It’s no wonder that UK politics is in such a sad state…..headed down the ole’ cr*pper, actually, when you’ve the Ivory Tower types [“academic” division] behaving like spoiled brats. Not only have they never grown up, but they’re allowed to influence those whose minds are easily bent in this day and age. And have done so for far too many years, unchecked.

The garbahge they shove down students throats, to be swallowed whole, has turned loose on the unsuspecting and docile herd of sheep that is the current electorate a batch of power-hungry politicians which is truly unbelievable to those who have still retained their minds amongst the rest of the kingdom. And those sheeples are permitted to vote?!

WHY ??

A hypnotic animation of “The Cut” by Zombie Nation. Warning: If you have epilepsy or a similar disorder, skip this one.

This is impressive, but it’s more of an exercise in Flash programming than any kind of linear narrative. Note the cameraman in the centre—you can aim and click on the moving balls and on the video screen that then appears on the right.

It has puzzled mankind since time immemorial: What happens when you shoot at pressurized scuba tanks with a rifle? Now we know.

Lastly, this has been around for a long time, but it’s so well done that it’s worth another look.

the blog québécois

Since the BBC is now the official mouthpiece for the Labour Party, the licence fee should be scrapped immediately, and the Labour Party and its donors can pick up the bill for running this expensive and entirely left-wing propaganda machine. The days when it could be said to be “fair and unbiased” are long since gone; it is now the purveyor of left wing socialist claptrap and run by aparatchiks of the Labour Party. Let them pay for it; it should not be funded from compulsory public license fees one moment longer!

The revelation by the report of the Centre for Policy Studies, set up in 1986 by Mrs Thatcher, shows just how biased the BBC news and political broadcasting has become. The Radio 4 “Today” Programme’s presenter dominated the interviews with Conservative speakers, carping and criticising and constantly interupting, while giving the equivalent Labour speakers a clear and sympathetic run. Other evidence piles up as well – the bias in TV News broadcasts which give prominence to Blair’s sayings and doings as he dashes about trying to slip out from under the pile of evidence that he is untrustworthy and deceitful – something the BBC only very reluctantly and dismissively refers to, while laying on thickly the least doubt about the other parties policy proposals and playing up all the usual Labour frighteners. Their response to the report – “the BBC takes news programmes very seriously and is open to constructive criticism, but is disappointed at the “poor” quality of the report.” Poor quality reporting? Want even more evidence of this slant – try Biased BBC. I have long since stopped watching the BBC, ITV, or Channel 4 news – all hopelessly biased towards their chums and paymasters in Labour. I get a better quality of report from Euro News or even CNN on the UK political scene.

Sadly it has reached the point where if the BBC says something has happened, is happening, or someone has said something, I seek independent confirmation from some more reliable source.

The National Post:

AMHERSTBURG, Ont. (CP) – Conservative Leader Stephen Harper condemned Paul Martin’s $4.6-billion agreement with the New Democrats as a “deal with the devil” Wednesday as he served notice he’s poised to topple the prime minister’s fragile Liberal government.

Seeking to deflect any blame that his party would be forcing a reluctant electorate back to the polls, Harper condemned the deal to replace $4.6 billion in corporate tax cuts with an equal amount of social spending as a bare-faced Liberal bid to buy both time and votes.

“It is the most disgraceful thing I’ve seen in all my years on Parliament Hill,” Harper fumed.

“I will be asking our caucus to put this government out of its misery at the earliest possible opportunity.”

Pull the trigger, Stephen, pull the trigger.

the blog québécois

Recent days here in the Soviet Kingdom of Blairdom have seen some interesting insights into the [tiny] minds at work in the pursuit of criminals and the administration of justice. On the one hand we are witnessing a massive manhunt in Surrey to catch a vicious attacker who has left a young mother paralysed after stabbing her in the neck. On the other, we have three examples of law-abiding citizens being targeted by the police, and, in two cases, the courts for taking action against obnoxious “youffs” who acknowledge no law but their own – and whom the police make no attempt to control or defend people against. Even when they are caught and hauled before a court, it is a “softly, softly, ‘now do be a good boy’ approach in which if the little toerag makes even the most insincere and grudging apology (Difficult to even call it that!) to the victim, the court lets them off scot free! But, God help the householder or adult who is driven to make a stand against them! He or she will wind up in jail!

I am willing to take bets that, when and if the Surrey attacker is caught, he will be found to be a drug addict with a “form” for rape and violence, and probably for aggravated burglary and assault. No doubt there will be a horde of members of Amnesty International, Liberty, and the Howard League queuing up to protect his “rights” while the victim and her family are ignored because their “privileged” background “provoked” the attack. It is really time that these “do-gooders” were held accountable every time one of their “misunderstood, deprived and impoverished” offenders commits an offence. Perhaps then they will become a little less willing to argue the case for “protecting” this scum. This sort of crime is not a unique or isolated incident; it is part of a long chain which starts in youth and, if allowed to continue unchecked, ends in a murder or a series of murders!

High spirits in youth is one thing; the absence of any discipline and any appreciation of right and wrong is another. “Poverty” is the excuse in all too many cases, yet, I see all too many of these young yobs wandering about in expensive shoes, expensive “designer” jackets and jeans, and carrying expensive mobile phones. Poor? I think not. Deprived backgrounds? Very likely, backgrounds not made any better by the constant nannying interference of the “Yob Protection” societies who proclaim themselves as the guardians of children.

Just catching up on the papers, I read this excellent piece by David Aaronovitch on the vacuousness of the AUT boycott of Israeli academics.

A must-read.

hear me moo
i weigh twice as much as you
and i look good on the barbecue

arrogant worms

Something is up with the cows. I don’t know what it is, but they plot in secret and sing violent revolutionary songs.

I propose we study them more closely. With this camouflage we* should be able to mingle amongst them freely:

• By “we,” I mean you and me. Unless it happens to be hunting season, in which case you’re on your own, Kemosabe.

you want a part of me
well i’m not selling cheap
no i’m not selling cheap

hole

The Presurfer linked a couple of days ago to this, a site which allegedly was “formed in 2003 by an anonymous collective of former Hollywood personal assistants,” and claims to sell specimens of celebrities’ body fluids.

We obtain the vast majority of our specimens from an extensive network of trustworthy suppliers, who in their dealings with entertainment and hospitality services, come into contact with celebrities on a day-to-day basis. On occasion we purchase quality specimens from private sellers. Regardless of where the specimens come from, we make certain that all specimens obtained go through the same rigorous testing process.

The frightening thing is that there probably would be a market for this, but it appears to be a hoax. The specimens are supposedly verified by the “Allamas Biological Research Facility in Greeley Colorado,” which doesn’t exist as far as I can find. Nor do any of the order buttons work.

Still, it had me fooled for awhile.

the blog québécois

Hard on the heels of the Prime Minister’s pronouncement that postat ballot fraud “will be addressed after the election” comes the Deputy Prime Minister’s proclamation that the postal voting debacle is “good for democracy”. Well, I suppose it is if you are the Labour Party! It is interesting to see that the tactics of “Militant” Labour, which Mr Blair and his colleagues so decried when they were out of power, are now being used to keep them there. Gangs of party workers toting bag loads of ballot papers in local elections can very swiftly be translated into lost ballots or even intimidation of voters once the general election gets under way. Their minions in the Ministry of Defence have already successfully disenfranchised 148,000 members of the armed forces, and now there are “whistle blowers” at work in Borough, County and Metropolitan Councils “finding” incriminating pictures or files in councillors computers during “routine” maintenance. Since when did “routine” maintenance include inspection of personal mail files and correspondence on anyone’s computer?

The good old Marxist/Leninist principle of the “Street Committee” (otherwise known as the Neighbourhood Soviet) rushes out to “help” people make the “right” choice. Under Winnie Mandela this meant that you could get a visit from her “Football Team” and be treated to a Winnie Necklace; under Labour, it probably means a visit by the local yobs to pour petrol through your letter box at worst or, at best, to daub your house with graffitti and smash your windows. Mind you, for the elderly widower living alone there is an even more effective way of “dealing” with a reluctance to vote the “right” way – simply inform the mob that he’s a paedophile. Who needs proof? Under Mr Blair’s skewed legal system, to be accused is to be found guilty – especially if you are a self sufficient and slightly outspoken individual.

But, you say, there is surely a democratic process here that allows us to change this government? That will allow us to send him a message through the ballot box which will tell him we are not happy with the direction he has taken? Think again!

Naturally it’s bloody hilarious.

Two Arabs are sitting in a Gaza Strip bar chatting over a pint of fermented goat’s milk. One pulls his wallet out and starts flipping through pictures and they start reminiscing.

“This is my oldest son, he’s a martyr.”

“You must be so proud” says the other.

“This is my second son. He is a martyr also.”

“A fine looking young man”, replies his friend.

“And this is my third son. Like his brothers, he too is a martyr.”

After a pause and a deep sigh, the second Arab says wistfully,

“They blow up so fast, don’t they?”

A petition drive has been started to grant Lovecraft a Honorary Doctorate from Brown University. I have signed it, and so should you.

This is a simple tale of a bird, and a boy, and a water fountain, and . . . well, that’s really all there is to it, but it’s beautifully done. Music and sfx.

This is far simpler in execution, but with deeper levels of meaning. Something about Einsteinian physics, I think. Minimal sfx.

Enough with the artsy-fartsy stuff. Via grow-a-brain, here’s a recreation of the popular game Grand Theft Auto, acted out by, uh, Lego bricks. Warning: Sfx and violence. But c’mon. It’s violence against Legos. It’s only fair payback for all the pain those little assassins have dealt to bare feet at 3 o’clock in the morning.

the blog québécois

Article here about the new movie based on the wonderful Douglas Adams stories. It is getting mixed reviews. Some Adams purists are appalled. It reminds me a bit of the reaction to the Lord of the Rings trilogy from some Tolkein fans. Hmm. I loved the television series, the crazy humour, the sly irreverent treatment of religion, the quirky characters. Out of curiosity, I’ll be off to see this film with my beloved fairly soon.

And of course, thanks to the late Douglas Adams, I will never be able to think of Norwegian fjords or the question about the “meaning of life” in the same way again. Adams is a great and much-missed talent. There is a fine tribute to him by his old friend and scientist, Richard Dawkins, in a fine collection of essays by the Darwinist.

From the Labour e-mail campaign. (Don’t ask)

Dear All,

...

At this election it will be harder to get our supporters to the polls and we may well have less people with which to do it. That is why you are needed from now till 5 May more than at any point since Labour came to power. So how about warning the boss now that you’ll be taking a day’s annual leave on election day? Because what are you realistically going to achieve by going into work on 5 May? A few hours sitting in front of a computer playing Solitaire? Entering your own name in Google and then being slightly indignant that someone with your name has their own website?

...

And it will have been ages since you had a day off work. Not counting the Monday 2 May which is a Bank Holiday. And Easter a few weeks ago. And then there’s another Bank Holiday at the end of May, but apart from that, when did you last miss a day’s work? It’s not as if you are going to be staying up all night on Thursday, so you’ll be full of energy when you get in early the next morning…

John O’Farrell

‘Because what are you realistically going to achieve by going into work on 5 May?’ Good question, John. It is hardly worth it, what with the amount of tax we pay.

And ‘when did you last miss a day’s work?’ Given Britain’s poor record on absenteeism, attributed to said obscene taxes and the explosion in public sector employment to 25% of the workforce, the answer is probably very recently.

So, save yourself the stress of working by bunking off (though of course there is little incentive to be at work in the first place) and getting down to the polling stations to vote for a Labour Party who will tax those who do persevere, so the government can afford to support you.

This is a spooky Flash interactive thingy, based on the horror movie The Grudgeng Sarah Michelle Gellar. I haven’t seen it—it came out several months ago, if I recall, and didn’t exactly burn up the box office, as this is a promotion for the DVD release.

I’m not sure if it’s a game or what. You can click on various things, but I’m not sure if it leads anywhere or if it’s just content to creep you out.

OK, so I’m a big chicken. Satisfied now?

Warning: Sfx, screams and the cries of the damned, etc.

the blog québécois

Battle Axe You preferred a weapon with 80% power over speed and 49% range over melee.

You use a Battle Axe. The heavy, double-headed end of a battle axe is not a good thing to stand in front of. The considerable leverage and length of a battle axe make its wielder a force of nature on the battlefield. Fun fact: the double-headed axe called a Labrys is often used as a symbol by lesbian activists. Anyway, your enemies will be cleft in twain by the mighty blows of your axe.

Via: Murray

OK, it’s somewhat ahistorical (I had no idea that 18th-century ships of the line had such a quick reverse gear) and the music is kind of annoying; but this naval combat game is a pretty good timewaster.

the blog québécois

I managed to miss being part of the Marquis de Sade edition of the Bestof Me. So, too, the Cordite Carnival has appeared. One clever clot has created a Carnival submission form for all the major carnivals. The Britbloggers, who are in the midst of an election campaign, have a round-up posted, as well. CoTV is up for your pleasure.

I have joined MBA and they accepted me!

Things were now quiet after a few months of frantic activity. Being home on the Pembrokeshire coast was more pleasant now that Edin was around. Edin, my Scottish wolf-hound cum demon hunter/guard dog was settling in well and made sure that only the proper late night visitors made across the threshold. Of course with my line of work, many of the legitimate callers came a calling after sunset, but that is the nature of the beast.

As per normal, Edin sits at my feet allowing me no freedom of movement whatsoever but providing me with a blanket for the legs and feet. This very useful service will be a bit of nuisance on the few days a year when the weather will warm up here. I shouldn’t worry, since the last summer saw a grand total of 4 summer days. Enough time for most of the population to become a nice shade of lobster red, but nonetheless a rare occasion indeed. Pembrokeshire was its normal stormy self, so the odd storm caused by my activities would go mostly unnoticed.

My email was down, so I needn’t worry about being disturbed by any summons from the powers that be in Swansea. In the past month or so they have gone of me and my services a bit. Word has it, it is more than budget cutbacks and wrestling over financing. It seems there are those who feel that I am overstepping my bounds routinely. Someone (or something?) was influencing some of the more cranky members of the Welsh Parliament and suggesting that my position was meant to be a ceremonial one and not a wytchfynder general position. Under the rules of my role, I was unable to defend myself and point out the seriousness of what I was doing. Or the fact that the Welsh treasury was the beneficiary of some of my work, in the form of “encouragements” from abroad for my services. There was some worry that there might be even more of a row, when it was discovered that I indeed received generous stipends for my work, all of which were unofficial of course.

One of the two reasons I have been less prolific on these pages is that G.o.D. wrapped up its initial foray at 8pm last night. Growing Old Disgracefully managed to get itself a permanent (but not touring) guitarist and lay down 9 full tracks in less tha 16 hours in the studio. We have a full album of material. While the studio experience was chaotic, it was rather enjoyable (but tiring in extremis). Yesterday we had Jon P and his lovely fiance along for the ride, as well as John Harrison, our logistics bloke. Everyone there managed to end up in the vocal booth: doing lead vocals, sheep sounds, suggestive moaning, or even various types of backing vocals. They even managed to sneak in a few verses of the ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ while they were bonding as a backing group. Now John Haithwaite has to mix the album so we can get it out for July. Once they recover, various other members of the band will be posting their studio notes over on the band site.

This wonderful piece of nonsense rhyme is amusing and provided lots of fun when my children were small with its rather zany view of the animal world, but a friend made me think of it again in conversation the other day with reference to the Labour Party. As he pointed out, it is not, as one would think, a homogenous party at all. It is, rather, the home of just about every single issue and crackpot philosophy going. Take a good hard look at it, starting at the top – Blair and his cabinet chums are almost to a man Public School, Grammar School and Oxbridge. Not a “working man” among them.The exception could be the arch buffoon, the Deputy Prime Minister, but, in fact he is ex-Grammar School, though one suspects that there must have been some manipulation there!

The truth is that this party embraces every crackbrained idea going. Take a look at their pronouncements; women’s issues, gay rights, ethnic rights, religious rights (except for Christians that is! – Nasty bigots and crusaders, responsible for every war since Adam in case you wondered!), “experimental” education issues, class warriors, trade unionists, centralisation of bureaucracy, intrusive regulation, childrens rights, green issues, “redistribution” tax theorists and everything from unreconstructed Marxists through to “Social Conscience” types on the wealthier end of the scale. Lurking within the Party are still groups whose idea of Utopia is the enslave the rest of the nation to their nationalised industries, with them, naturally, as the gate keepers to employment. Also lurking within the Party are those who firmly believe that they, and they alone, have the answers to all the difficult issues surrounding racist, genderist and anti-social behaviours. Then there are the regulators, who believe that by ever more restrictive regulation the world can be made prooof against all ills.

In 60 years, how far have we come? Methinks not far enough !!

Read this, and remember always.

UPDATE The first comment is also a Must Read !!

I don’t have much time for ex-BBC journalist and Spectator regular Rod Liddle, who has always struck me as a rather louche character, but this article in the Spectator about the scandal of postal voting is dead-on. It stinks to high heaven. Britain’s forthcoming poll on May 5 is starting to resemble Florida 2000. I hope the Tories have hired plenty of lawyers.

Sharks

Most readers will probably have already made up their minds about who to vote for on May 5th, but, tactical voting nothwithstanding, this quiz may help you if you haven’t.

Dear all,

Sometimes being a Labour Party activist can be a lonely occupation. The same few party members discussing item three on the agenda; “How can we get more people to come to meetings?” It’s no different in the Cabinet; Tony Blair sits there with a handful of ministers and lots of empty chairs and says “Um, let’s just give it a few more minutes and see if anyone else turns up.”

But this weekend you could be one of thousands of Labour supporters across the country descending on Labour’s key seats. This looks set to be an even greater mass mobilisation of political activists than the rush to join Robert Kilroy-Silk’s Veritas Party. Think of Mao’s long march; think of the unemployed walking from Jarrow. Your trip to South Dorset will one day rank alongside such epic treks in the history of socialism. (Every time I try and type that word the head office computer crosses it out).

See you this weekend,

John O’Farrell

Ever since I found myself at last year’s Labour Party conference with work, I have received a string of diktats and pulp sheets masquerading as light-hearted campaigning.

In the run-up to the election, I thought I will share some of the more painful ones with you all.

Ha ha

Not for the squeamish: A wild animal mauling a child. Warning: Savage jungle drumming.

Update: Here’s a longer version of the video. Apparently no permanent damage was done.

the blog québécois

As we have come to realise by now, hatred of America and the idea of a dark neo-con plot to enslave the world is fairly common currency among large number of allegedly intelligent people. This latest claim of neo-con perfidy, this time from a German politician, takes the proverbial biscuit. Apparently, Bush and his dark lieutenants cooked up the saga of Catholic abuse of children in the US as an attempt to discredit the late Pope because JP 2 opposed the Iraq war.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. So let us get this straight. Because the late Pope (a firm anti-communist) opposed the war against Iraq, George W. Bush – a devout Christian – and his colleagues decided to fabricate a story of mass sex abuse in the United States in order to discredit the late Pope.

I have come to the conclusion that parts of the European left are not actually evil. They need professional help. Fast.

I usually work on this blog in the evening. I start after the early-evening news and begin checking out websites and linkdumps looking for something—anything! to write about. To my consternation (and probably yours, too), I usually find something.

One thing I can’t do is pay attention to anything on the TV while I read or write. It’s not a matter of dividing my concentration. I’m just totally oblivious to it. So I’ll usually leave it tuned to one of the sports channels. I don’t even care what’s being shown. It’s just a bit of noise and color off in the background and if I get stuck on what I’m working on I can check out the game for a few minutes.

Last night TSN was playing a tape-delayed Champion’s League quarter-final soccer match between AC Milan and Inter Milan. I’d heard radio reports during the day of some kind of trouble in the tournament but I didn’t connect the two until I became dimly aware that the commentators were talking about something other than soccer. I stuck my head out from behind the monitor just in time to see AC Milan’s goalkeeper get clonked in the shoulder with a burning flare.

As the BBC’s report indicates, this is somewhat of an ongoing problem:

“This sort of thing happens quite often in Italy,” Italian football expert James Richardson told BBC Five Live.

“It is not really that extraordinary to see stuff thrown onto the pitch in Italian games.

“A few years ago Inter fans actually tried to launch a burning moped from the same area of the San Siro as last night’s trouble.

“This isn’t an isolated incident. The hard-core support are very adept at getting flares and offensive banners into stadiums.

All I could think watching it was: Jesus. Terrorism. If you can’t stop goons bringing in an apparently-unlimited supply of fireworks and highway or railroad flares, how are you going to stop someone packing a few pounds of Semtex? And if you really wanted to kill a lot of people—not just from the initial blast(s), but by possibly collapsing part of the stadium structure, and also all those trampled in the ensuing panic—then a soccer match, or any other big athletic venue, would be your target of choice.

the blog québécois