All entries for Thursday 01 June 2006

paedo–shock

Writing about web page http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5038682.stm

The BBC is reporting that “a political party with a paedophile agenda has been registered in The Netherlands, prompting outrage among many parts of society”. Basically they want the legal age of sex to be reduced from 16 to 12, partly because they “want to break the "negative" stigma surrounding paedophilia by getting into parliament”, other notable claims that they make include that “they want paedophilia to be freely discussed, arguing that a ban just makes children curious.” I wasn't aware children were curious about getting abused… They also want to have free rail travel right across the country – it almost seems reasonable by comparison.

One worrying thing about the whole thing though is that “MPs say they will ask the government to do something to stop the new party” – can it ever be right to stop a political party? Even one with goals like this… they won't get into office if people don't agree (which they won't); so as long as the people in the party aren't active paedophiles; is this party a problem?

: 01 Jun 2006 22:19 |  Tags: Europe Netherlands |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Iran and the nuclear question

Writing about web page http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5037678.stm

It seems that there might now be some kind of agreement within the world powers over how to deal with Iran and the nuclear issue (see above). Apparently they have set up both “carrot and stick” measures – meaning that Iran could get something good if they agree completely but will be punished (quite possibly sanctions) if they decide not to cooperate. We won't find out what the measures are until after Iran know – but the implication that China and Russia might now agree to sanctions is certainly new.

I'm still struggling to understand why we don't just let Iran have nuclear power. They don't (and couldn't) pose a direct threat to us because they are too far away and it would take decades for them to make effective ICBMs which would be needed for them to pose a real threat to us. It would be far easier for us to monitor that and then take military action if, and only if, they did develop those.

I'm willing to bet that what we had to give the Russians and Chinese in order to get this agreement was worth far more than the agreement itself

: 01 Jun 2006 21:43 |  Tags: Iran |  Comments (8) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

WHAT DO WE WANT?..err free bus fares apparantly..

Student riots in Chile are on to their second day, with police using tear gas to quell the 'violence'. The fact this shows yet another example of over–zealous policing I will leave for another day..

The three demands that the students have are, curriculum reform, no exam fees and yes.. free bus passes. A country wide demonstration, with a third of their demands being subsidised public transport.. For some reason it doesn't seem like it should catch on…

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying these aren't legitimate greivences. My point is that it's startling in comparison to the apathy in the UK, where the prospect of tuition fees barely raised an eyebrow from the brunt of the student body, which almost wholeheartedly opposes them..

The fact that the majority of these students are secondary school age even further reinforces the point.

Has the UK 'developed' past the need for demonstration? I think not. So why do citizens not feel the need to go out and defend their rights/beliefs? If I were a socialist, I'd say the individualistic consumerism–driven capitalist dictatorship was to blame. On the other hand, if I weren't I'd tell me to shut up, we've never had it so good…

: 01 Jun 2006 10:32 |  Tags: Chile South America |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem