Just for fun!

Another time waster to enjoy.
Stuck for a cool name for your band, here is the Band Name Maker. It either generates a name from scratch or you can enter a key word to include in the band name.
Have fun!

Child Protection

I had an update on my Child Protection training on Wednesday. It's a necessary part of the job but is a subject I feel passionate about.
This isn't really about what I learnt or the training but the trainer himself. He explained his background which was quite high up in the local police force until retirement which helped to explain his approach and delivery style in many respects.
He asked us if we knew how many convicted paedophiles there are in the country. We guessed various incorrect figures- the answer was about 100,000.
He said that was just ones with cautions or convictions. He estimated that the figure was much closer to 1 million.
He then broke down that there are 60 million people in this country, half will be female (and therefore unlikely to be paedohiles), take off another 5 million children and you are left with potentially 25 million men. If 1 million are peadophiles then this means that 1 in 25 men are peadophiles.
I was quite alarmed but maybe not for the reasons I was supposed to be. I guess the upshot was as people working with children, we need to be aware of the potential threat to them in order to protect them.
I think what I'm trying to say is yes, abuse, especially sexual abuse is a concern and we must protect children from it but scaremongering or limiting experiences due to fear is an abuse in itself.

Essential 100- Your Way into the Heart of the Bible

This has been the book chosen to be followed by our church and housegroups for the lead up to Easter. I started it last night and was surprised.
1. It's a very poor quality book. The paper quality is close to that of Izal
2. In my head it was a book of the "top 100" bible quotes. Something you could dip into and learn off by heart. It's not that. It's a book telling you to read certain parts of the bible and then analysing very basically what you've just read.
3. It's in chronological order. I'm starting with what seems like a lot of Genesis. This is fine but I don't have the attention span to be methodical. And if I did, I'd read the bible in a year in preference.
4. It reminds me very much of daily reading notes.
It'll be interesting to see how it instigates sermons and housegroup debate.

The first time in a long time

Today I went for a walk and fed the ducks. It's been a long time, several years I'd have thought and I loved every minute of it! Not sure however whether stale bread is very good for ducks but they did seem to be enjoying it!

Scroobius Pip

I thought that this was pretty cool. Check out the MySpace page...

Letter from God to Man (Scroobius Pip)

Hey there.
How's it going?
Long
Time
No
See.
I know I haven't been around much but it didn't seem like you wanted me to be.

the last time I sent down a message, you nailed it to a cross.
So I figured I'd just leave you to it and be your own boss.

But I've been keeping an eye on you, I have. And it's amazing how you've grown.
All your technological advances and the problems you've overthrown.

All the beautiful art you've created with such grace and such finesse.
But I must admit there are a few things that, I'm afraid, Have impressed me less.

So I'm writing to apologise for all the horrors committed in my name.
Although it was never what I intended I feel I should take my share of the blame.

A lot of the good I tried to do was corrupted when organised religion got into full swing.
What I thought were quite clear messages were taken to unusual extremes.

My teachings were taken out of context to meet the agenda of others.
Interpretations were taken in many different ways and hidden meanings 'discovered.'

Religion became a tool for the weak to control the strong.
With all these new morals and ethics survival of the fittest was gone.

No longer could the biggest man simply take what ever he needed,
Because damnation was the price if certain rules were not heeded.

Some of the deeds committed in my name just make me wonder where I went wrong.
Back at the start when I 'created' all of this, the foundations seemed so strong.

See all the elements wee already here long before I began.
I just kind of put them all together. I didn't really think out a long term plan.

I made the sun an appropriate distance and laid the starts across the sky,
So you could navigate this globe or simply experience a sunrise.

I covered the earth with plants and fruits, some for sustenance and some for beauty.
And made the sun shine and clouds rain so that maintenance wasn't your duty.

I tried to give each creature its own attributes. But without making them enveloped.
I gave you all space to grow and, in your own way, space to develop.

I didn't know that such development would cause rifts and jealousy.
Cause you to war against each other and leave marks on this planet indelibly.

You see, I wasn't the creator, more the curator of nature.
And I want to set things straight with homosexuals right now; I DON'T hate ya.

I was a simple being that happened to be the first to yield such powers.
But I just laid the ground. It was you that built the towers.

It was you that invented bombs and fear that comes with them.
It was you that invented money, and corrupt economic systems.

You invented terms like 'just wars' and terms like 'friendly fire,'
And it was you that didn't know when to stop digging deeper and when to stop building higher.

It was you that exhausted the resources I carefully laid out on this earth,
And it was you that even saw these problems coming but accredited them little worth.

It was you that used my teachings for your own personal gain
And it was you that committed such tragedies, even if they were in my name.

So i apologise for any mistakes I made and for when my words were misconstrued,
But this apology is to Mother Nature because I created you.