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Showing posts from June 12, 2016

LEWIS HAMILTON - YOU HAVE TO DO BETTER TO WIN THE BAKU GRAND PRIX !

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Lewis Hamilton has just made his chances of winning the Baku Grand Prix a lot more difficult than it needed have been, by carelessly hitting the wall and damaging his car, which has resulted, not only in him not securing Pole position, but coming 9th place on the starting bloc. And what does this mean for Hamilton? That his chances of winning the race has been diminished, by virtue of the fact that he has exposed himself to dirtier air, greater chances of getting caught up in any crashes, and has to contend with more hazards on a track which does not lend itself to loads of overtaking or being kind on drivers' errors. Put simply; Lewis Hamilton has screwed up his chances of giving himself an edge on winning the race. I support Hamilton, but, he is aware of the unknown and perilous nature of this new track which none of the drivers have experience of surfing before, which means that caution is a necessary requirement, and that Hamilton should have been both cautious and b

RUSSIAN ATHLETICS - OUT IN THE COLD UNTIL RUSSIA CLEANS UP HER ACT?

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Yes; you are being watched, so do the right thing, which is the honest thing. I  am not surprised that the IAAF has uphold its ban on Russian athletes taking part in the Rio Olympics, and, quite frankly, nobody, probably excluding the most arrogant of Russians, should have been surprised by the IAAF's action. I rrespective of what the reality is, the overwhelming perception is that there is massive corruption in professional and non-professional sports all over the world, and that some governments and national sports bodies are involved. S ports is extremely big business, so there are big incentives for corrupt sports men and women, the business people who support them. Some officials in some governments are dishonestly giving some of these sports people the added edge, through illegal and corrupt practices. The perception is that Russia is one of the countries which is involved in doing so, and it would appear that the problem is so big, that on

The Return of the Robin

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This is really a very, very short video of the Robin which returned, once, so far, to our garden, after having been absent for several weeks. Take a look!

THE SENSELESS AND TRAGIC MURDER OF JO COX CHILLS BRITAIN'S POLITICAL SOUL, BUT...

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When I heard about Jo Cox having been injured in a shooting incident, I was appalled, but, when, within a short space of time I gathered that she had actually died, I was shocked and deeply saddened that a young woman with such promise, should have had her life extinguished so callously. Even now, it is not quite clear as to the exact or detailed chronology of events which resulted in this tragedy. It is likely that the Police will know more details than they are making public, for understandable reasons. So, in the meantime, it is, as tends to be the case, people have to make do with some facts and a lot of speculation at present. The reports about the suspect who has been arrested, suggest that he has some extremist right wing political beliefs, and that he might have been acting alone. There are also some reports that he has and/or has had mental health issues  The old picture I have seen of this man, dressed in military fatigue, does struck me as being of a man who, for wh

A 'PROBLEMATISED' PERSPECTIVE OF THE WORLD PROMOTES A DISTORTED VIEW AND REALITY. PT.2

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Endeavour to acquire and maintain a balanced and healthy perspective of the challenges confronting you. We, especially in the West, have or are becoming accustomed to a culture which demands that 'life should be risk-free', including the inevitability of death. Every day thousands of children die tragically, which causes great despair and anguish to their parents and families. Imagine if all of these deaths were to be 'newsitised' or be cited in news bulletins? Imagine how negative 'a natural' event would be made into, and how it would adversely impact on people's emotional and psychological health, even though they would not be able to bring back one of those deceased children? It has, of course, been said that 'bad news is good news.' But we also are all aware that 'bad news' is usually harmful news, not only for the people 'who make it', or 'around whom it is made', but because of the collective unhappiness, pain an

A Short Video of the Top of Mount Snowdonia, Wales, UK.

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This is a very short video of the top of Mount Snowdonia, taken in May 2016 during a short stay in Llanberis, Wales, United Kingdom It was foggy on the day I visited, which restricts what I was able to see and its clarity. Enjoy, if you will and irrespective of the brevity of the video. I view of Padarn

A 'PROBLEMATISED' PERSPECTIVE OF THE WORLD PROMOTES A DISTORTED VIEW AND REALITY

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There are times when having 'a rose tinted view' of ones life is not the equivalent of emulating the ostrich, but a positive adjustment. Looking out of my kitchen window this morning, I was both surprised and delighted to observe a red-breasted Robin perched on a wooden frame in our garden. I have not seen a Robin for probably several weeks now, despite the fact that, the last ones I saw appeared to have been making a nest, before disappearing; leaving a sole egg in the nest. It is therefore understandable that I should have felt a sense of joy seeing one this morning. This sense of 'health-boosting' feeling was further added to, as the sight of the Robin led to me spend a few more minutes observing the 'everyday and season-specific beauty of our garden; all of which encourage a peaceful and healthy mindset. One can imagine that, nourished by such positive stimuli, the health of a person emotional and psychological state should improve, and manifest itself in

A JAMAICAN CHILDHOOD - FEARS, PUNISHMENT AND HAPPY TIMES. PT.6

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G rowing up in his native Jamaica, Shaka recalls that, although his life included a lot of adventurous exploits, joy and happiness, it had more than its fair share of feelings of insecurity and worry. He recalls that his feelings of insecurity, fears and unhappiness would relate to most, if not all areas of his life, including home life, school, leisure activities, and his emotional and psychological life. S haka spent his childhood in an age when it was normal or accepted for children to be beaten by their parents, older siblings and other adult relatives, and their teachers.  That being so, Shaka was always aware that if he misbehaved at home, he was liable to be beaten by his parent or his older brothers, depending on the seriousness and persistence of the misdemeanour, and there were times when his parent did beat him. Shaka can recall times when he used to be very angry with his parent and would swear and throw stones at his parent; which was not the wis

Starlings Feeding

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This is a short video of some Starlings and one or two Blackbirds having an early morning feed. Check it and see if it gives you any pleasure.

DEATH CANNOT BE DEFEATED BUT ITS IMPACT ON THE LIVING CAN REDUCED

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Probably everybody or most people can empathise with the feelings and actions of Barry Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp's father, as he related how he stuck his diabetes needle into his stomach and hands, in his attempt to comprehend the pain his daughter would/or might have had to endure, as she was killed by her boyfriend, Oscar Pistorius. Yes, those of us who are, presently, not having to endure Barry Steenkamp's emotional and psychological pain, might ask ourselves: why should any person have to put themselves thorough such an additional and, yes, avoidable pain, probably in the hope that, by sharing that terrible moment with our loved one who is no longer physically with us, we might help them and us to find some peace and be able to move on? I suspect that when many, if not all of us lose a loved person due to a tragic illness or disease, or the violent death which became Reeva Steenkamp's fate, our whole being comes into question, and we are confronted with a m

BRITAIN LEAVING THE EUROPEAN UNION, AND WHY ORDINARY PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW BETTER. PT.2

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Some might look for 'a sign', but.... With Britain due to have a referendum on whether the country should leave the European Union, the British people are confronted with probably as momentous and profound a decision as that of them having intervened in World Wars 1 and 2. It is a decision which requires them to show enormous maturity and grasp of what the economic, social, political and trade implications are, or could be.  However, while they have the evidence of the results of British membership of the Union, over the past decades, they only have the predictions, projections and promises (the 3 Ps.) of the Brexiter gurus on which to base any decision to Leave the EU. Confronted with the evidence of decades of membership, there has to be some concern that many of the British electorate might ignore or marginalise it, and use 'their gut feelings' to decide to vote for the country to leave the EU. The bigger concern is about what proportion of the electorate m

Waiting for the Robins - Sound Added

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It is said, that silence is golden, and although that might be true for those of us who have the faculty of sight, it is not necessarily the case. For people who are hearing and/or sight impaired, they have to learn to experience and make sense of the sighted and visual world in a way which the sighted and the hearing person does not.  This video has previously been posted, but without added sound; see whether the addition of sound adds or subtracts from any enjoyment you might elicit from it. I might also add that, for reasons not know, the Robins you see flitting to and from their nest in the conifer tree, has abandoned it.  Not sure if they have missed the 'breeding season.'

LEAVING THE EUROPEAN UNION - AND WHY ORDINARY PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW BETTER

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In general, both those British people who support their country remaining in the European Union, and those who want it to leave the EU, have some agreement about some of the things they do not like about being a member state of the European Parliament. Some of the negative or disagreeable things they share about Britain's membership of the EU, are that: 1. The European Union is too bureaucratic, and that this has lead to it being inefficient and costly, both to the Union itself and to its constituent member states. 2. That it unacceptably impinges on the sovereignty of its member states, by, eg, subordinating their Supreme Courts and Parliaments to the European Court and European Parliament. 3. That Britain is paying more money into the EU than it is getting out of it. 4. That it is compromising Britain's control over having her own immigration policy and implementing it as it deems fit. 5. There needs to be major reforming of the European Union. In addition t

ORLANDO MASSACRE :NO ESCAPE FROM THE MADNESS?

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Fifty dead and over 50 other humans have been slaughtered by one, yes, one deranged man who has sold his and his family's souls to the devil. The shock is nearly unimaginable, because none of us - except probably the human-shaped demons who have given birth to and murdering their way to maintain their sick ideology- can comprehend what could move an ordinary American- born guy of Afghan origins, to buy guns and ammunition and cold bloodedly slaughter his fellow Americans. Yes, what could move a person, an apparently decent human to take his basic and common humanity, his compassion, his love for his family and for himself, and, like a dirty underpant, chuck them into the rubbish or garbage bin, and take out his weapons and commit mass murder? How does a human prepare himself or allow himself to be prepared for such a crime against humanity? Yes, it behove and astound me.  You have to have some deep and profound defect in your psychological and neurological make-up, a v

CANADIAN GRAND PRIX- ROSBERG'S ROLE IN LEWIS' WIN

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Rosberg, at no fault to him, had a very torrid Canadian Grand Prix yesterday, and much commiserations to him for having attained only 5th place in the race and having his points lead over Lewis reduced to single figures. Once again, Lewis had a comparatively poor start to the race, with Sebastian Vettel having pulled 'McLaren Lewis'  - reference to the old days when Hamilton was racing for McLaren, and would dart out from third or second place on the grid, to overtake the pole racer at the very start of the race -on both Lewis and Rosberg and moved from third to first position within the first few metres of the race; stunning feat, Vettel! As I see it, Lewis' poor start compromised his race and also Rosberg's, although the corrective action which Lewis had to take, namely holding his ground and forcing Rosberg to bale-out on the run-off area, after both of their cars tyres came into forceful, but, fortunately, not damaging contact. This action, however, was e