Emilia Clarke reminds of Angel , Dick Strawbridges wife, when she is giving an interview. I don't see this at all when she is playing Danaerys Targaeryn. Its's a similar endearing giggling , eye squinting expression.

The times they are a changing

Ireland has repealed the 8th Amendment. Abortion has not been decriminalised as of yet as the law governing this was connected to the 8th. There are celebrations to honour the fact women in Ireland should now have autonomy over their bodies.It was celebrating the reasons why many women will have to invoke these rights. I wrote the rest of this when I was feeling  bit overwhelmed at what has happened historically.

Do you remember this song?

‘She had a baby three months old, weile weile waile.
She had a baby three months old, down by the river Saile.

She had a penknife, long and sharp, weile weile waile.
She had a penknife, long and sharp, down by the river Saile.

She stuck the penknife in the baby's heart, weile weile waile.
She stuck the penknife in the baby's heart, down by the river Saile.

Initially, a nursery rhythm, made famous by Christy Moore and The Dubliners, referencing The Irish Famine.Between 1850 and 1900 there were more than 4,500 suspected cases of infanticide  by the childs mother (not including cases of where relatives where involved). Lack of food and money , not just the views of society played a factor.Some were ‘luckier’, the father might marry them or Grandmother pretend it was hers . Maybe she could leave it for the week with a childminder, paying them most of their wages, sure if they had the baby with them they couldn’t be a live-in servant. Maybe a Mother and baby Home would suit? Mortality rates were high but still you would have somewhere to stay. Even if you did kill the baby and were sentence the judge might be lenient, tell you ‘You’re a good girl ‘and let you off with a ‘You must be on your best behaviour now’. A Foundling Hospital might be better again let The Angel Makers take care of things'What else could I do?’ describes many of these cases

 Since there have been people, we have decided. During the Stone Age the human population remained quite static and many anthropologists believe this was achieved through infanticide.  Roman times, a letter from a soldier to his wife ‘If it is a boy keep it but if it’s a girl expose it’.There are many myths of children from poor families been found and raised by rich families or wolves. We all have ways of justifying our actions

In Asia now we ask where are all the girls gone? Government intervention to control the population has led to secret births and gender selection.Where it is forbidden , they will travel. If they can not, they will order pills or find someone  to do it for them.Whatever the laws throughout the world all the babies will not be born or if they are they all will not live.This is true for Ireland whatever the decision on May 25th Whether we like it or not this is part of the Human Experience. 

Slightly Darwinian but we have not always been pre disposed to help the weak or feed the hungry in times of scarcity.It's terrible to have to make these choices but we do and have done for milenia.As horrified as you maybe be you have to accept this. Preaching about the sanctity of life doesn't feed the starving or care for the disabled. It doesn't help the baby who will not survive inside the womb or its mother who may die of sepsis. It's easier to tell others what do when you don't have deal with the aftermath. It's harder to walk in her shoes

Changes

25th of May 2018. The date of the the referendum to Repeal the 8th amendment in Ireland. It 1983, the year I was born, it was introduced. I watched  a montage put together of the various referendums and rights people have protested for in Ireland. The right to contraceptives was a major one. At first they were illegal and then you could get the by prescription , if you were married and your doctor felt like giving it to you .It helped prevent pregnancy to a certain extent but didn't protect from everything. It's only 28 years since marital rape became illegal  in Ireland.  A friend recalls his Irish uncle coming back from being drafted into the army in the US with bands of condoms.He dispersed them among the locals  clamouring for them in his rural community.He reckoned many a one was washed out and reused! That was the story anyway but I think he was prone to exageration.When he brought back an American girlfriend and she asked him how much land they owned he , with a sweep of his hand , he indicated half of South Kerry
There was a ban on the sale of from 1935 to 1978 but you could give a donation and be gifted some.In protest on May 22nd 1971 a trainload of women from Southern Ireland went to the North returning laden down with contraceptive pills and condoms.

Thomas Ryan, Bishop of Clonfert, said that "... never before, and certainly not since penal times was the Catholic heritage of Ireland subjected to so many insidious onslaughts on the pretext of conscience, civil rights and women's liberation."  
There seems to be a fear of women and their ability to make choices. The Famine decimated the population and the ones left seem to have a residual fear of more babies more mouths to feed. This seems to be where Church stepped into the void encouraging abstinence and marrying later. Pregnant women where not married or troublesome at all at home became scapegoated. This seems to have occurred in cycles throughout history.Thats nor to say in Pre Christain times that all children were cared for.  If you really want to give yourself nightmares google 'The Infanticidal Mode of Childrearing'.

And soon we will hear the results on The 8th amendment. I know it made me cry (happy tears ) when we voted for The Right for LGBTQ people to marry even though I'm neither gay nor want to excercise my own right to marry. I felt so emotional because love is love and marriage was originally a contract , joining families and property, forming alliances. And now our LGBTQ friends can use these contracts too to make sure their children and property can go to their spouses should anything happen

Schadenfreude

I've been watching TedTalks on Youtube and really liked them but have moved on to other bloggers connected to theme of the talks I've been looking up. Mainly money, saving it, earning ways of earning it you think of , living without it ( Mark Boylan, The Moneyless Man). I like to hear about the extreme versions of ideas people have tried. . Some you feel are very genuine and others have jumped on a bandwagon ( understandably) as its paying them. It pulls them away from a time from the way they have been living .Bea Johnsons  famous talk on a Zero Waste lifestyle and it has been saving them money. They buy experiences instead of things. Bloggers who started off doing Make up tutorials( as in professional level even when they are self taught) and now branch out onto other topics. I love when they tell you a little about how they earn income from their blogs.And sometimes I'm envious. But I recognise this.It only comes up when I'm temporarily dissatisfied with my own life. As in  'Aww , how come they get to stay at home and make money?. Then I check myself. Alot of these people were not overnight successes. They worked day and maybe night jobs in between, spent time tuning their make techniques, researching their topics, making their videos, worked around their children and background noises . They maybe had tough times so used blogging as an escape to talk about topics they liked or document how they have done things .
I'm an introvert so think I'll stick to writing. I 'm not sure If I would be 'animated' enough fro Youtube or have enough material to fill a channel. I like to try some of their suggestions on a smaller scale. The internet is fantastic source for ideas. I've dabbled with some of the suggestion. You have to work out if the effort is worth it for you. Scanning shopping on Shopandscan is easy  but a little tedious(you do get faster at it with practice) , doing online surveys(some pay up fast, others take  bit of time to build up points or annoy you by saying you don't qualify after answering a few q's without giving you points!). I've just found 'Get Your Shit Together ' by Laura on Irish blogger. This is great as most of them online are UK or US based. Nothing wrong with watching them either its just that not everything applies here.'The book 'Your Money or Your Life' by Joseph R. Dominguez Monique Tilford and Viki Robin. has a good tip . When you are going to buy something , think of how many hours at minimum wage, would it cost you buy . Or if you really want it after discovering how many any hours it would cost you and want to justify it  roughly work our your cost per wear. This works out better for me and my trainers rather than the numerous beautiful high heels languishing in my wardrobe....Sometimes you've just got to spend the money to learn the lesson.