A Liberal Life

In his speech at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton this week, Sir Menzies Campbell gave an inspiring speech about the future of the party. Apathy and disillusionment are severe problems in Britain today and I know that many of you reading this email will be planning to dismiss what I say. "All politicians are the same", "all the parties are the same", "nothing will ever change" - I tell you what... with attitudes like that you're damn right! Things will never change if people continue to brush off the possibilities, if people give up on hope and ambition.

I am a Liberal Democrat because I believe that we, as a nation, deserve better. We deserve a free, fair and green country to live in and more than that... I believe that we can achieve it.

Ming concluded his speech with these words:

"I will lead this party into the next election with energy, ambition and determination. Because the stakes for this party have never been higher. And liberalism has never been needed more than it is today. So whenever people ask you: “Why vote Liberal Democrat?” tell them this:
We alone are prepared to break the cosy consensus of British politics and face up to the challenges confronting our society. To create a country that is free, fair and green.

[...]

Only we can achieve that free, fair and green society. Because only we believe in it – Only we will work for it – Only we will fight for it. The Liberal Democrats versus Labour and the Tories. Today, our party is not only the real alternative: It is the only alternative. Not two against one. But one against two."

To read the full speech go here.

Please don't dismiss me out of hand. Please don't hit "delete" without a second thought. Read what Ming has to say, think about what you can do to help. Even if that doesn't mean voting Lib Dem at the next election, tell your other friends what the Lib Dems have to say, tell people you meet that the political landscape needs to change and encourage people to vote with their feet. Literally. If there is an issue you care about, even just one issue, get out there and do something about it! Shout from the rooftops "No! I will not lie down and submit to this! I demand change!"

Thanks for reading. Now go do.

Language

So, language usage changes over time. This is not a mystery, it is a mundane fact of life that everyone knows. Or at least, would if they stopped to think about it for a second and compared modern English to the thees and thous of days of yore.

So how come some people don't seem able to handle the idea that people in the modern world call themselves witches and that in the modern use of the word, witches do exist? Why are some people so detirmined to piss on other people's bonfires?

Under 10s on DNA database

The government's campaign to monitor the innocent at any cost continues as DNA records for young children and elderly people (over 90 years old) appear on our ever-growing DNA database. For more on this see www.homeofficewatch.com

This disgusts me. What business does the government have taking DNA samples from little children and storing them for 100 years? What about those elderly people too? Are the government afraid of an OAP uprising over pensions or fuel allowance?!

Write to your MP and demand an answer to the question 'What has my gran done to you?'

Scientology and Falling Out

I have been part of an online Pagan community for a while now that I have got along fine with. Other groups I've joined I have quickly left again because of not clicking with the people there very well. This group though has been very friendly and there have been few differences between us. Lately however I seem to be falling out with people there more and I don't know why.

Maybe I got comfortable enough to reveal a bit more about my opinions on things and it turns out I'm just as different from them as I was from other groups before. I'm not great with people, I'm opinionated in a way that most other people aren't and I'm usually guarded about my views because I've had disagreements with people in the past that have ruined friendships.

One of the fallings out recently has been on the issue of Scientology. Very few people will know why I feel the way I do about it because I don't come out and tell people as a general rule, it's not my place to divulge it. I admit to being biased on the subject and last week after the Panorama programme, it came up on this forum.

One of the women I usually get on well with disagreed with me. I was arguing that Scientology is a cult and not a religion, she is of the opinion that the only criteria for a religion is that someone believes it! She's free to believe that, of course, but from an academic perspective it is vastly more complex than that. So we seem to have had this falling out over it, not to mention other members of the forum who are not Pagan, who I do not interact with as much, who are arguing that it is a religion on the basis that all religions are corrupt and guilty of brain-washing etc.

I find it frustrating to deal with people like that. They have their own bias that prevents them from seeing religions in a neutral way, just as I have my bias against Scientology and it simply doesn't make for healthy debate. They gang up on me as the most outspoken person against it on the discussion, no other bugger has stuck around to argue my corner with me, even though plenty of people have put their oar in to say the same as me.

I wish I was more able to back away from these discussions when they get heated, I don't want to appear to be backing away because I know I'm wrong, when that's not the reason for me backing down! I don't believe I'm wrong. Not on this. I believe my opinion is valid. I also think that I have a more healthy view of religions in general and it's hard to get through to people who have decided that all religons brainwash people!

Tony Blair's Legacy

Inspired by the three accounts on the BBC, I thought I would write my own How will history judge Tony Blair?

Economics:

Inflation is today at its highest in six years, 5.5%, causing problems for first time buyers and current mortgage payers, as well as other personal lending. Personal debt is now at a record high of £3.8 trillion and the government has little to offer on improving this situation. Blair seems quite happy with this level of debt.

There is a greater divide between rich and poor in the UK than ever before, with the wealthy having better access to services and those less well off with less access to services that would improve their lives.

Students are in debt to the tune of £16 billion, following the scrapping of grants in favour of huge loans and the introduction of tuition fees and the government have dipped into this pot several times since Labour came to power in 1997 to bail themselves out.

Health, education and transport:

Controvertial school reforms, poor funding distribution in the NHS and grossly unpopular foundation hospitals all speak for themselves. Lack of improvement to public transport and road charges widely regarded as a stealth tax leave many Britons confused as to the Labour party's attitude towards climate change; despite the rhetoric about needing to act on the issue, the UK's emmissions continue to rise year after year.

Pensions:

The labour party's treatment of pensions is under serious criticism. Blair has always backed Brown on this issue so is also to blame for the failings. In all of these economic issues, we do of course have to credit Gordon Brown with the appropriate responsibility for Labour's fuck ups, and he's our next PM. Oh joy.

Iraq:

Tony Blair will be most vividly remembered for his defiance of international and domestic opinion in invading Iraq and the extended period of conflict following that and the previous invasion of Afghanistan. His blind obedience to US President G.W. Bush has marked him in a negative way in many people's eyes.

ID Cards:

Tony Blair has pushed through his proposals for this huge waste of public funding, breaking the law on requested reports and repeatedly lying about the supposed benefits of the scheme. We can only hope that this scheme will also leave with his departure.

The Liberal Democrats have today called for a General Election to detirmine the next UK PM. This move has been criticised as there is no historical basis for such a request, despite the fact that according to a poll last week most voters want an election.

The democratic system in the UK is stale and no longer relevant for people. So what if there is no historical basis? We need electoral reform in this country, now is the perfect time to implement it. Labour have got away for too long with this Presidential style of leadership, with Tony Blair refusing to change his proposals in the face of opposition from his own party. The last 2 elections Labour have kept their place in government despite increasingly low percentage of the vote (tweaking constituency boudaries where they need to).

People are uninspired by politics, low turn outs demonstrate this clearly. However, the absence of an "none of the above" option on the ballot may be to blame to an extent we cannot judge. If this option were present how many more people would turn out to register their disatisfaction with the options, rather than being counted as apathetic?

It's time for change.

Burying Bad News

Tony Blair announces his resignation the same day the the government admit the latest rise in estimated costs for ID cards. Talk about trying to bury bad news. It's almost as bad as the day TB was taken by police for questioning the same day as the results of the Diana enquiry (he was the first PM to ever be brought in by police, yet the papers glossed over this story in favour of the enquiry results).

Almost, but not quite, the press have seen through the attempt as have other politicians and they are making sure people hear about it.

Over £5.3 billion it's going to cost now.

Anyone not persuaded by the liberty issue must be put off the scheme by the cost issue. This money would be much better spent on recruiting more police officers.

To say "no2id" click here.

Speeding

I am one of those people who thinks that speeding is stupid, irresponsible and people who do it deserve at least a £500 fine and 3 points on their lisence. However, I do also think that many of the speed limits in the UK need revising as in some places they are unnecessarily cautious. I think that higher speed limits at night are a good idea too. I do also think that the point at which penalties kick in should be further above the speed limit in some cases.

30mph limits around schools and family residential areas should be sctrict, but 40-50 limits around industrial areas needn't be, so penalties should be applied at, say, 10mph over the limit.

Anyway, the BBC have announced that one third of all cars caught speeding on cameras cannot be traced to an address! People are registering their cars with the DVLA at fake addresses or not at all to avoid getting caught. Presumably because they intend to speed!

I can understand slipping above the limit without noticing, but not registering your address because you know you're going to break the law?!! Seriously. I think this study has revealed something significant about the Great British public... some of us are complete and utter shits.

Immigration Issue

The new system was confirmed today, it will be based on points earned depending on what skills you have and how in demand those skills are. In theory, I don't mind this too much. It's a step back from the open borders that I would like to see, but I do understand that at the moment this ideal isn't possible.

What baffles me a bit though is that there are no restrictions on EU citizens because of the deal we have about European migration. This system of open borders is great, it's exactly what I want to see, I just find it disturbing that what the government seem to be saying is "we have too many immigrants, we need to tighten controls, but if you're one of us [European/white?] then come on in!"

It doesn't sit right with me. Especially given the huge influx of immigrants in the last couple of years from new EU countries, surely these are the areas we should be restricting access from? Especially as they are low-skilled workers. And this is what the government is claiming to be targetting. Personally I don't have a problem with low-skilled workers coming into the UK, most British people, myself included, think cleaning and manual labour to be beneath them! But someone has to do it!

There are also concerns that the new system will make illegal immigration worse, though this was barely mentioned in the linked bbc article.

How Wude!

I was just queueing in D&A to collect my new glasses. It was my lunch break, so I didn't have a great deal of time. Clearly, it was lots of other people's lunch break too as it was pretty busy. I was waiting over ten minutes without being seen when this woman who was stood waiting behind me barged past, heading for a gormless young man who was cleaning test pairs of glasses on the racks and demanded to be seen!!

He politely told her he couldn't help as it was only his second day but offered her a seat in an empty bay. That should have been my seat! I was there before her, I was patiently waiting to be seen, not charging around, pushing in front of people making demands!

You don't get anywhere in this life by being polite, it seems. I waited another minute then walked out. I will try and get away from work early to collect them on the way home. But really? How rude?!

March of Political Moans!!

The latest from John Reid is to up the marital age for immigrants from 18 to 21. Excuse me, but what on earth makes him think he is authorised to detirmine what age people can marry?! Just because someone is under 21 does not mean that the intended marrige is in any way forced either. What a bizarre thing to do.

The BBC report that this move is thought to reduce the number of immigrants by 3000 a year. That doesn't seem a particularly large number to me. It strikes me as a similar publicity stunt (to make it look like the government are doing something productive) to the ban on replica swords. Both policies will have little actual effect on the perceived problem (immigration vs. violent crime) but get Labour some press coverage that appeals to the mass public who are enthralled by the tabloids.

Mad.

The NHS "Spine" and our children's fingerprints

This government just keeps pushing the boundaries of our privacy and democracy. As if the whole thing with ID cards wasn't bad enough, I have today learned that kids are being fingerprinted in school without parental consent (link) and our medical records are going to be held on another central database like the one for ID cards, i.e. just as insecure against hacking and abuse (link).

It's not just me is it? This is getting out of control. We are talking about massive abuses of power on the part of the government. Taking intimate physical details and storing them in an insecure way and even selling them to private businesses! Children's damn fingerprints will be held on file when they get a passport.... because...? Ok, it will help identify the odd John/Jane Doe. But the reasons we have been fed for the government wanting this information have nothing to do with identifying dead bodies.

They've tried to tell us it will prevent terrorism, experts from MI5 quickly denied that one; they've tried the ID theft line, but honestly, if all our details are held in one place one quick hack will make it nice and easy for anyone determined to steal IDs. So they go for the "if you've got nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about" line. *Cough splutter* Riiiight. So it's OK for our government to invade our privacy, sell our details and make us present our ID cards at every shop, bank and service we use???!! I don't think so. One small step towards bar codes on our hands that we have to swipe all over the place.

Anyway, my point, what the heck is going to be solved by having children's fingerprints on file? Of course, we all know that most terrorist acts are carried out by under 10s! Seriously, taking the prints without permission from the parents... which they are *already* doing ... is a gross violation of the trust of the public.

Then there's this thing with our medical records. Again, it will be vulnerable to hacks and abuse and information will probably be sold at a later date. What's worse is that after a certain period of time (this year) people will not be able to opt out. This is appalling. It's all very well for people with long-term conditions that may take them to hospital, but medical bracelets are a quick effective means of communicating this. One glance at a patients wrist tells the doctor not to use penicillin or whatever, rather than postponing treatment until looking the patient up on a database, whose information may or may not be correct depending on if their information has been hacked yet!!

We can't keep letting the government get away with this bollocks. They have gone too far and we have to show them that. If you think you live in a Labour "safe seat" area then talk to your neighbours and tell them your concerns, distribute leaflets, tell people what is going on because a lot of people don't realise. And vote for who you want to lead!! For goodness sake, tactical voting screws democracy over like nothing else, it is exactly how we have been stuck with Labour for this long, despite millions of people being deeply troubled by actions taken by them, from the Iraq invasion to ID cards.

Labour make the public think that they have been fairly elected, but this simply isn't true. The first past the post system means that at the last general election Labour only received less than a third of the votes and only a quarter of the possible vote (due to low turn out)! They do not represent the majority, despite what they claim. You can find out about other options for democracy here.

Anyway, please pass on the links above and talk about what is going on, this gradual theft of our democracy and liberty. I don't mean to sound so dramatic, but I do think it's a serious problem that is in danger of happening in our sleep.

OK, seriously

"Is it a claims query?"

"Er, no, it's just an update on some treatment I'm having for a claim."

??????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's *not* a claims query? Well what is exactly then you moron?!

Jeez. This job'd be fine if it weren't for the customers.

Just not a shouter

I occasionally get people on the phone at work who can't make out what I'm saying. I don't consider myself especially softly spoken, on the phone I speak clearly and fairly loudly, more loudly than in person certainly.

Now, when someone communicates to me that they can't hear me, I speak up. Naturally. Often it's down to the caller being hard of hearing, often they are elderly (this is medical insurance, afterall). I try to be polite and friendly, but I hate raising my voice, it sometimes feels like I'm downright shouting down the phone and it's bloomin' hard to retain a polite tone when speaking *that* loudly!

Just now I had a woman who said I was very quiet. I raised my voice and said "Is that better?", and she actually said "Yes, but I still didn't hear what you said"!!!!!!!!! OK, give me a chance to repeat my question, I was damn well checking that she could hear me this time! Stupid cow.

So I changed my wording (sometimes people don't understand the meaning of "How may I direct your call?") and shouted "Which department can I transfer you to?" and she obviously wanted the helpdesk, they usually do. She sounded put out, but what did she expect when she's being a difficult person despite me trying to be helpful?!

While writing this, I've had another call from a woman complaining about being on hold. She went off on one about the message that plays saying about "one of our agents will be with you shortly" she said it sounded like the staff don't actually work for the company and we should change the wording and I should report it and she couldn't hold the line any longer! Honestly, it's only a word. If they used "administrator" people might think they're on the wrong line, they might think "administrators" can't help with their claim or something. "Advisor" might do the job, but technically I don't think we're able to give advice, that was certainly the case at the last insurance company I worked for.

This job'd be fine if it weren't for the old cronies.

ID Cards - The Latest

OK, so now the government has admitted that the new database to store all this personal data was an expensive and insecure idea. Now they want to spread the data over three existing systems, making it even less secure and still a painfully disturbing scheme in terms of civil liberties. They want to "check everyone in and check everyone out" of the country and are still claiming that this will somehow prevent terrorism, although refraining from saying how. John Reid even admitted that ID cards will not prevent people having fake identities.

Argh!

Read the full story here and sign the No2ID petition here.

My dirty little secret

I have decided to finally "come out" for the second time in my life (I still find it ironic that the first person I told about my sexuality was my drama teacher, she was very supportive and within a year I knew exactly why, she began sexual reassignment and became a he!).

Anyway, for a couple of years now I have been writing smutty Harry Potter fanfic. That's right, I write porn and post it on the internet. Almost nobody knows about this, Andy and my dear friend Louis have know for ages and I just told my mum about it last weekend. Telling her has given me the courage to announce it here, I'm damn proud of my writing and if anyone reading this has a problem with it keep it to yourself and don't mention it to me and we'll be fine. You don't have to read it if you don't want to.

I'm not going to put my pen name up here, or links to my writing. But, if any of you particularly fancy seeing what goes on in my filthy little mind send me an email and I'll point you to where you can find my stuff.

While I'm here I just wanted to have a bit of a rant because I just finished my second lengthy story yesterday, one that I have been writing, on and off, for over a year and it was a very tearful ending. I cried writing it and really hoped that it packed the same sort of punch as the endings of the last two actual HP books, Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince. While I have had quite a few lovely reviews, I have also had a couple of fairly nasty ones, criticising me for not including warnings or ruining the end of an otherwise good fic.

Now, I do this chiefly for myself, I don't make a living out of this although I hope to make a living writing original fiction in the future, but I am unashamedly encouraged by seeing that hit counter tick over and reading reviews praising me and begging for updates. I love that feeling that people are reading and enjoying my writing, I get a huge buzz from it. However, I will always write in a way that I like, I will always include plot twists and hooks that interest me and take the story where I want it to go. I do not pander to the audience (one reviewer demanded an epilogue to make it a happy ending!!!) And I am more than a little annoyed that people would criticise me for doing this. I am NOT about to put great big warnings on my summary, spoiling the ending for my readers, obviously some people do not want to be surprised or moved by fiction, but personally I do and I despise spoilers. If someone had told me what happened in the real HP books (again, esp the latest two) I would have been devastated and they certainly wouldn't have had me balling my eyes out the way they both did.

Why do some readers have to be so ungrateful? One review I removed because it was so spiteful and I didn't want other readers seeing it and being put off. I won't do that again though, I was just upset by that one and it was a reflexive action. If I get any more like that I will respond, politely! Take this little gem though:

"I really, really, really loved this story, a lot! But I was very disappointed by the ending; no warnings/clues in the fic, I really didn't see that one coming..."

That's sort of the point!!! And besides, there were plenty of clues, in the form of fiction conventions, describing the fears of the two lead characters and planting all too obvious hopes for the future. You know the kind you read and go "Oh no, don't get your hopes up.. it's too good to be true" That kind of thing. It is NOT my fault if people do not understand these conventions.

This story is posted on an ADULT fanfic site, readers should expect not only explicit sex scenes, but possibly shocking plots. One of my favourite authors posted a fantastic blog about this sort of thing and I hope she doesn't mind me quoting it here because she put it so well:

"Authors do not owe readers:

1. Updates. Most authors have lives outside of the fandom and readers should respect that. An occasional email or review asking when a story will be updated is fine. It's nice to know that people haven't forgotten about a story. An angry email demanding an update like a payment on an overdue bill is rude. People who send them should consider getting one of those lives outside of the fandom that I mentioned earlier. Simple solution for the unsatisfied reader: Don't read WIPs.

2. Happy Endings. Formula romance might be your preference, but it's not everyone's cup of tea. That said, in a good story, the ending, even if it's a surprise, should be inevitable, or so I've been told. Simple Reader Solution: Restrict your reading to known romance authors or to archives where stories are categorized as "Romance".

3. Quality. When you purchase a novel, you are plunking down your hard-earned money with the assumption that what you are purchasing has been edited and proofread. You have have the right to expect good grammar and a story that meets professional standards. When you read fan fiction, you aren't spending a dime and you aren't reading the work of published authors. Finding a professional quality story is nice, expecting one is simple-minded. Simple Reader Solution: Stick to moderated archives or trusted recommendations.

4. Canon Compliance. It's been said a thousand times before by better essayist than me, but I'll say it again: Only JKR writes canon. Everything else, to varying degrees, is AU. JKR said that she stays away from the nets because some of the stuff she sees scares her. If the prospect of running into a story that has Snape in fishnet stockings, stilettos, and a Frederick's of Hollywood pink satin corset is going to send you into a tizzy, take JKR's lead and stay off the nets. Simple Reader Solution: Read the submission guidelines for various archives and only read the ones that squelch all creativity require a high degree of canon compliance.

5. Their wank fantasy. Some of you, and you know who you are, seem to have an unnatural attachment to pretend wizards. Unless you've commissioned a fic, it's not reasonable to expect a writer to give your literary object d'amour all of the qualities that blow your skirt up. Some of you get quite wanky about this. Harmionians anyone? Simple Reader Solution: Get help. Seriously.

6. Their Hermione-Sue: Or Any-other-canon-character-Sue/Stu, over-invested self-insert. (That makes Hermione sound like a sex toy, doesn't it?) You're not Hermione. Simple Reader Solution: See Above.

7. Warnings. Unless the archive specifically requires them, I don't think an author is required to suck all of the suspense out of their plot with a million warnings.

I guess what I'm saying in a nutshell is that the only thing that a writer owes a reader is to follow the rules of the archive they are posting in. I view the fandom and fanfiction as a free market and for the reader it's caveat lector. That said, what's good for the reader is good for the writer. When you post your story on the big bad internet, it's with the understanding that no one is required to like it, review it, or be nice to you."

I wholeheartedly agree with this author and I'm not complaining about people being nasty exactly, I am disappointed with some people's expectations not to mention being disappointed that for those people, my story wasn't effective in the way I intended.