The Angry Dome

Excuses, excuses...

2007-06-10T14:51:00.000Z

So, I've not posted for a while. But this time there's a good reason for it.

I have unfortunately been 'sans ordinateur' for the last three weeks courtesy of a combination of a graphical cock-up with my comparatively archaic copy of WoW wreaking havoc with my graphics and the fact that the service dept. of the shop where I bought my Mac took three weeks to discover what I had worked out just a few days after I sent it off.

Also, I've recently spent some time in hospital due to my asthma condition. I am now on the mend though, and back to work tomorrow. Sorry for missing some of the absolute gems that came to pass during my absense (I'm looking at you, London 2012 logo!) but rest assured that once I am fit and well once more I'll be back here posting with a vengeance. Or something.

Grey, Boring and Indifferent...

2007-05-05T11:07:00.000Z

...the new names for the Labour, Tory-Fascist and Liberal Democrat parties respectively.

As someone who discovered they we're most likely to grow up to become some tedious stat monkey working for a faceless global corporation, I discovered that I had a sincere interest in politics from a young age. But recent times have seen me begin to inadvertently
relapse into a childish state where I no longer give a damn about who runs the country, who's in charge of local government or indeed which muppet decided it was a good idea to limit refuse collection to once every fortnight.

After all, we all know that it won't make one iota of difference anyway, they're all equally capable of screwing the country and failing to represent a significant percentage of the population.

I hate to say it, but apathy has begun to set it.

When people marked their 'X' on their polling slips this week, all they were really doing was selecting a new face for the same words. The only tangible difference between the three major political contenders is the colour of their rosette, and as they each drift slowly yet unerringly towards the Right we in turn drift towards the blighted wasteland of apathy.

In all seriousness, people are generally more likely to vote for the candidate they like the most on a personal level, regardless of their political ideals, and inevitably politics has become more about building a cult of personality (much like Stalin) than about effective policy making.

As the nation becomes more and more interested in bandwagoneering and buzz words, manifestos have evolved to accommodate this. The average voter is more concerned about when we're going to get rid of the Muslims and immigrants than they are about economic policy.

And who exactly is benefiting from this? Only the Right. The more a party promises to eject the immigrants and Muslims the more popular it becomes. Support for the Tory-Fascist party has significantly increased as of late and support for far-Right parties such as the BNP has been on the increase for some time now.

It is not hard to draw parallels to the rise of the Nazi party from the current situation in Britain. But this leaves us with a serious question that we as voters must answer. Is it right to vote against what we believe for what we think is in the best interest of the country, or do we abandon our democratic rights and sit back and smile as the country falls into the hands of the Witch Hunters?

Relaxed Muscle

2007-04-21T10:28:00.001Z

So...this week the American gun lobby completely lost the plot.

In a breath-taking display of ignorance, Gun Owners of America executive director Larry Pratt called for gun laws on American university campuses to relaxed rather than tightened. As reported in The Daily Mail, he has attempted to justify his call by claiming that the massacre could have been ended had the students been allowed to carry weapons.

It seems the idea of changing US gun legislation to prevent Joe Average from purchasing lethal weaponry from the local store completely eludes Mr Pratt, whose brains are evidently made of jam. The full official statement issued by the GOA goes on to turn the country's single most deadly gun massacre into a chance to snipe at the Democrats, essentially claiming that the massacre is giving the Democrat controlled Congress another opportunity to
crack down on America's liberal gun laws.

The 'logic' Mr. Jam for Brains appears to be displaying is that if you gave everyone in a university a firearm, they'd eventually filter out all the nut-jobs and open up a can of vigilante-style whoop-ass on them.

The gaping hole in this argument, and might I add one that only a total imbecile would miss, is that once the first shot is fired, panic ensues, ultimately leaving you with a body count twice the size of what it may have been with just one gunman as a hail of bullets flies in both directions.

It is apparent to me, and also to all straight-thinking people, that the only option the US has is to impose draconian anti-gun legislation to attempt to get the situation under control. However, as the saying goes, 'you reap what you sow', and the massively out-dated constitution America holds so dear will only cause their gun problem to spiral even further out of control.

Any amendment to the constitution, it seems, is an infringement to somebody's rights. A right to life is, in this case, out of the question.

You have to ask what those who vigourously defend their right to bear arms are crying about. They claim it's their right to protect themselves with lethal weaponry, but fail to see that were firearms not so readily available or indeed, illegal, they wouldn't have to defend themselves in the first place.

Maybe those that defend their right to lethal weapons simply do so because they themselves harbour twisted fantasies of one day committing their very own atrocity.

Uncle Pat.

Cold on the Warming

2007-04-15T10:34:00.000Z

I've been weighing this up for a while now, and it just doesn't seem to make any sense. Yes, global warming is (un)officially bollocks.

Throughout the course of natural history our relatively diminutive planet has faced constantly changing extremes in temperature (unless you're a Christian, in which case the ice-age didn't happen and neither did dinosaurs. God just put the evidence there to fool the unbelievers) and in not one of these cases can the change be attributed in any way to human activity.

Let me put this into perspective. In the early 1800s Britain went through a concerted period of industrialisation. Factories were built, goods were produced in larger numbers than ever before and the entire landscape of industry in this country, and ultimately the world, was forever changed. Yet despite the relatively phenomenal increase in carbon emissions there was no change whatsoever in global temperature.

Ok, so you might argue that the fact that global climate at this time remained unchanged is because Britain is geographically speaking a very tiny nation. But it wasn't long until the rest of what we now consider to be the international heavy-weights followed suit, and still no change.

So, could it in fact be the case that we are simply facing yet another natural change in global climate in our ever-evolving world? It seems somewhat pompous to declare that it is indeed the human race, and in particular the 'Western' world, that is causing this change when a volcano can belch forth smoke and ash into the atmosphere which on the scale of things equals the carbon emissions of the entire planet in just one day. And even then, within one year all this 'damage' to the environment is dispersed and neutralised by the planet naturally, without human aid.

So, in fact, the damage we are doing to the planet is negligible.

Simply put, the Global Warming scare, and a scare is precisely what it is, an international scam aimed, once more, at keeping the impoverished nations that make up Africa in check. The Western world has prevented third world countries from industrialising by playing the GW trump card. The repercussions of this are immense and too diverse to go into in one post, but essentially, should Africa industrialise the Western world will gradually lose it's strangle hold on the third world as they begin to look after themselves and earn an independence they have not known for generations.

Global powers such as Britain and the US cannot allow this to happen. They wear the 'World Police' badge with pride, and chances are it will not be relinquished any time soon.

Signing off for now, more to come...

A Tealight Under the Cauldron

2007-04-09T09:46:00.000Z

The waters may be less than luke warm by now, but it seemed about time to test them once more not just to see if they were ready to boil once more, but also to see if the spies of the not-so-glorious Third Reich of the Farnham University College for the Creative Arts (or indeed FUCCA) were still spying on me.

Lets consider the past 18 or so months to be a somewhat necessary extended leave of absence from the blogging community in this particular guise of mine. Yes, the past glories of the mighty Dome could not be permitted to just sink unnoticed into the online septic tank responsible for clogging so many of the tubes we know make up the internets.

Anyway, like a giant electronic shoe horn (except it's designed for blogs not shoes) I'll be slipping the Dome back into action at a gradual pace. Essentially, think of it as the 'Somewhat Bemused Dome' for now, but fear not, it will again grow into the Angry Dome you know and love, or in some cases hate.

That's it for the opening gambit, the re-launch cometh this week.

Uncle Pat.

Kicking and screaming...

2005-05-16T13:24:00.000Z

I was wondering how many people are familiar with the phenomenon that is internet 'friend' network sites. In particular, I am talking about Myspace.

Basically these sites offer commoners like you (possibly) and I the opportunity to communicate with bands, singers etc who have profiles, as well as meet like minded people and in some cases date them.

Some of you may remember, or be aware of Friendster, which became notorious for it's possible paedo community and the numerous stalkers who incessantly badgered other users.

We've all heard the horror stories of young girls who meet someone from the net in person and it turns out they're a 50 year-old child botherer. But it's hard, almost impossible, to determine whether the person you're talking to is genuine.

As a Myspace punter, I have met some very interesting people with the same eclectic music tastes as myself, some local, some from far away, and there's a part of me that wants to bugger off to the Wirral for a weekend to meet them. Especially when it says under their 'here for' section 'dating' and 'serious relationships'.

The other part of me, though, warns me that I'll probably be disappointed. Plus the fact that the bank manager said no...

Mind you, being a student, I'm prone to bouts of impulsive stupidity, so you never know...

Exercise or exorcise

2005-05-05T16:26:00.000Z

Well today is polling day and our chance to have our say in how the government is run. I'm not here to tell you who to vote for (though you have to consider whether you want the country to be run by one of the undead) but what I will say is bloody well get out there and vote. Exercise your democratic rights, don't exorcise them (you see where I'm coming from now, eh?).

Furthermore, for god's sake don't vote tactically. You may think a vote for Green is a waste but consider the fact that there are bound to be loads of 'closet' Green supporters who vote Lib Dem just to keep the Tories out. If everyone voted for what they believed in, the world would be in a much different state.

That's about all I wanted to say. So to all of you who're yet to vote, go out and do it god damnit! And, not that I want to sway you, vote Socialist Alliance!

Every cloud etc...

2005-04-23T14:05:00.000Z

I've by and large been too busy to post recently, this week has been absolutely non-stop.

After the belting gig I went to last week, where I interviewed The Subways I went, as a follow up to interview BlackBud, the other band who won the Glasto battle of the bands last year, in Reading. The interview went really well, and the next day I file my feature with Spill.

Then I get a phone call saying that they need pics for the feature, and they ask me if I know a photographer I can take to their gig at The Borderline in London. All expenses paid, and I have to do nothing in return apart from chapperone the snapper. Considering my resignation from Sketch, you'd think I'd be pretty bummed, but this has actually been one of the best weeks ever for my prospective career.

In other news, it's good to see that the vatican are making well thought out decisions on their choice of pope. What's that you say? Homosexuality is fundamentally evil? Contraception is evil? Excellent, another hard line, right wing pope. One day the church will arrive in the 21st century, until then, well at least they always choose an old git who's only got a few years left for pope.

Perhaps one of the finer moments this week, in the news anyway, was the bit in Michael Howard's (aka Dracula) speech that went something like:

"On May 5 make a stand for change...vote Conservative."

Brilliant.

Subway to Heaven

2005-04-13T15:33:00.000Z

Life is good. Life is awesome.

No that's not me being ironic, it's me being the jammiest bastard around right now. Not only am I on the guestlist for tomorrows Subways gig (see link bar) but I also got a call from Spill Magazine who asked me to review and interview the band on how the year following last years triumph in the Glasto battle of the bands has been. That in itself is truly legendary, I mean how many students can boast that they've been randomly phoned up and offered a job?

What makes it better, though, is the fact they've offered me the chance to go to Reading on Monday and interview another band (whos name evades me at the moment) and offered me the chance to report from Glastonbury for them. Me, a Glastonbury correspondent. Get in!

Now all I have to do is work out how the hell I'm gonna get a larger than life cut-out of Boris Johnson for this years totem. Suggestions to the usual address...

Glastonbury here we come

2005-04-08T13:00:00.000Z

Well I don't know about you, but I bagged me a couple of Glasto tickets on Sunday. I can't wait. It was awesome last year, and with The White Stripes headlining and Bloc Party also playing, it is set to be even awesomer.

It took nearly two hours of phoning, and just as I was about to lose all hope I thought the internet deserved another bash. Straight through. Oh yes! You beauty! Myself and a matey mate are off to the biggest and best party in the world.

In other music related news, I'm off to see The Subways next week. I was going with three friends but annoyingly one has to work and one of the others can't make it because, well his band has been asked to support!

All of which should make it easier to stroll backstage for an interview with the main event despite being on the guestlist. Yeah that's right, I'm up there in the music world.

What's more, I'll also get a chance to check the NME hyped Battle. Roll on Thursday!

Keeping the bandwagon rolling

2005-04-02T01:06:00.000Z

I've been frequenting the Notes From Kaizer for a while now, and in response to a post there I have decided to add coal to the furnaces of the gravy train and keep the link exploring coming.

Now readers of my previous posts should know that I'm not a big fan of religion. I am a student, meaning I drink, swear, blaspheme and generally sin like crazy 24/7. That's why I find sites like this absolutely brilliant. Ignorant people are funny, and often ignorant people are religious, after all that's what religion is all about. Along with this you find a lot of religious people in the States, a country obviously unable to learn from past mistakes. On this site young Josh (he might be old, but saying he's young gives him an excuse for foolishness) appears to be ranting continuously about the evils of alcohol. Apparently Jesus didn't turn water into wine, and if he did we wouldn't know about it because the disciples were all lightweights and would obviously have got completely hammered on a single beaker before attempting to push Jesus into the canal in a trolley.

Unfortunately I know a man who looks just like Jesus (and therefore is him) who works as a barman and performs the miricle of transmuting sobriety into drunken revelry on a daily basis.

Wow! Neo fell in love with this?! How shallow...

Hmm, funny how all these bad, bad blogsites are from america. Anyone for more Catholicism?> Am I the only one who finds all of this gobshite a wee bit patronising?

I'd better stop before this turns into an anti Christian rant...

Holy Roller Novocaine

2005-03-25T10:29:00.000Z

Has anyone else heard about this God theme park that's supposed to be being built in Yorkshire? It is genius. According to an article in Wednesdays Guardian, mad woman Andrea Webster has already blown £100k of her own cash on the project and throughout the course of Holy Week is expecting a million christians to donate £144 each.

Now excuse my cynisism, but this idea is bollocks. Considering that only 50% of the nation understand the Easter story, this has to be one of the worst times to plan such a farce. Perhaps a better time for this park would have been the dark ages, when the excitement of the proposed holy roller coaster based on the story of Jonah would come from the fact that you would be relying on god to save you.

Much like the drafting in of celebreties such as Bono to promote Christianity is going to have no effect on the youth of Britain, the idea that this park will make the Bible exciting and more appealing to youngsters is a joke. This is simply cynical way of prying more money out of the misguided segment of the country to fill some neo-capitalists pockets.

In my mind a real Christian, rather than blowing £100k on her ego, would invest the money in something that's going to help someone, like the NHS, or a cyanide pill.

Damn you 56k dial-up!

2005-03-22T20:59:00.000Z

I'd just like to point out that while WoW does work on 56k, it only does so with mega death lag of doom. Looks like I'm stuck with Metal Gear 3 for the next two weeks then.

Hands up if you're going to die soon

2005-03-21T15:08:00.000Z

I received a particularly unwelcome leaflet through my front door today. More unwelcome than say, a booklet telling me I'm living in sin and must convert to some crazy cult (ie Mormanism) or my eternal soul will be damned forever (I am an atheist with Buddhist sympathies by the way). This leaflet was encouraging me (if I'm over 50 and therefore likely to be dead within the next 20 years) to make or change my will so that it favours The Institute of Cancer Research (I would link but I don't want to give them any attention).

Essentially, if I was over 50, there is no way I'd leave anything to these murderous assholes if my life depended on it (which it may, ironically). The reason? Well for starters I'm not an evil sadist who thinks it's ok to give an innocent animal, usually a stump-tailed macaque, a debilitating illness to prolong my own life, I'm not a lich after all. For mains, I have Buddhist sympathies which basically means I believe in reincarnation, that all life is equally valuable etc. so killing a monkey is the same as killing a human. And for dessert, well, they can piss right off.

The only thing I would ever leave them is a life-long legacy of crippling debt and a loaded gun so they can research into the percentage chance of a human surviving a self-administered bullet to the head.

What really made me laugh about the whole thing was the complete contradiction in terms the leaflet provided. In the first paragraph, in fact it's the first sentence, it states that failing to create a will will cause unnecassary problems for your family, ie all your possessions and money will go straight to the government rather than to your family who, lets face it, are less likely to spend it on bombing the Middle East.

Then on the third page it's telling you to forget your family and give them your spare five grand or that original Constable you have stashed in the attic for a rainy day. So in summary, they're telling you to look after your family by giving them nothing but a hefty funeral bill.

The real point of this rant, though, is for god's sake don't give anything to cancer research charities. Don't even spend money on the petrol required for a Molotov cocktail to chuck through their window. Ignore them and, hopefully, they'll all go away.

I have seen first hand the horrible effects of cancer research. I used to work for world famous ape rescue centre, Monkey World as the lemur keeper when I was 16. Often when I finished my shift I would go down and chat with my colleagues at the 'stumpy' enclosure. Most of these macaques had been rescued from research laboratories like those run by the numerous cancer research charities and were all in a bad way. They all looked so depressed. They had been chosen for testing for no other reason than that they were not as easy on the eye as say a squirrel monkey is. They had been tested on because they were ugly.

While I accept that cancer is a horrible illness, is it possible to justify taking five lives to save one? I know that my Buddhist outlook makes me think in these terms, but to put it another way: if all of your friends who were not particularly aesthetically pleasing were taken away and given cancer to save one monkey, how would you feel? You wouldn't exactly be jumping for joy that's for sure. Especially if you were one of the ugly friends.

Driving home for Easter

2005-03-19T23:14:00.000Z

Well, I've made the brave journey home from Farnham to Bloxworth and now I'm happily benefitting from the joys of family life.

These joys being, of course, regular hot (and more importantly) nutritious meals which I don't have to cook myself, having all my washing done for me (and ironed for the first time in ages) and generally being able to sleep without a lethal weapon by my side.

All of which would be truly legendary were it not for the lack of broadband. Anyone who may have read my previous posts will know that I have a problem. I am hopelessly adicted to the joys of the internet, particularly the new era of gaming that has come with it. I am (whisper it) a nerd.

At home we don't have broadband. Not because my Dorset family is afraid of this new-fangled witchcraft and believe there is a catch somewhere. No, in fact Bloxworth has long been enjoying the delights of electrictity and running water since Jimmy the hamster was brought in to run in the wheel that powered the turbine down the road in 1968. It's simply because BT haven't yet considered us yokels far enough evolved to comprehend broadband internet.

Instead we have 56k dial-up. This means that whenever my mum needs to make a call, or is even expecting a call, internet access is banned. It has taken me a grand total of two hours just to gain access to my blog today. I thought the coast was clear, clicked connect, and after less than three minutes an irritated voice sounded from down the hallway: "Who's on the internet?" I twitched as the anger started to build, I'd pre-booked 'net time yesterday, she knew I needed it. Calming myself down, I disconnected and went and hid away for an hour while she gossiped on the phone. Fair enough, it happens, but when your dad has to step in to defend your 'net time second time round because you're about to get booted off again (after less than two minutes) because your mum wants him to phone the bank, it seems a little silly.

So anyway, I'm here in this tiny village, with access to none of my virtual friends, with no Xbox Live and most importantly, no World of Warcraft. This is like cold turkey, but it's worse. At least junkies can visit their local dealer and get caned any time any place. My addiction stems from something I can't have, broadband. Two weeks without my alternative reality, without escapism. What am I to do?

It does, however, say on the box that WoW is compatible with 56k modems...could I be saved?

Episode III: Revenge of the Cynic

2005-03-15T14:18:00.000Z

I was reading a piece on Guardian Unlimited about the Portrait of the student as a young swot and feel it is important to point out that we're not all as godly as those they chose to write about.

Perhaps the most glaringly obvious mistake they made while researching the piece was failing to interview a first year student. From my experiences in what some might refer to as a university (I don't), I have seen a very different picture, from first years at least.

The first house I lived in during my first year was made completely untenable by two of my fellow residents who insisted on getting smashed off their faces literally every night, being as loud as possible, getting up at 3pm and taking class A substances in our kitchen.

This certainly doesn't add any weight to their notion of the student as a young swot. I am being harsh, though. There was a significant proportion of the good to go up against the bad, and suffice to say, most got through to the second year. The thing is, you only really get the real bums in the first year, which is very much an exercise in sorting the wheat from the chaff. The guy who always watched DVDs and played games is gone, as is the tit who spent most of his time chain smoking gaspers.

Look hard enough, though, and you will find the ones who slipped through the net. The accomplice of the spliff chuffing monkey boy, one of the two who made my life hell for my first term, and the odd one who got away with a piss poor result in a vital exam.

Call me a competetive bastard, but I would have liked to have seen more people ejected from their courses after year one. But it seems this uni is too soft on such issues, particularly on my course where it seems virtually impossible to fail. Maybe it's because my standards are too high, or maybe it's simply because it's a poncey art college.

Charidee begins at home, not on the high street

2005-03-12T13:52:00.000Z

I watched BBC Comic Relief last night. And I do mean watched. I was up until 4am, compulsively absorbing all they had to offer like some kind of comedy sponge. It struck me that this is the way to make people take notice of the world, and the awful torment many people go through in Africa, and the UK. Interspersing the comic genius of godlike titan, Simon Pegg, with genuinely moving films that brought me to the verge of tears, and still do now just thinking about it. This will make people actually want to give, not because of some guilt trip, but out of genuine compassion.

Thinking about this not only made me give, but also made me think about the approaches of other charities. Generally they do good work, with the exception of course of Cancer Research UK, who are a shower of bastards (but that's a rant for another day), but their methods of raising funds strike me as a bit wrong.

Everyone has been accosted in the street by someone in a bib with a clipboard trying to persuade you with your hard earned, or borrowed if you're a student, cash. But it's not a one off payment of couple of quid like it used to be, it's £10 a month or more. While most of us will happily pop a pound in a collection box, we generally don't want to be emotionally blackmailed into giving away our bank details. And for what? We've just given them over £100 a year (which is about the same amount I spend on Christmas presents) out of a feeling of guilt. Comic Relief make us laugh for a one-off payment of however much we can afford, street charities make us feel guilty for a constant stream of cash, straight from our bank accounts.

That can't feel good. It's true that money's money, and when it's being given to those less fortunate that's great. But it must be like being payed off by the Mafia to not testify against them. It's emotional blood money. It's going to a good cause, true, but with so many guilt trip merchants shamelessly preying on those who don't have money anyway (like us students) how long will it be before they have to set up a charity to support the givers?

Oh Christ, I'm a crappy journalist

2005-03-10T15:40:00.000Z

I almost had a heart failure last night. I found myself watching Channel 4 News, which was bad enough, when I heard Jon Snow announce that the IRA had caused outrage (again) by saying they would 'shoot' the murderers of Robert Mugabe.
"WHAT!" I cried. "Mugabe's dead! When the hell did that happen, why didn't I know? I'm a shite journalist! And why do the IRA want to 'shoot' his assassins? They're heroes!" After I calmed down and took the time to watch the footage of 'Mugabe's' widow, I realised she was white...and Irish.
The illusion was over. I felt even more of a fool. Robert McCARTNEY. Woah, I know about that, it happened ages ago. That's ok then. Is it? Not really... this guy is dead, he was innocent, and me and my housemate had just spent the last ten seconds laughing. At our own foolishness, of course, but laughing nonetheless.
What the IRA were offering was not a solution but a quick, easy escape route for themselves so they could feel better without truly vindicating McCartney's widow. A high profile court case was not what the IRA needed, but equally breaking the ceasefire agreement wasn't going to help anyone. It's lucky Mrs. McCartney wasn't looking for a quick fix to the situation.
It all ended on a high, though, when my housemate, who is also a Journalist and so will remain nameless, piped up after the story: "Who's Robert Mugabe?"

A whole lot of nothing

2005-03-07T15:35:00.000Z

Haven't posted for a while, but then it is the weekend and therefore time to disengage my brain and cease functioning like a normal human being. It has been a weekend well spent, though. I've designed another three pages of Sketch magazine (the Surrey Institute of Art & Design mag) so that's coming on fine as well as taking up most of my time. I'm no designer, but I have to say it's looking pretty good so far. Other than that it's been a bit of a World of Warcraft fest which has seen me spend two and a half hours just running across the world to pastures greener and little else. In short, everything is ship-shape and if every day was like this, I'd be a very happy man.

Tickling injustice with the stick of angry

2005-03-04T22:51:00.000Z

The problem with maitaining a blog entitled The Angry Dome is that the name suggests the blogger is angry all the time. Unfortunately this is simply not true, particularly at the moment. How can you possibly be angry when the sonic delights of Bloc Party are filling you ears? Oh wait, now The Others are on...politically motivated noise indie railing against the middle and upper classes? Brilliant, here we go...
While not entirely inspired by The Others, I found myself deep in conversation yesterday and putting the world to rights with someone I barely knew, somebody I met after seven or eight pints at the bus stop last week and decided to see again. Her being a struggling writer (think Daisy Steiner, Spaced fans) who is also a vegan and a Green party supporter, me being a pro-communism indie kid who hates pop culture, we had loads to rail about. Agreeing on everything, of course, and disagreeing with everything society can vomit up, the bile was soon flowing liberally. We soon found a moot point however, and both ended up sitting on the fence on one issue: terrorism and when it's right to put someone under house arrest with no solid evidence. At what point is it right to remove rights and liberties? Does skin colour, religion or nationality justify incarceration? Of course not! But why is it our government deems it to be in everyone's best interests to take away these people's liberty? Conversely, what about when it's too late? When someone detonates themself on a bus, killing twenty people, there's nothing that can be done save to condemn their actions and apologise to the familes of those who lost their lives.
Help me draw a line.

Ketamin for everyone...

2005-03-02T23:15:00.000Z

It's so cold in this house...
Where to start? Well first of all I'd like to say how saddened I am about the recent death of Arthur Miller. He was a legendary playwright whom I will sorely miss. I have great memories of studying Death of a Salesman at A-Level, particularly of watching the film, featuring Dustin Hoffman and acting it out (for some odd reason) in my English Literature class.
In other news, I can't say I'm surprised at the recent scandal about the abuse of immigrants at Oakington, it was going to happen. I'm in no way condoning the abuse, but you've got to accept that some people are unable to cope with the high levels of stress that go with a job like that, and the immigrants, since they seem to be regarded as the scum of the earth in this country at the moment, are an easy target at which to vent this frustration. The only surefire solution I can come up with to guarantee that this kind of thing won't flare up again is prescribing both staff and detainees a healthy dose of ketamin. Unorthodox I know, but they'll be completely unable to abuse eachother, sexually or otherwise, if they physically can't get up. I suppose it would all go wrong when they are unable to feed themselves and all die, though. Oh well.
In personal news, my World of Warcraft addiction is still rampant. I am compelled to spend every spare second of my life playing the damn game, which would be fine if I didn't frequently find myself awake at 4am fishing...
I'm not feeling my best today. This is completely down to the fact that I decided to help myself to two hefty mugs of strong proper coffee five minutes before bed last night, but I blame the government for not warning the public that this much caffeine is guaranteed to keep you awake until 5am and unable to function as a normal member of society the next day.
What is keeping me going right now is the beautiful art-rock peddled by Bloc Party, who in my opinion are set to be ten times bigger than Franz Ferdinand with songs like 'Helicopter' and album highlight 'Positive Tension' sounding so much better than 'Take Me Out', and that's coming from a Franz fan. If you want my advice on up and comers, and even if you don't, my advice is to check out the sublime Nine Black Alps for scuzzy indie delights like 'Cosmopolitan' and The Subways for Von Bondies style rawk with a British flavour. Remember you heard it here first, unless of course you're an NME reader in which case you heard it here second.

Over and out...