Last night on Question Time the question of MPs holidays was raised, namely, 'why are such a bunch of thieving wasters getting 3 months holidays' - that's not me speaking that was the tone of the discussion.
The politicians protested that just because they weren't in parliament doesn't mean to say they are not working, indeed they are in their constituencies doing stuff, kissing babies and wotnot.
Anyway, an audience member said the point is how it looks ...it seems as if they get long holidays.
Well actually that's not the point, no. Surely, policymaking and the like should be based on the facts of the matter not what people think is the case.
Clive James on the panel said we are verging on dangerous populism on the whole matter with the media thinking they run the country.
On swine flu another audience member said something about reading a proper newspaper for proper information.
Chris Dillow has a weighty discussion of 'preferences' in politics here.
Well, if we think of the newspaper reading habits of the public and we have government by perception, imagine that!
Just still time to wish my American friends well in their 4th July celebrations.
The later French Revolution followed hot on the heels of the American Revolution (1776-83 American, 1789-99 French, this timescale was pretty quick in them days) and historians have debated equally hotly about the similarities and differences of these events. However, the timing and connection was not lost on some contemporaries.
'Behold all ye friends of freedom... behold the light you have struck out, after setting America free, reflected to France and there kindled into a blaze that lays despotism in ashes and warms and illuminates Europe. I see the ardour for liberty catching and spreading; ...the dominion of kings changed for the dominion of laws, and the dominion of priests giving way to the dominion of reason and conscience.'
But while some hailed the spirit of the French Revolution, others did not want this kindling to spread to Britain and thus the Grand-daddy of modern British conservatism, Edmund Burke, penned his Reflections on the Revolution in France, seen as an important conservative manifesto.
So this period of history was a bit of a mixed bag really.
Have been too busy to blog. Have though discovered the delights of twitter -ideal as a snack you can eat between meals without ruining your appetite.
Been patching up my kitchen. Removed some tiles and accidentally a layer of plaster. Had to repair it myself. In this heat! All made so much harder when you are time and money poor. Am currently sporting a hole in the sole of my shoe. Money spent on plaster and paint. While the cooler weather is welcome, rain does tend to seep through the hole a bit.
Anyway, enough of the sob story. There's been loads of good stuff in the papers, around the blogs and in the twitterverse or whatever neologism has been invented for it. Lots of catching up to do.
There is much discussion round 'tinternet on whether lobbing eggs is a well-targeted strategy for challenging the BNP.
Is ‘direct action’ of this type their just (egg-based) desert or does it grace them with more importance than one would wish.
There is an honourable/dishonourable* (*delete as appropriate) tradition of pelting MPs etc with stuff with which to compare this strategy.
Reflect on your reactions, thoughts, feelings on these episodes:
Was the peltee turned into an object of ridicule or enhanced as a macho martyr speaking difficult truths, making hard decisions in the face of whatever was thrown at them, so to speak?
At the end of the Politics Show today a video montage was played of other such episodes caught on camera ...also here the Daily Telegraph delights in same with a picture gallery.
My instinct on seeing these was to laugh at those in authority brought down a peg, their ostensible status interrupted by some unexpected, external 'matter' much in the manner of ordinary folk's worlds' being rent asunder by random, external forces. Welcome to our world! A cup of cold, green custard only begins to hint at the rude forces which we are encouraged to embrace as opportunities.
However, despite my relish, I did wonder does this practice feed into that stream of opinion which an anti-politics political party might wish to exploit? or does it tar them with the same custard?
Well there was certainly publicity from it and no doubt propaganda opportunities to portray themselves to their members and supporters as a persecuted minority. Which is one of the things they want.
The other strategy is to ignore them, let them get elected and by their elected representative's deeds shall ye know them. But it should be noted they have not remained at lower council tier seats. Lancashire now has one of the first BNP County Councillors and the NW BNP leader as MEP.
The other opposition strategy is to take on their arguments and policies seriously, debate them and expose them as logically, morally or otherwise fallacious.
However, I have seen their comment postings and they make great play of this opposition. They see that it means they should be taken seriously and feeds in to their claims to power.
There have been attempts around the internet to debunk their claims and policies but I doubt these would be read by those who are attracted to them.
Once attracted some people are lost to reasoning. Some are not.
There has been much finger pointing about where on the political spectrum the BNP should be placed and from whence they draw their support. Much of this seems to be driven by whose responsibility it is to challenge and counter them. This is unhelpful and not quite the spirit required of the moment and the challenge. It is everybody's business.
Their policies are a politically pragmatic mish-mash drawn from across the political spectrum in order to garner support from a broader base and having policies on other than immigration is cover for their core objectives and true policies.
This video shows Nick Griffin speaking of his strategy for not changing what the BNP are about but about making it more saleable, 'not selling out our ideas but selling our ideas', using more saleable words such as 'identity' instead of racial purity. He also expresses a desire that by being more subtle they will get into a position where they control the British broadcasting media and change people's minds so that people say 'yes, every last one of them should go'.
This is fascism plain and simple.
'Racial purity' in Nazi Germany meant the eradication of a wide range of groups including Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, the mentally ill and disabled too.
Another of the BNPs policies is a 'Bill of Rights guaranteeing fundamental freedoms to British people'. Fair enough you might say. But when you realise that their definition of British is narrowly defined (Dame Kelly Holmes only half qualifies apparently. Its not clear which half of her will have her freedoms guaranteed which just shows the idiocy of the BNPs thinking and policies) one doesn't have to wonder very much about the implications for those deemed not British.
While politics has been blamed for the election results, the media have to answer for their part.
Why did the Daily Telegraph, in the run up to council and European elections, in which it was predicted that 'smaller parties' might do well add to this maelstrom the toxic ingredient of their story on expenses, which tarred all mainstream parties and obliterated discussion on the issues which could have been at hand- Europe and Social Care.
If anything the run up to the elections was not about policy but about power politics. Who speaks for 'the people'? They don't call it the 'fourth estate' for nothing. What part did the power plays and circulation figures of the media contribute to what dominated the news at that time?
If there is any finger pointing to be done, how have the Telegraph got off so lightly? Was it the height of irresponsibility to publish at this time? Did they want the BNP elected!?
In history, those who thought they could ride the fascist beast ultimately delivered them to power, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
It took more than a few rotten eggs to defeat them.
Responsibility is on the lips of every party. Here it really matters.
In the past week several backbench MPs have been calling for a vote of no confidence in the leadership. They have been unhappy at his modernisation of the party.
Due to popular (or rather unpopular!) demand William Hill opened a book on who would be the next leader.
Except this was all about the Conservative leader, David Cameron back in 2007.
Meanwhile, YouGov’s monthly poll for the Telegraph back then had voting intention figures, with changes from YouGov’s last poll, of CON 32%(-1), LAB 41%(+1), LDEM 16%(+1).
UK Polling Report who look at these things said:
"...there is still a sharp difference between positive opinions of Gordon Brown, who enjoys a net approval rating of plus 7 as Prime Minister, and negative opinions of the government, whose net approval rating is at minus 25. It’s been a lot lower (at some points in the last year it reached minus 43)... The obvious explanation is that Labour’s positive position in the polls at the moment is based on Gordon Brown, he hasn’t yet transferred that popularity onto the government or the Labour party."
A couple of months back after a lengthy stand-off -18 months to be precise- I was forced for Health & Safety reasons to clean out my elder son's former bedroom after he had left home and left an utter mess ...think Third World dumping ground.
Aside from the 20-odd quid of loose change I found, exchanged for proper money and kept/spent, I also found an ipod nestled among the debris.
He said '"nah, don't wan' it" ...too complicated to use with all that having to do stuff thru iTunes etc. You can have it if you want.'
So after removing a layer of encrustation and buying the necessary cable (original lost) to connect/charge it and downloading and installing the iTunes software I thought I'd have a go at musically getting with the 21st century.
Had a quick squizz at the manual, also downloaded (original lost) and then set about transferring my music files.
Same elder son also got a 15-quid iTunes voucher for Christmas -still unused ...and here comes the smartypants bit... last night I downloaded my first iTune from the iTunes store and synced it onto my new gadget.
Daniel Merriweather feat. Wale - Change
Seemed appropriate somehow.
When he came to visit (my son, not Daniel) I showed him all I had done and he cast a rueful, misty eye at his old ipod.
I clutched it to my body and shouted (not on purpose just had loud music clamped to my ears) "Mipod now!"
Am now seriously considerring downloading an audiobook (any recommendations?) ...never enough time to read books and am working on the theory that if I just play it into my ear while doing other stuff I might osmotically absorb the contents which is a better working hypothesis than expecting to absorb books by the same method from the bookshelf.
Anyway, I'm still here with a will to blog but not enough time (caring responsibilities) and love gadgetry but cannot afford (so good on Labour for this!) to keep up with it all (caring responsibilities) but for now I love my new toy and I'm a happy dancing bunny.
Currently on mi'pod then is a 6 cd set 101 Trance anthems, three Muse albums, a compilation of 80's 12" ...there was supposed to be the soundtrack to the second series of Ashes to Ashes but seem to have lost that somewhere in my library, some random other stuff ...Kraftwerk Popcorn, some 80s dancey stuff and some noughties pop.
Will have to learn to be a bit more selective about what I put on it because it only has 4GB of space!
Next on the list of desired gadgets would be a Blackberry but could never afford one in a million years. Am stuck using the calendar function on my VERY basic mobile phone for now.
One day I hope to be as tech-savvy as John Prescott.
Is it me or do I have to read the News through not just the ideological and/or moral commitment of the MSM proprietors but also through the individual egos and pretensions of some journalists/commentators as well.
No links. Just a pure off the cuff observation on reading a sunday paper.
You may leave a comment but don't be surprised if I am too busy to 'moderate' it. If it is a long (or short) ill-informed, diatribe I might just sweep it into the dustbin on account of it making the place look untidy. Some have already made it through my rigorous standards.
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