Those who peruse my Random Ramblings will know that I am very pro our forces and all that they have to deal with, I am also anti the venal posturing of the political glitterati and partial to the delights of Bacchus.
As we slide into the period of contemplation and Saturnalia that has become known in these politcally correct times as "holidays" which we in our pre PC times used to call Christmas I am looking forward to being able to relax, escape the rat race and the products of fermentation and distillation in many varied forms. Whilst I am doing this and relaxing with my family around me I will certainly be sparing a thought for those families seperated by the necessity of having someone on the ramparts keeping the barbarians from our lives. If you have time over this period please think a moment of these people. Consider that we sleep safe at night because we have these guys and gals prepared to accept the challenge of manning those ramparts for us.
At the same time as we think of those on the ramparts consider by way of comparision the politicians who are currently awaiting trial for their claims for second homes they never used, duck ponds etc etc. In this time of belt tightening that will impact us all in many ways like, less maintainance of roads, fewer nurses, cuts in education(cornerstone of any future sucess) and defence cuts, let's see how many politicos, non jobs, quangos and local councillors who either get paid less, lose their jobs or actually become accountable us, the great unwashed?
Monday, 13 December 2010
Friday, 10 September 2010
Bacchus
I have been sat here enjoying the fruits of Bacchus(wine) and it has taken my meandering thought train to sin tax. Governments all over the world rely upon the populace(povo, pobre, citoyen, comrade, mug) to continue to fill the coffers of Government for our consumption of alcohol and tobacco. I am sure that if they could work out a way to charge us for each thrust as we fornicate/copulate/procreate they would. As someone who is avowedly anti tobacco I have no issue with taxing tobacco and all it's derivatives and yet selfishly I resent every penny, euro, cent that they impose on my sin of choice.
I suppose this goes to prove that we are intrinsically self interested and self involved. In some respects this correlates with my previous ramble in that our political representatives reflect our society as a whole. I therefore pose the question-" are we all by nature venal and self serving"?
Since there are few if any who view or indeed comment on my ramblings I guess this is to some extent a fart in a forest, no-one smells or hears it, so no one responds. Ah Grasshopper, what is the sound of one hand clapping?
I suppose this goes to prove that we are intrinsically self interested and self involved. In some respects this correlates with my previous ramble in that our political representatives reflect our society as a whole. I therefore pose the question-" are we all by nature venal and self serving"?
Since there are few if any who view or indeed comment on my ramblings I guess this is to some extent a fart in a forest, no-one smells or hears it, so no one responds. Ah Grasshopper, what is the sound of one hand clapping?
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Another Catharsis
Seems that life just continues to get more and more hectic. What do you give up on, well in this instance I gave up on this valve. So here I am back to vent, discuss, indulge in dialogue even if no-one reads my ramblings.
I was having a look at the Help for Heroes website today, what an incredible group they are and I include in that group all who have contributed. People do the most amazing things when they are motivated, a cause like this has motivated thousands who have done the most extraordinary things to raise money. From the wounded who have climbed mountains, run/walked/staggered marathons to youngsters who have raised money or given their pocket money. I am in awe of them. when the capacity for good is tapped into like this it is humbling, it also brings into stark relief the horrors that others visit on us.
Listening to the crass stupidity of the religious nut in Florida proposing to burn Korans to remember 9/11. Have we learnt nothing from the Holocaust, it is a short step from burning books to burning people. I am not religious but I would defend any persons right to worship the religion of their choice. All I ask in turn is to not have their choice shoved down my throat. This idiot in Florida appears to have forgotten that Christianity in recent times has pushed itself as the religion of tolerance(not always the case viz Crusades, Inquisition etc etc:). The incredibly sad part of all of this is that by and large the majority of the proponents of both faiths(Christian and Muslim) are content to co-exist and just want to get on and live their lives, worship their God and feed and educate their families. Zealots, fanatics and fundamentalists will lead us down the path to destruction if we don't stop them.
I know that the constitutional amendments enshrine the right to free speech and I imagine that this pompous preacher will invoke that to allow him to launch a diatribe and to destroy what I assume is his property(I assume that he has purchased Korans for this purpose). Surely Barack Hussein Obama should now show his leadership and intervene and try and persuade this idiot that he should not do this. He has already succeeded in inflaming the passions, in this case rightful passion, of the Muslim world. If he can't, then his own congregation should point out that this behaviour is likely to lead to more deaths of service personnel in Afghanistan.
I think that the thread that links these two together is that if the idiot gets his way then he is likely to create even more need for organisations like Help for Heroes. I know that there are a lot of people who for various reasons do not agree with the war in Afghanistan, whatever your thoughts on the war, support the troops who don't have the luxury that we have. We can say "no" and voice our negative views, they cannot. They have to pick up their kit and do our elected governments bidding, often under-supplied, under paid and over stretched.
I was having a look at the Help for Heroes website today, what an incredible group they are and I include in that group all who have contributed. People do the most amazing things when they are motivated, a cause like this has motivated thousands who have done the most extraordinary things to raise money. From the wounded who have climbed mountains, run/walked/staggered marathons to youngsters who have raised money or given their pocket money. I am in awe of them. when the capacity for good is tapped into like this it is humbling, it also brings into stark relief the horrors that others visit on us.
Listening to the crass stupidity of the religious nut in Florida proposing to burn Korans to remember 9/11. Have we learnt nothing from the Holocaust, it is a short step from burning books to burning people. I am not religious but I would defend any persons right to worship the religion of their choice. All I ask in turn is to not have their choice shoved down my throat. This idiot in Florida appears to have forgotten that Christianity in recent times has pushed itself as the religion of tolerance(not always the case viz Crusades, Inquisition etc etc:). The incredibly sad part of all of this is that by and large the majority of the proponents of both faiths(Christian and Muslim) are content to co-exist and just want to get on and live their lives, worship their God and feed and educate their families. Zealots, fanatics and fundamentalists will lead us down the path to destruction if we don't stop them.
I know that the constitutional amendments enshrine the right to free speech and I imagine that this pompous preacher will invoke that to allow him to launch a diatribe and to destroy what I assume is his property(I assume that he has purchased Korans for this purpose). Surely Barack Hussein Obama should now show his leadership and intervene and try and persuade this idiot that he should not do this. He has already succeeded in inflaming the passions, in this case rightful passion, of the Muslim world. If he can't, then his own congregation should point out that this behaviour is likely to lead to more deaths of service personnel in Afghanistan.
I think that the thread that links these two together is that if the idiot gets his way then he is likely to create even more need for organisations like Help for Heroes. I know that there are a lot of people who for various reasons do not agree with the war in Afghanistan, whatever your thoughts on the war, support the troops who don't have the luxury that we have. We can say "no" and voice our negative views, they cannot. They have to pick up their kit and do our elected governments bidding, often under-supplied, under paid and over stretched.
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Time passes
It has been some time since my last blog. I have missed the catharsis, my occasional rants against the iniquities visited upon us by our Politicians have helped to clear my mind. I have to say that all my railing against them has paled into insignificance when you see exactly how venal and self serving they are! I read in the paper yesterday that the eventual repayment could be as much as £1million, in the same paper there was the comment that one Politician will only have to pay back £13000 of £63000 stolen from us, this equates to approximately a 20% return, on that basis they could have stolen as much as £20 million pounds.
Isn't that the amount it would cost for the TA to keep training? How munificent of Brown to stepp in to say that the Government will continue to fund them. The smoke and mirrors will be where else in the Defence budget will they take the money from. When you consider this have a look at the link to YouTube below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJH8EFz_0MU&feature=related
At this time of the year consider as you walk about on your daily lives these and many others. Wear your poppy with pride!
Isn't that the amount it would cost for the TA to keep training? How munificent of Brown to stepp in to say that the Government will continue to fund them. The smoke and mirrors will be where else in the Defence budget will they take the money from. When you consider this have a look at the link to YouTube below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJH8EFz_0MU&feature=related
At this time of the year consider as you walk about on your daily lives these and many others. Wear your poppy with pride!
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Pontification
The tyranny of the blog
Every now and then I come on here and read blogs esp a certain Leeds lass and others and feel contrite because I haven't metaphorically put pen to paper and created. laid down, bared my thoughts and soul.
This is my personal rant against what I perceive as the iniquities of our society, fair to say a lot directed at our Politicians, especially the current rabble in power, by the way how in the seven shades of Hades is that twat Mandelson(three time crim) being touted as the next leader of the Labour Party. In my humble opinion this can only mean that he knows where some deep and dark skeleton is buried.
Anyway, I digress from the tyranny of the blog, I feel somewhat inadequate because I don't sally forth and bare my soul but then I pause and reflect that even on my most loquacious days I am reticent to let any one see my inner me. This is as close as it gets utilising the somewhat dubious anonymity of the web and relying on the fact that few if any read my random ramblings.
Let me add, that whatever form God, Yahweh, Mohamed, Buddha, Krishna et al takes wasn't he marvelous when he created the female form, but goodness gracious me why did he make it so difficult to understand? Was definitely on a good day when he decided to create rugby, alcohol and allow us to enjoy meat. Not sure when he decided to throw tobacco, vegetarians and Greenpeace into the mix but hey, we are all allowed off days.
Ramble done, cocktail calling.
Every now and then I come on here and read blogs esp a certain Leeds lass and others and feel contrite because I haven't metaphorically put pen to paper and created. laid down, bared my thoughts and soul.
This is my personal rant against what I perceive as the iniquities of our society, fair to say a lot directed at our Politicians, especially the current rabble in power, by the way how in the seven shades of Hades is that twat Mandelson(three time crim) being touted as the next leader of the Labour Party. In my humble opinion this can only mean that he knows where some deep and dark skeleton is buried.
Anyway, I digress from the tyranny of the blog, I feel somewhat inadequate because I don't sally forth and bare my soul but then I pause and reflect that even on my most loquacious days I am reticent to let any one see my inner me. This is as close as it gets utilising the somewhat dubious anonymity of the web and relying on the fact that few if any read my random ramblings.
Let me add, that whatever form God, Yahweh, Mohamed, Buddha, Krishna et al takes wasn't he marvelous when he created the female form, but goodness gracious me why did he make it so difficult to understand? Was definitely on a good day when he decided to create rugby, alcohol and allow us to enjoy meat. Not sure when he decided to throw tobacco, vegetarians and Greenpeace into the mix but hey, we are all allowed off days.
Ramble done, cocktail calling.
The passing of the Seasons
I've been out this afternoon and evening, a September eve with a full moon(I think) and because of the shitty weather had to have four layers of clothes, a hat and waterproofs. What the hell is going on, 1940, Battle of Britain, the RAF were sat in shirt sleeves waiting for the Germans to come over. Global warming or just the natural cycle of things.
What has happened to this year? Yesterday it was New Years Day and now it's nearly Autumn, leaves are going brown, nights are drawing in. Is it a function of growing older that the years go by faster? If it is then I need to go out and indulge in every way and with every one as soon as possible. Vices need to be enjoyed as often as practical and the corpus not so delecti needs to be worn to a nub. I want to appear in front of my maker in bits. Worse thing to hear at my funeral, "doesn't he look good". I want people saying, geez he is worn out and dragged out.
Oh happy thoughts!
What has happened to this year? Yesterday it was New Years Day and now it's nearly Autumn, leaves are going brown, nights are drawing in. Is it a function of growing older that the years go by faster? If it is then I need to go out and indulge in every way and with every one as soon as possible. Vices need to be enjoyed as often as practical and the corpus not so delecti needs to be worn to a nub. I want to appear in front of my maker in bits. Worse thing to hear at my funeral, "doesn't he look good". I want people saying, geez he is worn out and dragged out.
Oh happy thoughts!
Friday, 14 August 2009
Randoms
Everything I enjoy is likely to kill me!
Government advice
I like sitting in the evening after I have finished work and enjoying either a few cocktails or some wine or even a bottle of Champagne occasionally. The way I do it is described as binge drinking and will probably kill me according to the advice from Gov't. I don't smoke so I am safe from Nanny on that(have to agree with her but that is because I am an Anti Smoking Nazi). I have never done drugs but feel that looking back at it, when it wasn't prohibited there wasn't the money in it and criminals didn't get involved. Not sure about this one, don't want it around but the solution we are trying at the moment isn't working. Sex, ah the eternal joy, licit, illicit, hidden, paid for, over the side in what ever form, it is great! If they could the Gov't would tax it, if they could they'd put a meter on dicks and fanny's and charge for entry. Food, we all love it, we all eat too much. Like sex it is a universal lever and pleasure. Food is unique however because so many of us have love/hate relationships with the dinner table. I wonder how much of it stems back to the days of "eat up, clear your plate or you don't get down from the table" that was imposed post rationing?
If I could answer these questions and pick the right numbers tonight, life would be simple.
Government advice
I like sitting in the evening after I have finished work and enjoying either a few cocktails or some wine or even a bottle of Champagne occasionally. The way I do it is described as binge drinking and will probably kill me according to the advice from Gov't. I don't smoke so I am safe from Nanny on that(have to agree with her but that is because I am an Anti Smoking Nazi). I have never done drugs but feel that looking back at it, when it wasn't prohibited there wasn't the money in it and criminals didn't get involved. Not sure about this one, don't want it around but the solution we are trying at the moment isn't working. Sex, ah the eternal joy, licit, illicit, hidden, paid for, over the side in what ever form, it is great! If they could the Gov't would tax it, if they could they'd put a meter on dicks and fanny's and charge for entry. Food, we all love it, we all eat too much. Like sex it is a universal lever and pleasure. Food is unique however because so many of us have love/hate relationships with the dinner table. I wonder how much of it stems back to the days of "eat up, clear your plate or you don't get down from the table" that was imposed post rationing?
If I could answer these questions and pick the right numbers tonight, life would be simple.
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