Ifrogman ifrogman

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The Exposé

The continuation of these wintry spells is not doing me any good at all, especially since the pond is prone to freezing at night, something that would kill off my progeny completely. The good news, if there is ever any at all, it's that Bob was kind enough to remove all the spawn from the pond, placing it in a bucket of pond water in his porch, before it had a chance to freeze altogether. Isn't that wonderful? Ribbit!!!

Being a frog with a mission, I have to say that not everyone in your species is as concerned for others as Bob is. I see that Microsoft's mister Gates still thinks of everything from the viewpoint of profitability. He is still letting the rest of the world buy his Vista OS at a reduced price, while nice people like our Bob has to pay top dollar. It appears that it's being sold elsewhere in the EEC for less than over here, and yet I assumed that Bob lives in this community too? I wonder why it is that the British are always viewed as being wealthy suckers, I mean, more able to afford these higher prices? Believe it or not, mister Gates, the pensioners of Britain, who are PC users too, by the way, are having to provide for their lives from way below the poverty line. Croak!!! Oh! And just in case you've lost track of what the poverty line is, it's something you've lost track with, being POOR!

While I'm on the subject of this mister Gates, I want to point out another little fact about his Vista OS. Is it just me, or have any of you also noticed that Vista is not compatible with many of the programs you loved to use with windows 98 or XP on your PCs? I find it most odd that someone like mister Gates wants to have such a stranglehold on users in the world of the PC. Every time he upgrades or renews his operating systems, he prevents the software of other individuals and companies, from being used with his new systems, thereby creating a monopoly. How mean and greedy is this? Croak!!!

Bob has asked that I pass a message on for him. It concerns the government's plans to have your children take an oath of allegiance to Queen and country. He says that if the country showed more concern for its people than it does, then this would be a fairly good idea. But since it doesn't give a rat's arse about any of us, they shouldn't be forcing your children to make any oaths. He says that he could understand it better, if they were teaching your children to be, and act as they do. Their oath being, Think only for yourselves and take everything you can lay your greedy mitts on... That is what it's like to be British. Ribbit!!!

Time for me to head back to my pond again, I need a rest. Take care until next time...

Froggy

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Froggy: The Return

Yes, folks, I know that you're all inclined not to believe it, but it's me again, your trusted and highly dependable friend, Froggy, Ribbit!!! Excuse me while I just stretch the legs a bit, cos it's been a very long time since I last moved any further than the hole I got settled into for the winter period. After all this time spent in the grip of hibernation, I must tell you that it's really nice to be back amongst you again, even if from what Bob tells me, things have only gone from bad to worse. Croak!!!

Another thing that Bob spoke to me about, it's this virus that's spreading among the frog species. Yikes! Now this is something that doesn't exactly gladden the heart, you know. It's one thing having to fend off all those tatty furballs that trespass into the garden, but quite another to have to watch out for something that sneaks around unseen, and on top of it, deadly too. Woe is me, Croak!!!

Okay, now that I've got that off my chest, I'll get back to my world and what I've been doing since I stirred last week. Not to put you off, but I've been enjoying a bit of carnal knowledge, something we frogs do a lot of at this time of the year. Hey! Get used to it, it's just something that I'm driven to do, you know. It's what is known as, propagation of the species, and believe me, I'm really quite partial to a spot of propagating, Ribbit!!!

Bob has asked me to say something about the recent government budget, but if I was to repeat what he thinks about it, then things look a whole lot bleaker for him and others of you who either face retirement, or are retired. I have to admit, if you lot believe that the government shares your interest at heart, then you must have been surprised to learn that there wasn't anything in the budget for you, nor for anyone else who is retired. You all should know by now that your government only does things for itself. It's not there to help you lot, it‘s there to help itself. So live with it. Croak!!!

I've just taken a quick hop around the garden, my but it looks so wonderful! Besides all those spring flowers that are popping up everywhere, there's also lots of juicy things to nibble on too, a slug here and a snail there, absolutely delicious, you should try some once in a while! It's funny really, but right at a time when you'd think I'd have to go hunting for my food, it's just hiding, or at least trying its best to, under old pieces of damp rotting wood among the remains of the fallen leaves of last autumn. Then there are plenty of insects too, only tiny things really, but as we say, every little morsel helps. Size doesn't matter to someone as small as me, you know. Ribbit!!!

I spoke earlier about those dreaded tatty furballs, cats to those of you who are unsure as to what I mean. Well, I hadn't be out for long, when I noticed that there are far more of their number visiting the garden than when I went into hibernation. It looks like I'm not the only one who's been propagating the species. You must know that this means war!!

I'm going to leave you there for this week. I need to catch up on what you humans have been up to in my absence. Ribbit!!!

Take care until next time,

Froggy

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Volunteering

Here we are again and this time we're having to put up with some pretty diabolical weather conditions, conditions that we're told have very little to do with global warming. None the less, people are having to suffer, once again, at the harsh hand of nature, which as we can see from the images on television, can be quite devastating. Here, it doesn't help those who are suffering the full brunt of the storm, when they learn that it has absolutely nothing at all to do with global warming. To me, the end result is precisely the same.

A piece of news that particularly caught my eye last week, was this old chestnut about those who volunteer their services to aid others. I get more than a little cheesed off when I hear government ministers saying that more people should volunteer, or more especially, those that are unemployed. Let me just say something before I launch into my own opinions about this subject.

When I was younger, I once volunteered to work for a local charity, where I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself with the work I was doing. Further, I was in a position where I could offer about forty to fifty hours a week for nearly three years, sharing my experience with a handful of other volunteers. I received a great deal of pride and enjoyment from the part I played in earning this charity close on half a million pounds for their tremendously good cause. Now please, don't get me wrong. But if I had been forced to do voluntary work, which actually negates it being termed as voluntary, then I doubt that I would have appreciated being told I had to do it, or else.

Why is it that it is nearly always those who would never do it themselves, who are those who shout the loudest, saying that others should be forced to do it? Another relevant point to me is this, why is it that when the media interviews someone about the voluntary work they do, it's usually a woman? Be honest, how many of these women would do voluntary work, if they weren't either well off themselves, or didn't have a wealthy husband to provide for them? What if they actually needed to work for a living. Would they then still have the same attitude towards voluntary work?

If I was a much younger man, my priorities would be in looking after my family and myself. To those who should know better, this takes money, the currency we all need if we're going to live comfortably. Taking part in any kind of voluntary work, means setting aside a certain amount of time and commitment, the very same applies in keeping a family together. So, if a person can afford to give their time to voluntary work, good for them, you'll probably enjoy it like I did. But please, all of you self-righteous people out there, don't expect anyone to put voluntary work before working for a living.

Finally, everyone who works for charity and is unpaid, do our society a great and wonderful service. If most of you out there had to work as hard as any of these fine ladies and gentlemen, you'd most likely prefer to be paid for doing it considering the hours they put into it. So, let's leave voluntary work precisely this, voluntary.

Onto another subject now, although it is something I'm used to speaking about in the absence of Froggy. It's human greed. Right at a time when governments are spouting about global warming and the need to curb our rate of atmospheric pollution, which means reducing our dependency on fossil fuels, they announce a complete turnabout, albeit indirectly. The media said last night, that countries around the world, and by this I mean Europe, Russia, the USA and so on, are now battling to exploit the resources (Fossil fuels) from underneath the polar ice cap. I guess that this had to be expected sooner or later, but what shocked me, was that these self same countries would be willing to go to war, if this was the only way to secure this wealth for themselves. Amazing!!!

Going to war in order to secure this kind of wealth is total lunacy. What happened to all that talk about reducing our dependency on fossil fuels? Was this just another government lie? Either we do away with the need for fossil fuels, thereby reducing the amount of CO2 we release, or we don't! Seems to me that our government simply doesn't take global warming seriously enough.

Where are you, Froggy? You're needed...

Time for a spot of gardening, so, take care of yourselves, bye for now....

Bob (Writing on behalf of Froggy.)

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

The legacy of doing it wrong

Just when you think it's safe to go into the garden, it snows the night before and puts an end to any plans you may have had to do some gardening. I guess that's life for you... Anyway, the cold spell has meant that our dear friend, Froggy, has yet to come out of hibernation. So once again, you're going to have to put up with my ranting and raving for at least another week or so.

This week, I feel somewhat obliged to speak about Froggy's pet subject : Global Warming.
As everyone knows, this fair country of ours is one of the wealthiest within the western world, and yet our government, in its wisdom, continues to act with total ignorance when it's confronted by matters of extreme importance.

Recently, I learned that Portugal is investing billions on renewable energy, and rightly so. So why is it then, that Britain is so full of laggards? As Froggy would say, the human race is on the very brink of extinction brought about by its own hand, and yet our government refuses to take this threat seriously, why? Can it be that just as with the USA's president Bush, who until quite recently, simply refused to believe that Global Warming was a reality, we find that our government also thinks this way? Is this just another excuse for them not to spend our taxes in a manner that would benefit us all for generations to come?

We cannot continue to live in this manner, because the reality that faces each and every one of us, is going to be much more terrifying than you can possibly imagine. Just to prove a point, and this point being that our government doesn't care about the future, lies in its belief that nuclear power is cheap and safe. Utter rubbish!! Firstly, their idea of making radioactive waste safe, is to bury it deep under ground and then forget about it. More rubbish!!

The life of radioactive waste extends beyond a thousand years. Now, I want you to correct me if I'm wrong here. There is not a single person living today, who is going to be here in a thousand years. If you consider that the occurrence of earthquakes along with the high pressures that exist deep under the earth's surface, is a safe place to bury this lethal toxic waste, then you must work for the government. I very much doubt that these containers, no matter how well they are made, will be able to withstand such extreme punishment without suffering the slightest leakage, or total breach occurring during the thousand years they will be buried in the ground. The general attitude seems to be, that since we won't be around to clean up the mess, then why should we care?

Not only should we care, but we should also do something we can be proud of. Our government should not only be considering the following, but it should act without further delay, by providing us with the following energy resources that are a whole lot safer, not only for today, but for the future as well. Start investment now by building lots more wind turbines, and let's have increased use of wave power at sea. Stop thinking about it, and start building estuary tidal barrages to drive turbines, such as the one proposed for the river Severn.
Contrary to general belief, photoelectric cells do not rely upon continual sunshine, but they are a valuable addition to our energy needs. All of these can provide a much safer alternative to nuclear power, something that is even more dangerous in our security conscious environment today. Nobody in a thousand years is going to look back at us in the twenty-first century and say that we polluted the country with our alternative energy resources. But, they will curse us for eternity, if we leave them the deadly legacy of nuclear power.

Remember: What Portugal can do, we can do a whole lot better........

Well, that's it for now. I hope you'll all drop by for a chat again next week. In the meantime, take care of yourselves,

Bob (Writing on behalf of Froggy.)

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