Baiting the electorate

Is anyone else fed up of journalists baiting politicians on behalf of us the electorate? I just watched a so-called feature on the Milliband brothers on Channel 4 news and as a voter I heard little that was of importance to me and much that seemed to be geared towards getting a rise out of both men. We are in interesting times and I for one want to hear from politicians on the hustings, how they will do their job if elected. I don’t give a toss about a dust up between rivals. I wish journalists would share my view.

Bathrooms – the last bastion of gender separation

‘Don’t put your handbag on the bed it’s been all kinds of nasty places,’ says HRH.
‘All kinds of nasty places, what do you mean?’ I ask him.
‘Well bathroom stall floors for one thing.’
‘No no no, when I am in a bathroom stall I hang my handbag on the peg.’
‘Peg? What peg?’

It was at that point that it occurred to me. My husband would have had no opportunity to go inside a women’s bathroom stall so he had no idea there were pegs on the back of the doors to hang your bag and coat. And I had no idea that there were no pegs on the back of the door in men’s bathrooms. I went on to reveal (to his amazement) the presence of nice smelling hand soap and hand lotion (in the better bathrooms) and sofas and separate mirrored waiting areas (in the even better bathrooms known as powder rooms).

It got me thinking. In this day and age there are very few areas of life that are not integrated in gender terms. I reckon the bathroom is the last place that exists where genders are separated. I know that there are some smaller places where there is maybe one bathroom that men and women share but I don’t think guys notice the hook on the back of the door for the simple reason that their backs are to the door when they do their business (well most times!), and I imagine they don’t give a thought to the low gray rectangular box next to the toilet either.

Men and women are equal and different. We aren’t the same and in the midst of a lot of misunderstanding about what it means to be equal, on both men and women’s part, it is good to reflect on the differences too. The differences are part of what makes us so interesting and so able to complement each other.

The US of UK?

So, there’s another nutcase gunman on the loose in the UK and this time he has managed to evade the police for several days. It really does look as though all countries ape the US is absolutely everything. Well this is one aspect of life in the US I can do without. First that nutter in Northumberland and now this guy in Newcastle. I know it’s not scientific to say so but it doesn’t say much for the north does it?

SO many theories have been posed as to why people go postal. I think we will have to start looking at the possible reasons really hard and really soon. Today I actually felt nervous about going about my business. The thing is – there is no defence against a madman who kills randomly.

We all need to be more emotionally mature.

Let us do what needs to be done, now!

We need to be accountable and we need to finish things. I was in a meeting today that typifies the British attitude to doing almost everything. Several of my colleagues were to have investigated certain issues and research certain information in order to complete some work. They came to the meeting having not done it. When the matter came up, said people made statements to the effect of ‘Well I can’t do so and so until I know such and such.’ Keep in mind that they were supposed to have researched such and such but didn’t. They weren’t challenged and the issue at hand was dropped. Now this issue is something that could win a lot of business but the powers that be seemed to be satisfied to let it slide on the basis that finding out this information is seemingly impossible or they don’t have the stones to make the relevant parties do what they are supposed to.

I was aching to scream at the relevant people, ‘So, you don’t know such and such, then why on earth didn’t you go and research it like you were supposed to then? Get up now and go and do it and report back to us in half an hour!’

Too many times I witness this ‘don’t care, can’t be bothered, lazy, ineffective attitude. It gets us nowhere! Let us pull ourselves up and do what needs to be done people. For goodness sake, the level of inertia in the UK is horrifying! It’s that same attitude that loses us World Cup matches and allows thieving bankers to continue in the same vein in spite of the massive fallout and taxpayer bailout. Does England have a pulse? If we can’t find it our inertia will kill the nation – there’ll be nothing whatsoever left because the rest of the world who have the brains and go getter attitude will sweep up opportunity after opportunity and those Brits who are alive and kicking will simply migrate.

FIFA Sees Sense - Hopefully

Finally, some positive noises from FIFA about using technology in football. This World Cup has shown how desperately it is needed. I do hope that this is much more than lip service and that he means business.

Try to be of use to someone today

We are all on this earth together for a reason and one of those is to be of service to each other. So make it your mission each day to be of service to others. There are so many lonely people in need of various types of assistance and it shouldn't be this way. Let us have each other's back.

Predictors of Divorce

Very sad to hear today that the Gore's 40 year marriage is over. But it can happen. Take a look at this interesting article. What do you think? http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article7141224.ece

The Decision to Leave Jamaica

One of my friends responded to a post from someone who said they were glad to have left Jamaica given the current unrest there. The responses were generally negative. Now maybe the person didn't put their comments in the most complimentary fashion but nonetheless there are salient points.

If you leave Jamaica it doesn't mean you are a traitor. There are lots of lovely things about living in Jamaica however, sadly the things that make it very difficult to live there are fundamental issues that affect life itself.

Unless you are well educated and can pull down a decent salary, you WILL be living in poverty with not much of a security blanket. And even if you do earn a lot there is the thorny issue of security. Some people still living there like to brush the crime situation off but it is a serious issue. And for those of us who just couldn't take the daily threat to life limb and property there's no shame in moving some place where you can be safe and not have to devote a sizeable chunk of your salary to basic food items.

Now there is an argument that if we all stayed then Jamaica would be a better place. No it wouldn't There is a culture in Jamaica that ensures that the minority of criminals and backward thinking attitude prevails and you can't prosper as a nation like that no matter how many well intentioned people stay. There has to be consensus that certain habits will prevail - such as being on time for instance.

I left because I realised that the way I wanted to live and progress was not in sync with how the majority of Jamaicans want to live. That difference is fine - if you don't like the prevailing situation in a country then by all means leave. But we shouldn't be chastised for that choice.

Telly Talk

I was hoping to get some answers from Lost but it seems like the closer we draw to the end of the programme the more questions get thrown up. This week’s episode with Alison Janney was great – quite haunting really. But I do hope they won’t leave us hanging at the end by not answering all questions in the hope they can come back .

Can’t believe they are cancelling Flash Forward and Heroes. I think this is a mistake and I hope some other station will pick them up. Same for Lawder (what we call Law & Order in our house). I hope they know what they are doing with an LA spinoff and I hope it keeps the same strong story lines and doesn’t got the route of looks over substance.

The Beginning of . . What?

And so the marriage has taken place. I am conflicted and somewhat disturbed. Disturbed for obvious reasons unless you are a Tory, and conflicted because I seriously doubt that the two parties can really co-exist without real friction. Also, I feel that unless Nick Clegg turns the Deputy Prime Minister role into something substantial – that his party has got the short end of the stick in this.

We wait to see what unfolds.

Migraines

Does anyone out there know of the best painkiller to take (in the UK) for migraines, without having to get a prescription? When I was living in JA Exedrin and codeine tablets worked a treat but I haven't come across anything in the UK that works. Appreciate the feedback.

Don’t be a fool all of your life

I was at an event recently, a discussion and voting came up. Many in the group said they will not be voting because they don’t trust any of the three major parties on the hustings. Now I have heard people say this type of ridiculous thing very often. Here is my position: whatever these people do or don’t do, there will be a government, the UK is not turning into Somalia anytime soon. Now all of the people saying they weren’t going to vote said that they had serious issues with many areas of their lives which are ultimately affected by government – housing, education, crime etc. Now you tell me, if you don’t vote, you have no say in putting in place the very people that control the issues that seriously affect your life. How is that a smart choice?

‘But I think they are all as bad as each other so what’s the point?’ I hear you say. But is that really the case? Come on, be honest, go through the list and I’ll be there’s one party that you can be positive you don’t want to win the most. So vote for someone else and take a vote from the most loathed party – if anything (and hoping you are a decent person) you can take a vote from the BNP.

Women and black people especially have no business talking about not voting. Too much blood has been shed on their behalf. So go and exercise your right and responsibility. No one is violently preventing you from voting as is the case in many parts of the world. Why would you voluntarily give up that which has been so hard fought for?

My Manifesto Continued

11) No repayment should be penalised - if you pay off debt early that should be a plus.

12) The welfare system should be overhauled so that you are not penalised for bettering yourselves.

13) Anyone on benefits not making an effort to better themselves should be thrown off benefits.

14) Power companies should be nationalised.

15) In fact public services should be nationalised, power, water, transport. Phone companies can be privatised.

16) Travel companies should be by law, forced to keep prices level throughout the year, parents, teachers and ancillary worker at schools should not be ripped off when they go on holiday.

17) Head Teachers and other teachers should be in charge of schools.

18) Vastly reduce the fuel tax.

19) Money sense and business should be taught in school.

20) Second jobs should be taxed at the same rate as first jobs.

More later.

My manifesto

Now we are in the silly season, here are some things I think should be done to improve life in the UK:

1) Flat rate of income tax for all income above £18,000 per annum. Anyone earning £18k or under pays no income tax. Everyone else's first £18k will be tax free. This saves the administration costs of administering different tax rates and it is fair - 10% of £10 is by definition less than 10% of £100.

2) Abolish the Tv license tax and make the BBC pay for itself - it already has a commercial arm and it sure as hell has fallen down on the edifying programme mandate.

3) Force, through legislation, each TV channel to have a certain percentage of their programming as public service and tightly define what that means.

4) Make farmers vaccinate against what can be vaccinated against.

5) Make kids get vaccinated against chickenpox.

6) Vaccinate everyone against flu - prevents valuable man hours being lost.

7) Make companies incorporate flexible working and have as many people as possible work from home - reducing traffic and childcare issues.

8) Make banks be honourable.

9) Everyone should have the option to pay bills by standing order.

10) Companies should not have the upper hand re: direct debits.

More on Wednesday.

Last installment on First World Thoughts

On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich & developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:

1. Ethics, as a basic principle. Not true. A large number of people in rich and developed countries are extremely unethical and dishonest – just the same as anywhere else. Their wealth is as a result of theft, murder and oppression of people who don’t look like them. This is nothing to be proud of. Their treatment of their own kind is pretty abysmal too – depending on how much money a person has or how much social power or what class they belong to. The fact is that the average ‘first worlder’ is too willfully ignorant of the things that affect them to be bothered by being oppressed – most can’t even be arsed to vote.

2. Integrity. Same as above. In my experience people in developed countries on the whole lack integrity.

3. Responsibility. Also untrue – they are not responsible at all. They rely on the spoils of the stolen riches or the government’s largesse on the whole.

4. Respect to the laws & rules. Again, untrue. A large number have no respect for the law and rules.

5. Respect to the rights of other citizens. To a certain extent – as long as they look like them and conform.

6. Work loving. No. They have devised a culture where the appearance of effort and presenteeism is lauded as ‘hard work’ but the economy is proving that this doesn’t actually produce anything. Actual hard work needs to be substituted. It’s the immigrants on the whole that work hard.

7. Strive for saving & investment. Ha! No they don’t! They borrow like mad for all kinds of ridiculous things. They will mortgage their house to borrow money to go on holiday. Give me a break!

8. Will of super action. Eh?

9. Punctuality. Yes, true for the most part. But what you do once you are there on time is also very important and herein often lies the problem.

In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles in their daily life. This is true but it is also true of the majority of citizens in developed countries. If the citizens in underdeveloped countries had the advantage of 400+ years of free labour from elsewhere and loan repayments with high interest rates then their attitude would probably not matter with regards to their wealth either.

We are not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel to us.

In some cases nature being cruel does indeed cause poverty – be fair, have a thought for those poor sods who get hit by hurricanes and floods year after year – of course it affects them. If first world countries were hit by natural disasters year in and year out don’t you think that would affect their wealth?

We are poor because we lack attitude.

This is true because out attitude does not include acknowledgement in conjunction with smart actions.

We lack the will to comply with and teach these functional principles of rich & developed societies. No, we have to think up our own principles, ones that include fairness with intelligence that works in today’s world. To follow the principles of rich societies is to be unprincipled, thieves, murderers, oppressors and unwilling and unable to reason. We must base our principles on our beliefs and on what is required for success, success as we have defined it for our cultures.

Remainder of first world thoughts

(My thoughts in normal type)

Executives from rich countries who communicate with their counterparts in poor countries show that there is no significant intellectual difference.

Actually there often is, people in developing countries who are educated are often the recipients of a superior education due to a culture of embracing education and the fact they had to hustle to get it. This should be reflected in a better result for them but it isn’t. That’s because most people will flash to a safer environment – the well educated can earn a packet in Jamaica, indeed they can be more well off there than in ‘foreign’ but you can’t be well off when you are dead can you? More educated Jamaicans would stay if there was less crime. And that’s up to us.

Race or skin color are also not important: immigrants labeled lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich European countries.

True.

What is the difference then?

The difference is the attitude of the people, framed along the years by the education & the culture.

No, the difference is that the developed world benefited from the fruits of free labour while the underdeveloped world has had to manage with having given away that labour and its fruits. Also, our attitude must involve an acknowledgement of the past but an understanding of what behaviour will work to prosper us. And that means while we ac knowledge the past atrocities, we employ attitudes and actions that prosper us. Too many acknowledge and re-live the past whilst indulging in self destructive practices which they blame on past oppression and don’t indulge in progressive practices in the here and now. Why pay continuous homage to a brutal past only? We must, like the Jews, be knowledgeable about the past and pass this knowledge onto our kids, but along with this they must be taught how we responded in order to produce a better future for them and we can only do this if we do create a better future. Give you an example – Mugabe took the farms back because the land had been stolen but he didn’t prepare his people to manage them so they could benefit from the wealth. His bitterness has led to his people’s destruction. He should have taken back the stolen land in a more systematic and feasible way – and with a time frame for training his people to manage things.

First World vs. Third Part 2

Here are my thoughts on the email my friend sent me. They are in two sections – I’ll post the rest on Friday.

**

Original copy in bold, my comments in normal type.

The following does not take into account the fact that many first world countries stole resources and labour from the poorer countries for centuries and systematically brainwashed their people into believing they are inferior. This mindset has repercussions today. In spite of this people from underdeveloped nations cannot expect to prosper by remaining enslaved to these actions. As unpalatable as it might be we have to forget to the extent that the past doesn’t mortgage our future. And we must learn from the thieving, murderous actions of these oppressors and don’t become like them. The following should be seen within this context.

To reflect and... Act.

The difference between the poor countries and the rich ones is not the age of the country.

This can be shown by countries like India & Egypt that are more than 2000 years old and are poor.

Remember, they were stolen from and oppressed by first world countries.

On the other hand, Canada, Australia & New Zealand, that 150 years ago were inexpressive, today are developed countries and are rich. As a result of stealing and oppression. But we mustn’t steal, murder and oppress in order to become wealthy.

The difference between poor & rich countries does not reside in the available natural resources.

Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for agriculture & cattle raising, but it is the second world economy. The country is like an immense floating factory, importing raw material from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.

True, they make the optimum use of what they have and don’t waste time bemoaning what they don’t.

Another example is Switzerland, which does not plant cocoa but has the best chocolate of the world. In its little territory they raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year. Not enough, they produce dairy products of the best quality. It is a small country that transmits an image of security, order & labor, which made it the world’s strong safe.

Again, true – we must change out attitudes, the existing atmosphere and social climate is up to us, in spite of our past.

More on Friday.

First World vs. Third World

Someone sent me the following:

To reflect and... Act.

The difference between the poor countries and the rich ones is not the age of the country.

This can be shown by countries like India & Egypt, that are more than 2000 years old and are poor.

On the other hand, Canada, Australia & New Zealand, that 150 years ago were inexpressive, today are developed countries and are rich.

The difference between poor & rich countries does not reside in the available natural resources.

Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for agriculture & cattle raising, but it is the second world economy. The country is like an immense floating factory, importing raw material from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.

Another example is Switzerland, which does not plant cocoa but has the best chocolate of the world. In its little territory they raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year. Not enough, they produce dairy products of the best quality.

It is a small country that transmits an image of security, order & labor, which made it the world’s strong safe.

Executives from rich countries who communicate with their counterparts in poor countries show that there is no significant intellectual difference.

Race or skin color are also not important: immigrants labeled lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich European countries.

What is the difference then?

The difference is the attitude of the people, framed along the years by the education & the culture.

On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich & developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:

1. Ethics, as a basic principle.
2. Integrity.

3. Responsibility.

4. Respect to the laws & rules.

5. Respect to the rights of other citizens.

6. Work loving.

7. Strive for saving & investment.

8. Will of super action.
9. Punctuality.

In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles in their daily life.

We are not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel to us.

We are poor because we lack attitude.

We lack the will to comply with and teach these functional principles of rich & developed societies.

I think whoever wrote this has missed the point big time. My thoughts on Wednesday.

Forward thinking or just not thinking?

Take a look at these two links. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8557236.stm and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/6262328.stm

It is time we re-evaluate what type of country we are – a forward thinking one that cares for its people or a fourth world place with a formerly strong currency?

Persecuting Christians

Once again Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria. I pray that those affected will remain strong in their faith and I also pay for a cessation of this persecution. But then again, we expect persecution don’t we? Lord be with them. Amen.