Men's Magazines

There's a pretty new free men's magazine in the UK called shortlist (www.shortlist.com) It's great - just the type of thing I like to read with interesting and really funny stories, lovely shots of fantastic super cars lots of wicked gadgets and NO stupid fashion articles!

I've had a look at some of HRH's magazines too and again, my type of stuff. I think I've had it with women's mags. Have a look at shortlist especially if you're a bloke - a really good read.

Later

Losing Weight and Google Earth

Why is it so easy to nyam your way to obesity but oh so hard to lose the poundage again?

Man, I having a warm time trying to lose weight I have put on over the past ten years. In my salad days I was a fit and slimmer young beauty. Now it is not pretty when I take off mi clothes. But even after tell myself I won't eat crap again today there I go and do it. I have only recently been successful in putting a stop to the daily sweets and cakes at work. I've been to the gym twice so far this week and hope to keep it up. Let us see if this time there are results. I really feel this is the end of the road.

Been looking at cars lately. HRH has his sights set on ans SUV (yeah yeah, there are other vehicles that have larger engines and emit more than SUVs, look at the emissions, not the chassis). What struck me though was that on the whole car prices have got ludicrously low. And as soon as you drive off the lot you've lost a couple of grand in depreciation. Seriously, a leasing arrangement where insurance and tax is included, seems like a better option.

Tried Google Earth for the first time this week. It wicked yu see! If you haven't had a go, go ahead.

Teenage Pregnancy

Watching a documentary on BBC 3 right now about a young girl of 13 called Kizzy who got pregnant. Quite a poignant programme. She fully acknowledged she made a mistake. Comes from what seems to be a decent christian family. She said she had sex once with a 13 year old boy . The boy won't acknowledge the baby and has gone to live with his grandmother in Essex (Kizzy lives in Devon). The boy's grandmother was rather vituperative and said that Kizzy is basically responsible for he situation and that she is blaming everyone else.

This is obviously ridiculous as Kizzy has repeatedly said she made a mistake. She is thankfully continuing her education and she and her parents agreed to the documentary as a warning to other young girls.

This is in many respects sad but uplifting in other was as she and her family seem to be coping very well in the right way.

Apparently, the UK has he highest teen pregnancy rate in Europe. This in spite of programmes in schools which allow youngsters to access the pill, condoms, the morning after pill and even abortions - WITHOUT having to inform the parents. As Kizzy's father said, it undermines parents. He stated that you as a parent may have certain ways of bringing up your kids according to your faith but all of that is ignored by the schools. He has a point.

He said that in the kids' minds all hey hear at home can be eroded in that hey feel that if they get pregnant school can take care of it. As so it is.

Makes me scared stiff of raising my kids in this country I tell you. Home schooling anyone?

More Power to Oprah!

Just read that Oprah will be getting a TV network called the Oprah Winfrey Network - OWN. It will replace Discovery Health.

What a fabulous opportunity for a potentially decent TV network and one that in addition to offering good content will have the opportunity to portray non-white culture in a positive light. This is something that many of us were bitterly sorry that the first 'black network' BET didn't do.

I look forward to seeing what transpires.

Can A Habitual Sinner be a Godly Man?

I am reading 'Soul Survivor' by Philip Yancey. He is a christian writer. In this book he speaks about various people who have inspired him in his christian walk - one of them being Martin Luther King.

By now it is well known that King was an adulterer - and apparently unrepentant as according to Rev. Abernathy he was sleeping with other women up until the night before his death.

Yancey says that in spite of his human failings he was a good christian. He also mentioned others in he Bible who sinned but were men of God, David was one.

My thought is this, yes, even Christians stumble and sin, as stated by Yancey, so did David when it came to adultery. However, he repented. As far as I know if you repent and as Jesus said on many occasions 'sin no more' then this is acceptable to the Father. But if over a period of time you consistently sin, sin of the flesh plus you are a leader in the church, effectively the 'deacon' the Bible speaks of then this is wrong.

If as Rev. Abernathy stated, King was having sex with a woman who was not his wife even the night before he was killed it doesn't seem likely to me that he was repentant in feeling or action.

No matter the other christian trappings of his persona, I find it hard to believe his behaviour was pleasing to God in and of itself, much less the hypocrisy that went along with his public reputation being so godly. Plus there was a very real danger his behaviour could be a stumbling block for others as the authorities who had been bugging him knew about his predilections.

I know many revere him but I feel that morals, especially for a christian and especially for a christian leader are very important. And the Bible is explicit in its condemnation of adultery and other sexual sin - it is also clear on running after evil.

Maybe King's pastor associates and friends did call him to account - maybe they didn't. They should have.

So civil rights activity or not, in a christian context we should not ignore our leaders failings but call them to account on them.

What a Giant Mess in Kenya!

What kind of slackness is happening in Kenya eeh?

One of the more supposedly progressive countries in Africa seems to be joining the morass of many other African countries.

I cannot for the life of me understand why people feel the need to murder those who are different, or who vote differently from them. No-one in this situation benefits, no-one comes out if a good position. So why continue?

Why can't they sort it out in a civilised manner that is beneficial to them instead of resorting to destroying themselves? I just don't get it. I am very very saddened by this turn of events and hope that very soon the powers that be grow some brains and put a stop to the violence. From all accounts and purposes the election results are is dispute - so blinking well get that sorted out instead of digging in he heels and letting the bloodshed continue.

And why the hell does there have to be bloodshed anyway - who does this help? I am disgusted.

Sorry for the break

Sorry for the big silence. Christmas and all of that you know. Will be back in effect in the new year. Have a great time!

Biographies and Abba

I really like to read biographies of interesting people. As I'm heavily into music I especially like biographies of successful musicians and singers. I recently read one on Abba which was very good and led me to listen to their music again. Now Abba music to me usually means pleasant memories of sunny 1970s days - usually in the summer holidays. But listening to their songs again I was struck by how good the music actually is. The writing by Benny and Bjorn is excellent and the ladies' voices are fantastic! Go onto you tube and check out their videos which they seemed to be pioneers in in those days. Some really god stuff and some really good memories.

Amateur Transplants

Just a quick note to recommend this group to you. A friend sent me a link of their song which talks about what anaesthesiologists do for the hours that their patient is under and being operated on. It was hilarious!. Apparently it's a group of two doctors who sing parodies of popular tunes about medical issues. Check them out on You Tube.

Cruelty and Unreasonableness

I feel really sorry for that teacher in Sudan. Basically this Brit teacher in Sudan has been locked up for blasphemy because she let her class cal the class teddy bear Mohamed. Now the kiddies wanted to call the teddy that name yet she is now in serious trouble.

I get so tired of things like this happening. Surely Muslims cannot be threatened by their own kind calling a teddy this name? And if it is blasphemous then surely those who are adherents to the religion (who would know the rules) should be culpable and not someone who isn't of that religion.

Seriously, perhaps non-Muslims need to stay very far from Muslim countries - could be hazardous to your health.

Ian Smith

Ian Smith – the evil SOB who ruled Zimbabwe for many years and who refused to give any power to the black people who made up 95% of the population – has died. Take a look at this feature and then do a little research and read up on Zim’s history and his part in the misery.
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?storyID=9590


Here’s a story on him in the Independent http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article3179647.ece

Affected by the news

You read about people killing themselves and their kids in the news but you never think it will affect you.

The other day I was shocked to read in the Gleaner that my cousin Carol did just that. To say I was astonished and very saddened is an understatement. She lived with us for about a year when I was a teenager. We didn't keep in touch after that so I don't claim to have known her well but from what I remember she was a pretty, quiet, shy girl.

I can imagine feeling terrible because your husband has betrayed you but what I can't get my head around is why kill the kids?

It's a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to her parents.

Ian Blair

I don't usually join in when people are asked to resign but here I agree. Ian Blair is in charge of the UK police and he presided over the situation that ended in an innocent man being shot multiple times in the head at close range after he was 'mistaken' for a terrorist. Read the following story for further details http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?storyID=9410

The key point in all of this is that the police murdered this man. They murdered him and lied about it. They initially released statements saying he was wearing a thick winter coat and that he ran when he was in the tube station. Neither was the case.

The police were looking for a suspected suicide bomber. They were told he lived at a certain address - where Jean Charles lived. They saw Jean Charles leave his home. Didn't stop him. They saw him walk to a nearby bus stop. Didn't stop him. They watched him get on a bus. Didn't stop him (remember the say they were sure he was a bomber with a bomb strapped to him.) Apparently he either got on or almost got onto another bus. If so they again didn't stop him. He went to a tube station and went inside. They didn't stop him. Only when he had got on the tube did they wrestle him to the ground and then shot him int he head multiple times.

If it was a case of 'mistakes' and they thought he was a bomber they have a blatant disregard for the British public as they let this supposed bomber with explosives on him get on a bus and the tube. This goes to prove that the police are incompetent, don't give a shit about the public, or they are murderers. No one wins with any of these scenarios.

Jamaican working for NASA

A friend sent me the following. Have a read. Good to hear a Jamaican doing well in yet another area. How can we create a situation where this type of person can stay in Jamaica and succeed? Get rid of the high crime level I feel but how do we do that?

Anyway . . .

Jamaican heads NASA team on space station expansion project. When the "Discovery" space shuttle heads into space this month it will carry a special package 'gift-wrapped' by a Jamaican-born engineer and his team at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States.

Glenn Chin is NASA mission manager charged with delivering a Node 2 module called "Harmony" that will expand the docking area at the International Space Station to accommodate other space programs. Chin heads a multi-disciplined team of 30 to 40 engineers and technicians at NASA which is involved in the testing, integration and assembly processes that will make "Harmony" ready for launch inside "Discovery's" cargo bay on the morning of Oct. 23. Once installed at the space station, "Harmony" will serve as a port for space programs from China and a combined 13 European countries.

"Harmony is a module with six docking ports where modules can dock to make the station bigger," explained the 43-year-old Chin, who attended high schools in Jamaica and the U.S. and college at the University of Miami, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. "It's like a six entrance hallway that you can add rooms to...It's actually the gateway to the international partners." That "hallway" or central building block is 24 feet long and 15 feet wide. It weighs 31,500 pounds.

SIMPLE TASK - It was built in Italy, with fine-tuning at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where Chin and his team are based. He was involved in the early design and construction of "Harmony" as part of a special team, which offered NASA insight into the project's progress. That required him to travel to Torino between 1998 and 2000. Other work assignments temporarily took Chin away from the "Harmony" project, but he would later return as mission manager. His task is simple: get "Harmony" ready for launch and make sure it works once it gets into space. But Chin is confident it will. Discovery's transportation of "Harmony" this month, also called "STS-120", is not the only mission Chin has been involved with at NASA. He has been in charge of 16, four of which he has seen through to their launch. However, despite acknowledging a familiarity with the procedures required for the task, Chin said the different types of "payload" he is required to deliver in proper working order keeps the challenge interesting. "It's pretty routine," he said. "The processes are pretty much the same. But the differences in hardware for each mission is unique. Each hardware is unique." So is his background.

Chin is one of a handful of Caribbean nationals working at the Kennedy Space Centre, which employs some 18,000 workers. He is proud of his heritage and credits his background for much of his success in the U.S. "That's huge for me," he said. "As a Jamaican I've always been a hard worker, persistent. When I came to the States I realized the opportunities here and went after it. "I have enough savvy to know you can reach for your dreams in this country." For the married father of a son, his dreams extend to outer space.

Do You Have to be Tortured to be a Genius?

His Royal Highness and I were watching an programme on famous artists we like to watch the other day - this time it was about Van Gogh. At the beginning of the programme we hoped against hopes that he would have had a happy and fulfilling life. We hoped this because most of the artists featured on this programme seemed to have pretty awful lives.

This seemed to be the same situation with poets - and other so calle geniuses, which led us to the question in the heading.

I hope the answer isn't no - I've always fancied myself a genius - but I'm certainly not tortured - well only by the Galaxy bar in my larder!

Later

No Reason to be Sad re: Lewis Hamilton

In all that has happened, there is no reason to be sad about Lewis Hamilton's current position in Formula 1.


Yes, he didn't win the championship yesterday but when you think of what he has done in his rookie year - it is a great achievement.

I think it is a mistake for McLaren to be challenging Ferrari right now - if they were to win this challenge (which I doubt they will) it will be a bitter victory for Lewis.

On the news this morning a group of Alonzo supporters were quoted as saying they were glad Kimi won and not Lewis because as they put it, Lewis has been underhand in his dealings. Unbelievable - if anyone has been underhand in his dealings it is Alonzo.

The constant 'fight 'gainst' is amazing. You're forced to ask yourself if the problem isn't just that people are jealous because he has done so well was a rookie but fury that he has done so well as a BLACK rookie.

Peace.

Disgraceful Treatment of Ming Campbell

So those evil sods in and out of the Lib Dems have finally hounded Sir Ming to distraction enough that he resigned and sent a really pissed off letter to the media.

Ever since he became the leader of the Lib Dems the British public have been constantly bothering him and castigating him for being too old. He's in his 60s.

For heaven's sake, 60 odd isn't old, furthermore, 60 odd in politics certainly isn't old. The issue should have been was he effective and I thought he was.

Something is wrong with how politics runs - important issues that affect the populace take a backseat to how things (or people) appear. We will pay for this immaturity dearly.

Legalise Drugs

There's a story in today's Independent where a leading policeman is calling for drugs to be legalised as the 'war on drugs' has failed magnificently.

I agree. The only thing that criminalising drugs does is to push up the price and have criminals manage it. After all this time it's obvious that people will continue to do drugs even if it is legal. There are other legal drugs and because they are legal they are more readily controlled. Legalising drugs isn't the same as saying doing drugs is OK - it's just a matter of reducing (note i say reducing - probably won't be able to eliminate) the criminal element. Then at lease people would be safer.

Disappointed at First but Determined to do Well in Brazil

So by now you would all know that Lewis didn't win on Sunday and he didn't win any points as he didn't finish the race.

Bad decision on the team's part - they should have called him in at least 1 lap earlier - his tyres had had it. But I guess they know this now full well in retrospect. I hope they have learned the lesson that no matter how skilled the driver, he can't overcome equipment that doesn't work.

Wish him all the best in two weeks time.

Please Lord, Let Lewis Hamilton Win the Title

Yes folks, tomorrow is the day and His Royal Highness and I will be getting up at 6:00 am to see the race. Can you imagine the foolishness of the past few days with the Toro Rosso team trying to cock up Lewis' chances by complaining that he was driving erratically behind the safety car in Japan last week?

Now come on! I watched that race and if he was driving erratically I sure as hell didn't see it and neither did the seasoned professionals who were commentating.

Arseholes supreme! Why dem a fight so hard 'gainst Lewis?

Well at least the chief battybwoy Alonzo seems to have finally conceded that his chances are slim. Hopefully he realises now that he should have been putting effort into his driving and not into putting Lewis down and trying to screw with him in various ways.

Lewis is good at what he does. He works hard and this pays off. Why can't the reaction of others be to step up their game in response? Because of two main points:

1) Lewis is a rookie and is so good it makes them look bad - to this I say the same as above, then step up your game.

2) The same as above but add into that the fact that he is a BLACK man and the reason for the madness makes even more sense.

Something those of us who are black and live in a white country have come to learn albeit slowly and with growing horror through a process of elimination: many white people become mad with rage when black people do exceedingly well and by comparison they (the white folk) look bad. This results in bizarre and out of proportion behaviour.

My prayers are with Lewis and I hope that he will be able to stay focused in spite of the dreadful behaviour of some people - and thankfully, it is only SOME.

More power my yout!