Peace in the Holy Land, 2014, a missed opportunity

Almost the end of the year and so much has happened.  There could be many things that I post about today, but due to a discussion on Twitter, I have decided to post about this.

I support a just peace for all religions in the Holy Land.  I think that it should not be too much to ask for Muslims, Jews and Christians to live side by side in peace.  I understand the reasons that Israel has to fear its neighbours and I also understand why Palestinians feel that the world has left them to rot.  This is not to say who started what, or what violent actions are right on one side or another but rather this is a post about why I think that 2014 has been a missed opportunity for peace.

Netanyahu and Obama have not seen eye to eye and it is that which is the opportunity for peace.  There is huge pressure in the US for support for Israel, and while I am not against that, up to a point, it makes it harder for any leader in the White House to bring about change in the Middle East.  The bottom line is that Israel is a democracy, whereas Gaza and the West Bank are not really the same.  Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank was meant to finish his term in 2009.  While Hamas were elected, they have not allowed free and fair elections.  The simple facts are that most people in the west are interested in a fair peace in the Middle East.  With Obama as President in the US, the people of Palestine have a chance to work for that.  And they should bring about fair elections as soon as possible in order to help allies in the west help them.

It may not seem like much, but it makes it easier for people like me to lobby my Member of Parliament to try and get the government to work towards peace, a peace for all.

Anyway, I have to go now.  Have a Happy New Year!

99% of the people in this world are stupid. Luckily, I'm part of the other 5%

Finally, it is the end of a long weekend.  My Daughter is loving her bow and crossbow that she got for Christmas while my son is loving the singing Olaf that my brother got him.  Git, Frozen was hard enough to love with before without the most irritating character from the film being in the house all the time.  But, the good thing about Olaf is that I can not be shot with it.  Guess who has been the target...

As an avid UKIP supporter, I blocked the chimney this Christmas to stop any Laps getting in. They come over here, take our mince pies and carrots...

Christmas was great, and I wish a Merry Christmas to anyone who is reading this. 

I was a bit evil as my daughter was awake after six in the morning and while my wife was asleep, I heard her go to the toilet, and then later, she came into the room to see if we were awake.  And then finally, when she did return, she decided to wake us up!

The kids got a letter as well as presents from Father Christmas (who was nice enough to give us a present as well) and then after watching Frozen, the sing along version, we got round to opening the other presents.  And to say that they loved them was probably an understatement.  My son, who has been prone to annoying his sister more than normal recently, ended up playing with his Transformer for most of the day.  They are asleep now, but hopefully they will treasure memories like this for a long time.

Well, good night all, and once again, have a Merry Christmas!

All these movie tie-ins are getting on my nerves. This morning in the supermarket they had "Frozen" peas...

Well, it has been ages since my last post.

A lot has happened since then.  Amongst the recent things have been the preparations for Christmas.  The kids are looking forwards to it and I have to admit that I it brings me joy.  They love the Christmas tree, are sending cards (note to self, write cards) and in the last few days, they have been at school Christmas services.  A Nativity Play for my son where he was singing (last year he was Joseph) and a Choir service for my daughter.

I do need to post what they are up to here as they do grow up so quick.  And when I look back on the things that they have done in the past, it does make me smile.

Joining Alan Sugar on the next series of The Apprentice will be Judas who, from just thirty pieces of silver, famously turned in a prophet

My family are back! On Friday, my daughter went to spend two nights with the Brownies on a Brownie Holiday. When asked about this by my wife, who was not too sure about this, I said yes to her going. As the time got closer, we both realised just how much we were going to miss her. She of course was getting more and more excited by the prospect of not just days filled with activities, but having a sleep over as well. After dropping my daughter off on Friday my wife and son drove to spend time with her parents and I met up with them in London. My wife was exhausted as she had let my son sleep in the same bed as her and he had kicked, and kicked and she kept walking up worried that he was trying to kill himself by suffocating in the pillows or duvet. The only downside with checking is that my son gets into all sorts of positions when he is asleep. So after meeting up, we took him to the London Cable Car.  He loved it and while he missed his sister, he loved the time he spent with us.  We collected her earlier today, have taken them to lunch and am now at home again.  We have been watching Strictly Come Dancing but while they love each other and missed each other, they are back to bickering...

Congratulations West Ham, the only club named after two things that the Unislamic State hate.

Well, it has been a good weekend for the kids.  We took them to Chessington World of Adventures and they loved it.  My wife however was not able to go on the rides, as she is allergic to them.  This has been an issue in Legoland and was noted by me BC (Before Children) as students when we went to Alton Towers.  Then she was in a queue and trusting me asked me if the ride was scary.  Despite the screams of people above us, she listened to be and seemed to ignore the noise of terror.  Needless to say, she has done her best not to go on rides since.  But this actually worked out very well for us.  She got to relax and the kids managed to enjoy the theme park.  They took me on rides like the Vampire, the Black Buccaneer, the Monkey Swinger (do not go on that if your kids do not do well getting wet) and Kobra.  They managed to get my wife to go on one ride, Bubbleworks, which was not filled with adrenaline, but was a great experience for the kids, and as we were with them, us as well.

We are at home now, tired, the kids are in bed after watching Strictly and I am while the X-factor results are on, I am getting ready to watch Black Sails.  I did not get to watch things like the Arsenal win properly on television but spending such an enjoyable weekend with the family was more important. 

I went to the doctors today I confided that I've been depressed for eight years or more. "I think I know the root cause," he said pointing at my Arsenal shirt.

Well, I am annoyed with the performance of Arsenal.  Not with the team mind you, nor the manager.  Will, sort of annoyed with the team when it came to the game against Hull.  The first goal was the result of not just a foul, but the Arsenal players playing for the whistle.  And while Mertesacker was blamed by some for the second goal by Hernandez, Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore should not have been given the time on the wing to combine to put the cross in. 

But it is the fouls that annoy me.  When it came to the game against Chelski, we were fouled over and over again with loads of them taking place off the ball.  And while I understand that teams will not want us to play football against them.  Well, let us see what is going to happen tomorrow. 

Do they call themselves ISIL, ISIS or IS? They should pick a name that represents them, like The Unislamic State.

Well, I am in bed with a flu like illness, ironically on the day when I am meant to be helping out in a flu clinic!

But I am lucky, I am still here.  I only have flu as opposed to other illnesses and I am lucky enough to live in the UK.

What this post is about, as you can guess from the picture, is both Islamophobia.  I can not express my shock and horror at the murder of Alan Henning, an aid worker who delivered aid to Syria to help those in need. Murdered by those who claim to follow Islam, murdered by a group involved in the murder of others who not only do not follow the same religion as them, but the same interpretation of that religion. Some call them the Islamic State but really they do not represent the teachings of Islam. And this is not just something which I, a non-Muslim thinks, but is the view of many Muslims across the globe. The thing is that there are many who forget this and seem to judge most Muslims based on the abhorrent actions of a few, worse not just those on the far right. Fortunately, there are those who will speak out against prejudice. (This picture was taken from the Facebook wall of 360, his post on this was made on the 18th of December, but the best post on this is on the 19th.)

The binary version of 101 Dalmatians isn't nearly as impressive as the original...

Well, the score today was brilliant, 4-1!

Welbeck was amazing, (as was all the team) and to think that he was bought for a bargain considering the prices of footballers now.  I know that some fans did not realise how good he is.  Considering that he has scored a hat trick in European competition I hope that they now keep the faith.

In A&E and a doctor has just taken my pulse. To be fair, I shouldn't have brought a bag of lentils to hospital in the first place.

The NHS is in the news again. 

Labour have promised to increase the numbers of GP’s working in the NHS, but they have also stated that the way GP’s are to work is to change.  The Conservatives have promised that they will also increase the numbers of GP’s available and that they will allow patients to see their own GP if elected in 2015 seven days a week, the GP being available from eight in the morning till eight at night.  And Labour have promised to bring back the ability to see a GP within 48 hours. 

But they seem for forget that the NHS is failing.  Doctors who work in Accident and Emergency departments are leaving, hospitals are having to pay money for locum cover, more money than would be spent on regular staff, and the same is the case in general practice.  Some in the land of the RCGP argue that GP’s should have a bigger slice of the NHS pie when it comes to the money that is available.  My argument is that the pie should be bigger.  While everyone is aware that the deficit is something that has to be tackled, people forget that the doctors who work in the NHS can leave, and do.

For those who think that GP’s are paid too much and under worked, the simple counter argument is that there are not enough General Practitioners to work in the system as it is.  There have been loads of surgeries that have closed, and some of these have been in the private sector.  This is nothing to do with the way that the CQC will be acting to close down failing surgeries, but is quite simply because there are too few doctors who want to work as General Practitioners and this is shown by the number of training places that are unfilled.  People say that GP’s do not work after surgeries close, but the out of hours doctors services are staffed by GP’s who are working in most cases for private companies (something brought in under the Labour government for those who associate the increased role of the private sector in the NHS with the Conservatives).

So, remember this, there are not enough doctors working in A&E or General Practice as it is.  If someone says that they want to make the NHS work better, they need to tackle this without decreasing funding to the rest of the NHS.

Some religious people believe that serious illnesses such as cancer do not require medical treatment, and can be cured by the power of prayer alone. Sceptics may chuckle, but there is a scientific basis for this kind of thinking. It's called natural selection.

Well, the kids are making me sigh again.  I know that I am grateful that I have them and I know that I am glad that they are so well behaved, most of the time that is.  Most of the time, they get on so well, but recently, they have just been causing each other friction more often than normal.

I know that this is normal but there are times that it drives me mad.  Let alone my poor wife who has to put up with this more than I do.  I also have a lot of sympathy for my mother as I was far worse to my brothers than they are to each other.  Though I know it is wrong, I still smile every time I think of the time I got the cat to run up my brothers leg.  Okay, it was a kitten when I was playing with a bit of string, my brother came into the room wearing jeans and I ran the string up his leg.  The kitten got the string and my brother did not speak to me for two days.  So really, my two are angels compared to what I got up to.

The highlights recently though have included the time my daughter was in a bad mood and shouted down the stairs and my son called her Mrs Wolowitz.  Though to be fair, she did sound like her when she screamed down the stairs.  The kids do love watching The Big Bang Theory and my wife got us a box set of them (missing series seven for the readers) though some of the episodes are certainly not child friendly!  They are making progress with swimming, my son has joined the Beavers, by daughter is loving being a Brownie and she has just started to play hockey.  Anyway, we are now going to watch television as we have to catch up on the X-Factor but more importantly Strictly Come Dancing!

Man Utd...LOL

It has been a good weekend for football from my perspective.  We won, ManUre lost, Chelski and 5hitty drew and of course, the Scum lost again.  What has been more interesting is the way people seem to think that racism on the internet is acceptable.  Balotelli made a tweet, one which many across the nation will agree with, and some idiots think that it is acceptable to post racist abuse about him.  And let us face it, for those who do not like ManUre, for them to throw away a two goal lead and despite leading by three goals to one, to lose 5-3 is funny, very funny.

So, Welbeck scored, as did Ozil.  Both great players and hopefully, our fans will continue to trust in Arsène. Of course, I also hope we win the league, the league cup, the FA cup and the European cup, but I can dream.  Just as I will dream that we live in a world where racism is less prevalent.

I was trying to watch Manchester United in the Champions League this week. Oh wait.

Not that I can really talk with the way that Arsenal were destroyed in the league in the week.  I am of course hoping that we beat Aston Villa today.

My son last week was asked by me to practice some handwriting.  We got into an argument about what he should write, so I told him to write some lines.  He was not happy and added his own words to it.  It did make me smile.

What's the difference between terrorism and democracy? Whether the United States is attacking or being attacked

Sorry about the title, as to be fair, the evils of the world are not the fault of the USA.  And also, the way that the west says it wants democracy and does not act to support it also has not been the fault of the USA.  I am just a bit biased against the USA on the issue of terrorism due to the way the US allowed funds to be collected there when the IRA was conducting a terror campaign in the UK in the past to kill innocent people.  This post is about why some Muslims do not think that we, in the west, are really in favour of democracy.

This post is not to excuse the barbaric murder of David Haines a person who had gone to Syria to help those who were in need, by the Unislamic State, nor the other acts that extremists have engaged in, but to explain some of the reasons that such evil twisted people justify what they do.

Most of us in the west, love living in a democracy.  Despite the views of the EDL and other extremists, this love and respect for democracy includes Muslims living here as well as in other nations as well.  The problem is that many of us are not aware of how the actions of government agencies in the west have undermined democracy in the across the world.  And here are a few examples.

March 1949 Syrian coup d'état - elected Syrian President overthrown in a coup backed by the CIA
1953 Operation Ajax - overthrow of elected Iranian leader by the UK and the USA over oil to instal the Shah
1954 Guatemalan coup d'état - Operation PBSUCCESS where the CIA was involved in the overthrow of an elected government to instal a dictator
1964 Brazilian coup d'état - overthrow of a democratic system to a dictatorship which was then supported by the US
1973 Chilean coup d'état - overthrow of a democratic government, installation of a dictator who was supported by the US and the UK
1976 Argentine coup d'état - a coup that the US knew was planned before of and did nothing to stop allowing human rights abuses to take place supporting the government rather than working for democracy
1979 South Korea - continued support by the west for South Korea after a military coup overthrew a democratic government
1980 Turkish coup d'état - overthrow of a democratic government by the US backed military
1983 Supporting Saddam - the west helped Saddam despite his use of chemical weapons
1984 Rejection of elections in Nicaragua - despite internationally recognised elections, the US supported the right wing terrorists, the Contra's 
1991 Gulf war - installation of Sheikh Jaber III as unelected ruler of Kuwait after its liberation from Iraq
1999 Pakistan - support for the military dictatorship in Pakistan (though this was mainly after the attacks of 2001)
2007 Gaza - Support to overthrown a democratic government in Gaza as it is not in keeping with the ideals of the west
2009 Afghanistan - continued (though admittedly reluctant) support for Afghanistan after electoral fraud returned the president.
2009 Palestine - support for Mahmoud Abbas continues after his democratic mandate expires with no new elections
2011 Bahrain - continued support for an unelected leader despite wide spread protests being put down with violence when those protests are supported in other nations
2013 Egypt - support for the military as they overthrew a democratic government though hopefully, free and fair elections will happen this year

There have been times when the excuse for backing one regime or another was that it was, over all, the least worse option due to the fight against communism etc, the most recent example being in Egypt.  But, when you look at the examples, it does not look that we really do support democracy.  The terrorists in the Middle East are wrong to do what they do.  Terrorists who use a perverted interpretation of Islam forget that Muslims do make a difference with democracy in the west.  But we in the west need to do more to show all faiths and political views in the world that we really do respect democracy.

Apparently there are idiots against giving money to charity

As those who read this blog know, I have completed the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, or rather my kids made me.

Well, I was shown a link today, which is trying to get people not to donate to it.  It states that a lot of the money that ALSA (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association) get goes to other things instead of research.  Of course, this is not the only thing that is stated in the argument.  It states that money goes into stem cell research and that those who are pro-life should therefore not support this, as well as the importance of diet in preventing this condition.  My view on the article, which does not give any other alternative towards working to cure this terrible condition is that it is a load of balls.

The problem is that people love to spread half truths about charitable organisations. This has been an issue with Help for Heroes, a charity that helps loads.

People love to spread lies about how charities help people, many are open with how they money they get is spent.  Money is spent on administration, and yes, money is spent on ways to increase further donations as well.

So, if you do not want to give money to charity, then do not.  But if you want the world to be a better place, there is a lot than can be done and donating money to charity is one of the many things that we can and, in my view, we should do.

My wife has just nominated me to do the ice bucket challenge. I'm a little confused. Has anyone else been asked to hold a toaster at the same time?

Actually, it was not my wife, it was my best man who nominated me for this on Wednesday.

We had been out for a meal that day, thanks to the SmarterCard, we got a cheaper meal at the Lion in Leavenheath.  When there, the kids were taking about the Ice Bucket Challenge.  They asked me who I would nominate, but I said that I doubted that I would be nominated for this.  We got home, and after an interesting journey back and forth as my wife had left our keys at the restaurant and putting the kids to bed, FaceBook alerted me that I had been nominated.  I have to say, seeing my friend get drenched by his kids was very amusing, but I thought that I might be able to hide this from my kids and get away with making a donation.  But my wife, who did not tell them about my nomination, showed them the video of the nomination.  Which meant that they then were very excited about the idea of soaking me.  Well, today it was done.  The money as you can see from the video goes to the Motor Neurone Disease Association.  Macmillan have also used this to raise money, and lets face it, they are both great causes.  I might get in trouble from those whom I have nominated myself, but lets see what happens.  Anyway, the kids loved every moment of having an excuse to soak me.  I suspect that they will be annoyed that this can only happen once.  But they have this memory recorded now and my son has already watched it several times today!

I've been married for 10 years, I haven't made a decision for seven

Well, actually, I have been married for a bit longer and I have to say I love being married.  Well, the summer holidays have been great so far.  We have been to France and had a great time.  The kids did not know that they were going to spend time at Disney and it took some effort to keep them distracted on the drive to Paris.  But they did love spending time there.  My daughter though swore never to go on Space Mountain!  She was brave enough to go on it, but had not been on a roller coaster for a while, the shock left her traumatised till her next ride!  I did not think that I was going to like it there, but the magic got to me and both my wife and I loved it as much as they did (though she did not go on any of the roller coasters).  A trip to Normandy was an experience for all of us, my wife and I learning a lot about the Second World War, some of which the kids learned as well.  While it was not as warm as previous holidays, it was one which was memorableand hopefully, the kids will remember some of the French that they had to take on board.

Anyway, while I would love to type more, and there is always more to write about the kids, it is getting late.

Flight MH17 and who may have shot it down

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who died on MH17.  As can be expected, no one wants to get the blame for this.

What is interesting though is that ITAR-TASS has reported that Ukrainian rebels took credit for shooting down an An-26 transport plane near Torez earlier today.  ITAR-TASS is a Russian news site, unlike another site that has posted a similar story.

It looks from this that the destruction of MH17 appears to have been a case of mistaken identity and that the rebels in Ukraine took credit when they thought that this was a military plane.

Here is hoping that despite this, peace comes to the region as a result.  That and the hope that no one hacks my blog!

50% voting thresholds

So, David Cameron was considering that strikers should get 50% of the vote of those who are able to vote before a strike is legal.  This from the man who worked against the reforms to have voters to be elected by 50% of those who turned up to vote.

Does not make sense to me.  Unless he thinks that democracy is selective.  Well, let us face it, based on his views, MP's are less important than strikes.

I was thinking about how much money I've wasted on drugs over the years and it really got me thinking. Imagine all the drugs I could buy with that.

Well, drugs have been in the news again. There has been a call to legalise Cannabis, a drug which those who called for it to be legalised are aware that it ruins lives.  It is safer than drugs like cocaine, but it still ruins lives. But the issue that I, like others have, is that the war on drugs is not working. Drugs ruin the lives of those who use them, those who care for the users and also in many cases those who are in nations where drugs are grown. Mexico is affected by drug related gang violence and this is an issue that seems to be getting worse. Since I was a child, drugs have spread and the use of drugs has increased. Which is why I think that the time has come to legalise and regulate the sale of them. Make drugs legal and you take the profit motive out of selling them when it comes to drug dealers. Costs of drugs drop which means that crime and prostitution are no longer an issue in obtaining drugs. And you can educate people more just how much they screw up people.

Creationism: Billions of Years of Natural selection and Evolution - impossible. However, 6 days plus an old magic man with a beard... Yeah that works.

Last week Creationism was in the news.

Now let me state, I think that there is a God and that God created the universe.  I do not however wish my children to be taught that evolution is wrong.  The thing is, while I do think that God created the universe, that is a belief.  While I think that God created the human race, again, that is my view.  All the evidence that exists, states that I am wrong and that evolution is right.

What I do not understand is the view of those who think that God created the universe to only teach one view on this and to justify this using 'scientific' arguments.

In the debate above Alice Roberts forgets, like many who are against the teaching of creationism in school, that there are many creation theories.  If creationism is to be taught as a valid alternative to the creation of the human race and the formation of the universe, then people need to be taught more than one creation theory, or if you would prefer to call it thus, a creation myth. 

So in summary, if someone states that only one form of a creation myth/theory is to be taught (other than evolution), ask them why other forms of teaching are not taught?