I just saw the news that Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated by a suicide bomber in Pakistan today. I cant believe it. Pakistan has lost a great leader who promised something other than military rule for the Pakistani people. She may have had a controversial past but this is a serious blow for freedom and democracy in Pakistan, a country that is seemingly losing control of its more extreme anti-western groups.

This xmas eve I met up with some old school friends at the local pub. Me and this girl hit it off, we'd always liked each other(since going to secondary school together) but nothing had ever really happened.
Anyway we're meeting this monday but as I've got a girlfriend I feel like a bit of a bastard. Should I tell this girl to forget it?
I do really like my girlfriend alot but this girl is moving to leeds in a couple of months and i don't know when Ill see her again.
I say to myself that we're just going to be friends but I know in the back of my mind Im probably hoping for something else.

Hmmm...?

While watching that programme called 'the news' this weekend I noticed with dismay that Mister Stevie Gerrards house had been broken into by some unscrupulous thieves.

All they took was a rolex and some car keys, but no cars. Not a particularly large haul from a house whose owner gets paid at about 20grand a week.

'The News' showed a pretty shot of Mister Gerrards mansion with a large security gate and cctv adourning the 12ft walls. The nice policemen then informed us, the viewer, that there had been a recent spate of burglaries in professional footballers' homes and that security would be stepped up around the gerrards' house. Sure enough two uniformed Police officers stood looking solemn outside the front gate, obviously guarding the valuable contents so dear to the gerrards' hearts.

Now hold on a second mr officer, when a burglar attempts to steal from a house fails and then the attempt is broadcast on national tv on every channel do you think its likely that they are going to return to the scene of the crime? er...'cause I don't!...

Oh, and by the way. I was just wondering when my house was burgled by some crack whores 3 times in one year could I just not the see the extra security you must have posted outside my front door,(since the police obviously treat everyone equally) or where you using the latest satellite technology to protect my humble dwelling.

So there we have it, another blatant case of one law for the rich and famous and another for the poor faceless.

Just because Gerrards house may be worth more money than yours does that make it more valuable??
Does he deserve extra Police security because he is a high profile sportstar and therefore at a greater risk??

Opinions??

Saw a programme last night called the 'End of the world cult' about some guy who inevitably thinks he's the messiah and who has for the past 7years has been manipulating a few dozen people into believing him. They live on a bit of isolated land in new Mexico where they wait for the world to end.

The sickest part is that the guy has got all these underage girls who think he's jesus Christ reborn and he frequently lies naked with them on the his bed alone, 'apparently' so they can be naked with god. At the beginning of the cult he took a guys wife away from him and made her his own, when the guy got angry he told him to 'direct his anger at the lord' and now that bloke thinks the wife-stealer is the saviour too. I think he even had sex with his sons partner as wives are not allowed in the cult.

They are actually a break away from the notorious Branch Davidians and Michael, the 'so-called' messiah formerly Wayne Blunt, predicted the world would end on midnight the 31st October. Obviously that didnt happen so he has now set a new date the 15th December this month.

So if you're out this Friday you might aswell make it a big one, and there's no need to worry about those pesky Christmas cards or getting the biggest turkey. Personally Im gonna get well fucked up and if the world doesn't end I'll prob be wishing it had the next morning.

I have been pondering recently this whole blog thing. What is a blog worth? By this I mean what information does it hold that is any use? is it truthful? can it be sold for money like some have?
Are there any other values you would attribute to a blog? If any?

Looking around this site i find most blogs are of a personal nature. Mainly people talking about their days and what they feel like. This is all well and good. I do however have a little scepticism when it comes to blogs called things like 'the sex life of a young lesbian' or ' the adventures of a well hung swinger'. It seems to me these are often written as creative writing, as if they want to be the new 'diaries of a call girl' and make a million by selling the rights.

Then there's the political or religious blogs. These, personally, are the ones i find most interesting, where debate and investigation seem to be the central themes. However I sometimes feel these need to be taken with a pinch of salt aswell. Often people will claim to have knowledge of or be connected with institutions and people they are clearly not. As long as the discussion is open and honest i don't mind, but when people start to push their own agendas i generally just switch off.

So, what I'm saying is what do we all get out of these? is it the writing of blogs that people find most enjoyable? is it airing of your views on the world? Is it trying to write the next bestseller? Just letting off steam or a community of friends for some?

One other thing i've noticed is that there is alot of cynical people out there...and i include myself in that.

I'm one of those people that gets really pissed off with petty crime. I dont mind so much when Natwest bank loses a million in a robbery but when its your local newsagents It really gets me angry.

I worked in retail for years before I finally managed to escape and during that time I must have seen thousands of shoplifters. At one point I worked for a chain of newsagents in the midlands. This particular link in the chain that I worked at would get robbed by shoplifters everyday. As it was a big company no one really cared or tried to stop it.

After that i worked for an independent retailer. Now when he saw a shoplifter he would grab them push them out the door while taking back his stock and if he was out of view of the cctv camera he would slap them in the face!

Benefit frauds really piss me off too. I see so many of these guys in there 30s and 40s who just spend the day drinking cider and stella and living of tax money. OUR tax money. Really they are just kids in adult bodies. They have the mentality of teenagers, you know like the idiots you used to go to school with?

Its not just that either, but these guys(and women of course) just go round breeding and teach their kids nothing but how to spounge off of everyone. they turn them into little get rich quick scheme machines, whether its scratchcards, gambling machines, compensation/insurance scams, they are not taught that they have to work for real money.

Maybe I'm just ranting but this is why I get angry at people who complain about immigrants. At least most of the people that come here come so thay can work, so they can support their own families and recieve the benefits of living in a country like Britain. I'd rather have a country full of hard working Indian and Chinese and Polish people etc etc than just one of these white british mutherfucking bulldog scumbags living here. They dont deserve what so many people work so hard for.

Suggestions please, should we cut off thieves' hands like in Iran?

Would that stop them?
Not just thieves either what about about those benefit cheats, those lazy scumbags, I think we should cut there fingers off so they cant sign on for the dole anymore, or rather job seekers allowance(but then they'd get disability allowance too, damn) despite the fact that you dont actually have to bother looking for a job to get it!

opinions?

Last night on BBC4 I watched a particularly poignant and emotional programme called 'Honour Kills'.

In the programme they examined so called 'Honour' killings and the reasons often used to justify them.

These murders are usually committed against a female member of the family for some alleged dishonour they have brought upon the family, usually upon the father.

In one case a house was firebombed by the brother of a girl who was apparently going out with someone inside the house. A toddler died in that attack, and the perpetrators are believed to be hiding in Bangladesh where these crimes are often seen as 'honourable' by certain groups although they are not legal there either.

The problem that causes these killings I believe is the culture clash between modern Western secular life and society and mostly Islamic Village culture brought over by immigrants around 50years ago. This culture is then pushed onto their children who inevitably end up leading double lives. Often there lives outside the house would not or are not approved of by the older generations of the family.

A man in the programme made a good point that these weren't honour killings but 'control' killings. The fathers can't stand to see their daughters out of their control and living their own lives and then they kill them for some supposed afront against the families honour when it is infact his ego that has been offended.

Blogger 'muslimdilema' recently wrote that one of her friends wears the full face and body veil so that she can go out with her boyfriend without being identified. If she was seen by a member of the family with a man who wasn't related to her there would be serious consequences for her she may even be killed by members of her own family!

This is a problem that is often ascribed to the Muslims of Britain but personally I believe it has nothing to do with Islam. Islam like all religions preaches love and harmony and although these murders often happen in Islamic communities it is not the religion of Islam that calls for them to happen at all. What is the problem however is the culture that is brought to Britain along with it that has nothing to do with religious beliefs but is merely a way of patriarchs controlling their families and making them fit their twisted view of what a womans role is. This of course cannot fit in with Western society were women are allowed to choose there own role in life.

Society needs to become more aware of this as its is not just the heinous act of murder that is the problem but smaller acts of physical and psychological violence that undermines these vulnerable women and makes them feel like this is something they have to put up with. When as we all know it is not! It is a pity the BBC chose to show this important programme at 1.30am this morning. if anyone actually reads this and is interested part to is on BBC4 tonight at the same time I believe.

Does anyone else think london hosting the olympic games is a total waste of money?

How can the government justify spending millions of pounds on a sporting event when there are still people in Britain living in poverty, and even starving to death!

Not only that but the Government or whoever bid for the games obviously lied about how they were going to handle the contract. this is demonstrated by the fact that the bill for the stadiums and the games has already doubled! this with 4years to go before they even start.

and we all know its not like we're gonna win anything anyway!

It really makes me sick that after the loss of 25million British peoples details by Revenues and Customs the man who was responsible for it(or the man who at least took responsibility for it)Paul Gray is now in another job at the cabinet office on exactly the same wage!
This is just thirteen days after the scandal and his resignation from his old post. Now hold on a second It took me about a month and a half to get my shitty job and that included a written application and two interviews. So how can one of the top jobs in the country be given to someone in just under two weeks! If this is not corruption then what is? This guy obviously resigned to protect those higher up i.e Alistair Darling and was rewarded by getting to keep his civil service job and wage. Surely for a job of that profile and responsibilty an application should have been made by Paul Gray followed by a series of 'extensive' interviews conducted by the home Office and this would have took much longer than 13days to achieve. This stinks of the rich old boys network to me and this guy should have been SACKED and not allowed to resign!!! i know if I did my job wrong i would be fired, not given a nice resignation package. The civil service and government just blatantly tells lie after lie, it is so two faced. IT MAKES ME ANGRY!!!!!!!!!

So why isn't marijuana legal?
is it any worse than alcohol?
NO its not. I'm not going to espouse the same arguments we've all heard a million times but it just seems to me that it would be commonsense to legalise a plant that grows naturally and has probably been used as a recreational drug longer than alcohol. In fact to the best of my knowledge Marijuana was only made illegal about 50 years ago(in Britain). You may have realised that yes i smoke marijuana. In fact i smoke at least one spliff a day everyday and i have done for about 5 years. I'm not proud of this and i do realise its pretty detrimental to my physical and mental health. At the same time though I would have to argue that it would not be as detrimental as if i had drank a pint of beer or a single measure of spirit everyday. In fact, probably due to the amount of cannabis I smoke, i hardly ever drink a drop of alcohol.
so, why isn't ecstasy legal?
Is it any worse than alcohol? NO it isn't. This really baffles me why there is such a stigma surrounding ecstasy when it is probably one of the safest drugs you can take. There are about 3 fatalities a year as a result of ecstasy. Compared to alcohol, cocaine, crack cocaine and heroine that is a tiny number. Where I come from you can get about 3 pills of 'supposed' ecstasy for £10, this of course depends on who you get it off. Now I personally would only take a max of two pills in a night, although plenty of people take alot more I feel that is a sensible limit. So basically you can have a night out for about £20(including water, taxis etc) compared to the £50-£60 alot of people spend on alcohol.
My point with this is drugs can wreck families and relationships if used in bad ways. For instance whereas i believe its safe to take pills I wouldn't turn myself into a vegetable by taking them every weekend or every time I went out like some people do(of course people also do this with alcohol and every other drug). If people had a better knowledge and understanding of all different drugs then we could all have a much safer experience with them. I believe this can be done through legalisation of all drugs.
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