http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/ Our columnist, Maureen Messent discusses euthanasia and tells her story. Maureen regularly comments on health, lifestyle issues and her pick of the latest news. en-gb http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/05/09/arrogant-youth-should-pay-for-crippling-cerys-97319-20885867/ Thu, 08 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/05/09/arrogant-youth-should-pay-for-crippling-cerys-97319-20885867/ THE High Court has awarded an interim £800,000 to the family of little Cerys Edwards, who suffered catastrophic injuries in a car crash. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/05/09/it-can-happen-here-and-it-does-97319-20885878/ Thu, 08 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/05/09/it-can-happen-here-and-it-does-97319-20885878/ IF YOU had cupped a hand behind your ear in Britain this last week, you will have heard a nation congratulating itself that the horrors of the Austrian cellar weren't uncovered on our island. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/05/02/a-year-on-we-still-can-t-quite-forgive-the-mccanns-97319-20853030/ Thu, 01 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/05/02/a-year-on-we-still-can-t-quite-forgive-the-mccanns-97319-20853030/ THAT beautiful little face, a perfect oval, has stared at us for a year now. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/25/but-you-are-a-clown-ian-97319-20819408/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/25/but-you-are-a-clown-ian-97319-20819408/ AS A sporting mercenary, footballer Ian Wright did well. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/25/our-immigrants-problem-is-not-race-but-culture-97319-20819412/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/25/our-immigrants-problem-is-not-race-but-culture-97319-20819412/ IT MATTERS not a jot in the great scheme of things that council leaders in Bradford axed a children's march to celebrate St George's Day. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/25/spare-us-the-sob-stories-97319-20819419/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/25/spare-us-the-sob-stories-97319-20819419/ BRING out the tissues. Start up the waterworks. Another batch of wannabes is running a nice little line in emotional blackmail. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/18/clyde-s-a-sight-for-sore-eyes-97319-20784012/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/18/clyde-s-a-sight-for-sore-eyes-97319-20784012/ THE happier story this week has been that of Clyde, the young Welsh cob, whose sight has been saved by a Birmingham Mail reader after she learned Clyde's owner couldn't afford a £2,500 eye operation. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/18/these-were-no-hapless-victims-97319-20784026/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/18/these-were-no-hapless-victims-97319-20784026/ SEE our blame-free nation has advanced a few paces this week with the body of Midlands-born children's TV presenter, Mark Speight, found near Paddington Station. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/11/blind-devotion-beggars-belief-97319-20751354/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/11/blind-devotion-beggars-belief-97319-20751354/ WOMANKIND'S forgiveness of rotters is legendary - but one woman takes it to unbelievable lengths. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/11/lack-of-family-in-modern-society-97319-20751361/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/11/lack-of-family-in-modern-society-97319-20751361/ WE WERE amused when Blair's mouthpiece, Alistair Campbell, said "we don't do God" - but he stopped too short there. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/11/too-blonde-to-know-97319-20751365/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/11/too-blonde-to-know-97319-20751365/ I'M PUZZLED by that yarn of young Lady Kitty Spencer, Earl Spencer of Althorp's daughter. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/04/a-real-chancer-97319-20719121/ Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/04/a-real-chancer-97319-20719121/ MUSLIM Bushra Noah, 19, seeks £35,000 in damages from a London hairdressing salon owner who turned her down for a job because she wouldn't take off her headscarf. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/04/men-giving-birth-is-a-step-too-far-97319-20719128/ Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/04/men-giving-birth-is-a-step-too-far-97319-20719128/ NEWS that a "man" has already given birth in a British hospital and, in America, another "male" is pregnant revolts me. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/04/sugar-s-victims-get-no-more-than-their-just-deserts-97319-20719130/ Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/04/04/sugar-s-victims-get-no-more-than-their-just-deserts-97319-20719130/ WHAT a snivelling, lily-livered lot we'd be were we to take onboard the advice of Kidscape, the anti-bullying charity. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/28/home-s-no-place-for-shy-shannon-97319-20686777/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/28/home-s-no-place-for-shy-shannon-97319-20686777/ LITTLE Shannon Matthews, once lost, now found, was clearly not a happy child. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/28/lead-us-not-into-temptation-97319-20686779/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/28/lead-us-not-into-temptation-97319-20686779/ THAT government edict by which cigarettes could be banned from display surely doesn't go far enough. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/28/theft-is-theft-97319-20686784/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/28/theft-is-theft-97319-20686784/ I'M NOT pious, but I can't join in the mirth of the thieving classes in Hull who found a faulty cash machine in a supermarket. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/28/you-can-t-teach-happiness-les-97319-20686785/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/28/you-can-t-teach-happiness-les-97319-20686785/ HANG on a minute while I try to absorb this. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/21/haven-for-the-victims-of-human-brutality-97319-20656279/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/21/haven-for-the-victims-of-human-brutality-97319-20656279/ FELINE faces, slit-eyed in the sunshine, peer from wool-lined wicker baskets. There are tiny chairs, also covered, and a ramp leading to the top tier of bunk beds to help old cats reach their favourite perches. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/14/this-is-not-poverty-it-s-inadequacy-97319-20622816/ Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2008/03/14/this-is-not-poverty-it-s-inadequacy-97319-20622816/ AS PREDICTABLY as summer following spring, the chief executive of Barnardo's has been trumpeting his old tune again.