European Gendarmerie Force

Following my post yesterday, linking to Torquil Dick-Erikson's article about Eurogend, I have been trying to track down the official website of this fascistic EU force but have been unable to. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right place, but I found eurogendfor.eu easily enough last year.

Anyway I have now found this piece on the website of the Portuguese Presidency 2008. It really does make for chilling reading, a sign of what life in the future EU authoritarian state will be like.

There is more about it on this French Ministry of Defence website, including an interesting picture gallery. The following quote is also taken from the same website:

"EGF was implemented as an instrument to shift from a military crisis management to a civilian one, meant to intervene more specifically towards the en d of a crisis. It can deploy about 800 men under 30 days' notice".

Yet Another Data Shambles

I do sometimes get the feeling that the government are just taking the piss out of us. Here is the tale of how some prat lost a data stick holding the records of every convict in Britain. This really is beyond belief and I can just imagine the queues of greedy solictors outside Strangeways and elsewhere, drooling at the thought of all that compensation they will be able to get for their 'clients' who have had their 'human rights' abused.

Certainly nobody, convicted criminals or anybody else, should have their personal data treated so carelessly by the state. It is one more reason for us to oppose the ever expanding database state.

European Gendarmerie Force

Here is a link to an update on the European Gendarmerie Force by UKIP's Torqil Dick-Erikson.

The image on the left is not EuroGend but our very own Dixons of Dock Green 2008 style. EuroGend really will make even our current batch of miltaristic riot police look like a bunch of fairies.

Interestingly I put a link on a previous post to the EuroGend official website, which boasted about the militaristic nature of this force, that website has now been taken down. I have checked other blogs with links to the EuroGend website and none of them work any longer either.

Mother Mac's

I was in Manchester yesterday afternoon on business, and that invariably includes a pint being in a very sociable kind of business. I couldn't resist a trip down memory lane and had to pop into Mother Mac's on Back Piccadilly, a pub I first frequented as a cocky youth some time in the late '70s and, thankfully, it hasn't changed.

If you don't know Manchester very well, and stick to the main roads when you visit, you won't know of the existence of this superb hostelry. It is a real pub that hasn't been savaged in the name of modernity and has a real friendly local feel in the City Centre. Most of the clientele are probably from Ancoats or Ardwick with the odd smattering of office workers en route to the suburbs via Piccadilly Station. Next time you're in Manchester treat yourself. Don't let the Manchester City FC paraphernalia put you off.

Meadowbank Stadium

With politicians falling over each other in the rush to claim responsibility for Team GB's success in Beijing, let's take a look at what those unreconstructed socialists in Scotland are up to. No trendy glory hunting by politicians up there in the workers' paradise. Instead they are carrying on the legacy of many previous governments by selling off sporting facilities to property developers. Very socialist!

Here is a link to the Save Meadowbank Campaign.

Ironically enough with our cyclists, including Scotsman Chris Hoy, doing us proud the demolition of Meadowbank includes the velodrome as well as the athletics facilities.

Middlesbrough's Lazarus

This is a cracking story from Ananova. I once knew Salford's Lazarus.

A few years back I had a summer job in Salford and worked with the most foul-mouthed little old fella I'd ever come across. He also had the bandiest legs I'd ever seen, in fact the whole set-up, being under some railway arches, was more than a little dickensian. There was even a portrait of Mrs Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha on the office wall that vibrated and almost fell off the wall every time a train went overhead.

Anyway the gist is that Noah, the little bandy fella, had also been declared dead a couple of years after his boat had been sunk in the last world war. When the war ended a grand memorial service was held in Salford Cathedral and, with perfect timing, he returned and walked into the church just as the service began. It seems he had not fancied going back into battle after facing drowning and spent the last two years of the war living it up with various hospitable tribes around North Africa.

I often wondered if this was myth but I met his daughter some years later who confirmed it. She knew straightaway who I meant when I referred to once having worked with the most foul-mouthed little fella in Salford.

Taking Liberties

Last night I decided to hit the sack early after a long day working, then starting a radio presenter training course in the evening. Having just received the DVD 'Taking Liberties' I thought I would start watching it, as a documentary it's the kind of thing you can dip in and out of. But once I started watching I couldn't stop.

If you don't know then 'Taking Liberties' is a film, and now a book, about our loss of fundamental liberties since Blair took office in 1997. The film was released to coincide with Blair's handover to Big Gordy Brown. Somehow it passed me by but is a real must to anybody of a libertarian persuasion.

The film comes at the subject from a pretty left-wing perspective but there is an element of balance provided by regular contributions from Boris Johnson and others. The subject matter is very often of the green/left persuasion but the principle of the film is equally valid to those on the libertarian right. It provides a near perfect picture of how the New Labour experiment has united the left and right in defence of freedom and liberty. It deftly portrays the way Labour have destroyed the six basic tenets of our liberty since 1997. The six being:

Right to Protest
Right to Freedom of Speech
Right to Privacy
Right not to be detained without charge
Innocent Until Proven Guilty
Prohibition from Torture

Some aspects of the film are almost comic, such as the absurdity of officialdom, especially the police, but the underlying message is terrifying. Anybody who has sensed the development of an authoritarian state in the UK, especially those of the 'nothing to hide nothing to fear' tendency should watch this film. It tells what many of us have been warning about for many years and proves how, even those with 'nothing to hide', can easily find themselves 'banged up', living under a control order or ending up with a criminal record for no reason other than wearing a 'Bollocks to Blair' t-shirt, or for the state not liking the cut of your jib.

English Resistance

On a trip to France earlier this year we went to see the Bayeux Tapestry. In the gift shop was a book I couldn't resist but have only just started to read. It is by Peter Rex and is entitled 'The English Resistance. The Underground War Against The Normans'. It is, as the title suggests, the story of five years of heroic resistance against the Norman conquerors. The foreword opens with the following quote:

"England has become a residence for foreigners and the property of strangers. At the present time there is no English earl nor bishop nor abbot; foreigners all they prey upon the riches and vitals of England".
William of Malmesbury, 1135

Looking at the European Union, especially with the Lisbon Treaty, little has changed.

Cause Congestion, Then Bring In A Charge

The following is a press release issued by the Association of British Drivers.

TfL Admits Livingstone Regime Deliberately Obstructed Traffic Flows
The latest report from Transport for London 1 states that despite 70,000 fewer cars a day entering the central zone and 30,000 fewer in the Western Extension, congestion in both of these areas is every bit as bad as it was before the charge was introduced.

Although some of this is down to road works, the report admits that many traffic lights and other road schemes have reduced road and junction capacity, and publicly confirms what previously was only admitted behind closed doors — that obstructing traffic was a deliberate policy.

"This latest report on the London congestion charge demonstrates the fundamental dishonesty of all road pricing proposals," said the ABD's Nigel Humphries. "They claim that by paying even more money to use the roads, drivers will benefit from lower congestion. But London has proved that anti car authorities and pressure groups will simply not allow this to happen. They just increase the number of traffic lights and reduce the road space available until drivers are just paying through the nose to sit in the same jams as before."

The crazy transport schemes of Ken Livingstone and his friends have brought London to a halt — they put in bus lanes to give the bus priority, but then they louse up the junctions with "pedestrian priority" measures which negate all the advantages to buses as well as hitting car drivers with a double whammy of delays. These problems are not confined to London — with or without road pricing they are endemic in every city in the UK.

Boris Johnson has made a start by reviewing the flow implications of all proposed schemes, announcing the death of roadspace eating bendy buses and consulting on the Western Extension, but he needs to go much further.

The ABD would propose the following:

A major programme of investment in trunk roads and junctions to remove conflict between heavy traffic and vulnerable road users by means of underpasses and pedestrian/cyclist bridges/tunnels. All money from the congestion charge should be ringfenced to pay for such schemes which benefit all road users equally and reduce danger and stress for all. Once these schemes are complete the congestion charge should be phased out.

All bus lanes to be reviewed to ensure that they do not restrict overall road capacity. This means no bus lanes through junctions or across pelican crossings, which halve the amount of traffic that can pass when there are no buses or taxis on the road.

Removal of at least 20% of the traffic lights in central London by identifying those which do nothing but obstruct traffic flow.

Removal of constriction points which create danger for cyclists and pedestrians by restricting the maneuvering space for large vehicles.

Redesign of all "forward stop line" schemes for cyclists. These are ill named as they really are "backward" stop lines for motorists and reduce the capacity of light controlled junctions irrespective of whether any cyclists are there. Forward stop lines for bikes should be just that - in front of the normal stop line - and should not place cyclists in front of the traffic.

Reversal of ruinous schemes like Trafalgar Square which reduce road capacity and create huge jams, mostly comprising buses and taxis.

Removal of all 20mph speed limits imposed on main roads.

ENDS

For those concerned about the introduction of a congestion charge in Manchester there is a debate on August 27 in central Manchester. Details on the Manchester Junior Chamber of Commerce website.

Politburo Tactics

The more oppressive our police state becomes the more secretive become the politicians and bureaucrats. According to this article in the Mail on Sunday our MPs are now going to extraordinary lengths to hide the full extent of their corruption from us. Thanks for bringing this out goes, once again, to The Taxpayers' Alliance.

Contrast the methods of our current batch of MPs with the late Enoch Powell. Despite being one of the most controversial figures of modern politics his telephone number and address were in the London telephone directory until the day he died.

Taxed To Death, And After Death

I've just found my recent attack on EU inspired taxation in the Lancaster and Morecambe Citizen. You can read it by clicking here.

Hot Curry

I don't tend to get paranoid about restaurant stories, the ones about how this or that restaurant was fined for some breach of hygiene regulations. I tend to work on experience, if it gives me Delhi belly I tend not to return. Indeed some of the best restaurants I came across on my travels were in Paraguay where there were no hygiene rules, the market ruled supreme, if you poisoned your customers they stopped going and you went bust. And it worked!

This story, from the Manchester Evening News, slightly concerned me however. If you care to read it the end of the article mentions Al Bilal restaurant in Rusholme being fined for breaches of hygiene regulations. Some months ago now I was in Manchester on UKIP business with Phil Griffiths, North West Chairman. Like me Phil is a curry fanatic so I took him to the curry mile and we ended up in Al Bilal. We did have some intestinal reaction the next day and I have not returned.

On Thursday night there was a programme on TV called 'Rogue Restaurants'. One of the dodgy ones featured was on Brick Lane. Mrs Beaman immediately declared that it would be The Clifton, sadly she was absolutely right. This is the place where I took a dozen UKIP members from the North West before last year's conference in East London. I have never had a reaction from The Clifton but promise not to take any other UKIP members to Indian restaurants of my choice.

End Of Another Tradition

As a new football season kicks off, with the English Premiership bearing little resemblance to an English league at all, another great English icon is disappearing. Walthamstow Stadium, the Wembley of English greyhound racing, has seen its last ever race. Along with Catford, Hackney, White City, Haringey and Wembley dog track itself, the stadium has been sold off to property developers.

I don't profess to be an expert on greyhound racing but do enjoy the occasional visit to the dogs. When domiciled in the capital I went with friends, and my sister and her other half, to Hackney dogs and to several charity nights at Catford, South London. It's fine entertainment and extremely sociable too, with the chance of winning, on my part rarely, the odd quid. But it is great fun first and foremost.

Of course if the government sees something is a success it has to get in on the act and a few years ago removed the tax-free status on betting at the dogs. Add to that the constant showing of greyhound racing in bookies shops, thus taking revenue away from the tracks, and yet again government action helps to destroy a part of our cultural and sporting life.

Of course a few animal rights nutters will be pleased at the closure of yet another dog track but, for my part, I think I'll counter that by popping along to Belle Vue dogs in my old part of east Manchester soon. No good crying over such closures, they need support to survive so get to the dogs when you can, I'm sure you'll love it.

Been Away

We've had a few days away in Northumberland, going over there last Friday. It must be one of the most scenic coasts in the country, with magnificent castles and the Farne Islands to visit complete with Atlantic Grey Seals and assorted bird life. It may have poured down every day but was well worth the visit.

One thing that struck us, not having had a holiday in the UK for a long time, was the ridiculous amount we spent on parking. Every town seems to have double yellow lines from about two miles out of town. You then find the ludicrously expensive car parks with outdated pay and display machines that make you pay up-front and they don't give change, take notes or accept cards. You then end up paying all day because you are tking a trip around a castle or on a boat that will take 2 1/2 hours. But you have to pay to park for up to 2 hours or all day! You also spend half the holiday trying to build up a huge cache of change acceptable to these awful machines, amassing change becomes an obsession.

Pubs have been wrecked too. We saw very few that were recognisable as traditional pubs. Most of them were mock bistros or fake restaurants, empty outside eating times. The death of another part of our culture, thanks to the last Tory government for effectively abolishing the tied house system and New Labour for the smoking ban.

On the way home we heard a debate on Radio 2 about local authorities accessing our text, phone records and emails under supposed anti-terror legislation. Some prat from Buckingham University tried to say that the public supported it because of binge drinking and gangs of kids hanging about on street corners. And he claimed to be some kind of intelligence expert! What next, take your letters to the Post Office open so that the censors can read it before you post it? Anyway every member of the public who risked intrusion by emailing or texting in was against. So much for the 'expert'.

I thought we were moving towards a police state. Wrong, we are well and truly in one. The reason I haven't blogged since last Friday is that to access the internet I used Northumberland County Council's libraries as a temporary member. I could access the internet but blogs are blocked. I could neither read blogs nor access my own blog. Welcome to Britain 2008.

Must be off now, must get home before curfew!!

Smoking and Brainwashing

I find the current spate of anti-smoking ads on TV quite disturbing, not to say dishonest. The ones I mean are the ones that tell smokers that they cannot possibly give up 'without help', and who's there to help? Yes the government, in the shape of the NHS. You really can't do anything without the nanny state under New Labour!

One thing I object to is the patronising tone of the adverts. It is possible to give up 'without help', I did it last March after smoking 20 a day for 30 years. I know plenty of other people who gave up 'without help' too. Indeed many of us would have given up earlier, but the more the state nagged and whined at us, the more determined we became to continue. And, having recently had my lungs examined, they show no signs of me ever having smoked.

I also object to taxes being wasted on medicines, support groups and whatever other paraphernalia the state funds to help people give up. Let them pay themselves if they really want to give up, it'd be cheaper than buying fags. And if people don't want to give up for God's sake leave them alone to get on with it.

All this government brainwashing has had a truly sinister result that is often overlooked, the vile and ultimately dishonest attitude of so many people to smokers. I've seen people 100 yards away, in the open air, suddenly start coughing and spluttering when I've lit up. Then there are the weirdoes who claim that after being in the company of smokers they have to shower when they get home, and send their clothes to the laundry because of the smell.

We've had friends to dinner since we gave up smoking (Mrs B has too) and they refused to smoke in the house insisting on going onto the balcony for a fag between courses. They thought they were being thoughtful but we really had to convince them, and several bottles of wine helped, that we had no problem with them smoking at the table. We didn't have to shower before bed, or change the curtains next day, because of the stench, but it really highlighted the power of propaganda.

So I still wish FOREST good luck in their campaign.

Be Afraid!

Whenever the people of a European state, or EU region, say enough is enough you can bet they will be ignored, or told if saying 'no' via a referendum to do it again. Hence the building of the EU superstate continues apace, despite the French, Dutch and Irish saying enough.

In the news today are reports of the EU moving towards formally sharing intelligence. That means that MI5 and MI6 will have to pool their intelligence with all members states (regions) of the EU. Immediately we could kiss our special intelligence relatonship with the USA goodbye. It was French military personnel who leaked American intelligence about Kosovo in the '90s that caused such terrible problems. And do we really want to share our intelligence with the likes of Bulgaria and Slovakia?

But, also bear in mind, the EU will then see the inevitable next step as developing the EU Gendarmerie force into a full blown EU national guard, operating freely in any member state (region). It's time to act and time for Europhiles to be honest and stop pretending that the EU is only a glorified trading bloc.

Passports Cloned

No real shock with this story, no real surprise either. A computer boffin has cloned the details of an e-passport. They were introduced into our glorious police state to protect us from the terrible real world by New Labour in 2006.

It just means that the government will try even harder to find more ways to monitor, bug, film and index us.

“I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own.” The Prisoner

Free Tibet

I have every sympathy with the people of Tibet and would happily campaign in the UK on their behalf, although I haven't yet. I fully agreed with the demos in London and elsewhere when the Olymic Torch was being carried to China. What I do find objectionable is people going to China, from this country, and demonstrating on behalf of the Tibetan people, or supposedly on their behalf. The case in point being this story that broke this morning.

Once again it seems to be 'eco-warrior veggie green' types indulging in a spot of cultural imperialism. They probably despise Britain for our imperial past but have no qualms about trying to impose their values and beliefs on alien cultures and systems when it suits their agenda. Yet another case of double standards on the pinko liberal left, a subject on which I posted here last month.

Eco Warriors

I have no reason to doubt this report about weapons being found at a demo of the great unwashed.

What I do find bizarre is that the police claim that only 150 or so green veggie types were intent on causing trouble, then claim they filled a whole lorry with confiscated weapons.

Summer Reading

Nice to see Dave 'The Rave' Cameron doesn't trust his front bench morons to behave on holiday, so he's given them all a long reading list to get through. Some are books by Old Etonian buddies of his some by Thatcherite thinkers. But the point is that he is trying to make them more 'Cameronite'. To me it just shows that he hasn't actually got a political philosophy to call his own.

Being free to read what I want my current reading is:

Germany Calling-Mary Kenny. The biography of William 'Lord Haw-Haw' Joyce.
The Berlin Novels-Christopher Isherwood. Mr Norris Changes Train and Goodbye to Berlin which became Cabaret.
Crimini-Various authors.(Italian noir or crime stories)

I like to have 2 or 3 different ones on the go to cater for whatever mood I happen to be in. There has of late been a strong pre-war realist tendency with Patrick Hamilton also featuring regularly.

I'd never make a good Tory.

Great Works Of Fiction

There are some pretty unbelievable websites but the New Labour website takes the biscuit.

Here is its list of Labour's 50 top achievements since 1997, according to a spokesman (left) on the Labour website.

But don't expect to find things like Iraq, Afghanistan, loss of border controls, 42 day internnment, CCTV and the police state. No, nothing like that appears in this piece of pure Stalinist propoganda. But truly wondrous achievements such as children getting a piece of fruit appear!

The nice thing is you can send them a comment. Below is what I sent them:

I'm curious as to why Iraq, Afghanistan, 42 days without trial and the building of a police state generally do not appear. I'm sure they would love to hear from you too.

Ageism

Every now and then I pop along and have a nosey at the Fabian Society's website, it usually gives me a giggle and today was no different.

Mike O'Brien, our glorious Pensions Minister, made a speech mid-July about ageism and it is reported on the FS website. I may be being simplistic, but while we are unfortunate to have the state providing so much of the poulation with pensions, I would say the job of Pensions Minister was to maximise the amount of money available to people through their pensions. But Mike seems to have taken on God-like powers and thinks he, or the state, can reverse the whole ageing process. Here is the speech in full, if you can be bothered.

He claims that ageing presents us with 'five new giants'. They are:

Poverty
Loneliness
Frailty
Discrimination
Fear

Poverty could be alleviated by reducing tax. Less not more government would therefore help.

Loneliness hasn't been helped by pubs closing down due to government policies, including high taxes and the smoking ban. Petrol costs (tax) also helps isolate people.

Frailty is a physical symptom of ageing. Sadly it's inevitable and no amount of governement mithering can reverse it. New Labour is not some kind of Dorian Gray.

Discrimination. I have yet to see anywhere stating 'old people not welcome'. I have seen more rude and inconsiderate behaviour from older people than I have younger people. But it is often older people who discriminate, in my experience, against younger people.

Fear. As the government is the most terrifying thing in the country the thought of it becoming 'active' with older people probably terrifies them more than anything else out there. Lots of things scare us throughout our lives, it's called life, mortality, all kinds of things, but is inevitable and natural.

Get back to your abacus Mike and leave poor old people alone!

Jezza the Brownite

Chomping on the rice crispies this morning I had a terrible shock when I read, on teletext, that my local MP, Geraldine Smith, was calling for the sacking of young Miliband. I immediately switched to the TV news and caught a doppelganger being interviewed. Hence the two piccies. But no it was Geraldine, her hair has just changed colour. When I stood against her in 2001 her hair was so black she made your average Raven look Teutonic, her nickname was Morticia. Now she's some kind of strawberry blonde I think you call it. I think she is perhaps overworking.

It's very rare you hear from Geraldine in Morecambe and Lunesdale unless it's an extremely local issue, such as cracked pavements. She got in on the Chinese cocklers' tragedy although excellent local independent councillor Keith Budden had been the man campaigning for years for improved safety and monitoring of cocklers in the Bay, there were TV and radio crews there for days you see.

Yet suddenly she comes out fighting for Big Gordy Brown. I can only think she is tired of politics and knows that if Big Gordy remains in charge she will lose her seat next time round.

Nice Mr Obama

As people question Barack Obama's recent 'I'm the Leader of the Free World Tour 2008' more shenanigans from the great one's camp have emerged. This is a report from Israel National News.

It seems there has been a spat in the Israeli media about who leaked the contents of a private religious message left by Obama in the Kotel when he visited. It made Obama look like an all round decent chap, buffing his Christian credentials and showing his "humility". Problem is he leaked it himself. Not very modest that.

Police State

I am currently helping arrange a few speakers for the UKIP national conference in
September, it's always refreshing to have speakers from organisations outside UKIP. While doing this pleasant task I Googled Guy Herbert, Gen. Sec. of No2ID and came across this splendid, albeit chilling article from the Times in 2006.

Language of Politics

Miliband is widely reported as calling for a "summer of introspection". It's interesting at times like this how the language of politics becomes barely recognisable as English.

What "summer of introspection" actually means is "don't look within Gordon, look behind to check what's hovering between your shoulder blades, knife crime on the way".

"New Labour won three elections by offering real change, not just in policy but in the way we do politics. We must do so again. So let's stop feeling sorry for ourselves, enjoy a break, and then find the confidence to make our case afresh." This nice phrase, translated into real English means: "Remember those heady days under Tony when we couldn't lose? Well it's time for another real change, another change of leader, time to put a fresh faced young chap like me in charge".

Paraguay at the Crossroads

This was one of my earliest posts.

Having spent some time in Latin America, and particularly Paraguay, I am sad to see the problems that lie ahead there due to a 'turbulent priest'. The piece below is taken from The Lighthouse.

President-elect Fernando Lugo will face huge obstacles to fostering a prosperous democracy when he takes power in Paraguay in August. As Carlos Alberto Montaner, advisor to the Independent Institute's Center on Global Prosperity notes, the former Catholic bishop can hardly look to positive role models among his immediate neighbors. Argentina under the Kirchners is experiencing a new form of Peronism. Brazil? Lugo will likely be butting heads with it. Bolivia? Morales is Chavez "light."

An alternative way to frame the choice for Lugo is to consider not Paraguay's geographically closest neighbors, but rather two countries that exemplify widely divergent visions of economic development: Venezuela and Ireland. Which of the two approaches is he more likely to emulate?

"If he is guided by the rancorous nonsense of Liberation Theology, his country will undoubtedly follow the Venezuelan road and plunge into a deep political and economic crisis," writes Montaner. "If he chooses to look to Ireland (or Chile, close to home), he'll be able to serve his neediest compatriots, which is what he apparently desires. I haven't the slightest notion of what he'll do, but, with the passing of years, I've learned that optimism is usually followed by frustration. Lamentably."

"Paraguay: Ireland or Venezuela?" by Carlos Alberto Montaner (7/16/08)

Center on Global Prosperity (Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Director)

Purchase Lessons from the Poor: The Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit, edited by Alvaro Vargas Llosa.

Purchase Liberty for Latin America: How to Undo Five Hundred Years of State Oppression, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa.

Lawn Mower Murder

I've seen this story in a couple of publications in the last few days. Not being one for gardening, my excuse for ours is that 'I've planned it like a real meadow', I sympathise with anyone who shoots the life out of a lawnmower. Having said that I think up to six years in jail for doing it is a bit excessive.

Beyond gardens my DIY phobia probably manifests itself most extremely in IKEA. I wonder what I would get for nuking an IKEA store?

On Yer Bike Dave! Or Perhaps Not.

Poor Dave Cameron, he's had his bike nicked. What I've never worked out is whether his bike is a genuine mode of transport or a prop. Either way having it nicked should make him think twice about stocking up on salad at the supermarket. Get a grip man, you're not a rabbit.

If it is a genuine mode of transport can I suggest he replaces the nicked one with a proper bike, hand made by English craftsmen next to his constituency? Go on Dave, buy a Pashley. That's a real bike.

Life's Grim

When you think life's a bummer, and you think you've got problems. Just think on, you could be Gordon Brown!

By Gum It's Hot Down South

Currently in Central London on a writing for radio course. Today has been extremely good, but I've got 'homework' tonight so posting the rest of this week will be sporadic, at best. A blessed relief some may say!

It's amazing how humid London gets as soon as it warms up and today is extremely humid. Mind you, I get home on Friday and am off to speak at the UKIP North East rally in Stockton on Saturday, so that will cool me down, it's probably still frosty in the mornings up there!

Yankophobia and Pinko Liberals!

David Aaronovitch is a writer who often enrages me, but in this article from the Times today I have to say he is absolutely spot on.

It always strikes me that pinko liberals go berserk if you criticise a whole group, let alone a whole nation or, God forbid, a whole race. But when it comes to the USA it's open season, the whole nation is fat, greedy, drives cars that do 2 miles to the gallon and have no culture whatsoever. They are loud, rude and all wear outrageous Hawaiian shirts and baseball caps back-to-front. I'm sure you know what I mean.

Pinko liberals have this sickly habit of referring to what we used to call 'Red Indians' as 'native Americans', when in reality they were originally immigrants themselves, they just got there slightly earlier than the Dutch, English etc. Now this to me implies that they, 'native Americans', have more of a claim than whites who have only been there a couple of hundred years. But you try using that argument about 'native Britons' and the whole PC armoury is pointed directly at your head.

Another example of left-liberal hypocrisy is their criticism of British migrants. You know the ones I mean, they go to Spain or France and turn villages into little England with shops that sell HP sauce and Fray Bentos pies, they don't mingle and integrate with the locals like they should and never bother to learn the lingo. Then you point out that it's a bit like Cheetham Hill in Manchester, or Brick Lane in London where migrants to this country have done the same thing and they go apoplectic with rage, scream that it is a totally different thing and call you a racist.

Personally I think life is too short. If a Briton abroad wants to eat pie and chips let him, and nobody loves Brick Lane more than I do. It's the hypocrisy that gets to me. I can't be doing with all this splitting the population into racial groups and long for the day the far-left and far-right drop racial politics and see us all as human beings, period, as the Americans say.

Libertas

Here is a worrying development from the Telegraph.

Declan Ganley is to fund 400 candidates in countries that have had no referendum on the Constitutional/Lisbon Treaty. The difficulty as I see it is that Ganley, who is pro-EU but anti-Lisbon Treaty, will be asking people to use the EU elections next June as the referendum they never had, and that a vote for his Libertas movement would be a 'no' to Lisbon.

Yet again the pitch could easily be queered for real Eurosceptic groups, especially withdrawalists such as UKIP. With the money and influence Ganley has his campaign could easily eclipse others, including the Lib-Lab-Con, and draw in votes from real opponents of the European Union seduced by the message.

Another Data Cock-up

This time it's the MOD.

An employee of the MOD left a laptop on the floor beside him while checking out of the Adelphi in Liverpool. Next thing whoosh, it was gone. I'm sure the fact that it was in Liverpool was pure coincidence.

Breaking News

It seems that Gordon Brown has just landed in Iraq, Barack Obama in Afghanistan. Some opportunity there for changing the course of world history!

Treason and the British Constitution

I am currently being bombarded by a bunch of eccentrics because I have questioned the wisdom of trying to bring treason charges against politicians who have taken us into the European Union. Treason is a very difficult one to interpret, people like the late Norris McWhirter and Rodney Atkinson have tried that route and failed. I have the utmost respect for both and met them on a couple of occasions. With their talents and resources to have failed leads me to believe that continuing down that road is a waste of time and effort.

This latest group, the ones I have upset, are basing their efforts on the fact that successive British governments, in relation to the EU, are in breach of the British 'written' constitution.

When I pointed out that we do not have a written constitution , and forwarded a link to an internet site to prove the point, I was told that it was part of a CIA conspiracy.

In fact, thinking about it, they are not eccentric, they are actually mad.

Mark Cavendish-Le Tour

Mark Cavendish has now won four stages of this year's Tour de France. A true sporting great at 23 years old!

Bring on the Olympics.

Enfants Terribles?

For years there has been a pinko tinged group in Britain who worship all things French, indeed all things foreign, while despising British culture.

One of the main symptoms of this is their view of the French attitude to kids, especially their presence in bars and restaurants. There are the constant comparisons between French and British kids when it comes to alcohol, how the French kids don't get drunk because they are given a glass of wine at birth and all that nonsense.

Admittedly you don't tend to fall over drunken, puking teenagers on your way home in Paris or Bordeaux, but I haven't in Lancaster or London either. Indeed I often wonder if the media stage those secenes of semi-clad teenage girls puking in a gutter to spice up their reports on binge drinking.

So if there isn't a problem in France why is the French Health Minister planning to ban under-18s from buying alcohol in bars, restaurants and supermarkets? Is it yet another attempt at EU harmonisation, or do the French actually have a problem with young drinkers too?

Faggot, Pikey, Chav

There you are, in one heading I have used three words that the Fabian Society believe are no longer acceptable and should be banned. Those sanctimonious, humourless PC tits (whoops, that might be another one) at the Fabian Society are at it again. Here is a review of an article in the Fabian Review telling those dear old lefties how evil it is to use the word 'chav'.

They are absolutely appalled that there are websites dedicated to ridiculing 'chavs'. They would be even more appalled to see a shop window in Lancaster proudly displaying their latest t-shirt design bearing the logo 'Vale of Lune Annual Chav Shoot 2008'. They would probably have the shop shut down and the owner on the dole to save the blushes of a nasty little chav.

If you are worried the Fabian Society might be trying to protect you then try The Chav Test. . And if it is you then perhaps you should NOT visit this website. Personally I like chavs, if the football gets boring they give you something to laugh at and take the mickey out of.

In reality the important thing with language is the context, as any reasonably intelligent, mature adult is aware. Sadly the Fabians, like most socialists, are humourless control freaks who love nothing more than taking offence on behalf of a third party, who is probably not in the least bit offended anyway. In fact they are a bit like the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

Offending Muslims

So the Archbishop of Canterbury finds christianity offensive, which is effectively what he is saying here. I wonder what form his christianity actually takes? I'll bet very few muslims agree with him.

Max Mosley

I'm afraid I can't be bothered reading a great deal about the Max Mosley trial but he does have my sympathy.

What consenting adults do in private is exactly that, private. Why should it be anybody else's business and what right has anybody, especially a newspaper, to hide cameras then publish the private activities of consenting adults merely to cause embarassment?

The invasion of privacy is surely far worse than the bizarre sexual shenanigins of a grown man and grown, consenting women.

After all it's just a little harmless English s&m!

How Scilly!

At first I thought this report was a joke.

But it's true. A job ad. for an air traffic controller in the Scillies states that the application pack can be requested in Braille or audio for the blind. By gum it's political correctness gone mad!

The spokesman for the RNIB should be shot.

Mark Cavendish-Le Tour II

What another superb ride from Mark Cavendish yesterday. Even the laid back Mrs B was up from her chair roaring on the young Manxman yesterday afternoon.

Imagine the shattering disappointment today when Andrew Longmore, in the Sunday Times, referred to Mark's Manx accent as 'broad Scouse'! As a Mancunian I would sack Mr Longmore for that.

Anyway, what are the odds now on Mark Cavendish winning a third stage?

Fascist State of Europe

The continuing slide into unfettered fascism of the European Union continues apace.
Read this.

Mark Cavendish-Le Tour

Congratulations to Manxman Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia) who won yesterday's stage of Le Tour from Cholet to Chateauroux, he even managed a sprint finish after riding 232km!

Report here and video of him crossing the line.

In the overall standings David Millar of Scotland is in 3rd position and Christian Vandevelde in 6th, both of Team Garmin-Chipotle.

'Brave New Britain'

New Labour, and Cameron's Blue Labour, are really uniting a diverse group of freedom fighters in the battle to save what freedoms and liberty we have left,and hopefully, to restore many that have recently been eroded.

A couple of days ago I was singing the praises of Peter Tatchell and the Green Party position in today's Haltemprice and Howden by-election, today it is the turn of Bob Geldoff to stand and take a bow.

Bob Geldoff's article in today's Telegraph.

Police State

Yet another case of mistaken identity in this report.

Yet another innocent man arrested by a mob of harmed plod. Still 'if you've nothing to hide you've nothing to fear'. Oh, unless you happen to be an innocent Brazilian at Stockwell tube station. At least plod at Bournemouth didn't shoot this lucky bugger.

Just think, one day it could be you!

Three Good Ones In Westminster

When Bob Spink came to UKIP I was pleased, especially because of his principled stand on abortion. I was disappointed, to say the least, when he voted for 42 day internment but he has redeemed himself with this piece in the Telegraph condemning the proposed further liberalisation of the abortion laws.

Also to be commended for her stand is Nadine Dorries. It's good to know there are still one or two people in Westminster with principle.

And for the hat-trick, hats off to Baroness Manningham Buller. The former MI5 chief blew the lid off the government's pretence that the 'intelligence community' supported 42 day internment. Hats off to her and you can read all about it, and see a video of her speech here.

I don't think I've ever praised three politicos, well two MPs and a Baroness, in one post before.

EU Elections

Next June the 'citizens of the EU' (that's us) go to the polls, well probably around 20% will bother going to the polls. Working for an MEP who like me wants Britain out of the whole sorry mess, it does make me ponder, quite frequently, on these strange circumstances.

I think back regularly to about 20 years ago in London. Along with Mrs B I attended a meeting with Enoch Powell. During the meeting he was asked how he recommended people vote in the next European elections. Mr Powell thought for a second or two before responding that he wouldn't soil his hands on a European ballot paper. His argument was that voting only gave it a veneer of credibility, even a modicum of legitimacy.

In 2004 I was second on the UKIP list of candidates for the North West in the last Euro elections. On the day of the count, but before it began, I appeared on the BBC's Politics Show. Towards the end of the show Arlene McCarthy, a particularly unpleasant Labour MEP, accused us (UKIP) of lacking the principle of Sinn Fein, who refused to take their seats in the Westminster Parliament that they opposed. My thoughts at this comment were that their 'principles' hadn't stopped them taking part in the process or taking the taxpayers' money that came with having MPs. Having said that they are now power sharing in Ulster.

Since 1999 UKIP have had MEPs in Brussels/Strasbourg, 3 originally 10 now. While there have been very real benefits from this representation how near are we to a breakthrough in Westminster, other than defectors from another party? We must remember that even if all 75 or so MEPs elected next year for the UK were UKIP, they would not be able to get us out. In the meantime the building of the EU superstate continues apace.

If we look at a few parliamentary by-election results it is quite a depressing picture. In 2000 I stood in the Preston by-election and got 2.1%. In Crewe and Nantwich this May, nine years after our first MEPs were elected, we got 2.2%. In Henley last month, in the aftermath of the Irish referendum, we got 2.4%. To be honest there have been very occasional flashes of hope such as the Hartlepool by-election (10.2%) but, being slightly harsh and a little cliched, so soon after our success in the 2004 Euros a monkey could have achieved that result, and did actually top it in the following Hartlepool mayoral election when H'Angus was elected. In neighbouring Sedgefield last year we got 1.9%

Is it also inevitable that if a party's highest profile people are over in Brusssels/Strasbourg for a high proportion of their time, that the party's centre of gravity will inevitably move with them? If so focus on Westminster, let alone local elections, becomes virtually impossible.

Politics is an ever changing landscape and we have to constantly observe and question. Blindly following the same route is more than likely to lead you down a blind alley. I'm just wondering if there is another way.

I'm Scared!

Perhaps I'm in some weird kind of temporary parallel universe, but here is an article by Pater Tatchell on the Green Party website. What worries me is that I agree with so much of it.

There are parts with which I diasagree, such as opposing the abolition of the Human Rights Act, but overall, if I compare the Green position and that of David Davis, I would seriously have to think if I were a voter in Haltemprice and Howden, about desserting Mr Davis.

Davis called the by-election for the sole reason of using it as a referendum on the erosion of our freedoms and liberties. On reading the Green Party position I would have to say, in the rarified atmosphere of this bizarre by-election, I would quite probably vote Green on Thursday given the chance.

However, when you start to think about Peter Tatchell as a libertarian you don't have to dig deep to find that he is yet another 'when it suits me' libertarian. So just to balance the argument here is an article from the Liberarian Alliance website questioning Tatchell's libertarianism.

I do feel a bit better for that but would probably still vote Green on Thursday in Haltemprice and Howden, even if only to piss off lots of Yorkshiremen!

Pamplona-San Fermin

I was drawn, perhaps a little ghoulishly, to a BBC headline declaring a man killed on the first day of the San Fermin fiesta in Pamplona. On reading the article I discovered that he was a drunken Irishman who fell off a wall. Sadly, it looks like the poor fella didn't get the chance to run with the bulls before he died.

There have also been demonstrations by green veggie types in their underwear against the bull run and subsequent bullfights. Let the bulls loose on the veggie types I say.

The fiesta has taken place since 1591 and incredibly only 13 deaths have been recorded since they started keeping count in 1924. If you can't get there this page has a superb video which really gives you a flavour of the real excitement of the bull run. Must try to get there again next year.

Pray to Allah?

It seems that two boys have been punished in Alsager, Cheshire for refusing to kneel and pray to Allah in an RE lesson. Additionally several parents have complained to the school, and quite rightly too.

It's one thing learning about other religions in school, but play-acting worshipping is deeply insulting to the religion concerned, as well as the unfortunate participants. It shows a frightening level of ignorance and plain stupidity on the part of the school and the teacher involved, who should be the ones being punished.

I can't help wondering how many flags would have been burnt and British embassies attacked, or even worse, if it had been Muslims being forced to pretend to be Christian.

Le Grand Depart

Members of Team Garmin-Chipotle, the team to watch in this year's Le Tour, with Scotsman David Millar third from left. Not long to wait now, Le Grand Depart is today on ITV4. Let's see how a clean dope-free team compete. Their strategy is to treat each stage as a race in its own right, probably guaranteeing they won't hold the Yellow Jersey in Paris in three weeks time, but they will definitely entertain. Let's hope they at least get to wear yellow once or twice over the next three weeks.

On Yer Bike

A youngster (left) takes delivery of the first New Labour bike.




The nutty Fabian Society is now recommending that big nanny state buys every 10 year old a nice, shiny new bike. What with Alan Johnson wishing the NHS a 'happy birthday' on the Labour Party website, I think the Comrades really have finally and utterly lost the plot.

Supping With The Devil

A wise old friend of mine often uses the phrase: "If you sup with the devil you need a long spoon". She usually uses it in relation to Eurosceptic involvement with the processes and institutions of the EU, meaning the 'parliament' really, but that's another matter. However, Dave Cameron and cuddly Boris could have done worse than bear that saying in mind some time ago.

It has been obvious to reasonably sensible, and objective people, for some time that the Tory Party is beyond help. Dave has gone out of his way to turn it into some pale imitation of Tony's New Labour project but it was, quite frankly, finished way before then. It reminds me of churches that modernise and the pews begin to empty. So the clerics think the answer is to modernise a bit more, and the pews continue to empty. So they get even more carried away with modernity, even when they are closing down churches and can't find enough people to ordain as priests. In a similar way the Tories have embraced political correctness.

The last few days have really shown this with nutty old Boris Johnson (who else?) slap in the middle of the controversy. Admittedly The Grauniad has played a central role in the recent shenanigins, but the Tories are big enough to know the key players in the nation's political life. The problem is that Boris has tried to play the really modern, trendy vicar and he must now be surely emptying his church even quicker than it has been emptying in recent years.

There are two problems. Namely, Ray Lewis and James McGrath. The first is black and is being investigated by an independent inquiry, set up by Boris, after allegations about him surfaced in The Grauniad. The second was an advisor of Johnson's sacked for 'non-racist racist' remarks in an effort to appease the politically correct constituency of London, none of whom probably did, nor ever would, vote for Boris. That is, in a single paragraph, a precis of the situation.

The problem is that once people who do not believe in something, try to be seen to believe in it, they pretty soon come a cropper. So Boris has played racial politics and burnt his fingers pretty badly. Here is why I think that to be the case, and it focuses on Ray Lewis, rather than James McGrath, about whom I have posted previously.

Thanks to political correctness there is now a view that when a Tory politician, such as Johnson, appoints somebody like Lewis to the post of deputy mayor for young people, it might just be a stunt to show how 'right-on' he is. I'm not saying that is true, merely that many people believe that some people cynically appoint a token ethnic minority or two to try and fend off future accusations of racism by the politically correct, an unforeseen consequence of political correctness sadly.

Then, when one of your advisors replies something like: "Well they can leave can't they", to a question about Afro-Caribbean people not wanting to live in a London run by Johnson, you cock it up because you are on territory you didn't want to inhabit in the first place, so you over-react and sack him, just in case not doing so upsets the politically correct.

Now then, The Grauniad. I don't believe that Ray Lewis merely popped up after the mayoral election to be given a job by Boris. It seems to me that they held their knowledge of the allegations back until they could do most damage to Boris, just when things were calming down after the sacking of McGrath. Furthermore, it could get rid of one of the mayor's black advisors leaving him open to future accusations of racism, either way it has made Johnson and the Tories look like buffoons. Also, were the Tories in such a desperate rush to have Lewis on their team that they failed to check his past out properly?

If all that sounds cynical then I make no apologies. The politically correct, or the left-wing, are much more cynical and immoral when it comes to politics and race than the gullible old Tories, as shown this last fortnight by Dave and Boris. The best advice is to be true to your beliefs and principles, at least then you will survive or fall with your conscience intact.

The Perils of Curry

An innocent curry (left) or the basic ingredient for a WMD?

This story made me titter.

It seems that passengers on a flight thought they were under an attack of poison gas by terrorists. The pilot landed in Belgrade and the plane was evacuated and searched. It transpires that the fumes were from a container of curry powder in the hold.

Imagine what kind of gas attack could be carried out if an Islamic fanatic were to eat the contents of the container then go on the rampage! Or for that matter a gang of fat lads after 18 pints followed by an Indian and a couple of pints of Cobra.

Ponglish and Piccadilly Palare

It seems that Poles in the UK have started speaking a mixture of Polish and English known as Ponglish. Read all about it here. It's nothing new though, immigrants have developed strange hybrid languages over the centuries and have influenced the native language too.

Even schoolboys have been at it. When I was at school in the 70s kids spoke their own language called 'backslang'. I often wonder if that influenced Manchester music legend Morrissey who wrote the brilliant 'Piccadilly Palare':

The piccadilly palare
Was just silly slang
Between me and the boys in my gang
Exchanging palare
You wouldnt understand
Good sons like you
Never do.

In this it was a means of communicating without parents and 'good sons' finding out what they were up to. In the past gays had their own lingo, adapted by Kenneth Williams for comedy purposes, and cockney rhyming slang came about so that criminals could communicate without the police understanding them.

So now you know!

A Referendum At Last

It's amazing how 8,000 signatures on a petition in Bury can trigger a referendum on whether to have an elected mayor or not, but no amount of signatures can force one on the Lisbon Treaty.


If the government are saying that the mayor of a borough council plays a more important role in our lives than the EU, thereby requiring a referendum on whether to elect one or not, why waste millions on something as trivial as the EU, let's just leave it!

If the people of Bury do vote for an elected mayor let's hope they vote in the Black Pudding as the people of Hartlepool voted in H'Angus the Monkey.

Team Clean

With "Le Tour" now less than a week away, the Sunday Times had an interesting article this week which included an interview with ex-cyclist Jonathan Vaughters.

Vaughters has got the backing to set up a dope free team in this year's Tour de France, known as Team Clean but actual name Team Garmin-Chipotle. They test their riders more stringently than any cycle racing authorities and deserve to do well this year for that reason alone.

Think I'll be keeping a close eye on them. Interestingly Vaughters first professional team in Europe was a Spanish team run by Opus Dei.

David Davis

The main reason for David Davis's resignation, it seems, was to keep the debate about 42 days in the news. So here I am doing my bit, thanks to T Bishop Finger initially who led me to this article via his post about Standpoint magazine.

Following is the part of the article that I particularly liked. Even though I still oppose 42 days, I did enjoy the article:

"Talk about Magna Carta in the situation we find ourselves in in 2008 is pure codswallop: if King John and his Barons were threatened by terrorist attacks in England from the Saracens, these attackers would unquestionably have been hanged, drawn, and quartered more quickly than the King could chew on a groatsworth of venison. The very idea that the British government should not have such far reaching powers in a genuine emergency is an absurdity normally associated with the far left and its allies, not with right-wing Tory Front Benchers".

What Is Racism?

Rod Liddle had a stunning article in yesterday's Sunday Times. He questioned why the ever more politically correct Boris Johnson sacked James McGrath. You may remember Mr McGrath's only crime was to suggest that people from the Carribean who were not happy with a London run by Johnson could always leave. This was in reference to comments made by professional race victim and slavery obsessed Darcus Howe, a man who many of us wish would leave these shores permanently.

The only criticism I would make is of the comments by Trevor Phillips, head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He broadly agrees that the current obsession with race is bad but goes on to say: "You should be okay to say anything you like so long as it’s not calculated to offend". Now forgive me but whether a person causes offence to another, about anything, should be regulated by good manners and basic decency not by legislation and threats of punishment by the state.

Practising what he preaches poor old James McGrath has returned to Australia. Who can blame him?

Pampered Brats

One of the sad things about our creeping Europeanisation is the cult of the child. Years ago people had children but didn't have their commonsense extracted at the same time. What happened to great old sayings that served us so well for centuries, such as 'children should be seen and not heard'? The cult of the child is as European as 'cafe culture', and about as welcome.

You go shopping in the supermarket and you are almost mown down by some spoilt brat using his mum's shopping trolley as a dodgem while she watches with a sickly indulgent smile. It seems that it is now essential for mum, dad and three kids to hit the supermarket, often using other customers as very short term conscripted childminders, while mum and dad ignore Tarquin, Toby and Jemima to debate the merits of sun-dried tomatoes as opposed to garlic marinated in basil and olive oil. Problem is Mr and Mrs Farquahar-Smythe, I'm tired of being badgered by brats in Tesco.

So you go to the pub to get over the terrible shopping experience. And, thanks to the blessed smoking ban and the need to attract new punters, the first thing that hits you, after the sign saying "children welcome in this pub until 6-00pm", is a spinach and ricotta ravioli hurled by young Jeremy while dad, ignoring the little darling, points out to mum an interesting article in the Guardian about how evil Britain is to kids and how much more child friendly the French are. So you are forced to binge a quick pint and head off to the safety of home, where the neighbours have gone away for the weekend leaving their teenage daughters to 'invite a few friends around for a bit of a party' which means thumping bass until 4-00am accompanied by the sound of cider induced adolescent vomiting.

Eventually weekend is over and it's back to work. But at the local school, the double yellow lines before the zigzags are mistakenly seen by proud mothers as invitations to park up their people carriers to disgorge their beloved little brats, causing us, and half of Lancaster, to be late for work thanks to the ensuing traffic jam. Then, as you slowly pass the 4x4 you hear one mother, leaning out of her window to address another, almost sobbing with righteous indignation that: "He was doing 35 in a 30 zone, and there was a school less than a mile away. They should ban him for life for speeding like that the swine!"

Nanny State

Got up early this morning, enjoying a full brekkie when wallop, I come across another example of the nanny state being a complete and utter twonk.

The British Standards Institute are proposing that those of us with trees in our gardens have them inspected every three years. They are worried about "branch shedding" and "whole tree failure" which kill six people a year in the UK. I've got two trees in my garden so must be in mortal danger every minute I'm in the Schloss Beaman, or out roaming the grounds!

What will the environmental lobby say when we all cut down our trees to avoid the snoopers?

World's Smallest Political Quiz

I may have posted about this some time ago, if so it's worth repeating.

Try this quiz from the Advocates for Self-Government website and find out how libertarian you really are.

Illegal Marriage

Now this is what I call a good drink!

The Morning After The Night Before

The Henley by-election result in full is here.

I usually don't post about by-elections, witness my lack of blathering about Crewe and Nantwich where I was campaign manager for Mike Nattrass, but last night was a worrying result.

All the smaller parties, from the Liberal Democrats down, got disappointing results. The electorate seems to despise New Labour now with such an intensity that their intentions have gone beyond giving them a bloody nose, by protest voting for a smaller party, to absolutely kicking them to death by voting Conservative. Yes in Henley the Tories were always going to win, but not so obviously in Crewe and Nantwich.

As in 1997, when Blair trounced Major, and 1979 when Thatcher trounced Callaghan, there seems to be a fundamental change of mood in the country with the Conservatives benefitting. Are we destined to be stuck in a two party rotating dictatorship for good? A very worrying prospect but you must wonder after the last two by-elections.

What is it about Mandela?

What is about Nelson Mandela that gets the pinko liberal PC types dribbling and wetting themselves with excitement. Even Gordon Ramsey was at it last night, cooking a birthday dinner for a load of has beens to celebrate St Nelson's nintieth birthday. Then, tonight, there is a concert by a load of has beens and wannabes somewhere in London. The great man will no doubt be in attendance with his never ending cheesy smile, in a tasteless Hawaiian shirt that even an overweight shoe salesman from Florida wouldn't be seen dead in.

And to top it all off he comes out with a pointless, meaningless and absurd comment about Zimbabwe that makes all the press drool and announce that he had, at last, broken his silence on Zimbabwe. All he did, for God's sake, was to refer to it as a 'tragic failure of leadership'. It's a bit more than that Mr Mandela. What a prat!

But at least we know now why Naomi Campbell went ballistic and got banned from British Airways. She's been dropped as a presenter at the Mandela concert, cute way of getting out of it I think. After all, if she'd pulled out of it herself she would probably have been punished much more severely.

Is It A Mad World Or A Sad World?

A mother tries to have a photo of her child, when a baby, put on a birthday cake but is told it is pornographic because it shows a bare bottom. Something is very wrong in Britain 2008.
Full story.

Jon Gaunt-Biggest Prat On Radio

A Gaunt looking Mussolini (Right)

Listening to Jon Gaunt on TalkSport is a bit like watching telly when they show a surgeon carrying out an operation. I can't bear to watch but have the odd morbid desire to peep through my fingers at the screen. That's how it is listening to the biggest prat, with the biggest mouth and the smallest brain in broadcasting. Every now and then I have to put his show on but immediately wince and turn over again. Yes it always is as bad as I remember.

This morning I heard him blasting Patrick Kielty for joking about not getting a driving ban. Kielty had been caught doing 101 mph in a 60 zone in the wilds of the Scottish borders. Cue self righteous indignation from the prat who has the supreme arrogance and egomania to refer to himself in the third person as 'Gaunty'. No doubt, being the self proclaimed best father in the world he came over all "he could have killed a child, and I feel things like that more than anybody because I'm a Dad". He proclaims his fatherhood as often as Walliams and Lucas declare themselves to be ladies in Little Britain's transvestite sketches. Makes you wonder. Personally, as Kielty injured nobody nor damaged anything, I think he should never have been taken to court. Of course, the authoritarian Gaunt thinks he should have been banned, nothing like a sense of proportion eh 'Gaunty'.

The rumour is that Gaunt could well be standing in the Euro elections next year. God help any political party so lacking in judgement, or just downright stupid enough, to have him on their list.

By the way, Kielty's joke on receiving a fine rather than a ban, was that he had been looking forward to a ban with the price of petrol at the moment.

Two Great European Events

Not long now until the start of Le Tour 2008, in fact it starts on July 5th. So a couple of weeks of late nights watching the superb highlights on Channel 4 with a glass of vino and some smelly cheese. Heaven!

Then from 6 to 14 July it's San Fermin in Pamplona otherwise known as "The Bull Run". You can stay up all night drinking and partying then first thing in the morning get the adrenaline rush of running with the bulls. A not to miss experience, but I admit to watching it from a shaded seat in the bullring witnessing numerous, mostly foreign, bullrunners being gored and trampled by angry bulls. An interesting diversion is counting the number of British football shirts the runners are wearing!

If you are fortunate to be in Europe and can get to either, or both, they really are a must.

Bandwagon Jumping

In my post about jumping on the racial bandwagon I didn't mention the best of the lot, Mr Linford Christie. He is now stating that Britain is "institutionally racist" because he has not been knighted. Course it had nothing to do with him being banned for testing positive for illegal substances did it?

Here's the full version of the article about Linford "Mr Modesty" Christie. What a prat!

Racism

I'm not the only one tired of the politically correct obsession with racism, but it still really angers me when it rears its ugly head.

This week we have had Naomi Campbell behaving like a moronic hooligan and ending up barred for life from British Airways. Is that actually a punishment? Anyway, in the Sunday papers she claims she behaved so badly because somebody at BA called her a "gollywog". Oh, that makes it OK then.

Also this week we have had former footballer Paul Elliot, who now campaigns against "racism in football" claiming that Premiership clubs discriminate against black managers. As there are no black managers in the Premiership it is obviously because of "racism". Then despite this evil segregation up pops Paul Ince, who has taken charge of Blackburn Rovers. Yes, Paul Ince is black. But, according to the PC do-gooders this is due to the bravery and courage of the men in charge at Blackburn in helping Ince "break the glass ceiling". You see, it has nothing to do with Ince's unquestionable ability but all to do with his colour in the eyes of the PC brigade. Wonder if the lack of English managers, and the disproportionate number of non-English players in the Premiership, is down to anti-English discrimination?

On top of that Michel Platini, president of UEFA, wants the captains of the semi-final teams in Euro 2008 to make a statement against racism on the pitch as the teams line up before the game. This in addition to the players wearing "Unite Against Racism" logos on their kit. The big panic is how to stop the TV companies going to commercials when this PC "ismfest" takes place.

I still maintain that, if left to get on with things, most people would. Racism and anti-racism are two sides of the same coin it seems to me. But we all know it's really just part of the socialist inspired "divide and rule" technique. But worst of all this sickening use of "racism" as a PC weapon is surely demeaning to genuine victims of real racism.

A Serious Question

Can anybody tell me what David Davis hopes to gain by resigning and precipitating this by-election? I absolutely agree with his position and would go further, I would like the detention limit returned to 14 days, and even that might be too long. But I am unable to fathom, and nobody else I have spoken be they left, right or centre have been able to, exactly what he hopes to gain by his resignation. Surely he would have more impact remaining on the opposition front bench then, quite probably, becoming the first Tory Home Secretary since 1997 in the next couple of years.

None of the serious parties are fighting this by-election and he really should have realised, in his contemplations before making the decision, that New Labour would simply side-step the fight thus denying him his main opponent. So he is left with fighting a fruit and veg man who supports the 42 day limit, making him his 'serious opponent', Miss Great Britain, adding glamour but nothing serious to the battle, and an anti-smoking ban campaigner also fighting against state suppression of freedom and liberty. What a strange by-election it will be.

Manchester Congestion Charge

The powers that be are moving into extremely sinister propaganda territory here in the wild North West. On TV and radio they are regaling us with ads to try and sell the inevitable congestion charge in Greater Manchester. Theoretically it needs 7 out of 10 of the Greater Manchester authorities to agree before it can be intoduced in 2013. However, I suspect they will use 'EU rules', which means they will introduce it anyway even if only one agreed.

The ads on TV, I have yet to hear the radio ads, show a former Coronation Street actor wandering through a mock traffic jam. He is promising a massive improvement in public transport to ease those awful traffic jams we all hate so much. There will be, by 2013, more trams, more tramways, more buses (and no doubt more bus lanes) and more trains with more carriages. All this just for you and, to show how really nice Big Brother really is, you can assist in this wonderful investment by contributing to it via a congestion charge. Oh, but only during the week and in the morning and evening rush hours. So it's nothing really is it?

The ads are truly totalitarian in nature, Dr Goebbels himself would have been proud of them, but what really worries me is how many muppets will fall for the propaganda. Or am I being cynical again?

Why not visit Manchester Against Toll Tax here?

Foxhayes Petrol Station

Here is the story of Ron James, the manager of Foxhayes petrol station, Exwick, Devon. He is the profiteering bastard who put his petrol up to £1.99 a litre, his explanation being that he wanted to ration it so it lasted. Well tell you what, make sure you never, ever buy from this petrol station and then he won't have to worry about running out of fuel.

By the way the link is to the awful Daily Mirror website because it actually has a photo of Ron James for us all to see. If you are down that neck of the woods, because you live there or perhaps will be passing on holiday, here is a map and full details so that you can make sure you don't fill up there.

Libertarian Party

Citzen Stuart left a comment on my last post about UKIP and the UK Libertarian Party, which I was happy to respond to. In my response I mentioned an essay that won the Libertarian Alliance's Chris R Tame Memorial Prize in 2007. I promised to look for the essay and here it is.

I don't feel strongly as to whether there could/should be a libertarian party or not, but it's an interesting debate to have.

What Price Freedom?

An interesting week in La Belle France is drawing to a close, well it can`t be bad when you can still get a five course lunch for two with a litre of vin rouge for 22 Euro things. We are now in Normandy before floating back to Blighty tomorrow, due back in good time for a Sunday roast.

Yesterday we visited the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, where I had to buy what looks a promising book on England`s five year resistance to the Norman occupation. We then visited Omaha and Juno Beaches, where the heroes of D Day landed to restore freedom to Europe with incredible bravery and sacrifice. Many thanks to Phil and Edwin for letting us know the result of the Irish referendum, just as we were looking at the remains of a Mulberry Harbour on Juno Beach, quite apt really. Thank you to the voters of Ireland, but prepare for the introduction of the major elements of the Lisbon Treaty anyway, by some devious mechanism or other.

I must also salute the bravery of David Davies for resigning his seat in protest at the erosion of our liberties, it`s a shame a few more politicians don`t have as much principle. What is annoying about the current erosion of our freedoms is the number of self-declared 'libertarians' who consistently vote for erosion of freedom. To hide behind 'voting the way my constituents wanted', as many of them do, demonstrates a serious lack of backbone and moral fibre. So if your constituents wanted the slaughtering of the first born in every household, would you vote for it? Thought not!

One thing to learn from this is that it is now quite trendy to label yourself 'libertarian', so we must be getting the message across. The other lesson is that it is quite easy to spot a charlatan masqerading as a libertarian, when it suits him.

Police State-German Style

Mrs B and I will be lounging around in France for the next week, so there may be a more European flavour to my blogging. I thought I might start with this.

Turning up, all stormtrooper-like shouting "handie hoch" and "raus, raus", the German paramilitary police were more Keystone than Polizei when they raided a house where a group of rappas (rappers to the untrendy) were making a video. Bless the poor chaps.

Perhaps a foretaste of the EuroGendarmerie?

Denied Drugs-Sort Of!

I'm not a one to pop pills at the drop of a hat, but I had to visit a physiotherapist this morning and was told that, in order to do the exercises needed to clear up what I found out is a frozen shoulder, I should take 8 paracetomol a day.

I duly popped to the chemist to stock up, needing plenty as I am off to France tomorrow for a break. I know I can buy them there but thought I would buy in bulk here. But oh no, I have just had to do a chemist crawl because I could buy no more than two packs in one shop!

Now forgive me but when was a suicide ever averted because the suicidee didn't think to visit more than one shop to buy the necessary dose? And to be perfectly honest if I want to end it all with paracetomol that's my decision. Personally I think I'd try a bottle of whisky and a pipe from the exhaust into my car.

Bob Barr

As the Clinton Obama fight trundles along, becoming ever more tedious and tiresome, here is the Libertarian Party candidate's website. With 10 to 20% of Americans polled calling themselves "libertarians" Barr may not win the race to the White House but he could seriously damage the Republican McCain's chances.

Climate Change Deniers!

Many thanks to Mark Wadsworth for bringing this to our attention.

Every time an Anglican clergyman opens his mouth I thank God I'm a Roman Catholic. Now please don't start sending me ludicrous quotes from RC priests, especially you Mr Wadsworth!

Post Office Closures

Now then, I know the post office closures are down to the EU, and that does anger me, but am I the only one who doesn't go purple in the face with rage when mention is made of post office closures? What really angers me is that our own government didn't withdraw the subsidy years ago and let them take their chances in the market like other businesses have to.

I'll bet £50 worth of premium bonds that if you ask a random 10 people when they last used their local post office at least 9 will answer that they can't remember, or that it was in 1978 to buy a dog licence. Here are my 10 reasons why post offices are a throwback that should be left to die or survive on the open market:

1-No more dog licences
2-No more British Visitors' Passports
3-No more Post Office savings accounts
4-Car tax bought on the internet as are TV licences.
5-Bills paid on the internet and/or direct debit as are TV licences
6-Pensions paid straight into the bank
7-Who buys premium bonds any more?
8-Emails
9-Stamps can be bought in virtually any shop
10-Anything that Crozier and Leighton run dies anyway-look at the English FA and Leeds United!

For God's sake it's 2008, times have changed (see above list) and if you really want a social hub in your village/suburb then try saving something useful like the local pub.

Zimbabwe and Mbeki

It seems that Thabo Mbeki has now jumped in to defend Robert Mugabe, scratch the surface of an African democrat and there is a raging lunatic despot waiting to spring forth. According to this report Mbeki has sent a snotty letter to George Bush for being nasty to that nice Mr Mugabe, and for being disrespectful to the people of Zimbabwe for daring to criticise Mugabe.

Forgive me but a country's president starving his own people half to death, and rigging election after election, is hardly showing immense respect to his people. And with the rate of decline in South Africa I would have thought Mbeki would have enough on his plate sorting his own mess out.

On gaining independence in Zimbabwe, and the subsequent end of apartheid in South Africa, the world thought that both countries would prosper and break the tradition of wealthy and relatively stable African countries gaining self-government then sliding into poverty and dictatorship. How wrong the world was.

Fascists in the Town Halls-Memories

The recent spate of incredibly lunatic actions from local authorities sent me off meandering down memory lane. I was elected to Lancaster City Council in May 1999, when plans for warding off the civilisation ending 'millenium bug' were in full swing. For my sins I was on the Audit and Support Services committee, which I was soon to chair.

At one of our first meetings the CEO was rambling on and on and on. To relieve the sheer tedium a colleague came out with a flippant remark which got us tittering like naughty schoolboys, you know the situation I am sure. We were duly rebuked for not taking the 'millenium bug' seriously.

The CEO then announced that the council wished to spend £30,000 issuing booklets to every household containing emergency telephone numbers should the worst happen. I questioned the wisdom of this as the numbers were already in local telephone directories. This sent the CEO into a frenzy about our group not taking the matter seriously culminating in the statement that: "The whole telcommunications system could possibly crash at midnight on the millenium!"

The irony was obviously too subtle, he never did see it.