Monday, February 28, 2011

The gift that keeps on giving

I'm talking about Bob Crow the union leader of the RMT and his lack of understanding how things actually work.

Telegraph.
The General Secretary of the militant Rail, Maritime and Transport union was booed as he outlined his idea for a 1p tax on each email during an appearance on a late night comedy show.
He said that rather than cutting public services, the Government should tax email traffic and scrap the replacement for the Trident nuclear defence system.
Asked for his strategy for protecting jobs while tackling the deficit, Mr Crow told Channel 4’s 10 O’clock Live Show: “If groups of workers are under attack, we believe we should coordinate and stand firm - propose a tax of 1p per email, and get rid of Trident.”

Now whilst there are a lot of emails sent in this country, (2.8 million per second) a hell of a lot of those are spam and I can't imagine an easy way to tax them other than going by your ISP and getting them to spy on you. Even then that wouldn't work too well against the millions who use an online service such as Hotmail or Gmail and a variety of computers (and mobile phones) to access them, or even providers who are based abroad and aren't subject to UK taxes. I can imagine that he might be able to get at UK companies using outlook, but I also suspect that they'd either pass the costs on or find ways not to use UK based email services as well.
I get the feeling that Bob Crow is somewhat divorced from reality (well any union leader would be) in that he leads a sheltered existence from real life only to emerge every now and again to call on his members to lose money by going on industrial action and then wondering why the public don't particularly like him. Mind you as he arranged himself a 12% pay rise last year from the pockets of his membership whilst they only (generally) got less than 5% which is a damned sight more than a lot of us in the private sector got.
Now in the past, the unions served a useful purpose in moderating the excesses of the private sector and forcing health and safety legislation through parliament by protests, even today they represent their members well when it comes to representing them with management and defending them from abuse. However those at the top of the unions seem to have lost touch with reality, they are now part of the political classes who think that we should do as we're told and ignore what they get up too. Bob Crow is a prime example of a guy who although he started off looking after his members interests, now seems to be doing all right looking after himself. He thinks he's looking after their interests by taxing all of us to keep the system going, all he'll end up doing is delaying the inevitable fall or forcing more people into penury. If it costs money to send emails, people wont send them, if it costs too much to use trains, people wont use them, it's part of the law of diminishing returns and shows up quite well in laffer curve statistics on taxation. Bob Crow doesn't get it, we're sick of paying out for reduced services, we want value for money, something the public services have avoided for years, we don't want to pay out more to keep things the way they are.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Losing touch?

There's a poll out today by Searchlight (the "Far Left" anti fascist magazine*) which finds that there would be huge support for "Far Right" parties if they'd give up violence.

The "Far Left" Guardian.
Huge numbers of Britons would support an anti-immigration English nationalist party if it was not associated with violence and fascist imagery, according to the largest survey into identity and extremism conducted in the UK.
A Populus poll found that 48% of the population would consider supporting a new anti-immigration party committed to challenging Islamist extremism, and would support policies to make it statutory for all public buildings to fly the flag of St George or the union flag.
Anti-racism campaigners said the findings suggested Britain's mainstream parties were losing touch with public opinion on issues of identity and race.
The poll suggests that the level of backing for a far-right party could equal or even outstrip that in countries such as France, the Netherlands and Austria. France's National Front party hopes to secure 20% in the first round of the presidential vote next year. The Dutch anti-Islam party led by Geert Wilders attracted 15.5% of the vote in last year's parliamentary elections.
Anti-fascist groups said the poll's findings challenged the belief that Britons were more tolerant than other Europeans. "This is not because British people are more moderate, but simply because their views have not found a political articulation," said a report by the Searchlight Educational Trust, the anti-fascist charity that commissioned the poll.
They also have a picture up of members of the English defence league which is a bit misleading as they aren't a political party, nor are they "Far Right" but as far as the Left are concerned anyone who opposes their world view has to be "Far Right"

The "Far Right" Mail.
In one of the most revealing questions, pollsters Populus asked people if they would back a party that
‘wants to defend the English,
create an English parliament,
control immigration and
challenge Islamic extremism’.

A total of 48 per cent said they would either ‘definitely support’ or ‘consider supporting’ a party with such an agenda, if it shunned violence and fascist imagery.
The results will alarm both PM David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband, who are worried about the rise of right-wing extremists.
Again a picture of the English Defence League plus a mention of violence despite the fact that at their last few marches there were few incidents, mostly down to those who opposed them and they have been praised by the police for following instructions.

 Now the points in bold are interesting because none of those desires strikes me as being particularly "Right Wing" Nor oddly enough have those parties who are misleadingly called "Right Wing" got much of a record of violence, that tends to be the province of the Left as witness the student riots, plus the majority of arrests made at the so called "Right Wing" EDL marches have been from their opponents though you may have struggled to find that out due to the spin that the MSM put on such events.
The political compass shows that the one party really perceived to be far right (the BNP) are actually to the left of the mainstream parties, at least economically.


The truth is that on issues like health, transport, housing, protectionism and globalisation, their economics are left of Labour, let alone the Conservatives. It's in areas like police power, military power, school discipline, law and order, race and nationalism that the BNP's real extremism - as authoritarians - is clear. It's easy to see how the term national socialism came into being. The uncomfortable reality is that much of their support comes from former Labour voters, not Tory ones. I doubt though that the BNP will ever amount to more than a fringe party, they are clearly tainted goods with Griffin having run it as his own private feifdom for several years, the endemic corruption in the upper ranks means that they need a total makeover and probably several years to recover assuming they even can. Tainted also are the Lib/Lab/Con party of government, they allowed the conditions to arise whereby the peoples desires and needs were thwarted by their political correctness and multiculturalism which alienated much of the native population. UKIP I suppose could fill the void here, though they really need to get past their image problem of being a single issue party over the EU (I know they aren't) and start tapping into the national mood.
Still the first party to actually tap into the national mood might be onto a winner in England at least, though I doubt that the "Far Left" will be silent over the perceived betrayal. No doubt the first mainstream party to try it will be dubbed "Far Right" it's what the leftists do to try and stifle debate, point and scream.

The full report will be available Monday 9am, here.

*Two can play at the "Far" game

Saturday, February 26, 2011

So Judge Hawkesworth, what is a paedophile then?

OK technically the term should be hebephile or ephebophile for the more pedantic amongst you. However what I'm referring to is this... (caution Daily Mail alert)

Daily Mail.
A judge has been criticised for failing to jail a pervert who groomed a 14-year-old girl for sex after ruling he was being 'simply a young man'. 
Turon Ali, 26, groomed the schoolgirl by sending her explicit text messages and then arranged a secret meeting where he planned to abuse her.
He was only prevented from sexually assaulting the girl when her older brother found one of the texts and alerted police. 
But Ali avoided jail at Cambridge Crown Court with a 12-month suspended sentence after a top judge ruled he was 'not a paedophile as such'. 
'You are not a paedophile as such. You are simply a young man who was unable to control his sexual urges.'
Now I could just possibly understand Judge Hawkesworth's decision if the defendant were say 16, though most 16 year old's don't go in for grooming, however he's 26 and really should have known that he was breaking the law as it appears he did know the girls age, so I wonder when the limit comes in, 36? 46? 56? Grooming is still grooming after all and I doubt any of us would take kindly to anyone grooming a 14 year old daughter of ours no matter the age.
However Judge Hawkesworth does have a history of lenience when it comes to sexual offences...
Judge Hawkesworth came under fire in September 2008 when he refused to jail a Cambridge University academic convicted of downloading sick child porn 
Judge Hawkesworth also refused to jail child sex offender Jonathan Jenkins, then 21, after claiming his 'studies would be ruined' if he was put behind bars.  
So is this really someone we want in a position to deal with what most in society believe to be a serious crime involving the abuse of minors? I wonder what the Judge might have done had it been his daughter? I also believe if we had elected judges, Judge Hawkesworth just might be out of a job by now.

Friday, February 25, 2011

How do they get to positions of power?

I am of course talking about the Health and Safety brigades nestled into various local and national government sectors as well as various fake charities and quango's.

Telegraph.
Pen-pushers have slapped the ban on the swimming aides amid "fears" a pair could "snap" onto a child's face too hard, injuring them.
Parents branded the ruling by Oxfordshire County Council's healthy and safety brigade as "nutty" and "extreme."
However, bureaucrats defended its no-goggle policy claiming that it reflected national guidance provided by sports bodies.
Children will now need a medical reason for them to be allowed to wear the protective eye wear in the pool during school lessons.
Teenage swimmer Danni McFadden, aged 13 years, said: "It hurts my eyes if we swim without them and I go in the water."
Her mother Carmel Ryan added: "I remember being a child and I thought it was great swimming underwater.
"It makes swimming more fun.
"The professional swimmers wear goggles.
"It's a bit nutty.
"If they think someone is messing around with them, they should correct it. They do protect the eyes."
I remember myself swimming in my youth and having eventually to get out as my eyes were burning due to the high level of chlorine in the water used as a disinfectant. I also remember that many pools banned the larger scuba goggles too, not sure why, might have been because they contained glass and if broken became a safety hazard. But I do remember getting hold of the first type of modern goggle and enjoyed swimming underwater and being able to see clearly without the water distortion on my eyes. It made swimming a lot more fun and the exercise was good for us.
Oxfordshire is not alone in banning goggles.
Last year, Leicestershire County Council advised schools of the "dangerous" eyewear which it said could snap back in children's faces, or make them bump into one another due to reduced peripheral vision.
Hertfordshire County Council has done the same.
A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council refused to divulge the specific reason why goggles had been banned from its swimming pools.
 I think it's because they know the reaction they'll get for doing something so stupid. Yes kids bump and bang each other occasionally, yes they do stupid things, usually they'll only do it once as they are quick learners, unlike Health and Safety officers no doubt. But doesn't it strike anyone normal (for a given value of normal) that making something like swimming less enjoyable brings a whole new set of dangers such as drowning into the realms of possibility? If kids don't like going to the pool because the water hurt their eyes, perhaps they'll also not learn to swim.
I can't even find an instance of any kid being blinded by swimming goggles, I got to 5 pages in google and merely turned up a load of stuff about teaching blind kids to swim as well as a load of guff from mumsnet about the same subject of goggles.
Perhaps it's time we let kids be kids again and saved a bit of cash getting rid of the health and safety brigades.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Fine? They're on benefits, what good's a fine going to be?

The scum who burned poppies and chanted hate during the Remembrance Parade in London were on trial today under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, sadly this only allows a fine, unlike Section 4 which allows up to 2 years jail time. The judge even told them they didn't have to turn up for sentencing. The accused even left the building at one stage to go and scream abuse at members of the EDL who were protesting outside about the leniency of the charges.

Express.
TWO Muslims hardliners accused of burning poppies during a Remembrance Day parade were told last night they will not be jailed.
Mohammed Haque and Emdadur Choudhury were said to have set fire to the plastic effigies after the two-minute silence was observed.
Haque, 30, and Choudhury, 26, left onlookers outraged at the gesture, made as members of the armed forces marched by. They were part of an Islamic ­protest group who shouted abusive slogans such as “British soldiers – burn in hell”.
During the lunch break in the trial at Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court, south London, yesterday, Choudhury and Haque joined supporters from the Islamic group Muslims Against Crusades. Choudhury was photographed screaming abuse and pointing during heated exchanges with rival protesters from the English Defence League. But as their trial was adjourned yesterday, they were told they would escape being jailed, even if found guilty. Judge Howard Riddle said: “If convicted, the maximum penalty will be a fine and there is the possibility of costs.”
Now as these scum are claiming benefits and are unemployed (and probably unemployable) all that the judge is going to do is rob Peter to pay Paul, yes they'll be a little worse off, but the money itself will just be transferred from one government account to another. Doesn't strike me as being particularly fair, but it's the same for any case with a person on benefits who gets fined. Strikes me that we're doing something wrong there, wonder if bringing back the stocks might work...
Oh and as these people cannot cope with ridicule, here courtesy of the EDL is a photoshopped picture just to make you smile (or not if you're Mohammed Haque and Emdadur Choudhury)


May they burn in hell.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Nimby's

It's amazing the things that get peoples backs up and the excuses they make to justify their calls for a ban or removal of what they consider to be an eyesore, even if it's perfectly legal...

Telegraph.
Residents in a quiet village are embroiled in an extraordinary neighbourhood row after a military enthusiast bought a £10,000 tank and parked it outside his home.
The huge green tanklike crane, designed to carry out battlefield repairs, has been sitting in a lay-by since new owner Nicholas Kravchenko drove it there last week.
Residents living in the normally tranquil area of Wolvercote, near Oxford, Oxon, have branded the machine an ''eyesore''.
Police have now been called in to settle the "neighbourhood dispute" amid claims the £10,000 tank was intimidating locals.
Ok it's not the sort of thing you expect to find parked outside a semi in Wolvercote, but it is perfectly legal and as for intimidating, pull the other one, it's not like it's bristling with arms and takes the occasional pot shot at VW Polo's.
Even fits in the parking bay.
Council chiefs have already admitted that the vehicle is roadworthy and taxed. So quite frankly the residents don't have a leg to stand on, doesn't stop them having a moan though.
Paul Harvey, who lives three doors away from Mr Kravchenko, said: ''The whole situation is unbelievable.
''There's a limited number of spaces on the street and this tank is taking up a number of them.
''It's so incredibly anti-social.''
Wonder what he'd make of anyone parking a twin cab or delivery truck there?
Another neighbour Debbie Tyson, who lives opposite the tank, added: ''I have to look at that thing every morning.
And? It's a vehicle, there's a lot worse looking things on the road I can assure you, my neighbours sons customised escort for one.
Another woman, who did not want to be named, feared her neighbour would leave it there permanently.
''It's an eyesore and is upsetting and scares the little kids," she said.
"One toddler asked her mum if we were in a war. It's not right."
The kid was curious, I doubt she'll be scarred for life assuming she was traumatised at all.
War veteran David Bedford, 85, added: ''It's heartbreaking living where I do.
'I have to look at his cars every time I leave my house and it's really getting me down.
''I don't know what to do any more.''
Move? Yes that's a bit heartless of me, but quite frankly although it's an unusual thing to find in a parking bay it's not illegal, it's not particularly an eyesore and it isn't harming anyone. There's a guy I know in Plumstead has an ex American Army personnel carrier, it's parked on the street, nobody complains and he's not particularly worried about anyone not driving a truck backing into it either. What it is, is that these residents don't like Mr Kravchenko's hobby and are using this vehicle as an excuse to try and get him to conform or go away.
So long as he's not breaking the law they don't have a leg to stand on, so they go national looking for sympathy, well they aren't getting it here. I wouldn't like my neighbour to have one, but, I wouldn't go whinging to the press if he did.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Waste of money

The original census (1801) had very few questions, mostly name, sex, occupation and was simply half of one page. Like most things to do with bureaucracy and statistic gathering it grew and grew until the new one due stands at 11 pages and wants to know the ins and outs of a ducks backside so far as I can tell. Still it is only every 10 years and I guess I could tolerate it even if I planned for that day to move all the beds into one room and lie about my religion and various other items of my life that I think are none of the government business.
This however got my goat (yes the dog will be registered as a goat that day if they happen to ask)

Telegraph.

The cost of next month’s national census is expected to reach almost £500 million as 30,000 officials are hired to ensure immigrants who do not speak English take part in the compulsory population count.

Guidance on how to complete the 32-page form has been translated into 56 languages while advertisements are being broadcast on ethnic minority TV channels and leaflets distributed to shops, mosques, churches and temples.
It is a legal requirement for everyone to complete the census, which takes place once every 10 years, with the next national survey due to be conducted on 27 March. The results are used to help plan public services, including school places, hospitals, and transport.
Persistent refusal to complete the form can lead to prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.
But the Office for National Statistics, which organises the survey, admitted that while three million people failed to complete the 2001 census, only 38 were convicted.
Glen Watson, ONS census director, said the cost of the exercise was projected to reach £480 million this year, twice the total for the previous census in 2001.

 Why are we wasting taxpayers money on translations? There should only be language translations for the recognised languages of these Islands. English, Welsh, Scots Gael and possibly Manx assuming it's a separate tongue, oh and Braille too and perhaps a large print edition. You can't read any of those? Tough, you pay for a translator out of your own pocket, not mine or else learn the language yourself!
I'm sick and tired of the continual waste of money the state throws down the drain translating other languages for those too bloody lazy to learn the language of the country they live in! You don't see it happening in France, they make bloody sure you only get everything in French, if you can't cope, it's your problem, not theirs. £500 million in wasted cash that could have been spent on something important like school repairs or even repairing the winter potholes from the global warming spasm we had in December. But no we have to pander to those invited in by New Labour to vote for them and keep the cost of labour down. (3.2 million not counting illegals) But no, we have to keep the immigrants happy so Labour shelled out our cash to translate the census into 56 other languages and then apparently gave some USA military firm (Lockheed Martin)  the contract to to the data capture.


Ye Gods am I getting angry about this!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Didn't they think to warn him?

A despicable attack on a teacher by a bunch of thugs for religious motives (guess which religion) left the teacher with a slashed his face and left him with a fractured skull because they did not approve of him teaching religion to Muslim girls.(oops bit of a giveaway on the religion there).

Daily Mail.
Four men launched a horrific attack on a teacher in which they slashed his face and left him with a fractured skull because they did not approve of him teaching religion to Muslim girls.
Akmol Hussein, 26, Sheikh Rashid, 27, Azad Hussain, 25, and Simon Alam, 19, attacked Gary Smith with a Stanley knife, an iron rod and a block of cement.
Mr Smith, who is head of religious education at Central Foundation Girls' School in Bow, east London, also suffered a fractured skull.
The four now face a jail sentence.
Detectives made secret recordings of the gang's plot to attack Mr Smith prior to the brutal assault.
The covert audio probe captured the gang condemning Mr Smith for 'teaching other religions to our sisters', the court heard.
The RE teacher was targeted as he made his way on foot along Burdett Road in nearby Mile End on July 12 last year, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.
Prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse told the court: 'The evidence from what was said on the probe points overwhelmingly to a religious motive for this attack.' 
It is believed the gang had made two earlier attempts to get at the teacher.
The interesting thing to be read from this was that the police were aware of the plot to attack the teacher, yet there is no mention of him being alerted to his peril. Though he may have been aware of the two previous attempts, then again perhaps not, depends on whether or not they were able to get at him.
The questions uppermost in my mind though are how long are we going to tolerate the intolerant, when are we going to do something about the barbaric, fascistic, ideology dressed up in the trappings of a religion that is Islam? Are all Muslims fanatics? Probably not, but they certainly do seem to have them in job lots. Burning poppies, insulting troops and attacking people whose job it is to teach other religions, not to mention running paedophile prostitution gangs all in a days work for their more active members.
Where will be the likes of the leftists who constantly hound us out with their cries of "racist, it's only a minority, fascist" etc? The silence will be deafening, along with the silence from the mosque that these guys attended.
No wonder despite all the lies and attacks on it, the EDL continue to grow.
Oh yes and apparently it's their duty to hire other Islamic illegals...
Mohammed Rahman said he was bound to provide shelter at his curry houses for fellow Muslims, regardless of the law.
But last night he was behind bars after Judge Peter Hughes QC said he had “exploited” the men for cash.
Religion of peace my arse!

Central European time?

Seems the government want to adjust the clocks forward 2 hours and are offering the excuse that it will be good for tourism.

Express.
THE prospect of longer and lighter summer evenings came a step closer yesterday after ministers backed the Daily Express and agreed to look at a shake-up in the way clocks are set.
Whitehall sources confirmed that a permanent change will be proposed by the coalition this week.
The move, to be announced as part of a new “tourism strategy”, would put the country on “double summertime” – two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, and an hour ahead of British Summer Time.
“The tourism industry estimates that this measure could create 80,000 jobs at a stroke and would be worth about £3.5billion to the economy. It would also be a huge boost to participation in sport.” She said research by the Department for Transport had found that putting the clocks forward could save about 80 lives a year by cutting road accidents on darker evenings.
It is understood the Government will put forward a series of options in a public consultation later this year. Its favoured option is to put the country on Central European Time, in line with most of the Continent.
Personally I don't know why they don't just change the business hours and open schools earlier if they want to approach it from a health and safety point of view, the proposed plans will also have kids walking to school in the dark for a lot of the winter anyway, so I don't think safety has anything to do with this. There are also plenty of other ways to get around this, though none so simple as changing the clocks admittedly.
Over all, I suspect this is simply more of the EU's machinations to bring us all into line with the rest of Europe, which would raise my hackles anyway, though I'm not really in any position to do anything about it as other than a general election and a European election every 4 years or so I don't get a say, they never think to ask me even in polls. I expect the public will swallow the excuses, at least until the winter when they'll discover that dark mornings and school runs are not a lot of fun at all.
Ministers want to switch the date of the May Day bank holiday. The break is based upon Labour Day, which some ministers see as an outdated socialist festival. Instead, they would like a “UK Day” or a “Trafalgar Day” marking Admiral Nelson’s victory over the French and Spanish fleets on October 21, 1805.
Strangely enough no mention of St George's day which is popular amongst the English at least and certainly a worthy replacement for May Day, though Trafalgar day would be nice as well, until the pc crowd get involved about insulting and hurting French feelings. As for a UK day, well that's the most likely one, though I for one will feel no desire to celebrate such a day. I'm English, not British, not UK ish and not European, not in my mind anyway, legal requirements be damned.
If there is to be a new bank holiday, let it be St George's Day in England, St David's Day in Wales, St Andrew's Day in Scotland.and St Patrick's Day in Northern Ireland. Not a generic one size fits all celebration of multicultural Britain which is what I suspect the government and various politically correct types will aim for.

You know it's coming.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Green lunacy

No not about their genocidal tendencies (for everyone except enviroloons) but about political parties cobbling together "environmentally friendly" policies that have unintended consequences, well I think they are unintended, but with Labour you can't be too sure, though with Chris Huhne of the Lib Dems in charge of energy you probably can.

Express.
LABOUR’S battle to stop climate change has left school chiefs facing a multi-million pound bill.
Councils are being forced to pay huge penalties because ageing school buildings fail new green regulations.
The Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme, to be imposed for the first time this year, is designed to ensure that public buildings do not waste energy.
A Government proposal to amend schools finance regulations will make it possible for local authorities to charge the schools’ budget for any losses. This will mean schools managing their heating costs well will be penalised with what amount to fines if a neighbouring school is less efficient.
Last year schools in Derby which were involved in a carbon reduction pilot scheme had to pay for meters to be fitted to measure the energy they use after having old electricity and gas bills scrutinised for past usage.
David Nichols, head of Little­over Community School in Derby, said: “We have been warned to install systems sooner rather than later to make savings. But our inefficient building is due to be knocked down in 18 months, so where is the sense in this?
Any fines will be go straight to the Treasury, according to a source from the Department of Energy, a move which will not prove popular with councils whose budgets are being slashed.
 Welcome to the wonderful wacky world of political envirolunacy, or rather a typical Labour cash grab, though you will note that the current crop of greedy barstewards haven't done anything about this either. I'm all for energy efficiency, as an engineer I would be but this obsession with carbon has nothing to do with energy efficiency. You want to see a major greenhouse gas? Go outside and look at a cloud and there you are. Carbon in all its forms is pretty much not going to warm up the planet, makes a good fertiliser, pretty jewels and a good heat source, but warm the planet, sorry you're kidding yourself. So instead of giving grants to help public buildings (and others) to become more energy efficient, or encouraging them to move into newer better quarters if they can't, Labour opted for the fine them till the pips squeak method and to add to the injustice made sure the fine was spread to all, including the energy efficient buildings, how terribly socialist of them. So, here we have in a time of economic slowdown, a useless scheme designed to combat a fake crisis, hitting both efficient and non efficient equally and picking our pockets via local councils having to raise council taxes to pay fines directly back to central government.
It's the perfect political solution, no? It even employs people to rob us.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Here's a thought, how about teaching them to read and write properly?

When I was at school, we learned to read and write and do the basic maths stuff (times tables etc) in the first few years of junior school, there was none of this citizenship bollocks or gender awareness, we were kids, and treated like kids. Whilst it was possible to leave school unable to read and write, it was damned difficult to do so, you were quickly caught out as strangely enough we had to do a lot of reading and writing, not just do multiple choice either. People who couldn't read and write were heading for the scrap heap, no chance of a decent job and we knew it, it suited some, but over all most of us wanted to do things with our lives and futures, we had dreams, we might not have achieved them, but we were at least given the tools to make the attempt.
Not quite the same these days though...

BBC.
A number of made-up words such as "koob" or "zort" are to be included in the government's planned new reading test for six-year-olds in England.
The idea has drawn criticism from literary experts who say the approach will confuse those beginning to read.
The UK Literacy Association said the plan was "bonkers" as the purpose of reading was to understand meaning.
The government said non-words were being included to check pupils' ability to decode words using phonics.
Now phonics does work if it is applied properly, the problem being that far too many kids slip through the net now as their reading skills can no longer be judged to a correct standard, nor do kids learning by phonics connect too well with this sort of thing as do the generation who learned by what is usually called the "whole word" method.
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch by the Lngiusiitc Dptanmeret at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
I can read it as can most adults who learned in the old school way, kids learning by phonics however can't, that's because they break words up into segments. Phonics only really works if stuff is spelt properly and as about 84% of English words phonetically regular it can teach kids how to read English quite quickly. So why are so many kids leaving school unable to read and write? Well mostly it's because teachers themselves don't understand the way the human brain works when it's processing information and it's different for boys and girls. In essence they are trying to teach using a method they don't understand, yes the old method worked, but it was hard work too phonics should make it easier, but only when it's taught correctly, unfortunately as the stats show, 22% of school leavers are illiterate and innumerate. So something's clearly not right and I think it's got to be down to teachers, though a lot of kids in my day got to school already able to read somewhat, not too sure about today though, even then the way a parent teaches their kids to read may not sit too well with the school method. My solution for what it's worth would be to combine the best of both worlds, use the best method for teaching reading and writing and couple it with giving the kids more time to do it (along with identifying failing teachers) Drop the PC stuff, drop or reduce the other workloads and don't let the kids progress until they have the basics down pat. A well educated generation might just be what this country needs in the years to come, at the moment though our kids are being let down by poor teaching, political meddling and far to many none essential subjects.
Let's get back to basics and put this right.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Not as rare as they'd like us to believe

This is more Julia's territory than mine, she's certainly found enough cases of women crying wolf over sexual assault and rape.

BBC.
Detectives investigating a report of a serious sexual assault in Kent have called off their hunt for suspected kidnappers and a rapist.
The inquiry was set up after a 20-year-old woman told police two men forced her into the back of a car in Deal and sexually assaulted her on 6 February.
Police now say they are satisfied the incident, in the Kingsdown area, did not happen as reported.
Chief Insp Ken Elmes said residents need no longer worry about the attack.
"I am relieved that the hunt for suspected kidnappers and a rapist can be closed," he said.
"Officers are still going to be working to establish what was behind the allegation, but they are not investigating a kidnap or rape."
OK no arrests, no careers blighted, no lives destroyed, yet it remains obvious that there is a problem in the system that would allow an anonymous "victim" to make accusations ending up wasting police time up and into the courts system against a known defendant. If the victim gets anonymity, then the accused should also be accorded the same privilege, at least until a guilty verdict. Yet often enough the accuser having lied walks away with a slap on the wrist whilst some poor guys life lies in ruins around him, proven innocent in the eyes of the law and yet often ostracised afterwards on the "there's no smoke without fire" mentality of some people. Plus having his DNA permanently on record and all his details permanently in the legal system. You'd have thought the equalities act might have corrected this imbalance in the system, though of course being a Labour act of Parliament pushed forward by Harriet (I hate men) Harman no such thing was done. The act was more about doing white men down than protecting the rights of all.
So unless the law is changed giving protection to all equally, men are at a terrible disadvantage to those women out there who can accuse them of a sexual crime and remain anonymous until (assuming they are) caught out. Sexual crimes such as rape are a terrible and terrifying ordeal for women, the devastation to their lives can cause problems lasting a lifetime, those that cheapen this crime by making false claims do the real victims no favours. Perhaps if the penalty for false accusation was the same as for a genuine sex offender they'd think twice, but until that happens, mens lives are being ruined and often enough the accuser walks away scot free.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Meddling

Used to be at one time we had one (metal) bin for rubbish that was collected weekly and you just put everything in it. Increases in the packaging used by supermarkets etc soon meant we ended up with bigger bins, but still weekly collections. Then came the obsession with recycling (generally a good thing) and extra bins and containers were added to the mix, being collected fortnightly (in my case) Somewhere in that we lost the free collection of large items of waste and either had to sort it out ourselves or pay the council to do it for us, it had to be the council, they wont allow vans or pickups into the waste depot, just cars. I now have 2 bags, one for paper/card one for cans, bottles (plastic and glass) and a brown wheely for garden rubbish which hardly gets used as I hate gardening. Oh and the rest of the rubbish is collected in black sacks weekly, so I guess I'm lucky there. Others are not so lucky...

Express.
COUNCIL chiefs were branded “over the top” yesterday for ­making householders sort their rubbish into as many as nine bins.
A nationwide study revealed the “shocking disparity” in Britain’s approach to recycling with households being required to use ­anything from one to nine bins.
And failure to comply can incur fines of up to £100.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance said the average number of bins residents are required to use is four. But 136 councils use five bins, 58 use six and 21 use seven.
Adding to the confusion, each council has its own system of weekly or fortnightly collections.
As I said, I'm one of the lucky ones and no this isn't a dig at Medway Council (other than the waste depot and vans) as I know who exactly is at the root of all this messing about, as do the Taxpayers Alliance.
Councils face heavy EU fines if they do not reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill sites, so they are pushing for dramatic increases in recycling.
Caught between a rock and a hard place as people like me will take them to task for raising Council Tax to pay for fines incurred because they can't recycle more and take them to task about over complicating the systems they use to do it.
Yet in the end it boils down to following EU regs and as ever we end up paying for it and so the resentment grows whilst our political classes rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic and hoping no-one notices it's sinking, instead of launching the lifeboat by way of an in or out referendum.
EU regulations are wrecking this country and strangling our businesses and councils in red tape, it's time and past time we left.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Seems to make sense

I wasn't aware until recently that local authorities set their own salary, wage and benefits packages that were outside the remit of elected councillors. Seems councillors were responsible for the budget, but not the contents thereof, which is why we somehow ended up with 43% of chief executives of local authorities receiving over £150,000 in salary and fees last year, which was more than the prime minister’s 2010 salary of £142,500.
So as an attempt to stop anyone getting paid more than the prime minister  cut down on these packages the government has decided that local councillors who are elected should get a say in what their chief executives actually get paid.

Telegraph.
Councils will have to publicly vote on any pay package worth more than £100,000 in the latest attempt to rein in sharp increases in local authority pay.
Local authorities are currently free to set pay levels for their executives with elected councillors given little oversight of the arrangements.
Earlier this week, it emerged that 220 local authority chief executives were paid more than the £142,500 that the Prime Minister received last year.
Eric Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, has been frustrated by repeated attempts to persuade councils to cut their salary bills.
Many local authorities are threatening to cut front-line services despite failing to reduce the pay packages of senior executives.
Mr Pickles told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "This is just part of the checks and balances so that it allows every councillor to consciously make a decision with regard to senior pay.
"It just seems to me to be a reasonable thing to do." 
Well we all know that threatening to cut frontline services is simply blackmail on the part of the councils anyway, there are a lot of things they do like diversity/racism/environmentalism projects that could go first along with translation services for immigrants etc but no, threaten their budgets and they reach for bin collections and police officers because they hope this will force the government to back down. It certainly worked in the past anyway, though I think it's percolating down to local levels that the money fountain has blocked up.
I don't know if councillors will actually do anything about their chief executive pay levels, I suspect Labour ones won't give a damn, but it does strike me as a good idea that councillors should have some financial control over the people that run the authorities and what they are getting paid. Certainly it will give their opposition some ammunition if they don't get this matter under some sort of control, I don't believe anyone in public services is worth over £142,000 particularly when it has to come out of our pockets. If they want to earn more they can try it in private industry where you get paid what the market decides, somehow I doubt there will be many takers for that though.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Charity begins at home, surely?

Well were probably heading into the double dip recession that pretty much everyone was forecasting except whoever was in charge of the government at the time be it Labour or Conservative. Not just a recession, a depression, a slump and probably a downturn all rolled into one. Though you wouldn't think so from the way the government throws our money around, particularly in the foreign aid budget, which was ring fenced so didn't face the usual cuts that everyone except the NHS and political expenses faced.
Still I'm at a loss still as to why we're giving £1 billion over 4 years to a nuclear power with a space program and who also gives aid to Africa. Yes I know India has over 450 million poor and I know that foreign aid often comes with strings attached about buying UK goods, but at this time with people here facing real hardship it's about time we looked to ourselves.
Charity should begin at home, keeping our pensioners warm and fed, repairing our infrastructure and encouraging firms from outside to invest in us and provide jobs to take on people from the public sector which became so bloated under Labour.
Mind you, we could easily recoup that by leaving the EU, but they wont do that either, too busy still feathering their own nests, but the tide of anger is rising and people are feeling the pinch all over now, save of course in those who believe they rule us.
I hope they get their Ceaucescu moment soon.

Monday, February 14, 2011

This should be good

Channel 4 Despatches the people who brought us "Undercover Mosque" and who were then prosecuted by West Midlands Police for doing so have something new out tonight called "Lessons in Hate and Violence" about the systemic hate and violence being fed to Muslim school children in their Mosques, including physical abuse of the children for failing to spout the hate being taught.



There has even been fall out before the program has been shown.

BBC.
A man has been arrested in connection with alleged incidents of assault at a mosque in Keighley.
Police said it followed the release of secret footage filmed at the Markazi Jamia Mosque, due to be aired on the Channel 4 Dispatches programme tonight.
The footage from the programme includes children apparently being hit.
Police said the man had been bailed and that the force was "receiving co-operation from the Keighley Muslim Association".
Some of the programme also features footage of a school in Birmingham.
It was viewed by detectives after some of the footage was posted on the internet.
A West Yorkshire Police statement said: "We have recently become aware of a number of incidents of alleged assault at a mosque in the Keighley area and just before the weekend we were able to view edited footage of the alleged incident.
"Give me the child, I will give you the man". This was allegedly said by Ignatius Loyola (1491 - 1556) later elevated to sainthood, who was the founder of the Jesuit order. So what are we to make of those who are inculcating suspicion, bigotry and hatred towards others. The constant indoctrination in the idea that non Muslims are to be loathed and are worthy of contempt. When you have institutions that teach this, how can integration not be impeded? Save only that they believe we have to integrate with them, not vice versa. If you are wondering where they are getting this stuff from...

"Surely the vilest of animals in Allah's sight are those who disbelieve" [Qur'an al-Anfal 8:55]

"Surely those who oppose God and His Prophet will be among the vilest." [Qur'an al-Mujadilah 58:20]

It'll be interesting to see how the MCB et al manage to brush this programme aside as "Islamophobia".

Oh, they've already started... Lessons in Hate and Violence (Another Islamophobic Dispatches Shockumentary) Obviously those beatings caught on video and the hate speech were taken "out of context" Yet in 2002 when former Labour mp Anne Cryer first mentioned this, Muslim leaders categorically denied the claims and no further action was taken.

Wonder if the police will prosecute Despatches again?

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Yes that will work

I'm not a good gardener, mostly because I'm lazy in not wishing to waste my time in that respect, but also because if there were such a thing as the opposite of green fingers I've pretty much got it locked. Still I appreciate the talent of my friends, family and neighbours who turn their gardens into horticultural wonderlands of colour and edibles.
There's a whole world of flower shows and vegetable competitions out there that I have no real interest in other than wandering through mostly thinking my, that's pretty, or my that's huge, I know there are certain criteria that have to be met too, though the rules are often obscure, I'm also told that jealousy runs rife in those communities whose idea of fun this is. I was brought up in a North East of England where prize leeks were grown and exhibited and learned a few of the tricks fierce rivals were prepared to go to to wreck a competitors chances, so this story doesn't surprise me at all.
Still I wouldn't have thought that the best way to deal with a worthy champion of the art would be to ask him not to bother anymore.

Telegraph.
It is the ultimate accolade for a keen vegetable grower – a 73-year-old has been told not enter his village gardening competition because he is too good.
David Stirzaker has been asked by the organisers of the North Cadbury and District Horticultural Society, in Somerset, not to exhibit his produce at its annual show, because his impressive record at the event is discouraging others from taking part.
Mr Stirzaker – who has won 12 cups at the show in just four years, for his prize-winning carrots, parsnips and tomatoes – has pledged to take the matter to the Royal Horticultural Society.
"This is my hobby and I have been supporting their show for four years. I find the request very insulting – it is a competition so I would have thought it is down to other growers to try harder if they want to beat me," he said.
"I want nothing more to do with the society. I won't be showing there again and I have told them that they can come and collect their trophies."
You can't really imagine it happening in Formula 1 or any sporting activity, champions are champions after all and I doubt that he's putting off others from entering, simply setting the standard of what it takes to win. I might be wrong, but this has all the hallmarks of a jealous rival nobbling their competitor because they are better.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Party time

I'm away out partying all day in an extended family birthday bash so I'll leave you with this...



Man talks a lot of sense and no I won't be eating halal tonight, guy kills and cooks it himself.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Cost or common sense?

The New Labour anti-paedophile Vetting and Barring Scheme.was an utter fiasco where anyone who had any contact even remotely with kids faced a humiliating check (sometimes at their own cost) into their backgrounds. The result was a predictable downturn in the number of people who sought to do voluntary work with kids, plus a high degree of indignation from groups such as the Gloucester Cathedral Flower Guild who refused to have their pasts examined. The scheme was also forced on St John Ambulance volunteers, and millions of other volunteers who had to undergo the vetting process to clear them to come into contact with children.
So finally the government of today acted...

BBC.
Millions of people in England and Wales who work or volunteer with children and vulnerable adults will no longer need criminal record checks, ministers say.
The change is part of the government's Freedoms Bill, being unveiled later.
It also includes limits on police stop and search powers, ends indefinite storage of innocent people's DNA, and gives residents more control over CCTV.
All well and good, but mostly brought in because the government were under pressure from a lot of human rights groups and were looking at massive compensation claims.
But some child protection campaigners fear it will be easier for adults in positions of trust to abuse children.
Well they would, they'd be out of a job if they didn't come up with guff like that. problem is of course that a lot of child abuse is "in house" and isn't done by strangers, where it is, it tends to be organised criminal gangs who weren't facing checks anyway. Nor are the government removing checks on those who have direct contact with kids either, though no doubt Sunday School teachers will still feel aggrieved even if the church bell ringers don't.
However, former police detective and child protection expert Mark Williams Thomas has told the BBC he believes the changes will give offenders more opportunities to gain access to children.
"If it was about keeping children safe then this vetting scheme would continue. CRB would continue in the fashion it is," he said.
"This is simply about saving money, it's about scrapping any ideas that Labour had previously. Whoever is advising the government on this position has got it completely wrong."
Well he may have it right on saving money, but it was wasted anyway, it was being applied to anyone who came into remote contact with kids, there was even a case not so long ago where 2 lady police officers were being forced into crb checks because of job sharing and child care arrangements between each other. Labour took it too far which is par for the course for them and gave a lot of bureaucrats work so they were beholden to the state for their cash and would vote Labour to keep their jobs. That's how Labour thought and that's why the country is broke, they were buying votes, the evidence is pretty much all around us in the bloated bureaucracies, fake charities and quango's they set up and fed taxpayers money. So yes these steps are welcome even if it's just a money saving exercise, that said, the coagulation are not doing anything like enough to trim the state back, this is just window dressing, using a scalpel when they should be going at it with a chain saw.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The social contract

To my mind when you break the law you also break the social contract between yourself and the other people of this land, therefore if convicted you should also lose some of the rights of those who live in this land reverting back to a series of basics, merely to prevent abuse. Now I can also envisage a lot of laws which get broken that to my mind should not be offences as such, but were talking an ideal world here, so bear with me. One of the things that those convicted of an offence should be to lose the right to vote, those who break the law should have no influence on those who make the laws after all. Others are a lack of freedom provided by prisons. Lack of access to the legal system save only in recourse to appeals (or in defence against any legal moves against them). Common sense really, no doubt there are others you can think of, but being incarcerated at Her Majesties pleasure should mean that much of the pleasures of daily life should be denied you, a sort of tacit addendum to the time served in that you would come out not wanting ever to go back. Prison itself should be seen as a punishment by the public and the prisoner with some rehabilitation only towards the end of a sentence, unless of course we're going to deport them.
Most MP's seem to think the same way, particularly on giving prisoners the vote and it looks like the government might lose the debate on it, but not to worry, MP's are about to learn just how little power they actually have any more.

Express.
Convicted offenders will get the right to vote in prison despite a predicted mass revolt in the House of Commons today, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke insisted yesterday.
MPs are poised to oppose overwhelmingly the move to enfranchise thousands of inmates – on the orders of European judges – in a Parliamentary vote this evening.
But in a sign of confusion among ministers on the eve of the debate, Mr Clarke provoked fury by indicating that the Government will ignore the outcome of the Commons vote.
n a sign that the coalition will bow to the demands of the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Clarke said: “We are grasping the nettle. We are going to comply with our obligations.”
His remarks provoked anger among Tory MPs yesterday and irritation among Downing Street officials.
Good old Ken, loyal to his Europhile roots to the end, despite the possibility that he might just create a massive constitutional crisis. Still the one good thing to come out of this will be if the government does lose the vote is just how the European Court will enforce the judgement and how the commons will react to it.
To add to the merryment the Archbeardy of Canterbury has stepped in, naturally on the side of those who think prisoners should have a vote.
“The notion that in some sense not the civic liberties but the civic status of a prisoner is in cold storage when custody takes over is one of the roots of a whole range of issues around the rights of prisoners.
“If we lose sight of the notion of the prisoner as citizen, any number of things follow from that, and indeed are following from that.”
Am I alone in thinking that prisoners are no longer citizens, at least for the duration of their sentences? Do the crime and face the time, we wont mistreat them, but we don't allow them the rights of citizens, that includes voting and other rights.
I'm watching this with interest, I can't see the commons giving way on this and I'm wondering what is going to happen next, governments might fall.
First blow to the rebels, an amendment put forward by former Home Secretary Jack Straw and senior Tory backbencher David Davis.
The motion, an expression of opinion by the Commons which is not binding on the Government, says the House “is of the opinion that legislative decisions of this nature should be a matter for democratically elected lawmakers and supports the current situation in which no prisoner is able to vote except those imprisoned for contempt, default or on remand.”

Ayes, 234
Nays, 22

Motion carried.
Over to the government now.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Snowdrops of winter months

I love walking my dog at this time of year, particularly on the better days weather wise, though I do attempt at least to get him out every day. Today it was a trip to Eynsford in Kent in the Darenth valley, home to a Bird of Prey sanctuary and close to Lullingstone with its castle and Roman villa. It's a nice circular walk from Eynesford over the ridge down to the river at Lullingstone at any time of year and the dog does appreciate it, especially the river at the end which he leaps into with complete abandon.
We also ran across these...
Snowdrops
Lots of snowdrops
Quite rare and known to be grabbed by passing wanderers for their own gardens it was a surprise to find it growing wild. A lot rarer now than Bluebells and about as rare as wild growing Primula's. A lovely find on a wonderful walk.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

How about going by ability?

It's a bit of a minefield I know, but suggestions like this never fail to raise my hackles.

Telegraph.
Oxford, Cambridge and other top universities should set higher entry requirements for private school pupils than for poor children from state schools, ministers will say this week. 
The ruling will come in guidance for universities setting out what they must do to be allowed to charge the maximum £9,000-a-year tuition fees. To win permission to charge the highest level of fees, a university must show it is doing as much as it can to admit students from all backgrounds.
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, will tell leading colleges they must end "social segregation" and do more to bring in students from low-income families.
Universities will be urged to make more use of "differential offers", admitting poorer students from state schools with lower marks than those expected of private school pupils.
Mr Clegg is backing the "fair access" plans to make plans for higher fees more acceptable to Liberal Democrats and others unhappy at the Coalition's higher education policies.
Next year's rises in fees have led to warnings that the best universities charging the highest fees will become even more dominated by children from wealthy, middle-class homes.
 Now apart from the fact we've got too many people going to university anyway and that dumbing down has been going on for over a generation outside the private schools why should the top universities be forced to take in an influx of students who might not be able to cope anyway? University should not be easy, a degree should be the result of some serious study, so what do our politicians want? To force universities to take in some who have not reached the minimum standard they require. Yes, I know it's unfair for those who are less advantaged, who have struggled through the state system only to find that they've been betrayed by it, but that's not the issue here. Only the best of our best should be going through university, yes private education gives a definite advantage and can make the average kid perform better, but that simply means forcing our state schools to do better too. Private schooling means their pupils are "better educated" meaning they wont struggle at university or hopefully drop out because they will not have so much catching up to do.
Clegg should be looking at state education and forcing improvements through that or expanding the assisted places fund for the brighter state kids, not telling universities to take in smart but less well educated kids who will struggle to catch up as well as do all that is required for a degree.
Yes the system is unfair, but this isn't the solution.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Lies, damned lies and Socialist Worker stories.

If you're going to tell a lie, at least get your story straight...

Socialist Worker. UAF.
Two homes in Luton were attacked late last night – their windows smashed and the word EDL painted on the front door – just hours after the English Defence League’s (EDL) racist protest through Luton town centre.
The houses are on the edge of Bury Park – where many Asian people live.
Mr Iqbal lives with his mother, brother and sister in one of the houses. He told Socialist Worker, “It happened at around 11.40pm. I was awake but about to go to sleep. I heard a crash and ran to the front of the house to find a brick had been thrown through a window. When I opened the front door, I saw someone had painted EDL on it.
“I couldn’t sleep – I thought they may come back.”
Mr Iqbal is a Muslim. The other house that was attacked belonged to a neighbour a few doors away – who is a Christian.
There is a crucifix on the front of the house, which the bigots of the EDL seemed to miss. The residents stayed up all night, fearful of further attacks.
Odd looking Muslim house with crucifix

1) The EDL had long since left Luton, nor did they deviate from the march.
2) Mr Iqbal said his house was painted on, yet the paint is on the Christian house with the crucifix, unless Mr Iqbal is a very unusual Muslim.
3) The graffiti does not read EDL, that's either a G or a C or just possibly a very strange S, certainly not an E. (Yes the EDL can spell their name)
4) It seems very fortuitous that a Socialist Worker reporter just happened to be there to interview Mr Iqbal.
5) The Socialist Worker has form for this sort of lie, they had an attack on a Bolton Mosque down to the EDL, when it was a local man who was arrested on suspicion of possessing a bladed article and breaking into a vehicle 500 yards away.

House with broken window and no paint on door

Someone's telling porkies here and it's either Mr Iqbal, the Socialist Worker or both. Either way this is a classic smear and an epic fail. Of course I'm assuming there even is a Mr Iqbal...

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Culturalism failure

I live in Kent in the Medway area, though I'm not from Kent, still it's a nice county and has a good few interesting places to visit and walk, also London is just 30 miles away if I feel the need to enjoy big city delights, which to be honest is about once a year if that and is mostly a West End show followed by a few drinks. I fit in quite well here, after all I'm English and have pretty much the same roots and outlook in life as the people down here though they (technically) draw their roots back to the Jutes and my antecedents seem to be of Viking ancestry. So you'd think it would be the same for anyone from the same country in that what they have in common would unite them.
Well not in Folkestone...

Express.
A SEASIDE town has been turned into a battle zone by rival gangs of Afghan asylum seekers settling tribal differences, terrified residents say.
Tensions between different factions being housed in Folkestone, Kent, erupted into a pitched street battle last week that left one man dead and five seriously injured.
Families living in the area are scared to go out at night, with some fleeing their homes to escape the violence that has come with the influx of immigrants.
Michael Straw, 50, who lives near the scene, has been staying with friends since the mass brawl, said: “It is absolute chaos and like being in a war zone. I felt scared being there and cannot face going back.”
An elderly man, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said: “This used to be a holiday town but in the last few years it’s turned into Beirut.”
Former police officer Malcolm Montgomery added: “There’s a lot of problems around here. I wouldn’t feel happy walking at night.”
Another joy of Labours open door immigration policy, they're even from the same country and they don't get on with themselves never mind the people here. We can't even deport them, their human rights would be breached if we did as their rights trump the residents who only want a peaceful life and don't want Folkestone turned into a war zone. They've brought their culture with them and it isn't the usual ethnic cuisine restaurants you normally see springing up, it's their tribal warfare. And no it's got nothing to do with their religion, the Afghan tribes have been fighting each other since before the days of Alexander the Great, we've just imported a tribal war that has its roots back to the days of prehistory. It's not a multiculturalism failure either, they're the same culture and they aren't fighting the locals (yet) but they have some of the locals scared out of their wits.
Something needs to be done, starting with leaving the EU and scrapping the Human Rights Act and replacing it with something that suits our needs and that of the law abiding people here. These Afghans need to be deported to where they can butcher each other without involving us, Afghanistan perhaps or Somalia at a push. And no, I don't care if their lives will be endangered if we deport them, that's their lookout, our country, our rules, live with them or leave.

If only...

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Multiculturalism failed?

Well he's a bit behind Angela Merkel, but it seems as if iDave has seen where the wind is blowing even if the leftists haven't grasped it yet.

Reuters.
Multiculturalism has failed in Britain - Cameron
Cameron, in a speech to a security conference in Munich, will argue that Britain and other European nations need to "wake up to what is happening in our countries" as well as tackling terrorism through military operations overseas.
"It is time to turn the page on the failed policies of the past," he will say, according to extracts from his speech released by his office.
"So first, instead of ignoring this extremist ideology, we -- as governments and societies -- have got to confront it, in all its forms."
His comments echo those made by German leader Angela Merkel last year and reflect a push by European governments to better integrate immigrants, given persistent domestic tensions between different cultures.
Yet in a sense it hasn't failed, the EDL were marching in Luton today and contained, Englishmen, Scotsmen, Irishmen, Welshmen, Dutchmen, Germans, Americans, Sikh's, Hindu's, Pakistani Christians, Jews (including a Jewish Rabbi), Gays, Lesbians, Transgenders and no doubt a good few others, all genders, all races, all nations and all creeds, even a few Muslims.

Multiculturalism in action
No violence, no trouble, just EDL.
Yes a single issue has them all stirred up and no doubt should the issue be resolved the EDL will go away yet it shows that a nation can be united and can get on together.
 The march appears to have attracted 4000+ EDL supporters (don't believe the BBC figures) and caused no trouble (as usual) from the EDL, though there were reports from Bury Park that the local Muslims had attacked the UAF supporters, though no official confirmation as yet.

UAF trying to appear to be bigger than they are in Luton today, note the sign :-D
Enter the EDL, I count at least 1500 and they aren't all on screen
Enter the UAF, I count about 300 taken at the same time the EDL entered the square.
Just for anonymous in the comments

So has multiculturalism failed? Yes and no, when it was forced upon us yes, when some groups appeared to be better treated than others, yes, when Labour used it as a vote rigging exercise, yes.
When people were simply left to get on with each other it works fine. We don't have problems in Chinatowns up and down the UK, we don't have problems with Hindu's and Sikhs trying to tell us how to live or adapt to them. Yes racism can be a problem, but hopefully we can get over that in time too, preferably without politicians getting involved legislating hate and inequality.
So iDave is band wagon jumping, but he really ought to know better, politicians were the reason multiculturalism failed and I'm sure his solution will fail too. The EDL forced you into this, ordinary people saying enough is enough iDave said said it was time to replace Britain's "passive tolerance" with an "active, muscular liberalism" to send a message that life in Britain revolves around certain key values such as freedom of speech, equal rights and the rule of law. In other words same old same old, he wants to legislate us into behaving.

My solutions far more simple, leave us alone, get us out of the EU, remove the Islamic threat (not Muslims) and we'll all get on fine.

Friday, February 4, 2011

let the fightback begin

A brilliant youtube video from Max Farquar

Starting them young

This is my granddaughter Freya.


I've been told she's too young to start blogging, but it's looking promising.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The perils of humour

I wonder what The Birmingham Conservative councillor Gareth Compton thinks about having his DNA taken and put on a national database having been arrested for "an offence under section 127 (1a) of the Communications Act of 2003 on suspicion of sending an offensive or indecent message." Especially now that the charges have been dropped. His real offence was of course the folly of crossing the "professionally offended" with an attempt at humour.

Birmingham Post.
The Birmingham Conservative councillor who was suspended from his party after he called for the stoning of a Muslim journalist on Twitter has had all charges against him dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Birmingham City councillor Gareth Compton was arrested last November after joking on the social media site: “Can someone please stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death? I shan’t tell Amnesty if you don’t. It would be a blessing, really.”

Despite a swift apology for his ‘ill-conceived attempt at humour’ the barrister, who lives in Harborne, was arrested by police and immediately suspended from the Conservative Party while investigations took place.

The CPS confirmed it has now dropped the case due to insufficient evidence. His political future is now in the hands of Conservative Party chairwoman Baroness Warsi, who is currently overseeing the party’s inquiry into the matter.
It is thought that he has the backing of influential Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell, Birmingham’s only Conservative MP, and colleagues are hopeful he will be allowed to resume his membership. Councillor Compton was not available for comment.
Timing is crucial as his term of office as Erdington ward councillor ends in May and Conservative Party colleagues say he is keen to stand for election.
A party colleague said: “We thought the police investigation would not go anywhere and are relieved the CPS has officially dropped the case.
“Most Birmingham Tories would welcome him back. Timing is not yet critical, but if this time next month he is still not back in the fold we will need to find another candidate for Erdington.”
A CPS spokesman said: “Mr Compton posted a message on his Twitter page. A member of the public, who read this message, made a complaint to the police who then instigated an investigation.
“Ms Alibhai-Brown has refused to make any complaint to the police on the matter and the member of the public, who initially reported this matter, has also refused to provide the prosecution with a statement.
“A file was then submitted to the reviewing lawyer who has carefully reviewed all of the evidence, as well as the fact that we have no statement of complaint, and they have decided there is insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction.”
Coun Compton kept a low profile since the scandal and deleted his online Twitter account. On Tuesday this week he was back on the Tory benches at a full council meeting and refused to comment.
The Twitter row occurred when he tweeted a comment on Independent newspaper columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s contribution to a Radio Five debate on human rights in China.
After the storm broke he wrote: “I made an ill-conceived attempt at humour in response to YAB saying no politician had the right to comment on human rights abuses, even the stoning of women in Iran.”
Ms Alibhai-Brown said: “I think it is unacceptable to use that kind of language.”
 Ok at least the Yazmonster (©Julia @ Ambush Predator) didn't press charges though her distinct lack of humour and ill grace shines through quite clearly, nor it seems was the original complainant willing to have their name exposed to the probable disapprobation of people like me. Not that I believe the councillor should have been arrested, it was obviously a joke, the "I shan’t tell Amnesty if you don’t" is a bit of a giveaway, though doing it on a public forum like twitter was always a risk, people get offended so easily for others these days, though in my opinion, the police should not have acted unless the Yazmonster herself had asked them too. Then again, hate crime is clearly the new black when it comes to police time, it ticks a lot of politically correct boxes though is not as lucrative as fleecing motorists. Not so long ago before the days of new labour the police would have turned around and told the bleating complainant to stop wasting their time, they had that discretion then, these days their hands are a bit tied by the legislation and they have to act if a complaint is made and so waste a lot of money and time doing so when a simple caution would have been far more than sufficient.
As it is, poor Gareth Compton's fate is now in the hands of Baroness Warsi another one of the professionally offended, still at least he didn't mention the "M" word or the "I" word he merely made a joke about the quaint Islamic habit of stoning women... oh dear.

Update, seems humour is dead as Ben Donnelly got the sack for an equally "unfunny" joke about Islam.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Well here's to you Mr Robinson

 The BBC Newsnight did a section on the EDL last night with Jeremy Paxman interviewing the EDL's "self styled" (the BBC's description not mine) leader Stephen Lennon or  Tommy Robinson as he's known to the EDL and pretty much anyone else.



The intro by the BBC Asia Network presenter Catrin Nye who had been following the EDL leader around for 6 months clearly showed that the BBC are struggling to deal with the concept of the EDL with its multicultural, multiracial, multi ethnic and non sexist following. In six months all they managed to do was drop in some video scenes of demo's to show various chants and occasional violence at EDL marches, some of them clearly not EDL but the various groups that oppose the EDL. The interview afterwards with Paxman itself also failed to nail the EDL leader who held his ground and even tripped Paxman himself up at one stage when he tried to put words into his mouth.
The problem the BBC have with Tommy Robinson is he's genuine, he really believes what he's saying and it's struck a chord with a lot of people. No, he's not polished (but he's getting better) and he's no politician either (a good thing) but he more than held his own against Paxman who could only bring up facebook as an example of EDL racism, knowing full well anyone can write on a facebook wall and yes the EDL know facebook is a bit of a liability for them, but it is the way a lot of people in the EDL communicate with each other. If you want to see the real EDL though look at their forum instead, this is where a lot of their policy gets discussed, this was also where the the Pastor Terry Jones invite was discussed, criticised and ended up being rejected by the EDL leadership.
The next charge that was thrown was that white people are also paedophiles, well it's certainly true, though they don't tend to congregate in gangs at school gates and force prostitution on their victims by plying them with drink and drugs. Nor have they any protection from the law by screaming "racist" at them, nor does the white community protect them.
Robinson was clearly nervous, but he did well, Paxman was unable to demolish him as he has effortlessly done with pompous politicians. The EDL are no saints, but they are not racist (though they have had a problem with racists) they are not homophobic (though again they have had problems with homophobes) they support Israel, which mortifies the BBC and are clearly multicultural in a way the establishment struggle to comprehend. In essence they are sectarian and this is a concept the mainstream media and politicians in the UK (with the possible exception of Northern Ireland) clearly struggle to grasp. What's worse from their perspective is that the EDL continues to grow and evolve and is now costing them a lot of money in their efforts to contain it, though this mostly goes on efforts to try and keep the EDL's opponents from attacking them as well as the police, where there has been no opposition to the EDL during a demo there's been no violence so the link is fairly obvious.
The most telling thing about the interview is that the BBC did not invite comment from any opposition group such as the UAF. Oh I'm sure they would have had something to say, problem is though the entire BBC presentation demolished the whole racist, fascist, violent spiel that they use to describe the EDL. They would have looked stupid, so in this instance the BBC were smart to keep them away.
As it was, the EDL came out of the whole thing looking like normal, concerned citizens, not articulate and polished by any means, but clearly at odds to the media image. Yes the demo's frighten some people, but it keeps the media focussed on what the EDL see as a problem so it works well for the EDL. Where the real power of the EDL lies though is in its varied membership (though there's no official membership as such) Feet on the street counts for a lot particularly when it gets reported accurately in the MSM and all credit to the guys and gals that do this, brave souls and frontline warriors. Behind this though are the milder types who work behind the scenes, refuting stories where the EDL are misrepresented in the media as well as forums and blogs, dealing with misconceptions with a well aimed sentence or a withering comment. The truth after all is out there to be found and the facts about the real EDL are easy enough to find if you go looking. There are also Islamic experts too, informing all who come to the EDL forums about Islam and it's various practices. Some are in all 3 groups, others in only one or two, but their value to the cause shouldn't be underestimated or denigrated which is where the MSM and the righteous have it all wrong. They think they can undermine, disrupt or ignore the EDL, they can't, it's not a phenomenon they really understand as it stands outside their world view and experience.
All in all this was an own goal for the BBC, the EDL didn't come across as anything like they were accused of and their leader did not get Paxmanned as a lot expected.
Wonder what they'll do next.