Blah Blah

'Do you have an issue with someone spending nearly 5k on a wedding gown?' Yes because it's an obscene amount to spent on a dress for one day. 5k is min wage for someone for FIVE months. I won't even go into what 5k means to the poor in other countries. To me, and it is just my view, it typifies a lot about what is wrong in our values. I stand by that view and whilst people on a forum that is predominetly middle class might not agree, there are billions of people around the world who would. They don't even know who Lagerfield is and really couldn't care less either. Also to be fair, the poster didn't say she got a discount. She said it cost nearly 5k, to make some kind of point. The vast majority of weddings around the world have no need of expensive designer gowns. It a consumer con that some people are daft enough to be sucked into.

Have a look at where the bulbs are on the lights. If water can get in and short the bulb then I would guess they are for indoors? Or maybe post some pics. I'm sure someone will be able to say one way or the other at a glance?

Yes the hippocampus and hypothalamus are different areas but they have a bearing on each other. The hypothalamus links between the endocrine and nervous systems and some thinking now suggests that imbalances in the endocrine system, brought on by stress, brings about the depressive neurology and not the other way round. That of course links into diet and lifestlye. But the hippocampus also feeds into the autonomic nervous system and has a bigger role in our emotions. The reason why it figures so prominently in PTSD research is because it's also the centre for memory (and learning). That is where traumatic events will impact most. My area is within a clinical environment, but even there, an open mind is to be found regarding holistic approaches. We know for example, that acupuncture works for some patients, if not always why. And some forms of Cognitive Behaviour therapy now incorporates meditation, because that too raises treatment success rates in some patients.

Sue, I'm pretty sure that led lights are safe outdoors. We used to have outdoor icicle lights, and they were just strings of little led lights. They tend to be completely rubber sealed to the wiring so no water ever can get in. Ours we just ran through the window as the wiring was so thin that it could fit under the frame.

Is it only me that finds an irony in someone spending 5k on any piece of clothing and then accusing others of not being charitable enough?

Even those who don't suffer from depressive illness are living under high levels of stress. So when looking at wellbeing I think there are broader queastions that go beyond just those who become ill. Prevention in mental health terms could save the country billions in lost working hours alone for example, and save lives too. We know ao much more now about the brain and physiology and there are some great advances in understanding how depression evolves and impacts on every part of the body. Yet the standard treatment is still anti-depressants, and patients are left languishing for years on them with no other treatment. Anti-depressants do not cure anything. One neurological area that is of interest is the hypothalamus. It shrinks in people who are suffering from depression. The good news is that it can return back to normal if a patient recovers from that depressive period, but that takes time. If it doesn't recover from a depressive episode, it makes repeat and more severe episodes likely. That is just one clinical aspect of research but all the evidence is showing that treating depressive illness has to go beyond just controlling mood (which is what anti-depressants seek to do). And I would also add that depression is a normal human emotion. We all experience bereavement for example. It only becomes a problem when it is prolonged and even then it's only a problem because we live in a society where there is constant pressure, to work, to be happy, to perform. That is what I think this government fails to understand most. That it takes time to help someone get well and that it will be different for everyone. By taking those most qualified to assess patients out of the welfare assessment process for example, they are simply condemning people to an abyss. The DWP have investigated 80 welfare reform suicides and refuse to publish their findings. The real figure is higher (especially in men). Hardship is killing people.

I think it typifies that problem with twiiter though ????. People behave in ways they never would face to face and write without any sense of responsibility. It also goes back to comments above about the kinds of people who seem to end up as diversity officers and think the use of shocking language is ok, and worse than that, actually forwards debate. It doesn't. It just polarises people against those claiming to forward the debate. The other thread on the ride out group reflects this too. That shocking behaviour will somehow forward their demand for a place to ride legally. It won't. There are numerous examles out there of this sort of thing. Fortunately, enough people are able to seperate the misguided behaviour of some individuals from the core issue.

Or as someone said above, the council could have built new homes on it and sold a couple privately to pay for the homes to rent.

Elephant and Castle. A prime piece of land went for just ?50 million. Oh wait!

It is all about welfare reform, but they are making major errors of judgement. People with depressicve illness have been deliberately targetted and the consequences have been detrimental to the health and any hope of recovery of those people. So in my department we have less resources and more people to treat, who are more difficult to treat because of external factors like welfare reform. It makes no sense and saves absolutely no money.

Being black or asian or chinese is not circumstance. Being male or female is not circumstance. Being heterosexual or homosexual is not circumstance. Being racist is a choice, albeit often a learned choice. The same is true for sexism and homophobia. Frankly, for someone who claims to have worked in the diversity and equalities sector I am astounded by your whole line of reasoning, and as for the original post that was deleted by admin, I could be forgiven for thinking you don't have the slightly clue as to what diversity and equality means.

Article in the Evening Standard tonight saying they stole petrol from a station in Streatham en masse. The police are looking at CCTV footage apparently. Take a look at their facebook page UK Raise It Up - lot's of people telling them how stupid they are!

There was also Panorama last week that highlighted the desperate shortage of resources for mental health treatment. 3000 beds have been lost in five years and trusts are now having to use private hospitals to house patients because there are not enough NHS beds, so much so that the private health sector is running out of beds in some areas. It's a national disgrace. Government doesn't even class depression as a disabling illness anymore.

That post Admin has reposted absolutely isn't anything the OP claims it was. It was quite clearly and deliberately offensive.

Agreed Dave. That was my point too. Sometimes, unpalatable views are best out in the open where they can be challenged. We do have freedom of speech Jeremy but we also have laws to protect society from people abusing that right by inciting others to do harm to others. Is it a perfect balance? Probably not but well meaning all the same.

I agree the Police response is pathetic (which is why I said it might take a tragic incident to force them to act) but what can they realistically do against 100 moped/ bike riders? At best they can catch and prosecute one or two for traffic offences. That will hardly stop similar events from happening will it?

I would argue that if that offence was taken on religious grounds, then no, given that many people with religious views have also not chosen to be religious. Most religion is brainwashed into children from an early age, often using devices of fear to force compliance.

Saffron is correct. Bedbug bites can be any size depending on the level of reaction to them. And they are difficult to get rid of because of their feeding and breeding cycles.

Hard to know what the police can do about mass anti-social riding. Sadly it will probably take something tragic to happen first. Looking at the footage online, it seems that it was a minority of riders on the pavemnts though. There's nothing new about motor cycle rallies. How to tackle the anti-social element is the problem.

The Police were all at the Lambeth rave riot I think.

Yes worth asking the people who put out the basket (good suggestion Sue). Fleas can be ruled out as they bite at any time of the day, can usually be seen and tend to attack the lower legs. Whilst spiders are known for double bites, you would be able to see the fang puncture marks. From what you describe dreamcatcher I would suspect bedbugs, who bite the areas you list and are difficult to get rid of. Bedbugs only bite at night and can travel meters from wherever they hide to bite you. A bedbug can go for a week after one feed without feeding again. A whicker basket is a perfect hiding place for them too.

Yes but Loz, differing views on communism are not the same as racism,sexism, homophobia etc. You can't compare McCartyism to any of those things - it's a very poor analogy ayway. And there are better examples of what you are trying to say. The OP was comparing culture to things that are determined by birth. The two are different things, that's my point. Prejudice on the grounds of race for example is absolutely wrong (and we all accept that - or should) but prejudice of what a person believes will depend on the moral code of the society. But even within that, there are things a civilised society tends to agree are wrong, like murder, violence, robbery etc. I agree regarding Tim Hunt and Dianne Abbot for example. The failure of a system to deliver consistency doesn't mean that we should drop the moral benchmark though (and politicians of late are poor examples of any kind of moral line anyway). Julie Burchill, whether she joins the Police force or not can still be defined by her views. The BNP are not a proscribed organisation. They are not on the list at all. Members are not allowed to join the Police or Prison Service presumably because of the BNPs racist views. That seems like common sense to me.

Just to add that McCarthyism is about subversion with no regard for evidence. So you've lost me in describing my view as the basis for that. The supression of beliefs is something that does have a fine line but we don't live within a tyranny.

The examples I were given were sexism, homophobia, xenophobia etc. I don't think there's any doubt that those things in themselves are wrong. Ideas of course are debateable, like culture, but they are not the same thing as anything in the list given. There is a clear difference between the prejudice of things people are, and the things they think.

adonirum Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Blah Blah, this is definitely not any form of trolling. I have not attacked any poster on this > thread for their contribution. Trolling doesn't need to be directed at a person. > I spent two years in diversification and equality service delivery training and remain very interested in people's > viewpoints on this whole subject. Really? So the best you could do explore that was to write a post that used the expressions of an offensive fictional TV character to make some observation about the men on x Factor? A post that mdoerators deemed needed to be removed and another poster has said read like a homophobic rant? It just doesn't make sense. But again I have not seen the deleted post so can't really know. > As a slight aside and (maybe) to broaden the debate, when it comes to being an equal opportunities employer then it > could be arqued that there is no such thing. People holding homophobic/xenophobic/misogynist/etc views are > generally excluded from public service institutions (and other employers), therefore do these sections of society > become discriminated against? The Police service particularly excludes any person that is/was a member of a right-wing > fascist neo nazi organisation, thereby contradicting their own stated "regardless of........political persuasion". There are good reasons why ureasonable views are not tolerated, as everyone knows. What's interesting is that your list, gender, nationality, sexuality are all things that are accidents of birth, and cannot be changed, except in certain circumstances. A way of thinking on the other hand is learned. There is no excuse for such prejudices anymore. We are in a country where there is awareness of these things and quite frankly, if someone wants to behave like a racist, sexist, or homophobic idiot, then they deserve to be excluded.