Police State Britain

I'm no fan of Damian Green. He is a Tory MP neighbouring my home constituency where I was an active Lib Dem supporter. 

And when he was arrested I was not too concerned. I still retain residule trust in the goodness of the police. 

But the latest news that the Prime Minister had no idea of an MP is disturbing. Either he is lying, which would be bad, or the Met Police think nothing of moving against elected members of Parliament without even consulting the leaders of our country, which is truly worrying.

It would seem the Speaker was informed but not the man who is currently in charge.

Madness.

The Next Big Election

On June 4th 2009 there will be an election to a body that represents 515 000 000 people. No it's not another drawn out US Presidential Election campaign. This one, especially in this country, will be quiet and reserved because it is of course nearly time for the elections for the European Parliament. 

The last election had a turn out of 37.6% in the United Kingdom, a figure that should disgust both European Unionist (federalists is such an American word, let's try and use more British words) and Eurosceptics alike. 

The European Union is a grand project that needs a good kick up the backside. The Union right now is not a marriage of love but one of convenience and it's time someone changed this. Where are the visionaries screaming for a democratic revolution within the EU, where is the EU's Barack Obama to stir up feelings of hope and a sense of a future with purpose. 

Here in the UK the EU elections are often a boon for the smaller parties. The Tories do well usually and it'd be nice to give that populalist toff David Cameron a bloody nose with a surprisingly poor showing in June. Labour could also do with a swift kicking but we must all be wary of the rise of UKIP and, worse, the BNP. Perhaps it is time for some vote swapping between regions between Greens, Lib Dems and Labourites in an attempt to ensure the Tories, UKIP and the BNP do not make gains and perhaps suffer some reverses in their fortunes. Certainly keeping the BNP out of Europe should be a goal we all desire. 

I have always voted Green at the EU elections but may well switch my vote to Lib Dem this year (especially as I'm no longer in Dr Caroline Luca's constituency, as she was my number one reason to vote for a Green MEP) to help shore up the vote here in London against encroachment from the right wing. 

And liberals and libertarians, whatever their feelings on the EU, need to help get out the vote so we get the right people into the EU parliament to ensure the British contingent is there to reform and fight for greater democracy. I'll do my bit, door knocking here I come!

Sidenote: Why do we refer to UKIP (the United Kingdom Independence Party) as just UKIP but the BNP (the British National Party) is always THE BNP. Hmm... 

Further Reading 

The United States of Europe (Federal Trust) by Guy Verhofstadt

The Great Deception: Can the European Union Survive? by Christopher Booker and Richard North

Whats Wrong with the Europe Union and How to Fix it by Simon Hix

Escorts And Cocaine

You know I'm a libertarian. If you want to go snorting cocaine like an idiot or PAYING for sex (I'm no adonis but paying for sex is something I've never had to do, honestly gay men are easy!) then who am I to tell you not to?

But things like Boy George's latest controversy really annoy me. All that drama, it's all very... gay. Reminds me of the unfortunately deceased Peter from my old work who seemed to thrive on the "drama" of his life (p.s. his boyfriend was a lawyer by day, a cocaine addict by night... nice) Personally I hate all that rubbish... drugs, escorts, sleaziness are all big turn offs for me. Give me the understated, shy good boy every time. Wholesomeness is so attractive.

Maybe I should start the gay men against drama group? ;)

Families... With Benefits

There's been quite a flap this week about a change to the benefits system which will mean that lone parents of children over 12 will have to go onto Jobseekers Allowance and start looking for work. Personally I can't think of anything more sensible.

My Grandad left my Nan when my Mum was about 12, meaning Nan had three kids above 12 and two below and had to fend for herself in those days before child support was considered a right. She held down several jobs whilst bringing up her five kids who all turned out to be very special and gifted in their own ways despite the fact their Mum went to work to keep them in food.

My Mum fell pregnant with me when she was 15. I was born not long after she'd finished her O-Levels (GSCE's for us youngsters) and she could probably have gotten away with moping around and being unemployed. This was the eighties and times were tough especially in our home town. But she didn't. My Nan, as you might understand from the story above, was very poor and so my Mum had to get a job. But she didn't just do that. She put herself through college. No special education grants, no money from the family, she just worked her socks off. I remember nursery, I had a great time. And my Mum, a teenage mother from a large working class, lone parent family, has two degrees and a job as a company director. Sometimes I worry she works too hard because no matter how hard anyone tries she will always do the housework herself, even when others have already done it! That's all after she's been at work until late. Worst part was we once hired a cleaner... which just made Mum worse as she kept doing a thorough clean of the house the day before the cleaner arrived so the cleaner didn't think we were dirty. Mothers. Who'd have 'em??

So when I see or hear people saying things like "I can't work, my children will suffer" or "I am contributing to society, my children will be taxpayers so it's fine for me to just continue to claim benefits" my blood begins to boil. If my Nan and my Mum could bring up children and work their hearts out (during a period of incredibly high unemployment might I add) and still not have neglected me why on Earth can't these other people?? Benefits are there as a safety net, to protect those who can't work or have found themselves out of work for reasons beyond their control. They are there to support lone parents whilst their children are very young. But when your child is old enough to be allowed to walk to school on their own, then it's time to give up being just a mum and become instead something better; a working mum.

I laugh at some of the people's claims "I've been looking for work for 3 years and can't find any" (as a recent job seeker [who's never claimed jobseekers allowance!] I'd beg to take issue with a claim like that!) or, even better, "I just don't think companies are very parent friendly" (every big company I've ever worked for has been bending over backwards to offer flexible hours to mothers and fathers).

There are people out there who have extreme mental health issues, physical disabilities and really tough life situations. And then there are people who freely choose to have children and then to claim benefits who are causing the benefits given to those who truly need it to be so small an amount as to be almost ludicrous.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....

Gay Fascists

No I'm not talking about some prissy queens down the local gay bar who police the attire and attitude of any chicken or newbie who happens to troll inside. I'm talking about fascists, who happen to be gay.

Last month Jörg Haider died in a crash, allegedly as he drove away from a gay bar slightly inebriated. He was famous as a former leader of the Austrian Freedom Party and as a neo-Fascist. There's something that doesn't sit right with me that a man could be a member of a xenophobic organisation and who could controversially occasionally praise some of Nazi Germany's policies and yet be gay as well. Forgetting about the sheer morality of it, surely the fact his policies are watered down versions of the policies of a regime that incarcerated, tortured and murdered thousands of gay men would make you think "Hmm... as someone who likes a bit of that sort of thing maybe I don't want to get involved with that sort of organisation"?

But then you have the more difficult to label Pim Fortuyn of the Netherlands. He distanced himself from the far right but was a very virulent anti immigration campaigner before his untimely death (p.s. gay, xenophobic people seem to meet untimely deaths). How can someone who understands prejudice be prejudiced against others for something they can't control, such as the place of their birth? It's something that's always baffled me about homophobic members of ethnic minorities. I just want to shake them and scream "You are a person who others regard with hate simply because of the colour of your skin and you DARE judge me because of who I sleep with??"

Ernst Röhm, the biggie, a Nazi higher up and in charge of the infamous SA. What was he thinking? I mean really, what was he thinking? Sure he died before the Holocaust but still, really, the Nazi party?? Head of the heavies no less! The one's who helped beat up opponents. Nice.

Now sure, you can't connect homosexuality with an inclination towards fascism. There's way too many heterosexuals with blood on their hands for that. But it does confuse me.

When I was a teenager and denying my sexuality I allowed myself to embrace Christianity, the Conservative Party and a low level form of racism (the type found in the Sun or the Daily Mail). When I finally admitted my sexuality I realised what an utter arsehole I was being embracing things that were based on hatred. I know, it took a big dose of "Oh God now I'm the one being hated" to finally knock some sense into me, but at least I got the good sense to change my beliefs and that is one of the reasons I love being gay. In fact during my descent out of religion I even conceived that maybe God maybe me gay just to teach me humility and respect for others whoever they might be. So I just don't understand gay men being such haters... but I see it all the time. My first boyfriend Stephen hated people of different races and I remember once breaking off a date after my date revealed his deep hatred of black people and an undeclared love for Margaret Thatcher.

You just have to accept that everyone is a jerk in one way or another...

The Buran

That failed Soviet space program has always been to me the full stop at the end of an era... the end of the Soviet empire and the end of true space exploration advancement. Hopefully one day the space agencies will once again dream big...

Don't Gloat Over The BNP Membership List Being Published

That would be mean and cruel. Everyone deserves the right to privacy even if it is very amusing to see so called "British Lions" terrified at the idea of people finding out what political party they belong too. Certainly showing the sort of bravery I'd expect of spineless racist scum.

Let us instead gloat on a little titbit that the gormless traitor Nick Griffin has revealed:

In a statement on the party's website, Mr Griffin said he had lodged a complaint with Dyfed-Powys Police on the grounds that the publication breached human rights and data protection laws.

He told the BBC's the party would be using the Human Rights Act to try to protect the identities of its members, despite the BNP being against the European legislation.

Is that not the most amusing piece of hypocrisy?? A party whose raison-d'etre is to remove human rights from others not like them is using their least liked piece of legislation to protect it's own members.

Racists, and those with a limited understanding of the concept of British citizenship (something I'm sure you're well aware I believe should not be based on nationality or ethnicity), are traitors whose efforts are in direct opposition to the efforts of our country during the war to fight the Nazis and ensure we did not fall into, as Winston Churchill called it, "the abyss of a new Dark Age". That is what they would represent to our country... a new Dark age, and we must thus ensure we do not sit back and allow their hypocrisy and their cowardice to go unremarked upon.

As a Brit who stands removed from both nationalism and racism, there is little I despise more than the British National Party

Somalia

Somalia, a failed state. With all the hoopla over the latest string of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia it is easy to forget that Somalia is the embarrassment of international diplomacy. After the civil war of the early nineties and the infamous failure of the UN Peacekeeping mission, Somalia was abandoned by the civilised world and the Somalis left to fend for themselves in a country without the rule of law.

Now we see what that means... piracy upon ships in the area, murder and injustice on land, and constant never ending instability. We have women being publicly executed for being raped. Sorry... when I say executed I mean being buried up to her neck and then stoned in front of a large crowd. When some tried to rescue her a boy in the crowd was shot. Somalia sounds more like something out of the ancient world than a 21st Century nation.

Somalia is the type of country which needs our help and the intervention of the world. But sadly, thanks to the Coalition of the Willing, events in Iraq have rendered the possibility of such intervention to be a distant dream. Another positive outcome of unilateral action! George W. Bush and Tony Blair deserve our scorn for the world they have bequeathed us.

Our thoughts should not just be with those held hostage by the Somali pirates, but also with those held hostage in the country of their birth unable to escape the nightmare. A country where fear and violence rule and the weak are unprotected. There is, sadly, little hope for them unlike the foreign crewmen being held.

Euthanasia

As a libertarian and someone who has, in some dark teenage moments, attempted suicide I have a lot of sympathy for those who wish to end their lives in dignity. But I also now find the concept disgusting. I would never ask for a law to ban the practice but I'd certainly counsel friends against it.

The current article on the BBC News Magazine site is deeply touching; a letter from a disabled lady to a disabled man who is contemplating taking his own life.

Take a read and share your thoughts.

Happy Birthday Your Royal Highness

Yesterday His Royal Highness The Prince Of Wales, Prince Charles to you and me, turned 60. I have to say his latest official portrait makes him look particularly regal reminding us that one day, not too soon I hope for the sake of Her Majesty The Queen, he will be our King!

The Stupid IT BURNS!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Burbia

Every Religion Founded On Compassion???

How naive is Karen Armstrong at the Guardian? 

Christianity was not founded on compassion it was founded on the violent, hateful Old Testament and created by those seeking to wield greater power during the embryonic years of the Roman Empire. It just happens to have, in between these two things, a glimmer of niceness in the form of the Gospels which sadly Christians don't bother with too much. Sodom and Gomorrah for instance... all these people going on about how those evil sodomites were wanting to rape some angels but does anyone even stop to think what a bastard Lot was for offering his own daughters to those degenerates?? Doesn't that make you think "God sure kept some strange company"??? If God hung around with Lot, a man willing to let his daughters get raped, then I'd say he's not the sort of deity I'd like to be associated with. 

Those who propound that religion is usually a force for good are not being honest. Religion can be a force for good only when there are good people involved in it, and they can be a force for good without the religion thus rendering the religious input to be null. 

Religions are founded on fear. Fear of the afterlife and what might happen to you. It's a primal fear, to be scared of death and the unknown. And it's one the religious prey on time and again. "Do this or you'll go to Hell". What sort of compassion is that? 

Don't worry Jesus died for our salvation!

Mmm... lovely. My salvation is based on the pain and suffering of another. What compassion!! God must be a truly nice guy. And what sin did Jesus come to erase? Original sin. Committed by Adam and Eve. Who didn't exist. So either Jesus was not the Son of God or God made him die FOR NO REASON. 

And even if we accept him as the Son of God surely true compassion would make a Christian pray the following "Look Lord, thanks for letting Jesus die to save me, but really I'd prefer not to have my salvation at the cost of another's life. So why don't you let him not suffer on the cross and allow him to live a normal life in first century Judea and I'll take my chances, thanks all the same." Isn't that the nice, right thing for a Christian to do? Instead they selfishly carp on about their salvation based upon the blood of another. SICK. 

Why, then, do we hear so little about compassion from the religious? Because whether they are religious or secular, people often prefer to be right rather than compassionate. Certainly the religious traditions have a deeply intransigent strain. But we have a choice. We can either emphasise this intolerance, as extremists and fundamentalists do, or we can make a concerted effort to make the compassionate voice of religion audible in our troubled world.

Do we need God and/or religion to be compassionate? Of course not. That is why we hope that atheists and agnostics, instead of berating religion (a policy that, as history shows, tends to make religious movements more extreme), will also sign up to the charter, working alongside the religious for a more compassionate world.

We hear so little about compassion from the religious because the religious don't care about others. They are in it for their own salvation and willing not only to believe lies but to pass them on simply to keep themselves out of "Hell". Religion is a selfish and destructive pursuit.  

And God darn those atheistic being all truthful and pointing out the religious lies. Who needs honesty when we can all just lie to each other and pretend to get on all in the name of a "compassion" based on false premises. 

It's Not The Criminals! It's the council's fault!

Yeah... that's the media's current bias. There have been numerous tragic cases of child abuse across the country over the last few millenia years, but instead of blaming the parents the current tack seems to be blaming the "failures" of councils and authorities to protect these children.

Sorry guys, but these council, and other services, staff members are paid abysmally, suffer huge workloads and are human beings. They are not in a position to protect every at risk child, let alone all the other at risk people out there. Sometimes I wonder about people... do the people who work in at the newspapers and in the other media not realise just how many case files are open at any one point on anti-social behaviour, child abuse, drug abuse, domestic violence, homelessness etc etc etc. Hundreds of thousands? More than likely. How many people are in care, or in need or care? Millions? Probably not, but also probably not far off. These folks and these cases are hidden and ignored until the media decides he wants to scapegoat some folks.

Where is the outrage about the fact that people in this country are so focussed on their own selfish existences that they don't even give a damn for the unfortunates unless they happen to be dead children? Isn't that the truly disturbing thing? Right now, think about the people living in your street. Have you checked up on them today? Have you spent any time wondering about whether the children next door are safe? No... then you have no right to criticise those who are desperately, and valiantly, trying to balance budgets, workloads and "complicated client relationships" (the insane, the violent and the irritating) whilst also trying to watch out for those in need.

Until we give care, social housing and support services the powers and money they need we shall continue to suffer the same problems over and over.

Now if you want somebody to blame let's trying blaming the people responsible for the deaths of these children... most of whom strangely enough also were the ones with the true responsibility of care; their parents. As a colleague said earlier... lock them up and throw away the key.

"British 'is as offensive as negro'"

An organisation headed by Ron Davies has put out a leaflet warning people to be careful using the term "British" in case it offends some and suggests referring to people in that annoying American style as "British Asians". I'm not "White British", it offends me when organisations suggest I am, and I'd hope those of other races would also be offended by being "separate but equal" in this weird way of classification. I'm just British so I say the following:

Fuck you Ron Davies. We always knew you were a self hating bastard. After you were caught cruising for sex in public, you failed to defend yourself and your freedoms and instead belittled those of us who believe in freedom and LIED to the police about what you were up to.

Now he "warns that 'the idea of British implies a false sense of unity'." NO! It aspires to a sense of unity. I'm sorry if aspiration to something better than sectarian, nationalistic rhetoric is something that offends you. But then as you are already known to lie to police officers I'm hardly surprised that you'd also be in favour of spreading disunity among the peoples of this island.

Some of us believe in a future of continued peaceful coexistence of the many peoples of our islands. Others dream of hiding in darkness with those who are like them, scared to come out into the Sun. I know which is the future I desire.

Car Bombed Loves "England"

You can come to this country, you can use bombs to terrorise it's citizens (hey, a few of our citizens by birth have done that for decades, it's practically a British tradition) but if you're going to do that don't call this country "England"!!!!!!!

If you're going to try and kill us, at least have the decency to remember what country you are in; the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Not frigging "England".

Hmph.

Rant over.

Homophobia

I really wish I could have a conversation with one of those people who wish to deny me my rights. So many hide here on the internet or when I do meet them in my daily life pretend they like me and then, stupidly, whisper behind my back as if somehow that wouldn't get back to me (they never seem to imagine that the people they are talking to not only disagree with them but are in fact my friends...). Are they scared I might beat them up?

I remember once just after Kallie started at my old job. She's Canadian and one of the nicest people around, and she was sat next to another new girl (whose name I've wiped from my memory). The girl was a born again Christian from California. This girl turned to Kallie and started telling her the dos and don'ts of the office. Don't insult that guy over there, he's the founder of the company. Do take as much Diet Coke from the fridge as you want, it's free. Oh and be careful because Jason is a.... homosexual. Kallie of course, despite not really knowing me beyond the fact I'd trained her up, came up to me quickly as she was disturbed by the insinuation and told me she was pretty annoyed someone would assume she'd even care. I, of course, laughed it off but was surprised when later that day that same girl asked me to help her get home as she was a little confused (and she'd remain so every day of her time here) about London. So of course I did, thinking to myself all the time, as she chatted on about her wedding and her future blah blah blah, what a fucking hypocrite she was.

I often wonder what she was telling Kallie to be careful of. Was she scared I'd... steal Kallie's boyfriend? Worried I might molest her unborn children? WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY DO TO HARM KALLIE???

Name was Jackie. I knew I'd remember it... I wish I'd asked her at the time but I'm British and thus too polite to.

The Christians rail against homosexuality with arguments so well worn it's hardly worth retorting with the counter argument. Conservatives fight against gay marriage on the flimsiest of grounds as if two men marrying might have ANY affect on a sexually secure heterosexual.

Any homophobes out there who fancy a coffee and a chat? I don't bite, and I seriously just want to ask some questions, don't even want to debate. I just want to know what is going on in your heads... because I find it fascinating...

Religious Tolerance

Religion certainly does help bring people together doesn't?

Wonderful Christian fraternal love was shown in Israel as two different sects of monks had a brawl and desecrated a holy site.

In Kerala, India a Nun is sectioned because she might say some awkward things about her convent.

"Even though I am not a psychiatrist, I am certain after my conversation with her that she is a normal person. She said she was being harassed because she had written about certain undesirable events in a book which she wanted to publish. This was objected to by the convent authorities," said Sainaba.

Again in India a nun was raped during anti-Christian violence committed by kind hearted Hindu's. Inter-faith communication, wonderful thing.



Sure Richard Dawkins ain't perfect but that's the whole point...

For The Fallen - Laurence Binyon

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables at home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Politics And Race

Barack Obama is the President-Elect of the United States of America and all it right with the world. Except of course it isn't.

I was increasingly disturbed by all the harping on in the media about Obama being the first black President. They seemed to be making out that this was the end of all the silly racism. Bless them for their optimism but the world is the same today as it was the day before the election; there's just a little more hope around. And some of the crap the journalists were spewing was too stupid for words:

"America voted and realised, almost as an exhilarating afterthought, that it had become colour-blind." The Times

If they realised they were being colour-blind then they are not truly colour-blind are they? What a silly statement.

Or those people excited by Obama being black were totally overcome with excitement at the world being "post racial" now too. It can't be both, you can't be excited to have Obama as President because he's black and be post racial. It's a contradiction.

I respect the achievement of Barack Obama of reaching the top in a country with such a racist past as America has. But I don't respect those who focus so much on his race and then claim to be post-racial.

Personally I'm more excited about the following facts:

1) Barack Obama is not Dubya
2) Barack Obama is the first professor President since Woodrow Wilson. Yay for academics in power!
3) Barack Obama has an oratory gift unlike a certain 43rd President of the USA I know...

Over here in Blighty we are being asked "Could we have a black PM?" to which the answer is of course "Yes." But somehow people have managed to fill page after page of newsprint about the subject... as if somehow Britain NEEDS a black Prime Minister and SOON because otherwise we just aren't cool. Needless to say my view on this is: We don't need a white PM, nor a black one, nor do we require a female or a gay or a disabled PM. We need a good one, a decent one, a human one, an intelligent one. We should never judge those running for power on what they are but on who they are.

And finally one of my least favourite men in the country, Trevor Phillips, who seems to lack any of the talent of any member of the American Civil Rights movement. He says Britain's political system is "institutionally racist". For my non-British readers "institutional racism" is a buzz phrase here in Britain which describes racist organisations composed of people who may not themselves be racist. Yes people, organisations have feelings and prejudices too!! He goes on to bemoan the Labour parties lack of ethnic minority candidates (as if Labour should choose people based on their race for office). But he doesn't mind those progressive forward thinkers that live in the Conservative Party:

Mr Phillips said he believed the Conservatives had performed better than Labour in increasing the number of black and Asian parliamentary candidates.
"[The Conservatives] are less democratic. They are happier to impose candidates on the local parties."

Brilliant! Get rid of all that democracy and let's have some good old fashioned benevolent dictatorship. He goes on to say he doesn't favour imposing candidates which sort of makes the whole point of his interview pointless and obviously it's just an attempt to get his voice heard in the wake of Barack Obama's success. A pigmy standing on the shoulders of giants...

God Bless America: Hope Has Returned... unless you're a gay Californian

When I was younger I used to dream of moving to America, I even went so far as to write to the embassy when I was 12 years old to enquire as to how I might get citizenship.

America had always been to me a land of freedom, justice and promise. Maybe that was just wishful thinking brought about because I grew up during the Clinton years when the world was a little more peaceful than it had been before and has been since.

Then George W Bush got in, and I personally felt like he had stolen MY America. The beacon of hope was extinguished and I began to realise that behind the thin veneer of freedom there lay a dark heart in America filled with fear, ignorance and hatred. I began to thank my lucky stars that my direct ancestors had resisted the urge, unlike many in my family, to immigrate in the 19th century. Even my ever growing group of American friends, who I love dearly, didn't dissuade me from believing that most of their countrymen had taken leave of their senses.

With the election of Barack Obama, I realise I was being too cynical. That every country has it's dark side but that the American people were not all raving mad, fundamentalist Christians or, worse still, stupid. That in fact most are sensible, hard working people who still have, perhaps unlike me, hope in the future and joy in their hearts. My beloved America is back. I like being shown how wrong I was to ever doubt our American cousins.

The President is soon to retire, may the next one rule for at least 4 years!

(The Queen is dead! Long live the King! is snappier...)

Although I'm saddened to see Proposition 8 has been passed in California. Heterosexuals, when will you learn you have no right to deny us our freedoms. When will our Rosa Parks arrive? Will we have to wait another 50 years before there's a chance a gay man might become a President?

thelondonpaper, showing excellent journalistic thoroughness (obviously far more than any other news outlet in the world) called the Dakotas for Obama today. Well either that or they made yet enough stupid mistake when drawing the map. One of the two...

Come on Obama!!

After seeing 4 people wearing Barack Obama t shirts in Hammersmith and reading so many good things about Obama's chances today, it is still worth remembering what progressive, forward thinking Americans are up against:

From the BBC: The BBC's Philippa Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, says: In the affluent suburb of Grandview, I spoke to two different grandmothers with two different views. The Democrat said she hadn't voted for years, but that this was different - this was a day to make history. Her friend had phoned her up bright and early and told her: "Get down there now, don't even stop to finish your face!" The Republican lady said to me very emphatically: "I'm here to save this country." She wanted to tell me: "Mr Obama is associated with terrorists. He's not for America." Her husband looked somewhat worried at the turn of phrase and moved towards us - she said: "I don't care. It's the truth!" Would he like to make any comment, I asked. He just smiled and said: "I think she's said it all!"

He is associated with terrorists???? No dear, that's George Washington you're thinking about there... He's not for America??? Of course not, he obviously hates America so much he's put his life on the line to take up one of the world's more dangerous occupations: President of the United States (3 assassinations out of 44 Presidents is a fairly high amount [and one of those Presidents was counted twice...])

From FSTDT: Barack Obama will win by a landslide.

America will lose its national soverignty and become part of the North American Union.

The dollar will be phased out and the Amero will be phased in.

Because of the sinking value of the dollar and the stock market collapse (both of which are being engineered on purpose by the banking elite), the population will embrace the above with open arms.

Obama, considering himself a citizen of the world rather than of the US, with all of his "change the world" rhetoric, will make huge strides towards aglobal government, giving the UN the ability to tax and govern.

There will be a global UN tax on carbon emmissions, even though global warming is a proven scam.

Scientists who dissent against the global warming dogma will be censored, just as scientists who dissent against the evolution dogma are.

It will be illegal to preach against sodomy, effectively making it illegal to be a true Christian.

Godless global socialism will rule the world.

Jesus will come back and yell "surprise" and throw everyone into Hell.

It's a mostly sad story but at least we know it has a happy ending.

Aww.... I can't wait for 4 years time when we can all go "LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE". I really, really can't believe the rubbish these fundamentalist Christians spout out of their potty mouths. They obviously ignore the teachings of the Gospels and just go by all the nasty stuff preached before and after Jesus... CHRISTians. Clue in the name there guys, love thy neighbour, turn the other cheek, etc etc... But no they ignore all that because their hearts are filled with hate and fear and they can't bear to bring themselves to practice what they preach.

Another Fundie: To all those who name the name of Christ who plan to willfully disobey Him by voting for Obama, take warning. Not only is our nation in grave danger, according to the Word of God, so are you ... his election is not about race. It's not about the economy. It's about obeying God.

...

Be forewarned: If you willfully disobey God on life and marriage because of race or false hope for the economy, you will usher in the kind of change that brought the Soviet Union to collapse.

But the warning goes far beyond that. To those who think that God's grace gives them license to willfully disobey Him without consequences – think again:

Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matthew 7:21-23)

That deals with your eternity.

Erm... if the entire chapter 7 is read it clearly shows this is a tirade against false preachers (Hi there Mr Fundie, he's talking about YOU!) and follows on from one of Jesus' most famous teaching:

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

I'm not a Christian, but sometimes Jesus says some rather intelligent things.