Counting Down The Days
Posted: Thu 2 December, 2004 Filed under: Festering Season, General Leave a comment »Ye Gods, we’re already in December. My last month in Manchester. Time’s flying past. Waiting for agencies to get back to me about jobs is becoming a frustration, and I just want everything to be sorted.
More frustrating is the current work. There’s no particular point in starting any new projects, and it just feels like I’m treading water. I want to move on now, and yet I can’t for another three or four weeks.
But still, I know it’s not long now, and it’s all going to bring 2004 to a good close. And 2005’s definitely going to be an interesting year!
Mystery Object
Posted: Thu 2 December, 2004 Filed under: D4D™, Festering Season Leave a comment »OK then – just for amusement value – what is this?
If you click on the image, you get a bigger version. Lucky you.
Goodwill to all men
Posted: Wed 1 December, 2004 Filed under: Festering Season Leave a comment »How can you tell when it’s truly the start of the Festering Season? That month that’s supposed to be about “Goodwill to all men”, “Peace to the World”, and all that shit?
It’s when you see about Church carol services being cancelled after councillors don’t get the best seats or at least ones they feel is commensurate with their supposed position. It’s when you see that Santa has been banned from appearing in two Leicester hospitals. And it’s when a war memorial gets defaced and covered in pro-Nazi graffiti.
Welcome to Advent.
Gullible
Posted: Wed 1 December, 2004 Filed under: News Leave a comment »The emails claim people could be hit with a bill for �260 if they “press 9” and listen to a recorded message offering them a free all-expenses paid holiday. Another apparent scam relates to people phoning a “missed call” number beginning 0709. Anyone calling the number will be charged £50 a minute, warns the hoax email.
However, ICSTIS says this is all utter tosh and has urged anyone who receives one of these emails to bin it and not to pass it on.
Said the regulator: “Please note that these stories are NOT true. £20.00 per minute and £50.00 per minute premium rate tariffs do not exist – the highest premium rate tariff available is £1.50 per minute.
Now all I need is to get the fuckwit cunts at work to stop sending me this.
World AIDS Day
Posted: Wed 1 December, 2004 Filed under: General Leave a comment »It’s December 1st, which among other things means it’s World AIDS Day. This year in the UK, it’s about reminding us all that HIV is an issue for everyone.
The 2004 Annual Report from the Health Protection Agency shows that there are now 53,000 adults living with HIV/AIDS in the UK, 27% of whom are unaware they have the virus.
There were 6,606 new infections diagnosed in the UK during 2003, 58% (3801) of these were amongst heterosexuals, with gay and bisexual men accounting for 26% (1735). That’s an 8% rise in cases in one year.
The National AIDS Trust is one place you can donate to help, as is the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Tough
Posted: Wed 1 December, 2004 Filed under: General Leave a comment »In today’s Guardian there’s a story about a survey that’s been done into Britain’s attitude towards those with Hiv/AIDS. It makes for some disturbing reading.
One fifth of those polled said they felt it was people’s own fault if they got HIV/Aids. Almost a quarter said that drug users who contract the infection through shared needles should not get treatment on the NHS. 26% felt people had the right to know who in their community had HIV/Aids and 17% said they would worry if they knew their doctor had treated patients who were HIV positive.
A large proportion – 41% – thought that asylum seekers should not be allowed to stay if they had HIV/Aids. The survey shows ignorance about the virus – only 64% knew that babies can be infected in the womb, 73% knew you could get it from a blood transfusion, while 11% thought you could get it from kissing and 5% from eating with the same cutlery.
The Rubber Tax
Posted: Wed 1 December, 2004 Filed under: General Leave a comment »If you do happen to click on the Terrence Higgins Trust site, you might also notice the link to the “Erase Tax on Rubbers” campaign. The THT has joined up with the National Union of Students to call on the government to stop charging VAT on condoms and contraceptives.
The income the Treasury gets from VAT on condoms is tiny compared to the cost of preventable sexual ill-health in the UK. Sexually transmitted infections cost somewhere around �1 billion to treat annually in the UK, and HIV care costs are around �350 million and rising. Wider condom use would save health and money.
Condoms in the UK are some of the most expensive anywhere in the world. They are almost twice as expensive as they are in the US, and more expensive than anywhere else in Europe. In theory condoms are sometimes available free of charge on the NHS; but clinics ration them and they are often hard to ask for, especially if you are young. Please click on the link to email your MP and ask them to write to John Reid, Secretary of State for Health asking him to support the recommendation of the Independent Advisory Group and remove VAT from condoms.