A protest too far...

My first week at work went without a glitch. I did feel a bit lost in the new environment, new procedures to learn and colleagues to get to know, but that's to be expected.

I couldn't help noticing the controversy over the protest by Islamic fundamentalists on November 11 in London and feel obliged to comment. There was also another protest in London  during the week, by students upset at the proposed increases in student fees by the newly elected Conservative/Liberal coalition. Same old ...same old story.

Burning the poppy

First I will start with the Muslim protest, now  known as " burning the poppy protest". For the benefit of those who may not be aware of the significance of November 11, here's a brief description:

November 11 is Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day and Armistice Day) in most of the English speaking world.
It is a day to pay homage to the British soldiers killed in action and has been celebrated since the end of World War I.  In the UK, various charities across the land start selling the iconic lapel 'poppy' (see Madeleine's very own poppy below) some weeks before the day and all proceeds are then donated to the war veteran societies.

Madeleine showing support for the cause

how it should be done...with dignity

Most people and commerce observe a 2 minute silence on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Even the traffic grinds to a halt. Last Thursday, while the two minute silence was taking place, a group of Islamic protesters in Ealing, West London, decided to burn a poppy and hurl abuse at the fallen British soldiers. This protest took place in public view and rightly disgusted many observers.

the faces of ignorance, intolerance, envy and hatred

of course they are...surrounded by 40 virgins!

Does that apply to women also?



I believe in freedom of speech but it has to be a freedom with conditions attached. The freedom of the speaker must not conflict with ,offend or incite the listener to violence. It's common sense and common dignity.

The Islamic protesters obviously don' t know about these basic human qualities and decided to vent their ill-informed anger at passers by with no regard whatsoever for the consequences. Those same protesters, needless to say, are the same type of people I wrote about in my old post "Biting the hand that feeds them". Yes, British born Muslims who instead of promoting harmony promote hatred towards the very nation (UK) that took their parents in and gave them a better life. Fine way to say...er... Thanks!

Can you imagine a similar protest by Christians in , say, Kabul or anywhere in the Muslim world? Of course not. The protesters would be removed and killed immediately by the baying crowds of Muslims thirsty for the blood of the infidel. Ah, the glory of religion... (irony)

But in London, we seem to not only tolerate the lack of respect shown by the protesters but the police also failed to take action and arrest the ungrateful scumbags. Why were they not arrested? They were inciting violence and that is a crime. Were the police so scared to be seen as anti-Muslim that to turn a blind-eye was the preferred action to take? How ridiculous is that!

Arrest, trial and inprisonment are justifiable ways to deal with these so called British-Muslims who are, once again, giving the rest of Islam a bad name. 

Student protest

Sadly, this is a case of the "same old story". Tories back in power, violent protests hit the streets. Nothing new.



It happened before when Maggie ruled. The out of work miners protested and rioted, the inner-city youth rioted, some city traders and stock brokers jumped out of their office windows with the boom-and-bust economic mess and the working classes endured years of unfair and savage public spending cuts.



The electorate have a short memory and voted the blues (with a dash of yellow) back in and now dare to complain?! 

When Labour took office 13 years ago the riots were quelled and the boom-and-bust economy laid to rest. A spell of peace and common sense swept the nation.Thirteen years ago (after 4 terms of Tories) there were 65,000 people on hospital waiting lists for operations, with the waiting period from 2 months to 2 years. By the beginning of 2010 there were no cases  of waiting more than a month.

Oh well. short memory causes all kinds of problems so my advice to the protesters is this.

Stop f*+*ing complaining to me - you and your relatives most likely voted the present lot in! Put up and shut up.

Rant over, phew... :)

the boy IS back in town...

Yay!!  I'm back. Nice job back in the motor trade and a nice car to cruise around in.



present mode of transport...snazzy or what?

Oh, by the way, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen, it said 'Parking Fine.' So that was nice :)



The gloom is finally lifting. I can now start to enjoy my return to London AND look forward to Christmas at the same time. I absolutely love Christmas (no, nothing to do with religion) and was beginning to worry at the prospect of facing this festive season unemployed...but not anymore :)

First two days in the new job have been fun, interesting, tense and at times all three together. It's to be expected, I guess. Trying to remember every one's name is harder than learning the new procedures.

me on my first day at the new job...

looking nervous

That's the reason I've been quiet with the posts lately -there's so much to learn and take in with the new job that by the time I get home I'm too tired to even think, never mind write. I am presently soaking up the surroundings and will soon report on the quirky and wonderful world of the motor trade.

I was about to buy the T-Shirt shown below but don't need it now. No more public transport for me.

:)



Surrey seems to be...

...the English county closest to my heart.


After 5 days and 1000 road miles, my brief chapter in part time employment with Wettons CS came to an end. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed driving around my favourite county in England. 

I have always loved Surrey. I have spent several years working all around  Surrey and many hours driving through its winding roads in search of lakes and rivers to fish.



With its eleven towns and countless quaint villages, Surrey is second to none when it comes to charm and beauty. It absolutely oozes with old-English style charm and wealth.

One of many "to die for" cottages, so typical of the area...

The lakes, canals and rivers of Surrey...

The quaint town centre of Farnham, one of eleven graceful Surrey towns...

eye candy by the bucketful...

Surrey is the green belt of the 'home counties'...

the beautifully serene and fairytale-like settings...

the houses and cottages are SSS Simply SSS Sublime in SSS Surrey...





Surrey, the quintessentially English County.

Pig? Thanks but no thanks


I am often asked why I don't eat pork. The explanation is a bit too long winded for normal conversation so I often opt to utter the little white lie of "I'm allergic".

Of course I am not allergic. I stopped eating pork at the age of fifteen for a number of reasons, the most important ones I will explain later. It's definitely NOT to do with religious beliefs because as you know, I have none. I don't believe in imaginary friends.



As a young child I used to love taking the bucket of pig-swill collected in our kitchen to feed our neighbours pig.

I lived in a semi-rural setting, where our neighbours used to breed one pig per year to slaughter just before Christmas. The pig was kept in a sty approximately 5m x 4m. The trough was at the front by the gate, the pigs "bed" of hay was at the back facing the gate, covered by a zinc sheet and for some reason all pig residents used the right hand rear section as their toilet.

Pig swill, as you all know, consists of all the kitchen left-overs, including bits of pork such as ham, pork chop bones etc. I used to watch in amazement as the pig indulged in cannibalism with ignorant bliss.

By the tender age of nine, I was already aware of most animals chosen diets, be it carnivorous, herbivorous or both (omnivorous) and, the thought of the poor pig unknowingly eating pig meat, upset me enough on a few occasions that I would run home with a list of questions for mum.

Mum couldn't explain why it was deemed right by all to feed pig to pigs and couldn't use the rebuff used by all  present day parents - "go and google it" - but I never gave up.

I was never one to be fobbed off without explanation and so went on to read and learn as much as I could about the subject of diet.

Some years later I asked some Muslim and Jewish school pals why they didn't eat pig but they didn't know the answer either.  I read the old testament and was left none the wiser. It seemed some people didn't eat pig for no other reason than tradition. That was unacceptable to me. I continued to read all I could and by the age of fifteen  I had reached the conclusion to stop eating pork.



I knew carnivore mammals eat herbivore mammals as first choice, followed by other species such as birds, reptiles fish and insects. In order for a strict carnivore, say a tiger, to get the sun-given energy of plants on which almost all life depends on, it needs to eat a herbivore, such as a gazelle.

There are a few omnivorous mammals (meat and plant eaters) such as humans, pigs, bears and dogs. Given the choice, omnivorous mammals always seem to chose herbivorous mammals to eat. That being the case, why do we bother eating pig, an obvious omnivore? And if that's OK. why don't we eat dog, bear etc. since they are also omnivore mammals?  The main reason is that we are guided and influenced by nature and nature has rules such as dietary preference for all animals, making them chose and like the best or more appropriate food source. The best meat food source for omnivore and carnivore mammals is herbivore mammal meat.

Pigs, being omnivores like us, are very similar to humans in the biological sense. As a result, extensive research is being carried out to enable organ transplants from pigs to humans. There are no plans to use any other donor animal species but the pig. Pig flesh is so similar to human flesh that eating it is almost an act of cannibalism. Humans eat pig because the cooking process disguises its taste. Humans can enjoy and do eat raw beef, venison and gazelle because nature has made them appealing to our tastes. Appropriate food, so to speak, unlike unsavoury raw pork.

If I am ever in a situation where I have to eat pork, stranded somewhere or destitute, I probably will, but until then...thanks but no thanks



How can anyone who has watched the film "Babe" eat pig?

Ew...

nothing for ages, then two at once



As stated in my previous post ,I am now working - part time but working nonetheless- and on my way home earlier today I took a call from the friend that had arranged my previous interview with Ford, telling me I had got the job! Awesome.

It's great to be tipped off before the official phone call as it gives me time to prepare an answer. The answer is yes, of course, but I need to decide whether to start immediately or give it a week or two to help my present employer find a replacement.

I know, I should be as happy as a pig in muck, but...it's like. "predicament time" for me. I like the people I'm working for and don't want to let them down by leaving so soon.



But I want the Ford job- it's full-time and more in line with what I want to do.

...as the old saying goes;

"It’s true that we don’t know what we’ve got until we lose it – but it’s also true that we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives."

Typical of me lately, happy... but...

.