What Would Pocahontas Do?!

 Firstly I’d like to start by saying, apologies for my last two blogs.  Although I make an excellent and valid point in both, they were really poorly written due to the fact I’d been up since 5.30 and should have just gone to bed. However, it seemed that I needed to have a gigantic rant about the world because I could actually nod off.

Ok, so. L’Oreal. I haven’t liked them recently anyway since they’ve chosen Cheryl Cole to represent them, and I think that she is the world’s worst representative for ANYTHING, ever. She’s just so predictably shit at everything she does. You would have thought that, what with all the money she’s been making, she would actually fork out for some singing lessons. That woman CANNOT SING. I’ve heard her live. She just whispers, and sticks to one note so she can’t go off key. She has no VOCAL RANGE. She can’t go lower or higher than the whispery SHIT that comes out of her mouth. And she can’t manage her personal life either.

But Cheryl Cole is not the reason for my Hitler/Murdoch comparisons.  It’s because I recently found out that L’Oreal have been doing something REALLY EVIL and then they did something to cover it up, totally unapologetic-ally.

L’Oreal test on animals. Now, now, hear me out. I know all too well that when people hear the phrase ‘testing on animals’ they probably think; ‘So what? We’re going to eat them later anyway. Why not put some lipstick on the hamsters?’ But it’s really not like that. And I have pictorial evidence to try to sway your mind.

One of the many things they do to animals is rub shampoo into their eyes. They do it to rabbits, which have no tear ducts, so they can’t get the shampoo out.  The poor little bunnies sit there panicking and in pain, and their eyes go all swollen and ganky, and I imagine some of them go blind. 

Other methods of torture include force feeding them poisonous ingredients untill they die, shaving their fur off constantly and scraping at their skin underneath until it is really sore and painful, then slapping a load of chemical crap onto it so it stings to monitor the reactions. All the bunnies are strapped down and cannot move, and obviously, cannot do anything to soothe the pain. They are left like this, in a huge batch, all distressed and crying and in pain, then they either die or they’re killed, dumped outside in a bin bag and the next batch are brought in. Now, call me old fashioned but I don’t believe that’s how the world should work. Especially not in England or America! We’re not living in a third world country! Why the hell is shit like this going down?!

So. Not only are they heartless  BASTARDS but they also LIE. They told the public they stopped animal testing in 89. Then, more recently, they bought The Bodyshop, who is renowned for their anti-animal testing philosophies. Basically it was a huge tactical buy to make themselves look warm, fuzzy and kind to the animals when they got found out that they were still testing. Now I am doubly worried as now they are in control of The Bodyshop I imagine all their stuff is tested on animals too.

Because I am a guilty person, and also have enough sympathy in my body to create ten new Mother Thereasa’s , I can no longer wear their products. (Although currently I won’t even stretch out my legs, even though they are killing, because I don’t want to disturb my cat. But I’m just a nice person like that.)Whether you wear their products is up to you. But check this picture out!

Lastly, I’ve put a link on the side of a petition to stop L’Oreal testing on animals. Have a read through, they have more information on it and probably don’t phrase it all as angrily as I do.

  YEAH

Ok, so. I got involved in an online argument about three days ago, maybe more and I am STILL.NOT.OVER.IT. What’s really annoying me is the person I was arguing with is someone I really like. He’s a really cool dude and was actually my boyfriend once. So clearly, he’s got some coolness about him. But, like me, he can be very opinionated and was on Facebook trying to tell everyone about this one point of view of his and trying to get everyone on his side. But his opinion (In MY opinion) was very UNCOOL and him preaching to facebook trying to get them to join in with him is just how I feel about religious people when they preach. It’s like; ‘fine if that’s your opinion, but it’s wrong so go away’.

So. The argument was about seagulls. (Yes AGAIN. I’m SORRY I know I already blogged about Billy my favorite orphan seagull but shush and listen because the seagull thing leads to an even better thing, alright?!)

Some politician or government guy or someone with power where I live in Worcester started a petition to kill loads of the seagulls. He was all ‘The seagulls are a problem, they’re dirty and annoying, we should kill them all, sign if you agree’. 

*Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggghhhhhhhhhhhh* This guy, is a first class idiot, as is everyone who signs.

First of all, before I even have to explain WHY he is an idiot, I’d just like to point something out, give you something to mull over for a second. The only thing that separates human beings from animals is that we have rational thought and can make choices, whereas animals follow their instincts. It is SO cavemen to be like ‘that seagull’s annoying me – KILL’ without ANY other thought in the process, like for example, asking your CONSCIENCE and debating whether it is MORALLY RIGHT. If we didn’t care about morals, there would be no prisons for prisoners because no one would give a shit about rapists and general wrong doers and the world would be a mess. But I thought we were BETTER than that people! I thought we had BRAINS. Trying to exterminate a huge portion of an entire species isn’t CLEVER. And it also won’t solve the problem.

So my friend was all like; ‘This guy is RIGHT. Seagulls are flying RATS spreading disease. They make the streets dirty and they are everywhere. There are loads of them. They have the potential to ATTACK A SMALL CHILD.’ (Yes. He actually used that last point in evidence of his case. I have NEVER heard of a seagull attacking a small child. Even if one did, it would be a one off case. They’re not CANNIBALS. They’re not EVIL. I’m just saying, dude.)

So let me tell you my rational theory on the whole thing. Yeah, I agree, seagulls are annoying. Yes, they are dirty and spread diseases, but you could say that about ANY BIRD. Birds are dirty like loads of other animals are. Get over it, they don’t live in houses and they don’t brush their teeth. They are ANIMALS. They live outside with the shit! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?! ALL animals are dirty. WHY AREN’T YOU ATTACKING THE PIGEONS? IT’S RACIST. ATTACK ALL SPECIES IF DIRTINESS IS YOUR CONCERN. Secondly, yes, they’re everywhere. Why is this? Because our streets are filthy. The problem is that we are grubby and litter and drop food everywhere. An animal spots food, it’s going to go for it. And THAT my friends, is the REAL PROBLEM! If we weren’t littering and feeding them, they wouldn’t be around us all the time, pissing us off!! Instead of shouting THERE’S LOADS, THEY’RE GROSS, KILL THEM! We could try OTHER ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS FIRST before mindlessly jumping straight onto KILL! KILL! KILL! I can’t believe people are in agreement that Hitler was really evil killing a massive group that he didn’t like, and then being all FINE and about totally BULLYING the seagulls! WHAT ABOUT THE PIGEONS??? THEY ARE JUST AS ANNOYING. THEY’RE DIRTY AND EVERYWHERE TOO. SHALL WE KILL THEM ALL AS WELL?!

Where does it STOP people? WHERE? Please tell me as there are no longer CLEAR BOUNDARIES as to what’s right and what’s wrong. 

My friend’s response to my suggesting the petition be changed to a ‘Clean up Worcester’ act that would probably not only stop seagulls but other birdies and rodents lurking around was received with a furious response claiming that ‘A clean up litter act would mean policemen 24/7 and cost far too much money! I say the ONLY WAY IS TO KILL THEM’.

How do we know that something is the ONLY WAY if we don’t explore other, (less stupid) options? It all reminds me of George Bush saying ‘I see no other option than to go to war’. It wouldn’t cost loads of money at all. My friend has just moved to Singapore and they have really strict rules and laws about littering. He tells me the streets look beautiful, it’s so clean and hygienic, no rodent problems, no worrying about children playing. How did Singapore do it? Just passed a law. All you need to do to create a law is to get enough people to sign a petition. 

Ok, so this is all my opinion. What’s the difference between my petition idea and his opposing one? Mine solves TWO problems, litter and seagulls, and there is no KILLING involved. 

END OF.

Awwww. I got told about something really sweet today. It’s about my favorite thing, Recycling. Apparently there’s this cool new thing you can do now called Garden Recycling. You know how some people just don’t have gardens (like me) but very much want to be an avid gardener (like me)? Well now, instead of having to wait twenty billion years for an allotment, they can just BORROW SOMEONE ELSE’S GARDEN.

That’s right. Because there are also those people who DO have gardens but don’t have time to garden them, like people with loads of kids or hectic social lives, or people who just plain don’t like gardening.

Anyway, the person whose garden it is gets a FREE gardener (and maybe a new best friend). The person who needs a garden GETS ONE (oohh err!)

Well I think the whole thing sounds SPLENDID.  I’m really, really pleased about it all. So if you want to sign up, I’ve put a tasty little link in the side for you.

Ok, So. The other day I was walking home from work and it was late, like 10pm ish and it was all dark and wintery looking because it was raining like a bish.  And I had my ipod in and was just hopping along to Busted or whatever I was listening to when I had to stop. Because I saw this teeny tiny baby little seagull. It was SO young it didn’t have any feathers it had sort of grey cotton wool fluff instead, and that was patchy. It was shivering and squawking for its mummykins.

I stopped and stared at it for a bit because honestly, it looked like a really sad cartoon character, like when Puss N Boots does that little whimpery face and you think you’re going to melt.  It obviously couldn’t fly, else it would have just flew off, so I assumed it either couldn’t fly at the moment, chicken run style, or it was injured and that’s why it couldn’t fly. I told myself that its mummy would come and get him and he’d be fine and I went home, still worrying about it being out there alone and cold and crying. 

The next day I get up and walk to work again and this seagulls still there.  And it’s really panicking now because it’s Saturday and Saturday in town is really busy. There are kids and people walking dogs and it is FREAKING OUT and keeps running into the nearby shops and the shop keepers keep chucking him back out again. My boyfriend works in one of these shops and I go and and get upset about it and the shop owner is saying: ‘’We should just shoot it! It’s vermin!’’.

I can totally understand why people hate seagulls because they ARE really annoying. They piss me off at night when I’m trying to sleep and I can hear them yapping and they piss me off in the day when they fly at you in town.  I am CONSTANTLY afraid one is going to shit on my head and I don’t like not being able to eat fish and chips/any yummy food in town without expecting to be attacked and pestered.

HOWEVER. I think toddlers are really annoying as well. I think they are also loud and dirty and pester you. But you wouldn’t leave one out in the cold and rain in the street hurt would you?

By the third day the shopkeepers were calling the RSPCA to get rid of him and I think they were actually coming round to the fact that he wasn’t just an irritating seagull but a hurt lost scared baby. I was bringing it food (cornflakes, nuts and raisins… I had no idea what to bring him but I wanted him to be healthy and vegan like me).The guy I spoke to was on the line for about an hour, being switched over to loads of different people who made him ring about a billion different numbers. In the end the RSPCA said ‘’Look, there’s nothing we can do, we don’t help seagulls’’.

WHAT?!! WHAT THE FUCK?!

I’m SORRY but if you rang the NSPCC about a hurt lost child they would not say ‘’What kind of a child is it? A black one? No sorry, we don’t help black ones’’. What’s the difference between that and what the RSPCA did. How can they CHOOSE which animals they will and won’t help? ‘’Oh no I won’t help the seagull, it’s not cute and fluffy enough.’’ It really made me feel disgusted with them.

People donate money to the RSPCA. What for? I saw an animal in need, they didn’t help. After 4 days of the seagull crying, someone from the council caught it in a big net. They weren’t trained with animals. You can’t touch birds because their mother and other birds will smell human on them and abandon them, so there’s not much you can do unless you’re a trained animal specialist. My boyfriend reckons they shot the seagull, which I named Billy, by the way.

To conclude the story, you shouldn’t hold  prejudices about animals as much as you shouldn’t about humans. For instance, if all Jews were rich and great with money, all the golddiggers would leave playboy and marry them. You see? Not all seagulls are bad. Billy was a little angel. The moral of the story, I suppose, is don’t give any money to the RSPCA because they are racists.

I decided to go vegan for a while. I still try and almost everything I eat is Vegan, although admittedly I still love eating mayonnaise (which has egg in it) Also, when I go round my Mum’s house for tea, I completely throw it out the window. WHAT?! Don’t look at me like that, she cooks me tasty Chinese ribs and stuff! But no, honestly, the rest of the time, strict vegan. No meat, no dairy, no egg (ahem *coughmayonnaisecough*) lots of herbal teas and salad, I feel like I’m very, very good.

BUT OH NO I’M NOT. Because even when I’m totally strict and I DON’T go round my Mum’s house and I DON’T eat mayonnaise, I’m still not a proper Vegan/Vegetarian. Because food manufacturers, for reasons I simply cannot fathom, love playing this game where they sneakily hide meat and other ingredients in the most random and STUPID of food items. Here’s a few that will surprise you and probably make you feel quite sick.

Sugar. Yeahhhhh I said it, Sugar. Sugar has animal in it. And not something sort of normal like, oh a bit of meat or fat or something. Oh no. It has Animal Bone Char in it. This makes me feel so queasy it is unreal. My boyfriend (who does all the cooking) is going to have to stop seasoning our quorn mince spag bol with sugar now.Because I keep picturing a knife scraping at some leg bone and the dust falling into my sugar pot. Oh God, I’m going to be sick.

Soy yoghurts and cheeses. This one GREATLY annoys me. I’m allergic to dairy. So I try and eat soy alternatives? Oh no. They’ve decided to put Casein in them. Which is made from cow’s milk. They’ve put DAIRY in the DAIRY FREE ALTERNATIVES. WHY???

Beer. The stuff they hide in this one is ridiculous. It could contain dried blood powder! Also another contender for the Casein. As if that wasn’t enough, it can have gelatin, honey and isinglass. I’m not too sure what isinglass is… but I know it comes from fish bladder. Now why is that in beer?

Fruit Juice. Contains Shellac which is some stuff secreted from a female lac bug. Wtf?! Also Carmine which is ground up red beetles. They also love to throw wool wax/grease into it. The wool thing is just for fun, I reckon.

Although when searching  the internet scientists are umming and ahhhing as to whether hair dye really is a huge cancer risk or a health risk in general I’m just gonna put my opinion on the table and see what you think.

First of all, and I’m writing this with my Beauty Therapy NVQ in the back of my mind, I want to point out that whatever you slap on your skin goes into your body, into your bloodstream and has an effect. So I’m going to write a little list of all the chemicals that are in hair-dyes and you can tell me if you want this shit swirling round your bloodstream. Have you ever wondered why pregnant women are advised to stop dying their hair? Just like the smoking again, they don’t want those chemicals poisoning their baby. So why let them poison you?

Ok, so. Here it is:

Resorcinol. 8 out of 10 hazard rating. Classified harmful, irritant and DANGEROUS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. (I’m sorry for shouting but you know how I feel about the environment.) On tests on rats it disrupted their hormonal functioning and caused thyroid deficiency. Do you know what can make babies have autism?  Hypothyroidsim while in the womb. Yes. There’s a study on it by Roman (2007) and a further study by Duren et al (2004) where many women lost their babies by taking this chemical, Resorcionol by the mouth. It’s also a skin sensitizer. Don’t have dandruff? You might after using this.

Ammonia. Wow. For a start I read a book on a woman who used to abuse her child by making him breath ammonia. Why? Because it stops you breathing! And as my friend Rachael pointed out, it does that when you’re dying your hair. That’s the stinky smell! It’s another irritant (why are we putting irritants on our skin?? Why is it allowed in these products? What is wrong with the world?)On top of that, it can cause asthma. Nice.

Persulfates. The concentration of persulfates in hair-dyes are up to 60% You only need 17.5% to harm your skin. Need I go on? Ok fine I will. It also damages your lungs. BAD.

Hydrogen Peroxide. This had been banned in Japan and restricted in Canada.  It has a toxic effect on the nervous system, digestive system and respiratory system and that’s at low doses. It also damages DNA, possibly leading to cancer.

Lead Acetate. Everyone knows that lead is bad for you. It can damage your brain. There are no words for how stupid it is that we slap this on our heads.

And finally:  4-ABP. This is linked to the development of cancer.

Overall, when L’Oreal tell you that you’re worth it, you should say: ‘Worth cancer? Oh thank you. Thank you for grabbing all my money whilst simultaneously giving me lead poisoning, lung poisoning and dandruff.’

Ok, ok so I know I’m being all ragey and people who know me will tell me to shut up because I dye my hair. They’re right, I do. But I use NATURAL hair-dye. Probably still got a load of crap in I’m sure, but no ammonia or bleach or lead and slightly less bad for me until I can go back to my true mousey blonde roots. I’ll post you links for natural hair-dye sites on the side. And I will also remind you that as well as damaging yourself using hair dye, you also upset the aquatic life when that rubbish goes down the drain pipe. What’s the point of using Ecover if you’re gonna bleach those fishies anyway with your hair dye. Think about it because I bet you look great with your natural colour, and don’t have to deal with no roots. BOOM. Rant over!