A New View

Guantánamo Bay has become a major international problem for the UK. Not only do we have people who are British citizens who are either in Guantánamo Bay or have been through this system there, but also we ally ourselves to the American system which deems this institution lawful, in spite of its breaking international law.

Barak Obama stated his intent to end Guantánamo Bay's existence as a camp of the detainees who are ' illegal enemy combatants ', and therefore to only continue to use it as a naval base. This was supposed to have been enacted by the end of January this year. However, as I've found in my recent visit to the United States (same and my mother), there is much opposition to Obama's ideas within the political system there. There is still much conservatism, in spite of the mantra for change which accompanied Obama's election as president in recent times.

There are serious questions about why he Guantánamo even order to exist at all in its present form as an American site at all. There is a statement from America saying that the place is hired from Cuba (apparently based on something to do with the Spanish-American War), Bucks Cuba denounce this and say that it is an illegal occupancy. So, it even the existence of the of the area as an American ' colony ' ease in itself legally questionable.

There is of course the problem at all with the fact that there is no charge in most cases for Guantánamo detainees, and there certainly has been no trial for many of them. The Americans apparently say that this is due to the fact that they are in a war against these people. However, Geneva Convention rules still apply in the case of walls, even if this were a war as such. Hence the use of the phrase ' illegal enemy, combatants' , which apparently removes the need for any kind of human rights necessity within this context. Thus, one-time obey has become  a vacuum of international law and is treated as such by the US authorities.

I am simply putting this forward as my first disability rights entry! Yes, there will be more of these. I will now do anything to raise awarenes of equality issues when it comes to disability.

Yes, there is now a Disability Discrimination Act, but it strikes me that this is mostly lip-service. The legal requirements of public buildings to be fully accessible are, at best, questionable. And apparent or supposed equality in the workplace is impossible with the prejudices that employers have, which are ingrained in our society.

My second issue which I will briefly outline is ESA- Employment Support Allowance. This has replaced Incapacity Benefit(at the moment for new claimants only). I understand that Incapacity Benefit was often misclaimed, hence the exceptionally stringent way in which the ESA process has been set-up, but the fact that the old system had some frauds in it does not decry from the fact that there are people out there who cannot work, due to their condition. What's more, the crazy hoops you have to jump through to get this benefit are incredible. Many people are having to appeal against decisions already and the benefit has only been going sine last October.

There need be no opposition between these two quite different endeavours, in my opinion. Science looks at evidence in the physical universe to tell us about the universe with its theories, based on this evidence.Religiion gives spiritual meaning to existence. Religion therefore links with emotion, culture and philosophy in a way in which science rarely does. Both are human endeavours and therefore both are trying to help us make sense of the world in which we live, but they are otherwise so different in their endeavours that it seems to me that there is no needfor their often apparently polar positions

It has apparently been held by some of the people who have visited my site that I was previously attacking Dawkins' book 'The God Delusion' before. Actually this is not quite right. I first encountered Dawkins' anti-religious stance years ago in a television debate. I have since read extracts from his books, read an internet article about his atheism and watched both of the episodes of 'The Root of All Evil' a programme about religion, put on Channel 4 last year and written and presented by Dawkins. I now have the God delusion audiobook and more fully intend to comment on this.

It seems a real shame to me that we are so individualised and divided these days as a society. Thinking is boxed- subjects are seen in complete isolation from one another, as are people. In fact Marx might refer to this as 'alienation'.

This alienation is unhealthy. We are social animals. We are not cogs in a consumerist wheel, or rather that is not our natural state.

This pyhsical separation has caused individuals to feel emotionally and spiritually segregated.

I happen to feel that our system is excellent in lots of ways, but that Britain today needs a common story. It is crying out for the loss of its soul.#

Hence why Diana became such an important figure. She was someone, who in her iconic caring role, could bring a nation's heart together.  At least in the subconcious minds of many in this country.

We cry out for cohesion. Some try to do this through exclusivity and racism. Others through labelling. And one of the symptoms of this becomes a lost characterless apathy. I believe that this is at least part of the answer to my question about the apathetic nature of our society.