skip to main |
skip to sidebar
These are the two puppies I am keeping for now.
Tantra's Mama Mia
Tantra's Just James
No, nothing to do with Bewitched but I wish I could zap someone with a twitch of my nose!
I have spent most of yesterday on the phone to British Telecom's 'customer service' department. Yes, you get thru to a person in Mumbai(Bombay) or somewhere in India. Very polite. They constantly thank you for calling BT and have no idea you are sitting at the other end considering suicide or committing mass murder or of various uses for the telephone in one's hand.
I got a bill. I noticed call charges. 361 phone calls to be exact for my second phone line. Not only have I not made those 361 calls, I do not have a second phone line.
Yes, you made these calls, Mr Andersson. You made them using your wireless hub and BT Talk.
No I didn't. I don't have a wireless hub. What is that?
It's the hub phone that you sed to make these calls through your broadband connection
No, I didn't use it. I don't have one.
yes, sir, you have a hub phone. It is plugged into your PC.
No I do not have one.
Yes you do. You have an account.
When was this account opened?
July 07.
How does one open this account?
Well, we send you a password and you call us and give us the password and we start your service.
Well, I didn't do that. I don't have a Talk account and nor do I have this Wireless Hub thing.
Yes, sir, you do. You have made 361 calls with it.
Then I remembered a box that BT sent me. I went and got it. It's a Wireless Hub thing. Unopened. I told them.
You have made these calls, Mr Andersson, using your Wireless Hub.
I am worried now about my blood pressure. Should I take my angina spray?
No I said, it's in it's box. I don't know what you are talking about. I have not made these calls. I don't have a Talk account and the Wireless Hub thing is not even plugged in.
I am so sorry sir, but you do have an account and you did make these calls. No sire no one has hacked into your account. No sire we do not make mistakes. I can assure you you have not been billed for someone else's line.
(I am now thinking of campaigning for a law change to sanction murder of BT Customer Service personnel on the grounds of extreme provocation and mental cruelty.)
Late last night after many hours on the phone to BT, I thought to call the second number that is supposedly mine. I hung up when a man answered! I didn't know what to say and was so shocked I would have sounded mad. So this morning I call again and leave a message on their Call Minder.
I also called OfCom and they were very helpful and I got thru to BT English As A First Language, No Heavy Accents complaints department. They must by law settle this within 48 working hours. (Read about 2 weeks I assume.)
They now accept that my bill is for someone else's phone. Or at least I think they do.
Whoever thought of outsourcing Customer services to India needs to be shot, after a lengthy amount of time talking with BT Customer Services.
They obviously never thought to wonder what these heavy accents would sound like on the telephone. Instead, we are driven to distraction by people who are not at fault. Of course they are not. They don't have an accent to themselves and also they are poorly trained and cannot answer anything much. They are clearly taught to deny everything. On top of this, we the customers, are made to feel guilty and racist because of the problems encountered. The people who dreamed this up have no respect for their customers nor for their staff. Those poor staff must be very stressed because whilst I did not at any time say what I really wanted to, I did raise my voice considerably and I enunciated loudly and clearly to no avail. Others though I am sure let rip on the poor Customer Service rep.
(Other companies also do this and they use French or Spanish people who are just as impossible to understand on a phoneline.)
Assuming I am not committed, had up on murder charges, taken to my bed, flipped my lid, or become otherwise indisposed, I ought to have an update to this saga by Tuesday.
If sometime on Monday or Tuesday there is a high magnitude earthquake centred on the east coast of Britain and causing a massive tidal surge heading in the general direction of BT Customer Services and all that lay in the way, you will know that it was not sorted out
After yesterday's shorter swim(64 laps), I did little else. I took the puppies to be microchipped. The man who does it is so good at it. The pups didn't complain at all. Never do with him doing it. And it is not a thin needle that goes in. More like a canula. I had my 2 hr nap before I went.
I did little else for the rest of the day. Some sock knitting, almost finished sewing up the sweater. I watched Jodie Foster in The Brave One along with Terrence Howard who is an excellent actor. Very expressive face. Looks like a man who really feels. I actually watched this film without doing anything else. About half way thru I took pain meds. When it was done I watched Rendition with Meryl Streep and Jake Gyllnhaal.
I found both films to be disturbing and both brought up conflicting emotions. Horror at torture and revenge and also an element of satisfaction at the baddies getting done. Disturbing.
Rendition is the most disturbing really because it shows how we in the West have lost our credibility as democracies who champion freedom. Guantanamo Bay and the practice of rendition are both appalling and to me show that the terrorists already won. or that we were never what we were told USA can justify it is beyond me. How the UK and the rest can sanction it is also beyond me. Such hypocrisy. Such evil. Oh, but anything to stop the Muslims right? Forget democracy, freedom, integrity, morality, right? We have a war to win. Trouble is it isn't so easy to see who the good guys are any more. The whole lot make me sick. Oh and it will get worse, much worse. Oil is running low. Watch out, we will soon see just how democratic and free we are. (And thankfully I do not suffer from Patriotism so I can say what I think and not have it used to silence me.)
Okay so I did not set the alarm for 5.30am this morning. I woke up at 5.30 am anyway. I then dosed till 6.45am. It was hard to not get up to go swim. I have a busy day. Bathing dogs and taking the pups to show the stud owner. I think that will just about wipe me out for another day.
I am sure I have said before, it isn't pain that bothers me so much as not being able to do all I want to do and getting tired so easily. It really p's me off. It is so frustrating. Fortunately those closest to me understand my limitations and I don't bother with the rest. Explanation is a waste of time and I don't see I need to anyway. I am aware to look at me doesn't tell you anything. I am so good at disassociating I can be in quite severe pain and you wouldn't know. because it wouldn't show. However, if I was fatigued then you would know! I tend to pale and become very vague and my speech turns to mush.
Another bright and sunny day and like yesterday, not so hot and humid.
I have never before been taken by a politician. They tend to leave me cold and cynical.
Not this man.
There is something about him that makes me hopeful and excited.
The weather is now warm. It is like summer. Yet it is of course too hot and humid! Mid 80's and very sticky. Oh well!
Yesterday's show went well. Micah was 3rd in his class and Whitney won hers despite slipping her lead and running off! It was very hot by the time it was her turn and I think she just flipped a bit when the lead left her neck. It didn't help that too many people called her name and tried to get her instead of leaving me to get her. Natural that they would try and help of course.
When I arrived at the show, I was the first as usual in my breed. There was a food wagon at one end of the grooming area and the post that held the mark off rope was next to it. I moved this post enough so I could get in, figuring I would be out of anyone's way and not have to keep getting up, which hurts. Well, this woman took it upon herself to go and complain to the management that I was blocking the entrance! Not only did she not have the manners and intelligence to ask me to move, she didn't even know where the entrance was. She was one of these self centred people who just wanted everything her way. I get really quite annoyed at this sort of crap. Needless to say, management came and asked me to move!
I fell asleep about 9pm last night and awoke at 7.15am this morning! Most unusual. Interestingly, I had an old nightmare again, one which I have had many times and it always leaves me feeling dreadful. This time though it seems I may have resolved the issue in the dream. Time will tell. I hope so because I really hate this dream and it takes a while of me being awake before I can convince myself the events of the dream are not real.
My ability to sense stuff for others is fairly good. However, to sense it for myself is another matter entirely. Yet the last two shows that I have done well at, I had a certain feeling before I went. Quite a different feeling to the one I had at the shows I did not do well at. It may be coincidence. I shall have to wait and see. Both times the feeling just arrived with the thought of going to show, suddenly. It didn't come as a result of thinking about it.
Maybe it's the heat but I am in more pain and feel weaker since it warmed up.
As usual, I have been over doing a good thing. Yes, my swimming. I have felt that getting up early and going and doing my swim was good for me. Recently though the fact that I am not fit for much else after my swim has been bothering me. All very well to have lost the weight, and exercising to slow the onward march of my disease but to do so to the point of being so exhausted and in pain seemed rather daft to me. Finally! I have been feeling exhausted for months and put that down to my condition. Not to my overdoing it.
I spoke with Elizabeth about my health yesterday(she's my gp) and when I told her I as getting up at 5.30am most mornings and going and swimming 80 laps, she thought that explained why I looked so rough the last time she saw me! She said a healthy person would feel knackered doing what I was doing and that doing what I was doing was in fact making things worse for me. She suggested I cut down. Well yesterday and today, I swam until I felt it hurting and I stopped instead of pushing myself onward. I am either going to cut back on the amount of times I go each week, to maybe 4-5 mornings or I shall cut back on the amount I do.
I do need to do something because I have little energy or mobility to do much else. Quite why it has taken this long for the correlation between the amount of swimming I am doing and the lack of energy and mobility to dawn on me, I don't know. I am prone to setting harsh targets for myself. Finding a healthy balance is difficult for me. I usually have to be really sick or in great pain before I stop.
Time for that to change, me thinks.
My New Doc Martens.
My dogs did not much care for my new boots. Lui barked at me ferociously and the others all backed off! I have a green pair of same coming tomorrow.
My rib cage spasms returned with a vengeance last night. Terrible night, trying to sleep in between bouts of pain. Of course the first thing I did was reach for the antacid liquid, which of course does no good. But I was asleep and not thinking clearly. When the stopped because I changed position, I twigged that it wasn't acid. I am back to waking up in order to move. Eventually I remembered to stuff pillows behind me so that I had them behind my head, my shoulders, my middle and hips. Then I got some sleep, on my back.
There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to these spasms. It is apart of the spinal arthritis but not that common. I admit to finding this aspect of my problem more than challenging. Lack of sleep makes me worse. Waking up in the dark early hours, in bad pain it is very easy to let your mind conjure up the worst possible causes! Plus it just pisses me off that there is no real explanation for these spasms. Oh I know what is happening, just not sure why. There doesn't seem to be much I can do to prevent them although the pillows do help.
No swimming today. Duh! The puppies were not happy that I got up later than usual. They are used to me being there at 5.30am not gone 7am.
I am on the final sleeve of the Oxford grey raglan garter stitch patterned sweater. It is 50% merino, 25% cashmere and 25% silk. I have also started another pair of socks, using one of the Kaffe Fasset colourways from Regia. The swirly ones. I am doing these in plain st st as I think I want to see the swirly pattern clearly.
Tonight I am going to my usual Spiritualist meeting. I have not seen tonight's speakers in this capacity before and I am told they are good.
I have a dog show this Sunday in Leeds, another next Sunday in Epping, one the Wednesday 6th) in Paignton, Devon and then one on the 11th in Bournemouth. I miss the Welsh Kennel club and the Scottish Kennel Club shows because we will be in Germany.
Our weather has finally decided it will be summer after all. 28c (82.4f) yesterday and today seems likeit will be nice too.
The glaring flaw in fundamentalist belief - is the belief in a God of retribution and in Hell.
If you learn about Cults and cult mind control, you will see that Fundamentalist faith fits the bill, it is a cult, albeit one with many variation's, the RC Church included.
My experience has been with the RC Church, the Jehovah's Witnesses and Born Again Xtians. I was saved by someone knowledgeable in deprogramming.
ALL three taught that to doubt was sin and would land one in Hell. (To be correct here JW's do not believe in Hell but in non existence for non JW's). First cultish statement.
That to question was not intelligence but Satan making one disbelieve. Another mind control answer.
That Satan placed the evidence of Evolution in the ground to fool us and take us to Hell or non existence.(BA's and JW's).
It is not possible to have a logical, intelligent, rational discussion with people who believe like this. Why? Because for them to question or disbelieve means they will burn in Hell for eternity(or cease toe exist). They are terrified of their God. One cannot dare to question for fear of annihilation or eternal suffering.
I know. I have been there. Thank God for my homosexuality. Why? Because without that I might still be in the evil clutches of these cults. My homosexuality was not chosen, it just was and I knew that. This gave me the courage to question. This gave me the courage to learn. This gave me the courage to discover other world views, other ideas. Most of all it led me to the discovery that what I had been taught was not Truth at all but ideas. And the ideas were of terrified minds and of the minds of those who seek to abuse and control.
No matter the evidence, fundamentalists will not believe anything other than what they read in their holy book. Or rather what their elders and pastors tell them the words mean. This is why whenever you go to read their literature, homosexuality is often one of the hot topics for them. Why? Because intelligent, sane people have come to the realisation that it is a natural state, inborn, not chosen. They cannot possibly accept that. If they did, then their whole rotten edifice comes tumbling down. If their book is wrong about that, what else is it wrong about?
The reason you get otherwise intelligent people believing we descend directly from Adam and Eve, that every living thing here now comes form the Ark, that there is a burning Hell, is because of fear and nothing else.
They have also missed something very important: YOU CANNOT LOVE WHAT YOU FEAR. You also clearly don't even know what love is if you believe that it is loving to say: love me or I will destroy you.
I had thought to explain why there is no logic at all in the proscription against homosexuality. I then realised there was no point because it has nothing to do with logic but with the above.
In my best times, I feel nothing but compassion for the adherents of such beliefs. I recall vividly the terror, the confusion, the utter despair one feels when trapped in the belief system. And the denial. The denial is tremendously strong and with nowhere outside of it to go and test out the ideas. The extreme admonishment if one even dared to question. The constant being reminded of the eternal damnation awaiting anyone who drifted away. Imagine how much worse this all is if it is your parents telling you this. (In my case it was not directly my parents but they laid the ground for it by teaching me I was a bad useless person and for sending me to be taught by RC's as my mother was nominally a RC.)
This type of belief does not engender love or growth but stifles and destroys both. It is evil. It is not a harmless belief but an evil one. It is the worst form of child abuse to teach this type of belief to children. It is an abuse of the mind and of the spirit, far worse than any other abuse, imo, having also experienced sexual and physical abuse on a regular basis. It causes far more damage. To be taught that to question is to be evil, to have compassion is to be evil, to have a thirst for knowledge is to be evil, to be different is to be evil, to listen to your own inner voice is to be evil. Yes, this an evil abuse of children.
Those of us free to think have a duty not to proselytise but to speak up whenever we can against such evil, to point out that there is another way and to do so without hatred and with compassion for our fellows who are steeped in fear. Always remember that they are in the grip of fear and as such need our compassion and understanding, but not our acquiescence.
HunterXan wrote:
My mother is Episcopalian, and she tells me that the major objection many hold to Bishop Robinson is not that he is gay, but rather that he walked out on and turned his back on his wife and children to live with his current partner. They view this as adultry, and they condemn him for not supporting his children.
I reply:
HunterXan-Their homophobia is loud and clear. They have lied: Read here:
Your mother has been misled. Religious bigotry strikes again.
I know it's not you! :-)
Mad Angel wrote(in part):Sometimes the Power and Spirit channel themselves through some very interesting conduits.Hi Paula-oh I went thru that one and still do at times. I was terribly concerned when I first realised I had a gift and I was meant to use it and that I was do my part in the spiritual realm. WHAT? ME? You must be kidding. I am completely f***ed up and far from saintly! then someone pointed out to me, gently, that if the Power waited for clean vessels, no teaching would get done! Well, they had a point I could see and I feel much more comfortable nowadays. Not always. I still doubt. I hope I always do. Certainty in ideas is dangerous.
So I am not so f***ed up, and have learned much from my journey and I do what I can to pass it on.
There are times I'd rather be at a 24/7 orgy and eating chocolate in between orgasms. On second thoughts, forget the orgasms and hand over the chocolate.....
Iris Moon
It is Iris' birthday today. Join me in wishing her a great day. Click on her name to view her blog.
Yes, I am going to do nothing today. No swimming. I might not even knit. I feel like reading so that is what I shall do. I love to read and usually read in bed before sleep. Trouble is it takes me forever to finish a book this way as I only get to read a couple of pages before I fall asleep and I often re read them the next night as I forgot! I am reading Selpuchre by Kate Mosse who also wrote Labyrinth. I enjoyed that one and this is a delight too.
I am often wryly amused by people who tell me off for judging whilst at the same time they are judging me! The assumption that they know me is even more amusing. And then making judgements about me and my personality whilst telling me I really ought not to do that! Something about looking into mirrors comes to mind. I have found over the years that people who are forever pulling up others with 'don't judge' are doing precisely that!
I spoke with John last evening about my desire to do nothing for a while. I have felt recently as if everything is going too fast, that I need to stop and rest. I have just felt really tired, not in much pain for a few days but that started up again yesterday. My spine is inflamed and thus my rib cage and now my hands too. Nothing new of course, just a part of my condition. And yes, I have been sensible and taken the right medication instead of just putting up with it. I discussed it with John because as I think I have written here before, I don't always know when to give myself a break.
The puppies are a delight. They are a day past 6 weeks old. I have whittled it down to two pups to run on as possible show dogs, James and one of the girls, who might be called Tabitha. As she is the daughter of Shameless, I had thought to find words like that.I have come up with Relentless and Dauntless which is okay for kennel names but not really for call names. Any ideas any one?
I gave in and stopped using the keyboard which came with my new PC. It is a wireless one and is pretty useless. It kept not working correctly and I would have typed out a few sentences and when I looked up, it had typed gobbledegook. I am back using my ergonomic plug in one.
It seems that we might have some summer this week. It was cold yesterday and especially last night. Today is warmer and it is supposed to get warmer and calm as the week progresses.
Four weeks today will be on day two of our German trip to visit with Diana and Lia and Lui and hopefully Jane will come over from Holland. I am really looking forward to it. One of the reasons I enjoy the break so much is not having to cook and not having to deal with t he dogs for a week. I miss them like crazy but do enjoy having the rest. Even though the rest is actually really rather tiring! The long drive, which I love to do, and of course the sight seeing, museums etc. But it is different so refreshing. I usually come back knackered!
I had an email from someone who was having difficulty approaching a task because of the math involved. Like me, she had been bullied by her father when trying to learn math. I reminded her she was no a child now, could take care of herself and the bully was no longer there. As odd as it sounds, when you experience prolonged suffering like that, one can continue to feel the same way long after the cause has gone. I know for me, that I can still awake full of dread and on those I just remind myself that I ma grown up now and those people are no longer around me. It works.
Is it just me, or do any of you find it odd, that of all that I write here, especially about abuse, that some people are only moved to comment when they read something that offends their cherished ideas? They don't seem moved to express empathy or horror at the events I have described, or solidarity, or support but are only interested in putting forward their agenda. I am not perfect by any means but I have read plenty of stuff on people's blogs that have moved me to comment supportively even though they also be writing stuff that conflicts with my ideas.
I think, being the angry, bitter person that I am, I shall now go and stick pins into effigies of those I hate. Never mind resting, this is too important. Besides, I can't really rest, I have too many people to scowl at and too many people to fight, too many people to condemn. Too many dolls to stick. There is no rest for the righteous.
(Oh and in case anyone is confused, this is my blog and I write what I feel to write when I feel to write it. Although some may feel some sad satisfaction in writing and telling me that they are not going to read my blog anymore, I don't really give a monkey's and wonder why such people would think I would! this blog is a journal for ME!! Not you. I of course like the fact it is read by others and I am appreciative of most of the comments it generates, even if I don't always agree. However, the primary purpose is a record of how I am day to day and how I have changed, or grown, over time. The fact that a side effect of my blathering has been that others have been helped is amazing to me. The most humbling and astounding comment I ever got was from a person who is a child advocate lawyer and they told me that they referenced me and my experiences when thinking about the best way to help the abused child they were dealing with at any given time. Wow! I had no idea just doing something like this for myself would have that sort of effect.
And yet I think that we are all ONE and what affects one affects all, even if we don't see it or are not aware of it. I think we don't really understand how we are indeed all connected and whilst one suffers we all do and whilst one experiences joy, we all do. I think all goes out there and ripple effect touches us all. I think a smile or a scowl does not just touch the one it is directed at. I think that what you feel and think, really believe, not only affects you but affects others too. I think that if a belief I hold is positive or negative it will have that effect not just on me but on you. For instance, my point about fundy beliefs, or atheist bigots, is I do strongly think that people who hold such beliefs are personally responsible for suffering such as that of Matthew Shepherd and those who loved him. I think that if you support Capital Punishment, you have blood on your hands. If you support war, you are personally responsible when that bomb blows up a family, and for when young men and women return home in body bags. I truly do understand the need people have for black and white truths. Grey areas makes us uncomfortable . It can be very scary. It is very scary! Living with uncertainty is frightening and not at all easy. But it is all we have. When we try to convince ourselves and others that there is only one Truth and we know what it is, we are in deep trouble. As evidenced by the world we live in and it's great suffering. This was clearly expressed by a conservative Bishop and the Co E's meeting where there has been much fuss over Gene Robinson being made a Bishop because he is gay and him being denied his rightful place at this conference. This conservative Bishop was saying that the trouble is that too many people deny we can know Absolute Truth and that Truth is subjective! To my way of thinking, this man was saying two things: I am absolutely correct in my judgement and my Truth is absolute. secondly, that those who disagree are wrong. It seems to em that this is a man who is too afraid of the grey and must have everything ordered in black and white terms lest he fall apart.
I rely on my thinking ability, my gut and my conscience and above all keeping my mind open. I have been been led many times to see that beliefs I held were wrong and harmful. I have also had other beliefs supported. Either way, I keep fluid, open and willing to learn. I believe that the only way to peace for myself and for others is by keeping my mind and my heart open. This doesn't mean I cannot speak out when I see great harm being done. This doesn't mean I can sit back and keep quiet when views are expressed that I see as harmful. No, I see it as my responsibility, and yours, to speak up. There are times of course when must act as if we are right. Do we hold back and not intervene we hear White Supremacists spread hatred? When religious fundamentalists spread hatred? When children are being abused? Do we hold back because we have no right to judge? Or is this just an excuse to cover our cowardice? It is quite possible to intervene to prevent harm, if possible, without hating those we see as creating the harm.)
oh Joan! This is precisely what I believe and thank you for putting it so well. I may not agree about Jesus being anything other than an evolved man, semantics, but everything else you wrote is just what I have come to believe thru meditation and prayer rather than reading or listening.
Thank you for making better sense of what I have been trying to get across so poorly.
Joan wrote:
Ali, you astonish me! Our God is not only a God of justice, but of infinite MERCY.
No, there's no "justice" in human terms. Our enemies are well and truly destroyed in the next life - not by being burned in the physical sense, but in being changed utterly from enemy to friend. And those parts of us that hurt others and work against God and His/Her love are also gradually destroyed.
If they - and we - choose it.
The death of Jesus on the Cross was God coming to us and saying - I'm bringing you ALL to me - not just those of you who know the secret handshake - ALL of you. You may not see Me in it, but I'm there, loving you and guiding you. You can choose to turn the other way, but I will never give up on you.
NEVER.
That's a long time. And when the Hitlers of the Universe are healed and learn to love, what rejoicing there will be in Heaven! The Law will not longer be needed; Justice is unnecessary because Mercy and Love will abide.
And, Ali, as you well know, "the greatest of these is Love" (1 Cor. 13).
Much love,
Joan
And pebs writes, with the certainty of a fundamentalist:
Do you know why you feel bad, angry or upset?. It's not because certain things or beliefs exist.
It is because at some point you choose in your mind to either judge yourself or someone else as bad. At that point you invite in something you wouldn't want - negativity.
It is possible to accept that things you are not lined up with exist in the world and instead of fighting them, to put your attention to the positive things you are lined up with instead.
I clearly don't agree with this. It puts me in mind of those who let the Holocaust happen and who for example, today, bury their head in the sand and let child abuse happen.
Perhaps if Pebs had written that these are her ideas about the way things might be, and not written as if statements of fact, it would not be so fundamentalist. Like I said not all Fundies are Xtian!
Pebs wrote:Dear Colin, in reply to "They worship a being that has caused and will cause more suffering to more people than anyone ever has." No they do not worship a being that has caused suffering. Because God does not create suffering and evil acts. Humans do. Whether they are insane in mind or not, it is them all the same.
I reply: Hi Pebs - I know that! Such a God doesn't exist but for the Fundy Xtians(and Muslims and others) he does. They are the ones who believe that God has a place of eternal torture for those who don't believe as they do. They call it Hell. When you consider the billions of people here now and who were here, by their fundy reckoning, the vast majority will be suffering eternal pain. So yes, they do worship a God that is worse than Hitler, Stalin, etc put together.
Oh and I have time and respect for Buddhism.
You know, I cannot keep repeating all of the posts written before when I write something, so rather than assume you are sure you know what I mean, it might be better to read previous posts. If people did this, they would not come to such erroneous conclusions about what I think.
I will not publish comments form people who remain anonymous AND are unpleasant and clearly have not read properly. Or who are too stupid to understand what they are reading. I also do not ever entertain people who back their argument up by throwing my past in my face, as if that explains anything. Some people are expert at saying' well you don't think clearly because of what happened to you'.
As for hating God and Xtians -only a moron with an agenda would say that is my position.
Not all Xtians think as Ali does, that is very clear. My objection is to fundamentalism, which is evil and it's adherents are dangerous. I can't be any clearer than that. And whilst this discussion has been concerning Xtian fundamentalism, I object just as much to Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh or whatever fundamentalism. In my experience, none of the Fundies I have met are different at all from each other. All lacked compassion, all were judgemental, all had a God of fear, all were closed minded and all were intolerant. And ALL WERE COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY CONVINCED THEY WERE RIGHT AND EVERYONE ELSE WAS WRONG.
All this started because Ali decided we needed to know that a homophobic woman registrar who refused to marry gay couples, legal here, was not a homophobic bigot but a good Xtian. I and others say that is rubbish. This registrar happens to be black. What if someone stood and said it is against my conscience to hire this person because she is black? Or a white or black registrar refused to marry her to a white man because they object to mixed marriages? I tell you what then, the said registrar would have been sacked on the spot and no hoo ha would have resulted but because homosexuals are still considered less than deserving of equal rights, it doesn't matter does it? It's only a couple of queers, what does it matter? Shouldn't be allowed anyway, not natural.
I find it even stranger that this type of Xtian loudly proclaim hurt feelings yet never stop to consider the pain they cause others. Oh, but we're wicked so what does it matter? We deserve as much pain as possible.
Many people can't separate their ideas from what is ethical.
Ali and the anonymous poster whose comment was not abusive, I apologise, I did not intend to censor you. Your comments got zapped. If you would care to post comments again, I will post them.
I knit both sleeves identically. Front and back are the same also.
I use short rows to shape the front and back neck. They are identical.
I use mattress stitch to sew up. This shows the raglan seam.
The stitch pattern. I knitted this on a Brother 940 using the garter carriage.
Tantra's Mama Mia
Tantra's Just James
Knitted for my friend Heather who has badly affected feet with RA. No special technique-just so happens that socks my size are comfy for her. I did these using my toe up method, Andersson Heel Mach 2. I used 72 sts on 2.25mm KnitPick circular. The yarn is a generic €1 a ball yarn from a German hypermarket, Globus. (about 80p or $1.50) 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon.
Mach 2 heel.
Toe using Judy's Magic Cast On
