I am normal afterall

So, first entry of the week and it’s already Thursday. I don’t know where the week has gone. They gave me a new laptop at work. I did need one. The old one was creaking under the strain, and there was no “n” key. I guess this means I’m not going to be laid off in the near future. I still haven’t set up everything, but I’m up and running.

I returned to the doctor last night to retest my blood pressure. It turns out I am normal afterall. Last week’s high reading was just a blip apparently. The doctor couldn’t explain it. He suggested maybe the nurse I saw last week was responsible for raising my blood pressure. She was pretty, but I am probably old enough to be her father sadly.

Since the ruling last week that banned a local council in Exeter from saying prayers during council meetings, there has been much discussion about religion and its place in British life, some of it quite vitriolic. The oddest comments so far have come from Baroness Warsi, who has made some wild claims and claimed that British society is under threat from the rising risk of “militant secularism”. Ironic that she accuses the atheist movement of being militant whist defending Chritsians. I see the Salvation “army” continue to “fight the good fight”, and then write about it in “the war cry”. And I note they still sing “onward Christian soldiers”, and Christ the royal master still “leans against the foe”.

There are also people arguing that the secularist movement is trying to force secular opinions on society. Again, it’s an ironic argument. I’m not allowed to go shopping after 4pm on a Sunday because the Christian movement insists that special rules must apply to everyone on the sabbeth. Christian organisations also enjoy tax breaks, essentially funded by me against my will. And of course Christians are protected by the law from militant opposition anyway, whereas atheists are not. If a Christian walked up my local highstreet with a banner reading, “atheism is evil”, there’s not much anyone could do about it. I wonder how far I would get if I tried the same stunt with a banner reading, “Christianity is evil”.

On a lighter note, Paul McCartney has given up smoking pot, apparently because he feels a sense of responsibility to his young daughter. Well done Paul, odd that you didn’t feel that sense of responsibility until your fifth child reached the age of eight.

Epic fail of the week; according to the Telegraph, “A British Whitney Houston fan accidentally set fire to her Manchester house during a candle-lit vigil for the star” – Doh! I’m not sure the word “accidentally” was strictly necessary in that buy line. She’s hardly likely to have torched her house deliberately is she?

And finally, Chris Huhne and his ex-wife are due to make their first court appearance today charged with perverting the course of justice. I don’t know if they have to enter pleas, but I think Huhne is committed to pleading not guilty since he has consistently denied any wrongdoing. His ex-wife on the other hand has already signed and affidavit essentially confirming that she committed the crime, which kind of means she’s got to plead guilty.