Firstly, I urge you all to watch Being Human, and add beinghumanblog to your f-lists. The show certainly puts all my problems about being a bit of a weirdo into perspective, and if you use the iPlayer to catch up on previous episodes today, you'll only have a few hours to wait until the final episode of the series - it's on at 9 o'clock tomorrow night - and the horrible cliffhanger at the end of episode five won't be torturing you the way it has me.

I love this show because it shows Russell T Davies and the writers of Demons what a British Buffy would really look like - i.e. completely different from Buffy in tone and content, while somehow evoking the same vibe - and, specifically, knocks the bag of arse that is Crotchw00t into a cocked hat. Grumpy McSnugglebutt thinks George is a bit annoying, which I can kind of see, but I have grown to love him, and Mitchell is gorgeous, which always helps. But the best character? The best character is Annie, whose slightly stereotyped writing is overcome by the fantastic performance of the actress. I can't WAIT for tomorrow to see her ( SPOILER! ) and I will be cheering her on with gusto. Good on BBC3 for already commissioning the next series!

Secondly, witness Nemi's reaction to Cyan's boyfriend's sexism:



I ♥ Nemi. You can add her to your LJ f-list at daily_nemi

Thirdly, via Amused Cynicism (cabalamat2), a cartoon about the impending doom of the entertainment industry:



Bwahahahahahahahaha!

...

I blog about all this to distract myself from the incoherent rage that reading this made well up inside me (hat-tip Chicky Yog). David Milliband and Jacqui Smith? I detest you both, and the sooner you are both in the dole queue, the happier I will be, you venal, corrupt, evil, scumbags.

There's a big pile of Tory bloggers who are always crowing about how awful and incompetent and corrupt and authoritarian the Labour government is, and how different the Tories will be when they get in. And if anyone brings up past performance, they point out that it was a terribly long time ago they were last in government, and anyway, look at David Davis!!!

Ah yes, David Davis. The man who thinks 42 days is worth resigning over, but 28 days is A-OK! Well, you know, you can paint him as a Tory champion of Liberty if you like - although pardon my disbelieving eye-pop - but Cameron and his little buddies, emboldened by the recent opinion poll leads, are distancing themselves from him at the speed of light. And yes, that is this Chris Grayling they're talking about. Oh how corrupt and incompetent and anti-liberty the Labour party are. Isn't there something Christians say about planks and eyeballs?

And then of course, there's today's news (broken by Jo Swinson) about Jack Straw disobeying a court order because he feels like it, and he's Judge Jack Straw! it might be embarrassing for various people. Surely the Tories were up in arms about this? I mean yes, cabinet meetings IN GENERAL should be confidential, but when there's a court order in place, you should obey it, right? The Tories, as champions of law and order, should have been saying this, right? Nobody is above the law, right? Er... Wrong. Dominic Grieve, the craven coward, signified the Tories' complete support for Judge Jack's flagrant disregard for the rule of law.



I don't know if it's Ming the Merciless - who pinched a line from Alex and told them that if they've done nothing wrong, they've nothing to fear from releasing the minutes - or Charlie Brooker who has called this best, but neither Labour nor the parliamentary Conservative party have the fragrant whiff of Roses here.

All of which makes one wonder why a bunch of people who are playing games of Authoritarian Grandmother's Footsteps with the current administration and trying to get as close as they possibly can without getting caught, are packing out the Convention on Modern Liberty? They couldn't POSSIBLY be attempting a figleaf of acceptability for their OWN Authoritarian tendencies, could they? All those of you who are saying the current government is evil, authoritarian, nannying, incompetent, and corrupt? You're right. You're absolutely right. But it does not follow in the slightest that the Tories would be any different.

There's a bug on LJ which means that once you watch an embedded YouTube on your f-list, every other embedded YouTube has the preview still from the one you watched until you watch another one. There are a bunch of embedded YouTubes on my f-list at the moment, and every last ManJack of 'em is showing "Keith Vaz is a disgrace (Newsnight)" for the preview still.

That's never going to get old...

I'd pick out a choice quote from his evisceration of Hazel Blears, but frankly? The whole thing is BEAUTIFUL and you ought to read every word, and then cheer loudly.

You go, George.

There's a lot of comment in the Blogosphere today about Derek Draper behaving like a cock towards That Tory Blogger. Why is anyone surprised by this? Draper is used to "debating" in person, where he CAN turn up and ride roughshod over what everyone else wants to say, and suppress opposing opinion fairly effectively. He hasn't worked out that the blogosphere doesn't work like that yet, and he also hasn't worked out that even those of us who have massive ideological differences with That Tory Blogger still regard him as one of our own, and can (for example) spend time in the same room with him and lots of free wine and not let it get further than good-natured mutual piss-taking.

Blogging is all about opinion, yes, but not (as Stephen Glenn puts it) soliloquies in the wings. To extend Stephen's theatrical metaphor, it's about standing centre stage and taking the the rotten tomatoes thrown at you, and throwing some of them back, and getting into a glorious food fight, from which we all emerge red-stained but wiser, and, more importantly, friends.

Without interaction, there is no blog. Without paying attention to your commentariat (both negative and positive) there is no blog. Without a sense of humour and the ability to take it on the chin, there is no blog. Blogging is not about the powerful dictating the terms of the debate; blogging is about the concerns of the masses. There is no medium more democratic: if a meme, or a news item, or whatever gets picked up by someone, and other people like it or think it's important, it will be passed on. If other people don't like it or think it's important, it won't be passed on. There is no way you can force other bloggers to say what you want them to, you can only state your opinion and hope for agreement, or better, to learn something new by way of the responses you get from other bloggers. We're not a captive audience to be browbeaten; we're a community of free agents with perfect freedom of association. If you want to capture our attention, you have to do something worth paying attention to. It's not enough to be a famous name. You have to SAY SOMETHING INTERESTING.

Iain Dale might be an Egregious Tory Tosser, but at least he gets it. Cthulhu, even John Prescott gets it. But waiting for Derek Draper to get it will be a long wait indeed, I think.

With all that in mind, why is anyone still paying the self-important pompous little tit any attention? I shall be joining That Tory Blogger in blocking Draper on Twitter, and will continue ignoring his pathetic attempts at blogging entryism. Nothing could be easier. If everyone else does that too, the blogosphere will be a happier place.

... it's a New Year. 新年快乐 - Kung Hei Fat Choy everyone. Welcome to the year of the Moocow. To celebrate, today is the day MPs debate the Coroners and Justice Bill, which not only will alklow the government to conduct inquests which should be public in camera but also completely disembowells the Data Protection Act.

Also today, cannabis gets reclassified as class B; and extreme porn becomes illegal. Isn't that appropriate? Our dear government emulating the repressive authoritarian regime of China as best they possibly can.

Bless their little totalitarian socks.

Why the hell is ANYBODY still voting for this shower?

There's a meme going around with the Americanised version of the Political Compass on. Shockingly, it pegs me as a right-wing authoritarian nutbag:

My Political Views
I am a left social libertarian
Left: 6.1, Libertarian: 4.85

Political Spectrum Quiz


Well, it pegs me as a right wing authoritarian compared to where I am on the original, which has me at Economic Left/Right: -7.50 and Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.56 ;)

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The ASA has ruled that the Atheist Bus Adverts are OK! Although they have shied away from ruling that God doesn't exist, damn them.

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Gordo climbs down on MPs expenses. YAY! Direct action sometimes has surprisingly direct results, then...

So they are having a discussion on Woman's Hour about feminism, and whether it is still relevant in the 21st century. And who are they asking? MEN! FFS. Still, one of them is the very sexy Richard Reeves, so I'll forgive them a bit. Especially given the points he is making, which I agree with completely so far.

Anyway, I might write more about this later when the feminist rage has subsided a bit. In the meantime, I have three links for you:

- Lady Mark writes an incredibly good post about discrimination.

- TheyWorkForYou. Yes, I know I linked to this yesterday, but Brown just upped the stakes. PLEASE contact your MP, especially if they are Labour. Also, this advert on the subject is awesome.

- A very important poll.

Man, I can feel the joy and hope from here. Happy new president to my USian friends. I kind of know how you guys feel about having a fab new president who makes you feel all hopeful and joyous. It's a good feeling, isn't it? And today, the news outlets of the UK have been full of your joy. Full to bursting.

So this is one of those fabled good days to bury bad news, right? Let's have a nosey at what They are hoping we won't notice...

( click for special sekrit sekrits that They don't want you to know! )

And those were just the things the BBC noticed and put on their front page... imagine all the stuff they must have missed!

Have you lot spotted anything exciting?

Via Chicken Yoghurt, The LabourLost "viral" video Challenge! Press play and see how long you last before you turn it off, sweating in horror at the awfulness of it. For transparency, I got to 12 seconds. Mitch Benn has nothing to fear as the country's foremost musical satirist WHATSOEVER.



Poll #1334039 How far did you get?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 32

How Far Did You Play the Video Before Switching It Off in Horror?

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Secondly, people often ask me why I read and like The Metro. Politically, after all, it's almost as objectionable as The Fail. The crucial difference between the Metro and the Fail? No, not the cover price. The Metro has a sense of humour. It's amazing how well I can get on with people, no matter how dodgy their political views, when they aren't po-faced self-righteous arseholes.

Y HALLO THAR MR GAUNT!

... regarding my daughter's YouTube channel (my favourite vid is this one), which he runs as a hobby.

theuklabourparty - #69 - Most Subscribed (All Time) - Gurus - United Kingdom
amazingholly - #70 - Most Subscribed (All Time) - Gurus - United Kingdom

Imagine that, Holly is on the brink of becoming more popular than the Labour Party! lol

((the Ex))

P.S. webcameronuk (unranked)

Bwahahahahahahahaha my five year old daughter, with a budget of zero minus a bit, is on the brink of becoming more popular than all the might of marketing the Labour party and all their cash can muster.

This amuses me no end.

I know you mean well. At least, I hope you mean well, but this? This is not workable. Cinema age ratings work because there is a person on the door of the cinema who can judge the age of the person trying to get in and demand ID if necessary. Video age ratings work less well, because although shop assistants can enforce them at the point of purchase, they cannot be enforced once the video has been bought. The only way proper enforcement of video age ratings would be possible would be to have some sort of age detection system on the box, or perhaps the player, which would not let you open the box until you were old enough. I'm sure you will agree that this would be an incredibly expensive solution, and would create untold inconvenience for all concerned, and would still be circumventable by anyone determined enough.

Internet age ratings? Would work like videos, not like the cinema. There is no possible way to create a system which stops children seeing things that you have decided they ought not to see, without preventing adults also from seeing things which they are perfectly entitled to see. You are not my nanny, and I object to you behaving as though I want or need one. And, to be quite frank, I am pig sick of your government justifying every illiberal, intrusive, arsehole-ish measure with either we have to do this or the turrists will get you or won't somebody please think of the childrun!!!!

Seriously, just fuck off now, OK?

Lee Griffin, in today's netcast, makes clear that he doesn't think enough people are condemning the current raft of benefit proposals put forward by our supposedly progressive government. I don't have time to do a full write-up on this, as I have to set off for work in ten minutes, so I shall, instead, just do what Chicky Yog did, and link to Matthew Norman's excellent article in the Indy.

Apparently Chris Dillow has a good article on this as well, although I don't read him personally.

Did everyone see Prime Minister's Question Time today? I haven't read my f-list yet, but I suspect much merriment will have been made at the expense of dear old Gordon's Freudian slip today, in which he talked about saving the world when he meant to say saving the banks. This is example number one of the length of the very long string which connects Westminster to reality. Gordon Brown really does honestly think that his actions in the last couple of months have saved the world; he genuinely doesn't get that all he's done is keep his surfboard flat enough so that he personally has ridden on top of the vast wave of excrement that's engulfing the rest of us. Nor does he seem to grasp that he could fall off and be in the shit with the proles yet.

Example number two comes from later in the same set of PMQs. Nick Clegg mentions being visited by a constituent at his surgery who is a single mother. If you watch the clip here, it starts at about 14.30. The house erupts in uproarious laughter as soon as he mentions that he was visited by a single mother, and there are many catcalls - one of which sounds like a female MP shouting "shag me! shag ME!" - presumably in reference to Our Glorious Leader's reputed 30 lays.

The catcalls and laughter come from both Labour and the Tories. Even with a microphone, you can't hear what Cleggy is saying. Clearly there are insinuations that because Cleggy has shagged SO many people, the children of this single mother must be his. And it just goes to show how completely out of touch both Labour and the Tories are. They don't even know who this woman is, who is suffering at the hands of uncaring bureaucracy, but they'd rather make insinuations about her sex life than actually worry about the fact that the Revenoo are going to be dragging her to court over THEIR cock-up.

35 poor people A WEEK are being taken to court by the Revenoo because they miscalculate, and then, when the recipient has spent the Revenoo's cock-up, they decide they want it back. THIRTY-FIVE PEOPLE A WEEK. But is this important? No, what's important is scoring some cheap-ass point about Nick Clegg putting it about a bit.

That pisses me off slightly.

1. Thirty is not really that big a number. It's smaller than mine. It's smaller than a lot of other people I know. Nobody outside Westminster cares. Really, they don't.
2. Even if it was the biggest number in the world, it makes NO difference whatsoever to whether or not a politician can do their job. Or have Labour forgotten Robin Cook? And have the Tories forgotten Alan Clark?
3. Clegg was doing his damn job, representing his constituent.
4. The catcallers were impeding him in doing his job
5. That sort of shit is not big and it's not clever.

The thing is, I can quite easily put myself in this woman's shoes. Hell, you all know I have had my issues with the Revenoo. And before anyone suggests it, I haven't shagged Clegg (even if I wanted to, it's hardly likely the sentiment would be returned, given my public sentiments on the man). And, to give Brown due credit, he did make a reasonable fist of the answer, when the rabble had eventually calmed down. But this woman has a serious question, and she deserves a serious answer. She does not deserve to be used as an ad hominem points scoring exercise.

When it suits them, politicians are forever on about re-engaging people with politics. They talk about voter apathy and disenfranchisement. IS IT ANY FUCKING WONDER? This woman is at her wits' end, and she goes to see her MP, and he agrees to try to help her, and this is the reception he gets? This sort of behaviour shows that the catcallers don't take their obligations to their constituents seriously in the slightest, and if they don't take us seriously, why should we take them seriously?

You know I said this morning that I had read it? I lied. The best post on the Blears Thing, by a country mile, in fact, I would venture to say, the best post I have read in ages on ANY subject, is this one by The Award-Winning Alix Mortimer.

In it she shows once more why she fully deserves the prefix. I am in awe of her awesomeness.

The best thing about Question Time tonight was the way everyone listened in rapt, reverent attention to every syllable that fell from the twinkle-toed messiah's lips.

The second best thing was Dimbledore's face when Blears urgently grabbed his arm.

The third best thing was the start of the campaign to get Blears into number 10.

Meanwhile, This Week is shaping up to be a classic already and we're only a couple of minutes in. Oh Andrew, you SHIPPER! Sadly, the rest of my thoughts on the matter will be relegated to twitter, because my laptop battery is nearly gone and I can't be arsed going to get the cable from upstairs...

1, Dame Helen Mirren says in an interview with GQ that if you get date-raped without violence, there's not much point reporting it to police because it'll never get to court. Tony McNulty, home office minister and EXPERT on these matters says she's not helping. What the blue buggery FUCK right does Tony McNulty have to tell a rape victim off for telling the truth about her experience?

2, The LC netcast is up, and the feed appears to be working. Yay for cocking about with methods of posting ;)

3, Steve has written a fabulous post about religion. Seriously, fabulous. Go, read, now.

I was supposed to be at the Wendy House right now, dancing the night away with my lovely fiancé. Because of my trick back, he has ended up going on his own. He seems to be having a good time, though, judging by his texts. Meanwhile, I have sorted through all my BPAL (and will be doing a HUGE sales/swaps post soon) and dyed my hair...

Anyway, this entry does have substance, I swear!

Firstly, nominations for my Very Prestigious Blog of the Year Awards are now closed, and you guys voted for shortlists of five, so that's what you will get in the morning. Each category will be whittled down to a shortlist of five, and presented in handy poll format. Then the voting can commence! I'll leave the poll open for a week, and after that the winner of each category will be put into a new poll to see who gets the overall title.

And, of course, there will be shiny new graphics for each stage ;)

Secondly, Amused Cynicism has taken the ball I threw earlier and run with it. I do love the way he words things:

this is the same British government that is talking about severing the Internet connections of people who break copyright law by downloading files on P2P networks. Because the government are not hypocrites, I’m sure they will now either drop these plans, or disconnect themselves from the Internet.

Tee Hee Hee.

Thirdly, another excellent post on The Curvature, eviscerating a columnist in the Daily Fail.

Fourthly and Finally, Jonathan Calder reports on some gossip in the Murdoch Rag about who is going to be running for Lib Dem Party President. Apparently there are rumours of champagne Charlie and Paddy Pantsdown throwing their glasses/undies into the ring.

I have many comments I might possibly make on this bit of scuttlebutt, but like Jonathan, I shall restrict myself to the very restrained: this blog supports Ros Scott. Knowing what Ros is standing for, and having met her, I honestly cannot see another candidate coming forward who will do the job as well or as diligently as she, however old a parliamentary warhorse they might be.

The Downing Street website that we all thought was great because it was a Wordpress install, and must therefore have been veryveryvery cheap? Cost £100,000. ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS. For fuck's sake! I could do it at home for nothing and all I would need is a computer, and internet connection, and a small aubergine...! Now, yes, that IS cheaper than other government websites, but it's also fucking ridiculous for something on free software with a ripped-off theme.

When is this government going to get even a tiny clue about how the intertubes work? There must be at least one of them who could say hang on a minute....

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And speaking of WRONG in the government, here is a brilliant dissection of them being WRONG in respect of the citizen's equality before the law.

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They're talking about choice in schools on the radio again. Is it me, or is this the perfect example of how most politicians are trapped in the Westminster bubble? Yes, in London, it's meaningful to have a choice of schools/hospitals/post offices, etc., because there's so bloody many of them in such a relatively small space. In normal, not London places, there is ONE of each of these things, if you're lucky. You can't choose between one. You just want that one to be good.

When the government shuts things down in the name of choice and streamlining, IT IS REMOVING ESSENTIAL SERVICES FROM PEOPLE.

Bastards.

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Good news? Mitch Benn is releasing his new single on the first of September, and it has Rock Wankman on it and everything! YAY? Nay. It's frigging iTunes only. AGAIN.

* stabs Steve Jobs *

Just because you aren't Microsoft, doesn't mean that restrictive monopolisation of a market sector is GOOD, you know.

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Hmm. I appear to be rather grumpy today. Sorry 'bout that.

Y'all have probably heard about the crazy Tory in Watford who waged a two year hate campaign against his Lib Dem opponent and when convicted on five counts of criminal damage and two of harassment, asked for a further 68 instances to be taken into consideration? I feel a sense of weary resignation that this sort of thing was bound to happen sooner or later. Given the hijinks that activists on campaign trails get up to all the time, I'm just glad it wasn't a member of my party who went a bit mental and took it several shades too far with the name-calling. But you know what? If it HAD have been a member of my party, the reaction of the higher-ups would have been very different.

You see, the thing that brings the whole political process into disrepute is not that one bad apple (or even bunch of bad apples) who do nasty things; it's the reaction of those in charge of them. If it comes to light that someone in the party has done something totally unacceptable, like this, you hold an investigation. You don't fob people off and hope it goes away. If they are actually convicted of criminal offences, you don't deny all knowledge and pretend you never knew the guy in the first place. You certainly don't try to pretend it was all larks, especially not when you've been banging on for years about how people who do this sort of thing should have the book thrown at them...

Politicians of ALL parties need to pay attention to this and decide NOW what they are going to do when the next bad apple turns up. Because the next bad apple WILL turn up, and yes, it might be a Tory again, but it could be Labour, or Green, or even one of us. There need to be procedures, and they need to be followed. People are never going to regain any sort of trust in the political process if this culture of cover up continues. When something like this happens in your own party, you need to gird your loins and unite in condemnation of it; anything less is fodder for those who think politicians are all weasels on the make (no offence to the lovely pink_weasel).

And the less said about putting convicted forger/fraudsters and bunny-boilers who can't control their temper up for election, the better.