Author Archives: johnengland55

Over the Limit

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There was some alarming news for drinkers (well, possibly!) at the end of last week when the Government issued new guidelines for alcohol consumption.

It was announced that the previous guidelines were inaccurate and medical experts now recommend that an adult male should consume no more than 14 units of alcohol per week instead of the old 28 units. For women the recommendation is even less

A unit equates to approximately half a pint of average strength beer so therefore an adult male should drink a total of no more than 7 pints of beer a week. A week! I know some blokes who drink double that on a Friday night and then repeat it the following day! So, in effect they are drinking 4 week’s supply on a single weekend. This could mean the end of rugby as we know it!

Like most people, I do take note of these guidelines and take on board what is said. Also like most people I then make my own mind up about what is right for me personally. Life is short and none of us know what is around the corner, praise the Lord. So thank you, medical experts for all your hard work and advice but, irresponsible as this undoubtedly is, I for one will be carrying on regardless. Cheers!

Death of a Great

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David Bowie has died, a mere three days after his 69th birthday and, turning on the television early today to be greeted by this news was both a shock and saddening for all of us, I’m sure.

Tributes will flow from all over the world to a man who was, quite simply, a musical genius. A man whose talent spanned six decades from the late 1960s to the present day.

Very few, if any, musicians boasted such an extraordinary and prodigious talent and fewer still boasted his influence in the worlds of music, art and fashion. The word “icon” tends to be overused nowadays and can therefore lose its meaning and effectiveness, but David Bowie was an icon by anybody’s definition.

I think today will be one of those days when we remember where we were when we learned the news of David Bowie’s death. He was that great.

Happy Birthday

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Today, January 8th, is a big day for birthdays and a celebration for fans of rock n roll’s greatest and most influential icon, Elvis Presley. It’s hard to exaggerate how big Elvis was – and I’m not just talking about hamburgers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches here! He was a music phenomenon and it is highly unlikely that modern music would be what it is now had he not lived. The Beatles were massively influenced by the early Elvis and John Lennon once said “Before Elvis there was nothing”.

Had he survived, Elvis would have been 81 today although there are plenty of people who believe he still does judging by sales of the “Elvis lives!” T shirts. Mind you, some folk still believe that the world is flat and the United Kingdom is a world power!

One of England’s most influential and talented music artists, David Bowie, who set many a music and fashion trend in the 1970’s and 1980’s and continues to do so, shares a birthday with the King as does the scientist and genius Professor Stephen Hawking.

Unfortunately, it all goes downhill from now on since today is also the birthday of Kim Jong-un, the chubby-chopped, bad-hair-day, megalomaniac leader of North Korea. Last week the self-styled “Glorious Leader” announced that North Korea was on a permanent war footing and a couple of days ago revealed (no doubt in furtherance of world peace) that his country had tested and exploded yet another nuclear bomb. Would it be uncharitable to hope that he chokes on his birthday cake?

Fighting Litter

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A couple of days ago it was announced that new legislation is to be introduced to deal with the problem of littering in the UK. We all know that littering is a serious problem in our country and I’m sure we’re all tired of seeing drinks cans, fast food wrappers and plastic bottles blowing around our high streets and country lanes.

The response of the Government is to increase financial penalties for littering convictions and to encourage citizens to report transgressors to police officers. The first part is good since people tend to respond to attacks on the pocket but the second part maybe not so.

It is always a little disconcerting when the Government urges us to spy on our fellow citizens and report them to the authorities. It seems to indicate that there are insufficient numbers of law enforcement officers, namely police, to deal with the problem and, following the constant cuts in police forces up and down the country, this is indeed the case.

By all means encourage the reporting of waste-disposal in public areas (commonly known as fly-tipping) to the authorities but asking the public to report individuals for dropping litter on the high street is to ask for trouble. Firstly, is it not risky to attempt to apprehend or remonstrate with a stranger after he has, for example, thrown his cigarette pack or beer can on the pavement? Secondly, is this policy not likely to encourage busy-bodies to report minor infringements, for example the old lady who inadvertently lets slip a sweet paper or tissue from her handbag as she is walking down the street?

Yes, we do have a problem with littering and, yes, most of us are sick and tired of seeing rubbish blowing around our high streets. The problem has to be properly addressed but, whilst increasing the severity of the punishment is a good idea (how about enforced street litter collection by serious offenders? No good, breach of Human Rights and Health and Safety!) that alone will not solve the problem.

What is also required is education; education in the classroom so that kids can be taught what their parents should have taught them in the first place and education provided by a public awareness campaign on television and large billboard notices for those who still don’t get it. Add to that a return of police officers on the beat and we have a good chance of solving the problem.

The Dancing Lady

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Another year bites the dust as most of us, I’m sure, shake our heads, smile wryly and wonder where the hell it all went! Can those 365 days really have gone by so quickly? Will the next year disappear just as fast? Yes and yes! Still, we can now pause for breath, make a mental note of our resolutions for the new calendar year and start all over again.

Every year there is a common wish that the world’s peoples can somehow get along together and live in peace and harmony. Sadly, it’s more a forlorn hope than a realistic wish but we mustn’t stop hoping. If only people the world over could realise the true value of life, the value of their own lives as well as those of others. If they could realise that life doesn’t really last that long so why not try to enjoy it and let others do so too. It really is simple and it is the simple things in life that can make us happy be it a cheerful blackbird on a roof top or the unbridled laughter of a child playing with his friends in the back garden.

A couple of days ago, I was sat outside a café, enjoying the sunshine and listening to some relaxing, happy up-tempo music, when a woman nearby began to sway, slowly, subtly and unashamedly to the rhythm. It was a spontaneous expression of joy that comes natural to human beings. That’s what people do when they are happy, they laugh, they sing and they dance.

Sadly, there are those within our societies – fanatics from a darker age – who preach that singing and dancing are the work of the devil and are examples of the debauchery of a corrupt decadent world. They would rather our bright, beautiful and wonderful world be smothered by the cruel discipline of their religious bigotry, forcing us to live for ever more in darkness and misery.

They are wrong and misguided and we must not allow their primitive, prehistoric ideology to overcome and destroy us. This is our world, these are our countries and this is the way we choose to live. We must protect our lifestyle and our people with every force available to us. The dancing lady must be free to sing and dance whenever the mood takes her.

A Very Happy New Year to us all!

Heroes?

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It’s odd how often the word “hero” is used in modern parlance and how a word, described in the Oxford Dictionary as meaning “a person…….who is admired for their courage or outstanding achievements”, has become so commonplace.

For example it seems that every time reference is made in the media, or by politicians, to members of the armed forces that reference has to include the word “hero” even if no heroic act has actually taken place.

Now don’t get me wrong, any man or woman who makes the decision to serve his or her country is worthy of our respect, gratitude and even admiration but just because they have decided to make a living as a soldier, sailor or airman that decision alone does not make them a hero. There is nothing “courageous” or “outstanding” in making a career choice, however noble that choice may be.

An act of heroism surely involves a person making a decision (spontaneous or otherwise) to perform a positive act, usually against all the odds, putting that person’s life at risk.

Thus, a soldier who, in the heat of battle, ignores enemy gunfire to rescue a wounded comrade is a hero. A fire officer who disregards the flames to rescue a member of the public in a burning house is a hero. Any member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution who leaves the comfort of dry land and voluntarily takes to a boat in stormy seas to rescue a sailor in distress is a hero.

In all of these cases he or she has actually made an active decision to put his or her life at risk to save others. There are many heroes in all walks of life worthy of the name but we must not devalue the acts of real heroes by using the term so liberally.

Celebrating Christmas

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Joy to the world, peace and goodwill to all mankind. These are the traditional benign wishes of Christians on the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, otherwise known as Christmas; a time of happiness and giving, maintained still by large parts of humanity, including those with no belief in Jesus Christ or, for that matter, in any God.

For sure, many in the West have no belief or religious faith whatever but still feel the need to celebrate Christmas with their fellows. Is it because Christmas represents a break from work, a chance to give and receive presents and an excuse to overindulge in food and drink? Yes, of course it is but is it something more besides?

Is the goodwill and happiness, felt by most of us at this time of year and inspired by memories of Christmases past, an indication that, even though we may not be practising Christians, we can still at least live our lives in a decent Christian manner? Maybe so. Merry Christmas!

Perfect Summary

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Last week the European Union announced that it intends to set up a new border force to police illegal migrants. The new force will be granted powers enabling it to effectively override the policies and interests of individual members of the Union.

In response, a Hungarian government minister called the proposals “Undemocratic and a threat to national sovereignty”.

In those few words he unwittingly, yet perfectly, summed up the whole European Union.

 

Getting the Balance Right

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Last week saw the end of the hugely important world conference on climate change. After weeks of speeches by environmentalists, and the usual hot air and back-slapping by politicians, sincere promises were made (for the cameras at least) that positive action will be taken.

We were told that the world’s big industrial powers will finally put in motion measures to reduce pollution, combat global warming and thus save the planet.

It sounded quite encouraging until some independent scientists and environmentalists announced that the proposed measures, costing billions of dollars, will actually achieve nothing! So who are we to believe?

I recently read an excellent book, “Iron, Steam and Money – The Making of the Industrial Revolution” written by British author Roger Osborne in 2013. The book tells of the history of modern industrialisation, which of course began in England in the 18th century and spread throughout the world changing the way human beings lived, seemingly forever.

The book ends with this paragraph,

“Life before industrialisation was, for most people, a continual struggle to survive; without reliable sources of energy we cannot live secure and comfortable lives. Any answer to the twin problems of global resources and climate change must begin with that stark truth”.

The question is therefore, are we prepared to sacrifice the security and comfort provided by industrialisation (with all of its side effects) to save our planet?

Laughing at Clowns

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There has been a lot of fuss and controversy over the recent (actually, make that all!) proclamations of Donald Trump who seems bent on filling the world’s television screens and newspaper front pages with his vitriol. If the old saying about any publicity being good publicity is true then he’s doing a great job.

This, of course, is just what he wants and whilst a lot of what he says is risible, racist comments, misogynistic views and the like, why do people rise to the bait? The same thing has happened over the new heavyweight boxing champion of the world, the improbably named Tyson Fury, the so-called King of the Gypsies, a title unlikely to conjure up visions of sensitivity and gentleness!

Among his verbal gems Fury has bitterly denounced homosexuality and stated that “a woman’s place is in the kitchen or on her back”. Sports stars have lined up to rebuke him (with one even threatening to pull out of an awards ceremony if Fury was there) and users of social media have signed condemnatory petitions in droves.

Why? Why give these clowns credibility by taking their comments seriously? Isn’t it better instead to deal with them the way a teacher deals with the naughty little boy seeking to draw attention to himself from the back of the class? Isn’t it better to just ignore them and deprive them of the attention they so desperately crave?

I think so. Better to patronise them and insult them with subtlety. “There, there sonny, what’s the matter? Come and sit down, have a nice cup of tea and tell us all about it”.

That would really annoy them. We mustn’t take them seriously and more importantly we mustn’t take ourselves so seriously either. One of the greatest attributes of the English (and most British, in fact) is our ability to laugh and take the p*** out of people who irritate us. It would be such a shame if we lost that ability.