Protesting close to parliament

As you’re probably aware, to protest near parliament these days you have to ask for permission. Mark Thomas recently played around with this, seeing how the system worked…

Officer: Let’s have a look. What have you got here? You want a demonstration to defend Surrealism.

Mark Thomas: Yeah, I do. I can have a demonstration about anything I like.

O: Indeed you can. I just didnae know surrealism was under threat!

MT: It is.

O: How so?

MT: Because we have a government of paradox. We have a government that seeks peace through war and protects civil liberties by eroding them. This is a paradox. This is absurdism. Absurdism is the enemy of Surrealism. Ergo it is under attack.

O: I wish I’d never asked.

[Thanks James—and this gentleman for saving me typing]

Need motivation to vote?

This video of Koichi Toyama, part of a 2007 election campaign for the position of Tokyo governor, may help get you down to the polling station.

Choice quotes:

“To all the voters. This nation is horrible.”

“I have no interest whatsoever in political reform or any kind of reform.”

“This nation must be destroyed.”

“I do not have a single constructive proposal!”

“Annihilate everything that exists.”

“I despise each and every one of you.”

“If you think you can change something by voting, you are COMPLETELY wrong.”

“NO MATTER HOW MUCH REFORM IS DONE THERE IS NO HOPE!”

“Please give me a phone call.”

(He wasn’t elected.)

Monbiot on BAe shenanigans

Interesting article which was published in the Guardian yesterday.  (See over here.)  It begins:

There is a state within a state in the United Kingdom, a small but untouchable domain that appears to be subject to a different set of laws. We have heard quite a bit about it over the past two months, but hardly anyone knows just how far its writ runs. The state is BAE, Britain’s biggest arms company. It seems, among other advantages, to be able to run its own secret service. […]