Hayek v Keynes Rap

OK, I nicked this from the Libertarian Party Blog, there must be a spot of the thieving socialist in me somewhere!

Is Your Neighbour, Wife or Son a Stasi Operative?

I have just come across the most anger inducing website it has been my misfortune to find on t'internet. Thanks to the chaps at Big Brother Watch for bringing it to our attention.

Internet Eyes is a website where you, joe public, can register to sit behind your computer at home, snooping through CCTV cameras on behalf of businesses, ready to report incidents, such as shoplifting to Big Brother at base.

Now I don't condone shoplifting and actually have some sympathy with the hardline Islamist approach of amputation of the right hand, after all you don't see many of them without both hands apparently, so there is also a deterrent effect. But I do draw the line at this perverse method of electronic twitching curtains.

It is straight out of the Stasi handbook on turning the populace against each other and is a very worrying development. The police can't put up a poster of a wanted man because of his 'human rights' but next time you're perusing the 3 for £10 vino in Asda Mrs Jones at No 10 might be watching you on her laptop.

So what do our grasses get for their efforts. They go on a list of the top however many grasses, unless they want to remain anonymous, and have the chance to win 'something to the value of £1000'. Hopefully a one way ticket to an uninhabited desert island.

I'd rather my neighbour was watching good old fashioned porn myself. If I hear of anybody I know indulging in this sick pastime they will certainly get what for.

You see a police state can only come about with the collaboration of a servile, unthinking and plain stupid population. God help us.

Paying The Taleban Ransom

So now the Western governments admit that we, the people, were right and they were wrong. We could never win in Afghanistan and shouldn't have been there in the first place. Was it ever about the Taleban or was it all about poppies?

Either way we, the taxpayers, are now to pay a multi-million pound ransom over the next few years to the Taleban so that we can bring our troops home. So terrorism doesn't pay? It does if you're the Taleban or the IRA. I suppose there's hope yet for the British couple being held by Somali pirates.

I've been wondering about a few business ideas for some time now, this is a very interesting concept. Oops, better be careful, don't want the door kicking down at 4-00am and the neighbours woken up by a police helicopter overhead. Then again, it's a small price to pay when I can get a load of cash to stop being a naughty boy.

Manchester United 3 Manchester City 1

Great night to be a Mancunian. And at last those who didn't follow us in 2005 are kicking off against the Glazers.

The Spirit of Newton Heath:

Hammering The Motorist-Again!

Be careful when you pop your pay and display sticker on your windscreen. Chomping on the toast and marmalade this morning I was unfortunate enough to catch the BBC news. Lo and behold there was yet another item on how local Town Hall Mussolini's are making up their income shortfall from stinging motorists.

It seems that each local authority has the power to write into their parking regulations that anybody displaying more than one pay and display ticket can be given a fine by their enforcement officers, even when there is a valid one displayed.

The only way to avoid this, if you insist on displaying the odd old sticker in your windscren, is to check the regulations at the Town Hall of the authority you happen to be parking in. But you can bet they will all soon pick up on this and it will go nationwide.

If you do have trouble being 'taxed' as a motorist I suggest you remember to visit the website below:

AppealNow.com

Jack Straw And Chilcot

Yet more evidence that our current political class is full of greedy, lying, incompetent, stinking, corrupt, immoral, amoral, greedy, devious, conniving, scheming, self-seeking, slimy bastards:

Jack Straw's chief legal adviser at the time of the Iraq invasion directly challenged his former boss's version of events today when he told the Chilcot Inquiry that the then Foreign Secretary had overruled his advice against military action.

Here is The Times coverage.

More Green Taxes From Motorists?

This article appeared in WHATCAR? in March 2008.

This article appeared in the Daily Telegraph today.

The thrust of the first article was that the government was planning to introduce average speed cameras on 500 miles of motorway for safety reasons, because currently used cameras don't work. Yeah right, piss all to do with upping the income from motorists then.

In the second article the Department of Transport is now hiding behind a front organisation, the Sustainable Development Commission, to claim that average speed checks should be introduced on all motorways because reducing speed is necessary for the saving of the environment.

All bollocks. Muggins green/environmentalists will applaud it, the gullible will think it will help to save a polar bear so it's grudgingly accept it. The rest of us know the truth, it will generate millions in income for the government to spend on further building its police state.

Dr David Kelly and the Chilcot Inquiry

Anybody who thought that the Chilcot inquiry into Iraq would be objective and independent should think again after this weekend's revelations about the Hutton inquiry.

It has been anounced that Hutton has secretly ordered the medical details of Dr Kelly's death to be kept secret for 70 years. This has come about as a group of independent doctors believe that the official explanation of his suicide, and the way he did it, are totally implausible. They are doing their own investigation hence a reasonable request to access the records.

One more reason to be sceptical about Chilcot, and to question the morality of this government.

The Jam, The Electric Circus and Tony Wilson

I've just found The Jam In The City at the legendary Electric Circus in Manchester. In addition it is introduced by Tony Wilson aka Anthony Wilson aka Anthony H. Wilson, sadly no longer with us. Neither is Manchester's Electrc Circus come to that.



That appearance can't have been long before the authorities forced the closure of the Electric Circus, 1977 I think.

Beheading Looks Likely

According to The Times the British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, who were floating around the Horn of Africa and captured by pirates, could be dead within days.

Alright execution, be it beheading, which seems popular in that part of the world, or a bullet in the back of the head might be a bit harsh, but why the hell were the nitwits there in the first place? Bored with floating around the Solent and the Med? Got jippy tummy last time they floated around the Caribbean maybe? Perhaps it was a case of wanting to get off the tourist route, well the idiots certainly did that.

Perhaps they were indignantly reading The Grauniad one morning with their muesli and thought how hard done by those Yemenis and Somalis were, and what a totally unjustified bad press they were getting. So they decided to show the bloody West how hospitable they really were and grabbed their wellies and pointed the good yacht Plonker in an easterly direction.

Now they have discovered that the local hospitality costs several million pounds, of our money in the form of a ransom. Or we use our tax money on schools and hospitals and they pay the with their heads for there stupidity and irresponsibility. Bloody clowns.

Association of Muslim Police Officers and Professor David Nutt

Professor David Nutt was fired as a government adviser in October 2009 for saying ecstacy and cannabis were less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco. He was sacked, accused of trying to change government policy.

The National Association of Muslim Police claim now that ministers are wrong to blame Islam for being the “driver” behind recent terrorist attacks. They attacked the government's anti-terror strategy as encouraging hatred of Muslims.

I look forward to hearing that members of the NAMP have been sacked for trying to change government policy.

Here is the welcome message on the NAMP website:

Welcome to the National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) website.

NAMP is an active and influential national support group, it was set up to represent the interest of Muslim officers and staff within the police service.

Modern Policing is a rewarding profession that offers a range of challenges from front line policing by uniformed officers and Police Community Support Officers to support staff working behind the scenes in departments such as IT and the Air Support Unit.

Our mission statement:

“Muslims making a Difference to Policing”

That doesn't sound impartial to me so, if arrested am I likely to be treated impartially if collared by a member of the NAMP?

When he founded the modern police service one of Peel's most memorable principles was, "the police are the public, and the public are the police." No longer it seems, the police now represent their own "communities".

What a sad state of affairs.

Libertarian Party (UK) Interview

Following is an interview with my colleague Andrew Withers which appears on the Democracy Forum.

What is your role within LPUK (Libertarian Party UK)?

Currently Treasurer and Deputy Leader

How did you get involved?

One of the Five founders

The LPUK is a tiny party at the moment. How do you intend to grow it?

Organically from the bottom up with effective regional branches- best are South East, South West,Scotland and North West. Bringing Libertarians under one roof that are scattered and suffocating in other parties.

Do you find it demoralising being a small party?

Liberating ! I have been a member of another political party, but did not like the egos and need for leaders to have control over members and the public

Is there a paticular kind of person who joins the Libertarian Party?

Independent minded and self reliant

Isn't the Libertarian agenda covered by other parties such as the Liberal Democrats and UKIP?

Chokes with laughter ! UKIP have under Pearson returned to their huntin' , shootin' bannin' roots. The Lib Dems should just drop the 'Liberal' bit and admit they are Social Democrats.

If there isn't a local Libertarian candidate in the General Election, how would you encourage peope to vote?

For an independent with similar views, failing that 'None of the above' a party with over 40% of the national vote at present.

What do you feel is the single biggest problem facing the country at the moment?

A two party State,defunct political system,Quangos, unelected politicians and Chief Constables, a lack of a written Constitution and a massive State that employs over half of the workforce and more, its difficult to know where to start, but we need a new Constitutional Settlement.

Do you favour any kind of electoral reform?

Root and branch cutting out of layers of Government. The EU has not been assented to by the people of this country therefore is illegitimate, Westmister should only look after National Defence and Foreign affairs EVERYTHING else returned to either Regional or County level. Every level to be regulated by some form of PR to reflect the real local opinion, not landslides with about 31% of the vote. Each Region to set its own tax rates as per Swiss Cantons

The Libertarian party is often associated with the legalisation of all drugs and prostitution. Do you think that this scares away potential members and voters?

Why is it ? Scare tactics I think ! However drugs prohibition is not working any more than alcohol prohibition did in the USA in the 30's, it just makes just makes drugs cool and sexy because of the thrill of criminality, it causes gang warfare, shootings and polluted drugs which are a health risk to users. It should be a medical problem along with alcohol addiction.

Of course it will scare aware potential voters, because they have lived with Government inspired nonsense since 1968 ! I remember that twenty years ago we were all going to die of AIDS, then recently Bird Flu and Swine Flu. The State has its own reasons for creating these moral panics, so that it can 'protect' us.

There are five primary drivers for animals, sex is one of them. Despite Harriet Harman, the State is never going to be able to eradicate Sex or Prostitution. I would rather that those involved in the sex trade male and female, had access to regular health checks and were safe. Again its very illegality causes trafficking in sex workers by organised pimps.

When and where do you predict your first electoral success will happen?

We already have a City Councillor in Gavin Webb, he stood as a Libertarian Lib Dem and was elected as such. He was repeatedly suspended for his Libertarian views by the Lib Dems, which says more about the Lib dems than it does Gavin. Admittedly he was not elected under the LPUK banner. We have a number of Town Councillors who are party members.

First electoral success, who can tell, we need to break down the walls of the Main Stream Media, This GE we are only putting up a few candidates to show the flag, because out analysis is that a barbary ape with a blue rosette will win in the desperate need to cast Labour into the outer darkness, The next election will be the important one when the Conservatives doe a repeat performance of the Major years. We are aiming to build up local parties, local councillors from the ground up. We think we stand a better chance in Wales, Scotland and the London assembly were PR ensures a fairer representation of the vote. We are three years old, there are some surprises coming in the next two odd months which will raise our media profile.

Do you think that the party can succeed without a major financial backer?

Eventually, though we are not going to spit in anybodies eye if they want to be a major donor. However we are not the Labour party, there will be no gongs, peerages or influence on policy any more than any other member.

Would you consider political alliances with other smaller groups like the Jury Team?

Are they Libertarian in outlook ? If they are sure, but if they are just a bunch of individuals with no policies, what is the point.

The Libertarian party seems to have a good presence in the blogging community, but hasn't broken into the mainstream media. How do you propose to change that?

We sprang from the womb of the blogoshere, because it was a new medium that allowed freedom of opinion and expression, that the three major parties and the Media really do not like, as the political atmosphere was so closely controlled. We now know through Bloggers like Paul Staines that Brown had dodgy people like Draper and McBride working for them to indulge in political smears, we now know that a great number of our political representatives were hopelessly corrupt and venal. That has caused massive anger. The Mainstream Media did not bring this to light as it was not into their interest or their owners to do so. When PR arrives which it will eventually do. We will get media exposure. In the meantime what this space over the few months, and no I have not bought a spiderman outfit plus preparing from climbing on a public building.

Terrorist Threats-Dealing With Them

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time the English issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588 when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards" They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability. It's not only the French who are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Compose long operas" and "Make lots of cars". Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Americans meanwhile and as usual are carrying out pre-emptive strikes, on all of their allies, just in case.

And in the southern hemisphere...

New Zealand has also raised its security levels - from "baaa" to "BAAAA!" Due to continuing defense cutbacks (the airforce being a squadron of spotty teenagers flying paper aeroplanes and the navy some toy boats in the Prime Minister's bath), New Zealand only has one more level of escalation, which is "I hope Australia will come and rescue us".

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be right, mate". Three more escalation levels remain: "Crikey!', "I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend" and "The barbie is cancelled". So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

Police State Comes To Staines

If you doubted that we are fast falling into a police state then have a look at this:

IT WAS a show of force usually reserved for suspects on the radar of MI5.

But when police used a helicopter, armed officers and dogs to swoop on a Staines home on June 28, 2008, it wasn't to arrest an Al-Qaeda operative.

Their target was an 18-year-old politics student who had put a poster outside the home of the town's Army Cadet Force, a youth organisation for 12 to-18-year-olds.

Jeremy Moulton, now 19 and in his first year at Hull University, went home after making his stand.

I admit the lad was being a bit of a prat but come on, weren't we all prats in some way or another in our younger days? Did you ever get that kind of treatment?

Here is the full sorry tale.

Also found at Gun Culture, thanks Lurch. Well worth a visit.

Scott Brown Republican Senator

If, like me, you were wondering who this Scott Brown fella is, then here is his campaign website.

If you are still wondering, he won the Massachusetts Senate seat yesterday vacated by the death of Edward Kennedy. Maybe the influence of the Keenedy clan is finally gone, or maybe they have used up all their gin running millions. Either way it was thought to be a safe Democrat seat. The loss is maybe an indication of Obama's fast fading popularity.

Looking at some US blogs this morning it seems that Brown is the new darling of the Republican Party. Move aside for a male model Sarah.

Shami Chakrabarti On Religious Tolerance

Following on from the furore of recent days over UKIP's introduction of a highly illiberal policy of banning the burqa, I found an excellent article in The Times today by Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty on religious freedom in a modern, liberal democracy. Her piece is not about the burqa ban, but the persecution of Christian Nadia Eweida by British Airways and the state for wearing a crucifix. It follows on quite nicely though, and below are Shami's three paragraphs that truly hit the nail on the head:

It seems to me that any society has three choices in dealing with this small question of religion.

The first is to elevate an approved faith to the point of dominant status over all other belief systems. It is formally woven into the legal, political and social system, every sphere of public life and as much of private life as possible. An extreme example might be Afghanistan under the Taleban; a more moderate one, Britain at earlier and less enlightened times in its history.

The second option is, in many ways, equal and opposite. It is based on the view that faith is all dangerous, divisive mumbo-jumbo. No good can come of it so, if it cannot be eradicated altogether, it must be chased from the public sphere, confined to a place of worship or the home, upstairs under the bed with the pornography. An extreme example would be Stalin’s Russia; a more moderate one, the French Republic.

You will have guessed that I favour a third approach that is based on human rights and resonates well with a society such as Britain’s. Here the struggle for religious freedom has been strongly connected with the struggle for democracy itself.

I wish Nadia Eweida well in her appeal on behalf of all those of us who not only wear a crucifix, but value the freedom and liberty of all those who choose to practice their faith, whichever it may be.

We must also respect and welcome the liberty of those who disbelieve, and let them argue their case against religion without threats of harm for doing so.

UKIP Banning The Burka

I wasn't going to comment but a lot of people have asked me for my view on this issue today, so here it is.

Much as I dislike the burka, I believe that advocating a ban on the wearing of it is an intolerant act that smacks of populist authoritarianism. Any party advocating such a ban cannot be regarded as "libertarian". It is about personal freedom and choice, or rejecting personal freedom and choice.

If they advocate a ban on grounds of security do we also ban the wearing of crash helmets, balaclavas and all clothing that could, just could, hide the identity of a criminal? No, we use common sense, as we do already and women in burkas do have their identities checked properly at airports and elsewhere.

If it is to protect our way of life then are UKIP saying that our way of life, our culture and our national identity are so weak that the state needs to forcibly protect them? In effect they are trying to force us all to be British, or their view of being British and, if so, I say our culture, national identity and way of life don't deserve to survive. But I think they will, without draconian legislation they will survive and flourish.

Is it because the wearing of the burka is an overt symbol of adherence to a religion other than the established church and that UKIP fear that we may wake up under Sharia tomorrow. If so, are they also going to ban the wearing of the crucifix by Roman Catholics like me for fear of waking up to a Catholic state?

This proposal is highly illiberal, a measure that the European Union itself would be proud of and it has no place in a liberal democracy. At worst it is a cynical ploy by UKIP to attract a certain authoritarian populist vote. But it is a ploy that has backfired and has now, in the minds of many, put UKIP in the same pair of brackets as the BNP.

Neither party any longer offers a vision of England that I find attractive.

Here is a post from last June on this issue which, I am relieved to say, shows a certain level of consistency on the matter.

Nicotine Addiction

I usually meander down the stairs and check the TV news while I toast a couple of crumpets first thing, a good way of starting the day before popping out for newspapers or cranking up the laptop. This morning I saw the latest celebrity bullshit programme being plugged, and I use the word celebrity loosely.

This one is a programme following a bunch of misfits giving up fags. Wow, that will be rivetting viewing. They include the daughter of a couple of TV presenters, a Scouser who talks to the dead and some other bloke who seems to be famous for lying in bed being interviewed by the BBC on a Monday morning. It seems to have gone beyond z-list and left the alphabet completely.

I gave up the weed nearly three years ago, after more than thirty years on twenty a day, forty or more in my nightclubbing days. The main reason was starting to feel vulnerable to killer diseases (probably an age thing), so I wanted to minimise the chances of self-induced illness, especially after spending a night in a hospital which wasn't pleasant but that's another tale. I did it because I wanted to and didn't ponce about with patches, gum or some poxy NHS course. I certainly didn't do it on telly.

One of the things I don't miss, but it still angers me, is the self-righteous twat of a non-smoker who starts coughing and spluttering if he sees somebody light up fifty yards away, wanker. I still oppose the smoking ban, don't feel the urge to wash my hair or my clothes when I've been in the company of smokers, and urge visitors to my house to smoke if they want to. There you are, I'm all self-righteous in the oposite direction.

What I do object to, and it gets me very angry, is the state, in the form of the glorious NHS, putting expensive adverts on TV with kids whining about how mummy or daddy is going to suffer a long, lingering, painful death in front of said infant if they don't give up fags. That's not what I pay taxes for.

I also object to my taxes being spent by the state, in the form of the NHS, on courses and expensive kits to get smokers off nicotine. Then you hear some halfwit from the local NHS Trust telling us how they don't have the money to treat people with heart disease, MND or some other disease that requires expensive medicines.

Smoking, like chopping off your willy and growing breasts, is a lifestyle choice. NHS money should not be spent helping people change their lifestyles, use your own money not mine.

Here is the Libertarian Party policy on health.

I feel better for getting that off my chest, no pun intended.

Corporate Collaborators

Any police state needs the populace to collaborate, you only have to study Nazi Germany and the USSR to understand that. Then there are also your corporate collaborators, especially effective in the Third Reich and Mussolini's Italy.

So, like any police state Her Majesty's Government also ratchets up the power of the police state with the aid of corporate quislings. So step forward Scottish and Southern Energy:

'Staff feel the measures are so draconian that they can barely move around the workplace without breaking a Golden Rule. Under current company policy, anyone seen using stairs without holding the handrail must accept a “challenge” from a colleague or manager.

‘It’s known as a “yellow card”. If you are a repeat offender then the company can begin disciplinary action.’

Workers must obey the safety rules SSE confirmed that if a worker continually refused to respond to such challenges, the issue would be raised with their boss. A spokesman added: ‘Reversing into a static parking bay is safer than reversing out into a road or car park, which may have traffic and pedestrian movement which you cannot easily see.

Full story here if you can bear to visit the Mail on Sunday website.

If I wasn't such a softy I would take managers like that out into their car park, reverse them against the office wall and shoot them. But, being a big softy, I would just sack them and make them work in the Cheshire salt mines ready for the next Man Made Global Freeze.

Legalize It

It's been a heavy week so I thought it was time to get mellow with a spot of reggae from the great Peter Tosh: