On my soap box

I’ve been sitting watching the news the last few days. No that is wrong; I watch the news most days, for the majority of my life. It is just the last few days events that I want to mention, that leave me awake at night, staring into the darkness, stroking the cat and pushing him of my chest again and again.

OK, one is “Action threatened over air fares” where the Office of Fair Trading has threatened to take legal action against airlines in an attempt to tackle what is says is ‘misleading pricing’. Whereas I agree that the pricing is often misleading, and what you thought at first was a bargain turned out to be no better because of hidden costs. But it is up to the consumer to ensure that they know what these hidden costs are before purchasing. If they find out, and then another cost is added on they can argue their cases. We all know, or at least we all should know, that when it comes to things like air fares there tends to be hidden costs, that they may be quoting fares without including extras such as taxes for years. So;

1. Why now is the Office of Fair Trading giving a crap?
2. Will anything actually change?

The good news is Easyjet, Ryanair and Thomas Cook are saying they are 'working towards compliance', but to find out what this compliance is has proven to be more difficult, although this morning the BBC News website has provided more details. Basically it seems that travel companies have three months to include all fixed, non-optional costs in their basic advertised prices. Which I agree whole heartedly would be a good thing, what is bothering me is why OFT decided to do something now, and will they really take companies to court to make the changes if they are not happy with the progress, or will they extend the deadline as they have a history of doing?

“Patient Bleeds Dark Green Blood” - This story came out as a team of Canadian surgeons got a ‘shock’ when a patient they were operating on began shedding ‘dark greenish-black blood’. The patient’s leg surgery went ahead successfully. The blood color was due to large doses of Sumatriptan (A migraine medication) which caused a rare condition called sulfhaemoglobinaemia where sulphur is incorporated into the oxygen-carrying compound haemoglobin in red blood cells.

Ok so that’s the news story. According to the science fantasy television series, Star Trek, Mr Spock had green blood because the oxygen-carrying agent in Vulcan blood includes copper, rather than iron, as is the case in humans. Mr Spock had a human mother, and a Vulcan father, from whom he inherited his inability to make sense of human emotion, as well as his green blood.

Why am I mentioning this story? First of all because I found it fascinating and secondary I struggled to believe it was true. But what I found frustrating was that no one seems to mention whether this green blood was causing the man harm, whether he is coming of the drug that caused this. What the risk is for other people on that drug. If I was on that drug should I be worried?

Ok next news story (I will try and make the rest short) is the problems in the Gaza Strip. What I want to mention is not the details of what is happening there, who I think is right or wrong. But it is the other countries. The ones who feel like they can take a moral high ground. They can sit in their comfortable offices making quotes like “British Foreign Secretary Margaret Backett stressed it would be wrong for Hamas to benefit from its seizure of power”, South Africa called for the “unity government to be restored”, Sweden is applauding Abbas’s decision to nominate political independent Salam Fayyad to form an emergency government. The USA has already given full backing to Abbas, saying “he acted well within his lawful authority and we fully support him in his decisions to try to end this crisis for the Palestinian people and to give them an opportunity to return to peace and a better future”.

Who are we (the British) to say who is right and who is wrong. We have done the same thing in the past; it is what has made us who we are today. Did these people in power not learn about the English Civil Wars in the 17th Century? Where we butchered one another, executed a king. The Bishops Wars 1639-1640 were Charles I tried to push opinions onto others, I think the Scottish Church. 1642-1651 when there was HUGE tension between the throne and parliament. Without these wars we would not have the democracy we have today. We would not have the power to sit on our back sides judging other countries, muttering how awful and barbaric they are when WE ARE NO BETTER?

America had its own Civil war in 1861-1865 and they were no better than the rest of us. The French in 1871. Russia not that long ago in 1918. All through history you can see where countries have had Civil wars, and although I to not think any war is good, but sometimes wars are needed and just.

We should keep out of this war, we have no place to join in, and we have no right to comment. We should remember that the only reason we have such power is because we are in the shadow, in the shadow of America who says we can have this power and becauce we were once a powerful force with a great empire. What are we now, what power do we really have and deserve to have? We can't even defend our own country!

Ok that’s me off my soap box. Health wise I am good, my bladder is on over drive, I think it is on caffeine high, it is always so active, I don’t know where it is getting all its fluid from. I have pins and needles back in my feet, so I am happy, they went numb for a bit so at least now I can feel them.

Sorry for my long rant and thank you for getting this far

Love ya all

Smokey xXx