Posted: Sun Jul 8, 2007 4:57 PM CST
CCTV Spying
Wherever we travel in the world we will be monitored by CCTV cameras. Here in the UK we are monitored more than any other people of the world. Somewhere there is probably video tape or digital images of most of the world’s inhabitants.
It is not known how many CCTV cameras are in the UK but a 2002 working paper by Michael McCahill and Clive Norris of UrbanEye estimated the number of surveillance cameras in private premises in London at 400,000 and the total number of cameras in the UK at around 4,000,000. One camera for every 14 people.
In London the congestion charge is enforced with cameras inside the congestion charge zone. They automatically read the registration plates of cars and a fine is imposed if charges haven't been paid.
"Talking CCTV" cameras have been installed in town-centres, a system pioneered in Wiltshire which allows CCTV operators to communicate directly with the public when they see an offence being committed. This idea first appeared in George Orwell's famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Where will it all stop? Will it stop? We now have online galleries where we can see details of convicted people. What if we were to combine some of this modern technology? Envisage a society where all the criminals could be incarcerated for a short while and then released after having a surgical implant of patchouli oil.
Patchouli oil detectors could be setup all round the town centres and inhabited areas and it would be like something out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Whenever that smell came to the attention of the detectors a siren could be activated and a big plastic finger would be extended to point at the criminals. The advantage would be that the distinctive aroma would waft into your nostrils and we could have all “normal citzens” point and scream. Criminals wouldn’t have anywhere to go and they’d be pleading to have their surgical patchouli implants removed with promises of going straight, some just to get rid of the smell.
And what level of crime would qualify for Patchouli Oil Implant? Obviously there would have to be some measure. A cut off point would have to be established for POI as obviously we wouldn’t want to implant everyone, would we? Although I suppose that as detectors became more sensitive it would be possible to have different grades of POI or VGPOI’s.
We already have so many measures in our lives. Adding another wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Already we have measures of height, weight, colour of hair, eye colour, ethnic origin. When filling out forms we are already well versed in providing answers to a wide variety of statistics which include all of these facts, plus our age, place of birth, gender, religious persuasion, previous names etc. Is the time coming when the measure of your VGPOI will be required on forms of all kinds?
Of course the powers that be need all these statistics and measurements in order to verify the veracity of your information. But why stop at these simple measurements? Why not extend the brief?
Imagine if you had to give other measurements for example you’d have questions like
What is your normal volume?
What is your average velocity in Km/Hour?
What is the length of your smile?
Your inside leg measurement?
Wouldn’t they make as much sense?
Perhaps we should have more measurements which are difficult to change. This could avoid people cheating the system and dyeing their hair or wearing coloured contact lenses or walking with a stoop.
What is the length of your nose from bridge to tip?
Length from fingertip to wrist?
Width of your head ear to ear?
There’d be a whole new ethos in society. Instead of people commenting he’s a 6 footer …he’s overweight, must be at least 14 stone…. you’d have Blimey he’s got a wide head. Look at the measure of her bellybutton to nipple! My she’s got a tidy volume on her. Look at the size of her acceleration per second per second!
The way things are going the time may not be far off.
Posted: Sun Jul 8, 2007 1:32 PM CST
Content to be human
I received an email from a site which I subscribe to and it was entitled “Proud to be White”. I found myself thinking deeply about situations occurring in society, which can lead to debates about the rights and wrongs of any particular viewpoints.
Undoubtedly the article had many points of view which either had truth in them or appeared to be reasonable in their context. It was not “anti” anyone or anything per se however there was an invitation at the end which stated;
“There is nothing improper about this e-mail. Let's see which of you are proud enough to send it on.”
I am sure that statement would make some people feel uneasy. This would NOT be because there is anything inherently wrong or improper to the sentiment but it's connotations somehow stir up contoversy and even a fear which white people have.
The fear I refer to could be related in some way to the sense of fair play which has been indoctrinated into white people of all ages in certain sections of the community. It has perhaps become more powerful since society as a whole has rejected and even legislated against overt racism. The concept of positive discrimination possibly adds fuel to this “fire of fear”.
It is a fear of being caught out in some way by non-white people and being branded or perceived as a racist. Even if we truly believe that we have eliminated all racist thoughts, no matter what our ethnic background or race, are we really sure what level of racism we carry with us or condone by some action or inaction? So it seems that, even if we pretend to be non discriminatory we may harbour some discriminatory thoughts, somewhere within our person or we may condone, even inadvertently, some covert racist activity and that may lead to a fear of “being found out”.
There is no doubt that throughout all ages, right up to today, people of all ages, gender and race have been repressed, brutalised and misused and that any people who are part of a minority group may feel the need to redress the balance. Perhaps as part of a majority in this country we may fear the possibility of becoming a minority.
In summary I would like to say that being free to be honest as the writer indicates is the right of every human being, no matter there background.
However I feel I must decline the invitation to declare “Proud to be white” and point out;
I am white by birth, not by choice, but I am happy to be who I am.
I am of Scottish /Irish descent, not by choice, but I am happy to be who I am.
I choose to be mindful and cautious of governments, organizations or institutions that promote racism in any shape to further their own supremacist aims.
I choose to protest against any group which seeks to oppress others by any means.
I choose to condemn covert or institutional racism from whatever source against whatever group.
I choose to abhor the social climates that produce ethnic cleansing and lead to genocide.
I choose to judge people by the content of their character not the colour of their skin.
I choose not to have preconceived ideas about anybody's racial heritage.
I choose to treat all people fairly as I would wish them to treat me.
I am happy to part of the human family with all my imperfections.
Posted: Fri Jul 6, 2007 3:43 PM CST
Saving Planet Earth
Following on from recent campaigns from the world of celebrity there is a new campaign on the block, Live Earth.
Tonight I caught a few minutes of a programme entitled "Saving Planet Earth". Now let me say from the start that I am not against the concept of saving the planet, if indeed it is about to disappear and does in fact need saving. Doom and despondency have their place I am sure. It is just that I can not help but feel a little cringe when I tune into yet another event organised by the great and good with statements which perhaps lose a little of their impact in all the glitz and glamour.
According to scientific records from National Geographic News the number of identified species on the planet is around two million whilst it is estimated that from ten million to more than one hundred million species are still undiscovered.
I read a couple of years ago in The New Scientist that the Earth may be on the brink of a sixth mass extinction on a par with the five others that have punctuated its history.
Perhaps, just perhaps, the Earth has a balancing mechanism. That may be what we are seeing now. The redressing of the imbalance brought about by mankind.The outcome of the industrial revolution, the never ending race for more money , bigger cars, better living may have an inevitable and foregone conclusion.
That we, mankind, have the audacity to imagine that we have an answer to save the Earth seems a little far fetched when we look at what a mess we have apparently made.
If indeed mankind has the power to save the Earth I really hope that the other 100 million species is grateful. Or maybe just maybe the Earth and all its species are a little more important in the scheme of things than the arrogance of humanity would indicate. Maybe the creation of all the objects of the world does not have the goal of bringing happiness to just one species. Is it right that man should place more value on it's contribution than any other? Is not the contribution of the smallest creature or the smallest fragment just as important in the universe?
I think the Earth consists of a little more than the mere happiness or satisfaction of one species and I also think the Earth can take care of itself, even if that means being without mankind.
To quote variously from Ecclesiastes
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full: unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
Posted: Thu Jul 5, 2007 7:08 PM CST
Trains and Planes
I took a train ride today. London to Birmingham. It was a Virgin Trains Pendolino. Pretty fast.
I started thinking that maybe I should take flying lessons. The last couple of days I have noticed some small planes overhead and it took me back to when I was a kid.
There were several ice cream vans that used to come around our road selling ice cream cornets and lollyices. There were vans that sold the soft whipped ice cream, the kind that came out of a machine as the man held a cornet underneath. The cornets always came out in a pretty shape , you know that helter-skelter look. They used to come to our road and they had a loudspeaker that broadcast jingles so that you would know they were there. They always had Italian names as-well, Giovannis Sampinis etc I could never work that out.
Half a pound of two penny rice half a pound of treacle. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall .. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Childrens nursery rhyme tunes really, thats what they played. But my favourite was Jims Fabrio van, which used to come every day during the summer and park on the corner of our road across from the school at about 3.30pm. He didn't have any music. I think all the kids knew he'd be there.
He didn't sell the soft whippy ice cream. He sold the hard blocks from containers and it had to be taken out with a scoop. He also sold bazooka chewing gum. It was wrapped in blue red and white waxy paper and inside there was a cartoon. Wow!I loved it.
It was Jim who first made me aware of planes.I had not really thought about aeroplanes and where they were coming from and going to. I had thought about cars and motorbikes. I remember being in bed at night and listening to the sounds of the traffic. Many varied songs of car engines and the deep-throated revs of the big Triumph and BSA motorbikes. We had a railway at the bottom of our road and there always seemed to be late night trains with the beautiful long hoots and whistles that the steam trains used to make as they snaked their way from the docks on the River Mersey to the steel plant in North Wales.
He pointed a plane out to me one day as I stood in the heat of the July sun. I remember the way he looked and sounded to this day. He was gaunt with a pointed chin and had a receding hairline. He obviously felt self conscious about his hairline because he had let what hair he had grow fairly long on one side and he had combed it over his bald spot. He always got on well with the kids even to the point of remembering names.
"You see that plane up there?" in a London accent. Looking skyward, shading my eyes from the glare, I saw a little shape making its way across the sky.
"Thats the 4 oclock chewing gum plane to Belfast that is! Comes all the way from South America with its cargo of gum bound for delivery all over Europe"
As I continued to look at the small dot traversing the sky my mind was racing with the thoughts of the journey it had been on and the places its cargo would be despatched to. The fact that I had probably not really been looking at the 4 oclock from South America to Belfast with a cargo of chewing gum was neither here nor there. My imagination had been set on fire.
That night in bed I listened out for the thrum of the aeroplanes engines. I could hear them, quietly at first and gradually getting louder as they approached. They seemed to change their pitch and it almost seemed as if sometimes they were going to stop.
I have always loved planes and the thought of flying since then. Theres always a little nervous patch in my tummy before takeoff but it's such a rush. Getting on a plane in the pouring rain and being overcome by heat two hours later as you step off is just amazing. Of course it also works the other way around and is an equally vivid contrast but maybe not with as glorious an ending.
So I will look into flying lessons soon and who knows, maybe I will be able to fly myself around some of the places Id like to go.
Posted: Wed Jul 4, 2007 11:06 AM CST
Thoughts on the "I want it all and I want it now"
So the birds began their song and woke up the day. Who woke up the birds? It was very cold, and I thought for a second about the hot sunshine in the south of Spain...... but only for a second or so. The cold weather is so nice, but in July? It gives people an excuse to smile at you and nod their heads in your direction. Even if it is only to say "This cold will be the death of me "???
Why do people say that?
Are they wishing death upon themselves?
Do they really believe their statement?
Will they be surprised when they keel over with Bird Flu or hypothermia or some disease related to "The Cold" and more to the point their mindset.
Will they be surprised when they actually die?
cAn TheY fEel SurpRisE iF tHey DiE??
I wonder if on their deathbeds they will say
" Do you know I was only saying the other day, this cold will be the death of me..... and look ....it came true .....it is .....zonk."
I love people because they come in all different sizes and shapes and colours. It doesn’t surprise me that whatever you can imagine in people then there is sure to be a person like that in the world.
I used to imagine people being nasty and taking advantage of me or the situation they were in and lo and behold I was never let down. I could always find someone or something to say
" There I told you so. I just KNEW IT!"
I could always find someone to moan about or moan at.
My life seemed to consist of a succession of "events" which were meant to test me.
Now I look at life in a different way.
When I see someone who is angry at me I try to imagine what is hurting inside that person. What is the thorn in their side? I know that anything I do is NOT designed to make people hurt and therefore I know that it can only be the hurt in them which makes them angry ...or sad...or emotional...or whatever.
Of course there are people who appear to be "evil" or just out and out awkward but if one were to search into their lives one would find a thorn.
A good thing is to believe that everyone really will be good to you and so treat them in the way you want to be treated. An even better thing is to understand that good is not a term which can be defined by anyone. How can we know what is good? One man’s meat is another man’s poison. Good like bad is an illusion conjured up for this body.
It is said that if one sincerely believes I mean BELIEVE IT NOW then whatever you desire can be yours. Why should one desire? Are we just a complex set of equations who can be satisfied with a tweak here and a tweak there? Life certainly presents us with problems and aches and pains but does any harm actually befall you. There may be some "apparent harm" on the road to the end but it is of no significance compared to the riches and joy that are to be had, not NOW in this life, but in the real life, the immortal life of spirit of soul
Holding back has become one of the great gods in today’s world.
People hold back all kinds of things.
They hold back their trust...just in case
They hold back their money ...just in case
They hold back their love ... just in case
They hold back their smiles ...just in case
Well there really is no just in case!
Holding back simply puts off the day.
Let your heart shine through
Smile at the world
Try not to make the usual excuses that others make
"People will think I am mad.
What if they do this or that?
I am not going to let people walk over me like a door mat.
etc etc
Do not struggle against anything but let it all flow towards you.
Accept what is yours gracefully.
People can only give you what you allow them to give you.
Walk away with a smile if they want to give you a hiding or a bad time
If you cant walk away then allow it to happen with a smile on your face ,secure in the knowledge that what they take from you will come back to you a hundred fold.
I see a nice granary loaf and a mature cheddar waiting to be eaten so au revoir,
Posted: Sun Jul 1, 2007 12:51 PM CST
Stress Management
I had a great message from a friend today. It was a list for her Stress Management Technique that she swears by.Here it is for all you jangly people.
Just in case you are having a rough day, here is a stress management technique.
It is recommended in all the latest psychological journals.
The funny thing is that it really does work.
1. Picture yourself lying on your belly on a warm rock that hangs out over a crystal clear stream.
2. Picture yourself with both your hands dangling in the cool, running water.
3. Birds are sweetly singing in the cool mountain air.
4. No one can see you and no one knows your secret place.
5. You are in total seclusion from that hectic place called the world.
6. The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.
7. The water is so crystal clear that you can easily make out the face of the person you are
holding under water.
See? It really does work! You're smiling already.
Well it certainly tickled my laughter points even though it is totally unpc
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:05 PM CST
Freedom & Democracy
Over the course of the last days and weeks I have come to realise a little more of the intricacies of this life on earth.On a personal level my life has trodden the ever winding road, taken turns here and there and uncovered nuggets of golden joys with just hints of disappointments.I have formed new friendships and bonds with people who had been unknown to me and I hope that in time that these links can be forged into lasting relationships. Over time my wish is that they will mature into lifelong friendships, having a real mutual understanding and respect for all our individual foibles and idiosyncracies.
I am not the kind of person who exchanges cards for anniversaries but I do think that once someone has entered my life I am connected and open to the bond between us and whatever may be around the corner.
This is my freedom. That I give of myself, enjoy others as they give to me and allow them to share their friendship, likes and love with me if that is appropriate.
In the United Kingdom at this moment we have been notified that there is a current Threat Level Status of Critical. The Threat Level has been raised following a burning car being driven into a Glasgow airport terminal, and two car bombs being found in London on Friday. What this means is that an attack is expected imminently.
Eyewitnesses described a Jeep Cherokee being driven at speed towards the main doors of Glasgow Airport terminal building with flames coming out from underneath shortly after 3pm.
These two aspects of life, my personal life and that of the world, could hardly be more disparate and yet I and millions of people like me are caught up in the threat of terror. That there are people who think their only recourse to protest is to drive car bombs into highly populated areas with the intention of killing and maiming other human beings is pretty difficult to comprehend.
Any discussion of the subject is bound to be highly emotive.It seems as if there is almost a taboo on thinking openly or sanely about the incidents for fear of offending someone or some group.
Prime Minister Brown, whose predecessor, Tony Blair, raised anger among Islamic militants with his support for the Iraq war, said Britain faces "a serious and continuous threat" and the public "need to be alert" at all times.
This incident has come just short of two years after the July 7 2005 bombing, when four Islamic extremist suicide bombers killed 52 people on the transport system in London. That was the deadliest strike on the City of London since World War 2.
My opinion on these incidents is plain. Nobody has the right to bomb or attempt to bomb other human beings.We are facing a serious threat and undoubtedly that threat has been seriously antagonised by the illegal actions of ex Prime Minister Blair.The people of this country are once again at serious risk of harm whilst the instigator of the deaths of thousands of our fellow human beings abroad is on the way to his new job as the international Middle East peace envoy, responsible for preparing the Palestinians for negotiations with Israel.
It has been reported in The Guardian that Mr Blair's reputation as a negotiator in Northern Ireland would suggest that he has the patience and determination to mediate in the Middle East.
I feel sure there are both politicians in Northern Ireland and ordinary citzens who would disagree.
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:55 PM CST
Childishness without the tantrums
I'm not given to tantrums. Anger is an emotion which was never a prominent part of my life. Any remnant seems to have passed long ago through my psyche and body, reaping its damage on me and those around me.
I find "childish" a simple way to describe that open mouthed appreciation of the world around us. The sheer delight in the things that as adults can sometimes just pass us by, unnoticed. Existing but unappreciated.
Two weeks ago I went to a family birthday party, my nieces 30th, and we all had a great time. It was a sunny day filled with laughter and lots of hugs. We stayed in the garden all day until the evening turned chilly when Frank (one of my brothers-in-law , a great chap) brought out a Gaz heater that looks like a big old lamppost and set the chimneria going to keep us warm.
The gathering was attended by most of my sisters ( I have five ) assorted nieces and nephews and great nieces and family of family and friends. Quite a gathering. Frank, whose home we were at, had bought a trampoline after seeing how much fun one had created at his sons home.
It was only whilst trying to put it together that he realised it was quite a bit bigger than he had anticipated. It was huge. It went down well at the party and the grown ups and the kids alike enjoyed the excitement of the simple "bouncing machine" and the exhilaration it brought them.
It’s the kind of pleasure that can last just a few minutes in reality but stays in our minds for years.
I was chatting with a sister on the phone this weekend and the mobile rang. It was a friend I hadn’t spoken to for a while and I rang off answered her call.
We spoke pleasantly for a while and then she dropped her news. A friend of ours that I had met just two years ago, was reported to have died in a plane crash in Malawi.
He had been a junior doctor in a hospital I attended and he was a great guy. Warm, friendly, compassionate. He went about his medical affairs like his life with kind words where needed and a fresh youthful approach. He was only young, he had taken care of me, and here he was, the report of him, passing in a far flung place, pursuing his medical career to help humanity.
Losing our childhood is unavoidable as we grow. For some we will enter our teens and all the turmoil they seem to bring, perhaps we will go through middle age and reach an old age, finally to pass to whatever lies beyond.
Retaining my childishness, my sense of fun, my innocent eye and my open heart has never been a problem for me, in fact it has been a mainstay of who I am, who I want to be.
Yes I am older.
Yes I have been through the mill.
Possibly I am wiser;
but when I think of the good times in life and when the bad times appear I like to keep my sense of childhood innocence and optimism and a smile on my heart.
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:21 PM CST
Mushy Peas or Tapioca Pudding? Part 5
Of course it sometimes went the other way and thinking I had discovered a tin of prime stewed steak I would open the tin to find sago pudding, bluuur, yuk. Life can be so hard sometimes.
The point of all these ramblings is to offer some important words of wisdom. Whatever you are it will pay you to identify and label your skill or talent. Discover what you are or what you have and like the humble bean, declare to the world,
I am baked beans ….. in tomato sauce! (or preferably what you are)
Inferring that you are tapioca pudding and turning out to be mushy peas might cause a few problems. Always remember that the world is full of people and that some people will adore mushy peas others will hate them. Some will love tapioca pudding others will throw up at the mere mention of the frog spawn like food.
Whatever you are don’t be undressed, make sure you have the right label.
On a cultural note it may be of some significance that beans have performed an important role in such classical areas as Matt Goening’s The Simpsons and Stephen King’s The Dark Tower.
Their role is highlighted in these well known lyrics as performed by Bart Simpson and Zolton The Raven in The Gunslinger by Stephen King;
Beans, beans, the musical fruit.
The more you eat, the more you toot.
The more you toot, the better you feel.
So let's eat beans for every meal!
OR
Beans, beans, they're good for your heart.
The more you eat, the more you fart.
The more you fart, the better you feel.
So let's eat beans for every meal!
OR
Beans, beans, the magical fruit.
The more you eat, the more you toot.
The more you toot, the better you feel.
So lift your leg, and let them squeal!
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:19 PM CST
Mushy Peas or Tapioca Pudding Part 4
When one thinks a little on the potential problems we quickly see the pitfalls. What happens if a label falls off a tin of mushy peas? Now that’s an amazing transformation, mushy peas. How do they do that? Do they pour the peas into a big vat full of bare footed people who march around squashing the perfect pea shaped peas into a squelchy mass? Maybe they have some technical method, like errr .. cooking, which breaks down the pea shapedness. Whatever they do they sure taste good with chips which are perfectly cooked in beef dripping and salt and vinegar. Yum Yum. But it has to be real malt vinegar not the acetic acid which burns holes in your nostrils, and real fine salt, not that imitation Lo-Salt salt that tastes like sawdust sprinkled on your food or the ground salt that gets stuck in your teeth.
Anyway, is a tin which has the label peeled off like a tree that falls in the forest when nobody is there? Do the consequences only come to light when a human being interfaces with the tin?
Let’s follow the contents of a tin, say, baked beans, back to their origin and examine the journey on which they go in order to reach the shelves of our major superstores/hyperstores/ megastores? where next? And from there get transported to our homes, heated up and poured over some nice, thick, crusty, buttered toast.
The common baked beans, as we know them, in tomato sauce, are actually haricot beans also known as Boston Beans or Navy Beans, a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris which surprisingly enough is not a vegetable but a seed or fruit.
The haricot bean is a variety of kidney bean, rich in iron, magnesium and zinc originating in Central and South America and they were probably brought to Europe in the 16th century. The name haricot derives from the French stew or haricot. They are useful in casseroles, purees and salads but are delicious as baked bean in tomato sauce.
One day a farmer labours in the fields, planting, and some months later there are some nice plump juicy bean pods which are taken and transformed through the miracle of science and art, courtesy of a great company like H J Heinz into a delicious feast in a rich tomatoey sauce. The sauce is sweetened with brown sugar, perhaps flavoured with onions and the final product is canned and labelled and then sent to all corners of the earth.
Now all through this process the humble bean has never had any crisis of personality. It has always known from its inception that it was a bean. However when it left the tender care of the farmer and was sold to the baked bean company it went through a transformation indeed one might say a catharsis. Life up till then had been simple. The wonders of genetics ensured that the beans’ identity was safe and secure. After processing and canning it became necessary to label the tin to ensure that everybody who came into contact with the tin could correctly identify the contents.
On arrival at the store the tins will be displayed in the best way possible to ensure a speedy sale. Unfortunately for some baked beans their journey from field to table will be interrupted. Indeed it may come to a sudden halt as a result of their fine suit of clothes becoming detached thereby losing what has become an important part of their identity.
When I was younger there would always be a special display of unlabelled tins, normally in a big basket or a trolley with a big sign declaring “Assorted Tinned Goods Only 10p”. There would be tins of all shapes and sizes and I spent many a happy time rummaging through the tins, shaking them next to my ear hoping to gain a clue as to their contents. Finally after selecting some bargain tins I would quickly go home, looking forward to a surprise repast,…. Yes. Sad, very sad. But unless you have opened an unlabelled tin thinking you will find pilchards in tomato sauce and actually found some beautiful Atlantic salmon, you just haven’t lived!