Just another dent in the damage

I changed my mind...

2007-09-07T11:22:00.002Z

...again!

I have a new blog, go see.

http://www.lexrigby.com

It's been so so long...

2007-08-21T17:24:00.001Z

...I wonder sometimes whether it's actually worth trying to revive this piece of crap or just start again somewhere better with something more interesting to write but I kinda like the title. I think when I finally find the time I'll just redo the whole thing, maybe move it to a nicer place and make it like a billion times better. I also sometimes wonder whether my writing might have improved since I've written a tonne of essays over the last twelve months!

Since September life has been mega mega busy... hence the lack of updates. Unfortunately I'm not working a job that allows me to lurk on the Net all day reading blogs about all the rubbish stuff that is happening in this rubbish world anymore. Instead I've been studying for a Masters in Librarianship at the University of Sheffield. Overall it's been pretty good, not including those hundred ridiculously boring management lectures I've had to endure though. At the moment I'm working on my dissertation about the Iranian blogosphere. It's been incredibly interesting but it's been such hard work at the same time and I think I've had a mental breakdown every three days for the last three months. But in June I did manage to take a holiday to Iran, which was also mega mega brilliant. It was so nice to catch up with an old friend and meet those friends that often just feel like email addresses in a contact book. Weird that, all these 'virtual' people actually being real.

So anyway as of September 3rd I hereby declare this blog officially back open. Yes I do... and vent away I will!

Merry Christmas

2006-12-21T20:20:00.002Z

So much for getting back in the game ey?

I just didn't expect to be so busy with school work. It's crazy! It doesn't feel like I've been up to all that much in my time away. I've been trying to study hard and spent weeks stressing over essays. I've been to some talks -- Tony Benn, Robert Fisk and John McDonnell. I've been to some shows -- Hardbreed, Terror, Down to Nothing etc. I've seen some films -- I can't remember which and I've probably picked my nose a trillion times :)

Anywho MERRY BLOODY CHRISTMAS.

Life is Sweet

2006-09-27T14:33:00.002Z

I rejoined university this week and as a consequence am now walking around with that horrible student label attached to me. So far I have managed to get up in the mornings and I haven't watched ANY daytime TV, especially not Diagnosis Murder so I'm not quite a student again yet am I? My lectures for anyone not interested in Librarianship would have been extremely boring but for me and my fellow librarians they have been rather good. We've had discussions about management, technological advances, Nancy Pearl (the stereotypical librarian) and the changing roles of information and the need for information management within an increasingly techno-society.

Here's a little clue as to why information management is just as important, if not more so today than it has ever been: between 1750-1950 information doubled, between 1950-1970 information doubled again, in 1995 information doubled every 30 months, in 1998 information doubled every 21 months and then in 2005 information was said to double every 30 days!! WOW. That's a lot of information I'm training to manage isn't it! Librarians don't just sit and say sshhh ya'kno! We preserve information, we organise information, we educate, we make information accessible, we do a bloody lot if you ask me.

Anyway... the main point of my 'Hello, I'm still alive' post wasn't to talk about my course but to give a nod to the Socialist Students meeting I went to on Monday. The main topic of discussion, 'What is Socialism?' got me thinking a lot about human behaviour and whether there can be any truth in one comment that was put forward; 'Everyone wants to be a Lenin, no-one wants to be the masses.'

So what is socialism? In my opinion a socialist state is a typically egalitarian-like state, a state that provides for everyone and maintains fundamental human rights such as healthcare, education, social security, food, shelter etc etc. Socialism is a rejection of the inequalities brought about by wealth and power. Socialism rejects poverty, war, human suffering. What I don't think socialism is however is a struggle for equality by stripping away individualism. The term equality suggest that everyone is equal in the sense that everybody is the same and has the same needs. I don't think this is right. Our inequalities are due to many factors including age, sex, physical strength, environment, culture, tradition etc etc. In my opinion a truly workable social state would therefore need to be one that recognised these differences and set out to provide for a states individuals rather than its masses.

I think one of the main failings of socialism has been its need to group people together on mass because it doesn't recognise patterns of human behaviour. Take Mao for example... The failure of communism in Mao's China followed Mao's totalitarianism, his desire for absolute power. It led to the great famine and the disaterous Cultural Revolution. He denounced aids that were essentially fighting for the same cause, he allowed torture, threatened to crush any 'anti-Mao' activity which included caring for your own children slightly better than your neighbours. Mao's China was nothing more than a fascist dictatorship. He called for criticism yet should anyone dare, they would be crushed, their whole family would be crushed and disposed of. You would be a 'class enemy', a 'Capitalist roader', a 'Kuomintang sympathiser' and forced to attend regular denunciation meetings, beatings and interrogations. The point I'm trying to make here is the fact that socialism could never work should it fail to recognise human behaviour and human emotion.

I read about an experiment earlier today by Philip Zimbardo at the Department of Psychology at the Stanford University in California. He took 21 healthy young men and decided to monitor their behaviour in a fictional prison environment. He appointed 10 prisoners and 11 guards and left them with a basic instruction: the guards are to maintain law and order. After six days he was to abandon the project entirely as the prisoners suffered appalling mistreatment leading to psychological defects. While he concludes that individual behaviour is largely under control of social and environmental forces, rather than being the result of personality traits, character or will-power I can't help but question whether it might be possible that the result of this experiment was mainly caused by an innane human behaviour to abuse power. Is it human nature to abuse power? Is abusing power a natural outcome of human nature that seeks to dominant? Is life simply a survival of the fittess? At any cost?

Maybe to answer such questions socialism should learn from role relationships and the consequences of organisational structures that ignore personalities, understandings of others, attitudes to behavioural constraints, abilities to inhibit and control behaviour and degrees of socialisation with respect of constraints. Well that's what I think anyway.

Back in the Game

2006-09-10T20:56:00.001Z

Its been a while... A long while.

I spent August in India having the time of my life... I ignored the real World for a whole four weeks. I've been home a week and still not been able to pick up a paper or watch the news. I'm sat on my ass waiting for uni to start. In a weeks time I begin my Masters in Librarianship and hopefully will find myself thrown back into life outside my bedroom. I'm not sure whether avoiding my RSS feeder has done me good or not. I feel ignorant and stupid. I have no idea what Lenin is talking about, I don't give a shit about the latest Blair/Brown fight, I haven't read Comment is Free for what feels like a decade and the only news of the past five weeks to have stuck with me is the death of Steve Irwin.

When life begins again I'll find something worth saying... Maybe. I'll be in touch.

Marjane Satrapi

2006-07-27T13:13:00.001Z

After falling off my bike on Tuesday resulting in a mangled up mouth and thick lips I've been pretty miserable, but today I have some great news! Marjane Satrapi's book 'Persepolis' is being made into a 100% hand-drawn animation. The Independent have the word here. She is brilliant... If you haven't read these books you simply must! They're easy reading for anyone interested in women/Islam/Iran/fundamentalism etc etc.

Now for something totally off topic -- Lebanon. I have nothing to offer. Hit up Lenin! PEACE.

Enemy Combatant

2006-07-19T13:16:00.001Z

I got a copy of Moazzam Begg's 'Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim's Journey to Guantanamo and Back' when I went to see him give a talk in London back in March and have finally got round to reading it. It's been hard! Terribly heart-breaking in fact. At times I struggled to even read a whole chapter in one sitting. This is more than just an account of his terrifying ordeal though... it's literally the story of a British Muslim surviving his 'God's Will'. It's definitely worth picking up!

NOTE: 15/10/2006

Moazzam is coming to Sheffield on the 27th to give a reading! BE THERE

On the Catwalk I Shake my Little Tush

2006-07-14T11:20:00.001Z

Tehran has held an exhibition this week in order to promote Islamic fashion and female modesty with the aim to counter the influence of western dress amongst Iranian teens. "Tehran's Imam Khomeini mosque hosted the country's first Islamic dress fair, in which ankle-length manteaus, or overcoats, and all-covering black chadors supplanted the sexually daring styles favoured by European designers. " The most shocking chador on offer was one from the Tehran-based Superior Hijab Production Company that featured sleeves! I'm a little confused though.... This female police officer beating protesters against the veil has sleeves does she not? Hypocrites... Such a taken-for-granted practicality in the western world ey?

Indian Blasts

2006-07-12T08:37:00.001Z

So in three weeks time I'll be arriving in Mumbai! Eleven mintues, seven bombs, one hundred and eighty three dead and seven hundred and fourteen injured (so far.) SHIT. This is bad bad news only four days after the anniversary of 7/7. Already fingers are pointing to Islamic militants and Muslim fundamentalists operating in Kashmir but responsibility is yet to be claimed.

Football Fever

2006-06-16T11:07:00.001Z

I'm not quite sure what it is about football and the flying of those daft flags on cars that makes me want to explode with rage. I want to snap every last one of em and ram the remains so far up the arse of its owner that it pokes out of their mouth. I'm not anti flag flyers I don't think but I just can't help associating it with the BNP, with nationalism, fascism, hooliganism, Nazism and every other bad ism associated with football and its moronic fans. Being from Stoke I've witnessed a bleeding Razorlight gig turn into a full on war between Stoke City and Port Vale fans. Yes, I said Razorlight and yes, I've already served my time holding my head in shame. The actual term football hooliganism brings to mind the first and last nazi skinhead I hope to ever meet, Moz. At the weekends Moz liked to go and watch the football match (I forget whether he was Stoke or Vale) followed by a nice round of 'paki bashing' with his pals. I remember we were round his house one afternoon when he was playing his crap music so loud it was making my ears bleed. When I asked him why he wouldn't turn it down he said 'I like pissing the nigga next door off.' I never went round to see Moz ever again after that. But anyway I understand that not all football fans are like this and it is possible to be proud of your team and support your team without being a total douchebag. I just don't get this whole hooligan culture we are so famous for... why don't we suffer from cricket hooliganism or rugby hooliganism? Or do we? Is it just the fact that the media enjoy stories about football hooliganism much more than they do about any other game that involves a team and a ball? I don't necessarily think I have a problem with football per se it's more the association it has with those horrible lager-guzzling fatties falling about town at the weekends waving their short stumpy arms in the air slurring some nah na nah lyrics about how we won a war and a World Cup. "Oo are ya, Oo are ya, Oo are ya?"

But yesterday I, along with a few thousand other people left work early to get home in time to watch the match. Why? I sat on my sofa (alone) for a solid hour and fourty-five minutes shouting at Crouch to sort out his ridiculously long spagetti legs. Why? I jumped to the edge of my seat as Terry saved the hopes and dreams of a nation. Why? I waved MY arms in the air when the ball sailed into the back of the net. Why? Why did I fall victim to this awful bout of World Cup-itis? I'm most certainly not proud of the next thing I have to say but I, Lex Rigby actually really enjoyed the match on a whole. The tension, the excitement, the anxiety, the relief, the joy, the commentary... (I even added my own.) I don't think I'll attempt any great analysis of the actual football played but I think I did well to make these few observations:

Rooney looks like Shrek,
Terry made a cracking save,
Crouch has the longest legs on Earth,
Two players are called Cole,
Beckham's blue boots clashed with his kit,
Robinson has massive thighs,
Lampard's hair is thinning on top,
Gerrard gobbed after he scored... gross,
And that man that sits next to Sven looks like Johnny Biggs from Coronation Street.

So what's next? England v Sweden? Are we likely to win? We're currently at the top of the group with six points, yes?

Number of the Beast

2006-06-08T09:09:00.001Z

"Militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has announced."

Read More....

God 1:Satan nil!

UPDATE 09/06/06:

I just read that the two 500lbs bombs dropped on Zarqawi's safe house DID NOT instantly kill him! Wow. He apparently died on a stretcher he'd been lifted onto by Iraqi police after muttering 'something indistinguishable.... and short.'

The Apocalypse is Here!

2006-06-06T15:01:00.001Z

As today is supposed to be the 'end of the world' I thought I'd better make some attempt to write something. I'm not a bumbling Armageddon believer or very well aware of the symbology regarding 666 or 06/06/06 as the case may be (don't worry), I just wanted to point out what a glorious day it is today for a day of satanic power. While I'm not particularly looking forward to the 'demonic galactic missiles' being shot to earth (isn't George Bush already responsible for much of these anyway?) I'm rather excited about the rapture and waving a nice big 'see ya later' to the Christian faithfuls about to be called up to the heavens by 'our' Lord Almighty Himself! Tomorrow then I hope to find some stories about the disappearance of the President Bafoon and a report concerning his new residence on cloud nine complete with elegant sawn off angel wings and a golden harp (we can't let him have wings because he might be tempted to come and cause more trouble down here.) But, what if God decides to punish us non-believers by leaving him here to make more and more 'errors of judgment'? We're in for a bad time either way really as we try and rebuild what's left (if anything) of the world once these 'demonic galatic missiles' have hit us!

As a little something off topic, GG has a new post up on CIF. Interesting, but a tiny little criticism George, less of the heroics and more about Margaret Hassan herself and the failings of the government please. We need sources. FACTS FACTS FACTS... None of this unnamed 'official' malarky. But remember kids... It's not what you read it's what you choose to believe and I believe in the power of GG (even though he is getting more and more disappointing.) I STILL BELIEVE.

Now go and see The Omen!

Yo Yo Johann

2006-06-05T11:19:00.001Z

With a little tweking this could go a long way...

"An adult gorilla has the same ability to use language, the same complex emotions, and the same capacity to feel pain as a three-year-old human child, or many disabled adults. So we should only use that gorilla in an experiment if we would also use a three-year-old child or a disabled adult with comparable mental functioning – an abhorrent situation I cannot imagine ever sanctioning."

The basics from Newsround:

Practical argument

Animal testing can be misleading.
An animal's response to a drug can be different to a human's.
Successful alternatives include test tube studies on human tissue cultures, statistics and computer models.
The stress that animals endure in labs can affect experiments, making the results meaningless.
Animals are still used to test items like cleaning products, which benefit mankind less than medicines or surgery.

Moral argument

Animals have as much right to life as human beings.
Strict controls have not prevented researchers from abusing animals.
Deaths through research are absolutely unnecessary and are morally no different from murder.
When locked up they suffer tremendous stress. Can we know they don't feel pain?

On Thin Ice

2006-05-26T09:23:00.001Z

Has George Galloway gone too far this time by suggesting that the assassination of Tony Blair may be morally justified? In an interview for GQ he was asked the question "Would the assassination of, say, Tony Blair by a suicide bomber - if there were no other casualties - be justified as revenge for the war on Iraq?" He responded "Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it - but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable. And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq - as Blair did." I like George but this is just the most absurb thing I've ever read and after the disappointingly ignorant and slightly arrogant answers to readers questions in the Independent last week, I'm beginning to wonder whether the man really has lost his marbles. He wouldn't really say something so stupid would he? Why is his answer to everything always 'I didn't. Check the thousands of statements I've made on this?'

UPDATE 26/05/06:

Read what the BBC has to say.

Doomsday!

2006-05-16T13:23:00.001Z

Yes, it's that day you've all been waiting for! Bono editing the Independent! with an added little extra -- Bob Geldof's editorial and opinion. I've been thinking for the last couple of weeks that the paper's going downhill! I sure was right.

The coverage of the Aids crisis in Africa was however really interesting I just can't stand fekking Bono! For me, the most bizarre thing about this campaign are the companies involved: AmEx, Gap, Converse and Motorola. Hhhhmmmm. Don't seem the types to give two hoots about anything but their own profit margins. So if you want to help Africa buy a red mobile phone and strut your stuff in your new Gap t-shirt with matching £35 Cons but please make sure it all goes on your red American Express. One thing we all need to be clear on though -- know that only £10 of the £149 you've just forked out on your flash new phone/mp3 player gets to the Global Fund plus 5% of your ANNUAL call charges! Also know that after maxing out your new credit card you've only donated a pitiful 1% of your total spend to help fight the fight. Yes, I said 1%! Can you Adam and Eve it? I can't.

UPDATE 17/05/06:

I just read that one of yesterday's Aids editions sold on eBay for £9.90! If anyone wants one I have TWO copies (I wanted to give a little extra.... Pah I stole em from work more like.) Get in touch, I'm willing to part with it for...

Hhhhmmmm

2006-05-03T13:52:00.001Z

Now this is a tough one!

Persepolis

2006-05-02T15:07:00.001Z

I decided to make the most of my bank holiday Monday by lying in bed reading Persepolis directly followed by Persepolis 2 with a couple of Tofutti Cuties close at hand. The first of these remarkable autobiographic memoirs focuses on Satrapi's childhood and the struggle of growing up during the Iranian Islamic Revolution. The overthrow of the Shah regime is one more personal to Satrapi as first thought given that her grand-father was the son of Nasreddine Shah - The last Qadjar emperor of Iran. Through stark black and white illustrations she offers an extremely thought provoking insight into the struggles of life with revolutionary Marxist parents versus growing Islamic fundamentalism. At only 14 she'd already experienced a great deal of war, political turmoil, dangerous protests, the imprisonment of friends parents, the execution of her uncle, stories of torture and battling Islamic moral codes such as the veil, sexual segregation and troubling social relations. As the fundamentalists gained more ground her parents cast Marjane abroad to Austria in order to escape the eminent Iran/Iraq war and to continue her studies at a French institution.

Persepolis 2: A Story of my Return picks up where Persepolis left off documenting Marjane's growing discontent with her Iranian heritage and her struggle to make good the advice offered by her grand-mother. With her loss of identity and lack of familiar support groups Marjane struggled at school and found solace in drugs and consequently spent 3 months living on the streets. With no where left to turn she heads back to Iran and is forced once again to don the veil and re-adapt to life ruled by the Islamic police. As Marjane is reunited with old friends it becomes strikingly evident that the contrasts between 'modern' Iranian women and traditional fundamentalist can in many cases be few and far between. They asked her if she'd had sex in Europe and when Marjane explained about her boyfriend she never expected to be greeted by such a moral dilemma, 'so what is the difference between you and a whore?' It's one thing to wear make-up, exhibit hair and rebel against Islamic fundamentalism but obviously quite another to reject the importance of virginity in the sense of religious tradition. After a failed marriage Marjane moved to France realising that while her heart stays faithful to Iran she is incapable of being ruled by such strict moral codes. Worrying whether your veil is covering enough hair while out in the street, she explains leaves little room for freedom of thought.

An afternoon with Satrapi has taught me more about the experience of Iranian women and the Islamic revolution than an account similar to From my Sister' Lips ever will. Her graphic style is so simple yet so effective and I can't wait for her next offering, Chicken with Plums out in October.

This is NOT harcore!

2006-04-28T14:23:00.001Z

I've never read such a bunch of total shit in all my life. Read here...

No wonder there are more and more kids self-harming when idiot rich kids desperate for attention like these are spreading messages of self-loathing, depression and suicide.

"There is nothing fake about this dark period of his life, just stark honesty" Sounds more like stark bullshit to me, how about you?

Guantanamo Update

2006-04-26T13:09:00.001Z

US secruity have decided that 141 of the 490 prisoners held at Guantanamo can no longer be deemed as a threat. They have been 'reclassified and are no longer considered 'enemy combatants.'' Details concerning their release dates are not yet known however!

Euston, I have a couple of problems!

2006-04-20T10:23:00.001Z

Social Theory has gone mad. Click onto any of my weblog links and I'm sure you'll get just as intrigued by this E-Team business as I am. If you're (like me) a regular lurker on Comment is Free I wonder if your head is whirling as fast as mine. Down with John Lloyd; Rise Andrew Murray... or at least that's what I think I'm supposed to think.

Gone are the days when right meant right, center meant sitting on the fence and left meant left. To be a leftist these days is no longer so simple. It seems to me that the root cause of the much dramatised divide in the leftist camp would be the war on Iraq. One is either pro-war or anti-war and this stance will be the sole definition of ones' leftist ideals. Now as the anti-war mob have proven themselves to be right all those pro-war types can admit they were wrong and we can unite in plans to pull troops from Iraq, kill Bush and make peace in the middle east, right? WRONG. The arrogance of Nick Cohen and Norman Geras has led to something much worse... a new manifesto and a load of pro-war excuses. Andrew Murray notes their 'non position taken on the Iraq war' in the Euston Manifesto to be an 'embarrassing silence.' Although I enjoy reading his Independent comments I'm no great fan of Johan Hari but to openly admit that he was wrong about supporting the war three years on has got to take some doing especially when I'm sure he was well aware of those ready to snap the olive branch.

So what is it about the E-Team that I struggle with? In all honesty I'm not actually that sure (aside from the war thing.) After reading its statements I've gotta admit that yeah I believe in a lot of it: the support it lends to equality, its belief in human rights and the freedom of speech, principles of democratic elections, a two-state solution, embracing plurality and opposing anti-Americanism (it's not all bad is it?) But then again I'm not one for sugar-coated imperialism and neo-conservatism or a rejection of the social left. I'm one for the removal of dictatorships like the Saddam Hussein regime but I'm certainly no pro-war type and have never lent support for an illegal war on terror and its rumors of WMDs. I'm for Leninology (because he's a right on dude) so does that mean I should automatically disagree with Harry's Place types? I'm for the liberation of Palestine so does that make me an anti-Semite who as John Lloyd suggests is forming 'close alliances with fundamentalist Islamic groups'? I like George Galloway so does that mean I'm a [insert smear campaign here] believer? So please help me, what camp do I fit into? The real left, the progressive left, the new left, the internationalist left, the red left, the neo-con left, the Blair left, the right left, the center left or the 'what are all you middle-aged blogosphere men arguing about' left?

Family Designers

2006-04-04T11:26:00.001Z

Last week I watched one part of the three part BBC drama, Family Man in which Trevor Eve stars as a fertility expert and revolutionary IVF doctor. One of the families that turn to Dr Patrick Stowe for treatment lost their son in a tragic accident and seek help to determine the sex of an embryo before embarking on the IVF process. With three daughters already the couple are desperate for a boy, not to serve as a replacement for their loss but to 'fill the hole left by little Nick.' With the Ethics Council, growing public opinion and the majority of his colleagues all firmly opposing such action, Patrick is left to make an agonising decision over whether it would be morally 'right' to break the law in order to help them.

The concept of choosing whether to have a baby based upon the knowledge of its sex however is more like common practice in certain parts of India. Yesterday's Independent featured an article linking the high abortion rates of female foetuses to its modern day slavery. "Indian parents want boys because girls are seen as a heavy financial burden: the parents have to provide expensive dowry for their weddings, while sons will bring money into the family when they marry, and have better job prospects." With only 861 women for every 1,000 men there are just not enough women to marry. This severe shortage of women has therefore led to a growing market of trade in which women are brought and sold as a commodity. Many of the women are brought as 'sexual brides' from the poorer villages and later sold on at a profit. While abortion in India is legal, testing the gender is not and as strict laws come into force in order to prevent this practice doctors are becoming increasingly more inventive in notifying parents of the foetuses sex. "To get around police, doctors have started using codes to tell the people the sex of the baby: if the ultrasound report is written in blue ink, it's a boy; if it's in red ink, it's a girl. If the report is delivered on Monday, it's a boy, if it's a Friday, it's a girl" etc.

Last week the BBC reported on the first sex selector doctor to be jailed for revealing the sex of an unborn baby and agreeing to abort it. It seems however that the damage to gender ratios has already been done with an estimated ten million aborted female foetuses in the last twenty years! Dominic Lawson goes on to comment that 'the women's movement saw this one coming a long time ago.' He refers to the publication of Mary Anne Warren's Gendercide: The Implications of Sex Science in 1985 as a prediction of 'the deliberate extermination of persons of a particular sex (or gender.)'

"Having asked if 'gendercide' would be 'no less an atrocity than genocide', Warren's conclusion was that choosing the sex of one's child was wrong only if its intent was discrimination against women. Or in other words, the act is neither right nor wrong - it is the thought behind it that counts." With the concluding part of Family Man coming up on Thursday I would therefore suggest (using Warren's model) that in fact the act of identifying the sex of an embryo is neither right nor wrong it's actual irrelevant when you see that the families need for a male embryo is far from any kind of gender discrimination. However as the family are still in mourning over little Nick and quite clearly suffering psychologically with blame and guilt would it be right to help them if their inability to come to terms with their loss would be detrimental to their new son's development?

Wacko Jacko and Peter Pan

2006-03-24T15:51:00.001Z

He's an imposter!!! It's true. Michael Jackson was actually murdered between 18-20 years ago and replaced with the creature that stands before us today. This explains a hell of a lot. His decomposing body has been uncovered in the Neverland grounds (of all places!) during a 'search for evidence.' Evidence concerning what, however is still hush hush.

I think it's time to once again dig out the 'Michael Jackson is innocent' t-shirts and wear them with pride. We've all been fooled! He never did grow-up, just like he said he wouldn't. RIP Peter Pan and screw you Captain Hook.

Read more...

Minimum Security

2006-03-23T16:23:00.002Z

Check out Stephanie's weekly cartoons!

I like this one most:

"The only moral abortion is my abortion."

Democracy: You call this Justice?

2006-03-16T14:27:00.001Z

The Abu Ghraib Files are up and available for all to see! Included in The Salon's photo gallary are previously unreleased images and the documentations of Pentagon investigations by Michael Scherer and Mark Benjamin. This aint pretty! But I think I actually find the comments section even more disturbing!

"219 photographs and 19 videos from the Army's internal investigation record a harrowing three months of detainee abuse inside the notorious prison -- and make clear that many of those responsible have yet to be held accountable."

I'll have that VEGAN cake...

2006-03-15T14:09:00.001Z

...and eat it! I'll have ALL the vegan cake -- yours too!

'The Joy of being Vegan' is featured in today's Independent. READ IT. We're on the rise! Good article aside from this bit "Vegans eat all the foods meat-eaters eat -- except meat, poultry, fish, cow's milk, yoghurt, cheese and honey." Wow. I guess therefore that vegans DON'T actually 'eat all the foods meat-eaters eat,' in fact we eat HUMMUS everyday, for every meal! Actually no we don't but that's the kind of ignorance I've come to expect. We're not 'extremists' either, so there!

"The transformation of veganism from oddball movement to the fringe of the mainstream has taken 60 years. Its progress to the mainstream is likely to be much quicker." hhhhmmm Maybe. I'm not disputing the fact that there are roughly between 600,000 and one million vegans in the UK or the fact that the meat-free market in 2004 was worth £626 million but I would like to dispute this notion of mainstream veganism. Don't get me wrong I would love to see more and more people tilting towards vegan preferences but if personal experience is anything to go by I'd say we're still a long way off. I think the main problem facing the rise of veganism is the public attitude. The vegan diet is not an extreme diet and it certainly doesn't lack vitamins, nutrients or taste for that matter! We don't need your B12 supplements either. All hail the breakfast cereal. Gillian McKeith and the growth of health awareness has quite obviously helped the vegan cause but being vegan isn't just about 'staying slim' you know. Adrian Ling, the managing director of Plamil Foods reckons "as veganism has grown, understanding of it has grown." This is true, but only to a certain extent. The stereotypical hippy vegan image, the 'dreadlock burger' and the daily intake of lentils is still very much common-place. I get so annoyed by vegetarian options in restaurants centred around cheese and eggs! I certainly hope the growing interest in veganism will continue and people become more and more aware of animal welfare and animal cruelty-free lifestyles. Being vegan is EASY and all you 'I'd go vegan but I like cheese and chocolate too much' vegetarians need to wake up and veganise!

You've been Tangoed!? (Not funny, I know.)

2006-03-10T14:55:00.003Z

1.6 million people sat down last night to watch Michael Winterbottoms' new docu-film, 'The Road to Guantanamo.' To be honest I actually found this article much more interesting regarding the experiences of the Tipton Three. The interviews they gave on camera were very much not what I expected. I expected to see three men from Birmingham struggling to come to terms with their ordeal and adapting to life outside the shackles. I guess I just didn't expect to see such strength, normality and lack of resentment. Asif (I think) even stated "It either breaks you or makes you stronger -- It made me stronger" -- C'est la Vie and all that. I anticipated viewing much more disturbing images and thought the film would provoke a more emotional reaction in me. In fact yesterday's article in the Independent got me thinking more about the atrocities of Camp X-Ray/Delta/Echo and the US military and George Bush, for that matter. I feel that Winterbottom (maybe) intentionally diluted the horrific experiences of Asif Iqbal, Ruhel Ahmed, and Shafiq Rasul in order to portray a more 'believeable' story and offer a more comfortable viewing position? (Don't quote me on any of this by the way.) Is the film actually as controversial as it has been made out to be? I don't think so. But read Lenin and check out the Aaronovitch link in the comments section.

1 Step Forward 3 Billion Steps Back!

2006-03-08T13:04:00.001Z

"The ban on live veal exports from Britain to the EU has been lifted." The ban came into force ten years (!) ago in order to prevent the spread of BSE in Europe but in six weeks time this lift will mean "that live animals born after 1 August, 1996, beef and beef products made from cattle slaughtered after 15 June 2005 will be able to be exported." This is a trade worth £675 million a year to The Farmer's Union and a trade worth losing her life protesting against for Jill Phipps.

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"The South Dakota law - approved by the governor on Monday - makes it a crime for doctors to perform terminations." -- even on RAPE VICTIMS and incestual conceptions!

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A lot of backwards thinking and not a very happy Lex!

p.s. Happy International Women's Day -- Hope The Independent's special edition inspired you as much as it inspired me!!! (Hope you can detect the note of sarcasm, although 'In the Shadow of the Taliban' is quite an interesting read.)

p.p.s Go Vegan

p.p.p.s Pro-Choice

Jessica Simpson's Hot Pants Plan

2006-03-03T14:50:00.001Z

I've been doing a bit more research on exercises to help mend my annoying knee and my lazy hip adductors! I stumbled upon Jessica Simpson's Hot Pants Plan:

Hot pants squats and lunges:

This will raise your bottom and sculpt your thighs: Stand with your feet approximately two feet apart. Then turn your feet outwards, keeping them in line with your knees. Hold your arms out in front of you and slowly lower yourself down until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Keep your bottom tucked underneath you and your stomach pulled in. Hold this position for three seconds before slowly standing back up. Do 20 repetitions.

For sleek calves:

Stand on a step, and then back up until your heels are off the step and you are supported only by the balls of your feet. Raise yourself up on your toes, and then slowly lower your heels until they are level with the step. Do 20 repetitions.

To tone both your bottom and backs of thighs:

Lie on the floor face down. Put your forehead on your forearms. Bend one knee and point your toes toward the ceiling. Hold your stomach in and squeeze your buttocks together, and keeping both hips on the floor, lift your thigh off the ground and hold for one to six seconds, then slowly lower it down again. Do 20 repetitions on each leg.

To tighten the whole thigh and buttock area:

Stand with feet hip width apart. Put your hands on your hips. Step forward with one leg and bend from the knee until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Squeeze your buttocks as you slowly return to the starting position. Do 20 repetitions on each leg.

Hot pant home treatments:

Brush those pins! Dry brushing stimulates circulation and gets rid of dead skin cells, revealing smooth sleek skin. Use a natural-bristled body brush and make circular motions from your toes to your buttocks. Don't scrub or you will make your skin sore. A healthy pink glow is the desired result. Do this every day for five to ten minutes.

After brushing, treat yourself to the best-kept celebrity secret for combating cellulite - coffee! Don't drink it - rub it in! Warm fresh coffee grounds are messy but brilliant at getting rid of those lumpy bits. Just use as you would a body scrub.

Hydrotherapy treatments are especially good for legs. Do one at home by turning the shower to as hot as you can stand it for one minute, then as cold as you can bear for twenty seconds. Carry on alternating for ten minutes, finishing with a blast of cold. Alternating the temperatures help to boost circulation, and will also help relieve your legs if they are aching from all the exercises you have done.

Follow this plan for four weeks and soon your will be baring your pins with pride! Eat your heart out Daisy Duke!

So I'll let you know in four weeks how I get on HA. The iVillage has loads of tips for body shaping... I'm going to visit it more often.

McDonalds can SHOVE it!

2006-03-01T10:59:00.001Z

We're not loving it -- oh no we're not.

25 McDonalds restaurants in Britain have been forced to close due to poor sales! That's a decline of £22 million in global profit. I've never really been a McDonalds eater anyway or one of those kids that badgered their folks into taking them every weekend. Stef used to throw pretty big tantrums when I was going through my 'Mum I'm not eating anything that goes towards funding the IRA' phase. I didn't even know what the IRA was at the time ha. I think I must have just liked her sulking.

To be honest I'm not at all surprised that sales are declining. Growing economies are bound to bring changes, introduce more competition etc etc. Plus with all the health advice and Morgan Spurlock shoved in our face these days is it any wonder that people are turning more towards the salad bar at Marks and Spencers? Eating McDonalds, to some extent has become a dirty sin not the weekend treat it used to be but lets keep things in perspective, is £22 million really a major dent in their net profits? Not necessarily methinks.

Wrestling with Morality

2006-02-27T14:31:00.001Z

Who would you rescue first from a burning building, the baby or the guinea pig?

Surely that's obvious? I'd rescue whichever I could get to! Whichever was in more danger. Whichever I could rescue without endangering my own life. It's not about choosing which has more 'right' to live than the other, it's about saving another life! Any life.

At the weekend I read about a 16 year old school boy who has been receiving death threats due to a Pro-Test website he set up supporting the new scientific research lab in Oxford. Although I see no reason to endorse violence or even threats of violence I've got to ask -- What did you really expect? Has he never heard of the Animal Liberation Front? Does he not know the consequences of such a radical statement? Has he not read about the workers who risk their lives every single day? or the fact that one building company pulled out of its contract due to the dangers set upon its staff? Any slight intelligence would have told him that support for such a project would not go unnoticed. I don't even think he wanted to go unnoticed! How would that be of any benefit to his cause? By living an animal cruelty-free lifestyle I quite obviously see no reason to support animal testing but were you to ask me 'well what if by testing on animals we managed to find a cure for cancer or aids or any other terminal disease would you support it then?' I'd struggle to answer. In my current situation there is no way that I could lend my support to animal testing or the building of laboratories to do so. But what if my circumstances changed? What if a relative or a close friend of mine became ill and their survival depended upon scientific breakthroughs based on animal testing? Could I really so easily write science off? Having not experienced such a scenario am I really in any position to draw a bottom line?

One thing I will be quite clear on however, is how much those morons that ask 'would you support animal testing if the outcome was intended for an animal?' piss me off. If the said product was beneficial to its animal receiver I don't see any reason to protest -- the same as I see no reason to protest against 'human guinea pigs,' testing products intended for human consumption. Another note of annoyance for me are animal rights activists that eat meat. I'm guessing these are only a minority (correct me if I'm wrong) but come on -- practice what you preach at least or how can anyone take you seriously? The comments section at Harrys Place covers all of the above but what I found most interesting is the measurement of 'rights.' One commentor suggests that while testing on chimps is the crime of the century it's ok to test on mice. Why is that? Is it because as a less civilised species it 'logically' follows that mice have less 'rights' than chimps? hhhhmmmm... Interesting.

TV Sux -- F**K the Po-Lice

2006-02-23T11:49:00.001Z

Look what Lenin has to say!

The most bizarre TV show I've recently come across is something I watched last night. Taking the gameshow formula, this programme tricks 'petty criminals' into handing themselves over to the cops. I was only half watching but the general idea was to get these 'wanted' criminals to attend a football competition where they get to hang out with models and potentially win a car. Once the contestant scored they were ushered to 'walk the plank' by the show's host, in order to collect their prizes. But here's the twist -- There is no prize. The other side of the curtains hidden away are the police ready to cuff 'em and take 'em away.

Are the producers actually aware of the mockery this makes of our justice system and the police institution? Maybe that's their intentions. Who knows. I couldn't give a shit anyway -- I am an Anti-Christ and I am an Anar-chist!

Sheffield University

2006-02-17T15:18:00.001Z

I got my acceptance letter to university yesterday! I'm going to be studying an MA in Librarianship. If I can get the funding I'll go full time -- I'll get it out of the way. If I don't I either have to work my ass off or spread the course over two years. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it though. I'm going to India in August no matter what!!!

This evening I shall celebrate with 'Freedom Fries' and a 'Rose of the Prophet Muhammed.'

Jungle VIP

2006-02-16T15:26:00.001Z

Someone take me to see the chimps -- I'd do anything. Look at these beauties!

Abu Ghraib 2

2006-02-16T14:14:00.001Z

What the hell is wrong with these people!! Is this what Bush/Blair envisioned when fighting a 'war on terror?' Is this how they intended to free the Iraqi people of Saddam Hussein's regime? When disgusting images such as these get released to the media it begs the question -- why on Earth has there been so much uproar/violence/death/racial hatred/Islamophobia concerning a dozen satirical cartoons?

A statement from the SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) says "The extent of abuse shown in the photos suggests that the torture and abuse that occurred at Abu Gharaib in 2004 is much worse than is currently understood." No kidding, glad they cleared that one up.

From Lenin:

How many prisoners were tortured, sexually humiliated and killed? How many died from having their chest crushed and ribs snapped like Manadel al-Jamadi? How many continue to be tortured and murdered in Bagram, Guantanamo and the other torture centres in America's global gulag? And since when was it sufficient to say "we don't want these pictures of our wrongdoing released in case it stirs anger in The Muslim World?" Should it not arouse anger? And much else besides?

Are these images representative of the US-led occupation? I wonder, too just how many prisoners have been tortured, sexually humiliated and subsquently killed. Oh wait, that's our 'human right' as 'westerners' isn't it? To take away the rights of others i.e. non-westerners?

When I grow up I want to be...

2006-02-15T15:06:00.001Z

...a ballet dancer!

Hamas thinks when Palestinian chilidren grow up they should want to be terrorists!!!

"The children's magazine named Fatah -- Arabic for the Muslim who conquers the Kufir States -- in its last two issues carried an illustrated story about the heroism of a very young but courageous Palestinian child, who is determined to be a jihad fighter like his older brothers."

From my Sisters' Lips

2006-02-09T15:10:00.001Z

It was this article in The Observer that sparked my interest in From my Sister's Lips, a book written by Na'ima B Robert as a 'celebration of Muslim womanhood.'

"Na'ima B. Robert is the daughter of a white South African father of Scottish descent and a black South African mother of Zulu descent. Born in Leeds, she grew up in Zimbabwe and went on to gain a first-class degree from the University of London. She has worked in the travel and tourism industry, was a teacher and has written and illustated children's books. Following her conversion to Islam and her marriage to a Ghanaian revert, she settled in South London, where she now lives with her husband and two small sons."

Having experienced very little (if any) religious upbringing with no family connections to a faith I hoped that Robert's invitation to view life 'beneath the veil' would to some degree widen my understanding of 'western reverts.' She explores the many stereotypical notions of Muslim women in Britain from 'covering' to marriage to motherhood and offers an in-depth account of her personal journey to Islam. At times I found Robert's analysis of women and Islam rather difficult and somewhat overly self-righteous but as a non-Muslim this is understandable and something she herself put into words. "...Although I have tried to explain Islamic concepts as clearly as possible, there are some things that will be difficult for non-Muslims to understand. The Muslim accepts these things because of his faith and grounding in Islamic knowledge - the same cannot be expected of those who have not entered the faith." One concept that particularly interests me concerning Islam is the progression from the hijab and loose fitting clothing to the abaya(h) (modest 'dresses') to half/full jilbabs and the burqa/niqab. What exactly is it that women find so 'liberating' about covering their physical attributes? and why is it that they do all of this in the name of 'Allah?' What 'reward' do they receive for embracing Islamic values and traditions? It wasn't until 'Part 2:Living Islam' that I really connected with what was being said. As a vegan I guess in someways I belong to a group of extreme individuals that share/respect and stand by certain principles no matter what strains are placed upon me to indulge in non-vegan products (ridicule/peer pressure/ignorance/facilities etc.) It is possible then for me to understand the Muslim dress progression in terms of vegetarianism progression i.e. from lacto-ovo vegetarianism to lacto/ovo vegetarianism to veganism to fruitarianism etc etc. Being vegan is something I am proud to be everyday and something I find personally rewarding/liberating through a lack of falter. By drawing such an analogy (albeit a rather simple one -- I know) I feel that I can at least begin to understand a small amount of the many challenges that faces a Muslim woman in a western world. I am far from ignorant to the western attitudes concerning Muslims (gender roles/threat of terrorism/suicide bombers/honour killings/arranged marriages etc) and further seek to develop my personal understandings of Islam and it's magnitude of followers.

"Refreshing, controversial and often surprising, From my Sisters' Lips is an invitation to a world usually seen only by those admitted to its inner circle. It is a celebration of their womanhood and friendship - a celebration of their Islam."

So there is a Paradise afterall!

2006-02-07T09:22:00.001Z

What a nice story to start my day! In the remote forest of the Foja Mountains, west of Papua New Guinea, Bruce Beehler has discovered a Garden of Eden. On his month long expedition Beehler has discovered a number of new species, including 20 frogs, 4 butterflies, 5 palms and a Rhododendeon Macgregoriae. In a place untouched by man, species close to extinction were found to be breeding in harmony and completely unafraid of human contact! There is a slide show here that includes evidence of the smoky honeyeater, a golden fronted bowerbird and a Berlepsch's six-wired "lost" bird of paradise. Six species of tree kangaroos were also recorded including the golden-mantled tree kangaroo, a species new to Indonesia and one of the cutest things I have ever seen! While I understand this place to be an incredibe laboratory for biodiversity scientists I hope that it can be totally preserved and left free of the unintended consequences of human civilisation.

Fudge Fudge Fudge Fudge

2006-02-06T11:48:00.001Z

Ingredients:

* 6 tablespoons non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
* 3 1/2 cups confectioners' vegan sugar
* 1/2 cup sifted cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 cup vegan soymilk
* 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

Lightly grease a 5x9-inch loaf pan using a little of the margarine. Place the remaining margarine, vegan sugar, cocoa, vanilla and soymilk in a heatproof mixing bowl or the upper part of a double boiler (I use a small pot in a large pot of water.) Place the bowl or boiler over simmering water and stir until smooth. Add nuts if desired. Pour the mixture quickly into the prepared pan. Chill thoroughly and cut into squares.

Serves: 2 to 3 dozen squares (or 1 Lex.)

Preparation Time: 15 Minutes

Violence against Violence

2006-01-31T15:54:00.001Z

Why is it then that Munich caused so much controversy?

I don't know what made me more uncomfortable, the historical inaccuracies, the humanisation of terrorists and terrorism, the justification of vengeance or the unnecessary wah wah self-righteousness of the Jewish protagonists. As a 'fictionalised account' of the Munich aftermath Spielberg does awfully well at making a case FOR Israel through the rationalisation of violence as a counterattack on violence and the virtuous nature of Judaism. Golda Meir hammers home this very sentiment by claiming that '...every civilisation finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values.' On the one hand I feel that Spielberg's intention was to portray a moral equivalence between the Palestinian and the Israeli assassins (and later today's war on terror through pre-9/11 New York imagery) that to a certain extent blames Israel for the shameful history of the Middle Eastern conflict but on the other he's not ashamed to portray the Israelis in a more favourably light as 'The Decent.' "We're Jews, Avner. Jews don't do wrong doing because our enemies do wrong... we're supposed to be righteous. That's a beautiful thing. That's Jewish." In an interview with Der Spiegel, Spielberg was asked whether he believes the support offered by Golda Meir for the Operation Wrath of God was a mistake.

" I believe that Israel's prime minister had to respond to the monstrous provocation of Munich: Jews were being killed in Germany, and that at the Olympic Games. She could not let an act with such historical implications, such a gross transgression by the Black September movement, go unpunished. Munich was a national trauma for Israel. So in principle I think she did the right thing."

Whether, like President Bush you dehumanise terrorists in order to justify war crimes and illegal war on terror or like Spielberg you humanise terrorism in order to draw a relative morality I think it is important to remember that killing terrorists/extremists is futile; It doesn't matter who you kill there will always be someone else ready to take their place. It is also highly unlikely in reality that the real Mossad agents experienced the moral soul-searching that the tortured hero, Avner suffered from and subsequently left the secret service because of. Operation Wrath of God disbanded when 'amateurs killed the wrong guy,' there is no remorse when killing is an order.

An Eye for An Eye

2006-01-27T10:23:00.001Z

Last night's documentary Munich: Mossad's Revenge was absolutely brilliant, especially the reconstruction of Barak's infamous donning of female attire in the Beirut shootings. During the 1972 Olympics in Munich a dozen Israeli athletes were kidnapped by a PLO group known as Black Sunday demanding the release of their fighters in Israeli prisons. In a botched rescue attempt 11 Israeli athletes, 5 Palestinian agents and a German officier lost their lives. Today sees the general release of Spielbergs' new controversial film Munich which follows the aftermath of these attacks through the eyes of agents working for the 'Operation Wrath of God.' I found two interesting articles here and here but I intend to give my general opinion after I've seen it this weekend!

Memoirs of a Few Mistakes

2006-01-26T11:17:00.002Z

The film adaptation of the best-selling novel Memoirs of a Geisha follows the story of a young Japanese girl sold to a geisha house in Kyoto during the late 1930s. The narrative development comes courtesy of the fictional true confessions of Sayuri's forbidden desire for love and happiness while one of Japan's most celebrated geisha. In traditional Japanese culture the literary meaning of geisha is 'a person of the arts;' a woman trained in the native practice of tea ceremony, ikebana and poetry. For a geisha it is customary to insist that rich men pay for their talents and polite conversation rather than their sexual services. In 'Memoirs of a Geisha' however, this central ideology is reversed as Sayuri's virginity is sold off to the highest bidder.

What I found most striking about Memoirs of a Geisha is its westernisation of 1940s Japan through the post World War II imagery centered very much around the American military. Sayuri returns from her exile during the war to a place flooded with American soldiers and make-shift taverns where the accustomed geisha is replaced by any oriental female in red lipstick. The authenticity of this film I feel mainly suffered from the use of English dialect (especially as I believed Ziya Zhang was unable to speak a word of it) and the tendency to tone down the visual iconography of a geisha's dress and makeup. The purpose of diluting this image I feel was to occupy a central ground between the imposing contrasts of contemporary makeup styles and the 'grotesque' image of a Western drag queen. More importantly however is the somewhat conscious refusal of director Rob Marshall to recognise the diversity of culture not only between the East and West but between the regions of Asia through his castings of CHINESE actresses to play divine JAPANESE geishas (a point that I didn't pick up on until today.)

Since the war when Japan invaded parts of China and brutally disregarded the Chinese people, national identity is a trait likely to cause much aggression should ignorant pan-Asianism occur. It is still unknown whether the film will get its scheduled February release in China due to the uproar Zhang et al have provoked by depicting 'relationships with Japanese men as common prostitutes' but as far as a movie about Japan played by Chinese actors/actresses written by whites and shot mainly in America (L.A,) I think it's pretty good.

Having a Whale of a Time?

2006-01-25T14:31:00.001Z

Who Cares? I care.

I wonder if the 300+ people standing on the banks of the Thames this weekend have any idea what Japanese Whaling is and the fact that thousands of these animals are killed each year 'in the name of science' and the luxurious meat market. I can't help but think that the reaction of the crowd (cheering each time the whale emerged to breath) somewhat contributed to it's demise.

"The noise from the excitable crowd thronging the banks causes police to issue a request to keep quiet - apparently vets helping care for the animal think all the unfamiliar noise is causing it stress."

I also wonder whether the crowd would have been just as supportive of a 'Free Willy' plight to save a beached Great White.