Cost of War

I'm not political, but I found it staggering to see how much the American government is spending on Iraq! Just stumbled across it as I wasted time on the net. It has got me thinking though, how much has Britain spent on Iraq and other useful stuff like that?

So it transpires before the end of 2006, the British Government has spent nearly 7 BILLION QUID, which of course, is a big sum of money. Check out the news article here back in November. Now of course, this makes up only a small part of the near £400 Billion Britain spends every year.

So THAT then got me thinking, what could you do with £7 Billion?
Here's a few ideas.

1) Cancel the total debt of a developing country (using World Bank figures for what countries owe), maybe Belize, or Lesotho, or Kenya (c. £4'000'000)
2) Go with a friend to visit the Titanic two and a half miles underwater (£28'500 x2)
3) Get as close to space as possible without leaving the atmosphere (£15'999), or actually go into space for 5 minutes (£63'299)
4)Get a wax version of myself, then get wax versions of my mates, and put them in a giant 5 a side football table, or in dubious positions with other well known celebrities (£150'000 x10 friends; £75'000 for table; £150'000 for other celebrities)
5) Take a romantic holiday for two to the South Pole (£25'999 x2)

A better Top 5 might be:

1) Pay for 166'905 families to send a child to Secondary School for 5 years in Britain (circa. £7 billion)
2) Make up the shortfall the government 'needs' to replace road surfaces, that wreck cars and can increase the chances of accidents (£1 billion)
3) Order, print and distribute 4'666'666'666 bibles across Asia (£7 billion)
4) Distribute 85 million gospel study guides on all four Gospels from Emmaus Bible School (£7 Billion)
5) Roughly £15 a month, over a year, could rehabilitate a borehole with a pump - providing water for up to 250 people in somewhere like Zambia, so that's £180/yr, so you could service 38'888'888 boreholes across the world, affecting 1 billion people for 10 years.

It's crazy to think the difference our government could make to the world if they wanted to.

Journey's End

There is definitely something so final about funerals. No-one likes to be faced with death, though it's the only sure fire thing that you know will definitely happen in your life, yet still no-one bets on it.

Maybe it impresses upon you the fact you haven't accomplished all that you set out to when you were young. Chances came and went and you never took them, or maybe even someone came and went, and you never held on to them. Maybe the little work you've done never made you fully happy, or maybe the lots of work you've done made others unhappy. Maybe you never spent time with one person, maybe you spent too much with various persons. Maybe you never told or showed those closest to you that underneath all of life's rubbish, you actually do love them. Who knows, all you do know is that at the end of it you're going to be dust, and no amount of money, friends, achievements or apologies are going to change that.

Except if you believe in God and Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. And I don't just mean any God, I mean the one true God, the God of the Bible. John 3:16, one of the most well known verses in the world, explains why. So when our time on earth is finished, our bodies will pass away but our souls will return home to be with our Saviour. God loved each one of us so much, that despite how badly we get on, all the crap that we do, He still put His Son on the cross for me, and for you.

There was a girl named Charitie L. Bancroft, born in Ireland, who 140 years ago decided to write a song that would encapsulate how she felt about her salvation. The song was "Before the Throne of God Above".

"My name is graven on His hands,

My name is written on His heart;

I know that while in Heaven He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart."

How amazing to think that God knows me by name, for my name is on His heart. Hallelujah! So no matter when I die, for when it happens it's going to be a friggin joyous occassion. Sure people might be upset, but I pray not for long, because God has taken me to be with Him where I can sit it out waiting with loved ones that have gone before, and for loved ones that are coming.

People call death Journey's end, but it's not because it's the last stop and it's final, it's because you finally get to celebrate and enjoy yourself after taking all that time to get there. It's like finally coming home after being away for a long time; there's not a feeling like it.

The Weekend

Recently I have managed to attend the gym on a weekly basis, but this has been hampered by my self-inflicted weight gain. On Friday I had dinner at the Cuan (Strangford), where I dined on starter, main and dessert, all in great abundance. On Saturday following a cooked lunch of bacon, sausage, potato and cabbage, I went on to have my dinner that night consisting of pizzas and tortilla chips. It was at this point I noticed I have begun to look a bit more rotund around the midsection. On Sunday I had cooked lunch again, except this time it resembled a medieval banquet, and there were no scraps to throw out to the poor because I ate them all. Last night I then dined on hot sweet chilli shredded chicken from my local oriental establishment (Red Dragon). By now my flat-ish stomach had begun to look like a bag of wet sand concealed under my jumper.

You may have seen me cruising around Belfast in my new BM (x). It is a pleasure to behold, and as I am bordering unfit again, I'm taking it up to the park this afternoon for a rake around. There's a dirt track as well, so might try to get some "sweet airs".

Anywho, I was bowling on Saturday and managed to win with only 115 points. I would like someone to challenge me in order I may better myself. I know looking at that score you would have to be outta your mind to take on such a champion as myself, but give it a shot.

2nd Day in the Office

So presently I am sitting, about to commence another day in the office after having cycled over on an morning not dissimilar to those experienced within the Arctic Circle. My ears are red, cold, and I now have a small pain in my inner ear, no doubt the preliminary stages of frostbite.

Yesterday I got to do more advertising work, having finished the Rally Sunday invites (short of 100 at the moment but that'll be rectified), and typed up and printed a few other things. Generally though I have answered email questions and requests, and this part of the job has to be the best. Except for the Congratulations card I got last week, which was actually a religious death threat, I am thoroughly enjoying the communication aspect of the job, getting to talk to people I normally wouldn't have the chance to.

I also would like to mention that last night I attended Windsor Park for the Wales game and was disappointed we didn't score, but happy with the draw. We were sitting five rows from the sideline so had the opportunity to begin all the favorite chants, especially "Who are ya?". The highlight of the match had to be, beginning that chant, and as we finished our demonstration of fine articulation, a man behind us said "Who is he right enough?". Legendary.