This Is Not A Democracy

Just to get my side of the story out before this all turns into drama, but yes, I just defriended marysiak.

I think that the request for people to pay for her to get laser surgery is frankly out of order and seeing people going ahead and doing so is just... sickening for me.

This is not an operation she's in desperate need of. She just doesn't want to wear contacts or glasses anymore. It's like asking your flist to buy you a yearly travelcard because you can't be bothered to walk (even though you could). I have people on my flist who have been in utterly desperate situations and never dreamed of asking for help, let alone for something they want rather than need.

Right now, so soon after the crisis in Burma/Myanmar, when people are truly suffering and need all the help they can get, it seems in bad taste generally to ask for something that can be done without. In fact, I find asking people to pay for something that is based on preference, rather than critical necessity, pretty shameful. And selfish.

"I want this and I expect my friends to pay for it for me."

That's just not right, in my book.

So, there you have it. I couldn't give much of a fuck if other people defriend me because of this view - that's your prerogative. I give what I can afford to the people who need it in order to survive, to the people who have nothing because of where they live in the world, or the environment they live in, not to people who expect hand outs because they're too impatient to wait and save for themselves.

Top Tory axed over Army race row

A Tory MP has been forced to quit his frontbench role after making comments on race in the Army which party leader David Cameron called "unacceptable".

Shadow homeland security spokesman Patrick Mercer said he had met "a lot" of "idle and useless" ethnic minority soldiers who used racism as a "cover".

The former officer also told the Times that being called a "black bastard" was a normal part of Army life.

But Mr Mercer later said he "deeply" regretted any "offence" he had caused.

'Way it is'

Some of the Newark MP's constituency colleagues have rallied to support him, with one saying Mr Cameron's reaction had been in "haste".

In his interview with the Times, Mr Mercer said of the black men he had known in the Army: "They prospered inside my regiment, but if you'd said to them 'Have you ever been called a nigger,' they would have said 'Yes.'

"But equally, a chap with red hair, for example, would also get a hard time - a far harder time than a black man, in fact."


When you wear that uniform, it is what goes on and it's been happening for a long, long time
Leroy Hutchinson
Former soldier

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Mr Mercer added: "But that's the way it is in the Army. If someone is slow on the assault course, you'd get people shouting: 'Come on you fat bastard, come on you ginger bastard, come on you black bastard.'"

He also said: "I came across a lot of ethnic minority soldiers who were idle and useless, but who used racism as cover for their misdemeanours.

"I remember one guy from St Ann's (Nottingham) who was constantly absent and who had a lot of girlfriends.

"When he came back one day I asked him why, and he would say: 'I was racially abused.' And we'd say: 'No you weren't, you were off with your girlfriends again.'"

'Regret'

After the comments were published, Mr Mercer was asked by his party to resign his frontbench position and did so.

He later told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that in his 25-year military career he had twice come across soldiers claiming racism when disciplined for poor performance.

Mr Cameron said: "The comments made by Patrick Mercer are completely unacceptable and I regret that they were made.

"We should not tolerate racism in the Army or in any walk of life."

He also said: "I was completely shocked when I read the remarks of Patrick Mercer.

Mr Cameron called racism "disgusting", saying it had "no part in any part of our society".

Army culture

Shadow trade and industry secretary Alan Duncan told BBC One's Question Time: "He [Mr Mercer] appeared to be indifferent to the fact that someone was taunted for being black.

"You cannot be indifferent to that."

But 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."

Newark Conservative Association chairwoman Sheelagh Hamilton said she was "extremely angry" Mr Mercer's comments had been taken "out of context".

"David Cameron has behaved precipitously," she said.

"[Mr Mercer] is a wonderful member of parliament and a wonderful man and he would never have intended to be racist," she added.

Richard Alexander, a cabinet member of the Tory-run Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: "We all say things in the heat of the moment that do not read too well in print, but I understand where he's coming from."

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I never thought I would agree with a Tory, but I'm sorry: Mercer is right. That is how it is. He's not saying racism is okay. He's saying that people in the military - as in normal life - are picked out and addressed by what makes them different. It's just an identifying feature used as an adjective.

So what?

Yeah, it's offensive, but saying, "You black bastard" to someone, which is probably something they were fairly clear on before said drill sergeant kindly informed them - and, dare I say it? Something they may even be proud of - is less offensive to me than calling someone fat. Which they also do. But do you hear the thick-set soldiers bitching? I doubt it. Personally, I'm half-Sicilian and I call myself a Wop. You can call me a Wop. Or a butch bi bitch, if you want. I don't care. You're right, I am. And I'd compliment the alliteration, as well.

Because it's not an insult, really, is it? It's a fucking observation.

People need to accept that the military, first of, is fucking hard work. They want to break you down and build you up again from scratch, because they want to put you back together stronger and more efficient. If you're too pathetic to deal with someone calling you playground names then you're too weak to be a fucking soldier, so don't run around crying 'racism' because they won't stand for your pansy bitch, womanising bullshit. They also need to accept that the military has its own rules. Your happy little PC world does not fucking exist anymore. You just signed over the next three to five years of your life - they now own you wholesale and you will do what they say. I love that about the military: political correctness is taken for the bullshit it is. Speak your mind, and that way you always know where you stand and so does everyone else.

And Mercer's not saying that all black people are lazy any more than Little Britain is saying all disabled people are manipulative frauds. He's just saying that people use racial discrimination as an excuse for poor behaviour - just as certain people from other minorities, be they racial, religious, disability-related, or lifestyle-orientated are way too quick to scream prejudice over completely innocuous things.

I don't think making that point should have cost him his job. And I do think that people who abuse their position as minorities - and bear in mind that I am a Pagan bisexual with Native American heritage who is into 'alternative' music but grew up in Chav Central, and therefore I have some idea about being a minority - should be fucking called on it. Aren't we always asking for equality? Then why should minorities get special treatment?