Tuesday 28 February 2012

Globule Warming

It occurs to me we are missing the point. Oh sure there are lots of articles published and lots of hot air vented by the vested interests in creating alarm about 'Global Warming', but really they are a side show.

Generally the activists for political change driven by Climate Change do not talk about science. Oh they say it is settled and that 'scientists' overwhelmingly agree that it is so, but they are not keen on detail. Obviously anything verifiable they utter is quickly destroyed, hence the avoidance. When you say the moon is made of green cheese, you don't want anyone going there.

So, in an effort to prove to a population that has generally been taken in by the bombardment of reasonable sounding, but scary propoganda, the realists carefully explain the science and reasoning behind their position. They carefully deconstruct any seemingly scientific claims of the alarmist activists. But who cares. Shocked by the headline, who wants a school lesson on why the headline was wrong. Everyone has 'zoned out' by then.

It is a useful corrollary of the left's drive to produce a desperately under educated popualtion, that people don't question or investigate; they cannot think for themselves or have learnt not to. So the left are winning this battle by shouting something scary and walking away, like Paul Merton accusing  a Tory MP of saying something she hadn't said, knowing that any attempt at a reply would make her look silly and stretching a minor point.

By shifting the terms of debate they avoid answering questions. It is the opposite of democracy of course and their natural territory. Joseph Kennedy (father of JFK) may have detested Britain for standing up to Hitler, but at a time that managed to throw up a Hitler and a Stalin at the same time, they must have been strange times indeed. But reprehensible though he may have been as a character, he at least stuck to his point. When questioned he didn't point and say 'is that a magpie?' as our modern left liberal would.

It has long been understood by the left that they cannot openly declare their intentions and objectives, they would be broadly opposed. They must trick the masses into either indifference or else a false understanding. The truth can only ever hurt the left , except in the eyes of true believers. This means we are always in danger and must be alert to the threat.

Look at objections to Gove's education plans. They are just lies, made up to scare people. But the most obvious thing is, that the left never talk of the best educational outcomes, never decide on a course of action based on the best interests of pupils. It is only ever to further their ideology.

Banks And Tax

We hear today of naughty bankers (are they ever anything else?) who have tried to avoid £500 million in tax. Naturally, bankers are fair political game, no-one ever came to any harm having a go at bankers. And £500 million is a lot of money.

But why the outrage? Why the headlines? When the head of the HMRC dines at expensive restaurants with large corporates and then has meetings at which Vodaphone are let off £4 billion in tax and it doesn't make headlines, you have to wonder. Yes, Four, billion, pounds. Oh and he was quite generous to Goldman Sachs too, but that too seems to have slipped past.

Funny what the papers think outrageous these days, knowing they set the 'outrage agenda'. Is it coincidence that newspapers are so strangely biased at a time in their history when they don't really do journalism any more? So much easier to just write what ever you are told. And politicians won't talk to you again if you are beastly about them.

Occupy London -Leeches

These empty-headed 'Occupy London' types really annoy me. Why can some people not get past the juvenile stage? Why do they think some half-baked idea of everybody loving everybody else is ever going to come true? Particularly when they themselves are so full of hate and resort to violence so quickly.

They don't even represent themselves. Of course, having made a mess on Church property (knowing as all tyrants do, that you always target the weak minded) they then didn't bother to inconvenience themselves by actually occupying the tents! And a Tory MP, who quite rightly pointed out that they are as much endeared to the capitalist corporate culture as anyone, visiting the local Costa coffee, she was ridiculed by left liberal twits (Paul Merton etc) who said that surely having a coffee doesn't affect their political stance.

True, if that was what she was saying, but then the left don't like debate and certainly not unless they set the framework. The hypocrisy of decrying a culture you happily subscribe to is not very cohesive, but then they need a generous welfare state to fund their 'protests' as well.

There are a great many things about which we should protest and the left get excited about almost none of them. They instead continue to pursue their agenda to undermine Western civilisation to bring about a socialist revolution, in which nutters like them get to tell you what to do. You know the way it goes; they never deviate from Animal Farm.

And if you think this extreme and 'surely no one can really be up to such mischief in this country', look at the state broadcaster. With an absolute mandate to be fair in news reporting, they spin their left bias incessantly. For instance, the Occupy London radicals are anti-capitalists, they want our system of government overthrown to be replaced with a state controlled economy, such as the Soviet Union had under Stalin and the EU are aiming for. The BBC called them 'protesters against corporate greed', a massively inaccurate description and deliberately disingenuous -they know how dangerous it would be to tell you the truth about the left.

Monday 27 February 2012

Falklands Defence

I read in the Mail that the MoD have drawn up plans to defend the Falklands in case the nutter running Argentina has to distract the Argentine people from a) her running of the country and b) just where her money came from. From what we gather the MoD squeezes only momentary fractions of its time into the job we expect them to do, spending most time on sick days, bonus schemes, holiday, research holidays, supplier visit holidays and meetings about meetings (to swap holiday destinations), pausing only to sign off procurement of something they saw in an Eagle comic or a brochure that looked nice/had a free holiday attached.

I can only imagine a plan drawn up by the excessively large number of people not doing very much in Whitehall would go something like this. Firstly it would involve ordering equipment which could then be used to defend the Islands, like aircraft carriers. They may not be ready for 20 years, but considering whether that might be relevant doesn't fall within the parameters of the project plan.

Then order some planes that don't exist, to fly from the carriers that aren't built yet. Ships would be dispatched, but they would be supply ships, which due to the haste necessary to meet an imminent threat, they didn't actually load with anything. Ships with guns and missiles on them being be on a good will visit to Switzerland.

Extra troops would be loaded into aircraft to be flown to the airstrip built on the Falklands for the purpose, but the planes would circle endlessly searching for the runway amongst the Orkney Islands, which the MoD believe is where the Falklands are. Keen to show they are now a thinking part of austerity Britain the MoD would load older ammunition to use that up first; 7.62mm instead of the 5.56mm now used by the standard rifle.

This might suggest that the MoD are gormless and useless, but the reality is somewhat worse.



Sunday 26 February 2012

Dealing With The Culture-less

Two US officers were shot dead inside the interior ministry in Kabul, by a coward. He was motivated it seems by the burning of old Koran's by US forces, which has led to wild rantings on the streets by mobs outraged by the action.The fact that it is of no consequence whatsoever hasn't and couldn't occur to these people because they are and there is no way round this, stupid.

They are stupid because they refuse to develop a culture of their own. The nearest thing they have is tribal loyalty and a tradition of killing people. The reaction is as if some old lady has died and the house clearance people have destroyed anything they didn't want, but would have been precious to the old lady. It isn't to them though and that is the point.

Afghans deliberately seek to take offence at imagined sleights because their leaders know how supine will be the idiotic response of Western governments. Burning someone's holy book in front of them in a malicious fashion is a terrible deed. Burning a Koran (or Bible) as part of a clearing up operation is irrelevant. If it isn't your religion, it just doesn't mean anything to you. I am sure that Muslims would not care about burning Bibles and that can be understood.

This action against such a non-event is proof positive that we are wrong about Afghanistan. The problem wasn't that Al Queda were there, it was that Al Queda will always be there, because culturally the people are backward and unable to connect with other cultures. They don't have to be like Westerners, they just have to have systems and processes based on logic and rationality. They are still some way off that.

The reaction of the British is to withdraw civilian advisers from ministries in Kabul. How about we do the same for our troops, who regularly face such danger? Our forces are facing, not an implacable enemy but an unfathomable one. These Afghan hordes are cowardly in the extreme, siding with whichever force is closest and betraying any one showing weakness, such as a compassionate Western soldier.

Pull our troops out; they are pointless in assisting the Afghan people (though helping the powerful and corrupt no end) and are being killed and maimed for no reason. None at all. The Renaissance is some hundreds of years off from such culture-less lands.

Re-Joyce At The News

I'm betting that Miniband doesn't bring up binge drinking in the next PMQ's, not whilst his staunch Labour ally Eric Joyce is still rolling around. Mr Joyce, who by convention was referred to as the Right Honourable by the Speaker, you will be aware started fighting in a bar in the House of Commons. There wasn't a fight you understand, just a Scottish socialist lashing out violently. It is seeming ever more likely that Scotland will achieve independence, as some kind of pariah state.

It is just another, sad demonstration of how a once mighty people have been laid low because of a devotion to socialism that promised them riches, or er justice as they put it. Joyce of course represents the fine qualities socialism has to offer; me privileged, you not -but for the record you do have to do what I say.

My earlier cynicism that the police, under socialist control for some time now, would seek to gloss over the event, except complaints have been made , the disgusting oaf was still violent when they arrived and they had trouble detaining him. I wouldn't be surprised if, once under arrest he turned on the officers with a 'don't you know who I am?' I've heard it before and they really mean it, self important people are like that.

It will be interesting to see what happens though; I can't imagine socialists thinking they should be treated like any one else.


Friday 24 February 2012

Real And TV Politics

MP's are not just the devious curs we thought they were (and brawlers, if Labour), but they are also deceitful and duplitious. Recently, Cameron was bleating on about curing the binge drinking culture by raising the price of alcohol. He appears to have settled on this solution because there is a tangential link and it won't affect anyone he hangs around with, even if they are prone to the odd binge themselves.

But whilst this got all the media attention and seemed a waste of the PM's time, he was quietly off to France to sign up to a joint military command structure. No explanation and certainly no mandate from the public to do such a thing. Indeed if the current military posturing of the French isn't warning enough then history should provide pretty strong alarm bells.

France of course was the country that was outraged that British troops pulled out of France in WW2 to protect Britain, after the French has fairly spectacularly failed to defend their own country. Apparently they felt that was our job. The bit of the French nation that came to England offered to join the two countries together under one leadership. That would be Britain and the place called France, currently occupied by Germans. The other bit enthusiastically joined in with the Nazis and fought against Britain.

Or more recently the France who wanted nothing to do with the military side of NATO because they couldn't run it, but when the fighting kicked off in the former Yugoslavia they demanded to be kept informed of planning. This they promptly passed on to their Serbian friends. Then there is a certain amount of ire that the Americans felt about something or other, when they felt the need to label them as 'cheese eating, surrender monkeys'.

Cameron has to stop acting like some elderly grandmother who is duped out of her possessions by a conman, playing on her civility. Aircraft carriers. We haven't got any, but there is an on/off project to build a couple of pretty big ones. If the on side wins, they will be built in France apparently. And the French have also suggested that we provide the platform and they will provide the aircraft. There is a reason for that.

When you decide to 'do' something, it is the planes that do the 'doing', not the carrier. In the film, A Few Good Men, a US Marine declares his admiration for the Navy. He says that they are fine fellows because, whenever the Marines have to go somewhere to fight, 'you guys give us a lift'. The French you see, love glory, they just don't like working for it.

Maybe Cameron should stick to the binge drinking project, he is way out of his depth elsewhere.

Thursday 23 February 2012

Why Do We Pay Taxes?

Ok, so the question isn't really why pay taxes at all; that is obvious. What I mean is, why pay the taxes we have and certainly the level? Consider. Personal tax on income (which includes National Insurance) is routinely a third of 'earnings'. More as you get clobbered higher up the pay scale (unless you dodge). Your employer also has to pitch in an additional 13.8% of your gross pay.

When you buy something with the money you earned and were generously allowed to keep by the goverment, about 16.75% of the price of the goods will most often be tax. If the product is petrol the tax take is 80.1p (on a litre at 132.9p). That's over 60%.

As you can't take it with you when you die, the government helps itself to 40% of anything over £300,000 that you leave. Remembering that when you bought your house, at between £250,001 and £500,000 you had to pay the government 3% of the purchase price (it goes from 1-5% based on price). Then there is all the tax on companies and share dealing; it goes on and on.

Now I don't know about you, but I find, whether I like it or not, I have to buy quite a lot of things. I have to buy petrol to get to work and sometimes, mad fool that I am, I might like to drive somewhere for pleasure. So the ringing of cash till bells may not be creating angels' wings, but it is certainly creating that vast amount of money that the government sprays around.

It may be a vast amount but a) Gordon Brown made it 'not enough' so borrowed a whole mountain more and b) it doesn't seem enough for the things we thought it was for; a decent hospital service, police forces, fire service, bins emptied regularly, roads kept open in winter, armed forces and some people to watch we don't get poisoned or ripped off by the local curry house or the energy company.

What we do get is MP's expenses and Quango's to do what the MP's are paid to do. The Quango's then hire Consultants to do their job and just to make sure, the MP's hire Consultants who tell them to create more Quango's. We get MoD procurement that pays for things we don't then get, or don't work, hosiptals that pay £2400 for £16 worth of drugs and IT systems that don't work. Plus our contributions to pay for the EU and its cock-ups.

What I do understand is that the government has a massive incentive to make sure not many people hold on to their money. Imagine if you could just pass on your wealth to your children unhindered, just how many generations would it take before a significant proportion of the population had enough wealth to be largely independent of government? Enough money that you can escape their clutches if need be. Doesn't bear thinking about if your job is to tell people what to do.

There isn't an argument about 'big government'. It has to stop. No, seriously it has to stop. Government should do very little, tax accordingly and leave us to spend our money creating wealth all round, getting richer by each generation. We should keep our money rather than have it appropriated by governments who then, basically, lose it.

Politicians!

I see politicians are making the news 'on the side' as it were, with one arrested for fighting and another for alledged fraud against the EU, on the evidence of a whistleblower. If you think about it, you can guess which parties these people are from. Go on. Yes the fighting MP was Eric Joyce, Labour, who seems to believe the bars in the House of Commons are not for the use of Conservatives.

This is an opinion he is so committed to, apparently that he should try to forcibly take exception when Tories disoblige him, in his views. The police it seems also disagree with his views. But, being a politician and a Labour one at that, the 'authorities' will have a think about it and decide that they probably made it up. That it didn't actually happen, all references to it will be destroyed and that will be it. I think Orwell covered this in '1984' (which Tony Blair used as an ideas booklet).

The other miscreant is an MEP, who has claimed £840 for a car journey, when she actually went by plane, which was much cheaper. Can you guess which party she is from? Of course you can. The EU is riddled with every form of corruption and specifically expenses fraud. MEP's routinely claim to have flown foie gras class on BA, when in fact they took an Easyjet cattle truck for a tenner. But the difference here is that the MEP in question is a member for UKIP, Nikki Sinclaire and strangely, the evidence came from that most hated class within the EU, a whistleblower.

In previous cases of whistleblowing, the EU has swiftly acted to get rid of the individual blowing the whistle amid allegations against their propriety. Maybe a pencil went missing in their department once. Whatever, Commisar for Corruption (by which they mean he intends to eradicate it, yeah, right), Neil Kinnock makes something up and acts against the person taking the side of the people against the EU elite. His pension depemds on it! Although, someone else must have to do this now, as Kinnock has moved on to other fields of taxpayer funded sponging. (Actually, the Kinnocks are probably one of the best examples of how, once on the gravy train, no matter how incompetent, nor undeserving, you are looked after and rewarded massively for your failures).

Let's see if the politicians of this country, having been shown up for what they are recently, have continued to dominate a subservient police force and face no censure. Eric Joyce is a disgraceful politician. And let us also await the drama that is the corrupt EU weeding out those who oppose it. Little pogroms whilst the Greek invasion is taking place.

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Sharing Good News

Shameless promotion this! If you come across a stonking good deal at some online retailer, then why not let other people know about it? If you put it on an internet site then not just your friends, but anyone can benefit from your discovery. That's good of you.

But wait! If you put a deal that you see, on http://www.teezal.com/  then not only can you share the love, you will get a little something back as well. Whenever someone follows a link to the retailer you highlighted and purchases something, you will get a small slice of the action. It isn't much necessarily each time, but if a lot of people buy, or you put lots of deals on there then it can soon mount up.

So what you need to do, is put some bargain deals on teezal and then tell everyone you know about teezal too. The more who look, the more buy and that means money for you!

Monday 20 February 2012

The News Today

Wow, some infuriating telly today! What is it about the left that they feel it their right to shout the odds all the time? People who are natural conservatives, the real, famed centre ground, stage a massive, but quiet protest to such extent that the socialist government of the day have to set the police on them, without awaiting provocation. Yet the left riot and shout. Blair was confronted by a woman, an actual member of the public who felt let down by his running of the NHS, but today a politically active leftie shouts at the Health Secretary because she has an opposing political view! And the BBC just refer to her as a 'pensioner'.

Substance versus ideology, as ever. Then we have the BBC news saying that there is going to be a massive shake up in border controls. No there isn't, we are just planning on actually having some. Chunky Cooper stands up in the House and witters on that the Home Secretary is blaming the Borders managers and this is disgraceful. Not sure why. Anyway, just because it was their fault apparently, theirs and the Labour government that first suggested not really bothering with any controls.

For at least ten years Labour blamed 'the previous administration' for everything that went wrong. Within a year of the Coalition coming in Labour felt that their greatest achievement, the massive overspend of public sector employment and other unfunded projects, unchecked immigration, run down of the armed services, moral destruction of the NHS, dumbing down of education (and all the rest), were nothing to do with Labour and it was outrageous how the Conservatives could allow these things to go on.

Almost as cheeky as Brown being so annoyed about being dumped as PM (despite feeling, personally that he had done strikingly well), that he refused to do any work at all. But could we keep paying him.

Friday 17 February 2012

An Independent UK?

Here is a small picture of things that are wrong, there are many others. As we are in the EU we must allow free movement, but it is a political construct not one actually designed to work properly, so it has many problems of misalignment. A lorry driver can come to the UK, having filled up his tanks with cheaper fuel on the Continent. He then conducts business in the UK, taking loads across the country for a fee that goes home with him. He drives on roads paid for by British taxpayers, to which he does not contribute.

When committing an offence here he is largely left alone as the police usually avoid the difficulty with language and paperwork, knowing also that by returning to his own country, though in the EU he will be effectively out of reach, so what is the point. I am left wondering; how am I served by a government that allows this, by a system of law that forces this on me, but from which I do not benefit?

If I decide to buy a house in Spain (I know, who would?), I would fully expect that I should find an interpreter and legal advice on how things work in this foreign land and at my cost. It would be mad to see it any other way. If I don't understand something then it is up to me to find out.

Now let us consider the immigrant in England, illegal or not it doesn't matter as we have no control over either. The immigrant goes along to the benefit office to receive their 'due', but naturally learning to speak the language of the country they have chosen to leech off is a terrible fag, so they don't bother. An interpreter should be available, at our cost, of course. Why is any of this permitted in my name? And don't start whining about social justice, Britain cannot pay for every waif and stray in the World, much as Cameron seems to want to, here and in their country. I am always amazed that the leftie insisting on this strategy to undermine capitalism, doesn't see that, until he is penniless and his own house filled to the rafters with 'refugees' escaping 'oppression', then his version of the moral obligation on the country is unproven.

David Cameron - An Open Letter

Dear Mr. Cameron

I know you decided to put on a Conservative tie and that you had what is often referred to as a good start in life. This, I hoped would make you a useful Prime Minister at a time of great need in the country, we have after all, just had a Labour government for 13 years -there was bound to be much that needed repairing. But those dogs of economics have run amok and left us with more than a shrivelled economy and low morale this time. Gordon Brown has wrecked the country to its core, with the added depth of Blair's immorality.

We needed clear thinking on growth and strong leadership, which are traditional Tory strengths. This you might realise is where things get difficult, as I am sure you are aware yourself, you are no traditionalist.

Mr. Cameron, politics is intended to be the servant of the people, it is designed to facilitate the best ordering of national affairs for the benefit of the people in general, one might say in Britain, for the Queen on behalf of her subjects. Somehow, politicians have come to see themselves as a kind of class apart, a natural elite who rule. A group that makes decisions because that is their job, based on political considerations alone. Whilst voters are needed, those considerations usually have a cynical angle, to gain those votes when required.

This has led to what is called the Westminster Bubble, where politicians only talk to each other and make decisions based on the outcome for that group. Debates in parliament, such as they now exist, are merely sport for winning points in some academic game, rather than the serious business of running the country. If I may at this point introduce a notion you may find shocking, the aforementioned is what the nation pays you to do. If you wish to play childish games of name calling then please confine it to your leisure hours.

It is clear you have come to believe that your election is dependent on socialist values and so you enact the inane energy policies demanded by left activists, you borrow more when we need to cut back and you shrink from the loud, but pointless shouts of the left about any 'cuts'. It is precisely because these people are believed when they shout that needs addressing, by strong leadership that achieves real results. Results these malefactors are telling the population are not achievable under Tories.

These people have demonised Margaret Thatcher and talk of her in the most disgusting terms, waiting to unleash a most unedifying orgy when she passes. Do you believe she deserves that? Of course not, it is just a position that the left are pushing; comedians routinely refer to how bad Thatcher was but couldn't tell you why. To repeat empty junk fed by political agitators on the left doesn't make it true. But much of our lives is currently blighted by just such shouting down, using political correctness as a weapon most often.

This is damaging our country, it is a major reason for much that is wrong and we must reverse it. It is in fact just an extension of getting the Tories labelled as the nasty party. Was that ever even remotely true? No, except with regard to the infighting by the wets in the party, people who today have far too much influence on you. Why do you think you didn't win a clear majority? Why do you think the Lib Dems are so hated? People want a Conservative Party to bring back prosperity and pride to the UK, not the left leaning nonsense you cleave too. Whether from advice or personal disposition your current instincts are wrong. What does your education tell you to do? Don't rely on experience, you don't have any. Try listening and I mean listening to someone outside the Westminster Bubble.

I remain, a humbled taxpayer

EyeSee

EDF - A Brown Company

With startling predictability the energy utility company EDF has announced profits of almost £1.6 billion. The company is French owned and employs, for media relations Andrew Brown, brother of the economically illiterate Gordon. Somehow you knew someone like that would have their hand in a company making pots of money, through government complicit chicanery.

What? Are they up to no good? Well, obviously that is the outcome, but to get there they don't need to break the law, the door is opened for them by very helpful politicians, who sometimes are relations. Companies like EDF have virtual monopoly status and are pretty much left alone to get on with it. The quango set up to monitor energy and protect the consumer, feel much more comfortable getting friendly with the outfits they are paid to watch. They all do.

It is the complete absence of protection for consumers that attracts overseas companies to buy these monopolistic ultilities; they are virtually all foreign owned. Often, their own countries don't allow the kind of operation they routinely run here, because the governments there feel a need to protect consumers. For vital, national infrastructure such as energy, so should we.

I am no great believer in nationalised industries, but some things are for the overall national benefit and the utilities might just be better under a public umbrella. Obviously not run by Unions or their puppy dog, the Labour Party. We were quite happy to take over Northern Rock, casually forgetting the shareholders, so how about we take over EDF Energy with a similar lack of care. It would certainly make other companies think twice about arriving in Britain to rob us blind.

The Mail, as we have discussed before a terrible rag that has no value, helpfully points out that the profit EDF has made amounts to £427 per household. Think what percentage of your annual bill that represents. That is the extent of the duplicity with which our supine government and watchdogs operate. It smacks of too many friends in too many places. All we need now is Dave Hartnett to arrive at the most expensive restaurant local to EDF HQ and suddenly discover that £1.6 billion is such a tiny sum that they shouldn't have to pay tax at all.

Thursday 16 February 2012

EU Dictators

I am confused by the welling of comment about how the Greeks, in particular, are being dictated to by a seemingly uncaring EU (which really means Germany and France). The economic powerhouse in the EU
has always been Germany ( a country that never fails to draw attention to how grateful it is, to all those countries who paid for its rebuilding after WW2, rather than just being horrible to them).

My confusion is based on the fact that the EU has always been a dictatorship, it was intended so to be. The self styled elite of this monster have often bemoaned any interference from electorates, that things would run much smoother if (when) they are unable to vote. Why would Germany not assume that they can and should tell the Greeks, or anyone else offending the political structure established for their benefit, to toe the line?

It cannot be a difficult concept to realise; the fact that such a stupid idea as the single currency is being kept alive artificially should surely point out that good government, the welfare of the populations of Europe and common sense do not affect the EU. No, good little Europeans will forget their former identity and obey instructions. They will do as the leaders say.

The question is rather, what limit is there to their ambitions and this time, if they take military action, who can stop them?

Tax

Tax is a funny thing. No-one likes it, but most accept that it is necessary. But under that comes a subtlety; if the rate of taxation is perceived, even subconsciously, to be too high then the moral obligation fades. People start to look for ways to evade their full quota, as it were.

Of course, those with routine access to paid advice on how to minimise the bill have always exercised that ability, and the greedy, like over-paid footballers also have a history of avoidance. We know that the actual tax take declines as the rates rise, but politicians still persist in ludicrously high percentages. So who is surprised at the recent glut of stories about tax avoidance?

But our government and its tax authorities are deeply immoral at present. We have the head of HMRC taking a great interest in private meetings to assist large companies avoid massive tax bills. Not tricks or 'avoidance' you understand, they are just let off their dues. And then others are hounded. Civil servants have been set, tracking back over the records of ordinary people, in an attempt to find under payments. The (illegal) fines and interest that is now routinely added, obscene in the extreme.

All this of course, before we hear of the bonuses and tax avoidance among civil servants. Any chance this country is badly led?

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Left, Right

You know, I find myself leaning towards what is known as the Right, because generally it stands for individuality, for ambition, freedom and the right to express yourself. But I am also of the right because I hate the Left. It struck me recently that not only do the left have to resort to underhand tactics and lies as no-one would follow their lead otherwise, but also that they delude themselves.

Take climate change. Ostensibly it is a scientific argument about whether the planet is warming up due to the activities of Man, but in reality it quickly became a political project of the Left to undermine the capitalist economy. A quick examination of a) the facts and b) reality confirms that the alarmists are spouting arrant nonsense and that they are doing it on purpose.

When Soviet Russia signed a pact with Nazi Germany in WW2, the Left had to do sometimes painful contortions to oppose Hitler, but still support Stalin. In fact, they had to completely ignore Soviet aggression both against its 'enemies' and its own people. The murders in the Soviet Union for the Left in the West, just didn't happen. Just as global warming stopped over a decade ago, but 'scientists' are claiming it hasn't, but refuse to offer data in support. Naturally, it is an affront to ask them.

The Left are so disingenuous that it is impossible to take them seriously, other than to watch them carefully for the harm they do. Whilst not actually a leftie, Tony Blair used a number of their techniques to hoodwink the voters. I do not think I am a seer of some sort in that I was never taken in by the slimy tove, more that I am incredulous it was not obvious to almost everyone. Obama, oozes the same insincerity, but Americans seem to be undecided, it is as if they needed to know what type of bear it was, that was going to tear them to pieces, before they could decide how to escape its attentions.

If you don't think of yourself as having a political leaning ask yourself these questions; do you have an overpowering desire to be rich, do you hate with a passion people who are already rich, do you want riches to be bestowed on you, rather than having to work for them, are you certain that you are more important than anyone you know, do you have an absolute belief that people should always do what you say? Then you are a leftie.

If you believe that people can lift themselves into a better condition through education and effort and that they should allowed to do so, if you are optimistic and are not filled with the avarice and envy listed above, then welcome to my world, you are right.

Binge Drinking

Lord help us, Cameron is on a crusade. He has decided to cure binge drinking which is, apparently, caused by alcohol being too cheap. Naturally, anyone with enough money gets drunk, on the streets all the time, including David Cameron. Er, hold on, no that's not right. As being able to afford booze isn't the issue, perhaps it is just the access the proles have that is the problem. So, if we price them out of the 'market' binge drinking will stop.

Admittedly, cretins do form the overwhelming bulk of the binge drinkers who cause trouble, but some have respectable jobs and just join in the culture of drinking to excess. And that is what it is, a culture. A culture that has its roots in the late Nineties era of no personal responsibility, but immense personal ego. An age that demanded 'respek' without bothering to do anything to earn it.

Key examples of immorality were daily on display with MP's caught in the (sexual) act with consenting, though previously unknown 'friends', with the Prime Minister lying incessantly, but always with that knowing smirk that said, 'I know you know I'm lying, but I really, y'know' don't care'. His wife of course, insisted on public recognition of some elevated status she had awarded herself, with her hand out for freebies at every turn. And all the rest, from the half wit Straw to the downright weaselly Mandelson.

For the man and girl in the street, this meant that criticism was banned, any expectation of a standard of behaviour, maybe something that would earn respect, was abandoned in a hedonistic wave of self-impressed boorishness. The ultimate expression of women's lib; the right of young girls to flash their bits in a laddish manner. (Of course, 'women's liberation' was a desirable aim, hijacked by the left and taken to ridiculous extremes, simply to undermine Western society and culture).

You want to cure binge drinking David? Well, you need to start by enforcing the laws we already have, which will require high standards of leadership from you and a strong arm on the inept senior police officers to stop sucking twizzle sticks and do their job. The courts need to feel that a terrified old lady sitting in her own house, is someone deserving protection from careless louts and a judge is the person to do it.

Clubs and trendy bars should be warned about serving drunk people and that should be acted upon and politicians should constantly refer to binge drinkers as idiots, which has the bonus of actually being accurate. Why should some poor pensioner, struggling to get by, be denied the odd bottle of beer because some detached moron in No10 thinks she is a binge drinker.

Greece Is The Word

Can we get this over and done with? OK, so pretty much everyone (except lefties) knows that the Euro was never going to work, pretty much everyone (except the lefties) knew that countries like Greece lied about their economic situation to get into the Eurozone, so we are used to obviously stupid things still being actioned in the EU, but really, what is going on with Greece?

The on-off bailouts, funds, market swings are a daily farce. As a brilliant quote had it in the Spectator this week, nobody ever taxed themselves to prosperity, so why do we think the 'solution' for Greece is any wiser? They cannot stay in the Euro with its fixed exchange rate, full stop. It cannot happen. But the EU don't admit failure so the alchemists carry on. This small bunch of irresponsible pillocks are dragging the world economy down and they will not stop their lunacy.

But then, when someone else is funding you, why should reason and rationale have any place in your world? Particularly when your benefactor has a bottomless pit of money (apparently). It really is the shock of this age, that politicians cannot respond to an obvious stimulus in anything like a common sense way. That is the indictment on our politics and it is time to call time. Enough is enough.

I, as we all have, have heard the endless witterings of the left that we cannot exist without the EU, that we will return to European wars if the EU goes. That is rot. France and Germany would attack each other in or out of an 'EU' if it suited them. There are many reasons why Europe has not seen another Franco-German inspired war and the EU isn't one of them. But our Prime Minister cannot bring himself to address an important problem, let alone address it in a mature and sensible way. He has to cure binge drinking.

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Ali Dizaei: The Image Of The Met

It has to be said, an awful lot is tied up in the disgraceful human being that is Ali Dizaei. He represents in a very direct way the Metropolitan Police and the way it works today and his conviction (again) highlights what is wrong with the police, in a way that is as accurate as Macpherson was wrong.

The Metropolitan Police Service bumbles along from day to day hoping desperately that nothing unusual happens, to test their abilities. This is because the senior ranks have absolutely no idea about policing, from what the force (rather than 'service') exists for, how to do its job, right up to planning for the unexpected. When faced with fast moving situations we get Cressida Dick and Jean Charles de Menezes. (Cressida, by the way has been further promoted above her ability and is currently running the persecution of journalists at News International).

The Met today are politically corrupt, politically correct and social welfare oriented. Every action is considered against its PR value. And so Ali Dizaei, with his ability to shout 'racist' whenever it suited him and garnering serious attention from people who should know better, carried on his criminal activities with a kind of passive acquiescence from the numbskulls above him.

He is also living proof that senior officers in the Met generally don't actually do anything, if such proof were needed, what with the levels of crime and occurrences such as the summer riots.

Here is something most modern police don't know; the police can consider that they have succeeded in their role by the absence of crime, rather than by their level of activity, responding to crime

Actors - A Special Breed

It would be nice to think that people who memorise someone else's words, could realise that the fame attached to this activity is about their entertainment value not their wisdom. Now we have Sean Penn popping up to spout off, in passing about something he doesn't comprehend, (comprehension is something these artistes seem to struggle with, they don't have the time you see).

Sean Penn, who has some trouble maintaining personal relationships and keeping his anger managed, has decided to inform us that we should 'hand back' the Falklands to Argentina. The basis appears to be that Britain is a colonial power. It is hard to know where to start with such a dimwit. Firstly, Britain was a colonial power and isn't now. Second, by wishing to forcefully takeover the islands he accepts violence should pay (he would wouldn't he!) and then, once achieved, does that not make Argentina a colonial power? Even worse surely, as every one that lives on the Falklands wishes to retain their British connection.

Just because Penn has a liking for violent and corrupt regimes, doesn't mean it is a common view, much less a valid one. Can you imagine someone with such stunted thinking actually holding a position of power (er yeah - Cuba and Venezuela for instance), let alone being allowed to be a parent? The furore here over a comedic remark by Jeremy Clarkson pales against the dribblings of people like Penn, who believes in the leaders who actually do take people out and shoot them in front of their families.

But then Penn belongs to a special class of idiot; he isn't just left leaning, he is a rich, actor who wishes a hell on other people of his making that he wouldn't be subjected to himself. The poverty and destitution Dickens railed against was one of carelessness, Penn constructively wishes to inflict harm and pain. Part of his character it seems.

Monday 13 February 2012

Multiculturalism And Syria

Having adopted clearly idiotic policies in the UK to claim that all cultures are equal and Britain has no right to require immigrants to fit in with the existing society (and it seems, largely exempt from UK law too), we strangely don't apply it where we should. We don't know what the societal structure is in Syria, we don't understand their culture. Sure there are things wrong there that Assad is responsible for, but why are we suddenly impassioned with the need to get rid of him?

Because there is an uprising? And what is the reason for that uprising? We don't know, as we also don't know who is behind it. We apply Western standards and ideals (something that under the creed of multiculturalism we wouldn't dare do at home) with no thought for local issues, or actually trying to understand the situation before acting. When you decide to be the World's policeman, you have to be right; to be right there has to be knowledge and a common understanding.

Other countries are different, we just shouldn't divide our own country up into cultural enclaves. Sometimes people ask the question 'have we learnt nothing from the past?' A better idea would be to learn that all these deeply damaging creeds that have been dripped into our society by the left are the problem. we should stop listening to the dangerous whisperers.

Friday 10 February 2012

Daily Mail And Integrity

The Daily Mail publishes a lot of tosh. It exposes large amounts of flesh whilst decrying the practice. It was vilified, as is wholly predictable on the BBC's Question Time last night. A member of the audience said that surely we control the Daily Mail, because we don't have to buy it and that is absolutely true and the essential point.

I just stumbled onto the programme at this point, but was then shocked to see that media integrity was being debated with Alistair Campbell being one of the guests! Surely he was one of the worst offenders when he wrote nonsense as a pressman? But then, the most damning aspect, the one that completely undermines any utterance of his against a paper, even the Daily Mail, is that the paper may make some sensational claims, but it didn't create lies to start a war. One of the guests most certainly did.

Indeed, the Daily Mail, many years ago shouted loud and long about who the killers of Stephen Lawrence were and invited them to sue. And the Daily Mail has recently been vindicated for pointing out the shady dealings of young Rothschild and Oleg Deripaska (which unsurprisingly had Mandelson hovering around the edge).

I find the Daily Mail accessible, but tawdry at times and can be quite boring. But every so often, they have a piece that speaks volumes; many other publications cannot seem to pluck up the courage to do so. In the Sunday Telegraph Christopher Booker frequently reports on matters of great significance, that the rest of the paper ignores.

But any offence the Daily Mail may commit or cause pales in comparison to the effects Campbell had, by making his boss's lying that bit more slick, like some witches' familiar.

Ray Honeyford

Ray Honeyford, an early visionary of the dangers of political correctness has died. Ray was a teacher and ideally placed to see the harm multiculturalism does to a nation, to communities and to individuals. He spoke out and as such deserved much praise. What he got was very different.

PC is of course a major weapon of the left to ensure debate cannot happen, which is an important construct when your arguments are at least weak and usually laughable. For instance, the climate change scam would never have gained traction if it wasn't for PC.

But Ray alighted on multiculturalism and through clear argument proved how divisive it is. The left responded,  not by proving their case or arguing his down, but by attacking him, by launching a hate campaign, against him. This is their standard tactic and it usually works, because of the fact that the weapons grade lunacy of PC is supported by left leaning wonks in the Establishment.

Just as whistleblowers are hounded and ostracised, so too those who oppose orthodoxy, that is the orthodoxy of the left. Communism and fascism are the same thing; when you live in a society where the phrase 'you can't say that' has taken hold, then you live is a society of state control.

Thursday 9 February 2012

Peter Oborne Separates From Trolley


I have just read a complete pile of claptrap written by Peter Oborne in the Telegraph. He must be busy on something else, because he clearly didn't think before he wrote so glowingly of how Britain should be proud of having Abu Qatada in our midst. Not because he isn't a nasty piece of work, Oborne is careful to say, but because it demonstrates how great our system of justice is.

Oborne quotes Churchill and it is here he should have realised his mistake; “We must never cease to proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man which… through Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, habeas corpus, trial by jury and the English common law,

I think you will find that most of these laws have been superseded by the Code Napoleon via the primacy of EU law, or are otherwise ignored as inconvenient by the government (in particular, the Bill of Rights). We, the people have scant protection in law and are not part of a truly democratic society.

Miniband And The NHS

Ed Miniband seems to be trying to develop not understanding into an art form. If you had a room full of people who are given free meals every day and then someone came along and said it had to stop, how many people in the room would object? I'm guessing, most of them. Miniband thinks they would all support it.

You see, as proof that the NHS reforms proposed by the Coalition are wrong, he says that health care professionals almost all disagree with them. No, really, do they? I am sure that these excellent people are fed up with constant demands from central government, after 13 years of New Labour. But two things are necessary as a result; some proper, well thought-out reform is absolutely needed and the culture needs to change.

It is undoubted that the rise in deaths within the NHS, the increased inefficiencies and the entrenched resistance to lose benefits gained is rooted in the culture that NL infused this great institution with. Trust in the NHS was embedded in the bureaucracy, the bit politicians generally come into contact with (thus confirming to both sides the absolute nature of its importance). Doctors were given more money and nurses saw their status elevated, something they jealously guard by no longer seeing actual patient care, bedpans, food, drink as any part of their role.

The Managers, distracted by the mirror, constantly fiddled to 'achieve' the targets set by the unthinking politicians, whilst health care professionals set about killing ever more of their 'customers'. Whilst watching 'Junior Doctors' on BBC the other night it struck me that what I was seeing was two distinct and separate communities existing side by side, in the same building, the same room. Nurses stations, their huddles of conversation, the planning charts on the wall, all the machines and equipment, scattered as if suggesting temporary intention and pervasive, all conspire to create a world of work, of process, of form filling and routine.

Alongside this hive of activity was the patient, unknowing, quiet, thankful, in no way part of this buzz of busyness except is some seemingly tangential way. This is not to say some are not providing excellent care and do their job well, just that the whole thing seems to operate as a divide, that at some point everyone 'at work' in a hospital forgot that the patients are actually people. And the fact is these people are often in the worst condition to be able to cope with the modern concept of a hospital.

It has to be this subtle cultural desert that NL cast wide across our society that afflicts the NHS too; it has always been too monolithic and capable of killing its charges too regularly, but the attitude that seeped out of NL was one of an absolute lack of care, at the most basic level, for anyone else. Greed and personal greed, was good. Reporting to the centre was what mattered in any walk of life. NL told you what to do and knew what was good for you. Trust the state.

Who would not be corrupted by such siren voices? And so, no I am not terribly surprised that the people inside this monster do not want to see change. This resistance even extends to the simple premise; does the NHS kill too many people. 'Yes, I'm afraid it does' a Consultant would honestly admit. 'And what are you doing about it?' comes the enquiry (which inherently suggests 'change'). Now all our honest Consultant could say would be, 'er well let me see. I get paid quite a bit more now, does that help?'

Not forgetting of course, that most of the 'august bodies' objecting to health service reforms are now nothing more than trade unions.

Ken Livingstone

I am not going to repeat the banalities of the oaf, Ken Livingstone, merely pick up on the fact that he is grandstanding again, to get elected. How a man of Livingstone's leaning must hate having to be elected. This really is one individual who you have to judge by reading between the lines; he is not what he portrays himself as.

Ken Livingstone is a very dangerous man. His sympathies are more akin to Lenin and Himmler, weaselly lying little toads who are prepared to do anything to get their way. Don't think for a minute that he supports gay rights, or any other faddish groups. He merely talks to get their vote. Livingstone is mainly impressed with his own importance and with a lust for power and money.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

What The Hell Is Going On In Syria?

It seems straightforward that, as with other Arab countries recently, a large segment of the population of Syria is fed up with the constricting regime of Assad and has risen up. In response, Assad has unleashed his forces as did Gadaffi etc. Something must be fundamentally wrong in a country, for such an uprising to occur surely.

But why, in a military state would you need to shell domestic housing, to send in tanks? Possibly because not enough of the Army can be trusted to support the regime, with a boots on the ground approach to searching out 'rebels'. This all seems reasonable analysis. But it doesn't come from the media. All the BBC do, is place a reporter in harms way, who shows film of rocket attacks and says it is the military, but he can't substantiate it nor understand it so could have stayed at home and filed the report from his bedroom.

Seriously, these are important events and we cannot learn anything about them because our media is so weak. Reporting these days is just so inept, usually taking down what they are told and repeating it (particularly so with politics) but with added political spin supporting the orthodoxy of the organisation, such as the unerringly left leaning opinions of the BBC.

Self Defence

Does it not seem odd that we are able to despatch a warship to the South Atlantic, to protect British people from the bellicose rantings of a silly tart, who has made a mess of running her country (and as such, fitting a grand tradition of the Nazi hiding Republic), but we cannot protect ourselves, at home from the likes of Abu Qatada, by the simple expedient of deporting him?

Obviously we can, we just need to ignore the pompous half-wits at the ECHR as other countries do and go ahead with a thoroughly reasonable plan, to re-introduce him to old friends in Jordan. Soon.

When I was a child we used to be chided for slavishly following someone else's bidding with the phrase, 'would you put your hand in the fire if they told you to?' But since the days of the EU having hegemony over us, it seems that the answer to that question is 'yes, why not?' How low we have sunk! But it is a necessary condition to fit the label 'useful idiots' around our necks.

Heathrow

There has often been talk of needing a third runway at Heathrow, though now the question is more clearly, why? Please don't tell me that an additional runway would have meant the recent chaotic response to a little snow would have been alleviated, it wouldn't. The problem at Heathrow is the people that run it, not the amount of tarmac.

It was fair, we were told that Heathrow should not 'invest' in adequate snow clearing equipment as it doesn't snow much in Britain. Or to put that another way, Britain should accept that when it snows, Heathrow will shut. Well, they said, when you put it like that.......

And so £32 million is spent on more ploughs etc and the next time it snows, the airport management, not to be caught out this time, swing into action, cancelling flights before the snow arrives. Ah, was the latest claim, we needed to 'build slack' into the system to allow for the extra time it takes to de-ice aeroplanes. But you de-ice when it is cold, not just when it snows and every other airport seems to be managing. Amsterdam, which isn't closer to the Arctic and therefore bursting with winter equipment, kept open even taking additional flights because Britain couldn't cope!

When asked how long the chaos would continue, the airport guy at Heathrow said, with stunning complacency, 'well, it depends how long it takes the airlines to get their planes back in the right places'. Yes, but they are only in the wrong place because of the disruption you caused.

Colonialism

There seems to be some misunderstanding about colonialism floating around the world these days. I blame the Lefties who have been talking tripe (do they ever do anything else?) about it for decades. Colonialism is when one country takes over another, often by force and without regard to the wishes of the people currently living in the country. Which brings me on to this letter, a reply from the UN to the Argentine President, Cristina Kirchner.

Dear President Kirchner,
Thank you for your recent letter regarding a number of issues currently pertaining to the South Atlantic region. Firstly, I would like to congratulate you on selecting the UN as the body best able to assist you in your international dispute with the United Kingdom.

Looking back at our records I see this has cropped up before, in 1982, when the UN helpfully, I think, passed Resolution 502, which also addresses your current claim that the region has been militarised, as the Resolution called for the invading Argentine forces to withdraw from the Islands and for both sides to refrain from using force. Naturally, the UN is very much on your side because of our childish and poorly thought out policies on 'colonialism'.

Argentina was created in 1816 by throwing off the yoke of the Spainish colonial power, becoming an independent country and claiming the Falklands Islands as a colony. Which is obviously fine as any land 400+ miles away is bound to belong to that country. After having a spat with the Americans the Spanish/Argentines were thrown off the Islands and the British snuck up, in 1833 and claimed the Islands (again) for Britain and it has stayed that way ever since.

Naturally, the UN supports the idea of self determination and as the Islands have almost never had any Argentines living there, the population is and wishes to remain British. It is hard therefore, to substantiate your claim that it is provocative of the Islands to have amongst them a member of their own Royal Family. I have, for instance never received a complaint from Ireland when a British Prince visits Wales.

I fear I may have to further disappoint you, by finding that the sending of a warship to the region is not in effect 'militarisation' but, sadly what often happens when a local power starts making threats. Overall then, it seems plain to us at the UN that Argentina is threatening military action, which we cannot condone, in order to obtain a colony in the name of repudiating colonialism. Maybe if your thinking was a tad clearer, you would not be in the mess in Argentina that requires the distraction of a foreign military adventure. Which I'm sure also has no connection with the recent drilling in the area of the Islands.

My military aide also suggests that I urge caution on your part as he says, you should remember that your Air Force, whilst having had a noble tradition is mainly held together with string and sealing wax these days, that your Navy returned to port and stayed there the first time a ship was attacked and your Army saw its officers run away whenever possible and treated the ordinary soldiers with contempt. Soldiers who were massively surprised on arrival not to find themselves in the role of liberators, having been taught at school that the people are forced to remain 'British', but instead as invaders and as such, were detested.

I gather that this didn't upset them too much as no-one wanted to stay on the wind blown place and that it reminded them of the part of Argentina no-one lives in.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to deal with others like you in Syria and elsewhere.

Friday 3 February 2012

Huhne Resigns

Comedy stand-in politician Chris Huhne has resigned, as he has been charged with perverting the course of justice. Following a disclosure by his ex wife that she had been asked by her husband to take the penalty points for a speeding offence, so he could keep his licence (he already had 9 points on it -pity he got caught using his mobile whilst driving shortly after), Essex police spent eight months thinking about it and then decided, yes it is an offence and perhaps they should consider treating the Member of Parliament as if the law applied equally to him (this not being the way such people like to be considered).

The justice system certainly seems diligent (lax?) in its treatment of politicians, except of course when Labour, in office made some unsubstantiated claims about a Conservative MP, when the police showed their willingness to ignore the law and arrested the man pointed out by the government and searched his house. As an exercise in showing political corruption and the compliance of senior police officers to their political 'masters', it can hardly be beat.

I think that Vicky Price (ex Mrs Huhne) should be warned regarding the seriousness of lying to the criminal justice system and then told to go. She broke the law, but she eventually came clean and her actions are certainly 'in the public interest'. By getting rid of Huhne from government she does the country a great service. The villain himself though, weasel that he is, should be sent to prison for a considerable time pour encourager les autres and because we cannot sentence him for the crimes committed against us as taxpayers, because it is legal for politicians to lie to us and steal from us, apparently.

If we all offer up a prayer, perhaps we can have the plans and policies that this nincompoop zealot was pushing through, to see how much damage he could do, reversed. Climate Change is a scam and whilst it is possible that Chris Huhne actually is thick enough to have been taken in by it, either way he is gone and we need some sanity injected into this part of government. Perhaps by deleting it as a department and creating energy policies that return power to the people (pun intended in every way) and do something that will keep the lights on. I think Huhne's back-up plan for wind energy was pixie dust.

I suppose with the Goodwin and Hester stuff kicking around, the staunch big government, I know best Labourite Keir Starmer at the CPS thought that he had better just act within the law, on this occasion. I can't imagine anything else would have motivated him to take such action, I mean its not as if Huhne is a Conservative or anything.

NHS Reform

The NHS, say GP's doesn't need reform. Well, actually they aren't saying that, just that the entire reform package currently proposed is wrong. Can that really be true? Bearing in mind the stunning rate at which the NHS is now killing people, has some reforming zealot MP only come up with things that will make it worse?

Despite being very careful to recruit large numbers of Managers, who are constantly in receipt of helpful advice in the form of reports about how exactly they managed to kill a specific person (or group of people recently) and how they might avoid it in future, management ineptitude in the organisation trundles on at a high level. GP's say the reforms will damage joined up healthcare, but it doesn't exist now so what are they wittering on about?

At the base of it all, you get the distinct impression that all of these objections to change are about money. What did GP's do when offered a massive pay rise by Blair? Took it and voted for him. Bonuses to do the night cover you have always done? No thanks, they said, what with the doubling of my salary I'll forgo the bit extra and all the hassle (work) that goes with it.

Recently, courses were run using first year medical students to teach GP's resuscitation techniques. Personally, I would have hoped they would have been up to speed on such stuff, you know, joined up heathcare -sick people come to see you, possibly collapsing etc. I wonder what else they are a bit hazy on?

We know that an unworkable bureaucracy has been allowed to thrive within the NHS and this needs fundamental reform, but also the attitudes and functioning of the medical class has also gone awry. Doctors seem to make a lot of mistakes these days, nurses having been given higher levels of training no longer remember how to feed people, or that hydration is important. Patients are not treated as people with medical problems, they are paperwork in a process.

My own experience of the compartmentalised approach to medicine that is practised in our NHS is that, if they think you have cancer they will spend months trying to prove it is, then finding it isn't they will pass you on to another specialism, to let them have a go at finding what is wrong with you. The patients welfare, let alone life are irrelevant in this system, as the only interest is in going through the motions.

The reform that is really needed is radical and at a fundamental level; we must address the culture of the organisation. A culture that now opposes reform stating patient care, but is actually solely motivated by self interest. The NHS is not a bad idea, just a very bad organisation from its roots.

Thursday 2 February 2012

Police Headline News

Police testing new laser that can tell if you are wearing a seatbelt or using a mobile phone, from half a mile away. Still hopeless at catching criminals.

Wednesday 1 February 2012

Shred The Fred

Back to plain old Mr. Goodwin then. Pity, it is never nice to see a greedy man, operating way above his abilities being humiliated. But then again, yes it is. And that is why it was done. The government may not change what they do, they may not attack the fundamentals of bank bonuses, they may not stop giving gongs to dodgy people, but by God if there is an ounce of political capital to be had in taking away your knighthood, they are on it.

Clearly this imbecile should never have been given the award, but then when an imbecile of the calibre of Gordon Brown is running the country, what should we expect? The bankers are fundamentally safe from real attacks by politicians because their crimes are shared and the expenses scandal is such a parallel with the banking crisis; both were fostered by greed and hubris.

The banking crisis, which was caused by socialist interference on both sides of the Atlantic*, is only one of a group of ridiculous policies and actions that international politics is responsible for currently. Not only have we flushed unimaginable sums down the toilet via the banks, we have done the same by following the global warming (climate change) scam -again, left wing politics- and by staying in, nay, supporting the EU.

Your politicians will be back on track when all three of these are abolished.




*The banking collapse was caused by, in the UK Gordon Brown allowing too much dodgy dealing just for the tax revenue he thought he would get on the back of it -and Tony Blair for the money that could be directed to his own pocket- and in the US where 'Democrats' introduced legislation forcing banks to give loans to people who couldn't afford them.

Retailing Woes

So let me understand this from the recruitment perspective. A global brand want someone to run all of their retailing side, maintaining the image already established (and responsible for healthy profit margins). Naturally, the ideal candidate will have supermarket experience and more recently have run a business selling computers and technology products based on a 'sale', 'half price' strategy and who's international experience is closing overseas operations. Naturally.

Of course the actual reason given for Apple attracting Dixons boss John Browett is his fantastic customer service focus. I certainly can't fault him for having talked about it often enough, but my own personal experience recently was of an inept, unconnected organisation that cannot use its own computer systems and fail to interface with delivery firms correctly. OK, so you don't get so hounded when you go into a store these days as you once did, but he has definitely not got on top of the way the customer should be dealt with in such a company. The staff still don't know any more about what they are 'selling' than they did 5 years ago.

But good luck to Browett and even more so Apple. Will he bring his own ideas to the table and change the translucent white brand into something closer to his 'pallet' mentality, with lots of (fake) 'half price' offers? Or, sit back and do nothing at all, letting the marketing people create a desire and the customers to do the rest. It's a strategy.

Does this mean the Tesco era is over at Dixons? I think Browett's sidekick from that neck of the woods should be being looked at by Argos. They share a demographic, chasing the same customer segment, the range is vast, image low, but it is a real sector and it could be better done. He might be the man to fill that long-standing senior vacancy at Argos, but do the people above have the vision to recognise the kind of change that is required in their business? To date nothing suggests they do.

For Dixon's the departure of someone who clearly hasn't been that interested for quite a while now, presents a real opportunity. Let's see if they grasp it. The Industrial Revolution is so called because of the vast, fundamental changes it introduced. It wasn't called the Industrial Musical Chairs, in which people carry on doing what everyone has always done, but moving chairs occasionally.