The news in brief 22nd April 2015

The news in brief:

Great idea: let's make people with deep rooted self-esteem issues feel unwelcome in public.  That'll help.

Look. I'm a big guy and I could stand to lose some weight. For my health. For my future.  But I'm also a depressive and food has been a comfort blanket for as long as I can remember and it's a difficult fight. It's a fight that I think I'm winning (most days) but it is not an overnight thing and I will not be down to my ideal weight of 12 stone this side of Sherlock season 3 (current estimate June 11th 2177)

In the meantime do I not have the right to wear clothes? Shunning me from every shop in the high street (and believe me it's a struggle already) is only going to make me more awkward and unhappy.  And you know who's always there to make me feel better when I'm really down? The Colonel, The Clown and The King. And when I'm deep under that black cloud I find it hard to resist their siren call and the vicious circle continued to spiral down...

As a nation we do need to lose a bit of the old weight, but what we need is more open spaces, and the time to enjoy them, encouragement,  practical advice,  affordable healthy food and the promotion of personal responsibility. 

What we do NOT need is institutionalised bullying or to feed that curious need we have as a species to keep someone as a second-class citizen.

In the meantime if a love handle or a man boob offends you. Or for that matter a port wine stain,  ginger hair,  limp, bucked tooth or missing limb, you have the right to not look.

And if it's still a problem for you, you can always fuck off. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.

Reading the news so you don't have to...