As the world turns. . .

And as the world turns things don't change much. Silliness increases and normality wanes. . .

Why do I say this? Let's take a peek at this week's news which highlights what humans are about these days. 

1. Bumper cars in three amusement parks in Britain have banned people from "bumping". They must drive slowly and "avoid" other "bumper cars". . .  Sigh. . .  
2. Seriously Obese (I thought obese in and of itself was serious) children in North America are being offered stomach stapling. . .  No interest, it seems, in preventative measures, training parents to say "NO!", healthy eating or lengthening the school day (as it was in the past) to permit time for recesses and physical exercise, etc. No. . .  That would be too simple. Rather, we wait until 12 year olds near 300 lbs before reacting. .  . Sigh. . . Dr Maggie Mamen (psychologist) says parents can't say no. and actually find the thought abhorring. . . And so the old warnings remain - children with adult onset type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, cyst-filled ovaries. . . . I guess that's how we like our kids today. . .
3. Then, there's a refugee claimant and migrant from China who, in Canada, can't answer the question: "What is Jesus like as a person?" His fate, it seems, is to have his Canadian citizenship application reversed and possibly be sent back to China. . .Interesting. I didn't know that to be welcomed to Canada today, the government must assess your religious beliefs.And who, pray tell, assesses theirs?
4. Then there's the art student from the Ontario College of Art and design who places a bomb (fake that is) on the doorstep of the Royal Ontario Museum. (It's a conceptual piece. . . . . . ) You can get a degree in fine arts at our loftiest Universities without knowing how to draw or paint or sculpt but you can play conceptual mind games and be perceived as "creative". (I think I am getting sick to my stomach. . . )
5. And in the same week, there's the article by the Globe and Mail"s Margaret Wente (entitled : "What's Wrong With Us? Not Much Apparently")  It seems that every sniggly symptom deserves immediate attention lest you discover even worse. . . The whole basis for this interesting article is to point out that our health concerns are less real than they are figments of our fear-mongering environment.
6. Then there's the animal protectors telling us to STOP the abuse and verbal violence against animals. . .  We are being told to STOP the name calling. Vermin are not vermin. . .  They are "differentiated beings". . .  Are these the same peoplewqho ignore the fact that even in Canada many children go to school hungry? Even the word animal is perceived as abusive. . .  Sigh. . .  Can someone tell me why we perceive our modern democracy to be a sane environment into which our children are made to grow? Isn't that abusive? The Journal of Animal Ethics" invites us to meditate on these ideas. . .  Hmm. I thought they said "animal" was an abusive term. Why is it therefore in the title of their organization?
7. And then we come to a British elementary school which disciplined two 7 year olds for pointing. . .  pointing in the manner of a gun. . . that is.  "Finger guns" are banned in this school. . .  This means that no child may allow himself (usually boys, wouldn't you know) the urge to create a finger gun by raising a thumb to the sky while pointing the index of the same hand (I would presume) at a potential victim. . . Doing so constitutes (according to the authorities at Nathaniel Newton Infant School in Nuneaton, Warwickshire) "threatening behaviour" which merits severe disciplinary consequences. . . (And our children are left in the hands of such minds for teaching purposes? We must really hate our children!)
8. And yes, when reality is too insane to accept, there is always reality TV where "rich, pregnant and stupid - the perfect people to hate" can be ogled and fawned over as we are wont to do when TV reality is being broadcast. (see article on TV listings by John Doyle of the Globe and Mail)
9. Then there's the teen-aged mother phenomenon. It seems we like to watch girls (not old enough to handle their own lives) screw up the lives of their offspring. This week, one of them has had her profile go viral. How did she do that? She attempted suicide- or so the media is promoting the "event". (What better way to get even more attention and ratings than your rival tv show starlets.

Yes, this is a short review of the past 10 or so days. . . .courtesy of the local, national and international press.  And I haven't even touched upon other things such as war allies, government spending and policies or business practices of the day. Yes. We do live in the most forward thinking democracies in the world. . . don't we. . . . That's what we're told, anyway.

If you can. . .  have a great week. B