where's beth when you need her?

i have to say, i'm disappointed in the u.k. this morning. the home office has denied entry into the country to, as the guardian describes him, a "far-right dutch mp" who was coming to london to be present at the house of lords screening of a short film he has made. he came to england before, last fall, but this time the home office feels he will be a threat to "community harmony" (what a phrase) and has banned him. after he touched down in heathrow, no less.

the film is probably horrible; it sounds it. apparently geert feels the koran is a "fascist" book and is responsible for all sorts of nasty things and has made the film to prove his point. 17 minutes of anti-islamic drivel sounds like the kindest description anyone could give of it. but.

bouncing him out of the country -- especially after letting him land -- seems like an awful idea. geert has said that the u.k. government look like cowards for banning him and, while i don't think they look quite that bad, they certainly look slightly orwellian. where was the home office's concern for "community harmony" during the last round of race riots in the north? or when that young brazilian electrian was shot in the tube? i think any sane person would have to be aware that mainland britain -- to say nothing of northern ireland or the republic although i could -- is not one big happy multiracial family. they're better than they were, but this just looks as though they put the appearance of being united before the actuality which is a poor idea. (as a note, the peer responsible for the invitation in the first place said that the screening would go ahead anyway. so, really, this whole thing seems a bit pointless. i don't think even the house of lords are, to a man/woman, daft enough to take this seriously. i mean, mosley's not in the lords, is he?)

there. i'm done now.

and for something far cooler looking, have a flip through michael bosanko's slide show. his light paintings involve the use of a torch and a digital camera set on long exposure (and various bits of wales).