Monday, October 29, 2007
Did Donald Rumsfeld Scuttle Out Of France Like A Rat On The Run?
"Donald Rumsfeld must be feeling
how
Saddam Hussein felt when US forces were hunting him down.”
Donald Rumsfeld, former US Defense Secretary and the man who authorized the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, attended a breakfast meeting with Foreign Policy magazine in Paris the other day.
According to unconfirmed reports, Rumsfeld had to flee France after human rights groups filed a criminal complaint against him alleging the “ordering and authorizing” of torture.
The authorities in France are obliged to investigate when a complaint is made while the alleged criminal is on French soil.
Protesters in France believe that the defense secretary fled over the border to Germany.
Read: RUMSFELD FLEES FRANCE FEARING ARREST
RINF Homepage
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Labels: America, Crime, Justice, War
Sunday, October 28, 2007
But The Bike Consented, M'Lud.
Why, I would like to know, was a man who had sex with a bicycle hauled up in front of a court in Ayr, Scotland, and put on the sex offenders' register?
Did the bike complain, say no or scream rape - or was it an underaged bike, groomed on the internet and lured to the man's room?
More importantly, I would like to know HOW one has sex with a bike of the two-wheeled variety and, while on the subject, may I enquire about the methods employed in having sex with a pavement which, by all accounts, has also brought the wrath of the law courts down on poor Karl Watkins who was caught in the act in Redditch in 1993. He, apparently, was jailed for his amorous advances but that was obviously in a public place, where most willing pavements are.
Robert Stewart and his bike were not in a public place, but behind a locked door in Ayr, and as the bike in question presumably did not give evidence against him at the trial, it's hard to see where the offence lies.
I don't own a bicycle, and so far have never been aroused at the sight of one, no matter how pretty, but I'm still curious...
It's not mentioned in the Kama Sutra, and there's nothing about pavements in there either.
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Did the bike complain, say no or scream rape - or was it an underaged bike, groomed on the internet and lured to the man's room?
More importantly, I would like to know HOW one has sex with a bike of the two-wheeled variety and, while on the subject, may I enquire about the methods employed in having sex with a pavement which, by all accounts, has also brought the wrath of the law courts down on poor Karl Watkins who was caught in the act in Redditch in 1993. He, apparently, was jailed for his amorous advances but that was obviously in a public place, where most willing pavements are.
Robert Stewart and his bike were not in a public place, but behind a locked door in Ayr, and as the bike in question presumably did not give evidence against him at the trial, it's hard to see where the offence lies.
I don't own a bicycle, and so far have never been aroused at the sight of one, no matter how pretty, but I'm still curious...
It's not mentioned in the Kama Sutra, and there's nothing about pavements in there either.
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Labels: Crime, People, Scotland
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Doris Lessing, An Artist Who Doesn't Mince Her Words
I like Doris Lessing, Nobel Laureate for fiction.
This woman proves the point that I have made in the past that politics and government and anything that impacts on the punter in the street, whether it be downtown Scunthorpe in England, Auchtermuchty in Scotland or New York in the US of A, might be better left to artists rather than politicians.
Doris, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País, has said that the attacks of September 11, 2001, weren't as terrible as the American people think.
Although two buildings collapsed, and nearly 3,000 people were killed, she points out that over 3,700 died and many thousands of people were injured in more than 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.
Violence supported by money from the United States: [Colcam]
Doris says Americans are a very naive people, or they pretend to be, and admits that any American would think she was mad.
Lessing is no less scathing of Tony Blair: "Many of us hated Blair, I think he has been a disaster for Britain and we have suffered him for many years. I said it when he was elected."
George Bush wasn't left out either: "He's a world calamity. Everyone is tired of this man. Either he is stupid or he is very clever, although you have to remember he is a member of a social class which has profited from wars."
Indeed.
I have a partner who grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the troubles, so I asked her what she thought about the difference between 9/11 and the conflict she lived through, and which she thought was worse.
She said: "In terms of loss of life, they are both as bad as each other, but I think 9/11 SEEMS worse because of the volume in one day."
OK - a valuable insight - but I should add my own view.
The Northern Ireland conflict and the attack on New York, and which of these may justify the greater attention, is to some extent unimportant, as for many the greater cause for concern in 2007 is the loss of civil liberties which the citizens of the USA and Great Britain have suffered since 9/11, justified by both governments as the cost of fighting the 'war on terror'.
The Northern Ireland war - and that is what is was, despite the denials of British politicans, who preferred to describe the conflict as a terrorist or criminal operation - never led to even the suggestion of 90 days of incarceration for terror suspects, nor was the right to demonstrate in front of parliament questioned, and never did we have the outrageous plans for a national database and ID cards to supposedly protect us from the 'terrorists' who would steal our democracy and our way of life.
Surely the greatest threat to the British And American 'way of life' are the present governments - Bush, Brown and Blair before him, who seem intent on curtailing our freedoms and taking a grip on power not seen in a civilized nation since the days of Hitler.
Doris may be 88, but she certainly knows a thing or two.
Read: Sept 11 attacks not as bad as IRA, says Lessing
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This woman proves the point that I have made in the past that politics and government and anything that impacts on the punter in the street, whether it be downtown Scunthorpe in England, Auchtermuchty in Scotland or New York in the US of A, might be better left to artists rather than politicians.
Doris, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País, has said that the attacks of September 11, 2001, weren't as terrible as the American people think.
Although two buildings collapsed, and nearly 3,000 people were killed, she points out that over 3,700 died and many thousands of people were injured in more than 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.
Violence supported by money from the United States: [Colcam]
Doris says Americans are a very naive people, or they pretend to be, and admits that any American would think she was mad.
Lessing is no less scathing of Tony Blair: "Many of us hated Blair, I think he has been a disaster for Britain and we have suffered him for many years. I said it when he was elected."
George Bush wasn't left out either: "He's a world calamity. Everyone is tired of this man. Either he is stupid or he is very clever, although you have to remember he is a member of a social class which has profited from wars."
Indeed.
I have a partner who grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the troubles, so I asked her what she thought about the difference between 9/11 and the conflict she lived through, and which she thought was worse.
She said: "In terms of loss of life, they are both as bad as each other, but I think 9/11 SEEMS worse because of the volume in one day."
OK - a valuable insight - but I should add my own view.
The Northern Ireland conflict and the attack on New York, and which of these may justify the greater attention, is to some extent unimportant, as for many the greater cause for concern in 2007 is the loss of civil liberties which the citizens of the USA and Great Britain have suffered since 9/11, justified by both governments as the cost of fighting the 'war on terror'.
The Northern Ireland war - and that is what is was, despite the denials of British politicans, who preferred to describe the conflict as a terrorist or criminal operation - never led to even the suggestion of 90 days of incarceration for terror suspects, nor was the right to demonstrate in front of parliament questioned, and never did we have the outrageous plans for a national database and ID cards to supposedly protect us from the 'terrorists' who would steal our democracy and our way of life.
Surely the greatest threat to the British And American 'way of life' are the present governments - Bush, Brown and Blair before him, who seem intent on curtailing our freedoms and taking a grip on power not seen in a civilized nation since the days of Hitler.
Doris may be 88, but she certainly knows a thing or two.
Read: Sept 11 attacks not as bad as IRA, says Lessing
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Labels: America, Art, Civil Liberties, Freedom, Terrorism, UK, War
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Alexander Should Quit (And Take His Useless Big Sister With Him)
A damning indictment on Labour Ministers
Douglas Alexander, UK Scotland Minister at the time of the Scottish elections in May this year and the fiasco of the 150,000 rejected ballot papers, took decisions on the running of the election based on party political interest.
"What is characteristic of 2007 was a notable level of party self interest evident in ministerial decision-making (especially in regard to the timing and method of counts and the design of ballot papers)," wrote Ron Gould, the former Canadian election official who investigated the Scottish vote for the Electoral Commission.
In other words Labour in London did their best to rig it.
Alexander is the brother of Wendy, Labour group leader in the Scottish Parliament, notable by her face and her silence when things don't go her way, which is mostly.
Now International Development Secretary and Labour's general election co-ordinator, Douglas Alexander was at least partly responsible for Gordon Brown's own election-that-never-was this Autumn.
Opposition parties in Westminster and SNP Ministers in Scotland are calling for his resignation.
Tory back bencher Andrew Mackay said yesterday: "How can he continue going round the Third World lecturing on democracy when he has been caught with his hand in the till?"
Labels: Labour, Politics, Scotland, SNP, UK
Monday, October 22, 2007
Gordon Brown And The Westminster Expenses Rules
It appears our UK Prime Minister, ex-Chancellor and man who knows a lot about money, may have broken the rules about sub-letting his taxpayer-funded office in Kirkaldy - the rules which state that an MP "may not sublet accommodation which you lease and pay for out of the allowances".
Now, is it just me, or does this not sound familiar?
Was one Henry McLeish not forced to resign as Scotland's First Minister in 2001 because of something similar, paving the way for the joys of Jack McConnell's disastrous reign?
There is, of course, a major difference between the two cases in that, whatever the outcome, Hell will freeze over before we see Brown go.
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Now, is it just me, or does this not sound familiar?
Was one Henry McLeish not forced to resign as Scotland's First Minister in 2001 because of something similar, paving the way for the joys of Jack McConnell's disastrous reign?
There is, of course, a major difference between the two cases in that, whatever the outcome, Hell will freeze over before we see Brown go.
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Labels: Brown, Labour, Politics, Scotland, UK
Scotland Doesn't Want Trident
Scottish Government First Minister Alex Salmond has written to the representatives of 189 countries signed up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, seeking support in his campaign against the deployment by the UK government of Trident nuclear warheads at Faslane on the Clyde.
He is asking them to back his bid for Scotland to have observer status at future treaty talks.
"In May, for the first time since the nuclear age began in 1945, the people of Scotland elected a government that is opposed to nuclear weapons," he declared.
The Scottish government was planning to do "all that we can" to persuade UK ministers to change their mind on Trident, said Salmond. "The majority of Scottish people and their elected representatives oppose these deployments."
An anti-Trident summit organised by the Scottish Government will be opened today by the Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and will focus on how devolved powers could be used to block the replacement of the current nuclear missile system.
"This bold and timely initiative deserves to succeed," said Dr Ian Davis, director of the British American Security Information Council in London. "The Scottish people have long held the moral high ground on nuclear disarmament and having them represented at the NPT would be a real fillip to the majority world - currently 184 states - committed to a non-nuclear weapon future."
Salmond wants nuclear treaty role
Salmond: help us get rid of Trident
He is asking them to back his bid for Scotland to have observer status at future treaty talks.
"In May, for the first time since the nuclear age began in 1945, the people of Scotland elected a government that is opposed to nuclear weapons," he declared.
The Scottish government was planning to do "all that we can" to persuade UK ministers to change their mind on Trident, said Salmond. "The majority of Scottish people and their elected representatives oppose these deployments."
An anti-Trident summit organised by the Scottish Government will be opened today by the Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and will focus on how devolved powers could be used to block the replacement of the current nuclear missile system.
"This bold and timely initiative deserves to succeed," said Dr Ian Davis, director of the British American Security Information Council in London. "The Scottish people have long held the moral high ground on nuclear disarmament and having them represented at the NPT would be a real fillip to the majority world - currently 184 states - committed to a non-nuclear weapon future."
Salmond wants nuclear treaty role
Salmond: help us get rid of Trident
Go park it at your place, Gordon.
Labels: Politics, Scotland, SNP, Trident
Brown's £1 Million Nail Biter
It seems that, despite already having a £20m deficit, Gordon Brown's Labour Party may have spent around another £1m in the run-up to the Autumn election before Brown took fright and cancelled it.
Questions are likely to be asked when Labour's national executive meets next month.
So, not content with 10 years of wasting taxpayers money, Labour are wasting their own as well.
Read: Election that never was cost Labour £1m
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Questions are likely to be asked when Labour's national executive meets next month.
So, not content with 10 years of wasting taxpayers money, Labour are wasting their own as well.
Read: Election that never was cost Labour £1m
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Labels: Brown, Labour, Politics
Sunday, October 21, 2007
ID Cards - The London Plan To Hijack Scots Pensioners Bus Passes
The UK government is looking at ways to turn the bus pass which entitles one in four people in Scotland to free travel and reduced price access to leisure services, into an ID card linked to the National Identity Register.
The Home Office in London see this as a way to push forward the ID card scheme at a reduced cost, a sneaky move that will be strongly resisted by the Scottish government and a majority of MSPs at Holyrood, who have long made it clear that any ID card introduced by London should not be used north of the border to link devolved public services.
Bus passes could be used, say London think-tank New Local Government Network, to document citizens' mental health and their "reporting a crime, attending an accident and emergency department or claiming benefits.
The Scottish government has claimed it has been excluded from crucial discussions and warns that any data-grab attempt would be illegal.
A Scottish government spokesman said: "The Entitlement Card system has been designed to ensure that all data is handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Each local authority acts as the data controller for its own residents.
"Accredited local authority and passenger transport staff have secure access to the system. No-one else has access. This information could not be passed to the Home Office."
In 2006 Holyrood's then Labour administration passed a law, known as Section 57, which allows the state to use Citizen's Accounts to hoard information about Scots on a huge scale. Data on everything from debt to shopping to sexuality could be legally procured, stored and passed on. Critics are fighting to have the law repealed.
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The Home Office in London see this as a way to push forward the ID card scheme at a reduced cost, a sneaky move that will be strongly resisted by the Scottish government and a majority of MSPs at Holyrood, who have long made it clear that any ID card introduced by London should not be used north of the border to link devolved public services.
Bus passes could be used, say London think-tank New Local Government Network, to document citizens' mental health and their "reporting a crime, attending an accident and emergency department or claiming benefits.
The Scottish government has claimed it has been excluded from crucial discussions and warns that any data-grab attempt would be illegal.
A Scottish government spokesman said: "The Entitlement Card system has been designed to ensure that all data is handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Each local authority acts as the data controller for its own residents.
"Accredited local authority and passenger transport staff have secure access to the system. No-one else has access. This information could not be passed to the Home Office."
In 2006 Holyrood's then Labour administration passed a law, known as Section 57, which allows the state to use Citizen's Accounts to hoard information about Scots on a huge scale. Data on everything from debt to shopping to sexuality could be legally procured, stored and passed on. Critics are fighting to have the law repealed.
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Labels: Freedom, ID Cards, Politics, Scotland, SNP, Surveillance
Saturday, October 20, 2007
If Kids Must Have Chips, Give 'Em Greasychips, Not Microchips
Britain, which is now a Surveillance Society which is increasingly using electronic surveillance tools on children to soften them up for a lifetime of control by government and police, seems to go further down the slippery slope towards totalitarianism by the week.
A school in Yorkshire is now tracking pupils with the aid of microchips embedded in their uniforms, in a so called 'trial.'
A trial that will no doubt become a permanent feature of that school, and a system that will spread quickly, encouraged, no doubt, by our authoritarian Labour government and various law and order agencies.
“Tagging is what we do to criminals we let out of prison early,” said David Cleater, from Leave Them Kids Alone, which campaigns against the finger-printing of pupils. “It is appalling.”
It is a sad reflection on supposedly intelligent and caring teachers and school authorities in this country that they think so little of the children in their care, and the future they are so readily encouraging them to face in the adult world of tomorrow.
Perhaps that means little to a teacher if his or her working day can be made a little easier by such disgraceful methods.
With so much anguish from teaching 'professionals' about kids diet and their consumption of chips, why so little concern about microchips?
They are far more dangerous to the well-being of our children than the greasy variety.
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A school in Yorkshire is now tracking pupils with the aid of microchips embedded in their uniforms, in a so called 'trial.'
A trial that will no doubt become a permanent feature of that school, and a system that will spread quickly, encouraged, no doubt, by our authoritarian Labour government and various law and order agencies.
“Tagging is what we do to criminals we let out of prison early,” said David Cleater, from Leave Them Kids Alone, which campaigns against the finger-printing of pupils. “It is appalling.”
It is a sad reflection on supposedly intelligent and caring teachers and school authorities in this country that they think so little of the children in their care, and the future they are so readily encouraging them to face in the adult world of tomorrow.
Perhaps that means little to a teacher if his or her working day can be made a little easier by such disgraceful methods.
With so much anguish from teaching 'professionals' about kids diet and their consumption of chips, why so little concern about microchips?
They are far more dangerous to the well-being of our children than the greasy variety.
HOME
Labels: Freedom, Labour, Liberty, Surveillance, UK
Drink Up, For Tomorrow Will Still Come As Sure As Higher Taxes On Enjoyment
It was entirely predictable that, after the smoking ban was safely in place throughout the UK, the Government and the anti-everything-especially-enjoyment lobby, spurred on by that success, would turn their attention to drink.
Perhaps less predictable that they should so soon turn on their own, with a warning and call to action to save the livers of Surrey and Sussex, where wine flows freely and dinner table chatter frequently turns to outraged discussion and the call to a return of flogging for any council estate 'poor' who happen to enjoy a pint or three of a weekend instead of bragging about their rising property prices over a civilized glass of Chardonney and a line of cocaine.
Drinkers in middle-class areas are more likely routinely to consume “hazardous” amounts of alcohol than those in poorer areas, research published today shows.
What a blow to the superiority of our would-be superiors.
Of course Scotland didn't escape the attentions of the anti-everything-especially-enjoyment lobby, with the news that campaigners claim more than one million people in Scotland are drinking at potentially harmful levels, out of a total population of around 5 million, I should add.
All this, of course, is based on government guidelines on what they consider to be the safe amounts of 'units' one can consume in a week which, if followed, would make it hardly worth the effort of pulling a cork on a bottle of wine never mind going down the pub.
However, being a concientious type of fella, and knowing the importance of research, I put matters to the test last night, rolled a few fat ciggies, placed my favourite ashtray and glass beside my wee MacBook and, in my little council house with only the dog and cat for company, popped the cork on an extremely expensive bottle of 12 year old malt whisky - and risked my liver and my life.
Now, I must admit things didn't go quite as planned. I intended posting the results of my research here last night - but after an amount of 'units' I refuse to disclose to you - I fell asleep.
And this morning I woke up alive.
Favourite quote of the week goes to Jackoba, who wrote on this very subject in a Scottish newspaper the other day:
I tried to enjoy myself sober once, was disasterous. The girls were ugly, I was crap at pool, I couldnt grasp the meaning of life my friends had discovered in their higher plane of mind, my doner kebab tasted none too great, Fights seemed more dangerous and riding my bike home with my headphones in over the traintracks didnt seem a great idea so I had to take the long way.
Never again I tell ya, bloody lying foreigners ;)
Well put, Sir.
UPDATE: 6.35PM. DRINK LIMITS 'USELESS' - Guidelines on safe alcohol limits that have shaped health policy in Britain for 20 years were not based on scientific fact.
HOME
Perhaps less predictable that they should so soon turn on their own, with a warning and call to action to save the livers of Surrey and Sussex, where wine flows freely and dinner table chatter frequently turns to outraged discussion and the call to a return of flogging for any council estate 'poor' who happen to enjoy a pint or three of a weekend instead of bragging about their rising property prices over a civilized glass of Chardonney and a line of cocaine.
Drinkers in middle-class areas are more likely routinely to consume “hazardous” amounts of alcohol than those in poorer areas, research published today shows.
What a blow to the superiority of our would-be superiors.
Of course Scotland didn't escape the attentions of the anti-everything-especially-enjoyment lobby, with the news that campaigners claim more than one million people in Scotland are drinking at potentially harmful levels, out of a total population of around 5 million, I should add.
All this, of course, is based on government guidelines on what they consider to be the safe amounts of 'units' one can consume in a week which, if followed, would make it hardly worth the effort of pulling a cork on a bottle of wine never mind going down the pub.
However, being a concientious type of fella, and knowing the importance of research, I put matters to the test last night, rolled a few fat ciggies, placed my favourite ashtray and glass beside my wee MacBook and, in my little council house with only the dog and cat for company, popped the cork on an extremely expensive bottle of 12 year old malt whisky - and risked my liver and my life.
Now, I must admit things didn't go quite as planned. I intended posting the results of my research here last night - but after an amount of 'units' I refuse to disclose to you - I fell asleep.
And this morning I woke up alive.
--- CONCLUSIONS ---
Drinking did not cause any violence - did not kick the dog, or the cat, or both.
No broken windows, neighbors unwoken.
House did not burn down despite my attempts at making cheese toasties.
No pain in liver, but slight pain in the neck after sleeping on couch.
After a lengthy and intellectual discourse with the cat and the dog, realized that living in a council house and drinking an excellent and expensive Highland Malt beats worrying about a £250,000 morgtage and being reduced to cheap Chardonnay.
Oh dear, I didn't leave much in that bottle, did I?
------------------------------
Drinking did not cause any violence - did not kick the dog, or the cat, or both.
No broken windows, neighbors unwoken.
House did not burn down despite my attempts at making cheese toasties.
No pain in liver, but slight pain in the neck after sleeping on couch.
After a lengthy and intellectual discourse with the cat and the dog, realized that living in a council house and drinking an excellent and expensive Highland Malt beats worrying about a £250,000 morgtage and being reduced to cheap Chardonnay.
Oh dear, I didn't leave much in that bottle, did I?
------------------------------
Favourite quote of the week goes to Jackoba, who wrote on this very subject in a Scottish newspaper the other day:
I tried to enjoy myself sober once, was disasterous. The girls were ugly, I was crap at pool, I couldnt grasp the meaning of life my friends had discovered in their higher plane of mind, my doner kebab tasted none too great, Fights seemed more dangerous and riding my bike home with my headphones in over the traintracks didnt seem a great idea so I had to take the long way.
Never again I tell ya, bloody lying foreigners ;)
Well put, Sir.
UPDATE: 6.35PM. DRINK LIMITS 'USELESS' - Guidelines on safe alcohol limits that have shaped health policy in Britain for 20 years were not based on scientific fact.
HOME
Labels: Freedom, Health, Labour, Poverty, Smoking
UK CCTV Surveillance Doesn't Work
With one CCTV camera for every twelve people in the UK, 80 per cent of footage is of such poor quality that the cameras are mostly used to catch motorists instead of criminals.
This is the conclusion of a report, 18 months in the making, by the government's own Home Office officials, who say the majority of cameras are only useful to keep an eye on people for slips, trips, falls and staff crime.
The "real time" roving CCTV cameras which are the heart of the network are often useless for crime detection, despite the naive belief of the general public that they make the streets safer.
Officials do not even know how many CCTV cameras there are.
Government and police chiefs want to extend the network which monitors British citizens to cover all "public space".
See also: BRITAIN IS NOW A SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY
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This is the conclusion of a report, 18 months in the making, by the government's own Home Office officials, who say the majority of cameras are only useful to keep an eye on people for slips, trips, falls and staff crime.
The "real time" roving CCTV cameras which are the heart of the network are often useless for crime detection, despite the naive belief of the general public that they make the streets safer.
Officials do not even know how many CCTV cameras there are.
Government and police chiefs want to extend the network which monitors British citizens to cover all "public space".
See also: BRITAIN IS NOW A SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY
HOME
Labels: Crime, Freedom, Labour, Surveillance, UK
Friday, October 19, 2007
Blair - A Warmongering Speech For A Religious Charity
An audience of 1,100 at a charity dinner in New York paid $1,000 per head to hear Tony Blair compare radical Islam to Nazi Germany and warn that the war on terror was “far from over”, especially with regard to Iran.
Blair said: “Analogies especially with the rise of fascism can be misleading but, in pure chronology, I sometimes wonder if we’re not in the 1920s, if not the 1930s.”
He continued: “This ideology now has a state - Iran.”
Cardinal Edward Egan of New York called Mr Blair a "great and effective warrior."
The hypocrisy of the religious seems to know no bounds.
The deluded Blair with the blood of thousands on his hands and God on his side, who never was in the military in his life, being congratulated by a Catholic Cardinal for his crimes.
Or should that read his Crusade?
But then there was over a million dollars for the church in it, wasn't there?
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Blair said: “Analogies especially with the rise of fascism can be misleading but, in pure chronology, I sometimes wonder if we’re not in the 1920s, if not the 1930s.”
He continued: “This ideology now has a state - Iran.”
Cardinal Edward Egan of New York called Mr Blair a "great and effective warrior."
The hypocrisy of the religious seems to know no bounds.
The deluded Blair with the blood of thousands on his hands and God on his side, who never was in the military in his life, being congratulated by a Catholic Cardinal for his crimes.
Or should that read his Crusade?
But then there was over a million dollars for the church in it, wasn't there?
HOME
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Highland Fuel Prices
PER LITRE
The point nine nine, of course, really makes 99.9 £1.00 for petrol and £1.04 pence for diesel, and the pricing by litre is little more than a scam considering we still work out our vehicles fuel consumption in miles per gallon.
Over £4.50 per gallon, and high miles are inevitable getting round our remote Scottish areas.
Americans are unhappy at their 'gas' prices approaching $3.00 per gallon.
Just as a rough guide, because maths are a mystery to me, I paid for a wee computer application this week in dollars, and $10 converted to UK pounds worked out at £4.73, or just over the price of a gallon of diesel.
If you're American, and planning a visit to the Highlands to find your ancestors or the Loch Ness Monster, you know what to expect.
The $10 gallon- and rising!
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Labels: America, Highlands, Oil, Scotland, UK
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sharp Response To Wendy Alexander's Letter To Salmond
SNP ministers have been quick to respond to a letter written by Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander to First Minister Alex Salmond, accusing him of picking fights with the Westminster government in London.
Moray SNP MSP Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, said: "It is quite incredible if Labour's leader in Scotland believes that the role of Scottish Government is to hide in a corner rather than stand up to be heard.
"Wendy Alexander should be adding her voice to Scotland's case for the UK Government to get behind Scotland's farmers, particularly at this crucial time, and for UK ministers to accept their responsibility."
He said Ms Alexander appeared to think her role was to "take the heat off the UK Government".
SNP's Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said: "What we're not going to do and what the last Labour executive did is sweep things under the carpet to avoid embarrassment for Labour.
"If it's something in the Scottish national interest that needs to be in the public domain then it will be in the public domain."
Even the Conservative MSP for the north-east, Alex Johnstone, commented, saying Alexander looked like "a bad-tempered wee woman" who was trying to annoy Mr Salmond.
Indeed an apt description of the wee Mooth o' the Sooth.
MINISTERS BACK SALMOND IN 'FIGHTS' ROW
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Moray SNP MSP Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, said: "It is quite incredible if Labour's leader in Scotland believes that the role of Scottish Government is to hide in a corner rather than stand up to be heard.
"Wendy Alexander should be adding her voice to Scotland's case for the UK Government to get behind Scotland's farmers, particularly at this crucial time, and for UK ministers to accept their responsibility."
He said Ms Alexander appeared to think her role was to "take the heat off the UK Government".
SNP's Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said: "What we're not going to do and what the last Labour executive did is sweep things under the carpet to avoid embarrassment for Labour.
"If it's something in the Scottish national interest that needs to be in the public domain then it will be in the public domain."
Even the Conservative MSP for the north-east, Alex Johnstone, commented, saying Alexander looked like "a bad-tempered wee woman" who was trying to annoy Mr Salmond.
Indeed an apt description of the wee Mooth o' the Sooth.
MINISTERS BACK SALMOND IN 'FIGHTS' ROW
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Labels: Labour, Politics, Scotland, SNP
Why Smoking Is Dangerous
When a pub customer in England protested at the television channel being changed while he was watching a cricket match, and protested by lighting a cigarette, bar staff pressed a panic button, and within a few minutes six riot police stormed the premises, while another two waited outside.
A police spokesman said: "They explained why he should not be smoking, asked him to leave and he did so happily."
While I can see that it would take a team of eight riot police to deal with such a serious, life threatening incident, and I pay tribute to our brave bobbies for their bravery in unflinchingly facing the dangers of a whiff of second hand smoke with complete disregard to their own elfnsafety, pity those who are threatened with the vastly greater hazard that stalks our land, striking fear into the hearts of all who come before it, jeopardizing the sanity of the bravest among us.......
The spokesbitch for the anti-smoking campaign group ASH!
After Jeremy Clarkson and his co-presenters on the BBC TVs Top Gear lit up Porche pipes containing herbal tobacco during the filming of the show in an aircraft hanger, Amanda Sandford from ASH, positively smoking with indignation, said;
"It was a blatant breach of the law and the BBC should offer an immediate apology that acknowledges what they have done.
"I understand it was meant to be a light hearted part of the programme but it does not excuse the fact that they were flouting the law.
"It is inappropriate to have people smoking and breaking the law as blatantly as they did.
"The law is designed to stop people from smoking exposure in workplaces such as the television studio where the incident took place."
Needless to say the police didn't send the riot squad round to save us all from her bleating.
They were too scared.
Link to ASH - Requires sound. Turn it up!!! :)
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A police spokesman said: "They explained why he should not be smoking, asked him to leave and he did so happily."
While I can see that it would take a team of eight riot police to deal with such a serious, life threatening incident, and I pay tribute to our brave bobbies for their bravery in unflinchingly facing the dangers of a whiff of second hand smoke with complete disregard to their own elfnsafety, pity those who are threatened with the vastly greater hazard that stalks our land, striking fear into the hearts of all who come before it, jeopardizing the sanity of the bravest among us.......
The spokesbitch for the anti-smoking campaign group ASH!
After Jeremy Clarkson and his co-presenters on the BBC TVs Top Gear lit up Porche pipes containing herbal tobacco during the filming of the show in an aircraft hanger, Amanda Sandford from ASH, positively smoking with indignation, said;
"It was a blatant breach of the law and the BBC should offer an immediate apology that acknowledges what they have done.
"I understand it was meant to be a light hearted part of the programme but it does not excuse the fact that they were flouting the law.
"It is inappropriate to have people smoking and breaking the law as blatantly as they did.
"The law is designed to stop people from smoking exposure in workplaces such as the television studio where the incident took place."
Needless to say the police didn't send the riot squad round to save us all from her bleating.
They were too scared.
Link to ASH - Requires sound. Turn it up!!! :)
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Labels: Crime, Police, Smoking, UK
Monday, October 15, 2007
Ming Resigns - More A Case Of Ageism Than Leadership
Menzies Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the UK, tonight resigned and, although I am not a supporter of that party, being Scottish and longing for an end of the Union, I feel a strong sense of disgust at what has been a disgraceful display of age discrimination.
From the moment Ming put up a bid to lead the party after the downfall of Charles Kennedy, the previous leader who resigned because he found it impossible to stay sober, he has been pilloried by the press and, subsequently, by the public, the LibDems themselves and Mrs McGinty's dog, because he is considerably older than Tony B-liar and David Cameron, the Tory leader.
Compared to the the three year olds [Balls, Alexander and Milliband] that Gordon Brown relied upon for advice in the run-up to the general election of 2007 that wasn't, Campbell was indeed ancient, as am I, but pushing the idea that anyone over the age of consent is past stringing two words or policies together is not only offensive, but detrimental to democracy, politics and society in general.
The assassination of Menzies Campbell, apparently led by Vince Cable and Simon Hughes, a proven liar who helped hasten the downfall of Kennedy then stood as candidate for leadership, will do the Lib Dems no good, especially as this happened not on the back of a disatrous election result, but because of a few opinion polls before an election that never happened.
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From the moment Ming put up a bid to lead the party after the downfall of Charles Kennedy, the previous leader who resigned because he found it impossible to stay sober, he has been pilloried by the press and, subsequently, by the public, the LibDems themselves and Mrs McGinty's dog, because he is considerably older than Tony B-liar and David Cameron, the Tory leader.
Compared to the the three year olds [Balls, Alexander and Milliband] that Gordon Brown relied upon for advice in the run-up to the general election of 2007 that wasn't, Campbell was indeed ancient, as am I, but pushing the idea that anyone over the age of consent is past stringing two words or policies together is not only offensive, but detrimental to democracy, politics and society in general.
The assassination of Menzies Campbell, apparently led by Vince Cable and Simon Hughes, a proven liar who helped hasten the downfall of Kennedy then stood as candidate for leadership, will do the Lib Dems no good, especially as this happened not on the back of a disatrous election result, but because of a few opinion polls before an election that never happened.
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Easier Finding Hens Teeth Than An NHS Dentist
It sounds like something out of a fictional third world banana republic - people who can't afford dental treatment resorting to pulling out their own teeth with pliers.
I stress fictional because it probably doesn't come to that in many real third world banana republics.
This is what people in the UK are resorting to, ten years into a Labour government who have completely abandoned their roots [pun intended] and become the Tory party of 'Middle England,' cutting inheritance tax for people who can well afford private dental work and raising the tax burden for minimum wage earners.
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I stress fictional because it probably doesn't come to that in many real third world banana republics.
This is what people in the UK are resorting to, ten years into a Labour government who have completely abandoned their roots [pun intended] and become the Tory party of 'Middle England,' cutting inheritance tax for people who can well afford private dental work and raising the tax burden for minimum wage earners.
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Labels: Health, Labour, People, Poverty, UK
Wendy Alexander Raises Her Head Above The Parapet At Last
Or perhaps that should read 'raises her head above a pile of bricks,' given the ominous silence [another of her famous huffs?] since Scottish Labour leader Alexander's disastrous and laughable confrontation with the SNP government's First Minister Alex Salmond on the 4th of October.
Wendy has now surfaced, via a letter written to Salmond, accusing him of being more interested in picking fights with Westminster than running the country. This of course refers to the row over compensation for Scottish farmers, or lack of it, to deal with the consequences of the foot and mouth outbreak in England earlier this year, when restrictions were put on the movement of livestock.
She has also, apparently, published a list of promises which, she says, the new Scottish Government have failed to implement.
Considering the SNP have been in power for some five months, and what they have done in that short time, Alexander seems to have set herself up for yet another battering.
Whether they be in favour or against independence, the public are noticing the difference between the SNP fighting for, and achieving, better things for them, and the years of Scottish Labour bowing to the demands of their masters in London, to the detriment of Scotland and her people.
Wendy Alexander, despite her alleged superior intellect, is, like her predecessor Jack McConnell, a joke, her main priority so far having been complaining that she doesn't get enough money to employ enough cronies to do her work for her.
After eight or so years of a Labour 'Scottish Executive' whos crowning glory was a smoking ban and... an excruciatingly embarrassing sign in Glasgow Airport...
... it's hard to think of anything else they achieved so, in the interests of keeping comedy alive, I leave you with Wendy Alexander, bricks, waves and all, taking on Alex Salmond at Holyrood.
The full video is after key moments of the best wee pissed-off face in the world.
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Wendy has now surfaced, via a letter written to Salmond, accusing him of being more interested in picking fights with Westminster than running the country. This of course refers to the row over compensation for Scottish farmers, or lack of it, to deal with the consequences of the foot and mouth outbreak in England earlier this year, when restrictions were put on the movement of livestock.
She has also, apparently, published a list of promises which, she says, the new Scottish Government have failed to implement.
Considering the SNP have been in power for some five months, and what they have done in that short time, Alexander seems to have set herself up for yet another battering.
Whether they be in favour or against independence, the public are noticing the difference between the SNP fighting for, and achieving, better things for them, and the years of Scottish Labour bowing to the demands of their masters in London, to the detriment of Scotland and her people.
Wendy Alexander, despite her alleged superior intellect, is, like her predecessor Jack McConnell, a joke, her main priority so far having been complaining that she doesn't get enough money to employ enough cronies to do her work for her.
After eight or so years of a Labour 'Scottish Executive' whos crowning glory was a smoking ban and... an excruciatingly embarrassing sign in Glasgow Airport...
... it's hard to think of anything else they achieved so, in the interests of keeping comedy alive, I leave you with Wendy Alexander, bricks, waves and all, taking on Alex Salmond at Holyrood.
The full video is after key moments of the best wee pissed-off face in the world.
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Labels: Labour, Politics, Scotland, SNP
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Cot Deaths And The Instinct For Authoritarianism
According to a scientific study about to be published in the medical journal Early Human Development, nine out of 10 mothers whose babies suffered cot death smoked during pregnancy.
This means a women who smokes is four times more likely than a non-smoker to lose her child to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, a heartbreaking tragedy that, as a Grandad, I have seen close-range and hope never to see again happen to anyone.
A major new report seen by the Independent on Sunday has revealed that smoking holds the key to a mystery that has baffled doctors and brought heartache to thousands
I completely agree, and did so long before this report was produced, that smoking during pregnancy cannot be anything but harmful to the unborn, and any evidence to prove the link to cot deaths and, indeed, any other potential harmful effect on the health of the child before or after birth, is to be welcomed wholeheartedly.
However, no matter the importance of the message, some of the language used in the report is disturbing.
Statements coming from scientists and doctors such as: 'suggests a possible move to try to ban pregnant women from getting tobacco altogether,' and 'not heeded warnings about smoking and may need to have their access to tobacco restricted,' or 'ban on parents smoking indoors where children are present,' no matter how well intentioned, smack of an authoritarianism which does not sit well with such professionals, especially given the instinct of our politicians to regard the public's rights and liberties as something to be lightly thrown away.
By all means, send a strong message of the dangers, give help and encouragment to those who need it, get the message across that smoking while pregnant is harmful to the child, and could be fatal, but drop the 'police state' language and the threats.
We get too much of that already from government.
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This means a women who smokes is four times more likely than a non-smoker to lose her child to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, a heartbreaking tragedy that, as a Grandad, I have seen close-range and hope never to see again happen to anyone.
A major new report seen by the Independent on Sunday has revealed that smoking holds the key to a mystery that has baffled doctors and brought heartache to thousands
I completely agree, and did so long before this report was produced, that smoking during pregnancy cannot be anything but harmful to the unborn, and any evidence to prove the link to cot deaths and, indeed, any other potential harmful effect on the health of the child before or after birth, is to be welcomed wholeheartedly.
However, no matter the importance of the message, some of the language used in the report is disturbing.
Statements coming from scientists and doctors such as: 'suggests a possible move to try to ban pregnant women from getting tobacco altogether,' and 'not heeded warnings about smoking and may need to have their access to tobacco restricted,' or 'ban on parents smoking indoors where children are present,' no matter how well intentioned, smack of an authoritarianism which does not sit well with such professionals, especially given the instinct of our politicians to regard the public's rights and liberties as something to be lightly thrown away.
By all means, send a strong message of the dangers, give help and encouragment to those who need it, get the message across that smoking while pregnant is harmful to the child, and could be fatal, but drop the 'police state' language and the threats.
We get too much of that already from government.
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Labels: Children, Freedom, Labour, People
Saturday, October 13, 2007
How Can The Plight Of The Palestinian People Be A Surprise To Tony Blair?
So, Tony Blair is shocked, astonished and appalled at life, at discrimination on the West Bank. Taken aback at the exploitation of resources by the rich Jewish agricultural settlements at the expense of Palestinian farmers. Angry at the devastating effects of Israel's security barrier, settlements and checkpoints on the lives of Palestinians in the occupied territories.
After ten long years as UK Prime Minister it is surprising that the true plight of the Palestinian people seems to have come as such a shock to Blair, when all these facts have long been freely available to any Tom, Dick or Harry in the street who may be interested enough to care.
Indeed many people in this country do care, and have been angry for years at the barbaric and murderous treatment of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state.
Also: The student Trapped in Gaza, but should be in Bradford
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After ten long years as UK Prime Minister it is surprising that the true plight of the Palestinian people seems to have come as such a shock to Blair, when all these facts have long been freely available to any Tom, Dick or Harry in the street who may be interested enough to care.
Indeed many people in this country do care, and have been angry for years at the barbaric and murderous treatment of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state.
Also: The student Trapped in Gaza, but should be in Bradford
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Labels: Blair, Freedom, Middle East
Friday, October 12, 2007
Will The Police Visit Kelvin MacKenzie After His Racist Rant?
Sun columnist and former editor Kelvin Mackenzie yesterday voiced his offensive and ridiculous opinions about Scottish people on the BBC's Question Time from Cheltenham in England, and was booed and jeered by the audience for what were disgraceful racist remarks.
A Thank You to the Cheltenham audience for their reaction.
When police are visiting wee boys for the 'very serious' [ the stormtroopers words, not mine] homophobic crime of calling his 10-year-old classmate gay, and threatening to arrest eight year old boys for playing with toy guns, surely Kelvin MacKenzie's comments deserve serious attention by the police.
Of course MacKenzie isn't eight or even eleven years old, which complicates matters for police who, increasingly, avoid dealing with serious matters while picking on easy targets.
A bit like Sun hack Kelvin Mackenzie.
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A Thank You to the Cheltenham audience for their reaction.
When police are visiting wee boys for the 'very serious' [ the stormtroopers words, not mine] homophobic crime of calling his 10-year-old classmate gay, and threatening to arrest eight year old boys for playing with toy guns, surely Kelvin MacKenzie's comments deserve serious attention by the police.
Of course MacKenzie isn't eight or even eleven years old, which complicates matters for police who, increasingly, avoid dealing with serious matters while picking on easy targets.
A bit like Sun hack Kelvin Mackenzie.
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Labels: Crime, Media, People, Scotland
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
One Vulture Found, Another Still On The Run
A vulture known as Wee Man, who escaped from a rescue centre near Kinnoir, near Huntly in north-east Scotland on Saturday, has been found sitting in a tree close to home, and is in good condition, with no injuries or broken feathers.
Volunteers spent the day trying to tempt the bird down with offers of food, but have so far been unsuccessful.
"He must be hungry, after getting away on Saturday," said Centre volunteer Patricia Downie.
Wee Man is not an attacking bird as he feeds on dead animals.
The other vulture, known as Prime Minister Maggie 'Feartie' Broon, is still on the run after escaping from the dangers of a recent general election, and was briefly spotted today sitting in the House of Commons being mauled by opposition leader David Cameron who, until only a few days ago, Broon thought was a dead animal.
Maggie Broon, previously thought of as an attacking bird, lacks courage when confronted by prey that is not dead, and is easily recognizable by the yellow streak running down his back, and his recently broken feathers.
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Volunteers spent the day trying to tempt the bird down with offers of food, but have so far been unsuccessful.
"He must be hungry, after getting away on Saturday," said Centre volunteer Patricia Downie.
Wee Man is not an attacking bird as he feeds on dead animals.
Wee Man
The other vulture, known as Prime Minister Maggie 'Feartie' Broon, is still on the run after escaping from the dangers of a recent general election, and was briefly spotted today sitting in the House of Commons being mauled by opposition leader David Cameron who, until only a few days ago, Broon thought was a dead animal.
Maggie Broon
Maggie Broon, previously thought of as an attacking bird, lacks courage when confronted by prey that is not dead, and is easily recognizable by the yellow streak running down his back, and his recently broken feathers.
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Labels: Animals, Brown, Labour, Politics, Scotland, UK
Craig Murray Is Back
Proving that you can't keep a good man down - at least not for very long - Craig Murray's pages are back.
See September 23, 2007 - Craig Murray, Fasthosts, Alisher Usmanov And Schillings The Lawyers for some background to this.
The bullying actions of Alisher Usmanov and Schillings, his lawyers, and the reaction by hundreds of bloggers to the closing down of Murray's site - see Chicken Yoghurt for the list, and this post, also from Chicken Yoghurt - have achieved nothing apart from making Usmanov look foolish by attracting further attention to things he would prefer to keep quiet.
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See September 23, 2007 - Craig Murray, Fasthosts, Alisher Usmanov And Schillings The Lawyers for some background to this.
The bullying actions of Alisher Usmanov and Schillings, his lawyers, and the reaction by hundreds of bloggers to the closing down of Murray's site - see Chicken Yoghurt for the list, and this post, also from Chicken Yoghurt - have achieved nothing apart from making Usmanov look foolish by attracting further attention to things he would prefer to keep quiet.
Alisher Usmanov
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Labels: Crime, Freedom, People
Monday, October 08, 2007
Britain Is Now A Surveillance Society
I recently suggested in this post that the fingerprinting of young children in schools was an easy and convenient way of fostering meek acceptance of identity cards, government databases and loss of civil liberty, by getting kids used to submitting to fingerprinting and biometric scans in schools at an early age.
A handy technique indeed, for those beaurocrats and state officials who would control a surveillance society.
Now, in Scotland alone, it appears that fourteen educational authorities have already introduced biometric ID systems, with at least two others planning them.
Despite assurances that information is retained only on local secure servers, not shared with any external bodies, and that the data will not be compiled on any national database, all the systems are potentially compatible. Given access to the biometric data it could potentially be used by government, police and security services ten years down the line.
The government has already ensured that the UK's population is the most spied on and databased in the western world, with CCTV cameras - one for every fourteen of us at the last count and growing - car journeys monitored with numberplate recognition cameras, our web habits monitored, and phone calls, mobile and landline, recorded and kept so that 'they' know where we have been, who we have called at any time.
DNA is being gathered at a frightening pace from innocent people and kept for life and beyond on a national database, the ID card scheme and, more importantly, the national database that accompanies it is well on its way and the NHS is busy uploading all our medical files to a central database.
People applying for their first adult passport will have to attend their nearest interrogation centre where they will be subject to background checks, questioning to test their story against official records, photographs, and, eventually, fingerprinting.
Now, The Sunday Herald shows us UK 2017: Under Surveillance, described by Neil Mackay as: A chilling, dystopian account of what Britain will look like 10 years from now: a world in which Fortress Britain uses fleets of tiny spy-planes to watch its citizens, of Minority Report-style pre-emptive justice, of an underclass trapped in sink-estate ghettos under constant state surveillance, of worker drones forced to take on the lifestyle and values of the mega-corporation they work for, and of the super-rich hiding out in gated communities constantly monitored by cameras and private security guards.
A frightening glimpse into the country the children who are today being fingerprinted for access to the school library are being trained to accept as normal.
And a frightening number of parents are letting it happen.
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A handy technique indeed, for those beaurocrats and state officials who would control a surveillance society.
Now, in Scotland alone, it appears that fourteen educational authorities have already introduced biometric ID systems, with at least two others planning them.
Despite assurances that information is retained only on local secure servers, not shared with any external bodies, and that the data will not be compiled on any national database, all the systems are potentially compatible. Given access to the biometric data it could potentially be used by government, police and security services ten years down the line.
The government has already ensured that the UK's population is the most spied on and databased in the western world, with CCTV cameras - one for every fourteen of us at the last count and growing - car journeys monitored with numberplate recognition cameras, our web habits monitored, and phone calls, mobile and landline, recorded and kept so that 'they' know where we have been, who we have called at any time.
DNA is being gathered at a frightening pace from innocent people and kept for life and beyond on a national database, the ID card scheme and, more importantly, the national database that accompanies it is well on its way and the NHS is busy uploading all our medical files to a central database.
People applying for their first adult passport will have to attend their nearest interrogation centre where they will be subject to background checks, questioning to test their story against official records, photographs, and, eventually, fingerprinting.
Now, The Sunday Herald shows us UK 2017: Under Surveillance, described by Neil Mackay as: A chilling, dystopian account of what Britain will look like 10 years from now: a world in which Fortress Britain uses fleets of tiny spy-planes to watch its citizens, of Minority Report-style pre-emptive justice, of an underclass trapped in sink-estate ghettos under constant state surveillance, of worker drones forced to take on the lifestyle and values of the mega-corporation they work for, and of the super-rich hiding out in gated communities constantly monitored by cameras and private security guards.
A frightening glimpse into the country the children who are today being fingerprinted for access to the school library are being trained to accept as normal.
And a frightening number of parents are letting it happen.
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Labels: Labour, Liberty, Scotland, Surveillance, UK
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Humiliation For Brown - A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Feartie Brown Chickens Out
---------------------------
Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Douglas Alexander, Labour's International Development Secretary and Brown's election co-ordinator, look likely to shoulder much of the blame for the election spin getting out of control.
Alexander was widely criticised for the Scottish election fiasco in May, when over 100,000 votes were lost due to spoilt ballot papers and the e-counting machines used.
Brown says this morning that the public want to see him "get on with the job" rather than holding an election, and his decision has nothing to do with bad polls.
Right Gordon, we believe you.
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Labels: Brown, Labour, Politics
Friday, October 05, 2007
Gordon Brown In A Never-Ending Spin
Seems like the man just can't help himself.
Just a couple of days after his troops stunt, Brown spun off to Essex to open a hospital in Basildon - which had already been opened by Health Secretary Alan Johnson in July.
This is the same Gordon Brown who took office promising an end to spin, a more truthful and accountable goverment that the public could trust.
Of course Gordon is in a bit of a spin of the other sort too, dithering about whether to call an early general election, a decision not made easier by the latest poll results slashing his lead over Cameron and the Tories.
Nail-biting stuff - but mostly Brown's nails. They must be chewed to the quick and oozing blood by now.
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Just a couple of days after his troops stunt, Brown spun off to Essex to open a hospital in Basildon - which had already been opened by Health Secretary Alan Johnson in July.
This is the same Gordon Brown who took office promising an end to spin, a more truthful and accountable goverment that the public could trust.
Of course Gordon is in a bit of a spin of the other sort too, dithering about whether to call an early general election, a decision not made easier by the latest poll results slashing his lead over Cameron and the Tories.
Nail-biting stuff - but mostly Brown's nails. They must be chewed to the quick and oozing blood by now.
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Labels: Brown, Labour, Politics
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Wendy Alexander Grubbing For More Cash
Wendy Alexander, Scottish Labour's recently crowned leader, is feeling the pinch.
In a letter to the Holyrood allowances review, her party has pointed out that while the opposition leader at Westminster gets an allowance of £644,000, poor Wendy has to make do with a paltry £22,000 a year from the taxpayers pocket.
Hardly enough to buy a bag of sweets, never mind pay for a private secretary.
Not enough to keep Wendy sweet, anyway.
Poor wee dearie!
Talking about that - she's been very quiet since her embarrassing speech at the Labour party conference in Bournemouth the other week, when she made that grovelling apology for her party losing to the SNP at the Holyrood elections in May, and making the weird and wonderful claim that SNP First Minister Alex Salmond was in cahoots with David Cameron and the English Tories to break up Britain.
Wendy Alexander who not long before had taken tea with the leaders of the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Liberal Democrats to discuss working jointly to save the Union.
After a speech which was entirely policy-free and completely negative, with an imminent general election likely, and with Alex Salmond more popular in Scotland than Gordon Brown, now is perhaps not the best moment for Wendy to start grubbing for more taxpayers money to keep her in the manner she would like to become accustomed.
She could do without a private secretary for a while, and write her own letters, and answer the phone herself, and make her own coffee... or just resign to spend more time with her family.
The Herald: Alexander allowance 'too small"
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In a letter to the Holyrood allowances review, her party has pointed out that while the opposition leader at Westminster gets an allowance of £644,000, poor Wendy has to make do with a paltry £22,000 a year from the taxpayers pocket.
Hardly enough to buy a bag of sweets, never mind pay for a private secretary.
Not enough to keep Wendy sweet, anyway.
Poor wee dearie!
Talking about that - she's been very quiet since her embarrassing speech at the Labour party conference in Bournemouth the other week, when she made that grovelling apology for her party losing to the SNP at the Holyrood elections in May, and making the weird and wonderful claim that SNP First Minister Alex Salmond was in cahoots with David Cameron and the English Tories to break up Britain.
Wendy Alexander who not long before had taken tea with the leaders of the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Liberal Democrats to discuss working jointly to save the Union.
After a speech which was entirely policy-free and completely negative, with an imminent general election likely, and with Alex Salmond more popular in Scotland than Gordon Brown, now is perhaps not the best moment for Wendy to start grubbing for more taxpayers money to keep her in the manner she would like to become accustomed.
She could do without a private secretary for a while, and write her own letters, and answer the phone herself, and make her own coffee... or just resign to spend more time with her family.
The Herald: Alexander allowance 'too small"
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Labels: Labour, Politics, Scotland
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Brown's Shameless Troops Stunt
Cynical, shameless, self-serving Labour.... Brown uses troops for political gain....... no change then, Gordon
It was all supposed to be so different after Blair. The end of spin, a strengthening of parliament, Gordon Brown as 'father of the nation.'
Instead, more of the same. The withdrawl of 1000 troops from Iraq, the announcement made in Iraq rather than in parliament, except really it's only 500, because we knew during the summer the other 500 were coming home....... except, as we found out tonite, on Newsnight, most of the 500... aren't in Iraq anyway... if anyone can follow that.
During the week of the Tory Party Conference, Gordon Brown, the man who distanced himself at every opportunity from the Iraq war suddenly finds it essential to visit Iraq to issue a misleading announcement, in order to keep himself ahead of Cameron in the news.
Tony Blair must be proud of him.
Update for clarification: Soon after Brown's announcement of the homecoming of the thousand, it was established that this was only an extra 500 on top of 500 already announced and that 250 of those have already returned to the UK.
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Inverness School Fingerprinting Five Year Olds
A primary school in Inverness has installed a £1,000 biometric system to track library books using pupils fingerprints.
Drakies Primary School is the first in the Highlands to make use of the 'Junior Librarian' biometric system and the children, in their innocence, have taken to it, seeing it as more like a game.
The human rights organisation Liberty questions whether the introduction of such systems can be properly regulated.
A spokesperson said: "Unfortunately these fingerprint schemes may be using technology just for the sake of it and without proper regulation.
"Before schemes like this become the norm we must question if the biometric data of children is being shared, has permission been sought from parents, and is there truly no alternative?"
Of course there are plenty other less intrusive ways of letting kids borrow library books, but unfortunately they do not fit the agenda of the petty, beaurocratic officialdom found in town councils who see the advantages of fostering meek compliance, at the earliest age possible, for future civil liberty losses such as ID cards and the National Identity Register, the DNA database and all the other forms of state surveillance gradually being rolled out with barely a murmer from parliament and the people of the UK.
Parents should be the first to be screaming blue murder at this sort of manipulation of their children for the state's benefit, and standing up for the rights of the child, instead of being herded along like sheep by a government with little regard for democracy and civil liberties.
HOME
Drakies Primary School is the first in the Highlands to make use of the 'Junior Librarian' biometric system and the children, in their innocence, have taken to it, seeing it as more like a game.
The human rights organisation Liberty questions whether the introduction of such systems can be properly regulated.
A spokesperson said: "Unfortunately these fingerprint schemes may be using technology just for the sake of it and without proper regulation.
"Before schemes like this become the norm we must question if the biometric data of children is being shared, has permission been sought from parents, and is there truly no alternative?"
Of course there are plenty other less intrusive ways of letting kids borrow library books, but unfortunately they do not fit the agenda of the petty, beaurocratic officialdom found in town councils who see the advantages of fostering meek compliance, at the earliest age possible, for future civil liberty losses such as ID cards and the National Identity Register, the DNA database and all the other forms of state surveillance gradually being rolled out with barely a murmer from parliament and the people of the UK.
Parents should be the first to be screaming blue murder at this sort of manipulation of their children for the state's benefit, and standing up for the rights of the child, instead of being herded along like sheep by a government with little regard for democracy and civil liberties.
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Labels: Freedom, Highlands, Labour, Scotland, Surveillance
Monday, October 01, 2007
Brown's State - Listening To Us All
We know Gordon is WATCHING us all - for our own good, you understand, because he cares so much about us - but from now on he will be LISTENING to us too.
From tomorrow, phone companies, mobile and landline, are obliged to keep details of every phone call made in Britain, details which will not only be available to government officials, the police and security services, but to nearly 800 public bodies including local councils, tax authorities, Department of Health, immigration, and even the Charity Commission.
It is not yet clear whether Sybil, the Downing Street cat is included in the list of new snoopers tracking our every move.
The new law was slipped through by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, with no parliamentary debate.
RINF - Big Brother Britain: Government and councils to spy on ALL our phones
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Labels: Brown, Labour, Politics, Surveillance
Gefreiter Debra Cagan "Hates Iranians."
One of President Bush's senior women officials, Debra Cagan, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Coalition Affairs to Defence Secretary Robert Gates, shocked Britsh MPs visiting the Pentagon when she told them: "I hate all Iranians."
She also criticised Britain for pulling out troops.
One MP said: "I formed the impression that some in America are looking for an excuse to attack Iran. It was very alarming."
Tory Stuart Graham, who was on the ten-day trip, would not discuss Ms Cagan but said: "It was very sobering to hear from the horse's mouth how the US sees the situation."
I love her Iron Cross - awarded for bravery by Herr Führer Bush, perhaps?
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She also criticised Britain for pulling out troops.
One MP said: "I formed the impression that some in America are looking for an excuse to attack Iran. It was very alarming."
Tory Stuart Graham, who was on the ten-day trip, would not discuss Ms Cagan but said: "It was very sobering to hear from the horse's mouth how the US sees the situation."
I love her Iron Cross - awarded for bravery by Herr Führer Bush, perhaps?
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Labels: America, Bush, Iran, Politics
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