Friday, December 28, 2012

The end of the world never came..

December 21, 2012 was, allegedly the last day of the Mayan calendar. We were told that the end of the world was nigh, but the end of Dec 21, 20120 heralded in a new era called Dec 22, 2012.

As always, a fair few high profile stars came to their end this year. Also twenty kids aged between 6 and 7 in the Sandy Hook school, Newtown, Connecticut. The NRA saw it as collateral damage. I will never understand the views of the NRA and its members. They all need psychological assistance in my opinion.

The Bushmaster AR-15 became the most famous semi-auto rifle because it was the weapon of choice for two mass shooters and a nutcase who took out two firemen in Rochester, NY.

The USA is about to step off the ‘fiscal cliff’. Pardon me for thinking that the USA had been sliding into inequity for some while. Obama tries to do his best for ALL US citizens, while Republicans do what they can to stop him.

Corruption in high places is nothing new. Four city mayors across Canada could be worse. There are eleven major cities! Banking in Europe has been found to be every bit as corrupt as it is in the USA. Surprise surprise. This is what happens when you entrust others with your money. They call it ‘human nature’.

Why isn’t corruption higher in Canada? Is it because nobody has long enough to escape before winter sets in? There is corruption in Canada, but at a lower level except for Montreal. That city has its own code.

The Middle East still has problems, Syria in particular. The Russians worry about who might replace Assad. So does everybody else, but is that a reason to stand by and do nothing to help the people? The Arab Spring has produced mixed results in other countries, mainly bad mixed in with very bad.

The West still hasn’t caught on that it is dictatorships which keep the countries unified. It may not suit us, but many less people die. The other side is that the people live very poorly whatever they try to achieve. It is not easy to see an answer, and never has been.

The London Olympics was a huge success, and despite claims by the US that security there would be a joke, it wasn’t. In the end, all they could say was “Who is Ray Davies?”.

Queen Elizabeth did a great job of standing on a boat in less than perfect conditions for hours, watching the largest British flotilla since the Armada slowly drift by. What a star that lady is. For his efforts, the Duke ended up in hospital. The man is ninety years old. I would not have done what he did, nor could I have done it.

Piers Morgan, having upset the Brits for a long time, has now upset the wannabe Wild Bills of the USA. That’s almost half of the population, and he may be looking for safe passage to Argentina fairly soon. If I had any advice for him, I would suggest that he does not start calling the Falklands by Argentina’s preferred name.

Documents relating the Falklands War have been released recently, and we find out that Her Majesty’s Government had grave doubts about whether Britain could re-take them from Argentina. While Reagan openly told the world that US involvement would only go as far as letting the Brits use Ascension Island, there were secret talks suggesting greater involvement by the US. I am pleased that there wasn’t. Americans can be insufferable as it is. Fortunately, and with few resources left, the Brits scared the Argentinian force enough that they finally surrendered.  Yay for the Brits.

On a happy note, a South Korean entertainer known as Psy has broken YouTube records by being the most watched video ever, surpassing the one billion mark. There have been many parodies made around the world, but this is the original, the one and only Psy..

Amazing stuff

It’s almost time to close down on 2012. Now you know how to make an entrance into 2013, Psy style..

Smile

Saturday, December 15, 2012

No way for kids to start life..

I refer not only to the kids who watched, saw what happened in front of the them yesterday at the Sandy Hook school, Newtown Connecticut, but to ALL kids everywhere who suffer because the people who have control over their lives are too stupid, too selfish, too greedy to care.

I am sorry but I can’t imagine what it must be like to hear rapid gunfire approaching. I simply can’t imagine what it must be like to be lead through where dead school friends are laid out on the floor.

I can’t imagine these scenarios because I never had to face them. Where I grew up, there was no right to bear arms. In the UK, there is no civilian right to carry a handgun, concealed or open. Since Hungerford, a civilian is not allowed to own a working handgun or an assault rifle.

There is no place in a civilised society for people to carry guns.

I can’t imagine what it is like to go hungry, to be ill or infirm without the hope of medical care, to have no parents to protect me and teach me how to survive.

It would be bad enough to have to go through any of the above at my age, but to put a small child through any of the above is mindless, selfish, stupid BEYOND belief.

What I can tell you is that I am glad that I lived in a gun free society, or as gun free as a society can be. I am glad that I never had to grow up fearing everything that moved.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Lest you should forget..

.. in the run up to the season of ‘goodwill to all’.. 

Calling other people ‘ugly’ doesn’t make you any prettier..