rinnywee

I noticed a story on the BBC website about a report into the murder of Danielle Reid finally being published.

I read a bit into the background of what happened. (here)

All I will say is this: throw them down a fucking flight of stairs then leave them in a room to die.

I am so proud of my Prime Minister. Talk-back radio often causes politicians to come out with some rubbish, but John Howard's comments about Muslim women in Australia choosing to wear the burqa really take the cake. "I don't mind the headscarf, but it's really the whole outfit," he said. "I think most Australians would find it confronting." Yeah well, you know what Johnny, I find older men wearing socks and sandals pretty confronting and offensive, can we please do something about that?

If a woman chooses to wear the burqa, or chooses to walk around in a bra and short shorts, then who has the right to stop her? Next he'll be suggesting that Catholic nuns not wear their habits in public for fear of being confronting. Oh no, wait, of course that won't be a problem. Christian religious symbolism and clothing is fiiiiiiiiiiiine, but if you're from a "brown" country then you'll have problems.

My bad.

Apparently it's against Islam to portray Prophet Mohammed in pictorial form. A Google image search brings up some pictures (not many, however).

( Some of which you may find here. )

Today was a lovely day. I slept in until stupid PM (which is always good on a Sunday) and then lazily drove Ugo to work at 4pm. I popped into Ikea in Velizy to pick up some bits and bobs (new curtains for my living room - white, as I felt the dark red was making the room appear to dreary. I moved the red into the bedroom as they are very good at blocking out the light; some small Pyrex oven dishes; a bathroom shelf which I'll need to install at some point; some mirrors with adhesive at the back to replace the shitty small mirror I have in the bathroom; some pillow cases for my 55 pillows (slight exaggeration, I think I have 6); and of course some Pepparkakor and Cinnamon Rolls.

After the shopping trip (which did actually result in me wanting to fong everyone there due to their stupidity and the fact that they kept just stopping in the middle of the walkway) I went by the pool hall to meet up with some people from work. A nice little gossip session with Hester ensued, and that lifted my spirits considerably. Confirmation of gossip with Thomas resulted in some disappointments but I am sure he was telling porkies anyway as he knows Hester and I would spread what we think is the truth like wildfire.

Came home and made myself some dinner. Lamb chops, pasta and veg. Lovely. I'm now settling in with a cup of tea and a few episodes of Time Team to see me through the evening.

I must say that I was shocked to read about the torching of the embassies in Lebanon and Syria. How can that kind of reaction be justified ever? I'm sure Mohammed had a sense of humour, hell he'd have to in order to put up with the antics some of his followers seem to enjoy. If he could see all of this now, I am sure he'd bring the almighty smackdown with him and say "Right, everyone just needs to CALM THE FUCK DOWN". (J-Christ too, come to think of it. I bet he's hanging with Mohammed and they're both like "What in the motherfucking fuck of all that is good and holy are those assholes doing down there"? "You fly with this, Mohammed?" "Hell no, dawg, this shit be whack." "Word.")

Take a deep breath, crazy Muslims, have a cuppa, chill out.

Oh and to any fundamentalist Christians saying "See? The Muslims r teh EVIL", shut the fuck up and back off. This is nothing to do with you and your "input" is not required at this point in time.

There is no "I" in team, but there is "mental" in fundamentalist.

Ahhhhh, Christmas Eve Day. In Australia (like in the UK) we celebrate Christmas on the 25th, so it's only since I've been in France that I've actually done something on both days. Not this year! I was going to go to a party, but that fell through. I was invited to a colleague's for dinner tonight, but to be honest, I just want a quiet evening in, just me and my cat. Tomorrow I am going to Luc and Tirian's to spend the day with them, and watch Tirian open all (a lot) of his presents. I'll also be cooking, so really, tonight is the real-life equivalent of logging out in a city of an inn in WoW. I'll get rested XP next time I play.

Right now I'm watching Must Love Dogs with John Cusack and Diane Lane. God, I love both of them. Especially Diane Lane, I think she's just adorable. It's your run-of-the-mill romantic comedy, but it's somewhat entertaining. I then have another John Cusack film to watch, albeit at the other end of the spectrum, Lord Of War. I'll then tidy my apartment a bit, do some laundry, drink some more (Tazo) tea and wait for Ugo to finish work (at midnight) and come over.

I went out earlier to buy some breakfast goods for tomorrow (and also some chocolate for Tirian), along with the traditional Buche de Noel. There was a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk (yes, even in bourgeois Versailles) and he just looked so cold and so tired. He was wearing a Santa hat, however, and was calling out "Joyeux Noel!" to everyone that passed. Almost all the people ignored him. I went into the supermarket to pick up my bits and bobs and also bought a small box of soup and a mug. I then went into the bakery and bought some bread and a small quiche. The woman behind the counter asked me if I wanted the quiche heated up, so I took the soup, emptied it into the mug and handed it to her saying, "yes, and this too". I took it out to the man on the sidewalk and sat with him for a while and talked while he ate. His name is Romain and although he looks around 50, he's actually only 37. He used to be rather successful (in a modest kind of way) and was married for a few years. His wife then left him, and he found he couldn't cope. He found going to work difficult due to his depression, and after a while he was fired due to non-attendance. With no income he found paying his bills and rent difficult, and was eventually evicted. He had nowhere to go and now lives on the streets, or sometimes in shelters, "if it's really cold". This was 2 years ago. The biggest problem, he says, is reinsertion into society. "Once an SDF (sans domicile fixe [without a fixed address]), always an SDF in the eyes of those who can make a difference". He said he keeps trying to get back on his own two feet, but doors are always slammed in his face. He'll spend Christmas in a shelter, and he said he'd probably make the journey into Paris "for the occasion".

I wished him Merry Christmas, slipped him 10euros and went on my way. I'll definitely be thinking of him tomorrow.

Another person I will be thinking of is Bolorchimeg in Mongolia. I sent her a small gift a few weeks ago, but World Vision say it can take up to 2-3 months for packages and letters to arrive. I guess she will have it in time for her birthday. :)

To you all, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful time with your loved ones. I ask, however, that you spare a few moments to think of those without family, or in hardship, and then be grateful for just how lucky we all are.

Peace.

Still sick. Took the day off work. I slept until around 13.30 and was only then woken by my neighbour drilling into the wall right next to my head. Sadly, this is something I could not just ignore, so I grudgingly pulled myself out of bed and stumble off to the shower in an effort to try and wake up. I am not entirely sure this has worked.

I'm currently debating whether or not to venture outside to go to the pharmacy and pick up some medicine, and to the store to pick up some tea. Hmm, I've just sent a mail to a colleague asking him what it would take for him to bring me some tea after work. Knowing this guy, he'll probably say something like "fellatio", but unless he wants a dead woman on his hands, he's not going to ask someone who can't breathe through their nose to do this.

Bloody hell
According to the INED (Institut National d'Etudes Demographiques), and based on UN numbers, today, 19th December 2005, there are 6.5 billion people on this planet. Apparently the margin of error is only a couple of percent, so the 6.5 billion could have been reached 2 years ago, or perhaps in 2 years. In 1999, the UN chose a Bosnian baby as the 6 billionth inhabitant of this planet, as a symbol of peace. Every 24 hours, the world's population increases by 210,000. We should hit the 7 billion mark in around 2012 or 2013.

Yearly round-up
I've been giggling away at The Chaser Odyssey, as printed in The Age. The Chaser is pretty much the Aussie version of The Onion.

Some choice quotes:

2005

It has been a year of valuable life lessons: don't make Russell Crowe angry, don't smuggle drugs into South-East Asia and don't make a man who keeps a diary the leader of your political party. We saw what happens when you make the right life choices (marrying a Danish prince, being an arch-conservative right-hand man to an ageing Pope), and we saw what happens when you make the wrong life choices (Big Brother, Australian Princess, Big Brother Up Late, Aussie Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, Big Brother: Friday Night Live, Big Brother Uncut, etc.)

Tsunami

As the New Year arrived, the world was still struggling to cope with the devastation of the Boxing Day tsunami. The disaster killed hundreds of thousands in Indonesia, Thailand and
Sri Lanka, but more importantly a handful of Australians.

The Pope

In May, Pope John Paul II lost his protracted struggle to remain alive until he finished reading The Da Vinci Code. His death came as an enormous shock to Catholics, who thought he had died some time in 1993.
The new Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, chose the name Pope Benedict XVI after having had trouble obtaining Hotmail addresses for Pope Benedicts I to XV.

Charles and Camilla

After years searching for a wife who James Hewitt wouldn't want to have an affair with, Prince Charles finally married Camilla Parker-Bowles in April. Charles and Camilla have been in love for decades but delayed their wedding until 2005, so no one would have to worry about them breeding.
Finally, the day concluded in the same way Charles' first wedding did, with him spending the night with Camilla.

The Ashes

The loss of the Ashes was devastating to Australians still reeling from England winning the Rugby World Cup in 2003. But, as Australians always say when they lose, cricket was the winner in the Ashes of 2005. So the Poms should stop gloating.
Besides, losing has been good for Australia. After all those years of winning too easily, Australians can now return to the great Aussie tradition of being sore losers.

Princess Mary

Princess Mary made her one useful contribution to her adopted nation of Denmark this year, with the birth of a male heir to the throne. The Danish people initially reacted with enormous excitement but, after the first week had passed, were already putting pressure on the new prince to settle down and begin having children. The news drew a crowd of Australian women in low-cut dresses to the maternity ward in the hope of seducing Europe's newest royal heir.

Perhaps the government should sit down and watch Mathieu Kassovitz's film "La Haine" - these feelings have been brewing for over 10 years and nothing has been done to alleviate them. Putting a man like Sarkozy back into the position of Interior Minister was only going to exacerbate the already dark feelings of disgust and frustration with the police and political system.

Being a foreigner in this country is hard - regardless of your colour. When you are denied employment based on the fact that you are not French (even if you are fluent in the language and have adapted to life here) then it's not surprising that anger grows. I am white, educated and bilingual. It took me 4 years to find work after many knockbacks. Many of these were because they had found a French national to take the position or, in one case, because they did not want someone who spoke French with an accent. I ended up finding work in an American company.

From speaking with colleagues, it is far worse if you are of African decent, basically you don't stand a chance in hell.

This discrimination not only exists in the job arena, but across the board. But, being from Australia, I am used to seeing this kind of treatment of ethnic minorities - aboriginals, Asians and so on. It's not isolated to France, this is a global issue.

Final Australia WWI veteran dies

The last Australian veteran to see active service in World War I has died, aged 106.

( pic )
William Evan Allan joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1914, aged only 14.

He served on a cruiser, HMAS Encounter, until 1918, escorting troop convoys and tracking German warships. He remained in the navy for 34 years.

Mr Allan, who also saw active service in World War II and retired with the rank of lieutenant, will be given a state funeral in Melbourne.

Born in the New South Wales town of Bega in 1899, Mr Allan enlisted at the start of World War I and served as an able seaman from 1915.

The HMAS Encounter sailed in the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Mr Allan remained in the navy until 1947, and was the only surviving Australian veteran of both world wars.

He spent much of World War II aboard the cruiser HMAS Australia, but according to friends was reluctant to talk about his experiences.

Australia's Minister for Veterans Affairs, De-Anne Kelly, said his death meant an entire generation who left Australia to defend their nation and the British Empire had been lost.

One Australian WWI veteran is still living, John Campbell Ross, 106, but although he enlisted in 1918 he never saw active service.