http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com Weblog of the [very-nearly-a] writer Rob Burton Fri, 21 May 2010 16:51:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It’s difficult not to be cynical. The invitation to describe what happened after the election as the ‘ConDem’ alliance is irresistible. Something new and unusual has happened in Britain. For the first time since the seventies, and despite the polarisation of our electoral system, no single party has been elected ... http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com/uncategorized/condemnation-it%e2%80%99s-difficult-not-to-be-cynical In the next few days, I fear we are going to see a change in British politics much more fundamental than a simple change in government. It is a change back from democracy to oligarchy. We should be worried, and we should be embarrassed. Historically speaking, most democracies have, at some ... http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com/uncategorized/the-return-to-the-oligarchy Keeping things nice and simple massively benefits the Conservative party in political debate, and massively disadvantages everyone else. But it’s misleading, and, frankly, dangerous. The other parties have their faults and cynical strategies of their own, but the Conservative attitude – which I will here characterise ... http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com/uncategorized/nice-and-simple It used to be that, as far as free speech went, you knew your enemies - the church and the state. And you knew your cause. You were serving, (although sometimes by indirect means), the truth. There are many people who treat free speech ... http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com/uncategorized/free-speech-and-the-bbc Yesterday afternoon (depending on where you are, I suppose), Barack Obama announced that there would be regulations placed upon banks whereby the riskier investment activity would be more tightly controlled, and would have to be separated from the  more vital and socially supportive activity of banks. Furthermore, bank sizes will ... http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com/uncategorized/the-banks-barack-your-wife-and-her-pension The Iraq inquiry, the snow and the forthcoming election campaign - what do these three things have in common, apart from all being very popular things to blog about? They are all examples of the consequence of our demand that politicians lie to us. ‘Our demand?’ I hear you cry ... http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com/uncategorized/honesty-politics-and-the-bloody-weather I started to climb Kilimanjaro, and I didn’t get to the top, which essentially means that I went for a four day hike at 4000m for no good reason at all. Ho-hum. I was effected somewhat by altitude sickness (of the vomiting variety, largely), and though I felt I could ... http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com/uncategorized/failure-at-kilimanjaro As I first began to write this, a big bull Elephant wandered into our camp on the rim of the Ngorongoro crater and drank it’s bellyful of water from the tank that supposedly fed the kitchen. Slightly nervously we crowded around snapping pictures, hoping it didn’t kill us all in ... http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com/uncategorized/safari-%e2%80%93-or-how-it-came-to-pass-that-my-girlfriend-snuggled-up-to-a-bush-pig Apologies, but this is a long one. I haven’t had the opportunity to update in a while. A warren of crumbling 19th century buildings bakes beneath the tropical sun, reminiscent of the scruffier parts of Venice, sans canal. Touts carrying everything from cashew nuts and ‘spice boats’ (bags of ... http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com/uncategorized/zanzibar My final days in Uganda are marked primarily by contrast – most notably between myself and where I am. Jinja, a town at the head of the river Nile at lake Victoria, is nothing like the camp I stay in. This is a little preserve for the rich, (generally) ... http://theadversary.yellowgrey.com/uncategorized/goodbye-uganda