So it looks like the MPs expenses scandal will run and run and run for the foreseeable future, with the Daily Telegraph releasing information on a drip-feed basis. Good. It really is quite astounding how angry people are about this, but it's an anger which is justified, long overdue and, needless to say, shared by yours truly. When Stephen Fry gesticulates on television about a "journalistic made-up frenzy", he fails to see that many people regard this the final straw. We've reached the stage where people can no longer contain their anger against their political leaders.
While there are admittedly legitimate concerns about the state of democracy, such as Parliament not able to fully function while this saga continues, as well as a protest vote causing some very unpleasant parties like UKIP or the BNP breaking the 10% barrier at next month's EU elections, I suspect these problems will only concern us for the short term. In the long term, we should hopefully see more transparency in Parliament, and while not necessarily a death knell to the concept of- then at the very least less acceptance of career politicians; the sort who, through their avarice, opportunism and lack of political conviction, helped put British democracy into the calamitous state it is presently in.
Plus we are now looking at the very real possibility of the next General Election causing a major realignment in British politics not seen since 1918, with Labour relegated into third place and the Liberal Democrats replacing them as the main progressive force in Parliament. Which would be a very positive development, especially when taking into consideration that Labour have been anything but progressive since Blair was elected party leader, what with their embracement of neoliberal supply side economics/Thatcherism, their clamping down on civil liberties, their increasingly autocratic and authoritarian behaviour, you name it. Oh yeah, and wholesale incompetence. That too. Now the recession has well and truly kicked in, the middle income groups which Blair charmed in the 90s have fled back to the Conservatives wholesale, while Labour's once-core support, the working classes and the poor, are so unbelievably pissed off with New Labour's illiberalism that they will vote for anyone but the party that has taken them for granted for too long. If anything, the expenses scandal is one of many nails in the coffin, which is why Labour are currently hovering round the 20% mark in the polls, with the Lib Dems closing in, and while a change of leader might help avert total catastrophe for Labour, given that Brown is possibly the most unpopular PM in history, I doubt that anybody in the party's file and rank would currently want to hold the poisoned chalice of guiding his party to a surefire landslide defeat.
But coming back to the expenses fiasco, there's something journalists have not looked at in enough detail, but really ought to, namely the fact that MPs like Hoon, Darling, Burnham and Blears were able to purchase property using taxpayers' money, renovate them using taxpayers' money, and then sell them off at a profit, while the very same government they belonged to introduced deregulatory policies that caused the biggest housing bubble the country had ever seen. In 1998, the average house price was 3 times the average national salary, in 2008 it was eight times that. Which is all you need to know about New Labour's legacy in introducing "fairness and equality" to Britain. It's fairly obvious, to me at least, that far from being blinkered to the situation, New Labour deliberately didn't do anything about the housing bubble because they were enrichening themselves on it alongside estate agents, buy-to-let landlords and other assorted parasites.
Of course not much will happen to major players like Hoon or Darling. The fall guys will continue to be junior ministers, backbench MPs and other bit-part-players who are easily expendable, while cabinet members can simply wave a cheque and say sorry for something that would land the rest of the population in court and quite possibly prison.
1. Rename it "swine plague" for added histrionics. 2. Hand out a free copy of 28 Days Later with every paper, "to prepare for these difficult times". 3. Have "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE" flash up during news broadcasts every ten seconds. 4. Run a top ten list of "other horrible diseases that could will kill you". 5. Show archive images of people running in panic that have nothing to do with the pandemic, but should hopefully whip more people into a frenzy. 6. Continue reminding people that if swine flu won't get them then the terrorists, nuclear weapons, climate change, or some other disease most certainly will. (Oh, and don't forget, we're all gonna lose our jobs and homes and starve during the recession depression). 7. Most certainly continue running comparisons to the 1918 epidemic, as if things hadn't changed an iota since then. Like, we still have outdoor toilets and haven't discovered Tamiflu, right? Right?
I'm not saying this may not be a serious issue, but... come on.
The first in a series of my favourite movie scenes, which I'll post here at my own leisure. This one is from Ari Folman's Oscar-nominated masterpiece "Waltz With Bashir".
12:23 am It's very difficult to keep a clear head during this recession, this being the first in an era where the internet has enabled pretty much everyone and anyone with a modem and the ability to type to add to the mass discussion that has come to accompany it in the form of blogs, discussion fora, you name it. Not only has this created an utter cacophony of sheer, unrelenting commentary, it has also democratised discourse* to such an extent that one can no longer tell the amateurs from the experts (especially since a lot of the "experts" have, in the run-up to this crisis, proven utterly useless - I was having discussions about the impending recession, and how the house price bubble could only cause economic disaster, in 2005 when the likes of Greenspan were still singing the praises of the now-finally-empirically-proven idiocy of trickle down economics).
Thus it's difficult who and what to believe. Apparently, this will be the Great Depression II. Or this will be the worst depression ever. No, this will be over by 2010. Obama is making a mess of it. Obama is sorting it out. Obama should sack Geithner. Obama should keep Geithner. Britain is entering hyperinflation. Britain is entering deflation. Britain is entering stagflation. Gordon Brown has saved the world. Gordon Brown is the worst PM ever. House prices are rising again. House prices are still falling. Britain will see riots this summer. OMG BIRTAIN WILL SEE CIVIL WAR!!!11 We will all be eaten by a giant albino dragon called Steve.
I would add my own two cents or pence or whatever, but my head hurts too much at the moment, though needless to say that I'm inclined to subscribe to the "Gordon Brown is a f***ing idiot and has totally sold this country down the river"-school of thought, Not that the Tories will make a jot of difference in government, either way this country is completely and utterly rimjawed, though not to the extent that some of the doomsayers on sites like HPC are suggesting (ie. we'll all be stabbing each other for food and queing up for £10.000 loafs of bread this time in 2010). Neither will we turn into a Social Democratic paradise, humanity is simply too dumb for that.
Yeah, my head hurts just a little.
*No bad thing in and of itself, but democracy in its purest form can be pretty chaotic (QED). Swings and roundabouts.
This is quite frankly one of the best films I've ever seen. Since it's anime it will probably find itself plagued with geekboy magnet status instead of getting the accolades it truly deserves, and that means resting alongside Citizen Kane and 2001: A Space Odyssey as one of cinema's great milestones, but that's history's loss, not mine. At the very least this is a highly enjoyable piece of work.
Alright, so it's only as "script reader" for a minor feature, but it's a start.
I'm still pestering Christine to get "Star", which I edited (as well as audio-mixed and colour-graded), up on IMDB to ensure I have something slightly more impressive by way of a credit, but from what I'm told they're being awkward (the title is "too generic", apparently) so I'm not holding my breath. I may still defy her by putting it up on Youtube and sharing it with all and sundry, though, so keep your eyes peeled, watch this space etc etc.
09:26 pm - Updateupdateupdateupdate! I guess an update of sorts is in order, and since we're just in time for the end of the year here's a little retrospective to fill the void.
One of the reasons I haven't updated this LJ in yonks, aside from good old-fashioned lethargy, is that, basically, a lot has happened. There's the fact that I've been all over the shop this year - Poland, France, Germany (twice) - which was definitely a positive. All in all, I did not anticipate travelling so much this year at all. Cannes was a highlight, as was Markus's wedding in Hamburg, not to mention meeting Sima's parents in Mayence (awesome little town, by the way).
Also, things on the job front improved dramatically. At the beginning of the year I was working for a tiny two-bit company in Acton whereas now I'm an assistant at The Mill, one of the biggest and most definitely coolest post production outlets going (click here for an example of some of the stuff we get up to). That's also a positive.
Then there's Sima, who I won't say much about apart from the fact that she's great and lovely and cuddly and sweet and kind and everything I could hope for in a woman.
Oh, and of course there's the small matter of a reasonable human shockingly voted in as US President. I had quite a hangover the following morning, and I suspect I'm not the only one. Generally the highlight of the year (Obama's victory, not the hangover).
However, while 2008 was a wicked year all around, I'm rather more pessimistic about the prospects for 2009. Actually, that's an understatement. Like a lot of people, I wonder whether my job will survive the oncoming recession, which I believe will turn into a depression; and, if the response of the British government is anything to go by (headless chicken doesn't even begin to describe it), could well result in hyperinflation in the UK. I also worry about the wider social consequences this recession is going to have - crime is already a big problem in London and I anticipate it getting worse.
But who knows. In any case, if I get round to it you can expect more lists and such, perhaps I'll also muster the will to make a little list of my favourite albums and films of 2008 (a pretty good year for film all around, and yes Jesse, No Country For Old Men DOES count as a 2008 film in the UK ;-) ). I won't, however, continue the 100 films list for the simple reason that since starting it I have seen so many new films that could easily quality for the top 20 or top 50 that I feel it's a little self-indulgent of me to create a "definitive" list like that when I haven't even reached my 30s. I may well wait until I'm old and grey before endavouring something like that again. Ho hum.
In a cheap headline-grabbing stunt, Boris Johnson decides to ban drinking on public transport. Londoners decide to protest by having a massive party on the Circle Line the night before the ban takes effect - resulting in the worst drink-related chaos ever seen in London's stations and trains.
We're only one month into Boris's tenure as Mayor, lord knows what the next four years have in store.
This is what is apparently expecting me tomorrow afternoon. In any case, wish me and our short film, Star (official entrant in the Cannes Short Film Corner, no less) best of luck for the Cannes Film Festival, and I hope to see you all again in a week's time.
It's decided. More or less. After much toing and froing, the May 6 results in Indiana and North Carolina have made it mathematically impossible for Hillary Clinton to overtake Obama's delegate count and win the Democratic nomination (barring her desperate ploy to count the biased votes in Michigan and Florida succeeding, which is looking increasingly unlikely), thus all but confirming Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee to face John McCain. Phew.
Additionally, ABC News suggest that Obama at present has 267 superdelegates confirmed compared to Clinton's 265 - give or take a few superdelegates here and there, this adds to Obama's tally of 171 required "regular" delegates to Clinton's 328 (Source); and so the debate turns to Obama's potential running mate: the Guardian suggests Clinton, while I personally think it will be one out of Bill Richardson, Bill Bradley, Jim Webb and Kathleen Sebelius - Claire McCaskill's name has also been touted, but I doubt she lacks the necessary experience and gravitas, whereas John Edwards (another oft-quoted name) would make a fine Attorney General but doesn't necessarily add enough balance, specifically with regards to his and Obama's background - they're both lawyers, both could fall prey to cheap charges of 'elitism' in spite of their working class origins. An Obama/Clinton ticket also strikes me as rather unlikely - it would be the equivalent of Ford picking Reagan in 76 or Eisenhower choosing Taft in 52; a nice unity/reconciliation ticket in theory but in reality there's simply too much animosity between both candidates and both sets of supporters. Though I am free to be proven wrong there.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
desh79's journal
