The ThunderDragon

A little too much doom-mongering there, methinks.

That fewer people have dining rooms is hardly one of the signs of the apocalypse, heralding in the end of society as we know it. Besides, just because there isn’t a specific walled-in room called the “dining room” hardly precludes the end of sitting down at a table for dinner, after all.

We’ve always had an “open plan” living/dining room. The dining table and chairs are in one half, and the armchairs, sofa and TV is in the other. We still sit down for family meals, and do so every day, and have for as long as I can remember. I don’t know why people don’t - but it’s not down to knocking the wall to the dining room through.

Just that the dining room as a separated and segmented room is a dying breed really means little. It isn’t necessary to have a separate room just for eating in. And it certainly isn’t the serious problem that seems to be suggested.

Britain is a nation of monarchists, with 80% wanting Britain to retain it’s monarchy. I am not in the slightest bit surprised by this, as the monarchy is on the whole well-regarded by the people of Britain.

Also, the monarchy is a good thing for this country, as it keeps a constant and recognisable national figurehead. It also keeps us away from the need for a President, which would either (a) require a complete and unnecessary reorganisation of our entire political system to fit the idea of a Head of State with powers in, or (b) be a completely and utterly pointless position. Neither of these would, in my opinion, be a good idea.

For at least the foreseeable future, if not far far beyond that, there will be a monarchy in Britain. They are far too embedded into the very fabric of this nation to be removed.

Source: BBC

Hell yes! We should celebrate British history. Not all of it is as great, pretty, and morally righteous as we may wish, be we should showcase it anyway. History is essential to the modern world. It made us what and who we are. Through history we learn lessons, and understand the reasons behind the way the world works.

British history is our history. The history of our nation. What made us who we are. We should have a museum of British history to remind us - and the world - of our history, of our role in making the world what it is. Of course it isn’t all great but I think that, overall, Britain’s role in world history has been positive.

We should have a museum of British history to remind us both of what our nation has done right and wrong in the past, and how we have developed into the nation we are today. After all, it’s not like we would have to struggle to fill it!

Apparently in less than a decade, Britain’s population will reach 65 million, 71 million by 2031 and 77 million by 2051. Because we’re all going to be living longer and having more kids, along with an increase in immigration.

Which is a bit of surprise, really, since I thought we were all going to kill ourselves by eating too much and becoming obese, smoking too much, or drinking too much. Or all three together. Not including everything else that is apparently going to kill us, such as climbing ladders or playing conkers.

Obviously either that’s a load of bollocks, based on “intelligent guesses“, or this population projection is. I suppose they could be banking on the NHS becoming good enough to save us all after we almost kill ourselves with our eating, drinking and smoking - but I don’t think there’s enough money in the world to do that with the NHS in it’s current state.

Source and Image: BBC

Why oh why do some members of the party think that it is a good idea to start in-fighting? It doesn’t help anyone except the Labour Party. Michael Ancram is attacking Cameron for “trashing” it’s Thatcherite past, and writes a column in the Telegraph under the title “Tories must not be ashamed of their history“. Of course we shouldn’t. I don’t think anyone has ever said that we are, or should be. But neither does that mean that we should copy it now. Every era has it’s own politics. Thatcher and her policies were right for her time. But that time ended probably about two decades ago. Not along after I was born, in fact. Iain Dale writes:

That they should. Ancram, and other political dinosaurs like him, should exit stage left. They are stuck in the rut of politics of the past. They don’t understand the political realities of modern Britain.

On this topic, I agree completely with Dizzy and Caroline Hunt, who writes:

This sort of in-fighting and semi-defections doesn’t help the Conservative Party at all in actually
doing the job we want them to.

As I wrote before, it is fine - and beneficial - to disagree on bits and pieces, such as on particular policies, over political strategies etc. But by in-fighting we harm no-one but ourselves. We all have the same very basic core beliefs and ideas - that is why we are all members of the Conservative Party. There are always going to be differences of opinion within large political parties. It comes from the nature of having lots of opinionated people together. To win, and to be able to enact them, we have to cast aside, or at least not shout about, our differences but stress the things we do agree on and work together to achieve them.

The political dinosaurs need to be asked some very simple questions, with yes or no answers:

Do you support the Conservative Party? Yes/No

Do you want the Conservative Party to win the next general election? Yes/No

If they answer yes to both of the questions above, then this is what they should do: Put a sock in it. Support David Cameron and the Shadow Cabinet in what they do and say. If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

Sources: The Telegraph, BBC

Yet another example of an outpouring of grief taken into absurdity with the inclusion of celebrities:

Yes, it is tragic when someone - anyone - dies, but they do so every day. People, even 11-year-old boys, die every day and in every way.

The way that a few of these are picked up and exploited - by the media, politicians, and general public - can really be quite sickening. Why does Rhys deserve more than any other 11-year-old whose life is brutally cut short? Why does the search of Madeleine McCann get so much more media attention than many of the other missing children? The same question can be asked about all of the other media stories of this ilk - Damilola Taylor, Stephen Lawrence, et al. The answer is the same for all of them - nothing makes them more deserving. The only difference is that their deaths/disappearances got into the news.

This outpouring of, and wallowing in, grief just revolts me. Yes it is tragic. but where is the traditional British stiff upper lip? What happened to grieving in private and getting on with your life? Especially when you didn’t even know the deceased.

Source: BBC

Why are they all that surprised? What did they expect for crying out loud? Stonehenge is just a big pile of rocks - what makes it interesting is how long ago it was built. Just look at the size of those rocks and think how much work it must have been to get them there! Think about the exactness of it as a calendar in an age where life was ruled by nature, unlike today. When I visited Stonehenge a month or so ago [when the picture above was taken - yes, that's me (it's not the best picture)], I didn’t expect much more than a pile of rocks, because that is precisely what it is. One thing they did need to do was provide an indent in the rope barrier for photo-taking, so that it makes it easier and prevents huge jams.

The problem is the way in which these sites are over-hyped in glossy brochures and the like means that they are inevitably going to be anti-climactic. Most of these are just old monuments. It is their history that makes them interesting. Also, since these are the mainstream, high-profile tourist attractions, they are inevitably going to be crowded. It’s the very nature of mass tourism.

It isn’t that the tourist sights are disappointing in themselves, it’s that people expect more than there is ever going to be. Stonehenge is just an ancient pile of rocks in an interesting formation, the Eiffel Tower is just a metal tower in the middle of Paris, the Angel of the North is just a huge metal statue, and the Diana Memorial is just an open gutter. What more can you expect from these things?!

Source: BBC