Time for a change

It was announced on the news last night that our Prime Minister has a support rating of 28%, the lowest rating of any PM since the 1930's when we were in the Great Depression. He has called the banks in today to berate them for the credit crunch. This from the man who stole £5 billion from pension pots, who has been behind the introduction of more and more stealth taxes since Labour came to power. The UK is in probably the worst situation since the Winter of Discontent in 1979, I cannot recall a time when morale and confidence was this low. Brown must be in a state of funk waiting for what his enemies will be plotting. The enemies are all those in his own party who will be sitting and silently plotting how to unseat him and take the power for themselves. The sooner the better! The big problem is that there is no discernible blue water between the two main parties, since New Labour arrived they have become more centre right than the Tories. It's only the defence,enterprise and business acumen that seperates the two now. The Liberals are a joke, they can afford to come out with all sorts of crack pot ideas because they know they will never have to implement or fund them. Their Leader is a cypher, a non entity and totally without significance. I wouldn't recognise him if he walked past me in the street. He has contributed nothing to the political scene. At least the past incumbents(Menzies excepted) had something about them, Jeremy Thorpe with his sex scandals, Paddy Pantsdown and Mr Sobriety, even the cabal who were behind the original Social and Liberal Democrats were more than just a dot on the page.

We get the leaders and the party we deserve, Winston Churchill with his womanising, misogynism, smoking and drinking would be completely un-electable today. Do we demand too much of our politicians in terms of private behaviour, because we do this and insist that they have had led a blameless existence we end up with non entities. The sort of person who achieved nothing at school and is likely to achieve nothing in life because they would never want to be part of a failure. It is inevitable in life that as you attempt, so you will sometimes fail. Success has a million fathers, failure is an orphan. The bland, self serving batch of politicians that we end up with have never done anything by and large. Those that end up in office and positions of responsibility are often those who have been the most mediocre.

Let's change PM, let's change parties, let's change politicians. Also let's elect people not bland non entities.

Shabby Treatment

I have now become an infrequent blogger. Pressures of work is my excuse. I am not a regular reader of the Mail but decided this week that I will buy it, mainly because of the DVD's. I love the stiff upper lip war films with John Mills, Noel Coward et al in them. Today's Mail(Sunday) had the front page covered with the story about the treatment of the returning fallen servicemen and contrasting how differently they are treated here and in Canada. It seems that "ceremonial" matters are not a Force priority for Thames Valley Police, it should be! They cannot be bothered to provide and escort for the coffins from the border with Wiltshire (who incidentally not only do so, but also pause at the War Memorial in Wootton Basset where the locals gather to pay respects)to the Coroner's Office in Oxford. What kind of mad society do we live in! Why haven't our elected representatives stood up in Parliament and demanded that these fallen be afforded full respect. Why doesn't the Chief Constable of Thames Valley afford them the respect of one uniformed service to another. Our Courts have this week allowed Abu Quatada to stay here at our expense and yet we cannot spare a couple of cars and motorcycle outriders to ensure that our heroic dead are treated with proper respect. In life they may not have been heroes or carried out heroic deeds but their sacrifice demands that we treat them like returning heroes. If I was living in Thames Valley I would be demanding of my local councillors an answer to this question and a refund of the Police Precept from my council community charge. The Chief Constable isn't serving me in the way I wish her to.

Sometime

It's been a while since I sat and placed metaphorical pen to paper in the ether. In my defense this was in part because I was actually using genuine pen and paper to berate my MP. There is a link on the Royal British Legion's site for The Broken Covenant in which their is discussion about how we as a nation have broken the covenant that exists between us and our Servicemen and women. Whatever your view on the wars that we are currently involved in we should never lose sight of the fact that we as civilians have the luxury of debate. The squaddie has none. He/she has signed the dotted line, taken the shilling and must troop off to whatever foreign clime deemed by the British Government to have caused offence or be in need of our assistance. I would urge anyone who peruses this rambling to have a look at the Royal British Legion site, whatever your view of the merits of the war in Iraq or Afgahnistan remember that it is the people in the uniform who are on the frontline that guarantee us the right to express those views. Consider this, Pakistan have this week insisted that You Tube block certain feeds, China blocks some of the BBC content, Zimbabwe doesn't even allow British journalists to report from there, we, within reason have pretty much unfettered access to all manner of information, news and content. We also have the right to express ourselves freely, again within reason. These were hard won freedoms, won by servicemen in uniform putting it all on the line. Support or don't support the war BUT ALWAYS SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!

Sense from a Politician

I never thought that I would see the day that a Politician spoke some sense. Mind you, much good it did him.


Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.'


'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom'.

'We speak mainly ENGLISH; not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society. Learn the language!'

'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.'
'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.'

'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,
'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.'

'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'

Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, British citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the same truths. This is not a rant against any single group, rather it is to all who come to the UK and demand the right to impose their views upon us. If you chose to come here to escape the despotic regime in your own country then accept our democracy. By all means practice your faith, speak your language and maintain your culture however adapt to your new environs. Learn English, don't demand that we adapt to you. The amount of money that is spent on providing documents and leaflets in 20 or 30 different versions is truly mind boggling. If you don't like the fact that you can't read the leaflet in the Doctors Surgery(visit and treatment free), or that when you get arrested the papers are in English, then please feel free to let the door smack you in the arse on your way back to wherever you came from.

LIFE IS A TEST AND YOU'RE GRADED ON A CURVE

At age 4, success is not peeing in your pants.

At age 12, success is having friends.

At age 16, success is having a drivers license.

At age 20, success is having sex.

At age 35, success is having money.

At age 50, success is having money.

At age 60, success is having sex.

At age 70, success is having a driver's license.

At age 75, success is having friends.

At age 90, success is not peeing in your pants

Stumble

The interweb is a wonderful thing, I was stumbling around in my usual bumbling fashion today when I happened on the blog of Helen. The first title caught my attention, I wondered how someone could blog about mangoes. I started to read and then read the next. I loved the dry sardonic humour. Even if I don't necessarily agree with all that is said I loved the style. If someone can write like this it gives hope for us all.

Have a look at Obiterati.

2008

Well the New Year has crept in amongst us. Let's hope that it is a good year. I imagine that there is every possibility of a General Election being called. We will then have to make our choices based on the current crop of venal, self serving and similarly undistinguished gutter scrapings on offer. I can't think of a single politician currently in the house whom I'd either share a drink with or more importantly buy a drink for. My father used to say that this was a question to ask when voting for some-one, I have found nothing in his argument that that doesn't hold today. The latest pronouncement that the Government are going to bring laws to stop payment for sex. Is this original thought, no! Governments and Legislators have gone through these puritanical turns throughout history. Any time you over legislate or try and ban a pleasure be it sex, drink or stimulants you simply create a huge market that has to be fed, into this vacuum step Organised crime vis Prohibition in the US. I applaud the thought behind it regarding the prevention of exploitation and trafficking of women but the method being suggested is truly ludicrous and will bring in yet another series of laws that have been promulgated by this motley crew of malcontents and wishy-washy lentil steamers that will almost immediately be held in contempt, be impossible to police and be ignored by the populace.

On a separate matter, why are we still contributing millions of pounds to Zimbabwe? Mugabe has made it plain that he views us as the erstwhile Colonial Oppressors and the root of all that ails his country. It has nothing to do with the policies of land reform that have resulted in profitable, foreign currency earning farms being handed over to the political and military elite that he relies on to maintain his power. The Uk has handed over some £62million since 2002 for just humanitarian projects. This money has been supposedly administered and controlled by the EU. In reality 90% of it goes straight into Mugabe and his cronies pockets.