World Of Tourism

The world is a mixture of tall, short, fat, thin and that only helps to diversify a race that thrives on individuality. We crave to be different because in doing so we become unique. I was told from a very young age that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it's whats on the inside that counts and never judge a book by it's cover. These cliche's have been my moral compass when the urge to judge arises and I find myself in a narrow minded moment. As time goes by, with everything in life, the only constant we can rely on is change and learn that in order to survive the society we live in today, we need to adapt and faster than ever before.

I couldn't help but wonder, as we learn the new ways of living from social networking to dating via webcam, how much are we willing to compromise our core beliefs? No one meets organically anymore, there are no coffee shop glances, or random meetings in the park, those are the stuff movies are made of, so what choice do we have? The World Wide Web. Dating site upon dating site has been launched and millions of people are googling their perfect match as we speak and as cold as this might seem, people are doing it more and more often.

I think it's the easiest option and although there are dangers involved there are many cases of people finding their happily ever after and retelling their hilarious "I met him on the internet" story. But as I mentioned before, times are changing and with it, the dating website world, thanks to a new dating service called beautifulpeople.com. and this is where my own core beliefs are challenged.

As the name states, you have to be beautiful to join. Who determines your beauty you ask? There is a rating system that all the current members use for judging and if you get the correct rating, you're in! Lucky you! For all the 'ugly' people in the world, it's a self esteem destroyer and a reminder of how superficial we can be. It angers me to think that a site like this could actually exist, but let's be honest, this is pretty small fry compared to some others I've come across, however it still stings the heart with it's blatant and hurtful message.

This is why people all over the world have serious issues about their appearance, I say we boycott beautifulpeople.com who's with me??

If you think carefully about what binds you to the society we live in today, it's money. Money makes the world go round and some of us thrive on that. But we've lost our connection to the earth. No I am not a raging hippie so please don't dismiss what I'm writing as crazy babble, I'm a consumer who loves to shop and distract myself from the stresses of life by slipping on a shiny new pair of shoes, but as I'm sure we all know that high doesn't last long, that's why we continue spending.

So one day, a movie was recommended to me, Into the Wild. It was a story that touched me deeply, a young man trying to break free from the confines of a repressing society and make a soulful journey to Alaska in search of himself and peace. Now, I also believe that he was running away from a past that haunted him and that he should have been a little more prepared in the wild and because he wasn't it ultimately cost him his life. But I can't help but feel a deep sense of admiration for him, he had the courage to do what most of us would consider our very worst fear. To be honest, I think we are conditioned to live in fear, with fear comes control but I suppose I'm sounding crazy enough as it is with what I'm saying.

Mark Boyle is another example of letting it go and riding the wave called nature. Relying completely on the earth to sustain you. He was a successful businessman, who found the stresses of modern day living soul destroying so he gave it all up and now relies mostly on what the earth can provide for him. He claims it has brought him a peace that is unrivaled and that he wouldn't trade this life he's chosen for anything. That's quite a statement. I don't think that this life can be anything glamorous, the things we take for granted would be considered luxuries. Hot water, fridge, running water, are a few of the things that spring to my mind. But for a higher sense of purpose, direction and peace would you be willing to give all that up? I can't say that I'm totally repulsed by the idea.

I've come to realize that people love to take. In fact that is an understatement. It's nearing the end of the year, things are slowing down and I can tell you that after having a baby and still juggling a career, I am beyond tired. It's the kind of tired that makes every muscle in your body ache. I've spent late nights at my full time job, I've freelanced for my part time job which included late nights and weekends and to top it all off I had to adapt to being a new mother. I've conquered the beast, in this case, a high paced society that expects too much from its dedicated citizens.

Unfortunately I'm one of those poor souls I like to refer to as people pleasers. It's probably a deep rooted self esteem issue but all I know for sure is that it's slowly killing me. While everyone seems to cruise through this life, I'm clawing my way through it and with about 20 people strapped to my back. When I'm busy, I'll get asked a favor, When I'm relaxing someone will feel the need to steal those precious moments with a phone call or a visit to bitch about their lives, when I'm tired I'll have to be the dedicated shoulder to cry on. I'm the problem solver, the only person willing to listen, help, assist, use..........So I started wondering why I am the only one on this god forsaken Island alone, standing on high ground and thanking the powers that be that I still have my morals in tact. I'm not a selfish person that listens to stories with a disinterested face, doesn't want to help solve a problem, doesn't want to be the person over the moon for your success or even that much needed shoulder to cry on.

But I've been transported to the other extreme, I'm the door mat. I'm here for everyone to rub their feet on for their own sense of well being. There is no balance and I'm beginning to doubt if there actually exists a balance. What's the solution? oh wait.....hold on.....I'm taking a moment, MY MOMENT. If that seems selfish.....tough luck. People need to learn to stop taking and start giving and I don't see that happening any time soon. So in the meantime, I've decided to try the silent route.....the unavailable route.....the route that will hopefully afford me five minutes of my own. Wish me luck.

I've always been fascinated by stories of people going on a rampage and killing masses of people in a defiant shootout. Perhaps fascinated is a strong word, more like morbidly intrigued. What makes a person like that tick? When does the fantasy of hurting people that have hurt you, become a reality? I'm sure many of us have suffered some kind of ridicule in our lives, we all dwell on our imperfections and human beings can be cruel, that's a lesson we're taught from a very young age.

I remember the first time I heard about the Columbine killings. Two young, mislead boys ridiculed, degraded for years and finally teaming up to create a chaos that will never be forgotten. Many innocent people, who had no part in the torment of these teenagers, died. That makes me wonder if they believed they had to kill as many people, regardless of their part in the ridicule, to prove their point? The frightening fact is that this seems to be a growing trend. When the world turns its back on you, get a gun and kill everyone in your path.

The latest story I've come across is about George Sodini, who had been rejected by women practically his whole life, he decided that the best way to deal with that pain would be to walk into the gym he frequented and open fire on all the women who had in some way rejected his advances. He, like many others, killed himself afterwards. He killed three women and injured nine.

The disturbing aspect of many of these stories is that all the warning signs were there and no one bothered to take them seriously. I've always believed that if someone threatened suicide, it was something to be taken seriously, a cry for help. These shooters, from all parts of the world, had blogs, websites, spoke to friends and family, how could no one have noticed a ticking time bomb? When someone posts the date of their death, like George Sodini, on their blog surely it would be your moral obligation to find out what's going on and help this person?

People are scared, scared of getting involved and immersing themselves in something they think could be potentially dangerous. My question is, how many lives could have be saved if someone had taken the initiative to find out why this person was in so much pain and how to get this person help? I urge everyone out there to be more vigilant because the next victim could be someone near and dear to you.

I've blogged before about how oversexed people have become and when I read the news, I'm only more convinced that I'm right. What concerns me the most is that children are no longer having childhoods that consist of imaginary games, climbing trees, riding bikes, enjoying being young and carefree. Our society has created Generation S. A generation filled with sex, drugs and violence. Children as young as 9 are having sex and participating in activities that would make any parent's skin crawl. Just recently two 13 year old girls were gang raped, in two separate incidents, by underage boys who have escaped charges because of their age. One of the girls was mentally disabled.

A proposal is going to be brought forward in September by Partido Popular to ask parliament to draw up a reform of the Juvenile Law so that it will allow criminal charges to be placed against juveniles under the age of 14 in the most serious of cases. Those aged 13 and under cannot be charged under current legislation. When we, as a society, need to start doing this, alarm bells should be ringing in all of our heads.

We are creating a generation of people that will ultimately run the country, our future judges, presidents, lawyers, doctors and the fact that they are oversexed, revel in violence and want to get high, scares me to my core. These kids weren't born like that, they didn't come into this world wanting to gang rape innocent little girls and escape reality by getting high, somewhere along the line, whether it be the media, society or the parents, we are failing.

Another story that caught my eye was a 15 year old girl that was having sex with a 21 year old adult, when she didn't want to see him anymore, he posted their sexcapade on the internet for all to see. My question is, why is a 15 year old girl having casual sex with a man that clearly has issues? Where are the parents? I can understand that parents cannot be around all the time and cannot watch their children like hawks but the level of control is clearly dwindling and should be brought up a notch. We need to equip children with the skills and the knowledge to make well informed decisions, if this is how society continues to function. Communication, motivation and understanding need to be top on our list of priorities for the safety and well being of our children.

I'm scared for our generation as well as future ones, I want my daughter to live a happy, healthy, productive life but with society the way it is today, is that even an option?

Through an interesting article at ThinkSpain, comes a link to an online archive of more than 3,000 photographs 'comprising the so-called 'Rojo File' which documents life in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War', and which has just been made available by the Ministry of Culture here.As is indicated in the ThinkSpain article, the 'Rojo File' was used both for anti-Fascist propaganda purposes and

Elisa Beni, the press officer of the Madrid High Court of Justice (and wife of High Court Judge Javier Gómez Bermúdez) has been fired from her job for publishing a book about her husband's experiences during the trial last year of the Madrid train bombers. The General Council of the Judiciary, Spain's judicial watchdog, accused both she and her husband of professional misconduct.So it's not just

Well, that didn't last long, did it? I've been reading over the past few days about the controversy caused by the words selected by the Spanish Olympic Committee (Comité Olímpico Español [COE]) to allow Spaniards to sing words when their national hymn is being played. However, the words remind too many people of the Franco era, quite apart from the fact that they are (in the opinion of this

(Please see UPDATE at end)One of the curiosities of Spain is that there are no words in its national anthem. Apparently this has caused disquiet amongst people in situations where the anthem is played and they must stand there mute, whereas citizens from most other countries can yell out their own anthem's words at the top of their voices. This has been particularly evident at sporting events.

I take this opportunity to wish everyone who passes this way the 'Compliments of the Season'. I shall be busy with entertaining until the middle of next week so may not get much chance to post more here before then. With my Very Best Wishes for a Joyous Christmas and a Peaceful, Happy and Prosperous 2008My homemade Christmas Cake with very Scottish seasonal trimmings Click here to see a

The Spanish congress has on Thursday altered the civil code in Spain by deleting the clause which permits parents to "reasonably and moderately correct" their children, thus ending parents' right to physically chastise them.

A couple of items I noticed in the Spanish press today:Vignette 1 ...A woman in Gines, Seville has been gaoled for four months (reduced from an original sentence of 9 months) for breaking Spain's gender violence laws by slapping her husband in front of their two daughters. The couple are in the process of separating and were having an argument about the custoidy of their children.Vignette 2 ...A

The Spanish government has set up a telephone helpline for victims of domestic violence; calls made to "016" will not appear in the 'last number dialled' list or on the bill. Although it has only now been launched formally, it has been operational since 3rd September on a trial basis and has already received 445 calls. The poignant voice-over on the advertisements for this service: "For