Abortion

I'm Pro-choice - to an extent. If a woman wishes to terminate her baby then it is up to her, but at the same time I feel that if the woman is in a relationship then it is a joint decision and there should be two signatures on the consent form. The man has just as much of a right to know that his baby is being terminated.

Obviously, each case is individual - in rape circumstances then it is simply up to the woman, obviously - but to a a 17 year old who is about to go in for her 25th abortion because she can't be bothered to get up and go to get condoms... surely something else should be worked - forced sterilisation maybe?

I had a look around and managed to find some statistics for abortion in 2001 - turns out that there was 12 abortions for people under the age of 15!

Under the age of 15?!! And that was just in the UK, in the rest of the world there was another 22. Those statistics can be found here

Apparently teenage pregnancy rates got so high in Swindon, that they began to give free abortions to teenagers if they had a Swindon post code...

"The official statistics show that in 2004, 12,866 women from the South West had an abortion.bpas performed 92% of the abortions (more than 560) for women from Swindon and is the main abortion provider in the area."
- Click here for the article

...MAIN ABORTION PROVIDER?!?

Surely this is a world gone mad when companies are cashing on women doing this, Im all for the women making a choice for themselves and being able to carry the decision out but I find it slightly horrifying when there are companies competing for the right to do so.

Why drink so much?

Ok, so binge drining in Britain is quite a problem, but why is it? Why do we as Britons feel the need to drink to excess so much? Even now, Britain is still the number one country in Europe for Binge drinking, even through the recession are still drinking more than every other European country, why?

"in England in 2005, 73 per cent of men and 58 per cent of women reported drinking an alcoholic drink on at least one day in the week prior to interview. Thirteen per cent of men and 8 per cent of women reported drinking on every day in the previous week" - NHS site

So, 75% once a week, and 13% everyday. Thats high, why do we have to drink every day? Is it a social thing? is it because we go out and we can't simply g out and not get drunk, do we instantly have to have an alcoholic drink the minute we walk through a door with a license?

I think it's because when people go out, especially the younger people, we go out specifically to get drunk - maybe not as often as the older generation, we may only go out once or twice a week but you can guaranteee that we will drink to excess, to the point where we can't actually drink anymore and are phycially removed from the premises sometimes.

But... WHY?!

Why do we feel the need to go out and get hammered, why do we go out and feel the need to cause trouble? I've seen people get in some absolutely terrible states, but why get that bad? Why not stop a drink before?

Now, the statistics also show that the older generation drink more frequently than the younger generation, but not to as bad a state - so, the older men might go the pub every single day, but they might only have one or two pints, where as the younger will go out once or twice a week and drink anything up to three times there weekly recommended allowance of units in one night.

"older people were more likely to drink regularly 28 per cent of men and 18 per cent of women aged 45-64 drank on five or more days in the week prior to interview compared to 10 per cent of men and 5 per cent of women aged 16-24. Younger people were more likely to drink heavily, with 42 per cent of men and 36 per cent of women aged 16-24 drinking above the daily recommendations, compared to 16 per cent of men and 4 per cent of women aged 65 and over" - NHS site

Is it because of the promotional activites of certain night clubs? - Having one night a week where it's cheap entry for stuents followed by free drinks all night? Is it because the younger people are full of pride and wanna see how much they can do and not be the first one to appear to fade? Is it a mix of all these things.

I think most likely ll the things mixed together is what is going to affect the younger culture the most, image, nights given, price drops for certain nights, things like that. The clubs may be making a bomb - but our livers are going. Why don't we care about the medical connotations of alcohol? Why don't we care about needing a new liver when we grow old, because it will happen, the same as taking cocaine will rot your nose and smoking will cause lung cancer, why is it we simply ignore the fact with alcohol?

Oooooh, the reason we don't hear about the medical connotations of alcohol so much would most likely be because of the amount of money the government make off of it with income tax and so on. Or am i WAY off?

Broadcasting suicide??

Ok, so surely the will or intent to kill oneself is up to the said person and noone else. The usual want or need to terminate your own life would come from a fit of depression, or a fit of slight insanity, whichever - there would usually be some underlying cause for this. So, why do A) people promote this possible mental condition, and B) broadcasty it over the internet.

I found two posts which angered me about said subject:

One: Teen broadcast suicide over internet
Two: How to kill yourself like a man



In the first link, it shows you a post in the New York Post about a guy in Miami who killed himself over the internet on a livewebcam stream, this is the part that got me: "while some users egged him on". Why would anyone do that? Sure, friends joke with each other, but for people to actually egg someone on in killing themselves is just WRONG! - But, who's to blame? This raises two points for me: a) who's to blame for the suicide? and b) should anything happen to the people that egged him on ?

Since suicide is (surprisingle and rather wierdly) a criminal offence should the people egging him on be held nd prosecuted for aiding a criminal?

- The second post is just stupid, and yes most likely a comedy thing - but people will take this seriously if given the right mental conditions and so should not be allowed on the internet, now I'm not saying that people should be constantly monitored as to what they put up on the net in this age of "freedom of speech" but surely something should be down to take down the offending page - I mean offering "fun" ways to kill yourself? Why would someone put that up? Maybe THEY have the underlying mental condition.

Comment on Laura's blog - Abortion Advertisements

Laura's blog

Ok, so to the actual point about abortion being advertised on TV, probably not the best idea - I mean, surely the adverts would be saying how easy it is, and how it protects the young females life for so many years because they won't be laden witht he child that she had just created.

To be honest, with the whole abortion issue itself, Im prettymuch Pro-Choice, if a woman wishes to do that, she wishes to do that, but I'm under the complete and utter guise that a guy who helped create said foetus should also be alerted to the decision of the woman, no matter what the decision is and who it hurts in the long run.

Laura stated a case about a guy being allergic to Condomns. know someone who is allergic to latex yes, and there are latex free condoms available from your local GUM clinic. I, myself, can't stand using them - but that said I've never forced a girl to have sex with me without using them, it's her problem too if she agrees or consents to having sex with the male while not using a condom.

Yes Laura, abortion is not an alternative to condoms, but the injection and the pill possibly are.

What kind of a role-model is Barbie really?

The first thing I want to bring your attention to is this: Tramp stamp Barbie, now this is a youtube video of a guy reviewing one of Barbies more... intriguing little doll lines. Tramp stamp Barbie?! Come on. Yes, it's real, yes girls buy this - and as we all know (apparently) all girls wanna be just like the dolls that they buy from Woolworths, or from other stores that haven't actually closed down.

I'm not the first person to think about Barbie in this way, there's numerous articles over that thing we call the inter web about Barbie being a little whore - but there also ones of a contradictory note - one of the more interesting finds was this: Barbie as a role model.

Now, here the author states that Barbie is not to blame for anorexia, bullemia, social anxiety and eating disorders, peer pressure and other thoughts about a child needing to look perfect in every way.

...Personally, I don't know. I mean, surely things such as "Tramp stamp Barbie" should not be around, but that would be more of a morla high ground - exposing children to something that shouldn't really be talked about or thought about until after a certain age. So what do we do? Censor Barbie? Say "you can't have Tramp Stamp Barbie until you are at least 16 years of age or sexually active"? Hm, I can't see that happening. And then there's the fiasco of a child saying "but mum, I have teenage pregnancy barbie, why can't I have tramp stamp barbie". - All sorts of questions will then arise.

Maybe Barbie is to blame for children wanting to look good, I mean, at the end of the day she is the stereotypical image of a sexually attractive girl - but, thats nothing to do wit the makers of the doll wanting to change social outlooks on women, it's more the simple fact that people prefer to buy aesthetically pleasing figurines - would you realy buy a barbie doll if it looked like someone who would be considered too ugly to pass for the ugly stepsisters in cinderella? - No, you'll be much morelikely to buy the beautiful Cinderella herself.

So, I'm not too sure about this one. Maybe certain lines of the barbie products are wrong, but all in all I can't see that Barbie is solely responsible for girls wanting to look pretty - thats just natural, guys like attractive women.

Comment on Zoe's comment on Claire's blog

Ok, I don't know if I'm allowed to do this, but I'm doing it anyway.

- The whole Jade Goody fiasco is terrible, a woman gets diagnosed with cancer, she's given a prognosis, the prognosis rings true and she leaves her family, friends and kids behind. Terrible situation, don't get me wrong - it truly is awful. Probably one of the worst things that you can imagine, as a parent, leaving your kids behind, and as a kid watching your parents go.

Guess what? - - She isn't the first woman in the world to get that type of cancer, she isn't the first woman in the world to die of an early age and she isn't the going to be the last. Is it really right that the whole nation should apparently mourn so much over the fact that a "celebrity" contracted cervical cancer? What about the other hundreds of people affected by it?

• "In 2005, 2,803 women in the UK were diagnosed with cervical cancer.
• Cervical cancer caused 941 deaths in the UK in 2007." - taken from Cancer Research UK

So, more to the point, why is Jade so different to the other 941 people that dies in 2007, or the other 2,800 plus people that were diagnosed witht he same illness in 2005 ? Because she has money, because so many people recognise her face? How many other mums had been diagnosed with this illness and suffered in silence with everyone else not knowing or caring how they died.

Yes, she's a celebrity and yes she's an idol for some... strange people out there i suppose and yes she said she's doing the reality shows for her kids to be able to go to college and whatever else. But there are people out there that didn't get that chance, there are people that lost their mothers and had no other parents, had to go into foster homes ETC. Why is it SO different and SO much more tragic to have stuff like this happen to a celebrity?

Comment on Claire's blog - Drugs

Claire's post

First and foremost, you said "the idiots that abuse them" - You know, some people take dugs because they have a problem, an they don't get prosecuted as such, they get help like they need. Other people take drugs because they feel as though they need to, they feel that without them there life is simply not worth living and it helps them to carry on.

I have known people who take Marijuana to such extent that when they have not had a smoke, or when they are not "stoned" they actually seem normal, it is when they have not had any of the said drug that they seem different. Strange concept and notion I know.

I think that people who take drugs... well, it's up to them, no point in us getting worried about it, so long as it doesn't bother anyone. - Ok, maybe when its getting to the point that the person is so hopelessly addicted that they would go out and mug old ladies in order to come up with the money for another gram of cocaine, or another needle then it's probably getting a bit much...

Then there is the question which lingers... why? - why do people take drugs? why do people try them? why do people continue to do them after years of abuse and damage, and knowing that on average for every gram of street-sold cocaine there is at least 60% of unknown subtances in it that it has been cut with. Why would people put themselves through that?

... Addicted? Possibly. In the same way that people become addcited to caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. Now, nicotine is actually the single most addictive drug used on the streets? Is smoking that bad? Yes. But it's legal.

"Based on the level of dependence, the most common measure for determining the addictiveness of a drug, the substances ranked as follows, from most to least addictive:

1. Nicotine
2. Heroin
3. Cocaine
4. Alcohol
5. Caffeine
6. Marijuana"

- Taken from here.

Hm... So, the first, fourth and fifth most addictive drugs that we have are currently on sale n the UK so long as you are over 18. - Why not go the whole shabang?

Protesting for pay rises

Soooo, who out there works a minimum wage job? More to the point, who out there currently is working more than one minimum paid job, while trying to live in a rented accomodation on their own, without family support?

I used to work minimum wage up until about 4 weeks ago when i got bumped up to the amazing wage of £7 an hour, while studying full time - Now, my big big peeve is people complaining. At the moment, especially with current situation how it is, people protesting for rises in wages. I know graduates that currently can only get one job, waitressing, and this is one of the lowest paid jobs in the country. I happen to know, that the union that covers this particular job role DOES NOT protest for wage increases. Because it cimply won't happen, obviously the people that work for approx £6 an hour, need £6 an hour and can't afford to not work in protest to try and get more.

So, why do teaches always seem to be protesting for more money? Sure it's a specialised job, and you have to have degrees in order to do it, but there are people working out there for much less who never say squat about protesting in order to attempt to get more money. And some times, the people earning less are more qualified than the people in the said profession who are protesting for money.

The reason I'm saying this is that while surfing the Guardian website I came up with the following article:

Article

and the part of this article that really caught me out was "I am fed up with being overdrawn,' one teacher told conference. Photographer: Graham Turner" - this is the text, by the way, sitting underneath the picture.

So is just about every student in the country that isn't relying on mommy and daddy to get them through the recession and more to the point, so is just about every person who isn't an upper class person in an expenisve suite at the moment. Why do teachers deserve such a rise? Is the job they do truly that life threatening, mentally and physically exhausting? - Don't worry, I'm not an over-zealous anti-teacher, anti-academia nut job, my mums a teacher also and she works extremely hard at their job, but why do they deserve SUCH a huge increase? "10% or £3000, whichever sum is greater" - I'LL HAVE EITHER!

- Discuss =P

Comment on Laura's blog post - Stalking

Laura's post on the subject of stalking stated a lot about the extreme cases of stalking, I think there is a lot of possible... leniance. When does stalking become an infringement and intrusion on someone elses personal space, when does one person stop being a mere harasser or follower, or even fan in the case of a celebrity and become a stalker. Does stalking always lead to harm, if you are in a relationship with someone and you follow them somewhere in order to see wether or not the y or having an affair or if they are lying to you, is it still stalking?

The dictionary describes the word stalk as: "to pursue or approach prey, quarry, etc., stealthily" - now in the case of stalk being used in a predatorial sense, then yes there is always some intent to harm.

I Just think personally that a lot of things need to be considered before calling someone a stalker, or saying someone is stalking you, do they intend to harm you? Are they intending to harm? Is it always a bad thing? Armed forces will always stalk their foes.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stalker

" Although unlike alcohol, you are always "in control" with cannabis (unless you get really hammered and fall asleep), the world can feel distant and conversation can become difficult. Movement can be difficult and reaction times are slowed. " (The UK Cannabis Internet Activists)

So, is it really such a bad thing? Lately it has been moved from a Class C drug to a Class B, carrying effects of its use to natural high, the munchies, dry mouth and a prison sentence of fined more than... twice? I think.

The above quote comes from a website of activists in support of the legalisation of Marijuana. There are varied reports of Marijuana being said to be therapeutic in cases of severe joint pain and diseases such as Multiple Sclirosis, so what is so bad about it? I mean, so far we've seen it to be a controlled high where the user doesn't lose control, unlike in cases of alcohol abuse, a natural herb that helps with severe pain...

Hm... well, the bigwigs say this about the prolonged use of Marijuana...

"A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia."
- http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html

Ok, so yes it has all the good effects of being on a high but can apparently cause schizophrenia and all sorts of nasty mental health problems... and it's a Class B drug.

... So why isn't alcohol?

There are many many more reports of alcohol abuse then marijuana abuse, there are alcohol related deaths, drink-driving instances, alcohol fuelled fights, liver problems, cholesterol problems, heart problems... and yet it is still legal. Why, I wonder.

I don't understand why a drug that is just as addictive, under the right circumstances, yet has many more harmful and serious effects is left, allowed to be sold to anyone over the age of 18 and yet to chill out and get away from the world isn't allowed. - The use of Marijuana does NOT lead to enraged fights, liver difficulties, cholesterol problems or domestic violence. If you know someone who would rather go and find trouble than sit in his/her room and watch animé, scrubs, skins or play Ps3 or Xbox360 then I will stand corrected, but I don't think it's possible.

To smoke Marijuana and be on a natural, clean high and sit in your room listening to music, chilled and relaxed, away from the hustle and bustle of every day life, or get drunk, get in a fight, get arrested. - Which would you choose?

Video-game and Movie violence... Does it affect our children?

I for one LOVE playing video games, I love all types of games too. RPG (Role Playing Games), Fantasy, Beat 'em Up, Shoot 'em Up, Animé based, T.E.A (Tactical Espionage Action), Horror, Thriller; and I can think of at least one example for everyone of these categories. Just to show how much i enjoy playing games I'm now going to show you a list of the games I own:

Playstation 2:
Tekken 5,
Metal Gear Solid 2
Metal Gear Solid 3
Guitar Hero 2
Guitar Hero 3
Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition
The Warriors
The Simpsons: Hit & run
King of Fighters: Neowave
Mortal Kombat 4
Dragonball Z: Budokai 3
Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Resident Evil 4
Project Zero
Lord Of The rings: Two Towers

Playstation 3:
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty 5: World At War
Soul Calibur IV
Grand Theft Auto IV
Metal Gear Solid IV
Gran Turismo V: Prologue
Assassins Creed
Mirror Edge
Street Fighter IV

Now that took a hell of a lot of time and effort to do, I had to sift around my room and find every case I have, and even have just remembered some more I have after doing that. (Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, X, X-II and also XII) - but i keep those stashed away as they tend to be my pride and joy. Anyway, I think it was worth it to prove my point.

I've never killed anyone, I've never stolen a car, I've never purchased a gun and gone on a killing spree, I've never thought it would be fun to grab my elven and dwarven friend and go on a quest to Mordor. So exactly why is it people claim that playing video games influences people to the point where they believe murder, stealing and general crimes are acceptable in society?

One of the biggest claims in todays arguments over the effects of video games on the human brain and psyche are the Columbine shootings on 20th April 1999 where 2 teenagers (aged 17 and 18) killed 13 and wounded 23 people. People have actually blamed video games. Simply because they were fans of the game Doom.

Now, not being funny but so are... what, another 50 odd thousand people? Now, I don't believe that things like that affect peoples psyche to the point where a non-murderous mind can become murderous or turn a "normal" person into a psycho/sociopath.

There was a case not too long ago where the video-game "Manhunt 2" was banned for a time because of the graphic violence it contained. Now I played this game when the ban was released - and yup, I don't want to go and wrap a black bin liner around the head of someone because they set me up and put me in jail.

Come on, are we really that closed minded now that we are blaming video-game violence for the cause of deaths of people ? Surely not.

Wikipedia on the Comubine shootings
Info on Video game violence being linked with real violence

EDIT::::

Ok, after talking to my friend about the subject, she has come up with this theory: "I think that violence is built into every human being, as natural as the need and desire for sex. the reaosn we enjoy killing people in games so much is due to there being no complications, no comebacks in real life. We can kill who we want and get away with it. It stems our violent urges."

I AGREE

Comment on Zoe Broklehurst's blog "prostitution"

Just reading through this brought my own opinions up on prostitution. Now I mentioned these views not too long ago to someone in the class, and don't think I was taken too seriously. You see, I personally think prostitution should be legalised for several reaons, including safety both for the prostitute and the buyer, cleanliness, and basic integrity.

I don't know if anyone has ever heard or seen of either A) a film called Serenity, or B) a series called Firefly - both sci-fi written by Joss Whedon (the writer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), well I got the ideas from that, as it is law there that a "companion" is kept on a ship as a diplomat (a woman called Inara in this case), you see prsotitution in that world is a very prestigious job, they're academy trained, very well educated, clean, beautiful. So basically not only should it be legalised, but it should be protected by law. Every six months the prostitute (or escort, or companion) should be taken to a testing facility and be tested for every STD/I and general health, before going ahead with any form of service, a contract must be signed by the consumer stating he/she agrees to pay "X" amount and abide by a certain code, i.e. - whatever the prostitute (escort/companion) has agreed to do.

If that happens we get a decreased amount of sexualy transmitted infections and diseases, a decreased amount of illegal prostitution, and eventually over generations it will become most likely a better adhered to job than toilet cleaner.

Smoking?

Well, I smoke - so it can't be that bad.

I've been an official part of the Nicotine club for the best part of 6 years now, and considering I'm only 20 then I'd say I was a young-ish starter. When people who don't smoke, or even worse, people who are anti-smoking come up and talk to me about it, they usually say things like "Aren't you scared of cancer", "doesn't it make your teeth yellow?" and "oh god, it makes you smell" - well, cancer... people get cancer anyway, my uncle was a non-smoker (maybe not all his life) but died of cancer anyway. So, I can't be scared of something that I don't really have any control over. It doesn't make my teeth yellow because I found this great little invention called a toothbrush, and smells.... generally I tend to smell of YSL L'Homme aftershave and Lynx so it rarely causes bother.

That said, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. I started young because at the time there was some lads that I used to hang around with and I was convinced it was cool, I was also convinced that it added a certain "bad boy" look to it. The proverbial rebel in me took over I guess. I have noticed a few things though, my stamina isn't what it used to be back when i didn't smoke as much and played Rugby, also I do have a consistent slight cough which I can only assume will get worse with time.


Now, is it bad? Well, I'm not hurting anyone - so i guess it can't really be called bad as such, it hurts nobody else and I'm confident that it won't decrease my life expectancy to the point where my parents will have to bury me. the thing that is more likely to reduce my life expectancy so much is catchng pneumonia from standing out in the rain because our "over P.C" government will no longer allow us to settle our nicotine cravings indoor. I mean, come on - what was wrong with a desginated smoking area?!

Oh well, I'll leave it there I think... time for a cigarette...

Blog setup

So, here we go, I've jus set up the blog for Being bad... let's see if it works. =D

Oh, and apparently we need to suggest something to do in Week 12. Right, well it's going to have to be a field trip somewhere, because we all enjoy being out of the classroom don't we? =P

Um, hm... So children where would we like to go? Im thinking multiple places... Amsterdam, Russia, Germany - oh the endless possibilites for students in the fruit of life. But, im guessing we're not thinking about international excavations. So, maybe something that could show us being bad in a broad sense. Though, in saying all that I have no idea where, but field trip anyway!!