Climate Change

Ahh the joys of debating! It has led me to realise how nutty some Libertarians really are, especially when it comes to climate change. You can lead a libertarian to water, but you can't make it drink because that would violate it's personal freedom you Stalinist motherfucker.

Anyway, thought I'd collate some super duper climate change resources as a bullshit detector.



http://grist.org/series/skeptics/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090519134843.htm

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/05/start-here/

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2012/12/online-video-lectures-on-climate-change/

http://www.newscientist.com/topic/climate-change

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52KLGqDSAjo

Now, doesn't that feel better?

BUT WAIT! Your day is about to get worse. Just look what you could be up against!

"Peer review has been shown as corrupted again and again by eco-fascists on the journal editorials"

"You're the only one believing in a defunct religion here"

But it gets worserer! They even share James Dellingpole articles. This is a major klaxxon and should cause you to retreat immediately. Hide. Cover your face. Run. Do whatever it takes to protect your sanity.

I'd like to imagine they simply haven't heard the evidence but as you can see they probably have and brush it aside as a conspiracy. I can't think what vested interest Libertarians have in ignoring climate change, the devotion to free markets and opposition to government action? Surely not? I mean, it's not like Ayn Rand ignored scientific evidence about the dangers of smoking or anything.

What do the Tories stand for?

Erm...

• Protecting the City of London
• Ignoring tax evasion/avoidance
• Retroactive legislation
• Forcing people to work for £70 a week which many of them have already earned (That's what insurance schemes are)
• Removing guaranteed rights
• Decreasing workers rights
• Making it easier to sack workers
• Reducing redundancy periods
• Cutting taxes for millionaires
• Cutting support for disabled people
• Cutting support for unemployed people
• Selling NHS services despite widespread evidence that PFI schemes are wasteful and inefficient
• Economic policies that have been shown to increase inequality and shift income to highest earners
• Punishing disabled people if they're not on their death bed
• Punishing disabled people even if they're on their death bed.

Of course, this is all to cut the deficit and national debt. Which they haven't done. So people are poorer, services are being sold off, unemployment isn't being solved, patients aren't getting improved healthcare, disabled people are on the verge of suicide and we have no access to legal advice to challenge it, nor will we have human rights legislation to appeal to. For what? Absolutely nothing!

How did they do it? They convinced you we were overrun by scroungers and fakers and this was crippling the economy. An economy caught up in a worldwide financial crisis, caused by an illegal and unscrupulous financial sector. A financial sector given the freedom to do what it likes by the same party 25 years ago, encouraged by the very party they blame for our economic woes but at the time, were pushing for more removal of regulations. They have done nothing to solve it and nothing to prevent it from happening again, they still bleat on about scroungers, fakers and the lazy as if people on tiny incomes can bring down an entire economy. How gullible must you really be?

My manifesto

This going to be brief, unorganised and will no doubt be updated when I remember what I think about certain things. Otherwise, here is my political manifesto.

• Public funding of political parties.
• Donation limit of £10k to parties.
• Full marriage rights to any consensual participants.
• Cancellation of 1986 deregulation of banking industry. Introduce UK glass-steagle equivalent.
• Nationalisation of bailed out banks. Return bailout money to taxpayers.
• Bring to justice anyone involved in illegal banking activity which led to financial crash.
• Removal of Church's tax free status.
• Disestablish the Church.
• Disestablish Monarchy.
• Reduce VAT to 10%
• Increase top rate tax to 75%
• Invest in mass, sustainable social housing.
• Introduce a law to make sure all new houses are to be built with solar panels/wind technology.
• Shift British economy from banking to sustainable energy products.
• Remove the wild camping ban.
• Introduce press regulation and laws on press monopolies.
• Clampdown on tax avoidance/evasion.
• Legalise all drugs. Invest in rehabilitation facilities for addicts.
• Nationalise utilities provision.
• Nationalise railways.
• Reverse the privatisation of NHS services.
• Emphasis on preventative medicine throughout the NHS.
• Legalise prostitution.
• Encourage self sustainability in UK households, both food and energy wise.
• Cancel trident.
• Support small businesses via start up loans.
• Increase the minimum wage in order to increase demand.
•  Limit salaries for union bosses and executives. Political donation ban also applies to unions.
• More science education in schools, especially in regards to climate change.
• Cap private rents.
• Reform libel laws.
• MPs must have no financial interests in order to serve the public.
• Political parties will be fined by an independent regulator for failing to fulfil manifesto promises or introducing legislation not in manifesto.
• Sex education for every student.
• No religious schools.
• Mandatory politics classes for every student.
• Strong emphasis on critical thinking in schools.
• Remove all Lords appointed due to to religious affiliation.
• Remove ATOS contract immediately and return benefits decisions back to GPs.
• End PFI contracts.
• End big business subsidies.
• End farm subsidies.

Ok that's it for now, some of them may need changing and bits/detail added.

Animals

Stuck in the house a lot. Not much to do so I like to keep pets, only I'm a bit weird so my pets are naturally a bit weird too.

Time for dinner mofo.

I miss their singing!

I do not miss their "singing"

My first lizard Thomas Geckoson I MISS YOU MOST OF ALL!

Difficult to look after but stunning.

Little buggers. Would jump onto your face.

My Rainbow Boa Jason all grown up. He's super chilled, too chilled even. He don't even give a shit.

Twitter and current health

Soooo reluctantly I'm going to announce that this winter has been the healthiest I've ever had. Usually I dread winter and the lead up to this one was exactly the same but the reality was much different. There was a rather soul destroying relapse over Xmas day which left me barely able to lie on the sofa but other than that it hasn't been too difficult at all, I've now managed to cut out all painkillers and haven't had any relapses since that day. Now I'm tentative to say improvement but it certainly feels that way, I'm not going to ignore anything positive no matter how small.

That brings me on to my next POINT OF INTEREST. I've learnt an absolute shitload about M.E since joining twitter and received some excellent advice, which I credit my improvement to. So thank you to everyone I've engaged with, it's not just advice and info but being able to talk to people going though the same thing and realise I'm not alone *wipes tear*. I feel less guilt, less stress and I can moan about being ill without getting on people's nerves. Sorry, I have to brap. Brap.

And another for fun. Brap.

Symptom time

I don't really want to do this as I try and avoid talking about the fact I'm ill, it's only recently I've taken an interest in research and so forth. I never really saw the point before but having joined twitter I've become a lot more comfortable talking about research, hypothesis, GPs, symptoms and so forth. I don't really feel guilty about it anymore. HIGH FIVE.

The most reassuring thing is reading that other people are in the same situation as you and have the same symptoms, only a sick person could understand how this feels.

I know I covered some of this in an earlier post but I wanted a more complete version.

My ME seems to fluctuate quite a bit and for relatively short periods. Relapses last about 2-4 weeks for example.

Pain is sporadic, from background aches to pain that puts you on the verge of tears and covers your entire body.

Numerous gastro problems. Acid reflux, lactose intolerance, bloating, possible IBS but I don't want to self diagnosis and don't see the point getting one.

Fatigue! This is not tiredness, I do not get particularly tired. Fatigue means my body will not move, it's like flu but without much of a fever. Sometimes difficult to talk.

Difficulty regulating body temperature, hot flushes are common (not fever).

Neurological symptoms. Blurred vision, dizziness, inability to concentrate, difficulty finding words, extreme forgetfulness (sometimes forgetting something moments after being told even when trying hard to remember).

Mental health problems. Not really much of an issue, suffered from depression after 3/4 month but treated successfully since. No problems with anxiety.

Alcohol I can tolerate but hangovers are very long and not much tolerance. I can't cope with caffeine well, feel confused and can easily stay awake for 24 hours on a single cup.

Most importantly all these symptoms are not improved by exercise. Exercise has put me in relapse every single time.

There's probably a few other minor things I can't remember right now (lols) but that's the main stuff. Hope people can relate.

I do like terrariums

Here's a few of, some finished, some unfinished. All housed poison dart frogs. Unfortunately I'm pretty much terrariumless at the moment and all of my frogs are gone, I had quite a few tropical tree frog species too and at one point 4 salamanders. 

After having to leave work I was forced to sell everything, including my snake but fortunately finances are a bit better now and I have him back!

Animal pics coming later :)

Bee Story

If I was a talking bee I would try and get all the other bees to talk aswell. If they didn’t I would go to other hives and look for bees that were like me. If I couldn’t find any I would feel very alone. However I’d be the sort of bee that laughs in the face of loneliness, so I’d get through it.

There are also lonely people in the world, so I could talk to them. Maybe our friendships would last a lifetime. I wouldn’t be eligible to drink legally in pubs so if I could make friends with someone over 18 they could buy me scrumpy.

Obviously the ideal situation would be finding or teaching other bees to talk. We would discuss important bee issues like, how are we doing for honey? Is hexagonal really the way? Why can we sleep with only one woman and why is she so fat? We could talk all through the night. We might become lazy and decide work is for suckers and start some sort of bee revolution. I would name myself Bee Chevara and encourage everyone to revolt against the queen and make a more democratic bee society. I’m not sure how this would work though.

I do like fish tanks

This is one of my old ones.

Pros and Cons of keeping Lady Gaga in my fish tank

One of my most fulfilling hobbies is to think of ways in which I can punish celebrities that haven’t really done anything to me personally, but nonetheless deserve cruel, unusual and rather elaborate punishments. This is pretty much everyone. Today I’ve been deliberating over the pros and cons of keeping Lady GaGa in my fish tank, it’s not very big but I have one of those fake chests that opens up and blows bubbles. Kids love it, I don’t have any kids though.

Against

1. She would scare the fish.

2. She wouldn’t fit.

3. She would attract algae.

4. She would fill it with adverts and product placement whilst still maintaining she’s controversial. This is not goof for PH levels.

5. She would probably request the water to be Evian. I prefer to use government juice.

6. She would probably need an entourage and thus a larger tank.

7. Something unoriginal about her looking like a man.

8. It would cost me a lot of money. I don’t have money to spend on keeping talentless fads alive.

9. That idiotic meat dress would cloud the water and go rotten within hours.

10. I don’t like her.

For

1. She could drown.

2. She could fit if I broke her legs.

3. I can’t hear her sing when she’s in a fish tank.

4. She could take care of my water changes.

5. I don’t like her.

6. That idiotic meat dress would cloud the water and go rotten within hours.

7. I could take pictures and send them to her 12 year old fans, or her family, depending on who would offer the highest amount for her release.

8. It would give me a great sense of satisfaction. Although it’s only one out of a billion useless, non entity, creativity sucking, mind dumbing, musical monstrosities removed from the collective genepool of profit driven suck ups that pollute the industry.

9. Lilly Allen would kick up too much of a fuss, probably write a shit song about it in that annoying talky I’m just a normal girl slightly less annoying than my dad type voice.

10. I could enter it as piece of abstract art at the Tate Modern.

How to plan an ME day out

They're rare, they're short but when they come along they give me an emotional boner. But don't fuck it up, the last thing you want to do is end up slumped over the pavement crying out for some heroin or whatever pain meds you crazy kids take these days.

There are rules damn it!

Rule 1: Know your limits. Easier said than done, I can probably get a half mile of walking in SPREAD OVER A DAY. Don't plan to do more or you'll be worrying and not enjoying yourself, plus you'll F your body up AND NOT GOOD K.

Rule 2:  Plan. Know how far you need to walk to do whatever it is you're doing! I went for a meal in London the other night. First thing I checked was the walking distance between the station and the restaurant, I even booked partly based on this. It's nothing to be ashamed of, it means you can have a night out like one of those mysterious healthy people.

Rule 3: Take supplies. That's right. Prepare for worst case scenario. Take your meds, take whatever you'll need should you come over a bit goofy. I pack the following in the car, meds, deep heat, water, snickers bars (I'm evil when hungry), lucozade/coke for energy, blankets, pillows, comfier clothes if I get uncomfortable or for the way home.

Rule 4: Make sure you can go home if you have to. This could probably go under planning but it's so important I think it needs its own number. Yeah, I said that. It's getting its own number. What you want is A GET OUT PLAN. Who else has get out plans? Superheroes. That's fucking right. Make sure you have a lift who will leave at a moment's notice, money for a cab, the train timetable to hand.

All of this should hopefully result in a less stressful evening, no pressure should you become unwell, no anxiety...MAXIMUM FUN. Well, I hope so anyway.

Peace for 2013 bitchez.

Having /M.E/CFS and reflections on the past 10 years

*Originally written in April 2012, amended slightly*

Prepare for the self pitying :)

I fell ill with ME/CFS (official lazy diagnosis) around this time in 2008, so 5 years I’ve been ill now. My 20s have been pretty much plagued with ill health, at 20 I had a bad case of glandular fever (mononucleosis) which in turn triggered a bad case of depression. It took me a good few years to recover but by age 25 I was doing well. I had a great job which paid a good wage, a good social life and I was regularly exercising. Swimming a mile once a week and attending the gym. Then, one day at work around 11am something hit me. My arms felt heavy, my head slumped to my desk and I had only one thought, I’m coming down with the flu and I need to hit my bed. A few hours later and the flu hadn’t hit, I just felt all the same sensations as having flu but without any sign whatsoever of the fever or migraines. My muscles hurt, my back, legs, arms, everywhere but that was it, nothing else seemed to be happening. Two weeks later I went back to work thinking whatever this was would eventually disappear, but it didn’t. 

A month later I went to see the work doctor and explained the situation, I had come back from Mexico a few months previously so that was his first though, that I’d picked up some tropical disease. So off I went to the tropical disease specialist, nothing. A hundred different blood tests, nothing. Apart from a low functioning immune system. I’d also had an endoscopy recently for a stomach complaint, so another avenue to explore was that the procedure had aggravated the epstein barr virus in my throat. Possible? I don’t know. Unfortunately due to staff cuts my doctor left. I feel like I’d be in a better position now if I was still under his care, very knowledgable and very understanding. My diagnosis switched from Fibromyalgia to ME/CFS. He put me on antidepressants as after 3/4 months of being ill I was starting to become depressed. I knew the signs and wasn’t prepared to go there again. He had also sent me to a fatigue specialist to get my diagnosis/2nd opinion. I didn’t like him so never went back.

3 years later my health had deteriorated to such an extent that I had to give up work, having previously been working part time hours and missing almost 12 months in total from the last 3 years or so. It was a hard decision to make but was no doubt for the best. My partner and I had to give up our beautiful home and move in with her parents, we’ve been here 9 months and fortunately are now in a situation where we can get our own place again, thanks to a friend who has agreed to share with us and thanks in part to the government who’ve been on time in returning the excess tax I paid last year!

I don’t really see my current doctor and have refused referrals to CBT treatments. I told him I think they’re absolutely ridiculous but he’s convinced I should at least try them and see before judging. After the recent PACE trial I dare say I'm correct. I became frustrated with the medical profession over it’s sometimes antiquated and irrational views towards M.E/CFS.

So what’s having this illness like? For the most part I’ve accepted it but relapses are still traumatic and sometimes frightening. I’m forever living in fear that I will deteriorate and be permanently bed bound, unable to face daylight. The number one cause of death for people with this illness is suicide or heart attack, sometimes I can understood how hard it would be to deal with the extremes of CFS/ME day in day out and be forced to see suicide as the only option. On some level I’m lucky, I can still go out and see my friends, go on holiday, read, drive but just plan my day so I use as little energy as possible. On bad days it’s hard to stand up but on good days I can go for walks and be relatively active throughout the day. You probably wouldn’t even notice I was ill to look at as the only time most people see me is when I’m in remission and I have the energy to go out.

As for the physical symptoms well they fluctuate, fatigue is obviously a major part of it. Think the sort of fatigue you have when you’re suffering from flu, that’s how it is at it’s worst. Throw in the intense muscle aches but picture it without the fever. I suffer from brain fog where I forget what I’m doing and become confused and agitated, words don’t seem to make sense and sentences stop midway and I’ll wander off having completely forgot what I was doing. This usually happens everyday. I’m slowly developing food intolerances and suffer from acid reflux.

I miss working and my independence but I’m not unhappy. I’ve learnt to appreciate things I’d never have if I hadn’t become ill and I have some great people in my life for which I’m eternally grateful.

March 2013 update:

Not much has changed, my health is still the same, I had a relapse throughout December and experienced a bad period of mental health. I've since taken on a course of meditation, have began to put more effort into my pacing and  now avoid all painkillers as basically, they don't help. The last two months have been pretty good, I can usually get out once or twice a week depending on what the activity is. I'm also slowly starting to develop a small plant nursery which brings in a little extra income, hopefully I can develop it further but don't really have the funds to do much.

Welcome

Hi, this is my new blog, I've had a million in the past about exciting topics such as politics, history sociology, funny houses, fish tanks and frogs.

This one will be about ME. And my M.E, basically because I keep finding fantastic articles I wish to save and have nowhere to put them, plus I need a place to think out loud....again, so I don't forget.

Here is a picture I made of Ayn Rand. Hahaha Ayn Rand.

I don't like Ayn Rand. I also have M.E. I don't like talking about in the reality world because it's boring and makes me want to punch crocodiles.

This is my first post and I welcome you all to my world.