Labour Attack English

Regarding Terry White's disgraceful statements about English history. Here is the article from the Sun, page 2:

Read the big picture - use page down key to scroll

This issue goes up to 11

Debates on the England/Scotland question in the blogosphere are becoming quite disturbing in their intensity.

Tom Paine adds his voice to the chorus and joins the Witanagemot Club.

Welcome Tom.

You're nearly there Mr. Heffer, now do the decent thing

Simon Heffer in the Telegraph:

It should not surprise anyone that one of the most fervent advocates of Scottish MPs being allowed to vote on matters that do not concern them is Mr Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and, as far as we know, the next Prime Minister. Whereas decent men are somewhat embarrassed by this state of affairs, and stupid ones claim that the whole constitution would unravel if the present arrangements were unpicked, Mr Brown, as befits one of his titanic arrogance, is far more complacent. He simply acts as though nothing worthy of comment were amiss. And, if forced to concede that the English might have a point about being so discriminated against, his attitude can broadly be summed up as this: "We're in charge, you can like it or lump it, and quite frankly, in the interests of getting our own way in parliament, we'll carry on doing this for as long as we can get away with it." (If I am wrong about that - and my précis of his view is based on several private conversations with him over the years - then I am sure he will quickly put the record straight.) Mr Brown, of course, has seen the writing on the wall. If he is Prime Minister in the next parliament with an even smaller majority, he may depend entirely on the unconstitutional votes of his fellow Scots in order to govern at all.

Read it all, even though Mr. Heffer draws the wrong conclusion at the very end of the article when he calls for English votes on English matters. To harp on about equality and then propose a less than equal settlement is an interesting proposition. I wonder what particular interests prevent Mr. Heffer from seeking full equality for the English. A decent man would be somewhat embarrassed by this state of affairs.

Via Hutspur.

Your appearance in the sun is unfortunate

Keep an eye out for the Sun newspaper tomorrow. They are going to run a story on a certain someone. A certain someone who has kicked up a stink around these parts recently.

The story is up. I wonder how the disgraced Terry White will respond? I bet he tries to pass the blame onto right wing English nationalists who blew the story out of all proportion? Words are words Terry and yours are yours.

St. George's day - not special

A slap in the face.

Via The CEP.

Ban this, ban that, look at me everybody

Can Britain's top cops get any more insulting:

The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police has called for a ban on parents buying toy guns for their children as Christmas presents.

Michael Todd said seasonal gifts such as replica and ball-bearing guns .... encouraged anti-social behaviour.

Is this really the extent of the sophistication we can expect from our 'top' law enforcement people? I mean, really, if we have got to the stage when they believe that inanimate objects, by some strange and mystical power, can encourage a certain behaviour in our children then we really are in a sorry state of affairs.

It's not just toy guns he wants to ban parents from buying but also knives which further shows the ridiculousness of his position. I mean, is the clamour to all and sundry to "do wrong" of his own set of kitchen knives so strong that he has thrown them out? Of course not.

The reality of the situation is that such objects do not impose or encourage any particular moral aberration on anyone. Bad parenting and poor education on the other hand can do.

I wonder if this particular policeman is aware that the government is already in the process of completely banning the sale of these objects anyway? Almost certainly, so can we assume that he wants to fast track some law to ban parents buying these items this Christmas season because it is unlikely that the current bill will pass before then? No? Then what does he mean? Who does he want to actually ban who from buying what and when? And more to the point why, given the current legislative progress many of us are suffering? In actual fact, what is his point?

I strongly suspect he spotted a camera or a microphone and just opened his mouth. It got him onto the beeb news site at the very least.

Official statistics

Is this the first sign that New Labour thinks its going to lose the next general election?:

Chancellor Gordon Brown has announced that the Office for National Statistics will be made independent of government...

11 out of 10 people think this is a good idea.

Pride? We try, but it's not getting any easier

Gisela Stuart on taking pride in being both English and British:

Let’s start by making one thing clear. Of course we should be proud of our English culture and history. And we could begin to show this pride by celebrating St George’s Day properly on April 23.

But this does not mean that we should not also be proud of being British. It’s not a case of one or the other – it’s a case of being proud of both!

It’s an interesting proposition and one that I myself am still trying to believe in. Interesting because it is a position that seems some what out of character for a member of New Labour. It is a message that does not seem particularly compatible with some of what we have seen written and some of what we have heard from various Labour individuals.

England, as opposed to Britain, has an unfortunate history around the world and within the British Isles and please do not say that it is all past. – Terry White, New Labour’s Communications Unit.

There is no such thing as English nationality – Home office official.

there is no such nationality as English – John Prescott

… when Ken Livingstone, the political prankster who is also mayor of London, announced plans for a capital city St Patrick's day parade on March 17 - and blocked proposals to celebrate St George's day on April 23 - the news made surprisingly little impact - The Guardian (2001, though I suspect that it would have a greater impact now)

This time he [Gordon Brown] spoke of "the nations and regions of Britain". By "the nations" he meant Scotland and Wales by "the regions" he meant English regions.

The list could go on and it is not just limited to actual New Labour individuals. Where a government leads, some are tempted to follow. We have seen England excluded from the Tour of Britain cycle race while Scotland and Wales were permitted to enter teams. We see organisations right across Britain organise themselves on a regional basis for England but a national basis for countries with political representation because it is more compatible with the government framework and makes funding easier to get. We see, time and time again, one initiative for Scotland and a completely different initiative for England often resulting in a poorer result for the usual suspects. There are many, many more examples of the mixed messages we are getting. Nearly every institutionally based indication would suggest that, in reality, there is no such nation as England. The very nation that Gisela Stuart suggests that we should also take pride in. There’s a sharp edge to being British and England lies upon that edge. We could ask Gisela what she means by taking pride in being English when her party denies the existence of England as a nation? Is she referring to ethnic English, people who were born in England or just the history of England when, you know, it was a nation? Of course we should be proud of our English culture and history. Yes, but what about the nation of England and what about now?

For me this is not just about England’s history or England’s culture. This is predominantly about England’s future. What initiatives have been forthcoming from this current British government that assures England’s future as an equal nation in the British Union? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Let me ask a different question. What initiatives have been forthcoming from this current British government that do exactly the opposite?

The answer to that is why Gisela’s suggestion that we should also take pride in being British is difficult for some to swallow.

This is filthy

At the most recent Parliament Protest:

One policeman was heard saying 'I wish I could join you. I wish I could do what you're doing. This is filthy. This is very hard for all of us'.

This morning I have mostly been doing....

...some stock photography.

Airsoft Tactical Master

Targeting America's enemies?

I hear rumours that Blair had to persuade Bush not to blow up the headquarters of a certain TV station. Quickly, tell me, was it the BBC?

We must have it, we needs it

If anyone knows where I can buy a realistic looking and brightly coloured artificial butterfly please email me the details. I would be briefly in your debt.

The Beeb makes a move on the Internet

So, does this mean that we will soon need a license for Internet access? Presumably and hopefully not but it does make a further mockery of the license fee. I am assuming that this feed will only be available to people in the UK who have paid for the content via their current TV license??????????? Yeah, right.

Also, a pack of foxes broke into my home and stole my TV license.

Your history is unfortunate

This is a simply astonishing piece of text from the Labour Party:

Dear Correspondent,

Thank you for your email.

Neither the Labour Party nor the Labour Government are pursuing the policy towards England or the English that you claim.

England, as opposed to Britain, has an unfortunate history around the world and within the British Isles and please do not say that it is all past.

It is a fact that the right and extreme right in Britain cloak themselves in the English flag, the cross of St.George and claim to be the true representatives of the English.

Wherever there is hooligan behaviour, usually linked to extreme right-wing political groups e.g. at football matches here and abroad, it is the flag of St.George that is displayed and that, I would imagine, is the reason why the MP referred to this type of 'Englishness' as a threat to democracy.

Regards,

Terry White
Communications Unit
The Labour Party

An unfortunate history. Yes, this Terry White really wrote that. England actually has a mixed history (like many other nations on Earth) rather than a specifically unfortunate one. Mr. White's statement is factually incorrect and, at best, reveals a bias against England. Indeed, there is a term that people use when describing sweeping statements against a demographic that are not factually correct and can be seen by the recipients as an insulting remark or attitude based only upon a persons nation or culture.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to accept the primacy of Britain when these are the kind of remarks we receive from its official and semi-official representatives.

"Neither the Labour Party nor the Labour Government are pursuing the policy towards England or the English that you claim", he wrote. Mr. White would ask us to accept that as the official position of the Labour party. Should we also interpret that the official position of the Labour Party is that "England, as opposed to Britain, has an unfortunate history around the world and within the British Isles..."? We need to find out. Actually, what we need to do is ask to speak to Mr. White's manager as his remarks have gone too far.

It's almost as if Mr. White's manager walked up to him and said: Here's a stick, there's a sleeping lion. Go and see what you can do.

Guess the formula

If P equals Politics, E equals Equality and I equals Inequality can you guess the name of this famous formula?

The Archbishop of York on the English

The Archbishop of York has apparently said that the English need to reclaim their national identity:

He called for the English to rediscover their cultural identity by properly marking celebrations such as St George’s Day on April 23. “I speak as a foreigner really. The English are somehow embarrassed about some of the good things they have done. They have done some terrible things but not all the Empire was a bad idea. Because the Empire has gone there is almost the sense in which there is not a big idea that drives this nation.”

I'm not sure I'm too happy about the implied equality between the British Empire and the English (it was the British Empire after all) but it is a good start and a useful contribution by the Archbishop.

He also said that "Multiculturalism has seemed to imply, wrongly for me, let other cultures be allowed to express themselves but do not let the majority culture at all tell us its glories, its struggles, its joys, its pains,".

It's would be easy to see an ulterior motive here (ie using English nationalism as a leverage for Christianity) but another voice adding to the slowly rising chorus is useful.

Can anyone doubt that this issue is still a marginal one? Devolution has thrown a real spanner into the machinery that is Britain. Devolution and a seeming willingness (true or not) to decry England and talk up other minority cultures have acted as catalysts and many people are beginning to notice.

It's too early to tell if a rising English Nationalism will be the big localised issue of the early 21st century but all the ingredients are there. As commentators we all take a gamble on what's hot to trot and what isn't and, as time passes, it's going to be fascinating to see how many other bloggers join the gig.

Look into my eyes...

...not around the eyes, in the eyes...you're under. From this moment on you will trust us. You will not oppose our ID card scheme. You will love it. You will not worry about your information and any database of that information that we might create. There will be no mission creep. You will believe that there is nothing of greater concern to us than the privacy of your details.

Neil promises us more. If there is real scandal here will it be enough to finish off ID cards?

Beating the Bounds

The custom of 'Beating the Bounds' has taken place in a variety of forms in Britain for over 2000 years. Its origins have roots in many different cultures from across Europe and beyond. In essence it involves local inhabitants perambulating their farm, manorial, church or civic boundaries, pausing as they pass certain trees, walls and hedges that denote the extent of the boundary to exclaim, pray and ritually 'beat' particular landmarks (or even young boys) with sticks. The ceremony might also involve the blessing of crops or animals and the inspection of fences.

Interesting because.

That's you that is

Check it out. Find your old school photographs, including pictures of yourself, here. Technology is amazing.

The English rod

Gisela Stuart over at openDemocracy is worried and the focus of this worry are the usual suspects:

Yet it has only been in the last five years or so that I have heard people in my constituency telling me, “I am not British – I am English”. That worries me. British identity is based on and anchored in its political and legal institutions and this enables it to take in new entrants more easily than it would be if being a member of a nation were to be defined by blood. But a democratic polity will only work if citizens’ identification is with the community as a whole, or at least with the shared process, which overrides their loyalty to a segment.

I wonder how worried Gisela would be if English identity was also anchored in its political and legal institutions? And that, after all, is the problem. A problem highlighted so well by Gareth’s essay on English Civic Nationalism. Gareth asked me if I thought that the Government ”created a rod for its own back in refusing to recognise or build a civic national identity for England”. It was a question that I hadn’t considered before and I had to re-evaluate my answer to that question after I had read his essay. Now we see, in Gisela’s concern, the actual rod that Gareth was talking about. There is no real focus for the English other than ethnicity and that is due entirely to the appropriation by the state of England’s cultural and civic institutions. As Gareth said:

”We English have no collective political representation that allows for an expression of our collective political will, and many or most of our cultural and civic institutions have been appropriated for Britain.”

So where does the rise in English Nationalism, self awareness and self assertion go from here? The answer to that is in the hands of the government. To avoid fanning the flames of English nationalism is one thing. To prevent the expression of this rising phenomenon by ignoring calls for English political institutions (which are a prerequisite for recognised civic institutions) is to attempt to put a cork back into an increasingly agitated bottle of bubbly.

Via Hotspur at the Cross of St. George forums.

Lunacy

I had a long and frustrating conversation a couple of years or so ago with an old college friend of mine. Just as we were organising a small search party to locate our next slab of beer he stubbed out his rollup and remarked ”of course, you know that the moon landings were faked”. He’s an intelligent guy and, though more prone to conspiracy theories than the rest of us, had shown remarkable restraint and judgement by choosing only those theories that were mainstream and, more to the point, at least partway socially acceptable to a group of largely drunk technologists.

”Shut up Gary”. ”Oh God, please no.”. ”Bwahahaha”, and the like.

This remarkable proposition remained a theme through a number of parties and, as we have come to expect from the man, he was unshakable. Eventually he was convinced about the errors of his ways after watching some TV documentary that sought to debunk the debunkers on a point by point basis proving, for instance, that it’s perfectly reasonable for shadows to go off madly in all directions.

It was not funny at the time really because we were worried about him. This, on the other hand, is funny.

Via doctorvee.

Join in the flag debate

I've signed up for the following consultation. Have you?

LA on the radio

David Carr, from the Libertarian Alliance and samizdata.net, puts in a strong performance on the Jeremy Vine Show (mp3) broadcast this morning. His point is that he cannot see why creating extra legislation to protect members of the Emergency services will make any difference to the behaviour of the thugs and vandals who are already breaking the law. Those supporting the new legislation fail to explain their reasoning and fail to make their case.

Fake reality TV

This is just plain cruel.

Our governing class is off the leash

From Simon Heffer in the Telegraph:

There is a deal, unwritten and largely unspoken, in this country not just between the rulers and the ruled, but also between the chiefs and Indians within the institutions that keep the state functioning. This deal is in ruins. A public that for some time has been ground down by the sheer weight of Labour's power, and had given up caring, now shows signs of anger and disgust.

He can't hear you

Hands up who thinks the blogosphere has been silent on the subject of the police and terrorism. No? No takers? Well it seems that Sir Ian Blair, top cop in the met, needs to broaden his horizons:

Making his first public comments since the government's failed bid to extend the time terror suspects could be held without charge to 90 days, Sir Ian voiced "frustration" at the public "silence" on what it wanted the police to do.

Of course we don't actually know what he means by 'public' as he hasn't made that clear. Indeed it is hard to know what kind of public forum would satisfy his concerns. A phone in? A government appointed focus group? A referrendum? A tally of all letters sent by the public to their MPs? A visit to the local pub?

The Guardian elaborates:

In his lecture, Sir Ian is expected to say policing is hampered by the fact that there is little dispassionate, thought-through public examination of just what it is we are here to do in the 21st century - to fight crime or to fight its causes, to help build stronger communities or to undertake zero tolerance." Britain needs to articulate what kind of police it wants. "The silence can no longer continue."

...

"My central thesis is that the the British people need to decide what mechanisms they need to work out what kind of police force this should be, otherwise it will drift into doing it on its own, and that's not right."

Actually it all sounds eminently reasonable.

Questions, questions

The burning question on my mind at this very moment is could John Prescott pass the Turing test? I think not.

Not on your terms minister

So there I am in Sainsbury’s, no more than twenty minutes ago, and I catch sight of a number of people loitering around the newspaper stands. ”It’s unbelievable” I hear, ”Just let them try getting in” says another, ”Graffiti on the wall” it continues. I wander up and notice this particular story on the front page of the Telegraph:

The disclosure follows the revelation that John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, is planning to charge higher tax on homes with patios, multiple bedrooms, conservatories and scenic views.

The Valuation Office Agency sought the advice of the office of the Surveillance Commissioner on entering homes. The commissioner replied that inspectors taking photographs of properties would not contravene the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act or the Human Rights Act, even though those laws were intended to protect citizens' privacy.

It seems that Prescott and his jackboot minions are after more cash and want to enter our homes so that they may evaluate how much spare cash we might have, or something.

This is something that I can never allow to happen, certainly not for the purposes of raising more tax revenue when I feel so heavily overtaxed as it is.

If this comes to pass I will never give permission for these individuals to enter my home. If the law states that they are allowed to do so then I will insist that they carry out whatever action that is permissible for them to take to legally carry out their task. I will not personally open that door. Never. Not under any circumstances. Ultimately this will lead to coercion by way of legal threats, a court order perhaps and ultimately, I guess, forced entry into my home. This will be their doing though, not mine. I will have had no part in it.

Perhaps it will mean me paying even higher taxes than I might otherwise end up paying. Charging at the top end for homeowners that do not allow entry would come as no surprise and would, perhaps, save court time. If that is the price I will have to pay then so be it.

No doubt they will argue that an individual such as myself behaving as I describe is in some way irresponsible. They will fly their vindictive colours and insist that I am not worthy of the privilege of owning shotguns. I must be forced to give them up, they will in all likelihood demand. And that is where it will hurt the most because clay shooting is the last of the truly enjoyable shooting disciplines that I have left open to me.

It will be a sad day but a day that I will allow to pass if it means that I can look at myself in the mirror.

I have noted discussions in the past between shooters who gave up their pistols to the authorities and received “compensation” from the government for doing so. Some regret ever having taking this course of action preferring, if they could make the decision again, to send their property abroad and pay the costs of the storage involved. Others would, in retrospect, have rather destroyed their own property than have taken the money. They have been left with a bad taste in their mouths. A feeling that they have, in some way, belittled themselves and their principles for having accepted the destruction of their property on someone else’s terms.

Not here. Not ever.

Have you chosen your song yet?

Have you chosen your Blair has gone song yet? I chose mine about two years ago and I am looking forward to putting up some of the lyrics on this blog and dancing around semi-naked and drunk when the Day of brief light arrives.

Then, no doubt, I will have to start hunting around for a New Labour has gone song which I hope to be playing, and singing, and dancing to sometime within the next decade or so.

But what then? Being out in the cold is great for music appreciation but does nothing for ones well being. Still, I have my principles. They'll have to do.

What's on the back of Tim's book?

As I am sure you are aware (if you're not then welcome to the blogosphere) Tim Worstall has a written a book on the 2005 blogosphere. Its title, 2005 Blogged: Dispatches from the Blogosphere, reminds me somewhat of the title of one of Sean Gabb's books, Dispatches from a Dying Country: Reflections on Modern England (spelt incorrectly on Amazon) a copy of which I have. This got me to thinking.

One of my favourite quotes on the back of Dr. Gabb's book is this one by Teresa Gorman, former Conservative MP for Billericay:

Sean Gabb has been too long in the sun, and this shows in his writing.

Contrary to Gorman's comment the book was a well written collection of Dr. Gabb's Free Life Commentaries which I enjoy immensely. I'm sure that the quote has no actual relevance as far as Tim's book goes but it did have me giggling when I first read it.

Anyhow, the thought I had was I wonder what Tim's book will have on the back? Then I thought hey, wouldn't it be fun to make something up. So get your thinking caps on and, perhaps, we can have a little fun at Tim's expense.

Tim, if you're reading this all I can say is that someone forced me to put this posting up. Ahem.

Is throwing a minister still an accurate measure of trust?

A policeman should be allowed, without intervention, to lobby his MP regarding any subject he feels is appropriate. The key test in the current brewing storm is not whether the police lobbied their MPs but whether they were asked or invited to do so by government.

If they were then not only is it an unacceptable situation but it is also further evidence that New Labour has failed to understand the right and proper place of government in our society.

I suspect that I could throw a minister a long way. It is no longer an accurate measure of how much I trust them.

Blair says MPs out of touch with public opinion

You could say the same thing about hanging, or prisons, or life meaning life or public opinion of MPs. Any argument in a storm I guess.

Davis confirms opposition to an English Parliament

This is old news but does confirm his toady change on the issue:

Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs will be barred from voting on English laws if Conservative leadership hopeful David Davis becomes prime minister.

He pledged England-only votes in the House of Commons - but ruled out a separate English Parliament.

Labour party activists

Before The Englishman said Read that last sentence again I already had. An astonishing use of important policemen by the government to lobby democratically elected MPs.

Blair doesn't seem to understand the relationship between the state, the police and the public. Using the police in government politics is habit forming and dangerous as is the expectation of the police to be used in this way. It gradually alters their view of their position in our society. Who is doing the slapping down these days?

The House of Commons yesterday perhaps but that is a single knot on an extremely greasy rope.

I've been looking forward to the film release of V for Vendetta but I fear the longer it takes to come out the closer it will resemble a documentary.

Bah! Giles notes that the film has been delayed.

Jingle bells, something smells

Hey, look, the Felpham Village Conservation Society is having a Winter Dinner. They seem to be advertising it by way of an inviting poster. A poster that depicts a Winter Tree sporting rather nice winter decorations and, I think, winter lights. There are also some fancy winter holly images and another image of some fat winter guy in a red winter coat. I wonder what he's carrying in his winter sack? Winter presents I fancy.

Perhaps we should ask the organisers?

A tool of compliance

I was listening to a very interesting news item today on Radio 5 Live. The subject matter was some kind of suggestion that tasers should be made available for wider use within the police forces in Britain rather than being limited to use by qualified firearms officers as an alternative to lethal hardware.

As part of this programme they played an audio snippet from an altercation within the United States where a police officer had stopped a female motorist for an unspecified reason and demanded that she terminated a telephone call that she was having. She refused. The officer asked her a number of times to end the call and each time she refused. At some point the officer started stating that if she did not end the call he would taser her. She continued to refuse and he continued to threaten the use of the taser. The audio ended in a number of long screams from the woman as the officer fired his taser and deliberately delivered a number of shocks to her. It was a shocking piece; the woman was clearly in a great deal of protracted pain.

This has been seen as mission creep where an alterative method to lethal force has been used (on a number of occasions apparently) by the police for situations where lethal force should and would (hopefully) never be used.

The term banded around during the broadcast, and I think it’s an excellent and accurate term, is that tasers are increasingly being used as tools of compliance.

This was the argument that was put forward by an interviewee who was against the wider issuing and use of tasers by the police within Britain. It was a compelling piece and a compelling argument. Let us not forget that tasers have two reasons for their application. Firstly to incapacitate an individual and secondly to cause an individual pain. It should never be used simply for the later but, as is apparently happening in the United States, its application as a method for delivering pain is a compelling and attractive property of the device for some officers.

Nikon recall to replace rechargeable battery packs

I know at least one reader that will be affected by this. Nikon has issued a recall notice for certain rechargeable battery packs that come with its D100, D70, and D50 model cameras. A few have been overheating during recharging. They have published a list of the possibly faulty EN-EL3 type batteries so you should check if yours is on there and then seek a replacement from Nikon if necessary.

Mine is on the list which unfortunately means that I will be without a camera once I receive the "return envelope" from Nikon. I hope they send the replacement promptly.

Disappearing Britain by Lindsay Jenkins

Disappearing Britain looks like it might make interesting reading.

English civic nationalism

Gareth has published his excellent essay on English Civic Nationalism. Fill your boots.

Gareth has kindly allowed me to put his essay up as a document on this site. It is now linked to from the document section in the left margin.

Dirty, dirty, toady

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Help us to helpthemselves

This is interesting (via wonko):

Former First Minister Henry McLeish has made a rare return to Holyrood - where he spoke out on home rule for England.

...in his speech he said it would benefit Scotland if England also had devolution. And he added safeguards should be brought in to prevent Westminster abolishing the Scottish Parliament or reducing its powers.

The interesting thing about this is that it is a predictable reaction to the current devolution problems. The current state of devolution undermines both Britain and England. It cannot be allowed to continue and McLeish knows this. There are those that might call for the eventual abolishment of the Scottish parliament or a serious reduction in its powers as a way of solving the problem. Perhaps the whispers are stronger than we think. Supporting an English parliament or some other kind of English devolution is a way of heading off this kind of outcome at the pass.

Perhaps the chattering is getting louder. Perhaps we can expect more talk like this from north of the border.

A class letter to the Sunday Times

Alfie puts his ship alongside the AA Gill and delivers a thunderous broadside.

The response in the letter section of the Sunday Times is excellent.

It's interesting to note that the only book I can find of Gill's on amazon is AA Gill is Away. It looks like a travel book and the amazon in-house review adds AA Gill is Away, frequently warns against travelling with preconceptions. Bwahahaha.

TV

A neighbour said get Sky+, it will transform the way you watch television. We got FreeView instead. A Philips FreeView box to be exact. We stuck with it for two weeks and then returned the box to Sainsbury’s. It kept freezing and would sometimes take 5 minutes to change between two different channels even when the signal strength indicator suggested a strong signal. To date it has been the most frustrating piece of electronic equipment I have ever used.

I once bought a Samsung video recorder that had a faulty design. Some kind of minute spring would fail after the guarantee period was up and the recorder would need repairing. It was a well know problem with that particular recorder. I decided never to buy a Samsung product again. Phillips is now on that list of untrustworthy companies. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t automatically place the companies of all failed products on my list. Just those whose products cause me a level of frustration and anger that I feel justifies the total abolition of the existence of any of their products in the household.

So that’s three. Samsung, Phillips and The Daily Express.

Anyhow, we got Sky+ and it’s extraordinarily impressive. The box is effectively a satellite receiver with an integral hard disc for recording onto but that’s not really what makes it great. It’s the programming. The ease of use. The features just work and work in a way I would expect them to work. The manual is unnecessary.

The channel line up we have is also impressive. Hundreds of them and many of quality. Sky One, Sky Movies 1 & 2, Discovery, History, UK History, Civilisation, kiddie channels, loads of them. There’s always something on.

I now pay about forty quid a month for TV entertainment. It’s a lot of money but we got fed up with the quality of programming on terrestrial TV. We were at the video shop two or three times a month just so that we could spend some relaxing time on the sofa of an evening.

Forty quid. Thirty for the pleasure of always having something to watch whenever we feel like it and a sophisticated piece of machinery that provides us with one touch recording of multiple channels, rewinding and pausing of live TV, linking of a series so it can be recorded in its entirety, a great user experience with an easy to use but sophisticated user interface and a permanent connection between our house and a satellite in Geo-stationary orbit around our planet. Ten quid for various BBC channels that we hardly ever watch and would gladly give up if only the state permitted it.

Interview

I've been interviewed by Gareth over at the Campaign for An English Parliament blog.

Standing up and being counted

The public reaction to that AA Gill article in the Sunday Times has been overwhelming.

Airsoft news

Some airsoft news via Ian at An English Shooter's Blog.

Well it looks like Hazel Blears may be looking to make the sport of airsoft to be exempted from the provisions of the Violent Crimes Reduction Bill "as long as the airsoft weapon is not so realistic as to make it indistinguishable from a real firearm"

The question rightly asked by Ian is So what will the test be? who will decide?

I can tell the difference between any readily available airsoft gun and any real firearm. But what will the criteria be? There are many that are so realistic that it would take an in hand examination to tell the difference and, in truth, this is part of what makes airsoft so distinct and unique a hobby. It's extremely realistic with respect to the tools used to enjoy it. The uniform, which many people spend hundreds of hours piecing together to exactly match particular historical conflicts is part of that as are the replica weapons used.

They are realistic and that is, for many players, a great deal of the attraction. It's the point in many ways.

These people are not criminals. These people do not misuse their gaming equipment. These people are not breaking any law or regulation but it is these people who are going to have to modify their behaviour (and for some this will be significant and hurtful) so that the government can, yet again, be seen to be doing something.

For images of my TM KNIGHTS SR-16 M4 CARBINE, a tool I use for gaming, click on the "continue reading" link.

It's realistic and that's the way I like it.

The start of the fox hunting season

The fox hunting season has begun - the first since a ban on using dogs in England and Wales

A survey, conducted by ORB, a member of the British Polling Society, shows that 45% of those interviewed supported the ban.

The survey is based on the opinions of 1,006 adults in England, Scotland and Wales questioned between 28 and 30 October.

Blair's blunder over MI5 demand to hold suspects for 90 days

Oh no, another inadvertent mistake by one of our 'leaders'. Of course, we really wouldn't know much about this if Blair was in his ascendancy. Expect to see more of this kind of revelation and confirmation in the future.

When the police ask for something that's in line with government thinking their opinions are seen as important and beyond reproach. When the police disagree with government thinking their opinions are seen as "their own views".

Quote of the day

If a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he next comes to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. - Thomas De Quincey.

The steady rise of England from the bottom of the barrel

I'm very busy right now. I have my hands full. I am swamped. Snowed under. Pressed for time. This means pointing you to things like this rather than taking it upon myself to, you know, actually put in any effort.

One man's security light is another man's limelight

It's a sorry tale:

We don't need more laws. We don't need new initiatives. We don't need more statistics. We don't need more police powers. We need our police off their arses and out on the streets. We need police who understand who they REALLY work for. We need the laws we have always had rigorously enforced, and all "binge legislating" (as Andrew Marr tellingly described it) of recent years ignored until public order has been restored.

Witanagemont Roundup #3

The Witanagemont Roundup #3 is up over at Wonko's place!!

Zimbabwe in 'experienced farmers best at farming' shocker

No, really?