Firstly: We’ve had plenty of warning that there was going to be snow. It wasn’t a surprise.
Secondly: People should have been prepared for the roads to become bad and for transport to be cancelled. BECAUSE WE HAD WARNING.
But, why doesn’t anything work when it snows?
Because you don’t spend LOADS of money on services that are going to sit idle for 360/365 days of the year. If you want everything to work “just fine” when there’s a lot of snow then bloody well pay for it. It will cost a lot of money. It just doesn’t make economical sense.
Hopefully, many services have plans for getting through the snow. Hospitals and emergency services are important and I somewhat suspect that they HAVE plans. Being forewarned about the snow means those plans can be enacted.
Mathematics is used everywhere from telling us whether a drug’s effects are significant to calculating routes in satellite navigation devices. It also exists in the abstract, within the human mind and without practical use.
When will I use this mathematics I am learning?
In some ways if you feel the need to ask this question then you probably won’t. Arithmetic and basic number work will suffice for you.
However, we learn these things because they expand our understanding of the universe, because mathematics is a challenge and because we should learn for learning’s sake not because we are expected to. We learn for ourselves.
If you plan on becoming a scientist or engineer or similar then mathematics will be the language of your every minute’s work.
If you want more detailed examples and discussion about why there is mathematics then click here.
Last night after work was complete I headed to Rochester Cineworld cinema with trepidation. I note that the tide was high as I drove along Chariot Way. I had booked in to see Blade Runner 2049. I knew it was a long film and I knew that a friend had seen it and loved it. Would I agree? I needed some food and now because of this I chose nachos. Blade Runner was such a gorgeous beautiful film of my teenage years and holds so much sway with my heart that this film could ruin it. I was nervous.
As is usual I rated the film on the IMDB database and tweeted the result.
I loved this film. It actually worked very well with the original film. If you aren’t sure what sequels can do for a franchise then just understand that I care not for Star Wars after episodes 1-3 and 7. I forced myself to stop being bothered by them.
There’s a lot I could write but in essence I don’t want to spoil this film for anyone. Let me just say that the look, feel, sound, atmosphere and smell of this film is similar to the first. It is a gorgeous piece of film. It all works. The length of the film is entirely justified. I loved it.
I don’t know how Jo got from San Diego back to his apartment.
I have become a vegetarian [nominally]. This decision took about a half a year from first thoughts about it to actually doing something about it. So first I’ll explain my reasons and then the process.
Firstly, I’m not that fussed about the conditions in which animals are kept or treated. If you want mass production to feed the human race then you have to accept that it’ll be done at the cheapest. While the conditions would probably affect me if I was to see them, it is poor regulation and market forces that has made all this possible. You don’t become vegetarian to stop poor treatment of animals, you become a politician or farmer.
I don’t have any issues with eating meat because animals might have souls or are sentient. Once it’s dead it’s dead and the remains may as well be eaten or used for the common good.
My reasons are split roughly between health reasons, feeding the world and environmental reasons. Cutting out mammal meat is a good thing to do for health reasons. Now, there’s no real reason to go in to details but at one point I had high cholesterol and although I thought my diet was largely healthy looking at advice certainly made me think about giving up meat. That was March time this year and giving up meat germinated in my mind.
It seems largely strange to me that I can go to the supermarket and buy pretty much any amount of food and whatever type of food that I want. I can even buy some to purposefully throw away. And yet, too many people in this world go without food, or are severely ill from not enough food. This is fucking disgusting. We can produce enough food to feed the current population of this planet but we don’t have a global distribution system. Except, we can globally move food around to get to my supermarket but we don’t care about those poor fuckers dying or malnourished.
If we transferred the food we grow to feed animals to feeding humans we could easily support everyone on this planet with plenty spare. We use field space for animal feed. That just seems crazy to me. Also, the field space used for tobacco is a disgrace.
The production of animals for food has a huge CO2 impact. We use / produce more CO2 for meat production than we do for just growing vegetables and corn. It would be very easy to argue that it’s immoral to continue to do this given the effect that CO2 has on our delicate planet. Now my argument is seeming a little vague because as I said earlier if I wanted to change the world I should become a politician or a farmer. I guess I like to think I’m doing my little bit. Anthropogenic Global Climate Change is going to fuck this planet over. I have zero confidence politicians will do anything about it until it is way too late.
Giving up beef will reduce carbon footprint more than cars – The Guardian
Going vegetarian halves CO2 emissions from your food – New Scientist
The age-and-sex-adjusted mean GHG emissions in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents per day (kgCO2e/day) were 7.19 for high meat-eaters ( > = 100 g/d), 5.63 for medium meat-eaters (50-99 g/d), 4.67 for low meat-eaters ( < 50 g/d), 3.91 for fish-eaters, 3.81 for vegetarians and 2.89 for vegans. – Dietary greenhouse gas emissions
So, my reasons are colonic health and greenhouse gases. I have called this Nominally because while I have given up meat, if there is no other alternative I would eat some. I also had to eat all the meat in my freezer after I made the decision. That took about six weeks of occasional meals. My decision was made after returning from the M’era Luna festival in the middle of August.
I have had two moments where I just forgot! One day I went to the cinema after a run and my plan was to have a hot dog in the auditorium. I was queuing when it dawned on my I was vegetarian and I couldn’t have a hot dog. Well, my reader, bollocks to that. I ate two. The next “slip” was a week ago when a work friend brought in a pork pie to school and I just cut some and ate it. It took about five hours before I realised that I had eaten meat, when I kinda don’t. Oh well.
I don’t expect friends or people to make extra effort for me. If I go somewhere and there’s no alternative then I’ll eat meat. I’m not that fussed. It’s more a thing just for me.
One further, minor reason, would be that when going to music festivals it is best to spend as little time as possible in the portaloo. They tend to be smelly, dirty and quite horrific. A vegetarian diet over the course of the weekend contributes to reducing time spent in the cubicle. Eating meat extends the sitting time required.
I had a leaflet put through the door a few days ago. Normally these are put straight into the round filing cabinet because I already know who I am voting for but this one struck me as something to read.
CPA Front Leaflet
This leaflet was like bait being dangled in front of me. So, let’s see what these “christian” people believe are christian values and how they want to treat people.
John Gibson wants to give christians a voice in parliament. Well, that’s interesting. They already have Bishops in the house of lords and the current Prime Minister [hopefully for not much longer] is a “committed” christian, the daughter of a vicar. The number of crusty MPs who will gladly go to church and say they are christian is more than those willing to stand up and say “what a load of bollocks”. There’s this idea that a person who believes in god is more righteous and true than someone who doesn’t. That idea is bollocks.
CPA Back Leaflet
The Christian People’s Alliance has “true Christian values”. I’m not entirely sure what true christian values are. Much like there is no true Scotsman there are no true christians. This is similar to the how English do you have to be to be English. It’s a logical fallacy and you can’t define that particular thing at all.
If your rules come from the bible then what about all the shit rules that mean you can rape your slaves and beat your wife. What about ownership of women and people? You can’t cherry pick all the bits that fit your current view of life out of the bible. Oh, yes, you can and do. Let’s quote mine the little bits of the bible we want our church to follow.
If your argument is that we don’t pick the slaves bit of the bible anymore because we recognise it doesn’t work in our society then you have lost EVERY argument for any of your pathetic rules.
Leviticus 25:45
Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.
If you then want to say that you only follow the new testament then again you are cherry picking and you are pathetic.
Marriage As God Intended
What they mean here is that marriage should be forever. Let’s keep all those unhappy people stuck with each other for all eternity. They also mean that marriage should be between a man and a woman. They don’t recognise same sex relationships. They don’t want people who love each other to be able to get married and promise their love to each other. They want to exclude forms of relationship that don’t meet their stupid beliefs [much like the current Prime Minister]. There are detailed policies to force unhappy couples to stay together. What if the husband beats the wife? What if the husband is a thief?
Why can’t people who love each other get married and those who decide they are happier apart leave each other?
All Life Matters
Of course it does. But that doesn’t mean we can make our own choices about our bodies. We are autonomous creatures. Women can choose when they want to have children and people should be allowed to die if that is what they want.
So they believe life begins at conception [why not fertilisation?] and then ends when you NATURALLY die. Does this mean we should accept all disease? Are doctors doing the bidding of god? Who decides when natural death is happening? Should we have defibrillators in public places? What about all the clusters of eggs flushed down the loo when something goes wrong after conception?
Care For The Poor
They don’t want anyone sleeping rough. That’s a good thing. But they won’t give a bed to those on drugs or drink. What the fuck. This is a classic. If you aren’t willing to help people who have alcohol or drug problems then how christian are you? There are probably very good reasons these people rely on drugs or alcohol. But no, fuck ’em. It’s their own fault and we won’t help people who can’t help themselves. How christian is that?
Support Persecuted Christians
It’s not just christians persecuted in Pakistan. Atheists are being murdered out there, and in Saudi Arabia, and in loads of other countries. Perhaps this party should promise to remove persecution entirely. But, no. That doesn’t support their narrative that christians are persecuted and should be protected. It doesn’t help their cause. Be nice to people as long as they are like us.
I tried to see the CPA website but it wouldn’t load.
CPA Website
John Gibson’s website loaded fine and it has a rainbow-like pattern on the homepage.
This communication considers one of my favourite pieces of fiction, religion. This is a place-holding communication as I struggle to write three other communications of a more serious note. I know what I want to say in those words but words are the problem. You might have noticed I am not a natural wordsmith.
MOAB
Nothing reported about the Pope criticising the death of many people or the use of weapons of mass destruction. The Massive Ordnance Air Bomb’s NAME shamed the pope. Perhaps the next bomb could be called “Get to heaven quicker”. Fuck you pope.
“I was ashamed when I heard the name,” the pontiff told an audience of students at the Vatican.
Nothing in the news about the thousands of priests accused of raping kids which the Vatican is actively covering up. Nothing about the misery and enforced poverty caused by a no-contraception rule. Nothing about the AIDS genocide caused by the no-contraception rule. Nothing about the deaths of babies at convents in Ireland. This man is meant to represent god on Earth. He represents an organisation of men who act just like men do when they are in charge – cunts.
Words
God needs the police to investigate this because he gets really upset when people are mean about him. Oh, poor little god. He hates it when people express true things. I watched this speech a few years ago and I think what shocked people the most is how angry someone can be at a god who allows all the shit mentioned earlier to carry on. Why are people still going to catholic church? Why do they still give money when they can see the harm it does? Selfish wankers, that’s why.
Apparently before this particular interview Tim Farron had said that he firmly believes “we are all sinners”.
I’m a sinner, apparently. I have sinned against god. I was innocent before I was born but after that moment the gates of hell opened and are waiting for me to die. Well I don’t fucking care. I don’t know the theological definition of sin but as far as I’m concerned god can fuck the fuck off. I don’t believe in god. Therefore I can’t sin against him. The idea of original sin is a bullshit-illness that the church invented to make sure you buy the cure, the church.
As for gay sex being a sin. The argument is pretty similar. Fuck the fuck off. If two or more people want to do consensual private stuff then who cares what that is. It’s up to them as responsible adults to make their own choices about these things. There are some caveats, you can’t cause harm. The extreme case of harm is the German case of a man being killed and eaten, but he consented to those actions, this was not acceptable in the laws that society has consensually agreed. This is against the law.
Now, by mentioning law there’s the issue of countries where homosexuality is illegal. Well, they should fuck the fuck off too. If it’s consensual and non harming then it should be within the law. It’s quite easy to figure out what’s right and wrong by using the following principle:
Do no harm
Yes, these things get complicated. But, by and large, consensual activities are just that.
Apparently political leaders, according to Tim Farron, should not:
“pontificate on theological matters”
I’d go one step further and say that no-one should pontificate on theological matters. Theology is bullshit. The interesting bit is the sociology that comes from religion. Everything else sucks and should fuck the fuck off to the iron age stories and writings whence it came.
Don’t take moral advice from a shitty book written by misogynistic, un-scientific fuckwits from over 1000 years ago [I chose 1000 because I can lump the Koran into that as well].
My current distress stems from the fact that I am a member of the Liberal Democrat Party. I decided to part with money to fund a party that will work against the Brexit thing. I do not think the referendum was fair, well-argued or gave a majority result. There was too much misinformation before the vote. I have pretty much always voted Lib Dem and so it was logical to use some of my money to fight for the causes I believe in. The fact that their leader is a religious twonk shouldn’t sway me from membership because their policies are still the same. I have argued against personality politics for a long time.
My general distress stems from the idea that a LEADER, someone who wants the responsibility to lead the country, relies on knowledge of and the actions of a god who doesn’t exist. The idea of praying to the invisible sky fairy to solve a problem and then you believing it has helped you worries the hell out of me. Have the balls and accept your position, don’t rely on fairy tales.
Let’s look at the current Prime Minister. Completely religious and believes she is doing god’s work. Probably believes she will be judged by god for her actions. Not that she will be judged by the people or by history but by god. It’s an escape clause, it’s a way of removing responsibility for your actions if you think the sky fairy approves.
Let’s look at a previous Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He arguably took this country into an illegal war where hundreds of thousands died. But that’s OK in his head because he prayed and god will still accept him. Well fuck that shit.
I want a leader who is willing to take the responsibility them-self. Someone who will hold their hand up and be judged by their own actions and what the people and society as a whole thinks of them. I don’t want someone who invests so heavily in cognitive dissonance to justify what they do.
I will continue to be a member of the Lib Dems. I will continue to give them money. Someone has to support the only party that could achieve an amount of power and actually gives a fuck about this country.
While waiting for my fish and chips to cook last night at the world’s most homo-erotic chip shop I saw a magazine with the following advert:
Mostly Bullshit
The Young Men’s Christian Association has a Wellness Centre which I guess promotes wellness.
WELLNESS is NOT a DEFINED MEDICAL TERM. Therefore it means fuck all in this context. It’s why promoters of bullshit use the term, because it DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING. Look, I used bold and block caps there! I must be annoyed.
Even the logo looks new-age and bollocks.
Of the services offered at the religious centre (which probably isn’t religious but the name is) some are utter bullshit before we’ve even had to look into them and some are possibly iffy by association. I have looked at their website and I will quote so in the following.
Osteopathy
I have rubbished this within these communications and so I can tell you now, it is bollocks. On the website there is information about osteopathy and babies. Just don’t.
They claim to be able to help with
migraines and headaches
asthma
sports injuries
disc problems
sciatica
trapped nerves
tennis elbow
arthritis (wear and tear)
I very much doubt this as there’s no good evidence to show that osteopathy works for anything. They even lost “lower back pain” recently. Have a look at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). God, this makes me so sad.
“Oh but it worked for me/my relation”
No, it probably didn’t. We humans are terrible at separating out what really happens and our experience.
Sports Massage
It feels nice. It massages you. It costs you money. They claim it helps you but these are all self-limiting problems and while a massage can do damage it might help you.
Acupuncture is the insertion of fine needles into the skin at predetermined points to affect the internal levels of energy. It may be deficient, excessive or stagnant and therefore not flowing in the most efficient manner. When energy, called Qi, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is not in balance then we see symptoms, at all levels. Some symptoms are obvious, such as those affecting the physical, others less so, such as those that affect the emotional and mental.
There is absolutely NO evidence for Qi. In fact different practitioners will use different locations on the body to cure the same thing. It doesn’t work.
Acupuncture and other traditional Chinese medicine was promoted during the Barefoot Doctor scheme the communist government of China so that Doctors, who were short on real medicine, could “do something” to keep people happy even though it clearly didn’t work.
Reflexology / Aromatherapy
See “massage”. This is all bollocks. Aromatherapy smells nice. Reflexology feels nice. It doesn’t do anything else. The Wellness Centre says:
Boosts the immune system, which is weakened by constant stress.
Can relieve stress as it calms and soothes.
Is a good preventative medicine.
Improves the circulation.
Can be very helpful at encouraging the body to heal itself and gives the recipient a feeling of well being, relaxing mind and body.
The Digestive system is encouraged to work to optimum efficiency.
Boosting the immune system means nothing. Is a good preventative medicine for what? Encourages the body to heal itself, now I’m laughing, such a wishy washy phrase.
Psychological Therapy
This is probably the most important here and possible the one that can the most effect but I would worry about the company that this service keeps and I would prefer to book myself into a proper clinic. Yep, having looked over the website this seems quite legit. It’s just a shame it’s in a house of crap.
Physiotherapy
This is another that is probably good. Physiotherapy is a protected term and so it should be the real stuff. The problem is it’s hard work and some people obviously want the quick fix of bullshit medicine (see above). The chap’s website looks pretty flash but overall this is the second worthwhile thing on here.
Nutritional Therapy
This is bollocks. If you want the proper stuff you go see a DIETITIAN, that is a legally protected term for someone who has qualifications in diet. ANYONE can call themselves a nutritionist because it’s not legally protected. She claims she is a Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist, this fills me with utter fear. Naturopathic is a nonsense term invented to sound great but mean nothing. According to her website she can help with the following:
Some of these things are diet related but I wouldn’t want a quack telling me what I’m allergic to. Proper allergy testing takes a long time. Oh, and notice that Cancer is mentioned in there. Fucking Cancer. from the website:
“There are numerous studies suggesting a link between some foods and certain types of cancer. However, it would be a broad statement to claim that diet can directly cause or treat cancer.”
I can correct her if you want. It would be ILLEGAL to claim to be able to cure cancer. It shows just how fucked up these people are when they make iffy claims.
Pilates
I know nothing about pilates but isn’t it posh yoga? Just helps you move.
There are more claims on the website of these people and I will cover a few of them here with my crude guide to efficacy.
Food Intolerance Tests – more than likely bullshit.
And, I’m done. There’s only so much I can take of this bollocks. Look, it says Wellness. It doesn’t mean anything. Don’t go there. It’s in a christian association building for fuck’s sake.
A recent trip to the Lake District prompted me to head northeast slightly and visit Carlisle Airport. After a short while there nerding over aircraft I headed to see a wall and a tower. Before regaling you with that story I want to point out that this is communication 999. Which means the next one published will be my 1000th communication. Although technically I only decided to call them communications a while after I had started publishing so the 1000 isn’t exactly accurate.
The guys at the Solway Aircraft Museum suggested visiting Lanacost Priory as there was a nice tea room there. As it wasn’t far I tootled over and had some lunch. I could have walked to the priory and had a look but to be honest I wasn’t bothered, the pictures showed it to be some ruins so I left and headed up the road to see Hadrian’s Wall. This was one of those things that is buried in the consciousness of people in this country. We hear from a young age about the wall and I’m pretty sure the Scots go on about it as though they are a proud and pure race [see the “No True Scotsman” fallacy]. I only wanted to see a little of the wall, to say I’d seen it.
Hadrian’s Wall
It was actually quite impressive to stand on something roughly two thousand years old. At least I can now say I’ve been there and seen it.
On Top Of The Wall
Not that far away was the chance of a tantalising look at RAF Spadeadam, which was also mentioned by the Solway guys. Spadeadam was where the UK based its rocket research during the 1950s and is now used as an electronic warfare centre. As you can see from the wall photo the weather was quite foggy and suitable for visiting this part of the world. I knew Spadeadam was in a forest and so I drove following Google Maps, my signal did die at some point! The fog drew in closer and I passed a sign warning of no trespassing, then finally there was this sign:
RAF Spadeadam [nearly]I chose to turn around. I decided to visit another time. I didn’t want to get arrested and explain I was just driving there for a look and a selfie at the gates. This was the only road in the area and it ends at Spadeadam. Time to head to Scotland.
Scotland
You know you are in Scotland when there are coach loads of US tourists and a massive thistle staring at you. I snuck over to Gretna Green and luckily managed to avoid getting married [only £35]. I wandered slowly around the Blacksmiths Shop in Gretna completely aware that it was a tourist trap and nothing particularly special. It was pretty poor in all honesty. I didn’t like it. Next time I escape England and head to the land north of us I will go to the Devil’s Porridge museum and try to see a different part of the Land Of The Brave [didn’t the Scots have that before the USA?].
If you go to Gretna you will see a wedding.
Wedding, of course
After a brief invasion of Scotland where else is there to go apart from a memorial to a King who is known as the Hammer Of The Scots [although he didn’t succeed]. Also, he is the baddie in the film Braveheart, but that is mostly bullshit so not worth worrying about. Longshanks died of dysentery while encamped in the marshes of the Solway and there is a memorial to him there. This memorial is in England and perhaps, if it was in Scotland, it wouldn’t be in such good condition. It is meant to mark the exact spot he died which more than likely means it doesn’t.
Memorial to Edward I
It’s a bleak place, but also gorgeous. The clouds were low and the mist was covering the hills in both directions. Is it worth a visit? Not really, only to say that you’ve been there and seen it.
There we are, a day’s tour of the north west of England and a little bit further than that. I now have to go away and consider what my 1000th communication will be about.
As part of Bullshit Saturday I went to a psychic and holistic fair. I have written some information on the linked communication. While I did not verbally interact with anyone at the fair I did pick up a copy of Psychic News and offered to pay, but was allowed the copy for nothing.
Psychic News Front Cover
I have read this. I have to say, obviously, that I’m not impressed. It’s full of bullshit. I was going to spend time breaking down individual articles as this would give me plenty of future communications. I may still look at a couple of them and a few of the adverts. It is a fascinating read as I enter the world of people who really believe this stuff.
One other thing for now, this is issue 4138 and assuming that they number sequentially and in base ten then these guys have been publishing for over three hundred years!
Oh, the church of spiritualism was started after two sisters made shit up and didn’t back down about their lies. They later confessed but the church was already unstoppable. This is much like the Miracle Of The Sun. The moral shouldn’t be that god or the afterlife exists but more that “kids make shit up”.
![RAF Spadeadam [nearly]](https://fooyah.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/20161029_131120194_iOS-1024x768.jpg)
