Nineteen Days to go And…

No Candidate!

I read this earlier this morning, and could not stop myself laughing! Nineteen days to go the the Glasgow East by-election on 24 July and Labour have no candidate for the voters to vote for, or against as the case may be. The leading contender did not make an appearance at the selection meeting on Friday.

Shettleston Councillor George Ryan has now officially withdrawn from the contest after missing the selection meeting on Friday for “family reasons”.

Now I am not say that George Ryan is finding an excuse, we all know just how stressful a life can be for Scottish MP’s in Westminster, and I think him very wise to put family first. However, I do know that were I even vaguely in the running for this position I would not only scraping the bottom of the barrel, I would be turning the bloody barrel over and looking underneath it for any excuse not to be taking this poisoned chalice; and indeed in  te present political climate it most certainly is a poisoned chalice.

That all round nice guy Brian Taylor (BBC Scotland’s political editor) has a really good take on this whole debacle - see here…

Thoughts on Violent Crime

I just read this horrendous story, and it got me thinking about the problems of knife and gun crime. I just want to tear my hair out in frustration every time I hear one of these political pillocks on the radio pontificating about something that they really haven’t given much thought to. They usually end up calling for a ban on this, a ban on that or a ban on the other; they also usually end up demonising the “young thugs” who, they think, are responsible for the majority of gun and knife crime. Have they never asked the question “why do we have a problem with gun and knife crime in young people?” well, obviously they haven’t, because if they had then they would not make the asinine comments that are so frequently heard from them.

The answers are not simple ones, but they are common sense ones; a) there is the matter of education, or the lack of, both in schools and in the home, b) there is the matter of parental control, and if this is not exercised from a very early age then it is worthless. I actually think that the most important aspect is the parenting; if children grow up in violent households then they are more likely to be violent themselves, whereas if they are taught from birth to respect others then they will be more likely to do so. I know that this is a very simplistic argument, but these are simply off the top of the head thoughts. I also think that there is a problem with the way young people are policed, in as much as they seem to be targeted simply for being young and doing what young people do. In my opinion if we treat young people as potential criminals, then that is what they are going to become. They will end up thinking, well if that is what they think we are then that is what we will be.

Then there is the whole problem of the availability of knives and guns, they are too easy to get. I have heard all sorts of cries for banning this, that and the other, but we have been down this road already, with hand guns there was the knee jerk reaction after Dunblane, which led to the hand gun ban; and what was the net result, the fact that it is easier for kids to get their hands on a hand gun now than it was before. The whole problem is that it is now almost impossible to police hand guns as they have been driven underground, where there is absolutely no control over them at all; it is the criminals who are now making money out of, and controlling the supply of hand guns. Surely it would be much better if the control and supply of hand guns were in the hands of responsible people rather than criminals.

There are inherent problems with making anything illegal, whether it is hand guns, knives, drugs, boxing or whatever. Making something illegal will not make it go away, all it will succeed in doing is drive it underground and into the hands of the criminal elements who will seize upon the chance to make money out of it. Once something has been driven underground, for whatever reason, all control over it has been lost, it becomes virtually impossible to police. Surely it makes far more sense to legalise something so that at least there is some form of control that can be implemented and policed effectively.

There is no doubt that we have a societal problem, particularly in some inner city areas, but no amount of bans will make even the smallest difference, bans will just make the problem worse, experience tells us this. The societal problem we have has to be understood, we have to get to the cause before we can effect the solution. The cause of the problem is not the knife or the hand gun, the cause of the problem is the person wielding it. So, does it not make sense to understand why the person wielding the knife or the gun is doing so, would it not be much easier to effect a solution with this knowledge at our disposal, at the end of the day I think that the answer to both questions is a resounding YES!

Thoughts on Identity

I know I am going to offend some people with the very content of this post, but that is not my intention in any way. The point of this post is more an internal exploration of myself.

While out wandering around Leith a while back I saw a quite rare sight for Leith, a woman in a burqa, and I have to admit that I found it quite offensive. Now I am not saying that the burqa should not be worn, nor am I making any sort of anti-religious or anti-cultural statement; all that I am saying is that confronted with what for many women is a matter of personal choice, my first reaction was that I was offended by it. This probably says quite a lot about me as a person, but I have to confess that, a few days later, my reaction made me stop and think about who I am, why was I offended, and about ethnic and cultural identity in general.

At then end of the day I think that I am a reasonably intelligent and pretty liberal minded person who’s basic philosophy is live and let live; which is why my reaction came as all the more of shock to me. I have never given the wearing of the burqa any great deal of thought, of course I have heard some discussion, and quite heated at that, about the matter, but have always taken the attitude of “if that is how people want to express their religious/cultural identity, so what, it’s their choice”, as I say live and let live.

When I began to think about why I found the burqa offensive my first thought was that it sort of implies that all men are rapists, now I know that this is a rather stupid reaction, especially when one begins to think of the psychology behind rape, the whole ‘power’ thing amongst others. My next thought was about how one would interact with someone wearing a garment that covers everything with only a slit for the eyes, and I think that it would be almost impossible to interact with anyone wearing such a garment as we all rely on body language, facial expressions etc. as part of everyday communication, whether we realise it or not.

This led me to thinking about who and what I am, and whether who and what I am is responsible for my reaction; after all this was only someone expressing their own sense of identity. After a great deal of reflection I have come to the conclusion that I don’t think of myself in terms of any form of ethnic or cultural stereotype; I know that I sometimes make a big thing of being a Cornish Celt, but that is more for effect than anything else. I don’t think of myself in terms of black, white, pink with blue dots or whatever colour you may care to mention. Neither do I think of myself in any religious terms, not as a Christian, a Muslim, a Hindu, nor any other religious identity. As a matter of fact I have very little time for religion at all, but that is another story.

This led me to thinking about how I perceive others, and I think that all of the above also apply there; I do not think of people I meet or know in terms of their colour, religious beliefs, cultural beliefs etc., I judge them by what they have to say, but that is not to say that I always agree with them. I suppose that at the end of the day I see myself first and foremost as a human being, albeit a white, Cornish, liberally minded and slightly flawed (but aren’t we all) human being. And that is precisely how I see others, as human beings; fine they are human beings who think differently, have different beliefs and probably see themselves differently than I see myself, or them for that matter, but they are still human beings, no more no less.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the lady in the burqa, whoever she may be, for stopping me dead in my tracks and making me think about who and what I am. What I have put here only scratches the surface of my thinking, and I know full well that we are all shaped by the circumstances of our mundane lives. But, ultimately, we are all human beings, and to put it in a rather vulgar manner, we all enter the world through a hole, and we all leave the world through a hole. So, why the fuck can’t we all just get on and make the best of the short time that we have between the two holes of birth and death!

Lost - A Genius!

For those who know George Carlin was a comic genius. For those who don’t just take a look at this video clip, and if that grabs your interest here is the Wikipedia entry.

George Carlin

Genius

May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Finally this politically and morally bankrupt bunch of loonies that are “running?” the country have got just what they deserve, a bloody good arse kicking. It is all very well for Harriet Harman to say on the Today Programme this morning that this result was more to do with people’s perception of the economic problems, which is complete and utter bollocks; because all that proves is that this bunch of loonies are completely out of touch with the people and public opinion.

Now, as a good dyed in the wool socialist, the last thing I want to see is the Tories winning, but in this case I will make an exception. What has happened here is a combination of things; we have had over ten years now of a government which has constantly lied and cheated the British public and a party which decided that the only way it could win in Crewe and Nantwich was by dirty tricks, result a massive (17.6%) swing to the Tories, and that on a high (58.2%) turnout, and this in the Labour heartland. Why? Well, the way I read it is that the people of Crewe and Nantwich responded to two things; a) they probably thought that the “dirty tricks campaign” was a ploy designed to tell them which way to vote and, more importantly, b) they were/are so pissed off with the track record of this bunch of lunatics that they decided to stick two fingers in the air and say “we’ve had enough of you FUCK OFF!”.

So, I imagine that, by now, the long knives are out of their sheaths and being assiduously being sharpened. Labour bottled it when it came to getting rid of Micheal Foot as leader, will they do the same this time? I for one certainly hope that they do indeed bottle out of gettig rid of old Gor Blimey, because the longer he stays the more the chance of Labour readjusting itself back to the left, where it should be, and throwing off the Tory clothes that they have adopted for the last decade and more…

Thoughts on Nationalism

I have been criticised by nationalists, particularly the English nationalists, for having an anti-nationalist stance. This criticism/accusation is patently untrue; although, to be fair, I do have some problems with the idea of nationalism, especially in its more extreme forms. I have no problems with the acceptable face of nationalism at all; that is that face of nationalism which concerns itself with civic and cultural identity, and which is tolerant of those who are possessed of a different sense of their own civic and cultural identity within any given nation state. However, where I do have problems is with the other face of nationalism, the unacceptable face, this is the face which embodies intolerance, harbours and fosters racist and bigoted attitudes and which has a fear and dread of “the other”; this is the face of nationalism that I find completely and utterly abhorrent, this is the face of nationalism that ultimately leads to conflict.

Here I want to deal with what I see as the unacceptable face of nationalism, that face which embodies intolerance, racism, bigotry, fear of the “other” and which leads to conflict. This is a face of nationalism which is pandered to, at least in the UK, by the tabloid/gutter press which goes out of its way to find stories and in which are to be found editorials which foster and promulgate the ideas to be found in this idea of nationalism. In the UK such stories and editorials promote the ideas of withdrawing from Europe, anti-immigration, anti-Scottishness etc. etc. Most nationalists seem to want to resort to a time when “things were better”; when there were jobs for all because there were no immigrants “taking our jobs”, when “the others” knew their place and did what they were told. In other words most of them would like to turn the clock back to “Empire” days.

Well we have all seen where “empire building” leads us, there are numerous examples of conflict which result from the imposition of an empirical attitude; these range from the conflicts within the British Empire to the most devastating of all conflicts of recent times, World War Two, and the conflicts which have followed it, namely Korea, the Suez crisis, Vietnam, the Balkan problems and so on. All of these conflicts have had some greater or lesser degree of nationalism as their cause, and I personally don’t want to see the world going down this particular path again.

Such nationalism not only leads to conflict, it also leads to alienation; those who adopt a nationalist stance do have a tendency to alienate themselves from those who “do not think like us”. They find solace with those who have the same ideas, who think the same, and who, ultimately, wish to see the same goals achieved. Most of these nationalists are quite rational, albeit somewhat misguided, people, but it is their very ideas and goals that provide the fodder for the intolerant, the racist and the bigoted, who flock to the cause like moths to a flame. It is at this point that the voice of the minority (the rational and misguided) becomes muted in favour of that of the more unsavoury factions who have the tendency to shout loudest. It is the fear of “the other” that drives these more unsavoury factions, their desire to only mix with those like themselves, the intolerant, racist and bigoted, because these are the only people they feel comfortable with.

These are just a few of my thoughts on nationalism, just a few of the reasons why I have distinct problems with any form of nationalism that does not concern itself with civic and cultural identity, or which is tolerant of those who are possessed of a different sense of their own civic and cultural identity within any given nation state. I am not saying that there is no place for nationalism; but any form of nationalism must be embodied of tolerance and inclusion, the tolerance of those who don’t agree with the nationalist ideas, and the inclusion of those who are “different” in which ever way. It must also be imbued with ideas of freedom of thought and speech, those who are included must not feel that they have no voice, or that they cannot freely express their thoughts - whether this be verbally or in the form of the written word. I know that I will not live long enough to see the intolerance, racism and bigotry stamped out, but I would hope that the morons who are possessed of these particular qualities will no longer be around.

P.S.

Comments are welcome, but for those nationalists out there please read this first and be very careful what you say if you don’t want to be made to look like an idiot.

Happy Belated Birthday

Well, doesn’t time fly, I have just realised that this blog passed its second birthday twelve days ago and I never even noticed… I can’t say that I have always particularly enjoyed the experience, especially when coming under attack from the loony, racist morons out there; and this is why I took a couple of breaks from posting here. However, I have had a bit of a rethink about the sort of stuff that I want to be posting and hopefully the posts will become much more regular from here on in.

Going back to the loony, racist morons out there, I don’t know how some of the bloggers like my blogging friend over at This is Not my Country put up with the constant attacks. Thanks to all who have left kind and thought provoking comments; and to all those who have left racist and insulting comments, I really do try to see your point of view, but I cant stick my head that far up my arse!

Cheeky Bastard!

I had a pingback on yesterday’s post this morning which, when I followed the link, led to this post… Now I know that it links back to my original post, but there is nothing that credits me as the author of the piece, in fact it claims this person 2nomads as the author. Now I don’t mind anyone using my words or photographs if they have the decency to ask first, but this person just goes ahead and nicks things from others because he/she simply can’t be bothered to write anything for themselves. Any one who does such a thing deserves to be called a “cheeky bastard”, and believe me I am being ultra polite there!

I suppose that in some ways I should be flattered that my words are good enough to plagiarise, but it only serves to make me extremely annoyed and irritated…

Update 29-04-2008:

It is pointless following the link in this post as it is now defunct; in fact the whole blog that had the offending post in it has now been pulled by the hosting company. After several attempts to contact the owner of the blog, without success, I eventually complained to the hosting company who were more than helpful in sorting the problem out. Let this be a warning to all who think that they can nick someone else’s work without first asking permission. In fact let THIS be a warning to anyone who thinks that nicking stuff from the web is OK.

Worth a Try?

No not really! I just read this story which made me laugh out loud. Instead of apying up and looking big this guy tried to outwit the police, which as we all know, for the average punter, is not easy at the best of times and ended up in deeper water than he started out in. I mean one has to ask what sort of an idiot would go to all of the time and trouble to avoid a £120 speeding fine and three points… Personally I think he deserves the 80 days, but I think that he also deserves a 12 month driving ban as well to teach him a lesson. The worst part is tha now the taxpayer has to fork out to keep this frigging idiot in prison. Hopefully his employer, if he has one, will not be seeing the funny side of his little escapade and will give him the Grand Order of the Boot, and serve him right if he/she does. After all, for being so stupid this guy deserves everything he gets from here on in.

At Last a Verdict

Just reading this story is something of a relief; as I imagine it must be for William and Harry, when one thinks of what they have had to endure for the last ten years, and which they have done with remarkable resillience. And why have they had to endure so much? All for the ravings of a bloody lunatic! The cost of this bloody fiasco to the British public, at the last count some £12 million, yes £12 million! The British taxpayer has had to bear this burden all because a raving loony could not, or did not want to, accept what most people, with a little common sense, were either pretty sure of, or at the very least suspected, right from the outset. I think that, at the very least, he should reimburse the British taxpayer to the tune of at least £10 million, especially as he is guilty of leading us down so many bloody blind alleys…

I am not in the least sayng that there should have been no inquiry; there needed to be to establish what actually happened, and who, if anyone, was culpable. But I personally think that allowing a raving lunatic to pull the strings, and make others dance to his tune is utterly shameful, especially when one thinks of the better uses to which the said £12 million could have been put.

Paranoia Gone Mad

I just stumbled across this story which horrified me… It highlights just how paranoid Americans have become about security; the security staff not only humiliated this poor woman, but also caused her a large amount of pain, both in the removal, and the re-insertion of her nipple rings. I think the question that just begs asking is how would they have coped with an Albert (that is, for the uninitiated, a penis piercing)?

T5 Cock-up

I have been following this story with great interest. I mean years in the building, and they still can’t get it right! It is not as if they are using cutting edge technology here, they are using technology that has been tried and tested; and yet, despite all of the time that they have had to install and test it, it still doesn’t work… And, at the end of the day, who suffers, the traveller, that’s who!

The one thing that made me laugh out loud about this tale of woe, was in the week when it came out that BA were thinking of sending baggage to Milan to be sorted; I mean to say, that strikes me as a typical British solution…

If one didn’t laugh one would cry; although I suppose that one could cry laughing at this cock-eyed mess, after all you couldn’t write it! At the end of the day there is someone, somewhere, who should be getting the Grand Order of the Size Eleven Boot, and that planted firmly on his/her arse!

Better than Nothing…

I just read this on the BBC News website, which actually begs the question as to why such measures were not taken LONG ago, I mean the technology has been there to be able to do this for as long as the technology to set up such sites has been around. It is a simple matter to have a table of banned email addresses in the database against which people are checked. However, it does beg the question as to how effective this measure will be; after all it is easy to set up alternative email addresses with providers like Yahoo, Hotmail etc. etc.. Policing such a law could prove to be quite difficult given the ease of setting up an email address, especially when you do not have to prove your identity; it would be easy to take someone’s name and address from the phone book to set up such an email address without actually having to prove that you are that person…

Don’t misunderstand me, I think that this is a good idea, and one that should have been in place long ago, especially since the technology has been there to support it. However, I am concerned that how it is going to be policed has not been thoroughly thought through. Maybe it would just be better to prevent sex offenders from having an online presence at all; but, having said that, I can already hear the civil liberties bods sharpening their knives to complain about that idea.

Festival!

Here we are in the first week of April and all that is being discussed is the bloody Festival; BondWoman has persuaded me to accompany her to some launch of the events timetable for some event or other, and the Festival even pops up in today’s Grauniad! Seems that The Grauniad thinks that this year’s Festival is going to be “edgy”; of course, being The Grauniad, “the Festival” is the International Festival, they would not deign to mention the Fringe, except in passing of course.

Now I do not have a problem with the Festival, well not many problems, it is good for the city and we get to see a lot of stuff that we wouldn’t normally go to see in the normal run of day to day living. But, and this is a BIG but, for a month and a bit Edinburgh simply descends into chaos, one can’t move in the city without tripping over either tourists, or those handing out the flyers to promote their particular shows. Believe me by the middle of August any sane person who lives in the city would want to put as much distance between themselves and Edinburgh as is humanly possible.

Enough already, I am sure that I will be returning to this topic before too long!

Woman or Hero?

Whilst having breakfast this morning I was struck by an item on the Today Programme which only served to highlight the ingrained sexism that was rampant in the Britain of the 1930’s/40’s. It was an item about an extremely brave woman, Pearl Witherington (who became Pearl Cornioley); you can read more about her story here, and here. This extraordinarily brave woman was parachuted into wartime France, where she took charge of and organised a large part of the resistance movement. Her post-war reward, the offer of a civil MBE:-

After the war, Pearl was recommended for a military honour but, as a woman, she was ineligible. When she was instead offered the civil MBE she refused.

I think the telling phrase here is “as a woman, she was ineligible”; of course a mere woman could not hvave had the guts or intelligence to be courageous. Her response in refusal was:-

“There was nothing civil about what I did,” she said many years later. In her letter of rejection, released yesterday, she said the offer was unjust: “The work which I undertook was of a purely military nature in enemy occupied country. I personally was responsible for the training and organisation of nearly 3,000 men for sabotage and guerrilla warfare.”

It took over sixty years for her to be acknowledged as a parachutist by the RAF

For her, the greatest award came only two years ago when the RAF finally presented her with her parachute wings.

this in itself says a lot about the sexist attitudes that remained in place within the realms of the Ministry of Defence until relatively recently.

FFS, surely a hero is a hero no matter what gender the person is, and surely anyone who undertakes to do something that can later be seen as heroic deserves to have their heroism recognised, rather than to be patronised by those people who sat behind their desks and never stuck their heads above the parapet.