A TANGLED WEB

Thanks McCabe

It is with great sadness I read that my old school, St John Rigby - now All Saints Catholic College - in West Wickham is to close with effect from August 2007.  When I think of what the school was when I was a pupil in the 1980s, and now look at its demise like some sort of Shakespearean tragedy, it makes me both angry and sad.  My anger comes from the shenanigans of my erstwhile headmistress, Colleen McCabe, who lavished school funds on her own opulent lifestyle.  I am certain Bromley Council would not have resorted to closure - whatever ostensibility they give - had McCabe not committed her decimation of the school budget during the 1990s.  I hope her level of shame equals that of the disgust many of the pupils of my generation will feel.

I travel to southern Italy for two weeks in October.  I am due to fly from Gatwick so I will journey to the airport by car.  On the day I return from Italy I think I will drive up to Bromley on my way home and stop by at my old school to say a final goodbye.  Whatever its future, it gave me some of the happiest days of my life.  For that, I am truly thankful.

Suffer Little Children

As someone who believes in firm and physical punishment for unruly kids, I should be theoretically in favour of the latest batch of spin and hype to emerge from the dungeons of New Labour.  Not a bit of it!  For the proposal to identify potential problem children even before they are born smacks not only of adopting the classic Leftist sociological drivel about poverty and dysfunctionalism automatically leading to behaviourally anti-social children, but also of the quintessential socialist desire for the State to involve itself in every vestige of day-to-day existence.

How do you suppose New Labour is going to identify 'problem children' before birth?  Will they send monitors to ogle at mummy and daddy while they make whoopee in congress? - jobsworth voyeurs of the world unite!!!  I have known children to emerge from relatively disadvantaged and unstable backgrounds and become model citizens.  In sharp contrast I have also had experience of offspring from middle class families turning out to be total *****hawks.

Tony Blair and his government seem to have forgotten that the State only involves itself in the lives of children in a punitively corrective or monitoring manner - the latter being essential in cases of child abuse.  Its role is not to perform some sort of genetic profiling on sprogs as yet unborn.  And for what purpose?  To apply sticking-plaster punishment in the event of transgression.  Less State involvement with harsher penalties in the context of intervention is the way to combat crime.  You know, Tony, like it used to be!!

"THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING" - LET ME IN!

I wonder did you see this story about passengers on a Canadian plane having an unsettling in-flight experience after the pilot found himself locked out of the cockpit after a trip to the toilet?

Instead of slipping back inside, the Air Canada Jazz pilot was seen banging on the door and talking to his first officer on an internal phone. Crew members were forced to take the door off its hinges to let him back in.

Now then, I am a nervous flier at the best of times and so the prospect of watching the Captain trying to bash down the cockpit door to get IN during the flight feels me with dread! Can you imagine what was going on in the minds of all those nearby passengers as they watched this burlesque unfold? I'm not sure if they offered in-flight drinks but I would have required some form of sedation after viewing this incident!

WHY I HATE IRELAND...!

Well, I don't  - but I bet that headline had you wondering!

It's funny how sometimes news stories just crop up and you take an angle on them that others misinterpret. I tend to read news stories from UK and Ireland first, before going into other international news and thus you will pick up posts from me about how vile the UK/Irish Governments are on this, that and the other subject. That does not mean I am giving a pass to other countries, for all I know they may be much worse! But I figure it is best to comment on things that I think I know about - then you guys and gals can tell me otherwise!

Now then, where DID I put that Shillelagh...?

A QUESTION OF PRIORITY...

I note that the Republic of Ireland has pledged a further €2m towards the ongoing "humanitarian and recovery operations"(? DV) in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. The money is being allocated by the irish Government at a conference in Stockholm today aimed at raising funds for the reconstruction of Lebanon. The target is €263 million for Lebanon

Israel, the recipient of thousands of Hezbollah directed Katyusha rockets has yet to receive a cent. Have a view of Haifa burning, care of Lebanese Hezbollah, and then remember - NOT a cent for Israel from these ever-so-concerned "humanitarians."

It's about priorities, right?

TORIES OFF THE RAILS...

Vote Conservative and pay more taxes!

That's the rallying cry from young George "Nice but dim" Osbourne, the Shadow Chancellor. Yes, Georgie-boy is determined that should the CONservatives ever get back into power, "green" tax take will rise. He's looking at taxing us further on aviation, cars, carbon..

But wait a second, fear not. For George is going to Japan to ride on the magnetic test train they have in Tokyo. He reckons that we could have similar in the UK! You can just see it, can't you? I mean the UK has such an impressive record on the rails?!!!!! I can see one such high speed train, travelling at 360mph, speeding through Crewe station. (Not on the tracks, just through the station!)

Of  course apart from the fact that such a fancy as Osbourne imagines would never happen, there is the equally off-putting fact that vice-chairman of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Cliff Perry has claimed that such trains used too much energy to be considered a sustainable form of transport. The method "doesn't achieve fast journeys without an environmental cost", as the trains "consume an awful lot of energy".

How about putting a TAX on it - problem solved!

I may be a conservative by instinct, but when I see the floundering of this neo-liberal rabble led by Call Me Dave, I wonder if there is any merit in it ever getting back into power. The betrayal of a friend is always worse than that of an enemy, they say.

Harry Lime Policing

Mmm, I don't want readers to concentrate on the main thrust of this story.  Micro-ethnic cleansing has been a feature of interface life in Ulster for a very long time.  What concerned me was the response of the local police commander, Gary White:

'The area will continue to be monitored. However, this is not an issue that can be resolved by policing alone, and officers within the DCU are keen to meet with the local community and other agencies to work together to find a solution.'

Oooh, I wonder who the 'other agencies' are?  The Provisionals and the UVF, perhaps?  You may be subtle, Mr White.  You aren't subtle enough if indeed it is the help of illegal, murdering terrorist organisations that you seek.

Chicanery!

Chicanery is something you'd automatically link to despots in Third World countries than the government of the United Kingdom.  For example, I recently read a book on Robert Mugabe and the methods he has employed in Zimbabwe.  Did you know that the Mugabe government has deliberately starved hospitals in the country of cash so that corpses are retained until such time as members of an increasingly impoverished populace can afford to settle their relatives' medical bills?  Were you also aware that Mugabe is prohibiting the importation of grain to ease starvation so that he can continue his policy of 'indigenising the economy' by opening up land to criminal elements of Zimbabwean society in a nepotistic drive to ensure 'his people' are the ones who inherit agricultural land abandoned by white farmers?

We don't see chicanery of that level here in Britain.  Or do we?  In my mind the disgusting attempt to extort money from the middle classes of Ulster society in order that they put pressure on Unionist parties to sit in government with terrorists is almost in the same league.  In the same way that highwaymen used to say 'hands up, your money or your life', Peter Hain is effectively saying 'hands up, your money or your province'.  For make no mistake, admission of republicans to Stormont will give them carte blanche to gradually destabilise and destroy the Province as part and parcel of the United Kingdom.

This rates system is sooooo Old Labour.  It allows them to steal money from those whom they most detest - i.e. those who have prospered under their own initiative, and the theft will occur predominantly from a section of the United Kingdom public the Left so love to hate - the British population of Northern Ireland.  Will it work?  Nope!!  The 'garden centre Prods' will only ever come out in a constitutional referendum; they will never again cast votes in a sectarianised political system.  Middle class they may be, but they also have the same steely determination not to subordinate themselves to blackmail.  In the latter regard, they are quintessentially Unionist, whatever their opinions of the political process and parties.  Several months ago I said Hain's ultimate wish would be to damage Northern Ireland as much as possible in line with his closet republicanism.  All he will end up doing is currying more personal hatred than he has hitherto.  Still, when you're a thick-skinned republican Lefty 'white nigger', with the conscience of a dung beetle, I don't suppose you really care what people think about you.

Power Surge

This is one hell of an impressive sight.  It may not be the most beautiful of structures (what power station is?), but its sheer size is something to behold.  I am, for those who don't know, talking about the largest power station in Europe and one of the top ten biggest power stations on the planet - Drax Power Station near Selby in North Yorkshire.  It has twelve 500ft cooling towers and the tallest chimney in the UK.  At 850ft it is almost 100ft higher than the Canary Wharf tower in London's docklands.  And yes, for film anoraks, it was the inspiration for the James Bond enemy number 1 in the film Moonraker.

7% of the entire electricity output in the UK comes from this one station, as well as 4% of the country's CO2 emissions.  Without the operation of Drax, large swathes of the UK - from the Midlands to the Scottish Borders - could be affected by power cuts.  Unless we are prepared to go nuclear, this country will continue to rely on the indispensable service Drax provides.  Although the two other power stations in the area, Ferrybridge and Selby Fork, are unaffected by the action of environmental lunatics, their output combined does not equal that of Drax.  In short, if Drax is forced to suspend operations, my lights will go out.

Who do these people think they are to go around disrupting everybody else's life?  Millions across the country rely on a continuous source of electricity, yet they think they have the right to plunge everybody into a pit of darkened misery in order to satiate the 'green is good' warped mentality of their so-called minds!!  The government has rated Drax the cleanest coal-fired station in the UK.  What are we supposed to use for our electricity supply?  A swarm of ugly wind turbines desecrating the countryside?  Or would they preferred it if we cooked by candlelight?

600 morons have amassed at Drax for today's plan of action.  Many have said they will break the law in order to shut down supply.  It is incumbent on the North Yorkshire Police, who have enlisted support from constabularies as far away as Hampshire, to make sure these idiots do not succeed in their aims.

A Tale of two Scotsmen

Looked at the posting yesterday by Richard on the alleged abduction by her father to Pakistan of Molly Campbell, and originally decided to say ‘nowt’, as I reckoned that particular subject had been well covered!

However, I listened to the ‘Today’ slot where this particular young girl’s future was discussed with two of our elected Scottish representatives. The first interview was with Western Isles Labour MSP Alasdair Morrison, and was quite revealing in that this Member of the Scottish Parliament was firmly with the rule of Law, in that he argued that the primary objective should be for the return of this young girl to her mother, who is also her legal guardian! Well and good; no “if’s, and’s or but’s”. His stance was admirable, concise and straightforward, which is, as far as I am concerned, rare in any politician!

Not so was the second interview, which was conducted with Glasgow Labour MP Mohammed Sarwar. This creep went the long way around the barn in his efforts to say, or rather ‘not to say’ that the Law was paramount, Molly Reilly had legal claim on this child, and the ‘status quo’ should be returned forthwith! Instead, he blethers on about “There will be difficult issues around this case and I need to speak to both parties before making a judgment." He also said he wanted to "ensure that she (Molly) is well, find out what happened and how she feels in Lahore,” and also "Whatever happens, her views are going to be of paramount importance."

Now these words are from an elected representative, who was asked to comment upon the allegations that some Pakistani clown has seemingly arranged the surreptitious removal of his daughter from the legal custody of her mother. Instead of stating that he would be making all efforts to facilitate the return of this child to her mother, he wants to have the father’s demands taken into consideration, as well as those of a vulnerable, easily-swayed twelve year-old child!

Ask yourself, which man would YOU want to speak up for you in either Parliament?