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Archive for the ‘Serious Stuff’ Category

With the events in Haiti and of course Chile yesterday you may have noticed in the news just how many fake charities are springing up. It never ceases to amaze me how con artists get away with it, and how in hell do they manage to look themselves in the mirror. They aren’t necessarily stealing from the donors – the theft is really from the poor individuals caught up in these situations and disasters.

Good natured and good intentioned people are suckered into believing the credentials of these bogus organizations. Please, please, please if you haven’t heard of an organization before either don’t give to them, or at least do some proper research as to their history to check out they are who and what they say they are! If in doubt, don’t take any chances and donate your gift to an internationally recognised charity like the International Red Cross… Take no chances – make sure your donation reaches the needy and doesn’t just land in the bank accounts of people who are in effect conscienceless child killers! Read the rest of this entry »

We’re usually pretty light-hearted on this site. But watching Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s doctor being charged with manslaughter really got me angry. From day one, before there was any evidence whatsoever – the died in the wool Jackson fans have been baying for his blood.

If there’s any justice in the world this will soon be over and Conrad Murray will walk away a free man. It doesn’t take much supposition or digging to find out that Jackson was taking drugs from other sources too… No point going into the details here – it’s all over the press for any clear thinking rational individual to see.

The reality is that given that his tour was set to make half a billion, or whatever figure they put to it – the promoters, family and all the other parties who stood to gain, have to blame somebody. They need someone to sue for their perceived losses. Would they have been so worried if he had died a year later after inflating their profits and inheritances.

What a farce the American justice system is. Here’s an alleged (sic) paedophile who got away with (allegedly) abusing children through out of court settlements. And, his die hard fans genuinely believed his innocence – because they thought he was such a genius he couldn’t possibly have done it. Blind devotion… (probably the same confused individuals who managed to convince themselves that OJ was innocent.

Most reasonable thinking people see the man for what he was – a seriously screwed up, drug soaked, (alleged) child abuser… And, believe it or not, most of us didn’t consider him a musical genius either!

Free Conrad Murray! Let it drop! Read the rest of this entry »

Every now and then we do deal with some serious topics on this site… This is one of them! I wonder how many people reading this actually know how to administer CPR?

Perhaps many people think they do, but if it came to the crunch do you really know? It’s a basic piece of knowledge we should all be equipped with – and, trust me, having seen it on TV shows is no substitute for proper training. And, even if you have been properly trained how, you need to check your information from time to time – guidelines change.

As a starter, this video is well worth looking through (further on there is a real life example).

Personally, I think CPR (and basic first aid), should be taught as a requirement in schools around the world from a very early age. Every kid knows how to call 911 – but how many without the help of a 911 operator would have the knowledge to keep someone alive in an emergency? Hell, why couldn’t we give them an annual refresher course too – so that by the time kinds leave school the basics of lifesaving are second nature to them? Imagine how many lives could be saved? Read the rest of this entry »

Last night I was sat listening to the Muslim prayers – the Salah on television – don’t ask – and it struck me how really quite poetic they are. It reminded me of a time I walked into a cathedral with a Russian friend (somewhat relevant given the mention of Stalin below) and heard a choir rehearsing parts of Mozart’s Requiem, extremely haunting with just two of us stood in the place and the choir out of site.

I’m not religious, I am seriously not religious – I have loathed organised religion since I was capable of free thought. I can’t stand the notion of faith in a higher being, I can’t stand the way it is used to control people, and I really can’t stand that its followers actually believe that I’m the stupid one. But hey, I can give as good as I get when it comes to that one. However, I have to admit that the various religions have given the world some things of real beauty in terms of architecture, art, poetry and music. It’s a pity they couldn’t have done the same for society. Read the rest of this entry »

I was thinking to myself the other day about ‘what if’s’ like what would happen if everyone found out god never existed, or what would happen if the hadron collider blew up, and more realistically what would I do if I was caught up in a serious incident and how would I behave.

I’m going on the presumption that I have escaped the incident unscathed, it could be a plane crash, a bus accident, or maybe an explosion. Serious incidents happen every day and most of us (including me) go through life thinking it could never happen to us, well your wrong, it could happen to you and me alike.

Obviously if this was happening to someone you know you would obviously run to the rescue to help your loved ones, but how would you react towards complete strangers? I would like to think that most of us would try and help the suffering and injured as much as possible, but the fact remains that in most cases people panic, think of only themselves, the rush of adrenaline makes you feel disorientated and not knowing what the hell is going on, this is human nature and a reaction that is completely normal.

I want to give you all some advice on how to keep your cool and how to be the hero in such situations, help your fellow human beings and gain ‘hero’ status in the process. Read the rest of this entry »