heretic hermit

You're being very slightly unfair, in that in th...

2008-11-29T03:20:00.000-08:00

You're being *very slightly* unfair, in that in this case it's pretty clear Baby P's mum allowed her partner and/or his brother to murder the child, rather than inflicting serious abuse on him herself. So you could argue that if she'd been forced to stay with P's dad, she'd never have met the mad buggers who killed the baby.

(I completely accept that this isn't a sane basis for policymaking, obviously.)

Excellent piece. Melanie Phillips is unique in tha...

2008-11-28T01:03:00.000-08:00

Excellent piece. Melanie Phillips is unique in that very special way she manages to egg herself on.

This piece here on Hagley Road to Ladywood reaches similar conclusion.

How Melanie starts with Baby P and ends up like an hosepipe of spite against "Social workers indoctrinated in political correctness", "activist judges", "corrupted academics", "feminist zealots" and "spineless male child psychologists and psychiatrists and sociologists who all connived at the Big Lie".

Here's the link:

http://mymarilyn.blogspot.com/2008/11/melanie-phillips-on-baby-p.html

Yay! Sock it to Mad Mel! She really is utterly ins...

2008-11-24T15:16:00.000-08:00

Yay! Sock it to Mad Mel! She really is utterly insane, did you read this by any chance?

http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2008/11/05/the-daily-wingnut/

Hilarious. It is frankly unbelievable that she gets given the time of day...

clapsMy my my, we have been on form recently, ha...

2008-11-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

*claps*

My my my, we have been on form recently, haven't we?

I must admit that I use the word 'bitch' and I'm probably not going to stop. I don't use it in a 'positive reclaiming' sense, but probably in the same sort of way you do, and also to describe talking badly about somebody. I accuse myself of bitching a lot... :-D

applause

2008-11-24T15:05:00.000-08:00

*applause*

I didn't say we should let her off because she's a...

2008-11-20T02:22:00.000-08:00

I didn't say we should let her off because she's a woman, but that some of the personal attacks on her as well as Hillary Clinton were misogynistic. No one would tolerate a whiff of racism when it came to criticising Obama, but gender slurs still seems to be fair game.

her own campaign drew attention to her gender e.g....

2008-11-19T17:41:00.000-08:00

her own campaign drew attention to her gender e.g. by going on and on about being a hockey mom, so that is hardly being "post-gender". she was specifically chosen to appeal to the 'female republican virtuous anti-abortion stay at home Mom stereotype..so frankly what can she expect? sympathy for her simply because she is a 'female' and 'one of us' is some sort of weird tribal feminism i think the world can do without. otherwise - we'll never get to 'post' gender world.

Wow, I watched that and fell in love with Obama al...

2008-11-19T06:45:00.000-08:00

Wow, I watched that and fell in love with Obama all over again! Who knew that there could be an American in politics acknowledging that America is a nation of Muslims, and Jews and Buddhists and non-believers???? He talks such sense!!! It's amazing. (I mean considering the context). I still can't believe he managed to get voted in. His views, I've read them already in his book, but it's good to hear them again. Abster

The Palin wardrobe malfunction win American terms ...

2008-11-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

The Palin wardrobe malfunction win American terms was no different to the attention paid to John Edwards' $400 haircuts, or the Howard Dean scream.

Yes, it's very unfortunate. If only Americans wer...

2008-11-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's very unfortunate. If only Americans weren't so quick to judge or pigeonhole each other. If they stopped to get to understand each other's beliefs without having to water everything down to nice binary antonyms, everything in primary colours, "This is a good guy!" "This is a bad guy!" mentality, it would make such a difference. That way an atheist who was the best candidate for the job might stand a chance. Abster x

Good point, but I still think there could have bee...

2008-11-08T14:25:00.000-08:00

Good point, but I still think there could have been some shrewd tactics at play here. I'm not ruling out a genuine conversion, but rather making the point that genuine or not, he could not have become president without it.

As a Christian I have thought for ages that I'd fa...

2008-11-08T03:47:00.000-08:00

As a Christian I have thought for ages that I'd far rather America had a decent atheist President over all the hypocritical lip-service "Christian" Presidents. But alas I'm not an American voter. All that happens when they have to claim allegiance to God is that Christianity is brought into disrepute because they never live up to their supposed piety. However, I have read "The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama and there's a whole chapter in there about faith, his faith and his ideas about American religion - it's very illuminating. I recommend it if you haven't already read it. I think he's a Christian who thinks about his beliefs, he's not a hardline evangelical, he takes what he finds useful but isn't overly committed. Religion and politics is hopelessly enmeshed in America, it would be great if the American politicians could be a bit more circumspect about their beliefs and not wield their beliefs like a weapon. Abster x

I think you've a good point.

2008-11-03T06:05:00.000-08:00

I think you've a good point.

As a Christian who used to enjoy religious debates...

2008-11-03T05:15:00.000-08:00

As a Christian who used to enjoy religious debates online (but stopped cos they get very samey after a while) I can concur that the "you're stupid!" argument doesn't go very far. For my part, I just get annoyed at the hidden assumptions behind this argument: for example the unchallenged assumption that to be considered "clever" is the be all and end all, that cleverness/intelligence makes one a more worthwhile human being than someone without those attributes. Or the frankly nonsense notion that to impress a complete stranger online is more important than pleasing a loving and wonderful God I've had in my life for fifteen years. The idea that I ought to be willing to deny my God for the sake of winning the supposed approval of some random stranger in a debate who I'm never going to meet again. I suppose the "you're stupid" argument is just plain stupid, I've clearly given this subject way too much thought! :) Abster x

I like your blog. I like your point of view. I'm...

2008-11-03T04:54:00.000-08:00

I like your blog. I like your point of view. I'm an evangelical Christian myself. I will keep reading. Abster x

i think hypocracy in overrated, especially in a cu...

2008-11-03T04:37:00.000-08:00

i think hypocracy in overrated, especially in a culture where honour and dignity are not voiced as clearly as they could be and where everybody draws lines differently.

so a monochrome view is not particularly useful, and the creation of an exclusive pisous communities of righteous and fully fledged femenists a little self reinforcign no?

I'll pretend I realised it was in French and purpo...

2008-10-31T05:36:00.000-07:00

I'll pretend I realised it was in French and purposely chose it to look educated.

GOOOOOOOOO ALAI like the French blog header too!

2008-10-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

GOOOOOOOOO ALA

I like the French blog header too!

chucklesAwww. At least you didn't come across as...

2008-10-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

*chuckles*

Awww. At least you didn't come across as some sort of tough-nut psycho like I have done...

I did, as a matter of fact. But in fairness to me,...

2008-10-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

I did, as a matter of fact. But in fairness to me, the interviewer did address me by my first name, too.

Did you continually address the interviewer by the...

2008-10-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

Did you continually address the interviewer by their first name?

SHE'S BACK.Yayyyyyyyyyy!

2008-09-17T13:21:00.000-07:00

SHE'S BACK.

Yayyyyyyyyyy!

Happy birthday :o)

2008-09-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday :o)

Oh I love negative comments. Don't worry, that's n...

2008-09-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Oh I love negative comments. Don't worry, that's not what I was complaining about.

Bring it on!Sounds interesting.I think that perhap...

2008-09-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

Bring it on!

Sounds interesting.

I think that perhaps you should try not too worry too much about what people will say on PP when you write your posts. There are always going to be some negative comments from SOMEBODY.

:-)

heretic hermit

You're being *very slightly* unfair, in that in th...

Excellent piece. Melanie Phillips is unique in tha...

Yay! Sock it to Mad Mel! She really is utterly ins...

*claps*My my my, we have been on form recently, ha...

*applause*

I didn't say we should let her off because she's a...

her own campaign drew attention to her gender e.g....

Wow, I watched that and fell in love with Obama al...

The Palin wardrobe malfunction win American terms ...

Yes, it's very unfortunate. If only Americans wer...

Good point, but I still think there could have bee...

As a Christian I have thought for ages that I'd fa...

I think you've a good point.

As a Christian who used to enjoy religious debates...

I like your blog. I like your point of view. I'm...

i think hypocracy in overrated, especially in a cu...

I'll pretend I realised it was in French and purpo...

GOOOOOOOOO ALAI like the French blog header too!

*chuckles*Awww. At least you didn't come across as...

I did, as a matter of fact. But in fairness to me,...

Did you continually address the interviewer by the...

SHE'S BACK.Yayyyyyyyyyy!

Happy birthday :o)

Oh I love negative comments. Don't worry, that's n...

Bring it on!Sounds interesting.I think that perhap...

You're being very slightly unfair, in that in th...

clapsMy my my, we have been on form recently, ha...

applause

chucklesAwww. At least you didn't come across as...