My first impression to everyone is an assumption that I know what I’m doing. Unfortunately this is a result of genetic information from my father’s side and is totally out with my control. I suppose I carry myself well. Sometimes I know what I’m doing, other times not. I neither want or need to give any impression. It just happens.
My father was a man that would instil confidence, his appearance, like many men of his era was on the whole impeccable. During his life time, he naturally would look the part wherever he happened to be.
I have that quality, but without much to back it up, though I do tend to stay calm in an emergency. I suppose being female it’s more difficult. Let’s face it good shoes and a well tailored suit with a suitably matching shirt and tie is not going to be appropriate all the time. Women have more choice, therefore more opportunity to make a bad one.
Yes clothes make’th the man and can undo the woman. On the whole clothes make the impression, but what’s underneath is what counts.
This headline is courtesy of Olivia Ireland and the Online Independent.
The article touches on a subject very close to my heart. Unfortunately using Sam Altman’s name as a headline perhaps is inappropriate as the subject itself, Embryonic Altering of Genetic Material is an ethical , worldwide problem which is being addressed by many institutions and governments and there are many opinions on how this technology should be used if at all.
The impression I got from the headline was that there was some personal interest in this couple’s investment and that it was not just an altruistic wish to help with a world wide health problem. Who knows?
Sam is one of the investors, along with believe it or not the Chief Executive of a Cryptocurrency platform and we all have great faith in Cryptocurrency don’t we?
So, $30million has been raised so far to set up ” Preventative”, which in the Californian Hi-tech maelstrom of investment decisions is probably corn feed. However, it is a start and as it is illegal to gene edit a baby in many Countries including the United States , it’s possible that ” Preventative’s ” research will be done in the United Arab Emirates where embryo editing is legal. Why a Californian set up then?
However a genuine successful gene editing treatment has already been used in Pennsylvania in the United States, presumably after satisfying strict ethical criteria and a little boy was cured by correcting a minor yet crucial error in his genetic code at the embryonic stage.
The danger is that we move towards the wish for “designer babies” and genes are altered not to prevent serious medical issues in later life , but to have the “ideal” baby that fits in (with those who are willing to pay )lifestyle choices.
” I want her eyes to match the colour of my curtains”
So as I said this is a subject that is close to my heart. As I wrote ” The Cuckoo in the Nest” which I have published here on my WordPress site , here is a sample chapter. It’s how I imagine the dystopian world if we do go in the direction of “designing babies”
I’ve just started reading a book which was published this year. I want to enter the Anthony Burgess/ Observer Critic competition. A 800 word critic of a newly published work. I have chosen my book and am so looking forward to entering.
The title however, I will keep under wraps until I complete the project. Anthony Burgess was one of my favourite writers, I read that he learned other languages as an aid to writing better and it is something I took on board, hence I study languages , more to actually communicate better and understand different cultures than to improve my grammar, though in truth that has been a useful benefit.
Thank you to the Independent’s Online and George Lithgow for the Headline
The story is about an artist who gathered used and discarded rope that would otherwise have to be destroyed and who took it back to his studio, washed and sanitised said rope and then turned it into a artwork, which looked just like a pile of old rope.
Is this chicanery of the highest kind or is it an excellent example of upcycling and turning waste into something if not useful then desirable and hygienic?
Just like the story of the Emperor’s Clothes, if enough people believe the pile of old rope is Art of the highest degree than it is. If institutions who want to display it to the public as such , think it is , then it is.
Art is Art to those who behold it. If the market place decides it’s worth £1 million then so be it.
If an Art Critic says it’s Art then it is.
If I say it’s a pile of old rope than I’m an idiot and know nothing.
It is just a story about old rope and how it can be transformed and made valuable if enough people want it to be.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
In the moment is where I want to live. Let’s face it , it’s a place everyone knows and will stay in when they can and if they acknowledge it’s benefits, then everywhere else pales into insignificance. The past and the future might be nice places but in the moment is where you are at.
Thanks to Jacob Phillips for this Headline. In the Online Standard.
Well London, weather is happening, it’s been an unusually mild November and rain is forecast for the weekend. There’s going to be more rain in Wales than in London, so this weekend may not be the time to escape. Anyway you know the routine, soggy pavements, overflowing drains, feeling sorry for homeless people and their dogs as you walk by.
You won’t be able to see properly out of your windscreen on the perilous M4 when you return from that trip to Uxbridge that you have to make for work. You remonstrate loudly within the confines of your car at other road users and lorries who seem not to have noticed the torrential rain. You sit there silently in the traffic queue caused by an collision far off in the distance, regretting the decision to buy that soft top when the salesman warned you that winter was coming and that the all electric 4×4 was what you needed, you poo pooed him. Well it is winter now, the forecast is dropping temperatures and your little car is not very good on ice.
You make a little joke to yourself.” London will be like hell freezing over.” It makes you want to cry.
I found Victor Hugo’s books and life story entirely by myself. No I didn’t buy expensive tickets to go and see Les Miserables at the theatre. It was the Hunchback of Notre Dame that lead me to him and his less well known books like Toilers of the Sea and The Man Who Laughs. The humanity of the man and his writing is uncanny. I keep him in my heart, yes he is that good of a writer.
There is a dilemma about the potential for 2,600 foreign nationals who are working in the Prison Service on right-to-work visas. They may not earn enough to qualify to stay when their visa’s expire and therefore these people may be lost to the Prison Service.
This is an example of there is not one solution fits all. The Prison Service is already under a lot of stress and simply can’t afford to lose that many people as they would be hard to replace.
Immigration is always a bogey word , but here is an instance where recruitment is difficult and foreign nationals have filled a gap in the Prison Service, which otherwise may not be filled.
Thank you to the Independent and Nicole Wootton-Cane for this headline
My first reaction on reading this headline was the fear of a small hole in a dam turning into a torrent and would the people have time to evacuate. It’s a horrible situation to be in and what do you take with you?
The area that needs to be evacuated is 70 miles North of Houston, and the dam is privately owned and the Company who owns it is having to drain some water off to reduce the pressure. However, surely we should worry that no one was doing checks on behalf of the private Company. For heavens sakes there’s equipment to identify earthquakes or cameras that can record 24 hours a day. Apparently it was a local who heard the “whoosh” of water and reported it. Bit like the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the hole of a dyke and prevented disaster.
Either way I hope that the people affected are safe and can return to their homes. I also hope that the Private Company is made to take more responsibility to ensure everyone’s safety. If we can have weekly rockets into space, then we can have this dam monitored properly and remedial repairs done promptly .
thenotsomightyom 