Newsy-ness: Leaked reports - my view

It would appear that reports have been leaked indicating that the US offered to send British resident inmates (but not British citizens) to the UK from Guantanamo (or possibly a secret gulag of choice) if Britain agreed to put them under 24 hour surveillance. Britain refused.

I have met a couple of people already today huffing about Blair not accepting the offer. Now, while I am more than happy to slap Blair with a full selection of wet fish, in this case I cannot agree.

We have human rights law and appropriate habeus corpus (or due process) law - and it's human rights law that applies to everyone here, not just citizens. If these people were sent back to the UK they would expect to have the full protection of the law (rightly so).

That law would certainly frown on us putting someone under indefinite 24 hour surveillance without damn good reason. "Because America said so" is not a good reason (though it seems America believes it is). I can see it now - they are returtned to Britain, we start surveillance, the High Court/Court of Appeal/House of Lords/European Court of Justice gives the government a good slapping, surveillance stops - and the promise to the Americans is broken.

Yes, that promise is unreasonable and yes they shouldn't be demanding that proviso and yes the whole Guantanamo mess stinks to high heaven and certainly makes the "Land of the Free" a bad joke; but we don't break those provisos because that would make things messy.

Birthday Angst!

It happens to me every year and my colleagues have all banned me from birthday angst whines - they say that having a 24 year old whine about their age makes them all feel ancient.

But the angst will win out. Argh, I'm 25 tomorrow. 25. Twenty-five.

I am soooo not ready to be 25. I just aren't, not in any way shape or form. My brain is still stuck on "20-ish". 25 is all adult. I'm not adult. I just can't mentally picture myself AS an adult. I even have slips of the tongue and say silly things like "when I grow up..." y'know, how you do as kids when planning the future? I can't get my head rounmd the fact that I AM grown up, I AM adult with all the adulty stuff that goes with.

My mind is just stuck on "child." Or maybe "teenager." Even down to having the impression that nothing matters - you know, that teen impression that nothing's forever? How the job/studies you're doing and your relationship you're in are just temporary until you move on? I've only just managed to pull out of that in my personal life, but it's still shaky in my professional life.

Bah, I am 25 years old (even writing that makes me cringe), but my mind hasn't kept up - I need to stop aging for a couple of years so my brain to catch up with me. In 5 years I will be 30 (ARGH! *scream* *scream* *panic*) will i still be stuck on teenager?

I hate birthdays. I'm never ready for them

Gay Rights

Ok, I am not going to cut and past the meme that is going round because I strongly disagree with the premise that anyone who doesn't copy it doesn't support gay rights. That's just silly and unfair - there are numerous reasons why people wouldn't want to spam a meme on their own journal - lack of support for gay rights is just one among many. To word it the way iot has the meme is effectively blackmailing people with guilt and accusation - yeah, that's going to win us sipport.

Besides, spamming your journal with a gay rights message hardly makes you a paragon for the cause, 'kay?

Rev Phelps will not silence himself for a meme (actually let him talk because he makes 'phobes look so bad). Pat Robertson will not deck himself in a rainbow flag because a few dozen people on the net were guilted into posting on their journals.

I am glad, thrilled, ecstatic that there are so many people out there who believe in equality for homosexuals (I doubt ther eis a single person on my friends' list who doesn't) - making them all announce the fact won't achieve anything but annoy them.

there is a lot of work that CAN be done to support gay rights. Spam your representatives. Spam the homophobe organisations. Send messages of support to all of the groups supporting gay rights - post their linmks and banners - these can all help. Guilting friend's lists doesn't.


[EDIT To ADD: reminded by KLGAFFNEY - in no way do I blame or otherwise snarl at the people who followed this meme - I appreciate the very sincere and good intentions these people had in posting it and it does warm my heart to see people standing up against homophobia - I am more snapping at the opriginal author (asusming said author was trying to drum up gay support and doesn't have another motive)]

Light & DArk Worlbuilding again - sex, love and marrieg from the Seelie

More rambly and rather boring world building on relationships - the Seelie's convoluted marriage rules.

These guys give me a headache - how any society can exist with so many rules I will never know



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