More than two thousand people have been killed by an earthquake in Nepal, and the aftershocks may claim yet more lives. Many buildings in the capital city of Kathmandu have been reduced to rubble, and many more are unsafe.
A young Nepalese woman - a nurse - has reported on Facebook how she helped evacuate the hospital where she works, and has since returned to her duties. She claims she is serving her country, and yes she is. Compare this with the revolting lie that is perpetuated in far too many western countries that soldiers are serving their country when they take part in illegal wars.
After Japan was struck by a far more destructive earthquake in 2011, the Japanese people moved swiftly to rebuild their country, and the people of Nepal would be well advised to follow their example. By contrast, if London were to be devastated by an earthquake, then any rebuilding work would be delayed by bureaucracy and completed at far more than the budgeted price.
In one of my previous posts I included a clip from the film How The West Was Won, in which Gregory Peck praises the city of San Francisco. He claims that it burns down about every five minutes, but each time they keep on rebuilding it a little bigger and better than before.
Where the white man once led the way, now the Japanese are leading the way. Over to you, people of Nepal. Show us whether you have the mettle of the nineteenth century white man or of the twenty-first century white man.
Related previous posts include:
Black violence: a black woman speaks out
Sunday 26 April 2015
Monday 20 April 2015
Musings on the general election
It is a folly common to perhaps all political commentators that they make predictions and then realise that those predictions might not come true.
Just over a year ago, I opined that UKIP would not win a single seat in the 2015 general election, and yet now I must face up to the possibility that I might be proven wrong. Fortunately I am not worried about it. UKIP will not have my vote, but well done them if they can persuade other people to vote for them.
It is widely predicted now that the Scottish National Party will win almost all of the parliamentary seats in Scotland, and this is not surprising. Forty-five percent of the vote in last year's referendum was for independence, and if the SNP obtains forty-five percent of the vote across Scotland in the general election, then it could possibly win every seat.
The United Kingdom is traditionally governed by the political party which enjoys more than half the seats in parliament, although this is not the same as having more than half the votes. Therefore if the SNP win most of the seats in Scotland, then that would surely be a mandate for independence.
So confident am I that Scotland will be leaving the United Kingdom in due course that I recently changed my profile picture to one of the English flag.
It is also widely reported in the national press that many supporters of the SNP have been intimidating their political opponents and also employees of the BBC.
This the same BBC which for many years excluded the British National Party from Question Time, while at the same time not excluding parties which had less evidence of popular support. This is the same BBC which sent a lying scumbag called Jason Gwynne to pretend to be a supporter of the British National Party so that they could make a documentary about how the BNP in those days was full of people who objected to child abuse. (Judging by its website, it still is.)
I do not know to what extent the Scottish National Party is responsible for the actions of some of its members, but it appears that it condones the direct action taken by those members who shout at senior figures in the Scottish Labour Party when they are trying to engage with members of the public. Will the Labour Party reassure the public that not one of its members has ever shouted at people who campaign for other political parties?
It is also widely reported that SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon is seeking a coalition government in which her party will provide the Labour Party with a parliamentary majority. While many commentators have argued that it would be unfair of the SNP to vote in parliament on issues which affect England but not Scotland, it has to be said that the entire history of British politics is largely a history of exploiting unfair advantages.
The simple solution is for the English MPs to demand a second referendum on Scottish independence at a very early date. Would the SNP have a problem with that?
Related previous posts include:
Devolution: a very British disaster
Sensational news: people can be nasty
Just over a year ago, I opined that UKIP would not win a single seat in the 2015 general election, and yet now I must face up to the possibility that I might be proven wrong. Fortunately I am not worried about it. UKIP will not have my vote, but well done them if they can persuade other people to vote for them.
It is widely predicted now that the Scottish National Party will win almost all of the parliamentary seats in Scotland, and this is not surprising. Forty-five percent of the vote in last year's referendum was for independence, and if the SNP obtains forty-five percent of the vote across Scotland in the general election, then it could possibly win every seat.
The United Kingdom is traditionally governed by the political party which enjoys more than half the seats in parliament, although this is not the same as having more than half the votes. Therefore if the SNP win most of the seats in Scotland, then that would surely be a mandate for independence.
So confident am I that Scotland will be leaving the United Kingdom in due course that I recently changed my profile picture to one of the English flag.
It is also widely reported in the national press that many supporters of the SNP have been intimidating their political opponents and also employees of the BBC.
This the same BBC which for many years excluded the British National Party from Question Time, while at the same time not excluding parties which had less evidence of popular support. This is the same BBC which sent a lying scumbag called Jason Gwynne to pretend to be a supporter of the British National Party so that they could make a documentary about how the BNP in those days was full of people who objected to child abuse. (Judging by its website, it still is.)
I do not know to what extent the Scottish National Party is responsible for the actions of some of its members, but it appears that it condones the direct action taken by those members who shout at senior figures in the Scottish Labour Party when they are trying to engage with members of the public. Will the Labour Party reassure the public that not one of its members has ever shouted at people who campaign for other political parties?
It is also widely reported that SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon is seeking a coalition government in which her party will provide the Labour Party with a parliamentary majority. While many commentators have argued that it would be unfair of the SNP to vote in parliament on issues which affect England but not Scotland, it has to be said that the entire history of British politics is largely a history of exploiting unfair advantages.
The simple solution is for the English MPs to demand a second referendum on Scottish independence at a very early date. Would the SNP have a problem with that?
Related previous posts include:
Devolution: a very British disaster
Sensational news: people can be nasty
Friday 10 April 2015
Drunken teens at a peace festival
Two recent news items strike me as worthy of comment. One is that an immigrant called Jafar Adeli has been convicted of grooming a teenage girl for sex.
Adeli is one of many victims of online vigilantes who pose as girls under the age of sixteen in a bid to snare paedophiles. Adeli contacted one such vigilante, and - thinking he was exchanging messages with a girl aged fourteen - asked her to meet him for sex. He turned up at a bus station expecting to meet the non-existent girl, but was arrested instead. He has since been imprisoned.
The second news item is that a judge has expressed regret at sentencing an eighteen year old boy called Connor O'Keefe for having sex with a girl who was only fifteen at the time. O'Keefe met the girl at a peace festival, and they both drank heavily. Later on they had sex in a car park.
There are two things I find disturbing about this. The first is that the comments on the Daily Mail website are broadly supportive of the judge. The second is that young people should see a peace festival as an opportunity to drink to excess.
What O'Keefe did was only slightly less heinous than what Jafar Adeli had in mind, and I am glad he was prosecuted. People who drink heavily in public deserve to be arrested and then spend the night in a police cell. As for peace festivals, I wonder what purpose they are realistically expected to serve.
Related previous posts include:
Peace for more than one day
Adeli is one of many victims of online vigilantes who pose as girls under the age of sixteen in a bid to snare paedophiles. Adeli contacted one such vigilante, and - thinking he was exchanging messages with a girl aged fourteen - asked her to meet him for sex. He turned up at a bus station expecting to meet the non-existent girl, but was arrested instead. He has since been imprisoned.
The second news item is that a judge has expressed regret at sentencing an eighteen year old boy called Connor O'Keefe for having sex with a girl who was only fifteen at the time. O'Keefe met the girl at a peace festival, and they both drank heavily. Later on they had sex in a car park.
There are two things I find disturbing about this. The first is that the comments on the Daily Mail website are broadly supportive of the judge. The second is that young people should see a peace festival as an opportunity to drink to excess.
What O'Keefe did was only slightly less heinous than what Jafar Adeli had in mind, and I am glad he was prosecuted. People who drink heavily in public deserve to be arrested and then spend the night in a police cell. As for peace festivals, I wonder what purpose they are realistically expected to serve.
Related previous posts include:
Peace for more than one day
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)