He said what?! FIFA World Cup 2022

 “I feel like them because I know what it means to be discriminated and bullied…As a child I was bullied because I had red hair and freckles. I was bullied for that."

The 2022 FIFA World Cup has been controversial since it was announced, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino hasn’t helped the backlash.

  

  

    Infantino seems to suggest that he can sympathise with those facing the death penalty in Qatar for being gay because he was bullied as a child for being ginger? 

Infantino went on to say that Europe should refrain from criticising Qatar because the West doesn’t have the best record when it comes to people's rights, stating “European nations should apologise for acts committed in their own histories”. I think he’s missing the key word: HISTORIES. The west still has a long way to go in regards to human rights, but, last time I checked, we didn’t murder people for loving another person.

He opened his 54 minute speech by saying “Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled, I feel a migrant worker.", then later clarified “Of course I am not Qatari, Arab, African, gay, disabled or a migrant worker. But I feel like them because I know what it means to be discriminated and bullied”. Sweetheart, no one’s arresting you for your freckles.

    Today, 20th November 2022, on the UK Government website, it states: “Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar. Private life in Qatar is largely respected but any intimacy between persons in public can be considered offensive, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or intent. ”

World Cup hosts Qatar have stated that “everyone is welcome” at the World Cup. They have publicly confirmed that there will be no restrictions on non-married friends or couples (including LGBT people) staying in the same room. It’ll be interesting to see if this actually happens.

    Qatar criminalises same-sex sexual activity between men and between women. Sentences can include a possible maximum penalty of death by stoning. There is limited evidence of the law being enforced in this way in recent years, and the extent of discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ people is not clear.

    In October 2022, in advance of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Human Rights Watch reported that security forces have been arbitrarily arresting LGBTQ+ people and subjecting them to ill-treatment in detention centres in the country.

In November 2022, an official ambassador for the Qatari World Cup described homosexuality as “damage in the mind”.

    And it’s not just those darn homosexuals that are in trouble, women must cover their shoulders and avoid wearing short skirts. “Female visitors and residents should take care when walking or travelling alone, and should use a reputable taxi company, particularly at night”.

    Don’t think that heteros are free as lil birds though. ANY intimacy in public between men and women (including between teenagers) can lead to arrest. Due to the laws on sex outside marriage, if you become pregnant outside marriage, both you and your partner could face imprisonment and/or deportation. Doctors will ask for proof of marriage during ante-natal checks. An unmarried woman who gives birth in Qatar may also encounter problems when registering the birth of the child in Qatar, and could be arrested, imprisoned or deported. To get a birth certificate from the Qatari authorities, you must provide a marriage certificate and the authorities may compare the date of the marriage against the estimated date of conception.

    According to the Amnesty International Report 2021_2022 ,”Women (in 2021) continued to face discrimination in law and practice. Under the guardianship system, women remained tied to their male guardian, usually their father, brother, grandfather or uncle, or for married women, to their husband. Women continued to need their guardian’s permission for key life decisions to marry, study abroad on government scholarships, work in many government jobs, travel abroad until certain ages, and receive some forms of reproductive healthcare.

In March 2021, the government disputed the findings of a Human Rights Watch report on discrimination against women in Qatar, and pledged to investigate and prosecute anyone who had breached the law. By the end of the year, no such investigations had taken place. 

Noof al-Maadeed, a 23-year-old Qatari woman who sought asylum in the UK citing family abuse, decided to return to Qatar after seeking reassurances from the authorities. She started documenting her journey on social media but was last heard from on 13 October 2021 after she reported threats from her family to the police. Despite reassurances from the authorities that she was safe, her whereabouts remained unknown, raising fears about her safety.”

    In January 2022, France 24, reported that “Noof al-Maadeed, who is in her early 20s, posted videos from an unknown location and on a new Twitter account, giving assurances she was safe and well”, al-Maadeed has since gone back to her old Twitter account and last posted today, 20th November 2022, with a Youtube video of a World Cup promo video. Not much else happening on that account, a lot of retweets…..

    Migrant workers also don’t seem to matter in Qatar. In February 2021, The Guardian said that 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since its successful World Cup bid. The number is based on figures provided by the countries' embassies in Qatar.

However, the Qatar government said the total was misleading, because not all the deaths recorded were of people working on World Cup-related projects

The government said its accident records showed there were 37 deaths among labourers at World Cup stadium construction sites between 2014 and 2020, only three of which were "work-related".

However, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said that was an underestimate.

In her visit to Qatar, 21st November - 1st December 2019, E. Tendayi Achiume, UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, found “racism … manifested itself practically, describing how African and Asian people face challenges to accessing public spaces such as shopping centres, for example, as opposed to Arab and white people.”

    The worst atrocity to be committed by Qatar is that dancing is only allowed in the privacy of your home or at licensed clubs. Dancing in public is classed as indecent and provocative……

    This is why feminism still matters. This is why gay pride still matters. This is why human rights and racism are still an issue. In the 21st century we are still fighting the same fights our ancestors did hundreds of years ago because some countries are still living like our ancestors did. Correction: some men in some countries are using religious scripture to justify their own beliefs.

(Not) Proud to be British

I’ll start with a disclaimer, I’m no fan of the royal family. I could argue that there is no place for them in the 21st century. But that is not what this post is about. This post is about the shameful behaviour of the British public.

Queen Elizabeth II worked up until the day she died. Whilst that may be seen as commitment to her duty, I can’t help but feel sorry for her. I think of my own nan who is the same age. I would not be happy about her pushing herself so much just to please the people. 

Not only did she work up until the day she died, she also worked in death, being paraded around the country. Whilst I understand there has to be some pomp and ceremony, I find something grim about dragging a dead body around the country so the public can glare. 

Once the queen was lying in state, there was a queue for miles, and you know how much us Brits like a queue. If the public were there to pay their respects, I understand, but I can’t help but feel that a lot of people were there for the circus. The royal family went to see the crowds, as is their job, but the crowds were cheering, it didn't feel like anyone was paying their respects. It felt as though they were there to get that photo or video for social media likes. If one is so upset by someone passing, surely that photo or video would be special, something private, not an excuse to take advantage of a grieving family.

The royal family are people. They are grieving and yet they have to perform for the British public. I find this sad, disrespectful and selfish. It reminds me of the death of Princess Diana. The royal family had to come back to London because the public demanded it. Nevermind that the family were grieving and looking after two young boys who had just lost their mother in a horrific accident. The family were expected to perform. This included the two princes, aged 15 and 12 years old. These children were paraded in front of crowds who didn’t know their mother, yet they thought they did. I can’t imagine me at 12 years old being able to handle such insincerity. The British people didn’t care about the family and what was best for two young boys. They wanted their circus and unfortunately, they got it.

This has replayed itself again with Queen Elizabeth II. The family being paraded around. The British public demanding their circus. At the queen’s funeral, Prince George aged 9 and Princess Charlotte aged 7 were part of the funeral service. I don't care what protocol says, I don't care about tradition, I care about two young children being paraded at a most upsetting time. I could not believe this happened. I don’t have children and I'm not maternal, but this is horrific. I was an adult when my nan died and I was a mess, what a child must feel I can't comprehend. I can't understand any parent that puts protocol or tradition ahead of their child's wellbeing.

It is things like this that make me ashamed to be British. We seem to see the royal family as property, as celebrity, as a right. They are people. It might be time to question whether we should keep the monarchy, if only for the mental wellbeing of the family.

I hope that now the Queen will be left to rest in peace and that the royal family will be left to grieve.

Why I lost the love for the news

My journey from news whore to newsphobic.

In my early 20s I started a journalism degree course. I wanted to be an investigative journalist. I wanted to know how writers found their scoops. I wanted to know the secrets of Fleet Street.

I hated university, but that’s another topic. I had always consumed news. I read newspapers, I watched TV news, current affairs shows etc.

I’d start my day watching breakfast news, then I’d read a newspaper during the day. If I happened to be home at lunch, of course I’d watch the lunchtime news. Then the evening news, then the iconic news at 10. If that wasn’t enough, I’d watch Question Time, Newsnight, The Big Questions and Sunday Politics. If you’re not from the UK, these programs will mean nothing to you. In short, they are current affairs panel shows, usually with politicians, experts and social commentators.

 
This was how I spent my time. It all started to become too much. The first thing to drop off my schedule was Question Time. This was on at about 10pm/11pm week nights. There would be politicians who were incapable of answering a question and usually a so-called celebrity who opposes anyones point of view just to get attention. The other guests on the panel, people who had some insight into the issues being discussed, they were usually great, well informed and open minded. It was the politicians and celebrities that drove me away. The unanswered questions and the contrary opinions just made me so mad. Due to this show being at bedtime, I’d go to bed angry. That is not a fun thing to do, would not recommend.

 
Very quickly after that Newsnight fell away for me. This usually consisted of a deeper insight in to the news, which was interesting. But, again, it was the politicians or celebrities that appeared on the show that put me off. Also, some of the topics covered were not suitable for me to watch just before bedtime. As well as going to bed angry because of Question Time, Newsnight would leave me feeling miserable. For my own sanity, these two had to go.

Next was the newspapers. Depending on which newspaper you read, the news will change. This sounds obvious. Of course different newspapers will have different opinions, but I wasn’t reading the opinion pieces, I was reading the news. Surely, facts are facts. That’s what I wanted. That’s what I wanted to do, find the truth. I got so sick of reading contradicting information, I stopped reading newspapers.
Sunday Politics became very dull and predictable. It was politicians not answering questions every week. Nothing substantial ever comes out of a politicians mouth. I got bored and stopped watching.

The Big Questions is a weekly show that discusses current issues as well as ongoing issues. It also looks at issues from around the world and discusses them with experts and the general public. Whilst I did learn a lot from this show, the arguments between opposing sides were pathetic. It wasn’t a discussion, it was whoever could shout the loudest. I love to learn, to ask questions, and I like to think of myself as open minded, so to watch a group of people be so set in their ways was frustrating.
Now I was left with the news. News at 10, the iconic late night news in the UK. I had to stop watching this because again, seeing how crappy people are was too much for bedtime watching. That’s all TV news is, reporting humans being shitty to each other and destroying the planet. I know the state of the world, I don’t want to be reminded every night.

The lunchtime news just fell away as I got a full time job, I wasn’t missing much.

Last news standing was the breakfast news. I lost the love for this during the pandemic of 2020. Every day was more depressing news about this virus that we couldn’t control, that was killing people, that our government wasn’t taking seriously. It was heartbreaking. Then on top of that, we had wildfires across the world, animals going extinct, we had idiot presidents and prime ministers. If you google the year 2020 you’ll see the shit show that the earth was. All of this was too much. I felt overwhelmed, almost like I’d overdosed on news and couldn’t consume any more. My temper was getting shorter with every show I watched. It was really starting to affect my anxiety. I finally decided that I needed to stop watching the news.

 
I felt guilty. As an absolute news whore, I thought that anyone that took no interest in the news or current affairs was ignorant, stupid, uninformed. I thought I was superior. I knew about world affairs therefore I was better than the plebs in the street. That was just arrogant and ignorant. Yes, I am actively avoiding the news and current affairs. The old adage of ignorance is bliss is true. I am still aware of what’s going on in the world and it’s miserable, but I don’t need to consume the news to add to that misery. If there’s an issue that I am interested in, I can find the information I want and learn.

I have not gone back to consuming news. I live under my rock, in my own little world and my mental health is certainly better. News still creeps in, but it’s not overload. I don’t let it affect my health, it’s not worth it. You have to do what is best for you. Sometimes I get the urge to write a blog or record a video about current affairs or politics, but within minutes I become anxious and overwhelmed. I’m not the same person I was when I started university all those years ago. I’ve mellowed. I’ve learnt that it’s ok to take a back seat in life and watch it roll by.

I’m not ambitious. I’m not confrontational. I just want a simple life. And for me, that means keeping the world at arms length.

Hypatia - A Universal Genius and Feminist Icon

Hypatia - Martyr for Philosophy

There is no exact date for Hypatia's birth, but it is estimated to be between 350-370AD in Alexandria, Egypt. The daughter of mathematician, Theon of Alexandria, Hypatia would follow in her fathers footsteps. There's not much information about her childhood. What we do know about her is both inspiring and tragic. 

Hypatia lectured on Plato and Aristotle, teaching philosophy and astronomy. She taught her students how to construct a silver plane astrolabe. This device is used to calculate date and time based on the position of the stars and planets. 

In her time, she was considered the world's leading mathematician and astronomer, the only woman for whom such a claim can be made. Synesius (Bishop of Ptolemais, previously a student of Hypatia) described her as "....a person so renowned, her reputation seemed literally incredible. We have seen and heard for ourselves she who honourably presides over the mysteries of philosophy". Hypatia is probably the first female mathematician whose life is somewhat recorded. There are many works that have been linked to Hypatia, but as with other female philosophers from ancient history, it is hard to establish authorship.

At the time that Hypatia was living in Alexandria, it was a cosmopolitan melting pot of different religions and races. It is thought that Hypatia was probably Pagan. There is no record of her being married, but there is a story that she tried to discourage any potential suiters by playing the lute. Presumably she must have been a very bad player. But when this tuneful refusal didn't work Hypatia simply said 'No', displaying her bloody menstrual rags and declaring "This is what you really love, my young man, but you do not love beauty for its own sake". One scholar, Damascius, further relates that one young man was so traumatized that he abandoned his desires for her immediately.

During Hypatia's lifetime, religious tensions were starting to build in Alexandria. Cyril of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria, started closing all the pagan temples and jewish synagogues, confiscating their property. Seventh century Egyptian Coptic bishop John of Nikiu alleged in his chronicle that Hypatia was engaged in satanic practices, “...there appeared in Alexandria a female philosopher, a pagan named Hypatia, and she was devoted at all times to magic, astrolabes and instruments of music, and she beguiled many people through her Satanic wiles…” , also insinuating that her close relationship with Governor Theophilus caused him to stop going to church.

In March 415 AD a christian mob raided Hypatia’s carriage as she was on her way home. They dragged her in to a former pagan temple (now a christian church), stripped her naked and beat her to death with bricks and stones. Some sources add that they removed her eyes. Once dead, they tore her body limb from limb, dragging them through the town and finally setting them alight. Throughout history, philosophers were effectively untouchable, so this murder sent shockwaves through the ancient world. Her death may have been politically motivated as she was accused of meddling with political relationships. There is also a suggestion that Hypatia was involved in the controversial idea that the date they celebrated easter that year was actually wrong. There is no evidence that Cyril of Alexandria was to blame for Hypatia’s death, but it is widely speculated that he ordered it. Coincidentally, later on in the early 420’s AD, Cyril dominated the Alexandrian council. Cyril is known to history as St Cyril of Alexandria, Patriarch and Confessor. This religious bigot and alleged murderer was canonised.

Named a “Martyr for Philosophy”, Hypatia's death has made her a powerful feminist symbol and a figure of affirmation for intellectual endeavour in the face of ignorant prejudice.

Astrolabe - Hypatia taught her students how to make this instrument. An early astrolabe was invented in the Hellenistic civilization by Apollonius of Perga between 220 and 150 BC, often attributed to Hipparchus. 

Chronic Pain and Me

It sucks. The end.

That's the short version. This is my story about chronic pain, how I got it and how I live with it.

For reference, I am writing this blog on the 9th January 2022 at the age of 35.

At about the age of 14 or 15, I dislocated my knee cap playing badminton. Perfectly reasonable dislocation.

Fast forward to somewhere in 2014. I'm washing my hands and as I stand there, my right knee cap just dislocates. No reason whatsoever. I get put back together and life carries on. In February 2015, I'm fast asleep. I roll over in my sleep and my left knee dislocates. Again, I get put back together. This is when the doctors think there must be something wrong. (no shit). I go for various X-rays. I go to a knee specialist. He sends me for an MRI. Turns out, both of my knee caps are slightly out of place and have always been so, I was born like it. The solution was surgery. Fulkerson's Osteotomy it's called. If you type it in to Youtube you can watch a surgery. I did not do this. In simple terms, they broke my shin, realigned it, and screwed it back in. Both legs. December 2015 was operation one. May 2017 was operation two. Occupational Health described it as a "proper hammer and chisel job".

Left Leg X-Ray.
   You can see the break
and the screws

Surgeries all went well. Really well. I was told my recovery was outstanding (insert really big smug grin). A few months after the second surgery I was back at work. I was sat in an office chair. I swung in said chair. I smacked my newly healing leg off the filing cabinet under the desk. A good proper whack. Fucking hurt. Late 2017.

I went to my doctor, just in case. The leg looked fine, but he sent me for an x-ray, just in case. X-ray was looking fine. Carried on with life.

Months went by and the area I smacked was still tingling. Back to the doctor I went. I was referred to a bone doctor. He did an X-ray. The screws and the bone were all fine. The bone doctor said that I shouldn't have been referred to him as it was probably nerve related. 

I get referred to the pain clinic July 2019. I discussed all my symptoms with the doctor. He prescribes me a lot of medication and a course of scar infiltration treatment. Scar infiltration is where they inject the painful area with lidocaine. This numbs the area for a time, whether that's days, weeks, or months, depends on your body. I thought dislocating my knee was painful, but this treatment was worse. That first treatment made life easier for about 6 months. Yay. Then the pain slowly came back. 

Eventually I go back to my doctor. I get prescribed all the drugs again, on a higher dosage and re-referred to the pain clinic. Again, I have the scar infiltration September 2021. This time, the doctor doesn't use a local anesthetic. Bastard. I almost passed out. I almost went in to shock. THAT was the worst pain ever. I had about a week of relief from the injection before the nerve pain came back.

Back to the doctor. Back on the drugs, higher dose again, re-re-referred to the pain clinic December 2021. Waiting for my appointment for another scar infiltration. This time I'm seeing the doctor I saw the first time. Not the bastard that tortured me.

I haven't even got to how it's affected work, family life, mental health etc. That will all have to be in another blog.