Oh My Yuck! I Just Ate A Pig!

I'm writing this feeling a little bit sick and a little bit upset. Somehow the place where I got my lunch put bacon on my roast vegie wrap. Do you think I bothered to check before I took a huge bite? Of course not.  I was starving!

I bit into what is my current fave lunch and my first thought was 'Wow, someone's done a real bad job of this today'. As I gulped it down I hoped the next bite would taste as it's usual self does. While I was chewing through the next bite I realised something was wrong, this tasted disgusting. I looked down into the wrap and quicker than you can say Babe the chewed up contents were spilling out of my mouth and onto my desk!

I was horrified, mortified, disgusted! I almost vomited all over my keyboard! I got myself together but haven't felt quite right since. I don't know if it's all in my head or it really is my stomach that's having the bad reaction. I'm guessing (and hoping) that since it was such a small amount I consumed I should be ok.

I haven't eaten red meat of any kind for about 12 years. I never really enjoyed red meat much at all. Eating a big steak wasn't my idea of a great dinner and when I was 14 I made a decision to stop eating it altogether. I can't really remember what my inspiration was but at that age I was becoming aware of how animals were treated in the quest to fill our plates, so part of my decision came down to that although it obviously wasn't the defining factor as I still ate chicken and fish.

Sometime over the next year though I remember seeing a truck on the freeway full of chickens in tiny little cages that made me sad. Not long after there was a newspaper article about the treatment of chickens and I made a 'bet' with someone to see who could go the longest without eating chicken. That person piked out that afternoon. I abstained from chicken for the next 7 years.

I don't know what it was that made me eat a piece of chicken 4 years ago. My body was craving it and I wanted it. I absolutely enjoyed that first piece of chicken and slowly over the next year I included chicken into my diet until it just became something I ate just about everyday.

I've always wondered if it were the same if I ate a piece of red meat. Would I enjoy it? I assumed not because I never really liked it much anyway but now after eating that little bit of bacon today I know for sure that I could never go back to eating it and although I feel sick to the stomach because of it, it is a little comforting to know.

So I'd like to apologise to my future pet pig for eating a little of one of his kind today. It wasn't intentional and I promise it won't happen again. I've learnt my lesson and will remember to check my food before I begin to inhale it like a.... well pig

Will Your Government Stand Up For You?

Last night I tuned into the ABC to see John Howard be grilled by the Q&A audience. He looked relaxed and confident during Tony Jones' introduction, although I did notice his slight squirm when Tony mentioned the dreaded words Work Choices.  Not surprsing as I would assume this ludicris policy is one of his biggest regrets, and judging by his answers to the questions thrown at him, probably his only regret as he firmly stood by everything he did as PM.

During the program Mr Howard bullshitted the way he did back when he was leader of our country, but I couldn't help but notice that at least he appeared much more confident and less rehearsed in his convictions than Julia Gillard or even Kevin Rudd do today.

The highlight of the show for me came via a video question from fomer Guantanamo Bay resident David Hicks.

Mr Hicks put to Mr Howard

"Hi, I'm David Hicks. When you were Prime Minister you left me in Guantanamo Bay for five and half years. During that time I was detained without charge for a long time, I was denied a fair trial, I was tortured. Do you believe that I was treated humanely and that the Military Commission was a fair system ? Thank you."

The former PM then went into spin mode

"Isn't it a great country that allows this sort of exchange to occur,"  he responded.

He then went on to defend what his government did in relation to David Hicks' situation and went on to remind the viewers that Hicks pleaded guilty to serious charges and the Howard government played a role in brokering a deal to bring him back to Australia to serve the remainder of his sentence. He also reminded us that David Hicks trained with the Taliban and shouldn't be held as a national hero.

This spin that came out of Mr Howard's mouth allowed him to avoid the question 'Do you believe I was treated humanely...?'

The answer to the question I believe should have been 'No'.

Now I don't know anybody who would hold David Hicks up to be a hero. Far from it. The guy was an idiot who trained with the Taliban. I don't know anybody who likes him very much at all.

However, this doesn't excuse the fact that an Australian citizen was detained for 5 years without a trial with no intervention from our government. This doesn't hide the fact that part of the deal to bring him home meant that he had to plead guilty. This doesn't hide the fact that this deal was only brokered when the public pressure was on in an election year! The entire situation was handled in an awful way.

Mr Howard avoided the question at hand, a very important question I believe. All Australian citizens should have the comfort of knowing that their government will help them out in all situations.

While our former PM defends and stands by his actions I hope that future governments, whatever party may be in power, learns from the mistakes of the Howard government in this situation.

Mr Howard was right in saying that it's a great country that allows these exchanges, but shouldn't a great country that allows these freedoms stand up for it's people?

A Saint for Everybody

Last night Australia's first Saint, Mary Mackillop was canonised in Rome. Not being religious this was something that I hadn't paid too much attention to in the weeks leading up. Of course I had noticed the posters up all over North Sydney and the works going on at Gore Hill Cemetery, the site of Mary's original resting place, but the day really didn't have any significance for me until yesterday afternoon.

Walking past the Cemetery, an old man stopped to ask for directions to the entrance. This sweet old man had all his Sunday papers marking the event and he had a Mary Mackillop balloon which he had got from the celebrations at North Sydney at the Mary Mackillop church. While he was talking to us about Mary Mackillop I couldn't get over how happy he was. The joy in his voice as he spoke of our new Saint was so uplifting and made me realise that it didn't matter that I wasn't a catholoic or even religious. Yesterday was a great day for all Australians who just want to be better people and who want to bring happiness to others.

While Mary Mackillop was recognised formally for her miracles, I think the canonisation yesterday can still have meaning for those of us who don't necessarily believe. We can recognise that a woman was selfless in her pursuit to help others and she was a woman who is still bringing joy to people over 100 years after her death.

Regardless of your religious beliefs we should all strive to be just as half as giving as this woman was.

Has Channel V become the new XXX Channel?

God I'm glad I don't have young children. It must must a nightmare trying to shield them from inappropriate music videos that play constantly on Channel V.

I am by no means a prude. I'm quite happy for Beyonce, Gaga, Britney and the like to dance around in bikinis, underwear or even naked. I've got no problem with any of that.

What I dislike is the suggestive sexual simualtion that some of these pop singers have in their videos.

I was shocked when I saw Christina Aguilera's latest video. I had to question if I was watching soft core porn. Sure she's got a little clothing on but all the grinding and dry humping made me want to bring back up my lunch.

The latest one that made think 'What the?' was Katy Perry.

Poor Katy has been in a bit of trouble of late for appearing on Seasame Street wearing a low cut dress. I saw that video and  I couldn't see what the fuss was about. She was covered and let's be honest, the target audience there wasn't really thinking about Katy's boobs.

I do, however see a problem with Katy's new video, "Teenage Dream". The target audience for that song and her video are young girls, pre and post teens who are very impressionable.

In one scene Katy takes a boy up to a bedroom at a party and he proceeds to throw her on the bed and take off her jeans leaving her in her underwear. Cut to the next scene where Katy is sitting on the end of her bed in her underwear. All impying that Katy has just had sex with this guy at the party.

Is that really what we want pre-teen girls to be thinking is the cool thing to do?

I question the thought process of these singers and their managers who very well know that alot of their audience are young impressionable girls. While alot of them go on and say that they don't ask to be role models the fact of the matter is that they are. When you decide you want to be a famous singer, actor or whatever you have to accept responsibility for being a role model to young impressionable people.

I guess with all these pop stars trying to out-do each other with the sexy and shock factor I shouldn't be surprised to see videos become more and more distasteful. I just wonder what it will be like in 10 years when I have a young child I have to try to shield from it.

Lost: Motivation. Have you seen it?

Hello?! Motivation? Where are you?

My motivation levels this week have been at a big fat zero.

A few weeks ago I was absolutely killing it with my exercise regime and today I realised that my run this afternoon was the first bit of exercise I have done in 6 days!

The funny thing is I enjoy exercising. I feel shitty if I don't get in some form of daily energy expenditure. So what's the problem?

I have a feeling that daylight savings has something to do with it. Losing an hour ruins me for at least a week usually. That coupled with the fact that we just had a long weekend, really makes me feel like just chilling out!

It appears that I'm not the only one. A scroll down of my facebook page shows alot of friends are also missing their motivation.

I guess we are at that time of year where we are all busting for a holiday. Although the year has flown by, it seems like my European White Christmas was a million years ago.

Hopefully today's run is a sign that my motivation is slowly making a comeback. I am in desperate need of it to return. I'd be interested In hearing any tips for tracking down my motivation and making it stick around

Broken Man

Last night as I watched Phil Gould interview Manly footballer Brett Stewart and his girlfriend Jamie Baker I had to hold back the tears for a young man who has lost almost 18 months of his life.

Exactly 2 years ago this weekend Stewart was an important part of the Premiership winning Manly team. He was a fantastic league player and was chosen to be the face of rugby league. It looked like Brett Stewart had the world at his feet.

All of that changed just 6 months later when a young girl accused him of sexual assault. He was immediately given a 4 match suspension by the NRL, no questions asked, and his name was in tatters.

For 18 months Stewart, with Baker by his side, had to fight to clear his name. On Wednesday he won that fight but last nights gripping interview on the Footy Show showed that it had not come without a price.

Stewart looked shattered and broken. His voice was timid and his words came out slowly, like he had not one ounce of confidence left in him.

The Brett Stewart case highlights the point that these days, especially if your a man - and a footballer at that, you are more likely to be guilty until proven innocent. Even the NRL didn't ask him for his side of the story and disgustingly, the NRL haven't contacted him to apologise.

The accuser in this case was a young girl that we don't know much about. From what can be released she suffers from a mental illness where her memory isn't in the best shape. From other details released it would appear that her family were the ones that pushed this to trial.

What this girl and her family have done is not only ruin the life of one man and his family, they have also perhaps made it harder for genuine victims of assault to come forward. There will be victims out there who will now think that they may not be believed because of this girl crying wolf.

I assume the motivation of this family was money and to take Stewart for everything, although if reports are true there is nothing left. To clear his name Stewart had to spend his life savings and last nights interview was a paid one to recoup some of his costs. It would be nice if the NRL stepped forward and provided some compensation for unfairly suspending him from his matches.

Next year Stewart will be injury free and his life will start to get back on track. I look forward to seeing him play some of the brilliant football he is known for. However if last nights demeanour is anything to go by he has a long way to go to build up his confidence and trust in people.

Hopefully the public put their full support behind him and help fix the broken man we saw on television.