‘Conflict’ Archives
Obama and his jingoist morons
The REAL face of American BP This is directed at all Americans who (obviously) can read and those whose computer screens are not too obscured by their own drool or by greasy Big Mac smears as they run their finger along the screen while they read. American have an image of the Brits as an "arrogant" race which thinks that it is always right. Our image of the Americans is much kinder. We think of them as uneducated, fat, loud, opinionated and parochial - for instance, only 20% of them have [...]
What happened to us?
What has happened to the British people? We used to be a subversive unruly lot who would never embrace the absurdity and puffed-up insipidness of government. If we didn't like what we heard, we would tell them. Have thirteen years under the boot of pretend-Socialism finally broken our spirit? Have we taken-on the dull-eyed pallor and mindless compliance of a population finally beaten into submission by a few self-serving , cheating, accident-prone Westminster administrators? Have we [...]
Blair ne regrette rien
Sometimes history slips out of buff government folders and falls into the rough-and-tumble of current affairs, creates an impression, is rewritten and is quietly replaced in its folder - but not this time. I missed the (almost) live feed of Tony Blair's appearance at the Chilcot Iraq Inquiry and my subsequent viewing of a recording of the day had all the qualities of watching a tape of a football game after I had learned the result. Many of the press articles on the following [...]
Blair escape
One again Tony Blair has done his Houdini act but the fault is not his. He was badly questioned and his uncompromising stance was unsurprising because it was his only option. You must also remember that when we elect our leaders, we are delegating difficult decision-making to them. We elect them to make difficult decisions which will not always be the correct decisions. Whatever Blair's motives for volunteering the United Kingdom to ride shotgun for the USA will never really be known but we [...]
Happy Holocaust Day
Wednesday 27th January is Holocaust Day and is the day which sees the perennial blossoming of the controversy surrounding the extermination of over 6.4 million Jews by the Germans. Every year, someone somewhere delivers a provocative statement which somehow finds its way onto the news wires, resulting in the inevitable outrage which has also become a significant and essential part of this important occasion. This year, Polish Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, former head of the Polish [...]
Phony War?
"Message for Gordon Brown!" I wager that very few of us normal citizens were aware of the fact that until today we were on a "substantial" terror alert. That has all changed because as from today, we are on a "severe" terror alert. The mysterious thing is that Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary is unable to tell us the reason for the sudden change in status recommended by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre. All that he would say was that there is no "immediate threat" of a terrorist [...]
Shoe Bomber Sentence
You may remember the idiot shown above who was going to take down an airliner by concealing explosives in his shoes. His name is Richard Reid and he has been convicted and sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William Young. Below is the full transcript of the judgement - it should be required reading for all politicians who pussyfoot around terrorists - whichever flavour they are. Judge Young's statement may sound a bit jingoistic but nevertheless, it makes the point. Prior to [...]
Kurds get their Way
"I look nothing like him!" In Iraq, Chemical Ali - real name Ali Hassan al-Majid who is a cousin of the late Saddam Hussein, has been sentenced to death. Again. Fourth time lucky, perhaps. Ali has already been sentenced to death three times. This time he has been convicted and sentenced for the 1988 attack on Halabjah. 5000 Kurds died when they were sprayed with a cocktail of mustard gas and the nerve agents Tabun, Sarin and VX. He was sentenced to hang in June 2007 for his role in a [...]
Chilcott-Blair Inquiry
Evidence for Weapons of Mass Destruction Some commentators have already accused Alastair Campbell of being economical with the truth during his Chilcott Inquiry questioning . This is the transcript of the evidence that he gave to the Chilcott Inquiry yesterday, so that we can judge for ourselves. HERE IT IS From a procedural point of view, it may have been better to put Tony Blair under the microscope BEFORE any of the other witnesses. It appears that the decision to invade Iraq had [...]
Rupert Hamer – War Correspondent
A very special guest has been flown back to RAF Lyneham. Sunday Mirror defence correspondent Rupert Hamer was repatriated together with Private Robert Hayes who was also killed Afghanistan. Robert Hayes was the first British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan this year and Rupert Hamer was the first British correspondent to be killed. In the last ten years , 1000 correspondents of many nationalities have died in their quest to bring us news of always-present, never-ending violent [...]
Wootton Bassett Express
A Wootton Bassett march. Today, the Wootton Bassett Express took to the road again. The two passengers and guests of honour were Sapper David Watson and Rifleman Aidan Howells. Two more young soldiers-in-bits, so let's hope that most of the bits stayed in the sieve before they boxed them up for the flight to Lyneham. We want 100% heroes. It's important. Thirty and forty-something fathers and mothers, girl brides, girl-widows, bewildered two-year-olds weeping and throwing carnations. They [...]
Christmas Spirit.
Merry Christmas I heard a British Army Chaplain speaking on the radio and what is written below is derived from the two or three sentences that I heard. On Christmas morning a few years ago, the chaplain decided to join some squaddies in their armoured vehicle for a routine patrol in downtown Baghdad. As they drove through the dry dusty streets, they were only too aware of the possible dangers that they either saw or imagined in every person or pile of rubble that they came across. They were [...]
Big Bang
"I'm off to a Fancy Dress Party..." The first line of "defence" at the 400 Iraqi police checkpoints in Baghdad are small wands with antennas that supposedly detect explosives, but which U.S. officials say are about as useful as Ouija boards. The Iraqi official in charge, Maj. Gen. Jehad al-Jabiri, is so enamoured of the devices, that when American experts repeatedly showed the rods' failures in test after test, he blamed the results on testers' lack of "training." The Iraqi government has [...]
Ungracious morons
There appears to be a rapidly lengthening queue of morons awaiting their 15 minutes of fame on the telly. The latest one is complaining that his letter from Gordon Brown arrived yesterday. No comment about the spelling this time but he did say that Brown's letter of condolence arrived TWO YEARS after his son had been killed in Afghanistan. Of course we do sympathise with anyone whose child was killed in action but handwritten letters from the Prime Minister are not a god-given right [...]
Nobel WHAT Prize?
St Obama This year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama has finally made up his mind that the best way to achieve peace in Afghanistan is to kill more Taliban - as well as sacrificing more American, British and other NATO soldiers. He has just announced the long-awaited strategy and has said that another 30,000 American troops would be deployed to Afghanistan. Defence Secretary Robert Gates told the US Congress that curbing the Taliban was essential for [...]
Helmand Light
Apparently in Helmand Province, it was customary for a woman to walk twenty paces behind her husband. Lately, however, it has been noticed that men are allowing their women to walk twenty paces IN FRONT of them. It all seems so progressive and democratic. So what is the reason for this new emancipation? Roadside bombs.
The Lessons of History
"Here we go again." This week's Berlin Wall celebrations were as much about Remembrance as they were about freedom. Germany was at the centre of European politics for the entire 20th Century and it is still writing history at the epicentre of the European Union. The demolition of the Berlin Wall was not-only a tearing-down of a physical barrier but also the final chapter in putting right the mistakes of the West's wartime leaders. The Allies went to war in 1939 because Poland had [...]
Billy the Skid
BILLY "THE SKID" Many years ago, I used to live in Antibes which is in the Midi region of France - between Cannes and Nice. One day, I was on a yacht in the harbour and happened to look across at the boat next door. A man appeared to be drilling a hole in his leg. I shouted to him, asking whether he was all right. He was an Irish shipwright and had been cutting wooden plugs to glue into the deck of the boat that he was working-on. He'd just run out of wood and as he needed only one more [...]
For the Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free. Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres, There is music in the midst of desolation And a glory that shines upon our tears. They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were [...]
It will be long and hard.
" We all lose interest after making a deposit and a withdrawal" We are all looking forward to the banking industry's return to communication through facts and figures. In the last year-or-so they have all shown an increased predilection for the medium of the euphemism, metaphor or cliché. The RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester is our favourite banking boss - a straight-down-the-line guy with whom you can shake hands without having to count your fingers or look for your watch. [...]
Freaked Out Over SuperFreakonomics
The following article appeared in the Wall Street Journal on 27th October 2009. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of the author Brett Stephens. Brett writes the Journal's "Global View" column on foreign affairs, which runs every Tuesday in the U.S. and is also published in the European and Asian editions of the paper. In 2004, Brett was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, where he is also a media fellow. (more...)
Joint-up Government
Two executives at the Royal Bank of Scotland have been suspended after alleged corruption at its overseas mortgage operation. The bankers were allegedly asking foreign estate agents for payments worth tens of thousands of pounds in return for referring customers. Many of the suspected practices have taken place within the last 12 months and since the government bail-out. (more...)
Naughty pirates
DANGER-POLITICIANS NEGOTIATING Who said this? "Piracy and the taking of hostages is unacceptable in any circumstances. We call on those people who have taken the British citizens hostage to release them as soon as possible. They should abide by international law." Those Somali pirates must be really crapping themselves now that Gordon Brown has told them that they should "abide by international law". Gordon, you muppet - these are pirates and NOT abiding by the law is not-only implicit [...]
Didn’t he do well?
" Oh F*** it!" Quite a lot has already been written about the Nimrod crash which killed 14 crew. Charles Haddon-Cave QC who led the enquiry said that the crash happened because because "defence chiefs put cost cuts before safety". He also referred to "a systemic breach of Covenant brought about by significant failures on the part of all those involved." and "a story of incompetence, complacency and cynicism" Mr Haddon-Cave's comments will hopefully be recycled as fitting [...]
Cherie Antoinette.
"Let them eat a lorra lorra cake, chuck." Tony Blair has not yet broken cover and declared an interest in becoming President of Europe. The post will be created once the Czechs have ratified the Treaty of Lisbon. Gordon Brown has made a decision (!) and declared that he will be lobbying on Blair's behalf, should Blair decide to put his name forward. (more...)
Take any card
Credit card companies now appear to be competing not only with each other but with back-street money lenders. If you are in the habit of paying only the minimum monthly payment on your credit card, it could take you up to 50 years to repay the balance. However, the good news is that if you do only repay the minimum, the credit card company is very likely to increase your borrowing limit from time to time. However, if you are one of the naughty people who repays their balance every month, you [...]
A grapple for the teacher
"2+2=5" The Internet compensation society is in danger of destroying the education system. Too-aware pupils know that they have the upper hand over their very vulnerable teachers. More than a quarter of school staff (28%) have had a false allegation made against them by a pupil, according to a survey. (more...)
Question Slime
"Mr Griffin, stop holding that comb under you nose and do please put your arm down." The British are instinctively racist - and that's in spite of enjoying what is culturally the most diverse population in the world. There has been a growing fascination with the political far-Right since Fascism's heyday of the 1930s. Even King Edward Vlll experienced a certain "frisson" when in the company of either Adolf Hitler or Oswald Mosley. Many of England's ruling classes found a certain [...]
CWU – An Assisted Suicide.
The modern face of Royal Mail So the Royal Mail strike is on. It has been booked to continue for only two days but the fallout will last for the next few weeks. The Royal Mail system will not suddenly right itself after two days of inactivity. Letters, people, vans and parcels will not magically materialise at the depot where they are supposed to be. (more...)
Merv the Wise
"Bless you all. The economy will soon crash land again- so please adopt the correct position. Stick your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye." (more...)
BNP or not BNP
President Obama has sent John Kerry over to Afghanistan to smack the back of president Hamid Karzai's legs. It appears that the last Afghan election was conducted fraudulently. As a result it would appear that Karzai does not have the minimum 50% of the vote that confirmed him as the rightful winner. The needlessly macho-named Operation Panther's Claw was a waste of time - although it was never clear how a bunch of soldiers (including 10 dead Brits) could make an election "fair" because the [...]
Postman Prat
Royal Mail is going to hire 30,000 workers to "help" during the impending strike. Usually the Post Office hires only an additional 15,000 staff for the Christmas rush. Let us hope that this blatantly provocative gesture by the Royal Mail management does not backfire. Let us also hope that in their haste, they do not forget to run proper background checks on the people that they hire and so keep the number of thieves and terrorists to a minimum. Expensive temporary labour plus the millions in [...]
That was the week….
"Aren't you one of those Fuzzy-Wuzzies that we've been hearing about?" "Actually, I'm the Mayor of London." "Sorry, Doris." Diwali was celebrated at Downing Street . Members of the Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist communities were invited to Downing Street to celebrate Diwali, known as the Festival of Lights, which promotes messages of hope and togetherness. Let us hope that the most important Christian Festival is also celebrated and acknowledged by the Prime Minister. Mind you, by next [...]
Don Gordo speaks
"Just pay the money, you punks. We don't want no accidents, do we? When Tommy the Legg is unhappy - I am unhappy. Think about it. OK so he's a "testa di cazzo" but he's like a brother. Sei niente senza rispetto!". Many MPs just don't want to return any expenses and it seems that Sir Thomas Legg has neither the authority nor any sanctions to apply to this rapidly amplifying problem of parliamentary dissent. Party leaders are showing little management ability and are communicating [...]
A real Legg-up
"I'm as innocent as the next man." The MPs expenses fiasco rumbles on and Parliament's reputation is still heading South. Much was made of the previous Speaker's lack of management skill and consequently he was removed from office. So where is Speaker Bercow? In the last few days, his name has not been mentioned at all. This is the time when he should be earning his salary and TELLING members what they should do. (more...)
Conservative Party Conference week.
Boris Johnson once again has showed his leadership credentials by being approachable, witty and engaging. He does make the rest of them look a little bit pedestrian. In spite of his shambolic image, you can sense a rod of steel running through both his speech and personality. One to watch for the future. Imagine a TV debate between Boris and Gordon Brown. It will never happen - but what a prospect. Boris Johnson and friend George Osborne's [...]
Friday October 2nd 2009
Ethiopia has suddenly become the focus for all anthropologists. An ancient skeleton was found in 1992 and it has taken 17 years for the research team to rebuild it. Why all the excitement? The skeleton belongs to an in-between species of humanoid about 4.4 million years old. It has been designated Ardipithecus Ramidus. It is not “the missing link” but by extrapolation, it appears that it is probably about 9 million years since the division between apes and humans. So where was John [...]
Thursday October 1st 2009
A survey has just been published of the world's top Broadband Countries - taking into account speed etc. The United Kingdom is languishing in 25th place. The top country? South Korea. Is this another indicator of the rise of the East and the slow eclipse of the West?. The Daily Mirror has adjusted its reportage of the Tories today - presumably in response to the Sun's decision to back the Tories. It's going to be a right mess leading up to the election. The gloves are off [...]
Wednesday September 30th 2009
So the Sun will not be supporting the Labour Party. No real problems there, except the usual one. Why should an Australian like Rupert Murdoch have any say in which newspaper supports which Party. The Sun is read largely by the drooling classes who are very susceptible but regrettably, there is very little that can be done. The Sun’s sister paper , the News of the World, no doubt is poised with some salacious Labour politician scandal ready-to-go. The Sun will not just be [...]
Tuesday September 29th 2009
Interesting statistic which doesn’t appear to be receiving the publicity that it deserves: In the United States, a house is foreclosed or repossessed every 7.5 seconds. As usual, the politicians are taking care of business at the macro-level, while the grass-roots are burning. It is an excellent idea for Gordon Brown to take-on the other two Party leaders in televised debates. Any future Conservative or Liberal vote should be a “pro” Conservative or Liberal vote and not an [...]
Monday September 28th 2009
Excellent headline grabbing by that jug-eared gargoyle Andrew Marr. He is without doubt a supreme journalist but his questioning of Gordon Brown yesterday was inexcusable. Suggesting that Brown needs prescription drugs to get through the day, followed by Brown’s admission that he has trouble with his eyesight was a direction that no journalist should steer. There is a real danger that if the Tory Press goes down the ” Brown’s a sick man and therefore unfit for office” route, there [...]
Sunday September 27th 2009
Just down the road in Brighton THEY are arriving for the Labour Party Conference - or should that be the New Labour Party Conference. Did we elect Labour or NEW LABOUR? Anyway, that’s now just a technicality or a long-forgotten dream of how things could or might have been. Here’s a Labour FACT, given to me by a friend who used to be Chief Barman at the Grand Hotel. More Champagne is consumed at the Labour Party Conference than at all other conferences and he told me stories of vintage [...]
Saturday September 26th 2009
The American Fed has issued the following statement: “To provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets, and to improve overall conditions in private credit markets, the Federal Reserve will purchase a total of $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and up to $200 billion of agency debt.” Now we can watch the demise of the once-mighty American Dollar. Fund Managers and Investors will now start dumping dollars like confetti. A TRILLION is a million millions [...]
Friday September 25th 2009
Friday September 25th 2009 The mole who leaked the MPs’ expenses information to the Daily Telegraph has revealed what motivated him to do so - apart that is, from the £110,000 fee that he was paid. It now appears that his primary motivation was not money but the fact that serving soldiers were “moonlighting” at the House of Commons. They were working in the Security department and protecting the Civil Servants who were dealing with confidential matters - one of which was [...]
Thursday September 24th 2009
The Government has criticised the Football Association for not reforming itself. It has also asked the F.A to spend more time and resources on ethnics and women as well as telling them that they should provide better leadership. Perhaps when the F.A has completed its restructuring it can then give H.M Government a few tips. Talk about Pot-Kettle. A recent U.S survey shows that many Americans think that Tony Blair is the British Prime Minister. Someone ought to tell them who the real UK [...]
You calling me a banker?
"Move over, Darling. Please!" Banks are currently reducing their assets and hoarding cash because of liquidity requirements. Put in simple terms, that means that the magic conjured-up money - the so-called Quantitative Easing is making it in through the banks' back doors but the front doors remain only slightly ajar. No amount of media-blackmail or Government arm-twisting is going to persuade the banks to start lending to commerce or to the private sector in reasonable volumes or at [...]
Wednesday September 23rd 2009
Apparently, there is a small but statistically significant rise in patient deaths when junior doctors start work in August. Perhaps the same survey should be done with slightly different parameters: Before pubs open and after closing time. A friend sent me a cartoon yesterday which, for the first time, explained the constant Midde East conflict . Jewish man looking up at the sky saying, “Now, let me get this straight God. The Arabs get the oil and you want us to cut the end off [...]
Tuesday September 22nd 2009
Did you see Darth Mandelson being questioned on the subject of bankers’ bonuses last night? As Business Secretary, he has the power to stop the bankers in their tracks. But he cannot and he would not answer any bonus-related questions. General Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan has warned that the war there could be lost unless there is an increase in troops within a year. He is asking for an additional 30,000 troops. This is truly developing into another [...]
Monday September 21st 2009
It now appears that Womens World 800m champion Caster Semenya was tested ages ago and there has been concern over her sex for months. The issue did not suddenly materialise at the last Word Championships. The whole thing has been handed so badly that there is every likelihood of IAAF resignations. Baroness Scotland will probably resign this week. If every politician who made a mistake resigned, Westminster would be empty by now. It looks as if Megrahi is going to be the first [...]
Monday September 7th 2009-Friday September 18th 2009
Friday September 18th 2009 There has been some concern that Romell Broom may have suffered mental anguish when two Ohio State officials failed to find a vein in order to deliver a fatal injection. According to Broom’s lawyer, Broom had suffered both “mental and physical injuries” and apparently became distressed and appeared to cry. Broom was convicted of raping and then killing a 14 year-old girl. We’re too fat, we drink too much alcohol, we’re unfit, we ingest female [...]
Clever but Dull
" I see no shits" There have been rumours again that as soon as a General Election is announced (probably May 2010) David Cameron will be challenging Gordon Brown to a Presidential-style live TV debate. That does not seem like a great move. WWF it ain't but Gordon "the Undertaker" Brown has nothing to lose and "Pretty Boy" Cameron has nothing to prove. The best that the Conservatives can hope for is that New Labour keeps Brown in place as Leader and Prime Minister. The two falls [...]
Dope, Faith and Clarity
The British Government has spent a great deal of time classifying and reclassifying cannabis. Some argue that it is less harmful than alcohol, whereas others scream that it is the chosen smoke of Satan's junkie whore. (more...)
An English Summer
Old soldiers with berets, shiny lapels and over-used medals - the ones who made it. Some are weeping. Young cried-out and hollow-eyed young women - some clutching grey-wet Kleenex , some with a baby or two. (more...)
Why are we waiting?
There used to be a saying: " Brazil is the country of the future - and it always will be." That's not so funny now because it looks as if the Brazilian and Chinese economies are the ones in pole position, poised to take off like a rocket while the West wallows in Depression-scale unemployment and debt. (more...)
It’s not WHAT you know………
A report was published today which suggests that the best jobs go to the best-connected children and that job distribution is more-or-less governed by the British class system. So what? (more...)
Goldman Sachs – Fiscal Frankenstein.
It was a few months ago that I realised the size of the divide between us ordinary Earthlings and the government-venerated banking royalty had gone past the tipping point and that we were now separate species. Survival of the fittest? Darwin was right. We are the peasants with pitchforks gathered below Frankenstein's castle where mysterious new things are happening. (more...)
They shall definitely not grow old!
There is no honour in war. Dead soldiers are NOT heroes - they are just dead soldiers. The act of being blown up by a rocket is not an act of bravery - it is just bad luck. (more...)
