Sunday news catchup

1. Two articles in The Mail on "the envy of the world" the NHS. The first records how:

"Sick children at a leading hospital were forced to wash in buckets for almost a month after bosses failed to fix the hot water supply.

More than 100 youngsters, some of them seriously ill, were left without hot running water.

Parents were forced to carry hot water in buckets from a single working tap in a sluice room so their children could wash. Youngsters suffering from brain tumours and cystic fibrosis were among those affected."

The second reports how a journalist spent a year undercover in the NHS and what they discovered, here's one:

"In the year I spent visiting hospitals, I met only one person who was doing what a good manager in the NHS should be doing - questioning activity and redesigning processes to get the best care and the most efficient use of taxpayers' money.

Even finance directors didn't see that as their role. I asked one what he was doing to save money and increase efficiency. He looked at me as if I were mad. He had no time for that. His time was spent reacting to the 'hell of a lot of indicators' pouring out of Whitehall.

He told me he was working out the implications 'of a whole new agenda about the way funds flow around the system'. This meant he had little time to look at the finances of his own hospital, let alone work out how to save money.

In fact, what went on in his own hospital was a bit of a mystery to him. He admitted this meant he spent most of his time fire-fighting - rushing from one crisis to another. He was ten minutes late for our interview because his budget deficit had shot up that month. Was it a one-off or a trend? He had no idea."

2. The BBC manage to report the imminent closure of the Corus Teesside Cast Products factory, putting 1,700 people out of work, without mentioning carbon offsetting or Tata moving production to a plant in India. Instead the Labour party supporting broadcaster reports the twice disgraced Peter Mandelson's claim that "The steel industry overall has suffered an unprecedented fall in demand in the global recession."


3. The Times report on the ongoing scandal that is the Labour ruined English education system. Here are some extracts:

"A report out on Friday points out that a fifth of firms and a quarter of employers in the state sector are still hiring — despite the recession. Except they are taking on migrant workers — not our home-grown “discouraged” variety.

...

The managing director of a medium-sized IT company explained why. High-flyers — Oxford and Cambridge graduates — are still as good as any in the world. His problems come when he tries to recruit middle management. Last year he interviewed 52 graduates — all educated in state schools. On paper they looked “brilliant students”. Each had three As at A-level and a 2:1 degree. He shook his head. “There’s a big difference between people passing exams and being ready for work.”

This was obvious even before the interview began. Of the 52 applicants, half arrived late. Only three of the 52 walked up to the managing director, looked him in the eye, shook his hand and said, “Good morning.” The rest “just ambled in”. When he asked them to solve a problem, only 12 had come equipped with a notebook and pencil.

The three who had greeted him proved the strongest candidates and he hired them. Within a year they were out because of their “lackadaisical” attitude. They did not turn up on time; for the first six months a manager had to check all their emails for spelling and grammar; they did not know how to learn. It was the first time they had ever been asked to learn on their own. Their ability to “engage in business” was “incredibly” disappointing and “at 5.30 on the dot they left the office”.

This year the managing director has joined the 20% of companies recruiting overseas. “We are an English company but we have no English staff. It’s just too much trouble,” he said."

I've experienced this myself, candidates with excellent GCSE results but no real ability in English or Mathematics.


4. Burning Our Money on some more similarities between Gordon Brown and Stalin.


5. The Mail reports the good news that: "Scientists create low-fat water-based chocolate that tastes as good as a normal bar".

What an appropriate surname

From Saturday's Telegraph letters page comes this missive:

"SIR – Falklands fever is apparently gripping oil and gas exploration companies. Should we not remind ourselves that the purpose of our Armed Forces and diplomatic service is to protect our territory and our homeland – not the interests of commercial organisations solely out to make profit?

If such companies want to explore remote places and expect protection from neighbouring countries, let them contribute to the cost."

The author's name? The very appropriate "Chris Thrift" of Buckingham.

UPDATE: To avoid any confusion; I do not in any way endorse the views of Mr Thrift.

William Hague 'grows a pair' - what a shame that David Cameron seems unwilling to

The BBC are forced to report that:

"Gordon Brown's government is driving up UK debt in order to cause difficulty for an incoming administration, the Conservatives' William Hague has said.

Labour was "like a retreating army, poisoning the wells as the other army advances", Mr Hague said.

If elected, the Tories would inherit a "chalice... as poisoned as it can get". "

This 'scorched earth' policy has been something I have been blogging about for a while. It's good to see that the Conservative party have finally cottoned on to what this vile Labour government are up to.

So who is the liar?

Andrew Rawnsley claims that staff at Number 10 were intimidated by outbursts from Gordon Brown. From today's Observer -

"..Sir Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet secretary, became so alarmed by the prime minister’s behaviour that he launched his own investigations when he received reports of Brown’s bullying of staff. O’Donnell then gave the prime minister a stern “pep talk” and ordered him to change his behaviour. “This is no way to get things done,” he told Brown. The revelation that the prime minister’s behaviour was so extreme that it triggered a warning from Whitehall’s most powerful official will shock the political world and is bound to lead to claims from his opponents that he is not fit for another five years in office as a general election draws near."

The PM's spokesman said the claim in a book by the Observer's chief political commentator Andrew Rawnsley were "without foundation" and "malicious".

Labour MP Stephen Pound confirms that Gus O'Donnell warned Gordon Brown about his behaviour.


Not all of these people can be telling the truth, at least one must be lying; but who?


I see that Iain Dale has a handy list of 14 alleged examples of Gordon Brown temper tantrums. As Iain Dale asks

"Can they all be wrong? And if they're not, how on earth did the Labour Party allow this man to become PM?"

Just how academically challenged is Gordon Brown?

We already know by his own admission that Gordon Brown

"did maths at school and for one year at university but I don't think I was ever very good at it."

In addition Gordon Brown's lack of expertise in the area of economics (certainly macro-economics) should be clear to all by now.

Yesterday I found two articles that show that he is also a failure in two more academic subjects. The first is History as The Telegraph reported yesterday that "an attempt by Gordon Brown to display his historical knowledge while criticising the Conservatives ran into trouble as he appeared to confuse two great European dynasties." Yes the great historian confused the Hapsburgs and the Bourbons, forgetting his Tallyrand in the process. The second is Geography as is apparent from the Mandrake column in The Telegraph and records that whilst appearing on a phone-in on Real Radio North-East, and discussing congestion on the roads of Northumberland, he assured a listener that he knew the area very well "I was in the Lake District for my holidays this summer and so I saw a great deal of it and my children and my wife enjoyed being in the Lake District very much". Excellent news, Prime Minister, although spoken more like a backward 10 year old writing an essay on "What I did in my summer holidays" than the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but leaving that aside doesn't Gordon Brown realise that the Lake District is on the west coast of the north of England whilst Northumberland is on the east coast? Maybe Gordon Brown should learn the difference between Cumbria and Northumberland or do all these English counties look and sound the same to this blinkered Scot?

An unusual 'extra'

The Telegraph reports that:

"Swiss prostitutes are being trained to use defibrillators to prevent clients with heart problems from dying on them, it has emerged.

Brothel owners in the Lugano area say electric shock treatment to restart customer's hearts is needed because so many elderly customers are using their services.

The most recent victim was a pensioner, thought to be having fun with the help of anti-impotence medication.

His death followed a series of other incidents, some fatal, in which heart attacks have claimed brothel customers in the area.

The owner of one sex club said: "Having customers die on us isn't exactly good publicity".

...

Local health experts are said to have backed the plans to stock defibrillators in sex clubs and brothels.

Defibrillators work by delivering a controlled electric shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat, after it has stopped.

According to the British Heart Foundation: "Modern defibrillators are becoming increasingly quick and easy for the lay person to use, which can mean the difference between life and death". "

NCF

Public sector public works versus private sector public works

The World Trade Center rebuilding debacle explained.



Thanks to Theo Spark and of course Steven Crowder.

Was that it?

It looks as though the Great Bottler has bottled it again, even the Labour Party's loyal broadcaster (the BBC) can't muster much enthusiasm for the speech as it barely enthuses that

"Gordon Brown has urged voters to take a second look at Labour as he unveiled his election campaign themes."

Poor Gordon, he thought about an early election but in the end his true bottling nature won out and he's put off making a decision. With decisiveness like this it's a wonder he can even get dressed in the morning.

James Deligpole's secret lives of married men

James Delingpole lifts the lid on the secret lives of married men; I couldn't possibly comment.

The Bible: A History

Channel 4 have chosen Gerry Adams to present an episode of their series "The Bible: A History", the program about Jesus Christ. Words failed me when I heard about this a week or so ago and I failed to post anything about it as I just couldn't put my disgust into words. Fortunately Stephen Glover in The Mail has managed this task, so please read his article, here's a few extracts:

"Who would be the most unsuitable person in the whole world to introduce a television programme about Jesus Christ? One would be hard pushed to come up with someone worse than Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, and former member of the Provisional IRA.

Yet, believe it or not, on Sunday evening this man with blood trickling from his hands will present an hour-long Channel 4 programme about Jesus, part of a series called The Bible: A History.

A former terrorist personally implicated in at least one murder, and associated with many more, has been invited to make a documentary about a man described by his followers as the Prince of Peace, who lived a life that celebrated non-violence.


How on earth could this happen? You may suspect Gerry Adams was chosen to discourse on Jesus because he has freely admitted his sins, and apologised for his past. Christianity, after all, is a religion that extols forgiveness, and puts a high value on repentance. But Mr Adams is not sorry for what he did - not, of course, that he admits to having ever killed anyone. He says at least twice that violence was the only course open to people like himself.

I have seen a preview of the programme and it begins with a shot of the former terrorist at prayer. He informs us that he went to Mass while in prison. Then, with his vulpine features, and a sinister smile revealing shining, remodelled teeth, he tells us that 'along with others' he 'helped to bring peace to Ireland'. While stressing that he doesn't feel he has any blood on his hands, he says he wants 'to explore Jesus's message of forgiveness'.

...

I repeat: how could a respectable television channel dream of allowing an unrepentant terrorist to explain Christ's life, and give viewers the impression that he has tried to live by it? There is even a preposterous, not to say sacrilegious, subtext implying a parallel between Christ, who according to Adams was persecuted by the Roman authorities, and Adams himself, who presents himself as a victim of British power.

In the interests of balance and fairness, Channel 4 should tell viewers something about the life of this former terrorist, since Adams himself certainly does not. Though he has refused to admit it, he was a member of the Provisional IRA as far back as 1972, when he represented the organisation in secret talks with the British government. A former IRA prisoner, Dolours Price, has referred to Adams as 'my commanding officer' in 1973.

The most damning information about Adams and his life as a terrorist was published in a book called A Secret History Of The IRA by Ed Moloney, a Dublin-based investigative journalist. According to Moloney's account, which has never been contested in the courts, Adams was at various times commander of the Belfast Brigade of the IRA and the IRA's chief of staff, as well as a long-time member of the IRA Army Council.

Moloney says that Adams was chief of staff when the IRA committed one of its most appalling atrocities - the murder of 12 Protestant civilians in the La Mon hotel on the outskirts of Belfast in February 1978. Moloney also contends that in 1972 Adams may have personally ordered, or at the very least approved, the killing of Jean McConville, allegedly an informer to the security services.

The closest we come - and it is not very close - to an admission of any involvement in such atrocities is Adams's musing about war towards the end of the programme: 'You have to harden yourself because it is not a natural thing to go out and harm other human beings.' Knowing what I do about Adams's past, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I imagined him stealing down some dank Belfast street with murder in his heart.

...

He cannot plausibly claim to have lived a virtuous Christian life, which is why he is the last person on earth who should have been asked by Channel 4 to present a programme about Christ. He does not seem to have been much more decent in his personal life. For many years Gerry Adams covered up for his paedophile brother, and even helped him to work with children.

This seems to have been done not so much out of brotherly affection as to protect Adams's own reputation. When the scandal was revealed last December, Adams tried to win sympathy by claiming that his family were victims of sexual and physical abuse by his father, also called Gerry, who was buried with full IRA military honours six years ago.

As a Christian I am appalled that a man who once said he would 'wade up to my knees in Protestant blood' to achieve a united Ireland should have been asked by Channel 4 to introduce a programme about Jesus. I can see that it is a stunt, designed to attract maximum publicity to what has been a pretty undistinguished series. If Channel 4 had really wanted to make an enlightening programme about the life of Christ, there are hundreds of people far better qualified to do so than Gerry Adams.

Adams now presents himself as a democratic politician, and he has a right to be heard on that basis. But it betrays an almost unbelievable moral imbecility on the part of Channel 4 bosses to enable this unrepentant former terrorist to yoke himself to Jesus Christ, not to throw light on the noblest life ever lived but as a crude piece of self-serving IRA propaganda."

A nice piece about Gordon Brown's latest smears

Read Denverthen and spread the word about the smearing of our 'beloved' Prime Minister.

Here's a couple of extracts, but do read the whole piece:

"But Brown. My God, this man is a piece of work. Let's just have a quick look at some of the latest, increasingly desperate claptrap coming out of his gawping piehole today. His claim, first of all, that this crisis was caused by the banks, suggests that he's retreated into the kind of cowardly, "bunker" mentality that caused people to realise how unsalvageably flawed he was, and totally unsuited to the office he took by default, in the first place. For the record, it was his policies and his light-touch, hopelessly inadequate system of regulation that allowed the banks to behave with such recklessness in the first place. It was his actual encouragement of the property bubble and the massive personal debt bubble that left people so exposed when the bust came. His behaviour, and blinkered, hateful arrogance in suggesting that he had 'abolished boom and bust', virtually guaranteed that when the bubble burst, Britain would be the most exposed major economy in the world and the British people would be the biggest losers. The point is, his ridiculous claim that this was 'all the banks' fault' is palpably ridiculous - and was proved as such long ago.

...

We're used to the Tory-hating smears - they go with the Brown territory. But combined - and total - confusion over the economy and the difference between government and state is something fairly new, at least to me. I can understand the economic incoherence. Given the state of the British economy after a decade of Chancellor Brown and three further years of him as First Lord of the Treasury, it's not hard to see where that comes from. But this government/state thing: I feel that he really, genuinely, doesn't see a difference; he thinks they are one and the same. Government is the State; people are merely units of that State whose sole purpose is to service it in order that it can provide for them.

Oh my God! Brown really is a socialist! So that's what's been bugging me all this time...

New Labour might have fooled some of the people some of the time, but Brown is fooling no one. His brand of state socialism, masquerading as some kind of government altruism, is not what Britain needs just now, thanks very much (did it ever?). Bring on the election so we can have done with it. "

The future of Internet browsing choice

Microsoft reveal that:

"Over the next few weeks, Microsoft will begin offering a “Web browser choice screen” to Internet Explorer users in Europe, as required by the European Commission. Internal testing of the choice screen is underway now. We’ll begin a limited roll-out externally next week, and expect that a full scale roll-out will begin around March 1, a couple of weeks ahead of schedule."

Read the whole article to see how it will work and how happy Microsoft are!

To summarise, Windows 7 users will have Internet Explorer automatically "unpinned" from their task bars as part of the choice process and users will get a screen warning that they have "an important choice to make", before getting the list of what Microsoft describes as "leading browsers".

Of course the web savvy will already be using alternative browsers and those that don't will not really understand that there is an alternative to Internet Explorer or what that means, they just want to access the Internet.

Theresa May calls Harriet Harman a liar and the general election looks like it will be March/April

Iain Dale has the letter from Theresa May to Harriet Harman and also some the news that

"Labour Ministers have pulled out of attending this weekend's BAFTA ceremony... it is the day the Prime Minister will call a March election. We know already that he is making a speech tomorrow announcing the four themes of the election, together with Labour's election slogan."

Much as I predicted this morning. Iain Dale also reveals that:

"(an) email has just gone out to senior Labour election planners, candidates and agents. It gives them a deadline of next Wednesday for them to order their election literature.... This weekend's events are clearly of huge importance to the Labour campaign, hence the extended print deadline. I cannot think why they would be doing all this now if an election announcement wasn't imminent.

Surely Gordon can't march his troops up to the top of the hill again? "

So it looks as though Gordon Brown, maybe advised by the vile duo of Mandelson and Campbell, has weighed up his fear of fighting an early election (indeed any election) with the knowledge that in two months time the true extent of the economic crisis that his policies have wrought upon the country will become too clear to too many for him to win a May election. Thus I am afraid we have to look forward to a month or so of lies and spin from the Labour party, and its willing allies in the BBC, in what will be the most vicious and spiteful election campaign ever in the UK. It is not going to be a pretty campaign; the Labour party is a wounded beast that will spit venom, spread smears, lie and in certain cases cheat their way to the election date.

The most 1980 pop video ever?

US school controls pupils' laptop webcams to spy on the pupils at home!

This article from Boing Boing is quite staggering. It seems that:

"According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines."

This is staggering, the laptops issued to high-school students have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators theoretically to spy on students and their families.


A comment to the Boing Boing article left me even more shocked:

"Digital Nation, the documentary/project that Douglas Ruskoff was/is a big part of, explored a similar issue. They showed a school (middle or high school) that really embraced laptops and new media as part of the learning process. It was the job of a staff member to spend a couple hours each day monitoring what the students were doing - working, surfing, etc. The staff member who was monitoring showed how he could remotely snap a photo when a student was using Photobooth during class, and how this usually caused them to get back to work.

But that was at school with laptops presumably provided by the school, so while it still feels a bit odd to me, I think there's a good argument for the practice in that environment.

But to extend that to the students' homes? That's terrible. And really creepy.

I hope it wasn't the same school that they showed in Digital Nation, because I kinda liked their style. "

That Nick Cosgrove interview...

This morning I asked

"Did you hear it? Could you believe the standard of questioning? Is embarrassment the reason that this interview is still not available on the Today Programme website, I think every other item is. I will wait for the whole programme to appear on Listen Again and post a transcript; it'll be well worth the wait! "

Well the interview is on Listen Again and here's that question posed by Nick Cosgrove to the AA's President, Edmund King:

"The union say that AA staff have worked flat out through the worst winter conditions in 30 years only to be told by their gluttonous private equity fat cats that they want to squeeze more blood out of the stone to line their own pockets, what do you say to that?"

I know that he prefaced the question to make it seem that the question was not his but the union's but is that really appropriate language for an interview with an industrial leader? I suppose that at the socialist BBC, it is.

The Taxman changing the rules to get more tax

The Times reveals a worrying story of how the HMRC has changed some tax rules retrospectively and has been supported in this by the Court of Appeal:

"Thousands of entrepreneurs and celebrities face huge tax bills after a British businessman based in the Seychelles lost a long-running court battle over his residency yesterday.

The Court of Appeal ruled that Robert Gaines-Cooper was liable to pay UK tax despite spending less than 91 days a year in the country because England had remained “the centre of gravity of his life and interests”.

The ruling is a serious blow for wealthy men and women who are based overseas but visit Britain frequently. After the court’s decision, Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said that it would increase its efforts to catch people who owed tax.

Although the three Court of Appeal judges expressed “some sympathy” for Mr Gaines-Cooper, they ruled that he had never qualified for exemption from British taxes as a non-resident. Now he may be pursued for tax bills dating back to 1993, estimated at about £30 million. "

So there we go, judges have kowtowed to the HMRC and thrown out the well understood 91 day rule and replaced it with an entirely subjective and arbitrary "centre of gravity" rule.

Retrospective changes in the law, whether tax or otherwise, cannot be right. However 13 years of Labour misrule have left the UK needing every last penny of taxation, hence all the short-term "tax amnesties" to be followed by many in-depth tax investigations.

The other realisation that many are coming to is that there is a now a presumption in the UK that all the money 'earned' by individuals really belongs to the state and that citizens should feel privileged to be allowed to retain some of these 'earnings'. Of course the socialists who believe this don't realise that taxing the rich until 'the pips squeak' gives the rich a great incentive to move themselves, their wealth and their tax elsewhere thus eventually impoverishing everyone.

That reminds me of the story that I have told before about how the Tax System works, do read it:

"Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay £1
The sixth would pay £3
The seventh would pay £7
The eighth would pay £12
The ninth would pay £18
The tenth man (the richest) would pay £59

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by £20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just £80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the £20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that £20 divided by six is £3.33. But if they subtracted that from everyone's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid £2 instead of £3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay £5 instead of £7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid £9 instead of £12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid £14 instead of £18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid £49 instead of £59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a pound out of the £20,' declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, 'but he got £10!'

'Yes, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a pound, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I did'

'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get £10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up any more. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier and weather is nicer. "

"Either he dithered unforgivably..."

You can guess who that was said about... Yes Gordon 'great dithering twit' Brown; as described by the Lib Dem's Ed Davey today. You can read more here but Ed Davey is right about one thing, Gordon Brown is one of the great ditherers - will he manage to make a decision and call a general election before May 5 or will he wait for just one more opinion poll, just one more piece of good news. Mind you if he does call the election for March or early April it will clearly be so that he can hold it before even worse economic news is released and to avoid appearing at the Chilcot Inquiry.

So is Gordon Brown is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't? Yes and ain't that a shame!

It's war

I am afraid that I have to inform you that war has broken out in the blogosphere; 'boob war'. Initial hostilities seem to have been commenced by American Power albeit after much provocation by Theo Spark, The Daley Gator has joined in and Wy Blog has too.

This could be a long campaign, there may be bust-ups along the way but you owe it to yourself to follow the tit for tat exchanges...


So far I would say it was a battle between Gemma Atkinson and Salma Hayek; but I could be swayed another way...

Do the Conservatives want to win the general election

It has been on my mind recently that this election might be one to lose as whoever wins it is going to have to take urgent and unpopular action very quickly if the UK is not to have its credit rating downgraded with all that that would entail for the economy.

"Boys From County Hell" made an excellent comment on Guido's blog today:

"I am starting to hope Labour wins the next election by the slimmest of margins and with no percentile vote difference to the Tories and with 50% of the electorate refusing to vote, I hope Griffin wins Barking and they get another seat up North just to see the panel on BBC election nights faces, I hope the Tories miss the marginals they need due to leaking votes to UKIP thanks to genuflecting to Brussels, and that the new Govt then only lasts 12 months of hell and economic/social collapse before another election is forced with a new Tory leader, only then will the people who have destroyed the country be forced to accept responsibility for their actions. Sometimes you need to burn the moor to ensure new growth."