Thirst That Can Not Be Quenched

Have you ever wanted someone so badly that you actually feel a sensation akin to a warm nervous tremor in your stomach every time you see or think about that person?

I hope you have.

And if you have, was the feeling mutual?

I hope it was...for your sake, for I doubt there is anything more gut-wrenching and frustrating than wanting someone who doesn't feel the same way about you.

It is a hunger that can not be sated.

Oh, the ultimate mental torture that is unrequited love!

Strange how medical science, despite its numerous achievements and advances over the last century, is still incapable of providing explanations to feelings and emotions such as love, longing, desire and attraction.

I believe that eventually science will be able to explain such emotions, and possibly even find a cure for what is commonly referred to as matters of the heart. Matters of the mind would be a more appropriate description. Sadly, such a breakthrough is not likely happen soon.

I see your name everywhere, everyday, in a nondescript name tag and in the lines of my poem...

"  Bring forth the end of your eternal absence and
   Embellish my existence with your sparkling presence
   Light up the darkness of my Autumn days
   Light up the flickering embers in my hearth
   And allow my boundless affection safe passage into your heart"

JP

News In The Cold Light of Day

A Japanese chef cooked and served his own genitals!

Mao Sugiyama, a self-described asexual cook from Tokyo, marinated and cooked his todger and served it to five diners at a posh banquet last month.

Sugiyama's Tweet last April caused controversy when he posted "I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes and scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen.Will prepare and cook as the buyers requests"

There's me thinking Coq Au Vin was a French dish!

From The New Zealand Guardian Feb 3 2004, concerning a sign seen in a Police canteen in Christchurch, New Zealand: 
'Will the person who took a slice of cake from the Commissioner's Office return it immediately. It is needed as evidence in a poisoning case."

Whilst on the subject of poison,Syria has decommissioned its Chemical Arsenal...

Arsenal got trounced 2-0 by Chelsea...

...Chelsea Clinton is no longer camera-shy (yiipee! One more celeb for GB to study), unlike her dad Bill...

Bill Gates offers lifeline to Spanish Construction giant, FCC, by buying into the company and helping with the economic recovery of the country. Bill, the billionaire philanthropist, does more to help humanity than all the world religions put together, and apparently, unlike religions, with no ulterior motives. Bill has taken to studying the human condition and so adds another feather to his cap - Anthropology...

Anthropologist extraordinaire Gorilla Bananas, continues to amuse all who venture into his world at The Japing Ape blog, with his humour and uncanny simian ability to make sense of senseless humans...

Humans will overrun the planet by 2050! According to author Dan Brown's latest novel, Inferno, (half way through as I write) the future is rather bleak as Earth struggles to accommodate an inevitable human population explosion. I'm not sure why I've decided to read Dan's latest offering, but I say, somewhat coyly, I am a fan of his. I find his novels light-hearted but entertaining and I especially like the way he threads fiction through History...

History repeats itself more often than I like. It appears that President Obama may have forgotten to tell the NSA (National Security Agency) bosses that the Cold War is over and that it is extremely rude to snoop on your friends.

Angela? Why?

With freunde like that who the hell needs feinde??

Come back Bill, all is forgiven.

So Help Me God

"No, I haven't"

I thought it best to start by answering those who may think I've lost my senses.

Makes perfect sense - to the senseless

Is it just me, or does anyone else get annoyed when they hear someone say "God Help Me" ?

I often feel like saying;

"If there were a god, would She/He/It  ( I'll use the acronym SHit for expediency)  help YOU with your trivial problem when SHit doesn't help the millions of children around the world dying of malnutrition, fatal diseases and war ?"

Such as this poor little child who just happened to be born in the wrong place

Or;

"Are you so special as to deserve the help that your god does not afford to the countless others who need it much more than you do?"

Such as...

Victims of natural disasters...

and of wars...

often caused by tribal and religious differences

Or even;

"Do you NOT think little girls being savaged by Female Genital Mutilation in parts of the Muslim World deserve more help than you?"

Or "Jewish babies having their foreskins removed for no other reason than cultural/religious dogma?"

Even "Christian baby girls having their ears pierced (maybe less painful than the examples above but still) for decorative reasons and motives rooted in early Christianity?"

That's child abuse!

If those believers who commit these vile acts on helpless children really believe humans are created in god's image then why do they feel the need to rectify the works of creation? Are you all saying your god made a mistake? If you are, surely that's blasphemy!

Now, if I were a believer, I'd feel guilty asking SHit for help with my trivial and less deserving problems.

I'd hate to think SHit may just grant my wish to solve the morning traffic chaos or abate the loud music from my neighbour's house instead of helping with the more urgent and serious cases.

How can anyone who believes in SHit believe SHit gives a shit?

To make matters worse, people in different parts of the world invoke different gods! Different gods depending on where they were born and indoctrinated. And most absurdly, they all think their god is the right one.

One thing is certain: They can't all be right.

But they can all be wrong. Of this I have no doubt.

Talking of doubts, Henry Charles Bukowski Jr once said, and I quote;

"The problem with the world is that the intelligent are full of doubts while the idiots are full of certainties"

He should have added a foot note stating "Not applicable to Atheists"

And to all those believers out there I say:

"With all the suffering pictured above, and many more tragedies constantly blighting our planet, what on earth are your gods doing about it?

If SHit is incapable of helping, why bother following, or worse still, invoking the help of such a useless shit?

Beggars belief.

Beyond belief alright.

:(

Beauty is more than skin deep

Admiring beauty is a perplexing emotion. I think it is an emotion exclusive to humans - but I may be wrong.

In Nature we often see animals, especially birds, who appear to develop beautiful plumage to attract a mate, but do those creatures actually feel enthralled and mesmerised by beauty as we do?

Humans appear to have slightly varying tastes as far as admiring beauty is concerned, particularly when it comes to other people, but we also have a lot in common when it comes to Nature's works of art.

Take for instance the following photos:

The eye: One of Nature's masterpieces

The graceful elegance of a bird in flight

Refreshing...yet warm

Nature's powerful pyrotechnic displays

Lilac snow and red sky: Paul Gauguin must have painted it

The sizzling, sensual Cheryl Cole - enchants most boys... and some girls

I don't know about you lot, but all the images above evoke within me feelings of wonderment, awe, fascination, incredulity and astonishment.

Surely it's not just me...is it?

:)

The Science of Dreams

I've never been one to dream much. In fact I'd say I'm only aware of dreaming, or at least remember dreaming, once a month at most.

I do however, have a recurring dream/nightmare, that's not really a dream, but happens while I'm in a twilight state between sleep and wakefulness. A possible third state of awareness that has until now, never been written about or explained fully.(see link below)

It happens a few times a year, thankfully, but that's a few times too many.

I am asleep, then wake up but can't move. Paralysed, frozen to the bed, for what seems an eternity. As each second ticks by, anxiety grows, and I make some sort of inhuman, groaning sounds, as if pleading for anyone to rescue me by waking me up fully. I desperately want to escape this state of helplessness and paralysis. 

This all started many years ago, can't exactly remember when, after reading some article about a small percentage of patients, who, while under the knife and anaesthetised, remember and feel the operation but are unable to communicate with the surgeons to stop the procedure. I was a very curious child, and often read articles and books, especially medical science articles, that were meant for much older audiences. The though of that scenario in an operating theatre ever happening to me, filled me with horror, and instilled a phobia-like dread of surgery. That, I believe, was what set off these unpleasant dreams that have haunted me ever since. 

You can imagine how delighted I was to read this morning an article from BBC News depicting this condition, and that research is being carried out by Prof. Pandit of Oxford University Hospital.

Once again, science comes to the rescue and will, as it always has, provided me with answers to most of life's dilemmas.

How can so many people, mostly those of religious persuasion, be anti-science? The world is half-full of science-sceptics who wrongly blame science for many of society's woes.

You have all heard the illogical arguments of those science-haters who mention nuclear weapons as one of sciences worst inventions. Do those people refuse medical treatments such as radio therapy when cancer strikes? I don't think so. Yet radio-therapy, a treatment that saves countless lives daily,would not have come about without the nuclear research embarked upon for military reasons.

Science is neither good nor evil. Science has no ulterior motives or hidden agendas. Science is knowledge through research and experiment. Science is what sets humans apart from all other creatures on our planet. 

To hate science is to hate knowledge.

To hate science for the weapons it has created is like hating water for causing death by drowning of so many people. Or hating fire for the same reason. Or hating the sun for the skin cancer it can cause.

It is illogical and pathetic to hate or even to be suspicious of science. 

Science has given us all the mod-cons we have today that enhance our quality of life.

Science has given us medical treatments that have extended our lifespan by 50% in the last 200 years.

Science will, eventually, prove the non existence of gods and ghosts and all other silly superstitious nonsense that shackle so many people to blissful ignorance.

Science is the residence of all human knowledge.

Do you agree?

:)