THOUGHTFUL STORIES

Islamic preacher Zakir Naik got into a taxi in London and said aloud to the taxi driver:

“Brother, please turn off the radio, because as the Holy Qur'an commands, I am not allowed to listen to music, because in the time of the Prophet there was no music, especially western music, which is the music of the disbelievers.”

The taxi driver politely turned off the radio, stopped the taxi and opened the door.

Zakir asked him: “What are you doing bro...”

The taxi driver answered politely: -

“In the era of the Prophet: There were no taxis. There were no bombs. There were no shortcuts. There were no loudspeakers in the mosques to wake up newborns, the elderly and the sick at eerie hours. There were no suicide bombings. There was no AK 47. There was peace everywhere... So shut up, step outside and wait for a camel.'

John: I thought you would like this piece above as I am sick of how we bow and scrape to immigrants and foreign cultures and let them dictate how we behave here in the UK and this above is a fine example. We have a rich and valuable culture but allow other cultures to take precedence over ours for fear of upsetting others and I say FUCK'EM - EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM - who expect and DEMAND we change to their way of thinking, worshipping, and so forth and I say if you want to live in MY COUNTRY - then YOU ABIDE BY OUR CULTURE, OUR RULES AND OUR WAY OF DOING THINGS - or fuck off back to where you came from - the country you left as the culture you want to use on us here was not good enough where you came from, so sort yourself out, live by our cultural rules or fuck off.

It is that simple John. Robert T.

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I want a copy of this Monopoly board.

Doctors at a hospital in Texas informed George Pickering that his son was in a state of brain death. They explained that his son showed "no brain activity" and the decision had been made to remove life support. Pickering, however, was unconvinced by their assessment and resorted to extreme measures by drawing a firearm. He demanded that the doctors continue their efforts to save his son's life, threatening to use the gun if they refused. This situation escalated into a tense standoff lasting three hours, during which Pickering faced off against the police while the medical team performed additional tests on his son. The hospital was secured under lockdown as police negotiators tried to reason with Pickering, who remained adamant. In a pivotal moment, Pickering's son, previously declared braindead, responded to his father's request to squeeze his hand, indicating cognitive presence. Following this revelation, Pickering peacefully surrendered to the authorities. George Pickering II subsequently served a prison sentence of 11 months. Remarkably, his son experienced a complete recovery.

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Compassion story: She said, “Don't call the doctor, I want to fall asleep peacefully, with your hand in mine.”

He told her about the past, how they met, their first kiss. they didn't cry, they smiled. They didn't regret anything, they were grateful. Then she repeated softly,

'I love you forever!'

He returned her words, gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. She closed her eyes and fell asleep peacefully with her hand in his.

Love is what matters because man comes into this world with nothing other than love and leaves with nothing other than love. Profession, career, bank account, our goods are just tools, nothing more. Everything stays here. Love, as if there was nothing more important in your life.

If you were not moved by this, then you are a cold hearted reptile.

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Just spent 2 hrs with a elderly man at Kroger. It started with me just smiling at him, making eye contact.... As I walked past him he looked like he needed something. I went back and asked him if I could help him. Tears welled up in his eyes and he said,

"I have colon cancer and I have had a really bad accident, if I get up out of this cart everyone will know... What should I do?".

The look of his dignity lost left me with a lump in my throat. From that moment on, Kroger staff quickly fetched us wipes, undergarments and discreetly took him to their employer bathroom Area where he was given clothes. He cried and apologized. He said he had to hurry his wife was at home alone. When we walked to the register we found his groceries all bagged and somehow paid for.

He cried harder. He said he fought in Vietnam and Korean War and loved his country, but up until day he said he thought his country forgot about him.

We both cried and I shared with him my own struggles and fears... He gave me words of wisdom and encouraged me that maybe after all, humanity still does care about one another.

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73-year-old priest accused of helping plan a climate protest on the M25 has been forced to lead church services while wearing a GPS ankle tag for two years.

Tim Hewes, from Oxfordshire, is among at least ten members of Just Stop Oil who were given the tags despite not having been convicted of a crime. Hewes, who previously sewed his lips shut o ( WTF? ) utside a newspaper office, is also barred from going on the M25 or taking part in any actions to oppose the climate crisis.

On one occasion, Hewes said he was thrown into the back of a police van and locked up overnight after being accused of breaking his bail conditions because his ankle monitor failed to charge. He says the tag was faulty and he was released once the court realised.

“Now if there’s a knock at the door, I think, well, it’s either the tag team or the police,” he told openDemocracy.

The difficulty with the GPS is that, although I don’t have a curfew, I’ve still got to sleep at home.

“I asked my solicitor: ‘What if I want to go and see the dawn, or something like that?’ and she said: ‘Well, between 12 and five is probably about your limit.’ So, that would rule out midnight mass… Why should I not be able to do that? You know where I am. ( You really should have thought about that before breaking the law . )

“We’re supposed to be able to protest… The perpetrators of real, serious harm in this country are actually in government. What are we supposed to do?”

Hewes, who was speaking to openDemocracy in December and was in fact able to attend midnight mass without a hitch on Christmas Day, had been arrested in November 2022 and charged with conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. He has worn the tag since January 2023 after being held on remand at Wandsworth Prison for six weeks, and has to keep it on until his trial begins in February 2025. Tags must be worn at all times for as long as the court decides.

While he denies the charge, Hewes’s tag prohibits him from going on the M25 and taking part in or organising climate protests. Following previous action with other climate campaign groups such as Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Christian Climate Action, he says he has faced increasingly harsh treatment from the police and justice system.

( WTF did he expect, a pat on the back - a 5 star prison cell - an award for services to protest ? )

Hewes was arrested on a Sunday afternoon. He said he had just put his collar on as he prepared to take part in a church service when he looked out of the window and saw his garden “swarming with police”.

“They shouted up: ‘If you don't come down and open the door, we’re going to break it down now.’ And they got what they call a ‘big red key’, which is a euphemism for the battering ram. It was scary.”

He added: “Sunday afternoon was just never the same for me.”

Hewes said he was initially embarrassed to lead services with his tag on, and believes climate activists are being heavily criminalised in order to silence and discredit them. ( Bit like the church has done to non believers for centuries and at least he wasn't put on the bonfire and murdered by the very institution he now hides behind - the church )

“Suella Braverman talked about Just Stop Oil in the same breath as terrorists,” he told openDemocracy.

“That’s outrageous. We’re peaceful protesters. The climate crisis is an existential threat.”

Braverman, the former home secretary who was forced out after inciting a far-right mob to storm the Cenotaph in November, referred to the activist group as “extremists” in 2022 and said they were “out of control” following a series of protests on the M25.

Marcin Wawrzyn, 42 – who was arrested after 20 minutes of ‘slow marching’ with Just Stop Oil in November – told openDemocracy that being given a tag felt “unfair” and “disproportionate”.

“It felt like a punishment and for what?” he said. “I was marching in the road – where else would you protest? The judges of ECHR say roads are the most appropriate places for protests and anything under 90 minutes cannot be seen as disruptive.”

Wawrzyn was charged under section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023, which bans any act that “interferes with the use or operation of any key national infrastructure”. He has pleaded not guilty, and his case is expected to begin in 2025.

Under the conditions of his tag, Wawrzyn was prohibited from crossing the River Thames from his home in Wandsworth, south-west London, and from going into north London for a month. Though his tag has now been removed, he described feeling isolated. ( Ahhh poor baby )

“Despite my work being in north London, I was excluded from my office for a month, which is something a court shouldn’t do. But that’s what happened to me. Mentally, it was harsh – I felt like a dog on a leash.

“I felt detached and like I was prevented from having human contact with people I really care about.”

Hewes agreed. “I’m a marked and tracked man,” he said. “It’s really frustrating. As activists, one of the things that helps our mental health is the fact that you are trying to do something, however feeble it might appear to other people.”

Last month, Just Stop Oil wrote to the Met Police after the force claimed that policing the group’s protests cost almost £20m. Just Stop Oil said that “arresting non-violent grandmothers, teenagers, vicars, medics, engineers” was a “waste” of resources.

But Wawrzyn added that campaigners have not been deterred by the crackdown. “The fact that the state reacts in such a way only emboldens us and gives us the assurance that they're actually noticing what we’re doing and they are actively fighting us,” he said. “If anything, we’re galvanised and we’re drawing more and more people in.”

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Charles, a new retiree-greeter at Wal-Mart, just couldn't seem to get to work on time. Every day he was 5, 10, 15 minutes late. But he was a good worker, really tidy, clean-shaven, sharp-minded and a real credit to the company and obviously demonstrating their "Older Person Friendly" policies. One day the boss called him into the office for a talk.

"Charles, I have to tell you, I like your work ethic, you do a bang-up job when you finally get here, but your being late so often is quite bothersome."

"Yes sir, I know, and I am working on it."

"Well good, you are a team player. That's what I like to hear.”

“Yes sir, I understand your concern and I’ll try harder.”

Seeming puzzled, the manager went on to comment,

“It's odd though you're coming in late. I know you're retired from the Armed Forces. What did they say to you there if you showed up in the morning so late and so often?"

The old man looked down at the floor, then smiled. He chuckled quietly, then said with a grin,

"They usually saluted and said: ‘Good morning General, can I get your coffee sir?’"

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Dad Took Daughter Out For Dinner, Strangers’ Note Stops Everything

A dad was enjoying an evening out with his young daughter when their dining experience came to an unexpected halt. While out for dinner, the waitress brought over a note. Apparently, two strangers had been watching him with his little girl, and what they said left him in tears at his table.

Even though he was a single dad, it was obvious that the unnamed man had his priorities straight. Wanting to make his little girl feel special, the single dad decided to take his 6-year-old daughter out for a special dinner date, but he was not expecting that the meal would end in tears.

He could have taken out his current flame, but instead, he made his little girl his date on a special night. But, things were going to take a very unexpected turn. As the two enjoyed their meal at a restaurant called The Old Spaghetti Factory, they had no idea that two strangers were watching them as they giggled, laughed, and chowed down on some delicious pasta.

But, everything was about to come to light as the waitress headed to their table. As he sat there with his child, oblivious to being watched, the waitress slipped him a note. “I won’t lie, I teared up at the table,” he admitted in a post on Imgur, where he shared an image of the note he received.

“Hi, there! Sorry to spy, but my husband and I saw you out with your little date,” the message began. The strangers then left the dad in tears as they complimented his parenting. “[We] were so impressed with what a great Dad you are,” they continued. But, there was so much more to this message.

Then, they revealed an all too familiar reality, exposing the reason they had to say something to this single dad as he sat with his precious daughter. “From two adults who grew up without dads,” they humbly admitted, “it’s so important to have a male role model at a young age.”

Compliments weren’t the only surprise the strangers had for the father-daughter duo, though. “Keep up the good work Dad! Dinner is on us!” their note concluded, letting the dad know they wanted to reward him for doing what a man should but all too many don’t.

While this heartwarming story shows the kindness that can be found in our world today, it also points to a real problem. Too many fathers don’t take the time to be real dads to their children. Sadly, according to the Washington Times, fifteen million U.S. children, or 1 in 3, live without a father. Although the number of dads in homes is on the decline, their importance in their children’s lives is not.

Having a father figure is beneficial on so many levels, including the fact that children with fathers have a better chance of expressing emotions properly. Dads offer a different perspective and give children another person to go to and rely on, which results in more confidence when tackling new things. When a father is absent, it can have devastating consequences.

The statistics speak for themselves:

63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.

90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.

85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Center for Disease Control)

80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes –14 times the average. (Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26)

71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (National Principals Association Report)

Perhaps this is why the strangers in this story really wanted to draw attention to what they saw. If we just stop to look around, we will notice that there is good to be found in nearly every situation — it’s just so often overlooked. In an increasingly fatherless society, we can still find dads who show their daughters and sons the love they deserve. We need to give the good as much attention as the bad usually gets, to more accurately reflect the world we live in.

Good parents, whether fathers or mothers, single or married, should be complimented and applauded. Parenting is a hard job, but so many of us step up to give it our all every day. Although it’s our responsibility and something we should do, it’s still nice to have it recognized. So, just as single dad said on Imgur, “Thank you, random strangers. Thank you.”

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North Shore PST Constables Dana and Erin found themselves in a bit of a prickly situation while they were refuelling their vehicle at a local service station recently. They heard a strange sound of plastic dragging from the other side of the forecourt. As Erin satisfied her craving for BP chicken bites, Dana investigated the source of the sound and found a hedgehog with its head stuck inside a bubble tea cup.

Dana immediately switched from police officer to an animal conservationist and put on her gloves to delicately remove the plastic cup from the hedgehog's head.

After the cup was removed, she carefully picked up the little critter and placed it in a nearby bush. Thanks to Dana's quick thinking and kind actions, the hedgehog could carry on with their evening, and Erin finally got her chicken bites.

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