Sticks and Stones

“We can expose the duplicity and opportunism of the Tories” said Ms Harman to rally support for the Labour party in the May local elections. The words pot, kettle and black come to mind.

Would that be the same duplicity in spending 10 years in office espousing the need for electoral finance reform before it turns out that almost every candidate in the deputy-leadership election did not adhere to the laws they helped pass on the topic?

Would that be the same opportunism, Ms Harman, as when Gordon Brown decided to call an election in 2007… then call it off when the Tories looked too strong in the polls? Would it be the same opportunism as nicking their policy on inheritance tax in the process? Surely the right honorable Labourites would not steal the policies of “the same old nasty party” as she described them…

This is a fairly typical display of why I find it so hard to support Labour - not only do they display complete incompetence in government (election that never was, credit crisis, data handling, campaign financing and I am sure I have missed one or two other blunders from the last few months) but they also have the audacity to opportunistically accuse other parties of opportunism to save some face.

Well, Ms Harman, you have certainly lost my vote, and many others’ besides. Not that you ever really had mine in the first place.

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The death of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s most secret operative who for decades managed to elude attempts by US and Israeli spies and special forces to capture or kill him, has raised many questions as to those responsible. Hezbollah, naturally, blamed the “Israeli Zionists,” in conjunction with Satan and Satan’s step-brother, Ehud Olmert for the assassination of “a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance.”

“Syria, which condemns this cowardly terrorist act, expresses condolences to the martyr family and to the Lebanese people,” Interior Minister Bassam Abdul-Majeed said in a statement. Iran also condemned the killing, praising Mughniyeh as a martyr and describing the attack as “yet another brazen example of organised state terrorism by the Zionist regime”.

Mughniyeh was among several suspects indicted in the US for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed. Israel believes he was involved in planning the 1992 bombing of Israel’s embassy in Argentina in which 29 people were killed, and the blast at a Buenos Aires Jewish centre two years later that killed 95. A former head of Israel’s Mossad secret service, Danny Yatom, summed it up quite succinctly when he called the killing “a big achievement for the free world against terrorist organisations.”

Today, at the funeral of Mughniyeh (peace hell be upon him) in Beirut, Lebanon, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said the war against the Jewish State was not over: “Zionists, if you want this sort of open war, then let the whole world hear, so be it!” he declared, to a crowd of armed intellectuals and notable camel-herders.

On this glorious day of romanticism, I wait eagerly for the moment Hassan Nasrallah joins his fellow martyrs amongst 100 (other) virgins, and wish Imad Mughniyeh a Happy Valentine’s Day.

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Imad Mughniyeh, a top leader of terrorist organisation Hezbollah has just been killed in a bombing in Damascus. Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the attack, who have denied any involvement. I will take them at their word. But even if Israel had killed him, so what?!

He was on both US and Israeli most wanted lists. Responsible for hostage takings in the 1980s in Lebanon. The leader of a terrorist organisation who would happily, and has happily targeted civilians in attacks to try and coerce the Israeli government into withdrawing from Lebanon (which they did in 2000 - Hezbollah carried on firing rockets into Northern Israel though!). This was a truly awful man, and the world is better off without him, just as it is better off without other terrorists who have met similar fates at the wrong end of an Israeli missile.

Get rid of all those who inspire extremism, perpetuate hatred, and help administer bloodshed.

The message is clear; Israel will not stand for terrorist activity against its civilians, and nor should they. Good riddance Mr Mughniyeh.

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I have never been afraid to show my hatred (and hatred is the correct word) of the Chavez-loving, Jew-insulting, self-inflated megalomaniac who runs the office of Mayor of London. His latest actions, if anything, typify why I loathe him so much.

Ken has just announced that cars with high emissions will be charged £25 to drive into their own capital city, compared to £8 or nothing for lower emission vehicles. Lets just look at everything that is wrong with this.

First, surely a congestion charge should aim to defeat congestion and not save the planet at the same time? Clearly there are some ulterior motives!

Second, if you are rich under Ken’s scheme, you can go out and buy a nice new low-emissions vehicle, as he has done, by buying a Prius, whilst poorer families with lots of children who may have no option but to own a large people carrier are being penalised for their family situation!

Third, who cares if high-emissions vehicles are being driven!? It is not a crime, global warming will happen despite them, and maybe Ken, if he is so scared of the impending Armageddon, should lower his own carbon footprint by limiting how often he jets to South America to suck up to his socialist heroes!

Rant over. But I still hate him.

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They aren’t just his views. They are views espoused by millions of people across Europe. Young and old, man and woman, - and every shade in between. There are people of every race, colour, and creed who believe in the all-accommodating views of Rowan Williams. These views plague not just the Archbishop of Canterbury, but people from all walks of life. Across this great old continent, the birthplace of Enlightenment liberalism, a wave of this philosophy is growing in popularity.

This philosophy purports to be a pluralistic, multicultural creation. One that allows all people to live as they wish, practice their religion as they choose, and adhere to their societal beliefs in any country. If you do not know what this actually means, it can sound appealing.

An example from Slate illustrating why we must not subscribe to this philosophy:

Picture the life of a young Urdu-speaking woman brought to Yorkshire from Pakistan to marry a man—quite possibly a close cousin—whom she has never met. He takes her dowry, beats her, and abuses the children he forces her to bear. She is not allowed to leave the house unless in the company of a male relative and unless she is submissively covered from head to toe.

When your culture allows this to happen, when your customs, rites, and traditions infringe on the rights of any other human being (including those who claim to be of your religion, race, or country) they should not be permitted, in a free and just society. Which is exactly what we live in, and exactly what Rowan Williams threatens.

Rowan Williams’ all-embracing, non-judgemental philosophy is so dangerous not because we should place our civilisation on a pedestal as Fukuyama does. We must see the value in other civilisations, because many countries, including some in President Bush’s Axis of Evil, have glorious histories and inspiring traditions. It is so dangerous because all civilisations have deep flaws, and to indiscriminately embrace everyones’ flaws is calamitous, cruel to the subjugated, and an abandonment of real liberalism.

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