Cynicism is the death of humanity

I used to have this slogan on my wall as a fresher, displayed as if it were some kind of ward against a disease. I’m not convinced it did me any good, but I can certainly see the value in making the statement right now, as I seem to have been overcome with an immense amount of this destructive emotion. Almost everything my mind turns to becomes framed with accusations of shallowness, of being out of touch, of being motivated in selfishness; myself, those around me, initiatives that I’m variously involved with, and several that I’m not. It sucks!

The BNP, Free Speech, and BBC Question Time

A senior government member has struck out at the BBC’s Question Time for its invite to BNP leader Nick Griffin, who is currently due to appear on the 22nd October edition of the program. Peter Hain wants the BNP’s invitation rescinded because they aren’t a lawful organisation, due to a court ruling over their constitution.

Poll: Topical Matters

Time for another poll. I took some of the most common categories, bundled a few similar ones and want to know which people who read this blog want to hear about the most. This isn’t so I just focus on them, and to be honest, I’m more curious than anything. Anyhow, here it is…

Blog Action Day: The Environment

Its proving rather difficult to work out what to write about with regards to the environment today. I suppose I really ought to, seeing as I signed up for Blog Action Day months ago, and I voted for this very subject to be included. But the environment is a big thing, a powerful force in our lives, but to one extent a very fragile one. For decades, people have been calling on others to “do it for the planet”, but we still manage to make things worse to the extent that Climate Change now threatens humanities very existence.

Transcendence comes of age

Many of you will know that I spend some of my time working on a monthly service called Transcendence in York Minster, a blending of traditional high church worship with modern ambient music, mood lighting and interactive prayer activities. For all its newness, Transcendence is threatening to become routine, or it was until last Sunday.

Israel declares war permanent

Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s Foreign Minister, has told Israelis that the conflict between Israel and Palestine is not going to be resolved. Citing the example of Cyprus, he has called on Israelis to stop seeking peace and make the best of his countries oppression of the Palestinians. In a sense, this isn’t anything new, but it would be easy to see this as merely an admission of hopelessness, rather than a calculated position for Israel to put itself in.

Dividing Economic and Employment Recovery

Economics is not my strong point, but I think its worth digging into one of the assumptions being made by the media, especially in the language it uses whilst debating signs of an economic recovery. We here about economic recovery, and we assume this is good for the mere mortals at the bottom of the chain, but does this really hold truth? (With apologies to Naomi Klein from whom I learnt most of this).

Winning Kingsnorth, Winning the Struggle

The dust has now settled after the shock announcement that Kingsnorth is going nowhere for 3 years at least. Naturally I’m delighted, to the extent that I raided my alcohol supply for a swift one and bounced around the living room with my housemate. But politics is complicated and victories rarely more than partial. Also, sorry for lack of posts, life is just moving too quickly. Edit: And now we’re back in shock mode, as the Telegraph announces BAA’s decision to scrap the Third Runway at Heathrow. This post is probably only more timely because of it.

Could power black outs ever be helpful?

I’ve seen more than one article or comment recently stating loudly and clearly that the problem isn’t solving Climate Change, its solving the power black outs that will become a reality if we continue to use electricity at our current rate. The mind set is one of utter presumption: I must be able to get electricity when I want it! But this cannot continue to be the mind set for much longer…

Tories face Fraud-Charity Smear over Atlantic Bridge

This morning, as I settled down to catch up on the world, having slept two hours longer than I should have, a labourite friend’s twitter screamed at me with the following: “The Tory scandal the media are too scared to touch” – an obscure charity called Atlantic Bridge, set up by now-shadow defence secretary Liam Fox, designed to promote the special relationship so many of us loathe.