How long until the Running Man becomes reality?

After reading this I can only come to the conclusion that the film The Running Man, starring good old Arnie, will be a reality possibly within 10 years.

"Lights out Christmas tree!"

From the producers of Big Brother- I know I know, who would have thought THEY would be able to come up with such an idea- we now have a new nadir. I get the feeling they have plenty more nadirs lined up in the coming years for us though. At least it's a good sign that I'm getting old when I start to find certain tv shows objectionable. Actually come to think of it, I've always found certain tv shows objectionable. Brookside, Take The High Road, Crossroads and QVC (okay, not technically a tv show per se, more a way of life I know) to name but a few. They've all suffered in comparison to the joys of Corrie, Eastenders and The Simpsons. I like it when people claim to hate tv and that there is never anything on it that they like. I think it is almost always false. The One Eyed God/Window To The World/Idiot Box has far too much to offer to be of no interest at all surely? I don't even own a tv and don't have any intention of owning one but I can see its merits. Not quite enough to buy one though, I like the new One Eyed God/Window To The World I'm staring at right now.

Old favourite quote #2.

In spite of Fraser's continued reluctance to post his political compass and Bob instead doing it for him (and a fine job he did too- very accurate), I've decided to post. Feel free to moan at the Lanky Dance Master as it is his fault I didn't post earlier.


"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

- George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, 1903.

I like this quote, although when I was first exposed to it courtesy of a schoolfriend and his almost illegible scrawl across my yearbook I wasn't aware that he had in fact butchered it to the extent that he had rendered it almost entirely incorrect. Thankfully my ignorance for the last 12 years has just been corrected by said fellow getting in touch and providing me with the actual quote. I will of course now go and see if I can find Man & Superman to read on the train.

My Political Compass.

Well, since it is 2am and I can't quite sleep, I thought I'd take my political compass test. Apparently I'm quite left-wing and libertarian. Interesting.

Your political compass

Economic Left/Right: -8.63
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.03



It is of course very reassuring to see that I am diametrically opposed to Thatcher though.



And the following reveals that I am much like the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela. Watch out, I'll be fighting the good fight!



Do your own test here and please feel free to post your results in the comments page, or wherever you see fit.

At the risk of talking too much about politics...

I was going to write about this myself, but it seems Neal Ascherson has beaten me to the punch, as well as probably putting it more eloquently than I would have here. Now who would honestly believe that Gordon Brown would meddle in political affairs outside his department? Oh.

Homage to All Ears.

Drunk customer: "Hey, I served you like 5 years ago at a bar!"
Bartender: "Really?"
Drunk customer: "Yeah, now things have come full circle and you're on the other side, haha!"
Other bartender: "Actually, not really, things have only gone half way, full circle would be if you were serving him again after he served you. So really, it's just that the tables have turned."
Drunk customer: "Why does everybody have to get so f*cking technical at a Low gig?"

Disenfranchisement.

Patty Windsor is on BBC tv just now telling the talking head how she was approached, unsolicited, by the information officer regarding her vote. She was told to put an X in the box of the candidate that she wanted in the STV ballot paper. In doing this, Patty and her husband's votes became invalidated and contributed to the estimated 100,000 spoiled ballots that have made these election results dubious to say the least. An independent investigation will apparently be held. If it is as effective as the various 'independent' investigations commissioned by this Labour government then I won't be holding my breath. What clown thought it was a good idea to hold the two elections simultaneously? As Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Republic says, not fit for purpose. (If my deduction skills are up to scratch that is.)

I propose that the spoiled ballots are separated into FPTP and STV and analysed. If it transpires that a significant majority, if as I suspect, are the STV ballots then the STV-based election should be re-held. Democracy and voting are too important to leave 100,000 rightful voters without a say in the political process, especially when there is all the bleating about how the election suffered from a low turnout. Congratulations Electoral Commission et al, you've just succeeded in making it lower. Well done.

Voting.

I've made my position quite clear over the last few days on here regarding who I'll be voting for today, but I would like to ask just one thing of the few people that read this blog. If you can vote today, please do. It's incredibly important and a lot of people have given a great deal so that you have the option. Please use the opportunity to make your views clear, even if it is a spoiled ballot. Or worse! Just kidding. It takes only a wee bit to make sure you at least have a say in the running of the country. Voting is a privilege.

New favourite quote #7.

Work as if you lived in the early days of a better nation.

-Alasdair Gray.

I keep seeing this quote when catching up on the news about the upcoming Scottish election and it cheers me. Alasdair Gray is a well kent SNP supporter and this quote goes some way to summing up my feelings about Scottish independence. Blair and Brown leant heavily on the aspirations of millions of people in 1996-1997, fooling them into thinking that we were getting a real alternative to what had gone before. Instead we got the same, and in some cases worse. The major difference this time around is that the SNP are offering the opportunity for the people to take their destiny in their own hands- to change the system and bring political accountability back to Holyrood. Blair and Brown sold us a white elephant and have subsequently gorged on power to the extent that Blair is loathed around much of the world as well as on his own doorstep for his role in Iraq and Brown has been characterised as a control freak intent only on becoming the PM.

I want Scottish independence for a multitude of reasons, but mostly because I don't believe the problems in Scotland are given sufficient attention as part of the Union. Westminster and Whitehall have plenty of other things to do you see- foreign adventures, sorry I mean illegal wars of aggression, nice wee holidays at the expense of the tax payer or at the behest of American businessmen looking to locate in Britain (no strings attached, honest), the Olympics in London (how many billion at the last count?), fending off the pesky David Cameron and his laughably 'resurgent' Tories (capital punishment support and all), sleeping with various characters they perhaps shouldn't be (hello David Blunkett! hello Ron Davies!), finding a "good day to bury bad news"- the same day that thousands of innocent people perished in the appalling attack on the WTC, funding extravagant property purchases (hello Geoffrey Robinson and Mandelson!), taking gifts from pornographers (Richard Desmond) and speaking of gifts- the one thing that may yet topple this shower of crooks, liars and self-aggrandisers- selling peerages for the House of Lords, where laws are passed that govern every single one of us! I could go on, but I don't think I have to. New Labour sold us a big fat lie and it's time for change. If you vote Labour then you're voting for more of the above. Feel free, it is your choice. Lies, sleaze, fraud, it is all there for you to change.

EDIT: I've just read the Sunday Herald (06/05/07) and discovered that Alasdair Gray isn't the author of the above quote. Dennis Leigh wrote it and Gray put it in one of his books.