The beginning of the end?

The craziness of the last few days in Baltimore, USA, has made me seriously think if the recurring riots are to become larger, more common and more violent.

Firstly, I am not going to claim that riots are a good thing and I am not going to state that they are unjustified. I do not wish to offend anyone who feels passionately about this subject and I am merely expressing an opinion on what is going on.

On Monday 27th of April there was a funeral for Freddie Gray, a 25 year old black man who died in police custody. What has followed from this are protests in Baltimore. These protests then developed into violent riots. These riots are protests against the law enforcement's handling of black Americans and what they believe to be racist acts. Again, I am not completely informed on this matter and only taking my information from news websites.

Now as a British citizens we are only given information from British broadcasters. This means that the information might be filtered or altered in some way. However, as a human it is incredible to watch what is happening over there. The videos of looting, fighting and conflicts between law enforcement and African-Americans are terrifying. When you look at these videos you can't help to compare them to something out of some apocalyptic film not a democratic nation of the west.

Riots are awful regardless of their motive. The destroying and burning of buildings, the looting of shops and beating up of pedestrians is completely wrong. However, what these rioters are doing is getting the publicity they crave.

Peaceful protests are always the correct way to express an opinion. However, do you honestly think the world would be looking upon Baltimore and the corruption that seems to curse America if they simply walked down a street holding a few banners? Are riots a violent and inhumane act or an explosion of frustration at the result of being patient for so long?

There is obviously a huge issue in regards of police treatment of ethnic minorities in America and there are statistics that support this. What concerns me is whether this issue is genuinely being addressed or just forgotten about until another riot happens.

America seems to only pay attention to itself when it starts imploding. We saw it before when Ferguson was declared in a state of emergency. Now it is happening in Baltimore and you can guarantee it will happen again.

What I question is if this will get sorted or just get worse and worse?

Just imagine the riots we see in the news erupting to national level. The worlds biggest superpower will literally fall to pieces. A country that prides itself on equality, democracy and the 'American Dream' will become a land of civil war. I understand this is incredibly far-fetched and a little ridiculous but it does concern me how violent a nation can come after being sparked by one particular death. If there is a building of frustration amongst American ethnic-minorities, when will it eventually surface? There seems to be so much pain in America that is hidden to the rest of the world that it makes you question how free this 'land of the free' is?

Is to be patriotic to be racist?

Happy St. Georges day first of all!

I understand the title might be a little confusing and completely ridiculous. I get that, I would think that too. However, it got your attention and now (I'm hoping) has got you to want to read what I have to say.

Obviously you can be proud to be English. I am incredibly proud to be English, British, southern, a student, a rugby player... whatever else that might have a certain stigma attached to it. But there does seem to have been a horrible abusement of the term 'to be English'.

Today on social media I saw plenty of posts similar to this...

It got me thinking to when the last time I saw something similar to this was and it struck me that there is a common theme to these posts throughout the year,

People only seem to want to promote being English when they wish to claim that being foreign is wrong. It is almost as if people believe we are still an empire and that our traditions and culture are the only ones worth knowing about.

When you look at other nations around the world they celebrate being patriotic as being proud of being from where they are from and all those who inhabit it. Not to make any other point. I can't understand this reoccurring trend to blame immigrants for everything. That to be anything but English in England is wrong.

The most well-known 'cult' that exercises this ideology is the wonderfully medieval sounding 'English Defence League'. The EDL promotes English supremacy. That England is for English people and that anything that could favour this nation should be directed towards people who can trace their bloodline to go back to King Arthur himself. It this group of individuals that claim to be 'patriotic'. There is also UKIP but they have an incredible way of making good points on immigration to highlight a 'problem' with immigrants. *I will admit I have agreed with some of their points. I will also admit that when learning about their policies, they are a tad over the top, note the sarcasm.

Now I for one do not want my patriotism to be based around an English favouritism. 

I hate the idea that other nations could look upon ours and base their judgement of us on how much we loathe people from other nations. 

I watched a video recently of an EDL march in London whereby they were arguing against Islam in our nation. The second lady in command claimed that 'Allah' was a proven paedophile and that how could they believe in such a horrific God. A PROVEN PAEDOPHILE?! I am pretty sure Allah is based around all other god's in that there is no physical evidence that he/she/it existed and that faith is what is needed to follow them. I believe they meant Mohammad, the prophet. But I still believe this is just as believable as Jesus being wed to a prostitute which is ridiculous right?

These same people most probably watched or listened to the likes of Jimmy Saville, Ralf Harris etc. and loved them! These people most certainly did exist and most certainly were horrible, horrible people but because they are white, they are just a bad egg.

I will not stand for people who claim to be English patriots and ruin our saint-day with ignorant and completely racist remarks. 

The English flag is one to be proud of and we have every right to be proud of our nation with the abundance of brilliance that has come out of it. However, don't claim that there brilliance is being tainted by 'foreigners' of today. And don't speak as if you have any of that brilliance because you so happen to be English too. I have seen English people in foreign nations. Notably I witnessed a bunch of drunk and incredibly loud Englishmen in Krakow, Poland. An entire city ringing with football chants and breaking bottles.  I was embarrased and had to tell my Polish girlfriend who took me there, 'we're not all like that'. I do understand I have been a drunken mess in Malia and contributed to this stereotype a little, sorry mum. However, I would not claim this to have been right.

England happens to be one of the most multicultural nations in the world and the fact that people want to emigrate here is a sign of its quality. The only problem England has is that it is becoming more common to be anti-migrants and to not agree with other cultures apart from curry, chinese food, pizzas, foreign beer... 

Now I am sure that this post will get a lot of people educating me on the awful things extreme muslims have done. That the terror they have caused is completely motivated by one book and this only. That child trafficking is done by muslims. That parts of the country are under 'sharia law'.

All I will say to this is that the small minority of muslims that have done this needed motivation from somewhere else and being a student in Coventry, I have met a lot of lovely muslims.

There have been plenty of white terrorists, rapists, child traffickers, drug dealers etc. The only difference is that they are not judged on religion or race but 'just bad people'. 

So if you are like me and proud to be from England then great! I don't alway show it apart from the six nations or other sporting events but that doesn't mean it isn't always there. Just stop the individuals who play off this patriotism so they can vent their anger at immigrants because of our governments mistakes.

Project Cov

Ever since moving here in September, a house party was always expected to happen. Finally we got round to organising it as a last proper piss-up before exams start, not that I have any.

It was expected that around 30 people would come around 10pm (an hour after the official start time) with some +1s with them to fill out the house. What actually happened was that at 10:30pm the actual occupants of the house and a few close mates were sat twiddling their thumbs, drinking their alcohol and questioning whether the lights they had very specifically placed were OK. The first twinges of concern were starting to build into whether anyone would be there to appreciate the very specifically placed lights and enjoy our quality company. 

By 11:30 a considerable amount of people had arrived and the party was starting to become less of a little chatter between friends and an actual party. Shots were being shot, dance moves were being moved by those already quite drunk and the beer bong was in full use.

At midnight I went outside to do the bong and out of determination not to make a tit of myself, focused incredibly hard on it. It was only after my alcohol consumption that I heard 'ain't nobody f-ing with my clique' being chanted from the living room by a huge amount of people. It was on investigating this that I found that the house had become rammed with people, half of which I did not recognise let alone know. When I asked who they were they often replied with 'why do you want to know?'. I calmly explained how I was a tenant of this house for which they replied with 'ahh sorry, good party'. 

In the living area there was at least 30 people in it which is about 25 more than has ever been in it before. The playlist we had carefully put together was now off and black American rap was being screamed out by a huge group of lads. I had had no idea who they were apart from one individual. Ashley Powell, a person I had come to know quite well over the last few years, was jumping up and down in the middle of the group like an intoxicated kangaroo. We did make eye-contact for him to shout a Kanye West lyric at me, which seemed rather innapropriate with him being incredibly white. 

The rest of the night followed as described above with shots, beer bongs, dancing, singing/ rapping and drunk conversation eating the hours away. I had somehow begun talking to two Polish people in my incredibly inconsistent and over confident Polish. They said I was 'very good' but their faces told a different story. 

At around 3:30am many of the people had left and it became mine and the other hosts responsibility to finish off the remaining alcohol. This was a mixture of beer, cider, shots and a Polish beverage called bimber which at 70% was described by Liam Quinn (another accomplice from back home) as 'nuclear cat piss'. By this point everyone was incredibly drunk and drinking now was more of a challenge than a pleasure. Mr Powell had now made plenty of new friends and spent a good few hours rapping to all his favourite gangster tracks. I did have my 5 minutes of fame orchestrating Wonderwall by Oasis on my guitar standing on one of the sofas to about 15 people screaming 'AGAIN' as I gave myself an encore.

It is fair to say the clean up the following day was awful. There was a stickiness to every possible surface, still full cans on every table and chair and for some reason the kitchen wreaked of balsamic vinegar with cracked eggs and straws littering the floor. The hangover alongside this mess was equally as bad with my head feeling like it was about to implode and my mouth feeling as if I had been eating sand all night. There was obviously a full fry up the following morning but this only intensified the feeling of vomit beginning to rise in our bellies. 

However, regardless of the hangover, the state of the house after and the damage it had done to my student loan it was such an insane night. I witnessed awful rapping, a brilliant consumption of booze and someone so drunk they tried to switch off the light on the wall with their feet as they lay drooling in their own mess.

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Slipping under the covers

It would be a lie if I were to say that I have had a very close relationship with my nan. I'm not someone who posts on social media how amazing she is or how inspiring she has been to me but nonetheless, she is family and someone I hold close to my heart. She is the last of my grandparents and there is a peculiar realisation that she is the last of my parent's parents.

Today I made the far too rare visit to see her in the home she is now unfortunately stuck in. It has all the elements to be a lovely, warm and friendly care home. It is situated in picturesque countryside, appears to be large and warm looking and has the ever so fitting name of 'Cranmer Court'. It is a very stereotypical care home and as far as I know, has no faults apart from the odd tinge of urine in the air, something that cannot be helped with occupants that live there.

In her own room by the garden is my poor and physically restricted nan, lying in bed as she does every day. Her company comes in the odd family member, nurse or the birds feasting outside on the seeds purchased by the in-laws. Often or not those who come to visit come in 2s or more. This is not because of nan's popularity but due to her condition, there has to be a conversation she can listen to rather than one she can participate in.

I went today with my mother and met my uncle and aunty there. We discussed the usual ins and outs of everyday life. 'How's uni?' one way. 'How are the cousins' the other. This chit chat lasted a little while but inevitably the chatter simmered down to silence and I found myself focusing more on nan. It felt to me as if in the last 5 times I have come to visit she has slipped lower and lower into the bed. Her facial expression has over time changed from awareness of conversation to a flat faced, squint eyed glare at the ceiling. Almost as if the world was nothing but a fragment of her imagination and the heartache of losing her husband of 59 years 5 years prior being her own reality. Frustration of her condition has been often discussed throughout the family and her lack of effort in trying to pick herself up emotionally being the main reason of her inevitable vegetable state.

There can be the argument that she has not indeed helped herself but it is important to state she does have parkinsons disease and this has been a major factor in her physical decline. However, regardless of her physical state, she had lost her absolute other half. There cannot be anything worse than losing your stability and balance that you gain with someone else over such a huge time frame. You would not expect a man to run with one leg taken away when he had ran with two for 59 years. This was her state but not only had she forgotten to run but lost the ability to walk through life. She has limped her way through last five years to now and it is absolutely impossible to consider her situation. She is part of a generation whereby you didn't divorce at first sign of trouble but learnt to adapt to their faults and live by them. That you would understand that life is not always about being happy but contempt with being solid with another.

I have to admit I did pity her. I was in no position to empathise and I had no wish to put myself in a position where I had to think about living 60 years with someone for them to be gone in a blink. She has had to go through an ordeal I hope I never have to endure but hope to understand. I hope to be with someone as close as that for such a time that I can claim I have had a relationship through everyone of life's ups and downs. She might not have been a huge part of my life but when I sit there looking at her, her pain shows to me how amazing it must be to be anothers true life partner. With her pain shows true happiness before.

To the 'anti-voters'

The general election is just over a month away now and with the first television debate being shown tonight I thought it would be relevant to blog about a particular pet hate of mine.

There seems to be a growing trend that it is better to not vote when it comes to elections. There are a handful of high profile individuals who strongly claim that politicians are unfair and disillusioned with the British people. That they are in politics for all the wrong reasons and have lost touch with the 'working man'. What this has lead to is this dribbling nonsense that a 'revolution' is forthcoming and the entire nation will sucumb to a change in the way the nation will be lead.

I have to admit I have never read Revolution by Russell Brand and though it is seems to be immensely popular I don't intend on reading it. I am fascinated by Brand's opinions on the Government and the way it goes about exercising its powers but that doesn't mean I agree with him.
I cannot get my head around this idea that to not vote is better than to vote at all.

Now my history is not brilliant but I am pretty sure that most, if not all, of the wars we have had over the last 100 years was to secure democracy in the modern world. Democracy, for the few of you who don't know, is the idea that society has the right to vote for who is in charge of the nations Government. And yet even though millions have died for this right, people are not only using it, people are arguing against it!

Never will an entire nation not vote. There will always be a new man (or woman) in charge every time an election comes about. There will always be people who will vote and if it is a very small number then a very small number of people will have put a particular party in power. There will always be something to moan about when it comes to politics and if you want to have any right to argue, you HAVE to vote. I will not accept that 'not knowing' or 'not liking' politics/ politicians is a viable excuse. I am 20 years old and this is my first general election that I am able to vote in. I am still completely unaware on who to vote on and even though I live in a Conservative stronghold, that does not mean I will necessarily vote for them. I am absolutely willing to hear every parties opinion and make my own verdict. But if you turn to me and tell me they are all knobs who don't understand the country then emigrate. Please leave this country and go to North Korea or any other nation where voting is not allowed or riged. Ask the people of those nations if they would like the right to vote in a fair and just manner. Or read up on Communist Russia, Nazi Germany etc and tell me that not having that right to vote is correct.

I cannot stand people who say they won't vote. It is a ridiculous and immature point of view to claim that 'we can make a change' by not. You can have a much more powerful say in simply ticking a box than standing outside parliament for days on end stating that those in charge are old fashioned and single minded. As far as im aware, England really is not that bad for living in and if I can have a tiny say in how it might run then I am more than happy to go along with that.