And meanwhile elsewhere.....

The sun is shining brightly in Birmingham at the moment-we're in the midst of a mini heatwave with temperature hovering around the 26C mark. Looking at the thermometer on the laptop here I note that inner city Brum is hotter than lovely Alicante Spain
However somewhere in this world of ours the killing and mayhem continues in Syria and in Afghanistan. Today I herd of another young life lost in Helmand Provence and of a massacre of 92 souls in Syria including 40 odd children. What justification can there ever be for this slaughter? How can those responsible sleep at night? What images do these killers see as they close their eyes? 
The sad thing is that the majority of people in the West have gotten used to hearing of theses outrages & now don't pay much heed when they hear of them. When will we realise that evil triumphs when good men do nothing??

There is so much happening in the world at the moment which troubles my heart. I hear and read of the financial troubles of Greece & lately of Spain. I hear of the hardship & near starvation of the people of Greece & I feel both outrage. I feel sadness that these nations with so much culture, history & romance are struggling to survive due to the greed of bankers & currency speculators.   

This week in the UK we heard that Cameron's Government have endorsed a report that says that employers could have the right to fire people without prior notice & at the same time removing the right of workers io seek claim for 'unfair dismissal'.  Why is anyone surprised? This was bound to happen once a Conservative government was voted in. They represent the wealthy and the employer-not the worker. Why the fuss? The majority were bloody stupid enough to vote for these prats so you & the rest of us have gotta suffer such draconian laws& statement for the next damn 5 years!

On a lighter note-(though sadly not cheerful!) the UK came second last in last nights Eurovision Song Contest. Representing us was the 76 year old crooner Engelbert Humperadinck who God help him did his best with the material he had but it wasn't good enough!. Thinking about it it would perhaps have been more fitting and (?)more appropriate, if the UK had got a group of singers playing medieval musical instruments, singing one of Shakespeare's sonnets. ( abit jazzed up for the occasion of course). After all it is the Queens Diamond Jubilee, The (bloody) Olympics are coming to the UK & Shakespeare was a Brit. Just a thought....

Wherever you are people I hope that the sun shines for you, that your life is peaceful & that your country lives within its means in justice & fairness for all.

The Philosophers Song... By Monty Python....

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant

 Who was very rarely stable

 Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar

 Who could think you under the table

David Hume could out consume

Schopenhauer and Hegel

And Wittgenstein was a beery swine

Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel

There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach yer

'Bout the raising of the wrist

Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will

On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill

Plato they say, could stick it away

Half a crate of whiskey every day

Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle

Hobbes was fond of his dram

And René Descartes was a drunken fart

"I drink, therefore I am"

Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed

A lovely little thinker

But a bugger when he's pissed.

Blinded...

Blinded by Love I pray not for the daybreak,

Lest the sunlight melt thy desire,

My ardour blunted for the events of the day

For thou art my day and its full content.

Blinded by Love,

Stumbling I search not safety.

Only the comfort of thine lips to be my redemption. 

Let thine adieu be like the midday moonlight

For my frail heart could not contemplate such agony.

Blinded by Love

My ears hark only to thine voice 

 Pay heed to thine entreaty alone

My lips to kiss thine alone.

I am Blinded by thy Love, thy art my focus

Daybreak; I petition thee to dally. 

x

It was a bad idea...

Prompted perhaps an unconscious wish to self harm immersed as I was yesterday in the subterranean well of melancholy, I decide to saw up some wooden pallets with the bow saw. (You will recall that the family forbid me to use the chain saw unsupervised-clumsy as I am).
Anyhow. I took to the bow saw between rain showers yesterday (Monday)and.....cut my left hand. Boy, did it bleed! Closer inspection of the laceration revealed that I inflicted a number of small cuts & 2 deep lacerations.
Pissed off & cursing myself I applied 3 'sterisrips' to the deep wounds and band aid plasters to the others. At this point ,I decided to curtail any further attempts at wood sawing/chopping & more importantly, any further attempts at deliberate self harm for the day. I guess you could say that the unconscious desire had been satisfied! Well, at least 'til today when mother arrives down (via taxi order by me no-less!) for dinner cooked by me.
I changed the dressing(s) today...ugh!.. it looks grim. I've worn a vinyl glove on the wounded hand whilst cooking today, & I must resist any desire unconscious or otherwise to self harm post visit of the aforementioned person.
Upon reflection I reckon  that the self harm/blood letting did some good. Because yesterday my meloncoly was  (on a scale of 10 being the worst) about 7-8. Today (at least at the moment, pre visit) its about 5. However I don't recommend self harm with a bow saw as a cure for melconcoly.

The weather today here in Birmingham is very English. We have experienced all 4 seasons.....in 1 day!. There's a cold wind blowing & Charlie refuses to exit the house, looking at the hailstones with a look that says "what the fuck is going on???" During 1 break in the showers he came in moaning & drying himself against my leg! As I type now he's staring out of the front window at the clouds scutterling by in the sunshine, ears twitching & thing perhaps ..."what's going to happen now??" I'll tell ya shall I Chas....in about 5 minutes judging by them dark grey clouds over to the left of you....its gonna pour down, & poor Derek, who lives up the street  ( a slim female cat much sought after by all the un-neutered toms in the area, will get bloody soaked cos Adam the Hippy is at work.
You're better off dozing on the back of the sofa Charlie..at least 'til you know who comes. He tends to go elsewhere when mother arrives.
Funny that.

melancholic.

I've spoke before about my relationship with my biological mother, and, I thank Caron and Mel for their understanding and words of reassuring comfort.. However this week and latterly today whilst my spirits were already at a low ebb, they were kicked further into quagmire of hurt by her.
As well as caring for her day to day paperwork and affairs, 'mother' comes to my house 2-3 times weekly where she is cooked a meal, her clothes are washed, ironed & changed, she has a bath (because she will not change her clothes, or take a bath herself in her own house). She, today had on the same clothes that she was wearing 5 days ago. Today was no exception. She was given a full Sunday lunch, a fresh set of clothes & made comfortable before being driven home by Kate.
I attempted to make conversation with her, showing her the 'meals On wheels' receipt that was sent me on her behalf, offering her a walk in the garden to see the nest of Blue Tits & such forth. But my attempts at establishing a rapport were met with "OK, no. I'll stay by the fire its cold, the sunshine isn't that warm...."
Sod it then I left her to it. My morale was already low following her accusations concerning me to my brother earlier in the week.
These accusations were prompted by Esther, (my daughter) offering to go to her house & clean for her-provided that she, (mom) brought the cleaning gear-soap, scouring pads etc. Mom told my brother that this was being orchestrated by me as I was "only after (her) money & I was not to be trusted".
Today it continued. She stared out of the kitchen window during lunch ignoring me, (which I've gotten used too) & spoke only to Kate & or Esther. Then on her was home she walked past me at the front door tapped my tummy & said loudly on the street-"getting a bit fat round there aren't you?" & walked off to the family car.
That's just a comment & observation I hear you say...but this is an observation from a woman who squints at the salt & pepper pots at the meal table, saying that she has very poor eyesight! And it was a personal comment designed to hurt me. She knows what buttons to press.

I feel  miserable, isolated, used & angry all at the same time. I'm unable to discuss  my feelings with Kate-she's heard it all before & because at the moment I'm not able to move on from the batterings I receive from that woman who is my mother she's getting pissed off at me too!.
I care for my mother out of 'duty'. I'd rather have nothing to do with her if truth be known. But I can't do that because my brothers wife won't allow the woman across her threshold, & Stephen has precious time for mom anyway despite him being the "son that she waited for" as she often says.

But at nearly 60 years of age and a half you'd think that I ought to grow up & stop behaving as my late father often called me.."like a girl".
And you wonder why I work in psychological field of nursing??  Could it be an unconscious desire/need to put right my damaged psyche?? Hmmm....

The UK local election results

Thursday last saw the first local elections for councils in the UK. All the main political parties put forward candidates for election to councils of all the major cities. As well as the 'main' 3 parties there were, (as there usually are!) some of the more obscure parties represented. Parties such as 'The Monster Raving Loony Party', &'The Penguin Party'.
The latter is basically an independent party whose candidate A Professor Pongoo stood for election in Edinburgh. (Only in the UK could this happen!!)

Anyhow. I am happy to report that the Conservative along their Liberal Democrat catamite buddies were swept off the electoral board by the Labour Party candidates across the UK. O happy Day!!Its a bit late & a tad premature though....as the bastards should not have been voted into office in the last General election in the first place, & we have another 5 years to wait until we get an opportunity to vote them out again! Still the recent local election results were a statement I , & Cameron et al would do well to heed these results.

And in Edinburgh??? Professor Pongoo beat the Liberal democrat candidate into second place!!
I enclose a photo of Professor Pongoo for your amusement.

This is taking the Piss.....

                              

The pile of household and industrial rubbish towers over nearby homes

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A Black Country business that is responsible for a pile of rubbish which towers over homes is facing legal action.

The Environment Agency is applying for a High Court injunction to stop RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) Ltd putting more rubbish on to the Brierley Hill site.

Residents claim the pile, made up of household and industrial refuse, is a health hazard.

RDF Ltd has failed to meet five out of seven deadlines to reduce it.

Judges at Birmingham High Court will decide later whether to grant the injunction.

Environment Agency environment manager David Hudson said: "We appreciate the patience that local residents are showing and would like to thank them for their help and understanding.

"We would also like to assure residents that we are doing everything we can to resolve the issue and have a dedicated project team working on this."

The 2012 London Olympics & Vaughan Williams

As I type away at the laptop this on a chilly April morning in Birmingham, the rain pouring down, Charlie Coal refusing to go out & patrol his environs, I reflect upon the approaching London Olympic Games.
Charlie, looking thoroughly miserable, sits in the ajar patio door, glancing up at me occasionally as if saying "c'mon Paul, you make bread, make me cosy by the blazing fire, can't you make it stop?" Sorry Chas' no can do, sit here with me & listen to Vaughan Williams fiddling away as he watches the Lark Ascending, & in a little while I'll fix us both a little smackeral. Call it comfort eating.

Anyway to the Olympics. I've never been much of a lad for sport. I guess I was turned off by the bullying behaviour of the P.E. teachers at school, who mercilessly physically abused me & others who didn't come up to scratch.
I follow a bit of soccer, but never go to watch a local game as I believe the players earn too much (some of them in excess of £10K weekly) for it to be classed as 'sport'. I follow the results of Aston Villa but really I'm not too upset if they lose.
Whatever. The farce that is the Olympics is costing the UK a fortune to stage, the hype & spin that Cameron's government is pumping out is to many I guess, a distraction to the dire state of the nation. Which is all part of Cameron's plan I believe. The UK can't afford it, when daily there are at least 8 'food banks' opening across the country.Thus is an indication of the poverty that exists in a country that is spending millions on an unwinable war & splashing out billions on a sporting event that will last all of 2 weeks.
Now we hear that Cameron is contemplating placing surface to air missiles on top of blocks of flats (apartments) as a defence against terrorists!! I ask you people...did we condemn Saddam Hussain for using the civilian population as a 'human shield'?
This is crazy. BUT: how about this for an idea???...The original Olympic Games began in Ancient Greece thousands of years ago. Modern day Greece is in almost bankrupt. Wouldn't be very symbolic if Greece were to host the games every 4 years? Greece the mother of the games, the games returning to their home soil. OK, Greece can't afford it at the moment but the rest of the world helps them fund it pro term.
My plan I reckon, would also help Greece get out of the mess that its currently in.
Its a thought....
O well.... Its still raining, the postman looks drenched, he declines a cup of coffee, Charlie Coal has given up on venturing out & has fallen asleep on the sofa,  and Vaughan Williams' Lark has ascended into a idyllically blue English summer sky.
Ah, the power of the imagination.....