If you are not aware of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain; you should be!
A great medley of "Fly Me to the Moon", "Love Story (Where Do I Begin)", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Hotel California" and "I Will Survive"
"Shaft"
"The Good, The Bad & The Ugly"
"Wuthering Heights"
"Smells Like Teen Spirit"
"Teenage Dirtbag"
And this one is not the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain but is rather good...
"Frozen wasteland"
Friday 30 April 2010
Glengarry Glen Research
Armstrong & Miller fuse Glengarry Glen Ross with Cancer Research
"Now do some cancer research, you fucks!"
Don't say I did not warn you
I have been warning for ages that elements within the Labour party are planning to steal this general election and their favourite tool, as trialled before is postal voting. This is London reports the unsurprising news that (my emphasis):
Be under no illusions what the Standard has uncovered in parts of London is the very small tip of the iceberg. There will be postal voting fraud on a huge scale and almost all to the benefit of the Labour party. This election could very well be stolen by Labour and then there it will be too late for prosecutions, not that the police would investigate their re-elected Labour masters. However if the Conservatives do manage, against all the odds, to win the election then I suggest a full investigation of all voting fraud and special electoral courts to deal with the offenders. A suspension of voting rights for 20 years would seem to be a fitting punishment, although hanging until dead would be my personal suggestion.
'POLICE are examining a series of claims of serious electoral fraud across London.
They are "assessing" 28 allegations, while an Evening Standard investigation has uncovered several examples of apparent irregularities in voting records in Tower Hamlets, where campaigners claim electoral fraud is taking place on an "alarming and widespread" scale.
Scotland Yard confirmed it is examining a number of complaints from residents and political groups in the borough. On a wider scale, police are looking at claims of electoral fraud in 12 boroughs but have yet to launch any criminal inquiries.
The Standard found some homes where up to 10 so-called "ghost voters" have been registered on the electoral roll without the knowledge or consent of the people who live there.
Politicians also claim activists working for local parties have been visiting homes and offering to post ballots on behalf of vulnerable residents. In other cases, it is alleged, candidates and activists have "assisted" residents in filling in their postal ballot papers.
Both practices - which can lead to vote tampering - are forbidden by the Electoral Commission code of conduct, signed up to by all the main parties.
The victims of the alleged fraud are usually Bangladeshi residents who speak little English. The Standard found two homes in Bethnal Green where, respectively, eight and 10 apparent ghost voters with Muslim names are registered for postal votes. In fact only five people live at the two properties and they know nothing of the 18 other people listed there.
At a house in Bow, 18 postal ballots were delivered yesterday but only 10 of the voters named live there. They say a Bengali-speaking man came to the door two weeks ago and told them they had to sign forms. Campaigners have raised suspicions about a further eight homes where 77 voters have been registered in recent months.
...
A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said anyone suspecting postal vote irregularities must inform police, or the political parties whose members they suspect. A Tower Hamlets spokesman said: "We have done everything within our power to ensure the safety and security of postal votes.
"If there is an allegation of electoral fraud it has to be investigated by the police - the Returning Officer has no powers to investigate until after the election."'
Be under no illusions what the Standard has uncovered in parts of London is the very small tip of the iceberg. There will be postal voting fraud on a huge scale and almost all to the benefit of the Labour party. This election could very well be stolen by Labour and then there it will be too late for prosecutions, not that the police would investigate their re-elected Labour masters. However if the Conservatives do manage, against all the odds, to win the election then I suggest a full investigation of all voting fraud and special electoral courts to deal with the offenders. A suspension of voting rights for 20 years would seem to be a fitting punishment, although hanging until dead would be my personal suggestion.
A Bedtime Tale of Fluffy the Sheepdog
'A Bedtime Tale of Fluffy the Sheepdog
Once upon a time there was a sheepdog named Fluffy. When he was a puppy he was treated so well and played often with the children who loved him. He had a large kennel that was heated in the winter and as he learned to work for his masters he was a very happy dog.
Then one day his masters decided to adopt stray dogs who were not Sheepdogs. Fluffy did not mind having to move from his big kennel to a smaller one and to share his food since he was a happy dog and he was pleased to have lots of new friends to see back at home after his hard days work since the children were by then tired from playing with the stray dogs.
Over time, however his masters needed Fluffy to work harder and for longer hours because he was the only dog who knew how to herd sheep. Sometimes fluffy got so tired that he tried to lie down and sleep. When this happened his masters scolded and kicked him for being a lazy dog, which made fluffy feel hopelessly sad and lonely.
One Winter it was exceedingly cold and Fluffy felt so unhappy living in his unheated kennel with just one small meal a day that he longed to be in the larger and warmer kennel where the stray dogs were so warm, well fed and comfy.
Tell me Daddy. What was the name of that horrible person who was Fluffy’s master?
Well if you want to know children it was Gordon.
What was Fluffy the sheepdog’s real name Daddy?
No it wasn’t actually (how did you guess). It was a lady sheepdog and her real name was Gillian – Gillian Fluffy.
Why did Fluffy not run away and find a new Master Daddy?
That’s the strangest thing children. Fluffy could have changed his master any time!'
Thanks to 'Leibor_by_name_and_Nature' on Guido Fawkes's blog for that.
Another LibDem 'apologies' for anti-Israeli comments
To add to Ms Tonge and Nick Clegg's friends we can now add another anti-Israeli LibDem. This time it is Madeleine Kirk as reported in the JC:
'Madeleine Kirk, standing for the party in the new seat of York Outer, was speaking at the York University event on Wednesday afternoon.Her apology seems bogus, why did she make such a claim if it was "unfounded and utterly reprehensible"? Is she in the habit of making "unfounded and utterly reprehensible" claims? Has she ever spoken out against Islamic jihadists or just people defending themselves against attack for decades? Maybe Madeleine Kirk would defend herself by pointing out her Jewish friends.
A question was asked about whether the candidates believed arms sales to Israel should be banned.
Ms Kirk, a long-standing local city councillor, replied that an embargo should be in place, but was not, "because of the Jewish lobby”.
She then went on to back disgraced Lib Dem peer Jenny Tonge’s call for an inquiry to disprove allegations that Israeli army medical teams in Haiti “harvested” organs of earthquake victims.
Baroness Tonge was stripped of her role as the party’s health spokeswoman in the Lords following her comments in February.
When contacted by the JC, Ms Kirk said: “I apologise unreservedly for any offence caused by my remarks.
“I recognise that the allegations against the IDF's humanitarian operation in Haiti are completely unfounded and utterly reprehensible. I was not aware of the allegations when asked about them at the hustings and responded without considering their full implications.”
Ms Kirk has been a regular critic of Israel. In January last year she spoke at a rally against the Gaza conflict organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
She told the crowd: “I wholeheartedly condemn the attack on Gaza by the Israeli forces.
“The vicious attack is completely out of all proportion to the threat posed by Hamas in the region and will only serve the militants in both the Gaza strip and Israel.”'
'Red Lights Flashing For UK Credit Spreads According To CDS Market'
This article from Zero Hedge should scare the crap out of you, it does me. But is probably too complicated for our political elite of journalists to understand and explain. The simple conclusion is that 'the markets' realist that the UK economy is seriously screwed, so screwed that they are fleeing... There is one man to thank for this sorry state of affairs and that man is Gordon 'anyone who disagrees with me is a bigot' Brown.
Thursday 29 April 2010
That appealing Mr Clegg?
From an email that is 'doing the rounds':
The above are not my views but those of the 'emailer' however the claims seem to fit with what The JC wrote last week, an article that included this
The Mail also wrote about Mr Auchi and Mr Clegg the previous week, an article that included this denial:
Mr Clegg has had an easy ride, maybe now the media will question his choice of friends as well as his profiteering at the pockets of the EU when an MEP and his refusal to return a large donation from a convicted fraudster. On the latter matter, the Lib Dem line is always that they accepted the monies in good faith; is that really an acceptable defence in law? I would have thought not.
Of course in reality, anti-Israel sentiment and indeed anti-Semitism runs deep in the UK, so I doubt Nick Clegg will be tackled on his links to Nadhmi Auchi, indeed they might well win him some votes, as his opposition to the invasion of Iraq did in 2005.
'Enjoyed the Leaders Debates in Britain? Found Nick Clegg cute and appealing? Think again!
Behind the Obama-clone charisma and charm there lurks a danger for Britain.
Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat leader, who is coming into the upcoming British elections in an enhanced position is close, very close, to Nadhmi Auchi. If you care about shady characters behind those who rule I suggest you indulge yourself in a crash course on Mr. Auchi:
His personal fortune in excess of two billion Sterling makes him Britain's 32nd richest person. He has lived in Britain since 1980.
...
Auchi has funded the notorious George Galloway in his 'Viva Palestina' aids convoy with which he tried to break the blockage on Gaza.
Auchi recently said, "In the past the Arab community has not actively participated in British political life (!). I believe this is changing and we are now close to finding a party that is not only sympathetic to our views but whose policies actively seek to address our concerns".
Nadhmi Auchi made these remarks at a fund raising banquet in honour of Nick Clegg.
Auchi established the Anglo-Arab Organisation to promote understanding between Britain and the Arab world.
...
Auchi's Middle East Online website promotes material from well-known anti-Israelis, including Jeff Gates who runs the anti-Israel 'Criminal State' blog.
...
The banquet was organised under the Anglo-Arab Organisation banner. Alan Duncan, a Conservative Shadow Minister, is listed as a patron.
At the banquet, Clegg said that "the Arab community's values sit deep in the soul of the Liberal Democrats. I feel that there is a conjunction of aspirations, hopes, and values between members of the British Arab community and many of the things that the Liberal Democracts stand for today".
The Liberal Democrat leader has condemned Israel's action in Gaza saying "We will not stand aside when unimaginable human suffering is taking place".
Nahmi Auchi was convicted of fraud in the French Elf-Aquitaine oil company trial in 2003. He was given a suspended sentence.
Auchi is also involved in the case of a convicted Chicago fraudster, Tony Rezko, who was involved in a land deal with Barack Obama.
A US court revoked Rezko's bail when prosecutors discovered that Auchi had wired Rezko $3,500,000 from a Lebanese account.
Auchi is banned from into the US. Since 2003 Auchi has invested heavily in Iraq.
...
Clegg is not alone in his party for siding with Muslim and anti-Israel causes. The tongue of Jenny Tonge has exposed his party of openly anti-Israel sentiments.
More recently William Wallace, importantly the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, openly boasted that he had meetings with members of the Hamas terror organisation.
He also threatened to torpedo the renewal of the Israel-EU trade agreement, thereby hinting at support for a boycott of Israel.
...
My pre-Presidential predictions about Obama were spot on. They derived from a study of his close associates. As with Obama, you judge your politicians by those they associate with and are influenced by. These Clegg predictions will also, sadly, affect Israel and British Jewry.
As did Americans, I expect the Brits to go for the cheesecake smiles and ignore the subplot.
A closing warning to Israel. Beware of the country with whom you share classified intelligence information; the leaders may be closer to your enemies than you think.'
The above are not my views but those of the 'emailer' however the claims seem to fit with what The JC wrote last week, an article that included this
'Mr Auchi is fiercely protective of his reputation and has used libel lawyers Carter-Ruck to force several newspapers and blogs to remove references to his activities. Despite Lord Steel's approaches, Mr Lamb raised this issue in a Commons debate on libel in December 2008: "It is alleged that Mr Auchi and his lawyers, Carter Ruck, have been making strenuous efforts to close down public debate."'
The Mail also wrote about Mr Auchi and Mr Clegg the previous week, an article that included this denial:
'A Lib Dem spokesman insisted last night there was no ‘close association’ between Mr Clegg and Mr Auchi. ‘I don’t think it was an error of judgment for Nick Clegg to have attended that dinner. Nick attended because of his interest in Anglo-Arab issues.’'
Mr Clegg has had an easy ride, maybe now the media will question his choice of friends as well as his profiteering at the pockets of the EU when an MEP and his refusal to return a large donation from a convicted fraudster. On the latter matter, the Lib Dem line is always that they accepted the monies in good faith; is that really an acceptable defence in law? I would have thought not.
Of course in reality, anti-Israel sentiment and indeed anti-Semitism runs deep in the UK, so I doubt Nick Clegg will be tackled on his links to Nadhmi Auchi, indeed they might well win him some votes, as his opposition to the invasion of Iraq did in 2005.
"Difficult decisions"
'no-one yet comprehends just how tough the next five years will be. For obvious reasons: we have not experienced anything like it in our lifetimes. We have been insulated from the full pain of the financial/economic crisis so far by unprecedented low interest rates and by the bank bail-outs. At some point, the anaesthetic will wear off and we will face a period of austerity that may well make the ruling party so unpopular that it effectively becomes unelectable for decades. There will be strikes; there will be stagnation; there will probably be a double dip of some variety. But this time the pain will be unmistakeably imposed by the politicians.
Tonight in the final television debate, my bet is that the most-used phrase from each of the party leaders (and particularly Brown) will be “difficult decisions”. But I wonder how much any of them understand just how difficult those decisions will be.'
The Telegraph's Edmund Conway has written an excellent piece that should be required reading by all before tonight's BBC leaders' debate. I wonder if the moderator David Dimbleby will press all of the three leaders for real figures or even just an appreciation of the scale of the problems? Somehow I doubt that he will press Gordon Brown too hard, not on previous David Dimbleby evidence...
More on Gordon Brown and the Gillian Duffy story
Benedict Brogan thinks that:
Iain Martin has the 'exclusive transcript' of Gordon Brown's 'apology' to Gillian Duffy:
Meanwhile the blogosphere has some new campaign posters...
'All Gillian Duffy did was to press Mr Brown on his performance and the failings of politics. She was just passing and thought she would have her say. She deserved better than being dismissed as a ‘bigoted woman’ by the Prime Minister once she was out of earshot. Off-mike blunders are a routine hazard of politics (‘bastards’, ‘yo Blair’) but displaying contempt for the voters on that scale is catastrophic. As she has just said: “I’m very disappointed. It’s very upsetting. He’s an educated person. He wants to lead the country.” Ouch ouch ouch. He’s made it worse by apologising with qualification, with a weasely ‘if’.
What makes it worse is that Mr Brown had just finished a conversation with her which he was anxious to prolong after he discovered that she was not his enemy. She was in fact a fan of what Labour was doing on education, for example, in her area. She had just patted his hand and wished him well. He asked for the names of her grandchildren, praised the red of her jacket, and described her and hers as a ‘good family’. That should have been good retail politics, with what looked like a nicely deflected bit of danger: angry woman telling him ‘what are you going to do to get us out out of all this debt Gordon?’ mollified and turned into an ally by sheer persistence.
...
On the substance: is she bigoted? She pressed Mr Brown about immigration, but like millions of people who are anxious about the sea-change to society that results from the Government’s open-doors policy, concern is not the same as bigotry. For Mr Brown, in his frustration, to assume she is bigoted, speaks volumes about the contempt of the political classes for the fears of of the voters.'
Iain Martin has the 'exclusive transcript' of Gordon Brown's 'apology' to Gillian Duffy:
'Gordon Brown, standing in the hallway next to Sue Nye and looking miserable: “Hullo. Hullo Gillian…”
Sue Nye (hissing quietly): “Mrs. Duffy. Gordon, it’s Mrs. Duffy to you.”
Brown: “Yes… uhhh… hullo Mrs. Gillian Duffy.”
Mrs. Duffy: “I suppose you’d better come through… (motions towards the lounge)… I haven’t even had any time to clean up, what with all the men from the newspapers and Mrs. Arbuckle coming round to try and tune in the freeview wotsit so that I could see it all again on Sky. Have you seen it?”
Brown : “I… I… yes, I have seen it.”
Mrs. Duffy: “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Brown: “It’s most unfortunate.”
Mrs. Duffy: “Unfortunate? You’re bloody right it’s unfortunate. Excuse my language, but you’ve got me angry.”
Mrs. Arbuckle: “I’ve never heard her swear. You’ve got her angry.”
Brown: “Look… please… can I, can I? Look… Mrs. Duffy. Can I call you Gillian?
Mrs. Duffy: (stony silence)
Brown: “Look I’m sorry for what happened. It’s been unfortunate. It’s not been very nice for anyone, least of all you, and then, look… me… I’m here… I’ve come all this way… I’m sorry for your distress, if I said anything that might have been heard on camera as being offensive… But please, this is not easy for me.”
Mrs. Duffy: “Not easy for you? It’s not exactly a cakewalk for me either. Have you seen it out there? There’s hundreds of them. All I did this morning was get up and go for a walk to the shops. Now look what’s happened. Are you sorry for what you said?”
Brown: “I’m sorry it was recorded and that you feel offended.”
Mrs. Duffy: “That’s not what I asked you.”
Brown, walking over to the mantelpiece and pointing at a photograph: “Are these your grand-children? Aren’t children great?”
Mrs. Duffy (sighing): “Yes, children are great. Now, answer my question. Are you sorry?”
Brown: “I…”
Mrs. Duffy (quietly and calmly): “Are you sorry?”
Brown: “I… (exhaling deeply and frowning)… I… I’ve never done this before… Yes… I… I am sorry.”
Mrs. Duffy (her mood softening markedly) : “There, that wasn’t so difficult now was it? That’s all I wanted to hear. Nothing wrong with me asking questions about immigrants, see? But you’re a busy man under pressure and though you shouldn’t have said what you said, what’s done is done. No use crying over spilt milk. You’ve said sorry and it’s in the past. Now, can I get you a cup of tea? I must say, love, you look so very tired…. are you feeling ok, love?”
Mr. Brown: “I’m just getting on with the job… we face so many challenges to build a future fair for all… jobs for the future… more apprenticeships every year, year on year. Fairer schools… fewer foreigners… older hospitals, or is it newer hospitals? Fairer pensioners… a future fair for freemasons…
...
Brown: “Would you, would you… possibly come outside when I leave and… and… and… maybe make a statement saying you’ve forgiven me and that you’re voting Labour?”
Mrs. Duffy: “No, love. I couldn’t possibly do that. My agent told me not to say a word to a soul until the interviewer and photographer gets here from London. Apparently I’ve to say nothing publicly until later on this afternoon. It’s in the contract. I’ll say one thing for you Mr. Brown though - you’ve ensured I got something important today.”
Brown: “What’s that?”
Mrs. Duffy: “I would never have got the money for that new conservatory without all this.”
(*) All of the words in this transcript are imaginary. '
Meanwhile the blogosphere has some new campaign posters...
BoobQuake
The Iranian cleric, Hojatoleslam Kazim Sadeghi's, claim last week that women who dress provocatively and tempt people into promiscuity are to blame for earthquakes was quite ridiculous, so I am pleased to see that it has spurred the blogosphere into creating BoobQuakes.
Jules Critenden has dipped more than a toe into these waters with a fine roundup.
Three Beers has some video that makes a point, or two.
Meanwhile Jennifer McCreight is determined to prove the Iranian cleric wrong.
The French are taking the matter very seriously, as one would expect...
Le fantasme du "Boobquake"
Uploaded by Europe1fr. - News videos from around the world.
For my part, I give you Lane Bryant
Jules Critenden has dipped more than a toe into these waters with a fine roundup.
Three Beers has some video that makes a point, or two.
Meanwhile Jennifer McCreight is determined to prove the Iranian cleric wrong.
'Since launching the "Boobquake" Facebook page two days ago, she has enlisted more than 20,000 women promising to show as much cleavage as possible on Monday, April 26.
If the world doesn't then disappear into an apocalyptic fiery chasm, then Sedighi will have no option but to admit he was wrong.
"On Monday, April 26th, I will wear the most cleavage-showing shirt I own," Ms McCreight wrote.
"Yes, the one usually reserved for a night on the town.
"I encourage other female skeptics to join me and embrace the supposed supernatural power of their breasts. Or short shorts, if that's your preferred form of immodesty.
"With the power of our scandalous bodies combined, we should surely produce an earthquake.
"If not, I'm sure Sedighi can come up with a rational explanation for why the ground didn't rumble."
And you can now make that number 21,000 - and rising fast.'
The French are taking the matter very seriously, as one would expect...
Le fantasme du "Boobquake"
Uploaded by Europe1fr. - News videos from around the world.
For my part, I give you Lane Bryant
Gillian Duffy - the aftermath
That's Guido Fawkes' video take on the media story of the day. Incidentally the Elvis impersonator seems to be doing a very poor impression of Elvis Presley, which I suppose is fair as Gordon Brown has been doing a very poor impression of a Prime Minister since his
The Appalling Strangeness I think sums up the real issue here with this:
'Ok, we've all been there. We've had a difficult conversation with someone, and then we've said something about them and been overheard when we thought we were out of earshot. And that's what basically happened to Brown today. He was caught out.
...
He's allowed to disagree with the woman, and he's allowed to think that she is bigoted. But offering a few platitudes before he runs back to his car and disappears is frankly pathetic. If he disagreed with her, he should have challenged her. He should have explained why he thought she was wrong, and debated with her. He is a leader in a democracy fighting an election, for fuck's sake. Now more than ever, he should be willing to engage with the people explain his own views, and discuss why he doesn't agree with others.
Don't forget that this is Gordon Brown - the self-styled conviction politician. Some fucking conviction politician, Gordo, if you are afraid to engage with an old woman who used to be a member of your party when she expresses her own opinions, and asks you questions.
As such, it is difficult to know how this could be much worse for Brown. Arguably, things would have been better had he insulted this woman to her face, or argued with her and lost. At least that way, he might have retained something approaching dignity from this sorry situation. But as it stands, Brown could not appear more pathetic - the bullying little man who runs away from old ladies, only to insult them behind their backs when he thinks they, and the rest of the nation, aren't listening.'
Gordon Brown nailed in a few paragraphs. Hopefully the general public will now realise what many of known for some time; Gordon Brown is a nasty piece of work, a bully and a fraud. Gordon Brown has been allowed to despoil the UK for too long, he must be kicked out of office and held to account for the damage he has wrought to the UK.
LibDem Mark Thompson makes a similar point:
'The most surprising thing about the encounter as far as I can tell is the change in tone from 10 seconds earlier when he was very smiley and jolly... and then as soon as he thinks he is out of mic range his demeanour completely changes. The encounter itself seemed pretty good natured and although the woman concerned, Gillian Duffy did press the PM on immigration and debt he had actually managed to turn the situation around and ended up asking about her grandchildren. Also, she is (was) a Labour voter and said so which appeared to please him.
...
The rapid switch in tone so starkly reveals the disparity between how he tries to portray himself in public and his actual persona. This underlines all those stories about thrown Nokias and him supposedly shouting and bullying people. It will make people more likely to believe them as we have seen a little window into his private world.
It also seems totally out of proportion. It's not like he had just come away from someone questioning him very harshly or belligerently. It was just an elderly lady who was perfectly polite. His response seems inexplicable frankly.'
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Sounds about right
'Cocky, fake, slimy, inelegant, ineloquent, charmless, witless, weird, sinister, glacially cold and luminescently remote, he may be the most chillingly repulsive politician of even this golden generation. If Pixar set out to create a CGI character to embody everything the public has learned to despise about its political class, they'd be thrilled to come up with this lizardy schemer, who may have slipped through a tear in the fabric of space-time himself. Certainly he seems best suited to skulking beneath stone archways, in a purple robe, sibilantly sidling poison into the bloodstream of the medieval Vatican.Matthew Norman in The Independent; I don't think he's one of Ed Balls's biggest fans! Mind you the post-election scenario that Matthew Norman paints will not happen if the repulsive Ed Balls is defeated by Anthony Calvert in his 'castration' strategy. Now that would be worth staying up late for next Thursday night...
For a decade and more, this greyest of eminences has stirred, fixed, briefed and bullied, first to remove Mr Tony Blair; and latterly in the cause – keeping his master in power – that has pushed his party to the edge of the abyss. If he has a political philosophy, it is the domineering, top-down, we-know-best, infantilising statism of Gordon himself, but it's not really about that. For Mr Balls, it is football thug tribalism – a with-us-or-against-us Manichean sensibility next to which Mrs Thatcher seems a proto-Cleggian champion of consensus. '
What happens in the bank
Armstrong & Miller
Baering in mind my recent experiences with banks, I really empathise!
Spreading fear as they go
Possibly the most vile Party Election Broadcast I have seen, but there's still over a week to go and I am sure Peter Mandelson and his team have some more fear and lies to spread.
Have the BBC played a very good 'long game'?
When the BBC started to boost David Cameron's chances of winning the Conservative party leadership at the expense of David Davis, I was surprised after all the former was an old-Etonian whilst the latter was a former council house lad. Yet the BBC seemed to smile upon the image of the smartly dressed, fresh faced, Notting Hill PR man and many commentators seemed to think this was because David Cameron was the BBC's sort of man, the acceptable face of liberal Conservatism; whilst David Davis was too right wing, too hard, too abrasive for the BBC's liking.
Some years on and is it beyond the realm of possibility that the BBC approved the candidacy of David Cameron precisely because his attributes would be easier for them and the Labour party to attack at a general election? Did the BBC help to foist an old-Etonian leader on the Conservative party, just so Labour could play the 'posh old-Etonian leader' card? Did the BBC approve David Cameron's candidacy just so the BBC/Labour alliance could more starkly compare their 'horny handed son of the soil' man (actually a middle class, socialist class warrior) with the 'priviledged background' of the Conservative leader?
A fanciful theory? Are you sure?
Some years on and is it beyond the realm of possibility that the BBC approved the candidacy of David Cameron precisely because his attributes would be easier for them and the Labour party to attack at a general election? Did the BBC help to foist an old-Etonian leader on the Conservative party, just so Labour could play the 'posh old-Etonian leader' card? Did the BBC approve David Cameron's candidacy just so the BBC/Labour alliance could more starkly compare their 'horny handed son of the soil' man (actually a middle class, socialist class warrior) with the 'priviledged background' of the Conservative leader?
A fanciful theory? Are you sure?
Now do you see why Labour are keeping Gordon Brown away from normal members of the public?
"That was a disaster.
"You should never have put me with that woman.
"Whose idea was that?"
Mr Brown went on: "It's just ridiculous."
His aide then asked: "What did she say?"
Mr Brown replied: "Oh, everything, she's just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to vote Labour."
The Labour strategy for Gordon Brown's campaigning has been to keep him away from the public and only let him meet Labour supporters at carefully managed events. This could explain why.
So don't believe Gordon Brown's smiles and nice words to your face, behind your back he's attacking you.
Even the BBC have to report that:
'Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been caught on microphone describing a voter he had just spoken to in Rochdale as a "bigoted woman".
Sixty five-year-old Gillian Duffy had challenged Mr Brown on a number of issues including immigration and crime.
As he got into his car, he was still wearing a broadcast microphone and was heard to say "that was a disaster".
Mr Brown later apologised after the tape was played to him as he was interviewed on BBC Radio 2.
After listening to the recording, with his head in his hands, he said: "I do apologise if I've said anything that has been hurtful."
The comments were made after the conversation with Mrs Duffy, with Mr Brown not realising that he had a Sky News microphone pinned to his shirt.
He told an aide: "That was a disaster - they should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? It's just ridiculous..."
Asked what she had said, he is heard to reply: "Ugh everything! She's just a sort of bigoted woman that said she used to be Labour. I mean it's just ridiculous. I don't know why Sue brought her up towards me."
How long before the Labour attack-dogs are unleashed to attack Gillian Duffy as they have attacked so many who have crossed them previously?
Meanwhile The Guardian are reporting Gillian Duffy's reaction to Gordon Brown's insult:
'1.02pm: Here, from the Press Association, is some more reaction from Gillian Duffy.
Duffy said she was "very disappointed" with Mr Brown's remarks.
After hearing what the prime minister had said about her, she said it was "very upsetting".
"He's an educated person, why has he come out with words like that?" she said.
"He's supposed to lead this country and he's calling an ordinary woman who's just come up and asked questions what most people would ask him – he's not doing anything about the national debt and it's going to be tax, tax, tax for another 20 years to get out of this mess – and he's calling me a bigot."
She said she would not now be voting in the general election.
Pressed on whether she still wanted Mr Brown in No 10, she said: "I'm not bothered whether he does or not now. I don't think he will."
She urged the PM to go out among the public and "find out what's going on in our lives".
She said she had not planned to speak to Mr Brown, but saw him "walking up the street" and thought she would ask him what he would do about the national debt.
"I thought he was understanding – but he wasn't, was he, the way he's come out with the comments ..."
Duffy, who has a daughter and two grandchildren, told reporters she used to work with handicapped children for Rochdale council before she retired.
Her husband, who was a painter and decorator, died of cancer four years ago.'
That's not the whole story is it?
The BBC report that 'European stock and debt markets continue to be hit by worries over Greece's heavily indebted economy, as the euro also falls.' Trouble in Euro-land, thank heavens we are not members of it, would seem to be the subtext. Let's leave aside that the BBC's current blue eyed party would have taken the UK into the Euro years ago and that the BBC in-house policy has always been pro the Euro for the UK, what is actually going on in the markets? The BBC line would seem to be that the Euro is falling, let's have a look... At 1pm, the BBC show Sterling down 0.66% against the Euro so which currency is suffering more, the Euro or Sterling?
Adam Boulton endears himself to Peter Mandelson, not!
Peter Mandelson does not like answering questions does he. I did like the heckle when Peter Mandelson says "Adam you're not standing for election either..." and a voice says "neither are you!". Note the way Peter Mandelson stares at the audience and Adam Boulton daring him to argue with 'the Prince of Evil' and seems very fond of democracy for a man who has had to retire from politics in disgrace twice and is now an unelected very senior minister. Do watch the way Peter Mandelson closes down Nick Robinson and controls Ed and Yvette. Ed Balls's junior Mandelson.Campbell impression is as irritating as ever and his staring eyes are quite frankly scary. Meanwhile Yvette Cooper just looks as though she will cry if anyone questions her too hard.
It seems that even the tame media, such as Nick Robinson, are now ready to turn on Peter Mandelson and his acolytes who have controlled the reporting of the Labour party's policies since 1995. Peter Mandelson's "Let's be clear" is as key a sign of coming dishonesty as Gordon Brown's "to be honest".
From the same conference came Andrew Neil's questioning of Ed Balls. Andrew Neil being one (if not the only) senior BBC journalist to have rumbled New Labour for what it is and to have been willing to question them hard over tha last 10 years or so.
Apologies for the Peter Mandelson 'choices' reprise at the beginning. More Ed Balls scary staring eyes and Peter Mandelson cutting off debate as well as Ed Balls being better able to answer a question on Peppa Pig than cuts.
Tuesday 27 April 2010
It's a war...
Once again the liberal left MSM seem surprised that:
'Video has emerged which appears to show the alleged Christmas Day Detroit plane bomber attending a desert training camp run by al-Qaeda in Yemen.No doubt an innocent explanation will be presented by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's lawyers and the BBC and others will accept that at face value.
The video released by ABC News shows a man resembling Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab firing a rifle and making a "martyrdom" statement to camera.
Gunmen are shown firing at British, UN and Israeli flags or symbols.
Mr Abdulmutallab has been in US custody since being overpowered by passengers as he allegedly tried to blow up a jet. '
The eightieth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award
This week's winner has to be the police for their report into the killing of Blair Peach in Southall in 1979. Apparently:
Blair Peach killed by the police, "No shit, Sherlock".
'A police officer is likely to have "struck the fatal blow" which killed a protester in west London 31 years ago, a Scotland Yard report reveals.'
Blair Peach killed by the police, "No shit, Sherlock".
Now I really am depressed
The BBC report that:
'People who regularly eat chocolate are more depressive, experts have found.My theory is that chocolate does lift the mood but eating chocolate makes you fat and so depressed. At a certain point the depression caused by being fat exceeds the mood lift from eating chocolate, in my case this happens half way into the second bar!
Research in Archives of Internal Medicine shows those who eat at least a bar every week are more glum than those who only eat chocolate now and again.
Many believe chocolate has the power to lift mood, and the US team say this may be true, although scientific proof for this is lacking.
But they say they cannot rule out that chocolate may be a cause rather than the cure for being depressed.
In the study, which included nearly 1,000 adults, the more chocolate the men and women consumed the lower their mood.
Those who ate the most - more than six regular 28g size bars a month - scored the highest on depression, using a recognised scale.'
The 'left' and dodgy donations
In the UK the LibDems still refuse to accept that the £2.4 million donation they received from Michael Brown, an international bonds dealer who was found guilty of stealing more than £30m from clients, is tainted money and should be returned. Meanwhile in the US the Barack Obama White House has stated that President Obama will not be returning the over $994,000 he received from Goldman Sachs, even as his Administration brings action against the Wall Street firm for fraud.
That's the great thing about being on the left of politics, no shame.
That's the great thing about being on the left of politics, no shame.
People complained?
The News and Star report that:
'A mystery poster put up in Carlisle which showed Labour’s business secretary Peter Mandelson being hanged has been branded “offensive and cowardly”.Despicable, tasteless and vile; but enough of Peter Mandelson, what about the poster?
The owner of the 20ft wide hoarding in Warwick Road removed the poster after Labour Party officials complained, pointing out that the advert probably breached election law because it did not say who commissioned it.
The poster bore the simple slogan: “We don’t want a hung parliament.”
Cumbria police have confirmed that they intervened after receiving an official complaint.
The Carlisle businessman who owns the billboard refused to say who asked for the poster to be put up.'
Poll Tracker - Is it my imaginations?
Is it my imagination or has the BBC's Poll Tracker moved back from showing the default poll as trhe 'Poll of Polls' to the 'latest poll' and is this anything to do with most recent polls, but not the most recent ICM poll, showing Labour firmly in third place; the ICM poll shows Labour 'only' two points behind the Lib Dems.
3 million jobs lost if the UK leaves the EU - True or false?
As this is a claim recently made by Gordon 'brownies' Broen nad previously by Tony 'bliar' Blair you will not be surprised to learn that it's not true... The Times has the explanation.
Monday 26 April 2010
The BBC take some extreme parties more seriously than others
I see that the BBC are reporting quite seriously that:
'Respect have set out their conditions for supporting a Labour government in a hung Parliament.I wonder if the BBC would report the BNP's demands as equably? Somehow I think not.
As they launched their manifesto the party said they would not back a Tory government "under any circumstances".
But they would support Labour if troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, more council houses were built, there was electoral reform and an end to cuts.
The anti-war party is hoping to gain up to three MPs on 6 May, which could leave it holding the balance of power.'
Sunday 25 April 2010
Oh Sally Sparrow
I had the pleasure of watching the film 'An Education' recently and was most impressed by the performance of Carey Mulligan who I had last seen as Sally Sparrow in that excellent Dr Who episode 'Blink'. The only problem with the film was that we unlike, her co-star David (Peter Sarsgaard), do not get to see her topless; a real shame.
So here's a still from the 'banana scene'
But then I find that Carey Mulligan has done a nude scene in 'When did you last see your father' and here's a still...
Looking on IMDB I find that Carey Mulligan is a busy bee at the moment, she's got four films coming out soon including 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', 'My Fair Lady' in the Audrey Hepburn/Eliza Doolittle role, 'Never Let Me Go' and the Wall Street sequel 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'
So here's a still from the 'banana scene'
But then I find that Carey Mulligan has done a nude scene in 'When did you last see your father' and here's a still...
Looking on IMDB I find that Carey Mulligan is a busy bee at the moment, she's got four films coming out soon including 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', 'My Fair Lady' in the Audrey Hepburn/Eliza Doolittle role, 'Never Let Me Go' and the Wall Street sequel 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'
The Any Questions audience explained?
My ire over the appallingly biased Any Questions audience on Friday may have an explanation, Biased-BBC explain that 'the distribution of audience tickets is down to the hosts' and that the chair of governors at the host school is
Ms Fiona Millar, she being the Labour attack-spinner Alastair Campbells's 'partner'. I think all is becoming clear... Not helping my anger levels though!
Ms Fiona Millar, she being the Labour attack-spinner Alastair Campbells's 'partner'. I think all is becoming clear... Not helping my anger levels though!
BBC Poll Watch update expected any time soon?
The latest opinion poll on the BBC's Poll Tracker is still You Gov's poll showing Conservatives 34%, Labour 29% and Lib Dems 28%. I wonder when the BBC will update Poll Tracker to take account of the ComRes poll showing Conservatives on 34%, Lib Dems on 29% and Labour in third on 28%, or the latest You Gov pollshowing Consevatives 35%, LibDems 28% and Labour third on 27% or the latest BPIX poll showing Conservatives on 34%, Lib Dems on 30% and Labour third on 26%. My money is those polls all appearing before this one which will then be the latest poll - MORI showing Conservatives on 36%, Labour on 30% and the Lib Dems on 23%. I wonder how this will be reflected in the 'Poll of Polls'? I am sure that these polls will not affect the BBC/Labour narrative that David Cameron has suffered because of the leaders' debates and that the Lib Dems are gaining at the expense of the Conservatives; after all there is an election to be won...
Saturday 24 April 2010
Dr Who - The Time of Angels
How does Professor River Song know how to write 'old High Gallifreyan' and fly the TARDIS?
In my view River Song is back too soon but Amy Pond is beginning to become quite a good 'companion'; feisty, independent, wilfull, inquisitive and flirtatious.
Best lines in the program:
The Doctor - "Bishop - lock and load."
Father Octavian - "Verger - how are we doing with those explosives?"
From then on a good adventure romp with The Doctor trying to work out a very difficult puzzle and Amy Pond learning that the universe is far scarier than she ever imagined as she starts to turn to stone.
Bit of a cliffhanger though, although an odd one as it revolves not around peril but what The Doctor is about to do.
In my view River Song is back too soon but Amy Pond is beginning to become quite a good 'companion'; feisty, independent, wilfull, inquisitive and flirtatious.
Best lines in the program:
The Doctor - "Bishop - lock and load."
Father Octavian - "Verger - how are we doing with those explosives?"
From then on a good adventure romp with The Doctor trying to work out a very difficult puzzle and Amy Pond learning that the universe is far scarier than she ever imagined as she starts to turn to stone.
Bit of a cliffhanger though, although an odd one as it revolves not around peril but what The Doctor is about to do.
Is this for real? 'BIG TITS ZOMBIE in 3D!!!'
Is this a trailer for a real film or a spoof?
Twitch Film reports it straight:
'Strippers versus zombies! Strippers versus sushi! AV star Sola Aoi (Sora Aoi, 蒼井そら) wielding a chainsaw! It's everything a growing boy needs and it's all coming at you in 3D!
It's Takao Nakano's gleefully trashy Big Tits Zombie - the film adaptation of Rei Mikamoto's cult manga Kyonyo Dragon - and Twitch is proud to present the exclusive world premiere of the brand new trailer! Get out your rain slickers and make sure mom's not looking over your shoulder because it's about to get bloody!'
What's the point?
Woken up early full of anger and despair after last night's Any Questions. I think I need a day or so away from political blogging so as to recharge my blogging batteries. So for today at least just one item I have pre-prepared and none about politics.
Friday 23 April 2010
"Any Questions?" Yes, where did you find that audience tonight and do you think they were an ideally balanced audience for an election campaign prog?
Take a listen to tonight's baying, booing and hissing mob and see what you think...
Even more bad economic news
News that the UK economy grew by 0.2% between January and March explains why Gordon Brown was not as bullish about the UK economy as he has been in the past - he of course had the figures before the debate, we mere mortals had to wait until today. 0.2% is less that the widely anticipated 0.4% growth and of course is open to revision.
As usual the BBC are accentuating the positive including the classic line 'That was weaker than the 0.4% growth predicted by many economists, but the figure may be revised.' Somehow I think they are trying to convince us that things may get better, if we just wait. BBC
As usual the BBC are accentuating the positive including the classic line 'That was weaker than the 0.4% growth predicted by many economists, but the figure may be revised.' Somehow I think they are trying to convince us that things may get better, if we just wait. BBC
BBC 5Live unbiased?
BBC 5Live is possibly even more anti-Conservative that Radio 4 and I have itemised some of the foibles of its presenters in the past. So I was not surprised to read on Biased BBC that Brett Spencer (5Live's interactive editor) has been Tweeting some rather uncomplimentary things about David Cameron. Not surprised, but still angry. Don't the Conservatives realise that it is people in such positions at the BBC who have been actively skewing politics reporting for years and the drip, drip, drip of such bias effects most listeners and viewers. The BBC's anti-Conservative views are probably worth 5% at the polls, shouldn't the Conservative party be angry? Why aren't they?
Thursday 22 April 2010
Excusing the bad UK borrowing figures
The BBC's report that the UK's borrowing hit a record £163.4bn in the last financial year has more excuses and 'explanations' than they have managed before. I have long documented the BBC's habit of excusing and explaining bad economic figures under this Labour government (of all the imbeciles) in a way that is completely at odds with the way that bad economic data under the last Conservative government was reported. But this report takes the biscuit, by my calculations of the 16 paragraphs (mostly very short) in the article - 8 are straight news, 3 are critical and 5 are excuses or defensive. I wonder what the respective proportions would be if this was a Conservative government or indeed were in an equivalent article from the early 1980s.
Burglary or Labour dirty tricks?
The news that Dr Liam Fox, the Conservative defence spokesman, has had his laptop stolen on the morning he had been due to outline the Conservative's armed forces manifesto seems a touch coincidental. I wonder what else was on the laptop and how useful it would be to the Labour election campaign...
Yet more bad economic news
I see that the UK borrowing figures for the last financial year are out and are £163.4bn, a massive increase over any other peacetime year. The BBC are spinning furiously that 'The borrowing figure for the 2009-10 financial year is lower than the £166.5bn predicted by Chancellor Alistair Darling in April's Budget.' but even they must see the appalling position that the UK economy is in.
Still to come this week on Friday (but Thursday for Gordon Brown so he has the figures before the second leaders' debate) the first official estimate of first quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
Still to come this week on Friday (but Thursday for Gordon Brown so he has the figures before the second leaders' debate) the first official estimate of first quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
"We need to be put back in our place”
"Watching Germany rise from its knees after the war and become a vastly more prosperous nation has not been easy on the febrile British psyche. All nations have a cross to bear, and none more so than Germany with its memories of Nazism. But the British cross is more insidious still. A misplaced sense of superiority, sustained by delusions of grandeur and a tenacious obsession with the last war, is much harder to shake off. We need to be put back in our place."
Nick Clegg - Lib Dem leader and 'patriot'?
The ultimate Downfall parody
It seems that the Downfall parodies are being removed from YouTube at the request of the movie studio, the above is a fine commentary...
Thanks to Harry's Place for the spot.
Floating voters
I really don't understand how anyone can be so disengaged from everyday life as to be a floating voter. A non-voter, a plague on all your houses dispenser, a politics is boring believer yes; but a floating voter? What do these floating voters expect to happen over the next few weeks? What revelation do they think they will be privy to?
Just make your bloody minds up...
Surely this must be the first piece of video of Ann Widecombe and Peter Tatchell singing the same words. Top marks to Nigel Farage, nicely judged performance.
Just make your bloody minds up...
Surely this must be the first piece of video of Ann Widecombe and Peter Tatchell singing the same words. Top marks to Nigel Farage, nicely judged performance.
'Saint' Vince Cable?
Andrew Neil and Stephanie Flanders point out that Vince Cable is not the paragon of consistency that he claims and the line that the BBC normally push.
Thanks to Guido for the video.
Wednesday 21 April 2010
The difference between a gentleman and a thug
John Prescott
David Cameron
Two senior politicians have an egg thrown at them; John Prescott throws a punch whilst David Cameron makes light of it and comes up with quite a witty line (bearing in mind the person in the chicken costume that was following him about yesterday).
Even more bad economic news
The Telegraph reports that:
And also that:
No wonder that The Telegraph also reports that:
Makes perfect sense to me and also explains why Gold is looking increasingly like a safe haven.
'The International Monetary Fund has cut its 2011 UK growth forecast, delivering a pre-election blow to the Government.
The Washington-based fund said it expected the UK economy to grow by 2.5pc next year, compared with an earlier forecast of 2.7pc. It maintained its 2010 prediction at 1.3pc growth in its latest World Economic Outlook report.
The IMF’s view of the British economy in 2011 is significantly more downbeat compared with the Government’s, after the Chancellor predicted a 3.25pc increase in gross domestic product in the Budget in March.
The gulf between the forecasts will add fuel to the political debate just two weeks before the general election on May 6. '
And also that:
'Spiralling sovereign debt in Europe, the US, and Japan has emerged as the top threat to the world economy and risks setting off a fresh financial storm, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
...
Countries with "outsized deficits and an unsustainable debt trajectory" that rely on foreigners to buy their bonds can run out of time quickly. The danger comes at "trigger dates" when clusters of debt maturites fall due, a problem that has hit Greece this year.
The Fund said there was a risk of "standoffs" as investors hold out for higher rates from defiant states. This could lead to "an unresolved solvency crisis", a veiled warning that some rich states may ultimately default.'
No wonder that The Telegraph also reports that:
'George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, and Ken Clarke, the shadow business secretary, predicted that the bond markets would collapse while the parties “haggled” over possible coalitions, leading to the intervention of the IMF.
Mr Clarke warned that the public had failed to appreciate the seriousness of the election given the troubled state of the economy, and the full consequences of an indecisive result and a hung parliament.
He said: "Not every single member of the electorate seems to realise how serious this election is.
"Bond markets won't wait. Sterling will wobble. We have seen even minor flickers in the opinion polls causing problems with interest rates in the recent past.
"If the British don't decide to put in a government with a working majority, and the markets think that we can't tackle our debt and deficit problems, then the IMF will have to do it for us."
Having been elected as an MP for the first time in 1970, Mr Clarke said that he could remember the “disaster” of the Lib-Lab pact of 1977, and how the government had been forced to turn to the IMF to sort out the nation’s finances for the only time in British history.
“It was a farce, it was a fiasco, it didn't save us from disaster,” he said.
"And I would be very, very alarmed if any prospect of that occurred on this occasion.
"This [the state of the economy] is worse than the Conservatives took over in 1970, worse than Labour took over in 1974, worse than we took over in 1979, and it really is going to require strong, purposeful government confident of its majority to put things into place."
Mr Osborne added: "It is a statement of fact that the last time - indeed the only time - the IMF came in was when the governing party did not have a workable majority in Parliament, which was in the late 1970s.
"And I don't think people should underestimate the economic consequences of political instability in this country at a time when we are running one of the largest budget deficits in the developed world, when people have questioned our credit rating, and when we can see that there is a very, very serious problem with unemployment and business confidence.
"So that is a very, very serious challenge, and political instability, a hung parliament - people need to be aware of the consequences of that." '
Makes perfect sense to me and also explains why Gold is looking increasingly like a safe haven.
More bad economic news
Gordon Brown's week just gets worse, his Labour party are now third in the opinion polls although thanks to the bias inherent in the electoral system Labour could still be the largest party in the new House of Commons, inflation is up more than expected and now unemployment is back above 2.5 million the highest since 1994.
Still to come this week are the latest statistics on retail sales and borrowing figures for the last full financial year and then on Friday (but Thursday for Gordon Brown so he has the figures before the second leaders' debate) the first official estimate of first quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
Still to come this week are the latest statistics on retail sales and borrowing figures for the last full financial year and then on Friday (but Thursday for Gordon Brown so he has the figures before the second leaders' debate) the first official estimate of first quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
CAA Quango admits that 'Grounding may not have been necessary'
Channel 4 news report that:
It seems that the 'ash cloud' scare was about as well based as avian flu, swine flu, AIDS and climate change - all were/are massively over-hyped and the reality is at variance with the computer modelled predictions. When will people remember - GIGO = Garbage In Garbage Out?
'The Civil Aviation Authority has told Channel 4 News the grounding of aircraft caused by the ash cloud may not have been necessary if rigorous engine testing had been done previously.So thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people inconvenienced, some seriously, and there might have been no need.
...
he CAA's Richard Taylor told Channel 4 News: "We didn't know then (last Thursday) what we do know now. The kind of testing that has been done over the past four or five days has never been done before.
"The data was never analysed to the extent that we know what we know now.
"So if you ask me if aircraft would have been grounded last week, probably not."
Mr Taylor said that flights had been resumed over the UK because "engine manufacturers are now happy with the current concentrations (…) It wasn't until late yesterday afternoon that the engine manufactuers told us they were content with the testing data."
A similar explanation emerged from the National Air Traffic Service (Nats), the body with responsibility for implementing the shutdown.
A Nats source told Channel 4 News: "The science has been complex to try and find a way to do the analysis between the engine manufacturers and airframe makers."
They explained that last night they had "looked at the coordinates on where the cloud was, using the new densities."
The source continued:"This has been an unprecedented situation, with a lot of pressure on a lot of people."
Today's comments by the CAA and by Nats confirm the view of Bill Voss, chief executive of the independent Flight Safety Foundation, who said yesterday: "It is an incredibly serious oversight that research has never been carried out into what levels of volcanic ash pose a risk to planes."
In the last few days around 40 European airlines carried out test flights, including British Airways on Sunday. Their results suggested that the risks to aviation are not as high as computer models predict.
A test by German operator Lufthansa "did not find the slightest scratch on the cockpit windscreens, on the outer skin, nor in the engines," according to company spokesman Klaus Walther.'
It seems that the 'ash cloud' scare was about as well based as avian flu, swine flu, AIDS and climate change - all were/are massively over-hyped and the reality is at variance with the computer modelled predictions. When will people remember - GIGO = Garbage In Garbage Out?
What happened to the ash cloud?
One day we are told that there is an ash cloud over the UK, that the rule is if there is any ash then there is no flying and that it won't move away for a few days at least. The next day we are told that safety tests showed plane engines could cope in areas of low density ash. Was the five day flight ban an overreaction or is the lifting of the ban premature; or both?
The BBC have done one of their famous u-turns where whatever the Labour government do is correct. Yesterday they were insinuating that Boris Johnson didn't understand the science and was asking reckless questions and that public safety was the priority, this morning they are reporting that Lord Adonis has denied that the decision to lift UK flight restrictions was the result of pressure from the airline industry.
This is a government who cannot see a problem without making a knee-jerk decision and they have been caught out again. I wouldn't trust Gordon Brown or any of his team to tell me the time let alone run a government department.
The BBC have done one of their famous u-turns where whatever the Labour government do is correct. Yesterday they were insinuating that Boris Johnson didn't understand the science and was asking reckless questions and that public safety was the priority, this morning they are reporting that Lord Adonis has denied that the decision to lift UK flight restrictions was the result of pressure from the airline industry.
This is a government who cannot see a problem without making a knee-jerk decision and they have been caught out again. I wouldn't trust Gordon Brown or any of his team to tell me the time let alone run a government department.
Who would have thought that Quantitative Easing would lead to inflation?
I predicted that Gordon Brown's panic policy of quantitative easing would lead to inflation and I was right. Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, assisted by the pro-Labour BBC, pushed the idea that deflation was the real worry; I think we all know that was complete crap. Here are the inflation rates of our current economic peers - USA 1.1%, Germany 1.2%, France 1.7%, Italy 1.4%, Spain 1.5% and here's the rate of a country that will soon be our peer if Gordon Brown's reign of incompetence is not ended on 6 May - Zimbabwe around 200,000,000%
Gordon Brown calculated that by creating fake prosperity based on property prices and other debt he could ensure his hold on power. The system crashed before he could hold an election and so he used quantatative easing to artificially boost the economy by pushing a fear of deflation. What excuse will he use for the next bout of bank note printing?
If George Osborne, David Cameron and Ken Clarke cannot tear Gordon Brown apart over this then they do not deserve to win the election.
Gordon Brown calculated that by creating fake prosperity based on property prices and other debt he could ensure his hold on power. The system crashed before he could hold an election and so he used quantatative easing to artificially boost the economy by pushing a fear of deflation. What excuse will he use for the next bout of bank note printing?
If George Osborne, David Cameron and Ken Clarke cannot tear Gordon Brown apart over this then they do not deserve to win the election.
Gordon Brown - the great clunking fist and master of his brief is comprehensively demolished by '24-year-old single mum Siobhan Randles'
This BBC Newsbeat piece on immigration is well worth a watch as '24-year-old single mum Siobhan Randles' demolishes Gordon Brown's pathetic excuses and arguments. In fact Siobhan Randles does a much better job that Labour supporting james Naughtie, but also a better job than John Humphrys or Jeremy Paxman.
Sufficient punishment?
The Mail report something that, if true, is a bloody disgrace:
Two years supervision for forcing the man from his bike and watching the others attack. No custodial sentence at all?
Labour Britain, the broken society.
'Two thugs who left a father-of-two permanently brain damaged after subjecting him to a 'brutal and unprovoked' attack because they wrongly branded him a paedophile have been jailed.Five years for beating a man insensible with a plank of wood, five years for ruining a man's life, five bloody years! Oh sorry, he could be eligible for parole in 2½ year; bloody marvellous - who thinks that is an adequate sentence?
The sickening assault on Filipe Nunes David by the youths, who had been drinking and taking drugs, saw him beaten around the head with a wooden plank and left covered in blood on the pavement.
Mr David needed life-saving emergency surgery which resulted in him having part of his brain removed. He now needs help washing, dressing and eating and no longer recognises members of his family.
Kingston Crown Court heard how Brett Carslake, aged 20, was joined by 17-year-olds Jamie Bailey and Frank Miller as they ambushed their innocent victim.
Eyewitnesses told how the young men surrounded Mr David 40, a Portuguese national, and were heard to shout: 'Come on - let's get him.'
After beating him with a plank of wood they were then heard to scream: 'We've done it. We've beaten the paedophile!'
The Daily Mail today learned from a senior Surrey police source that the deluded youngsters had convinced themselves Mr David had a paedophile past which was simply not true.
'This was a completely innocent man who was targeted by these men. He did not have a single stain on his character but these three thought he had,' explained a police source.
Carslake, from Epsom, Surrey, was given an indeterminate sentence with a minimum of five years after pleading guilty to grievous bodily harm. He was also told he will remain on licence for life.
Bailey, from Ewell, Surrey, was given a five-year term for beating Mr David with a plank of wood but could be eligible for parole in two and a half years.
Miller, from Epsom, Surrey, did not hit the victim but forced him from his bike and must complete a two-year supervision programme after pleading guilty to grievous bodily harm.'
Two years supervision for forcing the man from his bike and watching the others attack. No custodial sentence at all?
Labour Britain, the broken society.
Another way of tracking motorists
Another way of raising transgression taxes has been uncovered by The Telegraph:
'A new type of speed cameras which can use satellites to measure average speed over long distances are being tested in Britain.Big Brother is always watching you...
The cameras, which combine number plate reading technology with a global positioning satellite receiver, are similar to those used in roadworks.
The AA said it believed the new system could cover a network of streets as opposed to a straight line, and was “probably geared up to zones in residential areas.”
The Home Office is testing the cameras at two sites, one in Southwark, London, and the other A374 between Antony and Torpoint in Cornwall.
The `SpeedSpike’ system, which calculates average speed between any two points in the network, has been developed by PIPS Technology Ltd, an American-owned company with a base in Hampshire.
Details of the trials are contained in a House of Commons report. The company said in its evidence that the cameras enabled "number plate capture in all weather conditions, 24 hours a day". It also referred to the system's "low cost" and ease of installation.
The system could be used for "main road enforcement for congestion reduction and speed enforcement", and could help to "eliminate rat-runs" and cut speeds outside schools, it added.'
Tuesday 20 April 2010
No flights flying into or out of London airports? Really?
BAW102 from Calgary was heading to Heathrow although has now turned back on itself and is circling over the North West at 35,000 feet.
BAW274 from Las Vegas to Heathrow is currently over the West of Ireland at 35,000 feet describing a circular pattern.
BAW84 from Vancouver to Heathrow is currently over the Isle of Man at 34,000 feet and heading for the South East.
BAW17V from Denver to Heathrow is also near the Isle of Man at 37,000 feet.
An unknown(!) BA 747 is also just nearing the Cornish coast, presumably heading for Heathrow or Gatwick...
EZY30M appears to be shuttling between Luton and Liverpool.
A private Cessna 550 from Monte Carlo is currently over Nottingham.
In fact at present I can see 12 flights over the UK and Ireland
You can monitor them, along with me at Watch Air Traffic - LIVE!".
The identifiers are the plane callsigns not the flight numbers, although those are also shown on the linked website.
What is going on?
BAW274 from Las Vegas to Heathrow is currently over the West of Ireland at 35,000 feet describing a circular pattern.
BAW84 from Vancouver to Heathrow is currently over the Isle of Man at 34,000 feet and heading for the South East.
BAW17V from Denver to Heathrow is also near the Isle of Man at 37,000 feet.
An unknown(!) BA 747 is also just nearing the Cornish coast, presumably heading for Heathrow or Gatwick...
EZY30M appears to be shuttling between Luton and Liverpool.
A private Cessna 550 from Monte Carlo is currently over Nottingham.
In fact at present I can see 12 flights over the UK and Ireland
You can monitor them, along with me at Watch Air Traffic - LIVE!".
The identifiers are the plane callsigns not the flight numbers, although those are also shown on the linked website.
What is going on?
Excusing the bad inflation figures
Once again the BBC report bad economic news with excuses, something I do not remember them doing when a conservative government was in power, but then there is an election to be saved for Labour.
The reality is a 3.4 per cent rise in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and the Retail Prices Index (RPI) - which includes the cost of mortgages and housing - reaching 4.4 per cent, which is the highest for that measure since September 2008.
Still to come this week are the latest statistics on unemployment, retail sales and borrowing figures for the last full financial year and then on Friday (but Thursday for Gordon Brown so he has the figures before the second leaders' debate) the first official estimate of first quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
In the next few weeks people will see their take home pay drop as a result of Gordon Brown’s decision to freeze tax allowances. And if anyone is thinking of voting LibDem remember that a hung Parliament is likely to lead to an even weaker pound and higher inflation, with the concomitant risk of higher interest rates to tackle it.
I am not alone in predicting this, James Hughes, chief economist at Black Swan Capital wealth management, said:
Gordon Brown's legacy like that of the Wilson/Callaghan/Healey government will be inflation, debt and despair - "Things can only get better" - REALLY?
The reality is a 3.4 per cent rise in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and the Retail Prices Index (RPI) - which includes the cost of mortgages and housing - reaching 4.4 per cent, which is the highest for that measure since September 2008.
Still to come this week are the latest statistics on unemployment, retail sales and borrowing figures for the last full financial year and then on Friday (but Thursday for Gordon Brown so he has the figures before the second leaders' debate) the first official estimate of first quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
In the next few weeks people will see their take home pay drop as a result of Gordon Brown’s decision to freeze tax allowances. And if anyone is thinking of voting LibDem remember that a hung Parliament is likely to lead to an even weaker pound and higher inflation, with the concomitant risk of higher interest rates to tackle it.
I am not alone in predicting this, James Hughes, chief economist at Black Swan Capital wealth management, said:
"The UK economy has some very deep, fundamental problems that won’t be solved simply by installing a new government, and this sharp increase in UK inflation to 3.4 per cent is possibly just the start of an inevitable and unstoppable slide towards double-digit inflation and interest rates within the next few years."
Gordon Brown's legacy like that of the Wilson/Callaghan/Healey government will be inflation, debt and despair - "Things can only get better" - REALLY?
The Brown Overspend Tax
Alex Masterley has had an excellent idea:
Great idea, Gordon Brown needs to become as hated a figure as Pol Pot, Hitler or Stalin; he's been almost as evil.
'Whoever gets into power will need to raise taxes. I am not in favour, but it is a likely necessity.
So if it happens, let us give credit where it is due and call it he Brown Overspend Tax or something like that.'
Great idea, Gordon Brown needs to become as hated a figure as Pol Pot, Hitler or Stalin; he's been almost as evil.
The air-transport ban - a manufactured crisis?
The Mail reports that (my emphasis):
'The Met Office unnecessarily triggered the six-day closure of British airspace which has cost passengers, airlines and the economy more than £1.5billion, according to senior officials.A computer model, hmm that could be as relibale as those that predict Climate Change...
A scientific model based on ‘probability’ rather than fact was used by the government agency to forecast the spread of the volcanic ash cloud, according to critics.
Matthias Ruete, the European Commission’s director general of transport, said air traffic authorities should not have imposed a widespread ban.
He suggested the ban should have been restricted to a 20 to 30 mile limit around the volcano in Iceland.
He said: 'The science behind the model we are running at the moment is based on certain assumptions where we do not have scientific evidence. It is a black box in certain areas.'
Results of 40 or so European test flights over the weekend, including a British Airways flight on Sunday, suggested the risks were not as high as computer models predicted.
None found evidence of any ash in engines, windows or lubrication systems.
'We don’t even know what density the cloud should be in order to affect jet engines. We have a model that runs on mathematical predictions.
'It is probability rather than actual things happening,' Mr Ruete said.'
Gordon 'party advantage is all' Brown
I read that:
'The statistics watchdog has criticised the decision to allow Gordon Brown to get key economic figures before the party leaders’ television debate this Thursday.Fairness & equality not words that Gordon Brown has ever run his life by. The man is a fraud and all his protestations about having a 'moral compass' and the like should be dismissed as lies.
The Prime Minister will be the only party leader to know if Britain has fallen back into recession before the debate. The figures will be released on Friday morning. Last night, Sir Michael Scholar, chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, said the situation was unacceptable.
The figures will show whether the recovery has been sustained during the first three months of the year. They are expected to have a significant bearing on the election campaign.
...
A spokesman for Sir Michael said the authority believed access to the statistics should be three hours or less before their release. Conservative sources said they might lodge a complaint.
Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ economics spokesman, said all parties should have the same information at the same time. '
Is this the pretext?
A while back I, and others, used to speculate that Gordon Brown would not hold a general election, 'postponing' because of some 'national emergency'. Am I alone in getting a tad suspicious that the seeming overreaction of completely closing UK airspace not because any volcanic ash has been observed above the UK but on the say so of Met Office who are relying on their always reliable computer simulations of weather systems. These are the same computer simulations that seem incapable of producing accurate three-day weather forecasts.
Are we being set-up for a postponed election? Before you scoff, remember that Tony Blair dry-ran this technique with the postponed council elections at the height of the foot-and-mouth epidemic, another disaster that was massively exaggerated and overreacted to by this Labour government.
Are we being set-up for a postponed election? Before you scoff, remember that Tony Blair dry-ran this technique with the postponed council elections at the height of the foot-and-mouth epidemic, another disaster that was massively exaggerated and overreacted to by this Labour government.
Funny line?
'Giving up your seat to a woman is frowned upon in these days of sexual equality, so if you really want to be polite to a woman why not give up your job instead?'
From Guy Browning's 'Never Push When It Says Pull - Small rules for little problems'.
Monday 19 April 2010
Bad day at work so...
Damned - 'Smash it Up'
The Damned were the first 'punk' group to have a single release 'New Rose' and I like them...
"We've been crying now for much too long
And now we're gonna dance to a different song
I'm gonna scream and shout til my dying breath
I'm gonna smash it up til theres nothing left
Oooh ooh smash it up, smash it up, smash it up
Oooh ooh smash it up, smash it up, smash it up
People call me villain oh its such a shame
Maybe its my clothes must be to blame
I don't even care if I look a mess
Don't wanna be a sucker like all the rest
Oooh ooh smash it up, smash it up, smash it up
Oooh ooh smash it up, smash it up, smash it up
Smash it up
Smash it up
Smash it up
Smash it up
Smash it up
Smash it up, you can keep your krishna burgers
Smash it up, and your Glastonbury hippies
Smash it up, you can stick your frothy lager
Smash it up, and your blow wave hairstyles
And everybody's smashing things down
I said everybody's smashing things down yeah"
Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, ,Rat Scabies & Algy Ward; pure poetry.
Well that explains that re complaining to the BBC
Guido Fawkes has the not totally unsurprising revelation that one of the people employed to deal with complaints of bias is a Labour party council candidate and 'on his Facebook page... spins for Brown, who he refers to as “the boss” and advocates his friends vote Labour.'
Anybody in the slightest surprised? I wonder what the BBC's reaction to this will be and whether there are any prospective Conservative councillors employed to deal with complaints?
Looks like I have come late to this story, Beeb Bias Craig has some more details.
Anybody in the slightest surprised? I wonder what the BBC's reaction to this will be and whether there are any prospective Conservative councillors employed to deal with complaints?
Looks like I have come late to this story, Beeb Bias Craig has some more details.
Who's posh?
The Telegraph reveals that:
'Louis Theroux, the documentary-maker, has claimed he used to wake Nick Clegg up in the morning when they were at boarding school together.So what!
The television presenter’s claim that he was the Liberal Democrat leader’s “fag” at Westminster School has led to renewed focus on the latter’s privileged upbringing.
Until recently, much had been made in the election campaign of David Cameron’s well-off family and his elite education at Eton and Oxford.
But Mr Clegg enjoyed an equally comfortable start in life, as the son of a successful banker, Nicholas Clegg, who is now chairman of United Trust Bank.
The MP’s maternal grandfather had been president of ABN, the Dutch bank. Despite this, Mr Clegg regularly criticises the “greedy” bankers who triggered the worldwide financial crisis and wants a 10 per cent tax on profits in the financial sector.
His paternal grandmother was Baroness Kira von Engelhardt, a descendant of an Attorney General in the Imperial Russian senate.
Mr Clegg grew up in the picturesque commuter town of Chalfont St Giles, Bucks, but his family also owns a large chalet in the Alps and a chateau in France.
He was sent to school at Westminster School in London where fees for boarders are now £28,344 a year.
One of his peers was Mr Theroux - best known for his BBC2 documentary series, Weird Weekends – who claims that he used to wait upon the politician every morning and bring him a newspaper.
Mr Theroux said that he had been Mr Clegg’s “fag”, in the old-fashioned system formerly widespread in public schools whereby younger pupils had to act as servants for older ones, waking him up in the morning during term time and presenting him with a newspaper.'
The return of Elizabeth Filkin
Elizabeth Filkin was the the former Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards who found there were certain members of the Government, including Keith Vaz and Peter Mandelson, whose conduct fell below the standards to which Labour said it was committed. Her contract was not renewed. The Telegraph report that:
'The intriguing prospect (of Elizabeth Filkin returning to a compliance role) is raised by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority’s disclosure that chief executive, Andrew McDonald, has been lunching with Mrs Filkin.... the authority will appoint a “compliance officer” after the election, responsible for probing errant MPs and dishing out punishments.Justice would be done, now we just need the EU to find an investigatory role for Marta Andreasen!
Drafting in Mrs Filkin - the nemesis of the pre-expenses scandal Commons - could be seen as a strong statement of intent.'