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.

Don't Bomb Al-Jazeera!

Heard the Word of Blog?

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Don't Bomb Us
Prepared to Publish
Boris Johnson will publish.

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Background:

Legal gag on Bush-Blair war row.
The attorney general last night threatened newspapers with the Official Secrets Act if they revealed the contents of a document allegedly relating to a dispute between Tony Blair and George Bush over the conduct of military operations in Iraq.

It is believed to be the first time the Blair government has threatened newspapers in this way. Though it has obtained court injunctions against newspapers, the government has never prosecuted editors for publishing the contents of leaked documents, including highly sensitive ones about the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, last night referred editors to newspaper reports yesterday that described the contents of a memo purporting to be at the centre of charges against two men under the secrets act.

Under the front-page headline "Bush plot to bomb his ally", the Daily Mirror reported that the US president last year planned to attack the Arabic television station al-Jazeera, which has its headquarters in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where US and British bombers were based.

Richard Wallace, editor of the Daily Mirror, said last night: "We made No 10 fully aware of the intention to publish and were given 'no comment' officially or unofficially. Suddenly 24 hours later we are threatened under section 5 [of the secrets act]".

Under section 5 it is an offence to have come into the possession of government information, or a document from a crown servant, if that person discloses it without lawful authority. The prosecution has to prove the disclosure was damaging.

The Mirror said the memo turned up in May last year at the constituency office of the former Labour MP for Northampton South, Tony Clarke. Last week, Leo O'Connor, a former researcher for Mr Clarke, was charged with receiving a document under section 5 of the act. David Keogh, a former Foreign Office official seconded to the Cabinet Office, was charged last week with making a "damaging disclosure of a document relating to international relations". Mr Keogh, 49, is accused of sending the document to Mr O'Connor, 42, between April 16 and May 28 2004.

Mr Clarke said yesterday that Mr O'Connor "did the right thing" by drawing the document to his attention. Mr Clarke, an anti-war MP who lost his seat at the last election, returned the document to the government. "As well as an MP, I am a special constable," he said.

Both men were released on police bail last Thursday to appear at Bow Street magistrates court on November 29. When they were charged, newspapers reported that the memo contained a transcript of a discussion between Mr Blair and Mr Bush.

The conversation was understood to have taken place during a meeting in the US. It is believed to reveal that Mr Blair disagreed with Mr Bush about aspects of the Iraq war. There was widespread comment at the time that the British government was angry about US military tactics there, particularly in the city of Falluja.

Charges under the secrets act have to have the consent of the attorney-general. His intervention yesterday suggests that the prosecution plans to ask the judge to hold part, if not all of the trial, in camera, with the public and press excluded.

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Technorati tags: anti-war; UK Politics; incurable_hippie; US politics; Boris Johnson; publishing the memo; anti-Blair; anti-Bush.

Protest Thomas Cook's 'sex tours' in Amsterdam.

Dear Thomas Cook,

I am writing to express my disgust that your company is selling and marketing 'sex tours' for adults and children visiting Amsterdam.

Your literature states that,

Of course, no visit to Amsterdam would be complete without a night-time visit to the famous Red Light District. One of the oldest and most beautiful parts of the city, the narrow, cobbled streets of this quarter fill with hordes of tourists on weekends and holidays. All come to gawk at the surreal display of scantily clad women who pose in the purply-red glow of their black-lit shop windows. Not unlike a bizarre zoo, the Red Light District is an unmissable experience, as attested by the packs of roving young men, couples holding hands, giggling groups of women, and busloads of Japanese tourists toting cameras. Spectacle notwithstanding, real business is done here at a steady pace, and those seeking a slightly more authentic experience should head for the area on a weeknight.

Such tours are not only irresponsible but downright offensive. Of women in prostitution, 50 - 85% experience violence, and more than 80% in the Netherlands are of foreign origin, a number of whom will have been trafficked into the sex trade.

The co-director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women states that "Women are sold as commodities in the Dutch sex industry, and Thomas Cook charges tourists (£12 for adults and £6 for children - under threes go free) to view the 'marketable products' and chuckle at the 'human merchandise'."

The women trapped in prostitution in Amsterdam do not deserve to have coachloads of tourists pointing and laughing at them, and indeed creating an official 'sex tourism' industry will only continue to normalise this abuse of women and make it appear more socially acceptable. Prostitution - in Amsterdam as elsewhere - is in fact violence against women. This is the truth of prostitution.

I am writing to you to request that you please withdraw from these appalling 'family tours' of Amsterdam's Red Light District, and instead focus on your own company's Responsible Business Policy in which you state that

by offering alternative, more virtuous and learning leisure activities, the lives of working people would be greatly improved if they became better educated through travel"

.
It is disgusting that you are promoting and running tours such as this through Amsterdam's red light district. I hope that you will reconsider and cancel these tours immediately.

Yours sincerely,

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Further Information:
The Observer: Red Light Tour condemned as 'sick'
Thomas Cook Amsterdam page
Truth About Rape Thomas Cook page
Contact Thomas Cook.

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Technorati tags: Thomas Cook campaign; prostitution; incurable_hippie; anti-rape; feminism; ethical travel.

Illustration Friday: Small.

Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: Illustration Friday; small; incurable_hippie; drawing.

Freedom Finance: Their Words, My Order.

'We'll give you an extremely massive debt'

'Freedom Finance could give you severe credit problems'

'We would definitely repossess your home'.

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See previously subvertised debt envelopes...
Freedom Finance 1
Freedom Finance 2
Imagine Finance 1a
Imagine Finance 1b

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Technorati tags: debt; subvertising; incurable_hippie; anti-debt.

Thoughts of the Day.

1. Norton, while invaluable, is entirely infuriating.


2. Ebay, on the other hand, is fun and great for cheap little crafty / card-making bits.


3. I am very glad that Clue is back on in the Monday 6.30pm slot.


4. I bought this fridge magnet ----> some time ago. I need a new version now - one for when the bank have confiscated the cheque book...


5. Falling asleep on the living room floor leads to utter confusion on waking, and strange indentations on your cheek.


6. Flat Pepsi Max tastes better than flat Diet Coke.


7. but if I was rich I would be tempted to stop drinking any bottle which went flat and start drinking a new one straight away. Terribly wasteful, but as I'll never be rich, it won't be a dilemma I'll ever have to face.


8. Holla Back is angry, sassy, feisty, funny and fun. I love it.


9. I always forget that posts consisting of a list are hard.


10. So I am occasionally daft enough to do another.

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Technorati tags: lists; comedy; incurable_hippie; pepsi vs coke.

De-Politicisation of Violence against Women.

The personal is political. Many, many things come down to that.

The fact is that when women are harassed in the street, intimidated at work, beaten in their home and raped after a night out, it is all done within the context of a patriarchal, misogynist society. It is this society which allows it to continue, it downplays experiences and disbelieves women, it mocks and ridicules our tears, it denies, denies, denies everything.

The misogyny we live in allows misogyny itself to be perpetuated and keeps battering women down.

That girls are taking Playboy stationery to school, and that news today is that One in three Britons believes a woman who flirts is partly or totally responsible if she is raped are symptomatic of this culture, not to mention the rape conviction statistics of 5.6%. Yep, 5.6% of reported rapes end in a conviction. Outrageous.

So, when I saw this advert I was so, so disappointed and disillusioned...



It was a few years ago that it stopped being a Domestic Violence forum and became a Domestic Abuse forum. But this? Firstly, they do not specify whether they even want a woman for the job. A domestic violence forum really needs a committee of women. (Any questions, see above, below and all around you). Secondly, someone with experience of work on domestic abuse would be *useful*, not essential. Now, it is not just women who have worked in this field who have vital experience and knowledge. It is women who have lived through domestic violence also, in their own lives or their friends' and sisters'. Thirdly, in the ad there is no necessity at all that any kind of background to do with domestic violence (e.g. life experience, volunteering, researching, working...) is there. And fourthly, the advert doesn't even specify that the chair is required for the Domestic Abuse Forum. It could be for anyone at all! How far from feminism, from women's lives and work, is this?!

So, the domestic abuse forum is advertising for, potentially, a man with no knowledge of domestic violence or abuse at all. Anyone, it seems, with management and human resources experience. As that's what's important when you're dealing with women's lives. Of course.

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Technorati tags: personal is political; feminism; incurable_hippie; women; domestic violence.

Not at All Loquacious. More Lebstromonous.

So, as of today I have had audioscrobbler for a month and have totalled 1129 tracks. That's pretty good going I reckon! It, and last.fm are a lot of fun and I am totally hooked. My personalised radio station is sometimes totally spot on, and occasionally waaaay off (Kylie?!) but it's all ingenious and great.

If you want to be wowed, stunned, amazed, in awe and very, very impressed you should click to see the Thousand-hand Bodhisattva Dance. There is more information about the dance here.

I'm not feeling very capable of saying much more so I shall send you instead to slow afternoon's list of distractions which is great stuff. His post on Friday causes giggles too.

Finally, the previous Link of the Week was BBC Ouch weblog. For this week's new link, click on the Link of the Week image to the right.

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Technorati tags: links; audioscrobbler; incurable_hippie; dance.

Illustration Friday: Free.

(Click images to enlarge)





Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: illustration friday; free; incurable_hippie; cartoon.

Post-Funeral Post.

Thank you so much for the amazingly supportive comments when I posted about my Dad's death. It is so nice to receive such words from even complete bloody strangers, and from blog friends and real life friends too.

What I'm wittering on about is that it meant a lot, and I really appreciate the words and sentiments sent flying through cyberspace in this hippie's direction.

Dad's funeral was yesterday. I thought my heart was going to break at so many stages in the day. When the funeral cars arrived was horrific, waiting to go in the church was harrowing, and so it went on.

The church was totally full which, while overwhelming, also felt nice. Like a testament that Dad definitely was a Good Guy ;-)

It hurt so much, I never thought I would get through the service and the burial in one piece. I was fairly stunned afterwards, because I realised that as far as I had been concerned, everything stopped at the funeral. I wasn't prepared for anything else because I hadn't been able to think beyond it.

I had to hide for a while, with Z, before going onto the wake because the number of people there, and the number who wanted to talk to me, was blowing my mind. A few cigarettes later we approached the venue and I was so touched at who was there, as in the Church I had had no idea (beyond the fact that there were lots of people) about who was in the congregation.

It was hard, so hard. It was exhausting, draining, devastating, and yet also nice that so many people cared.

I have barely moved today. My whole body is reacting to the stress, the trauma and also the relief that that bit, at least, is over.

I really miss him.

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Technorati tags: grief; incurable_hippie.

Make the World a Better Place.

IMAGINE A WORLD….

“Men would be able to show affection without being accused”

“I would not be branded because of the clothes I wear”

“Home would be a place of peace”

…WITHOUT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

How would you like to star in a unique art exhibition alongside the Guerrilla Girls, Tracey Emin, Marc Quinn, Grayson Perry and Stella Vine?

As part of the exhibition (supporting Amnesty’s International’s work to Stop Violence Against Women) Erasure star VINCE CLARKE and Heaven 17’s MARTYN WARE are asking you to contribute to an interactive sound sculpture.

Phone 020 7033 1599 and leave your response to the question: “What would a world without violence against women be like?”

We want to make people think about how violence against women impacts on their own lives. You don’t have to leave your name, and you don’t have to come up with something profound – just tell us what you think. So please phone today. It takes 30 seconds and your voice could be part of this stunning event.

Many thanks,

Jennifer Campbell

Stop Violence Against Women Campaign Manager

The Imagine a World exhibition is at the Bargehouse, South Bank, London and is open from 10-6pm from 25 November to 11 December. Admission is free. For more information visit amnesty.org.uk/svaw/imagine/exhibition

I also got an Amnesty International snailmail magazine today and in it was an 'urgent update' which explained that Amnesty are starting an investigation into the human rights concerns over the Terrorism Bill, and the thoughts of the British government about allowing people to be returned to countries which use torture. I am so, so glad Amnesty is doing this. I love that they don't shy away from criticising the biggies (USA on violence against women, UK on this, for example).

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Demonstration Against Bus Fare Rises in Sheffield

Campaign stalls petitioning against First's latest fare rise have been inundated with angry people wanting to sign. Many say they will come on Saturday's demonstration. Word does seem to be spreading about the protest march, but we need to keep advertising it in whatever way we can to get as many people there as possible.

Assembly is at 11-00 outside the City Hall in Barkers pool.The march moves off at 11-30pm, returning to City Hall for a few speakers to finish it off. It would be useful if campaigners can get there for 10-45 to help organise things.

The TGWU busworkers branch have promised to come on the march and bring their banner. I have spoken at a general meeting of Sheffield Pensioners Action Group(SPAG) today and they are supporting the demo and bringing their banner. Other banners and especially home-made placards will be very welcome.

Terry Fox, Council Cabinet member for Transport, spoke at the last WWOBB campaign meeting. He said that his realistic date for introducing Statutory Quality Bus Contracts (a form of regulation but still with private bus operators) was 2009. In other words 4 more years! He suggested that this could be brought forward if he and the council were put under enough pressure by people like us. Make of that what you will, but we intend to increase the pressure on the council to stand up to First and to the government. This Saturday's demo will be another step in that.

See you Saturday.

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hippie love and peace you will find. that the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more you know the more

and

Jewish Muslim Hindu Buddhist Christian and Muslim faiths all trace the roots of the Ultra Left, in the Democratic Party as a whole and the other is a maverick physicist from Adelaide. more Red did did did

are words of wisdom, philosophy or nonsense, from my new addiction which is google talk. Check out the other projects too, fantastic procrastination tool!

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Technorati tags: Amnesty; violence against women; incurable_hippie; protests; google toys.

Photo Friday: Worn.

100_0396
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Photo Friday

Sign on Park Hill flats, Sheffield.

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Technorati tags: Photo Friday; photography; incurable_hippie; urban; urban decay; park hill flats; sheffield.

Illustration Friday: Strength.

Strength in Numbers.


Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: illustration friday; protest; incurable_hippie; women.

DAD.

Last Christmas, my Dad was diagnosed with lymphoma. He died on Monday. I am absolutely devastated and full of a myriad of emotions, thoughts, feelings.

The doctors stopped trying to cure his cancer a few weeks ago, but he died a lot quicker than anyone had anticipated. I feel very cheated, I want to have toddler tantrums and stamp my feet shouting, 'It's Not FAIR!'.

I am a mixture of a mad-crying-person, and also a whole load of disbelief that this could have happened at all, never mind happened now. I still can't quite believe it, though there is a constant sensation of knowing that there is something awful, even when I can't believe that it's true.

Z is being incredibly supportive, through her own grief as well. I am spending time alone, time with her, and time with others. I find I am doing different processing of his death during these different contexts. For example I cry more when I'm on my own, I remember more when I'm talking with Z, I'm exploring the feelings and associations more when I'm with my mental health worker. There is much, much more to it all, but I think the different types of contact, and the alone-ness, are all really important and different.

I can't believe he's gone. That I'll never see him again. I just cannot believe it. I miss him already so, so much.

Rest in peace, Dad.

Un-Fuckin-Believable.

Re: MEET Boxing Legend Mike Tyson.

Dear Editor / Letters Page, @ Sheffield Star,

I am writing to complain strongly against your competition, the prize of which is to go out for a drink with Mike Tyson.

As you will know, Mike Tyson is a convicted rapist and when he attempted to come to this country several years ago there were national protests, in particular by women's groups.

Your description of him in the competition literature discusses his boxing success but makes no mention at all of the controversy in other aspects of his life, including the conviction of rape.

Promoting such a man is appalling and irresponsible, and I understand that in other parts of the country protests are also mounting. In Derby, for example, a Domestic Violence group called Next Step are running a campaign, supported by local people, against a visit there.

Giving any publicity to such a man - never mind suggesting going for a drink with him as a prize for a competition - is a measure which will outrage and upset many people in Sheffield and South Yorkshire. The Sheffield Star's part in this suggests a complete disregard for the women here and elsewhere who have survived rape, sexual violence and domestic violence, and those who haven't survived.

Sports men and women are more and more considered heroes and role models. Please don't let this man appear that way to any of the young people who will come across your paper. We need to stand up against bullies and rapists, not celebrate them.

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See also: Indymedia Article.

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Technorati tags: mike tyson; protest; incurable_hippie; anti-rape; sheffield.

New Labour Manipulation.

In the run-up to the General Election I discovered that I was on some kind of Labour Party email update list. And while the smug grinniness (?!) of Tony Blair in my inbox annoyed me immensely, there was also an element of voyeurism which meant I didn't request to be removed. I liked to see what they were trying next.

I occasionally still get emails from them, and today I was less-than-joyous to receive a Labour Party email from Clarles Clarke, but when he stated that he was emailing [me] today to find out your views on the action the Government is proposing to take to challenge the new terrorist threats that face all of us my ears pricked up.

I'll tell you what I think! Yey! Absolutely draconian measures which will lead this country in a direction which terrifies many. Civil and human rights slashed, racism incorporated into law, defying conventions which we signed up to for very good reasons, locking people up without charge for 3 months... Scary, appalling, very, very bad idea.

So yes, Mr Clarke, where do I share, I wonder... here - to register my views (he says).

But unfortunately there is no box to share my views, no email address to send my thoughts to. Instead there are questions so leading as to be essentially taking us by the hand and clicking the 'correct' answers for us. Questions such as,

Do you think police should have the time and opportunity to complete their investigations into suspected terrorists?
Do you think the government should make sure there are new safeguards to protect innocent people?

The possible answers for each are Yes, No or Not Sure...
On the radio this afternoon they were talking about polls and surveys and whether they meant anything at all.

I think we can safely say that this survey by the Labour Party means absolutely nothing other than that they are shameless, and probably getting desperate.

If anyone wants to fill it in by the way, I'll happily share my invitation with you. Go for it.

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Technorati tags: labour party; UK Politics; incurable_hippie; propaganda.

Atchooo

I have a cold. I am feeling very sorry for myself.

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Technorati tags: tea and sympathy; incurable_hippie.

David Blunkett Resigned!

Ha Ha Ha!

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Poem

I want to write a poem
But I don't know what about.
There surely is a subject
About which I want to spout.

I climbed up a big mountain
And walked all along a river.
Inspiration I was seeking
To set me all aquiver.

I rode on bulls and horses
and I ran with wolves and lions
but I still had no ideas 'bout which
I could write some rhymes.

I convened with elves and fairies
And we smoked and got quite drunk,
We took too many drugs and so
My brain, it got quite shrunk.

I thought I heard some music
Coming from inside a tree,
I conversed with grass and lightbulbs
and they came to section me.

I still had no ideas for
The ode I was to write -
I thought all through the sunshine,
I thought all through the night.

Then the birds chorused the dawn
and realisation came with it...
I'd written the bloody poem -
Which you know, cos this is it!

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I want to do an altered board book and I bought a second hand board book today from a charity shop for a few pennies. I'm quite scared because all the altered books stuff I have seen is incredibly incredible and I'm quite crap, but I want to do one and I may - just may try.

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Oh, did I mention that David Blunkett resigned?!

Blunkett 'man of Sheffield steel'.
In the square outside David Blunkett's former fiefdom, Sheffield City Hall, a great wailing went up at lunchtime as news of the resignation filtered through the city.

But it was not an expression of collective sorrow at his second fall from grace.

It was just the siren which blares out everyday at 1pm to tell nearby workers it is time to nip out for a sandwich. Read more...

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Technorati tags: david blunkett; poem; incurable_hippie; sheffield.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Celebrates Religious Festivals.

There is an interview with Maya Angelou at BBC World Service, which I think that everybody in the world should listen to. I'm not joking, I heard this on the radio in the middle of the night a few nights ago, and I'm now listening again from the site, and she is an amazing woman with some really inspirational and insightful things to say. Go, listen!

I also want to talk about government mental health public info films, and old government public information films (do coughs and sneezes spread diseases, anyone??), and suicide girls, and I'm also wondering where borderline teacher has disappeared to.

As ever, I may or may not get round to talking about these things, but that last paragraph serves as a note to self, at least.

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Best Wishes for Samhain, Diwali, All Soul's Day, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hallowe'en. You don't have a religious festival for ages, then they all come along at once... ;)

Diwali

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Samhain

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Eid

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All Soul's Day

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Hallowe'en (tattoo!)

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Technorati tags: religious festivals; maya angelou; incurable_hippie; public information broadcasts.

Illustration Friday: Broken

broken2
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: illustration friday; broken; incurable_hippie; collage.

Monday Round-Up

Following on from my Ban Cars rant a few days ago, zinkibaru has written a rather stunning post about the dangers and irritation of passive driving.

She presents a sound case for banning cars, for the benefits of those of us who are passive drivers and indeed for the benefit of the earth. She even presents a way to go about creating and implementing the laws.

Obviously an outright ban may be too large a step to take all in one go, so I propose that certain areas are exempt from the Non-driving Bill. People would still be able to drive in private members' clubs and places where no pedestrian would ever go. Obviously they wouldn't be able to drive from home to these places though, as this would involve putting the public health at risk. They would have to keep their cars at the clubs. As a natural accompaniment to the Non-driving Bill it is only wise to also implement strict petrol rationing so that any form of public transport which cannot yet run on renewable energy can have access to the diminishing supply. Read more...

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Buy a white poppy for peace here. Learn about them here.

Find out How Ethical your Pet Food is.

Last week's Link of the Week was the Opacity - Abandoned Photography and Urban Exploration site. For this week's, click on the Link of the Week graphic on the right.

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Some cool / interesting articles from the Guardian.

Living for today.
People from all over the world are now squatting in empty 'des res'
properties in the UK to avoid cripplingly high rents in urban centres

Françoise is a well-groomed young French woman who works part-time in
fashion PR in London, pays her taxes and shares a cottage with friends
in north London. She pays no rent though, because she is one of
thousands of people across the UK who is squatting. "Many people who
squat are working in low-paid jobs and simply cannot afford to pay
rent, particularly in London," she says. "We want to do something
creative with our lives, not just working behind a bar or on a
building site. If you don't have to pay rent on top of all your other
living expenses it can mean the difference between having time to live
and merely surviving."

She wants to see a more pragmatic arrangement between owners of empty
properties and squatters, so squatters can move in and take care of
buildings until the owners need them. "The laws around empty
properties don't have much humanity," she says. "If people have a home
and some food to eat, they can make progress in life. Without these
basics it is very hard to move forward. I used to pay rent, but in
London it's so expensive. There are many beautiful buildings around
and they should be recycled."

Part of nature

She says she has learnt to get by on less since she started squatting
a few months ago. "Hot water and electricity are my basic minimum
requirements in a squat, but I don't mind if there are rats. After
all, they're part of nature." Read more...

In other news:

Met admits stigmatising mentally ill

The Metropolitan police owned up yesterday to stigmatising people with mental illness and "perpetuating a myth" that they are especially prone to violence. It promised a programme of reform to stop the inappropriate use of police cells to detain vulnerable people who are going through a mental health crisis.

Officers said damage was often done by unauthorised leaking of mental health records, giving a misleading impression of suspects' danger to the public. There were also problems if uniformed officers accompanied social workers in detaining a patient under the Mental Health Act.

A review by police and NHS chiefs in London said: "We recognise that people who experience mental illness are far more likely to be a victim of crime than a perpetrator."

Brian Paddick, deputy assistant commissioner, said holding violent patients in police cells protected other people but did nothing to protect them against themselves, or to care for their clinical needs. He promised training to educate officers about the need for patient confidentiality.

The police and NHS organisations agreed to set up a network of "places of safety" across London where people in a mental health crisis could be treated.

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Technorati tags: anti-car; ethical shopping; incurable_hippie; poppies; squatting; mental health; stigma.

Papercraft Perfection.

So, yesterday I went to my first ever Card-Making / Papercraft Show. I have been making cards for about 2 years now and am totally hooked, but I'd never quite made it to one of these big exhibition events before.

It was surprisingly difficult to find Don Valley Stadium, despite having got off the tram at the Stadium tram stop, but once we found our way in it was just great.

The number of stalls was just right. There were enough to find exciting products, get new ideas, and to find some marvellous bargains but there weren't so many that you had to skim past them in an overwhelmed fashion.

My passion for pretty papers was certainly well catered for and I came home with lots and lots of unusual, funky, sparkly and amazing stuff having not spent an extortionate amount of £cash. Of course, it would be very, very easy to spend an extortionate amount of £cash so I recommend taking along the maximum amount you want to spend, and leaving cards at home. (Which was easy for me as the bank has confiscated my card anyway.)

I came away with handmade paper, rubber stamps, ink, peel-offs, stickers, scrapbook papers, pearlescent card, angel wire, vellum and embellishments.

I came out of the show absolutely and utterly exhausted, but also inspired and fired up to make lots and lots of new cards, and to use papers and tools in new ways. It was a great way to spend a Sunday :)

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Technorati tags: papercraft; card making; incurable_hippie; exhibition; funky.

Ban Cars! Seriously!

I was on a bus this afternoon, and I was furious. It was baking hot, stupidly crowded, and taking much, much longer than the journey I was making should have.

And I sat there, fuming (I was, at least, sitting down).

I was furious with all the car drivers who, each in their individual cars, were causing this hold-up by insisting on driving into / out of a city centre. Drivers who were probably all also annoyed by the traffic jam without ever stopping to think that they are part of the jam and that the jam is made up of people like them. It is not other people causing the jam, it is everybody in their car who is in the jam. If you are a car in a jam, you are the jam.

If all of those people were on buses, my bus would have sailed down the city's streets without hindrance. And not only that, if all of those people were on buses there would be more buses, with better provision and frequency.

If all of those people were even car-sharing - if each car in the queue held 4 or 5 people, as they are (mostly) designed to - then there would have been a quarter or a fifth of the cars, leading to much less of a hellish standstill.

But no. Individual people in individual cars. One after the next after the next after the next. Causing me and the 30 other people on my bus to get stressed and annoyed and uncomfortable and hot and vowing to never leave the house again.

I was absolutely furious. I wanted to write this but figured it would make me some enemies. I'm less furious now, but I'm more aware that making enemies is always a risk for someone like me, and that this blog is here so I can say this stuff. You can read or not.

Public transport needs extra money, but many of those who dismiss public transport out of hand have never been near a bus for years. They don't have the first idea what it's like. And, to be honest, the more people who use buses, trains, coaches, the more money will be ploughed into these provisions, and the better the services will be. I am the first to admit that public transport is not perfect, but carrying on driving your polluting, cluttering, dangerous, arrogant car around causes many, many more problems than the odd late bus.

World Carfree Network

(Disclaimer of sorts, incomplete: I know that there are people who really do need cars more than others - those who are disabled and particularly those in rural communities with poor public transport. I'm not talking about those people.)

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Technorati tags: anti-car; public transport; incurable_hippie; traffic jams; rant.

R.I.P. Rosa.

"People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired but that wasn't true I was not tired physically I was not old. I was 42. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

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"I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day, but I don't think there is any such thing as complete happiness. It pains me that there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you're happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for. I haven't reached that stage yet."

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"To this day I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom."

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"I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear."

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"I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move."

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"Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others"

Rosa Parks, February 4th 1913 - October 24 2005

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Technorati tags: rosa parks; civil rights; incurable_hippie; quotes.

10 Indisputable Facts for a Monday.

1. New pillows feel really, really, really amazingly luxurious.


2. However headaches hurt a lot and taint otherwise good feelings and thoughts.


3. I have both of the above.


4. I am confused by the hugeness of the bird flu panic.


5. Z and I have been together for 21 months today :D


6. ...which is a year and three quarters!


7. These lists are always harder than they look.


8. Absolutely masses of people are still sad that Scatman John died.


9. Absolutely nothing is giving me the motivation to tidy my house today.


10. There is no direct translation in French of procrastination. Last time I looked, the dictionary said something like Faire quelquechose demain qu'on devrait faire tout de suite. Hmmm.

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Technorati tags: list; 10 things; incurable_hippie; french.

Photo Friday: Retro.

100_0830retro
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Retro entry for Photo Friday. Otherwise known as my bed.

Buy, Blood, Boogie.

Alternatives to buying Christmas presents has some cool ideas if you are skint / anti-Capitalist / not Christian / just don't want to spend lots of money for that big December thing. I also recommend GreatGifts.org where you will find the alternative gift catalogue if you do want to spend, but not so much on stuff.

Do you want free ice-cream for giving blood? Apparently, Ben & Jerry's will oblige. Giving blood is very important anyway - even if you're not getting any ice cream. I think you do usually get tea and biscuits, if that is your prime motivator.

I take too many different medications at the moment to be allowed to give blood, but I really wish I could. Since my dad has been ill he has had lots and lots of blood transfusions, many of which have made him feel an awful lot better (when his iron levels have been very low). I guess I'd only ever thought about people receiving blood after car crashes or whatever, not on a weekly (or whatever) basis just to maintain a certain degree of health.

The Blood Donations site actually has a fun zone in which, amongst other things, you can read some of Billy Blood Drop's jokes...

Q: What is bright red and dumb?
A: A blood clot!

Q: What does Billy Blood Drop cross the sea in?
A: A blood vessel!

Q: What is Billy's favourite ice cream?
A: Veinilla!

It brings to mind a whole new sense of self-harm humour... a kind of cheesy, embarrassed one!

I am very much loving Audioscrobbler and Last.FM.

Last week's Link of the Week was FOUND Magazine. For this week's, click on the Link of the Week graphic on the right.

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Technorati tags: buy nothing christmas; alternative gifts; incurable_hippie; audioscrobbler; give blood; jokes.

Any dream interpreters out there?

Ok, I am somewhat sceptical about dream interpreting - mostly the kind that if you dream about x then someone is going to die and if you dream about y you are going to get rich.

However, I do think that sometimes our heads try to sort stuff out when we're asleep, and sometimes this can be played out in our dreams.

Anyway, for three nights now I've had dreams with the same theme, which is that I am looking after an animal which I neglect / treat horribly and then (in 2 of the dreams) at the last minute I start looking after them and they're ok. Basically.

Dream 1: I'm looking after Z's cats but one of my hamsters had escaped so I put both cats into empty hamster cages and fed them from hamster bowls. They were too cramped to be able to move, although one bent the bars so she could get her head out.

Dream 2: I'm looking after a dog, a black, curly-haired thing. I'm not a big fan of dogs but this was pretty and cute. But I kept forgetting I was looking after it, so not getting any dog food. I tried to feed it hamster food a few times but (unsurprisingly!) it wouldn't eat it. I had it in a kind of fenced off area of my house. Then one night I realised that it was really very ill because I hadn't fed it, and early the next morning, as soon as the shops opened I went out, bought it dog food and gave it lots of nice food and drinks and it went from scrawny and ill to really healthy and shiny-coated.

Dream 3: I'm looking after a rabbit and a guinea pig. I put them both into one hamster cage, which gives them room to basically lie still next to each other and not move. I forget to feed them again and again and when I finally remember I think the guinea pig is dead so I start feeding the rabbit who starts looking healthier, then the guinea pig stirs and I realise it is still alive after all so I feed it and it ends up fine too.

Ok, so does anyone have any idea what this is telling me? I figured that after 3 dreams with the same theme, there is something that my unconscious, or whatever, is really trying to get across, and until I *get* it, it will keep on and on.

I wake up feeling incredibly guilty for how awful I was to these dreamed-up animals and have to reassure myself a lot that it was a dream and I do treat animals well in my waking life!

Any ideas would be most welcome!

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Technorati tags: dreams; pets; incurable_hippie; dream interpretation.

Definitions and Maps.

Looking something up in my 1952 French-English dictionary, I came across the following definition, of bricolier, which wouldn't be out of place in The Meaning of Tingo!

BRICOLIER - Horse wearing a breast-collar and harnessed at the side to a two-wheeled carriage.

My favourite postsecret of the week has to be:

It also reminds me of zinkibaru's entry for Lost (mine is here). It also reminds me of how I feel, as if I needed reminding.

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Technorati tags: french; language; incurable_hippie; tingo; map; depression; lost.

Photo Friday: Conspicuous

100_0816
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Photo Friday.

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Technorati tags: rainbow flag; photo friday; incurable_hippie; pub; photo; LGB.

activism

activism
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Illustration Friday: Cold (4th post of the day!)

'It is only when the cold season comes that we know the pine and cypress to be evergreen'. Chinese Proverb.

'A cold needs the cook as much as the doctor'. Scottish Proverb

Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: Illustration Friday; proverbs; incurable_hippie; cold.

Ailing...

FACTS (Friends of the Aire and Calder Turbines) is a great site, with a wealth of information about the benefits of wind turbines and wind power, and in particular their Fact and Fiction page is worth a read.

You can also send an email to various Yorkshire MPs and MEPs from the site, and it was after doing exactly that that I got this message on the following page:

You can help further by adding your name to the register and the ailing list on the Home / News page.

I feel ill enough to be on some kind of ailing list, so this one seems as good as any!

Last week's Link of the Week was abortionclinicdays. There is now a new one, if you click on the Link of the Week link! (There is also a new one if you don't click, of course.)

The fact that this is my third post of the day suggests that I am being loquacious, multiloquent, prolix, verbose, voluble, communicative, conversational, demonstrative, effusive, enlightening, expansive, forthcoming, frank, garrulous, unreserved, chatty, cogent, copious, cursive, declamatory, disputatious, mellifluent, mellifluous, long-winded, oratorical, padded, palaverous, periphrastic, pleonastic, supererogatory, superfluous, supernumerary, surplus, tautological, verbal, vocal and voluble.

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Technorati tags: wind power; typo; incurable_hippie; link of the week; thesaurus.

Funny... Unfunny.

I am always disappointed by Quote... Unquote's very existence. It occupies the Monday 6.30pm slot on BBC Radio 4 when everyone knows that filling it with Just A Minute or I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue is infinitely preferable.

And whereas the series of Just a Minute and Clue feel like they last about 4 weeks each, each series of Quote Unquote feels like it goes on for at least 26 weeks.

I did meet someone a few weeks ago who likes Quote Unquote, so it perhaps has one fan, but really that is all they have.

And, as Sunday 12pm slot is given over to repeating the Monday 18.30 comedy, the insuffrable corny and emollient nature of Quote Unquote is endured a second time. It thinks it is funny and it really is not.

I am glad to say that it is now 12.32pm on Sunday and so the repeat is over. Just another 18 hours until tomorrow's programme. :-/

(PS Has anyone else's gmail account become suddenly crap at spotting spam lately? I'm having to label most of mine myself even though it's so obviously spam...)


Spam is evil.

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Technorati tags: BBC Radio 4; quote unquote; incurable_hippie; comedy; spam; gmail.

Autumn Leaves, Lesbian Lies.

100_0727
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

This photo ---> I took in the park a few days ago.

Any other business:
Reading through my Snopes email newsletter I was, at first, amused to see that one issue which people submitted (which means they didn't know if it was true or urban legend) was,

The Weekly World News strikes again, this time with a tale about a lesbian mother who has scheduled her adopted baby boy for sex change surgery

.
It became less amusing when I realised that people really thought it might be true. That the level of homophobia and lesbian-hating in our society is such that people would actually believe that a lesbian would have her two-year old son 'changed' into a girl because she didn't like men. And so many of those people who believed it would also really want to believe it because it reinforces so much negativity.

Pah!

I went to the Disability Benefits Conference yesterday and am intending to write an account of the day shortly. Suffice to say it was inspiring, exciting and exhausting.

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Technorati tags: photo; park; incurable_hippie; lesbian issues; disability; incapacity benefit; conference; adoption; homophobia.

20 Random Facts.

Caroline has tagged me to post 20 random facts about myself and then tag the same amount of people as minutes it takes me to write the facts.

1. I'm a Taurus, but I don't really believe in that stuff. However, I am stubborn.


2. I am in love.


3. I have a toy box. For myself.


4. I live with 3 hamsters and 3 fish.


5. Hamsters often feature in my dreams.


6. I am more likely to sing along to the backing vocals than the tune of a song.


7. I am really, really messy.


8. I am usually in the middle of 3 or 4 books at once.


9. I eat way too much chocolate.


10. This is harder than it looks.


11. I cannot abide anything or anyone touching my feet. Including myself, and including shoes. Is it any wonder I'm mad?


12. I occasionally get strangely addicted to French nursery rhymes.


13. I used to work in Sexual Health.


14. I usually pretend I'm fine when I'm not.


15. I have three lighters which don't work next to me.


16. I sent my first email in 1995 and have been hooked ever since.


17. I made a housework chart this morning and have three stars on it now!


18. I'm considering lying about how many minutes this has taken me.


19. Though I am a really bad liar, with too much of a conscience, so I probably won't.


20. I think html is fun.

I tag:

Travelling Punk
Dooey
Anne
Astrid
Lisy Babe
Joy
Taarna
Cat

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Technorati tags: 20 random facts; memes; incurable_hippie; lists.

Sheffield: City Under Construction.

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Technorati tags: sheffield; urban; incurable_hippie; photos.

The nonsense, the whole nonsense, and nothing but the nonsense.

When Z woke up this morning I had been awake for a while, and I announced to her, with much indignity, that the Tory leadership contest had got even more ridiculous now that Richard Branson, Kenneth Branagh, and somebody else who I couldn't remember were all standing for the leadership position now as well as the ones we've heard all about for the last few weeks.

She looked so bemused that I considered what I had said, and asked, "Or did I dream that?"

She thought I had probably dreamt it. I was eventually inclined to agree that these guys couldn't be standing for Tory leader since they weren't even MPs.

But you never know?!

I also, while still asleep (I was later informed) asked her what the metal phone behind my head said on it, after coming out with several nonsense attempts at finding the word say (which I think included tink sink).

I do worry about myself sometimes.

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Technorati tags: dreams; nonsense; incurable_hippie; uk politics.

Liar, liar, your bum's on fire. Your nose is longer than a telephone wire.

The threats to disability benefits are getting more and more frightening as time goes by. People who rely on and need these benefits as they are truly unable to work are getting frightened by the increasingly real possibilities of having their money stopped, being just as unable to work, but unable to claim benefits either.

The conference will hopefully be a force to reckon with, but the even more recent comments from David Blunkett just add more worry to many people.

And if nothing else, this level of stress and concern and anxiety is almost guaranteed to increase people's own experiences of mental ill-health and make them less able to work!

But then today I was listening to PM and heard that David 'Nightmare' Blunkett is considering introducing lie-detector technology onto the phone lines of Civil Servants who work with benefits, so that they can detect false or fraudulent claims from the public.

(I always think I can't be shocked any more, and I always, always am).

Now, this lie detector technology notes changes in the stress of the voice which is undetectable to the human ear. With these minute changes it can identify stress associated with telling a lie. But can it tell the difference between stress from telling a lie and stress from other causes?

There is an insurance company who have apparently used this lie-detector technology on their telephone claim lines for 18 months, to detect and prevent fraudulent applications for insurance money.

They then interviewed a Psychologist who specialised in deception. He stated that yes, the voice does indeed react to stress in certain ways detected by this technology, but this is not necessarily the stress or strain of lying. He pointed out that if someone is phoning esure after a burglary, their voice is likely to show these stress signs as a result of anger or distress or fear of having been robbed.

Similarly, if someone is phoning the Benefits Agency as a result of not having had their money on time, they might well be angry or annoyed or frightened or desperate. If the lie-detector software identifies the strain in their voice as them telling a lie - when in fact they are distressed in a totally different way - they could be labelled a fraud when they are really, truly not.

The psychologist stated that there is no machine that could detect the difference between stress in someone's voice from lying, and stress in someone's voice from being frightened, or angry, or many other emotions.

Putting lie-detector technology onto the phone lines of Benefits Agencies will make people even more concerned and scared to deal with these agencies than they already are. It will make people feel like criminals, and make them fear the repercussions if, for whatever reason, the technology brands them a liar. It will make people who already struggle with using a telephone even more wary. And it's just wrong!

As far as I know, lie-detector tests are not admissible in court because they are just not reliable. Should they then be used in these often life-and-death issues of giving people money to live on?

I think not.

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Technorati tags: disability benefits; david blunkett; incurable_hippie; lie detectors; rant.

Illustration Friday: Lost.

This is my submission for this week's Illustration Friday, the theme of which is Lost.

It is a collage of a large question mark, on which are layers of an old Sheffield A to Z map, and pages torn from a notebook made from obselete maps.

The background paper is Japanese (?) text, interspersed with various European and UK place names in English.

I thought these displayed confusion over place - my understanding (for this project) of lost - quite well.

(More Hippie images).

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Following on from this post,

Switch off the TV and get on your bike, Blunkett tells long-term sick:

The work and pensions secretary, David Blunkett, today urged hundreds of thousands of people on incapacity benefit to stop watching daytime TV and start looking for work.

Speaking ahead of a press conference today on the government's principles for reform the welfare state, Mr Blunkett risked provoking further anger from Labour's backbenchers over his already controversial plans to overhaul incapacity benefit.(more...).

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Technorati tags: Illustration Friday; lost; incurable_hippie; lost; collage; disability benefits.