Crucifixion Health Warnings!

It may sound very strange but it is very true, the Phillipine government has issued a health warning on the dangers of Crucifixion!

So what is this all about?

Well at Easter a large number of Catholic worshippers in the Phillipines practise self flagellation and even go as far as to practise crucifixion to show their faith and to rid themselves of any sins.

The Phillipine government have issued warnings saying that those who partake in crucifixion this Easter should get tetanus injections before the day and also make sure that all nails are disinfected as the nails are normally left in alcohol for a whole year.

It must be said that those who are crucified do live through the process but will have scars on their hands and feet showing where the nails are driven through. The nails are hammered through areas where there is no bone as not to severely damage the person being crucified.

One gentleman, a fishermonger in the Phillipines, will be crucified for the last time this year, making it his fifteenth time. The reason he took to crucifixion was due to his mother managing to get better from Tuberculosis 15 years ago.

In another interesting turn for crucifixion Coca Cola...yes Coca Cola has sponsored an event where an improvised Golgothas (the Biblical name given to the hill where Jesus was crucified) has been erected for people to flagellate and crucify themselves.

Prison Crowding - UK

The United Kingdom is reaching a critical stage in its prison service as jails have reached a status of overcrowding. The secretary of state for justice, Jack Straw, has recently urged Judges to start handing out fewer short sentences in preference to community service orders (Where the offender has to complete a specific amount of time working for the community).

Currently the population in the United Kingdom prison service is only 470 below its total capacity, which is a terrible situation as this means the prison service is roughly 99.5% full.

The government have seen this situation and have pledged to make another 2,500 spaces available in the prison service this year, but this situation has been coming along for a long time and was reported on a few years ago. I remember back in 2005 the government were looking at prison boats to easing the crowding in Her Majesty's Prisons.

I do wonder what the governemt has in store to reduce the crowding, will it give early release to offenders who have shown good behaviour or will the government look further in to the issue and try to find an alternative.

I have been thinking about a possible alternative and have a solution that the government could utilise effectively. The UK has many disused platforms in the north sea that gas companies once used to drill in to the earth so they could drill for gas. Could the government convert one of these huge platforms in to a high security prison, one where there is no escape besides via a helicopter arriving?

I think it would be great to use these disused eyesores on our landscape for something important, especially given that without using land on the greenbelt there is not much land left to start building new prisons.

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.

Who created terrorism?

Many would say the problem of terrorism we endure in today's society is a product of the east, but this is far from the truth with the United Kingdom and the United States of America being the two biggest creators of this horrible present day virus.

Many of you are probably thinking of present day western leaders who generated this west hating terrorism that is normally related to the world of Islam through the form of the Taliban and Al Qaeda but you are very wrong.

The issues we face from terrorism takes its roots from the decisions the UK and US took many years ago as you are about to find out.

The Baathist party of Iraq with whom Saddam Hussain raised to power gained control of Iraq in the late 1960's, at this time the US and the UK among other western countries were worried about the Baathist leadership. What these countries don't tell you is that from the late 1960's till the late 1980's right before the first Gulf war the UK and US were selling arms to Saddam Hussain a his party, this meant that when the Gulf war started Saddam Hussain army was equipped with UK and US weapons and were even wearing uniforms made in the United Kingdom.

In the early 1980's Russia (then the Soviet Union) started war in Afghanistan, this was at the same period of the Cold War between he Soviet Union and America which meant America were covertly helping the Afghan cause training and arming the people of Afghanistan against the Soviet forces. These Afghan people and others who were Muslim radicals from around the world who came to fight were known as the Mujahideen (translates as Muslims fighting a struggle through war) and were commanded by Mujahideen warlords rather than the Afghan government of the period....one of these Muslim radicals was a young rich Saudi named Osama Bin Laden.

America sent over many weapons, of which some were the latest in technology at the time, by doing this the Mujahideen managed to see off the Soviet forces. The problem with this was that after the war the Mujahideen warlords started a civil war as they fought each other for power.

The Taliban who were based in the south of Afghanistan (and north Pakistan) marched through Afghanistan and took control of Afghanistan from the feuding Mujahideen warlords.

It is also from this time that Osama Bin Laden is believed to have learnt the skills needed and the following of many fighters from the Afghan-Soviet war to build Al Qaeda in to an international alliance of radical Muslim's that are against America and anyone who supports them.

As you can see the UK and US trained and armed the people that are fighting against them now, not only this they also built Osama Bin Laden in to the person he is by training him and supporting him in building training camps throughout Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan war for Mujahideen soldiers.

A changing life

Over the last thirty years the lives of everyone in the western world, lead by the US and the UK, has changed dramatically to the point that surveys are showing many people are not as happy as they once were....but why I ask?

Back in the 1970's people were alot happier than they are now yet did not have the luxuries we have today, we didn't have the appliances we enjoy or the money we make. There are many reasons why this is but the main reason for this is due to the governments, media and businesses of this world.

Back in the old days people lived in an environment that was more relaxed and less money orinetated than today. Today see's us running around in the rat race at such a fast pace because of the pressure put on us by the jobs we do, this means we do not have time to enjoy our lives to the full and when we do find time to spend enjoying ourselves we encounter another problem.

The other problem is the fact that we are conditioned from a young age by advertising, today it is shocking to see the amount of adverts that are put in the middle of football matches and eve childrens educational programs. These adverts push adults and children alike to buy "the next best thing" or "the tastiest burger the world has seen".

This leads me nicely on to the next part of todays problems, this problem is the fact that today sees us using credit more than ever before to buy all these wonderful products that we desperately need...although our parents and grandparents survived more than well enough without them. It seems that financial institues are more than willing to lend money more than ever before meaning we suffer the stress of having to pay back all the money we borrowed for luxury items that we really didn't need.

Back in the old days we were allowed to enjoy our lives without the pressure endured in todays societies and if the governments of today in the western world do not act then we could see a huge meltdown in todays society as people find it harder and harder to cope.

The Putin Debate

Russia is the largest country in the world, in fact it is nearly twice the size of the second largest country Canada. Not only is Russia so vast in size it is also spread over Europe and Asia providing a gateway to both continents.

Russia - 17,075,400 square kilometres
Canada - 9,976,140 square kilometres

Putin has long been a leader that has split the thoughts of the western world because of his political stance and his distrust of governments from other countries.

Recent History of Russia

If we look back at history without going to far back we can see the Stalin regime of the second world war, a regime that is estimated to have killed forty million people (more than Hitler and Nazi Germany).

Post the second world war came the cold war with the Soviet Union and USA playing in competition of military superpowers causing tension across the world. The cold war lasted from the end of world war two to the early nineties when the former Soviet Union collapsed and its satellite states became independent once again.

From the fall of the Soviet era until recent times there had been a period of calm between Russia and western countries, but one man has started to change this....Vladimir Putin.


Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin is liked in Russia by the public as he has built up the Russian economy that failed under the break up of the Soviet Union under Boris Yeltsin, but this does not stop leaders outside of Russia watching him with caution.

Putin and Europe

During the row over Andrei Lugovoi who is suspected of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko in London, Putin went on record to say that British proposals were "a relic of a colonial-era mindset". This response was in relation to Britain wanting Andrei Lugovoi to be extradited to the UK for trial, which has caused issues as Russian policy does not allow any extradition of Russian nationals to other countries.

Putin and Russia have also been causing issues for former Soviet countries like Ukraine and Lithuania by stopping the flow of Gas to these countries due to issues with gas pricing.

Estonia has met the wrath of Putin's Russia by seeing cyber attacks happen on various government and prominent sites in the country due to Estonia's decision to remove a Soviet statue of the bronze soldier.

Vladimir Putin is also trying to restore the old Soviet Union view of Russia, one where it is independent and strong. To do this he has restarted cold war tactics like showing military presence world wide through long range bombing runs where bombers come close to the air authority of the UK and other allies.

Putin has also made it clear he wishes Russia to gain influence over its former satellite countries in Eastern Europe like Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and others even if these countries do not wish for it.

Putin has also started breaking down the pacts signed to stop military build ups on Russia's European border. Russia's view is that as European countries are supporting America by letting them use their land to support a missile defence shield, something Russia sees as a threat, they should be able to defend its borders more closely.

Putin and America

America is wishing to build a missile defence shield that will give a massive protection to America and her allies with Satellites and radar systems making up a huge network that is ready to intercept any threats from rogue States in the middle east.

As you can imagine Vladimir Putin is not happy with this as he sees it as a huge threat to Russia, due to this American and Russian ties have become strained. Due to a mind grown from the Cold war Putin believes America is building the missile defence shield as a way of neutralizing Russia's nuclear potential from a military stand point which is shown through a speech by Konstantin Kosachev (Russian Law Maker) ...

"if the Americans reject Russia's offer under some pretext, we will know for sure that their true goal is not only to stave off a potential threat from Iran or North Korea, but also to neutralize Russia's nuclear potential, which we could have assumed earlier."

Putin on home politics

There is also a belief that under Putin Russia has moved into an autocratic state with Putin controlling a lot of the media and those of the opposition being arrested and in some cases believed to be murdered (this is debated currently).

One thing is for sure, Putin will have to relinquish presidential power next year as Russian Constitution does not allow a president more than two consecutive terms in power. It does seem that Putin has already started putting things in to place to counter this as he is standing for Prime Minister and his party, through Putin, are putting forward someone who is relatively unknown and a friend of Putin's for presidency.

It is believed that the elections are biased and the outcome is already known before it happens with Putin becoming Prime minister and Putin's choice becoming President. Further beliefs are that Putin has rigged this so in four years he will be able to stand as president again while still retaining power over Russia in the interim period.

Summary

Europe and America keep a wary eye on Russia and Putin due to their volatile nature in politics and foreign policy BUT they also keep cordial relationships with Putin and his motherland....maybe the old saying is true, keep your friends close and your enemy's even closer.

When freedom of speech goes too far

Over half the countries in the world have some form of law that lets people exercise their freedom of speech, which I fully support BUT when does this go too far and something should be done to stop what is being said?

This is a difficult one to fathom as one could say that a law giving freedom of speech to the masses is not valid if it is still denying one portion of society the opportunity to air their views. Okay so what if for example an ultra nationalist is spouting off their views inciting racial hatred? This in turn causes mass riots, should this freedom of speech be stopped? In my view it should. Likewise if someone pro nuclear energy is talking about nuclear energy and a riot ensues between environmentalists and pro nuclear supporters, should it be stopped...well yes it should.

If this is the case then the issue arises again that you dont have real freedom of speech because if others dont like what you are saying and it causes civil unrest someone is censoring you meaning you dont have freedom of speech.

I am confusing myself as to whether freedom of speech should be allowed without rules and regulations or not......that is until I thought of the following point.

Once upon a time (1889) a young man was born in Austria to a working class family. As this young man grew up he was whipped by his father then was in the first world war as a runner for the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment.

Over time this young man became a German nationalist and joined the National Socialist German Workers Party otherwise known as the Nazi party. Due to freedom of speech and a strong mind this young man grew in stature and became the leader in German politics.....this man was Adolf Hitler.


Now due to the freedom of speech one has Adolf Hitler managed to control a nation, instigate a world war and cause the death of millions of people. If there had been some form of legislation giving rules on freedom of speech...would he have come to power, would their have been a world war...and would millions of innocent people have died in such awful conditions like the Jewish people in Bergen Belsen concentration camp? I think not....yet I still think their should not be rules on freedom of speech because then your still not free to talk.

Overall I have gone round in circles, while someone should step in when things turn fowl from one persons views, you still shouldn't stop them from airing their views no matter how much you don't agree.

A democratic twist

In an age where most of the western world lives in a democratic society, just how democratic are the countries we live in?

This question raised its ugly head as I lay here watching a television program about nomads in Kazakhstan who roam the lands with their animals living a peaceful, yet hard working existence. These people do not care for the politics of the world that we endure on a daily basis through taxes and various life changing decisions made for us by the powers that be.

What made me think about how democratic our election systems are is the facts that it seems politicians have the ability to make decisions that are against the policies which bought them to power and are also against the will of the people they serve.

Take Tony Blair for instance, when were the British people given the opportunity to have a say about the decision to go to war in Iraq, or George Bush and his decisions on foreign policy which a lot of the American population probably don’t even know about, let alone support.

It seems that we can democratically elect a person on the policies they wish to change. Once they are in power, if they have the majority of politicians support them, they can change the policy against what bought them to power of a whole country at the drop of a hat.

While I understand it is not always feasible to change policies that the people want, all we ask is that you are up front and tell us the truth instead of making decisions that affect our lives without consulting us first.