Respect

I keep hearing the opinion voiced (by great luminaries including my
Mother and John Humphrys) that respect and trust need to be earned.

I fundamentally disagree.

I think that all humans should be automatically respected, firstly
purely on the basis of being human beings (in a
responsibilities/rights sort of way) and as individuals in
themselves. Similarly, everybody should be inherently trusted.

Only when someone does something to suggest that they shouldn't be
trusted or respected should you reduce the amount of trust or respect
that you have for them.

Of course you cannot respect someone for a specific action that they
have done until you know about it, but at the same time you cannot
reduce your respect for someone until you know about some fault that
they have perpetrated. I do not think that the same comparisons are
applicable to trust, you can either trust someone absolutely or less
than absolutely and the default position should always be absolute
trust in my mind. I would also suggest that the respect due for some
person's actions should be considered of less worth than the respect
for their humanity and individuality.

Sayings

In hell it is Christmas everyday.

If everybody met their responsibilities, there would be no need for rights.

Boanthropy

Moooo!

Exercise One

As a part of my preparation for NaNo, I am undertaking some writing
exercises. This was a five minute piece to develop my descriptive
skills. The idea came from andrea on the EveryTomorrow forum.

***

The water of the lake was dark and grey, mirroring the sky above it.
As the clouds churned and boiled, the surface of the lake was whipped
into little white caps by the strong wind. A Coot, her black
feathers and white flash blending into the choppy water rushed for
the shore, with her frightened chick trailing behind.

Trees bent over in the wind peered into the deep depths of water,
seeking a solace from the atmosphere that would end only in their
dissolution in the water's embrace. The lake held life for the
plants and animals the surrounded it, but it held the ultimate power
over them as well. Life bringer as life taker.

New toy

Somebody reads my blog! Yay!

That same somebody, in a vile and rude alliance with Julian and Nick
Gollop (of X-COM and Lasersquad fame) forced me into buying a
Nintendo DS and Mr Driller. It is very small. But very fun.