The Passing of the Iron Lady!

It is a day of mixed feelings today as our first woman PM died today, one Margaret Thatcher, with all the usual politeness and not speak ill of the dead here.

But regardless of your point of view what no one can take from her is the singular fact she was our first woman PM here in the United Kingdom at a time our society was still male dominated and suffering from the legacy of the early 20th Century attitudes towards women actually working.

She fought against a male dominated society and not only won but stamped her own mark on whole of the political landscape of the United Kingdom but it has to be tempered by the fact she part of a long line of strong English women through history which included Queen Elizabeth I.

My personal view of her is that as PM she was over rated as she and the Conservative party she lead then was responsible for lot of the woes and problems in our current society. In so much encouraging the individual over society, rocking prices of utilities because of their government’s brilliant idea of privatising the utility companies and finally her government encouraged the more sharper practices of the Banks which ultimately lead to the credit crunch!

But love or hate her Margaret Thatcher has already made her place in History and none can take that from her.

Depressives, The Outsiders!

Because I live within a society here in the United Kingdom which simply does not talk about mental illness as it is a big taboo even in these so called more enlightened times. All this made worse by a National Health Service which is ill-equipped, poorly funded and most worrying with doctors who simply do not understand Mental illness itself.

This leaves myself and my partner who suffer from forms of depression to fend for ourselves with no to pitiful help for our illness from a National Health Service and a society in general who try to sweep mental illness under the carpet or think it is just an excuse for people to moan or not work.

Yes, the government I trying to do something to make people more aware of Mental Illness but it is falling on a society which simply does not understand it or want to. The British public are so clued up especially about Depression there are those out there who still believe that they can catch Depression or come out with magical lines ‘Pull yourself together!’ or ‘Cheer Up!’.

So with this background it is not surprising people like myself and partner find ourselves without both the medical and financial help we need when the depression is bad and we cannot work because of it.

What is even worse I have live in a position of constantly fighting my depression without the help I need which means in the end my quality of life is coloured by it to a point it can be living hell with only escape being next to useless Health Service who really do nothing for you!

What makes this whole situation worse if I were suffering Cancer or other Physical illness here in United Kingdom I would have all the help, including financial, to live and even work. This sort of says everything about modern British Society who are still afraid of Mental illness.

In the end people like myself and my partner feel like outsiders and scroungers in our own society because we ask for help because of our Depression because we dared to have a mental illness which is robbing us of our lives and humanity!

Fight the Good Fight!

I will continue to fight the good fight here on my blog by writing down what I think about certain topics in the hope at least one person read and listens to what I have to say.

It really does not matter if anyone reads my blog but the fact I put fingers to the keyboard and said something rather than sitting on the fence and saying nothing. Too many people fail to say anything so nothing ever changes but they are quick to moan ineffectively elsewhere.

So we all should fight the good fight in our own ways to change things even if it just a minor blog with few followers.

The Irony of Growing Old in the Modern Age

Now you would think as a go towards my twilight years both my mind and ways would get more set in stone as old age grabs hold of my mind or at least as I have been lead to believe by society in general around me.

I’m not saying that I do not have some routine in my life and do so both to make doing something easier and quicker or not think about doing something. That is something we all do whatever age we are so perfectly natural.

But what I see around me does not fit this normal pattern of people as they are growing old getting more set in their ways and mind if anything I see more of a flexibility and the acceptance of new things in older people than the young.

When I talk to people around my age and older they are far more prepared to accept new ideas and technology even that technology which is outside of the so called mainstream. Also they are more prepared to actually listen to new ideas and people ho are voicing the new ideas.

This is more highlighted by people some decade younger than me who show more of a sheep mentality and a unwillingness to try ideas outside of what we would call the norm. It shows itself in the music they listen too, their dress even the technology they use which is always very narrow and predictable. All this now is even more narrow spectrum of fashion and music styles than when I grew up.

It looks from where I am our modern world over the past decades has knocked out the diversity of thought in the young who are happier to conform and almost scared to be different which personally I find so sad.

But it now has created modern irony of growing old in the modern world in so much the older now do what they young should do that is embrace new things more readily regardless if they are mainstream or not!

Time for Ordinary People to Stand Up!

In our modern world all we here are the radicals and extremists making a lot of noise all in an attempt to change the world but rather than changing the world they have caused the establishment to dig in more with their methods.

After last year in the Middle East uprisings has it escaped these people it might be idea to get the ordinary man on their side as after all ordinary people standing up to the establishment in the end had far more effect and brought changes something which radicals and extremists have singularly failed to do!

In my personal view and from personal observation the only time change really happens is when the ordinary people stand up and say no to the establishment. The hardest part of getting this to happen in our modern world is stirring up ordinary people into action.

My personal view it is time the ordinary people to stand up and say we want change!

Retail In Crisis or a Bigger Picture?

Today on BBC it was reported that Blockbusters has gone into Administration which has been the fourth such high street retail company over the last 3 months go the same way, the others being Comet, Jessops and HMV in that order.

But does this mean, as the BBC and other media would have you believe, a down turn in the British Economy or trouble on the High Street but I think not as they, like many people, have missed the common cause to all these retail companies demise which was a total lack of the said companies to take into account of the effect of the Internet on their business and singular failure in all their cases to modernise their businesses to take this into account.

All the so called Credit Crunch did was to make their demise quicker than they expected as eventually all the companies in question were already on their way out.

But what these recent closures of retail companies on the high street has shown is a general lack of understanding of the effect of the Internet and new Technology has had on way people do business and buy things by both British Industry and Government. Both have failed to adapt, understand even grasp the basics of new Technologies to a point both British Industry and Government is simply failing in the modern world.

But in both cases rather than taking the bull by the horns they have stuck their heads in the sand in the hope that people will return old way of doing business even to a point of going to old and way tried methods of business in the hope it will work in the modern world.

Until both British Industry and Government wake up to the Internet and new Technology the current round of high street retail company failures will be just first of many especially as British Industry goes back old ways of doing thing rather than moving forward.

All this not helped by a British Government lead by a Political Party, the Conservatives, who seam incapable to actually lead a country into a new future but perpetuate the same old conservative values which frankly have no real place in our modern world and belong to older Britain now long gone.

A Little Thought for Others

What amazes me with large majority of people of the global society ours seam to show real little thought for others by their actions, statements and opinions. All they think about are themselves first to a point everyone else can go to hell as long as they get what they want!

May be I am wrong but from my observations of various social networks, especially major ones, people have been very self-centred about the remarks they make and take little time to actually think about what they are saying there.

Then when whey actually upset someone with their remarks they will not show the upset person the respect and actually have the balls to say sorry but throw a whole barrage of insults and derogatory remarks in their direction. What makes this worse is the fact they think this is perfectly acceptable behaviour of a so called grown up adult.

As I have remarked before the large majority of people in our global society have forgotten the basics of social interaction believing what they say on a social network has no real effect on other people regardless of the fact the media is full of stories which illustrate the power of the said social networks to actually change the world.

It does not take much thought to actually think what you are writing on the Social Networks as after all everyone does it automatically everyday in our social interactions face to face during which the large majority of we do with a thought about the other persons feelings and reactions. Even those times we want a negative reaction from someone in these interactions we put some thought into what we are saying.

So why cannot people do the same on a social network as after all you are still interacting with people be it via a computer interface people cannot put in the same thought?

A Fine Line to Tread!

What is coming out of the United States with the controversy of Guns after the series of shootings last year and continuing problems with guns they are having there with yet another story about a school teacher stopping a potential shooting at yet another school in United States that there is a fine line you have to tread with guns and their control.

Any sensible person in any society knows that weapons and society do not mix be it guns, knives and the such and know weapons always lead to violence even outside of the criminal fraternity!

So as a society they put in place controls on the weapons both legally and as a society as a whole in so much society as a whole demeans it unacceptable to carry such weapons. Those who break this rule are punished by the legal system with the full support of society has a whole.

In these societies weapon control works because society as a whole backs it, though like anything it is not fool proof but certainly reduces the effect of the weapons on society in general.

But when a society, as in United States, who are unwilling to give up the weapons to a point of justifying the carrying of the weapons they have crossed a fine line which weapon control is simply not going to work mainly because they accept the presence of weapons in their society.

They may make the right noises when innocents are killed using weapons within their society but they are unwilling to remove the cause because they are unwilling to give up the weapon which did the killings.

If as a society is unwilling to get rid of these weapons as a whole they are going to have to accept that such killings are going to happen. It is hard thing to say but history bares this out time and time again!

50 and not Out!

Well tomorrow it is my birthday which I finally reach 50 or the half century which has made me slightly thoughtful and reflective about my life so far which frankly should not surprise anyone.

All I can say about getting older is I feel no different inside my mind is still active if my personality is a bit more jaded, cynical and angry because of things which have happened in my life. But the body is not as active as I would like it though I still think I am 25 years younger as basically the body may ache more but it feels on different as such.

As for growing older I find I get less worried about it as I get older after all I cannot Do anything about it so I have got to a point of why worry about it after all much as we would like to we cannot stop time. Plus if I worried about it I would lose time worrying about something I cannot do anything about.

Much the same as regrets which I have come to the opinion they are not worth the effort. It does not mean I don’t think about what I things had been different or did thing better how it would of changed my life as we all do but I do not dwell on them as there are still things to do ahead which regrets would cloud and ruin.

I may be getting older but as when I turned 40 proved being older does not necessarily mean your life is over and you cannot try new things after all only thing which will stop me will be my own death.

50 is a milestone in my life which since 40 has been especially good and rather than look forward to the so called twilight of my years with trepidation I look forward to them as each day is an opportunity to be grasped or day to do nothing.

We are Here Again, All for Love of a Gun!

Once again we are here again just wondering why does the United States allow it’s citizens easy access to guns after yet another tragedy of a shooting this time at after a Connecticut school shooting left 27 dead, including 20 children some under 10 years old.

People like myself both in United Kingdom and beyond in the rest of the so called civilized world end up just wondering why the United States and it’s citizens allow this state of affairs to even exist in the first place which allowed someone to buy a gun and ammunition unchecked then them to walk into a school and shoot people once again unchecked.

In the end some people in United States are going have to do some hard thinking is the love of the gun really worth the death of innocents?

It’s not as if the recent shooting at the Connecticut School is an isolated incident but yet another mass killing on United States soil and it is the third such incident this year alone. The other two being the Batman Premier in New York and Sikh Temple in Wisconsin.

Then all we get from some citizens of United States is long tirade of arguments that they have the right to carry guns because they need it to defend themselves and families from armed criminals, the government and so on. The best argument being well if we could carry the gun all the time we could of stopped the shooting in the first place.

None of this in the end justifies the loss of innocent lives because of the gun and in the background of the problems with medical changes made by President Obama it gives the impression that the United States and some of it’s citizens are more interested in keeping the gun than keeping people alive and healthy.

In the end it is time that the United States and it’s citizens took responsibility for their actions rather than hiding behind empty arguments to keep the gun and actually do something about what is happening as it is going to happen again if nothing is done sooner than later.

As I said to people like myself outside of United States it looks like the United States put more value on the right to bare arms than the health of their fellow citizens!

A Gray World!

After this week it has reinforced my view just how gray and unimaginative our modern world has become to a point it crushes those who show any spark of imagination, innovation even individualism. All this helped by system which promotes even encourages this state through the media and so on.

Then these said same people complain that the Western World in general is faltering, stagnant and in trouble which is ironic really as it was their actions, greed and self serving natures which created the world around them in the first place.

Now they struggle to get the mess they created but yet again their lack of imagination, greed and self serving natures stop them actually doing thing different and required to bring the West out of it malaise. So the problem will continue and has done so since the 1990s just different variations of the same problems with no real solution or action taken on anyones part.

What this does mean the Western World has stagnated both Industrially and Culturally to a point people have grown apathetic and tired to a point they just accept the world as they see no way to change it!

We see this stagnation in products we buy and use, the media we watch and consume and in the governments we vote in, or don’t vote in because of apathy, who frankly do the same old things to try to fix the problems but end up just putting off the problem to another day.

Culturally we see the stagnation in the media the Music, Film and TV companies produce for public consumption which lack a real content and a rehash of previous media with nothing new or inspiring again. Taking Hollywood as a prime example whose current output of films consists of remakes of older films, sequels with very few unique and innovative films.

In the end we now live in a gray world which lacks imagination, innovation and even a basic spark of life because we allowed it to happen and if people were not so apathetic, lazy or so self-centered they could actually change it but it is not going to happen.

I wonder just what is needed to change this as it has to be something big and spectacular to shake the Western World out of it’s current apathy until then it is up to the few individuals out there with an imagination, spark of life and innovation to keep fighting and keep the basic spirit of humanity alive until it is need again!

Dogs: Sanity in a Mad World!

When things in my life get difficult for me the one thing which keeps me sane and relaxes me are our dogs here who give you love and attention without any conditions just plain simple love and loyalty. Also helps I expect nothing from them other than be themselves dogs.

After a hard days work there is nothing nicer than the welcome I always get when I get home from our two dogs which always makes you feel so welcome in your own home. The troubles of the day start to melt away though sadly not all.

They make nice companions in the house and make our home what it is a nice place to live and escape the world outside. They always know when you feel down or upset and try their hardest to comfort you or make you smile which does not always work but at least they try.

Even with problems and heart ache they bring I’d miss the dogs if they were not here.

Life is Too Short!

Today I have finally got fed up of those people who constantly preach at you, call you stupid and generally offensive because you disagree, chose ignore or simply not listen to their opinions.

I am talking those extreme political animals called the normal everyday person with very strong political opinions of both extreme Right and Left Wing leanings who hold on to them come what may which in itself is not always a bad thing.

But when they are so intransigent and focused to a point they ram it down everyone’s throat their political views and constantly preach and preach their views regardless of the fact some people do not want to listen or interested in their views. Add to this mix that they get upset with anyone who dares to disagree with their views, poke fun at their views or try to lighten up their conversations. All they in succeed doing is annoying all around them to a point they will get ignored and ostracised by some around them.

Personally my life is far too short to deal with these people any more as I have better things to do and more enlightened people to find than deal with such people as they frankly waste my valuable time.

Finally I would like to point out I do have time for people with more extreme politics but as long as they are big enough to accept that I will disagree with them and argue/discuss in both more adult and humorous way.

Please Note: If want to view my Second Life Journal then go to the Journal of a Spectral Traveller.

Please Note: If want to view a Second Life Wikipedia then go to the Encyclopedia Umbra Machina.

Mistrust of the Right Wing!

What I think a lot of Americans who have what we here in the United Kingdom call more extreme right wing views than our own Conservative Party fail to understand is a lot of people like myself here both in the United Kingdom and Europe are extremely suspicious of their motivations and propaganda.

This deep suspicions come from, not surprising, World War II and the Nazi Party who used propaganda and half truths to turn a nation into a monster which turned a blind eye to abuse of anyone who did not fit their view of the world and the elimination of the Jews.

This has meant since then both ourselves here in United Kingdom and Europe have been very suspicious of any one who has what we would call more extreme Right Wing views because we have seen the result of such views.

If anything now we tend to treat such views with a mixture of humour and contempt because we still remember what it means to have such views, feel guilty because we as Europeans have been there and did not like what we saw!

So to these Americans who hold such views because of our recent history please don’t expect us to treat your views seriously and with respect you think they deserve as we are all here still bit sensitive about the existence of the Right Wing.

Basically a large majority of people in the United Kingdom and Europe dislike the more extreme Right Wing and we will not hide the fact!

Please Note: If want to view my Second Life Journal then go to the Journal of a Spectral Traveller.

Please Note: If want to view a Second Life Wikipedia then go to the Encyclopedia Umbra Machina.

Who Thought Size Zero was Beautiful?

At what point did both the media and fashion industry think very thin, shapeless and size 0 women were pinnacle of beauty?

The one question I have to ask them just who did they ask as they certainly did not ask the general public or so called real men?

Add this the untold damage they have done to young women everywhere by promoting an impossible image of beauty which frankly is not a real beauty but a false image created for themselves to sell products. Something both the media and fashion industry take no responsibility for saying it is not their problem not helped by governments who fail to take them to task!

But if the said industries actually talked to the general public they may be slightly surprised by real peoples idea of what makes a beautiful person which certainly not the models and images they keep shoving down our throats.

Just to give you an idea my idea of a beautiful woman is a woman who has real curves, some weight to them all more to cuddle and most importantly an intelligence so I can have good talk and someone who I can share my thoughts and life with.

I have never found the images of beauty the media and fashion industry keep feeding us very attractive as I have always found them false and shallow. All this confirmed by the said models vacuous and shallow lives.

Personally it is time for both media and fashion industry to stop pushing the false images of beauty and more real image of men and women so to reduce the damage they cause to countless young people, both physically and mentally, who try to obtain the false body image. Plus if the said industries refuse to take responsibility the authorities should force them take responsibility.

Please Note: If want to view my Second Life Journal then go to the Journal of a Spectral Traveller.

Please Note: If want to view a Second Life Wikipedia then go to the Encyclopedia Umbra Machina.