Hallam's Journal

OMFG.

No Subaru next year at all.

So in response to the question from the other day, yes actually, the downturn is really affecting rallying a lot worse than we thought.

This is really dreadful news.

So, more on the arrest and detention of a member of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, by counter-terrorism police officers, for the crime of doing his job.

This BBC article is a pretty good analysis, saves me typing out more than I need.

See, those of us who oppose giving The Man more free rein to lock people up for no fucking reason, this is EGGZACKLY what we were talking about. And those of you (you the public) who went "ooh, well they need these powers because these are WEALLY WEALLY BAD PEOPLE, they are TERRORISTS and want to KILL US you know", this is the point at which you should feel a little bit sick in your stomachs and start thinking "oh shit what have we gorn and done". This is the point at which you should be realising that your assumption that The Man would only ever lock up Actual Weally Weally Bad People aka Terrorists (you can recognise them because they have beards and long robes and preface all their sentences with "durka durka", trufact) was one of the more UNFORGIVABLY STUPID things you have ever thought. You give 'em these powers, they WILL use them. Because why not? I mean, you would, wouldn't you? Jump through all these annoying hoops, or use your voucher for One Free Special Branch Dawn Raid?

You gots to read the small print. You gots to actually look at what these "counter-terrorism powers" are. Look past the label "counter-terrorism". What powers are you giving away? Because that label "counter-terrorism" does not mean shit. And it hurts to know that people are so easily fucking led that they do believe that label means something. It doesn't surprise me, but it just hurts to know this is the way things are. Fancy a tortured, wanky, sick-making, teenage militant metaphor? Well I don't give a shit, you're getting one anyways. Here you fucking go. The railroad to hell is built of unintended consequences (the rails), laid onto the wishful thinking of the naive (the sleepers). Cos you were fucking asleep, weren't you? And you've laid a good little railroad. Well done.

Abuse of power is tempting. And habit forming.
Remember, everyone, that people who love power don't tend to love it a little bit. They love it a whole damn lot.

I'm fucking off to Norway.

aha ha ha ha ha ha.
Oh my.
That photo of Gordon Brown and David Miliband. (see small version here)

Echoing beautifully that moment in the Stadio dell'Alpi in 1990.

aha ha ha ha ha ha, oh dear.

Sport?
You're having a laugh.