What are social services thinking?

Me and my best mate are friends with a girl that has 2 cousins that we both know. That bit is important. Cousin number one was on Jeremy Kyle several times. Cousin number two acts like she is so much better than every one else.

Reality is cousin number two is much worse than cousin number one. Cousin number two was living with a lad. They had a daughter. They broke up because they had a fight and she put on facebook that she was in bed with another lad THE SAME NIGHT her and this lad broke up. She sent her daughter to live with her mum and she moved away.

When she was away, she had 2 boys with another lad and they got taken into care. She split with him and moved back up and started going out with a friend of my best mates partner.

So cousin number two and lad are living together. She has another daughter, and she thinks lad is cheating on her (he's not but she goes to lads houses every night drinking and has a cannabis addiction) lad tells her to get help so she pushes daughter down the stairs and her self and tells hospital and police that lad pushed her down (she admitted to our mate) so daughter gets taken into care and social services make her go into a womens refuge and get help.

Yesterday my best mate is in the city Centre and bumps into cousin number two. Drunk (this is at lunchtime) and she tells my best mate that social services have given her daughter back to her. She then asks my best mate for money because she "forgot" to get her daughter milk and food. My best mate said no, and told her that she needed to put her daughter before her drinking, and to ask the daughters father for some money.

My best mate called our friend last night and she said that all cousin number two had to do was attend a few parenting classes, pass one drug test (which her social worker told her the date she was getting it and told her to avoid drugs and drink a few days before) and she got her daughter back.

Also, cousin number two has a new boyfriend who is now buying EVERYTHING for the daughter and the daughters dad isnt even allowed to see her. When its his days, she calls him and says shes ill. And social services wont do anything to force her to let him see her, even though he has a court order that gives him visitation. Even the courts arent bothered.

Our mate called social services to expressive concern last week and got told that the case was closed, and they didn't have the resources to re open it. Is that how vulnerable children are being protected? And at the same time, parents who have done nothing wrong are having their kids taken from them. Its a flawed system that needs to be overhauled.

'Let it shine' isn't about a boy band after all.

So the entire point of the BBC talent show 'Let It Shine' was to find 5 lads who would appear in a musical called 'The Band' based on Take That songs.

Um, except now its been revealed that the musical is now about a girl band, and the 5 lads who won are, from my understanding, just gonna be singing in the background.

Why have we watched this show for 8 weeks thinking that we were watching a theatre show been cant when we haven't?  Its all been a lie.

The entire show has been nothing but free publicity for Gary Barlow.

The tories and mental health.

When Theresa May became prime minister she said that the conservatives were the party for all. Later she said that her government would end the stigma of mental health.

Now the tories are saying that PIP payments are going to be stopped for "people who are at home and take pills for anxiety".

Anxiety is as much a real mental health problem as depression, bipolar and other mental health conditions. Anxiety is horrible: panic attacks, racing heart, clammy palms and dry mouth are horrible symptoms of anxiety.

People who suffer from OCD also suffer from anxiety. That condition can take over people 's lives, as can anxiety. Phobia' s (another anxiety related condition) can stop people leaving their homes.

And with the NHS in crisis (and the tories in complete denial about it. They want every one to go private) you wait even longer to see someone about your mental health.

And its people with mental health conditions that the government pick on the most. Is this really the end of the stigma Theresa May promised? I don't think so.

The truth is how can a government run by a bunch of millionaires really relate to the rest of us? They cant. They just keep churning out the same old false promises and looking our for their rich mates.

So dont believe that they care. They don't. They proved that when they target the vulnerable over and over again.

'Let it shine' The final. (SPOILERS)

So the final of 'Let it shine' happened and it was.... odd.

Robbie Williams was meant to be appearing as a guest judge but he hurt his back so would only perform instead (?) so we got a new guest judge.

Peter Kay. The comedian. I'm not sure who came up with that idea. It was a mixture of hilarity and car crash in equal measures.

He came out dressed as Honey G, the 'X Factor' contest (the resemblance was freaky. I am convinced that he is Honey G) and when he was asked what kind of judge he would be, he replied "inadequate".

And then he kept mentioning ITV shows. Good publicity that. It was on the BBC.

Martin Kemp said that he never thought that they'd find a band that were talented (he obviously had high hopes for the show) and Gary Barlow said during the audition rounds that to audition for a music theatre show, he didn't want any musical theatre songs yet tonight he had the bands singing musical theatre.

I thought the band that won were the obvious one to win. But in the defence of 'drive', they had my favourite singers in but they were 2 bands put into one, and I thought that was an unfair thing to do. The other 2 bands were together for longer and the lads in 'drive' voices didn't really compliment each other, but the judges made that decision.

I don't know what I thought of the show. I know that, in my opinion, the audition was too drawn out but the live shows didn't feel enough. I dont think 3 live shows was enough. It felt rushed and I didn't feel invested in the groups.

I did like all 3 judges and the guest judges. They all added some thing.

My favourite thing about the final? I Robbie rejoining Take That (again) and Michael Ball and Alfie Boe singing. I couldnt help but think though, as I watched 2 west end legends, that some of these lads were out of their depths.

Good luck to 'five to five' (who picked the bands name? We had a band called neon panda, which sounds like a nightclub, not a boyband) They werent my favourite but I wish them, and the show, the best of luck.

24 Legacy.

I haven't watched the new 24 yet and, to be honest, I am a bit anxious about doing so.

I LOVED the show. I sat in front of the tv trying to guess who the moles were (usually wrongly) and who I thought would die next. It was amazing. I even loved the London one.

But the new show lacks the one (two?) thing(s) that made the show for me. Jack Bauer /Kiefer Sutherland. I am a huge fan of them both (I do know Jack is fictional) so I have mixed feelings about 24 without him.

That aside, I do know my other favourite 24 character, Tony Almeida is returning at some point in the season so I look forward to that(so long as the character isn't ruined) but I want both Tony and Jack to have more screen time. They are part of the '24' history.

I will watch the new 24 at some point. I just might re-watch some early episodes first.

Prince Harry talking about mental health.

Today Prince Harry was in my part of the world to talk about mental health (I didn't see him, sadly).

I think that its brilliant that Prince's Harry and Edward and Princess Kate (to give them their official title's) are choosing to support mental health causes.

It's easy to believe that times have changed and that the stigma of mental illness has gone away. It hasn't. People with mental health problems still face stigma and poor understanding of their problems.

People who need help, suicide people, are being put on long waiting lists by the NHS and no offer of additional help while you wait because of cuts. People' s lives are at stake and being put on a waiting list is not really any help.

With the younger members of the royal family supporting mental health causes I hope that services and understanding of mental illness start getting better.

Why doesn't HMV not stock cds of people I really like?

I know that the answer is because some of the people I like are not mainstream enough. It is annoying though. Especially when you think the people who aren't mainstream should be.

Examples:

The Wallflowers/ Jakob Dylan.
I love Jakob's voice. And I thought that being the son of a legend (Bob Dylan) would make him mainstream. Apparently not. At least Jakob is talented unlike some of the people taking up shelf space.

Tyler Hilton.
Not mainstream at all. I love Tyler's voice too. My argument for Tyler being mainstream is 'One Tree Hill'. He appeared (and sang) on a hit tv show that was popular over here. The dvds are still avaliable so why not an album of a star of the show?

Darren Hayes.
One of the most talented singers out there, and one half of the brilliant 'Savage Garden', it appears that having a beautiful, emotional voice and writing thoughtful, emotional and beautiful songs isnt mainstream. That said,  Savage Garden were criminally under rated so I don't know why I am shocked by that.

Thank God for mp3's and you tube, so that I can actually listen to these artists. I just hate how music stores have all but dissapeared off the high streets and the ones that are left are giving you zero choice in what to listen to. If you dont wanna listen to the artists in the top 40 then you dont really have many other choices.

Disclaimer: I listen to some top 40 artists: Maroon 5, Little mix, Charlie Puth, Bruno Mars all favourites of mine. I just like other stuff too.