For the next two weeks I'm staying in Dorset, UK... an hours' bus journey from Salisbury. My accomodation is quite poor; no mobile phone reception within a km, an internet cafe that never seems to be open, etc... and the shower has no temperature control... this morning, I turned all the hot-water taps on to full, put all the showers on and it didn't make the shower I wanted come down to a less-than-scolding temperature. Ridiculous.

I expect temporary accomodation to have dribbling lukewarm showers that I can at least try to wash under... not high-powered, scalding water that I can't bear!

Anyway, I'm not very mobile so don't think I'll be able to meet anyone apart from a few work colleagues who are in the area.

Tags: blandford, dorset, internet access, showers, uk, work
Current Location: Starbucks, Salisbury, UK

I'll miss the semi-resurgent social life I've had...

In the early part of next year I will know if I am staying in Germany for more years, or if I am returning to (a random area of) the UK.

Tags: friends, life, location, london, moving house, uk

Inferno was cool; a reasonable mix of sets and old stuff. I hadn't been to Electric Ballroom for over four years. There was a good mix of people too; many kinds of person. In all all, it was pretty diverse musically and socially.

Tags: clubbing, electric ballroom, london, music, uk
Current Location: Hammersmith, London, UK

I may be coming to the UK, London, for some days at the beginning of April. I will be doing two things:

1. Daytime: Sitting in the British Library with a laptop, being a geek</p>
2. Going to The Dev</p>

I don't know if I'll get to any nightclubs, as I'm not entirely sure what days I'll be over.

I'll be basically flying over from Mon 02 Apr 2007 to the Sat (5 nights)... can I crash in a spare room somewhere, if anyone is so kind!

Tags: british library, library, studying, uk
Current Location: Monchengladbach, Germany

New page: UK: Immigration, Economics and Pensions. The conclusion reads:

"The UK is ageing, and we need more working-age people to fill the emptying hole in our demographic make-up. Otherwise, multiple industries and all pensions are at severe risk. Already, some industries and local economies depend on immigrants, especially as cheap labour to do work that not many others want to do but also we have serious shortages in some skilled trades, for example, nearly half the new doctors and nurses employed in the National Health Service have qualified abroad. We already have shortages of medical staff. Imagine the world without half the staff of the NHS, cheap labourers working in industries that our ageing population avoids, no pensions for increasing numbers of the elderly, and you imagine a UK without immigration. Despite this, some extremist, simpleton and short-sighted parties (such as the BNP and NF) campaign for a complete stop to immigration, and even promise to send home nationalized foreigners. With a population that is ageing, they will soon find that they have rather a lot of pensioners and not many workers."

Tags: bnp, economics, europe, foreigners, immigration, migration, nf, nhs, pensions, politics, racism, tolerance, uk, xenophobia
Current Location: Germany
Listening To: "Monuments of Flesh" by Chaingun Operate

Some Petitions to consider signing! I know they're hardly effective but it makes me feel good sometimes to know that someone, somewhere, once counted some of our opinions! You know... a small insignificant petition can sometimes make the news, sometimes get quoted by sociologists (ahem) and be preserved as part of academia, and sometimes, those things just might help get something done about something. Clicking on the short intro sentence shows you more details (look out for another 'more details' link on the page, too, for even more than the intro paragraph. Grammar & punctuation are not my own:

• Stop tv companies turning up the volume during commercial breaks
• Reduce drugs packaging (Vexen - reducing packaging is good for environment & allows cheaper products)
• drop income tax for Territorial Army Personnel and all other Military Reservists (Vexen - its odd to have government employees pay tax back to the government)
• increase car tax on heavy polluting cars with top bands levying £1000+. At the same time make the cleanest available cars tax free
• Tax the fossil carbon in fuels so as to reduce our emissions
• all new houses built from 2008 have solar panels and / or a wind turbine
• Introduce a system of energy efficiency measuring for computer equipment
• Raise the legal age for buying tobacco products to 18 and increase the penalties to retailers who break this rule
• Reduce the need to recycle by compelling Retailers and their suppliers to reduce packaging and provide recycling facilities rather than place the burden and cost of recycling packing on consumers
• Abolish Sunday trading laws and make 24 hour shopping 24 hour
• Encourage the reduction of household waste by requiring producers and retailers to meet the disposal costs of their products and packaging, instead of passing these on to consumers and local authorities
• abolish the House of Lords and introduce a fully-elected second chamber
• Get all companies to deliver to BFPO addresses (for my sake! Companies often don't post to BFPO addresses such as mine, which are perfectly normal UK addresses)

Tags: activism, environment, government, opinion polls, petitions, politics, recycling, uk
Current Location: Germany
Listening To: "Barefoot" by Coptic Rain

I've created a parallel londonsatanists community on LJ, to accompany my Yahoo LondonSatanists email list. Anyone can join or post, although I might play with moderation later. It'll also serve as a bit of an anti-religion information/activism forum.

Tags: anti-religion, church of satan, london, religion, satanism, uk

"Developed Nations have a Responsibility to Defend the Civilized World" by Vexen Crabtree (2006)

Tags: arms industry, army, britain, civilisation, culture, defence, democracy, europe, germany, military, scandinavia, uk, violence, war, western

http://www.vexen.co.uk/religion/blasphemy.html

After a look at recent cases and the history of the UKs blasphemy laws, the conclusion reads:

"Unused for decades, the UKs blasphemy laws have come to the fore since 1979. Blasphemy laws are invoked when closed-minded religious bigots want to stifle the free speech of others.

The blasphemy laws are used to stifle artistic expression and free speech, such as in R. v Lemon 1979 when a poem about Jesus was published in a gay magazine. In Pakistan they are used to, for example, block any scholarly discussion of any aspect of Muhammad's life [Watt, 1989, p32]. The publications in question are not personal insults or hateful literature; they are not professional or political, they are largely expressive, emotional or scholarly. That blasphemy laws are used in such a way - to protect concepts from being questioned - is not only wrong and closed-minded, but undemocratic.

The final straw is that the UKs blasphemy laws only protect Christians - not Muslims or Jews - and historically only the Church of England. It is deeply prejudice, intolerable and confusing that we still have such laws. Thankfully the European Courts, British legal community, Lobby groups and British politicians have spoken out against the blasphemy laws. We should all make a big of it when it is annulled, as the blasphemy laws are one last legal pillar of Christian intolerance and bigotry."

Tags: blasphemy, uk
Current Mood: busy
Listening To: "Little 15" by Depeche Mode

I am travelling to the UK, to Warwickshire, Glostershire and Hampshire on various days over the next two weeks, visiting schools, showcasing some of my organisations equipment. Fun fun fun... not not not.

Should get lots of time off but don't know if I'll be able to travel. If anyone fancies coming to see me (pleeaaase save me from my workmates for a few hours!) get in touch and we can organise something!

UK Mobile 07812 0468684 as always.

Will be working weekends and flying back immediately afterwards. I might get a whole day off during the two weeks, but it is likely to be very unpredictable.

Tags: travelling, uk, work
Current Mood: busy
Listening To: "Break on through" by Kinetic

I'll be in the UK for a month but will be busy & nearly always offline during the week. May well be around London on the weekends so will have some internet access but only via internet cafes and the like.

So for those waiting for email replies and debate responses, you'll probably not get much until late July at which point, I'll have hundreds of emails, so be patient.

Going to be spending as much time as possible with my gf on the weekends, got a lot of catching up to do with her but nonetheless might actually go to a furmeet and might finalize a LondonSatanists meeting.

Tags: london satanists, offline, uk
Current Mood: awake
Listening To: "Cemetary Gates" by Pantera

Happy happy joy joy :-) Suddenly I am able to come home from Thurs to Sunday. We have an extra day bank holiday on Thurs, and I have a lift. Car and ferry.

Excited... it's been exactly a month! I flew back to Germany on Apr 4th, now returning on Thurs the 5th of May.

Can't wait to see S :-)

Tags: germany, uk
Current Mood: happy
Listening To: "Conqueror" by Converter

International Issues, by Vexen Crabtree

Just a portal page, not much there apart from new Examples page.

Tags: politics, sweden, uk, usa

Positive UK

Tags: uk

UK Trash Culture

Tags: trash culture, uk