UK: FAIL OK

so i got 67% on the uk citizenship test, which means i fail and should probably leave. and this is a practice for the actual uk citizenship test sat by actual people who actually want to be citizens of the uk. almost everyone who took the test and commented here failed too.

still, it's good to know that this great nation won't be overrun by people who aren't particularly good at trivial pursuit.

Propaganda

i read this critique of a fib-filled tory election leaflet issued by candidate emma moore in the ogmore constituency. i was more jealous than outraged. my constituency of nottingham east is, like ogmore, a safe labour seat. our conservative candidate, ewan lamont, has, like emma moore, no chance of being elected... but did i get a leaflet full of clumsy tabloid scaremongering and factual inaccuracies? did i heckeslike. i got a cheap little postcard of ewan shaking hands with david 'dave' cameron (who, incedentally, has the look of someone who has been forced to shake hands with an aids victim and isn't entirely sure it's safe to do so).

is ewan lamont trying to tell me that i should vote for him because he's met david cameron and, er, that's about it?

admittedly, on the other side of the postcard i learn that as well as meeting david cameron (there is another picture of the two of them together, just to reinforce the message) ewan lamont wants to reopen carrington post office, ewan lamont has a wife and child, and ewan lamont once stood next to some people i don't recognise who appear to be carrying a wreath of some sort. i also discover that the nottingham conservatives need my help to save the country from labour, but there's no additional detail on that.

the fact that ewan lamont, and the conservative party in general, have no interest in my vote hurts. am i not a man, a life, a citizen of this nation? in fairness, aside from labour, nobody else has even bothered to put a cheap postcard through my door yet.

this is what is wrong with the electoral system. i do not count. i do not have a say. i do not live in a democracy. nobody has to speak to me as a resident of nottingham east.

bomb the bomb

much pre-insurrection talk of whether or not the uk should renew it's nuclear weapons system. it's always talked of as a deterrent. that's not helpful. if we're going to build it, we've got to be prepared to use it. and if we are, then it is not a deterrent... it is a £100bn device designed to kill millions of people.. the vast majority of which mean us no harm at all.

let's be honest about that, and then decide whether the money might be better spent feeding, clothing, educating and caring for people in the uk and abroad.

general insurrection

so the cleggmania thing is interesting. what are the chances that on may 6th there really will be a huge swing in popular support? dare anyone dream, or will the dubious tactics of murdoch and co restore the natural order of things. the 'media elite' will certainly give it a go.

what chance that the british public will run with this in sufficient numbers and vote for the lib dems? usually i'd say no chance at all.. but these are changing times. the expenses thing got people exceptionally narked, nobody likes gordon brown, and david cameron is a massive arsehole. there is momentum behind the idea that there is another option, and the millions who - at every election - say 'i'd like to vote lib deb, but they're not going to win so there's no piont' are wondering... well... what if?

the lib dems won't win, obviously. the electoral system will see to that even if the general public refuse to sit down and behave.

stuff might change, though. a knife in the heart of the conservative party, slightly less inadequate electoral reform, a chancellor called vince, a mighty shot of adrenaline to the stuttering mess that is british democracy. love or loathe nick clegg and his party, any real fan of politics must be excited about these possibilities.

i hate tactical voting. i firmly believe in voting for ones ideals, not against someone elses... but if the lib dems are still loved on polling day, it will be hard to resist.

that happened

i am rather fond of a wordle. i'd go so far as to say that they, alone, atone for most of the crimes that the internet is responsible for. this one is the second year of my livejournal. 2002, since you ask. my conclusion is that, in 2002, fountainhead like good things.

Last week, I met an old pensioner, who told me that Gordon Brown killed Jesus.

this has been amusing me today, because i am a child.

there is going to be a general election in a few weeks. i'm terribly excited about that because i love elections or, more accurately, i love watching elections on the television. i don't intend to vote for a winning candidate. according to this i have the voting power of 0.084 people, although that's 0.004 more people than it was two days ago. at this rate i will be as powerful as one person in 102.76 days, and in just over three years i will be able to choose my own government.

this post was brought to you in association with the ^ and 'goalseek' functions in microsoft excel.

again again

so, therefore, this.

i blogged in a previous life. or ‘livejournalled’ as the case was. it veered mercilessly between utter drivel and extended periods of absence. it would be careless to have loftier intentions this time around.

i am 33 years old, i live upstairs, i do sums for a living, i reside in nottingham but plan to do something about that, i drink too much coffee but don't have any made just now, i like music, i haven't read most of the books i own.