Recursive

Category: Musings

  • AFBO – Anti Fat-Bastard Order

    Sitting on a local train today, I watched as three larger-than-healthy people got on and found seats near me.
    The gran, mum and son struggled to sit at a table designed for four, while I sat at the table on the other side of the aisle.

    Gran was the smallest of the three, but had to be convinced that it would be okay for her to sit next to her grandson, rather than take a seat behind.

    I noticed the Mum noticing me noticing them. She probably thought that I was rude, that I couldn’t possibly presume that her [tag]size[/tag] was just possibly because she simply eats too much.
    And then she opened a cool-bag (the size of a standard cool-box BTW) stuffed full of sandwiches, fizzy drinks and (I heard mention of) pork pies.
    I’ve heard many people say that it’s not enough to just eat less, but this doesn’t mean continue eating too much.

    With the recent discovery that there’s a [tag]gene[/tag] which apparently contributes to an individual’s likelihood of becoming [tag]overweight[/tag], I am concerned that many may use this as an excuse. Fat people already claim it’s genetic, “well, Mum’s fat and so’s Dad, …”, never thinking that as a baby it was up to these people how much they ate, that as a child they were encouraged to finish their jumbo portions.

    Eating is addictive, but because we HAVE to eat, it isn’t treated as something to do in moderation (as with alcohol consumption).

    I’ve said it before, and I still think it – Fat people need to be reminded that they need to do something about their weight, not pitied for their struggle.

    I will not deny that losing weight is difficult, and that getting overweight is easy, but there are good habits as well as bad habits.

    Minutes after eating a couple of sandwiches, the Mum on the train had to go and get two seats to herself, and wheezed to herself for a bit. If this isn’t sending her signals, what will? A lecture from her GP? Doubt it. We, as a society, need to make obesity a taboo.

    Society encourages and expects respect from others, and it ought to encourage self-respect too.

  • Run away from Dogma

    Lifehack: 10 MORE ways to create a breakthrough in your life.

    Run away from any kind of dogma. Dogma is the product of a closed mind. It’s an idea with a threat attached. If you suffer from dogma, get it out of your life. Let it go. Kick it out. Try thinking the opposite. Treat it like a crazy joke. Do anything you can to get rid of it. It’s the greatest source of barriers to breakthrough.

    I was surprised (and happy) to see an American openly recommending avoiding religion, even if he did include it as part of a greater collection. I then read that the author, Adrian Savage, is in fact an Englishman.

    He’s right though – traditions often stand in the way of innovation, and what’s more traditional than religion?

  • CCTV – Not Invading Privacy

    Last week saw another wave of ‘public concern’ over the increasing numbers of CCTV cameras.

    The BBC recently used the topic as one of their ‘Have Your Say‘ debates.
    The majority of the replies ‘recommended by readers’ were scathing remarks against the “you must have a guilty conscience” “brigade”.

    Unfortunately for them, many of these criticisms were flawed, along the lines of “why do you have curtains?” and so on – missing the vital point that CCTV is used to monitor people in public places – i.e. not invading privacy as too many people think.

    Fact: authorities don’t care what most of us do with our lives; they aren’t watching you – unless you give them reason to.

    There were other, more meaningful, comments – CCTV costs lots, cameras push crime elsewhere, cameras can’t arrest (or help) people, etc.

    I personally am glad there are cameras, I don’t like the idea that sentence can be passed on verbal ‘evidence’ alone and after semantics-stretching creative-truthing.

  • Teaching Britishness

    How about just bringing back some discipline?
    Isn’t that what schools are actually lacking at the moment?
    This must be a smoke-screen.

    And to the Muslims wanting Islamic principles to be taught as well – Muslims account for only 3% of the UK population.
    How about mentioning all the main (world-wide) faiths and the underlying principles?

  • Your Right To Die

    Currently in the news is the debate in [tag]UK[/tag] government over a form of legal [tag]suicide[/tag].
    Unsurprisingly this is being criticised as a “back door to [tag]euthanasia[/tag]”.

    My issue however is the argument against being used by various parties.
    They will start with a well reasoned, well vocalised argument, and then spoil it all by mentioning religion.
    I hope that my friends and family will know well enough that I have no issue with [tag]religion[/tag] per se.
    However, it cannot be used as part of any reasoning – there are too many assumptions that have to be made and, in my eyes, the argument is null and void.

    Are there times when religious texts can be quoted as truly meaningful reason?