Archive for the ‘Interesting’ Category
October 17th, 2006
Is it just me or has the world gone just that little bit madder? The past two morning’s I’ve woken up to the usual radio wake-up call only to be greeted by stories of Madona adopting a baby. Fair enough, I guess this may be news worthy, but the “top story” for two days in a row? It just all seems a little excessive, when, as Neil in our office put it…
There’s some ******* in North Korea building Nuclar weapons
I guess it’s the westerns worlds obsession with celebrity, but where does this come from? People traditionally are famous for being good at something (or very bad), but where does the obsession with random people “off the telly” come from? Appreciation of a person is, it seems, no longer related to their net-worth to society.
What I am asking is this: Are we, as a society, dumbing down with our seemingly unending obsession with celebrity? Or is this just a phase we’re going through, a bit like flop-wallpaper or clogs?
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October 11th, 2006
I’m at a bit of a loss of opinion on the whole Nuclear testing “thing” that’s been hitting the headlines the last few days. There’s an uproar, and rightly so I think, but Korea’s purpose in all this still remains a mystery to me.
Apparently now Kim Yong-nam says there will be more testing unless the US change it’s “hostile” policy towards them.
To me all this political wrangling smacks of desperation on the part of North Korea (were these tests even real?) who maybe feel (and possibly rightly so) somewhat bullied by certain other countries. Agreed the US (or the UK for that matter) shouldn’t be the worlds police force, but I for one would sleep a little easier with less nuclear weapons in the world, rather than more.
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August 4th, 2006
Having just read a news report on the men who hijacked a Boeing 747 in Afghanistan in 2000 I’ve been thinking about the question of why it’s such a mine field of red-tape to grant people seeking asylum leave to stay in Britain.
These men were obviously so desperate to get out of their country they were willing to risk a substantial prison sentence. It would be very easy to lump everyone who comes to the UK into one category and say that we should give them shelter from the evils of whatever regime is the controlling power in their country, but as Home Secretary John Reid points out this position is thwart with dangers.
I continue to believe that those whose actions have undermined any legitimate claim to asylum should not be granted leave to remain in the UK
You can see his point. Everyone must be judged on their own merits. While desperately wanting to offer a safe haven for those people who’re at risk in their own country’s, the UK simply doesn’t have the resources to cope with everyone in search of what may be perceived as a better life.
My personal feelings on the matter are somewhat different, having witnessed people going through the political wranglings and heart ache of desperately trying to get permission to stay in this country which had been their home for a substantial number of years. Very often they have made a life for themselves, and have established friends and family, and are settled, just to be told that they face the possibility of being returned to a country where they could face persecution. I definitely think something needs to change, but as usual I’m at a loss to know what.
Maybe the way forward is to let those people who face even the tiniest risk of danger in their home country stay and be part of our community, a full British citizen. Let them contribute to our economy, let them work and pay their taxes. I know this is a very simplest answer compared to the complexity of the problem, but it seems to me that for an “enlightened” nation we should be offering the hand of friendship.
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July 18th, 2006
I work in a little village just outside of Lichfield called Kings Bromley. Usually it’s a sleepy little place, the local pub only opens 4 days a week. But yesterday afternoon, I looked up from my desk to see this…
Within minutes our usually quiet little lane had become packed with cars and people all clammering to get a look at what apparently was a major event for Kings Bromley. By now the fire had spread beyond what you can see in the photo, but I decided that if I didn’t get out now, I may never leave. Not because of the fire (although it was massive, and the noise it made was awesome) but just the shear volume of people.
When I (eventually) pulled on to the main road, and made my way back along past the fire there was about 20 cars stopped trying to get a glimpse of what was going on. By now there were about 6 fire engines, plus some guy with a vat of water on a trailer (I dunno what he thought he could do with that).
This morning there was no sign of the festival like atmosphere of last night, just a sad smouldering mess in the top field. Still, I guess the ground will be mega fertile now…
Update: As the fire damaged the power-lines, I got the afternoon off!
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April 24th, 2006
There is a legend living in Walsall. His name is Vic and he is the guy who (with others) established Walsall Community Church. Nowadays you’re more likely to find him in some far flung place spreading the Gospel.
I want to share with you a story he told us Sunday morning. I want to share it because it’s an amazing story. I for one sometimes don’t realize just how awesome these things are that Vic brings back from his travels. It’s God moving and doing things today that the apostles were writing about nearly 2000 years ago.
Vic was travelling on a train, in a typical Indian carriage packed with hundreds of people. Just the sort of thing you see on TV travel shows, people clinging on where they could. It was to be about a three and a half hour journey, so Vic settled down with his lap top to make the most of the time by doing some writing.
The people on the train were fascinated by this, some of them were farmers and had never seen a computer before. Very soon a large crowd had gathered, and were shouting random questions to Vic about what this thing was. Vic, being an enterprising bloke, and never one to pass up an opportunity decided to show them a presentation he had about the Passion movie. The crowd, now about a hundred or so, were fascinated. It took time to go through each of the slides as information about what was going on was translated and passed back through the train to the people who couldn’t see.
One he had finished, Vic asked if there was anyone who was sick. A question that was met with confused silence. Then one man shouted from the back, “My daughter is sick, and she is here now”. As they fought their way towards Vic, it was obvious that she had a paralyzed arm, her fist was tightly clenched and the arm was hanging useless by her side. She had been injured in an accident two years previously, and had been like this ever since.
Vic started to pray for her. Gradually, she started to move her fingers, and then raise her arm. By the time Vic had finished, she was waiving her arms up and down, beaming from ear to ear. The dumbfounded father couldn’t believe what had happened. His daughter had been completely healed!
Not only had the little girl been given back the use of her arm, over a hundred people had witnessed the power of God.
Make of this what you will. It’s just one of many amazing stories Vic (and many, many more people) have of healing and the power of God. Some of you may be shocked by this, some of you may dis-believe it, some of you may even have seen this kind of thing happen. My point is that this thing does happen. Awesome? Certainly.
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February 8th, 2006
This is from an article published in “Housekeeping Monthly” 13th May 1955. My, how things have changed…
- Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favourite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.
- Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
- Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
- Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.
- Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc. and then run a dust cloth over the tables.
- Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
- Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimise all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.
- Be happy to see him. (surly this one should still apply?)
- Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him. (oh, and this one.)
- Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
- Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.
- Your goal: try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquillity where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.
- Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.
- Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.
- Make him comfortable. Make him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
- Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
- Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.
- A good wife always knows her place. (yeah, dealing with a lot of pent up aggression…)
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January 26th, 2006
Crystal Skulls have been fascinating me for ages: The fact that they exist at all is enough to keep me interested, but a little digging uncovers an amazing history of the skulls…
In 1924 British explorer F.A. Mitchell-Hedges and his daughter Anna were on an expedition to the ancient Mayan ruins of Lubaantun, in Belize (then British Honduras), searching for evidence of Atlantis. One day Anna had walked off from her father and was rummaging inside a structure believed to have once been a temple when she found the cranium of a beautifully crafted crystal skull. It was lacking it’s jawbone, but this was found a few months later by another team in the area. Weather this story is true or not; later evidence showed that F.A. Mitchell-Hedges may have brought the skull at an auction in London in 1943, the skull is certainly real.
In 1970 the skull was given to Hewlett-Packard Laboratories for extensive study, what they found was quite startling. The artifact appears to have be carved from one solid piece of quartz crystal, a difficult task in itself, but this one is carved against the natural grain of the crystal. Even using modern techniques such as laser carving it would be virtually impossible to create such an object without shattering the crystal.
Even more bizarrely further tests on the skull revealed no microscopic scratches anywhere on it’s surface, which would have been present if it had been carved with metal instruments. Experts theorise that the skull may have been roughly hewn out with diamonds then meticulously worn away to create the detailed features using a solution of silicon, sand and water. The same experts also calculated that to create the skull in this way (if possible at all) would have taken work amounting to over 2.5 million man hours (around 300 years of work).
One researcher for HP is renowned to have said “The damned thing just shouldn’t be”.
This is perhaps the most mysterious of the skulls, there are others but none of them match the amazing detail displayed in the Mitchell-Hedges Skull. There are those that dedicate themselves to the research of the skulls, and the “history” of the skulls origins. Have a look if your interested, I’m not going to go into too much detail here.
Things like the crystal skulls remind me that the world can turn up many surprises: There is still so much we don’t know about the world. By our very nature we are inquizative creatures, and thank God we are. I really can’t imagine living in a world where we could explain everything, what would be the fun in that?
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