Thoughts on Saturday - Iraq & Afghanistan Memorial and Howard Hodgkin

Thoughts on Saturday

Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial

A memorial to those who fought and died in Iraq and Afghanistan was unveiled on Thursday. It is two Portland stone monoliths with a bronze medallion between. Three sides of the stones are smooth whilst the third is rough hewn, to represent that the conflict is not resolved. The memorial, by sculpture Paul Day, commemorates the contribution by both military and civilians, those who survived and those who died. No names are inscribed, the military that lost their lives are remembered at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Thoughts on Saturday - Child migrants, Sex Education and Sir Philip Green

Thoughts on Saturday - Child migrants, Sex Education and Sir Philip Green

Last week I didn't publish a Thoughts on Saturday because I couldn't find anything that didn't involve "you know who" and "you know what"! This week the news is slowly becoming more diverse and there are lots of topics that have me thinking.

Thoughts On Saturday - FLOTUS Melania Trump

Thoughts On Saturday - FLOTUS Melania Trump

POTUS and FLOTUS are acronyms that until recently I had not heard of. We have heard a bit too much about POTUS (President Of The United States) but what about FLOTUS? First Lady Of The United States. My interest was aroused when I read on social media that White House tours have not restarted after the inauguration of President Trump. It was explained that this is due to the First Lady, Melania Trump, not appointing the household staff.

Thoughts on Saturday - Gary Lineker and Shannon Matthews

Thoughts on Saturday - Gary Lineker and Shannon Matthews

It is almost impossible to avoid Trump and Brexit. I could fill a book with my thoughts on that but to save us all from that I won't. I will admit it has been hard to find anything else. The NHS has dominated the news too but I wrote about that a few weeks ago.

Thoughts on Saturday - Katie Pybus, McCann and Shiner

Thoughts on Saturday - Katie Pybus, McCann and Shiner

Katie Pybus

Mum home schools her kids - by letting them play computer games 7 hours a day 

Katie Pybus insists her three children.......who have never learnt the alphabet.....

Mirror.co.uk

Amongst all the doom and gloom of Trump and Brexit this was a headline on social media that caught my eye. Apparently a mother home schooled her children by letting them play video games all day. My first thought on looking at the picture underneath the headline was that they looked happy enough and secondly, I bet they can read.

I delved a little further.

Thoughts On Saturday - Gina Miller and Trump

Thoughts On Saturday - Gina Miller and Trump

I watched Question Time this week for the first time in ages. I smiled when David Dimbleby said that a viewer had asked for the questions to be anything other than Brexit or Trump. A woman after my own heart. I had stopped watching it as I was totally fed up with everything being about Brexit. Don't get me wrong, if there was any real news then that would be OK but just the same old points being made again and again in the same old way.

Thoughts on Saturday - Bird Flu and Goodbye Obama

Thoughts on Saturday - Bird Flu and Goodbye Obama

Bird Flu

For as many years as I can remember we have only eaten free range chicken and eggs. We decided a long time ago that we would rather eat less, as it was so expensive, than eat battery reared produce. At the beginning of December there was a bird flu outbreak across Europe, none had been found in the UK but DEFRA ordered that to keep our flocks safe, chickens and other birds must be housed indoors and their food and water made inaccessible to wild birds. The virus, H5N8, is spread by wild birds and although it is not a hazard to humans it would decimate our poultry stock.

Thoughts On Saturday - The NHS and Thundersnow

Thoughts On Saturday - The NHS and Thundersnow

The NHS. 

Many of you know that I am a retired nurse, I was a theatre sister for over 30 years, so the NHS is close to my heart. One of the reasons that I retired was the amount of paperwork that I was expected to do. More paper, more numbers and less about patients. I understand that the government needs figures because they have set targets and these need to be measured. I was saddened to see two headlines this week. 

Thoughts On Saturday - Jill Saward, Trump and Shopping in PJ's

Thoughts On Saturday - Jill Saward, Trump and Shopping in PJ's

Happy New Year and welcome to Thoughts On Saturday. On Thursday it was reported that Jill Saward had died aged 51. My first response was "who?" 

Thoughts On Saturday - Goodbye 2016

Thoughts On Saturday - Goodbye 2016. 

I thought on New Years Eve it would be appropriate to say goodbye to some of the celebrities that have died this year. This isn't a complete list, it's a small list of those that had an influence in my life.

Thoughts On Saturday - Christmas

When I started Thoughts on Saturday a couple of weeks ago, I wanted somewhere to reflect and express myself on things that have happened, or that I've read, that make me think. This week though it's Christmas Eve and I wanted something a little lighter.

I haven't forgotten the awful events that have happened in the world this week, in Berlin and elsewhere. My sympathies and thoughts are with all those who have been affected by these tragic events and with those who have lost someone they love.

As it is Christmas Eve, Thoughts on Saturday is all about Christmas.

Thoughts On Saturday. Aleppo, Fake News and Southern Rail

Thoughts On Saturday. Aleppo, Fake News and Southern Rail.

Aleppo

I don't think any one could avoid the horrors of Aleppo this week. I am in a quandary though. I do not know who to support. As I understand it, it's a civil war in Syria between the government forces and rebels. Rebels who rose up four years ago in the Arab Spring and one of their strongholds is the second city of Syria, Aleppo. The government forces are being backed by Russia and the rebels by the USA. So the rebels are good then? Well no, part of the rebel group is ISIS and they are bad. 

Thoughts on Saturday #1

I used to like Question Time on the BBC. I loved shouting at the TV, disagreeing with the panelists and ranting on Facebook with like minded (or not so like minded) friends. Then we had Brexit.

David Cameron and Brexit have a lot to answer for, not least that QT is now so boring. Blah, blah, Brexit, blah, blah! Just SHUT UP I want to scream.