Tag: George Galloway

bookmark_borderLethargic

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Friday evening and as my family drive away I open the fridge, and crack open another beer. A quick check of the TV and I decide to finish that book I’ve been reading (review to follow). One page of text later and I’m done. Nice ending.

Upstairs to the computer, a quick check that I can just “copy and paste” tracks from iTunes to Louise’s new MP3 player (I can) and I start surfing. Blog after blog I realise that my interest is waning, so many, too many, time for a cull. Something in the air?

Tomorrow and we start planning for the week in Spain, teabags, square sausage, haggis, sweeteners and more to be bought, and packed amongst the few clothes we’re taking. A couple of books, the iPod and I’m all set.

Not sure how it will be, it’s the first time we’ll have been back in Spain since the funeral, and emotions will be running high. Just have to wait and see I guess, little else for it. We do have the company of Louise’s Granda who, on the grounds that his bus pass is free (he’s 80-odd) , is steadfastly refusing to accept a lift home from the airport when we return. No doubt which side of the family my wife gets her stubborn independant streak.

So apart from some shopping the weekend stretches out in front of us, a few chores to attend to but little else that must be done. I’d like to draft a few articles that will get posted whilst I’m away, but aside from that I’m looking forward to picking up a book, watching some movies and generally starting the wind-down to Wednesday. Pity I have to be in work on Monday and Tuesday.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to catch the recording of Peter’s interview with Alan on Leith FM, delivered by the rather snazzy Castpost system, first time I’ve used that and quite impressed. You can find the recordings on Alan’s site. You should also catch up with mike’s adventures in hangzhou, find out what Stuart thinks of Trivial Pursuit (and find out what “handies” are), and nod along with Hana’s post about the recent debacle surrounding George Galloway (although I’m sure someone will trot out the old “no such thing as BAD publicity” line soon).

In fact it’s annoying me so much that I’ll chip in my tuppence on Gorgeous George as well. I’ve said before that he seems self-serving but so far he’d managed to deflect any real ire directed his way, even if it was by walking out in the middle of a televised interview.. I agree with some of his politics but the more I listen to him the more I realise he’s just saying what some people want to hear, and what will get him press inches. And now he’s in Big Brother and I’m sure he’ll wonder why people don’t take him seriously…

Anyway, enough of this. My beer is finished, time for another! Diet? what?

bookmark_borderGet connected

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A few months back Andrew Sullivan wrote:

“What was once an occasional musical diversion became a compulsive obsession. Now I have my iTunes in my iMac for my iPod in my iWorld. It’s Narcissus heaven: we’ve finally put the “iâ€? into Me.”

In the article he makes a few valid points, and whilst this is hardly stellar journalism it does offer a few little hooks that got me thinking. As he points out with the choices we have available to us we can tailor our daily life, and the flow of information in it, to meet our needs. No longer do I need to tune to a 12 o’clock news bulletin, or wait until I get home to hear that new CD. I can check my emails on my phone, and most of the links on my blog are from people with a similar liberal outlook like myself. I skim read the news sites using my RSS reader, focussing more on topics that interest me, and generally know when to steer clear of something that I don’t agree with (the latter may just be common sense, rather than an effort to control the inputs to my brain).

I filter out what I don’t want and create my own little utopia. I’m sure you do something similar, even if the degree of filtering changes.

So maybe we should be challenging that. Not just being more aware of surroundings, or even walking around in public sans headphones (gasp), but actually pursuing other viewpoints with an aim of at least understanding them a bit better? So whilst I think that guns should be under tighter control, how much do I actually know about the situation? I disagree with the way George Galloway conducts himself in most cases, but his recent “show” has reminded me that he is a smart guy, have I been selling him short? Is the Catholic religion as controlling and antiquated as I believe it to be? Is abortion a bad thing?

If there is one thing the internet is most definitely MADE for it’s providing a platform for differing points of view. So, where should I start? After all, there is nothing worse than a closed mind.