Fat Nations

In the last fifty years the western nations of this world have grown fat, by this I mean the people who live in these rich countries. The western nations in my view are fat nations.

Look at the Americans and British and you will see that the average waist size of both man and woman has grown beyond reasonable measure. This growth has been the product of too many advances in technology.

Long ago you could see many a teenager playing football on the local park after their day at school, now the parks are a desolate place where no one treads and its all because of the personal computer.

Long ago you could see housewives hand washing clothes and crockery but now they put them in machines that do it for them.

Long ago you could see men walking to the shops for their daily newspaper but now it is all done by car.

Time has moved forward and so has the luxuries we enjoy in life, but these luxuries have made the average person very lazy, so lazy in fact that they cannot even make their own dinner and put ready meals in the microwave or even buy takeaways two or three times a week.

I believe the problem in todays society is that we are so used to getting what we want without lifting a finger, so much so that we dont have "time" to mow the lawn or spend thirty minutes kicking a ball around with our children when the truth is we are lazy. What makes matters worse is that we are the role models of our youth and if we show them how easy it can be to kick back and let technology do the work for us then they will become even bigger and lazier than we are now.

VVIDE Totally Rubbish

I got a blog review recently on a fairly new blog called Blogbadly and found that the person doing the review was not too keen on many parts of my little blog, in fact I got 5 thumbs downs, but the funny part is that I was REALLY happy with the review.

Why was I happy?

Well the person who completed the review did so with a certain type of humour that really made the review funny and also they did give me many pointers in improving my blog which I will be completing over the next few days.

To be totally honest the bad blog review didn't bother me because the review did not say anything bad about the content other than it is on such varied topics, it even said that "Visiting this blog is like reaching into a mystery box." because of my stories.

Overall Consensus

Blogbadly gets no thumbs down from me, it has given me some ideas on improving this blog which will help some of you wonderful readers and has given me a laugh at the same time.

Blog Badly

To read my Bad Blog Review
To put your blog forward for a Bad Blog Review Click here

A Testicle Too Far

A thirty seven year old man from Liverpool, England was left holding his own testicle after it was torn from his body in what I can only describe as crazy circumstances.

The man in question was at a house party close to where he lived and had enjoyed a great night when he ex girlfriend who is thirteen years his junior (24) came up to him with amorous advances. The gentleman declined the advances and his ex girlfriend went in to a rage grabbing his genitals and pulling hard, this caused the mans trousers and underpants to be torn off.....and also his left testicle.

After realising that she had torn off the mans left testicle the ex girlfriend then tried to swallow it...yes swallow it... before choking on it and spitting it back out, a friend then grabbed the left testicle of the ex girlfriend and gave it back to the man who it belonged too.

After going to hospital the left testicle was unfortunately not in a condition to be reattached. The ex girlfriend has been jailed for two and a half years for her actions.

What a crazy story.....but actually true.....how can someone tear off an ex partners testicle and TRY TO SWALLOW IT!!!!

Sub prime mortgage crisis

The economic woes hitting the U.S started due to its sub prime mortgage crisis but has moved further a field and hit financial markets all over the world, but many people do not understand why this is. First you have to understand the sub prime mortgage process compared to the traditional one seen elsewhere to better appreciate its failings.

Traditional Mortgage Model

Under the traditional model the bank grants a home owner a mortgage and lends them the money (dependant on circumstances) and the home owner pays the bank their monthly fee with interest to pay off the mortgage. The banks make all checks on circumstances before lending the money in this model.

Sub Prime Mortgage Model

Under the sub prime model in the United States the bank sells mortgage bonds to those who wish to purchase them then they grant a home owner a mortgage and lend them the money via a home appraiser, the home owner then makes payments back to the bank via a mortgage broker. The bank then uses a rating agency to determine the amount of money a bondholder should get and makes a payment to the bondholder. All the checks made in this model are done by independant companies, not the bank itself.

The Sub prime model grew rapidly due to the Mortgage bond market which flourished. As you can imagine the banks were making alot of money, because of this they started pushing mortgage brokers to sell more Sub prime mortgages.

The mortgage brokers who wanted to make money and felt pressured by the banks started selling these sub prime mortgages to people in poor low income areas. They mis sold these mortgages to the lower income people by advising them that they could unlock some cash out of their property by refinancing but neglected to tell them that after two years the interest on these Sub prime mortgages would double.

After the two years were up many poor families found the interest doubled on their Sub prime mortgages and suddenly couldn't afford to make their mortgage repayments causing mass repossessions of properties.

The huge amount of repossesions hit the property market hard with a massive crash in property prices, this in turn has hit the United States building industry which represents 15% of the total US economy. Due to this slump in a large portion of the economy it has had a knock on affect across other industries, which in turn is affecting many economies across the globe.

Angels are crying

Given the world in which we live in, one where pain and suffering is a daily occurence I thought I would today post the lyrics to a song I heard that I thought would provoke people in to thinking about the world and the people around them. The group/person who the song is by is called Morandi and the song is called Angels.

People..stop fighting, angels are crying
We can be better, love is the answer
Search inside, are there anymore tears to cry ?
Don't you wonder why ?
Why you feel so alone all against the world
Search back time, when you used to sing along
To the music of your song
Song effect you can change, it's not too late
People..stop fighting, angels are crying

Some of you may have heard this song already and did not know all the lyrics. It is amazing to think that the power of song can really make you think deeply about life and the world, this song certainly did to me as I could relate to what the lyrics represent.

When I heard these lyrics they really had an impact on me and made me really think about the world and how there is much we could do by just being more loving and caring towards fellow man.

Man made to marry goat!

I came across a story from 2006 that had me laughing so much that I had to write a post about this historical peice of news.

In February 2006 a man from Sudan was caught having sexual relations with a goat by its owner. The owner woke up in the middle of the night and rushed outside to find another Sudanese man called Mr. Tombe mounted on his goat.

When the goat owner asked Mr. Tombe what he was doing Mr. Tombe fell off the back of the goat he was "riding". The goat owner then caught Mr. Tombe and tied him up.

Instead of ringing the police the goat owner decided to speak to the elders from where he lives, the elders said that Mr. Tombe had used the goat as his wife so as such he needs to pay the goat owner a dowry ($50) and take the goat as his wife....which is just what Mr. Tombe's did.

It also said in the article that nearly two weeks on man and goat were still together as far as the goat owner knew.

My World Vision

The world in which we live in has changed dramatically over the past one hundred years and I believe due to these vast changes the lives we live have changed dramatically to, but not always in a positive way.

I have a vision of the world, one that I know would never happen but one that I feel would make everyone a better person and the cultures we live in a more enjoyable place to live. As my vision is one that is quite large it may be difficult to translate in to words but here goes......

Individuals

As individuals we have forgotten what our life is all about, we are too preoccupied with work that we forget about the people around us and even forget about the joys of live we want ourselves.

I believe its time everyone took a step back and thought about their wants and needs and the wants and needs of those around them. It is also time to think of those less fortunate in our society and spend some time and/or money to help those less fortunate have a better standard of living.

Family Values

Long ago family values were important, all families would sit together for evening meals and the most important meal of the week, the Sunday roast. Today sees family values gone with families not working together as units anymore and being full of individuals who share a common home and come and go as they please without as much as a hello or goodbye.

I believe it is time for parents to take the "bull by the horns" so to speak in reinstate the family values that brings family members together. This could be something simple like a family meal every Sunday or a night out together every Wednesday to an activity that involves everyone to work together.

It is also time that people forget about religion or race when talking to someone else and just concentrate on the personality of the person they are talking to. Does it matter if someone is Sikh, Mulsim, Christian? No, what matters is their personality and if they are a good person. It doesn't matter what race or religion you are there are good and bad people in every race and religion.

Community

Once upon a time the comunity we live in was seen as a very important and integral part of everyday life. Everyone knew their neighbours, they would go round to each others house to borrow sugar or milk and would enjoy a cup of coffee and a good chat, these were also the days when people left their front doors unlocked and open without fear of something bad happening to them.

Today we see the community spirit gone, everyone is to preoccupied in their own lives to even bother to get to know their neighbours let alone enjoy a cup of coffee and a good conversation. What this is doing is alienating everyone from the society they live in. Is it not time that everyone embraced the people that live around them and bring back community spirit so everyone can enjoy each others company and work together to improve the areas they live in?

Business

Is it not time that the large businesses of the world that brain wash us daily with advertising started thinking about ploughing some of their millions of profit back in to the countries and communities that they are taking money from.

I am not asking that these companies give all their money away but they could look at the poorer parts of different countries and work with local governments to build special services for the people who live there to bring them together and promote happiness, health and education.

Local Council

I am sure everyone would love to see improvments to the city or town they live in, I would be very much surprised if someone said they were not interested at all. What I have noticed is that as time has gone by the councils and local governments of cities and towns across the globe have become more insular. They do not involve the people with whom they serve for decisions abiout community projects enough any more, yet this still increase taxes year on year.

I think its time for local government to come back down to street level and ask the people of the community they serve what they really want and need in the community, these may be simple things like career/educational support and play areas for the young to keep them off the streets and promote education instead of statues placed at every corner.

Governments of the World

It is time that the governments of the world stood united and worked together to bring peace and prosperity to the people they serve. Alot of the issues in todays society are bred from the actions of the governments around them.

Look at the recent issues between the United States and Iran, I am sure the situation was nothing like what it has ben portrayed. What these clashes do is bring resentment from the nationals of these countries against one another. Iranians will start disliking the American people more and the American people will start disliking the Iranian people more which will in turn promote terrorism against different countries and cultures.

Why can't the governments of this world set a good example to the people of their countries that peace and prosperity through diplomacy is the best foot forward in this world. To me the country that has taken these steps in the best possible way is Switzerland, a country that is and always has been neutral even through two world wars.

Snow Fall in Baghdad

To those who do not know much about Iraq besides Saddam Hussain, terrorism and the coalition forces stationed there then it won't mean much, but to others that know Iraq well it will be a huge surprise to find out that snow has fallen in Baghdad.

There are conflicting accounts from Baghdad residents about when the last snow fall was seen in the city as some have said that it was in the early years of the 1940's on the outskirts of the city while an eighty year old female resident of the city who has lived their all her live has said that she had never witnessed snow fall in Iraq before.

The only time snow fall is seen in Iraq is normally in the winter months and only on the peaks of high mountains in the northern Kurdish territories close to the Turkish border.

Due to snow being a new phenomenon it has been a wonderful change for the people of Baghdad who have only seen war for the past few years. Many families were waking up and rushing outside to see the snow flakes falling, to many it was a beautiful sight that brought delight and smiles. One resident from Baghdad was heard saying "This is so unusual, and I don't know whether or not it's a lesson from God".

Hopefully this small token gesture from the environment of Mother Earth will build up some form of hope in the residents of Baghdad and the rest of Iraq that things will get better giving them the life they deserve.

Boeing Could Be Hacked By Passengers

Boeing has been ordered by America's FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) to ensure that passengers cannot hack in to the flight system of Boeing's new jet the 787 Dreamliner.

The Federal Aviation Administration has reviewed the new aircrafts control system and believe it is so vunerable that a passenger could use a computer to hack in to its flight system and take control of the plane.

The 787 Dreamliner, which is a new Boeing plane, has already been hit by issues as it had to delay the launch of the plane by six months due to manufacturing problems. Although the Boeing plane has had a lot of issues it is still the fastest selling plane Boeing have ever created with orders of over eight hundred already taken.

Boeing have tried to play down the security issues by saying that it has been in constant talks with the Federal Aviation Administation. Boeing also went on to advise that they have already reached an agreement with the FAA through showing relevant documentation and demonstration of the planes systems to show it has the relevant safeguards.

What concerns me is the fact that the FAA actually had such strong doubts about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the first place. Could you imagine the devastation it would cause if a passenger could simply log on to their laptop in their economy seat and take control of the plane, it could be 9/11 all over again.

They dont make them like they used to

You may be wondering what this post will be about, well this is about the older generation of today and how they just don't make them like they used to. The older generations of today seem to be overlooked and left to get on with their twilight years but what many people seem to forget is what the older generation endured for the lives we live today.

Whether the older generation is from America, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia or Algeria for that matter there is something about the older generation that I think makes them super humans compared to the youth of today.

Okay I am rambling and you are wondering where I am going with this post. Well the truth is the grandparents and great grandparents of today lived through wars like no other, and many acts of bravery that have never been replicated were done by the many grey haired old people we see every day.

Take the first world war...how many of you could honestly say you would sit in a wet trench with barrage after barrage of artillery rounds being catapulted towards your trench hour after hour before someone blows a whistle and tells you to climb over the top and start walking...yes walking...towards the enemy who are less than a hundred metres away and are firing at you with machine guns and rifles.

Then we come to the second world war...fought in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa....these men from all walks of life and many different cultures were put to arms and marched across countries to face the enemy on battlefields of all varieties seeing the type of battles that have never been replicated. These men put their life on the line for the good of their countries and did so without complaint.

Now you see that our older generation deserve respect yet people seem to forget about how brave these people are, just because they are old now doesn't mean that they do not have some amazing stories to tell about what they endured in their youth.

Russian fishermans Miracle

Imagine you have been out fishing in your boat when terrible weather comes and you are shipwrecked somewhere remote without communication and proper food sources and you are found after three months, it sounds like something out of a Hollywood film doesn't it.

On 10th October 2007 eleven Russian fisherman set out in two boats to catch a haul of fish in the remote region of the Kamchatka Peninsula (6,700 kilometres east of Moscow). After a huge storm erupted while they were fishing both boats were wrecked and washed up in a bay.

Since October 10th 2007 all eleven fishermen had been living in the wrecks of their boats to provice shelter and burning furniture from the boats to provide warmth. The food supplies they had were the fish they caught prior to becoming shipwrecked and also flour they found in an abandoned military base they found in the bay.

At the beginning of the new year with food supplies becoming dangerously low the fishermen decided to split in to two teams, one stayed at their make shift base in the wreckage of their boats while the other set out on foot to find help.

The team that set out on foot came across Russian soldiers after an ardeous trek, these soldiers raised the alarm and sent helicopters in to rescue the other half of the team still with the wreckage. This was on Friday January 4th 2008, 87 days after they first started out on Wednesday October 10th 2007.

After three months living in a remote region of Russia with no communication and very basic supplies all eleven fishermen not only survived, they also required no medical treatment

To me this is a wonderful story that shows just how people can work together during times of distress to beat the odds and survive.

Read the inital story on BBC news

Snow and its affects on a country

Having lived in the UK all my life and seen the ravaging effects that one centimetre of snow has on the country as it grinds every day life to a halt, but why is this the case when countries that are not classed among the richest and most powerful in the world see colder weather with greater amounts of snow and they keep on trucking (pardon the pun).

I have just spent the last two weeks in Bulgaria, a wonderful little country in south eastern Europe...its a country that has just joined Europe after escaping communism only 18 years ago and has an average salary of £100 a month...less than every full time UK resident earns in two days.

While spending my time in Bulgaria (which was wonderful by the way) I experienced snow that was up to 60 centimetres in depth and temperatures that went down to minus 31 degrees Celsius and I was shocked to see that this did not stop anyone carrying on their daily business.

Even with temperatures so low and snow past their knees the Bulgarians carried on as normal, driving and walking everywhere...how you may ask?

Well there is a wonderful thing called a tractor that has a snow plough put on the front, these wonderful vehicles drive round all the roads clearing it of snow so drivers can carry on their journeys as needed.

The pedestrians of Bulgaria also make their own little snow footpaths by following each others tracks. This is quite a funny vision to behold as you only see everyone from their knees upwards walking through thinks snow.

My point to all this is how can a country that is wonderful yet not powerful like Bulgaria manage to achieve so much when mother natures plays her hand while the UK cannot when they never even see such quantities of snow during such cold temperatures?

Protected Fishing Zones

I have noticed in the news that a few countries have been looking in to the possibilities of setting up protected fishing zones, these zones would mean that in specific areas companies will not be allowed to fish. The idea behind this is to improve depleted fishing stocks which have become reduced in certain waters over the past few decades.

While these countries are really trying to help the environment and improve the chances of our future children having the ability of fish on their dinner menus it does seem that other countries are battling against these protected fishing zones due to monetary reasons.

The government of Croatia has decided that from the 1st January 2008 (yesterday) they will impose a protected fishing zone of fifty seven thousand square kilometres in the Adriatic sea to improve depleted fishing stocks that it says have become dangerously reduced by Italy over fishing in the waters.

While this is a great idea and would help improve levels of fishing stock Italy, Slovenia and other countries are opposing the protected zone. Italy is opposing the zone due to economy reasons as Italy catches 200,000 tonnes of fish stock per year, Slovenia on the other hand is opposing the idea due to unresolved sea border disputes.

Even the European commission has played a part in Croatia's decision advising that it could affect Croatia's plan to join the EU if they stop EU countries fishing in their waters.

I believe there is a great need for countries to start reviewing plans for protected fishing zones so we can see an increase in fish stocks. The problem faced when looking at this is that EU countries can fish in each othes waters and if one country places a protected zone in its waters other countries contest it.

May be it is time that the EU flexed its muscles from Brussels and worked with member states to create special exclusion zones so these disputes do not surface.