Tuesday - December 09, 2008
Words associated with Christianity and British history taken out of children’s dictionary .
I think I’d better leave this alone. Cause once I get on a soap box on this issue I may find it impossible to get off.
What the heck are these ppl thinking? Oh wait. They aren’t thinking at all.
Oh well, they may have lost the empire but they now have “DIVERSITY.” Lots and lots of that. And “MULTI-CULTURISM. Right you are lads, look sharp and lets hear it for Down The Drain.
Words associated with Christianity, the monarchy and British history have been dropped from a leading dictionary for children.
Julie Henry, Education Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:48PM GMT 08 Dec 2008
Westminster Abbey may be one of Britain’s most famous landmarks, but the word abbey has been removed from the Oxford Junior Dictionary. Photo: PAOxford University Press has removed words like “aisle”, “bishop”, “chapel”, “empire” and “monarch” from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like “blog”, “broadband” and “celebrity”. Dozens of words related to the countryside have also been culled.
The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society.
But academics and head teachers said that the changes to the 10,000 word Junior Dictionary could mean that children lose touch with Britain’s heritage.
“We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable,” said Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment at Buckingham University. “The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, moving away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us.”
An analysis of the word choices made by the dictionary lexicographers has revealed that entries from “abbey” to “willow” have been axed. Instead, words such as “MP3 player”, “voicemail” and “attachment” have taken their place.
Words taken out:Carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe
Dwarf, elf, goblin
Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar
Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade
adder, ass, beaver, boar, budgerigar, bullock, cheetah, colt, corgi, cygnet, doe, drake, ferret, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, hamster, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster, panther, pelican, piglet, plaice, poodle, porcupine, porpoise, raven, spaniel, starling, stoat, stork, terrapin, thrush, weasel, wren.
Acorn, allotment, almond, apricot, ash, bacon, beech, beetroot, blackberry, blacksmith, bloom, bluebell, bramble, bran, bray, bridle, brook, buttercup, canary, canter, carnation, catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, conker, county, cowslip, crocus, dandelion, diesel, fern, fungus, gooseberry, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, holly, horse chestnut, ivy, lavender, leek, liquorice, manger, marzipan, melon, minnow, mint, nectar, nectarine, oats, pansy, parsnip, pasture, poppy, porridge, poultry, primrose, prune, radish, rhubarb, sheaf, spinach, sycamore, tulip, turnip, vine, violet, walnut, willow
Words put in:
Blog, broadband, MP3 player, voicemail, attachment, database, export, chatroom, bullet point, cut and paste, analogue
Celebrity, tolerant, vandalism, negotiate, interdependent, creep, citizenship, childhood, conflict, common sense, debate, EU, drought, brainy, boisterous, cautionary tale, bilingual, bungee jumping, committee, compulsory, cope, democratic, allergic, biodegradable, emotion, dyslexic, donate, endangered, Euro
Apparatus, food chain, incisor, square number, trapezium, alliteration, colloquial, idiom, curriculum, classify, chronological, block graph.
Posted by peiper
on 12/09/2008 at 12:24 PM
Filed Under: • Education • UK •
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Permalink • GERMANS CONFUSE CHINESE PROSTITUTES WITH POETRY. WAR DECLARED. FRANCE SURRENDERS.
Just so you all know I really do have a sense of humor I present this article from tonight’s online Telegraph. I was just kidding about France btw.
This is funny and especially if it wasn’t some practical joke.
Advert for brothel mistaken for classical Chinese poem
A respected German scientific magazine has been embarrassed to discover it printed a Chinese-language advertisement for “jade-like girls” and “coquettish and enchanting housewives” across its front cover.
By Richard Spencer in Beijing
Last Updated: 7:49AM GMT 09 Dec 2008The striking white-on-red text was intended to show off the Chinese focus of the official journal of the Max Planck Institute.
The editors, who thought they were printing a piece of classical Chinese poetry, said they ran it past “a German sinologist” to make sure.
In fact, the text appears to be a flier for a Hong Kong or Macau entertainment centre.
It says two new “directors” have been appointed to oversee a series of “matinees”. They will personally lead “jade-like girls in the spring of youth, beauties from the north” - the north of China is a popular recruiting ground for Hong Kong and Macau prostitutes. It also has “housewives whose performances are coquettish and enchanting”.
The magazine cover has circulated on Chinese blogs, causing amusement and a certain amount of schadenfreude.
Many English-speaking Chinese are keenly aware that poorly translated signs and restaurant menus here are a perpetual source of amusement for foreigners, with a number of popular online and published collections, such as http://www.engrish.com
Government-led attempts to spare the nation’s blushes are matched with vengeful glee by tattooists who cash in on the current, David Beckham-led craze for Chinese characters by inscribing young backpackers’ bodies with slogans such as “A fool and his money are easily parted” or crude sexual invitations.
On the other hand, Chinglish is hitting back due to attempts to use translation software to improve matters.
In one celebrated case, a rash of English-language signs featuring the prominent and inexplicable use of the F-word was discovered to be the fault of a piece of translation software that failed to distinguish meanings of the character for “to do”, which carries the same sexual double entendre in Chinese as it does in English.
Particular online delight has come from the discovery of a restaurant whose sign gives its English name as “Translate Server Error”.
How the “German sinologist” came to mistake a strip club advertisement for a piece of classical poetry has not been made clear. An apology for the cover’s “inappropriate content” to Chinese subscribers from the Max Planck Institute said: “To our sincere regret, it has now emerged that the text contains deeper levels of meaning, which are not immediately accessible to a non-native speaker.”
Chinese readers however suspect a practical joke, at best, if not a calculated insult to the pride of the Chinese nation.
Posted by peiper
on 12/09/2008 at 12:06 PM
Filed Under: • Humor •
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Permalink • RIGHT OUT OF JAWS … SHARK ATTACK. FILM AT 11.
Ran across this tonight. High WOW factor. Busy day so light on posts.
Be sure to click on the link for more photos. The link has some stills but there’s video HERE as well. Two versions and high quality. YouTube has upgraded I guess. There are ads on the video. Haven’t seen that before on YT.
Two escape as great white shark tears apart diving cage
A pair of scuba divers off the coast of Mexico survived a terrifying ordeal straight out of Jaws when a great white shark burst through the side of their metal cage.
Last Updated: 2:02PM GMT 09 Dec 2008
One moment they were watching the animal feeding off a school of tuna in the azure waters around the Isle de Guadalupe.
But the next, it was charging straight towards them: seconds later it crashed through their protective cage, its huge head ripping apart the bars.
The pair, whose film of last year’s incident has become a huge hit on YouTube, had to crouch down into the corner of their cage while the enormous predator thrashed wildly around.
They then managed to escape from the water and onto the Searcher boat owned by a tour company, which offers shark dives for £2,000 apiece.
With equipment just six years old, the company has now pledged to upgrade. And in a statement commenting on the incident they said: “When we said ‘you can get face-to-face with the ultimate predator’ this is not what we had in mind”.
One of the two divers - who goes by the YouTube nickname ScubaDubaDive - said on the website that the shark had hit them by accident.
“After it hit the tuna in front of the cage its eyes were closed to protect them,” he said. “It hit the cage and then reacted.”
Posted by peiper
on 12/09/2008 at 11:45 AM
Filed Under: • Animals • Scary Stuff •
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Permalink • Monday - December 08, 2008
Send an eCard to troops
A guest post by Dave and by Tara, who both sent me the same email, word for word. 
If you go to this web site, LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can’t pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.
How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE and it only takes a second.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? This takes just 10 seconds and it’s a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time to fill one out, and please take the time to pass it on for others to do. We can never say enough thank you’s.
Thanks for taking to time to support our military!
Posted by Drew458
on 12/08/2008 at 03:16 PM
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Permalink • Christmas Bonus
The 2005 Minnesota State Quarter was poorly minted: at least 60 different errors have been found on various coins. These flawed coins are selling for up to $500 each on Ebay.
Coin collectors are in a frenzy as they search pocket change for 2005 Minnesota state quarters with an “extra tree” in the design! They are finding them in bank-wrapped rolls, widely available at coin shops, and in circulation. They are auctioning them off on eBay as fast as they can find them, garnering prices ranging from an average of $150 to $500 from eager collectors willing to pay the price. The coin that is the focus of their attention displays significant portions of an “extra tree” literally floating in the sky next to the fourth evergreen tree to the right of the state outline. Specialists suggest the error occurred during production of the coining die when the master tool used to impress the design into it slipped during the process.
The “Extra Tree” Doubled Die is Getting a Lot of Attention
These Minnesota “Extra Tree” quarters are what specialists refer to as a doubled die; a popular type with collectors, depending on how strong and unusual the doubling is. With the coins attracting front-page coverage spanning several weeks in the national hobby publication, Numismatic News, and a series of features in Coin World, along with Professional Coin Grading Service of Newport Beach, Calif., now certifying hundreds of them for marketing purposes, it appears they are catching on.
Additionally, whatever condition existed in the Mint to produce these coins didn’t get corrected immediately; several additional varieties of “extra tree” Minnesota quarters with slight differences in location and/or shape have also been found in recent weeks and are selling briskly on eBay as collectors try to obtain one of each type!
Full details of all the errors, with pictures, can be found here.
Ok, this article isn’t exactly new news. And I checked ebay, where most of these things are actually selling for $15 - $160. It looks like the coins with the more noticeable errors sell for more. Hey, it’s news to me. How many of these coins have gone through your hands? You might save one or two when they first come out, but after that you just spend them. And nobody buy coin collectors goes over them with a 20x loupe to make sure they don’t have errors. The “doubling” errors are naked eye visible, barely. They’re about 0.003” tall.
The Hawaii quarter, the final coin in the State Quarters series, was released today. Ok, that is actual numismatic news!
Posted by Drew458
on 12/08/2008 at 01:14 PM
Filed Under: • Finance and Investing •
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Permalink • STORIES MAKING TODAYS HEADLINES. THE BRITS, THE IRISH AND THE TALIBAN.
STORIES MAKING THE HEADLINES TODAY:
Ah yes. The Irish vote. AGAIN! And didn’t some of us say it would come to this, AGAIN, after they voted NO once. But apparently in the democratic EU, people must be made to see their error and vote AGAIN. And again until the EU gets the exact vote it wants. With money talk in today’s rather bungled financial world, they just might cave in and indeed vote yes if it will put cash into their economy. Step up and place yer bets gents and ladies always welcome too of course. For the Brits, the entire story is ALL in the large headline. You hardly need to read the whole article but for those who wish to do so, catch the link IRISH VOTE AGAIN?
Irish will vote on EU’s Lisbon Treaty for a second time next year
Irish voters who rejected the Lisbon Treaty in June will be asked to vote again on the issue next year, paving the way for controversial EU laws to be introduced in Britain.All 27 member states must ratify the Treaty before it comes into force. Ireland, Poland and the Czech Republic are the only nations that have not yet agreed to do so.
British voters were initially promised a referendum on whether to adopt the EU Constitution, but the Government decided against allowing it after the document was rebranded as the Lisbon Treaty.
On Thursday the Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen will confirm that a new vote will be held in 2009.
Mr Cowen said he believed that the economic crisis could help persuade some of those who voted against the Treaty to change their minds.
IRISH VOTE AGAIN ?
Taliban raids Nato convoys for second night
Pakistani Taliban fighters attacked Nato supply routes for a second consecutive night, torching 50 containers needed to supply troops in Afghanistan during an audacious raid near Peshawar.
Last Updated: 12:06PM GMT 08 Dec 2008
The attack came barely 24 hours after 200 militants destroyed more than 100 lorries in a Nato base barely a mile away. The trucks are needed to ferry vital equipment and supplies through the perilous Khyber Pass - the narrow mountain trail leading from Pakistan into Afghanistan.
“The militants came just past midnight, firing in the air, sprinkled petrol on containers and then set them on fire,” said Mohammad Zaman, a security guard at the site quoted by Reuters.
“They told us they would not harm us, but they asked us not to work for the Americans.”
The early Monday assault provided new evidence that the Taliban is resurrecting an age-old local strategy of hitting supply routes through the Hindu Kush mountain range.
TALIBAN RAIDS
Britain’s economy overtaken by France, new figures show
Britain’s economy has been overtaken by France and could fall behind Italy’s next year, according to leading economists.
By Ben Leach
Last Updated: 6:38AM GMT 08 Dec 2008
The UK is now the sixth largest economy in the world, behind America, Japan, China, Germany and France.Economists said the fall reflected the pound’s slump to record lows against the euro.
A year ago the UK economy was 8 per cent bigger than that of France, measured by gross domestic product (GDP).
Now it is 14 per cent smaller, according to figures from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).
“An overvalued sterling has inflated the UK’s claims to be among the top five world economies,” said Ben Read, an economist with the CEBR.
“The drastic reduction in sterling’s value has accelerated the inevitable process of the UK falling down the league table of world economies, as India and Brazil catch up and overtake the UK’s national output.
“Where the UK’s comparative output ‘benefited’ from sterling’s rapid rise up to 2007, we now see the UK overtaken by France, despite both countries seeing a fairly similar economic performance over the past year.”
At present Britain’s GDP is 6 per cent bigger than that of Italy. But according to CEBR, it will drop below Italy’s next year.
Britain became a bigger economy than Italy in the final months of John Major’s government in 1997 and two years later became a bigger economy than France, thanks to strong British growth and a high pound.
For most of Tony Blair’s time as prime minister, Britain’s was the fourth largest economy in the world, before China overtook it in 2006.
UK FALLS TO FRANCE. AND ITALY?
Posted by peiper
on 12/08/2008 at 10:52 AM
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Permalink • What Have You Done?
This is an interesting Meme running around lately. This helps us get to know one another better. Drew, Peiper, Christopher and the rest: how about you?
What have you done? Stuff I’ve personally experienced is shown in Bold, with explanations where needed.
1. Started your own blog. Tried and failed, then fell in with the Skipper here
2. Slept under the stars. I do this a lot, especially in the back yard in the summer
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower. Every November and August
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland. Worked at Walt Disney World (Orlando) for 6+ years
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo. Ave Maria, at my sister-in-law’s wedding. 12 pages, in latin, just like Pavarotti
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. See #32
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. As a kid, with my grandfather. Even went to the torch
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.vI have four kids 
22. Hitch hiked. By car and train
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb. I raise sheep on the side
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a Marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.-
29. Seen a total eclipse. (Lunar, not solar) This year
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise. As a kid (carribean), Honeymoon (Carribean), 10th anniversary (Alaska)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. If eastern PA counts
35. Seen an Amish community. Parents grew up near Lancaster, PA, and there are many Mennonites in this area (yeah, horse and buggy types)
36. Taught yourself a new language. When I went to Nepal, I learned enough to get by
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David.
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt. Summer, 2004. Drove 6,000 miles in 28 days. Yellowstone was a 2-day stop
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited another continent. (Asia-Nepal in 2001, South America-Ecuador in 2006)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. Grew up in Florida
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted (drawn.)
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater. Hull’s Drive in, Lexington, VA. Still operating. Saw Wall-E this summer.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business. On my fifth or sixth one now...details when I can (very hush-hush right now)
58. Taken a martial arts class. Attained Purple Belt, then had to stop when I broke my foot
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen. Every Week
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Got flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving. The day after graduating High School, Eustis, Florida
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job. More times than most people have been hired
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London.
77. Broken a bone. See #58. Also, used to skateboard barefoot. Not good for toe bones.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car. Never again. I drive a 97 F150 and a 92 Taurus now
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. Two weekends ago
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life. Church dinner, guy with carrot in throat. Heimlich. It Worked.
90. Sat on a jury. They alway s kick me out of the pool.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one. Dad, Mom, Father-in-Law, Mother-in-Law...all within 5 years.
94. Had a baby. Well, my part...X4
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit. Lost
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.
Looking at this list, I am a fairly well-rounded person . What about you?
Posted by Drew458
on 12/08/2008 at 10:56 AM
Filed Under: • Daily Life •
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Permalink • Lego Land
My boys love legos. I think we have over 10,000 bricks and parts in our home at last count. My oldest, the 11 year-old, also is an engineer. He can dream of and build just about anything. A couple of years ago, we heard about the F.I.R.S.T. Lego League. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an organization started by Dean Kamen (yeah, the Segway guy) to get kids excited about science which started this competition for 9-14 year olds. It is an intense, two month season of research, robot building and teamwork that culminates in regional and state-level competitions.
In the middle of September, the challenge for the year is announced. There are four aspects to the competition that each contribute 25% to your overall score:
- Research project - This is the team’s research presentation on the topic of the year. This year’s topic was: “How does the climate affect your community?”
- Teamwork - How well does your team work together?
- Robot Design - How well is your robot designed for the challenges
- Robot performace - This is the part the kids really look forward to. Its a timed event of 2:30 where the robot the kids designed (using the Lego NXT system) try and accomplish as many of the year’s challenges as possible. Each year, there are a potential of 400 points to be gatherd.
When the challenge was announced this year, we had no robot base, we had no practice table and most importantly, we had no team. So we called a few people we knew who might be interested and found 4 other kids to join us...two more boys and two girls..a rookie team of 6 kids who have never worked together before. We ordered the base robot kit and the year’s challenge kit (to build the challenges with) and had one of the dads build us a practice table. We started meeting in the beginning of October The regional tournament was in mid-November, so we only had about 6 weeks to prepare. Our expectations were pretty low. This was going to be a “fun” year of just getting our feet wet and seeing how it all worked.
The kids worked real hard, redesigning the robot four or five times until they were satisfied with the stability and performance capabilities. here is what they ended up with:
For the research project, they chose to study the affect of salt on the roads and come up with an alternative solution. (they chose to present the use of “Jet Dryers” that NASCAR and the Airports use to dry the road surfaces).
We went to the regional tournament knowing we were a first-year rookie team and jsut wanted to have fun. Our robot could consistantly score in the low 100’s (out of the possible 400), so our expectations were not very high.
In the robot performance, we scored a 140 (best score of three runs), which was the second best for the day (our frieds won the top slot for performance with a 145). The kids were elated that they had done so well. Apparently, scores all around the nation have been low this year due to the complexity of the board. When we were at the awards ceremony at the end of the day, we were shocked to find out we had won the overall tournament (the combination of all four scores from teh different categories) and would be moving on the the state tournament in just three weeks!
There were some changes they wanted to make in the design based upon some neat ideas they saw other teams use, so we went to work. As we changed on aspect (the front forsk, for example), it gave them an idea to change something else (the sweeping arms). Eventually, we changed every attachment and every program. The kids were having fun, but getting a little nervous that we had actually redon the entire solution in just a couple of weeks. We practiced and practiced and had the ability to get nearly 300 points, but not withing the two and a half minute time limit for the run. They had to decide which pieces to jettison so we would be within the time limit.
This past weekend was the state tournament. 39 teams in thier devision (younger kids) from around the Virginia and Metro DC area gathered at James Madison University for the two-day event. On Saturday, they competed in their teamwork and research project intervies and judging. Yesterday was the robot design judging and the performance runs. They had ten tournamen tables set up and were running groups through every ten minutes all day (80 teams all together for the two divisions, four runs each: 1 practice run and three judging runs). They did very well in all three of the interview judging sessions, so the robot performance was going to be key
The practice run was a disaster (we scored 60). We made a few programming changes at a practice table and the first judging run was better (125). The second run got us up to 160. Then the third run didn’t go so well with us scoring only 120.
We did not end up winning any awards (the top robot score for our division was 275...well done!), but the kids had a fantastic experience, learning a lot about science, robots and the climate. Overall, they finished in 6th place. Out of 39 teams, we felt that was a strong showing for our little band of rookies.
When we got home last night, my boys immediatly started talking about about how they could improve for next year, building a few test attachments and seeing how they would work.
Now that the frantic season is over, I can get back to being more engaged in politics and other things. Its amazing how such an activity can completely dominate your life for a time. Thanks for letting me indulge you with a little glimpse into the MrChristian household.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/08/2008 at 09:24 AM
Filed Under: • Personal • Science-Technology •
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Permalink • MOTHER ENDS HER DAUGHTER’S LIFE IN MERCY KILLING. OR IS IT MURDER?
This is not the nicest way to start my Monday posts here and in fact I had something else all lined up.
However, this sad tale touches on a subject that I have been collecting articles on for some weeks now. I have held them back for a number of reasons.
Not being able to think clearly enough to know where to start for one. The subject matter and personal experiences all playing a role.
There are folks on BMEWS who are quite religious and take a firm stand on some matters that other folks may think should be open to arguments.
For example, people will say that nobody has a right to play God and take a life no matter what the circumstance. But then, ppl who say that are not always in a position to experience the same thing. And then as well, there are those who are either agnostic or atheist and so very honestly according to their lights don’t think they have a God to ask or answer to. It’s a matter of morals not religion, but not everyone is going to see it that way.
This isn’t intended to start any arguments on religion or the beliefs or lack thereof. I’d prefer to leave religion out of this even though I know many will see this story in those terms and no other.
Over the last month or two there have been a number of stories about very young people, kids really, girls in their teens, who have died tragically.
Not due to a careless lifestyle or drugs or drink. They died due to the most awful illnesses imaginable. In one case two sisters, one 19 and the other 22, died within months of each other due to illness. That story along with one of a 13 year old girl who finally won her fight in a “right to die” case have really had an impact on me. I seem to take these things personally and I have no idea why. I have their stories and photos and plan on a posting very soon.
I’m posting this particular story because it’s one of so darn many that have flashed across my screen lately I could no longer avoid the issue.
I was once told by a mother who lost a child, that nobody who hasn’t experienced it can possibly feel the pain and anguish of a parent who outlives a child. Of any age. Most likely she was right but I sure can understand and do feel genuine sympathy for parents who’ve been through it. It has to be the most gut wrenching thing a parent can experience.
For me it’s all made that much worse by being where I am and helping attend to someone who (in theory) is at the end of their life, but nevertheless continues on even though she has not one iota of quality of life. A person of 93 who is unable to even brush her own teeth and has been bed bound for a couple of years.
Someone I refer to as a vampire because she sucks the life out of the living. Yet all these glorious young kids are dropping like flies all around me because of some damn incurable disease, while this other person of 93 does not have one single life threatening illness. NONE!
So yes, I tend to take these things personally.
Mother arrested for murder after daughter is found dead after 16 years in bed.
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:49 PM on 08th December 2008A policeman’s wife has been arrested on suspicion of the mercy-killing of the couple’s seriously ill daughter.
Detectives are now examining the exact circumstances of the death of 31-year-old Lynn Gilderdale, who died at her home in Stonegate, in East Sussex, on Thursday.
Her 54-year-old mother Kay, who was also her full-time carer was arrested by police on suspicion of murder and has been released on bail pending further inquiries.
Lynn’s father Richard, who is separated from her mother, is a former police sergeant who still works for the police in a civilian role in the nearby town of Hastings.
Lynn was diagnosed with ME, once dubbed yuppie flu, in May 1992. She spent much of her life unable to leave her bed, communicating with her family through sign language.
A tribute to Lynn was released through the police yesterday. In it, the family said: ‘Lynn was young, beautiful, loving and caring.
‘At the age of 14 years she was struck down by ME - an illness greatly misunderstood - and as a result, suffered the stigma attached to this dreadful illness.
‘She fought long and hard for 17 years with immense bravery, enduring constant pain and sickness.
‘Every system of her body was affected. She required 24 hour care that was provided by her totally dedicated mother, with continuous support from Lynn’s father.
‘Lynn suffered many hospital admissions, sometimes lasting several months, for life threatening conditions.
‘Prior to her illness, which left her paralyzed, unable to speak, eat or drink and until recently, no memory, she was an active healthy teenager full of life’s dreams.
‘She enjoyed sailing, swimming, cycling and was an accomplished musician.
‘Her family praise and admire Lynn for her courage, which she showed to the end.
‘She was a much-loved daughter, sister and granddaughter who despite her illness always gave love and support to others.
‘In life Lynn strove to help the medical profession improve their insight into M.E. which affects thousands of people, in varying degrees of severity.
‘Her dedicated mother, supported by Lynn’s family, has pledged to achieve her ultimate goal - for better understanding and recognition of this life destroying illness.’
In a interview two years ago, Kay revealed how doctors at a specialist clinic in London treated her daughter as an attention seeker, with a made-up illness.
She said that although Lynn could not swallow, spoke only in a whisper and failed to recognise people, she was made to take part in punishing experiments.
At her worst, Lynn could only move her little finger, failed to recognise anybody, remember anything, experienced painful muscular spasms and shook all over.
She could not bear any light, touch or noise and could hear only one whispered voice at a time.
As a result of being bedridden, Lynn often had blood clots and suffered from severe osteoporosis, irritable bowel syndrome and asthma and was fed through a tube.
Speaking two years ago Kay said: ‘It’s like she’s in limbo. If someone dies, you mourn them, then you get to a stage where you know that person is gone and you move on. But Lynn is neither one nor the other.
‘She is stuck in that room, not dead, but not alive properly.‘If I didn’t believe, and she didn’t believe, that one day she would get better then I don’t think it would be right for her to go on suffering like this for a whole lifespan of 70 or 80 years.
‘I don’t resent what it has done to my life but I do resent whatever has made her so ill. It’s been heartbreaking to watch my child lose her faculties one by one.
‘It is still very hard for me to see mothers and daughters together or groups of teenagers dressed up and laughing or to hear a family in the garden having a barbecue with children running around.
Lynn once spent two months on a life-support machine at Kings Hospital in London after suffering a punctured lung after complications receiving medication through a Hickman line.
Richard and Kay Gilderdale split up because of unrelated problems, but he visited his daughter regularly and also looked after her.
There is no known cure for ME and Kay previously told how she was online everyday keeping up-to-date with research into the syndrome.
Ch Insp Heather Keating, the Rother district police commander, said: ‘This is a very tragic incident, but we are not looking for anyone else in connection with it.’
The investigation into Lynn Gilderdale’s death is being led by Det Ch Insp Andy Griffiths from the Major Crime Branch of Sussex Police.
Posted by peiper
on 12/08/2008 at 08:05 AM
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Permalink • Sunday - December 07, 2008
Weekend Graphics, Santa Edition
A modest collection of less-than-holy Christmas card graphics, most sent in by reader Dave.
But sometimes Santa and those reindeer get really naughty ...
Posted by Drew458
on 12/07/2008 at 08:24 PM
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Permalink • RSS for the rest of us
Hey look, a web site that gives you links to all the blogs and other websites you’ve always meant to visit. Pretty cool. They do the RSS work so you don’t have to. I don’t think BMEWS made the cut, though I didn’t explore the place fully.
Politics left right and center. News commentary. Hollywood Gossip. Sports and Marketing on their way. Everything you ever wanted from the Internet other than porn and email.
Maybe they’ll have a bunch of the gun blogs when the Sports area gets finished. And I hope the milblogs are strongly represented too.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/07/2008 at 01:10 PM
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Permalink • This ‘n That
First up, a big Thank You to Christopher for covering Pearl Harbor Day. Never forget. Remember this day not just for the loses we suffered but for the hubris that lead to it. Open your eyes and leave your ego behind: all places are vulnerable to attack, so be vigilant. Always.
Speaking of lack of vigilance, a little update to Peiper’s cover on the truck burning in Pakistan: Yahoo News reports that the count is now over 160 trucks destroyed. I’m thinking some REMFs were really asleep at the wheel for this to happen. Too bad the US can’t have military depots manned by our troops in Pakistan.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Gunmen blasted their way into two transport terminals in Pakistan on Sunday and torched more than 160 vehicles destined for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan, in the biggest assault yet on a vital military supply line, officials said.
The U.S. military said its losses in the raid near the northwestern city of Peshawar would have “minimal” impact on anti-Taliban operations, set to expand with the arrival of thousands more American troops next year.
However, the attack will fuel concern that insurgents are trying to choke the route through the famed Khyber Pass, which carries up to 70 percent of the supplies for Western forces in landlocked Afghanistan, and drive up the cost of the war.
The owner of one of the terminals hit Sunday denied government claims that security was boosted after a raid last month near the pass in which militants made off with one Humvee and later paraded it before journalists.
...
Khan said armed men flattened the gate before dawn with a rocket-propelled grenade, fatally shot a guard and set fire to a total of 106 vehicles, including about 70 Humvees.
...
The attackers fled after a brief exchange of fire with police, who arrived about 40 minutes later, he said.The nine other guards who were on duty but stood helplessly aside put the number of assailants at 300, Khan said, though police official Kashif Alam said there were only 30.
At the nearby Faisal depot, manager Shah Iran said 60 vehicles destined for Afghanistan as well as three Pakistani trucks were burned in a similar assault.
I don’t know what’s going on with Pakistan. Between this and the Mumbai attack ... they’ve got problems. Sure, they’re our ally, but I think the islamist problem they have is many times greater than what our news media lets on about.
A bit of good news: William “Cold Cash” Jefferson lost his reelection bid down in Loozi-anna. That vote was delayed because of the hurricane. He was defeated 50-47 by Republican Ahn Cao, which gives the GOP another “ethnic first”
NEW ORLEANS – In a year when national Republican fortunes took a turn for the worse, Louisiana delivered the GOP two seats in Congress in elections delayed by Hurricane Gustav.
Indicted Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson was ousted Saturday from his New Orleans area district, while Republicans narrowly held on to the seat vacated by a retiring incumbent.
The wins followed Republicans’ reconquest of another House seat earlier this fall that had been lost to Democrats.
In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans, Republican attorney Anh “Joseph” Cao won 50 percent of the vote to Jefferson’s 47 percent and will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress.
Did you know that Jefferson still hasn’t come to trial yet? How many years has it been now? They got him on videotape demanding and taking bribes, and the FBI found $90,000 of the marked cash in his freezer. What the hell is going on down there? Throw his ass in jail already.
The national GOP also backed Cao, an immigration lawyer, with a barrage of advertising portraying Jefferson as corrupt.
Prosecutors contend Jefferson used his influence as chairman of the congressional Africa Investment and Trade Caucus to broker deals in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and other African nations on behalf of those who bribed him. The 2007 indictment claims Jefferson received more than $500,000 in bribes and demanded millions more between 2000 and 2005, including the $90,000 found in the freezer of his Washington home. Jefferson denies wrongdoing. No trial date has been set.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/07/2008 at 12:37 PM
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Permalink • FRED THOMPSON ON THE CURRENT ECONOMY
Nothing from me except this video.
Goodnight all ...
Posted by peiper
on 12/07/2008 at 11:56 AM
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Permalink • Bush bombed by Hollywood has been, who became a minor star via the casting couch.
No kidding.
She earned her way to fame the hard way. Well, depending on the firmness of the couch and ....
Collins is a woman who doesn’t recognize men at a Hollywood party unless they take off their pants.
I’m referring to Joan Collins, the author of this article which has me upset. Attacking Bush isn’t enough. Oh no.
She also has to attack his mother. Hey Joan, I think you forgot his dog. Oh I see. You recognize the dog huh? Give you a starring part did he?
George Bush: ‘W’ seems so much smaller in real life
By Joan Collins
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 07/12/2008Wistful and slightly sorrowful - not the way one usually pictures the President of the United States - is how George W Bush appeared in the first of the “exit interviews” he is granting to the networks over the next few weeks. There are only about six weeks left of his tension-filled tenure as America’s 43rd President, and he obviously aims to “set the record straight” about the more serious problems that beset his eight years in office. And so he blamed the previous decade for the horrible economic situation, and defended his decision to go to war with Iraq, regurgitating that tired “axis of evil” line.
His presidency had the most terrible beginning - 9/11 came just a few months after his induction. Who can forget the shots of him reading to schoolchildren in Florida when an aide rushed in and urgently whispered in his ear? Bush carried on calmly reading to the kids while carnage and devastation rained on New York. For many people this crucial moment showed the measure of the man: indecisive and incompetent. And for the next seven-and-a-half years, he did little to change the perception of him as an amiable buffoon who shouldn’t be allowed to direct traffic, much less run a country.
He looked thin-lipped and overly powdered talking to ABC News, obviously attempting to present a better image for posterity than the one already lodged in the minds of the millions who despise him; those who believe it’s his fault - because of Iraq, Afghanistan and Wall Street’s greed - that the US and the world finds itself in such a shocking mess.
Bearing all this in mind, I was pleasantly surprised when we went to see Oliver Stone’s W, in which James Brolin gives a rather sympathetic portrayal of George Bush the younger. Scenes of “Dubya”, as his authoritarian father and controlling mother called him, show him as a young man with a rather serious drinking problem and absolutely no clue as to what to do with his life.
In W, Bush displays great strength when he decides to stand for election as Governor of Texas, mixed with utter disregard for his father’s plans to groom brother Jeb for the presidency. Stone speculates that perhaps his fatal mixture of intensity and idiocy can be traced back to Mother Bush, who famously said the hurricane in New Orleans would “work out very well” for the poor, as they’d all get new houses.
“God wants me to be president,” he says to Mom one morning over breakfast. “You must be joking!” she replies. Brolin brings Dubya brilliantly to life, showing his evolution from a spoiled, petulant drunk to a spoiled, petulant President. However it is a warmer and fuzzier picture of the man than anything he himself can paint.
Perhaps Bush should take his own counsel when asked what place he expects to have in history: “In history? In history we’ll all be dead.”
Posted by peiper
on 12/07/2008 at 10:28 AM
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
- Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
- Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
- Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
- Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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