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.

Hiatus

Haven't written to this for some time. As with many of us, reality takes over and we have to get out and earn the filthy lucre. In my quiet moments I have had pangs of guilt for not posting. It has been an eventful few months with the horrors of Mumbai, attacks in the Philippines, the Menezes trial,the credit crunch, more of our troops being killed on active service. There have also been some remarkable triumphs, the way that the population of Mumbai rallied and refused to give way to sectarian violence, the people who have refused to crumble under the strain of economic woes, the Help for Heroes organisation and many other examples of the indomitable nature of the human spirit.

The pundits seem to believe that the US economy will start to turn round mid next year and the UK will follow some 6 months later. I am sure that if the bunch of barely functional idiots that we have in charge don't actually start to do something rather than cancel public spending projects that benefit us all but especially our National Defence then the recovery will be delayed and prolonged.

I saw on US TV that one area of the economy that isn't suffering is the Sex Worker, I don't believe that for a moment. What I would imagine is that a. There will be more competition and b. People will not spend the money they used to when times were good. In my opinion the only recession and boom proof industries are Funeral directors and toilet paper manufacturers. There may be some others that are safe like alcohol, tobacco and condoms( the vices, guilty of two and an anti smoking nazi)but again like the sex worker industry people reduce consumption and go for a blended whisky rather than a single malt, a new world offering rather than a bottle of Petrus.

Here's hoping that any and all who read this have a Happy Xmas a Peaceful New Year and best of luck in weathering the economic storm.