He's the daddy!

For the first time in a very long while I feel a little hopeful about this world and where it might go next!

Joe Plumber and Jane Doe

I will confess before I even begin this post that I know almost nothing about American politics, or at least I know little enough that I couldn't begin to defend what I am about to say with any degree of real knowledge, hell I struggle with the minutiae of my own countries governmental carrying's-on let alone that of another but, as I haven't been able to turn on the news or open a paper without coming face to face with Obama or McCain for months, I feel I have some small entitlement to have an opinion, albeit poorly formed in the eyes of anyone politically savvy.

So, feel free to shoot me down in flames but know that I can't argue back with any alacrity, I am not 'Joe Plumber' (incidentally check out this amusing little faux pas) but I am Jane Doe and as such my limited knowledge is probably not unusual, there are alot of Jane Does out there, most of them have a vote (you might argue they shouldn't but they do) and as a consequence they will vote on issues probably not up there at the top of the political pundits' lists.

My vote if I had one, Obama, no contest! My reasons? The man is charismatic, bright and extremely clever, he is forward thinking, appears to live on the same planet as the rest of us, he is on the opposite side to the current administration, which for me can only to be a good thing, if for no other reason than the Iraq debacle, he hasn't bought in an Alaskan bimbo with a twitch in her at eye to try and inject some interest into his campaign at the last moment and he is black.....and it is long overdue that a western power had a black president!

So...my opinion, as is evident, might not be based in heavy duty politics but it is an opinion and probably many with a vote know little more than I do and will place their cross on the basis of a only few, perhaps emotionally motivated points.

If in November Barack Obama becomes the first black president of the United States I for one will be cheering loudly at the outcome of the first American presidential race that has held any interest for me whatsoever and I will be hoping that just maybe, whilst it doesn't go the whole way, it is a step in the right direction and that even Dr Martin Luther King might just be raising a small smile!

Political correctness gone 'demented'!

It seems there is a bit of a hoo ha brewing at the University of Manchester, regarding the 'de-gendering' of the students union toilets.

If you haven't come across this little gem of a story before what it means in English is that the toilets are no longer marked as for men or women specifically, instead they are designated as 'toilets' or 'toilets with urinals'. The reason? There have been an unspecified number of complaints from trans-gender students that they have an issue as to which toilet they should use, or feel comfortable using.

I have no problem with that whatsoever, from a personal point of view I don't care whether men or women or women that live as men, or men that live as women, use the conveniences I use, in fact I think in many ways it would be more practical just to do as many other countries do and have 'unisex' toilets (have you see the queues in ladies toilets??) but I do understand why some individuals might find unisex toilets an uncomfortable concept and there is of course the 'has political correctness gone mad' phrase resounding around the whole issue.

And this is where the whole thing has aggravated me!

Check out the green haired, oh-so-idealist, students union rep in the linked video! Get a life girl. She, in typical over zealous, 'head in her rear end', extreme politically correct fashion, picks the reporter up on the use of the phrase' political correctness gone mad'! Her reasoning seems to be that to equate political correctness with madness is in itself not politically correct because the term 'mad' is a disable-ist (did she just invent that word?) term in itself!

That really is political correctness gone mad in my opinion, is the word 'mad' not just a general term for any extreme and/or unusual behaviour and often times applied to incidents of a fun or amusing nature, as opposed to a negative which appears to be her presumption? Perhaps she would prefer we used one of the many definitions of the word 'mad' (insert your choice of non disable-ist term - mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented) as supplied by the Oxford dictionary?

Sorry, but if she is being so bloody righteous is her association with madness and the those with a disability not a politically incorrect attitude in itself....and should she not be looking closer to home? You will notice if you listen carefully that one of the students states she "wouldn't like to share a toilet with a proper man"!!!! Does that suggest then that even some of those on her own campus are presenting a politically incorrect attitude towards trans-gender students?!

Give me strength, all she seems to have achieved is to take the spotlight off the original issue, which may or may not have validity but has been lost among the immature stupidity of someone who should know better by her own standards!!

I would suggest she should perhaps concentrate on educating those around her on the trans-gender issue rather than getting her five minutes of fame in front of a television camera!

Mother needs police check to escort son!

A mother from Wales is required to have a CRB check before escorting her own severely epileptic son to school!!!

He is liable to have a seizure whilst travelling in the taxi provided by the local authority and his mother is qualified to administer the necessary medication, she would not come into contact with any other child than her own!

The full story is HERE.

Are the powers that be in the UK now completely demented?!! The more of this kind of idiocy I hear the more I begin to really dislike my own country. Are those holding positions of authority no longer able to make individual judgements because the nanny has state has rendered them completely witless and unable to rationalise anything at all?

Best I say no more for fear of a long line of expletives being the only likely result!