All Bets Are Off

Well it is time for my annual get on my soap box rant about the Grand National.

Here is last year's and I am saying much the same this year. 

Animal Aid have been tracking the deaths of horses during racing since 2007 and incredibly, there have been 1089 deaths since they started their record. 1089. That’s 3 a week. That’s just in Great Britain alone. With horse racing all over the world that figure is in fact much much higher.   

 

Their findings are available for all to see, with the date, name of horse and the injury which caused them to be destroyed. Here’s the link for you to see for yourself.

The jockey chooses to enter the sport. He trains with the horse, rides with the horse, chooses to enter an event with the horse. The horse? Well he just likes to eat, sleep and run for fun.  He's a pack animal.

The horse can’t be briefed for the race ahead.   He doesn’t know how many fences there are, how high they are, how many people and horses are going to be jostling around him for places. He doesn’t know the fact that if he falls, he will more than likely be destroyed because he is then “useless”.  He also doesn't know that if he falls, his broken body will be merely called an obstacle (as happened two years ago at the Grand National) by commenters. 

You will either bet or you won't.  All I am asking is that you look at the link, read the information and then make your decision. 

Joe Brown Vintage Tea Dress

Hello all!

Just a quick post where I thought that I would show you what I wore on Saturday in readiness for my photo shoot with Capturing the Curves.

I wanted to wear something that would put me in a fifties frame of mind so I went with a dress that has been sitting in my wardrobe for a while but I haven't had chance to wear.  The Joe Brown Vintage Tea Dress from +Simply Be 

I bought this dress a few weeks ago now and at the time wasn't sure about whether to keep it, but now I absolutely adore it.  For me, it just needed a wide black belt to pull the look together.

Emotionally Correct?

I was watching a video from Huffington Post with Sally Kohn who was talking about emotional correctness and I found what she was saying really interesting.

When it comes to political correctness, many people are now habitually correct in the words that they use, but what I have come across on many occasions it that the meaning behind their words is hollow.  If you don’t actually have any foundation or belief behind your words then it doesn’t matter how politically correct you are.

 

Being politically correct without the emotional attachment to it is pointless.  You shouldn’t have to try to be politically correct; this is something that you should already be.  Saying the right thing because you might get in problem isn’t the same as feeling that way.

 

Being emotionally correct to others can sometimes be hard, or it can be when you are particularly passionate about a subject and someone disagrees.

 

I confess that I am guilty of becoming angry or close minded when someone has the opposing view to mine, particularly for example when it comes to the rights to a woman’s body.  I am very much pro choice in a woman’s right to have an abortion and this is something that I have been fervent about on many occasions. 

I can find it hard to acknowledge the other person’s point of view when it comes to things I care about deeply and this is something that I am most keen to rectify within myself this year.  Everyone has a right to their opinion and should not be shouted down. 

 

Having a calm discussion with someone of opposing views to your own is always the thing to aim for.  Problems are never resolved by who can shout the loudest nor can viewpoints be taken seriously or considered when they are laced with sarcasm and ridicule.

My new resolution for this year (yes, a little late) is to really listen to people when they have a differing stance to myself.  How do you really know how to properly feel about a subject until you have heard all of the contrasting arguments?

 

Just something that is floating around in my head at the moment.