This is something that happen in any and every industry. Would you believe that your certified professional accountant is a cheat? Of course not. He is probably an ethical and sensible individual who is interested in earning money without cheating anybody. Yet, some of the biggest firms have been involved in various malpractices. You would not rely on extreme instances when you analyze an entire industry, right? Well, I think that the cosmetic industry has successfully positioned itself in such a place where people will always rely on extreme instances to analyze it.

This helps create a situation where people do not really understand how and why the cosmetic industry is so popular. All these controversies help people ignore the fact that they cannot live without cosmetics. We have been using cosmetics for thousands of years now. The nature of these products have changed but we have always been using such solutions. In such a scenario, the industry focuses on controversies to ensure that this simple fact does not come out in the open. Just as the government will not allow corporations to sell water at a very high price, it may step in and prevent cosmetics from being sold at a very high prize if it is tagged as a basic necessity of life. These controversies help encourage individuals and lawmakers believe that cosmetics do not serve any practical benefit whatsoever.

Over the years, the nature and complexity of these products has changed. There was a time when the lipstick consisted of a greasy substance combined with color that helped the lips look colored for a short period of time. Today, these products make use of chemical substances that are not really necessary as far as the final goal is concerned.
All these issues and points are completely ignored when the industry is covered and surrounded by various controversies at all times.

Have you noticed how it has all gone super-quiet with the business of MPs and their claims for expenses? I mean, it wasn’t so long ago when it was nigh on impossible to pick up a newspaper or to turn on the TV without being bombarded by nothing else! Hmmm, it’s all a tad suspicious really, isn’t it?

And just think back to some of the ridiculous things that these people were spending taxpayers’ money on – ornamental bird baths, extra homes or DVDs from a rather dodgy source… The whole situation was completely ludicrous. Why on earth should the ordinary folk in this country be paying for London builders to go into the homes of politicians and create extra rooms???

I’ve got no doubts whatsoever that all this sort of thing is still going on. Two or three MPs may have got themselves into serious trouble over their dubious claims for expenses, but I’m pretty sure these were simply scapegoats. And there’s no way you’ll convince me otherwise! There are probably still just as many underhand goings-on in parliament… it’s just that we don’t hear anything about them anymore.

The furore over expenses may have been successfully brushed under the carpet, but it will still have done a great deal of damage. I mean, just how many people do you know who would say that they actually trust our politicians??? Well, personally I don’t know any!

It would be nice if we could have faith in our leaders, wouldn’t it? And anyhow; aren’t they supposed to be setting us a good example? I’d like to believe that things will be different when we have a change of government, but I doubt that they will. After all, greed can be a big part of human nature and in this way MPs are no different to the rest of us.

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There has been a large influx of companies offering the prepaid virtual credit cards and until recently I was unaware of exactly what it was. As soon as I saw the words credit card, I stopped paying attention and that was just about the end of it. It wasn’t until I was having a chat with my friend and he mentioned that he had one, that I actually realised that it was not a ‘credit card'as such as there was actually no credit involved in the whole thing. You put your own money into the account; spend it, and then when it runs out, well….. it runs out. That’s about it. You cannot overspend or go into your overdraught or anything like that because these services are not part of the account. This means that you can not get into unwanted debt or spend someone else’s money.

For me this was a good thing to hear about, as I am a big spender! I like to get new things, treat my friends when we are out and generally spend lots of money. I have a reasonable job, and sufficient funds to do this, but when I had my old friend the %u2018credit card'in my wallet things used to get a bit out of hand. I went on some wild nights out and spent hundreds of dollars treating every man and his dog to a drink in the bar. When I awoke to see my balance the next day I was horrified. This is why this method seems very appealing. I am going to get one, simply to put a spending spree allowance on it each month.

I have tried to avoid credit cards since those days, as it took me so long to pay off my balance. For long periods of time, all I was even paying off each month was the interest on the balance owed and not even the balance itself! I think it will definitely be a good idea for me to get one of these virtual cards, and then only take this out with me when I go out drinking. I have looked into it, and there are loads of companies out there offering the cards. It is always difficult to choose who to go with when they all seem to be offering similar deals, but as soon as I have decided I will be sorted.

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If you ask me, the world is in a state for two reasons. Two colliding forces, if you will. The world is in a state because the people who care about money care about it too much, while the people who don’t care about money don’t give a damn. Somewhere in the middle is the average guy on the street, but mostly the world is full of people who are one way or the other.

Here is why both groups are as dangerous as each other:

The people who only care about money only see money: when they look for a red diesel supplier they are only interested in the figures, not the human element of customer relations. This means they drift through lie upsetting people and not really caring why that is the case. Yet when they feel slighted they make it their mission to tell everyone that this is unfair.

There is another side to all this, of course, and that is this…

The people who don’t care about money, however, are nothing like this. They care very much about customer relations when they go hunting for the best fuel prices available, and they don’t drift through life. But just because they don’t have these problems doesn’t mean that they don’t have any problems. Their issues, therefore, are largely to do with wasted money. Because they don’t care about it, they may also get themselves into debt. It’s really not good to be too much either way…

Of course, this is generalizing massively. But that’s the point of this article: people do generalise too much either way, and often find it difficult to understand other peoples motivations. That, to me, is the key to being somewhere in the middle: understand every side of an argument and you already have a much better chance of getting along with everyone and not making a mess of money-related things.

I really should charge for all this information!

There is another side to all this, of course, and that is this: if you care too much about everyone else – as has just been demonstrated – you neglect your friends, your family and your partner. It’s fine to feel strongly about things, but remember to smile and consider that today is a beautiful day. Because every day that passes is a day lost and it’ll never be here again. Surely that is the most important thing, right?

To see a video with a very happy man who knows about the finer things in life (cutting grass in STYLE!) click the one featured here. Ooh, I do love a good sit-down lawnmower…

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According to my nan – whose moaning this morning was kicked off by an article in the local paper about Diesel Aberdeen and how they plan to expand, and my nan HATES change – the world is in a much worse state than it was. My argument, which goes something like How can that be, nan? The world was at war before in a big way with Germany, and now it isn’t doesn’t hold much water with her. She says that all that has happened is the war has spread to another nation. As you can see my nan is a real laugh to hang around with!

But anyway, enough of my nan. What she fails to understand, sadly, is that it really is all down to communication: nowadays we all have access to more news about various parts of the world, and so it’s so much easier to learn about both good and bad things happening anywhere at any time. This, I suppose, gives some people the illusion that there are more bad things happening than there were. Of course, there’s no way on earth I would ever dream of bringing this argument up in front of my nan; after many years of training as a professional arguer, she’s more than adept at holding her own on this score…

With better technology we hold more power than ever before

Still, sometimes I can’t help but think that nan might be right…that the world is getting worse after all. But I’m sure that’s bound to crop up from time-to-time in the mind of a modern human-being. It has to. If it didn’t it’d probably mean that you don’t care, which would be a bit sad, I think.

And who knows, there may be an ounce of truth in nan’s argument. One thing I haven’t covered yet is that technology has made a number of things worse. For example, the oil-spill debacles of the last 10 years. It’s fair to say that these would never have happened a hundred years ago, because although disasters were a common occurrence, disasters of the kind of magnitude as per the BP oil spill were out of the question.

And there is the trade off. With better technology we hold more power than ever before to make things better. But to me it seems that as we get more advanced, the risks also go up and the stakes get higher.

But such is life, I suppose. Right, I better go, nan needs someone to have a damn good moan at (sorry, with).

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Writing is weird, and all my friends who write experience the same thing: once you start, you can’t stop. Even if you wanted to. That’s the good and the bad about writing in one sentence really. But, as much as it sometimes irritates me that I can’t seem to be away from my computer for more than five minutes at a time, I do love it and wouldn’t change the way I am for the world.

Different every time, and occasionally like this:

I’ll be walking along the street minding my own business. Then, out of nowhere, the magical writing machine in my head will start putting sentences together. Actually that’s inaccurate. To begin with it’s just a word, a phrase – could be Garmin 610 or a name on a sign hanging above a shop window. Then an emotion is triggered. Love, hate, adoration. Or a memory. A smell. A record in my brain of something.

I have found a pen and scrap of paper in my bag and am recording these once-in-a-lifetime thoughts down on paper, so as they never get lost ever again

And then come the words, flowing freely, recording themselves without me having to do anything.The words appear on a blank sheet of paper in my brain. They scramble and un-scramble themselves, fighting for supremacy, trying their best to organise themselves into some kind of narrative which makes proper sense.

That’s when I start to memorise the words and interpret them differently, trying out different arrangements.The words slow their panicked nature as they fit together better, and become anxious and excitable when nothing seems to fit.

Within a minute or so, if I am lucky — and I am not always lucky…sometimes I am quite the opposite, in fact — I have found a pen and scrap of paper in my bag and am recording these once-in-a-lifetime thoughts down on paper, so as they never get lost ever again. Soon, I have something resembling a cohesive argument or statement or point. When I get home I tamper some more. Sometimes the process is fast and easy. Other times the message that was so strong and important in the confines of my head becomes vague, distant, almost as if someone planted it in my head. Someone who couldn’t write very well.

This is why writing fascinates me so. It is constantly evolving, constantly progressing, always changing and metastasising into something new and out-of-the-ordinary. The point? Ideas are special. No two are ever the same. Every word is a vital part of a puzzle which will, eventually, become the theme tune to your life.

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Now, this may sound highly abstract, but I’ve found myself in a similar situation before at various dinner parties…and I mean the kind of awful situation which is not funny in any way. The kind that there is no escape from…although I will say that I was never awful enough to stuff raw meat in a stranger’s hand-bag.

The last time it happened at a friend-of-a-friend’s house, Octopus was on the menu. Not raw, cooked. The host was a guy who was getting really into experimenting with crazy new food. We? I suppose you could say that we were the guinea pigs…

Anyway. The point is that sometimes I think it’s alright to put your hand up and say you’re uncomfortable about eating something. I mean…why does it always have to be such a big deal? I know it can be offensive to someone, but I wouldn’t go to an art exhibition and look at bottles of Pantene gold-leafed unless I wanted to – which I wouldn’t – so why should I eat things which make me want to throw up?

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And it’s hard sometimes, oh it is hard. There are two main things I despise about being called the B word, and they are as follows:

1) Without even asking first, some deranged people think it’s perfectly acceptable to call me “Babs”. Now, to anyone out there who is one of these people, or sympathises with these people, let me tell you now that there is nothing acceptable about being called this hideous “name”. For one thing it sounds a lot like baps, which is a product made out of bread, and for another thing…well, as I said before, it’s absolutely horrible. Leave it, leave it now.

2) Barbara Windsor shares my name. Ugh. So yeah, that was just about okay before, but now look at her! She’s on TV doing her ridiculous bingo adverts with all her nut butters friends. Which is terrible if you’re me, because every so often someone comes up to you and does the same laugh as Barbara Windsor does in that advert (you must know the one: it’s where she has her boobs all pushed up looking like a right old trollop).

3) It just isn’t the nicest name in the world, really. I’d much more have preferred Sarah or something, but there you go, I suppose it could be worse: I could have been named Tracy Meldreth Boon Stevens instead, right?

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I am being given an initiation into children’s American television. My husband swears that without fully understanding children’s television in the United States I will never truly understand him. I am a bit reluctant, it is like making me promise DNA Testing for our first child, but I love him so I have embarked on a voyage of discovery based on you tube. The first time I watched classic Sesame Street, I knew that he was right. You have public television for children featuring guest spots from some of the coolest artists around. Put down the duckie where you have some of the best and brightest stars of the jazz world and Paul Simon and Lady Smith Black Mambazo singing with muppets telling ernie that he needs to put down his rubber duckie if he wants to play the saxophone. I am not sure what this means, other than, you need to grow up some times. I went from there to clips from the iconic 1970’s children’s television special Free to be You and Me with its message of accepting all people regardless of stereotypes of gender and race, it is easy to see how the United States elected Barack Obama while, we, the producers of the Flower Pot Men got David Cameron. It is easy to see how this type of progressive children’s programming educated a generation that resulted in hopeful and visionary liberals like Michael Moore and Barack Obama. I wonder what they would make of rasta mouse.

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I was just walking down one of those typically bumpy Spanish streets when the accident happened. I was fine one moment, then the next thing I knew I was on the ground with a rather large bone sticking out of my shin. I remember laughing because it looked comical. Then I stopped laughing, the pain smacked me around the chops and I was sick everywhere.

In hospital it was all sorted quite soon and I was soon sent home. I thought that the papers I had signed meant I was covered and wouldn’t have to pay for more than a night’s board and breakfast.

How I was wrong! Instead, the contract said that I owed the hospital about 5 thousand Euros. I’d only been in Spain 2 days and then I was out for the count. Some cheap holiday that turned out to be…

Always read the contract you have with your health insurer is what I am saying. It may seem trivial while you’re all excited and thinking it can’t happen to me, but believe me it won’t when you’re surrounded by Spaniards with a jagged white bone sticking out of your leg…

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