(no subject)

Last night I dreamt that I was participating in some sort of cross between a house party and a game of Splinter Cell. I think it was at kingamj's house, though I don't think her place has a large and shadowy industrial complex in the middle. Either way, I remember getting shot with a plastic sucker dart at some point. Bizarre.

In completely unrelated and much less interesting news, there's not much to choose between the British political parties at the moment. While the supposedly slightly-socialist ruling party tends to fraternise with Microsoft, the supposedly commerce-and-big-business opposition party is pushing for open source software to be used in government, open source being the free-for-all model of sharing, a kind of welfare-state for computers. Keen to outdo those parties in the rush to show how unstereotypical they are, several Liberal Democrats have joined the Conservative party. So liberal that they're happy with being conservative? Next we'll have the Green Party campaigning for more coal power stations and the legalisation of whaling. Stereotypes no longer apply, it seems.

Although speaking of stereotypes, a member of Parliament and former regimental commanding officer in the British Army had to resign from his homeland security spokesman position due to comments he made which appeared to suggest that racism is a normal part of life in the Army. It's interesting to note that he also said that being insulted for being fat or having ginger hair is also a normal part of life in the British Army, but nobody cares about that. It's also very interesting to note that while easily offended white people were condemning him, black former soldiers defended him, with statements like the following:

Leroy Hutchinson, a black former corporal who served with Mr Mercer for 12 years, said: "He never tolerated racism in the battalion and not a single one of his men would consider him to be racist." He added: "In the forces... name-calling - whether you be black, white, ginger, red, brown - it is part of the establishment." He went on: "It's not meant and it doesn't come across from an individual as a racist comment. It's just part of the culture. "When you wear that uniform, it is what goes on and it's been happening for a long, long time."

Former regimental sergeant major Owen Lewis, 44, originally from Carlton, said Mr Mercer was the best commanding officer he had served under in his 24-year career. The black soldier said: "When I joined the army I was aware that I would have to be physically and mentally prepared to deal with racism and that I would not tolerate it. But when I joined my battalion I saw so many black guys in the regiment and they worked together in harmony with the white guys. But soldiers being soldiers, they are not diplomats or social workers."

A correct zero-tolerance attitude towards those who legitimise racism, or a display of political correctness throwing the baby out with the bath-water? Hmm.