Tuesday 30 December 2008

Blogging attrition

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is raging across the bloggertarian world, with Old Holborn ripping up his LPUK membership card and throwing it in DK's face and long comment strings parading the arguments we all know well. As is often the case these days, I watch from the sidelines. Sooner or later someone will make the points I would make and probably better than I would. No one's opinions on the conflict are likely to change at all - only one's opinions of the people who are arguing.

My solution to the problem is to abolish Israel, and let everyone live in peace and harmony in a secular state called Palestine. There may be some resistance to the plan, but I'm sure I can win them all over.

Monday 29 December 2008

Ante Spaced



Reminding myself below of the series 'Spaced', for which I have an affection, led me to trawl through some of the sketches from 'Big Train', which featured Mark Heap and Simon Pegg (both later of 'Spaced') amongst others. It's hard to pick a favourite, but here are a few:




The best medicine for a sick mind


'The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see: and in that record you can find for yourself and your country both examples and warnings: fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through, to avoid.

I hope my passion for Rome's past has not impaired my judgement; for I do honestly believe that no country has ever heen greater and purer than ours or richer in good citizens and noble deeds; none has been free for so many generation from the vices of avarice and luxury; nowhere have thrift and plain living been for so long held in such esteem. Indeed. poverty with us went hand in hand with contentment. Of late years wealth has made us greedy, and self-indulgence has brought us, through every form of sensual excess, to be, if I may so put it, in love with death both individual and collective.'

Titus Livy in 'The Early History of Rome'

Via con Dios



My blogging friend is quitting the game, at least for the time being, no doubt for her own good reasons, and I wish her well. I'll certainly miss her beautiful photography and evocative descriptions of this dirty old city that I love. She's always welcome chez moi.

Sunday 28 December 2008

Ian B: yeah, what he said


I must tip my hat to Ian B on two counts: Firstly, this excellent comment chez 'Liberal Conspiracy' in rebuttal of a post entitled 'Why I am not a libertarian', and secondly for the comment I am reprinting below, with reference to the fascist labour government's proposed clampdown on internet freedom, which was made at 'Counting cats in Zanzibar', and flagged up at 'Devil's Kitchen'. Although I do not wholly share his pessimism (or at least choose not to), his diagnosis is spot on.

"It’s not much use thinking in terms of Left and Right. What we call the “Left” have always been friends with those we term the “Right”. The communists are gone, wiped out in the 80s. So what we’re left with are upper class social authoritarians, fabians, whatever you want to call them. And as the book I linked to above shows, they have always gone hand in hand with business interests. Most obviously, look at whose names those big charitable foundations who have been so crucial to the success of the modern total state operate- Rockefeller, Carnegie, RW Johnson, Ford… both “the left” and Big Biz pushing constantly for the hive society, in which we subjects are moulded by the school system to be servants of that corporate (in the broadest terms) state. Free-marketeers, genuine ones, libertarians, get little support from big business for that reason. They don’t want free citizens, they want good little workers churned out for them by the schools. And so on.

Our ruling junta are technologically and scientifically ignorant, yes. But they’re ignorant about everything they wish to control- human nature, economics, everything. It doesn’t matter.

Controlling things means pushing those things into the hands of elite-insider corporate groups. Taking the internet, their goal is to kill the small, independent site. By heaping on compliance costs, they can simply force the small website owner (like me) off the web. At the moment, I can run a website for a few pounds a year- I can buy a domain name in a few minutes, some shared hosting, I’m up and running. That horrifies them. It’s so difficult to control.

Once it’s gone, it’ll be almost impossible to get back, like the High Street killed by the out-of-town development. As the small websites vanish, the business infrastructure that supports them will disappear too, such as webhosts. Web presence will be consolidated into the hands of those who can afford the compliance- big business, big charity, NGOs, governments. Anyone else will be forced to ask for a voice at sites run by corporations- “you may have a blog if you follow our AUP”. And those corporations, even those not actively part of the Big Guv movement, can be easily brought to heel- a few people to be called in for a chat with the minister.

I don’t think there’s anything really we can do to stop this. They have, for the moment, won. I haven’t seen a single useful suggestion of strategy for stopping The Enemy, in all my travels on the web. There are blogs moaning like buggery, but nothing practical being done, because these people are ignorami at everything useful, but incredibly organised and skilled at political control- because that is all they care about. They can have a scare up and running and everyone screaming for Something To Be Done before we’re even out of the pub. They know we’re beaten. They know that there’s nothing we can do. They know that we could get ten million people marching through Trafalgar Square (licensing permitting) and it wouldn’t get mentioned on the news and would have no effect.

Probably the key historical thing about the ascent of Blair to the purple was that that marked the historical turning point when they had won; when they had reached that critical mass of control of the hegemony they had been working towards since the Webbs began their little society. They have bulldozed every resistive attempt out of the way; they know they cannot now face a mass revolt, for they have successfully remodelled the population to such a state that that cannot happen. Yes, there are still a few angry stragglers yelling swearily about it, but they can be cheerfully ignored. The memory of what was is now down the hole; even those few resisting have no personal experience of a free society and can only try to piece together narratives of how things might have been; for the rest, the past has been refashioned as such a terror that none now would dare return to any aspect of it. Even many who think they are resisting cling instead to something they call conservatism which when analysed reveals itself as nothing but a desire to return to the earlier stage of progressive authoritarianism when cruder force was used.

We’ve lost. We’re not losing. It’s over. It makes me sad, it makes me incandescent with fury, but there’s nothing I can do. The barbarians aren’t at the gates. They aren’t inside the gates. They’re in the palace, and most of the population are convinced that barbarianism is just what the place needs.

And just personally, I feel a grim sense of “I Told You So” that cheers me not a whit. Ten years ago I was saying, the governments will take control of the internet and destroy its freedom, and all I heard was utopian bollocks about how it routes around censorship and can’t be controlled and we’d be free forever now and technology had saved us. And I was saying, enjoy it while it’s here and dismissed as a depressive Eeyore. Well, the information society is going to be, already is in many ways, a tyranny of degree unimaginable to past generations, a tyranny of which historical tyrants could only dream. The first society in which there is truly, absolutely, no place to hide. We’re on its cusp now. Fun’s over, kids.

"It will soon be possible to assert almost continuous control over every citizen and to maintain up-to-date files containing even the most personal details about health and personal behavior of every citizen, in addition to the more customary data. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities. Power will gravitate into the hands of those who control information."—Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1970"

(pic: 'The burial of Phocion' - not particularly relevant, but never mind)

Fuck off Burnham, you nazi cock-sucker

This is my measured response to the fascist labour government's latest announcement of restrictions to internet freedom that they plan to implement, terrified, as they no doubt are, that if they can't muzzle the free internet, the people won't believe their stinking lies.

Andy Burnham, the Kulture Secretary (apparently) , who looks like he couldn't buy a drink in a pub without showing ID, claims these new measures are to 'protect the children'. In fact, the measures are to protect wankers like him.

Friday 26 December 2008

For my loyal reader(s)



Ziggy Marley, covering his father's tune "Babylon System".

Beverley Lunt: Judge or rhyming slang?


The laws against cannabis are an abomination, an insult to God the Creator who gave us this incredible plant. It can be used to make cloth, paper, plastics, biofuel and many other things. It is an incredibly rich source of protein and a medicine with thousands of uses. On top of all this, you can smoke it and get high. Little wonder that the corporations conspired to destroy its cultivation in the 1930s.

Up in Burnley, one old man is facing jail for doing his Christian duty and helping his neighbours, by delivering a bit of the beneficial herb along with the daily milk to alleviate their aches and pains, and the so-called judge Beverley Lunt has warned him to expect an immediate custodial sentence - notwithstanding the fact that he has done absolutely nothing wrong.

Perhaps this so-called judge is a hard-liner who routinely dishes out harsh sentences... or perhaps not.

So, in summary: arsonists - slap on the wrist; attempted murderers - slap on the wrist; knife-wielding muggers - slap on the wrist; old geezers who bring a little herbal medicine to those in need - lock 'em up, throw away the key.

My only criticism of the guy is that he pleaded guilty, when he should have taken his chances with a jury. There's no way I'd ever give a guilty verdict in such a case, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Mind you, these days, now that fascist labour has abolished the rule against double jeopardy, there's no guarantee the authorities wouldn't drag the poor man back into court until they got the verdict they wanted.

(Hat tip: Looking for a voice)
(Pic: Woodcut of Hemp or Cannabis sativa as illustrated in the herbal Kreuterbuch of Leonard Fuchs. 1543)

Thursday 25 December 2008

Happy Christmas!


In Catalonia, no nativity scene is complete without this fella, 'El Caganer', sculking round the back somewhere, taking a dump. As with most folk traditions, his origins are shrouded in mystery, but the intent's pretty clear. So, happy Christmas and visca el caga!

Monday 22 December 2008

Fascist Labour drunk on tyranny

The fascist labour government continues its assault upon individual rights, wiping its arse on Magna Charta and the common law. New regulations are being circulated allowing bailiffs to break and enter and use violence against householders.

But don't worry because, according to the Times: "The government ... says the new powers would be overseen by a robust industry watchdog." Right.

I follow an older law chez moi, and any bailiff breaking into my house runs the risk of having his head caved in.

(Hat tip: Infowars)

Sunday 21 December 2008

I was looking for 'Taxman'...



...but these will do!

Lockerbie bomber - not

It looks like the Libyan patsy in the Lockerbie bombing may have a chance to overturn the kangaroo conviction against him, with new evidence pointing to his innocence. How inconvenient! I dare say there will be no great effort to go looking for the real culprits if he does walk free.

Strangely, the BBC does not mention the legal challenge in this piece on the attack.

That's right Jacqui, only your husband thinks you do a good job...

...everyone else knows you're a useless cunt.

Porton Down's new bioweapon: GM 'food'


How fitting that the government is to use Porton Down for growing GM crops. The bioweapons facility, notorious for killing British soldiers in experiments with nerve gas and other horrors, is the ideal venue, due to the widespread public hostility to the poisonous crops. Currently the government, in the pocket of the corporate interests pushing the Monsanto seed monopoly, is hampered by rules that dictate that crop trials should be made public. Such regulations are anathema to the secrecy-loving, high-handed fascists of New Labour. The GM conspiracists are desperate to circumvent the democratic will of the people in Europe, and have friends - or at least helpful creatures - in high places, such as Mandelson, pro-GM commissioner turned government 'lord'.

GM food is one issue where public awareness has thwarted the corporatocracy's plans, or at least hampered them, but the war is far from over, and the enemy remains determined.

(Hat tip: Infowars) (pic)

Saturday 13 December 2008

Who'da thunk it?

"Lawyers in a case relating to a much vaunted 2007 terror plot have concluded that FBI informants were the key figures behind the operation and that the accused, six foreign-born Muslims, were merely bungling patsies."

Read the story at Infowars.

Some of that old time music



The Brand New Heavies rocking through the soul standard 'I don't know why I love you' (check out Stevie Wonder's version here).

Liberty versus imperialism


Sixteenth Year of the War - The Melian Conference - Fate of Melos

The next summer Alcibiades sailed with twenty ships to Argos and seized the suspected persons still left of the Lacedaemonian faction to the number of three hundred, whom the Athenians forthwith lodged in the neighbouring islands of their empire. The Athenians also made an expedition against the isle of Melos with thirty ships of their own, six Chian, and two Lesbian vessels, sixteen hundred heavy infantry, three hundred archers, and twenty mounted archers from Athens, and about fifteen hundred heavy infantry from the allies and the islanders. The Melians are a colony of Lacedaemon that would not submit to the Athenians like the other islanders, and at first remained neutral and took no part in the struggle, but afterwards upon the Athenians using violence and plundering their territory, assumed an attitude of open hostility. Cleomedes, son of Lycomedes, and Tisias, son of Tisimachus, the generals, encamping in their territory with the above armament, before doing any harm to their land, sent envoys to negotiate. These the Melians did not bring before the people, but bade them state the object of their mission to the magistrates and the few; upon which the Athenian envoys spoke as follows:

Athenians. Since the negotiations are not to go on before the people, in order that we may not be able to speak straight on without interruption, and deceive the ears of the multitude by seductive arguments which would pass without refutation (for we know that this is the meaning of our being brought before the few), what if you who sit there were to pursue a method more cautious still? Make no set speech yourselves, but take us up at whatever you do not like, and settle that before going any farther. And first tell us if this proposition of ours suits you.

The Melian commissioners answered:

Melians. To the fairness of quietly instructing each other as you propose there is nothing to object; but your military preparations are too far advanced to agree with what you say, as we see you are come to be judges in your own cause, and that all we can reasonably expect from this negotiation is war, if we prove to have right on our side and refuse to submit, and in the contrary case, slavery.

Athenians. If you have met to reason about presentiments of the future, or for anything else than to consult for the safety of your state upon the facts that you see before you, we will give over; otherwise we will go on.

Melians. It is natural and excusable for men in our position to turn more ways than one both in thought and utterance. However, the question in this conference is, as you say, the safety of our country; and the discussion, if you please, can proceed in the way which you propose.

Athenians. For ourselves, we shall not trouble you with specious pretences- either of how we have a right to our empire because we overthrew the Mede, or are now attacking you because of wrong that you have done us- and make a long speech which would not be believed; and in return we hope that you, instead of thinking to influence us by saying that you did not join the Lacedaemonians, although their colonists, or that you have done us no wrong, will aim at what is feasible, holding in view the real sentiments of us both; since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.

Melians. As we think, at any rate, it is expedient- we speak as we are obliged, since you enjoin us to let right alone and talk only of interest- that you should not destroy what is our common protection, the privilege of being allowed in danger to invoke what is fair and right, and even to profit by arguments not strictly valid if they can be got to pass current. And you are as much interested in this as any, as your fall would be a signal for the heaviest vengeance and an example for the world to meditate upon.

Athenians. The end of our empire, if end it should, does not frighten us: a rival empire like Lacedaemon, even if Lacedaemon was our real antagonist, is not so terrible to the vanquished as subjects who by themselves attack and overpower their rulers. This, however, is a risk that we are content to take. We will now proceed to show you that we are come here in the interest of our empire, and that we shall say what we are now going to say, for the preservation of your country; as we would fain exercise that empire over you without trouble, and see you preserved for the good of us both.

Melians. And how, pray, could it turn out as good for us to serve as for you to rule?

Athenians. Because you would have the advantage of submitting before suffering the worst, and we should gain by not destroying you.

Melians. So that you would not consent to our being neutral, friends instead of enemies, but allies of neither side.

Athenians. No; for your hostility cannot so much hurt us as your friendship will be an argument to our subjects of our weakness, and your enmity of our power.

Melians. Is that your subjects' idea of equity, to put those who have nothing to do with you in the same category with peoples that are most of them your own colonists, and some conquered rebels?

Athenians. As far as right goes they think one has as much of it as the other, and that if any maintain their independence it is because they are strong, and that if we do not molest them it is because we are afraid; so that besides extending our empire we should gain in security by your subjection; the fact that you are islanders and weaker than others rendering it all the more important that you should not succeed in baffling the masters of the sea.

Melians. But do you consider that there is no security in the policy which we indicate? For here again if you debar us from talking about justice and invite us to obey your interest, we also must explain ours, and try to persuade you, if the two happen to coincide. How can you avoid making enemies of all existing neutrals who shall look at case from it that one day or another you will attack them? And what is this but to make greater the enemies that you have already, and to force others to become so who would otherwise have never thought of it?

Athenians. Why, the fact is that continentals generally give us but little alarm; the liberty which they enjoy will long prevent their taking precautions against us; it is rather islanders like yourselves, outside our empire, and subjects smarting under the yoke, who would be the most likely to take a rash step and lead themselves and us into obvious danger.

Melians. Well then, if you risk so much to retain your empire, and your subjects to get rid of it, it were surely great baseness and cowardice in us who are still free not to try everything that can be tried, before submitting to your yoke.

Athenians. Not if you are well advised, the contest not being an equal one, with honour as the prize and shame as the penalty, but a question of self-preservation and of not resisting those who are far stronger than you are.

Melians. But we know that the fortune of war is sometimes more impartial than the disproportion of numbers might lead one to suppose; to submit is to give ourselves over to despair, while action still preserves for us a hope that we may stand erect.

Athenians. Hope, danger's comforter, may be indulged in by those who have abundant resources, if not without loss at all events without ruin; but its nature is to be extravagant, and those who go so far as to put their all upon the venture see it in its true colours only when they are ruined; but so long as the discovery would enable them to guard against it, it is never found wanting. Let not this be the case with you, who are weak and hang on a single turn of the scale; nor be like the vulgar, who, abandoning such security as human means may still afford, when visible hopes fail them in extremity, turn to invisible, to prophecies and oracles, and other such inventions that delude men with hopes to their destruction.

Melians. You may be sure that we are as well aware as you of the difficulty of contending against your power and fortune, unless the terms be equal. But we trust that the gods may grant us fortune as good as yours, since we are just men fighting against unjust, and that what we want in power will be made up by the alliance of the Lacedaemonians, who are bound, if only for very shame, to come to the aid of their kindred. Our confidence, therefore, after all is not so utterly irrational.

Athenians. When you speak of the favour of the gods, we may as fairly hope for that as yourselves; neither our pretensions nor our conduct being in any way contrary to what men believe of the gods, or practise among themselves. Of the gods we believe, and of men we know, that by a necessary law of their nature they rule wherever they can. And it is not as if we were the first to make this law, or to act upon it when made: we found it existing before us, and shall leave it to exist for ever after us; all we do is to make use of it, knowing that you and everybody else, having the same power as we have, would do the same as we do. Thus, as far as the gods are concerned, we have no fear and no reason to fear that we shall be at a disadvantage. But when we come to your notion about the Lacedaemonians, which leads you to believe that shame will make them help you, here we bless your simplicity but do not envy your folly. The Lacedaemonians, when their own interests or their country's laws are in question, are the worthiest men alive; of their conduct towards others much might be said, but no clearer idea of it could be given than by shortly saying that of all the men we know they are most conspicuous in considering what is agreeable honourable, and what is expedient just. Such a way of thinking does not promise much for the safety which you now unreasonably count upon.

Melians. But it is for this very reason that we now trust to their respect for expediency to prevent them from betraying the Melians, their colonists, and thereby losing the confidence of their friends in Hellas and helping their enemies.

Athenians. Then you do not adopt the view that expediency goes with security, while justice and honour cannot be followed without danger; and danger the Lacedaemonians generally court as little as possible.

Melians. But we believe that they would be more likely to face even danger for our sake, and with more confidence than for others, as our nearness to Peloponnese makes it easier for them to act, and our common blood ensures our fidelity.

Athenians. Yes, but what an intending ally trusts to is not the goodwill of those who ask his aid, but a decided superiority of power for action; and the Lacedaemonians look to this even more than others. At least, such is their distrust of their home resources that it is only with numerous allies that they attack a neighbour; now is it likely that while we are masters of the sea they will cross over to an island?

Melians. But they would have others to send. The Cretan Sea is a wide one, and it is more difficult for those who command it to intercept others, than for those who wish to elude them to do so safely. And should the Lacedaemonians miscarry in this, they would fall upon your land, and upon those left of your allies whom Brasidas did not reach; and instead of places which are not yours, you will have to fight for your own country and your own confederacy.

Athenians. Some diversion of the kind you speak of you may one day experience, only to learn, as others have done, that the Athenians never once yet withdrew from a siege for fear of any. But we are struck by the fact that, after saying you would consult for the safety of your country, in all this discussion you have mentioned nothing which men might trust in and think to be saved by. Your strongest arguments depend upon hope and the future, and your actual resources are too scanty, as compared with those arrayed against you, for you to come out victorious. You will therefore show great blindness of judgment, unless, after allowing us to retire, you can find some counsel more prudent than this. You will surely not be caught by that idea of disgrace, which in dangers that are disgraceful, and at the same time too plain to be mistaken, proves so fatal to mankind; since in too many cases the very men that have their eyes perfectly open to what they are rushing into, let the thing called disgrace, by the mere influence of a seductive name, lead them on to a point at which they become so enslaved by the phrase as in fact to fall wilfully into hopeless disaster, and incur disgrace more disgraceful as the companion of error, than when it comes as the result of misfortune. This, if you are well advised, you will guard against; and you will not think it dishonourable to submit to the greatest city in Hellas, when it makes you the moderate offer of becoming its tributary ally, without ceasing to enjoy the country that belongs to you; nor when you have the choice given you between war and security, will you be so blinded as to choose the worse. And it is certain that those who do not yield to their equals, who keep terms with their superiors, and are moderate towards their inferiors, on the whole succeed best. Think over the matter, therefore, after our withdrawal, and reflect once and again that it is for your country that you are consulting, that you have not more than one, and that upon this one deliberation depends its prosperity or ruin.

The Athenians now withdrew from the conference; and the Melians, left to themselves, came to a decision corresponding with what they had maintained in the discussion, and answered: "Our resolution, Athenians, is the same as it was at first. We will not in a moment deprive of freedom a city that has been inhabited these seven hundred years; but we put our trust in the fortune by which the gods have preserved it until now, and in the help of men, that is, of the Lacedaemonians; and so we will try and save ourselves. Meanwhile we invite you to allow us to be friends to you and foes to neither party, and to retire from our country after making such a treaty as shall seem fit to us both."

Such was the answer of the Melians. The Athenians now departing from the conference said: "Well, you alone, as it seems to us, judging from these resolutions, regard what is future as more certain than what is before your eyes, and what is out of sight, in your eagerness, as already coming to pass; and as you have staked most on, and trusted most in, the Lacedaemonians, your fortune, and your hopes, so will you be most completely deceived."

The Athenian envoys now returned to the army; and the Melians showing no signs of yielding, the generals at once betook themselves to hostilities, and drew a line of circumvallation round the Melians, dividing the work among the different states. Subsequently the Athenians returned with most of their army, leaving behind them a certain number of their own citizens and of the allies to keep guard by land and sea. The force thus left stayed on and besieged the place.

About the same time the Argives invaded the territory of Phlius and lost eighty men cut off in an ambush by the Phliasians and Argive exiles. Meanwhile the Athenians at Pylos took so much plunder from the Lacedaemonians that the latter, although they still refrained from breaking off the treaty and going to war with Athens, yet proclaimed that any of their people that chose might plunder the Athenians. The Corinthians also commenced hostilities with the Athenians for private quarrels of their own; but the rest of the Peloponnesians stayed quiet. Meanwhile the Melians attacked by night and took the part of the Athenian lines over against the market, and killed some of the men, and brought in corn and all else that they could find useful to them, and so returned and kept quiet, while the Athenians took measures to keep better guard in future.

Summer was now over. The next winter the Lacedaemonians intended to invade the Argive territory, but arriving at the frontier found the sacrifices for crossing unfavourable, and went back again. This intention of theirs gave the Argives suspicions of certain of their fellow citizens, some of whom they arrested; others, however, escaped them. About the same time the Melians again took another part of the Athenian lines which were but feebly garrisoned. Reinforcements afterwards arriving from Athens in consequence, under the command of Philocrates, son of Demeas, the siege was now pressed vigorously; and some treachery taking place inside, the Melians surrendered at discretion to the Athenians, who put to death all the grown men whom they took, and sold the women and children for slaves, and subsequently sent out five hundred colonists and inhabited the place themselves.

Pound versus Euro: problem, reaction, solution

The only way to get the British people to give up the Pound and accept the Euro would be to drop the value of £1 down below 1€, then the Europistas could pose as our saviours, and every day it's getting more likely.

Google 'Rex 84'



Now that US troops are openly in the streets of America and the federal government is wiping its arse on Posse Comitatus, here's a trip down memory lane, to when that great patriot Oliver North was supplying death squads with weapons and smuggling cocaine into America. Such people set up apparatus for 'Continuity of Government'.


A propos à 'Stir Crazy'



As an antidote to Ice T's tune below, here's Richard Pryor's take on the prison system.

2 from the O.G.



Ice T at the top of his game - 'O.G. Original Gangster' and 'The Tower'.

Friday 12 December 2008

No means No, Barroso


The Irish voters, having kicked the Lisbon Treaty AKA the EU Constitution in the gonads by voting NO in the referendum, are now to be forced into another referendum in the hope that this time the people will give the answer their putative masters demand.

Come on Ireland, have some pride, stick to your guns, stand up for democracy and national sovereignty, and tell Barosso and his gang of corporatist truffle-pigs to sod off.

Head of Legal's blog calls it straight:

"Everyone in Europe knows that a Yes vote wouldn't have led to a re-run; the Spanish were never asked to vote again after they said yes to the Constitution (which everyone in Europe knows is the same as Lisbon). Everyone in Europe knows that the heads of government and the Commission dare not ask France and Holland to vote again. And everyone in Europe knows that this is an attempt to bully Ireland that shows contempt for its democracy and constitution and that will be backed by dark threats of being thrown out of the EU (which again, everyone knows France would never be threatened with)"

(Hat tip to Jon Worth for the above link) (pic)

Victory in Manchester as people vote down road tolls

Despite central government's strong-arm tactics, the people of Manchester have thrown out plans to implement road tolls by an overwhelming majority. Even though many of the worst-effected by the scheme were denied a say in the referendum, 79% of those that could voted against, a paltry 21% falling for the Yes Campaign's pisspoor propaganda. No doubt the politicians who have spent so much taxpayers' money trying to force through the measures will be seething. That's democracy, pal.

Thursday 11 December 2008

Georgia Guidestones vandalised

Congratulations to whoever did it, presumably someone who doesn't want to be culled by the eugenic cultists who put them up.

As the Russians laughed...

The Anglo-American adventure in Afghanistan is locked in a stalemate that only a 'surge' will break, according to the head of the imperial forces, General David McKiernan.

Of course the Taliban have one big advantage over the foreign troops - they know what they're fighting for. Half the time Nato don't seem to even know who they're fighting, let alone why.

Protecting the public

Following the presiding coroner's ruling that the jurors in the Jean Charles de Menezes inquest are forbidden to consider whether the killing was unlawful, now Sir Michael Wright - a safe pair of hands if ever there was - has laid out what the diminishing band of jurors must pronounce on.

Apparently, as long as one of the hit team shouted 'armed police', it's lawful to then pump ten bullets into the head of an unarmed man lying on the floor of a tube train.

Wednesday 10 December 2008

The moral of Humpty Dumpty



Ricky Gervais from his show 'Politics'.

Gideon Rachman: as slimey as they cum

Poor little Gideon Rachman. All he does is call for a global government and he gets 'covered with internet slime'. The FT journo feigns surprise that not everyone wants to surrender to the New World Order, and hits back at his inferiors, labelling them 'gun-toting, Bible-bashing' nationalists.

To spare his feelings, the comments section was shut down on the article. Rachman on his FT-hosted 'blog' complains 'these people can read, but they cannot think', and goes on to flatter himself that he is now considered part of the conspiracy. No Rachman, you're just an arrogant cunt, not used to debating with people who fundamentally reject your message and with beliefs they're ready to die defending. So go fuck yourself, arsehole. Your New World Order will fail.

Thursday 4 December 2008

Scientists reveal GM dangers yet again

Monsanto GM corn, approved by the EU, has been linked to infertility by a new study by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety. The global poisons giant has immediately rubbished the study, claiming it contained 'significant flaws'.

The science is not lacking, only action. GM crops pose a huge danger to the biosphere. Hopefully the environmentally-minded will stop following the pied piper of global warming and turn their attentions to real issues.

Wednesday 3 December 2008

GM foods exposed as unsafe



While the environmentally-minded are exhorted to concentrate on the harmless and beneficial CO2, the power of Monsanto grows ever greater.

Sunday 23 November 2008

BNP members arrested as police trample on free speech

Freedom of speech is for unpopular opinions - popular opinions do not need defending. It is always the case that minorities - either because they are disliked or can be turned into scapegoats - are the first to be targeted by oppressive laws. This why foreign nationals are the first to have ID cards forced upon them, and why so much effort is expended to curtail the activities of the BNP.

Hence it it unsurprising that 12 BNP members have been arrested for distributing leaflets in Liverpool. According to the party the leaflets had been vetted and thus it is unlikely that any charges will ever come about. Nevertheless, the police - as minions of an increasingly fascistic government - will have achieved their objective in sending a message to the public; political activity is a crime. Sieg Heil you pricks.

Thursday 20 November 2008

Child prison news

A good example of the twisted thinking about the school system comes from this Daily Mail story, reporting that boys 'have fallen behind' girls by the time they start school.

If only common sense could be applied, we would recognise that children develop at different rates, and in some areas, the areas that the government measures, girls are on average quicker to develop. So the fuck what? Why can't these wankers leave the children alone to develop in their own good time?

I find it hard to understand why parents allow their children to be taken from them and fed into the monstrous meat-grinder of the state school system. Children learn next to nothing worthwhile at school, especially if they're bright.

The interview that got John Gaunt sacked



Long live John Gaunt for speaking the truth to a jumped up, arrogant, loathsome little Hitler called Michael Stark. Shame on Talk Sport for their gutless decision to fire him, and pity the children under the control of the Nazis of Redbridge Council led by Gauleiter Stark.

Fascist Labour government threatens clampdown on internet... yet again

According to David Hendon, a senior eunoch at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform:

"These are all internet problems and [internet users] think someone should do something about it. Although many internet users think the government should keep out of the internet, I suggest to you that most ordinary people who just use the internet like they use the banking system or the trains think that the government should make sure it all works properly for them and that bad things get stopped from happening."

Can someone please tell this cunt that we don't need him and his fascist buddies interfering in the internet or indeed anything else. He talks about 'bad things' (language that belies his attitude that the people should be treated like children) , but there's nothing worse for the internet and the free flow of information that it enables than the kind of state control he seeks, where the minions of Big Brother decide for the rest of us what we should and shouldn't be allowed to read and see.

Tuesday 18 November 2008

A little music for a change



Manu Chao - 'Mi Vida'.

Finally an economist speaking sense



Max Keiser lays it out.

Thursday 6 November 2008

Yeah, Jacqui, I can't wait for my ID card...


... I plan to set fire to mine and shove it up your arse, you nazi cunt.

Tuesday 4 November 2008

Deadly Fluoride continued...



Following a tip from one of my dear readers, I came across this interview with Christopher Bryson, author of 'The Fluoride Deception'.

With the government increasing its efforts to introduce this toxin into the water system across the country and school authorities pushing fluoride-tainted milk on their unfortunate child-prisoners, it is imperative that the public educates itself and takes action to prevent this monstrous crime.

And another thing...




Sunday 26 October 2008

The real reason for mandatory sex education for five year olds

Many people, especially parents, will question the sense in government plans to impose compulsory sex education on children at the earliest age possible. The real reason can be found by studying the ideas of population-control-freaks like Paul Ehrlich, author of the 1968 book 'The Population Bomb".

"We need a federal law requiring sex education in schools - sex education that includes discussion of the need for regulating the birth rate and of the techniques of birth control. Such education should begin at the earliest age recommended by those with professional competence in this area - certainly before junior high school.

By "sex education" I do not mean course focusing on hygiene or presenting a simple-minded "birds and bees" approach to human sexuality. The reproductive function of sex must be shown as just one of its functions, and one that must be carefully regulated in relation to the needs of the individual and society. Much emphasis must be placed on sex as an interpersonal relationship, as an important and extremely pleasurable aspect of being human, as mankind's major and most enduring recreation, as a fountainhead of humor, as a phenomenon that affects every aspect of human life... In short, sex as we know it, is a peculiarly human activity. It has many complex functions other than the production of offspring. It is now imperative that we restrict the reproductive function of sex while producing a minimum of disruption in the others."

More here.

Saturday 18 October 2008

Minister Hoon uses fake terror fears to justify fascist state

Individual rights rank very low to the control freaks of Fabian Socialism, such as Geoff Hoon, always ready to use the terrorist bogeyman to justify their ever-increasing Stasi-state.

Sunday 12 October 2008

Nato plans assault on rivals in opium trade

Whilst guarding the poppy fields of the warlords on their side, Nato like to burn the occasional crop in areas they can't control, to keep up appearances. Now the forces of the crumbling Anglo-American Empire plan to target the factories that turn the raw opium into heroin.

I guess they're running out of things to bomb.

(pic)

Not 'All along the watchtower'



Dylan's bitchy vignette à la Hendrix.

Simplicity



Dylan playing 'Love minus zero/no limit' from the movie 'Don't look back'.

Sunday sermon from Rev. Biafra



Wise words from Jello Biafra, highlighting the insanity of hemp prohition.

(Part 2 here) (Here are some of the many products that can be made from the miracle plant)

These are the people who want your information

The sick Hegelian state-worshippers who constantly seek to increase the violation of our privacy on the grounds of protecting us from nasty people have yet again demonstrated their utter incapacity to manage the data they already have. The MoD has lost the personnel data of 100,000 members of the armed forces via its corporate contractor EDS.

Not for the first time has the state proved itself to be drunk at the information wheel. As summarised by The Register:

"In January the MoD admitted losing a laptop with details of 600,000 applicants for the armed services. The data was unencrypted and the laptop, which was not password protected, was left in an empty car overnight.

In March it admitted losing 11,000 ID cards over the last two years.

In July it coughed to losing 87 storage devices containing classified material since 2003.

In September it was the turn of the RAF. It lost three hard disk drives containing information on all current and recently-ex members of the RAF - about 50,000 people.

Also in September it was an MoD staffer, on secondment to the Cabinet Office, who left two top secret intelligence documents on a train from Waterloo."

Tautology of the day: "Evil social workers"

The family has always been target number one for the social engineers. Hence their malevolence in the case of two children who are being deprived of their grandparents' love and a stable home life, all because the grandparents won't get down and lick the social workers' nazi boots.

Thursday 9 October 2008

"Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death!"

Patrick Henry addressing the Virginia Legislature, March 23 1775:

"No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free—if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending—if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained—we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace—but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Thanks to Project Gutenberg

Monday 6 October 2008

Barry Jennings: key 9/11 witness dies conveniently



One of the favourite fallacies for those that refuse to even consider that 9/11 may have been an inside job (N.B. it was) is that, if this were the case, the criminal government would kill people who knew about it.

People like Barry Jennings, you mean?

Martial law in America

The United States is now - literally - going into martial law with the deployment of US troops in a law enforcement role.

The mainstream media, such as CNN, report it as if it's a commonplace event, rather than an open and direct criminal act in violation of the Posse Comitatus Law. The report talks of 'scepticism' - perhaps the kind of scepticism the three little pigs may have felt when the wolf was at their door.

God help America now. Everything the Founding Fathers warned them about is coming true before their eyes. As Thomas Jefferson said:

"Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies."

O America, you did not pay heed, and now you have both tearing at your throat.

(pic) (Hat tip: Infowars)

Wednesday 1 October 2008

Nothing to hide, nothing to fear, and no dignity neither


You want to take a flight somewhere? Well, show me your cock. Show me your pussy. Let me stare at your naked body. That's the deal, folks. That's the deal our would-be slave-masters are bringing down on us. I'll keep pointing it out, and sooner or later you people out there will find the one thing that is a step too far. For some people, it'll be finger-printing your children, for others, it will be mandatory tracking devices fitted to your cars, for others it will be airport security oggling your naked bodies with the new generation of scanners.

Something, for fuck's sake, will wake you out of your stupor.

Tuesday 30 September 2008

Executions during Katrina?



Disturbing information from Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney regarding possible extra-judicial executions during Hurricane Katrina. I won't hold my breath for an investigation of these allegations.

The Mary Poppins Party

Dear oh dear. If anyone expects a Tory government to reduce the nannying state, you should check out Michael Gove on Radio 4's Today Programme this morning.

Apparently if you vote Tory, Michael will come tuck you in and read you a bedtime story.

Bullhorning Bilderberg

'The answer to 1984 is 1776'.

Alex Jones

Monday 29 September 2008

The spectre of fluoridation rises in Lancashire


Citizens in East Lancashire will soon be drinking water laced with the poison fluoride, if the director of the local gauleiters get their way. Water fluoridation, a form of mass medication, is illegal in many countries. Fluoride has been linked to rises in bone cancer, and is a known neuro-toxin. The Nazis put it in the water at concentration camps, because it dumbs people down and makes them passive.

Hopefully the people of East Lancashire will rise up against this.

(Hat tip: Infowars)

Wednesday 24 September 2008

Labour minister hails fingerprinting six-year-olds

Nothing makes a loyal labourite drool more than the prospect of getting hold of your children, tagging them, brainwashing them, fingerprinting them and adding them to a database.

This is because they are sick control-freaks.

Monday 22 September 2008

9/11: Still an inside job



The 9/11 Truth Movement ain't gonna disappear any time soon. The new documentary from Jason Bermas keeps up the good fight.

The EU tyranny of tomorrow

Via The Register, I come across this report from Statewatch into the ever-growing matrix of oppression that is being put in place across Europe. Read it for yourself. By the time anyone thinks of dissenting they'll already have done it. As ever, the twin bogeymen of crime and terrorism are evoked to justify the slow suffocation of liberty, but it is us, the common people who are the real enemy and the true target of these measures.

Saturday 20 September 2008

Now everybody's talking about the New World Order



For a long time, referring to the New World Order (unless you were Gordon Brown or George Bush etc) got you the instant label of 'conspiracy theorist', a knee-jerk response, conditioned into us all, to prevent us thinking too deeply about what's really going on in the upper echelons of power. Far safer to focus on the soap opera of warring egos, petty corruption and adultery that comprises 'politics' in this and every nation.

Now however the term is creeping in all over the mainstream media. The switch has been flipped from total denial to total abject acceptance in the bat of an eye.

Wednesday 10 September 2008

More academic bullshit

The idea of 'simplifying' the English written language has been hawked about by a deluded few, ever since any kind of standardisation in spelling was introduced. Very often the proponents hail from the stuffy world of academia, and use the fallacious argument that it will help children learn to read.

The latest call comes from Professor John Wells of the campaigning group The Spelling Society. He will say at their centenary speech:

"It seems to be a great pity that English-speaking countries are holding back children in this way. In Finnish, once you have learned the letters, you know how to spell, so it would be ludicrous to hold spelling tests."

Well, the spelling may be simpler but, according to Wikipedia:

"Finnish has fifteen noun cases: four grammatical cases, six locative cases, two essive cases (three in some Eastern dialects) and three marginal cases. Notice that the word in a given locative case modifies the verb, not a noun."

So it seems the main reason they scrimp on the spelling tests is that they're too busy working on the grammar.

Hopefully, the obvious lunacy of rewriting the English language to the lowest common denominator will fall on deaf ears, as ever. Changing the spelling so it is more phonetic completely ignores the broad differences in pronunciation, and this is but one reason against such an utter waste of time and energy.


Saturday 6 September 2008

Jesse Ventura kicking ass at the Rally for the Republic



This is part two of his speech. Part one is here, and Part three is here.

Surely even the Stasi didn't recruit eight-year-olds?

The descent into tyranny continues apace with news that local councils are recruiting children as young as eight to act as informants. Such is the fascist mindset that prevails amongst these townhall tinpots, such schemes are supposed to " help (children) learn new skills and in a wider context, about citizenship".

You got that? Being a good citizen means serving the state by snooping around and snitching on your neighbours in the hope of getting paid for the information. Sieg heil you fucking cocksuckers.

Hat tip: David Davis at the Libertarian Alliance Blog

Friday 5 September 2008

Minority Report is here: activists at RNC charged before crimes committed



America's slide into police state nightmare continues apace, with the arrest and charging of eight peaceful political activists with trumped up 'terrorism' charges, the only evidence being the word of paid agent provocateurs.

Thursday 4 September 2008

News from EUtopia

Via Open Europe:

'EU Commission Vice President Margot Wallstrom said, "I was encouraged and impressed by the determined action taken by the French Presidency but can not help thinking that with a new treaty it would have been easier to have a better coordinated response, faster and with greater authority." (Wallstrom blog, 3 September)'

Wallstrom, if you think the Russians paused for one second and wondered 'but what will Brussels say?' you're deluding yourself.

Deaths in police custody a 'new syndrome'

According to this Reuters report:

"Young men who die suddenly after being arrested by the police may be victims of a new syndrome similar to one that kills some wild animals when they are captured, Spanish researchers said on Tuesday.

"Manuel Martinez Selles of Madrid's Hospital Gregorio Maranon reached the conclusion after investigating 60 cases of sudden unexplained deaths in Spain following police detention."

Right... so nothing to do with the tazers, choke holds, savage beatings etc?

Wednesday 3 September 2008

EU admits defeat, but remember, it's a sore loser



It was the bloggers wot won the Irish referendum, according to a secret Brussels document leaked to the Irish Times and reported in the Telegraph. I may be over-egging the pudding, but - what the hell - the report certainly recognises how there has been a shift away from top-down dissemination of (dis/mis-) information to the common herd communicating with each other - and it scares the shit out of them.

That right Brussels, you can buy off the political class, but out here in the market of ideas, your shit won't sell - that's why "blog activity remains overwhelmingly negative". Even amongst the broadly pro-EU bloggers you find many of them actually want root and branch reform of the 'project'. What makes them 'pro' is that they entertain the delusion that this is a possibility, and many are no happier with the reality of the EU project than its opponents.

Hat tips to Longrider, The Landed Underclass & Old Holborn for flagging this up. Old Holborn is no doubt correct when he says:

"The next battle between them and us, establishment and anti-establishment, official and unofficial is only a matter of time. What are they going to do about it? Is the EU ready? Are you ready?"

My faith is in God, and my powder is dry. I'm ready.

Tuesday 2 September 2008

Last night I dreamt I was president

As any good statistician knows, deaths from legally prescribed drugs far outstrip those from illegal ones. Not that John McCain's favourite pill - Ambien - has been linked with deaths, only hallucinations and somnambulism:

"Ambien is the sleep aid that was at the center of a class action lawsuit after users noticed bizarre side effects, like getting up in the middle of the night and cooking huge meals, then leaving the burners at full blast and going back to bed. I remember reading one man’s account. He said he heard sounds from the kitchen and found his wife tearing open a package of hamburger buns, "like a grizzly bear."

So maybe McCain is the man for the job - a sleepwalking president for a sleepwalking nation.

Monday 1 September 2008

Uh-oh! Global warming is off. Get ready for the new Ice Age


Although the astronomers are quibbling over one little spec on the 21st, according to many, there were no sun spots throughout the month of August, the first time in almost 100 years that the sun has been so placid.

Such periods are associated with global cooling, although there are some (followers of Saint Al, patron saint of hypocrits) who dismiss any connection between the earth's climate and that huge fiery orb that rises every morning. Time will tell.

(Hat tip: Infowars , pic and story: Daily Tech )

Dr Kelly was murdered: more evidence stacks up

Dr David Kelly was murdered. By whom and for what reason is not yet clear, nor is it clear exactly why the government covered it up. If the inquest had been allowed to proceed to its conclusion, it would have almost certainly ruled it was an unlawful killing, but the government managed to halt the inquest with the ridiculous charade of the Hutton 'Inquiry'.

The official explanation of his cause of death is not supported by the forensic evidence or the witnesses, nor is it plausible in the light of physical state.

Oh well, it's only murder I suppose, not nearly as important as Britney's new bikini.