The Church & Gays: The hypocrisy of the churches....

The Catholic Church and the Church of England have ganged up alongside every homophobe in the world to condemn the UK government's proposal that gays should be allowed to get "married", a step beyond the current arrangement of "civil partnership".

To be honest, I am not sure why the gay community, of which I am one, is being so forceful in its fight for "marriage", an institution which heterosexuals have been deserting in record numbers over the years. But I guess it is a matter of equality and choice for those who desire it and I am all for individual freedom, so long as it doesn't frighten the horses.

The hypocrisy of the churches on this issue is sickening. Their argument is that marriage is there for men and women to procreate, with hardly a mention of commitment, partnership or loving relationships. I wonder what childless couples must think that because of their inability to produce children, they are in effect deemed to be in a worthless union?

The Catholic Church has been responsible for so much grief in the world and, in recent times, it has behaved disgracefully in matters of morals, showing contempt for common decency and compassion towards members of its own congregation and beyond. It is sad that the church of today has to continue to parade its prejudice against sections of any community and it is even sadder that those within the church, who themselves are gay, help to foster such anti-human sentiment.

The current pope, Benedict, is said to be seriously ill, prompting senior churchmen (no women!) to start their own campaigns for elevation to the great office of St Peter. Isn't it such a pity that an institution, like the Catholic Church, cannot be a force for good, rather than the vile, depraved, prejudiced, organisation it seems proud to be.

David & Barack: Strutting their stuff....

I love seeing British and American politicians fall over each other to enforce this whole concept of a "special relationship" between the two countries. The present Prime Minister David Cameron and the current US President Barack Obama are no exception. Brokeback Mountain it ain't, but both men go out of their way to demonstrate a close personal friendship.

While the wives dine together, the men are being seen to do manly things like attend a basketball game, shown on TV across the United States. Why, the President even invited David to join him on Air Force One, that big penile symbol of a great superpower. No doubt Mr Cameron was suitably impressed.

It is said that the Obama's want to repay Mr Cameron and his wife for their royal treatment when they visited the UK last year. In this year of US elections it is no bad thing for President Obama to be seen in an easy relationship with a conservative Prime Minister. Likewise, Mr Cameron's strutting his stuff in the USA, raises his profile as an international statesman. You can bet Sarkozy of France will be beside himself with rage that it wasn't him on board Air Force One!

Do visits like this help the political prospects of politicians? Will Mr Obama's presidential hopes be helped by pictures of him snogging, sorry I mean, in deep conversation with Dave? Certainly, it must help the relationship between countries if those at the top get on, but I am not sure that mainstream voters are swayed either way.

Once again, the First Lady and the Prime Minister's wife are pictured together, the media making efforts to set them against each other in the fashion stakes. It is an image that must frustrate both.

Vladimir Putin: How great thou art......

It's been suggested that Vladimir Putin didn't need to cheat to win the Presidential Election, but he just couldn't help himself. This is the man who could have been a force for good in a greater Russia, but instead reverted to the bully-boy tactics of the communist past in the name of power.

It does seem he is pathologically incapable of accepting democracy as the legitimate right of the Russian people. He just doesn't trust the majority to make the right decision in his favour, so resorts to old-style tactics of fear, and, some even say, a nod and a wink in the direction of his opponents, who then disappear.

Russia is a fabulous country, in the grip of a man who wants the sole rights to power. In the months to come he will make efforts to batter his opponents into submission, but there is a good chance his attempts will eventually exhaust him. Too many have risen up to demand a just and fair political system, for the greater good of all the people, not just the cronies of the Kremlin.

Mr Putin must have greatly feared the Arab Spring seeing in it the ability of the ordinary people to rid themselves of corrupt despots. He is one, in mind and deed. He has done everything possible to assist Assad in Syria and he will be no friend of the West in the coming years.

One wonders what in his past has caused him to behave as he does? His macho behaviour, on horse-back or on the ice-rink reeks of a desperation to be admired. His attitude towards the democratic process and his contempt for any kind of opposition conquers up every dictator, past and present.

His inner circle say we have all got it wrong, that he is a "liberal", but one gets the impression that behind closed doors they have a good laugh over that. Mr Putin probably stands on tiptoe to look in the mirror every day and proclaim: "How great thou art". In his own mind he is more than King of all Russia. It makes him a very dangerous man.

David Cameron: Rebekah, the Horse & the Prime Minister...masking the truth

Let's face it, the last lot in the Labour government behaved more like the communist elite in days of old. This current Coalition government isn't much better and the Prime Minister, David Cameron, takes the biscuit with his earnest efforts to hide his upper-class lifestyle from the common people.

David Cameron is a toff. Everybody knows that. It doesn't make him a bad person. However, what's making him a shifty dishonest one is his desire to pretend to be other than he is. His pretence at being just Dave, as if he spent his weekends in Downing Street putting up B&Q shelves, has never really found acceptance.

However, for quite a long time he hid the level of his deeply-entrenched friendships with the media class very well, but his I-may-have-ridden-that-horse-or-maybe-not-oh okay-now-that-I-have-been-found-out-I-remember-I-did utterances have shown a Prime Minister with a fixation on masking the truth when it suits him. There's a touch of the Tony Blair "I'm a pretty straight sort of guy" whiff beginning to linger around the current occupant of No.10.

For those not up to speed, the Prime Minister had more than a passing acquaintance with Rebekah Brooks, the former News of The World editor. Both have homes within a short distance of each other and were socially active members of the Chipping North set until the News International phone hacking scandal came to prominence, ending the discreet dinners and fireside chats.

It turns out Mrs Brooks was loaned a retired horse by the Metropolitan Police between 2008 and 2010. This was the very same force investigating the hacking scandal. It appears that loaning horses until a permanent home is found for them is a regular occurrence and one to be admired, but whether the same arrangement extends to the general population has yet to be established.

While the Prime Minister is now happy to confirm that he went riding with Mrs Brooks' husband and yes, did ride the police horse, he has denied that he and the former News International executive shared days out in the saddle.

It was never in the interest of News International, the police or the political classes for the phone hacking scandal to emerge into the public domain. It drew attention to the close relationship between politicians and the Rupert Murdoch empire in particular, but also the haves in the country who have direct access and influence over our political masters. There is nothing wrong with Mr Cameron being a member of the horsey set......so, the question is, why hide it?

There is an ingrained dishonesty and nervousness within the current government. While The Chancellor, George Osborne, bleats that in these times of financial hardship "we are all in it together", the truth is very different. Those at the very top of government are very rich, have little experience of the world outside politics and could never even imagine what it is like to live hand to mouth. They are scared when the proletariat get a glimpse their precious world of privilege. So, they make efforts to hide it.

Davy Jones: Before the sexualisation of youth!

I was listening to a tribute to the late Davy Jones of The Monkees on a radio station yesterday and it made me realise how much emotion is attached to the music of our youth. Songs provoke strong memories of days past, some good, some bad, but always powerful expressions of our childhood and beyond.

It is also shocking that a seemingly healthy man of 66 could have a sudden heart-attack and die. It is a reminder of how fleeting life is, that it can all end so quick. David Jones was the cute kid in the group, the one with "no body hair" who young girls dreamed about and wanted as a boyfriend. It all seemed so innocent as the youth of the country sat around the TV on Saturday night and swooned over The Monkees. Of course, they did record some great songs and sold millions of records around the world.

Since the early days of The Beatles, The Monkees and even the Rolling Stones, the music business has become more sexual in its imagery and young girls no longer just want to be kissed by their heroes. You just have to watch the shenanigans of One Direction's Harry Styles who likes to spread his favours around to prove his penis is really as big as they say! There was a time when pop magazines would not feature a pop-idol with facial or body hair, but some of the images now shown are as close as you can get to hard porn.

On The Wright Stuff this morning they talked about sex on TV and if it has had an impact on the expectations of the young when it comes to their own sexual experiences. Young boys and girls now not only talk about their bedroom antics, but even record it for friends to see and distribute. Sex sells and you no longer have to be an adult to be exposed to it. Ignorance was never bliss, so it is a positive thing that much of the myths have been removed from the sexual act, but it is disturbing that many now see sex in the context of hard-core pornography.

PC David Rathband: How do Raoul Moat's friends feel now?

The tragic suicide of PC David Rathband, who was shot and blinded by Raoul Moat, makes one wonder how the friends of the madman now feel? Following the madman's shooting by police, they assembled and celebrated his life and death with great pride.

The policeman was just sitting in his car when Moat approached him and shot him in the face. Despite his efforts, David Rathband, was unable to shake off the depression and shock of his new existence as a blind person. His marriage failed and he was living alone when he took his own life. Well, actually, it was Raoul Moat who did that in 2010. I hope Moat's so-called friends show a little remorse for this tragic end to this policeman's life. But I doubt it.

Witchcraft in the UK: Tradition can be a bad thing....

The horrific case of the 15 year-old African boy murdered by his sister and boyfriend in a London flat because he was suspected of being a witch, highlights the almost parallel worlds that exist in our multi-racial society. Hidden behind the desire to be politically-correct and sensitive to the traditions of other societies, we are either ignorant of, or blindly ignoring, practises that take place which shame our way of life and civilised people in general.

The 15 year-old Kirsty Bamu, was beaten and tortured so badly that he pleaded to die. In his native Congo, thousands of homeless children roam the streets following accusations of sorcery against them, often by members of their own families. The fact that this young boy suffered an awful death in a tower block in London makes one shudder and wonder how many others suffer varying levels of abuse, born of traditional ignorance?

Under our noses, thousands of Asians are forced into arranged marriages, female circumsion amongst African and Arab communities take place daily, human trafficking is a growing industry and, on the streets of Britain, women are still forced to imprison themselves in the burka. We tolerate such behaviour because we are frightened of being accused of racism or general intolerance. We refrain from comment on those Asian men who shame their communities by abusing young white girls and watch as children are betrothed to their first cousins at tender ages and without their consent. Such behaviour is wrong and British society should be supporting those within these immigrant communities who are brave enough to make a stand against the humilation of the individual.

A multi-racial country benefits all, but there are standards of behaviour that are not acceptable whether in the tribelands of Africa, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or a tower block in London.