Odds and Sods

Paul Gleason has died.

Simon Heffer sounds off about flags...and quite rightly. You see that banner at the top of this page? It is a rotating mix of the Cross of St. George, and the Union Flag. Does that mean I'm racist? No, it means I am patriotic. I am sick of those that deny the right of the English to be patriotic about our country. After all, do you hear complaints about the Cross of St. Andrew, or the Welsh dragon? Of course you don't.

Only Prescott's croquet balls are driven now - the title says it all really.

France Echos has a piece about a teacher being attacked and recorded on a mobile phone.

Submission, the film by Theo Van Gogh who was subsequently murdered. (via Middle Class, Middle Aged, Middle England)

Diary of a Bow Street Runner asks you to imagine the newspapers if drunken cliches prevailed...

A bit of local news....after being closed down since January, Syndicate is reopening on Saturday 3rd June, under new management.

Also, a bit of a warning here, if you decide to come to Blackpool, keep out of the water if the tide is in....trying to go swimming can be fatal...especially if you are drunk. Two died this last weekend.

Confused?

Yes, I am.

Hutton Enquiry Auction

Iain Dale spotted this bit of insensitive fund raising for the Labour Party... a copy of the Hutton Enquiry into the death of David Kelly was auctioned off, signed by none other than Cherie Blair for £400.

Also picked up by An Englishman's Castle.

Drinking from Home and The Anglo Saxon Chronicle have found out an Early Day Motion was filed in Parliament by Stewart Jackson, Conservative MP for Peterborough.

EDM 2224

"CONDUCT OF LABOUR HON. MEMBERS AT MAY 2006 FUNDRAISER
22.05.2006


Jackson, Stewart

That this House notes that senior members of the Labour Party including hon. Members and Government Ministers attended a party fundraising event last week at the Arts Club in Mayfair; further notes that a copy of the official report by Lord Hutton into the death of Government scientist Dr David Kelly, signed by Ms Cherie Booth QC, was auctioned for party funds raising £400; believes this conduct to be in appalling bad taste, arrogant and crassly insensitive in seeking to make money, albeit indirectly, through hawking, as a novelty item, an official Government report into the death of a public servant; regrets the distress caused to the family and friends of the late Dr Kelly; calls on the Labour Party to apologise for such tasteless and offensive conduct and to donate the money raised to an appropriate charity; and deprecates such conduct by hon. Members."


I see the ministers involved have apparently apologised.

"Mr Bryant and Mr Purnell said: "This was a private event. No one intended to give offence and if there is any offence, we sincerely apologise.

"We have not received any money for this item and we want to make it clear that we will not accept any."

Oh that's all right then....obviously you have no shame in auctioning off an enquiry into a man's death.

More here.

"The prime minister's official spokesman said he would not get involved in the row, adding that "it was a party matter and nothing to do with us".

Hmm...the PM's wife is involved, and it has nothing to do with them? Have the Labour Party any moral compass at all?

If they wanted to raise money, they should have found something more suitable to auction....another reason, as if there needed to be any more of why the Labour Party are singularly unsuitable to govern this country.

Longer Post

There are a few posts here....in no particular order, because I can't be bothered today, they are in the order that I find them in my bookmarks. Feel free to comment....you can you know...

Seneferu asks for an end to the stupidity.

Isaac Schrödinger refers to the spiritually filthy.

Eteraz has a piece on the LRA in Uganda. See also here for more information.

Apparently a lot of African Muslims are becoming.....Christian. (via IBA)

It seems those Danish cartoonists had better need some protection...from terrorists.

A comment from Peter Kilfoyle about the change needed in the Labour Party. (via Blairwatch)

How a US Navy Corpsman made a difference. (via Isaac Schrödinger)

The Desert Mordor - Isaac Schrödinger....linking to here.

Bangladesh...where women are scarred for life. See here, and here.

The Devil's Kitchen on why Britain Should Be Great.

The Archbishop of Sydney...has been challenging Islam. (via Western Resistance) (text here)

USS Neverdock refers to the French Intifada...and mentions a couple of things about the UK you might have forgotten.

Polly Toynbee on Comment is free... about Civil Discourse...or the lack of it. The Devil's Kitchen comments.

The Devil's Kitchen reckons it is time to abolish the UN.

The Ministry of Truth reckons Labour needs a future rather than a legacy. (via The Devil's Kitchen)

The Devil's Kitchen on Israel.

While we're with The Devil's Kitchen, an update on Jack Idema.

The ID Card scheme may have been a mistake?

Longrider on copyright infringement.

Daring Fireball on Rob Glaser. (via The Devil's Kitchen)

The Devil's Kitchen links to Mr Eugenides, who links to an article in the Guardian by Joseph Harker, who seems to consider white people as racists for flying the England flag.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali resigns from the Dutch Parliament. (via Isaac Schrödinger)

Blairwatch on ID for sale. This is a current problem, and they want a one stop shop for it???

The 13th of May was the first anniversary of the Bobur Square massacre in Andijan, Uzbekistan. Read this as well.

The Pub Philosopher askes whether you can teach British values.

A Tangled Web on what Hamas is teaching the children...

Freedom for Egyptians on bloggers being arrested, and pro-reform protesters being attacked.

The Big Pharaoh on one of the bloggers arrested, and a later update..

...also Free Alaa The Blog

Bill Sticker on flying the flag.

Students in London complain about Islamic studies.

On Israel.

The Koran v Mein Kampf....see more here.

Israel and the Middle East. (via Saber Point)

A piece about Steven Vincent.

If Islamists were to dominate....

Meryl Yourish on a warning about Pluck/Blogburst....they get to keep your stuff...

Also, Meryl on what Yasser Arafat was like...

Ok, that's your lot.

Little Post

Why a little post? Well I am actually working on one with stuff I marked to post previously but didn't get round to....so a bit out of date, but worth reading....but tomorrow.

For now...Eurovision is on tonight....my pick for winner....Finland!

Eurovision for those that don't know, is an annual song contest with a representative from each country. After last year it was changed in that there are now semi finals, with the winners to go through to join those that did well last year.

Anyhow....who has performed at Eurovision you may ask....well ABBA, Katrina & The Waves, Celine Dion etc.

Apparently even the US is thinking of borrowing the concept for a State representing contest.

But, back to tonight....why am I putting Finland forward? Well you see, they are a metal band called Lordi...with a song Heavy Metal Hallelujah. Let's just say it is a complete surprise choice for the Eurovision.....and if you check out the website you'll see why as well.


UPDATE 0:34 - Wow...that was a good tip wasn't it? Next time I'll actually put a bet on. Well done Lordi, you did good.

Hmm

I've been a bit busy working, hence the lack of an update, and I haven't had my usual reading time...so I have sod all to talk about.

Congratulations to Liverpool for winning the FA Cup, and congratulations to Fernando Alonso for being the first Spaniard to win the Spanish Grand Prix.

There has been bad news this week, including the murder of Nisha Patel-Nasri, a Special Constable with the Metropolitan Police.

Readers Topics

Here we are with a couple of topics as chosen by you the humble readers....all 3 of you. :D

Anyhow...

Mrs Aginoth suggests a "my solution to....." series....

Part 1 - The Pensions crisis.....don't do pensions.....find out how much a pension payment is and put that amount in a separate bank account providing guaranteed money at the end of the day....plus an amount of interest I suppose. I really wouldn't know how to deal with those that have nothing after paying in for many years.....I suspect the companies will do what they can to avoid paying up.

Alternatively we could ask all those public sector workers to give their pensions to those that provided it....i.e. the taxpayer. Pay into your own pensions for once.

*Ponders whether a wholesale reform of the benefits system would be in order....the difference to provide for those whose pensions have disappeared.* It would only be a short term solution, with the plus points being that once the deficit pensions are covered, there would be a significant reduction in benefit system fraud., and the money could be provided on services.

Part 2 - The NHS....I suspect a layer of management...perhaps even 2 could be removed. Instant cash for all the stuff like beds, equipment etc. Any NHS readers able to give their view on that? It's simplistic I know...but I'm sure an element of Occam's (Ockham's is the alternative spelling) Razor surely applies to both suggestions.

Pardon? Oh yes, William of Ockham put forward the following attributed comment:

"Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem"

or

"Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity"

also posited by Isaac Newton as:

"We are to admit no more causes of natural things than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances."

...which I suspect comes down to the KISS rule...Keep It Simple Stupid.

Mad Dog asks about the new England manager...why I have no idea. Personally I couldn't care less who is manager as long as England win a championship for once. If the manager happens to be English, it's a happy bonus.

If we're on about records, then Sven is hardly convincing is he? By record, I'm talking trophies....and no, we haven't got one. After all they keep going on about 1966....ffs it's 40 years ago......I wouldn't be too proud of that one....the players now are working professionals....

To be honest, I say don't use Premiership players....they get bucketloads of money and don't perform....why not make it performance related...(win, get paid; lose, you pay into the coffers the same amount)?

I suggest using the division below...I think it's the Coca Cola Championship lot....(I wish we still had the old divisions...1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and then the rest...I get confused with the current naming system). After all, I suspect they would be well chuffed to play for their country....might play to the top of their ability as a result...lets face it if there can be upsets in the FA Cup, surely there can be in the World Cup.

As for the other comment on Haloscan centering text....well that is what this particular template does.

Tololy asks about whether my blog is primarily politics and news based....answer...no, it just happens to be what is annoying me at the moment. Personal entries don't interest me...sad but true.

That ends this weeks trial run...please feel free to comment or make suggestions...next Friday I will open up for suggestions once again for the Saturday ramble.

Thanks for stopping by...please come again!

Hmm

Well...surprisingly I don't have anything to say.

I'm not surprised about the local election results, and I'm not sure the Cabinet reshuffle has gone quite as planned. I notice Charles Clarke was sacked....although the BBC News at 1 said resigned. Why on earth is Prescott still in position? I notice however that he has been stripped of all his powers.....so he can't bugger anything else up. Ruth Kelly has been moved.

Patricia Hewitt is still somehow in the same job. Margaret Beckett as Foreign Secretary??????

Oh well...somehow I think, like the song.....there may be trouble ahead..

Other than that....I notice that Iraqis are still being slaughtered by other Muslims.
Zacarias Moussaoui will rot in a SuperMax prison....quite appropriate I think.

I'm bored....

I know...cunning plan....you the readers get to choose the topic. Then I will attempt to write about it....(is this really a good idea?) Suggestions in the comments please. Perhaps every Saturday....we shall see....so go on, get your thinking caps on....