Pamela Heywood 2.0

Links for 2008-10-12 [del.icio.us]

2008-10-13T00:00:00-05:00

Lavengro in Spain: UK Today
The Open Rights Group : Blog Archive » Freedom Not Fear: the Big Picture unveiled on Parliament Square
Over-surveilled Brits build giant picture of their leader out of CCTV cameras - Boing Boing
Man Arrested For Helping Old Woman With Train Fare
How To Stop Your Cat Scratching Your Furniture (Pets: Cat Behaviour & Training)
Is God an Accident?
... belief in the supernatural is found mostly in Christian conservatives—those infamously described by the Washington Post reporter Michael Weisskopf in 1993 as "largely poor, uneducated, and easy to command."
Hey Sarah Palin - a funny song courtesy of YouTube
The Good Life: This news story speaks for itself
The problem is with a greedy élite of bankers and politicians and their failed unrestrained system of capital.
The World According To Daily Mail Readers
Nearly right too, if we just swap Marxist for capitalist.
Los Príncipes inician mañana su visita por Canarias
El martes por la mañana, los Príncipes irán a Tenerife para presidir la reinauguración del Teatro Leal de La Laguna, tras 18 años de rehabilitación.
An Ethnographer Takes a Look at the Digital Culture
Diary From England: CREDIT CRUNCH BRITAIN
Will one be wanting fries with that?
El Tenerife vence al Albacete
Tenerife beat Albacete to become situated second in the league, with the same number of points as leader, Hércules.
Once-a-Month Shopping: Save More by Shopping Less ∞ Get Rich Slowly
Exactly what I've always done. The less time you see temptations, the less of 'em you buy.

Links for 2008-10-11 [del.icio.us]

2008-10-12T00:00:00-05:00

Letter To Normals
Open Letter To Normals About Fibromyalgia
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee Testimony
Pension provision in the United Kingdom
The Pension Service
Getting a State Pension forecast : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits
Understanding the basic State Pension : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits
IMF in global 'meltdown' warning
Colin Kirby » Blog Archive » Would you like a tree with that cheese roll?
A few years ago in the UK, war was declared on waste in the form of excessive wrapping and packaging whenever you buy things, guess what, it never reached as far as Tenerife.

Sunday Silliness: Baby Boomer

2008-10-11T23:12:52Z

As far as I’m concerned, I don’t belong in any pigeon hole, but I also realize that, ironically, I’m “unique, just like everyone else” and this appears to confirm it:

“You fit in best with people born between 1943 and 1960 (That’s funny, I was born in 1957). You are optimistic, rebellious, and even a little self centered. (Who me, me, me?) You still believe that you will change the world. (What a silly bloody fool!) You detest authority and rules. Deep down, you’re a non conformist.”

What Generation Do You Belong In?

Freedom not Fear

2008-10-11T18:32:08Z

People who constantly feel watched and under surveillance cannot freely and courageously stand up for their rights and for a just society.

October 11th has been declared as an international day of protest against undue surveillance and, I’d already stated that I support this issue, because, I believe, things have got out of hand, especially here in the police state formerly known as Britain.

Nothing has happened in this country to make me feel any differently about that and, in fact, plenty has happened to strengthen my view: it seems clear to me that the state does not want us to be able to “freely and courageously” stand up for ourselves.

Well, hell we know they don’t want us to, because they’ve made it illegal to do so, right where we should have the most right, simply on the basis of fears.

Freedom does not die in one blow, it dies by inches in public legislation. - Lord Strathclyde

(See: Repeal SOCPA - repeal laws to restrict protest and free assembly.)

There are the fear-mongering headlines in the media, which feel like a relentless battering of negativity carefully aimed at putting enough fear into the citizenry to get us to accept more control; there are notices everywhere about the presence of any one of the 4.2m CCTV cameras already in this country and, now they want to install clusters of more cameras.

Read the article that may get you arrested, about the nine-year assault on civil liberties that reveals the danger of trading freedom for security.” Being among those who understand, I do feel trapped in this perpetual nightmare where, “compliance is what scares me the most. People are resigned to their fate. They’ve bought the Government’s arguments for the public good.”

Many of the measures I’ve seen only encourage division within society. Those are not in the interests of the public good, only of those clinging to power.

If we continue to buy this; to comply, remain apathetic and do not stand up to reclaim and maintain our rights, they will continue to be eroded, until one day, we find all of our freedoms gone. That would be my real fear.

Freedom Not Fear (Via: Boing Boing)

Remember: First they came…

Chronic pessimism

2008-10-09T23:07:48Z

The lack of ambition, the closed-mindedness, the mean and hatefulness, blaming others … listen to people around here and you are frequently confronted with those and many of the other 10 traits of losers (oh, yes, I know someone who exhibits all of them.)

Chronic pessimism seemingly affects a high percentage of the population here. It’s a nasty, mindless habit, displayed by countless numbers of "Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells"; professional wingers who just aren’t happy until they have something to complain about.

Yes, of course I complain too, but I do try to limit it to things that are genuinely complaint worthy.

As I discovered recently, I don’t see the glass as either full or empty, apparently, I just see what is: reality. No, I don’t like reality either and, it surprised me greatly me to discover that I’m basically "balanced".

Yet, I attempt to not whine publicly unless I am seeking help with finding a solution to a problem, or better yet, describing my own solutions to problems that someone reading my whines may come up against too, but lately, solutions are blocked at every turn by a chronic affliction like this:

I’m not talking about slight pessimism now and then, but serious, consistent, and unrelenting pessimism that makes people shy away from you and causes you to miss out on the beauty of life. Such pessimism is both stifling and paralyzing.

Yes, I’ve called it stifling before and, that is exactly what it is. Everything is awful, everything is impossible, there’s nothing can ever be done …

Since I got back to the UK in June, I’ve been confronted daily with this bitter, relentless, negativity and pessimism, droning and whittling away at what tiny little bit of resistance I have left. This mindless complaining and the negativity doesn’t just destroy organizations, it destroys hope, sanity, people.

When things go poorly

2008-10-08T23:21:33Z

Interesting question in yet another of the Blogthings quizzes (well, you do learn bits about yourself), asks, when things go poorly, you:

Hardly even notice, because your life is so great otherwise
Still can see the bright side
Can only hope that things will get better
Feel a fire to make things better
Can end up getting very angry

And it caused me to pause, because I could tick "all of the above."

Well all except not noticing. Although in Tenerife I used to be able to do that: look out at breathtaking scenery and even if things were desperate, still have blessings to count to divert my notice, now, all I see is an ugly brick wall through a frequently rain-soaked window and can find nothing great.

Something else I used to have the ability to do, but I no longer have the fire to make things better, probably because the damp weather and even damper spirits have put it out! Either my confidence has been eroded, or I’m too tired, in too much pain, or my mind is in too much of a fog to see what I could possibly do - that I can manage - or even drum up the enthusiasm.

As a result, I have very little hope that things will get better, because I know they will only do so, if I make them so … but it’s just too difficult without help and I can no longer see a bright side. It is all so chicken and egg. And, of course, this ends up generating, frustration, bitterness and anger.

Whilst I openly acknowledge that there must be millions worse off than me, if I ever had a soul, which I truly doubt, it has now been utterly destroyed and, this is not a situation in which one’s sanity can survive for long.

Photo: by saavem

The Tudor House investigation

2008-10-08T12:42:46Z

If the last find on my visit to Southampton was "suspect Tudor" (actually older than that and, there’s another even older here), then this one’s the real thing; the Tudor House Museum - the distinctive, timbered building that dominates St Michael’s Square - was built in about 1492 - the same year that Columbus bloke got lost on his way to the Indies and a young, future (though he didn’t know it then) King Henry VIII was celebrating his first birthday, during the reign of his dad, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor monarchs. It is currently undergoing refurbishment under the direction of Southampton City Council with a view to it being reopened as a heritage attraction in 2011.

Like many other places of that era, the Tudor House museum is widely believed to be haunted. In all probability, mere religious superstition.

And here’s an image of the Southampton, Tudor House taken in 1908

Sunday Silliness: Extraverted Intuition

2008-10-05T07:28:42Z

You are a true wordsmith and a master of words. You are original, spontaneous, and a true inspiration. Highly energetic, you are up for any challenge. You are entertaining and engaging … both to friends and strangers.

What’s Your Personality Cluster?

Historical hopscotch

2008-10-04T21:36:02Z

Officially (PDF) billed as the Tudor Merchants Hall, beautiful as it is, I just have to nit-pick …

The Tudor dynasty (from Henry VII to Elizabeth I) lasted for 118 years, from 1485 to 1603.

According to the plaque, this building was originally constructed before1428 - possibly during the reign of Henry VI, of the House of Plantagenet - and well before the Tudors came into being. Even if we take the date - of 1634 - when it was demolished, moved and re-erected in its present location, that comes into the reign Charles I, the second king of the House of Stuart, the lot who followed the Tudors. And either way you look at it, Tudor it is not.

One suspects the word Tudor is used, because it’s expected that people will have heard of that, where they might not have heard of the other dynasties, which, if it’s true, kinda insults people’s intelligence a bit, doesn’t it?

So why not call it Medieval after the era, usually interpreted by historians as the period between 1066 (the Norman Conquest) and 1485 (the accession of the Tudors), into which it actually fits. Surely, people have heard of that?

To me, there should be more kudos in something being even older than Tudor, so I can’t help thinking, since, as well as being on the tourist trail, this is hired out as a venue for weddings, etc., that this is a case of history re-written by the marketing department, or “sex sells”: that is, sex incarnate in the most famous Tudor - and serial wedding host - of them all, Henry VIII.

If you got Anthony Worrall Thompson in to do your catering, he would properly look the part in period costume, even if it’s the wrong period. Unlike the …

Pathetic attempt to sex up history for the yooof

Speaking of selling sex, I cannot even begin to describe the liberties being taken with history in The Tudors. It is far too painful to watch. The New York Times calls this “a version of Tudor England that appears to have been spritzed with Febreze” and they’re being quite kind to it! Actually, if you just ignore all of the purported history and dialogue that is almost universally ~~screwed~~ fictionalised, what’s left is soft porn in period costume. Well, maybe not even soft porn, if you count all the bloodthirsty “snuff movie” stuff in it that appears unnecessarily drawn out - as slowly as a South American daytime telenovela (soap). This is what the BBC has stooped to? And Britain!

Boxhab

2008-10-04T14:40:22Z

We has a box and it took no time for both cats to be inside it - well, after a few territorial disagreements that mostly involved Kitty biting Balu’s bum and her taking it over (literally upside-down) and him attacking from above.

Think we’ll get some more and build a Happy Cat Apartment.

Tenerife connections

2008-10-04T13:13:08Z

Tuesday may have been a dismal day, but when I got to Hythe, they’d put the bunting out for me. Wasn’t that nice? Hythe is a strange place for a seaside village, because it appears to think itself too posh for anything commercial on the seafront. Waterside there are just quaint cottages a-plenty and the infamous pier carrying the equally famous, World’s Oldest Pier Train.

Even the Lord Nelson pub is in the now pedestrianized High Street, which runs inland from the pier head and where shops consist, mainly, of a Waitrose, a plethora of charity shops and a few places selling knick-knacks today.

The Lord Nelson pub (first listed as such in 1801) sign is unique, claims this history, because it shows Lord Nelson after he’d lost his right arm in the attack on Tenerife (the date was actually, July 25th, 1797) and before he was wounded at the Battle of the Nile on the 1st August, 1798, losing his right eye. In truth, apart from the fact that they get the date of the Battle of Santa Cruz wrong, the sign shows only head and shoulders and neither arm, though, possibly that’s to avoid showing one missing. Who knows?

Pretty as Hythe is, I’d seen the lot in less than 10 minutes, so after a coffee and a chat with a couple from Hordle who I’d met when I caught the bus in Lymington, I decided to catch the pier railway and the Hythe Ferry.

Both are decidedly cute and the half-hourly service (combined train / boat ticket) to Southampton is a real bargain at just £3.50 (single), considering the added attractions.

It was also refreshing to ride on something so obviously built long before the health and safety nannies took over the state too. At the end of the pier, I boarded the ferry, the Great Expectations. From Hythe, I could see a large ship off in the distance, but it wasn’t until the ferry took us up close and personal that I realized that it was, in fact, the soon to be retired Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2).

What were the chances of catching a glimpse of that on the very day she was to set sail on the 12-Day "Canary Islands Splendour" tour, that would take the ship to Tenerife for her final visit to the island? That report was written 18 mts ago: I’d remembered, vaguely, that she would make her last call this year, but I certainly hadn’t remembered the date. Eerie?

PS: The bunting, it seems, is a permanent fixture. More photos of Hythe Pier and Railway, Hampshire - The oldest operating pier railway in Britain

More photos from the day trip | More old photos of Hythe

King of the jungle

2008-10-03T23:30:02Z

In honour of World Animal Day, which takes place on October 4th each year and is intended as a day of celebration for anyone in the world who cares about animals. We also like the idea that it’s not restricted to any one nationality, creed, religion, political belief or ideology.

Photo: by Yellow.Cat

Orderly Queue [Buzznet]

2007-04-14T06:24:29-05:00

For what, I have no idea, because this was AFTER breakfast.

Double Decker [Buzznet]

2007-04-14T06:21:44-05:00

Look closely, this is two cats! Mico (b/w) was sleeping peacefully on the blue blanket that is folded as a cat bed on top of the printer next to my computer. No, of course, I can't use the printer, but since they insist on being on there anyway, this, at least, keeps the cat hair out of the "workings". That is Mico's leg with the white paw hanging down the front, but look more closely and you will see Betty wanted to get on that spot too (yes, there are haps of other places she could sleep), but, since there…

Basket Boys [Buzznet]

2007-04-14T06:16:08-05:00

Balu and Mico cuddle up in the cat basket.

Basket Cases [Buzznet]

2007-04-14T06:15:25-05:00

Kitty and Balu in the basket.

Birthday Photoshoot [Buzznet]

2007-04-13T02:18:16-05:00

Balu refuses to cooperate, while Kitty just sneers!