Just another dent in the damage…

He’s an imposter!!! It’s true. Michael Jackson was actually murdered between 18-20 years ago and replaced with the creature that stands before us today. This explains a hell of a lot. His decomposing body has been uncovered in the Neverland grounds (of all places!) during a ’search for evidence’. Evidence concerning what, however is still hush hush.

I think it’s time to once again dig out the ‘Michael Jackson is innocent’ t-shirts and wear them with pride. We’ve all been fooled! He never did grow-up, just like he said he wouldn’t. RIP Peter Pan and screw you Captain Hook.

Read more.

Check out Stephanie’s weekly cartoons!

I like this one most:

“The only moral abortion is my abortion.”

The Abu Ghraib Files are up and available for all to see! Included in The Salon’s photo gallary are previously unreleased images and the documentations of Pentagon investigations by Michael Scherer and Mark Benjamin. This aint pretty! But I think I actually find the comments section even more disturbing!

219 photographs and 19 videos from the Army’s internal investigation record a harrowing three months of detainee abuse inside the notorious prison — and make clear that many of those responsible have yet to be held accountable.

…and eat it! I’ll have ALL the vegan cake — yours too!

‘The Joy of being Vegan’ is featured in today’s Independent. READ IT. We’re on the rise! Good article aside from this bit “Vegans eat all the foods meat-eaters eat — except meat, poultry, fish, cow’s milk, yoghurt, cheese and honey”. Wow. I guess therefore that vegans DON’T actually ‘eat all the foods meat-eaters eat’, in fact we eat HUMMUS everyday, for every meal! Actually no we don’t but that’s the kind of ignorance I’ve come to expect. We’re not ‘extremists’ either, so there!

“The transformation of veganism from oddball movement to the fringe of the mainstream has taken 60 years. Its progress to the mainstream is likely to be much quicker.” hhhhmmm Maybe. I’m not disputing the fact that there are roughly between 600,000 and one million vegans in the UK or the fact that the meat-free market in 2004 was worth £626 million but I would like to dispute this notion of mainstream veganism. Don’t get me wrong I would love to see more and more people tilting towards vegan preferences but if personal experience is anything to go by I’d say we’re still a long way off. I think the main problem facing the rise of veganism is the public attitude. The vegan diet is not an extreme diet and it certainly doesn’t lack vitamins, nutrients or taste for that matter! We don’t need your B12 supplements either. All hail the breakfast cereal.

Gillian McKeith and the growth of health awareness has quite obviously helped the vegan cause but being vegan isn’t just about ’staying slim’ you know. Adrian Ling, the managing director of Plamil Foods reckons “as veganism has grown, understanding of it has grown”. This is true, but only to a certain extent. The stereotypical hippy vegan image, the ‘dreadlock burger’ and the daily intake of lentils is still very much common-place. I get so annoyed by vegetarian options in restaurants centred around cheese and eggs! I certainly hope the growing interest in veganism will continue and people become more and more aware of animal welfare and animal cruelty-free lifestyles. Being vegan is EASY and all you ‘I’d go vegan but I like cheese and chocolate too much’ vegetarians need to wake up and veganise!

1.6 million people sat down last night to watch Michael Winterbottoms’ new docu-film, The Road to Guantanamo. To be honest I actually found this article much more interesting regarding the experiences of the Tipton Three. The interviews they gave on camera were very much not what I expected. I expected to see three men from Birmingham struggling to come to terms with their ordeal and adapting to life outside the shackles. I guess I just didn’t expect to see such strength, normality and lack of resentment. Asif (I think) even stated “It either breaks you or makes you stronger — It made me stronger” — C’est la Vie and all that.

I anticipated viewing much more disturbing images and thought the film would provoke a more emotional reaction in me. In fact yesterday’s article in the Independent got me thinking more about the atrocities of Camp X-Ray/Delta/Echo and the US military and George Bush, for that matter. I feel that Winterbottom (maybe) intentionally diluted the horrific experiences of Asif Iqbal, Ruhel Ahmed, and Shafiq Rasul in order to portray a more ‘believeable’ story and offer a more comfortable viewing position? (Don’t quote me on any of this by the way). Is the film actually as controversial as it has been made out to be? I don’t think so. But read Lenin and check out the Aaronovitch link in the comments section.

The ban on live veal exports from Britain to the EU has been lifted - The ban came into force ten years (!) ago in order to prevent the spread of BSE in Europe but in six weeks time this lift will mean “that live animals born after 1 August, 1996, beef and beef products made from cattle slaughtered after 15 June 2005 will be able to be exported”. This is a trade worth £675 million a year to The Farmer’s Union and a trade worth losing her life protesting against for Jill Phipps.

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The South Dakota law – approved by the governor on Monday – makes it a crime for doctors to perform terminations — even on RAPE VICTIMS and incestual conceptions!

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A lot of backwards thinking and not a very happy Lex!

p.s. Happy International Women’s Day – Hope The Independent’s special edition inspired you as much as it inspired me!!! (Hope you can detect the note of sarcasm, although ‘In the Shadow of the Taliban‘ is quite an interesting read).

p.p.s Go Vegan

p.p.p.s Pro-Choice

I’ve been doing a bit more research on exercises to help mend my annoying knee and my lazy hip adductors! I stumbled upon Jessica Simpson’s Hot Pants Plan:

Hot pants squats and lunges:

This will raise your bottom and sculpt your thighs: Stand with your feet approximately two feet apart. Then turn your feet outwards, keeping them in line with your knees. Hold your arms out in front of you and slowly lower yourself down until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Keep your bottom tucked underneath you and your stomach pulled in. Hold this position for three seconds before slowly standing back up. Do 20 repetitions.

For sleek calves:

Stand on a step, and then back up until your heels are off the step and you are supported only by the balls of your feet. Raise yourself up on your toes, and then slowly lower your heels until they are level with the step. Do 20 repetitions.

To tone both your bottom and backs of thighs:

Lie on the floor face down. Put your forehead on your forearms. Bend one knee and point your toes toward the ceiling. Hold your stomach in and squeeze your buttocks together, and keeping both hips on the floor, lift your thigh off the ground and hold for one to six seconds, then slowly lower it down again. Do 20 repetitions on each leg.

To tighten the whole thigh and buttock area:

Stand with feet hip width apart. Put your hands on your hips. Step forward with one leg and bend from the knee until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Squeeze your buttocks as you slowly return to the starting position. Do 20 repetitions on each leg.

Hot pant home treatments:

Brush those pins! Dry brushing stimulates circulation and gets rid of dead skin cells, revealing smooth sleek skin. Use a natural-bristled body brush and make circular motions from your toes to your buttocks. Don’t scrub or you will make your skin sore. A healthy pink glow is the desired result. Do this every day for five to ten minutes.

After brushing, treat yourself to the best-kept celebrity secret for combating cellulite – coffee! Don’t drink it – rub it in! Warm fresh coffee grounds are messy but brilliant at getting rid of those lumpy bits. Just use as you would a body scrub.

Hydrotherapy treatments are especially good for legs. Do one at home by turning the shower to as hot as you can stand it for one minute, then as cold as you can bear for twenty seconds. Carry on alternating for ten minutes, finishing with a blast of cold. Alternating the temperatures help to boost circulation, and will also help relieve your legs if they are aching from all the exercises you have done.

Follow this plan for four weeks and soon your will be baring your pins with pride! Eat your heart out Daisy Duke!

So I’ll let you know in four weeks how I get on HA. The iVillage has loads of tips for body shaping. I’m going to visit it more often.

We’re not loving it — oh no we’re not.

25 McDonalds restaurants in Britain have been forced to close due to poor sales! That’s a decline of £22 million in global profit. I’ve never really been a McDonalds eater anyway or one of those kids that badgered their folks into taking them every weekend. Stef used to throw pretty big tantrums when I was going through my ‘Mum I’m not eating anything that goes towards funding the IRA’ phase. I didn’t even know what the IRA was at the time ha. I think I must have just liked her sulking.

To be honest I’m not at all surprised that sales are declining. Growing economies are bound to bring changes, introduce more competition etc etc. Plus with all the health advice and Morgan Spurlock shoved in our face these days is it any wonder that people are turning more towards the salad bar at Marks and Spencers? Eating McDonalds, to some extent has become a dirty sin not the weekend treat it used to be but lets keep things in perspective, is £22 million really a major dent in their net profits? Not necessarily methinks.