Wordplay

Hello again, Latest media resources say that Twitter is planning to have a button to report abuse with every Tweet. They have introduced a button for reporting abuse on their latest iPhone app and want to expand this function to Twitter proper. Mr. Tony Wang, head of Twitter’s UK operations said ‘we will suspend accounts; once reported to us found to be in breach of our rules.’ All this, of course, prompted by abusive messages against Ms. Caroline Perez, freelance journalist, who had successfully campaigned to have some women appear on English Banknotes – Jane Austen will appear on the new 10 ten pound note in 2017, accodrding to media sources. Reports vary as to how man people signed petitions for Twitter to change their ‘reporting abuse’ procedures from 12,500 – 50,000. A 21 year-old man was yesterday arrested in Manchester and held for questioning according to media sources. Feminist theologian, Ms. Vicky Beeching, cautions that we ‘take a step back’ when dealing with technology, reminding us that it is only a tool. Saying that in the overall scheme of things surely it is how we use technology that matters according to media sources. Solve these conundrums: If fire fighters fight fires and crime fighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight? A patient is rushed into the emergency ward of the Conundrum National Hospital after a horrific road crash, and is in urgent need of an operation to save his life. The surgeon on duty walks into the room and says ‘Oh my God that’s my SON! I can’t operate on him’, but the surgeon was not the boys father. How could this be? Answers tomorrow! Answers to yesterday’s stuff: A candle. It can have a hole. There’s no stairs in a bungalow. Asn umbrella. INSPIRATION: Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. – Albert Einstein On this day: 579 – Benedict I ends his reign as pope 657 – St. Vitalian begins his reign as Pope succeeding Eugene I 1419 – Anti-Catholic Hussites, followers of executed reformer, Jan Hus storm Prague town hall and throw the judge, the mayor and seven-thirteen councillors out the windows. All were killed by the fall or slaughtered by the mob outside. 1650 – Prince Willem II occupies Amsterdam. 1733 – The Society of Freemasons opens its first American lodge in Boston. 1836 – The first English newspaper was printed in Hawaii. Words to the wise: That’s right. ‘Taint yours and ‘taint mine.’ - Mark Twain agreeing with a friend’s comment that the money of a particular person was ‘tainted.’ Sacred Space: Health is the greatest gift, Contentment the greatest wealth Faithfulness the best relationship Smile a while: What pet is always found on the floor? A carpet When is a chair like a fabric? When it’s sat in. Did you hear about the boy who was named after his father? He was called ‘Dad’. Ciao Bellissimo Valerie

Wordplay

Hello again, The Bank of England’s decision to replace Elizabeth Fry with Winston Churchill would have meant that there was no woman apart from her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, on English banknotes. Ms. Caroline Perez, freelance journalist, ran a campaign to do something about this. So much so that the Bank of England stated that its new 10-pound note due out in 2017 will include a picture of Jane Austen. This following Ms. Perez’s having a petition signed by 35,000 + people. However Ms. Perez experienced a deluge of threats and abuse including rape on Twitter according to latest reports. Ms. Perez tells us ‘It’s sadly not unusual to get this kind of abuse but I’ve never seen it as intense or aggressive as this. It’s infuriating that the price you pay for standing up for women is 24 hours of rape threats. We are showing that by standing together we can make a real difference. We made the Bank of England change its mind we can do the same with Twitter.’ Scotland Yard say that a 21-year-old Manchester man will be questioned today about this according to reports. Meanwhile reports indicate that there is much pressure on Twitter from some government sources to have them speedily change Twitter’s stance on abuse. Shadow Home Secretary, Ms. Yvette Cooper has written to Mr. Tony Wang, general manager of Twitter saying ‘the official response from Twitter continues to be extremely weak – simply directing Caroline away from Twitter towards police directing users to abuse reporting forms on Twitter…. The response by Twitter has clearly been inadequate and fails not only Caroline but many women and girls who have faced similar abuse on Twitter.’ Apparently attempts are also being made to organise a boycott of the free social media platform on August 4th. CAN YOU SOLVE THESE RIDDLES: I’m tall when I’m young and I’m short when I’m old. What am I? How can a trouser pocket be empty and yet contain something? In a posh bungalow there was a pink person, a grey cat, a black computer, a white chair, a red table, a yellow telephone and a purple shower. What colour was the carpet on the stairs? What goes up when rain comes down? Answers tomorrow Answers to yesterday’s stuff: A snail Rain INSPIRATION: You can never cross the ocean until you have courage to lose sight of the shore. – Christopher CFolumbus Words to the wise: Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them. - Paul Valery (1871-1945) French poet and writer ON THIS DAY: Feast of St. Martha 362 - Emperor Julianus of Constaniople ended the education laws. 904 - Renegade Leo of Tripoli sacks 904 Thessalonika. 1655 – The world’s biggest townhall was opened in Amsterdam. 1751 – The first international world-title fight took place in England by M. Petit of France and Mr. Jack Stack of England. Mr. Stack won in a fight which lasted twenty nine minutes. 1773 – The first school west of the Allerghy Mountains was completed in Schoenbrum OH. 1786 – The first newspaper west of Alleghanies, The Pittsburg Gazette, was published. 1835 – The first sugar plantation in Hawaii begins. 1907 – The first ever helicopter ascent took place in Douai, France. Sacred Space: Hail to our chief hail Mr. Mandela a man of unutterable integrity. He was a solicitor, civil rights campaigner, was a founder member of the African National Congress, spent twenty-seven years in jail, became president of South Africa, and is a world statesman. Few people ever attain his integrity and I know of no one who loves a nation as he loves his country. How do you get such integrity? I am reminded of a story, and the place where the old rocking horse is speaking. He tells us that most of his hair has fallen and he has only one eye. But he doesn’t mind at all because it means he is real. ‘You see becoming real costs not less than everything.’ HOW DO I LOVE THEE? Elizabeth Barrett Browning How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, where feelings out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with childhood’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints - I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, all my life! And if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. Smile a while: Why won't prawns share their toys? They're shellfish! What's orange and sounds like a parrot? A carrot. What is a parrot? A wordy birdy. What do you get if you cross a chicken with an electricity socket? A battery hen. Talk tomorrow Valerie LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Many moons ago, ‘St. Brendan the Navigator’ left Ireland in a boat and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean wanting to discover new lands in which to prech the word of God. He discussed this idea with people who had maratime knowledge that was useful to anyone desiring to embark on long sea voyages. Brendan then headed for Kerry and built himself a craft of leather and wood to the specifications advised. With the help of a sail and oars and using only the stars for navigation, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean and landed either in the coast of Virginia or Conneticut. Travelling inland he came across the Mississippi River or its tributary the Ohio. Here a mystical stranger appeared to Brendan and urged him that he had travelled far enough and it was now for others to take up the cause. Brendan returned to Ireland and set up a number of monasteries – his most famous foundation at Clonfert, near Ballinasloe, Co. Galway had over 3,000 monks from far and wide. He wrote a book about ‘The Life and Times of Brigid’: this great man’s life ended when he was ninety-four years old in 577 and his monks buried him within the boundaries of his Clonfert monastery. I feel like St. Brendan heading out into cyberspace, or the blogosphere, where are they? I am not at all sure about ‘my craft’ and even less sure of where it is ‘landing’. As a Franciscan missionary nun I am excited and delighted. I am also very scared and not a little daunted. Am I totally cracked? Probably: but more than delighted to ‘take a chance on Him.’ Will I ‘meet’anyone at all? If I do what will they be like? Will they agree with a word I tap out? Today is supposed to be a ‘retreat, quiet, refelective,’ time for me but I am very tempted to go ahead and ‘improve my craft’. After all I am committing this entire project, for good or ill, to Him. So, come on, God, let’s improve, strengthen, and develop this craft together.

Wordplay

Wordplay Hello again, European Stability Mechanism (ESM) chief, Klaus Regling, warned Ireland of importance of E3.1bn payment. Press reports cite him as seeing this as a crucial next step as the country prepares to exit the bailout programme at the end of the year. He emphasised that the markets would be looking at Ireland’s budgetary progress as the first European country to (hopefully!) exit the EU-IMF bailout when the E85bn bailout programme ceases at the end of 2013. One of the driver’s of the speeding train, which crashed causing over eighty deaths in Spain yesterday is being investigated by police. The train is one of Europe’s worst ever train disasters. Newspaper reports state that Middle East talks will resume next week after deadlock, which lasted five years. Israel and Palestine have agreed to talks with Mr. John Kerry, American Foreign Affairs Minsiter. Derryman, Jason Smyth won his second gold medal yesterday when he powered over the line at the 100m sprints in at the IPC World Championships, in Lyon, France in in 10.61 seconds: another world record for the fastest ever paralympic athlete. Jason, who suffers from the degenerative sight impairment Stargadt’s disease has won back-to-back Paralympic sprint doubles London and Beijing and World Championship sprint doubles having achieved this feat before in 2006. Facebook shares jumped by 20% on soaring advertising revenue according to latest reports: are we in the wrong business? WORDS TO THE WISE: money is like manure. If you spread it around it does a lot of good. But if you pile it up in one place it stinks like hell. – Clint Murchison Jnr (1895-1969) US industrialist. CAN YOU SOLVE THESE RIDDLES: What has a foot but no legs? Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it you die. What is it? What comes down but never goes up? ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY’S STUFF: A newspaper One if it was big enough RISK TAKING IS A RISKY BUSINESS Many moons ago Indians roamed and rode alive and free around the White Plains. Chief Running Bull stood tall and fierce in his splendid head-dress. Just beyond the Indian’s camp lurked a battalion of the US cavalry led by General Terence Beck. Their assignment was to secure the White Plains for development by the white man. Having studied the Indian way of life the general decided to try the softly softly approach first. Riding up on his horse he asked to speak to the chief. A short time later Chief Running Bull had agreed to sell the White Plains for a bag of brightly coloured, pretty stones. The two men parted on the best of terms both convinced they had made a bargain. Chief Running Bull - whose only wish was to tread softly on the earth as bidden by the Great Spirit - knew that nobody could own or buy any part of the land. While the General knew that the bag of stones was scant payment indeed for what was to become New York State home to the Big Apple. That’s a true story. One of many the guide told us as we travelled around the ‘Big Apple’ in a boat. I was assigned here after my Profession and worked in a Foster Care and Adoption Agency run by the Order. One day Diane, a work colleague, and I rode the subway setting out to visit some of the children and their families in the Bronx. At one of the stops groups of grey uniformed schoolboys got into our carriage. We were only five passengers so there were plenty of vacant seats. Suddenly the boys began attacking one another with knives. Some stabbed others on the side of the head just above the ear. A fifteen year old boy lay across Diane and I and started to stick his knife into his school-mates who had taken cover lying on the floor. Realising that with a slight twist the knife could stab us Diane and I said ‘one, two, three’ and together stood up and allowed the boy roll onto the floor. We picked our steps walking across teenage boys sprawled all over the carriage. Until we reached the farther end where the other three occupants were huddled. When the subway arrived at one hundred and twenty fifth street we were relieved to see a crowd of police officers. A group of them came into our carriage and joined hands above their heads making a safe through-way for us. As we left the train, the station was in pandemonium between riot police and these school-boys. Diane and I jumped onto the train opposite which pulled away from the station almost immediately. That was just one subway ride on one afternoon in a very violent city. Countless times I’ve been walking down the street when guns have started shooting and I’ve seen men running behind cars just like in the movies. Whenever this happened I simply moved very fast to a parallel street and continued on my journey. On other occasions when I felt I was being followed, heeding the advice regularly featured in the newspapers, I checked to ensure there was indeed someone behind me, walked to a well lit spot turned around and asked ‘Are you following me’? Invariably the answer was ‘yes’. Despite or perhaps because of the violence New York is a very friendly city. When people heard my Irish accent I was treated royally. New Yorkers are a warm people and if they trust you at all, are more than happy to welcome you into their homes. Violence is part of life in many big cities, becoming a part of life in ever widening circles. Going for a walk can be a risky business. What if I don’t look before crossing the road, slip on an icy surface, get lost, or am bitten by a dog? Work places can be even riskier. Night-time especially at this time of year leaves many people afraid to even risk going out. The media frequently carries stories of those who took just such a risk and lost. Can we live without taking risks? What about not taking a risk? That’s not really possible though is it? If Chief Running Bull had refused the bag of stones and had held out to the end he would have risked his tribe facing immediate violent extinction. Had General Beck not studied the ways of the Indians he risked all out war. If Diane and I had not taken the subway we risked being too late to see the boys and their families. If we had stayed in the office we risked not seeing the children in their home environment. If those New Yorkers and I had not met up and engaged each other’s company we would all have been the poorer for it. Imagine all we would miss if we never went for a walk, took a job, enjoyed some night-life, even stumbled occasionally. Let’s get more pertinent here. What about writing? Have you ever considered all the risks involved in getting words on paper? Will what I write make any sense? Will others deem it good, bad, or utter rubbish? Have I got a talent for writing? Or am I wasting my time? The list of risk laden questions goes on and on. Questions which are usually a long time receiving answers - if they ever do. However a perhaps even more pertinent question concerns all that we don’t do, that we omit or leave out in order to write. The only way to write is write. To get right down to it leave everything else aside: sit down and write. Writing can be seen as a lonely, even selfish occupation. What could I do with the time I spend writing? Yet without the risks taken by writers through the generations where would we be? We’d probably never know about Chief Running Bull and General Beck for a start. INSPIRATION: Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he or she has grown up. - Pablo Picasso ON THIS DAY: 1856 – George Bernard Shaw was born. 1875 – Karl Jung was born. 1881 – Thomas Edison and Patrick Kenny executed a patent application for a facsimile telegraph. 1894 – Alodous Huxley was born. 1928 – Stanley Kubrick was born. 1943. – Mick Jagger was born 1945 – Winston Churchill resigned as prime minister. 1946 – Helen Mirren was born. 1950 – Susan George was born 1952 – King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. 1956 – Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal. 1959 – Kevin Spacey was born. 1964. Sandra Bullock was born. 1973. Kate Beckinsale was born. 1998 – AT7T and British Telecommunications announced that they were forming a joint venture to combine international operations and develop a new Internet system. SACRED SPACE : Blessed are the poor for the kingdom shall be theirs; Blessed are ye who weep and mourn for one day you shall laugh; And if wicked men insult and hate you all because of Me, Blessed are you. SMILE A WHILE: Where were the kings of Albania crowned? On the head. Why was Cleopatra so difficult to get on with? She was the Queen of Denial. For pigs, what came after the Stone Age and the Bronze Age? The sausage. Toodle Pip Valerie LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Hi There, I want(ed) to send pictures with my blog and generally ‘pretty it up’ but so far I am still truing to learn and just cannot do it. So, please continue to be patient with me and we’ll see what we can do. This really is all new to me. Ciao Val

www.QUESTION-OF-BALANCE.COM

Hello again, Spain: A train crash was said to occur when a train travelling at three times the speed limit left the fails and burst into flames; leaving 77 people dead and at least 140 injured. The train was travelling from Madrid to the naval port of El Ferrol 3km outside Santiago de Compostela in the North West Province of Galicia.

    A name for the new roral arrival was announced yesterday. The latest arrival in the royal household will have the names George, Alexander, Louis and will be known as HRH Prince George of Cambridge, third in line to the throne his kingly title King George VII.

    Hassan Rowhani’s victory in last month’s Iranian elections raised hope of a diplomatic rapprochement with the West according to recent reports. He takes office next month and has invited Mr. Jack Straw, former labour Minister to his inaugaration. Although Mr. Straw cannot attend the inaugaration he is hopeful that he can visit Tehran immediately afterwards says the report.

     UK growth acelerates as recovery gains traction is a line proffered in English newspapers. However reports also show that the NHS is in serious difficulty and facing an uncertain future and that deaths have increased as the elderly and the disabled suffer further reductions in their allowances and conditions.

   Rugby star, Brian O’Driscoll’s firm’s profits reportedly rose by E310,917 to E3.19m since 31^st August last. Reports also say that the firm ODM & Promotions was founded by Brian when he was just 22.

CAN YOU SOLVE THESE RIDDLES:

What is black and white and red all over?

How many wells would make a river?

ANSWERS TOMORROW  

ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY’S STUFF:

You follow their tracks.

You rocket

INSPIRATION: I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.                     – Stephen Covey

ON THIS DAY:

0326 - Constantine refused to carry out the traditional pagan sacrifices.

1394 – Charles VI, of France issued a decree expelling all Jews from France.

1564 – Maximillian II became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

1587 – Japanese strongman, Hideyoshi, banned Christianity in Japan and ordered all Christians to leave.

1964 – Matt Le Blanc aka ‘Joey’ in television classic Friends was born.

WORDS TO THE WISE: The best way to become a successful writer is to read good writing, remember it, and then forget where you remember it from.

SACRED SPACE:          

 BENEDICTUS

       (The Canticle of Zechariah)

      Blessed  be the Lord the God of Israel

      He has visited His people and 

      redeemed them.

       He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour

       in the house of David His servant,

       as He promised by the lips of holy men,

       those who were His prophets from of old.

      A saviour who would free us from our foes,

       from the hands of all who hate us.

      So His love for our fathers is fulfilled

      and His holy covenant remembered.

     He swore to Abraham our father to grant us,

     that freed from fear, and saved from the 

     hands of our foes,

     we might serve Him in holiness and justice

    all the days of our life in His presence.

      As for you, little child,

      you shall be called a prophet of God, the most High.

You shall go ahead of the Lord

      to prepare His ways before Him.

     To make known to His people their salvation

      through forgiveness of all their sins,

      the loving-kindness of the heart of our God  

Who visits us like the dawn from on high

      He will give light to those in darkness

      those who dwell in the shadow of death,

                                 and guide their feet into the way of peace.    

SMILE A WHILE: What’s dracula’s favourite soup?

                         Scream of tomato.

                         How did the vampire cure his sore throat?

                         By gargoyling.

                          What do you get if you cross a vampire with a         

                          mummy?

                           A gift-wrapped bat.

                           What do you get if you cross a werewolf and a              

                           vampire?

                           A fur coat that fangs around your neck.

Ciao Bellissimo

Valerie

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:

Dear Reader, Shalom! How are you? I offer my deepest sympathies to all those who were touched and indeed marked by the train crash in Spain and offer an assurance of prayer.

    If anyone was f ollowing me before they will know that I had a spot on the web wwwQUESTION-OF-BALANCE.com and while I was able to get some technical support I was unable to actually see my blog published more than a few times. Regrettably I moved to Google Blogger and am very happy with the results. Indeed in my enthusiasm with my fresh start I forgot to explain to readers (if there are any) what was happening: my apologies for that. I ask your patience with me because I will occasionally leave you again.

For instance I was on holiday with Ataxia Ireland (AI) in Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) holiday centre Cuisle, Donammon, Co. Roscommon, Ireland. We had a ball I went racing, visited Athlone, eat grandly and generally enjoyed myself with the fifty-five or so others on the holiday. When on holiday I don’t blog.

    Today is the feast of St. James the Great he was the son of Zebedee, brother of John, worked in the family fishing business in his native Galilee. Indeed he was mending his nets when Jesus called him and John.

   James and John stayed with Jesus during his time on earth and seem to be among his closest friends. James is specifically mentioned when; Jesus cured Peter’s mother-in-law; raised Jairus’s daughter to life; as a witness to the Transfiguration; and as being with Jesus during his agony in Gethsemane. It was his mother who asked Jesus if her sons might sit one at his right hand and the other at his left in the kingdom. In subsequent Church history James was the first apostle to be martyred at the hands of Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-2).

    Beyond Biblical evidence little is known about James but a tradition began in Spain in the seventh century that he preached there. People of the ninth century believed he was buried there, his body brought from Jerusalem after his martyrdom. Modern scholars refute this and it is now widely believed that the shrine is built on an early Christian burial site.

    While exact details may be somewhat hazy the influence of the tradition was enormous. The shrine at Santiago de Compostela was one of the great centres of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages with James becoming the rallying point for Christians against the Moors.

   Numerous stories of St. James appearing at the shrine abound to this day, which remains hugely popular and very well used.

Wordplay

Hello again, casually dressed and looking extremely relaxed The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge left St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington with their delightful one-day-old son at 7.15pm yesterday. The proud parents beamed for the cameras as Kate looked lovingly at ther husband.

    Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the metropolitan cathedral, Rio de Janeiro, yesterday for 1.5m young people yesterday, launching World Youth Day – which has become a week of prayer, praise and fun for all the young people from every part of the globe who attend: nor is it restricted to ‘young people’ alone according to latest reports.

    Are the reported demonstrations and riots following the Popes arrival in Brazil, about the cost of hosting the visit + the cost of hosting the Olympic Games + the cost of hosting the World Cup?

    Sales of Apples iPhone trumps guestimates after US supplies of the said phone caused profits to soar by 51% in the third quarter, according to reports. This lifted the stock by 5% even as overall margins slid from 42% to 37% in the previous twelve months.

   The horse, St. Nicholas Abbey, trained by Mr. Aidan O’Brien, had a ‘comfortable night, according to reports following career-ending surgery.

WORDS TO THE WISE: The young always have the same problem – how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another.     – Quentin Crisp (b1910) Model, publicist and writer.

      

RIDDLES:

 How do you know where trains go?

How do you make a baby sleep on a space ship?

ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY’S STUFF:

Climb up a tree and act like a nut.

Unique up on it.

Just dance.

ON THIS DAY: 1802 –  Writer Alexander dumas was born

1847 – Richard M. Hoe patented the rotary-type pringing press.

1923 - The Treaty of Lausanne, which settled the boundaries of modern Turkey was concluded in Switzerland.

1948 – Soviet occupation forces in Germany blockaded West Berlin. The US-British airlift began the following day.

 1970 - Actress Jennifer Dumas was born.

SACRED SPACE:

Something which has existed since the beginning,

That we have heard,

And we have seen with our own eyes;

That we have watched

And touched with our hands:

The Word, who is life-

This is our subject.                                                            1Jn1:1-2

SMILE A WHILE:

BLUEBIRDS SINGING…

Bopping the night away in a groovy night-club in downtown Innsbruck, Zoe thought ‘this is living’. Herself and her friend, Valerie from College had embarked on a European tour. This was their first holiday saved and paid for from their own funds, and better still there were no relatives around to oversee proceedings.

    Next morning they took a cable car to the top of a mountain. What a thrill to see and feel the crispness of the air sucking in its cold delights. In the afternoon they went shopping. Up a cobbled alley they came across a quaint curiosity shop with charming pieces on display. Valerie was captured by a small wooden timepiece made in the shape of a grandfather clock. White Roman numerals adorned its face, while bluebirds hovered at its base. Instead of a  chime; every fifteen minutes a bluebird flew out from atop the face, and with the birds at the base made the most exquisite music. Knowing how her grandmother would love it she bought it and carefully carried the clock in a white carrier bag for the remaining seven countries they visited on the tour.

    In a pizza restaurant while waiting for the waiter on the Swiss/French/Italian border and knowing there might be some confusion over language they took out their phrase books and learned a sentence learning both orders in each of the three languages. Delighted with themselves they waited a little longer. Finally the waiter came and said ‘Now ladies, which language do you speak’?

    To end their journey they drove into Brussels which they found ridiculously expensive. At that time the Bureau de Change announced that 26% tax for every travellers cheque was the cost to foreigners. Shops seemed to be a replica of Brown Thomas’s, Ireland with matching price tags. Barely able to afford a cup of coffee they were grateful when eventually they pulled into the airport.

    It was the height of the ‘Troubles’ and the Irish were ushered into a special room surrounded by heavily armed soldiers. None of the Belgians there seemed to speak much English. The girls understood that they were to put their hand luggage on the counter for it to be searched; one person and one piece of baggage at a time. When this was happening everyone else was chatting away.

     When Valerie’s turn came she put her white carrier bag on the counter. The soldiers stiffened and all guns were suddenly pointing at her. The room fell to stillness. In the silence she heard ‘tick-tock, tick-tock.’ Understanding the situation perfectly she explained ‘it’s all right, it’s....’ An official marched forward and said ‘shhh’ rather fiercely, so she did.

    Gingerly she proceeded to open the plastic bag. Against the deafening silence the ticking grew in intensity. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry she held up a hand: the rifles snapped into the fire position. Quavering she opened the box to reveal the wooden ticking clock surrounded by bluebirds. Everyone laughed and Valerie breathed a huge sigh of relief.

    

Ciao Bellissimo

Valerie

www.QUESTION-OF-BALANCE.COM

Wordplay

Hello again, Royal stories abound, or should that be the Royal story abounds with every possible media source on the planet talking about Baby Cambridge who arrived yesterday evening sometime after four o’clock. Baby Cambridge has been cited as already being a worldwide celebrity, thanks to his famous, nice, parents affectionately called Will and Kate aka the Duke and Duchess if Cambridge, and his very famous grandmother, the late, great Princess Diana.

    How many of these reports tell us that this is the most famous tourist attraction in the world – just look at the amount of press interest this baby’s birth has generated. It’s the ‘silly season’ and London is celebrating in style!

    Indeed, staff at a local Paddington DIY store had to order extra stock to meet demands from photographers for ladders, so they could get the best photographs over the heads of other media personnel.

    At least eight people were hurt at when a planes landing gear failed at New York airport. Reports indicate that a Boeing 737 with 150 passengers and crew on board ‘collapses’ on runway.

    Aldi and Lidl make hay during the economic downturn in Ireland with reports yesterday showing that they now enjoy 15% market share of the republic’s shoppers. This growth is perhaps best seen by the fact that Tesco enjoy the biggest amount with a 28% share of the same market.

    Reports say that Google announced that they are to open a digitial innovation centre in Dublin’s docklands.

    Halfway through The Irish Gathering, reports as to its success are varied with some inside tourism hailing it as ‘simple and clever’ while others see it as a ‘crackpot waste of money’. Who doesn’t know that Gabriel Byrne famously kicked off the debate denouncing the idea as a ‘money making racket’? Reports are varied but the test as to its failure or success may well bne measured by the enjoyment people have from it and any extra money raised as a result of it.

CAN YOU SOLVE THESE RIDDLES:

How much dirt is in a hole 4 feet deep and 2 feet wide?

How much is a skunk worth?

How are a prisoner and an austronaut alike?

Answers tomorrow

Answers to yesterday’s stuff:

Climb up a tree and act like a nut.

Unique up on it.

Just dance.

INSPIRATION:  The mind is everything. What you think you become.                                                        - Buddha

ON THIS DAY:  in 1878: Ernest Ball, is born in Cleveland, Ohio. introduced: When Irish Eyes are Smiling this was just one of many ‘Irish’songs he penned.

In 1947: David Essex was born

In 1972: Bloody Friday – Devastating IRA Bombing of Belfast

WORDS TO THE WISE:

You do not need to leave your room…

Remain sitting at your table and listen.

Do not even listen simply wait.

Do not even wait, be quite still and solitary.

The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked.

It has no choice.

It will roll in ecstacy at your feet.

                                                              - Franz Kafka (1883-1924)

SACRED SPACE:  A BLESSING OF ANGELS

May the Angela in their beauty bless you.

May they turn towards you streams of blessing.

May the Angel of awakening stir your heart

To come alive to the eternal within you,

To all the invitations that quietly surround you.

May the Angel of Healing turn your wounds

Into sources of refreshment.

May the Angel of the Imagination enable you

To stand on the true thresholds;

At ease with your ambivalence

And drawn in new directions

Through the glow of your contradictions.

May the Angel of Compassion open your eyes

To the unseen suffering around you.

May the Angel of Wildness disturb the places

Where your life is domesticated and safe,

Take you to the territories of true otherness

Where all that is awkward in you

Can fall into its own rhythm.

SMILE A WHILE!

What happened to the girl who wanted a puppy for Christmas?

She had to have turkey like everyone else.

Why was the headmaster worried

There were too many rulers in the school.

What does Luke Skywalker shave with?

A laser blade.

Cheers

Valerie

www.QUESTION-OF-BALANCE.COM

Hello again, UK Police launched an enquiry into the death of a woman who came from Ireland to have an abortion in England, and died in the taxi. According to these reports the woman was a foreign national.

    The Duchess of Cambridge went into labour in the 5,000 pounds sterling, per night Lyndo Wing. The former queen’s gynaecologist Mr. Marcus Setchess will be in attendance. The sex of the baby is unknow to the future parents, as they want it to be ‘a surprise’. The new baby will be third in line to the throne.

    On-line hate speech ‘accounts for 10% of racism’ reported to the Immigration Council Of Ireland who launched their report to co-incide with the European Day for Victims of Hate Speech. Today is the second anniversary of a hate crime in Oslo, Norway, where 77 people were murdered, and many injured by right-wing-extremist, Andears Behring Breivik.

    The Immigration Council of Ireland joins the European wide call to end all hate speech, which can lead to such desperate acts.

CAN YOU SOLVE THESE RIDDLES:

How do you catch a squirrel?

How do you catch a unique rabbit?

How do you entertain Lady Ga Ga

Answers tomorrow

Answers to yesterday’s stuff:

A sandal.

An egg

Few

INSPIRATION:  Eighty per cent of success is showing up.      

  – Woody Allen

ON THIS DAY: 

Feast of St. Mary Magdalen

In 1965 television series Til Death Us Do Part  was aired on BBC.

In 1812 English Troops, led by the Duke of Wellington, defeated the French at the battle of Salamanca.

                            

WORDS TO THE WISE: 

Leave home in the sunshine:

Dance through a meadow –

  Or sit by a stream and just be.

The lilt of the water

Will gather your worries

And carry them to the sea.

- J Donald Walters

SACRED SPACE:            Prayer

Yesterday I was like Martha

hyperactive and dislocated.

At odds with myself, my people and my world.

Longing for peace yet finding a hundred more things to do.

Concerned and frustrated about meeting needs and deadlines

envious of my sister

so able to attend to the simplicity of the moment.

Tomorrow I may be like Mary

-         waiting and willing.

Hoping I can be all that you have called me to be,

Yet just happy to be in Your Blessed presence,

Knowing all that I need is present in You.

But I will also be worried that I should be doing, saying, achieving more

-         like my sister.

Today I long to be like Jesus.

Present. Loving. Accepting.

Opening my arms to embrace fully and equally

The people in my life.

Spirit-God,

I am made of all manner of things.

Help me to know and embrace all aspects of my being.

Help me to move to a wholesome union

Of creative work

And active listening,

A union that reflects

And brings about

Your glory.

SMILE A WHILE!

What do you get if you cross a giraffe with a husky dog?

An animal that barks at low flying aircraft.

What do you call a big white bear with a hole in the middle?

A polo bear.

Why is a polar bear cheap to have as a pet?

It lives on ice.

Toodle Pip

Valerie

www.QUESTION-OF-BALANCE.COM

Hello again, recent reports say that officials from Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital are expected to meet with at least twenty patients possibly affected by CJD later today. Beaumont medics discovered that instruments used during surgery on a patient subsequently found to be suffering from CJD were also used on at least twenty other patients. A help-line established by the hospital had over 1,000 calls yesterday alone.

   Elsewhere we read that OECD moves to aid countries close loopholes (including tax loopholes) exploited by multinationals.

    An outbreak of hepatitis A believed to be caused by imported frozen berries is reportedly on the increase. The outbreak is being monitored by the European Centre For Disease Control since January 2013 and they recently asked European countries to raise awareness of a possible increase in hepatitis A cases.  It is believed that 3 Irish people in their thirties and forties with no known links to each other, and from different parts of the country have been affected.

    Yesterday FSAI (Food Safety Authority of Ireland) issued warnings about the need to boil all imported frozen fruit.

    They also said that of the ten known cases of Hepatitis A in Ireland only 5 are linked to imported frozen berries.

    In Italy a food poisoning outbreak has infected 448 people this year.

  

CAN YOU SOLVE THESE RIDDLES:

I fasten it and it walks: unfasten it and it stops. What is it?

I have no bones and no legs, but if you keep me warm I will soon walk away. What am I?

I know a word of letters three.

Add two and fewer there will be.

What is the word?

Answers tomorrow

Answers to yesterday’s stuff:

There is no dirt in a hole

One scent.

They are both interested in outerspace.

INSPIRATION:  An unreflected life is the only life not worth living.

 - Socrates

ON THIS DAY:  July 20^th 1810 Colombia declared independence from Spain.

1944 There was an attempt to kill Hitler when a bomb exploded at his Ratsenburg HQ but he was only wounded.

1969 Apollo 11 Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin were the first people to walk on the moon.

WORDS TO THE WISE:

Knowledge was inherent in all things.

The world was a library and its books

Were the stones, leaves, grass, brooks…

We learned to do what only the students

Of nature ever learn, and that was

To feel beauty.

-         Luther Standing Bear (1868-1939)

        

The hours when the mind

is absorbed by beauty

Are the only hours we live.

- Richard Jeffries (1848-1887)

SACRED SPACE: 

"When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."                                     - Chief Aupumut, Mohican. 1725

SMILE A WHILE!

What do you get if you cross a giraffe with a husky dog?

An Animal that barks at low flying aircraft.

What do you call a big white bear with a hole in the middle?

A polo bear.

Why is a polar bear cheap to have as a pet?

It lives on ice.

Be gentle with yourself

Valerie