Robert, over at his Links and Things blog, draws my attention to the fact that the government (Tynwald) of the land of my birth (the Isle Of Man) have at last equalised the age of consent at 16 for both heterosexuals and homosexuals. They have also at long last repealed section 38 – a nasty little piece of legislation – that was modelled on the UK’s section 28.
Category: News and politics
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Oh, Gawd, Not Premature Ejaculation Again…
So, we have the busting of the terror plot. And while I happily indulge in entertaining conspiracy theories now and then like any average person, I would like to think that this time (unlike, apparently, Forest Gate for example), we have the real deal. A fantastic coup by our hardworking intelligence services, who have fingered potential suicide bombers before they have been able to earn their stripes.But, we do seem to have the equivalent of a minority report in the offing.First, Justin, over at Chicken Yoghurt, quotes an NBC report that claims that US authorities pressured the British police into moving too quickly to making arrests since:[a British official] suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.Second, Craig Murray weighs in with some rather telling points.When this whole affair does come before the attention of the courts, it would not unduly surprise me if we end up with another example of the Ricin Plot that never was… -
Changes
Last week, a new series started on BBC TV: Time Trumpet. The premise is interviewing people 25 years in the future about events happening now. It is superlatively bizarre (e.g. an old David Beckham talking about the vagina transplant on his arm). But for me, one of the most surreal moments came with a bravura piece of video editing. It cross-cut between Tony Blair and David Cameron talking exactly the same platitudes and then it segued into a rendering of Changes – the song by Bowie from 35 years before today. Go and watch it now. -
Gorgeous George
Like Leon, I’m not a fan of George Galloway, but I have to say that he has some skill as an orator. Watch the exchange on Sky News pointed to in Pickled Politics. -
Country Music Protest Song
And by way of light relief, here’s Eric Schwartz with a cheerful little ditty aimed at America’s religious right entitled: Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis. Don’t say I didn’t warn you if you click on the link, but it’s very good, albeit somewhat rude if you’re easily offended. -
The Silly Season Has Begun
Margot has discovered that the Silly Season has begun in the media. Sometimes I wonder whether it ever went away… -
Rita Gets Another Award…
I missed this when it was announced, but the latest issue of the Gay Krant (the Dutch gay magazine) draws my attention to the fact that the Lovely Rita Verdonk was awarded a place of honour in the Hall of Shame by the Human Rights Watch in May.Rita can now add this citation to the Big Brother award she picked up in January.Rita Verdonk was summarised well by Job Cohen, the mayor of Amsterdam, who said of Verdonk, “The position of Minister for Integration needs to be filled by someone with a cool head and a warm heart. Unfortunately Rita Verdonk has a hot head and a cold heart and has done nothing but exacerbate the growing divide between immigrants and the rest of the Dutch society.”(hat tip to Mike Tidmus for the Cohen quote) -
Bread and Circuses
I’m sorry, but I find this news story particularly depressing. Mbeki denies the impact of AIDS on his country, but he puffs up football? Sometimes I think we are all doomed. -
All the Ducks in a Row
Jasper Emmering, over at his Hollandaise blog, has an excellent summary of l’affaire Hirsi Ali. Well worth reading. I’ve never cared much for the attitudes of lovely Rita. I care for them even less now. -
A Little Local Difficulty
As you may have gathered, the plug has been pulled on the Dutch government. It’s been quite an exciting few days this week. There was an emergency debate in the Dutch parliament on the evening of June 28th – and it went on through the night until 04:30 on June 29th. The subject was l’affaire Hirsi Ali and did she or didn’t she have Dutch nationality.The debate was televised live on Dutch TV and I found myself riveted by it. Even though I found it difficult in places to follow, I kept watching until 02:30. The debate contained high drama and low humour. The humour was provided by the minister of finance, Gerrit Zalm, called into the chamber at 01:00 from home. He apologised for the delay in getting there, but, as he explained, he lived in Scheveningen and his chaffeur lived in Voorburg.The drama was stoked by the minister of immigration, Rita Verdonk. What struck me was that minister Verdonk (Lovely Rita, as I cannot help but ironically call her) was finally hoist by her own petard and as a result brought down the government. She refused to bend or to admit any of her own shortcomings in the debate (nothing new there, then). She had engineered an agreement that Hirsi Ali had to sign in order to get her passport back (Hirsi Ali quite rightly called this a "political deal"). It seemed to me (and to the D66 party who withdrew their support from the government as a result) an abuse of her political power.It was interesting to watch the debate where members of parliament asked about the facts in the case. Verdonk stonewalled, but prime minister Balkenende let slip (at around 02:15) the fact that a political compromise had been reached, i.e. Verdonk had included an admission of guilt on Hirsi Ali in the statement that Hirsi Ali was put under pressure to sign (in order to get her passport back). The admission of guilt says that Hirsi Ali had “wrong-footed” Verdonk. It became clear that the agreement was not so much a simple piece of legal formality but something designed to absolve Verdonk of any error of judgement.Once that particular cat was let out of the bag by Balkenende, then a censure motion was put in place by Femke Halsema of the Groenlinks party, and Lousewies van der Laan of the D66 party went in with guns blazing. The upshot was that the three ministers in the government of the D66 party resigned, and hence Balkenende said that the whole cabinet had to follow.Balkenende has today said that he blames D66 for the fall of his government. It seems to me that they hold the moral high ground in the affair, painful though it has been. If Balkenende really wants to blame someone, then he could do worse than consider Rita Verdonk, whose "lady’s not for turning" persona has been the catalyst of this whole bizarre affair. -
It’ll All End In Tears
Justin, over at Chicken Yoghurt, observes the unedifying spectacle that is Noo Labour finger-pointing and says "I told you so". Yep, he’s right. To hell with the lot of them. -
I’m Sorry, What Was That Again?
“The weight of international leadership is not borne easily,” Rice said, “but we as Americans are more than equal to this challenge, and we must be, for if we imagine a world without American leadership we are led inescapably to this solemn conclusion: If America does not serve great purposes, if we do not rally other nations to fight intolerance and support peace and defend freedom, and to help give all hope who suffer oppression, then our world will drift toward tragedy.”The truly terrifying thing is that she probably believes, in the face of all the evidence so amply provided by the current administration, that she is fulfilling this aspiration. But from where I stand, she and her colleagues are part of the problem, not part of the solution… -
“Diplomacy”
My dictionary defines the word "diplomacy" thus:The art of conductiong negotiations between nations; the art of negotiating with foreign nations; skill in conducting negotiations of any kind; adroitness, tact.Funny, that’s what I thought it was; particularly the skill, adroitness and tact bits.No matter, here comes Colleen Graffy, apparently the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, to disabuse me of that quaint notion. She has described the suicide of three detainees at Guantanamo Bay as "a good PR move to draw attention".One wonders what she might say were she being undiplomatic… -
I Had A Dream…
…Only it turned out to be a nightmare. Sebastiaan Gottleib sums up my misgivings precisely. -
From Frying Pan To Fire?
A row has broken out around the Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She is accused of being economical with the truth when she arrived in The Netherlands seeking asylum in 1992.The result has been that she has decided not just to step down from the Dutch parliament, but also to move to the US where she will take up a position in the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative thinktank based in Washington.I confess to having mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I can see why the conservative elements in US politics would want to embrace Hirsi Ali as someone who stands against "islamic facism", and I can see why she might want to leave all the shit she’s been getting in the Netherlands behind. But I can’t help feeling that, if she really is true to her views on women’s and homosexuals’ rights that these will ultimately jar with her new paymasters, and I predict a divorce in the not too distant future.It’s either that, or she’s just another typical politician, willing to change her views for her own survival. Time will tell.Update: reactions from various people in Dutch politics. Wiegel’s reaction is a typical smug Dutch pronouncement. I find that sort of attitude irritating beyond belief. He is clearly in the "I’m alright Jack" mode of thinking whilst rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Peter van Ham, however, points in the same direction as my feelings – Hirsi Ali will find strange bedfellows in the AEI.Update 2: the story is now emerging in the UK press, e.g. The Guardian and The Telegraph. The latter does point out that apparently the fact that Hirsi Ali lied about her background in order to get asylum status "has been common knowledge since September 2002". Still, that’s not going to sav her. Today, the Dutch papers are reporting that the lovely Rita Verdonk, the hard-line Dutch Immigration Minister, is now saying that Hirsi Ali should never have been granted Dutch citizenship in 1997, and therefore it is possible that she will be stripped of her citizenship. -
Shuffling the Rats
Simon Hoggart nails it as usual. But the biggest rat of all didn’t get shuffled- he was the one doing the shuffling. There ain’t no justice in the world. -
The Benefit of the Doubt?
The latest twist in the Tessa Jowell/David Mills saga is that they have now agreed to a separation. Part of me wants to believe that they had the best of intentions throughout this whole sorry affair, but an ever more vociferous part of me is starting to ask the same questions as Curious Hamster and Nosemonkey.My father was a politician. He was an honest and honourable man. He hated politics, but thought it was his social duty to do what was right for his fellow human beings. Why is it that his like seem to be as rare as hen’s teeth in today’s world? -
Manx Voters Getting Younger
I see that the land of my birth – the Isle of Man – intends to lower the age at which people can vote from 18 to 16. The intention is to attract young people to get involved in politics. Hmm, well good luck to them, it will be interesting to see whether it makes any difference.The story in the Guardian also comments that this is not the first time that the Island has led the way in democratic reform, it granted the right to vote to women of property back in 1881. I couldn’t help but have a wry smile at that "led the way" line. The Island also kept the birch (corporal punishment for male offenders) well into the 1970s, and kept anti-gay legislation on the books until well into the 1990s. There was a right little hotbed of anti-gay bigots on the Island, and at least one gay man I knew of committed suicide as a result of the poisonous atmosphere there at the time. -
The European Parliament Debates Homophobia
Doug Ireland, over at his blog, provides a good summary of the recent debate in the European Parliament on the topic of homophobia. The full text of the resolution adopted by the parliament is here.
Geoff Coupe's Blog 