incurable hippie\\\'s musings and rants

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

52 Weeks, 52 Letters Challenge
2011-01-10 20:43:00
I love writing letters and cards, and I have phases of doing lots, then not doing any for ages.The 52 Weeks, 52 Letters challenge for 2011 has inspired me. I aim to write a letter or card each week this year.What a lovely challenge! There's nothing quite like receiving a hand-written, personal note from a friend through the door, and I hope I can bring 52 smiles to others throughout the year.
More About: Challenge

Don't Be On The Giving End
2010-12-16 19:01:00
Oh dear, it doesn't matter how many times we talk about it, and my goodness we talk about it a lot, it happens again and again.Last Christmas we were told to not be a rape victim, earlier this year we were told that it was because of what we wear, and that half of Londoners surveyed thought there were times that rape was the victim's fault, and these are just the tip of the iceberg.So, in time for Christmas, Hambleton and Richmondshire Community Safety Partnership have launched a 'hard-hitting campaign', advising people to not be 'on the receiving end' of domestic violence during the festive season.I am struggling to see their logic. Is it aimed at women who they believe were somehow planning to be abused, yet on seeing the poster they will see the error of their ways, and decide against it? How else can it be understood?Raising awareness of domestic abuse is very important. The quote provided makes good points: ?Christmas is meant to be a happy time for families but for many ...
More About: Giving

Disability Works, Does It?
2010-12-10 09:14:00
Companies like A4e, who are paid by the government to get benefit claimants into work, are treated with at best suspicion, and at worst fear and loathing, by many disabled people, especially following TV programmes such as Benefit Busters. The DWP currently have a shortlist for other companies who are bidding for contracts to carry out government compulsory back-to-work schemes, and worryingly one of the shortlisted companies is the dreaded ATOS, who carry out the ESA medicals, and G4S (formerly Group 4 Security). However, apparently also on the shortlist, according to benefitsandwork.co.uk, is a consortium consisting of a group of 7 charities, who have called themselves Disability Works UK. Disability Works UK is a collaboration of national third sector disability organisations including Leonard Cheshire, Mencap, Scope, Mind, Action for Blind People, United Response, Pure Innovations, Advance UK and Pluss. They boast about their £654.4 million turnover, and cash surplus of £15.6 mi...

DLA Consultation: The Internet Responds.
2010-12-08 09:45:00
Yesterday, Where's the Benefit? posted Broken of Britain's response to the DLA reform consultation, and today I am going to try to read the government's consultation document itself.Other disability blogs and websites have already done some great posts on this subject, and I wanted to draw attention to some of what is being said around the interwebz on the reform proposals.Fighting Monsters writes From DLA to PIP - a consultation begins.Arbitrary Constant writes DLA Reform Consultation: Great Expectations, Worst Apprehensions.communitycare.co.uk write DLA claimants to miss out in benefits shake-up.Disability Alliance write Government announces cuts to disabled people's support as "new test".Left Foot Forward writes Supporting Disabled People Not Sustainable says Coalition.Disabled People Against Cuts have a cartoon entitled Don't worry when we want your opinion we'll tell you what it is.I don't know whether I'll be able to make my way through reading the consultation documen...
More About: Internet , The Internet

Cold Weather Payments
2010-12-01 14:38:00
For those readers on qualifying benefits, you can check whether or not you are yet eligible for any Cold Weather Payments on this direct gov website. Payments are made when the average temperature for where you live is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees Celsius or below over seven consecutive days.Also from direct.gov, who qualifies for Cold Weather Payments:If you are in receipt of Pension Credit, Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), you may also be able to get Cold Weather Payments.You get £25 for each seven day period of very cold weather between 1 November and 31 March and it is paid automatically, you do not need to apply for it. So, if you want to check whether you are due to receive one, you can do so here.Cross-posted at Where's the Benefit?

Round-Up Post
2010-11-04 11:36:00
There are plenty of must-read articles and blog posts which I haven't had the time or the spoons to cover. All of the following are well worth a look.Scope are running a survey about the real costs of being disabled, which you can fill in here."On the Shoulders of the Vulnerable", an article from Morning Star with information about ATOS and how ESA medicals are failing disabled people, especially those of us with mental health problems.A Guardian article, Housing Benefit Cuts: What's the Real Truth?Laurie Penny in the New Statesman writes Strictly Come Scrounging, Anyone?, about The X Factor vision of society [which] blames the poor for their predicament.Hopi Sen and Left Futures point out the contradiction in David Cameron criticising those claiming over £20,000 in housing benefits, compared to his own expenses claims for his second home.Crisis, a national charity for single homeless people, have created a comprehensive, myth-busting press release full of information on how the g...
More About: Post , Round Up

Video Follow-Up
2010-10-24 13:43:00
I've had such amazing support since posting the video yesterday. I also wanted to let you know that it has been re-posted at various places.Mind In Flux posted it on her blog about mental health and disability.The Broken of Britain is collecting the stories of disabled people in the UK, and has linked to the video.And it has also been posted on Pickled Politics blog.I am touched and moved that so many people have contacted me, and commented, in such a supportive way. It was a very scary thing to do, but it also felt very important. Thank you everyone.
More About: Video

Vlog Message to You.
2010-10-23 19:59:00
In response to the wonderful words of BendyGirl.[Edited to add a transcript of the video:The last few days I've watched the videos from BendyGirl at Benefit Scrounging Scum, and I loved them, I thought they were brilliant. But I never thought it was something I could do, until in her second video she pointed out how important it is for everyone to speak out. Like many, many people I am frightened by the proposed changes, the cuts, to disability benefits, and what's going to happen to services and the third sector. The thought of withdrawing mobility rate... the thought of withdrawing the mobility section of DLA for people in care homes is disgusting. The thought that just because somebody was living in a care home, they no longer need to go anywhere, they no longer need mobility equipment, is just obscene. The changes in housing benefit rules so that people under 35 in private rented accommodation can't get full housing benefit if they live on their own is disgusting.And limitin...
More About: Message

An Easy Way to Email your MP to Protest Benefit Cuts.
2010-10-08 12:12:00
Scope are running a campaign to email your MP to ask them to take action immediately to oppose the cuts to the public services and benefits that many disabled people in the UK use and rely on.All you have to do is fill in your contact details, then your MP's email address is automatically found and you can read and alter the proposed message before you confirm that you would like it to be sent.So, email your MP to protest the proposed cuts here.Cross-posted at Where's the Benefit?.
More About: Email , Protest

Threats and Fear.
2010-09-30 23:49:00
It's impossible to overstate how terrified some disabled people are, in Britain right now. The fear of benefit cuts is so high, and so real, and attitudes like those of Nadine Dorries add to the climate of terror.Already people are scared to leave their house for fear of being reported to the DWP for faking their illness, now those who find networks like twitter to be a lifeline are becoming frightened to post.If you are stuck in bed, and you've found a way to use your laptop lying down, or you can use a phone or iPad, sites like twitter are perhaps the only way for many to actually communicate with others. It may be the only conversation someone has for a week. One purpose that these threats serve is, I suspect, to keep us all quiet. We can't complain about the process of reapplying for DLA, or of the ATOS assessments, if the very complaints we type will be used as an additional stick to beat us with. Even if typing those 140 characters used up so much energy that we then had to...
More About: Fear

Being Offensive To Show How Offensive Offensiveness Is
2010-09-21 11:02:00
The Press Complaints Commission has upheld Clare Balding's complaint after AA Gill in the Sunday Times referred to her as a 'dyke on a bike'.This is really good news. Balding said the word "dyke" was "too often used as a pejorative and insulting term". She said her sexuality was irrelevant to the programme and the hurt had been compounded by the columnist's mock apology for previously saying that she looked "like a big lesbian". As you might expect, Stonewall has released a press release on the judgement, however it has used offensive and racist language in that press release to make its point. Using racist language, to highlight how bad homophobic language is, is never the way forward. Holly's post on Oppression Olympics explains this clearly, and insulting Meera Syal and Vanessa Feltz's ethnicities is as offensive as the original AA Gill comment. Doing this in the guise of supporting a decision against offensive language is ridiculous.I don't want to directly quote the lan...
More About: Show

Spam Comments
2010-09-02 00:25:00
I've lately started getting a lot of spam comments on my old posts, so I've been deleting them as they come in (Hint to spammers, don't bother writing a convincing looking comment for the context when your username is GenericViagra).But as the problem is getting worse by the week I have now changed my settings so that comments left after a post has been up for 14 days will have to be moderated. Hopefully this won't be too annoying for regular or legitimate commenters, and it will save me time and energy I could better spend, I dunno, pissing about.
More About: Spam , Comments

CAB Report on the Coalition Budget 2010
2010-08-27 06:59:00
The Citizens Advice Bureau has written a report on Key welfare changes and their impact on low income households.It makes for very depressing reading, and while it does not look specifically at disability benefits, it reports on the reductions and changes in Housing Benefit, JSA and tax credits, all of which are claimed by many disabled people. For instance, From 2013/14 any claimant on JSA for more than 12 months will have their HB entitlement cut by 10 per cent. This will continue until they have “left the benefit system and been in work for a while�.This seems a crude measure as it appears that it will apply even where the tenant is fully complying with their JSA requirements to actively seek work. The cut will fall hardest on those who face disadvantage in the labour market, such as people in poor health or with a disability who have failed the harsher medical tests for incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance, and have therefore been moved onto JSA. It also e...
More About: Report , Coalition , Budget

Intrusive Questions
2010-08-17 20:40:00
in·tru·sive/inˈtro͞osiv/Adjective1. Making an unwelcome manifestation with disruptive or adverse effect.2. (of a person) Disturbing another by one's uninvited or unwelcome presence. Intrusive comments from strangers about my breasts began pretty much as soon as they grew. Intrusive 'are you anorexic?' questions happened when I was slim (and yes, some of that time, I was. Did you really want that answer?). Intrusive comments about my weight are different now, but still intrusive and rude.But lately, the subject of the vast majority of intrusive questions I get asked are related to being disabled.Practically every time I go out, someone asks me, "So, what've you done then?" and nods to the crutch. This happens disproportionately in the bus queue, oddly. But can happen anywhere - last week by the guy serving me in Subway, and he didn't even stop there. I am never quite sure how to answer. In my head I come up with clever and funny stories to answer this question, involving sha...
More About: Questions

It's not benefits that are outrageous, it's the cuts.
2010-08-16 07:02:00
The Guardian reports on attacks on people who have been on disability benefits for 10 years or more. Employment Minister Chris Grayling described the figures as "outrageous" and promised action to get people off benefits and back into work. There is a shocking lack of acknowledgement or awareness that if someone has been on disability benefits for 10 years are probably pretty ill, have significant impairments, or face massive barriers."Thousands of people who have simply been cast aside by a welfare system that does nothing but put them in a queue for benefits and then forgets about them."Well those days are over. We will no longer accept a system which writes people off at a drop of the hat and expects the taxpayer to foot the bill." With statements like that, they appear to be trying to cloak their attacks in the guise of concern for the benefit recipients, but it is a thinly disguised threat where the biggest concern is clearly the 'taxpayers footing the bill'.It shows a comple...

Not fit for work, not fit for benefits.
2010-08-11 20:35:00
Many disabled people are currently terrified of the threats to their benefits, and those with mental health problems are especially scared. The benefit system has always been more geared up towards assessing physical impairment, and the new ESA assessments appear to have reinforced rather than reduced the discrepancy.Meridian Tonight has reported on the case of Nicola Hobbs, who after years of anorexia applied for a job. However, she failed the health test and so was not given employment. As a result of this she applied for benefit and in this case was found fit for work.A very confusing situation - judged too ill to work when applying for a job, yet fit for work when applying for benefit. But to add insult to injury, these two opposing judgements were made by the same company - ATOS Healthcare, who do the ESA assessments for the government.Meridian Tonight has a two minute video covering the story on their website. Worryingly, it is not the first time I have heard of cases exactly ...
More About: Work

Being Fat
2010-08-10 12:39:00
Ten years ago I thought I was fat.Today, I know I am fat.Ten years ago, being fat was the worst thing I could ever contemplate.Today, being fat is fine.Ten years ago, the word fat was loaded with fear and disgust.Today, the word fat is a descriptive word only, with no moral judgement.Ten years ago, the idea of getting fat terrified me.Today, I don't fear getting fat, because I already am. Ten years ago, despite being 'underweight', I hated the fat I thought I could see all over my body.Today, I know there is nothing to fear.Ten years ago I would have chosen to stay ill rather than take the medications which would help me to get better, but cause massive weight gain.Today, I take those medications daily.Ten years ago I thought that fat was the ultimate unhealthy thing I could be.Today, I know that that anorexia was way more self-destructive, damaging and unhealthy.Ten years ago, I thought that telling other women how fat I looked, and how awful that was, was normal and ok.Today, I...

Judging Other Women, Judging Ourselves
2010-07-31 13:52:00
One of the reasons I stopped reading women's magazines was due to the way they helped to create a mindset within me of judging other women's appearances. And in turn, my own.All those pap shots, or red carpet shots, with captions such as "OMG, Celebrity A wore item X with item Y. The shame!" always made me start thinking "oh, I'm not supposed to wear X with Y? Since when? What else do I not know? Do I look stupid?"And "OMG, Celebrity B's appalling outfit just draws attention to her problem areas, not flattering at all!" made me start seeing women's bodies in terms of 'problem areas' and how we must disguise them at all costs.For what it's worth, I don't even consider the parts of my body that don't work so well as problem areas, so I hated applying that destructive judgement to my bits that are simply more bulgy than others.But reading those hateful comments made me see similar 'sins' in real life, and the language of body fascism started to invade my consciousness. I wa...
More About: Women

Oh, the Outrage!
2010-07-29 15:55:00
Certain newspapers are renowned for creating outrage and horror out of the smallest things, but this example had me howling with laughter. That might be related to the painkillers I'm currently on for an excessively painful period, but that just makes it all the more relevant.It appears that somebody on set thought it would be funny to add 'jam rags' and 'pile cream' to a blackboard shopping list in Marlon Dingle's kitchen. I agree, I think that is quite funny.I had actually never heard the term 'jam rags' for sanitary towels before, so I've learned something new. And it highlights the fact that just as characters in soaps are rarely seen going to the toilet, they are also rarely seen as having periods. Funnily enough they never watch other soaps, either.The Fail tells us: Vivienne Pattison, director of Mediawatch, said: 'Clearly whoever wrote that knew exactly what they were doing, and they certainly didn't need to.'It's not a particularly helpful phrase to refer to sa...

Budget Impact on Disabled Women
2010-07-08 20:11:00
Jess posted that women will bear the brunt of three-quarters of extra taxes and benefit cuts from the latest budget. Disabled people are also at risk, especially with the proposed changes to benefits, so disabled women will be particularly adversely affected.In a 2004 study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, on the extra costs of living associated with being disabled, it was found that disabled people living on benefits face a weekly shortfall of £200 compared to the amount required for them to ensure an acceptable, equitable quality of life and minimum standard of living. And those results were for people on maximum benefit levels.With many people who are too sick to work being 'pushed into seeking work without any help or support', and the continuing rolling out of ESA, a system condemned as 'unfit' by one of the very people who designed it, along with proposed 'savings' (by which we mean cuts) to Disability Living Allowance (DLA), many disabled people living on benefits w...
More About: Women , Budget

Misc Freebies
2010-07-08 00:50:00
I have never been known to turn down a freebie, at least not that I can remember. There have been a few very cool ones lately, so thought I'd share.Firstly, you can get a free bag for life, made from recycled plastic bottles. You can choose your colour. It is associated with Procter and Gamble, so as long as that doesn't bother you, go for it!Secondly, free food! I got in the post today a box of lovely healthy food, all free! You can too, from graze.com. The code for getting it free is 2DK1RCP. You do have to sign up with payment details, but it's easy to cancel once you've got your freebie. However, I won't be cancelling for now at least, because yum! Full disclosure: if you sign up with that code, I get £1 off a snack box!Thirdly, a directory of free wi-fi locations.Fourthly, find your local freegle or freecycle group, and you can give stuff away for free as well as get it :)
More About: Freebies , Misc

You look fine. You really do. All of you.
2010-07-06 12:17:00
It is no longer enough to hate your breasts, face, stomach, legs, nose, ears and lips enough to get them sliced and diced or injected with poison. It's no longer enough to have society tell you that your body is so very unacceptable that you should risk your life having major surgery in order to make it fit patriarchal 'rules' about thinness, pertness, tightness, hairlessness and perfection.Now, you have to apply the same thinking to your vagina. Are the muscles stretched? Are your labia too big - or too small? Is your mons pubis too big - or too small? Ditto clitoris. Well, you can have those cut up too. That article actually says, So, if you or your partner is not satisfied with your vagina, a rejuvenation procedure can work wonders.Your partner? If s/he is not happy with your vagina, that is entirely their problem! And is not ever a good reason for you to have it chopped up. In fact, if they are criticising your vulva or vagina, they certainly don't deserve you.Amy Clare's r...

Help Make It Stop
2010-07-04 11:55:00
Via Women's Views on News, I discovered this video from the Metropolitan Police, telling people to dial 999 if they hear domestic violence attacks through the walls from their neighbours.It shows the shocking statistic that almost 1 in 5 murders in London are the result of domestic violence, and ends with the statement, You make the call. We'll make it stop.It's an issue that has provoked discussion with my friends over the years. Many, many of us have been in this situation, hearing arguments next door escalate, and wondering what to do. I personally have dialled 999 when things sounded like they were getting really out of hand, but it wasn't an easy decision. When you do dial 999, you fear that you will make things worse for the woman, when the man is released, if he is taken into custody at all. You fear that the police will not take it seriously. You even fear that you may be misinterpreting the situation, despite the smashing and screaming that you really can't mistake.But...
More About: Stop , Make

Rapist Urged Not to Rape
2010-07-03 10:40:00
My local paper has published an article following the sexual assault of a woman. They report that the police are urging a change in behaviour to prevent further rapes. Sadly, contrary to the title of this post, the change in behaviour they are encouraging involves the behaviour of local women, who are advised to not walk alone on the paths of the Dearne Valley Trail.So, I would like to make a few changes to the article. My alterations are in bold POLICE have issued this image of a man who subjected a 50-year-old woman to a terrifying sex attack as she walked her dog at a South Yorkshire beauty spot.The man assaulted the woman as she he walked alone on a secluded path on the Dearne Valley Trail, near Elsecar, Barnsley, at around midday on Thursday June 24.The stockily-built attacker was white, around 30 years old, with short fair hair and a round face. He was wearing blue shorts and a white T-shirt and fled towards Elsecar Park following the attack.Police are warning people using the...

Not Ever
2010-07-02 12:40:00
Rape Crisis Scotland have created a TV advert, aimed at tackling prejudice against rape victims. It follows a survey carried out by the Scottish government, which found that 23% of people thought a woman was partly responsible for being raped if she was drunk at the time of the attack, and 17% if she was wearing revealing clothing.Their campaign ad helps to make the point that a woman is never, ever responsible for being raped. Never. Not if she is drunk, not if she has said yes before, not if she said yes to your friend, not if she is naked in the street. Their website is a good source of information, and also has posters available for download, and details of a national helpline. As I learned on my first ever Reclaim the Night march,"Whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no".

Small Commitment for a Big Society
2010-06-21 20:46:00
Rape Crisis (England and Wales) has organised a campaign for sustainable funding for Rape Crisis centres, as there are areas without services at all, and other areas where the existing services are under threat of closure.They are therefore asking for reassurance from the Coalition Government that it will keep its sustainable funding commitment to Rape Crisis.As someone who has used my local Rape Crisis centre, I can only praise how well they support women and girls, and that service no longer existing would be devastating for my city. Statistics for sexual violence are not going down, and we certainly need more specialist, independent women-only services for survivors, not risk there being even fewer.On their facebook page for this campaign, they have suggestions of things that we can do: • Join our supporters’ group on Facebook• Publicise the group and this event page to all your Facebook friends and encourage others to join and do the same• Send a letter to Theresa Ma...
More About: Society , Small , Commitment

Father's Day
2010-06-20 11:10:00
It's Father's Day, the day every year I try not to get too bitter at having lost him.When I was a kid, sometimes during half-term holidays I used to go to his work with him, when he was a German lecturer.One day I sat in his class when they were doing an aural comprehension exercise, which in this case involved listening to a song and answering questions about it.To keep me from too much boredom, I joined in with the class and listened to the song on headphones, and for some reason it totally captivated me. I made him put it on a tape for me and I listened to it again and again through my early childhood. My obsession with listening endlessly to quirky and odd pieces of music still hasn't waned to this day.Then I remember coming home from University once and asking Dad if he still had the song on tape anywhere. He hunted round, found it and played it, and we listened to it again. This time, I asked what it was about, and it was totally disillusioning to find out that it's pretty...

Spoonless Substitute
2010-06-18 20:17:00
If I had the spoons, I could perhaps have written a whole post on each of the links below, but my body is overtaking everything else at the moment, so here is a collection of some writings on the internet which have caught my eye in the last few days.Does your iPod support rape in the Congo?, looking at rape being used as a weapon in areas of conflict over minerals used in electronics.Disability Terminology: A Starter Kit for Non-Disabled People and the Media. I like that she acknowledges that she's coming from an American perspective, where the preferred language used by disabled people is often different from in the UK, and she makes some great points, including one expanded on by Elena Newley in "I don't suffer!".FWD's Ableist Word Profiles are always worth a read, too, discussing disablist language further.I loved this story about 9 women in Northern Ireland who have been acquitted of criminal damage after breaking into the premises of an arms manufacturing company. Impressiv...

Greencoat Boy Packs a Punch to Equality.
2010-06-06 00:10:00
One great thing about the internet, which is helped a lot by twitter, is the immediacy of information. When something goes wrong, all sorts of people can rally round and react, sometimes within minutes of the event itself.So things happened like that tonight. @LGBTLabour posted the following messages on their twitterfeed.Within minutes, this became a Trending Topic on twitter, meaning it was one of the most talked about things at that time. The discussion, now with the tag #bigotbar, is still ongoing. And people are starting to discuss actions like boycotts, and mass emails to the Punch Taverns who own the pub involved.As Grace Fletcher-Harwood has said, they picked the wrong LGBTs to mess with! She also gives links to some pub review sites which accept comments on pubs, and the contact details of the Chair of Licensing for Westminster Council.Sarah Brown joined in, with All of that is why I love the internet.But then, as quickly as things rise, they can also start to descend. A few...

Signal Boost: Feminism and Mental Health – Call for Submissions
2010-05-06 21:38:00
Found via FWD (feminists with disabilities) blog: Feminism and Mental Health – Call for Submissions – Deadline: June 1, 2010Call for Submissions:The lived experience(s) of mental health in feminist communitiesCall for submissions from people of any gender who identify with feminism and have lived experiences of a psychiatric diagnosis.Our upcoming anthology, Feminist’s Navigate Mental Health (working title), will explore the complexities of navigating mental health and how a feminist identity may (or may not) shape those experiences, thoughts and feelings.Submissions are welcomed in the form of personal short stories.The submissions received will shape the outcome of the book. The finalmanuscript will be submitted to relevant independent publishers.Possible themes may include (but are not limited to):o Coping – what works and what doesn’to Any positive aspects of your mental health that are commonly considered deficitso Treatment preferences and past experienceso Medicatio...