Skin of Stars

I was shocked to see a recent article by the Daily Mail which they claim finds that councils are abusing anti-terrorist powers to check up on average citizens emails and phone calls. It’s like 1984 all over. At the end of the summer I plan to move all my email correspondence to encrypted formats. I’ll post between now and then with advice for all others who would like to keep a little bit of privacy in their lives before we are all routinely monitored.

I remember how low I felt during the 2004 American elections. I knew Bush was going to win and because world affairs are so tied up in American policy, I knew the dark times were going to continue. Now I can’t help but feel good at seeing the loss of The House to the Democrats and (as I write this) the Senate hanging in the balance with it also likely to go to the left, unless of course the Republicans can manage another of their legal comebacks.

Even better though is the recent announcement that Donald Rumsfeld, the warmonger himself, is going to stand down in face of the defeats. So not only is Bush going to be a lame duck with some seriously clipped wings but perhaps the guiltiest party in such fiascos as the Abu Ghraib cover-ups is out, out, out! I think I can see some light at the end of this dark tunnel.

I think I’ll also mention that others that I have spoken to tend not to know the difference between the two parties, or simply can’t remember who’s which. I came up with this simple mnemonic:
Democrats – Greece created democracies where they discussed the meaning of life and were generally quite liberal, though the boys had a tendency to sleep with other boys.
Republican – Rome created the republic where they beat the rest of the world into submission and perhaps built Europe’s ‘greatest’ empire, suffered from bit of religious militancy.

Oh my god! Webcameron, you have got to be kidding. The latest propaganda tool from the conservatives is the ‘personal’ video blog of their illustrious leader. Extra homely realism is provided with him washing up and background screaming children. I’m sure there was always an unspoken rule of not using your kids as political tools, but this man is really pulling out all the stops. They’ve clearly tried to stop it from seeming to be a propoganda by branding the whole thing in pink, but the videos are so obviously staged. Little clipped references to recycling, etc. This is clearly aimed at the YouTube generation, but frankly its all a little sickening, especially when you think about the amount of time and money that must have gone into the programming and building of it. Its not based at blogger, thats for sure. He goes on about how ‘shaky’ it all is (cue cameraman wobble, or is that cameronman) and to top it off with true web2.0 aspirations, its not just called webcameron, its Webcameron BETA! I mean, really, does he think we were born last week?

Well, first things first. We have a new/old blogger on the circuit. Ram Skate Raider has stated his/her own blog where we can expect a contemptuous view of Thanet and all around.

Ok, with that out the way I’ll give you all some bigger news. There is a Manston Parish Council public meeting being held this Thursday with with a heavy emphasis on the highway aspects of the new housing estate thats to be built at Westwood Cross. This new estate is going to seriously impact on Thanet. Probably one of the biggest impacts is going to be the increased load on the already clogged roads in the area, especially the carpark we call Haine Road. Attending the meeting will be a senior officer of East Kent Highways. Also attending will be Charles Hibberd, County Councillor and as an extra treat, probably Roger Gale amongst others. I also expect Ladyboy to avoid this like the plague as there will be constituants present and God forbid he’d be around them without a photo-op showing him in a good light.

If you want to attend (there were around 70 people at the last), it will begin at 7pm at the Hoverspeed Club in Manston. This is your chance to come and say your thing and experience first hand what it’s like to be flatly ignored by those who’s wages you pay for out of your taxes.