Mandy Headroom....

tip of the manky bandage to daniel1979

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Libertarianism, what it means....

For some strange reason, my humble weblog seems to be attracting ever increasing amounts of readers. I can only come to the conclusion that the views I express here are shared by a great many people. The more people who realise that we are all being taken for a ride by the mainstream political parties the better. And it's not just the liblabcon of 'down south' we should be pointing at with contempt, but also Fat Eck and his chums up here in Scotland.

With this in mind, I have plundered the archives of Leg Iron's excellent blog and posted the following composition by him. If you have not discovered his blog, I heartily recommend it. I'm not telling you to read it, it's your choice after all!

If you like the cut of the Libertarian jib, more info can be found by clicking on the buttons on the left sidebar.


Disclaimers first.

1) I am not a member of anything. I don't speak for the Libertarian Party and even if I join, I won't be speaking for the party because if they have any sense they won't let me near the reins of power. I like to press buttons just to see what they do. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, I'm not sure I want to join any club that would let people like me in. Joining something is, for me at least, a big decision. I once joined a union and that didn't work out too well, so I have to think long and hard before committing to any group.

2) This post has been sponsored by non-approved and soon to be illegal quantities of Glen Grant.

Right. This is what I think libertarianism means and it's not based on anything other than my own random thought processes. Party members are welcome to correct me.

There is some fear of the Libertarian movement among the big three parties. I base this conclusion on labels like 'xenophobic' and 'far right' and 'BNP-like'. They are scared. With good reason. So there is a lot of talk of 'libertarian=anarchist' and 'they'll just let everyone do whatever they please' and so on.

To an extent, yes. But it's not libertinism. You can do pretty much what you please but you must accept responsibility for your actions. There can be no 'it was my upbringing' or 'it was my culture somewhere else' or 'it's a fair cop, but society is to blame'. You did it, you deal with it.

So if you want to build an extension that looks like something from 'A Series Of Unfortunate Events', go ahead. If it falls over and smashes your neighbour's shed, you'll be liable. Not the planning committee. Not the builder. Not the architect. You. You will have to compensate your neighbour. If someone is hurt, you'll go to jail and pay compensation too. it'll take a few years to sink in, but once people work out that they won't get off with excuses any more, most will start to act with some responsibility.

Libertarianism does not mean the absence of law or the disbanding of the police. It means fewer and simpler laws that are easy to understand and follow. It means a policeman would give you a ticking off for dropping litter rather than fining you, taking your fingerprints and DNA and recording all your details on five miles of paperwork. He won't even need to ask your name. All he'll ask is that you pick up your own crap and deal with it yourself. Like they used to in the old days. He'll still have authority and if you want to kick off, he'll have the power to deal with that. But it won't be his automatic response and if you just pick up the crap, he won't even have to report it back at the station.

No targets. Also, no limits. If several months go by where nobody in an area causes a problem, the police don't need to make arrests. If a ruckus kicks off because some bunch of idiots want to clawhammer someone, the police can arrest them all. You are free to do whatever you want in Libertarianism as long as it hurts nobody else. Cause trouble and the proverbial ton of bricks comes into play.

Should you steal, rape, kill, or otherwise damage someone else, expect a long prison sentence. Prisons will have room for long-term inmates because they won't be occupied by people who grow a bit of weed for their own use, or shout a bit of abuse across the street. Sticks and stones, prison. Words, no real harm. Like the old days when the British were real people rather than the professionally offended infants they have been made to be now. Libertarianism, to me, is forcing the country to grow up. It's time, don't you think?

Pause and think for a moment. Recall the news you've read recently. How many complaints to the police, how many charges, how many court appearances, how many prison sentences can be described as 'SIr, Sir, the naughty boy called me a bad name'? The police are obliged to respond. The courts are bound by the law. They enforce something that real people grew out of when they were nine.

I don't agree with every Libertarian out there but that's not a weakness in the party. It's the point. People are individuals. If every Libertarian toed the party line, they'd be like the drones of Labour, Tory or Libby Dimmies. The party is forged on concensus, not blind obedience. I would never join authoritarian parites like the big three, the Greens, the BNP or even the Monster Raving Loonies because to do so, you must accept the manifesto as it stands . You cannot argue. No discussion is allowed. That's the rule book you signed up to, now follow it. Sod that.

Take drinking and driving. Some Libertarians maintain that there's no harm done as long as you make it home safely. I don't agree with that but I do think that drunk driving, as oppposed to driving over some arbitrary limit, is wrong and should be stopped. When you're in charge of a big metal box on wheels, capable of considerable speed, you increase the risk to others when you impair your own reactions and judgement. By a lot. It's not about how many milligrams of alcohol you have in you, it's about your ability to control your death machine.

Some people I know would be able to drive over the current limit with no problem. Others would not be safe to drive even under the limit. One, at least, isn't safe sober. So I would go for a test based on the individual's ability to control their vehicle rather than a breath test. A breath test treats us all as clones. We are not. First offence, lose your licence for a year. A second offence within that year, prison. No piddling about with points and re-education classes. But it's not based on milligrams in your blood, it's based on whether you have control of the vehicle you're driving. The risk is not to yourself. it's to other people.

With seatbelts, that's your problem. You don't want to wear a seatbelt, fine, it's you that goes through the windscreen in a crash, not me.

Speeding is not so clear. If your car does 90 and you're confident of handling it, and there's nobody about, off you go. If you're tailgating or cutting in or out, the hell with you and it's licence shredding time. On an empty road at 3 am, speed cameras are just silly.

Immigration. The love that dare not speak its name, as Oscar Wilde once said about something else entirely. My thoughts? I don't care at all. I don't care whether you're white, black, brown, green, blue, turquoise or puce. I don't care whether you're Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Church of the Militant Elvis, Satanist, Atheist, or even if you think the entire universe was sneezed from the nose of a being you call the Great Green Arkelseizure. I don't care. All I care about is '"Why are you here?"

If you're here to improve your life by becoming One Of Us, great. In you come. For a year at least, it might not be much improvement.

If you came here to sponge, then leave, or die of starvation. We are not feeding you.

To add to the quotes, here's a P.T. Barnum (I think). "There is no such thing as a free lunch".

Libertarian is not libertine. There is no racism or xenophobia. Nobody is forced to leave. Stay, follow the simple rules, you'll be fine. Your gender, race, religion or sexual preference is irrelevant, we don't care.

But libertarianism is not anarchy. There are stringent rules.

Just not very many.


original post (with comments) here

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The police are scared. Official.

'I recommend Madam gets herself a big fuck off gun just like mine'

They must be scared. Why else would this happen?

A mother who was punched to the floor in her own home by yobs was stunned when police advised her not to call officers to her house - because it would 'escalate' the problem.

Words fail me.....

I'm off to buy a big fuck off gun.

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Donations, not taxation.

Can you help?

LPUK is growing but unlike other political parties we operate on monies received via donations, memberships and items in the shop. The Libertarian Party UK is not turning up in your post with demand notices threatening legal action if you choose not to pay. LPUK also doesn't send round detector vans to see if you are reading the forums, blogs or associated Libertarian materials and then charge you for license to do so. LPUK isn't a paid for disk that you put in your window to show you can be a mobile Libertarian. So when LPUK asks for help try to break the habit, look at your situation(s) and ask what can I give?

Some may be able to help by boosting membership, some by selling Libertarian goods and some will donate via the links. In whatever way you can please help to support not just a group but the individuals working to make government the way you want it. If bringing in £5, £10 or £20 donations is possible think of the savings in that investment under a LPUK government when bloated programs, central government and taxes are met with sound policies and local government.



Steven J. Sexton
LPUK Scotland Party Secretary

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EU propaganda machine breaks it's own laws.

To those of you that may be unaware, this coming Friday is referendum day in Ireland. It's hardly been mentioned in the media this side of the Irish Sea. We wouldn't want the natives here to be getting ideas or anything now, would we?

With blatant disregard for it's own and Ireland's laws, the EU propaganda machine ensured that a sixteen page pro europe supplement was inserted into every Irish Sunday newspaper yesterday. Probably at a cost of several million euros, paid for by european and irish tax payers.

The European Commision has no business interfering in any member state's referendum.

This is, I'm sure you will agree, is outrageous behaviour.

They will really stop at nothing to ensure they get the answer they crave. Socialist scumbags.

tip of the manky bandage to Sue.

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Someone has to take the blame.

I couldn't believe what I was reading when I stumbled upon this story.

It is every parents nightmare to lose a child. Of course it is. But one sentence in the report jumped out and smacked me right in the face.

The distraught parents, who have four daughters, are now suing the supermarket giant for negligence.

A few lines before the suing sentence, we have this -

His devastated mother was shopping just yards away when the tragedy happened.

So, the mother when entering the supermarket was under the illusion that it is the responsibilty of said supermarket to mind her child.....

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Database state marches on

He wants your DNA

I've deliberately stayed away from blogging for much of the day today. One post early on was going to be my contribution to the blogosphere and that was going to be it. For most of the day I have been in a restless mood. I only needed one story to push me over the edge and have me rampaging through Kilmarnock smashing windows, burning cars and trashing phone boxes. So, here I am after my voyage of destruction. No one noticed any difference to the town, it looks like that all the time...

Anyway, the trigger that caused me to foam at the mouth like some rabid mongrel is the news that SNP MSP Stewart Maxwell plans to amend a bill at Hollyrood allowing DNA samples to be retained to 'enhance public protection'.

Currently, if you are unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of 'instant justice' in the form of an on the spot fine, for whatever 'crime; you have committed, your DNA cannot be stored on the police database. Comrade Maxwell plans to change this 'loop-hole'. The bastard.

Mr Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, said acceptance of a direct measure was "an acceptance of responsibility for alleged crime".

So, an 'alleged crime' is all it takes for people to end up on the DNA database. Most concerning of all is the catch all charge of 'breach of the peace', which everyone knows is what the police use to arrest you if they don't really like the look of you and there is nothing else they can lift you for. If this madness becomes law, it must be made crystal clear to everyone that receiving an on the spot fine is not an easy option, 'I'll just pay the fine and that's it dealt with' must not end up in the public psyche.

He is also the cunt who kicked off the anti smoking legislation in Scotland. Just thought I would mention that.

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Rat looking for a new home?

'If I can save the world, I can save this bloody ship'

So, the ship SS Labour Titanic has ploughed full speed into several icebergs and it is only a matter of time before the hole ridden wreck slips beneath the waves to a watery grave.

The officers and crew are busy re-arranging deck chairs on the deck, shouting 'don't panic' to the unfortunate passengers. 'Captain Brown is the man to save us. I know he was at the wheel when we hit the icebergs but that doesn't matter now, he saved the world and he can save us!'

If you listen carefully, you can just about hear the band playing. Knowing they are doomed, they try to raise the spirits of the stricken ship. Above the screams of the passengers and the death groans of the ship, the NuLabour anthem 'Things can only get better' wails through the air.

Refusing to issue the order to abandon ship, the Captain stubbornly carries on. Seemingly unaware of the impending fate of his ship he remains at the controls. His officers and crew getting more anxious by the minute. 'I wonder when he will give the order' is on everyones mind.

But what's that?

A few hundred yards away, one of the precious lifeboats seems to be adrift. Putting his telescope to his eye, (there is no point in Captain Brown owning a pair of binoculars), the good Captain trains his beady eye on the lifeboat bobbing up and down on the cold icy sea.

'What a bastard', he shouts. 'What a treacherous, self serving rat'.

The officers surrounding him raise their own telescopes and peer at the fast disappearing boat.

There is Mandelson, rowing for all he is worth. Deserting the ship he has sailed on for many years. He knows it is a goner.

He seems to know where he is rowing to. Approaching from the horizon, there is another ship.

The SS Conservative....

'I can serve my country with you' he wails at the fast approaching ship. 'Please let me aboard'.

And the strange thing is, they just might.

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Something better change...

another excellent video by Dazed n Confused

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Value for money at the BBC!

Time for retirement, Auntie...

Prime Minister's salary - £194,250.

Director General of the BBC salary - £647,000.

Shocking stuff. The person responsible for running the country, (into the ground admittedly), gets a whole lot less cash than the person responsible for Eastenders and Crimewatch.

If you take a look at the rest of the salaries paid out to the dozens of BBC 'executives' it's mind blowing. Money bullied from the public by threats of fines and imprisonment if you refuse to cough up goes to line the pockets of these parasites.

The BBC can carry on like it always has, covered up in the security blanket of public money, spouting it's leftie bias to the great British public. It's biggest rival, living in the real world, has lost £105,000,000 in the first six months of this year. No safety net of public cash for poor old ITV, which looks like it's about to self destruct.

As you would expect in this age of the interweb, several sites have sprang up to voice some dissent at this disgraceful state of affairs. And quite right too, the more who click on to the blatant bias and brain washing of the BBC the better.

But it seems there is a voice dissenting the dissenters! A site so far up it's own left wing, media studies degree arse it's breath-taking. See how they mock and pour scorn on those who dare to point out the truth.

The question has to be asked why? Why do they feel the need to try and counter the criticism of their beloved BBC? Or are the BBC behind it?

Picture it, a small group of junior researchers have been tasked to find and neutralise any anti BBC thoughts on the internet. Promises of promotion or a move of department freshly ringing in their ears they scurry away to an office deep in the bowels of BBC HQ to hunt down their prey.

Target in sight, they congregate and pour derision on those who dare to think for themselves. Those who have the audacity to see the BBC for what it is.

A giant, out of control, money grabbing, brain washing monster which needs putting down.

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MSP's salaries and expenses

Just as the Westminster expenses is hitting the news again in the Daily Telegraph, (apparently to help shift a few books), I've been alerted to the publication of the salaries and expenses of the Scottish Parliament for the past few years.

They refused to release the latest figures, for some strange reason.

The publication came about after a FOI, (Freedom Of Information), request. What I find staggering is that the expenses claimed nearly equal the salaries paid out.

As far as I know there is no breakdown to individual MSPs, for the time being.

Year	Cost of Salaries	Cost of Expenses	Approx percentage
2007/08	£11,301,000	£9,727,000	86%
2006/07	£10,050,000	£9,738,000	97%
2005/06	£9,698,000	£9,572,000	98%
2004/05	£9,600,000	£8,896,000	93%

tip of the manky bandage to Angry Old Man

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Pillow talk with Gordon and Mandy.

click to enlarge


For more, visit Gigits blog.

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Manflu

'Pass me the remote please honey...'

I've been having a fairly miserable week so far. I'm off work, taking a weeks holiday, and typically I've fallen ill with the dreaded manflu.

I'm over the worst. Tuesday and Wednesday were the worst with coughing fits, a nose running like Niagara falls, headache and a sore body. I rarely fall ill, but when I do it knocks me for six. My wife has been great, looking after me and worrying about me. It should be me looking after her. After all she is heavily pregnant, but I did manage to carry the hoover up the stairs for her the other day!

I've just remembered I had some 'homework' to do for work that I promised I would complete and send in by 9am this morning. Too late to be worrying about it now, I'll just take the beating when I get back to work. Such is life...

I was dragged out the house yesterday to get some 'fresh air' as I hadn't ventured out the door in three days. I didn't enjoy it.

So to the point of my dribbling post...

Manflu. Or any kind of man illness.

Our wimmen folk take great delight in pointing out that us men can't handle being ill and that the fairer sex seem to cope better with illness. I agree wholeheartedly. And there is a scientific* reason for this.

It goes back in time to the hunter gatherer days of the stone age. The men folk would risk their lives just leaving the cave to go hunting woolly mammoth and sabre tooth tigers. So they had to be 100% fit. Coughs. aches. pains and a runny nose would mean CERTAIN DEATH. Thus any minor illness would hit the male side of the species harder, flooring us, than the female side who could quite happily carry on hoovering the cave with a bad cold.

So ladies, there you have it. Your menfolk aren't milking it when they are ill. It all goes back to the days of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. Honest!

*probably. And if there isn't there should be...


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That phone tax thing...

I am your friend, honest...

We have all heard that 'Minister for Digital Britain' (?) Stephen Timms thinks the proposed fifty pence a month tax on landlines should be law before the next election.

"Nothing has been derailed. It is full steam ahead," he told BCC news.

Now correct me if I am wrong but I'm pretty sure that Maggie Thatcher sold off the telecommunications network some time ago and since then many different companies compete for our business. None of which are in the public sector.

So why would the government be so keen to force all of us with a landline telephone to cough up another six pounds a year in tax?

What has it got to do with the government who has broadband and who has not?

Hmmm....

Being of a slightly suspicious nature (and wearer of the obligatory blogger's tin-foil hat) I have a couple of reasons for them being so keen on the idea.

They want to be known as the party who gave all of Britain access to unlimited pornography at the touch of a button or -

If every household in the UK has broadband access it would be so much easier for them to keep tabs on all of us. Everyone who uses a computer will be under the beady eye of big brother. I suspect we are already being monitored but if everyone has t'internet then EVERYONE is a target.

I bet that soon after the legislation becomes law another government proposal for subsidising computers and cheap internet access looms on the horizon.

And if you think that I am sounding a bit paranoid, it's because I am.

Can you blame me?

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Stop giving away money we haven't got!

Taxpayer's money, up in smoke?

So, there is water on the moon. Enough, they say, to supply any future base that man may have on the surface. Great stuff. Another fantastic discovery and another milestone reached in our quest to explore the solar system.

It wasn't NASA or the European Space Agency who discovered it. Nor the Chinese or the Russians.

It was the Indian Space Research Organisation.

But hold on....

Britain has promised to give India £825,000,000 in aid over three years. Gordon promised this, on our behalf, in January last year.

So a country which cannot, or will not, look after it's own people can send space craft to the moon and launch seven satellites!

What they do is up to them. But there is something wrong if they are getting 'aid' to help their people whilst spending loads of cash on a space programme.

Particularly if the 'aid' is coming from us in Britain. Remember, every person's share of the national debt here is over £13,ooo and growing.

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STV news....

The latest news from North of the Border. Brought to you in association with the Scottish Nationalist Party.

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Aufmerksamkeit! Pässe am bereiten zur Kontrolle.

Papiere gefallen.

It appears that Strathclyde's finest have decided to, or have been told to, check the passports of passengers arriving at Prestwick Airport.

Passengers on domestic flights, that is.

Just what business it is of the police to be checking passports is anyone's guess. Checking the passports of international passengers is the job of the UKBA.

So why are they checking passports and what happens to those who refuse to play their stupid game? It's not an offence to travel without a valid passport on a domestic flight.

In my opinion they powers that be are just testing our 'compliance threshold'. If the sheeple happily play along with this, what's next?

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Big Surprise of the Day, (Not).

Are you sitting down? If you have a bad heart or don't like surprises, look away now.

Right, I know this may come as a total and utter surprise to everyone but it would seem that Mandelson saved Baroness Scotland!

He had a 'word in the ear' of the Prime Mentalist and urged him not to make knee jerk decisions.

“Tony learned from my experience and he said subsequently that kangaroo courts, rushing to judgement, is not the way to deal with people’s ministerial jobs,” he says today.

“The point is you have to inform yourself properly, before rushing to judgement and that’s what the Prime Minister has done in this case.”

Perhaps Mandelson really pointed out that Gordon didn't really need another bitter enemy for the time being...


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Gordon gets his award today!

Gold medal for saving the world...

Can you imagine the excitement the Prime Mentalist is feeling today? Today is the day he has been waiting for.

Today, the Right Honourable Dr James Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom receives his 'World Statesman of the Year award' from the Appeal of Conscience Foundation.

He receives his award for, unbelievably-

" his compassionate leadership in dealing with the challenging issues facing humanity, his commitment to freedom, human dignity and the environment, and for the major role he has played in helping to stabilize the world’s financial system."

I'm sure you will join me in sending hearty congratulations to our Prime Minister, who completely deserves this honour. His strong leadership and excellent policies have indeed rescued the world's financial system.

Not.

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Labour stormtroopers in action...

I would say that the police are getting a wee bit carried away. I don't know what happened in the lead up to the video being recorded but the reaction of the crowd and the couple behind the camera suggests that the chap didn't deserve what he got.

Reminds me of a post I published a while ago and this quote from it in particular -

Being the cynical bastard that I am, I think all the 'negative' publicity the police have suffered in recent times is a carefully orchestrated plan for an end game which has still to become apparent.
I think we are being conditioned into seeing the police as the enemy and the public are being whipped into a frenzy by some unseen group. The police are being manipulated too, with senior officers declaring that a summer of riots will soon be upon us and civil unrest training courses being thrust upon the rank and file. The regular frontline police all have itchy 'baton fingers' these days. Robust and firm policing tactics spouted by the police chiefs filter down the chain of command until it reaches the front line, where it seen as a license for thuggery.

tip of the manky bandage to Dazed n Confused for pointing me in the direction of the video

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Hewitt's son charged with coke possession.

'Nicholas, someone called Charlie wants to speak to you...'

Ex Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt's son has been charged with cocaine possession just a few yards from the family home.

She states that she is 'standing by her son' and that she is not furious with him. Of course she won't be, it'll just be a stage he's going through. Probably.

When she was Health Secretary she pledged help for families affected by drug abuse by ensuring treatment is available. Do you think she ever thought that her family could be one receiving the 'help' she promised a few years ago?

And Hubby to her and Daddy to the criminal is a Judge.

So we already know the 'punishment' he will receive.

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Excellent! Some cheap publicity.

'I really don't know how I manage to sleep at night, with all the worry and everything...' said her on the left with the glasses.

So, according to The Refugee Council, granting asylum to a 'small number' of 'vulnerable immigrants' currently residing in the illegal camp in Calais might be the 'right solution'.

Following the announcement by the French that they are to clear the site known as the Jungle, Donna Covey, who is Chief Executive of The Refugee Council, popped up on the BBC's Today programme (where else) to spout her nonsense. Her previous roles include being chief executive of Asthma UK and Director of the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales. She spent many years at the GMB Union, where she was the National Officer responsible for equal rights, and a member of the TUC General Council.

So, Ms Covey doesn't care about them really. It's just a job to her. She is just one of many, many people who has made a career out of 'issues'.

I'm not about to have a debate about immigration. The only thing I'm going to say is that I support migration to the UK provided that people come here for the right reasons and that they have something to offer this country and will not be a drain on our rapidly decreasing resources.

I wonder if Ms Covey is genuinely concerned for the people currently residing in the Jungle, or is she using them to garner cheap publicity for her employer. I'm sure somewhere in her performance objectives for this year lurks the phrase 'raise the profile of The Refugee Council'.

If that is the case, job done. Give the woman a salary review!

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Gordon and Mandy's special song...

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Arm Britain

There is a new forum looking for members called ArmBritain.

If you support the case for armed self defence and the ownership of firearms sign up. Likewise if you are opposed. It's a discussion forum and debate is encouraged.

Don't be put off by the scary title!


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How things have changed...

'Ha Ha Ha, black laces! What a poof you are!'

When I was at school many many years ago, I don't really remember people getting bullied. There were, of course, the class arseholes. You knew who to avoid and who you could get on with. It set you up for the real world, beyond school.

I was never really part of the 'in crowd' at school, nor was I part of the 'geek' crowd. I was in-between and it suited me fine. It still does, if I'm honest.

I recall having the piss ripped out of me for wearing my new Doc Marten boots, (they were all the rage in 1983/84), with black laces. You simply had to have bright yellow laces! I quickly rectified my blunder and all was well. That's about as near as I got to being bullied.

It appears that things today are somewhat different.

A school called an emergency assembly to tell children that a 12-year-old male pupil was having a sex change.

The youngster arrived for his first term at secondary school wearing a dress and with long hair in ribboned pigtails after his parents changed his name to a female one by deed poll over the summer holidays.

I bet the geeks/spotty and speccy kids at that school are delighted!



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Calm down folks, it's not as bad as we thought!

I've lost more falling steaming out of a taxi...

I found out last night that the national deficit is not as bad as first thought. Apparently, the treasury use the American billion (000,000 000) rather than the British billion (000 000, 000 000). Phew, that's a weight of my mind. I'll be able to sleep more soundly now.

So, the deficit currently stands at a mere £804, 000, 000 000 rather the £804, 000 000, 000 000.

Every person's share of the debt is now over £13,000.

Thank goodness for that. There was me thinking that we were totally screwed!

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Applications to Alan Wallace.

From The Party's Over site -

Jury Team are putting together a campaign to win the Glasgow North East Bye-Election - the seat vacated by the Speaker, Michael Martin. We will be announcing our candidate next week and expect it to make the news around the world. Once the candidate is known, we will be looking to manage the hundreds of people who will, I am sure, want to volunteer to help. But before that, we're looking for two full-time assistants on a modest wage. Local knowledge would be an advantage.

Please, fellow bloggers, pass this plea out on teh interweb. Interested parties should contact me at awallace (at) emailaccount (dot) com.


I need to have a list by Saturday.


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Thanks very much, Comrades....

'Fucking pigs! Our leader earns more than you four put together'

The skirmish between the Communications Workers Union and the Royal Mail which is ongoing at the moment has got me thinking.

There are millions of union members in Britain, paying their subs week in and week out. Taking a wee bit of comfort that they have a huge organisation to fight for them and protect them if and when needed.

But I wonder how many members know how much the 'leaders' of the unions rake in each year. Can the leaders honestly say that they know what their members are going through, what issues face them on a day to day basis?

When you see the salary and benefits package they have, I have my doubts. Take a look -

Bob Crow (RMT) - £79,564 in salary, £26,115 in pension contributions, £13,013 expenses
John Hannett (USDAW) - £81,742 salary, £16,389 pension contributions
Billy Hayes (CWU) - £83,530 salary, £14,190 pension contributions
Sally Hunt (UCU) - £63,743 salary, £7,612 pension contributions, £2705 car benefit (start of June 2006 to end of May 2007)
Paul Kenny (GMB) - £81,000 salary, £21,000 superannuation (pension contributions), £8,000 car
Dave Prentis (Unison) - £92,187 salary, £23,603 pension contributions, £11,646 expenses and car benefit
Derek Simpson (Unite-Amicus) - £62,673 salary, £16,156 pension contributions, £13,333 car allowance, £26,181 housing benefit
Mark Serwotka (PCS) - £82,094 salary, £26,104 pensions contributions, £2,245 additional housing cost allowance and additional housing cost supplement
Steve Sinnott (NUT) - £99,846 salary, £23,963 pension contributions
Tony Woodley (Unite-TGWU) - £59,333 salary, £9,552 pension contributions, car fuel £3,360
Matt Wrack (FBU) - £66,389 salary, £44,281 pension contributions, £5,134 car

Derek Simpson now receives nearly £200,000 in pay and benefits, with his pay package increasing 17 percent this year. He also has the right to stay in his £800,000 house in Hertfordshire until he dies, after which his partner will be able to remain there at a heavily subsidised rate.

Simpson demanded that the union subsidise his accommodation to "make it affordable" - a perk worth about £40,00, bringing his total remuneration to £194,252.

The above figures are from January this year from this site.

And the other week Unison, who have fought against cuts to public sector pensions, announced it is cutting back the pension scheme for its own workers. How deliciously ironic.

So, to sum up, union leaders are troughing pigs. Much like their counterparts in Parliament.

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Behind the scenes at Labour HQ, Glasgow East.

Tip of the manky bandage to Uncle Bob


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Dave, more of the same?

'One, two, three, four, five and six'

Take a look into the future. A couple of years or so.

Can you see any difference in the way the country is being run? Radical policies being implemented to reverse our fortunes? Probably not.

Labour will, bar a miracle, be in opposition. Cat calling and throwing mud at the Tory government whilst forgetting that they caused the mess. Call me Dave will be bumbling along like a posh Mr Bean, not knowing what to do. That's if he is in charge...

Do the Conservatives inspire you? Or will they get in power because Labour are so bad?

We all know the answer to both.

We need another Thatcher figure. Someone with the balls and personality to get to grips and sort out the mess of thirteen years of Labour mis-government. Someone who will tell the country the way it is, without squirming and telling half truths and bare-faced lies.

Call me Dave is not that person. When he talks, he doesn't make you listen. He is the political version of muzak. You can hear music but you can't quite make out what the tune is. Stand up man and just lay it on the line. The country is on it's knees, tell us what NEEDS to be done not what you think we want to hear.

I predict that Dave will not be Prime Minister in two years. A leadership challenge will happen if he does not quickly get to grips with the immense problems caused by the socialists and demonstrates strong leadership. He is a career politician with no experience of the real world and that, people, is a concern.

Thanks to captainff for the pic!
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Let's lighten the mood a little...

Labour did this to Britain.

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Pat speaks...

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How delicious!

Too old and his wife is a bloke.

How I laughed when I read that the 'queen of pop' Elton John has been told that he cannot adopt a fourteen month old Ukranian orphan because he is -

Too old! and,

Not married! (his civil partnership is not recognised in the Ukraine).

I wonder if the 'ist and phobe' brigade will lather themselves up in a righteous rage! Forget about the troubles facing us here in Blighty, let's arrange a march supporting poor old Reg...

Fantastic stuff!

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Compare and contrast

The above, seen on the news. With a couple of 'pointers' thrown in. The video below was not seen on the news.





So, why the provocation? And we are all being provoked and manipulated. Not just 'white Brits' but all of us.

Perhaps 'they' want a winter of rage, seeing as the summer of rage didn't happen.


with thanks to mish masher and dazed n confused

Update - have a look at this

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Labour allowed this.

This is a video of the destruction of a cemetery which is then to be turned into a car park for a mosque.

A labour controlled council allowed this to happen.

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No more booze special offers

Hurry, while you still can...

Hot on the heels of the new licensing laws which came into effect on the first of this month, Kenny MacAskill (remember him?) announced today that special offers in off sales and supermarkets could be banned, if the local licensing boards decided too.

So, it's up to the tin-pot councils dotted around the land to decide what constitutes a special offer or what is too much for an adult to buy on his or her visit to Tesco.

It's bad enough that a shift worker like me, who works nights, cannot buy a can or two of lager after my shift. It is illegal to sell alcohol before 10am. Now they are dictating how much and at what price as well as when.

However, there may well be a fly in the ointment for Kenny and his chums. The proposals, as well as the current discussion of minimum pricing, could well be illegal under current EU law. Who would have thought it? The hated EU could ride to the rescue! Fat chance though, they would just amend the rules to suit.

So, that's the smokers dealt with, the drinkers dealt with. Who's next? Pie eaters perhaps? Maybe not, the SNP leader is a lover of pies.

So, whilst you still can, hurry down to the supermarket and stock up.


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We're all kiddie fiddlers, apparently

Driving your child to the game tomorrow, probably...

So, everyone is a potential kiddie fiddler then. According to the government anyway. In order to keep the leetle cheeldren safe everyone who helps out in any way with kids activities is to get a criminal record check or face the penalty of a £5000 fine.

So, if your child is in the local under 12's football team and they have an away game you are not allowed to help out by driving a couple of his team mates to the fixture. Even if the kids are pals with your kid or you are friends of the family. You need to have had a 'check' done on you. It's for the cheeldren's safety, you understand.

True to form, the good old government point at the bogeyman to scare the sheeple into compliance and whilst doing so whisper in your ear that it could be YOUR CHILD the bogeyman is interested in.

And when they have gathered all the data the memory stick containing millions of peoples details will be lost or left on a train. Probably.

Bastards.

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999 emergency!

I can sympathise with the last caller....

How to deal with a parking/speeding ticket

Courtesy of the excellent Captain Ranty, (his blog is fascinating, I highly recommend you check it out), here is how you get out of paying for a ticket.

Try it out the next time you receive a speeding or parking ticket. On the giroslip at the bottom, write diagonally across the slip (in red ink, this is very important), "ACCEPTED FOR VALUE", add your National Insurance Number, fill in the amount box with whatever the "fine" was, then sign it in BLUE ink. (This is also important from a lawful point of view). Most of us have been trained to fill in the amount and send it off with a cheque for the required amount. What is happening here is that they just got paid twice. The original fine is withdrawn from your National Insurance Account. Naturally, the powers that be do not want you to know that such an account exists.

There is a lot more stuff like this on his site.


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Gordon the glory hunter?

You've got to ask yourself why The Prime Mentalist rubber stamped a special forces operation to save the twat of a journalist Stephen Farrell. Negotiations for his release were well underway and in all probability would be successful. But no, Gordon had to go steaming in thinking he was a political Rambo rather than the political Norman Wisdom that he really is.

Farrell had been warned many times not to venture into the area as it was extremely dangerous after the bombing of fuel tankers that had been stolen last week, with many civilian deaths. Clearly the lure of glory and a journo award or two had clouded his judgement. I wonder how the families of the dead resulting from his rescue feel.

So, who instigated the Hollywood Blockbuster style rescue? There is criticism from Army chiefs about the operation and this speaks volumes. Did Gordon or someone within the cabinet propose the rescue? And why were the normal channels used in situations like this not allowed to reach a conclusion?

Perhaps The Prime Mentalist was hoping for a 'good news' story from Afghanistan to crow about, but unfortunately the reverse Midas touch that he seems to have has struck again.

Update - Gordon is blaming others


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Watching, watching. Always watching...

I noticed this little postcard sized 'warning' tucked away in the corner of an items for sale notice board in a supermarket.

Just to remind us all, I suppose.

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Spotted on a joke website....

THIS IS LABOUR GOVERNMENT

REST OF THE WORLD VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building and improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

THE END

------------------------------------------------------------------------

LABOUR GOVERNMENT THE UK VERSION

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building and improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

A social worker finds the shivering grasshopper, calls a press conference and demands to know why the squirrel should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like the grasshopper, are cold and starving.

The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper; with cuts to a video of the squirrel in his comfortable warm home with a table laden with food.

The British press inform people that they should be ashamed that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so, while others have plenty.

The Labour Party, Greenpeace, Animal Rights and The Grasshopper Council of GB demonstrate in front of the squirrel's house. The BBC, interrupting a cultural festival special from Notting Hill with breaking news, broadcasts a multi-cultural choir singing 'We shall overcome'.

Ken Livingstone rants in an interview with Trevor McDonald that the squirrel got rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to make him pay his 'fair share' and increases the charge for squirrels to enter inner London .

In response to pressure from the media, the Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper anti Discrimination Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The squirrel's taxes are reassessed. He is taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders for the work he was doing on his home and an additional fine for contempt when he told the court the grasshopper did not want to work. The grasshopper is provided with a council house, financial aid to furnish it and an account with a local taxi firm to ensure he can be socially mobile. The squirrel's food is seized and re-distributed to the more needy members of society, in this case the grasshopper.

Without enough money to buy more food, to pay the fine and his newly imposed retroactive taxes, the squirrel has to downsize and start building a new home. The local authority takes over his old home and utilises it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who had hijacked a plane to get to Britain as they had to share their country of origin with mice. On arrival they tried to blow up the airport because of Britain 's apparent love of dogs.

The cats had been arrested for the international offence of hijacking and attempted bombing but were immediately released because the police fed them pilchards instead of salmon whilst in custody. Initial moves to return them to their own country were abandoned, because it was feared they would face death by the mice. The cats devise and start a scam to obtain money from people's credit cards.

A Panorama special shows the grasshopper finishing the last of the squirrel's food, though spring is still months away, while the council house he is in, crumbles around him because he hasn't bothered to maintain the house. He is shown to be taking drugs. Inadequate government funding is blamed for the grasshoppers' drug 'illness'.

The cats seek recompense in the British courts for their treatment since arrival in UK .

The grasshopper gets arrested for stabbing an old dog during a burglary to get money for his drugs habit. He is imprisoned but released immediately because he has been in custody for a few weeks. He is placed in the care of the probation service to monitor and supervise him.. Within a few weeks he has killed a guinea pig in a botched robbery.

A commission of enquiry, that will eventually cost £10,000,000 and state the obvious, is set up. Additional money is put into funding a drug rehabilitation scheme for
grasshoppers and legal aid for lawyers representing asylum seekers is increased. The government praises the asylum-seeking cats for enriching Britain 's multicultural diversity, and dogs are criticised by the government for failing to befriend the cats.

The grasshopper dies of a drug overdose. The usual sections of the press blame it on the obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity and his traumatic experience of prison. They call for the resignation of a government minister.

The cats are paid a million pounds each because their rights were infringed when the government failed to inform them there were mice in the United Kingdom .

The squirrel, the dogs and the victims of the hijacking, the bombing, the burglaries and robberies have to pay an additional percentage on their credit cards to cover losses. Their taxes are increased to pay for law and order, and they are told that they will have to work beyond 65 because of a shortfall in government funds.

THE END

Spotted at Sickipedia.

Chicken Little, reporting for the BBC....

'The sky is falling down!!!!'

The terrorising and conditioning of us all here in Blighty continues unabated. Keeping us all scared and thankfull that the authorities are looking after us. It doesn't matter that to maintain our freedom, our freedoms are being eroded like a coastline being battered by a never ending winter storm.

Right on cue, Pravda have announced that more 'plane terror plots are 'likely'. Just to keep the 'bogey man out to get us all' thoughts in the back of the public's mind. For pity's sake, give it a rest.

What kind of existance will be living if every waking hour we are suspicious and afraid of everything? And if we do end up like that then 'they' have won, no doubt about it.

Reminds me of Chicken Little.


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Marriage guidance courtesy of Rab...

Monster plane at Prestwick

Landing tests for the new Airbus A380 the other day. Part of the 'plane was manufactured at Prestwick.

It's fahookin maaaasive.

Pincer movement?

Coming at us from all angles??

It is well known that the government and their agencies seek to control us, dictate to us how to live our lives and try to punish us if we dare to show any signs of dissent. From Smeargate to wheelie bin fines, it's all the same stuff.

In the Blogosphere, well on our little corner of it anyway, we focus our attention on the government and attack them for every step they take against us. We shout from the roof tops to anyone that will listen, and quite rightly so. We all know that they are a worthy target of our contempt.

Perhaps we are devoting to much of our attention against the one, very obvious, target. Now, don't misunderstand me, they are a totally deserving of our collective derision and long may we continue. But is it the full picture?

An example of the point I am meandering towards is the growing domination of big corporate business in our lives.

Take Tesco. A hugely successful business, no doubt about that. Largest retailer in the UK and third largest in the world (after Wal-Mart and Carrefour). They know how to run a business and they do it well. Say 'Tesco' and everyone thinks of groceries. But there is more, much more, to them than that.

It was this story that got me thinking. They clearly think they can do as they please. But, that's business I suppose. It's a cut throat world and that's just the way it is, regardless of ethics. Money makes the world go round.

Now, here is the scary part.

How many people have, pretty much, handed over control of their lives to Tesco? Think about it. It's not just tins of beans and laundry powder I'm talking about. They have the ability to influence nearly everything to do with your existence. Pretty soon, they will call the shots, just like they are doing with their unfortunate suppliers.

Nationwide, they currently have 31% of the UK market. In some areas they are totally dominant and entire towns are nearly reliant on the mighty T. Campaigns have sprung up throughout the country to fight against the all conquering monster.

And that's just the shops. A quick look at the scope of their business and it's obvious that they can easily provide you with everything you need to live your life, (but on their terms), from health insurance to internet services.

Add this together with the clubcard they conveniently 'offer' us, which records every detail of what we buy and when. Tesco sell this data to others and I wouldn't be surprised if the government and other agencies buy this data too. It all adds up to 'scary shit' if you ask me.

Every little helps, indeed.





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Work! What's it all about?

I'm getting a tad pissed off having to work for a living! I want/need a rest. Just getting onto a dayshift job would be good, instead of feeling like a zombie all the time, even on rest days.

Just heading out for another 13 hour fun filled shift of blood sweat and tears, all in the name of providing the 'public' with coca cola and chocolate digestives.

You ungrateful bastards!

*rant ends*


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How to deal with TV license letters...

Here.

Top stuff!!





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Council tax illegal?

How much??

Interesting stuff here.

Certainly makes you think.

Apologies for 'lazy' blogging. Working all weekend (again) and have neither the time nor energy to tap my usual drivel into the keyboard.






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A small victory for our rights.

From Captain Ranty

I hate this little bastard!

Honestly, for fuck sake. Every time the little brat declares that he wants to have a shit at his pal's house I want to put my foot through the TV. And it always comes on when I'm eating!

I mean, spare us the details.

Alternative script - "I'm going to do a poo at Pauls".

"Don't be a cheeky little twat" SLAP.

The end.