Whenever the topic comes
up in conversation I always say that I don't mind working at
weekends. However it is easy to say that. I got up this morning with
a heavy heart knowing that everyone else would be up and about and up
to mischief whilst I was not. And I certainly sulked whenever I got
texts about what I was missing throughout the day. Mind you I had a
sly smile at 2pm when the storm came over less than two minutes after
I'd received a text message telling me that the picnic lunch I was
missing had just started.
As I drove to work I felt
vindicated when I heard the news. Regular readers of this drivel may
recall how in the past few weeks I've ranted about the farcical
elections for the posts of police commissioners. It came as something
of a surprise for me to realise that I actually missed the vote,
which took place last Thursday. Had I remembered would I have voted?
Somehow I doubt it. We only had any information through on one of the
candidates, and I couldn't bring myself to vote for him on principle.
Knowing nothing about the other candidates meant that had I voted it
would have been sheer guesswork. I suppose I might have spoiled the
ballot paper as a political statement, if could I have been bothered.
But I couldn't.
And nor could eighty five
per cent of the electorate, according to the official figures.
There's apparently going to be a formal review into why the turn-out
for this election was so low; the lowest of any election in history.
The sad thing about all
of this which really boils my piss is that there is to be a formal
review into the bleeding obvious, whilst something which is patently
wrong (someone takes office with only the support of seven per cent
of the electorate) is allowed to pass
unchallenged. I would
suggest that all of my loyal readers click
here and have a look at this e-petition. The plan is to give the
electorate the option to say "none of the above" in
elections. Given the scenario
that half the voting
electorate gives the standing candidates the thumbs-down, these
candidates are automatically disbarred. The election (whatever it
is for) would then be re-run with a new gaggle of
candidates.
This has the advantage
that the electorate can say no to candidates they don't want. But it
doesn't actually do anything to ensure that the electorate get better
candidates. I suspect the petition hasn't got a hope as it will
certainly give standing politicians something to worry about.
And here's something
which made me think. A devout Christian (alarm bells ring!)
has won his court battle. He got demoted from a position in a local
housing trust because of his views against gay marriage. He's now
shown in court that his dismissal was unfair. Something of a pyrrhic
victory as the legal costs have left him all but bankrupt But he has
proved his right to say what he thinks. Regardless of how wrong he
might actually be.
Personally I think that
gay people should be able to get married if they want to.
Let me qualify that...
as a civil ceremony - yes. Not as a Christian ceremony - becuse the
Christian teachings are quite firm on the point. I don't join a snooker
club and insist they play darts. I don't join a political party and
insist they all go pot-holing. It's the same with a religion. If you
take it up, you go with what the religion teaches. You don't pick and choose
what parts of the faith you want and ignore the rest. Or if you do,
that's fine but you don't then apply the name of that religion to
yourself.
This Christian bloke
explained his position by saying "I don’t understand why
people who have no faith and don’t believe in Christ would want to
get hitched in church. The Bible is quite specific that marriage is
for men and women. If the State wants to offer civil marriages to the
same sex then that is up to the State; it shouldn’t impose its
rules on places of faith and conscience." I think he might
have a point there. Why would anyone want to get married in a church
knowing full well that the teachings on which that church is based
say that what they are doing is fundamentally wrong?
As I came home this
evening I looked to the sky. Originally I wasn't expecting to be
working this weekend, and so had organised for the astro club to have
a bit of a telescope session tonight. If for no better reason that
the Leonid meteor shower is supposed to reach its maximum tonight. As
always whenever anything astronomical happens there is complete cloud
cover. Astronomy really sucks sometimes..
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