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In November 2013, after years of dedicated binge-drinking, I took the decision to become teetotal for a year. 14 months later, I am still dry and my life has improved immeasurably. The key to this achievement was building self-esteem.

Why is self-esteem so important? The compliments of friends/someone of the opposite sex, a promotion at work, a smile from a stranger all improve our moods. Criticism, rejection has a negative impact. This external reliance can extend to material success (income, possessions etc.), the lives of celebrities or the success of a sports team. The extent to which our happiness is tied in with these factors is a good measure of our self-esteem and our vulnerability. If we depend on people or situations out of our control for our happiness then they effectively own our happiness. We are rudderless boats in the ocean, at the mercy of the changeable currents for our direction. My self-esteem relied heavily on the good opinion of others and popularity-gaining drunken nights out were as much an addiction as alcohol.

My 'addiction to belong' made me many great friends and presented lots of interesting experiences, but it also threatened to tear my life apart. Here are some examples of how:

1. I failed my first university stint - Three years 'studying' law where an overwhelming desire to be parts of nights out meant I missed 80% of seminars, 90% of lectures and slept through two exams.

2. I was always penniless - up until the age of 30 I spent every month living a subsistence lifestyle As a student this was understandable, but as a full-time employee it became clear that more money simply meant more opportunities to socialise. I took on second jobs as a waiter or pizza delivery boy and used the tips to go on nights out. I would visit Cash Generator to sell DVDs/birthday presents and use the funds for the same reason.

3. I was Mr Unreliable - I regularly missed work because of hangovers. I missed my cousin's Christening after deciding to go to a club the night before. I slept through promises to take family members to important hospital appointments. I cancelled dates.

4. I begged - I would regularly borrow money off friends, to the extent that I stopped feeling guilty or embarrassed about it. I suspect I still owe some of them.

5. I lied, I smoked, I cheated, I gossiped, I played the fool.

Pretty bad eh? And yet, it's not the actions described above that really make me cringe. Some are simply part of growing up and playing adult. Others are a result of the chemical effects of alcohol. What really hits me is that such was the depth of my self-esteem that I was willing to risk destroying some of the key foundations of my life (family, finances, work), just to gain that hit of approval. I could quite easily have turned down almost all of the occasions mentioned above without offending anyone or 'losing popularity', but my paranoia did not allow it.

The problem was that I was desperately lacking in confidence and this was evident in all aspects of my life. I had moved to London not for myself but for the praise and respect a better job would earn me. I dreaded public speaking/presentations (I drunk about six pints before a best man's speech) because I knew I was being judged by onlookers. I was petrified of first dates and would drink four ales (sometimes five) beforehand. All social occasions would be accompanied by alcohol. And of course I would never turn down a night out for fear of losing popularity.

In 2011 I visited a self-development centre called Inner Space London and it changed my life. I learned that my issue was self-esteem not addiction, and they taught me the theory behind a happier existence. I took up meditation and learned to detach myself from my situations and from other people's opinions. It gave me the strength to pursue long periods of abstinence and (shock horror) to turn down nights out. I went on a date with my now girlfriend to a coffee shop (not drinking the obligatory five pints beforehand).

Around two years later the classes gave me the strength to go completely teetotal.

But it's not just the sobriety and love life that is on the up. Health, finances, fitness, my Polish have all improved. I haven't lost any friendships and having developed my own identity, many friends respect me even more. There are of course still times when I look for the support of others, but the difference now is that I am no longer hiding in their shadows or desperately seeking their approval for my happiness.

January is a time of new beginnings, self-improvement and the recalibration of goals, but it is also a time of contemplation of the year that's passed and the events, actions and achievements that defined it. With the habitual rush to set New Year's resolutions for our bodies and minds, we assess the areas most in need of improvement. One of the things I've been considering during this annual debrief is my propensity to apologise incessantly - even when I'm not to blame - and my inability to say no. At what point did I become so hell-bent on people pleasing? I'd love to say that my only resolution was a minor adjustment to my vocabulary, but these flaws are but a few of the ever-burgeoning list that I mentally keep all year round. You may well be thinking I have a bad case of low self esteem, or perhaps a spot of anxiety. The diagnosis is far simpler, however: I am a woman.

I feel a suffocating pressure to perform at 110% in every aspect of my life, and a debilitating guilt if I do not succeed. I am not alone in this. As women, this constant need to succeed and to please is indelibly engraved onto our collective consciousness. On any given day, my thoughts flit from admonishing myself for falling short in maintaining my weight and wellbeing, to telling myself to work harder, to balance my life, to be on trend, to be BETTER. But, is that really realistic? And, when will we ever be satisfied with our own achievements?

Girls star, Zosia Mamet hit the nail right on the head in her column for GLAMOUR in May 2014:

As women we have internalized the idea that every morning we wake up, we have to go for the f--king gold. You can't just jog; you have to run a triathlon. Having a cup of coffee, reading the paper, and heading to work isn't enough--that's settling, that's giving in, that's letting them win. You have to wake up, have a cup of coffee, conquer France, bake a perfect cake, take a boxing class, and figure out how you are going to get that corner office or become district supervisor, while also looking damn sexy--but not too sexy, because cleavage is degrading--all before lunchtime.

We live by a universal standard of success; we are fed rigid ideas that dictate the "norm" - whatever that means. We live not by standards we set for ourselves, but instead trammel a path carved by others. The existence of powerful female role models - a positive and empowering by-product of feminism - fuels the notion of a one-track road to female success. We see only one way to be a woman, blind to the kaleidoscope of shades of womanhood and myriad nuances of success. We judge ourselves unfavourably against these role models, and we compare ourselves to other women.

Feminism was meant to empower us as women, to build us up for fighting on male-dominated battlefields. It did that, but it did some other things as well. It gave us female role models like Hillary and Oprah and Beyoncé and in the process implied that mogul-hood should be every woman's goal. We kept the old male ideas of success: power and money. We need new ones!

It doesn't end there, unfortunately. Women are not just unkind to themselves in this quest for perfection; they can also be extremely unkind to other women. This unkindness comes in many guises; in passive aggression; in bitching; in judgement; and in straight-up nastiness. The only consequence of these actions - aside from the ephemeral illusion of superiority - is the addition of even more pressure on women, and on ourselves. Amy Poehler, in her book Yes Please, aptly named this type of behaviour "woman-on-woman violence". It begins in adolescence with bodies and beauty, and continues well into pregnancy, then motherhood, and beyond. If it's not women telling pregnant women that they're doing it all wrong, then it's the subject of working mothers versus stay-at-home mothers. Breast-feeding, birth plans, parenting methods, nannies; the list of "supposed tos" for mothers is never-ending. Poehler speaks of her experience of being guilt-tripped as a working mother:

The "I don't know how you do it" statement used to get my blood boiling. When I heard those words I didn't hear "I don't know HOW you do it." I just heard "I don't know how you COULD do it." I would be feeling overworked and guilty and overwhelmed and suddenly I would be struck on the head by what felt like someone else's bulls--t. It was an emotional drive-by. A random act of woman-on-woman violence.

As an advocate of the rights of women, I am saddened by the knowledge that the nastiest comments I've ever received have been from other women. Whether it's our sartorial choices, our appearance, our sex life, our weight, our choice of partner (or lack thereof), or even whether we identify as a feminist; every aspect of a woman's life is fair game is this intra-gender battle. Here's the thing, though: other women aren't the enemy. Whether you are a teenage girl, a mother, or just a woman trying to live her best life, these unsolicited judgements and comments do untold damage to a woman's sense of self.

Women's comments often focus on the physical traits that are most likely to attract men. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in her seminal Ted talk, talks about the misdirected competition that exists between women: "We raise girls to see each other as competitors not for jobs or accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men." By indulging in this behaviour, we buy into an outdated model of objectification where a woman's ultimate goal is to attract a mate. We need to realise that the moment we make a pejorative comment about a woman's life decisions, or her appearance, we invite that same level of judgement on ourselves.

Imagine a world where women unite instead of divide, where barbed comments are replaced with words of support, where we listen without judging and talk without prescribing. Surely if we were all in this together, we would all feel less alone. Reflect on the goals you want to achieve and refuse to let anyone else define your ambitions. Celebrate the victories of our fellow females, and admire the strength of the women in our lives.

It's time to end woman-on-woman violence. In short, be kind to yourself, and to others.

Dear 25,000 Anti-Islam Dresden Protesters and Pegida,

I hear you marched in your thousands against my religion. Last week, and last month. You marched against immigrants, foreigners, and anyone a shade darker. I will not draw comparisons to Nazi Germany. I will not call you bigots, I will not insult you, and I will not label you. But we do have a problem.

You marched with banners claiming your city is overcrowded with Muslims. Yet 0.1% of Dresden are Muslim. You marched claiming immigrants are cramming your schools and leaving your children to travel miles for an education. Yet 2.5% of Dresden are foreign-born.

You claim that Germany is being invaded by Muslims. Yet only 5% of Germans are Muslim.

You march "against the Islamization of the West". Yet within a century containing two World Wars, the decolonisation process, countless civil conflicts, foreign intervention, globalisation, and further displacement, Muslims remain a fringe minority in Europe. Less than 6%. A pretty lousy colonisation process, no?

You marched against refugees and asylum seekers, claiming Germany is their target for welfare and social security. Yet according to UNHCR, there are 51.2million refugees worldwide. Germany caters for less than 0.01% of them. Is that too much to ask? Is such a humanitarian obligation too large for the Refugee Convention 1951 your government ratified? Or is it actually punitive, for example, in comparison to Lebanon where every fourth person is a Syrian refugee?

Protesters, you are not alone. In my country, Britain, we have our own anti-immigration party. Ukip won their first seat in Clacton with nothing but anti-migrant rhetoric. Yet only 4.3% of Clacton are foreign-born. In a Parliamentary-based system, where each constituency elects a representative to voice their views, there is nothing Ukip can do for the people of Clacton.

Do you see a pattern? Perhaps I should explain. Your kind tend to establish themselves where their "problem" does not actually exist. Is this therefore an issue of negative perception? Fear of the unfamiliar? Intolerance in ignorance? Scapegoating an underclass? Media misinformation?

I will elaborate. London has a 36.2% foreign-born population. Relatively, that is fifteen times the population of foreigners in Dresden. A far greater diversity. Ukip poll the lowest in London compared to the rest of the country- in every demographic, foreign or not. London is a metropolis of brown, black, and white working side by side. We thrive. I saw an atheist today. Guess what? I did not try to convert him nor behead him for blasphemy; I helped him off the bus. He was 74 years old.

Does that make sense?

Your only insight into Islam is a box in your living room. Confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance infest the information you expose yourself to. Information which dehumanises and polarises anyone unlike you.

You enjoy the far-right media portrayal of Islam. It makes you feel good. Superior. Better. The barbaric Muslims, we are. We disrespect women, and we impose our beliefs on to others.

Yet did you know that Turkey, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, all Muslim majority states have had more elected female heads of state than almost every other Western country? Did you know that the Quran explicitly says "there is no compulsion in religion" (2:256), and our Prophet clarified "whomever hurts a non-Muslim will not smell a whiff of paradise"?

Did you know that your twisted misrepresentation of my religion helps the terrorists? Did you know that you and the terrorists agree on what seems to form an integral part of your identity: that Islam is violent? Did you know that you even use the same methodology to proclaim this; taking a verse out of context and evading any intellectual discourse?

What are Muslims to you, anyway? Arabs? Less than 20% of us are Arab. Indian or Pakistani? Again, less than 20%. Turkish? Less than 5%. Nothing else? That is more than half of us you cannot identify.

You assume our identity by our race. Is it not disheartening to you that such a narrow world view is legitimately held by so many? Does it not display a perspective so constrained to the contents of immediate life and prejudice? Is that not likely to lead to ignorant assumptions and offence in face of what is unbeknownst?

What becomes of the German Muslim, I wonder? Is he spared because he is white? Or is he declared a traitor and shunned? Is it difficult to choose between racism and neglecting a fellow countryman? Choose neither. Choose education. Tolerance. Kindness.

Detach from the vicious cycle of far-right media (who are unfamiliar with foreigners) feeding the far-right populace (who are unfamiliar with foreigners) what they should think about foreigners.

I ask you, have you ever met a Muslim? "Met" is not a synonym for shouting abuse at or stabbing to death in or outside their home. No, have you ever sat with a Muslim? Talked to a Muslim? Worked with a Muslim?

You should. At an airport perhaps, where we are 42 times more likely to be searched, and thus declared safe for human interaction.

Sincerely,
A Real-Life Muslim (not the ones on TV)

It's every mother's greatest fear that she will have to leave her children. My daughter Kate Gross lived with that fear for more than two years, before she died of colon cancer a few weeks ago. I wish she was here now so I could tell her that the boys are getting on just fine.

Oscar and Isaac were three when Kate was first diagnosed. Twins, but very different little beings. Oscar dark-haired, violet-eyed, solid - and with an astonishing ability (in Kate's words) to 'focus on things, to know them utterly'. Isaac, blond and agile and restless. 'Each of them,' she says, 'carved out his own space in my heart, a space which fits him exactly.'

As a child, Kate became quite worried about the possibility of losing parents. 'Is she a 'norphan, Mummy?' she would ask, a question shaped by favourite books (The Little Princess, Ballet Shoes, The Secret Garden) and Disney movies (Bambi, Snow White). When she got cancer, she wrote to me about her fear for the boys. I replied, briskly:

a. It takes two to 'norphan, and they have the best dad in the world
b. They will have us, and will always be surrounded by a huge network of fabulous grown-
ups who are your friends
c. Children are ridiculously robust, and they quickly recover from anything if they are loved. They would not know how to pine, and will be hurling themselves around or Transforming (or whatever they will be doing in future) within a quite insensitive period of time
d. We all end up motherless sometime
e. You could remain forever in their minds as a golden Madonna rather than a potentially grumpy old cow.

I was, of course, as full of fear and anguish for the boys as she was.

We sought out stories from adults who had lost a parent as a child and were nevertheless happy and well-adjusted, stories of non-wicked stepmothers, stories of dead mothers who were forever remembered and never replaced in their children's hearts. There were many responses. I remember this one in particular:

My grandmother came to live with us when my mother was taken into hospital. Back then, there was no discussion and it was all a bit of a benign mystery and in truth a little exciting to have lots of people visiting. When we were told of her death it didn't seem so terrible - still there were people and fuss (and a party with lemonade in the sitting room with the curtains closed - this was high excitement), and what did it really mean? There was never, ever a sense that she had stopped being our mum or that my dad wasn't still married to her; just that she wasn't visible.

Over the next two years Kate did a great deal to make it as right for Oscar and Isaac as she could. She recorded herself reading aloud the 'chapter books' we had read to her and her sister once, including the whole Narnia series, so that the boys could listen to them after she was gone. She placed some of her soft T-shirts and silky pyjamas in their room, so that they could cuddle her smell. She invented a Family Quiz board game with laminated cards, each containing a question to prompt memories of a shared history: Which country did Mum live in when she was a child? What were Isaac's nicknames as a baby? Where did Oscar learn to swim without armbands?

I called all this 'advance mothering'. The most important element of the advance mothering was the book she wrote, Late Fragments: a book written so that the boys, when they grow older, can come to understand who their mother was and what she held dear. We are overjoyed that so many people across the world are reading Kate's book and finding it speaks to them about life, friendship, work and love. But we never forget its real audience, the two pairs of hands which Kate hoped 'will hold a battered paperback when others have long forgotten me. Oscar and Isaac, my little Knights, my joy and my wonder.'

There's another legacy that Kate couldn't have forecast. She asked for donations in her memory instead of flowers at her funeral, to be made to her favourite charity, Street Child. The charity works in Sierra Leone, where Kate herself had worked, and it has much to do with 'norphans. Last week we had an email from them, saying that they are planning to open new starter schools in rural areas once the Ebola epidemic is over, and wondering if they might name one after Kate. One day, Oscar and Isaac will visit that school, we hope.

The Knights have coped better with Mummy's absence than we might have feared. Little scientists, they have asked lots of questions about why doctors can't cure all diseases, and which ones exactly they can't cure. Deeply attached to Dad, they asked about what age you are when you get cancer. Usually old, says Dad - Mum was just unlucky. How old was she? they ask. Thirty-six. And how old are you, Dad?

But truly, five-year-olds are different from us. We spend much of our thinking time in the past or the future. They think only of now, and if now contains Hero Factory and Minecraft, then now is just fine. There is a sadness inside, but so far they connect with it only occasionally.

Before Kate's funeral, I told them that people might cry. Why? they asked. It's just what grown-
ups do when they miss someone and are sad, I said. Oscar thought for a while then repeated, pondering, 'It's just what grown-ups do.' Isaac went quiet, then said, 'I had a dream. I was on a train and Dad wasn't - he couldn't get on.' The sadness of adults connected, briefly, with his own, and was understood.

But Dad had already tackled the fear, when Isaac told him about it, with ten different ways he would bust Isaac off the train so he would not be alone. Both boys know that they are loved and safe in the present. And they have inside them a store of treasure - five years of extraordinary, unconditional love from their mother, on which they can draw for the rest of their lives.

Kate Gross died peacefully at home from colon cancer on 25 December 2014. Her book Late Fragments: Everything I Want to Tell You (About This Wonderful Life) is out now, published in hardback by William Collins. Kate finished writing her book in September, and received finished copies a few weeks before her death. She leaves behind her devoted husband Billy Boyle and her five-year-old sons Isaac and Oscar.

Donations to Street Child in memory of Kate can be made at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/SomeoneSpecial/kate-gross

This blog first appeared on Mumsnet

It ends with the long haul on the Piccadilly line. Twenty-three stops, Heathrow-bound.
A handful of commuters filtering out at each stop, returning to their 'another' London day. I had no another days remaining; the visa expiry in my passport was uncompromisingly stamped hard and definitive.

Alessandro Barrico wrote, "It's a strange grief to die of nostalgia for something you never lived" and that's exactly how it felt to leave London. Severed, incomplete; a beautiful home you simply can't belong to anymore.

The youth mobility visa is an antipodean rite of passage for many twenty-something Aussies like me. But as is the way of the current UK visa laws, I have no recent ancestry link, and so after two years to the day, my time was up.

Living in London is an incredible experience. My two years were the most messy, thrilling, best of my life. I arrived on a one-way ticket, with a suitcase full of curiosity for the big unknown; with shoulders heaving from giant sobs and the silhouettes of my closest caught steadfast in my vision, like when you stare at the sun for too long. I stepped through the International security gates and left every constant behind.

Arriving in London, you can choose your own adventure, and live many different lives, but one is non-negotiable: you'll live on the edge of experience. No matter good or bad, it's all heightened. London steals, and crushes, and floods your heart. You cry often, not in sadness, but in moments where you're just really in it; utterly eclipsed.

London is a strange world where you can buy sandwiches at the chemist, and wine at the supermarket. It's a vibrant, chaotic hub; a swarming melting pot of culture, yet it can be a lonely place. London is a purposeful contradiction. Alive, charming and impossibly infectious.

Rootlessness is uncomfortable, but standard. Life is transient. You're constantly somewhere between welcoming, bonding and letting go, overlapped with timelines of arriving or disappearing friends. Homesickness dismounts you with no apparent trigger, but mostly, missing loved ones becomes a dormant throb rather than active longing.

It's entirely possible to love and hate London with ferocious, equal intensity. On good days, you're invincible. Because you're there, and you're living your dream. On bad days, you want to tumble over the edge of the world: frustrated, perplexed and fiercely clutching your Vegemite jar. Tomorrow, you'll rise, determined to endure.

Six months in, you start to connect dots. After one year, you find flow. You're on a first-name basis with staff at coveted coffee spots, and returning from weekend trips you have a distinct feeling of 'home'.

The proximity of venturing to different cities is something that anyone hailing from remote Australia could never take for granted. With just my camera and wayfarer spirit, I ventured to different European destinations on more weekends than I did not. Every cent earned that didn't go to rent went to wandering strange and wonderful cities: Copenhagen. Helsinki. Lisbon. Sardegna. Istanbul. Reykjavik. Paris.

Approaching two years, on the precipice of (truly) belonging, you have no option but to leave. Hello, visa exile. I had always assumed I had more years spread before me. HR had stressed that sponsorship was a simple procedure. As it turned out... not so much. At one point, I wrote to a lawyer in desperation, "There just isn't any alternative option available, is there?" and she replied, "Haha- yes there is! Get married!"

Living in London gave me the chance to learn quickly, feel intensely and see with greater perspective. Being far away from everything you've known does that. I'm much the same now, yet expansive. A more lived, worn-down, beamed-up version of my pre-London self. Grateful for the world; awestruck by its beauty. These parts of me, they will stay.

But in leaving, there are parts of myself that had to remain behind. There are parts I could only ever find again by going back. And that's just the thing: I have no way to. My London-me, and what I had to offer, reached limit. Unable to become; unable to go further, simply because of the bureaucratic process.

It's small moments of the everyday that I'll miss. The exceptionally happy conductor at Bank station, and dewy mornings at Hampstead Heath. Acoustic nights up the crooked staircase of the Stoke Newington flat. The Mecca of Borough Market: piles of rainbow chard, cheese wheels the size of tables and paella in pans you could bathe in.

I'll miss gliding along the DLR and gazing up to Canary Wharf skyscrapers; trying to understand the subtleties of my lover's jazz in my ears. I'll miss the endless stretches of time alone, feeling and unfeeling; the comfort of anonymity. Pimms and sun-soaked siestas at London Fields. Cartoon-like black cabs, squirrels and foxes. Soho on sticky summer nights. The abundance of blooms at Columbia Road Flower Market, my happy place. Nights out in underground speak-easys, and the Friday night rush to Heathrow for adventures.

On landing in Adelaide, the first thing I noticed was how sweet the air is. The sheer spaciousness of sky. I gasped at the stars; I'd forgotten about those. Life here is simpler.

Returning makes you feel permanently in-between. Not all here, not all there. A duality; a chasm between two parallel lives that cannot coexist.

Some weeks on, London very much feels the world away that it is; yet achingly close. I'm so far from where I belong, yet right at home. Or, so far from home, yet right where I belong. I can't even be sure.

There's a potent Portuguese word, with no direct translation in English. Saudade: profound longing for an absent something; love that remains for something that will never exist again.

This is what it feels like. I can't think of a better way to describe my London calling.

Dear visa man, you can take the girl out of London, but you cannot (ever) take London out of the girl.

(Image above taken by Caitlin Carey, all other images by author)

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An internal memo obtained for HuffPost UK Comedy by David Schneider and David Beresford reveals how The Sun made the decision to axe Page Three...

sun page three spoof memo

SEE ALSO: Evidence That The Sun Is Still Full Of Tits

Somebody give The Shiznit an Oscar!

Yes, the site is continuing its fine tradition of Photoshopping the posters for films that have been Oscar-nominated this year in order to make them a little more... honest. From the timelapse movie to the challenging biopic(s), here are our favourites...

'Star Wars' actor Oscar Isaac has revealed how impressed and moved he was by director JJ Abrams’ stunning reaction to the accident suffered by his star Harrison Ford.

READ ALSO:
Chewbacca Actor Hospitalised For Pneumonia

Oscar tells HuffPostUK how JJ returned to the set the following day, once it was clear that Harrison would be okay, and started clowning around.

Harrison Ford was hurt by the Millennium Falcon, which meant a big workaround for 'Star Wars' director and actors

He tells HuffPostUK: “JJ was in such high spirits, he was literally making jokes on the loudspeakers.

“We had a big schedule that day, but JJ stopped us all and he said, ‘Can everybody just stop and look at the moon right now?'

“He said, ‘Look how beautiful it is, and how lucky we all are to be here.’

“JJ knows what’s important, and he reminded us it was a beautiful experience. He made it very personal.”

'Star Wars' is in safe hands with director JJ Abrams, according to star Oscar Isaac

If Oscar’s worried by the hype and expectation surrounding the return of 'Star Wars' to our screens, he’s hiding it well…

“Maybe it’s naïve, but I’m not terrified of anything,” he reveals.

“The sets are everything you can imagine, there are the returning characters, but people will also be astonished by the care and love that JJ has paid to this project. That’s what I can’t wait for them to spot.”

Meanwhile, Oscar is a busy man with other films to talk about. Out this week is ‘Ex Machina’, Alex Garland’s intense sci-fi thriller, in which gifted coder Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), wins a competition to spend a week at a retreat belonging to the company’s reclusive CEO, Nathan (Oscar Isaac). But when Caleb arrives he finds that he will have to participate in a fascinating experiment with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot woman, Ava (Alicia Vikander).

Oscar Isaac is CEO Nathan in 'Ex Machina' - a man on a mission that may not necessarily help mankind

Oscar is delighting in his reclusive inventor, who pursues technology, perhaps at the expense of real people.

“It’s not a new concept,” he describes. “The nutty inventor locked away with a low view of humanity, and a high opinion of his own work.

“He probably exists in the real world, but he’s more likely to be a head of a corporation, or tinkering away in a garage somewhere.”

As well as a suspenseful thriller, ‘Ex Machina’ is inevitably thought-provoking about the evolving balance between humans and technology. The advent of somebody in-between like Ava – is that something to celebrate, or fear? Oscar’s obviously had some thoughts on all this…

“I worry about our dependence on technology, certainly,” he starts. “We’ve been sold this idea of convenience, and we celebrate it all, but we seem to be sacrificing our privacy for that, without much thought.

“Even as I’m happy to download music on my phone, I worry that it makes it all very disposable.

“And as for the oracle of Google,” he starts laughing. “We really don’t have to work that hard to learn things any more, and I’m sure the value must go down with the effort.

He cracks up. “And those are my cheery thoughts for the day… let’s talk about spaceships again.”

'Ex Machina' will be in UK cinemas from 21 January. Watch the trailer below. 'Star Wars' will be out on Christmas Day 2015.

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The pick-up artists and viral masterminds at Simple Pickup promised to pull one of their classic stunts while high on mushrooms if they got 2,000,000 subscribers on YouTube.

They did, and they made total fools of themselves.

Headlines about crises in A&E and the failing quotas for the NHS appear to be omnipresent at the moment - and it makes for pretty frightening reading.

I am a 50s baby whose first memorable experience of the NHS was as a five-year-old when I spent a week in the local Eye Hospital to have a squint corrected. I recall the fear of being abandoned by my parents (no overnight accommodation for anxious mothers in those days) and I am sure they were just as terrified as me. I remember getting locked in a cupboard during a game of hide and seek on the ward, and the daily porridge, apart from the day I had my op, when I missed out on the 'Shreddies'... these things run deep!

I have very little memory of the quality of care, but I am sure it was dished out by kindly pretty nurses, in starched dresses and hats and somewhere there would have been a matron. I do remember the outpatients, post op and the handsome consultant who treated me; I even remember the machines I had to look into to test out my newly fixed left eye. The fact that said eye has never been quite as good as my right eye is down to me being too lazy to do my 'exercises' as often as I should!

But I digress; my admiration for those folks who go into the medical and nursing professions has never wavered; some of my best friends work for the NHS and they are dedicated and hard-working people who despair of the way things are these days.

However, I am not one of those people who believe that the NHS is a sacred cow that must be protected at all costs and must be given unlimited funding from now until the end of time. With a burgeoning population, longer life expectancy, spiralling costs of treatment and sophisticated equipment, not to mention the research, plus a national debt that needs to be addressed before it becomes the biggest cost to the UK Exchequer, something clearly needs to give.

I am not an economist nor do I have any expertise in how hospital administrators carve up the pie, but I do know that turkey's don't vote for Christmas, and it seems to me that when asked to cut budgets, the paper pushers appear to cut front line services over their own. Perhaps this is hearsay, but I have spent several days at a hospital recently supporting my mother after a 'routine' hip operation. Rather more time there than I had expected to, because she developed post op complications; no fault of her care per se, just one of those things - more of that later.

My being there for 10 hours a day, for three days consecutively, afforded me the unusual opportunity to observe the routine comings and goings of the Hospital. Having taken the time to study the uniform chart on the notice board in the ward and having some personal exposure to some of the outpatient and research functions, I was struck by the inordinately high number of apparently non front-line or care-giving staff I passed, as I paced the corridors en route to the car park and cafe, or in search of some fresh, cooler air - turning the ruddy heating down a notch or two might save the organisation a fortune and save a few lives too - after all germs love a nice warm environment!

The impact of this apparent imbalance on the provision of the 'health' and 'service' elements of this august national treasure was never more evident as I visited my darling Mummy. You hear about the nightmare scenario of the fairly healthy elderly individual going into hospital for something relatively straightforward or as the result of a slight tumble, and them coming out a confused, dribbling geriatric covered in necrotic pressure sores and ravaged by UT infections - no longer able to look after themselves. Or worse - not coming home at all, having succumbed to said infection. Why are we so bad at caring for our elderly in the UK; is this what we all have to look forward to - even if we have a loving family to advocate on our behalf?

I have friends to whom this has happened - but until you experience it for yourself, it is hard to really fathom. As I mentioned earlier, my mum had post op complications; initially we thought we were looking at a very scary pulmonary embolism, with a long recovery period and ongoing health implications; cue distraught sisters on the phone and the prospect of losing her (only 9 months after my father!). Thankfully the skilled physicians, after examining all the evidence, were ultimately able to fine tune the diagnosis as a severe chest infection - still a serious and acute condition and she was treated by a critical care nurse for a further 48 hours before responding well to the antibiotics. Game old bird my mother!

Meanwhile we negotiated to get her on a pressure mattress and chase up the staff to perform bed baths, turn her, change her saline drip and administer her drugs in a timely fashion.
So finally we are almost back on track, having lost a week. She is eating again, getting up on her new hip for a short while each day, she was thrilled to 'lose' the catheter and we returned to normal visiting hours. Home and dry we thought, not so!

The next day my sister arrived to find my mother distressed beyond belief, a stone cold meal in front of her because she was feeling a bit nauseous and couldn't eat; but worse than that, lying in a puddle of her own faeces (potentially devastating combined with the slight beginnings of a sacral pressure sore) and having exhausted herself pressing her call button without response for over half an hour; this is from a side room right by the nurses station at the front of the ward! This is simply not acceptable; the few nurses on duty are mostly lovely, caring people, but they have 21 other patients and all the attendant paperwork and administration, so my sister ends up having to enlist

Physio staff to help her to sort Mum out and using far more resources than if someone had come to help her to the bathroom in time. We have taken this and other issues up with the doctors when we see them, but again they are often nowhere to be seen as they are usually covering several wards or you end up with a junior house officer on rotation, who might have spent a fortnight in the department, if you are lucky.

This spectrum of care that vacillates between the brilliant and the dreadful cannot be allowed to continue, it is not cost effective for starters! I hope the powers that be are coming up with a plan that will allow the NHS to do what it does best - primary care, emergency care and the very specialised life-saving stuff. There needs to be some concession on how some 'elective' and cosmetic procedures are funded and it seems to me that means-testing should not be a dirty word in this context. As for all those drunks and potheads in A&E on a Friday and Saturday night - install a credit card machine in every hospital and charge the lot of them, before they even get to see a doctor!

Two days later and Mum is progressing erratically; indeed as I type, she has had to go back on the antibiotics and the oxygen as she has taken a slightly backwards step; still a cause for concern but hopefully not life-threatening. I am destined to spend more of my life in the hospital this week, it seems, but in the meantime I am off to research the cost of back to back cruises for my retirement - no wee and cabbage smelling nursing home for me in my dotage, no Siree! At around a forecasted £27000 a year for a second rate facility here, I plan to spend my nest egg being looked after in 4 star luxury, with clean sheets every couple of days, good food and a decent sickbay on hand if I slip over whilst perambulating or enjoying a game of deck quoits!

Fox News may have issued a series of groveling apologies after suggesting England and France had “no go zones” where only Muslims are allowed and which police fear to enter, but this guy is having none of it.

Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal was in London on Monday to press the point that Britain absolutely, absolutely, absolutely is teeming with such hotspots.

The Republican, who is considering a presidential campaign in 2016, said in a speech for a British think tank some immigrants are seeking “to colonise Western countries, because setting up your own enclave and demanding recognition of a no-go zone are exactly that.”

Bobby Jindal was emphatic in his assertion there are so called no-go zones in Britain

Speaking to a CNN reporter outside the houses of parliament, this remarkable exchange took place:

Bobby Jindal: “I’ve heard it from folks here there are neighbourhoods where women don’t feel comfortable going in without veils, that’s wrong. We all know there are neighbourhoods where police are less likely to go into those neighbourhoods.”

Interviewer: “You need to have proper facts to back that up. I’ve lived here a long time, I don’t know of any no-go zones for non-Muslims.”

Jindal: “I did say so-called no-go zones and I think the radical left absolutely wants to pretend like this problem’s not here. Pretending it’s not here won’t make it go away.”

Interviewer: “But exaggerating it into a no-go zone is also going to far.”

Jindal: “Look there are people in London who will tell you there are neighbourhoods where women don’t feel safe walking through those neighbourhoods without veils. There are neighbourhoods where the police are less likely to go. That’s a dangerous thing.”

Interviewer: “To make an assertion like that you need to give me an area where we can look at it because I haven’t heard of one.”

Jindal: “Oh well look, I think your viewers know absolutely there are places where the police are less likely to go. They absolutely know there are neighbourhoods where they wouldn’t feel comfortable they wouldn’t feel comfortable with their wives, their daughters, sisters.”

Interviewer: “Well, that’s high crime rates, I accept that they feel uncomfortable, it’s not because there are too many Muslims there.”

Jindal: “Look this is not a question, I know the left wants to make this into an attack on religion and that’s not what this is. What we’re saying is it’s absolutely an issue for the UK, it’s absolutely an issue for America and other European and Western nations.”

Last week Steve Emerson, an American author often asked on terror networks told Fox News that in Britain “there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim, where non-Muslims just simple don’t go in.”

Emerson’s comments prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to brand him a “complete idiot.”

Emerson later apologised and said his comments "were totally in error." Fox News also issued apologies for broadcasting the comments.

SEE ALSO:

Fox News Lampooned By French TV For Comparing ‘No-Go' Zones To Afghanistan & Iraq

France's 'No Go Muslim-Only' Zones Aren't What You Think They Are

Russell Brand Asks: Does Fox News Terrorise Us?

Fox News Host Says Muslims 'Need To Kill All Radical Islamists'

Too Many Smartphones, Not Enough Guns: Fox Reporter's Take On Charlie Hebdo
'Dutch Muslims Who Don't Like Free Speech Can F**k Off' Says Rotterdam Mayor

Fox News Anchor Suggests Skin Colour Helps Identify 'Typical Bad Guys'

Jindal, however, used similar rhetoric during a speech, warning of "no-go zones" in London and other Western cities.

Jindal's remarks come in the wake of the massacre by Islamic extremists at a Paris magazine's offices and subsequent attack on a kosher supermarket in the city. Three gunmen killed 17 people in the attacks.

"I knew that by speaking the truth we were going to make people upset," Jindal told CNN during an interview from London.

"The huge issue, the big issue in non-assimilation is the fact that you have people that want to come to our country but not adopt our values, not adopt our language and in some cases want to set apart their own enclaves and hold onto their own values," said Jindal. "I think that's dangerous."

Jindal's parents immigrated to the United States from India. As a young man, Jindal converted from Hinduism to Catholicism.

Democrats said Jindal's comments were a blunder.

"It's no surprise that Bobby Jindal would go abroad and butcher the facts in an effort to divide people; this is exactly what we've come to expect from Jindal here at home," said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Rebecca Chalif. "Jindal is just embarrassing himself."

Jindal spoke to the Henry Jackson Society, a British think tank named for a former U.S. Democratic senator from Washington state who was a presidential candidate in the 1970s.

George Osborne has been ridiculed for insisting that the coalition has ditched its plans to publish ministers' tax returns in order to protect "taxpayer confidentiality".

Speaking to the Huffington Post UK, Lib Dem peer Brian Paddick has joined the Greens' Baroness Jenny Jones, who both published their tax returns during the 2012 London Mayoral election campaign, in mocking the chancellor's u-turn.

Lord Paddick said Osborne's explanation was "nonsense", adding: "I respect the right of taxpayer confidentiality, but if that individual waives the right to confidentiality, it would be the individual that publishes their returns, not HMRC, so it seems to me to be a completely false argument."

Baroness Jenny Jones, Green member of the London Assembly, said: “It’s quite hard to trust people who run the economy if they want to keep their own affairs secret, sitting prime minister or not.

"We need to understand that their actions and aims are as selfless as possible. There are too many politicians tied to corporate interests, who stand to financially benefit from privatisation and other policies.

"The people at the top need to set a transparent example to the rest. It’s time for Cameron, and the whole cabinet, to come clean on their tax returns.”

Baroness Jones managed to persuade her London mayoral rival contenders to publish their tax returns in order to end an ongoing tax avoidance row that dogged Labour's Ken Livingstone.

Jenny Jones dares her rivals to be open with their tax affairs

After Jones' challenge on Newsnight, Paddick agreed to publish his tax returns from the last three years "and let the public decide who is avoiding tax and who isn't".

The backlash against the coalition from the London Mayoral contenders is especially awkward as they have successfully published their returns, whereas Osborne has cited "quite a lot of practical difficulties" in order to drop his own plans.

See more on General Election 2015

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Osborne has cooled on the idea, claiming: "There are genuine issues around taxpayer confidentiality and how it would work in practice.

"You see it as a feature of some American campaigns but I think there would be quite a lot of practical difficulties. There are no plans at this point. The income I receive is publicly declared."

This marked a contrast from 2012, when the prime minister signalled that he would be "relaxed" about publishing his personal tax returns, along with having other members of his cabinet do so, with it suggested that they could make an open declaration of their returns after the local elections that May. The idea reportedly had Lib Dem support, with Nick Clegg and Vince Cable suggesting they would be willing to disclose their tax affairs.

Osborne told the Daily Telegraph that April: "We are very happy to consider publishing tax returns for people seeking the highest offices in the land. Of course, they do it in America."

He added: "When it comes to publishing tax returns … personally, I don't set my face against it. But we have to think through the issues. You have to think through the advantages and disadvantages. We have got to think through the issue of taxpayer confidentiality, which is a very important principle in Britain."

Coalition ministers continued to remain supportive of the idea in 2013, with Cameron's spokesman still indicating that he would be 'relaxed" about the idea following a move by French president Francois Hollande to have his ministers publish details about their own tax affairs.

"The prime minister's view on whether he would be content to publish his arrangements and those of other ministers is that he would be relaxed about that," a spokesperson said.

See also:

It’s a sad day in showbiz land with the news that ‘Coronation Street’ legend Anne Kirkbride has died, but amongst the sadness, we’ve unearthed a little ray of sunshine guaranteed to give fans of the actress a little bit of a lift.

READ MORE:

‘Corrie’ Star Anne’s Life In Pictures

‘Coronation Street' Stars Past And Present Pay Tribute To Anne

Remember When... 'Free The Weatherfield One' Captivated The Nation

Why The Loss Of Deirdre Barlow Hits So Hard

Liz Dawn: 'The Heart Of The Show Has Been Ripped Out'

There are so many great clips of Anne playing Deirdre Barlow over the last four decades that we could have chosen but the sight of her singing ‘Love To Love You Baby’ or ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ is how we want to remember her on this very sad day.

We hope you enjoy. Take it away, Anne...

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK | FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

You can't run on water. You just can't.

But you can - with the right technique, a concentrated will and the help of very thin plywood - do something almost similar.

Shi Liliang, a Shaolin monk from Quanzhou Shaolin Temple, recently ran for 120 metres across a lake by stepping very, very quickly between 1cm-thick boards of light wood.

The video above is crazy but it doesn't break any laws of physics. Kotaku reports he's going for 150 metres next.

Former glamour model Jodie Marsh has led the backlash against The Sun’s apparent decision to axe Page 3.

Marsh, who has appeared on the aforementioned page, insisted on Twitter that “telling girls they shouldn’t do Page 3 is not being a feminist.”

She said: "So-called 'feminists' really annoy me. Telling girls they shouldn't do page 3 is not being a feminist; women should do whatever they want."

Jodie Marsh 'loved' doing Page 3

Commenting on her career as a Page 3 pin-up, she said: "I loved doing page 3, it was good money, I felt powerful, I was definitely in control and all the people (mostly women) I worked with were fab.

"I never felt exploited - in fact the opposite. I thought 'Blimey, people are willing to pay to see my boobs'.

So called "feminists" really annoy me. Telling girls they shouldn't do page 3 is NOT being a feminist; women should do WHATEVER they want!!
— Jodie Marsh (@JodieMarsh) January 20, 2015

I loved doing page 3, it was good money, I felt powerful, I was definitely in control & all the people (mostly women) I worked with were FAB
— Jodie Marsh (@JodieMarsh) January 20, 2015

I never felt exploited - in fact the opposite. I thought "blimey, people are willing to pay to see my boobs"!!
— Jodie Marsh (@JodieMarsh) January 20, 2015

.... When if you go to Ibiza you can see girls boobs for FREE on the beach. I stand by that this is a CLASS issue, not a women's rights one
— Jodie Marsh (@JodieMarsh) January 20, 2015

"I am very much a feminist. I believe women can do it all and have it all. Women who slag off other women are just jealous and insecure.

SEE ALSO: These People Are Genuinely Blaming Islam For The End Of Page 3

"Women shouldn't be fighting to be equal to men. We are there already."

I am very much a feminist. I believe women can do it all and have it all. Women who slag off other women are just jealous & insecure...
— Jodie Marsh (@JodieMarsh) January 20, 2015

Women shouldn't be fighting to be equal to men. We are there already. The 2 people at the top of @tlc_uk who I answer to are WOMEN!!!!!
— Jodie Marsh (@JodieMarsh) January 20, 2015

She said campaigners should focus on more important issues that affect women, such as female genital mutilation.

Page 3 girl Rhian Sugden, 28, also lashed out at the reported move, saying: "It's only a matter of time before everything we do will be dictated by comfy shoe-wearing, no bra-wearing, man-haters."

Rhian Sugden: Not a fan of the 'ban'

Former glamour model Nicola McLean said she did not think Page 3 is a "sexual equality" issue.

She told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "It has been going for many years, which is one of the reasons I feel so sad that it has seemingly come to an end.

And personally I think there are MUCH bigger issues in the world that these "do gooders" could put their time to. Take #FGM for example...
— Jodie Marsh (@JodieMarsh) January 20, 2015

"I don't think it is outdated. I think the girls still look fantastic on the page, they still clearly enjoy what they are doing, people still want to see it.

"Everybody still wants Page 3, apart from the feminists who are fighting an argument I just don't agree with.

"If you meet any Page 3 girl who has gone on to pose for the Sun, we are all very strong-minded women that have made our own choice and feel very happy with what we are doing.

It's only a matter of time before everything we do will be dictated by comfy shoe wearing... No bra wearing... man haters #page3
— Rhian Sugden (@Rhianmarie) January 20, 2015

"We certainly don't feel like we have been victimised."

Glamour model Laura Lacole, who has posed in the Sun, told Sky News that Page 3 can have a positive impact on the lives of women.

She said: "I think it sends out a message to women that women can do as they wish if they choose to as long as they are not directly harming anybody or doing anything against the law.

"If you want to celebrate your sexuality, you can do that; if you don't want to then you don't have to."

David Cameron should avoid negotiating with his European partners "through a megaphone" and be ready to make concessions in order to achieve meaningful reform, former Tory prime minister Sir John Major has said.

Sir John's latest intervention comes as Labour accused Cameron of causing the "biggest loss of influence in a generation" due to his stance towards the European Union.

The Tory leader has pledged to try and claw back powers from Brussels and put the renegotiated offer to voters in a referendum by 2017. Cameron has also promised to curb the European founding principle of free movement in a bid to limit the number of migrants coming to Britain, although other European leaders have warned that it is "non-negotiable".

But speaking to the European magazine, Sir John said that the UK needed to "remove the misunderstandings and neuroses that often exist in negotiations" with EU member states.

"I am shocked about the extent of the misunderstanding about the British position on freedom of movement," he said. "If we discuss these issues rather than debate them through a megaphone, then we are likely to achieve agreement."

"There is no such thing as a negotiation that is made without concessions on both sides. If there aren’t concessions on both sides, it isn’t a negotiation – it is an imposition."

John Major has plenty of advice for Cameron on how to succeed in Europe

Europhile business groups endorsed Sir John's message. Lucy Thomas, campaign director of Business for New Europe, told the Huffington Post UK: “John Major is right that the best way to achieve EU reform is to work with our friends and allies, not alienate them with unrealistic demands, or using megaphone diplomacy for short-term political gain.

“It is important to remember that our natural allies in the EU ‘want the UK to remain in, but not at any cost’. Instead, we need to be finding common ground with European partners and as Angela Merkel said on her recent London visit, ‘where there’s a will there’s a way’.”

However, Eurosceptic groups took issue with the former Tory premier's message. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the pro-EU referendum group Business for Britain, told the HuffPost UK: “The EU is in serious need of reform and cannot afford to shy away from that fact. As a potential referendum approached, the UK needs to be clear on what changes it believes a competitive EU must embrace, whether some in Brussels want to hear it or not.

"Some might decry this as megaphone diplomacy, but with so many past failed attempts to overhaul the way the EU works it’s time the volume was turned up.”

Sir John also expressed measured optimism about Cameron's prospects of changing the rules surrounding European free movement, arguing that if European leaders were actually committed to the EU's founding principles, it would "cut the British argument about Freedom of Movement at the knees".

He said: ""So are we to be told by our European friends that free movement of people is sacrosanct, it is a founding element of the European Union and it cannot even be constrained at a time of emergency, and yet all of the other things we signed up to in 1973 and enshrined in legislation in 1987 cannot be finished."

"Let us do so [honour the EU's founding principles] and it will change the British perception of Europe. Let us have complete Freedom of Movement. Let us complete the Single Market. Let us complete an energy market. Let us complete a digital market. Let us complete a free movement of goods.

"Let us complete a free movement of services. Not only would that spark the most enormous boom to the whole of Europe, but you would also strip away many of the things that cause the British to think: “Is this what we expected when we joined the European Union?”

Meanwhile, Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable has hit out again at the prime minister's renegotiation efforts, suggesting that he is "deluded". He also warned that the referendum was "dangerous"" because it could hurt investor confidence in Britain.

Anyone who thinks our relationship with Europe can be fundamentally altered is deluded. @vincecable is not mincing his words #lisboncouncil
— Bruno Waterfield (@BrunoBrussels) January 20, 2015

Labour's shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander is also set to attack Cameron's European diplomacy Tuesday, warning that a Conservative re-election would mark a "point of no return' in the UK's relations with its EU partners.

During a trip to Paris, he will say that Labour would "repair and reset" relations with the EU if they win the next election.

Speaking at the headquarters of the French Socialist Party, Alexander is expected to say: "Before David Cameron became prime minister, Britain was at the heart of EU decision-making.

"Yet when he leaves Downing Street in May, he will have presided over the most significant decline in British influence in Europe for a generation.

"During his time in Downing Street David Cameron has done serious damage to Britain's status in Europe and in turn has diminished our standing in the world.

"The re-election of David Cameron could mark a point of no return for Britain's relations with the EU."

Britain First have once again demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of theology, history and reality by relaunching their ludicrous 'Christian Patrols' in 'Muslim-Occupied East London'.

Non-members of the far-right pseudo political group may be surprised to learn that parts of the nation's capital are at the mercy of an Islamic military force and that's because it's all utter tosh.

Britain First's leader, Paul Golding, and their equally uncharismatic deputy, Jayda Fransen, appear to have taken issue with London's Brick Lane.

Remember that bit in the Bible where Jesus drives around Jerusalem in an armoured chariot picking fights on people?

A contingent of the continuously misinformed Britain First descended upon the area in their characteristic armoured Land Rover which presumably goes someway to protecting the insecure and perennially angry souls inside.

Once out of the van, Fransen explains why they are there handing out leaflets stating: "Muslim patrols are operating in this area confiscating alcohol and harassing women."

She said: "This is in response to the Muslim patrols that have been carried out in this area and we just want to be sure our people are safe on the streets."

While there have been documented cases of small groups of men attempting to enforce Sharia law in East London, the area is mainly renowned for it's curry houses, markets and attracting people of all ethnic and religious persuasions on a daily basis.

As Vice's Alex Miller found out in his brilliant documentary 'London's Holy Turf War' (video below):

These two marginalised but potentially dangerous London subcultures [Britain First and the Muslim Patrols] believe that society has failed their communities enough that they are now taking to the streets to implement or defend their ways of life, according to their opposing politicised and religious ideologies.

The irony being that while their shared aggressive approach has resulted in media coverage and media panic, they ultimately are responsible for and justify each other's existence.

This point is tacitly acknowledged in Britain First's video when Golding says: "That's a pretty provocative leaflet to be handing out in the heart of Brick Lane."

Later in the video Golding confronts a man and shouts: "This isn't your area, it's a Christian area, it always has been."

In fact, in the 19th and 20th century it was a predominately Jewish area but that doesn't really for the Britain First narrative.

SEE ALSO:
Britain First Kiss Goodbye Any Credibility With Facebook Post On 'Muslim Obama' Conspiracy

Britain First Piggyback On Paris Shooting Massacre In Attempt To Sell Hoodies

Britain First leader basically admits his group are a bunch of thugs

Britain First use Polish Spitfire to promote their 'British Values'

Britain First blames Sydney café siege on Lindt's non-halal chocolate

When the man objects to being filmed, Golding shouts: "You come over here, give it all the mouth and then when we start filming ya, you act like a coward."

This from a man who rocked up in an armoured Land Rover.

Local MP Rushanara Ali, for Bethnal Green and Bow said, "Time and again, people in the East End have come together to reject hatred and intolerance.

"The divisive rhetoric of fringe groups such as ‘Britain First’ has no place in our East End, the proud home to one of the most vibrant and diverse communities in the UK."

When the rumour mill started churning on Monday evening that The Sun may have dropped it's topless Page 3 feature after a 44-year run, we almost exploded with feminist happiness.

But, opening the first edition of the newspaper on Tuesday morning, we found that bare breasts had simply been replaced by bikini-clad celebrities frolicking on the beach. Similarly, Monday's Page 3 featured Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in underwear.

It's true! @TheSunNewspaper's Page 3 girl is gone! Now there's pap shots of celebs in bikinis, but it's progress! pic.twitter.com/z0eqzYbVYT
— Brogan Driscoll (@Brogan_Driscoll) January 20, 2015

The later edition of Tuesday's paper did feature a news story on page 3 (for the first time in years). Splashed across page 2 and 3 was a tribute the late Anne Kirkbride, best known as Corrie's Deirdre Barlow, who sadly passed away on Monday.

Update: bikinis made Page 3 of @TheSunNewspaper's first edition, now there's a tribute to the late Anne Kirkbride RIP pic.twitter.com/lsAIIq06iX
— Brogan Driscoll (@Brogan_Driscoll) January 20, 2015

But the aforementioned pages appear to show that not much has changed - bare breasts have become covered breasts, but women are sexualised nonetheless. So what does the alleged axing of Page 3 really mean for women?

"We had noticed there had been a few changes to Page 3 recently, but weren’t sure what, if anything, it signified," said No More Page 3 campaigners in a statement. "The Sun seemed to be actively trying to draw attention to it for a little while, so this has come as a very pleasant and welcome surprise!"

"We don’t know all the details yet, and at the moment, it seems likely that page 3 will be replaced by another objectifying image of a woman, albeit in a bra from now on. Clearly this is still not equality, and there’s definitely lots more to be done. We do feel this could be a very important step in the battle against media sexism though, and it shows that the Sun are in fact listening to popular, public opinion."

Caroline Criado-Perez, feminist campaigner and author of forthcoming book 'Do It Like A Woman', agrees.

Great achievement from @NoMorePage3 - but we still have women on p3 who only serve the purpose of providing visual treats.
— Caroline CriadoPerez (@CCriadoPerez) January 20, 2015

Criado-Perez told HuffPost UK Lifestyle that while the move is a step in the right direction, the wider issue is far from resolved.

"This has never been about nudity. Feminists are not scared of breasts. The issue is one of how we perceive women - what we believe they are capable of.

"Featuring a topless woman on page 3 of a newspaper populated by images of powerful - and fully-dressed - men perpetuates the idea that men do things and women have things done to them."

"It reinforces the message that women are not individuals in their own right, but exist to decorate the world of men."

No More Page 3 campaigners added: "Most importantly, we believe that what we are seeing here is not just a campaign against a single page in a newspaper, but a shift in societal attitudes. People who have never even considered the effects of media sexism are starting to talk about it and say that they too think it’s wrong.

"Now the conversation about gender equality in the media has properly started, it will be increasingly difficult for media outlets to ignore. The success of this campaign so far shows what people can do when they stand together, and we are so incredibly grateful to everyone who has stood up with us and said “No More Page Three!”

Conservative MP Steve Baker has released two videos of himself being pummeled and humiliated by a much larger man - all for "research", he says.

The Wycombe MP took the opportunity to have a self-defence class from a local business, Combat Academy, on his day off.

"The guy in the video, Reece Coker, came to see me and told me that when people need purpose in their lives, training in self-defence can really give them self-esteem, so I decided to go along," Baker told MailOnline.

"Self-defence can also help young people channel themselves to give them self-esteem, to use their aggression to do some good," he added.

"We know that in this country we've got all sorts of issues - gang violence for example.

"I think it’s worth having a look at how something like this can change lives."

Baker also hoped posting the videos to his YouTube channel would help raise awareness of the necessity of self defence.

Some weren't so convinced. Commenter Chris King said: "This guy is a fraud. In real life that take down would never work unless attempted on a 7 year old. Then on the ground he can't even clear the leg to mount. Pathetic. Doesn't even deserve a white belt. "

At least he'll be ready to fight off the Ukippers in May.

Chinese company WinSun has revealed two record breaking buildings - a block of flats and a luxury villa - built by 3D printing.

The five-storey apartment and 1,100 square metre mansion were unveiled in Suzhou, Eastern China last weekend. They are the biggest and tallest structures to ever be made with the technology.

The homes are a proof of concept, but may soon be a reality. Pieces are 3D printed in Jiangsu Province with a special "ink" and fixed together by builders, who also add insulation and reinforcements.

3d printed flats mansion house villa apartment

3d printed flats mansion house villa apartment

That special "ink" is actually a paste made from construction waste like concrete, fibreglass and a hardening agent. In addition to recycling unwanted products, the "ink" is also flexible and resistant to earthquakes.

WinSun uses a 3D printer array 6.6 metres high, 10 metres wide and 40 metres long, which was designed by Ma Yihe.

They claim the unique process can save up to 60% of construction waste, reduce build time by 70%, and they can build a three-storey mansion for £106,250.

The company last year showcased one-storey homes they could produce for $5,000, and they aim to eventually build skyscrapers and bridges with the technology.

SEE ALSO:

DNA 'Glue' Lets You 3D Print Organs

Meet The Happiest Man At CES, And His Magic 3D Drawing Machine

These Kickstarters Are Incredible, But Should Probably Never Happen

Binge Drinking Ruining Your Life? It's Probably a Self Esteem Issue

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