Last post

Decided to dedicate my blogging time to my journal and my disabled rights blog http://disabledknowyourrights.blogspot.com/ and so am closing this blog. Will keep it open for a few days and then close it down.

It's been fun learning how to write and this has only ever been for 'fun' and for my own benefit and to give me something to stop the pain monster chasing. The new blog has a purpose and I'm happy for that. It's there to name and shame companies and organisations who are and have treated disabled people badly so if you know any let me know and I'll do the investigating.

Cez

Deplomacy And The Forgotten Hostage

BBC journalist Alan Johnson was kidnapped by person's unknown while working in the Gaza Strip three weeks ago.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) denounced the kidnapping of a BBC correspondent in the Gaza Strip back on the 13th of March
The leftist DFLP described as this as “outside the context of the values and ethics of the Palestinian people's struggle.”

Alan Johnston, a British national had been working for the BBC in the Gaza Strip for three years. He was aware that numerous journalists who were kidnapped during 2006. Most of whom, were released within hours or at the most within a few days. No one was injured and demands ranged from jobs in the Gazan economy devastated by closure, or the release of political prisoners.

Is he safe NOW? Nobody knows? An unconfirmed report a week after his abduction stated he was well but how could anyone truly know?

Every news report starts with "15 hostages in Iran" which while important to their families and also important that we as a nation deal with this issue quickly, we must not neglect the forgotten hostages yet we have?

It is obvious why Iran will not realease the UK hostages and it has nothing to do with "Not showing respect rubbish"

Iran wants the world to accept that our troops were in THEIR waters and not Iraq's desputed waters. This area is long argued about and apparently this marine hostage taking tactic occurred in 2004 but Blair produced evidence to state that the troops were in Iraqi waters and the marines were released. Hasn't worked this time then? How fortunate for Iran when the 15 marines checked a Iranian merchant ship in this desputed sea! You then have yet another crisis which the UK have to deal with and it takes the focus off the fact that Iran is at the centre of highly critisized nuclear programme and even the Russians, their former ally is in danger of abandoning them.

What else does Iran have to gain with this act?

Why keep Faye Turney on the TV all of the time humilating her and the UK government?

The poor woman is in obvious distress and it is a disgusting ploy. Iran is not keeping our service people in accordance to the rules of the Geneva Convention but then again I did not think that was likely.

Disgusting........

Last time we had to work with Iran, it was over that baffoon of a man Salmon Rushdie and his Satanic Verses. That took 15 years of diplomatic bridge building to get back to square one. We have to remember that we live in different worlds and have different beliefs too. But I don't think the hostage taking has anything to do with what we believe in. It is much bigger than that.

Humilliating our great service people who give their lives for our country and humiliating our government is Iran's little game Our government I am sure are working behind the scenes and the UN has now stepped in to critisize Iran. Maybe sanctions or should I say further sanctions may help? Problem there is they only hurt the poorest people and they are the ones who you need to help. I wonder if Blair decided to call upon his best mate over the pond? There is no way that Iran would wish to upset the USA........Sometimes it has paid to be buddy buddy politcally with Mr Bush (whether agreeing with him is another matter).

Who on earth is going to help Alan Johnson?

My last words are for him. A pray for his family who must be worried sick for his safety, lets hope wherever he is, he's healthy and will be home soon.

Mugabe

I can't work out why world leaders are not shouting - SCREAMING from the rooftops about this man?

Maybe Zimbabwe is not as valuable as Iraq or I'm sure there would have been an excuse to bomb it by now and remove the evil dictator who runs the country with an iron fist spreading hatred and fear.

So why I ask again isn't South Africa for instance yelling. You'd think as the closest neighbour that at least they would have something to say but yet again nothing......It is almost as though the World is keeping quiet and hoping Mugabe would drop dread (which I've never wished for anyone apart from him). Karma is a wonderful thing isn't it?

I have been trying to think of the good things Mugabe has done for his country but I can't think of any? There is no democracy, his citizens are starving and his policies are crucifying them further.

Torture for some - Literally!

So who's going to speak out for the citizens of Zimabwe?

No one it seems...........

Stay on till 18 or PRISON?

WHAT?

The government has announced it's new rule that it wants kids to stay on at school till the age of 18 or failing that they have to find some sort of training scheme. If not these unlucky souls face being given an anti social behaviour order and if they still can't find a job then they face the prospect of PRISON!

I have a sneaky feeling that Alan Johnson MP, and Minister for Idiotic Ideas....sorry Education Secretary, has been drinking heavily or maybe he has a serious drug problem because this solution to a problem is absurd?

Point one, only a few short weeks ago the government stated there were no spaces in the country's prisons and young offender centres; point two, it is difficult enough to catch the kids who are 'bunking off' and they still haven't got that right yet.

I wonder with this government if they sit in their parlimentary rooms eating hash cakes, drinking trebles and making the most ridiculous decisions because of this. Nothing makes sense anymore and it appears as though the Labour party have put their hands in the air and are saying "We don't want to be in charge any more" We're cr*p and let someone else take over".

"Education, Education, Education" were the buzz words at the beginning of the Labour party rule and now the only answers we have are old man Liberal and fuddy fuzzy Tory.

Can I emigrate?

The Chimp Hero

I have had many happy weekends down in Dorset and we always go along to Monkey World

http://www.monkeyworld.co.uk/topic.php?TopicID=1&Template=standard

to see the chimps, orangutans and assorted primates. The kids then go off to the play area and hang on the ropes and play on the slides and look just like the chimps we've just visited.

We have watched Monkey World grow from in 1987, being a small primate sanctury set up by Jim and Alison Cronin which was set up to rescue Spanish chimps from being abused, to being a world renowned rescue centre.

Sadly Jim Cronin died on Saturday 17 March in his home city of New York. But his legacy will live on with all of the primates he and his wife saved from abuse not only from the streets of Spain but Tailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the list goes on.

Respect to you dear Jim

Heather Mills Grrrr

This is more about the rule than about her but I still can't stand the woman. In fact she should be more sensitive and is only out to look out for number one. She's always in the press and uses her own rule of her "Conservation issues". What rot! But I digress.....

Heather Mills lives in the same part of the world as me and she because she has had an amputation she has a 'Blue Badge'. This blue badge allows the person who owns the car to park it where ever they would like as long as the car is not parked in a loading area. Blue badges are difficult to get hold of and you are only supposed to have them if you fulfill a strict criteria and admittedly having an amputation is one of the rules and so Heather deserves a badge in that case; that said, I have a friend who can hardly walk due to chronic and severe daily pain and cannot get a blue badge from the same city authority that gave the baddge to Heather? My friend does not have an amputation and has to fulfil another rule of "Not being able to walk 50 or 100metres (depending on the authority) without severe pain" Sometimes my friend can walk this distance and she does not want to lie, yet other times she spends her days in bed.

Heather Mills scored 18/30 on America's Dancing with the Stars so is she disabled or is she able-bodied? Does she deserve that blue badge and SHOULD people with amputations have to fulfil the same criteria as those without amputations because I feel the rule is a farce.

This is not the first time that Heather Mills has made me angry and it has nothing to do with what the press print. I can watch a TV and see what comes out of her mouth and I do not like it. She's out for what she can get, (IMHO) I cannot be the only disabled person to be angry with her and her gigantic 4X4. I'll be honest I do not even park it on double yellow lines like she does!
I know I'm having a good old moan here but it has been building up for some time. I felt sorry for her and even liked her at one point, however not any more.

Heather Mills, do some good for good causes and stop publisizing YOURSELF!
(No picture and no further mention of the woman)

The Tragedy Of A Mother

Sally Clark aged 42 died Thursday night her family have announced. To those in other countries, you will not know who Sally Clark is? To those in this country, do you remember?

(Sally Clark at the beginning of her trial with the 2nd photo at her release)

Sally Clark was a solicitor who was found guilty of murder, not just any murder but that of her two baby boys. The conviction was squashed and the Paediatricain who gave evidence has since become his own victim because his evidence does not have any! Other cases have been quashed, another mother convicted of murdering two of her children, Angela Cannings, also walked free after this Paediatrician's evidence was found to be unsafe.

So we go back to Sally Clark. She'd been released from Prison in 2003 back to her husband and remaining baby boy. It seems Sally never got over the death of her babies and it is too soon to say how she died. The coroner will give his reasons, but Sally had no major illnesses but was not well if that makes sense. The rumours are of an alcoholic who binge drank.

Whaever the rumours I hope she is at peace now. This case opened up so many other cases and many other parents were released from prison because of it. Some people are still in prison and obviously sometimes parents do commit terrible acts and those have to serve their time (Forever in my view).

As I said.....Hope she is at peace.

Charity

Tomorrow is Red Nose Day...........

And all around the country (except in my daughter's school because the don't do Red Nose Day!) People will be doning red attire and doing daft acts of daftness; Comic Relief Does Fame Academy will come to an end and Tara Palmer Posh-kinson may just walk away with it as she is that bad. The TV extravaganza will start at 7pm with the all those famous comedians we all know and love presenting the show for the next 34 thousand hours........And God willing millions will be raised for charities in our country and abroad.

And I'm moaning? I think Comic Relief is a good charity in itself but there are so many charities and how do we know as customers which ones are more beneficial to those who need it and those who are more full of greedy managers. I wish there could be a star chart (can't you tell I'm a mum?) or some sort of recognition for how charitible organisations are run? I never know who to give to and so I end up not giving to much at all. The last one was Children in Need.

The big ones always do well and that also bugs me.........Too many choices.

And What Did Your Child Learn At School Today?

The UK Government has now announced that the teaching of languages is to become compulsory from the age of seven. Great!

My son is in a class where he has children who struggle to speak English and to demand they learn a second language is an absolute joke; and he's in a school where there are not too many children where English is a second language! Kids should be busy playing until they're six but in this country we try and cram them ful of facts as early as possible and so many of them switch off.

EDUCATION EDUCATION EDUCATION was Tony Blair's forceful first words when he first became Prime Minister. I've been a school governor for the vast majority of the time that he has been Prime Minister and as far as I'm concerned his words are hollow. The bright ones succeed as they always will but the others? WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?

I've been writing in my journal about how upset I have been because my daughter is failing to gain subject knowledge in most of her classes because she is a quiet child in general but she likes to chat with her friends in class. She's not naughty. No one will say she's naughty, only chatty but all her teachers like her. There will be thousands upon thousands of other children like MY daughter who are passing under the radar and underachieving. Teachers do not tell you until the end of the year when it's too late. teachers have hundreds of kids at senior school and they cannot contact every parent......Some WILL NOT contact parents because their self esteem is so low because they are worn down by a terrible education system.

Far from fixing an education system, this government is now pulling it apart. Publishing SATs tests do not work. All they do is make schools push those bright kids to get the high grades. I'll be honest here, my daughter is just as bright as my son but my son will fly because he has a confidence in himself. Maybe if these tests were taken away from kids at such a young age and children were not pushed to succeed, children like my daughter, would not feel under so poorly about themselves?

Maybe we should be looking at changing other parts of the education system and not adding unnecessary aspects to it? Who is going to be teaching the kids French? Where is the money to pay for this? Speaking as a governor, what normally happens is this; the Government gives schools a sum of money to pay for this sort of thing for the first year or sometimes two. Then it withdraws 40% and expects the governing body of the school to find the 40%. The following year it will be a 60/40 split and then 80/20 and of course after about five years the governors have to ask the parent to help pay for the teaching because the Government have reduced the support to NOTHING.

We all know Jamie Oliver and how school meals have supposedly changed and the government have put money in? How much you ask? They reduced the money from other areas to put it into the Jamie Oliver pot AND parents in general are having to pay an extra TWENTY PENCE more for their child's meal. Also, some schools have to pay more because their governing body's are not subsidising the costs. We had to subsidise our school meals and the governing body took money out of another cost area to pay for this. Last year we lost a member of staff because we could not afford the level of staffing we had. We had NO MONEY LEFT and went into the red. Every school in our area went into the red and the government did not care. They did nothing to help us.

In those immortal words of ABBA,
'MONEY MONEY MONEY, MUST BE FUNNY, IN A RICH MAN'S WORLD'

Bed Bugs

Little Luke Day holds one of the saddest records in history.

Just 36 hours after his birth, he was the youngest person to die after contracting the hospital superbug MRSA.

When I was in hospital in 2005, the man in the bed next to me - Terence was his name and an absolutely lovely man he was, he had also contracted MRSA. He was suffering from cancer and having treatment too and he had this superbag BUT he was in the bed next to me with an extremely violently runny tmmy and all night I could hear the outcome of this. OMG it was dire however being British I put up with it and in fact Terence and I became good buddies over the next week. Terence managed to bag himself a private room, unforetunately without it's own loo and he had to walk through the lady's ward to get to the bathroom. Before you think it he was no pervert, just a decent mature gentleman and we made each other laugh........He still had his bugs though. When I was in hospital, a TV show that had been recorded earlier at that exact hospital, was shown. It was not the same wards but it could had been. I felt ashamed to watch it but I did...and so did the nursing staff. They knew that poor nursing happened and they knew that poor cleanliness happened too. I for example wanted a shower but because it was a ward of older ladies, the shower was never used. They used to bring the old dears a bowl and that was it. The staff had to clear out the shower room and once they had done that, other ladies decided they also wanted showers too but some of them needed help and this put more pressure on staff. I was actually shunned by a couple of the staff because I was the one who started 'SHOWERGATE'.

I managed to pick up a UTI which would not shift and in fact I ALWAYS pick up a UTI!

Last time, I picked up some sort of virus which left me with a cough, sore throat and husky voice and it still hasn't gone? I wonder if a 'virus' is the reason for my lack of monthly! (lol)

Sadly little Luke did not stand a chance and I wonder if his parents knew what they were letting themselves in for? I have actually choosen PRIVATE SURGERY over the national health service locally because the hospital is so bad! My last two surgeries were further afield and alas I'm in need of a minor op locally again..........Bless little Luke and I wish lessons were learned but they never are?

The bugs are still running the National Health Service.

Saturday Night Fight

Boxing is on the TV and for some odd reason I enjoy watching two grown men beating the c**p out of each other? I have no idea when this strange facination started - Maybe it's something about the brutishness that we do not allow in modern society anymore but only in the boxing ring? Maybe there's something about a man sweating and taking part in a truly masculine sport that turns me on? Nah it's not that! I'not turned on at all by it, but enjoy it and will stay up to watch a match and watch all of the matches at the Olympics too. In fact I like those more because there is less likelihood of someone being hurt.

Oh look, it's a boxing match on the TV on a Saturday night! Not anyone I recognise apart from the referee (Oh I am sad). It's John Simpson (Champion of GB) Booed by crowd V Derry Matthews 17 wins WBU Featherweight champion of the WORLD? Blimey never knew there was a WBU?

Off I go to watch the match......Good ref that.

Score later.

Endemol Et al....

Following this communication Five was contacted yesterday evening by Cheetah Television, a production subsidiary of Endemol UK and maker of Five’s afternoon quiz series, who raised an issue regarding this programme...........

Yet ANOTHER scandal involving a UK television company erupted into the public domain today when Five were forced to withdraw a phone in show and 'look into' all of their phone ins whether they are fake or not? Every channel now has had some sort of scandal attached over the past couple of weeks and WE the general public, have spent our hard earned money phoning in to competitions or attempt to speak to celebrities when there is absolutely no chance of succeeding as the shows would be recorded OR the winners already selected OR we would be told to ring yet another premium line after already ringing a premium line OR a person would be 'selected' and then told "Sorry you've not won this time, try again next time". The call rates vary and some are extremely OTT.

I am a big fan of Big Brother but this is another show where I have huge grievances. Endemol are the company behind this show and I've viewed the posts on forums bitch about Endemol and I am never one to follow the crowd and never join these particular threads. However, I cannot help feel it is time Endemol were put in the stocks for their treatment of the general public. Whilst we all have free will, many are duped into believing they HAVE TO call these high rate numbers to vote off contestants (who half way throught the week walk out after people have voted for them to go etc). BB have lost their sponser and not because of this nightmare but because of another nightmare of the so called 'racism row' which never was. How much longer that show can run is beyond me?

TV companies need to stand up and be responsible but so do WE. I've had my gripe about the former and now the latter must learn that they cannot always have something to blame! We live in a society where we do not take responsibility for our actions and it is about time we looked after ourselves. I was duped by BBC's Saturday cookery show at first but it soon hit me after a couple of weeks and James saying "We don't have time to take any calls today".....oh again James? Is this recorded? I didn't believe it was recored straight after the previous show though! I believed that when the BBC said that WE the public had equal chance to phone up and win the opportunity to be a guest on the show each week that was the truth.....Not the truth at all. So I was duped too. Other shows are easier to spot. Never phone up 20 times to a show which costs 75 pence a call. Utter madness but many people do.

TV companies need to clear up their acts and so do those people we need to learn from this too. Nothing is free.

Goodbye John Inman

I'M FREE! Yes I can hear those camp overtones now and the impressions ring out around the country today after the death of actor John Inman, 71 was announced.



I'm not going to do the pun about 'not free anymore' because that's vile but I couldn't help thinking it and I imagine him thinking it too. I was also trying to rack my brain to think of any other shows I could remember John Inman from but only his stint with the imaginary Grace Brothers came to mind. Back in those days he was not openly homosexual but a camp, middle aged man who lived with his mother (who he adored). No references were ever made to sexuality and it's made me think back to those ridiculous 70's sitcoms but oh how I STILL love them now! Give me a bit of Bless This House and I'm as happy as a pig in the preverbial or Reggie Perrin even better!

Goodbye Mr Inman. I suspect that Are You Being Served will be shown in tribute sometime this week and quite rightly too. John Inman and "I'M FREE!" were an institution.

John Inman
28 June 1935 – 8 March 2007

Soup-er Gran!

It's all over the UK news today but you have not heard (or live in another time dimension), Patricia Tabram, the grass growing granny, has been spared jail and is now said she will be standing against Welsh Secretary Peter Hain in the future election. She'll be running the country next.


Patricia Tabram, a retired chef aged 66, had admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply and had said that she had brought the cannabis in bulk for herself and for four friends. They all take the drug to relieve medical problems and Mrs Tabram had added the cannabis to her home-made biscuits, casseroles and soups and distributed these to her friends in need. The Judge today sentenced her to six months, suspended for two years because he did not want to make her into a Martyr by sending her to prison. Soup-er Gran is now saying she is going to stand against Mr Hain in his Neath constituency for the 'Legalise Cannabis Alliance'
She's quoted as saying; "There are quite a lot of candidates standing for the Alliance in Wales because the Welsh seem to know more of the facts and the history of cannabis. If I'm voted for, I'm going to promise people in this country I will fight for the rights of every man and woman to receive safe medication. It's going to be a hell of a long journey and I'll probably be dead before we win the argument."

YOU GO GRAN!

Granny cannabis-role has also written a book called 'Grandma Eats Cannabis' and is hoping to have it published and I PROMISE no more puns on the drug theme.

Mrs Tabram was introduced to a spliff in February 2004 and has found cannabis very helpful for her own needs. She has depression after finding her son dead back in the 70s and has neck and back pain from a car crash. I'm with her on this but there is a law in this country and the judge had to abide with it. This particular case has been rolling on for over two years or at least that's what it looks like from my reasearch. Mrs Tabram has had lots of press coverage but not much national exposure. Today she has certainly done that.

I was told by an um-named Doctor that my own pain needs are similar in some ways to MS patients and he then went on to say that he knows some patients who use cannabis to relieve their pain. He went on to say that if I could by chance ever get hold of some of this medically dubious drug, it may help me?

A friend has offered to make me hash biscuits. I've said no up until now however I would dearly love to get off those horrible drugs but not to become dependent on another one.

Well done Granny Pat.

Take That to my blog!

A bit of a light hearted entry today.

I used to be a secret Take That fan basically because I was too old to be a real Take That fan and it was not trendy then to be taken seriously. I don't know if it's trendy now and don't care but the good news is;
SINGLE NUMBER TWO IS NUMBER ONE!

Could it be magic? Ahhh I love the puns and I could let them roll of my tongue for hours if I had the energy but alas I have an MRI tomorrow and a six hour drive just to have the thing done. Again I know that I can have the MRI done at a more local Palace of the NHS but I prefer to travel on the government roads to nowhere.

Let it Shine! AHA Well done Take That and well done on your come back you clever boys.

Angelina another Mia Farrow?

According to reports, Angelina Jolie is about to adopt yet another child. This time it is a 3-4 year old Vietnamese boy she has already located.

So my topic and gripe is not only celebrity adoptions but people who think it is right to take children from their own countries and cultures and drop them in the middle of their (normally wealthy) families. Asian/ Afro -Carribean children will look different(obviously!) if adopted by white families and feel different no matter how many times they are told they are part of that family.

There are children in our countries desperate for homes. They also come in all shapes and sizes! (Please excuse me there but if you want to be trendy you can). There are so many needy kids who are crying out for love and it grates on me when I see these celebs swanning around and saying "It's OK".

IT IS NOT OK.

While I am certain the children are given love and every need is catered for which would not happen in their own country; why can't the people who have money, plough finances into the angencies that support children in their own countries? Surely this would be better?
Madonna's recent aquisition for instance is a good example here and I use my words wisely because that is how I see it. Little David's father still went to see him at the orphanage at every opportunity but now has no chance. He may think of his son being educated at a nice school etc but he must have loved his son to had made that journey to see him regularly. I hear Madonna supports agencies in David's home country and good for her.......I guess it is more Angelina Jolie who gets me more angry as she seem to think children are like a box of chocolates; she can have a child from every nationality!

Killer Weather

I have many friends Stateside and so when I turned on the TV half an hour ago to this 20 minutes ago to this news it stunned and terrified me. I knew of one friend who was completely snowed in and most of that area had been declared a 'state of emergency'.

But tragically the weather has taken even more of a turn in the US states of Alabama, Missouri and Georgia where At least 11 people have been killed after a series of tornadoes hit overnight.
President Bush has offered federal help to the affected areas.

Five people died when a school building was torn open by the twister in the southern Alabama town of Enterprise. The state's Emergency Management Agency said earlier that 17 people had died in Enterprise. But it later lowered the state death toll to seven, blaming initial miscommunication among officials.

At least three people died during storms in Georgia - two in Americus, when the Sumter Regional Hospital was hit by an apparent tornado.

Another tornado killed a girl in a mobile home in the Missouri town of Caulfield, officials said.
Alabama Governor Bob Riley, who sent 100 National Guard troops to Enterprise, said rescue workers has been moving debris to search for survivors at the school.

Television news footage showed helicopters landing near the wreckage.
The shredded building was surrounded by broken trees and overturned cars.
Emergency officials told local television that at least one teacher was among those killed at the school.

CNN quoted an eyewitness as saying he carried the bodies of two young girls out of the building.
Thursday's storms came just a month after a tornado killed about 20 people in central Florida.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all Americans who are having to face this devastating force of nature. Weather plays terrible tricks on us and there is absolutely nothing we can do.

Dirty petrol?

There's a probe into contaminated petrol (gasoline) brought from the Morrison and Tesco Supermarket petrol stations after complaints that it has caused damage to sensors in some car fuel systems. The effect is to cut power to prevent damage to the engine this in turn puts the car into 'Limp home' mode which my little car has and I know too well as I have had a damaged sensor which caused my car to go into limp home mode! Effective yes, Frustrating too and costly to repair if not insured or under warranty.

When I say some cars, it rather strangely is the more select cars ie Mercedes, Saab etc and the more elite cars within the middle of the range car sector?
Now there could be some truth in this story but so far tests have revealed NO irregularities.

Motorists in the south-east of England have been warned Today to be wary of engine problems after filling up their tanks. Those who's cars have been affected have been told by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, to keep their petrol receipts who also said: "Our advice is that motorists should keep all fuel receipts and note the mileage for each purchase.”
The SMMT advised drivers whose cars appeared to be affected to contact their car dealer or their car manufacturer’s customer service department for technical advice, and the Trading Standards Office for legal advice.

At least Tescos and Morrisons have held up their hands and said their have been some complaints (about 100). No other Supermarkets as of yet have said there is a problem with their fuel so it could be a small issue contained to a small amount of petrol stations? Lets hope so.

I have a diesel engine and we go to Sainsburys (thankfully) but as a total coincidence, we have had to have our sensor monitor replaced on a recall because my car went into limp home mode constantly from NEW. That had nothing to do with what we put into it.

I am concerned however that some people will catch on to this as a money making scheme and pretend that their issues with their cars are caused by 'contaminated petrol' and look for a quick buck?

The question is; are the extra additives which are put in be the supermarket own stations causing the problem? The fuel is much the same as what is supplied to other companies but this is a story that has legs.

Vitamins bad for your health?

Or a biased study?...........




A yahoo report today;http://uk.news.yahoo.com/28022007/140/vitamin-pills-increase-risk-death.html states that rather than helping increase your life expectancy, taking Vitamins A and E increases your risk of death! I've put a comment at the end of this article.


Millions use antioxidants Beta carotene and Vitamins A and E across the globe and it
has previously been alleged they helped protect against heart disease and cancer.

Scientists in Denmark, now say that antioxidants "significantly increase mortality". BUT critics said the finding was based largely on studies of people who were already chronically ill before they were treated with supplements!

The study related only to synthetic supplements and not to fruits and vegetables, which are natural and contain less concentrated levels of antioxidants.

Researchers did not pinpoint any biochemical mechanism that may be behind the increased death risk. But it may be that "by eliminating free radicals from our organism, we interfere with some essential defensive mechanisms," the study concluded.

The report stated that those taking Beta carotene and Vitamins A and E had a 5% higher death risk than those not using them.

It also found no evidence that Vitamin C increases longevity. Although Selenium tended to reduce mortality, more research is needed on that topic.

Speaking as someone who takes vitamins (not A or E but C), I'm always interested in these sorts of articles but this one has been taken out of context and reported correctly but incorectly, if you see what I mean? The results are absolute and truthful however this report needs to be added to many others before a declaration is made about the vitamins concerned.

1-66, so what is the question?

A) The speed my first ever car would travel in approximately 3o minutes? (Not 10 seconds like most modern cars!)..... ....Ah and there is my first car.

B) The numbers of the houses in my street?

C) The odds you could get on Helen Mirren walking away with the OSCAR for best actress for playing Queen Elizabeth II ........... No, that is Helen Mirren playing Betty I, I said Queen Elizabeth II! ....That's better.

The answer is A............No, it is actually A and C to be honest with you but A is only correct if you are going downhill. Yes one bookmaker is giving the staggering odds of 1-66 whereas others are being more cautious with 1-14. Dame Judy Dench has decided not to even turn up to this year's event and instead is staying at home while recovering from a knee op. Don't blame her to be honest. I feel rather sorry for Kate Winslet though, if only it was any other year then maybe she may have been more lucky? maybe there should be a catagory in the oscars for those who have multiple nominations and never seem to be the cats that get the cream? Penelope Cruz and Meryl Streep are also in the same catagory but lets be fair, Meryl has lots of awards, as does Judy and Penelope is a stunning woman and can afford to wait a while longer for an oscar and personally I don't like her as an actress anyway. There are better acresses in the supporting role for instance Jennifer Hudson who I've liked since American Idol days (Does it show I'm a big Idol fan?)

I am not going to be blogging with the results as the come up as I really cannot be bothered to stay up till the early hours, but if the bothersome mouse makes an appearance in my house then I may be up and about. We shall see.

Good luck to KATE and JENNIFER.

http://www.oscars.org/

Deadly trip

Yesterday evening 84 year old Margaret Masson from Glasgow died and eight others were seriously injured when several carriages were left on their sides after the Virgin London to Glasgow service derailed at Grayrigg, near Kendal in Cumbria UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6392181.stm

The link is for the story in pictures which were taken this morning at the remote site which could only be reached by a single track road. Obviously that made things much harder for the rescue services who struggled to get to the passengers - But DID!

The focus at the moment is on the points but as of yet there is no definative reason as to why the Pendolino type of train derailed. It was travelling at 95mph and is capable of travelling at 125mph and is one of those 'tilting' trains which makes journeys more comfortable normally and in fact Virgin who run this service have an excellent safety record.

My thoughts go out to those affected by this however, a heart-rendering concern which happened over on the other side of the world was the funeral for the twenty-three unidentified people who lost their lives in the Indian train fire caused by a bomb last Sunday. The reasons were quite simply because the bodies were beginning to decompose and if families come forward and can prove identification via DNA at a later date, the bodies can be exhumed and re-buried. Both Islamic and Hindu religious verses were recited during the sombre ceremony in the village of Mehrana in Haryana.

68 people died in total last Sunday. I wish them well as they leave this life and head onto the next.

Amreican Idol

Thought I'd lighten the mood up as I'm mouse infested and could do with a break right now.

http://www.americanidol.com/

I have really enjoyed American Idol or shold I say I loved it up till last year and then it blipped big time when the grey ferret or whatever he's called won the show.

I don't have a favourite as of yet and so I can be completely impartial. It looks as Chris Sligh, who is a larger than average, geeky looking, curly haired....(Oh that's it - A bit like Alan Davies for the Brits who haven't seen him,) odd looking young man with a good voice, well he appears to have a strong fanbase and if you've got one of those then you have the battle half won............Antonella somebody has had some pictures posted of her over in the states and alledgedly she's pi**ed as a fart and not showing her best. It was when she was 21 so the moralists are on to it!.......Blake Lewis is a 'Hottie' but I cannot recall him at this moment in time? Don't always need a good voice do they though?

American Idol is on tonight at 8.30pm on ITV2

Auditions over, 2 boys and 2 girls go out. Who's going to be in the dogpound and who's going home!

Giveth with one hand.....

And taketh away with the other.

1,600 British troops will soon be coming home from Basra but what's this?

"More UK soldiers for Afghanistan"

Why and how many?

1000

This is according to a BBC News report ; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6388717.stm

Afghanistan is a frightening country and I cannot understand why we should send any more troops when it is in my opinion a dead end cause. The Taleban have been fighting in that country for decades and if the Russians and their mighty power could not cause a surrender then how the heck are the might of the current peacekeeping force plus an extra one thousand men and women going to help matters?

The one aspect that people in this country are possibly not thinking about is also how much does it cost to keep 6000 troops in Afghanistan, 7000 if the rumours are to be believed? Then we have our brave soldiers in Iraq too. I would never knock the bravery of those who are out there but I just cannot fathom out the cost of all of this.

No wonder the hospitals and schools have so little money?

Still no date?

Yesterday I was full of hope that Blair would announce a date for the removal of our troops from Iraq. Call it one of the last acts of honour before he resigns as leader at some point this year and Gordon the so called 'leader in waiting' takes over.
But no, 1,600 service people will be coming home which has got to be a good thing however we are swapping them with Prince Harry. I imagine those already serving hope he's good!
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=642&id=286822007

Back to being serious. I was hearing a statistic today that 800 civilians per week die in Iraq. Who are we, the Americans and our fellow allied troops protecting? That's an unfair question because terroists play dirty games, nevertherless, I remember this being talked about before 'we' invaded?

What is the answer? I don't know. My grandmother, s German single mother, got together with my grandfather, a British army officer, while he was based out in Germany. Some Germans still did not accept the way the way the war had ended and did not accept English squadies in it's towns and cities.

60 years on we still have troops in Germany.

Our boys coming home

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6373087.stm

BBC News reports that finally our troops will be coming home soon from Iraq now that the Iraqis are taking the the lead in frontline security in Basra. All is "completed" and "successful"., Tony Blair is quoted saying!

My feelings on the whole Iraq business are very mixed because I didn't like the fact that we had troops over there in the first place and then yesterday I happened to be going past the church (by pure chance), when the 100th British soldier was having his service of rememberence before being laid to rest. I don't talk openly to my American friends for fear that my feelings would be in conflict with theirs and I so not want to offend? I don't know how differently we all feel and how strongly anyone feels? It's a hard call.....But the truth is I've hated this whole affair. The 45 minute rule business led to the suicide of a man who was never able to explain himself but who was made to look guilty by our government.......In fact I don't like our government but haven't liked ANY government yet!!!! The thought of the tories with their namby pamby rules getting in makes me fill with dread because as much as they are critical they would be just as bad.

So our troops will be home soon?

What about those innocents who are dying every day? Yesterday it was over 20, the day before 60 people dead......in total thousands but still not as many as Saddam had killed (Maybe?)

We still have troops in Afganistan and there is no word on when they are coming home......I'd like to hear that?

Costly remedies

Lots of puns today on our UK national health service and how apparently is is paying £500 million too much for medicines and all this is according to the Office of Fair Trading.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=437279&in_page_id=1770

How they worked this out was this, they looked at the price and of what value - sorry not value, that's another pun! what benefit iw was to patients. by looking at some sort of technical graph that us normal folk would not understand (I should imagine), OFT, worked out that some drugs were up to 10 times overpriced?

I take a medication which is not widely used in this country for nerve pain but it works for me. It may cost my GP practice a lot of money but they allow me to have to have this drug each month and because of it I have more of a life - MEASURE THAT!

Tragedy on the Friendship Express

Two bombs have killed dozens on an Indian train


Last Thursday saw a monumental breakthrough in links between Pakistan and India. The popular Samjhauta (Friendship) Express arrived in the border station of Attari, India from the Pakistani city of Lahore, marking the resumption of rail links between the two nuclear rivals after a gap of two years.
The two countries broke off most ties in 2001 after India blamed Pakistan for involvement in an armed attack on the federal parliament in Delhi

Today, that same service was hit with tragedy when two homemade bombs exploded on board killing at least 65 passengers. Television pictures showed one large plastic suitcase with wires and a plastic bottle attached. Another suitcase was stuffed with plastic bottles, which officials said contained some kind of flammable liquid, possibly petrol or kerosene.
Police said that although the explosions were relatively small, the apparent intention had been to cause a deadly fire on at least four of the trains coaches.


Most of the victims were Pakistanis but included some Indians, officials said. They described the attack as an apparent attempt to undermine the peace process between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Pakistan demanded that India act to catch those responsible for what both governments said was a terrorist act.
The blasts happened a day before Pakistan's Foreign Minister was due in Delhi for talks with Indian leaders.
The minister, Khurshid Kasuri, said the explosion was a "horrendous act of terrorism" but it would not change his plans to visit India from 20 to 23 February.

Oooh I say Richard and Judy in the dock

UK's Channel 4 has launched an investigation into The Richard and Judy show following allegations that viewers are being cheated out of thousands of pounds in a phone-in competition.

Viewers who pay £1 a time to enter the popular You Say, We Pay competition have been encouraged to phone the premium rate number after the potential winners have been chosen, it has been alleged.

Oh deary dear! A Sunday tabloid has leaked the story and nothing good can come of that and now we all know why last Friday's competition was mysteriously pulled "because of a technical problem with our telephone supplier", (Or so viewers were told.)

'Alledgedly' 32,000 people phoned the programme in the week beginning February 5 after they had no chance of winning.

In a statement, the channel said: "We take these claims seriously and will be investigating them fully.
"Channel 4 is committed to ensuring all our on air competitions are conducted fairly and transparently and we reject any suggestion that we would knowingly mislead viewers in any way."

As if Channel 4 haven't had enough on their plates with Big Brother........What am I saying? This is going to INCREASE viewing figures isn't it!

Britney Bald

Tis TRUE...................................LOOK!

Home safe and well

The brother and sister who went missing earlier today are reported to be safe and well after they went missing from their home.

AMBER ALERT - MISSING CHILDREN

Urgent Alert over two missing children .

A brother and sister aged seven and 10 have gone missing from their home.

Police issued an urgent alert on Saturday to find Jack and Stephanie Parkes. Officers were searching with dogs and a helicopter was scrambled.

Officers said their mother had reported the pair missing from their Medway home after 1100 GMT on Saturday.

Kent Police said she woke at about 0900 GMT to find they were not in the flat in Gun Lane, Rochester. She called police after checking with relatives.

Stephanie has light brown, shoulder-length hair and is believed to be wearing black trousers, beige boots and a blue T-shirt.
Jack is believed to be wearing blue jeans and a navy top with an Adidas logo on it and blue Velcro trainers.
CCTV is being studied from the surrounding area.

Any sightings of the pair PLEASE contact Kent police.

Baby brains

An article on yahoo this morning (for full details check out) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070217/ap_on_sc/infant_amnesia;_ylt=AhuPHKXmeQZ3VKubR9sYKJLMWM0F

states that babies are capable of forming memories........unfortunately, they forget them.

It's all to do with something called ' infant amnesia' or in laymens terms the puzzling inability of people to remember events early in life. Yes that is what the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science do for those who thought of joining. Patricia J. Bauer of Duke University quotes "The reason why babies do not remember is because their rates of forgetting are faster than that of adults

Alledgedly, from the age of 6 months to 2 years,a baby's memory increases from 24 hours to a year.

The tests they base this on are to do with a cup and a block and observing the chidren to see if they will remember which one had a block put in it. though. Supposedly scientific but you can make reults like that read what you want them to read.

.
Tracy DeBoer of the University of California, Davis, said babies born to diabetic mothers are at increased risk of memory loss. Such children may have shortages of oxygen and iron before birth and that can cause impaired memory when they are growing.
That impairment did not occur in cases where the mothers' diabetes was controlled during pregnancy, she added.

Go and read the whole artifle it's very inyeresting

American Idol - FIX!

Controversy always helps viewing figures and although American Idol hardly needs a gaurantee, this will be the outcome.

Would you believe it but the millionaire mogul has now been accused of planting someone who once signed for him back in the UK into the auditions for American Idol. That someone is ex Take That backing singer. Tom Lowe who at that time had moved onto a band called North and South. Anyone recall either him nor them because neither can Simon????

Tom auditioned this year Seattle as he's now a fully fledged American citizen and wowed ALL THREE judges. At the end of the audition Tom piped up that he was at BMG at the same time as Simon! Let us remember that he has a GOOD voice everyone and not just one judge put him through.

Simon SIGNED Tom's band not just worked at the same place so there is some cause for contoversy I suppose but realistically how many jaded popstars does Simon see through his doors? This lot had four minor hits and the highest one only getting to number seven before Tom went off to do stage work in the West End; or should I say the band couldn't cut it with the big boys and so BMG probably cut THEM.

The British tabloid press love to see a hullaballoo and to even consider that maybe Tom is a plant, well they must be rubbing their hands together with glee at bringing down Simon 'smarty-high-waisted-pants' Cowell. Personally I don't see it though?

Don't the public vote for the eventual winner not the judges?

PS.......British tabloid press need to catch up with the latest news too. Watch tonight (Friday 16 February 9pm ITV2) for the result.

Viagra two up

Shy guys

Yesterday if you were a man struggling to ........''get it up" and happened to be in Manchester and also happened to be between the ages of 30 and 65, you could have visted one of three branches of Boots in Manchester because from February 14 you will be able to buy four tablets of Viagra for £50 and no longer have the hassle of going to your GP. Of course you must satisfy the pharmacist of your medical history, blood pressure and cholesterol and glucose levels are satisfactory.



Viagra used to save baby's life

We all know this 'normal' use for viagra but there is another amazing use for the little drug. Viagra has been used by doctors on Tyneside as a last resort to save the life of a premature baby.

Lewis Goodfellow was born at 24 weeks weighing just 1lb 8oz. One of his lungs had failed and not enough oxygen was able to get into his bloodstream.

His parents feared he may not survive and had even begun planning a funeral.
Doctors at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary then tried Sildenafil, also known under the trade name of Viagra, and Lewis is now home with his parents.

Ms Goodfellow said: "Doctors said he couldn't be given any more oxygen.
"They were just clutching at straws basically. They explained it was experimental and may not have any effect at all."

Alan Fenton, consultant neonatologist at the hospital, said: "The problem we see in premature babies with breathing difficulties is although we can blow oxygen into their lungs to help them, there isn't enough blood supply to various areas of the lungs to take the oxygen around the rest of the body.
"What Sildenafil does is open up the blood vessels so they can capture the oxygen and take it around the body."

Lewis was born in August 2006 and was finally allowed home in January, to the delight of his parents.

His mother said: "I don't think you could put into words how we feel.
"The doctors are worth their weight in gold. We admire each and every one of them for what they have done."

Good luck and best wishes to baby Lewis and his family who have been on every television set since this story broke yesterday! Let's hope his life is now successful with the start he's been given and with the coverage this gets let's also hope it saves other lives.

St Valentine's Day

I could not let today pass without mentioning St Valentine. I imagine most of us would like the hearts and flowers aspect of it , but how many of us know the true story of St Valentine?

There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day.

Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.

Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a ball.
In the USA, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentine cards. Commercial valentines were introduced in the 1800's and now the date is very commercialised. The town of Loveland, Colorado, does a large post office business around February 14. The spirit of good continues as valentines are sent out with sentimental verses and children exchange valentine cards at school.

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.
The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.

Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270. At that time it was the custom in Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed, to celebrate in the month of February the Lupercalia, feasts in honour of a heathen god. On these occasions, amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed.
The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavoured to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feaSt. So it seems that the custom of young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in this way.