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Dec 18th

12/18/2013

Channel 4's Gogglebox is about to go global by being remade in China, the US and the Ukraine. The reality series, a program featuring adult sofa-bound families talking about what they are watching on television, has taken off.

Why does anyone want to watch other people watching television? The whole concept is astounding.

Gogglebox's contributors, prone on their seats, pass judgment on the week's news and entertainment programs. But the reality TV show has built an audience of two million viewers. Although the featured families are not told what to think, their reactions are not entirely unstructured. The participants are told what to watch and kept free of interruptions.

I guess their children can't come running into the room and the dog is shoved outside.

Along with barbed comments about what they are watching and a few chuckles, the show gives a glimpse into family life and the way we live now. Apparently the average family watches about 21 hours of TV a week.

A similar ITV show in the 80s was revelatory in showing how little TV people actually watched, with viewers wandering in and out of rooms. I didn't see that one either. In the 80s, life's problems kept me fully occupied.

Anyway, I don't watch reality shows. I'm not interested in peering into other people's lives. But I must be amongst the minority. Do you enjoy being distracted this way?

Dec 17th

12/17/2013

www.bbc.co.uk

An ancient bone discovered at a burial site in Kenya highlights the origin of human hand dexterity earlier as than previously thought. Mankind used tools more than half a million years in advance of the assumed time.

PNAS journal reports that the well-preserved metacarpal bone which connects to the index finger resembles that of modern man. It is the earliest fossilized evidence of when humans developed a strong enough grip to start using tools, and differs anatomically from an ape's bone.

The discovery provides evidence that the modern human hand evolved more than 600,000 years earlier than previously documented and probably in the times of the genus Homo erectussensu lato.

Prof Ward, professor of pathology and anatomical sciences at the University of Missouri, Columbia, pointed out that the hand bone locks into the wrist bones, allowing for greater amounts of pressure to be applied to the wrist and hand from a grasping thumb and fingers. This hand dexterity contributed to the evolutionary history of our genus, and was fundamental to our continued existence.

The trouble is mankind wasn't satisfied with mere survival. Modern man went on to conquer every known challenge in our world—climbing the highest mountains and the sheerest cliffs, diving into the depths of the ocean and underground caves as well as rocketing into space. Using their magnificent brain, mankind continues to expand the known horizons by manufacturing robots that can replicate our own attributes—including the dexterous hand.

I often wonder how the discovery of these ancient human bones ties in with the Bible's explanation of how man evolved. Bearing in mind that every culture clings to their particular religious beliefs, there should be a universal truth which links us all. I've worked out plenty of theories. How about you?

Dec 16th

12/16/2013

Wildcat

Google has acquired the engineering company that developed Cheetah, the world's fastest-running robot and other animalistic mobile research machines.

Click here to see a four-legged robot named WildCat. The video shows the noisy machine galloping down a car park at high speed (16 mph) and pivoting quickly on the spot. I watched spell-bound.

Boston Dynamics, which contracts for the US military, is the eighth robotics company snapped up by Google this year. Both the price and size of the project are being withheld from publication. Analysts say the purchases signal a rising interest in robotics use by consumer internet companies.

www.telegraph.co.uk

I can't imagine where the use of robotics will lead. One such crazy idea ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions of pockets. On second thought, my worst fears would be for robots to take over the world. On a practical level, I can't see that happening. Where would all the funds come from to build a metallic army with computer brains? Doesn't the world have enough problems with famine, war, slavery, and rising costs in consumer products?

Yet, I notice that computer games are selling well this Christmas. I can't understand how families can afford these luxuries. What happened to the challenge of a game of chess to test the brain?

Dec 15th

12/15/2013

www.financialexpress.com

In the latest news, a gardener in intensive care died of alcohol withdrawal, despite attempts to save him. They discovered he had imbibed a daily pack of strong lager prior to the accident.

I read an article several weeks ago about a change in the UK people's drinking habits. I can't say this refers to adults, because sadly some children begin drinking as young as 8 years old. Many of the established pubs in England are closing, as more people are buying their alcohol from supermarkets at cheaper prices. On the face of it, this seems sensible, although they're missing out on socializing with friends in a convivial atmosphere. But the bad news is that the drinking public consumes more at home than they did previously.

The inquest revealed the facts of the gardener's death. During a crash on his bicycle, the man broke 11 ribs and cut his left kidney when he crashed into a wheelie bin, tumbling over the handlebars. He survived but doctors at St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London, grew worried when the 51-year-old became delirious. Despite treatment with vitamins and minerals to combat alcohol withdrawal, he died a week later of a cardiac arrest.

www.deccanchronicle.com

The pathologist reported evidence of past overuse of alcohol. His heart was double its normal size, which could be due to high blood pressure and also alcohol. His liver was twice the expected size despite half the liver being removed. That was due to chronic alcohol misuse over a considerable period of time.

The cause of death was reported to be cardiac arrest due to multiple injuries, with a secondary cause of 'established chronic liver disease with ongoing steatosis and cirrhosis, and acute confusion and delirium due to alcohol withdrawal syndrome'.

When social drinking changes into a solitary personal addiction, there is usually an underlying reason. We probably all know someone who is taking this short-track to death. Usually, there's not a thing anyone else can do to change their ways. I've gone over and over my daughter's death in my mind. I'm left with the nagging feeling I should have helped her in some way. But deep down, I know everyone must learn their own lessons.

Here's an excerpt from my novel in progress, which shows a mother's self-blame. It's in the form of a vision.

Exhilarating freedom washes over my mind. At last, the tumbling journey stops and I gain balance.

In the night-time blur below, I concentrate to pick out details. Houses spread along dark streets. Occasional lights send a glimmer through the trees resembling stars in the night sky.

I must be in an overseas country, separated by half a revolution of the Earth. Will I prevent a crime? Assist a child?

In an overwhelming rush, I'm sucked below.

My psyche oozes right through a solid roof to hover inside a kitchen. Overhead light bounces off the shiny table. The smell of boiled vegetables struggles to overcome the scent of air freshener in the stifling atmosphere.

I zap into a woman's mind. The first knowledge I grasp is her name from her husband's echoing voice after he left the room.

Now I observe through Mora's eyes. The skin of her inner arms hangs loose with dents resembling the surface of the moon. Her elbows lean on the table with her head resting in her hands.

She doesn't feel my presence while I absorb her sorrow and regret because of the recent loss of her daughter in another part of the country. Unable to travel because of her walking disability, she wonders how she could have made more effort. The clock chimes twelve times, but she's not tired.

No use succumbing to her grief. I must remain impassive if I'm to work with her. This is what I'm here for. My empathy rises with the softness of a gentle breeze lifting damp hair from the back of the neck on a hot day.

Her husband, James, enters the room, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. We straighten to face him, quivering hands brushing our hair. Although he's sympathetic, the loss is not of his own flesh.

"Here you go." His Australian accent soothes us while places a mug alongside. The sweet aroma of milky tea rises in the steam. A hesitant hand strokes our shoulder. With a sigh, he sits opposite.

James is the perfect person for her to discuss her self-blame with. But she needs a nudge. I whisper, 'Look at his caring manner. He considers your feelings'.

We sip our drink.

Memories flood into her--raising her daughter, teaching her to talk, and welcoming her home after school. Once her daughter set out on a life of her own, time passed faster. An indrawn breath. Seventy years old next birthday. Already her child has died before her.

I ease a suggestion into her mind. 'Those who remain must go on'.

A cloud of regret drags us down.

Mora lost touch because of the distance separating them. She didn't discover what was happening during their brief contacts.

We swallow tears.

Mora retreats into memories. Her daughter drank so much she damaged her liver. Oh, the wicked waste of a precious life. What did she do to cause this flaw in her child? The blame rests with her.

'Each person takes responsibility for their own life', I whisper, soft as a feather.

We nod, unable to let go of the past.

How can I help Mora stop this endless remorse? There's no turning back time, but can she go forward? That's what I must achieve. 'Your husband needs you. If you retreat into self-judgment, and lose the joy in your life, he'll follow your lead and give up too'.

He glances up. A smile flicks over his face. Unwilling to respond, we sink into a numb state.

'He loves you, right here, right now. Nobody lives forever. True love is hard to replace. Regard him as a stranger you've just met, rather than the man you take for granted'. We glance up to study him. Hunched shoulders, neck leaning to one side in the grip of advancing age, fragility replaces his once proud strength.

Shock at his potential loss jolts us.

'He's waiting for you to make the first move'.

Releasing a soft breath, we return his smile and blink away self-accusing opinions. I read the depth of her emotion. She loves him, needs him, now more than ever. A rush of warmth rises into our cheeks and filters into every part of our body.

When she reaches out to share her grief, I lift away.

Dec 14th

12/14/2013

www.bubblews.com

Do you measure your success by what you own? Answer truthfully. What about your car, your house, and what you eat and wear? What about getting everything just right for Christmas? Buying more and more? First, let's define what success means. The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted. The gaining of fame or prosperity. Most of us can discount the latter.

The prosperous wife of the head of the Bank of England recently suggested we should all dress in organically produced clothing rather than wear a second skin of poisonous synthetics. Her selection includes jeans made from cotton grown in an organic way. The extra cost is worth it, she says. While I agree, some of us don't have the extra funds to use in this way.

In a recent survey, more than 16,000 people were asked whether they agreed with the sentence: ‘I measure my success by the things I own’. Out of 20 countries, people in the UK were ranked third least concerned with material things. Only 16 per cent of British respondents said yes - with only Spain, at 15 per cent, and Sweden, at 7 per cent, coming lower.

China was top, followed by India and Turkey. The survey found that 71 per cent of Chinese and 58 per cent of Indian people polled said they measured their status by what they owned.

www.cashartblog.com

I measure my success by the lessons learned from experience. I began life as an optimistic child and grew into a presentable woman who took whatever life offered as a right. I never had to earn praise, or nice clothes or attention. Over the years, I've learned to understand how hardship affects other people—how their outlook is governed by circumstances—and how everyone needs encouragement.

Now, I don't belittle myself because I've lost my beauty, my ability to walk straight and tall, or my lack of money to maintain a good standard of clothing. I wear the same old outfits, let my hair grow long and treasure the support of my husband during our maturing years.

How do you measure your success?

Dec 13th

12/13/2013

Are diamonds forever? Not really. You may receive a lifetime of pleasure from them, but they will remain behind after you're gone.

According to reports on her life and personal letters, the jewelry Wallace Simpson collected over her lifetime didn't bring her happiness. However, they were sold at auction yesterday for record figures.

Wallace Simpson, aware she wasn't a beautiful woman, boosted her appearance with spectacular jewels. She flirted with the Crown Prince of England amongst many other men. However, when she snaffled Edward V111, she couldn't get him out of her net. He fell hopelessly in love with her, and clung to her along with her lifestyle like a drowning man. After his father's death, he gave up the throne of Great Britain to be with the woman he loved. And she, a divorced woman, found the net closing around her. None of the royals came to their wedding ceremony. I doubt the fabulous jewels auctioned long after her death brought her happiness in life.

20 pieces owned by the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor went under the hammer at Sotheby's in central London last night, raising a total of £7,975,550. ($13,081,535.90)

Despite missing several small stones, a Cartier-designed onyx and diamond panther bracelet was auctioned for £4,521,250 ($7,415,776.24)—the highest price paid for a bracelet at auction. Made in Paris in 1952, it also became the most expensive Cartier item to be sold at any auction.

One of the other big successes of the night—a ruby, sapphire, emerald, citrine and diamond Cartier flamingo clip reached £1,721,250. ($2,823,202.62)

It is reported that Madonna, who is directing WE, a film about the abdication, tried on several of the items ahead of the sale. Apparently, she showed particular interest in the panther bracelet, but a Sotheby's spokesman declined to confirm the identity of its new owner.

Sotheby's described it as having an "articulated body designed to encircle the wrist and to assume a stalking attitude, pave-set with brilliant and single-cut diamonds and calibre-cut onyx, the eyes each set with a marquise-shaped emerald".

Many of the pieces bear personal inscriptions, including a heart-shaped emerald, ruby and diamond Cartier brooch with the initials W.E. (Wallis, Edward), which was commissioned by the duke to mark their 20th wedding anniversary in 1957.

Another Cartier diamond bracelet, said to be a favorite of the duchess, consists of nine gem-set crosses, each representing special moments in her life from 1933 to 1934, including the couple's marriage and an assassination attempt on the king.

When you strip away the wealth, each person is simply striving to live a happy life, doing the best they can with their circumstances. At least the couple stayed together for the rest of their lives. No matter what the reason, that showed commitment.

Dec 12th

12/12/2013

alittlelearningfortwo.blogspot.com

I guess not many people alive today remember the old ways of using ordinary newspaper for Christmas decorations nowadays. Remember paper chains?

My sisters and I used to make chains in the 1940s. We used different strips of paper overlapped and glued together. We used to have competitions to see who could make the longest chain. Being a neat child, I loved doing this because it absorbed me. The peeling linoleum on the floor didn't matter—everyone lived with that in our area during those austere times. It was Christmas. We three girls were excited, even though we had no expectation of fancy toys. We might find a packet of sweets or licorice in our stocking and maybe a Girls Annual from our Grandmother.

www.clker.com

To make a more challenging string of figures, you use the longest section of the newspaper and cut it across into a 3 inch strip. Fold it concertina style to form squares, so that, when you lift the front section, the rest follows upward. Now, draw your design using at least one joining section—like hands clasped on a string of little men, women or dolls. The hands stretch to the side of the top piece of paper. Cut around your design and open it out.

Not only does creating the decoration give satisfaction, but children can join in and use their brain to perfect the skill. It cost nothing, and unites the family.

Dec 10th

12/10/2013

blogs.independent.co.uk

A panel of experts has found that changes are needed to improve the treatment of laboratory animals at one of the UK's leading animal research centers, the Imperial Collage. The report boiled down to the need for more communication between animal care staff and scientists, who failed to work together efficiently to prevent animal suffering.

It breaks my heart to hear about the needless agony of animals. I'd do away with all such experiments if I could. Just Google 'animal experimentation' images to see the horror of it all.

Around the world, people are still fighting wars, taking others into slavery, abusing children, suffering injustice, fleeing from their country to seek refuge elsewhere, preying on others, and committing crimes.

What can a person who is lucky enough to be living free do about changing the social circumstances in a foreign country? As far as I can see, we can only offer sympathy to those who are oppressed and concentrate on our immediate surroundings. As in: Love thy neighbor.

Gone is the time when I could have made a difference. Only my writing will endure. Even that's not certain. The cloud could vanish along with technology and paperbacks could be swept away in a flood. The end of the year when I've blogged every day is drawing to a close. At the moment, I'm undecided about carrying on with a daily blog of views on news.

But I've lived a glorious life.

As an Australian teenager in the 50s, I watched spellbound while Elvis Presley sang about the warden throwing a party in a county jail in America. Even prisoners could break free to sing and dance in the jailhouse. Teenagers everywhere stepped out of their social constrictions and became a driving force to change social order from the strict moral code. From then on, youth took on importance.

I've travelled in a luxury caravan with my family around Australia in the 70s, looking for a perfect spot to live 'back to the earth' and found what I sought at my own front door. I've lived an artistic life-style, branched out on my own, travelled the world, moved to England and settled in a small cottage overlooking a field. Even now in the pink morning mist, paddocks sweep up to tree-covered hillsides and horsed graze in peace.
Hard times and good blend in my memory to make the perfect concoction.

What assessment can you make of your life?

Dec 6th

12/6/2013

A major storm has hit northern Europe during the last two days, leaving at least three people dead, causing transport chaos and threatening the biggest tidal surge in decades.

Already, a lorry driver was killed when his vehicle was blown over in Scotland, while a man died when he was hit by a falling tree in England. Britain's Environment Agency said tidal surges could bring significant coastal flooding. The Thames Barrier was being closed to protect London. Thousands of households along vulnerable coasts have been evacuated as seawater floods coastal areas of eastern England and North Wales.

In Denmark, a woman died after a lorry turned over in high winds. The Oeresund road and rail bridge between Sweden and Denmark - which links the Danish capital Copenhagen with the Swedish city of Malmo and features in the hit television series The Bridge - was due to close from 1500 GMT.

In the low-lying Netherlands, the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier has been closed off for the first time in six years. Dutch authorities said they had issued the highest possible flood warning for four areas in the north and north-west of the country.

In Germany, the port of Hamburg is bracing for a direct hit and a massive tidal surge. There are fears it could be as powerful as the flood that killed more than 300 people in the city in 1962.

The news of these very real events is terrifying to those people who live close by. Fortunately, I live safe inland on higher ground. The weather's changes have caused meteorologists worry for some time now. Environmentalists around the world have predicted that the scenario will worsen unless mankind changes their way. Unfortunately, this is a slow process during which world representatives work to hash out sanctions.

As an author of fiction, I feel somewhat burdened, embroiled and culpable, not only with the title of my second book, Tidal Surge, which is set in the present day, but by publishing the Higher Ground Series. The futuristic novels, set after the Great Flood, follow the lives of a group of characters. Mankind has been swept backwards to live a more-or-less primitive life with only memories, broken articles poking above the soil, and ruined cities hinting at the past. Four books tell of adventure--Wind Over Troubles Waters, Knights in Dark Leather, Golden Submarine, and Long Doom Calling. You can see the covers on the sidebar and click on them to link to the books. The heroine guides a group of followers from Saint Eyes (St. Ives) to Long Doom (London) to find an ancient ring in the hope of setting Britland on the right track.

I believe in a Universal Consciousness into which highly-tuned people can gain access. This explains why inventors, artists and scientists can discover the same idea simultaneously. Perhaps my writing partner and I captured thoughts about the future of mankind. I hope we're wrong.

Dec 5th

12/5/2013

www.livescience.com

It seems there really IS such a thing as man flu!

And women are MORE EFFICIANT. But please don't accuse me of being sexist. Brain scientists have found a real reason for the stereotypical differences in male and female behavior.

Neurologists used magnetic resonance imaging (radio-wave scans that produce detailed images of the inside of the body) to study the brains of almost 1,000 volunteers.
The differences between the genders were so profound that men and women might almost be separate species.

Women's and men's brains are wired in fundamentally different ways. Findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that men generally have more connections within each hemisphere and between the front and back of the brain. In women the stronger connections usually run from side to side, between the left and right hemispheres. This shows that men are more logical and better at coordination. Women are more intuitive, have greater emotional intelligence—like hearing a baby cry—and better memories for words and faces.

The researchers from the University of Pennsylvania concluded that male brains are geared to link perception with doing. This makes men better at, for example, learning a new sport.

www.dailymain.co.uk

The male ability to process information set out in abstract ways—such as maps, which are abstractions of the landscape—was investigated last year by U.S. neuroscientists, who asked groups of men and women to study a complex diagram and draw what it would look like if turned around.

Men could do this faster and better than women. In fact, brain scans showed they had more activity in four areas of the brain associated with decision-making, focusing closely on a task and visualizing.

Female brains, meanwhile, are configured to handle matters of heart and mind and to study others' behavior, then interpret it using intuition and analysis.

The fact that female brains have many more interconnections may help to explain a conundrum that has long puzzled scientists: why women can show just as much intelligence as men even though their brains are 8 per cent smaller.

In March, a study by universities in Los Angeles and Madrid showed that, for women, brain size does not matter because their brains are more efficient. Their highly networked neurons can perform complex tasks that use less energy and fewer brain cells.

www.huffingtonpost.com

The study found that women perform better than men at bigger-picture thinking and keeping track of a changing situation. Men do better on spatial intelligence. Sounds like judging distances to me. I guess primitive man needed this when he went off hunting, leaving his multi-tasking woman in the cave to care for the children.

Now—about man flu. Apparently, men suffer more with coughs and colds because they have extra temperature receptors in the brain and so experience worse symptoms. This information makes me feel much more sympathetic to my husband. We've both been suffering with a cold for over a week. He continually asks me to feel his head, which is sweating, whereas mine is dry. Up to now, I've been ho-hum about it. But now, I understand his suffering. With my newly conceived emotional intelligence, I can interpret his pain and handle his need for attention with more tact.

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Author

Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.