Wednesday, November 04, 2009

East African Homophobia - Uganda and Kenya Go Rogue

RE: Stand up, be counted and go to jail

This article seems to be rather misleading, with its use of "some".

As far as can be seen from the online Kenyan press, very very few Kenyans seem to understand that lesbian and gay rights are basic human rights. In the neighbouring, and in some ways similar, country of Uganda the countries Christian leaders are supporting an effort to impose the death penalty on gay people (See pinknews.co.uk for coverage). In fact they are so extreme that even American Evangelicals such as Rick Warren are rejecting them.

Basically, these countries are undergoing the type of sex panic that swept the US and Britain against gays from the late 1930s until the 1960s.

It's almost impossible to resist such a panic.

We who live in more enlightened places need to accept LGBT Ugandans and Kenyans as refugees and asylees.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

The Lisbon Treaty Will Go Through: Why The EU is a Good Thing



David Cameron begins to outline new EU policy in light of Czech decision on

Since I am a huge European Union supporter, let me be the first to congratulate the Tories on the new Euro baby!

What is funny is all the people who thought David Cameron ever meant for there to be a referendum.

As far as I'm concerned the EU is the best thing for peace that has ever happened in Europe.

I simply do not understand those in my own country who oppose. We all have complaints about any system we are in, but there has been no general war in Europe since 1945, and the EU provides by far the best framework for dealing with the remaining ethnic/ethno-religious problems.

I do not deny that NATO (AND the Warsaw Pact) had a role in stabilising Europe), but in truth the major conflicts in the past 400 years had all been initiated by France, the biggest German state (based in either Vienna or Berlin) and Spain (which is no longer a threat).

The European Steel and Coal Community led to the EEC to the EC and now to the EU. It has stabilised all of west and west-central Europe, and shows signs of doing so in east-central Europe.

Meanwhile, the EU's support for regionalism within countries is part of what helped calm Ireland down, stopped Catalunya getting violent, and keeps the Basque country OK.

As long as the EU prevails, there will be no irredentist wars over Trieste, the Tyrol, German speaking Belgium, etc. etc.

If the EU had already been able to incorporate Yugoslavia I doubt those criminal idiots Milosevic and Tudjman would have been able to wreak the destruction they did.

UPDATE: The Czech president has now signed the Lisbon Treaty. Hooray.