Michael Howard and tax freedom day

Now this is worth sharing far and wide:

In his first party political broadcast since taking over as party chief, Mr Howard said the day of the year when people stop working for the taxman and start working for themselves should be marked by a public holiday.

When Labour came to power in 1997, Tax Freedom Day fell on May 27. But after 60 Labour tax rises introduced by Chancellor Gordon Brown, it fell on June 2 this year, and will not arrive until June 9 in 2005. That means two weeks' money, that used to belong to the people earning it, is now swallowed by the state.

A plan which will certainly help counter the stealth taxation weapon. Throw in a holiday on St. George's day too for added goodness.

Look, his pants are on fire. What did you expect?

When you run a competition that aims to find the worlds biggest liar you can't accuse the winner of cheating and expect any sympathy. You only have yourself to blame. The competition took place at the Bridge Inn and no doubt there was much in the way of liquid refreshment available but that does not excuse this kind of behaviour:

Spectators at the World's Biggest Liar contest abused the winner for "not being Cumbrian", despite it being open to competitors from all over the world.

By the way, the winner of the competition is also King of the Wasdale Valley.

Well, goodbye then

Zimbabwe 'president' Robert Mugabe is threatening to take Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth. Well, goodbye then. I'm sure Zimbabwe will re-apply and be welcome back with open arms after you're gone.

You can still get a six shooter

Mr Free Market is not best pleased with Hamleys, a large toy store, because he experienced problems finding a toy six shooter there. I feel your pain but I have the solution! John Lewis do them (or at least they did a little while ago), and very nice they are too.

In fact only recently I returned to the shop with my boy who was wearing the very same six shooter we bought for him there. Yes, you heard right, he was wearing it, in a holster, in public and in broad daylight.

We walked under many a security camera too and nothing happened.

John Lewis is the store you want. Yip, sure is.

Shooter for sale

It's this kind of thing that's 'fueling gun crime' in Britain.

It's all going pear shaped

A few years ago I felt something was wrong. It seemed to me that things in England weren't quite the way they should be and it frustrated me. Frustrated me because I couldn't really put my finger on what it was and because none of the people that I socialised with felt it to the same degree that I did.

England seemed to be loosing sight of the meaning of justice and what caring really meant and in its place came a kind of legislative care. The state would tell us what was right and wrong, who was good and bad, who was permitted to punish wickedness and who was not.

This was bad enough for me because I have always been comfortable with my view of good and bad, right and wrong. My own good sense had always served me well in the past and it seemed to be a mainstream kind of sense where goodness was rewarded and wickedness punished.

And then it changed. I don't know when it happened but I started hearing news about how this person was arrested for resisting a burglary, or that person was in court because they had restrained a school bully or some such.

It seemed to me that interpretation of the law (and there was more and more of it with each passing year) and the meaning of justice had passed their closest point and had started on a new route onwards to some kind of apogee where being wicked or being good is not the point. I hated it, but I seemed to be the only one who felt it so acutely.

Of course I was not the only one and the Internet, and more specifically blogging, has shown me that there are many more who feel the same way.

Peter Cuthbertson is one of them and his moving article about 77 year-old Bill Clifford, a good man who took his own life because he could no longer take what life in England was offering him, articulates my feelings perfectly:

What an outrage against the most elementary principles of justice such cases are. What a signal they are of the sick liberal cancer at the heart of British society.

Go and read it. Decide if you agree with his sentiments. If you do not you are not welcome here. The England Project can do without you.

Operation Secret Turkey

I'm not sure I believe this. It says Bush flew to Baghdad today in secret to have dinner with some United States officials and a group of American troops:

Mr. Bush sneaked out of Crawford on Wednesday in an unmarked car, then flew to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, where a few advisers and a small number of reporters sworn to secrecy joined him. They then flew on to Baghdad International Airport, arriving around dusk.

It's like in the films.

Fool me once, shame on me

Dear Mr. Obasanjo,

Thank you for kindly offering to clear up all the Nigerian fraudsters that have been plaguing us in recent times. I would like to offer you my help in progressing this worthwhile cause.

I wonder if, as a sign of good faith and provenance, you could send me a photograph of yourself perhaps in your government residence or chairing a government meeting or some such.

I know it seems churlish to make such a request but we've had bad experiences dealing with Nigerians in the past.

Faithfully,

Howard bites

After the Queen's speech Michael Howard had a few words to say to the prime minister. Quite a few as it turns out and some of it nasty:

"Real prime ministers lead their chancellors, you follow yours," he told Mr Blair.

"You may strut your stuff on the world stage, but when it comes to domestic policy, never in recent history has a prime minister been so weak, so feeble, so utterly unable to do what he wants - and all this with a huge majority in this House.

"How utterly humiliating for you, and how very damaging for our country - outmanoeuvred by a politically obsessed chancellor."

That's got to hurt.

The drinks are on you

Londoners, just go and read how the mayor of London pays for his political band standing:

How much did the reception cost and who paid for it?
'It was a few thousand.'

How many thousand?
'A few.'

Who paid this few thousand?
'It came from the Project Development Budget.'

Who finances the Project Development Budget?
'The Greater London Authority.'

Who finances the Greater London Authority?
'Well, you know the answer to that.'

Think about that next time your council tax bill comes through.

Downsize fad hits blog world

Oh no, diamond geezer has gone tabloid. Still, it saves all that folding of the screen and the glass splinters.

He says there will be no dumbing down but I could have sworn that his URL use to be hydrocarbonboy.blogspot.com.

The fools don't know what they are dealing with

This is a mistake:

The European Union has chosen France as its preferred location for a nuclear reactor that scientists hope will revolutionise world power production.

The last thing we need is a strike at an experimental nuclear reactor plant.

The Queen's Speech

The Queen's speech is notable for what it did not include:

The lack of a commitment to a hunting bill will anger some Labour backbenchers after the Lords blocked attempts to ban hunting with dogs earlier this year.

Angry Labour backbenchers? Excellent. Perhaps when they have calmed down a little they will turn their attention to more important things.

The rain! The rain!

The England Project could not really call itself English without some discussion of the weather of which we have had quite a bit recently.

Last weekend it drizzled for two days solid, without let up as far as I could tell. It was a sign of things to come and yesterday we were not let down as the heavens opened up dumping all the cats and dogs it could muster onto us with a few other assorted mammals thrown in for good measure.

The journey home from work was a difficult one, which culminated in a near stall as I drove my car at speed through a rather deep and well hidden (read right in front of my eyes) puddle. “Not as bad as the Great Storm of October 1987” I thought as I hit the revs, beating the stall (are Japanese cars supposed to make that squealing sound?).

Ah yes, the Great Storm of ’87. We lost a chimney in that one. It was nothing, however, compared to The Great Storm of 1703:

We know a lot about the 1703 storm because one man went out of his way to record the experiences of ordinary people across the country. That man was Daniel Defoe, later the author of Robinson Crusoe, and a fine reporter/journalist to boot. He tells how windmills across East Anglia spun so fast that friction ignited the timbers and many just burnt to the ground.

Long live the commonwealth

The commonwealth shows how things should be done:

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has not been invited to the Commonwealth summit meeting, to be held in Nigeria.

"He will not have an invitation," said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who hosts the summit next month.

Much better than all that disgraceful handshaking.

Quote of the day

And to lighten the mood, a few quotes on the subject of alchohol:

I'm not as thrunk as drinkle peep I am - unknown

I've never been drunk, but often I've been overserved - unknown

Only Irish Coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat - unknown

No, not yet

Andrew Sullivan thinks that:

Now is surely the time to bring Turkey into the EU and to reassure them of our solidarity.

First things first, there's still the little problem of a divided Cyprus to sort out before this can happen.

What the Turks did to Cyprus and to the unfortunate Cypriot families caught up in their invasion cannot be forgiven just because they have been subjected to terror in their own country. Letting them into the EU without resolving the Cyprus problem will be a disgraceful slap in the face for the Cypriots. It cannot be allowed to happen.

To the core

On pompous French twits

There's a fine posting over at the Edge of England's Sword about Britain's choice of world partner which you should read in full. In it a senior French official is quoted as saying:

"the British must choose. Either they are with us, united in Europe, where they should be, or they are destined to become united with America, something like an American state."

I'm a gut feeling kind of guy and my first reaction to this was anger. It's hard to describe why but perhaps it has something to do with the imagery that went through my mind when I read it. A pompous French twit telling the British where they should be. Worse than that, this pompous French twit is an 'official' so now the pomposity comes from officialdom. That's where the anger starts. Just there, on simmer.

Then there's the wrong headedness of it. Sure we are part of Europe physically but that's not what the pompous French twit was on about and we all know it. He means part of the team, happy in European togetherness, bound by a French document and diluted in a German/French broth that promises little in the way of meaty chunkiness. And we should do this because a foreign official, nay a whole legion of foreign officials (let's call them chefs or cooks if you will), think that's where the British 'should be'. I think the anger is close to boiling at this point.

So what if we don't want to become united? Well the French official is kind enough to give us another option. We can become something like an American state. Right there; that's it. Boiling point.

Much as I love and respect America Britain does not have to become 'like an American state' (though it is by far the most attractive of the choices kindly offered to us). We can, for want of a better phrase, remain utterly and happily British. Distanced from our American friends by the Atlantic, and isolated from our French neighbours by cultural, ethical and historical differences.

Pompous French twits would do well to remember that their sphere of influence becomes smaller each time they open their mouths.

Dance yourself thin

Finally, an exercise regime that's fun to watch:

Emerging invigorated from a pole session, Birte Fehse said: "Everyone should do poledancing - every girl should do poledancing."

I've been saying something similar for years.

New labour, old problems

This kind of thing seems to be part of the British landscape again:

Hundreds of council workers are staging the latest in a series of selective strikes in London over pay.

It's like olden times. I'm going out to buy some candles for when the power cuts come.

A condemnation but....

Denis MacShane thinks that UK Muslim leaders need to condemn terrorist attacks more clearly and with stronger language. This has provoked anger among senior Muslims who branded his suggestion as "disgraceful".

So, into the situation steps Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, offering us this condemnation of the terrorists:

"The Muslim community has consistently condemned terrorism and we condemn this latest attack on the British consulate and HSBC in Turkey."

I would hardly call that strong language but each to his own I suppose. Then we get:

"The attacks only emphasise that the disastrous war in Iraq has not reduced the risk of terrorism, as our own governments had us believe beforehand, but has exacerbated it.

We do not need lectures from a representative of a government that has conducted an unlawful war against Iraq"

And there we have exactly the kind of thing Denis MacShane is on about I guess. A dry condemnation with the passion saved up for the 'but'.

Army regiments to be disbanded?

This BBC report suggests that ten army regiments are facing the axe. It's unconfirmed but when you have a defence secretary who has previously gone on the record with

"measuring the capability of our armed forces by the number of units will no longer be significant"

there is certainly room for speculation.

The liberation of Iraq has shown us that technology and sufficient troop numbers are both important and a reduction in either will be extremely hard to justify especially in the current world situation.

Her army and her navy
Britain shall cast aside;
Soldiers and ships are costly things,
Defence an empty pride.

What is Chirac on?

And here is an alternative take on the England Australia match:

England's rugby champions have won effusive praise from Jacques Chirac, who said their defeat of Australia was "a victory for Europe."

It's always Europe, Europe, Europe with him.

From a neighbour last night: Winning the world cup was good for England. Trafalgar was good for Europe.

My nails, my nails, they suffer so

Australia 17 - England 20.

In summary the Australians were not backward in coming forward when it came to picking up the scraps thrown to them by the English who were in charge for most of the game.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Civil war

In a crystallising post over at One Hand Clapping Donald Sensing suggests that the current terror war is actually a Muslim civil war. It's the al Qaeda view of Islam versus the more moderate and, let's face it, peace compatible view of Islam.

...the Muslim world is faced with defining what Islam really is. If al Qaeda is not in fact the keeper of the true faith, then the rest of the Muslims must unite to destroy al Qaeda just to ensure the survival of Islam itself. They need to understand that the present crisis is not primarily that of Islamists against the West, it is the Islamists against everybody who does not toe their line.

My emphasis.

It seems that the key to this war on terror is to persuade the moderates that this is actually the case, though I suspect that further atrocities in Islamic countries will leave little doubt. However, recognising a position and actually admitting to it are very different things and I think we have a long period of denial ahead of us.

Much hotness

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the past couple of days. I've been unwell. To make up for it here's an absolutely superb photograph from the Rugby world cup:

Sorry, image deleted due to too much hot linking - leeching my bandwidth away.

La la la Livingstone

Did Ken Livingstone really think no one would notice his inability to accept reality? His astonishingly wrong headed verbal ejection has not brought him the kind of help he so obviously needs but, instead, has resulted in a freezing over of an already chilly relationship with the Labour party:

A deal to return Ken Livingstone to the Labour Party was dramatically postponed today amid fury over his attacks on George Bush.

The Mayor's response to the US President's state visit to Britain sparked a ferocious backlash at senior levels in the party.

A lucky escape for the Labour party.

And almost making today's quote of the day:

Mr Kinnock's office said he would not say anything in public but pointed out he was on record as saying that "only the Livingstone Party ever has or ever will command Ken's real loyalty".

Lean times

It's difficult to get a word in edgeways at the moment. The left seems to be exploding all by itself.

Sublime

The British left intermittently erupts like a pustule upon the buttock of a rather good country. - Frederick Forsyth

From an open letter to the visiting presedent of the United States of America, George Bush.

Fair play old chap

Did you know that Cleopatra’s Needle was a gift from the Egyptians to the British after Nelson defeated the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in 1798? We keep it in London, on the banks of the Thames. A hard won trophy, I think you’d agree.

Did you also know that the Americans have one? Yes, a needle of their own given to them by the Egyptians in 1881 in the hope of stimulating economic investment in Egypt. They keep it in Central Park, New York.

It hardly seems fair, you know, that we have to sink a fleet to get one whereas all the Americans have to do is buy some Egyptian products or some such to get theirs.

I think a little more US aggression towards the French is in order. Fair play demands it.

Quote of the day

I don't know who said this:

When subjected to extreme feminine heat and pressure, male hydrocarbons will often produce a diamond.

All Party? I don't think so

Here is the report Combating the threat of gun violence from the 'All Party Parliamentary Group on Gun Crime' (PDF).

Apparently the one party absent was any major group representing supporters of private gun ownership in the UK (Airgun Training and Education Organisation is by no means a major or representative enough group). It's not surprising that the report reads like an anti-gun manifesto.

And if we turn to the back page we see:

Published by Saferworld, Secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Group in association with the Gun Control Network

Well, no surprise there then.

(PS. The Chair of the group is notably Diane Abbott MP who, as we know, has been a bit loose with her principles in recent times.)

Trust and ID cards

Peter Hitchens wants you to get angry now:

We will become just like other countries where arrogant power will not let us walk down the street without poking its nose into our affairs. When this happens, England will cease to be England for ever and it will be far too late to be angry.

So please, get angry now.

I'm way ahead of you on this one Peter but as you note here:

Hence the dispiriting parrot-like squawk of 'If you haven't done anything wrong, or have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear', which comes from those who are happy to be tagged and docketed and scanned by the authorities

it does seem that many are quite happy with the idea of carrying an ID card around and, presumably, would think nothing of handing it over for inspection for no other reason than they have been asked to produce it.

It's fundamentally a question of trust, I guess, and a great many people's default position is to trust government and to trust that it will always have their interests at heart.

The way to win is to persuade those that have always trusted government that things can take a turn for the worst and that very bad people with evil ideas can get into positions of power. This is extraordinarily difficult to do with the current track record of British government at home throughout recent history.

Unless you have been unfortunate enough to have been a member of one of the minorities that the government has disenfranchised you will not really have a basis on which to mistrust them. You will buy the idea of ID cards and even welcome them with open arms.

You don't say

An 'expert' believes that a ban on hunting with dogs could lead to a serious breakdown in relations between police and rural communities. Well, what do you expect when 40,000 people sign a declaration saying they will deliberately break a law banning hunting before the law is even passed.

I'm sorry, did I say 40,000? That can't be right, the population of a good sized town saying up front that they are willing to break a future law? Ridiculous. Something must be done.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) has made it clear it will enforce any ban passed by Parliament.

Indeed, like they enforce the ban on burglaries and muggings. Or better because, you know, at least the hunters have the courtesy to wear a distinctive uniform.

Alistair McWhirter, an Acpo's spokesman, says he is well aware of the implications of a ban for police community relations in the countryside. That's nice to know.

We've been working hard to get the confidence of the people in the rural area and, as a rural chief constable, we work constantly to keep a blue light presence in rural areas and so on.

Blue lights and so on. That's marvellous.

...I would say is that there are quite a few people in rural communities who are anti-hunting just as many as there are pro-hunting. So we have to balance those needs of those communities out against each other.

Yes, that's right, your job is to balance communities out against each other, after all, legislation allows for this kind of balancing doesn't it?

Perhaps you'd like to do a bit of re-balancing between the law abiding home owner and the members of the burglary fraternity, you know, given that you are in the balancing mood?

Or perhaps arresting some fox hunters would be better for balancing out some crime figures.

Again the smiling hedgerow
Shall field from field divide;
Again among the woodlands
The scarlet troop shall ride.

You can't miss them.

Peas in a pod

On the same day that the EU fails for the 9th year in a row to balance its accounts (only 10% of expenditure has been correctly accounted for) the Germans are facing criticism from the European Commission over its huge budget deficit. The EC wants Germany to cut its deficit by 0.8% next year and bring it down to 3% by 2005 after being in violation of EU rules for 4 years.

Germany's finance minister Hans Eichel has rejected the threat of sanctions if it cannot reach a compromise deal.

It seems that the party is not turning out as well as Hans would have liked. Maybe the French can help throw in a few ideas on how Hans can deal with his financial difficulties:

Germany is hoping that France, which has also breached the budget rules, will support its stand.

Oh dear, not much chance of that then.

Micro anarchy

Not only do I not understand how people can behave like this:

An ambulance car responding to an emergency call in Staffordshire has been attacked by vandals.

I don't really want to. I don't care for their reasons. Read the article. Read about what the ambulance was doing at the time. Read about the injury sustained by the ambulance technician from a neighbouring service.

I dearly hope that the thugs that did this are caught, charged, found guilty and thrown straight into prison. That's the kind of use I want to see my taxes put to.

Zoom Zoom

For those interested in this kind of thing here's an animation showing the workings of the Mazda RX-8 rotary engine.

What would you pay...

...to see a couple of anti-anti Bush protesters at the up and coming march holding up a banner saying:

Go home
Anti Bush Protesters
You lefty wankers

Obviously you'd have to include some extra 'danger money' in there.

What a shower

Once again the annual Leonid meteor shower will soon be here.

Experts predict that up to 100 Leonid shooting stars could be seen streaking through the sky every hour.

However, light from the moon will make the meteors hard to spot until about Wednesday.

It wasn't all that long ago that meteor showers such as the Leonids were viewed as divine messages. These days only people who have a failing grip on reality believe that sort of thing.

Look Tarquin, a sign from the heavens. Tomorrow we shall face the demon Bush and crush him.

The grand unified theory of the blogosphere

If Michele really wants to make progress with the grand unified theory of the blogosphere she needs to give up on the Newtonian model and ask herself what string theory says about it. It’s not about stars and planets it’s about multiple dimensions, graviton particles and wormholes.

A dinner party

My wife and I joined six others at a dinner party this Saturday at the home of a good friend. During the main course the subject of ID cards came up (no, I didn't start it) and, not being in the habit of keeping my mouth shut when it would probably serve me to do so, I promptly disagreed with the speaker who was firmly in the "I think they're a great idea" camp.

As it turns out I alone was of the opinion that ID cards would be a bad thing. There were a couple of abstainers and five firmly for the plans with one of those deeply concerned about this whole issue I seem to have with the state. I supplied enlightenment by telling him it was simply the size of the state I had a general problem with but I made no progress with the ID card issue (except for one I know what your saying acknowledgement).

So far this England project seems to be going badly, though our victory over the French on Sunday was some consolation.

Big media

This post over at au currant takes us to a Guardian article which informs us that the Murdoch media machine may switch its allegiance from the Labour government to the Tory party if the Tories, under Howard, can prove themselves a viable alternative.

The media tycoon, Rupert Murdoch, last night signalled that his newspapers may switch their allegiance to a reinvigorated Tory party at the next election, in comments likely to cause further alarm among Labour's already jittery high command.

I know that this is the way of the world and that it would be naive to think otherwise but the self importance of this media giant is sickening. It really yanks my chain that they have the power (and know it) to influence the outcome of public elections.

On the one side we have raw media power, on the other we have the political elite and in the middle we have the public, constantly lied to and manipulated in someone else’s dirty game.

England v France

This time it's personal.

Tomorrow England & France go head to head on the rugby pitch. Be in front of your TV screens at 8:50am and set your channel to ITV1.

French toast.

The peasants are revolting

No honestly, they are:

We're getting reports that anarchists will storm Buckingham Palace.

It will be hugely entertaining, watching these anarchists splash themselves against the palace gates. Captain, fix bayonet’s!

In no way does The England Project condone the shooting of anarchists. Honestly.

Results just in

The results of the BBC caption competition are in. My favourite:

Here's to Iain Derrick-Smith, we will never forget you. - Si Clone, UK

Replace this word with "Mechanical"?

In a very strange case of harassment a couple of vampires are sent away:

for making obscene telephone calls which included "howling noises", screeching sounds and mechanical laughing.

Mechanical laughing? Me thinks a spell checker should take the credit for that one.

Then they smash them all to bits.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Best record covers in the world - ever

Being, as I am, in a lazy mood today and prompted by recent "worst album covers in the world" posts doing the rounds in the blogosphere, I thought I'd post what are unarguably the two best record covers in the world ever:
Iron Maiden's, The Trooper We get so close near enough to fight When a Russian gets me in his sights He pulls the trigger and I feel the blow A burst of rounds take my horse below. And as I lay there gazing at the sky My body's numb and my throat is dry And as I lay forgotten and alone Without a tear I draw my parting groan From the title track, The Trooper	Magnum's, On a Story Tellers Night They dispatch their precious cargo Knock him back right off his feet And they pray may no one follow Better still to face the beast When the field has become a garden And the wall has stood the test Children play and the dogs run barking Who would think or who would guess From the track, Les Morts Dansant

Both bands were great to see live, though I feel Magnum lost their way after the Storyteller's album.

More women on the beat please

So, "bobby on the beat" experiments fail while women on patrol initiatives succeed:

Women living on a housing estate in Northamptonshire are so sick of crime they are patrolling the streets at night....in the five weeks since Street Watch had been formed crime on the estate had reduced dramatically.

It's all very peculiar.

Quote of the day

Talking about Mercedes Benz:

"There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 380SL convertible." - P.J.O'Rourke.

ID cards

The Spectator has an article up on ID cards. There's lots in there but for me these are the money quotes:

In addition, they inconvenience the individual. The Guardian’s Brussels correspondent recently noted how he had visited the Belgian police one morning to make a complaint about noisy neighbours, only to find himself being reprimanded for not having his ID card on him. In such ways do these devices needlessly turn the victims of crime into perpetrators.

I would say that's slightly more than an inconvenience. It's a telling off, if you like, from an agent of the state for not complying with one of their administrative requirements. I'm not sure how I would react to such a situation but if my Italian heritage has anything to do with it I suspect there will be a lot of shouting and hand waving.

Further:

And here’s the rub. Why should I have to have this thing? Mr Blunkett says that although his cards will be compulsory, one won’t have to carry them at all times. This rather defeats the purpose of the whole exercise. In any case, his scheme still undermines individual liberty. Say I happen to pop out to the local shop and find a policeman en route who asks me to produce my ID card. When I can’t, he orders me to turn up with it at the station within 24 hours. Well, why should I have to? I’m not an illegal immigrant. I’m a generally law-abiding person. I don’t mind paying £40 if I know I’m going to get £40 worth of something back. But what am I getting for it beyond a singularly expensive rectangle of plastic? To be forced to pay for something that will only inconvenience me is an outrage.

Anyone who has had to produce their driving license at a police station after a random roadside check will know how inconvenient and annoying this can be. However, with driving licenses it is different because it's not unreasonable to have to prove to the police that you have passed the compulsory competence test. What do I have to prove to the police with an identity card? Well, my identity of course, but why do they need to know that? Surely this would only be acceptable under very very limited circumstances and that does not include a walk down to the local shops.

But of course, the supporters of the scheme will say that this will never happen. It is a contrived example, they will say. You will never need to show your card unless there was a very good reason.

Perhaps I give supporters of the scheme a little too much credit. Perhaps supporters will say that it is perfectly reasonable for the police to want to check my identity to make sure that I have the right to be in the country.

"You do look a bit foreign after all."

The other, more evil, England project

Peter Hitchens, in an interview with The American Enterprise, brings up the EU’s design to break down England into bite sized Euro units:

One of the main purposes of the European Union is to break down the nation-states into other units. The European Parliament will, if you press them, give you a map of these regions. England is divided into things called Northeast Region, Southeast Region, London Region, Eastern Region, which a lot of people don't even know they live in. There are shadow assemblies in these regions already being devised. The British Parliament at Westminster will continue to exist, but its powers, both internationally and nationally, will be sucked away: its international powers to Brussels, and its national powers will disappear to these artificial E.U. regions (along with the powers of our historic counties and city governments).

He also discusses the same issue in his latest Mail on Sunday article which is worth reading for this one paragraph:

Prescott plays cleverly on his resemblance to the comedian Les Dawson, but there is really nothing funny at all about this hardline, anti-British militant, or about his scheme.

I always thought there was something funny about Prescott.

This kind of comparison is completely beneath me:

BBC caption competition

The BBC have got a caption competition up which might be entertaining. Follow the link and you'll see a picture of Michael Howard (the Conservative party leader) holding up a pint of Spitfire looking like he's having a bit of a gloat.

Perhaps he's thinking see you next question time Tony. Or perhaps he's completely toasted and in an I really love you kind of mood.

Mercs4Crims

Iain Murray is lost for words and it’s not difficult to see why:

Prisoners are being ferried about in luxury chauffeur-driven Mercedes cars, it was confirmed today.

The prisoners from Holloway, Pentonville and Wormwood Scrubs in London are driven in £30,000 E-class Mercedes Benz cars with leather seats, air conditioning and professional drivers to hospital and other appointments.

A spokesman for Corporate Cars, based in Whetstone, north London, defended the use of luxury cars today, claiming that the high-class cars were used because of security risks.

“Do you want to know why we use Mercedes?” he said. “What is the most reliable car on the road?

Well, I’m glad you asked. The most reliable car on the road is a Mazda.

It’s those same old myths, if you want a reliable car buy a Mercedes; if you want to be a criminal be one in the UK. No wait, that last one’s true.

It seems that some don't see the problem with using air conditioned mercedes for prisoner transportation. The fact is that, joking aside, it's not just an issue of reliability and economics. It's also matter of justice being seen to be done and this kind of "justice" is hard to swallow for the honest guy that has to take a dirty London bus into work every morning.

The primary responsibility of the prison service is not to cut costs but to ensure that the prisoners pay their debt to society. Many in society do not include mercedes and air conditioning as part of the deal.

I think they're serious

I mean, you couldn't make this up:

The love of drunken revellers for walking off with traffic cones has left one police force facing a costly shortage.....With derby clashes coming up between Southampton and Portsmouth football clubs in the city in December, the police have backed a cone amnesty.

Of course, they'll claim that the amnesty was a massive success, with 40,000 cones handed in when in actual fact all they will have received is a couple of old boots and a hat.

(Not gun related, not gun related, not gun related).

From Tony to Cherie

It seems increasingly likely that the government will be legislating in some way to the detriment of law abiding replica gun owners in the UK. Responding to the publication of the All Party Parliamentary Group on gun crime report the home office concluded

The report rightly recognises that 'gun laws in the UK are amongst the strongest in the world' but that we cannot be complacent. At the moment, we have a number of tough new legislative measures going through Parliament to deal with both criminal use of firearms and any emerging gun culture. In addition, we are carrying out a comprehensive review of firearms legislation and will use that to consider in detail the views expressed here, particularly in relation to replica, deactivated and air weapons.

I certainly wouldn't put it past them to try and ban replicas completely.

Anyhow, I'm trying to cut down on my posting and frothing about the governments attitude to guns and related sports and pastimes because down that route lies madness and it is the primary reason why I gave up my original blogging project. So, hopefully, this will be the last for a while.

From Tony to Cherie

I'll tell you something hun,
That those that use the gun,
Are either hunting pheasants,
Or out there shooting peasants.

What I can't understand,
Is that handguns are banned,
We took them all away,
Yet on the streets they stay.

Another ban I feel,
On guns that are not real,
Will show we really care,
About the peeps out there.

For show is what I mean,
It makes us seem too keen,
These things that failed before,
Are easy to make law.

To catch a crim is hard,
They say so down the yard,
And anyhow the boys,
Want us to ban the toys.

To crush another sport,
Is something I'd have thought,
Would not be far amiss,
To get us out of this.

It matters not to me,
To take their property,
And anyhow my dear,
The peasants have their beer.

Safety in the city

So, you're thinking of moving from countryside to the City. What do you do? Organise the removal service, redirect the post, hire the SAS for some city survival training:

Mr McGrath, who spent 15 years in the army, explained: "We were running the gap-year course, when we got a call from a woman who was worried not because her daughter was going to Cambodia - but because she was moving from Suffolk to London."

Jobs for the boys and girls

Perry de Havilland notes that:

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has announced that it will be pressing for a ban on using technological techniques to allow parents to choose the gender of their children.

One can come up with all kinds of reasons why the HFEA might want to do that (distasteful to the majority of British people, we shouldn't play God etc) but there is only one true reason.

The HFEA has been influenced by the state to take this position because the state is worried that we will either:

i. all choose to have girls, in which case there will not be enough boys to satisfy demand for soldiers

or

ii. all choose to have boys, in which case there will not be enough girls to satisfy demand for secretaries.

Why are you all looking at me funny?

Future blog

Here’s a prediction. Bloggers will increasingly join forces, closing down individual blogs to start up (or merge into) single blogs run by teams of bloggers. These group blogs will attract and merge with other blogs, both single and group, until there are only three blogs left.

It’s like gravity. All these small spinning blogs passing by bigger blogs, eventually getting captured and amalgamated.

These three remaining blogs will be the most powerful media entities on the Internet and will eventually control and dictate what news is reported and how it is reported.

There will eventually be a final power struggle between the “Last Three”, with shady characters hiring assassins to pick off the key opposition bloggers who refuse to turn traitor to their mother blog. It will be a bloody business.

The remaining blog will be despised by all as a corrupt and self serving institute.

A rebel alliance will be put together to try and undermine its authority. This alliance will be led by a beautiful princess.

I've just received an email from my good Lady Lynn:

Can I be the beautiful princess please, can I, can I, can I...

Hmmm, only if I can pick the costume.

Shameful

It’s astonishing, the lengths some people are prepared to go to, in an attempt to show how much contempt they have for their country and for the sacrifices made by others on their behalf.

A man has been arrested after graffiti was daubed on Cambridge's war memorial hours before a Remembrance Day service.

The base of the war memorial in Hills Road was spray-painted with 10 18-inch high monkeys overnight on Monday.

A 27 year old male has been arrested, question and released on police bail without charge pending further enquiries.

Despite efforts to clean the memorial, the graffiti could not be removed. Veterans draped the memorial in flags to hide it during the 11 November service.

"We've tried cleaning it off but it won't budge. I think it will need sand-blasting," said Mr Hawkins, president of the Cambridge branch of the ex-service organisation.

You know, I have a great idea for a bout of community service. It involves a cotton bud, a bucket of water and about three years hard labour.

Here's a picture of the memorial:

This is not the first time that it has been desecrated. It also happened in March 2003 during an anti-Iraq war march.

Here's another interesting factoid about the memorial:

In 1931, however, the Daily Herald headlined 'The Empire's Armistice Call: There shall be no more war', and went on, 'Never again! That will be the vow in every sane mind throughout the British Empire today.' Hannen Swaffer asked: 'Now that Economy has come, will they really cut down those health services...Why don't we do something to stop the next war?' Two years later the first recorded alternative wreath was laid at Cambridge War Memorial, by the Cambridge Student Anti-War Movement, with the inscription: 'To the dead and wounded of all nations, victims of a war they did not make, from those who are determined to prevent all similar crimes of imperialism.'

I guess a few years later the same student anti war movement found themselves battling against Nazi imperialism.

Oh look, another anti-war march by Cambridge students that passes the memorial. This time the Indymedia Tour of Shame.

Sheesh, let the dead rest in peace will you. They've earned it.

French revelations

Bernard Laporte, the French rugby coach doesn't like the English. He goes even further saying that:

No one likes the English

This Laporte clearly does not know his place.

I wonder where this dislike for the English comes from:

they [the English] are first in every sphere - sport, business and so on - and that has to be respected.

Ahhhhhhhh, respected in that no one likes the English kind of way.

BBC license fee increase

You know what makes me fume? This makes me fume:

The colour TV licence fee is to go up by £5 to £121 a year, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has announced.

Paying the enemy.

Examples of good programming by the BBC do not offset the fact that the license fee is forced taxation. I have no choice but to pay it.

Given the choice I would not. Their programming schedule is not that good and their politics suck.

Some kind of flag thing

Here is a flag I created some time back for a samizdata competition. They were looking for an anti EU image:

To be honest I'm not really sure what the image really represents, I just kind of slipped myself in to neutral and this came out. Anyhow, rather then allowing it to languish on my hard drive I though I'd release it into the wild.

Reader's Block?

Is there such a thing?

I am currently half way through Winston Churchill's biography (the Jenkins one) and seem to have stalled at the start of the second world war.

I'm also half way through the latest Peter Hitchens book, A brief history of crime and seem to be stalled at the start of the gun bit.

These are the parts of the books I should find the most interesting but I just can't seem to get round to reading them.

So what do I go and do? I start a third book, Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card. I'm close to half way through now. Fingers crossed.

Some Churchill quotes

George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill:

"Dear Winnie, Here are two tickets to my new play. Bring a friend, if you have one."

"Dear GBS, Sorry, but I can't make it to the opening night of your new play. However I would appreciate tickets to the second night performance - if you have one."

Lady Astor and Winston Churchill:

"Sir, if I were married to you, I would serve you posion in your wine."

"Madam, if I were married to you, I would drink it."

Besse Bradock MP and Winston Churchill:

"Sir, you are drunk."

"Indeed, Madam, and you are ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober."

On The Times' newspaper during the debate on Irish home rule:

"The Times is speechless, and takes three columns to express its speechlessness."

ID cards

I'll carry an ID card as soon as they crack the technology required to have one tattooed to my arm.

If you, on the other hand, are not as accommodating as I am I suggest you go here and register your support.

For more information on ID cards visit the White Rose blog and Stand.

Drinkin' and fightin' and gamblin'

Kris Murray, over at the Edge of England's Sword, wants to know if it's true that you should

never drink, fight, or gamble with a British soldier because you will lose.

Any military types who know the answer to this might want to pop over there to comment.

Mistaken crime correspondents muddy the waters

It's reporting like this ("Executive war games fuel illegal guns market") that contributes to gun crime in this country. It does so by muddying the waters and by distracting parliament, crime fighters and other groups from the issues that really contribute to gun crime.

From Jason Bennetto 'reporting' it's obvious that he is not qualified to comment on the subject. Let me tell you why.

The boom in executive-style war games, such as paintballing, is providing criminals with a ready supply of guns that are being converted into lethal weapons, a confidential Scotland Yard report says.

So, lets crack on with it then. You wrote the leader Mr. Bennetto, please show us how executive war games are providing criminals with these convertible guns.

The reports also highlights a small Derringer blank-firing pistol, which police say is easy to convert into a deadly weapon and has become particularly popular with the girlfriends of drug dealers because it is easy to hide.

The compact Kimar Derringer blank-firing pistol is "notoriously simply to convert," says the report.

Interesting. We should discuss this further but it is not relevant to executive war gaming, such as paintball and airsoft skirmishing. The report apparently has highlighted this particular weapon as convertible, you have written an article that leads with the evil of executive war games and yet the first nugget you throw us is nothing to do with the games.

"Derringers are particularly popular with female companions of 'Yardies' [Jamaican crack cocaine dealers] because of the ease of concealment."

To convert the Italian-made guns, a hole is drilled through the blocked barrel. "The whole process takes less than two hours and would cost usually around £50 in a backstreet workshop," the report notes.

Are you still going on about the derringer, which is not used by war gamers Bennetto?

The Metropolitan Police study concludes that one of the main factors behind the current spate of shootings is the conversion of replica and air weapons into pistols that fire live ammunition.

Indeed, they've said this for quite some time. They are referring to real blank firing steel replicas and the brocock style self contained air cartridge gun. Neither are used for paintball or airsoft, the two most popular forms of executing war gaming in the UK.

Gun crime in England and Wales has risen to record levels, with 10,250 incidents, including 80 murders, involving firearms in the year up to April.

The restricted internal report, "Tackling Gun Crime in London", was written earlier this year by officers from the Metropolitan Police's specialist crime directorate.

And no doubt you've read it so please tell us how this disgusting executive pastime is shown up for what it is by the report. Nothing but a disgraceful supply chain of readily convertible weapons.

The report warns: "In recent years there has been an extraordinary improvement in the quality of the replica weapons available on the British firearms market, and, in particular, a rapid growth in 'air-soft', black-powder, CO2 or 'blank-firer' replica weap-ons, directed in particular at war games enthusiasts and at other 'sport shooters'.

Nowhere does it say that paintball markers are contributing to the supply of convertible weapons yet paintball is the most popular form of war gaming in the UK. In spite of this Mr. Bennetto runs with the nasty executive wargame theme.

It is true that paintballers use compressed gas to provide the propellant for their markers. However. Mr. Bennetto, have you seen a paintball marker recently? I would like to know to what extent these are being converted and used to fuel gun crime. I would wager that there is no fueling going on whatsoever from this piece of equipment.

Then there's the growth in Airsoft. It's true to say that the toy guns used in airsoft skirmishing are realistic looking and it would certainly be seen as a problem if these could be converted into real firearms. So Mr. Bennetto, please show us an example of a converted airsoft gun. Please enlighten us with the engineering techniques that can turn a plastic toy that can be broken, simply by dropping it, into a lethal firearm. You would not believe how interested I am in the process involved in turning a battery operated air powered toy that has no firing pin and a barrel that can be bent by the poorest of spoon bending magicians into a lethal weapon.

Or are you talking about the gas powered plastic BB firing handguns that would explode in you hands at the mere hint of gunpowder. The ones with the tiny 6mm diameter internal barrels with all the strength of the frame of a cheap umbrella.

Do you in fact know what you are talking about at all?

"Replica weapons can be purchased directly from sports goods stores, gunsmiths or from Army and Navy-style market stalls, in stores dedicated to the pursuit of war game equipment and clothing, mail order advertisements that appear in gun magazines or they can be obtained from suppliers who advertise over the internet."

We know this and that's a good thing from a consumers point of view but it is totally irrelevant because the wargamers equipment is not providing a source of guns for criminal conversion. However, the report does say 'internet' so there must be at least a little evil in this story.

The air weapons are converted by drilling out the gas cartridge, which is used like a sleeve for the live round of ammunition to fit into. The airguns can be sold to anyone over 17 because they are not classified as firearms.

Once again Mr. Bennetto is talking about the self contained air cartridge system provided by Brocock. These have never and will never be used in war gaming because they are capable of inflicting injury. No war game and no war gamer uses this equipment Mr. Bennetto. It is simply not relevant to the pastime.

The Met believes most gun incidents now involve converted weapons.

The study says that the number of firearms incidents in London increased by about 700 to 5,410 in 2002. The most recent figures show that the Met secured a drop of about 14 per cent in gun crimes in the year to September.

Recent action against armourers includes a raid on a suspected mini arms factory in south-east London last Thursday. Police seized about 60 gas-fired, replica firearms that were being converted to fire live ammunition.

And how many of these gas-fired replica guns are used in paintball or airsoft? Will you tell us that Bennetto? I'd be willing to wager against your credentials as a crime reporter that the answer to that is none.

The firearms assessment warns: "A big threat facing the Metropolitan Police Service at present is the availability and use of converted replica weapons.

"The legal replica market of air weapons and blank firers is growing in the UK and there is no control system in place. Weapons are sold through a variety of means including sports shops, backstreet stores, magazines, mail order and the internet."

A not very new or interesting couple of paragraphs that has as much relevance to war gaming as Mr. Bennetto has to accurate and balanced crime reporting.

It all falls into place

Andrew Ian Dodge highlights some speculation that the Iron Lady's curse is over. Surely this is just crazy made up nonsense. What next, Thatcher uses Jedi mind trick on Portillo "This is not the job you're looking for". Crazy. Or is it? Or is it?

Imagine no more law making

Perry de Havilland points to some particularly lame behaviour from a 'politician' keen to limit the freedoms of law abiding citizens in the UK.

...the Honourable Member of Parliament for West Bromwich East calls for more regulation and makes it clear that fireworks will simply be banned if that does not produce the desired effects. And yet when talking about an incident in which a woman was injured by some idiot throwing a firework he himself notes:

Granted the little thug that conducted this assault was breaking existing laws

…and then proceeds to ignore that fact from then on.

Another example of the ban cycle that passes for serious crime prevention these days.

Imagine, for a moment, what they would all do if it became impossible to pass any new laws for a period of, say, ten years. Let's make it easier for them and say that thay can pass laws that deal with new technologies or situations that have uniquely come about in that time.

Instead of trying to address criminal behaviour by passing new laws they would be forced to put up or shut up. They would have to enforce existing legislation without bleeding away our freedom to enjoy our lives unmolested by the state (don't even think about saying "Yes, but what about the freedom of people to walk down the street without getting attacked by thugs with fireworks". Just listen to yourselves).

They would cry "Absurd! Ridiculous! How can we run a country like that". The answer is they probably can't. Not because it isn't possible, but simply because they don't know how.

Mobile phones

Take this:

Police and cab drivers are teaming up to use text messaging in an innovative project to fight crime.

and take this:

In three weeks a new law will come into force banning drivers from using mobile phones while at the wheel.

then ask yourself how many cab drivers are likely to pull over to read the text messages. Be honest.

In other news, legislators deny that using a hand held radio is at all similar to using a mobile phone. Taxi drivers, police and truckers all sigh with relief.

The story of a generation

World events can define the story of a generation. My grand parents generation had their own story, and it was predominantly one of conflict. The Second World War and the recovery from it is the theme behind many of their memories.

The story of my generation is not so clear cut but if I had to take the plunge and I would say that the story was one of foreboding. Living through the cold war and under the shadow of the mushroom cloud.

There were other undercurrents like Irish terrorism and the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, in the same way that there were others in my grandparents generation, but I don’t think they were as defining as the cold war and that ever constant threat of total annihilation.

The story for this and a new generation may be the story of the Middle East and the president of the United States seems to think that it will be a story of freedom.

Many Middle Eastern governments now understand that military dictatorship and theocratic rule are a straight, smooth highway to nowhere.

Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe -- because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty. As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment, and violence ready for export.

We believe that human fulfilment and excellence come in the responsible exercise of liberty. And we believe that freedom -- the freedom we prize -- is not for us alone, it is the right and the capacity of all mankind.

That middle paragraph is the money quote. Freedom in the middle east or the constant threat and realisation of exported violence.

The secret's in the training

Here’s an interesting project. MP’s are calling for more armed police officers to deal with the current level of firearms crimes in the UK. Well, it’s worthy of note that twenty years ago there used to be many more of such officers but this changed after the shooting of Stephen Waldorf by a couple of these officers. My understanding is that they thought it was better to have less officers who were better trained than 13,000 of them with a lesser training.

Now here’s a problem. To be a firearms officer requires a whole bunch of training, most of which I am not familiar with. One aspect that I am familiar with though is the actual shooting bit. I know that the development of skills such as accuracy, safety, the development of the correct habits etc only come with a great deal of practice. And this practice can never end.

Your project is to work out and develop a top class on going training regime for all these thousands of required officers that does not include any practice on personal time (the personal and private use of most guns is banned). This regime must leave the officers enough time to actually spend significant time policing. And don’t forget to leave enough time for all the administration that they have to do.

We're here now

We have moved off blogspot to our own host. Sorry to have done this so soon after sending out our blogspot url.

This just in

From my good lady Lynn:

Just back from costco, and despite my best intentions I have caved in and bought one "omigod I must have it" item. We are now the proud owners of one bright green snowboogie blade runner board. Big enough for two (well one adult, one child or two children but probably not two adults), with four handles and some serious street cred styling, it looks like it will fly! Memories of juddering down ....... on a kitchen tray persuaded me this was a must have.

I can't tell you how excited I am about bright green snowboogie blade runner boards.

Out of touch

Besides discussions on why our local state school is seriously underfunded I have also been hearing troubling things about the tests on 7 and 11 year olds. Now the NUT is to ballot its members on a boycott of those tests.

When the boycott goes ahead, no child's education will be disrupted. Instead teachers will be able to use their professional judgement to their pupils' benefit and in support of their primary purpose of educating children

That's the general message I have been hearing from my wife and parents of children at our local school. It's the teachers that know how our kids are doing and the tests (with all the structure required that leads up to those tests) are having a negative and constraining affect.

The governments response:

A boycott of tests would be a gross betrayal of children. It would say that we don't care how children are doing or how we can better help them in school.

That's contrary to the word on the street, or the cul-de-sac if you like.

Tainted

Peter Cuthbertson on Michael Howard:

But Howard fought on against such people and proclaimed again and again that "prison works". In his three and a half years in the Home Office, he was able to prove this. His solution to rocketing crime didn't approach the sophistication of a postmodernist sociology graduate's thesis. There was little in anything he said about the need for all of society to take responsibility for its criminals and louts. He wasn't a slave to buzzwords about social exclusion and the like. His solution was to keep those who burgled, attacked and mugged innocent people inside prison so that those outside would be safe from them. Nothing is likelier to provoke liberal ire so much as a dash of common sense. The trouble for them is that under Michael Howard the Conservatives were able to reverse a historic rise in crime, Howard ensuring a reduction of 18% in the time he was Home Secretary.

It's such a shame that Howard was responsible for piloting the handgun ban (except .22 cal) through Parliament when he was Home Secretary. I heard his speech last night on the radio and thought it was good and I've been reading some encouraging things about him but it will be a long time before he can be forgiven for what he did to the sport of shooting.

In Gordon's hands?

Melanie Phillips writes about the battle between Blair and Brown which seems to have become a little more public recently. She says that

The Prime Minister is now exposed, lonely and supremely vulnerable.

It seems to me that Blair's future depends more upon Mr. Brown's behaviour than it does on his own and I think that over the coming weeks and months we will see a more vocal and openly critical Chancellor.

The public have fallen out of love with Tony Blair and I suspect that the braying and neighing of barnyard animals will soon be heard coming from within the labour party.

Baaaahhhhd Tony.

Some poetic advice

From one Norman to another:

"They'll drink every hour of the daylight and poach every hour of the dark,
It's the sport not the rabbits they 're after (we've plenty of game in the park).
Don't hang them or cut off their fingers. That's wasteful as well as unkind,
For a hard-bitten, South-country poacher makes the best man-at-arms you can find.

From "Norman and Saxon" by Rudyard Kipling via the excellent An Englishman's Castle.

The ban cycle

Labour MP Diane Abbott is urging the government:

to consider banning the manufacture, sale, transfer and importation of all imitation weapons which can cause a dilemma for police who do not know whether a firearm is real or not.

That's basically all the Auto-Electric, Gas Blow Back and Spring guns used in Airsoft skirmishing, a pastime in the UK that's growing in popularity. It could also see off the use of such equipment in the practical pistol discipline, which still survives in spite of government attempts to kill it off.

In many cases it could result toys like those in your kids toy basket being banned.

None of this will result in a reduction in gun crime, but at least it makes it look like someone is doing something. Why they can't just hold another amnesty is a mystery to me, after all those things are always fantastically successful.

Let's not mention the fact that the new anti-social behavior legislation makes it illegal to have in your possession a replica gun in a public place without good reason. That's only a law. What we need is something more solid like....like a law.

An oasis in the middle classes

I think that I live in a cul-de-sac that's somewhat of an oasis in a very middle class town. You see, even though everyone in the cul-de-sac thinks they're middle class, according to Ted Wragg in the Guardian we must be mistaken:

Sending a child to the local state school is seen by many middle-class parents as a betrayal of your caste. When my eldest daughter entered the local comprehensive school my wife was berated by a neighbour. Sacrificing your children for the sake of your principles was the crime.

You see, silly us, we all send our children to local state schools; how un-middle class of us. Come to think of it most of the middle class friends that I have send their kids to state school.

Holy crap, we're working class.

Via Peter Briffa.

Away from the middle?

Iain Murray, over at The Edge of England's Sword has taken the questionable Worlds Smallest Political Quiz. I took this some time back and came out centrist though this seems to have changed now:

I thought that I answered the questions on drug policy and movement across borders in a distinctly un-libertarian manner. No matter, it is a questionable quiz after all.

In the comments on Iain's article Alan states:

The World's Smallest Political Quiz would be better if it had more questions covering a wider range of issues.

That would make it the Worlds Slightly Larger Political Quiz or even, perhaps, the Worlds Biggest Political Quiz. The pressure for anything that includes politics to balloon and corrupt even the simplest of concepts, like quizzes, is all too apparent.

The decisions we make

I once made a decision, many years ago, that I would keep the tickets to every concert that I ever went to. I'm not sure why I decided to do that but I'm glad that I did. I've ended up with a great reminder of my youth in the form of a framed picture containing the assembled tickets. Each one is like a little snapshot in time for me. Not happier days, just different. It's funny; almost every ticket says No overnight camping, or something similar, and yet each concert had overnight campsites organised, with paid up entry (normally only a couple of quid each) and some even provided firewood. It's like, you'd ask "Which way to the camping mate?", "Sorry, no camping here" so you'd look at them until they cracked. "It's that way sir".

Galaxies are like buses

Not only is the sun exploding but at the same time we are colliding with not one, but two galaxies.

An international team of astronomers has found a previously unknown galaxy colliding with our own Milky Way.

That's in addition to one discovered in 1994 doing a similar sort of thing. I must try to be strong just in case Kim is looking. Come on you galaxies, let's have you then.

Kim, like Ken, is wrong

Kim du Toit thinks that the process of male pussification is almost complete in Europe. He asks

How did we get to this?

The answer is simple; we didn't.

I understand where Kim is coming from but to use such a generous pussy dipped brush with which to paint us all is just asking for a trouble (ahem).

UPDATE: Kim wants men everywhere to go back to being real men

To open doors for women, to drive fast cars, to smoke cigars after a meal, to get drunk occasionally and, in the words of Col. Jeff Cooper, one of the last of the Real Men: "to ride, shoot straight, and speak the truth."

How often is occasionally? I hope he doesn't intend for me to cut down on the drinking.

Ken is so wrong

London mayor Ken Livingstone is dissing spidy.

Mr Livingstone said the protest, part of a continuing campaign by Fathers 4 Justice, did nothing to help Mr Chick's cause.

He added that Mr Chick, was "amply demonstrating why some men should not have access to their own children".

"He is a man who is putting his own life at risk, police officers at risk, other Londoners who may be passing along the road at risk," he said.

To me his are the actions of a man at the end of his tether with a system that he feels is unfair and is keeping him away from his children. His children Ken.

Anyhow Ken, if spidy is putting everyone at so much risk why have the police

decided to reopen the roads around Tower Bridge

I always thought that the closing of the bridge was an over reaction and it seems that the police now agree. Or has the crane, the man or gravity suddenly changed to make the situation safer than it was when the desperate Mr Chick decided to make the climb?

UPDATE: Melanie Phillips throws her hat into the ring:

But this problem is far broader and deeper than flouted contact orders. The whole justice system is institutionally biased against men and marriage. It is driven by an extreme feminist agenda, which stretches from the humblest family lawyer through the politically correct Law Commission to reach all the way up to government and the senior reaches of the judiciary.

UPDATE (7:30ish pm): The issue has just been discussed on Channel 5 news where the particular piece was introduced with the news that Mr Chick has come down. The newsreader stated that 98% of court cases end up with the custody going to the woman. Are we really saying that only 2% of men are capable of bringing up their children?" to which an invited expert said something along the lines of "No, no we can't say that. It's clearly an issue that needs addressing." I would say that Mr Chick has shown what direct action can do to highlight an issue. Ken, no doubt, is fuming.

The Victoria Cross: For Valour

I watched a programme last night on BBC2 called The Victoria Cross: For Valour. It was written, directed and presented by that bloke Jeremy Clarkson, which is always a good thing IMHO. The main thrust of the program was to describe how in September 1944, Major Robert Cain won what was described as the finest Victoria Cross of the Second World War. His story is amazing and its telling left me in no doubt that Clarkson was in total awe of not only Major Cain VC but also all the other VC winners, some of who had their stories told in brief during the programme. It’s only at the end of the programme that we discover that Clarkson is married to the Major’s daughter who had no idea that her father was a VC winner until after his death in 1974. They don’t like to talk about their deeds apparently, VC winners.

We also got to see a little bit about the history of the medal itself and how it is, and always has been, manufactured by a small London jeweller Hancocks Ltd, London, from bronze. Not just any old bronze either, but bronze from the melted down breeches of guns captured from the Russians at Sebastopol in the Crimea. We were shown what was, I think, the remaining chunk of this metal; enough to make 80 or so VC’s. It was locked away in a safe in a military storage depot somewhere in England. This amount of bronze itself is worth next to nothing, but because of its history and the use to which it was being put this particular chunk is priceless.

For more on the Victoria Cross see here.

BBC TV at its best.

Do the Australians really hate the English?

Not according to Professor Carl Bridge of the Australian Studies Centre at King's College London:

"It's because the English are seen as part of the family that they can be insulted round the dinner table. It shows the respect and rivalry that exists.

He has a point I think. I have an Aussie friend who enjoys throwing the odd insult; I know he doesn't mean it and that makes him mad.

By the way, in the article linked to above some French bloke says:

"The only memories I have of England and the English are unpleasant ones," muttered France's Imanol Harinordoquy. "They are so chauvinistic and arrogant!"

I think he means it. I don't want to seem arrogant but that's no great loss.

Quote of the day

After his Ignoble Disgrace, Satan was being expelled from Heaven.

As he passed through the Gates, he paused a moment in thought, and turned to God and said,

"A new creature called Man, I hear, is soon to be created."
"This is true," He replied.
"He will need laws," said the Demon slyly.
"What! You, his appointed Enemy for all Time! You ask for the right to make his laws?"
"Oh, no!" Satan replied, "I ask only that he be allowed to make his own."

It was so granted.

- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

Peter's monsters

Peter Hitchens declares that:

Michael Howard has been drafted in to keep the party warm for Michael Portillo.

I agree with him. I also think that's a couple of Michaels too many. I'm not sure I agree with Hitchen's starting paragraph though:

A squalid putsch and a series of dirty deals will not save the Tory Party. Nothing will save the Tory Party.

The tory party may not end up being the party that Hitchens wants but as an entity it is not finished yet. The public still thinks of the tory party as the party of low taxation and the only reason Labour are getting away with their tax and spend policies is because of the reasonably good economy. This will change, people will start hurting and middle England will stick New Labour good and proper. Maybe not this election; possibly the next.

By the way, I shall deny all knowledge of this posting if Hitchens is proved right.

UPDATE: Brian Micklethwait from samizdata.net:

This Labour government may limp back into office after the next election, but I believe that its days are now numbered.

Goodbye English Nature

It seems that the government is planning to abolish English Nature, the agency that is suppose to champion wildlife and geology conservation in England.

Ministers want the work to be taken over by a new body responsible for protecting the landscape and delivering services in local areas.

And I'm sure that they'll let us know how this differs from what English Nature does shortly. Honestly, I can't see the point. It is over 50 years old so perhaps it just needs the modernisation magic wand passed over it.

But environmental groups say this is a convenient measure, given English Nature's stance on some issues, such as its doubts about the commercial production of GM food.

Anyone hear that penny drop. Only someone as cynical as me could think that the government was just trying to vanish away a problem.

Tom Burke, on the board of English Nature, told the same programme: "It's potentially an act of barbarism. As far as I can see, what's proposed will amount to selling the biodiversity police to the agricultural mafia, and that's a completely outrageous proposition."

Mafia, vanishing away. Get the idea. Ok, there are two of us that think there's something of the night about this deal.

But Shadow Environment Secretary David Liddington said: "My fear is that the government just wants to get rid of an uncomfortable and inconvenient critic."

Erm, three of us.

Hey, look at that castle

I am at this moment waving at the figure that I can just make out standing in the castle ramparts. The drawbridge is up and there is a delightful smell of what could be roast beef wafting from the kitchens.

Hello, I'm searching for the Holy Grail.

I hope he doesn't already have

It's nice to have a choice

Noelle Lenoir, France's minister for European affairs, has ordered all French schools to pin up a map of the EU and a summary of its constitution; the award of a "European citizenship" card to everyone who reaches 18; and the flying of the EU flag at all major sporting events next to France's national flag. Her aim is to promote awareness of the EU's "role in the management of issues and international crises".

Promote awareness of what?! Come on now, you're not fooling anyone. You just want an alternative flag to the French one - who can blame you for that?

Keep it in the family

It's all about the family business and nothing to do with the enemy class.

BSkyB has appointed media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's son James as its new chief executive, setting the scene for a bruising confrontation with shareholders.

Honest.

James Murdoch's candidacy for the top job has been championed by his father, whose News Corporation media conglomerate is BSkyB's biggest shareholder, with a 35% stake.

Is this news? I don't know, but it does appeal to the cynic in me.

Holy cow

This album is brilliant. What's wrong with me?

It was only a few years ago that I was at a Motorhead concert. I've seen Metallica live, Queen's last ever tour, Deep Purple, ZZ Top, Clapton, Pink Floyd and it's come to this. Sweet Lord have mercy.

Free America

Petronella Wyatt thinks that the Americans have de-politically corrected themselves. She says that the Americans think there are:

more important things in life than hectoring people about their social behaviour.

and she suggests that the opposite is happening in Blighty.

The most extreme example of this unnatural shift is hunting. As a ban on hunting with hounds steals upon us, the Americans are hunting more than ever. This has been Virginia National Hunt Week, during which packs from all over the state take part in meets on the same day. I asked one of the participants why there were no anti-hunting protesters around wearing their placards and shouting the familiar abuse. He looked at me as if I had asked why there was not a herd of elephant nearby. ‘We don’t have any of those,’ he remarked. ‘No one ever disrupts a meet.’ Indeed, a group of jolly-looking cameramen were filming the hunt for a television station and, untypically for media types, were shouting out pleasantries as we rode past.

What about the guns Petronella, tell us about the guns.

Americans have become obsessed with the need to protect themselves. You can walk into a shop here — merely produce ID and proof of residence — and walk off with a shotgun. I nearly walked off with a mother-of-pearl-handled pistol — purely for aesthetic purposes — then remembered that there might be a tad of trouble getting it through customs.

Mother-of-pearl, very tasteful. One day I would like to visit this America. It sounds divine.

Sexy housing

Peter Hitchens is dissing property ownership:

The great British home-owning fetish has always looked like a dead end. Why do people think of their houses as assets?

Because generally that's what they are. Just because the price of a bigger house has also gone up it does not invalidate the fact that you now have an item (in this case a house) worth more than you paid for it.

So what have we gained? What do I care that the theoretical price of my house has risen? I live there. If I sell, I must either live on the streets or find another home, so the money is about as much use to me as if it were buried under 20 tons of ice and snow in the Ural Mountains.

You need to think of the long term Peter. True enough that most will be looking to upgrade their homes to bigger and better ones but this progression up the property ladder is not the end game of property ownership. The end game is when you decide to downsize, when the kids have left home and you no longer need the room. There's a whole lot of sexy assety goodness staring you right in the face.

Of course, you could have avoided this whole sordid fetish all together and rented a property instead. That way you could be really sure that you were property asset free. Much better.

You know what, this little chat about housing has got me all hot and bothered.

What would huggy bear say?

From this to this. Starsky and Hutch...

The 1970s cop show stars, normally associated with high speed car-chases, will be at the Caravan and Outdoor Leisure Show at Earls Court on Tuesday.

Let's never mention this again.

An iconic cycle

What has one small wheel, one big wheel, three gears and a bucket full of freaking attitude?

The Raleigh Chopper.

If there’s one iconic item from the youth of my generation this bike is it. You’d see the kids outside of the sweet shop sitting on their choppers, one foot on a pedal and the other on the ground, hand on the gear stick trying to look as cool as possible.

Some would have added tassels to the handlebars and others playing cards clipped to the wheels so that they would make clattering noises as the wheel turned. These kids knew that their bike was more than just a way of getting around. They were hard to ride, a little dangerous (doing a wheely on a chopper was a fine balance between cool points and injury) but the best looking bike on the streets.

So what can we say about the chopper today? What comparisons can we make between the youth of yesteryear and their choice of bike and the youth of today? What insight can we gain from the affect this bike had during its heyday?

None.

The only thing we can say for sure is that this version is worth about £450 quid and I’ve got my old one sitting in my garage. Ha!

Quote of the day

I know that it's a bit early have a quote of the day but I doubt a better one will come to my attention today. If one does I'll be sure to punish myself.

I am not one who, to quote an American author, believes that democracy and enterprise have finally won the battle of ideas - that we have therefore arrived at the end of history, and there is nothing left to fight for. That would be unutterably complacent, indeed foolish. There will always be threats to freedom, not only from frontal assaults, but more insidiously by erosion from within. - Margaret Thatcher

The Hunt

David Carr is reminded of a 'spaghetti western' by the pro-hunt movement. I've been receiving the Countryside Alliances grass e-route mailings since the early days of the organisation and have been very impressed with the sheer level of organisation and commitment shown by it and its members. They are a serious bunch of people who are, effectively, fed up to the hind teeth with the government and anti-hunt types trying to stomp on them. Their feelings are all too apparent so when David said:

It is still not clear whether the government will press ahead with the abolition of hunting in England and Wales (the ban has already passed into law in Scotland). But, if they do, and these people are good to their pledge, then they are quite capable of making life very difficult indeed for the authorities. In effect, a low-level civil war will be waged in the English countryside.

I found myself nodding in agreement.

When this does kick off you just watch the anti-hunt brigade bleat about how outrageous it is for the hunters to disobey the law, quickly forgetting their own law breaking as hunt saboteurs.

Cheese

The Group Captain runs a feature named Wanderings with my camera where he publishes a photograph that he's taken of an old bit of wood here and another of a throne there etc which seems like a jolly good idea to me. So I thought that I'd publish a photograph from one of my wanderings, this time from August 2002 taken with a Canon S20 digital camera.

Can you guess where this was taken? It's easy really.

The text files

If you're interested in the early days of the Internet and keen on its history you may find The Text Files interesting. They are a collection of text files from early BBS systems put together and maintained by Jason Scott who is keen to preserve the history that the files contain:

But I was there, and I played my part. There were things I saw firsthand and rumors I heard whispered on illegal telephone conferences late in the night, and there were a lot of words I read and a lot of places I traveled. I communicated with people who thought it was all a ridiculous joke, and others who thought they were refashioning the world, online, one message at a time. It would be foolish and, more importantly, a lie to say I saw and witnessed it all; I only saw a small part of everything that went on. But I think a lot of what I saw indicated what was happening all over the country, and later the world, and I want to share it with you.

Take a look around.

DerekWyattMP@barking.mad

I wish I could make something like this up but, frankly, I'm not a comic genius.

MP suggests solution to Spam

Current email address is:

derekwyatt@aol.com

New address would be:

derekwyatt@aol.swiaoaa.co.uk

Sw1aoaa being his postcode and .co.uk so that we know where the email has come from so an end to .com though .com.uk would be fine.

Since some, especially children, might balk at giving their postcode in an email the postcode can be exchanged for a pin number so:

derekwyatt@aol.123456.co.uk or derekwyatt@aol.123456.com.uk

The pin code is held by the Information Commissioner's Office.

ISPs would have to be persuaded of the need to resolve jurisdiction of emails (14th Amendment US constitution) and if they can't, then EU and other governments would legislate.

So spammers would be traceable by postcode or pin number and country of origin.

Not only is the state not your friend, it is also round the bend.

Smell that coffee goodness

I laughed out loud I tell you. I caught Labour MP Diane Abbott on radio 5 live the other night trying to explain her decision to send her son to a private school when she has actively campaigned against others doing the same for their children.

To be fair to her she did admit to not having a leg to stand on (haha) and to being a hypocrite (haha) but she also said that:

Private schools prop up the class system in society

Frankly that's rubbish. It's just another service that some can afford and others can't.

This woman was worried that state education would not give her child the education that he needs so she paid for a better one; another class warrior wakes up and smells the coffee.