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Thursday, August 31, 2006

Organ Donors

I nearly fell off my chair this morning when I heard on the news that the British government has changed the law so that relatives of people registered as organ donors will not be able to prevent doctors from using the dead person organs.

The reason I nearly fell of my chair was not because I was aghast at the interference of the state in yet another area of our lives but because, for the first time this year, I actually agree with something the British government has done.

I have been on the organ donor register since I got my first driving licence and it was an option on the form. My wife and family all know my wishes, the only concession is that my wife doesn't want them to have my eyes (ahhhh) but they can have everything else. The thing is, I have made the decision that when I die I would like my organs to be used to help someone else live if possible and nobody should be allowed to prevent doctors from respecting my wishes.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Volunteers Wanted

Volunteers needed in the West Midlands euroregion to join a campaign against the West Midlands City Region and the rest of the unelected regional bureaucracy.

For more information, contact me.

Postman suspended for helping customers

A postman has been suspended and is being threatened with the sack for helping residents stop getting junk mail.

The postman was getting so many complaints about junk mail he made his own leaflets advising how to stop unaddressed junk from being delivered. After being inundated with requests the Royal Mail suspended the man and are now threatening to sack him.

I understand that a large proportion of the Royal Mail's income comes from delivering junk but it is anti-social and unwanted and the Royal Mail shouldn't rely so heavily on income from junk mail.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Adobe Flex

Has anyone tried Adobe Flex yet?

Flex is basically an XML-based language for creating rich Flash applications. The XML source is compiled, along with any ActionScript included in it, into a binary SWF file which can then be embedded into a web page.

The language is aimed at developers rather than designers and does away with the traditional timeline style of devloping Flash. I've downloaded the SDK and looked at some of the examples and it looks relatively simple to get to grips with. Hopefully this will see Flash used for something other than ripped-off trashy intro pages to 13 year old script kiddies' websites.

SNP call for the abolition of unfair fees ... for the English!

The SNP have called for the abolition of the discriminatory university fees regime in North Britain that forces English students studying north of the border paying up to £4k more than a North Briton or EU student for the same course.

The Labour and the Lib Dum controlled North British Parliament introduced the racist fees when their North British MP's imposed top-up fees on England against the will of MP's elected in England.

It's really quite depressing when you think that over half of the MP's in the British parliament are elected in English constituencies yet the only political party opposing anti-English discrimination (with the obvious exception of the English Democrats) is the SNP.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Hidden Speed Camera Van

Went to a party last night in Newport (Shropshire, not West Britain or Isle of Wight) and passed a speed camera van. Approaching the van it was perfectly visible but coming in the opposite direction it was completely hidden behind a wall and bushes. The speed camera partnerships say that speed cameras aren’t about making money, they’re there to deter motorists from speeding - this is why they’re painted in bright colours. If this is the case then why was this particular van hidden behind a wall?

The speed camera van was out in Shrewsbury today (I wonder if they get paid double time for working on a Sunday?) outside the college. I can understand the logic of putting a speed camera outside of the college if the intention was to keep the students safe from people driving too fast but when the college has been closed for over a month for the summer holidays, exactly who is the speed camera supposed to be protecting?

Speeding isn’t dangerous - driving too fast is. There is a difference. It can be safe to drive at 80mph on a wide open straight road with no houses or junctions in a new car and a few years driving experience - this is speeding. It isn’t safe to drive at 60mph in a 30mph limit outside a school at 3pm on a Monday afternoon in term time - this is driving too fast. It is for this reason that speed cameras are so flawed. A person with a camera can judge whether you are driving too fast but a camera can’t. Some people aren’t capable of driving at the speed limit - once you reach a certain age your reactions are too slow to drive safely at the speed limit. A person with a camera can judge whether you are driving safely but a camera can’t.

Astounding Discovery

Intrepid explorer, Wonko The Sane, has returned from an expedition to Tescoland with an astaunding discovery - a box of mushrooms with a label saying their origin is ... ENGLAND!

I didn't even want them, I just brought them because they said England on.

Big Brother's bin watching you

Source: Mail on Sunday

Around 500,000 housholds in England have had their wheelie bins secretly microchipped so that they can be uniquely identified. This opens up opportunies for charging residents for the amount of rubbish they produce, something that will most impact young families who can't recycle nappies, baby wipes, etc.

Some dustbin lorries already have weighing equipment fitted so implementing this policy will be relatively easy. Local Authorities already have the power to tell you how and when your rubbish must be made available. They can force you to recycle, refuse to accept certain items and in theory could even force you to take your wheelie bin to a collection point 10 miles down the road if they so wish with thousands of pounds in fines for refusing to obey their instructions.

Balamory: A beacon of multiculturalism

The kids had the telly on this morning and not for the first time I have marvelled at the diversity of the multicultural haven that is known as Balamory.

For those who don't know what Balamory is (ie. you don't have young children or a telly), it's a small town on a remote North British island accessible only by a ferry from the mainland. The population comprises about one third white North British, a couple of English people, one American and about two thirds Asian/Oriental/black. The American is a black artist and the English population of Balamory consists of a female geordie in a wheelchair, a black fitness freak and a giner curly haired kilt wearing inventor with a Scottish name who lives in a big pink castle.

The people of Balamory (or Tobomory as it's known in real life) are an example to us all.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Council criticised for opposing ID cards

Two councils in West Britain have been criticised by British Labour MP for Caerphilly, Wayne David, for pledging their opposition to the ID Card scam.

The two councils - Cardiff and Ceredigion - both feel that ID cards will be expensive and useless and are refusing to take part in any trials or to require its use for services unless required to do so by law.

Wayne David MP said that it was unhelpful because we are at risk from terrorism. The British government has already withdrawn its claim that ID cards will prevent terrorism. He said that it is "incumbent" on local authorities to support the scheme. I wonder if Mr David intentionally used the word incumbent or perhaps didn't realised that incumbent means obligatory. ID cards are voluntary aren't they?

Moving to Wordpress

Hindsight is such a wonderful thing! When I moved from my old blog at vbCity - The Insane Rambling of Wonko the Sane - I was still a blogging newbie and not the blog-addicted gobshite that I am now. With the benefit of hindsight I wouldn't have chosen Blogger as a blogging platform. Don't get me wrong, Blogger is a good blogging platform with an easily customisable template but it lacks features and it isn't feasible to republish the entire blog (especially one the size of mine) every time you change the template.

It's possible to hack Blogger about to add most of the features of Wordpress but I'm fed up of hacking and fiddling with Blogger to make it do what I want. With this in mind, I am ditching Blogger and moving to Wordpress. I can't get the import tool to import from Blogger so for the time being I will post to both blogs at the same time.

I've only just installed Wordpress so please bear with me while I tweak it and customise it. The url is http://www.wonkosworld.co.uk/wordpress if you want to take a look at it. There's no need to update your links - I'll redirect the url's when I'm ready.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Benevolence? Hypocracy more like.

The Israeli's have told Syria to stay away from Lebanon and Hezbollah and to respect Lebanon's sovereignty.

Just a reminder - Israel only finished its last illegal occupation of Lebanon a few years ago and it is currently a month into its latest one having killed well in excess of 600 civillians and violated the ceasefire twice attracting a reprimand from the UN.

Hypocrites.

Scotland honours Connery

Sean Connery, the born-again North British Nationalist who loves the place so much he lives in America, is being honoured by Scottish BAFTA.

How sad that the North Britons are so desperate for heroes that they cling on to someone who can't even bear to live in the country.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Have the Tories turned left wing?

Since David Cameron was elected as leader of the Tories there has definitely been a big shift to the left. The latest proclomation that 50% of all shortlists now have to be female to try and bump up the number of woman MP's is the sort of left liberal crap that you would expect from the Lib Dums or the über-PC Labour Stazi.

I emailed David Cameron the other day over this and got a reply today from one of his secretaries:

Are you familiar with the phrase "positive discrimination isn't"?

Arbitrary quotas and positive discrimination is one of Labour's worst traits and I find it frankly bizarre that you think a good way of winning the next election is to force local parties to put forward women candidates regardless of whether there are any suitable and willing candidates or not.




Dear Stuart,

Thank you for writing to David Cameron - I am replying on his behalf.

We appreciate what you have to say regarding changes to the candidate selection process, and David Cameron is very grateful to you for taking the time to give him your views - he does take on board what people say to him and likes to keep up to date with people's views.

Firstly, it is absolutely undeniable that there is an imbalance in the Conservative Parliamentary Party at present: 9 out of 10 Conservative MPs are male and white. In fact, female representation in the Party has remained stagnant since 1932, increasing by just 4, from 13 to 17.
David Cameron MP made clear in his campaign to be Conservative Party Leader that this is something he would seek to redress, and the Party gave him their strong backing as Leader on this basis.

The changes to the selection process introduced by David Cameron last week actually give more say to local associations in the selection process. Members are able to draw up a shortlist of four candidates, and ratify the final decision made by their executive. You may also like to know that it has always been the case that local associations can opt for all-women shortlists, should they so wish. As before, it remains their choice.

Finally, we will not compromise on ability. Rather than do this, David Cameron's attempt to redress the imbalance will ensure a greater pool of skills from which to draw.

Thank you once again for taking the time and trouble to write.

Yours sincerely,

Anna Biles
Correspondence Secretary
David Cameron's Office
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA

www.conservatives.com
She doesn't get it does she? None of them seem to. If you have 6 candidates for a seat - 4 men and 2 women - two of those men would have to be cast aside regardless of whether they were better candidates than the two women just so that the Tories can artificially bump up their quota of female candiates and MP's.

I really think that this will damage the Tories in the next election.

Ruth Kelly wants to talk about ethnic tensions

The Minister for Communities, Ruth Kelly, has decided that we need a "new and honest" discussion about what is causing ethnic tensions. To this end, she has spent our taxes on a new Integration and Cohesion Commission.

Ruth, I'll save you the effort love. The cause of ethnic tensions are simple and we've been telling you and your other champagne socialist chums what they are for years. I'm quite happy to come down to London and tell you free of charge what the problems are. I'll even pay my own train ticket.

The problem is that ethnic minorities are encouraged by the politically correct British government and all the various hangers-on like the Commission for Racial Equality to segregate themselves. Every effort must be made to ensure that their alien culture and way of life are accommodated and prized at the expense of our own native culture and way of life. If you don't comply with this you are denounced as intolerent or racist. It is permissible to discriminate against the native people of this island to pacify those of ethnic minorities but certainly not the reverse. A group of self-appointed muslim community leaders requests an audience with Ruth Kelly to demand the introduction of Sharia Law in the UK and their request is granted. Were I to request an audience to discuss an English Parlaiment or regionalisation I would be turned down without a second thought.

Most English people do not have a problem with people moving to this country from overseas. What they do have a problem with is people moving to this country, insisting that we change our own way of life to accomodate theirs, refusing to speak English or to associate with anyone outside of their own culture. It simply isn't acceptable. We have our own way of life, our own values and our own culture. People moving to this country should accept and accomodate us, not the other way round.

I have just sent the following email to Ruth Kelly's department:
Hi,

I see that Ruth Kelly wants a "new and honest" debate on ethnic tensions. I would absolutely love to take part in a debate on the cause and solution of ethnic tensions in the UK. Looking at the committee members I see that they are all "experts" in their field but nobody seems to be an ordinary white English member of the public. This is a bit of an oversight as it is the "ordinary" people in this country that are directly affected by this, not ministers or business and faith leaders. I would like to put myself forward as the "expert" in the field of living in this country under the current regime.

Naughty Evesham

Since blogging my experiences over my Evesham Laptop, I have received quite a few emails from people who have either had similar experiences or from former employees confirming from they are, indeed, a shonky company.

One of the emails I had recently explained how Evesham manage to get themselves voted best supplier, best support, best after-sales support, etc. in PC magazines. My source tells me that on one occassion in particular, the PA to a senior member of staff had sent Evesham's marketing department out to buy every copy of Compteractive magazine they could and then send an email to staff telling them they were available for free. When staff went to claim a magazine the centre pages containing a survey to find the best PC supplier or vendor had been removed and the marketing department were filling the surveys in voting for Evesham. My source also tells me that on other occassions, members of staff were sent emails asking them to vote for Evesham in online surveys for other PC magazines.

Disclaimer:
This information has been provided anonymously by a former employee of Evesham and, due to its nature, cannot be verified as accurate.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

600k Migrants from the EU

Lets all express our deepest gratitude to the British government and the EU for facilitating the migration of 600,000 economic migrants from Eastern Europe into the UK.

Let's say a special thank you on behalf of the taxpayers of England who now have to pay, not only for the 550,000 of them that live in England and contribute to our economy, but for the other 50,000 that live in the rest of the UK and need heavily subsidising along with the rest of those nations.

And lets say a very special thank you for the muppets that decided that economic migrants who come to work here and leave their families at home can claim thousands a year in child benefits here and then send them home.

Thanks very chuffing much.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Cameron losing the plot

I have been of the opinion that the Tories have got the next election wrapped up for a while now but Cameron seems to have lost the plot. In order to artificially boost the number of women candidates in elections he is bringing in new rules to ensure that two of the last four candidates shortlisted must be women.

Labour has become synonymous with arbitrary quotas and positive discrimination and it is widely recognised as one of their many, many serious faults. The Tories emulating one of Labour's worst traits is a surefire way of losing an election.

Eleven charged over bomb plot

Eleven of the 23 suspects arrested over the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic flights using liquid explosives have been charged. One of the suspects, a woman, was charged as her lawyers were preparing papers to challenge her detention.

Letter: Worcester News (not one of mine)

Euro MP moves the goalposts once again

SIR - Philip Bushill-Matthews (Letters. August 9) once again moves the goal posts on his claim about the EU and peace. His original letter said that the EU had brought peace to Europe over the last 50 years.

I pointed out that this was wrong - several countries in Europe had endured foreign occupation and invasion in that time and in one good example, the Yugoslav civil war, the EU had actually worsened the situation because it had shown partiality and sat on its hands at crucial times so causing unnecessary death and destruction.

He next claimed that what he meant was that the EU ensured that peace reigned within the EU but I pointed out that the one peace making effort the EU had sponsored within the EU e.g Cyprus had utterly failed and the EU had been humiliated. So now he switches again and says that various east European countries voted to join the EU. That is true but is not relevant to his original claim. One of the main reasons they voted to join was that it gave their citizens freedom to travel and come here to work.

Turning to his claim on the EU Constitution, he accepts that 10 countries have not approved the Constitution but then states this does not stop elements of the Constitution being salvaged and implemented. T

This is not democracy - as he claims - because no one knows which parts of the Constitution ensured its defeat and if this is not known, how dare EU politicians and bureaucrats try to implement parts of the defunct Constitution without first finding out if they have our support by a referendum.

One has to wonder whether some MEPs actually prefer not to know what their electorate think.

MARK STARR,

Leigh Sinton

Cancer drug refusal not very NICE

The not very nice men (and women) at NICE have refused two more cancer drugs for English cancer patients. The two drugs, Avastin and Erbitux, have extended the life expectancy of bowel cancer sufferers by 4-5 months and is a similar drug to Herceptin which NICE also refused for breast cancer sufferers in England. Bowel cancer kills almost 50 people per day and is the second worst killer cancer next to breast cancer.

As if it wasn't bad enough for English bowel cancer patients to be refused what has been described as the best option for seriously ill patients whose cancer has spread, the press release by the charity Beating Bowel Cancer and subsequent reporting in the press and media must have been a real kick in the teeth. Beating Bowel Cancer complains in their press release that we are the only country in the EU who don't offer this drug, saying "The decision by NICE not to make these drugs routinely available on the NHS to appropriate patients is a scandal and we strongly urge NICE to reconsider its decision. We are now the only nation in the EU not to offer Avastin and Erbitux to bowel cancer patients in the disease’s advanced stages. Why should patients in the UK be worse off than patients in the rest of Europe?"

NICE decisions apply only to England, not the UK. The drug is approved in Scotland and Wales, it is only in England that the drug is refused despite the fact that it is the English taxpayer subisidising the rest of the UK that allows these expensive drugs to be prescribed there in the first place.

Hat-tip: Waking Hereward

The Trouble With Scots: Guardian!

The Guardian (yes, you read that correctly!) has published an article by Roy Hattersley on what is wrong with the Scots. Hattersley doesn't hold back, suggesting that their ingrained hatred of the English is perhaps a sign of an inferiority complex.

Unexpected evidence that the Guardian has a backbone but I wouldn't be surprised to see a grovelling apology and full retraction in tomorrow's edition.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

A few days ago I was thinking to myself, what would I do if I was on a flight and there were a group of muslims on it. I would certainly feel uncomfortable but would I go as far as these people? Hard to say without being in the position.

A large number of passengers either refused to board or removed themselves from a Monarch Airlines flight because there were two bearded muslims on the plane speaking Arabic and apparently acting suspiciously. It appears that it was all a case of Chinese whispers and the men were allowed to fly later but it's caused a bit of an uproar amongst the self-appointed leaders of the muslim community who are crying racism.

In the circumstances I think the police were right to remove the two passengers. There is a real risk (or so we're told) of terrorism and - whether they like it or not - the threat is from muslims. If the self-appointed community leaders really do represent and influcence their communities then they should be stopping their fellow muslims from trying to blow us up.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

University Admissions Down

A Level pass rates are at an all time high but, unfortunately, university admission rates have nose-dived since Labour introduced university top-up fees. Only in England though.

Labour introduced university top-up fees in England a couple of years ago. A majority of MP's with English constituencies voted against the proposals but Labour used its whipped North British MP's to vote the bill through and impose university top-up fees on English students. North British students do not pay university top-up fees in North British universities, nor do EU students. West British and EU students also don't have to pay top-up fees in West Britain. English students have to pay top-up fees no matter where they go to university in the UK despite English taxes paying for the lack of top-up fees in North Britain and West Britain.

Fob-off From BBC

Further to Bloody BBC ...

Hi,

I have been watching the England -v- Greece match and when the national anthems were played I noticed that the subtitles announced God Save the Queen as the English national anthem. As you are no doubt aware, GStQ is the British national anthem and not the English national anthem. England has no national anthem. Please ensure that GStQ is correctly identified as the British national anthem as I, and many others, find the continuing (deliberate?) confusion of England and Britain by the BBC offensive.
They wrote back to me today:
Dear Mr Parr

Thank you for your e-mail regarding ‘Match of the Day Live: England v Greece’.

I understand you feel ‘God Save The Queen’ was incorrectly referred to on the subtitles as the ‘English’ rather than the ‘UK’ national anthem during this broadcast.

We appreciate that you feel that this anthem was incorrectly described and as such please be assured that your comments have been fully registered and will be made available to the ‘Match of the Day’ production team, the subtitling department and senior BBC management. Feedback of this nature influences future policy and programming.

Thank you once again for taking the trouble to contact the BBC with your concerns.

Regards

Patrick Marr
BBC Information
I replied:
Patrick,

It’s not a matter of opinion as you seem to infer - God Save the Queen is the national anthem of the United Kingdom, not of England. There is no English national anthem - in fact, there is technically no British national anthem as there has never been a royal proclomation or act of parliament designating it as such but that’s irrelevant. Can you confirm that the British national anthem will not be referred to as the English national anthem in future? If Scotland was playing, nationalist nutters would have burned down Broadcasting House in protest.

Stuart

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Twat of the Week nominations

Send your Twat of the Week nominations using the contact form (back online again) or in the comments.

European Federalists try to abolish justice veto

The European Union Federation is trying to convince member states that the best way to fight terrorism is to give up the national veto on justice and allow the EU to control all our legal systems.

European legal systems are, of course, incompatible with English law. You do not have the right to trial by jury under Napolionic law, nor do you have the presumption of innocence. The EU operates under Napoleonic law which is a completely alien legal system in England and vastly inferior. Napolionic law allows you to fester in a prison cell for years while you attempt to prove your innocence because you are presumed to be guilty of a crime.

Giving up the national veto on justice will allow the EU to completely control our legal system. They will be able to impose laws on us, to set sentences and pass judgement on all citizens (which, under EU law, includes the Queen). The European Federation has already crippled our legal system with the European Convention on Human Rights and decreeing that EU laws have precedence over our own. This is nothing to do with fighting terrorism - we have plenty of experience in fighting terrorists - and everything to do with the European Federalists building their empire.

This Scepter'd Isle has a very good write-up on this.

Bloody BBC

The BBC are better than most at subtitling programmes but I've just had to fire them off an email about their subtitling of the England -v- Greece match currently showing on BBC1. When playing the national anthems, the subtitles announced God Save the Queen as the English National Anthem. England has no national anthem, we aren't allowed one because we aren't allowed a country. I really wish the BBC would stop deliberately confusing England and Britain.

The Future's Bright ...

... the future's green.

Orange have suspended their Community Affairs spokesman, Inigo Wilson, over an article he wrote on the ConservativeHome blog.

One of the seemingly endless supply of intolerant muslim pressure groups has complained to Orange over the Lefty Lexicon that Wilson wrote claiming that two of the things he said imply that all muslims are terrorists and that British muslims who oppose terrorist attacks here are Islamaphobes.

I sincerely hope that this all blows up in Orange's face. What Wilson said was his own business. As long as it was done on his own time using his own computer it is none of Orange's business what he writes. The Lefty Lexicon is very funny and was clearly intended as a joke. The idiot who complained wasn't offended, he merely saw an opportunity to further stir up trouble and seized it.

More at Guido.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Demands for Sharia Law in UK

A group of self-appointed muslim community leaders have had a meeting with Ruth Kelly, Minister for Communities, and demanded Islamic public holidays and the introduction of Sharia Law for domestic issues (without the bits that allow rape and murder of women and gays).

One of the community leaders, Dr Pashu, says that if young muslims can have their own legal system and public holidays to compliment their self-imposed seperation from mainstream society, they will be able to better integrate into society. Those aren't his actualy words of course, he just made the usual sweeping statement that treating muslims differently will help stop them feeling different.

The Devil's Kitchen has an excellent commentary on the demands with the usual foul language so look over your shoulder before you click this link. One question nobody seems to be asking, though, is why the British government continues to waste our taxes entertaining these rude, unreasonable, intolerable self-appointed community leaders in the first place. If we wanted Sharia Law or even to listen to the opinions of these intolerant religious fanatics then we would ask.

Widescreen Wallpapers (again)

InterfaceLIFT have given me permission to reproduce the preview images for my favourite widescreen wallpapers from their site so here they are:





These are the only two I can find at the moment but when I find the others I will post them here too.

Brussels Journal under attack

I don't read the Brussels Journal although I often see articles on different blogs quoting from it. However, I do support them in their continued rejection of the Belgian government's attempts to harass them and force them offline.

The Belgian government, in the true style of the European Union Federation has a website where anyone can anonymously accuse a website owner of hate crimes which are then investigated by the Belgian police. The Brussels Journal has been anonymously accused of racism and the police have requested the presence of the owner of the Brussels Journal for interrogation - a request he has refused on the basis that he denies any accusation of racism and journalists do not have to justify what they write under the Belgian constitution.

As I said, I don't read the Brussels Journal so I can't comment on whether the site has racist material posted on it but a quick 5 minute browse of the site turned up nothing that could be considered racist by even the most committed lefty liberal.

There have been a few attempts to censor bloggers in the past and they have all failed - if the Brussels Journal is forced offline then its content will be reproduced many, many times all over the blogosphere.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Widescreen Wallpapers

Widescreens are great on PC's but there is one really major drawback - desktop wallpapers. There are millions of desktop wallpapers for Windows on the internet in pretty much any resolution you can imagine except widescreen formats.

I was browsing the internet the other day and found a website called Interfacelift with hundreds of widescreen wallpapers. If you've got a widescreen and you are struggling for decent desktop wallpaper (for some reason I wasn't happy with the default one telling me how great Evesham laptop's are) then this is definitely the place to look.

If I can get permission off the site owner I'll post my favourites to save you searching.

Venezuela to cut ties with Israel

The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, says that he is ready to sever ties with Israel after their attack on Lebanon. Venezuella has recalled its Charge D'Affaires from Israel and Israel has withdrawn its Ambassador from Caracas in retaliation.

This is hardly a victory for those of us who are critical of Israel's actions as Chavez has only done this to suck up to the Iranians so he can piss off the Americans even more but at least someone is taking a stand against Israel even if it is for the wrong reasons.

Sword Ban

The North British Parliament is to pass a new law banning the sale of swords in North Britain in a bid to combat knife crime.

How many people have been attacked with swords in North Britain and is it enough to warrant the extra cost to the English taxpayer to enforce the new law?

Lebanon Ceasefire

The Israel-Hezbollah-Lebanon ceasefire is a work of genius. The architects of the agreement have somehow managed to draw up a document that allows both Israel and Hezbollah to continue fighting and Israel to continue illegally occupying Southern Lebanon whilst simultaneously failing to protect the actual victims of the whole invasion - the Lebanese.

The ceasefire prevents Hezbollah from launching rocket attacks into Israel and prevents Israel from firing rockets into Lebanon. It allows Israel to continue occupying Southern Lebanon until the 13,000 strong UN peacekeeping force arrives in the region. Hezbollah says that any Israeli troops in Lebanon are still a legitimate target and the ceasefire allows Israel to defend itself.

Taking the PC

Source: Devil's Kitchen

The passport photo on the right was rejected by the UK Passport Office because the 5 year old girl's bare shoulders might be considered offensive in some muslim countries.

I wonder how many muslims were actually asked if the photo was offensive. Would any of my muslim readers care to comment?

Be debt free in 60 months

I'm getting fed up of hearing these bloody debt adverts on the radio and the telly. "You could be free from debt in just 60 months," they say. "This is not bankruptcy ... we will reduce your monthly payments ... debts you can't afford will be written off ... thanks to government legislation".

Stop! What a bloody con. These "solutions" are Individual Voluntary Arangements and the "government legislation" is the Insolvency Act. While this isn't bankruptcy it is still personal insolvency with the same devastating effect on your credit rating as being bankrupt. In fact, it will affect you for longer because you won't be discharged for at least 60 months whereas it is possible to be a discharged bankrupt after only 12 months.

Companies such as Debt Free Direct are nothing but vultures and these adverts are misleading to say the least. If you are having real financial problems and you need help then try CCCS - they are supported and financed by the main financial institutions and will try to help you pay your debts rather than avoid them. Most banks and agents will accept proposals put forward by CCCS without any arguments as they are responsible advisors.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Letter: Shropshire Star

City Region is a blatant affront to democracy

Since the West Midlands City Region was announced, the Shropshire Star may as well be an extension of Telford & Wrekin Council’s propaganda department.
On August 4 the Star published what I assume was a barely edited press release saying the West Midlands City Region (which doesn’t exist yet) has been given £5m to fight unemployment.

I am prepared to assume this poor reporting is down to the fact that the City Region proposal is veiled in secrecy.

No matter how many “benefits” Telford & Wrekin Council, the Regional Assembly or the other local authorities involved quote, the fact remains that yet another unelected regional government, paid for by the taxpayer, is an affront to democracy,

Far too many decisions are already taken at regional level by unelected bureaucrats appointed to do the bidding of the British government and the EU.

MPs oppose an elected English Parliament on the basis it is “another layer of government”. But why do they never seem to have the same problem with the huge unelected regional bureaucracy foisted on the English people against their will?

I don’t want Telford & Wrekin Council to give away powers and responsibilities to an unelected regional government in Birmingham.

And why is the council refusing to hold public consultation or a referendum to let the public decide?

And Keith Austin would support the City Region — he would get a seat on its ruling cabinet if it went ahead.

The City Region will mean more bureaucracy and red tape and see democracy moved further away from people. “Benefits” must be paid for by somebody and this will mean higher taxes and more cost-cutting.

Speak to your councillor and MP and demand they press for a referendum. Nobody has been elected on a manifesto of turning Telford into a suburb of Birmingham.

Stuart Parr, Telford

Twat of the Week: Des Browne

Last week's Twat of the Week was Des Browne with 50% of the vote.

This is Des' first Twat of the Week and a spectacular debut it is too! A North Briton in charge of defence is tolerable because defence is a reserved matter and the job covers the whole of the UK but having a North British defence minister who gives preference to his native North Britain is unacceptable.

The final results are as follows:

Richard Austin
3 (21%)

Alex Watson
4 (29%)

Ehud Olmert
0 (0%)

Des Browne
7 (50%)

What a Week!

I'm back from my camping trip. We spent a week just outside Winchcombe in the Cotswolds and had fantastic weather for the whole holiday until last night when it pissed down all night and all this morning meaning we've had to pack up all our belongings and tent in the rain.

While everything was kicking off in airports all over the country we were treated to lots of low-flying aircraft ranging from Hercules to some variety of fighter plane shattering the peace and terrifying our daughter. The campsite isn't far from Staverton airport and RAF Brize Norton and there's a military base at Evesham, just up the road (no, I didn't pop in and harangue anyone about my Evesham laptop).

While we were away we visited Birdland, the Cotswold Motor Museum (home to Brum), the Dragonfly Maze, the Model Village (not worth the cost of entry) and Model Railway (well worth a visit) at Bourton-on-the-Water. Bourton is apparently nicknamed the Venice of the Cotswolds because a river runs through the town and has been turned into a canal-type affair. It's a really nice town, very clean (despite being extremely busy with tourists) and definitely worth visit if you're in the area.

We also paid a visit to Sudeley Castle but didn't get to tour the actual lived-in part of the castle (which is, unusally, most of it) as it was £15 per person including children for a guided tour and you could only get in on the tour. Nevertheless, the £20 we paid for a family ticket to everything else was worth the money. We got to see the gardens, the pheasantry and all the exhibitions. We also got to see the church which contains the tomb of Queen Katherine Parr, something I was keen to see for obvious reasons.

Our final day out was to Cotswold Farm Park at the impressively named village of Guiting Power. All four kids love animals so we always end up going to farms and zoos and this was one of the best we've been to so far. Even animal-addict kids can get bored of looking at animals and this place was like a mixture of a farm and a playground so there was plenty for them to do in between looking at the animals. The farm is a rare breeds conservation park and they've got lots of rare (almost extinct) breeds of all farm animals but most of the rare breeds were sheep. They had a really bizarre breed of sheep which grows up to 3 pairs of horns!

I had a disagreement with a toilet seat at the park which left me with an extremely painful and personal injury that looked like a bite mark and bled on and off for about 24 hours. Gents, you can uncross your legs now; ladies, stop laughing it was painful.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Camping Again

We're off camping again tomorrow in the Cotswolds. Normal service will resume in about a week.

Doomsday - Whose Finest Treasure?

The Doomsday Book is now available online at the National Archives website.

When I did history at secondary school I was told that the Doomsday book was commissioned by William the Conquerer about 20 years after he became king of England some 600 years before "Britain" existed which is a bit confusing when the National Archives website says that it's Britain's Finest Treasure.

The Doomsday Book is English, not British.

City Region Propoganda

Slice of £5m set to aid borough people

By Deborah Collins

People in Telford could benefit from a slice of £5 million aimed at boosting employment in disadvantaged areas across the region.

The West Midlands city region, which includes Telford, is to benefit from money granted as the result of a successful bid to help increase levels of employment and improve people's skills. The cash, from central government, will tackle unemployment, social exclusion and child poverty across the region, A share of the money, to be distributed through a city strategy, will be used in Donnington and Malinslee to help people with special physical or learning needs get access to employment.

Staff from the Learning and Skills Council and JobCentre Plus will be working with employers to improve employment rates.

Successes

Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council Keith Austin welcomed the news.

"It underlines the fact that our commitment to being part of the wider city region community is already bringing real benefits to help people in Telford," he said.

"I am sure that this will be the first of many successes from our partnership working with other local authorities and I am pleased that, locally, disadvantaged people will be among the first to be helped."

Richard Webb, corporate director for adult social care said the cash would bring real benefits.

"The city strategy is about putting excluded people at the heart of our ambitions for a dynamic city region," said Mr Webb.

"Finding and keeping a job is vital for everyone's self esteem, health and well-being.

"This successful bid and our joint working with the primary care trust means that we are well placed to help people with disabilities and long term illness to either get back into work or to take the first step into a real job".

The West Midlands City Region includes eight local authority areas across Birmingham, the Black Country, Telford, Solihull and Conventry.



Erm, can I just point out that the West Midlands City Region doesn't even exist yet?

Twat of the Week voting

Time for Twat of the Week voting.

The nominees are:

  • Richard Austin, MD of Evesham Technology for the whole Evesham Laptop fisasco.

  • Alex Watson, Chairman of the North East Regional Assembly for doing nothing to stop North Britain having English fishermen in Northumberland banned from fishing for mackerel.

  • Ehud Olmert, Israeli Prime Minister for being responsible for the deaths of over 700 Lebanese civillians.

  • Traitor Blair for the last 9 years.

  • Des Browne for stopping American arms shipments from refuelling in his native North Britain en route to Israel and telling them to use English air bases instead.
Click here to vote or click here for the results.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Ooor Fish

First the North Britons claim all North Sea oil as theirs, now it's Mackerel.

North Britain has claimed all Mackerel on the basis that it swims through North British waters on its way to England. A quota was imposed by the EU when the North British Executive claimed the fish as theirs which allowed only 320 tons of Mackerel to be caught by English fishermen. Now English fishermen in Northumberland have been told not to fish for Mackerel any more because it's North British.

It's little things like this that demonstrate exactly why it is so vital that England gets a Parliament and Executive of its own to represent the interests of English people. The North East Regional Assembly (NERA) doesn't appear to be doing (or is incapable of doing) anything about this proving that the people of the North East euroregion were absolutely right to reject the toothless and self-obsessed NERA in the referendum two years ago. Nothing short of a national parliament can compete with the North British Parliament in representing English interests.

Bloody Spammers

A spammer is trying to hijack my mail form so I've taken it offline until he gets bored.

If anyone is interested in spamming a spammer, his email address is buletmann@aol.com

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Iraqi Civil War

William Patey, the UK's ambassador to Iraq, has warned the Brritish government that Iraq is about to decend into civil war, breaking up along ethnic lines. I wonder if he will offer the same assessment of the UK?

Israel orders Beirut evacuation

Israel has dropped leaflets on Beirut telling residents to evacuate the south of the city. The leaflets say that because Hezbollah continues to fire rockets into Israel, the Israeli's intend to step up their offensive on Lebanon.

Hezbollah has told Israel that it will stop firing rockets into Israel when it stops targetting civillians areas. They have also said that if Israel attacks Beiruit, they will attack Tel Aviv.

You're not big and you're not clever

A teacher from Essex has told the Professional Association of Teachers at a conference that they shouldn't call clever children "clever". Instead, they should be called "successful" because that was everyone can be "successful" in their own way.

How pathetic! This is the same teachers union that replaced the word "failure" with "deferred success". If children have nothing to strive to then what will motivate them to do anything? In the real world you don't get rewarded for incompetence or for doing sod-all (unless you're a politician of course) - why teach kids that it's any different?

Blair or Prescott

Just a bit of fun really - if you really had to choose, who would it be? Traitor Blair or the Fat Turd?

Check the poll at the top of the page in the right hand side bar.

Twat of the Week nominations

Been a bit slack with Twat of the Week of late and getting moaned at by certain people for not doing it so, as pretty much all my school reports said, must do better.

Send me your nominations in the usual way - either contact me or leave a comment.

Scottish NIMBY'ism

Some North Britons have been complaining about the fact that the US used a North British airport as a stop-over point when they were transporting bombs to Israel to be used in the attack self-defence against Lebanese civillians Hebollah terrorists.

The British government has apologised and assured the chosen ones that any future stop-overs in America's illegal arms flights to Israel for the illegal invasion of Lebanon will only take place in England.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Wireless Woes

I have finally got round to buying a wireless router, connected it all up and am happily sitting here watching Gordon Ramsey verbally abuse a bunch of men whilst typing. Mrs Sane has already banned me from taking the laptop to the toilet and spoilt the perfect title "Bog Blogging".

All fantastic laptop-wise but not so with the desktop. I bought a USB wireless adapter and my desktop connects to the wireless router and gets an IP address but I can't connect to the internet at all with it. I'm thinking the heavily butchered install of Windows might have something to do with it so I'm going to try installing a fresh copy of Windows on it.

Alton Towers Muslim-Only Day Cancelled

The organisers of the muslim-only day at Alton Towers have cancelled the event after selling only 1,000 tickets. They needed to sell 28,000.

That's a shame.

Shropshire Star: New trap snares 1 motorist every hour

New trap snares a motorist every hour
By Suzanne Roberts and Tom Warren

A speed trap on one of Shropshire's busiest roads has snapped hundreds of motorists less than three weeks since it was switched on.

The camera on the A5 at the Shotatton Crossroads, near Oswestry, has caught an average of 24 speeding drivers a day since it was switched on on July 12, generating nearly £1,500 every 24 hours. Motorists who are caught by the camera face £60 fines and points on their licences.

Trevor McAvoy, project manager at West Mercia Safety Camera Partner¬ship, said: "We are averaging, over the last few weeks, 24 offences on an average day since that camera has been operating.

"That is more than we would want. Considering that road sees 18,000 vehicles a day, and this shows one excess speeding offence an hour, that's still too many, but considering the very heavy traffic flow, it's good that it's not a lot worse.

He added: "We will be doing all we can to get this figure down.

"It usually takes a while but we should see a reduction."

Clocked

The Shotatton speed camera was instated in March 2005 following concern over the safety on the road.

Meanwhile, the number of speeding motorists has risen in Shrewsbury, despite cameras bringing about an overall reduction in offences over the last two-and-a-half years.

About eight drivers a day are currently being clocked exceeding the 30mph limit in Longden Road, Mytton Oak Road and Spring Gardens. Four months ago it was just six.

Safety managers are worried too many cars are speeding through Spring Gardens with no concern for pedestrians.

Mr McAvoy said although the rise was small, more motorists should be slowing down.

"Figures are up slightly over the last four months to an average of eight a day," he said, "It's quite a small rise and you do get peaks and troughs - but eight is still too many.

"We won't be happy until the figure is zero."



24 motorists a day caught speeding out of 18,000 vehicles per day that use it is 0.13% of the total. How on earth can they justify putting a camera there in the first place, let alone keeping it there? And if speed cameras are all about making the road safer by stopping people from speeding then why is the camera still on Mytton Oak Road if it's causing more people to speed?

Speed cameras are all about money. They are only put in places where they think they can make money out of them. The Shothatton Crossroads camera was obviously put there on the basis that with 18,000 vehicles per day they were bound to rake in some serious cash. I doubt it'll be there much longer.

Shropshire Star: Council sets target for ethnic staff

Council sets target for ethnic staff

Telford & Wrekin Council has set itself a target to almost double its number of black minority ethnic (BME) employees by 2008.

The percentage of Telford & Wrekin staff from black minority ethnic communities and with disabilities is worse than average com¬pared to other English councils, members of the council's cabinet were told.

The percentage of staff from BME communities stood at 2.85 per cent of the workforce in 2005 and the council has set itself a target to increase this figure to 4.83 per cent by 2008.

The figures were outlined in a review by a scrutiny body and endorsed by cabinet members last night.

The report also found that the number of BME staff in the top five per cent of earners had risen and was better than average compared to other English councils.
And it found that 47 per cent of the top five per cent of earners were female.

Even Handed and Fair ...

Traitor Blair stands up at a conference in America to talk about Western values in relation to the war on terror and says that we have to be "even handed and fair in our application of those values".

Iraq was invaded and its government overthrown for breaking a couple of UN resolutions relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction that didn't actually exist. Israel has ignored over 80 UN resolutions relating to the occupation of Palestine and constant warmongering with its neighbours and is currently illegally invading Lebanon but they get the protection and support of the UK and the US.

Even handed and fair? Do us a favour Tony and stay that side of the Atlantic - I'd rather have Fatty Prescott.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Children should be taught the "benefits" of the EU

Geoff Hoon, Minister for Europe, has decided that what we really need to teach our children to give them the best possible start in life is the benefits of membership of the EU. Not the facts, you'll notice, but the benefits.

Unless you are a corrupt EU bureaucrat with immunity from prosecution or a member of some taxpayer-funder regional quango answering to the EU, I really don't know what these benefits are. Perhaps we should all be given lessons on the benefits of the EU? I mean, the down-side of EU membership is obvious - economic protectionism, weak single currency, primacy of EU laws, over 50% of our statute books having originated from the EU, massive net "contributions" to the EU budget, loss of fishing rights, alienation from former allies and friends, virtual abolition of preferential trade agreements with the rest of the world, regionalisation, federalism, bureaucray, the introduction of Napoleonic Law, European arrest warrant, fraud, corruption, ... sorry, I got a bit carried away there.

Excellent Daily Mail Article

An excellent article in the Daily Mail today by Richard Littlejohn.

While I don't always agree with what Littlejohn has to say, this article really can't be faulted.

Israel Breaks Ceasefire

Israel declared a unilateral "ceasefire" for 48 hours and shortly afterwards it was reported that Hezbollah had fired rockets into Israel despite the "ceasefire". This, it turns out, was not true.

According to the BBC, Israel fired rockets into Lebanon shortly after declaring the "ceasefire" killing 3 Lebanese soldiers near Tyre. It is worth remembering that Israel is supposed to be targetting Hezbollah but has so far managed to kill in excess of 650 Lebanese civillians, 5 UN peacekeepers and a handful of Lebanese soldiers. It is also worth remembering that the "ceasefire" is, in fact, a unilateral decision by Israel to stop blowing people up for 2 days and not a mutual agreement by both parties.

Over at GavPolitics I suggested that Israel would use the "ceasefire" to move operatives into Lebanon in perperation for a takeover and to move the weapons the Americans have just sent them. This morning the BBC said that Israel had used the "ceasefire" to move troops and supplies into Southern Lebanon in preparation for a full-scale ground invasion.

We have been repeatedly told that Israel is not targetting civillians, they are targetting terrorists, military targets and infrastructure. The 650+ civillians deaths are a fact of war and, whilst regrettable, they are unavoidable in the fight against the terrorists. However, Israel has decided that they are going to change their approach and start using "targetted strikes". So, what were they doing before? Indiscriminately bombing Lebanon regardless of whether their targets were genuine or not. Lies and deceit are the hallmarks of a terrorist regime.