MARK ALEXANDER: Wir sind Europäer! Wie oft muß ich dies sagen? Wir sind keine Amerikaner. Leider, haben viel zu viele Briten Farage und Bojo zugehört. Leute, die gar nichts verstehen und schauen eher an ihres Guthaben als auf unseres.
Wäre es nicht viel besser, wenn wir als Europäer , ostwärts hinschaute als westwärts? Es scheint mir, daß das Schauen nach Westen nicht mehr fruchtbar ist.
Lehnen Sie Amerika ab, insbesondere unter der kommenden Regierung. Es wird uns nichts bringen.
© Mark Alexander
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Showing posts with label Mark Alexander. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Alexander. Show all posts
Saturday, November 16, 2024
Say No to Trump’s Shitshow! Say No to Trump’s Advances. Let Us Not Join the Circus
MARK ALEXANDER: The Americans have destroyed the West. They have destroyed the wonderful way of life that Westerners were once able to lead. Americans have destroyed Western values, too. What can we thank Americans for? They have destroyed family life. They have forced mothers out into the workplace, thereby abandoning their traditional roles are mothers, caring wives, and caregivers. Look at women today! And then compare them with women and mothers of yesteryear! Simply put: There is no comparison.
Have the Americans taught the world how to eat healthily? Hardly! Americans are largely overweight, even obese, and they fill their tummies with junk food. Hardly a way of eating to follow which is conducive to good health!
Have Americans taught the world how to dress? Hardly! Elegance is as hard to find in the States as is a needle in haystack! Unless, of course, your idea of elegance is a baseball cap and a T-shirt!
Have Americans taught the world how to enjoy family life? Again, hardly! If anything, with their insistence on working mothers, Americans have destroyed any semblance of wholesome family life.
Have Americans improved the English language? Again, hardly! Just listen to American videos and American TV, they are replete with foul words. The F bomb is dropped with alarming regularity, without anyone batting an eyelid.
Manners have largely disappeared from American life. Gone are the days in which one was addressed as “Sir” in a shop over there.
Americans talk a hell of a lot about Christianity. But do they live their lives in a Christian way? Hardly! First of all, the American’s understanding of Christianity is extremely skewed, to say the least. They believe that Jesus was all about making money! I would wager that the god that Americans worship is not God, but Mammon!
Can Americans teach us how to run a healthcare system? Again, hardly! Americans spend far, far more on healthcare than probably any other nation, yet the outcomes are worse. Furthermore, millions, literally millions, of Americans cannot afford for themselves any healthcare at all.
One could go on. And on!
Just about the only lessons we can learn from America, Americans, are in technology and IT. The rest, we are better off ignoring.
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
Have the Americans taught the world how to eat healthily? Hardly! Americans are largely overweight, even obese, and they fill their tummies with junk food. Hardly a way of eating to follow which is conducive to good health!
Have Americans taught the world how to dress? Hardly! Elegance is as hard to find in the States as is a needle in haystack! Unless, of course, your idea of elegance is a baseball cap and a T-shirt!
Have Americans taught the world how to enjoy family life? Again, hardly! If anything, with their insistence on working mothers, Americans have destroyed any semblance of wholesome family life.
Have Americans improved the English language? Again, hardly! Just listen to American videos and American TV, they are replete with foul words. The F bomb is dropped with alarming regularity, without anyone batting an eyelid.
Manners have largely disappeared from American life. Gone are the days in which one was addressed as “Sir” in a shop over there.
Americans talk a hell of a lot about Christianity. But do they live their lives in a Christian way? Hardly! First of all, the American’s understanding of Christianity is extremely skewed, to say the least. They believe that Jesus was all about making money! I would wager that the god that Americans worship is not God, but Mammon!
Can Americans teach us how to run a healthcare system? Again, hardly! Americans spend far, far more on healthcare than probably any other nation, yet the outcomes are worse. Furthermore, millions, literally millions, of Americans cannot afford for themselves any healthcare at all.
One could go on. And on!
Just about the only lessons we can learn from America, Americans, are in technology and IT. The rest, we are better off ignoring.
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
Labels:
America,
Donald Trump,
Mark Alexander,
short essay,
USA
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Stehen uns dunkle Zeiten bevor?
MARK ALEXANDER: Wir leben wieder in verrückten Zeiten. Es ist, als würden wir uns wieder auf die 1930er Jahre zurückkehren. Immer häufiger wird über Faschismus gesprochen, immer häufiger wird Hitlers Name erwähnt, wieder wird von Massendeportationen gesprochen, und schon wieder wird von der Möglichkeit eines Weltkriegs gesprochen! Man muß wirklich hoffen, daß die Politiker im Westen zur Vernunft zurückkehren, bevor es zu spät ist. Es ist höchste Zeit, daß wir zu einer gemäßigten Politik zurückkehren. Von extremer Politik können wir gar nichts Gutes erwarten, nur Elend und Leid. Anscheinend können wir nur auf bessere und schönere Zeiten hoffen. Was können wir sonst noch tun?
© Mark Alexander
Alle Rechte vorbehalten
© Mark Alexander
Alle Rechte vorbehalten
Friday, October 18, 2024
Farah Pahlavi Mémoires
CRITIQUE DE LIVRE : Chaque soir, avant de m'endormir, je lis un livre en français. Je le fais pour améliorer mon français et parce que le français est une langue magnifique. Mon objectif est aussi qu'un jour mon français soit aussi bon que mon anglais et mon allemand. Je suis heureuse de pouvoir dire que j'ai fait de très bons progrès jusqu'à présent.
Je lis actuellement les Mémoires de Farah Pahlavi. C'est un livre fascinant sur sa vie avant et après être devenue la dernière impératrice de Perse. Si vous aimez les mémoires, je vous recommande vivement celui-ci, surtout si vous vous intéressez à l'Iran.
L'Iran devait être un pays très fascinant avant que les ayatollahs ne prennent le pouvoir et ne ruinent le pays par l'islamisation. Comme nous le savons tous, il fut un temps où l'Iran se tournait vers l'Occident pour trouver l'inspiration et pour le progrès, et non vers les siècles passés. Les femmes s'habillaient également comme les femmes occidentales, montrant leurs cheveux et portant des jupes courtes.
Ce livre extrêmement intéressant retrace la vie de Farah Pahlavi, la dernière Shâhbanou d'Iran (la reine et l'impératrice). Née Farah Diba, elle a étudié l'architecture à Paris où elle a rencontré Mohammad Reza Shâh Pahlavi alors que le Shâh était en visite en France. Ils sont ensuite tombés amoureux.
Ce livre retrace la vie de Farah Pahlavi depuis son enfance jusqu'à son jeune âge adulte et les années où elle et le Shâh se sont mariés jusqu'à l'époque où la monarchie a été déposée, et au-delà.
Si vous êtes intéressé par la lecture de mémoires et si vous aimez lire des livres en français, je ne peux que vous recommander ce merveilleux livre. De plus, pour une personne qui essaie d'améliorer son vocabulaire français, ce livre fera des merveilles.
Ce livre se lit comme un conte de fées.
© Mark Alexander
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
HTML Irregularities Are Being Found
MARK ALEXANDER: In recent times, I have started coming across HTML irregularities in my postings, causing the printed word to turn gold where it shouldn’t. This is not me ‘losing it’; rather, it is what happens when someone else is playing around with my posts.
At first, I thought I had made mistakes. But now I have been able to prove that it is someone else that is causing the trouble.
If only I knew who it was, I’d buy him a rattle and a dummy (pacifier)! By gosh, he needs something to while his time away.
So, if you see these errors, you will know what is happening.
Sincerely
Mark Alexander
At first, I thought I had made mistakes. But now I have been able to prove that it is someone else that is causing the trouble.
If only I knew who it was, I’d buy him a rattle and a dummy (pacifier)! By gosh, he needs something to while his time away.
So, if you see these errors, you will know what is happening.
Sincerely
Mark Alexander
Labels:
hacking,
HTML,
Mark Alexander
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Elon Musk sagt Folgendes: „Die Tage der EU sind gezählt – wir müssen uns vorbereiten!“
MARK ALEXANDER: In dieser Hinsicht hat Elon Musk absolut recht. Keine Gesellschaft oder Wirtschaft kann ohne Babys gedeihen. Meine Besucher werden sicherlich gelesen haben, was ich diesbezüglich schon oft gesagt habe, nämlich daß das Schlimmste, was dem Westen – nicht nur Europa – je passiert ist, war, als Frauen das Zuhause und die Mutterschaft zugunsten des Arbeitsplatzes und einer Karriere aufgaben. Seitdem werden im Westen zu wenige Babys geboren, was diese existenzielle Krise verursacht. Westliche Politiker haben Frauen ermutigt, dies ebenfalls zu tun, und sie in den Arbeitsmarkt gelockt. Damit haben sie den Wert der Mutterschaft zerstört und diese Krise der niedrigen Geburtenraten verursacht. Je früher wir wieder dazu übergehen, die Mutterschaft auf ein Podest zu stellen und wieder mit der Fortpflanzung beginnen, desto besser! Andernfalls wird nicht nur die Europäische Union einer existenziellen Bedrohung ausgesetzt sein, sondern der gesamte Westen. Denken Sie daran: Der Islam ist sehr stark und gewinnt an Stärke, nicht wegen seiner überlegenen Waffen, sondern wegen seiner Hingabe an Mutterschaft und Fortpflanzung. Tradition schlägt jedes Mal neumodische Ideen!
In this respect, Elon Musk is absolutely right. No society or economy can thrive without babies. My visitors will surely have read what I have stated concerning this many times before, namely that the worst thing that ever happened to the West — not just Europe — was when women abandoned the home and motherhood in favour of the workplace and a career. Ever since, too few babies have been born in the West, thus causing this existential crisis. Western politicians have been encouraging women to do this, too, and enticing them into the workplace. In so doing, they have trashed the worth of motherhood and caused this crisis of low births. The sooner we get back to putting motherhood on a pedestal and start procreating again, the better! Otherwise, it won't only be the European Union that has an existential threat, but the West as a whole. Remember this: Islam is very strong and gaining in strength not because of its superior arms, but because of its dedication to motherhood and procreation. Tradition trumps new-fangled ideas every time! – © Mark Alexander
Listen here/Hier anhören
In this respect, Elon Musk is absolutely right. No society or economy can thrive without babies. My visitors will surely have read what I have stated concerning this many times before, namely that the worst thing that ever happened to the West — not just Europe — was when women abandoned the home and motherhood in favour of the workplace and a career. Ever since, too few babies have been born in the West, thus causing this existential crisis. Western politicians have been encouraging women to do this, too, and enticing them into the workplace. In so doing, they have trashed the worth of motherhood and caused this crisis of low births. The sooner we get back to putting motherhood on a pedestal and start procreating again, the better! Otherwise, it won't only be the European Union that has an existential threat, but the West as a whole. Remember this: Islam is very strong and gaining in strength not because of its superior arms, but because of its dedication to motherhood and procreation. Tradition trumps new-fangled ideas every time! – © Mark Alexander
Labels:
birthrate,
Elon Musk,
Geburtenrate,
Mark Alexander
Saturday, October 05, 2024
”Assisted Dying”
MARK ALEXANDER: Assisted dying is a euphemism for euthanasia. Let us be clear about that! So, let us call it exactly what it is.
I know that there are strong arguments in favour of euthanasia, but there are also many strong arguments against it. The harsh reality is that humans have started to play God; and the Anglican Church is strangely silent on this most sensitive of issues.
Our atheist leader — the Führer — is said to be all for it. But then he would be, wouldn’t he, with his belief system, or lack of one? Surely, he will be glad to be able to pass such a bill; the billions saved for the Treasury will quickly start to fill his “black hole”.
These days, most people bundle their old and infirm into care homes, without compunction. Life is easier that way! That they do this is a sad indictment of the über-materialistic times we live in, a sad indictment of modern Western societies.
The West truly has lost its way now. Expect its demise sooner rather than later. This moral void will most certainly be filled, however. We are a post-Christian society now: people have abandoned Christianity. They have abandoned God. But I believe it is true to say that God will not have abandoned them. He will manifest Himself in another way, in another, fast-growing religion in this country: Islam.
We need to think carefully about this step into the unknown, which we appear determined to take.
All Rights Reserved
© Mark Alexander
ADDENDUM:
It should be noted that doctors practise “assisted dying” already. I know this for a fact because my life’s partner was assisted in his passing in Philadelphia in 2016 under my very own eyes. His continued and long-term hospital care became too expensive for his premium health insurance to countenance. So, steps were taken to help him on his way! It was so subtle, even I didn’t realise what was happening until it was too late! – © Mark Alexander
Related video here.
I know that there are strong arguments in favour of euthanasia, but there are also many strong arguments against it. The harsh reality is that humans have started to play God; and the Anglican Church is strangely silent on this most sensitive of issues.
Our atheist leader — the Führer — is said to be all for it. But then he would be, wouldn’t he, with his belief system, or lack of one? Surely, he will be glad to be able to pass such a bill; the billions saved for the Treasury will quickly start to fill his “black hole”.
These days, most people bundle their old and infirm into care homes, without compunction. Life is easier that way! That they do this is a sad indictment of the über-materialistic times we live in, a sad indictment of modern Western societies.
The West truly has lost its way now. Expect its demise sooner rather than later. This moral void will most certainly be filled, however. We are a post-Christian society now: people have abandoned Christianity. They have abandoned God. But I believe it is true to say that God will not have abandoned them. He will manifest Himself in another way, in another, fast-growing religion in this country: Islam.
We need to think carefully about this step into the unknown, which we appear determined to take.
All Rights Reserved
© Mark Alexander
ADDENDUM:
It should be noted that doctors practise “assisted dying” already. I know this for a fact because my life’s partner was assisted in his passing in Philadelphia in 2016 under my very own eyes. His continued and long-term hospital care became too expensive for his premium health insurance to countenance. So, steps were taken to help him on his way! It was so subtle, even I didn’t realise what was happening until it was too late! – © Mark Alexander
Related video here.
Sunday, September 29, 2024
The Importance of Conservatives Bolstering the Traditional Family
MARK ALEXANDER: Conservatives abandoned the traditional family years ago. No society can be strong if the traditional family unit is not encouraged. The indigenous population in this country is short of babies; immigrant families are generally not short of them. It is easy to see why Islam is growing apace in this country.
Feminism has a lot to answer for. When women started preferring the workplace over the home, where they can procreate, this country started going downhill. No society can thrive when childlessness is preferred over motherhood.
A sensible Conservative government should pull all the stops out to help and promote the traditional family unit — a unit in which children can be raised properly and well at home, not in kindergartens by strangers.
The proper education of a child is two-pronged: formal and informal. Formal education is what a child gets in schools, colleges, and universities; informal education is what a child gets in the home from the parents. Children these days, because of working mothers and absent fathers, generally lack informal education. Informal education is extremely important for the development of the child.
If we want a properly functioning society, it behoves the Conservatives to foster traditional families and traditional family values. This is true not only for us in the UK but also for the West in general. If something isn’t done about this soon, the West will be lost — to Islam, the way of life which respects the traditional family. The West needs its own babies not more productivity from working mothers. The choice is yours!
All Rights Reserved
© Mark Alexander
Feminism has a lot to answer for. When women started preferring the workplace over the home, where they can procreate, this country started going downhill. No society can thrive when childlessness is preferred over motherhood.
A sensible Conservative government should pull all the stops out to help and promote the traditional family unit — a unit in which children can be raised properly and well at home, not in kindergartens by strangers.
The proper education of a child is two-pronged: formal and informal. Formal education is what a child gets in schools, colleges, and universities; informal education is what a child gets in the home from the parents. Children these days, because of working mothers and absent fathers, generally lack informal education. Informal education is extremely important for the development of the child.
If we want a properly functioning society, it behoves the Conservatives to foster traditional families and traditional family values. This is true not only for us in the UK but also for the West in general. If something isn’t done about this soon, the West will be lost — to Islam, the way of life which respects the traditional family. The West needs its own babies not more productivity from working mothers. The choice is yours!
All Rights Reserved
© Mark Alexander
Starmer’s Absurd Idea of Introducing a Law Criminalising Islamophobia
MARK ALEXANDER: This country needs no Islamophobia law. There is nothing phobic about fearing Islam. A phobia is an irrational fear. There is nothing irrational about fearing Islam. For starters, it wants to take over the country. Muslims believe that the country will eventually belong to them. Each country it has been allowed into to put down roots, it has eventually taken over. Further, I can think of only one country where this process has been reversed: Al Andalus, or Moorish Spain. It should be noted that it took the Spaniards 800 years to expel the Moors!
Further, the ‘religion’ — more accurately the ‘way of life’ — has some abysmal practices such as killing homosexuals, killing apostates, stoning women to death for disobedience, treating women unequally, stoning people to death for godlessness, etc. The list of transgressions and wicked punishments goes on and on.
So why, exactly, should this country adopt a law outlawing Islamophobia? Until Islam is reformed — which will never happen because it is believed that the words in the Qur’an are the actual words of Allah! — and until Islam becomes enlightened, until Islam stops being supremacist, until Islam gives up its desire to impose the Shari’ah, we would be crazy not to fear it! Ergo, no law outlawing Islamophobia has any place in a modern, progressive country such as the United Kingdom.
All Rights Reserved
© Mark Alexander
Further, the ‘religion’ — more accurately the ‘way of life’ — has some abysmal practices such as killing homosexuals, killing apostates, stoning women to death for disobedience, treating women unequally, stoning people to death for godlessness, etc. The list of transgressions and wicked punishments goes on and on.
So why, exactly, should this country adopt a law outlawing Islamophobia? Until Islam is reformed — which will never happen because it is believed that the words in the Qur’an are the actual words of Allah! — and until Islam becomes enlightened, until Islam stops being supremacist, until Islam gives up its desire to impose the Shari’ah, we would be crazy not to fear it! Ergo, no law outlawing Islamophobia has any place in a modern, progressive country such as the United Kingdom.
All Rights Reserved
© Mark Alexander
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Wenn man Lebensfreude ignoriert...
MARK ALEXANDER: Ich möchte mich bei Ihnen melden, um Ihnen zu sagen, daß was in meinem Land passiert unter der Herrschaft Starmers sehr unerwünscht und sehr unbequem ist. Unser Führer, Keir Starmer, versteht keinen Spaß, keinen Genuß. Starmer ist ein freudloser Mann. Er ist ein erbärmlicher Mensch, der kein Verständnis für die Freude am Leben hat.
Ich bitte Euch, uns Briten Mitgefühl für uns zu haben. Wir sind eigentlich arme Menschen, die es nicht mehr verstehen, Freude am Leben zu haben.
© Mark Alexander
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Ich bitte Euch, uns Briten Mitgefühl für uns zu haben. Wir sind eigentlich arme Menschen, die es nicht mehr verstehen, Freude am Leben zu haben.
© Mark Alexander
All Rechte vorbehalten
Labels:
Mark Alexander
Thursday, August 22, 2024
UK, August 2024: Dark Times Have Arrived: We Have a Far-left Government; Freedom of Speech Is a Thing of the Past; Our Days of Being a Democracy Are Also Possibly Numbered
MARK ALEXANDER: For the second time in a week, I've had trouble sleeping. This is highly unusual for me, since I usually sleep like a log. But there is a simple answer for this: There is a sense of unease in this nation, a sense of fear. People no longer know what can be said with impunity. People are even being locked up for saying or posting the wrong thing. Speaking against the government’s narrative is no longer tolerated, it seems. Speak against the official line and you will be punished! People are being shut up by the government using the tactic of intimidation.
I have been blogging for about twenty-three years, but I have never felt like this before. Since Keir Starmer became prime minister, there has been a fundamental change in the nation. Our rights and freedoms are quickly being eroded.
I am a retired man who has never been in trouble with the law — ever. At this age, I don’t intend to start having such troubles, either. So I have decided to stop blogging.
The fun of blogging is being able to share interesting material with one’s visitors, both regular and occasional. And, in a funny kind of way, one’s visitors keep one company. One’s visitors are like ersatz friends. Each day, I look to see if my regular visitors have popped in to check out what I have posted. It brings me great joy when I find that they have.
But another joy of blogging is being able to share with you all my views on a particular subject. I can do that either by writing an essay or by posting a comment under one of the videos or articles. Until Starmer came to power, I could do that with impunity. I never had to think about what I said, because I knew that I was free to say what I liked, within reason. But all that has changed now. Now, people who post on social media are being watched. This is very bad. Especially in this country, because we have no written constitution. Without a written constitution, what one is allowed to say, or write, is fluid. So, one can never be sure that what one is writing will in some small way fall foul of the law. Fall foul of the law and you’re in trouble!
The Americans have their freedom of speech written into the American Constitution in the form of the First Amendment. We have no such right written in stone. This is troubling indeed.
Not having a written constitution worked when the country’s demographic make-up was largely homogenous. When just about all the people were Christian, or nominally so, not having a written constitution worked. But the demographic make-up of the UK, under a succession of prime ministers, has been changed out of all recognition. It is now hammered home to us that we are living in a multicultural, multi-ethnic country. That this is so has become increasingly obvious to all by now. But it is for this reason that having a WRITTEN CONSTITUTION is more important than it has ever been. In my opinion, we Brits need to be furnished with a written constitution as a matter of urgency. We need to know what our rights are. We also need to know what we can and cannot say. This shouldn’t be based on guesswork.
Nigel Farage and his cohorts dragged us out of the European Union, partly on the promise of regaining our sovereignty. If this is an example of us regaining our sovereignty, I don’t like it one little bit! Being members of the European Union gave us rights and freedoms. At that time, I was a citizen of Europe, with all the attendant rights that being a citizen of Europe brought with it. Now, I am a mere subject of the King. My rights are what the King and his government deem to be right and proper. But this can change according to whim and according to the government of the day. This is not good enough, and it is unsettling.
Under these sad circumstances, I have decided to stop blogging. Fact is, I no longer feel free to say what I wish to say. My country has entered dark days, and darker they will surely get. In fact, my country is in crisis. Its economic performance is lamentable; its subjects’ rights and freedoms are being taken away – eroded.
All I can now do is a.) hope for more auspicious times, and/or b.) look for another country that will give me a safe home. If things get much worse under this authoritarian regime, I shall have to give careful consideration to the idea of claiming asylum in some other friendly country! As a writer, I need the freedom to express my thoughts without worry or concern. I no longer feel comfortable doing that in Starmer’s Britain.
I should like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and loyalty. Your support and loyalty have meant a great deal to me: your loyalty and support have seen me through some very depressing times, especially during the grieving years when I lost my American partner to oesophageal cancer. You helped dig me out of the grieving pit! Again, I thank you all kindly for that.
The material on this blog will remain open to you all. That includes essays going back more than twenty years. And I must add that if times improve, I shall be back with you. In the meantime, I wish you all farewell.
Most sincerely,
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
I have been blogging for about twenty-three years, but I have never felt like this before. Since Keir Starmer became prime minister, there has been a fundamental change in the nation. Our rights and freedoms are quickly being eroded.
I am a retired man who has never been in trouble with the law — ever. At this age, I don’t intend to start having such troubles, either. So I have decided to stop blogging.
The fun of blogging is being able to share interesting material with one’s visitors, both regular and occasional. And, in a funny kind of way, one’s visitors keep one company. One’s visitors are like ersatz friends. Each day, I look to see if my regular visitors have popped in to check out what I have posted. It brings me great joy when I find that they have.
But another joy of blogging is being able to share with you all my views on a particular subject. I can do that either by writing an essay or by posting a comment under one of the videos or articles. Until Starmer came to power, I could do that with impunity. I never had to think about what I said, because I knew that I was free to say what I liked, within reason. But all that has changed now. Now, people who post on social media are being watched. This is very bad. Especially in this country, because we have no written constitution. Without a written constitution, what one is allowed to say, or write, is fluid. So, one can never be sure that what one is writing will in some small way fall foul of the law. Fall foul of the law and you’re in trouble!
The Americans have their freedom of speech written into the American Constitution in the form of the First Amendment. We have no such right written in stone. This is troubling indeed.
Not having a written constitution worked when the country’s demographic make-up was largely homogenous. When just about all the people were Christian, or nominally so, not having a written constitution worked. But the demographic make-up of the UK, under a succession of prime ministers, has been changed out of all recognition. It is now hammered home to us that we are living in a multicultural, multi-ethnic country. That this is so has become increasingly obvious to all by now. But it is for this reason that having a WRITTEN CONSTITUTION is more important than it has ever been. In my opinion, we Brits need to be furnished with a written constitution as a matter of urgency. We need to know what our rights are. We also need to know what we can and cannot say. This shouldn’t be based on guesswork.
Nigel Farage and his cohorts dragged us out of the European Union, partly on the promise of regaining our sovereignty. If this is an example of us regaining our sovereignty, I don’t like it one little bit! Being members of the European Union gave us rights and freedoms. At that time, I was a citizen of Europe, with all the attendant rights that being a citizen of Europe brought with it. Now, I am a mere subject of the King. My rights are what the King and his government deem to be right and proper. But this can change according to whim and according to the government of the day. This is not good enough, and it is unsettling.
Under these sad circumstances, I have decided to stop blogging. Fact is, I no longer feel free to say what I wish to say. My country has entered dark days, and darker they will surely get. In fact, my country is in crisis. Its economic performance is lamentable; its subjects’ rights and freedoms are being taken away – eroded.
All I can now do is a.) hope for more auspicious times, and/or b.) look for another country that will give me a safe home. If things get much worse under this authoritarian regime, I shall have to give careful consideration to the idea of claiming asylum in some other friendly country! As a writer, I need the freedom to express my thoughts without worry or concern. I no longer feel comfortable doing that in Starmer’s Britain.
I should like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and loyalty. Your support and loyalty have meant a great deal to me: your loyalty and support have seen me through some very depressing times, especially during the grieving years when I lost my American partner to oesophageal cancer. You helped dig me out of the grieving pit! Again, I thank you all kindly for that.
The material on this blog will remain open to you all. That includes essays going back more than twenty years. And I must add that if times improve, I shall be back with you. In the meantime, I wish you all farewell.
Most sincerely,
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
Labels:
Mark Alexander
Sunday, July 21, 2024
THANK YOU SO MUCH! IT’S A RED LETTER DAY
MARK ALEXANDER: We have reached more than FIVE MILLION VISITS today! Thank you all, visitors and followers alike, for your LOYALTY and continued SUPPORT. Your LOYALTY and SUPPORT are so much appreciated. Again, THANK YOU! – © Mark Alexander
Labels:
Mark Alexander
Friday, June 21, 2024
Let’s Try and Make This World a Better Place by Being Tolerant and Accepting. There Is Far too Much Strife in the World Today. This Is Indeed Troubling.
Mark Alexander: I get many visitors to this website. And for that, I am truly grateful. However, I feel that I need to clear up a few important facts about this website. They are:
This website should be considered a moderating influence. Extremes in politics almost always lead to no good place. The Twentieth Century taught us this clear lesson.
From time to time, this website shows gay material. However, the massage should not be misunderstood. This website does not promote the gay lifestyle; rather, it promotes the tolerance of the gay lifestyle (within reason). And therein lies the difference!
This website promotes peace and security.
This website promotes freedom of choice, even if that choice might be perceived by some as being unhealthy. Personally, I believe in small government. I do not believe that it is the government’s responsibility to interfere in lifestyle choices, even if those lifestyle choices are deemed by some to be unhealthy. To allow the government the right to intervene is a slippery slope indeed.
This website promotes freedom of choice.
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
This website should be considered a moderating influence. Extremes in politics almost always lead to no good place. The Twentieth Century taught us this clear lesson.
From time to time, this website shows gay material. However, the massage should not be misunderstood. This website does not promote the gay lifestyle; rather, it promotes the tolerance of the gay lifestyle (within reason). And therein lies the difference!
This website promotes peace and security.
This website promotes freedom of choice, even if that choice might be perceived by some as being unhealthy. Personally, I believe in small government. I do not believe that it is the government’s responsibility to interfere in lifestyle choices, even if those lifestyle choices are deemed by some to be unhealthy. To allow the government the right to intervene is a slippery slope indeed.
This website promotes freedom of choice.
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Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom | Reupload
MARK ALEXANDER: Until 9/11, the western world was largely ignorant of the religion of Islam, of its goals, of its aspirations. Indeed, even since 9/11, most people, and that includes our politicians, would not score very highly in a test of their knowledge on the subject. It should be obvious to all thinking people that our politicians are actually unaware, dare I say blind, to the dangers that Islam will increasingly cause us. It is truly a case of the blind leading the blind! That means to say, uninformed and unthinking politicians leading an ill-informed electorate. But this is what we have right now. The same can hardly be said of Muslims in the Islamic world, though; for their knowledge of Christianity far surpasses - even though much of their knowledge is quite distorted - any knowledge of Islam by the man in the street in the West.
As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. But what we often don't hear uttered is its converse: Ignorance is weakness.
The West is far weaker than it need be because of this ignorance of Islam, since Islam is our greatest enemy. The greatest enemy since Nazism and communism. I'll give you some good reasons why this is so. And none of them - absolutely none of them - are based on hatred.
Islam is the enemy of the West for a plethora of good, solid reasons, and if we wish to survive as a civilization, we are going to have to bite the bullet and deal, head on, with the issues these reasons raise. Let us begin...
First and foremost, we are dealing with a religion which does not recognize any separation of politics and religion, any separation of the political from the spiritual. For Muslims, life is one coherent whole: the political and spiritual both meld into one. This has always been so, and always will be. No re-classification of the religion into two separate parts is possible because of Islam's very nature.
In Islam, all power rests with Allah, the god of Muslims. The Qur'an, their holy book, is always taken literally. Those words are considered to be the actual words of Allah. Therefore, none of these words can be changed, for to change any of them would be tantamount to tampering with Allah's words. This would be a grave sin in their eyes.
For the same reason that the words contained in the Qur'an cannot be changed, they cannot, therefore, be re-interpreted either. So do not hold your breath for any kind of reformation in this religion, because it’s not going to happen.
In Islam, all power rests with Allah, and it filters down via his vice-gerents on earth to the people. Hence the great desire among Muslims to restore the caliphate. Contrast this with the Western model of government.
In the West, the ideal political system is democracy. In democracy, all power rests with the people, and they exercise that power at the polls. In a democracy, all power filters in the opposite direction from Islam. In democracy it filters up; in Islam, down! Herein lies the greatest barrier to the miscibility of the two worlds: the western world and the Islamic world.
Without digressing too much here, I should like to add that this is the main reason why George W Bush and Blair's venture into Iraq to bring democracy there was a grave error of judgment. We are now seeing the experiment failing before our very eyes. How can one bring democracy to a region of the world where the people who inhabit that region believe that all power rests with Allah, and where they believe that Allah has prescribed their way of life for them for then, for now, and for all time?
I would suggest that where such a dichotomy exists, the most sensible and prudent thing to do would be for us to lead our lives as we see fit, and for those people to be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. That way, there would be hope of some peace in this world.
But this is not what we have done. We have done the very opposite of this: We have entered the Middle East in the hope - the vain hope in my opinion - of bringing our way of doing things, our way of life, to them; furthermore, we have allowed millions and millions of Muslims into the West - and at the very time when Christianity, the religion which underpins the West, is greatly weakened anyway - which will only give us headaches for the years ahead. Why? Because Muslims who immigrate bring their hopes and dreams and aspirations with them, hopes and dreams of establishing Islam everywhere on earth. To Islamize the world is the main aspiration of the Muslim; and we have seen in France in the recent past the manifestation of aggression in its cause. For what happened in France was in no small part because of the Muslim's desire to establish Allah's caliphate here on earth. These were the first rumblings, the first roar of the lion! Expect more of this in the future, as Islam grows stronger and stronger.
Muslims, by and large, do not respect non-Muslims. How can they? Their religion does not allow them to do so. Their religion preaches that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims; indeed, they use the derogatory term infidel for us. This word to some Westerners might simply mean that they call us infidels because we are people who do not subscribe to their faith. This, after all, would be quite logical, since to us it simply means not fidèle, or not true to the faith. But this does not completely describe what Muslims mean by this term. To Muslims, to be called an infidel is an insult indeed. It has connotations of inferiority, backwardness, and even uncleanness.
You see, Muslims believe that Islam is the perfection of religion for man for all time. They call it ad deen al kamal, the perfect religion. In their eyes, people who have not yet submitted to the will of Allah are in a state of pre-Islamic chaos, a state known to them as jahiliyyah. To Muslims, all Muslims, the whole world is classified in two parts: that part of the world which has submitted and is therefore in the Islamic state known as Dar ul Islam, or 'the House of Islam'; and that part of the world which has yet to submit and is therefore in a pre-Islamic, chaotic, jahiliyyic state known as Dar ul Harb, or the 'House of War'.
The 'House of War' is the part of the world which has yet to be taken over, and must at some point be taken over in the future. We, I am sorry to inform you, are in the 'House of War'. So we can expect anything at anytime.
Some people would ask why we were able to go for quite a long time without problems with Muslims. The answer to that is a simple one indeed. First of all, there were relatively few Muslims living in the West, so the ones that did live here were not powerful. Secondly, Muslims living in the Islamic world were, for the most part and for many years, poor by anyone's standards. This all changed with the Oil Embargo of the 70s - a time when the price of oil on the world markets soared. As a result of this, the Islamic world became rich and empowered. Money is power; and it talks loudly. In recent years we have seen evidence aplenty of Islam being on the move. I tell you now: If we do not find a way of clipping its wings here in the West, we shall lose our democracy, and we shall be in deep, deep trouble.
So the trouble we will have with Muslims will not come only from without, but in the future we can expect trouble from the Muslims within. The millions of Muslims living here in the West will not integrate, because it is not in their worldview to do so. It is also forbidden them by their very own Prophet Himself, the Prophet Muhammad. He forbade Muslims even to befriend infidels. He also exhorted them to kill us. And he certainly told them that they should live separate lives, and dress and behave differently, so that they could easily tell themselves apart.
No Western politician is going to be able to change these facts, for facts they are indeed. Moreover, as Islam will grow here, their numbers will become greater and greater, and they will be able to use our democratic system to outvote us and introduce their form of government based as it is on their beloved Shari'ah, or Quranic laws. How do you propose we shall be able to stop them? We shall be outnumbered, and as the outcome of democratic elections depends on the number of votes cast, we shall be able to do nothing about it. This time will come quicker than we might think, because so few babies are being born to infidel families.
The only thing left for people to do, will be to fight. Inevitably, at some point, civil war will ensue. If the political process fails people, then this will be all that will be left for them: civil war, guerre civile, Bürgerkrieg, call it what you will.
But one thing I can assure you, no politicians' sweet talk, posturing, or manœvring, will get us out of this one without conflict at some point in the future.
One of the biggest problems for the West is its devotion to the concept of freedom of religion. This is a lofty concept indeed, an ideal; but this devotion blinds people to one important reality: To the reality that Islam is not just a religion, but a political system, too. Indeed, it is more of a political system than anything else, and it is, in addition, a political system diametrically opposed to our own. It abhors freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of anything that we so cherish. The only thing one is free to do in Islam is become a Muslim, and submit to the will of Allah.
These two systems are totally immiscible, and unfortunately, we have imported this immiscibility right into the heart of the West; and to our own great disadvantage, and to the disadvantage of our long-term peace and security. What, I ask you, will the Americans do when the ever-growing Muslim population in America starts wanting to tinker with the Americans' beloved Constitution? When Muslims will see their way clear to supplant the Constitution with Shari'ah law?
Questions like these are the ones we should be grappling with NOW. To wait until the time comes would be foolish indeed.
Wake up to the harsh realities of life in the twenty-first century! We've got some collective thinking to do if we wish to save ourselves from darkness. Perhaps we shall, indeed, be forced to think about having to re-classify Islam as a political system first and foremost, a political system immiscible with our own, and one whose advance needs to be forestalled. This may be one of our only sensible alternatives. Since to give complete, unhampered freedom to Islam to grow here in the West is tantamount to digging our own graves.
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
This essay first appeared on this blog very many years ago. On April 20, 2007 to be precise. It was read right across the world, bringing in thousands of readers/visitors.
I am re-publishing this important essay today, because its message is as important to the free world today as it ever was. Our politicians are still as ignorant and naïve about Islam, its nature and its intentions, as they ever were. Until this changes, the future of the Western world is very much imperilled, lies very much in the balance.
With all the resources available to our politicians today, there really is NO EXCUSE for their IGNORANCE on matters relating to Islam. The mere fact that they do nothing about the growth of Islam here in the West shows me, and should show you, that our leaders are craven. They can hide behind political correctness and wokery/wokeism as much as they like, but the hard fact remains that they are CRAVEN. They are scared stiff of dealing with the thorny problem of Islam, problems which they themselves have created for us, the people. Do you really want your children to grow up in a society which lacks the freedoms which you yourselves have enjoyed? Is this truly acceptable to you? If not, then it is high time that we hold our political representatives to account. – © Mark Alexander
This essay first appeared here.
As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. But what we often don't hear uttered is its converse: Ignorance is weakness.
The West is far weaker than it need be because of this ignorance of Islam, since Islam is our greatest enemy. The greatest enemy since Nazism and communism. I'll give you some good reasons why this is so. And none of them - absolutely none of them - are based on hatred.
Islam is the enemy of the West for a plethora of good, solid reasons, and if we wish to survive as a civilization, we are going to have to bite the bullet and deal, head on, with the issues these reasons raise. Let us begin...
First and foremost, we are dealing with a religion which does not recognize any separation of politics and religion, any separation of the political from the spiritual. For Muslims, life is one coherent whole: the political and spiritual both meld into one. This has always been so, and always will be. No re-classification of the religion into two separate parts is possible because of Islam's very nature.
In Islam, all power rests with Allah, the god of Muslims. The Qur'an, their holy book, is always taken literally. Those words are considered to be the actual words of Allah. Therefore, none of these words can be changed, for to change any of them would be tantamount to tampering with Allah's words. This would be a grave sin in their eyes.
For the same reason that the words contained in the Qur'an cannot be changed, they cannot, therefore, be re-interpreted either. So do not hold your breath for any kind of reformation in this religion, because it’s not going to happen.
In Islam, all power rests with Allah, and it filters down via his vice-gerents on earth to the people. Hence the great desire among Muslims to restore the caliphate. Contrast this with the Western model of government.
In the West, the ideal political system is democracy. In democracy, all power rests with the people, and they exercise that power at the polls. In a democracy, all power filters in the opposite direction from Islam. In democracy it filters up; in Islam, down! Herein lies the greatest barrier to the miscibility of the two worlds: the western world and the Islamic world.
Without digressing too much here, I should like to add that this is the main reason why George W Bush and Blair's venture into Iraq to bring democracy there was a grave error of judgment. We are now seeing the experiment failing before our very eyes. How can one bring democracy to a region of the world where the people who inhabit that region believe that all power rests with Allah, and where they believe that Allah has prescribed their way of life for them for then, for now, and for all time?
I would suggest that where such a dichotomy exists, the most sensible and prudent thing to do would be for us to lead our lives as we see fit, and for those people to be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. That way, there would be hope of some peace in this world.
But this is not what we have done. We have done the very opposite of this: We have entered the Middle East in the hope - the vain hope in my opinion - of bringing our way of doing things, our way of life, to them; furthermore, we have allowed millions and millions of Muslims into the West - and at the very time when Christianity, the religion which underpins the West, is greatly weakened anyway - which will only give us headaches for the years ahead. Why? Because Muslims who immigrate bring their hopes and dreams and aspirations with them, hopes and dreams of establishing Islam everywhere on earth. To Islamize the world is the main aspiration of the Muslim; and we have seen in France in the recent past the manifestation of aggression in its cause. For what happened in France was in no small part because of the Muslim's desire to establish Allah's caliphate here on earth. These were the first rumblings, the first roar of the lion! Expect more of this in the future, as Islam grows stronger and stronger.
Muslims, by and large, do not respect non-Muslims. How can they? Their religion does not allow them to do so. Their religion preaches that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims; indeed, they use the derogatory term infidel for us. This word to some Westerners might simply mean that they call us infidels because we are people who do not subscribe to their faith. This, after all, would be quite logical, since to us it simply means not fidèle, or not true to the faith. But this does not completely describe what Muslims mean by this term. To Muslims, to be called an infidel is an insult indeed. It has connotations of inferiority, backwardness, and even uncleanness.
You see, Muslims believe that Islam is the perfection of religion for man for all time. They call it ad deen al kamal, the perfect religion. In their eyes, people who have not yet submitted to the will of Allah are in a state of pre-Islamic chaos, a state known to them as jahiliyyah. To Muslims, all Muslims, the whole world is classified in two parts: that part of the world which has submitted and is therefore in the Islamic state known as Dar ul Islam, or 'the House of Islam'; and that part of the world which has yet to submit and is therefore in a pre-Islamic, chaotic, jahiliyyic state known as Dar ul Harb, or the 'House of War'.
The 'House of War' is the part of the world which has yet to be taken over, and must at some point be taken over in the future. We, I am sorry to inform you, are in the 'House of War'. So we can expect anything at anytime.
Some people would ask why we were able to go for quite a long time without problems with Muslims. The answer to that is a simple one indeed. First of all, there were relatively few Muslims living in the West, so the ones that did live here were not powerful. Secondly, Muslims living in the Islamic world were, for the most part and for many years, poor by anyone's standards. This all changed with the Oil Embargo of the 70s - a time when the price of oil on the world markets soared. As a result of this, the Islamic world became rich and empowered. Money is power; and it talks loudly. In recent years we have seen evidence aplenty of Islam being on the move. I tell you now: If we do not find a way of clipping its wings here in the West, we shall lose our democracy, and we shall be in deep, deep trouble.
So the trouble we will have with Muslims will not come only from without, but in the future we can expect trouble from the Muslims within. The millions of Muslims living here in the West will not integrate, because it is not in their worldview to do so. It is also forbidden them by their very own Prophet Himself, the Prophet Muhammad. He forbade Muslims even to befriend infidels. He also exhorted them to kill us. And he certainly told them that they should live separate lives, and dress and behave differently, so that they could easily tell themselves apart.
No Western politician is going to be able to change these facts, for facts they are indeed. Moreover, as Islam will grow here, their numbers will become greater and greater, and they will be able to use our democratic system to outvote us and introduce their form of government based as it is on their beloved Shari'ah, or Quranic laws. How do you propose we shall be able to stop them? We shall be outnumbered, and as the outcome of democratic elections depends on the number of votes cast, we shall be able to do nothing about it. This time will come quicker than we might think, because so few babies are being born to infidel families.
The only thing left for people to do, will be to fight. Inevitably, at some point, civil war will ensue. If the political process fails people, then this will be all that will be left for them: civil war, guerre civile, Bürgerkrieg, call it what you will.
But one thing I can assure you, no politicians' sweet talk, posturing, or manœvring, will get us out of this one without conflict at some point in the future.
One of the biggest problems for the West is its devotion to the concept of freedom of religion. This is a lofty concept indeed, an ideal; but this devotion blinds people to one important reality: To the reality that Islam is not just a religion, but a political system, too. Indeed, it is more of a political system than anything else, and it is, in addition, a political system diametrically opposed to our own. It abhors freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of anything that we so cherish. The only thing one is free to do in Islam is become a Muslim, and submit to the will of Allah.
These two systems are totally immiscible, and unfortunately, we have imported this immiscibility right into the heart of the West; and to our own great disadvantage, and to the disadvantage of our long-term peace and security. What, I ask you, will the Americans do when the ever-growing Muslim population in America starts wanting to tinker with the Americans' beloved Constitution? When Muslims will see their way clear to supplant the Constitution with Shari'ah law?
Questions like these are the ones we should be grappling with NOW. To wait until the time comes would be foolish indeed.
Wake up to the harsh realities of life in the twenty-first century! We've got some collective thinking to do if we wish to save ourselves from darkness. Perhaps we shall, indeed, be forced to think about having to re-classify Islam as a political system first and foremost, a political system immiscible with our own, and one whose advance needs to be forestalled. This may be one of our only sensible alternatives. Since to give complete, unhampered freedom to Islam to grow here in the West is tantamount to digging our own graves.
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
This essay first appeared on this blog very many years ago. On April 20, 2007 to be precise. It was read right across the world, bringing in thousands of readers/visitors.
I am re-publishing this important essay today, because its message is as important to the free world today as it ever was. Our politicians are still as ignorant and naïve about Islam, its nature and its intentions, as they ever were. Until this changes, the future of the Western world is very much imperilled, lies very much in the balance.
With all the resources available to our politicians today, there really is NO EXCUSE for their IGNORANCE on matters relating to Islam. The mere fact that they do nothing about the growth of Islam here in the West shows me, and should show you, that our leaders are craven. They can hide behind political correctness and wokery/wokeism as much as they like, but the hard fact remains that they are CRAVEN. They are scared stiff of dealing with the thorny problem of Islam, problems which they themselves have created for us, the people. Do you really want your children to grow up in a society which lacks the freedoms which you yourselves have enjoyed? Is this truly acceptable to you? If not, then it is high time that we hold our political representatives to account. – © Mark Alexander
This essay first appeared here.
Friday, May 31, 2024
I’m back! Ich bin wieder da! Je suis de retour !
Thank you very much for being so patient and understanding. Now I feel rested. I can blog again without any problems, although less than before.
Ich bedanke mich sehr, daß Sie so geduldig und verständnisvoll gewesen sind. Nun fühle ich mich ausgeruht. Ich kann wieder ohne Weiteres bloggen, obschon weniger als zuvor.
Merci beaucoup pour votre patience et votre compréhension. Maintenant, je me sens reposé. Je peux facilement bloguer à nouveau, bien que moins qu’avant.
© Mark Alexander
Ich bedanke mich sehr, daß Sie so geduldig und verständnisvoll gewesen sind. Nun fühle ich mich ausgeruht. Ich kann wieder ohne Weiteres bloggen, obschon weniger als zuvor.
Merci beaucoup pour votre patience et votre compréhension. Maintenant, je me sens reposé. Je peux facilement bloguer à nouveau, bien que moins qu’avant.
© Mark Alexander
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Sunday, February 25, 2024
It’s Time for a Little R&R
I have been blogging daily for a very long time now, but I have had no rest from it. Needless to say, I am feeling rather worn out as a result. I therefore need some rest, a change of mind, a change of perspective. I need a holiday. I am starting that holiday today. I ask you for your understanding.
There is a lot of interesting material up on this blog. In fact, there is material going back more than twenty years. You are free to avail yourselves of it.
I have no idea how long my holiday from blogging will last. I suppose it will last until I feel thoroughly refreshed.
For your understanding in this matter and for your loyalty, I thank you all kindly.
Best wishes,
Mark Alexander
There is a lot of interesting material up on this blog. In fact, there is material going back more than twenty years. You are free to avail yourselves of it.
I have no idea how long my holiday from blogging will last. I suppose it will last until I feel thoroughly refreshed.
For your understanding in this matter and for your loyalty, I thank you all kindly.
Best wishes,
Mark Alexander
Labels:
blogging,
Mark Alexander
Tuesday, February 06, 2024
Sunak’s Incremental Smoking Ban
It appals me that our king has joined our unelected prime minister in calling for an incremental smoking ban. However, it doesn’t surprise me, since as Prince of Wales, he had a history of involving himself in political affairs, even though we all know that our monarch is supposed to stay well out of politics.
Both our king and our prime minister are unelected. Therefore, they have no right whatsoever in a so-called democracy to make decisions on the people’s behalf.
The mere idea of banning smoking for adults — a habit which brings great pleasure to many adults even to this day — is undemocratic, autocratic, in fact, and, quite frankly, stupid. There are far more unhealthy habits than smoking cigarettes. Excessive sugar consumption springs quickly to mind, alcohol consumption, the smoking of marijuana and cannabis, and the use of ketamine, and increasingly, of cocaine. How many young people have a cocaine habit, I wonder? London is, in fact, said to be the cocaine capital of the world.
So, cigarette-smoking is the least of our concerns.
I would be the last person on earth to advocate smoking. However, I must admit, until nearly two years ago, I had a twenty-a-day habit, which brought me enormous pleasure. It also kept me slim and free of type-2 diabetes. Since quitting, I have gained weight quickly; and this worries me. Why? Because I know that my metabolism has slowed right down since I gave up. I am not gaining weight because I am eating more; rather, I am gaining weight because of my now slow metabolism.
You can talk of lung cancer, and lung cancer is a terrible thing. But the fact remains that only about 5 – 10% of HEAVY smokers contract it. Indeed, I recently read of an Israeli rabbi many years over a hundred who died of old age despite being an extremely heavy smoker. Like 60 cigarettes a day!
Please do not misconstrue my message: I neither advocate smoking nor condone it. However, I do defend the right of an adult to make his own choice without people in the Establishment interfering in their decisions. (By the way, I am not a republican. Far from it. However, interference like this could push me in that direction.)
The NHS argument holds no water. Smokers contribute approximately £10.5b in taxes, whereas they cost the NHS only £3.5b.
It should also be remembered that a person’s health is more than being about remaining cancer-free. One also wants to be free of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease and type-2 diabetes. One also wishes to remain as slim as possible. Nobody wants to be obese. Smoking has a protective effect on all these maladies.
It is imperative that we look at the big picture; it is also imperative that we keep meddlesome people out of our decision-making process.
If you wish to ban anything, ban meddlesome people from interfering in the democratic process. Keep people’s right to choose. Ban interference from the Nanny State.
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
Oh God! Here we go again! When is the risk of type-2 diabetes reduced after quitting sugar? Or the risk of a car accident when you quit driving your car? Or the risk of liver disease after you quit drinking alcohol? Or the risk of an STD once you quit sexual contact with your partner, straight or gay? Unfortunately, life is for living; and we cannot get out of this life alive. All this preaching is oh so tiresome. For heaven's sake, live and let live! It behoves us all to live moderately; and to enjoy life, to get our kicks where and when we can. One of these fine days we will not wake up! We'll all be dead! – © Mark Alexander
Both our king and our prime minister are unelected. Therefore, they have no right whatsoever in a so-called democracy to make decisions on the people’s behalf.
The mere idea of banning smoking for adults — a habit which brings great pleasure to many adults even to this day — is undemocratic, autocratic, in fact, and, quite frankly, stupid. There are far more unhealthy habits than smoking cigarettes. Excessive sugar consumption springs quickly to mind, alcohol consumption, the smoking of marijuana and cannabis, and the use of ketamine, and increasingly, of cocaine. How many young people have a cocaine habit, I wonder? London is, in fact, said to be the cocaine capital of the world.
So, cigarette-smoking is the least of our concerns.
I would be the last person on earth to advocate smoking. However, I must admit, until nearly two years ago, I had a twenty-a-day habit, which brought me enormous pleasure. It also kept me slim and free of type-2 diabetes. Since quitting, I have gained weight quickly; and this worries me. Why? Because I know that my metabolism has slowed right down since I gave up. I am not gaining weight because I am eating more; rather, I am gaining weight because of my now slow metabolism.
You can talk of lung cancer, and lung cancer is a terrible thing. But the fact remains that only about 5 – 10% of HEAVY smokers contract it. Indeed, I recently read of an Israeli rabbi many years over a hundred who died of old age despite being an extremely heavy smoker. Like 60 cigarettes a day!
Please do not misconstrue my message: I neither advocate smoking nor condone it. However, I do defend the right of an adult to make his own choice without people in the Establishment interfering in their decisions. (By the way, I am not a republican. Far from it. However, interference like this could push me in that direction.)
The NHS argument holds no water. Smokers contribute approximately £10.5b in taxes, whereas they cost the NHS only £3.5b.
It should also be remembered that a person’s health is more than being about remaining cancer-free. One also wants to be free of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease and type-2 diabetes. One also wishes to remain as slim as possible. Nobody wants to be obese. Smoking has a protective effect on all these maladies.
It is imperative that we look at the big picture; it is also imperative that we keep meddlesome people out of our decision-making process.
If you wish to ban anything, ban meddlesome people from interfering in the democratic process. Keep people’s right to choose. Ban interference from the Nanny State.
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
Oh God! Here we go again! When is the risk of type-2 diabetes reduced after quitting sugar? Or the risk of a car accident when you quit driving your car? Or the risk of liver disease after you quit drinking alcohol? Or the risk of an STD once you quit sexual contact with your partner, straight or gay? Unfortunately, life is for living; and we cannot get out of this life alive. All this preaching is oh so tiresome. For heaven's sake, live and let live! It behoves us all to live moderately; and to enjoy life, to get our kicks where and when we can. One of these fine days we will not wake up! We'll all be dead! – © Mark Alexander
Monday, January 01, 2024
The Tories
MARK ALEXANDER: The Tories, otherwise known as the Conservatives, have been in power since 2010. And what a dog’s dinner they have made of their governance! They have wrecked this county; they have wrecked its economy.
I write not as “a leftie”. Far from it, actually! I was raised as a Conservative voter; and I voted Conservative all my adult life. Until Cameron became the party’s leader. I took one look at him, and decided he couldn’t be trusted. So I voted for the LibDems instead. We ended up with a coalition government. But to put things simply, Brexit has put paid to my ever voting Tory again, put paid to my adherence to this party of clowns.
The Conservatives used to be the party we Brits could rely on to manage the economy well and efficiently. You don’t need me to tell you that this is no longer the case. The Conservatives have been in power since 2010 and our economy has never, in my lifetime, been in worse shape. Had the Tories a clue, they’d have fixed the economy by now. They haven’t! The economy is is dire shape. Especially because of Brexit, an ideology to which the clowns in the party are wedded.
The European issue was, and remains, a very complicated issue; it should never have been thrown to the people in the form of a referendum to decide. Why? Because even many a politician or economist cannot fully grasp the EU’s importance to our economy. However, to cut to the chase, what one MUST understand is this: The European Union is a market of 450 million consumers; so, on economic grounds alone, it should NEVER have been walked away from. No one in his right mind would walk away from the largest single tariff-free market in the world!
But more than this, far more than this, the European Union is a political union which has prevented European wars and has promoted peace. Countries which are integrated and whose economies are well and truly integrated are highly unlikely ever to go to war with each other. So many a Brit has always been wrong to look upon our membership of the EU simply as being of economic advantage. Our membership was far, far more than that. It was a vehicle of peace and stability in Europe.
It is my hope and dream that we Brits, sooner rather than later, will rejoin the European Union. Not with all those silly ‘opt-outs’ we once had; but as full, functioning members – as committed Europeans. European we are; and Europeans we will always be. No Tory will ever be able to change that!
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
I write not as “a leftie”. Far from it, actually! I was raised as a Conservative voter; and I voted Conservative all my adult life. Until Cameron became the party’s leader. I took one look at him, and decided he couldn’t be trusted. So I voted for the LibDems instead. We ended up with a coalition government. But to put things simply, Brexit has put paid to my ever voting Tory again, put paid to my adherence to this party of clowns.
The Conservatives used to be the party we Brits could rely on to manage the economy well and efficiently. You don’t need me to tell you that this is no longer the case. The Conservatives have been in power since 2010 and our economy has never, in my lifetime, been in worse shape. Had the Tories a clue, they’d have fixed the economy by now. They haven’t! The economy is is dire shape. Especially because of Brexit, an ideology to which the clowns in the party are wedded.
The European issue was, and remains, a very complicated issue; it should never have been thrown to the people in the form of a referendum to decide. Why? Because even many a politician or economist cannot fully grasp the EU’s importance to our economy. However, to cut to the chase, what one MUST understand is this: The European Union is a market of 450 million consumers; so, on economic grounds alone, it should NEVER have been walked away from. No one in his right mind would walk away from the largest single tariff-free market in the world!
But more than this, far more than this, the European Union is a political union which has prevented European wars and has promoted peace. Countries which are integrated and whose economies are well and truly integrated are highly unlikely ever to go to war with each other. So many a Brit has always been wrong to look upon our membership of the EU simply as being of economic advantage. Our membership was far, far more than that. It was a vehicle of peace and stability in Europe.
It is my hope and dream that we Brits, sooner rather than later, will rejoin the European Union. Not with all those silly ‘opt-outs’ we once had; but as full, functioning members – as committed Europeans. European we are; and Europeans we will always be. No Tory will ever be able to change that!
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
Labels:
Brexit,
Conservatives,
European Union,
Mark Alexander,
Tories
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Happy New Year! Frohes Neues Jahr! Bonne année ! Blwydden Newydd Dda! ¡Feliz año nuevo! Buon Anno! Feliz Ano Novo! | ! سنة جديدة سعيدة
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year. For many, 2023 has not been the easiest of years: it has brought many nothing but pain. It is to be hoped that 2024 will bring us all more pleasure than pain. And, above all, it is to be hoped that 2024 will bring us all health above all else – health, but also happiness and prosperity.
Ich möchte diese Gelegenheit nutzen, um Ihnen allen ein frohes neues Jahr zu wünschen. Für viele war 2023 nicht das einfachste Jahr: Es hat vielen nichts als Schmerz gebracht. Es bleibt zu hoffen, daß das Jahr 2024 uns allen mehr Freude als Schmerz bereiten wird. Und vor allem bleibt zu hoffen, daß das Jahr 2024 uns vor allem Gesundheit bringt – Gesundheit, aber auch Glück und Wohlstand.
J'en profite pour vous souhaiter à tous une très bonne année. Pour beaucoup, 2023 n’a pas été l’année la plus facile : elle n’a apporté que de la douleur. Il faut espérer que 2024 nous apportera à tous plus de plaisir que de douleur. Et surtout, il faut espérer que 2024 nous apportera avant tout la santé – santé, mais aussi bonheur et prospérité.
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
Saturday, December 30, 2023
Europe
We are ALL Europeans! Upper class, middle class, lower class. English, French, German, Italian, Belgian, Dane, or people from any other European country. European blood courses through our veins.
Our royal families are interconnected, intermarried – they are all inter-related with one another. And that’s a wonderful thing. In fact, our wonderful late Queen Victoria was known as the 'Grandmother of Europe'! How much more European can anyone become than that?
In the coming years, we must learn to put our differences aside. In fact, we must strive to appreciate them, and then build on those differences for the common good.
Europe, when we learn truly to embrace it, will enable us to have — together — a wonderful and prosperous future. We Europeans are brothers and sisters. We truly are. We belong together. Together and united we will be strong; apart, we will surely be weak. Let peace prevail! Let us work towards unity!
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
Our royal families are interconnected, intermarried – they are all inter-related with one another. And that’s a wonderful thing. In fact, our wonderful late Queen Victoria was known as the 'Grandmother of Europe'! How much more European can anyone become than that?
In the coming years, we must learn to put our differences aside. In fact, we must strive to appreciate them, and then build on those differences for the common good.
Europe, when we learn truly to embrace it, will enable us to have — together — a wonderful and prosperous future. We Europeans are brothers and sisters. We truly are. We belong together. Together and united we will be strong; apart, we will surely be weak. Let peace prevail! Let us work towards unity!
© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved
Labels:
Europe,
Mark Alexander,
message
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