Christmas thought

Christmas is a time of peace and reflection. One thing I was thinking about during Christmas is what my ancestors were like.

All non inbred people on this planet have 2 parents, 4 grandparents and 8 great grandparents that are their ancestors.
That means 14 people contributed to the DNA of one person in just 3 generations.
I wonder what all those people were like. When you think about it. The family tree of every person is very big.  Every person on this planet has many ancestors and most of them are a mystery.

I have 16 great great grandparents. They all have personalities and stories. So many ancestors, so many story's and so much to learn about. Life is such a mystery.

Paradise in mind

In my view, if people don't want to listen to me then it's not my fault. I'm not a rude person or aggressive. The trouble is sometimes when I speak I am asking a question. I literally get no answer because they brush off my speech. If a person is not careful, they will be frustrated because they are trying to ask a question or say something important and they are silenced by other people's unwillingness to listen.

To balance this problem I walk through a village that is inside my mind. It is a mental sanctuary that was left over from a past time tradgedy.  It is beautiful flat terrain surrounded by a dyke on three sides and is peaceful. In this village there are metal plants that shimmer in the sunlight and the sun is very big and hangs on the horizon continuously. It is a paradise that is more beautiful than any place on Earth that I have ever seen. In this place I build virtual machines and try to see if they could work if they were real. I get comfort and joy from doing this. In this place nothing matters except joy.

People in this time and world spend so much time looking at screens that they have forgotten how to listen. Because eye contact and face expression plays a role in conversation.

Art confusion

The year 2017 is nearly over and one thing that has not changed is my confusion about modern abstract art.

When I see modern art I don't understand it, I see a meaningless expression. I also don't understand why it is so valuable.

I could make a random scribble on paper and get paid many thousands of bucks if I knew the right people.
It's not fair in my view because I work so hard and I get a small payment. Someone draws a wonky line on paper and they get more than my annual salary.
If the art work had meaning and was fine or showed outstanding skill then I would accept it's value. But to me, it is not outstanding to create meaningless abstract images. If I was to find out that my tax money pays for these projects then I would be angry. I don't want to be angry so I don't try to find out. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I think that most beings that read my writings don't exist in my time. They are not born yet or made yet. If you are reading this in the distant future from my time and don't understand modern abstract art then you are not alone, I share your confusion.

Irish bottleneck

When I voted to leave the EU in 2016, I thought that leaving would be straightforward. I thought we were halfway out already, we never took the currency and we are not in the Schengen zone. I thought it was an opportunity to close our biggest tax loophole because I knew that some of the countries in the EU were tax havens yet they share a common market with us.

I didn't realize that the EU was acting as a proxy union between North and South Ireland and allowing movement of goods and people between the two states. The problem is on both sides because if we import goods into the UK from outside the EU then the Irish border could become a back door to cheat the tariffs and bring goods into the EU, none of the EU countries would accept that. The other problem is that North and South Ireland want to keep a soft border. I don't know how this problem could be solved without investing large amounts of money. 

The only thing I can think of is to add rebate zone where goods are taxed and the tax is reimbursed straight away and special ID cards are given to North Ireland citizens that would allow them to enter the rest of the UK and also ID cards that would let the Republic of Island citizens only enter North Ireland without a visa.This would cost a lot of money because many staff would be needed and the system itself would cost a lot of money.

The other option would be to let North Ireland have a referendum on if they should stay in the UK. I can't think of other solutions. 

Jerusalem & Trump

Earlier in the week, President Donald Trump of America officially recognized Jerusalem as the Capital city of Israel. The decision was very unpopular around the world. In my view, a holy city does not belong to anyone. If the city belongs to a government then that city is no longer Holy. If a Christian goes to the church or Muslim goes to a Mosque or Jew to the Synagogue, they will all claim those places are holy and that they belong to the whole community, the same is true of a holy city. The city should belong to itself and no government or ruler should ever own it.

The Palestinian community also claim ownership of the city. To them it must be a huge blow. I'm sure they feel like their identity is being removed from the land.

I lack the ability and the will to even try to solve the problems that exist in the middle East. If the experts can't do it then I will assume that I have no answer.

Today I am grateful for peace because it can be taken away at any time and peace was not always available.