“I detest the niqab and the BNP: what does that make me?”

For anyone who has read the post by Gary Younge on Comment is Free entitled, ‘When you watch the BNP on TV, just remember: Jack Straw started all this’, many I’m sure will conclude that he makes some good points. Not least when he notes that:

…there is little doubt that once the BNP is on Question Time, Jack Straw – or indeed anyone in the New Labour hierarchy – is in no position to take the fight to it. The same is true for most of the rest of the British political establishment that will be represented on the panel – they have either actively colluded or passively acquiesced in the political trajectory of the past decade.

But it is no accident that this happened on New Labour’s watch and no small irony that Jack Straw should set himself up as Griffin’s opponent.

In fact I couldn’t agree more. Why put up against the BNP’s Nick Griffin the very man that started the whole niqab furore a few years ago?

BBC News: “UK population ‘to rise to 71.6m’”

As being reported on the BBC website, the population of the UK is expected to increase from 61m to 71.6m by 2033, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). As it states, just over two-thirds of this increase is expected to be related directly or indirectly to migration to the UK.

If the projected increase materialises, the population will have grown at its fastest rate in a century: by more than 10m in the 24 years between 2008 and 2029, less than half the time it took to rise from 50m to 60m between 1948 and 2005.

Atheists: No God, just whining

I don’t normally reproduce articles in full from other sources but I came across this on the Guardian website and agreed with it entirely. Obviously it must have something to do with the author being another ‘C Allen’ (Charlotte rather than Chris). To read it in its original location, click here. If not, just read on:

Atheists: No God, just whining

Charlotte Allen, Friday 29th May 2009

I can’t stand atheists – but it’s not because they don’t believe in God. It’s because they’re crashing bores.

The Jade Goody Show: the reality versus the hyperreality of her battle against cancer

A post written since the death of Jade Goody can be found here.

The term hyperreality is one that is used to characterise our inability to distinguish reality from fantasy. Those such as Jean Baudrillard identify hyperreality as a means of viewing ‘reality by proxy’, one where the viewer of ‘reality tv’ for instance begins to live in the non-existent world of the Big Brother house or other constructed reality even though it is not an accurate depiction of life or living. For him, ‘reality’ becomes something that is therefore non-existent.

No more true is the non-existence of reality than in the unfolding tragedy that is Jade Goody. Goody’s ‘reality’ is that she’s been diagnosed with cancer and – so far – any treatment for it has failed to respond. If reports are to be believed, her chances of survival are slender. Undeniably for Goody her cancer is real, despite the need for publicist Max Clifford to distribute a press release confirming that it was not a ‘publicity stunt’. For the viewer, her cancer is probably far more hyperreal given that she was told of it in front of the cameras while she was taking part in the Indian version of Big Brother.

Things the Year 2008 has Taught Me…

So here goes, 2008 has taught me (relevant links added where appropriate…) that:

My life has been in a constant state of flux – something that doesn’t (yet…?) appear to be changing…!

A lot of nastiness, rubbish and nonsense has been thrown my way

You shouldn’t ever get comfortable and think that things are getting better as there’s always something else just around the corner

People get offended about almost anything and everything, here

The weight of expectation resting on the shoulders of Barack Obama seems to be beyond the capabilities of any one human being, here

At the same time, Barack Obama is also (allegedly) the Anti-Christ, here