The publication of a membership list for the BNP raises fundamental questions for civil liberties. Leader Nick Griffin has a point when he says that the banning of becoming a member of a political party is a restriction of freedoms. True, liberty is the freedom to do as you please as long as it does not infringe upon the liberty of others. This raises two issues:
1. Membership of the BNP does, in many cases, cause an infringement of the liberty of others. The party, despite what Griffin says, is not an interest group for a particular group of people (white 'British'). Rather, it incites racial hatred towards other Britons, thus infringing their liberty.
2. Teachers, doctors, lawyers and soldiers have a responsiblity towards those they work for. There is a conflict of interest if you are in the BNP and a bobbie on the beat round Oldham.
The police is right to vet applicants for membership of far right parties. I will argue for free speech for such groups for ever and ever. However, in this case, their membership needs curtailing.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Misc
Music I've been enjoying recently:
1. 'The White Album' - The Beatles
2. 'Only by the Night' - Kings of Leon
3. 'Oracular Spectacular' - MGMT
4. 'Intimacy' - Bloc Party
5. 'We are beautiful. We are doomed' - Los Campesinos
I've also seen a few films recently that deserve a mention:
1. 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' - A strange concept in that it's probably the first children's film about the Holocaust. Not quite as powerful as I would have expected, although the end cannot be faulted.
2. 'Quantum of Solace' - Let's just say that I was satisfied. This wasn't as good as Casino Royale. What made that film special was perhaps the poker game in the middle - it gave it some gravitas and anchored the film's various set pieces. Quantum, by contrast, seemed like one continuous action scene. I liked the development of Bond's character and disagree with those who moan that he doesn't seem to be having any fun. However, Bond does need to go back to basics somewhat next time. This means bringing in Moneypenny, and Q!
3. 'Goodbye Lenin' - A fantastic film about a German man who deludes his socialist mother into thinking that the GDR stills exists even though the Wall has come down while she was in a coma.
4. 'Come and See' - Part psychological horrer - part horror film from Belarus. Made in 1985, this is an extremely distubing film about the Holocaust.
Books - currently reading Marquez's 'Solitude' but I'm not giving it the attention it deserves. This is not the kind of book you can read for 10 minutes each night...
Ciao :)
1. 'The White Album' - The Beatles
2. 'Only by the Night' - Kings of Leon
3. 'Oracular Spectacular' - MGMT
4. 'Intimacy' - Bloc Party
5. 'We are beautiful. We are doomed' - Los Campesinos
I've also seen a few films recently that deserve a mention:
1. 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' - A strange concept in that it's probably the first children's film about the Holocaust. Not quite as powerful as I would have expected, although the end cannot be faulted.
2. 'Quantum of Solace' - Let's just say that I was satisfied. This wasn't as good as Casino Royale. What made that film special was perhaps the poker game in the middle - it gave it some gravitas and anchored the film's various set pieces. Quantum, by contrast, seemed like one continuous action scene. I liked the development of Bond's character and disagree with those who moan that he doesn't seem to be having any fun. However, Bond does need to go back to basics somewhat next time. This means bringing in Moneypenny, and Q!
3. 'Goodbye Lenin' - A fantastic film about a German man who deludes his socialist mother into thinking that the GDR stills exists even though the Wall has come down while she was in a coma.
4. 'Come and See' - Part psychological horrer - part horror film from Belarus. Made in 1985, this is an extremely distubing film about the Holocaust.
Books - currently reading Marquez's 'Solitude' but I'm not giving it the attention it deserves. This is not the kind of book you can read for 10 minutes each night...
Ciao :)
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Good 'ol BO
Like most people, I went into work yesterday with a spring in my step...Like most people I can safely assume that history was made on the 4th November and that date will go down in the record books (along with 9/11, perhaps?) as the two defining moments of the early 21st century. Hyperbole does not exist under these circumstances.
"Sir, did that Barack Banana person win last night?"
"Yes, Amy"
I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a small lump in my throat as Barack Obama accepted victory. Cool, calm, collected - his words chosen carefully, measured, every-inch the statesman. Obama's oratory is inspiring, the way he uses his words harks back to Dr. King and Kennedy.
In my opinion he shares another, potentially devestating characteristic with these chaps - he's a target for assassination. Bush was never going to get popped. Right wing extremists would have seen him as no more that a namby-pamby politician slipping too far towards the so-called 'left' for their liking. Obama represents change - the last young Democrat promising that had his head shot off whilst travelling in an open top car in Dallas, Texas.
When he gave his speech, Obama appeared behind bullet proof glass for the first time - I should hope it won't be the last. Two neo-Nazi skinheads were convicted last week for a plot to assassinate the President-Elect. He will have to tread carefully, for all that is required for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing..
"Sir, did that Barack Banana person win last night?"
"Yes, Amy"
I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a small lump in my throat as Barack Obama accepted victory. Cool, calm, collected - his words chosen carefully, measured, every-inch the statesman. Obama's oratory is inspiring, the way he uses his words harks back to Dr. King and Kennedy.
In my opinion he shares another, potentially devestating characteristic with these chaps - he's a target for assassination. Bush was never going to get popped. Right wing extremists would have seen him as no more that a namby-pamby politician slipping too far towards the so-called 'left' for their liking. Obama represents change - the last young Democrat promising that had his head shot off whilst travelling in an open top car in Dallas, Texas.
When he gave his speech, Obama appeared behind bullet proof glass for the first time - I should hope it won't be the last. Two neo-Nazi skinheads were convicted last week for a plot to assassinate the President-Elect. He will have to tread carefully, for all that is required for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing..
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
The day of reckoning
My Sixth Form questioned my sanity today when I plowed on with our work on representative democracy. What was I doing when the most important and hotly contested elections was taking place 'across the pond'? I must admit that I was easily diverted onto tangents as the pupils asked me all sorts of questions about the election taking place today. The truth is that (and this is no understatement), today is potentially not the most important day in recent political history, but AMERICAN history (all US history is 'recent'). The point is simple; America stands on the cusp of electing a black man as president. I repeat; AMERICA STANDS ON THE CUSP OF ELECTING A BLACK MAN AS PRESIDENT. This is the same country where, 40 years ago, a black man could not wander round the deep South without fear of being lynched. A place where, as a black man or woman, you couldn't sit on the same seat, drink in the same bar, piss in the same toilet (!!) as a white man or woman as little as forty years ago.
The 'separate but equal' doctrine was the most deplorable addition to the US statute book in the country's short history. In WW2, black and white men fought in separate regiments. It's 40 years since King made his speech and to be honest, with the weight of all this history, it seems almost unbelievable, almost too early, for America to be electing a black president.
But here we are. I make no apologies for being excited. This isn't anorak, politics geek stuff. This is progress, a giant leap forward on the road towards equality. IF Obama is elected, everyone will be able to say where they were the day America elected its first black president. And for a country that has slipped into the shadows of criminality and misgovernment over the last 8 years, it will seem even more like a new beginning. One thing that three years of uni study of American history/politics taught me is that America, for all its plusses, has a not particularly admirable history when it comes to intolerance - from immigrants, to negroes, to communists - all have fallen victim to conservatives and reactionaries who form the backbone of the much divided American body-politic. Thankfully, the side that I agree with now appears to be in the ascendant and should elect a man who, like FDR and JFK before him, will signal change for America.
True, he will face a mammoth task, what with the financial crisis and the weight of expectation. I personally feel that he'll have to watch his own back too - he's probably going to be an even bigger assassination target than Bush - the latter didn't particularly rile the skinheads - Obama is their worst nightmare. His name sounds like Osama and his middle name is Hussein for god's sake!
Anyway, all in all I'm happy - go Obama, go!
The 'separate but equal' doctrine was the most deplorable addition to the US statute book in the country's short history. In WW2, black and white men fought in separate regiments. It's 40 years since King made his speech and to be honest, with the weight of all this history, it seems almost unbelievable, almost too early, for America to be electing a black president.
But here we are. I make no apologies for being excited. This isn't anorak, politics geek stuff. This is progress, a giant leap forward on the road towards equality. IF Obama is elected, everyone will be able to say where they were the day America elected its first black president. And for a country that has slipped into the shadows of criminality and misgovernment over the last 8 years, it will seem even more like a new beginning. One thing that three years of uni study of American history/politics taught me is that America, for all its plusses, has a not particularly admirable history when it comes to intolerance - from immigrants, to negroes, to communists - all have fallen victim to conservatives and reactionaries who form the backbone of the much divided American body-politic. Thankfully, the side that I agree with now appears to be in the ascendant and should elect a man who, like FDR and JFK before him, will signal change for America.
True, he will face a mammoth task, what with the financial crisis and the weight of expectation. I personally feel that he'll have to watch his own back too - he's probably going to be an even bigger assassination target than Bush - the latter didn't particularly rile the skinheads - Obama is their worst nightmare. His name sounds like Osama and his middle name is Hussein for god's sake!
Anyway, all in all I'm happy - go Obama, go!
Monday, 27 October 2008
'I made a mistake'
George Osborne's words, not mine.
The Shadow Chancellor did make a mistake. He is apologising - fair enough, it certainly is a noble thing for a man to do. However, we need to be clear about what Mr. Osborne is apologising for. Not, as you may expect, for appearing to solicit a foreign donor for the Conservative party. No. What Mr. Osborne is doing is saying sorry for highlighting once more that the Tories are a party not for and of the people but an elitist organisation aimed at the betterment and presevation of the ruling and upper classes. 'Call me Dave' has spent the last three years trying to refashion the Conservative party as a centrist 'one nation' force. Disraeli can claim credit for doing this; he neither went to Eton, nor University and geniunely cared about the poor. However, when you are rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful (and you yourself come from the same stock), who in their right minds is going to plump for anyone other than their own? Call me a pessimist.
The Labour party is less guilty (note I didn't say 'innocent'). However, what this event has done is show the Tories' true colours. Not green, regal BLUE and Osborne's apology is to Cameron; the former knows that he has done great damage to the latter's plan to swindle the Great British public.
The Shadow Chancellor did make a mistake. He is apologising - fair enough, it certainly is a noble thing for a man to do. However, we need to be clear about what Mr. Osborne is apologising for. Not, as you may expect, for appearing to solicit a foreign donor for the Conservative party. No. What Mr. Osborne is doing is saying sorry for highlighting once more that the Tories are a party not for and of the people but an elitist organisation aimed at the betterment and presevation of the ruling and upper classes. 'Call me Dave' has spent the last three years trying to refashion the Conservative party as a centrist 'one nation' force. Disraeli can claim credit for doing this; he neither went to Eton, nor University and geniunely cared about the poor. However, when you are rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful (and you yourself come from the same stock), who in their right minds is going to plump for anyone other than their own? Call me a pessimist.
The Labour party is less guilty (note I didn't say 'innocent'). However, what this event has done is show the Tories' true colours. Not green, regal BLUE and Osborne's apology is to Cameron; the former knows that he has done great damage to the latter's plan to swindle the Great British public.
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Where on the political spectrum you may ask?
The government announced today that it is changing its national symbol to a CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance.
A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks and gives you a sense of security while you are actually being screwed. It doesn't get more accurate than that!
A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks and gives you a sense of security while you are actually being screwed. It doesn't get more accurate than that!
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Cameron's speech
You know, I haven't much to say about David Cameron's speech to the Tory failthful in Birmingham yesterday. I am not going to moan about the fact that old Tory spending cuts seem to be in the offing once more; nor am I going to moan about small government solutions to the financial crisis when even George W Bush has become the biggest fan of nationalisation since V. I. Lenin. No, all I'm going to moan about is this little nugget of inspiration:
"This attitude, this whole health and safety, human rights act culture, has infected every part of our life."
Quite frankly Mr. Cameron (or can I call you Dave?) I'm very happy that this 'human rights act culture" has infected my life. When my grandmother was my age, many Europeans were not only denied basic human rights, but were degreaded and stripped of every ounce of dignity which is the fundamental right of every human being. This whole "anti Human Rights" nonsense is disgraceful, it's a product of Daily Mail readers and middle England curtain twitchers, those with whom Cameron identifies and will want to rely on for the election in 2010 (?)
The Human Rights Act is arguably the most important piece of legislation passed by Westminster in its 400 year existence. The complacency shown by Cameron is nothing short of a gross insult aimed at all people who now and in the past have been denied their human rights.
Is it really surprising when the same politician says that free trips to Auschwitz for 6th formers are gimmicks? - that's certainly not how two of my pupils regarded their visit to Poland last week.
Glad I've got that off my chest, sorry for the rant!
"This attitude, this whole health and safety, human rights act culture, has infected every part of our life."
Quite frankly Mr. Cameron (or can I call you Dave?) I'm very happy that this 'human rights act culture" has infected my life. When my grandmother was my age, many Europeans were not only denied basic human rights, but were degreaded and stripped of every ounce of dignity which is the fundamental right of every human being. This whole "anti Human Rights" nonsense is disgraceful, it's a product of Daily Mail readers and middle England curtain twitchers, those with whom Cameron identifies and will want to rely on for the election in 2010 (?)
The Human Rights Act is arguably the most important piece of legislation passed by Westminster in its 400 year existence. The complacency shown by Cameron is nothing short of a gross insult aimed at all people who now and in the past have been denied their human rights.
Is it really surprising when the same politician says that free trips to Auschwitz for 6th formers are gimmicks? - that's certainly not how two of my pupils regarded their visit to Poland last week.
Glad I've got that off my chest, sorry for the rant!
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