Selective mourning

Once again, for the 4th day in a row, media outlets across the country are drowning us in reports about the Boston bombings. 3 people died including an 8 year old boy and a Chinese exchange student and dozens were badly injured.

Since then 27 people have been killed and dozens injured by a suicide bomb in a cafe in Baghdad, an earthquake has hit Pakistan, killing 34 and injuring hundreds, a further 17 Pakistani's were killed following a bomb at a secularist rally, dozens have been killed by a bomb in Syria and a 5 year old Indian girl is fighting for her life after a brutal sexual attack.

These are just the stories that news outlets bothered printing.. and I only found these after a lot of digging. Did you hear about these at all?

Shouldn't every death be worth reporting when it's done in such a horrific way? Why is it that there's such uproar when an American is killed but if someone from an Arab country is killed in exactly the same way it doesn't even get a mention? No one cares.

I understand that it's rarer for these sorts of things to happen in America, and all of us westies seem to be in awe of America and treat it like some sort of 'mother country', but if we only really care when a disaster like this happens in the west and shrug our shoulders when it happens in the East then we are a heartbreakingly divided planet.

Of course the Boston bombings are terrible and my heart goes out to all involved but equally my heart  goes out to the people involved in bombings and tragic deaths elsewhere in the world. I am so so sorry to them for the way one half of the planet didn't even know, or seem to care, that they've died.


Just a note- if you're like me and are sick of western news values then this is a really good news website which covers stories equally all around the world

The UK Idiot Party

With support for Ukip growing at an alarming rate, let's take a look into their misguided policies and scaremongering statements shall we?

1. 75% of our laws are dictated by the EU

A statement Ukip have been very proud to put in their leaflets and TV campaigns but official records show that the actual percentage is near 15%. So a slight exaggeration there, Ukip.. There are also many restrictions on what the EU can legislate on meaning they have very little say on laws in this country.

2. By leaving the EU we will save £36 billion a year

Again, greatly exaggerated. It actually works out around £4 billion a year to be in the EU however many argue the economic benefits justify this. And in relation to some of the other things the government spends money on, EU membership is just a cup of water out of the ocean. Seriously, Ukip, where are you getting these statistics from and how are you getting away with lying to us so outrageously? 

3. Global warming has not been proven. We will stop the building of wind turbines and encourage coal power.

Of course! global warming is just a myth. The ice caps are melting at an alarming rate and a giant hole is forming in the ozone layer just because the world is quirky and spontaneous like that. And instead of running things using renewable energy such as wind power, let's use million year old dead trees. Cause let's face it, we're running out of wind but coal will last forever.

4. We will repeal the Human Rights Act

For some reason people seem to think the Human Rights Act is there only to ensure prisoners get it easy and illegal immigrants can stay in this country. Once again a few bad cases has ruined it for everyone. Ukip and even the Conservative party have said that they want to completely stop their commitment to human rights all together. I'm sure I don't need to spell out how dangerous this move could be to freedom in this country. Even in this 'highly democratic' country measures need to be put in place to protect people from the abuses of government.

5. End the doctrine of multiculturalism which has torn this country apart

So we should stop teaching children to accept people from different cultures? Ukip may think that it's immigrants which are 'destroying Britain' and threatening our way of life but really it's the racist, intolerant, blindly patriotic thugs which are giving it a bad name.

6. Hold a referendum on the hunting ban and repeal the smoking ban

Cause we all miss smelling like an ashtray with our lungs full of second hand smoke after a trip to the pub. After the pub fancy getting the boys together to chase some foxes and watch our dogs rip them apart? It's tradition after all. Tallyho!

PEOPLE! Ukip may seem like the way forward. The top parties at the moment are all as bad as each other but don't be duped by (the highly photogenic, I must say) Nigel Farage who's managed to make a scapegoat out of immigrants as the cause of all our problems.

Plus just look at those shifty eyes... ¬____¬ I'm watching you, Nigel...

First past the.. Wait.. where's the post?

Britain is such a democratic nation, isn't it? I mean, look at our voting system. Whoever gets the most votes wins, how on earth could it possibly be fairer than that?

In reality first past the post isn't actually fair at all. In fact it's possibly the unfairest voting system of them all. 

The thing that baffles me most is the name... because there is no post. Candidates don't actually have to get past any point at all in order to be elected. Say there were 4 candidates competing to become an MP in your constituency, the MP could be elected with as little as 25.1% of the vote, leaving 74.9% a bit miffed (yay maths!). If you consider the average 35% of people who don't bother voting either, that doesn't give the MP a lot of legitimacy. 

There is also a staggering difference between the percentage of votes a party gets and how that is changed into seats in parliament. In 2010 23% of the population voted for the Lib Dems.. Guess what proportion of the seats they got? 9%. So through first past the post a party which was voted for by nearly a quarter of the population didn't even get 10% of the seats in the Commons... Yeah, sounds fair.  

But the main thing which winds me up about this system of voting? It means that unless you vote for the 2 main parties, possibly 3, your vote doesn't count at all. In 2010 this meant that the 10million people who didn't vote Labour, Conservative or Lib Dem might as well have stayed at home (unless you live in the Brighton Pavilion constituency and voted Green- go you!). It's no secret I'm a socialist and, sadly, there is no point in me voting at all. My constituency has voted Conservative since the first world war and it's unlikely to ever change hands, tough luck if you support anyone else- you have no voice. 

For those who actually noticed that there was a referendum to change the voting system to AV a couple of years ago, that wouldn't have changed things either. AV would have been a step in the right direction because you can state a second preference but it still produces very similar results to FPTP.

There are loads of different ways to elect people but most have only heard of first past the post. If you're interested in the different systems (there's no shame in being a politics geek!) the electoral reform society explains them all here. My favourite is the single transferable vote :).

 

Squeezing the press

Lord Leveson has somehow made what could be summed up in a few short sentences last 2000 pages. And, while I admire the man's ability to waffle, I believe this whole thing has been blown greatly out of proportion.

When a small number of journalists are able to hack into people's phones and bribe the police, this isn't a sign that we need to reduce the freedom of the entire press, it is a sign that the right to privacy isn't being properly enforced and that the justice system is failing.

Phone hacking was carried out by a small number of people at a few of Britain's newspapers. As a result tighter restrictions are being considered which punishes the entire press and also damages freedom of expression. I thought harassment, phone hacking and bribing police officers were illegal anyway? Punish the people who've done these crimes not the entire industry! Broadcast and radio in this country is already tightly regulated and now the press could be heading in the same direction. 

When newspapers are having to show articles to lawyers before they're published through fear of being fined millions of pounds, they're not going to be able to properly carry out their service to the public.

So what, Hugh Grants pissed off? And Kate and Gerry McCann have found yet another way to squeeze themselves into the limelight. This isn't a good enough reason to strip the UK of it's only free media outlet.

Behold, the true ruler of this great nation

Back in 2007 it was reported that for every £7 spent in the UK, £1 of that was spent at Tesco, making them a tidy profit of £2.5 billion. It now stands at approximately £1 in £10, leaving Tesco boss Phillip Clarke angry that profits have started falling (only by a few £million, mind you).

It was uncovered that workers at a farm in Costa Rica, which was growing bananas for Tesco, earned only 33p an hour. This forced them to work long hours and even during dangerous pesticide sprays.

During Tesco's biggest period of expansion it was estimated that 50 independent retailers a week were closing down across the country as they simply could not compete with the commercial superpower setting up stores right on their doorstep. 260 stores have been opened in the UK this year alone.

Chances are with the almost 3000 stores and 38,592,000 square feet of land Tesco owns in the UK alone, you won't have to walk very far to find one.

The chances are, too, that you have no option but to shop there. Unless you pop down to your nearest One Stop. Oh, wait, that's owned by Tesco too.

This means Tesco will continue to grow, continue to make unimaginable profit, continue to underpay its suppliers and continue to leave small business owners with no option but to close up shop.

Let's all take a moment to pay homage to the true power in this country.

And we still think the free market is such a great idea?

Man love rules, ok?

Gay marriage should have been made legal decades ago.

I think it's a travesty and an absolute insult to the 3.6 million gay people in this country that it's not.

I can't entirely get my head around why people are still, in this day and age, against equal rights. 

Most of the arguments against gay marriage come from the church and religion. Many say that the bible defines marriage as between one man and one woman (but that's only as long as we ignore all the polygamy in the old testament). So, we're focusing on the new testament here, I see. Oh, the bible says homosexuality is a sin? But the new testament doesn't even mention homosexuality? Ah you're referring to the passage in the old testament calling gay sex an abomination? ...But I thought we were ignoring the old testament? ... See my point?

I'm sick and tired of people picking and choosing the parts of the bible they agree with and ignoring the parts they don't. They're using their religion to cover up their own prejudices and as a weapon to take away other people's rights. The truth of the matter is that they find gay people icky. Well, that's their problem.

If you don't want a gay marriage, don't have one.

The other arguments I've seen have been bigoted statements such as 'It will devalue conventional marriages' and 'It'll lead to polygamy and marrying your dog becoming legal'. I've even heard things such as 'It'll make children more likely to be gay'

With great arguments such as this it's no wonder the government  is hesitant to give gay people equal rights.

  Love is love no matter who it's between. Gay couples deserve to celebrate their love just as much as straight couples. And that's all this argument should come down to. 

Just a quick note:

Just so you don't think I'm one of those crazy, hate preaching atheists which prowls around the interwebs, let me just explain one thing. I am not against religion. People have the right to believe what they want. I am, however a secularist. Religious beliefs should be kept out of political policy and not infringe on people's rights,That's all.

Welcome to capitalism, please leave all humaity at the door

Capitalist society is so just and fair, isn't it?

Look at how many apps are available on android and the app store. 
Not got a smartphone? Don't worry, someone in Vodafone or 02 will find you a great deal.

Remember, you're not really a person unless you have one.

Oh, you're only earning £50,000 a year? How can you cope? I know, only having two bathrooms in your house makes life so inconvenient. 

You need to earn more money. You need to work harder. You want lots of nice shiny new things. 

Oh whoops, that evil government's trying to tax your multimillion pound company. Better think of a loophole to get out of that. It's not like they'll use the money for anything important anyway.

People on benefits are lazy. You've worked really hard monopolising the industry. You've crushed all competition. You deserve this.

What's that? You work three jobs but still have to choose between food and heating? 

Stop complaining. Get another job. Try harder.

No. I don't have any spare change. If you had made an effort in life you would have a roof over your head. 

You deserve this.