Hey there!
On Sunday I FINALLY published the first "Thing's I'd Tell My Teenage Self" but there was so much that I decided to turn it into a two part post. So here is my second part. If you haven't seen the first post it covered Relationships and Girls, Money and Friendship, you can read it now by clicking here!
So onto today's post. This post will cover family before going on to just general shorter bits I would tell my teenage self. To get all interactive and stuff please comment below or send a tweet to (@totalJPM) or use the hashtag #JPMTeenSelf and we can have an uber-cool discussion!
So sit back, put your reading glasses on if you need them and enjoy the post!
Family
Well this is one that can be a little strange. With family you can't choose them, you accept them. Obviously saying "accept" sounds reluctant, however that is not the way I mean it. You usually share things in common with your family, whether it be through living in the same enviroment as them or whether it's biological. But all families do have clashes from time to time and all of us may well have things we wish we could change, decisive decisions for instance. The one thing family can have over some friends is that family unconditionally look out for you in most instances, they're there to help you in that time of need. Well mine are. So yeah.
That said, we've had our fall outs. I mean there have been clashes, me and my sister can clash over what is on the television, particularly as my TV actually gets no channels since we moved to Arnold. Which sucks, but it's livable without the internet! I think that a lot of the clashes come because of an incident that I mentioned, the move to Arnold. Not gonna lie, I'm not a big fan of the north and I'm also not a big fan of being 250 miles away from the friends I made during the school days. I'm still not, but what can I do? This said when I find a day where everything seems wrong, that is ammunition that seems to come out. And in a way maybe it has stretched everyone with incidents during it. But it's not the first time we moved, it won't be the last time my parents move. Although they possibly won't have the hassle of Kaye and myself so much. One can at least hope one finds a job after Uni anyway! I think the whole point of the paragraph would be that yeah, the family stretched and I think at points that led to issues and really I'd look back at it and say, I didn't like it but maybe I should have accepted it rather than let things go to shit. I have Plymouth now, most of the year. So yeah.
I think the other thing is, my ambition for a fair part of my life was to be successful but in the country so we could have a lot of contact, however I think now I see a possible life afield from the United Kingdom. To be honest I've become more and more disillusioned with the country and I would now love to go and work abroad after Uni. However this said, my Dad has concerns that we could "not see eachother at all" if I did go to the other side of the world. Now here comes a balancing stool, I mean, do I go and put my ambition first or that concern first. As I've grown up technology has become better. I also have had conversations with other members of my family about it. I think I'd tell my teenage self, the sky's the limit. Look afield, out of the box and consider these options. Don't be held back by concerns, but find ways to deal with them, the only person who would regret not looking abroad is myself!
I would say, whatever family you have, the important thing is to be yourself, just because your whole family live somewhere doesn't mean you have to live there, just because all your family have had one profession, doesn't mean you need to be of that profession. Go where suits you, do what suits you! Just don't forget where you're from.
All of that is kinda what I'd tell myself now. But here are some short things I'd tell my teenage self:
1) Just because life has taken a shit turn, does not mean that it's the end of the world.
2) You're gonna make mistakes, so rather than cover them up and try to make the mistakes correct, face it and learn from it!
3) Go outside that comfort zone more.
4) Be ambitious, you're young, so yes, the sky is the limit.
5) Put more effort into everything, good grades are something that can be shouted about later even if its "geeky", winning something can be shouted at immediately.
6) If there is a problem deal with it don't just sit and watch it grow. This applies if it's physical, medical or emotional.
7) Going to Dr Ankers Geography class when you've made a piece of homework she's set in the 5 minutes before school is not a good idea!
8) Don't live in a bubble around yourself, friends go through shit too, maybe it's worse than your situation, be a proper friend and help them as well!
9) If something happens you're against, stand up. Regardless.
10) Be yourself and things will come!
Tuesday 30 July 2013
Monday 29 July 2013
Things I'd Tell My Teenage Self: Part 1
Okay guys, so earlier on +Danièlle Owen posted about the things she would tell her teenage self. She also included that I would do this from a male viewpoint. So here I am. Like her blog for the female viewer my post's will analyse items such as relationships, money, friends and family as well as others that are more unique to my teenage self. Obviously some of you reading may be teenagers, some will be older. If you have an points about the post that I write please send a tweet to (@totalJPM) or use the hashtag #JPMTeenSelf. So yeah here we go!
Relationships and Girls
Yeah obviously a big one to write about first haha. And to be fair, not even the me now could claim to be anything close to an expert on either of these. However I did have a close to 3 year relationship in my teens. I don't really know what to think about this nowadays really, like would I change stuff? Yes. But I guess there were the best and worst moments in hindsight. I know I would say to my teenage self "Don't be taken as a fool by a girl", as well maybe if I didn't have an element of naivety then I would have definitely noticed the end. It's important to not be naive, things can be great for 18 months, then something can ruin them, especially such things as lies. Trusting after the other has done whatever is incredibly hard, it's probably over from there in reality. Unless you can be a very forgetful person just to try to keep the relationship. Although back then it must have been the fact of really wanting it, really liking the person and therefore being willing to try to forgive.
I'd probably also tell myself that, hey, a relationship ending isn't the end of the world, it may seem like that initially, but it isn't. The single life is free and provides different opportunities and can save money as well! To be honest going the seperate ways and then looking back at the person also showed me how much they changed. I don't think I've changed (you'd have to ask my friends in the past 12 months if I've changed!) but she certainly has. Just wouldn't have been interested at all if we had a conversation for the first time now.
I'd also tell my teenage self here, that there is no rush. Life comes at you and shit happens. You learn from it. You don't need to run from one relationship and jump into another. Hell no, take a step back look at it, the good and the bad and take something from it. Probably should tell the person you're in a relationship with to log off Facebook on your iPod...especially if they're sending sexual messages to someone from the United States (or anywhere else, but in this case...yeah). Probably should stop here with this....
To be fair, regarding relationships, you probably have to go through the shit to find the green grass at the end of the road and that right relationship!
Money
Haha, what a subject. Well Uni has told me a lot about conserving money and budgeting. I think simply with money, it's just learning the value of it. I mean for instance before Uni you go out and £4 for a pint of Brothers Cider at Crabby Dicks in Bideford seems okay. Then you go to Uni and live under a budget and you think "wow this is a fair bit, I could buy lunch with this" until you're really drunk. I used to be way happier buying any skint friend a drink or something, now that isn't so much the case. I would say use money sparingly. Yes buy friends stuff, not every time though. I dunno, I also would buy pointless goods. So I would say think twice. Budget yourself. Don't take a card on a night out, you'll be an idiot. C103 last freshers proved that when I took out an extra £30 in there paying a fee of £1.75 to use that machine. And I soberly refuse to use them. Mind you that was an exceptionally drunk night!
So really, I'd say budget, there's always a goal, a big event. You don't wanna miss it!
Friends
This is one place where I don't think I've went too wrong. I mean at school I was in W1 where essentially I was in a friend group. Unfortunately some have gone their ways and we've lost contact. I mean James Ellis, where are you now mate? Then there's some which I clearly barely see because of moving after my A Level results, despite this I would still regard them as good friends if we met up.
I also am lucky enough to have one friend who comes down to visit me when I'm at Uni +Ryan Steppel as well as Craig who I get on better with at Uni than I did at school! Pretty awesome mates. I also have Elliot who goes to the same Uni from my school, still good friends. These are people I feel lucky to have, as these people I have been friends with as we've all matured from GCSE students all the way to...well, adults. Student adults, but adults. I've also done really well at Uni with friends. A base of friends who I am living with next year (plus ones that will essentially live with us, by that I mean Vikki and Milky....again) that are all individually amazing in their own ways is really a great marker! I mean I feel lucky to have met all of these people and that I really hit the nail on the head when it came to friends in the majority of cases. I don't really like to group these people. I've found that in general with these friends, each one is a great friend for a different reason, each friendship was formed in many ways, half of them wouldn't have happened without one of the other friendships. Sometimes though I feel they may know me better than me! Which can be a tad worrying guys ;).
I will briefly say about the 10% I get wrong. These are generally people with a lack of ambition, a lack of attitude, generally quite negative about their prospects and not willing to help other friends at a small cost. There are people reading this knowing I could be meaning them, or feeling they're so perfect in a world that really is their own little bubble. That bubble might be Xbox Live or whatever it is.
I'd like to elaborate on the negative about prospects. Many of you will think I'm a negative person and yes, to a degree you are right. I shout my opinions out loud, I am not one who will sit back at something that annoys me or something that has angered me and stay quiet. That can be football or a cult like Beliebers, it could be David Cameron's next stupid idea, however the point being, I will say my opinion. This is not what I regard as negative, I regard this as opinionated. If something pleases me I will also say it. Sometimes I will only say it for the reaction! Negative attitude or negative about prospects regards those who are quitters, those that don't have the ambition to do well but the ambition to just stay in the same place doing sufficiently.
An example could be a placement year at Uni. Don't just apply for where you live if you live in a small town with little prospect. Reach out. Go and at least attempt to get something that is ambitious. Otherwise why are you at Uni. You have no ambition, go back home. It irritates me. I don't get this chance with my degree, so I'd like to see those who do take it, it shows ambition, pride, an attitude and I respect this and therefore would find it easier to be a friend. My teenage self had some of these friends. I don't really know what I've done wrong in the year but they have got to the point where they have decided not to reply to me even on their world (the gaming networks). They do of course like to try to put down those who are more ambitious than them, to a point that insulted me and the people involved. This happened over years in honesty to different people. However I have kept the friendships that mean something to me.
However I'd say regarding friendships, my friendship with +Ryan Steppel was the start of the me that showed ambition, pride and the attributes I have mentioned mainly because it is a friendship of two big personalities with a get up and go, an ambition and some drive. I would say before some of my friendships were settled, especially with those that shared my initials. It doesn't bother me now. As since the friendship with the Milky Bar Kid I've also made some equally awesome friends who also share the attributes that make them ideal friends, best bit is, I live with some from September!
Anyway, I shall post Part 2 in the next few days depending on work! So cya guys later!!!!
Relationships and Girls
Yeah obviously a big one to write about first haha. And to be fair, not even the me now could claim to be anything close to an expert on either of these. However I did have a close to 3 year relationship in my teens. I don't really know what to think about this nowadays really, like would I change stuff? Yes. But I guess there were the best and worst moments in hindsight. I know I would say to my teenage self "Don't be taken as a fool by a girl", as well maybe if I didn't have an element of naivety then I would have definitely noticed the end. It's important to not be naive, things can be great for 18 months, then something can ruin them, especially such things as lies. Trusting after the other has done whatever is incredibly hard, it's probably over from there in reality. Unless you can be a very forgetful person just to try to keep the relationship. Although back then it must have been the fact of really wanting it, really liking the person and therefore being willing to try to forgive.
I'd probably also tell myself that, hey, a relationship ending isn't the end of the world, it may seem like that initially, but it isn't. The single life is free and provides different opportunities and can save money as well! To be honest going the seperate ways and then looking back at the person also showed me how much they changed. I don't think I've changed (you'd have to ask my friends in the past 12 months if I've changed!) but she certainly has. Just wouldn't have been interested at all if we had a conversation for the first time now.
I'd also tell my teenage self here, that there is no rush. Life comes at you and shit happens. You learn from it. You don't need to run from one relationship and jump into another. Hell no, take a step back look at it, the good and the bad and take something from it. Probably should tell the person you're in a relationship with to log off Facebook on your iPod...especially if they're sending sexual messages to someone from the United States (or anywhere else, but in this case...yeah). Probably should stop here with this....
To be fair, regarding relationships, you probably have to go through the shit to find the green grass at the end of the road and that right relationship!
Money
Haha, what a subject. Well Uni has told me a lot about conserving money and budgeting. I think simply with money, it's just learning the value of it. I mean for instance before Uni you go out and £4 for a pint of Brothers Cider at Crabby Dicks in Bideford seems okay. Then you go to Uni and live under a budget and you think "wow this is a fair bit, I could buy lunch with this" until you're really drunk. I used to be way happier buying any skint friend a drink or something, now that isn't so much the case. I would say use money sparingly. Yes buy friends stuff, not every time though. I dunno, I also would buy pointless goods. So I would say think twice. Budget yourself. Don't take a card on a night out, you'll be an idiot. C103 last freshers proved that when I took out an extra £30 in there paying a fee of £1.75 to use that machine. And I soberly refuse to use them. Mind you that was an exceptionally drunk night!
So really, I'd say budget, there's always a goal, a big event. You don't wanna miss it!
Friends
This is one place where I don't think I've went too wrong. I mean at school I was in W1 where essentially I was in a friend group. Unfortunately some have gone their ways and we've lost contact. I mean James Ellis, where are you now mate? Then there's some which I clearly barely see because of moving after my A Level results, despite this I would still regard them as good friends if we met up.
I also am lucky enough to have one friend who comes down to visit me when I'm at Uni +Ryan Steppel as well as Craig who I get on better with at Uni than I did at school! Pretty awesome mates. I also have Elliot who goes to the same Uni from my school, still good friends. These are people I feel lucky to have, as these people I have been friends with as we've all matured from GCSE students all the way to...well, adults. Student adults, but adults. I've also done really well at Uni with friends. A base of friends who I am living with next year (plus ones that will essentially live with us, by that I mean Vikki and Milky....again) that are all individually amazing in their own ways is really a great marker! I mean I feel lucky to have met all of these people and that I really hit the nail on the head when it came to friends in the majority of cases. I don't really like to group these people. I've found that in general with these friends, each one is a great friend for a different reason, each friendship was formed in many ways, half of them wouldn't have happened without one of the other friendships. Sometimes though I feel they may know me better than me! Which can be a tad worrying guys ;).
I will briefly say about the 10% I get wrong. These are generally people with a lack of ambition, a lack of attitude, generally quite negative about their prospects and not willing to help other friends at a small cost. There are people reading this knowing I could be meaning them, or feeling they're so perfect in a world that really is their own little bubble. That bubble might be Xbox Live or whatever it is.
I'd like to elaborate on the negative about prospects. Many of you will think I'm a negative person and yes, to a degree you are right. I shout my opinions out loud, I am not one who will sit back at something that annoys me or something that has angered me and stay quiet. That can be football or a cult like Beliebers, it could be David Cameron's next stupid idea, however the point being, I will say my opinion. This is not what I regard as negative, I regard this as opinionated. If something pleases me I will also say it. Sometimes I will only say it for the reaction! Negative attitude or negative about prospects regards those who are quitters, those that don't have the ambition to do well but the ambition to just stay in the same place doing sufficiently.
An example could be a placement year at Uni. Don't just apply for where you live if you live in a small town with little prospect. Reach out. Go and at least attempt to get something that is ambitious. Otherwise why are you at Uni. You have no ambition, go back home. It irritates me. I don't get this chance with my degree, so I'd like to see those who do take it, it shows ambition, pride, an attitude and I respect this and therefore would find it easier to be a friend. My teenage self had some of these friends. I don't really know what I've done wrong in the year but they have got to the point where they have decided not to reply to me even on their world (the gaming networks). They do of course like to try to put down those who are more ambitious than them, to a point that insulted me and the people involved. This happened over years in honesty to different people. However I have kept the friendships that mean something to me.
However I'd say regarding friendships, my friendship with +Ryan Steppel was the start of the me that showed ambition, pride and the attributes I have mentioned mainly because it is a friendship of two big personalities with a get up and go, an ambition and some drive. I would say before some of my friendships were settled, especially with those that shared my initials. It doesn't bother me now. As since the friendship with the Milky Bar Kid I've also made some equally awesome friends who also share the attributes that make them ideal friends, best bit is, I live with some from September!
Anyway, I shall post Part 2 in the next few days depending on work! So cya guys later!!!!
Thursday 11 July 2013
I'm back!
Hey guys! First of all I must apologise that I haven't blogged for a week, sometimes I have just forgot other days I've been busy. When I say busy I've been:
1) trying to get a job - I've recreated my cv and sent it to loads of people in my battle to get a job over summer as I need money for next uni year as well as some more for Reading...I also want a PS4 so like I guess not the cheapest taste but ya'know! Interview tomorrow, so there is hope!
2) I've taken up trying to become good at darts, as many will know I'm useless, well my doubling is very slowly mildly improving as well as well as power scoring, although it would be nice to become consistent! That's a target, maybe by the time I'm back in Plymouth I can throw decent scores and win a few games against mates! I haven't seen much to claim that I will be beating Philip Taylor anytime soon though.
3) I've watched the sport keenly on tv. Now this involves Wimbledon which of course ended with an an epic finale as well as the European Darts Championship which Adrian Lewis has won and more recently I have watched the Ashes a bit.
4) Who can resist watching Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares USA. I mean if you haven't watch the one about Fiesta Sunrise, the Mexican guy is a hero! I'm not joking!
Anyway I shall post some better stuff here shortly but for now ill cya all later!
Thursday 4 July 2013
A Response To Professor J Meirion Thomas' Article In The Daily Mail.
The NHS, in my opinion the greatest thing that this country has ever done for it's people. From a day when Governments may well have seemed to have cared. Free healthcare within the United Kingdom for the poor as well as the wealthy. As well as the British, the National Health Service has cared for many people who have come to our shores from different nations around the world, these people often have come to the nation looking for a better life, a better job and various other incentives that the United Kingdom can offer. Many are willing to take jobs that us British see below us. A very small percentage may move to the country purely to get help from the health system, but it would only be a small amount, just as a small percentage move here because it is unsafe for them to live in their country anymore, I've met people in that situation before and I've got to say, considering sending these people back to a land where they would surely die shouldn't even cross the minds of people within this country. It's inhumane.
So imagine what I thought when I read a consultant named Professor Thomas writing an article for the Daily Mail, a paper known for scaremongering the people within this country about the Governments plans regarding the NHS for people who are from countries outside the European Union. First of all I was not actually aware of the Governments proposed policy, but secondly this so called Professor's opinion, which I found totally absurd.
The NHS is one of the things this country has got right since the Second World War, that statement could be regarded as opinion, but I would regard it as a fact, even more so when you look over the Atlantic at the United States where healthcare is paid for. You hear stories of people from the USA regarding people who can't afford healthcare. For instance, twenty percent of people did not get the needed specialist care that they required because of the expense. Possibly more worryingly twenty-eight percent of these people who had a chronic medical condition (such as diabetes and heart disease) did not actually fill in their prescription or skipped some of their doses because they couldn't afford for these drugs (Source:UPI.com). Now I'm glad that right now Britain has not gone down a route that America has, my Grandparents are diabetic and luckily thanks to the way we run our healthcare at this current time, they can have regular check-ups and get their prescription, for free thanks to their age. The current prescription cost should they have been under 60 and working is £7.65. Personally I believe prescriptions should be free for all people and not just have groups of people exempt from the cost, however maybe I'm wishing to much from this Government in this economic climate. The fact that some people don't pick up their more expensive prescription in America is genuinely incredibly concerning. People with diabetes who don't get their prescription and take the right doses of insulin for instance can end up in a diabetic coma, which could possibly lead to death, all because healthcare companies have made the price out of these peoples reach. The possibilities of what can happen to people taking medication for heart disease are quite obvious and can also lead to death. Therefore charging beyond reach for anyone isn't humane, it seems like it's an indirect version of manslaughter.
Getting through that then, why should workers outside of the EU be paying for healthcare from this country. Well for a starter, let's say the person comes over from a country like Iraq or Afghanistan, both countries named because we have injured many of their civilians since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. How can we go humanely go to people from these countries and refuse them healthcare. We owe a duty to these people because we decided to go in and bomb their homes, the argument of the legality of either war is invalid in this, the fact that we have injured and killed many people from these countries is however valid. So imagine if we went to these people and charged them £200 of more for their healthcare in this country. It's wrong, especially if they had something severely wrong with them, whether it was picked up before they were in this country or not. Some of these people who settle from foriegn countries have spent so much getting here and trying to find somewhere to live that finding £200 (or more as Professor Thomas would suggest) would be difficult. People from poorer countries may also have big families, having done geography at A Level one of the modules we studied was to do with population, it seems that poorer countries have a higher birth rate (as well as death rate in the majority of these nations), which is why the population of the world is increasing. So for a hypothetical case here, let's argue a family comes over from Egypt, the family isn't well off but has a desire to get away from all the troubles going on with the confused leadership of the country as well as the violence that has seemed to trouble Egypt on and off for the last few years, this family has a father and mother along with four children. This family would have to fork out £1,200 for their healthcare after the struggles and stress of moving over to the UK, pressures such as claiming their visa's, finding a home and actually getting across to the country, all of these not being cheap.
Another issue for people like the family I have created for this point would be the fact that this Government doesn't want to give them benefits, not in the same way as they would give benefits for people who come from the United Kingdom (who have already suffered benefit cuts, regardless of how hard it is to get a job at the moment), so finding the £200 each would be even harder to do, after all these people need to buy food and pay for electricity, water and gas as well. So for some people who move to this country it's making life even harder for them. How is this fair? These people didn't choose to be born in the countries they were born in, some didn't have much choice in leaving and many of these people aren't particularly well off.
And what if these people can find jobs, earn money and pay taxes? Should these people who then would be contributing as much as the working British person have to pay for a service that the people born in the country, or a EU nation get for free? Surely the answer is no. These people are carrying out a job, maybe not for high wages, but still a job and with a job comes tax. The only way it could even be considered fair for these people to have to pay for health care on top of this is if they have a large chunk of their tax taken off, because if they're paying for their healthcare on top then why should they be made to pay taxes that people who get their healthcare without directly paying for it, have to pay to keep the service running? There is no reason for these people to have to pay taxes and a fee. It's simply not fair.
They may have chose to come to the UK because of a reputation of the country being fair, a reputation that lies deep within the foundation of policies such as the National Health Service and Legal Aid. Being a Criminology and Law student I am aware with the cuts surrounding the Legal System as well as these proposed changes to the Health Service. These are two of the areas where Britain made it's name for being a fair country, why should we change these things, things we're proud of?
There is an alternative I can think of, an alternative that wouldn't be popular within the millionaires who sit on their green bench, soon to get a pay rise. The alternative would see either a tax rise for people earning a high bracket of income, or maybe these people would like to pay £200 each extra towards their healthcare, unlike the people that they are actually trying to make pay this money. As for Professor Thomas, I'm sure he can take his scaremongering and use it to encourage Parliament to vote for the richest people in the country to pay more towards their health. If I was in the richest ten or twenty percent I would have no problem paying towards healthcare. You may ask why and I shall answer that. This country should be looking out for everyone within it, now that means the homeless, the people who have settled here from another country and the poor. These people are just as important to the name of Great Britain as those that are rich, whatever profession any of these people are in. If Great Britain stops looking out for these poorer people, whether they come from this land or another, the the Great in Great Britain should not be used anymore.
One thing is for sure, we can all thank the National Health Service for something, the people in many of these hospitals do a great job every day saving many lives. I thank them for this, without them my Uncle would not be around anymore. Therefore I would like to dedicate this blog post to the people that work in these hospitals, the doctors, nurses, receptionists, porters, the lot. I would also like to dedicate this article especially to those at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth who saved my Uncle's life. Thank you.
So imagine what I thought when I read a consultant named Professor Thomas writing an article for the Daily Mail, a paper known for scaremongering the people within this country about the Governments plans regarding the NHS for people who are from countries outside the European Union. First of all I was not actually aware of the Governments proposed policy, but secondly this so called Professor's opinion, which I found totally absurd.
The NHS is one of the things this country has got right since the Second World War, that statement could be regarded as opinion, but I would regard it as a fact, even more so when you look over the Atlantic at the United States where healthcare is paid for. You hear stories of people from the USA regarding people who can't afford healthcare. For instance, twenty percent of people did not get the needed specialist care that they required because of the expense. Possibly more worryingly twenty-eight percent of these people who had a chronic medical condition (such as diabetes and heart disease) did not actually fill in their prescription or skipped some of their doses because they couldn't afford for these drugs (Source:UPI.com). Now I'm glad that right now Britain has not gone down a route that America has, my Grandparents are diabetic and luckily thanks to the way we run our healthcare at this current time, they can have regular check-ups and get their prescription, for free thanks to their age. The current prescription cost should they have been under 60 and working is £7.65. Personally I believe prescriptions should be free for all people and not just have groups of people exempt from the cost, however maybe I'm wishing to much from this Government in this economic climate. The fact that some people don't pick up their more expensive prescription in America is genuinely incredibly concerning. People with diabetes who don't get their prescription and take the right doses of insulin for instance can end up in a diabetic coma, which could possibly lead to death, all because healthcare companies have made the price out of these peoples reach. The possibilities of what can happen to people taking medication for heart disease are quite obvious and can also lead to death. Therefore charging beyond reach for anyone isn't humane, it seems like it's an indirect version of manslaughter.
Getting through that then, why should workers outside of the EU be paying for healthcare from this country. Well for a starter, let's say the person comes over from a country like Iraq or Afghanistan, both countries named because we have injured many of their civilians since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. How can we go humanely go to people from these countries and refuse them healthcare. We owe a duty to these people because we decided to go in and bomb their homes, the argument of the legality of either war is invalid in this, the fact that we have injured and killed many people from these countries is however valid. So imagine if we went to these people and charged them £200 of more for their healthcare in this country. It's wrong, especially if they had something severely wrong with them, whether it was picked up before they were in this country or not. Some of these people who settle from foriegn countries have spent so much getting here and trying to find somewhere to live that finding £200 (or more as Professor Thomas would suggest) would be difficult. People from poorer countries may also have big families, having done geography at A Level one of the modules we studied was to do with population, it seems that poorer countries have a higher birth rate (as well as death rate in the majority of these nations), which is why the population of the world is increasing. So for a hypothetical case here, let's argue a family comes over from Egypt, the family isn't well off but has a desire to get away from all the troubles going on with the confused leadership of the country as well as the violence that has seemed to trouble Egypt on and off for the last few years, this family has a father and mother along with four children. This family would have to fork out £1,200 for their healthcare after the struggles and stress of moving over to the UK, pressures such as claiming their visa's, finding a home and actually getting across to the country, all of these not being cheap.
Another issue for people like the family I have created for this point would be the fact that this Government doesn't want to give them benefits, not in the same way as they would give benefits for people who come from the United Kingdom (who have already suffered benefit cuts, regardless of how hard it is to get a job at the moment), so finding the £200 each would be even harder to do, after all these people need to buy food and pay for electricity, water and gas as well. So for some people who move to this country it's making life even harder for them. How is this fair? These people didn't choose to be born in the countries they were born in, some didn't have much choice in leaving and many of these people aren't particularly well off.
And what if these people can find jobs, earn money and pay taxes? Should these people who then would be contributing as much as the working British person have to pay for a service that the people born in the country, or a EU nation get for free? Surely the answer is no. These people are carrying out a job, maybe not for high wages, but still a job and with a job comes tax. The only way it could even be considered fair for these people to have to pay for health care on top of this is if they have a large chunk of their tax taken off, because if they're paying for their healthcare on top then why should they be made to pay taxes that people who get their healthcare without directly paying for it, have to pay to keep the service running? There is no reason for these people to have to pay taxes and a fee. It's simply not fair.
They may have chose to come to the UK because of a reputation of the country being fair, a reputation that lies deep within the foundation of policies such as the National Health Service and Legal Aid. Being a Criminology and Law student I am aware with the cuts surrounding the Legal System as well as these proposed changes to the Health Service. These are two of the areas where Britain made it's name for being a fair country, why should we change these things, things we're proud of?
There is an alternative I can think of, an alternative that wouldn't be popular within the millionaires who sit on their green bench, soon to get a pay rise. The alternative would see either a tax rise for people earning a high bracket of income, or maybe these people would like to pay £200 each extra towards their healthcare, unlike the people that they are actually trying to make pay this money. As for Professor Thomas, I'm sure he can take his scaremongering and use it to encourage Parliament to vote for the richest people in the country to pay more towards their health. If I was in the richest ten or twenty percent I would have no problem paying towards healthcare. You may ask why and I shall answer that. This country should be looking out for everyone within it, now that means the homeless, the people who have settled here from another country and the poor. These people are just as important to the name of Great Britain as those that are rich, whatever profession any of these people are in. If Great Britain stops looking out for these poorer people, whether they come from this land or another, the the Great in Great Britain should not be used anymore.
One thing is for sure, we can all thank the National Health Service for something, the people in many of these hospitals do a great job every day saving many lives. I thank them for this, without them my Uncle would not be around anymore. Therefore I would like to dedicate this blog post to the people that work in these hospitals, the doctors, nurses, receptionists, porters, the lot. I would also like to dedicate this article especially to those at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth who saved my Uncle's life. Thank you.
Tuesday 2 July 2013
Ultimate Blog Challenge - The 31 things I find most annoying - Number 30 - Kayne West
Hey guys! It's time for my second ultimate blog challenge post. Yesterday I discussed the 31st most annoying thing, the television "talent" shows. Well today I have moved to what the 30th most annoying thing, this is a person and his name is Kayne West. That said I can see this one bringing up the Kardashians, or at least Kim, this said I don't know anything about how the Kardashians are famous and have therefore done a Wikipedia before I start, I hear they are in an American tv show that sounds one of these unintelligent awful fake reality shows and a short marriage involving Kim. But thats pretty much it. Oh and a huge ass that apparently competes with Britain's own Pippa Middleton. You can discuss if you like these asses in my comments if you so wish! Alternatively you can share my rather confused thoughts as to why an ass increases someone's fame into the big time, however nice the Daily Mail and The Scum may find this!
But onto Kayne now! As I'm sure most of you know Kayne is a famous musical artist in the rap genre. Selling many albums he originally came on the scene releasing singles such as "Golddigga" and a cover of "Diamonds Are Forever" by Shirley Bassey. Now this didn't any me. It's what has come regarding Kayne in the last few years.
I'm not a fan of Taylor Swift or MTV however I seem to remember a moment in an awards ceremony where Taylor Swift won an award, on came to stage this American rapper claiming that the award should have been that of Beyonce's. Now given his relationship you'd expect this to be Jay-Z, however it was not, it was Kayne West. Later on Beyonce won the best artist award, which explains why she didn't win the best female. I'm not sure how Kayne failed to notice this award, unless he thought he was going to be the lucky man to win it!
So what next for Kayne, time to calm down? No. An album with Jay-Z. What was the lead track on this album? The racial song "N*ggers In Paris". Now I realise both artists are from the USA and I'm from the UK. But I would presume that like the UK the USA don't accept racist language. I also realise that both Kayne West and Jay-Z are black and therefore able to get away with these words to an extent. But who buys the tracks? When I was young "American Idiot" was released with the words "Fuck America", the line these words in was my favourite, because it had rebellion, plus it was the time of the Iraq war and not many people actually liked America. But these songs bring in words to a young persons vocabulary. In Britain we saw various racism arguments over the last few years, from the Jade Goodie big brother row years ago on channel 4 to the more recent alleged cases of Luis Suarez and John Terry. So whilst punishments for the latter two get carried out and remembered a song is released using words that incite racial hatred in this society, words that shouldn't be used. I don't know why the song was allowed to chart when in the charts songs like "My Ding-a-ling" that were much less offensive.
And now the last 6 months. Kayne is now a dad, but as I previously stated on a earlier post he called his child "North". To me this implies that he may well see his child as a joke as think of North West's days in school! Embarrassing. Then there's his comment that he's fighting against the dumbing down of society, (for those that wanna see I'll link my blog post about this when I'm on my iMac, I'm writing this on an iPad), he claims this is in his music. "I am Yeezus" makes a mockery of this comments, how would this be intelligent? The man is an irritating musician in society, with lyrics that mean nothing or, to his credit in the song "Golddigga" persuade one not to o out with a woman like Kim Kardashian!
Okay so I shall stop here, even though I could go on forever. Please comment your opinion ofmKayne West, his music and the genre. Is he annoying or am I completely wrong?
Thanks for reading!
Monday 1 July 2013
Ultimate Blog Challenge - The 31 things I find most annoying - Number 31 - TV "Talent" Contests!
Hey guys!
So first of all this is my first Ultimate Blogging Challenge post, and it shall be the main concentration of my blog over the next month. Now for this month I decided that I would write about the 31 things that I find most annoying. I have done my best to put in some kind of order but I have found this quite hard as all these 31 things annoy me. Some of them you may like, many you will disagree with, some you may think it is typical of me given the things I like. But I can assure you the number 3 to the number 1 you will find very very hard to disagree with and you too may well think they are mould on our society of today.
So Number 31 is these Televison "Talent" Contests that seem to have come a must have in every weekends scheduling. Now the ones I shall focus on mainly involve the normal "wannabes" but these do include those celebrity shows...however later this month they will appear again in a different category. Now although these shows have been around for years they have become more serious, I mean we used to have Stars In Their Eyes which was a great watch, but now we have the X Factor which is hideously annoying and really a sign of meaningless tv. I have two issues with shows like The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, one is the judges, the others are the contestants and the aftermath of their experience.
So lets start with the judges and the X Factor. Now I'm aware that the X Factor has changed judges over the years but let's go through a few of them and suggest what gives them the right over the common person to judge the mediocrity that enters the show. The first judge that comes to mind when you think of a talent contest is the one and only Simon Cowell. Now it's not hard to see where I am going but I am going to judge Simon's credentials, as he judges other. Now judging is something I have never done, just as singing to a decent standard, or showing any form of talent (other than dressing up as a dog) is something Simon has never done.
So first of all this is my first Ultimate Blogging Challenge post, and it shall be the main concentration of my blog over the next month. Now for this month I decided that I would write about the 31 things that I find most annoying. I have done my best to put in some kind of order but I have found this quite hard as all these 31 things annoy me. Some of them you may like, many you will disagree with, some you may think it is typical of me given the things I like. But I can assure you the number 3 to the number 1 you will find very very hard to disagree with and you too may well think they are mould on our society of today.
So Number 31 is these Televison "Talent" Contests that seem to have come a must have in every weekends scheduling. Now the ones I shall focus on mainly involve the normal "wannabes" but these do include those celebrity shows...however later this month they will appear again in a different category. Now although these shows have been around for years they have become more serious, I mean we used to have Stars In Their Eyes which was a great watch, but now we have the X Factor which is hideously annoying and really a sign of meaningless tv. I have two issues with shows like The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, one is the judges, the others are the contestants and the aftermath of their experience.
So lets start with the judges and the X Factor. Now I'm aware that the X Factor has changed judges over the years but let's go through a few of them and suggest what gives them the right over the common person to judge the mediocrity that enters the show. The first judge that comes to mind when you think of a talent contest is the one and only Simon Cowell. Now it's not hard to see where I am going but I am going to judge Simon's credentials, as he judges other. Now judging is something I have never done, just as singing to a decent standard, or showing any form of talent (other than dressing up as a dog) is something Simon has never done.
Simon Cowell's Got Talent?
This is the man who is the face of Saturday nights on both sides of the Atlantic ocean and honestly it's a shame he has. You can also judge his ability to judge by looking at some of the awful acts he has managed to give us lucky people. These acts have led to a decline of bands that write, create and record music. Especially the genre of rock music. Because rock music is not as smooth as Cowell wants and his hold on the music industry we now see many groups from the X Factor and bands that sound like this is where they have come from and have them forced into our ears wherever we may go. I am a fan of music that is wrote and produced by a band and this is what any of these acts lack, they can sing to a standard that is really below par with those at the top who made it the hard way, they haven't wrote their own songs, spend 10 weeks singing covers and get a contract. Forgive me if it's harsh but whoever they are whether they be One Direction, Shane Ward or Alexandra Burke they have had a very easy way to the top. It's not right. Then theres flops like Joe McEldrey, suddenly he gets on every celebrity show but lacks the ability to maintain a place near the top of the chart after this easy route he never really deserved. The real way to get to the top is to get noticed by playing live or with your unsigned albums or albums with a small label and to move up going round, staying round a fans house, maybe the only fan in that area, or sleeping in your cars playing gigs and getting just enough to live and get by but to get noticed. Bands have done this and succeeded and they've also had longevity, something all acts from the X Factor and other shows lack.
Another judge that has judged the X Factor is Tulisa, more famous for a sex tape than for her horrendous deafening "music". Honestly, I may go and say Simon has never sung, but I wish to God that Tulisa had never sung! And then you place her on TV and say she has the right, the nerve, to judge people who are better than her. Unfortunately for Tulisa, Simon finally found some good judgement and has kicked her out, where the police have picked her up to question her on helping supply people with drugs, something she's clearly guilty of looking at the evidence but something that reality friends say would be incredibly harsh to find her guilty of. Reality friends like Celebrity Big Brother (and apparently X Factor) contestant, as well as friends with the undesirable, unlikeable, many-times-a-wife, bully Katie Price. Now I'm sorry but if reality TV and talent contests bring prats like this to the forefront of our culture and society they should be made illegal.
How the world feels when this person is a "popular" within society.
In contrast The Voice picked singers as judges, however one was incredibly unknown, despite being in the script, another had had success for barely a year and therefore didn't really warrant being a judge. The other two Will.I.Am and Tom Jones in fairness have kept coming back and selling well. Although I am not a fan of Will.I.Am's solo music, the man has sold his music and his bands music for many years successfully, reinventing himself at times, although some acts he's signed are useless to be honest. Tom Jones has every right to be a judge. The issue with this show is it's quite frankly boring. It lacks drama once they've stopped turning their chairs round nobody watches it. And it's main issue is what happens to the contestants afterwards with the winner of the show not even having her album in the top 100. Mind you the X Factor had Steve Brookstein who now seems to just abuse people who don't like him via his twitter, such a career he won!
So yeah, I could go on forever but I don't want to bore you. Hopefully my second post will come earlier tomorrow, but for now enjoy. Agree or disagree please leave a comment, and discuss this. alternatively tweet me and use the hashtag #31annoyingthings and I shall get back to you!
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