 - Last login: 18 hours agoCantaloupeSwing
- CantaloupeSwing is a woman from England, UK.
- Likes 225 pages, 1 video, 3 photos • 20 fans • Received 13 reviews
- Member since Apr 01, 2008
All I can say is that this blog won't be glittering, glimmering, flashing, raining silver hearts and flowers or shimmying naked to the national anthem. There'll be no special effects whatsoever.
I have an aversion to cute fluffy people. They need shooting. Only animals and stuffed toys have the right to be cute and fluffy.
I will add more of my aversions when I have my next major strop which shouldn't be too long now.
Favorites » Her news pages
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I knew I must be mad for doing such a thing, says dungeon father | World news | …
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May 9, 4:19am
1 review
news
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/09/joseffritzl.austria
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Confessions from Josef Fritzl, the man who kept his daughter imprisoned for 24 years, and repeatedly raped, intimidated, beat and impregnated her. It seems the man is now attempting to manipulate the media and the public with his 'Deep down, I'm really a caring kind of guy' stance. Very clever but not really the way to "make amends" as he now claims he wants to do. It seems his way of making amends is to go for an insanity plea, a classic self-preservation tactic. Hopefully the courts won't be buying his manipulative crap.
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Madeleine Bunting: Rivers of blood? No. Just a divided idea of what Britishness …
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Apr 8, 9:25am
1 review
news, britain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/07/britishidentity.communities
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I must admit, I've never been clear what the government means by "Britishness". I had a conversation about this some time ago with someone who was advocating the idea of national holiday to celebrate Britishness. The condensed version went something like this:
Her: I think it's a great idea to celebrate Britishness.
Me: Um...but what does it mean?
Her: I don't know. It's different for everyone.
Me: But if you don't know what it is then how do you know its a great idea ?
Her (getting stroppy now): Well you should ask some of the people who are saying they feel like a foreigner in their own country.
(Ahhh...so now we're getting to the crux of the matter).
And then the conversation moved predictably onto a misinformed rant about Muslims, Eastern Europeans, immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees; each group being an ill-defined notion of what they really are with little or no distinction made between them. The terms invariably used inter-changebly.
So at least now I'm beginning to understand. This whole Britishness idea isn't just about celebrating our commononalities and similarities (whatever they may be), our kooky little quirks and tastes (varied as they are). It's not just about what makes us cohesive as a nation (assuming we really are). It's also about what divides and separates us. How true Britons can be made to feel as though they are taking back ownership of 'their' nation by sticking two fingers up at those others, at the ones who don't belong, the ones who shouldn't be here.
See, these conversations about "Britishness" always end up being about something more subversive. There's always something else bubbling underneath. This is what I don't like. The subject quickly moves on to expressions of resentment. You get the usual comments like "they only come here to sponge off the state" and variations of "they're taking our jobs." I always wonder which one people are most angry about: working or not working. Then there's the usual "I feel like a foreigner in my own country" (as mentioned above). It's got kind of tedious. The ever popular refrain fueled by ludicrous tabloid stories: "I Felt Like A Foreigner In My Own Kitchen:
I opened the fridge, moved the milk and blow me if there wasn't a muslim/immigrant hiding behind the cheese!"
I've digressed from the original topic. But my point is that I think, for many people, this is about more than just celebrating the nebulous notion of "Britishness".
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Mugabe prepares for war over Zimbabwe results | World news | The Observer
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Apr 6, 4:55am
1 review
politics, news
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/06/zimbabwe2
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From the page: "Robert Mugabe was accused last night of preparing a war against Zimbabwe's people, in an attempt to overturn the opposition's presidential election victory.
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, who has already claimed outright victory in last Saturday's election, even though the official count has yet to be released, said the government was reviving the war veterans and party militias to bludgeon the opposition into submission and terrorise voters before a run-off ballot."
I hope to God this is not the the case. How long can this insane, control-freak hope to hang on to power ? I love how Mbeki says the delay in announcing the results is 'due to verification by the Zimbabwe electoral commission.' Nothing to do with a crazy dictator trying desperately to hang on to the last vestige of control then.
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