Forum brings out the anti-religious, hype following mob again

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=2761&edition=1&ttl=20060727122904

Some of the comments on here are insulting, anti-religious and downright rude. No matter what your view, have the decency to put it forward with decorum and a decent argument, or say nothing.

Linking wars with stem cells is merging issues and elephant hurling. Personally I see adult stem cell use going so well and potential use of umbilical cord cells as a scientific, secular reason for not funding embryonic stem cell research.

But how often do you hear this in media?

Never.

Water

http://news.uk.msn.com/blistering_britain.aspx

I read this and I have a rant to make. The following is a rant-speak. If you do not enjoy such things, look away now.

If we weren’t so busy in this country we could cope with the heat. It is the fact that our economy is built around a rat race mentality which doesn’t allow shorter working days, siestas, and time spent in the shade. Bills would fall and the need to work every hour God sends us would change due to the savings made to users in terms of energy prices for air con and mineral water, bathing etc.

I believe that if we operated as many hotter countries such as Malta & Greece do, we would be fine. It is our rigidness and inability to accept changed behaviours in the heat wave months of July and August that screw us over. We also do waste water and better investment into improving the pipe system and storing up water in wetter, winter months must be initiated. Face it, we had one of the wettest winters EVER this year and now we’re facing a drought? That’s insane.

The only downside to copying behavioural patterns of more third and second world countries in the heat wave months here would be that these nations cannot compete economically at the top of the food chain as it were, because of their lifestyle and other factors – but lifestyle is a factor. Admittedly by adopting some of these measures, we would become less competitive.

Stand pipes would be terrible, but really teach a few people lessons about what we have ‘the right’ to and what we don’t. In this country, basically speaking, you can get anything so long as you’re willing to pay for it or bitch enough for it. We’re spoilt, really, if you look on a global scale.

This generation has never been told NO, never been rationed for anything. The closest thing we’ve had is the odd hose pipe ban and many people openly flaunt that in ‘the right’ of their flowers to be watered, I even heard one radio show host advertising tips for how to flaunt the hosepipe ban in one area, when he had a guest on the show openly saying ‘screw the ban, I’ll do it because I have just bought some little pines and I wanna’ water those in case they wilt’.

Whilst I hate water bans and stand pipes as much as the next person, it’s attitudes like this one above that cause these water wasting issues half the time and mean the rest of us have to pick up the tab for greedy persons who feel they are somehow above the law. It may suck but if there is water rationing here, I for one will observe it. Not because I want to, but because to do otherwise would be anarchistic.

-=George=-

UK exclusive, first hands-on Wii play!

For UK gamers interested in the Wii, the first UK hands-on play was yesterday and here’s a brief report on said experience from your very own Kim Kaze:

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news?id=19416

I Used To

I used to think I was a fighter.
I used to think I was a man.
I used to think I was the greatest story teller.
I used to think fact was fiction.
Or was it ... ?

I used to see people as shadows,
I used to think hands were a fist.
I used to hate rules and boundaries,
I used to have everything missed.

I used to feel thin and intelligent,
I used to be hard and secure.
I used to lead gangs and sound elloquent,
I even decided to score.

I used to play sports and go out in the sun,
I used to ride bikes and build dens.
I used to create ways for friends to have fun,
And I used to get trapped in dead ends.

I used to think I was not wanted.
I used to be insecure.
I used to be violent.
I used to think I was gay.

I used to have no idea what a Mother was,
I used to despise a Father.
I used to see God as a boss who I'd prove myself to.
What else is there to say?

I wasn't gay. I wasn't hard. I wasn't sick, I wasn't a fool. I wasn't easy, I wasn't stupid.I wasn't clever, I wasn't the one, I wasn't stuck, I wasn't a guy and I wasn't alone.

I was George, I was planned, I was given to a Man, I was woman, I was smart enough to do what needed to be done, I was able to have fun, I was able to think for myself, I was able to enjoy human company, I was healed, I was set free. I could feel the wind on my face and hear birdsong. The warmth of a spring evening caused me to stretch out my toes as I lay on the bed, in the shade of the blood-red curtain.

Free to live, not to rely on a moment in the past when it all become so clear.
Free to walk onward, feeling pain and joy, anger and happiness, sadness and authority within and without. A struggle of worthy motion. Mud feels alive when it's squirting between trudging toes.

I used to be a chance waiting to spin and just happen.
Just take place.
Lust, desire, self pity, anger, resentment
Finally giving in and wondering why this 'peace' feels so ... empty?
Like a timebomb waiting to explode and take my life.

I chose no accidental stream of situations.
I chose something else.
Trudge, mud, squirt, ow.
There's that wind - I am alive.
I hurt, because I live.
There was blood on my hands and I chose to wipe it off.
Given the choice - wade in or wipe,I wiped.
Someone was still right.
I cried, I lamented,
Someone was still right.
I chose to follow Him.
I chose to believe.

Stay in the stream, because I used to be a lake and lakes don't run, they just dry up.

New start, old lies?

Life's funny like that.
It shoves you face flat
Out on the ground.
Just when you think you've seen everything,
You haven't seen anything.

Tomorrow is a new beginning.
A chance to work towards a better tomorrow.

What does it matter
When people are hurting,
Misunderstanding?
Turning, twisting, writhing?
When there's an enemy;
Sick and dirty
Stalking my friends and my foes,
Those I know and those I don't know.
Consuming
Confusing
Collecting heads.

Playing the same game,
Just dealing new hands.

He doesn't care who he hurts,
Nor whom he kills.

A Marriage or a Mother,
A lifedream or a Brother,
The pages or the cover,
Blood splatters,
Nothing matters.

I stand against you.
I show you this Sword.
Yes I may be weak.
Yes your lies are strong.
Yes the weak have given in
BUT!

'I can do ALL THINGS through Christ, who strengthens me'.

That's the end.
There is nothing else that needs to be added.
It's going to be over,
In His time,
You'll fail,
In His time.