All ready.
As of midnight tomorrow my post log will return to zero and I will have to start work all over again to make sure that I have posted fifty two posts by the end of the year. Sounds like I have no problems doing that. Ha ha, think again. One there is the time factor, or rather the lack of time factor. You try scrapping together enough time together to work on a blog every week when you are trying to run three... four... five lives all at once.
Two, you then have to think of something to write about. It has to be interesting because nobody is going to want to read a post about you munching breakfast in the morning. Well, maybe they would be if you eat raw worms for breakfast but I don't eat raw worms for breakfast. Personally, worms belong in the garden, not in my mouth.
I will admit that I kind of cheated this year as I did nearly eight posts in May in one go, which meant that I bought myself a little leeway where it came to the post counter but seeing as half of them didn't get any post views I'm not sure that really counts.
Three, you then have to come up with a catchy title so that people will at least look at the first sentence of your post.
If you can do all that then you may have the start of a popular blog... or not. It all depends on whether the audience likes what you write about. Fame is a difficult thing to catch and sometimes you think you have it and then it flies away again... like the popularity of the silent movies.
In which case I think I will settle for blogging about what I'm working on, or gets my goat, or makes me laugh. If other people like it, great. If not, well, I'll have to keep posting until some decides they do like me.
Oh, that makes me think. All this stuff about New Year Resolutions? It's a load of bunkum.
You make a New Years Resolution, break it by habit or because you just weren't paying attention that day and then you feel massively guilty and then you pretend you never made it and go back to you old ways. (Hey, is that why the Conservative Party is deleting all their mandate for the last election off the Internet? Was it one massive New Years Resolution?)
It is far better to make life resolutions. Things like I will try and be more organised this year. Or I will try and do more work when I first get a job so I'm not pushing the deadlines.
That way you have the whole year to work on it and it doesn't matter if you fall over in the first few weeks, you have the rest of the year to pick yourself up again.
Hope that gives you a few ideas and that you have a healthy and safe New Year.
See you all in January.
Tuesday 30 December 2014
Tuesday 23 December 2014
I'm on Faceplant... er...Facebook Even!
O.k. I have finally given in to the march of 'progress' and signed up to Facebook. I'm not entirely happy about it and if my computer subsequently gets a bug then someone else can pay the sixty pound bill to strip the computer down, clear out the bug, reload my recovery disks and the remove, one at a time, the twenty five languages that I don't need hogging the memory space.
Still I'm there now and I suppose that it is another platform that I can use to advertise my artwork and writing on, which is the main reason that I signed up to it. Still not sure that I like it because it seems even more complicated than twitter and blogger put together but I'll give it a go. Hopefully I'll get at least a few views from it and maybe a few more visitors when I do a fair.
Did I mention in my last post that I had done a craft fair at the Common Room (not Coffee Lounge, my mistake) at 24 Saint Benedict's Street and this time I actually managed to sell something! Granted it was only four of my postcard sized photo-cards but it was a sell, or rather three of them (one person bought two of the cards).
It did mean that I got all of forty pence as my wage but it is a start. The tax fund is still receiving more than I do but that is what I was advised to do, just in case the tax man decides that he wants to take one heck of a bite out of me the first year I make it over the tax threshold and I am kind of thinking of it as my retirement fund. Especially as by the time I make it to retirement age the possibility of there still being a state pension in the UK is minimal.
To clear up the whole thing about the taxman - the story of a fellow writer.
The first five years she was a professional writer she did not make the tax threshold. The sixth year she did and the tax man demanded not only the tax for that year but also the tax for the five years previously, pretty much bankrupting her.
What is more the taxman is above and beyond the call of law. He demands and you cannot fight him in court 'cause you cannot take him to court and even if you could, take him to court that is, who among us has the money to fight that sort of legal battle. Not me that's for sure.
That and as I said, I'm kind of seeing it as my retirement fund. If the taxman doesn't want it all then there's my nest egg. May it grow big before it's needed.
Any way back to the original subject.
You can look me up under the name of V J Bartlett (for some reason I can't use the initial punctuation) and my first album of my art work is open to the public.
If you want to buy any of them as prints, check out:
http://v-j-bartlett.deviantart.com/gallery
One final thing before I go, my boyfriend Stephen 'Stormwell' Hughes has just come up with this song bite based on 'Over the Hills and Far Away' from the Sharpe movies:
"Because the taxman commands
And we cough up,
Down the sofa
And under the rug."
(Looking for the lost change.)
Still I'm there now and I suppose that it is another platform that I can use to advertise my artwork and writing on, which is the main reason that I signed up to it. Still not sure that I like it because it seems even more complicated than twitter and blogger put together but I'll give it a go. Hopefully I'll get at least a few views from it and maybe a few more visitors when I do a fair.
Did I mention in my last post that I had done a craft fair at the Common Room (not Coffee Lounge, my mistake) at 24 Saint Benedict's Street and this time I actually managed to sell something! Granted it was only four of my postcard sized photo-cards but it was a sell, or rather three of them (one person bought two of the cards).
It did mean that I got all of forty pence as my wage but it is a start. The tax fund is still receiving more than I do but that is what I was advised to do, just in case the tax man decides that he wants to take one heck of a bite out of me the first year I make it over the tax threshold and I am kind of thinking of it as my retirement fund. Especially as by the time I make it to retirement age the possibility of there still being a state pension in the UK is minimal.
To clear up the whole thing about the taxman - the story of a fellow writer.
The first five years she was a professional writer she did not make the tax threshold. The sixth year she did and the tax man demanded not only the tax for that year but also the tax for the five years previously, pretty much bankrupting her.
What is more the taxman is above and beyond the call of law. He demands and you cannot fight him in court 'cause you cannot take him to court and even if you could, take him to court that is, who among us has the money to fight that sort of legal battle. Not me that's for sure.
That and as I said, I'm kind of seeing it as my retirement fund. If the taxman doesn't want it all then there's my nest egg. May it grow big before it's needed.
Any way back to the original subject.
You can look me up under the name of V J Bartlett (for some reason I can't use the initial punctuation) and my first album of my art work is open to the public.
If you want to buy any of them as prints, check out:
http://v-j-bartlett.deviantart.com/gallery
One final thing before I go, my boyfriend Stephen 'Stormwell' Hughes has just come up with this song bite based on 'Over the Hills and Far Away' from the Sharpe movies:
"Because the taxman commands
And we cough up,
Down the sofa
And under the rug."
(Looking for the lost change.)
Tuesday 16 December 2014
Christmas Time Rush
I'm not normally one for joining in on all the silliness at this time of year but this year is rushing towards me with the sound of ten thousand elephants, all intent on trampling me into the ground.
It seems that I have decided, without meaning to, to start my career seriously at probably the worse possible moment. Not only am I trying to get stock of my prints, in formats that are going to appeal, done and posted to me in time for the craft fair at the Coffee Lounge on Saturday the 20th, but I'm also looking at learning how to juggle the demands of family, a new relationship and a commission that must be done in time for Christmas all at once. As Mr Jenkins once observed:
"Trust you to be awkward, Vicky!"
Still it is turning out to be fun, in a very loose sense of that word.
What is more, it is being very expensive at the moment to buy the prints, not because Photobox is expensive but because I have yet to receive and substantial amount in return. I have managed to sell one print so far but when you start calculating the expenses, the tax man's cut and my wage, then there isn't a lot of profit left to put back into the account.
This isn't for lack of trying, you understand.
I was at the craft fair at Stew, Gallery and Artist Studios Thursday just gone with Steph, sharing a pitch and despite a good turn out, handing out oodles of my new business cards (did I tell you about them?), I didn't sell a single thing, hence my rush to buy in new stock. Hopefully cards will be more acceptable to the public.
The only problem is that I had not a moment in which to order them sooner than yesterday, so with a dispatch date of the nineteenth, even with next day delivery, I might have walked out of the door half an hour before they arrive. Not much of a help for the fair.
Still, if they don't arrive on time, I will still go with what stock I do have. For those of you who maybe interested, the next fair I will be attending is at the Coffee Lounge, starting 11 am. The full address is:
24 Saint Benedict's Street
Norwich
NR2 4AQ
Hopefully, I will be able to see some of you there and maybe sell a print or two. Either way, it would be good to be able to talk some more with the audience. Writing and art can be such a lonely career, especially as a lot of self employed, or previously self employed people have been telling me don't expect to sell anything between Christmas and Easter.
Not good news for my bank account but maybe I'll have some time to do some actual work on my writing and my personal art projects.
That's a point.
Who would like a calendar of my artwork? If you would please leave a comment in the comment box.
For previews of my work, please visit:
http://v-j-bartlett.deviantart.com/gallery/
Best wishes for Christmas period. May it be a happy and healthy one for you and your family.
It seems that I have decided, without meaning to, to start my career seriously at probably the worse possible moment. Not only am I trying to get stock of my prints, in formats that are going to appeal, done and posted to me in time for the craft fair at the Coffee Lounge on Saturday the 20th, but I'm also looking at learning how to juggle the demands of family, a new relationship and a commission that must be done in time for Christmas all at once. As Mr Jenkins once observed:
"Trust you to be awkward, Vicky!"
Still it is turning out to be fun, in a very loose sense of that word.
What is more, it is being very expensive at the moment to buy the prints, not because Photobox is expensive but because I have yet to receive and substantial amount in return. I have managed to sell one print so far but when you start calculating the expenses, the tax man's cut and my wage, then there isn't a lot of profit left to put back into the account.
This isn't for lack of trying, you understand.
I was at the craft fair at Stew, Gallery and Artist Studios Thursday just gone with Steph, sharing a pitch and despite a good turn out, handing out oodles of my new business cards (did I tell you about them?), I didn't sell a single thing, hence my rush to buy in new stock. Hopefully cards will be more acceptable to the public.
The only problem is that I had not a moment in which to order them sooner than yesterday, so with a dispatch date of the nineteenth, even with next day delivery, I might have walked out of the door half an hour before they arrive. Not much of a help for the fair.
Still, if they don't arrive on time, I will still go with what stock I do have. For those of you who maybe interested, the next fair I will be attending is at the Coffee Lounge, starting 11 am. The full address is:
24 Saint Benedict's Street
Norwich
NR2 4AQ
Hopefully, I will be able to see some of you there and maybe sell a print or two. Either way, it would be good to be able to talk some more with the audience. Writing and art can be such a lonely career, especially as a lot of self employed, or previously self employed people have been telling me don't expect to sell anything between Christmas and Easter.
Not good news for my bank account but maybe I'll have some time to do some actual work on my writing and my personal art projects.
That's a point.
Who would like a calendar of my artwork? If you would please leave a comment in the comment box.
For previews of my work, please visit:
http://v-j-bartlett.deviantart.com/gallery/
Best wishes for Christmas period. May it be a happy and healthy one for you and your family.
Wednesday 26 November 2014
Interstellar
I actually went to see Interstellar some weeks back and thoroughly enjoyed. I've advised everyone who's asked me about it to go and see it... with a big box of tissues in hand.
So I had heard nothing of the critics explosion.
Apparently Scientist Dr Adam Rutherford said on twitter:
"It hates humans. That we have not enough faith in engineering or exploration. That NASA is a secret?"
Um, did you actually watch the rest of the film? The Earth in Interstellar is killing humans by starvation and NASA was disbanded when it refused the governments demands to cut the population by dropping missiles from orbit on the population centres. By the time that the Government realises at the answers to the problem does not reside on Earth everyone is that short on resources that if the public knew that NASA had reformed to try and find us a new planet, there would be mass riots over the 'waste of resources'. I'm an Autistic and even I know that in the face of starvation people take the short term solution over the long term 'possible' fix.
As for the whole 'thought-crime' episode at Murphy's school suggesting that "liberals have destroyed America's pioneering spirit", well as far as I can see that is a load of nonsense. Far from the teachers and by extension the state, being 'liberal', they and it, are instead are trying to force people to give up their dreams of a better future so that they will accept their 'duty' as the caretaker generation. Is that not the opposite of liberal?
I also take umbrage with Adam Rutherford's observation of:
"It shows no faith that humankind is capable of looking after itself without the help of fifth-dimensional charity workers. Plus the fact that in conclusion, seven billion people must die for the species to live."
Again, did he actually watch the film? The conclusion that the Earth bound population has to die for the species to survive is only the conclusion of Michael Caine's character, Professor Brand, a character who has given up hope in his own life work. It is not the conclusion of Brand's own daughter Amelia, Murphy and Murphy's father Cooper (Matthew McConaughey).
They do not give up, not even when Cooper has to sacrifice himself to the pull of a black hole to give Amelia the chance to go on. The bit of the film that had me crying the most was that moment when Cooper is in the middle of the Black Hole, in the constructed world the mysterious 'Them' have created and he despairs of finding away of sending the knowledge he now has back in time to Murphy so she can save the seven billion people. The second bit that really made me cry was when he realises that it was him that set his own feet to the path he had taken, using gravity to reach through the fourth dimension, time. That was one of the most uplifting moments in the whole film for me - "It was us, it was always us."
That quote "it was us" also for me made believe that the mysterious 'Them', the so called 'fifth-dimensional charity workers' of Dr Adam Rutherford's point of view, aren't so strange foreign alien species, they are us. 'Them' is what the human race evolves into, give it's second chance on it's new world, stripped of war and bathed in the light of a Black Hole.
In that way, Professor Brand does give a gift to the human race, despite nearly leaving behind seven billion people - "Every rivet that they strike could have been a bullet. We have done a marvellous thing for the human race."
Faced with its death, the human race finally manages to cast off its instinct for violent and start working together as a whole, as a unit. They pass through the Worm Hole a different people to those that were on Earth and step towards a future, where mankind can finally let itself evolve into the responsible adults we are meant to be.
Why do people hate this idea? That out of opposition can come beauty? Why do we forget the beauty of the poppy of Flanders Field? Why do we run from trying something new until forced to? Why can't we take climate change and the disappearance of coal and oil turn them into the rocket ship that takes us to our new world?
Why can't we just for once tell our governments to go shove their war and their greed and reach across the fences ourselves to put a stop to the fighting? I believe it happened once, on top of the Berlin Wall, so why not again?
Why not? Actually that's the wrong question. It's already happening. There are villages in sub-Sahara Africa who, though they are the poorest of the poor, have heard that the best way to stop the growth of the Sahara is to plant a band of trees all along the edge of it and instead of waiting for the governments to do it, are out there planting the trees.
There are people who are researching how to create electricity from the body heat of humans and there are people who are working on cladding the roofs and walls of buildings in our cities to suck up the carbon dioxide we are creating.
There are people every where who are turning off the car and walking/biking to work.
So the real question isn't why not? It's why not more? Because we are afraid of the night, the dark, the unknown?
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night."
Maybe some young men and women, should rage at the dying of the light.
So I had heard nothing of the critics explosion.
Apparently Scientist Dr Adam Rutherford said on twitter:
"It hates humans. That we have not enough faith in engineering or exploration. That NASA is a secret?"
Um, did you actually watch the rest of the film? The Earth in Interstellar is killing humans by starvation and NASA was disbanded when it refused the governments demands to cut the population by dropping missiles from orbit on the population centres. By the time that the Government realises at the answers to the problem does not reside on Earth everyone is that short on resources that if the public knew that NASA had reformed to try and find us a new planet, there would be mass riots over the 'waste of resources'. I'm an Autistic and even I know that in the face of starvation people take the short term solution over the long term 'possible' fix.
As for the whole 'thought-crime' episode at Murphy's school suggesting that "liberals have destroyed America's pioneering spirit", well as far as I can see that is a load of nonsense. Far from the teachers and by extension the state, being 'liberal', they and it, are instead are trying to force people to give up their dreams of a better future so that they will accept their 'duty' as the caretaker generation. Is that not the opposite of liberal?
I also take umbrage with Adam Rutherford's observation of:
"It shows no faith that humankind is capable of looking after itself without the help of fifth-dimensional charity workers. Plus the fact that in conclusion, seven billion people must die for the species to live."
Again, did he actually watch the film? The conclusion that the Earth bound population has to die for the species to survive is only the conclusion of Michael Caine's character, Professor Brand, a character who has given up hope in his own life work. It is not the conclusion of Brand's own daughter Amelia, Murphy and Murphy's father Cooper (Matthew McConaughey).
They do not give up, not even when Cooper has to sacrifice himself to the pull of a black hole to give Amelia the chance to go on. The bit of the film that had me crying the most was that moment when Cooper is in the middle of the Black Hole, in the constructed world the mysterious 'Them' have created and he despairs of finding away of sending the knowledge he now has back in time to Murphy so she can save the seven billion people. The second bit that really made me cry was when he realises that it was him that set his own feet to the path he had taken, using gravity to reach through the fourth dimension, time. That was one of the most uplifting moments in the whole film for me - "It was us, it was always us."
That quote "it was us" also for me made believe that the mysterious 'Them', the so called 'fifth-dimensional charity workers' of Dr Adam Rutherford's point of view, aren't so strange foreign alien species, they are us. 'Them' is what the human race evolves into, give it's second chance on it's new world, stripped of war and bathed in the light of a Black Hole.
In that way, Professor Brand does give a gift to the human race, despite nearly leaving behind seven billion people - "Every rivet that they strike could have been a bullet. We have done a marvellous thing for the human race."
Faced with its death, the human race finally manages to cast off its instinct for violent and start working together as a whole, as a unit. They pass through the Worm Hole a different people to those that were on Earth and step towards a future, where mankind can finally let itself evolve into the responsible adults we are meant to be.
Why do people hate this idea? That out of opposition can come beauty? Why do we forget the beauty of the poppy of Flanders Field? Why do we run from trying something new until forced to? Why can't we take climate change and the disappearance of coal and oil turn them into the rocket ship that takes us to our new world?
Why can't we just for once tell our governments to go shove their war and their greed and reach across the fences ourselves to put a stop to the fighting? I believe it happened once, on top of the Berlin Wall, so why not again?
Why not? Actually that's the wrong question. It's already happening. There are villages in sub-Sahara Africa who, though they are the poorest of the poor, have heard that the best way to stop the growth of the Sahara is to plant a band of trees all along the edge of it and instead of waiting for the governments to do it, are out there planting the trees.
There are people who are researching how to create electricity from the body heat of humans and there are people who are working on cladding the roofs and walls of buildings in our cities to suck up the carbon dioxide we are creating.
There are people every where who are turning off the car and walking/biking to work.
So the real question isn't why not? It's why not more? Because we are afraid of the night, the dark, the unknown?
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night."
Maybe some young men and women, should rage at the dying of the light.
Wednesday 19 November 2014
Citizen's Allowance
O.K. we're only just beginning the approach towards general elections and I'm already sick of the rhetoric. As far as I'm concerned, having lived through one over long Labour administration and the Conservative administrations either side of it, they are both as bad as each other, the Lib Dems aren't much better and they are all talking a load of self-serving, self-glorifying, selfish crap.
There I said it.
UKIP is not much better, these days. Their manifesto has done nothing to convince me that they are going to help this country out, if anything they are walking very close to becoming fascists, which kind of makes me uncomfortable as I'm a disabled and the last lot of fascists that got into power in Europe used disabled people as lab rats and fire wood (i.e. Hitler's lot).
The only ones that have garnered my interest and held it have been the Green Party, the only party that so far will not be having a spot at the leaders' debate, despite having a chair in the Houses of Parliament for four years.
One the fact that they are being excluded by the old boys network says to me that they may be something outside of it.
Two their idea of a Citizen's Allowance.
A Citizen's Allowance would replace all of the current benefits and be payable to everybody who has a UK birth certificate. That would automatically stop benefit tourism and simplify our benefit system, removing a load of paperwork (less trees being cut down) and possibly even speeding it up as it would be paid automatically.
That's right, the Citizen's Allowance would be automatically paid to everybody who has a UK birth certificate, paid to their parents first until they reach sixteen, after that reverting to their bank account. It would pay for the basics - rent, food and utility bills. If you want more than that - things such as pets, smoking, alcohol and clothes from the expensive shops - you'd have to go out and work for it.
That would immediately remove the fear of homelessness, enable people to make the basic ends meet, encourage self employment where local jobs are short (because you wouldn't have to worry about some means tested benefit taking away all of your money the moment you try to help yourself) and possibly even create a society were people can work with the talents they have to fulfil their true potential instead of being squeezed into a mould they don't fit because they 'have to get a job'.
I don't know about you but that last one sounds like an autistic heaven to me. To be able to work on my art and my stories without the worry of the state pulling the rug out from under my feet. To be free to work on my talents, my God given gifts, yes, that would be a bed of roses. You may think I'm being overly optimistic but I don't mean that it wouldn't involve a lot of hard graft, every rose has it's thorns.
Personally I think the idea has merit and seeing as the Big Three don't want the Green Party talking about it on the media, that rather says to me that the Big Three are worried that it could work over any of their ideas and see this country have a long administration by the Green Party.
Would that really be a bad thing?
There I said it.
UKIP is not much better, these days. Their manifesto has done nothing to convince me that they are going to help this country out, if anything they are walking very close to becoming fascists, which kind of makes me uncomfortable as I'm a disabled and the last lot of fascists that got into power in Europe used disabled people as lab rats and fire wood (i.e. Hitler's lot).
The only ones that have garnered my interest and held it have been the Green Party, the only party that so far will not be having a spot at the leaders' debate, despite having a chair in the Houses of Parliament for four years.
One the fact that they are being excluded by the old boys network says to me that they may be something outside of it.
Two their idea of a Citizen's Allowance.
A Citizen's Allowance would replace all of the current benefits and be payable to everybody who has a UK birth certificate. That would automatically stop benefit tourism and simplify our benefit system, removing a load of paperwork (less trees being cut down) and possibly even speeding it up as it would be paid automatically.
That's right, the Citizen's Allowance would be automatically paid to everybody who has a UK birth certificate, paid to their parents first until they reach sixteen, after that reverting to their bank account. It would pay for the basics - rent, food and utility bills. If you want more than that - things such as pets, smoking, alcohol and clothes from the expensive shops - you'd have to go out and work for it.
That would immediately remove the fear of homelessness, enable people to make the basic ends meet, encourage self employment where local jobs are short (because you wouldn't have to worry about some means tested benefit taking away all of your money the moment you try to help yourself) and possibly even create a society were people can work with the talents they have to fulfil their true potential instead of being squeezed into a mould they don't fit because they 'have to get a job'.
I don't know about you but that last one sounds like an autistic heaven to me. To be able to work on my art and my stories without the worry of the state pulling the rug out from under my feet. To be free to work on my talents, my God given gifts, yes, that would be a bed of roses. You may think I'm being overly optimistic but I don't mean that it wouldn't involve a lot of hard graft, every rose has it's thorns.
Personally I think the idea has merit and seeing as the Big Three don't want the Green Party talking about it on the media, that rather says to me that the Big Three are worried that it could work over any of their ideas and see this country have a long administration by the Green Party.
Would that really be a bad thing?
Friday 14 November 2014
deviantART now Streaming
Or to be exact, deviantArt is now streaming my artwork for sale!
Believe you me that is a lovely feeling. The fact that my artwork is now out there ready to be sold gives me a warm fuzzy glow under my heart.
Grant, it is only the dragon trilogy at the moment which is up for sale, thanks to some glitching with the upload process and the fact that I had to do some other work before I could load them, which means that by now my butt is becoming increasing sore sitting on this chair and if I don't turn off the Internet sooner and MOVE it is going to start telling me that it hates me in very loud tones.
Still, with the feed back I had from busking on Tuesday, I'm hoping that I've loaded the painting that the public loves the most first, which will hopefully raise the interest for my gallery.
So saying, I'm going to have to make some business cards to hand out when I'm busking so that people who like my work and want to buy have the links there and then. I'll also have to hurry up and load up all the other paintings that I have done so far. An artist's work is never done.
That's a thought. If there is no peace for the wicked, then how come I didn't have more fun?
I also need to carry on with painting the last two A4 paintings that I'm doing so that hopefully for 2016 I'll be able to do a calendar of my artwork.
Is that wanted do you think, dear readers, and if so when should I start selling it next year? Because I know that 2015 calendars are already on the go.
To have a deck-o, here's the link:
http://v-j-bartlett.deviantart.com/gallery/
Hope you like,
V. J. Bartlett (Now a professional artist)
Believe you me that is a lovely feeling. The fact that my artwork is now out there ready to be sold gives me a warm fuzzy glow under my heart.
Grant, it is only the dragon trilogy at the moment which is up for sale, thanks to some glitching with the upload process and the fact that I had to do some other work before I could load them, which means that by now my butt is becoming increasing sore sitting on this chair and if I don't turn off the Internet sooner and MOVE it is going to start telling me that it hates me in very loud tones.
Still, with the feed back I had from busking on Tuesday, I'm hoping that I've loaded the painting that the public loves the most first, which will hopefully raise the interest for my gallery.
So saying, I'm going to have to make some business cards to hand out when I'm busking so that people who like my work and want to buy have the links there and then. I'll also have to hurry up and load up all the other paintings that I have done so far. An artist's work is never done.
That's a thought. If there is no peace for the wicked, then how come I didn't have more fun?
I also need to carry on with painting the last two A4 paintings that I'm doing so that hopefully for 2016 I'll be able to do a calendar of my artwork.
Is that wanted do you think, dear readers, and if so when should I start selling it next year? Because I know that 2015 calendars are already on the go.
To have a deck-o, here's the link:
http://v-j-bartlett.deviantart.com/gallery/
Hope you like,
V. J. Bartlett (Now a professional artist)
Wednesday 12 November 2014
Busking
All right I've started busking.
Seeing as I'm in Dereham any way on a Tuesday for my cleaning job in the morning I decided to kill two creepers with one bolt and make Tuesday afternoon my busking time.
Yesterday was my first time and I'd say that it went very well. Managed to find a bench end that wasn't covered up by a bin, propped up three of the copies of my work laid one down on the floor as my coin collector and set to work on continuing work on 'Forest City'.
By four o'clock I had very nearly recouped the bus fair, had received several complements for my skills and nobody had sent a police man to move me on. So all in all a success.
Though the money wasn't much, it was more than I could have received as first the first time busker and it has given me hope that as I become a regular fixture that I'll be able to at least cover my bus fair each week. More would be nice but I'm willing to start small.
It has also made it obvious that I really need to hurry up, load my art on to deviant ART and make some business cards as I had several enquires as to whether I was selling. Unfortunately not; as I mentioned in an earlier post, a street traders license is over four hundred pounds (£400.00) for the year and as of yet I don't think that I'll be recouping that sort of price, although I'm hoping to make it to the UK Games Expo next year in Birmingham.
That was something else. One lady asked, as I can't sell at the moment, what would the price be if I was to which I replied, going on the price I set for a commission, seventeen pounds fifty (£17.50). Her reply to that was "worth every penny".
So fellow artist, stop shutting yourself away in your studios, pick up that paper and paint brush and go out into street. Paint at the park bench and outside the closed down shop. In doing so you advertise your work for free, gain confidence as the compliments come in and you even get paid just for doing the process of making the finished article.
People enjoy watching an artist work so let them watch, let them see how you do it and you might even get paid for the pleasure of doing what you love. It also gives you a couple of hours each week in which the family can't stick their heads around the door and go "could you just..."
Yes, I'll agree that it is blooming cold doing it this time of year and there is no point trying if it is piddling down with rain but it is so good to hear people admiring your work. It's an antidote to looking at all the big name artists, comparing yourself to them and feeling that you'll never match up to them.
So go on, have a go and you might be surprised how much you enjoy it.
Oh and if you fancy having a look at my stuff then you'll find my in Nelson's Place, Dereham, between 2 and 4 o'clock on a Tuesday. Good luck and I hope to see you about.
Seeing as I'm in Dereham any way on a Tuesday for my cleaning job in the morning I decided to kill two creepers with one bolt and make Tuesday afternoon my busking time.
Yesterday was my first time and I'd say that it went very well. Managed to find a bench end that wasn't covered up by a bin, propped up three of the copies of my work laid one down on the floor as my coin collector and set to work on continuing work on 'Forest City'.
By four o'clock I had very nearly recouped the bus fair, had received several complements for my skills and nobody had sent a police man to move me on. So all in all a success.
Though the money wasn't much, it was more than I could have received as first the first time busker and it has given me hope that as I become a regular fixture that I'll be able to at least cover my bus fair each week. More would be nice but I'm willing to start small.
It has also made it obvious that I really need to hurry up, load my art on to deviant ART and make some business cards as I had several enquires as to whether I was selling. Unfortunately not; as I mentioned in an earlier post, a street traders license is over four hundred pounds (£400.00) for the year and as of yet I don't think that I'll be recouping that sort of price, although I'm hoping to make it to the UK Games Expo next year in Birmingham.
That was something else. One lady asked, as I can't sell at the moment, what would the price be if I was to which I replied, going on the price I set for a commission, seventeen pounds fifty (£17.50). Her reply to that was "worth every penny".
So fellow artist, stop shutting yourself away in your studios, pick up that paper and paint brush and go out into street. Paint at the park bench and outside the closed down shop. In doing so you advertise your work for free, gain confidence as the compliments come in and you even get paid just for doing the process of making the finished article.
People enjoy watching an artist work so let them watch, let them see how you do it and you might even get paid for the pleasure of doing what you love. It also gives you a couple of hours each week in which the family can't stick their heads around the door and go "could you just..."
Yes, I'll agree that it is blooming cold doing it this time of year and there is no point trying if it is piddling down with rain but it is so good to hear people admiring your work. It's an antidote to looking at all the big name artists, comparing yourself to them and feeling that you'll never match up to them.
So go on, have a go and you might be surprised how much you enjoy it.
Oh and if you fancy having a look at my stuff then you'll find my in Nelson's Place, Dereham, between 2 and 4 o'clock on a Tuesday. Good luck and I hope to see you about.
Friday 7 November 2014
Frankenstein
Sorry it's been a while since I posted but life has this habit at the moment of getting in the way.
Went on Thursday 30th of October to see the rebroadcasting of the 2011 theatre production of 'Frankenstein', directed by Danny Boyle. Having had to study the book for my English Literature AS Level I had pretty high expectations for it to meet and I have to say that it surpassed them all.
To start with it went straight to the point of view of the creature, acted by Jonny Lee Miller, starting with his birth and it really portrayed the fact that the creature was born an innocent. His first words are even 'piss off, bugger off' because that is what everybody has been yelling at him.
In concentrating more on the creature's experiences, the play adds a whole level to the story, really bringing forward Victor Frankenstein's, acted by Benedict Cumberbatch, irresponsibility for his actions (i.e. creating the creature) and the fact that the creature, born a baby in an adults body, is only taught fear and hatred and aggression because that is all it is ever shown. The only person who tries to teach it anything else is De Lacey and that is only because he is blind. As the creature himself points out "you have no eyes".
It also rather revealed the very shaky logic Victor used in justifying the destruction of the creature's mate. He justifies it, saying that he feared what would happen it the creatures breed, but being the 'brillant' scientist, surely he could make sure that the female creature couldn't get pregnant? After that, one can almost see the creature's logic 'you took my wife so I'll take yours'.
For a being who has watched others having love and acceptance but always been rejected because of his appearance, it is to be expected that eventually he is going to start lashing out at those who refuse to share.
I'd say that the production highlighted more than anything the shallowness of human nature - the tendency of people to take a look and go 'oh it's ugly therefore it's a monster'. I wonder if that's why there had to be charities to help people disfigured by war and disease? So called normal people took one look and went 'oh ugly, I'm not accepting that'.
Went on Thursday 30th of October to see the rebroadcasting of the 2011 theatre production of 'Frankenstein', directed by Danny Boyle. Having had to study the book for my English Literature AS Level I had pretty high expectations for it to meet and I have to say that it surpassed them all.
To start with it went straight to the point of view of the creature, acted by Jonny Lee Miller, starting with his birth and it really portrayed the fact that the creature was born an innocent. His first words are even 'piss off, bugger off' because that is what everybody has been yelling at him.
In concentrating more on the creature's experiences, the play adds a whole level to the story, really bringing forward Victor Frankenstein's, acted by Benedict Cumberbatch, irresponsibility for his actions (i.e. creating the creature) and the fact that the creature, born a baby in an adults body, is only taught fear and hatred and aggression because that is all it is ever shown. The only person who tries to teach it anything else is De Lacey and that is only because he is blind. As the creature himself points out "you have no eyes".
It also rather revealed the very shaky logic Victor used in justifying the destruction of the creature's mate. He justifies it, saying that he feared what would happen it the creatures breed, but being the 'brillant' scientist, surely he could make sure that the female creature couldn't get pregnant? After that, one can almost see the creature's logic 'you took my wife so I'll take yours'.
For a being who has watched others having love and acceptance but always been rejected because of his appearance, it is to be expected that eventually he is going to start lashing out at those who refuse to share.
I'd say that the production highlighted more than anything the shallowness of human nature - the tendency of people to take a look and go 'oh it's ugly therefore it's a monster'. I wonder if that's why there had to be charities to help people disfigured by war and disease? So called normal people took one look and went 'oh ugly, I'm not accepting that'.
Friday 17 October 2014
Meet the Parents
No, not my own, just the parent characters in my newly published panto 'Sleeping Beauty'. So starting at the top:
King - Princess Tina's father. Which is it - is he hen pecked or suffering from a rather guilty conscience? Having had a relationship with the Shadow Witch Malaria before her magic flared, he bows an awful lot the wishes of his wife.
Queen - a regular battle axe. When she gets into full flow there is no stopping her so it is best to interrupt before that point. Just make sure you are out of arms reach.
King Neighbour - Father of Prince Feet and twelve others. His kingdom hasn't always been at peace with Tinytown, in fact he tried to invade some years before the panto starts, but having Malaria-as-a-dragon drop in on his army and send it running for the boarders rather curbed that ambition. He treads rather carefully around the issue of boarder control now.
Queen Neighbour - Mother of Prince Feet and twelve others. Spends most of her time training up her boys ready to marry them off to other royal families, except for her youngest Prince Feet.
Fairy Sweetpea - Fairy Godmothering is not for the faint of heart. Rushed off her feet and out of time trying to make the world work, or at least, keep running. Has a thing against prejudice and bigotry, probably because she's seen what it has done to her sister, Malaria.
Malaria - the Shadow Witch, not a title she wanted. Born with the Shadow Magic, she has one massive great chip on her shoulder as she has done nothing but try and help people with it and in return all she's got is being cast out, not because of what she has done but because of what she is. The lack of an invitation to Princess Tina's christening really was the last straw.
Chamberlain - Lives in a perpetual state of panic, not surprising as he is the favourite target when the Queen is in a bad mood. Sends most of his time running around trying to complete the ever growing list of jobs to do that she gives him.
Coughs, Colds and Sneezes - Malaria's three imps and sometimes Shadows. Sneezes is the brains of the trio, although that isn't saying much, with Colds being fairly observant, while Coughs brings up the rear in the brains department. Good for a lot of slap stick and mucking about.
Dame Fuzzy - the only one who tried to help Malaria when her magic first flared, not that the King and Queen realise that when they give Princess Tina over to her care. The panto dame and all round mothering soul, she'll take anyone in under her wing, even the Chamberlain.
Princess Tina aka Elderflower - practical and not easily scared. Has a more balanced view of Malaria then her parents expect or want, due to Dame Fuzzy's influence. Though she has done all the training of a Princess, she has also learnt how to cook, clean, wash and sew. She is no lady in an ivory tower, that's for sure.
Prince Feet - the youngest of thirteen and the one over looked. Meets Princess Tina as a child due to the work of a certain Fairy Godmother. Unlike his brothers, this one does not have a swell head.
Prince Philip - The oldest of Prince Feet's brothers that we meet (the others have already been married off). To some it up everything is always about him.
Prince Nigel - a lawyer in the making and another of Prince Feet's brothers. Just about every sentence contains a reference to one law or another. Even Fairy Sweetpea is pleased to see the back of him.
Prince Roland - another of Prince Feet's brother and a CEO to the core. I can't work out which is worse Prince Nigel or Prince Roland.
Prince Dan - just about the only one of Feet's brothers who willing recognises the fact that Feet is there. An athlete who isn't overly enthusiastic about being married off to royal, it's all work and no time to train.
Mayor - someone has to run the county when everyone in the castle decides to permanently catch z's for several years.
Colonel Vins - a soldier with good sense. He knows an ally when he sees one, even if they are as unlikely as a shadow helping the light.
Chorus of peasants, courtiers, soldiers, monsters and magic. Suggestions for how to make the special effects work are written in to the script.
I hope you like the character summery and I know that was rather more than just the parents but once I started writing I was on a roll so just kept going. Oh yes, I did.
To see the full script:
http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/137733/Sleeping-Beauty-Panto
King - Princess Tina's father. Which is it - is he hen pecked or suffering from a rather guilty conscience? Having had a relationship with the Shadow Witch Malaria before her magic flared, he bows an awful lot the wishes of his wife.
Queen - a regular battle axe. When she gets into full flow there is no stopping her so it is best to interrupt before that point. Just make sure you are out of arms reach.
King Neighbour - Father of Prince Feet and twelve others. His kingdom hasn't always been at peace with Tinytown, in fact he tried to invade some years before the panto starts, but having Malaria-as-a-dragon drop in on his army and send it running for the boarders rather curbed that ambition. He treads rather carefully around the issue of boarder control now.
Queen Neighbour - Mother of Prince Feet and twelve others. Spends most of her time training up her boys ready to marry them off to other royal families, except for her youngest Prince Feet.
Fairy Sweetpea - Fairy Godmothering is not for the faint of heart. Rushed off her feet and out of time trying to make the world work, or at least, keep running. Has a thing against prejudice and bigotry, probably because she's seen what it has done to her sister, Malaria.
Malaria - the Shadow Witch, not a title she wanted. Born with the Shadow Magic, she has one massive great chip on her shoulder as she has done nothing but try and help people with it and in return all she's got is being cast out, not because of what she has done but because of what she is. The lack of an invitation to Princess Tina's christening really was the last straw.
Chamberlain - Lives in a perpetual state of panic, not surprising as he is the favourite target when the Queen is in a bad mood. Sends most of his time running around trying to complete the ever growing list of jobs to do that she gives him.
Coughs, Colds and Sneezes - Malaria's three imps and sometimes Shadows. Sneezes is the brains of the trio, although that isn't saying much, with Colds being fairly observant, while Coughs brings up the rear in the brains department. Good for a lot of slap stick and mucking about.
Dame Fuzzy - the only one who tried to help Malaria when her magic first flared, not that the King and Queen realise that when they give Princess Tina over to her care. The panto dame and all round mothering soul, she'll take anyone in under her wing, even the Chamberlain.
Princess Tina aka Elderflower - practical and not easily scared. Has a more balanced view of Malaria then her parents expect or want, due to Dame Fuzzy's influence. Though she has done all the training of a Princess, she has also learnt how to cook, clean, wash and sew. She is no lady in an ivory tower, that's for sure.
Prince Feet - the youngest of thirteen and the one over looked. Meets Princess Tina as a child due to the work of a certain Fairy Godmother. Unlike his brothers, this one does not have a swell head.
Prince Philip - The oldest of Prince Feet's brothers that we meet (the others have already been married off). To some it up everything is always about him.
Prince Nigel - a lawyer in the making and another of Prince Feet's brothers. Just about every sentence contains a reference to one law or another. Even Fairy Sweetpea is pleased to see the back of him.
Prince Roland - another of Prince Feet's brother and a CEO to the core. I can't work out which is worse Prince Nigel or Prince Roland.
Prince Dan - just about the only one of Feet's brothers who willing recognises the fact that Feet is there. An athlete who isn't overly enthusiastic about being married off to royal, it's all work and no time to train.
Mayor - someone has to run the county when everyone in the castle decides to permanently catch z's for several years.
Colonel Vins - a soldier with good sense. He knows an ally when he sees one, even if they are as unlikely as a shadow helping the light.
Chorus of peasants, courtiers, soldiers, monsters and magic. Suggestions for how to make the special effects work are written in to the script.
I hope you like the character summery and I know that was rather more than just the parents but once I started writing I was on a roll so just kept going. Oh yes, I did.
To see the full script:
http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/137733/Sleeping-Beauty-Panto
Tuesday 14 October 2014
I'm Published!!!!
Yes! I have finally managed to be published on DriveThruFiction! Thank you very much to the team of DriveThruFiction for their support and definitely a lot of thanks to Stephen Hughes, a fellow DriveThruer and great friend for talking me through the whole process.
You can now view my Panto 'Sleeping Beauty' on:
http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/137733/Sleeping-Beauty-Panto?filters=0_0_44419_0_0
Please have a read and review, even if you don't buy.
For fellow am-dram actors and actresses, I hope that it is a clear and concise script without any scenes that are difficult to stage. If you like I will do a character description over the next few blog posts. As a taster here is the blurb:
"When Princess Tina of Tinytown was born the good Fairy Sweetpea and the Shadow Witch Malaria decided that here was the perfect tool in their on going arguement about the existence of love.
The traditional tale of 'Sleeping Beauty' with Shadows, Imps, Monsters and magic where an honest heart might just win out over plans, plots and a very nasty case of the man flu."
You can now view my Panto 'Sleeping Beauty' on:
http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/137733/Sleeping-Beauty-Panto?filters=0_0_44419_0_0
Please have a read and review, even if you don't buy.
For fellow am-dram actors and actresses, I hope that it is a clear and concise script without any scenes that are difficult to stage. If you like I will do a character description over the next few blog posts. As a taster here is the blurb:
"When Princess Tina of Tinytown was born the good Fairy Sweetpea and the Shadow Witch Malaria decided that here was the perfect tool in their on going arguement about the existence of love.
The traditional tale of 'Sleeping Beauty' with Shadows, Imps, Monsters and magic where an honest heart might just win out over plans, plots and a very nasty case of the man flu."
Thursday 2 October 2014
The Equalizer
Went to see The Equalizer yesterday and rather enjoyed it. It is not a film to watch if you disagree with vigilantes but I don't so I'm fine with it. If the world governments and police forces would protect us from criminals then we wouldn't have to do it ourselves. I think what I like most about it is that the main character always gives the ring leaders of the mob cells he takes on the chance to make the choice between continuing with their evil or giving it up. Also if he has to use force he will leave them alone if they put their guns down. Granted he'll then tie them up and leave them where the police can find them but that's different from just killing them all.
It rather made me think as well, because to save the young girls that are being trafficked and to stop the crooked cops that are in on both that and the protection bracket he has to do some nasty stuff but to some he's their guardian angel. What made me realise it was when the crooked cops walk out of the shop after they've given back all the money and the lady stands in the window and says a pray of thanks.
Sometimes angels come in funny shapes. There are people who will disagree with me on this but it is a thought that has struck me several times as I have read through my Gideon's Bible over the years. In the book of Revelations, in chapter nine there is predicted the arrival on earth of Abaddon, who is given crown and command, by God no less, and ordered to go out and torment those that have persecuted the faithful of God. This wouldn't be anything to remark about if Abaddon was an angel but he's not. Abaddon is said to be the demon lord of the Seventh Pit of Hell. So why is a demon lord being handed crown and command by God? Why would a demon obey God? Unless the battle lines between good and evil are not as clear cut as we humans like to think. After all what is a demon but an angel that knows how to hate? And what is an angel but a demon that knows how to love?
I wouldn't know the answers to that but I've read through Revelations several times and no where does it mention Abaddon and his scorpion people being destroyed along with Satan and the other demons. That's something to think about, isn't it? One of the gaps in the Bible narrative that we have to fill in for ourselves.
Perhaps just praying for God to come and make everything right on earth is not enough? Perhaps we need to stand up and be counted for what we believe in, which kind of makes me realise that our angels and our demons are right here with us. The interenet can be a tool for criminals and worse but it can also be the tool we use to fight them. So really it comes down again to the choices we make.
Rather leaves us responsible for what we do, doesn't it?
It rather made me think as well, because to save the young girls that are being trafficked and to stop the crooked cops that are in on both that and the protection bracket he has to do some nasty stuff but to some he's their guardian angel. What made me realise it was when the crooked cops walk out of the shop after they've given back all the money and the lady stands in the window and says a pray of thanks.
Sometimes angels come in funny shapes. There are people who will disagree with me on this but it is a thought that has struck me several times as I have read through my Gideon's Bible over the years. In the book of Revelations, in chapter nine there is predicted the arrival on earth of Abaddon, who is given crown and command, by God no less, and ordered to go out and torment those that have persecuted the faithful of God. This wouldn't be anything to remark about if Abaddon was an angel but he's not. Abaddon is said to be the demon lord of the Seventh Pit of Hell. So why is a demon lord being handed crown and command by God? Why would a demon obey God? Unless the battle lines between good and evil are not as clear cut as we humans like to think. After all what is a demon but an angel that knows how to hate? And what is an angel but a demon that knows how to love?
I wouldn't know the answers to that but I've read through Revelations several times and no where does it mention Abaddon and his scorpion people being destroyed along with Satan and the other demons. That's something to think about, isn't it? One of the gaps in the Bible narrative that we have to fill in for ourselves.
Perhaps just praying for God to come and make everything right on earth is not enough? Perhaps we need to stand up and be counted for what we believe in, which kind of makes me realise that our angels and our demons are right here with us. The interenet can be a tool for criminals and worse but it can also be the tool we use to fight them. So really it comes down again to the choices we make.
Rather leaves us responsible for what we do, doesn't it?
Thursday 25 September 2014
Lucy
Went to see the film Lucy a couple of days ago and besides being a very good action thriller it was also very thought provoking.
If their research is correct and I'm pretty sure it is, then most animals use about two point five percent of their brain and humans use only ten percent. One could say look what we have managed to do with that ten percent. You could also say look what we haven't done with that ten percent. Yes we have built marvels of technology but at the same time we have driven our planet nearly to the edge of the largest mass extinction evident in history.
Compare that to the dolphin, the creature that is using twenty percent of its brain capacity and with it have developed an echo location system more advanced any human sonar. That is mention in the movie. What they don't mention in Lucy is a fact I learnt years ago from Carol Vorderman's program 'See Through Science' - the echo location of dolphins is so advanced that in shorter ranges it can actually see your skeleton. It is a biological X-ray. Dolphins have done that, not by working and fighting for it but rather by simply existing.
So does that film Lucy have a point when Morgan Freeman's character asks 'are humans more concerned with having rather than being?' And the main question you have to ask is 'what could we do if we started using a higher percentage of our brains'?
I have to wonder because from the brain scan studies of autistics we already use different areas of our brains to homo sapiens so what doors are we opening? Are autistics beginning to use a higher percent of our brains than homo sapiens? Is that why we see so much more than 'normal' people?
I've been told that the reason that my brain over loads on information is because my 'editor' doesn't work. I've always been told that normal humans have editors in their brains that cut out most of the details that they see and hear and that in autistics those editors do not work, hence why we can suffer from information over load and system crash. But what if that is not true? What if autistic are not so much 'editor broken' people but rather people who are more perceptive than other humans? What if we are seeing more details because we are more whole than other people?
And besides speculation there still remains the estimation that eighty two percent of the human race now carry at least six to twelve of the genes involved with autism. So, despite the fact that society has a problem with us, genetically we are viable. So if our genetics continue to spread then eventually we will be the majority population, which means that eventually we will be able to shape society to suit us.
Society being changed by people who have a problem with change. Isn't that divine irony?
If their research is correct and I'm pretty sure it is, then most animals use about two point five percent of their brain and humans use only ten percent. One could say look what we have managed to do with that ten percent. You could also say look what we haven't done with that ten percent. Yes we have built marvels of technology but at the same time we have driven our planet nearly to the edge of the largest mass extinction evident in history.
Compare that to the dolphin, the creature that is using twenty percent of its brain capacity and with it have developed an echo location system more advanced any human sonar. That is mention in the movie. What they don't mention in Lucy is a fact I learnt years ago from Carol Vorderman's program 'See Through Science' - the echo location of dolphins is so advanced that in shorter ranges it can actually see your skeleton. It is a biological X-ray. Dolphins have done that, not by working and fighting for it but rather by simply existing.
So does that film Lucy have a point when Morgan Freeman's character asks 'are humans more concerned with having rather than being?' And the main question you have to ask is 'what could we do if we started using a higher percentage of our brains'?
I have to wonder because from the brain scan studies of autistics we already use different areas of our brains to homo sapiens so what doors are we opening? Are autistics beginning to use a higher percent of our brains than homo sapiens? Is that why we see so much more than 'normal' people?
I've been told that the reason that my brain over loads on information is because my 'editor' doesn't work. I've always been told that normal humans have editors in their brains that cut out most of the details that they see and hear and that in autistics those editors do not work, hence why we can suffer from information over load and system crash. But what if that is not true? What if autistic are not so much 'editor broken' people but rather people who are more perceptive than other humans? What if we are seeing more details because we are more whole than other people?
And besides speculation there still remains the estimation that eighty two percent of the human race now carry at least six to twelve of the genes involved with autism. So, despite the fact that society has a problem with us, genetically we are viable. So if our genetics continue to spread then eventually we will be the majority population, which means that eventually we will be able to shape society to suit us.
Society being changed by people who have a problem with change. Isn't that divine irony?
Thursday 18 September 2014
Possibilities
This is a subject that I've been thinking about a lot in recent weeks, due in part to someone asking me to try and explain what makes me different from other people. When I consider that for any length of time I find myself going back to the moment when I first realised why people talked to one another.
It was when I first held my sister in my arms as a baby and I can remember quiet clearly the instant that I realised that here, in this little body, was a different soul. Even now the memory of realising at this little being had a different soul to me can shake me. The realisation that she did not think the same thoughts as me, did not know what I knew, blew out more of my circuits that I can explain even now. It sudden knowledge that we weren't just two different bodies but two different souls was a revelation as blinding as the vision on the road to Damascus.
Before that I had been silent because I thought that everybody knew what everybody else was feeling and thinking. I thought that what one knew we all knew, what one thought we all thought. I didn't like talking because to me it was a wasteful noise that stopped the music in my head.
What is more, even now I will have a moment when because I know something I expect everybody else to know it.
Having been looking at this for some time now I've started wondering something. Is it possible that without knowing the meaning of the word telepathy, the infant autistic mind automatically assumes its existence?
Is that why we struggle with speech? Because we are expecting knowledge and emotion to transfer on a wave length of the mind, a direct connection of thought to thought?
When Isaac Asimov wrote about the people of Ghia in 'Forward the Foundation' and 'Foundation and Earth' who, when they speak of themselves, say "I/We/Ghia" was he describing the world that autistics expect themselves to be born into?
Are autistics the people who are reaching for an evolution, not of the body, but of the mind?
And if that is so, then what is the human race throwing away by forcing us to close off that possibility and live life on society's current terms?
It was when I first held my sister in my arms as a baby and I can remember quiet clearly the instant that I realised that here, in this little body, was a different soul. Even now the memory of realising at this little being had a different soul to me can shake me. The realisation that she did not think the same thoughts as me, did not know what I knew, blew out more of my circuits that I can explain even now. It sudden knowledge that we weren't just two different bodies but two different souls was a revelation as blinding as the vision on the road to Damascus.
Before that I had been silent because I thought that everybody knew what everybody else was feeling and thinking. I thought that what one knew we all knew, what one thought we all thought. I didn't like talking because to me it was a wasteful noise that stopped the music in my head.
What is more, even now I will have a moment when because I know something I expect everybody else to know it.
Having been looking at this for some time now I've started wondering something. Is it possible that without knowing the meaning of the word telepathy, the infant autistic mind automatically assumes its existence?
Is that why we struggle with speech? Because we are expecting knowledge and emotion to transfer on a wave length of the mind, a direct connection of thought to thought?
When Isaac Asimov wrote about the people of Ghia in 'Forward the Foundation' and 'Foundation and Earth' who, when they speak of themselves, say "I/We/Ghia" was he describing the world that autistics expect themselves to be born into?
Are autistics the people who are reaching for an evolution, not of the body, but of the mind?
And if that is so, then what is the human race throwing away by forcing us to close off that possibility and live life on society's current terms?
Friday 12 September 2014
To Book Covers and Beyond
O.K. I'm doing a late night to type this one up but since I don't think that I'm going to have much time to write one up over the weekend I thought I better get one in quick.
The design for my book cover is progressing. I'm pretty sure that I have the right lay out and format now, as inspired by the front covers of the Artemis Fowl books (big thanks to Eion Colfer and his design team!) however, I am struggling to get the right back ground colour. It is being a pig and using up a lot more paper than I want it to. I'm beginning to wonder if I should start looking through the sheets of coloured paper I have laying around the house. I don't want to use dark blue because that would just be a total rip off of the a fore mentioned Artemis Fowl books and nobody likes a thief but a light coloured back ground just wouldn't look right. Believe me I've tried it and it definitely doesn't look right. Would a dark royal purple go well?
Any way, the main question I want to posse you lovely people who read my blog is this - when my book is published what would you like me to do on my blog? I can do world descriptions or I can do character profiles? Either/or is good or would you like me to do both?
I'm hoping that I can get the cover wrapped up soon and not just so I can start selling but also so that I can move on to other projects as I started work with my editor today on the second book in the series.
Galloping Gargoyles! I've just realised that I need to do a series logo for the spine! Great, even more work. Hopefully it will all pay off when I'm up on the best selling lists. Still until then it is more pressure for me to carry. And no sight of that Time Turner I asked for a couple of weeks back. Can you grow time in a pot do you suppose?
People say that writing is a job for lazy people that is the get rich quick route. Sorry to disappoint you but it isn't. It takes an awful lot of work and there are no guarantees of riches at the end of it, especially with the tax man eyeing up half of your profit. Why can't he go and bother Amazon for a while? Or maybe Vodaphone. That would probably pay off half the national debt in one go, if the politicians didn't grab it all before it could get to there.
Any way, if I'm to get any sleep at all tonight I need to wrap it up there. Talk again soon and let me know what you want me to do once the book is on the shelves.
The design for my book cover is progressing. I'm pretty sure that I have the right lay out and format now, as inspired by the front covers of the Artemis Fowl books (big thanks to Eion Colfer and his design team!) however, I am struggling to get the right back ground colour. It is being a pig and using up a lot more paper than I want it to. I'm beginning to wonder if I should start looking through the sheets of coloured paper I have laying around the house. I don't want to use dark blue because that would just be a total rip off of the a fore mentioned Artemis Fowl books and nobody likes a thief but a light coloured back ground just wouldn't look right. Believe me I've tried it and it definitely doesn't look right. Would a dark royal purple go well?
Any way, the main question I want to posse you lovely people who read my blog is this - when my book is published what would you like me to do on my blog? I can do world descriptions or I can do character profiles? Either/or is good or would you like me to do both?
I'm hoping that I can get the cover wrapped up soon and not just so I can start selling but also so that I can move on to other projects as I started work with my editor today on the second book in the series.
Galloping Gargoyles! I've just realised that I need to do a series logo for the spine! Great, even more work. Hopefully it will all pay off when I'm up on the best selling lists. Still until then it is more pressure for me to carry. And no sight of that Time Turner I asked for a couple of weeks back. Can you grow time in a pot do you suppose?
People say that writing is a job for lazy people that is the get rich quick route. Sorry to disappoint you but it isn't. It takes an awful lot of work and there are no guarantees of riches at the end of it, especially with the tax man eyeing up half of your profit. Why can't he go and bother Amazon for a while? Or maybe Vodaphone. That would probably pay off half the national debt in one go, if the politicians didn't grab it all before it could get to there.
Any way, if I'm to get any sleep at all tonight I need to wrap it up there. Talk again soon and let me know what you want me to do once the book is on the shelves.
Wednesday 3 September 2014
Ghoulies, Ghosties and the Things That Go Bump in the Night
Last night I went on the Tuesday edition of the Norwich Ghost walk, also known as the Elmhill wall.
It was brilliant. It turned up parts of Norwich's history that I didn't know existed and showed me a couple of buildings that I hadn't notice before. One of them particularly in Tombland looks like the architect was high on something when he built it, especially when you view the back and discover the 'door to no where'. Did the Tudors have reefer? Or did they make do with dried banana skins? That's a point, did they have bananas in those days? I don't know but what ever the designer was smoking I don't think it was normal tobacco.
There were suitable ghoulies and ghosties wandering about, although the helicopter which persisted in buzzing around and making it difficult for all of us was a serious annoyance. If I'd know who it was I be tempted to go and put a walnut down the exhaust pipe.
Anyway, the ghoulies and ghosties where brilliant and apparently 'Brother John' rather liked me. I didn't think that monks where allowed that sort of thing but as my friend Stormie pointed out, they used to have a passageway that ran below the road so they could nip out to the Maid's Head Hotel for a sneaky drink. If they were doing that you have to wonder what they were getting up to with the bar maid.
All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable night out and was highly entertaining and informative. The Man in Black, as our host introduced himself, was brilliant at spinning a yarn and playing up the atmosphere. If you like slightly creepy and rather funny then I high recommend going on one of the walk. The Man in Black and his creepy crew can also do birthday parties but only if the ghosts are not on strike.
If you want to go on one of the walks, then just meet up outside of the Adam and Eve pub, Bishopsgate, Norwich at 7.30pm on Tuesday or Thursday night (they do a different walk on the different evenings) or check up www.ghostwalksnorwich.co.uk.
I loved every minute of the two hours and these a Halloween special coming up but apparently you need to book that one 'cause they've had to impose a number limit for health and safety reasons. That and the ghosts get shy if there are too many people there.
It was brilliant. It turned up parts of Norwich's history that I didn't know existed and showed me a couple of buildings that I hadn't notice before. One of them particularly in Tombland looks like the architect was high on something when he built it, especially when you view the back and discover the 'door to no where'. Did the Tudors have reefer? Or did they make do with dried banana skins? That's a point, did they have bananas in those days? I don't know but what ever the designer was smoking I don't think it was normal tobacco.
There were suitable ghoulies and ghosties wandering about, although the helicopter which persisted in buzzing around and making it difficult for all of us was a serious annoyance. If I'd know who it was I be tempted to go and put a walnut down the exhaust pipe.
Anyway, the ghoulies and ghosties where brilliant and apparently 'Brother John' rather liked me. I didn't think that monks where allowed that sort of thing but as my friend Stormie pointed out, they used to have a passageway that ran below the road so they could nip out to the Maid's Head Hotel for a sneaky drink. If they were doing that you have to wonder what they were getting up to with the bar maid.
All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable night out and was highly entertaining and informative. The Man in Black, as our host introduced himself, was brilliant at spinning a yarn and playing up the atmosphere. If you like slightly creepy and rather funny then I high recommend going on one of the walk. The Man in Black and his creepy crew can also do birthday parties but only if the ghosts are not on strike.
If you want to go on one of the walks, then just meet up outside of the Adam and Eve pub, Bishopsgate, Norwich at 7.30pm on Tuesday or Thursday night (they do a different walk on the different evenings) or check up www.ghostwalksnorwich.co.uk.
I loved every minute of the two hours and these a Halloween special coming up but apparently you need to book that one 'cause they've had to impose a number limit for health and safety reasons. That and the ghosts get shy if there are too many people there.
Tuesday 2 September 2014
Post Me a Time Turner Please
The title is a general cry for help right now because between my book, my script, my own artwork, a commission, work from the Norwich Writers' Circle (I'm the Membership Secretary) and the house work I am pretty much utterly swamped.
Let's put it this way, yesterday I had twenty five jobs on my list of jobs to do, today I have twenty two and counting. It seems as fast as I chop one of them off the list another one jumps up and attaches itself to my butt. I'm up to my aft in alligators and I can't find the plug to drain the swamp.
So saying, most of the big jobs are being to approach being complete. The script for 'Sleeping Beauty: A Pantomime' is over half way done so I'm hoping to post that up on RPGnow for sale by the end of the month. It will be interesting to see how well it does as I've already had two amateur dramatic groups voice interest in it.
The front cover of my book is also making head way. I've found a design that I much prefer. Writers' Tip: Keep the front cover of your book simple. Have a look at the recent editions of the 'Farseer Trilogies' by Robin Hobb, 'Harry Potter' by J. K. Rowling and the 'Artemis Fowl' series by Eoin Colfer. All of them hit the best seller charts and though the contents of the books are what gains you fans, it is the front cover that gets the books off the shelves in the first place.
I know that the new author wants recognition for their years of hard work crafting, researching, rewriting and generally sweating and bleeding over their manuscript (hello I am one remember) but I'm sorry to say that it is the book cover that turns your manuscript into a book and it is the book that sales.
That is still pretty cold comfort when you are rushing around disappearing up your own backside, wishing that you could be in two places at once (hence the plead for a time turner) and still trying to improve the world just a little bit. Homo autistic I maybe, I still care about the fact that there are people in Africa starving because it gets £30 billion in aid and looses £129 billion to exploitation, most through so-called tax havens. (Check out World Development Movement for details.)
And politicians will still try and tell you that slavery was abolished centuries ago.
Let's put it this way, yesterday I had twenty five jobs on my list of jobs to do, today I have twenty two and counting. It seems as fast as I chop one of them off the list another one jumps up and attaches itself to my butt. I'm up to my aft in alligators and I can't find the plug to drain the swamp.
So saying, most of the big jobs are being to approach being complete. The script for 'Sleeping Beauty: A Pantomime' is over half way done so I'm hoping to post that up on RPGnow for sale by the end of the month. It will be interesting to see how well it does as I've already had two amateur dramatic groups voice interest in it.
The front cover of my book is also making head way. I've found a design that I much prefer. Writers' Tip: Keep the front cover of your book simple. Have a look at the recent editions of the 'Farseer Trilogies' by Robin Hobb, 'Harry Potter' by J. K. Rowling and the 'Artemis Fowl' series by Eoin Colfer. All of them hit the best seller charts and though the contents of the books are what gains you fans, it is the front cover that gets the books off the shelves in the first place.
I know that the new author wants recognition for their years of hard work crafting, researching, rewriting and generally sweating and bleeding over their manuscript (hello I am one remember) but I'm sorry to say that it is the book cover that turns your manuscript into a book and it is the book that sales.
That is still pretty cold comfort when you are rushing around disappearing up your own backside, wishing that you could be in two places at once (hence the plead for a time turner) and still trying to improve the world just a little bit. Homo autistic I maybe, I still care about the fact that there are people in Africa starving because it gets £30 billion in aid and looses £129 billion to exploitation, most through so-called tax havens. (Check out World Development Movement for details.)
And politicians will still try and tell you that slavery was abolished centuries ago.
Saturday 23 August 2014
Autistic and I Have Friends
For my regular followers, the cover art work for my book is progressing, in as much as I've done one design and rejected it so my book is inching towards publication.
For those of you who are just dropping in, the title of this post was done in response to something that was told to my friend Michelle.
Michelle, through an unfortunate series of events, has wound up spending her teenage years in care. More specifically in placements that have not encouraged her to make friends with people. Let's put it this way, in one placement one of the other girls used to go round pouring water into the sockets in an effort to start a fire and burn down the building. Not exactly the sort of people you want to be hanging round with.
Michelle, thankfully went to the same church as me and we got talking one day. One thing led to another and by the time she was posted back to Yorkshire we were firm friends.
However, at the placement where there was the little fire starter, Michelle was being picked on by the staff because she 'didn't have any friends'. When she turned round and said that she had me, she was informed by a member of staff that "she can't be your friend, she's Autistic and they don't know how to be friends."
I've had a lot of accusations thrown at me over the years because I'm Autistic and I have to say that this one has to be one of the most insulting that I have ever heard!
Yeah, so we have to be taught empathy and compassion. So what? That just puts the responsibility on your shoulders to teach it to us, if you want us to be able to use it. Once we've learnt how to use compassion and empathy we can't stop. Once the ability is turned on, we can't turn it off so all we need is for someone, like my Mother, to put the time in to teach it to us.
We can be friends and we make for very loyal friends, probably because once we have found someone who can put up with our little querks then we stick to them like glue. So what if when one of our friends has a problem we don't just sit there shaking our heads and going 'oh what a shame' but get up and go out of our way to fix said problem. Doesn't that make us the better friend because we are willing to pour our time and effort in to fixing other people's problems before our own?
So what that we sometimes get confused and have to ask someone to explain it all to us? We are human, we make mistakes like homo sapient do, at least we tend to be more ready to admit that we've done a goof up. Doesn't the ability to say 'I was wrong' make a more forgivable friend?
So we seem to think sideways when compared to everyone else? Doesn't that make us the more interesting friend? The one that you can count on to bring something something new to the table? Something different?
Or is that the problem? Do people find different scary? Are we the big bad Bogey man? Are we the one where it's not what we've done, it's more the fact that we exist?
Well, I'm autistic and I have friends, even if with some of them I count them as my friends and they don't count me as theirs. I hope that I haven't picked up any of those in recent years, I don't think I have since I left High School.
For those of you who are just dropping in, the title of this post was done in response to something that was told to my friend Michelle.
Michelle, through an unfortunate series of events, has wound up spending her teenage years in care. More specifically in placements that have not encouraged her to make friends with people. Let's put it this way, in one placement one of the other girls used to go round pouring water into the sockets in an effort to start a fire and burn down the building. Not exactly the sort of people you want to be hanging round with.
Michelle, thankfully went to the same church as me and we got talking one day. One thing led to another and by the time she was posted back to Yorkshire we were firm friends.
However, at the placement where there was the little fire starter, Michelle was being picked on by the staff because she 'didn't have any friends'. When she turned round and said that she had me, she was informed by a member of staff that "she can't be your friend, she's Autistic and they don't know how to be friends."
I've had a lot of accusations thrown at me over the years because I'm Autistic and I have to say that this one has to be one of the most insulting that I have ever heard!
Yeah, so we have to be taught empathy and compassion. So what? That just puts the responsibility on your shoulders to teach it to us, if you want us to be able to use it. Once we've learnt how to use compassion and empathy we can't stop. Once the ability is turned on, we can't turn it off so all we need is for someone, like my Mother, to put the time in to teach it to us.
We can be friends and we make for very loyal friends, probably because once we have found someone who can put up with our little querks then we stick to them like glue. So what if when one of our friends has a problem we don't just sit there shaking our heads and going 'oh what a shame' but get up and go out of our way to fix said problem. Doesn't that make us the better friend because we are willing to pour our time and effort in to fixing other people's problems before our own?
So what that we sometimes get confused and have to ask someone to explain it all to us? We are human, we make mistakes like homo sapient do, at least we tend to be more ready to admit that we've done a goof up. Doesn't the ability to say 'I was wrong' make a more forgivable friend?
So we seem to think sideways when compared to everyone else? Doesn't that make us the more interesting friend? The one that you can count on to bring something something new to the table? Something different?
Or is that the problem? Do people find different scary? Are we the big bad Bogey man? Are we the one where it's not what we've done, it's more the fact that we exist?
Well, I'm autistic and I have friends, even if with some of them I count them as my friends and they don't count me as theirs. I hope that I haven't picked up any of those in recent years, I don't think I have since I left High School.
Tuesday 12 August 2014
Cover Artwork
Right, having managed to scrape together half an hour to sit down and compose a blog, I set out to do just that.
I'm in the process of discovering the joys and the exhaustion of being both a writer and an artist.
My first book is just about ready to publish and after much thought, much submissions and a lot of disappointment (would it hurt for these people to at least send you a rejection note), I've decided to go self published through the medium of RPG.NOW, a print on demand service that a friend of mine is already using, hence the recommendation.
Reasons for this:
1. To get published these days you have to have an agent.
2. Said agent has to be paid.
3. Said agent has no legal responsibility to push your book to the publishers and therefore can sit on your manuscript for years and be paid for the privilege.
4.Said agent will, when you get published, take 17% of your pay as their cut.
5. As a new, first time author you will be lucky to be given 2% of the profits as your royalties.
6.Therefore, if the publisher makes 1 pound profit from your book, you will be lucky to receive 2 pence and your agent will want 17% of that.
7. Publishers are only responsible for the printing and posting of your book to bookshops and the like. It is the authors responsibility to maintain their website, their fan base, twitter feed, blog, contacts with writers' circles, organise talks and book signs, convention visits and generally do everything to actually shift their books off the shelves.
With all of that I decided that I might as well do all that work (which I would be doing anyway) and receive 100% of the profits, particularly as half of everything I receive has to be put aside for the tax man anyway.
The reasons I'm using a print on demand service is because:
1. It is already on the Internet so I don't have to worry about trying to make the links into that market.
2. I won't have to store piles of books every where.
3. If Mother takes another bad turn and I have to revert to being her carer for three months I don't have to worry about my e-mail inbox filling up with orders and complaints for books that I haven't had time to view and therefore, haven't completed.
4. In short a print on demand service is like a publisher but a lot more approachable.
The only thing I have to make sure of is to employ a very good editor to make sure my book is up to scratch, which I have already done so the written part of my book is jut about ready for publishing. However, that engenders the downside of doing it myself, which is I need to have the cover artwork done.
See as I'm a artist as well as a writer, I can do the front cover myself but that does mean that my time is being gobbled up almost faster than I can credit, especially when I look at all the other stuff I have to squeeze into it.
As I mention to WillowRaven the other day, "As a writer and an artist, I don't sleep much."
I'm in the process of discovering the joys and the exhaustion of being both a writer and an artist.
My first book is just about ready to publish and after much thought, much submissions and a lot of disappointment (would it hurt for these people to at least send you a rejection note), I've decided to go self published through the medium of RPG.NOW, a print on demand service that a friend of mine is already using, hence the recommendation.
Reasons for this:
1. To get published these days you have to have an agent.
2. Said agent has to be paid.
3. Said agent has no legal responsibility to push your book to the publishers and therefore can sit on your manuscript for years and be paid for the privilege.
4.Said agent will, when you get published, take 17% of your pay as their cut.
5. As a new, first time author you will be lucky to be given 2% of the profits as your royalties.
6.Therefore, if the publisher makes 1 pound profit from your book, you will be lucky to receive 2 pence and your agent will want 17% of that.
7. Publishers are only responsible for the printing and posting of your book to bookshops and the like. It is the authors responsibility to maintain their website, their fan base, twitter feed, blog, contacts with writers' circles, organise talks and book signs, convention visits and generally do everything to actually shift their books off the shelves.
With all of that I decided that I might as well do all that work (which I would be doing anyway) and receive 100% of the profits, particularly as half of everything I receive has to be put aside for the tax man anyway.
The reasons I'm using a print on demand service is because:
1. It is already on the Internet so I don't have to worry about trying to make the links into that market.
2. I won't have to store piles of books every where.
3. If Mother takes another bad turn and I have to revert to being her carer for three months I don't have to worry about my e-mail inbox filling up with orders and complaints for books that I haven't had time to view and therefore, haven't completed.
4. In short a print on demand service is like a publisher but a lot more approachable.
The only thing I have to make sure of is to employ a very good editor to make sure my book is up to scratch, which I have already done so the written part of my book is jut about ready for publishing. However, that engenders the downside of doing it myself, which is I need to have the cover artwork done.
See as I'm a artist as well as a writer, I can do the front cover myself but that does mean that my time is being gobbled up almost faster than I can credit, especially when I look at all the other stuff I have to squeeze into it.
As I mention to WillowRaven the other day, "As a writer and an artist, I don't sleep much."
Thursday 7 August 2014
Twitter Success
A little good news for me and rather a leap forward.
Don't ask me why but if I'm using my laptop on WiFi connection she will not link straight to the twitter website, which is more than a little annoying as it means I've become months behind in my posting.
However, I've just discovered to today that I can access my twitter account through all the e-mails they have been sending me.
Not only has this meant that I've been able to finally catch up with my long neglected twitter posts (granted only through retweets but some is better than none) I've also managed something I've never done before.
I started following WillowRaven, a fellow artist that specialises in book cover illustration, for which she sent me a thank you note over twitter and asked me what I was working on at the moment. I think my reply of 'Four books, twelve paints, a script and trying to busk my work. As an artist & a writer I don't sleep much' must have impressed her as I pretty much instantly had back 'I know the feeling'.
I've managed to start a thread on twitter!
O.K. it doesn't sound like much if you are a techno-genius like some of my friends but I, however, am not. In fact you could say that I am a techno-idiot so for me it is a big deal that I've managed to finally pull this off. Especially as I had no idea what was really meant by 'threading' on Twitter. It's been one of those things where I've recognised it when I've seen it and done it.
Also, as a heads up, I've spoken with an art busker in Norwich and it appears that even the cities have no set authority for those of us who are just busking our stuff. So the general consensus of opinion seems to be as long as we keep ourselves quiet and don't make trouble for anyone then you can just get on and do it, so expect to see me in Dereham sometime soon.
Don't ask me why but if I'm using my laptop on WiFi connection she will not link straight to the twitter website, which is more than a little annoying as it means I've become months behind in my posting.
However, I've just discovered to today that I can access my twitter account through all the e-mails they have been sending me.
Not only has this meant that I've been able to finally catch up with my long neglected twitter posts (granted only through retweets but some is better than none) I've also managed something I've never done before.
I started following WillowRaven, a fellow artist that specialises in book cover illustration, for which she sent me a thank you note over twitter and asked me what I was working on at the moment. I think my reply of 'Four books, twelve paints, a script and trying to busk my work. As an artist & a writer I don't sleep much' must have impressed her as I pretty much instantly had back 'I know the feeling'.
I've managed to start a thread on twitter!
O.K. it doesn't sound like much if you are a techno-genius like some of my friends but I, however, am not. In fact you could say that I am a techno-idiot so for me it is a big deal that I've managed to finally pull this off. Especially as I had no idea what was really meant by 'threading' on Twitter. It's been one of those things where I've recognised it when I've seen it and done it.
Also, as a heads up, I've spoken with an art busker in Norwich and it appears that even the cities have no set authority for those of us who are just busking our stuff. So the general consensus of opinion seems to be as long as we keep ourselves quiet and don't make trouble for anyone then you can just get on and do it, so expect to see me in Dereham sometime soon.
Thursday 24 July 2014
Legal Round About
Alright, having a look at my views list, I'll admit that I've probably over done it on the advocating of petitions and protests but I believe that this stuff is important. This is the news that doesn't get into the paper because the big companies don't want it to be. I might be an Autistic but I still live in this world and I care about it and I care about the people in it even if they are mostly homo sapients rather than homo autistics. Despite the fact that a lot of homo sapients would rather that I didn't exist, I remember that homo sapients are my parent race and I will respect them as such, even if some of their actions turn my stomach and get my goat. It's why I take the stand that I do. I can see the best that homo sapients could be and I want to help them reach it. If that makes me a snob as well as an autistic then so blasted be it. Besides we need to save this world, it's the only one with chocolate.
Still to give all my loyal readers a break from the advocating I will spilling the beans on my recent efforts to start up my career and get it off the ground.
About a week and a half ago I had to go into Dereham to visit the bank and while I was wanting for the bus home it crossed my mind that instead of making another trip into Dereham I could take care of an idea that I'd had a while ago. So I walked over to the citizens advice bureau and asked them 'how do I go about getting a busking license?' The immediate response was 'well, I've never been asked that before'. Well after trawling through the Internet a while and asking around, I was told to go to Dereham Town Council. Seeing as it was in the same building as the citizens advice bureau I nipped across the corridor and asked them.
They were not so helpful, in fact they were rather grumpy, saying that the information on the Breckland site was wrong and they didn't know why it was on there so I had to go to Breckland. Seeing as they have Headquarters in Dereham I walked over there and asked the same question.
They were brilliantly helpful, giving a couple of options, that I hadn't thought about. However, there is no way I can afford the four hundred and eight pounds (£408.00) fee for a street traders license so I'm going with just plain busking. However, for that you don't need a license, you just need the permission of the parish or town council. So back to Dereham Town Council I went. As a footnote, Breckland said that they won't mind me busking in the Nelson Place Precinct of Dereham.
When I got back to Dereham Town Council they were a little less grumpy and told me that it depended on where I wanted to busk in Nelson Place Precinct because the buildings are owned by a consortium of five charities that have they administration handled by Brownings of Norwich but the surface of the Precinct is the property of Norwich County Council. They gave me the numbers for both of them and then I came home 'cause I'd been three hours in Dereham instead of just one.
The next morning I phone Brownings of Norwich but the person I need to speak to wasn't going to be there until after half past eleven. So I sat around twiddling my thumbs until nearly twelve when the phone rang. However, the person at the other end just had time to ask my name before the line cut off. Believing it had to be the guy from Brownings of Norwich I phoned them back. It wasn't them but they dealt with the enquiry but dig this, apparently they actually only own one of the buildings and it isn't their responsibility to give me permission either. However, they won't have any objection to me busking my art work there as long as I don't block any door ways. They also told me that the Precinct has been adopted by the Highways Department of Norwich County Council so I phoned them next.
They have no interest in me as long as I don't interfere with the paving stones. They can't give me permission but they don't mind if I busk there as long as I don't damage the pavement. They also directed me back to, you guessed it, Dereham Town Council.
And guess what, they said that it's not their responsibility to give me permission but, dig this, neither will they say they don't mind because they don't want to give me wrong information and have me get into trouble.
So I have three authorities that say it's not their responsibility to give me permission but also it's O.K. by them and one that says that it's not their responsibility but won't say they don't mind either.
Great, anybody know where I'm meant to go next?
Still to give all my loyal readers a break from the advocating I will spilling the beans on my recent efforts to start up my career and get it off the ground.
About a week and a half ago I had to go into Dereham to visit the bank and while I was wanting for the bus home it crossed my mind that instead of making another trip into Dereham I could take care of an idea that I'd had a while ago. So I walked over to the citizens advice bureau and asked them 'how do I go about getting a busking license?' The immediate response was 'well, I've never been asked that before'. Well after trawling through the Internet a while and asking around, I was told to go to Dereham Town Council. Seeing as it was in the same building as the citizens advice bureau I nipped across the corridor and asked them.
They were not so helpful, in fact they were rather grumpy, saying that the information on the Breckland site was wrong and they didn't know why it was on there so I had to go to Breckland. Seeing as they have Headquarters in Dereham I walked over there and asked the same question.
They were brilliantly helpful, giving a couple of options, that I hadn't thought about. However, there is no way I can afford the four hundred and eight pounds (£408.00) fee for a street traders license so I'm going with just plain busking. However, for that you don't need a license, you just need the permission of the parish or town council. So back to Dereham Town Council I went. As a footnote, Breckland said that they won't mind me busking in the Nelson Place Precinct of Dereham.
When I got back to Dereham Town Council they were a little less grumpy and told me that it depended on where I wanted to busk in Nelson Place Precinct because the buildings are owned by a consortium of five charities that have they administration handled by Brownings of Norwich but the surface of the Precinct is the property of Norwich County Council. They gave me the numbers for both of them and then I came home 'cause I'd been three hours in Dereham instead of just one.
The next morning I phone Brownings of Norwich but the person I need to speak to wasn't going to be there until after half past eleven. So I sat around twiddling my thumbs until nearly twelve when the phone rang. However, the person at the other end just had time to ask my name before the line cut off. Believing it had to be the guy from Brownings of Norwich I phoned them back. It wasn't them but they dealt with the enquiry but dig this, apparently they actually only own one of the buildings and it isn't their responsibility to give me permission either. However, they won't have any objection to me busking my art work there as long as I don't block any door ways. They also told me that the Precinct has been adopted by the Highways Department of Norwich County Council so I phoned them next.
They have no interest in me as long as I don't interfere with the paving stones. They can't give me permission but they don't mind if I busk there as long as I don't damage the pavement. They also directed me back to, you guessed it, Dereham Town Council.
And guess what, they said that it's not their responsibility to give me permission but, dig this, neither will they say they don't mind because they don't want to give me wrong information and have me get into trouble.
So I have three authorities that say it's not their responsibility to give me permission but also it's O.K. by them and one that says that it's not their responsibility but won't say they don't mind either.
Great, anybody know where I'm meant to go next?
Monday 7 July 2014
TTIP - Secret Courts
Alright, I know it always seems that I'm banging on about some appeal or petition all the time but that is because, as far as I'm concerned, this is the stuff that should be in the news papers but isn't, probably because the big businesses pulling this crap don't want it in the newspapers.
For instance, a trade deal between the EU and US, known as TTIP (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), threatens to undermine our basic democratic rights and puts our public services at risk but despite the severity of the threat, TTIP is facing a media blackout, with the newspapers refusing to publish news about it. I wonder who told them not to.
Not only that but last month 250 people, including MPs and trade union leaders, were arrested in Brussels while peacefully protesting against TTIP. Now did that make it into the newspapers, no of course not, the businesses don't want us to know about it.
TTIP is being negotiated in secret – clearly, policy makers do not want people to know about it and if we want to beat this undemocratic deal, we need to make sure people know what's going on behind closed doors. Makes me feel like I'm living in 1930's Germany and this time it is the big business men who are acting like Hitler.
If that gets up your nose then here is the link to help out.
Take action and get TTIP into the papers.
One of the reasons the corporations don't want people knowing about TTIP is because it is set to include a system of offshore ‘corporate courts’ that will allow companies to sue governments for protecting their people and environment. They are dressing this up as "investor state dispute settlements" or “Investor-State Arbitration Settlement" (ISDS) but really all it means is that big businesses will be able to sue the governments for trying to curb their powers.
ISDS would set up a system of tribunals where corporations could take our governments to court if they didn’t like a particular law that they thought harmed their business.
If TTIP is passed a future UK government could be faced with huge law suits if it wanted to remove companies from the NHS, freeze energy prices, restore public control to the railways, outlaw fracking, or raise the minimum wage. That is what has happened where similar ‘corporate courts’ already in existence in other countries.
Recently Germany was sued for placing a moratorium on nuclear power by a Swedish energy giant, Argentina has been sued for freezing energy bills, Slovakia for renationalising its health insurance system, and Egypt for raising the minimum wage. Also Ecuador is being sued by Chevron because the country is requiring it to clean up a huge toxic oil spill in the heart of the Ecuadorian rainforest and Australia is being sued by Phillip Morris because it wants to take action to curb teenage smoking.
This is what ISDS would mean for Europe -- more corporate lawsuits against the things we care about.
Thanks to public pressure the EU Commission has opened up a public consultation on the part of TTIP allowing ‘corporate courts’. This gives us a unique opportunity to tell the EU we want democracy, not a corporate power grab. But guess what, they are only keeping the consultation open for a short period of time so it seems to me that they don't want too many people knowing about it.
The SumofUs community has built a tool to make submitting any comments you have about this destruction of our democracy easy - it doesn't take three minutes to use and it could be the best chance to tell both the EU and the US what we think about one of the most dangerous parts of the TTIP trade deal.
The EU’s consultation is a great first step - and it shows that pressure to drop the deal from all over the EU is starting to work. Now the EU have said they’ll listen, we need to make sure they hear from us. We know the public is against these rules -- but the EU needs to hear that loud and clear.
Making a comment is easy with this new tool, and it's our best chance of stopping these secret corporate courts.
See the link above if you want to tell the US to butt off. Seems weird to be having to do this to a county that has spent over a decade trying to convince the world that it's the good guy.
For instance, a trade deal between the EU and US, known as TTIP (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), threatens to undermine our basic democratic rights and puts our public services at risk but despite the severity of the threat, TTIP is facing a media blackout, with the newspapers refusing to publish news about it. I wonder who told them not to.
Not only that but last month 250 people, including MPs and trade union leaders, were arrested in Brussels while peacefully protesting against TTIP. Now did that make it into the newspapers, no of course not, the businesses don't want us to know about it.
TTIP is being negotiated in secret – clearly, policy makers do not want people to know about it and if we want to beat this undemocratic deal, we need to make sure people know what's going on behind closed doors. Makes me feel like I'm living in 1930's Germany and this time it is the big business men who are acting like Hitler.
If that gets up your nose then here is the link to help out.
Take action and get TTIP into the papers.
One of the reasons the corporations don't want people knowing about TTIP is because it is set to include a system of offshore ‘corporate courts’ that will allow companies to sue governments for protecting their people and environment. They are dressing this up as "investor state dispute settlements" or “Investor-State Arbitration Settlement" (ISDS) but really all it means is that big businesses will be able to sue the governments for trying to curb their powers.
ISDS would set up a system of tribunals where corporations could take our governments to court if they didn’t like a particular law that they thought harmed their business.
If TTIP is passed a future UK government could be faced with huge law suits if it wanted to remove companies from the NHS, freeze energy prices, restore public control to the railways, outlaw fracking, or raise the minimum wage. That is what has happened where similar ‘corporate courts’ already in existence in other countries.
Recently Germany was sued for placing a moratorium on nuclear power by a Swedish energy giant, Argentina has been sued for freezing energy bills, Slovakia for renationalising its health insurance system, and Egypt for raising the minimum wage. Also Ecuador is being sued by Chevron because the country is requiring it to clean up a huge toxic oil spill in the heart of the Ecuadorian rainforest and Australia is being sued by Phillip Morris because it wants to take action to curb teenage smoking.
This is what ISDS would mean for Europe -- more corporate lawsuits against the things we care about.
Thanks to public pressure the EU Commission has opened up a public consultation on the part of TTIP allowing ‘corporate courts’. This gives us a unique opportunity to tell the EU we want democracy, not a corporate power grab. But guess what, they are only keeping the consultation open for a short period of time so it seems to me that they don't want too many people knowing about it.
The SumofUs community has built a tool to make submitting any comments you have about this destruction of our democracy easy - it doesn't take three minutes to use and it could be the best chance to tell both the EU and the US what we think about one of the most dangerous parts of the TTIP trade deal.
The EU’s consultation is a great first step - and it shows that pressure to drop the deal from all over the EU is starting to work. Now the EU have said they’ll listen, we need to make sure they hear from us. We know the public is against these rules -- but the EU needs to hear that loud and clear.
Making a comment is easy with this new tool, and it's our best chance of stopping these secret corporate courts.
See the link above if you want to tell the US to butt off. Seems weird to be having to do this to a county that has spent over a decade trying to convince the world that it's the good guy.
Friday 27 June 2014
Slavery in Seafood
“They kept me chained up, they didn’t care about me or give me any food...They sold us like animals, but we are not animals - we are human beings.”
This heart-wrenching quote is from a man sold from ship to ship in Thailand, caught in the trap of slavery and forced to work on a boat that supplies feed to the prawns we buy at the grocery store.
The three largest grocers in the world -- Walmart, Carrefour, and Costco -- were named specifically in a new investigation by the Guardian for selling prawns and shrimp whose production relies upon slave labour. One week later, those companies are still refusing to take two simple steps to rout out slavery from their supply chains -- and that’s where we come in.
Human rights activists are demanding Walmart, Carrefour and Costco join Project Issara, a Thailand-based initiative to end modern slavery, as well as institute a zero tolerance policy on slavery based on conditions on the ground. Before the spotlight of the Guardian expose fades, it's up to the free people of the world to raise their voices to speak out against slavery in the prawn industry.
The world’s largest prawn and shrimp farmer, Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods, is the prime supply offender, buying from suppliers that work directly or indirectly with slave-manned fishing boats. Worse still, the problem isn’t limited to CP Foods. Indeed, human rights advocates have been raising alarms about conditions in the Thai seafood industry for years.
Project Issara was founded by Anti-Slavery International to eliminate slavery within export-oriented industries in Thailand. The project seeks to push brands that may be buying slavery-made products to use their brand power to eliminate slavery within global supply chains.
Testimony from escapees reveals the gravity of this exploitation. One trafficking victim said he had seen as many as 20 fellow slaves killed in front of him. “If you buy prawns or shrimp from Thailand, you will be buying the product of slave labour,” said Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International.
SumOfUs have targeted Walmart in the past over its involvement in Thai slavery in fishing. It cut ties with the supplier in question -- but clearly no policies were in place to prevent this from happening again. This is why signing up to Project Issara and devising policies to prevent this from happening again are essential if meaningful change is ever going to be made.
Walmart customers exist all around the world -- it is a global company that owns Woolco stores in Canada, Walmex in Mexico, Bompreço in Brazil and Asda in the UK. Costco is planning a big expansion into Australia and Carrefour has stores in 34 countries. The companies are hoping their customers across the globe won't make the connection between CP Foods and the prawns we buy at the grocery store. Let's stand up together and show them how wrong they are. If you want to help, here's the link to:
Sign the petition to tell Costco, Walmart and Carrefour to take concrete actions to end slavery in their supply chains.
This heart-wrenching quote is from a man sold from ship to ship in Thailand, caught in the trap of slavery and forced to work on a boat that supplies feed to the prawns we buy at the grocery store.
The three largest grocers in the world -- Walmart, Carrefour, and Costco -- were named specifically in a new investigation by the Guardian for selling prawns and shrimp whose production relies upon slave labour. One week later, those companies are still refusing to take two simple steps to rout out slavery from their supply chains -- and that’s where we come in.
Human rights activists are demanding Walmart, Carrefour and Costco join Project Issara, a Thailand-based initiative to end modern slavery, as well as institute a zero tolerance policy on slavery based on conditions on the ground. Before the spotlight of the Guardian expose fades, it's up to the free people of the world to raise their voices to speak out against slavery in the prawn industry.
The world’s largest prawn and shrimp farmer, Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods, is the prime supply offender, buying from suppliers that work directly or indirectly with slave-manned fishing boats. Worse still, the problem isn’t limited to CP Foods. Indeed, human rights advocates have been raising alarms about conditions in the Thai seafood industry for years.
Project Issara was founded by Anti-Slavery International to eliminate slavery within export-oriented industries in Thailand. The project seeks to push brands that may be buying slavery-made products to use their brand power to eliminate slavery within global supply chains.
Testimony from escapees reveals the gravity of this exploitation. One trafficking victim said he had seen as many as 20 fellow slaves killed in front of him. “If you buy prawns or shrimp from Thailand, you will be buying the product of slave labour,” said Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International.
SumOfUs have targeted Walmart in the past over its involvement in Thai slavery in fishing. It cut ties with the supplier in question -- but clearly no policies were in place to prevent this from happening again. This is why signing up to Project Issara and devising policies to prevent this from happening again are essential if meaningful change is ever going to be made.
Walmart customers exist all around the world -- it is a global company that owns Woolco stores in Canada, Walmex in Mexico, Bompreço in Brazil and Asda in the UK. Costco is planning a big expansion into Australia and Carrefour has stores in 34 countries. The companies are hoping their customers across the globe won't make the connection between CP Foods and the prawns we buy at the grocery store. Let's stand up together and show them how wrong they are. If you want to help, here's the link to:
Sign the petition to tell Costco, Walmart and Carrefour to take concrete actions to end slavery in their supply chains.
Wednesday 18 June 2014
Tony the Tiger - Truck Stop Attraction
For more than ten years, a tiger named Tony has been kept in a tiny cage of only 3,200 square-foot at a truck stop in Louisiana. Even though a law passed in 2006 prohibits the ownership of tigers in Louisiana, Tony's captor, Michael Sandlin, has continued to imprison him. And now, lawmakers in Louisiana are trying to pass a law that would make it legal to keep Tony imprisoned at the truck stop.
A truck stop is no place to keep a wild creature like Tony. Every day, diesel fumes from the enormous trucks passing through hurt Tony's eyes and lungs; the loud honking and other highway noises could be damaging his sensitive ears. Plus, Tony's bare cage has few toys for him to play with. Even though tigers love swimming, he doesn't have a pool to give him any relief from the blazing hot Louisiana sun.
And that's not counting the truck stop visitors who torment Tony, reducing this gorgeous, graceful tiger into a cowering, confused animal.
A few years ago, the Animal Legal Defence Fund won a case that would forbid Sandlin from renewing his permit to keep Tony. Yet he has refused to set him free -- and now the state Senate has passed a bill that would grant him a one-person exception to the law forbidding tiger ownership. The bill (S.B. 250) that would allow Michael Sandlin, the owner of the truck stop, to keep Tony, in defiance of Louisiana's own laws. Legislation passed in 2006 banned ownership of tigers in Louisiana but anyone who had owned a tiger prior to 2006 was grandfathered in. I'd call this a betrayal of the law abiding citizens of Louisiana.
That bill is currently sitting on Governor Bobby Jindal's desk for him to sign. If we don't stand up for Tony right now, he could be trapped in that cage forever. If you agree that a law is no law if you can buy exception from it then here's a link to the petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/589/086/506/last-chance-to-help-tony-the-tiger/
A truck stop is no place to keep a wild creature like Tony. Every day, diesel fumes from the enormous trucks passing through hurt Tony's eyes and lungs; the loud honking and other highway noises could be damaging his sensitive ears. Plus, Tony's bare cage has few toys for him to play with. Even though tigers love swimming, he doesn't have a pool to give him any relief from the blazing hot Louisiana sun.
And that's not counting the truck stop visitors who torment Tony, reducing this gorgeous, graceful tiger into a cowering, confused animal.
A few years ago, the Animal Legal Defence Fund won a case that would forbid Sandlin from renewing his permit to keep Tony. Yet he has refused to set him free -- and now the state Senate has passed a bill that would grant him a one-person exception to the law forbidding tiger ownership. The bill (S.B. 250) that would allow Michael Sandlin, the owner of the truck stop, to keep Tony, in defiance of Louisiana's own laws. Legislation passed in 2006 banned ownership of tigers in Louisiana but anyone who had owned a tiger prior to 2006 was grandfathered in. I'd call this a betrayal of the law abiding citizens of Louisiana.
That bill is currently sitting on Governor Bobby Jindal's desk for him to sign. If we don't stand up for Tony right now, he could be trapped in that cage forever. If you agree that a law is no law if you can buy exception from it then here's a link to the petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/589/086/506/last-chance-to-help-tony-the-tiger/
Friday 13 June 2014
Vodafone and the Tax Dodging Scam
Vodafone has not paid a single penny in taxes since 2011, despite making a post-tax profit of £59.4 billion last year. Vodafone recorded this huge profit because it funnelled its revenues to Luxembourg -- despite having virtually no presence in the country.
While Vodafone is happy to take money from the pockets of people in the UK, it doesn't want to give anything back to the communities that keep it in business. Vodafone openly admits on its own website that it actively avoids paying tax so it can line the pockets of its shareholders. So I guess that it should be given points for honesty, even if it is being honest about being dishonest. Hang on isn't that a contradiction in terms? Rather like the oxymoron 'an honest politician'?
In India too, Vodafone have sought to avoid a further £1.6bn tax bill. However, the Indian authorities, unlike the British, have successfully pursued Vodafone for the money, forcing it to pay up.
While Vodafone is happy to take money from the pockets of people in the UK, it doesn't want to give anything back to the communities that keep it in business. Vodafone openly admits on its own website that it actively avoids paying tax so it can line the pockets of its shareholders. So I guess that it should be given points for honesty, even if it is being honest about being dishonest. Hang on isn't that a contradiction in terms? Rather like the oxymoron 'an honest politician'?
In India too, Vodafone have sought to avoid a further £1.6bn tax bill. However, the Indian authorities, unlike the British, have successfully pursued Vodafone for the money, forcing it to pay up.
Companies like Vodafone are crippling the UK’s social housing sector. Without corporations paying taxes, the government cannot afford to build much needed social housing. The amount of tax Vodafone owes the British government could pay for thousands of new homes. Not to mention shoring up the failing NHS.
Vodafone’s AGM is coming up in six weeks. It's time to show Vodafone that customers will no longer stand for the injustices that let multi-billion pound companies get away with anything, while ordinary people are left to pick up the pieces of a destroyed housing market. Here's the link if you want to add your voice to the chorus of protest.
Vodafone: It’s time to pay your fair share. Stop avoiding taxes by moving your operations to tax haven Luxembourg.
Vodafone: It’s time to pay your fair share. Stop avoiding taxes by moving your operations to tax haven Luxembourg.
The Nike Nine
Guess what? Turns out that there is yet another big business with dirty little skeletons in the closet.
Nike says it respects its employees' rights to join a union 'without harassment, interference or retaliation.' But it fired nine workers in Indonesia for doing exactly that.
The 'Nike Nine' formed a union at Nike's Chang Shin shoe factory to negotiate for better wages, better health insurance and the payment of promised bonuses. First management ignored their demands. Then when demonstrations began, the bosses started to intimidate them. Ultimately, they were all fired, and the police were called on the group's leader, Ato.
It's ridiculous for Nike to allow its factories to crush workers' demands for decent pay and conditions. The global sportswear giant made $25.3 billion in revenue last year. It can afford to pay its employees a living wage, even if it has the decency to pay it's taxes.
After they were fired, Ato and the other eight workers set up camp outside the Chang Shin factory gates. They were soon joined by other union members for a peaceful solidarity demonstration. This was met by a heavy and intimidating security presence, including police, Indonesian military, factory security and hired thugs.
This is blatant union-busting. Nike claims it is building a 'more empowered and equitable supply chain' but the reality for its workers on the ground is disempowerment, fear and intimidation.
It's vital that we stand up for the Nike Nine, to show this hypocritical company that the world is watching, and it can no longer build its empire on exploitation.
This sort of behaviour belongs in the history books of the eighteen hundreds (1800), when the Tolpuddle Martyrs were transported to Australia for daring to form a trade union. If you want to you can use the link below to put this over sized business back in its place. In the mean time, I'm not buying anything from Nike.
Tell Nike: reinstate the 'Nike Nine' with full back pay, and clean up your supply chain so that joining a union is genuinely respected.
Nike says it respects its employees' rights to join a union 'without harassment, interference or retaliation.' But it fired nine workers in Indonesia for doing exactly that.
The 'Nike Nine' formed a union at Nike's Chang Shin shoe factory to negotiate for better wages, better health insurance and the payment of promised bonuses. First management ignored their demands. Then when demonstrations began, the bosses started to intimidate them. Ultimately, they were all fired, and the police were called on the group's leader, Ato.
It's ridiculous for Nike to allow its factories to crush workers' demands for decent pay and conditions. The global sportswear giant made $25.3 billion in revenue last year. It can afford to pay its employees a living wage, even if it has the decency to pay it's taxes.
After they were fired, Ato and the other eight workers set up camp outside the Chang Shin factory gates. They were soon joined by other union members for a peaceful solidarity demonstration. This was met by a heavy and intimidating security presence, including police, Indonesian military, factory security and hired thugs.
This is blatant union-busting. Nike claims it is building a 'more empowered and equitable supply chain' but the reality for its workers on the ground is disempowerment, fear and intimidation.
It's vital that we stand up for the Nike Nine, to show this hypocritical company that the world is watching, and it can no longer build its empire on exploitation.
This sort of behaviour belongs in the history books of the eighteen hundreds (1800), when the Tolpuddle Martyrs were transported to Australia for daring to form a trade union. If you want to you can use the link below to put this over sized business back in its place. In the mean time, I'm not buying anything from Nike.
Tell Nike: reinstate the 'Nike Nine' with full back pay, and clean up your supply chain so that joining a union is genuinely respected.
Friday 6 June 2014
Least We Forget
June 6th 1944. The day the world changed. The day the slaughter of thousands began to end. The day that the madness of one man began to crumble out from underneath him and his.
Much has been said about the Second World War and the Holocaust, the truth remains - it was a blood bath. The D-Day landings embodied six years of struggle in one day when the water turned pink with blood.
Can the mind comprehend the silhouettes of nine hundred bodies laying on the sand? Can the mind comprehend the attempted genocide of more than entire people?
What is sad is that the blood still flows.
We have had the Korean War, Vietnam, Bosnia, Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq (twice), Africa and now Ukraine.
Can we honesty say that the Second World War ever stopped? When all soldiers still die on beaches and beach heads? When they lie bleeding on deserts and dust fields? When the bombs and the bullets still rip the life from soldier and civilian alike?
In two thousand years can we say that mankind has come any where, when all that changed is that we have perfected our methods of killing to the point where we can wipe out all life on the planet with the push of a button?
Some how I can't say that we have.
In Memorium - least we forget.
Much has been said about the Second World War and the Holocaust, the truth remains - it was a blood bath. The D-Day landings embodied six years of struggle in one day when the water turned pink with blood.
Can the mind comprehend the silhouettes of nine hundred bodies laying on the sand? Can the mind comprehend the attempted genocide of more than entire people?
What is sad is that the blood still flows.
We have had the Korean War, Vietnam, Bosnia, Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq (twice), Africa and now Ukraine.
Can we honesty say that the Second World War ever stopped? When all soldiers still die on beaches and beach heads? When they lie bleeding on deserts and dust fields? When the bombs and the bullets still rip the life from soldier and civilian alike?
In two thousand years can we say that mankind has come any where, when all that changed is that we have perfected our methods of killing to the point where we can wipe out all life on the planet with the push of a button?
Some how I can't say that we have.
In Memorium - least we forget.
Thursday 22 May 2014
Natural England Unnatural Lack of Care
It appears that once again, we are ruled by people who either don't care, don't do their homework or just plain can't be bothered to think about what they are saying.
As reported in the Guardian:
"It appears that the country's 6.7m pairs of robins are no longer the feathered friends of yesteryear. A consultation by Natural England, the body that advises the government on the natural environment, has made the case for allowing people to destroy the bird's nests and remove their eggs, amid growing concerns that they threaten health and safety. Natural England is also looking at similar measures to permit 'taking, damaging and destroying of nests and eggs' for pied wagtails and starlings."
There have never been any reports of robins, pied wagtails or starlings spreading disease so how can they be a threat to 'health and safety'? Answer - they have a habit of building their nests in ventilation flues.
However, the proposed measures do nothing to specify that the only nests to be removed are those built in ventilation flues, no, far from it. Instead the proposed measures are blanket permission to remove and destroy the nests of these birds so there is no safety measure to stop people, who have no idea which nest belongs to which bird, from yanking said nests from hedgerows and trees and stamping on them. Egg collecting was banned to prevent the sort of destruction that these so called measures will restart, especially as starlings are now an endangered species.
Also there are cages that can be easily fitted to the top of ventilation flues that prevent such birds from nesting in them. They look like wire globes so they don't restrict the ventilation flue but their shape makes it impractical for birds to nest there and as far as I know, they are cheap.
If you want to join the petition against these 'measures', check out the Care2Petition website.
As reported in the Guardian:
"It appears that the country's 6.7m pairs of robins are no longer the feathered friends of yesteryear. A consultation by Natural England, the body that advises the government on the natural environment, has made the case for allowing people to destroy the bird's nests and remove their eggs, amid growing concerns that they threaten health and safety. Natural England is also looking at similar measures to permit 'taking, damaging and destroying of nests and eggs' for pied wagtails and starlings."
There have never been any reports of robins, pied wagtails or starlings spreading disease so how can they be a threat to 'health and safety'? Answer - they have a habit of building their nests in ventilation flues.
However, the proposed measures do nothing to specify that the only nests to be removed are those built in ventilation flues, no, far from it. Instead the proposed measures are blanket permission to remove and destroy the nests of these birds so there is no safety measure to stop people, who have no idea which nest belongs to which bird, from yanking said nests from hedgerows and trees and stamping on them. Egg collecting was banned to prevent the sort of destruction that these so called measures will restart, especially as starlings are now an endangered species.
Also there are cages that can be easily fitted to the top of ventilation flues that prevent such birds from nesting in them. They look like wire globes so they don't restrict the ventilation flue but their shape makes it impractical for birds to nest there and as far as I know, they are cheap.
If you want to join the petition against these 'measures', check out the Care2Petition website.
Tuesday 13 May 2014
Robin Hood Tax
The banks crashed the economy and we’ve been paying for their mess ever since. There is a way to make bankers pay and benefit the poorest in the world: The Robin Hood Tax.
The tax is a small levy on financial transactions that could raise enough money to pay for vital public services, fight poverty and climate change across Europe and beyond --it could reverse the disastrous consequences of the financial crisis. And it is backed by credible economists.
The global finance lobby may have money but we have the most powerful tool of all: our collective voice. It’s time for bankers, hedge-funds and the financial system to take responsibility for the crisis.We can join in asking European leaders to pass the Robin Hood tax! One simple rule could make bankers pay their fair share and benefit some of the poorest in the world -- but the bankers are desperate to defeat it.
European leaders are about to meet in the next few days to decide whether or not to support the Robin Hood tax. But they are under pressure from the big banks and global finance to stop the tax - which is why demonstrating strong public support is so crucial. If we make our voices heard now, we can make sure our leaders do the right thing and pass the Robin Hood tax. If you want to add your support then here's the link:
Add your voice to ask European leaders pass the Robin Hood tax and make history!
The Robin Hood tax, or the Financial Transaction tax, is a 0.05% tax on financial transactions worth billions or more Euros. It could raise €37 billion to pay for public services and fight poverty and climate change.
The financial transaction tax works like this: governments would collect a tiny tax on financial transactions made by big banks on investments like buying and selling shares, bonds, the currency markets and on commodity trading.
But this isn’t only about money. If this law passes, banks and global finance would finally pay for the mess they put us in. It would correct the injustice where those who have paid for the consequences of the financial crisis are those who had nothing to do with it in the first place.
Our friends at the Robin Hood Tax campaign have been organising for this moment for years. The global finance lobby may have money but we have the most powerful tool of all: our collective voice.
It’s time for bankers, hedge funds and the financial system to take responsibility for the crisis.
The tax is a small levy on financial transactions that could raise enough money to pay for vital public services, fight poverty and climate change across Europe and beyond --it could reverse the disastrous consequences of the financial crisis. And it is backed by credible economists.
The global finance lobby may have money but we have the most powerful tool of all: our collective voice. It’s time for bankers, hedge-funds and the financial system to take responsibility for the crisis.We can join in asking European leaders to pass the Robin Hood tax! One simple rule could make bankers pay their fair share and benefit some of the poorest in the world -- but the bankers are desperate to defeat it.
European leaders are about to meet in the next few days to decide whether or not to support the Robin Hood tax. But they are under pressure from the big banks and global finance to stop the tax - which is why demonstrating strong public support is so crucial. If we make our voices heard now, we can make sure our leaders do the right thing and pass the Robin Hood tax. If you want to add your support then here's the link:
Add your voice to ask European leaders pass the Robin Hood tax and make history!
The Robin Hood tax, or the Financial Transaction tax, is a 0.05% tax on financial transactions worth billions or more Euros. It could raise €37 billion to pay for public services and fight poverty and climate change.
The financial transaction tax works like this: governments would collect a tiny tax on financial transactions made by big banks on investments like buying and selling shares, bonds, the currency markets and on commodity trading.
But this isn’t only about money. If this law passes, banks and global finance would finally pay for the mess they put us in. It would correct the injustice where those who have paid for the consequences of the financial crisis are those who had nothing to do with it in the first place.
Our friends at the Robin Hood Tax campaign have been organising for this moment for years. The global finance lobby may have money but we have the most powerful tool of all: our collective voice.
It’s time for bankers, hedge funds and the financial system to take responsibility for the crisis.
Over 200 Nigerian School Girls Kidnapped
It's been nearly three weeks since more than 200 Nigerian girls were kidnapped at dawn from their school. The government knows who took them, and where they probably are. Yet thus far, the government has barely made any moves to rescue them.
These girls are in grave danger. The Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has admitted to kidnapping them, and the group's leader has threatened to sell the girls into slavery or forced marriage, where they will almost certainly be raped or even killed.
"I will marry off a woman at the age of 12," the leader said on video. "I will marry off a girl at the age of nine."
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has been criminally slow to take action. Activists who demanded answers about the girls were detained by police, and the Nigerian First Lady even claimed the whole thing had been a conspiracy.
But other nations aren't innocent, either. While the Western media spent weeks puzzling over the whereabouts of a missing plane, the plight of these girls has been wilfully ignored.
These young women have done nothing wrong. Their only "mistake" was trying to go to school to further their education. If you want to take attention then here's the link:
Sign the petition asking the Nigerian, U.S. and other governments to step up efforts to find the girls and return them to their families, before it's too late.
These girls are in grave danger. The Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has admitted to kidnapping them, and the group's leader has threatened to sell the girls into slavery or forced marriage, where they will almost certainly be raped or even killed.
"I will marry off a woman at the age of 12," the leader said on video. "I will marry off a girl at the age of nine."
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has been criminally slow to take action. Activists who demanded answers about the girls were detained by police, and the Nigerian First Lady even claimed the whole thing had been a conspiracy.
But other nations aren't innocent, either. While the Western media spent weeks puzzling over the whereabouts of a missing plane, the plight of these girls has been wilfully ignored.
These young women have done nothing wrong. Their only "mistake" was trying to go to school to further their education. If you want to take attention then here's the link:
Sign the petition asking the Nigerian, U.S. and other governments to step up efforts to find the girls and return them to their families, before it's too late.
Bees Are Still Dying
Bees are dying off around the world in record numbers -- but big retailers are still selling the poison that is killing them.
Last season, 37 million bees (!) died on a Canadian farm. Scientists now know why – study after study shows that deadly pesticides called "neonics", manufactured by Bayer, are killing them.
Giant retail stores around the world like Home Depot, Bunnings, and Lowe's are still selling the deadly pesticides, but pressure is mounting. If one of the stores commits to stop carrying the pesticides, it could start a snowball effect that sees other stores drop the bee-killing chemicals too.
In just two weeks, SumOfUs' activist beekeepers will travel to deliver our petition on the corporations' home turf.
Earlier this year, SumOfUs supporters called on these retail giants to stop selling neonics, with thousands flooding their phone lines and speaking out in store. Now, we've learnt that North American based Home Depot could be on the cusp of doing the right thing and taking the bee-killing chemicals off its shelves. We need to send a message to tip Home Depot over the edge, and pressure other stores to act as well.
The dangerous chemical Bayer makes is a neonicotinoid, or neonic. Neonics are soaked into seeds, spreading through the plant and killing insects stopping by for a snack -- and sold in garden stores around the world, too. These pesticides can easily be replaced by other chemicals which don’t have such a devastating effect on the food chain. But companies like Bayer and Syngenta make a fortune from selling neonics -- so they’ll do everything they can to protect their profits.
History shows that consumer pressure on retailers works. Europe's partial ban on neonics was caused by a huge movement that pushed some of the biggest retailers in the EU to voluntarily remove neonics from their shelves. But there is not a moment to lose. If you want take action now to keep the pressure on the big retail giants so we can protect our bees and our planet's future, here's the link:
Call on retail giants to get rid of the bee-killing neonics.
SumOfUs has been right at the front of the global campaign to save our bees. We came together to fight Bayer at a huge independent garden store show in Chicago, where the German chemical maker was out in force. We're taking legal action in Europe to defend the EU's ban against Bayer, and just last week spoke out at Bayer's annual shareholder meeting in Germany. But to win this fight, we need to push the retailers to drop these bee-killing pesticides now.
Last season, 37 million bees (!) died on a Canadian farm. Scientists now know why – study after study shows that deadly pesticides called "neonics", manufactured by Bayer, are killing them.
Giant retail stores around the world like Home Depot, Bunnings, and Lowe's are still selling the deadly pesticides, but pressure is mounting. If one of the stores commits to stop carrying the pesticides, it could start a snowball effect that sees other stores drop the bee-killing chemicals too.
In just two weeks, SumOfUs' activist beekeepers will travel to deliver our petition on the corporations' home turf.
Earlier this year, SumOfUs supporters called on these retail giants to stop selling neonics, with thousands flooding their phone lines and speaking out in store. Now, we've learnt that North American based Home Depot could be on the cusp of doing the right thing and taking the bee-killing chemicals off its shelves. We need to send a message to tip Home Depot over the edge, and pressure other stores to act as well.
The dangerous chemical Bayer makes is a neonicotinoid, or neonic. Neonics are soaked into seeds, spreading through the plant and killing insects stopping by for a snack -- and sold in garden stores around the world, too. These pesticides can easily be replaced by other chemicals which don’t have such a devastating effect on the food chain. But companies like Bayer and Syngenta make a fortune from selling neonics -- so they’ll do everything they can to protect their profits.
History shows that consumer pressure on retailers works. Europe's partial ban on neonics was caused by a huge movement that pushed some of the biggest retailers in the EU to voluntarily remove neonics from their shelves. But there is not a moment to lose. If you want take action now to keep the pressure on the big retail giants so we can protect our bees and our planet's future, here's the link:
Call on retail giants to get rid of the bee-killing neonics.
SumOfUs has been right at the front of the global campaign to save our bees. We came together to fight Bayer at a huge independent garden store show in Chicago, where the German chemical maker was out in force. We're taking legal action in Europe to defend the EU's ban against Bayer, and just last week spoke out at Bayer's annual shareholder meeting in Germany. But to win this fight, we need to push the retailers to drop these bee-killing pesticides now.
Bending Under the Pressure
It's working!
Two weeks ago, over 200,000 of us signed a massive petition to PepsiCo demanding it stop destroying the rainforest for palm oil. Then we posted a staggering stream of comments to PepsiCo's Facebook wall. Insiders tell us that PepsiCo doesn't know how to respond, and is scrambling to neutralise our campaigning.
Now it’s time to raise the pressure again.
Our friends at the Rainforest Action Network are planning a worldwide day of action on May 20 -- and they need event hosts to make it happen.
Can you sign up with Rainforest Action Network to organise a small event in your home or community, and share a photo with us and PepsiCo to show them how the pressure is building?
This is our best chance to show PepsiCo the breadth of support for stopping deforestation for palm oil across different countries and markets.
Hosting an event may sound intimidating, but it can be anything from a dinner with friends to a photo with your family.
Here's the plan:
- You sign up to host an event
- You’ll get a follow-up email with instructions for joining on a training conference call with Rainforest Action Network
- With their help, you’ll plan a fun activity for May 20 (it could be a picnic, a dinner, an event outside your local Pepsi retailer, or whatever!)
- At the event, you’ll take photos and share them with Rainforest Action Network. We’ll share everyone’s photos with PepsiCo so it can see the strength and diversity of our movement.
We need to make sure that when PepsiCo executives come to the table, we have the strongest possible negotiating position. If we can prove that people around the world are mobilising, we’ll be that much more able to win.
We know we've captured its attention -- the next step is to show the depth of support for palm oil free of deforestation, slave labour, or gratuitous climate pollution. If you want to join in, here's the link:
This is going to be good. Will you host an event on the 20th?
Cats Poisoned with Anti-Freeze
Every year, the headlines are filled with heartbreaking stories of cats that are poisoned to death by anti-freeze. Sometimes, the deaths are horrible crimes committed on purpose to torment neighbours or fulfil sick urges; other times, they're terrible accidents due to an owner leaving the toxic chemical within reach of a curious kitty. But either way, these deaths could easily be avoided.
Despite its highly lethal nature, anti-freeze tastes delicious to animals: its active ingredient is sweet, like sugar, and many pets think it's a treat they've stumbled upon. Unfortunately, it's also incredibly dangerous; just a few mouthfuls can lead to a prolonged death from kidney failure for animals and even children who ingest it.
Having read the information in the links I'm beginning to suspect that the reason my sisters cat nearly died last year was because he'd gotten hold of anti-freeze because the vet diagnosed kidney failure when we rushed him in.
However, there are ways to reduce anti-freeze's potential harm. By adding a harmless bittering agent to their products, anti-freeze companies would discourage cats, dogs and kids from eating them -- and potentially save hundreds, even thousands of lives.
We can't let any more pets die from ingesting this common household product. Ask anti-freeze companies to take action to protect cats, dogs and kids from being poisoned!
Despite its highly lethal nature, anti-freeze tastes delicious to animals: its active ingredient is sweet, like sugar, and many pets think it's a treat they've stumbled upon. Unfortunately, it's also incredibly dangerous; just a few mouthfuls can lead to a prolonged death from kidney failure for animals and even children who ingest it.
Having read the information in the links I'm beginning to suspect that the reason my sisters cat nearly died last year was because he'd gotten hold of anti-freeze because the vet diagnosed kidney failure when we rushed him in.
However, there are ways to reduce anti-freeze's potential harm. By adding a harmless bittering agent to their products, anti-freeze companies would discourage cats, dogs and kids from eating them -- and potentially save hundreds, even thousands of lives.
We can't let any more pets die from ingesting this common household product. Ask anti-freeze companies to take action to protect cats, dogs and kids from being poisoned!
Saturday 3 May 2014
Breast Feeding "Not Welcome"
Wioletta and her three-month-old son were waiting for her father to finish shopping in Sports Direct. She was sitting on a bench breastfeeding her baby when she was asked to leave by staff.
She was told that breastfeeding mothers were “not welcome” in the store, and that she would have to leave the premises. Wioletta had to stand outside in tears while she tried to feed her son in the rain.
It’s appalling that a big company would put a mum in this position. And it’s against the law. It is illegal to discriminate against a breastfeeding woman -- but Sports Direct seems to have ignored this.
Wioletta tried to argue that it’s not against the law to breastfeed in public. But the staff insisted she was “not welcome”. Now, she feels too nervous to feed her baby anywhere in public.
It’s unacceptable to make a mother feel ashamed of doing something so natural as feeding her baby. Other mothers have spoken up in support of Wioletta, and a group of them will be going to the store to stage a “nurse in” protest.
So far, Sports Direct has refused to comment on its discriminatory and humiliating policy. But it knows full well that its bottom line depends on the goodwill of the public -- including mums. If we can put Sports Direct under pressure now, it will be forced to do the right thing and apologise to save its reputation and brand.
Tell Sports Direct to apologise immediately, and change its policy to stop discriminating against breastfeeding mums.
That and the bottom line is that if we refuse to buy Sports Direct produces until they apologises for their unlawful and degrading behaviour then they will go bust if they don't clean up their act. The power to force the hands of corporations lies in the hands of their consumers. If we don't buy, their share holders start getting really ticked off because their pay packet goes down the drain.
She was told that breastfeeding mothers were “not welcome” in the store, and that she would have to leave the premises. Wioletta had to stand outside in tears while she tried to feed her son in the rain.
It’s appalling that a big company would put a mum in this position. And it’s against the law. It is illegal to discriminate against a breastfeeding woman -- but Sports Direct seems to have ignored this.
Wioletta tried to argue that it’s not against the law to breastfeed in public. But the staff insisted she was “not welcome”. Now, she feels too nervous to feed her baby anywhere in public.
It’s unacceptable to make a mother feel ashamed of doing something so natural as feeding her baby. Other mothers have spoken up in support of Wioletta, and a group of them will be going to the store to stage a “nurse in” protest.
So far, Sports Direct has refused to comment on its discriminatory and humiliating policy. But it knows full well that its bottom line depends on the goodwill of the public -- including mums. If we can put Sports Direct under pressure now, it will be forced to do the right thing and apologise to save its reputation and brand.
Tell Sports Direct to apologise immediately, and change its policy to stop discriminating against breastfeeding mums.
That and the bottom line is that if we refuse to buy Sports Direct produces until they apologises for their unlawful and degrading behaviour then they will go bust if they don't clean up their act. The power to force the hands of corporations lies in the hands of their consumers. If we don't buy, their share holders start getting really ticked off because their pay packet goes down the drain.
Clothing on Our Backs, Mercury in the River
Did you know that even though the Citarum River is full of mercury and toxic chemicals, 35 million people are still drinking from it?
Factories that make clothing for companies including H&M, Gap, and Adidas are dumping poison into the river, and the government is doing nothing to stop it. I was horrified when I heard about the news segment exposing the disgusting chemical cocktail dumped into this river.
The Citarum River is in Indonesia, and it used to be clean enough that people used it for fishing. Now, the river is so filthy that villagers can no longer fish from it and must sell trash they find floating on its surface to make a living.
And the river's toxic water is still used to irrigate crops and fill water taps in major cities.
The Indonesian government needs to intervene to protect its people from this deluge of toxic chemicals. If it doesn't, thousands of people will become sick, crops will die, and the environment will never recover. In the UK land that has been contaminated with Mercury is declared unfit for farming indefinitely - that's how dangerous this chemical is. In Japan mercury poisoning destroyed nearly a whole generation when it made its way into the seafood chain.
The majority of those factories polluting the river are sending clothing overseas, including to England and the United States. If enough people around the world shine a spotlight on this injustice, Indonesia will be forced to clean up its act. If you want to sign the petition then here's the link:
Please sign my petition to ask the Indonesian government to protect its people from these toxic chemicals dumped by clothing factories.
The other thing we can do while we are waiting for the government to act is to boycott H & M, Gap and Adidas produces, while sending e-mails of protest to their inbox and posting our disgust up on their facebook pages. Corporations bow to consumer pressure faster than they do to governments.
Factories that make clothing for companies including H&M, Gap, and Adidas are dumping poison into the river, and the government is doing nothing to stop it. I was horrified when I heard about the news segment exposing the disgusting chemical cocktail dumped into this river.
The Citarum River is in Indonesia, and it used to be clean enough that people used it for fishing. Now, the river is so filthy that villagers can no longer fish from it and must sell trash they find floating on its surface to make a living.
And the river's toxic water is still used to irrigate crops and fill water taps in major cities.
The Indonesian government needs to intervene to protect its people from this deluge of toxic chemicals. If it doesn't, thousands of people will become sick, crops will die, and the environment will never recover. In the UK land that has been contaminated with Mercury is declared unfit for farming indefinitely - that's how dangerous this chemical is. In Japan mercury poisoning destroyed nearly a whole generation when it made its way into the seafood chain.
The majority of those factories polluting the river are sending clothing overseas, including to England and the United States. If enough people around the world shine a spotlight on this injustice, Indonesia will be forced to clean up its act. If you want to sign the petition then here's the link:
Please sign my petition to ask the Indonesian government to protect its people from these toxic chemicals dumped by clothing factories.
The other thing we can do while we are waiting for the government to act is to boycott H & M, Gap and Adidas produces, while sending e-mails of protest to their inbox and posting our disgust up on their facebook pages. Corporations bow to consumer pressure faster than they do to governments.
9 Years Old and About to Marry
We’ve just learnt that any minute now, the Iraqi Council of Representatives will vote to legalise Forced Child Marriage1.
The specifics of the legislation (part of the Jaafari Personal Status Law) are terrifying:
- There will no longer be a minimum age to legally marry (it’s currently 18) but the law provides policies for divorcing a 9-year-old girl;
- A girl’s father would legally be able to accept a marriage proposal on her behalf; and
- The girl would be legally prohibited from resisting her husband’s advances and leaving the home without his permission.
The law was sent to the Council of Representatives yesterday, and the vote could happen any time now. To prevent Iraq’s girls from becoming vulnerable to forced child marriage it is crucial that we act now.
Currently, Iraq has one of the most progressive policies on women’s rights in the Middle East -- setting the legal marriage age at 18 and prohibiting forced marriage2.
Brave Iraqi women have been fighting against removing the minimum age for marriage, for their sake and for the sake of their daughters. Last month on International Women’s Day, countless women attended demonstrations in Baghdad protesting the Jaafari Personal Status Law. They called it the “Day of Mourning”3.
Iraqi Sunni and Shia religious leaders have criticised the Jaafari Personal Status law as discriminatory and a violation of religious texts4, and Safia al-Suhail, a female Member of Parliament, has called it a “disaster” showing that Iraq is “going backwards”5. You know that this stuff is serious when members of the religion that the Jaafari Personal Status laws supposedly come from are condemning them.
We may not have much time to stop Iraq from legalising Forced Child Marriage and a lifetime of domestic and sexual slavery for girls and women. If you want to help stop this backsliding into the dark ages then here's the link:
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