Blog comment of the day - "What's sauce for the goose..."

I wasn't going to blog about the story that Stoke-on-Trent City Council has issued an 11-page Ramadan guide for schools to help pupils who may be fasting when the school year starts in September. It said swimming was acceptable to Muslims but posed a high risk of swallowing water that may break a fast and suggested a re-scheduling of sex education classes during the Muslim holy month, as Muslim followers who have reached puberty are required to avoid sexual thoughts during this period. It seemed just too typical of the dhimmitude being practised throughout much of the UK, especially as the Muslim school population of Stoke-On-Trent is around 3.2%.

But then I read a comment on Biased BBC that I thought hit the mark perfectly: 'Lets close ALL shops during Christmas as a mark of respect for Christians.'Thanks John Horne Tooke for that. Maybe someone in the multicultural industry could explain the differences between the two situations...

The ninety-first weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

This week's winner goes to The Telegraph for the seriously "No shit, Sherlock" headline -

'Iraq inquiry: Government ‘intentionally and substantially’ exaggerated WMD threat'

Here's the sub-heading equally "No shit, Sherlock in it's obviousness

'Tony Blair’s government ‘intentionally and substantially’ exaggerated the threat from Saddam Hussein ahead of the war in Iraq, a former senior British diplomat has claimed.'

Geert Wilders warns

Geert Wilders warns the US of its future; becoming Europe mk2. Here's the beginning of the warning:

'In a generation or two, the U.S. will ask itself: who lost Europe? I come to America with a mission. All is not well in the old world. There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic. We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe. This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West. The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe.'

Is masturbating dangerous?

For this 30 year old nanny it was:

'A 30-year-old woman's death as she used a sex toy while watching pornography was probably due to her state of sexual excitement, an inquest heard today.

Children's nanny Nichola Paginton was found dead in bed naked from the waist down last October with pornographic material running on her laptop. A sex toy was discovered next to her.

A Home Office pathologist told the inquest in Gloucester that Miss Paginton died from a sudden heart arrhythmia, probably brought on by her state of arousal.

Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore agreed it was likely that 'her activity before death' contributed to the fatal arrhythmia.'

Hmm worrying!

Paul the Psychic Octopus - psychic or what?

Heresy Corner molluscs mulls the matter over. For my part, Paul had a 1 in 64 chance of correctly predicting the matches that he did; not bad odds at all...

So long as the rules are followed, f**k the public

Two stories that show how the public's safety is secondary to following the rules whether of the EU or liberal society.

1. The Telegraph reports that:

'Murders and other serious crimes committed by prisoners released early from jail may have to be “accepted” by the public as part of attempts to keep down the cost of the criminal justice system, the probation watchdog suggested.'

The article contains this piece as well:

'More than 81,000 prisoners were let out up to 18 days early in an early release scheme under the last government. Of those, 1,234 went on to commit 1,624 offences during the time they would normally have been in jail, including at least three murders.'

This is of course not correct. It should read: 'More than 81,000 prisoners were let out up to 18 days early in an early release scheme under the last government. Of those, 1,234 went on to commit 1,624 detected offences during the time they would normally have been in jail, including at least three murders, and an unknown number of undetected crimes.'


2. The Mail reports that:

'Thousands of foreign nurses will be allowed to work in Britain without any safety checks – because EU rules demand that the tests are axed.

They will not need to sit rigorous competence exams before treating NHS patients. And they will no longer even be required to show they have looked after patients in the past three years.

Critics say the change will 'almost certainly' lead to lives being lost. The Nursing and Midwifery Council will stop administering the tests in the autumn after being told it could be sued by the European Commission for breaking EU law on 'freedom of movement' for workers from the Continent.'

It looks as though this one os down to Labour's supine position to matters EU as:

'Although other EU countries are in theory bound by the same rules, major Western countries including France and Germany opted out of regulations which opened their borders to most Eastern European immigrants.'

So long as the rules are followed, a few people being murdered by a released prisoner or cruelly mistreated by an unchecked nurse are small prices to pay. That's what our lords and masters believe, how do we show them that they are WRONG?

Israel's 'partner for peace'?

Whilst all but the most blinkered 'we are all Hamas now' brigade would admit that Hamas are nor really looking at a peaceful resolution of differences with Israel, the Palestinian Authority are generally given the benefit of the doubt.

Israel National News has some recent quotes from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that shows he's just as opposed to the continued existence of Israel as Hamas:

'Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told Arab leaders that the PA is ready to wage war on Israel if the rest of the Arab world does, according to the PA daily Al-Hayat al-Jadida as translated by Palestinian Media Watch.

“If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it,” Abbas quoted himself as having said at the March Arab League Summit in Libya.

Arab cities in Judea and Samaria were “completely destroyed” in the Israeli counterterrorism operations that took place during the Oslo War (Second Intifada), Abbas told Arab League members. “We will not agree that it will be destroyed again,” he said.

Abbas quoted his own statements to the Arab League while in a meeting with the PA's ambassador to Jordan. The statements were used in explanation of his opposition to the approach taken by Hamas. Hamas pushes for “resistance” - a buzz word used by Arabs to refer to terrorism – and refusal to negotiate with Israel.

"What we hear from everyone is that the basis is negotiations. At a time that the entire world agrees about this... We are unable to confront Israel militarily,” Abbas told the PA envoy.

Abbas, who is serving as head of the PA after unilaterally extending his term in office, has made several statements in recent years that have raised concerns as to his true intentions. In 2008, as Israel and the PA engaged in peace talks, Abbas told a Jordanian paper that he opposed terrorism “at present” but that “things may change.”

In March 2010, the PA held a ceremony naming a main square in Ramallah for a terrorist who led a cell that murdered 37 Israelis. In June, a broadcast on official PA television referred to Jews as “our enemies” and to the entire state of Israel as “Palestine.”

Earlier this week, Abbas eulogized terrorist Abu Daoud, the mastermind of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, calling him “one of the leading figures in Fatah.”Israel has officially referred to Abbas a "moderate" leader, as opposed to the leadership of Hamas, whose charter calls clearly for destroying Israel.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)'

The Palestinian Authority a 'partner for peace'?

Some questions for Peter Mandelson should you meet him on Thursday, or any other day

The Telegraph has a fine article partly by Andrew Gilligan, headlined 'The mystery of Lord Mandelson's finances'. I urge you to read the whole piece, maybe take a printout and carry it with you at all times, especially if near Hatchards in Piccadilly on 15th July...

"A genocide should be perpetrated against the Jewish populations of North America and Europe... Our prime targets will be any major cities with Jews"

"A genocide should be perpetrated against the Jewish populations of North America and Europe... Our prime targets will be any major cities with Jews residing in them."

The words of Salman Hossain, a 25-year-old originally from Bangladesh but now a resident of Canada who also called for "the slaughter of Jews" in online postings and who has become the first person to be charged with promoting genocide in Canada.

It seems that Salman Hossain has left Canada for South Africa.

Mr Hossain, who immigrated to Canada as a child, has openly called for "violent regime change in Western nations in order to remove the presence of Jews" and "the slaughter of Jews," according to various reports. He has also advocated terrorist attacks in Canada, cheered the killing of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, and urged fellow Muslims to overthrow the "Jewish-run Canadian government".

When will people realise that sort of hatred of Jews is not a result or Israel expanding beyond its 1967 borders or even of Israel's existence, it is a result of people following the teachings of Islamists.

Cartoon of the month

Jesus and Mo: very funny and maybe a little disrespectful!

The World Cup final

Spain vs Netherlands - should be a good match if the Netherlands can keep up with Spain's intricate passing. Historical precedence says the Dutch will lose as they were favourites to win in 1974 against West Germany and lost with an Englishman refereeing, the last time an Englishman refereed a World Cup Final. If Spain win the final then I believe New Zealand will be the only team to not have lost a match at the 2010 World Cup; am I right?

Peter Crouch the realistic footballer

When Tottenham & England's Peter Crouch was asked what he would be if he wasn't a footballer, he replied: "A virgin". I like a realistic footballer.

Amazongate - Christopher Booker explains

Christopher Booker explains why: 'The IPCC's attempts to hide the truth about its exaggerated claims on the deforestation of the Amazon have ended in defeat'.

Just another Daily Mail story?

A few days ago I blogged The Mail's story that: ''Live in a £1m mansion for £130 a week? Only if you throw in a new kitchen...': Whistleblower exposes chancers and cheats who abuse social housing'. So I was not that surprised to read in The Mail today that:

'Somali asylum seeker family given £2m house... after complaining 5-bed London home was 'in poor area'

A family of former asylum-seekers from Somalia are living in a £2.1million luxury townhouse in one of Britain's most exclusive addresses at a cost to taxpayers of £8,000 a month.

Abdi and Sayruq Nur and their seven children moved into their three-storey property in a fashionable area of London last month because they didn't like the 'poorer' part of the city they were living in.

Mr Nur, 42, an unemployed bus conductor, and his 40-year-old wife, who has never worked, are now living in Kensington despite the fact that they are totally dependent on state benefits.'

Is it any wonder that people are willing to pay so much money to people traffickers in order to get to the UK?

The battle to destroy Michael Gove

Michael Gove was always going to have problems reforming the education system in England & Wales. He inherited probably the most politicised government department simply chocful of leftists ready to do their best to destroy his much needed reforms. Then there is the BBC full of hate for anyone who dares to question their orthodoxy that 'state run' is best, whether that be education or health. Michael Gove also irritates the BBC because he does fight back against their blatant bias.

So I was not surprised when Michael Gove became the first recipient of a civil service, Labour, BBC attack. The 'offence' seemed small, misinformation corrected within 24 hours, but the BBC went big on the story - attack, attack, attack. So was it an honest mistake that lead Michael Gove to make his inconsistent reports? The Mail thinks that there may be more to the story than this as:

'The £220,000-a-year quango boss blamed for landing education Secretary Michael Gove in trouble over new school buildings had his £40,000 bonus scrapped by Mr Gove last month.

Tim Byles, chief executive of Partnership for Schools (PfS), the body in charge of the £45 billion Building Schools for the Future programme, faced demands from MPs that he be sacked yesterday following claims that his organisation is 'a shambles'.

...

Now, according to well-placed sources, an investigation into how Mr Gove made the blunder has pointed the finger of blame at Mr Byles.

And the sources have disclosed that one of Mr Gove's first acts on becoming education Secretary was to scrap Mr Byles's £40,000 bonus as part of the Government's blitz on quangos.

'The list that caused all the trouble was drawn up not by the Department for education but by PfS,' said a source. 'It wasn't a clerical error or a database mix-up. The database itself was wrong because of information management failings by PfS.'

The angry backlash led to a fierce behind-the-scenes row between the Government and PfS. Sources say Mr Byles, 51, denied he was to blame.

'The Department for education was told it just wasn't possible to produce details with the degree of accuracy they wanted,' said one.

But a Government insider hit back: 'PfS should have known what stage each school was at in the process. It was set up to run the school buildings programme. If they aren't up to speed with that, then what is the point of its existence? It is a shambles.''

I wonder if Ed Balls had any chats with civil servants in his department about how they should act in the event of finding themselves serving Michael Gove...

Calling time on the BBC TV licence

The Trees of Liberty has the details:

'I could not believe my ears. We do not need to buy a telly license if we watch on the computer and it's not live. Watching BBC news 24 I noticed the "Watch Live" was slightly behind my telly. I put this to the chap at licensing but he said he only had my word for that. I then asked if I only watched definite non live could I have a refund. "No".
So there you have it from TV licensing,via me of course that you DO NOT NEED a LICENSE to watch non live telly.'

The Ground Zero mosque

"Because the world cares nothing about Jewish blood"

"Because the world cares nothing about Jewish blood"
'Only Israel' - Yedida Freilich


Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

The Foreign Office's love affair with the Muslim world - Oil or anti-semitism?

The BBC report very quietly that:

'Israel has criticised Britain's ambassador to Lebanon for eulogising a recently deceased Lebanese cleric said to have inspired Hezbollah.

Frances Guy wrote on her personal blog that Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was a "decent man" who rated among the people she most admired.

An Israeli spokesman said Ayatollah Fadlallah was "unworthy of praise".

The UK foreign office says it has taken down the blog after "mature consideration". '

Of course many in the BBC admire people like Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, indeed his views are probably seen by many of the 'we are all Hezbollah/Hamas now' brigade so prevalent within that loathsome organisation. As for the UK's Foreign Office, well it is not known as the "Camel Corps" for nothing, maybe it's the training of many at the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies (MECAS)?

That IT Crowd - 'Let's say you've gone back in time' - T-Shirt

Last night's IT Crowd included a short piece with Roy wearing a very geeky T-shirt; the top line said 'Let's say you've gone back in time' - did you spot it? The T-Shirt is designed for time travellers and could be very useful in such a situation...


So far I have found this T-Shirt at a couple of US suppliers including wtfoodge and TopatoCo - anybody know of a UK stockist?

Musical mash-up - Jay-Z + Gil Scott Heron - Home Is Where the Praying Is

Jay-Z + Gil Scott Heron - 'Home Is Where the Praying Is'. I hold no brief for Jay-Z but my appreciation for Gil Scott Heron is well known and 'Home is where the hatred is' is the basis of this song. Here's the Gil Scott Heron original and I think it is far superior to the mash-up...

What caused the US housing bubble? (Also has UK implications)

A comment on a Real Clear markets article really caught my eye and I repeat it here:

'David+Driver

Another Washington Dog & Pony Show.

A sick patient lies in a hospital dying. The doctor sends a nurse into the room to open a window – ostensibly to afford the dying man some fresh air. Over night, the temperature drops below zero and the man freezes to death. The next morning the doctor comes in, looks at the frozen corpse and says, “Ahhhh, too bad - he was a sick man… Oh well, it was 'his body' after all!”

And the point is?

It was not the banks or the markets or the financial institutions that created the housing bubble that burst. The housing bubble was created by Congress to make home ownership more affordable for people who could not afford to own a home. To do that, they enforced a lowering of the standards of traditional rules for lending, that had been in place for decades. And when you lower those kinds of rules, and when you lend money to people who cannot afford to make the payments they begin to default on those loans. And when those people begin to default on loans - loans that were made because the government coerced the banks into making faulty loans by establishing quotas based on qualifications (like color, or gender or neighborhood), other than financial, and then penalizing those banks who failed to make the quotas the Fed set - then the market quickly gets flooded with houses for sale, for short-sale and houses in foreclosure.

When that many houses hit the market all at once, (coincidentally, just about the same time that most of those 5yr teaser rates ended), then the abundance of houses for sale, make prices fall dramatically. And those who were caught short having (in many cases) loaned more on the 1st mortgage than a house was eventually worth when it went into foreclosure; suddenly found out that robbing Peter to pay Paul, when Peter dies first, doesn’t work so well, when you’ve borrowed heavily from Paul! Even when Congress twisted your arm into doing it!

So who can you trust these days? The banks or Congress? Maybe neither. But one thing is for sure, this legislation is a complete sham!

When you can't trust the government to work in your best interest, then it is in your best interest to support a government that "really" cares - and isn't just for show. One that owns up to its mistakes and as FDR said, "Confront them frankly" and move forward with some reform that has a chance of making a real difference, and not some show that will put even more of a squeeze on the already shortened money supply! And speaking of FDR - if he'd understood that, we may not have ever had a "Great Depression" !!!

The government created this with regulations put in place for Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac and then forced those same rules on the banks too, forcing them to make loans they previously never would have made - in the name of "equality" in lending. Now that all sounds very nice and altruistic - but people are not equal when it comes to their ability to repay loans. No matter how politically correct that sounds - because politics is very often very very wrong!

This Senate Bill does not include Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac reforms because;

1) They don’t want to blame this financial disaster on themselves – and conveniently, the public generally doesn't understand the dynamics behind the crisis - so the banks and the financial institutions who have simply done what Congress bade them do, make a very easy target!

2) They probably want to try to do it again, - but this time limit the scope of who loses what and who gets to stand first in line for the bailout money, when the bubble bursts next time.

3) Home ownership for those who cannot (and in many cases will not) afford a home, is still the goal. The theory is that it makes better citizens, when people have a vested interest due to home ownership. And that may be true to a degree, but lowering the standards and subsidizing failure, is not a very ethical, practical or fiscally responsible way to increase home ownership!

Giving away housing to those who cannot afford it is a great way to get re-elected of course! But the people who ultimately have to pay for it are the worse off for their misplaced philanthropy!

The numbers for those who care:

The percentage increase in home ownership during the boom, went from 64% to 69%. Just 5pts. Five percent of out a population of 300-million is 15-million people. Guess how many jobs were lost in the crash? That's right! 15-million.

So, 5% of the population lost their jobs, so another 5% could buy a home they couldn't afford to keep.

Nobody got a home, and we're all worse off for it!

If Washington paid more attention to the numbers than to the window dressing - more of us would be looking out windows instead of looking in!

Watch out America… Here we go again….

"Oooooooh.... Pretty pony!".'

Excellent piece that summarises so much that we know to be true but that the MSM wants to keep from us.

Do they really think we are that stupid?

The BBC are pushing the scary, scary heatwave line with comments such as

'The first heatwave of the summer has been announced.

But how dangerous is the hot weather to our health and what precautions should we be taking?

...

So why is a heatwave dangerous?

Consistently hot weather poses a risk to health because it can interfere with the body's ability to regulate its temperature.

For most healthy adults and children, as long as they drink plenty of water and avoid baking in the midday sun, it should not pose a problem - other than perhaps being uncomfortable.

But for the elderly, very young, and those with chronic medical conditions, the health risks are potentially significant.


...

What can people do to limit the risks?

The advice is to be prepared, especially those people who are most vulnerable, and to check on neighbours and relatives who may be at risk.

Stock up on food and drink and make sure that those who take regular medicines have adequate supplies.

Drink plenty of water and keep in the shade where possible - particularly taking care to avoid the sun in the hottest part of the day between 11am and 3pm.

Stay in the coolest room in the house, close blinds and curtains if necessary and also keep windows shut when it is warmer outside than in, opening them at night when it is a bit cooler.

Ultimately if you or anyone else feels unwell, the best thing to do is to drink water and go somewhere cool to rest.

Anyone experiencing breathlessness, chest pain, confusion, dizziness, weakness or cramps that get worse or persist, should seek medical help.'

So if it gets hot the advice is to try and stay cool by drinking water and staying in the shade; genius, it's a good job we have access to such advice because I assumed that if I felt hot the best thing to do was to run about in the sun, not drink and sit in the warmest room in the house.

Meanwhile The Telegraph have photos of animals cooling themselves down, oddly they haven't read the latest health advice from NHS Direct, another waste of money organisation that advises us that

'Be prepared in case the weather stays hot:

* Stay tuned to the weather forecast on the TV or radio.
* If you’re planning to travel, check the forecast at your destination too.
* Plan ahead: stock up with supplies so that you don't need to go out during extreme heat and think about what medicines, food and non-alcoholic drinks you'll need.
* Keep plenty of water to hand and stay in the shade whenever possible.
* Identify the coolest room in the house, so you can go there to keep cool.

Remember:

* Enjoy the weather but try to stay cool.
* Don't go outside between 11am and 3pm as this is the hottest part of the day.
* Spend time in the shade and avoid strenuous activity.
* Help others: check up on neighbours, relatives and friends who may be less able to look after themselves (for example, if they have mobility problems).
* Drink water or fruit juice regularly.
* Avoid tea, coffee and alcohol, and if you do drink alcohol make sure you have lots of water or other non-alcoholic drinks as well.
* Keep rooms cool by using shade or reflective material external to the glass, or if that is not possible, by closing light-coloured curtains (metallic blinds and dark curtains can make the room hotter).
* Keep the windows closed while the room is cooler than it is outside and, if it's safe, open windows at night when the air is cooler.
* People with heart problems, breathing difficulties or serious illnesses may find their symptoms become worse in hot weather, so make sure you have enough medicines in stock and take extra care to keep cool.'

I particularly like 'Keep the windows closed while the room is cooler than it is outside and, if it's safe, open windows at night when the air is cooler.' If people can't work that out for themselves then they really don't deserve to be called human.







Of course it's all the fault of climate change -

'Are heatwaves getting more common?

According to a Department of Health report, climate change means that heatwaves are likely to become more frequent in England.

The worst heatwave in recent years happened in August 2003 when record-breaking temperatures led to 2,000 excess deaths in the UK.

Northern France bore the brunt of the hot weather that year when three weeks of unprecedentedly high temperatures resulted in 15,000 excess deaths.

By the 2080s, it is predicted that an event similar to that experienced in England in 2003 will happen every year.'

A pro-Cameron article in The Guardian?!

Martin Kettle in The Guardian's 'Comment Is Free' section has set the cat amongst the pigeons with a piece praising David Cameron for being 'A man of grace", 'a much better prime minister than Brown ever was' and 'an asset to his party, to his government and, if one may say this, to his country, too'.

To the dismay of his readers Martin Kettle ends the piece

'Yet in these first weeks even opponents should concede that Cameron has played a blinder. He is showing himself as potentially the best all-round prime minister of the modern era. Labour's hopefuls should learn from him. No doubt about it, Cameron wins this season's political golden boot.'

I know where I will be next Thursday

The Bookseller informs me that:

'He (Peter Mandelson) will sign copies of the book at Hatchards in Piccadilly, central London, on 15th July.'

I wonder if he will take questions? If so what should we raise with him: dodgy mortgage applications, the Hinduja brothers, whether his prime loyalty is to the EU or the UK, whether he had sexual relations with any Labour ministers whether before during or after they served in government?

Phil Woolas's diary

I have been enjoying reading extracts from ex-Labour minister Phil Woolas's diary in The Independent, the delusional nature of some parts is quite hysterical, here's an example or three (my emphasis):

'18 March

Went on 8am train with Gordon Brown and had half an hour together on immigration policy. He's wanting to do a speech but also wants to do more on how we can fill the skill shortages – British jobs etc! He very clearly gets the importance of the issue. GB is more relaxed and confident than I've seen him – probably ever. It's a great boost to my campaign to be seen with him – the reception from the nurses and patients was fantastic and really buoyed me. My own chances are unknown but with the polls nearer together it is not impossible.

...

25 March

...

My feelings are completely mixed. I am enormously proud of the UK Border Agency and have built a good reputation....'

Delusional chap wasn't he, I hope he's better now and that he has decided who to back for Labour leader...

'There is widespread agreement that carbon dioxide content will rise 25 percent by 2000. This could increase the ave temp...'

'There is widespread agreement that carbon dioxide content will rise 25 percent by 20xx.

This could increase the average temperature near the earth's surface by 7 degrees Fahrenheit. This in turn could raise the level of the sea by 10 feet. Goodbye New York. Goodbye Washington, for that matter.'

Scary stuff but no more scary than much that has been predicted over the last few years. However this prediction is from 1969 and so we can check the accuracy of the prediction. MOTLS has the detail:

'we know what has actually happened by 2000 and we can compare the 1969 and 2000 values of the three quantities: CO2 concentration, surface temperature, and sea level. The CO2 concentration grew from 324 ppm to 369 ppm, global surface temperatures increased by 0.3 °C, and sea level rose by 10 cm.'

'But they still rose' I hear the 'warmists' cry. Well yes but not in the way that your models predict:

'So you may see that the "temperature increase per CO2 increase" - a linearized version of climate sensitivity - was only overestimated by the factor of 13/1.8 = 7.2, i.e. by 620%, less than 1200% for the temperature increase itself.

And the sea level rise per temperature increase was only overestimated by a factor of 30.5/13 = 2.35 i.e. by 135%, well below 2950% of the sea level itself.'

Global Warming Hoax - Weekly Roundup

It's here!

Coincidence

Yesterday's Robert Elms show on Radio London included a 'Cover to Cover' feature to see which version of 'Son of a preacher man' was the best: Dusty Springfield of Aretha Franklin'. I missed the end of this but my vote would go to the Dusty Springfield version and not just because it featured in Pulp Fiction.

The coincidence? The Guardian report that:

'George Galloway is taking a break from agitating to make a musical about Dusty Springfield.'

Words fail me!


Here are the two versions:

First Dusty Springfield



And then Aretha Franklin

What the BBC don't tell you about claims of torture made by Al-Qaeda suspects

The BBC like to take at face value the claims of any Islamic terrorist that he has been tortured. What the BBC do not tell you is that The Al Qaeda manual states that:

'IF AN INDICTMENT IS ISSUED AND THE TRIAL, BEGINS, THE BROTHER HAS TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING:

1 . At the beginning of the trial, once more the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by State Security [investigators ]before the judge.

2. Complain [to the court] of mistreatment while in prison.'

It's a tactic, a well known one, and one that the BBC swallow and regurgitate time after time.

Shh, something else that the left wing media will not report (update)

Further to this from a month ago it appears that far from 17 members of the Afghan military going AWOL in the USA, the true figure is in fact 46. Is anyone else alarmed and why is the MSM ignoring this story?

This will put Larissa Riquelme in her place

Whilst Larissa Riquelme promised to run nude through the streets of Paraguay if Paraguay won the World Cup (in fact she has said she will do it anyway), I hear of an upping of the stakes from elsewhere. Apparently porn star Bobbi Eden has promised to 'give a BJ' to all her Twitter followers. Hmm I expect to see her number of followers rise dramatically.



Thanks to Global Grind for the spot.

Two Surveillance Britain stories

The Mail report what happened when a rail passenger dared to take photos on an overcrowded train:

'A rail passenger who took photographs of an overcrowded train carriage was threatened with arrest under anti-terror laws.

Nigel Roberts, 41, was so appalled by the cramped conditions commuters have to endure he warned a ticket inspector that dangerous overcrowding could cost lives.

But when the IT worker showed his mobile phone photos of luggage-crammed aisles and exits he was told it is 'illegal' to take such pictures and threatened with prosecution.

The inspector then demanded Mr Roberts' personal details.'

Big Brother Watch reports on the extent of CCTV Smart Cars in Britain:

'54 CCTV Smart Cars operated in 31 local councils in Britain, caught and fined at least 188,000 motorists between April 2009 and March 2010.'

'The court said the possible length of US jail terms - life without parole - raised concerns about breaches of the European human rights code'

Sky News, amongst many, report that:

'The European Court of Human Rights has halted the extradition of radical preacher Abu Hamza and Babar Ahmad to the United States on terror charges.

The court said the possible length of US jail terms - life without parole - raised concerns about breaches of the European human rights code and needed further examination before a final ruling.

Ahmad, a 36-year old computer expert, has been in a UK prison without trial for nearly six years, refused bail since his arrest in August 2004 on a US extradition warrant.

Radical preacher Hamza is also wanted on terror charges in the US.

Both appealed separately to the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that their treatment and potential punishment could violate Human Rights Convention provisions on the "prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment".'

I will not discuss Babar Ahmad's case but I will discuss Abu Hamza's. Abu Hamza the man using human rights legislation to prevent his extradition to the USA is not a pleasant chap, here are some of his comments that I think show how he feels about the human rights of others:

'Calling for Britons to become suicide bombers in the UK - "We ask Allah to make us mujahideen (holy warriors). We ask Allah to make us shaheed. Our immediate duty now is to correct our own homeland. So let us open our eyes, let us not go for jihad which is far away from our countries.

"Although it is good it is not as good as you do in your own door. You don't have to travel thousands and thousands of miles to become a shaheed - you can be shaheed right on your own doorstep. May Allah open our eyes for what's good for us - so we don't waste our Muslim blood far away."'

On the coming world domination by Islam: '"The real weapons of mass destruction are the desire for martyrdom. Millions of you are ready to be shaheed. Half a million martyrdom shaheed is enough for Muslims to control the whole of earth forever. In the end of the day, Islam must control earth, whether we like it or not."'

On why all Israelis are legitimate targets: '"All the Israelis are fighters. That's why anybody over 15 is a warrior and he should be killed...'

Abu Hamza should be deported to the USA and once gone, never allowed back in. He is a danger to the public and his presence in the UK is offensive to the majority of UK citizens whether of any or no religion.


In an unconnected story I learn from The Guardian that:

'An alleged al-Qaida operative who is said to pose a risk to national security but cannot be deported to Pakistan was arrested today after the United States requested his extradition.

Metropolitan police counter-terrorism officers in the north-east of England detained Abid Naseer, 24, and took him to London to appear before City of Westminster magistrates court.

Naseer, a Pakistani computing student at John Moores University, in Liverpool, was arrested last year as part of group of 12 men who were suspected of planning a bomb attack in Manchester.

His highly unusual status follows a ruling by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission that he constituted a serious threat to national security but could not be deported because he was at risk of being tortured or killed in his native country.'

Do the law-abiding citizens of Britain have any Human Rights of our own or are they subservient to those of non-British terrorist suspects?

Baron Prescott of Kingston-Upon-Hull!

To see John Prescott in the House of Lords is the finest advertisement for the abolition of The House of Lords that I can imagine. I am trying to decide who I am less likely to call 'Noble Lord'; Precott or Mandelson...

Two food related stories

Are teens really using nutmeg to get high?


Do red hot chilli peppers really help you lose weight?

The rule of law?

The Guardian report the quite staggering news that:

'Five activists who caused £180,000 damage to an arms factory were acquitted after they argued they were seeking to prevent Israeli war crimes.

The five were jubilant after a jury found them not guilty of conspiring to cause criminal damage to the factory on the outskirts of Brighton.

The five admitted they had broken in and sabotaged the factory, but argued they were legally justified in doing so.'

So the accused admit breaking in to a factory and to sabotage and yet get found 'Not Guilty' by a jury. I presume that the authorities will appeal against this decision or are we in a post-rule of law world?

BBC news priorities - Lord Ashcroft vs Lord Paul

'Tory donor Lord Ashcroft gives up non-dom tax status' screams the BBC headline. The article starts:

'Lord Ashcroft has given up his non-dom tax status to stay in the Lords, it has been confirmed.
...
Lord Ashcroft, a Conservative deputy chairman, revealed in March he was a non-dom so did not have to pay UK taxes on most of his overseas earnings.'

So that's the BBC making sure that we know which political party Lord Ashcroft is an important member of and that he was not paying tax on part of his worldwide income.

If we read right to the end of the article we read this:

'Labour donor Lord Paul has, like Lord Ashcroft, said he will give up his non-dom status to keep his seat.'

So why is Lord Ashcroft's decision headline news and Lord Paul's identical decision an afterthought? Is there any reason other than anti-Conservative bias on the part of the BBC?

Is this site for real?

Adopt A Terrorist For Prayer:

'Why Pray for a Terrorist?
Why Pray for a Sponsor of Terrorism?

Where is the Christian response to terrorism? If the struggle against violence done in the name of Islam is primarily spiritual, then defeating it requires a spiritual response.

This site features FBI and State Department identified terrorists and terrorism sponsors. Terrorism inspires fear. According to Jesus, the antidote to fear is love.

When we hate, we are reactive victims. When we love we seize the initiative. Love for country helps soldiers to risk their lives. Love for children enables parents to discipline them without being intimidated. Love for us took Jesus to the cross. Love for enemies will give courage to face, overcome, and transform them and the environment that breeds them.

Historically, Stephen was the first fatality in terrorism directed against Jesus' followers. As Stephen died from stoning, he prayed, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Later, Paul, who had supervised Stephen's stoning, met Jesus in a vision and repented.

Can we pray today like Stephen prayed then? Would Paul have repented if Stephen hadn't prayed?

Adopt a terrorist for prayer and register to be tabulated in this spiritual initiative against violence that is sponsored and perpetrated by people who think that they are following God.

Dr. Thomas Bruce '

Hmmm

And here is a list of terrorists and terrorist suspects and how many people have signed up to pray for them...

Your thoughts?

I'm a photographer not a terrorist

I have blogged before about some of the British police's habit of treating photographers as suspected terrorists and I see on Mrs Rigby's blog that there has been another instance, or rather a series of instances. It would seem that Jules Mattson has been stopped three times under anti-terrorist legislation. Have a read of Mrs Gigby's piece and take a trip to Jules Mattson's blog to show solidarity and for some good photographs as well as the above image...

I feel I must correct Mrs Gigby in one regard, she says: 'There's a saying, isn't there, it's something like "Once is an Accident, twice is a Coincidence, and three times ..."'. Actually the quote as visitors to this blog will have seen before is from Ian Fleming's Goldfinger and is "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence but the third time is enemy action"

It's OK, don't panic, Larissa Riquelme has changed her mind

Despite Paraguay losing to Spain, Larissa Riquelme is still going to run nude through Paraguay as she promised last week.



Thanks to THeo Spark and some emailers for the spot.

A story that the BBC will decide is just 'a Daily Mail story', but is it?

''Live in a £1m mansion for £130 a week? Only if you throw in a new kitchen...': Whistleblower exposes chancers and cheats who abuse social housing'. Take a read and decide for yourself.

'CRU climate scientists 'did not withold data''

So the BBC headline their article that claims that:

'Climate scientists at a top UK research unit have emerged from an inquiry with their reputations for honesty intact but with a lack of openness criticised.'

For an explanation as to why the investigation might have come to this conclusion take a read of this Climate Audit article:

'They adopted a unique inquiry process in which they interviewed only one side – CRU. As a result, the report is heavily weighted towards CRU apologia – a not unexpected result given that the writing team came from Geoffrey Boulton’s Royal Society of Edinburgh.'

As usual the BBC is not interested in the truth about Man Made Climate Change, just pushing the narrative.

Negotiating with Hamas

The BBC's Mark Mardell was 'explaining' yesterday on 5Live what Israel had to do to gain the trust of the Palestinians ahead of any face to face negotiations. There was of course no mention of the Palestinians having to do anything. When Israel asks for the Palestinians to do something ahead of negotiations they are described as 'preconditions' by the BBC and portrayed as unreasonable, in this case there was no criticism of the requests being made of Israel. So whilst the BBC push the idea that Israel should stop building in East Jerusalem before talks commence, they have nothing to say about what Hamas and Fatah should do.

Here's some excerpts from an interview with Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, which aired on Future News TV on June 15, 2010 (my emphasis):

'Mahmoud Al-Zahhar: We have liberated Gaza, but have we recognized Israel? Have we given up our lands occupied in 1948? We demand the liberation of the West Bank, and the establishment of a state in the West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem as its capital – but without recognizing [Israel]. This is the key – without recognizing the Israeli enemy on a single inch of land.

This is our plan for this stage – to liberate the West Bank and Gaza, without recognizing Israel’s right to a single inch of land, and without giving up the Right of Return for a single Palestinian refugee.

[...]

Our plan for this stage is to liberate any inch of Palestinian land, and to establish a state on it. Our ultimate plan is [to have] Palestine in its entirety. I say this loud and clear so that nobody will accuse me of employing political tactics. We will not recognize the Israeli enemy.

As for the issue of a referendum – [the Palestinian Authority] is ready to impose its position on people by force. Whoever wants to hold a referendum, and believes that he can get all of Palestine for the Palestinians, can hold a referendum, but will not give up the platform of resistance, and the plan to liberate Palestine in its entirety. This is unequivocal.

[...]

If we could liberate the Negev now, we would continue [our military activity], but our capabilities dictate that after we got rid of the Israeli presence in Gaza, we must finish off the remnants of that occupation, and move on to the West Bank. '

So Hamas with a charter that calls for the destruction of Israel and a leader prepared to go on record now saying that 'Our ultimate plan is [to have] Palestine in its entirety. I say this loud and clear so that nobody will accuse me of employing political tactics. We will not recognize the Israeli enemy.' Are these the words of an organisation that Israel can negotiate with? What would the negotiations be about:
How long Israel could exist before its destruction?
How long Israelis would be given to vacate their country before being killed?

The BBC and other media make believe that Hamas really do want peace with Israel and that the Hamas Charter is outdated and irrelevant. They are wrong and I cannot believe that they do not know that. Hamas is dedicated to the destruction of Israel - here's an extract from their Charter that makes this very clear "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.' However the Hamas Charter also says that: 'The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him...' So it's not just Israel that Hamas want to destroy but all Jews, it's not a secret but the BBC do their best to keep it so.



For more on the Hamas Charter, try MidEast Web or my earlier bloggings.

"I am a Muslim by faith.... a Christian by spirit.... a Jew by heart.... and above all I am a human being." Dr. Tawfik Hamid.

From the heart of a Muslim - Tawfik Hamid

I was born a Muslim and lived all my life as a follower of Islam.

After the barbaric terrorist attacks done by the hands of my fellow Muslims everywhere on this globe, and after the too many violent acts by Islamists in many parts of the world, I feel responsible as a Muslim and as a human being, to speak out and tell the truth to protect the world and Muslims as well from a coming catastrophe and war of civilizations.

I have to admit that our current Islamic teaching creates violence and hatred toward Non-Muslims. We Muslims are the ones who need to change. Until now we have accepted polygamy, the beating of women by men, and killing those who convert from Islam to other religions.

We have never had a clear and strong stand against the concept of slavery or wars, to spread our religion and to subjugate others to Islam and force them to pay a humiliating tax called Jizia. We ask others to respect our religion while all the time we curse non-Muslims loudly (in Arabic) in our Friday prayers in the Mosques.

What message do we convey to our children when we call the Jews "Descendants of the pigs and monkeys".. Is this a message of love and peace, or a message of hate?

I have been into churches and synagogues where they were praying for Muslims. While all the time we curse them, and teach our generations to call them infidels, and to hate them.

We immediately jump in a 'knee jerk reflex' to defend Prophet Mohammed when someone accuses him of being a paedophile while, at the same time, we are proud with the story in our Islamic books, that he married a young girl seven years old (Aisha) when he was above 50 years old.

I am sad to say that many, if not most of us, rejoiced in happiness after September 11th and after many other terror attacks.

Muslims denounce these attacks to look good in front of the media, but we condone the Islamic terrorists and sympathise with their cause. Till now our 'reputable' top religious authorities have never issued a Fatwa or religious statement to proclaim Bin Laden as an apostate, while an author, like Rushdie, was declared an apostate who should be killed according to Islamic Shania law just for writing a book criticizing Islam.

Muslims demonstrated to get more religious rights as we did in France to stop the ban on the Hejab (Head Scarf), while we did not demonstrate with such passion and in such numbers against the terrorist murders.

It is our absolute silence against the terrorists that gives the energy to these terrorists to continue doing their evil acts. We Muslims need to stop blaming our problems on others or on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. As a matter of honesty, Israel is the only light of democracy, civilization, and human rights in the whole Middle East .

We kicked out the Jews with no compensation or mercy from most of the Arab countries to make them "Jews-Free countries" while Israel accepted more than a million Arabs to live there, have its nationality, and enjoy their rights as human beings. In Israel , women can not be beaten legally by men, and any person can change his/her belief system with no fear of being killed by the Islamic law of 'Apostasy,' while in our Islamic world people do not enjoy any of these rights. I agree that the 'Palestinians' suffer, but they suffer because of their corrupt leaders and not because of Israel .

It is not common to see Arabs who live in Israel leaving to live in the Arab world. On the other hand, we used to see thousands of Palestinians going to work with happiness in Israel , its 'enemy'. If Israel treats Arabs badly as some people claim, surely we would have seen the opposite happening.

We Muslims need to admit our problems and face them. Only then we can treat them and start a new era to live in harmony with human mankind. Our religious leaders have to show a clear and very strong stand against polygamy, paedophilia, slavery, killing those who convert from Islam to other religions, beating of women by men, and declaring wars on non-Muslims to spread Islam.

Then, and only then, do we have the right to ask others to respect our religion. The time has come to stop our hypocrisy and say it openly: 'We Muslims have to Change'.'


Tawfik Hamid

Priorities?

I read that:

'NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his "foremost" mission as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.

Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA's orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.

"When I became the NASA administrator -- or before I became the NASA administrator -- he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering," Bolden said in the interview.'

I am not sure how improving relations with the Muslim world will help NASA fulfil its mission statement to "pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research." maybe Charles Bolden or someone else at NASA could explain.could explain

Now that's what I call a tunnel

A Place To Stand has the details of an incredible planned tunnel as 'the Norwegians are seriously looking at cutting a tunnel under a mountain big enough to sail a ship through'

It's the Stad Ship Tunnel...

Ahem... could I have your attention please?

As this blog sinks down the monthly Wikio Political Blogging charts, all but breaking my heart as every months rankings are released; I notice that it is time for Total Politics's blog poll for 2010. It was the surprise appearance of this blog in Iain Dale's 2007 political blogging list, after just a few months of my blogging, that gave me the impetus to take blogging more seriously/waste more time writing instead of working.


So here are some questions that you might be asking regarding voting in this poll along with my answers:

Why should I vote?

If you appreciate this blog; whether for its incisive comments on political matters, for its regular highlighting of the faults of Gordon Brown & the other people who runruin this country every day or even for its regular publishing of photos of a scantily-clad Lily Allen then do take the time to vote for it. The higher this blog appears the more I will post... Is that really an incentive?


How do I vote?

Email your ten favourite blogs (ranked from 1-10) to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com

Are there any rules?

1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite).
2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted.
3. You MUST include at least FIVE blogs in your list, but please list ten if you can. If you include fewer than five, your vote will not count.
4. Email your vote to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com
5. Only vote once.
6. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents or based on UK politics are eligible. No blog will be excluded from voting.
7. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give a name
8. All votes must be received by midnight on 31 July 2010. Any votes received after that date will not count.


Go on vote, you know you want to...

Five years on

Please spare a minute or two this morning to remember the men and women whose lives were ended by the murderous actions of four home-grown Jihadis five years ago today.

Those that died are listed here but also think about those that survived, some very badly injured. At the time around 700 people were injured; some 350 were treated on the scene, and 350 in hospital. 100 required overnight hospitalisation or longer and 22 were seriously or critically injured (I believe a few may still be hospitalized but cannot confirm this). Many of these people will still bear the scars both physical and mental, as will many who although not injured were on the trains or the bus that were bombed and of course the family & friends of the dead and injured.

I am sure that many Londoners still remember the pain of that day and the fear that pervaded London that week and beyond as they had to travel to work on a London transport system that now seemed oh so dangerous.



I have blogged about those events before and commend those articles to you.

The least surprising news of the year - Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi is not about to die

The Telegraph reports that:

'The Lockerbie bomber could survive for 10 years or longer, according to a cancer specialist who last year said he would be dead within three months of his release.

Professor Karol Sikora, who assessed Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi for the Libyan authorities almost a year ago, told The Sunday Times it was "embarrassing" the bomber had outlived his three-month prognosis.

...

In Scotland, prisoners are eligible for release on compassionate grounds if they have fewer than three months to live.

A report in the Sunday Times said Libyan authorities, keen to secure Megrahi’s release, asked several experts to put a three-month estimate on the bomber’s life but Professor Sikora was the only one to agree.

Professor Sikora, the dean of medicine at Buckingham University and medical director of CancerPartnersUK in London, was paid for his medical assessment of Megrahi at Greenock prison on July last year.

He told the newspaper: “There was always a chance he could live for 10 years, 20 years ... But it's very unusual.

"It was clear that three months was what they were aiming for. Three months was the critical point.

"On the balance of probabilities, I felt I could sort of justify [that]."

He denied he came any under pressure, but admitted: "It is embarrassing that he's gone on for so long."

"There was a 50 per cent chance that he would die in three months, but there was also a 50 per cent chance that he would live longer." '

Oh what a surprise, al-Megrahi survived more than three months and will live a good while yet.

Aren't you glad people like Ed Balls are no longer in power?

Ed Balls refusing to answer a question from Michael Gove and scaring the crap out of me just looking at his staring eyes.

Tory Bear has a draft of Gordon Brown's much anticipated book...

Looks like a must read.

Is the sun good or bad for you?

In recent years there has arisen a mania amongst many for keeping out of the sun, as sunbathing 'causes skin cancer'. I have never subscribed to this view being as the sun clears up my psoriasis and also boosts vitamin D levels in the body. So I was intrigued to read in The Mail that Cancer Research UK are about to recommend that rather than avoid the sun between 11am & 3pm and cover up with clothing, a hat and sunglasses as well as use factor 15+ sunscreen, as is currently recommended, people should use their common sense when sunbathing in the heat of the day. Some skin types may be able to dispense with sun cream for short periods without burning.

People being told to use their common sense, what is happening to this country?

Is being awarded a penalty against a team enough of a punishment?

Uruguay beat Ghana after Ghana missed a penalty in the dying seconds of the game. Ghana were awarded a penalty because Uruguayan striker Suarez deliberately handled the ball on his own goal line. So rather than awarding a penalty which could be missed or saved and so giving the offending team a second chance, should the referee be able to award a 'penalty goal' rather as in rugby where a referee can award a 'penalty try' should he believe that a try has been prevented by the defending team's misconduct?

An interesting question posed to me by a rugby fan friend over the past weekend; does he have a point?

The ninetieth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

This week's award goes to the US Archives of General Psychiatry for reaching the conclusion as reported by the BBC that 'Heart disease patients may be at higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and death if they suffer from anxiety too'

Really? "No shit, Sherlock"

Why is the media so left wing?

Standpoint Magazine have a great piece written by Nick Cohen that explains why ex members of the Revolutionary Communist Party are so prevalent on our airwaves...

Rapture Riders

Two of my favourite artists in a mash-up: The Doors and Blondie - 'Rapture Riders' being 'Riders on the Storm' and 'Rapture'

For the 4th July

Salma Hayek and Lynard Skynrd

I think that's the right split between music and pictures...

Beach Volleyball has cheerleaders!

From 2:05 is quite hypnotic...



Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

A Christmas present for all Star Wars fans

Bless the little At-At

Kraftwerk's original video for Autobahn

I had never seen this before, terrible sound quality but wow from 1974.

Why I will be cheering for Paraguay tomorrow

This is Paraguayan football fan and lingerie model Larissa Riquelme and apart from having an interesting place to keep her mobile phone, she has promised to run nude through Paraguay is Paraguay win the World Cup.... Come on you Paraguay!

Politics, economics or Felicity Kendal

Sometimes I wonder why I bother. Every day there are a couple of people who come to me site having googled 'Felicity Kendal nipple' or similar, but the oteyr day 5 of the last 20 visitors had been looking for shots of Felicity's breasts or nipples. So I replicated these searches and found a whole world of people interested in the mammary glands of one of the UK's finest actresses. Here's a few links that I found:
1. A Facebook group devoted to 'Get Felicity Kendal Back In The FHM Top 100!'

2. Vintage Erotica's Felicity Kendal thread with many jpgs and links to movie clips, including these...


3. Bap Watch!

Israel's blockade of Gaza

Standpoint magazine have an interesting article by the BBC's former legal correspondent Joshua Rozenberg. A fascinating outline of the legal position re the blockade and the boarding of the Mari Marmara.

However the most interesting nugget is the fact that Joshua Rozenberg's wide is Melanie Phillips! I think I see why Joshua felt that he had to leave the BBC.

Friday morning catchup

Just a few items that caught my eye but didn't have time to give proper attention to:

1. This Is London reports that:

'Schools are allowing Muslim families to withdraw their children from music lessons because learning an instrument is forbidden according to some Islamic beliefs.

Hundreds of pupils are thought to have been removed from state school music classes despite the subject forming part of the statutory National Curriculum.

Parents have no automatic right to withdraw their children from subjects such as music, although legal exemptions exist for religious and sex education.

...

The Open University's Dr Diana Harris, an expert on music education and Muslims, said she had visited schools where half of the pupils were withdrawn from music lessons during Ramadan. She claimed Ofsted inspectors sometimes turned “a blind eye” to the issue.'

2. The Mail reports that:

'British taxpayers were left with a staggering £1.2billion bill to tackle a swine flu pandemic that never materialised, it emerged today.

Health officials spent millions on a vast stockpile of vaccines, antibiotics and anti-virals - many of which remain unused.

Even when it became clear that the medicines were not needed, the Government was locked into inflexible contracts with no get-out clauses, a report into the crisis concluded.'

Hey it was only taxpayers' money, something the last Labour government were always keen to spend/waste. Whose company got the contract?


3. The BBC report that: 'Israeli air strike kills Palestinian man, wounds two'. In fact the story concerns a Palestinian terrorist killed after firing a rocket at Israel. It would seem that the BBC have moved from describing these people as militants to just men.


4. The BBC report that an 'Israeli pig-farming kibbutz draws religious ire'. How silly religious Jews are to take offence at the pig, seems to be the subtext. I wonder how they would treat a similar story if it happened in Saudi Arabia, for example? I think we all know why such a story would never happen...

The composition of BBC audiences

People have long wondered how BBC audiences always seem more left-wing and politically correct than one would expect. Biased-BBC has been pondering this for some time and Beeb Bias Craig did as well. Peter Whittle in Standpoint muses on this point and makes a good point:

'Take immigration: a number one concern as measured by poll after poll. The strength of feeling on this issue is never reflected in public audiences, whether they be for Question Time, Any Questions or indeed The Big Questions. Instead, the most that happens is that public feeling is referred to, often by the host, as being strong. The audiences themselves always seem much more ambivalent.'

But then gives the BBC too much credit:

'I'm not sure how audiences are selected by the broadcasters. And I'm certainly not claiming that there's any kind of conspiracy. Rather I imagine that a fair system is used which, oddly, goes on to produce an unfair, unrealistic result. To maintain 'impartiality', production teams might strive for 50% pro, 50% con on any given issue. The impression one is left with is that there is much more argument and disagreement than there actually is.'

I disagree, I believe that BBC current affairs audiences are unrepresentative of public opinion and the BBC know and approve.

Can anyone see the parallels?

Is the elephant the US (or the elephant in the room) and the creature with the long nose Israel?

Israel's armed forces restricted operating conditions

I wonder if Hamas operate under similar operating restrictions?

Dr David Kelly update

The Mail reports more intriguing evidence about the oddness surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly:

'Dramatic new testimony has heaped pressure on ministers to reopen the investigation into the death of Dr David Kelly.

A female colleague claims that the UN weapons inspector could not have committed suicide as claimed, as he was too weak to cut his own wrist.

Mai Pedersen, a U.S. Air Force officer who served with Dr Kelly's inspection team in Iraq, said a hand and arm injury meant that the 59-year-old even 'had difficulty cutting his own steak'.

...

In a letter to the new Attorney General Dominic Grieve through her lawyers, Miss Pedersen also said Dr Kelly had difficulty swallowing pills, casting serious doubt on the Hutton Inquiry conclusion that he swallowed 29 painkillers before slitting his left wrist.

...

Miss Pedersen's view is significant because she knew Dr Kelly so well, both personally and professionally.'

And if that is not suspicious enough, add the details I have reported before and this from the end of The Mail piece:

'The Hutton Report failed to allay suspicions of foul play in Dr Kelly's death. On the morning of July 17, Dr Kelly mysteriously told a friend by email that there were 'many dark actors playing games'.

In 2007 it was discovered, through a Freedom of Information request, that the pruning knife he is said to have used to cut his wrist had no fingerprints on it.'

Something stinks about Dr David Kelly's death, does it not?


I see that The Ranting Penguin has some interesting views and speculation on this matter...

The eighty-ninth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

This week's winner is the BBC for the headline 'Paedophiles 'increasingly access images from webcams''
Really, d'ya think? "No shit, Sherlock"


In fact the BBC are just reporting the findings of The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) who say it has seen a "notable increase" in still and moving images captured on webcams.

It's Your Freedom

Nick Clegg explaining what "Your Freedom" is about and here is the website. Let's get rid of Labour's legacy of petty rules and controls, let's make a stand for freedom.

Islamic terrorists and children

The Telegraph seem shocked to discover that: 'Children as young as five are being used by the Taliban to lay bombs and carry weapons in a deadly new tactic in Afghanistan'

Par for the course for Islamic terrorists, in Gaza they brainwash children to become martyrs (see here for details from Gaza and elsewhere) and elsewhere in Islamic paradises the story is the same. And yet any Palestinian under the age of 18 killed by Israel in Gaza is described by the BBC as a 'child', without any questions asked.

Here's some extracts from the Telegraph piece, just so you can see the people that we are dealing with and that some people in the UK think we should sit down and negotiate with:

'In the past five months the number child insurgents has increased almost fivefold in the town of Sangin, to a band of 40, who are used to run weapons, plant bombs and carry out tasks for the Taliban, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

According to military intelligence sources there are about 12 children being routinely used in the Sangin area just to plant bombs.

...

On one occasion surveillance cameras picked up two children under 10 walking along the main road with one placing an IED in a hole followed by another covering it up with a bag of stone and earth.

"They know that we won't engage the kids," said an intelligence source with 40 Commando, Royal Marines, based in Sangin. "The kids are less aware of the risks and will to do anything for a quick buck.

"But it's really exploiting children. The parents are upset they do this but they are very, very intimidated by the Taliban."

There have been 44 roadside bombs in Sangin in the past months, a fifth were carried out by children.

At least one child has been killed in the last month laying an IED. Two other youngsters from his team turned up at the Marines' base one missing a hand and the other was later found with batteries, tape and wire on him. '

I wonder if the BBC will cover this story or does it not fit with their world view?

Possibly the strangest football match ever

Kids Prefer Cheese(?) has the explanation (albeit from Wikipedia):

'There was an unusual match between Barbados and Grenada.

Grenada went into the match with a superior goal difference, meaning that Barbados needed to win by two goals to progress to the finals. The trouble was caused by two things. First, unlike most group stages in football competitions, the organizers had deemed that all games must have a winner. All games drawn over 90 minutes would go to sudden death extra time. Secondly and most importantly, there was an unusual rule which stated that in the event of a game going to sudden death extra time the goal would count double, meaning that the winner would be awarded a two goal victory.

Barbados was leading 2-0 until the 83rd minute, when Grenada scored, making it 2-1. Approaching the dying moments, the Barbadians realized they had no chance of scoring past Grenada's mass defense, so they deliberately scored an own goal to tie the game at 2-2. This would send the game into extra time and give them another half hour to break down the defense. The Grenadians realized what was happening and attempted to score an own goal as well, which would put Barbados back in front by one goal and would eliminate Barbados from the competition.

However, the Barbados players started defending their opposition's goal to prevent them from doing this, and during the game's last five minutes, the fans were treated to the incredible sight of Grenada trying to score in either goal. Barbados also defended both ends of the pitch, and held off Grenada for the final five minutes, sending the game into extra time. In extra time, Barbados notched the game-winner, and, according to the rules, was awarded a 4-2 victory, which put them through to the next round.'

Thanks to A Tangled Web for the spot.

An interview with Hillel Neuer

UN Watch have a transcript of an interview with their Hillel Neuer by his old college magazine. Absolutely fascinating insight into the mind and life of a very brave man and doughty campaigner. Here are a few extracts: 'At the last session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010, there were five resolutions on Israel and only four on the rest of the world combined. That’s ridiculous! It’s harmful for millions of human rights victims around the world whose situations never see the light of day. There’s a very limited amount of time and resources that diplomats will devote to a Council session. Every one-sided resolution on Israel is time, resources and resolutions not devoted to victims suffering in Tibet, Zimbabwe or Chechnya. Those who introduce or support these resolutions are, themselves, the worst violators of human rights. It’s a deliberate strategy to deflect attention from their own abuses.

...

In March, Canada was criticized for its treatment of minorities by the UN’s Independent Expert on Minority Issues, American Gay McDougall. What are your thoughts on that? The expert, who is appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, selects a few places each year to visit and report on minority rights issues. One place she chose this year was Canada. Canada should be held accountable but it’s a question of priorities. Canada is one of the best countries for minorities. Sure, it’s flawed. I grew up in Quebec and I’m aware of real issues and concerns. That said, from a global perspective, when the UN has scarce time and resources, the natural priority would be to address countries perpetrating genocide or ethnic cleansing and where there’s no one-no free press, no judiciary, no human rights group-to speak out for the minorities. These are the victims who really need help from an international voice like the UN. To divert this attention to Canada, I think, shows a profoundly flawed sense of priorities.

Debbie Harry is 65 today

'Denis'


'Picture This'



'One Way or Another' live


Removed so try this one

'Fade Away and Radiate'


'Call Me'



'Sunday Girl'



'The Tide is High'



'Rapture'
Note a rare appearance in a pop music video of me at 3:20















And finally
Deborah Harry & Lily Allen duet on 'Heart Of Glass' Now just imagine the Debbie Harry of 1978 and Lily Allen of now duetting... I think I need a lie down!