulation and education to pass on legislative vengeance lifestyles that were started to control their parents. It is mainly my generation that perceives the abnormality of the "normal" that "normal" is.
The new epidemiology makes sure that the groomed, manicured and manufactured politicians have science to back up the policies they are lobbied to promote. And also guarantees work for scientists funded by Big Pharma, Big Seed, Big Oil, Big War and Big Corporations
So our grandchildren are growing up in a world as equally repressed as the one we lived in. Their repression is less about morals or religion, and more about what has been proved by science to be good or bad for them. So they don't have to fight for gay rights,woman's rights or equality as it has already been changed by us. Their parents are the age group of our current boy politicians endorsing legislative vengeance against the rest of us, all backed up by science of course. Did that generation do anything outstandingly rebellious? Or did they just "follow orders".
It's up to the new generation to kick against their own repression. And I think they might. Already their parents (the obedient ones) are beginning to lose confidence in the epidemiological scare stories, twististic and hype pouring out in confusing piles of information from Corporation-funded scientists, the Media and Governments. The age group that I know who are 40 something are beginning to question, to notice, to perceive that some things presented to them, are not quite what they seem - are ludicrously opposite to previous information and they are awakening.
I am hoping their kids are listening to them awakening as they are being "scientised" at school and that their own sense of curiosity eventually will break through the brainwashing of the education system, and they will ask questions about good science and bad science and demand it be purified from all the corruption that has built up in it since grandparent's time. In this computer age,I am hoping that my grandchildren will question everything they are told, and question every law that has been passed the appears vengeful to some lifestyle. And mostly question the science that brought it into being.
I hope they will see through the complex a tangle of wrongfulness we live in, and get rid of it. That Corporate greed favouring shareholders instead of social responsibility becomes unfashionable. That using science with malicious intent to promote a cause becomes a punishable offence. That epidemiology becomes a real science that cannot be used to promote legislation, but is used for observation and education.
I expect my grandchildren to rebel and I'm working on it already!
I think it might be something to do with my generation. It was the sex, drugs and rock n roll generation. First it was Rock 'n Roll, Elvis Presley and Rebel without a Cause James Dean era. We were the first official teenagers. Before that there were just mini-adults. We became "problems" for kissing in the backs of cars, for drinking, for smoking, for having fun. We became consumers. We grew up rebellious.
We needed to be heard and we yelled loudly. We yelled for peace. We yelled for black rights, gay rights, women's rights. We yelled to stop censorship. We watched Deep Throat and Caligula anyway. We fell pregnant. We had our babies cruelly removed from us by moral vengeance. We Twisted the Night Away. Psychiatrists told us to "let it all hang out". Psychologists wrote books on how to bring up the babies we managed to keep or have in wedlock. We had hopes and dreams of a world of peace and a better way of life. We made waves, we disobeyed, and the Press followed our antics so our message spread. We changed things because we wanted a world with a better future. We bought into the system Bill Hicks warned us against.
We grew older and our children became the teenagers becoming an even more permissive, self-indulgent generation. By that time legislative vengeance coming along behind us, had made using drugs a "crime". Instead of the Vietnam war there was a new war - on drugs. A big lucrative industry of criminals and law enforcers and prisons to keep the new criminals in, grew up.
And simultaneously, a new kind of drug baron found it's power, the Big Drug Corporations put themselves together in the style of Big Tobacco, using the marketing blueprint/template familiarly used now by all Corporations. Toggle the press to your side and propagandise about our wants, fears and weaknesses with "cures" and "solutions" and keep the fear alive at all costs. There is only room for allowed permissiveness and self-indulgences that promote the economy, and the "Bigs". Our children are now grown to middle age. They have been groomed by regulation and education to pass on legislative vengeance lifestyles that were started to control their parents. It is mainly my generation that perceives the abnormality of the "normal" that "normal" is.
The new epidemiology makes sure that the groomed, manicured and manufactured politicians have science to back up the policies they are lobbied to promote. And also guarantees work for scientists funded by Big Pharma, Big Seed, Big Oil, Big War and Big Corporations
So our grandchildren are growing up in a world as equally repressed as the one we lived in. Their repression is less about morals or religion, and more about what has been proved by science to be good or bad for them. So they don't have to fight for gay rights,woman's rights or equality as it has already been changed by us. Their parents are the age group of our current boy politicians endorsing legislative vengeance against the rest of us, all backed up by science of course. Did that generation do anything outstandingly rebellious? Or did they just "follow orders".
It's up to the new generation to kick against their own repression. And I think they might. Already their parents (the obedient ones) are beginning to lose confidence in the epidemiological scare stories, twististic and hype pouring out in confusing piles of information from Corporation-funded scientists, the Media and Governments. The age group that I know who are 40 something are beginning to question, to notice, to perceive that some things presented to them, are not quite what they seem - are ludicrously opposite to previous information and they are awakening.
I am hoping their kids are listening to them awakening as they are being "scientised" at school and that their own sense of curiosity eventually will break through the brainwashing of the education system, and they will ask questions about good science and bad science and demand it be purified from all the corruption that has built up in it since grandparent's time. In this computer age,I am hoping that my grandchildren will question everything they are told, and question every law that has been passed the appears vengeful to some lifestyle. And mostly question the science that brought it into being.
I hope they will see through the complex a tangle of wrongfulness we live in, and get rid of it. That Corporate greed favouring shareholders instead of social responsibility becomes unfashionable. That using science with malicious intent to promote a cause becomes a punishable offence. That epidemiology becomes a real science that cannot be used to promote legislation, but is used for observation and education.
I expect my grandchildren to rebel and I'm working on it already!
Saturday, 7 September 2013
The planet of duplicity and hypocrisy - thank God for the Internet
My husband sent me this link - The Best of Obama - I think they are brilliant! Enjoy.
They show that us ordinary mortals have a sense that duplicity, hypocrisy and rediculosity rules our world - and the best of it is that the Internet is far more powerful at quickly sharing ideas than jongleurs and troubadours could in the middle ages - or music halls in the Victorian era.
Thursday, 5 September 2013
The BBC - where do they get their statistics? 80% indeed!
Couldn't believe my ears! Just heard that 80% of citizens in the UK want more wind farms according to a BBC poll.
Bwaaaahaaaaha. ROLF Aaaaaarrrrgggh Surely not!
Why can't every roof be fitted with photovoltaic cells - or water driven generators be installed in our thousands of rivers - or tidal energy be used? And what about methane? Or geothermal energy?
It's always wind farms.
What about plain old coal!?
Bwaaaahaaaaha. ROLF Aaaaaarrrrgggh Surely not!
It's always wind farms.
What about plain old coal!?
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Instant response - furious request
Today, I took the dog for a walk because I was so uptight about a really weird and not-so-pleasant day. I went to the park, to relax.
But, we were terrorised by an idiot dog owner whose three adolescent Labradors raced round and round us loose of their leads. She might have thought they were cute - but I really was terrified. My own cute little dog has to be carefully protected because he might look like a Yorkshire Terrier, but he THINKS he's an Alsatian. As a rescue dog, something must have happened to him in the long distant past. The trigger to his rage is any dog that sniffs his neck. They can sniff any part they like and he's a friendly little chap - but a neck-sniff does it. These three horrid Labradors leaping about and pawing looked like neck sniffers to me.
I yelled and screamed "b***** off" and "go away" in several languages I know. I heard the owner calling them to her.
I shouted "Put your dogs on their bloody leads!" And she did instantly.
That made me feel better.
But, we were terrorised by an idiot dog owner whose three adolescent Labradors raced round and round us loose of their leads. She might have thought they were cute - but I really was terrified. My own cute little dog has to be carefully protected because he might look like a Yorkshire Terrier, but he THINKS he's an Alsatian. As a rescue dog, something must have happened to him in the long distant past. The trigger to his rage is any dog that sniffs his neck. They can sniff any part they like and he's a friendly little chap - but a neck-sniff does it. These three horrid Labradors leaping about and pawing looked like neck sniffers to me.
I yelled and screamed "b***** off" and "go away" in several languages I know. I heard the owner calling them to her.
I shouted "Put your dogs on their bloody leads!" And she did instantly.
That made me feel better.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
A bloody good idea.
I am not super inelligent, not do I understand a lot of things. I sometimes get a good "gut feeling" and other times a bad one.
This lobbying bill must not pass - a blog today by big brother watch, made me think it would be one way to curb the influence of lobby groups - sock puppets - that have meddled with our Government for many years. In the UK, unlike other countries, there is no curb on them. I refuse to give money to charities that I know will use my money to make my life miserable like The Heart Foundation and The Cancer Charities that have overstepped their remit by spending it to lobby against smokers - and probably now against vapers. They are shamefully politically involved. Drinkers and fat people are begnning to feel the influence of the Righteous too.
" Some have reported on the concern that the bill could ‘gag’ charities." Well, as there are several very interfereing charities, sock puppets for the righteous and those who have without shame and without exposure, peddled smudged medical statistics as "science", made even challenging them not politically correct, advised the Government to put criminal nocebos on cigarette packs and caused the persecution of a raft of our citizens, I think that would be a bloody good idea!
This lobbying bill must not pass - a blog today by big brother watch, made me think it would be one way to curb the influence of lobby groups - sock puppets - that have meddled with our Government for many years. In the UK, unlike other countries, there is no curb on them. I refuse to give money to charities that I know will use my money to make my life miserable like The Heart Foundation and The Cancer Charities that have overstepped their remit by spending it to lobby against smokers - and probably now against vapers. They are shamefully politically involved. Drinkers and fat people are begnning to feel the influence of the Righteous too.
" Some have reported on the concern that the bill could ‘gag’ charities." Well, as there are several very interfereing charities, sock puppets for the righteous and those who have without shame and without exposure, peddled smudged medical statistics as "science", made even challenging them not politically correct, advised the Government to put criminal nocebos on cigarette packs and caused the persecution of a raft of our citizens, I think that would be a bloody good idea!
Sunday, 1 September 2013
If the fish smells bad, you need to look at the head
We have just been watching Plamegate. Very interesting movie.
It is a fascinating glimpse at the corruption of power and Dubya's (and Tony Blair's) determination to attack Iraq. And how viciously people who tried to argue for truth were treated - Dr Kelly in the UK comes to mind for instance.
I have sat here wondering what is happening in the USA to prove the gas used in Syria was actually used by Assad when I have seen one or two reports that the rebels have admitted releasing it by accident. But there is nothing about that in the mainstream media.
Sarin was used by a rebel group in the Tokyo underground nearly twenty years ago - how did they get it in such "olden days"?
Something stinks. And my husband always says "if the fish stinks, you need to look at the head".
"This event in American
history is sometimes also referred to as the Plame Affair, Plame
Scandal, or CIA leak scandal. Plamegate started in early 2003, when
officials in the Bush administration leaked Plame's identity to members
of the press, and the media promptly published information about Plame.
The officials in the administration argued that the leak was accidental,
while others suspected that it may have been deliberate.
Public
attention as the scandal unfolded focused both on Valerie Plame and on
her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former American ambassador. Wilson claimed
that Plamegate began out of a desire for revenge, after he wrote a
series of scathing opinion editorials in the New York Times about the
lack of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. Wilson argued
that the administration was angered by his attempt to undermine its
justification for going to war in Iraq, and that it struck back by
outing his wife's secret identity."It is a fascinating glimpse at the corruption of power and Dubya's (and Tony Blair's) determination to attack Iraq. And how viciously people who tried to argue for truth were treated - Dr Kelly in the UK comes to mind for instance.
I have sat here wondering what is happening in the USA to prove the gas used in Syria was actually used by Assad when I have seen one or two reports that the rebels have admitted releasing it by accident. But there is nothing about that in the mainstream media.
Sarin was used by a rebel group in the Tokyo underground nearly twenty years ago - how did they get it in such "olden days"?
Something stinks. And my husband always says "if the fish stinks, you need to look at the head".
Saturday, 31 August 2013
Congress - be brave, be moral, be anti-war too and stop little boys playing with terrifying toys
I have been really upbeat about how democracy has worked in the UK with our anti-war vote. I believe we have set an example. We must have shot up in the estimation of many, if not the whole world. Right now, I am proud to be British!
I like to think Obama would not be consulting with Congress, if David Cameron had blathered along with warmongering and taken us into war like Tony Blair did, trotting on behind the USA. Fortunately he was stopped in his tracks by our Parliament.
I think the actions of Britain ARE important. I think this action in Parliament has been one of the most important for a long, long time. In all the doom and gloom and pretty-boy politicians imposing their Oxbridge ideas on us, it has been the single most uplifting thing recently, that has made me feel happy.
If Congress stops Obama in his warmongering tracks too, I will be delirious!
The younger generation of politician that actually knows f**** all about war, should learn that there ARE other ways to exert domination without killing people. They are little boys with terrifying toys being advised by Generals who just need a job.
I like to think Obama would not be consulting with Congress, if David Cameron had blathered along with warmongering and taken us into war like Tony Blair did, trotting on behind the USA. Fortunately he was stopped in his tracks by our Parliament.
I think the actions of Britain ARE important. I think this action in Parliament has been one of the most important for a long, long time. In all the doom and gloom and pretty-boy politicians imposing their Oxbridge ideas on us, it has been the single most uplifting thing recently, that has made me feel happy.
If Congress stops Obama in his warmongering tracks too, I will be delirious!
The younger generation of politician that actually knows f**** all about war, should learn that there ARE other ways to exert domination without killing people. They are little boys with terrifying toys being advised by Generals who just need a job.
Friday, 30 August 2013
Agent Orange, Napalm, depleted uranium, drones, and affronted morals.
We can only go up in World Opinion, even as we drop out of World Power. Last night was Democracy in action, as it should be. Well done the UK! Toughees Cameron.
The USA is affronted morally by the use of gas in Syria? Yup. They are the country that used agent orange and napalm in Vietnam and depleted uranium in the Middle East. Morally affronted? My foot. It's the pot calling the kettle black - look to the record of the world's biggest interfering bully with questionable morality, that has sold arms to shore up/knock down regimes around the world, and is terrorising the citizens of other nations with "moral" drones.
I can't understand why the UK has anything to do with training and supporting rebels in a Sovereign country. I could never understand how we could use "Shock and Awe" whilst invading yet another Sovereign country. I was ashamed of us.
We have too long been America's little puppy dog and desperate to be a "world leader". We should lead the world by example.
And in my opinion - we just have.
The USA is affronted morally by the use of gas in Syria? Yup. They are the country that used agent orange and napalm in Vietnam and depleted uranium in the Middle East. Morally affronted? My foot. It's the pot calling the kettle black - look to the record of the world's biggest interfering bully with questionable morality, that has sold arms to shore up/knock down regimes around the world, and is terrorising the citizens of other nations with "moral" drones.
I can't understand why the UK has anything to do with training and supporting rebels in a Sovereign country. I could never understand how we could use "Shock and Awe" whilst invading yet another Sovereign country. I was ashamed of us.
We have too long been America's little puppy dog and desperate to be a "world leader". We should lead the world by example.
And in my opinion - we just have.
Thursday, 29 August 2013
May wisdom rule
Nothing good will be put in my blogs for a while. I am really cross with myself - extra grumpy - not happy.
Last night I killed my laptop partially - you can't really be partially killed? you're either dead or alive yes? but my laptop is partially killed - bits of it work - but not all the bits - so it is really dead for me. I lobbed a ball for my dog against the lounge wall, which I sometimes do, for fun. It was a shot in a million! It glanced off the edge of the open door, came right back at me. Hit me. Ricochet'd off me and into my litre glass of water. That flipped over emtying the whole contents into my face and splashed onto my laptop. It was like a scene out of a slapstick comedy I laughed myself breathless - whilst mopping up the water on the laptop. But now I'm laughing on the other side of my face.
Having just returned from walking the dog, I find North West Electricity have now completed the huge pole/mast that we fought so hard to stop last year. On Friday, they delivered a letter to the inhabitants of the houses that overlook it, and three days later, they erected it. Weasels! So that has made me feel extra grumpy. I hope the bloody thing falls over. Mind you, one of the farmers in the protest last year did say that it was amazing what tractors could do by accident. However, the weasels have erected a tractor-proof fence too. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authorities really have no authority - North West Electricity went over their heads in a Government appeal.
But I am delighted to say that I got a personal e-mail in answer to mine from our MP to say he agreed with my request for him not to be complicit in the warmongering of Tony Blair's Heir, Cameron in parliament today. May wisdom rule.
As soon as he gets home from Parliament, I will add my e-mail to the others already sent to him about the bloody pole/mast. But, poor fellow, he's a bit busy right now!
I will also not be lobbing balls around our lounge again.
Last night I killed my laptop partially - you can't really be partially killed? you're either dead or alive yes? but my laptop is partially killed - bits of it work - but not all the bits - so it is really dead for me. I lobbed a ball for my dog against the lounge wall, which I sometimes do, for fun. It was a shot in a million! It glanced off the edge of the open door, came right back at me. Hit me. Ricochet'd off me and into my litre glass of water. That flipped over emtying the whole contents into my face and splashed onto my laptop. It was like a scene out of a slapstick comedy I laughed myself breathless - whilst mopping up the water on the laptop. But now I'm laughing on the other side of my face.
Having just returned from walking the dog, I find North West Electricity have now completed the huge pole/mast that we fought so hard to stop last year. On Friday, they delivered a letter to the inhabitants of the houses that overlook it, and three days later, they erected it. Weasels! So that has made me feel extra grumpy. I hope the bloody thing falls over. Mind you, one of the farmers in the protest last year did say that it was amazing what tractors could do by accident. However, the weasels have erected a tractor-proof fence too. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authorities really have no authority - North West Electricity went over their heads in a Government appeal.
But I am delighted to say that I got a personal e-mail in answer to mine from our MP to say he agreed with my request for him not to be complicit in the warmongering of Tony Blair's Heir, Cameron in parliament today. May wisdom rule.
As soon as he gets home from Parliament, I will add my e-mail to the others already sent to him about the bloody pole/mast. But, poor fellow, he's a bit busy right now!
I will also not be lobbing balls around our lounge again.
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
War on a foreign country by bankrupt Britain?
I am holding my breath. I have written to my MP - again! If things follow the pattern of the warmongering that occurred before the Iraq war, Britain will get involved in Syria - to our shame.
Once, we were rulers of the "Empire". That was then. We have no "Empire". We are a bankrupt little island with delusions of grandeur. There is no way meddling in other countries is our "moral" duty. The moral duty of our Government is to stop wasting tax payers' money and do the will of its citizens. British citizens to NOT want yet another war based on flimsy uncorroborated evidence, that might involve us in unforeseen ways and cause more suffering to people who are already suffering. There's no logic in that - no morality - just foolishness.
I watched how Tony Blair turned into a glittering eyed goblin as his terms progressed - the same transformation that is making Obama look equally old and shriveled now. It really must be difficult to be a President/Prime Minister. It astonishes me anyone ever wants to be.
So I will be watching the face of our David Cameron. I am hoping he will prove more wise than I expect him to be.
But maybe not.....
Quote - Britain's National Security Council "unanimously" backed action against Syria over its "unacceptable" chemical weapons use, Prime Minister David Cameron said earlier on Wednesday.
Want to know who is the National Security Council? Click here. Mmmm.. don't know what to say they all look really familiar!
So we are talking to the United Nations? We did that last time too. And then we waged an illegal war.
Once, we were rulers of the "Empire". That was then. We have no "Empire". We are a bankrupt little island with delusions of grandeur. There is no way meddling in other countries is our "moral" duty. The moral duty of our Government is to stop wasting tax payers' money and do the will of its citizens. British citizens to NOT want yet another war based on flimsy uncorroborated evidence, that might involve us in unforeseen ways and cause more suffering to people who are already suffering. There's no logic in that - no morality - just foolishness.
I watched how Tony Blair turned into a glittering eyed goblin as his terms progressed - the same transformation that is making Obama look equally old and shriveled now. It really must be difficult to be a President/Prime Minister. It astonishes me anyone ever wants to be.
So I will be watching the face of our David Cameron. I am hoping he will prove more wise than I expect him to be.
But maybe not.....
Quote - Britain's National Security Council "unanimously" backed action against Syria over its "unacceptable" chemical weapons use, Prime Minister David Cameron said earlier on Wednesday.
Want to know who is the National Security Council? Click here. Mmmm.. don't know what to say they all look really familiar!
So we are talking to the United Nations? We did that last time too. And then we waged an illegal war.
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
No!
Do you think Assad would be daft enough to use gas on his own citizens, knowing that was exactly what the USA and their side-kick UK would use as an excuse for West-meddling? I say No.
Do you think Governments are honest and upstanding, that they would never censor information, or purposefully interfere in other autonomous countries for their own nefarious ends? I say No.
Do you think the anti smoking brigade should have such vast lobbying power that they can make Governments persecute the lifestyle of a quarter of their population? Or that vaping should be medicalised by the decision of a committe whose members represent Drug Companies? I say No.
Do you think salt "causes" high blood pressure, even though in the very short term, it can raise some people's blood pressure? Or that eating fat causes people to become fat? Or that our Government's "healthy plates" are actually healthy? I say No.
Do you believe that the Drug Companies are more upstanding and moral than Big Tobacco? Or that Big Tobacco Control, Big Tobacco and Big Pharma never lie, cheat, or fudge statistics to promote their causes? I say No.
Do you believe the BBC is unbiased and fair in its reporting? That it never follows an "agenda" to brainwash the citizens of the UK, if not other countries too? That it never, by censorship, tries to influence us? I say No.
Do you trust our leaders to make good decisions on badger culls, or war, or smoking, or assisted suicide, or happiness, or housing, or railways, or legalising drugs, or healthy lifestyles, or gay marriage, or the EU, or internet porn? Do you think anyone really knows what they are doing? I say No.
Should we take ANYTHING on face value? Should we just believe everything we are told by our leaders? I say No.
Do you think Governments are honest and upstanding, that they would never censor information, or purposefully interfere in other autonomous countries for their own nefarious ends? I say No.
Do you think the anti smoking brigade should have such vast lobbying power that they can make Governments persecute the lifestyle of a quarter of their population? Or that vaping should be medicalised by the decision of a committe whose members represent Drug Companies? I say No.
Do you think salt "causes" high blood pressure, even though in the very short term, it can raise some people's blood pressure? Or that eating fat causes people to become fat? Or that our Government's "healthy plates" are actually healthy? I say No.
Do you believe that the Drug Companies are more upstanding and moral than Big Tobacco? Or that Big Tobacco Control, Big Tobacco and Big Pharma never lie, cheat, or fudge statistics to promote their causes? I say No.
Do you believe the BBC is unbiased and fair in its reporting? That it never follows an "agenda" to brainwash the citizens of the UK, if not other countries too? That it never, by censorship, tries to influence us? I say No.
Do you trust our leaders to make good decisions on badger culls, or war, or smoking, or assisted suicide, or happiness, or housing, or railways, or legalising drugs, or healthy lifestyles, or gay marriage, or the EU, or internet porn? Do you think anyone really knows what they are doing? I say No.
Should we take ANYTHING on face value? Should we just believe everything we are told by our leaders? I say No.
Saturday, 24 August 2013
Giving up smoking might be dangerous for your health
I have long had a theory that people should want to give up smoking as a reason for giving up smoking. Giving up because of outside persuasion, pressure, feelings of guilt, nagging, Tobacco Control, social manipulation, is bad for your health. You will simply manifest something else to take its place.
Some years ago a friend nagged her husband constantly to stop the fags. I told her about my theory - but her eyes glazed over - I could tell she was not listening. This was the same friend, who years later, in my lounge, blown out of her mind on many bottles of our red wine, told me "Shmokersz are thu shcourge of the earth!" Mmmm.
Anyway, back to the story. Her poor husband got himself off smoking and into two years of addiction to nicotine gum. Eventually he managed to break his addiction to that, Six months later he developed testicular cancer. That coupled with the red wine problem of his wife, ended the marriage.
See? I told her so. But after the "Shmokersz are thu shcourge of the earth!" comment made as I was stubbing out my tiny home-rolled fag in my own ashtray, my feelings of friendship for her dissipated fast. She needed to take the mote out of her own eye before noticing them in the eyes of others.
But I might be wrong about my theory after all. What has uplifted me today is Giving up smoking might be dangerous for your health article I found in a comment on someone else's blog.
Some years ago a friend nagged her husband constantly to stop the fags. I told her about my theory - but her eyes glazed over - I could tell she was not listening. This was the same friend, who years later, in my lounge, blown out of her mind on many bottles of our red wine, told me "Shmokersz are thu shcourge of the earth!" Mmmm.
Anyway, back to the story. Her poor husband got himself off smoking and into two years of addiction to nicotine gum. Eventually he managed to break his addiction to that, Six months later he developed testicular cancer. That coupled with the red wine problem of his wife, ended the marriage.
See? I told her so. But after the "Shmokersz are thu shcourge of the earth!" comment made as I was stubbing out my tiny home-rolled fag in my own ashtray, my feelings of friendship for her dissipated fast. She needed to take the mote out of her own eye before noticing them in the eyes of others.
But I might be wrong about my theory after all. What has uplifted me today is Giving up smoking might be dangerous for your health article I found in a comment on someone else's blog.
Friday, 23 August 2013
While science looks through the keyhole, we can't see the room we live in!
I have had a few "Jesus Saves" messages recently. Those afflict me less in my life than the constant barrage we get in the UK media that there is nothing believable but science. Thinking that science has the answer to all aspects of living, is called Scientism. It's as fundamentalist as any "Jesus Saves" prostelytising that can happen to anyone. I think we have moved into a very horrible scientism age.
I believe we have a spiritual aspect and I think science could prove it if they wanted to. They have got stuck in their neo darwinsim and scientism. While they are stuck there, they are unable to properly investigate ideas that have been studied for thousands of years in the east. One of the ideas that would improve life as we know it, is that everything and everyone is interconnected. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction in scientific terms. But the idea this only applies to billiard balls, is incorrect. I believe it applies to EVERYTHING, visible and invisible, material, natural, emotional, cultural, national and planetary if not also cosmic.
If we understood this we'd make less cock-ups. And we'd live in a much wiser world.
We'd be nice to EVERYTHING.
I believe we have a spiritual aspect and I think science could prove it if they wanted to. They have got stuck in their neo darwinsim and scientism. While they are stuck there, they are unable to properly investigate ideas that have been studied for thousands of years in the east. One of the ideas that would improve life as we know it, is that everything and everyone is interconnected. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction in scientific terms. But the idea this only applies to billiard balls, is incorrect. I believe it applies to EVERYTHING, visible and invisible, material, natural, emotional, cultural, national and planetary if not also cosmic.
If we understood this we'd make less cock-ups. And we'd live in a much wiser world.
We'd be nice to EVERYTHING.
Thursday, 22 August 2013
My uplifting thought for today - pain and God and new atheists
I just came back from the dentist. There was a guy there trying to get seen by a dentist. He said he was in excruciating pain. He was clutching his face, groaning and twisting in his seat while the admin staff were trying to set him up with an urgent appointment like RIGHT THEN!
I felt sorry for him, I have no doubt he was in pain, his tee shirt was soaked with sweat and his face contorted as the next wave of pain overwhelmed him. My husband once had such terrible neuralgia he stood banging his face against a wall. That day he took 22 pain killers. I thought he would poison himself with the pills before the dentist got the tooth and sinuses sorted.
So I sat there thinking about pain. Pain is invisible to everyone else except the one experiencing it. Yet we do not doubt it exists. Science does not set out to "prove" pain.
Yet new athiests spend tons of energy trashing those who believe in something greater than themselves - God/Source/Whatever in an effort to impose their beliefs on believers.
But the existence of God/Source/Whatever is like pain. There is no science in the world that can disprove the experience of the person who has a God/Source/Whatever experience. But the person having it KNOWS. Science is superfluous. That is what drives the new atheists nuts!
I felt sorry for him, I have no doubt he was in pain, his tee shirt was soaked with sweat and his face contorted as the next wave of pain overwhelmed him. My husband once had such terrible neuralgia he stood banging his face against a wall. That day he took 22 pain killers. I thought he would poison himself with the pills before the dentist got the tooth and sinuses sorted.
So I sat there thinking about pain. Pain is invisible to everyone else except the one experiencing it. Yet we do not doubt it exists. Science does not set out to "prove" pain.
Yet new athiests spend tons of energy trashing those who believe in something greater than themselves - God/Source/Whatever in an effort to impose their beliefs on believers.
But the existence of God/Source/Whatever is like pain. There is no science in the world that can disprove the experience of the person who has a God/Source/Whatever experience. But the person having it KNOWS. Science is superfluous. That is what drives the new atheists nuts!
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
What I enjoyed today
I had a lovely time reading Captain Ranty's The Things I Despise because I don't like the things he lists either.
This is the beginning of a "short" list that rambles right down the page. Read it all in his rant.
The EU
The Government
The Politicians
The Scientists (who sold their souls for grant money)
The wasted billions of taxpayer money
Sport. Pretty much all of it.
Censorship. Of any description etc etc
But the thing that actually uplifted me was the advice in the comments from William. I think he is a wise and serene man.
Here it is in full -
"Here’s Cr’s List with some solutions
The EU
Ignore it
This is the beginning of a "short" list that rambles right down the page. Read it all in his rant.
The EU
The Government
The Politicians
The Scientists (who sold their souls for grant money)
The wasted billions of taxpayer money
Sport. Pretty much all of it.
Censorship. Of any description etc etc
But the thing that actually uplifted me was the advice in the comments from William. I think he is a wise and serene man.
Here it is in full -
"Here’s Cr’s List with some solutions
The EU
Ignore it
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Research Trusts and Proclamations
The Politicians
Ignore them they are not the government
The Scientists (who sold their souls for grant money)
They will do it anyway so ignore them. Real science is never settled
The wasted billions of taxpayer money
All in the past. Look to the now and reduce your tax contributions as much as you can, get creative.
Sport. Pretty much all of it.
Ignore it
Censorship. Of any description
Ignore it. Talk to those who will listen and wish those who won’t well.
State surveillance
Anything the state folks do they are spectacularly bad at so don’t worry about it until it bites you on the arse
Wind turbines
Be patient they will all fall over at some point once the subsidies run out so don’t get too near
The ridiculous tripe the SNP comes out with
They are political actors paid to spout tripe, ignore it.
Airport security
Theatre enjoy it. Be polite and cite non existent religious views to bypass as much of it as you can
Public servants who have forgotten who they serve
Ignore them. Toothless deluded pawns
The ‘two-tier’ law system
Another ‘too big’ to worry about. If it bites you then fix it if it doesn’t pay no attention
Having 14 stitches in my arse
Must be painful. Do some alternative health research and see if there is anything that can speed the healing and ease the pain
‘Donating’ over 70% of MY earnings to people who piss it away
The only solution here I can see is to stop working a job and do a Leg Iron instead (earn enough to live)
Council Tax-I could provide the same ‘services’ they do, but much cheaper
It’s a con plain and simple. Newstruth has a plan go read his blog
Thuggish police
Avoid them whenever possible or withdraw your consent to be policed
Leniency for crimes against children
No solutions on this one as I’ve not come into any contact with a crime against a child.
Not being ‘permitted’ to arm myself
You have fists, feet and a brain. You are armed.
Charities. Particularly those that are sponsored and/or ‘gifted’ our money by the govt
Ignore them. Do not given them a penny.
Rap music
Yes I agree to me it’s shite so don’t listen to it. Some people actually like it so unless you are forced to listen to it move or switch the crap off.
Justin Fucking Bieber
No opinion on this chap
The extortionate cost of tobacco
Tobacco tax is the extortion so find a better solution than Tesco. Use your imagination
The extortionate cost of alcohol
Alcohol tax is the extortion so find a better solution than Tesco. Use your imagination
The extortionate cost of petrol/diesel
Again just tax so research and seek out potential ways to reduce the reliance on the car. Changing habits is a good place to start.
That fucking Environmental Charge on my electricity bill
Don’t pay it. They will threaten to cut off the leccy, never the gas. Read their general supply contract. There is no mention of surcharges and the four schemes that make up the charge are meant to be funded by the suppliers. Do the research and send the CEO of the supplying company a nice and polite letter pointing this out and see what happens.
The biased BBC
Ignore it and stop funding it
The corrupted ‘free’ press
Dead man walking so ignore it.
Hypocrisy
A condition of deluded humans. The best you can do is stop being one of them"