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The ESA Saga: The WCA - Condition variability, task repeatability & pain.
"However, (with all due respect) this requires a far greater degree of medical knowledge than a nurse or physiotherapist would possess. The mantra of the WCA – that it does not require clinical expertise or diagnostic experience – in this area is an obvious nonsense."
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From despair to where? Citizens Advice Bureaux face turning poor away as cuts bite
"Budget cutbacks and law changes forced through by the Tory-led Coalition Government are crippling the bureau’s attempts to help ordinary people get by… at the very time when more people than ever need urgent help."
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Hot Weather Woes With Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
"Many of us with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome have heat sensitivity, which means our bodies get overheated easily and have a hard time cooling down. Getting too hot can lead to other symptoms, such as puffiness, achiness, headaches, dizziness, added fatigue, nausea and more."
Monday, 30 April 2012
Links of the day 04/30/2012
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Links of the day 04/29/2012
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"Pretty obviously, very many disabled people are fat, as am I, simply because our conditions totally preclude exercise, without which it is quite impossible to lose weight, and that weight is very often caused by our medication"
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Todays Britain: Adolf Hitler Would Have Been So Proud!
"Adolf Hitler would have been be so proud! He failed in taking the British Isles but it turns out that it doesn’t really matter as his political ideologies are being readily carried out by todays Tory led coalition government."
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Ed Balls Warns Of 'Lost Decade' As Double Dip Recession Takes Hold
"Britain is facing the prospect of a "lost decade" of sluggish growth and high unemployment if the Government will not change course on the economy, shadow chancellor Ed Balls has warned."
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Cardinal O'Brien accuses David Cameron of 'immoral' tax stance
"Scotland's most senior Roman Catholic, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, has accused the prime minister of acting immorally by favouring the rich ahead of ordinary citizens affected by the recession."
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As sickness benefit cuts take effect, thousands face hard times
"From Monday, the government will limit receipt of the contributory allowance to just 365 days. It marks the end of a welfare state that rested on William Beveridge's central idea that social security was "first and foremost a plan of insurance – of giving in return for contributions benefits up to subsistence levels". "
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Links of the day 04/28/2012
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Iain Duncan Smith opposes suggested £10bn welfare cuts
"He told the Times that welfare should not be “an easy target” and the government had “a responsibility to support people in difficulty”."
Pity his actions don't appear to resemble his words in any way whatever. -
The Homelessness Holocaust That Has Barely Even Begun
"The graph above (from Shelter) disputes Shapps’ claim that rents are falling. Quite the opposite is happening. A combination of soaring rents and a plunging economy would be enough to create mass homelessness on their own, without any changes to housing benefits. "
Friday, 27 April 2012
Links of the day 04/27/2012
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Pain-Topics.org News/Research UPDATES: Treatments for Sciatica Pain Disappointing
"Sciatica is a term often used to describe any low back and leg pain, but it more specifically applies to lumbosacral radiculopathy due to the impingement of nerve roots as they emerge from the spinal canal. Up to half of all cases of spinal pain may be neuropathic in origin, meaning they are caused by nerve compression, inflammation, and/or injury. A pair of recent studies examined treatments for sciatica and found that very few are helpful and they confer only modest and temporarily relief."
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Genetic Link to Pain Sensitivity in Fibromyalgia
"A new study published in the European Journal of Pain provides further evidence of a genetic component of fibromyalgia. Specifically, researchers linked alternate forms of some specific clusters of genetic material to pain sensitivity in people with fibromyalgia."
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UK officially worse off than in the Great depression
" In fact, the beatings will continue until morale improves."
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"A newly launched site has dubbed the upcoming EU Cookie Law “ridiculous,” echoing the sentiments of a growing number of voices across the internet. As these protests grow louder, No Cookie Law aims to raise awareness of the EU cookie law and hopefully increase the chance of changes being made."
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Top 10...alternatives to sugar
"With Britain’s obesity levels shooting up, and greater understanding of just how bad for us sugar can be, the hunt is on for alternatives. But there’s a problem. Many sugar substitutes are synthetics that are no better for us than real sugar. What’s more, some of these synthetics – aspartame and acesulfame-K to name just two – have been linked to cancer. "
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Murdoch – staff hid from me that NOTW was a tabloid newspaper.
"Rupert Murdoch has blamed his underlings for keeping him in the dark about the fact the News of The World was a tabloid newspaper, and said he thought the publication was a high-quality current-affairs broadsheet instead."
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The Daily Mash - Google unveils 99p G-Spot app
"A NEW smartphone app claims to be able to unerringly locate the G-spot which brings women to so-called 'multiple orgasms'."
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Tales from a Northern Town: On Welfare Reform
"The moral of the story? Don't be so harsh on the man on the bus with cheesy feet and no trousers, the Government have told him that he's fine to be out in society. After all, bankers' bonus pots and Vodafone's profit and loss account are far more important. Remember how we're all in this together, folks."
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Links of the day 04/26/2012
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Public Need To Wake Up To Whats Happening To Our Welfare State!
"Many people with lifelong conditions and TERMINAL illnesses are being put through this process, which only adds to the stress and anxiety they already live with. It’s not just the assessment itself, it’s the waiting for that letter to drop on the doormat. For me, and many others, it is almost psychological torture."
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BBC News - Disability Living Allowance changes and cost-cutting
"campaigners claim it could force thousands of disabled people out of work, and could end up costing more money."
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Krugman: “Keynesians have been completely right, Austerians utterly wrong”
"“The results are in: Keynesians have been completely right, Austerians utterly wrong – at vast human cost” – so wrote Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman in the New York Times following yesterday’s announcement Britain is in a double-dip recession."
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"There are particular features of a credit crunch that make a recovery harder than a conventional recession. However I feel that all the intervention and extraordinary monetary stimulus that has been provided has simply not worked and via its impact on real wages (which are falling) may have made things worse. Also the banking sector which is the one most responsible for our predicament has been bailed out but crucially not reformed. We have made the mistake of the Japanese in allowing zombie banks to continue and this led to a what is called a “lost decade” for them but now encompasses two decades.""
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"Other conditions treated by myofascial release therapy include Temporo-Mandibular Joint (TMJ) disorder, carpal tunnel syndrome, or possibly fibromyalgia or migraine headaches. "
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Links of the day 04/25/2012
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Brain Scans Detect Fibromyalgia. Finally a physical finding
"Brain scans detect fibromyalgia! Yes!! Finally a physical finding to say that fibromyalgia is a disease that’s not psychosomatic."
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The ESA Saga: The WCA – GPs are not well enough trained it seems
"This information will not directly help you with your WCA or your ESA claim. However, by giving you a bit of insight into the hidden agenda and the lengths to which DWP will go to fulfil its aims you might just be better prepared for what is ahead of you. Remember, if it smells fishy and looks fishy, it is probably a fish. "
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Intelligence quotient - Rightwingers really are more stupid
"A recent USA study connecting political views and intelligence has shown that the mean adolescent intelligence of young adults who identify themselves as "very liberal" is 106.4, while that of those who identify themselves as "very conservative" is 94.8. Two other studies conducted in the UK reached similar conclusions."
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Exhaustion: Five Tips For Coping
" While it might seem like common sense for anyone who feels utterly exhausted to “simply” back off on some of their activities to avoid burnout, this can be easier said than done sometimes. There are times this requires tough choices to be made."
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IMF raises global growth target by 'about this much'
"Governments have also agreed that by implementing a 640 x 480 resolution and changing the scale used on both sides of the graph, the global economy can look forward to increased gains in future quarters, although some of this may be offset by squinting."
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UK double-dips for first time in 37 years; Balls: Government's economic credibility “in tatters”
"The opposition, press and economists turned on the government today for the UK’s descent into a double-dip recession for the first time since the mid-seventies."
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Health experts warn poshness ‘could be hereditary’
"Unlike many other debilitating conditions, poshness is still regarded as a disgusting illness in some circles, and those that suffer from it are openly abused and ridiculed. Pharmaceutical companies are a long way from finding an effective cure for the wasting disease, which can also affect the life expectancy of quails, grouse and foxes."
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It’s a double dip: Britain re-enters recession
"This is the recession that George Osborne repeatedly assured us wouldn’t happen, despite OECD predictions that it would as recently as last month. But the new developments will heap still more pressure on a chancellor reeling from the catastrophe of his last budget. The decision to cut tax for millionaires looks even more unsound now."
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Could the UK housing rental market be about to crack?
"Despite a high demand for housing and recent rises in rents, Britain's residential rental market is showing signs of strain, says Phil Oakley. And that could be very bad news for house prices."
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Links of the day 04/24/2012
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Chronic fatigue syndrome patients had reduced activity in brain’s 'reward center'
"The findings show that patients with chronic fatigue syndrome have decreased activation of an area of the brain known as the basal ganglia in response to reward. Additionally, the extent of this lowered activation was associated with each patient's measured level of fatigue. The basal ganglia are at the base of the brain and are associated with a variety of functions, including motor activity and motivation. Diseases affecting basal ganglia are often associated with fatigue. These results shed more light on this mysterious condition, information that researchers hope may eventually lead to better treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome."
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Addendum to Never mind the Jubilee – this country is going to hell in a handbasket! « Ron's Rants…
"The people of this country have to decide, and soon, whether they want Cameron’s Reich, or a democratic country, probably a republic, which looks after its own citizens, all of whom, regardless of wealth or privilege, will have the same access to healthcare and justice, and those who need it have the support of the more fortunate members of society.
It really is that stark a choice. Doing nothing is no longer an option." -
Death of Lord Ashley of Stoke: Independent Living Bill » DPAC
"Politicians of all parties have rightly paid tribute to Jack Ashley after his death on 20th April aged 89. Not one of them mentioned the fact that he tirelessly pushed for an Independent Living Bill. "
Monday, 23 April 2012
Links of the day 04/23/2012
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Role of impaired sleep in fibromyalgia pain explored
"Patients coping with the complex pain disorder fibromyalgia often have difficulty sleeping, and a new study published in The Journal of Pain reports that despite the negative quality of life implications, poor sleep is not a significant predictor of fibromyalgia pain intensity and duration."
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Never mind the Jubilee – this country is going to hell in a handbasket!
"Maybe the French had the right idea after all? I really don’t know what the answer is, but this country is headed for a modern-day feudalism, run by corrupt millionaires and corporations for their own benefit, and with the needs of the people coming a very long way last."
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Sacked by the DWP after 34 years’ service for depression – and then found ‘fit for work’ by DWP/AtoS
"If they treat their staff the way they have me, what hope is there for others?"
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Child Protection Laws Outdated And Confusing To Parents, Claim Labour
"Experts warned the 80-year-old child cruelty law fails to cover all forms of neglect, including emotional abuse, which can cause long-term mental scarring. They also claimed that nearly three-quarters of people said there was little understanding of that the term "good parenting" actually meant. "
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Links of the day 04/22/2012
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The Jobbing Doctor: More break-up
"Health care can be converted into a market, but it is a market of winners and losers. Those with good health or good income are likely to benefit from market forces, whereas their polar opposites will be damaged."
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Links of the day 04/21/2012
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The great welfare benefits swindle.
"ow, when a claimant is refused ESA the record of the assessment (on form ESA85) is always included in a claimant's DLA appeal papers because the Department for Work & Pensions like to point to it and use it as further evidence to back up their case. When the assessment is favourable to the claimant they don't put it in, which is equivalent to the prosecution in a criminal case failing to divulge relevant information to the defence."
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Diary of a Benefit Scrounger: It's all in your Head
"Do you know what that does to you? Do you know how much strength of character it takes to face 6 doctors, all stood around your bed and tell them you think they're wrong? To refuse a course of treatment you know is irrelevant? To do it for weeks, months, even years, until you find a saviour? A good doc after all the bad docs?
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"Classified as a rheumatic illness, current research shows it is actually neurological in origin. Fibromyalgia is the result of a damaged central nervous system and an excessive amplification of sensory pain signals."
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Oops! The Daily Mail accidentally supports a fascist party. Again.
Except for the fact this isn’t the first time the Daily Mail has come out in support of a fascist party.
Friday, 20 April 2012
Links of the day 04/20/2012
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Top 10 Anti-Inflammatory Foods You’ve Got to Know
"Besides their abilities to reduce inflammation, they also supply us with loads of essential vitamins and minerals that boost our immune health."
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Top 10 Inflammatory Foods to Avoid Like the Plague
"To shift the balance to your favor, other than incorporating more natural anti-inflammatory foods in your diet, it’s also equally important to avoid or cut down on foods which are known to promote inflammation. Here, we look at the top ten foods which set the stage for inflammatory diseases:"
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Links of the day 04/19/2012
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Osborne’s ‘granny tax’: Robbing pensioners to pay the one per cent
"We have been firm in our opposition to this measure because adding to the financial pressure felt by older people on modest incomes is unfair and unnecessary when the government is using the proceeds to fund an irresponsible tax giveaway for millionaires."
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Traffic pollution kills 5,000 a year in UK, says study
"Road pollution is more than twice as deadly as traffic accidents, according to a study of UK air quality."
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Don’t believe all that you read!
"Apparently, the European Union’s (EU’s) 2007–13 EU Strategy on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity-related Health Issues is failing to tackle rising obesity. But is it any wonder, when Big Food sponsors the high-level discussions meant to solve the problem, and its propaganda is everywhere?"
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Britain Has World's Most Over-indebted Banking System
""Britain now has the world’s most over-indebted banking system, according to new figures from the International Monetary Fund". The Fund’s Global Financial Stability Report has revealed that the total gross debt of Britain’s banks is equivalent to 742% of the UK’s total economic output – equivalent to around £11 trillion. It means Britain has overtaken Ireland, whose banking system’s debt is equivalent to 691% of GDP""
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"There are some benefits of owning a robotic vacuum cleaner. For one, you won’t need to do any of the cleaning, saving you time in the long run. The Roomba 760 can also vacuum those hard to reach places like under sofas and beds — places which are usually neglected. Plus, with its HEPA filters and scheduling functions, it will keep pet hair and dust from accumulating by vacuuming on a daily basis — something that you’d be hard-pressed to do yourself."
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The ESA Saga: WCA - Fit for Purpose? - Parliamentary Question
"They categorically cannot just base their reported conclusion on their unsubstantiated “opinion”.
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"It has become a tradition in Britain for political parties to accuse the BBC of bias whenever they are put under the pressure of scrutiny. It rarely turns out to be true, if ever, but today I, and many other people, noticed something that seems to give the idea some credibility."
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£4.4 billion DWP contractor refuses to delete lies after watchdog ruling
"French company Atos, which has a £108m per year contract with the government, has failed to remove grossly misleading claims from its website – despite being ordered to do so by the Advertising Standards Authority."
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Can Eating Certain Foods Help You to Lose Weight
"Here is a partial list of negative calorie foods: apples, cranberries, grapefruit, lemon mango, oranges, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries, tangerines, asparagus, beets, cabbage (green), carrots, cauliflower, hot Chile peppers, cucumbers, endives, garden cress, garlic, green beans, lettuce, onion, papaya, radishes, spinach, turnips and zucchini."
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Links of the day 04/18/2012
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Austerity is Europe's mutual suicide-pact
"Laurence Lewis's Daily Kos editorial, "The cruel stupidity that is economic austerity," is a blazing indictment of austerity as a means of recovering from recession, and it cites experts and statistics showing that austerity programs (in Europe, particularly) are deepening the recession, destroying lives, and demolishing vital social institutions that are especially needed in economic downturns."
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LOSING EMPLOYMENT & SUPPORT ALLOWANCE
"If you are due to lose ESA you should have been sent a letter by the DWP. It is very important to check if you can replace at least some of the ESA you will lose. "
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Protesters prepare to fight disability living allowance cuts
"Those demonstrating are meeting at 1.30pm on 18 April close to McDonald’s on Leicester Square, London"
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"Food bank recipients are not usually the homeless - they are low-income working families who hit crisis, people who have been made redundant or people experiencing benefits delays."
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"In a recent Mind survey, they found that at least 3/4s of those surveyed felt worse after their work capability assessments and that 51% of them had been left with suicidal thoughts!"
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Links of the day 04/17/2012
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Are you benefits aware? - Benefits Awareness Month
"Last year over £19bn in welfare benefits went unclaimed. The complexity of the benefits system and stigma around claiming are both barriers that stop those in financial need accessing the help that they are entitled to."
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IN BRIEF: Fibromyalgia Treatments With Antidepressants Gets Mixed Results « Medical News Digest
"MDs often prescribe antidepressants for Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS). The problem is that the results are very mixed and these prescriptions seem to be rooted more in the belief that something is wrong with the FMS patients psyche than with his body. "
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Is It Really True? The 5 Best Fact-Checking Websites
"Fact checking has its origin in the early 20th century, when magazines began to verify statements made in non-fictional texts prior to publication. This practice increases credibility and trustworthiness of articles and documents. Today, fact checking is often associated with political journalism, but can of course be used in any field, including your homework."
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No representation without taxation…
"It would be all too easy to write this clown off as an attention-seeking fruitcake, but I have little doubt that these are policies close to Cameron’s black and festering heart ..."
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Ken Livingstone Shrugs Off Campaign Criticism, Says Boris 'Makes People Laugh'
"He added: "I think we should have a compromise. Boris should let me be Mayor and I will support him to be the permanent host of Have I Got News For You. That would be each of us doing what we do best.""
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Controversial urine extraction method given go-ahead by government
"The method – popularly known as ‘fagging’ - is also seen as a relatively cheap way of ensuring the country’s natural resources are extracted and made available for exploition by a bunch of public schoolboys and their friends."
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Ex-chair of young Tories: “Should the unemployed be allowed to vote?”
"And it gets worse — when “Batsh*t Bursnall” goes on to suggest that rich people should receive more votes than the poor:"
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Health chiefs meet to decide on 2012 summer epidemic
"The Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, has called a summit of senior officials to decide this afternoon which animal will be the source of the virus that will almost certainly kill everyone on the planet by Christmas."
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The Broken Of Britain: Is The Tide Starting To Turn? By Jane Young
"I get the feeling that the tide may be starting to turn in relation to welfare reform. This is just a gut feeling, nothing more, but I have some evidence – not that the Government is starting to listen, yet, but that other organisations and individuals are finding their voice and that the media is starting to listen."
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DLA cuts set to cost government in welfare and care bills
"User-led charity Disability Rights UK has done an interesting analysis of government plans for 500,000 people to lose access to disability living allowance by 2015-16, which finds it leading to significant extra costs in out-of-work benefits, social care and health."
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Housing charity to go into voluntary liquidation due to funding cuts
"Although cutting grants such as those provided to Housing Action will ‘save money’, looking at things in the round, the long term costs will undoubtedly be considerably more than the cash saved today."
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Could fracking cause exploding tap water fires in the UK? (VIDEO)
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Unstable At the Core? NCF Funds Cutting-Edge ME/CFS Gene Study
"In a year of intriguing studies this is one of the more intriguing. Stress has been something of a keynote in CFS research lately and researchers now regularly employ different kinds of stress tests to provoke abnormalities in patients. But does this unusual response to stress make its way all into the DNA of our cells? The National CFIDS Foundation in collaboration with the Nancy Taylor Foundation is betting $133,000 that it does…"
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The Problem With Almost All Low Carb High Protein Diets
"Rather than blindly cutting Carbohydrates and increasing protein and fat intake, you should opt for a healthy ratio of 30% protein, 15% fat, and 55% Complex Carbohydrates. This ratio will help you to lose weight steadily and safely. The key is to reduce fat and SIMPLE carbohydrates not Carbohydrates in general."
Monday, 16 April 2012
Links of the day 04/16/2012
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How DWP's incompetence cost taxpayers and disabled people
"The coalition’s approach to abolishing DLA assumed that expenditure is ‘deadweight’, and thus that cuts were achievable without knock on effects for other government revenue or expenditure. This falsehood would have been exposed had the government undertaken a full impact assessment."
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Benefits firm Atos faces fresh row over number of cases kicked out by government
"Figures show 3100 Atos recommendations were overturned in May 2011, compared with 900 in the same month in 2010."
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Why You Need To Add Mangoes On Your Grocery Your List
"Not only do they taste great, but mangoes are also loaded with several qualities that are excellent for your health. Their powerful antioxidants are known to neutralize free radicals that cause damage to cells and lead to health problems like heart disease, premature aging and cancer among other things. "
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News that drought won’t lead to water cannon ban gives hope to disaffected gardeners
"After the Environment Agency warned that Water shortages across England could last until beyond Christmas, disaffected gardeners are contemplating staging violent protests on in their gardens in the hope that police will disperse them with water cannons while simultaneously watering their lawns."
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Fun Things Become Hard Things With Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
"Do you struggle with things like going out to dinner, reading a book, playing games and watching TV or movies? You're not alone. Get a look at common problems those activities pose for us and how you might be able too work around them:"
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Are There Any Benefits From Doing Something Fun Every Day?
"Doing something enjoyable – looking at my pictures of flowers, or my taking them – doesn’t change our underlying pain illnesses. It doesn’t permanently stop chronic pain."
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Links of the day 04/15/2012
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Mentally ill? Don’t worry, work is what you need – apparently…
"Work, while desirable, is not always an achievable aim for those with mental illness, the stresses involved – often difficult enough for anyone who is mentally sound to deal with – would doubtless tip them into a crisis. Not everybody, you dumb bastard, rises to a challenge by digging deep into their reserves – many mentally ill people simply have no reserves."
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UK: Official guidelines to deal with suicide by the jobless
"The need for such a six-point plan graphically indicates the impact of the government’s austerity measures on the most vulnerable."
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DWP Guidelines on Benefit-Cut Related Suicides?
"... guidelines [he] issued to the DWP on how to deal with the anticipated number of suicides it would cause"
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Fibromyalgia: Suffering With The Itch You Can’t Scratch
"What could possibly be happening to the person with fibromyalgia who cannot find relief from an aggravation as severe as itching that could even cause open wounds, rashes and other skin lesions? Unlike the frustrations of a disease such as eczema, or a fungal infection of ringworm, or an autoimmune disorder of psoriasis, the itching of fibromyalgia does not seem to have a specific label which can be attached to it."
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Links of the day 04/14/2012
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" with Solidarity Federation calling a Day of Action Against Workfare on May 1st. Please spread the word."
Friday, 13 April 2012
Links of the day 04/13/2012
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The new Work Capability Assessment is excluding people unable to work from benefits
"Critics point out that this new system is too restrictive and severe, with the process being impersonal and ill-equipped to judge often complex medical issues."
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Government encourages unemployed young people to move back in with mum and dad
"Housing charities and campaign groups have warned that this plan will place many people at risk of homelessness as not everyone can go back to their parents."
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Anemia & Fibromyalgia: How's Your Iron Level?
"A study published in 2010 showed a significant difference in serum ferritin (iron) levels between healthy people and those with fibromyalgia. Researchers concluded that low iron created a 6.5-fold increase to the risk of fibromyalgia."
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Being clean led to benefits cut
"I do want to work, my brain is ok even if the body is wearing out but where am I supposed to find a job? There aren't enough for fit people let alone for an arthritic 50-something! Incidentally, part of why I was found to be fit was that I was clean, could hold a conversation and could carry a medium size handbag.
A tip for anyone who has an assessment coming up – go scruffy, be incoherent and don't take a handbag."
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Links of the day 04/12/2012
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Exclusive leak: Atos forces doctors to sign Official Secrets Act
"A doctor, who currently works with the company and chose to stay anonymous, told us there was “no justification” to sign this kind of document."
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Atos – how much grief can one company cause?
"Just last week the company was condemned by the Advertising Standards Authority for claiming that it has got “1700+ healthcare professionals”. Such is the arrogance of this firm that it didn’t even bothering responding to the ASA, which is the kind of behaviour we usually see in fly-by-night conmen, not huge companies trusted by the government with such important matters as this."
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Links of the day 04/11/2012
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Coalition continues crackdown on benefits fraud, but will they clamp down on tax fraud?
"... the media spotlight and the political rhetoric are misleading. The most recent report published by the Department for Work and Pensions found fraud constitutes only 0.8% of total benefits payments; in absolute cash terms this equals roughly £1.2 billion"
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UK Uncut's Great British Street Party
"On Saturday 26th May join UK Uncut’s Great British Street Party to demand that we keep our public services, our rights and our welfare system and to celebrate a new future that isn’t dictated to us by a handful of millionaires but decided by us all – together."
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A pack of ATOS ers – I’ll see you in court.
"... there is now evidence that ATOS is actively looking for criticisms of its work wherever it can find them, particularly on the internet, with some carers groups having to either withdraw materials or take down their web sites in the face of threats to resort to legal action. And we all know that the little people can’t compete, financially, with the rich and powerful when it comes to possible court action."
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An Alarm System Gone Awry: Pain in Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
"Pain is necessary. In many cases, it's a good thing - whether it feels like it or not. However, when your body starts processing pain abnormally, as in fibromyalgia and some cases of chronic fatigue syndrome, it ceases to be helpful and starts doing harm."
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Tanker drivers’ strike and the long-term sick…
"If/when the strike is announced I intend to ask my GP for three months supply of everything. And if it goes on longer than 2 months, look to restocking at that time, as deliveries to pharmacies might be patchy, and waiting til I get low foolish."
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CFS: One Disease and Its Costs » White House Chronicle
"In one instance, a million or more patients who suffer from the devastating, life-robbing disease known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), or myalgic encephalomyelitis, struggle through days of almost total incapacitation, disorientation, pain and despair, clinging to hope that science will rescue them. All that's known is that like AIDS, it's a disease of the immune system."
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"The English ruling class elites are past masters at getting those they exploit to celebrate their own servility. "
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Links of the day 04/10/2012
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The ESA Saga: WCA - No measurement, no targets, no interest, no compassion, no ethics.
"So next time you hear someone say that things are getting better, you now know that they really have no idea."
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Allowing workers to sleep at night ‘costs UK economy £560bn’
"If factory workers in China work 20 hours a day then why should we not compete with a 24 hour day? Sleep is a luxury that only some members of society should be able to afford."
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UK shocked that George Osborne expects them to believe he’s shocked at millionaire tax avoiders
"“I was even more shocked to discover that I am the only person in the UK who didn’t know that this was going on.”"
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Constant, Chronic Stress Can Make You Sick
"It shouldn't be news by now that stress, especially chronic, prolonged stress, can have negative effects on your health and well-being. We've discussed what stress actually does to your body and what you can do about it, but just to drive the point home, new research shows that chronic, constant stress from things like a busy job and tense home can lead to more than just the occassional headache. "
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TAKE ACTION to protect 'free from' labelling on skincare products
"Knowing what isn't in a beauty product can be as important as knowing what is. New EU legislation threatens to restrict the 'free from' term on skincare labels but Neal's Yard Remedies say this penalises those that go out of their way to ensure products are safe"
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Diary of a Benefit Scrounger: PIP survey - Please help?
"The wonderful Sam Barnett-Cormack and wearespartacus.org have designed this survey to help them put together an official Spartacus response to the PIP consultation.
We'd be REALLY grateful if you could spare a few minutes to take part. The more people that reply, the more reliable the results will be." -
A Tale of two Models: Disabled People vs Unum, Atos, Government and Disability Charities
"One of the main advocates of the bio-psychosocial model, Lord Freud (Westminster’s Minister for welfare reform) claims that it is based on evidence. It is not. It is a right wing model led by profit and the market. It incorporates the worst aspects of neo-liberalism. It targets disabled people and ridiculously claims that we can think ourselves out of being disabled."
Monday, 9 April 2012
Links of the day 04/09/2012
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Romans to outsource crucifixion service
"By transferring Centurion staff into a new private-public partnership with Serco/G4S he claims wage costs will be slashed whilst maintaining the skilled workforce and high levels of customer service the Centurions are renowned for."
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Another Pathogen for CFS: Giardia Outbreak Causes CFS ‘Outbreak’ in Norway
"A new study reports at least 5% of patients with CFS nearly 3 years after an acute Giardia enteritis infection, providing evidence of yet another infectious agent that can trigger CFS along with Epstein-Barr Virus, Viral meningitis and the bacterium Coxiella burnetii, amongst others. Other studies on the same outbreak also show a strong link between the acute Giardia infection and both chronic fatigue and IBS."
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Links of the day 04/08/2012
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UK 'exporting surveillance technology to repressive nations'
"The UK's enthusiastic role in the burgeoning but unregulated surveillance market is becoming an urgent concern for human rights groups, who want the government to ensure that exports are regulated in a similar way to arms."
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Links of the day 04/07/2012
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"The gradual influence being invoked by companies such as Atos and Unum in the British media world is increasing and it’s causing untold damage to various causes, our fight is being hindered by the main broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom, we cannot expect reliable commentary by the BBC over the governments continuing attacks on the disabled and poor."
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Just when I thought the government policy of cutting benefits (aka "reform") had reached its zenith of bizarre, unrealistic cruelty, along comes another cunning plan so ill considered it defies belief. The latest wheeze being floated is the suggestion that nobody under the age of 25 should be entitled to housing benefit.
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Public displays of poverty and disability to be banned
"Unemployed, homeless and other poor people will have to be kept out of sight in large shops and supermarkets, while small outlets are exempt until 2015. The government is also planning to extend the ban to include public displays of disability."
Friday, 6 April 2012
Links of the day 04/06/2012
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Jon Stewart on the Supreme Court's decision to allow strip searches for any arrest
"I'm willing to bet Big Government feels its biggest when it's inside your anus."
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ME/CFS, and Lack of Stress Symptom: Damaging to Relationships
"A normal, healthy person’s body takes a mildly stressful situation and processes it in a normal way. But people with ME/CFS do not have the capability of handling even the smallest amounts of stress. Part of the problem with this disease is that even the smallest amounts of stress can send us to our beds for weeks at a time. If we have to deal with stressful situations for weeks, months at a time, our bodies will completely shut down and cannot recover quickly."
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"Sadly many I have talked to have expressed the frustration of this sentiment. So let me get right to the point. When a person has a disabling illness they have to damn near live in a bubble to manage you bet your ass we pick and choose what to do with our "well" moments. We just don't have that many of them! Did it ever occur to the offended persons that you like Sally a whole lot more, and had an astronomically better time at her party than you would have had at theirs? Are they aware you did as close to nothing as possible for a week before and after to even make it to your friend's house out of town? Have they ever stopped to think you are still a person with hopes and dreams and desires even though you got sick? The basic tenants of your personality are being squashed by awful pain, but have never gone away? And you have as much of a right to snippets of happiness in your life as they have in theirs? "
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