Rather Sad Terry Pratchett News (He's not dead)

He has announced that he is suffering from a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's.

Folks,

I would have liked to keep this one quiet for a little while, but because of upcoming conventions and of course the need to keep my publishers informed, it seems to me unfair to withhold the news. I have been diagnosed with a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's, which lay behind this year's phantom "stroke".

Rest of statement.

He is one of my favourite authors, so this has come as a bit of a shock, but at least Terry Pratchett himself intends to carry on writing while he still can.

"Certain things have to happen before other things. Gods play games with the fates of men. But first they have to get all the pieces on the board, and look all over the place for the dice."

An extract from Soul Music by Terry Pratchett.

Andy Thomson Lecture

Interesting thus far.

• Part two
• Part three
• Article source.
• Richard Dawkins website.

Radiohead Drops it's Stinkbomb on the Music Biz

"Because in our dreams, it would be really nice to just let off this enormous stink bomb in the industry."

The new Radiohead album is being released next Monday. (It's called in rainbows).

The catch?

It's being released online only, and you decide how much you want to pay for it (plus a credit card handling fee). Or you can pre-order a disc-box set, which Radiohead are selling for £40 - about $80 (ships worldwide).

If this has any effect on the current models for selling music online, time will only tell.

And for those of you who don't want to go the online route, Radiohead are in talks with record labels (including EMI, Radiohead's old label) about releasing the album in the shops in 2008.

• NME article
• BBC News Online Article.
• Radiohead.com

*Radiohead's site may take a while to load.

Brown just keeps on swining those punches

Yesterday he invited Thatcher to Number 10.

Election warfare methinks. David Cameron has gambled on the Blair way of doing things, and i think he's lost. Saatchi is in charge of Labours election advertising. Which is ironic really, considering the fact that Saatchi's advertising helped Thatcher gain power in 1979 with the "labour isn't working" being one that sticks in older peoples memories (i was but a twinkle in my fathers eye in 1979). The first advert for Labour is quite simple, it has a picture of Brown with the words "Just Gordon". I think people are sick of the Blair style of politics (which Cameron has been trying to emulate), so the simple appeal of Brown as a politician of old (boring bank manager type) may just win Labour the election.

I'm voting for my local MP, as he has done a very good job over the years (he got my first ever vote in a general election). Hopefully i will not have to run the gauntlet of Tatchell's supporters. Because when i vote, i head in and out as quickly as i can. Without making eye contact with Tory, Liberal Democrat or Labour party workers. Who are always trying to drum up extra votes. I vote, then watch the election night news programmes as they try and number crunch the results into predicated a Parliament, which they revise constantly over night with the swingometer.

As for when the Election will be called ? If it's not called before November, then i guess Brown will call it sometime before the spring in 2008. I think Labour might get a slight increase on it's majority. As David Cameron has failed to use the chances to run down the Labour Government over things like the NHS and other issues that have cropped. Team Cameron is more like Team Tory: Opposition forever!

• BBC Article 1
• BBC Article 2

Time for Something Amusing

Harry Potter report coming soon...

The End of Harry Potter Begins

In a few short hours I will be setting off for London to get the final Harry Potter book.

It feels like only yesterday when i first read a Harry Potter book (after being nagged into it by a friend). I was hooked from the very first page of the very first Harry Potter book.

I have been on a journey like most Harry Potter fans. Willing Harry on in his struggle against Lord Voldemort.

I was expecting Rowling to take longer writing the final book, but she didn't. What lays ahead? Deaths of major characters, Snape's true colours being revealed or possibly left open to debate and of course Harry Potter's final show down with Lord Voldemort.

To those of you who are going to Harry Potter parties, then i wish you all a good time. And I hope no Death Eaters spoil the party with blurting out the ending! I should hopefully be attending Mugglenet's, Mugglecast that is happening in London. I shall return from London on Sunday, and will most likely have a full report posted within a few hours of being home. Or I may just read the Deathly Hallows all over again.

And finally, It seems the religious Jews in Israel don't want the Sabbath to be broken by bookstores opening up so people can buy the last Harry Potter book. BBC News Article JP Article

Harry Potter the end of an era

So it's not long till the Deathly Hallows comes out. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand i'm really excited to see how Harry ends up winning and on the other i know this will be the last time i read a new Harry Potter book (unless Rowling changes her mind about writing more, though i don't hold out much hope). I came late to Harry Potter (a certain person nagged me into the reading them). I read the first book and was hooked from there. Rowling has blended in so many different elements into her books. From the Pure blood Wizard mania (similar to how the Nazi's saw the purity of German blood being ruined by even one Jewish relative), to choices showing who a person really is, rather than based on their blood or abilitys. So come the 21st of July i will be in London with a few other Harry Potter fanatics soaking up the atmosphere of waiting for the last book. I am planning on writing a report of the weekend for cultureforall, as it will make a nice change from what i usually drivel on about. If you are not a fan of Harry Potter then tough. I laugh at those who think Harry Potter promotes witchcraft, because it does not. The book is a good old fashioned good vs evil tale with lots of shades of grey in between. Rowling Interview from Friday:

Terrorist car bomb attack thwarted in London

Apparently a car was seen driving erratically in the haymarket area of London last night. The driver jumped out of the car and ran off. Bouncers from a local bar/club saw that there was something wrong with the car and then alerted the police. The security services have defused the device (which seems to consist of propane gas cylinders and other items covered by a blanket), and no one has been harmed. There is no Irish connection, so it's looking like this might be an Islamist based terror attack (though as always it's best to wait and see what the security services have to say). By the sounds of what the rolling news channels were saying this was a thwarted car bomb attack which would have resulted in massive loss of life. This could be the start of a campaign, but again that is speculation rather than anything based on fact (unless the Security services know otherwise, which is probably likely).

I shall post more about this later on in the day as the details become clearer. I'm just thankful that nobody lost their lives due to this incident. We have been lucky this time.

• Sky News
• BBC News
• The Times
• CNN

Conservapedia the truth will set you free or perhaps not...

A rather amusing article on The Register about Conservapedia made me chuckle. No liberal bias getting in the way of conservapedia like that rubbish Wikipedia oh no. I have already spotted a factual error, they have Gordon Brown down as taking over from Tony Blair in July. James Gordon Brown, generally known as Gordon Brown, is a Scottish Labour politician who has served as Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer since 1997. His mutual enmity with Prime Minister Tony Blair has been a consistent feature of British political life for a number of years, and he is to take over as Prime Minister when Tony Blair retires on 27 July 2007. Why was conservapedia started for ? Well because of this little incident: Conservapedia (Motto: "The truth shall set you free") is the brainchild of Andy Schlafly, who was moved to act when "teaching a history class to home-schooled teens" and confronted with the term "BCE", or "before the common era", in one student's assignment. "Where did that come from?" he asked, only to receive the chilling reply: "Wikipedia." The motto is actually quite silly, as the only truth you'll see on conservapedia is a conservative point of view on the truth. As the description for Hillary Clinton shows :- Hillary Clinton may suffer from a psychological condition that would raise questions about her fitness for office. A recent book entitled The Extreme Makeover of Hillary Rodham Clinton examines the Senator's instability, incoherent speeches as both student and First Lady, casual disregard for the law, and ever-changing opinion on the Iraq war. These character flaws, analyst Bay Buchanan writes, make Hillary overly dependent on gurus and outside experts, with no internal compass to guide her, displaying all the classic symptoms of "clinical narcissism." The American Psychiatric Association describes this condition to include feelings of superiority, self-importance and "fantasies of unlimited success, fame or power." The author further states, "We are not talking about self-infatuation, we are talking about a clinical condition that could make her dangerously ill-suited to become President and Commander in Chief." Yes that is pointing out the truth ain't it. Hillary Clinton is probably the main factor in Bill Clinton's successful attempt to become President of the United States, and she also stuck with Bill through thick and thin when the Conservatives tried their hardest to oust Clinton via impeachment. And it's not like Bush doesn't rely on a closed number of advisers and Dick Cheney. If Hillary Clinton is fit to be president is down to the American people to decide on election day if she of course wins the Democrat''s presidential nomination. For all wikipedia's faults, being too liberal is the least of my concerns about it. Factual correctness and impartial information is what is required for any truths to be valid. That means chucking out the liberal and conservative bias down the toilet and flushing it several times.

David Cameron declares himself a zionist and the current internal Palestinian violence

"If what you mean by Zionist, is someone who believes that the Jews have a right to a homeland in Israel and a right to their country then, yes, I am a Zionist and I'm proud of the fact that Conservative politicians down the ages have played a huge role in helping to bring this about." JP article on Cameron. Probably about the best thing Cameron has said in the past month (his grammar school comments had me snorting into my tea). If Cameron means it, is another question entirely. He seems to say a lot of things that play well with a particular group of people. I think it is high time that people in the UK had a more reasonable view of Israel, other than the bog standard "They kill Palestinians indiscriminately, occupy land illegally, part of the Zionist agenda" that the left tend to pump out with great vehemence. I have had many disagreements with Tulips over Israel, but i hold the firm belief that the world would be a much poorer place without Israel. Which on balance has a very good democracy, treats Palestinians in it's hospitals where possible and are willing to make peace with the Palestinians, providing Hamas recognises Israel and it's right to exist. Though it seems that Hamas is hell bent on controlling the Gaza strip and in doing so creating a small Islamic state that is undemocratic (i can't see Hamas holding elections, unless they feel sure of victory in the polls) and a regime that will propel Palestinians into ever more violent attacks against Israel. All the while demanding respect from the West and of course the money that the West is with holding from Hamas. It may seem like a good thing for Israel that the Palestinians are fighting and killing each other, but it's not. If Hamas gains control over the Gaza strip and more importantly young Palestinian minds, then Israel will be facing a much tougher and more radicalised enemy. Though I'm surprised that it's taken Hamas this long to try and create a dictatorship that replaces the old guard. BBC News Article. Jerusalem Post article. CNN article

Alan Johnston video

A video of the BBC reporter Alan Johnston has been released by the group (army of Islam) who claim to be holding him (he was abducted on March 12th on his way home in Gaza). It's a classic Jihadist video, the captive forced into bleating out the groups rants and demands. Now i find this to be counter productive for the Palestinians. As Alan Johnston was the only reporter to live in Gaza and give an account of the Palestinians every day life. It seems the Army of Islam is a shadowy group in Gaza that is slowly gaining a hold.

If this Army of Islam had any morals they would Alan Johnston without delay, but i fear he will end up being killed (if he hasn't been already, the Army of Islam follows the idiology of Osama Bin Laden if reports i saw on the rolling news channels were accurate, i shall do some checking up later. Though i don't think there is much to go on).

Which ever view point you take on the Israel vs Palestinian issues, you cannot deny that you need journalists to report the reality's of the conflict on the ground (even if those journalists are biased in you view - don't bite my head off Tulips, i know you dislike the BBC's reporting of Israel).

I hope i'm wrong and that Alan Johnston is still alive and will be freed shortly. It will be fascinating to hear his account of the experience. Frank Gardner another BBC journalist gave a very frank (pardon the pun) account of his shooting in Saudi Arabia by millitants and his battle to regain his mobility to a certain a degree.

Journalism is our window into the various conflicts around the world. Be they political or religious conflicts. Without Journalists risking their lives we would have very little idea of whats going on. Though these days you have to check up facts like never before (due to the various agenda's the news channels have, Murdoch being the worst example of pushing an agenda through his media outlets).

The case of cyberstalking against a victim of the 7th of July tube bombings

There is a case of an Oxford Woman called Felicity Jane Lowde, who has been stalking a victim of the London tube bombings from July 7th. Exactly why she is stalking Rachel North (who has a blog that details her life since the tube bombings and her campaign for a public inquiry) is anyone's guess. Miss Lowde is now on the run, as she has been convicted of harrasing Rachel North (who is not Lowdes first victim by any means). Some of examples of the things that Lowde has said towards Miss North are as follows: "You are a warmongering bitch. No one believes you. People hate you for what you've done. Stop trying to promote yourself and GO AWAY RACHEL." "In your wedding picture you look happy to have got away with it. But time is ticking and you'll wind up in jail with the stupid grin wiped off your evil face." Miss North has a detailed account of the stalking on her blog. I must commend Miss North's courage in the face of the harrasment she has recieved from Miss Lowde. Hopefully Miss Lowde will be arrested and then face justice. I do believe that a public inquiry should be held into July 7th, but i don't think there is any political stomach for one, at least from Labour. It seems Miss Lowde is a typical internet stalker, posting comments to back herself up and to try and paint herself as the victim. Rachel North's own words about the case. Oxford Mail story.

The Blair era is almost over...

So today Tony Blair annouced his intention to stand down as the leader of the Labour Party and as Prime Minister. He will visit the Queen on the 27th of June to offer his resignation as Prime Minister at which point Gordon Brown will almost certainly take over. Blair's speech was nothing new. Though he has not been forced out of office. He made that decision for himself when he said he would not be fighting another election. That was probably his biggest blunder in Office aside from Iraq. The moment he said he had no intention of fighting for another term in Office, his authority began to drain away from him. The irony is that he could have fought for a forth term in Office, had he not got along with Bush and invaded Iraq. That will be part of his legacy, but perhaps not the main part of it. He has changed British politics in terms of giving personality to politics. It was part of Blair's charm that won Labour 3 elections on the trot. Now is not really the time to pick apart Blair's legacy. I'm looking forward to the post Blair era, which should be interesting in how it unfolds. I don't believe that the Tories will have any drastically different policy's than Labour. It has been said of Blair that he has carried on what Thatcher started, with David Cameron waiting in the wings to follow on from Blair. I think it's far too early to say how the next election will go. People are fed up with Labour, but more importantly fed up with Tony Blair himself. My stance is that i will vote on the issues come the general election. If i vote Labour or the Liberal Democrats i don't know, i shall probably decide when i have the ballot paper in front of me. I'm willing to give Brown a chance, the signs are he is going to clear out the cabinet and have younger Labour MP's to combat the Tories. David Milliband is one Labour MP to keep an eye on. But to sum up the Blair era ? It started off with so much promise and hope, and ended in apathy and discontent. BBC news article Nick Robinson on Tony Blair The ups and downs of the Blair era. CNN article Fox News article

Nice to see Oxford City Council is still very stupid

They've had a long range of bad ideas, the most recent being the decision by the councilor in charge of Oxford's recycling and waste collection services by changing the collection of household waste (food etc) from every week, to once every two weeks. She has said she is not for turning (whichever ward shes in, i hope she gets voted out). It's a national scheme (though councils were told to bury plans about changing from the current setup to this marvelous scheme to increase the rat population in the UK before this weeks local elections). So what is Oxford City Councils latest brain wave ? Faith based home improvements. So if your religion demands that you cook over an open flame, the council will pay for a gas cooker to be installed. It's utter drivel, it basically creates further divides in the local community which a political party like the BNP will take advantage of. Stuart Craft leader of the Independent Working Class Association pointed this out fairly well: "This is a potential recruiting document for the British National Party - it's nonsense and it's unfair. This is a secular society, the council should not be pandering to separate religions." The best quote about this story comes from a Muslim councillor by the name of Dr Tia MacGregor: "What this strategy is saying is if you want something because of your faith, you get it. What about Jedi Knights - would they have a cupboard fitted to put their light sabres in?

"If the council wants a budget for home improvements they have to be for everyone, you can't discriminate in terms of their faith."

What is needed is in fact a system that works for everybody. Though Oxford City Council can't change a lightbulb without spending several hundred pounds talking about it (Cornmarket's revamp cost more than the local and county council estimated, it went from about £1 million to about £5 million in the end). And the view of the council is just priceless (it's so politically correct i could cry but i won't): "This is part of a much wider programme of choice for tenants and ensuring we are culturally sensitive.

"It's not going to be a drain on resources, it's about recognising and working with the variety of people in the city and realising they are not all identikit."

This is one of the problems in the UK, we are dividing communitys along cultural lines. We should all be treated the same, while recognising the value of each culture that is either native or imported through immigration into the UK. People should be free to follow a religion if they so wish or not follow one. But when it comes to local and national government services people should be treated equally but fairly, rather than politicians pandering to religions. The Catholic Church for example tried to scupper new equality laws for homosexuals and lesbians by threatening to close it's catholic adoption agencys in the UK and appealing to members of parliament who are catholic to vote against the bill. They failed in the attempt to block the bills passage through Parliament. This Is Oxfordshire article.

Oh what a choice i have at the next General Election

Peter Tatchell has been selected by the Green Party as it's canidiate to stand for the Oxford East seat at the next General Election. It should make it an interesting election campaign (they've been boring to be honest in the last few years - i swear the lib dems thought i was voting for them as i had a Radiohead t-shirt on when i went to vote at the last election, i voted Labour). He will have an uphill struggle if you go by the last election results for Oxford East. Andrew Smith (Labour) had 36.9% of the vote compared to the green party's share of 4.3% of the vote. Full election stats. Peter Tatchell will probably not win the seat. Andrew Smith may well just hang onto his seat at the next election (Liberal Democrats stand a good chance of winning the seat, unless there is a major recovery from the Conserative party). In any case i shall be following the election campaign for Oxford East whenever the next Election is called (2008 or 2009). As to who i'm voting for at the next election ? It all depends on how well the political parties are doing at the time. My vote will come down to Labour or the Liberal Democrats. I don't really connect with the Conserative party. Though i am interested in seeing David Camerons policy's, as they will be the first step in him winning or losing the next election. BBC news article about Tatchell.

British Politics - an interesting few months lay ahead

Come this May it will have been 10 years since Tony Blair took the Labour Party to a landslide victory over the tired Conserative party that had been in power for nearly 20 years. I could detail how Blair went about winning that election, but i won't. Suffice to say Blair changed the very soul of the labour party to win elections. New Labour is a pale shadow of Old Labour. Now the next few months are going to be very interesting indeed. On the one hand elections are coming in May. The conventional wisdom is that Blair will annouce that he is standing down as the leader of the Labour party after those Elections have taken place. That is just the first part of the process that will lead to Mr Blair leaving Number 10. It appears that Gordon Brown has already begun plotting his leadership election campaign. According to an article on the guardians website, Brown has the support of 217 Labour MP's, 93 are undecided, and 35 have refused to back him. Interestingly enough David Miliband the Environment sectary has been put down as undecided, even though he has said he would support Brown's leadership challenge. Many of Blair's supporters are pinning their hopes on Miliband running against Brown (anyone but Brown they shout). Now in my own opinion Miliband would be better off sitting this one out. As i think he is the future of the Labour party. My feeling is that the next general election will end up being a hung parliament. Which means that no single party has enough seats to form a majority Government in the house of commons. If a hung Parliament does indeed occur then i believe Labour and the Liberal Democrats will most likely form a Government to keep the Tories out. The next interesting development is the fact that the Police have handed in their file on the cash for honours scanadal (it is illegal for Parties to take donations from doners on the provision that the donater would recieve a peerage in the house of lords). This file has to be reviewed by several different lawyers before the CPS decides if it is viable to press ahead with a prosecution, the process could take weeks or months. Those in the frame are some of Blair's closet aides. This may well dog Blair in his last weeks and months in Office. I doubt this would lead him to resigning as Prime Minister because he is obsessed with his legacy and perhaps doing as much damage to the labour party as he can. One final bloody nose for Brown. So he will cling on to his post for as long as possible. Unlike the Tory party the Labour party do not stab leaders in the back, because it's often a messy and drawn out affair that can play badly with the public. Labour MP's are terrified of losing their seats at the next election. Which brings me to David Cameron or as i like to think of him Blair Version 2.0 Cameron and his team have extensively studied the Blair way to winning and keeping power. Cameron has so far only given very sketchy details about Conserative Policys. Instead going for the headlines i.e. hug a hoodie e.t.c I have a distinct feeling that Tory policy will be dressed up to appeal to us the humble voters. And if they do win power, they will pretend to follow those policys, only to subtly change them. I will never vote for the Conserative party, because i frankly dislike them. I joke that i won't vote for them because Thatcher took away my free milk at school. But the real reasons are that i do not share the Conserative outlook. It harks back to a British nation that died with Thatcher when she fell from grace. So the next few months are going to be quite interesting. Party politics will rear it's ugly head and the usual antics will happen in the house of commons. Tony Blair will face increasing pressure to stand down from the Brown camp if the CPS decide to go ahead with a criminal trial over the cash for honours. The elections will go badly for Labour, as a reaction to Blair's arrogance towards his handling of Iraq and other issues. The SNP will most likely clean up in the Scottish elections, starting the path towards a vote on the issue of Scotland becoming an independent nation once more. So if things go well for Blair he will be out of office by July. With Brown almost certainly becoming the Prime Minister. If things go badly for Blair ? He'll leave office in disgrace and not in the blaze of glory that he wishes to leave Number 10 in. Blair's legacy ? Spin instead of substance with only a few good deeds to his name. It's been an interesting 10 years, watching the Blair/Brown relationship develop into outright hatred on either side. Tories being so shell shocked they became incapable of mounting any credible challenge to Tony Blair. The Liberal Democrats slowly building on election wins at local and national levels. And the build up of apathy towards politicians which have lead to some very low turn outs at local and general elections. The next few months will have many twists and turns before the post Blair era begins. Blair will not go quietly though. Most outgoing Prime Ministers have a pop at the detractors and then spend the rest of their lives attacking the Party that has dumped them. Thatcher has only lived this long out of spite towards the Tory party. She is a shadow that Cameron if he likes it or not, will have to excise from the British publics collective memory, if he has a chance in hell of getting a majority at the next election. Brown's leadership scheme. Cash for Honours information.

Virginia Tech campus shootings

I'm at a loss for words over this. It appears yet again that America needs to debate it's gun laws properly. However the time for that is not now. The gun man has been named as Cho Seung-Ho, a 26 year old student from South Korea (who was in the US legally). It's just a tragic waste of life and seems senseless. One of the Victims was a 75 to 76 (reports are conflicting on his exact age) year old Professor of mechanics and engineering. His name was Liviu Librescu, a survivor of the Holocaust and a well know figure in academic circles internationally. He apparently put himself between the gunman and his students, to allow them time to escape through a classroom window. A terrible waste of life, as for so many of the victims yesterday. My thoughts are with the family's of the Victims. Virginia tech shootings CNN BBC reports on the shootings. BBC in pictures report JP.com Article Foxnews Article

The darker side of blogging

I find this side of blogging to be quite distasteful. Which part ? The part where women suffer abuse and death threats from cowardly people. Kathy Sierra has gotten death threats in the last few days and has pulled out of giving a speech at a technology conference. She says she does not feel safe leaving her own yard. And she's also calling for the blogsphere to combat this form of abuse. Abusing people via death threats and degrading comments is not free speech. It's stupidity speech. Abuse is always the last line of attack for those people whose particular points of view do not stand up to the acid test of other people's opinions. Though i think this sums up the problem better than I can: "It's this culture of attacking women that has especially got to stop. I really don't care if you attack me. I take those attacks in my stride. But, whenever I post a video of a female technologist there invariably are snide remarks about body parts and other things that simply wouldn't happen if the interviewee were a man," said Robert Scoble author of the technology blog Scobleizer. BBC News Article

The fight for democracy goes on

It's easy for us in secure democracy's to take them for granted. Not so for many other people across the world. From Burma to Zimbabwe. Each country is in a struggle against oppressive regimes.

Burma has been under military rule for the last couple of decades. It appeared that some progress towards democracy was being made with the 8888 Uprising of 1988 and the following election victory by Aung San Suu Kyi in 1990. However the Military refused to hand over power and made the election null and void. She has been hounded by the Military regime ever since, at this moment in time she is under house arrest. The Military Junta have resisted international pressure to release her from house arrest. I think Aung San Suu Kyi summed up her own future predicament quite well in regards to the ruling Military government in Burma:

“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”

Until the people of Burma over come the fear that the Military Junta have on them, then they will keep the Military Junta in power. But even if Aung San Suu Kyi dies at the hands of the Military Junta, her legacy will i believe one day drive somebody to strike back and bring about the downfall of that regime (which has been known to use food as a weapon against rebels and those suspected of helping rebels i.e. The Military places land mines in the fields, so that the villagers cannot harvest the crops and therefore have to flee or otherwise starve to death). International pressure has been mounting, but I'm afraid words are not enough. If we value our own democracy's at all, we should help others achieve the dream of democracy.

Zimbabwe is another trouble spot. The Movement for Democratic Change has been fighting the rule of Robert Mugabe for the last few years. Zimbabwe was once described as the breadbasket of Africa. Not any more. Due to the land seizures of white owned farms, Zimbabwe's economy has gone into free fall, current inflation stands at 1,700%. Around 80% of Zimbabwe's population is now in poverty. Robert Mugabe of course blames all of this on Western governments. He has a particular hatred for the British government (being the former colonial power).

Mr Tsvangirai is the leader of the opposition of the DMC (which has split into two factions), he was recently beaten up quite badly by Mugabe's regime after the opposition tried to stage a peaceful prayer meeting. However Mugabe's regime declared it an illegal protest and those taking part were arrested. African nations have so far been reluctant to put pressure on Mugabe, notably South Africa who have the most influence over Zimbabwe as it supply's a majority of resources to Zimbabwe. Things seem to be changing, though only because it seems Mugabe has moved the next round of elections to 2010 which clashes with the World Cup in South Africa.

I'm hopeful that the situation in Zimbabwe will be resolved in the next few years. A tipping point will come for Mugabe's regime and it will topple. Chaos will most likely follow, but hopefully a strong democracy will emerge from that chaos. Now the point i am trying to make is a very simple one. It is time that we in the West stopped taking democracy for granted and to rid ourselves of the notion that we cannot do anything to change things. We can do a lot and it is quite simple. We use what we take for granted the most. The right to vote.

If a Government does something you don't like, you can punish it by voting on the issues as you see them. But if we sit back and think “My vote won't change anything”, then it is a self fulfilling prophecy. Vote even if the government in power does not lose power, you will add dissenting voices to the political processes that your country has in place.

I think it's crucial we do this. Why ? Because we are facing dangers that lead down a dark and dangerous path. Radical Islam is but one of the threats we face, but that threat seems to be a distant one. 5 years on 9/11 seems to have lost it's impact upon people. Yes we remember the day, but we have been taken on a ride by our political masters. And i believe firmly that the Bush doctrine and War on Terror is fundamentally flawed. We are not in a traditional war in the sense of large armies meeting on the battlefield. We are if you like in a guerrilla war. One that is being fought by radical extremists who have no morals and have no fear of death. We can fight that more effectively by standing up for what we treasure the most. Freedom and the ability to vote.

We should not trade in freedom for security, no matter the threat we face. It is our Freedom that defines us. If we let the terrorists define who we are, then they win. So it's time we started to treat our democracy's with the respect they deserve and to be aware that the freedom that democracy can bring can be taken away in a moment. The fight for democracy goes on. And it is a cause worth fighting for.

Aung San Suu Kyi wiki article

Robert Mugabe wiki article

Oh dear, we Brits are really screwed now...

So for crimes against humanity we owe the world £31 trillion in Reparations. The International Coalition for British Reparations. I have no idea if this serious or just a joke. One of the facts:

Are you racists?

No. We don't believe this is due to any inherent defect in the character of the British people. Stretching more than a millennium to the crowning of Alfred the Great in 871, the British Monarchy is simply one of the oldest continuous governmental bodies on earth. For centuries, its power over its citizens was nearly absolute. By the dawn of the 20th century, it controlled nearly one third of the globe. But while other totalitarian reigns have been put on trial and forced to make amends, the British crown has maintained its grip on power, and so avoided being called to account for its numerous crimes against humanity.

First off the crown did not control the Empire. In fact the Royal Family's grip on power started to wane after the English Civil war. By the 1800's the early form of parliamentary democracy was taking shape. The Queen has no real power. Instead those powers have been transferred to the Prime Minister of the day. Who is an elected official. Though i guess we can probably reclaim most of North America and sell it off to pay the $31 trillion. Foxnews is going to be all over this. America is virtually bankrupt, banks call the debts in, wave bye bye to the world economy. Still the site is quite amusing. We will pay it back in tea and crumpets. Further research on the net reveals that this site is just a method for Steven Grasse to promote his new book "Evil Empire: 101 Ways That Britain Ruined the World". Republican supporter and a self employed advertising executive is Mr Grasse. More details about him can be found here.