Weasel Words and 2020 Vision (In Focus?)

I've just seen Charles Clarke and Alan Milburn on Newsnight. A couple of political charlatans. I'm not sure which is worse. I think Milburn just tops it in being the best for weasel words and double meanings. If their new website is just about policy direction then I am probably in company with many others in thinking this is rubbish. They contradicted themselves by being totally at odds with whether it was about leadership. It is, we know it is, and they don't want Brown.

My inclination is that it would be better to let these discredited cretins fight it out like ferrets in a sack, but that may not be the best for the country. What would be best for the country is to have a general election, because this lot has been found out big time. They have fiddled the NHS accounts, fiddled the local government funds, fiddled the pensions, fiddled the army procurement budget, fiddled.......the list goes on.

They have compiled dodgy dossiers, they have created a fiasco in law and order (tough on the causes of crime? what about being tough on the whereabouts of the criminals?), and given us a monumental headache in Iraq!

Yet all we get is more and more weasel words. Sorry, I've upset the weasel! Let's be fair to the weasel. These are Blairite words. They beat weasel words any day!

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Community Work for a New Community!

"You dig a hole this wide so Mrs.Jones can plant her begonias. Is that OK, Mr.Singh? Then I will ask you twenty questions about British - note I said British - about British ways and customs. Have you tried haggis? So here's your spade, Mr.Singh. Mrs.Jones can tell you all about this lovely Welsh village. I'm off now to see some more community action, but I'll be back soon!"

Is this Gordon Brown's way of putting people off coming here or is it a serious test in cultural understanding? Beggars belief, I think.

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Kelly death not suicide, says MP

Anything to do with Iraq as far as this government is concerned is bad news. No WMD. Poor weapons. Denial about the average Iraqi's opinion of the British presence, not to say that of the American one. Blair simpers on like a man on a mission to save fallen women.

Now the Dr.Kelly affair lumbers on. Norman Baker, that doggedly determined Liberal Democrat MP asserts that Dr Kelly's life was "deliberately taken by others". BBC Two's The Conspiracy Files was broadcast tonight. The question surely is - Does the government have something to hide?

Sorry state of affairs. Or more precisely, a sorry affair of the state! Dodgy dosiers, dodgy inquiries, dodgy dealings. In fact a very dodgy affair all round.

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Blair's Secretive Constitutional Signing!

Peter Hain was on TV this morning having a ding-dong with Rory Bremner. Hain thought Bremner was active in bringing politicians into disrepute. What does he think? That a comedic performer well versed in satire can distort the reflections of the voting public in a permanent way? I would say that politicians do it perfectly well themselves. Hain is an opportunist. Although he is not without talent, he has shown that he is capable of jumping onto a bandwagon that he thinks is going to his final political destination. He thought Blair's caravan of delights had just the right attractions. Now that caravan has lost its lustre so he is trying to board the Brown train.

If politicians want to clean up their acts, then they would be wise to keep clear of Blair's deviousness. His latest sly trick is to sign up to the European constitution without consulting the British people or even his likely successor, Gordon Brown. Blair said that the country would have a referendum. Europhiles and sceptics and most in between welcomed such a move. Blair said that this would be so.The referendum would be consultative. We know that. But it would be a chance to air views and make a decision. If it is now to be a done deal without any reference to anyone other than the European Commission then Blair is in for a rough ride.

Whatever our views we should be very wary of this current state of affairs!

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Where are they now?

That used to be the title of a TV programme. In an idle moment, I have been nosing around the BBC site and came across Radio Berkshire. Those old enough to remember the late great Radio Caroline will remember Roger "Twiggy" Day, a pioneer broadcaster if ever there was one. Roger's now on Radio Berkshire I see. Lucky devils! Then, linking to the present Caroline site, I find Roger still there, if in landlubber status. Caroline - the Sound of the Nation!

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Pensioner Power

Good news for pensioners! Four people who lost all or part of their company pensions have won their High Court case against the government. My last posting but one was about the sad case of pensions today. This is welcome news for those in their battle for justice.

It would be interesting to know how government ministers would react if a similar thing happened to their nesteggs. Can't think Blair would sit still for one minute! What's sauce for the goose, eh, Tony?

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Justice?

Americans are probably the most vociferous people in the world when it comes to religion, declaring their allegiance to God, etc, etc. A lot of times, though, the message appears to be one without Christian charity as a component part. The Christian gospel explains quite simply that wrongdoers (sinners) are like sheep. Sometimes they get lost. The Shepherd looks around for the one that is lost. The 99 are not His concern, as they are already happily in the fold.

Some Americans seem to have an understanding of the Gospel that is diametrically opposed to the message that is written down. Thankfully, a good number who have not succumbed to the vitriol of vengeance are speaking up. One such person is Vicki Schieber , who speaks at meetings about her daughter, Shannon. Shannon was a student in Pennsylvania. She was raped and murdered at her hall of residence and the killer was caught only after he moved to a different state and committed another rape. She says she was pressed by state prosecutors to call for the death penalty for her daughter's killer, but she refused. "It was against everything I was brought up to believe. Taking another person's life is wrong. Don't put a question mark where God puts a period," she tells a group at the Lady of Mercy church in the small town of Potomac, Maryland, to spontaneous cheering.

Maryland is considering abolishing the death penalty. They may do so. However, there are still groups that flourish with vengeance as the driving force. Throw Away The Key is one such group that would have had severe difficulties listening to the Sermon on the Mount. For them some lost sheep have no more relevance in this world that a Bernard Matthews turkey!

Justice is providing firm and proper punishment linked to rehabilitation. Vengeance is its own ugly spirit!

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PM? Pensions Mayhem!

In the classic comedy The Blood Donor, Tony Hancock was bemoaning the fact that Cliff Richard earned ten times as much as the Prime Minister. Answering his own questions, he rather witheringly says "I suppose it all depends on whether you like Cliff Richard and what your politics are!"

Many years later, we have a Prime Minister who is seemingly hell bent on earning, or amassing, ten times as much as Cliff Richard. Now we hear that the oily toe-rag will escape the punitive new taxes on pensions which he and his crony ministers imposed on other Britons. Whilst most of us look forward to a pension hell (companies failing to do justice to their workers, Gordon Brown taxing the funds), Blair has worked a nice little earner on the side, securing his own bottom line.

Preposterous is a word that comes to mind. Somehow I think we as a country have been beguiled by a grinning conman, but then that might be a bit too harsh. Perhaps he means well. He wants to do good -really! It just all seems that it is going in his own personal direction.

Does he think it right and proper to obtain a £5 million advance on his memoirs, when we all know too well what has happened in the last ten years without being reminded. It is said that his properties (the latest costing £800,000) are being financed with mortgages secured on this advance. Not exactly what the majority of citizens are capable of doing. When Blair came to office, it was partly as a result of rubbishing the premiership of John Major and his stewardship of the country. Tory sleaze was the New Labour mantra. Well, whatever Major presided over, Blair has succeded in presiding over a slurry pit full of dodgy stuff. Poacher turned gamekeeper? Neither the poacher nor the gamekeeper would be at all comfortable with this carry-on!

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Nationwide Boys!

The City of London is keen to hand out bonuses of gargantuan magnitude, even if those receiving them have been proven to be palpable failures at their jobs. It's all party of the Blairite "acceptable face of capitalism" theme. Norman Tebbit, the arch-Thatcherite, was moved to say on Question Time that these payments were not acceptable.

Now the trough guzzlers at the Nationwide Building Society, which was fined a whopping £980,000 fine for lapses in data security, will not have to pay the fine imposed on them. Nationwide has apparently told the BBC that it "would not be fair" if the directors paid the fine. So corporate responsibility goes out of the window along with the data! These are the people who should know better. The Nationwide used to be the Co-operative Building Society, a link with the past that is totally expunged from the society today.

From Co-op Online - "The UK's Nationwide Building Society started life in 1884 as the Co-operative Permanent Building Society."

After a laptop was stolen from an employee's home in August, it took three weeks before the society realised the extent and sensitivity of the customer details on the computer. Did nobody care to ask? "Oh, Wilkins, your laptop got stolen. Don't worry, get another from Supplies!"

Is it any wonder that the Country is going peculiar in parts, if those at the top have little or no regard for doing things properly?

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His Boomerang Won't Come Back!

Tony Blair is up in Scotland trying to unravel the wreckage of his constitutional dog's dinner. He seems to be blithely ignorant of, or just plain stubborn towards, the reality of devolution. Alex Salmond, the Scottish National Party leader, appears to think of Blair as a troublesome incompetent, but is obviously delighted at the new arrangements. Salmond has given Blair a new nickname!

Boomerang Blair! Let's just hope he doesn't bounce back. I don't want to see an independent Scotland, so we need politicians around with a better grasp of reality.

Is this the real truth?

(Oom-yacka-Labour, oom-yacka-gonga, oom-yacka-Labour)

In the wild Highlands of Scotland
Many years ago,
The Blairite tribes were meeting,
Having a big pow-wow.

(Oom-yacka-Labour, oom-yacka-Labour)

"We got a lot of trouble, Chief,
On account of your son Blair."

"My boy Blair? Why, what's wrong with him?"

BLAIR: My boomerang won't come back.
"Your boomerang won't come back?"

BLAIR: My boomerang won't come back,
My boomerang won't come back,
I've waved the thing all over the place,
Practised till I was black in the face,
I'm a big disgrace to the Blairite case,
My boomerang won't come back.

BLAIR: I can outwit a Nat or two (yeah yeah)
Make a couple of Nats go phew! (yeah yeah)
But I'm a big disgrace to the Blairite case,
My boomerang won't come back.

They banished him from the tribe then
And sent him on his way,
He had a backless boomerang
So here he could not stay.

(New Labour noises)

BLAIR: [Spoken] This is nice, innit? Getting banished at my time of life. What a way to spend an evening: sitting on a rock in the middle of the glen with me boomerang in me hand. I shall very likely get Bushwhacked. (A Labour Heavyweight roars; Blair shrieks back.)

BLAIR: Get out of it! You nasty Bushwhacking Chancellor. Think I'll make a nice cup of tea. (Doing, doing, doing...) Good gracious! There goes a Nationalist. I must have a practice with me boomerang: hit him right behind the leftearhole. Now then, slowly back.

Gruff voice: If you throw that thing at me, I'll jump right on your head. (He chuckles and runs away.)

BLAIR: Innit marvellous? Got a land full of Nationalists and I had to pick that one.

For three long months he sat there
Or maybe it was four,
Then an old old man in Nationalist colours,
Came a-knocking at his door.

"Well, I'm the local spin doctor, son,
They call me Alex Salmond.
Now tell me, what's your trouble, boy?"

BLAIR: My boomerang won't come back.
"Your boomerang won't come back?"

BLAIR: My boomerang won't come back,
My boomerang won't come back,
I've waved the thing all over the place,
Practised till I was black in the face,
I'm a big disgrace to the Blairite case,
My boomerang won't come back.

"Don't worry, boy, I know the trick,
And to you I'm gonna show it.
If you want your boomerang to come back,
Well first you've got to... throw it."

BLAIR: Ooh, yes! Never thought of that. Mandy will be pleased. Must have a go, nyuh-huh! Excuse me. Now then, slowly back... and throw. (Boomerang whizzes away; Sounds of a limousine approaching and then crashing into a wall.)

BLAIR: Ooh my God! I've hit the cheeky Chancellor. Eee-hee-hee! Can you do first aid?

Spin Doctor: Don't talk to me about first aid, boy, you owe me a referendum, you know, when I learned you to throw the boomerang, you know, first things first.

BLAIR: Yes, I know that, but I mean, I think on this occasion, you know, you could be a bit more perspective...........


See you soon, folks!!

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The Way Forward for New Conservatives?

Sir Patrick Cormack, the affable MP for South Staffordshire, has a few antis in his local party. They want to deselect him, so they got the usual motion in hand. This time they won, by one vote it seems. Cormack did not take it too well, giving his forthright opinions. It seems 30 odd bods can decide the future of a candidate or MP. Now that's where a proper primary would help. The New Conservatives are keen when it suits them, not so keen when it doesn't.

Sir Patrick says obliquely of David Cameron that, should he become Prime Minister, he would "need one or two people who have been around a bit to help him". Well, Blair needed the creepy duo, Mandelson and Campbell, to keep him up to speed. I think Cormack is thinking more of avuncular advice rather than treachery and spin.

Cormack describes those that would do him down as having an "agenda" but "I'm not sure exactly what it is". This is the problem. A whole load of Blue Blairites are now in the Conservative Party causing all manner of problems, but they have no inclininations towards understanding their core support. Hence the rise of Nigel Farage and his band of UKIP peers and people punters.

I predict come the next General Election the right of centre vote will fly in all directions - Conservatives, Independents, UKIP, English Democrats, BNP, Local Campaign Groups, et al. David Cameron will probably try to do a deal with the Liberal Democrats in order to advise Her Majesty that he "commands a majority amongst his peers", and having nobody who has "been around a bit" to say no, will have Sir Ming as his new avuncular soulmate!

Then British politics will start unravelling big time!

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Birmingham Winter Blues!

This morning! Guess what? Radio 4 Today Programme had on Councillor Les Lawrence of Birmingham City Council. Now, Cllr Lawrence had been on the BBC lunchtime news yesterday saying that weather forecasts were unreliable. This morning he is saying that he was in "close consultation" with the Met Office. Did he tell them he had no faith in 48 hour forecasts. Did he tell them he did not believe snow was coming, but had to be up at 6.30 himself to make sure? What changed his mind in two hours? What possessed him to pick up the phone to have this "close consultation". A bolt from Heaven?

Cllr Larence has fallen foul of the weasel words that politicians use today. He has closed all Birmingham schools. However, independent schools are open. Why? In Solihull the weather has appeared to have become more friendly to the council, but they were also of "you can't believe the weather forecasts" yesterday. Today the Solihull schools are open.

So we have the bizarre situation of schools in Birmingham closed but open in Solihull. Their nonsense knows no bounds! Cllr Lawrence makes a fool of himself when he cites safety as an issue. Humbug! It's all about not being sued for accidents and not wanting to be involved in re-organising staff and lessons. In other words, an easy life.

If Cllr Lawrence was so concerned with the safety and welfare of children he would not have allowed them to roam the streets playing in the snow as they did. Falling down out of school is the parents responsibility as he closed the schools. No worries for the LEA then.

I see Cllr Lawrence is the Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning. He must have got the fastest crash course in meteorology in history!

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David Miliband v Goliath Gordon?

David Miliband, the rising star of the Labour Party (or future leader, etc, etc) has appeared to utter a gaffe on whether Gordon Brown would be liked as leader. He predicted that in the future "people will be saying 'wouldn't it be great to have that Blair back because we can't stand that Gordon Brown'." Well, I won't be, but doesn't it say a lot about the real tensions going on in the Labour Party right now!

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Tesco in the Grand Canyon State

The good folk of Arizona are about to get Tesco! That great British supermarket is going to try its luck on the dusty dudes of Phoenix and other places. Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer tried the USA out, but retreated. Americans probably weren't keen on the "brand offer".

In the UK, where eating out is notoriously expensive, or hard to come by, or just not worth it (yes, I know it's getting better!) having a microwaveable platter from Tesco is not a bad idea for many people. In the US, you'd be bonkers to go into a supermarket for a TV dinner! San Quentin served up better meals. No, you'd go out to eat if you hadn't "fixed it" yourself at home. Americans are just so lucky in having so many places to eat out! They're not expensive as such. Oh boy! Don't go down that route. I'm looking out at a dismal cold February evening...........................

Tesco would be best advised to give the supermarket folk of Arizona all the things that their esteemed founder wanted to give people. Food at cheap prices, nothing fancy! 'Fresh & Easy' will be a success if it just that!

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Whelk Stalls, Snow and UK Managers!

Does it surprise me? That this country is incapable of dealing with snow. This morning I learnt that all Solihull, Birmingham and Dudley state schools were closed. For Solihull, the decision was made at 6.30 this morning. Apparently children could not get to school because the paths were not clear. However, I did a test walk and the snow conditions were perfectly OK for walking. The reason they don't tell us before the day that schools could be closed is - 1. They don't believe the weather forecast and 2. If they did say in advance that the school might close in the event of bad weather, some parents might not bring their children to school if snow did not materialise and the school did in fact open. Why? Some parents might keep their kids home saying they got "mixed messages".

Given that the country spends quite a large amount of money on weather satellites, it is a bit rich for council officials to be saying "we don't believe them". This bit of nonsense was trotted out by Cllr. Les Lawrence, of Birmingham City Council. He claimed on the BBC 1 o'clock News that weather forecasts could not necessarily be believed, hence his own 6.30 message that all Birmingham schools would close. This guy is in charge "Children, Young People and Families". I hope they learn in Birmingham that weather forecasting is not a science!

My point about giving more than 2 hours notice was lost on the Council. Because they want to see snow on the ground. See the proof! Then they can respond. No matter if parents have their day messed up. No worries for them. My suspicion is that they would rather close a school outright than have to jiggle classes around if teachers couldn't get in.

Incidently, when I rang Travel West Midlands to find out about buses, the young chap said "we've got a full fleet of buses running. I don't know what all the fuss is about. Some people are leaving work at 2.30. It's crazy!".

Maybe Cllr Lawrence could get a few tips by being a bus driver in the snow!

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Archbishop speaks up!

The Archbishop of York is proving to be a man of both principle and common sense. Coming from Uganda at a time when Idi Amin made life hell for anyone with an ounce of rebellious vibes, the Archbishop knows about police states.

He is concerned about the civil liberties of the people of Britain. He is right to be concerned. He says "The Home Secretary has not produced the evidence that shows that in 90 days you're capable of getting somebody prosecuted. Why does he want these days, so the police do what? Gather more evidence? To me that becomes, if you're not very careful, very close to a police state in which they pick you up and then they say later on 'we'll find evidence against you'. That's what happened in Uganda with Idi Amin."

Are they capable of getting prosecutions? In Guantanamo Bay's gulag, the Americans seek to keep people indefinitely it seems. No trials, no evidence, no justice. All they have is a notion that wrongdoing has taken place. Not very judicial?

Is Britain under New Labour going down this path? Lock them up first, then grub around for evidence, and try your luck on a hunch. The Archbishop is not alone in being concerned. I bet most people would have a problem if they got hauled up on the basis of innuendo and being in the wrong place, etc.

The archbishop has also urged people coming to live in the UK to adopt and "cherish" British values. "If you are in Britain and you're British, you should really cherish the traditions that are here," he said. "If you don't actually subscribe to the things that make Britain, you're going to be in trouble."

I agree. But it would be nice if when people got here they didn't feel they had entered a police state!

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Here's A Funny One!

"Here. Have you heard the one about the prisoner, the policeman and the parrot? No? Er...hold on a minute.....no...well, it goes like this....yes...the policeman was walking...you don't like it...OK...what about this? A man goes into a store...."

How would you distract a criminal whilst the police arrived? Put on a show. Tell jokes. Recite a poem? Tony McNulty, the ludicrously inadequate Home Office minister has suggested people "distract" potential criminals while waiting for police to intervene. "Don't hit me, Knuckler, you'll love this one!" I thought McNulty was crazy when Blair sacked him once before. It only goes to show the paucity of New Labour's abilities. Can it get worse? Probably!

I'm not sure which will get us first. The effects of global warming or the incompetency of this bunch of crooks, creeps and cretins.

I'm reading Terry Waite's book about his capture in the Lebanon. "Keep brave. Keep strong" is Terry's mantra to himself. Agreed. We must not give up hope. But with people like McNulty around you wonder if an order should be sent out for a whole heap of pearl-handled revolvers!

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Are you age appropriate?

Do you ever wonder what others think of you? On Channel 4, there's a show called "10 Years Younger" where the Great British Public is asked to judge the age of a washed out person. Invariably, it's almost 15 years older or more!

I think people get on in life because others assume their looks suggest they are of a certain age. If you are 45 then you have achieved certain things. If you happen to be 35 but look 45 you will chug along with the 45 year olds. This TV show demonstrates exactly that people assume things. As soon as the person is remodelled with new teeth/lips/nose etc all the friends and relatives start treating the person differently. I don't suppose human nature can take it any other way.

In the USA, a 29-year-old convicted sex offender has spent four months at a US school after successfully posing as a 12-year-old boy. The school was, and I kid you not, Imagine Charter School in Phoenix, Arizona. Imagine! Apparently he shaved his body hair, covered his stubble with make-up and took a new name. He blended well with the other pupils, many of whom were actually taller and bigger than him.

"He absolutely looked age-appropriate," school spokeswoman Rhonda Cagle told the New York Times newspaper. She was taken in. Wouldn't we all? The thing here is that those with mental problems, political axes to grind, thieves, and general trouble makers could have a field day. We need to find a way in which society can be normal but with adequate safeguards and not be a police state with all the problems that entails.

And, with regard to sex offenders, isn't it time someone or some people, finally got to grips with whether it is a mental or sexual or criminal problem or a mixture of two or all three. If it is just criminal then we don't seem to be doing very well. My hunch is that by linking the problem to sexual orientation, a new can of worms opens up. "Don't let's go there!" the professionals cry. Is it nurture or nature? "Mrs Jones, you've got a lovely baby boy! Oh, dear! Our genes diagnostic testing machine says he will be a paedophile! You need to see Dr......." Could we take that?

But don't the rest of us deserve a proper answer as to what causes these "urges"?

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