First, a Little Rant

I do have a blog post I want to put on here tonight but first, a little rant.

Sometimes I feel that being on Twitter is setting yourself up to be discriminated against.  We, as a Twitter collective are all lumped together, by people who have never been on Twitter and therefore don't know what it's about, as being people who do nothing but tweet what they had for breakfast, who follow millions of celebrities and are generally brainless.

I have had this argument with various people, all of which have never been on Twitter.

I have come up with this "conversation" as an alternative example which either proves my point, baffles or alternatively I am told I am a little bit mad.  The last one is probable.

Person One: I don't like apples.
Person Two: Have you ever had one?
Person One: No, they taste of sardines.
Person Two: What are you talking about?  They are juicy and delicious!
Person One: Well that's not what everyone else says so I am not trying one.

Twitter by the way, does not taste like sardines.

Trophy Hunting - Are we Really Still Neanderthals?

Millionaire banker Sir David Scholey, a so called "nice guy" according to the Guardian has been pictured recently, after one of his trophy hunting holidays, posing over the corpse of a lion he killed, for sport.

He is quoted saying:

“I have been hunting all over the world for many, many years and I have always hunted within the legal arrangements of the country concerned.  

“All the animals I hunt are wild beasts and even I have felt threatened by them at times.  The lion I killed certainly wasn’t an endangered species where I was hunting it."

Trophy hunting and Canned Hunting is taking place in South Africa, Nambia, Botswana, Mozambique where people essentially can pay to shoot animals, either by trophy hunting in a large area or by canned hunting, as described in the link.

The amount of animals available to these trophy hunters are vast, but include elephants, lions and leopards.  Interestingly and also more telling are a number of websites I have researched, all readily accessible and a click away, which I won't name, giving a link with a Rhinosaurus on the front, an endangered species, as a link to their brochure.

I asked in the the title, are we still Neanderthals?  But really, that title does not apply to these trophy hunters.  The Neanderthals killed to eat, used the furs to keep warm, in essence, to survive.  The trophy hunters do it for the blood lust, the thrill (apparently) of killing an animal greater and stronger than yourself.  The cowards way, with a bullet, with no hope of the animal fighting back.

Going back to what (Sir) David Scholey, said, he claimed that the animal he killed wasn't on the endangered list.  With trophy killers, poachers and an ever decreasing availability of land for the lions to use, how long will it be before lions are on the endangered list?  That day is edging closer every day.

Humans are the most dangerous animal on the planet.  If we are not careful, we are going to lose all these amazing animals which will end up as nothing more as a head mounted on a someone's wall or an exhibit in a museum.  It is time for people to be proactive if we want to help conserve the wild animals on this planet.

Join the causes, donate to the charities, speak your mind rather than going "It's not my problem, why should I care".  These animals have just as much a right to the planet as we do.  Do we really want to be left in a position where nothing wild is left in the world?

Twitter: Are we vain obsessed people?

There has been an article in the Daily Mail recently saying that Twitter is “creating a vain generation of self-obsessed people with child-like need for feedback”.

I both agree and disagree with that.  There are so many different types of people on Twitter.  Businesses looking for followers which could lead to profit, people sending thousands of link tweets trying to do the same, there are also the type that is mentioned in the article, looking for followers, the “automatic follow back” people.

Then, there are us.  The regular people who joined, either for fun or like me, people that had an interest and wanted to gain more information and meet like minded people.  The people who don’t join for a follow, and are always surprised that what you say has interested someone.

I joined Twitter because I love Formula One.  I figured that by joining I would get more info, unknown facts and gain more of an insight in what I loved.  I never intended to actually tweet.

Gradually I have started to follow people and got followers back, all related to what I am interested in or who have something interesting to say.  I don’t look for followers, I don’t think anything I have to say is that interesting.

I don’t profess to say anything monumental or massively intelligent.  But neither do I tell you what I had for breakfast.  In fact thoughts generally go straight from my head to Twitter unfiltered, which is sometimes probably a bad thing ;)

What I have gained from Twitter is, aside from the info and additions to my interests that I wanted, is interesting conversations with people I have met, I have talked to people I never would have before and contrary to what you hear about Twitter, there are no celebrities on my following list.

Twitter, like anything else is what you make it.  You can follow celebs, tweet inane things about what you had for breakfast and follow 1000 people in the hope of a follow or you can do what the regular person does.  Follow people connected with your chosen interest, get information, ideas and points of view you hadn’t even considered, and talk to like minded people, be it about your chosen interest, or just shooting the breeze.

So to those with the holier than thou attitude who dismiss Twitter and all people who tweet, consider this, maybe you just don’t follow the right people. I’m Vicky_Frank, and if you don’t like what I have to say, one of the best things about Twitter, unfollow!

Have a Little Dignity

Today, those, my thoughts are with Amy Winehouse, and the tragedy that has occurred in Oslo.

Amy died today from apparently a drugs overdose, which sadly is not surprising.  Her death is a tragedy, but it should not overshadow, although I bet the tabloids and “celeb” sites and followers will talk about it more, the unbelievable news  of what happened in Oslo.  One famous person dying should not overshadow the death of 91.

The thought that made me write this blog today however is this.  Death is not funny.  You can make jokes about anything, and I for one am a fan of the more sarcastic humour.  I love the jokes that sometimes should not be made but are funny, but I would never joke about, or laugh at, a joke about someone’s death.

Someone, somewhere is a relative, a loved one, a friend of the person you are joking about.  It is  bad enough that they have to suffer the person’s death, without having to experience crass, distasteful and horrible jokes and jibes about the death.

Coming from someone who has lost people dear to me, the grief that you go through is horrible.  Hearing someone joke about your loved one, whatever they were, is beyond cruel.  Compassion costs nothing.  People should have a bit more dignity and humanity.

Slut Means Speak Up

The slut walk - see this website for details : http://slutmeansspeakup.org.uk/

A woman should be able to be who she wants, dress as she wants, work at want she wants without repercussion of judgement.  Time and time again, and I have heard it said myself, you hear "She deserved it, did you see what she was wearing?" or similar such comments.

Regardless of what you do, what you wear, no woman deserves to be raped and I guarantee that no woman is ever "asking for it".  We are in the 21st century, women have earned the right to be heard, to choose for themselves, to be their own person, the battle for women's rights has been going on for years and years, and yet still, we are judged for what we wear or who we are.

All women didn't have the vote until 1928 and before, and indeed after that, women had limited options.  The slightest different behaviour labelled you "fast" and if you were stuck in a bad, abusive marriage, you were stuck with it.  The next generation, like my mum, many of whom were still "the little women".  Job options were limited to the female type jobs, secretary, nurse etc but they did get to chose when to have a family.  The option then was clear though, career or family, you couldn't have both.

In my generation people say you can have it all.  Career of what you want, family, if and when you want.  Our options are limitless.  Yet still, our actions are judged more than men, the way we act, dress, do, work.

I do have a point I am trying to make here but am rambling as usual, the point is this.  We need to change our opinions and views on women so that when the worst happens and a woman is raped, she isn't judged by what she was wearing, how she was acting.  No woman deserves it.

We are who we are, we dress how we want, we do want we want.  You can't give us the freedom to be, do and work and then turn around and judge us for what we are.

See the website for a better view of what I am trying to say!