Saturday, 30 December 2023
My Piece of Peace - my story towards the gift
Friday, 8 December 2023
Wednesday, 6 December 2023
Self-check-out at supermarkets
If
supermarkets want me to self-checkout they will need to pay me minimum
wage for minimum one hour and all the other staff bonuses. Simple.
Monday, 27 November 2023
WARNING: DON'T JUST BLINDLY TRUST YOUR DOCTOR!
WARNING: DON'T JUST BLINDLY TRUST YOUR DOCTOR:
Yesterday I woke up feeling dizzy, and a lot of belching, so consulted with my local doctors surgery, on -ine of course,.
Fair enough a doctor phoned e back within a few hours and asked me the symptoms then prescribed me some pills which I managed to get to collect at the local chemist.
Before taking them I read the enclosed leaflet - ithe leaflet with the pills prescribed for the dizzziness read "read this leaflet first".
At the end of quite a long list of people that should not take the pills it iincluded if ...
"Elderly (65 years or over)"
I am almost 74!
The pills that he prescribed for the belching warned "may cause dizziness"!
So this morning I went back on line to the on-line surgery which one can only do between 7.30 and 9.30 and asked what I should do - should i take them or not or could he prescribe something safe?
So doctor just phoned and said i can take the pills and ignore the warning on the label as "we use it every day, it's one of the best ones - you can take it!"
The essential question, who to trust, the doctor or the leaflet warning - the latter, of course, serves as disclaimer - they all get paid - do doctors usually tell patients to ignore the leaflets that come with prescription medication - what consequences for a negative reaction - more pills? Why bother putting in the leaflets unless they are meant to serve as disclaimers - does the doctor mean ignore all the information and warnings or is he being selective? Presumably the warnings are based on patients experiences. Should we just ignore all safety precautions and hope for the best?
The dizziness has passed without me taking them - basically it's a choice between believing the doctor and believing the leaflet given by the manufacturers - I'd rather not believe either - especially as I told the doctor that i was doing a lot of belohing and he prescribed another pill and on that leaflet it said "may cause dizziness".
My previous surgery i went as i was getting arthritic pains in my shoulder and he gave me dihydrocodeine and on the flier it said "may cause contipation" - it did after just one pill - so i went back and told hom (actually by phone of course) so he gave me cocodenol - it said on the flier "may cause constipation". So i never took them anyway. I geuess they would have earned more money prescribing me laxatives. Instead I started eating cherries which it is said eases arthritis.
They did. I told the nurse and she said she never knew that and said "some of these alternative medicines work wonders". I told her cherries were a fruit and have been eaten for thousands of years and grow in my garden, and it is the modern pills that should be called alternative medicines.
We have to remember that these doctors are earning quite large salaries despite compaining about their hours - to be qualified they have to pass exams but they don't actually have to care.
Monday, 20 November 2023
Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Enjoy it while you can
A lot of people complain that they don't feel peace or joy or love or
freedom, or are confused, fearful, hopeless, lost or simply don't
know why they are alive or what;s it all about.
Most of
them seem to think they will find answers in friendship or family,
fame or fortune, achievements or possessions; many blame others, the
government, their bosses, their families or friends and many blame
themselves.
There are those that believe in one "God"
or another, or no god at all - they have their own beliefs and
disbeliefs, or philosophy, or teachers that they think will lead them
to an answer, even if as yet they have not.
There are
those that have hope and those that have no hope. There are the rich
and the poor, the educated and not so educated, the young and the
old, the servants and the masters, the healthy and the sick.
One
thing we all eventually know - one day we will leave all that behind
- and many of us think that THEN we will know.
In the
meantime, we are alive.
So we can think if life in this
world as a huge supermarket that we are allowed into for a while -
let's say 24 hours.
Let;s say we have won a ticket to use
whatever we want in that shop for one day, for free - maybe some
items are restricted to some people, maybe not. But there is a lot to
choose from and to enjoy, alone or with others.
Thing is
we know that we will have to leave empty handed - so what is the
point?
My friend said there is no point. I said so what
about holidays, food, music, company, sport etc - it will all end.
"Precisely", he said, "what's the point".
Well
all I could say is what is the point of not trying to enjoy "it"
whilst we can?"
We all came through one door and we
will all be going through another door - alone. In between those
doors is life.
So in that life we should at least have a
choice to try to enjoy that life for what it is, an opportunity to
feel peace, love, freedom, clarity, understanding, appreciation or a
choice not to
So for those that want those things, how can
we gains PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE that does not demand one set of beliefs
or a regionalise over another - and that does not cost what we cannot
afford.
I am so glad that my teacher Prem Rawat showed me
how (over 50 years ago now) and that he is still about, travelling
the world, speaking to people, making videos, just telling them about
the opportunity that he offers. He has set up a series of short
videos, called PEAK (available through the TimelessToday app on your
phone), free of charge, that people can work through at their own
rate.
The OPPORTUNITY is there - the next step in up to
you because IT IS ALL ABOUT YOU!
By continuing to support cannabis prohibition laws, politicians and others are:
By continuing to support cannabis prohibition laws, politicians and others are::
unduly interfering with the Human Rights of a Private Life and choice and practice of belief, contrary to Human Rights laws
enabling criminal organisations and even terrorist groups to make huge tax-free profits from sales
creating unnecessary obstacles for people in need of good quality and clean cannabis
driving people that fear the consequences of growing cannabis in their homes into the hands of uncontrollable, often unscrupulous and dangerous and untaxed suppliers and criminal gangs
putting at risk the health and wellfare of victimless cannabis consumers
opening the gateway to hard drugs through dealers
putting children at risk - illegal dealers usually have no agree restrictions
punishing people that have done no harm to others
costing the public purse many millions of pounds annually through the cost of policing, court proceedings and prisons
unduly preventing and alienating those criminalised from taking certain jobs, renting accommodation, obtaining insurance and limiting travel.
enabling huge profits for shareholders such as the spouses of government ministers through businesses such as British Sugar, GW Pharmaceuticals - such as the husbands of Victoria Aitkins and Theresa May.
Putting at risk many people that have no alternative than prescription pharmaceutical drugs t=and that could be using cannabis.
Stifling research into the many benefits of cannabis such as its environmentally-friendly and safe utilisation as a source of fuels, plastics, solvents, paints, cloth and medicine
Thursday, 17 August 2023
Good advice - get a fire extinguisher and fire blanket
I have one by the front door and a fire blanket in the kitchen.
In
about 1984 I woke up with what at first was bleary eyes, then smell
of smoke. I went to the top of stairs thinking it was burning toast,
looked down into blackness and re hot smoke rushed up towards me. I
rushed into back bedroom which was empty as my housemates had already
gone to work. Smashed the window, grabbed a sheet from the bed and
shouted fire as loud as I could, climbing out onto the lower kitchen
roof. Quickly a nearby builder turned up with a ladder which I
descended, cutting the soles of my feet with glass from the smashed
window, also having cut my side on the glass as I exited. Still
thinking it was just a small fire and still somewhat bleary, I
smashed the glass in the kitchen door, knowing the key was on a hook
just inside. I reached in, cutting my arm, grabbed the key which was
so hot that I dropped it.
The fire brigade turned up in
about ten minutes.
Next door was occupied by a group of
Muslims - they invited me inside. They told me they had been upstairs
chanting and seen what they first thought was some sort of
manifestation before smelling smoke.
The "house
mother", who had been standing at the kitchen sink, said she had
heard the noise and looked outside and up and had seen a "naked
blackened hippy climbing out of the bedroom window and averted my
eyes."
After the fire had been put out and the
contents of the back room emptied outside, I went inside the house,
to see the landlord, a fireman and a policeman standing talking and
(unbelievably) smoking cigarettes.
They told me the fire
had started in the back room through faulty wiring of the stereo
although I thought it may have been started by the coal fire. It was
just burning through the door to the front downstairs
room.
Everything was blackened, including me. The copper
took me first to my doctor then to the hospital where they let be
bathe and treated my cuts.
The landlord had another house
just up the road where we moved into.
It was one of the
luckiest days of my life, which taught me well to appreciate my life.
Sunday, 13 August 2023
Life on the Brim: The Autobiography of a Hat: 3 books in one
Saturday, 12 August 2023
Wednesday, 9 August 2023
Old competition for new cleaning product, 1975.
Old competition for new cleaning product, 1975.
When they made
a new cleaning product they held a competition amongst the factory
workers to find a new name and slogan. Several submitted ideas.
One
man was called to the office to give his suggestion.
He
said "Sir, I think we should call it Bugger"
"Well,"
said his boss, "I am not sure Mrs Smith shopping on the high
street would go for a name like that! Why call it Bugger?"
Man
replied: "It stands for Best Universal Grit Grime and Effluent
Remover".
"Well," said the boss "very
good but I still don't think it's acceptable."
"Shame,
said the man, "I even came up with a great slogan."
"So what
is it?"
"I
thought we could say, If Daz won't whiten it and Omo won't brighten
it, Bugger it!"
He did not win the competition but they ended up just calling it the "Finest Universal Cleanser Known."
Saturday, 29 July 2023
Friday, 21 July 2023
IF ONLY SUOMI - A Story of Love Through Time
Saturday, 8 July 2023
Simply talking about peace does not bring lasting peace
Simply talking about peace does not bring lasting peace, talking about love does not bring true love, talking about joy does not bring fulfilling joy .... , just like when you put an unlit candle close to a lit candle. Iit will not light unless they make contact and then and only then can the lit candle light the unlit candle, so that the unlit becomes lit and can go forth to light others.
Neither will the unlit unlight the lit!.
One lit candle can light many.
WE need to find a way to make contact with the peace that is within, then we will become lit up by that peace and can help inspire others to do the same. Prem Rawat is a lit candidate offering to light up those that make contact within themselves. That is my experience and that is my Truth.
Tuesday, 13 June 2023
H - an aliterational approximation
H
by
Alun Buffry
Transparent butterflies flit amongst the transient stars
as bouncing bubbles burst on broken moonbeams.
Rainbows run around the rippling rivers
fumbling over faithful fountains.
Sparkling shadows seep between the sunsets
whilst whistling weepers wave from windows.
Many millions mourners make a martyr,
standing somewhere silently beyond space.
Loosely rhyming lines of lullabies
gag the gorgeous gems of galaxies,
never noticing the numbered nomads,
driving dozens dromedaries down deserts,
purposely persuading passers by to pay,
countless crispy notes and coded coins -
before the beautiful beholder is belittled.
Frequently the foolish faulty fiddlers
only offer ornamental oodles,
very vaguely valued vibrants,
ever aiming for an endless evening,
questioning the qualities of quanta.
Yet the yellow yodellers yearn
as all the armadillos answer
zealous zebras zimmering in zoos.
It's intelligence involving inhibition,
exalting in exciting extras ever.
And all the world is in an atom - H.
An Alliance of Eyes
Now in paperback and on Kindle
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alliance-Eyes-Alun-Buffry-ebook/dp/B0BNW36LVZ/
A Collection of words by an alliance of authors and eyes.
Ali Taylor, Alun Buffry, Clara O'Donnell, Simon King, Ryan Kif, Luke Richardson, Mars Bilters, Melissa Doordaughter, Sarah Dougan, Winston Matthews, Jacqui Malkin
Saturday, 10 June 2023
So what was the LCA all about?
So what was the LCA all about?
The Legalise Cannabis Alliance and what we did is in the Commemorative Edition of Legalise and Utilise, available on Amazon: the campaigns, the elections, the people, the fliers, the policies, "The Challenge", the communications with the Home Office and much more.
LCA candidates contested over 80 election, distributed hundreds of thousands of fliers, attended protests, picnics in the parks, rallies and festivals: spoke at the Oxford Union, House of Commons, Universities, trade union fairs and even a High School for Girls in London.
LCA campaigning helped see the downgrading of cannabis to Class C under the Misuse of Drugs Acts, albeit after deregistering as POLITICAL PARTY it was ungraded again. Such was the value and influence of a devoted campaign, run all along on a shoe-string budget by volunteers.
LCA was the only UK single issue cannabis party to have a party broadcast on TV and radio. It was probably the most active cannabis campaign group in the UK, ever.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08VWY9YYK/ref=nosim?tag=webbooks05
WE have seen a few depart our midst over the years: RIP Howard Marks, "Grannie" Pat Tabram, Chris Baldwin, Oatrick "Patman" Dennings, Derrick Large, John Wakelin, Michael "Uncle Mick" Pryce, Payl Fowler, Mark Palmer, Leslie Von Goetz, Dr Anne Biazanek, Charlie Bristow, John Davies, Jeff Ditchfield, Nol van Shaik, Tom Hampson