"Blogging Against Disablism Day" aka BADD2013

May 1st is "Blogging Against Disablism Day". Please get involved by writing and/or reading and/or whatever (!) on the day or read the archive later on. One does NOT have to be disabled, by the by.

"The eighth annual Blogging Against Disablism day will be on Wednesday, 1st May. This is the day where all around the world, disabled and non-disabled people blog about their experiences, observations and thoughts about disability discrimination (known as disablism or ableism). In this way, we hope to raise awareness of inequality, promote equality and celebrate the progress we've made."

More details on how to participate can be found here.

This year there is an eponymous Facebook page as well as a Twitter account, @BADDtweets.

Hope to see/hear from you on 1st May. %)

Television Square-Eyes!

I can recall watching the goggle-box (television set) from at least the age of five. Of course it was black & white back then. My Father introduced us to colour for Princess Anne's wedding to Captain Mark Phillips in 1973. Next improvement (for a man with appalling eyesight) was the introduction of flat-screens which replaced the curved tubes, which once again my Father provided rather thoughtfully. Since then LCD, LED (my personal preference), HD and 3D technologies have arrived and holographic TV is predicted for the imminent future. What an amazing box of delights!

[Image description: Loewe LED TV from John Lewis ©]

I remember profound cultural events being broadcast to the globe: from the Apollo launches to the destruction of the Twin Towers. But what most excites me about the televisual experience is the story-telling that stimulates my imagination and sometimes even fantasies.

The following list are the two-hundred (pure fluke it is such a round number!) programmes that have most stuck in my memory, although not necessarily because I enjoyed them or think them worthy - though many are so. I hope you find something on my list which might prise a pleasant memory from the dark recesses of oblivion.

1990 (1977-8) (BBC)

9 to 5 (1982-3)

A Certain Justice (1998)

A Fatal Inversion (1992) (BBC)

A Fine Romance (1981-4)

A Mind to Murder (1995)

A Taste for Death (1988)

Absolutely Fabulous (1992-6, + specials to 2012) (BBC)

Agatha Christie’s Marple (2004-present)

Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime (1983-4)

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1997-9)

Archer (2009-present)

Armchair Thriller (1978-1980)

Barbapapa (1973-n/k)

Babar (1989)

Babylon 5 (1994-8)

BBC News (BBC)

Becoming Human (2011) (BBC)

Belle and Sebastian (1965-1970)

Being Human (2008-2013) (BBC)

Blakes 7 (1978-1981)

Blue Peter (1958-present) (BBC)

Bouquet of Barbed Wire (1976)

Brideshead Revisited (1981) (Granada)

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979-81)

Bugs (1995-9) (BBC)

Cadfael (1994-8)

Camberwick Green (1966) (BBC)

Campion (1989-1990) (BBC)

Channel 4 News (C4)

Charlie’s Angels (1976-1981)

Chelsea Flower Show (BBC)

Children of the Stones (1977)

Cold Lazarus (1996) (BBC/C4)

Cover her Face (1985)

Cover Up (1984-5)

Daria (1997-2002)

Devices & Desires (1991)

Doctor Who (1963-present) (BBC)

Drop the Dead Donkey (1990-8) (C4)

Eldorado (1992-3) (BBC)

Ellen (1994-8)

Ellen Night (1998) (C4)

Ellery Queen (1975-6)

Fame (1982-7)

Family Guy (1999-present)

Flash Gordon (1936)

Foyle’s War (2002-13)

Game On! (1995-8) (BBC)

Gaudy Night (1987)

Gaytime TV (1995-9) (BBC)

Green Wing (2004-7) (C4)

Hart to Hart (1979-1984)

Have his Carcass (1987)

Heidi (1978)

Hercule Poirot (1989-present) (LWT; Granada)

Here Come the Double Deckers (1970-1) (BBC)

Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin (1959-1964)

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (1996-8) (BBC)

Hong Kong Phooey (1974)

Horizon (1964-present) (BBC)

In Search of the Trojan War (1985) (BBC)

Inspector Morse (1987-2000)

Jackanory (1965-1996) (BBC)

Jamie and the Magic Torch (1976-9)

Jeeves and Wooster (1990-3)

Jonathan Creek (1997-2013) (BBC)

Kingdom (2007-9)

Knight Rider (1982-6)

La Ronde (1982) (BBC)

Lewis (2006-2013)

Logan’s Run (1977-8)

Lovejoy (1986-1994) (BBC)

Magnum, P.I. (1980-8)

Maigret (1992-3)

Man from Atlantis (1977-8)

Mapp & Lucia (1985-6) (C4)

Max Headroom (1987-8) (C4)

McMillan & Wife (1971-7)

Midsomer Murders (1997-present)

Misfits (2009-present) (C4)

Miss Marple (1984-1992) (BBC)

Monkey (1978-1980)

More tales of the City (1998) (C4)

Mork & Mindy (1978-1982)

Mrs. Brown’s Boys (2011-present) (BBC)

Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (1976-1982) (BBC)

Murder in Suburbia (2004-5)

Murder She Wrote (1984-1996)

My Family and Other Animals (1987) (BBC)

Nancy Lam (1997)

Nationwide (1969-1983) (BBC)

No.73 (1982-1988)

Northern Exposure (1990-5)

Not Going Out (2006-present) (BBC)

One Summer (1983) (C4)

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit (1990) (BBC)

Original Sin (1997)

Petrocelli (1974-6)

Phyllis (1975-7)

Pie in the Sky (1994-7) (BBC)

Planet Dinosaur (2011) (BBC)

Planet of the Apes (1974)

Play Away (1971-1984) (BBC)

Play School (1964-1988) (BBC)

Pushing Daisies (2007-9)

Quatermass (1979)

Queer as Folk (1999-2000) (C4)

Queer Eye for the Staright Guy (2003-7)

Queer Street (1997-8?) (C4)

QI (2003-2012) (BBC)

Quincy, M.E. (1976-1983)

Rainbow (1972-1992)

Resnick: Lonely Hearts (1992) (BBC)

Resnick: Rough Treatment (1993) (BBC)

Revelations (1994-6) (Granada?)

Rhoda (1974-8)

Rich Man, Poor Man (1976)

Rome (2005-7) (BBC)

Rosemary & Thyme (2003-7)

Sapphire & Steel (1979-1982)

Scarborough Ahoy (1995) (C4)

Scooby-Doo (1969-present)

Sherlock (2010-present) (BBC)

Sherlock Holmes (1984-1994) (Granada)

Shoestring (1979-1980) (BBC)

Shroud for a Nightingale (1984)

Soap (1977-1981)

Sorry! (1981-8) (BBC)

Space: 1999 (1975-7)

Spider-man (1967-1970)

Springhill (1996-7) (Granada/C4)

Star Maidens (1976)

Star Trek (1966-9)

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (1993-9)

Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-5)

Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-4)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)

Starsky & Hutch (1975-9)

Surgical Spirit (1989-1995)

Tales of the City (1993) (C4)

Tarzan (1966-8)

The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972-4)

The Adventures of Champion the Wonder Horse (1955-6)

The Big Bang Theory (2007-present)

The Bionic Woman (1976-8)

The Black Tower (1985)

The Box of Delights (1984) (BBC)

The Brittas Empire (1991-7) (BBC)

The Buddha of Suburbia (1993) (BBC)

The Champions (1968-9)

The Chinese Detective (1981-2) (BBC)

The Clothes Show (1986-2000) (BBC)

The Comic Strip Presents… (1982-2012) (C4)

The Darling Buds of May (1991-3)

The Day of the Triffids (1981) (BBC)

The Death of an Expert Witness (1983)

The Fades (2011) (BBC)

The Flashing Blade (1969)

The Golden Girls (1985-1992)

The Good Life (1975-8) (BBC)

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977-9)

The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries (1990-4) (BBC)

The Invisible Man (1975-6)

The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1983)

The Liver Birds (1969-1978) (BBC)

The Love Boat (1977-1986)

The Magician (1973-4)

The Moomins (1977-1982)

The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries (1998-9) (BBC)

The New Avengers (1976-7)

The Persuaders (1971)

The Riff Raff Element (1993-4) (BBC)

The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007-2011) (BBC)

The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-8)

The South Bank Show (1978-2010)

The Tomorrow People (1973-9)

The Tube (1982-7) (C4)

The White Horses (1965)

This Life (1996-7) (BBC)

Threads (1984) (BBC)

Thunderbirds (1965-6)

Time Team (1994-2014) (C4)

Tinsel Town (2000-1) (BBC)

To the Manor Born (1979-81) (BBC)

Tomorrow’s World (1965-2003) (BBC)

Top of the Pops (1964-2006) (BBC)

Torchwood (2006-2011) (BBC)

True Blood (2008-present)

Twin Peaks (1990-1)

Ugly Betty (2006-2010)

Ultraviolet (1998) (C4)

Up in the Attic (1970) (BBC)

Waiting for God (1990-4) (BBC)

Walking with Dinosaurs (1999) (BBC)

Washington Behind Closed Doors (1977)

Watch with Mother (1950-1973) (BBC)

Wimbledon (BBC)

Wonder Woman (1975-9)

Margaret Thatcher (or Britain?) R.I.P.

There has been much lionising of the late Baroness Thatcher. Many have suddenly discovered their love of the Iron-Lady icon viewed through the rose-tinted spectacles of revisionist histories. Whilst I have a modicum of respect for a woman who succeeded in the male hegemonies of power, I have no love for her, her memory nor her legacy.

Glenda Jackson's speech (video below) brought back memories of just how awful life was in 1980's Britain for one who was all too aware of the amorality &/or immorality poisoning British culture and society, then and now: dilapidated public buildings, including schools; hyper-inflation; no pay increases; no overtime; mass unemployment, much of it hidden in incapacity figures and useless training schemes equivalent to today's Workfare; years-long hospital waiting-lists; Section 28 - the notorious anti-homosexuality law; riots and civil unrest; avariciousness; selfishness; egoism as a good; demise of whole communities, indeed regions & countries; and so on...

I do not hate Mrs. Thatcher - and I am certainly not going to gloat over her death - but whilst she did some good for the State, she did little for the Nation. Only my rich fellow countrymen prospered then and have continued to do so ever since under the neo-Thatcherite/neo-liberal governments that followed to this very day.

I shall not mourn Mrs. Thatcher's passing; I shall however continue to lament the great harms done in the name of Thatcherism/neo-liberalism to individuals, families, communities, regions and countries.

ESA50 Resolution?

[Image description: my ninety-eight page pro-forma ESA50]

In relation to my previous post Ongoing Torment of DWP's ESA50-form I have today (10th April) received a letter dated (4th April) from JobCentrePlus an off-shoot of the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP). 

(Not sure why it took the Royal Mail so long to deliver a letter, but hey!)

The contents advise me that I am "entitled to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance" (ESA); but oddly enough, and quite typically for the DWP, there is no explanation as to what this is or what the ramifications are, if any. However, I note - though this is not expressed within the missive - that the decision has been made without reference to ATOS. Well, that at least saves tax-payers the cost of a fee. Hurrah for common-sense! And thanks to the kind decision-maker (DM); as that is one extra stress-factor I can now avoid.

Additionally, I "have been placed in the support group because [my] illness or disability restricts the possibility of working." Again no elucidation.

Apparently I am also going to get a '"top-up" payment'; but I am uncertain why it is needed or what it is.

I've had to go scrambling to the internet to attempt to determine whether this, all added together, is good or bad news. My understanding - and it is on very weak ground -  is that because I am in the so-called 'support group' AND am entitled to ESA based on previous payments of National Insurance (NI), I remain on ESA until such time as I ameliorate spontaneously or there is a miracle cure (none expected for at least the next fifteen years). So, I believe - shakily - that I can breathe a sigh of relief. Phew! Mind, my pulse is still racing from the panic-attack the arrival of the brown envelope and very long letter induced a few hours ago.

There is no information to enlighten me as to how the DWP reached their decision. However, I am permitted to:

" •     ask for an explanation

  •     ask for a written statement of reasons for our decision "

I think it is in my best interests that I do so, as one never knows what future changes are up the politicians' sleeves; so I really do need to know on what basis the decisions were reached. Furthermore, I can be re-assessed at the DWP's caprice. So no chance of my levels of anxiety abating.

Even now, I still feel as if I am in a skirmish with the DWP. As I previously wrote, the ongoing torment...

Latvia

My blog has just notched up fourteen visits from someone(s) in Latvia. Don't recall seeing Latvian visitors previously, but could just have missed them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia. The country is sandwiched between Estonia to the North and Lithuania to the South. I'm sure it's not meant to represent this, but the country's flag does remind me of a cheese sarnie (butty/sandwich).

[Image description: flag of Latvia]

[Image description: map of Latvia

reproduced with permission (q.v.)]

Thanks for visiting, whoever you were. And how exciting to discover more about parts of Europe one knew next-to-nothing about!