The spirit of Xmas

First of all, belated Yuletide Greetings. I hope everyone had a good time, I certainly ate and drank too much, but hey, that's what this season is all about. I got into the swing of things fairly late, and I only put the tree up at the last minute, didn't send any cards or buy any gifts, apart from a couple of token pressies for under a tenner. I broke with tradition and gave the turkey a reprieve this year, and didn't get any champagne. It's too expensive and I can't stand the bloody stuff anyway.

But funnily enough, my austere Xmas has been one of the best ever. And that's what it's all about really.

Unfortunately, the media would have us believe otherwise. Since early November, just after Halloween, tv advertisers have been bombarding us to buy stuff that we cannot afford. Ads for designer perfume are intersected with other ones for payday loans.

Around this time, research carried out by the Money Advice Service found that 1.2 million people in the UK were considering using payday loans to fund their Xmas.



But when the story emerged a couple of days ago of an unemployed mother of 2 who had borrowed over £1500 from 8 different companies to buy presents for her kids, the tabloids, such as the Daily Mail (aka Daily Hell) were quick to condemn her.


But whose fault is this though? Society has become totally materialistic, people are obsessed with buying stuff that  they don't really need. Just a couple of weeks before Xmas, we experienced the madness that was Black Friday - people fighting to buy things at a 'discount' (in reality stuff that was previously overpriced anyway). Young children get bullied at school for not having the latest designer trainers.

Yes, Katie McGill acted recklessly, but before we point the finger at her, we need to take a good look at our values as a society in general.

Who are the REAL Scroungers?

In a week when we hear how our MPs are fleecing the taxpayer to claim expenses for their utility bills when pensioners are struggling to keep warm because of rising energy costs, I came across this truly heartbreaking story. Thanks to Keith Ordinary Guy for raising awareness about this.

If David Cameron does not find this moving, then he and his cronies truly have no heart. I will now leave you with Keith's account of Jenny's story.....

Woman sanctioned for not being able to live the required time. @RT_com @itvnews http://t.co/ke4Ydz7th2 pic.twitter.com/cPJc1EQv8i
— Keith LindsayCameron (@KeithCameron5) November 9, 2013

When size acceptance isn't ok

I recently watched two different programmes on size acceptance. The first one is titled Fat and Proud, and it is a really inspiring documentary featuring some larger ladies in the UK who lead a fulfilling and active life. One of them is even a dance teacher, and the other a kissogram. They are beautiful women and all looked really healthy, even though their BMI would class them as 'obese'. But then again, in my opinion, the BMI scale is a load of bollocks because it does not take into consideration other issues, such as health, muscle mass, etc.

Here's a link to the first part of the programme, where you get to meet these inspirational women.

 The title of the second documentary is Fat For Cash. Now here is where I have a problem. It was made in the US, and the women in this programme are on the extreme scale of obesity, to the extent that it has become a life threatening and disabling condition. However, they don't seem to give a fuck about this, and use their size to make money. They sell themselves on webcam, rolling about naked, eating huge amounts, or sitting on men up to the point of suffocation.

Sammee, currently weighing 27 stone or 378 lbs appears to be the healthiest of three women, even though she says she has a condition called sitophilia, which means that food excites her sexually - you learn something new every day! She has opened up a super sized strip club. At least the women working in this club are keeping active and having fun. But it is the other two cases that are really disturbing.

Jennifer, who weighs 30 stone (over 400 lb) wants to put on MORE weight and boasts of having gained 100 lb since she started to overeat deliberately. One thigh alone measures a staggering 42.5 inches. One wonders when is she going to get to the point when she thinks that enough is enough? That is, if she lives long enough.

 Christina, who weighs around 44 stone (approximately 600 lbs) was even featured naked in a paddling pool being force fed through a funnel. She describes herself as 'fat, beautiful and sexy'. In another section of the film, her teenage daughter is pleading with her to lose weight. The young girl is a carer for this woman, who can hardly do anything for herself. Because of her size she cannot wash or even wipe her own arse. The young girl's pleas fall on deaf ears, and personally I found this section of the film heart wrenching and really difficult to watch.

Christina obviously has some serious mental health problems, I googled her name to find out a little bit more about her and found out that she suffered with major depression after her daughter died at birth. Although she may think that she feels empowered by being an obese pinup, in my opinion, she is a person who desperately needs help and support, and guidance towards a healthier lifestyle, not exploitation.

 What is that saying about our society when there are sick fuckers that not only encourage this form of extreme self harm but are willing to pay to watch it?

Fat For Cash can be viewed here. There are some graphic and very disturbing images.

Usual rubbish from the Scum

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/10/labour-health-team-criticises-sun-front-page-murders-mental-patients

An open letter to Miley Cyrus

Dear Miley Cyrus,

I am very concerned about your reply to Sinead O'Connor's heartfelt advice to you

I don't care if you want to flaunt your sexuality. You are, after all, an adult. You are no longer Hannah Montana, and I can understand that you wish to make that fact known to your millions of fans all over the world.

What I find really disturbing is your attitude towards mental health issues. You show total disregard to your fans who may be struggling with their own mental illness and coming to terms with a psychiatric diagnosis..

October is Mental Health Awareness Month in the UK, and people all over the country are taking part, raising the issue and thus helping to beat stigma, so your comments are especially poignant. I am sure that you know better than to be disrespectful of people's race, religion, sexuality and physical disabilities. So why pick on a debilitating illness? By the way, some types of mental illnesses are also classed as a disability.

By mocking Sinead's and Amanda Bynes because of their battles with psychiatric illnesses, you are  sending the totally wrong message to your fans. After all, it does affect one in four people in case you didn't know. So let me do some maths for you. On your official Facebook page, you have 29 million fans. That means that over 7 million of your fans are currently suffering from mental illness. Some may have been diagnosed. Others will have read your recent tweets and be afraid to seek help because of the stigma you have highlighted so insensitively..

Let me make this clear to you. Insanity, craziness, madness or whatever you want to call it IS an illness. There may not be any visible signs, but that does not mean that it doesn't exist. It does, And it hurts. A lot. It is easy to recover from a broken leg. A heart transplant is now a common surgical procedure. But how do you cure broken mind? Yes, there are medications that help, as well as other types of therapies. But these are just coping mechanisms; there is no 'cure'. There is recovery, but that means learning to live with your symptoms and manage on a day to day basis. This is a lifelong process, and there will be ups and downs.

Unless you or a loved one experiences this, you will have no idea of what it is to live with mental health issues. I suggest that you educate yourself with what happens to those of us who are unlucky enough to receive a diagnosis of psychiatric illness.  I really hope you or someone you love never has to go through this, Incidentally, suicide is the most common cause of death in men under 35. Think of that the next time you are twerking.

Oh and one final word of advice - please put that tongue away. It is not pretty.

Yours sincerely,

A survivor 

There are no blurred lines

I am not going to discuss Miley's dubious performance on the VMAs. Or Robin Thickes video featuring naked women - incidentally, I had not heard of this man until the VMAs. But I am going to discuss the message in his lyrics. And I'm not going to go all Tipper Gore and discuss sex or swear words in lyrics, I have no problem in that as long as it is between consenting adults. But I do have a problem with date rape. And I have a problem with violence to women.

The song repeats the phrase 'I know you want it' a lot. In other words, according to Mr Thicke or whoever wrote this, it seems that although a woman is saying 'no' she really means 'yes'. Another line in the song is 'I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two'.

Radio One may bleep out the offending lyrics, but that will only increase people's curiosity to look for the uncensored version, which can be easily found online.

This song advocates criminal acts, and the music industry should be held accountable. I shall finish this post with the awesome parody by a group of Australian students.

Beware of the Vampire

We have all come across a vampire sometime or another in our lives. Now I'm not talking about the long toothed, blood sucking monsters you see in movies. These only live in the realms of our imagination.

No the ones I mean are not undead, although they are the sort of monsters that suck the life out of you. They will use you and manipulate you and play on your guilt, leaving you feeling emotionally exhausted. They may come across as vulnerable, almost childlike and very, very needy. You almost feel obliged to help them. But they know full well that they are using and abusing people to get what they want.

Now, I wouldn't advocate going around chopping heads and stuffing them with garlic (although this can be a very tempting option when you are at the end of your tether with these people). But a simple and effective NO is the only answer. They may not want to listen to this, and will probably sulk and play on your emotions again. In this case, you may need to use stronger language. 'Fuck off' is perfectly acceptable in this case. Or any other profanity that you choose to make sure that the vampire gets the message. Then blank them out of your life completely. 

Incidentally, I am not talking about children, even though they can sometimes be exasperating. These vampires are fully fledged adults, although their behaviour might indicate otherwise.The media portrays talentless celebrities as role models for the rest of us mere mortals and this leads to a society that promotes selfishness and a ME! ME! ME! attitude to life. This has increased vampirism to the extent that it has now become an epidemic. Don't get sucked in by the bullshit,

The best response for when they start laying on the guilt trip.