Gay President Delanoë?

It's a great thought about the mainstreaming of diversity, isn't it? Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë has signalled he's likely to run for the leadership of the French Socialist Party at the end of the year - if he were to win, putting him on a collision course with the hugely unpopular Nicolas Sarkozy at the next presidential election in 2012. This would be routine but for one important factor: Delanoë is gay. It's not unknown for the leaders of major cities to be gay - Klaus Wowereit in Berlin and Mayor-elect Sam Adams in Portland, Oregon are current notable fellows, but none has so far made an attempt to make the transition to the national stage.

So far Delanoë has travelled on the same path which took Boris Johnson to the top in London - that in this day and age, if you offer a certain level of professionalism, straightforwardness and accountability voters are indifferent to your background. There are hints in the UK that that trend will successfully convert to national politics, but despite currently favourable opinion polls, it remains to be seen if the same is true in France. We can but hope - Royal ran a spectacularly unfocused campaign last year against a man widely known to be a monster (who proved to be as well). France needs more competent and likable alternatives.

Gordon Clearly Doesn't Get It

Gordon Brown brings the Labour government closer to inevitable defeat, almost by the day.

Harriet Harman, the Labour deputy leader, acknowledged there were "discordant voices" in the party but insisted: "The overwhelming majority of people in the Labour Party – and I speak to constituency chairs up and down the country in my capacity as deputy leader – are solidly behind Gordon Brown and what he stands for, which is a strong economy and fair society. He is the man with the experience to make sure that happens."

No, he isn't. He himself contributed to the current credit crunch by building an economy on the basis of cheap credit; he encouraged us to spend irresponsibly for a decade. That was always an artifice ready to collapse at a moment's notice under the right conditions, and they're now here. Even now he and his idiot counterpart in America are trying to get us to spend, and to get the banks to revert to form, but noone's having it. And I'd love someone to tell me where this fair society is. Under his and Blair's watch, British society has become more unequal than at any time in history. It's true that poverty has been tackled, but the top end has raced away disproportionately. And this whilst Blair and Brown have wantonly ran away from civil liberties as if they didn't matter. They do, and everyone knows it. From ID cards to 42 days, to the police abusing legitimate protest and the Border Service abusing asylum seekers, this country under Brown couldn't be more unfair.

This is not at its core about high fuel prices, high energy prices or high food prices. This is about an electorate so convinced the government isn't listening that it's even prepared to look at the party which didn't listen in the past. It's a real tragedy - I remember watching Brown on 'Question Time' before Blair snatched the top job from under his nose and he was all about progressive politics. But he's so wedded to New Labour triangulation that he's unable to see that the electorate aren't just trapped between two unpalatable choices, but they're so fed with him being the one to listen least, that they're leaving him and not coming back.

The other week he tried to buy off the electorate from the 10p tax debacle, but it made no difference to his popularity. What the electorate wants is honesty and backbone. He needs to do something, not just play for short term gain, but he's like a rabbit in headlights. Even just a commitment to walking away from ID cards would make a difference, but I bet he doesn't.

Liberty vs City Police

Epic Nose Guy, the teenage Anonymous protester stopped by the City of London Police at the most recent anti-'Church' of Scientology demonstration, was told today that he won't in fact face prosecution after all. His bravery, and the conduct of the Anonymous protesters in his support, has been an example for us all. And I find it delightful that Liberty isn't letting it lie - the behaviour of the City Police was incompetent and thuggish at best, corrupt at worst, and Liberty is going to investigate what really happened.

Better Transport? Maybe...

It's interesting at a time when Gordon Brown is so weak that new, environmentally friendly transportation policies are being pushed so hard. Given this government's failings on the environment and in transport, we can only hope that they listen in the time they have left.

On the one hand we have a cable car being recommended by the Stockholm Environment Institute, University College London and the University of Wuppertal, in place of the much-derided and unwanted Thamesmead Bridge. It's a novel and worthy idea, getting neatly around the 'if you build it they will come' maxim. But of course the drawback is an existing need for some road link between the Blackwall and Dartford tunnels. Would this cut the demand for road users crossing the Thames?

The Sustainable Development Commission, chaired by Sir Jonathon Porritt, said there were big question marks over the environmental and economic arguments underpinning the proposals for British airport expansion.

Yet the government and the disgraceful BAA have already dismissed its findings; hardly surprising considering the report questions the entire economic and environmental rationale for a third runway. Is the solution to this though to get the aviation industry to 'pay its part in meeting environmental costs'? I don't think so.

The Apprentice (UK) 4:9

On the male side of the UK's fourth series of 'The Apprentice', there are: Lee, Michael, Alex and Raef.

I'm going to go out on a limb and call series 4 for a woman. Just a hunch...

On a happier side Margaret is as awesome as ever, and if Nick Hewer purses his lips and breathes through his teeth any sharper, the front of his face might fall right off...

Russell T Davies Exits Doctor Who

It's been rumoured for some time, but Russell T Davies has now formally announced his departure as executive producer and lead writer of Doctor Who. Whilst many may be disappointed at the loss of the man who returned 'New Who' to our screens in 2005, I'd like to point out that his replacement in both roles is (again as rumoured) Steven Moffat. I couldn't be happier. Whilst RTD has been guilty of some shockingly poor writing ('Last of the Time Lords' anyone?) and some pretty weak story bibling ('Bad Wolf' anyone?), Moffat has won awards for 'The Empty Child', 'The Girl in the Fireplace' and the remarkable 'Blink'. He's also cut his teeth in charge of a series with the unexpectedly good 'Jekyll'.

It remains to be seen whether or not Davies will tie the elements of his four series together before his departure, to leave a new (or old) status quo for his successor. There are hints already that the 'Bad Wolf' meme will be revisited and tied up, and that even the part-closed subplots may be heading for a complete resolution. The length of time it's taken proves just how much RTD has borrowed from Chris Claremont and Joss Whedon. I can't wait not just to see what Moffat brings, but who his Doctor will be.

Stem Cells are the Future!

The House of Commons has just voted down a cross-party attempt, led by arch Conservative Edward Leigh, to ban the use of hybrid human-animal embryos. Good. The Bush administration may have been highly successful in its anti-science polemic, but I'll be damned if it gets exported here.

Mr Leigh (Gainsborough) said the use of "admixed" embryos, using genetic material from both humans and animals, would cross an "entirely new ethical boundary," and turn the UK into a scientific "rogue state".

For those who don't know, Edward Leigh is the rabidly anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-contraception Tory former minister, famous for being sacked because of his opposition to the Maastricht Treaty (so anti-Europe too). And he's failed at blocking stem cell research, failed at blocking 'saviour siblings', in addition to his legion of other failures at codifying bigotry and backwardness in law. I'm tempted to start on Ruth Kelly too, but maybe that's just too easy...

The World of Work is Secular

In yet another case study of the resurgence of religion, and the way in which the state's pandering to it post-9/11 has caused upswings of bigotry instead of the opposite, read the case of Lilian Ladele. She's a civil registrar in Islington, north London, who is suing for the right to discriminate; yes, she's suing because she believes her religion has been legislated into enough of a position of privilege that she can get away with not marrying gay couples in civil partnerships. As Janine at Stroppyblog quite rightly points out, it's not clear whether or not gay couples in Islington can refuse to get married by her!

Of course the only correct outcome is to say 'do your (secular) job or get fired', and it's shocking to think that we are back in an age where people feel they can get away with opting out of aspects of their job which don't sit well with their religious beliefs. But Ladele's employer is covered by the Civil Partnership Act and the Sexual Orientation Regulations, neither of which ended up with civil opt-outs.

The Sexual Orientation Regulations have been criticised by some religious groups who say people will not be allowed to act according to faith.

Yes, I remember - I was there with my camera when the religious challenge to the secular law crashed and burned, but it wasn't without a tremendous fight, both inside and outside Parliament. But they did fail, and Ladele isn't being discriminated against - she's suing for the right to be a bigot. She says she can't go against what it says in the Bible, but a) it doesn't say she's not allowed to conduct gay weddings and b) it's that inconsistent argument again, isn't it? Bet she wears mixed fibres.

Gay Hip Hop?

Are some famous 'singers' and industry luminaries in the most homophobic area of popular culture about to come out? It seems ludicrous doesn't it, given the level of hatred built into the most commonly promoted form of hip hop, but Terrance Dean, a former executive at MTV is about to publish a book about the thriving, largely underground gay hip hop subculture, now he's come out.

There are signs that things are changing. Several leading rap artists, including top seller Kanye West, have admitted that homophobia is rampant in the industry and they have spoken out against it.

Dean, however, hopes that hip hop will soon put its homophobia behind it. He says the music changed dramatically from hip hop's roots in nightclubs and parties to a celebration of urban violence and gang life as 'gangsta rap' became the norm. Homophobia grew up alongside that musical shift as most successful artists used songs that idolised guns, drugs and crime. 'We need to get hip hop back to those party roots and away from the gangsta rap culture,' he said.

I really wish that were true, except there seems to be such a vested interest in promoting and maintaining this 'gangsta' culture, with all its components (like violent homophobia) that I can't honestly see that changing any time soon. For the life of me I don't understand why that culture isn't changed, but it would have to either change by government pressure - which wouldn't work - or would have to come from the ground up, and it's only gay campaigners who are doing that so far.

Another London Murder

I'm starting to get really upset by the murders I'm hearing about these days. Jimmy Mizen by all accounts was a lovely young person, the likes of which only make this world a better place. And in trying to avoid violence he gets murdered. He was 16. His Mum said:

"It must be very painful to know that he has been so cruel and wicked. What can you say to them? People keep asking me why I am not angry but I say it was anger that killed my son.

"If I was angry I would be the same as this boy. There is too much anger in the world. He didn't have bad thoughts about people, he didn't judge people, he didn't judge anybody."

What a great woman.

Not This Time, Roger

I think I'm going to have to accept that Roger Federer isn't going to win Wimbledon this year. It's either not his year, or he's beginning the decline from his peak which comes to every champion (unless they're Borg and retire at the top). Ah well at least he equalled Borg's record last year in perhaps his best match of his career, but my fingers are still crossed that he'll break Sampras' career grand slam record before he retires. It just won't be this year is all.

The Margaret Mountford Fan Club

It's a dreadful programme - car crash TV at its zenith - but BBC1's version of 'The Apprentice' is really fun. Pure pantomime TV without the fake moralising of Jeremy Kyle, Trisha Goddard or Jerry Springer, as Anna Pickard points out it's become exceedingly popular for its bit players, Sugar's aides - the ascerbic Nick Hewer and in particular Margaret Mountford.



Margaret's put downs, her irritation, her common sense and intelligence (which is always on a different scale to the contestants, who are so stupid this year they seem almost scripted) indeed reflect what we are thinking. When we're fed up with Jenny believe me Margaret was more fed up with her weeks ago. When we're shocked at Michael's boardroom outburst, Margaret felt like she'd been spat on. The woman has class, style, attitude and smarts. The real star of the show and one of the biggest and best gay icons in years.

Tories Analysing Tories

It's ridiculous really. They have the self-reflective capacity of goats. But hey if you want to convince the readership that Boris Johnson, the new Mayor of London, is a safe pair of hands when it's blatantly not the case, why not trot out an old Tory to big him up? Lord Rees-Mogg, former Chairman of the BBC, says:

One can safely disregard the stark warnings of those who have never liked him. He poses no threat except to political rivals and to attractive young women of nubile age.

This is the analysis of the privileged, who can't comprehend the damage which someone like Johnson can do. He poses no threat? But his transport policy of getting rid of bendy buses in favour of a new generation of Routemasters will mean disadvantaging countless disabled people, and he has admitted utter ignorance of diversity, and tried to support the point of Section 28 whilst disagreeing with the policy itself. His writing as editor of the Spectator was littered with easy racism and casual homophobia, and Rees-Mogg's dismissal of Johnson's predatory nature with women attempts equally to make misogyny and sexism part of the normal way of things in London life once again. Sickening.

A Word or Two About Brian Paddick

I voted for him in the London Mayoral Election. I don't regret my vote for a moment - one of the joys of the proportional system in London is that you can vote strategically and for your personal preference as well. Despite my reservations about him as a former commander in the Metropolitan Police, I felt it made sense for a former, avowedly socially liberal Met officer to offer changes to how the force was governed and run - that issue really being paramount for London (whether it knows it or not). But Paddick crashed and burned. Want to know why?

1) Losing your temper with supportive interviewers really doesn't help your cause.
2) Slating the incumbent during the campaign whilst confessing to nearly joining the Conservative Party suggests you're a closet Tory; being an out gay man partying with Ian McKellen and Elton John suggests you're a screaming queen. Way to split your own vote.
3) Vince Cable would have been a wiser choice after all. Being an existing London MP, with huge economic experience with Shell, a rapier wit and massive popularity, Cable would have been a serious challenger against Boris, let alone Ken. Paddick came across as humourless, arrogant and boring in a campaign dominated by huge, media-friendly personalities; Cable's Commons demolition job of Gordon Brown made him a nation-wide hit, and despite not running for the top Lib Dem job, he hasn't missed a beat. The Tories thought outside of the box in choosing their candidate and it worked - they now have someone in high office with national attention. Cable will never be Chancellor - the Lib Dems should have proven themselves as hungry for power.

New Labour: The End

Poor old Geoff Hoon - a rabbit in headlights. Still, it's nothing compared to what's going to happen to New Labour in 2009 or 2010. No wonder Tony Blair was smiling the other night.

I have no doubts whatsoever that May 1st was the point at which New Labour died. I'm by no means a Tory supporter and think David Cameron's a moron, but it's going to be awfully painful nonetheless to watch Labour's slow death for the next two years.

Ken v Gordon

So it looks highly likely that Ken Livingstone will lose the London Mayoralty. It proves without any doubt that people are stultifyingly stupid everywhere, not just America. I can't wait to see him lose his patience with the Labour Party and go on the attack against Gordon Brown - the only remaining Labour Party member who is even slightly electable against the Prime Minister currently destroying it.

The Apprentice (UK) 4:6

Oh my God. I really wasn't going to blog about this series but....

National Singles' Day?

THE APOSTROPHE????????????????????? IT ISN'T A POSSESSIVE, YOU PLANK!!!!!!!!!!

Oh. And to celebrate saving the environment...with a greetings card? Which will have a carbon footprint?! Now I've seen everything.

Stop the Hate

Homophobia can be a very overt and brutal thing, it can be something insidious and covert which informs your opinions and actions of someone in a consistently negative way. Both things have to stop being transmitted to children and young people as remotely acceptable. It is not ok to hurt or hate someone for who they are. One way or another it destroys lives.

Dark Knight Awesomeness

In all honesty I've never seen a poster this amazing before. This film is going to catch fire.

So Sad

Maybe it's just me, but when I normally hear about murders and unexplained deaths in the news I feel largely unmoved. You can't be that moved if you don't know the person/s after all, but I must confess hearing the story of the deaths of Heather Wardle and James Hughes really upset me; it does still.

The police intimated at the outset that Heather committed suicide, but then revealed James could not be found. We all knew what the outcome would be, didn't we, but didn't want to admit it to ourselves? The day his body was found I very nearly cried when I found out. A 22 year old man, so severely disabled that he had a mental age of 18 months, unable to care for himself, and was found in a suitcase in a garden. I'm sorry but this isn't my world.

Spain Keeps Leaping Forward

I don't know about you, but I find this picture quite awesome:



The sight of a pregnant female Defence Secretary inspecting her troops isn't just revolutionary for Spain - it's unthinkable here. It's even more impressive, considering that progressive Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero has now appointed more women than men to his reelected government, and with an eye on this backdrop:

In Spain, women earn about 30 per cent less than men, and take up less than 4 per cent of the places on the boards of the major companies. More than 40 per cent of Spanish mothers of young children work outside the home. Domestic violence persists: during 2007, 71 women were killed by their husbands or partners.

The rise of women in Spanish government and Chacon's assumption of the Defence portfolio originate directly from Zapatero's 40 per cent rule, which prohibits men or women from making up more than 60 per cent of the candidates of any political party that contests national or local elections. It could open spectacular opportunities in local government as well as in the boardroom. Sadly the macho male stereotypes aren't being challenged worth a damn in the UK.

Governator Looks to the Future

In yet another canny move by Governator 2.0 Schwarzenegger, Arnie moves to block an amendment to change the Californian constitution to outlaw gay marriage. A hypocritical move perhaps, considering the Californian legislature passed a gay marriage law, but were frustrated by Schwarzenegger who vetoed it. But it seems that that move might have been more in line with Bill Clinton's allowing the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA) to pass - making tactical moves in a larger war for gay rights, which in America all depend on timing. Maybe it's just because he sees the writing's on the wall for Bush-style, ultra-religious conservatism - he's already made environmental moves in flagrant opposition to the White House after all.

Gordon Grows a Spine

At long last Gordon Brown, no doubt reeling from being horribly damaged from the PR disaster which was the London leg of the Olympic Torch Relay, has decided to pull out from the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Of course he can't help trying to spin this as always having been the case, rather than having changed his mind to limit the damage Sunday's fiasco did to him, but the bottom line is it's the right decision.

The more the outrageous relay stunt goes on, accompanied by brutal, authoritarian defensive statements like Qiangba Puncog's, the worse it'll be for China's reputation. Already bad, they could always stop jailing people like Hu Jia, but that seems not to be on their agenda.

Planning on voting Labour?

It's a two-parter, this. And it's a biggie. From The Independent:

"marriage has never been less popular, as the Government's own statistics revealed last month, and we are fast heading for a situation in which 45 per cent of marriages will end in divorce. Millions of people live in a network of relationships which embraces close friends, blood relatives, step-families and gay couples, suggesting that the populace is considerably more sophisticated in this respect than the political class which governs us. A fifth of women born in 1961 remain childless, many of them by choice, and there is widespread acknowledgement that the maternal instinct is not universal.

...These days, the choice not to have children is as widely respected as the desperate desire to become mothers which inspires infertile women to opt for IVF treatment."

So why then are they restructuring the tax regime to disadvantage just this sector?

"This week, the abolition of the 10p lower rate of income tax which they voted for last year came into force, leaving 5.3 million people on low incomes worse off. The big losers are childless people under the age of 65 earning less than £18,500 a year, some of whom will be paying a couple of hundred pounds more in tax while higher earners benefit from the restructuring of the tax regime."

So in a stroke, Labour alienates 40% (ish) of its electorate? Stupid much or is the whole point of New Labour now purely to try to supplant the Conservative Party rather than improve on them? Gordon Brown's obsession with 'hard-working families' for electoral advantage is blinding him to the now near-absence of social justice provided by the party whose mission statement it is to provide it. It'll bite him on the ass at the next General Election, not to mention the rest of us when (assuming we retain first-past-the-post) the only viable other choice will be the Conservatives, who are even worse.

Iran's Out...Egypt Anyone?

The Mehdi Kazemi case should be reminding people that despite the odd pre-Ahmadinejad baby steps forward, Iran as a nation is still stuck in the dark ages. For witches read homosexuals - 4000 of us at least murdered since 1979. But anyway, we're told by the all-wise W that we're not supposed to like Iran anyway - it's part of the Axis of Evil. So what about our ally, Egypt?

Egypt is forcibly testing, torturing and jailing people living with HIV/AIDS, whilst on a regular witch hunt against gay men. So we like this country who engage in this barbarity, but don't like Iran who do exactly the same thing? Cruise down the Nile anyone?

Craig makes Bond Hot

I still pine for Pierce when I see his commercials. But seriously Bond has never looked this hawt before. This is just scorchio. October can't roll on quickly enough!

Good Old Naomi Campbell

The woman is clearly mad, and largely quite detestable, but this time? This time Naomi Campbell had spent £6000 on plane fare. She'd expected a certain level of treatment - certainly not to have her bags lost before even boarding on the outbound journey, but as soon as she got on her British Airways flight at Heathrow she got advised that one of her bags was already completely lost. She got angry and got advised to leave, whereupon she lost her temper and the police were called. So far I don't think she'd done anything outright wrong. It was when the police called and she spat in their face that she got arrested. Morally questionable, and certainly a degrading form of assault with no defence. If only she hadn't spat she'd have been a national hero, in the light of Terminal 5's continuing inability to provide service of even the slightest competence.

Paddick for Equality

Liberal Democratic candidate for London Mayor Brian Paddick has championed the Stonewall report on homophobic attitudes in society.

One fifth of respondents think they would be treated worse by police than a straight person if they reported a crime.

One in five think they would be treated worse by a magistrate if they were to appear before one because they are gay.

60% of gay men and 50% of lesbians think they would be treated worse by prison officers if it was known they were gay.

None of this should be a surprise. Whilst little in life is always true, it's very much the case in London that the Metropolitan Police is institutionally homophobic, whatever else Ken Livingstone or Ian Blair would like to believe. The criminal justice system behind it is equally as bad, if not worse. That one is down to unchallenged bigotry and the other might likely be down to poor training and institutional ineptitude doesn't make any difference to the outcomes. And they're outcomes which we don't like to talk about - they make us feel uneasy. It's impressive that Stonewall is at least beginning to put the evidence of expectations together. They should shame our Home Secretary, or rather they would if she only had a soul.

There is a great deal of difference between changing the law and changing people’s experience.

I've spoken to him about my vote already, but if this were to be a bedrock of his intentions as Mayor, it would certainly guarantee it'll go to him.

Spacey Attacks the BBC

In attacking the BBC for its overhype and disproportionate promotion of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, Kevin Spacey has hit the nail on its head. It's particularly bad for a public service broadcaster essentially to be promoting only one West End theatre company at the expense of all the others, when its Charter remit would recommend something else entirely. Yet the masses want what the masses want and the private, ratings-chasing mentality is firmly entrenched at Broadcasting House. No doubt there's also a sense that Lloyd Webber reality TV shows like Any Dream Will Do are the BBC's X-Factor, and need to be stuck with at all costs, given the corporation's past failures at music-based reality TV programming.

It's a mentality which is affecting most media these days - Marvel Comics putting superstar creators on poor selling properties like Fantastic Four, generating huge hype for brief periods at the expense of stronger written work on less familiar properties. It gets the attention the publisher needs, but it doesn't lend itself to a strong long-term strategy for them, nor for their publications at both ends of the sales figures. At some point the public will tire of the gimmick, Spacey is quite right in his irritation that far more innovative theatre companies like his will are losing out, with the public being pointed only in one direction on the West End, but with all media horribly fragmented and all audiences' attention spans unprecedentedly short, it's hard to know where the middle ground is. There may not be one.

Clinton and his Record

It's interesting viewing, and shows the similar positions he and Hillary take not just to politics, but to their approach to politics. Clinton defends DOMA as bad but necessary legislation to manage a long game. I wish he didn't make sense but he does, in the same way that Hillary is trying to burst the 'yes we can' Obama bubble. There are realities which lofty rhetoric or noble intentions now cannot tackle or resolve, and there are bad people with large constituencies who will act now if given the ammunition. I don't like DOMA and wish Obama was right in his approach, but Clinton here displays more understanding about the political process than anyone likely to win in November...

Voting Reform in England?

As the polls get inexorably worse, as people realise that NuLabour is once and for all morally and intellectually bankrupt, finally a decision is made to go for voting reform. Why noone had the backbone to attempt this while Robin Cook was alive is beyond me, but there's no doubt in my mind that Gordon Brown needs this to have any chance at all of winning the next General Election.

I also agree with compulsory voting with one big proviso. There needs to be an alternative on the list of 'none of the above'. If enough of the electorate chooses that option in the constituency then that election would have to be re-run with candidates more acceptable to voters. If they're looking for greater legitimacy that would have to be a core component really.

Are You an Internet Addict?

Dr Jerald Block, author of an editorial for the respected American Journal of Psychiatry, has defined internet addiction as a serious public health issue. It's an interesting question. Is it possible to have too much internet, or is this new medium merely being used in ways which will define us in the future? Overall I think 'excessive' is hard to define, and looking for new and better equipment isn't a disorder at all.

For me this is a cautionary tale, a reminder that as our relationships with machines inexorably increase, there is a risk that our human ones deteriorate in turn, possibly without our realising it. The internet is a medium which is still in its infancy, which as a society we're still not fully adept at using, and one where the rules and conventions regarding what is acceptable and what is not are still in flux. It's not surprising that a communications medium which offers quite literally everything should warp human behaviour in previously unseen or unexpected ways.

• Do you use it to escape from problems (eg, feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)?

I did, but now I've started practising meditation those days are over. There does need to be greater public discussion about where the internet belongs in life, I agree. I'm currently experimenting with only paring back to only a couple of hours a day, and focusing almost entirely on blogging and photography.

Heather Mills Ha Ha Ha

Don't forget this is the woman whom the judge referred to as having serious problems with reality, with a penchant for pouring water over her enemies' heads. It's almost as if the video proves she's a psycho gold digger.

Galloway Denies Reality

Good old George Galloway. With his track record of lunacy mostly unbroken, clearly he's decided to stay in character. You have to hope he's acting at least, don't you? Since 1979 Iran has butchered over 4000 lesbians and gay men, merely for being gay.

Moko the Dolphin

I'm getting aware that many of my recent posts have been angry or downbeat. So here's a lovely one.

A dolphin in New Zealand actually came to the rescue of two pygmy sperm whales, which repeatedly beached themselves. After they and their human rescuers had given up on getting them successfully past a sandbar, Moko came along, communicated with the distressed whales, who then changed their mood and followed her out to sea.

It doesn't get much nicer than that.

The Kiwis report it here, and if you think this behaviour is unlikely or uncommon, think again.

The Death of Michael Todd

I'm not one to gloat about anyone's death for any reasons - particularly from a suicide. Michael Todd seems to have taken his own life for multiple reasons - public shame, discovery of serial infidelity, risk to his position. People are fallible, they're human - these failings and simple realities are not worth condemning & certainly not worth dying for. This post is to condemn the media over the coverage of his death. Because he was a policeman he was automatically assumed to be worthy of unlimited praise for a flawless character; the reality wasn't even close. There are people out there of much better character than Todd, who also commit suicide, but they don't rate a mention. This was indeed a tragedy, but the assumptions and biases by the media in the aftermath were wrong and make me ashamed.

I Pledge Allegiance to The Queen...

The former Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith has recommended that school children should pledge allegiance to the Queen, as one of many measures to try to re-entrench 'Britishness' into civil life. Silly me, I wasn't aware that it had ever left, there must be a moral panic afoot. Nick Clegg is right in trashing the idea - developing a sense of belonging for young people can only come by allowing them an active role in society. Yet soon they'll require ID cards merely to get student loans...

As much as I love the United States, I have no comprehension why this country is so totally obsessed with becoming the 51st state. Their pledging allegiance to their flag isn't something which can be copied for a whole litany of reasons, nor should it be desirable in this country. The nationalism which that engenders can currently be demonstrated in Iraq. Of course this is merely an attempt to get young, disaffected Muslims 'back on board' with their British identity, but how reciting an oath could reverse a disengagement with society (the reasons for which are well known and often documented) is beyond me. This government is stupid. Rather than empowering young people to form their own identity and determine allegiances which work successfully for them, they might instead be required to pledge their allegiance to nobility?!

Someone point me out the Minister for Children and Young People. No? Acknowledge the findings of the UK Youth Parliament? No? Withdrawing ID cards? No? At least saying 'sorry' for Iraq? No? Genuinely creating more opportunities for ethnic minority young people and educational opportunities for all poorer young people? No. A prescriptive oath of allegiance will fix everything.

New Canadian Age of Consent?

The Conservative Canadian government is preparing to raise its age of consent from 14 to 16. I'm not sure what I think about that. Offhand I would tend to agree that 16 feels more comfortable, although there are plenty of countries which are entirely comfortable with ages of consent of 14 and younger. The Netherlands for example has a universal age of consent of 16, although theirs is conducted with a proviso that sex under 16 is allowed with a close in age exception that reduces the minimum age to 12 if the participants' ages are less than 4 years apart. Such a proviso is actually in place in Canada now and it's not clear whether it would be retained.

Canada's decision does run the risk of disempowering young people, and appears to be a smokescreen for leaving their age of consent for anal sex unchanged at 18. And whilst 16 does instinctively feel more comfortable, the change seems to be driven by Prime Minister Stephen Harper attempting to play to his base, and with no clear arguments yet that the rise to 16 would combat the exploitation of children and young people any better than the current aoc. I guess young people are bearing the brunt for Harper's failure to repeal gay marriage...

My Best Friend is an Atheist

So Parliament is about to debate repealing blasphemy laws eh? About time too - may the desperate theists trying to get special dispensation anyway be as successful as the latest attempt to prosecute Jerry Springer: The Opera.

Some sense may yet be out there.

The Portrait of Ultimate Irony

Now I don't know about you, but I think this unphotoshopped image is pretty funny. Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Iraqi President Talabani holding hands, with the former looking pretty supine. It's the gayest thing I've seen in quite a long time, and makes a beautiful mockery of Ahmadinejad's insistence that Iran had no gay population.

Of course if there weren't any gay people in Iran then barbaric executions like this wouldn't happen would they? Looks like the fool has walked into a honey trap in Iraq! Alanis take note - this is ironic!

Huckabee is a Loon

I'm not sure I'd bother writing a post about Mike Huckabee anymore, but for the strong possibility that he might become Vice President in November. With Obama and Clinton still at one another's throats, and the Democratic Party very likely finally to choose Obama on Tuesday, the political narrative is going to start getting hostile very quickly. Hillary's attack on Obama's inexperience will be nothing compared to McCain's and the Republican Party's. The Democratic Party's primary voters are idealists - a trait rarely found in the general electorate. I don't want McCain to win, but it's far from unlikely, and he'll need a VP who can carry the evangelical vote; the evangelicals currently hate him.



So although Huckabee has no chance of winning the Presidential nomination, McCain might well choose him as his running mate. And this is the point that all right minded people need to see this man for who he is. Dan Quayle was a buffoon who clearly wasn't up to the job (rather like the current White House incumbent), Dick Cheney had plenty of experience but it turned out he was a psychopath who has been and remains the power behind the throne. Neither though would have put their hand up to admit disbelieving evolution (how you can disbelieve in a cornerstone of the natural world is beyond me). Neither also believed in inhibiting gay rights or banning abortion. I'll grant you Dick Cheney was a delusionist of the highest order, in expecting American troops to be met with garlands of flowers upon liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein. But with a gay daughter, he would never have equated homosexuality with bestiality or paedophilia.

Huckabee insists he's not a homophobe, but his loony beliefs and public statements confirm otherwise. Bush may be an outright nut; does America really want another nut just a heartbeat away from the Presidency?

Hot Harry

I'm not a fan of Harry as a human being. Some of his antics at home in the UK have been downright childish, especially given the life of privilege into which he was born. But in thinking about his recently terminated deployment to Afghanistan, I realised you have to respect what's happened here (no, not what Matt Drudge did). In the two major wars being waged in the region - Iraq and Afghanistan - you'll be hard pressed to find any sons or daughters of an elected official in this country fighting or working. I've never heard of any to be honest, and that's why this is such an important story - Harry is the grandson of the Head of State, the son of the most popular woman in the history of the country and third in line to the throne. That he and his family do not consider him above such duty says more about him and them than most people give them credit for.

I don't envy him the position he's now in, now his tour has been exposed and terminated. But in this at least, there's honour in what he'd been doing. In becoming a much higher profile target for Al Qaeda and friends than he already was, he's shown leadership which belies his years, which I hope he gets the chance to build on.

Sign Me Up?

I'm in an odd situation and it's definitely age related - not in a bad way either. Events of the last year showed up a fundamental disconnection with the process of life, which I've now started to deal with in embedding meditation and meditation classes into my life. But where does this end, where should the boundaries be? I as much as everyone else, want desperately to believe that I am unique, that I am unlike anyone who's gone before and that I can determine every aspect of my uniqueness. But the more I'm learning about myself this year, the more I realise that my uniqueness has limitations - I'm determined strongly by my friends, I'm determined strongly by my parents, and by my family. Those elements I have no control over and they're as much fundamentals as my sexual orientation.

What I'm trying to get at is if I start down the road of exploring Buddhist meditation, how free am I really to cherry pick? Totally free ultimately, but doesn't there come a point that that's just hubris? The reason for cherry picking after all is to protect my uniqueness at all costs, but if that's just a defensive imagining of myself? Is it time to succumb to a realistic imagining of myself and completely give myself over to a system of thought, a communal way of being? I don't have any answers yet - I think I have a lot to read before that.

Iron Man Edges Closer

Iron Man Exclusive Trailer

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This is simply awesome. Everyone involved in this looks as though they just get it. Downey in particular is dream casting, but attention's paid to the origin, to the little details like Michelinie & Layton's seafront mansion (from their second run), through to a sense of humour about itself (which Daredevil found itself unable to do). This deserves to be simply enormous. I can't wait!

Obama is not a Muslim

Word has it that Hillary's campaign, in its desperation (a pity, considering she remains the strongest candidate), has released this photo:



If this simplistic recourse to the politics of race actually has an effect (and I can see how it might), it'll be an illegitimate victory. Just like the NuLabour victories since 1997 - not earned on their own merits. On the one hand I hope she can break the Obama cult of personality in time - the world really doesn't need another Tony Blair - but she must present herself as a better candidate on her own merits; without that she's surely lost on Tuesday.

Fat Christ

Rather than actually run trains on time, the geniuses at Transport for London have banned this poster, for fear of its causing offence:



It's a sad point in history when such a major organisation starts to play thought police - particularly when noone's asked them to. Still though, it's given the play media coverage it would never otherwise have had, which is almost karmic. Censorship rarely brings with it a happy ending - do we really want to go down the road of Pakistan, blocking off access to YouTube entirely for fear of permitting anyone to see idolatrous images, whether or not they're offended by them?

More Maxxie

It's more of the very lovely Mitch Hewer. I don't care that he's straight - Maxxie isn't ;)



Borrowed from Mitch Hewer's official website.

President McCain or Obama

So Obama and McCain both win in Wisconsin. No shocks there, but it was a state Hillary should have had a shot of winning in. Nine successive defeats for her now, but she's not out. She just has a now almost impossible mountain to climb. To become the nominee she'll not just have to win both Ohio and Texas, but win them in a big way, keep motoring on from there, and most likely have enough super delegates in her pocket in the nominating convention in the summer, and succeed at getting Michigan and Florida delegates seated there and...get the picture? Half of those requirements would alienate people she needs from her anyway.

It's doable, but would now require a comeback far greater than New Hampshire or anything Bill has ever managed. I get the feeling Romney's withdrawal and endorsement of McCain did this to her, and even though I still believe she's the best candidate, that's a political narrative completely out of her control.

Captain Britain and MI: 13

Couldn't be better news. Just while Marvel really does seem to be on a roll, they assign Paul Cornell to 'Captain Britain and MI:13'. Not another, failed variant of Excalibur, but a variant of Cornell's successful MAX 'Wisdom' limited series, with Cap joining up with Britain's MI:13 to fend the UK off from Skrull invasion.



Cornell of course is also the screen writer of some of the best episodes of the Doctor Who relaunch - specifically Father's Day, Human Nature and Family of Blood. His strong characterisation and tightly focused plotting bode very well for this series and I'm really looking forward to it. Find out more about it here.

Eye Candy II

Who else here is watching Skins then? ;)

Comics Aren't Cheap

A freeform post this one - I really want to do a post about comics but don't really know how, without sounding like a child or overly serious about a mass entertainment medium which these days is largely out to milk the customer dry.

At Marvel it's all about Civil War still. Sure, many of the developments are already undone - Peter Parker's identity is now completely secret once more, Reed & Sue Richards' marriage is back in one piece, there are multiple signs of reconciliations between the Avengers teams and Captain Marvel...well what about Mar-Vell? We now have Millar & Hitch on the Fantastic Four, a Brand New Day for Spider-Man, and the upcoming Invincible Iron Man looks to reunite Matt Fraction & Salvador Larroca (who together did the truly sensational Sensational Spider-Man annual) on a book which isn't continuity dependent.



So what is my gripe? It's the inconsistency in the argument Millar, Quesada and others put forwards. No, you don't have to read 100 books in order to appreciate the Civil War and its aftermath. You don't have to read 100 books in order to appreciate World War Hulk and its aftermath. You won't have to read 100 books in order to appreciate Secret Invasion and its aftermath. It just helps. And once I would have leapt at the chance. Bendis is still writing both Avengers books, the Mar-Vell storyline is progressing pleasingly (who'd have thought?), Hitlar are doing their Ultimate thing in the 616 universe, Captain America's the best it's ever been...the event books themselves are even done by great, entertaining creative teams. But comics aren't cheap anymore. I used to be able to read the FF and have it stand alone entirely. Thank you John Byrne. I used to be able to read Moon Knight and have it stand entirely alone - thank you Moench & Sienkiewicz. And that was in a day when they only cost 35-50 cents! Try nearly 10 times that now!

You shouldn't have to save up for these things - the same is true of DVDs. I don't want to have to spend £60 for a Dr Who box set (and haven't), leaving the real options of avoiding these media altogether. I know quality on these media is rapidly improving, with quality creators rushing to make their next zillions on a sure thing. But until I win the lottery I just don't have the money. And as pretty as some of it is, I'm not sure whether I care about retrodden work - Millar & Hitch on FF? Claremont & Davis on Uncanny X-Men? Busiek & Pacheco on Superman? Are any of those series as interesting or as pretty as when Byrne was on them? I don't think so. At least a TV show like House is self-contained, enjoyably self aware, and ends up with cheap box sets. No wonder it's so popular. Marvel and BBC take note!

And I...Begin to Wonder

We know Obama now has momentum. He has won more states and delegates for the first time since the contest started in earnest in Iowa. The media still love him, and his character has at least been tested by Bill Clinton if noone else (they both seem haughty and to have temper problems - how apt). With her campaign sloughing off key managerial staff and with Clinton herself having to lend the campaign money in order to go on when Obama's making $1 million a day, it looks bad for Hillary. Or does it?

She's still more than able to win Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania, is fighting to get her delegates from Michigan and Florida seated at the Democratic National Convention in the summer (which admittedly isn't doing her any favours), and is currently favoured by a majority of super delegates. This could yet be key for this contest, given that Obama or Clinton would have to win the remaining high-delegate states by margins of over 60% in order to have a fighting chance of crossing their 2025 threshold, leaving the super delegates the final arbiters of who will fight John McCain in November. Key party grandees like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry won't be supporting her, but she successfully humiliated them both in Massachusetts and has someone named Bill on her side. And whilst Obama has successfully made inroads into Hillary's base, remember the older vote which she sill commands is more reliable than the youth vote.

There's still all to play for, but she really needs to trounce him in the next three states in order not to walk away with her campaign terminally crippled.

Government Vs the Internet. Again.

Yet again government has been shown to completely misunderstand the internet and technology in general. The British government is suggesting it might cut internet access altogether to people who download music and films illegally. If they go ahead with such a clearly ridiculous move the question of course would be 'who benefits'? Certainly not ISPs, certainly not artists, who when it comes to music rarely get any of the proceeds back - they make it off merchandising and concerts. Oh yes it would be giant corporations, who certainly aren't in the game to be artistic. In recent years they've got away with making huge amounts of crap and then bleating when people decide it isn't actually worth buying and download it illegally instead.

Maybe, just maybe it would make more sense to a) improve the quality of films & music, b) provide a delivery system which allowed good product for a decent price and with few strings and c) stop persecuting internet users for using the internet in a truly democratic way. Given that there are always ways around it, it's a stupid way of trying to control people. But this government is soooo wedded to control and surveillance...

Bounce or no Bounce?

Today we may find out in the Washington state, Nebraska and Louisiana contests whether Obama or Hillary got a 'bounce' from Super Tuesday. They both claimed to, which is hardly surprising considering the demographics largely becoming their 'bases' did what they needed to in big numbers, but there was no crossover worth mentioning. Obama did well in states outside his comfort zone, Hillary got the major metropolises. Let's see if I can make yet another good call.

Obama and McCain (that last one's now a no-brainer) today, although it'll be very interesting to see if Huckabee takes any of the southern states again. With the Idiot Bush interfering in the contest it'll be interesting to see if his call to his base was heeded or if he's now a lame duck in every conceivable sense.

What could turn out to be the next really exciting showdown though comes on Tuesday. Virginia and Maryland, as well as DC.

Nothing So Scary as a Loopy Theist

Loopy theists are at it again.



This was put on a billboard in southwest London until the Advertising Standards Agency forced them to take it down. They have some disgusting arguments defending their position, but they're completely undermined by the most recent Social Attitudes Report, showing only 32% of people think homosexuality is mostly or always wrong. It doesn't help their case that they're morally backward too. To refute the majority of their argument would suggest that they have an argument, when they don't.

Bond is Coming...

I don't know about you but I'm getting excited about Quantum of Solace. Finally a post-relaunch Bond movie helmed by a great director. Martin Campbell's work on Casino Royale was shockingly good, considering he was also responsible for Goldeneye eleven years earlier. Marc Forster comes off The Kite Runner, Finding Neverland and Monster's Ball - all highly acclaimed. Add him to Daniel Craig, Judi Dench and no other Bond staples and you have a hit waiting to happen...

Oregon Finally Leaps Forwards

At long last Oregon has implemented its domestic partnerships law, and the reverses in gay rights of the last four years start to roll back. Speaking as an Oregonian I'm absolutely delighted. Whilst I still can't bring my British husband home with me, at least not permanently, my home state at least now has a law which respects me and my relationship. Now that anti-gay discrimination is also banned under the law, I can't help but wonder how long it'll take to reverse the constitutional change banning same-sex marriage. That, after all, is itself discriminatory.



Interesting times. Good on you Oregon, and well done Basic Rights Oregon!

Super Tuesday

So I called South Carolina right too.

I'm going to be daring and call the winners today: John McCain and Hillary Clinton. It may not end the Democratic nomination process, but unless Obama wins a majority of states or delegates, he's really not going to make it after all. I think when it comes to the crunch people will plump for Hillary instead of lofty (albeit noble) rhetoric from a one term Senator (albeit one with enormous potential).



Of course the outcome I hope for is a Democrats is an Obama/Clinton ticket. There's not a chance in hell that McCain could beat that.

Trains...Down the Drain

I. Do. Not. Get. It. This country remains bananas when it comes to public transport, moreso than any other European country I'm aware of. I'll grant you we now have High Speed 1. It took long enough - it should have been in place in 1994, but our elected 'leaders' really don't care. Take a look at the Ave S103 - Spain is aiming to get 10,000 km of high speed track by 2020. That's utterly unthinkable here. Why? I honestly couldn't say. Put in High Speed 2 from St Pancras and Heathrow to Birmingham, and you lose the need for a sixth terminal at Heathrow immediately. And that's without taking into consideration the ability to grow regional airports instead, with the economic growth spread around the country rather than illogically concentrated in the south-east.



Yet in July 2007 the Opus Dei Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly ignored High Speed 2 in her planning of Britain's transport infrastructure over the next thirty years, saying that 'green is good' on the one hand, yet opening up far wider air travel expansion than any of her European counterparts could now contemplate. Ridiculous. As usual, a very British lack of planning or coordination is to blame. How shocking. I saw an interview a week or so ago, questioning the difference between government's claim that the economy and infrastructure are strong and in place to weather the oncoming economic storm. Those of us who have to navigate the economy and put up with the infrastructure know different.

President Blair

It was a term of derision, used to describe his presidential style when he was Prime Minister. It was also richly deserved, but last year we finally got rid of him from the British political sphere. Look at this though, and read the article. Scary, no?

Inland Revenue Incomptenece

Some of us have known this for some time indeed. All of us realised last year (when HM Revenue & Customs lost the personal details of half the population in the post) just how incompetent they were, but they've now outdone themselves. The deadline for self-assessment was yesterday. Not only did the website crash the day of the deadline, but it's fallen again today.

Yet another failed government department, failing the whole time. Pathetic.

Jeremy Beadle Dies

It's not just sad that a man should die of pneumonia at the age of only 59. I admit I really didn't like Jeremy Beadle as a TV presenter, but this guy was brave, and was an unbelievable philanthropist. Raising over £100 million makes him as worthy of respect in death as he ultimately turned out to be in life.

Eye Candy

A Message From the Real President

Of course he makes some fundamental misunderstandings - as a stereotypical straight man (I mean look at Tipper) he probably can't really think outside of the sexual *ahem* box - marriage as the means of locking in fidelity, promiscuity is somehow fundamentally a 'problem' - but ultimately his point is entirely right and just. Loving your partner should be encouraged and celebrated, whoever they are. The statistics show worldwide, in countries which have embraced same sex marriage in its many models - full marriage as in Canada and Spain, through to Britain's civil partnerships - that it's something we're just as good at as straight people. In fact considering that marriage is in decline with them, we're doing it quite a bit better.

Speaking as an American citizen, who is also British, as a gay man who married his male partner in 2006, I feel proud to see the man who was voted for by the majority of Americans in 2000 to speak for them, speaking of my world, my ambitions and my love for my partner in this way. My marriage to Tom doesn't threaten anyone else's, and whilst we've made plenty of mistakes, even some disastrous ones, we remain driven by the entirely symbolic commitment. It's that symbolism which is important. I am someone whose worldview is entirely secular, yet I accept fully that all cultures and individuals have always been driven by belief in the metaphysical; it seems to be part of our nature. It may seem contradictory to some, but it's something I embrace. If only Obama and Clinton had the courage to talk in this way - this is at the heart of what real change is all about.

An Intelligent President

A very interesting watch and he makes some excellent points, particularly in saying that America's economic dependence on oil completely misses the point as it's a post-industrial economy. If Hillary wins the election, I wonder how many of these ideas might be attempted?

Democrats in South Carolina

Well I called it right and was also right in saying that the campaign tone would collapse. The Guardian is right in saying that it's important that the Democratic candidates be tested - whether Hillary can appeal to anyone other than her base and whether Obama actually has any big ideas to match up to the rhetoric. But it's also true that if they spend all their energies demolishing each other, it's entirely true that someone like McCain could creep through the middle.

I'm going to call South Carolina for Obama, which I hope is the case because these two can keep proving themselves rather than resorting to desperate measures merely to win. If Hillary wins though, this gets even nastier, the attacks on Bill Clinton will start to become even more frantic, and the nomination gets essentially sewn up. Just too soon maybe to have a just winner.

BA038 Reveals More Secrets

You remember that British Airways flight which crashed at Heathrow the other day? Well after the initial rumours about all power having cut off at 600 feet, and an initial report that the autothrottle had failed, we now know a bit more.

Terribly sorry but if there's a fundamental problem in the 777's fuel supply system, I'm not going to be flying on one any time soon. I'm also not going anywhere near BA. They've shown too many times in the past that they're willing to keep their aircraft in the air at all costs. No thanks, this was already too lucky to be true.

SpaceShipTwo

SpaceShipTwo comes one step further to a reality, with its final design released to the public today. Is anyone else as excited at the prospect of normalised space travel as I am?



What is a relief is that Branson understands technology and the way in which it and society shape one another, in contrast with the former PM who who seemed convinced merely of the 'inevitability' of it. This is the way to change military technology into normalised, civilian technology. Despite all the risk involved, if I had the chance to go into space, I'd take it. I do hope it'll happen during my lifetime.

An Incredible Hulk Spoiler

If you're like me and looking forward to most Marvel movies on the way (Iron Man most of all of course), then take a look at this spoiler about the upcoming Incredible Hulk reboot...

If it works, I'll be very pleased...

Maya Angelou for Hillary

State Package for Hillary Clinton

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may tread me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

This is not the first time you have seen Hillary Clinton seemingly at her wits' end, but she has always risen, always risen, don't forget she has always risen, much to the dismay of her adversaries and the delight of her friends.

Hillary Clinton will not give up on you and all she asks of you is that you do not give up on her.

There is a world of difference between being a woman and being an old female. If you're born a girl, grow up, and live long enough, you can become an old female. But to become a woman is a serious matter. A woman takes responsibility for the time she takes up and the space she occupies. Hillary Clinton is a woman. She has been there and done that and has still risen. She is in this race for the long haul. She intends to make a difference in our country. Hillary Clinton intends to help our country to be what it can become.

She declares she wants to see more smiles in the family, more courtesies between men and women, more honesty in the marketplace. She is the prayer of every woman and man who longs for fair play, healthy families, good schools, and a balanced economy.

She means to rise.

Don't give up on Hillary. In fact, if you help her to rise, you will rise with her and help her make this country the wonderful, wonderful place where every man and every woman can live freely without sanctimonious piety and without crippling fear.

Rise, Hillary.

Rise.

- Maya Angelou, as found in the Guardian.

Nevada and South Carolina

Difficult call this one. Evidence is leading all over the place in both nasty little contests. Hillary's ahead of Obama in the Nevada opinion polls, but New Hampshire proved poll leads meaningless, and the endorsements Obama's picked up (and the lawsuit he won) could (in this contest for sure) easily negate her advantage. In South Carolina will McCain revenge himself on what was done to him in 2000? Will Romney retain a 'bounce'? Will Huckabee have a constituency?

My call is Clinton/McCain again. If it happens, then I do expect the tone to collapse further than it already has in the last week.

X-Files 2 Nears...

And it's about bloody time too.

Keep On: Will Young

One of my particular favourites of Will's TV performances. Enjoy.

The Tears of Hillary

It remains an interesting question: did Hillary's emotional moment swing everything her way in New Hampshire? Germaine Greer thinks that even if it did, that's not a good thing.

I'm not sure. It sure got John Edwards all fired up and sexist, which itself has been revealing in a contest which is refreshingly opening up all sorts of deep rooted questions about race and gender in the US. Thatcher became Prime Minister nigh effortlessly nearly three decades ago, yet Hillary still gets heckled by people demanding she iron their shirts? As Bill Clinton said - give me a break! Does that mean though that she used a soft option to get what she wanted, or was it a rare demonstration of humanity in someone often accused of having none, who's trying to supplant a president who couldn't even spell the word? There don't seem to be any definitive answers to any of these questions in this contest, which itself I find interesting.

A lecturer of mine once described us as being in a post-modern age of claim and counter claim - there were no more unifying truths. I would be inclined to agree. That can yet come back to bite her or Obama on the ass.

Dreamkatchers Featuring Will Young

I'm no fan of rap - never have been, never will be. But for Will's 2008 return to be trailed with this song - in particular having got it onto the Dreamkatchers' Myspace page before it's being 'mysteriously' removed is seriously impressive. Where Switch It On was a great song, his desire to do something different made an otherwise excellent album seem inconsistent. In contrast not only does Teardrops generate buzz, but he can make the compromise which didn't quite work last time.

Fingers crossed we have a good album ahead...

Actors Rebel Against Arts Council England

With the impending possible closures of the Bush Theatre and the Drill Hall in London, it's a relief to see a meeting of Equity actors rebelling against the Arts Council England.

The nonsense going on here is yet another example of NuLabour's climate of marketisation, which permeates through every single public service, and now through to the arts. So qualities such as profitability, ticket sales, bums on seats are now the only qualities which are being taken into account to determine worthiness for arts funding. And that's bananas.

Sam West said, "cut funding to our smaller spaces and you eventually starve our larger ones to death," which I completely agree with. Equity's account of the story is here, and if you think that the decision making here is mad and has to be reevaluated for the benefit of us all then sign the petition. Please. Survival of the fittest must not be how the arts are funded.

One of Two

Ooh I called New Hampshire right.



And thankfully my last point seems to have gained resonance. If Obama's going to win, it can't be with this ridiculously easy ride he's been given. Hillary's emotional moment proved to her base, maybe for the first time, that she wants it more than anything. May the battle be joined, and finally produce a well tested and just winner, for the first time since, well, Bill left office really (let's ignore his infidelities, petty corruptions and media manipulations for the sake of argument for now, eh?).

Hillary's Last Stand?

The truth is Hillary could defeat Giuliani at his scare-mongriest, Huckabee at his most religious, could swat Romney like an insect and outsmart McCain.

Obama?

Are we again to have a Presidential debate where the smartest person in the room loses through lack of experience? Or does Obama really have something new, something special? You see I like the idea of a female Commander-in-Chief, of Bill Clinton back in the thick of it. She could hit the ground running, which hasn't been imperative before. It is now. For all Obama's lefty rhetoric, his threat to bomb Pakistan sounds pretty neo-Conservative to me. She voted for Iraq - they all did. It's time to move on - she and Obama both agree on that.

Neither of them has governed but she has been at the forefront of national politics for a generation & her intellect is second to none. Her judgment's also a quantum improvement on Bill's. So why vote Obama?

Go

I see Taylor's still faar beyond hot. And now Zac's joined him. When'd that happen?!

More Muslim Anti-Artist Barbarity

And we're back at the old, familiar situation of an artist (again in Holland) getting death threats from Muslim extremists. I don't really know what to say - I'm sick of it. I don't care if she's as bigoted as Pim Fortuyn, as aggressive as Theo Van Gogh or set out deliberately to offend. She's an artist - she's allowed! That's how we do things in this part of the world. The secularised West allows everything to be artistically attacked, even religion. Religion is no longer the glue by which society is held together, and it works spectacularly well for us.



It's really time that all elements of popular culture came together - TV, newspapers, internet, magazines and more - to combat this unthinkingly monstrous behaviour, not just in Holland but everywhere. It's happening here too, not on the same scale, and currently mostly by Christians, but it's no less insidious for it. Whilst a society founded on the freedom of speech does require the maturity to use that freedom with wisdom and sensitivity, it's also founded on the responsibility not to take offence on behalf of others, particularly imaginary friends.

A Cuteness Break

Unpredictable 2008

Ok so my prediction the other day was diametrically opposed to the reality. No Clinton/Romney, but Obama/Huckabee. I was way off - it looks as though the contests are realigning, and that the overall demands of the electorate are realigning. Maybe. So who to win New Hampshire?

Clinton/McCain

Romney won't leave the contest despite having been floored below the waterline, which will be music to Giuliani's ears for the end of the month. McCain though becomes stronger, the more the 'surge' in Iraq is being spun by the media as being remotely a positive thing.

Hillary did very well in the debate last night by many accounts, and may have blunted the edge of the 'agent of change' label which seems now firmly fastened to Obama. Defining 'experience' (which hasn't worked for her so far) as '35 years as a change maker' was a very good move. If it doesn't stick in New Hampshire though, the mountain she'll have to climb will be increasingly tall. I must say her Bush-esque comments about attacking foreign countries who 'harbour' terrorists (I can't imagine any doing so all that willingly anymore) was very appealing, although nor was Obama's repetition of an earlier claim he would attack 'terrorists' in Pakistan without anyone's prior approval. Does that really jibe with him being an 'agent of change'? Sounds pretty neo-Conservative to me.

Spears Loses Kids

Look. Can someone help this woman?



It's one of the most obvious and slowest moving suicides I've seen. Someone intervene to stop it happening please, because at the moment it's looking inevitable. I'm not a fan of hers by any means - that doesn't matter. She does need to be stopped from self destructing fully though.

Iowa

My guess? It'll be fun to find out the truth tomorrow, but my prediction for this round at least?

Clinton and Romney to win.

Oh you want me to make an initial guess for November? Clinton v Huckabee.

Journalistic Differences

It was really quite striking coming home both from Paris and from Geneva. Two different countries, granted, but Geneva's just metres from France. Looking at their papers, their magazines, pretty much every news, gossip and popular culture medium, all you could see was Nicolas Sarkozy and Claudia Bruni. Over here - nothing, and more than just nothing - not even a hint of them. Why would that be? I'm not sure I get that. Is it really just a linguistic thing which makes him interesting there and completely irrelevant here? Is it because he really is 'their' Tony Blair - their first political leader given over entirely to the cult of celebrity? It's possibly almost too close an analogy. Maybe it's just that they're not used to this sort of domestic grandstanding and we've thoroughly had our fill...

Happy New Year?

Partly to check who's reading this thing, partly because I want to contrast my experience of this New Year's Day with other people, I would like you to tell me what it is about this year that you're looking forward to. I'm curious - is it events like the American Presidential election? The Olympics? Is it somewhere you're planning to travel to? Is it just daily life you're looking forward to, which you're particularly enjoying right now?

You're conversely also welcome to say you're not looking forward to anything, that 2008 has a lot of negatives and potential negatives in store. You may be seeing the economic climate as a case of impending doom, you may not like your lot in life, there may be elements you can foresee about this year which you don't like the look of.

Here's where to share.