During today's Prime Minister's Questions David Cameron referred to the "Russian Regime", and immediately I thought this to be dangerous phrasing. Regime is the term used by the Press and Parliament when they speak of the "bad guy"; the Iraqi 'regime', the Libyan 'regime', the Syrian 'regime'. Indeed the phrase "Regime Change" has become so closely associated with war that Governments dare not use it.
The clear modern connotations for the word 'regime' are nearly all negative. In my mind I think of tyranny, oppression and dictatorship. Arguably, these words may be apt descriptions for Russian society but surely this is not what Cameron was meaning to infer. Even Russia's historical nemesis the United States would be more diplomatic with their wording when it is Russia to whom they refer.
Could it be that Cameron is itching for a fight with Russia? If this is the case, which I don't fully believe it is, I think it would be foolish. It is true that Russia has seen great decline in recent decades but they still command one of the World's largest military forces and Putin has his finger on the button for the second largest nuclear arsenal in existence.
I can see the case for disagreement with Russia over the ongoing events in Syria, indeed it was in this context that Cameron's comments were made, he claimed that it was naive to think that the "Russian Regime" had not been supplying Syria with weapons for many years, which in itself is a potentially incendiary remark, but I do think it unwise to even suggestively offend the "Russian Regime".
Whether or not the connotations which I have drawn were intended, it was easy for me to draw them, and I have seen that others have drawn them too. I would suggest that it was not Cameron's intention to discredit the Russian Presidency and Government but if I were in his position I would certainly have been more careful with the words I chose as I would not wish to initiate in any conflict with Russia.
On May 23rd I posted about the horrific events that took place in Woolwich. The brutal murder of an innocent soldier was met with plain disgust and condemnation from most but some, a vocal minority, were always going to take it too far and as is made clear in my earlier post it didn't take long for them to do so.
But the violent and unjust retaliation for the crimes in Woolwich continue. Last night a community centre in North London was burnt to the ground, a community centre owned and managed by an Islamic Somali community group. On the side of the wreckage the letters E D L were found. The graffiti was not there before the fire. The English Defence League (EDL) has denied any knowledge or collusion of the attack but that is not to say that none of their members or sympathisers are responsible.
Marches, protests and violence by the EDL and affiliates have not been limited to London. But it seems that away from the Capital the cause lacks meaning or voice. In York, a large EDL march on a Mosque concluded when the Islamic Community Leaders invited the protesters in for a cup of tea. After spending an evening drinking tea and playing football it is said that both sides agreed to peacefully coexist and parted amiable company. Meanwhile in Exeter, a rally organised by the EDL at a local war memorial in memory of the murdered Lee Rigby attracted the grand total of naught attendees, indeed the organisers of the event did not even turn up.
These examples give us, as human beings, hope. Hope for a peaceful coexistence with those who may be a different colour, or may believe different things, or be from a different place to ourselves. We can hope that those who are attacked by violent, racist fools do not retaliate. We can hope that they seek justice through the proper legal channels. We can hope that things will get better and that Terror and Violence will always loose, as they will, so long as us right-minded are in the majority.
It would seem that I am the kind of person who likes to volunteer. I help Seaton's Voice, I help Labour, and now, it would seem, I help Exmouth Town Concert Band. It would also seem that it takes someone I know to have an affiliation with an organisation in order for me to want to help them. With Seaton's Voice it was Elga, my Uncle's partner, with Labour it was, albeit loosely, father and with Exmouth Band it is Kelly.
Whenever I begin to volunteer my time to some cause I usually gain a great sense of good from it but that is just a happy side effect. I just happens to be that I enjoy devoting my time, often unasked, to aid others in their pursuits.
Working with Seaton's Voice has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever undertaken. To be involved with such a devoted and dynamic community group is a true pleasure and being able to assist them as they manage Seaton Town Hall as a community asset seems a truly just thing to do.
I've mentioned before the passion and joy that I gain from political volunteering and to me it is one of the simplest and most vital forms of voluntary service possible. I believe that it is fundamental to the success of any democracy that the electorate feel involved and connected with those whom they are asked to vote for and trust to run the country on their behalf. I know people (Mrs L.) who often see issue with what some of my political peers do, namely obstructing voters at polling stations, and whilst I myself take great care not to offend or obstruct anyone, be they political friend or foe, I can see the arguments of those who disagree with me but I stand by my point that the work that me and others like me is essential for the sake of democracy.
Don't I sound humble.
Now I have begun to do things for Exmouth Town Concert Band. Its Kelly's fault, she plays flute in the band and was recently elected to its committee as the Publicity Officer. We both saw that things could be improved for the band's sake so we have jointly set out to improve them. Kelly has set up an ETCB Twitter account and has become an Admin for their Facebook Page, she is also responsible for issuing press releases for the band's concerts and, dare I say it, they might be half their length if I was around to be consulted on their content (cue scowls when she gets home...). But then, without request nor sanction I drafted a new poster for the band, something which Kelly has admitted she would probably never have done and now she is consulting with the committee on further changes to those drafts and soon these posters will be the band's primary advertisement. Also, somewhere along the line it appears that I have volunteered to be a kind of informal band photographer, it is after all difficult o have photos of the band when the band's photographer is playing in the band. Heck, I even bought a tripod so that I can take pictures and videos of the band.
It looks like I do quite a lot, but in truth I am quite capable of doing much more, indeed I would like to. I have so much time on my hands at the moment, being unemployed, that I could quite happily spend all day volunteering.
This post is a short note to be attached to end of yesterday's post, "All it takes is a spark", which was a kind of journalistic editorial of events in Woolwich and the reprisals and remarks made in response to it.
What interested me following that post was that it became my most read post within only a matter of a few hours. Yes I only have three posts (this making four), but yesterday my daily readership record doubled from 35 to 70. It seems that when there is a big news story on then we will read basically anyone's take on the situation. Thinking about it this isn't too extraordinary, if we have an interest in something then it makes sense that we will seek to increase our intake of information regarding that interest.
Additionally interesting was that my U.S. readership rose from 2 to 19 yesterday. I've done a bit of research and it seems that the Woolwich murder has been relatively big news in the U.S. I also gained readers in Italy and Germany.
I now face a blogging challenge. How on earth am I going to continue to produce captivating posts that will attract readers when my own life if really rather mundane. Perhaps, I could devote it to posts similar to yesterday's, that is I could make it a kind of news and reaction column. Hmm... (Thoughts on this are welcomed by way of comment below).
In no way am I seeking to undermine the horror of events in Woolwich, I simply found it interesting how people reacted to a news blog.
My continued condolences are extended to all those who have been affected by the brutal killing, particularly the victim of the attack,Drummer Lee Rigby of 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (right).
In the light of events yesterday in Woolwich it didn't take long for the army of bigots to make themselves seen. They were on Twitter, on Facebook, on the news and, more seriously, in public.
It only takes the mindless, barbaric acts of a pair of men, a metaphorical spark if you will, to rekindle racial hatred and violence, as well as unnecessary and unjust intervention from unrelated persons (perhaps I am included in that group, although I try to be impartial). It is true that the attack in London does itself seem racially and politically motivated. But in my view that is no justification for any similarly mindless retaliation.
Unfortunately, it seems that this view is not shared by some people. The BBC have reported that overnight two arrests were made for violent acts that are being seen as direct responses to the violent killing in Woolwich. One of those arrests was for "racially aggravated criminal damage" in Gillingham, another man was arrested at a mosque in Braintree for attempted arson, and, perhaps predictably, around 250 supporters of the English Defence League clashed with police at the scene in Woolwich.
In my view, all that the original attack has achieved (although I would rather wish it would not have achieved anything) is that it will be a cause of fear for many people, and unjust hatred among others. Already the armed forces have issued advice that military personnel should "conceal" their uniform when in public [EDIT: advice repealed at 10.45] and, as mentioned above, reprisals against innocent Muslims did not take long to rear their ugly racist head.
Perversely, those who have sought to defend the Muslim community from abuse have sometimes become offensive or bigoted themselves. This tweet from Nick Robinson (above), the BBC's Political Editor, infers that he received a backlash after reporting on the Six O' Clock News that the attackers were of "Muslim appearance", as he says himself he was quoting official sources so any offence caused would not have been from him in any place, but what is more notable is that when you bother to investigate those who were seemingly offended - as I have - you find that it is not the Muslim community who are up-in-arms at the remark but in fact mostly middle class, white suburban housewives or leftist liberals who will attack the mainstream media at every chance they get. [EDIT: Nick Robinson's BBC Blog "One phrase and why I'm sorry I quoted it"]
I have nothing against leftist liberals, in fact I may even class myself as one (perhaps more centralised on the spectrum than those in question here), but it is often the case that this pool of people hijack a situation in the name of the anti-establishment movement. I welcome and embrace a free and open society where anyone can question the media and have their say on current affairs, I just wish that sometimes people would consider their words and actions a little more carefully and perhaps bother to check that what they say, think or do is relevant, truthful and just.
As is common at times of despair the light of human decency and reason will reveal itself. This picture (left) shows a totally innocent and unconnected woman, named by the Daily Telagraph as Cub Scout leader Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, trying to talk-down one of the men involved in the attack, reportedly asking him "Would you like to give what you have in your hands?", referring to the knife clearly visible in the man's left hand. Ms. Loyau-Kennett says that she spoke to the man in an effort to prevent further violence. This woman acted selflessly, in the pursuit of the safety of those around her. She had no way of knowing that the man she was talking to would not attack her and she should be highly commended for her actions.
The men who savagely killed a man on the streets of London should be condemned by all, although there will unfortunately forever be some who will remain sympathetic to their cause. These men who wanted to "start a war in London" represent only themselves, they have been denounced by the very Muslim community whom they claim to fight for and as such any attack or hatred towards that community is totally unjust and should be equally condemned. The two men involved were shot by police and are both under arrest in separate hospitals, it seems clear at this time that they acted alone so there is no need for knee-jerk reprisals.
The police investigation is ongoing and my thoughts and condolences go out to the family of the victim [EDIT: Victim named as Drummer Lee Rigby of 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (right)] of this savage and barbaric attack. [EDIT: I also wish to extend my condolences to the families of the attackers, who will be facing a very difficult road of emotion and torn loyalty.]
This is the "me" post. Solely about me. I promise that I will try to deviate away from the topic in future posts but I just wanted to give a bit of an outline of myself.
I love politics. Often I think I love it too much, it is a bit odd. But then I simply do not understand the cultural obsession that orbits the idea of 22 men kicking a spherical piece of leather to each other, so I suppose its only fair that I too have something to observe from afar and enjoy. Since becoming unemployed I have had the chance to feed my hunger for politics by simply watching television. The BBC's Daily Politics, PMQs and BBC Parliament provide me with lots of juicy political protein on which I can gorge.
Also, with elections taking place recently I was able to once again become politically active. This an often frightening experience, I thrive on the adrenaline and sense of action that is gained from knocking on doors and disturbing stay-at-home mums, night workers and retirees. But sometimes, just sometimes, the person you disturb is glad to see you and actually wants to speak to you. They can use you to get their issues heard, whether it be disappointment with their son's mental health care or elation for the new 20mph speed limit on their street, it is always nice to hear from the people and have the opportunity and capacity to respond to them myself or by passing on their comments to their local representative.
Another passion of mine is musical theater. Now this is perhaps where most of the ambiguity regarding my sexuality has come from but I am completely heterosexual, just a tad flamboyant and, well, camp. My personal favorite musicals are Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera and Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's Les Misérables. I have only ever seen Phantom live but would love to see Les Mis sometime soon. I also hope to go and see Miss Saigon, again by Boublil and Schönberg, when it returns to London in the near future. I have on DVD the 25th anniversary performances of both Phantom and Les Mis and also the film versions of each. I also play a lot of computer games. My favorite platform is the PC but I also play on the Xbox 360. I enjoy mostly simulation games like SimCity, The Sims, Tropico and Prison Architect but I also enjoy a bit of role-playing with games like Fable. Finally, music. Live music preferably, but do own a not insignificant number of CDs (not a download fan). Since 2005 I have been going to festivals. I have been to Beautiful Days every year since then and I wouldn't miss it for the world. I've been to Volksfest in Plymouth a few times and Bearded Theory once. I would love to go back to BT one day but at the moment cash and logistics are just stuck in the way. Alongside my love of festivals and their special blend of music I also enjoy tatty pop and the Eurovision Song Contest is my favorite TV musical spectacle of the year. So I think that's most of everything about me. I might add stuff if I've forgotten it but hopefully I'll be able to stay away from personal nonsense in this blog now. That will be nice.
Trying again
Know me? Well hello. Don't know me? Well, hello to you as well.
If you do know me then you may well know that I have blogged in the past but that I've never really stuck at for more than three of four posts. I've decided to try it again but seen as I can't remember the account details for my old blog I'm having to start from scratch. Ho Hum.
As in the past the inaugural blog post has unavoidably become about the blog post itself and I had planned for this to happen. In fact I had planned to mention that I had mentioned blogging, I had not, however, planned to mention that I had planned to mention it (Still with me? Me neither).
Still trying
Sine December I haven't had a job. I am becoming increasingly tired of the fact that I am unemployed, the days seem so long and tedious and I have almost run out of things to do. For example I have watched Les Mis on blu-ray twice today and even so there is still time to fill until I must sort dinner.
But I am still trying to find a job and hopefully, provided I didn't fluff it up at interview on Monday, I could soon be working at the same place as my lovely Kelly, super.
Trying something new
I am political. I used to strongly support the Lib Dems and so I campaigned for and with them, but then they decided to become a second Tory party and I couldn't support that. So now I will campaign for and with Labour. The people that I have met from the local party in Exeter are all lovely. That said, as were the people from the Lib Dems, it was just the party that began to stink. Hopefully, I can continue to support Labour in Exeter and can help them towards continued and further success. It was a good feeling to be on the winning side for the County Council elections recently and yes, that was one of the factors that led me to defect; a desrie to succeed.
I would love to become even more deeply involved in politics, perhaps becoming a party official or even an elected representative. So it feels good to be involved with a party of good people which I can support and which I can be confident will succeed.
Oh, one more thing
As my blog title and address suggests I am slightly camp. I just watched Les Mis twice for heaven's sake. I love eurovision, musicals and the royals but also, and rather crucially, women. I am camp but also as straight as... er... a straight thing.
During today's Prime Minister's Questions David Cameron referred to the "Russian Regime", and immediately I thought this to be dangerous phrasing. Regime is the term used by the Press and Parliament when they speak of the "bad guy"; the Iraqi 'regime', the Libyan 'regime', the Syrian 'regime'. Indeed the phrase "Regime Change" has become so closely associated with war that Governments dare not use it.
I can see the case for disagreement with Russia over the ongoing events in Syria, indeed it was in this context that Cameron's comments were made, he claimed that it was naive to think that the "Russian Regime" had not been supplying Syria with weapons for many years, which in itself is a potentially incendiary remark, but I do think it unwise to even suggestively offend the "Russian Regime".
