Posts

Showing posts from August 21, 2016

LEWIS, ROSBERG, KIM AND VERSTAPPEN - THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX: WELCOME BACK, GUYS!

Image
Here we go again, with tomorrow's Belgian Gand Prix leading off the second half of the Formula One season. Nico Rosberg has again taken Pole position, for the third consecutive Grand Prix, and is hoping to convert this one into a winner. Chances are that, on this occasion, the gods might well look favourably upon him and conspire for fate to be with him.  With his team mate, Lewis Hamilton, due to start the race from the back of the back of the grid, with a penalty, where Nico cannot even see him, Lewis is not really a contender in this race. Or so we might think. So much is he not a contender that, even if he were to drive masterfully, unless the gods were to declare him their darling, Lewis might have to count himself fortunate, if he ends the race better than, say 5th or 5th position. And what of Rosberg? Well, even starting on Pole does not guarantee Rosberg a win in this esteemed race; not with that young non-respecter of persons, Verstappen, looking over his sh

The Dancing Magpies - Music Included Version!

Image
This is a music accompanied  version of this video. Do take a look and see what you make of the difference, and enjoy, if you will.

A THOUGHT FOR NOW - RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF MUSLIMS OF THE WEST; A MATTER OF 'GIVE AND TAKE'?

Image
Like a flower garden with its striking flowers, so should humans endeavour to make our humanity, and not our differences, defines us. With the continuing controversy over  Islamophobia in the West, including those regarding the wearing or banning of the hijab and burkini, it seems relevant to ask the question: 'how many Muslims living in the West, say, in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, et al, would give up the individual freedoms they have in these countries and move to live in an Islamic or predominantly Muslim country, say, like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Bahrain, Somalia, Nigeria, et at? Where they could practice their religion, or, probably more accurately, live an Islamic way of life? Could it be that there are not many Muslims who would do so, because, for all of the West's secularism and prejudices and intolerance towards people of different cultures, ethnicities and religious faiths, it is still preferable to the austere, sometimes brutal,

Terremoto italiano - lì, ma per la grazia del destino! - THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF FATE!

Image
Natural environmental tragedies and catastrophe are events which humans and our environment have had to live with for thousands of years, with humans doing our best - although most probably not as much as we are capable of doing - to contend with and defend ourselves as best we can. When a catastrophe such as the recent earthquake which has devastated several Italian villages and towns, including those of Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata and Pescara del Tronto, we are required to take notice and feel a sense of sadness for the people who have had the misfortune of being dealt with so cruelly by fate. With over 200 people having reportedly killed and many more injured and probably thousands being left homeless and possessionless, this disaster is probably the most, or one of the most serious ones Italy has suffered in recent years. It is probably instructive that, even the massive flooding which Italy - and other European countries - has suffered not many years ago, had not res

The Dance of The Magpies!

Image
This is a short video of the 'dancing Mappies', which, as you might agree, is quite exquisitely done. Do take a look and enjoy, if you are so inclined.

Another View of Branston Water Park!

Image
Here is another view of Branston Water Park, accompanied with some pacey tune. Do take a look and see if it does anything for you, and have some not so quiet contemplative moments, if you will.

HUMANS AND THE CURSE OF THE 'CAINITE SYNDROME!'

Image
We humans are able to defy gravity, but not the curse of the 'Canite Syndrome', thus have we weaponised our ability to rise above the clouds. So, consider this; are we humans really the most self-hating and self-destructive of all or most species? Are we humans, of the self-perceived highest intellectually functioning primates, the ones who are more inclined to attack and inflict massive destruction on other humans, and to do so persistently and avoidably? Sure, it is the case that some mammals, such as Lions, will attack and kill the young of their 'newly conquered lioness, without a thought for the victims of their murderous action - probably much the same way as how the male of the human species things little of slaughtering the children and young men of the female of our specie.  The lions and lionesses, however, are perceived as of lower intellectual functioning than us humans; they are considered to be driven by their unsocialised and undeveloping

SO, WHAT IS TURKEY AND THE WEST UP TO? - OTHER THAN MACHIAVELLIANISM AT ITS MOST RUTHLESS?

Image
President Tayyip Erdogan and his Government, even after the attempted coup, remain very enigmatic. They are clearly up to something grand, but probably only few people really know what it is. With Turkey straddling the divide between East and West, between Islam and Christendom, and between Islamism and secularism, it is very likely that Erdogan's Turkey is aspiring to reclaim some of the influence and power it, as part of the Ottoman Empire, wielded in decades and centuries past know What is clear is that Erdogan's Turkey cannot achieve the objectives of its grand plan, without trying to get some key regional and international forces to play their roles. In order to bring this about, Erdogan considers it to be worth it for him to eat humble pies to appease his enemies, real and potential. Thus he has taken significant steps to re-establish tactical and strategic alliances of expediency with countries such as Russia, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Erdogan and h

The Gathering of The Pigeons

Image
This is a short video of several pigeons acting out some kind of late evening rituals. The video has been set to a pacey tune. View and enjoy; if you are minded to do so.

A THOUGHT FOR NOW -IF YOU WANT PEACE, PREPARE FOR WAR ("Si vis pacem, para bellum".)?

Image
Do you reap what you so? If you plan for war, do you reap war? If you plan and invest in peace, do you reap peace? 'If you want peace, prepare for war', is a much quoted saying, but one which is,in my opinion, idiotic and makes no sense at all. So, contemplate on this, that you have to prepare for war, if you want peace. What do you do, then, if you want war; prepare for peace? And how does a country prepare, or, rather, endeavours to have peace? Yes, it does it by preparing for war.  Of course not, what a country does when it wants to make war on its own people,  neighbours or perceived enemies afar, it prepares for war. Which would lay bare the perfidious nature of the saying.   If a country builds up its army and prepares for war, how is it going to resist the urge to test them out in battle? Yes, it makes no sense. The supposition that peace can  be achieved and maintained through military might is fallacious, because it either assumes that your army is going

THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIO - WHAT IF HILLARY CLINTON...

Image
Yes, with all this on-going enquiry into Hillary Clinton's email, and the baying of the Republicons, what if she were to be prevented from continuing with her campaign to become the next POTUS? An incredible amount of Fox News' resources is committed towards ensuring that Hillary Clinton is either prevented from completing her presidential campaign, or that she is unsuccessful in her bid. Normally it is the hounds that are after the Fox, but, in an ironic fashion, it is The Fox which is after Hillary Clinton, and there is absolutely no doubt that it, and its Republicon masters, are committed to ensuring that Hillary Clinton  is, at best, badly mangled, and at worse, is denied the prize of becoming President of the United States. Yes, we are, it seems, in for a 'Dilma Rousseff Syndrome' situation, in which powerful political and business interests conspire to remove from the political landscape, an otherwise powerful female icon. Now, do not imagine tha

A THOUGHT FOR NOW - US HUMANS; WHAT DO WE DESIRE MOST?

Image
The things and experiences we get most of our pleasure from, are probably the 'simplest things in living.' So, what do we human beings desire most in our living? Is it to be loved and if so, by whom do we wish o be loved? Is is by a parent, a sibling or relative whom we fear do not love us or love us enough? Or is it by people we look up to but whom, we fear, are not seeing or being aware of us? Of do we desire to have the love of someone, the thought, the presence, the touch and the feel of whom would or makes our heart flutters, tremulous and become over-excited? Or is it wealth, a massive abundance of money and of property that we desire most? And what of great power, the power over the lives of fellow humans, of nations and empires, is this what we humans desire most? Or is it happiness that most of us desire most, and, if so, what do we mean by 'happiness'? Is it the love of someone who is able to make our heart flutters and makes us over-