IT'S A STRANGE, STRANGE WORLD WE LIVE IN ....

.....   IT'S A STRANGE , STRANGE WORLD WE LIVE IN MASTER JACK

I was listening to National Radio yesterday and one of the commentators recounted that he heard a news report that Scots College in Wellington, a former single sex boy's school, was to admit girl students. When walking in Wellington he passed a girl wearing a uniform from a single sex girls school - Marsden I think - and asked her what she thought of Scots College allowing girls in and what did she think of her school letting boys in. The girl backed away with a horrified look on her face - not from the thought of her school letting boys in but from the fact that a complete stranger, a man, asked her a question on the street. This led to a discussion about 'stranger danger' and the fact that parents are so terrified of something happening to their kids that they instil fears and worries in them that might be, on balance, unwarranted.

STRANGER DANGER

While not exactly on point, this Catherine Tate video clip does show parent influence on children.

DON'T KILL US

I do think that things are getting out of hand. It's a shame to think that children are being cocooned and not experiencing the world naturally and interacting with people outside of their own closed circles. You only have to witness the morning and afternoon drop offs and pickups of school children by parents, usually mothers in their behemoth vehicles to take the little angels to school and home when the distance is only a kilometre or two. Compare that to our walking, cycling, tram or bus trips we made on our own when we were at primary school.

No wonder children today spend incredible amounts of time on social media platforms and have their heads buried in smartphones, tablets or computers. They are then seeing a world that is actually different from the real one and is in fact a virtual one.

THANKS DAD

Do plants have feelings?
Do they feel gratitude?

We have a little bank of herbs in the kitchen, on the bench - basil, mint, Thai basil and another basil.
I have them sitting in little bowls close to the sink so that it's easy to top them up with water. They get a bit of shade but also, depending on the time of day, sufficient sunlight through the kitchen window.

When I water them I immediately notice a burst of aroma from them individual to the herb that they are. It's like they are thanking me for giving them some refreshment and saying "THANKS DAD"

Is that crazy?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICHARD (OF RBB)

2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT

Yes, I'm sure that you, like me have been wondering why a  bloated, nasty, self-serving, amoral, immoral and orange narcissist could ever be president of USA.

This man seems to be, in a short space of time, knocking down any good that that country has done over the last couple of decades, furthering all the bad things that have been created and turning a blind eye to problems that all humanity faces.

Well it just may be that this isn't an accident and that the Republican backers of Trump aren't stupid and may well have a nasty game-plan going on.
I like Noam Chomsky's essays and here is one that has a great insight into what is going on in the USA and how we all are being adversely affected.

This is worth watching and listening to.

TRUMP'S DISTRACTION

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PATHOS

"The candy floss salesman 

Watches ladies in the sand

Down for a freaky weekend in the hope 

That they'll be meeting Mr. Universe."

- 'Up The Pool' Jethro Tull


UP THE POOL

This song is inherently sad due to its nostalgic musing. Ian Anderson thinks back to the times he spent at Blackpool both growing up and on his later visits when he was living in London.

The verse above about the lecherous candy floss man watching 'desperate' young women sums up one of life's little ironies - aspiring to something you can't have. Sad really.

GOOD /BAD

Here's an interesting article about a moral dilemma:

GOOD - BAD

Should good deeds be rewarded?

Should the perpetrator of a good deed expect some sort of reward?

Does being on the 'moral high ground' condone other forms of bad behaviour?

This is interesting because we are increasingly being made aware of horrible behaviour from religious people, politicians. business leaders, famous entertainers and people of power, position and influence. It's only the rise of social media and immediacy o other forms of media and communication that is making this so overt - the implication is that things have always been this way.

Why do people behave in this way? Is it because they feel that they have a 'god given right' because they have attained fame, prosperity or position?

I think bad bastards are bad bastards no matter what 'good deeds' they do to disguise it.

I'm black and white and am an unforgiving bastard.

Turn the other cheek?

No way.

GOD (SORRY YOU DON'T EXIST) IF WE HAVE TO SING ABOUT SOMETHING IT MIGHT AS WELL BE ABOUT PHILOSOPHERS

Look just because I'm a philosopher it doesn't mean I Kant have a sense of humour (did you see what I did there?). Anyway, THE CURMUDGEONS are doing Christmas songs in their posts and I don't want to be left out. Unfortunately almost all of the bloody things include references to Jesus and god and stuff. Don't those songwriters realise that god is dead?

Here's something to keep you going though:

MONTY PYTHON THE PHILOSOPHERS SONG


If this offends you then you can listen to this:


MOSTLY GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS SONG


Don't thank me. In analysing gratitude and the conditions under which it is called for, philosophers have generally tried to account for all the cases in which we find it natural to use gratitude terms (“grateful”, “thankful”, etc.). We use such terms in a broad range of circumstances: it sounds natural to say, for instance, “I am grateful that it did not rain on my wedding day;” “grateful someone happened to walk by as I was being mugged;” “grateful to someone for trying unsuccessfully to help me;” “grateful for someone’s well-wishes.” The breadth of circumstances in which we invoke gratitude terms would suggest that gratitude, generally, is the response a person should have to something good—that is, to benefit or “favour” (Walker 1980–1981)
 In this case you may consider that the posting of the songs was no bloody good then you wouldn't be grateful you ungrateful bastards.