Light-hearted

Firstly, thanks to all those who noted and apparently share my despair at the immigration crisis I'm currently facing. Actually, I have to say, the Dragon is dealing with it much better than I am. She takes the view that getting angry is only going to make the ride rougher. And of course she is right. It will all turn out OK in the end.

I'm going to try and write something more light-hearted to end the theme of doom and despondency that has recently taken control of this diary.

Here's a story I found in the news about vandalism of a statue in Cheltenham. Cheltenham is a refined place. In Swindon the thugs spray obscene words, usually spelt wrong, over anything that doesn't move. In Cheltenham they find a statue and paint its testicles green. I'm not saying I approve, but you have to admit, there is some humour there, it's not serious defacing of the artwork,and it's more imaginative than just spraying rude words in red paint.

The National Health Service "Choices" website has a dilemma concerning their new interactive body map page. The page is all set to include a male and female image that can be stripped away, layer by layer, to reveal the workings of the human machine. So what's the problem? I'll tell you - genitals. It seems the NHS are worried that people might be offended by genitals. It's astounding isn't it. I mean I could sort of understand it if we were talking about photos, but these are drawings.

Anyway, they have decided to put it to the vote here. If you want to see sex organs on the website, send a blank email to full-body-map@nhschoices.nhs.uk. If you want to see the PG-15 version only, send a blank email to partial-body-map@nhschoices.nhs.uk. You can add comments in your mail if you want.

What gets me about this is the fact that, on their voting page, they have included images with and without testicles. How worried can they be about offending people with genitals if they put them on the voting page?

Finally, I am going to mention immigration slightly because I want to bring to your attention a letter I have received from a local politician. I write to Anne Snelgrove recently because she represents my area. She is a labour politician, which essentially means she is morally bankrupt, but she's all I've got, so I wrote to her expressing my concerns about new immigration policy. In fairness, she wrote back promptly and did address most issues I'd raised, though I have since discovered more issues. The thing that really amused me was the hand written post script which appears to read, "pants will only be needed for new entrants to Britain". It took me some time to realise that in fact she was trying to say "points", not "pants". Which I suspect I should be relieved about.

And in case you were wondering just how much I was exaggerating, click here for a scan of the letter.

In case I don't get to write another entry before Christmas, Merry Christmas to everyone. Do something to make the world better place, and have a good holiday.