outside Sheffield station yesterday.
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Technorati tags: language; funny; incurable_hippie; signs.
About me? Mad, disabled, 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...
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Technorati tags: ATCs; artist trading cards; incurable_hippie; Under the Sea; Illustration Friday.
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Technorati tags: feminism; evil playboy; incurable_hippie; campaigning; pink.
As long as there is no earthquake, nuclear explosion, broken legs, hurricanes,
floods, post office strikes, sick children (in my house), sudden huge increase
in postal prices, desert storms, giant hailstones dropping from the skies
or other similar catastrophies your item will be posted within 72 hours of
cleared payment.
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Technorati tags: patriarchy; baby hedgehogs; incurable_hippie; humour.
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Technorati tags: flashing; indecent exposure; incurable_hippie; trauma; Jacky Fleming.
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Technorati tags: Sheffield; photography; incurable_hippie; plants; Sheffield steel.
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Technorati tags: depression; incurable_hippie.
Truth Hurts - the Report of the National Inquiry into Self-harm among Young People
Self-harm among young people is a significant and growing public health challenge. Despite this, there is almost universal misunderstanding about self-harm even amongst those in closest contact with young people. In response to this, the Camelot Foundation and the Mental Health Foundation launched the National Inquiry into Self-harm among Young People in 2004. The Inquiry Panel has been meeting for two years, hearing evidence from a wide range of interested parties, but most significantly it listened to the voices of young people who have experience of self-harm. Their contributions have been vital to this work.
Truth Hurts sets out an agenda for change, making recommendations about what needs to be done in order to fully understand the prevalence of self-harm; the importance of commissioning services where young people feel listened to and respected; gathering evidence of what works in preventing self-harm and intervening once the behaviour is underway; and building a better understanding of why young people self-harm. Ultimately the aim must be that those closest to young people who self-harm are better equipped to hear their disclosures without panic, revulsion or condemnation.
It is our intention that the report will serve as a turning point in understanding self-harm and be a launch pad for changes in the prevention of, and response to, self-harm among young people throughout the UK. We hope the report is interesting and useful to you. Copies of the report can also be downloaded at www.selfharmuk.org.
As part of the ongoing work of the National Inquiry, there will be two major UK conferences in London on 6 July and Scotland in September 2006. If you would like to receive information about these events, please call us on 0207 8031161 or email gmcewan@mhf.org.uk
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Technorati tags: self-harm; self-injury; incurable_hippie; mental health.
Dear Charles Clarke,
I call on you to stop locking up more than 2,000 babies and children in immigration detention centres every year.
The Home Office currently allows children to be held for long periods of time in immigration detention - children have been held from seven up to 268 days according to evidence gathered by members of the No Place for a Child coalition.
Detaining children is wrong - regardless of the merits of a family's asylum case - and has a damaging effect on their education, health and well-being. It is also contrary to international human rights standards and serious concerns about the detention of children have already been raised by all four Children's Commissioners, Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons and the European Commissioner for Human Rights.
[...]
Last year the UK government locked up over 2000 children - not for committing any crime, but simply for bureaucratic convenience as a part of the asylum process. The decision is taken by an immigration official and without any judicial intervention.
These children aren't told how long they will be detained - it could be weeks or even many months. One third are detained for at least seven days.
Detention is traumatic for any child they feel they are being punished and they don't know why. Many of them have come to the UK to escape terror from state officials in their own country. There's plenty of evidence that the effects of detention are extremely damaging.
The Refugee Council has joined with Save The Children and Bail for Immigration Detainees to fight to stop children being detained. As we launch the campaign today, we need you to take 2 simple and quick steps now - log onto our special campaign website: noplaceforachild.org.uk
Our message to the Government is simple: it's wrong to lock up children. As the campaign develops, we will be talking to them about better ways to manage families going through the asylum process - but right now they need to hear loud and clear from you that it's time to stop detaining children.
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Technorati tags: asylum rights; children's rights; incurable_hippie; UK Politics; campaigning.
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Technorati tags: illustration friday; pencil drawing; incurable_hippie; monster; fridge monster.
The young men were being paid to take part in the early stages of a trial for the drug TGN1412 which is designed to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and leukaemia.
But within hours of taking it on Monday, six volunteers had to be admitted to intensive care - a further two had been given a placebo.
Northwick Park Hospital's intensive care director Ganesh Suntharalingam said two were in a critical condition, and the other four were serious but showing some signs of improvement.
He added his team had been doing everything possible in this "unique set of circumstances".
"The drug, which is untested and therefore unused by doctors, has caused an inflammatory response which affects some organs of the body," he said.
Ms Marshall, 35, whose boyfriend is critically ill, said the normally healthy 28-year-old barman's face was so puffed, he "looks like the Elephant Man".
She said: "His friends cannot even face seeing him. I have to stay there because I'm looking beyond all the wires and the puffiness.
"This is not leukaemia, this is not pneumonia, this is not something they know how to deal with." (Read more...)
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Technorati tags: referral links; drug trials; incurable_hippie; medical ethics.
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Technorati tags: lists; books; incurable_hippie; music; ATCs.
What'sa matta you, hey!
Gotta no respect, whatta you think you do,
Why you looka so sad? It's-a not so bad, it's-a nice-a place,
Ah, shaddap you face!
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Technorati tags: music video; 80s music; incurable_hippie; Joe Dolce.
WOMEN SCREAM FOR HELP IN DISEASE FIGHT
By Ben Pindar, Community Newswire
HEALTH Scream London, 06 Mar 2006 - 08:39
A group of women were today gathering outside Parliament to scream for better funding and increased awareness about an incurable crippling disease affecting two million women across the UK.
The communal scream has been organised by the National Endometriosis Society and following the event the women will march on Downing Street to hand over a 12,000-signature petition to Tony Blair.
Organisers are staging the event to mark the launch of Endometriosis Awareness Week and the publication of a major new study which shows women with the condition face misdiagnosis, ignorance and misunderstanding.
Endometriosis is a condition where cells like the ones in the lining of the womb are found outside it which can create painful inflammation, adhesions and cysts.
A total of 89% of British sufferers experience pain throughout their monthly cycle with the average pain lasting 14 days a month. Of those in employment with the condition, 80% lose an average 5.7 days a month.
The new poll being published today reveals women have to wait an average of 11 years to get a correct diagnosis after the initial onset of pain.
Leading artist Adelaide Damoah was leading the demonstration outside the Houses of Commons today and everybody was screaming in unison to represent the almost continual pain some women endure as part of their daily lives.
The National Endometriosis Society wants increased funding for research into the disease and also wants the Government to help raise awareness about the suffering the condition can cause.
Robert Music, chief executive of the National Endometriosis Society, said: "The communal scream event is indicative of the pain each of these women has to endure but also demonstrates their frustration at a lack of funding and action from the Government.
"Their needs to be a lot more research into this condition and the impact it has peoples lives but this can only be achieved if the Government increases current funding levels.
"The funding received by researchers investigating this disease is very small but it is obviously incredibly important that more is done.
"Awareness of the condition also needs to be dramatically increased as a lot of symptoms go unnoticed.
"We need a three year awareness campaign at the very least so we can reach all women and ensure everything is being done to beat this condition."
At present there is no cure for endometriosis, with most patients treated through medication. For many, a range of alternative and complementary therapies have also delivered some degree of success in alleviating symptoms and pain.
Women with endometriosis or those wanting more information about the disease can contact the National Endometriosis Society via the helpline on 0808 808 2227 or through the website at endo.org.uk
National Endometriosis Awareness Day
The National Endometriosis Society tell me that today is National Endometriosis Awareness Day which I had not known. Unfortunately I have been super-aware of this disease the last few days because of the agony and misery it has been bringing me.
Every Part of My Body Hurt is not only a very apt description of the disease, but also a challenging article about one woman's experiences of endometriosis, diagnosis, treatment, and not recovering, but taking control of her treatment options. (Read more...)
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Technorati tags: endometriosis; menstruation; incurable_hippie; awareness campaign.
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Technorati tags: ATCs; artist trading cards; incurable_hippie; glass painting; art & craft; handmade.
800,000 people are trafficked across borders every year
90% are women and girls.
The majority are sexually exploited.
Dear President Barroso,
Thousands of women and girls will be trafficked into Germany for prostitution during the World Cup.
I urge you as President of the European Commission to take action, in cooperation with EU countries, to stop this crime.
Celebrate the World Cup.
Fight sexual slavery.
Prostitution during World Cup is a whole new ball game.
From Melanie Haape in Berlin
GERMAN cities are building mobile brothels and installing huge numbers of condom dispensers in the run-up to an expected boom in the sex business during the upcoming World Cup.
It’s thought up to 40,000 prostitutes will be brought into the country to augment the thousands already at work to service the needs of some of the estimated seven million chiefly male fans as they pour into the country from June 9.
Meanwhile, women’s activist groups have seized the occasion to highlight the problem of human trafficking and forced prostitution, especially of girls from eastern and central Europe.
Justice officials hotly dispute the 40,000 figure, however. Munich central police’s Andreas Ruch reckons it’s “been plucked from the air”.
“We know from the Oktoberfest, which has six million visitors, that the number of prostitutes increases, but we honestly don’t expect a mass invasion.”
Germany legalised prostitution in 2002, and the Bavarian capital has 500 registered sex workers. Ruch estimates that there are an extra 200 illegally plying their trade. “We expect the number to perhaps double during the World Cup, and while we do see the number of those coming from eastern Europe growing, this is a general tendency in many professions,” he said.
Berlin, which has up to 8000 registered prostitutes, is gearing up for strict controls during the tournament, said criminal department spokeswoman Kerstin Menzel.
“During big sports events in the past, we haven’t seen a major upsurge in prostitution-related criminality, but we are definitely putting in stronger controls in certain areas of the city which we know are troublesome. We’re also working with non-government organisations,” she said, adding that she couldn’t imagine that as many as 40,000 extra prostitutes would flood the city.
Nevertheless, to augment the city’s existing array of bordellos, three train stops from the main Berlin stadium a new structure covering 3000 square metres is being built to accommodate 640 customers at a time. Cologne has also built provisional brothels, and Dortmund plans to follow suit.
Hamburg’s famous Reeperbahn red-light district, meanwhile, hopes to use the World Cup to polish up its tatty image with its campaign “fairness in sex”. Brothels are co-operating in a plan to reduce complaints against dishonest money-grabbing practices on the part of the prostitutes.
There is no central strategy to control the problem of girls being smuggled into the country, or brought in under false pretences and then forced to offer sex-related services. Instead, each of the 16 states (Länder) is responsible for its own law enforcement. This is not enough for the Deutscher Frauenrat, the national women’s council which represents more than 50 women’s organisations nationwide.
A spokeswoman said: “After seeking role models and support for our campaign among the entire German football team, so far we have managed to get support only from Jens Lehmann who is also goalkeeper for the English club Arsenal. Others like Oliver Kahn have stayed silent, so we’re not only disappointed but really angry.” The council’s pleas to the football stars stated that as an example for many men, the stars’ word sometimes counts more than that of politicians.
“Therefore we ask you to state publicly that ‘real’ men are against human trafficking and forced prostitution,” wrote council head Henny Engels.
The EU has the issue on the agenda for its plenary session starting on March 13, said Anna Wittenberg, assistant to European Parliament member Lissy Gröner, also on the Women’s Committee in the EU. Wittenberg added that Germany’s state heads and police are now being pushed to improve controls on visa issuing, for example.
The European parliament reckons that almost 90% of the 500,000 people smuggled illegally into the EU are trapped into sexual exploitation. Hungarian translator Nico Anastasio, who has assisted in a number of trafficking cases , said: “The problem is that they seldom report their abuse as they are usually here illegally .”
26 February 2006
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Technorati tags: trafficking; women; incurable_hippie; prostitution; feminism; women's rights; football; World Cup.
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Technorati tags: self-harm; self-injury; incurable_hippie; SIAD.
Comic Linda Smith, a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz, has died of cancer at the age of 48.
The writer and broadcaster was a staple of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and BBC Radio, whose listeners voted her "Wittiest Person" in 2002.
She made frequent appearances on Just A Minute and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, as well as the TV shows Have I Got News For You, Room 101 and Mock the Week.
Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer said her passing was "a terrible loss".
"Linda was a Radio 4 giant," he added. "She generated an energy and warmth in every programme she ever did that made her fellow comedians and millions of listeners love her."
News Quiz regular Jeremy Hardy paid an emotional tribute, calling her "the wittiest and brightest person working on TV or radio panel games".
Linda Smith with Ian Hislop
Her many TV credits include Have I Got News For You
"It was impossible to be in her company for more than a few minutes without laughing," he continued.
"Even when she was very ill, she had her friends laughing and feeling uplifted despite our sadness.
"I am so lucky to have had such a wonderful friend."
Ms Smith, who is survived by her partner Warren Lakin, had been ill for some time and died on Monday.
A special tribute edition of the News Quiz will be broadcast on Friday at 1830 GMT, presented by her fellow panellist Andy Hamilton.
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Technorati tags: BBC Radio 4; linda smith; incurable_hippie; obituary.