After The War On Drugs
This is well worth 10 minutes of anybody’s time.
The extraordinary impact that “The War on Drugs” has on our world should not be underestimated. The ludicrous and failed idea of prohibition means that 95% of all street crime and 75% of all organised crime is as a result of illegal drugs.
Legalise all drugs. Regulate, control and tax the supply chain. Pull the rug from under organised crime. Remove the necessity for drug victims to rob and steal. Save billions of pounds/dollars and millions of lives. Transform our society.
Transform Drug Policy Foundation is an extraordinary organisation whose time has come.
Cannabis Cover-Up Fails Again
"I told you so!"
Whoever Alan Johnson appoints as Drugs Tsar it seems it makes no difference to the truth. As Professor Nutt heads off to start his own “Independent Council On Drug Harms”, his replacement as Chairman of the Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), Professor Les Iverson, has said that cannabis is “one of the safer recreational drugs” and has been
"Cannabis Is Not Dangerous"
“incorrectly classified as dangerous”. He also confirms that cannabis is less harmful than tobacco or alcohol.
Who's The Nutt?
Johnson’s irrational behaviour in sacking Professor Nutt has paralysed the ACMD which has a statutory role in drugs legislation. So many members of the Council have resigned in protest at the sacking of Professor Nutt that the Home Office says it will be several months before the Council can operate again. This is delaying the introduction of legislation on new designer drugs such as mephodrone which may really be dangerous.
It makes you wonder about the way politicians’ minds work doesn’t it?
OFT – Incompetence, Conspiracy, Paper Tiger Or All Three?
I’m one of the lucky ones. I recovered over £2000 of illegal penalty charges from the Nationwide and HSBC a couple of years back before the High Court stayed all the claims. I had the great pleasure of walking into HSBC’s Kilburn branch with a judgment stamped by the Bow County Court (local to its Canary Wharf headquarters). I demanded my money there and then and created a right hiatus in the branch! I didn’t get it then but I did the following day in crisp £50 notes.
Den Of Thieves
It goes without saying that the banks are all, without exception, cheats, thieves, liars and lowlife scoundrels. That’s why millions of people were relying on the Office Of Fair Trading to stand up for them. The OFT’s decision now to drop their action against the banks is a national disgrace of monstrous proportions. Although we cannot be sure of exactly who is behind this scandal, the fact that dishonesty, corruption and theft are at the root of it is manifest and crystal clear.
The banks were making around £7 billion a year in charges, most of which were for unauthorised overdrafts. Claimants would have been able to claim for six years of charges so the banks have been let off a £40 billion hook. Never have the British people been so let down by those who are supposed to protect them.
The High Court first made the extraordinary decision that these charges were not penalty charges. This is nonsense. HSBC actually described many of their charges to me as “card misuse” – so is that a penalty or not?. Of course they were and as such were illegal and unenforceable at law. When the banks debited your account like this they were committing theft and they’ve got away with it scot free.
It has now been well established that the actual cost to the banks of these transactions were less than £2 each when they were charging their customers up to £40 a time.
It must be truly astonishing to any right minded person that the OFT has backed down. Even in the last Supreme Court judgement the OFT was given a clear hint, more like an invitation, that it should revert to the Court on a different basis. So what possible reason can there be for abandoning the claim?
There can be no doubt that this decision is improper. I wonder why it was announced on 22nd December when the entire country was at the peak of its pre-Christmas mass hysteria?
Two Faced Coward
John Fingleton, the OFT’s chief executive, should resign immediately. He is either corrupt or weak. He certainly has no integrity because whatever pressure or bribery has been put upon him he should have fought to his last breath to stop this massive crime by the banker robbers.
We cannot rely on these paper tigers of consumer protection. We certainly cannot rely on government. It is doubtful that our self-serving, whipped and bullied MPs will do anything meaningful. It seems the only option now may be molotov cocktails through the door of every bank premises throughout the country. How else are we supposed to protect ourselves when we are so badly let down?
We live in an entirely monetised society. It is impossible to function without a bank account. Therefore, the banker robbers must be regulated virtually to death. Their policies and profits must be ruthlessly controlled. Their crimes must not be overlooked but punished severely with massive multi-billion pound fines for the institutions and long prison sentences for the responsible executives.
Rage Against My DRM Resolution
I have always sworn that I would never buy any DRM music. It’s a fundamentally flawed and immoral idea that if I pay for music I shouldn’t have the right to play it where, when and on what I want. It’s an idea that is doomed to failure. Even Steve Jobs, the gamekeeper turned poacher turned lord of the manor turned poacher has recognised that it has exactly the opposite effect to that intended and alienates customers too.
So what has caused me to break my resolution? The X Factor. It has to be bad that every Christmas the charts are hijacked by manufactured pop. I don’t count “Rage Against The Machine” as my favourite band but I spent 67p at Tesco’s online music store and got my DRM track.
You should join in too! See the Facebook campaign page and rage against The X Factor!
My Favourite Christmas Song
And this year there’s a brand new video in aid of Shelter.
Foolish Staff Unite To Destroy BA
The BA cabin crew strike over Christmas is a huge mistake by the staff and the union. It’s a disaster for the company.
Crashing
The union “Unite” is just about all that’s left of the entire trade union movement anyway. There’s not much else left that has any power. It looks like some latter day Scargill is behind this idiotic strike. If Unite hoped to gain some public sympathy by destroying a million passengers’ Christmas plans then it has made a grave miscalculation.
As for the staff, we no longer have any remaining affection for this strange group of people. Once, of course, they were central to the glamour of air travel. Now, the fact that nearly all the men are homosexual has gone beyond a joke and become oppressive. The girls are no longer sweet and delightful. Now they are like severe school mistresses, more concerned with monitoring your alcohol consumption than being appropriately deferential and making you feel special.
It’s not BA’s fault that all the glamour has gone and that air travel is now an ordeal rather than a pleasure. That is down to Easyjet and the appalling Ryanair and vulgar Michael O’Leary.
This is dreadful news for all concerned but the public will punish BA severely. Any loyalty or talk of “favourite” is all gone now. There will be long term, severe and well-deserved consequences for the staff.
Banker Robbers Bonus Blackmail
We’re told that the banks have to pay big bonuses in order to retain and attract the right staff. We’re told that unless we shell out millions to these mysterious unnamed individuals, these “masters of the universe”, that we can kiss goodbye to the money we’ve already put in. We’ll be damaging our own investment.
Twaddle! Rubbish! Bulls**t! Bollo**s!
These people aren’t doctors or scientists or lawyers or architects – or even plumbers or electricians. They’re blaggers. Nothing more, nothing less. All they’re doing with these ridiculous claims is trying to blag us all over again. Their job is little different from that of an advertising salesman who sits on the phone all day and maybe makes £1000 or £2000 a week. In fact, many salesman have much wider knowledge, better people skills and sharper brains than these wide boys in the city that have nerve, greed and little else to offer.
This is just an attempt to blackmail us. There are tens of thousands of bright, keen, hungry people out there who could do these bankers’ jobs with very little difficulty. In fact, fresh new blood that hasn’t been corrupted by the past would be a much better idea. We could recruit from the world of advertising, from market traders flogging fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and “knock off”. Why not just pick a few MBA graduates at random or take the top banking graduates from last year and give them the big jobs?
Con Man
None of these people could do any worse than the sharks who got us into this trouble in the first place. Those, like Stephen Hester of RBS, who have taken over recently are no better. They’re still infected with the same ways as before. After Chief Thief Goodwin has had his turn in the trough they’re just elbowing through for their own go.
There is no special expertise or skill required to be a banker. Don’t let these charlatans and sons of charlatans tell you any different.
Don’t wait for the RBS directors’ resignations. Sack them now for having the audacity to try and pull the wool over our eyes once again.
Under Pressure
About four months ago I embarked on a course of medication for high blood pressure. For some time I’d been warned that I was marginal with a reading of 140/90 so I decided it was time to start looking after myself. I was a heavy smoker and drinker. My only redeeming factor was that I walk with my dogs every day for about an hour – and that’s vigorous walking, up and down steep hills.
I was started on a calcium antagonist and within a few days I had virtually lost the will to live. I had no energy at all. I’d lost all motivation. In the most degrading epsiode of all, one morning I found myself prostrate on the sofa watching “Homes Under the Hammer”. That’s when I knew it was serious.
I took myself straight off that poison and went back to see my GP. My blood pressure reading was now 168/100. He advised a change to a thiazide diuretic. Being the not so patient patient that I am, I insisted on a full explanation as far as my “O” level science was capable of understanding.
This time it was more subtle. My energy, motivation and enthusiasm was sapped gradually. As my positive life signs went down my thirst rocketed to absurd proportions. After a month or so I was regularly up six times a night with a raging thirst and a full bladder. When I cleaned out the space behind the passenger seat in my car I had two carrier bags full of empty drink bottles.
In the meantime, I gave up smoking. I give the pharmaceutical industry credit for this. A month of patches and a nicotine inhaler weaned me off the evil weed easily. About this I am both pleased and proud. I have at least one “cigarette moment” every day but I am not going back to it. Although I can recognise no physiological benefit at all (if anything I seem to get more breathless now), I am much richer and everything around me is cleaner as a result.
The next visit to my GP saw my pressure reduced to 150/95. Better but not good enough. He advised me to start taking an ACE inhibitor as well as the diuretic.
I researched ACE inhibitors and was horrified at the range of side effects and contraindications. Then, suddenly, coming fast up behind and undertaking me before I knew what was happening (forgive my blushes) I discovered I was impotent. One embarrassing date and then a dawning realisation that nothing was happening, even involuntarily. No more waking up with a big itch!
I’m not ready to give up my sex life just yet. The one and only criticism I have of my GP is that he never warned me of this side effect. I have also cut my drinking by a huge proportion. From a half bottle of whisky upwards a day I am now comfortable with a single glass of wine or a small beer. In the last few weeks my motivation has gone again. I can’t be bothered with long walks with the dogs anymore. Just half an hour out in the mornings and I’m exhausted. I’m not interested in anything. My occasional lunchtime nap has become a necessity. Sometimes, even before midday I feel so exhausted, I just can’t wait to go back to bed.
Four days ago I stopped the diuretic and yesterday I felt like I had got my life back. I have so much more energy. I’m enthusiastic as I can’t remember for months. I fair romped up the hill with the dogs this morning. My thirst is calming down and I was only up twice last night. My mojo isn’t back yet but I can feel a little twitch developing. Come Christmas time I advise you to lock up your daughters once again.
The punch line? My blood pressure is now 170/110. I may be heading for a massive stroke or heart attack any minute but at least I’ll die happy. Despite giving up smoking and decimating my alcohol consumption, my blood pressure is much worse than when I started. So what does that tell me?
I have no idea at all but at least now I have a smile on my face!
Royal Bank Of Scotland Directors
Please Close The Door On Your Way Out
RBS Directors Threaten To Resign
Gentlemen, we are happy to accept your resignations – effective immediately.
…and don’t come round for mince pies this year. If you do you’ll get a glass of wine over your head and your fat tush dumped in the snow!
School Of Saatchi
Quality television is difficult to find. Yes, though there are hundreds of channels available, most of it is rubbish. Of course, what constitutes “rubbish” is a moving target. It depends on mood, snobbery, fashion, tribe and all sorts of complicated human emotions. It’s always perplexed me why it’s so “cool” to work in telly but so “uncool” to watch it!
“School Of Saatchi” is another formulaic “reality” competition but it’s fantastic. (BBC2, Mondays 9.00pm) It’s hugely entertaining but also very educational. You can empathise with each of the contestants even though each one is a real weirdy. You can get excited about whether they’ll meet their deadline and what the public vote will be on their bizarre “art”.
It’s the “X Factor” where “X” equals modern art and the chance to exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery and get a studio free for three years. The characters are eccentric and divine darling, particulary the asian boy with the spiky hair and Eugenie, the gorgeous 19 year old minx who wore her waders from suspenders in the last episode when her sculpture had to be installed in a pond!
There are the experts of course with Tracey Emin playing Arlene from Strictly and Charles’ advisors playing Nick and Margaret from The Apprentice or Sarah and David from The Restaurant. The USP though is Charles himself or, rather, his absence. The famously “camera-shy” Charles, dare I suggest it, is bound to make an appearance in the final programme.
Of course, Saatchi & Saatchi is my alma mater so perhaps I’m biased but within its cliched formula this programme is a delight. In fact, perhaps it’s because it’s structure is such a cliche that it can explain things that are almost beyond explanation and give us mere mortals an insight into the minds of modern artists.
Man’s Best Friend
Dogs have lived alongside man for tens of thousands of years. Even before our species could be so defined our predecessors made a pact with each other. Mutual advantage was the bargain and so it has been ever since. The relationship is in our DNA. There is a primeval bond between us.
Capone & Carla
Dogs can be dangerous. Mostly this is a function of how they are treated but there is the wild card. I would never, ever leave any breed of dog alone with a child. Thankfully, considering how many badly treated dogs and irresponsible owners there are, tragedies are few and far between. Nothing can extinguish the agony of what happened in Liverpool yesterday but there is a solution.
Bring back the dog licence. Make it cost £100 per year. Give pensioners a rebate of £90. Every dog must be microchipped to correspond with its licence. Enforce it. Guaranteed, problem solved.
Instead we have idiotic politicians who play about with incompetent, ridiculous and irrelevant legislation like the Dangerous Dogs Act – while children are mauled to death in their own homes.
Chav City
Bootiful
I have no sympathy at all for those stupid enough to have got themselves caught up in this vulgar triumph of cash over taste. By definition that means that the banks are heavily involved, once again debasing and diluting the real wealth created in the real world.
Something about Dubai had a bad taste from day one. The sort of acrid, bad taste that you know there’s something deep, deep down that is bad.
In fact that’s the only thing to say about Dubai – bad taste.
UK Ministers Surrender Mckinnon To US Kidnap
It’s said that when Gordon Brown offered Alan Johnson the Home Office he rejected it as a poisoned chalice. He’s probably right. It seems to be destroying his reputation just as it has so many others.
Abandoned
Nevertheless, the shameful and deeply treacherous conduct of this disgraced government towards Gary McKinnon cannot be excused. There is no greater duty on any government than to protect its citizens, particularly those who are vulnerable. There can be no basis in any system of justice for allowing a foreign power to abduct an accused person away from the scene of their alleged crime. This is not extradition. It is illegal rendition, as extraordinary as any. It is kidnapping.
Alan Johnson, Gordon Brown and the rest are kowtowing to big bully USA. British justice is in tatters as they offer up another sacrifice to America. Believe me, they’d do the same to any of us: you, me, your grandmother, your starving babies and our injured soldiers if it suited them. If they wanted to take Gary Mckinnon to Guantanamo Bay I don’t believe our government would have the courage to stop them.
Spineless Cowards
I call for the entire cabinet to be indicted on charges of dereliction of duty. Will not even one of these excuses for men or women have the courage and decency to resign over this issue?
These people who call themselves our leaders are a disgrace to each and every one of us. They are cowardly and spineless charlatans who are dragging our great country through the mire of ignominy and shame. Gary Mckinnon is a victim of their cowardice. Nothing can excuse what they have already put him through, let alone what is to come.
What Is A Supreme Court For?
Justice?
Is it to overlook Parliament’s clear intent and to focus on the minutiae of poorly drafted legislation? Is it to preserve and strengthen the law or is it to be focused on justice? Is it to consider cases only on the basis of pleadings presented by barristers or should it look to the wider issue? Is it to bolster the use of disproportionate power with which big institutions bully their customers or should it be to enforce fairness? Is it for “distinguished” lawyers to live out their latter years in fine, new ermine robes in luxurious surroundings or is it to promote justice?
I don’t know. Do you?
The Evil Of Organised Religion
If we lived in a world without religion there wouldn’t be any conflict in Iraq or Afghanistan. The Twin Towers would still be standing. We wouldn’t be hearing the dreadful news about child sexual abuse in Ireland. The Christian Church and Islam are both condemned for thousands of years of violence and evil. They are both as bad as each other. If I had my way they would both be disgraced and proscribed by appropriate public ceremony.
“Too many have died in the name of Christ for anyone to heed the call”
Teach Your Children
These are the immortal words of Crosby Stills & Nash. Substitute “Christ” with any deity you care to mention.
I accept that in all organised religions there are people who do good. However, an accounting of the last two thousand years: the Crusades, the Inquisition, Palestine, the vile behaviour of priests and nuns, so many wars – shows that religion is seriously in the red and, quite seriously, perhaps it should be illegal.
Worship who or what you want as you want. The minute that two or more of you get together to promote ideas that lead to death and suffering – well then you’re in a conspiracy.
Shame on the Irish Catholic Church for what it has done to Ireland. No consequences could be too great or severe for this godless institution.
I pray to the God I believe in for justice and healing.
Banker Robbers Supreme At The Court Of Contempt
In an outrageous and disgraceful judgment the supreme court (no more capital “S” or “C” from me) has protected our corrupt banking institutions from the Office Of Fair Trading. See the full story here.
Stupid Old Fools
The supreme court had the opportunity in one of its first judgments to set itself on the side of the people and justice. Instead it has shown itself to be on the side of the establishment, the banker robbers and the executive. If only this would herald the arrival of the tumbrils and guillotine into the streets of London. Then the bankers and the judges would understand the meaning of injustice as their headless bodies lie in the street and others twitch and dangle from the gallows.
The OFT has been shown to be as toothless and useless as the Data Protection Act and the Information Commissioner. These institutions are established merely as a sop to public opinion. The establishment, the banker robbers and the executive have no interest in justice for the people, only in lining their own pockets and protecting their own interests. They can lend each other £60 billion or more in secret, deceive the public interest, yet they will not overturn the gross injustice and blatant thievery that are bank charges.
The bankers and the judges molested and buggered each other at Eton and Harrow. They molested and buggered each other at Oxbridge. Now incapable, except for a little self-molestation, they are buggering us. Watch them get away with it as they duck, dive, lie, cheat and bribe their way out of trouble. It may be difficult to prove the brown envelopes changing hands but what is happening in these judges’ offshore accounts? We hold you all in the deepest contempt!
Next will come the supreme court overturning Sir Christopher Kelly’s proposal for the reform of MPs’ expenses. Coming up on the inside is the Iraq Inquiry which will almost certainly see Tony Blair off the hook for lying to Parliament and the people.
It may be difficult to contemplate revolution in the modern age but in 1789 Paris and 1917 Moscow that was their modern age. The establishment needs to understand that its conduct is unacceptable, that with the gift of the internet and communications technology, the people have far more power. You are walking a tightrope towards your own destruction.
“Dribbling Geriatrics” – Consensus Business Group & Peverel Group
This was the term used by a Mr Ian Rapley of Consensus/Peverel on BBC Breakfast this morning when being interviewed about the management of sheltered accommodation.
The man is a fool and an oaf and should be sacked immediately. I eventually managed to track down his companies. Peverel say they are “disgusted” by the way he behaved and that in fact he is not part of their company but part of their “owners”, Consensus Business Group. It, in turn, is owned by Vincent Tchenguiz, one of the richest men in the country.
I am usually complaining about people being too politically correct but this is a prime example of pompous, insensitive, ignorant and unforgiveable rudeness. There can be no excuse.
Abandon Afghanistan Now!
Our so called leaders don’t listen to us. They’ve abandoned any pretence of democracy by imposing a new European regime and president on us. They don’t even listen to their expert advisors. Instead they prolong an idiotic and discredited drugs strategy that brings violent crime to the streets of every town in the country and funds international terrorism.
Perhaps they will hear the crunch of Gulbeddin’s bullets as they smash into British flesh and bone?
Please listen! Too many heroes have died or been cruelly maimed. This foreign land is not worth it and the idea that this strategy is protecting us at home is nonsense.
Now is the time to abandon Afghanistan. Leave behind the disgusting and corrupt Karzai for, sure enough, whatever we do, he is doomed to suffer a grisly and horrific fate. Leave behind the Taliban for they are medieval evil but with no interest outside their own borders. Leave behind the Afghan people because much as we may deplore their treatment of women and of each other that is their problem, not ours. Bring our boys home!
As for Al Qaeda and the threat of a renegade nuclear Pakistan, let us install a small but powerful contingent of our most heavily armed troops, garrisoned in impregnable fortresses. In conjunction with our allies they should be equipped with the very best that we have. Mostly they can observe and use pilotless drones to interdict where necessary. All movements should be done by helicopter because we have no real interest in “hearts and minds”. When necessary, overwhelming, unrelenting and merciless force must be used against our enemies and yes, let our men have battlefield nuclear weapons too. We need to blast these evil Islamists off the face of the earth. There is no more time for patience or consideration or concern.
I Am Not A European
The Lisbon Treaty has been ratified.
I am Welsh. I am British. I am a citizen of the United Kingdom and loyal to The Queen. I have neither been asked nor consulted so I will not be subject to any “European” government. I will defend my nationality with my life.
Christine Gets Stung
If I am a grain of sand on the shores of humanity and the delicious Ms Bleakley is a small mountain, Sting is a whole new planetary system – so I enjoyed Christine’s girlish blushes this evening as she sat next to the coolest man on earth.
Drug Crazed Politicians Promote Crime And Misery
Sir David Nutt
"I'm so stoned...I don't know what I'm doing..."
Nothing more clearly demonstrates the complete absence of integrity in this inane, corrupt government than the sacking of Sir David Nutt. I had always admired Alan Johnson. Now he shows himself to be just as stupid and dumb as any of Gordon’s cronies.
Cannabis is a benign, natural herb that has been used as a medicine and recreational relaxant for over 4,000 years until politicians took a dislike to it just over 100 years ago. Since then, despite dozens of “studies” across the world, each one of which has been specifically tasked to condemn it as dangerous, no harm has been proven. Nevertheless, from Richard Nixon to Gordon Brown, myopic, paranoid, self-serving, tabloid-worshipping politicians have imposed more and more severe penalties for its use.
In the 50s the argument was that it made white women promiscuous with black men. The standard of discussion has barely improved since. The recent government sponsored hysteria over psychosis in adolescents is now revealed as utter nonsense in the face of the facts.
So why do politicians continue to persecute those who use cannabis? What’s in it for them? After all there is overwhelming evidence to show that a properly regulated cannabis supply could be a huge source of new taxation revenue for government and that regulation would drastically reduce all the harm that is caused by prohibition.
Off His Head
It’s more difficult to accept this argument in respect of heroin and cocaine because these are harmful substances but look at the evidence from Holland, Switzerland, Portugal and many other places. There can be little doubt that if the supply and distribution of drugs was regulated rather than prohibited then the harm caused would be reduced enormously. Furthermore, decriminalisation would drastically – and I mean DRASTICALLY – reduce crime at all levels. Street crime is all about theft and robbery in order to fund the purchase of drugs. International organised crime and terrorism is all about the drugs trade. End prohibition, start regulation and you pull the rug from under criminals at all levels. It would transform our society and save thousands of lives.
So I ask again – why? What do politicians gain from such a fundamentally stupid policy? At a stroke they could cut out the majority of both street and serious crime and massively reduce the funding of terrorism.
Cannabis was first demonised because hemp was an early rival to the oil industry. Before diesel came biodiesel. Rudolph Diesel designed his engine to run on peanut or hemp oil. Henry Ford designed his Model T to run on bioethanol produced from hemp and planted hundreds of acres on his own farms for that purpose – then along came oil. More importantly along came the early investors in the oil industry, specifically Randolph Hearst, owner and controller of the biggest propaganda and disinformation machine ever known to man. He started the the “Reefer Madness” campaign and promoted the lie against cannabis. Hemp was outlawed in favour of oil and we have since spent 100 years burning oil, becoming more and more reliant on its byproducts, destroying our planet and persecuting those who use cannabis.
Politicans are cowards. They were bribed and cajoled by big money to turn against cannabis in the first place. They do not have the vision or the common sense to see past the mess they have got themselves in over drugs policy. In a very real way they are more responsible than anyone else for the misery, death and chaos casued by the drugs trade which they actually support through their stupidity.
This government might as well have a committee of tabloid newspaper editors advising it on drugs rather than scientists. All over the world politicans have let us all down over drugs policy. Why? Because they are cowardly, self-serving and only interested in short term political expediency.
Politically Correct Fools
Come Fly With Me!
It is a crazy and entirely self-defeating idea to protest at the appearance of Nick Griffin on Question Time.
Similarly, to complain of the BNP’s use of World War II images and propaganda is just nonsense. Those who cling to the oily and sticky ideas of political correctness prove themselves to be fools again and again.
I’d rather have some straightforward anti-Nazi nutter chanting in my face than these slimy, unpleasant, dishonest, machiavellian meddlers. These creeps who stir up opposition even to the BNP’s existence, who are so utterly hypocritical in their wish to censor and repress the BNP. Are they so insecure in their own beliefs that they think the BNP can ever make any real progress?
I applaud the BBC for having the courage to show a pretty young protestor being dragged across a polished floor screaming “This is what they do to protect the Nazis. Shame on you BBC!”.
On the contrary, congratulations to the BBC. Your conduct throughout this affair has been noble and of the highest standard of fairness and equality.
I think Nick Griffin is a pretty dubious and unpleasant character. I would like to hear more from him about his policies and I’d like to see him quizzed by Andrew Marr or Jeremy Paxman. At present I don’t understand exactly what he really advocates. Like millions of British citizens, I do not consider myself a racist but I do believe in Britain for the British. I don’t understand why a Muslim Lawyers or a Black Police Officers organisation is OK but an organisation for white British is denounced and reviled.
This debate needs to be aired. We need to hear more from Mr Griffin so that we can make up our own minds. Those who seek to silence him are their own worst enemies.
Bring Cricket Back To The BBC
It is a disgrace that we have not been able to watch the glorious Ashes victory on TV. I blame Murdoch. I blame the BBC. I blame the government.
Even if I was prepared to pay to watch something that it is my right as a British citizen to see on free-to-air television, why would I want to be paying Sky for football? I cannot buy just the cricket or the rugby. I have to take the ignorant, overpaid ponces, Ruski-paid whores as well! I don’t want one second more of this moronic game for badly behaved children on my TV than I already have.
If this apology for a government that has heaped so much disgrace and ignominy on our country wanted to do one decent thing in its death throes then legislate to bring test match cricket back to the people.
Truth, Justice And The Scottish Way
Braveheart
Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Minister, can hold his head high. I believe he will go down in history with William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and other great Scottish heroes.
Brave Scot
As for the putrid, small-minded contribution from Robert Mueller, the Director of the FBI, I say get back to Hicksville with Jethro and your cousins and take your thuggish, corrupt opinions with you. Since it lost its way under George Bush, America is in no position to lecture anyone about justice. The proud and wonderful principles expressed in its constitution have been besmirched by Bush, Guantanamo Bay, illegal rendition and, as far as the FBI is concerned, we can go all the way back to the 50s and McCarthyism to see how much justice matters to it.
Mad Mullah
America has many uncomfortable questions to answer about its own complicity in the story of Pan Am flight 103. Scotland has behaved with honour and courage.
Hoodwinked By The Banker Robbers
That’s you and me. We’re the one’s who’ve been conned and cheated. Gordon, Alistair, the FSA – they’re all either criminally negligent incompetents or co-conspirators.
Absolutely nothing has changed in the world of banking. Is any more proof needed that the people running banks are liars, cheats and thieves? Aside from the systematic extortion of the taxpayer, none of the promises about lending to the real ecomony or reining in their depraved “culture” have been kept.
Spineless assurances will not do anymore. The government must radically overhaul the terms of the licences under which banks operate. Real leadership and responsibility is needed now to ensure that this happens before the end of the year – not after months or years of consultation and behind the scenes corruption.
Businesses that want to enjoy the huge privilege of serving UK consumers as bankers must be held to a strict and rigidly enforced rulebook. No participation in casino banking, minimum levels of lending, maximum levels of interest rates and charges, a “right to borrow” for those businesses and consumers who meet straightforward criteria.
These steps are essential to re-establish the operation of an effective market economy. In a world which has become entirely monetised we can no longer be subject to the rapacious and avaricious behaviour of those who run the money business.
Village Idiots Or Village Idiocy?
We are very fortunate in Great Britain to have clearly defined borders. Our status as an island has enabled us to avoid much of the evil and wickedness that has plagued continental Europe. Throughout history neighbour has turned upon neighbour and viciousness and persecution have been rife. Hitler did not start the persecution of the Jews. Particularly in France and the low countries, they were persecuted across the centuries. Between Poland and Romania there is an enmity that defies belief.
Much that is great in Britain has evolved from our island culture but we have not escaped the darker side of human nature. Much that is worst in Britain can be seen in the petty jealousies and behaviours of village life. Just as insidious and cruel as the persecution of the Jews is the way that gossip, resistance to change and selfishness runs deep in British village life.
You Know Who You Are!
They nearly always start with “I’ve lived in the village for more than X years…”. X needs to be at least 20 and for real seniority you need to be able to boast of 30 or 40 years residency. Then, according to this idiotic doctrine, you have some sort of right to impose your view of the world on your neighbours. Just because you were there first?
It is to the eternal shame of rural villagers in Britain that the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle Of Wight is to close. There is simply no market for onshore wind turbines in Britain because the “NIMBYs” (Not In My Back Yard) object at every stage and shove the problem of energy and ecology onto someone else.
I won’t be actively campaigning for, say, 10 wind turbines along the top of White Horse Hill but what right would any of us have to object? If you want to switch your kettle on or watch TV or enjoy a hot bath in the depths of winter, you need to be prepared to compromise, particularly if you want your grandchildren to enjoy a future on this planet. In any case, wind turbines have a beauty and elegance of their own. Look at the way that we now revere some of the great aqueducts built in the 19th century – before the days when the small minded, selfish, blue rinse brigade were able to resist any and all change.
It’s not just about planning and environment though. It’s a more general problem about attitudes towards others and our own selfishness. Gossip, whinging and a failure to welcome and include others and the change that they bring are the symptoms of this British disease. So next time you hear them start with “I’ve lived in the village for more than 40 years”, be careful. The chances are that what comes next is going to be selfish, small minded rubbish.
Khamenei Defiles Islam
Evil Hypocrite
When you see an old man like Ayatollah Ali Khamenei talking such absolute drivel it is tempting to think that he is either senile or mad. Clearly though, the truth is he is simply bad. His conduct will do more to set back the cause of Islam than almost anything else. This is why the name of Islam is shamed throughout the world. If followers of the Prophet can not find some honest, intelligent and sincere spokesmen then their religion and the culture that surrounds it will be forever condemned as a medieval anachronism.
His speech today is a catastrophic mistake and misjudgment but it will lead to a better future. I believe it will enrage the educated and intelligent people of Iran. He obviously believes that the people are stupid and that they can be bullied or terrorised into accepting that the elections were fair and that there is no corruption. It would be easier to claim that he is deluded but no, I think this man is simply evil and it would be in the best interest of all mankind, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, non-believer if he were gone.
Who will rid us of this turbulent priest?
Thug Plod On The Loose
How many weeks on and we still have no progress on the police murder at the G20 protest? What is the IPCC up to?
Brutal Assault
Now, again, we have crystal clear proof of outrageous, unjustified police assault. It is a huge failure of leadership that the Chief Constable Of Nottingham has not already had the officers concerned in this scandal suspended and charged. More than that, I believe that his failure to do so is a criminal offence in itself. He is not just dithering, he is failing in his most fundamental duty – to protect the public.
Our tolerance level for this sort of police conduct is already terrifyingly high. If he does not act then the Home Secretary should step in immediately. This is not time for enquiries. This is time for police thugs to be treated like any other lowlife pig and put in irons.
Size 0 – The Politically Incorrect Truth
Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue, has accused leading fashion designers of ignoring concerns about size zero models.
Poor, Pitiful Girl!
See here.
The uncomfortable truth is that all these designers are either homosexual or entirely submerged in the “gay” culture that infects their industry. They aren’t interested in designing for beautiful women. They want pretty boys.
The vast majority of us have a healthy interest in beautiful women in beautiful clothes. These trivial but talented individuals are out of step, out of time and out of any more excuses. They are responsible for too much misery and suffering. The modern prevalence of anorexia and bulimia is almost entirely down to these brightly coloured, beautifully tailored, perverted fools.
It is time that wiser minds with far better taste prevailed. Do what you want to do in the privacy of your own homes but leave our young women’s minds alone and turn your talent in a positive direction.
A Real Woman
Where Are The Police – Again?
Mob Rule
In one of the most tightly policed locations in the country a mob is allowed to shout down, assault and drive off Nick Griffin, the new BNP MEP without any police intervention? See the full story here.
I am very, very frightened by this. Much more so than by the election of a couple of idiots to a stage where they will be able to make even bigger fools of themselves.
Sir Paul Stephenson! Are you a man or a mouse, a police officer or a political servant?
Man Or Mouse?
You seem to act under ruling party political direction when it is unnecessary – Damian Green. You fail to act when it is crucial – banker robbers, MPs expenses, police violence and today’s blatant blind eye.
MPs Evading Justice
So are we supposed to be surprised that Gordon Brown is still clinging by his fingernails to the architrave at the door of number 10? They couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery, an orgy in an whorehouse or a coup in the Labour Party. Why? Because they all have nothing but their own interests at heart. Their last year in office, their pensions, their resettlement grants. These are not men. They are manipulative, morally microscopic mice.
Phwooaar! Gerrumorrf darlin'!
Plod PR, the go-getting communications agency, wholly owned by the police with exclusively the police as clients summoned all its collective intelligence and wisdom to determine that last Friday, the day after the European and local elections would be a busy news day, a perfect occasion to bury their cowardly, disgraceful announcement that MPs will not be prosecuted.
In fact, the expenses scandal has now morphed into an excuse for poor performance in the elections. This is a triumph of misinformation over truth. Over the weekend, we were asked to sympathise over the “assault on MPs about their expenses”. If what has happened has constitued assault then my feeling is that it’s time for some GBH with intent.
Everything has now been re-geared to enable them all to get away with it. Perhaps even more worrying is that this marks a new development in the politicisation of the police. Increasingly the police are being used to support and enforce the whim of government, irrespective of the law or justice.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance is still chasing down MPs (see here) but what has happened to the Telegraph? Have they had a visit in the middle of the night from the police or have big, fat, brown envelopes been distributed around Telegraph Towers – or both?
A True Messiah
Seems to me that you can either be cynical and disbelieving about Barack Obama or you have to buy him completely.
His power is in his integrity and it shines through every word that he speaks. Again, it is easy to say that they are just words but you, I and every human being knows in their soul when words have value.
Thank You
The man is awe inspiring. In simple, direct statements he cuts through the murk and mud which mankind creates for itself. He is the man for our time, delivered to us apparently as an exact solution for our problems, he reveals the wisdom which all of us understand. He delivers huge confidence, trust and belief.
There will be others desperate to catch him out, to discover some inconsistency or failing. I doubt that they will succeed.
We are in the presence of greatness and we should value our good fortune.
The Man On The Clapham Omnibus Is Watching…
…and he says “If you walk out of the supermarket with a bag of sugar it’s no good saying you’ll pay the money back. It’s too late”.
Get Real Alistair!
Scumbag Thief
NO! You cannot be Chancellor Of The Exchequer, guardian and keeper of the nation’s purse and play fast and loose, anything less than perfection, with your expenses!
“It would be quite wrong to claim on two homes at the same time”. Those are your words but that is exactly what you did. The fact that you have repaid around £700 of the service charge is cast iron proof. It is not good enough for any MP, certainly not you, to fail to manage your affairs in such a way that an advance payment such as this would not be identified and repaid in a timely manner.
You fall far short of the standard that we are entitled to expect of an occupant of your office.
Let us say that this was a housing benefit claim and you were a poorly educated, perhaps only semi-literate individual. If you had duped two different local authorities as you moved between them and “forgotten” or “overlooked” the money you had been paid in advance, made such a “mistake”, then you would be facing interviews under caution and quite possibly prosecution.
But you are Chancellor of The Exchequer! This is only one of the difficult questions that you have to answer about your integrity. What about the flipping? What about claiming for tax advice on expenses?
To begin with, you should be sacked. Then there should be a police investigation.
The double standards that you pompous, self-important politicans live by are almost beyond belief. As each day passes and you grub around in the muck of your own behaviour, desperately trying to justify and excuse your avarice, greed and fraud, so every last vestige of any dignity or public respect evaporates – and you still don’t get it!
Boris To Decide MP Prosecutions?
Up and down the country Chief Constables have been deluged with complaints about local MPs. Many constituents believe that their MP’s conduct has gone beyond error and misjudgement to the point where the police need to investigate. There is huge anger and if Harriet Harman’s “Court Of Public Opinion” gets its way then there is to be much humiliation and many prison sentences for miscreant MPs.
The Man For The Job
Chief Constables are accused of sitting on their hands and being in fear of taking on such high profile suspects. In fact, there is confusion about jurisdiction and about what recourse is open to the public if the police will not take action.
An attempt has already been made to bring a private prosecution against Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. District Judge Bruce Morgan at Redditch Magistrates Court adjourned the application for a summons and referred the matter to the Metropolitan Police, saying that the applicant could *come back to court” if the Met failed to investigate.
The Association Of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) says that the Met is taking the lead and that jurisdiction for all MPs is likely to be in the Met’s hands as expenses claims are paid out from Parliament and not in the constituencies.
The Met’s current position is still that it’s thinking about it. It “needs to understand the Parliamentary processes for expenses” as part of its assessment as to whether to launch an investigation. After its clumsy and inept handling of the Damian Green affair it’s not surprising that discretion should be the better part of its valour but really, it’s a shabby response to what is probably the greatest ever betrayal of public trust.
Perhaps that’s what the problem is. It all just seems too big, too grand, too important. In reality, the sordid, self-serving decisions that so many MPs have taken are just as small and pathetic as any shoplifter or petty thief.
What we need here is clarity and courage. We deserve a police service that can see through the obfuscation, blather and bluff. If you look at them in the same way as you would a shoplifter or a petty thief , brush away their pathetic excuses, well, officer, what are you going to do now?
If the police fail to take action, where will the public turn? The Independent Police Complaints Commission has a very narrow remit. It can only address questions of police misconduct. Questions of policy, or the conduct of Chief Constables are a matter for the local police authority and in London, that means the Metropolitan Police Authority, chairman of which is ex-MP, Boris Johnson. The Association of Police Authorities (APA) is waking up to this fast approaching buck and where it might be stopping. Let’s hope Boris is too.
Why Are We Waiting?
What are they up to? The robbery has taken place, much of it caught on CCTV. They were called weeks ago. Are they just sitting on their backsides finishing their tea? Maybe their sluggish response is due to flat feet or learning difficulties? We, the victims, are still waiting. Meanwhile the crooks are desperately trying to cover up the evidence, even returning some of what they have stolen, cooking their books, arm twisting the judges, launching PR and propaganda campaigns to distort the truth.
Where Is He Hiding?
Where are the police? Are we back in the day when the village bobby cowtows to the local squire, tugs his forelock and turns a blind eye?
Perhaps they’re being held back by corrupt senior officers, or their lawyers are fiddling while Rome burns and they’re too scared to uphold the law?
Who Else Will Stand Up For Justice?
Each and every Chief Constable in the country should by now have launched an investigation into his or her local MPs. Sir Paul Stephenson of the Met, supposedly went into a meeting with the CPS about a fortnight ago. What the hell are they up to? There’s much more urgency when a hungry single mother steals food for her children from Sainsburys. The sirens blare out quickly enough then!
This is a disgraceful state of affairs and the police are letting us down. This must be more work for the Independent Police Complaints Commission or are we left with no option but to turn to Batman and Robin? Who else will stand up for justice?
Meanwhile, Mrs Patel is up before the beak in Harrow today under The Fraud Act 2006 for telling fibs about her address to get her child into a better school. See the story here
This is the state of justice in Britain today.
Jim Knight, Jiminy Cricket.
Do The Right Thing Jim!
Jim Knight told the Dorset Echo: “…at no time has he given me tax advice on my personal affairs…”.
But Jim! Jim! Jiminy Cricket, conscience of the world! Jim!
The bill that you claimed for said “…in connection with your personal tax affairs”. Jim, Jim, Jiminy Cricket, the game is up!
Jim Knight MP, Scumbag Thief
Jim Knight – The Scumbag Thief Of Dorset
So I learned today that my own MP, Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, has his snout in the trough too.
He is one of several MPs who have claimed and been paid for tax advice from Dennis Bates, ex-Inland Revenue employee and wife of Labour MP, Meg Munn. Mr Bates’ bill to Jim Knight explicitly stated “professional services in connection with your personal tax affairs”.
Scumbag Thief
No reasonable person can believe that claiming such an expense is legitimate. I have therefore written today to the Chief Constable of Dorset, Martin Baker, making a complaint of dishonesty. I take no pleasure in this. I regard it as my duty.
Jim Knight states on his own website on the subject of MPs expenses: “…more serious abuses must be referred to the police and action taken that matches any other employment and any other citizen…”
Let us see what happens.
Alistair Darling And The Rest – Liars, Cheats And Thieves
What exactly is it that entitles cabinet ministers to have their accountants’ fees paid for by the taxpayer?
All nine ministers must be sacked and the police brought in to investigate. There is not the slightest excuse for this blatant thievery.
Scumbag Thief
This is perhaps the most disgraceful episode of all. While you can argue (well you can try) that duck houses and food bills have something to do with a second home which is necessitated by Parliamentary duties, claiming your accountants fees on expenses is nothing short of cheating the taxpayer.
Alistair Darling, Jacqui Smith, Hazel Blears, David Miliband, James Purnell, Douglas Alexander, Geoff Hoon and Hilary Benn – you are liars, cheats and thieves. You should all be behind bars.
Keep The Church Out Of Elections
I do not support the BNP but I defend its right to state its case and campaign for election. I have considerable sympathy with its complaint that it is not considered racist to have a black association or a Muslim group but the BNP is branded racist for seeking to represent the white British. This is unjust.
It’s fair game for other politicians to attack the BNP but the call made today by the Church? This is outrageous. While there are certainly many good Christians and Church members, this week we have had to listen to the horrific truth of child abuse by the Church in Ireland. Only the following day the new Catholic Archbishop Nichols of Westminster is enthroned and makes the disgraceful judgment that it was courageous for some of the priests to confess their dreadful crimes.
The most eloquent advice I have ever heard on the subject of the Church comes from Messrs Crosby, Stills and Nash:
“Too many people have died in the name of Christ for anyone to heed the call”
Too much evil and wickedness has been perpetrated across hundreds of years by the Church for it to have any relevance or role in our elections. Stick to pastoral work with individuals and you’re entitled to promote your individual doctrine and beliefs but stay out of the business of parliament and government.
Out Of Touch, Deluded, Extraordinary
Another MP who needs to be locked up. This time though he doesn’t deserve prison. He needs a lunatic asylum.
Is “Unacceptable” Acceptable From Cabinet Ministers?
I could almost feel sorry for Gordon on this one because as much as he wriggles, he isn’t going to get away. He has said that Hazel Blears’ conduct in flipping her second home to save £13,000 CGT was unacceptable. She has to go.
She Has To Go
Talking about the “rules” isn’t good enough when they are clearly inadequate. The guidelines say that expenses may only be charged when incurred “wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the course of parliamentary duties”. That standard should now be applied as the rule. So, Gordon, your Sky subscription including sports channels, fails that test. A reasonable claim would be for half of the cost.
In your own interests, as well as that of Parliament and the country, there are cabinet ministers and senior Labour MPs who have to go.
I Shall Vote UKIP On June 4th
For two reasons:
1. Because I agree completely that we should withdraw from membership of the EU and establish trading agreements as an independent nation.
2. Because I want to send a message to the main parties showing my disgust for the venal and corrupt behaviour of so many MPs.
I shall vote Tory in the next general election because David Cameron is the only credible candidate for PM.
Wholly, Exclusively And Necessarily
If your expenses do not pass that test then you have broken the rules. It’s black and white. Forget the background, the explanation, that you deserve a bigger salary, how busy you were at the time, saying you were only obeying the rules (“orders” in the Nuremberg defence). All these miscreant MPs must be brought to account and if the police are not going to have the courage to take the necessary steps then some other method must be devised by which to bring these cheats before the courts.
The Plague Is In Both Your Houses
I believe in the media. I think it’s a power for good. OK, so The Daily Telegraph has turned into The News Of The World and there is much else that is crass and false and wrong but it is the media that reveals truth and brings about change.
There can be no option now but jail for some MPs, dismissal for some, resignation for many and shame for most. Those dishonest and corrupt members of the House Of Lords deserve even worse. I also wrote much the same a few weeks ago about the police after the disgrace of the G20 murder and assaults – and what has happened? Nothing! For anyone else charges would already have been brought. Undoubtedly the violent policemen are free on bail and strings are being pulled to breaking point to keep them free.
Well let them break. We all saw it with our own eyes as we have seen the crimes of our politicians. We need no more prevarication.
This is the power of the media and I look forward to the day when we see these politicians, policemen and, yes, the bankers too, chained together as they are led into jail.
European Culture 77, English Chavs 2
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It must be the first football match I’ve watched in 18 months. I thought it was worth investing the time. After all, it was hyped to the level where it became an event rather than just a sports occasion. But then really, football lost all that years ago. When the various mafiosi, the agents, the primadonnas and the gross, obscene salaries took hold, football lost
everything it ever had of value.
So, hilariously, ITV’s HD coverage stepped into the rhythm, just four minutes before half time and cut, bizarrely, to shots of bleach blonde, just-retired footballers in the usual badly fitting suits, adjusting their lunchboxes and utterly tasteless ties, commentators preparing for their imminent incisive anlayses, wiping away the smears of mayonnaise and more exotic “amuse bouche” from their lips.
Perfectly appropriate, I thought!
What happened to Roy Of The Rovers and football as a role model? These spoilt, vastly over paid, perversions of sporting talent, ill mannered, conceited, ignorant individuals. They are porn stars and nothing more. They don’t even deliver. Give me a third rate club rugby player, or a rower, a cyclist, a swimmer. Why is the world infected with this football virus?
The beautiful game? In the eye of the beholder without lager, violence, chav celebrity culture, we can do much. much better than this!
Truth is, 10 minutes into the second half, I turned over to watch “The Apprentice”.
Written by Peter Reynolds
May 27, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Posted in Consumerism, Politics, The Media, sport
Tagged with rugby, porn, football, Manchester United, primadonna, obscene, value, badly fitting suits, lunchbox, tasteless, commentator, ITV, analysis, "amuse bouche", Roy Of The Rovers, spoilt, perversion, rower, cyclist, swimmer, Barcelona, mafiosi, The Apprentice, agent, ITV HD, soccer, porn star