From hero to zero!

I thought it might be fun to explore further a heated political debate – left unfinished on Saturday with my 'lover/boyfriend/partner' about Maggie Thatcher...

On 4 May some 30 years ago , she was the first female PM to take the reins of power. It was a great historical coup for women with so much potential to do good, but did she use it or abuse it and what legacy has she left in her wake?

• She destroyed our manufacturing industry 
  
• She brought unemployment to the highest rate we'd had since the pre-war years
  
• She began to dismantle the welfare state
  
• She deprived the health service of the resources that it needed 
  
• She deprived education, schools, and so on
  
• She did enormous damage to the fabric of society 
  
• She embodied and created a need for greed and killer ruthlessness  
• She switched from policies of looking after people to looking after big corporations and look what happened when they abused that power

In the end, her own party threw her out. They didn't want her anymore. They 

introduced the poll tax, and that finished her off. So I think Mrs. Thatcher will not be 

remembered as a great figure, but she was a passionate advocate of money running 

the world instead of the people running their own society. That was her great 

contribution to a debate that I think she has lost. And my argument is...that's the damage that she caused - the very breakdown of society. After all she famously said - "there is no society." And that very statement proved incredibly destructive when you consider that today we're living in an era where worshipping at the alter of money has destroyed our society. 

Funny then that when she came into power she quoted St Francis of Assisi..."Where there is discord, let us bring harmony..." Women thought she'd champion their cause, but the words were full of empty promise. And in trying to be twice as good as any man, she betrayed the very values of her gender. 

So all things considered, creating a more equal society with an even spread of wealth and strong welfare system is surely the way forward - don't you think? 

I

Payload!

Well, I was reading the letter page in Saturday's Times and came across one from an ex-pilot re Ryanair's stealth charging system - you know the one where you'll soon have to pay to use the loo! Well talk about visionary - it was so simple, it was bang on revolutionary. 

So here was his take on airfares... firstly he stated that the fuel consumption of a plane is directly proportionate to the weight it carries. Yep that makes sense to me. Secondly, he suggested that passengers be weighed along with their baggage and be charged according to their weight. Lightbulb moment!!! Yes, yes and yes again. With a rising population of 'morbidly obese' it could help to encourage weight loss - so everyone wins, the skinnies, the airline, the environment and the diet companies. Well done Captain Hughes or whatever your name was... I can see the ad campaign now...in fact I might work on it for my next blog! 

Then on the subject of diet companies, I got to thinking about the new fat loss drug - Alli - and what would happen if you had a 747 full of 'weightily challenged' people on a Ryanair flight - all on the drug and needing the loo at 30,0000ft between Birmingham and Alicante. God help them if they don't have that £1 for the loo or a change of pants!!! I hope I never get to be a passenger on that flight! Then again I wouldn't be seem dead in Benidorm. 

  

Catchup

Gorgeous Rubes posing in the throne chair at our new neighbourhood cafe 
Matt Seal, designer extraordinaire, fern expert and fandalger!!!

Easter has been a time of meeting up with old friends seen far too infrequently, but much loved.

It was wonderful to have a surprise visit from lovely Matt - who dropped by unexpectedly last week - when I was up to my ears in pitch work. But we managed to squeeze in a power drinky at the Broaders and download our lives in a couple of hours. Ah so miss working with you Matt - we had great concept chemistry going on and a wicked sense of humour to boot !!! Impressed you're combining design and writing now though!

Also great to have some time with lovely Debs, Sam and Josh. Shame you don't live nearer so we can have more get-togethers. You're a woman and a half! Not in size, you understand, in spirit and integrity! Still maybe we can hook up for a game of rounders this summer or hit the folk festie in Southall again!

Not forgetting my old Uni friend and dance exercise fiend...Julie. Wish I had a photo of you lovely lady - you are truly ageless and beautiful. It's a long time since we were college mates but I'm so glad we've kept up with each other and we haven't gone to seed! And I'm delighted that you're a happy bunny and have found a great new man to share your life with.  

Love ya all so much... xxxxx

Cutesy

"If I kiss him will he turn into a Prince?"

10 things I love about Easter

1. Big fat frogs and toads

2. Cute Easter bunnies

3. Blooming daffodils and tulips

4. Loads of heavenly artery-blocking choccy

5. Party party party

6. Kids loving the jollies

7. Fluffy chicks and lambsies

8. A sense that winter's gone

9. Getting out in the garden

10. Running in daylight much, much later at night

crazy lady!

How sad that Rihanna, gorgeous talented woman that she is, has fallen for that no-mark Chris Brown! He beat her to within an inch of her life and now she goes and marries him. And the latest news is she wants him to make a public apology on the Oprah show...

Well Rihanna, I've got the T-shirt and leopards don't change their spots as I know only too well. Men like that are control freaks and cowards who blame everyone else for their own failings. 

I was with a gauche, younger man who fell for a confident, outgoing, independent older woman (me in a former life). And then systemically proceeded to deconstruct all that I was through constant verbal abuse, which tipped over into an incident of physical abuse in which he broke my arm.  And despite all that yes, like Rihanna, I went on to marry him. How stupid could I be! The thing is when all that happens you have such a severe lack of respect for yourself that you can't imagine anyone else wanting you. It's a kind of Stockholm syndrome where you're locked in a cycle of self-doubt and abuse and you can't get out. Eventually though, when the verbal abuse was turned onto my kids, I'd had enough and fought back. I think he got the message then - and left. But not without a final coup de grace - where he stripped the house of bed, sofa and lots of other essentials whilst I was away. That speaks for itself about the kind of person he is!

The thing is, men like that just repeat that negative behavior. With fresh eyes and my old self confidence back, I can see that now. I just wish it'd dawned on me earlier before I had a child with him, because now I can never escape his need to control and abuse. So think on Rihanna before you push the self destruct button!