Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen

For the life of me, can anybody tell me why these so called celebrities give their children ridiculous names? Is it for publicity? Is it to tell the public that 'my child is special, therefore my child will not have a normal name, they will have a name that will make him/her stand out from the rest of the mundane society we are forced to live in'? And what of the unfortunate offspring of these morons? They will have to live with these ridiculous labels. Let's take a look. Zowie Bowie - well done David! Very creative! Then there's Paula Yates (RIP) - she had 3 daughters to Bob Geldorf: Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom, and Pixie. Also a daughter to the late Michael Hutchence, Tiger Lilly. Need I say more? Frank Zappa(RIP) had 4 children to Adelaide Gail Slaotman: Moon Unit, Dweezil(born Ian Donald CalvinEuclid Zappa, because the hospital refused to put Dweezil on the birth certificate; Dweezil later legally changed his name to "Dweezil"), Ahmed Emuukha Rodan (named for Atlantic Records executive Ahmet Ertegun), and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. I think Ms. Pigeen wins outright - unless someone can come up with a better name ...

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All French Cars Are Rubbish

Isn't it about time we told the world how bad French cars are? Renault Peugeot Citroen all seem to come bottom of car surveys, tests and assessments . We cannot believe French cars are selling in today's market when you have the likes of the Germans and Japs all making much better cars. Top Gear and Watchdog always seem to have complaints about these shite tin cans. Come on Froggies pull your doigt out of your derriere and make a decent car!

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Prostate Cancer and Treatment

Your doctor takes your age into account because some prostate cancers grow very slowly. If you are older and your prostate cancer is not causing you any symptoms, you may live just as long without having active treatment. So you might be offered regular check ups instead. If you are older, you may have a normal life expectancy even though you have prostate cancer. Your cancer may be growing so slowly that it does not spread and need treatment.You may find it hard to wait and see like this. But it could be the right choice for you if the side effects from the treatment might be worse than the effects of the disease. This is particularly so if you have other health problems. If your cancer starts to cause symptoms you and your doctor can consider which treatment is best for you.
The PSA blood testMore and more prostate cancers are being diagnosed early from a PSA blood test. The PSA is a very reliable test for checking whether your cancer is growing quickly or slowly. So it is very useful in monitoring your cancer. There is more information about PSA testingin the 'Screening for prostate cancer' section of CancerHelp UK.
Decisions about treatmentIt is important for you and your doctor to talk through which would be the best treatment for you and your individual circumstances. This is particularly important if you are young enough for your prostate cancer to become life threatening, even if it is slow growing.

More details on treatment at http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=2856

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Prostate Cancer: Prognosis & Gleason Score

The stage tells your doctor the size of the tumour in your prostate and how far it has grown. The treatment choices for a cancer that is small and completely inside the prostate gland will be different to those for a cancer that has grown outside the prostate. There is more about staging prostate cancer in this section of CancerHelp UK.
The grade of your cancerYour doctor will determine your cancer's grade by looking at your cancer cells under a microscope. If your cancer cells resemble nornal prostate cells, your cancer may be at a lower grade. The more abnormal the cells appear (and so less like normal cells), the more probable it is that the cancer is at a higher grade. Generally speaking, low grade cancers tend to grow more slowly and be less likely to spread than high grade cancers. Some doctors refer to these different types of prostate cancer as grumbling (low grade) and galloping (high grade).
Your Gleason scoreYour doctor may tell you your Gleason score. This is a way of describing grade. When biopsies are taken, each area showing cancer cells is graded on a scale from 1 to 5 according to how the cells look. 1 is the lowest grade or most normal looking. 5 is the highest grade or the least normal looking. The pathologist finds the two areas with the highest grade cells and adds their scores together to give the combined Gleason score. So your Gleason score can be as low as 2 or as high as 10. Some doctors write the two scores separately, for example 3 + 4, instead of 7.

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Prostate Cancer Statistics & Stages

Statistics: A man is 35% more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than a woman is to be diagnosed with breast cancer
Older age, African American race, and a family history of the disease can all increase the likelihood of a man being diagnosed with the disease.
As men increase in age, their risk of developing prostate cancer increases exponentially. Although only 1 in 10,000 under age 40 will be diagnosed, the rate shoots up to 1 in 38 for ages 40 to 59, and 1 in 14 for ages 60 to 69. More than 65% of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65.
African American men are 61% more likely to develop prostate cancer compared with Caucasian men and nearly 2.5 times as likely to die from the disease.
There are 4 stages of Prostate Cancer
Stage 1: the cancer is very small and completely inside the prostate gland which feels normal when a rectal examination is done
Stage 2: the cancer is still inside the prostate gland, but is larger and a lump or hard area can be felt when a rectal examination is done
Stage 3: the cancer has broken through the covering of the prostate and may have grown into the neck of the bladder or the seminal vesicle
Stage 4: the cancer has spread to another part of the body

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Prostate Cancer - Definitions & Symptoms

The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system just below the bladder. The prostate surrounds part of the urethra, the canal that empties the bladder, and produces a fluid that forms part of semen.
Prostate Cancer is a malignant tumour of glandular origin in the prostate gland. Cancer can be classified either by the cell type or its primary site. Over 95% of the prostate cancers are adenocarcinom - that is cancer that begins in cells.
Symptons: If the cancer is caught at its earliest stages, most men will not experience any symptoms. Some men, however, will experience symptoms that might indicate the presence of prostate cancer, including:

• A need to urinate frequently, especially at night;
• Difficulty starting urination or holding back urine;
• Weak or interrupted flow of urine;
• Painful or burning urination;
• Difficulty in having an erection;
• Painful ejaculation;
• Blood in urine or semen; or
• Frequent pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips, or upper thighs.

Because these symptoms can also indicate the presence of other diseases or disorders, men who experience any of these symptoms will undergo a thorough work-up to determine the underlying cause of the symptoms.

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Breast Cancer - Should I Use Deodorants & Antiperspirants

There have been emails circulating over the years that deodorants and antiperspirants cause Breast Cancer. The email says that antiperspirant stops poisons (toxins) being removed from the body in sweat and so they build up in the lymph glands under the arm and cause a breast cancer. There are quite a few misunderstandings in this statement. Many women diagnosed with breast cancer are found to have cancer cells in the lymph glands under the arm. Sometimes, an enlarged lymph gland is the first symptom. But the cancer starts in the breast cells - usually those lining the tubes (ducts) inside the breast. Cancer cells can break away from the tumour in the breast and travel through the lymphatic system to the lymph glands under the arm. The cancer has not started in these lymph glands. glands under the arm. Some toxins are removed from the body through the sweat glands (although most are excreted through the liver and kidneys). The sweat glands are completely different from the lymph glands. Lymph glands are part of the lymphatic system of the body. This acts as a drainage system for the body tissues and helps the body to fight off infections. The lymphatic system is a network of lymph glands and tubes called lymphatic ducts. The fluid bathing the body tissues flows into the smallest of these ducts. These ducts join to form larger and larger ducts. Eventually, the largest lymphatic ducts empty their contents back into the blood circulation. The lymph fluid does not flow in the other direction, so toxins cannot be delivered back to the body tissues from the lymph glands. HOWEVER research has found that some of these antiperspirants contain a chemical called Parabens, and this same chemical was found in breast tumour samples. Apparently there is only 10% of antiperspirants that contain Parabens on the market today - isn't that reassuring ladies? So in a year or two what will be the next chemical they find in the deodorant and breast tumours? In reality we don't know what shite they're putting into them, and if I was a woman, I just wouldn't take the risk. Use some of these natural crystal deodorants. They have no smell, but do an excellent job. I use one called Ice Guard and I'm not even a woman. So don't take the risk ladies. Keep away from that chemical crap and stay healthy and stay alive.

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Brussels is the dirtiest, filthiest city in the world - part 1: the barker's egg

Why are the streets of Brussels coverd in dog shit? Everywhere you go, a steaming turd will greet you, and you are forced to walk around it. When I first came to Brussels, I wondered why everyone was walking with their heads down - I just thought all Belgians were miserable bastards - but now I know the truth.
You would think something would be done about it, but no. People seem to accept it.

There are even areas specially provided for dogs to do their business, but I notice people do not like to use these and so these areas are actually cleaner than the street.

And when you step in it wearing shoes with a good tread - well, I don't need to go into the details, but a pointed stick is a good investment after all.

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Obese Parents = Long Term Child Abuse

If children are subjected to physical abuse by their parents, the Social Services are called in, and often the children are taken into care. The same should happen to the children of obese parents. These obesities are subjecting their unfortunate offspring to a horrific diet, which will lead to terribe illnesses in the long-term(see ealier posting). We should stop this abuse, and take their children away from them and put them with families who can teach them the importance of correct eating habits and diet. Obese people do not care what happens to themselves or their children. They do not read about the dangers of bad diet and the terrible side effects; they are too busy stuffing themslves with pizza and diet coke and watching Big Brother.

p.s. Drinking gallons of diet coke does not help you lose weight. Pepsi and Cocoa Cola are rubbish.

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Back to the OBESE issue - some ideas

Restaurant owners should have the power to refuse to serve these lard mountains, especially when they have too much to eat - a bit like when the landlord down the local takes away your car keys when you've had too much to drink.

Another point I would like to add is that these hefty hungry hippos (HHH for short) should be charged more by airlines. In fact the price of flight tickets should be based on the weight of the individual, similar to luggage - you pay more when the suitcase is overweight.

I notice that the post office is charging for postage based on the shape and size of the parcel/envelope and not the weight. In contradiction to my suggestion above, an airline could adopt this method, as very often these junk food silos take up 2 seats on a plane making it very uncomfortable for other passengers...

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The Great Mobile Phone Roaming Charges Rip-Off

Yes, at last, they have actually admitted it: we have been paying 4 to 5 times cost price for roaming charges. You know when you come back from holiday abroad and and you get your mobile phone bill that could choke a crocodile? After all these years, we still have to wait another year before the prices are brought down to a normal level. I have been in the telecomms industry on and off for 10 years. Myself and colleagues have submitted patents designed at saving costs for the consumer. What do they do? Give you a pat on the back, a slap up meal, then sit on the patent. Several years ago myself and a friend developed a patent called 'circle of friends'. This was targetted at large groups/families going on holiday or a sports event abroad. You always want to rendezvous somewhere and the mobile phone is the best way to do it. I won't go into the underlying details, but our idea was for the whole group, once they had reached their destination abroad, to dial a certain number and register for say 10 euro, into 'circle of friends'. Then later when they called each other, their numbers would be recognised by the network as belonging to that particular group of 'circle of friends, and they would only be charged normal local rates - thus saving a fortune. Normally your call would have to be directed all the way back to your country of origin for authentication and verification. This is why the charges build up. They all said it was agood idea but they wouldn't persue it because that would mean them losing revenue. The billions of profit they make each year and the millions they pay in bonuses to their managers, is obviously not enough. How will they cope when the new fairer charges are brought in? God help them.

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - PLEASE READ.

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Apologies For Layout

Working on the HTML to position these Google ads from Adsense correctly.
But dont let it stop you from posting and/or commenting!

Stress in the Work Place and its Causes.

More and more of the country's population is suffering from stress related illnesses while at work. The numbers seem to be rising unabated, and companies seem unconcerned with this rising trend. The whole attitude of the company in relation to its workforce has changed dramatically over the last 10 years, and it has changed for the worst. This is largely due to the introdcution of performance and ranking and ratings for employees. Now that the blue-chip companies have rid themselves of those awful, nasty unions, they can ride rough-shod over their employees. The onset of stress in the job is more pronounced, as an employee's job represents the difference between living a normal life, and becoming bankrupt and unemployable. The employee is often the breadwinner of the family: his or her wages pays for the mortgage, the bills, the doctors, and education. To lose a job, means losing all of this. Employers know this full well, and they take advantage of it. They seek out the employees whom they see as weak, they are rated low on their performance scales and consequently do not receive bonuses or pay increases. This destroys their confidence, and affects their work. They head into a downward spiral and the worry of losing their job brings on the stress. Not every employee can be brilliant - not every employee received a first-class honours degree. So in all workplaces there are different levels of skills for different levels of the job. Horses for courses. This has always been the case. If an employee is performing a supporting function, he may not get the recognition or visibility of someone who has invented a new product. It does not mean that person is any way less of a contributor. Companies now fail to recognise this. They want to weed out the background employees and force them out of their jobs. They do not care about the stress employees suffer - employees to the company are like shelving or desks. They're expendable. I can only see one outcome to this: the re-introduction of unions.

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Save Me from this Big Brother Garbage!

How civilisation has degenerated. How TV companies have scraped the bottom of the barrel to broadcast this so-called reality TV. These talentless TV writers have become lazy, and should be shot at dawn with the cast. And people actually watch these programs for hours at a time and discuss them at work. They talk about them on the radio and there are magazines covering them. 'Big Brother' , 'Love Island' , 'Celebrity Big Load of Toss!'. Am I the only one out there that thinks this is the worst piece of broadcasting ever? I really have to wonder about the audiences for these programs. Are their lives so empty they have to eavesdrop on this completely false set-up of normal life? Do yourselves a favour, turn the TV off, pick up a good book or play some decent music and forget such programs ever existed.

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Pink Floyd's Syd Barret dies today aged 60

To me Syd Barret was the real voice of Pink Floyd. A founder member in 1965, he only lasted about 3 years because he was so screwed up on LSD. He created Pink Floyd with old friend Roger Waters, and became a huge star at the age of 21. He made a solo album in 1970 - 'Madcap Laughs' - but the LSD had taken its toll. He became a recluse after that. Some of my mates at College knew him quite well and visited him in the early seventies - but they said it was frightening what had happened to his mind. They reckoned he never came out of his last trip. It put them off LSD for good! I will always remember his voice on the classics: 'See Emily Play' and 'Arnold Layne'. Now he'll be tripping away on his Interstellar Overdrive. RIP Syd.

Theo - Get Your Sums Right!

Posted for John Murphy - Headmaster & Maths Teacher.

Apparently Theo Paphitis (Dragon's Den and former Chairman of Millwall, millionaire etc) was on Newsnight with Paxman, asking the question why do we need to teach Maths in school! He said all his workers knew their times tables, so what more do they need? The obvious reply is that we are teaching problem solving skills, that we use a lot more GCSE maths in our jobs than we think, and also learning at school is not just for getting a job it's also about broadening our horizons. Then I began to think a bit deeper and realised that if we stopped teaching Maths as he proposes then the logical conclusion eventually would be that we wouldn't have enough people with the necessary skills to invent new stuff like the internet, mobile phones, and whatever the next thing is that is about to come out. The progress of technology would grind to a halt and eventually we would run out of people who could service the technology etc. We would actually start going backwards. He needs to realise that all these great innovations were discovered/invented by mathematicians who sat in classrooms just like we all sat in and were inspired to do something great. So Theo, you have a lot to thank mathematicians for and you should be spending some of your millions trying to educate people instead of treating them like idiots and let them do complicated maths if for no other reason because it's there!

The Turner Prize? What about the Sewell Prize!!??

For those artists sick and tired as seeing rubbish exhibits competing for the Turnip Prize, sorry, the Turner Prize, I would like to put out a challenge to all bona fidae artists to enter the 'Sewell Prize'. Send me pictures of your art, and I hope I can convince Brian Sewell to be judge at this exhibition. I would like The Sewell Prize to be in direct competition with the Turner Prize, so it can be proved to the world that there are still fine modern artists around, and are far more worthy & deserving than these charlatans that have their work exhibited in the Turnip Prize.

Brian, if you connect to this site, please answer the call of true artistic talent.

Artists, send you entries to me now by posting comments or email me at camroc@iol.ie.

Good Luck!

Damien Hirst Artist? What a Load of Bollocks!

If something shocks or is controversial, does that it make it art? No it does not. The Hirst effort on the left is entitled 'Pharmaceuticals' 2005. Judge for yourself. The Turner Prize has a reputation for attacting such pieces of garbage, and was won by Damien Hirst. Damien Hirst's work has drawn criticism from all quarters. Predictably, his work has been ridiculed in the tabloid press. When Hirst won the Turner prize in 1995 with 'Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away', an exhibition he curated and which featured many of his works - including Mother and Child Divided (cow in formaldehyde) and Away from the Flock (sheep in formaldehyde) - the Conservative politician Norman Tebbit wrote in the Sun: 'Have they gone stark raving mad? The works of the "artist" are lumps of dead animals. There are thousands of young artists who didn't get a look in, presumably because their work was too attractive to sane people. Modern art experts never learn.' It is the pseuds and sychophants of the London Art scene that help promote this rubbish as art, and advance the career of Hirst.
A man I admire greatly is Brian Swewell - he tells it how it is and doesn't pull any punches. Brian, art critic of the London Evening Standard, was appalled by Hirst's Turner prize-winning work. 'I don't think of it as art,' he said. 'I don't think pickling something and putting it into a glass case makes it a work of art... It is no more interesting than a stuffed pike over a pub door. Indeed there may well be more art in a stuffed pike than a dead sheep. I really cannot accept the idiocy that "the thing is the thing is the thing", which is really the best argument they can produce. It's contemptible.' Good man Brian!

It's Official: Cork Drivers are the Worst in the World!

Worst drivers. I have driven in over 25 countries all over the world and I have to say, Cork drivers are the worst. First I believe most of them are colour blind. Green, amber or red, they will go through. If one gets through on red, it seems to be the go-ahead for the rest to follow. On a serious note, this can lead to tragic consequences. I have seen traffic in the city centre jumping red-lights to turn a corner - where there are pedestrian-crossing green lights in operation. These pedestrians were actually dodging traffic while their lights were on green. The car-drivers didn't care at all.
Indicators? What are indicators? They just don't use them or hardly use them. What is particularly annoying is when you are trying to turn right out of a T-junction and you are waiting for approaching traffic on the right to pass, only to discover they are turning left into your junction - WITHOUT INDICATING! Again pedestrians, cyclists and joggers are in danger as they believe the car is going straight ahead. Have these drivers or cretins, got their brains shoved up their arses? Don't they see the inconvenience and more importantly, the danger they are causing?
Dual lane turning: I am afraid ladies, you are the guilty ones here. This happens when you have a double lane turning right say, over a major road or motoroway, which you feed onto after you make the right-hand turn. So a lady in the left-hand lane approaches the turn, makes the turn, then wanders into the right-hand lane - and usually collides with the vehicle in the right hand lane. They have no lane discipline. After they make the turn they see no danger in wondering from lane to lane (without indicating of course) - and it becomes a free-for-all
Traffic Light Junction: Everyone guilty here. Usually happens in city centres. Drivers entering the junction going straight ahead, block the junction as they cannot proceed out of the junction because the traffic has jammed ahead. So the traffic flowing the other way wanting to turn right cannot get round. The idiots cannot see the trouble they are causing. All they had to do was wait at their own light until the traffic ahead starts moving.

Please add comments if you can think of any other bad driving traits of the Cork driver.

The National Lottery & E-Voting

For several years now, I have listened to the arguments for and against electronic voting, and have witnessed the dreadful waste of taxpayers' euros funding such projects. Yet for the life of me, I cannot see why the government has not turned to the most obvious candidate, in terms of software security, accountability, verification and traceability. I am talking about The National Lottery.
With some minor changes, there is no reason why the National Lottery could not embark on such a project.
Briefly, the system could work as follows:
Before an election, each home with eligible voting householders, would be sent a bar-coded ballot slip - this would be similar to a Lottery slip. But instead of selecting numbers by ticking the boxes, the eligible voter would select candidates by ticking the boxes. The bar-code would identify the voter and the voter's address. When the voter presents their ballot slip to a lotto agent, the agent would pass the slip in the same machine as used by a normal Lotto slip. The difference here would be the machine would identify the bar-code as a ballot slip, and not a lotto ticket. The voter's name and address would appear, and the agent could ask the voter for ID to verify the name and address etc. The advantages would be enormous.
1. Accessibility! No need for polling stations - you could vote at any shop or petrol station that did the Lotto.
2. Voting turnout would be bigger due to ease of voting accessibility.
3. Software Security - the safest software in the land! Has the Lottery software ever been wrong? Has anybody ever hacked into the their software and altered the results? I am not aware of it.
4. Traceability & Accountability - the speed the Lotto can count winners and locate winners - the same would apply to voters and their location, and how they voted and in what numbers. All this functionality currently exists in the Lottery software. This would make the once previous arduous task of counting & verifying votes a trivial exercise.
As I mentioned, the Lotto machines would immeditaely distinguish between a ballot slip and a Lotto slip, thus no modifications to the current Lotto software would be required. The voting software would use much of the same functionality as the Lotto software, but would be far simpler and quicker to execute. A voter would be selecting 1, 2 or 3 candidates from a possibile list of 5, 6 or 7 for example. Compare this to the Lotto where we select 6 numbers from 42 leaving you with 5,245,786 different combinations!

Also, we could use this system when voters are abroad in Europe during an election. Look at Euromillions - that is all synchronised to all of the European countries. So the same scheme could be used but on a Europe-wide scale.

I have since contacted the National Lottery with this idea, and they kindly phoned me back explaining that they could initiate such a project. Apparently it is not in their remit. The government has to contact them first. They are unable to even suggest the idea to the government. SO BERTIE GET OFF YOUR FAT ARSE AND GET IN TOUCH WITH THE NATIONAL LOTTERY. We could have the must sophisticated voting system in the world!

Fast Food Restaurants and Rubbish

Remember when the plastic bag tax was introduced and we immediately bought long-lasting shopping bags so we woundn't have to pay for a plastic bag? This was to cut down on rubbish caused by a surplus of these bags when they were free. OK - we took to the scheme, and we are doing very well - but pray tell, what does the government do about fast food restaurants? Buy a hamburger and a drink to go, and you get a polysterine carton for the burger, a polysterine beaker for your drink and a bag to hold them. One fast-food restaurant produces 1000 times more rubbish per day, than a housseholder does in a week. Why hasn't the goverment banned the polysterine containers outright? They are not bio-degradable and they profusely litter our land. A brown paper bag would suffice - as it won't be in the bag long if one of out obese friends gets hold of it! Also, we not ban fast-food restaurants alltogether? We are trying to promote healthy eating to combat the growing phenomena of obesity, and yet and McDonalds, Burger King can open up shop anywhere in the country. Is it because the local government councillors receive huge brown envelopes off these companies? That's another growing trend - brown envelopes!

Ireland is becoming a Rubbish Dump!

Illegal commercial and domestic dumping goes unabated and is inceasing at an alarming rate. Lorry drivers paid to take their load to an officical dumping site, will dump it in a field or quiet lane and pocket the cash. This is contemptuous behaviour, and drivers will do it when they are a long distance from their own homes. Now we come to householders who dump their rubbish on roadsides, down back alleys or along country lanes. This is absolutely disgusting and appears to be a common trait amongst the Irish. In my opinion, Ireland compared to other European countries, is turning into a filthy, untidy, litter-strewn land. This once beautiful countryside has become a dumping ground, and a vast majority of people are quite content to watch our land deteriorate and vanish into a quagmire of garbage. As I walk through Cork City I actually feel embarassed for the foreign visitors who can see the litter everywhere. Fast-food cartons, plastic bottles, crisp packets are everywhere. Often litter bins are jammed full which doesn't help the situation. I lived near Mallow in a quiet country lane, and I noticed bags of rubbish began appearing in bushes or on the grassy verges. I alerted the Gardai and asked them to open a bag and search for some id like an enevelope. Sure enough, they found five envelopes and traced the cuplrit. He lived a mile away down the same lane as myself! He was renting property and never bothered to set up collection for his rubbish, so he thought he would save money by dumping it down the lane. He was find about €100 which I don't think is enough. I would rather these peole did 48 hours community service collecting rubbish in country lanes or parks. If you see a bag of rubbish dumped illegally, do not search it yourself, as there may be needles, or broken glass in them. Report it to the Gardai and let them search it. It is the only way to get these swines prosecuted.

Irish Road Deaths - Can We Help to Stop the Carnage?

It seems like every Monday morning in the papers we are reading out the death-toll from road traffic accidents. Not just the 1 fatality, it is 4 or 5 at a time. The statistics appear to be worse each month than the year before. We shouldn't read too much into that. For example, there could be 4 fatal crashes with 4 fatalities in each vehicle, whereas the same month last year, 4 fatal crashes may have only had 1 person in each of the 4 cars. So our statistics compare 16 deaths against 4 deaths - it doesn't show driving standards have increased or decreased - it just shows a greater number of passengers were in the cars that had the greater fatalities. However, it still doesn't lessen the seriousness of the volume of deaths occuring on our roads. I would be much more interested in statistics telling me the blood-alcohol level of the drivers in these fatal crashes, or if any traces of illegal drugs were found in their bloodstream. I notice many of these deaths occur in the early hours of the morning at the weekend. The occupants appear to be in the age-range 18 -30. Another important factor is the location of the crash - how often do we hear the newscaster say: "...the crash occured only a lonely stretch of road." They usually happen in the country. Transport Minister Martin Cullen says drivers should be more responsible. Excuse me, but a lot of these kids are more intent on sounding off their new car stereo than worry about a sharp bend in the road. I think parents, whenever possible, and bar-staff should be alert of the potential danger. If a son or daughter have just finished leaving certs, or have returned from college or university, then the first thing they are going to do is contact their mates and celebrate. In these cases, parents should ban them from driving - take the car-keys away from them. Bar-staff should stop serving drink to drivers if they have had 2 drinks. In a lot of these suburban towns and villages there are only several pubs and clubs, and bar managers should network and identify drivers who have had 2 drinks in their pubs and if necessary confiscate the drivers keys car-keys. I lived near Mallow for five years - and Dee Lane of the Ranch would make sure his wife drove home his customers who were over the limit. His successor, Jim O'Connell, puts on free taxis when there are big sporting events televised in the pub, or at Xmas and New Year. These are responsible and innovative ways to stop the road carnage. So parents and bar-staff think about it - don't let them drink and drive!

Now you're gonna do some work!

Okay, you you've been eating trash food, and you have been eating too frequently. You now know the right food to eat, and when to eat it. But the weight will not fall off by itself - you have to put in some work and effort. This word may have disappeared from your vocabularly but to remind you, it is called "exercise". I am not asking you to go to a gym - I think initially that is the wrong approach. I have seen overweight people try it. They come down to the gym, organise a personal traininer and last at most 2 sessions. They feel intimidated and out of place, and will probably relapse back into their old eating habits. Start off by doing things you normally avoid. Walk up stairways instead of taking the elevator. If possible, try and walk to the shops. In the evenings, go out and take a walk. Start off with ten minutes - don't overdo it. Then when you are comfortable with 10 minutes, increase it. As you become more used to it, start speeding up your walking. If you have a swimming pool nearby, try and tread water for ten or fifteen minutes. WHen you begin to feel good, do a few lengths slowly. Again, build up the distance & speed slowly. You have to break the habit of sitting in front of a TV screen and eating. I can guarantee you will begin to feel better physically and mentally. If you want any more advice, leave a comment.

Okay, Okay, I'm a Greedy Pig, What do I do?

I am not a dietician, but I believe in common sense. 3 meals a day and don't nibble between meals. Forget the bag of crisps, the bar of chocolate, the hamburger and hot-dog. Don't look for the short-term fix. Remember the long-term health risks! Try and go 4 or 5 hours between meals. If you feel hungry, drink water or eat an apple (remember them?). Your meals should consist of a healthy mix of high fibre cereal, fruit, fresh vegeatbles, fresh meat or fish - limit your portions, grill your meat. You've all seen this before, (and totally ignored it). If you think you cannot go 4 hours without stuffing something into your fat face, then think of the poor countries around the world. Look at famine victims, look at the dying children - they're going without food for months never mind 4 hours. If you cannot manage 4 hours, then you should be ashamed of yourselves. And please don't give me that sensitity rubbish, and 'I eat because I am stressed'. You eat because you are greedy, fat glutton. My mother used to say to me: "your eyes are bigger than your belly!" So no wallowing in the sympathetic, self-pity that this society bestows upon fat people. You take action - don't rely on dieting fads, or diet pills - you've been pumping enough chemicals into your body alreaqdy with the trashy food you've been eating. Also, if you have children, they will turn out like you as they will follow the same eating patterns. Avoid fast food hamburger restaurants - they are rubbish and overpriced. You can roast a fresh chicken for less than one of those meals. Think of your children, think of their health.

Confession of Greed

Now you know your weight category, you have to stand back and make the ultimate confession. No, you're not big boned, no, you probably don't have a thyroid problem, so why did you get so big? Possible causes:

• You eat too much
• You eat too frequently
• You eat the wrong food
• No exercise

And why? Because you are too greedy! As a child I was known as 'the slob' - because I was a greedy little buggar. The confession of greed is difficult to make, but do it! Don't rely on the softly, softly approach taken by dieticians, agony aunts, the media, friends respecting your sensitivity etc. It's your problem and it's up to you to start the cure. If you get discouraged, look at the health consequences you risk:

• heart disease
• stroke
• diabetes
• certain types of cancer
• gout (joint pain caused by excess uric acid)
• sleep apnoea (interrupted breathing during sleep)
• osteoarthritis (wearing away of the joints)

The more overweight you are the more likely you are to suffer at least one of these health problems. So, what it comes down to is, if you don't do anything about it, you will shorten your life, and the life you have left will be miserable and unhealthy. The ball's in your court.

Check your Weight Category

This is one of the first steps to the cure. Overweight people should find and acknowledge the category they are in. I would hope you know what your average weight should be, based on your height, body frame, etc. Let us call this 'normal weight'. Here is an example of an index of weight categories I am using to demonstrate the point. You can set up your own categories for 2-5, but be reasonable, as you're only fooling yourself. However, category 1 must be a fixed, true weight.

1. Normal weight
2. Overweight - 10-20lbs over normal
3. Grossly overweight - 50lbs over normal
4. Obese - 100lbs over normal
5. Morbidly obese - 200lbs+ over normal

Do not avoid the scales, record you weight - check what category you belong to. Now say to yourself, I am overweight or I am obese. Acknowledge the category and tell yourself, 'it is myself, and myself alone that put me into this category, and only myself can get me to a lower category'. Once you acknowledge your category, then you can start the cure. Your aim is number 1 - good luck.

This is an example of a height-weight chart. The vertical axis is in stones, and the horizontal in feet and inches. If you are in the white middle stripe, you're doing fine.

You're Obese, but do you care?

This is a worrying phenomena: overweight people apparently unconcerned about their condition. I am not convinced. I believe they do care, but do not like to show it. They portray self-confidence, flaunt themselves in a swaggering fashion, and generally mix with friends who make them feel comfortable, and tell them how well they look. There is nothing wrong with being self-confident, but they are exhibiting this characteristic for the wrong reasons. Instead of putting all their energies into portraying self-confidence, they should put them into fighting the overweight battle. To make that transition, they have to face up to their condition. They have to go deep inside themselves, and some may have to go deeper than others. They have to be honest and they have to be strong, and they have to make a confession.

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Identifying obesity.

We are all aware of the growing numbers of obese people in western nations. The United States leads the way, but now we see Britain and Ireland are catching up. I find it very sad for the children, as they will follow the lifestyles of their obese parents, and the parents are seemingly oblivious to the potential health problems their children will face. I had a long wait at Birmingham Airport last month, and I was sitting in a café in departures and decided to count the first 20 people that came through the doors. Of those 20 people, 15 were overweight, 11 were grossly overweight and 6 were morbidly obese. Then I watched these people eat - well they don't eat they scoff. These same people would again be ordering more food on the flight. If you're in a supermarket, study the contents of fat people's trolleys. I can guarantee it consist of pre-cooked frozen meals, pizza, pies, microwave burgers, and a variety of chemical-based fizzy drinks - generally you will not see fresh fruit, veg, meat or fish - or water! So we have identified habitual eating, but the eating of trashy foods. Both of these traits will contribute towards overweight and eventual obesity.

Technorati Tags: Obesity Child Abuse Obese Parents Gluttony

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