What I Learned in School Today

According to the students at a city school in Leeds I was observing today: the BNP didn't get in because people in Leeds are racist. There aren't any more racists than there were before as, BNP, actually didn't get that many more - in fact I believe slightly less- votes - at least nationally - than the last election.

"So", they asked the teacher. "Why did they get in then?"
The Teacher asked "how many of your parents voted last week?"
No one put there hand up.
"there you got then", said the teacher

Perhaps more people should have voted Labour then? But why do you have to vote for a party you don't want to just to stop the BNP getting in?

And anyway - not all of their voters can be extreme homophobic, racist, sexist extremist, who thought Hitler had some good ideas. What is frightening about them is that they come across as legit, wearing suits, and worst of all claiming to be themselves the victims of persecution and discrimination by the state and media.

Take Mr BNP Yokshire and Humberside for example. As part of his acceptance speech he compared the "persecution" of the BNP, to that of communist and left wing socialist groups during the cold war. Although, this is a bit much - having been subjected to REDWATCH in my younger more politically active days- an organization, and now website, specifically set up by organizers of the National Front (what is now called the BNP) in order to identify "red" or left wing activists - and make them "fair game" to persecution.

Song from last week

My mother always said
that in her youth she was
exceedingly in fashion
wearing a purple ribbon
looped in her hair. But
the girl whose hair is yellower
than torchlight need wear no colorful ribbons from Sardis
but a garland of fresh flowers

Sappho

Blake - Ecofeminist?

If only this would come up in my exam next week!

Songs of Experience

“II Earth’s Answer”

Earth raised up her head
From the darkness dread and drear.
Her light fled
(Stony dread)
And her locks covered with grey despair.

‘Prisoned on watery shore,
Starry jealousy does keep my den;
Cold and hoar,
Weeping o’er
I hear the Father of the ancient men.

‘Selfish Father of men!
Cruel jealous selfish fear!
Can delight
Chained in night
The virgins of youth and morning bear?

‘Does Spring hide its joy
When buds and blossoms grow/
Does the sower
Sow by night,
Or the ploughman in the plough?

‘Break this heavy chain
That does freeze my bones around.
Selfish, vain,
Eternal bane-
That free love with bondage bound.’



Now, tell me that Blake wasn’t talking about the jealousy possessiveness of mankind, his destructive repression of nature and the feminine/ feminine sexuality?

….Although having come back to “Songs”, with my 30 year old female eyes, I think – particularly songs of experience – does seem to be written by a man in the middle of middle aged sexual crisis – as many of the poems are arguments for freer sexual expression (basically the rose bushes should be putting out more like the lilies do) as well as freer emotional expression in general. I suppose (as many would say) he would have been much better suited to the late 1960’s and the summer of love. This one is immediately followed by “My pretty Rose Tree” which is a clear criticism of the futility of monogamous relationships – e.g. he “passed the sweet flower o’er” that he was offered, only to be faced with the “jealous” “thorns” of the rose tree anyway – so he may has well have enjoyed the sweet flower as he won’t be getting any from the rose bush any time soon. So maybe not such an ecofeminist after all - I mean - if a woman started "putting out more" in the 17th century she would have been classed as a "whore" but if a man was to do that it would be acceptable. Hmmm - have things changed that much since then?

Farse? Do You mean the Europian Elections?

I don't know about you folks (she says ironically to her one reader), but has anyone got the impression that there isn't much realistic support out there for the Europian Election?

Having worked in domestic violence in a past life, I'd argue that the EU rulings on this issue, and particularly on Human Rights, has genuinely helped save peoples lives. Whether you agree with the process or structure of the EU or not - it has had some direct and significant impact on policy in the UK. So why don't we hear more about it? Why don't people know or even care who their MEP is? And what is going on with this election?

Firstly, the media seems far more concerned about the affect that this will have on Gordan Brown, than anything else - to them the whole purpose of the election, is for people to protest vote against the established parties - aka Labour and the Tories, by voting UKIP and BNP. Which is a bit of a misenoma in itself - why would you vote for someone to represent you in the EU, who doesn't want anything to do with the EU? There was even a "No to EU yes to Deomocracy" party - Barmy or what? All of which draws attention away from the actual issues and policies discussed in the EU parliment... doesn't sound very democratic to me...

Secondly - although this has probably only happened in Leeds, I get the impression that the people organising the election aren't too fussed about it. If there is a general election - information about how to vote is advertised everywhere. This time around I had to harass my council on a weekly basis just to find out if I could vote or not. They even neglected to send us polling cards, and when I rang them they couldn't give me the address of the polling station. Me and my youthful-spouse, had to trail around the back streets of murky Garforth, trapsing from polling station to polling station, only to be told that we lived on the wrong street and to "try that one round the back, you know it's round back there [points to floor] somewhere" . All we needed was a donky and we could have made it into the new testomont.

After an hour my Youthful-Spouse had explained to me that despite my lecture about "what our anscestors had to go through to get us the vote", he was heading for bed, for "I don't reckon Miss Pankhurst would have bothered jumping under that horse if she knew all it meant was two mugs from yorkshire trudgin' around in the mist just to put an X in a box". Thankfully we found the polling station after that... about ten metres away from our house (ooops). When we got their the old woman (why is it always an old lady and an old man at polling stations?), said we just had to tell her our names and where we lived and we could vote.

"No polling card?" I asked
"Don't need it." She said
"No ID?" I asked
"Nah, they told us not to bother with that" she said
"But," asked Youthful-Spouse "aren't you worried about fraud?"
"ha haha" interjected Old Man
"Oh no Deary" said Old Lady "we don't worry about that"
"No fraud hear love" said Old Man "people round here wouldn't bother with that sort of thing"

Well, I was like Buddha faced with that fat pleasure god-bloke, from the first level of heaven...Talk about temptation, all me and youthful spouse would have to do is look through the phone book for names and addresses, go to whatever the polling station was, and use other peoples votes. I mean, it's not like they are using them, most people I've spoken to can't be arsed voting today. We could start a revolution - drive up and down the country and make vote in every polling station - I could get the Greens in - or any random party!

Sadly, being a wishy-washy-lefty-libral-hippie at heart, I couldn't do it.

I mean - think of all that petrol I'd be using

PS - sorry about religious references I'm revising for an exam on it

Starting Blogging Again

Well, after the hacker-stalker debarkle I've been very wary of starting a blog again. Having someone break into your Facebook and numerous other accounts only to steal you identity and twist it into someone with clearly unsavory sexual habits, and worst of all- appalling literacy standards- is enough to put one of the whole internet thing alltogether. But - to be fair I hardly ever used my last blog, and what was on it was hardly shakespere so no great loss there.

So I'm back - mainly so I can annoy Rigmor via the internet whilst she is in Norway (Rigmor - Matt says can you get him some cheese?- Hope that's not some secret code you have?). Please don't expect anything too profound, as an overworked local government pleb soon to become over worked and underpaid student teacher, I may not have enough mental capacity left to be particularly coherant...