Happy New Year

Mrs Beaman thought it time that Misha (left) and Sasha (above) made their debuts so here they are.

As 2007 draws to a close a few ramblings on where we find ourselves. The establishment of a police state continues apace but let's not be too alarmist about it, we are probably now living in a 'special constable' state.

Brown signed away our independence by signing the EU Reform Treaty, or constitution. But our day will come and, in some form or other, we will once again live in a free and independent nation beyond the grasping, corrupt rule of Brussels.

Motorists will soon face two years in clink for using mobiles while driving and the beady eye of the state is now looking towards motorists who smoke, or twiddle with the knobs on their radios whilst driving. Bus lanes should be abolished as should traffic lights which are currently set, in many cities, to cause congestion in order to justify the introduction of charges. Let's scrap speed limits on motorways too.

Of course the monstrous smoking ban came in this summer which should be immediately lifted, as should the hunting ban.

The CBI now admits that industry, in some areas, is recruiting staff from abroad because of the poor quality of our home grown graduates. Let's face it what use is a degree in ferret breeding, window cleaning or golf course management?

Political parties are mired in sleaze and accusations of dodgy donations and loans. Is it all a big ploy to soften a gullible public up to accept, probably without a whimper, taxpayer funding of political parties?

The NHS accepts that it is groaning under the strain of treating over 150,000 foreigners per year. But the government thinks that talking about a few controls on immigrants from outside the EU will pacify the populace. Sorry but the problem is caused by limitless immigration from within the EU.

Despite the ban on handguns gun crime, as well as stabbings, continue to increase. The only people with guns now are criminals and cities like London, Manchester, Liverpool and others become scarier by the day. But slap a hooligan for 'playing' on a war memorial, after the police repeatedly fail to repond, and you get nicked.

The government is now turning to drinkers, after all it has driven most of us to drink and now it wants to control that too. For the first time today I heard the phrase "passive drinker". It does not refer to people getting drunk by sitting next to a drinker but somebody who becomes the victim of a drink fuelled offence. So a wife battered by a drinking husband, or a youth attacked by a drunk on a night out are now referred to as "passive drinkers". Crap! The people of Manchester were investigated by the county authorities in Lancaster over 250 years ago because the people of that fine city seemed to do little but drink and party. Binge drinking is a historical pastime in this country and in this I agree with Jeremy Clarkson, binge drinkers do stop, if they didn't they would be alcoholics, so leave off them.

So enjoy a good drink this New Year and if going out be careful not to become a "passive drinker". I wish you much health and wealth in 2008.

Scargill and the NUM

It's that time of year when government files are released by the National Archives and there is a drip drip of recent history in the media. Up to now we have been told that Tony Benn tried to scupper the Queen's silver jubilee by refusing to floodlight public buildings, yawn. But what interested me today was news of Arthur Scargill, memories flooded back.

In about 1987/88 I was in a lift with a colleague in a London hotel near Euston that was frequented by union people and rail staff. We were joined in the lift by Mick McGahey, Scargill's number 2, a raging Marxist. As we headed towards the ground floor my colleague turned to 'Red' Mick and asked to shake his hand. Mick beamed and held out his hand, which my colleague took and, while shaking heartily, said: "Many thanks Mick, if it wasn't for you and your ilk Mrs Thatcher probably wouldn't be Prime Minister today". That took the smile off his fat, socialist mug. The joke at that time about Scargill himself was that he had started with a small house and a big union and ended with a big house and a small union, thank God!

But what got me onto this post was the news, just released, that Scargill had been monitored by MI5, I should think so, and that James Callaghan tried to get him "warned off" after flying pickets from the NUM turned up at the Grunwick dispute.

In 1984 when the miners were on strike I worked in an inner city housing office in Manchester. I had already been 'sent to Coventry' by my colleagues for refusing to strike 2 years earlier, so I again refused to strike, this time they walked out in sympathy with the miners. This led to death threats to my family and flying pickets arriving from the soon to close Agecroft Colliery in nearby Salford. Knowing the pickets were a bit on the lazy side 3 of us beat them by getting into the office at 6-30am before they arrived, dropped off by friends as leaving our cars outside would have ended with them being vandalised. The real sign that the comrades meant business though was when they threw me out of the tea fund, true revolutionary fervour that one! Happy days.

I left Manchester City Council in Jan 1985. I had the last laugh though, despite being a 'closed shop' the incompetents at the union had never taken my union dues from my salary, a little careless of the workers' revolutionaries I thought. I have since discovered, to my immense pride, that I come from a long line of strike breakers, or 'scabs' depending on your political hue, going back at least three generations. It's in the blood!

If anybody thinks that those days are gone just remember political correctness, a bit more subtle but at least as deadly.

The Boxing Day Hunt

The Vale of Lune Harriers, and the Three Counties Bloodhounds, left the Longlands in Carnforth at 11-30 this Boxing Day morning. The photo on the right is as they arrived at Borwick, around 12-30, for mulled wine and a breather.

The Master of the Hunt set them off well at Longlands by wishing us all a Merry Christmas and telling us that, after 5 years of 'bollocks to Blair', it was now time for 'bollocks to Brown'. Hundreds of hunt supporters then joined him in a rousing chorus of: "Bollocks to Brown". The hunt then set off into the Lancashire countryside.

Stuffing the Nanny State

Driving home last night listening to the radio, independent commercial radio, I heard what I thought to be a rather poor satire which led to me pondering on the lack of really good, hard hitting comedy at the moment. This comedy, as I thought, was a take on the government being so overbearing and oppressive that Stalinist style public service announcements were now telling us how to wash our Christmas turkey and how to cook it so we weren't all dead of food poisoning by Boxing Day.

I have since heard the ads several times and they are actually made, and funded, by you and me, the taxpayers, on behalf of the nanny state. Not content with such patronising pap they have also employed, no doubt at ridiculous expense, so-called celebrity chefs to add some gravitas, or at least popular appeal. Yes the ads were actually serious government warnings.

Now do the government really think we are all stupid? Do they really think that we only ever cook at Christmas time because the rest of the year we use the chip shop, or McDonalds if dining out on special occasions? Perhaps the government thinks we will all wake up on 27th December and say: "Thank God for those announcements about preparing turkey, I'm still alive, in gratitude I'll vote Labour next time".

Mrs Beaman and I are having goose and the government hasn't told us what to do with goose, so we will probably poison ourselves eating it raw. But then we could join the parasitic, no pun intended, compensation culture and go to law for a few bob! Or perhaps we could forget the bird and stuff the government!

Which reminds me of an old joke that always really angers the green, veggie types:

Did you hear about the Korean car sticker? It says: "A dog isn't just for Christmas-there should be enough for Boxing Day too".

Sluts and Faggots

The words 'slut' and 'faggot' are to be beeped out of a song if played by BBC Radio 1, the song is Fairytale of New York City by the Pogues and Kirsty McColl. The song has been played, especially at this time of year, for years and years but suddenly the BBC thinks that sluts and faggots might be offended.

Now forgive me but you could only take offence if you identified yourself as one or the other. And, if you did identify yourself as a slut or a faggot, I suggest you would be thick skinned enough to not be offended by a song of this nature.

I suspect the reality is that the sluts and faggots at the BBC are the ones offended, apart from those at BBC Radio 2 who will continue to play the full version, they must be broadminded sluts and faggots.

For those who have had a sheltered upbringing slut is slang for a woman of loose morals, and faggot is slang for a homosexual.

In a rapid u-turn BBC Radio 1 last night overturned this decision. Was it because of the general reaction to this nonsense or was it all just a cheap publicity stunt by a failing radio station?

Brown The Bottler

Looking back on this week's events most of us are unsure whether to laugh or cry. Brown sends his little errand boy, Milliband Senior, to join the massed ranks of EU leaders being photographed in Lisbon and then flies out to sign the constitution on his own, as if we wouldn't notice.

But New Labour have a habit of this kind of thing. Remember when the King of Saudi visited? Well Milliband Senior did a similar half-hearted boycott claiming he was on 'paternity leave' after adopting a child.

Then Brown boycotted the EU/Africa summit because Mugabe was there. Except it wasn't really a boycott because he sent some black baroness along instead.

If anybody still needed convincing that this is a government with neither backbone nor principle then this week has surely done it. Is it any wonder our troops, probably more abused by this government than any other single group, are increasingly turning to cocaine?

UKIP MEPs Lead the Fight

From the UKIP website:

The European Parliament decided to censor its own television coverage to avoid showing a serious protest in the debating chamber in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
A group of about 80 Eurosceptic MEPs protested loudly as the Charter of Fundamental Rights was signed, with the result that a huge section of UK sovereignty has been swallowed up by the EU.
As the demonstration started, TV cameras immediately killed all sound so that none of the protest could be heard and the cameras stayed away resolutely from the large block of protesters.
At one stage, The President of the Parliament, Hans Gert Pottering, asked them to leave the chamber. They refused.
The protest continued during a speech by Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. However as he talked of "greater democracy for Europe" the TV pictures told a different story.
Mr Pottering shouted at the protesters accusing them of being "anti-democratic because they will not let our guests speak." He was met with cries of "Let the people speak."
UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, one of the prime movers of the protest, said: "This is the new EU in action, showing the world a united face as they steamroll towards their own superstate while totally refusing to allow anyone to see a different point of view."
Furious at the protests, some MEPs resorted to rough tactics and one member of the European People's Party dragged a female observer from the Independence and Democracy Group out of the chamber and demanded her camera, which showed footage of the protest.
"The high point of this hypocrisy surely came at the end, when MEPs were invited to stand to listen to 'The European Anthem'," said Mr Farage.
"This, of course, is the anthem which is supposed to have disappeared. To their everlasting shame, British MEPs from the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties stood ramrod-straight to grant this piece of music national anthem status."
Mr Farage added: "Fortunately, cameras from the BBC and ITV were there, so at least there is a chance that people in Britain can actually see for themselves how this European Union stifles debate and refuses to allow legitimate political protest."

Sign the Pledge

No, not the one about giving up drink, that would not be useful. NO2ID are urging supporters, and others, to sign the pledge, link on the left hand side. By refusing to register for an ID card, no matter what devious methods the government employs to compel you, you will be partaking in an honourable act of defiance, and sticking two fingers up to the state.

I do not intend to rattle on as the link takes you to where you will find all you need to know.

New Fuel Protests

It seems there will be new fuel protests this weekend. Details from the link below:

http://www.transaction-2007.com/

Libertarian Alliance Press Release

LIBERTARIAN ALLIANCE DENOUNCES CURBS ON "MURDER MUSIC"

The Libertarian Alliance, the radical free market and civil liberties policy institute, today condemns the "murder music" ban in Brighton as a naked attack on freedom of speech.

Press release below:

http://www.libertarian.co.uk/news/nr057.htm

Some of Life's Mysteries

I have noticed that the older people get the more the smaller things in life anger them. I am very rapidly ageing. Here are some of the things that I find at best mysterious, at worst downright anger inducing.

Why are so many people unable to walk anywhere, or even move, without a plastic bottle of water or a paper cup full of coffee? Could it be that they are really telling the rest of us that they are so important, and therefore busy, that they only get the time for a brew when on the move? For God's sake sit down, have a breather and a proper drink. I promise you that the world will not come to an end, no matter how important you think you are.

In this country we used to drive on the left. Not any more. It now seems that a sizeable proportion of motorists on our motorways regard the inside lane, the one on the left, as unusable . Perhaps they think a confused Pole may be whizzing the wrong way down it. Or perhaps they are just too lazy to change lanes. Either way they cause jams and seriously anger most of us who do many thousands of miles each year. For God's sake move over you clowns!

And while I'm on motorists what is it with bloody fog lights? I can imagine some prat tootling along thinking: "Err, there may be fog one day." And zap, on go the fog lights. Why? In rain these stupid lights are refracted all over your windscreen and, from the rear, look like brake lights have come on. From head on they invariably dazzle you. Switch them off for God's sake unless there's fog!

Then there are really annoying shop assistants, there are either too many or too few. I'm no DIY fan, I despise DIY and usually have to ask for help when in a DIY shop. Can you find an assistant? Never. If paranoid you would think they were all hiding in the CCTV room watching you wandering aimlessly around becoming angrier and angrier while they laugh louder and louder. Then you go looking for clothes, you know exactly what you want but pesky, mithering assistants just won't let you get on with it." Do you need any help sir?" For God's sake I'm not a cretin, I know how to buy a sweater you patronsing git! There must be a happy medium surely.

Libertarian Or Not?

Try this quiz on The Advocates website to see where your political leanings lie:

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

FC United of Manchester Given the Red Card

FC United of Manchester is a football club formed as a protest when the Glazers took over Manchester United. To many of us football, at the highest level, had been corrupted for many years by corporate greed and the Glazers were the final straw.

When FC was formed there was a clear left-wing political element to it. But, in the excitement of the fight, that could be overlooked for the cause, let's reclaim football.

The left-wing element surfaced, primarily, in a schoolboy/student style obsession with racism with anti-BNP chants at games. Fair enough, juvenile, but while far from supportive of the BNP I do not see them, or racism, around every corner.And the main reason the BNP seem to 'punch above their weight' is because their opponents constantly overreact and publicise them mercilessly. The juvenile element included banners of Che 'Ernie' Guevara, the bloodthirsty Latino terrorist so loved by certain weirdos that they wear images of him on t-shirts. It was getting tedious, especially when Guevara appeared on official FCUM DVDs. It became clear that some of these armchair revolutionaries, throwbacks to the 1960s, actually thought they were the vanguard of the workers' revolution.

Then there is the annual anti-racism jamboree they call 'People United Day'. On this day an assortment of minority groups parade around the ground before the game with banners. Of course if you question this you are immediately branded a racist. I questioned it with the club and was told, effectively, to bugger off if I didn't like it. My view is that constantly harping on about race is divisive, left to get on with it most people would just get on with it. Racism and anti-racism are two sides of the same coin, divide and rule.

Now the club are working with a group called CAFRASS who work with refugees and asylum seekers. While sympathising with genuine refugees I have severe doubts when 'asylum seekers' are mentioned. This invariably refers to people who are just not keen on their country of origin, quite a different thing to a genuine refugee. And why should a football club be involved with groups like that? Community involvement yes, but please no politically correct posturing.

FC United are wondering why their support has at best levelled off and at worst shrunk. Well I think I know the answer to that one. Here's one person who won't be renewing his season ticket or membership because, as mentioned earlier, I'm buggering off.

Police Cars and Hedgehogs

Enough has been said in the media about Meredydd (possibly misspelt) Hughes so I am not going to ramble on. But just in case you have been in solitary all week and missed the news below is a link to the BBC's coverage:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7128548.stm

Now I'm not a one to call for the resignation or sacking of plod for speeding, I much prefer to wallow in the irony of it, especially as Hughes was caught in the jurisdiction of Brunstrom, the nutter-in-chief of the North Wales Constabulary. You remember him, the prat who investigated Anne Robinson for racism when she took the mick out of the Welsh.

Brunstrom was quoted some time ago as saying: "I've been told that I drive like an undertaker...." Well in that case I suggest a career change would be in order Mr Brunstrom!

Rather than constantly hammering motorists, even nitwits like Hughes, it would be much more appropriate to remove all speed limits, beginning with speed limits on motorways. It is bad driving, not speed, that causes accidents and the act of speeding itself is not intrinsically bad. Our limits were set when most of us drove around in clapped out Vauxhall Vivas, or worse, so let's have no more nonsense.

All this reminds me of the old joke:

What's the difference between a hedgehog and a police Range Rover?
The hedgehog has the pricks on the outside!

Political Whores

The politicians of the three old parties are nothing more than political whores which, I suppose, makes the three old parties political brothels. I apologise if these camparisons offend any working girls, no offence is meant.

Saj Karim is the latest to prove this point. He is an MEP for the North West of England. A few weeks ago he was happily tarting around for the Lib-Dems slagging off David Cameron. Then, this week, he miraculously saw something in the Tories, God knows what, and jumped ship. A bit like a political chameleon really, except that he attacked David Cameron for being one of those a couple of weeks ago! So why did Saj jump ship?

Well, he only came second in the Lib-Dems poll for their Euro list for the 2009 elections. Not bad most might think. But the UK, what's left of the UK, will lose MEPs next time around so that Eastern Europe can elect representatives. One might ask why we don't elect more MEPs in the UK to represent all the Eastern Europeans over here but let's not be petty. As a result the North West goes down to 8 MEPs next time making it virtually impossible for 2 Lib-Dems to be elected. And sitting MEPs get preferential treatment in the Tory selection process.

Saj Karim, man of principle or political whore? You decide.

By the way, the word is he sacked his Lib-Dem staff by text message. Nice fella.

Sean Gabb's Book Reviewed

Sean Gabb. Cultural Revolution and Culture War: How Conservatives Lost England, and How to Get It Back. (Hampden Press, London, 2007)

Sean Gabb is Director of the Libertarian Alliance and an economist who advocates the closure of economics departments in our universities. He has over 1,000,000 words published and is a broadcaster as well as a writer.

His new book is not the run of the mill attack on political correctness that many writers indulge in; he does not merely recycle tabloid headlines but goes deep into the heart of the political revolution, known as ‘political correctness’, that is destroying our country. He then outlines his manifesto for counter-revolution.

The ground is covered in 105 pages with not a word wasted and in a style that is extremely readable as well as enlightening, a rare quality in an academic. His words hit the target as effectively as an English bowman on St Crispin’s Day. Be warned, Dr Gabb pulls no punches and to many his medicine will seem extreme, and although he has expressed his support for us in the past, he does make a couple of negative passing comments about UKIP. Having said that there is also a quote from Nigel Farage early on in the book.

Even the charity world comes under Dr Gabb’s microscope. Many charities are vehicles for political correct revolutionaries but too many commentators shy away from criticising these ‘worthy’ organisations. Not Sean Gabb: “…we should reform the charity laws, so that the only organisations able to claim charitable status would be those unambiguously devoted to feeding soup to tramps and looking after foundlings.” (p15). Reading this book en route to a UKIP Elections Committee meeting in London I laughed out loud on the train more than once, not because it is a comedy, but at the sheer courage and honesty of Dr Gabb’s observations. He truly does say what many people only think.

The book exposes the terrible manipulation of popular culture and the media to further enhance the politically correct revolution. He cites the TV soap opera Eastenders and the Radio 4 soap The Archers where any similarity to real life has been sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. The hope is expressed that once the frontiers of the state have been rolled back, newspapers such as The Guardian will close down as there will no longer be revenue from the thousands of public sector/politically correct jobs currently advertised in it that keep it afloat.

He admits that his stance on the legalisation of recreational drugs may not have the support of all, even all libertarians, but when there is an acceptance that a problem exists, and that current policies are clearly not working, then more radical solutions need to be considered. However he states quite clearly that: “It is not the business of the authorities to tell adults how to live-and especially how to behave in private”. (p66). And finally, he advocates the abolition of all new criminal offences created since around 1960!

Whether you agree wholeheartedly with Sean Gabb, or agree with some of his philosophy, this book will certainly stimulate thought and discussion. It’s that time of year when it will make an excellent present for libertarian friends, or for politically correct friends who you may wish to thoroughly enrage. Either way at £9.99 it is extremely good value.

This, and other books by Sean Gabb, are available from:
The Hampden Press
Suite 35, 2 Lansdowne Row
London, W1J 6HL

Or via: www.hampdenpress.co.uk

The Annual Police Terror

The late, great writer and humourist Aubron Waugh used to call Christmas the 'annual police terror'. Traffic police hunting in packs to try and track down evil motorists who have had a mince pie with a splash of brandy in it. Setting up road blocks in the morning trying to trap some poor hungover motorist driving to work but still carrying too much alcohol in his system from the night before. Well, just like the shops our wonderful constabulary have started Christmas earlier than ever this year.

Last night my wife was driving us through the centre of Lancaster when, some way ahead, we spotted a police Range Rover, all its lights flashing, pulling away after mithering a taxi driver. We carried on and after about half a mile the self same Range Rover appeared behind us, headlights and blue lights flashing away. My wife slowed down and pulled over but he stayed behind her so she turned a corner, out of the way, and stopped.

There then appeared what can only be described as an obnoxious pillock in a blue uniform who proceeded to patronise her and treat her like a piece of dirt. First he accused her of 'driving erratically'. When a spontaneous "are you joking?" came back to him he replied: " I can assure you I don't often make jokes". Now that I can believe as he did prove himself to be a humourless, self important egomaniac. He then changed the 'driving erratically' to 'veering towards the white line at one point'.

He was very angry that she quite obviously had been nowhere near alcohol that day, his little game was over and he wasn't happy. We eventually continued our journey after a further patronising lecture from our Keystone Cop. No doubt he took his anger out on the next poor motorist he decided to treat like dirt.

Shame how the real police usually appear so pleasant and helpful, although there are bad ones as in any walk of life, but I have yet to encounter a traffic cop who I would put out if he was on fire. An old pal, an ex bobby, once told me that the traffic police, at his station, had to have a seperate table in the canteen because the other police wouldn't sit with them. I can see why!

What is it about Blairs?

Sir Ian shows what he thinks of us!

Why is it that Blairs never seem to know when we have had enough of them. First Tony now Ian. I bet they would be the bores at the party who stand in the kitchen, boring the host to death at 4-30am, when the poor old host wanted to bugger off to bed, like the rest of the guests had, at 3-00am.

Now in the case of Tony he was elected, so the general public, some of them, should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. But in the case of Ian, who by the way should be stripped of his 'K' too, he has no such mandate.

The problem is that the prosecution of the Met for health 'n' safety breaches has muddied the waters. Most thinking people in Britain automatically side with those being terrorised by the health 'n' safety Gestapo, and in the case of the Met, justifiably so. However, the Met has been found guilty of crass incompetence by the IPCC and, for 24 hours after the shooting of the Brazilian, Ian Blair had no idea what, if anything, was going on. In most organisations such a criminally incompetent CEO would have been down the road, months if not years ago.

The problem here is that Ian's boss is Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary. Now, we can't have politicians sacking incompetents can we? Or having a quiet word suggesting that the honorable thing would be to walk? No that wouldn't do. After all we may then expect politicians to behave with honour and dignity! Mind you, remembering poor David Kelly perhaps Ian should think twice before going for any strolls in the woods.

Evil Thatcher Blamed Again

Sicko Michael Moore-surely too fat to be treated on the NHS!

That fat hero of the pinko liberal classes is at it again with yet another work of fiction, sorry, he calls them 'documentaries'. To the rest of us they are films in the Al Gore genre, 'who needs truth when buttering up your PC pals'. Yes famous fatty Michael Moore is publicising yet another pile of pinko liberal bullshit this time praising the NHS as a way of attacking the USA and its healthcare system.

This afternoon in answer to a question about faults in the NHS he came out with the standard pinko response: "Well of course you have problems after what Margaret Thatcher did to the NHS". For crying out loud Mrs Thatcher has not led this country since 1990. And forgive me but what have Labour been doing for the last 10 years?

Tell you what Michael why not visit, and interview, my mother-in-law who has just had emergency surgery for a broken hip, not ideal when frail and 82. And why did she need the op? Because she could barely walk, needed the loo (when in hospital) and fell because there was nobody answering her emergency buzzer to help her get to the loo. Still at least she was in hospital so treatment would be quick and effective, wouldn't it? Wrong again. Family were told that she would be fine when the bruising subsided. But it didn't and neither did the pain. A week later, after persistent requests from family, she was checked again and found to have had a broken hip, untreated, for almost a week.

Talk to the old boy in his 80s discharged with an undetected broken neck. Or to the local man who has just buried his wife who died because the glorious NHS diagnosed her with asthma a year ago. It turned out to have been heart trouble that could have been treated if detected properly in the first place.

Tell you what fat boy, come over here and be taken ill and see what you make of the NHS when they say: "Sorry fat boy, we can't treat a porker like you, self-inflicted you see." But then again with the wad you've made from your lying documentaries you will be able to pop over the road to the private hospital won't you?

New motto for the fat boy's production company: "Don't let the truth get in the way of propoganda". But idiots will still pay to watch his films.

Why not try the following site:

http://www.moorewatch.com/

Paraguay-The Heart of Latin America

Lugo (left) embraces the Governor of the Central Department

In 1991 I was fortunate enough to spend a few weeks in Paraguay. It was in the transitional period, following the overthrow in a coup of General Alfredo Stroessner, to democracy and General Rodriguez was interim president pending elections.

At the time there were positives in Paraguay, but the move to democracy was vital. Sadly, as seems to be the case in Latin America, there is a brief flirtation with democracy then some lefty lunatic, in the mode of Che 'Ernie' Guevara, decides a few people are poor therefore the state must be overthrown, slaughtering a few thousand poor 'peasants' in the process. The left then proceed to bleed the country dry before the military step in. There then follows swift retribution, followed by liberalisation and a gradual return to something like democracy. Then the cycle begins again.

The following warning, ahead of elections in Paraguay, is from the Independent Institute website: http://www.independent.org/

Latin America Doesn’t Need Another Radical Like Chávez Paraguay Must not Elect a Populist Who Belittles the Rule of Law October 10, 2007Carlos SabinoChristian Science Monitor

ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY—“Change or death.” That’s the stark campaign slogan of Fernando Lugo in his bid to become Paraguay’s next president.
The outspoken populist appeals to the poor—but he also increasingly resembles Latin America’s leading anti-democratic firebrand, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.
His candidacy is cause for concern that Paraguay’s gradual 18-year move toward democracy may be reversed. The last thing Latin America needs is another populist troublemaker.
Already, Paraguay’s democratic progress has taken a few hits under the current government. President Nicanor Duarte Frutos, whose term ends next August, has tried—unsuccessfully so far—to amend the Constitution so he can run for reelection. As his campaign to remain in control becomes more desperate, so have his methods. They have grown increasingly strident and confrontational—common in a region long known for populist politics.
His party, the traditional National Republican Association, or Colorado Party as it is known, has split into three factions, with little likelihood of reconciliation.
That means the opposition is now poised to assume power. As bad as Mr. Duarte may seem, the opposition is worse; as is its leading candidate, Mr. Lugo.
A former priest who became bishop of San Pedro, Lugo has long been involved in politics and is known as an outspoken advocate of a controversial ideology popular in the 1970s and 1980s known as liberation theology. This earned Lugo the title of Paraguay’s “Red Bishop.”
The Catholic Church hierarchy dismissed Lugo from his clerical duties when he announced his candidacy for president, but that didn’t stop him. On the contrary, his removal from the clergy appears to have intensified his anti-democratic stances, which increasingly allies Lugo with Venezuela’s Mr. Chávez and Bolivia’s Evo Morales. On a billboard that rises over Asunción’s main boulevard, for example, the Lugo campaign advertises the slogan, “Change or death,” and brags that their candidate doesn’t consider himself “a slave of the law.” So much for the rule of law.
The opposition faces a dilemma. If it continues to support Lugo, it could win—maybe—but will have to deal with a demagogue who thumbs his nose at the law and could plunge the country into chaos. If it enters the elections divided—already, three parties have split off from the original coalition of 10—and offers several candidates, it is almost sure to lose. Worse, Lugo could go all the way and become a dictatorial strongman like Chávez.
Though the political class is wary of him, Lugo has broad support among the country’s poor, who are drawn to his populist rhetoric about the evil rich and the need to redistribute wealth to those less fortunate.
Ranting about the rich has broad appeal because Paraguay is a poor country with a high unemployment rate—nearly half the labor force works in agriculture, more than 16 percent of the population is unemployed, and 36 percent of all Paraguayans live below the official poverty line. And while not totally in shambles, its economy is languid, growing at a compounded annual rate of just 1.3 percent per year over the past five years, according to The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal’s 2007 Index of Economic Freedom, which ranks the economy well down the list in terms of openness—99th out of 157 globally, and 22nd out of 29 in the Americas.
With a weak economy; high levels of government corruption; and a restrictive, highly regulated, labor market—one of the worst in the world—Paraguayan society is ripe for the kind of politics-of-envy message being peddled by Lugo. This is all music to Chávez’s ears.
For now, the likely outcome is far from clear. Lugo’s words and actions have created considerable unease among many even within his own coalition. The ruling party is torn by divisions. There are even proposals afoot to legally block Lugo’s candidacy.
The unease is also spreading to neighboring countries, especially Brazil, which are understandably concerned about having another radical populist in the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking—not only for Paraguay, but for all of Latin America, which hardly needs another populist strongman to add to the region’s problems.

Carlos Sabino is an adjunct fellow with The Independent Institute, and a visiting professor and researcher at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín Foundation in Guatemala.

Ludicrous PCSOs

Below is a letter of mine printed in the Morecambe and Lancaster Citizen on 10 October. It was a response to a letter from the chairman of a local busybody group who actually thinks that PCSOs are a success! Not only that but he had been extremely rude about me, in a totally unnecessary way, which I can more than take but felt merited a suitable response.



We simply need more bobbies

HAVING lived and worked in various parts of the UK I must say that the Citizen letters page is one of the most stimulating and enjoyable I have seen. Some ideas proposed are wacky, some brilliant and some decidedly bizarre. Debate is often heated but usually within acceptable bounds. Then up steps Mr Lewthwaite, of Carnforth PACT (October 3), to indulge in gratuitous personal abuse, always handy when you have to defend the indefensible, in his case PCSOs.

'We should do away with PCSOs because they are a failed experiment. The public are being fooled'. That quote is from Paul Kelly, chairman of the Police Federation in Manchester. I think that his view has much more credibility than Mr Lewthwaite's.

What we really need are bobbies back on the streets, freed from the bureaucracy and politically correct red tape that has destroyed morale and takes them away, hour after hour, from doing what they wanted to do when they joined. The last thing we need is a highly visible PR exercise dreamed up by the Labour spin machine that is an obvious failure and fools few people.

I might be tempted to attend a Carnforth PACT' meeting one day. But then again I trust the police and would prefer them to be getting on with their jobs rather than wasting time in even more 'consultation meetings', so I probably won't.
Gregg Beaman, Carnforth.

European Gendarmerie Force

If anybody is still in any doubt about the sinister developments taking place in Lisbon at the moment then I suggeat that you read the press release below.

http://www.eu2007.pt/NR/rdonlyres/D4E8CF56-7780-43BF-93D8-95A76FF909E7/0/DAPEUROGENDFOR_declaraçãoing.pdf

And if you would like to know a little more about the EU's stormtroopers then visit their own website below.

http://www.eurogendfor.eu/

You're The One For Me Fatty

The latest intrusion into our lives comes today from a report published by the Foresight Programme. It attacks those of us on the big side and calls for "dramatic and comprehensive action" by the government to stop us all becoming obese by 2050. Personally I doubt I'll be here in 2050.

If you were wondering who the 'Foresight Programme' are surprise, surprise they are part of that all embracing monster we call 'the government'. So the government is actually recommending that the government takes action.

It blames the weight problem on our terrible modern lifestyle of "energy-dense and cheap foods, labour saving devices, motorised transport and sedentary work". So it's back to subsistence farming, wack a great big tax on cheap food to make it beyond our reach, back to women being stuck in the kitchen all day, horse and carts and a good, old fashioned manual job, the ones our parents warned us to avoid when we were at school because 'we could do better'.

Actually, they will probably only increase tax on food. Let's face it they slam us for tax if we smoke, drink, drive, work, buy anything, do anything so there's probably only eating left for the government to dictate to us on and try to stop us enjoying. Don't know about 'rip-off Britain' more like 'New Puritan Britain'.

And Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo has already intimated that a tax on 'fatty' foods may be considered. When will they leave us alone? The government blame society, which is us, I blame the individual and believe we should leave it to the individual to lose weight, or not, not the government.

Fighting the Big Three

I am pleased to have been selected as PPC to fight the new constituency of Wyre and Preston North at the next general election, whenever Mr Brown summons up the courage to call it.

With two extremely strong candidates in Morecambe and Lunesdale and Lancaster and Fleetwood, not to mention Blackpool North and Cleveleys, the UK Independence Party will put up a good strong showing next time around in Lancashire.

Of course we have, and continue to adopt, candidates throughout the North West and, with genuinely new and refreshing policies announced at the national conference earlier this month, we are set to make an impact throughout the region.

Here's how it was reported in the Morecambe Visitor:

http://www.thevisitor.co.uk/morecambe-news/Beaman-to-represent-UKIP-in.3227122.jp