Pretty pretty Blackberry 8100. The bulk and squareness reminds me of the new Rolls Royce.
Life Plan
Well this is as much for me as it is for you. Let’s see here.
1. Finish A levels
French, Maths, Further Maths, some STEP papers.
2. Ski Season 2010-2011
Gonna be a chalet chef! So, get chef training course ready.
3. Something
Trying to think of something meaningful/fun/lucrative to do for the rest of my gap year. I’d be lucky if I managed to find something that was all 3!
4. Maths at University
Let the maths commence.
5. World Domination
A tricky one, but not if you’re dressed for it.
British Politics 2009 and Nick Griffin
Everyone in the country watched Nick Griffin on Question Time causing a whirl of Facebook status updates, thousands of muttered conversations on the bus, and a general attitude of disgust around London. I’d like to only talk about this briefly, and I think the way that it was handled on Have I Got News For You was excellent. During a picture-spin-quiz round, an image of Nick Griffin appeared. David Mitchell said ‘Does anyone know who this is?’ and they all shook their heads and looked indifferent, before they moved on to the next question.
I was disappointed to watch Question Time and see such an excellent opportunity mostly wasted. Nick Griffin was made to look sleazy, devoid of policy. and most importantly, an untrustworthy demagogue liar. But, not as much as they could have done. Griffin knows that he’s a controversial public figure, and he knows that the only coverage he gets, and the only thing he ever talks about, is race.
Since the government doesn’t have the funding to instil race and ‘British values’ - whatever they might be, the only real debate is over immigration. But, again, this was touched on very lightly. The BBC studio audience was filled with clean-shaved Asian and African men in brand new suits, who all said a pompous translation of “I’m successful and would be excluded under your new policy, what do you make of that, eh?”. Although this may have boosted the self-confidence of racial groups that felt pressured by the BNP, I feel that Griffin’s performance will have won over lots of people.
What was needed was to have a debate about policy, not about personal views or history. Nick Griffin’s only comment outside of the ‘urm yeah you’re a racist yeah’ topic was on the Iraq war; where he dumbly repeated George Galloway’s ‘the Labour government has blood on their hands’. What was needed was to grill Griffin on policy in several areas to show his complete lack of understanding or original policy and expose him as not a controversial figure (everyone knew that already), but as a man who, once the race issue is stripped away, has nothing to say, nothing to do. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
