UK Ministers have decided they want to change English drinking culture
Ministers want to change the English ‘drinking culture’ and the willingness to accept ‘drunkenness’ and ‘anti-social behaviour’ as a normal part of life. They have a new strategy and are planning more social engineering…
Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker stated: "It is unacceptable for people to use alcohol and urinate in the street, vomit and carry on.
All sounds reasonably ok so far, from a mildly authoritarian, curtain twitching perspective, you might think.
The strategy apparently includes plans for ‘alcoholics’ (presumably, sooner, or later, anyone arrested for being drunk) to be sent for compulsory counselling after being arrested.
Frank Soodeen of Alcohol Concern enthusiastically referred to the strategy as a "big step forward", but said still more money was needed. He went on:"We are incredibly excited. It looks far more, ambitious and far-reaching, than it’s predecessor.".
The Government is primly claiming there are 7.1m "hazardous and harmful" drinkers in England, costing the health economy £1.3bn. So they are looking for justification then. All those virtual criminals wasting ‘health economy’ money! Jail is too good for them!
But Health minister Caroline Flint doesn’t just have her sights on antisocial drinkers. Oh no!
This time they are also planning to target older people who they consider to drink ‘too much’, in their own homes. She glossed on: "There are people, adults, who on a very regular basis are probably drinking twice the amount that is recommended."
Who recommends? The Government. How much is too much? Well the Government tell you that, although the evidence had not changed they recently changed the advice for pregnant women.
Hang on! Let’s stop for a moment and go over all that more carefully.
The government forces you to be part of a decrepit, mismanaged, ‘health service’, that swallows millions extra - without any obvious improvement.
There is no choice, no opt out. It effectively uses force, or the threat of force, to make you pay significant amounts of cash into it weather you want to or not. No choice.
They then use the possibility that you may use this ‘service’ to justify intruding into what you do in your own home, in private, to make sure you are not damaging your health. Drink related this time. They are well on the way with smoking, how long before eating too much gets worked in there?
Is it still your health? Is it still your body? Not entirely if they want control over it.
And you don’t even get to make your own informed choice as to what ‘too much’ might be in any given circumstances. Not you. No they decide that for you.
Could you see the French putting up with that?
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Patriotic Nu-Lab Ministers
Two UK ministers Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly and Immigration Minister Liam Byrne are pushing for a national day to promote a stronger sense of British identity - They say it could become a new bank holiday.
Prime-minister-in-waiting (elect is not really appropriate) Gordon Brown has himself previously floated the idea of day to promote the nation's identity.
What is truly incredible is that these same politicians and their fellow travellers have been vigorously suppressing (here, here, here, here) any shred of British Identity, or pride for decades, largely in the name of multiculturalism, anti imperialism and political correctness. Whilst at the same time they have been busily promoting regional identities. Well they have been reasonably successful.
Never obviously concerned about the UK as nation, it has now dawned on Nu-Lab that this may not necessarily have been entirely good for them.
Their former strongholds in Scotland and Wales are now not nearly so Nu-Lab friendly, as voters have abandoned them wholesale for Nationalist Parties.
Then there are multiple terrorist plots by disaffected second generation immigrants, who obviously feel so little sense of common identity, or even humanity, with their fellow compatriots that they are apparently quite happy to indiscriminately murder, as many as possible, as spectacularly as possible.
Much of England prefers the Liberals, or the Conservatives and are now conscious of the fact that significant numbers of the Nu-Lab government is Scottish based and get to stuff legislation down their throats that will never trouble Scottish voters.
Nu-Lab are in real danger of literally rendering themselves a permanently unelectable rump, as a result of the law of unintended consequences.
This might go some way towards explaining their newfound enthusiasm for being British and developing a strong sense of British identity.
Prime-minister-in-waiting (elect is not really appropriate) Gordon Brown has himself previously floated the idea of day to promote the nation's identity.
What is truly incredible is that these same politicians and their fellow travellers have been vigorously suppressing (here, here, here, here) any shred of British Identity, or pride for decades, largely in the name of multiculturalism, anti imperialism and political correctness. Whilst at the same time they have been busily promoting regional identities. Well they have been reasonably successful.
Never obviously concerned about the UK as nation, it has now dawned on Nu-Lab that this may not necessarily have been entirely good for them.
Their former strongholds in Scotland and Wales are now not nearly so Nu-Lab friendly, as voters have abandoned them wholesale for Nationalist Parties.
Then there are multiple terrorist plots by disaffected second generation immigrants, who obviously feel so little sense of common identity, or even humanity, with their fellow compatriots that they are apparently quite happy to indiscriminately murder, as many as possible, as spectacularly as possible.
Much of England prefers the Liberals, or the Conservatives and are now conscious of the fact that significant numbers of the Nu-Lab government is Scottish based and get to stuff legislation down their throats that will never trouble Scottish voters.
Nu-Lab are in real danger of literally rendering themselves a permanently unelectable rump, as a result of the law of unintended consequences.
This might go some way towards explaining their newfound enthusiasm for being British and developing a strong sense of British identity.
Olympic class... Rubbish
Yet another example of staggering Government incompetence – The new Olympic Logo has been unveiled. Apparently it took a year to design and cost a mere £400,000 (around $800,000 bucks).
Quite frankly it is rubbish, but what is really irritating is that a lot of money was spent on it. Money better spent on something else.
They could have got something better more-or-less for free, if they had organised a schools competition with the prise as VIP tickets.
No they have to spend a fortune and end up with something else that sounds ok ‘on paper’ (in the pub after a few drinks mre like) but is as usual not fit for purpose. They will hang onto it like grim death because people won’t get sufficiently worked up about it to complain loudly for long enough, unlike something like H.I.P.s
Quite frankly it is rubbish, but what is really irritating is that a lot of money was spent on it. Money better spent on something else.
They could have got something better more-or-less for free, if they had organised a schools competition with the prise as VIP tickets.
No they have to spend a fortune and end up with something else that sounds ok ‘on paper’ (in the pub after a few drinks mre like) but is as usual not fit for purpose. They will hang onto it like grim death because people won’t get sufficiently worked up about it to complain loudly for long enough, unlike something like H.I.P.s
Monday, 4 June 2007
A gift for Dave the Chameleon?
Here is something that ought to play to Dave the Chameleon’s showdown with those in his party that advocate selective education. Will he be able to restrain his new News of the World "Alastair Campbell", or will we be seeing veiled accusations of racism trotted out against advocates of selection?
A report produced by a campaign group, the Runnymede Trust, suggests increased school choice does little to enhance the opportunities of black pupils saying: black ethnic minority parents find it difficult to exercise choice, this can lead to further segregation and that many found the complexities in applying to selective schools off-putting.
They say that because many parents find it difficult to exercise choice, they downgrade their options before selecting schools.
The campaign group also say that people with English as a second language tended to choose the school closest to them – except in the case when it came to those selecting single sex schools, there it was not a problem.
Parents trying to get their children into schools in local authority areas with a high number of schools that control their own admissions, found the process especially difficult, the report said.
Choice policies could also lead to young people from different ethnic groups being kept apart, the report argued.
It seems to be from the direction of the report that the problem isn’t so much with selective education, as some parents (and probably not just those with English as a second language) unwillingness to use it as it is meant to be. You can lead a horse to water…
A report produced by a campaign group, the Runnymede Trust, suggests increased school choice does little to enhance the opportunities of black pupils saying: black ethnic minority parents find it difficult to exercise choice, this can lead to further segregation and that many found the complexities in applying to selective schools off-putting.
They say that because many parents find it difficult to exercise choice, they downgrade their options before selecting schools.
The campaign group also say that people with English as a second language tended to choose the school closest to them – except in the case when it came to those selecting single sex schools, there it was not a problem.
Parents trying to get their children into schools in local authority areas with a high number of schools that control their own admissions, found the process especially difficult, the report said.
Choice policies could also lead to young people from different ethnic groups being kept apart, the report argued.
It seems to be from the direction of the report that the problem isn’t so much with selective education, as some parents (and probably not just those with English as a second language) unwillingness to use it as it is meant to be. You can lead a horse to water…
Saturday, 2 June 2007
Rostock & two smoking barrels
Anti Globalisation Stormtroopers clashed with German police in the city of Rostock protesting against next week's G8 summit of leading industrial nations in Heiligendamm, about 16 miles away.
A spokesperson for police described it as a "massive assault".
The BBC reported that it only involved a small portion of the estimated 30,000 people who had joined the rally, failing to follow the logic that if only 5% of the crowd had been involved that would still be 1,500 violent protestors, even half that would be pretty massive if they were bearing down on you armed with lumps of wood and rocks, as they were.
The BBC is interested if you have attended the protest and breathlessly ask for your feedback and pictures.
One gets the impression they would have been there themselves if only they could have got their hand on some designer rocks…
A spokesperson for police described it as a "massive assault".
The BBC reported that it only involved a small portion of the estimated 30,000 people who had joined the rally, failing to follow the logic that if only 5% of the crowd had been involved that would still be 1,500 violent protestors, even half that would be pretty massive if they were bearing down on you armed with lumps of wood and rocks, as they were.
The BBC is interested if you have attended the protest and breathlessly ask for your feedback and pictures.
One gets the impression they would have been there themselves if only they could have got their hand on some designer rocks…
Friday, 1 June 2007
Ayatollah O'Brian
It looks as if Scotland may have it’s very own McAyatollah.
Cardinal Keith O’Brian an ardent Scottish secessionist has now effectively threatened Catholic politicians who do not take an anti abortion stance with virtual excommunication .
He went on TV yesterday, emotively proclaiming all abortion to be murder, referring to it as the “slaughter of the innocents” and "an evil trade". Saying: "We are killing - in our country (Scotland) - the equivalent of a classroom of kids every single day. Can you imagine that? Two Dunblane massacres a day in our country going on and on - and when's it going to stop?"
He denied actually wanting to excommunicate pro-choice Catholic politicians, but did the next best thing warning: "They must consider their own consciences - and whether or not they can approach the altar to receive Holy Communion.".
One possible reason for his support for political secession may relate to the possibility of acquiring much greater power in the smaller political pond – divided they fall, so to speak.
Free speech is one thing and he is perfectly entitled to that – but this is clearly using his position to deliberately heavily pressure susceptible politicians into voting the way he wants, rather than for what they may think for the best.
He would probably be one of the first to complain if, say, the Queen, were to do something similar in relation to supporting the act of union, despite her being personally involved with it.
Cardinal Keith O’Brian an ardent Scottish secessionist has now effectively threatened Catholic politicians who do not take an anti abortion stance with virtual excommunication .
He went on TV yesterday, emotively proclaiming all abortion to be murder, referring to it as the “slaughter of the innocents” and "an evil trade". Saying: "We are killing - in our country (Scotland) - the equivalent of a classroom of kids every single day. Can you imagine that? Two Dunblane massacres a day in our country going on and on - and when's it going to stop?"
He denied actually wanting to excommunicate pro-choice Catholic politicians, but did the next best thing warning: "They must consider their own consciences - and whether or not they can approach the altar to receive Holy Communion.".
One possible reason for his support for political secession may relate to the possibility of acquiring much greater power in the smaller political pond – divided they fall, so to speak.
Free speech is one thing and he is perfectly entitled to that – but this is clearly using his position to deliberately heavily pressure susceptible politicians into voting the way he wants, rather than for what they may think for the best.
He would probably be one of the first to complain if, say, the Queen, were to do something similar in relation to supporting the act of union, despite her being personally involved with it.
Thursday, 31 May 2007
Iran Charges Iranian-American Academics as spies
It looks as if Iran is continuing it policy of – well government (or at lest factions within it) sanctioned hostage taking, for want of a better term.
Having ‘arrested’ and humiliated British navy personnel. Iran has also decided to detain and charge two well known Iranian - American academics Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbaksh as spies.
Haleh Esfandiari is 67 years old and works in Washington, running the Middle East department of the Woodrow Wilson centre there. She made the mistake of visiting her elderly mother in Iran.
Esfandiari has been prevented from leaving Iran since December last year, after having her passports stolen by, ‘mysterious unidentified gunmen’ on her way to the airport to return to the US.
Kian Tajbaksh the other academic and social scientist had done work for the Open Society Institute of George Soros - an organisation Iran says was trying to instigate a "velvet revolution" to topple the clerical regime.
An official spokesman stated they had both now been formally charged with spying, acting against Iran's national security - and conducting propaganda against the Islamic Republic. They appear to have been imprisoned in an intelligence ministry facility. No date for trial has been announced.
Another Iranian - American academic, Ali Shakeri, mysteriously disappeared in Iran earlier this month. The judicial authorities are currently denying any knowledge of him, but a well known newspaper has indicated he also has been arrested.
According to the BBC these arrests have sparked unease in Iran, many in contact with westerners now fear they may also be accused of spying. Concerns about this have prompted other Iranians to abandon trips - worried they too will not be safe.
The charges appear rather spurious and one suspects their possession of American Passports may have more to do with their misfortunes than anything else.
Apparently an unidentified Iranian official, from the dangerously powerful intelligence ministry, suggested, during a briefing with Iranian journalists, that western intelligence agencies were using academic contacts to persuade scholars into espionage. He said seminars inside and outside the country were used.
"We are worried about many academic conferences which foreigners attend and establish relations. Any foreigner who establishes relations is not trustworthy. Through their approaches, they first establish an academic relationship but this soon changes into an intelligence relationship.”
"Some conversations which take place under the auspices of academic or scientific interviews are pretexts for getting close to the country's scientific figures. Unfortunately some decent individuals fall into the trap of these plots."
The official went on to make claims that Iran had uncovered a CIA/MI5 run spy network within Iraq that was planning bombings, assassinations and kidnappings.
That will be the 67 year old Ms Haleh Esfandiari then... spare time bomber and assassin? - If you believe that I have some valuable share certificates in a Bolivian gold mining venture you may be interested in purchasing, or I will when I print them off...
Worryingly the intelligence official suggested many Iranians were involved.
It looks as if the intelligence ministry may be getting set for either a purge of academics, or to suppress any independent thought by threatening one.
Having ‘arrested’ and humiliated British navy personnel. Iran has also decided to detain and charge two well known Iranian - American academics Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbaksh as spies.
Haleh Esfandiari is 67 years old and works in Washington, running the Middle East department of the Woodrow Wilson centre there. She made the mistake of visiting her elderly mother in Iran.
Esfandiari has been prevented from leaving Iran since December last year, after having her passports stolen by, ‘mysterious unidentified gunmen’ on her way to the airport to return to the US.
Kian Tajbaksh the other academic and social scientist had done work for the Open Society Institute of George Soros - an organisation Iran says was trying to instigate a "velvet revolution" to topple the clerical regime.
An official spokesman stated they had both now been formally charged with spying, acting against Iran's national security - and conducting propaganda against the Islamic Republic. They appear to have been imprisoned in an intelligence ministry facility. No date for trial has been announced.
Another Iranian - American academic, Ali Shakeri, mysteriously disappeared in Iran earlier this month. The judicial authorities are currently denying any knowledge of him, but a well known newspaper has indicated he also has been arrested.
According to the BBC these arrests have sparked unease in Iran, many in contact with westerners now fear they may also be accused of spying. Concerns about this have prompted other Iranians to abandon trips - worried they too will not be safe.
The charges appear rather spurious and one suspects their possession of American Passports may have more to do with their misfortunes than anything else.
Apparently an unidentified Iranian official, from the dangerously powerful intelligence ministry, suggested, during a briefing with Iranian journalists, that western intelligence agencies were using academic contacts to persuade scholars into espionage. He said seminars inside and outside the country were used.
"We are worried about many academic conferences which foreigners attend and establish relations. Any foreigner who establishes relations is not trustworthy. Through their approaches, they first establish an academic relationship but this soon changes into an intelligence relationship.”
"Some conversations which take place under the auspices of academic or scientific interviews are pretexts for getting close to the country's scientific figures. Unfortunately some decent individuals fall into the trap of these plots."
The official went on to make claims that Iran had uncovered a CIA/MI5 run spy network within Iraq that was planning bombings, assassinations and kidnappings.
That will be the 67 year old Ms Haleh Esfandiari then... spare time bomber and assassin? - If you believe that I have some valuable share certificates in a Bolivian gold mining venture you may be interested in purchasing, or I will when I print them off...
Worryingly the intelligence official suggested many Iranians were involved.
It looks as if the intelligence ministry may be getting set for either a purge of academics, or to suppress any independent thought by threatening one.
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
Pressure group opposes Stansted Airport passenger increase
The Stop Stansted Expansion campaign are vociferously opposing BAA’s plans to increase the number of permitted air traffic movements at Stansted from 241,000 to 264,000 a year and thus increase their maximum passenger handling ability by an additional ten million passengers per year.
A spokesperson for the group told the BBC: "If Stansted were permitted to expand to maximum use of the existing runway, the local environment would suffer, the national economy would suffer and we would have taken a giant step backwards in the battle to combat climate change."
They added that the expansion would not help the economy because it was encouraging people to go on holiday abroad - Rather stretching it there perhaps, certainly if would pour millions of pounds extra into the airport and presumably, local jobs and the wider local economy. Anthropomorphic Global Warming is a new weapon in their armoury.
The villages surrounding the airport are, it must be said, very picturesque, with many thatched cottages. There is a direct motorway link to the airport so little need for airport traffic to pass through them.
I suspect the fact of the matter is that very few of these people could possibly have been resident in the area before Stansted became one of London’s airports. The writing was on the wall in 1970 and by 78 there was a white paper laying things out very clearly and the latter was the best part of 30 years ago. No one who moved there after 1978 could have been in any reasonable doubt of the situation.
No. The protestors are more in the position of someone who buys, or builds, a house next door to a busy public house - and then complains bitterly about the noise and customers.
A spokesperson for the group told the BBC: "If Stansted were permitted to expand to maximum use of the existing runway, the local environment would suffer, the national economy would suffer and we would have taken a giant step backwards in the battle to combat climate change."
They added that the expansion would not help the economy because it was encouraging people to go on holiday abroad - Rather stretching it there perhaps, certainly if would pour millions of pounds extra into the airport and presumably, local jobs and the wider local economy. Anthropomorphic Global Warming is a new weapon in their armoury.
The villages surrounding the airport are, it must be said, very picturesque, with many thatched cottages. There is a direct motorway link to the airport so little need for airport traffic to pass through them.
I suspect the fact of the matter is that very few of these people could possibly have been resident in the area before Stansted became one of London’s airports. The writing was on the wall in 1970 and by 78 there was a white paper laying things out very clearly and the latter was the best part of 30 years ago. No one who moved there after 1978 could have been in any reasonable doubt of the situation.
No. The protestors are more in the position of someone who buys, or builds, a house next door to a busy public house - and then complains bitterly about the noise and customers.
When is organic food not organic? When it's not Green.
The UK Soil Association may be about to take the dangerous step of giving up any real claim to the authority to be the arbiter of weather food is actually organic.
It looks as if the organisation, which campaigns for organic food and certifies which foods are organic, is straying off it’s own turf and being politicised. Apparently, due to growing demands (who’s exactly, in this context) to cut the environmental impact of food distribution, the organisation is now considering five options to reduce the carbon footprint of food.
It is releasing a consultation document next week that will outline a series of options, including a demand to partially, or fully, strip food imported into the UK by air of it’s organic status and much more detailed labelling showing a product's country of origin plus the air miles it has travelled and carbon offsetting schemes.
They do concede that some of the proposals might harm developing countries, with poor infrastructure, who have to use air transport to get their goods to market and say any decision would have to take into account the impact on farmers in the developing world.
In other words they might for instance end up torpedoing the ‘Free Trade’ products.
I wonder if they have taken into account EU Law and the restraint of trade some of these ideas might involve on organic producers in other EC States.
What amazes me is that they are, apparently without batting an eye, willing to effectively re-write the actual (widely understood) definition of what actually constitutes organic food!
In other words it will no longer be good enough for food to just actually really be organic. No now it must be ’green', as well as organic. The goalposts moved so fast there that you could be forgiven for not noticing them actually shift.
What next? Ban food produced under ‘glass’? Maybe they ought to ban all pulses ;-) because of the resultant greenhouse gasses (methane) they contribute when they are consumed…
It looks as if the organisation, which campaigns for organic food and certifies which foods are organic, is straying off it’s own turf and being politicised. Apparently, due to growing demands (who’s exactly, in this context) to cut the environmental impact of food distribution, the organisation is now considering five options to reduce the carbon footprint of food.
It is releasing a consultation document next week that will outline a series of options, including a demand to partially, or fully, strip food imported into the UK by air of it’s organic status and much more detailed labelling showing a product's country of origin plus the air miles it has travelled and carbon offsetting schemes.
They do concede that some of the proposals might harm developing countries, with poor infrastructure, who have to use air transport to get their goods to market and say any decision would have to take into account the impact on farmers in the developing world.
In other words they might for instance end up torpedoing the ‘Free Trade’ products.
I wonder if they have taken into account EU Law and the restraint of trade some of these ideas might involve on organic producers in other EC States.
What amazes me is that they are, apparently without batting an eye, willing to effectively re-write the actual (widely understood) definition of what actually constitutes organic food!
In other words it will no longer be good enough for food to just actually really be organic. No now it must be ’green', as well as organic. The goalposts moved so fast there that you could be forgiven for not noticing them actually shift.
What next? Ban food produced under ‘glass’? Maybe they ought to ban all pulses ;-) because of the resultant greenhouse gasses (methane) they contribute when they are consumed…
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