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

Add to My Profile | More Videos

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.

Lib Dems Message for 08

The Lib Dems' Nick Clegg sets the scene for '08 adequately on one hand, and very well on the other.

"we should campaign tirelessly to stop the expensive, invasive and unnecessary Identity Cards scheme in its tracks."

It's of course impossible to disagree. For me Clegg's point is undermined through being founded on the government's incompetent loss of data at Revenue & Customs. Whilst it obviously proves that no government, especially the current one, can be trusted with private, personal data which it doesn't need, that's ultimately a sub point.

What we must all remember is that the individual determines the state, not the other way around. It is the fundamental cornerstone upon which all liberal democracies are founded. The government's ID card plans would involve a complete inversion of that principle. You can argue till you're blue in the face that technology has made that irrelevant - the inversion has already taken place. Well maybe - our surveillance society has made true privacy from the state almost impossible in this country - but no technology is one way. To suggest an inevitability about a technology is not to understand the way in which it works. Google can monitor huge amounts of our internet habits, but even Facebook was forced to back down in its attempts to monitor and manipulate its users.

Do you really want some chav temping in the Passport & ID Agency to tell you that you aren't who you say you are? ID cards won't make any difference against terrorism, they won't make any discernible difference against ID fraud and there hasn't ever been a government on this planet which hasn't misused power of this magnitude over its population. And don't forget if this plan comes to pass, your power over the government (which at the moment is supposed to be absolute) will fall away. That must not be allowed to happen. A good start by the new Lib Dem leadership - using Iraq as a touchstone issue changed everything for the party - this too will retain a unique selling point for them.

We Disappear

At last Scott Heim's third novel is about to be published.

Fingers crossed it'll get a UK publication date soon. Mysterious Skin and In Awe remain two of the best novels I've ever read (Mysterious Skin as well having been adapted into a really impressive movie too). 

Complaining About Catherine Tate

Me? Absolutely not. I have huge reservations about her being the new companion for Doctor Who series 4, but I love her comedy show, and thought her Christmas Special the other day was one of the best show's she's ever done in her career.

Others didn't agree.

We really are in a place where people love to take offence for other people, regardless of whether they're offended or not. It's bollocks. Grow up people - the show was on at the right time, the tone was just as it's ever been, the Northern Irish sketches were a satire for fuck's sake (see, I said fuck too) and we even got the delight of Kathy Burke returning from her premature acting retirement.

Tabloid Santa

Death of Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated.

Oh shit.

This couldn't be worse news. World Wars have started from much less.

Switzerland

I like it, even though it's bloody cold. It's still a 'clean' cold rather than one which just pierces right through you. We're in Geneva for another day, for our Christmas break, and are slowly picking up Swiss ideosyncracies, such as every train always leaving to the minute, walking in the street being somewhat of a relaxed task - stopping randomly isn't something for some people, it seems to be for everyone. It's not as straightforward as you might think to just pop into somewhere for a bite to eat, but public transport is extensive, quick and easy to use.



There's a relaxed, almost American West Coast attitude here, which is disarming. Maybe it's down to the extremely high level of relative affluence which is easily noticeable in the street, maybe it's because the international community is so huge. Either way it's somewhere I want to visit again, and that's without even having had our long-awaited fondue yet. That comes later - this club sandwich was a Christmas Day evening snack last night!

Voyage of the Damned

Well the sole naysayer I saw reviewing the Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned Christmas Special was wrong. It wasn't the best we've had, but it far outdid last year's, and Kylie wasn't window dressing, nor did she overshadow Tennant. In fact she outacted Catherine Tate something rotten. 



This was a lovely Christmas episode, with elements of Titanic & Poseidon Adventure thrown in, not to mention the odd surprise. The only fault I'd offer would be that it was perhaps played too safe. Where Torchwood made a thoroughly unexpected and curveball-throwing introduction at the end of the first Christmas Special, this was far too self contained. Nice for the evening, but without much of an edge to it. Not surprising, considering Russell T Davies himself wrote it, but it did leave you wanting more danger and uncertainty than was actually offered.

The emotion though was real, sincerely acted, and Kylie Minogue really was nice as Astrid. Shame she couldn't take Catherine Tate's place - she'd clearly have done very well indeed. We had familiar themes here about the Doctor and his wishing he could determine who lives and who dies, but they were nicely not overdone, especially considering the seasonal episode. I do want to hear the new theme again though, and I'm intrigued about Series 4, with the edgy trailer, alongside what I've already heard rumoured. That Tennant really owns the character now - even the slightest failures in direction or script really do quite easily rub off now - he can really own the audience with looks which he now times to utter perfection.

Who Prayers Answered

So it looks like Catherine Tate jumped the gun. Can this blogger say whew?

Tennant's refuted her claim, saying he is going to be the Doctor for the three 2009 specials, and that as usual he's not yet signed to season 5 because he hasn't yet been asked. So my suspicion that Tate's claim was part of his usual bargaining strategy was probably right. The BBC will find it hard to avoid signing him to season 5 now, whoever is in charge of it (according to Peter Davison it will be Steven Moffat).

Tennant To Leave Dr Who?

Catherine Tate seems to think so.

The comedian, speaking on Radio 2's Jonathan Ross programme, said: "I think it's maybe David's last series."

The BBC needs to do everything in its power to keep him in series 5 in 2010. Hopefully, despite their cost cutting exercise they're wise to this. The show managed to keep going in 1984 after Peter Davison had only been there for two seasons, indeed Tennant's predecessor Christopher Eccleston notoriously managed only one. But the relaunch is still fresh in the public's mind, especially in an age where the media is so fragmented (alongside viewers' attention), and to me only three seasons plus a year of quarterly specials would be far too short for a man labelled frequently as the best Doctor ever. This blogger's fingers are crossed - at least one full season with Steven Moffat at the helm (as is strongly rumoured) and then give someone else a crack as the Eleventh Doctor.

Please?

Beckham to Make Your Day

Paris: Spac

I'm not sure about Paris.



There were very clearly multiple Parises, as is true with any large capital city. The level of petty street crime was appalling, the public transport was hard to navigate and even more inconsistent than London's, and the all-pervasive smoking was a bit of a shock! But the diversity of the eateries was fun, the architecture was remarkable and there was the sensation that you have to change your mindset for Paris to work for you. London and others open up to you, not Paris. There's something much different going on here - I wonder what it is?

Fitwatch

Yesterday I went on London's National Climate March in the (fittingly?) pouring rain. It went well thankfully, considering how many people were marching, and how many unnecessary Met police people there were. Once the march reached its destination of the US Embassy however, things went slightly differently. A small but significant (and definitely loud) contingent started to wind the police up, these boys among them. Fitwatch are an impressive collection of direct activists against police surveillance of legitimate protesting. FIT stands for Future Intelligence Team, which pretty much sums up the Metropolitan Police in particular - creating criminals and criminality out of thin air, to be used when it most suits them.

The Met really didn't like them at all, which pretty much means they're doing a good job. Gotta love that surveillance society - at least there is some activism against it.

The Dark Knight

This film is just going to be astounding. Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton this is not. This is the ultimate screen Batman. I can't wait!

Appeasement

A local BBC radio presenter joked that Gillian Gibbons' dog was called Mohammed. Then the BBC issued an on-air apology. Why, exactly? Were they really afraid that a sarcastic jibe at a hysterical Muslim element in a foreign country would lead to her meeting Theo Van Gough's fate?

They stand firm over Jerry Springer: The Opera, yet cave in and apologise to world Islam before a complaint is even made. Why bloody pander to people who choose to take offence, before they even do?

Dr Who : Time Crash

Rubbish Presents

These people are clearly mad. If I got a giftwrapped Will Young for Christmas my head would spin right off!

Kit Kat

Cookie Dough Kit Kat. Those Australians are very lucky.

Read Fantastic Four in February '08!

Folks for those of you who love the medium (or indeed those have yet to love the medium), read Fantastic Four 554 in February! Brought to you by Mark (creator of the upcoming Angelina Jolie film 'Wanted') Millar and Bryan (designer of the current Tardis in 'Doctor Who') Hitch, this will kick off 12 issues for anyone who loves good, innovative, high adventure storytelling!
(note to Marvel: use of the jpg is entirely for your promotional purposes and not intended for my benefit in any way)

Islam is Peace

Heathrow Expansion or no Heathrow Expansion?

Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants a third runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow. I however just don't get it. When we're finally embracing high speed rail - a Eurostar line to Birmingham would easily allow a dramatic shift of transport overcrowding out of the southeast, whilst still moving people where they want to go as quickly as they're used to. It takes ages to get into central London by rail from Heathrow (yes I'm aware of the Heathrow Express, I'm also painfully aware of how expensive it is), Gatwick and Stansted - why not do it in a fraction of the time from East Midlands Airport?

I don't understand why political and environmental thinking has to remain so vacuous. Other countries forge ahead with infrastructure just for this reason - we however are nearly 14 years behind the French in just getting our trains into our capital cities from the Channel Tunnel.

Love Life

Well do you? I don't. Don't get me wrong, there have been many things out of life which I've enjoyed; still do. I mean the process of life. I hate life - I've never ever had this point disproven, noone's ever shown me a reason to think otherwise. I have images in my mind of the person I could be, the quality of life I could have, but I know they'll never happen. My mother would be furious knowing this, if she were alive. I keep blogging and taking photos just to keep feeling alive, even though there's no emotional engagement with the process.

There are people out there who've tried to destroy me, there are people out there currently trying their level best. What they don't know is I'm dead inside and their efforts don't matter. Fuck them, and in a very real way fuck you all.

Lashings

Cartoons
Originally uploaded by lewishamdreamer

Every once in awhile I see a story which makes me despair of humanity. This is one of those times.

A British primary school teacher arrested in Sudan faces up to 40 lashes for blasphemy after letting her class of 7-year-olds name a teddy bear Muhammad.

And it happens to be a very common name in the Islamic world. Fucking backward. Remember the cartoons? And even that began with an artist and editor who did mean to cause offence. These are children and teddy bears.

Strangers

My family have become strangers to me. I've just been looking at photos of my sister on Facebook, and feel quite alarmed at our prospects for late December when we go to visit her and her family in New Zealand - I barely recognise her. I mean I grew up with her for such a long time, and even though we almost never got on, we were at least close family members. Now, living here, nowhere near any remaining immediate member of my family, I'm consciously aware of how isolated I am from any community around me. I wonder how much that's contributed to my woes this year. I look back at Brad, who retains such a closely knit unit of family and friends around him, and find nothing similar on my side.

Don't get me wrong I am fully aware of how important my friends are. This year a handful of them quite literally saved my life. But these are disparate ties, which I had to draw on individually. I'm aware that in just four weeks time we'll be visiting family members who are no longer familiar. They'll be as important as they have been in recent years, particularly my nieces, but they'll be at a distance. As much as I might have longed for that in the past, it won't be a comfortable thing.

X-Factor: Flogging a Dead Horse?

It's very much a case of overkill, as you would expect with the mass media. Britain's 21st century love affair with TV talent competitions kicked into overdrive with 2001's Pop Idol, won by the now hugely successful (& deserving) Will Young. However the format faltered with only its second outing, replaced soon thereafter by Simon Cowell's X-Factor - a blatant ripoff of the same show. The British public was unexpectedly successfully hoodwinked into sticking with a show it had essentially already dropped; the result was Steve Brookstein. 

However it recovered and created genuine stars like Shayne Ward and Leona Lewis, but now? What to do with a show which has (as with Pop Idol) fulfilled its remit and once again no longer has an obvious, undiscovered star? Is the Great British public so stupid as to just keep lapping this boredom factor up ad infinitum?

This World is in a Mess

http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,1952866,00.html

It's awfully convenient that the man investigating the Putin regime for allegedly planting the tower block bombs which initiated the Hell in Chechnya just happens to be fatally poisoned. He was also investigating the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, also allegedly murdered by the Putin regime. She too was investigating the root causes of the Chechnya wars.l

Death Penalty

I write as someone who believes that the state never has the right to take life. If an individual doesn't, then the state doesn't either - the death penalty is always wrong.

YET...

Read these two stories and tell me that the world wouldn't be a better place with the culprits removed entirely from it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/6136786.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6123014.stm?ls

Thoughts, commentary etc please.