June 18, 2010
May 04, 2010
Political Meltdown
I saw the headline "I want to create an anti Tory alliance" along with a picture of Gordon Brown. What he was describing was an alliance between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, focused at making sure the Conservatives do not win the 2010 general election.
Now this really got my back up! Not because I am a Tory supporter, and to point out, for the purposes of this post I will do my best to remain impartial.
It got my back up because it really drove home what modern politics is all about. It's not about "what's best for the county," it's not about "what's best for the people" it's about power! It's about those that have it and those that want it!
I see a number of problems with the way things are in our political process which I will address here:
1) The "three parties and then the rest" mentality that has been nurtured by the main parties for years. This leads to the voters feeling that they must vote for one of the three or their vote is wasted.
Now this really got my back up! Not because I am a Tory supporter, and to point out, for the purposes of this post I will do my best to remain impartial.
I see a number of problems with the way things are in our political process which I will address here:
1) The "three parties and then the rest" mentality that has been nurtured by the main parties for years. This leads to the voters feeling that they must vote for one of the three or their vote is wasted.
The public only have themselves to blame on this point as we have allowed the muscle flexing of, the main parties to shroud the others that aren't provided the same voice by the news and media agencies and do not have the financial clout to make their voice heard! So rather than taking the time to find a party that addresses your fears and represents your ideals as a voter the average person ticks the box of the "main party" that comes closest. This is a ridiculous approach to the democratic process as it simply means that, we will spend the rest of our lives compromising on our own ideals and simply voting for the party that is nearest to representing our wishes as opposed to the smaller party that does represent them!
2) Mud-slinging - politics is no longer about attracting people to your party with promises of solid policies, country and economic growth and lifestyle improvement. It's become totally about insulting and smearing the rivals enough to drive voters away from them, then positioning your party to be the next best option in line to collect those votes.
Isn't it about time, in this day and age that a new party emerged, one savvy enough to use initiative to steer this country and not the "caste system" currently in place.
This party would have one goal at its core, to be a voice for the people, and when I say "people" I don't mean the majority you can please just to keep you in power, but the majority of all registered voters.
We live in a time where most of the country has access to the internet, this party would harness this awesome weapon (the internet) to stand apart from the suits at Westminster and provide something that we have not seen and probably never will...Pure Democracy.
Party members would run the day to day administration, but on the major decisions this party would approach the people, at a local and national level. They would present the pros and cons, they would openly provide the opinions of the rival parties and they would ask for the people to vote, as long as a majority is achieved on the subject, this party follows the will of the people.
How hard would it be to setup a super-secure website where people could logon using personal information along with their electoral role I.D, and vote on the decisions that affect their lives. I believe that people would become more involved in the politics of this country, if they felt like there voice mattered.
This is my idea and may have holes and flaws, but I believe there is something wrong with this country and until the system is severely shaken up things will not improve!
Imagine going out for a meal, everyone gets served various dishes relating to their varied incomes. Before you can start eating, the politician to your left reaches over and takes himself a portion from your plate. You're upset about this but you get on with it and eat your meal.
Next the politician invites some random guy off the street and a local lay-about to join your table and orders them up some food.
Then the bill comes around, the lay-about and the guy that walked in from the street declare they are unable to pay. The politician frowns at this situation, reaches into your wallet and pays the whole bill taking a little for himself in the process.
Would you leave this meal happy or would you argue and stand up for yourself??
Unfortunately for a lot of us, this meal happens daily, but we go about our lives hoping that someone else will do something about it, hoping that someone else will stand up and lead us to a better existence. It's time for a true peoples party!
Do you have an opinion on what I've said here? Do you like or dislike my idea for a true peoples party? Feel free to comment below as I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I think it's time for the "Vox populi" to not only be heard, but listened to!
March 01, 2010
Drinks - No.3 The Slapper
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GBH in a glass - The slapper is a cocktail, formulated by Marky B for one purpose only...boozing on a budget.
The slapper name was given to the drink for three reasons, it's cheap, it's nasty and and your likely to regret it in the morning!
The story goes that Marky B was going through a little, "ahem" financial difficulty but wanted to maintain meaningful, drunken relations with his mates. Having made it to the pub with a pocket full of shrapnel and a head full of ideas he began to make enquiries about various drink prices. Having found out that a double shot of Sambucca was £2.50 he decided to add Soda water and a wedge of lime which are both free, making the drink cost a grand total of £2.50.
After four slappers he realised he had struck gold and named his concoction and began telling everyone he was knee-deep in slappers, had just chinned a slapper, had multiple slappers and so on...
Anyway, recipe is below and disclaimer which you really should read before drinking my cocktails
Ingredients:
* Sambucca 50ml
* Soda
* Wedge of Lime
* Ice
Instructions:
Take a tall glass and drop in some ice, add the Sambucca and Soda Water , then throw in the wedge of Lime and enjoy.
Disclaimer:
Please drink respnsibly, I will not be held accountable for any loss or damage to property or health resulting from consumption of this drink.
“Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.” Homer Simpson
The slapper name was given to the drink for three reasons, it's cheap, it's nasty and and your likely to regret it in the morning!
After four slappers he realised he had struck gold and named his concoction and began telling everyone he was knee-deep in slappers, had just chinned a slapper, had multiple slappers and so on...
Anyway, recipe is below and disclaimer which you really should read before drinking my cocktails
Ingredients:
* Sambucca 50ml
* Soda
* Wedge of Lime
* Ice
Instructions:
Take a tall glass and drop in some ice, add the Sambucca and Soda Water , then throw in the wedge of Lime and enjoy.
Disclaimer:
Please drink respnsibly, I will not be held accountable for any loss or damage to property or health resulting from consumption of this drink.
“Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.” Homer Simpson
February 23, 2010
February 11, 2010
February 08, 2010
They Don't Make Music Like They Used To
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Recently I was debating this point with a family member and I've heard this statement a couple of times since. Each time, the person making the statement has been of an older generation, I respect my elders but this statement bugs me, as it always seems like an insult, as if our generation are incapable of producing good music and good musicians.
I believe that the problem (if it can be considered a "problem") is not one of quality but one of availability and fragmenting genre's.
Consider if you will, peoples availablility to music in the "golden" era's for music. In the U.K, musical opinion was driven by radio and what you saw on Top of the Pops. There was only so much music out there and the labels and producers decided what was good, based on how much money they could make. Then the radio stations and tv programs took that music to the people and told them it was good, because the labels and producers said it was.
But like it has with everything else, the internet changed all that. Artists were now able to approach the public directly, build a loyal following, allow that following to listen to their music online and tell that following about the next venue they would be performing at. Artists could cut out the middleman if they chose to, they no longer needed to rely upon a manager, promoter or label to help get noticed, they could simply approach a venue in a town or city directly, get a gig, then easily and quickly get word out to existing fans.
This change lead to the fragmenting of genre's. Artists began with a choice, am I happy to entertain true fans in my niché or shall I try to go for gold making sure my music appeals to everyone. After this, the music does the talking, falling into one of many defined categories of music or maybe crossing categories, combining styles or creating some sort of hybrid style, combining multiple categories at once, needless to say this has lead to a massive increase in the number of styles and recognised genre's of music.
Faced with this overwhelming choice, if you don't know where to find your favoured style it's easy to get lost, and when you get lost, you return to what you know, you stick with the familiar, which is why i theorise that the older generation simply don't know where to find modern music that suites their tastes.
I argue adamantly that modern music is just as good, as the music from bygone era's, you just need to be willing to find some and give it a good listen to with an open mind.
Is there an argument that older or newer music is any better than the other, what do you think?
