Oppressed By The Welfare State

The state is a dangerous thing. The millions slaughtered in wars over the centuries, especially the twentieth century, have been slaughtered because of politics and politicians. The more powerful the state the more warlike it becomes. Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia were responsible for the slaughter in wars and pogroms of millions of people, including millions of their own people.

I don't put our current government, or even the hated European Union in the same category as the totalitarians of the twentieth century, but we should all be worried at the constant attacks on our freedoms by a creeping police state. Much of the anti-terror legislation put in place by the Blair/Brown government has been used to restrict our freedoms. Remember Walter Wolfgang? He was arrested under anti-terror legislation for heckling at a Labour conference.

In the UK the welfare state is constantly used to attack the populace. Put in place a welfare state funded by taxation and soon it is used to attack us in the interests of the taxpayer, us. Much more subtle and dangerous than the government openly declaring it is attacking us. Smokers are accused of being a drain on the NHS, so tax them until it hurts to force them to stop. In Soviet Scotland the politburo have slapped a minimum cost on alcohol and haved outlawed certain cheap deals on alcohol in shops and supermarkets. Of course it's all done with your interests at heart isn't it? Nothing to do with raising taxes is it?

Now the Coalition reckons the welfare state is under attack from fatties! The government is floating the idea of a fat tax, because fat people are a drain on the state like smokers and drinkers supposedly are. So they want to tax food that they think might make us fat. Plenty of people who eat what the state would regard as prime for a fat tax is actually healthy if eaten in moderation. So why not do it the other way round and drop the price of fresh fruit and veg? Because they want your money, they want to tax you, it's that simple! They happily send young lads to their deaths in Afghanistan and elsewhere so why not let the odd person eat themselves to an early death if they want to?

The problem is that no matter how much they tax us the people who are determined to smoke, drink and eat junk will do so, and they are often already the poorest people already. So once again it is the poorer people who are being attacked by an ever greedy tax increasing state.

In the true interests of equality why not slap a massive tax on sports equipment, health clubs, gyms and so on? Surely there is a cost to our glorious state when a cyclist is knocked off his bike or a Sunday league footballer has his leg broken by a beer bellied slob on the other side? What about the drain on the NHS when all those joggers and marathon runners have heart attacks and tear tendons and muscles? What about the cost of treating anorexics? Tax the bastards!

And finally:

Food Fascists

Steak tartare or a raw burger?

Food fascists are being fought back again by the valiant 'normals'. It seems that a debate has been started because uber-food-fascist Gillian McKeith has made a complete prat of herself on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

The debate seems to be around whether or not being a vegan has caused her to faint on a regular basis, and constantly lack any bottle, or whether she's a vegan because she's a big wuss anyway. I tend towards believing that vegans and the like are that way because they are soft arses in the first place. They are incapable of looking at a lovely joint of roast lamb without automatically visualising cuddly lambs gambolling across grassy slopes to feed at mother's teat. It's a terrible weakness and displays a total lack of moral fibre.

McKeith describes herself as a 'holistic nutritionist'. Now forgive me, but the minute I hear the word 'holistic' alarm bells ring and I suspect a nutter. And so it appears to be with McKeith. Nigella Lawson is only some three months younger than McKeith, yet Lawson looks 10 years younger than she is, McKeith looks 10 years older. Nigella eats meat, McKeith doesn't. It seem obvious that a diet that is truly 'holistic' means that you should eat the rabbit food, and eat the rabbit too.

The health fascists whine on about how bad for you burgers are. But food fascism isn't just the preserve of vegans, vegetarians and those with other eating disorders. Consider the following scenarios:

You take a nice piece of best steak. Cook it as you like. That's ok, top quality food.

You take a nice piece of best steak. Mince it and eat it raw, with a raw egg on top. Steak tartare, a French delicacy. Ooh la la!

You take a nice piece of best steak. Mince it and make a burger. Suddenly it's evil fast food that makes you so fat and unhealthy you explode and die. 

What happens that makes the burgers so unhealthy? Exactly, bugger all. It's  food fascism in the form of snobbery.

Eat what you want and stuff what others say. Most of us have a good idea what is healthy, what is not and how much of each constitutes a reasonably healthy diet without being lectured by the new puritans and wet nellies like McKeith.

Morrissey and the Chinese

Morrissey's done it again, and the Guardian reading pinko liberal misfits are spitting feathers and accusing him of racism.

If you don't know Morrissey is a musical genius and dedicated vegan and animal welfare campaigner. Personally I have no problem with eating meat, indeed foie gras is one of my favourites, and I enjoy the odd bullfight. But in a free world we are all entitled to our likes and dislikes and are free to criticise those we disapprove of.

Morrissey's mistake has been to take free speech literally, how very naive. In a magazine interview he described the Chinese, because of their appalling treatment of animals generally, in circuses especially, as 'almost a subspecies'. Fair comment in my view. Even as a dedicated meat eater there are limits and I think the Chinese, as with their human rights record, are a pretty vile mob. Their treatment of humans is what really angers me, and the fact that the pinko liberals prefer to ignore it and instead slam the USA for the odd execution just highlights the left's stinking hypocrisy.

It's worth Googling Morrissey to have a laugh at the bleeding heart liberals' response to his commonsense. Here is a good starter, The Guardian's coverage.

Here is a clip of Morrissey on meat:

Scientists and a Good English Breakfast

One thing that really pees me off is scientists making announcements, about things we all knew anyway, as if they're announcing they've just split the atom or found a cure for the common cold. They're at it again, and I'll bet they are extremely well paid for this 'research'.

My mum always used to say that the way to eat healthily was to "breakfast like a king, lunch like a lord and supper like a pauper". A bit like needing a full tank in your car starting out on a long journey then as you approach your destination (or bedtime), you obviously need less fuel. Commonsense. But scientists in Alabama are making news all over the world announcing the bleeding obvious, yet again. Remember scientists? The ones who gave us nuclear bombs, God knows how many viruses from their cocked up experiments, thalidomide, warned us that by 1990 every family would have lost somebody to Aids, that by now the British population would be 29 and falling because of Swine Flu? Well, they've now decided a good breakfast is indeed good for you.

So all those who scamper through town centres in the morning pretending to be so busy they you only manage coffee in a paper cup for breakfast, wise up! You aren't that busy that you can't pop into the greasy spoon for a full English. It's probably only a quid more than a poncey coffee in Starbucks, and you'll be served just as quickly in my experience.

I thnk every penny these 'researchers' have made should go to my mum, they're frauds.

First They Came For The Smokers, Then The Motorists.......

I have often wondered how the government gets away with encroaching ever more on our freedoms and liberties. I think it's accepted by many, and tolerated by others, on the 'well if you've nothing to hide' principle. There is a surviving naivety that what the state does it does for our good.

Now Hilary Benn, son of the pipe smoking inverted snob Anthony Wedgewood Benn, 2nd Viscount Stansgate, has decided that we have to be treated like children at a party when it comes to the food we eat, and be told and warned what is and isn't good for us. They don't allow prisoners to slop out any more, probably because of their human rights, but Mr Benn is going to force the rest of us to have slop buckets for waste food, on top of numerous wheelie bins, recycling boxes and God knows what other containers because he will no longer allow us to dump waste food in landfills.

In addition cafes, restaurants and takeaways will be forced to carry government health warnings. Why not put a warning along the lines of: "Eh fat boy, one more mouthful of that kebab and you'll burst"? You may remember last year the government warned it will force snack caravans to serve salads. God help us all.

According to the Telegraph it's the first major government food strategy since the last World War. I think it's a subconscious statement by the government that we are at war, and that the enemy of the people of the UK is the government.

First they came for the smokers, and I did not speak out—because I was not a smoker;
Then they came for the motorists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a motorist;
Then they came for the drinkers, and I did not speak out—because I was not a drinker;
Then they came for the restaurants and cafes, and I did not speak out because I didn't eat out;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

With apologies to Pastor Niemoller.

The North Is The Best-Official

When it comes to fish and chip shops the best in the country are in the North, and for my money the North West! If you don't believe me read this.

For me the big problem is that chippies 'darn sarf' don't sell the following:

Steak puddings
Mushy peas
Gravy
Cheese and onion pies

That should disqualify them from using the name 'chippy'. How can you have pie/pudding and chips without the piping hot comforting moisture of rich dark gravy? What's fish and chips without the luminous green blob of a portion of mushy peas? I've never seen scratchings in chippies 'darn sarf' either.

The picture shows my favourite compromise chippy meal. Can't decide between pudding and fish? Have both, with mushy peas and gravy. Oops, don't forget the four slices of Warburton's thick sliced bread dripping in real butter for chip butties, and a glass of Vimto!

And our local chippy is in that Irish gastronome's guide, you know, Egon Rooney.

Let Them Eat Cake

We have friends who have emigrated to New Zealand, indeed every week we seem to hear of somebody who has gone to New Zealand. When our friends went we warned that the grass isn't always greener on the other side and guess what? The nutters are rampant over there too.

It seems that the NZ government have now identified a porky problem with their school kids and, in true nanny state style, at least one school has banned kids from bringing birthday cake to school.

You can't escape it by running to the other side of the world I'm afraid.

Calling All Patriots-Especially Lancastrians

I am saddened to read reports, apparently emanating from Tesco, that certain traditional dishes are endangered species. This is a dire situation and I would urge all patriots to eat, eat and eat again to ensure their survival. If the nutters in Greenpeace can sail the seven seas to save the whale we can chomp away to save Lancashire Hotpot, cow heels and tripe and even Beef Wellington. We must then follow it up with lots of bread and butter pudding and/or spotted dick, two other endangered species. Not sure about saving sherry trifle though, oh yes go on, I'll be selfless and save it for others who might enjoy it.

Don't worry about weight gain, ignore the food fascists, they are only skinny because low fat this and skimmed the other is so tasteless they never eat it and starve.

Fair Trade?

It seems the Adam Smith Institute has produced another report on Fairtrade, and thank God.

I have always been amazed how gullible those liberal do gooders are to fall for this hogwash. There is even a town in Lancashire, Garstang, that proclaims itself to be "The World's First Fair Trade Town".

Fairtrade receives £2m from the taxpayers and is backed by numerous dodgy celebs., themselves worth millions but with very long pockets, but always quick to squander tax money. That says all you need to know about it.

Fairtrade is yet another marketting ploy that shafts farmers and farm workers in developing countries. But as long as pinko/green liberals, and loaded celeberities, get a warm glow they will turn a blind eye to the reality and grandstand, despite the real results of their actions.

The developing world needs free trade not fair trade.

Three Cheers for Big Knickers

Here's a great story about a masssive pair of knickers being used to put out a house fire.

Now all those whining PC wallies like Prime Minister Gordon Brown who think smokers, porkers and others with 'self-inflicted' ailments should no longer be treated on the NHS, might like to think how much Mrs Marsey, being a porker, saved the NHS. She said herself that her daughter's skimpy knickers would never have put out the flames.

So three cheers for £4.99 parachute knickers size 18-20, better than any fire extinguisher. Put on weight and save lives and property!

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".