To the xenophobes & racists...

What a shame. 

What a worrying, embarrassing and disgraceful time to call oneself English or British. 

Why?

Not because of Brexit which I know is what you were hoping for me to say. 

No, that's rather small in comparison. 

I am embarrassed because of the few who are once more claiming patriotism to be at the heart of their contempt towards those who are not English, or at least not looking as if they have the bloodline directly linked to King Arthur himself. 

Over the last few days there have been videos, pictures, articles, posts etc. of individuals being abused for not being English or white or both. 

Now, for those of you who know me well enough, you will know I have a Polish girlfriend. In fact I am writing this from Poland where I am staying with my girlfriend's family for a few weeks. 

Weronika and her family are generous, friendly, lovely and completely good people. 

But if they were in the UK they could be targeted for being Polish and that, for me personally, strikes a nerve I never knew I had. 

Since being introduced to Polish culture I have learnt a lot. 

The stereotypes of all Polish people being builders or plumbers; gone. The stereotype they are odd or arrogant; gone. The stereotype they drink a lot of vodka; not gone but fun to be part of!

I am writing this with a shake in my hands and a fire in my belly that people from my country are attacking those from this wonderful, beautiful and incredible country. 

They are claiming to want their country back and wanting it to be British and nothing else. 

If it wasn't for Britain being so brilliantly mixed I would not have met Weronika. I would not have experienced Polish Christmas, Polish summers, Polish proms, Polish people, and Polish culture in all of its brilliant colour.

I feel slightly futile being in Poland, away from those few who are making the headlines. I feel as if I am not at the place I need to be to shut down the racists and xenophobes. 

I am ashamed to say that my nation has a trend of wanting to extract certain nationalities as if they were a disease. 

I am embarrassed to hear that my country is isolating people because of their appearance or culture. 

I am sickened that immigrants within Britain feel fearful for their well-being because of a few ignorant trolls. 

Usually I avoid swearing in my writing because I think it lacks class and the ability to think of a better word. 

But now, as I sit here in Poland with my Polish girlfriend with her Polish family, there is only one thing that I can think to say.

Dear xenophobes, racists or anyone who wishes individuals with a different nationality to leave the UK:

I fucking dare you to go and tell your employer you hate immigrants. I fucking dare you to shout out your prejudices to the world without anything but your ignorance for support. I fucking dare you to go back to hole from where you came from because YOU are the minority, not the immigrants. You are the problem. 

Educate yourself, then come back to me you cruel, vile, ignorant, wastes of air that are dragging the British name through the mud. 

Brexit; time to stop moaning and accept it.

It's a bitter pill to swallow.

In fact, it's like swallowing a watermelon with nothing but acid to help wash it down.

But it's happened and the UK has spoken; we have voted to leave the EU.

So what now?

I, like many others, expressed bitter disappointment at the vote to leave the European Union.

Being in Poland since the 22nd I had my father vote on my behalf, commonly known as a Proxy vote. He was out, I was in and I hope for his sake he voted correctly on my behalf.

The coverage in Poland was extraordinary, not surprising with an estimated 1,000,000 Poles living in the UK.

There were some anxious faces when the news came through the radio, not that I knew what was being said apart from a very odd sounding 'brexit'.

But all in all it seemed that the Polish people accepted it and took the piss out of it. Namely my girlfriend's father said to me, 'bye bye European Union and bye bye Weronika' with a huge grin on his face. I smiled back and secretly thought 'F*CK!'.

With 120 billion pounds being wiped off the FTSE, the pound at a 30 year low, the PM resigning, the Labour party in disarray and a huge amount of uncertainty ahead, I, like many others let out a little bit of gas from my rear end and checked to whether I had soiled myself.

But a couple of days on I have calmed down and read plenty on the matter.

There's a petition out there to have a second referendum.

There are calls for the House of Commons to stop Brexit.

There's a million articles saying how some individuals voted Leave without considering we might actually LEAVE!

But to be honest, and I say this through gritted teeth, we HAVE to accept that democracy has done what it was created to do and we HAVE to allow it to work.

The majority, regardless of how small it was, voted to leave and we have to accept they did.

Yes 75% of under 25s voted remain but we aren't a nation of under 25s.

Yes Nigel Farage stated the advert of using the money sent to the EU in the NHS instead was false, but if you voted LEAVE for that then you're an idiot for believing it.

If something happens so that we don't leave the EU then I will feel more upset that our democracy has failed.

We aren't a nation of idiots like we seem to think we are.

We can do without the EU if we stop moaning at the result and get on with it.

I voted remain and for 24 hours screamed and shouted about how awful it was.

But it's happened and it's about time we stopped begging for a re-vote and rolled up our sleeves and worked as hard as possible for it to work.

None of this is ideal but it certainly isn't the end of the world.

It's time to respect democracy and accept one side of the vote isn't
the only side of the vote.

Orlando Shooting - Acknowledge the realism of it.

Never should it be possible to write so many posts about hatred, death, violence and prejudicism.

But here I am, once more, trying to put together a few words that could perhaps put some sort of light on yet another horrific event that was fuelled by a lust for shrinking a group of people living their life as they want to.

Firstly, let's not go about this thinking this man was a muslim or whether he had any links with IS. 

I'm tired of writing posts defending muslims. It's futile wasting anymore time about it. By now you'll have made up your mind whether muslims are good people or not. I just hope you will have realised that being a bad person has nothing to do with religion. It comes down to being a bad person. Simple. 

Moreover, this individual seemed to have no links to IS, even though he claimed to. He was just trying to be part of something bigger without being part of it. 

So, with that out of the way, let's try and think about the very real issue about what happened a few nights ago. 

49 people were killed. 

Many were wounded. 

All caused by one man, one assault rifle, one hand gun, one explosive device, and one will to inflict as much hurt and destruction as humanly possible. 

His motive, it seems, was to kill those who belonged to the LGBT community. 

He's not the first and unfortunately will not be the last.

Yet we are all astonished that something like this has happened. We are all astounded that this sort of thing still happens and to this scale.

Homophobia, isn't that a dead phobia?

No.

Homophobia is still a cancer in the western world that doesn't seem to be shrinking but just adapting. 

There's this silly idea that homophobia is disappearing and that we are finally over that prehistoric hill that was riddled with ideologies that being gay is inhuman, wrong and unnatural. 

Well, we're not and if you haven't noticed already, it's not a hill but a bloody great big mountain with idiots filled with hate all over it, trying to express views which are a minority but loud when shouted alongside gunfire. 

The shooting at Pulse Gay Nightclub was a hate crime. Yet people are afraid of acknowledging that.

For some reason we are becoming more concerned about saying 'they aren't just gay, they're people too'.

Well of course they are but they have their own independence and sexuality too. When they are killed for being gay they become far more than just killed individuals. They become a target and a victim. A symbol for a wider community.

The video below should hopefully highlight the point I'm making here.

People are trying so hard to treat  LGBT people as equal individuals that they are doing the opposite. 

We shouldn't be trying so hard to think of these people as just victims of a man and his gun.

They weren't.

They were slaughtered because for no other reason than being gay.

And that, unfortunately, is the realism of this.

Homophobia is no weaker than it was 10 years ago.

It's just not in the press as much because other things take priority.

It has altered, adapted, and become quieter because of, luckily, society's realisation that being homophobic will stop you from getting a good job, being accepted into a community, etc.

But it is still out there and it still causing huge issues.

The international support for the LGBT community has been inspiring but it will take far more than just that to eradicate homophobia from society.

Ridicule those who make homophobic claims.

Highlight them to the wider world.

Not doing so allows them to go about their prejudice ways without the fear of being caught or humiliated for it.

And just because someone might not go to the length of killing a gay person, it doesn't mean they aren't part of the same large and grotesque tree that is homophobia. 

EU Referendum - Decision Made!

I'm not going to lie to you, this post was approached with extra caution. In fact, even as I type these words and before I have expressed any opinion, each tap of the keyboard is made with an air of trepidation. Not because I feel my decision is the wrong one, for if I thought it was I wouldn't be writing this. It's because I know this decision and this debate has been argued and heated up so much that if I'm not careful I could end up being another one of those irritating posts bombarding social media.

I apologise in advance if this post does come across as 'samey' and therefore wasted your time. I promise I have tried my best to make it as worthwhile as possible.

So, let's get to the point and declare which way I have decided to vote, and do so with the risk of making some of my few readers tut and roll their eyes like a disfavouring teacher.

I have decided to vote IN.

Now before you click the the mini red 'x' in your top right hand corner, let me explain why I have done so and perhaps it will make it simpler for you to make your own decision.

Since the referendum picked up real momentum I have been on both sides of the debate. Initially I was on the STAY side. Then I was declaring Brexit. Now I'm back to STAY.

Why?

Well, I tried to keep an open mind about it all. I was, and am still, willing to listen to both sides of the argument.

Nothing infuriates me more than the rock-hard stubbornness of some individuals who once they have made a decision stick by it as if it were an allegiance to some deity.

Your decision making has to be flexible.

This debate has been without any shadow of a doubt made overly complicated, bitterly spoken, and fear-fuelled by both sides. Neither the remain or leave campaign can argue they have not attempted to strike horror into the British public so that they can gain a mislead vote on June 23rd.

It's awful and plays the people of Britain like chess pieces on a board controlled by either Farage of Cameron.

Ignore the statements of fear that if we leave our economy will implode and we will be living off dirt and air. Ignore the statements that if we stay we'll be overrun by immigrants and won't be able to go to the shops without a translator.

When it came to making my own decision I ignored the drabble from the frankly comical Boris Johnson. I ignored the statements from Nigel Farage which were more suited around a campfire alongside ghost stories. I ignored the claims from David Cameron that leaving would put a huge risk to our economy.

Instead I went out and did a bit of research. I watched the television debates with an eye-out for severe stutterings and lackings of evidence. Most of all, I just sat and thought about what I prefered.

And that's how I came about my decision.

It didn't take me long to appreciate that the issues in this country are not down to the European Union and it's respected bodies. It didn't take me long to appreciate that our lack of jobs and money weren't down to immigrants.

Fundamentally, our issues come down to how our UK government has failed its people. Leaving Europe won't stop the government from being arses and it won't stop MPs from being up-nosed, blibber blabbing knobheads.

The whole idea of the EU is to collaborate with its allies and to discuss issues within Europe. It's there for the leaders of Europe to gather round and stop atrocities like WW1 and WW2 from happening again.

Leaving the EU will not allow us to sit around that table and discuss how we, as a collective, can stop terrorism, help ease the migration crisis, climate change, the economy... etc.

If you're deciding the vote LEAVE because you want the UK to 'take back control' and to 'become great again' then please, think about what you're saying. Our government can barely control it's own parliamentary debates for christ's sake! And saying the British people can push forward because they're 'brilliant' and can make Britain 'great' again is like saying we've been doing bugger all for the last 40 years. Are you really telling me that as soon as we leave everyone's going to put down their cups of tea and go out and build an empire and conquer the world?

I'm not saying the British attitude isn't great, but to refer to the two world wars and the victories that came with them as something we can take credit for is an offensive and idiotic claim. We won those wars with others helping us and the brilliant men and women who were involved from all of those nations. Little Dave from Surrey who says 'we won two world wars though' is not one of them.

We're not a super power. We're not what we were two-hundred years ago. We are a good little country with a great standard of living that has immigrants and foreign imports to thank.

Look, I'm not writing this post to throw facts at you. I'm not even writing this to say VOTE STAY! I'm just writing it to perhaps persuade you to really consider what you vote for.

Staying will allow the new EU deal to come into place. A deal that though isn't as good as we hoped, is still an improved deal to what we had before. *I won't highlight the points about this deal as it could add even more words to this already long post.*

Leaving will have us drifting out to sea with a whole cloud of uncertainty ahead.

I made my decision by weighing up both ends and considering what would be best for me and my future.

Personally I don't think things are so bad now and we still, as part of the EU, can put forward suggestions for improving it.

Just go out and do your research before voting on June 23rd and consider whether rolling the dice is really worth it or if we should just accept things could be much worse here in the UK and as part of the EU.

I did it and feel much better for it.

Just feel confident in your decision and make sure you can justify it when asked about it.

Harambe the gorilla; a poor lesson in understanding.

I'm not an animal activist. I'm not even a vegetarian. I'll even hold my hands up and say that I don't check to see if the toiletries I buy have been tested on animals.

But when the news came out that a gorilla, a rare and endangered species, had been killed because of ignorant, negligent and poor parenting as well as a rash and arguably harsh decision from Cincinnati Zoo, it didn't quite sit well.

It's not the fact that the gorilla had been killed and that I felt a level of sympathy for an animal dying. It wasn't even because it was an endangered species.

It was because once again, regardless of our so called 'intelligent' brains, we, as a race, have fundamentally failed.

Now, let's start with the one question that has been tossed around as if it were part of a pub quiz:

Is a child's life more important than a primate's?

Well, perhaps yes. In the most simplistic terms that child could grow up to become more influential than the ape. It could, by some means, add more substance to life than an animal that has been known to throw its own fecal matter.

But is questioning the life of one animal over another's the right question? Please remember that we, humans, as incredible as we like to think we are, are also animals.

Personally, I think the question that should have been asked is whether the ape, or let's call it by it's name, Harambe, deserved to die?

Harambe, a 17 year old western lowland gorilla, was within his enclosure, living his life as it would do on any other day. All of a sudden a child, disgustingly left alone by two parents who, in my opinion, should be punished for their negligence, fell into the enclosure.

Two of the three animals were distracted and left the boy alone. Harambe, however, went to the child and dragged it through the waters within the enclosure.

Imagine you were in his position, the gorilla and not the child, and something fell into your home from above. Imagine it was moving, breathing and looking at you curiously.

In fact, let's simplify it further.

Imagine you're sat on the sofa watching television and a cockroach falls on you from above.

Can it harm you? No. Does it frighten you? Yes. Is it the cockroach's fault for landing on you? Yes but it wasn't at complete fault. Do you wish to remove it and/or kill it? Definitely!

The same can be said about the child. It had done everything to startle a wild animal within its own territory and force it to potentially kill. Please note: POTENTIALLY.

And yet, regardless of the fact that this gorilla, a species which has very similar characteristics to humans, was doing exactly what it should have done, it got shot dead.

Obviously I cannot state to have any knowledge of animals or their behaviour, certainly nothing close to that of the officials at Cincinnati zoo, but I question whether death was the only option.

It just frustrates me that regardless of human ignorance, we have the arrogance to claim the life of something else, regardless of what it is or was.

Should the zoo be charged with poor guarding of the enclosure?

Most definitely.

Should the child be reprimanded in some way for his actions?

Of course.

Should the parents be seriously questioned in their capabilities as carers?

I don't think an answer has ever been so blantaly obvious.

Most of all, should we look at the actions taken against that animal as a harsh lesson to the brutal mentality of humans?

Yes, we should.