´óÏó´«Ã½

From the top deck. No. 16. Monday, 6 July 2009

Mr Alan Johnson.....

(In responding to dealing with crime.)

Q ..... The focus must be on listening to the public, looking at what practical steps need to be taken to make the current system, with all the powers and responsibilities that this government has introduced, respond to their concerns. .....unQ

All in all a statement that could apply across the board to all HMG actions. Were it to be adopted as a mantra, and acted upon in a serious and forthright way, it could well be the saviour of the current HMG which wouldnt be an entirely bad thing. The alternative? .... Ugh!

There are too many things not in the publics consciousness and many, many times all we hear is that a HMG spokesperson is unavailable. A fair bit of PR effort was initially given to the so called National-Convention-on-Democratic-Renewal but can anyone outside the system that nurtures it talk about it at any great length? Mr Cameron, based upon words-per-minute alone, appears to be getting the lions share of the airtime, consequently - to paraphrase - He whom shouts in greater quantity, has more chance of being heard ... even if the words are pretty hollow.

HMPs .....

Now that the expenses circus has faded from the front pages it would appear that the tactic is to dribble out the - no less important - minutia and hope that the GBP does not find an alternative to the duck barge and moat ecology should remind them -the GBP - whom not to vote for when the the GE comes.


The Burqa .....

..... seems to be everywhere, in more ways than one, some might argue. It appears to be the cause celebre at the moment with almost every media outlet making some contribution usually in the form of asking the public what they think. (The recent link highlighted on this blog for the one show being an excellent example.)

Two things rise above all others from this very open and frank discussion: the breakdown of those for it an agin it, and the one group that it appears has no contribution to make is HMG. If the next global conflict is going to be about water or religion one needs - in the typical Westminster way - to consider if we can consider considering what is due for consideration, by which time - in the time honoured Westminster style - the war will be over!

Which leads nicely to the most awaited TV programme of the week ......


Muslim School .....

As the series title suggested .... revelationary. But in a subtle way. Most interesting was the editorial premise that such schools - IMO all religious schools - are isolationist not only in withdrawing accepted learners from wider society but also covertly identifying a segregationist and divisive attitude even toward other family members. (This conclusion works possibly also in reverse i.e. the family structure pointedly chooses to isolate and segregate by sending offspring to these establishments). Sadly Religious Schools do not appear to be asking to be allowed to educate in a different or more effective manner, they are demanding to be treated in a different, perhaps special way. What hope does this give for society in the longer term? Personal foibles of the seven year old aside it was personally demoralising to see a girl staring out of a window espousing imposed socially excluding rhetoric based on the antiquated and redundant principle of heaven versus hellfire. (Sorry......... What year is this?)

It is not denied that all education is a necessary form of brainwashing for the benefit, and continuation, of a better society. However the 20th century - and onward - has proven that a more proper responsible form of learning is to feed the brain, filter out the rubbish and irrelevant, feed the brain some more, filter out the rubbish and irrelevancies, ad nauseam until the mature mind can utilise the accumulated knowledge for the greater good. It must be the case - surely? - that there is no place in the UK State education system for centuries old claptrap that suppresses and divides?

Meanwhile, if this programme is right, the gap between the west and islam is set to get wider.

Good Teachers .....

..... do not only result from higher learning. There is no value to knowledge if one cannot use it effectively. Wise up HMG.

Female Human Breasts .....

The penultimate barrier protecting the ´óÏó´«Ã½ - The Radio Times - has finally, by way of printing a photographic image, acknowledged that women have mammalian appendages under their attire! Shock! Horror! Probe! Will the issue sell out? Will it command high prices on www auction sites? Has the 21st century finally been thrust upon the corporation?

Oops! Sorry, the non-redacted picture illustrates a forthcoming Arts stroke Educational programme and as both these disciplines allow the physique of women to be be portrayed honestly .... thats alright then. Lets all be the first to welcome RT to 2009?

Oops! The promod daytime programme with visible male appendage has just aired on C4!

Doctor, the Tardis has to go back in time!

Mr (J) Major .....

.... on as to how Mr Cameron will perform as PM .... Q ..... no one will know (until after the election) .....unQ What a truly blinding recommendation stroke reminder!


Quangos 1 .....

Perhaps HMG might be able to save a fair bit on NGOs that receive state funding.

Suggestions ....

Blatisnovac Dance Advancement Society.
Isle of Dogs Cat Society.
Amnesty for Imprisoned Cactii Owners.
Scandinavian Seal Lovers Sanctuary.
Ex HMPs Employment Bureau.
Golf Handicap Support Society.

Further suggestions on an un-perforated loo roll please to ....


Quangos 2 .....

It would have been a perfect opportunity to relate the old story of the LA setting up a two person department to cut costs that, within two years, had a staff of over 100! Mr Cameron has redacted that reference with the news that he is likely to create 17 new quangos whilst assessing whether any current should go?

Q ..... Any quango chief will have to justify their salary to the Treasury. .....unQ And whom will be leading the treasury perhaps?

Whom will get any new posts created? Ex Con HMPs perhaps?

Will businesses, utilities, institutions et al currently being quangoed, in future, be allowed to do more of their own thing?

Will salaries at the top truly be limited or will market forces apply?

Answers on the back of a treasury bond please to .....!

Todays suggestion for a NN story .....

Is an individual guilty if their personal belief is that homosexuality is unacceptable?

Or has thought now become a crime?



Q ..... .....unQ

cut the number of unelected quangos to save money and increase accountability

These would be entities funded by the government and paid for by us (often via supplementary fees above and beyond various tax mechanisms), but with out of control empire-building aspirations, vast property empires, huge, expanding senior executive levels on vast, self-awarded pay packages, and less than clear, in theory objective remits, but often designed mainly to serve certain narrow interests, with secret internal reviews and near total deniability at every level, who can't even be voted out every few years as one can the representatives we choose to represent us on matters of life and death in Parliament... right?

Wonder who might get mentioned?

And who, as with their funding, may remain... unique.

good news that nuclear war is concentrating minds in Moscow and I do hope Obama doesn't provoke the Russians with this ridiculous defence shield situated in Poland. One can only imagine if the Russians had the same arrangement in Toronto or Iceland. The two main protaganists are the USA and Russia and if they agree it can only be good for the rest of us, other rogue states like North Korea, Israel and an emerging Iran can be traded into submission but it is the big two that make us sleep easier tonight.....

#1, Quangos, State funding, personal beliefs, etc..

Given that the grounds on which MPs (and probably most upper house representatives) will continue to be elected, will be solely or mainly on their ability to lie convincingly on the doorstep, to show charisma, and/or to wear aparticular party rosette, there is probably an ongoing need for governments to seek advice and expertise in specialised areas, or from time-to-time to seek public opinion via focus groups. As with MPs, control on the size and remuneration of such groups needs to be exercised externally to the government: either cross-party or through the public service.

Although the public service once had a reputation for empire-building and inefficiency, there is now a more favourable attitude towards public ownership and away from the excesses of private 'enterprise' and 'the unacceptable face of capitalism.' In the 1960s, Work Study was applied widely throughout local government, and revealed over-manning and low peformance levels and significant improvements were made through Method Study and incentive bonus schemes, which improved pay for some of the lowest-paid manual workers and saved money for residents and businesses.

Broadly,on the related subject of personal belief, I believe in more exercise of individual choice, and in the '1960s moved from the (then) Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich - very slavish to Labour policies - to the Tory/Liberal London Borough of Bromley, which refused to accept massive house-building and other programmes. Similarly, I now send my daughter to a faith school, although I am agnostic, because it has a discipline and respect that is missing in the more local schools. She is not required or allowed to wear in-your-face apparel to scream out her faith, so they probably do discriminate in selection. The Race Relations legislation specifically banned unfair discrimination, and I still believe it right and proper for individuals in this country to exercise choice, whether it is on grounds of faith or other difference in society norms. Sadly, belief in personal freedom of choice has been
seriously eroded in my lifetime and I am apprehensive about what further 'equalities' and melting-pot measures are to be forced on us with yet more legislation about to be debated.

I stand ready to give my experience and views for free on a quango or focus group on such issues.

I realise this is off-topic. Saturday's and Sunday's "Channel 4 News" were a disgrace. It appears Channel 4 management, confident they have secured a slice of the 'Licence Fee', have let C4 News 'off the leash'. Gone is any pretence - always feeble, anyway - at impartial and professional journalism.

As the rest of the TV and radio news are of the same singular political persuasion as C4 News, is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life - a news mono-culture? You'd think, given the world is run by the right and always will be, the lefties in the media would want to understand why. Wouldn't the viewers and listeners be interested? Instead, we're subjected to report after report of leftie whinges, complaining the world isn't how they want it to be. The right runs the world and the left seems to be baffled.

The Fourth Trafalgar Plinth:
Shouldn't the mechanical crane become part of the 'art'; it is, after all, an integral part of it, for ''elf and safety' reasons?

Wimbledon Championship's Men's and Women's Finals:

I bet Federer and Roddick were infuriated to realise, after playing 77 games, in over 4 hours, they had only earned the same as the Williams sisters, who had played just 21 games, in 87 minutes.

I realise I'm trying to fight a lost battle, but this really is a disgrace. How can anyone, other than a loony leftie, view this as fair?

Feminism: fighting your battles where they don't belong.

As some of the bloggers seemed to be arguing about the validity of the truth about Katyn, I thought I'd quote my and family's consequential experiences of it and what it took to for me to shake off my Grandma's sadness I've carried with me till now. Not that I want to get rid of it altogether and it is with me to stay as part of my make up, so to speak.

My Grandma and I

My Grandma and I in common we had
A previously indiscernible and invisible thread

Who would have thought when her heart made her dead
Id be taking the challenge to continue the thread

Of weaving in rhyme bits and pieces around
The people and stories I face on the ground

The ground being taken in a broad sort of sense
Including virtual - not just touchable intense

Thats how its emerged, Im pretty convinced,
Spurned on by love and hope she so sadly missed

The love of her Brother so cruelly taken
By the swine of Katyn, by commies partaken

She already gave up her own studies for them
Dionizy and Jerzy the other ones name

Cometh the war with Dyzio away
She will never properly recover from pain

Giving up poetry and innocent laughter
In view of befallen, shattering disaster

Committing her life entirely to offspring
Knew how to unfold and keep running the string

Sad as she was deep in her soul
Knew how to be a marvellous Pole

She wrote in her twenties, I in my fifties
Knitting and weaving my own little ditties

In different abodes and in different language
Hoping its not just any old garbage

Rhythm in dance, rhythm with word
Spiced and enriched by sharp lemon curd

Guided by rhythm my poetic musings
Dont always emerge as spontaneous oozings

Delighted I am the biology strain
Passed on to me has not died in vain

Uncovered by love I missed long ago
Love is an art allowing to glow

GORMLEY OR GORMLESS? (#5)

I listened carefully as he spoke - might as well have been John Major. Surely, if the ideas expressed are vacuous, the 'art' is contrived? One of my hollyhocks blew down recently, then it turned up at the end. That MUST be art too, surely? 100K anyone?

I have coined the 'inverse taboo' (espousal of aberrance; what price 'inverse art'? Can we get Hockney to chainsaw these plinth-ninnies in two, and bung them in aspic? That would be art - wouldn't it? He must do Gormless as well, of course. Title of the work: "Spanner and nuts."

Quangos:

Equality and Human Rights Commission...thats the first one on my list to throw on the bonfire. I would celebrate its charcoal remains with marinated chicken tikka and smoked chinese ribs.

P:S Andy Zaltzman the joke-blower looks alot older than 34!.. he had a lot of good points especially the pensioner age limit of 78...a bit like that 80s US TV series logans run. thumbs up from me:)

Lively and interesting debate on quangos by Jeremy tonight, particularly where it was pointed out that the department which oversaw the quangos had been closed down! Andy Zaltzman in the Politics Pen was the funniest :o)
More please.

Why on earth indeed do we have a UK Commission for Education and Skills when education is supposed to be devolved? Even under Margaret Thatcher
we in Scotland were promised administrative devolution in this area in
1988 when CBI Scotland chieg Bill Hughes persuaded her of the case for
'Scottish solutions to Scottish issues' in this key area of training -
yet eleven years on Scottish and Welsh education and lifelong learning ministers are still having to traipse down to meetings with Ed Balls in
order to plead for budget from this completely unnecessary UK Quango??!!

How this happened is actually quite interesting. The very day before the Bill Hughes/Margaret Thatcher proposals for "Scottish Enterprise" and all
those 'Scottish solutions for Scottish problems' (sic) were announced in 1988 a very worried British civil service sneaked out - with almost no publicity - the UK Department of Employment's White Paper 'Employment for the 1990's' which came up with the rearguard strategy designed to stymie such administrative devolution by setting up a 'Task Force' for
the UK Sector Skills bodies which Mrs Thatcher wanted to privatise as
most of them were - in her view - more Quangos which had outlived their
usefulness. That is the historical origin of the UK Skills Commission.

Last Tuesday in Dundee, however, seven Scottish Cabinet Ministers lined up to express their frustration with this continuing Whitehall meddling
in employment and training issues which they argued would be much better
handled by devolved Governments. It will be interesting to hear if the Welsh take a similar line at your Quango guy's meeting with 7 Ministers
on Thursday in a House of Commons committee room ... Chop? Chop? Chop?!

Another one for the axe should of course be the quite dreadful British Council which screwed up the whole UK's relationship with Russia .....

UKCES is of course the UK Commission on EMPLOYMENT and Skills - and not 'education' as suggested by me above but the argument still holds.

Today's Herald in Scotland says this about Quangos and Cameron's speech:

"They range from the vast, such as the British Council, employing 7925 at an annual cost of £195m, to the not so vast, like the British Potato Council, which employs 34 people and costs £15m per year."

Think what we could do in Scotland if we repatriated even 10% of that £195 million currently allocated to those cultural tatty-bogles down
in the accident-prone British Council in London's Spring Gardens ....



Relations with Russia might improve as well if we cancelled the Trident upgrade for The Clyde .....

by Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP

#5 and #8

I do actually really like Anthony Gormley. There are very few conceptual artists I do like. Christo and Joseph Beuys are two others. Not wanting to sound like a candidate for NNR. In the 80s I played bass in a band with 3 girls who were doing a creative arts degree. Just by mission creep I played, helped mixed the sound, built sets, danced male parts etc etc. For IPs (integrated projects). Eventually the assessors called the girls in and told them that if I was contributing so much, I would have to be assessed as a contribution to their final mark. They all got first class honours.

I have had a long term relationship until recently with one of the the most outstanding artists I have ever been around. She loved Gormley and there were many books in the house of his work.

As a conceptual artist I think Gormley is the best of the present I am aware of. No fan of Damian Heist etc.

Just to fit it in some context. I was in another college band, prior to the girls. This was the original line up for Dylan fans of the Tribute band, In Bob We Trust. At this time i was asked by 'some people' from Manchester to be tour and technical manager for some band who they claimed was going to be the biggest band in the world and had a £3 million record deal. I had so much on I had to decline. But Simply Red did OK without me.

After me and the girls went our own ways I did some events on my own, this resulted in me advising Greenpeace in 89 on staging live events prior to them taking on co-promotion of Glastonbury. What the ´óÏó´«Ã½ covered last weekend was a sharp, broadcastable event. Which was what I advised Greenpeace to do, and told them how to do it. Instead of some loose chaotic affair. For promoters I was running ahead of the 1990 Entertainments Act. So had to anticipate that and show Greenpeace how to comply with it, before it came out.

12 years later with the beautiful artist we had still born twins. The next week I was involved with setting up the new generation of climate models. We were guarded by machine gun totting anti terrorist police.

At this time DEFRA had asked me to contribute to a UN report. I was pretty cut up about the death of our babies and was angry that politicians were even contemplating dropping bombs on children and killing them in Iraq.

So I said climate change (the Earth's ecological system) was a greater threat than terrorism. (Don't kill children) Look to foreign policy as climate change and Africa, not terrorism.

This was a seriously high level report. But I carried into it the kudos of working on the climate models and having just being recommended by DEFRA to advise the Cabinet Office.

Just over a year later the Chief Scientist gave my climate change/ terrorism risk assessment global publicity. And the agenda of the 2005 G8 climate change and Africa was built on my foundation.

When Geldof announced Live8 I immediately applied to him to be creative director. Live 8 was based on my work and I was regarded as one of the best technical and influential event managers in the world.

Geldof didn't even reply. The Live 8 concert was the biggest load of, insert, I have ever seen. The world was cheated. Which is why it never achieved anything.

Gormley is very very good. I am far more cutting edge. But that is why the Government, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and the media ignore me. I have crossed the Rubicon. I don't fit in with their controlled safe, don't rock the boat.

The Government and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ will use my work, but I am a bit too ere, like, a bit too dangerous for them to be acknowledged.

Sorry for the rubbish Live 8, I was the daddy, but Geldof wouldn't let me near it.

Gormley is good very very good. He knows where to draw the line to get his work the exposure it deserves.

Me I am still a biker. All or nothing. Death or glory. Rock the Status Quo. But they are a very influential in their pre 76 line up.



Give Gormley a chance. He is very good. he is not as leading edge as myself. But he knows what he can he away with. For the Government, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and the media I am just a bit too 'edgy'.


Celtic Lion

LABOUR REDUCING UK's NUCLEAR DETERRENT BY 50%- WITHOUT A PARLIAMENTARY VOTE OR EVEN ADVISING MP's LET ALONE A PUBLIC CONSULTATION/ADVISEMENT!!

Re the UK's Trident replacement programme and Labour's apparent dishonesty- and attempted public deception re this issue:

The present Vanguard submarine based UK nuclear deterent consists of 4 Vanguard submarines, with each having 16 missile tubes capable of launching Trident nuclear missiles...

In other words the UK's total nuclear deterent today in 2009 is 64 submarine launched nuclear missiles...

The UK MoD has been openly saying for many months that they are 'OK with the RN's present 4 Vanguard nuclear missile carrying submarines being 'replaced' with 3 of the under-development SMALLER ones and their new Trident missiles'....

Prime minister Brown recently 'decreed' that the UK's new Trident system submarines, when built, will each have only 12 missile tubes- instead of the Vanguard's 16- or the US Navy's Ohio class submarines' 24...

3 new Vanguard-successor submarines X 12 missile tubes each= 36 missile tubes...

64 missile tubes with the present 4 Vanguard submarines-based Trident system

vs

only 36 missile tubes with the apparent Labour & MoD toadies'
3 Vanguard-successor submarines/& their new Trident system->> almost a 50% reduction in the UK's nuclear deterent, and all without a parliamentary or public debate or public consultation/advisement...

1) "UK MoD remains open to three-boat nuclear deterrent option":



2) "Some commanders may feel uneasy about (reducing Trident carrying subs from 4 to 3) given the fact that recently two of the (present Vanguard)submarines were out of service due to major repairs. In the future a similar scenario could leave Britain with one or zero active nuclear deterrent submarines...":



3) "The UK's next-generation ballistic-missile submarines will have 12 missile tubes rather than the 16 aboard the existing Vanguard-class Trident-armed submarines":



4) "The Royal Navy is cannibalising parts from various ships and (Trident nuclear missile/Vanguard) submarines to keep other vessels afloat and operational it has emerged..."

"... The revelation that the (present Trident/Vanguard submarine) nuclear deterrent is being gutted for parts is particularly worrisome. If there was a national or international emergency some of the Vanguard class submarines would most likely have to be left in the docks since they would most likely be missing parts crucial to the subs operations....":



Roderick V. Louis,
Vancouver, BC, Canada

#14 Celtic Lion
Funnily enough, I once asked Bob Geldof, in a virtual kind of way, whether he would help me find a job but have not heard from him since neither. Not that I'm bothered.
Do you think the ´óÏó´«Ã½ may be using me as well without proper acknowledgement?

#16 mimproptu

I asked Geldof via one of those virtual envelop things, sent virtual special delivery. With the virtual origin of the G8 agenda and some virtual press cutting and virtual cv. Sent virtually straight after phoning up the office to ask if that was the correct address.

Obviously I wasn't virtuous enough for St Bob. Not that I am bothered personally. I just think if he and the bands were doing it for other people they would have had a better event and result if they'd allowed me some input.

So what was your connection with Bob then. The term from the lawyers is, you may have 'influenced'. This avoids the word 'copy' and the associated legal stuff.

Celtic Lion

THOSE WHO DON'T LEARN FROM HISTORY....

mimpromptu (#7) validity and truth are different things. Validity applies to the form of a logical argument, truth its empirical content.

Here's a bit of . Note the 'author', a 'friend of Israel' and a name-changer to boot.

Messsage: Statists are evil-dooers, only debt (consumerism) is good. Consume for your country but don't ask what that country is as that's nationalism/protectionism which is evil-doing ;-)

The composition of the Politics Pen is a disgrace. I thought that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ was required to provide balance.

PINK SOCK 'WISDOM'

Just had to stop observing Marr/Major interview; could take no more. If ever a validation of JJ's take on Newsnight were needed, this was it. Major has not changed since his diaries appeared in Private Eye. A string of empty comment, adding nothing to anything. Just what was going on in Marr's head - poor fellow? Perhaps he borrowed one of Homer Simpson's distractions (e.g. monkey beating cymbals)? Why not put Major on the plinth, at the end of Gormley's awe-inspiring 'art' event, AND LEAVE HIM THERE!

PS Gormley is not "very very good" (#14) he's a very naughty boy.

NN team must be having a heck of a laugh at some of this blog, I certainly am although its making my injured neck worse .

POLITICS PEN

Digby-Jones is a nice example of an uber-confident, aka idological (anarchist), as is Matthew Taylor. They will only agree to any decentralising steps, the ultimately example of which is cutting the consumer adrift as a powerless as people are not equals in their ability to manage their lives any more tan they are equal in height (there is even an important sex difference here, just as there is in height - Natural Selection has arranged this for a survival reason). Watch any of the cases being made in Politics Pen with this simple assumption in mind, and you see what a waste of time this bit of theatre really was. The only redeeming feature was the production team fielding the comedian very late in the day, with a lead in last week which hinted to the viewers that the entire charade was relaly just a bit of fun.

I suggest it's the likes of Digby-Jones and Matthew Taylor who have engineered this country's demise. It' seasy to sell destruction/aset stripping in the short-term. That's all they are doing. That's all that governments have lived off for 30 years or more.

Just a quick reminder of the project to turn all investment in navel shipbuilding to oceanographic research, clean ups and sustainable protection of the oceans of the world.

This will keep manufacturing, technology and ecological research jobs in the UK. This is part of the programme to make the UK the world's first ecological superpower as a process of mutually assured survival.

You can even put it on a plinth.

Celtic Lion

Anent comment #17: the Scottish Live8 gig at Murrayfield was much better
than Geldof's Wembley shambles ...... but then Midge Ure organised that!

CHINA: BALANCE

Just how balanced is the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s coverage of these disturbances? The Chinese , unlike the 1930s Stalinist USSR consitution upon which it is closely modelled, does not allow regions to break away and become indepdendent. That is unconstitutional. The state therefore treats acts to do so as acts of sedition, and the people know that the government is legally bound to deal with it as such. This is not oppression or represssion, it is government. If the West talks of Human Rights, it is doing so outside of the legal terms within which the PRC govenment is constitutionally bound to act. In doing so, the West, is, as it has been with respect to Iran (now a fiend of the PRC via the SCO), rightly seen as fomenting sedition, an act which, in case people need to have the obvious pointed out, if substantiated with evdience (cf. Trial in Iran of local British embassy advisor) comes pretty close to an act of war. Whipping up the public here in support of 'Human Rights' is this pure folly given the economic circumstances. First China has the power to do the west enormous economic damage to us, and second, we do not wnat to get into a war with Iran.

"Article 4. All nationalities in the People's Republic of China are equal. The state protects the lawful rights and interests of the minority nationalities and upholds and develops the relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance among all of China's nationalities. Discrimination against and oppression of any nationality are prohibited; any acts that undermine the unity of the nationalities or instigate their secession are prohibited. The state helps the areas inhabited by minority nationalities speed up their economic and cultural development in accordance with the peculiarities and needs of the different minority nationalities. Regional autonomy is practised in areas where people of minority nationalities live in compact communities; in these areas organs of self- government are established for the exercise of the right of autonomy. All the national autonomous areas are inalienable parts of the People's Republic of China. The people of all nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages, and to preserve or reform their own ways and customs.

Article 5. The state upholds the uniformity and dignity of the socialist legal system. No law or administrative or local rules and regulations shall contravene the constitution. All state organs, the armed forces, all political parties and public organizations and all enterprises and undertakings must abide by the Constitution and the law. All acts in violation of the Constitution and the law must be investigated. No organization or individual may enjoy the privilege of being above the Constitution and the law."

#24 Neil Robertson

Good to see you posting over the last few days. I was wondering where you were.

I know Midge's lighting designer. When we started out we where just doing pubs and church hall disco's. I slowly started organising larger events, so our collective experience grew.

The London lighting may have been supplied by another friend who started out with us. One reason why it is easy to co-ordinate such events is that in the weave many of us know each other or reputations etc.

The Live Aid gig was actually good for Midge as it got him focused at the time.

I am writing my dog's life story. The next part is taking him to a night club at 10 weeks. Owned by Midge's lighting designer's wife's father

Celtic Lion

KingCelticLion (#26) You do realise that posts such as that (and #14 and #17) will just invite scornful responses from our ever vigilant (if somewhat misguided in my view) guardian of liberal-democracy? This is not behaviour which is good for your self-esteem I suggest.

#28 JJ

No it's out there is press and radio reviews. In peoples recollections. It made me think collecting thoughts, retrospective etc. So one of the things I did was made contact with those mentioned.

I've decided to stop replying to the scornful one. It is so negative. I want to be part of something positive. Many others i am sure feel the same. The world is a sad and chaotic place at the moment.

Perhaps one day something will happen really good and the NN blog and bloggers will be cited as the pre production stage. It's life, some people you learn from and others just want to drag you down.

People don't have to read the posts. But they are part of the background that links events people are aware of. The Dome, the G8, Live 8, Glastonbury, West Coast Main line etc.

Being open and honest can affect your self esteem. Because it leaves you vulnerable to attack. But these things in the past are also part of other peoples lives. They exist and still influence today, something more than just one individual.

there are nice people on this blog who are positive and do make others think in a constructive way, and I thank them for that. Which is a prerequisite of 'Getting things done'.

Thanks

Celtic Lion

remember people telling us the 147 oil price was only 10% speculation? well its not. which is why it dropped to 40.



so every person in the uk and elsewhere paid outrageous prices for petrol and oil products [and therefore gas!!!] that helped crash the economy not for any fundamental reason but because those with large capital bases speculated on oil. kinda like they did with the tulip bulbs.

in short a massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich took place last year while oaps froze terrified of the bills.

this has to stop

#17 & 28
Celtic Lion
My connection to Bob Geldof is virtually none apart from seeing him on the telly about 21 years ago.
My request was truly virtual and no stamp was ever licked. Let's leave at that.
If at any stage I've made you think and consequently respond in a constructive way, which it seems to me you have done, then I remain delighted and obliged.

LAST TRAIN TO SAN FERNANDO

"this has to stop" (#29)

And a lot more vile stuff also bookhimdano. But PARTIES are in bed with BIG MONEY as they need to buy more power at each election (from a buffoonist electorate).

Only INDEPENDENT politicians, chosen for integrity rather than party allegiance, can hope to withstand the lure of obscene money. And before anyone lifts a finger to type: 'we have to have parties' - ask yourself 'why'? If a group of individuals cannot govern a country, without dividing into dogma-led cults, and diverting most of their effort into petty squabbling, there is no hope for governance anyway.

Post Allowance-Gate, we can be in no doubt the calibre of the typical MP - whether unknowing fool, conniving coward or fiddling knave. While PARTIES choose their own and then parade them (as rosette stands) for our votes, THIS WILL NOT STOP. We cannot stop self-serving parties from trying to survive BUT WE CAN VOTE INDEPENDENT and watch them die of loneliness.

As with the Last Train to San Fernando: "If you miss this one you'll never get another one" (chance that is).

SPOIL PARTY GAMES.

I shall not offer myself as a candidate again, but when the next election comes, I will be out on the street spreading the word in Newbury. I invite you to 'join' me in high streets all over the country, asking the voters: "ARE YOU VOTING FOR THE ROSETTE OR THE STAND?"

Iain Dale had a piece about how the 4 panelists on the "how to cut quangos" were Labour, Labour, Labour & oh yes Labour. Perhaps the ´óÏó´«Ã½, being a quango they may not exactly be being impartial.

Alternattely, since UKIP got more votes last time than Labour, we may expect the next discussion the ´óÏó´«Ã½ broadcast on the EU be between a UKIP supporter, a supporter of UKIP, a UKIP MEP & for a change, somebody who voted UKIP.

Any bets?

bookhimdano (#29) "this has to stop"

As no doubt you know, the only way it has been stopped throughout history has been through people getting physical :-(

Those who behave the way you describe are referred to as 'the ruling class', and they're invariably rather clever, have the law on their side, and are well resourced.

That is, they will have taken sophisticated steps to ensure that they can not be stopped - most recently by internationalizing and denationalising or breaking up the state. We had a sample of them on POLITICS PEN last night :-(

neilninepercent (#32) "Iain Dale had a piece about how the 4 panelists on the "how to cut quangos" were Labour, Labour, Labour & oh yes Labour. Perhaps the ´óÏó´«Ã½, being a quango they may not exactly be being impartial."

So you don't think the whole thing was a game of let the panel hoist themsleves like it is in The Dragon's Den and The Apprentice?

Some time back the NN covered a Chinese primary school class where the kids were doing what appeared to be 'Western Running Dog Imperialist Studies' role-play i.e. a democratic election for class monitor. The kids were coming up with Draper-Mcbride like slime on one another and it all ended in tears. I assumed at the time it was cleverly staged satire for the running dogs' media ? ;-)

31 33

i still think the pen that brings light is mightier than the sword that brings violence.

it is only in the absence of light ie the darkness that the misdeeds can breed. Which is why anyone who wields a pen is usually first up against the wall.

it took me two years against vicious opposition [comprising of personal attacks] for the the bbc [under GD] to finally move and partially open up the archive.

In another case i provoked a council meeting over a local matter and not long later someone tried to frame me for a robbery. The first thing the cid officier said to me was 'who have i upset'. A few months later the council chief executive was sacked for gross misconduct.

One must expect inertia.

Ideas are eternal. Once uttered clearly they maybe be taken up by anyone who comes into contact with them. So live on regardless of the suppression. Why is HMG so terrified of books and people who speak these days? Is it because the books speak truth or they speak lies? If lies why are they worried? Do they not have the arguments to expose lies?

the role of vested interests is to prolong the darkness through bearing false witness, distraction [like law breaking that appeals to the passionate] and often very appealing misdirection [like saying its not worth it, its never going to change etc]. The lords hansard is a textbook and masterclass on how to prolong the darkness. Which is why we still have hereditaries, pay billions to millionaire landowners etc.

Joanna Lumley had more effect than a moat full of mp's so becoming an mp is not where the power is imo. The power is in maintaining clear coherent arguments.

true statecraft is for those who can articulate the good society and belongs to those who know how to promote and defend it without succumbing to distraction or misdirection.

#35 book him dano

Excellent. There is much darkness to illuminate though. I did get framed and many in number did bear false witness.



Also thanks to those who have been searching for:

More Shipbuilding for the Right Purpose.

The web has responded.

Celtic Lion

bookhimdano (#35) "i still think the pen that brings light is mightier than the sword that brings violence."

Tell that to the relatives of hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis and 'Taliban', or how about the Axis Powers who aserted that they were taking on much of this predatory behaviour being peddled as anarchism/Jewish-bolshevism/international capitalism in the 1930s? Whether we believe it or not, their case always was that these groups were essentially one and the same and worked to bring down statism for profit wherever they saw it. The Axis Powers were even talking of having Stalin join them in teh ANTI COMINTERN PACT in late 1939, something Stalin had been purging throughout the 30s in the USSR.

These people foment conflict wherever they see statism and they use naive people as foot soldiers under pretexts like fighting for 'human rights' and freedom from oppression etc.

I agree with your ideals and much else that you say, I just don't think such people are at all interested in what is good or true unless it serves their psychopathic ends, and I feel very uncomfortable saying that I now find it very odd to be finding good in the people who have all been systematically conditioned to believe were the bad guys in WWII...

erratum (#37) "I now find it very odd to be finding good in the people who we have all been systematically conditioned to believe were the bad guys in WWII...