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A Big-Mouthed Politically-Incorrect Blog About the UK... ...it may be crap, but at least it's genuine crap! |
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A Big-Mouthed Politically-Incorrect Blog About the UK... ...it may be crap, but at least it's genuine crap! |
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About Contact Links Caveat The DR Manifesto...Manifesto I'm not standing for office. I'd be a shite politician, partly because I'm unpleasantly honest and partly because I hate wearing suits... If I wasn't, this is what I'd be campaigning on... (26 Feb 2007) 'Please let my Mother live!'...Environment There's only one way to ensure our survival as a species - live sustainably. It's easy! Nuclear Idiocy (15 January 2007) Sustainability (16 October 2006) Global Warming (15 October 2006) Housing Shortage (15 October 2006) Cycle Paths (11 October 2006) Tourism (10 October 2006) Main Topics...Make Drugs Legal Prohibition doesn't work, duh! It gives too much money to organised crime... Updated: Letter to the Telegraph 'Alcohol and Tobacco are the gateway drugs - if there is such a thing...' (Upd: 11 Mar 2006) Errant Fathers How can fathers be expected to 'take responsibility' for their kids when the law always presumes in favour of the mother? I got a reply - and here's my reply to that Welfare and Compensation Culture = No Legal Responsibility (Upd: 11 Mar 2007) A New Political System A solution for: Party Funding, Reform of The House Of Lords, and it incidentally makes the whole voting process far more democratic... (Upd: 25 Feb 2007) Principles My principles of government. (Upd: 25 Feb 2007) Road Pricing Tony Blair and the entire Labour Government are cretins... Road pricing has to be the most hare-brained scheme ever - devised by the evil cretinous muppets from hell - the Politicians... (19 Feb 2007) Old People Old folks have no respect in our culture. That is so wrong!... (18 Feb 2007) Poverty How do we define poverty? How do we reduce it? Well, not taxing the poor would help... (18 Feb 2007) Europe The EU is a criminal organisation intent on conquest... (Upd: 30 January 2007) Cash for Honours Why would anyone give money to a political party?.. (16 January 2006) Social Security A fresh approach to the problem of how to provide social security... (15 January 2006) David Cameron David Cameron and the Conservative Party... (12 December 2006) Random Rants Some random musings... (12 November 2006) Prisons If prisoners are 'paying their debt to society' - why is is so damn expensive to keep them? (21 October 2006) Tax Taxes kill businesses and people. (16 October 2006) Free Speech Some peoples brains work overtime trying to figure out how to turn opinions into insults... (14 October 2006) Health Why are tax-payers footing the bill for sex-change operations and IVF? (13 October 2006) Law British law is stupidly complex and inefficient. You'd never design a system like that... (13 October 2006) Education Educators need to aim higher, and politicians need to butt-out. (12 October 2006) Security It was a no-brainer that invading Iraq with Bush would cause more grievances than it solved. When has starting a war ever brought peace? (8 October 2006) |
Free Speech in the UK?14 October 2006 The current climate of cultural paranoia in the UK allows free speech to be seen as a thing that should be be limited and controlled - but then it's not free speech any more is it! This week, two people have been vilified in the press: 
Jack Straw (MP - Leader of the House of Commons)- said he thought muslim women shouldn't wear face-coverings (niqab) because it hindered social interaction... Body language and facial expressions are a crucial part of how humans communicate. If you can't see someones face - you're not able to communicate as effectively. Maybe you could get used to it - and I guess they must in niqab-wearing cultures... 
The Guardian says 'Singling out women who wear the niqab as an obstacle to the social integration of Muslims is absurd and dangerous' - WHAT??? He didn't say that! Why do people twist other peoples words to make it sound worse? How can misrepresenting things be better than speaking your mind. It seems to have become totally acceptable for people to have a 'victim-mentality' - and then twist other peoples words so their pet fears are legitamised. 
The guardian also says, ...the niqab is a drastic option and one that many Muslim women reject. It is the response of a minority who feel that they are living in a hostile climate. ...a tiny minority of women who are often the most fearful... Sounds to me like the biggest barrier to successful integration is that perception of a hostile climate... Wearing the niqab is very much a statement of piety, and of separation from a world they see as corrupt. They don't want to interact with that culture - that's the point of the niqab. 
It's not Jack Straw who's expressing a statement of disapproval - it's those who wear a niqab. Jack was just saying that communication is more difficult if you can't see someones face - and I think that's probably a verifiable fact. However, it is anyones right, as I see it, to do what they want - as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. It should equally be an employer's right to choose who he wants to employ - based on whatever criteria they decide. As an employer I would not want to employ someone who wears a niqab because it would make communication more difficult both on professional and a personal level. An employer should be able to choose to not employ someone they can't banter with! How ironic that we have this cultural paranoia over 'insulting-islam' (to the point where some councils banned nativity plays in primary schools because it might offend muslims!), while gleefully bombing muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq, and allowing Israel to do it in Lebanon & Gaza... During the Israel-Hezbolla conflict this year, the UK government even allowed the refuelling of planes carrying bombs to Israel, knowing that children were dying. Not to mention going along with Guantanamo Bay, and the illegal 'rendition' and torture of suspected 'terrorists' by the USA's secret services. 
Graham Norton- said he thought Ecstasy was ...just great - really, really fun! The National Drug Prevention Alliance - a campaign group - said it was "staggered" by his views. Well, they should try some then! Instead of all this self-righteous chest-beating, they should get themselves over to Ibiza for a foam party and bosh a few pills... If even if they don't love it, they could at least meet lots of nice people who do, and maybe they'll learn to respect peoples right to live how they want... The charity DrugScope said celebrities should acknowledge that for many people there was "a downside to drug use". Perhaps if Graham had said '...but I felt shit the next day' - it would have been ok...
CommentsThis is a sporadically moderated blog. I am not responsible for anything below! Not a niqabJust a quick point. Why is it that in my local newsagents in Hackney every day women wearing a niqab are served every day, yet the one time I go in with a balaclava on SO19 get called?! By Robbie Smith on 27 December 2006 To add your own comments, click here to login or register |
