The Deep Malaise

ConservativeHome is categorically wrong to demand David Mundell's resignation. The prolific Iain Dale is right to say the party in Scotland needs to get it's act together but like most commentators looking in he doesn't quite realise how deeply moribund the party is.

And key to the above point is, it is no one person's fault. Scotland has been marginalised by the party as an area of importance since devolution arrived and the exodus from the party post-'97.

Scotland will never be the most conservative region in the UK, but if it was possible to hold 21 seats in '83 why none now? The party north of the border has stagnated for lack of three key strengths:

1. Party management;
2. Policy initiative; and
3. Pool of talent.

Devolution affects all three and has been the catalyst for the growth of most of the problems.

More to follow...

Remodelling

I have been struck down with a fairly violent bout of food poisoning which has given me the opportunity to redesign the layout a bit and play around with some ideas...

As in the natural world, things which are bright colours (such as pink) are often warnings that they are poisonous and shouldn't be consumed. Why then, didn't I realise this before my first (or second, for that matter) mouthful of Pepto-Bismol???

Astonishing...

Courtesy of Finklestein's Comment Central, another interesting piece from Robbie Millen on what is essentially the widening gap between fundamentalists and the mainstream.

Conservapedia is, frankly, astonishing. I don't think it's unfair to suggest that Wikipedia suffers from certain problems, but to suggest that it is over run by anti-Christian, American hating communists is frankly risible. Conservapedia attacks Wikipedia for clouding facts with liberal propaganda and unsurprisingly, all the US hot potatoes are cited: abortion, homosexuality and evolution theory/the big bang.

By virtue of the sheer number of people who moderate at Wikipedia, articles (on the whole) tend to the factual and avoid any one bias. That's not to say they don't outline various criticisms, etc. but the main article itself is usually factually based.

Not so in Conservapedia... take abortion. Wikipedia's entry is the description of medical procedure (which abortion is) where as Conservapedia's entry is a list of the horrors associated with abortion.

Why squeal about bias, only to replace it with bias of a different flavour*?

At least CreationWiki does what it says in the tin - it is open and honest about it's objectives. Conservapedia seeks to squash inconvenient facts that contradict theological beliefs and present the results as fact. It's not about the religiosity or beliefs, it's the deliberate deception and promotion of ignorance.

Give people the facts and let them make up their own minds. Wikipedia, for all it's faults, is still the better proposition because it shares and expands the store of human knowledge.

*That's flavour with a u. Hilariously they think this is ungodly. The patronising and ignorant mindset could possibly explain the phenomena.

the Times they are a changin' (mk2)

I picked up my copy of The Times today and thought, hmmmm.......

So sitting at my desk, past the front page, thinking "silly Ruskies, this is all smacks of poison darts and umbrellas" and then, hmmmmm.....

Wait a minute - Something's changed! New font and format.

The new format looks more like a cross between the Indy and the Guardian... oh dear!

Why this continous tweaking?

... and when will they stop tweaking the format at the Telegrpah too, and concentrate on content? Broadsheets in their desperate rush to attract yoof readers are loosing their reason d'etre - quality writting and not just in the comment section.

west wing - wow!

OK, I know I'm probably the only one who is getting excited and slightly emotional but it's here.....

Series 7 box set. Which means it's arriving but it's departing (after 7 years).

I know I have a problem with box sets (buy, buy, buy!!!) but this one is a mixed feeling.

A great series having seen better days ending. Not that its that bad - if you haven't seen any yet you should. The writing is very sharp, especially in the first four series.

Pre-order now!

the Times, they are a changin'

What does today's much talked about Times poll really mean?

No nice graphs as per the normal Populus/Times usual, but ConservativeHome just about fills the void.

Given the last month has included the following:

• Cash for Peerages
• Charles Clarke's releasing of the criminal foreign masses
• NHS finanial mismanagement (and the Labour Party being booed by a nursing union!!!)
• John "Two Shags" (more than two, 'alledgedly') Prescott

and that's really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Labour sleaze, how is the dip in support for Labour not a lot more?

Cameron's not done a bad job so far (certainly more Prime Ministerial than the last three) but I can't help feeling he'll never succeed until the public falls out of love with Nu Labour.

Surely professional incompetence (as 3 of the 4 above are) is so much worse than personal indiscretions. And yet such gross incompetence of the worst kind doesn't deliver the killer blow...

I can't even begin to explain why they are still so popular - it genuinely mystifies me.


But in saying that having just seen the advance copy of tomorrow's DT (ITV News) it would seem Blair's downfall is beginning - at last but I won't hold my breath.

last.fm: personal music preferences

I first heard about last.fm about 2 months ago but had been slow to check it out.

It watches what music you listen to and makes suggestions from:

• music that is similar by genre, etc.
  
• other peoples' prefences whose are similar to your own
  

It has a radio player "thing" that also lets you rate songs and seems to be a free to air playlist.

Combining all this, it then lists what you listened to last, most, etc. Overall quite a lot of cool things going on behind the scenes with this. Check it out:

Return to the fold...

Hmmm, well, yes.

It's been a while....

During my auspicious period of silence I have managed to submit my 25,000 (80 pages!) dissertation and find gainful employment for when, or at this rate if, I graduate - more on striking lecturers later.

You know what they say about a day being a long time....

Further more...

I suppose what I'm rallying against in the previous post is not Islam in particular as a a religion but a group of fanatics who as a minority are trying to prevail upon us alien restrictions and limit freedoms that we have fought long and hard for - since the time of Magna Carta.

Why is it alright for me to be able to criticise one religion in the strongest terms possible and not another?

I personally believe that it is ungodly, unChristian & downright evil for the Roman Catholic Church to preach in Africa that condoms are evil and chastity is the way forward. This is a policy that has and will condemn millions upon millions to long and painful deaths. Personally I believe Pope John Paul II has gone to hell for it. Would a caring loving God really condemn so many of his children to death if he could save them?

There! You see... I bet Catholics aren't terribly fond of me now.

But I also want to ask, why do so many suicide bombers incite the name of Mohammed as they prepare to blow themselves up? Why is it that Islamic organisations are so prevalent in these tragedies and not other national or tribal groups? Last time I checked we didn't invade Islam.

So why the feeling of such intense hatred - why do the religious leaders of Islam feel sothreatened by Liberal Democracies if all is as rosie as they claim?

These are hard questions that require hard answers and must be answered in order to resolve many of the current problems.

Disgusting & Downright UnBritish

Protests by a small fraction of Islamic extremists is disgusting and displays a breathtaking level of stupidity, ignorance and intolerance.

Little do they realise this great country which belongs to us all is exactly why they can just about get away with such outrageous behavior and yet they are protesting against the same system allowing criticisms against their personal beliefs!

Thank goodness we live in a democratic society so we too can protest at this unreasonable reaction...

Oh, right of course, we can't though!

Freedom of speech and criticism of religion or any other organisation which wishes to rule our lives is a permanent feature of our society.

If followers of Islam are too weak to come up with reasoned responses or their faith is lacking, may I suggest they move to any one of many very welcoming and hospitable countries in the middle eastern penisula?

Photos: BBC News, Daily Telegraph