Aw, RIP George Carlin

Just found out one of my favourite comedians, George Carlin, died over the weekend from a heart attack.

I love this:

Soldiers or Their Sexes?

Those of you living over here in Jolly Old England will invariably have heard the news of our soldiers being killed in Afghanistan. More specifically, the news if filled with the story that one of the four recently killed was a female solider, working with the SAS.

The fact our soldiers are being killed out there is still irking me, that we're pretty much running a war that apparently has no end - however, politics and foreign policy are not what this blog is about.

No, my main concern is that the press have taken the fact that a woman has been killed, and have run with it. What I don't understand, is WHY.

The headlines every now and then, from both Afghanistan and Iraq often reads something like "Three Soldiers Killed in Blast" or similar, but over the last couple of days, it's read "First Woman Soldier Killed" The papers are doing it, TV and Radio, online news... Even today Sky News says something like "Four Service Personnel, including first woman casualty, to be named" One of the news stories even adds the three guys killed along side as almost a footnote:

The first British woman was killed in action in Afghanistan in a blast that also claimed the lives of three other soldiers.

And there is also

Four British troops killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, including the first female UK soldier to die there, will be named later.

Our troops getting killed is awful. I hate they are dying for others. But how must it feel for the women, that have had to fight through the male-orientated lifestyle, to be singled out when they get injured or killed. Surely they, like everyone else out there, are Soldiers regardless of their sex. I cannot get my head around the fact the press are grabbing onto the fact that this woman has been killed. Now, if they usually said "Five male soldiers killed in action" then fair enough. WHY do they single out the fact that one of those killed is a woman?

In previous wars, I suspect the "women sorts" were kept off the front line. Usually, they would have been helping the wounded, doing the administration stuff - not running around in fatigues with thousands of pounds of military hardware, popping off the baddies with their male counterparts.

I am sure the soldier killed knew the risks. I am sure when she signed up, and completed her training alongside of her male counterparts, and didn't expect to be used by the media as a shocking new milestone. The fact any of our troops are being killed is enough.

Fair play and full support to all our boys and girls out there.

Edit @ 20:42- Sky News have published a story naming the woman. What a surprise, the ENTIRE story is about her. The other guys killed alongside her have been given a paragraph between them. And even then, it's NINE paragraphs down into the story. No interviews with the family, fellow soldiers or anyone else.

Please Mr Mass Media - please cease the hyping. She, along with ALL the others, died fighting for our Country. Male or Female - I still cannot understand why the media need to focus us all on the fact SHE is a SHE. A soldier is a soldier.

See comments for more points.

Ahhh Shit

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, when things were looking up, something always always crops up to put a dampener on your day. It doesn't matter what I do, there is ALWAYS something.

So I going around minding my own business when I discovered that today will be The End of the World! I mean, how unfair is THAT!

However, it's not all doom and gloom. In September 2006, the spanner making the same predictions said it would happen then, but was wrong.

Well, obviously.

So if today is the end, thanks for reading ;) Now, I wonder how I can End-of-the-World-proof my computer. I think it has to be bubble wrap and duct tape. NOTHING can get through bubble wrap and duct tape.


PS - this may or may not be a deciding factor, but he's in Texas.

Germs, Water, Stress, Travel...

Being that the school is currently on half-term break, and being that I was poorly last week, the kids routine was all over the place once again.

I ended up with a stinking cold that left me completely exhausted. I literally spent four or five days just flopped out on the sofa. On the bright side, I watched the first two seasons of House MD, the first season of Extras, a couple of monster movies (which I previously ranted about), and caught up on some other films I'd not seen in a while.

The kids came back on Sunday... Or was it Saturday... Hmm... Anyways, we had a lot of laughs, running around playing and doing stuff. The weather was a bit grey over the weekend, but Sunday was evil rain hammering down out the sky.

So me and Kellie decided I should take the kids to hers, stay the night, and chill out. She has two kids, a 10 year old boy and a 6 year old girl, and they all pretty much got on. However, getting to hers was... Interesting. Monday was wet, dare I say wetter than the rest of the weekend. The three of us heading to the bus stop meant we got soaked. Then waiting for the bus, I put the kids in a phone box while I went from Soaked to Really Soaked.

Thankfully, it stopped raining once we got off at the other end, but there was a catch. Kellie lives on Canvey Island, a place prone to the occasional flood. And flood it did. The worst flooding in several years, apparently. It even made the front page of all the local papers.

Of course, being that it's lower than sea level, flooding is a given. Still, it could have been worse. Anyway - walking from the bus to Kellies, the kids pretty much waded the whole way. Sure, they could have walked around, but, well... kids ;)

Still, had a great time there, the kids marauded around, girls doing painting and colouring, the boys on the playstation - and finding any excuse to go outside and play in the "puddles".

Getting home, I had a couple of debt collectors turn up on the door which was nice... So had to pay them. Which was nice... Then went to Cels house where a power cut had messed with her computer. So I had to fix that. Her computer is a complete bitch, and a five minute job took nearly an hour. Gah! And between paying money, fixing computers, I received some news that my brain wasn't sure how to process, so I ended up puking all evening instead.

Which was nice...

On the bright side, I woke up this morning feeling much better. Germs are gone, I'm dry and warm, and while my stomach is all knotted from being sick for eight hours, I feel fine and good. Stress does funny things to me. Not sure I can go into it here, not yet anyways, so will be hanging fire before going into that.

Thankfully, it wasn't a bug. I felt fine until my tummy decided to evacuate, and then felt fine again. I'm not thankful it wasn't a bug for any real reason - except A) I didn't make my kids ill, B) I didn't make Kellie and her kids ill, and more importantly, C) I'm not going to be ill to go away for the weekend.

Ooooh I can't wait!

Crazy Austrian Freak

I assume this freak that has kept a daughter locked in a cellar for 24 years is common knowledge now across the world. The fact he used and abused her for 24 years, fathered children through her and refused to let her and some of her kids see the light of day just...

This sort of thing drives me mad.

But I don't know if it's just me, or is something pretty rotten here... Yes, this guy did deplorable things and deserves a long lingering castration (at least), but the fact he was married... And not just to anyone, but to his prisoners MOTHER. Who lived upstairs.

And claims she had no idea.

Seriously... HOW do you hide that? "Just going downstairs to do some work" doesn't cut it. And how the hell did he build the prison and she NOT NOTICE? I know there are parents of victims that turn a blind eye - out of sight, out of mind - but honestly... Twenty Four years?!

Gah!

Slow News Day?

Every morning, I check Sky News just to see if the world is about to go KaBlooey, or to see if THEY have started looking for me yet. I tend to skip the political/current affairs stuff because - sad to admit - it bores me,and I usually skip the Celeb/Entertainment crap because - shockingly - it bores me. I also avoid the Sport news because I don't care who beat who, who got injured (even though it makes me chuckle!), nor who said what about which team.

I'm not sure what that actually leaves to read, but none the less....

Some days, I read the main story, the headlines, and think "Wow, that's bad, nasty, horrible" or whatever and wonder what the world is coming to. Other days, like today, the main story made me itch my head. Now, bear with me on this one...

Rabid Puppy Bites Three People In Essex
Updated:08:39, Saturday April 26, 2008

Three people are being treated for exposure to rabies after being bitten by an infected puppy that was brought into the UK from Sri Lanka.

The dog attacked the three victims at a quarantine centre in Chingford, Essex, where it had been taken after arriving in the country.
Dr Dilys Morgan, a rabies expert from the Health Protection Agency, said the animal died in quarantine yesterday, effectively containing any risk to public health.

She said: "We understand that three individuals connected to the quarantine centre and rescue centre were bitten by the animal and all have received or will be receiving prompt protective treatment with appropriate vaccination."

Sky News health correspondent Thomas Moore said: "One would expect them to make a good recovery.

"People who tend to die of rabies abroad are those who haven't been able to seek medical help soon enough."

He added that there was no need to worry about the disease spreading.

So there we have it. Here's some information. The United Kingdom is, unlike the rest of Europe, rabies free. We don't have it here, so rabies in England is a fairly big deal. In fact, if an animal bites someone in Essex, they need to give the animal boosters to make sure it doesn't develop any nasty disease.

However, the headline, "Rabid Puppy Bites Three People In Essex" while true, doesn't actually tell the story. Yes, it was a puppy, and yes, it had rabies and bit some people. But it was in quarantine. So away from everything else. It died, so it won't go anywhere else. The people bitten - unless they start chomping their friends, are being treated, and aren't even in danger of kicking the proverbial bucket.

So, erm, HOW is this news exactly? This is the main story for Saturday morning. Not the missing mum/son killed saga, not the kid stabbed in school, not even celebrities dropping off the moral coil. And yet, the next "BIG" story on their front page is about a pensioner killed by a shark in California. WHY do we need to know that over here exactly?

I know there are people out there that believe the news is fed to us to keep us under control and living in a state of fear, but honestly, at least report something that doesn't just make me blink and then piss & moan on here! That's not control, that's just winding me up!

I Love Typos

It's not much of a secret when I confess that I make typos. Usually, they are of the stupid sort, wrong words in the wrong place, they're/their/there types - the really silly ones. Don't get me wrong, quite often I will completely arse up a word and not notice.

When using MSN, I am somewhat of a typo nazi. I won't press send if I can see a typo in what I have written, and quite often take the piss out of people that make mistakes. All in good fun of course. Sometimes it gets to the point when I fluster someone so much, they mistype the correction, and then the next one...

Don't be surprised, you know I'm evil.

However, my blog is read by a core of regular readers, and then whoever wanders in over the course of the day. On average, I get about 100-150 hits a day, plus the extras that are reading via feeds here and there. No more than 200 a day I would think. That's fine be me. While I would love fame, fortune and infamy stuff, I am quite happy that at least one person reason.

However, if, say, I were a massive multi-national news outlet, with a page viewed in the thousands per day, with my news feed being flashed across the globe at the touch of a button, I would be a little more careful with the typos...

Clicky to Embiggen
But you know, that's just me... ESPECIALLY if it was a news story that is in the headlines Every. Single. Day. You would think the writer would have noticed such an error. Well, obviously not.

An Easter Warning

With Easter finally arriving, despite the fact the stores have been pointing out since the start of the year, it's nice to see people in the shops actually realise this fact. Asda today was packed with people stocking up on Easter Eggs. But, ho ho, being that Friday and Monday are both Bank Holidays, people were buying stacks of bread, milk, groceries...

It was manic.

People, Asda is open as normal Friday, Saturday, Sunday trading hours on Sunday and Monday...

But this isn't about me ranting about shoppers for a change. This is about news people. You need to pay attention to this tale for your Easter Break.

MANILA (AFP) - Philippine health officials Wednesday warned people taking part in Easter crucifixions and self-flagellation rituals to get a tetanus shot first and sterilise the nails to avoid infections.

Every Good Friday in this predominately Roman Catholic Southeast Asian nation dozens of men re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by having themselves nailed to wooden crosses.

At the same time hundreds of others, mostly men, strip to the waist and whip themselves until their backs are cut and bloody as a way of atoning for their sins over the past year.

The Catholic church frowns upon the crucifixions and self flagellations which have become a tourist attraction in a number of towns around the country.

The department of health issued a health warning advising people taking part in the rituals this Friday to have tetanus shots and to check the condition of the whip they will use before lashing their backs.

It warned that dirty whips could lead to tetanus and other infections.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque said that as was hard to discourage "flagellants from whipping their own flesh, the best penitents can do is ensure that their whips are well-maintained."

According to the Manila Times, in San Fernando City, Pampanga, some 23 people, including two women, plan to reenact the crucifixion on Friday.

"We are not trying to go against the Lenten tradition here because whipping has somewhat already become some form of 'atonement for sins' for some of us," Duque said.

"But this advice is important to make sure that no one will land in the hospital due to tetanus or other infections that penitents might get in the process," he said.

The health department has also warned that the six-inch (15-centimetre) nails used in crucifixions should be sterilised.

So there you have it. Please don't forget your little needles before you insert the big nails.

The Oldest Profession

It's not often that I will blog about something that is considered "controversial" but while wandering around on the net today, I discovered, of all things, that there is in fact a brothel in my local area. I know exactly what building is described, and you'd not look twice at it - very upper-class and well maintained, newly built development. I had to look at the address twice because I thought to myself "Surely not!" but there it is.

And my thoughts on living within shouting distance of this place?

Good for them. The place is clean, respected, the people that live around it are aware and don't mind, and the girls are doing it because they want to and not because they are forced to do it. I could hear my blog-mind ticking over as I read about the place, and found an article about a police raid on it. The "owner" faced 5-10 years in jail because of it, but due to the condition of the place (spotless), the care of the girls (she paid privately to have the girls checked, looked after and suchlike), that the girls were all willing (and not involved in human trafficking) and the fact the neighbours were aware an not bothered, she was given community service.

Which, technically, she was doing anyway ;)

Now, you might think this is a very strange thing to discuss, but I have so much respect for working girls, and was ready to write about "how prostitution should be made legal" when, while researching briefly for this post, I made a veeeery interesting discovery.

Prostitution in England is actually legal. From this Wikipedia article:

Prostitution in the United Kingdom is not formally illegal, but several activities surrounding it are outlawed.

Reading the entry further, it basically details that while prostitution is not illegal, it's the practices around it that are against the law. Some of these laws are common sense and NEED to be enforced, but others just make it harder for the girls:

In England and Wales:

• for a prostitute to loiter or conduct solicitation in a street or public place is illegal, therefore outlawing street prostitution
• it is also illegal for a potential client to solicit persistently, or solicit from a motor vehicle ("kerb crawling"). (In 1992 the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, Sir Allan Green, was caught committing this offence and resigned.) This law does not apply in Northern Ireland or Scotland although it is likely to be extended there soon.
• owning or running a brothel is illegal
• child prostitution is specifically illegal for the person paying (where child is defined as below 18)
• controlling prostitution for gain is an offence, banning pimping

The last offence replaced the similar "living on earnings of prostitution" under the Sexual Offences Act 1956.

There has been long and widespread debate as to whether the toleration of prostitution similar to that seen in The Netherlands and Germany should be extended. Local police forces have historically wavered between zero tolerance of prostitution and unofficial red light districts.

The Government announced on January 17, 2006, that in England and Wales it was considering allowing small brothels, whilst continuing the crackdown against kerb-crawling, which is seen as a nuisance.

Now, any law that protects the girls AND the innocent girls out there, so much the better. The laws that prevent people hiring the girls, and looking after the girls - well, they just confuse. Take the woman running the local one - while in the eyes of the law she was "pimping" the girls, she was in charge of their well being, covered bills and expenses and generally looked out for them. The other side of the coin is the atypical pimp, beating up and just using his girls for making money.

While we were in Amsterdam, we had a walk around their famous Red Light District. Over there, the laws on prostitution are very lax, but all with an eye to protecting the girls and making their lives safer and easier. They do not work for pimps, and do it because they want to, not to feed drug habits or similar. Added to this, they are entitled to extra tests and care to ensure their well being.

I think making the law easier on these girls and allowing brothels to operate is a good thing. They provide a service to people that need it, and who knows, it may well keep some of the crazier people in check. Putting themselves out there night after night takes a lot of guts, and I know some of them do it out of necessity rather than desire, but if they had a safe place to work, away from the dark corners of the streets, well, who knows, it might improve things.

After a little digging and poking around, I've found that in a one mile circle, there are at least a half-dozen brothels of my home. Some of them are private apartments, some are houses, and some are actually fronted by other businesses. All very strange to me, but I am not in the least bit worried or offended.

I'd be interested in hearing your views on this. Is Prostitution legal where you live or not? Is this good or bad, do you think?

[-7]

Stealing

After reading through my various blogs this morning, I came across an interesting article on Alans blog regarding the theft of wireless broadband.

ITN - Wednesday, August 22 12:33 pm

A man who was spotted in the street using his laptop to access an unsecured wireless connection has been arrested.

The 39-year-old man was seen sitting on a wall outside a home in Chiswick, west London, by two community support officers.

When questioned he admitted using the owner's unsecured wireless internet connection without permission and was arrested on suspicion of stealing a wireless broadband connection.

The man was bailed to October pending further inquiries.

Dishonestly obtaining free internet access is an offence under the Communications Act 2003 and a potential breach of the Computer Misuse Act.

The move is the latest example of police cracking down on a crime that did not exist several years ago when wireless internet access was relatively rare.

In April, a man was cautioned by police after neighbours saw him using a laptop in a car parked outside a house in Redditch, Worcestershire.

In 2005, a man was fined £500 for piggybacking on someone else's wireless broadband connection in London.

Detective Constable Mark Roberts, of the Metropolitan Police computer crime unit, said anyone who illegally uses a broadband link faces arrest.

He said: "This arrest should act as a warning to anyone who thinks it is acceptable to illegally use other people's broadband connections.

"To do so potentially breaches the Computer Misuse Act and the Communications Act, so computer users need to be aware that this is unlawful and police will investigate any violation we become aware of."

Now, my wireless connection at home is very secure - 128 bit key and the code for my laptop is the only computer that can connect. A search on that network shows a half-dozen wireless networks, but of those six, only two are secure. That means anyone with a wireless computer can connect to the unsecured networks and use their bandwidth.

Sitting here, I just did a scan, and there are eleven wireless points. Only five are secure. And, as worrying as it is, this access point is not secure either. Why? Because Jo's dad thinks it's too much hard work setting up the security. Now, to be fair, the amount of shite he downloads on a regular basis, anyone trying to connect to his network would find dial up faster ;)

But, it does raise some interesting points. Should the onus be the owner of the point to keep it secure. For example, if I leave my doors and windows open, and someone steals my TV, then the insurance won't pay out. Yes, the person will still get charged with burglary, but if my house is insecure, does that make it my fault, or the fault of the thief?

Back in the day when I used to work for a certain Telecommunications Company, if a customer called and explained that someone else had used their phone and run up a bill, it didn't matter, because it is the owners responsibility to ensure that phone is used as they see fit. Now, would the same count for Wireless Connections? If I jumped on someone elses connection, and they happened to be on a fixed bandwidth, being charged for extra, would it be their fault or my own for running up their bill? And then, what if I used illegal downloaders to download movies or whatever. When the RIAA started charging people for downloading music, the person owning the connection was the one charged.

So, what are your thoughts on this? Yes, it's illegal to use someone elses connection without permission, but shouldn't these people owning the points secure their own networks? And on top of this - if I found another computer connected to my internet connection and called the police, would they send someone out and try to figure who it is, or tell me to piss off?

Interesting Start to the Weekend

So, crack of 10am I roll out of bed, stumble downstairs, get fed, get tea, stumble back upstairs, clean myself up, do my hair (yes, yes), and plonk myself down in front of Sky News webpage. "Quake Hits Southern England".

Bu-huh?

Now, this is England. We don't get Earthquakes - they are reserved for Japan, California and the middle of the Pacific. We whine about weather, the cost of living, the government and the entertainment industry. Do we have to add "I wonder if the town will fall over."

Granted, it wasn't a very big one - 4.4 on the scale apparently, but it's all that is on the TV and Radio. Lots of property damage, power down, gas leaks and so on. We spoke to our friend Paul who lives down there in Kent, and everyone is fine, just scared the pants off people. Bet it's going to be the big news of the week though...

Of course, we wouldn't be England if the news wasn't also dominated with the weather. Apparently we're going to be "hotter than Mexico" this weekend, and our Summer is likely to be the hottest ever. Blah blah blah, bring on the sunshine. I don't care if one of the papers has a great big red "40C" as it's headline.

Now comes the arguments for the weather being amusing due to global warming. Wonder if they'll try pinning it on the quake as well.

Or maybe Jack Thompson will announce both are due to video games...

Edit: For those interested, Kent is just south of us, in a straight line pretty close, but I was far too snoozy to have noticed anything :)

Humanity?

So here's an interesting topic for the end of the year... Saddam Hussain is no more, killed yesterday by hanging for his crimes against humanity. But here's the question - was doing so right or wrong? If you know where to look, you can find a video of the hanging - I'm not going to link it as it's a guy being killed - but after watching it, I couldn't help but wonder if the right thing was done.

For starters, he terrorised the Iraqi people for a good couple of decades (I'm not sure how long, but you get my drift), and committed innumerable acts of awfulness on his own people, captured people, invaded Kuwait - general badness. But his punishment, while not nice, lasted a couple of seconds? Is that justice? Would he not have been better rotting in a prison somewhere - probably unrepentant to his last breath (as he was anyway) but locked up for the last of his years?

England no longer has a death penalty - it used to, but it was scrapped (and again, I don't know the details, though I think it might have been down to executing the wrong person), and some parts of America do, though it seems that people sit on death row for many many years before actually being executed. But is the death penalty right? Is it moral?

What I can't decide though, is does a few seconds of pain and fear make up for a lifetime or torture and torment? While searching for the image for this post, I found a fairly interesting quote that seems appropriate:

"Why kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?"

I think I will leave it at that, as my last serious post for 2006...

Linkage!

Another week gone, another week close to Xmas, another week to 2007, and another week of weather that just cannot make it's mind up. It's been busy here at Chez English (Or should that be Chez Anglais?), with Jaysen hitting the big nothing-eight, with shopping being done on an almost daily basis (multiple times yesterday, in fact), and with the mountain of presents slowly being wrapped. Good job really, the stack is causing problems for low-flying aircraft...

England is all over the place at the moment with the serial killer targeting prostitutes in Suffolk, the Princess Diana enquiry saying there is no conspiracy, plus all the random political stuff I tend to ignore. There's sport, there's weather, and there's stuff. But the serial killer is the subject at the moment. Fingers crossed they get some decent leads and find the crazy sonofabitch soon.

On a personal level, things have been going swimmingly - pain from being so damn busy not withstanding. Had a bit of a shaky morning after reading another little baby died because of CHD, in what sounds like a horrific thing for all concerned. On an unrelated note, I also had a diabolical night sleep last night thanks to a squirmy Miguel and a unsettled Tamsyn. I think I almost made it to two-hours of sleep last night. Go me.

But other than that, I am fine and dandy!

As for the rest of you out there, you're busy, that's for sure. But I notice something missing... A lack of Xmas-based posts! Alan in Ireland posted photos of his tree, and Joansy had some Xmasy photos from her trip to the Bellagio in Las Vegas. And I realise the irony of me saying there aren't many posts, and have yet to show my tree to the world. You see, my tree started out fine, but between cats, dogs and a certain toddler, it looks like the poor thing has Dutch Elm Disease. It's, ah, balding. From the bottom up. And we're missing a serious number of glittery balls (*ahem*). I think the Evil Pixie Empire has stolen them.

• Jo thanks everyone for helping her with her debt worries. And an extra thanks to someone that helped us out in a massive way. Saying no names to him, thank you.
• Christine has a rant off about an AOL List of Dumb Music Moves and justifies them. You go, girl.
• Minge is in Bouremouth, sans internet connection or his beloved iMac. I think the pressure is getting to him.
• Joansy posts about how much she misses the kids, even though she'd only been without them a few hours.
• Laney does what any true Basildon Girl does best and gets drunk.
• Lara posts about the loss of her newborn daughter, and vocalises perfectly how the loss affects a parent. Very touching and very sad. And I hope you don't mind me linking it honey - if you want it removed, just say the words and I'll edit it out :)
• China Blue makes more excuses as to why she's not blogging as much, and aside from Writers Block, she's also being sucked into MySpace. Someone, quick, get her out of there!
• Mark manages to check off something else from his To-Do list, plus has to deal with the indecisiveness of his other half.
• Stuart posts Kierans school photo. Bless the sweet little man!
• Other Emma describes her surprise at the lack of a certain persons parenting skills.
• Debbie discusses how certain sounds can push a parents mind straight back to hospital when their child is fighting for their life.
• Gretchen talks about traditions old and new, and things she does in her home for Xmas.
• Paul at Money For Old Rope has come out of hiding once again and talks about his visit to the big dish.
• Tim at The Special Zipper got to meet the Adelaide Crows and had an excellent day by all accounts!
• Nancy posts about her son, Geppetto Brandon creating his own wooden boy - who has a mysterious "accident"...
• Brian has a bit of a Star Wars moment, visiting the desert set (and it's inhabitants), plus is surprised at the prices for the Lego sets.
• Moncrief details his trip to Las Vegas, where he met another gay man suffering from "denial".
• The Girl goes through her experience with the new Bond movie. (Adult Blog warning!)
• Jenny - in a moment of classiness - describes throwing dirty nappies at her family!
• India has a rant at the console industry with their skewed views on Supply & Demand
• Alan from Ireland lends a helping hand to Mac users that want to watch YouTube videos on their iPod.
• Reynolds the EMT in London details how a patient was ignored, while her partner attracted a lot of attention.
• Reynolds non-Ambulance blog posts details on a new Social Application that sounds pretty interesting.
• Nee Naw has a change of scenery for a day and deals with the First Response Unit/Ambulance Car, and how the crews deal with nasty things.
• Matthew starts to wander around the house, and a camera is ready to catch the action!

Other blogs without links - well, Emma needs a break from everyone assuming she's having a bad time and is taking time out. She's fine ya'll! Alan in Scotland... Could someone please send me the login details to his blog please as I cleared my Cache/Cookies and don't have the login anywhere! DOH! Cass is having a hard time in the run-up to Xmas, and I hope to help her before or just after by kidnapping her and dumping her here.

As for the non-blog-stuff out there, well, there are a few items that have caught my eye over the last week, but due to my levels of being busy, there's not huge amounts (he says as he sees how much is in his folder!). After looking at this little collection, it would appear most of the movie clips are of idiots being idiots, and almost all of them have people getting injured in some way. If you don't like seeing people hurt - even if it's them being dickheads - then skip the Idiot Video links :)

• FoodTube - The chap that is eating his way across China tries another interesting food: Tasty Crispy Sikworm. (Article)
• AfroFly - Eat the pies, smash through the window. Simple! (Game)
• USS Enterprise - as furniture, apparently, though I think it counts as "Ornament" and not "Furniture" heh (Site)
• Idiot: Playing with Fire - Kids pour petrol on a train track, them himself, lights tracks, runs through it. Note how shocked everyone is that he's burning!!! (Idiot Video)
• Idiot: Playing with Gravity - Jumping from a height and landing on your face.. OF COURSE IT HURTS! (Idiot Video)
• Idiot: Blowing Up Teeth - Unsurprisingly, biting down on even tiny explosives will mess up your teeth. (Idiot Video)
• Will It Blend: iPod - The ultimate blender is put to the test with an iPod. Well, not so much a test, after all, this things blends everything. Once you're done, scroll down the page and watch all the other clips. Craziness. And if anyone has a spare £900, I'd like one too!
• (Video)
• World of Warcraft: Expansion Cinematic - For the geeks that like pretty - click the "Stream in Flash" link on that page, and watch the new game trailer. DAMN pretty. (Video)
• MORE Badgers - You know my love for the Badger-Badger-Badger stuff, well here's another. Though it might make your ears bleed!
• New Grow Game - I love these games, and have completed them all so far - this one is pretty easy, but the "Failures" endings are cool too. You win when you see "Congratulations".
• Cool Table - OK, yes, it's just a table. But damn...
• Plethora of Gadgets - A list of seven very cool/interesting/pretty gadgets that you HAVE to have. Sort of.

And there we have it. More links that you can shake a cyber-stick at, let alone a REAL stick. I'm sure there is plenty of reading, watching and activities for one and all. And lastly, I HAVE to post this as a video because it's just excellent. I found this video on Reynolds "Mental Kipple" blog, and have fallen in love with this song. Enjoy. And if you don't like it... Grrr!

And yes, this post took me forever to write. For ever.

Religion...

OK, you know me. You KNOW I am the least religious person on the planet. I'm in no ones corner, I am not putting one down or bigging up another. But here goes.

Argh!

Pope 'Sorry For Offence'

The Pope is said to be "extremely upset" that his comments about Islam have caused offence to Muslims and is sorry they have led to such controversy.

Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement: "The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers.

"The Pontiff respects followers of Islam and hopes the true meaning of his speech is understood."

The statement came amid mounting anger from Muslims over remarks by the Pope in a speech in his native Germany on Tuesday that was seen as critical of their faith.

Calls for him to apologise had spread beyond the Islamic world.

In the speech, the Pope appeared to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that the early Muslims spread their religion by violence.

Islamic fury erupted on Thursday and cast doubt on a visit the Pope plans to Turkey in November.

Sky sources have learnt that Catholic bishops in the country are due to hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the row.

In Srinagar, India, police detained nearly two dozen Muslim protesters after minor clashes on Saturday. Effigies of the Pope were burnt in the street.

Two churches in the West Bank city of Nablus were fire bombed while in Gaza there was a small explosion outside a Greek Orthodox Church. No one was hurt.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the Vatican's ambassador to express regret over the comments.

The Pakistan parliament also passed a resolution condemning the comments while radicals held protests across the country.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world's largest group of political Islamists, called on the governments of Islamic countries to break relations with the Vatican.

But there was support for the Pope from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

She told the Bild newspaper that the German-born Pontiff had been calling for dialogue with other religions.

So, Mr Pope has hacked off a large wad of people for things he has said. Did he mean them bad, was he quoted out of context? Who knows. I have a couple of friends that are Muslims and I have friends that are Catholic, Christian, Jehova Witness, Morman. But here is the thing that REALLY gets me.

• Pope uses a quote that suggests "early Muslims spread their religion by violence".
• Muslim world reacts in outrage and denys this.
• Muslims then protest by... Blowing stuff up. "The Prophet was pure and peaceful and we never used violence" to "Let's bomb that church".

Is it just me, or does anyone else spy the irony here?

And before people start accusing me of "taking sides" or anything else, I KNOW the Christian church hacked and chopped their way across the middle easy, and I KNOW that religion has been one of the biggest causes of war and violence since, well, forever.

They're all as bad as each other. In the corner, no supper, all of you. Now.

Food Hypes

Is the world on some sort of cycle. This food is good for you, that food causes cancer, you need more of this and less of that, start over... I swear it's happening all the time. For instance:

Warning Over Superfood

A new superfood said to boost peoples' sex lives and the immune system is set to hit the supermarkets.

Chinese Goji berries are selling so fast in health food stores suppliers are struggling to keep up.

But health experts say people should not get caught up in the hype as conventional fruit and veg is just as healthy and cheaper.

A small bag of the berries costs £4 and it is recommended people take a handful a day.

They are packed with 21 trace minerals and 18 amino acids and are also said to shift cellulite.

But the British Nutrition Foundation said Goji mania is being driven by clever marketing rather than good science.

Goji berries will go on sale in Tesco later this month and Waitrose in October.

I mean, seriously.. £4 a pack?! Because they claim to improve the sex life and immune system. It's all hype. Like that SkyNews article says, you might as well eat normal fruit and veg - it's cheaper. Even the Wikipedia Article on these berries says a lot of the stuff is hype and never proven.

And you can bet the reason it's hyped - Celebs. Again. "This celeb has this hair cut, so it's In and Cool" or "This celeb is using this handbag so it's In and Cool". For heavens sake, it's like being back at school. Except this is now Life and Culture. People pay too much attention to the current Cool Person/Couple/Baby and try to model their lives on it. Why? I just don't understand this Celeb Culture, people famous for naff-all, selling their story to some glossy magazine, writing or paying someone to write their Biography.

Holy hell - how can you have a biography at 21 years old?! Born, School, College, Big Brother does NOT equal a Life Story.

No. One. Cares.

OK, so I went right off-topic there. Meh. Eat right, live life, enjoy everything. Otherwise you'll just spend your life counting numbers, calories and everything else. Enjoy your food. If it's not berries, it's green tea. If it's not the tea, it's a vitamin suppliment. If not that, then something else. And so on.

Pah.