I do not undestand this planet...too many contradictions!

Another article, another instance of my mind going too fast for me to handle without writing some of it's thoughts down. The article is in the December 10-11 Weekend Australian Magazine and is speaking of the debate regarding Raw (unpasteurised) milk.

Humans have drunk milk for centuries and yet now, in only the past 100 years or so, we've somehow come to the conclusion that we must, at all costs, only drink milk that has been pasteurised. Why? Well honestly I have no idea.

This recent article is only the latest instance in a long list of things that I find completely baffle me these days. Everyday I find another contradiction, another regulation, another seemingly obvious solution to something that the public and government find impossible. I look back at decades like the 50's and realise that in the 50-60 years since we have changed so many things and yet benefited little.

Here are just some of the things I find very puzzling:

• We obsessively regulate some things (such as milk) and not others (like the number of hours doctors work).
• We force pilots to take breaks but put doctors and nurses (who are there to keep us from dying at our most critical moments) on 24 hour shifts and longer.
• We bombard ourselves and our children with images of sweets, fatty and salt food items (many of them snacks).......and then wonder why obesity, heart disease and diabetes are on the rise.
• We tell our children we are fine the way we are but tell ourselves and teens that a)everyone who is different is bad whether it be different ethnicity, religion, social class etc
• and b) that everyone must conform to a figure from a photograph in a magazine which has been significantly altered. Then we wonder why children fight and why depression and eating disorders are on the rise
• We make children sit down from the age of 5 to at least 16 (or beyond) during their most impressionable and habit-forming years and then wonder why obesity is on the rise and why they are not healthy.
• We force children to learn in a single way (sitting down, taking notes and reading) and then wonder why not all people learn as well.
• We tell children to tolerate others and then attack other countries for being a different faith or background.
• We tell ourselves that money can't buy happiness but spend out entire lives trying to get it, win it or apply for it.
• We say that it's not about material goods but about the things like family, health and happiness and then give ourselves messages that all involve the newest craze to give to a family member, improve our health or bring us happiness.
• We say there are no jobs and yet health is in crisis, housing is in crisis, some roads are appalling, education is appalling and we do not have enough people trying to improve technology to be more environmentally efficient.
• And finally....we go on and on about the environment but we make agreements to begin in 10 years or more and continue to do things just as we did before.

Ok...so there are more than a couple but this list is just the tip of the iceberg and it shows how completely illogical we can be as a species. Personally I find it very sad and incredibly frustrating. I feel despair when I read of yet another person becoming so desperate to be heard that they use violence. We have over 50% (not a specific statistic) of the population in serious jeopardy because of lack of food, healthcare or safety.

WE ARE SMARTER than this! We are MORE COMPASSIONATE than this. ONLY WE CAN CHANGE THIS! We have the ability to change this world. I'm not say we should go back to the 1950's. Going back isn't possible and we have made some positive changes since then however we need to do something for whilst I understand we can't fix every problem that occurs I believe we can fix about 95% of them a lot more easily than we think but we HAVE to stop telling our children one thing and then doing another. And we can ONLY do it by working together.

I am a little sorry for turning this post into a classic "we must pull together" message but not entirely because I fully believe what I am writing. And part of me can't help feeling that this world has the uncanny ability to even things out. I think that if we don't it will do it for us and I doubt we will like the method. Plus I watch the news with such frustration...I feel like I know how to help this world but no way of expressing it or getting people to do it.

Ok...I'll stop rambling now. It's late and I've gone on long enough. The rest is up to you, me, our friends and family...it's up to the world to try and give ourselves, and everyone else, the real chance at happiness....who knows...it just might be crazy enough to work. :-)

Musings

I keep thinking all these things recently and I need a place to write them done or I'll go crazy. All these things I see in the world, things that upset or confuse me, baffle or lift me. I have to put them down, share them, find out if others still feel the same because I can't believe I'm the only one who feels like this.

So welcome to my very much needed post and if you want to comment then please do. Share your own blog with me, tell me your thoughts. I'd love to find a network of people...at least then if I'm crazy I'm not alone. :)

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I start with the recent repeat of a series on ABC TV (from the BBC). "Turn Back Time: High Street". I've seen part of this series before but missed the first few episodes however tonight it was repeated and the episode was the Victorian Era. To recap it's about a town in the UK who's high street has gown downhill. Several families live through different eras to try and bring people away from the shopping mall and to the local town again.

Oddly the era tonight fits in nicely with a book I just read "The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.

The Victorian era was by no means perfect and the families in the show work very hard just as people from that time did. However it's not that which began a deluge of information in my head.

It was watching the shops stand empty, hear the stories of people whose businesses have gone under and seeing the people interact with each other because of the project that made me tear up. I still feel as though we have lost something VITAL in modern times. We no longer interact with each other and sometimes I feel I go through life a random collection of 1's and 0's, code in a computer which won't exist in a few years. The blacksmith on the show is a blacksmith in real life and he himself felt the difference when people appreciated his work.

I LONG for that so much! I tear up when I watch the show because I sense something missing and don't know how to get it back.

Recently I began gardening...this might seem a jump in topic but it's actually strongly connected. I've found that gardening helps me feel more solid, less like computer code and more like a person. I've also found that whilst I usually go insane with impatience I have nothing but patience for this gardening and that feels like a precious gift.

I believe we need to get back to our roots, we need to interact personally and not try to cram our day full of things. I am trying to learn to savour my moments, even the boring moments like washing dishes, rather than let it fly past. Otherwise it will be gone before I know what's happening.

I can be a little long winded so I'll stop there and leave it with a pic of my new gardening efforts. Such a lovely feeling, watching things grow, it truly is like magic!

Oh...and for those who are curious there is Basil, English Dwarf Lavender, Carnations, Strawberries (very small), Sunflowers, Cotton, Rocket and an experiment with an onion.

Firefox 4 - A waste of time!

I installed Firefox 4 this evening. At least it was this evening. It's now after 10pm. I've spent the last 2 hours installing add-on after add-on to get it back to a reasonably useable state. Here's what it changed/removed/added:

• The title bar has vanished - I had to install an extension to get it back
• My theme changed all the buttons around so I couldn't find them - I installed a firefox 3 theme to get them back to the right order.
• My personal menu extension was ruined so I had to install another extension to have my single button menu shortcut back
• It took away the 'save and quit' option when I close my tabs. Thankfully I found instructions for the "about:config" section to get this back.
• It changed the order the tabs are opened. Ditto with the "about:config" settings.
• My personas themes were disabled. "about:config" settings had to be changed to get them to work - this was a comment by user: Steph in the theme reviews.

Now I understand that themes are likely to be different and that some extensions might not work yet (partially why I waited sooooo long) but this is nuts. It's taken me over two hours to get this thing back to something which vaguely resembled my personal settings. To have to install an extension to get the title bar back is just plain stupid.

I know that new editions of things usually make some changes but some of these are fundamental. The 'save and quit' button for example is firefox's trademark. Why they'd get rid of it is beyond me! Personally I HATE theme changes. Basic updates I understand but people get used to how something looks. It should be a chosen option - include the new theme or save the old one and just make the basic changes. We all want to save time and continually learning a new layout is plain irritating and idiotic!

Result: Firefox 4's layout and interaction sucks!!