One Cheer, At Least One, For Caroline.

Caroline Lucas is from a species which I normally either ignore, detest or attack on sight or hearing. She epitomises everything about the liberal-left which I, as a freeborn Englishman, have come to dislike intensely. An activist within C.N.D., and prominent against American bases in Great Britain, she has espoused such campaigns as the Centre for Social Europe, Women’s Environmental Network and the Green manifesto for a Zero Carbon Economy, and so on, etc., etc. In other words, she is one accustomed to telling us what we should be doing, burning and eating because she, and of course her Party, knows far better that we do.

But, and it is indeed a big ‘BUT’, she has had the utter gall to do what very few others within the last excuse for a Parliament, and presumably the vast percentage of the new lot, have had either the guts, the temerity, or the plain courage of conviction and bravery to say that which none dared say before. She was talking about Trafigura, their slimy solicitors Carter Ruck, and the super-injunction slapped upon the Guardian which was only breached after bloggers raised the debate above the gutters where Carter-Ruck and Trafigura hoped to have it buried. Even now, there are more legal activities in Dutch courts, but you don’t hear much about those legal cases within British newspapers or television.

So welcome to Parliament, Caroline! You may be small, you might not endear many to either your Party or your causes, but when you speak for freedom, you deserve our congratulations!

Whats in a Name?

.

.

.

As David Laws has stated that he has been paying rent to his boyfriend James Lundie, I wonder if this makes either James or David a Rent-boy?

A Brick, or a *rick?

Music is perhaps the one thing which can be really classed as universal, despite its almost infinite variations and forms. David’s musical hero Elvis Costello’s grip on his fans affections is as real as my own titans of the musical world, with names such as Stravinski, Barber, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. Whatever your choice, whether you experience a thrill from hearing a Peruvian Nose Flute, Pan Pipes or a Stradivarius Cello, music is accepted as an experience which can soothe, alarm, please, enrich and entertain, all within a few bars or notes. The virtuoso, whether playing a guitar, piano, violin, oboe or drums can get a feedback reaction from an audience which, although perfectly silent during the music, sends rapture through the ether which tells the player that once more, he or she has conquered.

That much I would attest to, in that musicians, pop or classical, singer or player, are masters of their trade. They have to be, otherwise they would not last very long in the cut-throat world of music. They have to be aware of the butterfly affections of their fans, whose appetite must be fed with more, and newer pieces, all of which have to be aimed straight at their target market like a bullet from a Barrett .50 calibre sniper rifle. The best survive and adapt, like the Stones or Status Quo; (these names are known even unto me, not because I know or like their music, but because their names crop up on news-sites) the balance flare like a starburst, then fade quickly from sight.

The problem is, from long-serving musicians or solar-flare types equally, is that because they are known in one field, they all arrogantly accept that this automatically gives them the right to pontificate on just about every subject, political, domestic or world-wide, that comes to wider public knowledge. Thus we have Bob Geldof, who rescued a faded pop career by investing his time and lots of other peoples money to ”Feed the World”, we also shrink from the nasal tones of some clown named Bonio or something, who attempts to dictate how lots of other peoples money should again be spent.

We heard this morning how Roger Waters, who apparently lead a group named Pink Flood or something similar, was planning to start another tour with his own band, but featuring the massive hit album ‘The Wall’. Now if the BBC wants to give this clown some free publicity, so be it, but I for one take exception to the little diatribe which was spouted from this self-opinionated musician on his own pet hates. He was asked by the Today interviewer if he would perform a ‘farewell tour’ and replied “at the age of sixty-six, why not? But I would like to play one concert when one wall comes down, and that is the wall in Bethlehem. That is one wall where I would like to play!”

I wonder if he has many fans amongst the Israelis who lost so many family members to the suicide , mortar and death squad attacks before that Wall was erected; that Wall which brought a sudden drop in the attacks from fundamentalist Pallies’ and their best friends in Hezbollah? I wonder if Mr. Waters would forgive his neighbours if they started shelling his home from across the green valley where he lives? I wonder if his lip-service to the demands of a group of killers and terrorists advances their cause one iota? I fervently hope it does not!

Who watches the Watchers?

There is a joke told about a boy who asked his Dad why Bigamy was against the law?

His Dad replied that the law exists to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

That was a feeble attempt to bring humour to what is surely one of the most difficult decisions ever to be asked of a Judicial figure, and of the Judicial system, in this our native land. A woman, born mentally handicapped, has contracted cancer of the uterus, and the hospital authorities advised her to prepare for an operation, because not to do so would result in a very early, painful death. Because of her limited abilities to comprehend or react as people with their full range of mental capacities might do, she has failed to keep appointments, or indeed comply with the requests of the surgeons to avail herself of the life-saving operation proposed by the medical people, those same medics have gone to Court in order to make her have the operation.

The Court of Protection exists to protect those whose mental faculties are blurred, damaged or broken beyond repair, and although it has its many critics, myself amongst them, it does serve as a legal bulwark against possible abuse by others against those who literally cannot protect themselves. So the Family Divisions President, Sir Nicholas Wall had the unenviable task of deciding whether the operation should be carried out, with or without the co-operation or understanding of the patient. As a firm believer in the Rule of Law, but also in the removal of unjust Laws, I do believe that this lady’s best interests are served by this decision, and whilst I also hope that similar decisions are taken as seldom as possible, recognise that the need of the individual is best served by a body such as this Court.

Pass by on the other side?

When we declared ourselves to be a civilised nation, honouring such ideals as Democracy, Society and Public Service, we should have put up large banners and posters reminding our so-called caring citizens that when they see something untoward, it is maybe almost their duty to inform someone in authority that something is troubling them.

It doesn’t have to be specific; if you feel there is a problem with a near neighbour, whether it be knowledge that they are ill, or perhaps disturbed, ask the police or, perish the thought, Social Services, and at least you have done your duty.

Let me give you two examples from my own life.

• I was chatting to a mate whom I met on a quiet street in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. As we talked, I caught a movement out of the side of my eye, glanced around, but saw nothing. I thought I saw movement again, and looked far closer; discovering that a car or truck had collided with a metal post which served as a combination street-light pole plus an overhead cable support, the pole had broken off about an inch from the ground, and it was actually been held upright by the tension of the power cables to which it was fastened. As my car was pointing into the suburb centre, I said I would report it. The policeman to who I reported the damage at first didn’t want to know, as it probably would have generated a great deal of paperwork, but I persisted, eventually speaking to a Sergeant who accepted that I had done my duty, and now he would carry on and alert the various officials who would arrange for repairs.
• A few years ago, I was inspecting work done by a contractor in a flat, and the resident mentioned almost in passing that the elderly lady upstairs had not had a hot water supply, either for washing or heating, for over two months. I checked, found that the landlord was indeed responsible for this gross dereliction of his duty of care towards the person who rented accommodation, and ensured that the skinflint Scrooge sorted things out, by a judicious letter to both the head of the Social Services, as well as the Police.

If you, like I, accept that under certain circumstances we are our brother’s keeper, do you agree that the neighbours of this unfortunate are indeed unworthy of the title?

We just have to try harder to catch the leaders

British beaches are soiled with sewage on a regular basis!

This is what we are told has happened after all our efforts to overtake the champions in this particular race, which is of course South Africa.

We must encourage our water companies to redouble their efforts, so we can at last emulate the champions, as they celebrate the years of freedom from the terrible rule of the Europeans!

No, but honestly….

Julius Malema and his chauffeur were rolling down the highway when suddenly they hit a pig crossing the road. They killed it instantly.

Malema tells his driver:” Go to da farm over dere and hexplain to da howner of da pig what happen.”

One hour later, Malema sees his driver coming back from the farm, his clothes all wrinkled, a bottle of wine in one hand and a cigar in the other.

“What happen to you?” Malema asks.

“Well, the Boer farmer gave me a bottle of wine, beautiful plates of food, a cigar, beautiful 20 year old brandy, coffee biscuits and cheese and their 19 year old domestic servant made wild passionate love to me.”

“My My ! What did you tell dem?” asked Malema.

The driver answered: ” Good evening, I am Julius Malema’s chauffeur and I have just killed the pig.”

Once was lost, but now am found….

Those words, which resound throughout the Western world as part of ‘Amazing Grace’ that glorious hymn to the Human Spirit, also have, these days, a more down-to-earth connotation. The United States Army, together with its sister Services is itself one of the largest employers in the Continental United States, and as such would be expected to behave responsibly when it ‘screws up’. If an employee or as in the Army a soldier, turns up for duty, performs the work or duties as lawfully obliged by his orders, he should get paid. If that same soldier gets killed, in part or wholly due to that same service, the Army should pick up the slack, pick up the tag, and pay his widow both his death benefits and her widows pension.

Unfortunately, the Army is just another Government bureaucracy, but with uniforms instead of gray suits. So when something goes tragically wrong, the pencil pushers of the Army, who are in fact just as bad as the bunch over this side of the Pond when it comes to creative thought, not only react entirely the wrong way, they proceed to rub the widow’s nose in the crap generated almost totally by their own incompetence. Lt. Col. Stephen D. McConnell a long-serving soldier who was decorated in Desert Storm, disappeared from his Virginia home in 2007, sending his wife occassional text messages until the Army contacted his wife in 2009, suggesting he turn himself in. He committed suicide three weeks later.

The Army lost track of a senior soldier, but continued paying him over $400,000.00 until news of his death. They then froze his accounts, refused to pay his widow any death benefits, and in general treated this lady like trailer trash. She has been searching for justice ever since she received news of her husband’s sad demise. Seems like the  Slogan ‘Army Strong’ is meant for only those who do not buckle under the strain!

Force 12 on the Beaufort Scale

It is not very often that I feel inclined to eat my own words, but there is a time and place for everything. I have often commented upon  upon those who grasp the fleeting things which fame endows those who are in the public spotlight. They get photographed endlessly, they are first upon the lists of pseudo-celebrities invited to game shows, sometimes they even make a great deal of money on the back of very small talent; they have achieved their dream of being famous! We all saw and read the stories of the rise, fall and subsequent near-beatification of Jade Goody, famous for being, well, thick, in her own words. Also equally famous for the possibly ‘racist’ remark which ushered her towards gameshow oblivion; and her strangely-humbling acceptance of her oncoming death, showing an inner strength which belied her outward image.

We have also seen the meteoric rise, and subsequently dramatic fall from the public gaze of so-called twin singers, imperfect rap groups, celebs and sporting ‘stars’ with a failing for drugs and booze, so many times that to catalogue them all (horrible thought) would require a Cray computer as standard equipment.

But today I would attempt to highlight one who has been full in the public gaze, has not always acted in either his or his family’s best interests, has defied the many warnings and good advice from his many friends, threw all the proceeds of his great ability either against a urinal wall or into the coffers of ever-friendly bookies, and went downhill so fast that he emulated a skier entering a slalom race with a gale behind him. I refer of course to the inimitable, and now dying Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins. He was present at a ‘fundraiser’ which was hoping to raise £20,000.00 so he could be fitted with dental implants so he might be able to eat once more. From the photos, I honestly don’t think he will benefit from any intervention, as he looks almost wasted away.

Some, many indeed, would be inclined to say, ‘he brought it all upon himself’ and other words of soft condemnation.  There was a time when I would number myself amongst the censorious and disapproving, but, upon reflection, find I cannot. I know from personal experience how illnesses of the mind can easily spread to bodily torment. Yes, the man was a fool, a drunk and a womaniser, but I hope he finds, in the last months of his life, some peace of mind and surcease from the plagues which have been visited on his body and mind.

X-posted from A Tangled Web

What goes around, comes around!

Way way back in the dim mists of time, back when David Cameron was still a chirpy Leader of the Opposition, he promised British voters something very special! He promised us on 2nd June 2009, a Referendum on the European Constitution. He promised us a say in how we are Governed, how we throw and fill up our rubbish bins, he promised us a say in how we are represented across the world, he promised us a say in how our money is spent by a spendthrift European Parliament, Commission & Council. We all know that politicians promises are as ephemeral as the volcanic ash which is drifting out from Eyjafjallajökull, and are rarely as solid as that ash.

But there is a strange glow on the horizon. It is the sight of a large band of Eurosceptics lighting a fire at their campsites,readying yet another attempt to make at least one politician keep one promise made earlier. There has to be a formal change to the Treaty of Lisbon. This was the European Constitution whose name was altered so as to invalidate the democratic calls from France, Ireland and others; this was the Treaty which Gordon Brown signed on behalf of us all. This is the next step on the way to a European State. We have the EU Foreign Service, the permanent President of the Union’s Commission, the whole panoply of a Nation State is due to fall into line, all brought into being by the Treaty. That is the present state of Treaty progress which is due to be altered, in Brussels, in order to formalise the imbalance of Parliamentary seats made by that same Treaty.

Now THIS is where it gets really interesting, because the ‘Boy David’ might be reminded of his rash but generous pledge not to allow any more Treaty Revisions, nor to allow any more attempts without a clear and unambiguous result of a Referendum which would involve the British public. The British, possibly the most Eurosceptic of all the 27 member nation States which form the Union, for the first time in a very long time, we, the People, might, just might, get a say in how we are to be governed for the next hundred years!

I served, but Meatballs, not Bullets!

When a speech giving details on the early career of a prominent politician is read and placed upon the public record, a record which reported his words as “We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” as well as “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”; it is plain and obvious to any reader with at least double figured I.Q. that the speaker has formed an opinion on the Vietnam War based upon his service therein. At least that is the way I read the language, and since I have a fair education, I do not think many would disagree with either the words, as reported, or my interpretation of those words. The speaker was stating that he served in Vietnam, not that he served during the Vietnam Era.

So what do you honestly believe about the motives and intentions of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, now that it is clear that not only did he not serve in the U.S Armed Forces in Vietnam, he took active steps to ensure, through repeated deferments and job selection, would never have been selected for service in that doomed war. As an Englishman looking on as America drove headlong into conflict in South-East Asia, I read of many Americans who took steps to ensure that they too did not serve, and many swerved past the draft, many avoided by going to Canada; some, the sons of wealthier families, took a devious route through a very selective service enrolment in order to avoid the Draft. Some, including former President Clinton, took an even more devious route, and dodged the draft in the same way ‘he did not have sex with that woman’.

But few have gone the route that has seemingly been chosen by Connecticuts’ not-so-favourite son, whereby he claims to have served in Vietnam so as to associate himself with Veterans’ groups who did go and do the fighting in that land where America was supporting an unpopular and venal Government. Will Blumenthal get the nod from the Connecticut voters to join the elite hundred who help govern and rule America? Will another Draft Dodger slip through the sieve of public opinion? Blumenthal was not alone in his wish not to go and fight, and possibly die, in that steamy jungle; many others did so as well, but not many have chosen to use words which have been interpreted as actually serving in Vietnam, and if such an interpretation was given, it is indeed strange that he did not request a correction from that statement.

Now you see ’em…….

This image, taken from a Telegraph photo file, gives some idea of the ingenuity of Nature when it comes to survival and adaptation. You have to look very carefully at the photo in order to determine where the caterpillar is, because it is a master of camouflage!

Similar features of not exactly survival, but definitely adaptation, are being exhibited by the leading players in the Conservative Party, as they strive to get their followers to shove their heads completely up their own arseholes while repeating, ‘It’s not for the Power, it’s because the country needs strong Government!

A Lifetime Ago….

 

Some sixty-seven years ago today, nineteen Lancaster bombers of R.A.F. 617 Squadron took off on a mission which, many hoped, could drastically alter the war in favour of the Allies. They hoped, by use of a special weapon, to breach three of the Ruhr dams when they were at their highest level of water storage. The weapon was a product of the agile mind of Sir Barnes Neville Wallis, and it became the precursor of many of the exceedingly effective weapons which issued from the agile mind of this superb scientist. The bomb was built in the shape of a drum, and dropped with the case spinning in reverse to the motion of the aircraft. The idea was that the spinning bomb would hit the waves and then ‘bounce’ forward, dropping, bouncing and slowing on the water as the bomb advanced.

The trouble with the attack, which had to be carried out at an extremely low altitude and in a straight line, was that the bomber could be tracked and attacked by seriously-accurate German anti-aircraft fire during the predictable approach path. The Moehne, Eder & Sorpe dams were chosen as targets, and the Lancasters of 617 Squadron, modified to carry the three ton weight of the bombs which had to be held partly outside the bomb-bay as the spin had to be applied before the bomb was released, set off on their mission. The Moehne and Eder dams were successfully breached, albeit with heavy loss to the attacking squadron; with eight of the nineteen bombers failing to return, and fifty-three fliers in total died during the operation. Squadron Leader Guy Gibson received the Victoria Cross, there were also five D.S.O.’s, ten D.F.C.’s and four Bars, two Conspicuous Gallantry Medals and eleven Distinguished Flying Medals and one Bar.

It was hoped that the resultant torrents of water would damage war industries, halt electricity generation, clog rail routes and damage the German war effort. The actual effect was rather different; in that the electricity supplies were back in business due to an emergency pumping system built by a forward-looking German generation industry; the great percentage of deaths were actually of P.O.W.’s, and the rail system was rebuilt where damaged in typical German quick-time, mainly by the use of slave labour. The surprising outcome was a rapid decline in food production, as large areas of arable land were flooded, as well as huge numbers of farm animals killed. German civilian morale suffered greatly. British morale went sky-high, as the pictures of the broken dams were shown in cinemas and in the newspapers.

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Image from the works of Ronald Suchiu

I have indeed heard it all now!

I read that Winnie Mandela, the bitch-murderer who fanned the Soweto riot  flames until innocent people were battered to death is trying to stop a film being made about her life.

The murderous cow doesn’t want anyone else to know about the murder of Stompie Moeketsi, apart from the whole of South Africa who watched as she was sentenced to a ludicrously-small sentence of four years for kidnapping, when she and her gang of murderous bodyguards turned on a 14-year old boy because they thought he was an informer!

Note to self: take lots of notes!

Jane Ellison is the new Tory M.P. for Battersea, etc. etc, on London. She describes her first days in Westminster on Page 15 of the Sunday Times:-

• Westminster is very big, walking a lot!
• Coalition options outlined and supported by Party.
• Found office, laptop, locker, toilets; Westminster still very big.
• Lots of briefings about maiden speeches.
• Amazed as Home Secretary is accompanied by Met. Commissioner during visit to Battersea. (At least she wasn’t wearing a stab-vest!)
• Vows to raise case of BATTERSEA RESIDENT Shaker Aamer who is in the slammer in Guantanamo Bay. (must make note to self to establish if this is a wise thing to do, as he probably deserves to stay forever in the sunny climes of Cuba, as he is a Saudi Islamic terror suspect, funded by the Saudis and the Afghans, is not British, and I wish he had rented a flat anywhere else in Britain besides Battersea!)

There are none so blind…..

According to just about everybody in the Obama Mal-Administration, there is no such thing as Radical Islamic terrorism, despite

This:-

& This:-

and initially This:-

A stunning voyage?

As a rule, I don’t take much notice of the splashy full-page adverts for cruises, holidays and spa-resorts as I either cannot afford them, or because I have seen most of the ports  and shores of the world, and am happy enough in England, despite the cold weather.

But I feel I must protest at the hyperbole which was vomited over a Daily Telegraph advert for a cruise to Dubai, which included the immortal phrase“Cruise through the beautifully man-made Suez Canal and experience an engineering feat on a truly impressive scale”.

Now I may be approaching my seventieth year, and my memory sometimes lets me down, but I was an Officer in Britain’s Merchant Navy when I was much, much younger, and I transited the Canal about a dozen times. Engineering feat? Yes, the De Lesseps canal was built amidst much difficulty, and it was a major Engineering triumph in it’s day, but Beautiful? Come on, what you see is sand, mud, sand, more sand, and occasioanally mud and sand!

But the kicker in the advert is the destination, Dubai. Destiny of golfers- and footballers-wives during divorce proceedings. World-record holder for the building of gaudy, really plushy, sybaritic, horribly-decorated hotels which no-one can really afford unless they have so much money that they blanch from contact with ‘ordinary people’. Dubai which is a peculiar place to want to visit in the first place. If you do go to Dubai, be careful that you don’t kiss your wife/girl-boy friend on the cheek in any restaurant or public place, because you’ll probably be thrown into jail for offending their ‘public morality’ laws, which are a joke in themselves. Dubai, where the Law of Islam is supposed to hold sway, except in all the tourist and expatriate areas, where you can drink as much heavy booze as your system can tolerate. Dubai, where some 375 building contracts involving billions of dollars of investments are rotting in the sun, as the cash has dried up, and the good life ain’t quite so shiny any more.

Dubai, nice weather, but not a patch on Cleethorpes!

We do get exactly what we deserve!

At a conservative (small ‘c’) estimate, there are sixty-two million of us crowded together on this small set of islands. We were once so important that it was said that the sun never set on our Empire, and that a third of the world was shaded by the British flag. A noted Spanish-American commentator, Santayana, once stated:-

“Instinctively the Englishman is no missionary, no conqueror. He prefers the country to the town, and home to foreign parts. He is rather glad and relieved if only natives will remain natives and strangers strangers, and at a comfortable distance from himself. Yet outwardly he is most hospitable and accepts almost anybody for the time being; he travels and conquers without a settled design, because he has the instinct of exploration. His adventures are all external; they change him so little that he is not afraid of them. He carries his English weather in his heart wherever he goes, and it becomes a cool spot in the desert, and a steady and sane oracle amongst all the deliriums of mankind. Never since the heroic days of Greece has the world had such a sweet, just, boyish master. It will be a black day for the human race when scientific blackguards, conspirators, churls, and fanatics manage to supplant him.”

Some commenters might say that I live in times past when I write these words, and as it has often been repeated upon these pages, these are my thoughts alone, and if you disagree, that is both your right and your privilege, because we still live in a world where civilized disagreement is accepted.

But I write of present days, and I see a groundswell of thought where truly important events are thrust aside for the tawdry and the ridiculous. We watched as the ex-Prime Minister stood and finally accepted reality, after trying, wheedling and squirming had all failed, and at that podium accepted the judgement of we the voters, and declared his intention to see Her Majesty and tender his resignation. There was even a small twist within that statement, as his next words were ‘and in the event the Queen accepts,’ as if there was a possibility that the sky would fall in, never mind the Queen’s acceptance. David Cameron then stated that he hoped to form the next Government, and brought Nick Clegg’s barmy army into the fold. Whether this stance will succeed, I know not; for it is indeed early days for such strange bedfellows to live alongside one another, but I hope for the best, because we need a spell of firm government without the never-ending laws which remove ever more of our freedoms!

As I said, this was the stuff of history, a Party thrown down, two more rising up in Coalition, the first in nearly four decades. These are the voices and thoughts of those who we have placed in power over us; and what does the BBC report on in its ‘complaints’ catalogue? Nearly one thousand ‘viewers’ rang up in high umbrage and anger at the fact the ‘viewers’ had missed ‘Eastenders’ and ‘Holby City’. They were forced to miss the umptieth episode of some dreary ‘Soap’ where the talk is of nothing, of characters which do not exist, of scripts written to grab ratings, of the rottenest kind of rubbish, in order to hear of the very change of a Democratic Government. The basis of how we live and think is changing, and all they care about is some dreary plotline dreamt up to fill out a storyboard!

Many great minds have spoken upon Democracy, and I would quote but two;-

Ronald Reagan:- Democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.

Winston Churchill:- It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.

These men and many others from the very dawn of civiilzation, have spoken. written, planned, fought and sometimes even died for the right to choose how we select and elect our leaders, and yet the ‘unwashed mob’ cannot sacrifice an hour of their screen time to study how they will be governed for years to come! 55,000 dead men of Bomber Command are only being honoured now after a lifetime of waiting for recognition; was their sacrifice worth seventy minutes away from a drone of dreary ‘Soaps’?

X-posted from A Tangled Web

fine feathers do not make fine birds

This picture from the Daily Mail, discussing the fates of the ‘First Fancy Five’ supposed A-listers of the Boy David’s campaign, really says a great deal about ‘Our Dave’.

Do readers agree with me that the photos of the so-called A-list Ten who posed with fancy clothes and even fancier hair-do’s, at least for the men, for The Tatler magazine represent the real reason why the Boy David didn’t clinch his prophesied majority in Parliament. Do they also show the way his mind works, his political philosophies operate, his very core of political beliefs? The fact that the only reason the proposed Lab-Lib coalition didn’t come off was because of the visceral hatred of some of the old-time Labour hands, such as John Reid and Diane Abbott, for the very idea of the Lib-Dems to be in being, never mind in Government.

So, as Gordon swings his two sons by the hand as he walks away into the sunset, and as the “Boy David’ snuggles up to his Samantha in the doorway of No. Ten, we should be looking at not what we have, not bought, but more or less been handed as a ‘fait accompli’ as our Prime Minister and leader of Her Majesty’s Government. He set up, in defiance of Tory Party convention, a preferential list of people who had impressed him and  his accursed focus groups. The primacy of the local Conservative Party associations was trampled upon as he strove to get his favourites into the selection process, upsetting his opponents who are happy to be called the Tory Taliban, and we see the result as just on a third of his favourites actually stirred the Tory voter to support him and his policies.

If we look a little closer at the first ‘Famous Five’, a slightly differing picture emerges from the ‘competent but trendy’ Conservative which is proffered by the publicity stills. Shaun Bailey runs a Charity called ‘My Generation’ which is billed as existing to “alleviate social and economic disadvantage” . Now that is in itself laudable and inspiring, but the main beneficiary of funding in 2008, to the value  of £93,00.00, seems to have been the management, namely our Sean. The simpering features of Peter Lyburn stare vacuously out from the page, as a promise of what, exactly? That he wears, and looks good in, a nice suit? The voters of Perth and Perthshire North didn’t seem to be won over by the pictures of him enjoying himself at a party by snuggling up (down) to the groin area of another partygoer, as they handed him his coat by electing the former Runrig keyboard player as their M.P. instead. Joanne Cash was parachuted in to the Westminster North Constituency, but failed to add to her list of ‘Friends’ by calling all the leading Tories ‘Dinosaurs’. She resigned, was revived, re-installed after a ‘personal call’ from Our Dave, and lost the contest to Labour’s Karen Buck.

Cameron may have what it takes to run a Government, even one as capricious as this ‘coalition’ promises to be, but he’s a hell of a long way from convincing me that he could run a cat shelter.

For this relief, much thanks!

Greece Skids, Merkel moves

As the French and the Krauts are trying to bounce the rest of the EU into handing over all the loot so that Greece can splurge it all over again, I noticed this little gem on the BBC website.

Angela Merkel has defied her many critics in the agreement to help the Greek spendthrifts with their bottomless pit of debt, but now that she has lost her majority in the Upper House, will little Angela get all the candy this time?

Carbolic For A Better ‘Wash-Up’.

In Parliamentary terms, the ‘Wash-up’ is a time between the calling of a General Election and the Prorogation of Parlaiment itself. Whichever Bills are on the path towards completion are then feverishly stidied by all Parties concerned, deals done, passages removed, compromises reached, so that both pet Bills belonging to, in the last case the Labour gang, and some which were favoured by the Tories, get shovelled through on the trot, with NO debate beyond a cursory scrutiny. Bills which should have been thoroughly scrutinised and tested are pushed through without any discussion whatsoever. Whether this arrangement, which is generated purely for the convenience of the ruling Party will stand in future, I cannot tell, but I hope there shall be movement on this point.

However, the other Wash-up is what I wish to discuss with ATW readers this morning.

• Will the next Parliament move on the criminally-flawed Postal Vote system which has marred our Democratic process ever since it was eased in by the last bunch of Labour criminals? A procedure which has allowed virtually unchecked FRAUD in certain areas, checked only by independent minds which have every reason to bve suspicious.
• Will the new Parliamentary authorities proceed against those who, despite massive fraud in spirit, if not in fact, have seemingly got away with all the loot? Will the thieving duo of Balls and Cooper be told bluntly to pay back some of their ill-gotten gains, or will Margaret Moran be allowed to swan off with all that cash which she pinched from the taxpayer? What matters is that those who, elected to positions of public trust have used and abused a system, and gained at the public expense, should be brought before a jury of their peers; although one can hardly stoop so low as to find any British voters who would be deemed to be on the same level as those thieving M.P.s
• Will the ex- and current- M.P.s who have attempted to modify or remove the news of their expenses on the Wikipedia pages, as detailed within the Telegraph pages be further investigated?
• With only some of the liars, thieves and vagabonds kicked out at the polls, will there be further scrutiny by the Standards Authority of those who remain, or will everything go quiet?
• Will the Speaker be challenged on the opening day of the new Parliament?

X-posted from A Tangled Web

An Honest Offer?

A ‘Classified’ document has come into this writer’s posession, and, whilst aware of the grave penalties for ‘blowing the gaff’, I feel more public knowledge of this proposal would be of benefit to the Electorate.

The wrong question, and the wrong answer!

The New York Times, whose banner reads ‘All the news that’s fit to Print’ asks a question which it believes is pertinent to today, but not only gets the wrong answer, it didn’t ask the correct question.

The NY Times states that the latest two terror attackers both came from privileged backgrounds, from lives far above the normal poverty which is the lot of the ‘usual suspects’ in terror attacks; and it just simply doesn’t understand how they came to believe and act in the way which they did!

The Times Square bomber comes from a truly privileged background.  From 1995 to 1998, his father, Bahar ul-Haq, served as deputy director of Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, according to a spokesman for the organization. The teenage Shahzad lived in some luxury — a comfortable, two-story house close to the city airport, with palm trees in the garden and bougainvillea spilling over the wall. Shahzad’s parents, who hail from a village near Peshawar, had retired to a house in Hayatabad, the city’s most expensive neighbourhood. They write about his upbringing in that column in the NY Times, and they just don’t understand where he went wrong.

Umar Farouk  Abdulmutallab grew up in a rarefied slice of Nigeria, the son of an affluent banker. He attended one of the West Africa’s best schools, the British School of Lomé in Togo. After high school, he went to Britain and enrolled at University College London to study mechanical engineering. A friend describes how Mr. Abdulmutallab was like most other students at the school, with a particular interest in studying history, and a preference for hip-hop music. The NY Times again describes a privileged and cosetted upbringing, and wonders why and how he went so badly astray!

The answer, and the unasked question, which was omitted by the oh-so-liberal NY Times editorial team, is simply this; why did these men plan and attempt to carry out their murderous attacks, why did these men, brought up with every privilege in their world, take great care to try and kill as many as they possibly could gather together?

The answer, my friends, is quite simple, they were Muslim, affianced to a religion which tends to kill those it cannot conquer, which goes for obliteration rather than assimilation! That is why the petrol canisters and propane tanks were packed inside that 4X4 vehicle in  Times Square; that is why the would-be terrorist stacked his underwear with a particularly powerful explosive before he boarded that jet in Amsterdam. That is why they try, and that is why they will continue to try, because they hate us for being free, for having free speech; for not being Muslim!

Lib-Dem Ballot Device

Now if only Nick could persuade the electorate that he knows how to operate this, we’re home and dry!!

Pix of the deserving

It is not often that bloggers such as I have the opportunity to do a quiet bit of gloating, but I simply ask the question ‘are there any others better deserving than those pictured here’?

Whispers In The Wind

The words of G.K. Chesterton ring true this day more than most of our present crop of politicians care to admit. He wrote of the ‘Secret People of England, who have not spoken yet’. He foretold of the shadow of the European Union, and their ‘directives’ and ‘legislative desires’ in the words:-

They have given us into the hands of the new unhappy lords,

Lords without anger and honour, who dare not carry their swords.

They fight by shuffling papers; they have bright dead alien eyes;

They look at our labour and laughter as a tired man looks at flies.

And the load of their loveless pity is worse than the ancient wrongs,

Their doors are shut in the evenings; and they know no songs.

The shadow of the ‘Expenses Saga’ will darken, I hope, the ‘bright new dawn’ promised by the Tories and the Lib-Dems from the pall thrown by the scum which were New Labour. I would give almost anything to watch if all three parties were dealt a bloody nose by the secret strength of the English majority. I know and acknowledge that I have many times written irreverently and harshly of the ‘sheep’ who are treated so badly by those who are given the votes. Those same votes which have been bought so dearly by our British blood over the centuries, the blood spilt from fields as far apart as Gallipoli, Trafalgar, the lines of Torres Vedras, Flanders; in  the deeps of the Atlantic to the skies over Kent in 1940.

To see tomorrow morning a true sea-change in the way we are governed will, very likely, not come to pass. To watch as a procession of Independents, of English Democrats, of a platoon of the stalwarts of U.K.I.P., of even a single supporter of the derided B.N.P. marching towards the gates and seats of Westminster would be extremely unlikely. Yes, unlikely, but oh, how I, and millions of others who occasionally switch off the ‘box’, turn away from the ‘editorials’ from the newspaper editors; and decide how We wish to live, and be governed; would love to awaken tomorrow morning and see that derisive smile wiped off the collective faces of the political elite.

But we are the people of England; and we have not spoken yet. Smile at us, pay us, pass us. But do not quite forget!

I blame the parents!!

As the Election loomed ever closer during the final four weeks, here in the bunker we have become accustomed to stacking up supplies of toilet paper, otherwise known as Election leaflets.

But once more these fools, half-wits and political clowns have done this nation a great dis-service, as all the leaflets, flyers, claims and counter-claims are all printed upon highly-calendared shiny paper stock.

Who in their right minds wants to wipe their arses with one of these bloody shiny leaflets? Don’t they appreciate how sensitive the skin is around our nether parts?

Can’t they get anything right?

….and words are all I have…..

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law;

that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law;

that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law;

and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God

Those words, spoken by untold millions who have journeyed in hope to the shores of the United States of America, are a solemn understanding that the person speaking those words undertakes to protect the land he has been given the right to live in, and that same person fully understands that that declaration is undertaken before his or her God.

Seems just like three hundred and eighty-eight days after making that solemn oath, our friendly neighbourhood bomb-making muslim criminal forgot about that day when he held his hand up high, on April 17th 2009!

Vote early: Vote often!!

Because the vast majority of the ‘voters’ in this land of ours don’t read anything else than that which panders to their tribal loyalties, I wonder if they would believe that, by measures deemed ‘populous’ by the Labour spin masters, their votes have been corrupted, cheapened, invalidated and ignored? I wonder if they even care!

I refer of course to the measure introduced by the cynical power-hungry Labour Government to widen the scope of ‘Postal Voting’. Now there is nothing wrong in principle of allowing a voter to register and require a ‘Postal vote’, after all I used to use that facility myself. I worked away from my home for over seventeen years, and I voted in all General and Local Elections. That of course was because I obeyed the rules, which were set out to make things easier for those such as I to participate in the Democratic Process.

But the Labour Scum who have infested Westminster altered the rules, and allowed Postal Voting on demand, and therefore opened the whole process to abuse, fraud and criminal behaviour! As I posted some little time ago, we are in danger of descending to the electoral levels of a Banana Republic, with the exception of not having as good a climate.

The Labour scum won’t amend the system, and I hope that in the event of a long-hoped for change of Government, the Tories will bite the bullet and change the system to remove even the possibility of fraud, misuse and deception which is apparent today!