Mo Mowlam and others.....

Just watched the biopic about Mo Mowlam. Great performance from Julie Walters of a tremendous politician - and look who we have now. Grim Gordon, as inspiring as a bowl of cold porridge and the two Blair-a-likes, as smarmy and vacuous as they come. Real people are unlikely to even bother trying for parliament these days, more's the pity - there are hardly any people who aren't spun, polished, formulaic. Mo always came over as a real person, someone who actually believed in something and could talk to ordinary people because she actually liked them

No surprise that the two people who came off worse in the film were the oleaginous Mandelson, as slippery and unappealing as a snake (can't one of you fag-hags turn the bastard straight - we don't want him, OK?) and the risible David Trimble, an utter failure as leader of his party and whose contribution to achieving change was negligible. And if he is anywhere near as petty and pathetic as he came over, then thank goodness his career contained nothing but failure and that he is now an anonymous backbencher in the Lords. He gives the term 'out to grass' new meaning.

As for Blair. Having hit the headlines this week, the term that everyone's political career ends in failure certainly is true for him. He can jet about the world all he wishes, but frankly, he is a great actor and a shallow, second-rate human being . Labour need a term in opposition to get rid of the malaise of his influence and to help move his memory to the past. Though not all was bad, much of what he did disappointed or can be summarised by the term 'missed opportunities' - other aspects of what he did failed, some of it was just plain wrong. The fact he believed in his own case says a lot about him but nothing about his judgment.

Haiti

Yes, its dreadful.

But.....
the current population is unsustainable
the removal of the forestation means the likelihood of repeat is very high
there is no government and various vested interests destroy any attempt to create one

The reconstruction cannot be just about replacement. Real thought about the creation of a country which has a chance of success needs to happen, and soon

Speaks for itself

Hypocrite of the week

It has to be Iris Robinson.

This is the woman who , whilst in charge of health issues in Northern Ireland, made homophobic remarks equating to gays being able to be 'cured' , seeking advice from a 'therapist' working in such areas. Naturally, she cited her evangelical Christian faith as support

Now we hear that she:
1. was committing ADULTERY with a TOY-BOY - 19 years old no less
2. that she borrowed money to lend to the aforementioned toy boy
3. that she didn't declare any of this money to the authorities despite raking in public money from her TWO jobs as MP and MNIA (her husband does the very same)
4. that she tried to secret some of the money she demanded back in a church account

This corrupt, hypocritical leech is now claiming to have 'mental health issues' . That's a good way of describing getting caught and pretending to feel guilty

oh, and Mr Robinson is still First Minister of Northern Ireland. Hasn't he heard of the words 'honourable resignation'?

Or is he equally hypocritical and corrupt?

Idiosyncracies of India

Oh, and Happy New Year and all that. I have a cold but this is already two days later than promised, so...
We spent Christmas and new Year in India. It was a fascinating if exhausting experience. I could bore you all with eulogies about the Taj Mahal, which is every bit as beautiful as I expected - more so. But I won't. Instead, here are some random thoughts about the crazy, chaotic place that is - at least - the part of India we visited

• The Taj Mahal is situated on the bank of a filthy, polluted, almost dried up river. The town in which it exists (Agra) is one of the filthiest, grimmest places I have ever been to.
  
• India's dominant religion, Hinduism, is usually associated with, for Westerners, meditation, and peace. India's northern cities are crazy places, and the contrast between meditative practice and everyday life could not be greater. Interestingly, 'everyday' temples are equally noisy. They actually reminded me more of orthodox churches which are also hives of activity and centred around icons and statues. The 'Eastern' might be the key? Certainly the mantra has been used in Christian context - the Rosary has eastern roots.
  
• The driving is unbelievable. people use their horns, constantly, at any time, and without any encouragement. In Agra, the tuk-tuks (auto-rickshaws) turned a two lane dual carriageway into five lanes. Our driver was instructed to go back on the same dual carriageway against the flow of traffic by the guide, which he did for 1/4 of a mile until a row with two policemen ensued. We then continued through a wholesale market where we could have reached out and helped ourselves, we were so close to the produce.
  
• India is a very collective place which made me realise how much I value Western individualism. It is very difficult to be alone unless cooped up in the hotel. The cities are very crowded and manic, and life goes on in the streets. The mode of life is collective
• As a westerner, one stands out like a sore thumb. Not prepared for this, a stroll from our hotel to Connaught Square in Delhi, proved to be exhausting. A small army of beggars and hawkers descend on you and 'go away' registers not as 'fuck off' but 'I might possibly be interested if you talk to me and follow me up the road'. The only way to deal with this is to ignore them. Its hard work but one becomes expert
• The poverty is immense and the problems huge, yet they do operate a working democracy and that has to be an achievment. But the country will collapse unless it does something drastic about its population, and that may take a Chinese-style approach, which is far from democratic, albeit absilutely needed. There are some good 'carrots' - for example, we came across a first-division English-medium school which offers free places to the poor, but only if the mother has two children and is then sterilised. Is this harsh? I don't think so. Many Indians wish that Westerners would get over their colonian guilt and promote birth control as actively as we do so in our own countries.
• Indians cannot be quiet. At the game reserve, the huge clamour and noise made by Indian tourists when a tiger was seen made it absolutely definite that he would retreat into the bushes. And everyone seems to have a mobile phone which they talk about incessantly
  
• Indian internal flights are to be avoided. Jaipur Airport is no fun for four hours without information
• We went on a cycle rickshaw in Old Delhi. Neither of us are - ahem - svelte. How the skinny bloke who pedalled us managed it is a wonder to behold. The person organising the rickshaws had one leg. We wondered how this happened.

Will we return? I'm not sure. Part of me wants to do so, part of me thinks other places are easier to handle....