Illustration Friday: Flavour.

100_0491
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Illustration Friday. Flavour (which has a U in it!).

From Sheffield Fayre, August 2005.

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Technorati tags: vegetables; Illustration Friday; incurable_hippie; photography.

Quick GMail update.

I posted this the other day. I now have some good news! There is a way of filling the 'to:' fields from a contacts list on gmail, finally!

I just found this:

How do I send a message to multiple contacts?
To send one message to a list of contact recipients, follow these steps:

1. Click 'Contacts' along the left side of any Google Mail page.
2. Tick the box next to each contact you would like to include.
3. Click 'Compose.'

However, they do also say,

The more spam you mark, the better our system will get at weeding out those annoying messages.

so who knows...

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Technorati tags: gmail; spam; incurable_hippie.

Blog Mentoring Project: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia.

A friend referred me to netsquared.org where I read about the Blog Mentoring Project. It is described thus:

Interested in developing the worldwide blogosphere? Like working with young people?We are looking for bloggers from around the world to be a blogging mentor for 1 week sometime in February, March, April or May 2006.The project, Young Caucasus Women, is a group blog for young women from the Caucasus region (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). The young women will be given a topic to blog on each week, although they are welcome to blog on any topic throughout the week.We need bloggers to blog on a specific topic on Sunday, hence inspiring the young women's blog entries. The topic and week need to be determined at least month in advance.Then throughout the week, the adult mentor blogger would need to comment on the young women's blog postings.THAT'S IT - simple, yet a project with a lot of impact.You don't need any background in the region. Just be culturally sensitive, have a topic that would be of interest to international young women and have a blog. We'd love to have English language bloggers from around the world.

Background:
There are almost NO blogs written by national individuals living IN-COUNTRY in the Caucasus. Generally blogs are written by ex-pats or diasporas. The students participating in this project are high school aged foreign exchange students currently in the US. The hope is that they will continue blogging once they return home in the summer of 2006.

The immediate aims of the project are:
To highlight the similarities and learn about the differences between young women in these neighboring countries.
To promote citizen journalism in developing countries as an alternative to mainstream media.
To promote weblogs as a method of democratic expression.
To expose young women to journalism and technology.

Interested or know someone who is? Contact katy (at) katypearce (dot) org for more information.

That's as much as I know about it, but I'm definitely interested and have emailed Katy Pearce at that address. It sounds a fantastic idea, a really interesting and definitely worthwhile project.

Getting young women's voices heard is so vital and I can't wait to hear what these young women have to say!

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Technorati tags: blog mentoring project; women; incurable_hippie; blogging.

Gmail Groan, Menstrual Moan.

I love gmail. I had an account very close to the beginning, and the storage space, the threaded mails, and labelling system are all great.

Two things are bugging me though.

Firstly, if you want to send a mail, there doesn't seem to be any way to bring up your address book and select addresses from there. Instead you have to basically go into the 'to' box and type a, then select any email addresses you want which begin with A, then type b, select any email addresses you want which begin with B and so on. Slow and irritating!

And secondly, the spam control seems to be becoming poorer by the day. At first it was a little over-zealous, and I regularly had to check the spam folder for mails from various friends. Nowadays it is missing tonnes and tonnes of spam.

Now, I understand that spammers are (occasionally) clever and that there will always be new spam or different spam which will slip through the net. But honestly, if I have to tell them one more time that those 12 mails entitled The Ultimate Online Pharmaceutical or that series called Penis Launcher are, yes, spam, I will go mad.

I have been marking the Pharmaceutical messages as spam for weeks now, and yet they still, without fail, land in my inbox. Why? Why?!

I know that some spam will be unexpected and well-disguised, but for goddess' sake, if yahoogroups have already marked it spam, then it is probably spam; if I have marked it as spam every day for 6 weeks, then it is probably spam; if it is advertising a dating site with some rather exceptionally lurid adverts, then it is probably spam. I could go on and on.

Surely it is supposed to learn from what you put into the spam folder, especially things you put in repeatedly.

Raar. (Incidentally, I have many gmail invites going - if you let me know your email address I'll send you one.)

And, all the above moaning is superceded by me moaning about the incredible amount of pain I am in today. It's particularly bad despite some rather heavy-duty painkillers, and I am being comforted by a lovely wheat bag and some not-insignificant complaining to self.

As this entry explains, I have endometriosis, a horrible disease of chronic pain which, especially on days like today, is incredibly disabling and, as the book I read recently kept repeating, is incurable. Joy.

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Technorati tags: gmail; spam hate; incurable_hippie; wheat bags; endometriosis.

Christmas: done. Boxing Day: almost.

I spent a nice, chilled Christmas with Z and her insane cat...



We made a roast meal, we played with paper and glue, we listened to a lot of radio and music, we laughed a lot, I cried a bit, and we gave and received cool gifts.

We also got matching socks :D

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Technorati tags: christmas; cats; incurable_hippie; xmas.

Yuletide Wishes! Tongue-in-Cheek?!

Best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most joyous traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, but with respect for the religious persuasion of others who choose to practice their own religion as well as those who choose not to practice a religion at all; plus, a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the generally-accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of the other cultures whose contributions have helped make our society great, without regards to the race, creed, colour, religious or sexual preference of the wishes.
(Disclaimer: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her / himself or others and no responsibility for any unintended emotional stress these greetings may bring to those not caught up in the holiday spirit).

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Technorati tags: Christmas; greetings; incurable_hippie; rel="tag">PC.

Stumbling Over Stumbling.

I've only just stumbled upon StumbleUpon, which is proving to be a joy. I'm not sure whether you need Firefox for it to work.

Anyway, here are some of tonight's StumbleUpon gems:

• The Official God FAQ


• ))


• Niagara Falls


• Drum Machine - Flash


• Optical Illusions


• Staring at the Bee


• Crazy Rabbit


• Create your Own Personal Kaleidoscope


• Icon War

More funky animations here.

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Technorati tags: animations; illusions; incurable_hippie; firefox; stumbleupon; links.

Buses and Bereavement, Fares and Fathers, Transport and Tantrums.

A campaign has been building lately in Sheffield, protesting the massive increase in bus fares and the cuts in routes. We Want Our Buses Back have held demonstrations and lobbied the City Council.

A recent campaign update from them included the following interesting information:

New figures show that the government is set to miss its own targets for increasing bus passenger travel. Only in London, where there is some degree of regulation, have bus numbers increased. In Yorkshire, there has been a fall of 9%.

Hardly surprising, when in South Yorkshire, the main private operators First have cut services and raised fares (by 36% since last year!).

The only numbers going up are First’s profits! Their South Yorkshire division is the most profitable in the First Bus Group and the fifth most profitable bus company in the whole country with a 17.9% profit rate of return.

This blatant profiteering has led both the Passenger Transport Executive and the Sheffield City Council to pass motions of no confidence in First’s bosses. Even the Tory councillor (remember Thatcher de-regulated the buses in 1987) spoke in favour of regulation!

But local Labour politicians say they can’t do anything until 2009.

Presenting a 5,000 name petition, WWOBB speaker Calvin Payne told the council meeting, “We can’t wait four more years. No-one will be able to afford to go on a bus by then, that’s if there’s still any running.” A packed public gallery (including media students covering this issue) heard Calvin call on the council to organise a city referendum to get a mandate to go to the government to demand the powers and the funding to bring the buses back into public control and ownership.

He cited the public ballot WWOBB had conducted showing 75% in favour of council regulation of routes, timetables and fares, and 87% support for public transport to be brought back into public ownership. Only 3 people voted to keep things as they are.

With rumours of more service cuts in January, “We Want Our Buses Back!” plans to step up its campaign against First’s bosses and increase pressure on the Labour council to make a stand.

LATEST: Stagecoach, owned by notorious anti –union Brian Souter, has bought out Yorkshire Traction bus company based in Barnsley. Traction owned Terrier buses that run in Sheffield so now these are owned by Stagecoach as well as the Supertram (which they bought for £2million after £240million of public investment!).

And incidentally, Brian Souter (mentioned there) also ran the homophobic 'Keep the Clause' campaign in Scotland, an attempt to keep the evil Section 28 in law. A fantastic poster that I spotted in 2003 and kept the link to says it all really. Here.

I rely on the local buses and trams. I don't have, or want, a car. One of the joys of city living is the great public transport provision that at least should, in theory, exist.

Because I am disabled I have a pass which entitles me to cheaper bus and tram fares, and I am so glad of this lately as I see other people get onto buses where I get on, and going to where I am going, and paying seemingly more and more and more.

I'm not sure what this campaign can achieve, but the votes of no confidence seem to me that they must be significant steps forward. First are behaving appallingly and really should not be allowed to continue in this way.

The days of the 'Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire' and 2p bus fares seem long, long gone.

[(Edited at 9.24pm to add): Even the Sheffield Star is on the case - it must be bad!. (End edit).]

In other news, I posted my last batch of Xmess cards yesterday. I have already had 2 emails and 2 texts from people I hadn't heard from in ages, and to whom I sent cards because I don't want to lose touch with them. Hearing their news has given me a warm fuzzy feeling. Lots of nice words about Dad, too, which is simultaneously lovely and unbearably painful. It's six weeks since he died and I just want to cry all the time. I still find it incredibly hard to believe that he's really gone, and gone forever.

Hearing people say such nice things about him is so nice, so validating, and so important to me - that people remember him, and remember him well. It also reminds me of what a fab guy we've all lost. Not that I really need reminding, but yanno.

The toddler tantrum urges are still around - maybe if I actually had one the urges would pass, but I doubt it!

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Technorati tags: public transport; campaigns; incurable_hippie; grief.

Enquiring Minds Want to Know.

Yorkshire lass talks well about why she, as a survivor of the London bombs in July, wants and needs a Public Inquiry into what happened, and how she feels about the Government refusing to do one.
Rachel says,

Reasons why you might want to demand an independent public enquiry...
You use public transport, and you want to know if anything could be learned to make your journeys safer in future.
You were involved on July 7th and you have useful feedback about the response to the bombings and the aftermath to share.
You think the Government are hiding something.
You don't think the Government are hiding anything, and it would be good to get that in the open and refute the naysayers .
You are fed up with conspiracy theories.
You have heard conspiracy theories and you'd like to see them answered.
It was the biggest terror attack we've had on our soil, 52 people were killed, and it was 4 British 4 men who did it, so you think that should be investigated in public.
You want to know more about how 4 young British men became suicide bombers.
You think that as the public were attacked, and continue to be targets, answering their questions publicly seems fair and is the right thing to do
You are not sure whether answers will come out of it, or anything will change, but you'd like to try and think that is the democratic thing to do.
You were against the war in Iraq and you think the Government are trying to avoid the spectre being raised that Iraq upped the risk of the UK being attacked.
You supported the war in Iraq and you'd like to prove that had nothing to do with July 7th.
You feel that if survivors and bereaved are asking for it, you'd like to support their request
You have questions that remain unanswered.
You have other reasons - or want to state your thoughts in the comments box below...

If you also think that there should be an Inquiry into the 7th July bombings, sign here.

I actually can't think of a reason not to have an Inquiry... :-/

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Technorati tags: London bombings; petitions; incurable_hippie; UK government.

Self Evident by Ani Difranco

It was about two and a half years ago that I first got the then newly released Peace Not War CD.

Track 1 on CD1 was like nothing I had ever heard before. Over 9 minutes of Ani DiFranco, talking, singing, communicating incredibly about 9/11, the Bush government, the state of America, the state of the world, and the threats and acts of war being carried out.

It is sung live and the reactions of the audience are incredible. They appear shocked, stunned, absolutely invigorated and delighted with this incredible song.

The track is also on Ani Difranco's album, So Much Shouting So Much Laughter, though I'm not sure if it's the same version.

I have loved all of Ani DiFranco's music that I have heard, but Self Evident is just one of those pieces of absolute genius which stands out a long, long way from even her usual level of genius!

Also, in researching this track I have discovered that there is a Peace Not War Vol.2 CD out, which I have already ordered!

You can listen to the track here, but you really should just buy the thing!

Self Evident, Ani Difranco
yes,
us people are just poems
we're 90% metaphor
with a leanness of meaning
approaching hyper-distillation
and once upon a time
we were moonshine
rushing down the throat of a giraffe
yes, rushing down the long hallway
despite what the p.a. announcement says
yes, rushing down the long stairs
with the whiskey of eternity
fermented and distilled
to eighteen minutes
burning down our throats
down the hall
down the stairs
in a building so tall
that it will always be there
yes, it's part of a pair
there on the bow of noah's ark
the most prestigious couple
just kickin back parked
against a perfectly blue sky
on a morning beatific
in its indian summer breeze
on the day that america
fell to its knees
after strutting around for a century
without saying thank you
or please

and the shock was subsonic
and the smoke was deafening
between the setup and the punch line
cuz we were all on time for work that day
we all boarded that plane for to fly
and then while the fires were raging
we all climbed up on the windowsill
and then we all held hands
and jumped into the sky

and every borough looked up when it heard the first blast
and then every dumb action movie was summarily surpassed
and the exodus uptown by foot and motorcar
looked more like war than anything i've seen so far
so far
so far
so fierce and ingenious
a poetic specter so far gone
that every jackass newscaster was struck dumb and stumbling
over 'oh my god' and 'this is unbelievable' and on and on
and i'll tell you what, while we're at it
you can keep the pentagon
keep the propaganda
keep each and every tv
that's been trying to convince me
to participate
in some prep school punk's plan to perpetuate retribution
perpetuate retribution
even as the blue toxic smoke of our lesson in retribution
is still hanging in the air
and there's ash on our shoes
and there's ash in our hair
and there's a fine silt on every mantle
from hell's kitchen to brooklyn
and the streets are full of stories
sudden twists and near misses
and soon every open bar is crammed to the rafters
with tales of narrowly averted disasters
and the whiskey is flowin
like never before
as all over the country
folks just shake their heads
and pour

so here's a toast to all the folks who live in palestine
afghanistan
iraq

el salvador

here's a toast to the folks living on the pine ridge reservation
under the stone cold gaze of mt. rushmore

here's a toast to all those nurses and doctors
who daily provide women with a choice
who stand down a threat the size of oklahoma city
just to listen to a young woman's voice

here's a toast to all the folks on death row right now
awaiting the executioner's guillotine
who are shackled there with dread and can only escape into their heads
to find peace in the form of a dream

cuz take away our playstations
and we are a third world nation
under the thumb of some blue blood royal son
who stole the oval office and that phony election
i mean
it don't take a weatherman
to look around and see the weather
jeb said he'd deliver florida, folks
and boy did he ever

and we hold these truths to be self evident:
#1 george w. bush is not president
#2 america is not a true democracy
#3 the media is not fooling me
cuz i am a poem heeding hyper-distillation
i've got no room for a lie so verbose
i'm looking out over my whole human family
and i'm raising my glass in a toast

here's to our last drink of fossil fuels
let us vow to get off of this sauce
shoo away the swarms of commuter planes
and find that train ticket we lost
cuz once upon a time the line followed the river
and peeked into all the backyards
and the laundry was waving
the graffiti was teasing us
from brick walls and bridges
we were rolling over ridges
through valleys
under stars
i dream of touring like duke ellington
in my own railroad car
i dream of waiting on the tall blonde wooden benches
in a grand station aglow with grace
and then standing out on the platform
and feeling the air on my face

give back the night its distant whistle
give the darkness back its soul
give the big oil companies the finger finally
and relearn how to rock-n-roll
yes, the lessons are all around us and a change is waiting there
so it's time to pick through the rubble, clean the streets
and clear the air
get our government to pull its big dick out of the sand
of someone else's desert
put it back in its pants
and quit the hypocritical chants of
freedom forever

cuz when one lone phone rang
in two thousand and one
at ten after nine
on nine one one
which is the number we all called
when that lone phone rang right off the wall
right off our desk and down the long hall
down the long stairs
in a building so tall
that the whole world turned
just to watch it fall

and while we're at it
remember the first time around?
the bomb?
the ryder truck?
the parking garage?
the princess that didn't even feel the pea?
remember joking around in our apartment on avenue D?

can you imagine how many paper coffee cups would have to change their design
following a fantastical reversal of the new york skyline?!

it was a joke
at the time
and that was just a few years ago
so let the record show
that the FBI was all over that case
that the plot was obvious and in everybody's face
and scoping that scene
religiously
the CIA
or is it KGB?
committing countless crimes against humanity
with this kind of eventuality
as its excuse
for abuse after expensive abuse
and it didn't have a clue
look, another window to see through
way up here
on the 104th floor
look
another key
another door
10% literal
90% metaphor
3000 some poems disguised as people
on an almost too perfect day
should be more than pawns
in some asshole's passion play
so now it's your job
and it's my job
to make it that way
to make sure they didn't die in vain
sshhhhhh....
baby listen
hear the train?

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Technorati tags: Ani Difranco; peace not war; incurable_hippie; music; anti-war; feminist.

Music, Poems and Comedy.

The Guardian runs a weekly Topical Haiku competition, which I have occasionally entered. A Haiku, if you don't know, is a very specific form of poetry, usually of three lines in which the first and third lines have 5 syllables each, and the second line has 7 syllables.

My favourite (as heard on the radio a few days ago), has to be one by John Cooper Clarke, which goes as follows,

Writing a poem
In seventeen syllables
Is very diffic.

This week's 15 Minute Musical was absolute genius. The opera of David Blunketto,

The tragic story of a proud and principled man who was tempted, corrupted and ruined.

Listen here, if you know what's good for you!

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Technorati tags: BBC Radio 4; haiku; incurable_hippie; comedy; musical.

Ha ha. Or not. What do you think?

Ok, 'blonde' jokes are just not funny. The thought that you can make huge assumptions and presumptions about a woman's intelligence by the colour of her hair is just offensive and rude and, well, stupid. I mean, look at this one for instance. Grrr.

[evil grin...;-)]

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Technorati tags: joke; joke meme; incurable_hippie; hair colour.

One good turn leads to another and another and another.

Church Action on Poverty is one of the (unfortunately) seemingly rare Christian charities which really uses its power and influence for the good. Like Christian Aid, it seems to use its money and position to help people, rather than to lobby government and campaign in the media for the elimination of gay people / single mothers / anyone of any other religion (delete as appropriate).

Today I got an email from Church Action on Poverty which I acted on. Firstly, it was asking us to contact the Home Secretary about the destitution of asylum seekers. Secondly, for everyone who does so a corporate sponsor will donate 10p to Church Action on Poverty! So two positive results from sending an e-card!

They said,

Help end the unnecessary destitution of those seeking asylum this Christmas by sending an e-card and raising funds at the same time. It will only cost you 2 clicks.
In this rich and welcoming country of ours we now have people seeking asylum who are destitute, homeless, or living on food parcels. Many of these people are “living ghosts” that no one knows about.

These problems would be eradicated if those seeking asylum were allowed to sustain themselves and contribute to wider society through paid work, bringing skilled people into our legal economy.

Please send an e-card to the Home Secretary, asking him uphold the UN Declaration of Human Rights and change the policies that are making people destitute.

Every time you send a postcard 10p will be donated to Church Action on Poverty by a corporate sponsor.

Then, after doing that I was also able to send an e-card to the Minister for Children, about protecting children who have been affected by domestic violence, and on sending that, women's aid get a donation of 10p for each e-card sent.

Marvellous! And as last week's Link of the Week was Artful Journey. This week, from the link down the right sidebar, it is One Good Turn!

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Technorati tags: poverty; domestic violence; incurable_hippie; e-campaigning.

Illustration Friday: Surprise!

(Click image to enlarge)



Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: Illustration Friday; cartoon; incurable_hippie; lesbian.

The Curious Incident of the Racist Dog...

Not long ago I was waiting at a bus stop. There was one woman and her two children walking up the hill opposite me, and another woman and her two dogs walking down the hill opposite me. As they were approaching each other, the woman with the dogs crossed over to my side of the road.

I didn't think anything of it, until she whispered to me, conspiratorially, 'I had to cross over, he' (she indicated the huge dog), 'doesn't like Somalis'.

I looked back over the road at the woman and her kids. She could be from Somalia, she equally might not have been, but what the hell kind of dog could identify country of origin, and then discriminate on that basis?!

I was so bewildered that I couldn't, and didn't, say a word. The dog-owner carried on talking to me. I was presuming that she was projecting her own racism onto this dog, but she went on to tell me how he (the dog...) was fine with people of any other nationality, it was just Somalis he didn't like, and she had to cross over the road because he'd growl and bite their clothes, and she didn't want him to scare them.

She confided that she thought it was something to do with 'their' robes, that the dog didn't like.

She carried on nattering to me as she continued along her way, and I stood at the bus stop entirely struck dumb with the utter bizareness of what had happened.

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(See also, Pippa Reviews... The News Quiz.)

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Technorati tags: dogs; racism; incurable_hippie; weird.

David, Diesel, Gay, Greasy.

So, David Cameron has won the Tory leadership vote. Yaawwwwwn... But that's the UK Politics alert of the day out of the way. It was actually the top news story at 5pm, clearly more important than 100 people dying in Iran after a plane crashed into a block of flats.

I am annoyed at Robbie Williams. Apparently he has accepted substantial libel damages over claims that he is secretly homosexual. It reminds me of Jason Donovan suing The Face in 1992 over similar claims.

I mean, it is nothing to do with me whether either, both or neither of them are (or ever have been!) gay, but is it such an awful slur on their character that they have to sue people to stop them thinking or saying they are? It comes across as dreadfully heterosexist and downright offensive. It is not an insult, guys, if someone thinks you're gay. It probably just means you're cool ;-) (Ok that last bit's not true).

Diesel have launched an insensitive and highly inappropriate advertising campaign. See mediawatch for details.

There is now a new hippie 'link of the week' - click on the image down on the right to see it.

Also, see Pippa Reviews... GreasyPalm!

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Technorati tags: gay; homophobia; incurable_hippie; UK Politics; greasypalm.

Art, Africa and Acts of Law.

There was a quotation I read the other day, which entirely summed up my own insecurities and feelings about art...

Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we're stupid.
Jules Feiffer

I am getting better at crafty things - I'm quite the card-making star nowadays - and I draw daft cartoons, but actual a.r.t. - too scary. I feel like if I even tried, it would make people think that I was stupid enough to think I was any good at it. Like, even to try would be arrogant self-delusion.

Mmm, I clearly feel good about myself today! ;-)

In other, less self-obsessed news:

Britain criticised for accepting Nigerian debt repayments.

The British government has drawn sharp criticism from development charities for taking a debt repayment from Nigeria which dwarfs the UK's entire annual aid budget for the African continent.

[...]

Charity Jubilee Debt Campaign says the payments mean the G7 will receive more in six months from Nigeria than the 2005 Gleneagles G8 deal will provide to poor countries in a decade. The G8 is the G7 plus Russia. Trisha Rogers, Jubilee's director, said: "It is obscene for G7 countries to take billions of dollars from one of the poorest countries on earth. In particular this means the UK will take from Nigeria almost exactly twice as much as it is giving in aid to the whole of Africa in 2005." She urged Britain, which chairs the G7, to take the lead in refusing to accept the payments. (Read more...)

I hate this stupid government more each day. And I learn from red one that today's budget consisted of the following terrifying £number...

"Since September 11th we have doubled the budget for national security. Today we are making available an additional £135 million for security and counter-terrorism. And for the armed forces for Iraq, Afghanistan and other international obligations an additional £580 million."

Can't help but wonder if that's got anything to do with the Nigeria story above... or the other million cuts going on and being proposed lately.

And thanks to Crippled Monkey weblog, I hear,

Today sees another important date in the progression of the Disability Discrimination Act, as people with cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis will now get protection from discrimination, effectively from the point of diagnosis.

.
As I understand it, until now people were only protected from disability discrimination in the law once they were actively being disabled by an illness, so it was actually not illegal to sack someone who had just been diagnosed with HIV, or cancer, as long as they weren't ill yet. There is lots of information on this at Point of Diagnosis and I think that this is a very positive move.

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Technorati tags: art; third world debt; incurable_hippie; Nigeria; budget; anti-war; disability rights.

Illustration Friday: Blue.

Illustration Friday. Original photo. Gimp.

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Technorati tags: Illustration Friday; blue; incurable_hippie; photography; fountains; gimp; Sheffield.

Photo Friday: Experimental

100_0869d
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Morris dancers at the Victorian Christmas Market at Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield today.

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Original photo.
Other Victorian Christmas Market photos.

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Photo Friday.

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Technorati tags: Photo Friday; photography; incurable_hippie; experimental.

Rape Prevention Advice - Could be Triggering.

Periodically I will get an email forward about how, as a woman, I can stop myself getting raped.

Apparently if I wear my hair in a ponytail, or don't keep my outside shrubbery trimmed, or leave my drink unattended, allow people to intrude into my personal space or - heaven forbid - don't carry an umbrella then, frankly, if I get raped I have only myself to blame.

And the sometimes-weekly emails telling me all of the above tips (and more) will serve as a constant reminder to how stupid I was when I overfilled my arms with packages or I wore those damn dungarees.

So basically, emails like those are absolute bollocks. If you are raped it is nothing to do with your hair, your skirt length, your job, your response to being asked directions, or the state of your fucking shrubbery. Seriously.

And that's not even approaching the fact that the vast, vast majority of rapes are committed in a woman's home, by someone she knows.

Following is an angry, and very appropriate subversion of those awful emails, which I read chez Nella. I can only applaud and nod vigorously.

A lot has been said about how to prevent rape.
Women should learn self-defense. Women should lock themselves in their houses after dark. Women shouldn't have long hair and women shouldn't wear short skirts. Women shouldn't leave drinks unattended. Fuck, they shouldn't dare to get drunk at all.

Instead of that bullshit, how about:

If a woman is drunk, don't rape her.
If a woman is walking alone at night, don't rape her.
If a women is drugged and unconscious, don't rape her.
If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don't rape her.
If a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don't rape her.
If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you're still hung up on, don't rape her.
If a woman is asleep in her bed, don't rape her.
If a woman is asleep in your bed, don't rape her.
If a woman is doing her laundry, don't rape her.
If a woman is in a coma, don't rape her.
If a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don't rape her.
If a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don't rape her.

If a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don't rape her.
If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don't rape her.
If your step-daughter is watching tv, don't rape her.
If you break into a house and find a woman there, don't rape her.
If your friend thinks it's okay to rape someone, tell him it's not, and that he's not your friend.

If your "friend" tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
If your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there's an unconscious woman upstairs and It's your turn, don't rape her, call the police and tell the guy he's a rapist.

Tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, sons of friends it's not okay to rape someone.

Don't tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape.
Don't imply that she could have avoided it if she'd only done/not done x.
Don't imply that it's in any way her fault.
Don't let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he "got some" with the drunk girl.
Don't perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can, too, help yourself.

If you agree, repost it. It's that important.

There are also great musings about this at I Blame the Patriarchy, by the way.

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Technorati tags: anti-rape; feminism; incurable_hippie; personal safety.

Spelling Fun!

These are way more sparkly and funky than I feel, but here goes...

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Spell With Flickr.

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Technorati tags: spelling; sparkly; incurable_hippie; letters.