Sunday, April 30, 2006

Thousands protest in New York no comment

Des dizaines de milliers de manifestants contre la guerre en Irak à New York
HERE

This means tens of thousands of protestors against the war in Iraq in New York. So what I hear you say? Well here is the so what. I got this headline today, April 30th 2006 from a french website that, gives an overview of world news. I read it. It says 300,000 people marched in New York today to protest against the war. I thought that was a significant number myself. So to get more details and perhaps a view on what it means for the white house. I went to CNN, they were covered with George Clooney and Darfur, sure it's a problem, but no protest, no New York. How about Sky News,? Nope not a mention of it there either? Well surely the BBC would post it, after all Jessie Jackson, Susan Sarandon (sexy talented and intelligent, wow),and Cindy Sheehan were there, but no, they had this tripe about the President saying 'Screw them'to his detractors Here

Two things, both right wing presidental candidates of France are fighting it out dirty, investigating, bribing perhaps, and doing everything they can to take down the other. Still the French website shows some thing it believes important. Mainly the march in New York.

Secondly, the English speaking world is being brain washed in Abstentia. The powers that be have decided by not giving us information they think we won't find out. (AHem... some of us can speak more than one language, many Europeans manage 4 or 5.
This is a sure sign that rich and brainy don't necessarily go together.


Thirdly when 'The Leader of the free world'can only come up with screw them, as opposed to a well thought out argument, delivered in a powerful but respectful way, to prove his detractors wrong, well, you know politics has died and America is no longer the land of the brave, except for the 300,000 marching in New York that is.
Susan Sarandon, your man is a lucky one.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Rules for what now?

Rules for what now?

It's unusal for me. One of the few benefits I had from my vast religious education (I am being saracastic) is that I heard many proverbs and, the word escapes me, rules of thumb as I was growing up. Even today I still ponder the phrase 'Take the log out of your own eye before taking the splinter out of someone elses'. Or 'Consider the birds, they do not reap or sow..........( an no, to paraphrase Monthy python I am not having a go at the birds now either). However there is one phrase that I never remember accurately, but in brief it means the laws were made for the benefit of humanity, not humanity for the laws. It means, in my humble interpretation, that people are more important than rules. Humanity is more important than structure. Understanding the motivation of someone is far more important than reacting and telling them they are wrong. In other words Justice has it's place but not above that of compassion, tolerance and understanding. If you don't understand, how can you possibly judge? If as the Good Lord is reported to have said, vengence is his, what are we doing with things like the death penality and wars on terror and such? Mute point perhaps and not the subject of this entry.
However what does it benefit a man, or woman, to have all this wonderful insight into humanity and rules, when the people with whom he or she interacts clearly don't have it?
Now don't get me wrong, the adage (ha, nearly the word I was looking for but not quite) of 'Be careful when you point the finger, there are 3 fingers pointing back at you', has been examined and mediated on I can assure you, and.....Yes I am going to point the finger.


I wrote an email the other day. I said I would come up with a report for a volunteer group with whom I am facilitating. (note that word facilitate, it is not the same as control). I received an email from person x asking if there input was still important,and EOB which I suppose is the polite form of saying Excluding Other Business (extremly old bitch, eradication of boys, educated out back???), they would forward me said information.
Apparently the EOB got in the way as this morning there was an email outlining they had not received aforementioned report. No mention of the information they were supposed to send that was supposed to be in the report and hence my reason for not doing it.

I owe money on my card. I am late with a payment. The bank send me a letter asking me to contact them. I ring them explain it will be paid the next day. They send me another letter telling me they have blocked my card and I can't use it and my credit rating is affected or should that be effected?? hmmm I can never remember. They give me a number I go to a branch of my french bank who say they can't do it. I fax my branch and get a call saying its not the right number. I ring Ireland they repeat the number. I ring the lady and tell her the number, broken down into its component parts. She doesn't understand. My french is correct. I am not making an error. She just doesn't understand that I am giving her a number broken down. I say bank code, bank address, account number. She just understands a 20 digit number. So I hang up figure out what is what from a french example and ring back. Same digits in the same order, just all together this time. She understands. I don't

I could go on. Does it really matter if I cut my salad? Does it really make a damn bit of difference if we write in red, or begin emials with a terse see below.

See Here's the rub, I don't like when people are rude. I don't even mean to be rude myself. I certainly can't stand when people are narrow minded and blocked into a routine way of doing things and not able to see beyond the boundaries. I hate it when people tell me there is a way to do it and that is it. I really dispise the games around this that are played too. But at least I strive to understand. I strive to have an open mind and not things personally. I try to understand why people want to control, and have power in this meaningless powerless existence. I try but I don't always suceeed. However when I am asked and challenged to think outside the box, to the consider the possibility that everything is possible, to find a better way than the perfect way which already exits, or even just another way, I cannot refuse. It is these small discoveries that give me my joy in life.

By the way my boy has measles, I never had. I cut his hair really short and his mam doesn't like it, but he loves it. (good, yes I can be vindictive, shock horror) I didn't think measles could be as nasty but open sores on the testicles, tounge and ass are not fun. I guarantee it. However here's a helpful tip. Ice cubes in a towel stop the itching.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Contracts Egos and Enemies

The last time I wrote here some annonymous person left a nice message. So, it's nice to know that people still read this blog.
My job (thank God I have one), is going okay. I am extremly busy learning new applications. I have taken on the responsibility for a group of volunteers to help improve the communication in the company. Imagine my surprise when someone(a now ex friend), sent an email to me and copied to management, twisting all my words and basically trying to make me look incompetent. In short said person want a share of the responsibility, but being unable to assume the responsibility they already had in the group, and given the manner in which the went about it, I quickly covered my ass by emailing management and telling them I was flabergasted, and then by emailing said person and explaining they got it wrong,(copied to management) then going to see them face to face. I was even more shocked when I was challenged about refusing to share, so, on principle I very politely told them there was no need. Management rang. Shock and amazement, they supported me and then rang said idiot. The feedback I got afterward was in everyway an indication of support but of course damage done, throw mud it sticks.
Now can anyone venture to suggest why someone in a company, who is liked by seniors and juniors, who is doing a job and getting paid for it, and who has little in the way of complaint in life, should shoot a friend in the back for something so petty as a volunteer group?
I am still flabergasted when I think of the complete waste of energy, company time, effort, and not to mention no little stress, it causes. How can apparently nice people be so fucking selfish. Weird.

Any way looks like the Unions and the students won their fight for the retraction of something they didn't want. Now don't get me wrong, I thought democracy was about people and what they wanted and that the politicians elected would give them what they wanted. But apparently like George, there are also those like Dominique and perhaps Silvio who thought it was just the right to cast a vote and nothing more.
Now Dominique really, if people are burning cars and blocking universities, I mean students now, and not the group of people that Sarky sarkozy called scum,...ah I see, this is the great mistake in this story. Someone must of told de Villepin that the protesters knew no better and to push on with the thing. I hope so because if not it has been another costly wasted effort due to one persons entrenched bitterness with the world and an ego so large it appears to have its own moon.

Okay till soon. My son's birthday this week. Life is good if busy. Hugs to you whoever comes to read.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Blogger time

So I haven't written for a while. Well since the move in with the girlfriend to a bigger and better place, the goodbye to the box I was living in that was in hindsight, well and truly a kip, I can honestly say that what drove this blog initally, it's reason for existing if you will is no more.

However new reasons are developing.

Without going over old ground, almost everyone I knew who supported me and backed me in my time of need are no longer around. The Muslim Algerian girls are gone, well one of them moved to school in Lyon, and I promise you, if you are seeking a civil engineer this woman is for you. The other has decided to study English literature. Ken the friendly crusty but benign American, had to return to the States, put his aged mother in a home, bury his cancer ridden sister, get pissed off with his usless brother in law and is now in Denmark soon to be Croatia.

There are other people, the basketball player who I felt really let downby, the Columbian who just isn't in touch anymore. The russians. My ex neighbours who in turn split up and are now living through what I did.
I wouldn't wish it on many people to be honest. But I notice how I have changed. How I am growing once again in my life. How I constantly loose contact with people, or they move on, or I get careless. How the wheel and spiral of life conspire and turn and then how a friend rings you out of the blue past, and tells you
"sorry I couldn't ring my chemo was too hard". ..........Makes ya realise how lucky we all are.

It's been a year now since I have been home. My son will be 6 next week.
I still have debts, haven't written my film, haven't sorted out my driving licence but by god I am alive, don't let me waste it.

What am I going to write about now? The big book deal that will never come? Porn, just to get visitors? More observances on why French people strike against a new law for working contracts brought in by a stubborn government and why Irish people don't strike? Or maybe the film I am still not writing?

Or perhaps why my son asked was Chirac in Fashion because he is always on TV and when questioned and asked did he know who George was, he replied 'A Muppet' Out of the mouths of babes.........
For anyone who still pops in, it will be easter soon, don't forget the chocolate. :)