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To witter:

something silly
short
almost meaningless

Poetry; Crass; Cynical.
In reply to @nobody about 2 mins ago


I may regret this.
Then again
maybe not.

Typing Speed Test 22a

The Big Bang Theory

In the beginning, every word and meaning that ever was or will be, was packed into a tiny tiny space. Then BANG! In 0.00000000000001 seconds, meaning and understanding expanded in all directions and continues to do so. Of course, your average "developed" Joe is unaware of all this. He is more interested in the latest score and which greedy bastard claimed what for dog food.

08-08-08

It may be a date
to note - or not.

Life goes gone
- or not.

(BBC)Russian forces battle Georgians
- tanks...

(BBC)Fannie Mae unveils loss of $2.3bn
- money means fuck all
(unless you don't have any)

(BBC)Spectacular opening for Olympics
- so Human Rights
can take a run and jump.

Next they will be telling us
the air ain't worth breathing

(cough)

Still, no point in being down about it
- we have to laugh, while we can.

Making A Meal Of It

What with
"All Day Breakfasts"
and
"Evening Meals
Served All Day"
No wonder
so many of us
are permanently
out to lunch.

Another Fine Mess, George....

What is it with George Bush and oil? Surely Iraq is enough of a mess, even for George's greedy backers? Oh no, they have to drip sump oil all over lunch. For those who have a lunch that is...

"Biofuels are prime cause of food crisis, says leaked report

"Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated.......

"The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises.....

"President Bush has linked higher food prices to higher demand from India and China, but the leaked World Bank study disputes that: 'Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption and was not a major factor responsible for the large price increases.'

"Since April, all petrol and diesel in Britain has had to include 2.5% from biofuels....."

Full article in today's Guardian:

here

Stick Figure Olympics 2

Aung San Suu Kyi
for the marathon.
Morgan Tsvangirai
high jump.
The Olympic flame
burns
in Tiananmen.

There goes Burmah - why not Zimbabwe?

There are lots of parallels, including support from China.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for over 12 years.

What price Morgan Tsvangirai - just shoot him and throw him in a ditch?

Anyway, who cares?

here

Go on, send a card...

Amnesty are trying to
highlight
abuse of humans
in
China.

After the Olympics
China can tell us to
take and run and jump.

So, go on.
Send a card.
here

I just wrote:
"Thinking of you at this time".

If you are interested in
The World
Amnesty does other stuff
here

as do other organisations.

I like
From Our Own Correspondent
from the BBC.
It give some personalised perspectives
on our little world
here

The Longest Day

For some reason I watched it
- the film
- today.

Phones were big.
People often ended up in the wrong places;
It didn't always matter.
Sean Connery sounded the same.
People have short memories.

War depends on men being easily led;
That goes for goodies and baddies.
France was worth fighting for;
It still is.
People have short memories.

Soldiers dressed smartly;
Not a hair out of place. Still true.
They followed Hitler, they did.
The Germans that it - those ones.
People have short memories.

Normandy: famous for cider, butter, invasion.
Fuhrer: famous for loudness, temper, death.
They followed Hitler;
Managers, people, youth,that is.
People easily forget.

It's not a good idea to land in a town.
Unless you want to be there, that is.
It's not good to have your boots on the wrong feet.
Maybe it is now as it was then.
But people have short memories.

They lit their pipes, cigars, cigarettes.
And of course there is that bit at the end:
"He's dead. I'm crippled. You're lost."
And then, "I wonder who won".
People have short memories.

"O.K. Run me up the hill, son."

Gender on a spectrum

This article in the New Statesman caught my eye.

If you want, you can read it here.

Someone asked why the article caught my eye.

This is my reply:

I try to look at the headlines from BBC and Guardian, for instance. I respect both of those institutions for what they are, but they are very mainstream. So I have The Register, New Scientist and New Statesman headlines on my Google homepage.

The Gender On A Spectrum line caught my eye. I like the idea of a spectrum - as opposed to, say, a line or a fixed point. There is probably not a crock of gold at the end of a rainbow - maybe the rainbow itself is of more value than bits of metal.

That took me into the first paragraph of the article. I too distrust the word "weird". Vaccination, flight and long distance/wireless communications are "weird". And the idea of "discomfort" as an incentive to learning - yes, I find that interesting. Maybe the start should not be "Are you sitting comfortably?"

Gender, sex, spectrum? I grew up in Ireland at a time when there was little information about sex. One of the first informed conversations I had was with a friend's mother. I must have been about 9 or 10 at the time. She had some sort of social worker role in Dublin, 20 miles away. She described to me and one or two others how she had visited a convent in Dublin where the nuns looked after pregnant girls and put their babies up for adoption. However, the convent had a large room upstairs out of the way where the nuns had accumulated a number of youngsters no one wanted - and no one knew what to do with them. These children, over 10 of them, were of indeterminate sex. They were fed, physically looked after - but no one wanted them, recognised them, or knew what to do with them.

The woman in question insisted to the nuns that she was unhappy - and demanded that she should take one of the children home for the weekend with her, to spend time with her family. He had a boys name, and to us he was a young boy - about 8 or 9. I only saw him the once, though I believe he spent more than a few weekends at home with my friends family. And I was aware that there was a bit of a 'row' going on about what was happening to the other children.

For this and other reasons, as an adult I worked with children 'on the edge' - through behaviour, abuse and other circumstances. Fortunately, being on the edge, I have only dealt with relatively small numbers - though sometime the number has gone into three figures. But I try to counter the tendency to pigeon-hole children/people. I like the idea of positioning people on a very large map of mankind.

Similary I currently look to debate as an shared exploration on a spectrum of ideas rather than on a yaa-boo posturing from set points.

Does anyone out there have anything to say?

I Should Be Proud

Missed it - the radio programme that is.
Caught a trailer - Martha Reeves just talking.
I Should Be Proud: black men in black bin bags.
Yes, in the killing fields of Vietnam.

Debate about global warming cools down.
A cliche down, another comes around.
(got to do a few things here - so if you have
some ideas for this bit, do feel free)

Funny, wife being black, doing the ironing.
We were passing comments on the steam iron,
one of the latest sorts it seems. You can
even iron hanging curtains with it. Well,
when questioned on this the answer was "No".

Then the phone went, a black cousin, telling
how an art teacher at a staff meeting
offered a display of, erm, gollywogs.
A mother of two mixed-race adopted kids.

Claiming devil's advocate I wondered
was she trying to provoke honest debate?
Did this parallel using "nigger"?
A burst of steam from the iron left a doubt.

Which is best? A "wog" in the face
or a job application in the bin
with boxes all ticked and satisfied grin?

I'm glad I'm not in a black plastic bag.
Not a dead hunk of flesh from Vietnam.
I don't dream of hugs in Guantanamo,
or wait for that Big Bang in Iraq.

Nice one, Martha.
Be proud.

Un Holy Alliance

Cross of Fingers
Monks of Burma
Aung San Suu Kyi

here
here

and From Our Own Correspondent
gets up close and personal
in a BBC sort of way
here

Iraq

3,606 US troops have died since the 2003 invasion
3,606 young people
That's a lot of youngsters,
brothers, sisters,
partners, children,
friends, communities...

three thousand,
six hundred
and
six

If lives* made cents,
how much is that in dollars?


*Iraqis don't count. They are free.

Size Matters

She said mine
was a bit short.
So a poem
has to be long?

Killings In The Key Of Life

market

capsule 07.07.07 capsule

Sun
No, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Tony Blair accepted a senior position in Murdoch's News Corporation empire. A seat on the board, or whatever.

Stars
Just think, what we see around us as the Milky Way: all the stars in the sky we can see and cannot see, could just, say, a drop of rain in a bigger scheme of things.

Rats
Are not really very nice. Unless you happen to like them. Or if you are a rat...

Religious People
Some of my best friends are religious. Actually, that is not true. I have relatives who are religious. I don't have friends who are religious. It wouldn't bother me if I did, but I don't.

Sprats
I like sprats. They are one of the few foods everyone in this house likes. Bring them home from the market. Head, tail, clean and wash them. Leave them in a bowl with chopped onion, salt, pepper, thyme and a big squeeze of lemon juice. Flour them, put them on an oiled tray and bake them in a very hot oven. They should be starting to brown and crisp a little. We have them with brown soda bread, with lemon to squeeze over. Or with boiled rice, fresh tomato and pepper sauce and fried plantain. Although many varieties of fish are threatened with extinction, sprats are plentiful and likely to become even more so. Also, they are relatively cheap and very nutritious. They are delicious.

Space
Although there is a lot of it, like water, sometimes there is not enough space. There are human beings who do not have much space. Other who do not have enough water, or food to eat. There are people who suffer all the time because of what others do to them, deliberately.

Rocket
It would be good if this capsule launched into space from a real rocket. Instead I am send it into the Internet, virtual Space, by was of a blog, a virtual rocket. I hope it ends up with someone who reads it - the rest is up to them.

text.discussion.reality.uk

Kitty: PURRRR. I'm here!
Chuffy: [Waves] Hello Kitty. Welcome!
Sammy Seal: I'm here too!
Chuffy: [Waves] Hello Sammy. Welcome!
Kitty: It's working fine then.
Chuffy: Yes, its working.
Ratty the T-M: So this is where you all are! Hi.
Chuffy: [Waves] Hello Ratty. Welcome!
Sammy Seal: Hi Ratty!
Ratty the T-M: Hi Sammy!
Chuffy: We have a new server up - la.de.outlaw.uk
Kitty: Oh good! Well done Chuffy.
Ratty the T-M: VERY well done Chuffy!
Swannee: So this is where you all are? What a lovely place!
Kitty: Hi Swannee. Do you like my cushion?
Swannee: I love your cushion. Do you like my new river?
Kitty: I love your river. Does it have fish?
Swannee: Some lovely trout, but No Haddock!
Chuffy: [chuckles]
Ratty the T-M: No haddock.
Chuffy: Well, maybe the occasional haddock..
Hetty Hen: Is it time for a vote?
Kitty: I prefer fish - a nice fresh sardine would go down well.
Chuffy: VERY well [chuckles]
Mrs Chuffy: well well well [smiles sweetly]
Troll: [trip trap] B******s!!!
Sammy Seal: Oh! Here is a troll!
Kitty: Have you got any fish, Mr Troll?
Sammy Seal: I'll prod him with my fishing rod [prod]
Troll: F*** off!
Ratty the T-M: Oh, one of those rude trolls.
Swannee: Just keep him away from my lovely river.
Kitty: Oh, I hate draughts. Close the door on your way out, Mr Troll.
Troll: F***ing Bonkers, the lot o' you.
Chuffy: Bye Mr Troll. Thanks for calling.
Swannee: Has he gone?
Chuffy: Yes, that got rid of that troll. Sammy prodded him with his fishing rod.
Blather: Well done Sammy. And good news everyone: my test from alt.gossip.dorset.uk has arrived!
Ratty the T-M: Good to have a post from alt.gossip.dorset.uk
Kitty: Do they have fish in Dorset?
Sammy Seal: Maybe smoked haddock. In Dorset.
Kitty: I can never make my mind up about smoked haddock. Maybe just a small portion, preferably poached.
Swannee: Not from my river, I hope. I don't like trolls on my lovely banks tickling my trout.
Kitty: Now that is a good idea.
Tiffen: I like strawberry jam. Does anyone else like strawberry jam?
Chuffy: OK all. Who likes strawberry jam?
Mrs Chuffy: I like strawberry jam - lots of it.
Zebedee: Oh, yes from me.
Mrs Chuffy: I've changed my mind. I don't like strawberry jam. It gives me terrible wind.
Swannee: The wind blows down my river. It blows in the reeds and makes music, like a lyre.
Troll: Who are you calling a f***ing liar?
Chuffy: [waves] You are back, Mr Troll. You must like it here.
Troll: F*** Off, Pillock.
Chuffy: Oh,go away then.
Mrs Chuffy: well, I'm going to hit my pillow. Good night, everyone.
Sammy Seal: Nite Nite
Panda: Nite. I've only just got here. I have to work tomorrow
Chuffy: AAARRGH!
Kitty: Just give him some haddock.
Swannee: Not from my river. There are no haddock in my lovely river.
Hetty Hen: Nite Nite
Kitty: Sweet Dreamy-byes!

And goodnight, Everyone.

painting on walls

through here