Monthly archives: June 2003


In pursuit of the unelectable

Once again MPs have voted on hunting with dogs, and this time, they’ve voted to ban it. It remains to be seen whether they use the Parliament Act to stop the usual stall in the House of Lords.

I’m not surprised, the vote was always a foregone conclusion, I’m just exasperated that so much time, since New Labour came in, has been wasted on such a complete non-issue. My opinion has wavered from not really caring to being against a ban. Newsflash to the anti-hunt lobby- foxes are still going to be killed. They’ll be trapped and shot and poisoned, not because the country folk enjoy killing things, but because they’re predators and a danger to livestock. To put it in emotionally loaded terms, think of all the poor little lambs that are going to die if fox numbers aren’t controlled.

But I’m not a supporter of the Countryside Alliance either. In fact, I hold them in utter contempt. It’s strange how they didn’t start their campaign until their ‘sport’ was under threat and suddenly cared about all the other rural problems they’d been ignoring for years. There are far more important issues, such as the death of services, population decline and the ageing population.

Hunting is indefensible as a sport, but that’s okay because it’s much more than that. It’s a method of pest control around which a social scene has developed. Trying to ban it is just a waste of time dressed up as public interest.


An open letter to the Blacklist:

Spinneyhead is now featured on the front page of The Blacklist.

A small snipet just to get you over to his site:

“knew it wasn’t a sincere comment. So I did some digging and traced him back to Spinneyhead. Just an America bashing blog done by some jealous Brits. I guess they forget that we saved their ass in two World War’s and kicked theirs in a number of others. ”

After reading that, and being called British, I knew I had to become a Blacklist member. Ian did have point, he provides some great stuff. Hey, he might even be an intellectual resource for normal people. Oh the irony. You can find my first post here, but I copied for the world to see:

“Ok….Lets see – reporting hate sites to the ISPs, ranting about how liberals and racists are horrible, and then, my personal favorite, taking a cheap shot at the spiritual leader of www.Spinneyhead.co.uk

you best be getting off the crack rock my man.

To quote the Blacklist himself:

“Just an America bashing blog done by some jealous Brits. I guess they forget that we saved their ass in two World War’s and kicked theirs in a number of others”

Man oh man. phew! Way to go tough guy. Let’s examine the reality. You probably didn’t realize Team Spinneyhead has some diverse members. I am from the States – you d*ckhead! I am more inclined to refer to you as ASSHAT though.

Judging by the time clock on the front page, you’re two hours off Eastern Standard Time. That would put you smack in the middle of nowehere. My personal guess is you are located in Iowa and this site makes up for the fact your ignorant. I wonder if you have ever adventured outside your own state, let alone the country? You probably don’t know what a passport is.

Now that the rant is done, let’s get something else out of the way. Trying to shut down sites made by stupid people filled with venom might seem heroic, but do you realise by preventing those f*ckwits the right to speak, you undermine the core ideals of Freedom of Speech?

Way to go, you intellectual superhero!

A message to our leader – and the team – I think it time for some petty squabbling with those inferior blogsters over at the Blacklist. Especially after he called me British!!!!

Sign up to The Blacklists Forums here and lets use them for something positive. Post a liberal each day!


A Death Row pardon, two minutes too late

It’s odd, but I’ve found, when it comes to political websites, that the best way to find someone I can agree with is to go to the site of someone whose opinions I find laughably wrong. It used to be that anthing the Freepers disliked was good fodder, but since they spat the dummy I’m back to surfing the reactionary blogosphere.

This is why I have blogrolled The Blacklist, a blog that does nothing more constructive than find me cool stuff like The Peace Pretzel and demand that Free Speech be restricted to what he says. I’ve posted a comment telling him to keep up the good work. If he comes here but doesn’t understand the irony of me praising him then maybe he should check out the Guardian’s attempt to understand the subject.


This week I are bin mostly….

Reading
Against All Enemies by Richard Herman This conforms to quite a few of the Rules of the Technothriller; Muslims are a bad lot (unless they’re Nation of Islam, because that’s Americanised Islam) as Sudanese radicals shoot down a B2 after a leak and the obvious suspect is the one and only Muslim at the airbase it launched from; women should stay at home- there are five speaking female characters and by the end of the book two of them are dead and three are safely married off; the military is always right- because bombing stuff solves everything.
Why Do People Hate America by Ziauddin Sardar and Merryl Wynn- Davies One of the reasons is because the whole country so fervently believes in problem solving by violence as evinced in the previous book. This isn’t as polemically funny as Stupid White Men as the authors try to approach the subject dispassionately. Which is a shame, because the book is certainly supposed to be a wake up call to Americans about the insularity of their country and the danger it presents at home and abroad. I can’t help thinking a Moore style slap would have been a better way to do it than this gentle prod.
Watching
2 Fast 2 Furious. Just the sort of vacuous junk food film that gets America hated, though the cultural imperialism takes a beating when all but two of the cars are Japanese. Where the first film was Point Break with cars and fewer brain cells, this one is a Miami Vice episode with Nitrous Oxide and no Phil Collins on the soundtrack. And I think Devon Aoki as Suki could become my crush for the next couple of weeks.
The One Good Jet Li versus bad Jet Li without the old cheesey fall back of them being twins. A treatment of parallel universes that isn’t too goofy and has good enough fight sequences to keep you from caring.
Listening To
My MP3 collection on major randomise. About halfway through, 1521 left as I type.


O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?

I think I’ve solved my fireworks conundrum, as there’s a specialist shop just a short walk from work. I’d still like to launch George W on a rocket, but I think that would require a lot more planning than I have time for and a wide open space to launch him from. I’ll probably settle for wrapping him in a petrol soaked Stars and Stripes and sticking roman candles either side to ignite it.

Of course, now I have to find the flag.


Sell Ian

Inspired by a couple of friends, I’ve decided to try this Internet dating lark. The problem is, I’ve never been that good at selling myself, and they want at least 120 characters describing me. Worse, they want 120+ on the woman I’m seeking.

I’m looking for inspiration here folks- give me some ideas I can use. In fact, if I get a range of suggestions, perhaps I’ll create a spread of profiles and see which one gets the most responses.


Is EVERYONE incompetent?

The unemployment people haven’t sent me the last of my dole, despite the fact I sent the sign off in on Monday.

Southern Electric have sent us a notice saying they’re going to cut off our electricity despite the fact that I sorted the problem about moving house last week.

The Housing Benefit people want me to send them information I’ve already given them, and they want to send a rent assessor around who expects me to be in next Tuesday. I told them I would be starting work over a fortnight ago, they should know better..

Egg called me yesterday about payment defaults, ignorant of the fact that I sorted out a new payment scheme three months ago.

And that’s just the examples from the last couple of days. These people should start being more careful, or they’re all gonna go Connex.