If you like Pina coladas, a good laugh and a glass of Pinot Grigio….

Pre show info:

This is a show about optimism and hopefulness and about looking for people and things to look up to. It’s about wanting more from life than it might be up for giving out. It’s about struggling with realising what you are, who you are and what you can’t change about yourself, and about really feeling like an outsider for the first time.

I’m 34, I wanted to have kids by now, and be in love, and have a country that didn’t vote with the far right parties to march us all off a cliff. And be able to do all the awesome stuff that activists do, that I can’t do, too. I thought we would have won by now. And I wanted to be taller and better looking.

If you like Pina coladas and a good laugh and a glass of Pinot grigio….

Review of Josie Long’s ‘Something Better’ at The Brighton Dome on 10^th February 2017 By Tori Munro

Josie Long promised a show about left wing politics and she certainly kept her promise. It was ‘something better.’ I laughed for the majority of the show, the only time I wasn’t laughing was the interval and the jokes I was too young to understand (which sadly there weren’t many as I am now 21!)

Starting the show with open karaoke, singing The Pina Colada song and narrating the lyrics which made you think about the meaning the song had was a laugh. I have never seen a comedian start their show with karaoke so it certainly gave the show an air of difference.

She was very much into her left wing, vote remain, vote Liberal or labour and who the hell is Trump and why is he in charge?! I could relate to this and hoped that some of the audience, if they were mid or right wing had been converted to the left.

Her open and honest approach to life made me laugh and admire her. She made a joke out of everything, even herself, which must be hard to do actually do. She was entertaining, witty and clever. It was a show that had been clearly thought about and practised, but it didn’t feel rehearsed or staged and I forgot I was at a gig venue, well, The Brighton Dome to be precise and felt I was sat next to her on her sofa drinking pinot grigio with her (she wasn’t drinking pinot grigio on stage let me clarify but she did advertise it as being THE DRINK you have to drink once you reach age of 34 and if you are a woman.) I am sure she increased The Dome’s Bar sales of pinot grigio in the interval by about 75 per cent.

I left the show laughing, pondering and with a sense of excitement, which, let’s face it in post Brexit-conservative Britain is hard to feel. She made me hopeful, she made me want to make a difference. She made me feel like there was SOMETHING BETTER out there for all of us, regardless of our political situation.

*Tickets courtesy of University Radio Falmer (URF) @URFOfficial https://www.facebook.com/URFOfficial/?fref=ts)*

Published on Smashed Vinyl : http://www.smashedvinyl.com/single-post/2017/02/24/If-You-Like-Pina-Coladas-A-Good-Laugh-and-A-Glass-of-Pinot-Grigio-Josie-Long-Reviewed

BPD Patients Are Being Let Down By Services

Mental health services in the U.K are failing patients. Southern Health and Sussex Partnership both had to apologise for failing patients on multiple occasions, leading to deaths of both patients and members of the public.
It is a vicious circle if you need mental health help. You tell the service that you feel suicidal but they dismiss it and tell you to 'have a bath' or 'light some candles.' THIS DOES NOT HELP. I don't even have a bath!!!
They don't believe you when you say you are suicidal, then you attempt it and they are sorry but not sorry enough and they send you home, back to danger, back to being unsafe, scared, alone and depressed.
It feels like you have to be half dead to get help. It has got the stage where you have to harm yourself to get the help!
Don't even get me started on Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) stigma in mental health services, The amount of professionals I've seen who, the second they walk in the door I can see in their eyes they are already writing me off, as an attention seeker, drama queen. They don't take me seriously.
According to the NICE guidelines for BPD (that don't sound very nice!) patients with BPD don't benefit from hospital admissions as their condition cannot be resolved with medication and they need to learn to live in the community. That is all well and good but when you are suicidal you can't even get out of bed, let alone live or function in the community and the majority of people with BPD suffer from depressive episodes. Apparently (according to an old psychiatrist I saw in one of my admissions) "People with BPD like the attention and like being in hospital."
Yes, I love it! I love being shut away from my family and friends, having to ask for my tweezers or plug my phone in to charge at the nursing station. I love being sat on a hospital bed looking outside and wishing I was hanging from one of the trees.
Apparently we also get attached to members of staff, but quite frankly we can get attached to anyone very quickly and very intensely as it is a symptom of the disorder.
BPD often comes with other mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and OCD, so if we are not hospitalised for our BPD we could be hospitalised for a different condition. Also, the medication we take is often for the depression or the anxiety, not the BPD itself.
Due to the high impulses of BPD sufferers we are at risk of dying from impulsive self-harm or accidental death. And we often abuse alcohol and substances which puts us even more at risk.
To conclude this rant I would like to express that BPD is a serious mental illness and at least 70 per cent of people with BPD will attempt suicide in their lifetime and between 8 and 10 per cent of people with BPD with complete suicide which is more than 50 times the rate of suicide in the general population.
to point out that
So yeah, don't take us seriously, we are just attention seekers!

BPD Stigma

Borderline personality disorder is misunderstood. People think we are attention seekers, bipolar, psychotic, selfish, incapable of healthy relationships when actually we are just humans struggling to cope with an overload of emotions in a messed up world with too many expectations and pressures. It can be alienating, exhausting, depressing and crippling living with BPD but we try our best.

Life and Death Row: Is The Death Penalty Moral?

It's a VERY tough question  to ask....is the Death Penalty moral or not?
There is a saying, from the Bible I believe, but don't quote me on it as I am a thorough Atheist; 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' that suggests some kind of karma. You get what you are given. If you kill someone, you should die.
But what about the expression 'two wrongs don't make a right?'
Is killing a killer just as wrong as the killer was to kill someone? (I have written killer too many times now!) The killer/convicted murderer has family and they will have to suffer and become bereaved if the prisoner is killed. But the family of the victim also had to suffer and grieve.
It is a VERY raw, delicate and debatable subject.....
I don't know how I feel about the Death Penalty. This post was inspired after watching the third episode in a 3-part BBC TV documentary on 'Life and Death Row.'
The thing that creeps me out is that, at the time of filming Robert Pruett's execution date was set for, I'm not sure what month, but summer 2013. The crisis team managed to appeal a 60 day postponement in the execution date, which could be up to two years as they were re-testing DNA samples from the crime scene that could change the murder 'theory' completely. It is has obviously become a 3 year wait as Robert's execution date is April 27th 2016 (and watching the documentary, filmed in 2013, it said the date would be April 2016), it was only broadcast in 2014, so I'm not sure how it popped us as a most recent documentary. I think it was on an advert break when I was watching BBC's (1 of 4 part independent episodes on mental health) Life After Suicide .
Anyway, sorry I went off topic, so...the freaky thing is that it is now THE year of his execution and next month it will take place. Also, my dissertation is due in on 27th April (that's the deadline, which is darkly humorously ironic.)
But seeing Robert talk he didn't look like a murderer, but what does one look like?
I just feel that killing a human (because they killed a human) is wrong and a vicious circle as whoever injects the lethal dose of whatever it is they give them to kill them, maybe they are then a murderer?
Also, what about cases that, after the prisoner has been killed, it comes out that they are innocent.
Killing is a bad thing so killing a killer is encouraging killing!? (Too much killing again!)
I just feel everyone deserves a second chance and a right to live, to some degree. However it is hard, like, for example: I would wish Hitler dead, I would wish someone if they were to kill a member of my family dead, But then could I seriously think about the murderer's family and how they felt or would my own grief and anger blind me?
Perhaps, if it is proved 100 per cent, which is near enough impossible, someone who murders in cold blood for no reason and shows no remorse should die.
But not someone who was having a fight and hit too hard, or someone who got involved with the wrong people and was pressured into fighting people and ended up killing someone. Not someone who is VERY mentally ill, as they lack capacity, so technically they didn't 'do it' because they weren't 'all there' at the time.
Anyway, rant over, with not much of a conclussion, but an interesting subject and was enjoyable writing a blog post again. Try watching the Life and Death Row series and see what you think?!...

Extreme Mood Swings: Sudden Depressive Episode: My Experience

Low episode....if you can call it that. I don't know how to describe it. It came over all of a sudden, out of the blue like a dark cloud on a sunny day. Suddenly I want to be dead, to sleep, to feel nothing. I feel nothing, but a painful kind of nothing, not sadness, this isn't sadness. This is something more.
It is the BLACK DOG. It is depression. It is a depressive episode. I don't know how long it will last, hopefully a few hours, not days, not weeks, or months, or years.
I am stuck in treacle, I can't move, even typing these words is too much. The light is too bright. I want to be in the dark in a fetal position, under a blanket, warm, away from the world.
What do I do? Do I give in to the demon telling me I am pathetic and better off dead and find a way, in this safe, restricted envrionment, to kill myself? Do I go to sleep? Do I take a sedative? Do I read a book, but how do I read when words don't make sense and they just move around in order. Do I listen to music? But sad songs make me cry and happy songs annoy me.
Do I lie on my bed staring into thin air and let the feeling pass?
Chocolate. Books. Dogs. Music. Things I love. Right now, chocolate is poison, books are annoying, dogs are ugly and music is too loud, too stimulating.
I will have to ride the wave....an emotion can only last for so long, so I have been told, so I will ride the wave....it is at it's peak, but it will dip, it will come crashing down, back to the shore.
I will wash up on the sand and the sun will shine again and life will be worth living.
These are the days, the hours, the moments, that are so fatal. These are the suicidal episodes. But I won't let them win, I won't become a statistic, a sad news story, a corpse in a coffin, I will stay alive. All good things come to an end but all bad things do too.
If it's not OK, it's not the end.
I will fight this beast, this slug, this black dog, this demonic monster.
Tomorrow I'll be on top of the world.

Cheers To Becoming Teetotal

Alcohol is evil really.
It is technically a poison and if it was to be classified now as a new drug it would be a Class A.

There are way more negatives than positives to alcohol.

Negatives

• Liver disease
• Increases blood pressure
• Increases cholesterol
• Increases risk of diabetes
• Increases your risk of liver disease
• Increases your risk of cancer
• Increases your risk of having a stroke    
• Beer goggle mistakes
• Blackouts
• Hangovers
• Making bad decisions
• Regrets
• Waking up not knowing what you did the night before
• Women are more likely to be sexually assaulted when intoxicated
• Expensive
• Most people are arseholes when they are drunk
• Alcohol related brain damage
• Alcohol amnesia
• Addiction
• Reacts badly with many medications
• It's a depressant
• People with mental health problems shouldn't drink alcohol
• It reacts with some psychiatric medication
• People attempt suicide more often when they are intoxicated
• A million more bullet points

Positives                                                                                      

• If you drink it in really small amounts every day, it probably reduces your risk of dying prematurely of heart disease 
• Loosens inhibitions
• People think you are normal and 'one of the lads'/or you can attend your best friend's wine and cheese party without being shunned for not drinking.
• Some people can drink it and have a good night

So, finally, after only three years of drinking (I first got drunk age 17, well technically 16 by myself but I don't count that, I was 17 when I first got drunk socially, which is pretty late really!) and now age 20 with a few fond memories of drunken nights, such as my 18th birthday and my first year of university when I was an annoying drunk, a hyper drunk, an immature drunk, but mostly a million regrets, countless tales of suicide attempts, overdoses, self harm, ruining parties, ruining my brother's 18th birthday party, being angry, crying, self destructing, embarrassing myself and waking up the next day with physical and emotional injuries and scars, I have decided FOR MYSELF I am going to stop drinking. I am becoming Teetotal, age 20.

This year I turn 21, and I was worrying about all the events in the future that would have meant I was drinking alcohol. Summer Ball, Leavers Beach Party, Graduation Ball, My 21st Birthday. But now I realise this - other people can drink, but I don't have to. I don't need to get slaughtered for my 21st birthday, I can go out for a meal, stay in, have a party and drink soft drinks or non-alcoholic wine. This way I will not be the one embarrassing myself, I will remember the entire evening, I will save money, I will be hangover free, I won't lose the next day, I won't ruin my clothing or break my finger or smash my phone (I hope!) 

I have realised now that I HAVE to stop drinking for ME. And no-one else, and everyone else, but predominantly me. Because before, each time I drank and something stupid happened, each time people told me to stop drinking and I said I would, I always did drink again and I tried to pretend that it would be fine this time. I said I was in a good mood so nothing bad would happen (it still did), I said I would only have one glass (famous last words), I said I would have a soft drink and then temptation became too much and I bought myself a glass of wine. Looking at it now, the warning signs were there and it may be too late to repair some of the damage I have caused to both my liver and my life/self/ones who care about me, but equally it may not be.

I know now I need to be confident and happy in the fact that I don't drink. I need to say it with pride, not mumble it with embarrassment. It is hard at the moment, but one day I will be able to be in a room full of people drinking alcohol, sipping my Coke or alcohol-free wine and be completely at peace with it. I want to be able to say "I haven't drunk alcohol in two years" or three or four or ten. I want to be able to say "The last time I had a drink was Thursday 7th January 2016." It was cheap Co-op Rose' wine and it was gross and it wasn't a happy occasion, I overdosed on paracetamol with it. 

Every time I want to drink, every time I get that horrible stupid urge to drink, the demon in my head that gets upset and angry that I'm not drinking, the genetic predisposition of alcohol addiction, the infant alcoholic, the night ruiner and liver bully...I will tell it NO. I will remember the last drink I had was a disgusting Rose' wine that twinned with paracetamol, could have killed me, nearly killed me. 

So here's to becoming Teetotal. I am sure I will save money, for both myself and the NHS. My liver will thank me, my mind will thank me and everyone who has suffered at the hands of my drunken self will thank me.  

Cheers to life with less drama.

(Below are a few articles that I found interesting/useful/inspiring.)

Being teetotal is intoxicating: giving up alcohol gave me back my life

Chaotic lives and ethical dilemmas: inside the hospital liver ward

My drinking years: ‘Everyone has blackouts, don’t they?’

28 Celebrities Who Have Admitted They Don't Drink

Labour Leader Vote 2015 (Say No to Andy Burnham)

I think I will be voting for Liz Kendall... she promises that equality will be at the heart of the Labour party. I would love to see the first female Labour leader and Labour Prime Minister. 
However here is why I am not and urge people to NOT vote for Andy Burnham: 

• He's apparently pro gay marriage, but was absent for 2002 gay adoption vote

• He is against IVF for lesbian couples, because he believes all children need a 'father figure' and a male and a female role model (seriously Andy, it's 2015, stop spouting middle age rubbish! Take a look at this post I wrote a while back on lesbian parents...)

• He is a strong Catholic (the only one of the four Labour candidates to have religious faith, whilst there is nothing wrong with that it is clear that he lets his religious beliefs affect moral and equality beliefs)

If the above doesn't make him sound like he is perhaps in the WRONG party and should slide more to the right and maybe join the Tories on their train to Destination Capitalist Bullshit then I don't know what does!

I certainly am not voting for Andy Burnham! And I urge you to SAY NO to him as well.

Reply From Caroline Dinenage (And Her Colleague!)

So...Caroline Dinenage emailed me back after I sent her an open letter. This was her response:

Dear Tori,

Thank you for writing to me about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) equality and marriage of same-sex couples.

Let me reassure you that I fully support LGB&T equality and will work hard to continue the Government’s strong track record of tackling inequalities. 

I recognise that the way in which I voted on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill has raised some concerns that I do not support equality or equal marriage. 

I want to make clear that my vote on this issue was one over which I deliberated very carefully.  As you will know, I inherited a constituency bruised by the expenses scandal meaning that many of my constituents had lost faith in MPs.  I was therefore conscious of the need to be directly accountable to them.  I received correspondence requesting me to vote against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at a ratio of 100:1 in comparison to those in favour.  I therefore made the difficult decision to vote against the Bill – and my conscience – and instead represent the views of the many hundreds of constituents who had contacted me.  

Marriage of same-sex couples is now law, and I fully support this as an important step forward in the rights of LGB&T people. 

I hope I will be judged on my record in office rather than the past.  I am honoured to have been appointed as Minister for Equalities and look forward to building on the Government’s excellent track record in tackling inequalities and discrimination.  The UK has just been named the most progressive country in Europe for LGB&T rights for the fifth year running, which is a testament to the achievements that have been made.  But I recognise there is no room for complacency and I am committed to taking further action to support LGB&T equality, in particular, continuing the Government’s work on tackling homophobic bullying in schools and supporting LGB&T rights around the world.

I look forward to working with LGB&T organisations to understand the challenges that remain and to discuss this Government’s priorities for this Parliament.  Please be assured that I am absolutely committed to tackling discrimination in all its forms and to creating a fairer society for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

I hope this information is reassuring and thank you again for taking the time to write to me.

Kind regards

Caroline

And this was her colleague's response:

Dear Tori,

Thank you for your email of 13 May to Caroline Dinenage MP, Minister for
Women and Equalities and Family Justice, about lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender (LGB&T) equality and marriage of same-sex couples.

I have been asked to reply on the Minister’s behalf.

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to write to set out your concerns. Let
me reassure you that the Government fully supports LGB&T equality. It
has a strong track record of tackling inequalities and remains committed
to doing so. The UK has just been named the most progressive country
in Europe for LGB&T rights for the fifth year running, which is a testament
to the achievements that have been made.

The debate about marriage of same-sex couples was one about which
many MPs received a great deal of representations from their
constituents and which they will each have considered carefully before
voting on the legislation. The Minister received correspondence
requesting her to vote against the Bill at a ratio of 100:1 in comparison to
those in favour. She therefore made the difficult decision to vote against
the Bill, and represent the views of many of her constituents. As you
know, the Bill was passed by Parliament and is now law, and the Minister
fully supports this.

Despite the progress that has been made in advancing LGB&T equality,
the Minister recognises there is no room for complacency. She is
committed to taking further action to support LGB&T equality, in
particular, continuing the Government’s work on tackling homophobic
bullying in schools and supporting LGB&T rights around the world.

The Minister looks forward to working with LGB&T organisations to
understand the challenges that remain and to discuss this Government’s
priorities for this Parliament. Please be assured that the Minister is
absolutely committed to tackling discrimination in all its forms and to
creating a fairer society for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or
gender identity.

Yours sincerely

Alan Chapman

Government Equalities Office

Open Letter to Caroline Dinenage

Dear Caroline,

I am writing in regards to the fact that you have been elected to become Equalities Minister.

Firstly I would like to offer my congratulations.

However, I am rather dismayed as to why you have been appointed Equalities Minister considering you voted against same-sex marriage in July 2013. You (and I quote) said that the "state has no right to intervene in such matters" and to ''redefine the meaning of marriage'' and that banning same sex marriage would “take nothing away from their (gay couples') relationships”.  

You also said that marriage should be ''between one man and one woman'' and that you were "concerned that in the future, teachers may be forced to teach civil partnership and gay marriage whether it’s in their religious belief to do so or not. It seems that in some ways we’re marginalising some people’s religious freedom in favour of sexual freedom.”

I find it hard to believe that you can want equality for everyone, including gay people, after the statements you have made. Same-sex marriage has been legalised anyway but I, as a gay woman myself, feel uncomfortable that you are going to be in charge of equality policies considering you seem so very homophobic. 

In regards to you thinking it unfair that religious teachers would have to teach about civil partnerships and gay marriage, I would say that 'religious freedom' is a choice. People are not born Christian, Catholic, Muslim or Atheist but they are born gay. Being gay is not having 'sexual freedom', it is being yourself, just like being straight is not 'sexual freedom'. I think that religious teachers should have to teach about gay marriage whether they like it or not because if they really don't like gay marriage that much, well they don't have to have one do they?!

I find it so ironic that you have now tweeted "I want to be clear - I support equal marriage & I'm fully committed to advancing the cause of LGBT equality moving forward". You have to say this now because you are Equalities Minister and we can't have a homophobic Equalities Minister can we? Oh wait, we do! 

It suits you fine to stand up and say that you support equal marriage now that you have this new title, but two years ago when gay people's futures and happiness was in your, and many other's hands, you chose to let them down and vote against same-sex marriage.

I would most appreciate if you could find the time to reply to this email as I am most interested in what you have to say.

Thank you and kind regards,

Tori Munro

(English Student at Chichester University, gay rights campaigner and writer) 

General Election 2015 Conspiracy

So I believe that the General Election 2015 was rigged. Surely that many people could NOT have voted Conservative. It doesn't make sense. Do people really know what they are letting themselves in for?! Already, within a few days of having a Tory government there is talk of scrapping the Human Rights Act 1998 and replacing it with the 'British Bill of Rights' which sounds 1. Not half as good as it does not have the word 'human' in it, so are we going to be treated as animals rather than humans? and 2. Racist. 'British' bill of rights - sounds suspiciously racist to me! The new Conservative Ministers are also sounding absolutely amazing with:

• The new Tory Disabilities Minister Justin Tomlinson who voted against protecting disabled child benefits.
• The new Tory Equalities Minister Caroline Dinenage who voted against gay marriage.
• The new Tory Justice Minister Michael Gove (previously Education Minister) who supports hanging.
• The Tory Education Minister has stayed as Nicky Morgan which teachers aren't happy about.

So, so far Mr Cameron is doing very well.

Anyway back to the Conspiracy. This General Election was the first time I have voted in a General Election (or any election) due to now being old enough and I was very surprised, shocked and dismayed to see that the ballot papers were given out with pencils rather than pens to fill out. I smelt a rat. A huge, smelly, stinking rat. Why were we given pencils? Pencil marking can easily be rubbed out and replaced with (obviously) a cross in the terrible Tory box.

I used my girlfriend's pen so I felt better about my own vote (if it was even counted as it was in pen) but what about everyone else's'?

I've heard reasons why the ballot papers are given out with pencils, such as:

• It costs less to provide pencils rather than pens
• Pens run out but pencils don't (well, eventually they do!)
• Pen marking can run in wet weather but pencil won't
• It doesn't matter if they are marked in pencil as the paper is thin so if someone were to rub out the marking it would still be visible.....really?! (The paper wasn't THAT thin!)
• Don't worry - there are people keeping watch and making sure it all stays legal/unrigged. Like politics is all legal and fair. No, it is totally corrupt!

So I will end on the note that I believe there is some kind of Tory Conspiracy and the election was rigged and we are under rule of a deceitful government. Fun times!