Take osteoporosis for a good example; we all know that alcohol and smoking increases the risk of brittle bones later on and women are developing this condition in their forties now which is frightening. Increasingly we are seeing more supplements for joint pain remedies appearing alongside beauty cosmetics on the shelves now which tells you how much of a problem this is becoming.

You can look after your joints by taking omega 3’s and staying active – and don’t forget the calcium girls.

Given that millions of private sector workers have suffered a pay freeze or reduced income due to a cut in hours, the rises are putting a real squeeze on living standards. Just this week it emerged BT is putting up landline call charges by 10 per cent to counter the effect of customers switching to mobile or internet calls. And despite gas and electricity bills being lower than a year ago, suppliers stand accused of failing to pass on the full benefit of falls in wholesale prices.

Halal meat for Muslims has been readily available in the UK for years, but now a business woman has gone a step further by launching a range of halal make-up. The cosmetics – which includes everything from lipstick to eyeliner and blusher – are made in strict accordance with Islamic law, using plant extracts and minerals instead of alcohol and animal products.

The business was started by a muslim lady named Samina Akhter living in the UK. Samina, who runs the business from her home in Birmingham, started importing the make-up from Australia six months ago.  She now has more than 500 customers as well as interest from America and Indonesia. The cosmetics are shipped in from Australia and certified by the independent Halal Certification Authority Australia. Prices range from lipsticks for £8 to full make-up packs for £65.

Samina Pure make-up is the first company in the UK to sell halal certified make-up however I think Annita Roddick of The Body Shop got in first with the animal-friendly cosmetic range…

Obviously they will come in all kinds of sizes and are usually designed for industrial use but there’s an interesting amount of industrial chemicals in most of our homes these days. Some of those things will simply eat through your normal paint tins as some people have found to their detriment.

Maybe this has slipped the minds of a few American executives – but this tragedy in India at the hands of American Gas giant Union Carbide rates as the worst industrial catastrophe of all time. While Obama calls for British heads to roll over the BP oil spill, let’s revisit a few facts that he might do well to consider…

11 people killed in accident on oil rig leased by British company BP, resulting in 4 presidential visits, a $1.6bn clean-up bill and the establishment of a $20bn compensation fund in 2 months.

15,000+ people killed in accident at Indian Bhopal plant owned by American company Union Carbide, resulting in O presidential visits, O clean-up bill and just $470m compensation in 25 years.

Now, shall we say Pot. Kettle. Black…?

On the other hand, while I welcome this re-introduction, charges are likely to be introduced on these smallish withdrawals and there is the possibility of the ATM’s running out of cash faster than usual. I, however, like the idea of the small-change dispenser – ever dashed in a hurry to withdraw some cash to pay for your bus ticket on a Monday morning only to get a £50.00 note pop out…? and then there’s the look on the face of the bus driver…

EU nationals have the right of ‘freedom of movement’ which allows them to move to, and work in, any country within the European Union – the UK by far is the most popular choice for them to make. The benefits system is favourable to them as they have the same rights to welfare benefits and free healthcare as a British person but without the requirement to have paid tax and contributions. This has to be addressed so that the UK comes into line with other EU countries like France and Spain who require ALL citizens to have paid social contributions for FIVE YEARS before any claim to benefits can be made. The UK system is too lax, too generous and too open to abuse.

Many of the EU nationals arriving have very poor English language skills, are very often employed before a British worker at minimum rates (stay in any hotel around the UK and you will almost certainly be met at reception or have your room cleaned by eastern Europeans), the NHS has a dire problem in that it has employed thousands of non-english speaking staff from EU and non-EU countries…why? add to this the desperate situation since Romania was accepted into the EU and the crime wave that has resulted since their gypsie population have set up shop in the UK and are now running child-beggar syndicates. Here in Northern Ireland it is commonplace now to be accosted by Roma women begging (above) for change outside shops, ATM’s and in carparks. EU nationals coming here cost the British taxpayer millions of pounds in social welfare (housing, healthcare, child benefit…) whereas non-EU migrants almost always have to work and pay tax…so who is more beneficial to the UK?

EU nationals are not counted as migrants owing to the freedom of movement policy, they are not counted ‘in’ and they are not counted ‘out’ when they leave so statistics counting them are often conservative. As it stands for example, a well qualified Australian or New Zealand citizen – Commonwealth citizens no less – will find it extremely difficult in the future to secure a working visa to come to the UK whereas illiterate, poorly-skilled Polish, Slovakians, Romanians will be able to enter the UK, and work, at will. Is this really what is best for the UK…? by all means cap migration for a period but by the same token measures MUST be taken to make the UK a far less lucrative option for those coming here from impoverished EU nations simply to take advantage of a welfare system British taxpayers work hard to finance. The UK cannot afford it any longer, regardless of anyone’s right to be here.

I have already set aside a ‘kitty’ for that special occasion. I intend to buy him the whole shebang…formal suit – I am not sure about the mens ties so have to see what young men wear with a suit these days – and a sharp pair of shoes for him of course. You can ask yourself if it is better to hire a suit or should you splash out and buy a good one, all depends on whether your teen has completed his growing. My son is 6ft 2″ and I’d say at 17 he is just about done as far as height is concerned so the suit I buy just may do him for other occasions over the next few years. The worry is they might have a final growth spurt and your expensive suit is rendered useless. Anyway, this is special occasion for him and only the best will do

Naturally, there isn’t one. It’s not that there aren’t pills and potions that will help you lose weight, it’s that there are lots of different ones around each of them working on different principles. For example, you can get pills which absorb fat which work wonderfully if you eat a diet with lots of fat or there are those that aim to speed up your metabolism which helps if you are like many people and spend a lot of the day relatively inactive behind a desk and then there’s the likes of websites like www.loseweightfast.net which try to be all things to everyone in the way of advice.

So, yes, the diet pills do work but so does the simple act of cutting down and exercising more – as far as pills go though you need to find the one that targets the reason behind your weight. Bear in mind too that for many of them the effect wears off after a while.

And about bloody time too!

It is a tough budget but for those who are already living with their belts tightened to the max the changes will make little difference to their lives, those who flourished under the irresponsible social disaster that was the welfare spending of the Labour Party will feel the pinch the most. Time to get off those bums, turn off the Jeremy Kyle show and start earning a living! VAT will see an increase of 3% but will that stop the High Street devotees on their Saturday morning shopping sprees…? I doubt it – people will still spend so long as the must-haves exist. People will still buy their booze and fags, the latest console games will fly off the shelves when they hit the stores – few British children will go unindulged, heaven forbid.

As Harriet Harman shrieks and yells in protest from the other side of the Floor she fails to remember that had her Govt not been so busy throwing taxpayers money at the lazy, feckless and workshy for 13 years for doing nothing other than breeding children in homes which would never see an adult go out to work, then this budget would not need to be of the ‘damage control’ type that it is. The benefits system desperately needs reform, reducing and redressing – to stop it becoming a lifestyle choice and to stop it being the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for so many eastern Europeans and asylum seekers who come here for no other reason.

Judging by Harman’s response it is clear that had Labour retained Govt the United Kingdom would be in the hands of Administrators before the end of the year.