BBC NEWS | Magazine | 'Robbed' of the right to smoke

Robbed of the right to smoke

The ban on smoking in enclosed public places has caused controversy, but what if you couldn't smoke in the place where you lived? It's what mental health patients are claiming.

Life in a typical mental health unit is not exactly festooned with luxuries. Like all hospitals, they can seem cold, clinical and austere places to many patients.

And life is about to get worse for many of those held in a unit. By 1 July 2008 they must all be smoke-free. Prisons, on the other hand, will remain exempt from the smoking ban.

The move is likely to anger many patients, who are not allowed to leave the unit and are not being punished for any crime. Already three are taking legal action over their right to smoke.


You have the choice to smoke in prison, but not in a mental hospital - but prisons are there for punishment, and hospitals are there for treatment
Rob Beech, legal advocate

Two of the cases, brought by Terrence Grimwood and another patient, are arguing against the early introduction of the ban at Rampton secure hospital by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust in March 2007.

They say the ban infringes their human rights, namely article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees respect for private and family life.

The third case, brought by a Rampton patient who can only be identified by their initials of WN, is against the secretary of state for health, for bringing the legislation through Parliament.

The patients argue the hospital is effectively their home and therefore they should be able to smoke. The new rules even prevent them smoking in the grounds.

Hospital is home

Smokers make up 26% of the general population, but 70% of mental health inpatients are smokers, according to Mental Health Today.

Mr Grimwood's solicitor, Marcus Brown, says it is a question of basic freedoms.

"They are being deprived of the choice of doing what they want," he says.

Legal advocate Rob Beech is representing the third Rampton patient to bring a legal challenge against the smoke-free policy.

"You have the choice to smoke in prison, but not in a mental hospital," he says. "But prisons are there for punishment, and hospitals are there for treatment."

One person who thinks the effects of the ban could be catastrophic is former patient, Judy Mead.

The 42-year-old, from Bristol, was sectioned twice - in 1985 as a 19-year-old and then again two years later. She spent several months as an inpatient and smoked about 15 cigarettes a day.

"I hadn't committed any crime when I was in a mental health unit and I was already angry at why I'd been sectioned, so being prevented from smoking would have made things worse.

Coping method

"What would have happened is that I would have been given more medication, because I already felt suicidal and having to give up smoking so suddenly would have made me more determined about taking my own life.

"For the first few weeks, my parents dissuaded my friends from visiting and as I didn't know any of the patients, the only friend I had was a cigarette."

A spokeswoman for Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust said the ban had been introduced across the whole of the organisation in March, and not just at Rampton.

Patients are all offered help with stopping smoking, she says.


MENTAL HEALTH AND SMOKING
40% of mental health service users smoke
70% of mental health inpatients smoke
50% of those using inpatient units classed as heavy smokers
Between 70% and 74% of people with schizophrenia smoke
56% of people with depression smoke

Emily Wooster, of mental health charity Mind, argues that asking people to stop smoking while they were mentally unstable could prove problematic for them.

"People who use mental health services are twice as likely to smoke as those who do not, and some may use this as a means of coping with distress," she says.

And there is even an argument that suddenly being made to give up smoking could worsen their problems, suggests Dr Chris Allen, a consultant clinical psychologist.

"If they're using smoking as a way of assistance to cope with their mental health problems, and then that's taken away, that could lead to problems being exacerbated."

A Department of Health spokesman insisted it was a question of mental health patients being entitled to a smoke-free environment, like other NHS users.

But whatever the arguments of those who want the smoking ban, many mental health patients will continue to think they are being singled out unfairly.

Below is a selection of your comments.

As a non-smoking community mental health nurse I have to agree with the in-patients comments. It is definitely not the best time to give up smoking when their mental state is unstable, and will-power is weaker than when mentally well. Ethically it's wrong to force vulnerable people, who may have no choice about being in hospital, to give up even though we know the health benefits of them doing so. The answer is to provide well ventilated separate smoking areas and probably a specialist support service to assist those individuals who choose to do something about their addiction.
David Barclay, Kirkcaldy, Scotland

This is typical of the way we are being forced to live by this government - the guilty are rewarded and the innocent are hounded for doing something perfectly legal. How arrogant of the Nottingham NHS spokesperson to blithely defend this blatant disregard of people's rights by saying they will be offered help to quit - what if they do not want to? Smoking is, as far as I am aware, still legal in this country and therefore every citizen should be given the right to exercise the freedom we are supposed to have - with the exception of people in prison, who are being punished for breaking an actual law and not just a knee-jerk health-freak one. It seems that the "human rights" of prisoners are far more important than those of the general population - the answer? Light up in a public place, get sent to prison and then puff away to your heart's content, safe in the knowledge that the government is too busy restricting the basic freedoms of the general population to realise that! You are doing as you please in the very situation which should restrict your freedom.
Paula, Ipswich, Suffolk

Whilst it would seem reasonable to create healthier environments for all, I believe that patients in mental hospitals are already under many pressures. My mother spent time on several occasions in mental hospitals and smoking was one of the ways which helped her to cope. I believe that by forcing patients to not smoke, could exacerbate their problems. It would be better to provide a separate smoking area and gradually help the smokers to weane off the cigarettes along with the other help being given for treatment.
Christopher Merriein, Chichester

It's ludicrously unjust to deny detained psychiatric inpatients the right to smoke while allowing prison inmates to do so.
Gavin Nash, Manchester, UK

Some mental health inpatients already feel, because of the state of their mind, that they are already being punished because, for various reasons, they have been admitted to hospital either voluntarily or sectioned. If their cigarettes are taken off them as well they are going to feel victimised even more. I do appreciate that non smokers are entitled to a smoke-free environment, but surely common sense should come into it as well. After all a ward is the only home a lot of mental health patients are going to know for a while. A wee corner should be found somewhere for smoking patients to be able to have a puff.
Andrea Brown, Ayr

Straw sacrifices prostitution law to ban strikes by prison staff | Politics | The Guardian

Straw sacrifices prostitution law to ban strikes by prison staff

The government last night dropped key parts of its criminal justice and immigration bill, including a crackdown on prostitution, to ensure that powers banning prison officers going on strike are rushed on to the statute book by May 8.

The justice secretary, Jack Straw, is also sacrificing a proposal which would have barred the appeal court quashing convictions on a technicality in cases where there was "no reasonable doubt" about the defendant's guilt. It stirred strong opposition in the legal world where it was seen as incursion on the discretion of judges.

The bill would have introduced a programme of "compulsory rehab" for those involved in prostitution and removed the pre-Victorian term of "common prostitute" from the statute book which ministers said was widely regarded as stigmatising and offensive.

Women who were persistently found to be involved in loitering and soliciting were to attend compulsory drug and alcohol rehabilitation courses instead of being fined. If they failed to attend at least three meetings of the course they could face up to 72 hours detention before being brought before a court.

Women's groups, penal reformers and probation officers said women would be locked up simply for missing meetings.

Ministers said the changes were a way of providing women with an "exit strategy" from the sex trade and were the only legislative proposals to emerge from a review of the laws surrounding prostitution carried out in 2003.

The term "common prostitute" dates back to the 1824 Vagrancy Act and a public consultation showed that it is now widely regarded as offensive.

The Ministry of Justice last night said it was withdrawing the prostitution and criminal appeal provisions of the bill to ensure the legislation received royal assent by May 8, when a voluntary no-strike agreement with the Prison Officers' Association will lapse 12 months after the union gave notice it wanted to end it.

A ministry spokesman said: "We are taking this action to ensure that legal protection is in place in the event of further industrial action destabilising the prison estate, as was witnessed on August 29 last year. We must take this action in order to meet our duty to protect the public."

A special delegates conference of the POA on February 19 gave the union executive a mandate to take action, including a strike, and a mandate not to sign a new no-strike agreement. Straw was prepared to sacrifice key parts of his criminal justice bill yesterday to ensure that there was no gap between the voluntary agreement lapsing and the introduction of the statutory ban on industrial action taking effect.

The bill was the 55th criminal justice bill since Labour came to power in 1997 and would have created 19 new criminal offences on top of the 3,000 created in the past decade.

Photography Blog Updates

World-Wide Moment

Jane Bown (Audio)

Burma Follow-up

Heeley City Farm

More from Heeley City Farm

Obsessed with the City Farm? Never!

Wind Turbines

English Tea-Can / China Painting Effect in Photoshop

Photo to Drawing - Photoshop

Further Photo to Drawing - Sunflowers

Classical Art Colour Match

The Lomo Effect

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo is actually a complete and grammatically correct sentence.

Bison from Buffalo, New York who are intimidated by other bison in their community also happen to intimidate other bison in their community is a quick-ish translation, but if you're still confused, read the wikipedia page.

Love this stuff.

See also James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher.

Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation
is a fun site, looking at the difficulties of translating between languages, especially when done automatically by a computer. And especially when used by a (cunning) linguist.

You give it something in English, then it translates it to and from numerous languages then back into English, where the results are frequently comedic.

I asked it to translate, "I get knocked down then I get up again you ain't never gonna keep me down".

These are the results:
Translated to Japanese:
私はたたかれてそれから私を起こす再度でない決してgonna 固定しない私を得ない

Translated back to English:
As for me being hit, then it causes me, you do not obtain me whom for
the second time gonna which is not it does not lock under any
condition

Translated to Chinese:
至于我被击中, 它然后导致我, 您不获得我第二次去哪些不是它不锁定在任何情况下

Translated back to English:
Is hit as for me, does it then cause me, which you not to obtain me
second time to go to is not it does not lock in any situation

Translated to French:
Est frappé quant à moi, le fait me causent alors, au lequel vous
pour ne pas m'obtenir la deuxième fois d'aller n'est pas lui ne
verrouille dans aucune situation

Translated back to English:
Is struck as for me, the fact cause me then, with which you not to
obtain the second time to me to go is not him does not lock in any
situation

Translated to German:
Wird angeschlagen, was mich anbetrifft, die Tatsache verursachen mich
dann, mit dem, um zu gehen nicht zu mir das zweite mal zu erreichen
Sie, nicht er sperren nicht in irgendeine Situation sind

Translated back to English:
Fastened, which concerns me, the fact cause me then, with that, over
to go not to me second times to achieve you, not it do not lock into
any situation are

Translated to Italian:
Fissato, che lo interessa, il fatto mi induce allora, con quello,
l'eccedenza ad andare non a me seconde volte realizzarli, non esso non
blocca in tutta la situazione è

Translated back to English:
Fixed, than it interests it, the fact induces to me then, with that
one, the surplus to go to me second times not to realize them, it does
not block in all the situation is

Translated to Portuguese:
Fixo, do que ele interessa-o, o fato induz-me então, com esse, o
excesso para ir-me segundas épocas não os realizar, não obstrui em
toda a situação é

Translated back to English:
Fixture, of that it interests it, the fact induces me then, with this,
the excess to go me second times not to carry through them, does not
obstruct in all the situation is

Translated to Spanish:
La base, de ésa que lo interesa, el hecho entonces me induce a, con
esto, el exceso que vaya yo las segundas veces de no llevar a través
de ellos, no obstruye en toda la situación es

Translated back to English:
The base, of which it interests it, the then fact induces to me to,
with this, the excess that goes I them second times of not taking
through them, does not obstruct in all the situation is

So then I tried it with the description of me and this blog in the top right.

Original English Text: About me? Mad, in debt, feminist, radical, angry, pacifist, warrior, radio 4 listener, geek, flower-power chick... About Hippie blog? Ramblings, photos, fury, giggles and musings about love, peace, friendship, madness, happiness, the state of the world, my life, cool pics, my health and general ranting...

Translated to Japanese:
私についてか。、負債、男女同権主義者、怒っている、戦士で平和主義的な気違い、基、無線で送りなさい4 つ傾聴者、マニア、花力のひよこを... ヒッピーのblog についてか。世界の愛、平和、友情、狂気、幸福、状態、わめき散らす私の生命、涼しいpics 、私の健康および大将についての取留めのない会話、写真、激怒、くすくす笑いおよびmusings...

Translated back to English:
Concerning me? Debt, the man and woman same right principle person, it
is gotten angry, with the soldier the pacifism lunatic, send with the
basis and the radio 4 listening people, the maniac and the chick of
flower power... concerning blog of the hippie? My life which love,
peace, friendship and insanity of the world, happiness, state, screams
and scatters, cool pics, concerning my health and the leader
conversation, the photograph and the rage which do not have the taking
finishing blow, secretly laughing and musings...

Translated to Chinese:
关于我? 债务、人工和妇女同样合适的原则人员, 它被得到恼怒, 以战士和平主义疯子, 发送以基本类型和收音机4 听的人员、疯子和花力量小鸡... 关于嬉皮的blog? 爱的我的寿命, 和平、世界的友谊和疯狂, 幸福, 状态, 尖叫和没有采取的精整吹动, 秘密笑和musings... 的消散,
冷静pics, 关于我的健康和领导交谈、相片和愤怒

Translated back to English:
About me? The debt, the man-power and the woman similarly appropriate
principle personnel, it are obtained angry, by the soldier pacifism
lunatic, transmits by the basic type and the radio 4 tins of
personnel, the lunatic and the colored strength chicken... about plays
skin blog? Loves my life, peace, the world friendship and is crazy,
happy, the state, screamed and has not adopted the finishing moves,
the privacy smiles with musings... dissipating, calm pics, converses,
the photograph about mine health and the leader and the anger

Translated to French:
Au sujet de moi ? La dette, la main d'oeuvre et le personnel
pareillement approprié de principe de femme, il sont fâché obtenu,
par le pacifisme de soldat fou, transmet par le type de base et
est-ce que les boîtes de la radio 4 de le personnel, le poulet fou et
coloré de force... au sujet des jeux pèlent le blog ? Aime ma vie,
paix, l'amitié du monde et est fou, heureux, l'état, crié et n'a
pas adopté les mouvements de finissage, les sourires d'intimité avec
des rêveries... absorbant, PICS calme, inverses, la photographie au
sujet de la santé de mine et l'amorce et la colère

Translated back to English:
About me? Are the debt, the labour and the personnel pareillement
adapted of principle of woman, it annoyed obtained, by the pacifism of
insane soldier, transmits by the basic type and the boxes of radio 4
of the personnel, the insane and coloured chicken of force... about
the plays peel the blog? Like my life, peace, the friendship of the
world and is insane, happy, the state, shouted and did not adopt the
movements of finishing, the smiles of intimacy with daydreams...
absorbent, PEAKS calms, opposite, photography about the health of mine
and the starter and anger

Translated to German:
Über mich? Werden die Schuld, die Arbeit und das Personal
pareillement von der Grundregel der Frau angepaßt, es störten
erreicht, durch den Pazifismus des geisteskranken Soldaten,
überträgt nach dem grundlegenden Typen und die Kästen von Radio 4
des Personals, des geisteskranken und farbigen Huhns der Kraft...
über die Spiele ziehen dem blog ab? Wie meine Lebensdauer ist
Frieden, die Freundschaft der Welt und geisteskrank, glücklich, der
Zustand, geschrieen und nahm nicht die Bewegungen der Fertigung, das
Lächeln von Intimacy mit träumt... Saugstoff, SPITZEN beruhigt,
Entgegengesetztes, Fotographie über die Gesundheit von meinen und der
Starter und der Zorn an

Translated back to English:
Over me? Does the debt, which work and the personnel disturbed
pareillement adapted by the basic rule of the woman, it achieved,
become by the Pazifismus spirit-ill of the soldier, does transfer
after fundamental types and the boxes of radio 4 of the personnel, the
spirit-ill and colored chicken of the strength... over the plays takes
off blog? Like my life span peace, the friendship of the world and
spirit-ill, is lucky, the status, cried and did not take not the
movements of the manufacturing, which dreams smile of Intimacy with...
Sucking off, POINTS calms, opposite down, photography over the health
of my and the starters and the anger on

Translated to Italian:
Sopra me? il debito, che lavorano ed il pareillement disturbato
personali adattato dalla regola di base della donna, esso ha
realizzato, diventato dal Pazifismus spirito-malato del soldato,
trasferisce dopo i tipi fondamentali e le caselle della radio 4 dei
personali, del pollo spirito-malato e colorato della resistenza...
sopra i giochi toglie il blog? Come la mia pace della durata,
l'amicizia del mondo ed il spirito-malato, è fortunati, la
condizione, gridata e non hanno preso non i movimenti del
manufacturing, cui sorriso di sogni di intimacy con... Succhiando
fuori, i PUNTI calma, di fronte a giù, la fotographia sopra la salute
dei miei e dispositivi d'avviamento e della rabbia sopra

Translated back to English:
Over me? the debit, that they work and the pareillement disturbed
personal adapted from the rule of base of the woman, it has realized,
become from the spirit-sick Pazifismus of the soldier, transfers after
the fundamental types and the cases of radio 4 of the personal, of the
pollo spirit-sick and colored of the resistance... over the games
remove the blog? Like my peace of the duration, the friendship of the
world and the spirit-sick one, are fortunate, the condition, screaied
and they have not taken not the movements of the manufacturing, which
smile of dreams of intimacy with... Sucking outside, the POINTS calm,
of forehead down, the fotographia over the health of mine and
dispositi you of starter and of the anger over

Translated to Portuguese:
Sobre mim? o débito, aquele que trabalham e o pessoal perturbado
pareillement adaptado da régua da base da mulher, realizou, tornado
do Pazifismus espírito-doente do soldado, transferências após os
tipos fundamentais e as caixas do rádio 4 do pessoal, do pollo
espírito-doente e colorido da resistência... sobre os jogos removem
o blog? Como minha paz da duração, o friendship do mundo e
espírito-doente, são afortunados, a circunstância, screaied e não
fêz exame não dos movimentos do manufacturing, que sorriso dos
sonhos do intimacy com... Sugando fora, os PONTOS acalmam-se, da testa
para baixo, o fotographia sobre a saúde da mina e dispositi você do
acionador de partida e da raiva sobre

Translated back to English:
On me? the debit, that one that they work and the staff insane
pareillement customized of the ruler of the base of the woman, carried
through, become of the Pazifismus spirit-sick person of the soldier,
transferences after the basic types and the boxes of radio 4 of the
staff, pollo spirit-sick person and colored of the resistance... on
the games remove blog? As my peace of the duration, friendship of the
world and spirit-sick person, they are fortunate, the circumstance,
screaied and not fêz examination not of the movements of
manufacturing, that smile of the dreams of intimacy with... Sucking
outside, the POINTS are calmed, of the forehead for low, the
fotographia on the health of the mine and dispositi you of the paddle
of start and the anger on

Translated to Spanish:
¿En mí? ¿el debe, aquél que trabajan y el pareillement insano del
personal modificado para requisitos particulares de la regla de la
base de la mujer, llevado a través, pasado con la persona
alcohol-enferma de Pazifismus del soldado, transferences después de
los tipos básicos y los rectángulos de la radio 4 del personal,
persona alcohol-enferma del pollo y coloreado de la resistencia... en
los juegos quitan el blog? Como mi paz de la duración, de la amistad
del mundo y de la persona alcohol-enferma, son afortunados, la
circunstancia, screaied y no examinación del fêz no de los
movimientos de la fabricación, con los cuales la sonrisa de los
sueños de la intimidad... Aspirando afuera, las PUNTAS se calman, de
la frente para el punto bajo, el fotographia en la salud de la mina y
dispositi usted de la paleta del comienzo y de la cólera encendido

Translated back to English:
In me? it must, that one that they work and pareillement insano of the
personnel modified for particular requirements of the rule of the base
of the woman, taken to traverse, passed with the alcohol-ill person of
Pazifismus of the soldier, transferences after the basic types and the
rectangles of radio 4 of the personnel, alcohol-ill person of the
colored chicken and of the resistance... in the games clear blog? Like
my peace of the duration, of the friendship of the world and the
alcohol-ill person, they are lucky, the circumstance, screaied and
nonexaminación of fêz not of the movements of the manufacture, with
which the smile of the dreams of the privacy... Aspiring outside, the
ENDS calm, of the forehead for the low point, fotographia in the
health of the mine and dispositi you of the trowel of the beginning
and the ignited rage

I found that fab site through the worryingly disappeared French Mistress blog.

Project Chanology.

A group of 'Anonymous' people have commenced Project Chanology, launching an online attack on Scientology, naming it a dangerous cult and a brainwashing cult.

My work here is done.

Justice for rape victims

Justice for rape victims

Please add your signature to the open letter at the link above, addressed to Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary.

Every 34 minutes a rape is reported to the police in the United Kingdom. Thousands more victims do not come forward.

Yet women are being failed by the criminal justice system, and left with nowhere to turn for support. We need your help to make a difference.

Please add your signature, and we will present the letter to her after the end of the campaign on 8th March, International Women's Day.

If you have any problems signing online, please email your name and organisation (if appropriate) to petition@fawcettsociety.org.uk or call us on 020 7253 2598 and we will add your name to the letter.

Petition:
Dear Home Secretary

Every 34 minutes a rape is reported to the police in the United Kingdom. Thousands more victims do not come forward.

Yet despite the scale of the problem, the Government has failed to provide the support that women want and need. The few remaining rape crisis centres are at risk of closing due to inadequate and insecure funding, and the vast majority of women in the UK have nowhere to turn to for support in their local area.

Not only are women who have been raped denied access to support, they are also denied access to justice. Only one out of every twenty rapes reported to the police results in a conviction, with less than one in five rapes even leading to a prosecution. This failure to bring rapists to justice amounts to a near ‘licence to rape’.

Money must be invested in support services without delay, so that every area has a fully-funded rape crisis centre, while the Government must take immediate steps to ensure that real improvements are made in criminal justice practice, so that every case is properly investigated.

The Government must do more for victims of rape. We call on you to give this issue the political priority that it deserves.

Some Astrologists They Are!

'We regret to announce that due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, the publication of The Astrological Magazine will cease with the December 2007 issue.'

Disgraceful!

A terminally ill Ghanaian woman has been removed from hospital in Wales to be deported, because her Visa had run out. I'm so disgusted with my country's lack of care, humanity and basic respect.

Cancer Patient Loses Visa Battle
A Ghanaian woman who came to the UK five years ago and became a student is being flown back to the African country, despite being terminally ill.

Ama Sumani was taken by immigration officers from a Cardiff hospital where she has been receiving dialysis for a year after cancer damaged her kidneys.

Ms Sumani, 39, whose visa has expired, said she cannot afford care in Ghana.

Her solicitor said they had pleaded compassionate grounds. The Home Office said it examined each case "with care".

Before leaving, she had been comforted by a nurse in a day-room at the University Hospital of Wales.

The immigration service arrived at 0800 GMT.

Ms Sumani was tearful but calm when she left hospital in a wheelchair with five immigration officials, one carrying her suitcase, and she was driven away.

She left on a flight from Heathrow to Ghana at 1435 GMT.

The cancer she is suffering from - malignant myeloma - would ordinarily be treated with a bone marrow transplant, but she was not entitled to the treatment.

The dialysis treatment she has been receiving is helping to prolong her life and her last treatment was on Tuesday evening.

Legal status

But it needs to be repeated regularly and there are concerns she would not be able to access dialysis treatment centres in Ghana.

Health care there is also private but Ms Sumani said she could not afford it.

A spokesman for Ghana's high commission in London said the country had two fully-equipped hospitals in Accra and further north in Kumasi.

He did concede that access to treatment was costly but said that if Ms Sumani was a member of the Ghana national health insurance scheme she would still receive treatment.

A friend Janet Simmons said Ms Sumani was a widow and a mother of two children, who were currently being looked after by members of her church in Ghana.

She first came to the UK as a visitor in 2003, but then changed her status to student and attempted to enrol on a banking course at a city college, her solicitor explained.

Ms Sumani's lack of English prevented her from pursuing the course and she went to find work which contravened her student visa.

In 2005 she returned to Ghana to attend a memorial service for her dead husband.

But when she came back to the UK her student visa was revoked and she was only given temporary admission which effectively meant she was given notice she would be removed, her solicitor said.

She did not keep in touch with immigration officials and was first taken ill in January 2006. Without the dialysis doctors fear she only has weeks to live.

Her solicitor said she accepted her removal was fair but said they had made representations on her behalf on compassionate grounds.

Ms Sumani is being removed from the country rather than deported because of her expired visa which means she has no legal status in the UK.

A removal means that in theory she could apply to return to the UK in the future.

A spokesman for the Border and Immigration agency said said it would not remove from the UK anyone who they believe is at risk on their return.

"Part of our consideration when a person is removed is their fitness to travel and whether the necessary medical treatment is available in the country to which we are returning," he added.

"Removals are always carried out in the most sensitive way possible, treating those being removed with courtesy and dignity." (my emphasis. Bastards)

Shopdropping.

This word featured in a piece by Ian Urbina in the New York Times
on Christmas Eve. It's a curious process that the writer succinctly
described as reverse shoplifting.

Its beginnings lie in a US west-coast guerrilla-art movement that
wants to take over part of the public spaces of stores for artistic
and political purposes. One aim is to subvert commercialism as a
form of culture jamming (see http://wwwords.org?CLTR). As one
example, an artist might replace a product label with another that
features a political or consumerist message.

To judge by the New York Times article, the term has since spread
beyond its artistic origins to refer to any unauthorised placing of
materials in stores. Some is still political or consumer activism,
but the technique is now used for religious proselytising and for
straightforward advertising and promotion. Independent bands, for
instance, put copies of their albums in stores to promote them.

Early appearances of the term were linked to the California artist
Packard Jennings. The first example I've so far found was as the
title of an exhibition in San Francisco in March 2005 that included
some of Jennings' work.

Another term, which specifically refers to putting copies of CDs in
record shops, is "droplifting", which was coined by Richard Holland
of Turntable Trainwreck and The Institute for Sonic Ponderance in
2000.

* Ryan Watkins-Hughes, on shopdropping.net, 26 Dec. 2007: Similar
to the way street art stakes a claim to public space for self
expression, my shopdropping project subverts commercial space for
artistic use in an attempt to disrupt the mundane commercial
process with a purely artistic moment.

* New York Times, 24 Dec. 2007: At Mac's Backs Paperbacks, a used
bookstore in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, employees are dealing with
the influx of shopdropped works by local poets and playwrights by
putting a price tag on them and leaving them on the shelves.

From worldwidewords.org

2008

First photo of 2008: to be uploaded later

First rant of 2008: How did this bastard get aggregated in google news?? It's fucking outrageous.

First drink of 2008: pepsi max, am on too many painkillers to have had a real drink :-(

First wish of 2008: may these period pains please ease quickly

First voice heard in 2008: woman across the road shouting Happy New Year

First crisis of 2008: hopefully dealt with

First wish to blog readers for 2008: Have a great one!

First resolution for 2008: Don't give up anything, especially cigarettes or chocolate.

The Provident.

Shame on greatoffers@allaboutsavings.co.uk for this email, which is neither a great offer, nor anything about savings.

The Provy, those bullying, preying-on-the-poor, knocking-on-the-door loan sharks, have offered me possibly the worst terms for a loan ever.



Have a look at the bottom right,

*Example. Cash loan amount £300.
56 weekly repayments of £9
Total amount payable £504

Typical
183.2% APR

183.2% APR typical. So some people presumably get even higher rates!

Let's have a look. CCJs, poor credit history, been turned down before, renting a home, unemployed... yep!

So you're perhaps not in the best financial situation? How can you almost guarantee to make it a million times worse? Oh yes, borrow from the Provy! Borrow £300, pay back £504. And that, of course, is if you make every payment every week. If not... well, higher interest, increasing your 'loan' amount to cover missed payments... add a bit more to the end cost. You're already buggered, why not?

I am furious that this was sent to my email. I *hate* these people.

Now, a good organisation is Church Action Against Poverty. A Church group putting their faith and efforts to the good (unlike some).

Their Debt On Our Doorstep campaign

is a national campaigning organisation made up of local activists and public organisations. We aim to end extortionate lending and ensure universal access to affordable credit and other financial services. To this end our objectives are to:

* Publicise the extent and impact of extortionate lending on low income groups

* Lobby Parliament, assemblies and other decision makers to end extortionate lending

* Research and promote models of affordable credit

* Provide a platform for people on low incomes to comment on the impact of debt

We are part of a growing international movement for responsible lending and have been involved in the planning of a series of national conferences throughout Europe which culminated in the launch of a European Coalition for Responsible Lending in Brussels in 2006.

Debt on our Doorstep was the first organisation in the U.K to call for a 'responsible lending' duty to be placed on lenders, and this has since been introduced into the new Consumer Credit Act. We are expecting a consultation exercise on the requirements for lenders in the near future. Unfortunately, our campaign for interest rate ceilings to be introduced has not been successful, although the Government has pledged to keep this matter under review, and our work to bring about a competition commission inquiry into the Home Credit industry has recently brought about a real possibility for price caps in that market.

We are also working to develop local financial inclusion partnerships, and are calling for requirements to be placed on the banking industry to disclose, and then improve, the level of financial services available in low-income communities. In this respect, our work has been informed by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition in the U.S, with whom we are closely involved in our international work.

Debt on our Doorstep is also calling for excessive default charges, made by credit card lenders and banks to be refunded to borrowers - a total of £1.8 billion has been overcharged in the past 6 years for credit cards alone - and is working with the Bank Charges Action Group to recover these..

Good on them.

Also, if you're in financial trouble yourself, I can't recommend National Debtline too highly. They are a source of great advice and support, they don't charge anything (unlike so many of those companies who advertise on TV to help with your debts) and have helped me consistently over a long period.

As for greatoffers@allaboutsavings.co.uk, gmail rightly put their shit into my spam folder, where it will stay.

Chocolate

I just went to my local shop, to find it had displays of Mini Eggs and Cadbury's Creme Eggs.

Happy Easter, folks!

The 90s

I'm watching some old Silent Witness episodes (an Amanda Burton fix was feeling necessary).

Weirdly, one of the things that dates them is the fact that all the women's trousers come up to their waists! Every woman really stands out because she's not wearing hipsters. Damn those things have taken over.

They look cool, but I can't wear them. My tummy is too round and they fall down all the time. It's now virtually impossible to buy jeans that cover tummies.

Let's go back to the days of Amanda Burton on telly, and jeans with tummies. In finding a link for her I discovered that Ms Burton's last two relationships have been with photographers. Admittedly they were male, but there's hope for me yet. Maybe.

Recent Photography Blog posts

Photography blog:

Surveying the Scene

Burma

Free Burma

Dreams. Edited in Photoshop CS3

NPR - Think Pink

My Favourite Favourite

TJ Hughes Sends you a Hug

Ninety Smokers by Dan Donovan

Supertram in Motion

Local Newspaper Publication

Helping Charities with Recycled Used Stamps

Used-stamps.co.uk is in need of an update, so until that happens, still collect all the used stamps off envelopes you receive (particularly at this time of year with Christmas cards and such), and send them off to:

Posted! Stamps for Charities
Education Distribution Service
Freepost FPN 772
Castle Road
SITTINGBOURNE
Kent ME10 3RL

Apparently these will be distributed to charities such as Great Ormond St Children's Hospital, RSPB, Macmillan cancer support and RNIB.

Info from the ever good money saving expert forums.

Go awn, it's an easy good deed to do :)

It's exactly as we all hoped!

Jodie Foster comes out - at last!
Congratulations, Jodie. But why did it take so long to confirm what we already knew?

It's standard practice for Hollywood stars to thank friends and family when accepting awards. But when Jodie Foster paid tribute to "my beautiful Cydney" during a speech at the Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment breakfast last week, it caused a ripple of excitement.

So now we know. Jodie Foster's partner of at least 15 years is a woman. Just like Jodie. That's right, folks: Jodie Foster is a lesbian. This startling piece of news is akin to the shock revelation that Rudolph the Reindeer has a very shiny nose. In other words, if you didn't already know this, you seriously need to retune your gaydar.

It's a secret as open as the Grand Canyon that Foster has been stepping out with film producer Cydney Bernard for years, and that they are raising Foster's two children together. The surprise is not that Jodie is gay, but that it has taken her so long to say so.

Famously protective of her privacy, Foster has long resisted calls from gay rights advocates to become an out-and-proud role model. Lesbians across the land have long been divided by the Jodie question. Her willingness to take on gutsy, serious, even feminist roles is admired, while her coyness about her sexuality has been met with disappointment. After all, we don't have many role models, and a trip down the red carpet hand in hand with Cydney would have done a lot to raise lesbian visability.

There's a widely held view that being gay is bad for a celebrity career: Ellen DeGeneres - who had a TV series cancelled shortly after both she and her character came out - is a case in point. But surely someone with the prestige and power of Jodie Foster could challenge the squeamishness about homosexuality that still prevails in America.

Perhaps, though, we should cut Jodie some slack. I don't recall Nicole Kidman, say, having to "announce" her heterosexuality. The fact that the grand gesture of "coming out" is still a big deal just shows that most straight people still assume everybody else is heterosexual. The advantage for Jodie is that she only has to come out once. Non-celebrity lesbians and gay men have to do it every time they meet someone new.

Continued 2

We just wanted the life insurance money, and that was more important than letting you grieve your dad for 5 years, believe he's gone forever, and actively hide his existence from you.
I don't think you could ever forgive that.

Continued

Who is thought to have left panama for florida, has been feeding stories to the papers about how, amongst other things, he hid in a tunnel when they had visitors, including their sons.
Now, this is what blows my mind. Life insurance fraud, while maybe unusual, isn't that weird. But pretending to your sons that their dad is dead, when you know he's not, is just horrific.
It was recently the 2 year anniversary of my dad's death. If, in another 3 years, my mum said oh, by the way your dad is fine, we just

Unbelievable

I've been following this news story over the last week or so, of the guy who turned up at a police station saying he had lost his memory. It came out that he had been presumed dead after disappearing when canoeing in the sea 5 years ago.
It then got stranger, when someone told the police that a recent photo of this guy + his wife was on a website about buying property in Panama.
It all began to look like a big life insurance scam. He has indeed now been arrested and charged with fraud, and his wife