It's my bloody liver


Day by day, the Nanny State creeps further and further our lives. Prying, poking and interfering.

CF no longer believes that his home is his castle - far too many new rules and regulations to allow that - but he used to believe that at least his body was his own, to do with as he pleased.

But no. As with everything else, we are not to be trusted. We need to be advised, directed, controlled.

Today we learn that even our internal organs are no longer 'our' internal organs. That's right: the news is, the Government is appointing a 'Liver Tsar'.

What the fuck? A 'Liver Tsar'?

Yup. Apparently we must be told how to look after our livers. Left to our own devices, we drink too much, eat fatty food and doubtless do other terribly naughty things to our poor innards.

This must stop.


Professor Roger Williams says urgent action is needed. He told Sky News:

"It's the three As: advertising, affordability and access"

Oh for fuck's sake. The'three As'? You can just see the Powerpoint presentation, can't you? Hear the whirr of the overhead projector. Smell the cold, nasty coffee. See the greasy-haired, bespectacled heads nodding in unison at this wisdom.

Sensing imminent funding, the Prof' goes on:

"The more people drink the more people around them drink and so it goes on and you have to tackle those three areas if you are going to reduce alcohol consumption in this country."

And by 'tackle', you patronising bastard, you mean control. Tame. Legislate against. All for our benefit, supposedly.

As always, the Righteous have lined up a convert to their cause, a former victim who was 'saved', and now is desperate to evangelise.

Jeanette Shiret hit the bottle after losing her job. She drank a litre-and-a-half of vodka a day. Even though she is now teetotal, her liver is so badly damaged that she would die if turned to booze again.

"The pressures, the everyday stress and strain of life, you end up drinking as a way to hide from your problems"

Well, sorry to hear that, Jeanette. But that was your choice, love.

And do you really think - does anyone really think - that if the Prof' had his way, and booze was taxed to oblivion, and vodka was twice the price, you'd have picked yourself up, dusted yourself down and found another job?

Nah: you'd still have a fucked-up liver, but you'd be a lot poorer too, to compound your misery.

As you say, Jeanette, you started drinking because you lost your job. Not because you were hugely impressed by that oh-clever-and-sexy vodka advert on the telly. So how would the Prof's first 'A' have helped you? Well of course: it wouldn't have.


Listen, Nanny. We don't care how much you think we should be allowed to drink. We don't want you to tell us how to live our lives.

Just fuck off. Fuck right off.


++ update ++ : someone claiming to be Jeanette Shiret has appeared in the comments, and is taking on all comers. Have a look, make up your own mind.
.

33 comments:

Captain Haddock said...

I neither know nor care who this "Roger" geezer is .. I reckon Hannibal Lecter should have been appointed as "Liver Tsar" ..

A couple of days ago, I saw elsewhere on the net (can't remember where but I'll try to find it again & post it) advice from the Government on how to go for a dump .. complete with diagram ..

So the latest consignment of geriatric shoe-repairers surprises me not .. Anyone with a single brain cell warned B'liar that extended Licensing hours would not curb so-called "binge" drinking .. they would merely provide more time for people to indulge in it ..

And, lo .. it came to pass ..

Bunch of half-arsed fuckwits .. the lot of 'em ...

JuliaM said...

She lost her job, but could afford to neck a lire and a half of vodka per day..? I smell a rat, frankly...

JuliaM said...

"The more people drink the more people around them drink..."

Really?

So, if you drop Rab C Nesbitt into the middle of Saudi Arabia, within a few days it 'party on, dudes!', is it?

Furor Teutonicus said...

What the fuck? A 'Liver Tsar'?

Ah, dats easy dat lad.

Dats whats a feking Russian emigreé in Scouslands called like!

Jill said...

It's a sledgehammer to crack a walnut (I know drink can wreak terrible havoc, but I drink and I'm not in the least bit havocked, and neither are most drinkers I know) - and of course, aside from the frickin' walnut, the sledgehammer starts cracking my civil liberties yet again. Meh.

On the other hand, I'm that cheap a date I'm razzled on 2 (small) glasses of red wine, so their liver tsar can up the price per unit as much he likes - I'll still be able to afford to drink. Snigger.

Laurence said...

"a lire and a half"
You've started early today, Julia!

JohnRS said...

He's right about the 3 As - Arsehole, Arsehole, Arsehole.

Animal Magic said...

Is that your gall bladder hanging out?

Captain Haddock said...

Animal Magic ...

Nah mate, its me "Chalfonts" .. Lol

Beancounter said...

I am sure that there are thousands of people who have lost their jobs and not turned to drink. What does that prove? Nothing.

Captain Haddock said...

Similarly, there are thousands of people out there who choose either not to drink .. or to drink very lighly .. Me being one of the latter ..

I was out at parties on both Christmas & New Year's Eves .. and because I'm known for being a very moderate drinker, I usually get asked to be "Duty Driver" .. I don't mind in the least & still manage to have a good time on a couple of pints of Coke or similar ..

Those who "binge-drink" will continue to do so, with or without excuses ..

thespecialone said...

Is there not one adult in this country that doesnt know that drinking gallons will do you damage? How much are we paying this Roger twat?

Dick Puddlecote said...

Great post, CF. Personal responsibility must be eradicated for Labour to achieve their great trek to socialist karma.

They've barely begun, though, so expect a lot, lot more.

Here's what up next. Better than Ant & Dec, but ...

selsey.steve said...

After a hard day's grind in the office the local Plods I always fancy a pint or two (or more, depending on the day) when I get home. We in the Plods have a much more disparaging opinion of the Home Office and politicians in general than anyone writing to this blog, I can tell you. I can also tell you where this "poor" tart got her vodka. She nicked it, probably by the case, from her local supermarket, just like all the kids do. The staff are too shit-scared to try and stop them.

woman on a raft said...

"as you say, Jeanette, you started drinking because you lost your job."

No. That's the basic lie the alcoholic tells themselves. It always comes down to this: they drink because they do and are pre-disposed to a range of addictive behaviours. It's just a question of which one they go with, and recognizing that they can choose to not behave that way.

"The job made me do it" is just an evasion of responsibility for the behaviour, as if the choice of what to eat or drink or smoke came from some mysterious agent outside and therefore they can be absolved of responsibility for their choice.

It's a pisser, but having an addictive personality doesn't absolve the person of responsibility for their choices and - almost as important - it means there are relatively few things the rest of us can do to influence that behaviour, but the first thing is to stop acting as if it were our responsibilty or under our control. It plainly isn't.

As anyone who has dealt with an alcoholic will testify, the choice is to either to put up with the behaviour and give low-level support when the drinker wants to change their habits, or leave them to it.

The Liver Tzar is making things worse by shoring up the false belief that the remedy for the behaviour lies 'out in the world' rather than 'in between the ears'. Since Prof Williams failed to prevent George Best burning up his own liver and then the donated one, it should be obvious that it isn't within his power to do so and he could do us all a favour by recognizing it.

In his own way, Prof Williams is locked in to the addictive behaviour and unwittingly promoting it.

Having said that, how come beer and wine are so much more alcoholic than they used to be? You have to hunt for one which is towards 3% proof. Some of them are like wine used to be, and wine is shuffling off towards the level of a fortified drink such as sherry.

Anonymous said...

"The more people drink the more people around them drink..."

And that, friends, is "second-hand drink". Ain't it bloody marvellous?

Longrider said...

WOAR - spot on.

"As anyone who has dealt with an alcoholic will testify, the choice is to either to put up with the behaviour and give low-level support when the drinker wants to change their habits, or leave them to it."

I nearly did the latter. Ended up doing the former.

Fausty said...

That they can shove these rules down our throats is partly our fault.

We allow ourselves to be conditioned. We submit to conformity, willingly.

Watch - see how easily it's done.

When the government wants to launch one of its pet projects, like curbing alcohol usage, it poses questions like:

"Should we reduce the price of alcohol?"

... after it has already lined up its fake charities and friendly journalists to do a piece in favour of its goals.

Like sheep, we believe that there is a consensus and, too frightened to rail against it, most people play along when they should be asking WTF our alcohol consumption has to do with the government.

jeanette siret said...

its so nice to read your comments about me, especially as you know nothing about me, except what youve read on the ever trusted media news. for the record:
i did not start drinking because i lost my job, sky news chose to make it look that way. secondly 'love' you can smell as many rats as you like, but a litre and a half of vodka isnt a lot when you consider the large redundancy pay out i had, so rest assured your tax wasnt paying for it. as for dying from liver disease being my fault..yea cool, i agree. what i dont agree with is others blindly following me because they dont know the dangers. i wasnt born an alcoholic, i was human once. oh but then again you lot would know all that if youd bothered to read MY comments on the sky news website slating them for what they said and published, but of course you didnt, youd rather get on here and wish me dead for my sins cos thats more fun. n no mate, i aint looking for sympathy, nor to the other guy do i have a well paid job..again if youd read it properly, ud see i work there for fuck all..have a nice day..oh n dont drink too much, people may think your a waste of space :0)

jeanette siret said...

selsey steve...one, im not a tart..two, see previous, i spent my own money...three, im not a theif, and would like to see you in court on that yourself. not that its any of your business, but i worked very hard for a living for 30yrs, so i spent my own money thank you. do try and stop being a twat and getting your kicks by talking about something you know nothing about, im hardly a kid..but you have the 'no it all' but really know nothing mentality of one.

jeanette siret said...

woman on a raft. please dont come psycology on me, ive studied it. again...why are you saying I SAID that i started drinking because i lost my job?...please someone point that out to me in the report?? try not to read untruths between the lines just to have your say. woman on a raft...im well aware of how addiction works, im well aware i have an addictive nature, i have studied alcohol and drug addiction, i also study mental health. i also never said it was your responsibility..or did i? could you point that out in the report please? for some unknown reason all you lot seem to think im some dumb scumball...do any of you know me? i started drinking like any normal person does today, i socialised like the majority of people do today. after that i have no reason to share with you, cos you dont want to know, you just want to rant about bollox. but for the record, i didnt know the dangers of drinking 35yrs ago. my oppinion is that the money spent on the tsar should have been put into education...oh but that would be a bad idea woudnt it? cos after all, its come from an alcy who shags anyone and likes to steal from little old ladies...wankers :0)

Constantly Furious said...

Jeanette.

Calm down dear. I wasn't having a pop at you, I was having a pop at the fucking stupid idea of creating a 'Liver Tsar', and at the statement that the cure for liver-damaging alcholism was to decrease 'advertising, access and affordability.'

Can you honestly say that the "three A's" would have helped you at all?

If you believe that, you're deluded. If you don't, you're being used as a Poster Child.

jeanette siret said...

sorry 'mate', but im not your 'dear' do me the curtesy of using my name, you managed to enough times in your blog.
as for not having a pop at me!! bollox, you 'quoted' me and talked 'about' me with no knowledge of me at all...you pick on those that get paid for it all you want, but dont take your bad day's out on the likes of me.
the 3 a's are imaterial to me, i have my own oppinions about what needs doing, and they were in the interview. dont call me a poster child you cheeky little boy, i am neither deluded or a child, which is more than i can say about the little sheep who follow you around with no real oppinions of their own. have a nice day

jeanette siret said...

claiming to be me am i? i actualy managed to spell my name right, which is more than you or sky did :)
would you like my photograph? i could autograph it for you.
whats up? dont people normaly question you?

Furor Teutonicus said...

From your ranting and almost rabid reaction sweety, it would appear that you are not QUITE off the bottle yet.

So just go and have a nice drinky and calm down.

Hit the nail on the head have I?

Constantly Furious said...

Jeanette,

I based my post - and my views - purely on what I read on the Sky website.

If I'm wrong, because Sky and/or the 'Campaign for Livers' misrepresented - and misspelled - you, then I'm sorry.

I'd be happy to put up another post putting your side of the story, and I'm sure the commenters here would be interested to read it.

Could you email me: constantly.furious@gmail.com ?

StaceInspire said...

Ooh where do I start with this one?!

The Liver Tsar is obviously another gimmicky government idea. They'll pump another fool with obscene amounts of money which could be better spent on helping people to better access treatment and also education and prevention initiatives. Unfortunately we do live in a Nanny state but again unfortunately some people out there do need nannying. The cost of Alcohol abuse in this country is so phenomenal and there seems to be a massive hypocrisy going on between society's views. Yes, of course people should be free to choose what they put into their bodies but surely people should be made aware of the potential dangers of excessive consumption? Would we prefer not to know? Would we be prefer to be able to drink ourselves silly and then in a few years time someone to tell us that we have been doing something that's killing us? Either way, people would be constantly furious! Too much information/not enough information. Most people know that Alcohol is harmful, we are just geting more detail now to give people further opprotunity to think about what they are doing.

With regards to Jeanette's story I would like to back her up on a few points. I was present when she was interviewed and as the media do they pick and choose staements that will fit the agenda of the piece. Yes part of her journey was that her alcohol use escalated when she was made REDUNDANT. She did not lose her job because of her drinking and had not been unemployed for an extended period. She had worked hard for years and lived a relatively normal life whilst still drinking socially. So in reply to the snidey comment made about how she paid for the Alcohol it was with redundancy pay which I'm sure many people currently are doing for the same reason. She was using more to cope with the redundancy as well as other things. She is not a victim and was not doing the interview to be seen as such. She was not blaming being unemployed as an EXCUSE for drinking but as one of the factors that descended her into a very bad place. There were other factors which she herself can choose to disclose or not. I doubt many of the commenters so far would really care anyway. It is all too easy to patronise and demean people with drink or drugs problems because we choose to fail to understand or have any empathy. It is great to know that people can use Alcohol and not cause problems for society. Nobody, however, chooses to become Alcohol dependent, it can slowly creep up on anyone, such is the nature of Alcohol as a physically addictive drug. One of the points Jeanette is trying to put across is that it could be anyone that could develop an alcohol problem, from the smug recreational 'I have better willpower than 'them' to those who are probably in denial about the fact they could be an 'alcoholic' and are likely to also cause a strain on our NHS. Jeanette has been very strong and faced many hurdles along her treatment journey, including ignorant attitudes such as the ones already expressed here. She is stronger now and is using her story to highlight to people that it isn't just the stereotypical down and outs that develop drink problems. It could be any one of us. We do not know what events in our lives may affect us and to what extent. Nobody asks to become dependent on any substance. It is merely a coping mechanism which can get out of control. I would like to commend Jeanette for actually using her experiences as a positive and letting herself be open to such a tirade. Sleep well tonight people, and may you never need help or support with anything. May you never require your needs to be understood.

Jeanette, well done.

jeanette siret said...

constantly furious,

thank you for your offer,it is appreciated, however as im sure you can see from the bigot who posted above you (the one who isnt worth any kind of respose)those people replying to your blog have already made up their minds, why would i give them further chance to abuse me?...
regards
Jeanette

jeanette siret said...

Stacey,

Thank you for giving your views as someone who actualy knows me.
I sincerely hope that people will read your other comments regarding addiction in general and see a truer side of the reality in which we live.

Jeanette

Furor Teutonicus said...

StaceInspire said...

Yes, of course people should be free to choose what they put into their bodies but surely people should be made aware of the potential dangers of excessive consumption? Would we prefer not to know?


What kind of brain dead imbicilic idiot does it take NOT to know?

Besides the fact that this motherfucking bastard is trying to oimpose HIS views upon the world, that is the point. That the "Government" are pouring BILLIONS into such "teaching Granny to suck eggs" schemes.

StaceInspire said...

As I said above, I repeat, of course most people do know that Alcohol is harmful but now we are given more detail to explain why. No point just telling people 'Alcohol is bad'. People have the right to information. Some people may not want to know, other people do. It's better we have the choice. We are free to take heed of the advice or not. Yes, sometimes it can seem like overkill but just because the Government are sending hypocritical and mixed messages about Alcohol it doesn't mean as a nation we shouldn't be trying to be a bit more sensible with it. Moderation in all things :)

StaceInspire said...

Oh.. and can I point out that I am not an advocate of the Liver Tsar either. The Drugs Tsar was so successful wasn't he?! One day maybe there will be the Tsar of Tsars. BTW, Furor, I loved your comment, 'the motherfucking bastard' brilliant. :)

Unfortunately some people are imbecilic idiots who don't realise the damage they are doing and do need to be spoonfed. Have you never seen Jeremy Kyle?!

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