Join the army?

Why DO people join the army?   We should make it illegal!  In fact I think it's a crime to allure youngsters into joining the Army as a "good reliable job" abuse them, brainwash them, brutalise them and then send them off to kill people!

It's a lie to say our young people are "fighting a war" - there IS no war!

If no one joined the army - how good would that be? If everyone sued the army for abuse - how good would that be? If people who worked in the armed forces became pariahs instead of heroes (we know how to do this because we've already done it to smokers) - how good would that be?  If every person on this alien planet, practiced harmlessness - how good would THAT be?

What IS the matter with Mary-Jane?

A.A Milne's poem comes to mind every time I hear that Britain has a bad body image leading to depression, eating disorders and mental health issues. We have a bad self-image. What IS the matter with us?  The media are blamed for presenting body images that are impossibly unachievable for ordinary people.

But I think it is much more complex than that. Blaming the media is a cop-out. I think the blame should also be placed in front of the scientific health experts (our leaders) who hammer on and on and on about  health, fitness and diet to the masses tediously repetitively. Everyone is measured against BMI or some other scientific standard - we're preached at and legislated to have lifestyles that remove almost anything pleasurable like smoking, eating and drinking. No wonder people are depressed - we have impossibly unachievable lifestyle disorder. We are never good enough!
.
"What IS the matter with Mary Jane?
There's lovely rice pudding for dinner again."

I'll tell you the matter with Mary Jane - she doesn't like rice pudding, it's only someone elses opinion that it's lovely or good for her, she's the one that has to actually eat it, she's bored of it, and it's stressing her out. Unlike us ordinary folk she has enough guts left in her to complain. Just leave her alone for God's sake.

Ah! Dogs know....

Canine Empathy: Your Dog Really Does Care if You Are Unhappy

New research shows that dogs respond to their owner's unhappiness. Published onJune 7, 2012 by Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C. in Canine Corner

People often report that it seems as if their dogs are reading their emotional state and responding in much the same way that a human would, providing sympathy and comfort, or joining in their joy. For example an acquaintance named Deborah told me that she had just gotten off of the phone after learning that her sister's husband had died and was sitting on the sofa wiping tears from her eyes and trying to deal with her sadness. She said, "At that moment Angus [her Golden retriever] came over to me and laid his head on my knee and began to whimper. A moment later he quietly walked away, and then returned with one of his favorite toys and gently put it in my lap, and gently licked my hand. I knew he was trying to comfort me. I believe that he was feeling my pain and hoping that the toy which made him happy might also help me to feel better.."

Such incidents involving pet dogs appear to be quite common and at face value they seem to show that dogs are showing empathy for their owners. Generally speaking empathy can be defined as the ability to put oneself into the mental shoes of another person to understand and even share their emotions and feelings. Although dog owners seem to be quite sure that their dogs have empathy for their feelings, if you make that suggestion to a group of psychologists are behavioral biologists it is more apt to start an argument rather than to bring out nods of agreement.


I was interested in this blog I quote, as I have noticed how in-tune my dogs are with me - and what happens around them regarding interpersonal relationships. I think constant dis chord can make them sick, just as it does us.

I remember an amusing incident (in hind sight) when one of my daughter's husbands came to visit her whilst she was staying with us, to try to sort out their very unhealthy, manipulative marriage. His rage at her non compliance to go home with him was palpable. We left them together in one corner of the lounge and withdrew with the dog who was distressed and anxious. There was no shouting or yelling - only a sinister silence. Suddenly the husband stomped out of the house, slamming doors and spreading silent fury all over us. As soon as he had gone, our dog ran over to the chair where he had been sitting, sniffing it anxiously. Suddenly, to our surprise, our otherwise house trained wise old dog, then wee'd all over the carpet in front of it.

What point was she making I wonder. Was she frightened? Was she putting her scent on an unpleasant place? From a human perspective, why do such a very odd thing?

But for us, it was the best symbolic summary of how we all felt - pissed off!

Isn't that a shame?

Today, I looked after my grandaughter. She's just started walking. Fortunately she was confined to one side of our lounge on carpeting that would not trip her. She spent hours practising walking, launching herself across the space with determination to reach the otherside. I could see her skill improving before my eyes. She loved the feeling of it, the discovery, the surprise, almost, of doing this new thing - walking! Lovely to watch.

I've been walking for 66 years. I've forgotten how fun I once thought it was. Isn't that a shame?

But tomorrow I'm going to register my gratitude to fate, kismet, the spirit of life - whatever - that I can still do it without pain.

(Memo to self - (to do daily) - walk for "fun")

Going too far

I am alarmed at how far the persecution of smokers is going: how the thoughtless waste of money proceeds in the history of the ant-smoking movement.

Now, all cigarettes are to be hidden from view in case their bright, alluring packaging attracts people to smoking. Shortly, it is possible all the packaging will be dun coloured with no labels, no colour, no allure. What will there be to "cover up"? Milions of pounds of our money has been wasted on NRT, with a poor success rate, abusing and persecuting the millions - MILLIONS - of smokers who have no rights, advertising campaigns, educational campaigns, covering up campaigns and the closure of thousands of pubs - once the hub (and pride) of English life.

Where is this madness leading us? How can we stop it? When smoking has officially been stamped out, what cost a war on illegal smoking? And who will pay the salaries to the thousands of workers in the Ash Industry?

I do not smoke, I vape.

But I feel sick at the idea that lobbyists' insanity can infect our Government to such an extent that citizens are denied the right to physical pleasures in the name of "Health".

Smokers do not cost the  Government a penny - they have paid their dues and more. As our servants, the politicians who wage war on smoking on behalf of a Government funded anti-smoking industry, have gone too far. They know not what they do.

Limos for little kids....

Don't want to be a killjoy - maybe I AM a killjoy or maybe I'm just old. Something seems wrong with society.

My little granddaughter is leaving primary school to go on to high school. On the last day, the parents have ordered a limo - yes a limo - to take the group to pizza hut for a fun meal.

My mind boggles. I feel uncomfortable. I feel repulsed somehow. I feel something is very strange about this. So I am analysing my thoughts here.

Firstly, how incongruous to arrive at pizza hut in a limo! It's comedic! Limos and Fortnums feel correct. But the kids go to a little village school out in t'country and there is no Fortnums here.

Then, the limo at the ages of 11 or 12 repulses me by its ostentation (remember village school) and by the subtle sophistication implicit of decadence, sex, celebrity and shallow materialism.

I think it's horrible to be frank.

I have erred by mentioning my misgivings to my daughter. She thinks its "wonderful" - the kids will remember the ride for the rest of their lives.

Well, if a limo becomes the symbol of celebratory success, by the time they are grown up, it will be old hat. What a shame.

Are you "Socially engineered"? Probably.

A very interesting movie to watch if you enjoy to be mentally stimulated....long...

But you're WORTH it!

Social Engineering in the 20th Century 


I dare you!

Is it true? Well probably, unfortunately. What to do about it?  I can't say.