Poor Man About Town

Question Time was in Southampton. David Miliband was on the panel. He struck me as quite verbose - too many words and circuitous in the extreme. When asked whether there should be a local referendum on whether a town should have a casino, he responded

"...it's Southampton local council that has come forward on a cross party basis - Liberal, Conservative and Labour - jointly supporting a Southampton casino, along with 16 other cities around the country. And it seems to me that's right. And the referendum that our questioner referred to is local election day which is only a month away and that is a chance - I mean I suppose it's difficult if all the parties are in favour of the casino it's a bit difficult to vote against it - to argue against myself - but I think the local ..."

Jonathan Dimbleby asked "How are you going to get out of that one?"

He responded with an attempt at verbal conjuring, much rambling - and not really getting out of it:

"Well I think that that - I am a believer in local government, I think we have too much power in Westminster, I think the job of Westminster is to set the framework and ensure that we don't have underground gambling, that we have properly regulated gambling but then it's up to cities to make a proposal. And that's what - actually it was 27 cities, 10 were weeded out, that left those that remained. And I think this should be a local commitment. And certainly there should be no question of the government sitting with a great big map of the UK and saying yes we should have a casino here, here and here, putting pins in but when local government comes forward and says this is an important part of our social, economic, etc., cultural vision of our city that's their job and if people don't like it they should vote them out"


Note the final phrase - we're back to where we started!

When asked if should throw his hat in to challenge Gordon Brown, Miliband assured everybody that he was "neither a runner nor rider" in this. David Dimbledy took him task and asked if he is going to stand - the well oiled words of "neither runner nor rider" came out again.

He is not a very good at verbal conjuring is he?.

I could not help feeling that Oliver Letwin, who sounded rather passive throughout, just let Miliband waffle on. He rarely made a statement to challenge anything Miliband said. Was Letwin lost in this verbosity? Was he letting Miliband dig his own hole? Was he siding with Miliband? I know Letwin, figure of fun though he is, is not adverse to the cut and thrust of politics.

Labels: David Miliband, Gordon Brown, Oliver Letwin, politics, verbal

I checked out this short article in Socialist Worker.

It caused me to question who are the biggest State Scroungers - big corporations or the disabled and the unemployed. Funny that a banker, David Freud, is pointing the finger here!

Now check this out, on his own admission when working for the Channel Tunnel he commented in hindsight

""We were predicting that on Eurostar there would be 21 million passengers (annually)," admits David Freud of Warburg, the investment house which sold Eurotunnel shares to the public.

The actual figure was less than a third of that.

"So the traffic forecasts were not just out by a little bit. They were completely potty; they were nowhere."

Source BBC

This man has reviewed welfare reform insisting that private interests kick the unemployed and disbled back to work. Oh well, there is a saying, if you point your finger at the funeral it will drop off

Labels: corporate, Economics, money, politics, scroungers, taxpayers

I was watching the news on BBC4 tonight; a black man was at the Westminster Abbey commemoration of the abolition of slavery making a protest requesting that the state apologise for the four hundred years of slavery that we had imposed on African people. The service, I guess, was a religious one therefore one involving atonement or absolution. Given that this was a religious ceremony, it could be nothing but asking for atonement. Atonement, however, means nothing without asking the person whom one has wronged for forgiveness - I gather that's the how the Jews do it, if I am wrong please let me know so I can put the record straight. Sounds ok by me. Now given that we have a religious ceremony taking place today; what was this service about - was The Archbishop of Canterbury asking

"Hey God, can you tell those black folks that we screwed up big time and we are very very sorry - and if they accept the apology, will you forgive us"?

God replies "OK Archbishop, I'll go over to them black folks and tell them you are very very sorry"

God tells the black people "I've heard it on good white religious authority that they are very very sorry - will you forgive them?"

You can imagine the response - no face to face apology - even the Reverend Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams are meeting face-to-face to reconcile the 30 years of troubles in Northern Ireland. They do not need a religious ceremony to do this.

I guess that this black man was attempting to make a similar point.

Blair was there, he appeared to be cringing in a choir stall.

Labels: absolution, archbishop, atonement, politics, Religion, slavery

I missed Peter Hitchens' programme on David Cameron. I wanted to see how much Hoorah was left in this Henry. Gosh, the current political situation vis-a-vis leader is getting like that film Single White Female. Time was the Conservatives used to oppose Labour on Policy and vice versa; now the debate is splitting hairs over the policy over which the Tories and New Labour now agree.

Technorati Profile

Labels: David Cameron, hoorah henries, hoorah henry, politics

I see that following the news that Blair has allegedly supported David Miliband, Peter Mandelson chipped in and lent his support to the kiddie as well.

The press and media were out in force to find him yesterday. It was like Princess Diana all over again. He was sporting an umbrella, relishing in the adulation, refused to answer questions and denying that he would make a challenge to Gordon Brown.

I am seriously puzzled about this, why the press interest in someone so painfully boring? He's no Michael Portillo nor even a Geoffrey Howe - just a politician who makes politics really really boring!

Labels: boring, David Miliband, Gordon Brown, hype, media, Peter Mandelson, politics, press, Princess Diana

It was a real treat to hear Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger of The Doors fame on Johnnie Walker BBC Radio 2 today. Sadly, Ray did not give Robbie of an opportunity to speak; but Ray had an awful lot say about the Hippies, the Sixties; Jim Morrison; politics and music - wow. You can check it out on the above and lister to these two rock legends speak.

Now that's what I call a radio programme.

Labels: Radio

I see that Blair has been reported that he would like David Miliband to succeed him. He's got all the credentials, cabinet toady, 12 year old modernisation thinking, industrial strength Blair clone. He has a face that lends itself to the camera extremely well but not the kind of face for kissing babies during election time without giving the poor child deeply seated trauma that will carry on through life well into adulthood.

Labels: Blair, David Miliband, politics, twelve year old

I read the above article in The Times today, it was by Peter J M Wayne who is currently serving a prison sentence. It was well-written. I found parts quite moving especially the part where he helped a man to read and who likened the experience to acquiring sight. Peter Wayne also describes how reading helped him to maintain his sanity.

The sad thing is that he has spent a great deal of his life in prison, he struck me as a man with so much potential - it caused me to ask what went wrong? In addition to this, it was a great advertisement to get me reading books again.

Further Articles by the same author are linked below

So This is Christmas (The Observer - Sunday 19th December 2004)

Slums in the Sky - The Spectator 13 January 2007

Labels: Society

While surfing the internet tonight, I found the above article on the Telegraph's web site. I found it quite funny as well as nicely written.

Labels: Food

The Royal Bank of Scotland has told its employees to bank with the employing company or face disciplinary action.

I want to ask three questions

1) Where is choice - this notion that New Labour and the Tories Babble on about.

2) Where is the Free Market

3) Where are Human Rights - not the kind that are referred by the "politically correct" brigade* but the Human Rights where one is able to do what one wants to do without breaking the law, offending, hurting, getting in one's face etc.

* The Politically Correct Brigade are those bozos who hear things they may not like and declare them as "Politically Correct" because they are unable to articulate otherwise.

Labels: banking, Economics, finance, free market

The above link goes into detail

I shan't be buying Greene King again, I used to like it, neither shall I buy Ruddles.

It seems that this company muscle out the smaller brewers - flogs pubs to greedy property developers who want to turn the pub into luxury apartment.

The linked article points to what happened in Lewes, I used to go for walks around the surrounding countryside and nip into the Lewes Arms for a pint or two of Harveys. Nice beer and a very nice friendly pub too. I am quite saddened by this news.

So this is the wonder of the free market. Choice - "you can have any beer you like, so long as it ours"

This passage in the article summarises my sentiments entirely

But this dispute is not just about beer. Across Britain the traditional "community" local is under threat as never before. According to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), 56 pubs close in Britain every month, most of them urban locals. Camra's head of research, Iain Loe, says: "The bricks and mortar are often worth more, in the short term, for conversion to flats than the place is as a going concern, even though it may have been making money for 200 years and would continue to do so. Then people move into the new flats and find there's no community, no focus, which the local would have provided."

Labels: Economics

I was watching one of those lifestyle fascism programmes on the box today, I can not recall the name; but the aim of the programme was to help people flog off some of their stuff to redecorate their home or parts of it. The victims were a young couple with one child and another on its way and they wanted the cash to redecorate the new arrival's room. The programme described the stuff they wanted to flog. All well and good until the arrival of the obligatory interior designer who has that annoying obligatory phoney cheerful (quasi-comic) manner. The day was saved by female of the couple, she was regaled with suggestions which pointed to modern lifestyle trashiness all of which she resisted. The interior designer introduced her to this selection of toy boxes. There was a cheap, cheerful and plain set, which the woman selected (cost £26), some flexi designer garden buckets made out of plastic (crap at £5 each) and another set of designer boxes which had a teddy bear's motif stuck on the side cost £90. Although the young woman expressed a preference for the plain boxes, it seems that she did not purchase them. She was the offered suggestions that baby could put magnets on this sheet and have playing with, cost £50, young woman looked at this item as complete bollocks. Then the interior designer offered up some black board paint, baby would have fun scribbling around on this, she said it would save the walls (gosh, this interior designer knows nothing about small children, you can let them loose in a paper mill and they would still write on the walls), as for the blackboard paint, plenty of fun with chalk dust and discarded chalks. Then she showed the young woman a selection of some rather garishly designed multicoloured duvet covers - the designs were so loud that the primary colours on them were screaming out thrash metal mega death - this bedding was designed to make your child into psycho killer. Young woman looked these in abject horror and icily refused them. I thought "great!", this young woman made it very clear that she was not going to have the peaceful ambience of her home trashed by this interior designer. For once, I was feeling quite gratified that schlock like this can be embarrassingly resisted by its victims.

Labels: crap, Lifestyle, modern, Television, trash

I have been checking out New Labour's web site. I noted that it describes itself as "a democratic socialist party" who are they trying to kid?

In addition to all this, the site has a merchandise shop, where you can buy New Labour trinkets, bawbels and beads. I was quite surprised to note that they had Tony Benn's books on sale along with "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist".

I really find this quite annoying, as I have said in an earlier post, Blair had jettisoned any pretence to socialism that the Labour Party had, he considered it an election liability. So why carry on with the pretence.

Labels: dumbing down, New Labour, politics

Let's get one thing straight, when Blair made New Labour he divorced the New Party from the old, he declared it an election liabilty. There is now nothing in New Labour to suggest anything socialist; Blair does not want it that way, neither does Brown nor the Cabinet toadies. Yet, we have David Miliband reported in The Guardian as saying

"Who says the Labour party has a history of animosity towards the countryside?

"I have been sent a quotation from chapter three of Aneurin Bevan's In Place of Fear, no less: 'Where the countryside is neglected it always takes its revenge.

Well that was Old Labour. Come on, get real - Labour does not exist any more.

Anyway, I checked out the said blog, Mr Miliband wanted to put the record straight with regard to the cost of it. The net cost of maintaining the blog costs only £300 a month from a dedicated member of his staff. Looking at the content, the odd short entry here and there, this is tremendously good value because New Labour has very little to say.

Labels: David Miliband, New Labour, politics

Magenta Divine has been selling her voice to two of the worst radio ad culprits - DFS and Galliard Homes. I guess that Magenta was a bit of style icon and that by using her voice these two companies hope that people will consider their products rather chic. I don't think so.

Labels: commercials, LBC, Radio

I had to watch Red Nose Day on BBC 1, my daughter was involved in this exercise in some minor way - so I had to sit and suffer.

I would like you to share in my suffering, this clip will make you cringe - what did I say - roll on Celebrity Big Brother!

Worst thing is that he can't bloody act.



and he ain't bothered...

As for David Cameron, he recorded the following in his blog:

Can't imagine Gordon Brown doing something like this!

Goes to show what David Cameron meant about TB having a good sense of humour. Always nice to see in politics!

Yes, we are in the region of political dumb-down, expect more of this shit if Cameron gets elected.

Labels: dumbing down, New Labour, politics, Television

This was completely pretentious; it copied and pasted old footage along with new - woman with child through the age of the tube. There was a cockney narrative through the significant life events of the tube. I thought that I would tune into something into informative and designed for anoraks such as myself. I was wrong - the programme turned out to be one of those dreadful "let's not say an awful lot, just bullshit our way through 50 minutes of airtime. It was complete shiiiit.

Labels: BBC, culture, dumbing down, presenters, Television, twelve year old

I tuned into Any Questions today on BBC's Listen Again facility. Gosh it was fucking boring, the panel was fucking boring - they consisted Andy Burnham - Some twelve year old Health Minister; Chris Grayling - Shadow Transport Secretary; Derek Simpson - General Secretary Amicus and Ruth Deech. I never heard of Derek Simpson until now - he said "he promised to give Tony Blair and effing migraine" - oh really, I think Blair has got more of an effing migraine and it is highly doubtful whether this being of such remarkable feats has made any contribution to Blair's headaches. Derek Simpson's performance on this programme was quite lacklustre and I am led to think whether the Amicus membership is getting their moneysworth from this man. As for Andy Burnham, who sounded like the New Labour version of The Worker's Friend, made a very patronising statement about working class people being deprived of University Places becauses they do not know the language or techniques to get a place, he was talking as if the working class had some kind of intellectual deficiency or learning difficulty - bullshit! History has taught us that if anyone is determined enough they will achieveThe rest of the panel were equally bland. It was worst ever Any Questions in to which I have tuned. It was complete bollocks. This programme should fizz not fizzle out.

Labels: Any Questions, BBC, New Labour, Radio

This is the crap coming out of New Labour. Now we have to shell out huge sums of money on political parties only to be regaled with boring Party Political Broadcasts on the telly, terrible poster campaigns, megaphone vans booming out up and down the high street.

Time was Labour activists used to knock on my door, not any more - who the fuck in their right mind would go around canvassing as a New Labour Activist - it's a bit like saying "Good morning, I have tuberculosis, do you mind if I come in and infect your home". No, New Labour now have to use financial means to canvas. The Conservatives are just as bad, never had them canvassing on my door.

So what does this all mean, my theory is that the mainstream political parties will outsource their campaigning to private companies, who will recruit paid activists who will be trained to knock on your door, tolerate the usual "fuck off" and hard sell you party line - short of throwing the contents of your dustbin on them, you won't be able to get rid of the buggers. My guess is that these paid activist will not be dissimilar, if not the same, to the type of individual in a dayglo tabard who accosts you in the street asking for direct debit donations to various charities - a political form of chugger.

If these bozos want to bestow their crappy version of democracy on us, then they will have to get off their arse and work for it...bloody state scroungers!

Labels: BBC, Blair, Britain, democracy, politics, Television

It seems that BBC4 has been celebrating Blair's ten years in office. There was this programme on TV on how the Blair administration has affected us in all aspects of our culture. Really gut-wrenching was this little item on men spending a whole heap of money on fucking beauty products - there was this berk who was getting waxed, heterosexual, oh fuck this berk wants to become a ladyboy, a chick with a dick. I think the term is metrosexual, I can't get my head round this - straight men doing the female thing, come on - who are you trying to fucking kid. I have no problem with gay men keeping their body beautiful, that's the way are and want to be, but straight men, oh fuck off. Are these guys really closet queens, toying around with their gay side?

Item on managers - "epidemic of managers" - some bald headed berk on a six mile work (six mile work) "this really takes you out the comfort zone..." oh fuck, great platitude, oh fuck off you bald headed git. A manager is just simply a person who is fluent is buzz-word speak - I don't want words, I want action. Time was a manager got things done, nowadays it is just simply to obstruct.

Labels: politics

I see that the Trident upgrade has been voted in by the Holier Than Thou Alliance of New Labour and Conservative. Gosh, it's great to have a democracy, we and the Yanks have spent billions on bringing democracy to Iraq. Yes, in a democracy your political representative can vote for bombs that can bomb the fuck out of anybody who needs to be deterred. I heard one New Labour mp saying that it was necessary because the Chinese and the Russians are building up their nuclear bomb capabilities. Worst still, they have embraced Capitalism as their economic operating system - so we must be singing from the same economic hymn sheet, aren't we?.

So why the fuck do we feel the need to possibly bomb out the Russians and the Chinese. The Russians are not a bad lot, they flog us cheap gas; the Chinese, likewise, the sell us lovely electrical goods. Our electricity bills would rocket if the Russians turn off the gas. As for the Chinese, we would be deprived of lovely electrical goods so that we will be soon be watching only one tv channel in monochrome on 405 lines were we to vex the Chinese enough.

Do you know something, we spend decades convincing the Chinese and Russians that Capitalism ain't such a bad thing; but don't you think that they are getting a little too cheeky of late? So, I guess the New Labour is right in thinking that if they got very cheeky, then we should start rattling our rockets at them.

Update: The Tories and New Labour voted together to agree to the upgrade - same policies - same parties.

Labels: Blair, Conservative, New Labour, politics, Tories, trident

I don't know what it is, but nowadays there seems to be a combined tyranny between modern parents and their babies, they insist on rights (get out the fucking way, I've got a baby here and I'm not scared to use it) of way. I was in Sainsbury's today heading for the tabacco counter, this large lady - who looked Dorothy Perkins size - barged in front of me with what appeared to be an oversized multi-coloured carpet sweeper with bear and elephant stickers on it. The contents of this ugly vehicle was a baby who was barbling and borbling away. I did not mind the barging in front of me, I was prepared to let it ride, I presume Dorothy Perkins was going to buy a pack ofe Park Drive. I was wrong, she pulled out of the baby vehicle numerous baby items - baby food, nappies, wipes, you know the usual kind of crap that one has to buy baby. I was prepared to remonstrate with Dorothy for not using the check out, after all this was the counter where one buys fags, but another assistant called my attention and I bought some tabacco.

I really hate "child friendly" places, nice restaurants and other places have become to the tyranny of not so much the children but their parents - like the dangerous dog it is not dog, it is the owner.

Labels: Lifestyle

I read Catch 22 a number of years ago, there was a character called Milo Minderbender who had managed to privatise an entire airbase along with its equipment. At the time I thought this quite bizarre and surreal, something that was woven into the tapestry of this fantastic novel. A couple of decades on, Milo Minderbender has become quite real, he is alive and kicking in the UK, his name is Blair. Yes this man is selling everything in sight, he will even sell your identity as well as your arse. This road-pricing thingy on the agenda is not really about congestion but yet another wheeze to help his bloated big business to make more fast bucks - it will no doubt lead to the privatisation of the motorways.

One of the most salient symptoms of this administration has been the closure of hospitals, schools and police stations and flogging off the property to greedy property developers. Greenwich District Hospital was closed and the Queen Mary Military Hospital lost its military specialism to become the local hospital. The result has been many service personnel have lost the right to specialist treatment - they have to make do with NHS provision. Military medicine is such a specialised area of treatment that a civilian friend of mine had to be admitted to a military hospital because he had burns so severe that a General Hospital was unable to deal with them. In fact military medicine has informed general medicine throughout the years - Florence Nightingale and nursing comes to mind in this instance. Sadly, we seem to have lost the medical arm of the armed forces.

If my memory serves me right, I can recall Yossarian looking in the first aid box bandages etc, only to find a receipt that he is now a happy shareholder of the proceeds of the sale of the contents of the said box.

New Labour has become quite adept at doing things like that.

Labels: British Politics, Catch 22, Joseph Heller, Milo Minderbender, PFI

After running running the gauntlet of dangerous dogs with owners but without their leads, I boarded the bus, all well and good until I got off at my connecting stop. There were several drunks at the stop, all middle age, one a woman, one a drunk who was not on a lead. He was making these aggressive gestures at passers-by and passing cars. His friend thought it a great laugh and was quite amused by his antics. The bus arrived; there was a bit of a commotion between the two drunks, one drunk was trying to get his friend to board the bus but his friend would have none of it. So the bloke grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and tried to hurl him in to the bus through the exit doors. No luck. Instead, the bloke left his unleashed drunk behind and boarded the bus with the woman, he barged his way into my space. He was commenting on how selfish his friend is "we 'ad few drinks this morning, we was going to go back to my place and 'ave summint to eat and then go aht boozin' again...wherever we go, 'e always gets me nicked"..

Labels: Grumble

Have you ever noticed a tin of Quality Street when it is getting near its end, only a quarter left - have you noticed the sweets - red, blue and orange wrappers, all with squidgy, sickly centres. Not much choice really, all the best chocs have gone. Our democracy has met the same fate. When you have made your choice of demcracy the analogy can be stretched to the point "that once bitten, you cannot put the soft centre back in the box" (Quentin Crisp). Yep, whatever choice we make it is all the same, soft, squidgy, sickly centre politics, once you've made your choice your lumbered with it for up to five years.

Labels: politics

I was reading in The Guardian that the Government now plans to fight the unemployed and disabled - they are going to insist that they return to work or else.

The target groups are the single mothers and the disabled. The former are seen as scroungers who have been given licence to draw benefit until all their kids reach the age of sixteen. Whereas the disabled are seen by the Government as not really disabled at all - it's pandering to this:

(Imaginary quote)

The Sun Says

* that bloke with a white stick is not really blind at all, he's scrounging a free telly licence

* that lady in the wheelchair is only sponging a disabled parking permit

* this loony is only pretending he's mad so he can annoy people in the high street and claim millions in state benefits for his pleasure.

Yep, this is part of the press' rogues' gallery to which government policy is shaped.

The Guardian continues that the campaign will involve using the private sector to get people back to work. Private business will get these scrounging buggers back to work. Yet these private business that are paid taxpayers' for lousy services are the biggest spongers of them all.

Labels: politics

I've got toothache. It's no laughing matter. The pain is dirty. It has consumed my entire being, I feel pain therefore I am pain. The left part of my upper jaw is throbbing like a diesel engine. I bought some Bonjela, I feel like a teething baby - fat lot of good it is doing. I'm scared of going to the dentist, the last time I went I had two teeth extracted; because they were broken they were not pulled but prized out with an object that looked like a screwdriver - I had a enough novacaine in me to numb an elephant - my mouth felt like a mouth shaped iceberg.

Getting older does not mean your teeth fall out; trust me they don't, they break, leaving stumps - then there comes a time when the stumps have to come out and it's not a pleasant experience.

Labels: Grumble

If I used my workplace for an event or party without permission from my employers, I would be due for a well-deserved bollocking. I was reading in the Sunday Times today that Blair has been inviting hideously rich people to No. 10 for a feed and some drinks ostensibly to raise funds for Tate Britain, I think this is not really on. We are living in a democracy, yeah, but our votes do not give the likes of Blair carte-blanche to do what he likes with the office. Having said all that, Blair thinks he is a politician but acts like a celebrity. There will be plenty of work for him and Cherie Booth / Blair when they quite - you know those trashy Celebrity Jungle Dancing on Ice type shows on tv.

On page 14, there is a photograph of Blair taking during his Oxford Years, he is shown wearing a straw boater and blazer. In this photo, you will also see him doing a wanking gesture, is this what he really thinks of those who partake in democracy?

Labels: politics

This show is made by twelve year olds for twelve year olds. It's shiiit. It's trashy television in the name of accessibility. The format takes place in a night club with a twelve year old audience looking like extras from Zombies, Dawn of the Dead. The show is hosted by a twelve year old with a slight Geordie accent, appealing to the regions here. The high spot of this lousy programme was Brian Ferry plugging his new album - covers of Bob Dylan tunes, yawn - if you heard his version of "Hard Rain" then you have heard the album anyway. If you listen to Bob Dylan, that's much better. Then there was this was completely pointless piece of trash, the BBC sent out a camera crew for this - it was about a football between two islands who are in friendly dispute as which is the real Craggy Island in Father Ted. It was done in the best possible trashy way. Then there was this band from Newcastle, they were coming out with the usual shit that bands blab on about when they do tv programmes, I can't believe they have gone there considering This is Spinal Tap and Bad News blew this cosy little out the water. The band's membership, however, was composed of twelve year olds complete with baseball caps and bum-fluff.

I shall not be tuning into this shiiiit again.

Labels: Television