but my mind is free - Part I

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I was watching a program by Stephen Hawking, the brilliant English physicist, when something he said made me sit up and think.

Well, lots of things he says make me sit up and think; he is probably the greatest thinker of our times, but these words struck a particular chord.
“I am paralyzed, but my mind is free to wander”. How inspiring is that!

Stephen Hawking - Genius

Stephen Hawking suffers from neuro-muscular dystrophy and has been paralyzed for the past 30 years. With the exception of his eyes and his mind, he is completely paralyzed. With the help of a computer to ‘speak’ for him by means of a sensor that picks up his eye movements, Stephen has managed to produce mind-blowing work throughout his 40 year career. What an inspiration. I have no job or money (temporary glitch, I hope) but my mind is also free to wander!

Hence my decision to embark on a journey to the places in my bucket list, with or without money.

The first port of call is Antarctica. This beautiful frozen continent is unspoilt and largely untouched by man. Long may that continue…?

undisturbed beauty

What draws me to Antarctica are; isolation, frigid purity, stunning views and Emperor Penguins.

I absolutely adore penguins (probably my favourite animals) and I hope to see the biggest of the lot, the majestic Emperor.

adorable or what?

Here I am… moments after arrival.

battery low...yeahhhh

This last of the unspoilt wildernesses on the planet may not remain this way for long. Antarctica is administered by The UK, Norway, France, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, for geographical and colonial reasons.

The general consensus has always been to preserve the continent and avoid the introduction of alien flora and fauna, but how long for before the pressure to exploit its natural resources muscles in? Only time will tell.



All in all it was a wonderful experience, as predicted, and I enjoyed every minute of it. One of the many highlights was going for a pee outside the tent and seeing it freeze before hitting the deck! Awesome! There were signs everywhere warning visitors not to eat yellow snow?! Ew

I never did get to hug a penguin :(  but now that I have discovered this convenient way to travel...well  I can return whenever I like (I need to get a life, and quickly)
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Terrorist Alert ; an open letter

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Dear terrorists,

I would like to ask you to stop your hate filled and senseless campaign against the West, with immediate effect.

"Stop the killing"

You are wasting your time, effort, money and innocent lives on the wrong cause. Yes, the wrong cause.

I know you say you are angry with the West for many reasons - the main one being America's support for Israel.

According to you, that is, but I am not fooled by it. I believe, along with many other sensible people that the main reason  for you hatred is envy. Yes, pure and simple envy.

The lame excuse of America supporting Israel being your main gripe is utter bullshit. America and the rest of the West have to support Israel because you and your followers are hell-bent on destroying it! In fact you and your followers are hell-bent on destroying too many things, most noticeably;

western economies, innocent lives, civilisations (more advanced than yours), women's rights, children's rights, gay rights, animal rights, democratic rights, freedom of religious choice, to name but a few.

Does it not perturb you and your followers to know that it is all "destroy, destroy" instead of "improve, improve" ?

Does it not make you think that "destruction" is not conducive with "improving" life?

Or is the envy so powerfully ingrained in your minds that you lose all common sense and dignity?

I believe you would do better redirecting your efforts and skills to building better societies in the countries you represent! Now that, is a real necessity.

You see, we here in the West know what kind of societies you represent. Numerous reports reach us via the media on a daily basis. Terrorism, public executions, lack of human rights, lack of basic hygiene, lack of food, lack of democracy...in fact a lack of most life-enhancing basic necessities. The only things you seem to have plenty of are corruption and terrorism. So why are you trying to impose on the West the very life-style so many of your people would dearly like to leave behind? It is a fact that much of your population would, and indeed do, relocate in search of better lives to the very countries your want to destroy!

Can you not see the irony in that? I'm sure you can.
You see terrorists, if you were to give up on this useless crusade (no pun intended) of trying to destroy the West, you would gain many friends and support from around the world. And with a bit of luck you would even gain the strength and support to remove your corrupt leaders and modernise your societies.

That's the way to create a win-win situation for everybody, don't you think? Much better than your chosen way of murdering men, women and children.

Here in the West, we have learned from history that the path to progress and prosperity comes from having a happy and well-cared for population. And to get that, governments need to be fair, law-abiding, honest and above all, democratic. It's not rocket science, is it? It's so bloody easy!

Do you really believe that you will ever win this so called "war" of yours?

Open your eyes and minds to the truth and common decency, not to the hate-filled bigoted leaders who preach hatred and holy war. There is no such thing as a holy war. It's all a figment of your poisoned imaginations.

So please stop inflicting pain in the world. Stop biting the hand that feeds you and instead work towards a better future for the forsaken people you think you represent.

Yours truly

Me......

sometimes it doesn't just rain... it pours!

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I'm so disappointed I didn't get the job I was pinning my hopes on. It's a set-back that leaves me wandering what to do next.

I applied for the job full of hope and enthusiasm and failure was not an option. Its the kind of job I know I can do well, better than most I have no doubt. I am loyal, intelligent, smart, experienced and hard-working. I have managed bigger departments before and with more staff! What more do prospective employers want?

I went to the interview knowing there were 5 other applicants but that didn't faze me. I believed I had the edge on the others - more experience. Got past the first hurdle (first interview) and was given a second chance - along with one other applicant - to impress with a presentation of my future plans. Easy! I was convinced I'd win the 2 man race...but...sadly, I didn't.

I'm now feeling sorry for myself, which doesn't help me or anyone else, and worried at the lack of options and finance.

I have to pick up the pieces and try even harder, I know, and will do precisely that. But the set-back has dented my pride and knocked my confidence a little. That's for sure.

not amused

Next step is to wait for the next interview, which is being arranged with Mercedes-Benz, hopefully this week. Legs/Arms/Fingers crossed!

On a lighter note;  here are some quality quotes I've stumbled across while browsing the celeb pages;

These two foot-in-mouth captions were not made up by me, honestly! I know... it's hard to believe. It takes something other than brains to become a celeb...like you all didn't know that already 

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Yemen - looking back...

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And another disturbing report from the "old world" hits my TV screen and fills me with anger. I must stop watching documentaries, or TV in general - it's bad for my blood pressure. This time the bad news comes from the Yemen, a country in the Arabian Peninsula.

The documentary in question was made by CNN to highlight the plight of child brides – sadly still an everyday occurrence in some countries.

Reem al Numeri is a 14-year-old divorcee. Yes, you read it right.  She was just 11 when her father forced her to marry her 32-year-old cousin. Reem used to lock herself in her room at night to keep her “husband” away, but he eventually managed to break in and rape her. After attempting suicide by cutting her wrists, the so called “husband” decided to divorce her.

Reem - victim by the age of  11 -  outcast by 14

Reem now lives the life of an outcast, through no fault of her own, a victim of the cruel society she was born into. Without a husband or family to support her, she can’t even attend school.

(My blood pressure is rising again just thinking about it)

In 2009, Yemen's parliament passed legislation to rise the minimum age of marriage to 17.  Sadly,
Conservative “Koran-led” parliamentarians and more than a 100 leading religious clerics, called the attempt to restrict the age of marriage "un-Islamic"  and argued the bill violated Sharia law, which does not stipulate a minimum age of marriage.

What the fuck is all that about?  How ridiculous an argument!  Does that mean 8,6,4,2-year-olds can also be forced into marrying older men?

(I'm really pissed off now)

When will the blind and ignorant followers of religion start thinking for themselves? When will they start questioning their pathetic archaic laws and miserable existences?

Anyway, the bill to outlaw child marriages got blocked and so the practice continues for now. Yemen's parliament will look again at child marriage in the coming days, so fingers crossed, but don’t hold your breath!

Mohammed Aboulahoum, advisor to Yemen's president, wants the law to be passed, but thinks there are more important issues to deal with first. (!) He would wouldn’t he? Even after conceding that if he (Aboulahoum) was to ask most religious people if they would you let their daughter marry at the age of 12 or 13, they would most likely say no!

The human rights organization “Sisters Arab Forum” tries in vain to intervene on behalf of child brides - to stop the marriages from taking place - but without legislation they are fighting a losing battle.

The people of Yemen need to pull their heads out of the sand and try to understand the horrors of child abuse. They need to change their society's views on women, now, not in years to come but now. Never mind Sharia Law, (which most lay people don’t even fully understand). Wrong and unjust laws have to be changed, never mind the cultural or religious implications. That’s what civilized societies do and have done for centuries. To not evolve is to stagnate and eventually perish, just like the dinosaurs…

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Weekly Award #2

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After hours of sifting through the many celebs and politicos who annoy the hell out of me, I have come to the conclusion that no one deserves the award more than;

Bob McDonnell-State Governor of Virginia USA...

...for allowing the execution of long-term mental-patient Theresa Lewis

Republican Bob must believe it is better to put-down a sick person than try and cure her... I wish he got a job in Afghanistan or Yemen or even Chechnya - he'd feel at home, I'm sure. He would mix with politicians  with the same sort of mentality and distinct lack of noble human qualities such as empathy...decency...sympathy