Linden Parker

Betrayed

2010-12-12T15:02:00.000+01:00

The Good
Firstly, I want to say well done to those Lib Dem MPs who stuck to their pledge and voted against the rise in tuition fees. This included Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central) who resigned as Chris Huhne's parliamentary aide, as well as the other two Welsh Lib Dems - Mark Williams (Ceredigion) and Roger Williams (Brecon & Radnorshire). Three of the MPs from the East voted against the rise - Bob Russell (Colchester), Julian Huppert (Cambridge) and Simon Wright (Norwich South) - though the later seemed to take a lot of persuading...
Three other brand new MPs opposed the fee rise - Ian Swales (Redcar), Mike Crockart (Edinburgh West) and Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne). As did the Liberal Democrat Party President Tim Farron (Westmorland & Lonsdale) and former leaders Menzies Campbell (Fife North East) and Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye & Lochaber).
The other 9 who kept their promise were Annette Brooke (Dorset Mid & Poole North), Andrew George (St Ives), Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South), John Leech (Manchester Withington), Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West), John Pugh (Southport), Alan Reid (Argyle & Bute), Dan Rogerson (Cornwall North) and Adrian Sanders (Torbay). Martin Horwood (Cheltenham) was also intending to vote against the government, but was at the climate change conference.

Those on the Fence
Excluding the two at the climate conference, there were 6 Lib Dems abstaining: Lorely Burt (Solihull), Simon Hughes(Bermondsey), Tessa Munt (Wells) - one of the new MPs, Robert Smith (Aberdeenshire West & Kircadine), John Thurso (Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross) and Stephen Williams (Bristol West). All six represent a pledge broken, and I can no longer support them.

The Betrayers

Then there are the 28 who voted to increase tuition fees to up to £9,000. If I'd have gone to university paying fees of £9,000 - as would be likely, because I'm studying a humanities degree - I would have left university with a debt of just under £40,000. That's almost double my predicted debt of £21,000! I can't see how it saves any money at all... I'm certain I will never pay off my £21k before it's written off, let alone double that (which would average out at £1,333 a year for 30 years). But this is about more than just tuition fees, this is about TRUST!
Here, I will detail those in the Liberal Democrats who have betrayed their voters, students, and their party.
The Cabinet
Nick Clegg - Deputy PM (Sheffield Hallam);
Vince Cable - Business Secretary, (Twickenham);
Danny Alexander - Chief Sec. to the Treasury (Inverness, Nairn, Badenock, Strathspey);
Chris Huhne (absent at Climate Conference, but intending to vote with govt.) - Energy & Climate Change Sec. (Eastleigh);
Michael Moore - Scottish Sec. (Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk).

The Ministers
Norman Lamb - Chief Parliamentary and Political Adviser to the Deputy PM (North Norfolk);
Nick Harvey - Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Devon North);
Jeremy Browne - Foreign Office Minister (Taunton Deane);
Lynne Featherstone - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities (Hornsey & Wood Green);
Ed Davey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs ( Kingston & Surbiton);
Sarah Teather - Minister of State for Children and Families (Brent Central);
Paul Burstow - Minister of State for Care Services (Sutton & Cheam);
Steve Webb - Minister of State for Pensions (Thornbury & Yate);
Andrew Stunell - Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State for Community Cohesion (Hazel Grove);
Norman Baker - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Regional and Local Transport (Lewes);
David Heath - Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (Somerton & Frome);
Alistair Carmichael - Liberal Democrat Chief Whip (Orkney & Shetland);
Mark Hunter - Assistant Whip (Cheadle).

Worse than this, there were 11 Lib Dem MPs without paid ministerial positions who broke their pledge and voted to increase tuition fees - four of these were brand new MPs:
Gordon Birtwistle (Burnley);
Stephen Gilbert (St Austell & Newquay);
Duncan Hames (Chippenham);
David Ward (Bradford East).
The others were:
Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed);
Tom Brake (Carshalton & Wallington);
Malcolm Bruce (Gordon);
Don Foster (Bath);
David Laws - former Chief Sec. to the Treasury (Yeovil);
Jo Swinson (Dunbartonshire East);
John Hemming (Birmingham Yardley).

These 28 people no longer speak for me, for the Liberal Democrats, or the UK's students.

I call for all those who broke their pledge to stand down at the next parliament.
As that seems unlikely, I call on local parties to deselect those who have betrayed the party and instead stand candidates who are honest and stick to their pledges unconditionally.

Ahead of the vote on tuition fees

2010-12-07T19:06:00.000+01:00

So on Thursday 9th, we have the House of Commons vote on Higher Education, which is now focused more than anything else on whether to increase tuition fees or not.

I think it's unlikely that Greg Mulholland's attempt to have the vote on tuition fees delayed will be successful, and this will leave Lib Dems with a choice. They can support the rise in tuition fees, they can oppose rise, or they can abstain.

The numbers suggest that the motion need not be passed, if enough Lib Dems vote against. Contrary to what has been said by Paddy Ashdown and others in the media, tuition fees was flagged up as an issue by the Liberal Democrat special conference in May 2010 - which I attended - where conference passed this motion, submitted by Liberal Youth:

"Conference notes that many Liberal Democrat MPs signed the NUS ‘vote for students’ pledge against any real-terms rise in the tuition fee cap. Conference calls upon Liberal Democrat ministers and MPs to ensure that on any decision made on Lord Browne’s report on higher education funding, they above all else take into account the impact on student debt. Conference affirms the Liberal Democrat objective of scrapping tuition fees."

This issue is more than simply about tuition fees; it's about trust and about restoring trust in politics. All of the Lib Dem MPs, plus 92 Labour MPs and 3 Tory MPs signed the NUS pledge (see Matt King's blog for full details). These MPs went further than simply making a manifesto commitment, to personally pledge to vote against any rise in tuition fees. No ifs, no buts.

It seems pretty clear that those 92 Labour MPs will stick to their pledge, and media interest is - quite rightly - on whether the Liberal Democrats will stick to their individual promises; or whether they are just like any other party, saying one thing in opposition, and doing quite another in government.

As a Liberal Democrat activist, I can safely say - wait - pledge, that I will not support or campaign for any MP who does not vote against the rise in tuition fees. Further to this, I will push for the de-selection of Lib Dem MPs if they vote for the rise in tuition fees, and would consider campaigning against them if they chose to stand in future elections as Liberal Democrats.

We are a party that hold honesty and transparency in the highest regard, and when our MPs make a pledge, they should damn well stick to it. If they don't then they're certainly not sitting in parliament in my name.

Tuition Fees Protests

2010-11-10T21:12:00.002+01:00

So today saw 50,000 students marching through the streets of London at the proposed rise in tuition fees to £6,000 and £9,000. If you were to switch on the news, you'd probably get the impression that this was a mob of rabid students tearing through the capital destroying everything in sight, but thankfully it looks like the majority of the protest was carried out peacefully. The Police sensibly showing restrain for once, but probably underestimating the number of officers needed.

Protesters outside Conservative Party HQ - AP

The breaking into Tory HQ wasn't good, but I was surprised how quickly Aaron Porter (NUS President) and others condemned it. Well not so much surprised - I mean their number one concern is their own reputation, it would seem - but if there had been no word from NUS straight away about the violence, I can't help but feel it would have sent a stronger message to the government. Perhaps a feeling of "crap... this is only going to get worse..." Instead, the 'anarchists' and 'Trotskyites' have been blamed and NUS shuffles off into the corner looking embarrassed at a peaceful protest gone wrong.

I'm certainly no fan of violence and it's a big shame that those on both sides were injured (3 police and 6 protesters, is the latest), but it had happened, and surely it's better to play that to your advantage to shock the government and to get a message across? The breaking of a few windows and desks are a tiny dent in the pocket of the Conservative Party in comparison to the damage of saddling a whole generation of new students with millions of pounds of debt every year...

German University - Seminars Begin!

2010-11-02T19:07:00.000+01:00

Today we had our first full and proper politics seminar in TU Darmstadt. The module is taught in English and entitled "Early Visions of Global Governance", which is mostly centred around pre-WWII idealist thought. Naturally, you can't study idealism from this period without focusing heavily on thinkers/theorists in the UK and mentioning the International Politics department at Aberystwyth University.

The seminar today was on (classic) Realism, and the ways in which theorists such as EH Carr dismissed, or argued against, the idealism which came directly before them.

Our reading for the seminar was Carr and Herz - the latter with whom I can't say I was familiar before now - but relatively easy, as I guess you would expect with the only English-language module taught in a German-language political science department.

One thing which I noticed today is the knowledge the students in our class have about the subject. It's not that they don't know what they're talking about - they know a great deal, and doubtless more than me! - but they seem to take a different approach to dealing with the subject than I had done whilst studying IR theories and Realism in Aberystwyth.

We (myself and Abi) have chosen to do our presentation on the Welsh Liberal David Davies (1880-1944, MP for Montgomeryshire 1906-1929) who was an important idealist, an active supporter of the League of Nations, and who funded the creation of the Chair of International Politics in Abersytwyth.

On Thursday, we launch into our seminar on Parties and Party Systems, and Friday we begin Local Politics in Germany. These are two topics I've not really covered before, or at least not since A-level Gov & Pol, and certainly nothing like the EU Politics, 20th Century Propaganda and Studying Hamas modules which I took in Aber over the past year.

But with today's seminar, one thing's for sure: it's certainly nice to be speaking in my native tongue and dealing with subject matter I can understand and have a grounding in!

A return to blogging

2010-10-30T19:52:00.000+02:00

I've finally decided to return to the world of blogging. Sometimes you just feel like you have a lot to say, but no-one to say it to, so writing at a computer screen sounds like the perfect answer.

Expect blogs on German and UK politics, as well as any random musings which I feel I must write.

Gaza in Pictures

2009-01-31T10:41:00.001+01:00

Gaza Crisis

2009-01-08T16:11:00.004+01:00

I have been closely following the situation in Palestine since the end of the ceasefire on Boxing Day.

The force used by Israel has, in my opinion been completely disproportionate to the threat. They have killed over 600 innocent and defenceless Palestinian civilians, compared to the 9 Israelis killed. The bombing of UN-run schools sheltering refugees, and of other civilian targets including Mosques in unacceptable.

Today, the Red Cross (Red Crescent in Palestine) have accused Israel of failing to fulfil its obligation to help wounded civilians in Gaza. Pierre Wettach - head of the ICRC in Israel & Palestine claimed Israel's military "must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded - neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestinian Red Crescent to assist the wounded." According to the BBC "One medical team found 12 bodies in a shelled house, and alongside them four very young children, too weak to stand, waiting by their dead mothers."

Someone I know is out in Gaza helping medics deal with the situation. Yesterday, one of the medics she had been working with was shot by an Israeli sniper and is now in hospital. Her blog can be found here.

I really hope the Franco-Egyptian Ceasefire Proposal can be accepted quickly and we can get back to finding the solution for everlasting peace in the region, which Israel and Hamas seem so intent on evading.

The 11th Doctor?

2008-06-28T22:55:00.003+02:00

Could this be the first glimpse of the 11th Doctor on Doctor Who??
Me thinks that would be too obvious :P

David Tennant as the Doctor - Possible Regeneration

Nuclear Power - A Step in the Right Direction

2008-01-12T16:11:00.001+01:00

We all know how nuclear power has many disadvantages. We've all heard about the devastation of Chernobyl, seen the Greenpeace scenario video of a terrorist attack on Sizewell, and worried about the methods of disposing of nuclear waste; but the fact is we NEED to make the most of nuclear energy if we want to have the slightest chance of preventing a complete and utter global disaster.
The way I see it, no one who cares about the environment wants nuclear power, but we have to utilize it in order to get away from the more damaging means of creating power that we rely on so much - too much - nowadays.
Nuclear power is clearly a step in the right direction towards a world where we are not constantly attempting to evade climate change.

Lets look at what would happen in the UK if we weren't to replace the aging nuclear stations with new ones. The government would probably build new green energy plants (wind farms, solar farms and wave turbines), but they are building them anyway. These couldn't be built on current nuclear power plant sites. Instead, during the sites' decommissioning, they would probably have new coal/gas/oil powered stations built on the sites. Is this what we want?

In my opinion the current status of the future of power supplies in Britain stand with two options, which all hang on the nuclear verdict.
Firstly, Renewables+Nuclear+Fossil fuels > Renewables+Fossil fuels > Renewables. This means we first work on closing nuclear plants, but means we do nothing to combat climate change until later.
Secondly, Renewables+Nuclear+Fossil fuels > Renewables+Nuclear > Renewables. This means we deal with the problem of climate change now. We use nuclear as an interim solution, before we move to power ourselves entirely from renewable sources.

I have to say that I am glad that the Government have taken this stance on nuclear power, and I am upset that the my Party and the Green Party seem to think that suddenly we are going to be able to find the space and money for an extremely high number of wind farms, solar farms and tidal plants.

That is why I believe nuclear power IS a step in the right direction.

Political Compass

2008-01-06T20:37:00.000+01:00

This is the Political Compass for all my Facebook friends who have taken the test.
It is separated by colour into LibDems, School Friends and members of the game Eshraval.

Looks like I have some very libertarian friends!

Click on the image to make it clearer - blogger doesn't really understand showing images full-size.

UCAS

2007-11-20T23:40:00.000+01:00

The UCAS online system is as efficient as the British System of Public Transport!

It tells you what to put in, you put what it told you in, you think you're finished.
You submit the application, and then it tells you where you went wrong. But the great part is that once you've submitted your application, you CAN'T EDIT IT!
So it is telling you to edit it, when that is just the impossible!

I would have had the thing off and posted by the end of October if it weren't for the fncked up system that they use!

Oh, and it has an error with the Course start date. If you course starts in September 2008, and you put September 2008, then it may tell you that the start date you have entered is INVALID!!!

Oh the pain of it all!

University

2007-10-10T01:28:00.000+02:00

So I'm applying to do European Studies / European Studies with German / German and European Studies / European Politics With German at 5 different universities:

<> Aberystwyth
<> Kent
<> Loughborough
<> Leicester
<> Essex

I decided not to apply to Swansea, as the Uni was quite run down, and the accommodation was offsite (as with Leicester).

Belguim: The Split

2007-10-09T21:35:00.000+02:00

Yesterday Belgium reached its 120th day being ungoverned. It is unclear (to me) what is to happen... a coalition reaching an agreement governing Belgium or some other solution would seem most likely.

What I like the idea of is the possible split. Just to have a country so close to us called Wallonia, where people speak Walloon (+French).
This would reshape Europe: the four Europhile low countries (Netherlands, Flanders, Wallonia, Luxembourg) squashed in between the big three of Germany, France and the UK.

And then what about Brussels? This predominantly French speaking city is the capital of Europe located within Flanders. With current EU border travel getting easier and easier by the year, this should not cause a problem for the city whoever were to control it but there are issues.
If you follow the Geographical logic, the Flemish (a dialect of dutch) Flanders would take control of the French Belgian capital, but surely Wallonia would loose out on the Belgium split if they were no longer the country in the focus of EU attention.
Alternatively, going by language, Brussels could stay united with the French speaking Wallonia, but a three kilometer stretch of Flanders would cut the capital off from it's country.
Then option three - I like this option ;) or maybe that's just me! - Belgium is split into three. Wallonia in the south, Flanders in the north, and the self governing capital of Europe, Brussels in the centre. The question that immediately springs to my mind is would each three of these states be able to hold their own in the big wide world? The answer is they wouldn't have to because this could actually strengthen their bonds with the rest of the EU in the creation of a Capital of Europe in the middle. The United States of Europe doesn't seem too far off.

However, at the moment we must remember that Belgium is still just one nation - despite what the Belgian news channel RTBF told their citizens last december!
(You can get the gist if you listen to the French and read the Dutch at the same time).

(Notice it reads "Ceci est une fiction" at the bottom several times throughout the report, but many people including some of the international ambassadors in Brussels, missed this.)

Defeated

2007-05-04T21:21:00.000+02:00

And this is where I should have a post saying how Labour have suffered badly! How not only the Torys, but also the LibDems have made great gains! How the LibDems have safely held South Norfolk!

But NO!
Labour have suffered moderately (in england at least), the Tory's have done well - too well, and often at the expense of the LibDems and NOT Labour!
The Conservatives gained 6 councils from the Liberal Democrats (including my own), and only 6 again from Labour; gaining 35 from NOC.
So now, for the first time in my life, I unfortunately live in an area with a Conservative council. What I want to know is how did the South Norfolk Liberal Democrats manage to loose 20 of their 27 seats to the conners? They go from a 8 seat majority to having 32 seats less than the Torys! Anyway, I am off to cry.

Congratulations to Mr Little who now has another friend on Norwich City Council after the Torys gained a seat. The Cons now make up 7.7% of the council, and are the forth party below Labour, Lib Dems and Greens (with only 3 seats).

Feel free to leave comments about the results in your area and your disappointment/happiness.

How to Spell Properly

2007-04-28T17:11:00.000+02:00

If you happen to be an American who is a member of the Favorite Mustache Organization, then this post is for you! Firstly you must rename yourselves the Favourite Moustache Organisation, otherwise you will never realise the mistakes you are making! And I will spend the rest of my life sniggering at your unfavourable behaviour; you will never be my neighbour; and I will centre myself around people who eat yoghurt, measure in metres, have ships in harbours and analyse chequered molluscs for likeable, unshakeable catalogues. So get with the programme!

Here is a list of 75 words spelt PROPERLY:
moustache
mum
snigger
speciality
titbit
colour
flavour
honour
behaviour
armour
harbour
neighbour
labour
labourious
favourite
savoury
fibre
sabre
centre
spectre
manoeuvre
metre
organise
recognise
realise
colonisation
organisation
analyse
catalyse
paralyse
prise open
analogue
catalogue
dialogue
monologue
caesium
diarrhoea
oesophagus
encyclopaedia
foetus
aeroplane
modelling
quarrelled
traveller
counsellor
fuelling
dialled
woollen
tranquillise
jewellery
ageing
likeable
liveable
rateable
saleable
sizeable
unshakeable
programme
axe
chequered
cosy
draught
grey
liquorice
mollusc
mould
pyjamas
plough
sceptic
storey
sulphur
tyre
vice
yoghurt
spelt

Now, if I find "Organize, Favorite, Likable or Center" used ever again then I cannot be blamed for my actions! Don't say I didn't warn you!

Scream

2007-04-21T22:55:00.000+02:00

You probably know what it feels like when you are down and you feel so low you just want to scream out loud so that all the world can hear you...
Exams coming up, and I've never tried going through anything like this without the extra support you have with a girlfriend. Someone you can talk to about everything. Someone that understands you and knows exactly what to stay to make you feel better. Something I feel I've only shared once, truly. And then I have to try and scrape through A levels to get to the next level - life really could not be any more like a game.
To pass level 1 you have to do this - cant fail. Level 2 is harder and involves more thinking. You have to be really determined to beat level 3, and do some obscure tasks. Then level 4 seems really easy on the surface, but once you start it it is almost impossible to complete. Then you do it. And level 5 is the same, and every time you think that you are about to complete the level, there is something else to do, and another thing and another thing. and then right when you feel you have definitely definitely finished, you die. Game Over. and that is it.
Well I want my life to be different. Free from the system... but that just won't happen. not in this world or any other. Oh how great is life!

Billy Boyd as Pippin

2007-03-06T14:17:00.000+01:00

Billy Boyd (who plays Pippin in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy) wrote the melody which he sings as Pippin for the king in Minas Tirith in the Return of the King.

And then here he is singing a cover verion of Hit Me Baby One More Time.

And to think his career is acting!

Skiing Embarrasment

2007-03-04T15:51:00.000+01:00

Oh the horror of me skiing! - This was the only time over the week that this happened, and Jana happened to get it on camera!

Parliamentary Debating Club

2007-02-24T18:46:00.000+01:00

Our politics class, plus a few more stragglers, are now part of a Parliamentary Debating Club organised by the one and only Mr. Little.
Mr. Little plans to use our debating skills to take over the world by entering us in a competition, for which we have to record a video of our own PMQ's and another of a Parliamentary Debate.
Yesterday, Mr. Little (who is still suffering from man flu, and apparently "only being kept alive by lemsips") decided who would be who in our first attempt at a PMQ's. We have 6 Labour MPs (led by PM Sophia), 5 Tory MPs, and 3 LibDems. Due to my excessively long hair last week, I was given the job of backbencher LibDem, which I have no problems with, and its possibly the position that best suits my beliefs.
By next Friday I need to have thought up some questions that I can ask the PM, as well as decide upon the name of my constituency (I've thought up some great options!)

More updates on this later - with any luck, Labour will ask some pointless questions praising the PM, the Cons will batter the PM like anything, and we will ask some sensible questions that no one really cares about, and it will have been a realistic PMQ's!

Hair Cut!

2007-02-24T18:10:00.000+01:00

Those of you who see me regularly will have seen the extent of my Hair Growing experiment. (Right: Me on Feb 21st 2007, wearing Jenni's glasses).
But now I know how easy it is to grow long flowing locks, and I can do it again if I want to, I have decided that a shorter look is in order, which will probably last me through to next Autumn.
So today I went to the Crop Shop and had a new do. I asked for something that was a bit like my hair last summer , when it was quite a bit shorter (see second image from Sept 06).
The outcome was shorter still but I'm liking it. I shall upload some a picture after Monday, so its still a surprise to everyone.

Political Compass Test

2007-02-03T17:06:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago, I answered questions for my placement on the 2D Political Spectrum (the best of which can be found at politicalcompass.org).
The outcome what almost exactly as I had expected, and I was 2 units Left and 8 units Libertarian.
After conducting the test again just now, I have moved to 6 units Left, but thats relatively unimportant. (See new graph below)
The only substantial party from the 2005 election who comes close to me are the Green Party, and seeing as I don't like their progress at the moment (and surely their narrow-mindedness doesn't make them as Libertarian as this?) I don't have a party to go by.
The closest contemporary leader to me is the Dalai Lama, which I don't mind.
So everybody go to the website and take the test to see what you get.

2007-01-21T17:43:00.000+01:00

If you are not familiar with my MySpace, then this is what I listen to - though I have recently been listening to a lot of Damien Rice - which hasn't transferred to this chart :(

These are my top 10 artists since Feb. 06

1 in 10 think Tory's have had it!

2007-01-16T23:02:00.000+01:00

An ICM poll for the guardian in december found that 12% of people asked thought that the Conservatives may never be returned to power.

The question asked was "When do you think the Conservatives maybe returned to power?"
The majority suggested it would be in one of the next two elections, but 12% of the sample of 1006 (thats 121 people!)
Perhaps it was because they surveyed lots of left wing "tory-haters", or perhaps it was because favour is still moving against the Conservatives?

Next election: 37%
Not until two elections time: 30%
Not until 3 elections time or later: 7%
Will never return to power: 12%
Don't know 15%

You can see this pole and other polls from December 06 Here. Including the voting intentions poll, which shows the conservatives with a majority (40% to Labour's 32%.) So it looks like the world is going crazy... or just the country... or just the Tories... no, they were always crazy... no, I'm just joking!

Side-note:
Accorting to politicalbetting.com, Hilary Clinton is odds on to be the 2008 president of the USA (and obviously she is odds on to be the Democrat Candidate, and the Democrats are odds on to win...) However betters seem to have lost hold of their hats, and the odds for a female president are lower than for a non-female president. Either the betters believe Hilary Clinton to be a man, or they are betting like idiots.... I shall leave my reader(s) to contemplate the intelligence of the American population...

Exams (Kerching)

2007-01-11T23:36:00.000+01:00

So I've now added labels to all my posts (after working out how to update my blog to the latest thingy with wotsits and so on) and so I just thought I'd mention that at the start of the post.

So we begin with Maths C1 - a module in which I had previously had varying success across the term. Some of my homeworks have been as low as Ungraded, while my top pieces have been B's, as well as several A's! I was predicted an A before the test, and I would be happy enough with a B, but after sitting in the exam for an hour and a half, I came out smiling inside. I think I done really well, and am pretty sure I done well enough to get the A I wanted. Just hoping that I done as well as I think I did! =D

Then onto my other Exams - Government and Politics GOV1 & GOV2. I done my best, and answered definition questions on: mandate, party splits, campaign strategies, and potential members, and essay questions on referendums & giving electorate a chance to influence the government, geographical factors & voting behavior, party conferences & less policy, and pressure groups & the democratic process.
I think I made the right choices (maybe I thought I hadn't got a chance with some of the other questions!) but although everyone else thinks they done badly and failed, i think I done relatively well in both =D

Got to wait for the results in march, but I expect to be happy when they arrive - hoping for at least 2 Bs, but an A would be fantastic if I could get one.

Sadam and the Capital Punishment Question

2007-01-02T20:58:00.000+01:00

On the 30th of December, we heard that Sadam Hussein had been executed, however only a few days later we were presented with television pictures which showed the video of him directly before his execution. It doesn't take much to find the full YouTube version of the video, in which you can see him falling to his death, as well as footage looking down on him as he perished.

Surely this absolutely gruesome footage asks again the question on human rights and capital punishment. Even when the victim is a man who I hate and I know deserves to die, I sit and know that the removal of life like that isn't right. Surely our government, especially with their "expressed opinion" on the matter, cannot just allow a newly created democracy to listen to America when they tell them that killing is the only way to make things better?

Anyway, in the meantime while international laws do not prevent such hangings, we might as well celebrate his death by accepting that he deserved everything he got.

Icy Frost Photo Outside House

2006-12-31T01:31:00.000+01:00

For those of you who don't regularly view my Myspace page, here's the picture I currently have as my background, which I took on the common last week when we had all that frost and fog.
I didn't photoshop it at all -it's as is straight off the Digicam. There is a higher resolution pic on my old website supplying the myspace background, so let me know if you want access to the full image. Not a bad picture, even if I do say so myself. ;P

"Frost on the Common" by Linden Parker - 21st December 2006.

Another Year...

2006-12-31T01:04:00.000+01:00

Once again I am stuck with my parents for New Year's Eve, after no one at Notre seems to have a house big enough to throw a party, and my friend dropped out from coming round mine at the last minute to go to a girly sleepover thing instead. Oh well... maybe next year I might manage to have fun.

As for this year, its just mum, dad and I round the neighbours for a good old country celebration (lots of linking arms, Auld Lang Sein (or variant on that spelling) and mulled wine) with me being the youngest there as Aiken has blagged an invite round his friends - I could go too, but I can't really stand several hours with a load of 14 year old boys who all play guitar better than me. So yea.

2006?
Bit of a blur for me really!
I was with Aislinn up until July, at Easter we went to the Peaks, then exams came and went, then I was off to Spain, then Camping down in Suffolk, then the rest of the holidays...
Received my exam results and was extremely pleased, even though they could have been better if I'd managed to open my revision guides at all. Started Notre Dame in a flash, and here I am a term later writing my Birthday Blog as it will henceforth be called.

Well I'm feeling quite good about myself, despite school giving me a thorough headache, and I'm looking forward to the year ahead. UCAS Forms lurk just around the corner though, as my cousin Laura has just reminded me, and it is gonna be a tough couple of years before that. Maybe if I manage to string a little money together (which I believe requires getting a job... or so I'm told) then I won't be in a pile of debt quite as large as the one I would be in if I was shipped off to Uni now. But then again, if I take maths at the UEA then I can live at home too. How fun :'(

Final thought. In '07 I should have my blog RSS fed onto the Website I'm hoping to have. But until then its just here I'm afraid. Oh well.

Here's a song from 17 months (and 2 days) ago that I wrote. Something about nightmares, but its reminding me of all the slow Damien Rice music I've been listening to today.

Have a Happy 2007.

Nightmare Spirits
Linden Parker
(27/07/05)

A world full of silent screams,
Haunting everybody’s dreams,
Seeming like fictitious thought,
But they are real spirits caught.

Unbalanced in the path of time,
Seeking for some kind of sign,
But until then they haunt us all,
Playing us their endless call.

(Chorus:)
If only they could be released,
Freed from where they lay,
Allowed to get away from this,
Allowed to leave or stay.

Bad thoughts emanate without light,
Ghosts of darkness ghosts of night,
Seeking peace dealing pain,
Turning sunlight into rain.

(CHORUS)
Shadows dulling in the dark of day,
Know that they will never fail,
Bad prevails over good,
Although no one thought it would.

(CHORUS)

It’s not what we wanted it cannot remain,
Even if we try to refrain,
From choosing sides in the fight of the dreams,
We will have to decide to fight it seems.

(CHORUS)

"Like Birthday and Christmas come at once"

2006-12-27T14:01:00.000+01:00

Wait... thats exactly what it is.

So for Christmas I got clothes for skiing, the Fratellis CD, Ice Age 2 DVD, chocolate, £10 Chapelfield vouchers, a CD rack, for my million CDs, some deodorant (at least this year it was a miniature one), a pen desk thing, a speaking mic for computer, some chewing gum, a total of £160 from various and as my main present, and finally i got a large pair of boxers from my neighbour with winnie the pooh on them and the words "show me the honey". Oh dea! But the other pressies were all handy.

I need to wait to see what I get for birthday first to decide what to spend my money on, but at the moment I know I need Sibelius Student edition for my AS Music compositions, as I don't have enough time at school to perfect my work.

If I've got enough after Saturday, I may see if my cousins girlfriend can get me a Wii as I managed to get a play on my cousin's on Christmas Eve - my arm still aches.

Anyway, gotta go do some more revision - have been letting the maths slip a bit.

"Mry Chrsms evry1."

US Midterms Update

2006-11-28T22:40:00.000+01:00

And so it feels like weeks since the US Midterms - its been a whole 3 weeks actually <|:-O) - and the result? Bush and Roger (personified duck pictured in previous post) become closer than ever before! (See wikipedia article)

The Republicans have lost the House of Representatives to the Democratic Party by a spectacular 32 seats (with 3 seats still to be decided).

The Senate was a closer race, with the final results as 49 seats a-piece to Rep. and Dem. and two independents, who have agreed to "caucus" with the Democratic Party, so they technically hold a majority over the fascist Republicans! argh

Elsewhere, in a local election in South Dakota, Marie Steichen was elected to Jerauld County commissioner, despite the fact that she died two months before the election. Her name was never replaced on the ballot, and voters who chose her were aware of her death (See story on MSNBC).
Richmond, California, now has a Green Party Mayor.

And this was America, so you can't forget all of the idiotic sidetrack problems that occurred: A Kentucky poll worker was charged with choking a voter; in a small town in Oklahoma, a power outage in a polling station was caused by a squirrel gnawing on a power cable; and lots of "please don't vote or we will burn your house to the ground" threats in Virginia; there were also huge problems with the electronic voting system, mainly because 75% of Americans were unable to locate the "Enter" key on the voting pad.

Oh well, thats enough about America for the time being, or I shall become very angry and begin to plot a plan to displace Bush, again... and it will only end in pure tragedy.

Cheerio.

US Midterm Elections

2006-11-07T17:14:00.000+01:00

Will Bush have to survive his last two years in office without the support of the House of Representative or the Senate?
Will he become a sitting duck, like Roger?
(News & Views coming up...)

Drugs and Youth Culture

2006-10-27T16:04:00.000+02:00

As everyone knows, "Drug use among young people has become a normal part of dance and youth culture... and research [in 1999] revealed that young people attending dance venues considered drug usage as commonplace, with 78% of the 222 respondents stating they had used drugs at some stage..." blah blah blah.
But how true is this really?

I can only speak from my own experiences, as statistics can be warped in any direction to make them say what you want them to.

At my high school, I was aware of heavy alcohol abuse as well as pupils as young as 12 smoking tobacco, and several pupils as young as 14 smoking cannabis and taking other drugs (you try not to enquire too much when it seems that serious), but in year 11, there were only probably 5 or 6 out of 120 who were regularly taking or smoking illegal drugs. I understand that it is likely that a higher proportion of pupils in inner city schools will take drugs then in my little rural school, but as much as 78% of "youths"?

In my current sixth form there appears to be no drug abuse - legal tobacco smoking and drinking, but nothing worse. Knowing a fraction of the year group I couldn't think of more than 2 or three out of 250 who I could imagine EVER taking drugs, let alone those actually taking them.
However, after the party I attended on Friday night I might be able to fully contradict myself. The fancy dress party, which was held at a scout hut for charity, resulted in the evening being cut short, the police being called, and an ambulance taking one girl to stay in hospital overnight. Rumors suggest she tried mixing alcohol and drugs, though I can't say for certain.
It makes me think, if this is what can happen at a charity disco full of 16/17 year olds all attending one of the best sixth forms in the county, then surely nightclubs and other parties of 18/19/20 year olds could potentially be far worse...

However, I myself am not worried. (I know that I don't drink and the only drugs I've ever taken have been Calpol, Paracetamol and other prescribed medication!) But is this cause for concern for the police and the government? Should certain drugs be legalised to cut down their use, and make sure that those using them use them properly and safely?

Who knows? There seems to be little debate going on among the political parties and the media at the present time.

North Korea - 1 nuclear weapon?

2006-10-16T20:23:00.000+02:00

It's believed that North Korea tested its Nuclear Weapons last week - which could turn them into a powerful country in the worldwide community. Looks like we'd better all jump inside our Fall Out shelters and say goodbye to the world we know doesn't it? Well first you have to look at the facts and guesses about other countries worldwide.

Recognised nuclear powers (who have signed Non-Proliferation Treaty):
Russia 8'232
USA have 7'068
China 402
France 348
UK 185
Iran (unsure)

Countries outside NPT suspected of weapons:
Israel +-200?
Pakistan +-40?
India +-35?
North Korea +-1?

And a bucket-full of other countries are capable of creating nuclear weapons using existing nuclear reactors (Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Algeria, Egypt, Dem. Rep. of Congo, South Africa, Bangladesh, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Australia).

So we might not need to question the fact that North Korea has tested Nuclear weapons this month (according to US intelligence - i didn't know there was any) but when you look at the stats, is it hard to see that other countries world wide seem to pose a bigger threat?

If the US are behaving as they usually do, then they probably have all of their "battleships" sitting in some bay in South Korea, so if North Korea fire their Nuclear Weapon (singular) on the very important Alaska, then they won't exist for more than two seconds, before the other coutries in the world with nuclear weapons (USA, Russia, UK, France, Israel, China and India) respond. Iran is the only dangerous country, but only appears dangerous due to forceful American opinion.

So, in the wake of WW3, I shouldn't worry too much... the only real threat is George Bush.

Cameron's Speech

2006-10-04T20:48:00.000+02:00

Hmmm, how peculiar. I have to say that I enjoyed the Tory leader's speech today, but for a change it isn't because I was severely disagreeing with it.

For once David Cameron's speech seemed to make sense; he spoke about the NHS, stopping crime at its source and same sex ceremonies, while at the same time standing in front of his "Tree".

I haven't seen what anyone else thought about this yet (except Channel 4) however I think he's shown that he can be the Blair of the Tory party. Depending on who becomes Prime Minister over the next year, the Tory's are in with a tradgicly fantastic chance of winning the '09 election - especially if Labour field Gordon Brown or John Reid as their leader.

I would however have to advise him that if he doesn't change his hair style to something less waxed then the swing voters will all go for the bald guy. Did you hear that Sir Campbell? I Said did you hear that Sir Campbell?!? I do apologuise - I believe our friend has fallen asleep. Oh well... at least he isn't drunk.

A Whole New Blog

2006-10-03T23:42:00.000+02:00

Wow, my very own blog - always wanted one of those...
But sarcasm aside, blogs can be cool; it just depends on what you talk about.

Not much has happened to me recently except the most obvious big change of moving to a big new school: Notre Dame Sixth Form.

It has to be one of the best changes that's happened in my life, as I've got a good group of friends - some of whom I've carried over from High School, but most of whom I have only met in the last few weeks. This includes my new girlfriend Kate.

Lessons are good too - it makes a big difference when you are learning subjects that you want to do rather than ones that you have to do (except that the evil Cathaholics force us to do RE for an hour a week).

Maths (Mrs Hayes & Mr Eaton) - very tough, but I'm just about keeping up with the rest of the class...

Music (Mr Milne, Mr McKee & Dr Stoppard) - despite getting an A at GCSE with no help from my high school teacher whatsoever, I am finding this quite tough.

German (Miss Clerehugh & Mrs Beckford) - This is going well. I've struggled with my memory and some of the vocab tests we've had, but I'm doing well with my grammer and can make sense more rightly in German than what I do when I am speaking my English best.

Chemistry (Mr Morley and Mrs Alcocer) - Not a lesson I expected to be doing at A-Level, and I'm still considering the drop as 5 subjects is too much. Mr Morley couldn't make his lessons more enjoyable - with setting fire to anything that moves (or doesn't move, in the case of the deoderant can and gas tap!!)

Government & Politics (Mr Little) - Taught by the most important Tory in Norwich South, Politics in fun yet very fast moving. As I have the lessons after school I find it more enjoyable than the other subjects, and it currently looks as though it will only run as a year course. Mr Little is alright for a Conservative, and you can find his blog at http://www.antonylittle.blogspot.com/ - he likes three-legged lesbian dwarves and blueberry muffins, however his dislikes include Save The Badgers Appeal, Margaret Thatchers denial that she is really a man and bearded sandal-wearing LibDems *at this point I will say that at the last general election Mr Little (23%) failed to get as many votes as the LibDem candidate (Andrew Aalders-Dunthorpe (29%) - who only done better due to his hilarious name) so clearly Mr Little isn't up to scratch with his Propaganda.

Oh dear - I seem to have spent most of the blog going off the point and talking about Mr Little... never mind! At least my Oak tree isn't "more of a tree than an Oak tree" (David Cameron).

Thanks, Linden Parker.

Any comments welcome.