Had Enough of Politics? How about some music?

I'm making a playlist for Holly on Spotify. It includes songs that I know she likes and also the songs I think it would do her good to listen to (see if you can pick out which ones are which ;)), and so far it looks like this:

What's Up - 4 Non Blondes
Sun Arise - Alice Cooper
Respect - Aretha Franklin
If it Wasnae For Your Wellies - Billy Connolly
Keep the Faith - Bon Jovi
Independent Women Part 1 - Destiny's Child
Lose Yourself (non-sweary edit) - Eminem
Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves - Eurythmics & Aretha Franklin
The World is Not Enough - Garbage
I Am What I Am - Gloria Gaynor
Working Class Hero - Green Day (no Lennon/Beatles originals on Spotify, sadly)
Fear of the Dark - Iron Maiden
The Wicker Man - Iron Maiden
A Praise Chorus - Jimmy Eat World
The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
I Love Rock 'n' Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Man in Black - Johnny Cash
Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell
One Way - Levellers
Hey Jude - Magical Abbey Road Tribute Band
Galaxy Song - Monty Python
Feeling Good - Muse
These Boots Are Made for Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra
Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
The Show Must Go On - Queen
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
We Will Rock You - Queen
Trouble - Shampoo
Rise Up - Skunk Anansie
Devil Gate Drive - Suzi Quattro
That's Not My Name - the Ting Tings
Roisin Dubh (Black Rose) - Thin Lizzy
Whiskey in the Jar - Thin Lizzy

Anybody have any further suggestions? No sweary ones, please, at least for now. Feministy and uplifting is good. Also sing along rock anthems seem to go down well.

Brown's Resignation and The Importance of STV.

There are fevered speculations in the media now that Brown has proffered his resignation. Are we heading for a coalition with Labour? Charlotte Gore is already throwing the vitriol, despite the fact that this doesn't really alter the fact that a coalition with Labour wouldn't outnumber the Tories, and we'd have to hold ourselves to ransom to the nats as well, AND that if you trust Labour to deliver on a promise you're bloody stupid, AND that they don't really have a credible leadership candidate to put up even if we DID coalesce with them...

No, there are too many issues with a putative coalition with Labour. Why would we want to shackle ourselves to their death throes? I still think coalition with the Tories is the only game in town. Brown resigning might be an offer to us from the Labour party, but it doesn't mean we're stupid enough to accept it, and it doesn't mean that we will automatically stop talking to the Tories. It gives us additional leverage to play them off against each other, though... And this brings us back to STV.

I really, truly, genuinely think that fair voting is the cornerstone of Liberalism. Freedom to elect one's own government is a pre-requisite of a liberal democracy. I don't understand people who think that Lib Dems advocate STV because of self-interest: that's like saying cheese advocates milk out of self interest. You can't have cheese without milk, and you can't have a Liberal Democracy in which the vast majority of people's votes don't make a difference. Yes, STV may well mean the death of the party in the medium term. This doesn't matter. The people of this country having fair elections matters.

Similarly, I recognise that shackling ourselves to the Tories will lose us members and votes. If we get STV, it's worth it. If we don't get STV, it's not. This is not because I think electoral reform will benefit anyone in the political sphere: it won't. It will benefit the people of this country.

STV is not a panacea. But it is the petri dish in which a panacea can be developed. If we go into coalition with either of the other two who are wooing us without insisting on it, then frankly, we deserve to implode.