BOLLOTICS

I haven't really been drawn on the new Coalition too much. There seems for a long time to have been little difference with everyone fighting for the centre ground. I'm not on the centre ground so it all at a bit of a distance to me. I was enthused somewhat by Nick Clegg, I was also enthused by the idea of coalitions working in this country. I was very enthused when someone pointed this out to me from Grant Shapps.

...now I am Minister for Housing and Local Government I have the opportunity to transfer power to where it really belongs - local communities...

So I am obviously a bit disappointed to read this, but pleased a Cooperative movement is doing it for themselves. Maybe this is the big society.

...A co-operative movement has stepped in to offer assistance to the 82 communities left stranded by the cancellation of the Community Owned Pubs Support Programme.

Representatives from a variety of co-operative organisations have agreed to provide support to the organisations that expressed interest in the scheme...

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NOT A SURPRISE

I would dispute the shape though. I and some republican buddies worked out a long time ago that this should be a globe and not a square as all these extremes meet up round the other side.

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I DREAM A DREAM

OK. It is safe now. Panorama's protest piece started by addressing everything I was moaning about, and proceeded through all the relevant questions about Police and FIT squad attitudes to protest. Well done Panorama, I'll shut up now.

Apart from that life is in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment. I may be filming, I may not. I may "get somewhere" filming, I might not. I might just branch off and do something totally different. Sort of same as usual really. I can't complain.

I have just finnished reading The Brotherhood of Eternal Love by two British writers Stewart Tendler and David May (interview here). This is an excellent book which, as David says might be made into a film at some point. I haven't wanted to take acid for a long while now, though I would like to again one day. I am off all drugs for the moment and I have stopped smoking for health reasons. I am avoiding social situations involving alchohol because I don't want them to lead to more cigarettes. I even went running with Mr Camel which was a surprise.

I haven't really made a point of taking a stand politically here because I don't really feel political, though I do feel a bit guilty about that. I assuage this guilt a tiny amount joining in debates over at the excellent Pickled Politics blog where I managed to get myself accused of being racist and of not being racist enough in the comments section of the same post.

I am not really any good at debating. I rarely take it seriously enough and pursue a path of comedic anti-intellectualism which is designed to be more entertaining than productive and probably isn't that entertaining either. Most of the time I find myself butting into the middle of some of the regular commenters long term rows with each other with the same stuff over again, but I like Pickled Politics and I think they are taking a very "live" attitude to the recent BNP gains in the European Parliament. I am glad they are taking it seriously even if I am not. I mean, the far right are no threat are they?

Whilst none of these extremist groups affect my life I hold the same attitude to all of them. I find these controversial utopic views fascinating. I don't know why, but I do.

What else have I been getting into? Oh yes. Lady Gaga at Glastonbury and I don't know why about that either. All her songs sound like the same mediocre Madonna song, but I am not sure which one. She sounds like she is doing a bad impression of Madonna when she sings, but scores a few points for grunginess. She is marginally prettier than Madonna was at her age. I think she will be quite sexy if she gets to forty- yet the whole package, together, I can't help liking, and I was never a Madonna fan though I liked the one with the buring crosses in the video.

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NEW YEAR BOLLOCKS

OK. Why not as it is the fourth already I can safely pop up and say Happy New Year. We ended up doing a really good gig musically which enough people seemed to get into. When we finnished it descended into mayhem pandemeonium and scraps. There isn't usually any formal "security" at the squatted pub we play at so I was amused to see both people who were kicking off disappear backwards one after the other, collar held by some looming shape. They both came back in a little bit later much more peaceable. Fucking good bouncer. I will make enquiries.

As it is New Year and I am trying to at least start a little bit positive I am not even going to bother commenting about Palestine. I am a bit annoyed with my Repub buddies straight away wading in but I shouldn't be surprised eh. I'm not there. I have never been there. I don't know. Sunny is keeping me fairly sane with his carefully principled weave through all of this. Do take a look.

Yeah. I'm trying to start positive..

Then I read this on The Home Office website:

Cannabis is scheduled to be reclassified to a Class B drug in 2009.

The Home Secretary has recommended that cannabis should be reclassified to a Class B drug.

and the reasoning?

Why reclassify now?

The move to reclassify cannabis reflects the fact that skunk, a much stronger version of the drug, now dominates the UK's cannabis market. Skunk has swept other, less potent, forms of cannabis off the market, and now accounts for 81% of cannabis available on our streets, compared to just 30% in 2002

so by YOUR OWN FUCKING REASONING shouldn't you just make skunk class B then? Happy New Year to you too you fucking pieces of SHIT.

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YEAH. NOW FUCK OFF

I know it is a bit late but I want everyone to know I can totally vouch for this guy. Despite the fact that he is actually a kiwi. Make him mayor of Oxford or something. He saved Jericho boatyard, give him something to run people!

UPDATE: Holy SHMA-HOLY!!! Jumpin Jaysus soap on a rope HE WON! Last time I saw this guy he was arguing through a fence with some security hired to illegally evict the boatyard. Some come back.

VICE

So where do the magazine's political allegiances lie? 'We're not trying to say anything politically in a paradigmatic left/right way,' argues Smith. 'We don't do that because we don't believe in either side. Are my politics Democrat or Republican? I think both are horrific. And it doesn't matter anyway. Money runs America; money runs everywhere.'

BORIS FOR MAYOR

London Mayoral candidate Boris Johnson says he will allow motorcycles to use bus lanes in the city, if he is elected to the post during polling in May.

SOUTHERN BELLE

OBAMA?

Hail the rise of the new JFK

I don't get sucked in to believing in Politics anymore these days. Blair nailed that coffin pretty soon after he took power. I have been watching events in the States with a lot of amusement through the lense of Sparklevision mainly, and also on UK Channel 4 News a bit. Before a vote was cast I didn't fancy Obama's chances against this "Hillary machine", and I don't think anyone over in Sparkleland did. Now things look a lot different don't they? I think Obama could win. That is presuming the neoCONS don't do the funny buisness with the chads eh. His oposition is hillarious, especially that Romney guy. He'd address the nation in shirtsleeves with one of those flip charts.

My spies tell me the prosecution in Hamid and others trial is summing up today. I'm heading down.

AM I A LIB DEM?

An ex copper for mayor? How could I be into that? Now- the day after the new Lib Dem leader takes over he starts talking about Brian Eno. Could I be a lib-dem?

PULL THE RUG

OK a bit of bollo-ticks for you all.

I enjoy looking at Republican blogs on all issues "War on Terror" "Blame the rag heads etc." but when I see local politics debated I glaze over. I hope you all feel the same about this excursion.

I actually felt something turn on its head tonight in my country. The Conservative party aided a government defeat with a reasoned Liberal arguement.

The Conservative party. Remember Margaret Thatcher?

Unbelievable. They didn't do it for the right reasons of course. They did it because they knew that if they withdrew their pre-agreed support for Blair on terror related issues post 7/7 at this crucial time they could erode his personal power. They couldn't say that of course, so instead they made the argument. Calmly and rationaly I watched David Davis, Conservative party leadership candidate making more or less the same case as Diane Abbot on the issue of civil liberty. Absolutely ridiculous.

TREASON

I was just ruminating some sort of response to the treason debate when the offending preacher skipped the country leaving the prime minister playing to himself. As the media machine faltered he threatened to return, giving them the opportunity to start talking about banning him again.

After hearing very eloquent Muslims who have been various shades of not condemning or not condoning the bombings, and various more alarming claims of "a great victory for Al-Qaida" have also been made I find myself in the remarkable position of agreeing with the government.

As Michael Howard

urges the judiciary today to stop thwarting the will of MPs and play a full part in the fight against terrorism.

I say bollocks. Let the judiciary take him up on his challenge.

Let it be treason.

Treason against innocents of this country.

Overhaul these laws so that they actually mean something.

Condemning or not condoning should be argued by a jury of my piers.

I think that the judiciary are the only effective force of dissent left in British society.

And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free

IM NOT YOUR ENEMY! MING IS!

" I'm not your enemy! Ming is! Let's all team up and fight him!"

from the film FLASH GORDON

One of the main reasons I first came to hear what Mr. Hamza had to say was because I wondered whether there could be a genuine alliance between all those who wanted to stop the oil rollercoaster and create a genuinely fair society.

(In between making my own mind up as to whether he was a terrorist threat or not)

In the short time I was "active" as an activist I realised how hopelessly split and riddled with cliques and infighting the "left" was and so I wasn't suprised to eventually find similar things in the Islamic community. I certainly don't revel in it, but it is very human.

On this vein I was interested to come across a representative of Al-Mujhaaroun handing out leaflets in Finsbury Park on Friday who told me that they had officialy dispanded due to this problem of factionality. The intention was to unite everyone who believed in the Koran as it is written and his leaflet had many critisisms of the MCB and Mosque committees all backed up with words from the Koran.

He reckons Muslims have been banned from mosque's in favour of kaffirs, managers have become dictators, committees are silent about Palestine, Kashmir Guantanamo and Abu Graib whilst they invite their followers to commit apostacy by voting for man made law and inviting George Galloway into mosques and allowing him to distribute kaffir leaflets outside.

I have personally only ever committed this apostasy once when I was 18 and voted for the Liberal/SDP alliance (remember that political farce) I would advise anyone against voting for George Galloway because he is a wanker. If it was a choice between him and Blair on a voting card I would puke up on the card.

In the same way I was really excited at the prospect of a night at the rampart including The Synergy Project, The Wombles and The E.C.F. in the same building. A couple of people thought it important to network between all groups, there was certainly no infighting but I wonder whether a genuine alliance to produce genuine change is possible or factionality and tribalism are just part of our species. I'm very confused.