You'd Better Watch Out, There May Be Dogs About!

Isn't religion retarded?

Why spend so much time praising some guy, naming a load of people after him, and then lock someone up for naming a stuffed toy, which just happens to have the same name? I mean in no way to be disrespectful, but something tells me that there is a flaw in the logic here...

I don't want to criticise what anyone believes; you can think what you want, who am I to stop you? But if you do chose to believe something, you have to also accept that not everyone will agree with you. Also, you should accept that sometimes you have to waken up. We are not, contrary to certain belief, living in ancient times. One of the many aspects of society is that is changes. And, if religion is to be a part of society, iit too must change.

Ah, but that would be too easy.

I don't have a problem with traditions and being "old-fashioned". I couldn't be patriotic if I did. I do, however, have a problem when people start punishing others for not following a particular tradition.

People today are too wound up in their own beliefs. Everything is taken so seriously, no wonder anything like Monty Python's Life of Brian is such a nice relief. Utopia will probably never be reached, but that is no reason not to strive for it. And a vital part in that is recognising that a certain cliché is true:

Everyone is different.

Yes, we've heard it all before. Pity no one thinks about it. If people would just accept that without definite proof, everyone will have their own theories as to why the universe is how it is. No need - nor reason - to shove your own theory down our throats. And I don't want to blame one religion in particular, nor accuse them all, but most are guilty is one way or another.

Are we such sheep that we allow these evangelists to brainwash us? Wasn't the most powerful country on Earth supposedly set up on freedom and liberty?

Then prove it.

And I shall be free.

Whoa, long break since the last post. What an exciting life I lead...

I guess it's time to comment on the complete fuck up by the government. Or not, to be honest, I don't really know what to add that hasn't been said already - what the hell was the government doing when they sent them by disc? Is e-mail to "modern" for them?

Ok, I know, you've heard it all before. Government department makes a mistake, public outcry, another mistake is made and everyone forgets about the first one. Isn't mass-media wonderful?

I'll stop there since I'm not really in a position to comment on it, since I couldn't really be arsed to listen to all their propaganda. Either way, it probes questions about the government, not so much in its members, but more in its setup.

We all know that countries are too big. How the hell does one president expect to rule a country as big and powerful as America properly? Society functions best when everyone knows each other, and can see the old cliché of "strengths" and "weaknesses" in each other. Yet how small do we want this to get? It's obvious to see that lots of smaller communities will lead to more rivalry, and therefore more war. Yet a larger community will lead to each person's view counting less and less.

I'm all for free speech and democracy, but I can't help feeling that at the moment, one person's view count for less and less. How many people actually read this blog other than myself? Very few, if any I'd imagine. And I know that this is hardly the best place to make a political standpoint, but without a vote (I'm "too young" apparently, despite the fact that I obviously have strong views, and want them heard) I have no other way to express myself. I can think of plenty of ways to rectify this (the most obvious being having anyone who wants to vote younger make a claim to the school, which decides whether the person is mature enough to be able to make his/her own decisions) but that isn't the focus of this post.

So what is the focus of the post? To prove that mankind is hopeless. No matter who we put in charge, we will feel oppressed by this person. What is "freedom"? Whatever it is, we don't have it. We may never have it. Unless of course, we're in charge. Even then, we feel limited.

Why is it that people can't be satisfied with what we have? Why can't we be happy with our current state? I probably sound like I have manic depression, but I can assure you I haven't. However, it's not hard to see that we are stuck in cages, and no one will be freed. Everyone's views are different - if everyone on Earth were to somehow read all of my posts, not a single person would agree with me. And the same goes for everyone else's views.

Still wondering why there's so much war?

Er Gwaethaf Pawb a Phopeth

I don't think I've been patriotic enough in these writings, so I guess it's time for a Nationalistic rant.

Oh no, not that type of Nationalism. The second word of the title says "Socialism", not "Nazism". I'm not going to kill anyone for my country, nor would I die for it. That's just stupid. However, I wont let the culture of Wales, its history and language die on my watch.

Wales, for those who don't know, is a country bordering England, and has been oppressed by them for hundreds of years. To such an extend that in the 60s, Welsh - widely cited as the oldest living language in Europe - could die out. This sparked a wide campaign - led by people such as Dafydd Iwan and Saunders Lewis - to save the language. However, despite the fact that it is now growing again, Wales is still to shake of the shackles of this oppression.

Until a few years ago, Wales did not have its parliament. This, from a country that supposedly believes in Democracy. People complain about the break up of Britain. Well sorry but as far as I'm concerned, Britain doesn't even exist any more. When the "good old Empire" broke up, so did Britain. And all these people wave flags as some old person drives by, struggling to hold a hand up. Oh, they'll sing "God Save the Queen" all day without realises that the monarchy does fuck all today. They're just an in-bred family, that happened to be descended from some guy who came to Britain and won a battle.

These same people are the same deluded ones who, for the most part, tried to kill off anyone different. Just look what the xenophobes did in India, Africa, China and - although unnoticed by many - Wales. It's not that long ago when if a child was caught speaking Welsh in school, they would be given a piece of wood with the letters "W N" ("Welsh Not") engraved on it, and the last person wearing it at the end of the day was caned. What a great way to make yourself look good.

I'm not saying that everyone was like this, but something must have gone wrong when the people with these opinions were put in charge. Or is it just coming down to the fact that "Power Corrupts"? Either way, once again, the words of Dafydd Iwan sum it up best:

Er gwaethaf pawb a phopeth,
Ry'n ni yma o hyd.

Despite everyone and everything,
We're still here.

Amused to Death

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.

Don't give me all that shit.

What exactly is being celebrated tonight? On the one hand, you have religious bigotry on a grand scale, on the other, you have people celebrating a failure. And, on the basis that the latter is such a stupid reason, no one (even in today's society) could celebrate it, I'll focus on the first.

I'm cynical, but not cynical enough to suggest that everyone realises what they're doing. The gunpowder plot was a very religious plot, deriving from the usual Catholic/Protestant rivalry. How many people realise that they're actually celebrating a state murder for believing a religion that's exactly the same as the state religion? I may not be very religious, but that doesn't stop me from respecting other people's views. I won't celebrate any murder, let alone one where the intentions were to oppress other religions.


It's just showing how people don't understand history, don't understand the importance of why we are in the current state. Think, say, 200 years in the future today. Fireworks are going off, as per usual, but do people actually know why? I doubt people do know, let alone in the future. And you don't need to be a history buff, surely natural curiosity forces you to find out more? Obviously not.

In the words of Roger Waters, we are "Amused to death", that is, we have reached such a state where everything is given to us, we don't think any more. Yes, computers are a form of this, but to be honest, I think there are enough resources on computers to redeem it. But television? There is no one who can tell me that reality TV is thought-provoking (or entertainment, for that matter...).

But if we use history, and scan back through civilisation, you notice that the "slaves", "serfs", "proles", whatever you want to call them very rarely do anything about their state, allowing themselves to be oppressed. By now, we even have easy access to the information that would free us from this monotonous life, yet we refuse to seek it.

And even if you are somehow reading this, will you make any changes, or allow yourself to be "Amused to death"? I know that everyone allows this - do you?

A Fleeting Glimpse

Sorry for the gap in posts, but real life got in the way. I'd like to say how I was bogged down with GCSE work, spending hours every night perfecting it, but the truth is that I've simply been addicted to some game on Facebook. Productive, isn't it?

Either way, it shows how easy it is to get sucked into these things. I like to think I've got a fairly strong willpower - I am certainly determined not to get sucked into that Black Hole called "Fashion". Yet after a couple of hours of joining Facebook - enforced due to a National Welsh Youth Organisation I belong to - I've already been hooked to some game recommended by some of my friends. And ok, "addicted" may be too strong a word, but it was definitely playable, even for someone who has a lot of much more power-demanding computer games. And judging by some of the scores on the Global High Score list, there are people who have played this game non-stop.

This may not seem very dramatic compared to the global problems at the moment, but let's take a moment to look at a much bigger picture. If we look at the absolute extreme example of a tyrants regime - an Orwellian society - we see that technology plays a vital part. Would the Thought Police ever have caught Winston Smith without all those cameras and microphones? And is this growing dependence on technology bringing us further to that state?

Before you get any ideas, I'll be the first to admit that this is all a bit far-fetched. Robots aren't going to take over, and Artificial Intelligence is a load of crap. Yet... what if we get a virus?

Technology is undoubted a good thing, and I'm not here to preach any "be careful" cliché that's already been rammed down your throats. But it is certainly easy to be hooked into that state of "bliss" - you just don't give a damn, because what's happening on your small box is good. And it is good. The only danger is whether we let this state build a wall around us.

For Want of the Price of Tea and a Slice, the Old Man Died.

Article

This brings up two points.

Firstly, how can shooting someone not be classed as a criminal offence? I may not live in America, and I understand that there are different laws (including that stupid law that lets people carry guns), but when someone gets away with shooting someone else, there should be some sort of bell that rings in everyone's mind. There is no way it can be justified as "self-defence". Had the woman simply phoned the police, there would be no need for any of that to happen. Better still, the woman could have actually been considerate, and let him use this basic facility that was denied to him.

Secondly, why had the man ended up in such a state? Let's not be prejudice and call him a drug addict. For all we know, he was simply down on his luck. He made a couple of bad decisions, and has paid for them. Good reason to shoot someone, isn't it?

As someone on the forum I found the article on said, "both these people were created by society". If people could be more accepting and generous to each other, and never fell the need to want a piece of metal used to kill, how much better would society be? Everyone would feel welcomed, no one would be betrayed by the government. There would be a roof over everyone's head, and no one would be discontent.

Ok, that may just be a distant utopia, and there are obviously a lot more problems around. But surely it's a start, right? When people don't extend a hand to you, maybe you should extend it first. It may not come to anything, but at least then you can say that you did your bit to help this person's life. I don't want to sound like a preacher, but helping others is one of the only ways we can sort out this mess we call modern life.

There's Room For You Inside

Earlier in a history lesson, which I must confess is my favourite subject ( I've spent a month dressed up as a Roman working at an event with a museum), we were shown some photos of the KKK that my history teacher had dug up. And, before you ask, I know this was 80 years ago. The photos were of the members of a protest march down the street of an urban city, which wasn't named. And in one photo, the band of white going down a street stretched as far as the eye could see. That in itself was horrifying enough, but we were then shown another photo which showed that each of these members were confident enough to show their faces. Sick.

How can a government whose ideals were based on the principals of democracy, free speech and freedom, be so corrupt that it will ignore such an event? (As I've said - I'm Welsh, not American, so if you think I shouldn't be commenting, consider that America is the global superpower, and therefore has a global group of critics.) This also goes for the gangster issue, but that can be put down to the government's own stupidity, which is so common I think I can ignore it for now. But why have such an open immigration policy if you are only going to abuse and oppress the immigrants? Yes, that policy was modified, but it was too late.

As a Socialist, I have never blamed the policy on the problems that happened. I've always thought that it was the only immigration that made sense. However, I do blame the people. Before this goes further, I will just state that I'm not saying that all the people who were discriminated against are perfect, nor am I saying that all the WASPs were bad. But when such an overwhelming majority shows signs of racism like this, and the government does nothing, there is a problem. Either with the president, or his inferiors, someone must step in and try to sort it out. Why was the KKK given so much power and allowed to go for so long unopposed? What type of incompetence ignores such a thing?

Racism is a horrible thing. It's so unnecessary, so stupid and so sickening, it's hard to imagine that the same species that has developed so far managed to even conceive the notion. I don't want to preach here, or anywhere else, but it's hard to imagine that over two hundred years after slavery was abolished, and after a world war was fought over basic freedom, that people can still be racist. My only answer to the problem would be to discriminate the racists in the way that they discriminated others. They are the only people who deserve such a treatment.