Wednesday 18 March 2009

Wednesday 18/03/09

There doesn’t seem to be much around worth commenting on. Need some controversial subjects to analyse, like my spell-checker’s propensity to replace analyse with analyze when there’s no such word as analyzis.

There’s been a mass outbreak of skipping at work. Seems everyone wants to shed the winter plumage. You should see some of the hi-tech skipping ropes – swing counters, vanadium handles, plastic-coated titanium ‘rope’. For heaven’s sake, all you do when skipping is jumping up and down. It doesn’t need any bloody equipment; it’s like buying a treadmill to go running when the road is perfectly adequate.

Pope Benedict XXXXXXXXXXXXVIII, who is making his first papal visit to Africa, has been speaking about the HIV/Aids epidemic sweeping Africa. He called it "a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem."

While it is agreed that sexual abstinence, being what he proposes as a solution, is a sure fire way of halting the epidemic, one can’t help feeling that he’s divorced from reality if he thinks people in Africa will abstain from sex. As that’s a given, what else does he propose? One presumes nothing, as it’s obviously a plague from God for some heinous sin, like leaving the video recorder on stand-by overnight.

Abstinence from sex certainly hasn’t stopped the spread of Catholicism among the clergy, showing it’s not a genetic affliction. Perhaps one day science will find a cure, although I’m more hopeful of a cure for AIDS and cancer being found first.

Marc Ravalomanana, ex president of Madagascar, had said he was handing over to the military during a radio address in which he announced his resignation. That comes hard on the heels of him announcing that he would die with his last remaining guards if necessary. One suspects his personal guards were perhaps less than enthusiastic at the prospect and had a word in his ear.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Moscow will begin a comprehensive military rearmament from 2011 to increase the combat readiness of Russia's forces, particularly the strategic nuclear forces. Perversely, this comes at the same time that Gordon Brown announces he going to cut Britain’s nuclear arsenal. It would appear that Russian politics is all about demagoguery. The social critic and humorist H. L. Mencken, known for his "definitions", defined a demagogue as one who will preach doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots. That kind of covers most politicians, don’t you think?

9 comments:

Rosaria Williams said...

Gee, didn't you start out saying there wasn't much controversy to comment on? I do have a very strong opinion on the Pope. And yes, as a Catholic, he is my commander in chief.

"Frankly, Your Holiness, you do not know sex and the ways of men/women."
And then I would continue, " You might have a front seat on spiritual matters, I grant you that status. Now, if you want to counsel me and mine on spiritual matters, how to understand things I do not see or hear or...concepts that are interpreted lavishly different all over the world, I will listen. I was taught to listen and ponder, and bow to things I do not understand."

"But, your Holiness, let the doctors and the parents and the teachers deal with matters of the body, matters of health and hygiene, and matters of social contract and social interaction."

Chairman Bill, thank you for the space on your blog to shout out.

Chairman Bill said...

Lake- shout away!

Chairman Bill said...

Not sure if many will hear you here though....

Rosaria Williams said...

Chairman Bill, I only need one set of ears, yours. His Holiness gets instant messaging, or something like that.

Remember though, it must be tough growning up in a Disneyland of sorts. In the Holy Church, everything is spectacle, ceremony and rituals. Everything is color coded and everything comes with a rubric. How can people think outside this bubble?
We can assume that they never heard of Demming's Quality Improvement Processes. They were not carved on stone.

A Woman Of No Importance said...

I am ever behind LV and her wisdom!

The problem is that money would help Africans to be better educated about the spread of Aids and the need for protected sex - It might also serve to turn around the superstition held by male Aids carriers, that they will be cured if they sleep with a young virgin, thereby spreading Aids even further through the populace!

I like the idea of the Pope being able to receive LV's thoughts via Instant Messaging, in his Disneyland Palace - So entrancing an image!

But you do know if that's true, TC, we're all going to hell in a handcart?!

Chairman Bill said...

Woman - that handcart has been pushed for a damnably long time. What I want to knwo is who is pushing it, as he (or she) must be very tired.

Chairman Bill said...

How does one pronounce 'knwo'?

Louise | Italy said...

I love the exemplar heinous sin. It would be a heinous sin in this house, believe me, that is, if we had a video recorder, which we don't. We do have a kettle, though. And filling it any fuller than one quarter of a litre to make a cup of tea is a hanging offence.

Louise | Italy said...

PS I agree with Lakeviewer on everything she has to say about the priestly skill-set.

PPS The word verification exercise for this comment is "hives". Do you make these up, Chairman Bill?