If i could, i'd vote Lib-Dem.

Now i will not profess to knowing anything, about politics. Half the time i can't even spell the word.


But i agree with a lot the things that the Liberal Democrat's in the Britain talk about. And following tonights debate on Itv 1 i feel that Nick Clegg (Leader of the Lib-Dem's) came out on top.


I didn't see all of the debate, i saw about 50 minutes out of 90, but i agreed with a lot of his points.

There appears to be a lot of the same old crap sprouting from the two main political parties in mainland Britain. 2 parties that have been in power for large blocks of time for the past 25 years or more and for the most part dominate the British political landscape and it's policies, laws, legislature and foreign policy.



In the 1980s, the "old" Conservative's reigned supreme under the Thatcher-ite era. An era often portayed in the media, and my imagination, as being full of greed, right wing idea's and questionable action's (Sinking of the Belgrano in the Falklands war?). But in bed with Reagan (the American president at the time), and bad move's on behind the falling Iron curtain the cold war ended. And to some extent the west's capitalist's way's seemed to be winning.

Under John Major and America Under Bush, Russia slowly fell apart and the 1st Iraq war happened.

By 1997 Tony Blair, a young fresh faced "New Labour" PM came in. Offering a change, as most politicians do. What exactly i can't remember. It was the era of Brit-pop and so on, time's were good.

Sure Dianna Died, but there was a peace process in Northern Ireland and Britain had a shinny new future.

Fast forward to the next century and in their grumpy way the Brits weren't too happy with the waste and ridiculous state of their nation but they kept going. The Millennium Dome sat idle for years, a folly of false promises of large scale change. The real change in London was the Emergence of The financial Center's around the Bank of London and at Canary Wharf/ Isle of Dogs. (Former docklands left desolate thanks to Containerisation and the breaking of selfish unions under Thatcher)

Following 9/11 Tony Blair reinforced a special friendship with the American's, now under the Disputed and widely lampooned George W. Bush. Britain Followed America into Iraq in 2003, seeking rumoured Weapon's of Mass Destruction. British troops died in Basra and trained the local Authorities while the American's played Cowboys and Haji's elsewhere. In 2005 as plan's slowly formed for eventual British withdrawal from Iraq, they joined the fight in Afghanistan. (Swiftly invaded in 2001 to oust the Fundamentalist government that housed suspected terrorist leaders.)


Eventually after about 10 years Tony Blair stepped down, shortly into his 3rd Consecutive term, letting Gordon Brown, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (guy looking after the money and regulation and taxes etc).

Brown briefly had his honneymoon period then became a media pariah. Anger has followed him in the media  for at least 3 to 4 years. He didn't call an election a few years ago after the poll's dipped out of his favour, so he waited till the 5 year term was up, to see if he could be elected properly.

Several attempted "coups" and so on followed him in recent years. Even accusations of being a bully. And as the Finacial Crisis, the credit crunch, thar be hard time's, that recent hic-up in your pockets, set in he wasn't directly to blame. It wasn't in his hands any more.



Now the election. After YEARS, and probably far longer than i have meekly referenced. The British public have been guided and influenced by the same political ideologies. "Thatcher-ism" and "Blair-ite" thinking have led Bratain to where it is now. Of course this is both a good, bad, and neutral thing. But in many aspects the landscape of British polotics and representation need's changing.


With an unpopular war, a National Health Service, ageing Population, Increasing Unemployment, Economic Downturn/Depression/Recession (depending on the economist's you read, and the media fear-mongering you believe), MP's Expense's Scandal's, Public disillusionment with politics etc etc.


The Lib-Dem's are offering something Truely different for a change. But they can't do it alone. Unfortunatly despite wonderful Liberal idea's that i agree with, such as scrapping Britain's Nuclear weapons, cutting expense's and "waste" (without calling it waste) and so on and so forth. The Lib-Dem's sing a different tune, play on things from a different angle and are given less of a spotlight.

They have less of a spotlight because the British Electoral landscape is frankly so fucked up i have yet to even understand it. Apparently a large number of constituencies are so "certain" that they almost never change hands between parties. Only so called "marginal" area's are where political battle's of policies and personalities actually happen. And these can be few and far between.

What's worse is their form of Voting. I haven't the foggiest how it works, but it's not the same as here in Ireland where we effectively give everyone a vote and run through their successive round's of vote's until they have enough to be elected.

In Britain however, the person with the most, goes through, first, and that's about it. This pretty much shuts out big race's in lots of area's making any competition unappealing and pointless.

This also means that a party like the Lib-Dem's is far smaller than it's bigger rival's. With less chance's to branch out into other constituencies, their policies and ideal's rarely spread to all area's or aspects of the vast populous of mainland Britain, and for the most part England.

What makes this all more complicated is that Wale's, Scotland and Northern Ireland also elect some people into the "British" Parliament in Westminster.

Considering these partial Nations also have their own Assemblies and Parliaments, in various complicated form's. Northern Ireland's is currently sort of not actually sitting in a full capacity, but it still run's the place. The Scottish one run's a lot Scotland's affairs, and it's Westminster Representative's, Including Gordon Brown, apparently do something? Same with Wale's, i think? Oh and of Course, The Isle of Man, Isle of White, Channel Islands and other United Kingdom territories in Western Europe.

The Lib-Dem's, are on the scale of things Small. But they may be the key to deciding the shape of the Government formed in this coming election. And most likely stand to gain the most historically from this. If it's a very close race another election could be coming very soon. And slowly and surely i at least hope they gain more influence.

I may not have listed the policies, i may not even know them. But i feel that the Lib-Dem's are sort of better for Britain and wider world, than more Labour or even the "new" Conservatives.

I'd vote for them, if i could, and if they were even running a candidate in any hypothetical constituency i might live in....





Also, i apologise for this polico-centric rant. With few facts.

The Unblinking eye

As promised i would come up with this follow up thread on the election process. Now of course i said almost sweet f'a that was obvious but i have some pre-election results and other tid bits and rants to add to the blogosphere.






Sheep's Clothing oratory catwalk competition:

More of a round about way of using a cliché to reference a historical figure who was part of The Society and a failed uprising. The competition is named after him and was of course of the highest calibre of in house debating. While the others had a team debate we had a individual and from what i can tell the standard was just as good in both but ours was great fun even if it lacked a sword. The motion was something to do with panning religions who persecute women. The prop did well enough but they shied away from some harder points like and floundered under the oppositions returning salvo's. In the end it was the opposition who got it with the first and 2nd place speakers both being from the latter half of the opp. The champion being Joker and well disserved at that. Anyone who can start such a speech in Esperanto to prove a point about the failure of liberal idea's disserves the highest praise possible.


Provisional results:

On a rather prolonged and formal Wednesday where the "Hon-membs" returned to see the progress of the society the election nominees were read out. This took rather a long about of time considering the strength of the fresher’s/harem running, 11 of us in total. The 12th however was automatically elected as no one opposed her. Boop is now the boss of the new group of people and after 5 all 8 or so people under her wing will be known. A few hushed rumours floated about concerning a possible rival for the position but in truly shocking style it was a cake walk and well deserved instead of a possible cat fight.

The other provisional result is that the Joker ran for the position of scribe/comedian and got it unopposed. Considering his wit and talent it was a great choice but in shock he said "I have no imperative to be funny." Hopefully speaking of his acceptance speech and not his position as a whole but none-the-less he will make a wonderful addition to the role.


Hush hush continue's:

The election is today. 11 of us younglings hope to become padawan's and several well know face's are attempting to climb the ladder further. With some face's like Letch and Percy soon leaving us for good it may be a different world next year. One armed man is going for bookie, BD and Gentle Ben our the main contenders for stonecutter master with Apollo rounding it off to 3. Other position’s i'm not as clear on but some face's are trying their hands at entering the fray and it's nice to see that happening.

I feel rather useless with the whole naming of the freshers as i was certainly off with a few of the nicknames brought forward. Several were not running and i apologise for that. However the name's will still stand and the nicknames of the winners will be posted at some point after their hangovers.


There is an evil study monster and his name is EXAMBLOR!!!!!!!


Yeah i have A LOT of work to do. Not only for the summer exams but the exam on Haematology and Oncology that i have to repeat with the likely prospect of another one due to my failure to admit an assignment. I've had a bitch of a time looking for the sociology and i will enlist the assistance of Chaterbox when i can. I really should also email my tutor and maybe my ex-tutor as sociology is his course. I also have a "time owing" thing hanging over me in my imperative to email my tutor. It didnt say my time dropped below 70% attendance or anything but they want a "valid" excuse for a large period of absence. The rules apparently say on a doctor's note is valid for such periods. Well i told my tutor in advance that i would be in the land down under. Upon my return i also missed an additional day by attending Joker's mini-iv and infamous batman motion instead of lectures. From what i have recently understood i hate the lecturer that was on that day so i don't care anyway. But they want me to correspond and to explain that absence or something. I was in all the other time's, 1 week, 1 day of tutorials and 1 additional day of lecture's is Not 30% of the year. Although considering my name wasn't printed on the sign in sheet for ALL of the first term they could be dicking me around too. Ugggghhhh, i really don't want to deal with that now.


Pav, Society friends and unblinking indifference! Woo!

Politico-centric leanings and an eye on tweet by tweet history

My god, my childhood and faux rebellious teen self should hate me. Well okay, i'm still the nerd i was and probably more glued to the keyboard and somewhat better at spelling but being so politically and socially driven in some matters is just SHOCKING. Nah, i'm exaggerating a tiny wincey bit, oxymoronic i know but hey how else do you start a rant and a rave?





BANDWAGON!!!!!!!!


Tweet, tweet, tweet. No not the morning chorus, no not a bird in distress, no not some wierd childish girly girly getting on your nerves. No i am talking, as i do at an increasing rate about that little thing called Twitter. Possibly the fastest growing internet meme since, well the internet?

Because celbrities are there it draws in the gossip hungry. Because they are just like micro-bloggers they are semi-real "a-moral" people. If i want to see apulusk and his smokin wife tweet all lovey dovey i can, although i don't really. More the obnoxious joking's of bloglomaniac perez hilton at various celeb's especially his sometimes OTT abuse of tween star Miley Cyrus which provide's the odd laugh. But also for what twitter can do. Okay so you can find out who's making tea, who hate's the rain or a certain opinion on a news topic, but it's fast, it's simple and it works.


#AmazonFAIL was noticed so quickly because the deviant's, blogosphere members, message board posters and newsreaders of the web latch on to this stuff faster than a hobo on a 50! Such a massive mistake traveled fast on the statistics of Twitter and hit the trend's section attracting more and more people. A worthy thing as it helped make people aware of a news story they should look up, and help spread the outrage.

The G20 protests were prolifically tweeted upon and frankly that's a good thing, if not biast and some time's lacking in moral's as recent OTT scaremongering article's have stated. But it does inform you what those people think and that is the kind of news mob's like. Logical opinion doesn't need to exist when 140 charecters can simply make you aware of something that someone else is doing or witnessing.

The #Tea Party, a rather insane series of protests by right-wing conservative's and anti-income tax evaders is also another interesting example. No-taxation without representing our opinion on twitter first.... Of course there is no indian outfits, no poisoned diuretic boston harbour and of course no real uprising. But for a country with trillion dollar debt how they opperate on a pay your taxes once a year basis is beyond me. Irish workers are taxed out of their sallary. American's have to put aside money and balance credit in order to pay the government that has HEAVILY miss spent it's money on just 1 short season a year. Utter madness. Now of course the Constitution of those united state's doesn't mention income tax, remember it was written by rich landowners after 13 years of squabling over their newly independent land. How american economics works is beyond me but the fact that The conservative right wing that i inherently and automatically loath is using Twitter and hatred of taxes to make their voice's heard is an impressive sight.


However what is even cooler, what belong's in the history books is of course, the MOLDOVA TWITTER-loution! Yep, a 20,000 flash mob of angry voters who didn't agree with the ruling communist's winning a Russia backed election took to a popular square and stormed government. All via social networking site's and Twitter. It's main proponent is now "in hiding". She was kicked out of Russia for linking it's government to a certain death in opinionated blogs and articles. She thinks the Secret service's and Russia in general are after her and that the Moldovan police want her with or without a warrant. By talking with like minded and disillusioned youth a mob, more than a flash mob, descended on important buildings and stormed them. Thinks got out of hand and in theory they were thugs and vandal's for what they did, but they made themselves heard. I can't support everything they did but they were heard, there is apparently a re-count of the election results. Twitter, and large number's can be heard.


Unfortunatly as of yet such a progressive movement won't occur here in ireland. If FF win the next election by some kind of evil banker plot backed by jewish new yorker's in LA with Irish cousins and properties in the curradh and belarus.... Then we won't bat an eye lid. Sure those of us who do use modern media will cry wolf. But as Gynecovnastia-gate (moobgate) thought us, biffo doesn't like it when we subvert his non-elected position. Nah, we're still a republic, we will make ourselves heard, but things are shit and new social and political media will pave the way forward for "change".


Wow that point took a very very long time!



So for the gap, i know this isn't real time or anything but i went to the bathroom, got some more water for my behavioral polydypsia (i drink a lot by habit) and a few mini chocolate eggs that are V. bad but addictive like M+M's but about 60 calories a pop or more.


Beardage:
I have decided to let my facial growth, grow. Now i have very fair hair as it is, and i can only seem to grow hair thickly on my neck and chin but it's a start. I keep having to trim my tache and cheeks as it just looks awful or slightly downy. As for my beard area it's kind of scruffy and darker than my light brown hair so it's slightly odd and un-kept. I'm holding out for the possibility that i can actually grow a beard but based on progress and previous experience i just don't have the hair follicle's for it. A pity since i really can't be arsed sometimes. So much so that i had to shave manually for my sisters wedding because i forgot to charge my shaver. I BUTCHERED MY FACE. It really hurt. It was a disaster. However the make-up person for the bridesmade's/bridal party and family was able to turn the clots into "beauty spots". They itched, they looked odd but it covered the fact that i should not be allowed a razor, or to forget about shaving. Now of course i can do relatively well with the butcher knives the HSE provides when carrying for patients that need help, but my hair is light but in clumps and i generally just suck at taking care of my face.



My "Abi-Stance":

I'm kind of fed up with the whole "game" or whatever buzz word i use to describe it. After a lot of rejection and a lot on my plate i've temporarily given up on the whole seeking a partner. I just couldn't be arsed. Sure i find loads of girls, and the odd male attractive but after all the failure with female's i really don't feel like bothering. I would rather get my shit done and build up my self-confidence etc then keeping putting myself out there for yet more and more failure. 7 rejections in a year, it's seriously bad. Okay so i was up and down depressed for most of that time but whatever i was doing i wasn't making any impression on the female's i chose that would make them choose me. That and i chose a lot of crazies. NOTE TO SELF AVOID THE CRAZIES. Especially after the inflamitary obsession and disturbing idiation that occured in my head surrounding the whole Cleo thing. I want to avoid her like the plague, she just flicks the crazy switch in my head and she isn't even anything special. Yet another f'd up person that i want to help who refuse's help and copes far better than me with their problems and cause's me to be the only problem because i'm an idiot and latch onto the crazies. Same goes for PG i'd say. So for now i will be a lone wolf, but of course i'm a young male, i have urges, i won't be giving up on my nature or the possibility of admirers but i will not be actively seeking potential partners as i haven't the time or self strength left to bother or care.




Ssssssshhhhhhh:


Okay so after a hilarious private business meeting on wednesday afternoon, where sherminator failed to have his fine's revised nominations were opened. This means the potential future people of the society put themselves forward, ie talk to the Stonecutter leader, and then wait for people to vote for them after nominations close. Which is wednesday with elections on the friday. So other than talking to grand master we can't canvass in anyway what-so-ever. We put our name's forward for either an ordinary member of the committee or specific office's, mainly lower office's that are like deputee's and are just the office prefaced with pro-. You can run for both MC and Pro-whatever or for SMC who looks after the officers. It's an olde system and possibly a good one. It doesn't ruin friendships and it doesn't get in the way of our debating nature. That's saved for the debate's. If people like you they will vote, you have to count on that alone. It would suck for governement but for a society like this it's a good enough system.


Other than saying that i doubt i can say more. I will be talking to Percy at some stage, as for what reason's i can not say. However once the process is over i can disclose who the future is and if or if not i am involved.



Other political plan's:

It seemed odd in my head but i actually have considered running for class rep next year. Shocking i know. I suck at study, have a difficult task of passing this year the second time round but i feel i should try and represent the Nursing student cause. I don't know why. I'm a shit student. I don't want to continue being a nurse if or when i finish but i feel those girls need representation that will ask good questions and hopefully get something done. Now i have almost NO friends in this new year. I am just a repeating student that sits off to himself and most of the time with Chatterbox. I had brief friends while on placement but other than that i'm not exactly known or anything like that. But i am oppinionated and if a work at finishing and hopefully passing this year i feel there is a drive in me to want to also do that work. Awful i know, insane also, but i have an incling that i want to do it and that it could be a good idea. I must be insane. One issue i would like to raise is the awful introduction of electronic Sign in device's which will require student id cards to be swipped to register yourself for each class. What's insane is that the girl's will swap cards regardless. The class as a whole will pop in and out inbetween lec's to get coffee or junk, do they sign in each time. Some people don't leave there seats, do we have to get out of the large tight rows to sign in each time a class starts? The current system of a sheet of paper and your signature works just fine. But the contract is signed and it will be in place next year.

Another issue that i would "run" with is of course our representation and our possible job prospect's in what is a very bleak and unforgiving nation. The country seem's to be fucking us over. We may possibly loose our pay in 4th year. The class size for next year's first year has dropped by 300 nationwide. This drive's up the leaving certificate points making it a harder course to get into. Irish nurse's are slowly becoming a rarity in our own hospitals as all of our graduate's run to place's like australia. The tax payer pay's for 3 years of free education, then a partial salary that's taxed (i don't get that bit) and then with no guaranteed job the Newly qualified nurse moves to a country with a far better health care system and is unlikely to come back. Yes that is a wonderful system. I am very likely to do the same. I have a easy ticket with my sister marrying an Aussie and "owning" a house (as of yesterday) there. Although i welcome an irish contingent of hot nurse's i know joining me, i feel it's not right for this country to train us and then see us fuck off for an affordable life? If anything i would increase the nursing places and HEAVILY ENCOURAGE MALE'S to join. The rate is shocking, 10% or less compared to 40% in most of the western world. The profession needs male's. Pead's (care of children) needs make figures, Psych need's males (for strength and similar male figure status) and general need's us also for a more balanced work force. But yet few even think about it. It's madness. I may not want to continue at it but i feel it is a good job, it's very difficult and it is sometimes emotionally draining but it can be worth while, especially child care.




The Leher Circle:


An odd little thing i would like to mike light of. In primary school one of my best friends was the societies Lenn. He introduced me to the hilarious Tom Leher a comedic singer from the 50's. I then introduced Tom Leher to a friend in secondary school who was a best friend of Gammaman who is one of my best friends. In college and in the society Lenn is one of Gammaman's best friends. And i still share the music on to others recently sharing the Elements to Dona to help her learn the periodic table to a well known tune..





Video of the blog: Fever featuring Animal from the muppets: Possibly the funniest clip i know. The timing is just brilliant, it's one of my favorite sketch's ever.




Chow for now.