Couldn't have put it better myself...

Criminalising Holocaust denial would be a serious mistake
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1992760,00.html

Yes. This is me. Talking about Big Brother.

In keeping with my New Year’s resolution, I am about to comment on Celebrity Big Brother. I just thought I’d warn you in case anyone wanted to slope off at this early stage.

They’ve got themselves into a bit of a pickle with this whole racism malarkey, haven’t they? What I find interesting is less the clearly brain-addled squawkings of those three girls in the house, and more the political furore they have created. Leaving aside the question of whether they are actually being racist (and in some respects I would prefer to believe that they were speaking intentionally, rather than the alternative, which is presumably that their only means of conveying dislike for someone is through race-related complaints, and would, I think, indicate that there really is a sort of endemic racism in this country – though I suppose, if one is truthful, there probably is), the reaction has been fascinating.

Media interest – yes, definitely (and presumably Channel 4, and everyone involved in BB find this quite joyous, even when the interest is negative); public complaints to Ofcom – yes, absolutely; promises of police investigation – yes, fair enough. But what on earth are the politicians doing getting involved? Why is the Indian government kicking up such a fuss? OK, so that last question was a little disingenuous: it’s fairly obvious why they’re kicking up a fuss. But I don’t think it’s any of their business. Really. After all, Shilpa decided to go on BB. Presumably nobody forced her. One would hope her agents gave her an idea of what she was letting herself in for. I have only limited sympathy for people – especially celebrities – who find life under the auspices of BB hard. This isn’t, of course, to say that I condone what those three idiots have been saying: they are clearly very stupid and very much not the sort of people who should be role models for anyone. They should possibly even be prosecuted under legislation against racial abuse, though that, of course, is a matter for the police and the courts.

But what any of this has to do with politicians, I am not sure. What Channel 4 broadcasts surely cannot be their concern? If there is something being broadcast which is deeply offensive, then there are measures in place already to deal with it. In the first instance, presumably they run the risk of losing viewers and, subsequently, sponsorship. Then it is the job of Ofcom to investigate any complaints against the channel. If material broadcast breaks the law, then it behoves the judicial system to get in on the act. But it is not up to the government to dictate what can and cannot be shown on television (admittedly, the line possibly blurs with the BBC, given its licence fee funding, but that is irrelevant to Channel 4), and any interference would be abhorrent.

You know my fandoms, flist; apply them...

Eh bien. Je suis bored. Please to be giving me random, random characters to be writing the stories of.

SDC #14

Ivanova & Garibaldi
::as requested by athersgeo::
Working on a space station was stressful. Mostly, Ivanova had long since concluded, because sunshine became a thing of the past; nobody was going to be constantly cheery when life passed in a blanket of blackness. She quite liked that expression. “Blanket of blackness.” It sounded bleak.

But anyway, yes. Stress. An integral part of life on Babylon 5. If it wasn’t the damned Narns and Centauri poking at each other, it was the unions protesting shipping charges, or EarthGov wanting to implement some crazy new idea meant to revolutionise interstellar diplomacy, that would only result in four-fifths of the ambassadors clamouring for reparations.

So anything Ivanova could do to reduce stress, she figured was a good idea. (More or less. A couple of her earlier ideas hadn’t worked out so well, but no charges had been pressed, so it all went under the heading “General Experience – Not To Be Repeated” and no more said.) And she had been on Babylon 5 for less than a month when she found a new method of stress reduction. It was pretty OK. Probably another thing to be filed away “General Experience – Not To Be Repeated” but, as she said to Garibaldi as she shouldered her way into her uniform jacket and scooped up her hair into a ponytail, “Unresolved sexual tension is a bitch.”

SDC #15

House and busy!Joey
::as requested by kittykatkins::

Betting on nurses was always going to get him into trouble. House made a mental note to remember this in the future. As amusing as Cuddy was when she was angry (and she really was very, very amusing), being forced into prolonged exposure to the general population of oh-gee-doctor-I-might-be-dying patients was scarcely worth it. If the bet had come off, he could have made Chase do his clinic hours, but Chase had seemed almost too knowing about that nurse’s underwear situation. House suspected insider dealing.

There was a woman waiting in the clinic room, gabbling away in a melodramatic fashion into her cellphone. He flicked open her chart. Late thirties, six months pregnant, on a book tour, English… His head shot up in disbelief.

“Twelve kids! Do you have some kind of conveyor belt system working?” A sharp, dark gaze met his, and the patient – Jo Maynard, according to her chart – hung up the phone abruptly and glared at him. House ignored it. “So, what’s the problem?”

“I’ve been having some contractions.” House lounged against the wall, then looked surprised as she raised an expectant eyebrow.

“What? You know more about birthin’ babies than me. What do you think the problem is? Hey, it couldn’t be time for the baby to come out, could it?”

“Politeness, Dr House,” said the patient, in a decidedly chilly voice, “is the pride of princes.”

House shrugged. “Dammit, pregnant lady, I’m a doctor, not a prince.”