rituals and religion

Now I wont say where the pictures below came from cos I am a little concerned by the content of one but they have to be published, not least because there have been no gloved for ages and when two come together and sent to me well I've got to do it.

The first picture clearly shows a preaching glove in action with that finger laying the law down in a most provocative manner.

 But why the need to preach you may ask, well look at the second picture and ask yourself why the need for ritualistic amputation as obviously evidenced here. Like I said I wont say where they were taken but its clearly an area where strange practices occur.

Thin Green Line

I am going to mention this group again, http://www.thingreenline.org.au/.

Please have a look at there website especially if you like to see animals in the wild, in most cases animals need looking after and protecting by people. Rangers are out there day in day out in lots of countries protecting them and helping scientists understand them.

Unfortunately rangers especially in less well off countries die every year often because of illegal poachers who will stop at nothing to get an animal or the part of it they want. A dead ranger nearly always leaves a family with little if any support to help them survive.

Next time you watch a wildlife programme about animals in Africa, Asia, South America and ooh and aah remember there are people living and dying to protect them, and if you can spare a bit of cash think about donating it to the Thin Green Line. Look on it as paying a bit extra to watch animals on the telly.

Yes I was a ranger in this country England, I will never forget speaking to and hearing rangers from around the world at an international conference just talking about their lives and what forms a routine part of it. A routine part that can become the end of their lives. I came home from that conference with a shirt made by the wife of an african ranger who had been killed by a poacher, its a shirt I wear sometimes when storytelling, a shirt that has its own story.

The English Channel innocent or a pawn in the game????????

So like lots of folk I am sitting watching all the people trying to get into the UK whether via ferry and or any which way they can. Then I hear lots of yapping about in or out of the EU. And then I start to wonder and ask questions and I try to be objective.

A few questions come to mind.
1. If the people trying to get on ferries etc in France (other ports and countries are available) are there illegally and have made it from Italy or wherever without claiming asylum.
a) why dont the French (other ports and countries are available) arrest them instead of just taking them down the road and letting them go so they can try again. Cynically could they not get asylum in Italy France or any other EU country and get freedom of movement anyway. Or is that too simplistic.
b) have they heard how bad its going to be here when DC and his friends make even more cuts.

2. How would leaving the EU make this situation any better for us. How are UKIP and other non EUers going to stop illegal immigrants from getting in. What leverage would we have over other country's in the EU when we are not in it to stop them. What incentive would there be for EU not to just turn a blind eye to people wanting to get into UK. What sort of border force would we have and what would we do with anyone found trying to get in.

I know me expressing my thoughts might provoke some folk to accuse me of this and that but am I the only one thinking these thoughts. Or the only one daring to voice them. What is certain to my mind is that both issues are big and need to well explored and explained, how on earth is Joe/Jean public to gain any real understanding of these issues when most seem to be angled one way or another depending on the bias of the media concerned.

Swallows and Amazons Alan Titchmarsh and engineers

I must be getting past my youth or something like.

I commented a few days ago on Twitter about the fuss a BBC news presenter made apologising for  Alan Titchmarsh saying, bastard trenching, it being another term for double digging. Have you ever tried it.

Then today I see that the BBC is making a new version of Swallows and Amazons, supposedly they are renaming a girl originally called Titty as Tatty. Is one better or worse than the other please, what girl would want to be called Tatty.

In my tweet I pondered what the BBC would do with the lovely little plant named Bastard Toadflax, Thesium humifusum its latin name hardly trips off the tongue, would they expunge it from all flora. What hidden meaning would they find in that other little plant Sqinancywort.

Similarly being an engineer many years ago and having had to file file file one particular test piece as well as know all about grades of files, how would they deal with the Bastard File a file of the commercial grade of coarseness between coarse and second-cut.

Next of course we have to move onto the Tit family of birds, Spring/Autumn/ whenever Watch will never be shown before the watershed again.

Is it me or...........

 

The flowers you see in a days work eh...

As a jobbing gardener you get to see all sort and shapes of flowers and plants. You get to know the season just by the plants you see and then........... you come across this one which I saw today.

Still getting over that I move onto looking at a possible new garden which is lovely. In the lawn there are a few bamboo canes oh they are my bee orchids, given I love them I went for a look and lo there is a white sepaled one, something I have not seen too many of.

A nice lunchtime telling stories

I was asked to go along to a community orchard to tell stories to mark midsummer day. So went along told some stories and then just sat and chatted as you do and the time just flew by.

Yes folk liked the stories but the few who stayed behind together with myself and the organisers just sat and nattered, what about, home education and environmental educators worth reading, swifts and are they using a new tower possibly could well be the answer, hedgehogs and leaving gaps in fences to let them get into gardens, bats and bat walks, gardening and why some seeds dont seem to be germinating as usual this year, house sparrows and where they are found, and on it went.

Given the pretty grim stories about the environment it was nice to be in company with people all doing what they can to make a difference. Its more of us doing what we can that will make those higher up wondering if people care take notice, eventually.

The pope speaks on climate change

So today the Pope has spoken about climate change and linked it to the poor, already some in power or wannabes have said he should stay out of it.

Sorry no he should keep saying it, him and as many non politicos and big business owners as can do it. Climate change is for real and its effects are going to be wide ranging and for some catastrophic.

Keep doing it Pope and encourage other religious leaders to do the same.