2017 : a year in the UK

[Anthea]

MINUS 12 at 8am

I live in South England not Iceland

When I woke up my nose was as cold as that of my dogs

Every-time they pee they create ice-skating rinks for ants

They were not happy about going out this morning even with their coats on

I had never seen dogs trying to cross all four legs at once and pretend that they really do not need to go outside

[Anthea]

The weather here has been between minus 8-10c for the past few nights

Last night the world vanished beneath an extremely thick FREEZING fog

The fog has at times been so think that I have not been able to see anything outside

My dogs find fog very confusing - they have never seen anything this bad before

10am this morning it was really think again and the outside world completely vanished

The fog is much thinner now but I still cannot see over the fields

I expect it to become worse again tonight

I think I will study logos as there is an interesting article on logos in the Mail Online today

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... logos.html

Think I might try designing logos containing hidden messages - especially as I have just seen how much money logo designers charge

FedEx - There is an arrow hidden between the E and x

Amazon - arrow points from A to Z, representing the range of products, and also looks like a smile, to represent customer satisfaction

Sony VAIO - The 'V' and 'A' together make up the analogue signal, while the IO resembles binary code.

Formula 1 - With the black F, and the red pattern signifying speed on display, the 1 comes in when you look at the negative space between the two

BMW - The white sections in the middle represent the parts of a moving propeller, while the blue segments represent the sky

Carrefour - The white space between these arrows also spells out a 'C' for Carrefour

Toblerone - A white bear is hidden in the negative space in the yellow mountain

Baskin Robbins - The number 31 is hidden in the Baskin Robbins logo. This represents the number of flavours of ice cream the firm sells

Gillette - The Gillette logo features two blade shape cuts in the G and i, representing the sharp presicion of the firm's razors

Le Tour de France - Hidden within the Tour de France logo is a man riding a bicycle, with the 'R' representing the man, and the T, O and U representing the back of his bike



I used to design logos for fun in the past - not any more

I have got one of my logos on here - it is an old one I created when I was starting out:

[Anthea]

Please click on image to enlarge:


‘Şehîd Ronahî Youth Centre’ to open in London

The ‘Şehîd Ronahî Youth Centre’ will open on the 28th of January 2017 with a ceremony in the capital of England, London.

The ceremony is organised by Ciwanên Azad (Free Youth Movement), Jinên Ciwanên Azad UK (Young Free Women’s Movement), YXK UK (Kurdistan Students Union UK) and JXK UK (Women Students for Kurdistan).

Ciwanên Azad UK invited everyone to the opening of the ‘Şehîd Ronahî Youth Centre’ at the Kurdish Community Centre in Green Lanes, describing it as a historic step for the Free Youth Movement (Ciwanen Azad) in the UK as well as the Europe wide Free Youth Movement.

Related statement by Ciwanên Azad UK said the followings:

“We are experiencing a time in which capitalist modernity is fluttering for survival. In its centuries-old hegemony, capitalist modernity and its nation-state system have failed humanity. The youth have been one of the most enslaved sections of society by the patriarchy, strengthened and deepened by Capitalist-Modernity. The dynamic creativity of the youth are considered a threat by the state, this is why young people continue to be hungry for change.

Our Youth Centre will serve as an autonomous space for Kurdish youth and their comrades in London. The resistances across Kurdistan is a source of hope for all revolutionaries around the world, therefore, we will be opening this Youth Centre for youth to organise, to better defend themselves. Through learning the philosophy of our ideological leader Abdullah Ocalan, Democratic Modernity, young people will turn all fields of their lives into fields of self-defence and fields of resistance.

The autonomous Youth Centre is a reaction to the traumas diaspora-youth are inflicted with. The gang culture, drug abuse and suicide rate of the youth who are children of migrants are no coincidence. These tragedies are a result of a lack of belonging, this is a particularly tragic reality for Kurdish Youth, usually forced to migrate from a country in which they had to live their identities and cultures in secret, to a country in which they still do not belong to. In many cases, the youth are susceptible to the glitz and glamour of Capitalist-Modernity and start living meaningless lives, in the false name of individual ‘freedom’.

‘Freedom is to fight’, Sakine Cansiz once said. Freedom is to fight for a meaningful existence. We invite you to explore that meaning together. We have decided to name this Youth Centre after one of the martyrs of the Paris massacre, Leyla Saylemez (nom de guerre: Ronahî). Ronahî grew up in the heart of Europe, in Germany and met with the Kurdish Freedom Movement in her University years. Joining the resistance of the Kurdish Youth Movement in her teens, she started her rebellion against the system she grew up in. Especially as a young woman, she showed us all how to fight against this brutal system which attempts to enslave the spirit of the youth. Along with 2 other comrades, Sakine Cansiz and Fidan Dogan, she was assassinated in 2013 as a result of a collaboration between International powers and the Turkish state. This political assassination proves the power of the youth and women and how much they are seen as a threat by the system. For this reason, with the opening of our Şehîd Ronahî Youth Centre, we promise to carry the torch of freedom left behind by our comrades of resistance. We pledge to exterminate colonialism with revolutionary revenge!”

[Anthea]

I hope Londoner is not suffering from the pollution

The thick fog in London has trapped the fumes and the pollution levels there are VERY HIGH

Fortunately, cows do not make a great deal of pollution

There are times when I wish that I was closer to London - I would have liked to go to the youth-club opening and catch up with a few friends

[Piling]

Paris has serious problem of pollution also.

Duhok is OK

[Anthea]

Paris has serious problem of pollution also.

Duhok is OK

We are both lucky

I do not know about Paris but much of London is at sea level - it is rather similar to a basin and tends to trap the pollution

[Londoner]

I hope Londoner is not suffering from the pollution

The thick fog in London has trapped the fumes and the pollution levels there are VERY HIGH

Fortunately, cows do not make a great deal of pollution

There are times when I wish that I was closer to London - I would have liked to go to the youth-club opening and catch up with a few friends

I am ok but fed up with cold. It has been always under zero for the last few days. Luckily two weeks ago I fitted a new combi boiler. it keeps the house very warm. Now both my cats sleep in my room because of the cold. Today I went to Heathrow airport to pick up some one. it took me almost two hours to cross London because of the cold and fog. Today later by afternoon weather became quiet fair in London. Well that is the weather here and we have to live with it.

For the last many weeks my backyard was full of sacks of building rubble. Today the builder came and removed all of it. He did me some building works but left all the rubble on the alleyway at the back of my house. Because of complains, I had to put all the rubbles in black sacks and put them inside my back yard. He ignored ll my calls to remove them. Finally I fed up with him and left the following message on his face book yesterday morning:

Dear Sir

You will soon discover a lot of building rubbish dumped in front of the door of your office to prevent you to go inside or outside of your office. This rubbish is the same rubbish you damped illegally in the alleyway at the back of my house.

Today he removed the rubbish and begged me to remove the message on his facebook.

[Anthea]

Hello Londoner

Glad you are alright apart from a touch of frostbite

You will soon discover a lot of building rubbish dumped in front of the door of your office to prevent you to go inside or outside of your office. This rubbish is the same rubbish you damped illegally in the alleyway at the back of my house.

Today he removed the rubbish and begged me to remove the message on his facebook.

Absolutely brilliant

[Anthea]

Burns Night is annually celebrated in Scotland on or around January 25. It commemorates the life of the bard (poet) Robert Burns, who was born on January 25, 1759. The day also celebrates Burns' contribution to Scottish culture. His best known work is Auld Lang Syne.

What is Burns night and who was Robert Burns?

It's a night that features whisky, haggis and poetry in honour of 'Rabbie' Burns - but why and how is it celebrated?

Burns Night, held in honour of Scotland's most famous poet Robert Burns, is celebrated at the end of January every year.

The night is a way to celebrate the life of the 18th century bard and it falls on his birthday - January 25.

The tradition started a few years after the poet's death in 1796, when his friends commemorated his career on the date of his death (July 21) each year.

So began the Burns Supper, and more than two centuries later it is has become a nationwide event with recitals of the poet's works and a haggis dinner.



Who was Robert Burns?

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist who is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland.

Of all the poets who have written in the Scottish language, Burns is most well-known, although much of his writing is also in standard English and a light Scots dialect.

Burns, also known as Rabbie Burns, the Bard of Ayrshire and various other names and epithets is considered to be a pioneer of the Romantic movement.

After his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world.

Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the greatest Scot by the Scottish public in a vote run by Scottish television channel STV, narrowly beating William 'Braveheart' Wallace.

Link to Full Article - Photos - Videos:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... Burns.html

[Londoner]

a haggis dinner.

This reminds with Caledonian club, where I was working as silver service waiter. There was a special room for Scots to eat haggis. The feast always started with bag pipe music. The guests used to spill some wiskey on their head.

[Anthea]

Must have been fun there last night

[Piling]

@Anthea : Have you ever eat a Scottish haggis ?

[Anthea]

@Anthea : Have you ever eat a Scottish haggis ?

No, because I never eat meat

[Anthea]

I am fed-up with English weather

Yesterday (Monday) it was almost tee shirt weather with bright sunshine and temp of 18c

Now the wind is getting up and the temp could be 10 degrees lower today

In a few days time we are expected to have GALES

By the end of next week we could have SNOW

[Anthea]

Backlash after Primark pulls 'fantastically offensive' Walking Dead T-shirt



Primark has stopped selling a T-shirt featuring words from a nursery rhyme after a shopper complained that it was "fantastically offensive".

But now there's a backlash on social media, with some complaining it's an example of customers being "over-sensitive".

The T-shirt in question is licensed merchandise from The Walking Dead.

It features the rhyme "eeny meeny miny moe", which has a racist origin.



The tune has typically been used by children as a counting rhyme and some early versions of it included references to offensive terms for black people.

Along with the words, the T-shirt also features an image of a baseball bat and barbed wire.

The rhyme features in a scene in The Walking Dead when one character is deciding which person in a group they are going to kill.

"The T-shirt in question is licensed merchandise for the US television series, The Walking Dead, and the quote and image are taken directly from the show," Primark said in a statement.

"Any offence caused by its design was wholly unintentional and Primark sincerely apologises for this.

"Primark has removed the product from sale."

Customer Ian Lucraft, who complained about the top to Primark, and his wife Gwen had been in a Sheffield branch of the store when they spotted the item of clothing.

"We were shocked when we came face to face with a new T-shirt with a racially explicit graphic and text," he told The Sheffield Star.

"It was fantastically offensive and I can only assume that no-one in the process of ordering it knew what they were doing, or were aware of its subliminal messages.

"The graphic has a large American baseball bat, wrapped round with barbed wire, and covered with blood.

"This image relates directly to the practice of assaulting black people in America.

"It is directly threatening of a racist assault, and if I were black and were faced by a wearer I would know just where I stood."

But others have criticised Primark for removing the item from sale.

Some still support the retailers decision.

Other versions of the T-shirt remain on sale by online retailers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/3 ... ad-t-shirt