I got to my last slushy heartbeats, saw the death lights and beyond, but made the decision to not let go.
There are some who would say that's not a real near death experience - if my heart stopped it wasn't for long because the first thng I saw was a nurse launching herself at me with a defibrillation paddle in each hand.
Given the debate (around organ donation) as to whether death occurs when the heart, or brain activity stops, I'm not sure anyone has the right to tell me that I didn't have one of those wierdo near death experiences.
It'll be interesting to see how the UK reacts to a third generation immigrant as prime minister who just happens to be the 222nd richest person (combined assets with his wife) in the whole of Britain.
The referendum to leave the EU that was fueled by nationalistic sentiment was only six years ago.
Rishi Sunak's claims that he wants everyone to have the same opportunities that he has had, but have we had enough of a paradigm shft in the covid era for that to carry any weight?
Boris would be a foolish choice. You can't have no confidence in him because he acted like a knob, go back to him because he's the best of a bad bunch and then expect to win a general election.
It was clear from Queenie's funeral that she's a bit socially awkward. That was perhaps a somewhat overwhelming way to start her premiership and she looked rather but with a slight jubilance at her surprise success.
I saw a bit of her being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg after that and it was clear that Kuenssberg was on a mission to take her down. I got the impression that was more about pecking another injured and vulnerable bird to death as it was about objecting to policy decisions.
I rarely come across a politician I warm to and generally I think we'd be better off sacking the lot of them, but this was more like deliberate road kill.
Fabrics like denim mold to the body over time; fading, staining, fraying and tearing occurs around the knees, frequenty used pockets, etc.
A naturally worn pair of jeans is unique to the person who wears them and they become like a second skin. They tell a personal story of shape, habits, activity and skills. They're almost like a certificate of life achievements, as well as being comfortable and practical.
The fashion of simulated worn clothng tries to mimic that embodiment of a unique life narrative, but without the hard work and soul. Factory produced rips and faded areas never match the placement of the body parts of the wearer, so it's a bit like buying a doctorate off the internet where it's obvious you haven't earned it.
The reason why it's in older cook books is because it's now known that soaking pulses with sodium bicarbonate destroys some of the nutrients.
Soaking in water, sprouting, pulse recipes with asafoetida, second shelling and thoroughly rinsng away the aquafaba are all ways of reducing the flatulent effects of pulses.
Sprouting is especially good because it produces more nutrients.
Digital transaction enables worth to be manipulated: when we bartered we could each negotiate the worth of ourselves and our work; when we had cash wages, we could all see how much our labour was valued.
It's easy to ignore how devalued lower socio-economic groups are when pitiful wages for hard labour are transfered in secret.
Coins in your purse are concrete reminders of budgetting. With digital transfer it's far easer to lose track and overspend, to be drawn into credit and debt.
Of course, those most in need can't be spared loose change and a cup of coffee holds more value than some people.
I could go on, but suffice it to say, a cashless society is one where inequality and failure to thrive is hidden behind an illusion of thriving.
I'm more concerned about resources being directed at environental issues at the moment. What we do within this decade could affect our future existence.
There's not much point in fighting over boundaries in sludge.
We can't change our future unless we understand our history that has shaped who we are today. It's like expecting a heroine user to bally well stop that nonsense without addressing the underlying issues which lead to the habit.
You're right, we need radical change to our systems that are based upon hierarchy, inequality, empty rhetoric and lies.
We could maybe start by not lying to ourselves about our and our society's failings.
What I have found as a second generation immigrant with a slightly brown daughter is that saying we embrace 'others' is not enough. We have to understand how to include everyone into our communties and that involves listening, even when we don't like what we hear.
I don't think it's unreasonable that some people aren't grieving for the queen. Personally, I think the 10 days mourning was an opportunity for people to grieve what they needed to grieve for at the end of an era. Anger is a natural part of grief.
I'm not sure how responsible the queen was as an individual, but she did represent the UK system and culture. Certainly by her death, she had next to no official power and the king, or queen is not allowed to meddle in poltics, or social issues.
Her power was being in an advisory/guiding position, but those in power didn't necessarily listen. Rumour has it she was pretty furious with Margeret Thatcher for her cruelty.
Society evolved quite a bit during her reign, almost to the point where we're considering that people of colour and women might be people. I'm not sure how much blame, or credit should be attributed to the queen personally, but I do wonder whether having a woman as head of state, whether her mere presence on coins, notes, stamps and cereal packets had an impact on evolving women's rights. Bear in mind, equal suffrage for women was only achieved two years before she was born and she became queen at the age of 25.
Certainly, no society benefits from inequality and there's a three tier class system even within Buckingham Palace. I'd be quite happy to have an open discussion about how best to move forward, including an apology to those who have suffered due to British colonialism. It's not much of an ask.
My diet is almost refined sugar free, apart from the occasional pickle that I haven't pickled myself.
I don't like the taste of sugar, particularly the after taste. Having sugar also spoils my ability to taste the natural sweetness in vegetables like carrots and greens.
I'm just tucking in to a bowl of organic roasted carrot, salsify and runner beans, sprinkled with smoked seasat flakes and lemon juice. Salty, sweet, earthy, piquant and umame, I think I've died and gone to heaven.
Seven years after Nigeria won independence from the UK – and 15 years into the reign of Queen Elizabeth II – civil war broke out in the former British colony.
On one side was the Nigerian government, desperate to preserve the multi-ethnic state that had been cobbled together by Britain’s colonial administration. On the other were the Biafra separatists who sought autonomy for Nigeria’s Igbo people, an ethnic minority originally from the country’s south who faced persecution and pogroms in the north. With control over Nigeria’s oil production at stake, former colonial superpowers jostled for influence, not least the UK.
In 1967, Nigeria was still a member of the Commonwealth and Elizabeth had remained its head of state – the “Queen of Nigeria” – until 1963. Intent on maintaining influence and control, the UK government, led by Harold Wilson, funneled vast amounts of arms and munitions toward the Nigerian government.
The war was a humanitarian catastrophe for Nigeria’s 52 million people. A year into the conflict, more than a thousand children were starving to death each day. TV cameras beamed images of their anguish – as well as evidence of further wartime atrocities – all over the world. Wilson responded to the public backlash by misleading parliament about the UK’s involvement, even as he increased the flow of arms, declassified documents revealed in 2020. In the wake of the queen’s death, the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, who fought on the side of the government, praised the royal family as “a very strong ally even in the midst of our difficult time during the Biafran war; they stood for the indivisibility of the Nigerian state, supported and ensured that we overcame that problem”.
At the time, Uju Anya’s mother had two children under 10 and was pregnant with a third. A native Trinidadian who had called Nigeria home for less than a decade, she just missed catching a ride on the last foreign charter plane airlifting refugees out of the war zone. As soldiers took up British-supplied arms against civilians, razing whole villages and scorching ancestral lands, Anya’s mother fled with her in-laws, taking whatever cover they could find.
“We lost half of our relatives,” says Anya, who was born six years later. “That’s the legacy of this war. It was a genocide, a slaughter, a holocaust.”
I was born in England in 1967, but I was aware throughout my childhood that the Biafran children had starved to death, such was the enormity of the atrocity. I wasn't aware of the cause, however.
He gave me the creeps, too, as did Gary Glitter. I think I was the only one of my peers who didn't go and see Gary Glitter when he was doing another of his university tours.
Savile and Glitter were both a big part of British culture. It may have been uncomfortable to see either of them, but they were there all the same, constantly intruding. Such is the nature of the nonce.
jac_the_gripper Forum Posts (5,363)
RE: Sunday Roast
And there's me all fixed to turn up every Sunday morning before breakfast to hear the gospel truth.