Best, Worst, Funniest...

Did I ever mention having a ridiculous number of letter-related disagreements with my MP? It is for that reason that the front page of today's local paper is featuring in this entry. Ha!

In less gloating news, I am currently reading:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Fabric Art Journals: Making, Sewing, and Embellishing Journals from Cloth and Fibers.

Currently listening to:
We Are Shampoo
Hits: the Very Best of Erasure
Hole: Celebrity Skin

Amazing blog of the week: Women's Space / The Margins.

Bizarrest search result leading to hippie blog: result number 3 for 'Lambrini and Weight Loss'.

Currently feeling: exhausted, inspired, irritated.

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Technorati tags: books; music; incurable_hippie.

Keep your Jesus off my Penis, and keep your Penis off anyone who doesn't want it.

ReSISTERance blog shares details of research which shows the extent of unwanted teenage sexual experiences.

Her information, taken from the NSPCC site, details that, amongst other things:

• "Nearly half (45%) of teenage girls in an NSPCC/Sugar magazine survey have had their bottom or breasts groped against their wishes.
  
• Fifty-six per cent* of unwanted early sexual experiences occurred for the first time when girls were aged under 14.
  
• 51% of unwanted sexual experiences happened more than once and left the girls feeling dirty (47%), ashamed/guilty (39%), worried/insecure (36%), angry (34%) powerless (30%) and frightened (27%).

Chris Cloke, NSPCC head of child protection awareness said: "Sugar readers are revealing early sexual experiences that disregard the need for consent, with young girls threatened or bribed into submitting before they are emotionally or physically ready."

Of those girls who had been pushed into doing something they didn't want:

• nearly half (44%) had been made to feel guilty for initially saying 'no'
  
• over a quarter (29%) cited simply being told by the person pushing them that it was the right thing to do
  
• 1 in eight were given drink or drugs
  
• 1 in nine were concerned that rumours would be spread about them
  
• 1 in ten were threatened physically
  
• 1 in ten were actually hurt physically
  
• 1 in ten were bribed with presents or money

In all, 43% of girls questioned said the person responsible for the unwanted experience was a boy they knew or were friends with; one in three cited a boyfriend around their age. Fourteen per cent held a family member or family friend responsible, 13% 'a group of lads', 10% a boyfriend more than five years older than them, and 4% a teacher

A large majority (91%) of the NSPCC/Sugar survey respondents judged it 'never acceptable' for someone to push a girl into a sexual experience against her wishes. Over half (55%+) still believed that their own unwanted early sexual experiences had been at least partly their fault.

Girls' perception of what is sexual abuse varied depending on the age of the perpetrator. Nine out of ten (88%) girls labelled being pushed into a sexual experience against their wishes by an adult over 18 as 'sexual abuse'. Fifty-three per cent described the same experience at the hands of someone their own age as 'pressure sex'.

The NSPCC and Sugar have joined forces to encourage young people to speak out about any concerns they have about sex. Readers can get help and support from the July issue of the magazine and by visiting a new NSPCC website www.donthideit.com which provides a confidential and anonymous space to learn what sex abuse is and how to stop it. They can also call the NSPCC's freephone 24/7 ChildLine service on 0800 1111.

One of the hardest things for me, about studying this information, was that I was not in the least surprised. The statistics, the ages, the percentages, the details were all frighteningly predictable and very reminiscent of my own teenage years. And those of so, so many girls I knew.

The NSPCC website which is referred to, Don't Hide It Any More, is, unfortunately, predictably skewed in the wrong direction.

While they do provide information to children about what sexual abuse is, and how it can manifest itself, this is limited and does not appear to mention what is abundantly clear from the statistics above: i.e. that the boys in their school can abuse them sexually and force them into sexual activity they do not want. The NSPCC site focuses almost exclusively on adults as perpetrators.

Of course, adults make up a huge percentage of sexual abusers, but denying that teenage boys and young adults are committing these crimes, and maybe believing it is ok to do so, is not okay.

In addition, on the site, all of the impetus for stopping the abuse is on the child, usually the girl, being abused. She must tell someone, and they do suggest possible outlets.

What is not approached at all is that the person who can and should actually stop the abuse is the abuser. We cannot put the responsibility for stopping sexual abuse on the girls being abused. This is impossible, dangerous and puts a false sense of control in the hands of the girl who invariably has virtually no control over this situation. This leads to much more guilt on her part, regarding how she 'should have' been able to stop it happening.

The fact is she couldn't. Had she been able to, she would have. There are a multitude of reasons why she can't make him stop. It is him who has control over abusing her and, who has control of stopping the abuse. We must stop convincing girls that it would never have happened if only she hadn't (worn that skirt, smiled at him, taken the food, been lonely, this list can go on and on).

How can we stop childhood sexual abuse? Well, the abusers need to stop abusing children. Ok?

On a lighter note, thank the Goddess, this Not At All Safe For Work link brought a shocked smirk to my face! Keep your Jesus off my Penis

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Technorati tags: sexual abuse; teenage girls; incurable_hippie; Keep your Jesus off my penis; NSPCC; Sugar Magazine.

Cleaning vegetable detritus from sheep fleeces

I love obscure words with very specific meanings. From this week's World Wide Words, I learned:

Weird Words: Sabrage
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The act of opening a bottle with a sabre.

Imagine opening a bottle with great ceremony by striking off its
neck with one sweep of a blade. Traditionally the bottle contains
champagne and the implement is always a sabre.

You might think the result will be lots of broken glass and mess,
but the skill of sabrage lies in hitting the bottle hard just at
the bottom edge of the annulus, the glass ring at the top of the
neck. The blow breaks the neck off cleanly, complete with cork.
Experts advise you chill the bottle very well and avoid shaking it,
remove the foil and wire cage, hold it away from you at an angle of
about 40 degrees and strike with the bottle seam uppermost. Do not
try this at home, kiddies. In truth, a sabre is optional: almost
any hard object with an edge will do it.

At least one organisation, the Confrérie du Sabre d'Or, maintains
this tradition at its champagne parties. But otherwise, both it and
the term are rarely encountered. Stories hold that it dates from
Napoleonic times and was invented by cavalry who found it difficult
to open champagne bottles while on horseback, but did have usefully
heavy sabres handy. You may celebrate the ingenuity of this story
with a small glass of something bubbly if you wish.

Its language origin is definitely the French "sabrer", to hit with
a sabre. It's a close relative of "sabreur", one who fights with a
sabre, best known in "beau sabreur", a fine soldier or dashing
adventurer. But the modern French "sabrage" mundanely refers to
cleaning vegetable detritus from sheep fleeces.

Who knew?!

PS To the bastard who found hippie blog by googling where to buy a trafficed woman cost yesterday, fuck off. I hope your penis falls off.

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Technorati tags: language; sabrage; incurable_hippie; quirky.

Women Fight Back.

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Yesterday, on the Jerk List blog, I posted about Steven Green, and four other US soldiers who raped a young woman then killed her whole family. It is horrifying. At Women's Space / The Margins, there are three articulate and terrifying posts looking at the issues of rape as a weapon of war, and how this is not a 'one-off' event, but inherent to how the US & Allies are fighting the war.

Trigger warnings are most certainly relevant, especially for post two which has graphic and disturbing photographs. With that warning, the three posts from Women's Space / The Margins, are here:
Post 1 - The Rape of Iraq: Deep Sexing the News
Post 2 - The Rape of Iraq, part 2
Post 3 - The Rape of the Hadji Girl Part 3.

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Women are fighting back in Birmingham, against the growing commodification of women's bodies in the form of ever increasing numbers of lap dancing clubs in the area.

They say,

For those old enough to remember the women's protest group of the 70's and 80's, 'Women Fight Back' are back!

The increasing emergence of lap dancing clubs in the city was enough to make a group of local women and girls take up the challenge of fighting back against the exploitation of women's bodies for men's profit and enjoyment. The exploitation of women's bodies seems to be becoming a more and more acceptable medium for advertising and entertainment. What was once deemed politically incorrect 20 years ago is now deemed as being okay, It would seem that with all the Equal Opportunities policies we now have in society, women's equality is now considered guaranteed and safe from threat. Policies have actually resulted in women' issues being put on the back burner, the fight is over, so anyone discriminating against us in the workplace etc will be taken to court. However what we are actually left with is a green light to sexism, there is no resistance to exploitation of our bodies anymore, there doesn't need to be because there is a policy that does that for us!

Lap Dancing clubs are emerging everywhere, Birmingham has been described as the 'lap dancing capital of the country'. Adverts for Spearmint Rhino appear on billboards along the city’s major roads. Wherever you drive around the city, the image of a sexily clothed woman lying back under text that says, 'The Negotiator', is inviting men along to clubs to negotiate their price for her.

Women Fight Back are serious in their intention to rid the city of these centres of sexual exploitation and of the harm that they cause to women, children and society as a whole. Campaigning will take on many forms, there will be something for all women to get involved with, age is no problem, as long as you are female you can get involved. Email the link below for more info or get involved.
womenfightback@hotmail.co.uk

I am so, so pleased that these women in Birmingham are doing this. Working together as women and girls, with a clear and vivid political and feminist understanding of the meaning of women's bodies being bought and sold, the messages this gives out to men and women, girls and boys, and the inherent exploitation and danger in these types of men's clubs.

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On the front page of today's Sheffield Star newspaper is a story about a 16 year old Kenyan-born girl, who was pregnant after being forced into prostitution by men who bought and sold her.

She was held captive in a flat, possibly in London, after being shipped to the UK by men who told her she would be working as a house lady.

Her captors regularly beat and raped her and forced her to sleep with 10 men a day for nine months.

She eventually became pregnant by one of her captors but was forced to continue sleeping with clients.

She was driven to Sheffield and dumped when she became too pregnant to work.

That women and girls are being literally bought and sold, kept captive, used as prostitutes, raped and tortured, is not a surprise to me, but is always a shock. It is positive that the local paper was duly outraged and publicised the issue, but unfortunately this girl's situation is not that unusual. This particular girl is now apparently being 'looked after', and I really hope she is. The police are looking for the pimps / traffickers / kidnappers / rapists and I bloody hope they catch them. But we, and they, need to do more.

We need a world where no women are commodities to be exploited and sexualised and objectified and beatn and raped. Where this modern-day slavery is unheard of.

These three stories, blogged today, are immensely depressing yet there is also some encouragement, that being that we can see clearly that there are women who speak out, women who ask for help, women who join together to campaign, women who will not hide the truth and who will not tell lies about what happens to women.

Women Fight Back That's a statement of fact, and a plea.

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Technorati tags: Iraq; feminism; incurable_hippie; rape; anti-prostitution; trafficking women; Women Fight Back; anti-war; campaigns.

Illustration Friday: Skyline.

100_0437
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Illustration Friday

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Technorati tags: Illustration Friday; skyline; incurable_hippie; photography; Sheffield..

The Eyes as the Window to the Soul.

I have got conjunctivitis and blephitis. It's not nice, and it's certainly not pretty, and I'm surprised by just how ill I feel.

It's Dubya's 60th birthday. I do hope he announces his retirement shortly.

Things to read:

Zoe Williams: I Have, I'm Not Ashamed

One In Seven

Call for Investigation into Murder of Guatemalan Women

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Technorati tags: eyes; women; incurable_hippie; disability.

Essential Reading for the Day.

McDonaldisation of Sex.
Domestic violence accounts for a quarter of all violent crime, with one woman in four being a victim.

The contribution made by unpaid workers is forgotten in the drive for full employment...

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Technorati tags: domestic violence; anti-pornography; incurable_hippie; volunteering.

A Massive Failure - Conditons Worse Than Ever in Iraq.

Bill Neely (ITN's chief international editor) was an 'embedded' reporter who has now broadcast some horribly honest reports about how things really are in Iraq. He reports from Basra, from a hospital where there are now fewer drugs available to the doctors than during sanctions. People are having amputations where, with standard drugs available, they wouldn't need to. There have been no cancer treatments available for three years.

This is all in Basra, Iraq's second city, supposedly controlled by the British army and not so long ago portrayed by Bush and Blair as calm and orderly, in contrast to the rest of Iraq. Neely calls it 'a massive failure'.

You can see one of his reports here. It's hard to watch, but really, really vital.

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Technorati tags: Iraq; health; incurable_hippie; Basra.

Inspire Me Thursday: In Good Time

Inspire Me Thursday: Playing with watercolour, canvas, collage.

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Technorati tags: Inspire Me Thursday; In Good Time; incurable_hippie; art.

I love this time of year...

... though we've passed Solstice, so it's all downhill from here.

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Technorati tags: photography; flowers; incurable_hippie.

The Law taking the Law into their own hands.

Our police have really fucked up.

I remember the morning of the raid, and wondering how on earth you could fit 250 police officers into a terraced house. Why would they send that many, if only because it's not practical.

I remember hearing that the police had shot one of the men in the house, then that the police said that his brother had shot him, then just that he had been shot.

It turns out to have indeed been the police who shot him, and apparently after shouting no warning, not even identifying themselves as being the police, and not against any kind of threat from the guy.

Within days the police realised there was nothing they had done, there was nothing they could charge them with, and they released both the blokes.

You can see the press conference with the two brothers here. They just look totally exhausted, bewildered, and hurt. One of them had applied to be a community police officer, the other had been asked if he was a member of various terrorist organisations, including the fucking KKK.

What did the police think they were doing? At all stages of the thing?

I am somewhere between very angry and very upset, and have been when following this story since it started.

The police can't just take this power, can't just go round shooting people. The lads can't return to their house because it was stripped to the floorboards.

What a mess. Let's hope the Police Complaints Commission actually does properly investigate this thing and come up with some answers.

Yep, they were Asian men, with beards. The last guy was Brazilian. We really don't want this shooting people who have been wrongly accused of anything, while they are undefended thing to keep on.

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Technorati tags: police; angry; incurable_hippie; racism; rant.

Beware!

My favourite place of tonight: Pictures of Walls.

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Technorati tags: graffiti; subvertising; incurable_hippie; urban.

Important Notice from the DVLA

Due to the nature of the quality of driving in England the Department of Transport has now devised a new scheme through the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, and the Driving Standards Agency, in order to identify poor drivers and give good drivers the opportunity to recognise them whilst driving.

For this reason, as from the middle of May 2006, those drivers who are found to be driving badly, which includes:

- overtaking in dangerous places
- hovering within one inch of the car in front
- stopping sharply
- speeding in residential areas
- pulling out without indication
- performing U turns inappropriately in busy highstreets
- under taking on motorways and
- taking up more than one lane in multi lane roads

will be issued with flags, white with a red cross, signifying their inability to drive properly. These flags must be clipped to a door of the car and be visible to all other drivers and pedestrians.

Those drivers who have shown particularly poor driving skills will have to display a flag on each side of the car to indicate their greater lack of skill and general lower intelligence mindset to the general public.

Please circulate this to as many other motorists as you can so that drivers and pedestrians will be aware of the meaning of these flags.


Yours sincerely,

The Department of Transport

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Technorati tags: driving; cars; incurable_hippie; football; World Cup; England.

Clever Entertainment.

Today's fun thing to watch is The Incredible Machine. If you like it when people line up lots of dominos on a course and knock the first one over, then you will love this. It seems to use household objects and masses of ingenuity to create 14 minutes of video that just doesn't feel like it lasts that long. Watch it here.

I have lots and lots of animations, songs, videos and cleverness listed on the one page, initially for my benefit but it is now shared and enjoyed by many! You can find it here, at Animations to Watch. Suggestions for additions welcome, too.

This water balloon explosion photo is bloody incredible.

And last night's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue was great, not least for Jeremy's singing.

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Technorati tags: video; photo; incurable_hippie; clever; radio 4 comedy.

Apologies.

100_0110
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Apologies for my recent quietness. I've been here in spirit, but I guess you don't know that.

I am still alive. Thought I should let you know.

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Technorati tags: hot air balloon; photography; incurable_hippie; sorry.

Newest ATCs.

Some artist trading cards I recently created.

Firstly, a 'butterfly swap':


Secondly, a 'travel swap':

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Technorati tags: ATCs; artist trading cards; incurable_hippie; creative.

Technological Turmoil

I was all excited a week or so ago, because after being slightly cheeky and ringing my ISP to see if they could improve on my current contract, they offered me 4x the speed for a fiver less a month. Sounds marvellous!

I was all excited, until the speed actually went up. I connected, went WOW new speed, and then nothing worked. 24 hours, 5 calls and 7 tech support operators later, I am finally connected.

There's nothing quite like the stress of a not-working computer. I don't know why it winds me up so immensely, but it really does and I hate it.

hippie blog was also having problems loading, and a consistent problem in the page loading was to do with pings.ws. I have now removed every trace of that site from my html coding and, lo and behold, hippie blog works again.

I wish my body was so easy to resolve (remove a bit of bad coding or a link to a site that doesn't work), but I am at the (hopefully) end phase of The Cough which currently everyone who's everyone in Sheffield is suffering with. I have had a course of antibiotics and a course of oral steroids and, though I am still coughing, I am, I think, on the up. As it were.

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Technorati tags: tech support; html; incurable_hippie; pings.ws; cough.

Labour Labours.

Thank you for all the comments and votes on my post about the local elections. I found it an interesting consultative study!!

The results are now in. Quite surprisingly, given the political atmosphere lately, the Liberal Democrats (who had a possible chance of re-taking the nearly-always Labour council, as they did in 1999) lost two seats, one of which went to Labour (who held control of the council) and the other to the Green Party (who now have two seats).

Overall Sheffield Local Election Results 2006
Labour 44 seats (no change)
Liberal Democrats 35 seats (-1)
Conservatives 2 seats (no change)
Green Party 2 seats (+1)
Independent 1 seat (no change)

I've been looking at the more specific, ward by ward results and the BNP bastards got many hundreds of votes, even coming second in one area. I hear they are even the official opposition now in Barking.

So where do we go from here? I want everyone who has been privileged enough to be elected to use their power and influence well, to make changes for the better for people and the world, and to be generally all-round groovy kinda folks. I guess that's what that whole incurable hippie thing is about. I know, I know, it will all go on before, with a few new faces. But for a chronic depressive, I have a surprising level of optimism going on a lot of the time.

But not enough to actually believe that what I hope for will come true. *SiGH*

[Edited to add - I realise I have contradicted myself with what I said about Labour gaining one Lib Dem seat and Greens another, when the table I copied and pasted said Lib Dem only lost one seat, to the Greens, but that is the different info I have got from the BBC website and the Sheffield City Council site. Time will tell, I guess, which is correct!]

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Technorati tags: local election results; Sheffield; incurable_hippie; UK Politics.

I'd say Oy, Carol, No!

This appeal is to ask the respected TV presenter, Carol Vorderman, famed for her mathematical nous, to, after nine years, stop doing secured loan adverts.

Please sign the petition (Please forward/tell friends and family about this)

The "Carol Vorderman: Secured Loan Ads Don't Add Up" Appeal

Supported by debt counselling charity The CCCS and money education charity Credit Action

The British public now collectively owe a massive £1,100,000,000,000. The secured loan market has increased five times over the last five years and the growing normalization of these loans is a danger to our society. Sold as a 'cure all' where people place all their debts together, secured loans are often actually potentially expensive debts, which trap people in for long periods, and if you can't repay, they can take your home.

For nine years Carol Vorderman's advertised these loans. Advertising works, that's why companies pay for it, and over time her powerful advertisements will have contributed to the growing normalization of this form of borrowing. I believe this is truly worrying, as secured loans should only ever be seen as loans of last resort. I would like her to stop and I'd urge all who agree to sign the petition to let her know.

Read/sign the online petition: www.moneysavingexpert.com/carol

Please forward/tell friends, colleagues and family about the petition.
The more supporters, the more impact it will have.

The appeal also calls for secured debt firms to develop a charter of responsible advertising that only targets the limited number of niche individuals who could possibly benefit from the product.

Read more about the appeal, how secured loans work, and why Carol?

This appeal is supported by the UK's largest debt charity the Consumer Credit Counselling Service and the money education charity Credit Action.

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Technorati tags: credit cards; debt; incurable_hippie; carol vordermann; petition.

Think Global, Act Local.

The local elections are tomorrow. I was unenthusiastic, to say the least, about my voting options but as I got a postal ballot, I have already (after much deliberation) filled in my ballot paper and decided who, if anyone, gets my X.

But for the sake of interest, what would you have done?



Labour currently runs the Council in Sheffield. There are some good things being done - lots of regeneration and positive stuff around the city centre. There are also some very unsatisfactory aspects - doorstep recycling provision is appalling, council housing is being demolished at an alarming rate, and the buses are becoming a disaster.

I've had two leaflets and letters from the Liberal Democrats. They spent a lot of time telling me that a vote for anyone other than them is a vote for Labour and I really don't believe in tactical voting (with the occasional exception when the BNP is involved). They also gave over a lot of space to ranting about the evils of Park Hill, when they are being not only snobby, but also strictly speaking it has little to do with my ward which is quite a distance away from there.

The Conservatives are not an option I'd consider voting for under any circumstances, so I won't even merit them with any pros and cons.

And Green - often an attractive option for me - have been, well, underwhelming in their approach. I have not heard a single thing from them. I don't know what they are standing for in this election, I don't know anything about the local candidate, whether they have a chance of getting in, or what they want to do, even!

That is just looking at the very local issues. I am entirely unimpressed with any of the main parties nationally, and while I do want to bear the national parties' issues in mind (e.g. not voting Tory), I do also want to think about Sheffield, and my area within Sheffield.

I have filled in my ballot paper, as I said, but reluctantly. What would you have done? Vote in my poll, above.

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Technorati tags: local elections; Sheffield; incurable_hippie; UK politics; local government.

Blogging Against Disablism.

Some time ago, BBC Ouch, the BBC's disability webpages, ran a survey of its readers' Worst Words relating to disability. The results were as follows:

Total votes cast: 2053
1. Retard 19.6% (404 votes)
2. Spastic 18% (373 votes)
3. Window-licker 17% (350 votes)
4. Mong 13.4% (276 votes)
5. Special 10.2% (210 votes)
6. Brave 7.9% (163 votes)
7. Cripple 5.5% (113 votes)
8. Psycho 2.9% (60 votes)
9. Handicapped 2.5% (52 votes)
10. Wheelchair-bound 2% (42 votes)

Interestingly, they also have a chart of the different results as divided by disabled and non-disabled respondents to the survey.
I have mostly unpleasant gut responses to many of those words, but one of my own worst words in terms of offensive terms used against disabled people is nutter.

I hate this word. It hits me like a punch in the stomach, it makes me sad, scared and angry. Its implications are, in my experience, ones of violence and aggression, as well as mental illness. Those links are all too prevalent in much of the widespread opinions and thoughts about mental illness, and people who experience it.

Many of us work incredibly hard to break the links constantly. We have statistics! We have facts!

Did you know that people with mental illness are much more likely to hurt themselves than anyone else?
Did you know that people who have mental illnesses are victims of crime more often than those who don't?
Did you know that the most dangerous group in society, those most liable to commit violent crimes, are young men who drink?

The media really doesn't help. You may remember the 'Bonkers Bruno' headline in the sun, or Osama bin Laden being described as 'psychotic'. 'Schizo', 'Psycho', 'Maniac', 'Mad' are all words which are used prolifically in headlines and stories designed to alarm and rouse people's fears and opinions.

The media has so much power to spread correct information and to break stigmatic associations with mental illness, but instead it grabs the Mad, Bad, Dangerous headlines and exploits and glorifies them.

Mental illness and violence are different things. Using the same words to describe both, or borrowing a word from one to use to discuss the other all do an incredible disservice to the 1 in 4 people in Britain who will experience mental distress at some point in their life.

There is more than enough stigma already, it is hard enough already to ask for and receive support and help for anxiety, depression, hearing voices, paranoia, or whatever may strike. The proposed changes to the Mental Health Bill don't help, the media don't help, and the rantings of uninformed people who are happy to blame all the world's (street's, town's, room's) ills on the poor sods who are easily available to target because they may talk to themselves, or hide away, or cry a lot.

Using stigmatising language, and constantly making connections between mental illness and violence - connections which don't exist in any objective study! - creates fear and hate, and does nobody any good.

As someone witty said at the time shortly after September 11th 2001, "If Osama bin Laden is being described at psychotic, it must be because of his mistaken belief that large numbers of people are out to get him".

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Technorati tags: Blogging against Disablism Day; disability; incurable_hippie; mental illness; mental health; stigma.

Click-click.

The final of the Snooker World Championship has started. I'm disappointed that I don't feel especially positive about either Ebden or Dott, but I will still watch the match (or at least some of it - these things last a long time!) with joy.

Firstly, it is taking place in Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, which is not far from me in the city centre. The BBC tents and 'snooker courtesy cars' and big screen have been more than conspicuous these last two weeks. Secondly, I just love snooker - it's exciting yet calming, it's vicious yet entirely polite, and it's totally absorbing, and totally relaxing.

I never understood snooker until one year when the championships were on and I was in hospital. I was incredibly depressed and basically lay in bed all day. One day BBC two was on on the TV in front of me, and as I was too miserable to move and do anything about it, I resigned myself to watching the snooker which was on there. After doing this for a day I understood the rules, understood what all the fuss was about, and was hooked. It probably helped that I saw a 147 that day, and *got* the whole thing.

There are plants of each of the colours of all the snooker balls in the game outside where the matches are being played too. Hence the pictures.

I dunno who I'll be supporting this evening - often if a match starts and I have no favourite, I do find myself warming to one or the other as it goes on, so we will see.

Anyway, I had better go and listen to a few hours of that click-click noise, which can only ever mean one thing.

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Technorati tags: snooker; snooker world championship; incurable_hippie; Crucible Theatre; Sheffield; plants.

Spotted...

outside Sheffield station yesterday.

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Technorati tags: language; funny; incurable_hippie; signs.

Illustration Friday: Under the Sea.

100_1163
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

This is an Artist Trading Card I made entitled Under the Sea. I am posting it here for this week's Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: ATCs; artist trading cards; incurable_hippie; Under the Sea; Illustration Friday.

Pink Rebellion.

When I was a kid, I really wanted one of these pink toy knitting machines, but was never fortunate enough to get one. So when I spotted this one in a WRVS charity shop yesterday, for a measly 4 quid, I had no choice but to purchase it! It has so far been fun and works surprisingly well. I am, though, a bit stuck now until I get hold of the one item which should have been in the box and wasn't - a darning needle - but otherwise it's just marvellous. And so very pink!

I heard on Woman's Hour this morning, a piece on the Playboy bunny logo being used on products being marketed and sold to children. I wrote about this here, last September and mentioned it here, too.

The new-ish group, Sheffield Fems, have been running a campaign against WHSmith, John Lewis and Claire's Accessories, to try and persuade them to stop selling porn advertising to children. Apparently John Lewis and Claire's Accessories are actually going to do so - which is an amazing achievement and such a brilliantly positive step forward. Neither of them credit Sheffield Fems for having influenced their decision, but I'm sure that this articulate, passionate group of women played a part.

So when it was on Woman's Hour this morning, I was interested to listen to the discussion. There was clear objection to pre-teen and early teen kids advertising a huge porn brand on their stationery and clothes at school. There was a feeling that young girls did not know what the brand represented - because it's essentially a cute bunny, if you don't know otherwise. There was not a discussion about how such widespread exposure to pornographic logo promotion also leads to a total desensitisation of (girl and boy) children, so that when they become conscious of what / who Playboy are, and what they do, it already has other connotations for you and is entirely normalised.

One of the most disturbing contributions to the discussion was from some older teenage girls, who said that maybe a few years ago they'd have used Playboy stationery, but really it was a bit childish and they had outgrown it. Stunned? Yep, I was.

In the spirit of googlebomb, all mentions of the p1ay80y company name are linked to radical feminist websites.

In the spirit of all girly things pink - get a knitting machine, not a not-so-cute-when-you-know-what-it-means bunny t-shirt. Seriously.

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Technorati tags: feminism; evil playboy; incurable_hippie; campaigning; pink.

You Belong To Me.

This is so fucked up. 11 year old girls stating to their fathers that, I pledge to remain sexually pure...until the day I give myself as a wedding gift to my husband. ... I know that God requires this of me.. that he loves me. and that he will reward me for my faithfulness.

Girls promising to remain a virgin until the father passes the ownership of the girl's body to the new fucking owner, the husband.

The Father states, I, (daughter’s name)’s father, choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity. I will be pure in my own life as a man, husband and father. I will be a man of integrity and accountability as I lead, guide and pray over my daughter and as the high priest in my home. This covering will be used by God to influence generations to come. (my bold)

I recommend popping over to Pandragon's response to it, which articulately and angrily discusses what this is really about.

Needing niceness to follow that, (ok that was a crap link but this entry is a bit of a conglomeration of randomness), all I can say is, oooohhhhhh aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. Bless!

And I liked this ending to an email I received from someone I had just bought something off on ebay:

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.

I know how she feels!

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Technorati tags: patriarchy; baby hedgehogs; incurable_hippie; humour.

Happy Easter!

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Technorati tags: Easter; Easter bunnies; incurable_hippie; chocolate.

Bastard.

Is it possible to be kind of flashed at? Because I was kind of flashed at.

He said he was far from home and desperate for a wee. But he had been able to see me approaching for several seconds, he deliberately drew my attention to his penis, and he made no attempt to hide or cover it or move himself.

Was he having a piss, or was he waiting round a corner for a woman on her own, to flash at?

Does the answer to that question affect how I am supposed to feel about it? Are we supposed to be traumatised by the deliberate flashing, and not by the accidental? What if we just don't know if it was deliberate or accidental? What if we feel threatened by his presence there, and his ability to do what he did, regardless of whether he was needing the toilet or needing a power trip?

If you think he is having a piss and are not traumatised but then later you find out he was flashing deliberately, do you become traumatised?

If you think he was flashing deliberately and are traumatised, then later find out he was actually having a piss, do you then stop being upset??

I guess I'm wondering if it is the experience of seeing an unexpected penis when you walk round a corner that is frightening or offensive, or whether it is his motivation in having the penis on display that makes it scary.

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Technorati tags: flashing; indecent exposure; incurable_hippie; trauma; Jacky Fleming.

Flowery Metallic Rain.

I had a day out yesterday, with Z, my Mum, my sister and her hubby. Amongst other places, we went to the Millennium Galleries and the Winter Gardens.

Winter Gardens:



(more pics here).

Millennium Galleries:


(more pics here).

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Technorati tags: Sheffield; photography; incurable_hippie; plants; Sheffield steel.

Quietness

I'm aware I've been really quiet here lately. I'm in a fairly dark pit of depression, and am mostly hiding. I don't really want to fill hippie blog with the moaning ramblings of a, well, moaning rambler, so I've mainly been staying away. Also, coming online would involve doing things other than curling into a ball or going to bed, so hasn't been top of my list.

Moan, moan, moan.

I hope to be functioning again soon - and not, I admit, purely so that I can blog profusely again. It is mainly because feeling better would really be rather nice. But blogging profusely is an appealing part of the whole plan.

Hope to be back properly very soon.

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Technorati tags: depression; incurable_hippie.

National Inquiry into Self-Harm report (also from my email)

Apologies for two entries in quick succession, but have just this second received the following email too.

I will read the report and come back with what I make of it. This may take some time, as my brain is currently made out of stew.

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.

Stop Detaining Children Now! (from my email)

No Place for a Child:

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.
[...]

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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.

Illustration Friday: Monster.

This is the monster that lived in my old fridge.

Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: illustration friday; pencil drawing; incurable_hippie; monster; fridge monster.

Third Anniversary.

Guardian Cartoons.

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Technorati tags: anti-war; Iraq; incurable_hippie; cartoon.

Trial and Error.

Whoever it was who found hippie blog by clicking on the Number One search result for how to subtly offend a hippie has probably worked out how to do it now. I'm not feeling very sense of humour-ful today for some reason.

Anyway... this story is incredibly scary. I heard on the news last night that 6 men were seriously ill in hospital after taking part in a trial of a new anti-inflammatory drug. Shit, I thought, If six of them are in hospital that suggests it's not an obscure allergic reaction. Then later I heard that there were only 8 people in the trial. Shit, I thought, if 6 out of the 8 people who were in the trial were so ill (like, multiple organ failure, intensive care type of ill) then something has gone really wrong. Then, later still, I heard that 2 of the 8 men in the trial had had placebos (and were fine...).

So basically, the only 6 men to have taken this trial drug have become really ill.

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...)

When I was at Uni, several of my friends regularly took part of medical trials and testings to get a £few, and while people knew it was a bit risky, it was generally thought that by the time anyone actually swallows anything, it would be as safe as it can be. Makes you wonder, and clearly others are concerned, too.

Something has gone horribly wrong in this London trial yesterday. I don't think we know yet whether this was a horrendous accident that noone could have predicted, or whether there has been a big mistake made somewhere. I guess time will tell, and am hoping they all are ok soon.

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Technorati tags: referral links; drug trials; incurable_hippie; medical ethics.

Round-Up

Lately, I...
Am Reading
- We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver
- The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery: Mixed Media Techniques for Collage, Altered Books, Artist Journals and More
- Art Escapes, by Dory Kanter

Am Sad About
- Lots of lovely people dying
- Period pain
- Other people's sadness
- My state of mind

Am Giggling At
- Clips from old News Quiz
- www.questionswap.com
- Animations I hadn't watched for ages

Am Listening To
- Nina Simone
- Tom Lehrer in Concert
- BBC Radio Four
- Feist - Let It Die
- Louise Attaque


Am Creating
- Artist Trading Cards, such as

100_1066
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

---> this one: Blues

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Technorati tags: lists; books; incurable_hippie; music; ATCs.

Shaddapayaface!

Having not heard it for probably twenty years, in the last few days I have heard it twice. I hope to hear it again, as I adored it as a (very little) child. It was apparently by Joe Dolce, and it went something like this:

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!

Why is it funny? Why does it make me laugh? I have no idea. It has been Australia's highest selling single for 25 years.

Not only can you hear it again, you can even watch a video of him singing it. Go awwn, you know you want to! Full lyrics here.

Ahhh, I love the internet!

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Technorati tags: music video; 80s music; incurable_hippie; Joe Dolce.

Time for More Health Awareness.

This week is Endometriosis Awareness Week. A group of women have held a communal screaming event (oh yes!) outside Parliament, to give people an idea of the pain caused to so many women by endometriosis.

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

Two years ago, for National Endometriosis Awareness Day, I wrote the following.

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.

Artist Trading Card.

100_1055
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Sunny Afternoon.

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Technorati tags: ATCs; artist trading cards; incurable_hippie; glass painting; art & craft; handmade.

Stop Selling Women's Bodies.

It is estimated that the number of women being trafficked into Germany to be used as prostitutes will increase massively in the run-up to the World Cup there in June. This is an appalling indictment of a European country's treatment of women - indicated, however, by the fact that brothels are legal there. Legitimising sexual exploitation of women and girls in this way suggests already a poor view of, and abusive treatment of women.

With the expected influx of mainly male football supporters, it looks likely that there will be an increase in 'demand' which can only be met through trafficking women from other countries. This trade in, and selling of women's bodies must be stopped, and the European Women's Lobby have set up a petition you can sign.

The text of the petition is:

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.

And you can sign it here. Please do so!

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.

Self-Injury Awareness Day

Today, as every 1st March, is Self-Injury Awareness Day (SIAD). That makes two entries about self-harm this week, which was entirely unintentional - I have only just remembered it is SIAD, and I remembered it with an out loud 'DAMN' because I and others are always planning to organise some kind of media awareness campaign, and always, *always* forget the day is approaching.

As we did, it seems, this year!

So, please be aware of self-harm. Many many people do it, for many many reasons. I wrote an awful lot about it here, if you want to know more, and I wrote very recently about it here on hippie blog, more specifically in terms of receiving medical treatment in the context of being someone who self-injures.

There are also millions of websites on the subject from all over the world. You'd be amazed how many people do, or have done something on the spectrum of self-injury at some point, and how many do so repeatedly.

It's not all about slashing yourself open - it can be about getting so drunk you become ill, or depriving yourself of sleep, or punching a wall when you're angry, or not caring to check when you are about to cross a road.

It is an important thing to be aware of - in yourself, your friends and family, and in the world. Not only self-harm as an issue, but the things in the world around us that can lead someone to do what can initially appear to be an entirely counter-productive thing. There's a long, long way to go before we have made the world we live in a nice place to be for everyone, before we have made it a place where the people who live in it have no reason to want to hurt themselves at all.

Self-Injury Awareness Day, 1st March 2006.

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Technorati tags: self-harm; self-injury; incurable_hippie; SIAD.

I am gutted :-(

Linda Smith has died. She was truly one of the funniest people ever. When she was on News Quiz you just knew it would be a great show. I listen and laugh again and again to her singing Psycho Killer to the tune of Save my Love on Clue. She had streaks of comedy genius and I am so, so desperately sad that she has died.

She apparently had ovarian cancer which was diagnosed 3.5 years ago. It was never 'announced', though friends knew about it. Jeremy Hardy was on PM earlier, talking about Linda and he sounded devastated. Friends and online people I have told about Linda's death are all stunned, as am I.

She had an amazing talent for being funny, one which could truly actually cheer me up from dreadful states. She was clever, witty, quick, intelligent, friendly and just amazing.

Rest in Peace, Linda.

Radio comedian Linda Smith dies.

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.