Our Beloved NHS is Sixty

Oh, where to start.
The NHS isn’t perfect and it never promised to be but I’m sure there aren’t many who would disagree that it’s founding principles of free health care for all, regardless of background and circumstance, are principles worth holding on to.
All the main political parties, at each and every election, can be depended [...]

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“Apes and gorillas are people too”

I was curiously surprised when I read that the Spanish government is to give human rights to great apes.  Of course it’s good news for the marvellous hairy beasts in that they will be given protection from experimentation and exploitation.  Of course that protection should already be in place by way of their animal rights but if giving them human [...]

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Midsummer

What a gorgeous evening to celebrate Midsummer.  The sun has come out in her fine blazing glory in honour of her longest day’s work.  After tomorrow, her days will get shorter and shorter and then Winter will arrive. 
Here’s how this blog celebrated the solstice last year and as I can’t improve on that, I will just leave you with a [...]

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Movie Nights

I love movies.  I don’t do TV, not much.  I enjoy political shows, comedies and nature programmes but I have zero tolerance for stuff like reality TV, tiresome soaps and those live chat shows where Average Joe goes on TV and exposes all his private business to the world.  I have to confess though that for the first time [...]

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Qualifications, Job Skills AND Compassion?

The government wants nurses to be rated by their kindness.  They are to be measured and marked by how much compassion and empathy they show towards their patients . .  and by how much they smile.  Health secretary, Alan Johnson wants nursing teams across the NHS to be scored and the results displayed on a website.  [...]

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Renewable Energy: the power of the human body

The End of Cheap Oil and the Rise of the Scythe

Originally posted on You Tube by Kaivido
Quaintly out-dated?  A bit antiquated?  Well, we might think we can look back fondly on those days of heavy labour and hard graft from the techno-safety of our retrospective armchairs but it’s not so far-fetched to believe that in this age of rising oil [...]

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Excuse Me! Are we invisible?

So asketh the Church according to St. England. 
I’ve been catching up with the news and was amused to see that the Church of England is sulking because it thinks the government is favouring Islam.  Ah bless.  My kids do this too.  They carry out all kinds of attention-seeking antics when they feel that I’m paying more attention to one of their siblings.  Well [...]

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Classroom Pets: Loved to Death?

According to this article in today’s Guardian, the RSPCA has said that having animals in classrooms regularly handled by the children may be harmful to the creatures.  Now I’m sure there are many who will be saying this is just more pc gone crazy or that it’s a health and safety policy too far but all things considered [...]

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The Dam Builders versus the Warriors

Amazon Indians have been squaring up to the mighty corporations and the state in a bid to prevent the construction of a series of hydroelectric dams that are planned for the Xingu River. 
The officials are claiming that the construction plans are part of their sustainable energy drive but in reality it’s difficult to see how concreting, flooding and connecting [...]

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My Role as the Weapons Inspector

My son’s school had a charity day yesterday to raise funds for the people of Burma and the kids got to go to school dressed as their hero.  Although the school didn’t specify, I presumed (wrongly as it turned out) that these heroes had to be of the real life, actual flesh and blood variety which meant that Bart Simpson, Sponge Bob Square Pants and [...]

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Cluster Bombs aren’t Clever

None of them.
On Monday, over a hundred countries are gathering in Dublin to negotiate a new international treaty to ban cluster munitions. 
Our own Ministry of Defence is fighting against a total ban. They would like to see two types of cluster bomb retained for continued military use (which I think is the current UK position), arguing that [...]

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The Theft of Biodiversity

Species are dying out at a rate not seen since the demise of the dinosaurs, according to a report published today – and human behaviour is to blame. The Independent
Yes, the human footprint is to blame according to the Living Planet Index.  The report, produced by WWF, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint [...]

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Garden Pond-erings and Reflections

We took advantage of the weather this weekend and worked on our garden and patio area and as I laboured away, many a random observation and idea popped into my empty head and you’ll be thrilled to know that I’m going to share them all with you so here goes:
Ponder number 1:  To build or not to build [...]

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Pastor Parsley!

Introducing Raving Rev. Rod - American televangelist, dominionist and denouncer of all things Islamic, homosexual or non-Jesus worshipping. 
Senator John McCain calls him a spiritual guide.  I’d call him a misguided spirit.

Really!  Well apologies for dragging up an old post  but where do the religious right get their self-righteous superiority from?  What is it with their deep and unmoving belief [...]

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Before and After

Hubby was having a clear out and he had put this little table on the rubbish pile but I had other plans.  This table has history in it.  It’s been in our family for generations five years and has served us in a variety of ways.  It’s been a nature table, a picnic table, a shield from a [...]

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