David Beckham's Tattoos

Last Saturday, David Beckham showed off his latest tattoo - a copy of the beautiful painting of Cupid carrying his wife Psyche to heaven by Francesco Francia. I'm rather impressed that the Milan footballer not only chose a classic work of art, but he decided to cover the lower part of her body with a veil, to protect her modesty.

Two months ago, he got a Jesus Christ design in memory of his grandfather who died in December. Last year he also added another one of several tattoos dedicated to his wife - a ring of 10 roses placed around his arm, representing their 10 years of marriage. He also has a guardian angel on his right arm to watch over his three sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz. His tattooist, Louis Malloy lives in Manchester but flies around the world to wherever he is needed.

England's most picturesque street

The Shambles in York has been voted Britain's most picturesque street in the Google Street View Awards. The cobbled street is lined with buildings from the 1400's and oozes historic charm. If you ever visit York, at some point you will walk down The Shambles. Ironic that a street with such a horrible name wins a prize for being the most beautiful in all England.

Cutaneous Horn

Grandmother Zhang Ruifang, 101 years old, of Linlou village in Henan Province, began developing a mysterious horn last year. It started with a rough patch of skin on her forehead but it started to grow and is now 2.4 inches long. Another growth has appeared on the other side of her forehead, possibly another cutaneous horn. Common in elderly people, they can be removed surgically and more than half are benign.

Sydney Mosque Open Day

The recent sentencing of home-grown Islamic terrorists has created an even wider division between Australians and the Muslim community. And we will never forget the gang rapes committed by 14 Lebanese men led by Bilal Skaf. Then we were told that Sheik Hilali has told his congregation that immodestly dressed women were like "uncovered meat" and joked about the infamous rapes. That's when the Lebanese Muslim Association realised that the imams at the Lakemba Mosque were having an adverse influence over their young people and made sure that any future imams were to stay apolitical. "If they are not going to shape up, they'll be shipped out because immeasurable damage has been caused as a result of their media commentary and doublespeak", a Muslim Association member said.

Now Sheik Yahya Safi, the imam at the Lakemba Mosque has decided to hold an Open Day tomorrow so the public can learn what the Islamic faith is all about. Sydney's largest Mosque caters for 1000 people who pray there every day and for Friday Prayers, the official day of worship for the Islamic faith, there can be up to 5,000 worshipers.

If you attend the open day, you will take a tour of the Mosque and get to question the Sheik who says he's a little more moderate than past sheiks. If it's his idea for the Open Day then it's a very good one. He wants to show that they are trying to assimilate and his aim is for his people to practice the real Islam. "When people have a bad idea about you, you need to give them the right idea, we want them to understand who we really are and what our religion is about" he said.

The Lakemba Mosque is at 65-67 Wangee Road Lakemba. Tomorrow's open day is from 10am until 5pm.

Footnote: Addressing an Open Day at Lakemba Mosque on Saturday, the President of the Australian Islamic Mission, Zachariah Matthews wants to introduce Sharia law into Australia. The comments shocked Australians attending the open day. Under Sharia law, women have been stoned to death and corporal punishment is rife.

"I wasn't talking about Sharia law in its entirely - we are not calling for the introduction of the penal system which calls for cutting off hands" he said.

I can't believe it, here was an opportunity for the Muslim community to show their wish to assimilate with Australian society and that's how they handled it. I give up.

Sydney Backpackers

Some of Sydney's most expensive suburbs including Potts Point, Bondi, Coogee and Manly, are being invaded by backpackers. They set themselves up on footpaths, waiting to sell their campervans after their Aussie adventure holiday. The budget travellers, mostly from Europe, are making themselves very unpopular by urinating in the gutters and home owners are furious and want action.

Angela Gallo, cafe owner said "They sit outside our cafe with their gas burners and chairs, cooking meals sometimes for up to eight people and make a mess on the footpath. All the council has to do is put up signs saying "Selling vehicles is illegal and start towing them away".

Peter Miller, manager of Great Aussie Backpackers in Potts Point said there was an oversupply of vehicle sellers in Sydney. "With the downturn in global economies, we have more backpackers leaving Australia than arriving, so they sit there for days and weeks because they have lots of time but not much money" he said.

One backpacker Cedric Lemercier from France said he had been trying to sell his van for five weeks and had dropped the price from $6000 to about $3500. "I am going to New Zealand next and I need the money" he said.

Sydney Council has promised to investigate.

The James Bulger Case

Two ten year old boys tortured and murdered 2 year old James Bulger in 1993. The injuries they inflicted on this helpless little boy were so horrific, it world was stunned. One of the killers, Jon Venables now 27, was back behind bars again last night but the Ministry of Justice won't tell us why, all we know is that he breached his parole. James' distraught mother, whose remarried name is Denise Fergus says that she and the public have a right to know what Venables has done to be recalled. He will now be able to appeal within 28 days and if successful, he'll be released again.

Since being freed, Venables has been given help with his education, finding jobs, and accommodation. They say he's a born again Christian (how convenient) and wants to get married. Thompson is understood to be living with a homosexual partner.

Mr Justice Morland at the trial said they committed a crime of 'unparalleled evil and barbarity' and were the youngest to face a murder charge in the 20th century.

The public were outraged by the way these two boys were protected by the justice system, given new identities and sent out into the world with lots of help and support. It seems obvious to me that British justice bends over backwards to protect the accused, rather than the victim and it's simply not fair. The Australian justice system seems to be the same - totally unfair. Every consideration is given to the accused and the victim is just left to get over it.

On 16 March 2008, 18 red balloons were released during a private ceremony at Kirkdate Cemetery to mark what would have been James Bulger's 18th birthday.

On the 2nd March 2010, one of his killers is back in gaol and for his family, the nightmare continues.

Depression's Upside

There was an article in the New York Times yesterday called "Depression's Upside" and the idea is put forward that depression can be good for us, it helps us recognise our problems so we can do something about them. Most mental illnesses are rare, like schizophrenia for example, but depression is everywhere.

I think there's enough stress in our daily lives without having something terrible happen like a divorce or the death of a loved one to send us on the downward spiral towards depression. Although every case is different, it could go something like this.

Your share port folio is halved in the recession and your retirement fund is looking grim; you get stuck in traffic for hours every day and the frustration makes you so angry, you become aggressive and mean; there's pressure from the boss to meet unrealistic targets and then there's sleep deprivation - for some reason sleep eludes you, even though you are completely exhausted, the ordinary function of going to bed every night becomes an exercise frought with anxiety. Many dark, lonely hours are spent lying awake wondering why you're not asleep yet and how can you possibly get up in the morning and go to work - but you do and drag your body through the day feelilng like death warmed up. Then you start having panic attacks, your heart races and you break out in a sweat. Before long you no longer feel like sex and problems develop with your significant other. You end up in your doctor's surgery, probably asking for some sleeping pills and your doctor asks "Do you think you are depressed?". You think about it for a minute and say "I don't know" like a dumb idiot.

Some academics studying the subject have come up with the theory that depression has an up side, it helps us recognise a problem and spurs us on to find an answer to it. They give an example of a young man who was having difficulties with his academic department. He didn't know whether to leave the department, leave academia although or stay put. He wasn't given anti-depressants, he was 'talked through his problem' and eventually he realised he couldn't fix it and decided to leave. And here's the bottom line - then he started to feel better. What they are saying is that anti-depressant drugs interfere with the solution to the depression, they discourage patients from dealing with the cause of their problem.

Another example was a woman who came in to see her doctor and wanted to reduce her medication. When asked if the pills were helping, she said they were great and she felt so much better but she was still married to the same alcoholic son-of-a-bitch but now he was tolerable. The point being the woman was depressed for a reason and the drugs made her feel better but there was no real progress made.

I've known people whose lives have been transformed for the better because of anti-depressants and I suspect that these scholars have never been depressed and haven't got a clue what they are talking about. Maybe some people with depression can be 'talked through' their pain without drugs to discover what their underlying problem is all about, I think the idea is very commendable. But I suspect that most people know they are anxious and unhappy but haven't got any idea why.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/magazine/28depression-t.html?pagewanted=1&em