Everyone's Left Me!!!

And then there was one!! Lucy has just left me and now I'm sitting here poised to get all my work done before I leave on Wednesday morning! It's pouring with rain and the band is moving across the South of England and will reach East Anglia by tomorrow! I'm going to be following that cloud all the way home.
Right, well, first up is the essay that I started on Friday. I'm trying to shoehorn what I want the essay to be into the question that I have chosen. How much do I agree with the statement that we are seeing a 'dumbing down' in the media at large? A lot! That's how much I agree with it. I have begun my argument with a simple theory that 9/11 accelerated our need for 'sound bites' from our news sources. Obviously this dependancy is not entirely because of this, but it commodifyed news overnight. This would be fine if we were being lead by a morally sound power base, but unfortunately, George Bush is too busy filming his Christmas message from the White House with one of his dogs as the star!
This weekend has been tough in respect to avoiding throwing things at the TV! This country is already gripped with election fever and everyone involved seems to have taken stupid pills. Mass reforms within all aspects of society are required and all the politicians can do is attack each other over who is the most trust worthy or able to deliver these massive reforms. The New Labour project has failed because its policy of spending without reform is not viable and was never going to be viable in the long term. The mistake that the Media and through them, the public are going to make is believe that another party can do better. The Conservatives may well be promising that tax cuts are not the answer, but this age old policy will return soon after they would take office. The very definition of their name is not legitimate for the future of this country or the global community at large: to conserve what we have now is not something that I desire, neither should it be desirable for the majority of Britain. People are being born, living and then dying below the poverty line all over the world, increasingly in the 'Developed' World. This is an issue that links everyone, across all nations. People have been lead to believe ever since the beginning of the Imperial movement that poverty pays heed to national boundaries and can be tackled by the same individual nations. This lie has survived for over 2,000 years and must be stopped if global prosperity is to be shared among all people on this small planet.
Today the government has announced that "deadbeat dads" could face having their names published on the internet in a 'name and shame' campaign aimed at reducing the backlog of £3bn in unpaid child support. The Child Support Agency is being advised at the same time that £2bn of that backlog is impossible to collect. With this in mind, why on earth are they being told that tough tactics and a re-branding of the Agency are required? This is one of the main reasons for my despair towards old New Labour: their policy of 'if it's broke, re-brand it'.
With the announcement this week that NASA will have colonised The Moon by 2020, surely must come the realisation that the project of evolution that is the Human Race, must consolidate itself within the next 20 years, if harmonious progress is to be made. My argument is that the old systems in all walks of life need not only to be updated, but scrapped and born anew if any substantial progress is to be made.
As Kofi Annan leaves the UN, replaced by Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, I find myself getting quite excited over the prospect of the inevitable re-shuffle of posts that is to follow Mr. Ki-moon being sworn into office in the New Year. It is an opportunity to hand out a slap on the wrist to the less responsible members. I know my wish of seeing the US' role in the organisation being downgraded is unrealistic, but you never know! Its constant neglect of paying its dues cannot go unpunnished if the UN is to be useful in the monumental shifts needed on the world stage.
'Hell' and 'Handbasket' are words that spring to mind...