Guest Blog - Welcome to the legal block! If we stick together, we can't be fracked! - By Scarlett Cannon

By Scarlett Cannon,

Dear friends -
Right now, the government has put nearly two-thirds of England up for shale, without fully understanding what effects fracking is likely to have on local health or the countryside.
What we do know is that if we want to tackle climate change, we can't be digging new fossil fuels out of the ground.[1]
Find out if your home is at risk of being fracked. Look up your postcode at wrongmove.org now.
Despite the government's enthusiastic dash for gas, we have the power to make fracking very difficult, and may even be able to halt exploration in its tracks, if enough of us come together.
This is how it works: fracking involves horizontal drilling that can extend two miles from the actual drill site, passing directly under the homes of those nearby. If you don't want fracking companies pumping toxic chemicals under your home, you can say so. Then, any drilling there becomes trespassing; the frackers would be breaking the law.
Therefore, if enough of us say we are not willing for the land under our homes to be fracked, we make it harder for companies to ignore the law and could stop fracking in its tracks.
All you have to do is declare that your home is Not for Shale and you will be added to the growing legal block to stop fracking where you live.
But we need to act quickly, as there are hints that the government will try to change the law to force through their dash for gas! [2]
Look up your postcode and find out if you could be fracked and join the legal block now.
Now is our chance to take a stand to keep dirty fuels in the ground where they belong and say no to fracking our communities.
Scarlett
[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22845425
[2] http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/naturalresources/article3877163.ece
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Scarlett Cannon is a Heavenly Healer, a Glamourous Gardener and a 1980's style icon. She is also a friend of the Barnet Eye blog and writes her own excellent blog here - http://heavenlyhealer.blogspot.co.uk/ - I took the liberty of posting my fave picture of her up as well, as  it is always a treat !

Guest Blogs are always welcome from our friends and foes alike !

The Thursday recipe #1 - HRT Cake

The Barnet Eye is keen to promote healthy lifestyles. Having been diagnosed with cancer last November (very early stage, no effects at mo, no treatments, so don't worry), I have been increasingly taking an interest in alternative medicines and therapies. One of the more interesting things I came across was on the blog of Scarlett The Heavenly Healer. Scarlett has developed a recipe for an HRT Cake, which naturally combats the symptoms of the menopause. I've nicked the recipe from her blog, which you really should check out

http://heavenlyhealer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/one-for-ladies.html

If anyone has any similar recipes they want to share (I'd like a good one for Jewish Penecilin AKA Chicken Soup) please email me. I believe that the more we help each other, the better the place will be. I will try and publish a recipe a week on a Thursday from now. They won't all be healthy, but I hope they will all be yummy. Thanks to Scarlett for sharing her knowledge with us all.

100g soya flour

50g wholemeal flour

150g rolled oats (porridge oats)

100g linseeds

50g sunflower seeds

50g pumpkin seeds

50g sesame seeds

50g flaked almonds

100g dried cranberries

200g dried fruit.  I used golden and black raisins and figs because that's what was in my cupboard.

About 2 inches fresh ginger, finely chopped

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1½ tablespoons malt extract

400-500ml soya milk

It's easy!  I mixed all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Then I added the wet ingredients and stirred the whole lot together, mixing it up very well.  It needs to soak for a least half an hour so that the dry ingredients take up the liquid.  In the meantime I lined a loaf tin with baking parchment and preheated the oven to Gas 5, about 180 I believe.  When I returned the mixture was rather stiff and dry so I added a little more soya milk.  It needs to have a soft dropping consistency before being spooned into the loaf tin and popped into the hot oven for about 1¼ to 1½ hours.  You can test the cake with a skewer to check that it is cooked through.

Leave it to cool and slice it thickly.  I am told (by lovely lady) that it will keep in the fridge for up to a week if wrapped and stored airtight.  It also freezes well, apparently.

All websites advise eating one thick slice of this cake per day.  It is yummy and I could easily eat more, but I'm following instructions strictly.  Whether it is the combination of the ingredients together or whether it is all in my head, my flushing frequency has already lessened...... and I'm only on Day 2 of cake-eating!

Music & Gardening Special

It may surprise some readers of the Barnet Eye that I'd rather not have to blog about politics and Barnet at all. I'd rather spend all of my time writing music and pottering around in my garden. I've been playing with my new IMAC and trying to figure out all of the video editing capabilities. I thought I'd shoot some footage of the garden in all it's spring glory and put one of the rough pre prod mixes from Connies album over the top. Hope you like it


This one's for Scarlett, who writes a great gardening blog !!!!

Living the dream (or the nightmare)

There are a few blogs I'd like to draw your attention to this weekend. What is your dream (or your fantasy). Some of my favourite bloggers have been talking about their dreams, fantasies and nightmares.

First up Ms Marmitelover. She talks about her experience of a wife swapping party. From what she says it certainly was someones fantasy, but it wasn't hers - http://travelswithmyteenager.blogspot.com/2010/07/wallflower-at-orgy.html - I must say that it doesn't really paint a happy picture.

On a more cheery note, we have a little video from Scarlett, The Heavenly Healer who has started a gardening column for super trendy ID magazine - it seems like Scarlett is closer to her fantasy life right now than Ms Marmite at her orgy. I guess lusty tomatoes are more attractive than saggy middle aged bums - http://www.i-donline.com/i-spy/scarlett-heavenly-healer.

Last up we have Lenny Nash, talking about his failure to become a chef - http://chefsandwich.blogspot.com/2010/04/masterchef-call-of-onions.html - This is what happens when it all turns to tears.

I don't know what exact conclusions we can draw, but I think it's clear from what Ms Marmite has to say that if you don't like the idea of something, giving it a wide berth is a good idea and from what Scarlett has to say, cash isn't everything and from what Lenny has to say, it's better to have drank from the cup than not. Have a great weekend

Sometimes ....

Nicked the piccie from Scarlett's website. I love this post so much. Next December it's 25 years since I met Clare. I'm gonna buy a hundred padlocks and I'm gonna put them all the places I really love.

Like Rock n Roll music, all the best ideas are nicked !!!!!!

Welfare reform

I've had a week of feeling angry, railing at injustice. It looks like that is going to continue for a bit longer. One of the blogs I follow is by Scarlett, the Heavenly Healer. I enjoy Scarlett's blog, because it's a bit different from the usual blogs I keep an eye on. I suppose that Scarlett is in some ways many of the things I'd love to be in a perfect world. She's an optimist (I'm cynical), she's caring (I'm a harsh judge) and she's in touch with herself (I'm angry). Her blog normally talks about the nice things in life, her allotment, things growing, that sort of stuff. It sort of reminds me of the bit of me that isn't angry. She likes making things of beauty, I like high energy punk rock, tinged with a dark sense of humour.

Don't get me wrong, I like myself. I love the music I'm into, but her blog is flower power and in a perfect world that would be me as well. In this world, my blog is inspired by songs such as "Hate and war" by the Clash, "Feeding the 5,000" by Crass and "Orgasm Addict" by the Buzzcocks (to name but a few). Still there are days when I wake up, the sun is shining, and I wish I were a calmer person.

I read her latest blog and it wasn't about the nice things. It was about her experiences trying to claim benefits. It really is one of the most awful things I've read recently. It seems that her problem is that she tried to be honest with the system and paid the price. She doesn't want to malinger, just recover from a serious illness. Just because she said she was getting better, she got penalised. Worse than that, staff at the jobcentre and her doctor told her she should "Play the game". There is a key quote in her blog

Little wonder that people in this country get stuck in the benefit system when it is based on having to lie and show no hope. You dare not tell the truth and say that you are recovering for fear of having your meagre payments stopped. It’s a ridiculous set up.

The thing is, if this is how people are treated by the system, then they will adapt. If you get penalised for trying, you won't bother. This is how dependency culture has evolved. Now I've never claimed benefits, so I've no experience, but this blog is depressing reading. The game should be to get yourself back into doing useful things. I have no glib answers as to how to fix the benefits system. All I can say is that if Scarlett's blog is really how it functions, then it really is not working and not fit for purpose.