1. Clowns and Santa Clauses and parents who make their children go near them or even sit on their laps. Hey, don’t talk to strangers, kids, but if he’s wearing makeup or red Pajamas it’s totally okay.

“As adults we make assumptions about what works for children,” said Penny Curtis, a senior lecturer in research at the university. “We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable.” (Reuters) Don’t send in the clowns

It’s perplexing how the same parent who will force a frightened, crying child to sit in Santa Claus’s lap, is also the same parent who will shield this child’s ears from thunder or comfort the child when a big dog barks at him or her. Child Afraid of Santa Claus? Parents’ Guidelines

2. Disney movies and the messages they convey to young children.

I just stumbled upon a news story about Simon Cowell, prominent English guy (for what I can’t remember – America’s Got Talent?) supporting the Katie Piper fund.

When I read the story I remembered where I’ve seen her – I saw a Channel 4 documentary about her a while back and was absolutely amazed at how brave she is and what a horrible ordeal she’s had to go through.

To make the story short (as as much as I remember from the film) she was a model and TV presenter, dating someone who seemed really nice but turned out to be the ultimate nightmare. After he’d raped her for hours, she made it home and broke off contact with him but was too afraid to press charges. Days later he had a friend wait for her outside her apartment and throw acid into her face, permanently disfiguring her.

The acid burned through all four layers of skin on her face, some spilled down her throat and she was left blind in one eye.
She has undergone more than 40 operations on her face and throat including groundbreaking surgery at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

I remember seeing that documentary and wondering if I would ever recover from that sort of thing – she had her whole life ahead of her, everything going for her – she was (still is, I think) beautiful, had a great career going, fun friends, etc. – and ended up in horrendous pain, needing constant care from her parents and countless operations. And for what, just because she had the misfortune of dating a lunatic. After the assault, she was afraid to leave the house, obviously everyone stared, but she made it. Would you? Would I? I don’t know. I think I might’ve spiraled into a life-long “why me?!” depression.

Until I read the news story with Cowell, I didn’t realize she’s started a fund. Treatment for people with severe burns and scars is enormously expensive and not every insurance covers it. Many victims have to live with the disfigurement fort the rest of their lives and simply can’t afford any help to get through it – this help would include treatments but also psychotherapy, or even makeup classes (there is such thing as „camouflage“ makeup, for example). It’s not only about trying to heal the wounds as best as possible but also rebuilding victims’ self-esteem and dealing with the way they look now, dealing with the looks they get from other people.

The foundation’s vision is to create a n advanced burn and scar management and rehabilitation clinic in the UK accessible to anybody who would benefit from specialised treatments. This will include daily pressure therapy using controlled, standardised and customised care with the help of LPG Endermologie machines, manual massage, physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and silicone treatment.

The clinic will also be a place where people can learn to overcome the psychological barriers of living with disfigurement and concentrate on rebuilding their lives.

The foundation also aims to offer non-medical advice to empower people and build up their confidence by showing them how to look and feel their best again. This would include professional lessons on camouflage makeup and hair styling as well as a mentorship program that brings burns survivors together to support each other.

Yeah, I guess there are tons of other worthy causes – children starving, our world as we know it being ruined (thank you, BP), but pick whichever one you feel a connection to, I say. Helping any cause at all is better than doing nothing. Lots of people who have lost loved ones to cancer support cancer causes; if you have friends or family who have been disfigured by burns, this might be a good cause for you to support. I don’t personally know anyone who has been disfigured, by the way, but I just find her story very inspirational. Maybe because I saw the film, I don’t know.

Here’s more info:

The Katie Piper Foundation

Just my 2 cents for today…

I’ve been living in Germany off and on since about 1976. And every summer, when it was boiling hot, the Germans would say “well, we don’t need air conditioning, it is so rarely really hot here”. Yeah, that was true until the late 80’s. But global warming’s a bitch and it’s come to this country, too. Years ago. But hey, just keep on ignoring it because then it ain’t true, right?

So here’s today’s news, link is in German so I will translate it for you. Basically it says that an ICE (German “fast” trains, no windows for opening) air con system wasn’t working. Temperature went up to over 125 Fahrenheit (50 Celsius). One mother used the emergency hammer to smash a window, because her son was suffocating. 27 students from North Rhine Westfalia, on a field trip with their school, collapsed and had to be medically treated.

But yeah, just keep on saying “oh, it’s just a few hot days a year, we don’t need air conditioning”. How about a study about how much less work gets done during these temperatures and its effects on the economy? Get with the program - times are changing! I’ve been long enough to notice that each summer gets hotter. By the way, the Germans (who love to make fun of fat Americans) keep getting fatter, too, but that’s worth another post, isn’t it.

I don’t think I need to add to this that the heat is making me REALLY F***ING CRANKY! GRR!

but also pretty disgusting.

Michael Douglas’s ex-wife Diandra Douglas wants a cut from Wall Street sequel

Wow. Has she already gone through the $ 45 million divorce settlement?

’70s board game contains eerie BP oil spill scenarios

The game BP Offshore Oil Strike, which came out in the 1970s and is adorned with an old BP logo, revolves around four players exploring for oil, building platforms and constructing pipelines – all in the name of being the first to make $120 million.

But like the real-life oil game there are some big hazards, too. Players have to deal with the possibility of large-scale oil spills and cover cleanup costs. You struggle with “hazard cards” that include phrases now part of our daily vernacular, including: “Blow-out! Rig damaged. Oil slick cleanup costs. Pay $1 million.”

and it still sucks big time.

Dad loved the sea

After calling Germany’s midfielder Thomas Müller a “ballboy” and asking, in a mock German accent, “What’s the matter, Schweinsteiger? Are you nervoush?” and just generally behaving like a cheap imitation of a WWF announcer, I have no pity for prima-Maradona.

That said, what an amazing game. After 1:0 for Germany, I jokingly said: “4:0 would be really embarassing, wouldn’t it?” And then it really happened!

Here are some short vids of the reactions in Cologne, Germany:

The street I live on. This went on for hours…

Downtown mayhem

Bild is the equivalent, I’d say, to Englands “The Sun” - no quality reporting, but colorful and fun to read.

“Fresse” is German slang for “mouth” (kind of like “gob” in British English), so this means Messi will be gobsmacked

Advertisement for the department store C&A

No explanation necessary…

I’d like to think that this is just in reaction to Maradona dissing the German team, but who knows…

Why did the chicken cross the road?

According to FIFA, it didn’t.

The Christian Science Monitor’s take on the ridiculous referee blunders during this World Cup:
World Cup referees under fire as FIFA evades calls for new technology