March 30, 2006
The battle is lost
So, the battle over ID cards in the UK has been lost. A law will get royal assent today which means that everyone who applies for a passport will get their details entered onto a national identity database.
The "compromise" which was reached to allow this draconian law to be passed was the delay until after the next general election of making the cards compulsory. Essentially now, what will happen is that all your details from when you apply for a passport will go onto a second database and when you apply for a new passport after 2010 you will be forced to buy an ID card too whether you want it or not.
I have already stated my complete and total opposition to this law but am not surprised to see my local puppet MP voting with the government yet again. Aren't MP's meant to represent their constituency rather than their party? I'm not sure she's ever voted against anything this awful government has brought forward.
I am now waiting to hear from NO2ID to see what the next steps are - we obviously aren't going to get this repealed without a new government. Phil Booth has said "This is a self-destructive policy to dwarf the Poll Tax" and I think he's right. The media has been totally complicit in not putting the incredibly draconian nature of this law forward hence why most people seem quite blasé about it.
How long before they propose just chipping us at birth and have done with it?
How long before people get some backbone and start to realise that the government is meant to do the work of the people rather than oppressing them with draconian laws and fear tactics?
How long before we fight back?
March 29, 2006
Left, Right or both?
A discussion on the Jeremy Vine Show yesterday got me thinking about being left-handed in a right-handed world. I guess most people who know me know I'm primarily left-handed although I do write with my right hand.
For instance, if you kicked a ball to me I'd kick it back with my left foot. If I have to throw something I'll do it left handed. If I punch I do it left-handed. I used to have a guitar (don't go there - I am not musical, as I found out) and couldn't contemplate playing it right-handed for even a second. Put a tennis racket in my right hand and I'll move it to my left. I bowl (ten pin, cricket, whatever) left-handed.
But... Give me a pool cue and I'll play right-handed. I can use a pair of scissors right-handed without an issue. I use a computer mouse in my right hand. I can use the numeric keypad on the right of the alphanumeric keyboard with no issue. As I said, I write with my right hand. I use a cricket bat right handed. I golf right-handed.
All this got me thinking as I favour one side for some tasks and the other for different tasks. This is apparently known as mixed-handedness or cross-dominance. I'd never heard of the term until a guy on the show mentioned it.
It makes me wonder whether everyone starts out mixed-handed and becomes either right or left handed by way of discovering that they're just better with that hand. I remember being erm... "encouraged" to use my right hand rather than my left to write and that (as far as I'm concerned anyway) is why I ended up using my right hand to hold a pen/pencil.
I'm especially interested in this now as I see my son grow and become more handsy with things. He's only 9 months but seems to grab for things equally with his left or right hand - I can't help but wonder which of the three things he will be... Left-Handed, Right-handed or Mixed-Handed. Hard to tell, as Carla is completely right-handed. i guess we'll just have to watch in wonderment as he grows up and learns things all on his own. Smart little tyke!