More in the news.

Apologies to all who were anxiously waiting for another update on this blog, still having some health issues.

The weather has gotten better since my last “report” the spring is almost upon us, and I have decided to do another “in the news” article to sum up the past few days.

The church is hogging the lime light these days with more than one reason... The top reason is obviously the Pope resigning for “health” reason, since this doesn’t happen that often, it is a “big” thing. The election for the new pope is starting today. More than 100 Catholic cardinals gathered in Vatican City on Monday morning for the first of two meetings where they could set a date for the next conclave -- when all cardinals under age 80 meet at the Vatican to vote for the next pope. Well let’s just hope that the next pope is not African (especially the Nigerian) since African Catholics are real despotic and quite unreasonable!! in fact the whole catholic church is unreasonable since they decided that contraception is against god…. funny how in the past the church has been promoting contraception and the use of condoms, until Jan Paul second….. he was the one who invented this crap, and caused a wide spread of AIDS especially in Africa. This is the proof how one person can force his personal opinions on to so many people who blindly follow ….. now I don’t even want to think about what happens if one of those despotic Africans start forcing their opinions on the world! It won’t be pretty I can tell you.

Of course, what is even bigger news in the UK is that UK is not going to have a representative in this “election” as the leader of the UK Roman Catholic church, the top cardinal, has just admitted inappropriate sexual misconduct. He made sexual advances towards another priest – a man! The person who is most against gay is actually gay himself!! What a hypocrite!

The next big news was about the Queen being ill and in hospital, apparently she had gastroenteritis, but is now better and gone home after one day. Now some are moaning that she is old and is working too much and that the princes (Charles and his sons) should do more to help her........ But seriously, she is 86 ffs, why the hell is she still holding on to the throne? Why doesn’t she retire and give it to her son or grandson? Guess she is just power hungry and selfish in wanting to stay on!! No good to criticise the princes when she wants to rule is it? Even Prince Charles is 64, and nearly of retirement age, by the time he gets the throne he will be ancient too.

The horse meat scandal is still going on and spread all over the world. It is more widespread that it was first anticipated. Now everyone is testing everything, the funniest was, when during testing a beef pie in Iceland they found out that the pie has contained NO MEAT at all........ how hilarious is that?!?

A high profile inquiry began yesterday to examine claims that UK soldiers murdered 20 or more Iraqis and tortured detainees in Iraq, in May 2004.

Seriously?!? Are we going to waste HUGE amounts of money on these claims just because some civilians died after a fire-fight between UK soldiers and insurgents... well blame the insurgents for attacking the British army when civilians were presents!! No one in their right mind will seriously believe that those Muslims tell the truth about this..... when do they ever tell the truth?!? I feel for the soldiers who are now being vilified just because they performed their duties. Sad! Very sad.

On a more positive note, doctors in US have reported that they have cured a baby of HIV, apparently the baby who was born to a HIV positive mother was treated from birth with the standard drugs therapy, then the mother stopped coming and now after 2.5 years they tested it and it was clear of HIV.

Some outside experts, who have not yet heard all the details, said they needed convincing that the baby had truly been infected. If not, this would be a case of prevention, something already done for babies born to infected mothers. Well, hopefully they did find the cure at least for babies...... would help to stop spreading of this awful disease.

I am going to end this rant with a fun fact: Women’s brains might be smaller than men’s but they are used more efficiently!!

Quote from the Sunday times:

“Neuroscientists at the University of California, Los Angeles , and universities in Madrid , Spain found that women's brains are more efficient , needing fewer neurons and less energy to complete a task. The study conducted a number of psychological tests on 59 women and 45 men, aged 18-27 . They found that in women the hippocampus, which plays a central role in memory, intelligence and emotion, consumes less energy and uses fewer brain cells on a given task than in men...”

So, as the old saying goes: It’s not the size that matters... :D

Lately in the news....

 
I was in the hospital last week which is the reason why I could not update this blog for a while, so I decided to make a sort of mixed post about the issues that were in the news while I was out of action.
 
The thing that dominates the news daily here in the UK is of course the weather.
The winter has finally arrived and with it a lot of the white stuff fell out of the sky. Snow is something that the Brits cannot deal with. Even a couple of inches will bring the whole country to standstill, nothing works, they can’t drive in it (well of course you can not drive in snow on summer tires) schools close, hospitals cancel surgeries and appointments cause the staff is not able to come to work, planes are delayed because of the snow on the airports...... It is kind of funny how it takes them by surprise every year even though they KNOW it is coming, the MET office gives quite an accurate predictions these days.
I remember when I first came into this country, it was very rare to get snow in London, but the past 5-6 (at least) years it came every year, so it is about high time the Brits get used to it and learn to deal with it. Instead of the moaning about it and blaming the council for not cleaning the sideways, they should make it a rule that every house/shop/business is responsible for the bit of the pavement that is in front of them.... that is how it works in every country that I know off.... you are responsible for cleaning your bit of the footpath, while the council will be responsible for the bits that got no houses/shops/businesses by them, and parks and clearing the roads.
Another thing is the winter tires - it is a law in Europe to have winter tires on your car. They make it safer or even just possible for you to actually drive on a snowy or slippery surface....
Oh well...... maybe in a few decades they will realize.
 
Another big news story that dominates the news is the hostage crises in Algeria. While I do feel sorry for the victims and their families, I don’t get why everyone is so surprised by this situation - everyone involved KNEW what they were getting themselves into when they accepted the job in that country.... While I understand that in this economic climate you would make this choice, they obviously got to pay loads for anyone to go to one of those countries, I will never get people who actually chose to go on holiday there (or to any of those muslim countries)
You got to be pretty much crazy or out of your mind to go there, endangering your life and more importantly, other people’s (who will be involved in your rescue should you be kidnapped) lives! It is just wrong to go there.......
There are so many other places, safer places that you could go to, no need to put yours and other people’s lives at risk!
 
Another story that I find kind of amusing and took me by no surprise is Lance Armstrong FINALLY admitting what everyone knew for a very long time, and what was proven several times -that he indeed took performance enhancing drugs and that he is a cheat! What I especially find hilarious is how he lied over and over for many years while competing and getting all those trophies and yet he is surprised that he got a lifelong ban from competing and he thinks that this decision is harsh!?! Seriously?!? You think it’s harsh?!? WOW...... who the hell would ever trust you again? And why should you be allowed to compete even more when you only just admitted what you did, and I don’t think you still realize how wrong it was what you did..... After all, you have been fighting the drug accusations in court for years hoping that you can actually get away with it!!
 
In other news:
 
There are still mentions of Kate’s pregnancy and also William and Kate’s new house. How Kate is going to extreme lengths to make her new house “invisible” and private by adding large trees and shrubbery to it to make it harder for the photographers...... well love, if you wanted to have a private life you should NOT have married a prince.
You can’t exactly have it both ways!!
 
Barack Obama was inaugurated as the US president for another 4 years with all the top “celebs” like Beyonce, Jay Z (fuck knows who he is but it was in the news), Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson (and many others) present and gave another speech with loads of bullshit promises *lol* we all know that he can do fuck all, and is only a puppet - but whatever rocks his boat.
Unfortunately the Americans did not really have a great choice for whom to vote - so he is the lesser bad from two bad choices....... oh well...... guess we will just have to survive the next 4 years and see who will emerge then.
 
Well there were many other news too..... but these were the few that caught my attention for now..... and ....... I can’t be arsed to write anymore now.
Feel free to comment on whatever I said here, would be interesting to see other people’s opinions.

The EU debate once again

 
Every now and then the EU debate flares up again, the politicians for various most of the times selfish reasons try to convince us that leaving/staying in the EU is the best for the UK.

We all will have to think long and hard what would actually be better for Britain and not believe everything the politicians tell us when they try to convince us to do what they want to do, most of the times for their own gain.

The anti Europeans claim that EU became unaccountable and undemocratic federation with too many powers, that UK can not decide on things for themselves anymore and are ruled from Brussels, and they don’t like it. They claim that EU is draining British economy that foreigners are coming to UK and are taking away British jobs from British people... and so on and on..... and we would be better off out of there.

The pro Europeans claim that it is good for the UK to stay, that EU provides a free market for trading, it goes both ways, Brits are able to go to other countries freely and work and live there at their will. They claim that UK still can decide on their national issues, EU only legislates on issues of common trade or foreign policy.

There is many many more points which I am not going to argue at this time because I have not looked into the issue deep enough to actually be able to.
But just the fact that the discussion keeps popping up over and over is enough to probably make me to look into this in the near future, because no doubt there will be (or definitely SHOUD BE) a referendum where the British public will be asked to decide.

Yeah you read me right, I said the British public should decide, not the UK politicians and definitely NOT the Americans.... Surprised why I am dragging the US into this debate? Well I don’t blame you, but I can explain....

A US official yesterday said that if UK leaves EU, it will damage it’s relationship with the US.....

It was just on the news last night – and totally pissed me off!! It made me so angry how arrogant those Americans are, how they think that they can rule everyone and tell other states what to do!?! While they can't even keep their own backyard clean? Hell there was another shooting today, another crazy went into a high school and shot at innocent kids... and those people want to tell us what to do?!?! Really?!?

Who the fuck made them the king of the world????

So there you go folks....... if you were wondering about who rules Britain? It is not Brussels as many would have though..... it is fucking Washington!!

Well folks .... feel free to express your thoughts on this.

Post Christmas blues....

So Christmas is behind us, everyone has received their presents... and I wonder how many puppies were under the Christmas trees even though all the time the rescue centres and rescue organisations, like Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, or Dogs Trust are warning people that dogs are not presents, dogs are something that you should get for their whole life... they are not disposable, but not many people think like that. I and all those dog rescue organisations might sound like a broken record, with the needle stuck on a scratch and repeating over and over: Dogs are not just for Christmas, they are for life!! Dogs are not presents! You shouldn’t buy them on a whim... you don’t buy them just because your spoiled kid whines and wants one unless you are sure that the kid can actually be responsible and will care for it, otherwise they will just end up in rescue.

At the moment most dogs in rescue are staffs, it is because people buy them as status dogs, then when they can’t deal with them they get rid, or they breed puppies but if they don’t find buyers they just dump them on a rescue organisation to deal with them... but I suspect that this won’t be the case for much longer, because all these designer breeds are in fashion now, people keep crossing all sorts of breeds with each other, most often it is a cross of poodles (poodles are great dogs as they are, I don’t see the need to cross them with anything, but guess some people just do) with something else, and then of course they need to name them. In the past it was just called as it is – a cross breed – or a cross between x and z...... but now, they got to make up these ridiculous names for them, here’s just a few:

Lhasapoo: Lhasa Apso x Poodle

Airedoodle: Poodle x Airedale Terrier

Cadoodle: Poodle x Collie

Cairnoodle: Poodle x Cairn Terrier

Pugglepoo: Beagle x Poodle x Pug

Bassetoodle: Basset hound x Poodle

Pyredoodle: Great Pyrenees x Poodle

Labradoodle: Labrador Retriever x Poodle

Cockerpoo: Cocker spaniel x Poodle

Rattle: Poodle x Rat Terrier

Mal-Shi: Shih Tzu x Maltese

Labrottie: Rottweiler x Labrador Retriever

Havapeke: Havanese x Pekingese

Havanestie: Havanese x West Highland White Terrier

Hava-Apso: Lhasa Apso x Havanese

Havamalt: Maltese x Havanese

Some ridiculous crosses like Bullhuahua: Bull Terrier x Chihuahua

Bullwhip: Whippet x Bulldog

Well that is just the tip of the iceberg, there is hundreds of more, if you are interested, just google for designer cross breeds and you will find the whole list.

And of course, since it is designer, it will cost you too, in the past the crossbreeds were cheaper than pure breeds, but now, you will pay much more for a designer poodle cross than for a “pure” poodle... which is kind of ridiculous.

People don’t realize that all these dogs they are crossing are intelligent animals by their own right, by crossing them they don’t really get something “better”. Since they are so fashionable, there is a shortage, but people don’t like to wait, this is the “I want it now” society and this is the reason why a lot of unscrupulous people started breeding them too on puppy-farms with little regard for their health.

You might be thinking that with a cross you would get a healthier animal, which does not get all those hereditary problems, but you can be unlucky and the pup will actually inherit the hereditary problems of both parents and you get an even sicker animal.

While they are tiny and cute, little fluff balls with a ribbon around their neck in a gift box, they are all loved, but then they grow, they become mischievous, they misbehave, they chew things, they require exercise, feeding and attention, they cost money....... so many people get bored with them quick....

I wonder in the New year how many of these poor little souls will find themselves in shelters, waiting for somebody to come along and adopt them, and give them the love and care they deserve just because their only crime was that they grow, that they do not stay puppies forever.

It’s Christmaaaaaaass !!!!

As we all know by now, the end of the world did not happen as Mayans predicted according to some interpretation of their calendars so the Christmas is here.

It crept right upon us after weeks and weeks of having to listen to cheesy Christmas songs on the radio, having to endure all those cheesy ads in the TV, and decorations all around the place, anywhere you go, it is right in your face with no regards for anyone else’s beliefs. As a matter of fact, the creators of this mayhem have no real beliefs themselves; the only thing they believe in is money.

Christmas is so commercialized that the true meaning of it is completely lost, many people don’t even know what the real meaning of these holidays is meant to be. They think that Christmas is all about Santa Claus (or otherwise known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Santa, Santy and Kris Kringle) who lives in the north pole and every year delivers presents to kids. Well the grownups know that it is a story, but still aren’t smart enough to work out that the real meaning of Christmas is. Instead they compete in who can put most lights up their house as if the electricity was free, they go out to dumb parties where they eat like pigs and drink so much that they get wasted and behave like fools, and wear silly hats.
They max out their credit cards on presents and good “offers” where they save 10-15% then pay 29% interest on the card – now that’s a real saving eh?

People should finally realize that Christmas is not about what presents you buy and how much money you spend on them, it is a religious holiday. It is meant to be celebrating the birth of Jesus, the “son of G-d”

Now if you are fortunate enough to be in a loving relationship, then you might enjoy this mayhem, you might even really look forward to it every year. Most of the people get some time off at this time of year, so they can spend it with their loved ones...... that is - if you got any.

There are so many people alone. For them, Christmas is the most depressing time of year. Most suicides happen at Christmas time.
Well no wonder! Imagine you are alone, your loved one has died or left you, you are heartbroken and alone, yet everywhere you look your face gets rubbed in it. It emphasises just how alone you are, and how no one really cares.

Yeah there are some charities like Crisis who at least try to do something but even that is a pretentious farce.... I mean, c’mon!
They open these shelters for 2 weeks with: “no one should be sleeping on the street for Christmas” - they feed them, give them a manicure, or a pedicure, do their hair, wash their clothes... and so on... to “make them feel special” but then right after the New Year they boot their asses right back out, to the cold street. Yeah they might provide some guidance which can help many, but still...... it is only about the homeless.

What about all the ones that are not homeless, who do have a home but are alone and lonely, many of them old who often have no one to speak to for days... Why do they all have to endure this silliness for weeks or even months on end and have their faces rubbed in it just because shops want to cash in on it?

How unfair is that?!?

To end this article, I would like to wish Happy Holidays to everyone, especially the ones who actually believe in the true meaning of it, and it means something more to them than wasting a lot of cash for no good reason.

To the rest............ Enjoy! ... (and never mind the ones who are alone, lonely and sad....... right?)

Bugs on the war path...

It’s that time of year again.......... no I don’t mean Christmas, I mean the time for all bugs to crawl out from under the whatever stone they were hiding all summer and start attacking people and ruining their days – or holidays for some.

Yeah I mean the viruses and bacteria and whatnot..... all that crap ... they are very smart, they know that this is the time for them to attack, when the days are short and nights are long, it is cold outside so people tend to sit indoors in front of the telly, eat junk food and don't spend much time being active and getting fit. This is the time when people’s immune system is at the weakest and they know it, and they attack!!

One of the ones on the rise is the vomiting bug – or as the professionals also call it - the Norovirus.
The first sign of Norovirus is usually a sudden sick feeling followed by forceful vomiting and watery diarrhoea.
Some people may also have a raised temperature (over 38^oC), headaches, stomach cramps, and aching limbs. Symptoms usually appear one to two days after you become infected but they can start sooner. Most people make a full recovery within a couple of days.

It is on the rise so much so that hospitals are closing their doors to visitors, and not allowing them to visit their friends and relatives for fear of bringing in the infection.

Another nasty on the rise is a whooping cough – or as the experts would call it - Pertussis. It is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs and airways. The condition usually begins with a persistent dry and irritating cough that progresses to intense bouts of coughing. These are followed by a distinctive 'whooping' noise, which is how the condition gets its name. Quite a few people got infected with this bug. It is specially dangerous for little babies, so much so that if a baby gets it its life is in danger. A few babies died recently (in the past year) from this condition so the NHS has decided to now vaccinate every pregnant woman against whooping cough between the 28th – 38th week of pregnancy.

NHS got quite a lot on their plate these days ... fighting viruses like the two I mentioned above, and some more like swine flu, or MRSA, urinary tract infection.... hard to fight this when they are short of money, so often they fail.. There have been many cases of neglect of care for elderly, for diagnosing several conditions, like ADHD (Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder - which in my opinion is not even a real condition, it is lazy parents not bothering to keep their kids under control and blame it on some crap condition and dope their kids up with pills)

NHS is also failing in their money management...... they do unnecessary procedures, like performing the pre-op checks before the patient even receives the surgery date..... apparently the results are valid for 3 months, now that also makes no sense, they screen you for infections which you can contract at any time, yet the results are valid for 3 months?!? So a couple of weeks after you had the checks are clear of infection you contract it then you go to hospital and infect the others........... no wonder they are failing to fight the infections on boards.

Or what they do..... the results run out of time and they have to repeat the tests cause it has been more than 3 months and the patient still did not get the surgery..... so it just literally flashing £££ down the drain..... how smart is that?!? No wonder they are short of cash if this is how they waste it.....

Well.......... guess I was going on for long enough, hope I didn’t bore you too much.
Feel free to comment on all this. What do you think? Got any other experiences with any of these issues?

Another school massacre.

Some of you might remember my previous article about the end of the world, where I mentioned that it is not coming on the 21st of December, it is already here. One of the things associated with the end of the world I mentioned was mass shootings, and presto, it happened again! Probably not many are surprised by the fact that it happened in the USA.

On Friday December 14 2012 in Connecticut -Sandy Hook Elementary school- a crazed gunman massacred 20 children from 5 to 10 years old and six adults. The gunman according to a media report carried four weapons and wore a bulletproof vest.

The New York Times reported that the gunman walked into a classroom where his mother was a teacher. He shot his mother and then 20 students, most in the same classroom, before shooting five other adults and killing himself.

This was the second shooting in the United States within a month. On the 21^st of November 2012 a 45-year-old former Mar­ine, walked in­to the Azana Salon and Spa where his wife worked shot/killed her and other two women and injured four others.

I don’t get these shootings, it is quite hard for me to understand.

Why would someone take a gun and just go around mindlessly shooting innocent people who he often doesn’t even know or has never met in his life. And why chose to shoot kids as young as this? What have they ever done to deserve it?

We all know that there are civilian victims at wars, but this is no war.

This brings up the old debate that has surfaced so many times, should they tighten the laws for gun ownership? Or should they even ban them completely?

This is a two sided debate, as so many people who do have guns are responsible and would never hurt anyone. They own it maybe for a hobby or sport or just for protection.

Should we punish all of the responsible ones and stop them from owning a gun because of the action of a few irresponsible or a crazy people?

As we all know, it is not that hard to get a gun illegally on the black market. If someone really wants one, they will find the way to get it. So........ if we ban the legal gun ownership, will it really stop these things from happening?

What do you think?