In June a 22-year-old woman went missing from her village in Karnataka state. Rumours circulated that she was the victim of a “love jihad”. A Pakistani-based organisation has sent a professional “jihadist lover” to forcibly convert her to Islam.
In reality, as the police discovered, the woman had been poisoned by a serial killer.
Where did the fictitious story of the “jihadist lover” come from?
Well, according to the Hindu Janjagruthi Samiti, 30,000 women in Karnataka have gone missing since Pakistani terrorists launched the “love jihad” operation a year ago! So it would be easy to assume that she was just another victim.
Or not. In fact, nowhere near that figure of women have gone missing in Kanataka. In fact, for those women who have been traced by the police there is not a “jihadist lover” in sight. In fact, the other women, who are not yet traced, are suspected of having committed suicide or having eloped. And in fact, the religious identity of the men, with whom they are suspected of having eloped, is a varied as the religious identity of the women themselves.
So what is the Hindu Janjagruthi Samiti on about?
The Hindu Janjagruthi Samiti is on to the creation of a situation ripe for it to justify and garner support for its attacks on non-Hindus in India. Ripe for fascism to flourish. Thankfully this is Karnataka and not Gujarat. They have not succeeded, yet.
This is exactly the tactics that the BNP are using in Britain.
Due to some deficiency in their education and humanity, the BNP have been conditioned to believe that Britain ought be a land of white celts and anglo-saxons only. Just like the Hindutva belief that India should be a land of Hindus only. Or the hard-line Islamists wanting to rid their countries of infidels. Or the wacko Christians who want the holy land purged of Palestinians to bring on the return of Christ.
Now, to achieve this goal, the BNP has to garner support. This is no easy task, but given the right circumstances, you could turn your back for a little too long only to find that your country has become a fascist state. See Nazi Germany.
What does a fascist organisation do to garner support?
Well, they spread malicious rumours, scapegoating the weakest minority group for the legitimate problems that communities are facing. Times of recession are particularly fertile for this sort of action. This is because are many legitimate problems, that the government and mainstream parties are having trouble addressing, or are not addressing. The fascist organisation can claim they are the only ones addressing these real legitimate problems, when, in fact, all they are doing is blaming these problems on minority groups. Thinking that the BNP is confronting their problems where other parties are not, people will vote for them in droves.
As well as economic hardships, there are several other things that play into the hands of fascist parties. The first is the demonisation of minority groups by respected parts of our societies. This makes fascism acceptable. When Muslim-bashing becomes the norm for everything from international wars to dress codes in schools, everything from feminism to how animals are slaughtered for meat. Then somehow it becomes ok to blame muslims for bigger issues. Unemployment. Crime. Housing issues. Healthcare cuts. Education policies. The next thing you know…? British Muslims killed by lynch mobs, or in concentration camps? Then what? Let’s start on some other minorities that don’t fit into the BNP view of Britain.
The second thing that plays into the hands of fascist parties is when the media, the great disseminator of culture, is biased towards promoting stories that put the minority group in a negative light. These stories sell because they fuel the growing hysteria.
Anyway, here are some legitimate issues that the BNP currently exploit.
1) Alienisation of Britons from their changing communities.
Many British people have seen huge changes in their communities. New people have settled, bringing new and very different cultures with them. Without a strong cultural identity themselves, they feel lost and alienated and taken over.
The BNP’s solution to this is to get rid of these new people, probably violently. This mistakenly destroys one of the mainstays of British culture and our economy. Multiculturalism. Over the centuries people have come to Britain from all over the world and brought their cultures with them. These cultures and the interplay between them have influenced our language, the arts and our entire cultural life and identity. This has given Britain much of the innovative edge it is admired for.
A better solution to the alienisation of people from their changing communities, would be to look for ways for people to better identify themselves with their communities. Promoting the great British multiculturalism is one way. But this still leaves an ‘indigenous’ Briton with a feeling that, whereas all these new people have their culture to bring to the table, what culture does he or she have? One of the things Britons have, that many of the newer immigrant populations do not have, is a social drinking culture. But this is already very popular, and increasingly taken too far, perhaps just because these ‘indigenous’ Britons can’t see anything else that is really part of their identity. The Hindu community can have their Diwali and the ‘indiginous’ Britons can knock pints back in a pub. What we need is other options. Here are some other things, other than multiculturalism and drinking, which are very British:
Welsh choirs
Fish and chips at the seaside
Bell ringing
Morris dancing
Country music and dancing
Pantomimes
And there is much much more! So if you are a Briton, feeling alienated by a community of increasingly visible cultural elements that you do not naturally identify with. Then get out there, join a welsh choir, learn to bell ring, pick up your fiddle and join a folk band!
If, however, you are more interested in salsa dancing, or listening to RnB, then realise that you are enjoying the benefits of British multiculturalism.
2) Economic hardship.
The BNP’s solution to economic hardship is to blame immigrants. Unemployment is because immigrants are taking all the jobs. Lack of housing is because immigrants are taking all the housing (not those double home owners!). Immigrants are clogging up NHS waiting lists.
Obviously immigrants are not to blame for these things. Certainly a growing population is bound to affect communities negatively if the local government does not put resources in place. But immigrants are not a drain on the economy, despite the lies that the BNP may put forward and the myths that parts of the media propagate. Often immigrants do the work that keeps Britain on its feet - nurses, cleaners, shopkeepers - work that is hard and not well paid.
Before the huge influx of Poles to Britain, bricklayers, plasters and plumbers were hard to come by. This was because Britain had not invested in training people in these professions. The result of this was that these workers could charge premium wages for their work, putting a strain on Britain’s construction work. There were stories of lawyers giving up their profession to train as plumbers, because they could earn much more. With the accession of Poland to the EU, came an influx of the construction workers that Britain desperately needed. Why were the Polish immigrants construction workers and not PR executives? Because Britain had plenty of PR executives already! As well as easing the shortage of workers on Britain’s building sites, these Polish workers inevitably brought about a depreciation in construction workers’ wages. This did not make the original construction workers happy. Blaming Polish immigrants for this is wrong, they were just responding to the opportunity provided by Britain’s need for construction workers. Blaming the government for not being longsighted enough to train people in these professions is the correct response.
The real solution to economic hardship is to look at what is causing this. If something is to blame for the current recession, then it is two decades of bad governance that has sold off our lives to risk-taking fat bankers. Now some of those bankers and policy makers may be immigrants, and most are descendants of immigrants, but the same can be said of the entire population of Britain. Holding our government to account and calling for changes to the system would be a much better solution than hounding Eastern Europeans and Muslims out of the country.
Oct 24, 2009
Jun 14, 2009
Brownsville Girl
I've never found lyrics more beautifully poetic than Bob Dylan's. Brownsville Girl has always been my favourite song of his, it is essentially a love song, full of nostalgia and 'living' and the lyrics really create a reel of cinematic images in your head. Hence why I have made the YouTube screen so small, the pictures of Tina Turner totally detract from the song.
Well, there was this movie I seen one time,
About a man riding 'cross the desert and it starred Gregory Peck.
He was shot down by a hungry kid trying to make a name for himself.
The townspeople wanted to crush that kid down and string him up by the neck.
Well, the marshal, now he beat that kid to a bloody pulp
as the dying gunfighter lay in the sun and gasped for his last breath.
Turn him loose, let him go, let him say he outdrew me fair and square,
I want him to feel what it's like to every moment face his death.
Well, I keep seeing this stuff and it just comes a-rolling in
And you know it blows right through me like a ball and chain.
You know I can't believe we've lived so long and are still so far apart.
The memory of you keeps callin' after me like a rollin' train.
I can still see the day that you came to me on the painted desert
In your busted down Ford and your platform heels
I could never figure out why you chose that particular place to meet
Ah, but you were right. It was perfect as I got in behind the wheel.
Well, we drove that car all night into San Anton'
And we slept near the Alamo, your skin was so tender and soft.
Way down in Mexico you went out to find a doctor and you never came back.
I would have gone on after you but I didn't feel like letting my head get blown off.
Well, we're drivin' this car and the sun is comin' up over the Rockies,
Now I know she ain't you but she's here and she's got that dark rhythm in her soul.
But I'm too over the edge and I ain't in the mood anymore to remember the times when I was your only man
And she don't want to remind me. She knows this car would go out of control.
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls, teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world, Brownsville girl, you're my honey love.
Well, we crossed the panhandle and then we headed towards Amarillo
We pulled up where Henry Porter used to live.
He owned a wreckin' lot outside of town about a mile.
Ruby was in the backyard hanging clothes, she had her red hair tied back.
She saw us come rolling up in a trail of dust.
She said, "Henry ain't here but you can come on in, he'll be back in a little while."
Then she told us how times were tough and about how she was thinkin' of bummin' a ride back to where she started.
But ya know, she changed the subject every time money came up.
She said, "Welcome to the land of the living dead." You could tell she was so broken-hearted.
She said, "Even the swap meets around here are getting pretty corrupt."
"How far are y'all going?" Ruby asked us with a sigh.
"We're going all the way 'til the wheels fall off and burn,
'Til the sun peels the paint and the seat covers fade and the water moccasin dies."
Ruby just smiled and said, "Ah, you know some babies never learn."
Something about that movie though, well I just can't get it out of my head
But I can't remember why I was in it or what part I was supposed to play.
All I remember about it was Gregory Peck and the way people moved
And a lot of them seemed to be lookin' my way.
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls, teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world, Brownsville girl, you're my honey love.
Well, they were looking for somebody with a pompadour.
I was crossin' the street when shots rang out.
I didn't know whether to duck or to run, so I ran.
"We got him cornered in the churchyard," I heard somebody shout.
Well, you saw my picture in the Corpus Christi Tribune. Underneath it, it said, "A man with no alibi."
You went out on a limb to testify for me, you said I was with you.
Then when I saw you break down in front of the judge and cry real tears,
It was the best acting I saw anybody do.
Now I've always been the kind of person that doesn't like to trespass but sometimes you just find yourself over the line.
Oh if there's an original thought out there, I could use it right now.
You know, I feel pretty good, but that ain't sayin' much. I could feel a whole lot better,
If you were just here by my side to show me how.
Well, I'm standin' in line in the rain to see a movie starring Gregory Peck,
Yeah, but you know it's not the one that I had in mind.
He's got a new one out now, I don't even know what it's about
But I'll see him in anything so I'll stand in line.
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls, teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world, Brownsville girl, you're my honey love.
You know, it's funny how things never turn out the way you had 'em planned.
The only thing we knew for sure about Henry Porter is that his name wasn't Henry Porter.
And you know there was somethin' about you baby that I liked that was always too good for this world
Just like you always said there was something about me you liked that I left behind in the French Quarter.
Strange how people who suffer together have stronger connections than people who are most content.
I don't have any regrets, they can talk about me plenty when I'm gone.
You always said people don't do what they believe in, they just do what's most convenient, then they repent.
And I always said, "Hang on to me, baby, and let's hope that the roof stays on."
There was a movie I seen one time, I think I sat through it twice.
I don't remember who I was or where I was bound.
All I remember about it was it starred Gregory Peck, he wore a gun and he was shot in the back.
Seems like a long time ago, long before the stars were torn down.
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls, teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world, Brownsville girl, you're my honey love.
Well, there was this movie I seen one time,
About a man riding 'cross the desert and it starred Gregory Peck.
He was shot down by a hungry kid trying to make a name for himself.
The townspeople wanted to crush that kid down and string him up by the neck.
Well, the marshal, now he beat that kid to a bloody pulp
as the dying gunfighter lay in the sun and gasped for his last breath.
Turn him loose, let him go, let him say he outdrew me fair and square,
I want him to feel what it's like to every moment face his death.
Well, I keep seeing this stuff and it just comes a-rolling in
And you know it blows right through me like a ball and chain.
You know I can't believe we've lived so long and are still so far apart.
The memory of you keeps callin' after me like a rollin' train.
I can still see the day that you came to me on the painted desert
In your busted down Ford and your platform heels
I could never figure out why you chose that particular place to meet
Ah, but you were right. It was perfect as I got in behind the wheel.
Well, we drove that car all night into San Anton'
And we slept near the Alamo, your skin was so tender and soft.
Way down in Mexico you went out to find a doctor and you never came back.
I would have gone on after you but I didn't feel like letting my head get blown off.
Well, we're drivin' this car and the sun is comin' up over the Rockies,
Now I know she ain't you but she's here and she's got that dark rhythm in her soul.
But I'm too over the edge and I ain't in the mood anymore to remember the times when I was your only man
And she don't want to remind me. She knows this car would go out of control.
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls, teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world, Brownsville girl, you're my honey love.
Well, we crossed the panhandle and then we headed towards Amarillo
We pulled up where Henry Porter used to live.
He owned a wreckin' lot outside of town about a mile.
Ruby was in the backyard hanging clothes, she had her red hair tied back.
She saw us come rolling up in a trail of dust.
She said, "Henry ain't here but you can come on in, he'll be back in a little while."
Then she told us how times were tough and about how she was thinkin' of bummin' a ride back to where she started.
But ya know, she changed the subject every time money came up.
She said, "Welcome to the land of the living dead." You could tell she was so broken-hearted.
She said, "Even the swap meets around here are getting pretty corrupt."
"How far are y'all going?" Ruby asked us with a sigh.
"We're going all the way 'til the wheels fall off and burn,
'Til the sun peels the paint and the seat covers fade and the water moccasin dies."
Ruby just smiled and said, "Ah, you know some babies never learn."
Something about that movie though, well I just can't get it out of my head
But I can't remember why I was in it or what part I was supposed to play.
All I remember about it was Gregory Peck and the way people moved
And a lot of them seemed to be lookin' my way.
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls, teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world, Brownsville girl, you're my honey love.
Well, they were looking for somebody with a pompadour.
I was crossin' the street when shots rang out.
I didn't know whether to duck or to run, so I ran.
"We got him cornered in the churchyard," I heard somebody shout.
Well, you saw my picture in the Corpus Christi Tribune. Underneath it, it said, "A man with no alibi."
You went out on a limb to testify for me, you said I was with you.
Then when I saw you break down in front of the judge and cry real tears,
It was the best acting I saw anybody do.
Now I've always been the kind of person that doesn't like to trespass but sometimes you just find yourself over the line.
Oh if there's an original thought out there, I could use it right now.
You know, I feel pretty good, but that ain't sayin' much. I could feel a whole lot better,
If you were just here by my side to show me how.
Well, I'm standin' in line in the rain to see a movie starring Gregory Peck,
Yeah, but you know it's not the one that I had in mind.
He's got a new one out now, I don't even know what it's about
But I'll see him in anything so I'll stand in line.
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls, teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world, Brownsville girl, you're my honey love.
You know, it's funny how things never turn out the way you had 'em planned.
The only thing we knew for sure about Henry Porter is that his name wasn't Henry Porter.
And you know there was somethin' about you baby that I liked that was always too good for this world
Just like you always said there was something about me you liked that I left behind in the French Quarter.
Strange how people who suffer together have stronger connections than people who are most content.
I don't have any regrets, they can talk about me plenty when I'm gone.
You always said people don't do what they believe in, they just do what's most convenient, then they repent.
And I always said, "Hang on to me, baby, and let's hope that the roof stays on."
There was a movie I seen one time, I think I sat through it twice.
I don't remember who I was or where I was bound.
All I remember about it was it starred Gregory Peck, he wore a gun and he was shot in the back.
Seems like a long time ago, long before the stars were torn down.
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls, teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world, Brownsville girl, you're my honey love.
May 24, 2009
Fay's Guide to the EU Elections
Ok, so the EU gets a lot of flack in the press. In many cases, this is newspapers talking complete bollocks in order to play the popular nationalist card. Here Stephen Fry debunks some common EU myths on QI:
Nevertheless, the impression that the EU is run by unelected bureaucrats who's agenda is to create a homogenous standardised United States of Europe doesn't go away. In fact, it seems to be the only impression we have of the EU. Why?
In essense, for anyone who isn't a europhile, the EU is boring. The European parliment seems distant, it's not clear how its policies effect our daily lives. There is a distict lack of media interest in its debates, only when some European law intersects with a national news item are we reminded of the EU's existence.
But the EU does make a difference to our lives! On a basic level we have the open borders, which mean, not only that we can travel easily between member states, even live in Spain, but that we can import goods from one country to the next without filling in 2 lots of paperwork.
Now apply the ease of having open borders to the simplicity of having common trading standards. This obviously facillitates commerce, hardly a bad thing?
Also, it makes sense to work together some points of enviromental, energy and development policies. These are globalised issues, where one nation cannot expect to make an impact without co-operation from other countries.
Furthermore, having EU-wide fundamental rights protects its population from a turn for worse in national government and from corperate greed.
The European Union doesn't sit well with nationalistic sentiments, but that's the point! After two World Wars decimated Europe in the first half of the 20th century, there was strongly felt need for some form of European integration in order to move away from uncompromising nationalism!
In these elections, you get the opportunity to vote for someone to represent you at the European level. Maybe you disagree with the EU's agricultural protectionism, maybe you want to see more focus on sustainable communities and quality of life than economic growth and free-markets, maybe you want to see more money spent on science and research, vote for an MEP who shares your sympathies and get involved in democratic Europe.
In the East of England constituency you can vote for one of the following parties in the European elections. 7 MEPs will be voted in, according to the proportion obtained by each party. Last election we voted in 3 Conservatives, 2 UKIP, 1 Labour and 1 LibDem, all of them men. (How depressing!)
Animals Count F M M (3) (order of the candidates gender)
These people want to put an end to the exploitation of animals. Animals do matter, many are highly intelligent, and animals do feel and suffer. There are clearly many living appalling lives within the EU.
This party believes in respect and compassion for all living beings. Quite possibly the polar opposite of the party that follows alphabetically.
http://www.animalscount.org/
British Natinalist Party M F M M M M M (7)
According to the BNP's constitution, it "is committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration and to restoring, by legal changes, negotiation and consent the overwhelmingly white makeup of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948."
Vote for the BNP if you were dissapointed that Hitler never made it to Britain.
Christian Party-Christian Peoples Alliance M F M F M M F (7)
For the CP-CPA's manifesto, see the bible.
Conservatives M M F M M F F (7)
Excuse me while I be sick. David Cameron reminds me of the banking culture that caused the resession: marketing hot-air. In fact it wasn't hot air, it was radioactive air.
Support the conservatives if you want a taste the bitter cocktail of Thatcher's economic and social policies, with a twist of Tony Blair and a subtle double helping of upper-class snobbery.
I can't help but think that many of you do quite want to taste this. Please no
Green Party M M M M F M F (7)
The Green Party is about more than just recycling and enrgy saving light bulbs. Their general outlook is about sustainability, quality of life, free social care, public transport, a creating jobs by investing in a green economy.
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/
Tempting...
English Democrats M M M M M M M (7)
The agenda of this party is to have an English parliment, like the Scottish have. They demand the right to celebrate their Englishness (do they not have this?). They want English freedoms and values , not multiculturalism . Do they not have English freedoms and values? How is multicultralism in anyway opposed to English freedoms and values? I am very confused.
They also want to leave the EU, but remain part of the European Free Trade Association.
Jury Team M M M M M M (6)
This is not a political party, but a coalition of independent canidates nominated and voted for by public. They all believe in democracy, accountability and transparency, and that parties create politicians that are too busy trying to move up the party ranks, acting in the interests of their party, to represent their electorate.
http://www.juryteam.org/
Each candidate has different priorities and views, which are clearly and openly laid out on the website - awesome.
Their first candidate, Andrew Armes, certainly appears down to earth; he values families, communities, and more meaningful lives.
http://www.juryteam.org/candidate-profile.php?id=10288
Definately worth a vote I think.
Labour M F M F M F M (7)
Keep away from me, you Gordon Brown liking, Tony Blair worshiping freaks. (I think Tony Blair took a leaf out of Lewis Carroll's book: his grin of false integrity is still hanging claustrophobically in the air, two years after his departure.)
Although, there are certainly some great members of the labour party, so if you find one who isn't a clone and actually cares about the people, go for it.
Liberal Democrats M F M M M M M (7)
Acceptable
Libertas M M M M M M M (7)
This is a pan-European party which wants to see a more accountable, transparent and democratic EU.
They believe in the EU, but want to see the number of meetings in Brussels cut by 50%.
http://www.libertas.eu/
No to EU - Yes to Democracy M M M M F M M (7)
These guys feel that the EU puts big business over the rights of ordinary workers. In response to getting elected, the candidates will not partake in the European Parliment and just nominally hold the title of MEP. Yep, that's really going to help put the rights of ordinary workers over big business! Idiots.
Socialist Labour Party M F M F M F M (7)
A good bit of solid socialism. These guys, however, do not take an international outlook and are against the EU.
UK First M M M M M (5)
More nationalists, couldn't find any information about them, but, by the sound of their name, these guys are happy with a United Kingdom, but not a United Europe.
Maybe I should set up a Hadleigh First party, I've had enough of those Ipswich people interfering...
UK Independence Party M M M M F M M (7)
Withdraw from the EU and also 'take a firm line on immigration'.
Peter Rigby independent
One of Britain's richest people, aparently.
The are a lot of anti-EU nationalist parties here and they are very popular, but what does nationalism do? The feeling that Britain will be all wonderful and well in isolation is a complete illusion. British people are very fortunate to live in such a wealthy country with free education and healthcare, but the reason Britain is so wealthy has to be understood as a direct result of its interactions with the outside world. And a lot of its wealth did not come from the hard work of Britons, see the years of colonial history. We live in a globalised and very unequal world, British people have to compete with everyone else for jobs; pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist, will hardly help.
Issues like the enviroment hardly figure on people's priorities, but how we treat the enviroment has a direct impact on our quality of life for generations to come and is global issue.
Arguments that Britain has so little in common with other European countries, that cooperation isn't helpful, don't hold water. The British and French ecomomy have much more in common than the ecomomies of London and Penzance. Maybe Penzance should withdraw from the UK.
Nevertheless, the impression that the EU is run by unelected bureaucrats who's agenda is to create a homogenous standardised United States of Europe doesn't go away. In fact, it seems to be the only impression we have of the EU. Why?
In essense, for anyone who isn't a europhile, the EU is boring. The European parliment seems distant, it's not clear how its policies effect our daily lives. There is a distict lack of media interest in its debates, only when some European law intersects with a national news item are we reminded of the EU's existence.
But the EU does make a difference to our lives! On a basic level we have the open borders, which mean, not only that we can travel easily between member states, even live in Spain, but that we can import goods from one country to the next without filling in 2 lots of paperwork.
Now apply the ease of having open borders to the simplicity of having common trading standards. This obviously facillitates commerce, hardly a bad thing?
Also, it makes sense to work together some points of enviromental, energy and development policies. These are globalised issues, where one nation cannot expect to make an impact without co-operation from other countries.
Furthermore, having EU-wide fundamental rights protects its population from a turn for worse in national government and from corperate greed.
The European Union doesn't sit well with nationalistic sentiments, but that's the point! After two World Wars decimated Europe in the first half of the 20th century, there was strongly felt need for some form of European integration in order to move away from uncompromising nationalism!
In these elections, you get the opportunity to vote for someone to represent you at the European level. Maybe you disagree with the EU's agricultural protectionism, maybe you want to see more focus on sustainable communities and quality of life than economic growth and free-markets, maybe you want to see more money spent on science and research, vote for an MEP who shares your sympathies and get involved in democratic Europe.In the East of England constituency you can vote for one of the following parties in the European elections. 7 MEPs will be voted in, according to the proportion obtained by each party. Last election we voted in 3 Conservatives, 2 UKIP, 1 Labour and 1 LibDem, all of them men. (How depressing!)
Animals Count F M M (3) (order of the candidates gender)
These people want to put an end to the exploitation of animals. Animals do matter, many are highly intelligent, and animals do feel and suffer. There are clearly many living appalling lives within the EU.
This party believes in respect and compassion for all living beings. Quite possibly the polar opposite of the party that follows alphabetically.
http://www.animalscount.org/
British Natinalist Party M F M M M M M (7)
According to the BNP's constitution, it "is committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration and to restoring, by legal changes, negotiation and consent the overwhelmingly white makeup of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948."
Vote for the BNP if you were dissapointed that Hitler never made it to Britain.
Christian Party-Christian Peoples Alliance M F M F M M F (7)
For the CP-CPA's manifesto, see the bible.
Conservatives M M F M M F F (7)
Excuse me while I be sick. David Cameron reminds me of the banking culture that caused the resession: marketing hot-air. In fact it wasn't hot air, it was radioactive air.
Support the conservatives if you want a taste the bitter cocktail of Thatcher's economic and social policies, with a twist of Tony Blair and a subtle double helping of upper-class snobbery.
I can't help but think that many of you do quite want to taste this. Please no
Green Party M M M M F M F (7)
The Green Party is about more than just recycling and enrgy saving light bulbs. Their general outlook is about sustainability, quality of life, free social care, public transport, a creating jobs by investing in a green economy.
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/
Tempting...
English Democrats M M M M M M M (7)
The agenda of this party is to have an English parliment, like the Scottish have. They demand the right to celebrate their Englishness (do they not have this?). They want English freedoms and values , not multiculturalism . Do they not have English freedoms and values? How is multicultralism in anyway opposed to English freedoms and values? I am very confused.
They also want to leave the EU, but remain part of the European Free Trade Association.
Jury Team M M M M M M (6)
This is not a political party, but a coalition of independent canidates nominated and voted for by public. They all believe in democracy, accountability and transparency, and that parties create politicians that are too busy trying to move up the party ranks, acting in the interests of their party, to represent their electorate.
http://www.juryteam.org/
Each candidate has different priorities and views, which are clearly and openly laid out on the website - awesome.
Their first candidate, Andrew Armes, certainly appears down to earth; he values families, communities, and more meaningful lives.
http://www.juryteam.org/candidate-profile.php?id=10288
Definately worth a vote I think.
Labour M F M F M F M (7)
Keep away from me, you Gordon Brown liking, Tony Blair worshiping freaks. (I think Tony Blair took a leaf out of Lewis Carroll's book: his grin of false integrity is still hanging claustrophobically in the air, two years after his departure.)
Although, there are certainly some great members of the labour party, so if you find one who isn't a clone and actually cares about the people, go for it.
Liberal Democrats M F M M M M M (7)
Acceptable
Libertas M M M M M M M (7)
This is a pan-European party which wants to see a more accountable, transparent and democratic EU.
They believe in the EU, but want to see the number of meetings in Brussels cut by 50%.
http://www.libertas.eu/
No to EU - Yes to Democracy M M M M F M M (7)
These guys feel that the EU puts big business over the rights of ordinary workers. In response to getting elected, the candidates will not partake in the European Parliment and just nominally hold the title of MEP. Yep, that's really going to help put the rights of ordinary workers over big business! Idiots.
Socialist Labour Party M F M F M F M (7)
A good bit of solid socialism. These guys, however, do not take an international outlook and are against the EU.
UK First M M M M M (5)
More nationalists, couldn't find any information about them, but, by the sound of their name, these guys are happy with a United Kingdom, but not a United Europe.
Maybe I should set up a Hadleigh First party, I've had enough of those Ipswich people interfering...
UK Independence Party M M M M F M M (7)
Withdraw from the EU and also 'take a firm line on immigration'.
Peter Rigby independent
One of Britain's richest people, aparently.
The are a lot of anti-EU nationalist parties here and they are very popular, but what does nationalism do? The feeling that Britain will be all wonderful and well in isolation is a complete illusion. British people are very fortunate to live in such a wealthy country with free education and healthcare, but the reason Britain is so wealthy has to be understood as a direct result of its interactions with the outside world. And a lot of its wealth did not come from the hard work of Britons, see the years of colonial history. We live in a globalised and very unequal world, British people have to compete with everyone else for jobs; pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist, will hardly help.
Issues like the enviroment hardly figure on people's priorities, but how we treat the enviroment has a direct impact on our quality of life for generations to come and is global issue.
Arguments that Britain has so little in common with other European countries, that cooperation isn't helpful, don't hold water. The British and French ecomomy have much more in common than the ecomomies of London and Penzance. Maybe Penzance should withdraw from the UK.
Mar 6, 2009
The First Person on Earth
As a humanist I guess the driving force in my life is a desire to make a positive contribution to the flourishing of humanity. I suppose that, like a religious person might say their actions are an expression of their love of God, I might say that my actions are an expression of my love of humanity.
Sometimes I find myself feeling down and despondent. Humanity seems in the main part to consist of stupidity, uncaring frivolousness and greed - which, to be honest, isn't very lovable. It's hard to see how humanity has any hope of flourishing.
When I feel like this I often listen to Tracy Chapman, this song in particular. 'The First Person on Earth' seems to me to be a love song to humanity.
From the water
From the rock and the dirt
You were
The first person on earth
Oh the mountains
And the oceans
Witnessed your birth
The first person on earth
By a river
On the banks of a sandy shore
Untouched clean fresh and pure
The first person on earth
In the light of the sun
You emerged
To see the good in the world
Before the pain and the scourge
The first person on earth
In the quiet in the calm
Before the storm
You heard the dream for a love
That never dies in a poem
The first person on earth
And I'm in love with you
I'm in love with a dream
That can not be realized
Held or seen
By the last person on earth
After the earthquakes the hurricanes
The fires and floods
I'm jaded cynical angry and glum
The worlds too absurd and obscene
For true love
And more than happy to let me become
The last person on earth
To let me stand on a rock
The muddy waters surround
Abandoned alone
The end soon to come
As the last person on earth
As the waters rise
At the end of the world
Though I bear the weight
Of the rock and the dirt
I know I'm worthy of your love
As the last person on the earth
As the water rise
At the end of the world
Though I bear the weight
Of the rock and the dirt
I know I'm worthy of your love
As the last person on the earth
Sometimes I find myself feeling down and despondent. Humanity seems in the main part to consist of stupidity, uncaring frivolousness and greed - which, to be honest, isn't very lovable. It's hard to see how humanity has any hope of flourishing.
When I feel like this I often listen to Tracy Chapman, this song in particular. 'The First Person on Earth' seems to me to be a love song to humanity.
From the water
From the rock and the dirt
You were
The first person on earth
Oh the mountains
And the oceans
Witnessed your birth
The first person on earth
By a river
On the banks of a sandy shore
Untouched clean fresh and pure
The first person on earth
In the light of the sun
You emerged
To see the good in the world
Before the pain and the scourge
The first person on earth
In the quiet in the calm
Before the storm
You heard the dream for a love
That never dies in a poem
The first person on earth
And I'm in love with you
I'm in love with a dream
That can not be realized
Held or seen
By the last person on earth
After the earthquakes the hurricanes
The fires and floods
I'm jaded cynical angry and glum
The worlds too absurd and obscene
For true love
And more than happy to let me become
The last person on earth
To let me stand on a rock
The muddy waters surround
Abandoned alone
The end soon to come
As the last person on earth
As the waters rise
At the end of the world
Though I bear the weight
Of the rock and the dirt
I know I'm worthy of your love
As the last person on the earth
As the water rise
At the end of the world
Though I bear the weight
Of the rock and the dirt
I know I'm worthy of your love
As the last person on the earth
Feb 26, 2009
Feb 21, 2009
Our Police States
Snippets of news from India and the UK this week, showing how politicised our law and order institutions are, symptomatic of a police state:
Shoot-at-sight orders
The Director General of Police has said that the District Collectors have been asked to issue "shoot-at-sight" orders immediately in case there are incidents of arson, violence or damage to public property. Irrespective of who is party to the violence, police personnel will open fire on those who indulge in damaging public property and setting vehicles on fire, armed with the order issued by the Collector, the Director General of Police said in a press release.
- The Hindu, Chennai Edition - 21/02/09
Lawyers, police fight pitched battles in Madras High Court
In unprecedented violence on the Madras High Court premises, advocates protesting against the arrest of their colleagues in an assault case fought pitched battles with police personnel for several hours on Thursday. While a police station was set ablaze by the advocates, vehicles parked in the court complex were smashed by the policemen. Among those injured in the violence was a High Court judge, more than 50 lawyers and several policemen....FULL ARTICLE
- The Hindu, Chennai Edition - 20/02/09
Galloway seeks inquiry into convoy arrests
The Respect MP George Galloway has called for an investigation after police stopped a convoy taking aid, toys and medical supplies to Gaza and arrested nine people under anti-terror laws.
All nine men arrested on the M65 near Preston last Friday have been released without charge, but the organisers of the Viva Palestina convoy, which is headed by Galloway, said that aid donations dropped by 80% after news of the arrests.Police stopped three vehicles and arrested six men from Blackburn and three from Burnley under the Terrorism Act. The 100-vehicle convoy left without them and is now in Morocco.
"Nine innocent people were prevented by the police from joining our convoy," said Galloway. "The timing of the operation is seen locally as an attempt to smear and intimidate the Muslim community, and I must say they seem to be right. Photographs of the high-profile snatch were immediately fed to the press to maximise the newsworthiness of the smear."...FULL ARTICLE
- The Guardian, 21/02/09
Photographers fear they are target of new terror law
Taking photographs of police officers could be deemed a criminal offence under anti-terrorism legislation that comes into force next week. Campaigners against section 76 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, which becomes law on Monday, said it would leave professional photographers open to fines and arrest.
The National Union of Journalists and the British Press Photographers' Association said the law would extend powers that are already being used to harass photographers and would threaten press freedom. Hundreds are due to converge on Scotland Yard on Monday in a mass picture-taking event organised by the NUJ.
Under section 76, eliciting, publishing or communicating information on members of the armed forces, intelligence services and police officers which is "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism" will be an offence carrying a maximum jail term of 10 years.
Marc Vallee, a photojournalist who specialises in covering protests, said photographers were frequently harassed by police using stop and search powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The new powers would be too vague to prevent abuse.
He said: "They will now be able to arrest you if a photograph could potentially incite or provoke disorder. But isn't that any protest?"...FULL ARTICLE
- The Guardian - 12/02/09
Governments must not escape public scrutiny on torture
The full extent of the complicity of the UK government in the US "war on terror" policy of torture and extraordinary rendition is now fast being uncovered. The foreign secretary, David Miliband, has exposed himself to allegations of lying to the high court about a threat from the US to withdraw co-operation in intelligence matters if documents about Binyam Mohammed were disclosed.
It is now known that the letter from the US government produced to the court as part of Miliband's evidence was solicited by officials working for Miliband but this was nowhere explained to the court at the time...FULL ARTICLE
- The Guardian - 17/02/09
The torture they were involved in:
UK agents 'colluded with torture in Pakistan'
A shocking new report alleges widespread complicity between British security agents and their Pakistani counterparts who have routinely engaged in the torture of suspects.
In the study, which will be published next month by the civil liberties group Human Rights Watch, at least 10 Britons are identified who have been allegedly tortured in Pakistan and subsequently questioned by UK intelligence officials. It warns that more British cases may surface and that the issue of Pakistani terrorism suspects interrogated by British agents is likely to "run much deeper"...FULL ARTICLE
- The Guardian - 22/02/09
India
Shoot-at-sight orders
The Director General of Police has said that the District Collectors have been asked to issue "shoot-at-sight" orders immediately in case there are incidents of arson, violence or damage to public property. Irrespective of who is party to the violence, police personnel will open fire on those who indulge in damaging public property and setting vehicles on fire, armed with the order issued by the Collector, the Director General of Police said in a press release.
- The Hindu, Chennai Edition - 21/02/09
This is possibly in reaction to this:
Lawyers, police fight pitched battles in Madras High Court
In unprecedented violence on the Madras High Court premises, advocates protesting against the arrest of their colleagues in an assault case fought pitched battles with police personnel for several hours on Thursday. While a police station was set ablaze by the advocates, vehicles parked in the court complex were smashed by the policemen. Among those injured in the violence was a High Court judge, more than 50 lawyers and several policemen....FULL ARTICLE
- The Hindu, Chennai Edition - 20/02/09
As well as showing the supposed guardians of law and order indulging in criminality, this case also indicates how politicised the police and lawyers are. Just like in the UK!
UK
Two stories on how 'anti-terror' legistation is being used politically:Galloway seeks inquiry into convoy arrests
The Respect MP George Galloway has called for an investigation after police stopped a convoy taking aid, toys and medical supplies to Gaza and arrested nine people under anti-terror laws.
All nine men arrested on the M65 near Preston last Friday have been released without charge, but the organisers of the Viva Palestina convoy, which is headed by Galloway, said that aid donations dropped by 80% after news of the arrests.Police stopped three vehicles and arrested six men from Blackburn and three from Burnley under the Terrorism Act. The 100-vehicle convoy left without them and is now in Morocco.
"Nine innocent people were prevented by the police from joining our convoy," said Galloway. "The timing of the operation is seen locally as an attempt to smear and intimidate the Muslim community, and I must say they seem to be right. Photographs of the high-profile snatch were immediately fed to the press to maximise the newsworthiness of the smear."...FULL ARTICLE
- The Guardian, 21/02/09
Photographers fear they are target of new terror law
Taking photographs of police officers could be deemed a criminal offence under anti-terrorism legislation that comes into force next week. Campaigners against section 76 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, which becomes law on Monday, said it would leave professional photographers open to fines and arrest.
The National Union of Journalists and the British Press Photographers' Association said the law would extend powers that are already being used to harass photographers and would threaten press freedom. Hundreds are due to converge on Scotland Yard on Monday in a mass picture-taking event organised by the NUJ.
Under section 76, eliciting, publishing or communicating information on members of the armed forces, intelligence services and police officers which is "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism" will be an offence carrying a maximum jail term of 10 years.
Marc Vallee, a photojournalist who specialises in covering protests, said photographers were frequently harassed by police using stop and search powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The new powers would be too vague to prevent abuse.
He said: "They will now be able to arrest you if a photograph could potentially incite or provoke disorder. But isn't that any protest?"...FULL ARTICLE
- The Guardian - 12/02/09
How the Britsh government has gone to all lengths to cover up its significant involvement in torture:
The full extent of the complicity of the UK government in the US "war on terror" policy of torture and extraordinary rendition is now fast being uncovered. The foreign secretary, David Miliband, has exposed himself to allegations of lying to the high court about a threat from the US to withdraw co-operation in intelligence matters if documents about Binyam Mohammed were disclosed.
It is now known that the letter from the US government produced to the court as part of Miliband's evidence was solicited by officials working for Miliband but this was nowhere explained to the court at the time...FULL ARTICLE
- The Guardian - 17/02/09
The torture they were involved in:
UK agents 'colluded with torture in Pakistan'
A shocking new report alleges widespread complicity between British security agents and their Pakistani counterparts who have routinely engaged in the torture of suspects.
In the study, which will be published next month by the civil liberties group Human Rights Watch, at least 10 Britons are identified who have been allegedly tortured in Pakistan and subsequently questioned by UK intelligence officials. It warns that more British cases may surface and that the issue of Pakistani terrorism suspects interrogated by British agents is likely to "run much deeper"...FULL ARTICLE
- The Guardian - 22/02/09
Feb 14, 2009
Pink Chaddis and Going to the Pub
Happy Valentines Day, especially to Sri Ram Sena!
In January members of a Hindu Fundamentalist group calling itself Sri Ram Sena charged into a pub in Mangalaru in the middle afternoon and assulted women there with the justification that the women were acting in an obscene manner. This group has also been associated with other acts of brutal moral-policing as well as attacks on churches. Sri Ram Sena have also voicerously apposed the celebration of Valentines Day in India, claiming it is unIndian and encourages lust.
In response to the talibanesk acts and attitudes of Sri Ram Sena, people across India have been sending them pink chaddis - as a Valentine's Day gift. The Pink Chaddi Campaign was originally set up on facebook and now has a blog called the Consortium of Pubgoing, Loose and Foward Women.
I am completly with this campaign in their outrage at Sri Ram Sena and totally admire it for the publicity it has brought to the amount of opposition there is in India to moral-policing. These two things are too important to be undermined by my nit picked issues, but I just want to raise a few points that I believe people campaigning on women's issues ought to consider.
Basically, why pink chaddis and not a valentines card? It is Valentine's Day (VD) after all! Using pink chaddis to represent the right to celebrate VD has the effect of sexualising it, which reinforces Sri Ram Sena's projection of what VD is about and denies the many Indians who choose to celebrate VD without stripping down to their underwear. Similarly, what do pink chaddis have to do with going to the pub?
There is obviously the issue that Sri Ram Sena oppose, among many things, expressions of female sexuality and by sending pink chaddis you send a message the female sexuality is here to stay, but, by combining VD and going to the pub with pink chaddis you also reinforce the widly held view that:
In fact, there should be no equals signs anywhere here. Women who make these life-style choices can only feel free in India if these equals signs are removed from the mindset of much of the country.
Regarding asserting a woman's right to have and enjoy sex, I think it's really important to learn from the results of attempts to achieve this in the West. Women were denied their sexuality and to challenge this they chose to express their sexuality more openly. This new trend was adopted and branded by the advertising agencies and women's sexuality, instead of being a multifarious thing, became a sterile thing of busty, blonde, long-legged, short-skirted, ample-cleavaged, pouting, porn-star-aspiring women living for male attention. This is sold down our throats in the West so much so that many of our six-year-old girls are trying to obtain it, it is often the major thing they aspire to in life. In the West you express your liberation as a women by dancing round a pole in a thong.
Pink chaddis unfortunately fall perfectly into that branded one-dimensional expression of sexuality, where pink = female and chaddis = sexiness.
My second point is about the name: Consortium of Pubgoing, Loose and Foward Women. 'Loose' is a word that is used to demean women who are sexually promiscuous, it seems a little bizarre that it has been adopted here. I assume it is being used to parody Sri Ram Sena's views, but then why combine it with two words that essentially describe life-style choices and which are not demeaning? There is also the issue that again this name again reinforces the equals signs in the conciousness of the country.
Glossery for non-Indians:
In January members of a Hindu Fundamentalist group calling itself Sri Ram Sena charged into a pub in Mangalaru in the middle afternoon and assulted women there with the justification that the women were acting in an obscene manner. This group has also been associated with other acts of brutal moral-policing as well as attacks on churches. Sri Ram Sena have also voicerously apposed the celebration of Valentines Day in India, claiming it is unIndian and encourages lust.
In response to the talibanesk acts and attitudes of Sri Ram Sena, people across India have been sending them pink chaddis - as a Valentine's Day gift. The Pink Chaddi Campaign was originally set up on facebook and now has a blog called the Consortium of Pubgoing, Loose and Foward Women.
I am completly with this campaign in their outrage at Sri Ram Sena and totally admire it for the publicity it has brought to the amount of opposition there is in India to moral-policing. These two things are too important to be undermined by my nit picked issues, but I just want to raise a few points that I believe people campaigning on women's issues ought to consider.
Basically, why pink chaddis and not a valentines card? It is Valentine's Day (VD) after all! Using pink chaddis to represent the right to celebrate VD has the effect of sexualising it, which reinforces Sri Ram Sena's projection of what VD is about and denies the many Indians who choose to celebrate VD without stripping down to their underwear. Similarly, what do pink chaddis have to do with going to the pub?
There is obviously the issue that Sri Ram Sena oppose, among many things, expressions of female sexuality and by sending pink chaddis you send a message the female sexuality is here to stay, but, by combining VD and going to the pub with pink chaddis you also reinforce the widly held view that:
western clothing
=
talking to men
=
alchohol drinking
=
sexual promiscuity
=
undermining of the great Indian family and Indian culture
=
talking to men
=
alchohol drinking
=
sexual promiscuity
=
undermining of the great Indian family and Indian culture
In fact, there should be no equals signs anywhere here. Women who make these life-style choices can only feel free in India if these equals signs are removed from the mindset of much of the country.
Regarding asserting a woman's right to have and enjoy sex, I think it's really important to learn from the results of attempts to achieve this in the West. Women were denied their sexuality and to challenge this they chose to express their sexuality more openly. This new trend was adopted and branded by the advertising agencies and women's sexuality, instead of being a multifarious thing, became a sterile thing of busty, blonde, long-legged, short-skirted, ample-cleavaged, pouting, porn-star-aspiring women living for male attention. This is sold down our throats in the West so much so that many of our six-year-old girls are trying to obtain it, it is often the major thing they aspire to in life. In the West you express your liberation as a women by dancing round a pole in a thong.
Pink chaddis unfortunately fall perfectly into that branded one-dimensional expression of sexuality, where pink = female and chaddis = sexiness.
My second point is about the name: Consortium of Pubgoing, Loose and Foward Women. 'Loose' is a word that is used to demean women who are sexually promiscuous, it seems a little bizarre that it has been adopted here. I assume it is being used to parody Sri Ram Sena's views, but then why combine it with two words that essentially describe life-style choices and which are not demeaning? There is also the issue that again this name again reinforces the equals signs in the conciousness of the country.
Glossery for non-Indians:
- Sri Ram Sena - Lord Ram's Army
- pub - bar or club, not pub as in UK
- Mangalaru - Mangalore, large city on south coast of Karnataka (south west Indian state)
- chaddis - pants
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