Add a comment December 21st, 2007 by ThunderDragon
I thought that I would write a bit more about my new bi-weekly column starting in the new year: We The People. Even though I haven’t had the opportunity to actually start writing it yet! …
The basis of We The People will be democracy - in theory and in practice. I am going to try and look at different democratic and governmental systems and analyse them together and in comparison with each other and in relation to the next section of this post…
Go read the rest.
Add a comment December 21st, 2007 by ThunderDragon
A fantastic video that explains blogs in very simple and understandable terms:
Hat-tip: Sally in Norfolk
1 Comment December 21st, 2007 by ThunderDragon
So Clegg’s named his
front bench team. What a yawn. There’s been very few changes, and certainly no inspirational appointments. But the one [and only] fact that has interested/amused me is this one:
The frontbench team has expanded from 23 under Sir Menzies’s leadership to 30 - with another two MPs attending its meetings. It means almost half of all the 63 Lib Dem MPs have places in the senior team. (
BBC)
Bwahahaha! So it’s hardly a front bench of the
best talent in the Lib Dems, but
all of it!
Add a comment December 20th, 2007 by ThunderDragon
6 Comments December 20th, 2007 by ThunderDragon
How on earth can driving whilst using a mobile phone a bad enough offence to warrant jail time? Especially for two years! Yes, it’s stupid and dangerous - nobody is claiming that it isn’t - but it sure as hell isn’t worth the potential sentence of two years in jail. Especially at a time when the prisons are so overcrowded that they are releasing real criminals early!
Even the idea of a custodial sentence for such a minor crime is ridiculous, especially considering the current state of the prison system. And two years is an absurdly long length of time in itself. People commit far more serious crimes than driving whilst using a mobile phone and get shorter jail sentences.
This is a policy aimed solidly at the middle-class, aiming to criminalise them. Just give larger fines and more points to the perpetrators, and raise the penalties for actual dangerous or reckless driving and it’s results.
Sources: BBC, The Telegraph, The Guardian
2 Comments December 20th, 2007 by ThunderDragon
Only one political party could consider
59 to be a good age for a ‘
yoof advisor‘. I mean, for crying out loud, at 59 ex-rocker Brian Eno is older than my parents!
He is even nineteen years older than the man who has appointed him!
Clegg has made a big mistake with this appointment. Appointing an old man to advise them on youth issues just makes them look ridiculous, especially to the very youths they are trying to attract.
Add a comment December 20th, 2007 by ThunderDragon
David Cameron now has a party donation scandal all his very own.
David Cameron’s constituency party has admitted receiving £7,400 in invalid donations, it was revealed today. The Witney Conservative Association has agreed to forfeit the sum to public funds after initially banking the money.
The money came from two illegal sources, as the benefactors were not on the UK electoral roll…
However, aides insist privately that the latest funding incident was the result of a “genuine mistake” and point out that Cameron has stressed that errors will always occur at a local level. (
The Guardian)
However, there is no denying that it is not as bad as Labour’s scandal with Abrahams. To start with, the amount of money is tiny in comparison - more than £600,000 compared to about £7,000. There is also the fact that these donations were received on 21 August this year, rather than systematically taken and covered up over a rather lengthy period of time, and was handed to the Electoral Commission without the kind of fuss that beset Labour. However, it can be compared to the Wendy Alexander illegal donation, but at least neither Cameron or his Association wrote a thank you letter to the donors with an overseas address!
Yes, this has a whiff of hypocrisy about it. But it is hardly of the same level as that which has befallen Labour. This appears to be far more of a simple mistake rather than purposeful deceit and corruption. But it doesn’t look good for Cameron after attacking Labour over similar issues. Especially since all political parties got given money to stop this happening.
It seems to me that those who defended Alexander also seem to be those who are attacking Cameron. If Alexander is innocent of any wrongdoing, Cameron certainly is.
Sources: The Guardian, The Telegraph
Add a comment December 19th, 2007 by ThunderDragon
The new leader of the Liberal Democrats doesn’t believe in God. Like it really matters. Morality isn’t reliant on religion in the slightest - you can be a good person as an Atheist, or a bad man as a religious fundamentalist of any persuasion.
However, that Clegg has revealed his lack of religion is commendable, even though it’s likely to have any real impact in any direction, considering the minimal importance of religion in British politics - though I can’t help but wonder whether this could have affected the very slim margin by which he won the Lib Dem leadership.
Add a comment December 19th, 2007 by ThunderDragon
The true definition of the word “progressive” when used in political discourse:
progressive (adj): a word used by socialists, liars and politicians* to conceal their real agenda, i.e. increased statism, a reduction in personal liberties and a massive increase of tax.
Ideally, this tax increase should fall most heavily upon the poor as they must then approach the state in order to beg for some of their meagre earnings to be returned to them in the form of Tax Credits and other benefits, thus creating a client population who will always vote for more statism, particularly in the form of those dishonest bastards** currently in charge.
* Apologies for the tautology.
** Politicians.
Definition created by Devil’s Kitchen.
3 Comments December 18th, 2007 by ThunderDragon
The BBC bleeped the word “faggot” in the Christmas song Fairytale of New York because they feared that it might offend some gay viewers. The offending passage goes:
You scumbag, you maggot you cheap lousy faggot, Happy Christmas your arse I pray God It’s our last.
This obviously and deservedly produced a hell of a lot of criticism from listeners and DJs alike, and the BBC has since backtracked from their absurd position. It’s hardly as if the word “faggot” was used as an attack on gay people in this context, or as if the BBC has not played some far more offensive lyrics masquerading as “music”.
The BBC have at least reversed this decision. But it is far more worrying to me that it could even be considered offensive, and thus worthy of being bleeped out. Political correctness gone stark raving bonkers!
It does fill me with some sense of hope for the future of society, however, quite how roundly they have been criticised for doing it. Long may this attack of common sense continue.
