Britain steps back into the last century.

We went to bed feeling hopeful and woke up to the shocking news that Britons had chosen to leave the EU.

One of the idiots leading the Brexit campaign, a jingoistic, racist guy called Nigel Farage, who is married to a German woman (go figure), made a victory speech where he stated: "We won without a bullet being fired." 

How quickly he forgot Jo Cox, who was not only the victim of three bullets, but was also stabbed and kicked by someone who enthusiastically embraced the Brexit rhetoric. RIP, Jo.

They wanted to take their country back (where have I heard this before?). Yes, back to the days before the European Union, with all their "human rights nonsense," without laws that guarantee workers a fairer deal, no rules, no regulations... 

Aah... back to the good old days!

      EDL = ENGLAND DEFENCE LEAGUE

I'll explain what will happen to us when I find out...

Lucky to live in the 21st Century?

This list shows the reasons why people were admitted to a mental hospital in West Virginia in the late 1800s. Some of them are priceless!

This is ridiculous!

Shapeshifterbelly sent me a link that made my head spin. I know we all love wholesome food here at What Time. Monsanto would love to put an end to clean, ethical, environmentally friendly agriculture and have the whole world at the mercy of their questionable practices.

In an obscene development, a Monsanto executive is winning this year’s “Nobel Prize of agriculture” -- the prestigious World Food Prize -- for creating GMOs. Receiving it legitimizes the sort of rampant genetic modification Monsanto pioneered, and helps validate a ruthless business model that impoverishes farmers and monopolizes our food.

If that wasn't baffling enough, the founder of Syngenta, the same biotech giant joining Bayer in suing Europe to keep selling bee-killing pesticides, will also win the prize -- and with it, a share of the $250,000 prize money. We cannot allow this prize to legitimize frankenfoods and bee killers. The ceremony is in less than two weeks, so we need to act now.

Winning this prize will encourage the wider use of genetically engineered crops and be a huge obstacle to those fighting to investigate the long-term effects of its frankenseeds -- which is exactly what Monsanto wants. In 2008, Monsanto made a $5 million pledge to the World Food Prize Foundation, part of its plan to buy the credibility it can’t legitimately earn. By handing its benefactor this award, the Foundation risks undermining the credibility of the most respected prize in agriculture.

In protest, 81 Councilors of the World Future Council have penned a statement blasting the World Food Prize Foundation for betraying its purpose. In the words of the esteemed authors: “GMO seeds reinforce a model of farming that undermines sustainability of cash-poor farmers, who make up most of the world's hungry… The most dramatic impact of such dependency is in India, where 270,000 farmers, many trapped in debt for buying seeds and chemicals, committed suicide between 1995 and 2012.”

Despite the criticism, Monsanto and Syngenta executives are set to receive their prize on World Food Day, October 16 -- a slap in the face to everyone harmed by their products. We don’t have much time, so we need to publicize this obscene decision -- if enough of us get word of this out, and let people know the World Food Prize is threatening its reputation, we can shame it into choosing a more suitable candidate.

Please sign the petition and spread the word.

Thank you, SSB.

[The regular post will be up shortly]

Where there's a will...

Peter has a pair of cherished glasses. He calls them his "all-purpose glasses" because he can use the computer, watch TV and even see things on my computer from his own seat. They were his second pair of reading glasses, prescribed around 15 years ago. Now he has new glasses for reading small print and for driving, but won't give up the old ones.

The problem started when he sat on them and broke one of the arm pieces. We couldn't really mend it, as it's a rimless frame:

We managed to attach the arm in a very precarious way and it was getting on my nerves, but Peter wouldn't stop wearing them. Yesterday I had enough and rummaged through all the drawers until I found a very old pair of sunglasses roughly the same size as the cherished ones. Peter found these sunglasses on the ground near his car many years ago. We proceeded to dismantle the old frame (the bits that held the lenses together, to be exact). The lenses were slightly larger than the ones in the sunglasses, so Peter went to his tool cupboard and came back with a rasp. I carefully trimmed the lenses (without any measuring or anything) and they finally fitted!

Here are the remains of the old frame and the sunglasses lenses:

And here is a happy bunny, wearing his "brand new" cherished, all-purpose glasses:

It's true: "Where there's a will, there's a way!"

Unnecessary things

The accumulation of various niggly bits and pieces over the years made me think of some serious design faults in the human body.

Who needs:

1) Bunions
2) Ingrown toenails
3) Frizzy hair
4) Mouth ulcers
5) Zits

and above all, what the hell are hemorrhoids for???

Devious old ad - UPDATE

I received an e-mail with a bunch of old ads, which we have seen before in a previous post. This one was new to me and I found it shocking. The text on the picture is difficult to read, so here it is:

How soon is too soon?

Not soon enough. Laboratory tests over the years have proven that babies who start drinking soda during that early formative period have a much higher chance of gaining acceptance and "fitting in" during those awkward pre-teen and teen years. So, do yourself a favor. Do your child a favor. Start them on a strict regimen of sodas and other sugary carbonated beverages right now, for a lifetime of guaranteed happiness.

They invoke science, referring to laboratory tests, concluding that babies who start drinking soda at an early age will "fit in" better in later years. How can you test behaviour over a span of ten to twelve years in a lab? Did they keep a bunch of children captive, one group drinking soda and a control group having none? Then, after a number of years, concluded that the soda drinkers were more sociable?

It's a dishonest ad. Fortunately, attitudes have changed and this ad wouldn't be tolerated today, in view of the alarming rise in childhood obesity!

UPDATE

I'm relieved to find out that this ad is a fake! Thank you, Amy/Ottoline, for providing the following link:

The Museum of Hoaxes

Hanging out with friends

View_From_Here sent me some photos of friends hanging out together (I added some extra pictures), which show how social interactions have "evolved" in our modern times...

Thank you, View.

At home

Outdoors

At the diner

Having a cup of coffee

Sharing a meal

At the museum

At the movies

Watching a game

Having fun at the beach

Going for a drive

On a date

Sad

I'm not in the mood for jokes today. My heart feels heavy after reading the news about the senseless killing spree in Aurora, Colorado.

I feel very sad for the lives cut short and my thoughts go to the families and friends of the victims.

How can we hope this will be the last time such a tragedy happens in the US when the gun lobby is so incredibly powerful?

What am I?

I like riddles. Here are some interesting ones. You can find loads of them HERE.

I'm where yesterday follows today, and tomorrow's in the middle. What am I?
Answer

From the beginning of eternity
To the end of time and space
To the beginning of every end
And the end of every place.
What am I?
Answer

You use a knife to slice my head and weep beside me when I am dead. What am I?
Answer

I am weightless, but you can see me. Put me in a bucket, and I'll make it lighter. What am I?
Answer

What goes around the world but stays in a corner?
Answer

The man who invented it doesn't want it. The man who bought it doesn't need it. The man who needs it doesn't know it. What is it?
Answer

How many did you get?

2nd Amendment Christmas in Arizona

I read this on the Daily Mail:

A gun club in Scottsdale, Arizona, is inviting children to pose for pictures with Santa Claus – and a high-powered firearm. Each family member carries their choice of weapon, from pistols to $80,000 machine guns.

Children and babies can also get their hands on a firearm of their choice, including grenade launchers, assault rifles and AK-47s.

The picture, taken against a festive backdrop, will then feature on a holiday card. Afterwards, the families get a chance to test out the machine guns.

‘We thought it would be a fun, family-friendly idea,’ Katie Perrine from the club said ahead of the event’s launch.

Yes... high powered assault weapons make Christmas special for fun-loving families. An AK-47 is a true symbol of love and a festive card with the whole family sporting guns is a great way to celebrate the birth of Jesus!

As we say in Europe, it could only happen in America...

Protect Children, Not Guns