Everyone's p*ssing God off

Ever feel....like you're being torn apart by unseen forces of filth and purity and everything in the middle and you just want to run away from it all?

Like everything's unwinding, everyone's unravelling and nobody will listen?a

Feeling absolutely sick, every corner there's people making it worse. Feeling covered in it.

Lone Wolf

Every night atop the rock
He sits and waits and watches.

The valley below is lush and green
Full of life, both seen and unseen.

His eye is keen and is strikes the land
A sign of life, a fellow beast.

A chance to share himself at last
A hope for community.

The nights slip by and his coat is wet
The rains they come and go.

Unshared storms and sunny days
An unseen ark has stolen his mob.

Alone and dark he sits
King of silence, Master of the blowing wind.

The keen eye grows slowly pained and sad
Even the mighty suspect they have lost.

But every night he still keeps his post
Ignoring wind and rain and fire.

How long will he stand?
How many nights without a sign?

No pack, no community.

Dance mat = your own music

Any more for any more?

www.entertainmentwise.com/review?id=21951

The first ever console dance mat game where you can actually dance to YOUR OWN music.

Hurrah!

Fallen in the rain sunk city

High and wide, the invisible wall
That seperates us,
Reaching up and out,
Stretching about,
No matter the hammer
It stands tall and stout.

Nothing I say can dent it,
Everything I do does nothing.
Pain wells, frustration within me
Rings like bells.

What can I do? If I push you,
You'll run.
I am too forceful, I know.
Yet does my own suffering mean nothing?
Should I cheat to fill what I seek?
How can I, when such a thing
Is as alien to me as happiness seems to be to you?

I want so badly, contact. Friendship.
I want to see you glad to be near me.
I need to feel wanted, desired.

Right now there is an empire of sheer dirt,
That I stand within, getting hurt.
Again and again,
I insist that steel catches my arm,
Blood flows and I grimace,
Blaming others, but myself.

Why can't I just say 'I need you, and I can't actually take it any more'?
Why is that so hard?

Why do I assume they'll always run?
Perhaps I am used to alone.

No more do the words ring,
No more does the smile light me day.
No more can I walk to work smiling,
Knowing it worked. Knowing.

I take pride in what is mine.

Now I feel like a super hero sitting,
Crouched in a broken city
Dark skies rolling around
And helmet casting falling rain to the ground.
He sighs as the rain beats a rythym,
The rythym of sadness.

He failed. He didn't save anyone.
He was too late, too slow to react.
He didn't stop the dark,
He couldn't save her.

Now he is alone, left in the ruins to consider
The running fields of grass that might have been
His, theirs, to rule and to live in.

What is the point of being Master,
When you are Master of nothing?

A bit of an email debate

I put Will's response at the top, followed by Dave since he was responding to Will, rather than me writing two emails and being spammy :) I decided not to re write my former response again to Dana's response, since essentially she was passing off a one-line opinion and really, I don't want to argue about a one-line viwepoint with anyone right now :) We don't agree, but that's fine because neither of us is holding a flaming ladder!

> I think the issue is simply, you don't *have* to have the traditional
> nuclear male unit / female unit / child unit(s) family to raise a happy,
> stable kid.

You don't *have* to do a lot of things but there are testable, provable methods of doing things which work better MOST of the time. To ignore these things is just down to what WE want at the end of the day and is not in the best interests of the child, is it? We have drifted from the original point which was should lesbian/gay/single people get FREE IVF treatment on the NHS?

I say no because of all the reasons stated; the unfairness because of the long wait medially-struggling couples have to go through, the liklihood that any of the above could use a free avenue, the self funding issue for 'social convictions' and of course the fact that male/female couplings are still to the very best of my understanding, the best way to raise children, and should therefore have the backing of the NHS for purely factual, scientific reasons if nothing else.

This was not intended to be about 'can gay/lesbian/singles' be good parents or even parents on equal terms with male/female married or co-habitors? But interestingly, that is what it's immediately turned into, which is actually an educated things since it is an underlying issue within the original issue. But on that, the moral and faith-based arguments ARE going to come out to join the secular arguments.

> The things you're fretting about seem mostly to be public opinion . . .
> yeah that's gonna matter to some kids, but others (I think George is a
> fair example) wouldn't give a hoot. After all, she's a girl and she's
> given herself a boy's name - she doesn't care, why should anybody else?

Do you have ANY IDEA the amount of bullying that I went through because of the way I looked, who I hung out with, my name, the fact I liked football and not netball (the most - I loved most sports), my choices? Saying idiots don't matter is a nice mantra from a position where you no longer have to go into school and BE that kid who everyone bullies, but when you are there, don't say it doesn't matter because it does. We do need to keep this in perspective and respect the child's right to a healthy life where possible. Parents should be thinking first of the child and not of their own selfish urges, anyway. That's my opinion but yes, it would be nice if in secondary issues such as name-giving and what we dress like, there could be more charity. But the other side of the same coin is let's not become rosey spectacled in doing so and pretend problems that really do exist aren't there.

George's answer to 'George is a boy's name!' was always 'No it's not. George is MY name'.

> The important thing is that the child is loved, cared for and educated.> As long as that happens it'll grow up fine, whoever its family is.

Nope. You can give all those things and still raise a hellraiser, there's more to it than just that - I was raised lovingly on paper but had several shrinks and was told I was a pyromaniac, psychotic, a tad megalomanic and something else I forget now. What happens to you within your peer group also massively effects how you are raised. There is a good book about this I have somewhere downstairs.

Also, the child would appear to be more likely to be stablly raised in a married household with a female and a male present, and as I said, this is actually about giving NHS money, tax payers money, to people who want to have IVF but don't want to have sex as a first option. I don't care if they feel they can't or they just won't, the fact is why should I fund their choice? They can fund it and if I meet that child or they walk into my office, I'll treat them equally as a human being and offer them love and choices. But many won't, because they don't have my moral convictions concerning loving one another. We need to see the entire pictue I think and all of the issues, not just get political.

I believe NHS funding should be there to offer life threatening conditions free treament for all, so that poverty doesn't mean as it does in Romania, you die. Cancer, HIV, all of that lot and many other lesser conditions too. I do not believe we should be giving this vital funding away to people who feel they have the right to have a baby but they don't want to have sex to get one. I am sorry but that's how I feel. That money is for /sicknesses/, not choice-based things like baby shopping.

>the people on the receiving end care what the idiots of the world think - I sure did at school as a kid - hindsight is easy, and completly irrelevent. Children will care - what you are putting forward is what you think and reckon and what would matter to you - what I was attempting to put forward is whats going to matter to a kid in a situation where logic wont be worth crap all. It WILL bother children who are growing and tahts that.

I do agree with Dave here, which is rare since we often are on opposite sides of most debates :)

>I also do not doubt a lesbian couples ability to love a child - I do however doubt their ability to cover all bases in the raising of a child, ESPECIALLY a son.

Agreed, though here we're slipping into another topic, which would be 'Can gay/lesbian/single households raise children equally well as male/female households?'

>I purposfully used the word prefable in the last email - so im saying i dont think lesbian/single/gay people are in capable. Its important you realise I dont think they are incapable. But im not going to go against all sense and say that its a better way to raise a child, it quite BLATANTLY isnt for the reasons I have illustrated.

What upsets me is that we are in fact forcing our morality therefore on to the NHS and onto these children, by stating that we are free to have children no matter who or what we are and that is our position. I am saying fine - if you feel that strongly about raising a child, adopt for goodness' sake OR have one naturally. That's what the rest of us tend to do. Why should any group get SPECIAL rights?

I will always support //any// family unit if they need support ... once they exist. Dana for example (and I hope she won't mind it being said here) is currently a single Mum and she needs support and all that kind of stuff, because it's right to help those who need help. Charity should be something we ALL strive to support and take part in, we should all be charitable. But helping actively to CREATE these situations - say giving someone in Dana's situation free IVF to have another child now, I believe would actually be immoral and forcing a certain brand of liberal morality onto the NHS and onto the soon to be born child.

On the other hand, if Dana finds herself a nice man and decides to have a family again in the future, there's nothing wrong with that AT ALL, if both parents decide to start a family. The same goes for a single man who has a child right now. I think that needs to be said to clarify exactly what's being discussed here - it's not some sort of 'leave the wierdos to die!' policy, it's about how we spend our NHS funding and who we give it to and why.

“I cannot teach anyone anything, I can only make them think.”--- Socrates

Steve pulled barb out of chest before death

http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=870270

"Croc Hunter" pulled barb out of chest before death

By Michael Perry

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Fatally injured by a stingray, Australian "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin pulled its serrated barb out of his chest before losing consciousness and dying, the world-famous naturalist's manager said on Tuesday.

Video footage of the attack shows Irwin swimming above the stingray on the Great Barrier Reef on Monday when it lashed out and speared him in the heart with its barbed tail, manager John Stainton told reporters.

"It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here (in the chest)," Stainton said after watching the footage.

"He pulled it out and the next minute he's gone. The cameraman had to shut down," he said.
"It's a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die ... it's terrible."

Irwin, 44, the quirky naturalist who won worldwide acclaim as TV's khaki-clad "Crocodile Hunter", was filming a new documentary off Australia's northeastern coast when he was attacked.

Marine experts say stingrays can deliver horrific, agonising injuries from the toxin-laden barbs, which can measure up to 20 cm (8 in) in length and cause injuries like a knife or bayonet.

"The strongly serrated barb is capable of tearing and rendering flesh," said Dr Bryan Fry, deputy director of the Australian Venom Research Unit.

"It's not the going in that causes the damage, it's the coming out where those deep serrations kind of pull on the flesh, and you end up with a very jagged tear which is quite a pronounced injury," Fry said.

News of Irwin's death shocked Australians and Irwin's millions of fans around the world. Prime Minister John Howard interrupted parliament on Tuesday to pay tribute.

"He was a genuine, one-off, remarkable Australian individual and I am distressed at his death," Howard told parliament.

"We mourn his loss, we're devastated by the tragic circumstances in which he has been taken from us and we send our love and prayers to his grieving family," he said.

"CRIKEY"

Environmental documentary maker Ben Cropp said video of the attack showed Irwin swimming alongside a bull stingray, probably weighing around 100 kg (220 lb). His cameraman was filming in front of the ray, which became frightened and lashed out.

Stingrays are usually placid and only attack in self-defence.

Stainton said the cameraman only became aware of the attack when he noticed Irwin bleeding.
Millions had seen Irwin flirt with death many times as he stalked and played with crocodiles, sharks, snakes and spiders. Stainton said he was struggling to come to terms with the fact that a stingray had killed his friend.

"There's been a million occasions where both of us held our breath and thought we were lucky to get out of that one," Stainton said. "But he just seemed to have a charmed life."

Police said they had examined the footage and would prepare a report for the coroner appointed to determine the cause of death.

Film star Russell Crowe called Irwin the "ultimate wildlife warrior", adding: "He was the Australian we all aspire to be. He touched my heart. I believed in him. I'll miss him".

Known for his catchphrase "Crikey" during close encounters with animals, Irwin made almost 50 documentaries which appeared on the cable TV channel Animal Planet.

U.S.-based television company Discovery Communications, which produces Animal Planet, said it would set up a conservation fund in honour of Irwin, dubbed in one tribute a "modern-day Noah", and planned a marathon showing of his programmes.

Discovery said the footage of Irwin's fatal dive might never be broadcast.

Australian newspapers paid tribute to Irwin on Tuesday, while fans including American tourists laid wreaths outside his Australia Zoo in tropical Queensland state.

"We thought he was Superman, that he was indestructible," said an editorial in Sydney's The Daily Telegraph.

"We were wrong"

(Additional reporting by Paul Tait in SYDNEY)

The truth about Victory

It's taken me a while to settle back into the idea that he loves me. Not a feeling but a choice; a decision.

I know that He loved me all along, the whole time, but he?

He let me down. Shattered my illusions. My castle was breached for a time.

But there was one thing the enemy didn't see coming, one thing that no whore could predict or make a plan to combat ...

Splatter blood love. Fierce love. Fighter's love. Cross love. Scream love. Anvil-to-the-head love. Tears love. Unconditional love. Weeping love. All-healing, all forgiving love.

Agape love with a red streak that drips slowly.

On the rocks, with a twist.

The castle spewed out the ravaging forces like so much cheap garbage and left them lying in a pool of their own blood - yes you, it, they FELL. The last thing this 'enemy' will see is the sole of our boot and six eyeballs filled with disgust and no forgiveness, because we are called to forgive everything but one thing - SIN itself.

I love people - but I hate sin. I see what it does in lives and I hate it. If it was manifest in flesh form, I would do everything within my power to kill it.

Only someone beat me to it, and One who could go all the way. One who would not fall for anger and fight sin with sin ...

Thank God for Jesus. Thank You LORD that You did not fall, but You attained the victory over sin.

Thank You Jesus, for being You.

I love You.

---*PS: Sorry if this has offended or hurt anyone, but sometimes when I write passionately, I cry and I just say exactly what I feel, believe or see.