Voting for change?

Can we please vote for electoral reform?

What is so bad about a hung parliament?

"A hung parliament?  Oh!  That would be disastrous!  The government wouldn't be able to get anything through."

What do you mean?

"They wouldn't have enough seats to out vote the opposition."

The opposition?  You mean other members of parliament who disagree with them on an issue.

"Yes. Obviously."

...But those members were also democratically elected to represent their slices of the population. If they strongly disagree with something the government wants to do, shouldn't they be able to stop it?

"That would cripple the nation!  You need the government to have power, otherwise nothing gets done."

So, what you're saying is, the government would only be able to make changes with the approval of another party.  In order to achieve anything the parties would have to work together, to cooperate, thus representing a greater proportion of the electorate.  And that's a bad thing.

"Yes.  It would slow everything down."

Don't you believe that debate and compromise are important, that everyone's views should be considered?

"You're never going to get everyone to agree."

You think we're better off if all the decisions are taken by the largest minority, even if the majority disagree with the outcome.

"It's the only way to make things work."

Rant Against The Media: "Plus Size" Models

Every so often a model who isn't a stick manages to get a catwalk job, and the media go into a frenzy, like it's important or something. It taps into a bunch of issues about female body image: isn't it awful that models don't look like "real" women; doesn't this bombardment with images of skinny little flakes turn impressionable young gels into anorexics? I mean, what absolute rot! If exposure to skinny models caused people to stop eating, there'd be far fewer fatties around, and - to be serious for a moment - this kind of twaddle belittles the very serious psychological issues which actually underlie an eating disorder.

For goodness sake, being thin is the only skill a model actually possesses. That and the ability to pout and walk at the same time without falling over. Models have to look weird, otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell they were models. What next? Should we complain about models being pretty, because that gives ugly people low self esteem? It's PCGM.

Here are the simple truths: (1) skinny models make a designer's life easier because the clothing, and not the body, creates the shape they want; (2) in an age of excess, to be thin makes you look healthier and hence more attractive, and models are supposed to be attractive, because that makes us think the clothes look better.

Of course, no-one should have to starve themselves into corpse-like wastage before they're allowed out. I'm just ranting about the cheap bullshit peddled by our lovely media. Most people in this country are too fat, and even for those unfortunates who are too thin, it is insulting to lay the blame for all their problems on Kate Moss.