Richard Littlejohn is a cunt

Some of you may have noticed, I'm a fairly politically minded person. I am opinionated, yes, stubborn also and think with a heavy slant on the philosophy and morality of things. It's just the way I am. When I was a pretencious teenager, I discovered philosophy, an unrealised and ultimately profound new branch of thought and feeling. I believed I'd found myself. Ha! That's a longer road than I thought it would be. A road, that probably doesn't end, even at the end of life.

A few weeeks ago, a man appeared on a BBC television programme, a political panel show called Question Time. This man's appearence drew words of condemnation, as well as anger and violent protests outside of the BBC's Television Centre in London.
His name, is Nick Griffin.

First a disclaimer; I believe that Nick Griffin should be allowed a political voice as well as a place and platform to speak. I believe this for two reasons. Firstly, he is a politician, legitimetly elected to office by citizens of our country and secondly, we live in a supposid democracy, where he is afforded the right to speak outr on any number of issues and give his opinion.
Though I believe this strongly and with few exceptions, I am not a fan of Mr Griffin, nor of his political party, the British National Party (BNP).
For the BNP are a very nasty little organisation. An offshoot and supposid legitimet evolution of the National Front, the BNP believes that white people are the original natives of Britian and sees all non whites, as well as Jews and homosexuals as inferior. There are a facist and racist organistion and anyone disputing this is a bloody idiot. A point in evidence, the party was recently forced to change its original charter disqualifying non whites from joining, because of recently introduced discrimination legislation. Then, to show the true hypocrisy of the party, some non white people tried to attend a BNP meeting. Here's how that worked out for them; http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23759615-non-whites-barred-from-bnp-meeting.do

So yeah, a racist, a homophobe, an anti-semite, should be allowed to speak, because he represents a part of our nation, however vile and repugnant, and also, it was glorious fun to watch him get his arse handed to him intellectually.

This thursday another man will attend the Question Time panel. His name is Richard Littlejohn. He's Griffin's favourite "journalist". There will be no protests, nor outpouring of rage and anger. He will sit there, smug and happy and give his nasty little opinions. Littlejohn is a newspaper columnist and "news" presenter. He writes primarily for the Daily Mail (otherwise known as The Daily Hate Mail). Littlejohn is an rabid and frequent critic of Gypsies, homosexuals, transgenders and foreigners.
On Tony Martin, the farmer who shot a gypsy burgler in the back as he was running out of his house, he said; “True, [Martin] hated gypsies. He had every reason to hate them. He and his neighbours had been terrorised by them for years.”
On the Rwanda genocide, where hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were killed by their Hutu neighbours he said; "Does anyone really give a monkey's about what happens in Rwanda? If the Mbongo tribe wants to wipe out the Mbingo tribe then as far as I am concerned that is entirely a matter for them."
Nice one Richard, the murder of an entire people. Its nice to see some genuinely unabanshed racism out in the air. Bonus points for the word 'monkeys' and 'Mbongo'. Well done indeed.
In response to Yorkshire police's attempts to reach out to the gay community he relayed an anecdote in his column; "[A friend] reliably informed me there are no homosexuals in South Yorkshire. [The friend said,] 'Not live ones, anyway. We send them all down to London.'”
And lastly, the icing on the cake, the final nail, on the Ipswich murders of five prostitues, Littlejohn sought to involve us in his warped, twisted view of reality. He said;
"...in the scheme of things the deaths of these five women is no great loss.
They weren't going to discover a cure for cancer or embark on missionary work in Darfur. The only kind of missionary position they undertook was in the back seat of a car...
Frankly, I'm tired of the lame excuses about how they all fell victim to ruthless pimps who plied them with drugs. These women were on the streets because they wanted to be."
He later said; "death by strangulation is an occupational hazard."

Thanks for Johann Hari for collecting all this bile in one place: http://www.johannhari.com/2005/06/12/richard-littlejohn-racist-and-homophobe as well as Littlejohn himself (I suppose) for letting this gem stand for all to see: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-423549/Littlejohn-Spare-Peoples-Prostitute-routine-.html

I'm not saying Richard Littlejohn shouldn't be allowed on QT. He has freedom of speech as we all do. I reserve his right for say this purely hateful things. Just as I reserve the right to call him a cunt.

The Joy of Urbex(ing)

Some years ago, I was randomly slogging my way through the internet when I came across a fascinating article, from a very impressive and interesting blog. The blog is called BLDGBLOG and the article can still be found here: http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/london-topological.html
Investigating the underground realm that exists beneath our very feet, the article is all about a growing and highly popular movement known by the rather daft name of Urbexing, short for Urban Exploration.
The name is obvious. It is the exploration inside urban enviornments. But you may ask, what is the point of exploring somewhere which is essentially the antithesis of exploration. When one thinks of exploration, we think of Sir Francis Drake, Marco Polo and Sir Walter Raleigh. These men set sail on wooden ships, for distant lands where no western man had ever gone before. So how can one explore what is essentially a place not only discovered, but developed and shaped and changed and inhabited over decades if not centuries?
Well, civilisation is ever changing. Factories, sewers, tunnels, buildings, shops, military facilities, power generating plants, houses and offices all come and go, are inhabited and abandoned, built and demolished. Urban Exploration is about finding these forgotten places, these ignored, hidden and marginalised little slices of our cities and towns and nations. It is about rediscovering and reconquering these places, before they slip away forever.
Urbexers have only two rules. Take only photographs, leave only footprints. It is a key feature of the community. You cannot break into these places, you must gain access legitimently, otherwise you are not only trespassing (a civil offence) but also breaking and entering (a criminal one).
Although my madening work schedule and impossible life style makes if difficult to keep up with this new hobby, I have had some amazing experiences around the Derby area. I have walked through a pitch black tunnel beneath the city centre, I have stood among giant cooling towers of the now mostly demolished Willington Power Station and I have investigated the winding corridors and partially collapsed theatre of the Derby Hippodrome.
I recommend Urbexing to anyone with a healthy sense of adventure and danger, as well as an interest in history, architecture, sociology and philosophy. There are places all around us. You only have to go and look for them.