An article on the Beeb's website entitled: Life: A medical condition has addressed the growing trend of psychoanalysts wanting to categorise all aspects of human behaviour as some form of abnormality.

New "disorders" (which in that annoyingly american style always seem to have a 3-letter acronym) are being "identified" on a daily basis by the pyschobabble brigade, all of whom are keen to make their mark in the American Psychiatric Association 'bible' and then reap the material rewards from the book deals, lecture circuit tours, overpriced consulting and other pseudo-academic bollocks that invariably follows.

And of course, every new disorder has to have it's own drug, because America has been conditioned to believe that all of life's problems can be solved with a pill. The pharma multinationals are keen to oblige which probably explains why an estimated 10% of US children take Ritalin to combat behaviour problems. Here in jolly old blighty, home of the stiff upper lip we are doing almost as badly: ten percent of British kids are now regarded as having a clinically recognisable mental disorder and 34 million prescriptions for anti-depressants were written in the UK alone in 2007.

If you listen carefully, you can hear the cash registers ringing...

But ironically, at the same time as drug companies who hold the patents for Ritalin, Prosac and other such medications are making a fortune, plans to make a polypill available to all men aged over 50 and women aged over 60 in order to drastically reduce instances of heart attacks and strokes have been met with almost total indifference by the pharma industry.

The polypill (rather badly dubbed the "magic bullet" by the press pundits) is a simple cocktail of:-

• 100mg Asprin
• 20mg Simvastatin: statin to lower cholesterol
• 12.5 mg Hydrochlorothiazide: diuretic to remove excess water from tissues
• 5mg Ramipril: relaxes arterial muscles
• 50mg Atenolol: beta blocker to regulate the heartbeat

All the ingredients are freely available and therefore very cheap to produce (because the patents have all expired). There is a wealth of scientific evidence proving their benefits as individual components. As a single compound, the evidence from initial human trials is very positive, with positive benefits (including sharply reducing cholesterol and blood pressure levels). Researchers say the the pill has the potential to "halve cardiovascular events in average middle-aged individuals".

And yet not one western drug company has expressed an interest in handling the manufacture and distribution of the Polypill.

At least any lingering doubt about where the true loyalty of the drug industry lies is now resolved.

In a slight departure from our normal style and content, and especially for my fellow RedDot CMS sufferers, I modestly offer my first white paper, submitted to Markus Giesen's Unofficial RedDot CMS blog. Markus has turned it into a proper article and made it available to download as well. Hope you find it useful...

To our non-technical audience, I submit my most profound apologies. There's nothing more annoying than too much techie talk in a blog that is not especially targeted at the techies in question. It starts with a little bit of techie stuff and before you know it the content has all suddenly changed to reference Star Wars, Dr.Who and other such Sci-fi bollocks. Well that is not going to happen here!

We will all just have to agree that the only Sci-Fi series worth a damn was Firefly and be done with it!

Now that we've settled that and in order to keep you amused, I have enclosed a link to a cool little website below, which lets you write on Einstein's blackboard...and save the image.

Albert sure took a great photo (and weirdly my Landlord looks just like him!).

Yesterday, I was telling a couple of my work colleagues about what follows, which I received in an e-mail some time ago.

By some weird serindipity, my Dad e-mailed me a copy last night and it struck me as too much of a coincidence to ignore. So here it is...

Congratulations to all the kids who were born in the 1920's, 30's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. We had no child-proof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks some of us took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a Ute on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. Takeaway food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Burger King.

Even though all the shops closed at 6pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no-one actually died from this.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Fruit Tingles and some fire crackers to blow up frogs and lizards with. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...

We were always outside playing!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and cubby houses and played in creek beds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no videogames at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape or DVD movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms............we had friends and we went outside and found them.

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits or health and safety regulations that arose from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross buns at Easter time.......no really!

We were given BB guns and sling shots for our 10th birthdays, we rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet! Footy had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Our teachers used to belt us with big sticks and leather straps and bully's always ruled the playground at school. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade'

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 70 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all!

And you are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?

I really love some of the things that StumbleUpon throws up every now and again.

Last night, I stumbled upon quite a cool little web form, which allows you to design your own hell. You simply select categories of the condemned (or a few notorious individuals), organise them accordingly into the various circles of your hell and push the button. Hey presto! out pops an HTML snippet containing the 9 circles of hell and their special guest stars as selected by you.

The version I found was a bit Americanised so I've updated mine to give it a flavour more in keeping with the British, but which I'm sure will get a few nods from readers in other countries too.

I wondered if the punishments should also be updated to be more relevant to the new Millenium as well (for example the idea of freezing George Bush in ice is far less appealing than forcing him to watch Michael Moore films for all eternity. Or making Bill Gates use the only Windows PC in a totally open-source / Mac-OS environment with the CTRL+ALT+D keys disabled...WHILE being immersed in excrement has real appeal).

Who should be added and how should they be punished? We want to hear your comments and suggestions!

I think Dante would've approved...

As St Paddy's day rolled around, I found myself working out the London office for a change.

This worked out to be very handy, because there was a half-decent Irish pub just round the corner. As always on St Paddy's day, they were handing out the silly hats and glow sticks whenever large quantities of Guinness were purchased. As it was the 250th anniversary of Guinness, the lads and I of course obliged and by the time we finished up some 6 hours later, we had amassed a pretty fair collection of both hats and glowsticks as you can see from the Photos.

Eventually, I staggered off into the darkness, wearing a hat covered in glow sticks. I had wisely elected to leave the car at home and I slept comfortably on the train all the way back to Basingstoke. As I stumbled over the doorstep and carefully swayed into the kitchen, I was asked "How many pints?".

All I could say was "Count the glowsticks. I'm off to bed".

*Hic*

I recently read that Ryanair is considering the idea of charging passengers to use the toilet, on Ryanair flights.

What I want to know is...what exactly are they going to do if someone needs to use the bog and cant or wont pay? I don't imagine that passengers will be very pleased when some hapless victim of this ludicrous policy is forced to relieve themselves on their own seat.

And I bet they dont mention THAT in their ads.

Meanwhile, perhaps this is next on the: "things-we-can-use-to-screw-money-out-of-the-feckin-eijits" list that is allegedly required reading for all Ryanair execs:-

The recent news of the murder of a policeman and two soldiers in Northern Ireland in quick succession by rogue elements of the IRA was a worrying story, reminding us all of the bad old days of the troubles which we all thought had finally been resolved with the truce a little over 10 years ago.

But those responsible for these unprovoked attacks must have been a bit surprised with the results.

First off was the universal condemnation of their actions from all parts of the political spectrum, including Sinn Fein who went as far as urging anyone with information to contact the police; a previously unprecedented move, in view of the history of collusion between elements of the now defunct RUC and Loyalist Paramilitaries.

More important was the public display of outrage against those responsible for the killings as thousands of silent protesters from both sides of the divide joined rallies that took place in Belfast, Lisburn, Newry, Downpatrick and Londonderry.

With the overwhelming majority of both the Orange and Green preferring the path of peace and diplomacy, it is difficult to see any political legitimacy in the dissident movement as they clearly do not act on behalf of any significant proportion of the population of Northern Ireland. Without any political mandate, the dissidents are reduced to the level of common thugs and criminals, even as they make increasingly desperate attempts to continue perpetuating the cycle of violence.

Those responsible will be caught...and soon.

...Because there's nowhere to run to or hide anymore.

After a long bout of illness and general malaise, thanks to a particularly persistant bug, (combined with a general case of the blues bought on by all the crap news and weather), I thought it was about time I lightened up a bit...by making a list of some of the things that make me smile (in no particular order).

30 things that make me smile

• Clear blue skies and sunshine on my face or shoulders.
• A full moon in a starry sky.
• The sound of waves breaking on a beach.
• The taste of the first pint at the pub with your mates when you feel one of those nights coming on.
• The smell of a bonfire and the sound of a guitar being tuned up.
• A reliable car, a full tank of gas, an open road and no schedule.
• The smell of earth in a forest just after the rain stops.
• The sound of laughter coming from a friend's house, just before you knock on the door.
• The sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that you get being in an aircraft as it takes off.
• Watching any wild animal go about it's business when it's unaware of your presence.
• The sound of crickets through an open window on a summer night.
• The smell of bacon and eggs frying on a Saturday morning.
• Sunrises and / or Sunsets over any large body of water.
• The feeling of stepping out onto the street in a strange country for the first time.
• Funny one-liners and rapier-sharp retorts.
• Any form of jammin' - especially after a 'J'.
• The smell of freshly brewed coffee and the taste of the first bite of a freshly baked sticky bun.
• The tingle down your spine when you hear a piece of music that really moves you.
• The smell of Jasmine and Wisteria in full bloom.
• An unexpected phone call from a pal you haven't heard from in awhile, who just phoned to see how you are doing.
• The heat of hot water on your back during a shower on a cold morning.
• Finding a fiver in your pocket when you thought you were broke.
• Diving into the sea for the first time on a summer holiday.
• Walking through the gates on the first day of an open-air festival (especially with your mates).
• The sound of a cat purring while it's asleep on your lap.
• Playing a newly learned song note-perfect for the first time.
• The smell of a barbeque being fired up.
• The sound and smell of kicking your way through piles of autumn leaves.
• Drinking Irish coffee and watching snow through a window (especially when you don't have to drive anywhere).
• Doing something to make someone special to you smile as well.

What's on your list?