( Attack of the Christmas trees!! )

So here I sit with the script for lesson 38 in front of me. I will begin filming today, but I must be honest and say that I have not put much effort into my video work lately. Over a week has passed since I last posted a lesson onto my Youtube channel. So I must roll my sleeves up and get some work done on the new lesson. I'm generally not a lazy man, but sometimes I feel my energy fades a little and I cannot concentrate on what I'm doing. I suppose it is age!

October is here and we can say a hearty goodbye to September, a month that saw us all move one step closer to a world recession. The reason why I mention this is because two days ago I was in the town centre and during this shopping trip I found myself stunned to find that some stores were selling Christmas items, including Christmas trees and cards. This was on September 29th! I wonder how many people are thinking about their Christmas shopping right now? I would guess, not many!

Of course while many people are finding it harder to afford the basic things in life, they can still manage to treat themselves to things like Alcohol and Cigarettes. Which brings me to my next subject. Today the government is insisting that horrible photographs of people with Cancer and even dead people should be put on the back of cigarette packets as a way of warning people about the dangers of smoking. During the past five years we have been encouraging people to give up the habit because it is not good for their health. This latest idea is good, but I think that it is very hypocritical. After all, the consumption of beer and wine causes many terrible diseases and kills many thousands each year. Liver disease and general anti-social behaviour are just two of the main results of our drinking habit. Yet there is no big warning on bottles of wine and no photograph of a rotting Liver on the side of a can of beer. Surely if the government is so worried about our health then they would also encourage us to drink less. Of course they will not do this because a large amount of Tax is taken from the sale of alcohol, so fewer drinkers will mean less money for the Government. But if that is the case, why did they allow the reduction in smokers? After all, Cigarettes also provide a nice income for the Government from Tax. That is easy to answer. We have been given a new Vice to get addicted to. Say hello to Gambling! Yes it is true. The laws surrounding gambling have been relaxed, so any place can offer the chance for people to gamble their money away. More Casinos, more lottery cards and many more Internet gambling sites have been created, making it easier than ever to take a chance with lady luck! Needless to say the people who run these gambling businesses must give a portion of the profit as Tax to the Government. Put simply, Gambling is the new smoking! So instead of us being addicted to cigarettes, we are now being encouraged to become addicted to throwing our money away on games where the chance of winning anything is very small. In this very uncertain economic climate, the last thing we should be doing is throwing our money away on pointless games. Maybe on the back of a lottery ticket there could be a photograph of a homeless man sleeping in the gutter. Just to remind us of the consequences of what is just another life destroying Vice.


(Misterduncan).............................................................................