Healthy attitudes

Seeing things differently

By now you're probably all aware that I like to look at things differently.  I think it's important, and when it comes to our health I think it's extra-important.

I'll give you two examples: what we eat, and what we drink...

Diet — lots of people hear the word and think it means doing something — eating less or eating the right things to lose weight, and it can mean that, but the word diet is also a noun, it means the sum total of the food we eat. So a weight-loss diet is only one of many.  There are gluten free diets, vegetarian diets, pescetarian diets (for people who eat fish but not meat), even a thing called ketogenic diet (a high fat, low carb diet used to treat epilepsy in some children).

I know what you're thinking: What does it matter that we see diet as a verb and not a noun? It matters because people often go on ‘a diet’ to lose weight, then when they reach their target weight they shift back to the old diet and put the weight on again: just think of Claire Richards from Steps. 

Actually, when someone is unhealthily overweight the best thing they can do is change their attitude towards food, and commit to it long-term. Otherwise their weight is just gonna yo-yo.

Alcohol -- What is alcohol? For some it’s an escape; for some it’s a way to relax; for Homer Simpson:

But actually, it’s a poison.  A healthy attitude to alcohol is to realise that it can be dangerous and it should be treated with respect.

Did you know

·         More than 36,200 people were admitted to hospital because of the toxic effect of alcohol in England in 2011/13 (16,600 men and 19,600 women) – that’s nearly 700 every week.

·         360 people died from accidental alcohol poisoning in England in 2011.

·         From 2007-2010, 20,000 under 18s were admitted to hospital in England as a result of drinking alcohol.

I want you to watch a video about drinking fails

In fact I want you to watch it twice: once to see how funny it is, and the second to see how funny it really isn't.  It’s sad and pathetic.

Take the woman in red who brings a tent down on a wedding party,  or the guy at the wedding who rushes in to grab the bouquet and crashes into a little girl. It’s just embarrassing.

Drunk and classy?

Fail

Local News

Wedgewood  Centre, Mirehouse gets a facelift with help from the Copeland Action Group.  

It's amazing what you can do with paint and elbow grease.

Brave New World?

It’s possible that many of you won’t be aware that there was a by-election yesterday, and that it could be very important to life in this country.

A by-election happens when an MP gives up their seat (either by resigning, retiring, or something more permanent)

In the case of Rochester and Strood it was because the MP changed teams.  The people of Rochester and Strood elected a Conservative MP, Mark Reckless, in the 2010 General Election. So when Mr Reckless decided he wanted to be in UKIP instead, it automatically triggered the need for a by-election.

Well, the people of Rochester and Strood have chosen to re-elect Mark Reckless, and that’s a big deal because it’s the second time in as many months that it’s happened.  Douglas Carswell defected to UKIP and was re-elected in the Clacton by-election, in October.

So what does that mean?

Well, it means the major parties in UK politics are nervous.

It’s a bit like a new company coming to Whitehaven selling burgers: McDonalds aren’t going to be happy. They’d probably do all they could to stop the new company from getting set up in the first place. But imagine the new company do get set up, sell their burgers and get loads of people through the door.  Imagine the new company let’s young people hang out inside for as long as they like. What do McDonalds do then?

Come on in, burgers on me...

Whether they like it or not, I reckon they’d start making some very attractive offers — that’s what market competition really means.

And that’s what could happen in politics.

Until now there have been two main parties — Conservative and Labour, and one or other of them would end up being the government and being in charge of the country. But what if there starts being a third choice, or a fourth, or a fifth? The political parties would be much more likely to make those attractive offers

“Vote for us and we’ll lower taxes”

“Vote for our party and we’ll keep your hospitals open”

“Elect us and get a free pony”

(That’s a real campaign promise from Vermin Supreme)

Local News

The observant among you will have noticed there was no blog last week. That was because we had 20 students from the Whitehaven Academy for the day.  It was a good day and we all learned something — that you can safely house 44 people in a four-bed bungalow and not call it over crowded.

Dodgy taches and lumps

Okay, so it’s November, which means it’s actually Movember and time for the dodgy moustache growing. Which can cause a few funny looks from people 

It’s all in a good cause, raising awareness and funds for the diagnosis and treatment of testicular and prostate cancer (prostate cancer accounted for over 10,000 deaths in 2012, testicular cancer for a further 63), and it’s not just something that happens to old men.  While prostate cancer tends not to appear until men are in their 40s, there are several documented cases of testicular cancer in teenagers and young adults, and there have even been cases in children.

Movember has been very successful in raising the profile of something that’s both life threatening and embarrassing (a bad combination), and it's a great example of the way campaigning can take so many forms.  Basically all 'campaign' means is to fight for a cause, and you can do it in almost any ways you like: writing letters, doing a sponsored event, starting a Facebook group, wearing a ribbon or wristband or sitting in a bath of beans.

The point is that what you do, doesn't really matter, so long as it raises money or awareness (or both) for your cause, you are campaigning.

So what cause to choose? What do you feel passionate about? It's a personal choice.

I chose prostate and testicular cancer because they are life threatening, and people need to know about them, boys and men need to be aware that they could lose their lives to cancer, or possibly survive but lose their testicles or prostate. And that's no laughing matter. Unless it happens to cats.

And it's very easy to guard against these cancers: they can be treated if caught in time, and they can be caught in time, because the symptoms are known. Check out the Movember website for more information on men's health.

The greater the sacrifice, the greater the sense of satisfaction.  So the woman in the bath of beans might feel more proud than the person who just bought a badge.

Movember is a huge sacrifice for me because my facial hair often ends up turning ginger, I run the risk of looking like a bald Keith Lemon, or the Lorax.

Local news

Speaking of cats: funny captions stuck on a picture of a cat is a work of comedy genius.  But tying fireworks to a cat is not. Whoever the Whitehaven resident was who thought it would be funny to physically abuse a cat really needs to man up. It wasn't funny, and it wasn't clever.

It was cruel and sick and they were just lucky the cat got away in time, because they haven't been so lucky in the past; and the problem there is that you turn a lot of neighbours into vigilantes, who would happily cause some physical pain in revenge. 

In 2010 a woman in Coventry received death threats for putting a cat in a wheelie bin, and that cat wasn't even hurt.

Before doing anything potentially hilarious, ask yourself two questions: could anyone get hurt because of this? Could anyone want to hurt me because I did this?  If the answer to either question is yes, it is almost certainly not hilarious...

YouTube has a purpose

YouTube: Social Conscience

YouTube has been around for almost ten years now.  (Which means it'll be heading up to big school soon...)

When it first started I don't think the creators Hurley, Chen and Karim had any idea that it would eventually earn them almost $400million each, change the face of file sharing and be responsible for the pressure sores on several million teenagers' backsides, caused by an overdose of PewDiePie or Smosh.

(Actually, the story goes that YouTube started because these three PayPal employees were having difficulty getting the video of Janet Jackson's boob falling out at the 2004 Superbowl, for anyone who hasn't seen the image, check here).

But the impact of YouTube is even greater than that.  It is being used regularly to combat crime, to raise awareness and to bring people together.

Remember Brian Bates, video vigilante.  I mentioned him back in May, as the guy who's made it his mission to catch people having sex with prostitutes in public places. Then there's the guy who caught a toilet paper litterer: it's not a major crime, but still it's toilet paper...

What YouTube does is let people share their experiences, and name and shame any offenders.  You can argue among yourselves about whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.  But it is what it is.

YouTube can be a force for good, or a force for bad, depending on how you use it.  If you use it to make the world a better place, then everybody wins.

Local News
West Cumbria might be a long way from the big cities, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have value. Romar Innovate Ltd (up at Hensingham), is helping the fight against Ebola by making protective suits for the doctors and nurses who are treating the sick and the dying.  Without those suits (which are disposable, and staff can go through four or five a day), there is a much greater risk of the doctors and nurses becoming infected themselves.

The lesson is that you don't have to live in Manchester or London to make a difference, people right here in Copeland are saving lives.

The full story is here


And Finally...

Seeing as how it's Halloween today, here's a video of a prank going wrong. Awesome.

Politics isn't dull...

There was a time when I found politics boring. It was until I turned 18 at the earliest (which is a bit of a problem when you realise that I studied Government and Politics at A-level — I got grade E).

It wasn’t until I was able to vote that I became even slightly interested.

But even as a child there was one thing about politics that I loved: a TV programme called On the Record. Well, not the programme, just theopening credits.

Now, you have to remember I’m talking about a pre-satellite TV world, when we had 4 channels to choose from, and on Sunday’s you could watch gardening programmes, religious programmes or news programmes; so a giant crocodile rampaging across the UK was one of the highlights of the day.

I’ll be honest though: when the credits were over I turned it off. The crocodile was the only thing I found interesting.

My question is: why is politics boring?  The word just means ‘of the people’. So anything to do with people is really politics. Not just on a world level, but in every house. 

Adults at home get annoyed because you haven’t done your jobs? That’s politics.

You complain that you get too much homework from school? That’s politics.

You get your brother or sister in a headlock because they’re a butthead. Even that’s politics.

It’s not boring, it’s life.  Sometimes what makes it boring is the people representing your views.  Like Rep. Lloyd “Ted” Poe, who is so boring he sends his own grandson to sleep during discussions of domestic violence.

Domestic violence isn’t boring, it’s a horrible situation where people live in fear, where rage and anxiety make a massively unhappy home.  But Ted Poe manages to make it sound irrelevant.  (I encourage you to stop watching the kid flopping about in the background and listen to what Ted actually says, because it’s pretty horrible).  

Then there’s the guy with a voice like a dalek, who’s doing his party no favours by speaking publicly (and the interviewer isn’t much better). What they’re actually talking about is important, because it’s referring to the Irish Prime Minister having no authority — basically because he’s in the seat but isn’t representing the people, and that’s his job!

And people not doing their jobs isn't funny, well, not often.

One final thing to remember -- you can stay out of politicians' lives forever if you're careful, but politicians won't stay out of yours...

Beach cleaning fail

I think it’s fair to say that the beach clean last week was a bit of a bust.  Many thanks to Jacq and Mandy at Shackles Off who gave up part of their Saturday to pitch in on Seascale Beach.  Unfortunately, there were a couple of better things on that day: Egremont Crab Fair

and teenage apathy

I know it’s hard to motivate yourself.  I get that:  I was a teenager too.  

Eighteen years ago.

    (Wow, that’s a depressing thought).

But an even more depressing thought is what’s going to happen to the world if we keep turning our backs on the problems.

    And I’m not just talking beach cleaning here…

The Time for Change group successfully campaigned for a referendum on how our borough should be run, at the referendum the public chose to elect (i.e. vote for) the next mayor, but so far no-one seems to want the job.

    No-one wants to try and fix the problems in Copeland.

I want you to check out this song by Turin Brakes, it’s The Sea Change (beaches again…) but it’s about more than that, it’s about the fact that we can only expect someone else to fix the broken things for so long, before eventually we have to be that someone else, we have to fix whatever’s broken.

Why not today?

Holidays and hoaxes

Well, I’ve had a delightful week off. 

In Holland. 

In the rain.

[Here's a picture for all Minecrafters out there who've forgotten what the real world looks like after 5 weeks in their bedrooms]

But despite the rain, it was nice to get away, and travelling by ferry from Hull we were able to get to Amsterdam, the Dutch capital city, driving fewer miles (255 miles) than if we’d gone to London (340 miles).

And if you go via Newcastle, it’s a shorter car journey (130 miles) than to Glasgow (133), Edinburgh (135), Manchester (145), Liverpool (148) or Leeds (148).

The capital city of Belgium, City of Brussels, is only 175 miles away if you travel by ferry from Newcastle to Zeebrugge.

Not only is it a short trip (discounting the overnight stay on the ferry), but it’s hassle free, unlike air travel – we didn’t need to go through the customs’ lane, no-one searched our bags, or made me take my shoes and belt off.

Sure it starts innocently enough

but if you accidently mention drugs or terrorism things get nasty real fast

It really is easy to travel to foreign countries. But that could all change if we left the European Union.

That’s something that we aren’t particularly told in all the debates that go on. The pro- and anti-Europe camps will tell you all about trade agreements, sanctions and embargoes, because that stuff is really important. They’ll tell you about the impact on migration and employment, on services and taxation, and that’s important too.

But they don’t seem very good at talking about how anyone’s next holiday to France or Spain may be affected. Will we get frisked at the airport? Will duty-free still be duty-free?

It’s worth asking those kind of questions, because these are the things that will affect us directly before anything else.

According to social media, Wednesday night was the first time in living memory that Mars appeared as large as the moon. Did anyone stay up late to see it?

The lesson here is: don’t believe everything you see on the internet.

Marine Litter interpretation

Some of you are already aware that CBC are putting new interpretation boards at various points up and down the coast, from Parton all the way down to Haverigg.  If you're a bit confused about what an interpretation board is, here's an example.

They are the kind of things that people on walks like to look at, and they give some information about the area people are visiting.


So, included with those boards will be a marine litter board, explaining how long it takes for rubbish to break down in the oceans. Hopefully getting people to be a bit more responsible with their litter, and put it in the bin instead of dumping it on the beaches.

We'd like your opinions on possible designs for the boards, and here are some examples to get you thinking.

  Anyone who has a flair for design might want to sketch something out. The final design will be included with every interpretation board.

Vigilante justice

World News:

You're probably aware that an Islamic terrorist group in Nigeria called Boko Haram have kidnapped almost 300 schoolgirls.

Well the villagers of the attacked areas are fighting back: forming vigilante groups that are going out and attacking Boko Haram -- apparently 'scores' of terrorists have been killed (when I was a kid a score was 20, so it must be a fair few).

The media make out that this is a good thing: the people fighting back against evil.  It's the same in Batman: an unknown person starts dishing out healthy doses of justice, and putting the world right.
But that isn't the whole story.

The thing about vigilantes is that they aren't legal. They take it on themselves to protect the innocent, and judge the guilty without any authority.  It usually happens when the existing law enforcers are ineffective (like in Nigeria) or corrupt (like in Gotham City).

But the problem with this is, who decides who's guilty

 and who's innocent?

In the world of the police, that's decided by the courts.  It's the job of the police to arrest people who they suspect are guilty, and the job of the courts to decide on their guilt and punish them accordingly.

But in the world of vigilantes, they are literally judge, jury and executioner.  They do the punishing as well as the arresting, and that makes it so much easier to abuse the powers they have.

Or to get it wrong.  In November 2013, a 44 year-old man in Bristol was wrongly accused of being a paedophile.  He was kicked and stamped on until he died, and then his body was set on fire. Let's get the important point here: he was innocent. His only crime was... nothing. And that leaves us with the question, what's the difference between a vigilante and a murderer?

It's different in Nigeria, because there is a feeling that the government have failed to act; and it's different in Gotham because it's not real.

Who cleans up the mess after a vigilante? The tax payer, that's who. Which means the awesome explosions come at a personal cost (almost as expensive as a baby)

World Environment Day

World News:

Yesterday was World Environment Day

It's a good time to think about our habits, and how they impact on the environment, and maybe to come up with some ways to start helping our communities get more environmental.

As an example, this week 2001 people in Kathmandu broke the world record for most people hugging trees for 2 minutes.

That might not be everyone's idea of a good time, and it probably doesn't help the environment much (although I think the trees might quite like it), so maybe there are other environmental schemes that people want to try, but don't know where to start. We'll help if we can, just let us know.


At the very least, World Environment Day should be a time for us to realise that we can't sweep things under the carpet forever...

BNP Youth

World News:

This was brought to my attention last weekend: it's a video by BNP Youth?

I wasn't even aware that there was a BNP Youth.  It had always seemed to me that people grew towards the BNP way of thinking with age (if at all).

I guess it will give some sort of  comfort to Nick Griffin, who was the only Member of the European Parliament representing the BNP, until he lost his seat in this month's elections. From his point of view there is still hope for a BNP future.

Back to the video though: watching it I had a few questions.  Questions like:

Who talks like that? Is it the normal language of young people? Or has someone been coaching them?

I've never heard anyone under the age of 30 use the word "bastardization". A shorter form (without 'ization') maybe.

Saying that, everyone is entitled to their opinion, you may not like it, but that's their right.

Speaking of not liking it, the Conservatives and Labour are not liking the results of the European elections: it's the first time that any other party has come first in a national poll since 1910.

Embarrassing for the Lib Dems, who have been the third party of power for decades but have never won a national poll.

But it's okay, because Nick Clegg has promised he won't leave the party.  The Lib Dem activists will be so pleased

 

Seeing things differently


ScottBradleeLovesYa show that just because you know something one way, doesn't mean it won't work in a completely different way.  I wasn't a huge fan of the original, but I really like this version.  Any thoughts? (And keep watching for the saxophone, it's awesome).

Moral dilemma
Another of those 'is it right to laugh?' videos.  This time tourettes.

In one way it is funny, funny that someone would shout things and say things that everyone else finds inappropriate.

But think about what it's like from their point of view: the feelings of being out of control, the fear of other people's reaction, the loneliness.

That bit really isn't funny.

Election fever

And what a week it's been.

Local news:
Strictly speaking this is national news because we've all been involved with the European Elections.  For us it was especially interesting though, because as well as choosing our MEP (Members of the European Parliament), we've also been voting on whether to have an elected mayor or not.

I spent all of yesterday travelling around South Copeland: Waberthwaite, Corney, Bootle, Silecroft, Kirksanton and Haverigg, checking that the polling stations had everything they need; and last week I spent a few hours opening postal votes.

It's been a real eye opener for me about just how much work goes on behind the scenes to make an election run smoothly.

Also, last week, I did some filming at Parton as part of their action plan.  The phrase to be heard in Parton at the moment is: "We want a sprung floor!" Which improves bounce without the aid of a space hopper apparently

Moral dilemmas:
Is it ever right to hate? Maybe.
But is it ever right to hate people you've never met?

Now this is horrible, I agree.  Every time I hear that little kid cry I want to cry too.  I have a 6 year old and I would never want to make her cry.  But this guy has had so much hate aimed at him.

It's a bit of a model for how many people view anyone who breaks the law, or receives benefits.  They don't think "Okay, this isn't right, we need to do something about this." Instead they think "Kill!"

Really, do we want to beat people up or kill them because they did something wrong?

I was so affected by this guys actions and by the responses on the internet that I commented (which I hardly ever do). Here's what I put:

A loving parent's heart is broken every time they hear their child cry, and they would never ever want to be the cause of the crying. But rather than beat the guy, or take his child off him, why not make him watch the video back, make him to listen to the son talk about his feelings: "Daddy I'm scared of you, and it's hard to trust you now." Maybe then Dad will develop a bit of self awareness, become a better parent, and a better man.

 

I 've had two responses.  One person said they were glad to see an intelligent suggestion.

Why thank you...

The other reply says I'm sick because I want the father to beat on his kid again.  Did I say that?  I don't think so.

Another guy who's been subjected to a lot of criticism over the years is Carl Bordelon.  A police officer who is tricked into thinking an escaped prisoner is actually a jogger, and lets the guy go.

Sure, he made a mistake, but that doesn't make him an idiot. Just someone who made a mistake.  Not a lot of forgiveness on the internet I guess.

Seeing things differently:

Moog synthesizers have been around for a lot of years -- the earliest ones came out in the 1960s.  Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his cello suites almost three hundred years ago and yet when you put the two together, they still sound awesome.

What's the point?  Well, just because stuff is old doesn't mean it isn't good. Sometimes older is better.  And I'm not just saying that because I turned 36 this week.

Fails galore

Short update this week, cos it's a mad busy week:

Local news:
Heavy rains meant that we weren't able to do the filming at Seascale as we'd planned. But we had a visit from Cllr Stephen Haraldsen and one of the Conservative candidates for the European elections.

It was interesting to get their views and Stephen made a really important point that I think you should all consider.

Whether you consider yourself Conservative or Labour, Lib Dem or Green, UKIP or can't be bothered, it's worth remembering that everyone who puts themselves up for election has one thing in common: they all want to improve things in the area they will represent.

They may disagree on how to do that, and that's where the party politics comes in, but every one of them has a desire to serve the community.

I think the take home from that is, whether you agree with people's policies or not, it's not fair to hate on them, because even if you think they're wrong, they're just trying to do right.

{I'm getting that on a t-shirt}

And finally...
Got a  number of videos to consider today: they're all in the fail category, but let's look a little deeper and see what's going on:

Bootleg fireworks fail: For anyone who doesn't know, bootleg means smuggled. It goes back to the days of pirates

When they would wear long boots and could fit items in the top of them, to sneak them out of wherever (probably a tavern)

So these fireworks are in some way illegal, probably home-made to avoid paying tax on them.

We can't see from this video, but there could have been damage caused (that bush will never be the same again for a start), or even injuries.  Someone could be screaming in pain and we wouldn't hear it for the guys swearing and cursing.

The legal fireworks are much less likely to cause damage (at least if used properly -- if someone chooses to wedge it in their pants and set it off, they're asking for a scorching)

Vending machine fail: Again we have hilarity when someone breaks the law.  Even if he'd paid for the 'chips' (Americans, huh?) to kick the machine wasn't the right thing to do.

We've got a vending machine in our office, and I swear it's got a mind of it's own. It just chooses to give chocolate out whenever it feels like.  There's often notes stuck to the glass for the guy who refills the machine

"I paid 55p for a Snickers and I didn't get my chocolate, signed ****"

That's what our Bruce Lee wannabe should have done. Yeah, it makes for a funny video, but ask yourselves:

Who pays the price for a broken machine? The insurers.
And how do the insurers make their money back? Putting insurance premiums up.
And who pays the premiums? The business who looks after the machines.
And how do they make their money back? Raising the price of Snickers bars from 55p to 60p.

So who's paying for Hong Kong Phooey's stunt?

Snickers eaters, 5p at a time.

Parking exit fail: This guy appears to think it'll save time by leaving the car running towards the door.  It would've looked really cool if it had worked.  But it didn't, and now someone's got to fix that door, and probably his car, and maybe his spine seeing as how he used it a buffer. Who's gonna pay out for all that stuff?

You guessed it, the insurers

Revolving door fail:  Really not sure what happened here, although I suspect the wind may have had something to do with it.  But if you watch closely, you see that two of the glass panels actually slam shut on the poor guy who's in the door at the time.

This one's shocking, not funny, and I think it was a mechanical failure rather than human error. But again, there'll be costs incurred.

Hi insurers...

YouTube views

We are being manipulated. Everyone is.

Advertisers, TV producers, YouTube uploaders, they all want as much of our attention as they can get. Because attention leads to money: we buy their products, or we watch their programmes and advertisers pay more to sponsor the programmes so that we see the adverts and buy their products, etc., etc., etc.

And above all else, one thing sells: sex.

How many YouTube videos have a picture of topless women as their main image? Even ones that have nothing to do with women will use these images to get people to view them. Because the more views an uploader gets, the more likely it is that they'll get sponsored.

Because we're exposed to all this sexual imagery on a daily basis, it means that we get used to it, it's normal instead of shocking, and that makes it more likely that we'll tolerate it.  Like people seem to tolerate the Johns and prostitutes in car parks.  And when we tolerate things we don't see them for what they really are.

Take for example a couple of videos:

The first one is about a jogger who keeps pooping behind someone's house, and the second shows a number of people using the back of a store as a public toilet.

Again, just so we're clear, these are criminal acts.  If people get caught doing this sort of thing they can be charged, with indecency offences and criminal damage.

Now I'm all for being tolerant, but let's try an remember what's important.

World News:
Stephen Sutton has been released from hospital.  After raising over £3million for charity thanks to his bucket list, he's been discharged.

I've heard a lot of haters on social media suggesting that Stephen is a fraud, that he pretended to have cancer, either to raise funds or for attention.  But my wife is a nurse and she has a different interpretation.

Sometimes, hospitals will send people home because there's nothing more they can do.  For the hospital it frees up a bed for someone else in need, and for the patient it means that they can spend a little more quality time with the family.  But Stephen is almost certainly not faking and his recent recovery might only be short lived.

And finally...

Strong language advisory. 
Epic takedown of a bully

For anyone who has ever been picked on, take heart, it is possible to dish out a little payback (BTW I'm not advocating swearing here, these guys are Scottish and to them swearing is like a dialect).

Iraq and America

World news:

Iraq has its first parliamentary poll since troops left the country nearly three years ago.

We take elections for granted in this country, because we can vote regularly (some would say too much).  But for anyone who has lived in a dictatorship, where the leader got to that position through violence, intimidation and corruption, a democratic election is extremely precious.


[The ink stain shows that they have voted, and they show it off as a badge of honour].

Here's a video of Christopher Hitchens talking about democracy in Iraq from a few years ago.  (If it sounds a bit boring, remember that this is the guy who drank and smoked himself to death.  He had the brain of political genius and lived like a rock star).  Try giving him a listen.

Also this week we've seen the devastation caused, not by dictators, but by nature as huge storms have hit America.

A couple of lessons here:
1. these are people living in the richest country in the world, but all their wealth won't protect them from nature.
2. nature doesn't listen to votes or campaigns any more than it does money.


The American political system isn't hugely different from ours. You have two main parties that everyone knows (Democrats and Republicans) and a lot of little parties that no-one knows (Libertarians, Tea Party, Green).  And a lot of the work that goes into getting in and staying in government is about being the most popular (or making the opponent look the least popular).

So there's a lot of mud slinging in American politics. Especially from the FOX network.
I know it's not always easy to understand what these guys are going on about so I'll paraphrase it for you: the present-US government are turning American into Nazi Germany, but doing it sneakily so no-one will notice.

Well, you guys will hopefully be around long enough to see if that's true.  If America doesn't turn into Nazi Germany, then either these commentators were wrong, or they stopped it happening.  stay tuned for the next 40 years to find out (Ooh, exciting!)



Crime:
Brian Bates calls himself Video Vigilante.  He makes it his business to follow prostitutes around until someone (the "John") picks them up for sex, then he records his confrontation with them and has evidence that he can give to the police.

His aim is to stop prostitution happening so widely, and his point is that these people are having sex in cars where anyone can walk past, including young children, sometimes in a car park, sometimes behind buildings, sometimes near children's play parks.

The important thing is that Bates is trying to do his bit to improve his local area. The LA Times calls him a video activist. The people who he catches call him much worse names.

Local News:
Filming session at WHYP went well, though we seemed to spend more time outside McDonalds than anywhere else -- and not because of the curfew, just because my 'team' were hungry.

We got some interesting footage, mostly of litter.  well that shouldn't be too hard to sort...

And finally...

Here's a video that I've chosen because it's funny. Go ahead and have a good laugh.

Now that you've had a laugh, I want you to have a good think.
Can this guy help the way he talks? Aren't we just laughing because he has a strange accent?
Isn't that a little bit racist?

[See what I did there, I lured you in to try and make you laugh so I could make you feel bad straight after.  It's a very effective tool for behaviour change].

But seriously though.  One of the things about humour is that there's often a victim. A bit like Vitaly and his pranks, we're laughing at someone else's expense.

I'm not suggesting we don't have a laugh now and then, but maybe I we just think about the victims a little more...

Eggs

World News:

 

This is Yulia Tymoshenko, the Ukrainian presidential candidate, being pelted with eggs by people who want to join with Russia.

It leads me to wonder, why do people throw eggs at politicians when they don't like their policies?

 

This is Ed Miliband getting egged.  Seeing his reaction, I don't find it very funny, I feel pretty sorry for him really.  But I feel even more sorry for anyone who gets hit by the splatters (not the bodyguard so much, he gets paid, but what about people just out for a walk getting hit by stray yolk? Yuk).

 

Most politicians seem to take it on the chin, (or the back of the head)

 

But not John Prescott: he decided that being egged wasn't part of his job description and punched his attacker.

 

But why eggs? 

 

Well, it's probably because they're easy to carry (so long as protesters are careful), they are effective, making a satisfying splat, and they're fairly cheap.

 

However let's be clear: as a form of protest, throwing eggs is ILLEGAL.  It constitutes the criminal offence of battery (as in assault and battery) and you can get arrested and charged. It's worth remembering that it can cause harm -- there's a story about a nurse in Dublin who was blinded in a drive-by egging.

 

And not to forget Yulia Tymoshenko predecessor: In 2004 Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, was hospitalised after being pelted by an egg.

 

The lesson here is that protest always has consequences, some good, some bad.

 

Seeing things differently:

 

I'm sure most people know Vitaly Zdorovetskiy of Vitalyzd TV, as a prankster, especially the Russian hitman pranks, and pranks can be funny, but they can also be a little mean at times because there's usually a victim.

 

But Vitaly showed the most amazing thoughtfulness when he paid for a homeless man to get a makeover. This is so great, and if you don't feel a lump building in your throat, then you maybe aren't seeing things differently enough.  

 

Give it a go, maybe it will inspire you to do something nice for someone too...

 

Thumbs up for Vitaly & good deeds all round

 

 

 

Local news:

 

We did the filming session around Distington this week, and many thanks to everyone who helped. Especially Ruby, who was an absolute star.

 

So here's a little wiggle for Ruby and the gang