BBC newsgathering

The latest BBC page on the Glasgow East by-election is this one, it covers the story that:

"Labour MSP Margaret Curran has announced she will stand as a candidate for the Glasgow East by-election after the frontrunner dropped out."

What interests me is the sidebar entitled "FROM OTHER NEWS SITES", it includes five reports:

"The Scotsman Curran rides to the rescue of battered Brown - 9 hrs ago
Guardian Unlimited Glasgow East byelection chaos grows for Labour - 9 hrs ago
Daily Mail Brown rocked by Scottish revolt as four candidates turn down his personal pleas to stand in by-election - 9 hrs ago
Scotland on Sunday Online Curran rides to the rescue of battered Brown LABOUR'S battle to win the Glasgow East by-election and save the premiership of Gordon Brown looked increasingly desperate last night after party chiefs were forced to parachute in a new big-hitting c - 9 hrs ago
Telegraph Glasgow East by-election: Labour favourite George Ryan withdraws - 11 hrs ago"

No mention of the Mail's article as reported in The Mail and covered by me an hour or so ago. Why would that be the case? The BBC helpfully have a page entitled "BBC links to other news sites" that includes this passage:

"How do you choose which stories and which sites to link to?

The Newstracker system is automated. The BBC does not censor or change the results. But because there can potentially be scores of sites covering each story, the BBC does define some rules (algorithms) that help define which sites we link to at any point in time - and in what order these links appear.

In general, our rules tend to give greater weight to national and international sources over regional or local ones. We have a policy of only linking to English-language sites. The results are sorted in date order to provide the most recent stories at the top.

We hope you find this service useful. We are continuously trying to improve it, so if you have any comments or suggestions about Newstracker, please send them using the form below."

I like the way that the word "automated" is used in the first sentence to convey an impression of no bias. However the later line that "the BBC does define some rules (algorithms) that help define which sites we link to at any point in time - and in what order these links appear." gives enough control to the BBC over selection and ordering. I wonder what weight the algorithm gives to news stories from the Guardian, Observer, Independent (maybe 10) and opposed to the Telegraph (maybe 7) and the Mail (maybe 3).

BBC brainwashing

A minor one but the BBC have an all-but automatic statement that they make when discussing Andy Murray's nationality - "he's British when he wins and Scottish when he loses" as is the case with all non-English sportsmen. This is crap of the highest order, the opposite is in fact true. Colin Jackson was always referred to as Welsh when he won, Mary Peters was a Northern Irish athlete when she won Olympic gold and Allan Wells Scottishness was always to the fore.

This line of BBC thought is part of the usual BBC programme of insidious brainwashing that England/English is bad whilst other intra-UK nationalism is good. It's all part of their support for the breakup of the UK and integration into the EU.

Labour sleaze and therefore not to be found on the BBC

The Mail report that:

"A Labour MP used almost £500,000 of taxpayers' money over six years to help run an office from his home which was staffed by his wife.

David Marshall, 67, who has quit to spark the Glasgow East by-election on July 24, used the expenses to pay for a constituency office and staff.

But Mr Marshall's office was in his semi-detached Glasgow home and he employed his wife Tina as his secretary. It is also believed he paid his daughter Christina to work from his home from the same pool of money.

A Commons spokesman said MPs can use their home as an office but only claim for additional costs like 'extra phone lines, heating and lighting'."

Strangely whilst the Mail reports that

"Mr Marshall is said to be suffering clinical depression. Party sources said he felt 'under pressure' over the expenses allegations."

the BBC simply report that

"Mr Marshall, 67, announced his decision to step down after almost 30 years in the House of Commons on grounds of ill health."

Why the coyness by the BBC, they seem very concerned to minimise any stories relating to sleaze and the Labour party, not something that they follow in relation to "sleaze and the Tories".

Islam and dogs

Following on from the story that

"A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims."

I learnt this weekend that once again an edict has been issued that:

"Police sniffer dogs will have to wear bootees when searching the homes of Muslims so as not to cause offence. Guidelines being drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) urge awareness of religious sensitivities when using dogs to search for drugs and explosives. The guidelines, to be published this year, were designed to cover mosques but have been extended to include other buildings."

Once again the prostration of the establishment before the Muslim community is striking.

Why I am so annoyed by Lord Phillips speech

Lord Chief Justice Phillips gave his speech about accommadating Sharia Law into UK law whilst standing in the London Muslim Centre. As Melanie Phillips (as far as I am aware - no relation) points out:

"This centre shares the ideology of Jamaat e Islami, an extremist Islamist organisation which aims to Islamise the state and follows the teachings of Maulana al Maududi, who believed that the Jews worshipped Satan. The dignatory who opened the Centre a few years ago was one Sheikh Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais, who has in the past called the Jews ‘calf-worshippers, prophet-murderers, prophecy-deniers... the scum of the human race whom Allah cursed and turned into apes and pigs.. these are the Jews, a continuous lineage of meanness, cunning, obstinacy, tyranny, licentiousness, evil and corruption’."

For some strange reason I find this sort of language rather offensive, why does nobody seem to care?

Sharia Law in the UK

The establishment love-in with Sharia Law continued apace. Following from the Archbishop of Canterbury in February we have had two more examples in the last week. First Lord Chief Justice - Lord Phillips, the most senior judge in England and Wales, said there was no reason sharia law's principles could not be used in mediation and then Stephen Hockman QC the former chairman of the Bar Council said that

"legal reforms to incorporate Islamic principles are inevitable. He warned that 'otherwise we will find there is a very significant section of our society which is increasingly alienated, with very dangerous results. '"

The key word in Stephen Hockman's speech is "inevitable", it is the same word that Rowan Williams used in his February speech. Why is it seen as inevitable by certain sections of this Country's establishment? Do these "experts" not realise that Sharia law is the only system of law that many Muslims want to live under. Sharia law is not an add-on to an existing legal system, it is a complete set of laws for living one's life. Sharia law admits to no higher law, for religious Muslims it is THE LAW.

Lord Chief Justice Phillips seems confused, he seems to suggest that Sharia Law could be used for dispute resolution within communities, indeed it could. Any community can use any forum for informal dispute resolution if it wishes, this is nothing to do with the law of the land. The point is that if one party wants recourse to "the law" then it is national law that is used.

Many Muslims have rather disingenuously compared their demands for Sharia law to that of Jews in England who have Beth Din courts. The comparison is largely spurious; Beth Din courts bow to the law of the land, no Beth Din court can make a decision that is at variance with UK law. Muslims see Sharia Law as superior to man-made law and the aim of many is to replace Britsih law with Sharia law. As Mohammed Abdul Bari, the head of the Muslim Council of Britain, has said:

"I believe I speak for a vast majority of Muslims when I say that we do not want separate Courts or parallel legal system. What we do want is a judiciary that is sensitive to our divine laws on personal relationships and family matters. Judges involved in family matters need to have knowledge of our rights and obligations as Muslims in Sharia law."

I am not happy that any community in the UK can govern itself separately from the rest and have a "legal system" that institutionalises inequality. I believe it is the case that Sharia Law requires, before a punishment can be administered, that a crime be witnessed either by two men, or, if only one man can be found, one man and two women. I also believe that Men have the right of unilateral divorce. A divorce is effective when the man tells his wife that he is divorcing her.

It confuses me that many establishment figures in this country seems so eager to incorporate a legal system when the European Court for Human Rights have argued "sharia is incompatible with the fundamental principles of democracy" and that

"The Court considers that sharia, which faithfully reflects the dogmas and divine rules laid down by religion, is stable and invariable. Principles such as pluralism in the political sphere or the constant evolution of public freedoms have no place in it. […] It is difficult to declare one’s respect for democracy and human rights while at the same time supporting a regime based on sharia, which clearly diverges from Convention values, particularly with regard to its criminal law and criminal procedure, its rules on the legal status of women and the way it intervenes in all spheres of private and public life in accordance with religious precepts.""

Many ask why our "establishment" seems so keen to cosy up to Islam, this is a question that I shall return to.

Failure

We enjoy a bit of failure, so long as it is someone else's failure, the Germans even have a word for it "schadenfreude". So here's a piece of video from a website devoted to failure - ouch...



The website is the Fail Blog.



Thanks to Rachel from North London for the spot. I will be thinking of you on Monday, Rachel.

George Harrisson, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and Elton John

An interesting version of "While my guitar weeps"

"We have an arrangement"

Line of the programme so far from Davros.

Although "How many have died in your name comes bloody close"

As does "Now where we?"

What an episode, what an ending, I am still breathless. "Journey's End" will need re-watching a few times!

Russell T. Davis, I salute you - what a way to leave the show.

Now Stephen Moffat, let's have some cerebral epsisodes like "Blink" and less sentimentality.

"You can't arrange them by penis"

It's fiction but oh so close to the truth.


Many, many thanks to Dizzy Thinks for the spot.

Revenue creating Gatsos

Take a look at these Revenue Creating Gatsos.

EU referendums

Daniel Hannon - "Mr. Cohn-Bendit said it would be quite wrong to have one million people deciding the fate of half a billion Europeans. Well, I’m happy to agree with that. Give the half-billion their referendums, too."

Dangerous landings

The ever excellent Theo Spark has a famous photo of a plane approaching St JEan airport in St Barths on his website today. I thought that I should put up some video of landings at the same airport.

Labour return to "class war"

I read on Ian Bone's blog claims that :

"Labour work and pensions minister ANNE McGUIRE has called Cameron ‘A FUCKING TOFF’ to his face after Thursday’s expenses vote in the Commons. Labour MP IAN AUSTIN followed this up by shouting at GEORGE OSBORNE ‘YOU FUCKING TOFF ‘ minutes later. Theres no doubt that after Boris Johnson’s fuck ups the posh prep school chums of th Tory party are being exposed as the useless toffs they are. I warmly welcome this conversion to CLASS WARSPEAK by Labour MPs!"

Let's see, one typo, one missing apostrophe - not bad for a class warrior. Do take a trip over to Ian Bone's site and wallow in nostalgia, it's like 1985 all over again.



Benedict Brogan reports the same story in today's Daily Mail.

BBC bias (umpteenth post)

I am sorry to say that the BBC have made a choice and they have decided to put their lot in with Labour 100% now. They realise that an incoming Conservative government may take revenge for the shit that the BBC has flung at the hateful Tories for 25+ years and so will be in full slur throwing mode until the next election. Any piece of anti-Conservative news will be given prominence whilst any news that reflects badly on the Labour party will be reported gently (if at all).

I warned in this blog some time4 back that the BBC would try and get Boris and his team once they were elected (as revenge for a) ousting Ken Livingstone and b) showing that Labour were beatable in their territory) and the BBC have done just that. They have accumulated two easy scalps in two months and now they scent blood.

Just as in the last days of the John Major government the BBC see their role as destroying the Tories and that is what they will do. An incoming Conservative government will have to tackle the BBC very early in their first term or they will fall foul of the same tactics.

More on appeasement

"Henry Kissinger once told the joke--or at least is credited for doing so--that it is very easy to have the lion lay down with the lamb, as long as you put in a new lamb every day. Kissinger no doubt little expected at the time that this would become the democratic world's favoured strategy. No surprise that the main villain for the politically correct West is Israel, the lamb that refuses the honour."

Thanks to Jihad Watch for the spot.

Stephen Nolan's 5-Live show

Stephen Nolan had Sir Antony Jay on his show tonight and Stephen Nolan seemed incredulous that anyone could think the BBC might be biased or bloated. I posted a question on the programme's "Get in touch" page thus:

"You say the BBC isn't biased, you seem to think it can't be.

Take a trip over to http://www.biased-bbc.blogspot.com and read what people think about the BBC's bias.

As one example, why won't the BBC publish the Balen Report? If Malcolm Balen had reported that there was no anti-Israel bias (contrary to the claims of those now asking for the report to be published) then I think it likely that the BBC would have published it. The fact that the BBC has refused to publish the report and has spent taxpayers money on fighting a legal challenge leads many to believe that the report does document the BBC's bias against Israel."

I doubt it will be read out during the phone-in.

Dr Who speculation (update 3)

The BBC are showing some teasers about the last episode of this series of Dr Who, you can see one here and it is safe to say that Mickey Smith is back, he is definitely one of the prisoners in the Dalek prisoner camp. And if you watch here then you will hear that Davros's plan is that "people, the planets the stars will become dust and the dust will become atoms and the atoms will become nothing... This is my ultimate victory, the destruction of reality itself". One of the greatest loopy villain lines of all time. I can hardly wait until 6:40pm

Dr Who speculation (update 2)

Here is a good set of rumours about the upcoming last episode of the current Doctor Who series - "Journey's End".

But away from that, here are a few thoughts of mine. I cannot remember being as excited waiting for an upcoming Doctor Who episode since I was a kid. The current series has been very emotive, maybe not as intelligent as some of the previous ones but it has built to an almighty climax. The level of writing has been excellent and the clues as to what will happen are convoluted and maybe red-herrings.

One clue that I think many may have missed is from "Turn Left" when Rose says to Donna -

"reality is bending around you... since you were born"

So Donna isn't special because of the Huron energy, she was always special. Special how? Is Donna a Time Lord,

"what are you, what will you be"

and also

"Way too much coincidence around you,... something binding us together"

from the same episode.

Another clue may come from "The Stolen Earth" episode when the waitress/hand-maiden in Shadow Proclamation base says to Donna

"there was something on your back, you are something new"

Incidentally the Tardis - Doctor Who Wiki informs us that

"It has been noted that "The Shadow Proclamation" is an anagram of "Doctor Who has a time plan""

In less than a day we will know one way or another, but what will we all speculate about then?


Don't forget that after tomorrow there will be no more Dr Who episodes until Xmas and just four "specials" next year; it looks like the old videos and DVDs will need to be brought out, Mrs NotaSheep will be so happy!

Dr Who speculation (update)

Further to my earlier post about the fevered speculation surrounding the upcoming final episode of Dr Who later today, I have been hither and thither looking for the best of the speculation, here's some from Gallifrey One:

"l0256225 - Apologies for posting so late but could only just get to computer. The news on the regeneration i've been given about 2 hours ago is that as DT was only half hit by the dalek rays only one of his hearts dies and needs to regenerate, this is what causes him to split into 2 DT's, each with only 1 working heart and making him more human. Apparently the changing of spiecies is one of the running themes of the series.

By the end of the episode the 2 doctors do rejoin as 1 single timelord again, this joining is the reference of the 3 fold man (single heart doctor + single heart doctor = 2 heart doctor).

I know some of you may call BS on this, but this is from the same source that told me prior to christmas there was a regeneration toward the end of the series. None of you believed me then but it turned out to be true. Have a feeling this may be true too."


"Axis - Surely the only point of the split, and making a spare Doctor, is so that you can kill one off dramatically?"


"Holly - OK how's this for an idea? - Donna's double heartbeat bit in TL is her 'becoming' a timelady because of i dunno, the huon particles? Wilfred Mott being a time lord? (the anagram WTF, Time Lord having been unearthed on the what is donna poll thread). Sooo she's a timelady but the Doctor is two humans, and if either of them die, they.... die, no regen. so one of them dies, and donna realises if the other one dies then the earth is screwed, as in TL, and sacrifices her own life and her .... timeywimeyness sort of.... transfers into the remaining human doctor, replacing his timelord status, and this does something awful to her resulting in the eternal death Dalek Caan was burbling about.
oh, and he gets all her possible regenerations and they can have oodles more doctors?

it was worth a try..."


"king_ghidorah - Harriet Jones took the Master's ring at the end of LOTL. (don't moan! her ringtone was a dead giveaway...) He had hypno-thigh-sed her. Or something. She uses the subwave network, developed from Archangel by the Copper Foundation, to contact the Doctor's friends and thus the Doctor. As seen in the Stolen Earth.

But the signal contains...something else. The Master's ring contained his genetic make-up - thank you, Dr Lazarus! - and this is transmitted into the TARDIS. To wait.

When the Doctor needs to regenerate, he should be in the TARDIS. He doesn't need to be, but it's been noted that it helps. Why? The state of temporal grace helps the actual process, but mainly because his genetic make-up is boosted by the semi-sentient machine to ensure that he becomes him again. This time, however, the Master's genetic make-up contaminates and overtakes the weakened Doctor's.

When the Doctor regenerates, he completely becomes the Master.

Fortunately, some regeneration energy arcs over to his hand-in-a-jar and we get David Tennant as a fully-fledged Doctor, ready to fight the Daleks and the Master - to varying degrees - and go off to play Hamlet and not do a series next year and make us all wait for specials instead."


"Balzac - Ooh can I play? After all, no 'good' idea ever died of loneliness... so here comes my implausible and caffeine addled take on it.

The Doctor is regenerating. No doubt about that, is there? Presumably he can't/won't just regenerate into himself (which would be a bit pony, wouldn't it?), and I think we can guess that the pickled fist comes into play somehow.

So, what if...

When the Master was shot at the end of The Last of the Time Lords, he didn't just die, and he didn't transfer his essence into that ring. ( Maybe that's a red-nailed herring.)

Instead, he passed his essence into the Doctor, to lie dormant until his next regeneration. Don't ask me how. This is Sci-Fi, okay? And that's just the sort of thing the Master would do. Last time it was an implausible looking snake. This time its the Doctor. Probably involved a Chameleon ring, or some such. The point is - the Master is already with the Doctor, and has been since the beginning of Series 4.

Still with me...?

On regenerating, the Doctor becomes a Master-Doctor hybrid (brown suit), and the pickled fist grows to becomes the Doctor (blue suit). A sort of Threefold Man, if you like. But with only two suits.

If you want cream on top, then maybe the Master is defeated, enabling *someone*, *somehow* (it'll probably involve rings) to revert the Master-Doctor back to 'our' Doctor. The Hand-Doctor dies dramatically saving the day, tidying everything up, and causing Davros & the Daleks to lower their guard leading to their apparent defeat.

And then Gallifrey pops out of the Crucible, where the Time Lords have been practicing 27-ball interplanetary billiards for - like - *ages*. Someone inadvertenty pots one planet from the seventh dimension into a black hole, and everything kicks off again.

No?"

John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchel

John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchel playing together with a very odd introduction by John Lennon and Mick Jagger.

There is something very wrong about this story

The Mail reports a most worrying story:

"Two schoolboys were given detention after refusing to kneel down and 'pray to Allah' during a religious education lesson...

Parents said that their children were made to bend down on their knees on prayer mats which the RE teacher had got out of her cupboard and they were also told to wear Islamic headgear during the lesson on Tuesday afternoon."

Parents were interviewed:

"One parent, Sharon Luinen, said: "This isn't right, it's taking things too far. "I understand that they have to learn about other religions. I can live with that but it is taking it a step too far to be punished because they wouldn't join in Muslim prayer. "Making them pray to Allah, who isn't who they worship, is wrong and what got me is that they were told they were being disrespectful....

Another parent Karen Williams said: "I am absolutely furious my daughter was made to take part in it and I don't find it acceptable. "I haven't got a problem with them teaching my child other religions and a small amount of information doesn't do any harm. "But not only did they have to pray, the teacher had gone into the class and made them watch a short film and then said 'we are now going out to pray to Allah'. "Then two boys got detention and all the other children missed their refreshment break because of the teacher. "Not only was it forced upon them, my daughter was told off for not doing it right. "They'd never done it before and they were supposed to do it in another language." "My child has been forced to pray to Allah in a school lesson." The grandfather of one of the pupils in the class said: "It's absolutely disgusting, there's no other way of putting it. "My daughter and a lot of other mothers are furious about their children being made to kneel on the floor and pray to Islam. If they didn't do it they were given detention.

...

"But if Muslims were asked to go to church on Sunday and take Holy Communion there would be war.""

I am afraid to say that I think that might well be the future of this country and indeed the whole continent.


There is nothing wrong with children being taught about other religions (in fact I think it should be encouraged) but 12 year-olds being forced to take part in an act of worship of a religion other than the children's own is just wrong.

I must admit that as an adult I have felt awkward when I have attended a Church of England wedding, a Catholic baptism or a Hindu wedding - do I join in with the worshippers or sit/stand silently?

More 4th of July video

Thanks to Five Feet of Fury for the spot.

Pringles 'are not potato crisps'

Shock news but a High Court judge has ruled that Pringles are not potato crisps. The court case arose because Procter and Gamble (the makers of Pringles) challenged a H.M.Revenue & Customs decision that Pringles were subject to the standard 17.5% rate of VAT because it was it was "a potato crisp product" which are, unlike most foods, subject to VAT. The decision means that Pringles are now free from VAT.

Procter and Gamble (P&G) argued that Pringles were not potato crisps because of their "mouth melt" taste, their "uniform colour" and their "regular shape" which "is not found in nature". They also argued that Pringles contained non-potato flours. P&G argued that Pringles are more like a cake or a biscuit because they are manufactured from dough, in fact they are only 42% made from potato flour.

This follows on from previous court decisions regarding Jaffa Cakes and Teacakes.

Climate Change

The following report is seriously worrying:

"There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production – with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth. The drop in food output could begin quite soon, perhaps only 10 years from now. The regions destined to feel its impact are the great wheat-producing lands of Canada and Russia in the North, along with a number of marginally self-sufficient tropical areas – parts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indochina and Indonesia – where the growing season is dependent upon the rains brought by the monsoon.

The evidence in support of these predictions has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up with it. In England, farmers have seen their growing season decline by about two weeks since 1950, with a resultant overall loss in grain production estimated at up to 100,000 tons annually. During the same time, the average temperature around the equator has risen by a fraction of a degree – a fraction that in some areas can mean drought and desolation. Last April, in the most devastating outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded, 148 twisters killed more than 300 people and caused half a billion dollars’ worth of damage in 13 U.S. states.

To scientists, these seemingly disparate incidents represent the advance signs of fundamental changes in the world’s weather. The central fact is that after three quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the earth’s climate seems to be heating up. Meteorologists disagree about the cause and extent of the warming trend, as well as over its specific impact on local weather conditions. But they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century. If the climatic change is as profound as some of the pessimists fear, the resulting famines could be catastrophic. “A major climatic change would force economic and social adjustments on a worldwide scale,” warns a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences, “because the global patterns of food production and population that have evolved are implicitly dependent on the climate of the present century.”

[...]

“The world’s food-producing system,” warns Dr. James D. McQuigg of NOAA’s Center for Climatic and Environmental Assessment, “is much more sensitive to the weather variable than it was even five years ago.”

[...]

Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change, or even to allay its effects. [...] The scientists see few signs that government leaders anywhere are even prepared to take the simple measures of stockpiling food or of introducing the variables of climatic uncertainty into economic projections of future food supplies. The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality. "

Scary stuff indeed, there is just one problem, that was taken from My Pet Jawa who has carefully substituted each instance of "global cooling" in the original article with "global warming" rhetoric. Convincing isn't it? You can read the original 1975 Newsweek article "The Cooling World" here.

My Pet Jawa concludes that:

"This is the same dire, doomsday-riddled pap we were being fed during the last catastrophic climate change" era not more than 35 years ago. Same rhetoric. Same "evidence." Same hysteria. Completely bogus on all counts.

But THIS TIME, they're right, dammit! Algore said so!"

I say, as I have said before,

"Global Warming or Man Made Climate Change it makes no difference, they are a con. Look around the web, find the truth and spread the word."

National Audit Office rejects Treasury accounts

Not that you would know it if you relied on the BBC for your news but a major story broke today. The Times reports that:

"Britain’s spending watchdog is refusing to approve the Treasury’s accounts, compounding a miserable year for Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer....

Mr Darling is fighting a bruising battle with the National Audit Office (NAO), which is unhappy at the way that the nationalisation of Northern Rock is being treated in the Treasury’s books. The annual report from No 11 was published yesterday but, in a highly unusual departure from normal procedure, without the department’s resource accounts.

A Treasury spokesman confirmed the delay but denied that the spending watchdog had threatened to qualify its accounts. The books must be published before the parliamentary recess in three weeks’ time....

Treasury officials now face questions from MPs over the delay. Michael Fallon, the chairman of the Treasury Scrutiny Committee, said: “This is a fresh humiliation for Alistair Darling. He has lost control over public finances. Now it looks as if he can’t get his department’s books past the auditors.”"

It looks as though this Labour government caused economic crash could be worse than the one that brought the Margaret Thatcher lead Conservative party into power in 1979. Once again the voting public have had to learn the hard way that Labour governments always end in economic disaster.

Happy 4th of July

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

From the preamble to the Declaration of Independence.

Wall Street Meltdown

Thanks to Politics in the Zeros for the spot.



If you don't recognise the song on which the parody is based, take a trip here for some background on Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire".

Remind you of anyone else's apparent thoughts on leadership and democracy?

"Hitler centralized the party even more and asserted the Führerprinzip ("Leader principle") as the basic principle of party organization. Leaders were not elected by their group but were rather appointed by their superior and were answerable to them while demanding unquestioning obedience from their inferiors. Consistent with Hitler's disdain for democracy, all power and authority devolved from the top down."

Thanks to Wikipedia for the insight?

Robert Mugabe has form

A seriously good article about the Zimbabwean election of 1980 and its oft-forgotten predecessor of 1979. Some excellent history and maybe future echoes of the past in its coverage of Abel Muzorewa's victory in 1979 despite intimidation and violence and the interference of President Carter's man in Africa, Andrew Young. The article also covers the murderous response of Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo's Patriotic Front (incorporating ZANU & ZAPU) and the aftermath of the 1980 election.

Maybe the Weekly Standard article should be required reading by all Western politicians.

"better to jaw-jaw than to war-war"

It is "better to jaw-jaw than to war-war" so say the appeasers, quoting Winston Churchill's words from 1954. Everyone is capable of reforming many of the same people say about some vile person who is to be released from prison.


That's an item from the New York Times of 21 December 1924 marking the release on parole from prison in Germany of Adolph Hitler. Adolph Hitler had been imprisoned in April of that year for 5 years for conspiring to overthrow the Weimar government. He was released as part of a general amnesty. The paper reports how :

"His behaviour during imprisonment convinced the authorities that, like his political organization... was no longer to be feared."

The article ends with one of the most inaccurate predictions ever :

"It is believed he will retire to private life and return to Austria, the country of his birth."

I wonder if people really expect the leaders of Hamas, Hizballah, Fatah, Iran, Syria, al-Qaeda etc. etc. etc. to be tamed by our appeasement and so to abandon public life and go back to their homes and live in peace.

Happy anniversary Gordon Brown

A nice choice of images and news extracts as well as the song.




Thanks to John M. Ward for the spot.

"appropriately rewarded" (update)

Further to this post and this post, I have looked up the official Hansard report of the relevant exchange at PMQs yesterday:

Mr. David Cameron (Witney) (Con): "Will the Prime Minister confirm what he said on the 42 days vote: that no deals were made, no jobs were offered and no rewards were promised?

The Prime Minister: Yes.

Mr. Cameron: I am grateful for the very short and very clear answer. Perhaps the Prime Minister can explain why, this morning, a letter has been published by The Daily Telegraph from the Labour Chief Whip to the right hon. Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) that says:

“Thank you for all your help during the period leading up to last Wednesday’s votes. I wanted you to know how much I appreciated all of your help. I trust that it will be appropriately rewarded!”

Can the Prime Minister tell us what the Chief Whip meant by “appropriately rewarded”?

The Prime Minister: We thanked the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee for doing exactly the right thing: for voting in the spirit of the report of the Home Affairs Committee and voting with the Government. As for the allegations being made about the Ulster Unionists and the Democratic Unionist party, I think that the right hon. Gentleman should listen to what they say about terrorism; they know more about it than almost anyone in the House.

Mr. Cameron: Have we not, once again, seen the Prime Minister’s utter inability to be straight with people? Why cannot he give a straight answer to a straight question? The Chief Whip —[ Interruption. ]

Mr. Speaker: Order.

Mr. Cameron: The Chief Whip, who should be wriggling with embarrassment, wrote to the Chairman of the Select Committee on Home Affairs—the job of the right hon. Member for Leicester, East—and said:

“I trust that”

you

“will be appropriately rewarded!”

So let me ask the Prime Minister again: do not take people for fools; tell us the truth—what did he mean?

The Prime Minister: He meant that he was thanking the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee for doing exactly the right thing, and if the right hon. Gentleman has any allegation to make—

Mr. Speaker: Order."

No mention that Mr Speaker's "Order" was followed by Gordon Brown not finishing his point. I read somewhere that a minister need not even get up and answer a question if he doesn't want to, if Gordon Brown read that then PMQs will involve even less answering of questions than now...

Censorship oops

Right Wing Watch report that the American Family Association’s "OneNewsNow" site have some software that automatically replaces any use of the word "gay" with the word "homosexual" in any of the AP stories they run. This has lead to instances in which proper names are reformatted to meet this standard, such as an article about sprinter Tyson Gay winning the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in which he is renamed "Tyson Homosexual".




Thanks to Dizzy Thinks for the spot.

The peace treaty between Israel and Hamas

Take a read of this article I found today. The "hudna" angle is one that I have wanted to discuss for a while but for now read "For Zion's Sake" instead.

Is Gordon Brown really Davros?

There are similarities, take a trip to John M. Ward for his thoughts.

Swearing

I am not a sweary blogger and do not swear over-much in real life either. When at school back in the 1970s and 1980s (just!) swearing at school in front of a teacher was just not an option and as for writing obscenities on an exam paper... So I was amazed to learn that a pupil who in answer to the GCSE exam question "Describe the room you are sitting in", wrote "Fuck off". I was even more amazed to learn that this puipl received two marks for this answer as it was spelt correctly and conveyed meaning, apparently a further mark would have been awarded if the candidate had finished his "answer" with an exclamation mark.

Peter Buckroyd from the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) said that

"It would be wicked to give it zero because it does show some very basic skills we are looking for - like conveying some meaning and some spelling"

I would say that whilst it may convey meaning and be spelt correctly, it in no way answers the question adequately.

A spokesman for AQA later said that "if a candidate makes any sort of response to a question then it must at least be given consideration to be awarded a mark".


Education, education, education, ever rising standards in education? Fuck off!

Looky likey time

Phillip Lahn and Philip Neville - on Lahm's performance on Sunday night the similarity seems to be more than just physical.

Peter Hain update

The BBC are reporting that:

"Police have handed over evidence relating to donations to Peter Hain's deputy Labour leadership bid last year to the Crown Prosecution Service.

It follows an inquiry into the late declaration of more than £100,000 given to his failed campaign.

The Metropolitan Police said the CPS would say whether more inquiries were needed or charges should be brought.

Mr Hain, who quit the cabinet over the issue, said he wanted to clear his name "as quickly as possible".

He ran to be Labour's deputy leader but came fifth out of six candidates in last year's contest.

All those taking part should have told the Electoral Commission about any donations towards the campaign.

Mr Hain has admitted that although he declared £77,000 on time, a further £5,000 was not declared until November - and in January admitted that a further £103,000 should have been reported.

In total, 17 donations were reported late to the commission.

After the case files were handed to the CPS, Mr Hain said: "As I have said all along this was a mistake by my campaign, but an innocent mistake.

"When I discovered the problem it was I who immediately notified the authorities that a number of donations had been declared late.

"I have consistently provided them with all the information they might need, and I hope to see my name cleared as quickly as possible."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "We have had regular consultation with the CPS since the inquiry began and it is now a matter for the CPS to consider the evidence, advise us on whether any further enquiries are necessary and whether any charges should be brought."

Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, donations have to be reported within 60 days of being offered.

Before he resigned to "clear my name", Mr Hain, Labour MP for Neath, had been the work and pensions secretary and Welsh secretary."

I confidently predice that the CPS will decide either that "a prosecution would not be in the public interest" or that there is "insufficient evidence to prosecute".

BBC reporting of PMQs

Further to my post about Gordon Brown's non answering of David Cameron's last question about the Keith Vaz accusations, I thought that I would take a look at the BBC's coverage. I was not surprised by what I found...
The page entitled "The full story: PM's questions" seems a little light in this area: LAURA KUENSSBERG'S VERDICT includes this summary:

"Firstly, "Deal or no deal" Mr Cameron wanted to know - quoting a letter published on the Telegraph website between the Labour chief whip and Keith Vaz, the Labour chair of the home affairs committee, implying that a deal had been done between the two men, to push the government's 42 day proposal through the Commons.

The PM, no surprises, dismissed the idea that any deal had been done. He was asked the direct questions "were there deals done ?" He answered with a firm "no." "

Hmm not quite the order in which questions were asked and answers answered, maybe the "AS IT HAPPENED - BY JUSTIN PARKINSON" will be more accurate: "1208: Mr Cameron asks Mr Brown to confirm no deal was made or jobs offered to win the recent vote on 42 days' detention without charge for terror suspects. Mr Brown gives a one-word answer: "Yes."

1209: Mr Cameron says the PM has an "utter inability to be straight with people". He asks about a letter published in the Telegraph from Chief Whip Geoff Hoon to Labour's home affairs committee chairman Keith Vaz, thanking him for his help over 42 days and saying he trusted he would be "appropriately rewarded" for supporting the government."

No mention of Gordon Brown's attempted reply or the Speaker's intervention. How odd.

I see that the page devoted to "Brown accused over 42-days letter" does report the detailed events rather more fully:

"Mr Cameron asked: "Will the prime minister confirm what he said on the 42 days vote, that no deals were done, no jobs were offered and no rewards were promised?"

When Mr Brown replied "yes" - Mr Cameron brought up the letter and asked what Mr Hoon had meant by "appropriately rewarded".

The prime minister explained: "That we thanked the chairman of the Home Affairs committee for doing exactly the right thing ... voting with the government."

Mr Cameron said it demonstrated the prime minister's "complete inability to be straight with people" and suggested Mr Hoon, who was also in the Commons, should be "wriggling with embarrassment"".

He asked Mr Brown: "Don't take people for fools, tell us the truth, what did he mean?"

Mr Brown replied: "He meant that he was thanking the chairman of the home affairs committee for doing exactly the right thing.

He began to say "if he has any allegation to make" but was interrupted by Speaker Michael Martin, who brought the exchanges to a halt."

Here is possibly for the first time Gordon Brown giving a straight (Yes/No) answer to a David Cameron question and then being accused of not being entirely honest, and yet the BBC try to minimise the story. Somehow I think that if it had been David Cameron accused of misleading Parliament the story would be rather more front-page.

Galloway: “I’m off to Iran before Israel bombs it”

Hot Air has the story..., here's the full article from the Daily Record:

"BY the time you read this, I will be in Iran. I've never been there before, never met an Iranian leader - I don't even like the present Iranian leadership - so remember all that, because it might become important.

I'm determined to do my bit for the anti-war effort. We need another war like Gordon Brown needs another by-election.

But the Sunday papers were again full of Israeli war games and threats as speculation mounts of a massive bombardment of yet another Muslim country.

I'm going for the first anniversary of Press TV, on which I present two programmes - Comment at 10.30pm on Thursdays and The Real Deal at 10.30pm on Sundays.

This week I hope to meet Ali Larijani, formerly Iran's nuclear negotiator, now speaker of the Iranian parliament and, I hope, the next president.

Larijani proved beyond even the CIA's attempt at contradiction that Iran is acting entirely within her legal rights to develop nuclear power.

As a signatory to the treaty governing the development of nuclear weapons, Iran has done nothing wrong under it either, at least according to the watchdog maintained by the international community, the IAEA.

Israel, on the other hand, refuses to sign the nuclear weapons treaty and thus, with a chutzpah which takes the breath away, claims it's not in breach of it.

Yet last week, it acknowledged the truth first revealed by the Israeli hero Mordechai Vannunu, who spent nearly 20 years in solitary for telling us that they possess nuclear weapons in abundance.

Their brazenness about this reached its apogee when they publicly thanked France, in the diminutive form of Nicolas Sarkozy, for the decisive help they had given them (we ourselves gave them the heavy water technology) to enable to build their nuclear arsenal.

So let me run that past you. Israel, which has hundreds of nuclear weapons, seems to be planning to attack a country with none with the support of France, Britain and the US and all in the name of, er, checking the spread of nuclear weapons in that region.

You couldn't make it up, but alas you don't have to.

The Dr Strangeloves who've taken over the bunker have already done so.

Next week's column, should I survive, will no doubt tell you about the great civilisation that is Persia, which hasn't attacked another country for more than 300 years, not a boast we can make ourselves.

Iran is no broken-backed land enfeebled by decades of war and sanctions.

If attacked, she most certainly will defend herself and by all means necessary.

Fasten your seatbelts. "

What a lovely chap George Galloway is, what a shining example of Britishness.

"considered ritually unclean"

The Mail reports that:

"A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims.

...

The choice of image on the Tayside Police cards - a black dog sitting in a police officer's hat - has now been raised with Chief Constable John Vine.

The advert has upset Muslims because dogs are considered ritually unclean and has sparked such anger that some shopkeepers in Dundee have refused to display the advert."

I am puzzled, pigs are ritually unclean to Muslims and Jews but as a child I remember having a "piggy bank" pig and not feeling dirty.

The article continues:

"Dundee councillor Mohammed Asif said: 'My concern was that it's not welcomed by all communities, with the dog on the cards.

'It was probably a waste of resources going to these communities.

'They (the police) should have understood. Since then, the police have explained that it was an oversight on their part, and that if they'd seen it was going to cause upset they wouldn't have done it.'

Councillor Asif, who is a member of the Tayside Joint Police Board, said that the force had a diversity adviser and was generally very aware of such issues.

He raised the matter with Mr Vine at a meeting of the board.

The chief constable said he was unaware of the concerns and that the force had not sought to cause any upset but added he would look into the matter."

Why is anyone apologising? The poster is not "ritually unclean" it just shows a photograph of a dog. Do the people complaining burn their television if they turn them on and Crufts is being shown? Do they destroy their television if an advertisement for dog food comes on the television? Do the shopkeepers refuse to sell newspapers with adverts for dog charities inside? Do the shopkeepers refuse to sell dog related magazines?

This is not about the poster it is about a "community" showing its power by exerting control over the rest of society. It is about "submission" which is after all what Islam translates as. It is dhimmitude to submit in this way to this request.


In case you are not aware of the word "dhimmitude" then this from Wikipedia may assist your understanding of the term (my emphasis):

"The term was coined in 1982 by the Lebanese Maronite militia leader Bachir Gemayel, in reference to perceived attempts by the country's Muslim leadership to subordinate the large Lebanese Christian minority. In a speech of September 14, 1982 given at Dayr al-Salib in Lebanon, he said: "Lebanon is our homeland and will remain a homeland for Christians . . . We want to continue to christen, to celebrate our rites and traditions, our faith and our creed whenever we wish . . . Henceforth, we refuse to live in any dhimmitude!""

Bat Ye'or defined dhimmitude thus (my emphasis):

"dhimmitude [...] represents a behavior dictated by fear (terrorism), pacifism when aggressed, rather than resistance, servility because of cowardice and vulnerability. [...] By their peaceful surrender to the Islamic army, they obtained the security for their life, belongings and religion, but they had to accept a condition of inferiority, spoliation and humiliation.""

And the cause of all this fuss....

"Appropriately rewarded"

"Appropriately rewarded" this could be the phrase that may come to haunt Gordon Brown. And what happened to Gordon Brown's non-answer during PMQs today?

The Telegraph article reports that:

"Gordon Brown is under pressure to reveal whether Keith Vaz, the influential head of a Parliamentary Committee, has been offered a peerage or honour in return for backing the Government’s controversial counter-terrorism measures.

The Daily Telegraph has seen a private letter sent by chief whip Geoff Hoon to Mr Vaz expressing an expectation that his former ministerial colleague will be “appropriately rewarded” for backing the measure to hold terror suspects for up to 42 days without charge.

Mr Vaz is the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee. He was previously opposed to the plans but later offered his full backing. He made a major speech during the debate on the proposals which is thought to have won over some backbench MPs. Securing his backing was seen as crucial by the Government.

Amid rumours of a peerage or knighthood, Mr Vaz was asked in Parliament during the debate the day before the vote whether he had been offered an honour for his support. He said: “No, it was certainly not offered—but I do not know; there is still time.”

In the handwritten letter sent on 12th June 2008 – the day after the key vote - Mr Hoon writes: “Dear Keith…Just a quick note to thank you for all your help during the period leading up to last Wednesday’s vote. I wanted you to know how much I appreciated all your help.”

“I trust that it will be appropriately rewarded!...With thanks and best wishes, Geoff.”

The Prime Minister has been accused of offering rebel backbenchers a series of deals in exchange of their votes but the chief whip’s letter may provide the first hard evidence that rewards were potentially available to those supportive of the plans.

Mr Brown won the key vote by just nine votes after securing the support of the Democratic Unionist Party. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis resigned and accused the Prime Minister of debasing Parliament in the way the legislation was pushed through. "

Wriggle, wriggle Gordon and enjoy the protection of The Speaker, eventually you will be held to account.

Scum

The mail reports that:

"Scrap metal thieves have stooped to a new low by stealing bronze plaques from one of the country's biggest war memorials.

The four metal commemorations displayed 1,000 names of sailors who lost their lives while serving in the Royal Navy during both world wars.

They were taken during a night raid at the naval memorial in Plymouth Hoe, Devon, hours after a Veterans' Day Service on Sunday.

Police have described the crime as an 'unforgivable desecration' and blame the demand for scrap metal that has seen an increase in thefts of cars, drain covers and train tracks.

Staff from the War Graves Commission are to remove three more plaques to prevent another theft.

The 3ft sq memorials weigh 90lbs and will cost £2,000 each to replace.

However, they are only expected to make £200 on the second-hand market."

I expect if caught the thieving scum will have a sob story but I don't care, there is such a thing as respect and they showed none.

UK-wide consultation

The government are conducting a UK-wide consultation on the National Identity Register (and the associated ID cards), in reality the only people allowed to attend the meetings are those that have been invited and the legislation is already in place so the only consultation is over how to enforce/encourage the implementation.

Here is the BBC's story that

"Nine people have been charged with breach of the peace following an incident at a meeting about ID cards in Edinburgh.

There were protests as a Home Office minister was meeting business leaders and local government officials to outline the proposals.

Activists were removed by police and nine have been charged.

The event was part of a UK-wide consultation which allows organisations to give feedback on the plans."

Here is No2ID's take on the same story.

Al Gore - Nobel Peace Prize!

Watch and think.



Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

"Why Did the European Parliament Suddenly Acquire a Fleet of Top-of-the-Range Mercedes Benz During the German Presidency?"

Ashley Mote MEP asks the question but somehow doesn't receive a proper answer; is one really necessary, surely we can work it out for ourselves.

Condiment nazis?

The Mail reports that:

"Officials in Gateshead have been touring chip shops confiscating salt shakers with more than five holes in them.

They have spent £2,000 on replacements, which are being given away free.

According to a spokesman: 'Research carried out by us discovered customers were often receiving huge quantities of salt with their fish and chips - up to half their daily allowance.

'The council was so disturbed it decided to commission a manufacturer to produce a salt shaker with fewer holes, which it distributed free to every fish and chip shop and hot food takeaway in Gateshead. We believe the cost to be a small price to pay for potentially saving lives.'

Officials claim that cutting the number of holes from the traditional 17 to just five reduces by up to 60 per cent the amount of salt shaken onto a fish supper.

They carried out 15 days of research, obtaining samples of fish and chips, measuring salt content and conducting experiments 'to determine how the problem of excessive salt being dispensed could be overcome by design' while still ensuring a 'visibly attractive sprinkle'."

I am sure you can guess the punchline...

"What they haven't factored in is the ingenuity of chip shop customers, who will sprinkle on however much salt they fancy. Fewer holes simply means they shake for longer.

In some cases, chippie owners report punters unscrewing the caps of the shakers to save time, smothering their food with salt.

People will always find a way of beating the system."

I believe there is a word to describe the people that introduce such schemes - "fuckwits"

"near collapse"

Here is the BBC trying to convince the public that this Labour government didn't completely screw up the Northern Rock debacle. Apparently (my emphasis)

"Chancellor Alistair Darling has proposed new measures to protect savers in the event of a bank getting into financial difficulty. The plans are intended to increase public confidence in the banking system in the wake of the near collapse of Northern Rock in September last year."

Near collapse? How long were the queues of customers to remove money from Northern Rock? How much money did "we" have to pay to bail out Northern Rock? How big an item on the national balance sheet is the Northern Rock? NEAR COLLAPSE?!

A very obscure Patrick Moore fact

"On 26 April 1957, at 10:30 pm, in an event that was to be a landmark of his career, Moore presented the first episode of The Sky at Night, a BBC television programme for astronomy enthusiasts. Since then, he has presented every episode each month, excepting July 2004, because of a near-fatal bout of food poisoning caused by eating a contaminated goose egg."

Many thanks Wikipedia.

Dr Who speculation

The big speculation on the Internet is will the David Tennant Doctor Who's regeneration complete or not. If you want the full speculation you could do a lot worse than take a trip over to Gallifrey One's forums. Lots of theories, some sensible some not, here are a few that I enjoyed:

"51stCenturyGuy - What will never happen but I'd love

The time anomalies within the Medusa Cascade cause David Tennant to DEGENERATE back into Christopher Eccleston while the hand grows itself a full body, becoming David Tennent and giving us both 9th and 10th Doctors for the finale.

Well everybody else is here, it's a shame not to complete the set with Chrsitopher lol

Eccleston Doctor is then killed in the final battle against Davros and the Daleks, leaving us with Tennant in time for Christmas"


"Grayo - Remember Midnight? I am convinced the "thing" the Doctor encountered there was not completely severed from him. It had made contact. And I believe "the darkness is coming" does not relate to Davros and the Daleks but to the force encountered in Midnight.

So this thing will either stop the Doctor from fully regenerating or he will turn into "the darkness" itself! "The darkness is coming..." "Your song will end..." Whether the darkness is a resurrected Master is another thing. Doubt it. But I bet it's so bad that Donna decides to use the "thing on her back" to wipe out the timeline and create an alternative version. Resulting in her death.

Another idea is that Martha dies by using this key she's been given. Perhaps that is where the alternate time line will start. When she uses it instead of not using it...

A good theory? Or utter nonsense?"


"Andrew Davie - I'll venture that the hand in the jar is the key to all of this. Firstly, it's conspicuous right at the side of the console towards the start of the episode and just happens to be right alongside where the Doctor is 'regenerating'. He carries that thing everywhere, but can you imagine a regenerated doctor lugging along a severed hand from a previous incarnation. I think not. In my opinion, this hand has been prominent for a reason, and I think that reason is to assist in preventing the need for regeneration. I don't think it was prominently visible early in the episode by chance. So my 2c is on no regeneration per-se. More of a recharge, with a bit of a hand from ... the hand."


"teletubby - How about ...

Doctor 10 regenerates into Doctor 11 (David Morissey)
The hand starts to grow in the jar and Captain Jack breaks it out. It grows into a clone of Doctor 10.
We now have two Doctors to fight Davros. At the end of the story, we go into the the Christmas special and maybe the 2009 specials with both Doctors.
Doctor 10 then goes off in his own time-line to eventually meet River Song.
The TV series 2010 continues with Doctor 11."


"Birdie1970 - If he does regenetate (the Doctor as it has already been revealed that David Tennant can't regenerate) then this could go down as the biggest deception since?.... How many stories have been sent out about the next two years- specials only next year to cover DT for Hamlet for one. Also the one about obscene amounts of money for each eposide (Could the BBC afford that?). Could the shots of DT being filmed for the Xmas special be staged?

If he regenerates then hats off to everyone involved for keeping it so quiet. If not then I will continue to wnjoy the 10th Doctor - so all good.

Is Donna a descendant of Leela and Andred, escaped from Gallifrey before it was destroyed?"


"MoonAura - If the rumors are true that the Doctor (and his hand) regenerate into two versions of Ten, but one is human, then I believe this botched regeneration is being used to turn the Doctor more toward that in-control Time Lordy Doctor that River Song knew, and may be used to resolve the half-human controversy. If the regeneration creates two Doctors with two natures, Time Lord and human, and the human Doctor is sacrificed or goes into the alt-universe, then a more Time Lord like version of Ten can go forward to the specials and into Moffat's S5. Given that Moffat set up this view of the Doctor in his two parter, I think it's really possible. If we were headed for a regeneration, none of this would be necessary, since that change could be made as part of Doctor Eleven's nature. But, if you want to spin Ten in a new direction, this would be one way to do it.

Also, River Song commented on how this version of the Doctor wasn't "her" Doctor, and he didn't seem "quite finished." Rose may find herself feeling the same way about a revised, less cuddly Ten, thus resolving the romance angle, and making her fear in the regeneration scene pay off. Even though Ten remains, Rose loses "her" Doctor."


"Criz - Dalek Caan says the three-fold man is coming.

...Also the Time War is apparently no longer time locked (or maybe never was and it was just the Doctor assuming it was?)...so...

...three-fold-man means...

...10th Doctor is joined by 9th, and 8th to defeat the Daleks and reverse Gallifrey's destruction in the Time War

(Maybe what RTD really said was a multi-doctor episode would be the *last* thing he would do - heh heh)

Yes it would be huge, melodramatic and overblown...so it would fit the finale perfectly"


"whyinthebloodyhell - I'm going to say it's that The Doctor has three names: his real name (which "burns in the cascade of Medusa"), his three-Greek-letter name he was given in school, and "The Doctor".

I just wonder why they put in two references to The Doctor's real name during the fourth series, particularly one telling us that it can be found in the Medusa Cascade, if they had no plans to bring it up when he actually goes to the Medusa Cascade.

Also, Dalek Caan *is* bloody nutso. Anything he says is strictly true, even in the most insignificant way. So it could just be that The Doctor once ordered a pizza with three toppings or made an origami out of three folds."


"Lots of spoilerers think there is likely to be two doctors generating - one from The Doctor and one from the hand-in-the-jar . . .

Maybe they are half right? What about three Doctors??? him, the hand-in-the-jar and the fighting hand!!! So, the new hand shears off as the generation begins - he repairs himself / generates, the fighting hand spurts a new Doctor, and the energy arcs over to the hand-in-the-jar which does the same (breaking the glass and emerging all shiny and wet - mmmmm).

Three Doctors, identical - The Three-Fold Man!!!"


"guesswho - Somehow Rose becomes mortally wounded in the TARDIS whilst watching the doctor regenerate (bear with me)

The Doctor, sensing her need for it, redirects his regeneration towards her. Rose regenerates into River Song. Captain Jack saves the Doctor with the use of his hand/second heart/some kind of timey wimey magic.

It's completely rubbish and far-fetched - but then, I really wouldn't consider anything too strange at the moment."


"mikeyd - Ok, it's only a theory but......

How about DT's regeneration is in full swing, but the hand (in the jar) sparks off a regeneration of it's own (Due to close proximity of the regenerating Doctor)...into another David Tennant...giving us two Doctors. A David Tennant and a David Morrisey????

This could lead into the Christmas special where (Speculating even more) David Morrisey get's killed and David Tennant carry's on until he regenerates (again) into David Morrisey at a later time (After next years specials/another series???) hence giving us an extened preview of the 11th Doctor and allowing DT to carry on with the role for another year or so.....


Ok, shoot me down"

But finally the theories to end all theories

"Caligari - So, judging from the various threads after The Stolen Earth this is what's going to happen:

1. DT's Doctor will regenerate into Christopher Eccleston, Peter Davidson, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Paul McGann, David Morrissey, James Nesbitt and himself.
2. Donna will die, be revealed to be the Master, the Rani, Lauren from The Catherine Tate Show and quite possibly K-9.
3. Rose will die and regenerate into Captain Jack, who will do an emergency temporal shift and end up in a fish tank with big balls and dreadlocks.
4. Captain Jack will regenerate into Martha, who will in turn regenerate into Jacqui, who will unzip a flesh suit to reveal that she is actually Mickey, but this is the Mock-Mickey from the other dimension who didn't die and never wrote kidULTHOOD.
5. Martha, who has by now regenerated into Davros' clone, uses that key thingy what that bloke out of Dempsey and Makepeace gave her to unlock the Time War, releasing the Time Lords, who will intervene and make everybody "sit down, have a nice cup of tea and stop all this regenerating nonsense once and for all, thankyou very much."
6. Russell T Davies will regenerate into Steven Moffatt, but there will be a split in the timeline and in another dimension he'll be given the task of relaunching other long dormant TV shows like [i]Love Thy Neighbour[i].


Is that right? Have I missed owt out?"

OK there is an addendum, take a read of this thread, some people really WATCH Dr Who!

The 2008 Olympic 100m for men and some information about Merlene Ottey

I am a big fan of athletics and despite my detestation for the Chinese regime, I will be watching the "track and field". The times run by athletes at the US and the Jamaican trials this weekend have left me breathless.

Usain Bolt ran 9.85 seconds to beat his rival Asafa Powell (9.97) in the 100m in Jamaica, meanwhile Tyson Gay, ran the fastest 100m of all-time, a wind-assisted 9.68 secs, at the American trials. Behind Gay came Walter Dix second in 9.80, with Darvis Patton third in 9.84 and Travis Padgett finishing fourth and so missing out on the trip despite running 9.85. In fact six of the US trials finalists ran under 10 seconds and the athlete who finished 7th ran 10.01 - that is seriously high quality sprinting. You can see the full results here.



Whilst looking for the full results of the Jamaican trials I found a site devoted to the most elegant female sprinter of all time Merlene Ottey. Take a trip there to see some great photos and details of a career at the top of World sprinting that lasted nearly 20 years.

Meanwhile from Wikipedia here is a list of:

"Records and achievements

* Ottey ranks at number three on the list of the top ten all time athletes on the 200 meters - women, and number four on the 100 meter list.
* Ottey has won a record number of medals at the indoor championships —six.
* Ottey is the first female athlete to run 60 meters under seven seconds, 100 metres under eleven seconds—a feat she has accomplished 67 times — and 200 metres Indoor under 22 seconds. She has also clocked the fastest 100 and 200 meters in the same day.
* Ottey has 57 consecutive wins in 100 meters—the most consecutive wins over 100 meters for a female, and 34 consecutive wins at 200 meters.
* Ottey is the fastest in the world among all female athletes over 30. She has recorded the fastest time for any female athlete at age 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, and age 40.
* Ottey is the first from the Western Hemisphere (outside the USA) to win two individual medals at the same games.
* At the 1995 World Championships, Ottey became the oldest ever female gold medallist when she won the 200 m at age 35 years 92 days. At the 1997 World Championships in Athens, she became the oldest female medallist ever at 37 years 90 days, when she won the bronze medal. In 2000, at age 40, Ottey became the oldest track and field medalist when she anchored the Jamaican women's 4×100 meters to a silver medal.
* Ottey is also one of two athletes to win twenty medals at the Olympic Games and the World Championships (combined).
* Ottey holds the record for running the fastest women's Indoor 200 metres, in 21.87 seconds.
* In five World Championships, Ottey has so far won thirteen medals: three gold, four silver and six bronze medals, while at the Olympics she has earned two silver and five bronze medals.
* Ottey has won more Olympic medals than any other athlete from the Western Hemisphere. She is also the first female Caribbean athlete to win an Olympic medal.
* Ottey's Olympics Medals:
o Moscow 1980 200 m Bronze
o Los Angeles 1984 100 m & 200 m Bronze
o Barcelona 1992 200 m Bronze
o Atlanta 1996 100 m & 200 m Silver & 4 x 100 m relay Bronze
o Sydney 2000 4 x 100 m relay Silver
* Ottey has the most women's World Championships medals with fourteen:
o Helsinki 1983 200 m Silver & 4 x 100 m relay Bronze
o Rome 1987 100 m & 200 m Bronze
o Tokyo 1991 100 m & 200 m Bronze & 4 x 100 m relay Gold
o Stuttgart 1993 100 m Silver & 200 m Gold & 4 x 100 m relay Bronze
o Gothenburg 1995 100 m Silver & 200 m Gold & 4 x 100 m relay Silver
o Athens 1997 200 m Bronze"

What an athlete.

Degree inflation

This Labour government and its "all shall have prizes" attitude have all but destroyed the education system in England. The latest proof has come in the form of an email that the BBC have revealed, the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) e-mail, sent to computing and mathematics staff by that department's academic standards manager,

"calls for an increase in the number of first class and upper second degrees.

The e-mail, sent several months ago and now obtained by the BBC News website, reveals how staff have to consider more than the quality of students' work - and the tension between rigorous academic standards and universities' external ambitions.

Student satisfaction

"As a university we do not award as many Firsts and 2.1s as other comparable institutions so there is an understandable desire to increase the proportion of such awards," it says.

"Please bear this in mind when setting your second and final year assessments, especially the latter."

The e-mail goes on: "We have never received any external examiner criticism that our 'standards' are too low so there should be quite a lot of leeway available to us all when assessments are set."

The e-mail also includes a joke about boosting the student satisfaction rating. Earlier this year, staff at Kingston University were caught urging students to falsify their responses to improve the university's standing in league tables.

It says: "Please do not complain when all the BSc (Hons) mathematics students gain first class awards next summer. Now that really would increase our student satisfaction!""

Of course any criticism of the drop in standards at degree, 'A' level and GCSE standards will bring forth the response that "all students have worked very hard for their qualifications and only nasty Tories would quibble".

Shock horror news

The Telegraph seem surprised that at least one non-democratically elected African leader refused to denounce Robert Mugabe for stealing an election, I am not. The Telegraph report that:

"President Omar Bongo of Gabon, who has held power for 41 years and won a series of widely criticised elections, gave his public backing for Mr Mugabe as leaders met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

"He was elected, he took an oath, and he is here with us, so he is President and we cannot ask him more," said Mr Bongo. "He conducted elections and I think he won."

Mr Bongo added that African leaders would not allow Western governments to dictate their view of Zimbabwe. "We have even received Mugabe as a hero," he said. "We understand the attacks but this is not the way they should react. What they've done is, in our opinion, a little clumsy, and we think they could have consulted us first."

The Zimbabwe crisis could be solved by South Africa in about 3 months, but Thabo Mbeki is not interested in helping the people of Zimbabwe at the expense of the great hero of the anti-colonialist movement, Robert Mugabe. You can ignore the "leaked paper" referred to in the same article, it is one thing for Mbeki to criticise Mugabe in private, you will not see it happen in public and that is where it counts.

Favourite Beatles songs

The Daily Mail reveals that politicians were asked for their favourite Beatles track as part of Liverpool's Beatles Day celebration. Gordon Brown plumped for "All My Loving" which includes the line "Tomorrow I’ll miss you". David Cameron chose "The Long and Winding Road" whilst Nick Clegg picked "A Day in the Life", Alistair Darling picked "Strawberry Fields"

I would have selected "Nowhere Man" for Gordon Brown -

"He's a real nowhere Man,
Sitting in his Nowhere Land,
Making all his nowhere plans
for nobody.

Doesn't have a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,

...

He's as blind as he can be,
Just sees what he wants to see,
Nowhere Man can you see me at all?"

and Taxman for Alistair Darling:

"Let me tell you how it will be,
There’s one for you, nineteen for me,
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don’t take it all.
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah yeah, I’m the Taxman.

(If you drive a car car), I’ll tax the street,
(If you try to sit sit), I’ll tax your seat,
(If you get too cold cold), I’ll tax the heat,
(If you take a walk walk), I’ll tax your feet.
Taxman.

‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Don’t ask me what I want it for
(Ah Ah! Mister Wilson!)
If you don’t want to pay some more
(Ah Ah! Mister Heath!),
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeeeah, I’m the Taxman.

Now my advice for those who die, (Taxman!)
Declare the pennies on your eyes, (Taxman!)
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
And you’re working for no-one but me,
(Taxman)."

Local Council priorities

The Times reports that:

"Violent assaults and serious antisocial behaviour are lower priorities for councils than stopping people smoking, town hall targets showed yesterday.

Despite a government poll showing community safety was voters' overwhelming priority, anti-crime initiatives will not be the main focus of authorities.

Details published yesterday by Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, set out the targets picked by each local authority — and agreed by her department — to be their future priorities. While performance will be measured across the whole range of 198 indicators, targets will be set only for the 35 chosen as top local concerns.

Jobless 16-18 year olds, reducing teenage pregnancy, providing housing, protecting the environment and cutting child obesity were the five selected by most councils. While reducing “serious acquisitive crime” such as thefts from cars was sixth, cutting the rate of “assault with injury” was 13th and domestic violence 20th.

Considered a higher priority than both by most councils were stopping smoking and boosting the numbers of local people “who feel they can influence decisions in their locality”.

The local targets are agreed with central government after consultation with bodies such as local police, health service and jobcentres.

Alongside the new targets, Ms Blears published a YouGov poll, commissioned by the Government, showing that 82 per cent of respondents considered “creating safer communities” among their top priorities.

The councils that do best at meeting their chosen targets will qualify for extra cash.

Ms Blears said that the initiative would mean that councils could concentrate efforts on the the specific needs of the local people.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, added that the Government had made “huge progress” tackling crime and antisocial behaviour in recent years."

Is it just me or do the local councils priorities seem out of kilter with that of their council tax payers? Now which should have priority?

Shh don't mention Enoch

There is a degree of fuss in the left-wing blogosphere about Total Politics's poll entitled "Most Memorable Speeches". The "right-on brigade" are in turmoil because the top 3 are as follows:
Tear Down this Wall - Ronald Reagan, 12 June 1987
Speech to commemorate D Day Landings at Pointe du Hoc - Ronald Reagan, 6 June 1984
Rivers of Blood Speech - Enoch Powell, 22 April 1968

How dare anyone mention except with derision and fury "that speech" by "that racist" and as for the top two speeches being by Ronald Reagan, every right-thinking left-winger knows that he was a doddering fool who was in cahoots with "Thatch" to kill innocent children all over the world. In left-wing loon land the speech voted fourth most memorable Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Speech is the only speech that could possibly be number 1.

Another unbiased BBC presenter

Jenni Murray is having her diaries serialised in The Daily Mail and I found these bits online.

"I, though, was Left-wing, and found (Tony) Benn utterly charming. I opened the programme with a long history of his credentials."

"Norman Tebbit - the rottweiler of the Conservative Party - known for tearing inadequate interviewers limb from limb... while we gave each other a combative turn during the interview..."

So do the BBC consider it fine for "left-wing" Jenni to open a programme with Tony Benn with a "long history of his credentials" and to have a "combative" approach to an interview with Norman Tebbit? BBC pro-left wingers at every turn.

More spending on/by MPs

The Mail reports that:

"Millions of pounds of taxpayers' money will be spent improving the constituency offices of MPs as part of a shake-up of their expenses.

A Commons committee chaired by Speaker Michael Martin is to hand out around £6million for renovation projects after complaints that MPs cannot afford to pay for decent offices out of their current expenses.

But far from ensuring MPs search for the best deal possible, the committee will also insist offices are based in large 'houses of character', with 'best quality fittings throughout'."

Read the rest of the report and wonder at the cheek of our elected representatives. People might think that Speaker Martin seems determined to get as much money into the hands of as many as MPs as possible, does he think this will save his job?

"Al-Qa'eda style terrorists planning UK attacks with ambulances bought on eBay"

An interesting article in The Telegraph which claims that:

"Terrorists may be planning to launch suicide bomb attacks in Britain using former NHS ambulances and police cars bought on auction website eBay, police chiefs have warned.

The Association of Chief Police Officers said ministers must legislate to stop the sale of such vehicles amid fears that al-Qa'eda inspired extremists may import a tactic already used in Iraq and Israel.

Every year dozens of police cars, ambulances and fire engines are sold. Some are fully marked and can be bought for as little as £1,500.

Counter-terrorism officials at the Home Office have now written to eBay, the internet auctioneer, asking it to stop selling emergency service vehicles, equipment and uniforms. However, eBay has said it will only self-regulate if a new law is passed."

Is the claim true or false I do not know, but what I found rather interesting was the acknowledgement that:

"A report from the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, sent to chief constables, highlights recent attacks by Al-Qa'eda in Iraq and Israel... The report says terrorists have been using ambulances to transport bombs in Israel since at least 2002. It cites a report by the Israeli Defence Forces that Palestinian terrorists have used ambulances to ferry recruits and equipment around the West Bank."

Now that is something that I do not expect to read on the BBC news website.

Ratifying the Lisbon Treaty

"It is significant that the overwhelming majority of the surviving hereditary peers voted to defend the sovereignty of the people and the preservation of Parliament. Of the 90 who were eligible to vote, 64 participated, and they voted 50 to 14 against ratification. Of the 50 against ratification, 40 were Conservatives."

"In short, New Labour not only rigged the make-up of the upper chamber to ensure the safe passage of its legislation; it has elevated it financial backers who are overwhelmingly Europhile, and in so doing neutered the revising chamber by eradicating most of those who owed their peerages to hereditary independence... If there was ever a justifiable democratic case for removing all the hereditary peers, then a fortiori is there now now a case for expelling all the life peers. They are no better defenders of democracy than the hereditaries allegedly were not, and at least the latter had a profound understanding of and respect for the ancient rights and liberties of the British people. There needs to be an urgent reconsideration of the constitution of the House of Lords and the titles bestowed, if only because it is incomprehensible to Cranmer that someone with the gravitas and experience of Baroness Thatcher is now ranked equally with Baroness Warsi, and that Lord Owen is ranked equally with Lord Levy."

Thanks to His Grace and The Monarchist for the spot and the analysis.

Googling (update 12)

One more interesting Google search term that has lead someone to my site recently:

Tim Henman y fronts - For which this blog comes 5th, but why would anyone search for Tim Henman's Y fronts?

The latest ComRes poll for The Independent

You can read a report on the latest ComRes opinion poll here with the now usual large Conservative lead. The bit that caught my eye was at the end of the report:

"ComRes says the Tories are ahead of Labour among every age and social group, and in every region except Scotland. Some 13 per cent of people who identify themselves as Labour voters intend to vote Tory, as do 14 per cent of Liberal Democrat identifiers. Only 4 per cent of Liberal Democrat identifiers say they will vote Labour, while 7 per cent of Labour identifiers intend to back the Liberal Democrats. Some 74 per cent of Tory supporters are "absolutely certain" to vote, compared with 58 per cent of Labour supporters and 50 per cent of Liberal Democrats."

Now that is really bad news for Gordon Brown.