I'm not talking about anything related to my recovery here, but about the absolute stupidity of a so-called developed world.
First, of course, is the mass killing of schoolchildren and teachers in Connecticut, USA, by Adam Lanza, a "smart but shy nerd." Well, the smart but shy nerd had little difficulty in getting hold of at least three of the several more weapons that his mother kept in the house. Once again, then, the USA is faced with what it considers to be the "problem" of gun control. So what's the problem? You legislate to control the sale and possession of guns and you operate an efficient, corrupt-free police force. Stuff the fact that some out-of-date part of an old constitution, written at other times, when other mores were in place, stipulates the right to bear arms: that was then, this is now. The USA is supposed to be a civilised nation; it is supposed to set some sort of example. Instead, it allows archaic, conservative, right-wing nonsense to guide it in so many ways: there are schools in the USA where Creationism is taught, for heaven's sake! That's nothing short of Christian fundamentalism gone bonkers. It really is time for the USA to grow up.
What a crazy world.
Then a piece of news that most will not even have noticed. The EU has agreed to recognise a unitary patent, recognised in 25 of the 27 member states (here's an article with the details). This will make the protection of inventions across the EU a far simpler and cheaper process. But, hang on, why not 27 of the 27 countries? Well, it was decided that, in order to limit costs and bureaucracy, patent requests could be made in any of the three most-used languages of the EU, namely English, French, or German. Fine, this is an EU-wide thing, not a local issue, so nonsensical national pride should have nothing to do with it. That's not how Italy and Spain see things, however. They refuse to take part in the agreement because their languages are not included in the list of approved ones. I'm Welsh and there are instances when I would like to see Welsh used (signs in Wales, education in Wales, legislative procedures in Wales…), but this is not one of them. It is time for member states to put away their petty, petty nationalism and work for an efficient, effective Europe.
What a crazy world.
And then, of course, there's the iPope. What a plonker! A couple of weeks ago he tried to get rid of the ox and the ass from the nativity stable/cave (a mother-earth symbol handily modified by Christians, so a completely false image, anyway), and then he tops even that bit of publicity-mongering by becoming a Twit—er, sorry, a Twitter—and having his own spot on Twitter. Perhaps he will now issue a Papal Ban, renaming himself Pope Benetwit. The chap couldn't even touch the button on the screen of the iPad he was using to initiate his great adventure into cyberworld, so just how much actual input he will have in "his" messages is anyone's guess. Still, the blind faithful will believe that every message is from his own shaky, yet holy hands and directed directly at them. And they will live in the certainty that when their time comes, Saint Tweeter will be waiting for them at the pearly Bill Gates.
God, I'm glad I'm an atheist.
What a crazy world.
Amen to that.
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